#I personally use Homeless unless asked otherwise for other people

[batwynn]

Love how people will go online and brag about not seeing other people as people with their entire, disgusting chest.

And then, of course, there’s the comments agreeing or doubling down on how the person was ‘doing too much’ etc. God fucking forbid someone asks for something with some specifics, never mind what dietary needs they might have. Never mind that cream and sugar offer actual calories vs black coffee.

[bmwiid]

Could your roommate at least pay their part of utilities, gas, electricity, internet? Or groceries? Because it is simply not fair otherwise, just mooching. Yes, some people have less money than others, but I had relatives who lived with other people in hard times and they paid for the groceries and electricity (and when they finished university and got a job, slowly paid them back some rent) One even did all of the laundry and cleaning when between jobs because he did not have money but had the time (and needed to be busy, was happiest doing a task)

She had to leave home under bad circumstances and I live on the motto of "you'll never be homeless unless I'm homeless"

We agreed that once she was back on her feet she'd pay rent, and rent would cover everything except food. She can use my car and rent would also cover adding her to my car insurance. I'm not asking for a lot (£250) just enough to cover the fact it's more expensive on bills. I thought that was really reasonable?

However, since then she's had two holidays overseas, bought herself a LOT of things that all add up (I know how much £5 here and £20 there can add up to a lot because I'm super guilty of that!!) and is having her boyfriend visit her for a weekend in town and then he'll be staying here - and she'll be taking the car all that weekend and she didn't even ask if that was okay.

I know I'm not the best person to live with - I'm not the neatest but I hire a cleaner twice a month to off set that (I did this before she moved in, for my mental health) and I have 5 cats which I know is a lot an annoys her, but I feel like what I asked for was reasonable taking those things into account.

And then I feel guilty about asking her for money because she says "I'm so poor and I feel so bad!!" all the time and I KNOW she's struggling!

I just feel like.... I don't know.... A mixture of guilt for feeling annoyed with her, and anger over that feeling of being used?

But I'm also a coward who hates confrontation and I'm used to putting other people first from growing up with mum.

[scentedchildnacho]

She asked me about the brown alien that sleeps on her mess.....so I told her about jurying that situation that I'm fine she goes terroristic and tried to threaten as many people in there as she could

She steals her mess....I take interest in ethnography and anthropology and you have to work for those name brand labels or they hurt you you can't steal those name brand labels

You can't just be a doc martin if your not a working selected birther if you don't work it causes her to be very manic and possessed by a car dude in some way she goes very manic and can't control herself because she steals

I also wanted to know if I just didnt meet the right case worker and if I got to act like a little kidd with Christmas like hannakuh early and she just steals things with drug dealers

She use to be nicer so I don't know otherwise why her personality would switch so infectious and virulent unless a manic episode

I get Nikes because I have been sweated and extreme endurance walked like an Asian sweat shop you can't just steal mall labels

Equal exchange birthers get those things because like sew crises in China they donate body matter to those who need it can't be those labels if you don't live it's unfair condition

She said I was so quiet about her running at me and trying to hit me....so I told her I had to go to high school and I'm not actually someone that averse to getting into it with people but people my whole life have warned me about terrorist attacks that you cannot in any way imply fight or it will implode explode at you

Community theory and commodification if you aren't home economics and do everything for yourself and your community the corporate structure is humans and humans use human beings

You have to self govern.....or the corporate structure will claim public money is its private wealth attack and slaughter you wealthy people hate poor people

Its homelessness everyone here has been very traumatized in some way and it's not okay to treat people in ways other then it's a rest home....so she I think will be called a terrorist people who keep shocking awake traumatized people who shouldn't be touched physically yet or intensely is wrong

Denying people the right to express the emotions surrounding how traumatized they are and shocking them psychologically to continue stereotypical personas is wrong like Nuremberg trials wrong

Al quaida kind of holds ya hostage with smell threats on Mal stored stolen items

I told her I tried to tell her that she is manic because she smells like someone sprayed a car gas on her but trying to do an exoneration or self defense jury for her really set her off and she started screaming all sorts of horrifying witchy curse outs

She gets violently angry if not allowed suicidal mania and huffing so

Simm theory...i use to have a basement room and geek compulsively to technological stimuli and virtual reality I later found out did just look really sad exploitative and molestive to people I use to think I looked awkward and not socially correct and found out it was really sad to people

Well both correct they also had very sad things about themselves and you can't go if your not perfunctorily correct

So I found out about serial killers that that same program is something a therapist helps them attach to sexually.....so I think she gets very aggressive if not allowed hyper manic sexual fantasy

That's why I was called a mental I wasn't ever aware of what happened to me sleep walking hypnotics

I was a Lutheran and drunks batter protestant women and it becomes a charity population

I found out about indigenous artist john Smith and I totally would choreograph a stereotypical performance with lady nuns like zongzi lady as catering sympathetics

I totally would want to publicly stage my most embarrassing compulsive acts and treat it like an lgbt community network

She was threatening that black lady in the pull out cot with the staff mop or trying to smell that playboy bunnies inner upper legs so I think it's like a whole skit for her

That's why I'm not too afraid of her I just had to be threatened with being ran at and hit the black ladies I do find intimidating I think will finally make her leave them alone

The black lady in the cot is kind of mean about feeling crowded like cover your mouth or you can go over there but threatening her with a mop was not something she deserved....

People should not make people aware that they were being kind of mean in ways they don't deserve

Its also that old scoliosis lady in the lower bunk next to mine farther from the door she screams witchy stuff all the time Robert a. Johnson explains as witchy people are hated because they snitchily enjoy soveriegnty stolen from women and women especially suffer if soveriegnty is stolen from them if disconnected

She likes screaming whore and bitch at us and she will kill and hates us all....this other bunk people explain is for certain types of attention....they find it a comedy routine and want attention from motherly types trained on psychopathic children

And now the psychopath child may have a cannabinoid tincture

I didn't know why under trump I ran away from hospitals and media later showed me they were cutting up COVID victims for body organs

Witchy...I had in Texas a pastor from northern minnesota give me more intelligent daily theology to read and that said agnosticism is theology if a bible in any way cannot be correctly translated then you don't know anything about God as an existent

Witchy those people truly believe in Leviticus and trespassing and it's like salem they try to persecute the church with propagandic Bibles

Then like a whole half of a town was gone under COVID....a whole half of the homeless population will go under are you a witch trials and just be gone

The other insight....Robert a. Johnson would give is James Joyce....people seek for in depressions and post apocalyptic conditions something truly life affirming and epiphany producing

I sometimes forget that Irish people are very attractive and desirable entertainers for a lot of people

An astrologer told me that I am attractive and that's why I'm very ignored in these situations people truly seek someone unattractive who can give them that experience of divine accord that will renew them from virtual cage depression ...

[twst-drabbles]

I have a question. What's the status of the people who kidnapped the boys after their overblots? I can imagine most of them are dead,like Idia's and Malleus's,or brain dead, like Jamil's, and Azul's. I'm worried they'll get back on their bullshit after recovering(if they even can).

Has a few spoilers to those that only want to know about them through drabbles

Yup, all of them are dead as a result of the familiars overblotting. The familiars during that state kinda became magic blackholes that sucked out the life out of their masters as a result of the type of contract they were forced to be in. You want full control over your familiar rather than a mutual beneficial relationship? Well you're gonna bear the full consequences of it as well.

Doesn't help that familiars of their caliber aren't common at all. And that people didn't know that overblot was a thing, it was more well known that people will simply die of the leftover byproduct of magic, otherwise known as blot toxicity. So you can imagine the panic and the outrage when it was revealed that the overblotted familiars, who have a higher blot tolerance than any fleshy person on this planet, are not put down and are actually recovering in an undisclosed location.

Though as for the families of the dead and other people, we'll... First they're gonna have to try and actually find the sanctuary first, and if they can get past the highly reputable mages that are dedicated to never repeating that event that made you homeless again.

Sooo yeah, there is some bullshit waiting to happen, and I can use this as an excuse to sharpen up my OC making skills for this AU. Obviously, they're not the main focus, they will simply be tools for the sake of telling a better story unless someone asks for a drabble about them otherwise. Or until I feel like it. Whichever comes first.

[wannabe-simblr]

*New sims 4 legacy challenge*

I hereby present you my own sims 4 challenge. I’ve always loved the challenges other sim players have invented. My problem is a lot of challenges are skills and aspirations focused and these always stressed me out, to the point that I would just work on these and not create any storylines for my sims, which is bad because creating storylines is my favorite part of this game.

Now this challenge, first of all, has nothing to do with the color pink, I was actually inspired by the expression La vie en rose, tried to name this challenge the “Pas Si Rose” challenge, but it sounded way too weird to my French ears, so I ended up going with the Not So Pink Life Challenge (honestly I suck at naming things so this might actually change?)

This challenge heavily focuses on storylines and less on maxing skills and completing aspiration because that’s the way I like to play this game. It plays through 7 generations because I personally think 10 is too long. Also, I’m currently play testing this so the rules and goals might change as I go through them (it might take a while for me to complete this challenge because I do have a full-time job). If you play along and find it hard to complete all the goals, skill and aspiration wise, just complete the storylines because they’re the whole reason I made this challenge.

Below lies all you need to know.

Lifespan on normal recommended (you can add 5-10 additional days to each life stage with MCCC if you find yourself too short on time)

No cheats allowed, unless stated otherwise and for emergencies (ex: your toddler won’t eat and they’re about to be taken away even though they have a plate in their hands) 

Mods are allowed (you’re gonna need some for this challenge and frankly speaking this game is unplayable without mods)

Complete all the goals for each life stages of each generations.

You can play with whatever gender you want, just know that Gen 5 has to get pregnant.

Required packs:

Get famous, Get together, Get to work, City Living, Jungle Adventures, Snowy Escape, Parenthood, Discover University (and I think that’s it).

Required Mods: 

wonderful whims

woohoo wellness

basemental drugs and gangs (optional)

SNB & SimCity Loans

MCCC

Education overhaul by @adeepindigo​ & Better school mod (don’t install them at the same time because they can conflict)

Shorter university degrees (you’re gonna need this because a lot of these sims are getting their degrees)

If you don’t have mods or can’t use them, it’s perfectly fine, just make adjustments and do with what you have.

Now let’s get on the juicy part:

                                                        You’re an orphan and grew up with nothing, jumping from one foster home to the other. No one ever cared about your well-being or showed you any love so naturally you’ve become closed off and don’t let anyone in. As a teen, you decide to run away and live on your own. No one believed in you, but you’ve sworn to yourself you were going to make it, no matter the cost. Everything you didn’t have as a kid you’ll get, even if you have to walk over people to get it. Problem is you didn’t do that well in school, so you’ve decided to take the easy path to make money fast and become a criminal. 

As time passes, you’re starting to make big money. People around you ask what you do for a living so naturally you lie; you say you own a business. Your lifestyle upgrades and you start hanging around celebrities. You marry one and together you become the it-couple. 

No one suspects you to be a crime lord and you want to keep it that way. To keep up appearances, you invest in your community by donating money and organizing charity galas but suddenly what you have is not enough. You want to rule the world and so you decide to have a go in politics. It shouldn’t be too hard, after all politicians and criminals have a lot in common…

Traits: ambitious, mean, materialistic

Aspiration: mansion baron

Goals:

As teen: Start off as a homeless teen with 0$

make money by doing part-time job or odd jobs and selling stuff (your choice what you’re selling ;))

don’t do well in school or even drop out

have enough money to rent an apartment/buy a starter house

As young adult/adult: 

Join the criminal career

Only date celebrities

Reach level 10 of the criminal career

Become a 3-star celebrity with a pristine reputation

Marry a celebrity and have children

Hold charity galas (1 per season). 

Be good friends with a judge or the chief of police

Have a butler

Master charisma and logic skills

As an adult/elder:

Quit the criminal career and become a politician

                                 You grew up with absolutely everything you wanted. Your parents wanted you to have the best of it all: the best school, the best clothes, etc.. As a teen you are the life of the party, you go to clubs every Friday nights and throw your own parties for you and your other elite friends, until your life turns upside down... 

Turns out the parent you admired so much all your life is exposed as a crime lord and sent to prison. Your family loses their fortune and everything you thought you knew is gone. Your other parent wants to cling to their luxurious lifestyle, so they borrow loans after loans to keep up the façade. It works for a while until you’re thrown out on the street with a massive debt on your back. The prestigious school you went to all your life is “sorry to let you go but considering the situation, it’s best to part ways now” and the friends you thought you had won’t even look at you. Everything you wanted and had is now out of your reach and you have to start everything from scratch. The thing is, you’re not sure where to start. Who are you without your family’s money and influence?

It takes a while but eventually, you find your calling. You remember fondly all the times you ran to your family’s butler for help - because your parents were too busy – and they listened to you and comforted you while teaching you how to cook, the few times you truly felt happy. You become a chef and decide you’ll do everything to have a happy and warm home for you and your family.

Traits: snob, foodie, outgoing

Aspiration: party animal / master chef

Goals:

As a child: 

Have your group of elite friends

Go to private school (using the education overhaul mod)

As a teen:

Have the party animal aspiration 

Go clubbing at least once a week, (preferably on Fridays)

Have a good relationship with your butler and sometimes cook together

Go to private school until your parent is sent to jail then go to a regular school

Lose all the family funds (use cheats to do so)

Borrow money (using SNB or SimCity loans)

Lose all your rich friends and your house

As an young adult/adult:

Live in a tiny house/ apartment

Take on your parent’s debt

Master cooking, gourmet cooking, baking skills

Swipe snob trait with family-oriented

Marry a mixologist you met at a bar/club

Have a great relationship with all your children

Cook a meal together with your family every Wednesday.

Be in debts most – if not all – of your life

                                                       You’ve grown up loved and supported by your family, even though the house was small; and you didn’t always have your space. You’ve always been very smart, and you’ve always wanted to help people so very early on, you decide that you want to be a doctor. You study your butt off at school because you know the only way for you to get to college and become one is through scholarships.

Always focused on your studies, you don’t really have a social life. You do have friends (2, but who’s counting?), but your love life is non-existant during your school years. You just don’t see the appeal of dating your peers, they’re way too immature for your liking and you’ve always like your crushes older anyway. You get into your first relationship at University, but it’s short-lived because you’re both headed towards different directions after college and you can’t do long-distance.

After you graduate, you’re ready to finally saves lives. You start as an intern and quickly become involved with one of the attendings. You’re just starting your career and they’re a top surgeon, so naturally you keep your passionate affair on the low. Only to find out they’re married (Grey’s Anatomy much?). You tell yourself you’re not a home-wrecker, if they cheated it was surely because something was already wrong in their marriage. You cling to them and convince them to leave their spouse for you. You get married and think you finally have everything to be happy. It doesn’t last. 

Your spouse regrets marrying you, blames you for everything wrong in their life which leads to a divorce. You swear off love and decide to focus on your career instead. It works for a while but you’re lonely and the cute cop who comes by the hospital to take your patients’ depositions has their eyes on you…

Trait: Genius, the other 2 are up to you

Aspiration: Anything that makes sense to you

Goals:

As a child:

Master mental skill

Play with the doctor kit set

Meet your 2 friends

As a teen:

Have a part-time job to save up for college

Reach level 3 of the logic & fitness skills

Volunteer at nursing homes every Sundays

Have study sessions with your friends at the library

Graduate high school on an A

As a young adult/adult:

Apply for University and get accepted for a distinguished degree at Foxbury Institute

Have at least 1 scholarship

Study Biology and graduate college with honors

Have your first relationship in college but break-up before you graduate

Join the doctor career (use cheat to start as an intern even though your degree gives a head start)

Have a relationship with a married surgeon, convince them to leave their spouse and marry them

Get divorced

Reach level 9 of the doctor career

Marry a cop & move to a suburban house

Have child(ren)

                                                        You grew-up in a happy home even though your parents were quite busy with work. You learnt how to be independent quite early. You were always interested in what the world had to offer and growing up, you only wished to see it for yourself. You didn’t want to spend your life working a 9-5 and coming home to your family only to have a mid-life crisis and regretting not going after your dreams.

So, you decide to work freelance, a job that allows you to work wherever and whenever you want while travelling the world. On one of your trips, you meet the love of your live and together you go on more and more adventures: Mont Komorebi, Selvadorada, you name it, you do it all. You’re happy and soon enough, your family welcomes another life, everything is good. Until the love of your life tragically falls to their death while climbing a mountain. 

You’re left alone to raise your child and the spark you had while looking at the world with so much wonder fades. You close yourself off and focus on your child, the apple of your eye, and the last gift your soulmate ever gave you. You almost never leave home, homeschool your kid and focus on their education. You want to protect them with everything you have, so you monitor everything they do, who they see and limit their outings. Basically, you become an overbearing over-protective parent. 

Traits: creative, adventurous, active then later on gloomy, paranoid, loner

Aspiration: Extreme Sport Enthusiast or Jungle Adventurer

Goals:

As a teen:

Reach level 5 of the panting skill

As a young adult/adult:

Become a freelance digital artist

Go on vacation every weekend

Meet the love of your life on a hike in Mt Komorebi

Go to Selvadorada with your significant other and explore the jungle

Have a child/get pregnant

Complete the rock-climbing event and have your significant other die

Swipe traits for gloomy, paranoid and loner

Move in a house next to a park

Almost never leave your house

Homeschool your child (with the Better school mod, you’ll have to take out the education overhaul mod)

Don’t allow your child to invite friends over

Send home any visitor coming to your house

Never have another relationship or children

                                                Your childhood was always lonely. You grew-up with a paranoid overprotective parent that never allowed you to do anything in fear of losing you. That leads you to turn to the internet, there you meet people and find actual friends. But as time passes you want to meet them in real life, and you know your parent will never allow it. So, you do what teenagers do best and you sneak out at night while your parent is sleeping. You’re tired of being sheltered and want to actually live your life.

