#i may work on that one to since i have to write 2 separate histories for akielos in that fic dskghkhdg | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

livewithyura · 3 months

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you may have just written the perfect smut….. So you have inspired me: Dating Tekken 6/blood vangance Jin Sfw and Nsfw headcanons

Tekken 6 Jin x Fem Reader! Headcanon ! ✦( sfw/nsfw )

Pairing : Tekken 6 Jin/Fem reader .

Warning : MINOR DNI , NSFW.

Answer : OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH! I was embarrassed by myself while writing smut , thank you for that words! That's a hard request since Tekken 6 Jin is a TOTAL JERK! But I also think he has that 'twisted' kindness in him since he's born to be a Kazama child! Hope you enjoy anon , I'm not that expert in writing and I tried so hard to keep him in character. I hope I done your request nicely .

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ REQUEST OPEN! [ ALL TEKKEN CHARACTERS ]

Information about request : Sorry! I will try to do it faster! I have a history exam in next week so just put it in my inbox I will make sure to make it. But don't worry I will try to do one or 2 in a day . I just organize my time for my writing so you guys can still request! Btw all of the request are so good! probably will make it!

SFW !

Jin's love language's totally 'act of service' . He's not good at paraphrasing his own words . He also believes that actions speak louder than words . You always find yourself receiving a bouquet of flower and Your comfort food at your own table . He will also write 'it reminded me of you' on a sticky notes .

He's a frickin CEO of a big military company , he must be rich asf but he never admit it . He always hands you his black card as casually as if he were giving you a piece of paper. He also will spoil you too much . He will bring you to a lavish restaurant and shopping trip just to spoils you .

You receive a gifts almost everyday . Expensive jewelry , a big ass teddy bear , flowers .

Yes, at one point, you mentioned your love for reading books, and he went ahead and bought the book café just for you.. "You know the book café from street 191?" "Yes...wait...DON'T TELL ME YOU JUST--" "It's yours now" "EH WHY?" "Princess , I tell you It's yours now . Don't let me repeat myself"

You can order a coffee or other beverages for free and read a latest popular book in there .

He will also act like he's busy with work . But thinking the fact you will go alone is much WORSE .

"Jin...I thought you have a business call?" "the meeting wrapped up early , I kinda bored so I'm here to be with you . Please appreciate my effort as I willingly to join your stupid shopping spree" Meanwhile his inner monologue : [I hurried over as soon as possible because I care about you, damn it.

"Stupid shopping spree..? If you don't want to be here then it's okay? I don't ask you to be here , you can rest" "For you [Y/N], I would rather be bored 'here' than being alone without you"

More textual evidence that shows he's actually care for you Whenever you're leaving his side while choosing clothes, he goes into a frenzy trying to find you. "Please search for [Y/N]," he immediately instructs his bodyguard to locate you.

"I'm right here dude" "god dammit [Y/N]" after that , you will make fun of him .

Yes , you're his pet . But whenever you're mad or hurt he will switch up and be your pet . "Do you want anything princess?" "Are you sick? You don't eat the dessert that I bought for you , tell me what's wrong?" He will positioned himself below you whenever you're sick or mad at him .

This man would prefer to endure an awkward conversation with you than be separated from you.

He always invite you to his office whenever you're free . "So..Jin..what do you want?" "Just stay"

He rent a penthouse just for you two to hangout , the penthouse symbolize the sense of comfort in himself . He becomes incredibly open about himself when he's in that penthouse with you.

He will have a shower with you , sitting in the bath up and caresses your body/hair/face "Even when you're being incredibly annoying....I still love...I will always come back to you.." He said that while stroking your wet hair .

He will put you into bed , "Can we just spend the entire night..with you on top of me...princess?"

Also , he will picks you up with his motorcycle . "Hop on , princess. I will take you far away from here...if you don't mind?" He will leave a slight smirk while looking at you . "So evil" That's the words that entertain him .

NSFW ! [ MINOR DNI ]

He's dominant , he want to be on top of you , bullying your sweet little cunt with his huge cock . He always remind you , your place when he's in charge . "Who do you belong to , princess?" "You"

He enjoys public sex but not too much , he still want a privacy . He loves the fact that you try to not make noise while his cock bury in your tight little cunt . He loves to fuck you in his office and um his HELICOPTER . [ whenever he's alone , he ask Nina to leave him with you in his helicopter ]

He also don't care when he's on the phone , He will fuck your pussy anyways . "This is Jin" He picks up the phone while his dick's still inside of you continue to fuck while he discussing his business with Nina or Eddy .

"Where's your panties , sweet little thing? My sweet princess really want to cum in my private helicopter hm?" He said that while circling your clits while his hand firmly grasps your chin.

He loves to see you playing with yourself , he bought a toy just for you to play with it . Watching you fucking yourself with his toy that he bought for you just send him into paradise . "Yes princess , cum for me" he said that while his eyes ogling your body .

Whenever you're not with him , he will make you wear a vibrator . You think it's hot so you just agree with it until you clit is swollen and wet because of it . Finally you face him in his office "Lift up your skirt , princess " He will remove it if you're not comfortable with it . He will apologize seeing your pussy being wet because of the vibrator . "Sorry princess , how was your day?"

He loves to place you on his lap , make you riding his lap while he bounce you on his leg . "Say the magic words princess"

Then he will make you hop on his cock .

Oh this man love spanking you but only when you're disobeying him . "Count for me princess" then he start to spank your ass while your entire body on his lap . "I don't know this spanking session can make your cunt this wet , princess"

He don't like to breed you or cum inside you .

Instead , he will cum on your face . "Ah...Such a messy princess"

★ Written by @livewithyura Why you want to copy this crap? I also take inspiration from my fav romance novel . You can reblog and share !

#tekken #tekken x reader #jin kazama #tekken x y/n #tekken fanfic #tekken smut #tekken fanfiction #jin kazama x reader

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my-deer-history · 2 months

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Francis Kinloch in Müller's letters to his family: Part 4

These extracts are from Johannes von Müller: Sämmtliche Werke, volume 7 (1810).

My translations here (with added paragraph breaks for legibility), original German transcriptions below the cut. This is the queerest part yet.

29 July 1776, to his father

The first cause of my silence, l. P.,* is that my regulated life really leaves me with little to write about; the other: that I am very busy. I read for a few hours with my friend, and that is almost the only time that I can devote to reading.

*For “lieber Papa”, “dear father”.

10 Oct 1776, to his father

You can guess the reason for my long silence, dearest father; when one is labouring on an important work, one becomes this work entirely; and in addition I finished a few more books with my friend Kinloch.

[...] A book seller from Neuchatel, Mrs B and I have convinced Mr B to put together a collection of his works. On account of this opportunity, he is working through all of them, and making additions and changes. Since he is not allowed to read himself, he wished to go through these writings with a friend who was already familiar with the contents. To that end, this summer we often read these and other writings for 2 – 3 hours a night in Mr Kinloch’s presence.

[...] My friend K is going to Italy. It is difficult; but the North American war and my work, which would be too disrupted, prevent me from accompanying him. This letter is not long enough to express to you how painful parting from him the day after tomorrow* will be for me.

[...] The loss of my friend makes me sad. Luckily, Kinloch is mine in every part of the world; our persons may be separated, but not our minds; I should care more about his perfection than about his presence; one day, in the long career that according to nature is open to us, we may well find ourselves together again**

*This places Kinloch’s departure for Italy on 12 October 1776.

**Original annotation: This friendship with Mr Kinloch remained unabated until Müller’s death. He received letters from him even in Cassel.

24 Dec 1776, to his brother

For myself, I seek nothing except that independence, which I consider to be the highest good of a human being, which I now enjoy, and will always enjoy through the generosity of my friend Kinloch and through the sciences.

Then I write my letters, rarely any others (except letters concerning business) besides those to my two friends, Bonstetten and Kinloch.

[...]Mr Kinloch sees Italy with the eyes of a man devoted to great occupations, with the sensitivity of a friend of antiquity and the fine arts. His letters are a diary of everything he sees, hears and feels. Through him and that other friend, I know Italy better than almost any other country.

April 1777, to his brother

When you wrote to him, I was in Lyon. My friend Kinloch, when he returned from Italy, wrote to me to find me at the lake below Genthod on a specific day, because he wanted to visit me; I however could not wait for him and took a cabriolet. I met him three hours from Geneva. He stayed with me for three or four days.

He strengthened his admiration for the monuments of the ancients when he saw them; his love of free government when he saw the current state of the nation and the constitution; and through everything, history, art and intercourse, he strengthened his noble desire for rightful fame and great virtues: and as he saw so many others, he learned to estimate my friendship even more highly. And it really seems to me that we loved each other ten times more during these few posts, and the purpose of our friendship is always our mutual perfection; nor does Kinloch want any other friend, and I do not want any others besides Bonstetten and him.

When he left Genthod and we had read and spoken a lot together, it was not possible for me to watch him go; so I went to Lyon. [...] I am never happier or healthier, nor do I think more clearly or feel more vividly, than when I am travelling; hence, I made a lot of observations and at the same time did a lot of work, both with my friend and after we left Lyon - at the same hour but by different routes - and I drove back.

I read everything to him that I had drafted about Switzerland over the winter, then we read several works by Juvenal with endless pleasure, from which I am also learning several parts by heart, and then we read about the countries that we had seen, besides many chapters from Montaigne, whose masterwork is the chapter on friendship*

*Michel de Montaigne’s famous essay De l’amitié (On friendship) was written after the death of his beloved friend Etienne de la Boétie. Montaigne posits that a person can only have very few - or even just one - true friends, a position based on his profoundly deep love for Boétie, whose death just four years into their acquaintance devastated him. Müller and Kinloch would have seen a close mirror of their own relationship in this, built as both were on intellectual pursuits and mutual self-improvement, and with a subtle but present homoromantic undertone. Read an English translation of the essay here, where Montaigne outs himself as team-Achilles-was-the-bottom.

4 Sept 1779, to his brother

It was with unspeakable pleasure that I received news from Kinloch a few days ago that, after feeling forced by mortal danger to take up arms for Carolina, he had distinguished himself so much as aide-de-camp in Georgia and Carolina under General Moultrie that, in a letter to the Congress, the general named him a very brave youth and the pride of his fatherland, and this was printed in the newspaper. This fame that my friends acquire is a powerful spur for me.

