#// the amount of people he's turned down politely is insurmountable truly

[c4rdsharp]

meechi. my favorite thing about Luck is that he really COULD pull bitches if he wanted to. If that was something he actively wanted to do? he absolutely could. outside of JUST his looks, he's naturally v charismatic and generally has a vibe most people find interesting. he doesn't really have a magnetism ; rather, it's more like a contemplative artist / noir detective vibe that people tend to gravitate towards him, even if they naturally dislike his personality at first. Luck absolutely has the ability to have more relationships than he currently does ; he just never cared for it and finds trying to prove such a thing juvenile at best. So, it just. Rarely happens.

[spicysoftsweet]

He Wasn’t Man Enough - Hisoka x Reader

A/N: This is me being dramatic after a convo with @hisokapegger. I just wrote it off the cuff so hopefully it’s fine ahahahaha. Tl;dr You run into your ex Hisoka at a grocery store, of all places.

TWs: pregnancy, abortion

---

Today was one of the rare days where you were truly happy.

You’d woken up this morning with an atypical surge of energy, much more so than you had in the past few months after your third serial failed relationship. You couldn’t even say you were truly sad about the relationship failing, it was starting to be par for the course at this point. You attributed the slump you’d be in to something else - the feeling of being stagnant, wading in place that seemed to persist throughout the past year, maybe two. 

You’d decided you would give dating a rest. After your bitter breakup after a long tumultuous relationship with the magician (and likely psychopath) Hisoka, it almost seemed like he had laid a curse on you to fail relationship after relationship thereafter. Maybe it was because you had grown so exhausted in trying to turn him into something he wasn’t - you couldn’t turn a whore into a husband, after all - but you’d given up hope, and now your patience had grown thin with anyone you decided to be with. You’d lost the ability to compromise having tried so hard to find a middle ground with Hisoka which really meant losing ground on everything you wanted. Now if anyone stepped out of line for a split second, you dropped them. You had to admit some of the reasons for which you’d dropped people were small, but you’d be damned if you let another person make a fool out of you for years on end.

There was something freeing about refusing to settle. Choosing not to give a single fuck gave you an insurmountable amount of power. And now with the surge of energy today, the fact that you’d done some of your best work at your job, and your creativity was at an all-time high, you felt unshakable. 

Armed with that sense of self-worth, you parked your car into the lot of your neighborhood grocery store, planning to make a quick trip to replenish on milk, bread and eggs before you got home for the day. Humming quietly to yourself, you navigated the store throwing things idly into your hand-held shopping basket, hoping you would limit yourself to just a few things. You had a tendency to over-shop, especially when you were in a good mood. 

You weaved past a young child crying about sugary breakfast cereal, making sure to smile politely at the distressed mother before heading over to the produce section. And that’s when you saw him.

Hisoka.

It had been years.

Isn’t it funny that after a breakup you spend weeks dreading meeting your ex in public places? That you then start to rehearse running into them, deciding either to ignore them or say something so curt and so peaceful that they regret ever leaving you? That you expect that the longer you’ve spent without seeing them, the less likely your heart was to stir when looking into a face that used to portray fondness towards you?

For a moment, you forgot why you had come here in the first place.

Ah yes, apples. Hisoka was holding a red apple in his hand, checking its ripeness, but then he looked up and his golden eyes connected with yours and you almost expected the mischievous glint ever present in his regard. But instead, he looked almost surprised to see you. Maybe even rattled. That was an uncommon emotion for him.

To be fair, it was a bit shocking to see Hisoka at a grocery store as well. He’d never be so responsible the years you had dated to buy a nourishing food item on his own. He even had a shopping cart with him, and it looked a bit too full for one.

Your mouth open and shut. You weren’t sure if you should speak or not. To ignore or to speak politely? After all, it had been so long. You couldn’t let him believe his existence still had any affect on you. What if he tried to get back into your pants?

You were still standing still, and Hisoka’s gaze was still focused on you, but the surprise and the softness in his eyes and the very small way in which his lips down-turned was starting to unsettle you. Even more unsettling was the way he was dressed, almost as though he aimed to blend in with the millions of other shoppers, his skin still pale but not the almost sickly white of his face makeup, no star or teardrop to be seen, and his red hair no longer flaming towards the sky but down and neat. He almost looked like a regular person.

Suddenly, you were starting to feel ridiculous, just standing there with a sheepish look on your face. You decided you would politely say your regards and then continue on your way. 

But as you took a single step forward, a young, petite and obviously pretty woman, seemingly materializing out of nowhere, came to join him by the stack of apples. Her arm linked to his, her face bright and her eyes full of affection, and with smiling lips, she whispered something to him that was unintelligible to you at this distance.

Hisoka’s eyes were still on you, and when his obvious partner turned to follow his gaze, there was an ever so slight curve on her belly, and maybe you could have lied to yourself and said it wasn’t a baby bump, but the way she protectively placed her hand on her abdomen and held his hand said otherwise.

Who is that staring? You imagined she asked, but you couldn’t read her lips; you were too busy shattering. 

You didn’t even feel your shopping basket drop to your feet, and didn’t hear the eggs breaking in the carton or the milk carton crashing and spurting a mess all over the floor, but instead turned on your heels and ran.

It was heaven’s mercy that you didn’t fall on the mess you made. You didn’t think you could tolerate looking more pitiful than you felt right now.

You ran to your car as thought it was a lifeline. There was a ticking time bomb inside of you, and you didn’t realize the tears were already falling.

It had been years.

Your fingers didn’t seem to work anymore, and you continued to fumble as you tried desperately to start your car and flee this cursed place.

It had been years.

This was an overreaction. People were allowed to move on. Now if only your hands would stop shaking enough so that you could stick your keys in the ignition and move on home yourself. 