You fall in love with one of your friends and end-up pregnant as a teen. Breaking the news to your parent couldn’t go any more wrong but they agree to be there for you. However, they become stricter and the little freedom you had quickly dissolves into nothing. You decide you can’t live like that anymore and runaway with your baby. Your partner takes you in, but they feel responsible for the rift between you and your parent. With so much pressure, you two drift apart. But it’s alright, having been kept away for so long you relish in your new-found freedom. 

You’re free-spirited and you don’t want to be tied down by anything or anyone. The only commitment you make is towards your children. People might judge your life choices and you might look a bit too impulsive for someone with kids but you’re actually a good parent. 

Traits: noncommittal, insider, loves the outdoor

Aspiration: Serial Romantic

Goals:

As a teen:

Chat with people online and make friends

Sneak out at night to hang out with your friends

Reach level 2 of at least 3 skills

Date one of your friends

Get pregnant

Have a fall out with your parent

Run away to live with your partner

As a young adult/adult:

Change careers every time you reach level 4/5

Date a co-worker and have their child

Date a neighbor and have their child

Reach level 5 of 5 different skills

Max parenting skills

Live in 5 different worlds throughout your life

Make local friends in every world you move to

Never marry

Always discipline your children calmly

Have your parent reach out to you before they die (cheat this or make it up in your head) it’s up to you whether you make-up or not

Your upbringing was chaotic to say the least. You moved around a lot and you saw your parent jumping from relationship to relationship as if they had an expiration date. Still, you love them to pieces and you can’t deny that even though they lead a very carefree and wild life, they did their best raising you and your siblings.

You make friends easily but you don’t really take the time to form really deep connections with people. As a teen you have this friend who fantasizes about marrying young and starting their family. Needless to say, that is so not you.

It might come from you witnessing your parent’s disastrous love life but relationships and having kids sounds like a hassle to you. You’d much rather be the rich auntie/uncle (or whatever you identify with), the one who comes to family reunions clad in designer clothes with expensive gifts for their nieces and nephews. The one who goes to Sulani on a whim to get a tan because they have the money and time to do so.

And so that’s who you become, you go to college, get a high-paid job and just live your best single and child-free life. That is until that one fateful night. Your family that’s visiting for Winter Fest gets in a terrible accident that kills almost everyone but your nieces and nephews. You might not want kids but you’re not heartless, so naturally, you take them in...

Traits: high maintenance, hates children, unflirty

Aspiration: fabulously wealthy

Goals:

As a child:

Have at least one friend in every world you live in

Max the social skill

As a teen:

Reach level 4 of the charisma and writing skills

Have a large group of friends and acquaintances but no close friends

As an young adult/adult:

Get a communication degree

Join the social media career

Hook-up with people but never date anyone

Never have any close friends

Live in a different world than all your family members

Go the the spa at least once a week

Have all your family die in an “accident” but your nieces and nephews and take them in (if you use the Sim Nation Travel and the Healthcare redux mods by adeepindingo you can cheat a plane crash or a car accident)

Reach level 10 of the social media career (Public Relations branch)

Hire a nanny

Reach at least level 7 of the parenting skills

Fall in love with your nanny and marry them* (optional)

Have a close relationship with your nieces and nephews

Never have children of your own

You were raised by your parent’s sibling after a tragic accident killed most of your family. It was hard at first and needed lots of adjustments but they ended up being a great parental figure and you’re forever thankful for everything they did for you. Installing the importance of education in you was one of them but unlike them, you’ve always fantasized about love.

You go to college to study law, there you meet someone you think might be the one. You graduate and move in together, you get your dream job at a prestigious law firm and your partner actually proposes. Everything seems perfect except for when you go to work because of that one person: your work rival that you just hate. They have the talent to push all the buttons to make you mad. If you could, you’d rip their throat out. You’re both at the same level, so they’re your direct competition for promotions. And competitive you get (steal each other’s cases, “accidentally” spill coffee on their files, break their computer, prank the toilet right before going to court) but hey, all is fair in love and war right?

Everything about them gets on your nerves: their arrogance, the way they walk, the way they talk, their stupid gorgeous face (wait, what?). Well, you’re not blind, they’re also super attractive and it drives.you.mad. Soon enough, this office rivalry is filled with sexual tension. And on the firm’s New Year’s Eve party, you actually cave and woohoo at the office. You think of your fiancé(e) and swear it’s a one time thing. Except it’s not. It happens again when you’re working late on the same case, again after you convince a witness to testify in court together, and again when you’re away on a business trip. You don’t know what’s wrong with you but you just can’t seem to stop. Your fiancé(e) senses there’s something going on and you two break up. Now when you’re thinking of your nemesis (is that even what they are to you now?) you can’t help but wonder: is it just lust or is there something more?

Traits: perfectionist, romantic, hot-headed

Aspiration: Soulmate

Goals:

As a child:

Max social skill

Reach charisma level 1

As a teen:

Reach level 3 of the charisma, research & debate and writing skills

As a young adult/adult:

Get a distinguished degree in Language & Literature 

Meet someone at University and date them

Move in with your partner after college

Join the lawyer career 

Get engaged

Now this is the part of the challenge where you’ll have to “go to work” with your sim. But since the lawyer career is not an active one here’s what you can do (credits to JC Sims for the idea): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddXwxC5DQaQ&ab_channel=JCSims

Become rival/enemy with a co-worker you find extremely attractive (you can change your sim’s preferences in wonderful whims for that)

Prank your enemy and fight them (verbally, please don’t throw hands in front of your boss) at work

Reach level 5 of the mischief skill

Woohoo with your rival during a New Year’s Eve party at the office

Woohoo with them on 3 other different occasions

Break-up with your fiancé(e) but never admit to cheating on them

Reach level 10 of the lawyer career

It’s up to you to decide wether your sim and their enemy become a thing or not.

If you’ve read all of that, thank you. I hope you have as much fun playing this challenge as I had writing it. I might add one or two extra generations in the future, who knows...

[doyourpatellasquiver]

April's Extracurriculars

April approaches Sterling on a mission, to fully tell her that she is fine without the Fellowship position. For me this highlights how desperately she needs the position for other reasons than assuming she has a right to hold it.

Sterling isn't even asking, wasn't going to approach April, but April gets so focused on trying to act cool in the face of this catastrophic turn of events that she comes directly to Sterling as immediately as she possibly can.

April has four extracurriculars. To a degree I believe that her pomposity is a front and that she also isn't quite as conservative as she has to enforce herself as appearing. And I believe her extra curriculars reflect that.

Young Republicans just screams to me that April has to be there. Her parents have expectations after all and after a lifetime of memorizing Republican presidents and coming to terms with her feelings about being a lesbian, April has to blend in. The biggest reason I see Young Republicans as at least partially a front is because April refers to prostitutes as "sex workers [who] deserve to be safe" and as an afterthought "just not allowed to vote." Firstly, the phrase "sex workers" is generally a politically correct term that an invested Young Republican would have no interest in using. Secondly, she added the voting thing after a few beats as she checks her surroundings. She was covering herself after a momentary lapse in her facade.

Forensics is another thing that just makes me think April does not hold as staunchly conservative views as she purports herself to believe in. April loves a challenge and seems to face everything with the mind of a master debater. Which means that not only can she argue for what she believes in, she can argue for what she doesn't believe in. And be just as convincing. Forensics would allow her a fascinating foray into perspectives her small town, private school and bigoted parents wouldn't ever teach her unless it was in a fully negative light. Forensics lets April think for herself.

Latin helps April come to terms with herself as a lesbian because she is able to read large parts of the Bible in some of the original translated Latin. She knows that God loves her and that she is a lesbian and it's not a problem because she has read it and the Bible actually doesn't have issues with gay people. But, looking around at her bigoted area, she dares not express her thoughts. She memorizes the harsh English translated passages that express the false notion that being gay is a sin. And holds the Latin close to her heart on days she hears that cruel word too many times around campus.

I'm convinced the Straight-Straight Alliance is a front for a gay campus club that April and Ezekiel lead. But the gay club is incognito so no one can say it's a gay club. I imagine they just have a very specific process for admission to the club and bigots just don't get in. Otherwise the implications of such a club lead me to think that in fighting to keep herself in the closet, forming a Straight-Straight Alliance leaves April on the side of bigots aligned against the queer agenda. I honestly think she would hate this.

On her weekends, while Sterling is having sex with Luke, April says she was giving out lunches to homeless teens. I think homeless teens are important to April because so many are LGBTQ and she knows she is one wrong move away from being outed and being thrown out on the streets herself.

I think April is a closet liberal or at the very least an intensely compassionate person who sees beyond the bullshit by which she is surrounded. Even though I was raised in a religious and otherwise conservative environment, where liberalism was a sign of the devil and there was constant fear mongering that the media was trying to force children to be gay, I always wondered and had a deeper connection to my own heart before I ever questioned my upbringing. I believe April is no different.

When you are raised in a coercive environment and find your thoughts drifting, you have the tiniest feeling of contention and you figure out ways to think for yourself. It's what I did. It's what many have done. And I believe April "I don't believe God is going to smite me for being a lesbian" Stevens took a long ass journey to get to that point just like we all did.

I think her extra curriculars are her only safe spaces where she still has to put on a front but the facade is not so heavy a burden to carry. The only real place her mask slips is in her bedroom with her door closed. And sometimes... Around Sterling.

[traincat]

I know the comic piracy debate is a never-ending cycle, but in India where I live, you can't get western comics (or manga for that matter). There aren't comic book stores. Sometimes on Amazon you can find collected editions worth more than INR 1000 at least, for the paperbacks. Most older collections, even from the early 2000s, will be upwards of INR 6000. And sure, it's because the exchange value is so low for Indian rupees, but that's still a LOT of money to Indian citizens. You can get digital editions of random odd issues for approx. INR 150, so that's there. But overall it's really a huge investment to buy a physical comic. So yes, I pirate. But I get so guilty when this debate rolls around, every time. I just don't see any other alternative.

I debated whether or not to answer this considering I haven't really addressed the comics piracy issue before so I'm not sure I'm the right account to talk about it, and also because my askbox is not a confessional and I am not a priest, but then some Spider-Man news broke that I feels ties into it this so whatever, we're going for it. The comics piracy debate comes up every couple of months and will probably continue to come up every couple of months until forever and all of these points have been stated before by others because nothing in this debate is new. First things first, you shouldn't feel guilty. I'm going to suggest actually that nobody should feel guilty, unless you are like, a millionaire and you're exclusively pirating indie books. The prices you're quoting are prohibitively expensive but I have some unfortunate news for everyone involved: the prices are really bad in the US, too. If you want good collected editions, especially in hardcover, they're going to run at similar if not quite equal prices. Comics have gone from a cheap hobby to an overwhelmingly expensive hobby.

This is a good article comparing to the cover costs of American comics since the 1960s adjusted for inflation which I think puts some things in perspective. Comics currently cost roughly $5 USD per issue, which doesn't sound that bad, even though most of my monthly streaming services are roughly that price for a whole month's access to a library of content. But it only doesn't sound that bad if you're not buying special issues (the Marvel Pride book retailed for $10), and if you're only reading one or two books a month. The problem is, American superhero comics are specifically designed so you're not reading just one or two books per month -- this is why we have events! And crossovers! Not for the story potential but because it forces the consumer to purchase more product. This is why there's constantly an event running with a checklist of tie-in issues in the back. So now you're spending probably at least $20 a month. If you're a fan with a lot of interest in different titles, and in different publishers, this can easily hit triple USD digits. It's a money pit. It's not affordable to most people. And this is where that new Spider-Man news comes in, because it was announced today that Amazing Spider-Man is going back to a thrice monthly schedule like it used to operate on during Brand New Day. Which sounds good at first -- more comics, yay -- until you realize that's probably going to be $15 USD a month for a one title. That's $180 a year for one title, not including annuals or special issues. That's not feasible for a lot of fans -- young fans, poor fans, fans with other financial obligations etc. And most people aren't reading just one title. I don't know how the X-Men fans are currently financing their Krakoa habit and I'm afraid to ask. There are services like Marvel Unlimited, which make things slightly more affordable, but I imagine the wait for newer issues to hit the service can be alienating for some fans who want to join in current discussions, the library has some incredibly massive holes in it which is unacceptable when it's coming from inside the mouse house, and I believe, although I could be wrong, that it is not available in all countries. Comics are no longer an easily accessible hobby, if you're paying for everything you read.

"But the creatives deserve to get paid" is the common argument and yeah, they do, I'm not arguing that point. They should absolutely get paid and they should get well. I'm a writer, I'm a published writer even, and I want to be a published novelist, and I definitely want to get paid, and I'm reserving the right to be a complete hypocrite about this, as I do with everything in my life, but this is where the difference between indie publications and Marvel publications comes in: Marvel is owned by Disney. There is absolutely no excuse for Disney not to pay their creatives. If they are not getting paid fairly, it's not because you pirated a book -- it's because Disney has a vested interest in not paying their creators, as evidenced by Alan Dean Foster's lawsuit claiming that they are withholding royalties from him. Fans pirating these books are not the reason the creatives are not getting paid fairly -- the creatives are not getting paid fairly for the same reason that Disney park employees experience homelessness, and it's because Disney would rather put that money into the pockets of their executives. There is no debate on that subject. It's easier and perhaps more convenient to blame fans for pirating comics rather than putting all of their money into what has been for years now a prohibitively expensive hobby to keep up with, but the fact of the matter is Disney could pay all of their creatives what they're worth without hurting their bottom line and instead chooses not to. That is not on you, as an individual reader. You have no reason to feel guilty about that, no matter what your circumstances are, and you do not have to justify your actions to either me or the House of the Mouse. I'm with you, and Disney ultimately doesn't care. They're making that money up elsewhere and then not distributing it fairly to the people who create the properties their media empire is built off of. But especially if you're buying older books, you should know that your money is not going to the creative team -- once it's out of publication, they're not going to get any of the money you spent on it. The argument then becomes that you should be supporting local comics stores which yes, is true, but also doesn't apply to everyone, like anon who doesn't have access to local comic book stores. And again, this can become prohibitively expensive -- collections are expensive. Older, hard to find collections can be very expensive. Once something is out of print, all bets are off on what it might be selling for. Buying single issues is only affordable if the single issue isn't desirable or sometimes if it's in exceedingly bad condition. For the sake of transparency, I have a fairly big single issue collection because it's my preferred format, but I had the time to bargain hunt, access to local comic book stores and large comic conventions, and I'm very good at sniping eBay auctions. The most I have ever dropped on a single issue was expensive for me -- and still under three digits USD -- and it's for an issue from the '60s that is not in great condition.

The problem with this debate is that it is generally a nuanced issue that always gets boiled down to "piracy bad" in a way that makes a lot of well meaning and well intentioned fans, especially the ones with extenuating circumstances, feel bad. It's not your fault. You shouldn't feel guilty. There are a huge amount of reasons why someone might pirate something that are not bad reasons and do not make you a bad person who is personally withholding money from the creators -- because you're not. I don't publicly tell people where to pirate comics, mostly because I really don't think it's that hard to find out for yourselves especially because several creators involved with Marvel themselves have, I suspect accidentally, posted pages of their work to social media WITH THE BANNER OF A WELL KNOWN COMICS PIRACY SITE STILL IN THE IMAGE please learn how to crop, so maybe my standpoint on the issue wasn't well known, but there it is. I think readers should, if they are able to financially and otherwise, support the creators they like, but that it should be acknowledged that this is a more complicated issue than it's commonly made out to be on Twitter and that the largest part of the blame needs to be put on the companies making these comics inaccessible to many and who refuse to pay their creators fairly, not on individual fans. Don't feel guilty, anon.

[fatehbaz]

Imagining futures; escaping hell; controlling time; living in better worlds.

------------

What we see happening in Ferguson and other cities is not the creation of liveable spaces, but the creation of living hells. When a person is trapped in a cycle of debt, it also can affect their subjectivity and temporal orientation to the world by making it difficult for them to imagine and plan for the future. What psychic toll does this have on residents? How does it feel to be routinely degraded and exploited [...]? [M]unicipalities [...] make it impossible for residents to actually feel at home in the place where they live, walk, work, love, and chill. In this sense, policing is not about crime control or public safety, but about the regulation of people’s lives -- their movements and modes of being in the world.

[Source: Jackie Wang. Carceral Capitalism. 2018.]

------------

Pacific texts do not only destabilize inadequate presents. They also transfigure the past by participating in widespread strategies of contesting linear and teleological Western time, whether through Indigenous ontologies of cyclical temporality or postcolonial inhabitations of heterogenous time. [...] Pacific temporality [can be] a layering of oral and somatic memory in which both present injustices and a longue duree of pasts-cum-impossible futures still adhere. In doing so, [jetnil-Kijiner’s book] Iep Jaltok does not defer an apocalyptic future. Instead it asserts the possibility, indeed the past guarantee, of Pacific worlds in spite of Western temporal closures. [...] In the context of US settler colonialism, Jessica Hurley has noted “the ongoing power of a white-defined realism to distinguish possible from impossible actions” [...]. In other words, certain aspects of Indigenous life under settler colonialism fall under the purview of what colonizing powers define as the (im)possible. [...] Greg Fry, writing of Australian representations of the Pacific in the 1990s, notes that the Pacific was regarded as facing “an approaching ‘doomsday’ or ‘nightmare’ unless Pacific Islanders remake themselves”. From the center-periphery model [...], only a Malthusian “future nightmare [...]” for Pacific islands seemed possible. [...] Bikini Island, where the first of 67 US nuclear tests took place from 1946 to 1958, was chosen largely because of its remoteness [...]; nuclear, economic, and demographic priorities thus rendered islanders’ lives “ungrievable” [...]. The [...] sentiment was perhaps most famously demonstrated in H*nry Kissing*r’s dismissal of the Pacific: “There are only 90,000 people out there. Who gives a damn?” [...] Such narratives were supposed to proclaim and herald the end of Pacific futures. Instead [...] Pacific extinction narratives [written by Indigenous/Islander authors] conversely testify to something like the real resilience of islanders in the face of a largely deleterious history of Euro-American encounters. More radically, they suggest the impossibility of an impossible future. Apocalypse as precedent overturns the very world-ending convention of the genre. By turning extinction into antecedent, [...] [they aspire] toward an unknown future not tied to an apocalyptic ending.

