#20 day takeover

[bambirosedoll]

A comment to a post on reddt asking how effective the 20 day has been for bambis

Hi so bambi has been through jte 20 day 3 tomes now. Eachbsort of takes her futher each time. Like she will liste for a while then take a break while sort of "making changes" or alterations and then allowing them to sort of plau out.

So like thr first time through she ended up exploring some aspected old selfmhad wanted to explore more amd it realky helped old self to lossen up some and do a few things she'd only sort of fantasized about.

It also helped her bult and solidify her relationshil witj her Owner ams sort od start aclimate her Owner to the idea of having a bambi ofntheir own 😋💖

Prodesionalky it helped old self sort of reflect more and get a sense of the tool sets and suck she was needing to develop. And also help her establish a good stsrting relatiknship witj her new boss (who has really helped to support and mentor old self/bambi)

And it had a sort of spirt connection with bambi too.

Second time throu bambi really didnet hadve thensense ofnchange and progress she can feel and see now but like itnreally sort of helped old self reconnect deeper with aspecrs of her femme. She dendintyy got into pink more.

Work wise she lkke became a girl boss? Like hope thay are sexy too? There's bimbo girl bosses rite? Ummm anywau... so yeah

And then more poinpink yeah and maybe more relaxed.

Supoorted Owner in their school and work in being the more brainy one We even joke aboutnthay 💖 bambi also jokes about the day she gets to call her Owner Master 💕💖💕

Oh yeah she was also called on to do officate a wedding for a bestie fridnd of bambi. Ans so yeah that too.

And this time is like third time just finisjed before the new year.

So bambi bambi listens to bambi almost constnt. Old self has been better about a process for when bambi is able to listen but gives lots of times for that.

Has ben wearinf makeup a lot more when going out. Owner has been playjg with bambis triggers a little more. Bambi got a promotion just before she finished her last 20 day

So how is it going?

So pretty fucking good 💖

Ty bambi 💕

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Return to office and dying on the job

Denise Prudhomme's bosses at Wells Fargo insisted that the in-person camaraderie of their offices warranted a mandatory return-to-office policy, but when she died at her desk in her Tempe, AZ office, no one noticed for four days.

That was in August. Now, Wells Fargo United has published a statement on her death, one that vibrates with anger at the callously selective surveillance that Wells Fargo inflicts on its workforce:

https://www.reddit.com/r/WellsFargoUnited/comments/1fnp9fa/please_print_and_take_to_your_managersite_leader/

The union points out that Wells Fargo workers are subjected to continuous, fine-grained on-the-job surveillance from a variety of bossware tools that count their keystrokes and create tables of the distancess their mice cross each day:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/24/gwb-rumsfeld-monsters/#bossware

Wells Fargo's message to its workforce is, "You can't be trusted," a policy that Wells Fargo doubled down on with its Return to Office mandate. Return to Office is often pitched as a chance to improve teamwork, communication, and human connection with your co-workers, and there's no arguing with the idea that spending some time in person with people can help improve working relationships (I attended a week-long, all-hands, staff retreat for EFF earlier this month and it was fantastic, primarily due to its in-person nature).

But our bosses don't want us back in the office because they enjoy our company, nor because they're so excited about having hired such a swell bunch of folks and can't wait to see how we all get along together. As John Quiggin writes, the biggest reason to force us back to the office is to get a bunch of us to quit:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/26/in-their-plaintive-call-for-a-return-to-the-office-ceos-reveal-how-little-they-are-needed

As one of Musk's toadies put it in a private message before the Twitter takeover, "Sharpen your blades boys. 2 day a week Office requirement = 20% voluntary departures":

https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/29/elon-musk-texts-discovery-twitter/

The other reason to spy on us is because they don't trust us. Remember all the panic about "quiet quitting" and "no one wants to work"? Bosses' hypothesis was that eking out a bare minimum living on from a couple of small-dollar covid stimulus checks was preferable to working for them for a full paycheck.

Every accusation is a a confession. When your boss tells you that he thinks that you can't be trusted to do a good job without total, constant surveillance, he's really saying, "I only bother to do my CEO job when I'm afraid of getting fired':

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/19/make-them-afraid/#fear-is-their-mind-killer

As Wells Fargo United notes, Wells Fargo employees like Denise Prudhomme are spied on from the moment they set foot in the building until the moment they clock out (and sometimes the spying continues when you're off the clock):

Wells Fargo monitors our every move and keystroke using remote, electronic technologies—purportedly to evaluate our productivity—and will fire us if we are caught not making enough keystrokes on our computers.

The Arizona Republic coverage notes further that Prudhomme had to log her comings and goings from the Wells Fargo offices with a badge, so Wells Fargo could see that Prudhomme had entered the premises four days before, but hadn't left:

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/tempe-breaking/2024/09/23/wells-fargo-employees-union-responds-death-tempe-woman/75352015007/

Wells Fargo has mandated in-person working, even when that means crossing a state line to be closer to the office. They've created "hub cities" where workers are supposed to turn up. This may sound convivial, but Prudhomme was the only member of her team working out of the Tempe hub, so she was being asked to leave her home, travel long distances, and spend her days in a distant corner of the building where no one ventured for periods of (at least) four days at a time.

Bosses are so convinced that they themselves would goof off if they could that they fixate on forcing employees to spend their days in the office, no matter what the cost. Back in March 2020, Charter CEO Tom Rutledge – then the highest-paid CEO in America – instituted a policy that every back office staffer had to work in person at his call centers. This was the most deadly phase of the pandemic, there was no PPE to speak of, we didn't understand transmission very well, and vaccines didn't exist yet. Charter is a telecommunications company and it was booming as workers across America upgraded their broadband so they could work from home, and the CEO's response was to ban remote work. His customer service centers were superspreading charnel houses:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/03/18/diy-tp/#sociopathy

That Wells Fargo would leave a dead employee at her desk for four days is par for the course for the third-largest commercial bank in America. This is Wells Fargo, remember, the company that forced its low-level bank staff to open two million fake accounts in order to steal from their customers and defraud their shareholders, then fired and blackballed staff who complained:

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/26/495454165/ex-wells-fargo-employees-sue-allege-they-were-punished-for-not-breaking-law

The executive who ran that swindle got a $125 million bonus:

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/09/wells-fargo-ceos-teflon-don-act-backfires-at-senate-hearing-i-take-full-responsibility-means-anything-but.html

And the CEO got $200 million:

https://money.cnn.com/2016/09/21/investing/wells-fargo-fired-workers-retaliation-fake-accounts/index.html

It's not like Wells Fargo treats its workers badly but does well by everyone else. Remember, those fake accounts existed as part of a fraud on the company's investors. The company went on to steal $76m from its customers on currency conversions. They also foreclosed on customers who were up to date on their mortgages, seizing and selling off all their possessions. They argued that when bosses pressured tellers into forging customers on fraudulent account-opening paperwork, that those customers had lost their right to sue, since the fraudulent paperwork had a binding arbitration clause. When they finally agreed to pay restitution to their victims, they made the payments opt-in, ensuring that most of the millions of people they stole from would never get their money back.

They stole millions with fraudulent "home warranties." They stole millions from small businesses with fake credit-card fees. They defrauded 800,000 customers through an insurance scam, and stole 25,000 customers' cars with illegal repos. They led the pre-2008 pack on mis-selling deceptive mortgages that blew up and triggered the foreclosure epidemic. They loaned vast sums to Trump, who slashed their taxes, and then they fired 26.000 workers and did a $40.6B stock buyback. They stole 525 homes from mortgage borrowers and blamed it on a "computer glitch":

https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/29/jubilance/#too-big-to-jail

Given all this, two things are obvious: first, if anyone is going to be monitored for crimes, fraud and scams, it should be Wells Fargo, not its workers. Second, Wells Fargo's surveillance system exists solely to terrorize workers, not to help them. As Wells Fargo United writes:

We demand improved safety precautions that are not punitive or cause further stress for employees. The solution is not more monitoring, but ensuring that we are all connected to a supportive work environment instead of warehoused away in a back office.

Tor Books as just published two new, free LITTLE BROTHER stories: VIGILANT, about creepy surveillance in distance education; and SPILL, about oil pipelines and indigenous landback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/09/27/sharpen-your-blades-boys/#disciplinary-technology

[sovpologist]

"While the exact details of Sony’s deal to acquire Bungie remain unknown to the public or employees, sources say they were told by leaders that the current split board structure is contingent on Bungie meeting certain financial goals. If Bungie falls short of certain financial thresholds by too great an amount, Sony is allowed to dissolve the existing board and take full control of the company."

"According to those still with the company, employee frustration and sadness in the days and weeks following the layoffs was met with a surprising amount of indifference or even outright flippancy or hostility from management. Several people we spoke to told us that leaders had reiterated, across multiple meetings, that they couldn’t guarantee there wouldn’t be more layoffs, with two specifically recalling chief people officer Holly Barbacovi outright stating that layoffs were a “lever” the company would pull again."

"Others said they were rebuffed repeatedly and discouraged from even discussing the layoffs whenever they tried to ask questions. Employees in one department recalled a post-layoffs Q&A session where a department head was asked if leadership taking salary cuts to prevent layoffs had been considered, only to respond that Bungie was 'not that type of company.'"

"Several people we spoke to expressed anger at the layoff of Bungie general counsel Don McGowan, who played a key role in Bungie winning an historic suit against a player who harassed a Bungie developer. Others laid off included a noticeable number of members of Bungie’s DE&I clubs, including co-heads of Pride@Bungie, Women@Bungie, and Accessibility@Bungie. When combined with other recent resource cuts, these dismissals have led to fears these clubs might be shut down."

"'I’m angry. I’m upset. This isn’t what I came here to do,' one person said. 'It feels like many higher ups aren’t listening to the data and are like, "We just need to win our fans back, they still like us." No. They don’t…We got rid of some of our most knowledgeable beloved folks who have been here for 20+ years. Everyday I walk in afraid that I or my friends are next. No one is safe.'"

[physics-of-one-piece]

Okay, I wanna get sth off my chest.

It's about Discord, and why I can't join any OP fandom Discord (yet). I will one day. For now, I think I'd be a bit overwhelmed if I do join.

First thing I want all my mutuals, followers and everyone to know is that everyone here is amazing. Genuinely. You all are awesome.

I can't join Discord for OP fandom yet because of the bad experiences in another Discord in another fandom. They weren't FULL BLOWN bad experiences, but damn, did they make me annoyed.

In short, my friends from that fandom watch One Piece. And they were great and supportive, and we have a thread for One Piece in that Discord server for ourselves. Those friends did not spoil anything for me.

And then I got to Dressrosa, and I typed a lot about Doflamingo cus I loved him more and more.

But my friends... They hate him. Okay, that's fine, I can ignore that. Surely if I respect that they hate him, they can respect that I like him?

(the answer to them for that was no)

They were like "just wait till you see Law's backstory with him, you'll hate him then" etc etc. And that was fine, okay.

Saw Dressrosa Takeover, saw Law's backstory. I mean, yeah, that shit is dark, but what do you expect? It's Doflamingo.

They wanted me to hate him. And after that, after I didn't hate him, but liked him even more, with every damn time I wrote something I consider awesome from Doflamingo, they switched to insulting the character I like.

I never go insulting characters they like, but god they kept doing it for Doflamingo. I got tired of it and just stopped talking about One Piece overall with them. Even with fics I wrote in the "writing thread" they nitpicked them, said "that wouldn't work like that, etc etc" and just... Killing the fun of it? Like... What the fuck.

I want to make clear, these were individuals. Other people were cool with it and ENCOURAGED it.

And of course every time I go "I love Doffy" these individuals come up with an insult for him. So yeah, I dipped. They couldn't respect my like for a character and not be at least considerate enough not to talk shit about him. At first, fine, but it started getting overbearing and fckn annoying. Like, a lot.

