The Harkness Coven

A delightful mixture of the Bellas and the Borg.

[aenslem]

Fail this, fail the semester. SYLVIA TILLY | Star Trek: Starfleet Academy 1.08

[glitterary]

We often treat commenting and kudosing as transactional, but I’d like to propose a different perspective.

A fandom is like a community garden; the plants and trees are fanworks, the paths and benches are structures like ao3 and kinkmemes and themed weeks or months. Comments, and kudos? Those are fertiliser. You don’t necessarily see them at work, but they make the trees grow stronger and the flowers bloom brighter. When you comment on a fic or piece of fanart, you are nourishing our shared garden and helping to make the soil fertile for future works.

I want commenters to feel proud of that contribution. Whether you turn up with a wheelbarrow of the stuff to tip on your favourite flowerbed or just drop a heart emoji in the donations box, you are helping to make the soil richer, the garden more beautiful.

And you know what? Sometimes you need to just sit in the garden without feeling obliged to do anything to maintain it. That’s okay. It’s your garden too! As an author, I don’t want people coming to my stories with a sense of obligation; I want them to be able to enjoy them and be restored by them. If they don’t have the energy to comment right now, that’s okay.

But a comment isn’t the price of an entry ticket to someone else’s garden; it’s an investment in your garden, in your community. You won’t always see it bear fruit, won’t always know what part of the whole it helped grow. But you can know what you put in, and feel proud of being part of the team nourishing and maintaining this wonderful space we all share.

And whatever you do, please—don’t litter, or tell other people they’re enjoying the garden wrong.

[sandersstudies]

My husband’s job primarily employs adult men but there is one (1) teenage girl and my husband said originally he worried she might be a bit of an outcast but instead every man on the crew was like “huh guess I am a dad/older brother now.”

[sandersstudies]

She was in a car crash on the way to work one morning and called my husband to let him know she’d be late and he was like wtf guess I’m gonna be late too because I’m coming to pick you up and then he told his team and they were like I think you mean WE are coming.

[hoonkus-deactivated20230701]

Imagine you are a teenage girl probably rushing to get to work and you crash your probably new car and feel absolutely miserable and now you’ll be late to work but then suddenly in the distance a car full of all the adult men you work with just pulls up and is like “we came all the way here to pick you up” the mental image right now is fr.

[sandersstudies]

Apparently she tried to call her dad but it was 3am and he was obviously sleeping so she called my husband and he not only came to find her but fished her glasses out of the hood of the car (she’d dropped them while looking inside), drove her to the hospital, and told her to take the day off. She insisted on coming back to work so he used his lunch break to watch TV with her to make sure she didn’t doze off (concussion risk).

You’ve heard of the Mom friend but my husband is very much the Dad friend. He said when he answered the phone she said “hey please don’t be mad” and he’s never felt such powerful Fatherhood energy in his life.

[deliciouspaintthinner]

Girl: *calls for aid*

Every single dad packed into the car:

[sandersstudies]

This is possibly my favorite response to this post

[i-like-to-think-that-im-cool]

This girls father: Thanks for helping my daughter out guys

Your husband and all his coworkers:

[brightlotusmoon]

[curator-on-ao3]

I’m sure this has been said before, but it fascinates me how Janeway’s major hairstyle changes (bun to ponytail, ponytail to bob) are so obviously due to the plot of one particular episode (Future’s End and Year of Hell, respectively) in which, say, the bun would look strange on the streets of then-modern Los Angles and the ponytail, no matter how mussed, wouldn’t adequately capture the depths of the year of hell.

And the production team kind of went, yeah, wow we like that, let’s keep it.

The fact that both hair-changing episodes are two-parters that deal with time is probably a coincidence … and a two nickels joke.

[buffygifs]

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER 6.18 | "ENTROPY" “Things fall apart. They fall apart so hard. You can’t ever put them back the way they were. I’m sorry, it’s just… you know, it takes time. You can’t just… have coffee and expect—. There’s just so much to work through. Trust has to be built again, on both sides. You have to learn if…if we’re even the same people we were. If you can fit in each other’s lives. It’s a long, important process and… Can we just skip it?”

[heavensenthale]

you know what? fuck it *reads the fanfic I spent hours writing for my own enjoyment*

[wynnyfryd]

if you’re not rereading your own 3yo one-shots every once in a while so you can shake your head at the ao3 tab and mutter god i’m fucking funny then what are we even doing all this work for?

