@rapha-reads / rapha-reads.tumblr.com
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Hello everyone! After much deliberation with myself, I've decided to make a Ko-Fi on which I will be posting random essays, articles and stories, some written years ago, some recently, and some totally new!
There will be fiction and non-fiction on themes like literature, folklore, tv shows, movies, music, etc, in French, English and Spanish. Please enjoy and don't hesitate to buy me a cup of tea if you visit!
Fifteenth Doctor: "I don't live like that, one day after another, in the right order."
Fourteenth, who's been staying with Donna for two years now: "..."
Twelfth, who stayed in St Luke's University for close to 70 years: "..."
Eleventh, who stayed a year with the Ponds during the cubes' invasion: "..."
Tenth, who lived in the 60s with Martha when the Angels took the blue box: "..."
Third, who was exiled on Earth and worked for UNIT: "..."
"What are we, jokes to you??"
And 11 on trenzalore for 900 years. And 13 in prison for 20
Oooh, nice catch, I missed those ones!
Title: Dear Future Husband By: Salamandair Gift for: twisted_apple Rating: Teen and Up Word Count: 12,837 words Warning(s): N/A Creator Notes: Hi, twisted_apple! When I first saw your prompt, I immediately wanted it because the idea of having Arthur and Merlin communicate strictly over letters just excited me. I wanted to do some cool coding with this, but ran out of brain power to do so (thanks, medical issues), so sorry about that! I hope I did your prompt justice and that you like what I wrote! Special Shout-out to my amazing betas, Starlight_Shaped_Hope and Malus_sieversii, for all their helpful comments and suggestions and cheerleading! I honestly couldn’t have made this fic what it was without you both. Disclaimer: I don’t own any part of BBC and Shine’s Merlin. Richer people do.] Summary: Prince Merlin Emeryson of Essetir spends the summer at Camelot and spends the whole time arguing with Prince Arthur Pendragon, while spending time with Morgana Pendragon and has everyone convinced that they’ll be wed. Instead, Arthur’s servant finds Arthur and Merlin together in bed one morning, shocking everyone, but the two are quickly engaged and are set to be married in a year. While Merlin is back in Essetir, they are encouraged to send letters to each other to stay in touch. For better or worse, Merlin and Arthur start sending letters to each other AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/64422601/chapters/165407140
The conversation between Ae-Sun's mother and grandmother in the photo lab, and then between Ae-Sun and her grandmother when she gives her the money to buy a boat...
I miss my grandfather so much.
I'm disqualifying the peanut butter chocolate due to my peanut allergy. Out of the rest the cherry cordial is easily the worst.
Fifteenth Doctor: "I don't live like that, one day after another, in the right order."
Fourteenth, who's been staying with Donna for two years now: "..."
Twelfth, who stayed in St Luke's University for close to 70 years: "..."
Eleventh, who stayed a year with the Ponds during the cubes' invasion: "..."
Tenth, who lived in the 60s with Martha when the Angels took the blue box: "..."
Third, who was exiled on Earth and worked for UNIT: "..."
"What are we, jokes to you??"
“He has hidden in the howling void. He has hidden within the tempest. He has braved the storm and the darkness and the pain. And he whispered to the vessel. All this time, he whispered and delighted and seduced, and the vessel did obey, for none shall be more mighty and none shall be more wise than the king himself. And the Lord of Time was blind and vain and knew nothing.”
When Harbinger talks about the vessel and the one who whispered, clearly she means the Tardis and Sutekh. Which means that Sutekh has been telling Sexy to do things, and she has responded and obeyed. Which means that the Tardis is corrupted. Do we think she's still sick and corrupted even now that Sutekh is supposedly gone? I don't believe Sutekh is entirely gone, or at least his influence is still there and I don't think the Tardis is totally free of it. If he's been there as long as the story seems to suggest, that's a long time of whispering and seducing.
“There is the Toymaker, the god of games. There is Trickster, the god of traps. There is Maestro, the god of music. There is Reprobate, the god of spite. There is the Mara, the god of beasts. And the threefold deity of malice and mischief and misery. There are gods of skin and shame and secrets. There is Incensor, the god of disaster, and her children called Doubt and Dread. And standing on high is the mother and father and other of them all. For the god of all gods has returned. And his names are many. His name has been Set, and Seth, and Setekh. And his one true name forevermore is Sutekh.”
Next question. We've seen the Toymaker, Maestro and Sutekh. Given the way the narrative seems to be going, fantasy and magic and all, and that both Toymaker and Maestro said the others were still waiting, do we think we shall see the ones that have been name dropped, especially the ones that have had an appearance in Classic Who before? Also, if they're gods, they can't die. Or, more like, they can die but they always come back. All they can be is banished to another dimension, and the show has been big on other dimensions lately (73 yards, Rogue). TM and Maestro escaped their dimensional prison, Sutekh was there since the quasi beginning... Wouldn't be too far fetched to think the others are waiting in the aisles for their turn.
April 2025
Just before the graphic artist Rebecca Burke left Seattle to travel to Vancouver, Canada, on 26 February, she posted an image of a rough comic to Instagram. “One part of travelling that I love is seeing glimpses of other lives,” read the bubble in the first panel, above sketches of cosy homes: crossword puzzle books, house plants, a lit candle, a steaming kettle on a gas stove. Burke had seen plenty of glimpses of other lives over the six weeks she had been backpacking in the US. She had been travelling on her own, staying on homestays free of charge in exchange for doing household chores, drawing as she went. For Burke, 28, it was absolute freedom.