Instead, a dry sob came out of your throat, and you gave up, tossing the keys onto the passenger seat of your car.

You’d spent years trying to turn Hisoka into someone who would settle down with you. Someone who could be reliable. Someone who wouldn’t disappear the moment you needed him.

He had told you, quite frankly, if you ever got pregnant to abort it.

But yet you could tell, from the way she trusted him fully by the way she moved around him, from the simple fact that he was in a fucking grocery store buying fucking fruit and pushing around a cart with supplies for two that he meant to stay with her.

Most damning of all was the apologetic look in his eye when he looked at you.

He’d lied.

He’d lied.

He’d lied.

He said he’d never change. The truth was, he’d never change for you.

[antihero-writings]

The Boy with the Unspeakable Name (Ch11)

Fandom: Harry Potter (and the Chamber or Secrets)

Fic Summary: Tom Riddle may have won his battle with Harry in the Chamber of Secrets, but there were a few unforeseen consequences; loss of Tom’s memory being the most obnoxious of them. Is it possible to stop Tom’s past from becoming his future? Or is the young Tom Riddle doomed to repeat his mistakes?

Notes: Alright everyone I'M BACK ...And I'm so so SO sorry that I took so long to update. Over the past few months I took my first real break from posting fanfiction overall in a long time.

Before I posted this chapter, I actually ended up heavily editing some of the previous chapters, which I'd like to inform those who read the originals about first. (Currently only the Ao3 version, and the reblog version of this fic with the picture on top are up-to-date.)

* I made Tom overall more polite. I was of the belief that his politeness was not an innate trait, and without memory, he would be a bit more unpleasant, and then we could see him grow with time. I do still believe it's not an innate personality trait, but a couple things made me realize he really should act differently in my fic. * I made Snape treat Tom better in the interrogation chapter. Both at the beginning and end. I liked the ending with the Levicorpus spell, and I do kinda miss it, especially because it informed Harry's reactions, but I think it was just too mean, especially because of something I'm going for later. * I added a conversation with the other boy in the hospital wing. (By the way, if you go back to read that and can think of more things they should talk about, don't hesitate to let me know!)

...I think those are all the big things! Feel free to offer feedback on the changes if you read them!

I'm so sorry to everyone who was hoping for faster updates. I truly do appreciate your comments and support deeply, and hope that you will continue to read and still enjoy it. I would still love to hear what you think!! <3 <3

Chapter 11: The House of Books

“The summer? With you? And Harry Potter?”

Tom had been examining the objects Snape had brought him—objects which had apparently once belonged to him—and blinked, raising his head to look at him.

“Believe me, I am not thrilled about it either.”

“No, it’s not that—well, it is—it’s just…” He paused, running his fingers along the clothes laid out on the bed before him, then squinted up at Snape. “I’m trying to discern why this is a good idea.”

Snape looked away, seemingly wondering that himself.

“I think, with time, you’ll find that our headmaster has a very unique sense of what is good for others. He believes uncomfortable situations often serve for people’s betterment.” He looked off to the side and muttered, “Whether or not they agree.”

“What sort of ‘betterment’ does this serve?”

“I suppose he would like the three of us to…”—He exhaled—“get along.”

Tom raised an eyebrow a second time, as if to say Us? Really?

“Futile though it may be,” Snape added.

Tom bit his lip, internally assessing the situation as he also returned to assessing the objects.

It wasn’t ideal—that didn’t need stating. Tom had a difficult time fathoming why Dumbledore—who seemed to bear him no ill-will—would want him to live with one person who had a rather insurmountable grudge against him, and another who didn’t seem to like him much better. He wanted them to ‘get along?’ `Surely that couldn’t be it. There had to be more to it.

Was Dumbledore really so naive as to think they’d grow closer instead of hate each other more? Not that he quite understood why they hated each other in the first place.

“Is there a reason I can’t stay here over the summer? I wouldn’t mind.”

Clearly Snape would have preferred that as well.

“You no doubt heard at the Feast that there has been some question as to whether Hogwarts is entirely safe. The Board of Governors likely wouldn’t approve of a student staying over the summer until they are able to deny these suspicions. Also, the headmaster wants you to learn magic over the summer, and due to few teachers possessing a proclivity to stay at Hogwarts during this time, we must make other arrangements.”

Tom’s breath bated at the reveal that he’d be learning magic, his mind beginning to buzz. He tried not to let his excitement leak into his voice:

“You’ll be teaching me magic?”

“Do keep up.”

“So…” He sat back. “What’s Harry going to do?”

“Mister Potter will be…taking up space as usual, I presume.”

Tom stifled a laugh; he hadn’t been expecting such a response from a professor.

“You don’t like Harry, do you?”

“I’m not…particularly fond of him.”

“Is it too forward of me to say it doesn’t appear you’re particularly fond of me either?”

“I pains me to say you’ll have adequate time to learn there aren’t a great many things I feel an extensive amount of fondness for.”

Tom could already see it now.

“Consider it a trial period, of sorts.” Snape swept around the room as he altered the direction of conversation. “If you are able to succeed over the summer, you may continue your schooling at Hogwarts when the next year begins. How much you learn, and how quickly, will determine the year in which you are placed. That is, if you’re placed in any year at all.” He looked down his hooked nose at him like that was both the most likely option, and the most preferable.

Tom could tell hidden behind his words was the idea that this ‘trial period’ was about more than just how adept he was at magic. He’d didn’t need telling that he’d have to be careful in more ways than magical.

“Do you have any other business to attend to before we leave?”

“Wait, we’re leaving now?”

“I don’t come to the hospital wing for pleasant chats if that’s what you’re asking.”

Tom bit his lip. In all honesty he would have liked to stay and explore the school more, but he could tell Snape wasn’t the kind of person one could negotiate such things with.

He turned back to the items that were supposed to be his.