29 July 1776, to his father

Die erste Ursache meines langen Stillschweigens, l. P. ist, daß mein einförmiges Leben mir wirklich wenig zu schreiben darbietet; die andere: daß ich sehr beschäftiget bin. Ein paar Stunden lese ich mit meinem Freund, und das ist fast die einige Zeit, welche ich der Lecture widmen kann.

10 Oct 1776, to his father

Die Ursache meines langen Stillschweigens errathet ihr, liebster Papa; wenn man an einem wichtigen Werk arbeitet, so ist man ganz dieses Werkes; und denn vollendete ich mit meinem Freund Kinloch noch einige Bücher.

[...] Ein Buchhändler von Neufchatel, Frau B. und ich haben Herrn B. zu einer Sammlung seiner somtlichen Werke vermocht. Bei dieser Gelegenheit durchsieht er sie alle, und macht Zusäße und Veränderungen. Da er selbst nicht lesen darf, so wünschte er mit einem Freund diese Schriften zu durchgehen, dem zugleich der Inhalt geläufig wäre. Zu dem Ende haben wir diesen Sommer oft 2 – 3 Stunden des Abends diese und andere Schriften in Herrn Kinlochs Gegenwart gelesen.

[...] Mein Freund K. geht nach Italien. Es ist hart; aber der nordamerikanische Krieg und mein Werk, welches zu sehr unterbrochen worden wäre, verhindern mich ihn zu begleiten. Dieser Brief ist nicht lang genug, um Euch, auszudrücken, wie schmerzlich mir übermorgen dieser Abschied seyn wird.

[...] Der Verlust meines Freundes macht mich traurig. Zum Glück ist Kinloch in allen Welttheilen mein; unsere Personen mögen getrennt werden, aber nicht unsere Gemüther; seine Vervollkommnung soll mir mehr am Herzen liegen, als seine Gegenwart; endlich in der langen Laufbahn, welche der Natur nach uns offen ist, mögen wir uns wohl zusammen finden *..

* Diese Freundschaft mit Herrn Kinloch blieb ungeschwacht bis zu Müllers Tode. Er erhielt zu Cassel noch Briefe von ihm.

24 Dec 1776, to his brother

Für mich selbst suche ich nichts, als jene Unabhängigkeit, welche ich für das höchste Gut eines Menschen halte, deren ich nun genieße, und durch den Edelmuth meines Freundes Kinloch und durch die Wissenschaften allezeit genießen werde.

Alsdann schreibe ich meine Briefe, selten andere (außer Briefe die Geschäfte betreffen) als an meine zwei Freunde, Bonstetten und Kinloch.

[...]Herr Kinloch sieht Italien mit den Augen eines Mannes, der sich den großen Geschäften widmet, mit der Empfindlichkeit eines Freundes der Alten und der schönen Künste. Seine Briefe sind das Tagbuch alles dessen, was er sieht, hört und fühlt. Durch Ihn und jenen andern Freund kenne ich Italien genauer als fast kein anderes Land.

April 1777, to his brother

Als du ihn schriebest, war ich zu Lyon. Mein Freund Kinloch, als er aus Italien zurückkam, schrieb mir an einem gewissen Tag mich am See unter Genthod zu finden, weil er mich besuchen wolle; ich konnte ihn aber nicht erwarten und nahm ein Cabriolet. Drei Stunden von Genf traf ich ihn an. Drei oder vier Tage blieb er bei mir. Er hatte sich beim Anblick der Denkmale der Alten in der Bewunderung derselben, bei Ansicht des heutigen Zustandes der Nation und der Verfassungen in der Liebe freier Regierung, durch alles, Historie, Künste und Umgang in der edlen Begierde verdienten Ruhms und großer Tugenden bestärkt: auch da er so viele andere gesehen hatte, hatte er meine Freundschaft noch höher schätzen gelernt. Und es scheint mir würklich, wir haben einander zehnmal lieber gewonnen in diesen wenigen Lagen, und der Zweck unserer Freundschaft ist allezeit unsere wechselseitige Vervollkommnung; auch will Kinloch keinen andern Freund, ich will auch keinen außer Bonstetten und ihn. Als er Genthod verließ und wir vieles gelesen und gesprochen hatten, war mir nicht möglich, ihn abreisen zu sehen; also ging ich auf Lyon. [...] Niemals bin ich freudiger noch gesünder, auch denke ich nie heller noch empfinde lebhafter, als wann ich reise; daher ich eine Menge Beobachtungen gemacht und zugleich sowohl mit meinem Freund, als nachdem wir Lyon zu gleicher Stunde, aber auf verschiedenen Wegen, verlassen und ich zurückfuhr, sehr viel gearbeitet habe. Ihm las ich alles, was ich diesen Winter über die Schweiz abgefaßt hatte, dann lasen wir mit unendlichem Vergnügen verschiedene Stücke im Juvenalis, aus welchem ich auch mehreres auswendig lerne, und dann lasen wir über die Länder, die wir sahen, nebst vielen Kapiteln im Montaigne, dessen Meisterstück das Kapitel von der Freundschaft ist;

4 Sept 1779, to his brother

Vor wenigen Tagen habe ich mit unsäglichem Vergnügen von Kinloch Nachricht bekommen, daß, nachdem er sich durch Lebensgefahr gezwungen gesehen, für Carolina die Waffen zu ergreifen, er unter General Moultrie als Aide de Camp in Georgien und Carolina sich so sehr ausgezeichnet, daß er von dem Feldherrn in einem Brief an den Congreß ein sehr tapferer Jüngling und eine Ehre seines Vaterlandes genannt worden ist, welches gedruckt worden. Dieser Ruhm, den meine Freunde erwerben, ist für mich ein gewaltiger Sporn.

4 Sept 1779, to his brother

#francis kinloch #johannes von müller #michel de montaigne #18th century history #queer history #amrev

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no-side-us · 6 months

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Letters From Watson Liveblog - Nov. 24

The Illustrious Client, Part 3 of 3

Watson has been fearing for Holmes' life since their adventures began, but usually in moments where he's also present so it passes by quickly. Since in this story there's a degree of separation, it's probably a lot easier for Watson to truly be horrified by the possibilities.

Does this mean that Holmes has been attacked enough times that the press and public are aware of it? I wonder what that does to his reputation.

Aw, how sweet. Holmes may be a more experienced fighter, but Watson's definitely the bruiser of the two.

The circumstances are different, but it's nice to see Holmes trusting Watson with the knowledge that he is actually doing well and not lying to him along with everybody else like in The Dying Detective.

Maybe I spoke too soon. It's certainly not every detail, but it's definitely a lot more than before.

Would Baron Gruner not know what Watson looks like? I would assume he's learned enough about Holmes to know about Watson as well, or maybe not actually? Is that why Watson isn't living with Holmes in this one, so it's more plausible for this part of the story to work?

I knew Watson likely wasn't going to completely deceive the Baron, but I would at least have liked to see him use some of that knowledge he studied so much. Though I guess in-universe the Watson writing this story would've forgotten all about that, so maybe it makes sense.

Good ol' Watson! Ever the doctor, coming to the Baron's aid instead of simply leaving him to suffer. It would have been easy for him to escape through the window like Holmes, but it's great that he stayed instead.

Good ol' Kitty Winter! Ever the vengeful spirit, making sure the Baron suffers as horrible a fate as possible. It would have been easy for her to simply not do that, but she did and that's great.

At least Miss de Merville is consistent with her love? And not vain.

In the world of these stories, that would be a good piece of trivia for a history buff. Regardless, Kitty getting a light sentence is terrific, but apart from the end of Miss de Merville's engagement there's not much else about the fate of the Baron himself.

Obviously with his disfigurement he can't be tricking women anymore, but he's still alive. He's still rich, with men and resources a plenty. This story is being written years later, so it's clear he didn't succeed in killing Holmes or Watson or anything, but I think there should have been more about him at the end.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

#letters from watson #the illustrious client #sherlock holmes #john h watson #adelbert gruner #violet de merville #kitty winter #james damery #arthur conan doyle #liveblogging sherlock holmes

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comfortfoodcontent · 4 months

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Comfort Food Comics - Best Comics of 2023

Man this year, like every year lately, was an extreme blur. Time is a hyperkinetic illusion. While 2023 may have been the best year of the hellish era of the 2020's personally, it was one of the worst comics wise. I used to read or at least check out just about every book I could weekly, especially the Big 2, but ever since I left the comics "journalism" websphere, I just cannot. Art is mostly dead these days as soulless corporate billionaires just want a nice bottom line and positive PR. The actual creators languish in minimum wage, benefit free hellholes. ESG scores and Twitter pleasing directives force annoying cookie cutter product that is anything but progressive, respectful or fun. Nothing seems to be made solely for art or creative vision, and even if it starts that way the end product sure doesnt resemble that. Everything is positive diversity memeable aesthetics with no thought for substance. It's depressing. Comics kinda sucks right now. That being said I still found some comics I enjoy this year, so here we go:

Santos Sisters - 2023 gave us Santos Sisters #3-5 and the Halloween Special. Santos Sisters is one of my favorite "ongoing" comics these days. I originally was piqued by the Archie like art and thought it may be some weird hipster modern version of Archie but it's actually much more than that in the weirdest way. A bunch of silly stupid stories are in each issue starring the relatably cynical Santos sisters as they go about their every day life which only sometimes has them using their powers to help. There are no stakes, no deep continuity, it is a stupid slice of life comic that is always making me chuckle. It feels like a cross between Seinfeld, 90's Nickelodeon shows and the best of Adult Swim all in an art style that can be described as the best Archie comic you've ever seen. I also love that the characters never use contractions when speaking. I don't know why but I love it and it adds to the bizarre charm of these great books.

X-Men Red: Man you can find some really cringey writing from me around the internet about how the HoxPox era of X-Men is the greatest thing to ever happen in comics basically. I wish that even a spark of that potential remained in the line. I went from thinking that we were experiencing one of the best times to read X-Men to one of the worst currently. They botched just about everything Hickman set up and I find myself more often than not hating what I read. The only X-writer that hasn't disappointed for me is Al Ewing. X-Men Red is about the only ongoing Marvel book I truly love and get excited for each issue. I feel like Ewing really has done some excellent Marvel Cosmic work with SWORD, Guardians and now this book. Giving Storm her dues, developing the Arrako mutants and history and lore, bringing Nova in, having the best cameos, amazing tie-ins, awesome fights- the book has it all. But the best thing in this book is just raw, pure character development. Character and story arcs feel planned, earned and satisfying. The Arrako mutants we meet in this book are ones you actually become invested in and want to stick around. They arent just plot devices or persecuted self inserts or meme characters to screenshot on social media. Ewing doesnt always hit but he feels like one of the last real Writers in superhero comics. Not just a pop culture fan who wants to plug himself into his action figure fight. I may now truly hate the X-Men line but I love this one underrated gem.