[sparklejamesysparkle]

Elizabeth Taylor’s eloquent and powerful speech while accepting the Vanguard Award at the 11th annual GLAAD Media Awards in 2000. After her dear friend and co-star Rock Hudson announced that he had AIDS prior to his passing in 1985 (the first high-profile celebrity to do so), Elizabeth—against great opposition during the fear-based AIDS hysteria and stigmatization prevalent in the 1980s—immediately organized a fundraising benefit to raise money for AIDS research (she later stated that she had the phone hung up on her repeatedly while trying to enlist the help of other celebrities with the benefit, and that some people thought she was “crazy” for getting involved with the cause). After Rock passed away on October 2nd, 1985, she also organized his memorial service and soon after became the co-founder (alongside Dr. Mathilde Krim) of the first AIDS research center amfAR. Her separate Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation was established in 1991 with the specific focus of providing nutritious meals (as well as medical and financial assistance) to people living with HIV and AIDS. She also lobbied the U.S. congress to contribute more money for AIDS research and education, devoting the last twenty-six years of her life to the cause. After Elizabeth passed away in 2011 at the age of 79, a large portion of the $156,800,000 raised at the Christie’s auction of her legendary jewelry collection was bequeathed to her charity in order to continue providing the services and assistance she believed were important in perpetuity.

[lonelyzarquon]

agatha’s emergency manipulation technique: seduction + a pout combo (100% success rate)

[sniperct]

"Why didn't the Democrats codify Roe v Wade?"

They didn't have enough votes to bypass the filibuster because of Joe Manchin

"Why didn'-"

The answer is probably Joe Manchin.

"They had 60 votes in-"

For a few months and that entire time was spent wrestling with like 11 Joe Manchins from a bunch of red states in the senate to get health care reform passed.

"What about the Filibuster-"

JOE FUCKING MANCHIN

[sweetestinthegale]

Why didn't Democrats codify Roe v. Wade when Obama had a fillibuster proof majority in 2009? (Because this is where the talking point originates).

The myth is Obama had one for 2 straight years and failed to deliver, ergo, we cannot trust Democrats to codify Roe.

Well, my sweet, summer children, that is bullshit.

For two glorious years Democrats had full and total control of the House, where bills originate. The lie is that they had the same in the Senate. Because while a bill only needs 50 votes to pass, it needs 60 to be brought to a vote in the event that it will be fillibustered first. (Spoiler alert- it will be.)

In 2009, we had 57 Democratic seats and 2 independent seats that usually reliably caucused with the Dems (Bernie Sanders and that fucking twice-baked potato, Joe Lieberman.)

So 59 seats, 1 shy of the magical 60.

Except the 59 is an illusion. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts has a seizure (he had brain cancer) during the inauguration and never returns to vote. So we're at 58.

Al Franken of Minnesota isn't seated because of a contested election that requires recounting. They are down to 57.

Arlen Specter becomes a Democrat in April, though. So back up to 58.

Robert Byrd gets sick in May 2009- down to 57 again. (He died in June of 2010)

Franken is finally seated in early July, Byrd returns in late July (he's not dead yet but he's looking peaked, y'all.) 59. Almost there.

Ted Kennedy, who never returned, dies in August and his seat is filled by another Democrat, Paul Kirk, at the end of September- temporarily until they can have an election.

60. Woohoo. Total control of Congress. Yesssss.

Until February when Scott Brown (R) wins Ted Kennedy's old seat. (Yes, blue states can elect Republicans. Elections matterrrrrr.)

4 whole months.

Do you know what they did with that 4 months (keep in mind they recess in there, too, so it's not even consecutive)? They pass the Affordable Care Act. Barely. After Joe twice-baked fucking potato Lieberman tanks the public option. One of the most consequential if not wholly imperfect pieces of legislation passed in the last twenty years. And it very nearly didn't. Seriously. Barely.

In that magical four months there was no political capital to codify Roe and pass the ACA. There just wasn't. Because that magic 60? It included Ben Nelson (NE), Peter Bayh (IN), Blanche Lincole (AK), Kent Conrad (ND), And Mary Landrieu (LA), among others, who were anti-abortion/ pro-life Blue Dog Dems. (Think Joe Manchin, but lots of them, ratfucking progress left and right.)

They didn't have the votes, darlings. And with the sad, small amount of time they did before Republicans wiped out Democratic control of both the House and the Senate in the 2010 midterm bloodbath, they changed health care as we know it (yes, it was even worse than it is now- so much worse).