I hate plenty OP characters but I would never, EVER think of if I see someone enjoy that character of bashing that character, little less on their thread/Discord/tumblr blog. It would NEVER even cross my mind. Why the hell would I want to do that to someone? Hell, I'd ENCOURAGE them to continue enjoying what they enjoy. Bcs if a character makes you happy, and makes it fun, then why tf would I ever try to ruin that for someone?

It just makes me sick how these individuals (who I still consider friends, I don't think they genuinely meant it to come off as them trying to police me or anything, they said it was getting annoying but like he's one of my fav characters of course I'll talk about him a lot that's what you do with favourite characters they don't go on a rant if I rave about Luffy or Law or Cora) were actively commenting how I shouldn't like this character like it would make me like him less?

Sorry I like interesting, evil, demonic character with an iconic laugh and who is one of the top five antagonists in the most popular manga and was in Top 20 characters in the popularity poll? Like... Wtf.

Anyway, yeah... That's the reason I made this blog (there were 100% other reasons like being a nerd and calculating One Piece things 🤣). I needed a safe space to simp over Doflamingo, the Donquixote Family, Dressrosa and everything. And I'm genuinely so happy to have met fellow Doffy fans on here.

You all are great. Thank you for making this a safe space for me and for enjoying and encouraging my Doffy insanity, and for writing and drawing such amazing fics and art of Doffy and everyone else from Dressrosa.

I feel weightless on this blog, free to enjoy the Heavenly Demon and simp for him and discuss him as much as I want with everyone giving their thoughts and encouraging it.

I'm FREE.

I'll join those Discords one day. Thank you all for keeping the invites open.

[torveiglyart]

Okay so remember my Voltron Lion Takeover post? Yeah, I lied. I brought my ipad with me and since we only had one parks day, I had a LOT of time to just chill in the hotel room, meaning drawing time. So I ended up drawing the burn marks anyways. I imagine the whole fiasco going something like this:

Lance woke up to the blue walls of the pod, blurry vision, and an ache throughout his body. He collapsed forward into Hunk’s waiting arms, knees weak. There were cries of surprise, concern, and reprimand around him, but Lance heard none of it, instead focused on the arms supporting him and the itchy feeling that was starting to spread up his arms and legs. Once he had cleared his head and vision, he gave Hunk a pointed look, hoping his best friend would get the message and shut everyone up.

“Um, guys, I think Lance would like some food and quiet before we bombard him with questions.”

The commotion died at Hunk’s announcement. Carefully, Hunk and Allura led Lance to the dining hall, setting a bowl of food goo at his place. Lance ate in silence while Hunk and Allura chatted quietly next to him, catching him up to speed on what had happened while he was in the pod. The itching had since gone away by the time Lance had finished his food. Lance was about to go change into his regular clothes from the pod suit when Allura called to him.

“Lance, before you go change, there is something you should be aware of.”

Lance paused and turned back around to Allura with a questioning look, waiting for her to continue.

“Whatever happened back there, it left some… permanent scarring. I know not how they came to be but Pidge, Coran, and I are looking into it.”

With a hesitant nod and a frown, Lance went to his room. Peeling off the pod suit, he gasped at the patterns now etched into his skin. Geometric veins and circled ends filled his arms, legs, and torso, reaching all the way to his neck and ending at his nape hairline. They were everywhere. And permanent.

Tracing the lines with his hand, Lance could feel himself tearing up. It was one thing to be mentally changed from a war away from home, but to have such a large reminder burned onto his skin? To be altered in such a big way? It stung more than any homesickness ever would. At least he hadn’t lost a limb like Shiro had. Lance doesn’t think he’d be able to handle losing an arm or leg, losing a piece of himself like that. Looking into his bathroom mirror, he breathed out in relief at finding no marks on his face. That would have been a real heartbreaker.

With a heavy sigh, Lance shrugged on his usual attire and headed back to the bridge for a full rundown of what happened, and to maybe share his side of the mission report. The others were already there awaiting his arrival. Upon seeing Lance, Pidge hopped up and ran over, tackling him in a hug then slapping his shoulder.

“You idiot! What the quiznak were you thinking? Taking on a Galra commander alone? With your broadsword? Were you trying to die?”

Lance put his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eye. “I wasn’t trying to die, Pidge. I was trying to protect Allura. She was down and I was stuck with close-range fighting. I’m sorry I scared you all, but I won’t apologize for what I did. Which, by the way, what exactly happened? One minute I’m fighting the dual sworded guy, the next I’m waking up in a pod. And what’s up with the scars?”

There was a silence amongst the group before Allura spoke up.

“While I was down for a while, I was awake when you brought me back to the castle in Red. You… you did not look entirely yourself. You had this red and blue cast to your hair, with solid yellow eyes and fangs. It was strange. And your armor, well, you can see for yourself.”

Pidge butted in at Allura’s pause. “When I found the surveillance video, per Coran’s request, your armor was solid black with star-like dots in the coloured sections. And you were fighting strangely. Like, been a solider for 20 plus years strange. And your bayard…”

There were nervous glances passed between the crew, all avoiding Lance’s gaze. It was irritating.

“And what about my bayard?”

There was an awkward pause before Shiro broke it.

“You were switching bayard forms with a fluency none of us have ever seen, as well as using forms you’ve never had, including our forms.”

Oh, so it was way more than just some weird scarring. Lance had done the impossible, and woke up with no memory of it. Not to mention the eye thing sounded like possession. The security feed must have freaked them out quite a bit. Lance could only hope Lotor was kept out of this.

"Does Lotor know?"

Allura spoke immediately. "No. We decided to keep him out of the know for this. While we trust him not to do anything currently with the information, we do not trust that he may use it if he betrays us."

That put Lance at a little more ease. At least prince L'oréal didn't know of his sudden mastery of being a paladin. But there were still questions to be answered.

"What forms did my bayard take?"

Hunk decided to answer this time.

"You had your regular blaster, your sniper rifle, broadsword, our bayard forms like Pidge's katar and Allura's whip, and completely new forms. Dual pistols, dual smaller swords, a lance, and a shield. It was really weird, but impressive."

That was far too many bayard forms for Lance. He was the weak link, a seventh wheel, not a proficient fighter like Zarkon, who could use multiple bayard forms. So why had he? He would have to look at the footage later, as he still needed to know about the scars.

"And the burns? Any working theory on those?"

Shiro looked alarmed at Lance's words, opening his mouth to say something before Allura cut in.

"Pidge claims they are like lichtenberg scars, but their shape and flow remind me of quintessence veins, both of which should be impossible given the footage we have. You were not struck by electricity again, and you would have to have been overflowed with quintessence for those veins to appear. It is quite a concerning conundrum."

With a gasp of surprise, Pidge turned to Allura.

"What do you mean /struck by electricity again/?!"

Shiro nodded at Pidge's question. Coran looked horrified. Hunk kept looking between Allura and Lance for an explanation. Lance decided this wasn't needed right now.

"I was hit at the Omega Shield and Allura healed me. All good now. Can I see the footage? I want to see what happened for myself."

So

I went wayyyy further with that than intended and wow I really hate how nonchalant everyone was with Lance's death but ANYWAYS here you guys go. What happens when you get possessed by a lion of Voltron? You get an overdose of quintessence and trauma. Hooray!

[scary-grace]

Enough to Go By (Chapter 20) - a Shigaraki x f!Reader fic

Your best friend vanished on the same night his family was murdered, and even though the world forgot about him, you never did. When a chance encounter brings you back into contact with Shimura Tenko, you'll do anything to make sure you don't lose him again. Keep his secrets? Sure. Aid the League of Villains? Of course. Sacrifice everything? You would - but as the battle between the League of Villains and hero society unfolds, it becomes clear that everything is far more than you or anyone else imagined it would be. (cross-posted to Ao3)

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Chapter 20

Thanks to the alliance between the League of Villains and the Meta Liberation Army – or more accurately, the League’s hostile takeover of the Meta Liberation army – you’ve learned a lot more than you ever wanted to about the country’s largest gang of quirk supremacists. Their ideology is roughly as awful as you thought it was, and if your quirk hadn’t shown up, they’d be treating you like shit, regardless of what Tenko or the rest of the League had to say about it. Their members, at least in the upper echelons, are uniformly upper-class, and most of them are fourth- or fifth-generation quirk-users in addition to being second- or third-generation members of the organization. In spite of the terrible things the lieutenant you killed was saying to Spinner right before your bullets tore through his aortic arch, the MLA doesn’t appear to distinguish between quirks. If you have a quirk, you’re in the club.

That means you’re in, as much as you’d rather not be. You’re treated with deference you haven’t earned, and every person you encounter seems to be trying their damnedest to forgive you for killing one of their senior members and shooting their former leader a whopping nineteen times. You try to stay away from them as much as possible, but some of them are hard to avoid – like Re-Destro, who’s constantly hovering around Tomura and who seems to think that you and he are destined to get along.

So far, he’s interpreted the dislike you can barely hide as a protectiveness over Tomura, which is part of it. The rest is something simpler. When you faced him in Deika City, he made it clear that he wanted you dead whether you were part of the League or not; even if you hadn’t been, your quirklessness would have condemned you. You try not to hold grudges, but that’s not something you’ll ever forget.

The MLA has been holding off on the presentation of Tomura as the new Grand Commander until Tomura’s able to sit up without enough pain medication to sedate a horse running through his system. The day’s arrived – sooner than anyone expected, courtesy of your quirk. Re-Destro’s insisted on providing Tomura with appropriate clothes for such a momentous occasion, and he brought his personal tailor to make it happen. Tomura wouldn’t go unless you came with him, and Re-Destro decided that since he’s the only person in the equation who’s ever worn a suit, he needs to have an opinion on the matter. So you and Re-Destro are sitting off to one side of the room, watching as Tomura’s fitted for the first suit of his life.

He’s fidgeting, clearly uncomfortable with standing for so long, but you’re getting a little fixated on the suit itself. Even halfway fitted, it looks good on him. Really good. You’re always attracted to him, no matter what he’s wearing, but this is so outside your frame of reference for him that desire hits you like a punch in the stomach. It’s not a feeling you want to have while sitting next to Re-Destro, who’s staring just as avidly at Tomura for what you fervently hope is a very different reason.

It’s a relief when he turns his attention to you, but not much of one. You’ve got your veil on, and it’s opaque enough to hide the flush in your cheeks, but you have a hard time imagining that you aren’t radiating concentrated horniness that Skeptic’s satellites could pick up from orbit. With that in mind, maybe it’s a good thing that Re-Destro’s trying to talk to you. You could use a distraction. You pull your gaze away from Tomura with an effort and turn towards the man he deposed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that. Say again?”

“It’s all right,” Re-Destro says. He probably thinks he sounds magnanimous. The word you’d use is condescending. “I was just asking how you’ve adjusted to the awakening of your meta ability.”

“I’ve – um, adjusted.” You really don’t want to talk about this. “Thank you for asking.”

That should be the end of it, in your opinion, but Re-Destro doesn’t let you off the hook. “Were you aware you had a latent meta ability?”

“No,” you say. “In my family, quirks are present at birth. They all had them, and I didn’t. That was it.”

The magnanimity fades. Now he looks like he’s thinking hard about something. “Was that not the answer you were hoping for?” you ask.

“It wasn’t.” Re-Destro earns the smallest sliver of your respect by owning up to it. “Quirk latency theory presents a problem for Liberation ideology.  The place of the quirkless in a world based on Liberation ideology is clear and unambiguous. If quirk latency theory is correct, then a Liberated society becomes more difficult to implement.”

Liberation ideology is so antithetical to a society most people would want to live in that it would topple if you blew on it too hard. You engage in a maneuver that you’ve been using since you were quirkless and play dumb. “How so?”

“The average age of awakening is four years old. We’ll set that as the mean of our distribution,” Re-Destro says. You’re about to get a statistics lesson, and you only feel slightly guilty for hoping that Tomura will suddenly keel over and give you a way out of it. “However, a not-insignificant number of meta abilities, like your family’s or those of heteromorphs, present at birth. Imagine them at the left side of the mean. Together these groups constitute eighty-five percent of individuals with meta abilities.”