Girl Juice - Probably the funniest comic I read this year. I've always been a fan of Benji Nate's surrealist pov of modern culture and this perfectly encapsulates that viewpoint into a book full of humor, charm, bizarre crushing realism and artistic skill. I think I was grinning like an idiot nonstop whenever I read this one. Just so damn enjoyable. A masterpiece on comedy and developing separate character personalities and having them play off of each other organically. I'm also always impressed by how much story and development Nate can pack into so little panel space. Such an underrated and important talent in the comic medium.

Magneto #1-4: I used to hate these nostalgia minis where they brought back older creators to play around in a specific slice of continuity, but quickly realized I just got sick of Peter David and hate Greg Land art. Now that they've expanded the amount of these I've come around to a bunch of them. They allow some really great stories to be told by some Legends of the industry. The best of these are the minis done by J.M. DeMatteis. DeMatteis is my favorite writer in comics. Period. I would kill for him to have an ongoing title at Marvel right now. But I'll take this consolation prize. Magneto was the usual exemplary work by DeMatteis, digging into the psyche of all the characters featured in this book, not just Mags. I adore the era when Magneto was Headmaster at the Xavier institute and feel his mentoring of the New Mutants is a SEVERELY underdeveloped relationship that is rarely ever brought up. It was a delight to see it really dug into here. I also loved the newer continuity of Mags' background being blended with the old here as we take so many trips (literally) into his mind. Just fantastic character work all around within an extremely entertaining story. Also what a treat to see such great art from Todd Nauck. He has always been a huge favorite of mine and I've really enjoyed his refined art as of late on recent DC and Marvel books.

I should also add DeMatteis' other mini Spider-Man: Lost Hunt finished in 2023 and was a delightful little tale of a specific time of powerless Peter Parker married to a pregnant Mary Jane that I love more than life itself. That being said the book was hampered by some art that wasn't visually appealing to me and the story never breaking from quite good to alltimer like the Mags one. Still TOTALLY worth getting and another of the few bright spots this year for me. Also one of the few quality Spidey things in one of his worst years in media.

Everything Sucks: We got three issues of Everything Sucks from creator Michael Sweater this year. The last one - "Friends Forever" - has made my CFC alltimer short boxes. I love these comics. They are crabby and messy and aggressive and funny and gross and wholesome and so fucking dumb and I just love them. Repeat what I said about Santos Sisters above. They have very similar vibes. These books are like Curb Your Enthusiasm mixed with Tiny Toons....maybe. Or maybe not. Maybe I just think of Plucky Duck every time I see main character Noah, a green duck. Actually no, that's an apt comparison. If you want to experience that buy these from Silver Sprocket. They rule. Also, Sweater experiments more with composition and panel layout each consecutive issue in an artistic battle with himself where he just keeps winning. It's awesome to see and a feast for the eyes.

Copra: Copra has been on my best of the year list every year it's been published and 2023 is no different. Michel Fiffe pushes the boundaries of what a comic can be every single damn issue. I really enjoyed this year's stories. They were less mega epics and more character driven loose ends and I eat that shit up. I don't think I've ever seen a piece of media that is so blatantly riffing on other media but does it so well that it becomes it's own thing and you just do not care, in fact you ACTIVELY ENCOURAGE IT!! I don't know what it is man. I usually despise shit like that. I can't stand the influenced by Earthbound or Pokemon games that litter Steam. Copra transcends that hack shit. You enjoy looking for what artist Fiffe was studying when he created that issue, what movie he was watching, what random 90's music he was listening to. You search that shit out in every page of Copra and it is so fun and satisfying. No comic in the past decade has contained more sould than Copra. It's all Fiffe and each line, each color, each word contains so much thought and creativity and pure wholesome love of the medium. I love and respect every issue of Copra we get. (Oh also my dog was in #45 - hell yes!)

Beautiful Duck Comics by Brian McCray: Brian McCray is one of my fave artists out there. I've posted some of his work here before. I love his barbarian Krania comics and I love all the random little stuff he does with his weird sexy duck women. So I was delighted to see him make a collection of just that. More surreal, bizarre, dumb shit that I can't get enough of. Pure fun made by a sole creator just because he wanted to for him. That's that good shit man. McCray feels like an artist that Eros Comix would be publishing a bunch of his shit in the late 90's, early oughts. And I mean that in the highest complimentary way.

Polar Bear Cafe: Seven Seas dropped the English translations of these starting in January 2023 and I bought them based solely on the cover and title. I was not disappointed. Silly, irreverent every day lazy life with various cute animals as they make dumb Japanese humor puns. I tended to enjoy it more when they stopped doing as much pun routines and just did longer cute tales. It's just so easygoing and nice reading these, like a nice breeze on a warm day.

ARCHIE & FRIENDS: ALL ACTION: A fun little oneshot where Archie parodies giant mecha anime, most notably Neon Genesis Evangelion. That's pretty much all that needs to be said. It's funny and it rules. The only negative is the story is WAY too short. Ryan Jampole does the spectacular art for the story and I am a massive fan of his. I can't wait for his Taka comic in 2024. I hope to see more Archie from him too.

Witch Watch: I only discovered Kenta Shinohara's work this year but I lost myself in all of Sket Dance, Astra Lost In Space and my favorite, Witch Watch. A teenage "chosen one" witch trains with her ogre bodyguard and an ever expanding cast of deeply memorable characters. This is one of the most fun and enjoyable manga I have ever experienced. I don't tend to actually laugh out loud when reading but this one had me cracking up so many times over the year. I'm a bit skeptical of the new direction they've taken to close out the year but they are quickly proving it will be just as great. I JUST WISH WE COULD PHYSICAL COPIES OF THIS GEM ALREADY!!

Batman - Wayne Family Adventures: I was extremely skeptical of this whole series when it was first announced. Miraculously this has turned out to be the best Batman related comic there is for the past few years. It's essentially longer early 2010s tumblr comics of the assorted Batfam members. Surprisingly, it's not just meme after meme, some of them have some incredible range of depth and emotion. There's also a real understanding of each character and who they are and how they should speak and act that has maybe never actually been done right in the main Batbooks and certainly not currently. Sometimes they do go for the low hanging fruit of a meme panel or some overly saccharine tale, but thankfully that's in the minority. Check it out to get a DC Universe that feels right that you are actually allowed to have fun with and enjoy. This is the good shit Tom Taylor always thinks he is writing but isnt.

Martial Master Asumi: There's nothing particularly unique or amazing in this manga to talk about as it's hook or selling point, it's just a really solid charming shonen comic about MMA and human relationships. Family ties, nature vs nurture, teen romance, friendship, dreams and careers, all kinds of ethical issues - all of these normal everyday issues are entertainingly blended with an MMA fight comic that is bursting with fanboy passion for the sport. It's super cute and funny and also a brutal, dynamic fight comic.

Grog the Frog: The Book of Taurus: I absolutely fell in love with David Orellana's art this year on his Instagram. Thankfully that led me to him and Alba BG's Grog. A whimsical grumpy ride with such a fun main frog wizard character and such oddball side characters that shouldn't work but just do. Another super weird fantastical book mixed with the mundane. That's certainly a pattern on my list. Orellana is just supremely talented and I can't picture a more aesthetically gorgeous brand of artstyle. So much magical detail in the art here.

Batman/Superman World's Finest: This is about the only ongoing DC Comic I actively look forward to reading. I enjoyed Shazam, Fire & Ice and JSA(when it actually comes out), but for the most part DC is an absolute joke currently. I can't say this book has had any alltimer arcs or anything like that, but it just fills that Comfort Food niche for me. Waid and Mora combine to make you feel like you're flipping through the legendary Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez DC Comics Style Guide but it has some stories to it now. Fun, simple, bright and colorful superhero stories spread throughout and highlighting all of the DC Universe. I'll take that anyday.

Sewer Boyz: 31 different RADICAL creators who do some of the most unique and subversive art out there right now come together to get sloppy and silly doing their own homage version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This is an absolute art JAM that any Turtles fan or comic fan would love. Such a wide swathe of awesome artstyles in here.

One Piece: C'mon, it's One Piece. It's the GOAT. It will always be in my best of list. Who wouldve thought that big weird dumbass Kuma would be making me cry?

Batman - Pygmalion from Batman The Brave and The Bold #6-8: Guillem March, one of comic's most underrated masters is let loose to do it all and really cook. This is a short, sweet fascinating little story that has a charming tropey hook and an even better late twist. March's art is on another level and he does a fine job here with writing chores as well with such a wild and fun story. Very quickly became an alltimer story for me.

Godzilla Rivals: Space Godzilla: Space Godzilla is my favorite of all the various Kaiju of the Godzilla franchise. I can't even begin to describe my lifelong fascination with the crystal shouldered space faring dickhead. He is just the absolute best. The Godzilla Rivals series of oneshots rarely disappoint and that was the case again here. I tend to usually roll my eyes at Matt Frank's attempts at story or his own Kaiju OC's over the years and prefer him as just an artist, but I enjoyed his unique alien viewpoint story here. It is the perfect Reverse-Godzilla story complete with the absurdly dickish bully behavior Space Godzilla should always have. The final moments are a grotesque delight.

Anyways that's about all the ones I can think of off the top of my head that came out this year that I really truly enjoyed. Comics mostly suck but you can still find some great shit out of there. If I think of any more, which I'm sure will happen, I'll add them to the list.

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doctornolonger · 1 year

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Thoughts on the Vashta Nerada? In general I mean. I think they’re interesting. Though probably very hard to write for. In my mind (that hasn’t stopped Big Finish from trying, idk). What do you think?

If I wanted to write a story about living shadows accompanied by spooky people with skeleton faces, I'd just do another Faction Paradox!

In The Ghost Monument, there's a scene where the camera focuses on a normal-looking pool of water and the Doctor explains that it's full of "flesh-eating microbes, millions of them." This line may have ruined "microorganism swarm" villains for me permanently. Come to think of it, it's the same as midichlorians (The Phantom Menace's intracellular organisms which explain Force sensitivity). Something was undeniably lost when the Force stopped being – to abuse a term – ontologically simple: understood as a monolithic entity rather than something composed of parts. To give George Lucas some credit, I do believe that he would have redeemed midichlorians if the overwhelming fan backlash hadn't prevented him from elaborating further.

youtube

But I digress. In Silence and Forest, Moffat stops just short of "flesh-eating microbes". He's too much a poet for that. The Vashta Nerada are "microspores", an "infestation", a "the dust in sunbeams." He's combining ideas here, multiple angles for the old childhood terror / "familiar made uncanny" attack.* And – okay, he also says they're a "man-eating swarm". You can't win them all.