[Source: Rebecca Oh. “Making Time: Pacific Futures in Kiribati’s Migration with Dignity, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner’s Iep Jaltok, and Keri Hume’s Stonefish.” MFS Modern Fiction Studies. Winter 2020.]

------------

With the machinery finally installed on the property of the Manuelita estate, Don Santiago Eder launched the first industrial production of refined white sugar in Colombia on the “first day of the first month of the first year of the twentieth century.” Such deeds, mythologized and heroic in their retelling, earned Santiago Eder respect as “the founder” and his sons as “pioneers” in the industrialization of provincial Colombia. Their enterprise [...] remained the country’s largest sugar operation for much of the twentieth century. In 1967, [...] E.P. Thompson described the evolution and internalization of disciplined concepts of time as intimately tied to the rise of wage labor in industrializing England. His famous treatise on time serves as a reminder that the rise of industrial agriculture affected a reorganization of cultural and social conceptions of time. [...]. The global ascendancy of the Manuelita model of work contracts and monoculture in the second half of the twentieth century underscores the acceleration of the Plantationocene, but the historical presence and persistence of alternative [...] time should serve as a reminder that [...] futures and the demarcation of epochs are never as simple as a neatly organized calendar.

[Source: Timothy Lorek. “Keeping Time with Colombian Plantation Calendars.” Edge Effects. April 2020.]

------------

For several weeks after midsummer arrives along the lower Kuskokwim River, even as the days begin to shorten, the long, boreal light of dusk makes for a brief night. People travel by boat [...]. When I asked an elder about the proper way to act toward Chinook salmon, he instructed me: “Murikelluku.” The Yup’ik word murilke- means not only “to watch” but also “to be attentive” [...]. Nearly fifty years ago, Congress extinguished Alaska Native tribal autonomy over [...] fishing [...]. The indifference of dominant [US government land management agency] fisheries management models to social relations among salmon and Yupiaq peoples is evocative of a mode of care that Lisa Stevenson (2014) characterizes as “anonymous.” When life is managed at the level of the population, Stevenson writes, care is depersonalized. Care becomes “invested in a certain way of being in time,” standardized to the clock, and according to the temporal terms of the caregiver, rather than in time with the subject of care herself (ibid.: 134). Stevenson identifies care at the population level as  anonymous because it focuses exclusively on survival – on metrics of life and death – rather than on the social relations that make the world inhabitable. Thus, it is not namelessness that marks “anonymous care” as  such, but rather “a way of attending to the life and death of [others]” that strips life of the social bonds that imbue it with meaning […]. At the same time, conservation, carried out anonymously, ignores not only the temporality of Yupiaq peoples’ relations with fish, but also the human relations that human-fish relations make possible. Yupiat in Naknaq critique conservation measures for disregarding  relations that ensure not only the continuity of salmon lives but also the duration of Yupiat lifeworlds (see Jackson 2013). Life is doubly negated. For Yupiaq peoples in southwest Alaska, fishing and its attendant practices are […] modes of sociality that foster temporally deep material and affective attachments to kin and to the Kuskokwim River that are constitutive of well-being [...]. As Yup’ik scholar Theresa Arevgaq John (2009) writes, cultivating relations both with ancestors and fish, among other more-than-human beings, is a critical part of young peoples’ […] development  [...]. In other words, the futures that Yupiaq peoples imagine depend on not only a particular orientation to salmon in the present, but also an orientation to the past that salmon mediate.

[Source: William Voinot-Baron. “Inescapable Temporalities: Chinook Salmon and the Non-Sovereignty of Co-Management in Southwest Alaska.” July 2019.]

------------

[C]oncentration of global wealth and the "extension of hopeless poverties"; [...] the intensification of state repression and the growth of police states; the stratification of peoples [...]; and the production of surplus populations, such as the landless, the homeless, and the imprisoned, who are treated as social "waste." [...] To be unable to transcend [...] the horror [...] of such a world order is what hell means [...]. Without a glimpse of an elsewhere or otherwise, we’re living in hell. [...] [P]eople are rejecting prison as the ideal model of social order. [...] Embedded in this resistance, sometimes explicitly and sometimes implicitly, is both a deep longing for and the articulation of, the existence of a life lived otherwise and elsewhere than in hell. [...] [W]hat’s in the shadow of the bottom line [...] -- what stands, living and breathing, in the place blinded from view. [...] Instincts and impulses are always contained by a system which dominates us so thoroughly that it decides when we can “have an impact” on “restructuring the world,” which is always relegated to the future. [...] “Self-determination begins at home [...].” Cultivating an instinctual basis for freedom is about identifying the longings that already exist -- however muted or marginal [...]. The utopian is not only or merely a “fantasy of” and for “the future collectivity”. It is not simply fantasmatic or otherworldly in the conventional temporal sense. The utopian is a way of conceiving and living in the here and now, which is inevitably entangled with all kinds of deformations [...]. But there are no guarantees. No guarantees that the time is right [...]; no guarantees that just a little more misery and suffering will bring the whole mess down; no guarantees that the people we expect to lead us will (no special privileged historical agents); [...] no guarantees that we can protect future generations [...] if we just wait long enough or plan it all out ahead of time; no guarantees that on the other side of the big change, some new utterly-unfathomable-but-worth-waiting-for happiness will be ours [...]. There are no guarantees of coming millenniums or historically inevitable socialisms or abstract principles, only our complicated selves together and a [...] principle in which the history and presence of the instinct for freedom, however fugitive or extreme, is the evidence of the [...] possibility because we’ve already begun to realize it. Begun to realize it in those scandalous moments when the present wavers [...]. The point is to expose the illusion of supremacy and unassailability dominating institutions and groups routinely generate to mask their fragility and their contingency. The point is [...] to encourage [...] us [...] to be a little less frightened of and more enthusiastic about our most scandalous utopian desires and actions [...], a particular kind of courage and a few magic tricks.

[Source: Avery Gordon. “Some thoughts on the Utopian.” 2016.]

[mistystar022100]

More Bleach x Tokyo Ghoul au

More Characters

Orihime

Orihime is a natural one-eyed ghoul with a Rinkaku kagune. Orihime in cannon has basically one offensive ability that is broken for a whole arc and then rarely used for the sake of defense and healing. Personally, I thought she could have done more so I’m fixing this myself. Her kagune has 2 tentacles that she can use for offensive. Her Shun Shun Rika will be for the healing and shield, the attacking fairy will not be used often unless she needs a long ranged attack.

The reason for her being a one-eyed ghoul is so she could still eat human food. Her weird food combinations are a part of her character and I thought it wouldn’t be right to take that from her. It also doesn’t hurt that Orihime constantly eating food is a good cover for when the ghoul group hangs out at school. The fact that her brother was a human makes for an interesting dynamic as well.

As a half ghoul she can eat human food as much as she wants. The genetic combination may have messed with her taste buds, resulting in the strange food. She can taste it but the human food gives her almost no nutritional value. She has to eat like a ghoul in order to sustain herself.

Her main ability is in her regeneration, which is high even for a Rinkaku. Even though her kagune is fairly weak and easy to cut off, they grow back very quickly. This also applies to any injuries she takes; for example getting completely flattened by a speeding car will only take her a few hours to completely regenerate from; as long as she’s feed.

Her father was a ghoul and her mother was a human. Her mother left Sora’s father, who was a human, for Orihime’s father, a ghoul. Sora and Orihime were half siblings. After her father was killed by the CCG and her mother became an alcoholic, Sora took her and moved to Karakura. Sora at first feed her dead homeless people who he would find until he was approached by Isshin and the other adult ghouls in town who took that responsibility out of his hands. After Sora’s death, Orihime became very close to the Ishida and Kurosaki families. The fathers would make sure she was feed and the kids would make sure she wasn’t lonely.

Uryu

Uryu is an Ukaku type ghoul. His kagune is used in tandem with his quincy arrows for more projectiles and the speed boast is helpful for him to avoid attacks. Since Ryuken is still unhelpful with training him as a quincy, he at least trains Uryu as a ghoul. They still have a horrible relationship but at least they see each other now.

Since all the ghouls in town are relatively close, he is well aware that he and the Kurosaki kids are basically cousins. (Are they really though cause the relations between Masaki and Ryuken have always confused me? No matter, cousins is close enough) Mostly Yuzu (Karin absolutely does not admit to helping), convinces Uryu to visit the Kurosaki household every once in a while. Yuzu calls him cousin, Karin does when she’s happy and Ichigo only calls him that when he needs Uryu to listen to him. Isshin tries to make Uryu call him Uncle but Uryu has picked up some things from Ichigo and smacks him around when he’s being annoying; he will call Isshin uncle on special occasions though.

Due to how tight knit the ghouls in town are, Uryu is friends with the Karakura teens long before the story begins. Him, Ichigo, Orihime, and Chad sit on the roof during lunch at school. He tolerates the presence of Tatsuki and Keigo but finds them both annoying.

Once Uryu learns how to sew, he becomes the mask maker in town. Considering the small ghoul population he doesn’t have to make or fix masks that often but he does get annoyed when someone tells him they broke the mask. (All the individual masks will be another post, mainly because some still haven’t been decided)

Ryuken

Like his son, Ryuken is an Ukaku type ghoul. He still despises being “the Last Quincy” but accepts that he is a ghoul. He makes sure Uryu is prepared for the hostile world against ghouls but otherwise is still distant. Later trains Yuzu in Quincy abilities but only because Masaki asked him to before her death. He later passes this on to Uryu because he is not the best teacher.

Since he works at the hospital he needed a way to keep his kakugan from activating. Through the efforts of both him and Isshin, they annoyed Urahara so much that he made them an oral medication that prevents the kakugan from activating for a time. This is why the fathers can both work in hospitals and smell blood without people suspecting them. After all no one is going to suspect a ghoul is working at a hospital.

He provides the ghouls main source of food. When a body is in the morgue of his hospital, he contacts Urahara who replaces it with a cheap inflatable Gigai. This Gigai lasts just long enough for the funeral so the stolen bodies are never discovered. He first makes sure Uryu is feed, then Orihime and then gives the rest to the Kurosaki’s. If not enough dead bodies come in for the month then Isshin leaves town and hunts while telling others he’s at a medical conference.

Ryuken’s ghoul identity is “Plague Doctor” due to his mask. He is the second ghoul being suspected of owning Karakura town. An A ranked ghoul due to his speed and projectile weapons, he is SS ranked when working with Isshin “Flame Oni”. He hates how in sync they are but tolerates it for the safely of the town.

Occasionally joins Uryu in visiting the Kurosaki’s. He only stays for a short while to talk to Isshin about whatever important things are going on, such as taking care of all the kids. Yuzu is happy her Uncle is visiting, Karin doesn’t really care and Ichigo likes to call him out on being an emotionally distant father. Uryu proceeds to tell him to shut up, sometimes leading to brawls in the living room.

Chad

Chad is a human with a Kokaku type quinque. It’s 2 gauntlets that connect through a long chain in the middle which goes over his arms and back. It makes his fullbring even stronger when using it. It was made from his abuelo’s greatest kill as a CCG Dove (a S ranked ghoul).

He carries the quinque case in a disguise bag for 2 reasons. The first is that owning a quinque outside the CCG is illegal and he won’t let anyone take his abuelo’s gift to him. The second reason is that the quinque makes his friends very uncomfortable so he disguises it out of respect for them. He uses a larger version of his high school bag to disguise it and carries it or uses the straps to wear it like a backpack.

When he moved to Karakura he saw Ichigo in the original thug beat down at the bridge. After that day, Chad was attacked by a passing ghoul who thought he looked tasty (Ichigo was preoccupied in a store). Chad got out his quinque despite never being thought how to use it but was loosing and had heavy wounds from his enemies kagune. Ichigo came back to the sounds of fighting and attacked the ghoul with his kagune. After the fight Ichigo only then realized Chad had a quinque and froze in place out of panic. Chad put the weapons away and limped over to Ichigo to help clean the blood off him. Chad really didn’t care that his friend was a ghoul, especially since said friend just saved his life.

Ichigo took Chad home and after getting patched up by Isshin, Chad became an honorary member of the ghouls. He joined them for monthly training considering he had no idea how to use his quinque and the adults would not have this rarely kind human die. He got a mask so he could use his quinque and not get recognized. He also has a costume that covers most of his body considering a half-Mexican and half-Japanese man is very easy to recognize, especially outside of a big city.

He is just the best ghoul ally. He is a very quiet individual but he will not stay silent when someone (mainly Tatsuki) is insulting ghouls in front of him or his friends. For a man of few words his words can sure pack a punch.

Tatsuki

Tatsuki is a human and doesn’t have the best image of ghouls. After Masaki’s death and Isshin being lost in his grief, a ghoul came into town and killed Tatsuki’s father. Ryuken “took care of” the offender and was the reason Isshin got off his ass.

Since beginning high school, Tatsuki has been in a CCG program over the weekends. She adds on to her pre-existing martial arts skills and is working her way up to learning quinque combat. Her quinque would be a bikaku that is a serrated edge sword and can stretch into a whip when needed. The whip is used to hold ghouls in place as the hooked spikes cause more damage when being taken out.

Tatsuki is still friends with Orihime and Ichigo. Orihime is her best friend and they share dinner quite often. When Tatsuki starts with the ghoul hate speech, Ichigo tells her to talk about something else or he’s leaving. Orihime kinds shuts down and starts doing something else to distract herself. Tatsuki is so caught up in her rage and grief that she normally doesn’t notice when Orihime does this. She gets frustrated with Ichigo but doesn’t stay mad at him.

Urahara

Urahara is a “human” with a vast knowledge of ghouls. He is the reason the CCG ignores Karakura for as long as it does. He hacks into the data base whenever something that might be important occurs (someone having to use their kagune and there’s a security camera nearby) and deletes the data. The CCG eventually figured out that someone is wiping the data and sends Doves to investigate the town. But that’s a whole other story arc.

Jinta and Ururu are failed half ghoul experiments that he may or may not have liberated from the CCG as kids. At first he took them to examine their DNA but he grew to love them. The weird genetics has taken a toll on the kid’s bodies; Jinta needs hearing aids and Ururu wears glasses. Urahara however does him best to keep the kids healthy.

As a man of science, he has taken the liberty of getting DNA samples of all the ghouls in town as the data on ghouls is limited to the CCG’s propaganda. He may or may not want to make his own half ghoul some day (or do it to himself); all in the name of science.

His shop sells all sorts of items that the ghouls may need. It is also the place where the ghouls have their monthly meetings. Most of the kids are suspicious of Urahara since he is clearly “human”. Ryuken and Isshin trust him though so that’s good enough for the kids, at least for now.

[a-pretty-nerd]

Tomura Shigaraki x AllMight!Daughter!Reader

Chapter 6

Premise:

When The League of Villians discovers that AllMight has a daughter, they are quick to snatch you up and hold you hostage. Shigaraki had a careful and thought out plan, but that was before you got there. Now you're in the mood for some not-so-healthy rebellion.

Word Count: 1,988

Trigger Warnings: None really, homelessness? 

A/N: Shit! This chapters later than I wanted it to be! Since I've been back to work my schedule has been all fucky. Usually I try to post every friday but...lol. Anyways, If you like my work, don't be afraid to interact! I love hearing from you guys! Also check out my Wattpad for my original works, and my Patreon if you wanna support me further!

Enjoy!

Chapter 5 Chapter 7 

Toshinori watched from the doorway of what he once called home. He watched men in police uniforms, suits and ties, and underground heroes, rush through the apartment. Now living exclusively on campus, the apartment felt like a grim reminder of your absence. Your mother and Xavier poured over pages upon pages of eyewitnesses and anything else that could give them a clue.

Unlike the last time the heroes found and raided The League, there were no signs of known members. Meaning they were either being more careful, or they were no longer in Musutafu. He shuffled into the room, sitting down on the couch and looking outside to large windows onto the city below. Suddenly, the phone rang.

Everyone froze. Heads swiftly turned. Was this news of your disappearance? Had you been found? Detective Tsukauchi was the first to move. Slowly picking the receiver, and placing it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello, yes, who is this?" A scratchy voice asked.

"I am Detective Tsukauchi. Who am I speaking with?" His voice was firm and demanding. A dark chuckle came from the other end, sending a chill down the poor mansion spine.

"I think you know who I am, detective." Another laugh rattled from Shigaraki's chest. You watched him from the other line. Everyone sitting patiently around him as they watched him on the phone. You sat beside him, hands placed on either side of you on the couch. Anxiously waiting for your turn.

"Can I-"

"Shh." He hushed you gently, putting a finger to his lips before they broke into a wide smile.

"You see I just called because someone here has a little message for you. It's family business you see, would All Might be available to talk?" He pulled the phone away before letting loose another laugh. The room jumped and coiled in uncontrollable laughter. Like a group of kids making a prank phone call.

"Shigaraki...I swear if you lay a finger on her I'll-"

"Hold on one sec, she's right here. Y/N?" He pulled his attention away from the phone and smiled at you as he handed it over. You took it and gently pressed it to your ear.

"....Dad?"