He glances at you. You nod. “Now, if we look to the right side, we’ll see a precipitous drop,” Re-Destro continues. “Of the metahuman population, ninety percent awaken their abilities by age five. Ninety-three percent by age six. Ninety-eight percent by age seven. A tiny percentage of the population awakens their abilities in early adolescence – I believe a current UA student holds Japan’s record.”

“Midoriya.”

“Midoriya?” Tomura scoffs. “That’s not his quirk.”

It’s quiet for a second. “What do you mean?” Re-Destro asks, but Tomura ignores him, and after a long, awkward stretch of time, Re-Destro turns his attention back to you. “In any case, it’s well-known that meta abilities don’t awaken past adolescence. The categories of metahuman and human are easily defined, unless –”

“Unless quirk latency theory is correct,” you say. “If it’s correct, it means that everyone’s a potential metahuman. Nobody can be written off.”

Re-Destro nods. You can tell the idea doesn’t agree with him. “You represent an extreme outlier,” he says, “in more ways than one. It was clear from your actions during the Revival Party that you are a true believer in the Grand Commander’s vision – the first true believer, if my sources are correct.”

“They’re correct,” Tomura says, before you can say a word.

Re-Destro turns to him, clearly hoping he’ll say more, but Tomura goes back to picking at the sleeve the tailor’s just adjusted. You and Tomura are going to have a talk later about how your responsibilities as his sidekick slash girlfriend don’t include constantly running interference with the guy he overthrew, but for now, you’re still the main object of Re-Destro’s attention. “You believed you were quirkless,” he says. “What led you to devote yourself to a vision such as the Grand Commander’s?”

There’s a lot of reasons why, but all of those came later. There’s only one that really matters. “It’s his.”

Re-Destro looks surprised. Tomura looks sort of surprised, honestly. He’s stopped glaring at the tailor in favor of staring at you, looking as thrown off as you’ve seen him look in a while. He really shouldn’t be, in your opinion. You hold his gaze and watch as the same smile he wore when you were children crosses his face, the one you saw when you came up with a new twist for your games or swapped lunches with him or even just when you got out your front door first and were waiting for him on the sidewalk for the walk to school. Shigaraki Tomura or Shimura Tenko – he’s who you’re devoted to. He always has been.

You get a few more seconds of his real smile before the tailor accidentally sticks him with a needle and Tomura turns to snap at him. “Saintess,” Re-Destro says, and you glance sideways. “Since you’ll be accompanying the Grand Commander onstage, you should look the part. Some updates have been made to your costume for the sake of form and functionality.”

Functionality is fine. Form, on the other hand – “What did you do to it?”

“I want to see,” Tomura says, which practically guarantees that it’ll be here in two seconds. Re-Destro zips out of the room in his motorized wheelchair to retrieve it. You glare at Tomura, who looks back, unrepentant. “I have to wear this stupid thing. I’m not going to be the only one dressed like a clown.”

“You don’t look like a clown,” you say. “You look – um –”

Tomura’s waiting for your answer, but you really don’t want to say it in front of the tailor, and it doesn’t take Tomura long to figure that out. “Go away,” he says, and the tailor books it. Tomura looks back to you. “What?”

“You look really hot.”

Tomura coughs. “What?”

“You do.”

“You’re joking,” Tomura says. You shake your head. “You just want me to quit bitching about the suit.”

“You can bitch about the suit forever if you want. You still look really hot.”

Tomura looks flustered. You’ve never seen him look flustered before. “Don’t say weird things.”

“Saying you need to touch your sidekick is weird,” you say. Tomura’s mouth twitches. “Saying my boyfriend’s hot in a suit is normal.”

“It’s not funny. Stop saying it.”

“You don’t believe me?” you ask. Tomura’s gaze slides away from yours. Maybe you need to be a little more convincing. “Let me show you.”

You’re still kissing him when Re-Destro comes back in, and you take your time pulling away, just in case Tomura had any doubts left. Tomura’s slow to let you go. Whatever Re-Destro’s just dragged in, he can see it over your shoulder, and his eyes widen. “Damn,” he says, and you turn to look.

If there’s functionality hiding somewhere in your new costume, you can’t find it. The original was washed-out grey, shapeless without a sash, obviously thrifted and cheaply made. This one is jet-black, with a shimmering veil and a silver crown, but your biggest problem with it is the shape and structure that’s been added to the tunic. It looks tight. Really tight.

Only a guy would have designed a costume like this. You cross your arms over your chest and try to keep the acid out of your voice. “What updates did you make to the functionality?”

“The reinforcing in the tunic may look cosmetic, but it was added to accommodate Kevlar paneling,” Re-Destro says. “It will be tighter and heavier than the previous costume, but it will provide protection for the center mass – which, as I’m sure you know, is the target of choice for most competent snipers.”

Tomura is smirking. “Would it stop nineteen shots?” he asks. “That’s how many times she shot you.”

“Nineteen?” Re-Destro looks genuinely puzzled. “It’s highly unlikely that anyone would aim that many shots at Saintess. She presents a much smaller target than I do.”

That, and one well-placed shot would be enough to take you down. Tomura nods, still smirking. “What else did you do to it?”

“The veil is a special fabric that functions as a two-way mirror. Saintess can see out, but no one can see in,” Re-Destro continues. “The boots are of better quality. The crown can be armed with this –”

He holds up a silver bracelet. “And once armed, it will deliver a shock to anyone who attempts to remove it.”

“Oh,” you say. “That’s – um.”

“The modifications are defensive, for the most part,” Re-Destro says. “Aesthetically, black suits the Grand Commander much better. Would you like to try it on?”

“Try it,” Tomura says. You give him a pained look. “I’m wearing the suit.”

You get a look at yourself as you’re changing into the costume and feel your heart lurch. It’s not just that it’s tighter, heavier, that the crown on your head’s gone from barely functional to weaponizable. Maybe it’s the color. Grey was passable. Black looks scary, and it only gets worse when you put on the veil. In your old costume, you look like half a ghost with a red belt and cheap shoes. In the new one, you look like a specter, a wraith. In your old costume, you were strange, but that was it. In this one, you’re unmistakably a villain.

That’s what you are now. A villain, a murderer, aiding and abetting the leader of the nation’s criminals in destroying the world-that-is with the faint hope that you can build a better one. You look like a villain because you are a villain. The sooner you get used to that, the better.

Re-Destro looks pleased when you step out from behind the screen, but Tomura doesn’t. Tomura’s frowning. “Not black,” he says.

“Red? To match with you –”

“No,” Tomura says, and for a split second, you think he’s about to put an end to this whole stupid exercise. “White.”

Re-Destro coughs. What you’re doing is more like choking. “Are you certain?” Re-Destro asks. “White has certain associations –”

“White,” Tomura says. Re-Destro starts to hem and haw about it, and Tomura cuts him off. “Make it happen. Or she wears whatever she wants – and so do I.”

Re-Destro’s definitely not about to sacrifice Tomura in a suit just so he can make you wear black. He zips off again, and Tomura reaches for you, pulls you closer. He catches the edge of your veil and flips it back, exposing your face. “You aren’t like us,” he says. “I’m not making you dress like it.”

“Not like you? I am,” you say. “I’m a villain –”

“Killing somebody to save a friend makes you a villain? No.” Tomura shakes his head. He grimaces slightly, and you realize how long he’s been standing. You need him to sit down. “That’s not who you are. I know who you are.”

He does. Just like you’ve always known who he is, underneath the hands and the suit and any other trappings of villainy he’s tried on. Still – “Does it have to be white?”

“You want it to be black?”

“Black and white aren’t the only colors on the planet,” you say. Any color is better than black, though. You’d be fine to just go with grey again, but it sounds like that’s not what Tenko wants. “I don’t want black. Do you really want it to be white?”

“Yes.”

He doesn’t say why, and you don’t ask him, but when the two of you step out onstage in front of the gathered members of the MLA, you’re dressed in white instead of grey or black. Even the League seems startled by your new look. “You look like a bride,” Toga hisses under the cover of Re-Destro’s speech.

Spinner disagrees. “You look like a ghost.”

White is a wedding color. It also symbolizes purity – and looked at another way, it symbolizes death. If Tomura’s making a statement in making you wear white, you’ve got no idea what it is. You and the others stand still through the speech, cheer dutifully when Tomura announces the MLA’s new name, chosen by Spinner and Re-Destro, and file off the stage while the members of the newly-christened Paranormal Liberation Front cheer. Dabi hops off the stage and vanishes into the crowd, and no one stops him. You stick close to Tomura. He was on his feet through the ceremony, but he’s not good at walking with the cane he has to use, and you still haven’t figured out how to make your quirk work faster.

The doctor was watching the ceremony. You know, because he calls the instant you’re offstage. “My congratulations to you, Shigaraki. Your master will be proud when he hears what you’ve accomplished.”

“I did it without him. And without you.” Tomura’s grimacing. It’s quiet for a second. “This is the part where you tell me why I should keep taking your calls.”

“Ooh, Tomura-kun is spicy today!” Toga grins. “Tomura is right, mister – why should we listen to you? What can you do for us?”

You’re not upset about the idea of cutting the doctor out of things, but you are concerned about how Tomura’s going about it. The fact that the doctor isn’t hanging up the phone somehow makes you more nervous, not less. “I understand,” the doctor says, “but why not accept the power your master and I have already stockpiled for you before you go? We were very careful in curating a collection of abilities that would suit you, and it would be a shame to waste them.”

It’s quiet for a second. “What kind of abilities?” Tomura asks.

“Why, quirks, of course!” The doctor sounds surprised that Tomura would ask, but you don’t trust the doctor on anything, let alone his reactions over the phone. If you saw him in person, you’d have a better read on him, but you can’t. “Come to meet me. Bring Saintess with you. I’m confident we can come to an agreement.”

“Why just me?” you ask. It strikes you as weird. “The rest of the League should come, too.”

“You’ll report back to them after the meeting, of course. Some of you need to remain where you are, to consolidate your control over Shigaraki’s new subjects.”

That’s true, you suppose. You still don’t like it. Nothing good has ever happened when the League’s split up – the Deika incident should be all the proof of that you need. Tomura’s thinking along the same lines. “You should come here. You’re more mobile than we are.”

“My equipment isn’t, and if I go missing, it will be noticed. Unlike you all, Saintess and I are still undercover,” the doctor says. You’re not sure how undercover you are these days – you’ve committed crimes now, and the fact that your crimes took place in the context of hundreds of other crimes doesn’t mean that Kazuo won’t spot them if he asks the right questions. “Make your arrangements, Shigaraki. Saintess and I will be waiting.”

“What?” Tomura demands, but by the time he figures it out, the warp sludge is already spewing from your mouth and nose. The last thing you see is hands reaching towards you – Spinner’s, Toga’s. Tomura’s. His fingers brush over the back of your hand, scrabbling for purchase, and then you’re gone.

You reappear in the doctor’s lab, and you’re already in a bad mood. “He’s going to kill you for that.”

“I think he’ll change his mind,” the doctor says indulgently. You don’t think that. At all. “This isn’t simply to force compliance. I have a final test to run. How severe would you say Shigaraki’s injuries are these days?”

You’re trying to cough the taste of warp sludge out of your mouth. It takes you a second. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, how much healing does he have left to do?”

“Um –” You think it over. “The internal organ lacerations are healed. His hand isn’t healing fast. He keeps trying to use it. There’s the same problem with his leg.”

“He’s far from recovered, then.” The doctor holds a set of leads out to you. “Attach these in the proper locations. No needles this time.”

He says that, but he’s lying. After a few minutes, he draws some blood, then clamps a pulse oxygen monitor onto your finger. Next he makes you huff into a peak flow monitor, at which point you start to get annoyed again. “What are you doing?”

“Healing quirks come at a cost, typically paid by the person being healed.” The doctor puts the vials of your blood into a centrifuge and sets it spinning. “The most famous quirk of that type – Heal, possessed by UA’s Recovery Girl – depends on the stamina of the individual being healed. If that stamina is exceeded by the energy needed to heal the injuries, the person dies. That quirk couldn’t have mended Shigaraki’s injuries, even if you possessed it.”