From a purely materialist perspective, a shadow isn't a thing in and of itself. It's the product of an object and a light source, and it cannot exist independently of either of those things. You might say that your shadow is "holding" something, but really that's just shorthand for "I am holding an object, so the shadow I have cast appears to be holding the shadow cast by the object in my hand." It's literally a trick of the light.

But in Peter Pan, shadows are objects in and of themselves. In that story they function not as they exist in material reality but as humans understand them: entities in their own right. Not a "light-object-patterns", a shadow. And in this lens, nothing stops them from existing separate from ourselves. This pivot from reality to the mind's understanding of reality – so to speak, from territory to map – is how ritual works across human societies, and it's what Faction Paradox is all about. In the territory, there were no days between 2 and 14 September 1752. In the map, there's enough to build an Empire.**

Even within the constaints he's built for himself, Moffat can't stop himself from having it both ways. On one hand, Vashta Nerada are allergic to light and hide in the shadows; on the other hand, they can actually encroach on the light and cast shadows themselves for spooky effect. The Doctor tells us, "Count the shadows" – a line straight out of Peter Pan. Or Interference.

*The FP series uses the same "familiar made uncanny" approach in the development of its mythology, but rather than the dust in sunbeams, its targets are the core elements of Doctor Who itself, and science fiction more generally.

**In fact, this is the only sense in which Faction Paradox can be said to be Faction Paradox. Lawrence Miles insisted that the Faction isn't interested in paradoxes at all; it chose the name Paradox not because of what paradoxes are in the territory but because of what the word means in the map: the opposite of the Great Houses' ideology of organized cause and effect.

Both of these bullets are actually the same point, and they're at the heart of what I tried to say in "Crimes Against History"…

***Apropos of nothing, a theory I'd forgotten I posted 6 years ago:

Or, since Faction Paradox may have been wiped from time at the end of the War, are the Vashta Nerada their now-person-less shadows?

#ama #faction paradox #the ghost monument #vashta nerada #idk what to tag this to capture what i'm saying here #silence in the library #steven moffat #interference #crimes against history #midichlorians #effortpost

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cometchasr · 7 months

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fic recs from many fandoms (MILD SPOILERS)

these are based off my likes personally and are in no way any form of review i suck at reviews

WoF

the dragon and the scavenger by wobblywyvern. one of the first fics i ever read. unfortunately unupdated since sep 2020, and im still crying over it. cliffball best ship.

finding peace by warrior of spectra. another one of the first fics i ever read. finished, very good, raging over cliff/peacemaker not being real but thats me.

different threads by firehawk1100. darkstalker/indigo. i like it better than shadow of the mind (his other fic, winterwatcher). just. beautiful. i suck at reviewing but its good trust me

diamonds fall and fates change by fabokraken. our first ao3 fic, woo!! the others except finding peace are also on ao3, but i found them on ffn and thus that site goes first. its adorable. its fucking adorable. i love arctic and foeslayer so much. i love not-evil darkstalker. i love everything. darlie is my beloved.

wings of fire: changing seasons by fatespeaker. actually a whole series. winter, therefore automatic win. the characters and the plot just... interact so well. the intrigue. it all.

Warriors

tinystar's beginning by twilidramon. i havent read this one in forever but. scourge!! my beloved. its good, i remember.

second chances and a scourge upon fate by deerlyqueery. more scourge!! we love our edgy boi. and we love making him gay!!!!

a spark from starclan, rusty's skyclan and collars and claws by salmonfang. theyre completely separate, and you should read their other works too, but these are the ones i read (albeit in diminished form because. lazy ykyk). there is, something. about this writing. beloved

blackfire: book one by xenonex. theres art, its adorable and fluffy, its also filled with drama, rarepair, everything

exile by mallowstep, aerial-jace and kudossi. something that holds terrible and beautiful memories for me (personal reasons). but just, the whole idea. the emotion, the vibes. the it all. this is the one that spawned the way i style my works, because i fucking vibe with the vibe so much, and ive turned it into a very different beast, but here it is. the core, one great part of my writing story. read it its so good

The Dragon Prince

(only 2 because ive read about zero tdp fanfics, it doesnt actually have any dragons smh)

the devil you thought you knew by strangefake. aaravos. AARAVOS. MAGIC EXPOSITION. PHILOSOPHY. BLURRY GOOD AND EVIL. DELICIOUS. wonderful as hell holy shit

sun fueled rage by photoniccyclone. sol regem takes over the world and we have to stop him. ungodly long chapters, lots of scenes, angst, angst, angst, angst, angst.

thats it but i know newt wouldnt let this list go without me adding my zanrex fic, the stars were forever bright for us, which im actually somewhat proud of. the cracks are showing, but they always do. also, you, the reader of this post, make some tdp dragon-centric fanfic. we're fucking starving.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

the history of this fandom and its works is long and expansive and storied and i have so many recs i would never be able to fit them here (mostly because i havent read like all of them). needless to say, we've started making our own content in overdrive at the lack of new shit.

the entire pmd writer's union collection. im in this server. fics are top-notch, environment is top-notch, except when it isnt for me and me personally. if one wishes to join i may or may not be allowed to give you a link. anyways, the ones ive read are down below, and are all in the collection (duh!)

warped skies by team ion. linked is the arc 1 rewrite, the original is here. its beautiful. its a trainwreck of emotions, and i havent started on arc 3 yet (thats the good shit). the chapters are extremely long, the characters are extremely good, i shill it everywhere, i love this fic and i havent even gotten halfway through. its the other main influence on my writing, although more in ambition and inspiration than in actual style like exile. hell, i started DoP because of it. the post is out there somewhere. its just. it is. it is, it is. i think you can see a common theme with my ineptitude at describing fics, but. read it. read it. masterpiece

daily life in pokemon paradise by kitsu-19. gates slice of life. beautiful characters. the moguls and swift and it all. its. its so interesting, and full of life, and you fall in love with the characters. it feels so much more alive. i cannot describe shit. read it, youll get what i mean.

royal replacement by turkeyuwu. gay. politics. legal document(s?) (just the one so far). great masquerade. untrained alolan vulpix uses light that burns the sky. plot inspired by a chinese webnovel, so you just know its gonna be batshit insane and ridiculous. i find myself incapable of describing shit at the moment. read it

My Little Pony

fuck it, we're going all in.

equestria at war, by EaW dev team. unlike all the others, this one requires about $200 to fully unlock. its a hoi4 mod, and its beautiful. griffonian empire best.

changing expectations by kkslider. buggos!! buggos!!!!! more importantly, actual mlp fic with gay in it! long, so many plottwists, phasma is our beloved slightly traumatised changeling king, actual history and lore, alcoholic celestia, pictures!! READ

afraid of the light by binibean. celestia trauma from all that bullshit. angst. somethings not right. i love these stories.

night wing by gravity012. guy gets SIed into a big immortal magic birb. stuff falls apart, he goes on adventures with celestia and luna, changelings and thestrals are very cuddly. so fluffy. until it isnt.

then it becomes very sad.

(also he freezes the tree of harmony for making nightmare moon happen. badass)

this is a fucking long list.

UPDATE: I FORGOT TO GIVE A LINK TO BLACKFIRE @xenomane FORGIVE ME

#mine #idk #something #h #i hope all the tumblr mutuals who found their fics on this list like this list

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dreamonbaby · 17 days

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initially posted to main blog but i wanted to expand so

i think a good rule of thumb is artists don't need to disclose their medical history to "prove" their credentials. i understand how the fortnight MV and suicidal lyrics throughout ttpd can read as careless; i had some initial hesitation because i haven't stopped thinking of britney spears' memoir since i read it, and the lineage of women in her family being institutionalized against their will by and pumped full of lithium. but just because one blond pop star publicizes this doesn't mean every other should follow.

however, strong reactions to fortnight, in particular, must come from the discomfort of taylor's proud ownership of her songs as "about her life" (miss americana doc), but this wasn't even true of her discography at that point in time, before folklore; they've been about friends' lives, the kennedys, characters from books and film and tv, like she says about "death by a thousand cuts" and much of her older songs at NPR tiny desk. but taylor hasn't framed her music as narrated by characters since folklore and evermore, and she's never not appeared in a self-directed music video; i think she's only been a supporting role twice, in the ATW "film" and "i can see you."

i wonder if some more obvious buffer between her and the material might help its reception infinitesimally, like having an actor in the fortnight MV. then again, i'm reminded of pj harvey:

'Some critics have taken my writing so literally to the point that they’ll listen to 'Down by the Water' and believe I have actually given birth to a child and drowned her,' scoffed Harvey to Spin in 2005. It’s a curious trend: unlike her old pal Nick Cave, a man always left free to slip into the skins of murderers, sleazebags or demonic preachers because he’s playing characters, Harvey has often been shackled by folk desperate to bolt autobiographical meaning to her every song. 'It can be very frustrating, particularly when it seems almost preposterous that it could be autobiographical,' she told me in an interview for the Quietus in 2011, just before the release of Let England Shake. 'People don’t allow the metaphor, the imagery, all the things that you work with as a writer … standing completely outside, as the narrator of a story.' (The Guardian, 2015)

i don't bring in pj harvey for no reason. her late career has included incidental music for ivo van hove's west end productions, including all about eve starring gillian anderson and lily james. a few years prior, gillian anderson played blanche dubois in a streetcar named desire at st. ann's warehouse dir. benedict andrews. the ending of "hits different" (feeding into beginning of "fortnight") made me think of a streetcar named desire on first listen, which ends with blanche involuntarily committed after her brother-in-law assults her, her sister helpless to intervene. you might recognize the line "i have always depended on the kindness of strangers" that lana quotes somewhere on born to die, said by blanche to the nurses taking her away. i suppose early lana's midcentury nostalgia successfully separated lana from lizzy, and pj harvey did not start her career claming her lyrics as autobiography. unfortunately, taylor swift may never be allowed such estrangement because she doesn't seem to want it ("i hate it here"), even if her next directorial outing is something vastly more "period" than fortnight, even if she doesn't appear onscreen.

as much as people fantasize about her writing a musical one day, 1) "beautiful ghosts" was redundant to an already nonsense libretto and really just the ingenue version of "memory," so you're back to a ybwm madonna/whore binary, groundbreaking and 2) based on her music video treatments, i question her interest in writing in someone else's voice, as in a flesh-and-blood character with material context, not loosely-defined devices like betty and james

#anti taylor swift #lmao?????#text

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bewitched-bullet · 2 months

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Hi bewitched-bullet,

I'm the anon who talked about their "irreconcilable differences" when it comes to how to portray the characters the other day. I only mentioned it in passing because my main point was their lack of communication. Now I'd like to elaborate on the character portrayals. Like I said I've followed them for a year. And for the last 5-6 months I've observed their interactions on an almost daily basis.