“Is this really all I have?” He asked softly.

Sure all the essentials were there: clothes, books, toiletries and the like, but nothing more personal. No pictures for his nightstand, or even a keepsake to remind him of home, of family. Nothing that could tell him a little more about himself.

Snape paused a moment before he replied: “All of which I’m aware.”

Tom didn’t say anything. Merely put everything back in the trunk and followed Snape to the door.

“Don’t you have anything to bring home with you?” Tom asked.

“Don’t you think a skilled wizard such as myself would have methods of sending it to its proper location?”

They spent the walk across the grounds in silence, which could probably be considered steely, though Tom didn’t mind. The grounds around Hogwarts, and what little he saw of the castle, were altogether beautiful, and empty conversation would only have dulled his enjoyment. He turned around, walking backwards, a smile creeping upon his face upon at the sight of the castle in its full glory. He came to find this wasn’t a school, this was a palace, a haven.

A—

The word home rose to the surface of his chest.

It occurred to him this was the first time he’d smiled since he lost his memory. Really and truly smiled.

The feeling wasn’t half bad.

Snape raised an eyebrow. “You like it?”

Tom cleared his throat. “It’s nice I guess.” But he couldn’t stuff the smile down, couldn’t quite figure out what this feeling was.

He must be a student, surely. Otherwise, why would he feel such fondness for the place?

He didn’t think Snape would reply, and was surprised to hear, barely audible, “I always thought as much.”

They arrived at a wrought iron gate with winged boars on either side—(really living up to the name, Tom supposed. All they needed was a decent amount of warts on them). Once they had passed through it, Snape stopped abruptly and held out his arm. It seemed he was expecting Tom to take it.

Tom wasn’t quite sure why he ought to do this, (and was rather offput by the thought of touching this man). Still, he did as he was told and—

He felt like he was being pigeonholed through a pipe. When the journey ended he was in an entirely new location, and wasn’t entirely sure he wouldn’t feel sick.

"Apparating for the first time can often make one feel unwell,” Snape informed the doubled-over Tom in a way that didn’t signify he really cared.

As Tom regained his bearings, he thought for a moment, in the same way he quite liked the walk along the grounds, he probably would have rather enjoyed traveling across the countryside. It struck him, that, while this sort of travel certainly got the job done, if wizards had a type of travel more like flying; allowing one to see the view, but also get where they needed to go quickly, he would like to learn it.

The new location, however, was far drearier and less pleasing to the eyes. Rather than an enchanting (and probably enchanted) forest, bordering sunny grounds, and a castle whose majesty was unmatched (at least in his current memory), this was a grimy, cobbled street, like a dull pencil: grey, disappointing, and without its sharpness.

He was almost certain the place was non-magical in nature. He couldn’t believe anyone magical would allow their cities to collect this much grime and…boringness. Identical brick townhouses lined those streets, their chimneys spewing smoke into the air, causing a low cloud of what could be either smog or fog to hang over the place, making the air warmer and more humid than necessary. Snape’s house was the last in the row, (at least, he assumed it was Snape’s as it was the one they were heading towards), and across from it he could see a black river winding through the mist.

Snape flicked his wand, unlocking what was presumably his front door.

Often houses have a certain, indefinable smell to them, but when Tom stepped inside this one, he found it wasn’t so indefinable: parchment, and old shoes, and maybe a little bit of neglect.

He could have fooled himself into thinking he’d walked into a bookstore. The walls were lined with books, the sofa and armchair in the corner creating a false sense of coziness—(‘false’ because nothing about this man said ‘cozy’). It had the air of being one of those spaces that is cluttered, but to call it anything but ‘neat’ would be an insult. Like a library of a devout scholar: cluttered with knowledge, yet, despite the fact that the shelves are puking pages, it all seems somehow perfectly in place.

“Make yourself comfortable,” Snape said in a tone that told him he didn’t want him to be comfortable at all. “Take care not to touch anything that isn’t yours.”

Tom’s eyes lidded. “So…don’t touch anything at all?”

“You’re catching on.” Snape smirked.

Tom rolled his eyes, not entirely sure Snape was joking.

“I’ll show you to your room.”

The words ‘your room’ were clipped, like the thought that it would belong to him for even a summer was repulsive. Though Tom could tell that before they arrived.

He opened a small door in the wall, which Tom would have thought another room, or perhaps a closet, but turned out to be a set of stairs.

After journeying up them, a hallway whose wood was in dire need of staining, dusty portraits whose stern eyes followed him as he walked by, and a decorative table with an empty vase upon it, greeted him.

The advertised room was small, and a bit stuffy, and a few of the floorboards creaked, but something told him he’d slept in worse conditions before.

Though it was a small house, they were able to keep to themselves. Snape was busy resettling into his house, and disinclined to give him a tour, and Tom, not having much to get settled in the first place, spent the time exploring his new surroundings.

He wandered around the library that was the downstairs, and the dingy hallways that were the upstairs. He took care not to enter what he assumed to be Snape’s room, as well as a few other locked rooms. He didn’t want to get on his bad side…if he even had a good side.

He quickly found he didn’t mind being around books. He had affinity for them, especially when their contents had to do with magic.

“Are these all about magic?” He asked Snape when he passed by.

“Some of them. It may surprise you to find most of them aren’t.”

“May I read them?” He asked, remembering Snape’s warning not to touch anything, as well as the fact that this was a ‘trial period.’

“If you cannot find ways to entertain yourself.”

“I’m sure I can. But you seem like the kind of man who appreciates silence.” He put his hands behind his back and smiled too pleasantly.

Snape pursed his lip.

They spent their time regarding each other as wolves encroaching on each others territories: they weren’t happy to be sharing the same space, but they couldn’t do anything but growl low until one of them made a move.