"Y/N! Are you alright? Have they hurt you?"

"No...No I'm fine actually." Shigaraki watched you with a clever smile stretched across his face. He leaned back against the couch, resting his head in his hand. Clearly very proud of himself and the torment he caused.

"Where are you?"

"I don't know actually. It's like a repurposed office building I think. I don't know where it is, all the windows are boarded up. They brought me by car."

"By car?”

"Yeah, I don't really know what they're up to. I mean, I do, I just... I don't know they do things weird." Shigaraki's smile slowly started to fade as you critiqued. When you looked up and saw his expression, you felt compelled to respond. "What? You do." You told him. He shrugged you off.

"You sound...alright." Your father said, confused and concerned.

"I guess I am relatively okay. They feed me and clothe me and no ones been really that bad to me yet so...I'm okay I guess."

"She's lying!" You heard a voice chirp from the other line. Your stomach turned. Xavier was there?

"Y/N! Y/N tell us where you are!" Your mother demanded as she wrenched the phone away from your father. Her voice was jarring and rough. You tensed up.

"I...I don't know where I am. I told him it’s like an old office building I-"

"Can you tell us anything else? What do you remember from the car ride?" She was frantic now.

"Nothing. I had a bag over my head the whole time. This place has some electricity and some running water but it’s not to the whole building? It's old... it's been years since anyone has been here-"

"Anything else!?" She cried. You paused.

"No...I...I'm fine otherwise." Shigaraki made a 'speed it up' motion with his hand. "I...I have a message for Detective Tsukauchi, could you put him back on?"

"Let me talk to her!" Xavier begged.

"I don't have much time, please, Detective-"

"Y/N! Baby!" You cringed at the sound of your boyfriend’s panicked voice.

"Hey, babe. I'm fine." You tried to brush him off.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm alright, I guess. A little tired. Scared." You had to remember the last part.

"I can't imagine what you're going through without your meds."

"Oh. Yeah. My meds. I'm losing my mind." You said in a flat, sarcastic tone. It made the others snicker.

"Just remember your breathing exercises we did, okay? Do them with me now, okay? You ready?"

"Yeah-uh-"

"One, two, three, in.........out. Okay? One, two, three IN! . . . . . . . . OUT! One, two, three, in . . . . . . OUT! Okay? Do them with me. Remember to align your chakras!" He went on like this for a solid minute. Unable to contain yourself, you covered your mouth with your hand and held the speaker out so the whole room could laugh at him. Even Shigaraki, who turned away to laugh joined in on the fun. "Y/N?"

"Yeah?" You smiled through.

"We're coming to get you, alright? Just hang tight a little longer."

"Uhuh."

"Don't worry, okay?"

"Okay."

"I love you, sugar muffin."

"Right. So Detective Tsukauchi."

"Okay, yes, here he is...I love you!"

"Love you too." You chuckled, your hand playing with the flesh between your brow as you laughed at him.

"Y/N." Finally.

"I just, have a message from the villains." You told him with an awkward smile.

"Go ahead." You looked up at your captor.

"They say if All Might doesn't come forward soon, they won't be giving me back." You watched his smile widen. "They want the world to know the Heroes' failures. It's either me or the truth. Your choice." And with that, you hung up the phone. The room fell into a satisfied and relaxed state. A sense of victory went around the room as smiles and giggles greeted you. 

"Who the hell was that last guy!?" Toga shouted as she laughed.

"Oh, that was Xavier, my boyfriend."

"Ooh! Boyfriend! How Sweet!-Gross!" Twice added.

"You've never mentioned a partner before, Y/N." Mr. Compresss added. You shrugged.

"I guess I forgot. Being kidnapped and all."

"You've been pretty forgetful latley haven't you? First your meds, now this. Anything else you care to share with us?" Dabi questioned.

"Not that I can think of. I guess sometimes I forget I should be scared nowadays." You paused before turning to look back at Shigaraki who wore a satisfied grin as his eyes wandered around the floor. Clearly dissociating. “Shigaraki?” 

"Hm?"

"...what happens to me, if they don't comply?"

"They will."

"Are you going to kill me?" He rolled his eyes.

"No. I'm not going to kill you. Especially now with that quirk of yours."

"But-"

"Are you really questioning why I'm not going to kill you?" He took the phone in his hand and dusted the object. He stood and started walking out to another room.

"I just...aren’t I a pain in the ass to keep around?" You asked the room. A few answered with a nod, others stayed silent.

"Come on. I wanna show you something." You stood and followed him down the hallway. You followed him through the building, through the parts that were inhabitable and rotting. He took you up a few flights, up to the very top just before the roof. There was a large room filled with old desks, chairs, computers, etc. He stopped in front of a large window that overlooked the city. "Come here." You stood beside him and looked out the window at the people walking around. You saw an old alleyway that housed a few homeless people as they went about their day. A few passers-by ignoring them and rushing past. "What do you see?"

"A group of homeless people. Why?"

"And what about him?" You watched as a man, well dressed and well-kept walked down the street. He starred at a man who begged him for money, then laughed in his face before walking away.

"Some asshole." You noted. He smiled.

"The world is littered with them. And it’s the heroes that encourage it, they demand it. They created a world where we steal and rob and ignore each other assuming someone else will take care of it. Heroes created a society that requires you to assimilate, to obey. If not, you're thrown away like trash." He grumbled as he watched the homeless man. 

"Is that...what happened to you?" You asked. He didn't answer. "What about her?" You watched as a woman passing through stopped to give the homeless man some change.

"What? You think she deserves a pat on the back for the bare minimum?" He snarled.

"Huh?"

"What good does that one act do, huh!? He'll have a meal and live to see another miserable day. She solved a minor problem, she's not doing any real good. And she doesn't deserve anything for it."

"But-"

"It doesn't matter unless you do something to change the bigger picture. She can give all the change she wants, take him in for all I care. But she only helps one person! She won't do any real good unless she demands change for them! Unless she actively works to make sure people like him don't end up like that!" You took a few steps back as he yelled.

"Alright! You don't have to yell at me!" You barked, the tension in the room coming to a climax when your quirk pulled a few chairs and tables closer to you. Making a horrible screeching sound as it did. "I understand." You finally spoke when the two of you had calmed down.

"If All Might doesn't come forward and tell the truth, you'll be working with us."

"What? Why? My quirk is dangerous and volatile. I have no control, I'd be practically useless."

"That's why your training starts today."

"Training?"

"What? You wanna be a slave to your quirk forever? Because if you wanna go back on your meds, you can. But I doubt you want to keep living in fear of yourself." You thought for a second before answering.

"I...I don't know..." He slowly started to approach you.

"You don't have to be afraid anymore. I can help you."

"How? You hardly have control of your own emotions as it is. You think you could help teach me to control mine?" You chuckled.

"If my research is right, this isn't about control, it’s about distribution."

"Distribution..."

"If you could learn to express your emotions properly. Let yourself be free from the fear of your own quirk, you could learn to repurpose that energy, and gain anatomy."

"Those disgusting bastards!" Xavier growled under his breath as his nails dug into the sleeve of his button-up. He rattled with rage in the corner as others worked. Your mother paced back and forth, spewing theory after theory.

"She sounded...fine..." Toshinori said in disbelief.

"Clearly she's traumatized beyond repair!" Your mother declared.

"Everyone." Another detective called. The room fell silent. "I think you should hear this." Pressing play, the sound of your recorded voice played out.

"In......OUT! One, two, three, IN.........out." From the other line, the sound of soft snickering and laughter could be heard. Your laughs being the loudest.

"Is she, laughing?" Your father asked.

"She's laughing...with them," Xavier observed.

"What!? Laughing? A reflex! She's disturbed! She's hysterical!" Your mother shouted.

"They're turning her," Xavier said softly. "They're corrupting her...without her meds she's left defenseless and scared. They're taking advantage of her good nature!"

"We got it." Detective Tsukauchi declared.

"Got what?"

"Well, it was difficult considering it was a prepaid wireless phone but...We've got her location."

Taglist: 

@craftybean13 @babayaga67 @imjustverable

@bat-eclecticwolfbouquet-love

@kamenoyaki @hentaiqween101 @skzero-99

[rotationalsymmetry]

A brief history of Unitarian Universalism (casual, with swears, have not fact checked as such but I think it’s correct): In New England back before US independence, there was Calvinism -- you know, that predestination thing, you’re already going to go to heaven or hell, but you should be good anyways so people will think you’re going to heaven, or something like that. Then there wasn’t. Then there was Congregationalism. Which was a lot more chill, but still very “fuck Catholicism”. And around this time, deism was on the rise: the idea that maybe God created the universe, then fucked off, and hasn’t been actively involved with anything since. Then, some people who were actually reading the Bible, because you can’t look down on Catholicism unless you actually read the Bible, were like... wait, maybe Jesus isn’t all that. You know -- the Savior, the Son of God, one third of the Trinity, all that. Maybe he was just, like... a prophet, or some guy who said some interesting things. A teacher. And other congregationalists were like: uh, what, no, Jesus has to be all that. If you don’t think Jesus is all that, how can you even call yourself a Christian? And they decided they couldn’t really be around each other any more. So the first group, which was mostly in Boston, started calling themselves Unitarians (because they rejected the doctrine of the Trinity and instead believed in a one part God), and incidentally at some point also stopped calling themselves Christians because the other guys had a point, and the others called themselves the United Church of Christ (UCC.) Emerson and Thorough -- sorry, Thoreau -- were both Unitarians, as were John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and pretty much everyone else from Boston in early US history. (We like to claim Jefferson, because his beliefs were kindasorta similar to Unitarian beliefs at the time, but as I understand it he was never actually part of a Unitarian congregation.) (Btw: if you’re lgbtq+ and Christian, they’re a pretty friendly denomination. If you’re lgbtq+ and Christian and you think the UCC is too liberal (in the religious sense) or you want a majority-lgbtq+ congregation, consider MCC, which is otherwise unconnected to all this. If you’re not Christian and are lgbtq+ -- atheist/agnostic, or maybe something else if you’re down with worshipping with people that aren’t specifically your thing -- Unitarian Universalism tends to be pretty good. As in: we have a bunch of gay/lesbian ministers and other religious leaders, and a few transgender ones. (Knowledge of less mainstream lgbtq+ identities can vary a lot between congregations and generations -- the younger generations tend to be more aware than the gen x’ers.) I’ve been involved with Church of the Larger Fellowship for most of the past year, which did zoom worship before it got cool and serves people around the world, and people like me who live a mile from a UU brick and mortar congregation but still can’t get their disabled ass over there anyways. Anyways, CLF has more POC on the worship team than most UU congregations (the denomination does tend to run pretty white), is very social justice oriented even by UU standards, and is somewhat more cool about general weirdness than most congregations, which again for UU congregations is saying something.) Then, at some point (sadly, I’m significantly more familiar with the history of the first U than the second) there was this other protestant denomination in the South (as in, the US South) where people decided that God was too nice to send people to hell for all eternity, so they started calling themselves the Universalists, as in Universal Salvation. All dogs go to heaven. Well, time passed, each denomination evolved in its own way. (In particular, Unitarianism caught humanism pretty hard -- the joke was the Unitarians believe in one God at most.) In the -- ok, I’ll look this one up -- in 1961, there was a big old merger, creating Unitarian Universalism, and in the process, everyone got together and was all...wait, so what are our official beliefs about God and stuff? Should we even have official beliefs about God? Maybe we can unify around some ideas around how people should treat each other instead. So they did: they drafted a set of Principles (broad-strokes guidelines on how people should act -- peace is good, truth is good, people have value, stuff like that) and a set of Sources (where UU’s get their ideas about God and morality and so on from, starting with direct experience) and left everything else up to the individual. And then a little while later, the tree-huggers got a seventh Principle and a sixth Source added in -- respect for the environment and Earth-centered religions, respectively -- so now the joke is that UU’s believe in one God, more or less. Currently there’s a movement on to add an 8th Principal that explicitly names racial equality and fighting oppression as something we value, since while the current Principles mention justice and equality, they don’t specifically name race, and the people of color who have stuck with the predominantly white denomination figure Unitarian Universalism can and should be doing better on that front. Unitarian Universalism runs religiously liberal (ie, decentralized, individualistic, non-authoritarian, non-dogmatic, inclined to believe science over the Bible) and politically progressive. Unitarian Universalist congregations tend to be very politically active and concerned with social justice, mostly in a well-educated middle class kind of way: committees, Robert’s Rules of Order, donating to non-profits, Get Out the Vote, inviting in speakers and asking “questions” that aren’t really questions, forming partnerships with other congregations and community organizations, etc. Many UU congregations have put a Black Lives Matter sign out (and when necessary keep putting it out when it gets torn down or vandalized), shown up for the protests, opposed the weird immigration BS that’s been going on in the US recently, etc. In addition to more charity style work, like food pantries and homeless shelters.

Point is: yeah it’s got flaws (don’t even get me started on Unitarian Universalism’s flaws) but if you’re a social justice person and want to meet other social justice people who are doing things, Unitarian Universalism can be a good place to look for that. You get more done in groups.

You’re less likely to burn out, too. With marginalization, it’s complicated, right? Again, for LGBTQ+ people, it’s going to be better than most religious organizations. For people a little bit on the autism spectrum, you probably won’t be the only one. (If you’re unmistakeably autistic, people might be weird/ableist; it might depend on the congregation.) If you’re from a working class background or are currently kinda broke, you might run into some frustrations or feel like you don’t fit in; if you’re a poc or if you’re disabled (or your kid is) or you want a lot of personal support, you might struggle more -- this really might vary a lot, but at least the congregations I’m used to tend to assume congregants can mostly stand on their own feet, metaphorically speaking, and have some extra time/money/skills/whatever that can be directed out into the wider world. It can be a good place for pagans and Buddhists and other people who don’t want a church but are having trouble finding a church-like religious community where you can hang out with people on the same spiritual path. (Uh, for a while UU congregations were emphatically not churches and some officially still aren’t; others gave up and were all “eh, it looks like a church, whatever, we’re just a weird church.) Some congregations are more atheist-dominated than others -- many avoid Jesus language most of the time, some avoid God language most of the time (UU’s who believe in God tend to believe in God in a relatively abstract/metaphorical way), some I hear are pagan-heavy, others do use Christian language a lot more. In all honesty you don’t have to go to Sunday worship if you don’t want to, and really a lot of UU’s don’t; if you want to be heavily involved in the congregation but don’t want to go to Sunday worship and don’t want to deal with pressure to, one way out is to teach RE (religious education -- basically “Sunday school”) the RE curricula are amazing, just absolutely astounding, and if you’re teaching it you get a ton of leeway with adjusting anything you don’t like. (Which could happen -- a lot of this stuff was developed before the idea that cultural appropriation is a big problem became mainstream in social justice circles.) What adult worship is like has basically zero correlation (perhaps negative correlation) to what RE is like. (Which sucks for young adults coming of age in a UU congregation, like I said don’t get me started on UU’s flaws.) Finally: for people who care about sex positivity and sex ed, Unitarian Universalists (in partnership with UCC) developed Our Whole Lives, a sex ed curriculum that, well, it’s not abstinence based education. You wouldn’t expect sex ed coming from a religious org to be better than the sex ed in schools, would you? And yet. Comprehensive sex ed that acknowledges gay bi and trans people and that disabled people have sex too and teaches about birth control and masturbation and abuse and consent and boundaries and bullying and internet safety and abortion. It’s good stuff. The course aimed at teens is most popular of course, but there’s actually (age-appropriate) OWL curricula for all stages of life: young kids, adults, older adults, everyone. And it’s versatile enough to be taught in secular contexts (after school programs etc). Given the direction that unfortunately a lot of school districts in the US have been going in in terms of sex ed, it’s a really important program.

[deputy-videogamer]

Gemini |Part 3|

Pairing: Geralt x Reader, Yennefer x Reader, Geralt x Reader X Yennefer

Summary: Both Geralt and Yennefer take a trip into town in hopes to get some info about the so called ‘Mad Princess’, only to discover that not all stories match. While a dark figure lurks among the forest willing to defend their precious ‘Mad Princess’

Part 2 Part 4

Notes: Sorry for the late post I know people were excited for chapter 3 to be release soon similar to chapter 2, but I had a writerblock when I was writing this chapter, and when I did started to write this chapter again I had to edit the chapter so it can match my what I had in mind. Once again I apologize for the late post and thank you for those who are still willing to read this story even if it was a long wait.

After the meeting with the king, Geralt and Yennefer had gone to the room that they were staying at. The way to their room was awkward between them, if it wasn’t for Yennefer speaking up first.

“If you don’t mind me asking Geralt, who’s the little girl you are with?” At first Geralt didn’t want to respond to her, but in the end had answered her.

“Ciri is my law of surprise during my time in Cintra.” 

“I see. How long have you been with her?”

“Only for a few months. Where have you been since we last saw each other?”

“Places.” Geralt had a feeling that Yennefer won’t reveal where she has been, after all the last time they saw each other they ended in bad terms.

“How come you were brought here? Last time this was a job for a Witcher.” 

“Lucius, is a good friend of mine. As he mentioned before her powers were unstable resulting in her loss control of her sanity. He hopes that with my help, my power can stop hers before she causes any damages in the kingdom.”

The two had reached the room, inside Jasikier was playing his lyre while Ciri was listening to him play. She turned her head when she heard the door open.

“How long are we going to be guests here?” She innocently asked Geralt. 

“Until we can find a way to end the princess' life, but for now I need clues to see what we are up against.”

Jaskier then eyed Yennefer who hadn't left the room., “And she's going to be staying with us?” The raven hair beauty raised an eyebrow at the bard.

“What’s the matter, afraid I would end your life even though I saved yours?” She snapped at him, Jaskier was about to retaliate, but Geralt gave him a look to stop talking.