(I'm a peaceful and gentle person and I hope my writing has reflected those qualities)

TL;DR: John has been trying to establish the relationship as a middle-aged couple; Sherlock's characterization is more in Series 1.

During this short six months, I've seen John's love declarations at least 4 times, which was either doubted, ignored, or "forgotten" the next day by Sherlock. Not big declarations, but those that came naturally as a result of the scene. John was apparently discouraged (since probably 3 months ago? It's so hard to search the posts with the Archive turned off) and even stopped acting jealous when there was Sheriarty. Oh, there was one time, I think your other followers may also remember, that John and Sherlock talked about John playing clarinet. It was a huge reblogged post and in the end John posted a photo of him playing clarinet with a ring on his finger. When followers pointed it out,John asked Sherlock something like "what could you deduce from me wearing your family heritage ring?" The question never got a reply. I'll send you links of love declarations when I get some free time to search through the blog.

Sherlock, on the other hand, is portrayed mostly as in series 1: reckless, brilliant, petulant, etc. and cranks up those qualities even more than Series 1. From time to time he forgets Rosie's existence. He also adds a characteristic that was not in BBC canon: Sherlock's lack of understanding of common daily expressions, like heart=feelings. I've seen him given anatomy lessons to followers when it came to "heart" and such. When followers questioned how he was able to go around his work if he didn't understand very common expressions or having edibles at home when Rosie lived there, John explained something like, "oh, he's toying you guys. That's not the case". The thing is that Sherlock behaves the same with John, so "toying with followers" doesn't explain it. The real reason is that they see characters at different timelines/ life stages.

I haven't followed them long, but I could already see for a while now that they couldn't meet in the middle ground, so the problem went back even further. I saw posts that saying the group doesn't talk as mods. Let's say that I wouldn't be surprised considering the lack of communication I've observed. This mess could have handled so much better if they had real communication along the way. They should have parted their ways a long time ago if they successfully communicated that the differences were irreconcilable. Personally I don't think it'll ever work out with zero behind the scenes, especially among characters with a long complicated canon history.

Best Regards

These are extremely good points for the role play community.

If their interpretation of a character they are playing doesn't vibe well, be cordial and try different characters, make adjustments, or separate ways.

The John mod mentioned that they have a 3 year history of rping together. The blogs are only.....2 years old? So they were rping together for a year before coming to tumblr.

If the John mod was dissatisfied with their character chemistry and rp style(s), a year is more than enough time to figure that out.

Of course people can change their minds. But as we have seen from Mycroft/John and Harriett mods, they refuse to speak out of character to deal with the more serious issues.

It's a mess

Search tag "a scandal in tumblr" for more info.

#answering anons #anon ask #anonymous #a scandal in tumblr

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luninosity · 11 months

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Whilst I actually remember that I exist here, may I quickly catch you up on some News of various types?

1) the RomPod podcast episode that's got an interview with, er, me, and also the lovely romance scholar Maria Ramos-Garcia, is up now, if you want to hear me ramble about things! We're in episode 2, which you can find here.

2) if you're looking for a good cause to support this month, and some great short stories celebrating queer joy in all sorts of flavors, you might like to check out this anthology kickstarter from Amphibian Press - I've got a story in there! Something brand-new and shiny and exclusive to this collection! (I think we're not supposed to announce the full lineup yet, but there are some lovely author-friends in there too!) Proceeds are going to benefit Club Q!

3) this one’s probably the Big Thing - the Character Bleed box set - with the original three novels, plus new author’s note, and updated cover art - is coming June 10 from JMS Books! Ebook first, then paperback probably in about two months - yes, it’ll be massive! I really want to see it. It’s going to be...wait for it...332,890 words. (Good heavens, did I write that many words?!) It’s actually sort of experimental - JMS said they don’t normally do paperbacks for box sets, but this trilogy has been such a consistent good seller, they’d like to try at least a limited number in print. (So maybe please buy one when that happens? If nothing else you can probably use it as a hammer, or a doorstop, or a weapon.)

This is closer to the way I originally wrote it, as one giant novel - I broke it into a trilogy to, y'know, make it publishable! This volume includes the short stories that came with each book - including the ones that were never on AO3, at least one of those per book. The short stories published separately will get collected into a second volume! (I am STILL working on Leo’s book, which might have to be two books, because it is now 116k and NOT DONE *screams quietly into pillows about not being able to write short things*)

I don’t think the Amazon link is live yet but here’s the JMS Books link!

4) with the Academic Hat on, I am your Fantasy & the Fantastic Area Chair for the Pacific Ancient & Modern Language Association Conference! We've got several great proposals but should have room for 1-2 more - if you are working on some fantasy-adjacent research / creative work with meta-cognitive component, and you want to come to Portland in October, send me an abstract over here! Or, if you are in or near Portland, would you like to hang out, meet up, say hi? Or, any recommendations? I’ve been to Portland once before but also for Academic Conference Reasons, so not lots of tourist time. Awesome Husband might come this time because he’s never been to Portland and he’s got some vacation time. We like history, good craft beer, botanic gardens, water, queerness, and libraries. I think the conference hotel is some sort of Hilton in the downtown area?

5) officially got the rights back from Inkshares* for my first** novel, A Prophecy for Two! (Plus they sent me the last paperbacks they had in inventory, so a- those are I guess rare-ish now, since there'll never be another of those editions - want to buy one for cheap? *laughs* I mean I’m semi- serious; they sent me like 13 paperbacks, and I do not need that many! and b- I think that's it as far as that relationship! *dusts off hands*) Now to give the whole thing a polish and republish it with JMS - we've already had conversations about that, so it’ll happen!

*I’ve got complicated feels about Inkshares. That’s a whole other post. In the short form: did I get a book out of it, when I was an unknown author? Yes. Would I advise someone else to work with them? No.

**first in terms of being completed. A Demon for Midwinter ended up being published first, because of publisher schedules and JMS Books sending me a super-quick offer and having great editorial turnaround.

6) okay, I THINK that’s it! Actually, a totally non-publishing related thing: I just had a student submit - for a 12-page paper requirement - a paper that was 21 pages. Yep.

Honestly, it was kind of lovely - he’s a good student, he’s a good writer, and he already submitted a 14-page version that was excellent, but then he asked if he could send me an updated version “to make it as good as I possibly can,” and I said yes, because he *is* a very good writer, and then. A 21 page paper showed up in my email. Not including his Works Cited section, or the lengthy email in which he told me how much fun he had in my class and getting to write about monsters and monstrosity and ethics and agency. My god, student, I am both impressed and vaguely in shock. I mean, that’s why I do this job, that’s why I love this job, but also - he sent the updated version to me the *day* before final grades were due. (He already had an A.)

#life #teaching #romance #lgbtq #pride #academia #cfp #jms books #lgbtq romance

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mutogamingco · 1 year

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Five Comfort Characters, Five Tags

Tagged by: @keithhoward

1. Yuugi Mutou - To the surprise of no one, as I write him here AND cosplay him. Not to mention I draw him so often in my sketchbook. I think I just latched onto him when I was first into the series as a kid and when I found out everything he went through that the DM anime and dub did not cover, I identified with him even more because of my own experiences with bullying. Not nearly as bad as his thank goodness, but bad enough that I needed to see that someone could come through it all and still be so kind. I love him so much, and he’s helped me through the darkest times in my life, re-entering it again when I needed him the most. As much as I did not like how the series ended, in the end with DSOD coming out around the time I returned to the fandom, exploring the character in grief helped me with my own. Cosplaying him at conventions also boosted my self esteem in ways I didn’t expect and it’s my most comfortable cosplay. It’s uncanny, but I notice the difference in how I feel about myself when dressed up, maybe because I was that kid that always admired alternative fashion but was never allowed to experiment with it.

2. Oz Vessalius & Gilbert Nightray - These two are a package deal and I will not separate them. I have cosplayed Oz in the past and he is the first cosplay I put together all on my own for my first anime convention. Again, there are aspects of his character I relate to on a deep, personal level, and I got very attached to him. Both of these guys need hugs. Oz may seem like a brand of mischievous sunshine, but there is darkness and sadness behind it., and his growth as a character is special to me. For Gilbert, it is a similar attachment, and I have RP’d as him in the past in private chats. His devotion to the people he loves is something to be admired, and he and Oz complement each other perfectly.In his words, it is not the light that connects him to Oz, but their shadows. I carried the first two volumes of Pandora Hearts in my bag every day in high school, and these two are on those covers. It quickly became my favorite manga and I still am not over it. Revisiting old AMVs/MMVs send me right back down the rabbit hole of when I first found the series at 17. The art drove me to work hard on my skills in order to do them justice, and the CLOTHES!!!! Just...mmm so gorgeous~~

3. Mistoffelees - I’m a theater kid at heart and it started with CATS. When I was about four PBS aired the 1998 recording in a special premiere and my mom let me stay up past my bedtime to watch it. She put out a mattress on the floor so we could both lay on it, and she was sure I would fall asleep halfway through. I was awake for the entire thing, enchanted, and my favorite was Magical Mr. Mistoffelees. She bought the VHS tape and I played it all the time, fast-forwarding to my favorite parts and spending lots of time trying to copy the dance moves. It’s a show I know a lot of history and random trivia about and I go see it live every chance I get. I love all of the characters for different reasons so I could argue for several of them being on my comfort character list, but Misto is the first I fixated on and it’s no wonder why. A small black cat that sparkles and does magic? What’s there not to love? Especially now that in the updated version of the show he covers himself, and the entire stage with rainbows and the big, plot relevant magic trick has been updated to a more impressive level. Only the strongest dancers are cast to play the role and every one I have seen live nailed it. (Also, he is one of the multiple queer-coded characters in the show and has been the face of all of the marketing since the revival in 2016.) He is another character I sketch a lot, because I love the character design I came up with in my style and would love to write him sometime.