Later, when Snape made dinner, the action drew his attention from his book. Tom watched with fascination as Snape waved his wand with ease, and the ingredients floated and melded together of their own accord, like Snape’s wand knew what to say to them.

“Will I be able to do that?”

“A whole world of magic and you want to be able to make dinner?”

“Well—” Annoyance flared in Tom. “Of course I’d prefer to know much more exciting, dangerous things…but yes”

“Children are not allowed to use magic outside of school until they come of age…but, yes.”

The word ‘children’ in that condescending tone didn’t make him feel less annoyed.

“How come I’m able to do it, then? You’re able to teach me during the summer.”

“Dumbledore has his ways.”

Tom could tell he wouldn’t get any more information than that.

While they ate, Tom chanced a few more questions, and was surprised to find that it tasted quite good, and he thought he remembered someone once telling him good food does wonders for the soul.

He was glad to find that, despite Snape’s obvious distaste for him, and seemingly all things his age, he was cordial enough, and he certainly didn’t mind keeping to himself.

Tom was just thinking about asking when he’d start learning magic that evening, when a stack of books almost as tall as him landed on the table.

Flicking his eyes across the titles, he saw that each and every one of them something to do with magic.

“I expect you to have these read before before Potter arrives. Only then will I start teaching you magic.”

Tom leaned to the side to look at Snape and tried not to smirk.

“You sure this is everything? It doesn’t seem like quite enough.”

[olympusnerd]

Zeus VS Aphrodite

Carnal desires.  

Insatiable urges. 

Sensual satisfaction. 

There were many ways to describe the gripping effect of Aphrodite’s power, and the Greecian goddess of all things beautiful and erotic had experienced every kind known to exist. She prided herself on knowing just how to invoke her powers, charm the body, and push mortals and god’s alike to the edge of ecstasy.  

That’s not to say that there weren’t complications with her gifts. 

Sometimes- not all the time, but sometimes- there were those who could be numb to her powers. They would never know the joys of yearning or the tender caresses of a lover. 

Then, as often as light needs a day, there was the other extreme. Those who could filled with such an uncontrollable hunger for flesh that even Aphrodite felt disgusted by the act. 

Zeus was such a man. 

The times Zeus sought after young mortals and goddesses had been insurmountable long before the goddess received the honor of the name Olympian. As the last daughter of Uranus, she was fortunate to make an alliance with the children of Cronus and Rhea just before he and his siblings took down the Titans and Primordial gods alike. With this alliance she was granted a prestigious title: goddess of all things beautiful, sensual and passion related.

But now because of one uncontrollable man she was losing face in her own doman. 

What could the goddess of love do against the king of the gods?

Feeling such a way, of course she would deny the audacious King when he tried his hand at seducing the goddess. 

"I only make love for pleasure, for myself and my partner. You, mighty king of Olympus, seek only your own satisfaction. I won't be used like the other women you play with, and I will certainly not be another victim of your wife's spite. I may tempt married men, but I respect Hera too much to lower myself for you."

Hera, his wife. His poor, poor wife. She had grown resentful over the years for all of his affairs, to the women who received his seed as well as to the children unfortunate enough to be born out of these unions. To the goddess's annoyance, the queen blamed her for her husband's many indiscretions. 

Marriages are so bothersome, Aphrodite thought. Her own wasn't, as Hephaestus learned early on that the goddess would not be restrained by the monotonies of a monogamous relationship, but that sort of marriages only worked if both couples agreed. And though one would suspect she would sympathize with Zeus’s need to let one loose, so to speak, it instead sickened her. 

The love making most of the time lacked love at all. He plowed through mortals and goddess alike, and to her displeasure, he did so either in disguise to trick his poor victims or without consent. 

It enraged her. 

Yet even still, when she inevitably denied the king of gods the satisfaction of bedding her, she was relieved when he didn’t press the matter further. 

The goddess went on about her business without another thought. She refused lovers all the time and she was, more or less, equal to Zeus in this matter. Even if he wanted to take her without her approval, her powers over all things sex related could go just as terribly against him as his thunderbolt against another god. She could just as likely curse him with impotence. 

And he was lucky, she surmised, that she hadn’t already cursed him with a dysfunction for irritating her.

One evening, while the Olympians were all gathered together for a feast- as they did on numerous occasions- food was not the only appetite that was brought up over the food. 

“You’re quite possibly the most sexually appealing creature in all of the universe,” Dionysis complemented, leaving a trail of kisses along the goddess’s foot. “I cannot think of a god, goddess or titan that could even remotely compare to the bliss that lies in your bedchamber.” 

Though Ares and Hephaestus both looked equally annoyed by the comment, there was no argument to be made. Even the goddesses had to concede that Aphrodite was incredibly, unmistakably, insurmountably sexy. 

But one god’s voice dashed the complement like a pest. “I’d disagree.”

All of the heads turned to see Zeus, nonchalantly biting into a fig as if he hadn’t insulted another of his court. “While I’m sure the goddess of love is fine in bed, maybe even sometimes commendable, there’s a far more better sight beneath a man than someone who’s slept around.”

“I beg your pardon?” Aphrodite couldn’t believe her perfect ears. 

Was he joking?

What sort of idiot would make such a joke?

“I’m not saying anything against you in particular, sweet Ditey, I only mean that, well,  nothing you could offer could measure up to the cunt of… well, a young virgin,” Zeus went on much to everyone’s discomfort.

Prudish Hera looked aghast at such words coming from her own husband. Demeter nearly spit out his ambrosia. Hades stared awkwardly at his food like he hadn’t heard. Dionysis, Ares, Hephaestus and Posiedon, all past lovers of the goddess of sex, felt a sting in their own stomachs at the sour words. Even the blessed virgins Hestia, Athena and Artemis were surprised by the abysmal blasphemy.

 Every part of what he said was meant to dig into the sex icon’s pride. 