He’s looking at you, like there’s something you’re supposed to grasp here, but your mouth tastes like warp sludge, and you’re not in the mood. “And?”

“You’re smarter than that, dear. I’ll wait.”

Healing quirks have a cost. If Tomura had paid it, he would have died. The only other person in the equation is you. “It comes from me,” you say, and the doctor nods. “I didn’t feel anything. I haven’t felt anything. If I had –”

“It may not be perceptible to you at the moment, but based on the tests I’m conducting as we speak, your body is under a level of strain that does not match your current exertion.” The doctor points out the EKG he’s been taking, which shows consistent tachycardia, and the peak flow output, which is low, and your pulse oxygen, which is also low. “My current theory is this: When you are close to Shigaraki, the strain is negligible. The farther you are from him, the harder your body has to work in order to maintain the same boost to his healing capacity. I further theorize that this effect grows more pronounced when his injuries are severe.”

“So if I was far enough away from him and he was badly hurt –”

“Your body would exhaust its own resources to maintain the healing factor, and you’d die,” the doctor says, like he’s talking about the weather. “For a quirk that can’t be switched off, this is disastrous, and it leads me to believe that there’s a third difference between your quirk and your cousin’s. La Brava’s quirk costs her nothing. It’s simply an expression of her love. But your quirk, taken to its extreme, could lead you to pay the ultimate price.”

You don’t know what to say to that. Or what to think about it. Your mind is completely blank. “In light of that,” the doctor continues, “it’s likely that love is not the only requirement for the activation of your quirk. Tell me – before you spoke the activation phrase, would you happen to have had any thought about valuing Shigaraki’s survival above your own?”

No. You didn’t, and you’re about to say that – and then you remember one desperate thought, as you were holding his hand and staring at certain doom spelled out on the screen. “Yes.”

“That’s the key, then, and why your quirk didn’t activate the first time you told a person you loved them,” the doctor says. He sounds pleased with himself. “Your quirk bestows an increased healing factor on the person you love most, whose life you place above your own. Devotion doesn’t begin to cover it.”

A device is beeping somewhere in the offing. The doctor consults it. “Shigaraki is trying to reach me. Take those leads off. I’ll bring him here shortly.”

The doctor answers the call. You can hear Tomura snarling at him through the phone, and the doctor assuring him that you’re perfectly fine. The doctor gestures for the Nomu with the warp quirk to activate it, and Tomura’s voice chokes off suddenly. He’ll be here soon. He’ll be here soon, and with what you know now about your quirk – “Sir,” you say to the doctor, and he looks at you. “Don’t tell him.”

“Why, Saintess, I’m surprised at you. Don’t you think that’s something your master should know?”

“Yes,” you say, because it is. “But it’s my quirk. I’ll tell him myself.”

“Of course,” the doctor says. Warp sludge spills into midair, falling from Tomura’s mouth, and you can see fury on his face. “In exchange, I’ll need you to prevent him from killing me.”

Right. You get between Tomura and the doctor just as the last of the warp sludge dissipates. “I’m fine,” you say to Tomura. “The doctor just wanted to talk to me about – doctor stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“How you were healing, mainly.” That’s not a lie. You leave out the part where the doctor was more interested in the mechanism of the healing than how it’s going. “Is everything okay back there?”

“Spinner and Compress are in charge until we get back,” Tomura says. He’s glaring at the doctor over your shoulder. “When are we getting back?”

“Yes. As you know, your master has been compiling quirks for you, in order to allow you to become the next him,” the doctor says. That’s news to you, but Tomura doesn’t look surprised. “Based on the Deika incident and your takeover of the Meta Liberation Army, you’ve reached the physical strength and maturity necessary to manage them. Some you’ll recognize, as they’re copies of the quirks your master possessed –”

“Why are they copies?”

“It was intended to be the originals, but your master was captured after Kamino,” the doctor says. Tomura’s shoulders tense. “No need to worry. The copies are just as good.”

“Which quirks of his do I get?” Tomura doesn’t look opposed to the idea. He doesn’t necessarily look into it, either. “I don’t want all of them.”

“We’ll go over the full list in a moment, but there are two that are particularly important,” the doctor says. “First is your master’s quirk – All For One. He currently possesses a copy. You will receive the original. Second, there is a synthetic quirk, one I’ve been working on for quite some time: Super-Regeneration.“

Something clicks into place in your head. “My quirk speeds up Tomura’s natural healing process. If the starting point of that is Super-Regeneration –”

“Then Shigaraki becomes nearly indestructible,” the doctor says. “The injuries you suffered in the takeover of the Meta Liberation Army were severe, and the recovery has been unpleasant. Imagine never taking that sort of damage again.”

Tomura is nodding, and it occurs to you that there’s another side effect. If Tomura has Super-Regeneration, if your quirk is accelerating an already-advanced healing capability, the likelihood that Tomura will take an injury that it would kill you to heal is low. “All For One, and Super-Regeneration,” Tomura says, and you try to focus. “What else?”

There’s a list. Search, a quirk stolen from a pro hero that allows the user to gather information about a person just by looking at them. Air Walk, which gives the capability of flight. Strength and speed enhancements. Something called Radio Waves, that would let Tomura disrupt electronic communications at will. With this collection of quirks, combined with Decay, Tomura would be close to omnipotent. As close as it’s possible to get.

Tomura doesn’t think so. “This isn’t enough,” he says. “All Might –”

“You aren’t facing All Might,” the doctor reminds him. “And One For All’s new wielder is nowhere near his master’s level.”

You feel like you missed something. “What’s One For All?”

The doctor looks askance at Tomura. “You didn’t tell her?”

“It didn’t come up,” Tomura snaps, but he looks guilty when he turns to you. “There’s this quirk that gets passed from person to person. It collects their physical abilities and it collects their quirks, if they have quirks. My grandma was the seventh person to have it. All Might’s the eighth. Midoriya’s the ninth.”

“Oh,” you say. “That’s why he’s – like that.”

“A pain in the ass? Yeah.” Tomura is scowling. “Sensei made that quirk – One For All. He wants it back.”

“That’s why you need your master’s quirk,” the doctor says. “It will allow you to take it from Midoriya Izuku and restore it to its rightful place.”

“It gets passed from person to person,” you say. You’re still a bit stuck on that one. “That means All Might picked Midoriya to follow in his footsteps. Why?”

“Your guess is as good as mine –”

“It’s because he’s stupid,” Tomura interrupts the doctor. “Throwing himself into the middle of fights he doesn’t belong in, like there’s nobody he can’t save – the same thing All Might does, except Midoriya can’t even do it – it’s pathetic. That quirk should die with him.”

“Toga will be mad,” you say, like an idiot. Tomura looks taken aback. “You said you wouldn’t destroy the stuff she likes.”

“She needs better taste,” Tomura mutters.

“It seems reclaiming One For All is the wiser course of action,” the doctor says. “You’ll fulfill your master’s dream, and grant Toga’s wish at the same time. Midoriya Izuku will be much easier for her to manage without a quirk.”

Without a quirk? “He’s quirkless?”

“So was All Might.” Tomura changes the subject while you’re still reeling from the fact that the ranks of the quirkless used to include both the Number One hero and his successor. “Those are my master’s quirks. What else do you have for me?”

“Dabi’s test of the High End Nomu was successful, and I have five in the early stages,” the doctor says, “along with many near-High Ends and others who can serve as foot soldiers. They’ll all be keyed to respond to your voice, just as Gigantomachia does. And once you have your master’s quirk, we’ll be able to produce them quickly. The process of transplanting quirks without All For One is painfully slow.”

“I knew there was a catch,” Tomura says. “How long is it going to take to give me those quirks?”

“Four months,” the doctor says.

It’s quiet for a second. “And?” Tomura says.

“And it won’t be easy. There’s a reason the process is usually conducted on corpses,” the doctor says. “You’ll spend the majority of those four months in hellish pain.”

Your stomach clenches with fear, and the thought comes into your mind, then out of your mouth, with no editing whatsoever. “It’s not worth it.”

The doctor and Tomura both turn to look at you. The doctor looks annoyed. “We’ll transplant Super-Regeneration first. That will decrease the risk of death –”

Of death? “That’s not the point,” you say. You’re not going to convince the doctor. There’s only one person here who matters. You turn to Tomura. “The point is – you were right before. You don’t need this. You can do what you need to do without it.”

“Four months is a long time. The longer we wait to act, the more likely it is that the heroes catch on,” Tomura says. “I’ll take the Nomus. Not the rest.”

“Without your master’s quirk, the Nomus are a finite resource,” the doctor says to Tomura. “I understand your hesitancy. Four months is not insignificant. Take my proposal back to discuss with the rest of your comrades. Keep in mind that nothing will happen before your injuries are fully healed. Is that agreeable to you?”

“Yes,” Tomura says, without looking at you. “My injuries should be healed in two weeks. If the League decides to accept your offer, we’ll start then. Send us back.”

He reaches for your hand, grasps it as the Nomu with the warp quirk reappears – but you pull it out of his grip at the last minute. You need to have a conversation with the doctor.

The doctor looks surprised to see you. “Is there something else we need to discuss, Saintess?”

“You’ve got procedure notes for what you do to make the Nomus. I want them.”

The doctor’s eyes narrow. “Why should I give them to you?”

“Tomura should know exactly what you’re planning to do to him before he decides,” you say. “If this could kill him –”

“It won’t kill him,” the doctor says. You open your mouth to argue and he cuts you off. “As I said. I’ll transplant Super-Regeneration first. Combine that with your quirk, and we’ll have no trouble whatsoever, assuming you’re present for the key points of the process. It should all be fine if you go along.”

“If it’s all going to be fine, then give me the procedure notes,” you say. The doctor rolls his eyes. “Why not? Do you have something to hide?”

The doctor looks offended for a second, but then his expression smooths out. “I suppose in your position I would have the same concerns. Just a moment.” He turns away and taps a screen, and somewhere further back in the recesses of the room a printer whirs to life. “I’ll include the list of quirks to be transplanted, as well as the planned designs for the Nomus. Shigaraki should know exactly what he’s gaining from this exchange.”

He vanishes into the darkness, and you cross your arms over your chest. “Do you ever turn the lights on in here?”

“You should know by now, Saintess – some deeds are best done in darkness.”

What is that supposed to mean? You wait, your nerves already jangling. Tomura’s going to be angry when you get back. You can already tell that the two of you are out of alignment on this, that your loyalty to him is going to force a clash with his plans, and somehow you don’t think that showing him whatever the doctor’s going to do to him will change his mind.

But you won’t know that until you try. And you have to try. The doctor comes back and drops a stack of papers into your arms. “Run along, Saintess,” he instructs, and beckons the Nomu forward. But then he stops, studying you. “Was the white costume your idea?”

You shake your head. “He insisted.”

“Mm.” The doctor frowns. “All For One won’t like that.”

“My costume color?” You can’t help but be a little incredulous. “All For One’s in prison. He has bigger things to worry about than what I look like.”

“Shigaraki is meant to be the next All For One,” the doctor says. He gestures at you. “This is a complication. You’re quite lucky to have a useful quirk.”

This is weird. You’ve always gotten the sense that the doctor liked you, and the change of tune makes you nervous. You fall back into conciliation, a position you’re maybe too familiar with. “If he says yes,” you say, “and I’m here while it happens, can I learn about it from you? I can’t be as useful to him as you are to All For One, but I want to be able to help as much as I can.”

It’s quiet for a second. You’re not sure if he’s taken the bait. “Of course, my dear,” the doctor says finally. His smile doesn’t seem faked, but you don’t know if you have enough data to say for sure. “You’ll be here already. I’d be remiss if I didn’t allow such a devoted servant to learn how to help her master – and with your medical background, you’ll be an apt pupil. Hurry back, now. Your master is waiting.”

Tomura’s angry with you when you get back for not going with him, just like you thought he’d be. He’s less angry when you present him with the information you collected, and explain that it’s why you stayed behind – but less angry isn’t the same thing as not angry at all. “Don’t do that again,” he says, even after you’ve reassured him. “I don’t trust him with you.”