4. Martin the Warrior - The character whose book ignited my love of reading as that was the point I discovered my favorite genre of books. I seem to gravitate towards characters that life is cruel to, but they come through it all and achieve greatness. There’s a reason the Redwall fandom affectionately calls him “Mouse Jesus”, as though there is no organized religion in the books, he is essentially a warrior saint and spirit guardian of the abbey he helped to build. Even with his pain, impulsiveness, and affliction of the Bloodwrath, he is a kind and devoted friend who will die fighting to save others so they may live in peace. He also has a found family that fills me with the warm fuzzies. Even in death, he is there as a friend who call Redwall home, and kin to those who hear the call to defend it. He may be just a mouse, but he never sat idle when there was something he could do in the face of adversity. Even as I revisit the books, and play a TTRPG themed after them, each and every time he makes an appearance I get such a thril! The fact he also offers help in the form of puzzles and riddles is also dear to my heart. I know there is one I can buy that is gorgeously designed, but now that I have a few beginner looms I want to take a crack at weaving a miniature version of his tapestry depiction myself, and I want to make a prop of his sword as well.

5. Matthias of Redwall - I considered cheating again and adding him to Martin’s ranking (because HA if you know, you know) but I decided not to. The book he first appears in was the first published, and though it is different in tone to a lot of the others as the author made some changes on how the world worked, his hero’s journey is one I know like the back of my hand. The animated show that was on PBS made quite a few changes but I still watched the episodes I own on DVD a ton and he just lives in my head rent free as THE Redwall mouse. If I draw a mouse wearing a green habit it’s most likely him. This kid had to work his tail off to become the warrior he was chosen to be by the end and the payoff is incredible, especially when listening to the audiobook (Marc Jacques and his distinct voice acting is a joy to listen to, at least for me!). He’s a freaking adorable, bumbling, ambitious young mouse and reading as he grows with each challenge is a joy for me. I think I enjoyed him even more as a character in the sequel, Mattimeo, because it’s unusual for a middle grade book to focus so much on adult characters--and he is a fully grown adult as he has a son who is coming of age. He grew into his role as Abbey Warrior so naturally and brought Martin’s story full circle in a way I did not realize on my first read and GAAAH I love it so much. I think if there is one thing I am sad about, is that none of the books featured him (or Martin for that matter) in their respective sunset years, which would have been interesting to compare.

Tagging: @lil-kissy @hisahku @sennenpharaoh @better-name-for-rp-blog @iilahalzili

#long post #ooc #dash games #don't mind me as I gush over my faves

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anachronistic-falsehood · 2 years

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Please write that essay on dirk and Jane please our dirk fictive needs it

I’m gonna do the Jane part of the essay in a different post because tbh it is a different can of worms and I would like to give each analysis the attention and effort they deserve

this one’s for you random dirk fictive!! Sorry I didn’t answer this ask earlier, it took me a while to compile all my thoughts in a coherent way.

Why Ult!Dirk’s villainy in HS2 kind of makes sense for the circumstances but doesn’t make sense for the canon HS proper character: an unnecessarily long analytical essay by your local post canon enthusiast

First and foremost, Dirk himself is a victim and a kid. He lives in the world the Condesce made and lives isolated in an apartment above the sea, alone aside from a copy of his own brain he made when he was thirteen. He is a lonely depressed teenager with self-worth issues, which is why him suddenly becoming a villain in HS2 doesn't make sense for his canon character.

I made another post a little while ago about what I think of Ult!Dirk’s situation, so I'll try not to repeat myself, but in it I said that the general path he went down did sort of make sense—for that version of his character. It's understandable to me why he acts out and why he feels the need to be significant; he's got no self worth. Because of the actions of all his splinters, he can only see himself as a villain, so that's what he becomes. He's gone a little stir crazy since absorbing the memories of all his splinters and gaining the ability to control the narrative itself.

However, for normal canon Dirk... no fucking shot.

Canon Dirk knows the history of Earth 2. He knows what the Condesce did, he knows what Alpha Dave did to fight back, and he's one of the last human beings on the planet. Knowing the destruction that a person can cause and living in a world after that destruction has occurred, it doesn't make sense that he would purposely try to become a villain too?? It's not even that Ult!Dirk thinks he's doing something "right", he's literally stated multiple times that he knows he's doing bad things. He knows he's hurting people. Dirk himself would never do that. There may be timelines out there where Dirk did become a sort of "villain" depending on the circumstances, but he would never hurt the people around him like Ult!Dirk does. And here's why:

Ult!Dirk and actual canon Dirk are like two completely different characters. In post-canon, it's like Dirk and his splinters were a bunch of separate puzzles, and someone took a bunch of pieces from each one and stuck them together to make Ult!Dirk. I can certainly see why Ult!Dirk is the way he is, and I can pinpoint bits and pieces of his behaviour that trace back to his separate splinters, but overall, he's not Dirk. He's ARquiussprite, he's Brobot, Doc Scratch, Bro, Lord English, Dirk, and every other splinter from every other timeline. He's "evil" because parts of him were evil.

But Dirk himself? Not so much. He's a kid who had to grow up too fast and was lonely and had to work through relationship problems without any prior experience and had to deal with the fact that the beta version of his hero was abused by the beta version of himself. He lived with a creepy puppet all his life. He made robots just so he would have something to rap with. He's a kid. Him turning to villainy doesn't make sense. It makes sense for Ult!Dirk, but he's just... not Dirk anymore.

In conclusion, Dirk would never be a villain and I firmly believe he would punch Ult!Dirk if he ever met him.

#homestuck #homestuck 2 #homestuck epilogues #hs^2 #hs epilogues #i still very much love ult!dirk as his own character i think he is very interesting #but he is simply Not Dirk #dirk is PART of him but ult dirk is not dirk himself if that makes any sense #the jane essay will happen don’t u worry #whiskeys word soup

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fellowshipofthefics · 2 years

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Hey Fellowship of the Fics! Please welcome @lathalea!! 👏🥳 Lathalea decided to share her thoughts and impressions on her fic: The White Raven.

Question 1: Did you have a plan for this story and did it stick well to that plan?

Yes, I most definitely have and I'm sticking to it 100%. Well... I may be adding some extra details along the way, I hope you'll like what I did with the story!

Question 2: What scene are you most proud of and why?

I have a separate favorite scene in each chapter, and since I'm trying to put a lot of thought into them, please bear with me: Chapter 1 - Thorin fighting with the Orcs: I had a really good time writing this dynamic duel from a warrior's point of view and I hope it shows. Chapter 2 - The moment when Carra wakes up: I used different tenses to show her confusion as she adapts to her "human" form. Does it work well? You tell me! Chapter 3 - Thorin at the waterfall: Actually, in this chapter, I'm mostly proud of the art Mewpet has graciously agreed to create. It's 100 times better than my descriptions of him tbh :) Chapter 4 - the flashback scene with Carra and Grandfather Arc teaching her the raven secrets. I put a lot of worldbuilding into it and I hope I managed to show it in a coherent way. Chapter 5 - the last scene (the kaleidoscope): the impressionist feeling, the purposefully chaotic narration, the visual presentation of the events. Chapter 6 - this one is still being written, so I don't want to spoil too much. Let's just say you won't be dissapointed with the ending.

Question 3: Which character was your favorite to write in this fic and why?

Thorin. Surprise! ;) He was both the toughest and the easiest to write, depending on the scene and "The White Raven" allowed me to explore how this character could think and act in various situations that weren't described by Tolkien (nor filmed by PJ). One of my favorite scenes with him, I think, is the first one when he tells little Fili and Kili the tale of the White Raven.

Question 4: What are 3 "hidden" headcanons or facts that you want your readers to know about this story?

1. Since the beginning of time, Ravens and Dwarves share a special bond that goes beyond the mundane. It was made to protect both species because they have an important role to play. 2. Sauron is growing in strength much earlier, before the events in Dol Guldur, and he needs to destroy both the significant Ravens and Dwarves before they threaten his plans for the future. 3. In my version of the Middle Earth history, in the War of the Ring (the one we know from the LOTR), Dale and Erebor survive and destroy the Enemy's army only because Thorin is still alive and leads the attack. If he dies, that part of Middle Earth may fall into the hands of the Enemy - or worse.

Question 5: If you were to give this fic an alternate title, what would it be?

"Wings of Destiny" - although the story is mostly questioning the destiny and leaning towards forging your own fate, the catalyst to all the changes stays the same. The White Raven.

If you haven’t read this story yet, go back up to the top and be sure to click the link. Also if you haven’t seen Lathalea’s works before, here are some other fics that she has done that are worth checking out as well:

All Is Fair in Love and Trade

Remember

Springtime at the Lonely Mountain

If you would like to get you and your story featured in Monday Mentions, please click the Application Link! If you have any questions/concerns with the form, please feel free to leave an ask or DM one of us! Questions will be updated each month so repeat writers and stories are welcome. New writers will be prioritized.

#monday mentions #lathalea

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mavspeed · 1 year

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Hi faerie_ground/ Desi,

I'm writing this in your ask box because for some reason my DMs are being stupid and not opening. My name's Kai, I go by Shearmouth on AO3, and I've been a rabid follower of "cloaked" since I found it around chapter 4's posting. I've already left you several reviews, but I wanted to reach out and let you know again how much this story means to me, and how grateful I am to you for creating it, so you can have a loving message from one of your readers to take into the new year (and on your much-deserved hiatus!) with you.

Trigger warning for CSA and its associated shittiness.

When I was 10 I was molested by a very close family member. Due to life circumstances, I didn't really have a way to get away from this person, and the response of my primary caregiver at the time was to kinda sweep it under the rug. Luckily it didn't happen again, but the body keeps the score and all that. 10 years later, during covid, the trauma started surfacing in therapy. I've spent the last 2 years working on it. I have been told by the same caregiver I confided in when it first happened to keep it to myself, don't talk about it, keep the peace in the family. There was a long time where I felt deeply broken, tainted almost. Like I never truly would heal from it. And I was so angry that it ever happened at all.

Though I've made tons of progress since then, I still find enormous catharsis in fanfic featuring sexual abuse and recovery. A few stand out, but yours is at the top of the list, despite being barely half posted. I've said it before but I'll say it again– your handling of the subject matter is nothing short of masterful. This is heavy, heavy shit. But you manage to say it out loud and look it in the face in a way that's both agonizing, and deeply moving. Maverick's reaction to his abuse is familiar to anyone who's gone through something like it, I think. The shame, the terror, the dread. Feeling like you've been dirtied beyond hope. That your friends and loved ones see you reduced to only what was done to you. And the rage. All that rage, with nowhere to go.