Geralt had stated that they will go into town to gain information about the princess, to which Yennefer responded she will be going with him to sense if she left any signs of her magic. While Ciri and Jaskier would stay here unless being told otherwise.

The town wasn’t in the worst condition, but it wasn’t also the greatest condition. There were a few homeless people roaming around the area, although at the same time their appearance didn't look like they were nothing more than skin and bones. What was even more surprising was that there was no person who avoided him like there was some sort of plague, instead he was occasionally given gifts from random people.

“Seems like they are more welcoming to witchers than most places.” Yennefer commented, even receiving a few gifts herself.

“It’s either that or they haven’t heard about my reputation.” Geralt looked at the gifts in his hands. One of the gifts he had in his hand was a woman in a fierce stan with two orbs in her hands , mostly likely a mage. 

Geralt knew that some mages were either respected or feared, this one was clearly respected if the people are creating images of her.When he asked Yennefer if she knew this one from somewhere she responded saying she never seen or heard someone like her. It didn’t make sense who this woman was? What did the people see in her? If Yennefer doesn’t know who she was then who is exactly?

“What happened to the cart?” A voice broke Geralt’s thoughts, making him looked to the side. 

Two men were having a conversation one looked like a merchant while the other was the delivery boy who gave the goods. When the silver hair Witcher looked at the cart there were slash marks on the side and some of the crates were semi damaged, but what made him confused was how the man driving the cart was how he looked unharmed compared to the state of the cart.

“I was attacked by some robbers on my way here.” The delivery boy said as he was unloading the crates. 

“Then how were you able to escape if you were attacked by the robbers?”

“A bunch of crows and wolves attacked them. The birds drove some of the robbers away and those who didn’t escape were killed by the wolves.” The merchant had a shocked expression on his face, Geralt thought the merchant wouldn’t believe his story though it was the opposite. The man’s face turned to a soft expression.

“The Princess of the Woods is watching her people.” The man patted the delivery man shoulder then started to help him unload the crates.

Princess of the Woods? Was he referring to the insane princess that they were ordered to kill? But she was insane. Why would she help her people? 

All these questions lingered in Geralt’s head, though he wasn’t the only one who was wondering who was this so-called ‘Princess of the Woods’. Yennefer may not be a Witcher who can identity what type of monster attacked the robbers, though she was curious on why would a monster help these humans, most monster didn’t had a brain to think or have sympathies over humans so what made this monster have humanity in him….unless you were behind all.

“Excuse me, but who is this Princess of the Woods?” Bother Geralt and Yennefer walked up to the two men. Thermechant looked around to see if anyone was looking at them, his eyes met a group of knights that were patrolling the area.

“Not here.” He whispers the two the two, he then gestures to his store so the two could talk iside. “Do you think you can handle the rest and bring it in my store?” The delivery man nodded knowing what the merchant was doing.

Geralt and Yennefer glance at each other when the merchant tells them to follow in his store. Something was wrong, when Geralt looked back to see where the merchant’s eyes landed upon he noticed the knights. Why would he be afraid of the knights?

Inside the merchant had locked the front door, then heading to the window to make sure no one was spying on them. After making sure that no one was following them, he faced the both of them. Both too took note how his expression became all serious.

“You two are the Wicher and the mage that the bastard king requested huh?” The merchant tone was different behind closed doors. “Listen as much as I want to give you every detail the citizens are all being watched.”

“Watched by who?” Yennefer asked the man who then only gave her a disgusted look.

“The king who else. Ever since his daughter left he thinks that she is the insane one, but what kind of king tries to poison his own daughter.”

This new revelation had shocked the two, no wonder Lucius looked so nervous at the idea of killing the princess. “What do you mean he tried to poison his own daughter.”

“You got to ask the mage Lucius for that, but I doubt he is willing to tell you everything.” Lucius knew about this as well? Just what other secrets there are about this kingdom. “My advice is this you can either try to convince Lucius to talk or you can ask the girl yourself.” The merchant pointed his thumb to the woods.

Even though it looked like a normal woods, something about the woods made the woods evil, perhaps it's because you lived there and how they were going in their blindness without anything you could do to them.

“If we were to go after her what would happen to us?” Yennefer looked at the man who only gave them a hard look.

“Many mages and hunters have entered those woods and never return, the only things that remain are the skulls that the crows carry around the kingdom as a sign to not bring any more unwanted guests.”

“What about the citizens here? Have they been attacked by the Princess of the Woods?” Geralt remembers how the delivery man was saved by the robbers.

“She cares for the citizens never once she attacked them even the little children enter the woods only to come out safe.” The merchant sighed. “Listen, there are some witnesses that have actually seen the Princess of the Woods. It's best to ask when there are no lingering eyes. One false move and you just caused that person's death.”

As much as Geralt and Yennefer wanted to keep asking questions with this man, the look in his eyes told him time was up; they couldn’t discuss any further or these ‘eyes’ will start to get suspicious. Before they had exited out the store, Geralt called out to the man.

“Is it alright if I can examine your cart for clues?” The man looked at him in confusion before nodding his head in agreement.

From the inside the cart didn’t look too bad, but it was the outside that got Geralt’s attention, there were slash marks that came from swords that mostly likely belong to robbers along with some claw marks that came from the wolves. There were some traces of crow feathers in the corners of the cart, picking one up Geralt could feel magic swarming around the feather. Magic that was similar to a Leshan. Whomever you are you must have wield strong magic if you can manage to tame a Leshan to do your bidding, if Geralt could even call you a threat. Geralt wondered if this was the reason why Lucius was so nervous during the meeting with the king.

Flashback

The raven hair mage and the golden eye wolf followed the elder mage to the way of the throne room. During the trip Geralt noticed how much Lucius' heart was beating and he knew it wasn’t because he was old. His heartbeat reminded him of someone who was nervous or lying about a topic, the way he walked didn’t also help his problem. Every step he took was quicker than the last almost as if he wanted to get this over with, just want was wrong with this mage. Looking back at Yennefer, the black haired beauty gave him a look that she had also picked up Lucius’s hesitation.

When they reached the door Lucuis a gave a look to the two guards that were guarding each side of the door, both of them opened the doors  The throne room was just like any other boring royal room, grand walls that were lavishly decorated in gold and tapestries with royal curtains surrounding the area. Pillars that reached all the way to the ceiling that god no know how far they expanded, that had plants and decorations that all over the stone, Of course it was his throne room without having a long red carpet that reached all the way to the end of the room where the throne had resided.

“Ah the great White Wolf and the most powerful sorceress in Vengerberg. Please come in.” The king gestured them to walk more, his voice had sounded like a loving grandfather who would spoil his grandchildren with treats.

Geralt had taken note on how Lucius had remained by the door when the two were called upon. His face was filled with guilt, but why would he be filled with guilt unless there is something more to this request than there should be.

“I really hope the journey wasn’t too long for such a mission.” The king gave them a cornering look.

“Quite quick actually. As soon as I heard Lucius needed some help I came here as fast I could.” Yennefer answered

“Yes, magic is certainly a wonderful thing isn’t.” The king chuckled. “But I’m sure I didn’t request the help of the both of you to discuss magic. It is about my daughter, did Lucius have already informed you two.”

“Y-yes your highness I had already informed them about the princess.” Lucius quickly answered, the poor elder mage didn’t want to repeat the lie again, it was too painful for him to say. Oh how he wish the queen was here so this tragedy didn’t even happen in the first place.

“Is it possible for us to speak with mages that survived the encounter with your daughter?” Geralt looked at the king, the man tightly gripped the arms of his throne before releasing his grip.

“No, after the encounter all the injured mages left when they had a chance to leave. I can’t even send Lucius into the woods, for he could also get killed by the hands of my daughter.” 

“I thank the king’s generosity for my well being.” Lucius bitterly thanked , every word made the mage said made him want to cut out his tongue.

“I had sent help far and wide before many had come to help and stop my daughter, though once they entered the forest they had never returned. How many don’t even come for aid to help my kingdom, the citizens even start to fear the woods believing my daughter would kill them in an act of revenge.”

“Just how powerful is her magic?” Yennefer asked, not believing a single word coming from the king’s mouth.

“Stronger than me.” Lucius answered her. “The day when she lost all control I casted a barrier to protect the king. Her magic was so strong that in minutes my barrier was destroyed, she could’ve ended our lives there instead she fled into the woods.”

“Then why haven’t you taught her how to control her magic?” 

“The mages and I have tried, but as days passed her magic only worsened, by the time we realized that her magic was unstable it was already too late. She lost control over her magic causing her to be unstable.” Lucius explained that didn’t make sense. Yennefer knew that if a high mage like Lucius would sense it and try to control her chaos within her.

None of this made sense to the duo, to a normal person they would easily fall for these stories, but they were normal people. They were telling this to a Witcher and a Mage, people who know the arts of magic and the supernatural. They will play the king’s game, but they will find answers of what’s really going on. They will be huge if the princess is really insane as the king describes.

“We will start as soon as possible.” Yennefer immediately agreed followed by Geralt.

“If it alright may we go around and ask the citizens around to have more information about the princess?” 

“Of course take as much as you need. Lucius will help you as much as possible.” The king gave a gentle smile at the duo, although Lucius' actions said something else. His fists were clenched as his gazed was sharp as a blade piering a man’s body.

“It will be an honor to serve the Witcher and the Sorceress.” 

Flashback Ended 

“Crows and wolves don’t attack robbers out of the blue. Unless they are being controlled by a Leshen.” Geralt showed the crow feathers to Yennefer.

“It's amazing how she can control a woodling creature nonetheless a Leshen.” Yennefer plucked the feathers out his hand. “Makes you wonder what other things are on her side.” 

Geralt hummed in agreement. “The citizens are really cozy here, not a single ounce of fear in them. A completely different story about what the king said.”

“Don’t forget about Lucius.” Yennefer pointed how the leader mage was acting differently during the meeting. “You could practically see the hatred and guilt in his eyes.”

The duo knew that they were tricked, but that didn’t mean the king and Lucius wasn’t fully lying. Whoever you were, you possessed powers that even Geralt and Yennefer couldn’t believe that someone could wield. As much as they want to find out who you were they need more information before marching in your territory. Unfortunately this wasn’t going to be easy as it looks.

At the outskirts of the town, a farmer was tending his crops when he noticed that one of his cattle was dead. The strange part of the cow’s corpse was that there were several claws marks littered on its body almost like it was attacked by a swarm of birds. It wasn’t just him though several other farmers animals had scratch marks just what kind of creature could do this?

Unknown to the farmers just at the edge of the forest, a Leshen was watching as many farmers were examining all their livestocks. The Leshen petted one of his crows that was perched on his shoulders and head, offering it’s finger to one of the crows. The bird hopped on the twig like finger, the other hand showed two strands of hair, one was a silver color and the other was a raven lock. The crow memorized the two stands then flying off to the city to find the owners of the strands of hair. As the bird was no longer in view another bird flew in with something attached to it’s leg. The bird landed on the palm of the Leshen’s hand, pulling the string he read the note that we inscripted in a strange language. It led out a dark laugh after reading what was written in the piece of paper, his alliances are more than willing to defend the ‘Princess of the Woods’ from these invaders.

It just hoped that his little goose chase would be enough to throw them off for a while and if that didn’t work. Well it seems like there will be new skulls to be added in the collection.

@whitewolfandthefox​ @dreaming-about-fanfictions @seanh-boredom​ @dopepizzaenemy​ @charliestufff​ @whotperlinda​ @imdreamingof-you​  @dopepizzabouquetzz @mattiej15

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Legacy: Final Part

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.5k

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there is any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated

"I'm not sure if he's really okay with this, or he's sure we're wrong and wants to see us embarrass ourselves," Hotch gossips.

There are not many officers, to begin with, so you're standing in front of everyone in no time.

"We're going to provide a psychological profile of the man we're looking for. It contains some unusual, specific personality traits that someone out there is bound to recognize, which will make him relatively easy to locate. He'll leave a long-lasting, negative impression on anyone he might meet."

"We have a term for the killing behavior this unsub displays--cleaning house--fixing what's wrong with the world," Derek says.

"He's deeply rationalized this behavior, and while he certainly knows the killing is wrong, he truly believes that he's doing the world a great service."

"Ultimately, this type of unsub becomes a loner," you sigh. "There will not be too many people that can still tolerate him. Now, if he does have a relationship at all, the person will not be his equal. It'll be someone subservient to him."

"He'll be fastidious, tending toward obsessive-compulsive disorder, and he'll have an overwhelming sense of indignation towards the things that he's judged to be wrong. He wouldn't even consider the reasons why someone might disagree with him."

"He sounds like a real jackass," one of the officers scoff.

"Exactly. Class-A scumbag," Derek agrees.

"Detective McGee started noticing the disappearances a year ago. The unsub probably had a stressor at this time--the death of a family member or someone who had some semblance of control over him. Right now, no one has control over him."

"It's probable that he isn't currently working after this many victims, and the devolution that it brings a job just wouldn't leave him time to practice his true calling."

"Which is what?" Al asks.

"A predator, a killing machine. By now, it's become all he thinks about."

It's late enough as it is, but you still go out with your team to the streets to talk to other homeless people in case they know you're talking about. You're paired off in groups of two: You, Hannah, and Spencer, Emily and Derek, JJ and Al, Hotch by himself, and Gideon and Cal.

Every single person you talked to had eyes for Spencer. Mostly the prostitutes were all over Spencer, touching his tie and removing it from the inside of his vest. He was a little uncomfortable with the attention, so you had to step in and make sure they knew he was yours. Though, that didn't seem to stop some of them when they suggested they were into threesomes.

You'll have to come back to his kinks later, but you're a little annoyed with how they're treating him. It's clear you two are dating, but it's like they don't see that. Hannah was learning more about her abilities, using them to determine if a homeless person was safe to be around or not. Everyone kind of left her alone since you and Spencer were there to protect her, but she did get a few stares from others. After an hour of asking around and not getting anywhere, your team decides to meet back up to discuss what they found.

"Don't be too jealous, Y/N. I didn't want them," Spencer says. "It's cute though."

You stop walking and turn to him, grasping his tie that kept getting tugged by the women. You fix it by tucking it back underneath his vest and tightening it by his neck.

"You're mine."

"I know," he smiles.

You smooth down his clothes and head back to the group. Everyone is here minus Gideon and Cal. They must still be talking to people.

"How'd you guys do?" Hotch asks you and Spencer.

"Well, Spencer here got propositioned by every prostitute we talked to, but we didn't find anybody who thinks they'd seen the unsub."

"Same story with us," Derek says.

"I saw Gideon and McGee a block back. They hadn't had any luck, either."

"It's odd. If the unsub were out here, he'd stand out. You know, people would recognize the description."

"So, where does that leave us?" Emily asks.

"Right where I thought we were," Al scoffs. "You said this guy would definitely be memorable. You were adamant. So, if no one out there remembers him, according to you, he doesn't exist."

"That's not exactly what we said, but--"

"It's what you implied," he cuts off JJ.

"What do you think happened to them, Captain?"

"I told you, I don't think anything happened to them."

"Oh, that's right. You think they all got houses and jobs," Hotch argues.

"Okay, all this means is we have another piece of the puzzle here. Someone got over sixty street-smart people out of here and no one noticed," you say, trying to calm everyone down.

"It's almost like he blended in," Spencer comments.

"Have you thought about the possibility that it's more than one person doing this?" Hannah asks.

Everyone turns to look at her, and you blush in embarrassment, but it's quickly diminished.

"Excuse me?" Al asks.

"She's right. Think about it. If we profiled this guy that he doesn't play well with others and to stand out, then he's obviously not the one who is grabbing people. Like you said, people would recognize the man. He has to have someone, a submissive, take people without getting noticed. That's the person who is blending in. No one would recognize this submissive figure. How many times did we think it was one unsub and it turned out to be two?"

"She's got a point," Derek has your back.

"We need to think of this as a killing team. That changes how we approach these people. He's here all the time."

"Like social services," Derek says. He's not looking at the group, but at a homeless woman that stopped to talk to someone in a van. "Captain Wright. Does your social services department patrol around?"

"Excuse me?"

"Do they drive around in the middle of the night looking for people to help?"

"No. They have to be called, and then--"

Derek takes off running to the woman and the van without another word.

"Morgan!" Hotch yells.

You have no choice but to follow after him. Before the older woman can step into the van, Derek calls out her name to stop her.

"Mona! Mona, wait a minute! Do not get in that van! What are you doing? I thought you didn't need any help."

"He's gonna drive me to the park."

"Hey, how's it going, my man?" Derek asks the driver who is scared shitless.

"I should go."

"Slow down. What's your hurry?"

"I got a lot of work. I should go."

"Sir, do you have a city employee ID?" Al asks.

"Look, I really don't have time for this."

"Yes, you do. ID, please."

Without warning, the man steps on the gas to get away, but Derek is quick to jump into action. There is a reason why he's doing this, and you know he knows that this is the one part of the two part killing team. Derek reaches inside the car and grabs the wheel, turning it so that it crashes into a fence. The motion sweeps him off his feet, but when it's clear the man isn't going anywhere, he lets go and rips the door open. You grab Hannah and pull her into you to keep her out of the danger.

"Out of the truck! Out of the truck! Get out here!"

"Alright, alright! Don't hurt me! Just... don't hurt me," the man whimpers as Derek throws him against the side of the van.

This man is terrified, and you have a feeling you know exactly why.

The man known as Steven Foster is inside the interrogation room panicking, muttering to himself that everything is going to be fine and that it wasn't his fault. He might be practicing what he's going to say when he finally faces his partner.

"I can feel how scared he is," Hannah comments.

"Yeah, he's terrified," you observe from outside the room.

"Of us?"