“But I’m supposed to trust him with you?”

“That’s different.”

“No, it isn’t.” You aren’t going to let it go. “You love me. You don’t want me to be hurt or taken advantage of. You want me to be safe.”

“Of course I do –”

“That’s what I want for you,” you say. The documents feel heavy in your hands. “I want us to win. I want us to do it fast, and I want it to be decisive. But I don’t want to see him hurt you. I don’t trust him, either. Not with you.”

Tomura gives you a curious look. “Why not?”

“I can’t put my finger on it,” you admit. “The way he talks. Something about how he says things. It bothers me and I don’t know why. And when you’ve been hurt and he hasn’t helped you –”

“He’s an asshole,” Tomura agrees. “But he’s not going to screw me. That would get in the way of Sensei’s plans, and he wouldn’t do that.”

No, he wouldn’t. If the doctor sees a reflection of his loyalty in yours, he’d never jeopardize All For One’s plans for Tomura. But you don’t know if All For One’s plans for Tomura and Tomura’s plans for Tomura line up. That’s not an argument you can have today. Tenko’s been touchy in the past when you’ve directly crossed All For One – so touchy, in fact, that you haven’t brought it up since the night you refused to go along with the idea that Tenko killed his family on purpose. Things are tense enough. You can’t bring that up right now.

What you can do is make your case. “We should talk to the others. I’ll read this over so I can explain what’s in it. If you’re serious about everybody deciding together –”

“I’m serious.”

“We should have all the information when we do.” You find the nearest wall and sit down with your back to it, only to immediately get to your knees to stop Tomura from falling face-first as he tries to join you. “Hey. No. You need to rest, not sit on the floor!”

“Technically I’m lying on the floor.” Tomura waits until you’ve gotten settled again, then lifts the documents out of your lap so he can put his head there. “And I’m resting. Are you really going to make me move?”

“Yes,” you say. Tomura looks up at you. “Are you really going to give me puppy eyes?”

“If it works.” Tomura closes them, looking almost unbearably smug. “Wake me up when you’re done reading.”

“Don’t you want to read them with me?”

“I didn’t finish kindergarten. You graduated high school and did college.” Tomura yawns. “You can explain it to me. You always know how to say things right.”

It’s quiet for a little bit. Your head hurts and you’re unsettled, so unsettled that having to sit still for this feels impossible. Tomura’s good hand pulls lightly at the edge of the veil. “Take this off. I want to see.”

You don’t take it off, but you do flip the edge of it up and back over your head, out of the way. “Yes?”

“Are you mad at me?”

“You’ve never asked me that before,” you say. “Not even after you tried to kill me.”

“I didn’t want to kill you,” Tomura says, even though that’s not what you said. “I want to know. Are you mad at me?”

“No,” you say, and mean it. The relief that crossed Tomura’s face makes you want to cry.

You aren’t mad at him, but you feel like things are slipping out of control, and you can’t stop it. The more power Tomura amasses, the more moving parts there are, the more places there are for things to fall apart – and for every one you know to be wary of, there are probably three more you’d never see coming. Your quirk can save Tomura, sure, but it can’t protect him. You don’t know how to convince people, how to win them over to your side. You’re right about this. You know you’re right about it, even if you can’t explain why, but you have a bad feeling that it’s not going to make any difference at all.

You have to wake Tomura up before you’re done reading, because someone from the MLA comes along and freaks out at seeing the Grand Commander fast asleep on the floor. You trail along at Tomura’s side into the rooms they’ve set aside for him, which look like the kind of penthouse rich people live in, and get yanked onto the bed next to him as soon as he’s gotten under the covers. You finish the rest of the reading there, and then you go looking for the League, a hollow feeling in the pit of your stomach the entire time.

You start off by explaining the medical procedures the doctor’s going to put Tomura through, but nobody’s listening – they’re too interested in the list of quirks Tomura’s going to pick up as a result. Dabi’s interested in the Nomus, and in the idea that you could learn how to make them; Compress is more interested in the financial resources the doctor can cough up to support all of you. “These Liberationists are too stingy,” he says, when you ask him. “I’m tired of arguing with Skeptic every time we order in.”

Spinner snorts at that. “More money won’t hurt,” he agrees. “We need better gear, and weapons –”

“And costumes!” Twice chimes in. “How come Saintess is the only one who’s got a new look?”

He starts describing what he wants his new look to be, and Dabi starts picking on him about it. Compress looks like he’s thinking about takeout, and Spinner is scratching the League of Legends logo onto a desk with his fingernail. Your blood pressure is rising. “Did any of you hear what I said? These kind of procedures –”

“He’s got you. Nothing to worry about,” Dabi says. “I’d go through that and worse to crush the Number One hero – if I didn’t know how to do it already.”

“We know, we know. You have a super secret mission,” Toga says, to the tune of snickering from Spinner. Toga isn’t laughing. “I don’t want Izuku to get hurt. Just because I think he’s cute when he’s bloody doesn’t mean I want him to get hurt. Saintess doesn’t even like blood.”

“Who cares about that? Get to the point.”

“If I was Saintess, I’d worry too,” Toga says. You feel a surge of relief that almost makes you dizzy. “I was listening. Those quirks all sound really nice, Tomura. But you have a good quirk already – and you have all of us. You don’t need those quirks to win.”

“So you say no,” Tomura clarifies, and Toga nods. She’s sitting closest to you, on the end of Tomura’s bed, and she reaches out to squeeze your hand. You squeeze back. “That’s one against.”

“For, obviously,” Dabi says. He gives you a dirty look. “If you’re really going to walk away from that much power because your girlfriend’s scared, Shigaraki, maybe you shouldn’t be the next leader at all.”

That’s the kind of bait Tomura would have risen to back when this started. He lets it go and looks to Twice. “I think it’s nice that you’re worried,” Twice says to you, “but I’m with Dabi.”

“I’m not so sure,” Compress says. “It’s a risk, and we’d lose too much time. Our control over the Liberationists isn’t solidified. We need you here. And yet –”

You’re hopeful for a second. “That much power shouldn’t be left on the table,”

Compress says. “I vote yes. For reasons other than Dabi’s.”

That’s three in favor. “I vote no,” you say. There’s only one vote left, and it should be in favor of your position, which will force a tie. “Spinner?”

“Yes,” Spinner says without hesitating. Toga’s grip on your hand tightens almost to the point of pain, and the distraction it lends is the only reason why you don’t lose your shit instantly. “If that power’s there, you should take it. It’s not like it’ll hurt to have it.”

“It won’t hurt you,” you say, and Spinner startles at the sound of your voice. “None of you understand what this means.”

“We understand,” Dabi says. He looks warier of you than you’ve seen before. “We care more about winning than we do about Shigaraki getting an owie.”

“Don’t care about that, then. Care about what I’m going to do to you the second I figure out how this Nomu thing works.”

Dabi sneers. “That’s not very saintlike of you, is it, Saintess?”

“That’s the name you all gave me,” you say. Your body is shaking with rage. You hold still with an effort, death-gripping Toga’s hand. “Want to bet on whether it fits?”

“Hey, take it down a notch,” Twice says. He’s looking back and forth between you and Dabi and Spinner, clearly anxious. “It’s going to be fine! You’ve got your quirk now. You won’t let anything bad happen to the boss.”

He doesn’t understand. None of them understand that the bad thing is this. This is the thing you’re supposed to protect him from — people who would hurt him, people who don’t care that they’re hurting him, people who want to use him for their own twisted, selfish needs. You’re pissed at Dabi, frustrated with Twice, but both of those are misdirections. There are two people you’re angry with right now. One of them is Spinner, who acts like he cares about Tomura only to pull this bullshit. The other one is you.

“Twice, get out of my way. Or at least make a clone of her that I can torch.” Dabi’s eyes are locked on yours. “You want to do this? Fine. Let’s do it. Let’s see how good you are at –”

“No,” Tomura snaps from the bed. “Get out.”

He’s talking to Dabi. You know he’s talking to Dabi. You get up from the bed anyway and head for the door, faster than Tomura can protest, faster than anyone can stop you. The door shuts behind you before he can even say a word.

“Hey!” Toga’s voice follows you, and you glance back, startled. She’s still holding your hand. You’ve been dragging her. “Slow down, okay? I got hurt in the fight too and I don’t have a pretty girlfriend who can heal me.”

“Sorry.” You try to let go, but Toga won’t let you. “Let go. I need to be alone.”

“No.” Toga shakes her head. “I’ve never seen you get mad like that before. Nobody has. Not even Tomura-kun.”

You remember Tenko asking you, forever ago, when the last time was that you really got mad at somebody. You can’t remember being this angry as an adult. As a teenager, sure. You were never good at calming down, and that’s why you need to be alone, because you only know one way to do it. You yank your arm back from Toga, and she tightens her grip. “We’re supposed to be friends,” she says. Her sharp-toothed smile is tight and anxious. “Friends talk to each other.”

You don’t want to talk. Even thinking about your feelings is impossible sometimes. But she’s not letting go of you, and the sooner you give her what she wants, the sooner you can get away. “I’m useless,” you spit. “I can’t stop him from doing this. I can’t make all of you see that it’s wrong. I can’t make Spinner pay – I expect this shit from Dabi, but he doesn’t get to act like – if you knew –”

You’re getting incoherent. Your face is heating up behind the veil, and your eyes are starting to burn, and now that you’ve started talking, you can’t stop. “I can’t do anything even now that I have a quirk. I just have to stand here and watch and I don’t care that it’ll kill me before it kills him –”

Toga’s eyes widen. You shouldn’t have said that. It’s not the point. “I’m useless,” you say again. “Quirk or no quirk. I can’t save him. I have to save him and I don’t know how.”

“You sound like Izuku,” Toga observes, and you blink. “He has to save people too. He gets upset when he thinks he can’t, but he always finds a way. You can find a way to save Tomura-kun. You did it before.”

“No, I couldn’t.” Your voice wavers. “Not when it counted.”

Toga gives you an odd look, asks you what you mean, but it’s too late. Your mind’s already spun off, carrying you back fifteen years – almost sixteen, now – to the wreckage of Tenko’s house.

The instant you realized what you were walking in, what was sticky and staining the bottoms of your bare feet, your heart stopped. You didn’t throw up. Throwing up would have been normal. Screaming would have been normal, and you did scream – but not yet. As soon as you realized what you were walking in, panic seized you by the throat, and you picked up the pace, feeling your stomach lurch every time you identified another piece of a person you knew. Tenko’s grandmother’s glasses. His grandfather’s wedding ring. Bloodstained strands of his mother’s hair. Hana’s favorite hair tie and Tenko’s dad’s wristwatch and Mon’s collar with its little bell, and by then you were crying so hard you could barely see. But you kept moving, banging your shins on chunks of rubble, blood staining your nightgown, looking for the person who was missing, your favorite person in the whole world. He wasn’t there. His family was there, but he wasn’t, and that was when you screamed. Tenko!

The scream brought the neighbors running, and some of them threw up. A lot of them cried. A lot of them called the cops, and then your parents came looking for you — but you were already on the move, leaving horrible bloody footprints on the sidewalk. Tenko wasn’t there at his house, which meant he was somewhere else, and you were his sidekick, his best friend. It was your job to find him.

You didn’t get far before your parents caught you, and they dragged you back into the house to clean you up and make you get dressed for school — but then they let you walk to school, and of course you went the opposite way as soon as you were out of sight. Whoever took Tenko had a head start on you, but you knew Tenko would be trying to escape, and once he did, you’d find him and the two of you could hide. You’d find him; you’d have to find him. There wasn’t another choice.

But people were looking for you — the school called your parents when you didn’t show up, and your parents called the police. You were so out of your mind that you thought they were there to help you look for Tenko when they showed up. When you realized they weren’t, you ran away from them, too. A hero caught you next, and you bit him when he picked you up, not that it helped at all. You couldn’t figure out why so many people were looking for you, when you still had a family, when you had somewhere to go home to. You were fine. They should have been looking for him.