Maverick feels all this and more, and in the beginning it was torture to watch him go through it alone. As Ice slowly earns his trust again and works his way back into his heart, we see Maverick starting to let him in and lean on him. And Ice, flawed and frightened as he may be, is showing up for Maverick. He's standing by him through that terror and shame and rage. And we're seeing Maverick soften into it and accept that love from Ice.

So many people don't get that. So many people go through this alone, from start to finish. I was lucky. I have two amazing friends who stood by me, and a few excellent therapists. But even with them, working through this has seen me lonelier than at almost any other point in my life. I can't imagine how hard it is for survivors who truly don't have anyone. But here we get to see Mav accept the help, and start to move toward the path of healing. Ice, of course, can't fix this for him. But he can have his back. And that is invaluable. He's there for Mav even when Mav is being pissy and scared and angry and all the nasty emotions one tends to feel in the wake of such a traumatic experience. Thank you for giving that to him, and vicariously, to me. I can't wait to watch them heal, separately and together.

I'm rambling a bit, but the point is this: the story that you're making is incredibly profound. It's expertly executed. It's gripping and moving and heartbreaking. And for me, coming to it with my history, it's extremely cathartic. I'm so grateful to you for putting this into the world. Thank you.

I wait with bated breathed for the next chapter (even tho I'm scared, wtf does negative comfort even MEAN AUGH IM FRIGHTENED), and I'll be counting the days until February or whenever you come off hiatus! I hope you enjoy a well-deserved rest from this beast, and in the meantime happy new year!

Love, Kai

HIII putting this under a read more cos it got long. general trigger warning for discussions of rape/non-con/CSA

first off can i just say. i am SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG TO GET TO THIS this ask legitimately did not show up in my notifs. i had the shock of my LIFE when i came on tumblr web and realised i received 2 asks from you. lmfjgfjfjffj tumblr.............

second of all there is no need for an introduction (this may sound creepy) but i know who you are i really look forward to seeing your comments on cloaked you have no idea!!! each comment is like a balm to my soul i recognise every single one of my regular, semi-regular, dying-but-hanging-in-there commenters lmao i love yall serious

third!! this ask moved me to tears. seriously seriously SERIOUSLY it did i had to run off to the bathroom at work and then run back bc my work is a deadline-based hellsite. ANYWAY i am so sorry you went through that, you should never have done and these situations just remind us of how horrible and awful some people can be. im so glad you're seeking help for it right now, that's the right step and im so proud you had the courage to do it!

as for everything else- im also relieved that this story resonates with you! truth be told i was nervous about posting the first chapter bc its such a dark subject matter and we know what purity culture is like these days. don't discuss sensitive issues, don't put it in your fic, etc etc etc. i have my own opinions on these but in all honesty, cloaked was just going to be a straightforward retelling of tgm in tg86 squad's perspective until i came across a story handling rape/non-con..... not well. at all. and its not the first fandom ive seen this be handled in a way thats... just not to my liking, lets leave it at that. so believe it or not cloaked came about half out of spite and half out of personal reasons (i think i said some of it in my reply to you lol)

anyway thank YOU for sharing your story with me and please believe me when I say you're not alone!! a huge part of cloaked is the arc of mav coming to realise he doesn't have to deal with his trauma by himself. he has people around him (not just ice), and eventually, they push him to get the help he needs (is this a spoiler? nvm idc lmao). trust me, i put careful thought into it for a reason! thank YOU for realising it and coming to terms with it :') you're definitely not alone and anytime you feel as such, seek out help! my dms are always open too :D

also i feel like i don't need to say this but once again any form of way you use to go forth in your recovery is so so valid. if you wanna read my fic 1000 times over or others dealing in this content to get a step ahead, please do so. if you wanna ask me for personal headcanons/thoughts/etc in the cloaked verse specifically, please do so. im always ready and willing to talk!!

this reply got so godawfully long to end it off... i don't know which point you're at in the process of your recovery, but i hope you get the healing you deserve, which you do very much. thank you for being so brave to share your story <3 i sincerely hope cloaked ends in a fitting way to make you proud as well lmfkgjkgj ahhaha insert high-pitched nervous laughter

#sorry for how late this response is i truly feel so bad for replying late LMFJNDJFJ #ask #also the negative comfort thing. LMFJNFGJ now that the chapter is out i think we all know what it refers to.. big F #but it gets better from here on!

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self-shipping-angel · 2 years

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So anyways here's Steve and Eddie's girlfriend, Seven (Sev for short, they/them pronouns). They grew up in the lab with El but their abilities are almost exclusively pyrokinetic which is why "Papa" never found them as useful as the others.

Right before El escaped, "Papa" sent them into the upside down to search for something and abandoned them there. Sev had a lot of anger issues growing up so for him it was a win-win situation, either they came back with what he sent them for or they didnt and he would have one less nuisance distracting him from his work with Eleven. Sev managed to find their way into the tunnels under upside down Hawkins and encased themselves in a fiery crystal to save themselves.

And that is where Steve found them a year later while running from the demodogs. Hopper took them in at El's insistence that she wouldn't be separated from her big sister again. Of course Hop had his work cut out for him with not only trying to catch this young adult up on their education but dealing with their fierce need to rebel and be independent.

Sev spent most of s3 hanging out at the mall with Steve and Robin or in tutoring (something they'd often ditch in favor of getting piercings, finding new music, really just finding themselves finally). Meanwhile Steve has found himself falling head over heels for the awkward but self empowered pyromancer and is constantly getting prodded by Robin to just ask them out already. He keeps deflecting and making up excuses which just confuses Robin since she knows nothing of Sev's history. At least until they all get trapped under Starcourt and Dustin's all "don't worry, we've got Sev here! Any Russians show up and they can just light them on fire with their mind! ....Oops you guys didn't know that, did you?" Jumping ahead to when Steve is driving them all away to get to the radio and they find out the Mindflayer is at the mall with El, Sev flips out and goes full Dark Phoenix to fly back and save their little sister. Oh also they totally kiss Steve when he tries to protest it's too dangerous. (Yeah I know it's the old cliche sudden kiss before I run off to save the day thing but I dont care, he's adorable when he's surprised)

After it's all over and El is moving to California with the Byers, Sev opts to stay in Hawkins with Steve so they can figure out their relationship. Not to mention Dr Owens steps in to enforce they have to have some sort of proper education. And so s4 starts with Sev and Steve renting an apartment together, Steve is working at the video rental shop, and Sev has been strong armed into private classes at Hawkins High. It is here that at long last they meet Eddie, shortly after he's recruited Dustin, Mike, and Lucas for the Hellfire Club. Eddie is surprised to find out Sev is the big sister of Mike's girlfriend and gives him hell for not recruiting them to Hellfire sooner. Throughout the year he genuinely tries to keep Sev at an arm's length knowing they're dating Harrington, yet the others in the party cant help but notice their DM getting soft.

I haven't decided yet how Eddie and Sev confront their feelings and make it one big poly relationship but I'll update whenever I figure that out. For the sake of clarity, yes I know about s4pt2 though I haven't watched it, I refuse to discuss it, just know shit is getting changed. Me, Steve, and Eddie are perfectly happy in our cuddle pile, thank you. Also there may be inaccuracies with Sev's storyline in this post as I'm writing this all from memory but this is the basic jist of things. I had started this with the intent to just write like 2 sentences and share the picture but then it just kept going lol so I'm gonna leave this here for now.

#the angel rambles #self insert #self shipping #self insert x canon #dont like self inserts? keep scrolling #also antis dni #and if you ship with Steve or Eddie also please dni #stranger things insert #ship with Steve and Eddie

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historyhermann · 1 year

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The story of "Black Confederates"

A Black cook tends to large kettles set over a fire. In parts of the picture cropped out, White Confederate soldiers enjoy leisure time. This again supports the assertion that Blacks served as laborers of varying kinds, not as soldiers for the Confederates.

The story of Black Confederates is one that needs to be told accurately and correctly. I first heard of it when I visited Richard Stewart's Pocahontas Island Black History Museum some years ago. I come back to it again after writing about Blacks who supported the British Crown in last week's post.

Reprinted from my History Hermann WordPress blog.

Images like this one of Marlboro Jones would be twisted by the distorters of history to support the claim that Blacks fought as soldiers in the Confederate lines, although he was a "manservant of Confederate captain Randal F. Jones of the 7th Georgia Cavalry," only dressed in a Confederate uniform for that role. Hence, he was not free in any sense of the word.

The Civil War Trust makes it abundantly clear: there were no Black Confederate soldiers, considering that "Vast columns of escaped slaves followed almost every major Union army at one point or another" while Confederate armies captured and enslaved "free black people during their brief occupations of Northern territories." They add that while "black soldiers made up 10% of the Union Army and had suffered more than 10,000 combat casualties" some Blacks aided the Confederacy, many who were "forced to accompany their masters or were forced to toil behind the lines" since they were prohibited from serving "combat soldiers in the Confederate Army." Hence, they were "cooks, teamsters, and manual laborers" with no documentation for Black Confederate units of any type during the Civil War. While some black men may have fired at Union soldiers, such soldiers never encountered "an all-black line of battle or anything close to it." In contrast, the Union Army had the United States Colored Troops, among other units, which fought as part of the said army.

The Civil War Trust adds that not only did no Confederate ever reference "black soldiers under his command or in his unit," but did reference Black laborers, with the rejection of black combat units until March 13, 1865 when the Confederate Congress allowed Black men to serve in combat roles. However, this came with a caveat: "black soldiers would still be slaves." With the end of the war three weeks after this law was passed, no evidence seems to indicate that "any black units were accepted into the Confederate Army as a result of the law." No other primary source of Confederates "mentions serving with black soldiers." [1] The Civil War Trust ends by saying that the "notion of widespread black combat service has only arisen within the past 25 years or so," with the baseless claims that as many as " 80,000 black soldiers" fought for the Confederacy.