Fine. Sometimes commendable. Young. Virgin. 

Each one was as sharp as a knife in her gut, but the goddess, never one to shy away from a battle of tongues, only smiled. 

“I’m afraid I would have to politely disagree. While I will admit there is nothing quite like the feel of an innocent young woman, many think the tightness of a virgin cunt is the most pleasure a man can feel. But those people are wrong. The loss of virginity in itself isn’t supposed to be exciting. It’s supposed to be tender. Affectionate. Warm,” she retorted gently to her king. “A woman entering into womanhood is not a moment to be taken lightly or without conscience. The worst sin a man can do, in my humble opinion, is take a girl’s flower without the intention of so much as holding her afterwards. Or to leave her with a child she must fend for alone. Sure, an inexperienced girl can feel good for a moment up until her hymen is broken, but that’s only because some men cannot handle a woman with an appetite or strength that matches their own. They crave taking that innocence and then once they have snatched it up, poof. The desires are gone. They fail to see the potential of a well versed, mature, hungry woman that is fed just the right amount of love and attention. I’ve had sex countless times, with countless men and women. It is a language in itself, the movement of one body against another. Sometimes several bodies. But to me, someone who is truly experienced in the art of love making doesn't need a certain type of cock or cunt to feel satisfied. They create satisfaction wherever their affections are returned."

The room was dead silent, the cupbearer Ganymede not daring to refill the golden goblets in fear for becoming a target of whatever animosity was sure to fly out at any moment.

Zeus, whose face was notably red at the onslaught of pretty words used to undermine his sexual prowess, was just about to speak when Hera instead stood up. "Well this has been an… enlightening course, but I do believe its getting late. I think we'll turn in for the night. Good evening to you all."

When Zeus opened his mouth, the sharp, spiteful gaze of his wife made him rethink. "Yes," he answered through a clenched jaw. "Good evening."  

Aphrodite, not one to be a rude guest, offered her sweetest smile as she and the other patrons rose from their chairs to depart. "Goodnight."

Game. Set. Match. 

[asylum-ireland-blog]

'A stranger warned my friend that I may have a bomb on me' - meet the young people who experience everyday racism ...

New Post has been published on http://asylumireland.ml/a-stranger-warned-my-friend-that-i-may-have-a-bomb-on-me-meet-the-young-people-who-experience-everyday-racism/

'A stranger warned my friend that I may have a bomb on me' - meet the young people who experience everyday racism ...

(Pictured left – right) Ellie Kisyombe, Joseph Loughnane and Payu Tiwari.

The issue of racism in Ireland was thrust into the spotlight last week following reports of alleged racial abuse perpetrated against Rose of Tralee winner Kirsten Mate Maher in a Kilkenny takeaway.

The Waterford Rose, who grew up on the Kilkenny border, is half-Zambian half-Irish, and is the first African-Irish woman to win the competition.

Incidents like these are far from rare.

Earlier this year, a report by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, in conjunction with the European Union, found that Ireland is “seriously deficient” in tackling hate crime and that Ireland has some of the highest instances of this type of crime against Africans but no legislation to tackle it.

Gardai recorded an average of 158 discriminatory related crimes in the period 2006 – 2014, the majority of these were identified as racist.

However, following the expansion of the range of categories for which a crime can be classed as discriminatory, including homophobia, Islamophobia and an anti-Semitism, the number of recorded crimes rose dramatically from 114 in 2014 to 308 in 2016, the report said.

Last year, a report by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) in Ireland highlighted an “alarming growth” in the number of racist incidents being submitted to its iReport.ie system.

There have been a number of high-profile racist incidents in Ireland over the last few years, from former mayor of Naas, Fine Gael’s Darren Scully saying he would no longer represent “black Africans” (Scully resigned from his post but is now back representing the people of Naas in his capacity as a councilor), to the racial abuse directed at a number of sportsmen, notably Cyrus Christie following the defeat to Denmark in the World Cup playoffs last year.

Irish racism has even made headlines in other parts of the world.

Last summer, a number of Indian publications reported on a shocking incident on public transport that was caught on camera.

Those, sadly, are just the tip of the iceberg. What of the incidents that do not make headlines?

Independent.ie caught up with a couple of people who told their own stories of everyday racial abuse.

Payu Tiwari (21) moved from India to Ireland last year: “I’ve had fully fledged conversations with people where the only topic of discussion has been the colour of my skin”.

Payu Tiwari

People think racism is an issue only when you’re staring down the barrel of a gun and there’s an old white man opposite you telling you to ‘get out of my country’.

Harping on about the colour of my skin and my accent are two classics; it seems impossible for people to talk to me without acknowledging my skin colour and talking about it with the air of a person examining an exhibit in a museum.

I’ve actually had to have fully fledged conversations with people where the only topic of discussion has been the colour of my skin; I’ve also given a fair amount of explainers regarding South Asia, insisting that ‘no, we’re not all the same’; I’m a human being, not a memo representing the entirety of the brown population and their details.

Micro aggressions like these are a part of my daily existence, and despite my best efforts, they crawl into the back of my head and stay there.

They come home with me and get louder and louder every single time I try to initiate any conversation with a stranger. They make me feel less like a human being, as if my identity has been reduced to a colour and the incorrect information people possess about countries that brown people traditionally hail from.

One question is ‘How is your English so good?’.

In simple terms, my English is so good because I’m a native English speaker, along with millions of other Indians. India is now the world’s second largest English-speaking country, second only to the United States. About 125 million Indians can speak fluent English. English, along with Hindi, are the two official languages of the country.

This, along with questions like, “are you allowed to work here?”, “do you only eat Indian food?”, are staple questions thrown at me from highly educated politically correct people who believe themselves to be torchbearers of equality.