"Of the unsub. Hotch, I think it's best if I go in there. He's filled with anxiety."

"Yeah, good idea," Hotch nods.

"Garcia couldn't find much on this guy at all. No employment records, no tax records, no credit cards, and no bank accounts. The van is registered to a paper corporation out of the Cayman Islands. Other than having a valid driver's license, Steven Foster has no paper trail," Derek explains.

"My guess is he's devoted his entire life to helping the unsub. Unsub takes care of everything for him. In return, Steven provides fresh victims."

"So how do you know there's another guy?" Al wonders.

"Does he look like he could cleanly pull off sixty-three murders?" you ask.

"So, if he's his accomplice, why is he so afraid of the guy?"

"Steven's the only person in the world truly aware of what the unsub is capable of."

"The only one still alive," Hotch corrects Derek.

"Sadism and torture invariably get worse with every victim. That's why this was so important. We couldn't take the chance that it wasn't happening."

"That's him?" Cal asks, entering the room.

"He's not the unsub," you shake your head.

"W-who is he?"

"The only relationship the unsub has left in the world. His only friend."

"Did you want me to publicize the arrest, put some pressure on the unsub?" JJ asks.

"No, he might run."

"Okay, so, uh, how we gonna find him, then?" Cal asks.

"Steven's gonna tell us where he is," you say.

"Okay, let's go," Cal says, heading to the door.

"Actually, I'm going to head in there alone."

"What?"

"Trust me, it's best if she goes in alone," Hotch has your back.

"Stay here, Hannah. Just stay with Spencer."

She doesn't argue with you and stays next to Spencer the whole time. You take a deep breath and enter the room, causing Steven to shoot out of his chair in false anger.

"Well, finally! You took your damn time, didn't you? What the hell am I doin' here, anyways? I didn't do nothin'. I mean, what's the charges? Do you even have any? What did I do, offer to help an old lady get a--get to a park? Is that even illegal? I don't think so. I should be getting some kind of award instead of sitting in here waiting for you to decide to talk to me."

It's best to let him talk and dig himself a deeper hole, so you stand there and let him run his mouth until he feels like he's done.

"I know you're gonna charge me with that wreck, right, crashing into that car? That was the other cop's fault, the black guy? He jumped into my van. He caused me to--it was his fault. It-it wasn't me. It was--there were witnesses, you know."

"Sit down, Mr. Foster," you finally say.

He does as he's told, a look of pure fear on his face.

"Steven, I understand what you're going through, okay? I know you're scared, and I know you're scared of him. That's why I know you're going to give me an address, and you're going to tell me how to get inside without raising suspicion. I know you're going to do all of this because he's never been nice to you."

At your words, he grows sad.

"You're never good enough for him, are you? He constantly insults you and belittles you. He makes you feel worthless and ugly and stupid. You hate him, Steven, don't you?" He doesn't have to answer because you can see the truth in his eyes. "And you know why I know you're going to tell me all of this? It's because you screwed up."

"He told you that your paramount concern was not to attract the attention of the authorities, and you know the punishment will be severe. Nobody knows better than you what he can do to people. I've spent a long time studying monsters like your friend, and I can promise you... he's gonna do things to you that even you can't imagine."

"I can't," he whimpers emotionally. "My family has always worked for his family. It's all I know. His father died last year and left everything to him--all the money, all the... He-he's the last one. He-he changed after. He's different. He's... meaner. He's gonna hurt me so bad."

"He won't, Steven, because we're going to stop him. You won't ever have to feel the pain he causes you ever again. All you have to do is come clean and tell us where he is."

"Holcombe. His--his name is Charles Holcombe. He owns the old meatpacking plant."

With a location and a name, you can apprehend Charles before he has a chance to hurt anyone else. With Steven's directions, your team was able to get inside the plant without alerting Charles. Hannah shouldn't be here, but you're keeping her off to the side to keep her out of the way. He was in the place where they used to slaughter the animals, and you can see as you round the corner that he is about to kill a young woman who is crying but drugged up.

You're about to follow when you noticed Hannah staring down the hall. You pause and turn to see two people there, but you know they're not alive. She sees them too, and she knows they are dead.

"Who are they?" she asks.

"They're spirits of people who have died here. There are almost a hundred of them here. Most of them moved on, but ones like them have stayed behind because they needed someone like us to help them find justice."

At the mention of the word justice, both people mist away in front of your eyes.

"This is so sad," Hannah whispers.

"Come on."

You gently lead her back to the group where Charles is already on the ground with blood spurting out of his mouth. Emily rushes over to the woman to make sure she is okay. It looks like she has cuts on her feet and cuts on her head, but you know she will be okay.

"It's okay, It's okay. Look at me. You're alright. It's over."

"The face," the woman cries.

"You've got some cuts, but you're gonna be okay."

"No. I want to see his face," she whimpers.

"Morgan."

Derek leans down and removes the mask over Charles' face so that the woman can see his face clearly.

"I won," she laughs and cries.

"There's an ambulance outside. You're going to be okay."

"Can you have someone check on my baby? My mom's babysitting her, and I didn't get home last night."

"We'll take care of it."

"Thank you," she sighs, relaxing knowing she is going to be safe.

By the time you get home, you're not as tired as you thought you were going to be. This wasn't a tiring case at all, but Hannah did look like she was going to pass out at any moment. Spencer wanted to spend the night at his own place, so you dropped him off before heading home. You walk Hannah to her bedroom and watch as she slides into bed.

"I hope you learned something about your abilities that you can use on your own."

"I did. Thanks to you," she yawns.

"It's not going to be easy, Hannah, but just know I here if you have any other questions. Get some sleep, okay?"

"Okay. Goodnight mom," she mutters.

You don't say anything back to her as you close her door gently behind you.

"Nothing is permanent in this wicked world. Not even our troubles." - Charles Chaplin

wanna be tagged? add yourself to this document! if your tag has a strike through it or it’s not linked, it means doesn’t work. find out why!

@averyhotchner​ @lets-be-gay-for-the-angel​ @fan-girl-97​ @inkstainedwritergirl​ @estrela-rogers​ @kwbaby24​ @redsalv20​ @joonie-centric​ @xs​ @sixpencespencee​ @boygenius-reid​ @meganskane​ @prophecyflame​ @babydee17​ @darlingisntit​ @fandoms4ever97​ @spencerreid-187​ @snakeythesnake​ @nomajdetective​ @scarletstarrs​ @hc-geralt-23​ @fairytalesforever​ @werewolfbanshee-love​ @bluetreecloud20​ @lucyysthings​ @slightlyvicked​ @zephyrmonkey​

[softly-savage-mint-yoongi]

Saccharine

from An Adventurer’s Guide to Romance

Part 3 of the series collaboration between myself & @guardians-of-exo​!  Please go check out her blog! Her moodboards are *chef’s kiss*  magnificent and this go around she has listened to all of my ramblings about Won Deuk Kyungsoo in 100 Days My Prince, which I binge watched in a week just to help me write this. If you haven’t seen it yet- go watch it. <3 Pairing: Kyungsoo x reader Rating: Fluff. Nothing too smutty or excessively graphic in this one, lads. Words: 7.2k

“Chanyeol, no,” you immediately protest, frowning at him from across the sparring field. He ducks your jab with the training sword, spinning behind you and using his momentum to make a swing for your exposed back. You bend your torso down and to the left, gracefully avoiding his hit. “Chanyeol, yes,”, he replies with a laugh. The mirth in his voice suits him. Here, in one of his favorite places. Sparring with you, his second-in-command and sisterly figure. Rolling your eyes at him, you continue your dance, “She’s a distraction.” You shake the sweat from your fingers, gripping the smoothed wood of your swords and settling into a defensive stance with both. He comes at you with a grin, smacking his wooden great sword down against your crossed ones over your head. He stares you down, “She’s exactly the focus I need, actually.” The Knight Captain believes he’ll overpower you like this, with his height and weight and giant sword bearing down against you. The expression he mocks you with is wiped off his face when you tilt just enough to the right to slide out from beneath his weight. He used too much trying to force you down; now losing his balance and catching the edge of your swords with the flat side of his just in time to avoid a strike. ______________________________________________________ The following morning after roll call you cannot find your commander anywhere in the barracks or the training yard. You were sure he was with the Prince and even walked up all of those stairs to his majesty’s tower. The guards let you pass easily, because, well, you well outrank any of them except for Chanyeol. You’re disappointed when a knock on the door reveals a sleepy Prince Baekhyun, rubbing the remnants of it from his eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry your majesty,” you say formally, bowing before him. He smiles through his haze at you, knowing behind closed doors those stiff formalities drop altogether. “I thought Knight Captain Chanyeol was with you.” He shakes his head and covers his mouth to yawn, “No, I haven’t seen him since late last night when I got in fr-“ he freezes, realizing where he is and who can hear him. Your eyes widen at him and your frame sags with relief just a little bit when he realizes the nonsense he’s speaking. “Sorry to disturb you, then. I’ll be off,” you bow once more, turning to hunt elsewhere for your leader. When you enter the Medical wards, the Head Physician tells you she hasn’t seen him, either. An hour later, he is found at last. In the kitchens, bothering the Head Chef and flirting with his new assistant while she tries to work. Work, like Chanyeol should be. “Knight Captain Chanyeol,” you say loudly, giving him a stern glare. “I have been looking all over this palace for you!” The Cook’s assistant, a pretty thing, looks between the both of you with wild eyes and a blush staining her cheeks, her fingers wrapped tightly around a whisk of cream in a bowl. The Head Cook himself is watching you silently from the spits, basting a row of pheasants over the fire. There’s just a hint of a smile at the corner of his plush mouth. Chanyeol looks at you with a frown, “I was with Baekhyun!” You sneer at him, pointing a finger at his chest in triumph, “Oh you big fat liar! I just walked all the way up there and heard from him myself that he hasn’t seen you! He was still asleep.” Chanyeol whines lowly, raising to fist the side of his own head, “Ah, shit.” “Come on,” you urge. “I apologize he keeps bothering you, Master Cook,” you comment, bowing slightly before you grab the tall man by the black fabric against his back and drag him from the room. ___________________________________________ That evening, in the comfort of your best friend’s room, you’re sipping wine and slowly picking apart a wheel of cheese between you. “He keeps going to the kitchens and flirting with the new assistant. I don’t think that’s all, either.” The Lady of the Palace smiles at you, “Oh come on now, let him have his fun.” You give her an incredulous stare, “Absolutely not. We have a code of conduct to uphold and a war to fight and he’s going to get into trouble.” “It’s not a war, don’t be so dramatic. Relax a little, I know you’re worried about him but he’s also working really hard. We all are,” she says calmly. Bringing her own cup to her lips briefly, she drinks before continuing, “I’ve seen him in the training yard in the middle of the night several nights in a row.” “Yeah,” you agree. “Because he’s waiting for our troublesome Prince to come clambering back over the walls.” She nods in understanding. There are a select few of you in the palace who know about Prince Baekhyun and his personal mission to save his own people from poverty and famine brought by the Draugers. As they slowly began to run people out of their homes in the lower parts of the kingdom and farms were beginning to be overrun with the undead at night, he took it personally and his father, the King, has his hands tied in the dilemma. The power-hungry Lords in the upper parts of the city, and even some of the working-class citizens, are taking unfair advantage of the homeless farmers and their families moving into the safety of the inner city’s walls. Baekhyun- watchful, observant and daring Baekhyun, who is fair and just and will someday make a great King, takes it upon himself to save them. He watches, or has ears and eyes in the city to watch and listen for him. He knows who is in need and who is not. Having grown up a skilled fighter and a professional at sneaking in and out of the palace since he could walk, he’s been using his skills to make right ever since. His mysterious heroism just started a few weeks ago. It’s a secret you will all take to your graves unless he tells you otherwise. “Anyway,” she says. “I don’t think you should be too hard on him as long as he is doing his job.” You sigh, considering her opinion, “I suppose. But I don’t like that he’s distracting someone else from their work.” She shrugs, “Does Kyungsoo seem bothered by it?” You chew your lip, “I don’t think so. But you know Kyungsoo. He doesn’t get bothered by much, or at least doesn’t speak up about it.” Smiling, you remember his reaction earlier this morning. “He looked to think it was funny that I scolded Chanyeol this morning.” The Lady of the Palace leans forward in her chair, “Oh? How so?” “He smiled at me,” you answer. She sets her goblet on the table between you, “He smiled at you?” “Yes?” you say, tone uncertain now that she’s questioning it. “I’ve never seen him smile at anyone other than Chanyeol,” she surmises, her delicate brows knitting together. She stares blankly at the cheese while she tries to remember a time she may have seen him with that expression. ___________________________________________________ Today, as is becoming a regular annoyance, Chanyeol disappears after roll call in the barracks, leaving you to separate a pair of green soldiers fighting over the last link of sausage at the table. It's still early for the rest of the palace, but you have an inkling he’s in the kitchens again. When you enter with lungs full of hot air to unleash upon him, the monstrous Knight Captain is nowhere to be found. Instead, you’re greeted by the Head Cook himself stirring a pot. The scent of its contents hit your nose and you smile in greeting, “That smells delicious.” Kyungsoo lifts his head at the sound of your voice as if he were expecting someone else. “Would you like to try some? It’s a new recipe and I’m not sure about it,” he says after hesitating for a moment, with eyes flitting across the room until they settle upon your face. Immediately his voice strikes you in an odd way. Its deep and soft tenor equally compare to the scent coming from the pot. You think both are quite lovely. It’s not that you’ve never heard him speak, but you’ve not heard much from his voice other than simple pleasantries or reprimanding words for Chanyeol. You’re shocked and admittedly a little flustered that he so casually offered his spoon to you. His eyes are sincere as he watches you. The spoon is frozen midair- lifted with a bite crested in the shallow pit and waiting. Some of it drips back into the batch below, and you cough. “Ah, no thank you. I’ve already eaten and don’t want to spoil my stomach,” you explain shyly. His eyes fall back to his task immediately. His thick brows furrow as he concentrates on stirring. “Is there something I can help you with then, Lieutenant?” he asks without looking up. Realizing you’d been standing there watching him, you smooth your palms down the front of your tasset, “Oh, right. I was hoping to find the Knight Captain here. Not that I was hoping he was bothering you but I thought maybe this would be a good place to start looking since he disappeared after roll call.” Kyungsoo turns to you and lets his eyes flick to your face again briefly. The faintest smirk is tucked into the corner of his plush lips, “He was here, but he left to help Kennel Master Sehun carry two sacks of bones down to the dogs.” “Good,” you state. When Kyungsoo doesn’t say anything further you feel embarrassed all over again, “Not good that he was here bothering you but good that he’s not being a pest, I mean.” The Head Cook laughs. He smiles fully, making a whispered sound of joy at your awkward floundering, “It’s okay, you don’t have to keep explaining.” You barely understand what he says to you. You’re much too caught up in how nice his full smile is. The way his cheeks rise to make his eyes crinkle and his lips split into a heart shape that shows his teeth. “Right then,” you gasp, blinking twice. On the walk down to the kennels, your brain wonders about Kyungsoo and how unlike him it is to talk or smile. You wonder if perhaps he has always been that way but you never had the chance to see it. Now that you recall, there was always someone else holding everyone’s attention with a story or a joke. Perhaps this color on him looks so nice that you want to explore it. Now that your commander has reason to go to the kitchens constantly, it mean that you also now have a reason to frequent them in chase of him. To yourself, you admit that maybe it isn’t such a bad thing if it means you get to see Kyungsoo smile more. __________________________________________________ Two days later you’re awoken by a loud clanging from outside your chamber in the middle of the night. You jolt upright, immediately swinging open your door to investigate, but there isn’t a soul in the corridor or outside when you peek into the training yard. Quietly, you open doors to look into the two rooms immediately beside yours, but there is nobody other than heavily sleeping soldiers in bunks. The moment your fingertips brush the iron ring of your own door handle, the faint sound of feet hitting the stone makes your head turn sharply to squint into the darkness. The footfalls are heavy and flat, easily distinguished to know the person is barefoot. The figure passes by one of the windows looking into the training yard, and the blue moonlight gives you a flash of shaggy silver hair and a sharp jaw. A preview of the naked, broad shoulders that come to stop in front of you. “Why are you standing out here?” Chanyeol asks. His voice is not yet roughened from sleep, and even the moon does him no favors to hide the circles beneath his eyes tonight. You look behind you once. “A loud noise woke me up,” you explain. He nods, turning his lips into a deep line that puts dimples in his cheeks. “Sorry about that. I stepped into a bucket,” he sighs. Then adds, “I’m glad you’re awake though. I’ve got orders for you.” _________________________________________________ While you didn’t sleep well, you manage to make it through roll call without taking anyone’s metaphorical heads, and your brotherly Knight Captain was surprisingly present. In six days you’re leaving for a mission, orders directly from the King himself. According to what your commander told you, there’s an Apothecary coming to town to assist in healing those in need from the Draugers. With something as valuable as medical supplies and another set of healing hands, there’s worry it could be dangerous, so he wants the Apothecary well-guarded. During lunch, you catch the scent of something familiar. At the sight of the soup in your bowl, you realize it’s the new recipe Kyungsoo had asked you if you’d like to try earlier in the week. Smiling, you lift the first bite to your lips. From the taste and texture, you consider the broth has a heavier flavor. Something smoked and savory, soaking well into the chunks of potato throughout. There is just a little too much black pepper for your preference, but it does not take away from the dish overall. Still curious at the meals end, you find yourself walking into the kitchens. The Head Cook is balancing a ladle on the edge of a table when you enter. He looks up and gives you a small smile. “Did you eat well?” he asks calmly. You grin at him in return, “Are you awaiting my review of your not-so-sure soup?” You both laugh at the name you’ve given it, but Kyungsoo says nothing else. “It was very good. A little too much pepper for me personally, but that doesn’t really make or break it. What did you put in it to make that deep flavor though? Surely there were no heavy meats in my bowl,” you wonder aloud, leaning to rest your bum against the side of the large stone fireplace. Kyungsoo smirks, crossing in front of you to collect a jar from the shelf hanging above the largest work table in the center of the room. He unties the lid and comes back to you, stepping close to hold the jar beneath your nose. His wide eyes don’t miss anything as they watch you inhale the scent with closed eyes. “Yes, that’s it,” you clarify, eyes popping open brightly. The Head Cook smiles, “It’s a secret.” Your mouth drops into a pouted frown, “Oh.” His lips split into that full smile again, and it makes your breath catch. “I’ll tell you on one condition,” he whispers. You perk up again, looking around the wide expanse of the empty room. “I need an honest opinion of new recipes,” he says quietly. Those big brown eyes of his are still staring into you innocently, and it is a gaze you feel comfort in. Confused, you ask, “Why not Chanyeol?” to which Kyungsoo scoffs. “There are a multitude of reasons why,” he quips, and you can’t help but agree and laugh when you think about it. “Deal,” you comply happily, taking his hand in yours and forcing him to shake. “Beef drippings,” Kyungsoo divulges immediately. It takes you a moment to realize what he’s talking about. “Oh. I wouldn’t have thought of that,” you answer, knitting your brows and considering the taste. After a moment of silence, Kyungsoo clears his throat, “That tickles. May I have my hand back, please?” Shocked, you realize you’d never let go of his hand, idling running your fingers around the callouses on his palm while you thought about the not-so-sure soup. You drop it as if it had burned you, rising to your feet in embarrassment and excusing yourself too quickly from the room. ______________________________________________ The following day you eat with the rest of your squad in the mess hall. Your plate differs from the rest of the soldiers dining. One of them leans over when you sit, his chin flicking toward your plate of greens, fruits and nuts. He asks, “You on a diet or something, Lieutenant?” You laugh loudly at his remark, waving a hand in front of your face, “Yes! Yes, I am. That’s why it’s different!”