You turned into sort of an escape artist over the next week. You snuck away at school, climbed out the window at home, even ducked a turnstile and made your way onto a train deeper into the city to look for him there. Even if Tenko couldn’t get away just yet, he had to know you were looking for him, right? He had to know you wouldn’t let somebody take him away. Even if nobody else was looking, you were going to keep looking until you found him.

You don’t remember why you stopped. You have a vague memory of your mom giving you a medication, something she said would make you feel better while you looked for Tenko, but whatever it was, it just made you tired. Tired, and slow. Even when you snuck out, which you did, you’d forget where you were going almost instantly. You don’t remember what the medication was, just that it tasted bitter on your tongue. Just that they made you keep taking it until Isuzu was old enough to walk. After that they needed you too much to drug you into compliance. After that it was too late to keep looking.

No, it wasn’t too late. You just gave up. If you hadn’t given up, if you’d kept trying, if you hadn’t let him go, none of this would have –

“Hey!” Toga shakes your shoulder, snapping you out of it. Your face is wet under your veil. Your eyes are stinging. “It counts. You got to see him again and you get to keep him, so it counts. But you have to calm down or they won’t listen to you anymore.”

She’s right about that. Showing them that you can get angry right after you’ve shown them that you’re not afraid to shoot people has given you a little unpredictability, the kind that the rest of the League already has, the kind that makes people think twice about crossing you. You’ll lose that if anybody catches you crying in the hallway over how you failed your best friend. You stick your hand under your veil and wipe your eyes, and your phone starts to buzz in your pocket. You pull it out, and when you see the caller ID, your heart sinks. It’s Kazuo.

“I have to take this,” you say to Toga, and she nods but doesn’t leave. You accept the call and put the phone to your ear. “Hey.”

“You’re inside my parameters,” Kazuo says. You close your eyes. “Illegal possession of a firearm, assault with a deadly weapon, voluntary manslaughter. I’ll conceal your identity as long as possible, but if they use a truth-detecting quirk or a mind-reader on me, I won’t be able to hide it.”

“I know,” you say. “Thank you, Kazuo. I don’t know how I can repay you.”

“You sound unwell.”

“So do you,” you say. They must be pushing him hard. The MLA concealed the Deika incident, but you know better than to think the HPSC believes the cover-up. A hit of inspiration comes to you. “Ditch them. Join us.”

Toga elbows you sharply, but Kazuo’s already saying no. “If I go missing, they’ll turn their investigative skills on me, and on my known associates. You’ll be discovered faster than you would have otherwise.”

“It’s not about that,” you say. “They’re going to find out about me eventually anyway. It’s about you being safe.”

“You can’t save us both –”

“Fuck you,” you say sharply, and both Toga and Kazuo suck down shocked breaths. “I have to save somebody. It’s our fault that you’re in this spot, and you’ve still been helping me. Please let me help you.”

“I can’t,” Kazuo says, and you’re about to swear at him again when he follows up. “Not yet. Once things become more chaotic, maybe – but this isn’t the only reason I called. The HPSC has a spy inside your new organization.”

“Oh,” you say after a moment. “Who is it?”

“I don’t know.”

That’s something you haven’t heard Kazuo say in a while. That’s something you’ve never heard Kazuo say. “Uh –”

“I’ve asked the question, but there are thousands of potential answers. I can’t sort through them without losing consciousness.” Kazuo sounds so tired. “There are heroes among your ranks. It could be one of them. The HPSC could have recruited someone entirely unknown. There is no way for me to narrow the results without more information, and I discovered the existence of a spy only by accident. If I knew more, I would tell you.”

“I know you would,” you say. Your heart aches. “As soon as you can come to us, do it. I’ll make sure you don’t have to use your quirk again if you don’t want to.”

“You can’t –”

Saying you can isn’t going to change his mind. It won’t help you, either. “I will.”

“Hey!”

You and Toga both look up to find either Twice or one of his clones hurrying down the hall towards you. You tell Kazuo to stay safe and hang up the phone in a hurry. Twice stops once he’s close, out of breath. “The boss is losing it,” he explains. “You left and then Re-Destro showed up because he heard we were making decisions without him –”

Great. “So then Shigaraki threatened to Decay him the rest of the way and Dabi said he can’t just Decay people because his girlfriend left him – and then Compress and Spinner were trying to convince him that you aren’t actually leaving him – are you actually leaving him? Because if you are we have more problems than I thought we did.”

“She’s not leaving him,” Toga says confidently. Then she looks at you. “You aren’t, right?”

You can’t decide whether nodding or shaking your head is the appropriate response. You go with nodding, and take it as a good sign that nobody panics. “I just needed a break,” you say. “And I just talked to my contact at the HPSC. Apparently we’ve got a spy somewhere in the PLF.”

“Well, shit,” Twice says. “We gotta tell Shigaraki right now!”

He doubles himself, and both versions of him hold out their hands to help you and Toga to your feet. Then he borrows a trick from your book and sets off down the hall without letting go, pulling you along in his wake. You’ve got a few more minutes at most to work things out in your head.

But in the end, there’s not that much to work out. Kazuo said you can’t save both – him and Tomura, or you and him – and for the first time in his life, you’re going to prove him wrong. You’ll find a way for Kazuo to be safe, and for Mitsuko and Ryuhei, who only got involved in this because of you. And it doesn’t matter anymore that you couldn’t save Tomura when you both were children. You’ll just have to make up for it by saving him now.

[alienpossession]

Ethnographic Research: Part 1

Loud screams and flailing hands, yet no one to help as all of them already jumped off their boat in the middle of the lake. They can feel it, something is filling them up, fast, and they cannot do anything about it. But after a wild couple of minutes, deafening silence as no more scream for help coming out. Soon, they climb the ladder by the side of the boat and get back up to the deck, looking at each other with curiosity and gleeful, awkward smile. One of them then mouthed

"Let's inform the Mother Ship of a job well done," and just like that, the cold expression-less face turned warmer, rowdier even, as it takes on a more humane color and expression.

----

There's no such thing as a memo or pointers on "How to Perfectly Blend In among Human" or "Step-by-Step Guide for Seamless Integration into Human Society". At least not for the Xarthan. As an invasive, cruel yet hyper-intelligent extraterrestrial being, taking over by sheer force and adapting accordingly is always the playbook. It's in their DNA to give complete disregard of other species as long as their species advanced or survived through their tumultuous, warring lifestyle. Yet, a handful of Xarthan believed that there's a better way of life out there. That they don't have to continously move from one planet to the others, pillaging one's life after the other, just to get their euphoric-inducing stimulant release. That maybe killing other species is not the only way they can get that sensation that makes them alive. Their centuries of research eventually led the descendants of these slightly differing Xarthans to the small blue dot their transmission revealed to be called planet Earth.

So, these small pack of 20 Xarthans decided that their research hypothesis need to be verified. They descended in batches, 2 in each spot seemingly infested by human being and planned to converge after each of them lived at least around a month or two acclimatizing to Earth's society. Their mission is to verify whether or not the sexual release done by the male population of Earth released a similar stimulant to what the Xarthans experienced when they manage to exterminate other species

In a complete Xarthan's style, these batches of alien take over the first human they encountered with little to no regards about the life these human previously have. In its static form, a Xarthan is usually 7-8 feet tall, translucent and very slender being. But due to its "liquid" nature, it can adjust its shape. Upon contact of the vessel's internal water or blood, a Xarthan will merge with it and then spread itself through the entire system of the body. This also applies to bodies of water in the wild, so in the event of encountering bodies of water, a Xarthan can break down into millions of microparticles and takeover multiple vessels at once. After taken over, those vessels will be controlled by a singular hive mind as those microparticles originated from a single Xarthan entity before breaking down. That case happened to the unfortunate Pike boys and their girls who spent their time on a lakeside cabin for their weekend break. When they jumped to the water, they have no idea that 2 Xarthans just landed a couple minutes before right around the area where their boat stopped. Upon unknowingly making contact to the infested water, their bodies all contorted and spasmed as millions of microparticles swarmed their system. They tried their best to save themselves but it was just too much and before long, they were all taken over

Still in the States, but more to its Northwest area, the hunting group didn't realize that there's a pair of predator lurking around the shadows. The group went to Montana for a casual hunting since this is not yet the season for elk hunting anyway. They split themselves into group of two, not knowing that by the end of the day, a pair of them will be back as totally different person. That misfortune befell on Richard and Logan, the slightly more experience hunter among the group as they were USMC veteran and probably have the most experience with gun compared to the others. The Xarthans that took over their bodies laughed on the last memory the two humans have

"He was scared shitless. It was genuinely the most horrified he's ever been,"

"Yup, same goes here. I think he peed his pants HAHAH"

The 4 Xarthans in the States are just 1/5 out of the research group. If went according to the original plan, the other 16 will land around:

1. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2. the Greek isles

3. Bangkok, Thailand

4. Ibiza, Spain

5. The Carribbean

6. Northern Europe, and

7. Eastern coast of Australia

[edwordsmyth]

"Most recently, Nir Hasson returned to Be’eri and interviewed a local resident named Tuval, who was lucky to be away from the kibbutz at the time of the attack but whose partner was killed. In Hasson’s October 20 Haaretz article, he reports:

“His voice trembles when his partner, who was besieged in her home shelter at the time, comes to mind. According to him, only on Monday night and only after the commanders in the field made difficult decisions — including shelling houses with all their occupants inside in order to eliminate the terrorists along with the hostages — did the IDF complete the takeover of the kibbutz. The price was terrible: at least 112 Be’eri people were killed. Others were kidnapped. Yesterday, 11 days after the massacre, the bodies of a mother and her son were discovered in one of the destroyed houses. It is believed that more bodies are still lying in the rubble.”

This quote is important for several reasons; one is because it adds to the understood timeline of events. This testimony would seem to indicate that many Israeli captives were still alive on Monday, October 9, a full two days after the events of Saturday, October 7. While it might be understandable if captives had been killed in the hectic crossfire of an initial Israeli response to the attack on the 7th, this account would seem to indicate that the decision to assault the kibbutz and everyone inside was made as a clear military calculation.

It is clear Palestinian militants were hiding in these buildings with their Israeli captives as Israeli soldiers were blasting their way in with massive tank shells in close quarters. It deserves to be investigated who caused most of the death and destruction that took place. This is especially important as these deaths are now being used to justify the destruction of Gaza and the killing of thousands of civilians there."

[bambirosedoll]

Mmm so another level up happened

Did i post the level 17 level up? I dont remember.

Anyway, it's been a few days? Lets see... so bambi has totally decided to ignore locktober. And instead taken to giving herself morning cummies with her dildo and vibe. She's decided that since it's old selfs birth montth she can do what she wants.

And now that we are back on the girl juice her Os arent all squirty messy... so mixed feelings...

She's also restarted the 20 day. She was doing a session at night when she goes to bed and then waking up early to listen again. Last time bambi did a 20 day she ended up talking in 3rd person for a while. Its curious to see where this one leads. If she is able to keep up and finish it.

Mmmm the reddit had more followers but still just comments under some bambis more social posts. No one else has really posted yet. Someone tried reporting one of her own posts she made as self permotion? Like for one of our subs own rules. Bambi was lkke.... really? Mmmm k... the mod team doesnt see it? Promoting pink Wednesdays? Cuz on Wednesdays we wear pink.

Anyway... frustration of the day: needs wedge high heel sneakers so she can keep up with her walking. Xcept she's a glamazon and the world doesnt carry glamazon sizes and this needs to change. Someone fix this for bambi. Ty 💖

[biosector1001]

The OTHER comic duology that started in 2012 that NickOnPlanetRipple’s Galactic Lampoon inspired:

Dawn of Evil and its sequel Takeover.

Dawn of Evil went on from May 21, 2012 to June 15, 2014 at 192 pages and Takeover went on from September 20, 2015 to February 21, 2016 before it was put on indefinite hiatus by Kalhiki after they officially announced that they lost interest on the project on June 5, 2017 and won’t be working on it further. It was canned at 19 pages.