Rarely, they arise out of honest curiosity. The thing is though, curiosity about someone else’s origins is not harmful but when one seeks to satisfy that curiosity by putting the other person in the hot seat and demanding answers as if they are entitled to them is what makes it unpleasant.

Ellie Kisyombe (30s) has lived in Ireland for almost a decade. She co-founded Our Table, a community-driven project to highlight the need to end direct provision. “I have been attacked in many ways that have left a mark on me”.

Ellie Kisyombe

Since arriving here as an asylum seeker from Malawi, I have lived in direct provision with my two children.

I am coming from the asylum community so if you ask me about the state of racism here in Ireland, to me it will be more personal because that’s what I’m dealing with every day.

Every part of the institution has a way of discriminating and knocking people like me down. I don’t think we are living in an Ireland that is open to being inclusive and accepting.

I have been attacked in many ways that have left a mark on me. Sometimes I choose to ignore it but it’s not easy.

It is very hard talking to people you have newly met, you can have a normal conversation but once you just mention who you are, the conversation can take a dramatic turn, either to your advantage or disadvantage.

This affects me quite a lot and it makes me conscious every time I meet new people.

Very recently my name is everywhere and that has also come with a price. Sometimes it makes me not even trust some people who are close to me.  I have been attacked through my Facebook, people asking me why I am fighting to end direct provision, sometimes threats and also inappropriate words are used to make me feel small and to remind me that I am an asylum seeker.

This is a form of racism – that you are reminded that you don’t belong on this table and your contributions are not counted.

I don’t think the attitude is changing here in Ireland, it depends where you are, sometimes you feel scared to meet new people.

I always have reservations when I am talking to somebody I have never met because they might have prejudice, so I watch what I say and make sure it suits the environment because I don’t want to go home and feel hurt.

These are truly everyday feelings and I think Ireland needs to do more to tackle racism. Legislation has to be put in place that will at least build a better Ireland that will be inclusive with no racial divisions.

Being an asylum seeker can take a toll on you. I don’t want to give fake smiles, I want to live in a society where the smiles are genuine so that we can build communities that are stronger to tackle racism.

Joseph Loughnane (31), a Galway city native: ‘A stranger has warned my friend that I may have a bomb on me’

Joe Loughnane

I have been a community activist for almost a decade. I’m half-Pakistani and hold a master’s in international human rights law. I am also a local election candidate for People Before Profit.

You can be one of those people that compares the Ireland of today to an older less tolerant Ireland. Our little island always comes out like a beacon of inclusion when you follow that process.  Or you can listen to marginalised communities and ethnic minorities and analyse how our current crises are disproportionately affecting them. I prefer to do the latter.

A society should always be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable. We have inflicted almost two decades of a desperate institutional existence on asylum seekers.

Our Traveller community have seen their most basic health, housing and education needs ignored for a longer period.

People of colour who work on the frontline of essential services are forced to accept that racial abuse is a part of their job… if only we had Hate Crime legislation. We don’t.

We haven’t welcomed in anywhere near the number of refugees we’ve committed to take. An irresponsible media has allowed a discourse of horizontal blame – don’t blame the banks and the developers, blame the foreigners. Fake moralism abounds about the plight of the homeless. We’ve a lot of work to do.

I’m a mixed-race Irish person. Fortunate to spend the three decades of my life in the insurmountable Galway City. The most multicultural city in the country, the current European Capital of Culture.  Yet I still must experienced a stranger warn my friend that I may have a bomb on me on a night out; I still must stand down as three lads roar racial abuse at me for daring to walk past them. Not on.

There is hope though. It’s the communities that make up Ireland – the village resisting a deportation in the midlands, the students speaking out about African Taxi drivers being racially abused, the open arms between those of different faiths. A politics of solidarity and real equality is the answer.”

Victims of racist abuse can make a confidential report by visiting ireport.ie.

Online Editors

, https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/a-stranger-warned-my-friend-that-i-may-have-a-bomb-on-me-meet-the-young-people-who-experience-everyday-racism-in-ireland-37270503.html

[cloakedsparrow]

Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” was a fantastic movie. There is no doubt about that, and no one is even remotely close to trying to deny that fact. It came at a time when superhero movies were mostly a lighthearted affair that failed to connect with most critics. It redefined the genre and approached the subject matter in a more realistic approach. It elevated the superhero movie into the dark and gritty territory we all know, something that still prevails to this day.

It set a reputation and a precedent that “The Dark Knight Rises” sequel would have a hard time to live up to. Thanks to an insurmountable amount of hype, “Rises” may have failed to live up to the expectations of some fans. But we here at CBR believe that the movie not only lived up to its predecessor, it also managed to surpass it as a better “Batman” film. Here is a list of 15 reasons why “The Dark Knight Rises” is the best movie of Nolan’s trilogy.

15. TOM HARDY’S BANE

Heath Ledger’s Joker was such an iconic take on the character, such a breakout performance that the character managed to outshine Batman in every scene, to the point that “The Dark Knight” became a movie more about its villain than its hero. Any actor would have had a hard time following such a performance, and for “Rises,” Nolan brought in “Inception” collaborator Tom Hardy to give us a villain that was both different from his comic book counterpart, but also the same in some aspects.

Hardy appeared on our screens like a behemoth, a masked goon that struggled to breath and even to talk. His presence was felt whenever he popped on his screen, and he was able to stand on equal ground with Christian Bale’s Batman without outshining him. His entire performance happened while wearing a mask, where his body and his eyes had to do what the rest of his face couldn’t. It was a nuanced performance that gave us a new take on Bane, a take that transitioned everywhere, from the comic books to “The Lego Batman Movie.”

14. CATWOMAN

Next in line of new characters for this threequel was Selina Kyle herself, Catwoman. Selina’s always had a big role in the “Batman” mythology, and with her being last seen in live action back in Tim Burton’s “Batman Returns,” she was more than due to make a return to the big screen. In Nolan’s more grounded world, Selina was exactly what she was supposed to be, a master thief with a heart of gold and a mean round kick.