He grunts, leaning back to his own plate of light meats and sops. The colorful assortment of food on your plate doesn’t gain any further attention as you pour the wine-colored vinaigrette over the greens and assess the flavors as you chew the first bite. You feel a sense of push and pull between wanting to eat quickly so you can meet with Kyungsoo about this food and watch him light up with your praise, and wanting to savor every bite slowly to truly examine the taste. __________________________________________ Two days later you enter the kitchens with a brief knock. The aroma of honeyed glaze fills your lungs, exhaling with a delighted sigh. There’s an excitement in your step as your eyes look for Kyungsoo, stopping short when they land on his assistant standing in front of you. She looks bewildered by your presence and a little confused, turning to the Head Cook. “Ah, I’m sorry,” you begin. “I was looking for Knight Captain Chanyeol. I thought he might be here begging for food-“ you explain too quickly. Kyungsoo moves away from the hot kettles, wiping his brow as he grins at you, knowing very well that you know precisely where he is, and that couldn’t possibly be the reason you’re here. He pats his assistant on the shoulder warmly. “Good day, Lieutenant. Thankfully, he hasn’t,” he says calmly, pausing to add. “But I’m sure he’ll show up later.” The question lacing his statement is one that cracks a smile on your own face, earning him the dusty rose that rises to your cheeks. Suddenly, the assistant murmurs a curse and rushes to a kettle as its contents try to boil over the sides. Her action breaks the bit of unspoken words between you and the handsome Head Cook quickly. You pat your tasset down against your thighs with a smile, “Right. I’ll take my leave then. I’m sorry I disturbed your work, Master Cook.” You’re sure to smile warmly at his assistant as well before you turn to leave the room completely. An hour later you return to the kitchens as nonchalantly as possible, first peeking through the crack in the door to make sure Kyungsoo is alone. There’s a voice singing softly coming from the room, and you stop to listen when you realize it’s the Cook himself. You watch the hard plane of his back as he works, bent over the pork he was roasting in honeyed glaze earlier, singing the ballads of Red Run Keep and the Age of Oppression. His voice is soothing to your ears, more pleasant than the scent of the honey glazed meat he slices evenly and plates for Supper tonight. You enter the room as quietly as possible, sneaking in to lean back against the edge of a table along the wall while you listen. He turns around not long after you’ve settled, remaining calm rather than jumping like you would expect. His eyes lift from his work to your frame. “Is there something you needed, Lieutenant?” he asks. You laugh, “Yes, actually.” “Good. I hope you’re not trying to be a distraction just like your commander,” he jests, but it makes you freeze, feeling like you’ve been struck, and a little self-conscious regardless of the joke. Your smile falls from your lips a fraction, and Kyungsoo’s eyes don’t miss the way you wilt. “I was joking. I enjoy your company, no matter the reason,” he states clearly while he busies himself washing and drying his hands. “I have a mission,” you get to the point. He slows his movements, thick brows knitting together as he dries the last of the water from his hands with the rag tied to his smock. “I leave in two days.” “Can I ask what for?” he inquires, coming to stand beside you, leaning against the same table. You nod, “The King has hired a new Apothecary to help with the wounded. I’m leading a squad to fetch him and bring him here safely.” Kyungsoo nods, “He doesn’t want Chanyeol to go?” With a sigh, you confirm, “We all know Chanyeol’s main focus in the Prince. He can’t go and leave Baekhyun unguarded. Do you doubt my abilities, Master Cook?” His innocent gaze whips to your face immediately, full of surprise. Your eyes pierce through his gaze as if they were your swords themselves. “No, not at all. I’ve heard the stories. I know you’re more than capable,” he assures you. You squint at him, discerning the color of blush tinting his cheeks and the tips of his ears. “Good,” you surmise with an air of absolute finality. Kyungsoo seems to notice the tension in your posture and the way your attitude shifts to one of authority. “What do you need from me?” he asks politely, standing to his full height again. You bring a finger to tap against your lips twice, “I wanted to let you know. I hope you can wait a few days to make any new recipes.” You feel a little sullen, still self-conscious about whether or not the handsome man was really telling a joke. Kyungsoo folds his arms across his chest, bringing one hand to wipe at his chin thoughtfully, “I suppose I can wait. I appreciate you letting me know.” ________________________________________________ “I can’t believe he said such a thing,” says the Lady of the Palace. She twirls a goblet of wine between her fingers, gently swirling its contents with her wrist. You tear off a bite of crusted bread with your teeth from the piece in your hand, “It is what it is.” She sets her cup down, clapping her hands excitedly as she sits up straight and fixes you with a devilish smirk, “I know! You should go on a date with Sehun!” You choke on the dry crumbs of bread in your mouth, gasping briefly in shock. “What are you on about? Why would I do that?” you sputter, taking a full swallow of wine from your cup. You wince from the sour bitterness as it slides down your throat. The Lady of the Palace laughs cheerfully, “Oh, come on, Y/N! He thinks you’re amazing. Especially how well you handle a sword! If Kyungsoo likes you the same way you like him, it should make him jealous.” She wiggles her perfectly manicured brows at you. Sinking further in the velvet chair, you shake your head with a scowl, “No. It’s a waste of time. I’m not interested in the Kennel Master like that.” “But Sehun-“ she tries, pouting at you from under her lashes as she sips at the wine in her glass. “I said no. Chanyeol is bad enough with his lovestruck puppy eyes. I don’t want to be compared to that any more than I already have been,” you warn. She clicks her tongue at you, “You’re right, okay? I get it. But it’s, ah… how to put this?” She considers, breaking a chunk of bread from the loaf between you. “Those feelings won’t go away so easily. It’s better not to resist them.” You deadpan, staring at her like there’s an extra head sprouting from her shoulders. She smiles at the bread, toying with it in her hand softly before she pops it into her mouth. When she swallows, she looks at you again, “That’s why you should go out with Sehun.” You groan aloud, “You’re insatiable.” “No, I just think it would be fun to double date with Junmyeon and I,” she clarifies with her strong air of dignity. “Fun isn’t something you normally have time for,” you comment with as much snark as you can muster. She smiles, tilting her head to one side briefly, “Correction- fun isn’t something I thought I had time for. Now that I’m having it, I can definitely see how much I actually needed it, and I for one am quite confident I can manage my duties and my romance, thank you.” She clears her throat, sitting up a little straighter. You roll your eyes dramatically at her, “I’ll admit he’s handsome, is that what you wanted?” Her lips stretch into a menacing smile, and it scares you a little how unlike her it looks across her face. “It’s a start. Now I only must get you to agree to a date with him,” she tells you honestly. You laugh at her boldness. She’s always been a terrifyingly smart tactician. She must be, to be the Lady of the Palace, and she runs the place with a kind but firm fist. You smile fondly at her because she’s your friend and you enjoy the relationship you two have as the most influential women in the palace. With her mind and knowledge of how to run a kingdom and your and power and leadership in war, you make a powerful combination. _________________________________________________ Uncertain whether it was the wine or your scuffed pride you ultimately, reluctantly, agreed to go on one outing- not a date- with the Kennel Master of the palace, along with your friend and her lover. In this moment, two evenings later, you feel strange as you walk back to the palace in silence. Two pairs of boots in unmatched pace walking along the wet road beneath the lamplight. It is hot and muggy and the dress you’re wearing is irritatingly itchy. Of course your dear, lovely, well-mannered and closest friend decided to go back to the Bakery with Junmyeon when you mentioned the hour and that you were leaving for a mission in the morning. Kindly, Sehun had agreed to walk you back. It is with a sigh of relief that the palace walls come into view. You cross under the iron gate in silence, turning to acknowledge the man giving you six feet of space. “Look, Sehun,” you begin with your best smile. He removes one of his hands from the pockets of his trousers, holding the palm flat up and smiling so hard that his eyes crinkle into half-moons and his cheeks dimple, “It’s okay, Y/N.” He laughs after, rubbing the same hand against the back of his neck and looking toward the ground. His hair is slicked back from his forehead, a style that compliments his features. “You’re very handsome, but I’m sorry, I don’t think I feel that way about you,” you apologize, feeling awkward. He laughs again, and the sound of it makes you feel a little better, “Yeah, I mean, I think you’re really amazing, but I agree. I think we’d be better as friends.” The weight and sticky feeling of the tension dissipates immediately after he says it. “I am happy with friends,” you say. “Half of this is Junmyeon’s fault anyway,” he laughs some more. “Always fussing at me about wanting grandchildren soon.” You laugh with him, aghast at his best friend’s antics. “The Lady pushed me into it, too,” you nod with a smile. “I’m glad we can agree they’re both terrible friends to have.” He looks at your face genuinely, “Guess we’re just going to have to be better friends to each other than they are to us, then, hm?” He steps closer to you to whisper the words, sticking out his pinky to link with yours. Craning your neck up to his face and then back down to his hand, you twist your own small digit around his, shaking them firmly with a small giggle. “Goodnight, Y/N,” he quietly comments, stepping back. You move toward the steps of the palace, sending him the same well wishes for a good night with a wave. He gives you a friendly one in return as he turns and enters the Kennel House. ________________________________________________ Yawning, you reach for your canteen, frowning while you drink sparingly from the bladder of it. You’ve ridden North for nearly twelve hours. Your thighs remind you achingly that the short break you took half way through was not nearly long enough. The map you checked twenty minutes ago told you another two kilometers would put you where you need to be, in a tiny settlement in the Sweetwoods. Although you’ve never seen it with your own eyes, you’ve been told such a name fits the landscape, in a forest surrounded by good soil full of sweet smelling wildflowers. As long as you reach it and make camp before nightfall you won’t be as worried. Nothing a full stomach and a few slim hours of sleep can’t fix for you. You’ve certainly fought and survived on worse. Lost in your thoughts, you don’t realize as the sun begins to glow deeper shades of ruby and kiss the horizon. When you notice, it’s because a heavy log gate comes into view, crested between two greater beams that end and begin the sentry walls surrounding the Sweetwoods settlement. Smiling up at the men along the ramparts, you pass through the gates, leading your troop into the small town. There aren’t many buildings or people around, but the working-class people give you odd looks as you go. Sometimes you wonder if it’s because of the troop at large, or if it’s just you in particular. Being a woman in a militant leadership role is not common practice in many places. Raising a hand, you slow everyone to a halt in front of a two story building with a golden ram’s head sign hanging from the banister of the second level. Dismounting your horse, you know this is the right place. The creaking of the door hinges is almost hidden by the sound of the bell chiming upon your entrance. “I’ll be right out!” calls a voice. You note the crates and barrels and packages wrapped in fabrics and chord in the center of the room. The barren shelves and cabinets confirm this is the right place. “Ah,” the voice projects, pulling your gaze to the left. “You must be here to fetch me.” A young man stands in the doorway to a small room off the side of the main space, one arm lifting the curtain draped across the threshold as he enters. He pushes his glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose and stops in front of you with an outstretched hand. Shaking it, you smile a tad brighter, “Yes, sir. My name is Lieutenant Y/N. I’m here to ensure you and your things make the journey safely.” He nods in understanding, “Wonderful. What is the plan, Lieutenant?” Getting straight to business, you brief him kindly, “Rest tonight. We’ve ridden a whole day’s ride. The soldiers and horses are tired and hungry. We’ll load up your supplies tonight after supper, and head out at dawn.” Smiling, he gestures to the back wall, “There’s space to make camp just around back in the yard. It’s a little small, I hope you won’t mind.” Shaking your head, you agree to his offer, “I’m sure it will do just fine, thank you.” Ten minutes later, you’re hissing as your thighs protest to your position when you finally settle on the ground behind the shop. You ensured the horses were turned out in the grass and your soldiers were settling in for a well-earned supper before you sat down. Someone has started a new fire with the half-burned logs in the pit. Opening your pack, you notice a small bag that hadn’t been there when you’d packed it before passing it off to the stable keep to put on your horse, Fox. With furrowed brows, you inspect it’s contents. There’s a small bit of folded parchment and two delicious looking apples inside the small canvas pouch. There are words scribbled neatly on the parchment. ‘These are Spring Dragon apples. Rare, beautiful and delicious… Please eat well and come back safely. -K.’ Blushing, you shove the note back into your pack and whip your head up wildly out of embarrassment. Someone could have seen! Not only that, but your rising feelings for the sender of this gift pull at your heartstrings. The blow your pride had taken from him forgotten in the wake of his gesture. You remove one from the sack, cradling it in your palm as you watch the fire’s glow glint off the shining skin. Smiling, the first bite is taken gently, with your breath held in your lungs. There’s a refreshing flow of juice into your mouth and the satisfying crack of fruit as it breaks off from the body of the apple. Kyungsoo is right, it is the best apple you’ve ever tasted. The texture, flavor, consistency, all perfect scores as it melts in your mouth with a happy hum. The treat disappears from your fingers all too quickly, leaving you to swipe your tongue across your lips repeatedly to taste the addicting sweetness. ____________________________________________ “If I’m not allowed to leave the bed who is supposed to make sure this buffoon stays out of trouble?” you complain loudly. “Hey!” comes Chanyeol offended cry. Even though he wants to, you know he won’t drop you in retaliation of your comment, clutching you to his side as he helps you walk to a bed in the Medical Ward of the palace. The Head Physician pats the linens of the bed she wants you to sit on, “Relax, it’s just for a few days until the bones begin to set. Better than being gone forever, right?” She smiles softly at you, taking an arm to help the Knight Captain lower you comfortably onto the bed. Scowling, you let her get to work wrapping the bruised and painful flesh as gently as she can. Chanyeol stands back, watching her work with his arms crossed over his broad chest. “I’ll get your stirrups adjusted while you’re in here,” Chanyeol mutters without looking at you. His eyes remain unblinking at your leg- a look you know means he’s very much in his thoughts. “Chanyeol it’s fine, don’t worry about-“ you protest quietly. “Absolutely not,” he commands. “I’m not going to risk your leg getting caught again. This could have been so much worse. What if Fox didn’t just spook, hm? What if he threw you off and then dragged you for who knows how long?” “War horses are trained not to do that. I’d have been fi-“ you wave at him nonchalantly, but the flare of his anger makes you flinch. There’s a reason he’s compared to both fire and a monster. “That horse is lucky,” he growls. Frowning, you reach for him and squeeze his forearm when the pain gets a little too intense, wincing. “Please leave Fox alone. It’s not his fault,” you groan. Your commander makes a disapproving clicking sound with his teeth, scoffing at you, “You’re going to be the death of me, you know that, woman?” At least his eyes finally find yours. “Don’t you take that tone with me,” you snap back at him playfully. Just like that you start bickering with him, forgetting about the pain in your leg until the Head Physician stands and sighs, brushing her hands off on her apron. “That’ll do you well for now. Please, Y/N, stay put, yeah?” she asks with a small smile. “I’ll make sure someone brings her something to eat,” Chanyeol comments, turning to leave the room with a nod. His disappears beyond the white curtain draped between your bed and the next. “Just for three days, until the bones start setting. Then we’ll change it and get you set up for light duty only,” she warns you, holding up her index finger between you. Waving dismissively, you shimmy yourself further up the bed and twist, smacking the flat pillow loudly with a sigh, “Fine, yes, yes.” She pauses, narrowing her eyes at you as she considers if you will behave. After a breath, she leaves. Minutes pass in the quiet warmth of the Ward, listening to the quiet groans of other sick and wounded people lying behind curtains in the wide room. Eventually, the door opens and footsteps are heard evenly across the floorboards. Waiting patiently, you’re surprised to see the separation reveal Kyungsoo. He has a plate held between his hands, smiling at you. He shakes his head gently and clicks his tongue at you, “I thought I asked you to come back safely. What part of that meant you should get thrown from your horse?” You grin, raising a hand and wanting to smack him. You don’t, lest he spill all of the food you assume he brought for you. He grins back at you, pulling a stool close to the side of the bed. “Are you hungry?” he asks quietly, balancing the plate on the edge. You try your best to scoot closer to the far side, giving him space to rest the plate beside you. “I am, thank you,” you confirm. He tries not to watch you eat, silently waiting for you to finish the meal. “It’s nothing new this time, sorry,” he apologizes quietly. His hands fidget in his lap as if he doesn’t know what to do with them. “No, this is great,” you assure, raising the last forkful to your lips. Kyungsoo clears his throat, “Can I ask you something?” Blinking at him, you’re a little confused, acquiescing, “What is it?” He turns to face you fully with a hard and thoughtful expression on his face, “Are you and the Kennel Master… seeing each other?” You don’t mean to laugh, but the unexpected question doesn’t give you time to think about your answer as you burst forth in laughter. Kyungsoo only looks at you with wide, confused eyes. “Heavens, no!” you shake your head. “I mean our friends tried to make us date but we’re just friends,” you clarify.