For those who read it, what were your opinions? Dawn of Evil was the first HF fan project I saw(ironically, before any of the canon material too) and while definitely flawed with the pacing, it still holds a special place in my heart.

I’m posting it today because it’s the release day of Takeover’s poster and due to real life events out of my control, I forgot to do it until after the original ending date of DOE so I just waited until then.

For those curious, just like Galactic Lampoon, it can be found on DeviantArt.

[preservationofnormalcy]

How much of this stuff is planned ahead of time, and how much is on-the-spot improvization? Like the Boiler Incident(tm)?

Answering some of the OOC questions I got when I announced my hiatus!

It’s probably something like 80/20, where 80% is on the spot and 20% is pre planned in some way. Typically even the “pre-planned” stuff is more “I’d like to do X thing,” putting a pin in it, and then waiting for something to come across so I can expand on it. There’s very little actual full planning involved, because it’s touch and go whether I’d be able to do anything I wanted based on the asks I get.

Something like the Boiler incident from a few months ago was some of that “I’d like to do this” thing. I had a vague idea that I wanted to do something, and had time that day to stand by the ask box to develop the idea. The audience for OPN is really creative, and we can usually lean on that at least a little bit.

An example of something that was planned out way more would be the events in general and the MISSI Takeover in February specifically. (I’ll tag this post with the tag I used for that. You can click that to check out the whole event. Don’t forget to add /chrono to the url to see all the posts in chronological order.) My co-writer and I batted around ideas for weeks leading up to it. We knew there would be a poll, we knew the broad strokes of what was going to happen, we had some idea of notes or lore we wanted to hit. There were a few moments where we said “oh that ask is perfect for X thing or Y note we wanted to hit.” Even then, only the “war room” story posts were pre-written in any way, usually about a half hour before we posted them to give us time to adapt. Everything else was written on the spot by one of us.

[alpaca-clouds]

Leftist Defeatism

Something that really, really annoys me about the left is... the defeatism. And not just in the sense of "we have no chance to win this" kind of way, but also in the "so what use is it having plans, if we won" kind of way.

I think nothing shows this more than the reaction to Solarpunk as a genre (not the aesthetic) being: "This is not punk! Because the characters are not punk." And no matter how much you explain the idea of the Solarpunk world, they will remain on the outlook that punk is indeed "being against the system", rather than "being for certain things". So, to them, a world where the characters align with their surroundings, cannot have punk storytelling.

But... this kinda outlook is in a lot of leftist thought. With the left defining themselves around "fighting the current system" rather than "building a new one". Once again: Don't get me wrong. Yes, we do need to first fight the current system, because capitalism needs to end and all that. But... We should also have a plan for what we do when we have won.

And yes, I am a hopeful individual. I think that we will win. Back in the very old days Abigail from Philosophy Tube put it very nice: Other than right wing politics, the left can win. Because while right wing politics always build towards having others to exclude - until nobody is left to exclude (you know, first they came for the communists and so on)... So they cannot go on forever. Meanwhile left wing politics build towards making people equal and there being a very definite endgame of "everyone is equal and now all is good".

I also need to have faith in this, because the current alternative is: "We will all die." We will not save the world from climate change under capitalism. Because the incentives of capitalism and climate protection do not align.

And that is why I think about what would need to happen afterwards. After we win.

One example of where this defeatism and contrarianism shows is with the entire economy thing. A lot of leftist folks are "against capitalism", but not really for an alternative system, because they still think that communism is bad.

Another example, though, is also this thing about "We don't talk to Nazis, we punch Nazis", that often misses the point of where this originally came from. (The point originally was, that we do not want to give Nazis a plattform - but that does not mean that you as a person cannot talk to them.) Because... So, there is just the problem that we have in most western countries about 8-12% who in some regards align with a lot of nazi believes, and often a further 10-20% absolutely willing to vote for far-right parties. And... I am very much not for the "let's put'em all against the wall and shoot" solution, and not for the "put'em all in prison" solution. So... talking to them is kinda necessary at some point. Doubly so, because ideally we should strive to not end up with the revolution after another nazi takeover, you know? So, ideally we should try and convince people before that happens. And... yeah, well, to convince someone you gotta talk to them.

And there is just a lot of this going around. Just this idea that the entire purpose of the left is just to fight everyone else and the system, rather than also thinking about what we should build towards. How the world could look if we won.

Again: Yes, you absolutely should fight. In fact, you should fight probably more than you, dear reader, currently do. But... we also should work towards a future - not only against the system.

[beardedmrbean]

South Korean pop star Hanni has made a surprise announcement, saying she will testify to the country's National Assembly in a hearing about bullying in the music industry.

The singer, who is part of the girl group NewJeans, said she had made the decision without telling her managers or her record label, Ador.

"I believe going forward is the right thing to do, no matter how much I think about it," she wrote to fans on social media.

It comes after she and the other four members of her band raised concerns about their treatment by Ador during an impromptu YouTube livestream on 11 September.

The group were the eighth biggest-selling act in the world last year, scoring international hits with feathery, throwback songs like SuperShy and OMG.

However, their mentor and record label chief executive, Min Hee-Jin, was removed earlier this year over allegations that she had planned a hostile takeover that would make NewJeans and Ador independent of their parent label, Hybe. Min has denied the accusations against her.

In the band's YouTube video, which has since been deleted, they demanded Min's reinstatement; and made claims of workplace harassment.

Hanni said that when she greeted the members of another band at their record label offices, their manager had instructed them to "ignore her".

The 20-year-old reported the incident to Ador’s new chief executive, Kim Joo-Young - but said her concerns had been brushed off.

“She told me it was too late and that I had no evidence. Seeing her ignoring the issue made me feel like there was no one to protect us,” Hanni alleged during the livestream.

The accusation sparked a war of words between fans of NewJeans and the girl group Illit - who were rumoured to be the antagonists.

As the row escalated, the agency managing Illit, Belift Lab, was forced to issue a denial.

"Illit's managers never instructed anyone to 'ignore' NewJeans members, and the Illit members have always greeted NewJeans when passing by," the agency said.

Belift said they had reviewed a video that showed Illit's members bowing to Hanni on the day of the incident - but that footage of their subsequent interactions was not available.

The agency also denied claims from the parents of NewJeans members that this later footage had been deleted on purpose.

The row eventually caught the attention of South Korea's Environment and Labour Committee, who have summoned both Hanni and Kim Joo-Young to testify to an audit on workplace harassment later this month.

In her statement, Hanni told fans: "I've made my decision. I'm going to go the National Assembly. A parliamentary inspection!

"I'm going alone. They still don't know... neither my managers nor the company."

The singer thanked fans for their support, and reassured them that they don't "need to worry".

"I'm doing this for myself and for the members [of NewJeans], and also for the Bunnies [fans]," she added.

"No, it's not difficult. I want to do this."

[climbthemountain2020]

Flame of Autumn - Chapter 19 (mini update)

Part 20/26 | Ao3

Donal woke abruptly in the night, the air still and silent save for the sound of the female breathing next to him.

Should have kicked the whore out before I fell asleep.

He wondered what had woken him so suddenly, running a hand down his face as the blankets pooled around his waist. He could feel the cool breeze coming through the cracked window and trailing over his skin, leaving goosebumps and a sense of unease in its wake.

Donal had, of course, heard of the unrest in Autumn. Beron had only been dead a few days and the details were sketchy, at best. What an idiot, to launch a takeover of Spring. Donal felt comforted knowing he was safe where he was, far to the northeast. Noble families were always safe, and the distance between him and the center of Autumn allowed him to feel even more at ease.

Beron was gone, but Donal knew Eris had been raised in his image. There was nothing to worry about with his station. He’d need to travel to the Forest House soon to pay his respects to Eris as the new High Lord; simpering would get him far in the lines of Autumn–it always had. He was sure that Eris was already finding new, cruel ways to reign over the lesser of Autumn, likely now breeding Donal’s useless, magicless niece.

Donal settled back down into bed.

What a boon that had been.

He couldn’t believe he’d been able to sell the worthless girl off to the Vanserras of all people, but bloodlines sold well in Autumn, magic or no. He vaguely wondered from time to time how long it had taken to break the little bitch. He wished he could have seen it happen. Gods knew he hadn’t been able to do it, despite his best efforts. Even a year of him beating the sense into her hadn’t made a difference in her horrendous attitude, impertinent mouth, and feral spirit. His brother had ruined that girl, but no matter.

In the end, while he may have been lesser than Kieran in every other way, he was more cunning. He would always win out.

As he went to settle, a smile still on his face, he caught motion in the darkness. He jerked back up in the bed.

“Who’s there?” he demanded. How could someone have possibly gotten around his guards? His eyes must have been playing tricks on him.

But then, in the midnight darkness, two eyes lit up as though on fire.

Donal gasped, scrambling backward to the headboard in his panic.

“Who are you?” His voice pitched up, the truth beginning to wash over him as he realized that, for someone to be in his private chambers, his guard must be gone.

The female next to him woke at the motion, stirring and mumbling as she did.

Abruptly, the fire spread from the eyes to consume the entire shape of a human body, illuminating the dark room with the bright fire of Autumn magic.

The figure was familiar to him, but his mind couldn’t catch up with his eyes. The fiery female let a smirk slowly crawl across her face as she took him in.

“Hello, Uncle.”

Matilda.

His mind couldn’t make sense of it all. Donal didn’t even have a moment to push through the panic long enough to respond before the stone walls of the room collapsed. The female in the bed with him was shrieking, holding the sheets to her as she wailed. In the light illuminated by Matilda’s fire, Donal could see the form of a great beast entering.

Even in the darkness, Donal could see the massive drake was black as onyx, the wings a red as deep as blood. The scales that lined its body shimmered in the reflection of the flame as it moved. Its eyes were the orange of embers, and they were focused entirely on him as the creature walked forward to stand slightly behind Matilda.

A low disembodied voice from the drake rumbled through the room with such power it felt as though the air itself shook.

“Leave.” It was looking to the female in the bed at his side.

The female scrambled out of the bed, sobbing as she stumbled around Matilda and sprinted for the door still entirely naked. He could smell his own terror rolling off of him in waves, sending the acrid scent into the air as he pissed himself.

“Please! Please, Matilda. Please.”

The great beast nudged against Matilda’s side affectionately–the eternal flame covering her not seeming to affect either of them. It turned those murderous eyes, still burning bright and furious, towards Donal, blowing smoke from its nose in a great huff as it rose up.

Matilda smiled wickedly, holding her flaming hands palms-up towards Donal, the slightest taunting movement at the tips of her fingers.

“Shall we begin?”

Taglist (lomls): @cauldronblssd @queercontrarian @byyalady @thelovelymadone @clockwork-ashes @lovingkelj @lilah-asteria

Thank you for the beta @cauldronblssd I love you!!!

[dawnofdiscovery]

Heya People! How are you? I'm here to recommend some Tmnt fanfics! (Mainly crossover because that's what I'm looking for the most, I don't know if I'll do this correctly)

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ Crossover 🐢

the question is violence and the answer is pizza by @shoppingcartshells

Summary :

Another one of those crossover stories, wherein the 2012 turtles are all grown up and the 2018 turtles are troubled teens determined to give them gray scales

Chapters: 32 ( not yet finished )

Tots and Interdimensional Space Portals

I don't know if the author has Tumblr but if so please tell me

Summary :

In a last-ditch effort to save his brother when faced with a possibly life-ending weapon, Leonardo threw himself in front of Michelangelo to protect him from the oncoming blast of an advanced Kraang device, not expecting to walk away from the shot unharmed. What Leo hadn’t anticipated happening was being thrown into an opening portal and sent halfway across the multiverse only to be found by four familiar but much younger turtles.

Chapters: 24 ( not yet finished )

The Last Ronin Becomes a Discord Admin by @melonpalooza

Summary :

The Last Ronin survives the fight with Oroku Hiroto. He didn't expect that. He no longer can hear his brothers, and it makes him just a little bit lonely. One day, he finds an old laptop left behind by his late brother. On it is a single messaging platform, filled to the brim with other turtles from other dimensions. They were just like his brothers, yet so different…

Why did his brother make such an invention? For what purpose did he intend for it? And why do these kids keep trying to get him to open up?