Casting Anne Hathaway in the role was a delightful surprise. She wouldn’t necessarily have been anyone’s first pick, but she proved to be an inspired choice when she held her own not only with Christian Bale, but also with Batman. She effortlessly slipped into the role, as easily as into the cat suit. With Selina in tow, the movie got the chance to explore something we had rarely seen Bruce Wayne do, and that was to find an equal that he loved, both in and out of costume.

13. CLOSURE

Starting with “Batman Begins” with fear and going into “The Dark Knight” with escalation, “Rises” came with a theme about power and legacy. Bruce Wayne faced the consequences for his past deeds and almost paid the ultimate price for it. This third installment of the trilogy was presented to us as the end of this story from the get-go and it delivered exactly that. As much as it was a continuation of Bruce’s story, it was also his conclusion as Batman.

Instead of exploring Batman’s actions after the events of “The Dark Knight,” Nolan opted to have Bruce stop being Batman for eight years, and only return for one last fight for the fate of Gotham City. Where the comics have an infinite amount of time to explore an infinite amount of stories, movies can only do so for so long. And so, with this third installment, we got closure, from Bruce’s life after the cape and cowl, to Alfred and Commissioner Gordon. And finally, in true comic book fashion, the door was left open for a new story about legacy.

12. THE SCORE

Hans Zimmer may as well be the official music composer when it comes to the DC movies and Batman in particular. His work in both “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” were iconic and the music helped shape not only the vibe of the world the Batman character was in, it almost became a character itself. His themes have now become synonymous with Batman and the way the character is perceived.

In “The Dark Knight Rises,” Zimmer outdid himself with a soundtrack that was both thrilling and inspiring. His score warned us to fear Bane, and it got our hearts pumping faster and faster as Bruce Wayne attempted to climb out of his prison pit. Zimmer’s music is as much a part of Nolan’s trilogy as any other aspect, and the final strokes of his Batman theme ended this final movie on the most perfect note imaginable, something that left us both breathless, emotional and inspired.

11. SCARECROW AND RA’S AL GHUL CAMEOS

Jonathan Crane, a.k.a. Scarecrow, had a large role in “Batman Begins” that saw him set loose upon Gotham and he returned for a small cameo in “The Dark Knight” that ended with him getting taken down by the Batman in the early portions of the film. With “Rises,” we got treated to a final Scarecrow cameo when Bane broke the Gotham prisoners out to control the masses, with Crane now judge and jury in a farce of a tribunal that sent out Gotham’s finest to their deaths on a frozen river.

Plus, with Bane, Talia Al Ghul and the League of Shadows resurgent as the movie’s villains, it would only make sense that we hear more about Bruce’s first enemy Ra’s Al Ghul. Not only did we see Ra’s in a small flashback scene that gave us insight into Talia’s past, but Liam Neeson was also gracious enough to return to the role for a brief ghost-like scene when Bruce hallucinated him. These are small cameos sure, but important villains in Batman’s rogues gallery, and they both helped the story of this trilogy come full circle.

10. THE OPENING SCENE

Few scenes in the movie were as thrilling as the opening action scene. Without much context or story, we were thrown into an airplane with a C.I.A. operative and his crew and their three hooded prisoners. Their questions about Bane’s mask and identity were left unanswered, and that only helped to build mystery and an invisible reputation around the character. But the real kicker came when we first heard Bane’s voice echo out.

He didn’t sound like anything we expected, and he was in total control. He had a plan, and it would be executed perfectly. The sequence featured a daring plane heist, and the production really went all out into making this scene as realistic as possible with their practical effects. At the end of the sequence, when Bane had his prize and one his men had willingly sacrificed himself for their mission, we knew everything about the character without actually knowing anything. But most of all, we knew he’d be an unstoppable force.

9. REAL-WORLD INSPIRATIONS

“The Dark Knight Rises” worked because it hit quite close to home. At a time when the divide between the rich and the middle-class was a main source of political and social conflict, Christopher Nolan incorporated that divide into his movie. As a millionaire, Bruce Wayne was living large until he lost his assets and a seat on the board of his company. He became just another citizen of Gotham, among those who were just fighting for scraps to survive.

As the main villain, Bane approached the citizens with a false truth, and looked to take power away from the 1% and give it back to the people of the city. In a brutal sequence, we saw them do just that when they turned the city into their wasteland, with the good people fighting like a resistance against their oppressors who promised them freedom. These themes were just as relevant when the movie came out as they are now, and it was something that Nolan explored gracefully, without falling into preaching territory.

8. “NO MAN’S LAND”

With the destruction of all bridges leading in and out of Gotham City, Bane closed the city off from the rest of the world, holding it hostage. While not exactly a direct adaptation, this is a development quite reminiscent of the “No Man’s Land” storyline from the comic books. In that series, a violent earthquake hit Gotham City and all inhabitants who had remained there at the time were now forced to stay there, after the government closed access to the city, dubbing it a “No Man’s Land.”

Contrary to the movie, no villain was responsible for the separation, save for nature itself and the government. But what didn’t change was the state of the city, where criminals were running rampant and terrorizing the citizens. Seeing what became of the city was as devastating as it was scary, just like in the comic books. Bane being responsible only added an immense weight to his defeat of Batman, and it gave Bruce something to fight for, something to inspire him to come back stronger for.

7. GORDON AND BATMAN

There are few relationships that endure in the “Batman” mythology, but one that always did was his partnership with James Gordon, something that Nolan’s trilogy explored in great detail. From Gordon being there for a young Bruce when his parents died, to Gordon and his team being the only police officers Batman trusts in Gotham, the duo have fought tooth and nail for their city, and they both sacrificed a great deal for what they believed in.