That's the story morning glories. It's messy. Fraught. And it requires a lot more political knowledge than some knob on social media pontificating about "why didn't they just?" with absolutely no effort to put into the historical context.

We need to bring back School House Rock, I fear.

[classichorrorblog]

Hocus Pocus (1993)

[cerbiecourse]

Your daily reminder...

You do not need to post about things to care about them. "I see you not reblogging" is guilt-tripping.

You're allowed to curate your own blog. "I don't care if this doesn't fit your blog aesthetic" is guilt-tripping.

You're allowed to skip past posts that distress you. "x amount of people must reblog" is guilt-tripping.

Permission is not needed but for those whom it will make more comfortable; you are allowed to block people who post bullcrap that makes you feel guilty.

This post has no DNI; everyone may reblog regardless of syscourse stance, but reblogs are not required. Spread love.

− Helena, she/her, Emotional Protector from within the Cerberus collective Rylas, he/they, Tulpa and caretaker from within the Cerberus collective

[louferrignojrofficial]

love being a fan of both characters in a ship separately and then loving them together in the ship too. i would recommend it

[aflawedfashion]

Happy 30th Anniversary Xena: Warrior Princess!

[harleyquillao3]

Credit: tinawithana on TikTok.

Basically this is the same message as the previous video I shared by this creator. But it’s just an older TikTok. Like they have mentioned, it seems like this argument keeps cycling around every few months. It’s not hard to understand. If you don’t support and encourage writers, then they’re going to give up and quit writing. Simple as that. The community side of fanfic and AO3 has died off. Writers are leaving. AI writing, puritans and the “fandom police” are taking over. Please, just support those of us that are left.

[eldritchmage]

Yes, we write and post stuff that we want to read for ourselves, but we also share it with others hoping to find community, conversation, and interaction with other enthusiasts. Writing is a solitary activity, but the writing community shouldn't be.

If you like stuff, but never say so, what do you expect writers to do? If you refuse to read any WIP, but then bitch because WIPs don't get finished, what do you expect writers to do? If you treat writers' work as "content" rather than the result of the creative effort that comes from hours of slogging alone, what do you expect writers to do? If you and others go on Discord to blather about how much you like a fic but never tell the writer, what do you expect writers to do?

We aren't your bitches. We won't keep shouting into the void because you consume without offering any crumbs of interaction in return. If you can't be moved to type a few tens of letters for an encouraging comment, why do you think we should keep typing thousands of characters for you to mindlessly eat because you feel entitled?

Some of us will keep writing and posting, but we're increasingly rare. I, for one, can't NOT write, so to this point I don't care all that much (ooh, look, a lie) whether someone comments or not. It's a disappointment, but so far, not a deterrent. But that may not always be true. If most writers get to this point and give up posting because they feel used and ignored, where will you be?

Somewhere where you have a lot less to read.

Please recognize the feast before you. Thanking the master chefs who have offered you this bounty is not only polite, it's appreciation and respect for their efforts, and encouragement to create more.

[incorrectquotesmcu]

[At Agatha's funeral]

Rio: Can I have a moment alone with my wife?

Everyone: Of course.

[Everyone leaves]

Rio, leaning over Agatha's coffin: Okay, listen here, asshole. I KNOW you’re not dead.

Agatha: Yeah, no shit.

[skodasforge]

“Respect the experiences of older gay men or die by my sword”

Nobody cares about what cis white men went through when 9/10 they themselves were bigots towards black people at that time. They should have suffered more

“AIDS is divine punishment” but make it woke with a side of forgetting gay men of color exist.

[skodasforge]

I am so fucking serious that some of y’all never unlearned any of your parents bigotry, only the requisite buzzwords to reframe them as progressive

[transcyberism]

especially since gay men of color continue to be disproportionately affected by AIDS due to structural barriers to accessing PrEP, testing, and treatment. people are still dying of it and a large proportion of those people are people of color.

[wingdingery]

will die on the hill of “dead dove: do not eat” DOES NOT MEAN “there are various unspecified things in here that might disturb you, so be warned”

it means “i know the contents of this bag (a dead dove) may be upsetting, so i have labeled the outside very clearly with what is inside (a dead dove), and if you look inside, you should not be surprised to find a dead dove, because that’s what the label very explicitly says is inside the bag”

i realize this is a losing battle because enough people have made it mean the other thing as to make the tag totally useless, but seeing people argue over what it should mean gives me a headache because it literally could not be clearer