Within hours of posting that drawing, Burke got to see a much darker side of life in America, and far more than a glimpse. When she tried to cross into Canada, Canadian border officials told her that her living arrangements meant she should be travelling on a work visa, not a tourist one. They sent her back to the US, where American officials classed her as an illegal alien. She was shackled and transported to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention centre, where she was locked up for 19 days – even though she had money to pay for a flight home, and was desperate to leave the US.
[...] As she sobbed holding the iPad, Becky found herself surrounded by other inmates who wanted to comfort her. A woman called Lucy offered to let Becky use her phone credit if money hadn’t appeared in the account within a few hours. Rosa, a Mexican woman who spoke barely any English and had already been detained for 11 months, offered Becky a Pot Noodle she had been able to buy from the commissary, the shop where they could purchase luxuries. At 8am, Becky finally curled up in her bed to sleep, with Rosa praying in Spanish in the bunk below. [...]
[After her father finally went to the press, got exposure, and her case became a priority for ICE after almost two weeks] [...] But her ordeal was not over. She was taken to the basement of Seattle-Tacoma international airport for a security check. While every item in her bag was swabbed and dismantled, she was subjected to a full body search. “I was in this very loud, weird, industrial space with pipes and conveyor belts and lights and sirens, being told to open my legs. I was silently crying, watching all my stuff being torn apart as someone else was searching every crevice of me.” She boarded the plane before any of the other passengers. “I found my seat, threw my bags on it, and went into the toilet and sobbed in the cubicle, with the British Airways classical music surrounding me.”
--
Read the entire article. What they put her through. The stories of the other incarcerated. The hellverse. Every paragraph was a new punch in the face.
What is a pinch-hitter?
A pinch-hitter is a wonderful, kindhearted soul who volunteers to fill a prompt at the last minute after another participant has dropped out of a fest.
Who can be a pinch-hitter?
You can! And you can! And—basically anyone who wants to can, as long as you’re able to submit your work before the deadline below.
What are the minimum requirements for a pinch hit?
FANFIC: 500 words minimum (no max). Must be beta’d. FANART: One (1) completed piece. OTHER: Please contact the mods for info.
When do I need to have it done by?
The deadline for your completed work is 20 April. We know it’s a lot to ask on short notice, so we’re happy for you to create something based on a specific scene or idea from the prompt if necessary (provided it works as a stand-alone).
We will also check in with you on 15 April to see where you’re at with your fill. If you need an extension or have to drop out for any reason, you’ll need to let us know ASAP so that we can find another pinch-hitter if needed.
Sounds good! How do I get my hands on a prompt?
You can find the prompt details here. If you’d like to put your name down as a pinch-hitter, please fill out this form ASAP to claim a prompt.
Otherwise, please hit the reblog button and help us spread the word to make sure all of our wonderful Glompees get a gift this year! 💝
thirty-one days of jiujiu(ly) — day nineteen + with bonus siblings ! + requested by @nyx4
#wang zhuocheng’s performance is just… hnnnggghhhh #how can anyone watch this and come out thinking jiang cheng is an irredeemable emotionless monster? #he’s arguably the most sensitive character in CQL #he makes some bad choices but that’s because he’s emotionally *wrecked* not because he’s evil (via avaantares)
#this is the best scene in the whole show no i will not elaborate #i love him so fucking much #the focus on jiang cheng despite the moment arguably being betwee wwx and jyl #it might be their moment but HIS FACE is what we see #whats important #the immensity of his love for them both #LOSES MY MIND (via determinedprince)
#the fourth one!!!! #he’s just like wipe that stupid smile off my face #betcha he didnt even notice he was Smiling Like That until both siblings turned to look at him #literally top tier smiles from jiang cheng right here #he is the king of smiling in the face of overwhelming enotion #he is also the king of Rage in the face of overwhelming emotion (via theheartofthekoko)
#look at him so hungry for love #vicariously drinking in other people’s love #he just wants his family to be together #if we take him away from his loved ones how can he be happy #look at his gruff little eye wipe washing his face like a kitten (via truishcolours)
#‘ambition is the most important thing to jc’ wwx says about man who openly weeps at having his siblings in the same room hugging each other (via psqqa)
#the way they shot this scene really was a Choice (via khashanakalashtar)
I keep fucking up my knitting and having to go back and undo rows lately. First it was the sweater, instead of adding rows after the increases to have the right neck-to-shoulder length, I started knitting the next step with the stitches left aside for the sleeves immediately. Only realised when the first row was entirely done and I had the two sleeves left aside on a string, had to undo the entire row stitch by stitch carefully not dropping one. And then it was my snood. Right on the very last row, the one to close the stitches. Too tightly wound, I can't properly sew together the two ends. Now I have to undo that very tight row and hope I can put the stitches back on the needle. Gaaaaaah. My sister's taken to calling me Penelope because I've been doing more unknitting than knitting in the last two days.
The good news: you get to pick your new soulmate! (You can define "soulmate" however you want: platonic/romantic/partners in crime/etc. But they will be in your life, constantly.)
The bad news: you don't get to pick where they come from.
Spin this wheel until you get a fandom with characters that you recognize. As soon as you do, stop. One of those people* is going to be a constant presence in your life, whether you like it or not. So choose wisely.
*broadly defined
Jorge Luis Borges, quoted by Jay Parini in Borges and Me
imagining an alternate timeline where shakespeare wrote a play about king arthur. we would be so unwell
yeah cause thou art so well otherwise, tumblr user currently crying about Lancelot
you know what verily i deserv’d this
Every time I read a cat story (which is practically all the time because as we all know Internet was made to worship cats), I think "oh, I want a cat so much". And then I remember that I'm poor, I currently live with my father who doesn't like cats, even if I move out I don't know how stable my life would be, and also I already hate having to take care of myself so caring for a cat? Too much work. "But I love cats, cats are awesome" shut up tonta you're in no position to take care of another life.