The Civil War Trust is not the only one that has said this. When one author made a shotty claim that "thousands" of Blacks fought for the Confederacy they were derided when the sources for their book were web links all tied back to the pro-Confederate Sons of Confederate Veterans, and it was shown they didn't know what they were talking about. Later they removed the badly sourced material. This is part of the general distortion of the topic. Claims by respected historians, whether their words or associated photographs with their work, are twisted to claim that Blacks fought for the Confederacy in large numbers. [2]

Separating myth from reality

The Root is a good place to continue this discussion. They note that most Civil War historians repudiate "the idea of thousands of blacks fighting for the South." Adding to this, it seems evident that a "few blacks, slave and free, supported the Confederacy" and while The Root author estimates that "between 3,000 and 6,000 served as Confederate soldiers," nothing seems to support that estimation if you use the sources cited by the Civil War Trust, as noted earlier. [3] However, it seems more evident, and more supported by evidence, that "another 100,000 or so blacks, mostly slaves, supported the Confederacy as laborers, servants and teamsters...[doing] the Confederacy’s dirty work." Adding to this, the article notes how Frederick Douglass said that at the Battle of Manassas “among rebels were black troops, no doubt pressed into service by their tyrant masters,” although this account is highly disputed with Douglass's sources on this subject likely faulty. It claims there are sources "proving" that Blacks fought for the confederacy at the battle, however, this seems to be suspect since no existing sources prove such claims as real. After all, it seems evident that "Confederates impressed slaves as laborers and at times forced them to fight," putting guns in their hands, forcing them to fire on Union soldiers.

There was the Louisiana Native Guards. They were a black unit "accepted as part of the Louisiana militia in May 1862" but they "never saw combat while in Confederate service," and were just for "public display" with the unit surrendering to Union troops in April 1862, later serving in the Union Army. So, that again, cannot be used to support a claim of Blacks fighting for the Confederacy. For those who were part of the Native Guards, they said that “By serving the Confederates, [they hoped] to advance a little nearer to equality with whites," seeing that they would gain more rights. While later in the war, in 1863, "masters increasingly refused to allow slaves to be impressed by the Confederacy" and Northern papers continued to print rumors of Blacks serving as soldiers.

There was another factor to keep in mind. There were "some partial companies of slaves training as soldiers discovered by Union forces after the fall of Richmond" but they never fought in a combat capacity since, until the end of the war, "the Confederate Congress expressly forbade arming enslaved African Americans," for fears of a slave uprising. Still, it is accounts like this that are used to support the claim of Black soldiers on the side of the Confederacy by people such as John J. Dwyer. This is despite the fact that it was not "until March 1865—after a contentious debate that took place throughout the Confederacy—that the Confederate Congress passed legislation authorizing the enlistment of slaves who were first freed by their masters," with such individuals re-enslaved after their service ended.

There are a number of other articles on this subject. A Civil War Era blog, Dead Confederates confronts this issue head on. In one post they write about how claims that Stonewall Jackson had a "regiment of negroes" to be faulty, a letter by a White Southerner saying that Blacks may "may be made an efficient body in this war of self-defence" while led by White officers, and claims that cannot be corroborated anywhere else. Then there are the false claims that Robert Small was a "Black Confederate," a mess-up by the engravers that called a Black Union soldier a member of the Confederate Army, and disproving the claim that Crock Davis was a "Black Confederate." This is only a small sampling of the posts he has written on the subject, which accompany those assembled in a post by historian Kevin Levin on Civil War Memory. [4]

Even some more sympathetic to the Black Confederate Soldiers idea note that "first-hand evidence abundantly demonstrates that black men were present in great numbers with Confederate armies at all times." It is added that "a great deal of the cooking, wagon driving, tending wounded, and camp work was done by these men." While they push the idea of Black Confederate Soldiers, which is dubious, they have to admit that the Blacks within Confederate ranks were basically laborers, with others noted earlier in this post. As Hari Jones, assistant director/curator of the African American Civil War Museum in Washington, DC., argued "calling slaves soldiers is propaganda, not history. The labor force of the Confederacy was a majority of African American enslaved persons. In order for [the Confederates] to fight the war, they had to use enslaved labor. The Confederate Army could not have moved one-tenth of its equipment without enslaved labor."

There is more to the story. The National Archives points out that "on July 17, 1862, Congress passed the Second Confiscation and Militia Act, freeing slaves who had masters in the Confederate Army" and only "two days later, slavery was abolished in the territories of the United States."Adding to this is that

Recruitment was slow until black leaders such as Frederick Douglass...encouraged black men to become soldiers to ensure eventual full citizenship...Volunteers began to respond, and in May 1863 the Government established the Bureau of Colored Troops to manage the burgeoning numbers of black soldiers. By the end of the Civil War, roughly 179,000 black men (10% of the Union Army) served as soldiers in the U.S. Army and another 19,000 served in the Navy. Nearly 40,000 black soldiers died over the course of the war—30,000 of infection or disease. Black soldiers served in artillery and infantry and performed all noncombat support functions that sustain an army, as well. Black carpenters, chaplains, cooks, guards, laborers, nurses, scouts, spies, steamboat pilots, surgeons, and teamsters also contributed to the war cause. There were nearly 80 black commissioned officers. Black women, who could not formally join the Army, nonetheless served as nurses, spies, and scouts...Because of prejudice against them, black units were not used in combat as extensively as they might have been. Nevertheless, the soldiers served with distinction in a number of battles. Black infantrymen fought gallantly at Milliken's Bend, LA; Port Hudson, LA; Petersburg, VA; and Nashville, TN.... In June 1864 Congress granted equal pay to the U.S. Colored Troops and made the action retroactive. Black soldiers received the same rations and supplies. In addition, they received comparable medical care...Although the threat generally restrained the Confederates, black captives were typically treated more harshly than white captives. In perhaps the most heinous known example of abuse, Confederate soldiers shot to death black Union soldiers captured at the Fort Pillow, TN, engagement of 1864.

The fact that Confederates treated Blacks within the Union Army as people to be abused, killed, or tortured, further punctures the idea of the Confederacy as "progressive" for letting (actually forcing) Blacks to serve in their ranks.

The present

To this day, debate continues on this issue, between those historians who want to revive the racist, pro-slavery Confederacy as "glorious" and the majority of Civil War historians who indicate that the Confederacy and slavery were wrong, telling the reality of the war. Even some, who are in the second group, seem to accept the idea of Black Confederate soldiers, saying historians like Levin are using "21st century standards" to determine what happened in the 19th century (if he is even doing this, which is debatable). It is silly to say this because historians in the present should not be required to use the standards of that time to make their historical interpretations, as that would limit them, and new standards allow them to avoid mistakes which were made in the past.

Such debates obscure the fact that Neo-Confederates today use the Black Confederate narrative to their advantage. While the black Confederate narrative may threaten assertions by such individuals "that the “southern nation” consists solely of “anglo-celtic” Christians," it also seems to apologize for action by the Confederacy. While Blacks provided "physical and material support to the CSA throughout its existence by performing tasks normally associated with chattel slavery in that period, and in scattered instances toward the close of the war" they took up arms, the core truth is that "black Confederates were operating in a system of coercion and oppression where the penalty for non-compliance was corporal punishment or death." So, to hold this up as an example is to mean that one has become an apologist for slavery. Hence, the idea of Black Confederates fighting as soldiers is clearly a myth. Adding to this is the fact stated by the Mariner's Museum in a post on the subject:

There were of course no integrated units in the South...there may have actually been a few units of black troops that organized for the Confederates. Professor John Stauffer of Harvard has recently done research on just this subject, and estimates that there may have been a bit over 3,000 black soldiers formed on the Confederate side...many of these black soldiers were not accepted by the Confederate government and were not issued firearms: still more of these soldiers were coerced into joining the military, and others joined to escape miserable poverty....The greatest single example of black Confederate soldiers – the Louisiana Native Guards, composed of black and mixed-race men from the New Orleans area – was not accepted by the Confederate military despite their wish to fight for the south when the war broke out...As a result, when the Union took New Orleans in spring of 1862, the Louisiana Native Guards joined the Union when General Butler called for reinforcements. On a side note, over 4,000 black and mixed-race men joined the Union army in New Orleans that spring, which outnumbers those that may have joined the Confederacy over the course of the entire war.

Again, let us restate that Black men were not legally allowed to serve as combat soldiers in the Confederate Army, "they were cooks, teamsters, and manual laborers. There were no black Confederate combat units in service during the war." Other sources confirm this reality.

For now, it seems this case is closed. It is better to focus on those Blacks who fought for the British Crown during the Revolutionary War, those who fought for the Union during the Civil War, or those who fought for the British during the War of 1812.

Notes

[1] The Civil War Trust says "whatever black combat service might have occurred during the war, it was not sanctioned by the Confederate government." But, based on their own article, this sentence has no basis in reality.

[2] Ta-Nehisi Coates covers this briefly, linking to varying resources in his two articles on the subject in The Atlantic.

[3] The Root author seems to accept the idea of Black Confederate soldiers (why), saying that "the total number of black Confederate soldiers is statistically insignificant: They made up less than 1 percent of the 800,000 black men of military age (17-50) living in the Confederate states, based on 1860 U.S. census figures, and less than 1 percent of at least 750,000 Confederate soldiers." But again, this is not supported by evidence.

[4] The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV)even has a whole page on their website titled "Black Confederates," claiming that "over 65,000 Southern blacks were in the Confederate ranks," citing books such as Charles Kelly Barrow's Forgotten Confederates: An Anthology About Black Southerners, Ervin L. Jordan, Jr.'s Black Confederates and Afro-Yankees in Civil War Virginia, Richard Rollins's Black Southerners in Gray, accounts of Frederick Douglass, and Dr. Lewis Steiner, Chief Inspector of the United States Sanitary Commission, although the latter two cannot be independently verified, along with an "excellent educational video." They claim that there were varying Black units (“Richmond Howitzers” (partially), a "non-commissioned officer" named James Washington, "skilled black workers", "Black and white militiamen...at the Battle of Griswoldsville", "Jackson Battalion" (partially), "Confederate States Colored Troops" (unknown number), "confederate supply train was exclusively manned and guarded by black Infantry", "black seamen served in the Confederate Navy", "180,000 Black Southerners, from Virginia alone, provided logistical support for the Confederate military"). Of these claims, these claims are undoubtedly distortions of history but are using the numbers of those Blacks who served as laborers and claiming they are soldiers, which is not the case. They also seem to assume that when someone talks about Blacks joining the "ranks" of the Confederates it was down willingly and that they were soldiers rather than laborers. Similar claims are made by Walter E. Williams in "Black Confederates" (Jan. 21, 2000).

#black confederates #black history #civil war #us history #debunking #debunking myths #cooks #fuck the confederacy #confederate #sons of confederate veterans #lying jerks #racism #white supremacy #whiteness #slavery #enslavement #military service

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