Chapters: 44 ( not yet finished )

( The Last Ronin Becomes a Discord Admin also crossovers with other fanfics )

Ghost in the Shell by @bluepeachstudios

Summary :

In one universe, 2003 Donatello disappears from his brother's lives, which leads to the Shredder's takeover and the death of the remaining turtles.

In another, 2003 Donatello appears, and spends 10 years trying to find a way home. Then he sees something he can't imagine; an alternate version of him, Splinter, and his brothers, seeking shelter in the sewers.

Chapters: 31 ( concluded )

( Ghost in the Shell also crossovers with other fanfics )

Double Rainbow (Beyond Space and Time) by @alicat54c @bluepeachstudios

Summary :

When Ultimate Draco sends the turtles across time and space, Splinter meets four little turtles and decides to take them home with him. The boys are delighted by their new little sisters.

Tmnt 2003 xover with Empathy is Learned

Chapters: 20 ( concluded )

Purple Squared by @alicat54c @bluepeachstudios

Summary :

Ghost finds Dannie and his little brothers wandering alone in the sewers after the death of their Splinter, and takes them home with him.

Crossover of Ghost in the Shell by AmevelloBlue and A Different Eldest Brother by alicat54c

Chapters: 20 ( not yet finished )

Connect Four

I don't know if the author has Tumblr but if so please tell me

Summary :

In which a fight goes wrong, but doesn't go catastrophically wrong, and the 2003!turtles find themselves in the Rise Universe. A lot of fluff and family bonding follows.

Two Souls by @virgilisspidey

Summary :

Leo was never lonely.

Sure he has his pops and his brothers and his best friend sister April, but he also has someone else he's known almost all his life.

He's a mutant turtle too, and for some reason, only he can see him.

It's alright, it's not like he wanted to share him anyways.

A rewrite of some of the episodes where 2012 Leo is connected to Rise Leo's soul and acts like a weird imaginary friend

[Part of the Mama Leo Series.]

Cross Dimension Kidnapping (with pics)

by @aealzx

Summary :

After spending some time harassing John Bishop's successor, keeping her from progressing with interdimensional experiments, a message is sent to Raphael (03) claiming that Agent Augustine has custody of his three brothers. Except Don is there watching the video message with him, and only one of the three mutant turtles shown on screen are related to them.

Originally posted on tumblr, short chapter format

Chapters: 27 ( not yet finished )

shaking the latch

I don't know if the author has Tumblr but if so please tell me

Summary :

Yoshi was getting quite tired of running, honestly.

Only a few months out of Draxum's lab, Rise!Splinter finds himself once again among strangers who nevertheless look suspiciously familiar

Chapters: 10 ( not yet finished )

Too Many Turtles by @dysfunctional-doodle

Summary :

In universe 2003, Donnie tries to experiment with the inter dimensional gun the 1987 turtles had given him. Instead, he accidentally creates a multiversal chat room for many different versions of his brothers, and counting.

It certainly makes life…interesting.

TLDR: multiverse group chat between most iterations of the turtles. Starts with 2003, 2012 and 2018 but more are added as I go. 50% plot and 50% chaos.

*now includes the 87 and mutant mayhem boys!*

Chapters: 24 ( not yet finished )

Wedding Bells and Magic Portals by @melonpalooza

Summary :

It had been ten years since they had lost Splinter, the patriarch of their family. But now the Hamato Clan was celebrating new beginnings, including a marriage and the upcoming birth of the next generation. Things never go to plan, though, and the Hamato brothers find themselves in an alternate dimension. Again. Oh, sewer apples.

Chapters: 7 ( concluded )

interdimensional minecraft

( I hope that one day it will return )

Summary :

Another crossover chatfic between the tmnt universes where they teach other how to be a healthy family, except its only some of them, and none of them know its their siblings from another universe, let alone know their acting as a family therapist for each other.

Chapters: 12 ( not yet finished )

Well, I think that's it for now 🤔 I have a few more but as I haven't read them yet I don't know if I should post them or not, I know that some of the ones above are already very well known, but there's no reason not to give them more love, right? Then that's it! Maybe I'll update more when I read the ones I saved (or maybe if some of you want to see it anyway)

( please let me know if you have any errors )

Bye Bye Manos ☄️🐢

[andydrysdalerogers]

Yours Submissively ~ Control

Steve Rogers X OFC Isabella Davis

Summary: Five Years after the events of Civil War, Steve Rogers has moved on from avenging and has started his own business, Grant Inc. He has a secret that would turn his world upside down. And he's good at keep that secret. Until he meets the woman with violet eyes that could bring him to his knees. Now his mission is to make her, his. But she is the key that could bring the world into balance... or chaos. And she has no idea.

Series Warnings: slow burn at the beginning, smut, angst, sexual themes of BDSM, dom/sub dynamics, kidnapping, (and a bunch of others that will come up)

A/N I can't decide which banner I like more. Let me know what you think

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

I do NOT give permission for my work to be translated or reposted on here or any other site, even if you give me credit. DO NOT REPOST MY FICS. Reblogs, comments, likes, and feedback ALWAYS appreciated

Previous: Prologue

Series Masterlist ~ Main Masterlist

Five years earlier… 

Steve Rogers was tired.  

Tired of the fight.  

Tired of the demand.  

Tired of the politics behind his shield.  

Just tired.  

Retiring was the right move.  

But what does he do now?  

“Hey Tony, can I talk to you?” 

Present day… 

Getting the loan from Tony was the best idea he could have had. Grant Industries was thriving five years later.  Steve had built the business from the ground up.  Sure it helped that he used to be Captain America but when his first successful takeover happened, people really started to take notice.  

Making Sam his number two was the second best decision.  He was savvy with the business and made sure that Steve kept on track. When Sam married Natasha, she joined the company as well.  She was now his lawyer.  

Bucky elected to be Steve’s head of security.  Sure, he was a super soldier but as a businessman, the threats were more than before.  Bucky felt better knowing he was close to Steve but at the same time doing something good.  He wanted nothing but the best for his best friend.   

Yes, things were working out for Steve in his business.  At home, he had a beautiful penthouse.  Bucky lived with him and his housekeeper in the staff quarters and he had the place mostly to himself.  Except on the weekends.  

On the weekends, he did have a guest who would entertain him.  Because deep down, Steve missed having control.  He had control when he led the Avengers.  And it sated that part of him for the most part.  But now, he needed it more.  

Sharon had introduced this life to him while he was still avenging. Learning how to control and be controlled. Submitting and being submitted to kept Steve calm.  Control was all he wanted.  

Submissives weren’t hard to find in New York.  But he hadn’t had one since Lizzy left.  So boredom was starting to seep in.  Boredom could be dangerous, expensive even.  The last time he was bored, he bought out a publishing house.  Granted it was making a profit now but Steve has learned, don’t be bored for too long.  

“Devon, can we go through my schedule?” Steve called through the intercom to his assistant.  

“Right away sir.” Devon walked in holding her tablet with Steve’s schedule.  She has been his assistant since the beginning and ran his office like a fine Swiss watch.  He appreciated her hard work and attention to detail.  

“What’s on the agenda?” 

“You have a meeting with Mr. Wilson and Mrs. Romanoff-Wilson in 20 minutes to discuss a new acquisition.  You have a training session with Mr. Barnes right before lunch here in your private office gym. You have a meeting with Mr. Miller on the development of a tech piece he wanted to present.  A Delilah Stevens is stopping by with a need for signatures regarding the new deal with Stark Industries.  After, Mr. Barnes will take you home to prepare for the gala event this evening.”  

“What gala?” 

“It’s the fundraiser for the recovery efforts in Sokovia.  You told Miss Maximoff you would attend.”  

“Damn.  Alright.  I guess I have no choice in that one.”  Steve sighed.   “Am I seated alone?” 

“No, Miss Maximoff and Mr. Stark are sending someone to be the liaison for you.  Mr. Wilson and Mrs Romanoff-Wilson are also attending.”  

Steve rolled his eyes.  “Alright.  Have the intern bring me a coffee and let me know when Sam and Natasha get here.”  

Devon left the office and sent her intern, Cindy in with the coffee.  Steve rolled his eyes again at the little girl in front of him.  She was a vapid girl, but she was Senator Ward’s daughter, and he needed the Senator in his pocket.  She left after batting her eyes at him.  As he read his daily reports, Devon called when Sam and Natasha were on his floor.  

Married was a good look on Sam Wilson.  He walked in with confidence, holding door for his wife, Natasha.  Natasha Romanoff-Wilson, ex-assassin and corporate lawyer, was the best fit for Grant.  She treated the opposition as she would have the enemy.  They made a great team to get everything Steve ordered done.  

“Hey Cap, how are you today?”  

“How many times, Wilson, have I asked you to stop calling me that?” 

“Old habits die hard,” Sam said with a laugh. He shook Steve’s hand and Steve kissed Natasha’s cheek before settling down to business. “Steve, as you know, the university in New Jersey is looking into funding for its engineering program.” 

“Shouldn’t Stark be the more appropriate company to sponsor something like that?”  

“You would think,” Natasha said, “but we need the exposure.  Stark has a few interns but would need to lose one or two and they want us to take them on. So sponsoring the program would be a good tie in.”  

“If it boosts our profile, I guess its ok.  But can we also get another program as well.  Something in education?”  Steve wanted to be of service to all.  

“We can, absolutely,” Sam said.  “We can look at the background of some of the interns.” 

“Perfect.  What else?” 

The meeting continued for a few hours until it was time for Steve’s training session.  “I don’t know why you keep training Steve.  You’re retired,” Sam commented. 

“Because when you have the serum running through you, you have to burn out the energy somehow.”  

“Then get a girl.”  Sam smirked at him.  “That will get you to burn off some eagerly.”  

“Sam!” Natasha smacked her husband.  

“I’ll work on that Wilson. Natasha, see you tonight?  Save me a dance?” 

“Of course Steve.” Natasha kissed Steve’s cheek.  

“See you tonight Rogers,” Sam shook Steve’s hand.  He took Natasha’s hand and led her from the room.  

Steve headed into his en-suite to change for his workout with Bucky. Bucky was already in the private gym, lifting when Steve came in.  “Hey Steve,” he said with a grunt.  

“Hey Buck.” Steve took off his sweatshirt.  “What are we doing today?” 

“Just a spar.  Let you go out full.  I hear a little frustration today.”  

“Just have to go to an event for Wanda and Stark and they are ‘assigning’ me a date.”  

Bucky chuckled. “Why not invite one of the girls…” 

“Because that is not why I have them there for.” Bucky was the only one who knew of Steve’s preferences.  He made sure that the girls came and went unnoticed. “I don’t need them to think that I want something more.” 

“But don’t you?” Bucky and Steve circled each other in the ring. 

“No, they would just become a distraction or worse, a target.” Steve threw a punch.  “Besides, all of these women only want the shield and not me.  I don’t want that.” 

“Maybe one day you’ll find someone who will like you for you,” Bucky said, jumping from the leg sweep.  It is possible.  

“I don’t want to talk about this, Buck.” Steve grunted as Bucky landed a punch to his solar plex.  “I just want to get through this day.”  

Steve went to shower and review the business for the rest of the day.  Devon calls him, “I have an Isabella Davis here for signatures, sir.”  

“I thought it was Delilah Stevens.”  

“I’m sorry sir.”  

“It’s alright.  Send her in please.”  

Steve looked back down at the report he was reading.  His office door opened and a flurry of arms and legs landed on the floor.  Steve rushed over.  “Are you alright?” 

Her face looked up at his to see the most startling violet blue eyes he had ever seen.  

Next

Taglist:

@patzammit @texmexdarling @slutforchrisjamalevans @jennmurawski13-writes @firephotogrl74 @tinkerbelle67 @before-we-get-started @bunnyforhim @alexakeyloveloki