The comic book status quo keeps Gordon at bay from Batman’s true identity, with various hints that he may or may not know who truly is behind the cowl, but with “The Dark Knight Rises” working as the final chapter in the story, it was such a welcome relief seeing Batman tell the story of a young child being comforted by an officer when all seemed lost. Hearing Gordon then say “Bruce Wayne?” warmed our hearts and made us thankful for all the years of partnership between the two crime-fighters.

6. ALFRED AND BRUCE

Next to Gordon, the relationship between Bruce and his butler/assistant/father figure Alfred is the one at the heart of the “Batman” mythos, a partnership that was also at the heart of both “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight.” Whenever Bruce needs him, Alfred is there to cook his meals, to sow his wounds and to give him inspiring words of advice. Which is why it hurt so much to see their relationship fracture, almost to the point that it couldn’t be fixed.

For his third outing as the character, Michael Caine outdid himself at every turn, showing the toll Bruce’s crusade had on him and how hard it was becoming to bear. When all seemed lost, Alfred broke down in tears, and so did we. But then, hope came in the final scenes of the movie, when Bruce found the exact café Alfred visited in Florence and payed him a silent visit. No words were said between the two, as Alfred had always hoped, but both smiled and nodded at each other, something that left us all with tears in our eyes.

5. THE PIT

When Bruce Wayne was broken and defeated, he was taken to Bane’s prison, where he was forced to witness the villain take over his city. It was in those scenes that the true soul of the movie revealed itself. Where Bruce had spent the last eight years living in seclusion, hiding from life and the world, he came to  find his will to live again. His will to stand up and fight. With his back fixed and filled with anger, Bruce trained once more to fight for his city.

In what could essentially be seen as a scene inspired by the Rocky movies, a defeated and weary Bruce Wayne. Bruce went far away to train, become stronger, and return to fight the villain once more. But all of that was made much more poignant with the fall and rise of Bruce Wayne as a man. He may have started the movie as a careless, brash and weakened man, but he was now strong, humbled and willing to sacrifice everything for Gotham. He managed to climb out of that pit of a prison a stronger, better man. And an even better Dark Knight.

4. THE “ROBIN” REVEAL

Both Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale had previously gone on record to say that Batman’s sidekick Robin would never be featured in their movies. We were inclined to believe them, but we never stopped hoping. And yet, to a point, they kept their word. Robin, as he is, never appeared in the movies. But with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character John Blake, we saw a police officer be inspired by Batman and Bruce Wayne separately.

An amalgam of Robin characters, Blake was an orphan like Richard Grayson and he figured out Batman’s identity, just like Tim Drake. He sought Bruce out, helped him return to the mantle and helped fight alongside him as a cop, all while picking up a few helpful advice from his would be mentor along the way. The signs were there, and yet we didn’t see them. It was only in the final moments of the movie, when it was revealed that his full legal name was Robin John Blake, that we all gasped with excitement.

3. BANE BREAKS THE BAT

There are quite a few classic stories in the Batman library. But few of them feature his most iconic defeat. The “Knightfall” storyline saw Bane arrive to Gotham City with a brilliant plan, throwing at Batman a veritable gauntlet of enemies to fight for the sole purpose of tiring him out beyond exhaustion. When Bane revealed himself and faced the Batman, the Caped Crusader had no chance, and Bane infamously broke his back.

We knew that Bane would be the villain in this final movie, and we knew that he would be a formidable fighter, something this version of Batman had never really faced before. But even the most faithful “Batman” fans didn’t think for a second that Nolan would actually “go there.” Nolan proved us all wrong when a weakened Batman faced Bane in an overwhelming fight filled with tension and dread, one that really made us fear for the safety of our hero. When all was said and done, Bane smashed the cowl, lifted Batman over his shoulders and broke Bruce’s back in the exact same manner as in the comics, leaving us all whispering “He really did it.”

2. PUTTING THE “COMIC BOOK” IN “COMIC BOOK MOVIE”

As amazing as “The Dark Knight” was, it was more of a crime-thriller with a man in a costume and motorcycle than a superhero movie. “The Dark Knight Rises” went back to its “Batman Begins” roots and doubled down on them. With a costume-wearing cat burglar, a masked, villainous behemoth and even a sidekick hiding in plain sight, “Rises” managed to become the most “comic book-y” movie of its trilogy. It didn’t shy away from its comic book roots, and instead seemed to embrace them.

Where the batmobile was destroyed early on in the second movie, we now had three of them patrolling the streets of Gotham and on top of that we had the Bat, a flying vessel for Batman to travel around in. We had the threat of an atomic detonation wiping out Gotham, a stadium under attack, armies of police and mercenaries fighting in the streets and a battle between hero and villain for the fate and very soul of the city. Say what you will about this movie, but there is no denying that it played out as the most super-heroic out of all three Nolan films.

1. “THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS”

Amid the litany of classic “Batman” stories, the 1986 miniseries “The Dark Knight Returns” by Frank Miller reigns supreme. It’s the story of a retired, aging Bruce Wayne who came back to the mantle he left behind when the circumstances were too great, when the Mutant Leader and his gang arrived to terrorize Gotham City and its citizens. We didn’t have these villains in the film, but we did get someone even more recognizable in his stead in the form of Bane and his mercenaries.

Some viewers might have been left disappointed to see that Bruce Wayne had stepped down from being the Batman after the events of “The Dark Knight” and while that can definitely be seen as a valid criticism, it also allowed us to see a loose interpretation of the beloved comic. A few lines and scenes were almost lifted straight from the series, form a scene where an old cop tells his young partner that he is “in for a show tonight” or even the title of the movie itself. The comic series was seminal and defining, and to see that “The Dark Knight Rises” was loosely based on it made it a Batman movie we all wanted to see.