“But he thinks you’re amazing and I thought I saw you with him and-“ the man in front of you questions, clearly befuddled.

You wave your hands in front of you, “Yeah but we both agreed we’re just better as friends. I don’t feel that way about him.”

Kyungsoo’s brows furrow deeper, and his eyes focus on the linens of your bed momentarily before he asks instead, “Is there someone you

do

feel that way about?”

His bold curiosity heats your cheeks and you find yourself unable to speak. Rather, you nod lowly and stare at the last item of food on the plate, an apple. With shining skin, all of the shades between red and gold seemingly painted on with a brush, it is unmistakably the same as the ones he gave you for the mission you just came from.

“Spring Dragon…” you whisper between you, taking the fruit between your fingers and twirling it around to admire how pretty it looks.

Kyungsoo smiles at you, “Did you like them?”

Your eyes light up at his question. “Yes, they’re perfect! Thank you so much for sending them with me. It was a nice surprise,” you praise, pressing your lips to the skin just before you take the first bite.

You practically moan at the taste, choosing to sigh wistfully at the pleasure it brings.

The man beside you chuckles, “Is it really that good?”

Fixing him a stare with one brow turned up, you confirm, “Of course!” adding sarcastically, “Have you never eaten one of these?”

To your shock, he shakes his head, “No, actually I haven’t.”

Gaping at him, you flounder for words, feeling embarrassed and shameful that you’re enjoying his gift like this, “Why not?!” You place the apple back on the plate.

“They’re rare. I don’t have any more,” he comments matter-of-factly.

Curiously, you need to know, “You gave them all to me?”

He nods with a small smile tucked into the corner of his plush lips.

“Please have a taste,” you tell him, looking back down to the apple resting between you. You reach for it, intent on giving it to him, but his fingers circle your wrist to stop you.

When you raise your head to look at him, you’re met with a kiss. One that is unexpected but pleasant and sweet. Kyungsoo moves his lips against yours slowly, truly sampling the flavor of them before pulling away.

You do nothing more than stare at him in shock as he settles back on the stool. There’s a self-satisfied smile gracing those lips that were just pressed deliciously against yours.

“Very sweet,” he surmises gently.

Your fidget with your fingers in your lap, “Why?”

He laughs quietly at your expression and your heart thunders in your ears at how wonderful this image of him makes you feel. “You asked me to have a taste,” he says simply.

Suddenly your heart feels so light it makes it hard to breathe. You need to feel it wildly beating against your sternum, so you do the one thing you know will make it do what you need.

Reaching out, you pull Kyungsoo by the front of his tunic back to you. You plant your lips directly on his, feeling him smile against your mouth as his hand finds your neck.

____________________________________________

It isn’t until two weeks later that Chanyeol finally mentions anything about you and the Head Cook, Kyungsoo. He’s seen you two or three times in the kitchens when he’s come to beg for snacks or see if his own lover is present, but you’ve always been a respectable distance away from Kyungsoo’s grasp.

You suppose it’s easy to break apart from the nectar of his lips when you hear those heavy footfalls and clinking armor growing closer, but that’s not something you’re going to point out to your Knight Captain, either.

“That looks delicious… why did you get something different?” he groans beside you, frowning at his own plate of equally delicious food. It just looks different.

You laugh at him, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Feigning ignorance, you take a mouthful with closed eyes and a quiet hum of happiness, half way finished already.

When you open them again, Chanyeol is still staring at you, but his fork stabs around the contents on his plate, “No fair… Kyungsoo is playing favorites.”

Although you still have to look up to see his face, you do your best to stick your nose up at him. “Perhaps it is merely thanks for not coming and distracting his assistant every waking hour of the day,” you comment smugly.

He gapes, resting a heavy elbow on the table and motioning towards the kitchens with his now empty fork and a cheek stuffed with food, “You’re worse! You go and distract the Master himself!”

Swallowing your last bite, you lean in close to whisper, “Oh I do a lot more than distract him, Knight Captain.”

You don’t turn around to see the shocked expression on his face when you excuse yourself from the table immediately after, wearing a saccharine smile. All you can tell is that he doesn’t move for a very long time.

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

I guess I should provide my hottt takes on the new DBS movie.  A few days ago, they did this video for Comic Con announcing the title of the movie and teasing some details about the story.  

I gotta say, this is exactly why I’ve never had any interest in Comic Con.    They put this on YouTube, I guess because of the pandemic, but any other year they would have gathered an enormous crowd and made them stand in line for hours to watch all of this in person.   I live in the Midwest, and when I went to comic book conventions it was for the sole purpose of rummaging through back issue bins.   SDCC was always promoted like the biggest and most important convention in the U.S., but all I ever heard about it were trailers for movies and TV shows.   Or, like, you had to go to Comic Con because that was the only way to get an exclusive Orange Lantern Hal Jordan action figure or something.   They would always hype up all of this useless stuff and I just never heard of anything so important that I was willing to fly out to San Diego and stand in line for three hours for it.   So now SDCC peels back the curtain with this video, about something I’m fairly interested in, but it’s really not that big a deal.  I found out most of the information on Twitter before I even knew to watch this video.

But I’m just not that hyped about trailers or sneak peaks or sneak peaks at trailers.   Which is probably why I waited this long to talk about it.  

I’ll just go through the video.   The first four minutes are Hironobu Kageyama performing “Cha La HEAD Cha La” live on the stage.   That’s a pretty epic way to open this, but I feel like it oversells the importance of this event.  You finish watching him and you think you’re about to see the movie itself, instead of hearing from the people who made it.  

Next we have Sascha, the host of this panel.   He speaks better English than I do, but I’m not sure what the point was in having any of this in English since he has to talk to the guests in Japanese.   Pretty much all of the important information in this video is in Japanese, and I think everyone understood that going in.   I guess it does give an international feel.  If I spoke another language as fluently as Sascha, I’d want to show it off too.

4:56 is where Masako Nozawa comes out, and she’s just a joy to watch.   She looks like this sweet grandmotherly figure, all warm smiles and then she busts out “Ossu! Ora Goku!” and immediately sounds like a badass. 

Guest #2 is Akio Iyoku, Toriyama’s editor.   Not to be confused with the awesome editor who poo-pooed all the androids and Cell’s semiperfect form.    That was Yu Kondo.  Iyoku comes out dressed like Goku, but he can’t talk like him so he’s immediately second-tier. 

Guest #3 is Norohiro Hayashida, Producer from Toei Anaimation.   He is also rocking the Goku cosplay, which would be a faux pas in most fandoms, but he can just say that he’s cosplaying as Krillin or Yamcha, which gives him greater nerd credibility because those are more obscure references.

Around 8:30 we really start getting into this, and they show us a model sheet of Piccolo.  Is Piccolo being in the new movie a big surprise?   He had a dry spell in the mid-90s, but he’s been in every Dragon Ball movie made in this century so far.   And it’s not like they changed his look, like when they put Goku and Vegeta in those adorable coats last time.   I’m not complaining about any of this.  It’s nice to see that a) Piccolo is confirmed for new movie and b) they didn’t tinker with his appearance.  

All I’m saying is that they only brought up this model sheet to show off how they’re using his color scheme from the manga as opposed to the anime.   Hence the red belt and the yellower arm sections.   In the anime, the belt was always blue, and his biceps were hot pink instead of off-yellow.   But it’s such a subtle thing that even Sascha didn’t pick up on it.   It’s like they were hyping up the fact that it’s such a minor change.    I like it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a weird flex.   Also, he looks like he still has his five-fingered anime hands, so I’m not that impressed.   Give us four fingers, Toei!

Sascha asks Masako Nozawa what she thinks about Piccolo and she just starts off with “He was Gohan’s teacher,” and talks about how strong and cool he looks.    She speaks of him like he’s a family member, because she’s awesome.

Next up, we have Pan, and now we’re talking.  The scuttlebutt is that this was the character Toriyama was referring to when he spoke of an “unexpected character”.  And I guess Pan fits the bill, since I don’t think anyone expected her to be this old in the movie.   I understand this is her kindergarten uniform, so she’d have to be about five or six years old.  I love Masako Nozawa’s reaction here.   Throughout this video, you can see that Goku and Gohan aren’t just roles to her.   

I’ll put on my fanboy hat here and point out that Pan’s age may imply that this movie takes place after the final episode of Dragon Ball Z.    She looks older here than she did when she fought Wild Tiger, at any rate.   So far, the entire Dragon Ball Super franchise has been set during the ten-year gap between the Buu crisis and the finale of Z.    So everyone has been wondering if DBS would move beyond End of Z, or whether Akira Toriyama even still recognizes the continuity of those final chapters.   They were supposed to be ten years of peace, but all the battles in DBS say otherwise.   Also, I’m pretty sure Pan and Bulla’s ages in the DBZ finale don’t line up well with their appearances in Super, but I’ve never studied it very closely.  

So this might be set post End of Z, or this might be Toriyama retconning End of Z altogether.  I’m interested to see which way this goes. 

Here’s Krillin, still working for the police, although his uniform looks more like Bronze Age Lex Luthor than anything else. Like Piccolo, the “big” story here is that he’s been tweaked to resemble the coloring in the manga, so his sclera are now white instead of fleshtoned.  

Never mind that, here’s Piccolo’s house.  This is probably the breakout star of this video, because I think everybody is excited to see Piccolo’s house.   Because it’s new lore!  No one even knew if he had one or not.   It was a running gag in DBZ Abridged that he was homeless.   I mean, congratulations to Krillin for getting his eyes colored in right, but that doesn’t tell me anything new about the character.  But Piccolo’s house is a big friggin’ deal.   What’s inside of there?  What’s on the second floor?   Check out his mailbox.   What kind of mail does he get?  It’s exciting.  

Nozawa even points out that she and her co-workers would talk about this sort of thing in the recording studio.    That’s a big deal to me, that the voice actors think about the same kind of stuff that I do as a fan.   

Around 15:30, they start talking about Toriyama’s commitment to the making of this movie, which seems like a weird thing to focus on, because he wrote the screenplay to the last two movies.   Did anyone think he was stepping back? I get the impression that there’s still some hard feelings about the failure of Dragon Ball Evolution, in the sense that they want to reassure everyone that we’re still in good hands.   I suppose one of these days, Toriyama won’t be as heavily involved in a project like this, so maybe it makes sense for Toei and Shueisha to make it clear that today is not that day.

On the other hand, Toriyama was just as involved with Broly as he was with Resurrection F, and Broly was a much better film.  The Dragon Ball Super manga seems to have revived the old argument over who’s to blame when the story is a letdown, and I think that misses the point.  Look, the Zamasu arc sucked, and I don’t care who wrote what parts, or whether Toriyama had a bad idea or whether he handed a good idea off that was badly executed.   They can hash that out behind the scenes if they want to.  

About 19 minutes in, they show us this model sheet, and refuse to explain who these guys are or what they’re doing in the movie.   Are they villains?  Who knows?  I’d like to think they’re important characters to the story, but I have my doubts that Krillin will have a big part to play.  

At 20 minutes, they announce the title of the movie, and I’m not very thrilled with “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.” They can talk it up as much as they want, and maybe the title is relevant to the plot, but it’s just too many uses of the word “super”.   Especially when they’ve got another series called “Super Dragon Ball Heroes” on YouTube. 

Then we get this teaser trailer, or whatever you want to call it, with a CG Goku hopping around and doing his classic fighting pose.  Now, for some reason, lots of people concluded that this means the entire movie will be done in this CG style, which has led to a debate over whether or not that’s a good thing.  If they can make the whole movie look this slick, then I’m fine with it.  Hell, I’m not picky.   They could animate the whole thing in Yukio Ebisawa style, and I’d be thrilled. 

But I’m not understanding where people got the idea that it’s definitely going to be a 100% CGI movie.   They never spell that out in this video, and they even go out of their way to admit that this shot of Goku isn’t actually from the movie.   So is there some other source people are referring to, or did everyone just jump to conclusions?  

And that’s pretty much it.   I don’t mean to sound negative on this panel, but I don’t feel like they revealed very much, unless this is actually going to turn out to be Piccolo and Pan having an adventure by themselves.    I think Toei could make a movie like that and it would be a success, but I have my doubts that they’d go in that direction.  If this is going to turn out to be another big slugfest with Vegeta, then I’m down for that too, but don’t show me Piccolo’s house if the movie’s going to be about Vegeta punching a guy. 

Bottom line: I’m still looking forward to this, but I don’t feel like I know much more about the movie than I did before.   Well, except for the part about Piccolo’s house.  I’m looking forward to seeing the inside of it.

[scripttorture]

I'm curious about the the mental processes that makes torturers do their work. Is that akin to the process that allowed the "Teacher" to press the supposedly shock-inducing button in the Milgram Experiment? Do they blame their victims for "making them torture them"? Does dehumanisation play a role? What do symptoms look like on a torturer? Thank you in advance.

These are all good questions but a lack of research means it’s difficult to answer them definitely.

 I’ll start by saying that the Milgram experiments are a steaming pile of… insults to the scientific community shall we say. Honestly as a scientist the Milgram experiments make me angry because they are just so darned sloppy. They are terrible. They cherry picked data. They applied significant coercion to the ‘teachers’ while claiming they didn’t. They failed to record the ways ‘teachers’ tried to trick the system (especially those who pretended to press the button but did not actually do so).

 And they also didn’t bother to check whether the ‘teachers’ believed they were actually administering electric shocks. When a follow up study asked these people about it later they found that the majority of people who pressed the button didn’t believe the button caused electric shocks.

 Essentially- Milgram can’t tell us shit about why this happens. Those experiments were too sloppy and poorly conducted for us to draw any conclusions.

 So what do we actually have that can tell us about torturers?

 There are a lot of interviews conducted by non-specialists; mostly journalists. There are works torturers published. I consider both of these sources useful but biased. Torturers have repeatedly shown that they don’t provide accurate accounts of events or their own actions. So – I take these accounts with a pinch of salt and try to be critical.

 When it comes to actual specialists providing notes on torturers- I’ve only really found two sources: Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth contains notes on torturers he treated after the Franco-Algerian war, and Sironi’s body of work studying torturers. Which is only available in French and is print on demand.

 Yes I am still bitter, moving on!

 Where does all this leave us?

 Well it means that we don’t have enough good quality studies to be absolutely sure. It means most of what we ‘know’ is educated guess work, based on the little bit of research and anecdotal accounts.

 It’s frustrating. We need more data. And the result is that most of what I can say here is ‘may bes’.

 Dehumanisation probably does play a role, but it may not be as great a role as we tend to assume. Studies of the effects of hate speech in Rwanda in the lead-up to the genocide (along with what we know about ICURE techniques) do suggest that dehumanisation makes atrocities more likely. But they don’t necessarily make torture specifically more likely and many torturers will acknowledge the humanity of their victims.

 Some torturers do use language that blames their victims but- not in quite the way you’ve put it here. They don’t tend to say victim’s ‘made them’ torture. Instead they tend to suggest that the victims put themselves in a position where they knew they were going to be tortured.

 ‘A kid that colour walking around in that part of town at night? What did he expect!’

 That kind of phrasing is something I see more regularly.

 Another common one is torturers suggesting the victims ‘deserved it’ because of a particular characteristic: ie race, sexuality, gender, homelessness, disability. Arguing that a victim was ‘probably guilty’ or is actually guilty of a crime and therefore ‘should’ be tortured is also pretty common among torturers.

 But- I also get the impression that most torturers just don’t think about their victims much. Not as human individuals anyway. They don’t seem to consider the lasting impact they have on other people in any meaningful way.

 I think this is easiest to illustrate by looking at the way torturers express regret. Because they do often express regret for what they did.

 But it’s not expressed as them primarily being sorry they hurt so many people. Instead it’s- they regret what they did because they have nightmares about it. Because they’re ill and the symptoms are terrible. Because they lost their job. Because they’re socially isolated.

 It’s regret focused on the consequences of torture for the torturer rather then an acknowledgement of the scale of harm they caused their victims.

 I often get asks that suggest this as an inherent characteristic that ‘makes’ people torturers but there’s no evidence to support that. I personally believe this lack of empathy is an effect of torture rather then something that leads to torture.

 I guess what I’m driving at here is that there is a rather selfish focus in torturers. But beyond that symptoms in torturers look pretty much the same as symptoms in everyone else.

 My impression, based on the interviews I’ve read, is that unless the subject of torture comes up torturers come across as trauma survivors. Asshole trauma survivors but still trauma survivors.

 They tend to be rather convinced of their own importance. I’m unsure where this personality trait comes from but it does seem common. It could be a product of the sub-culture torturers create.

 And that brings me more or less to- well the answer to the big question here: why do they do it? How can they do it?

 My opinion is that the answer has little to do with individuals and everything to do with organisations.

 I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: Torturers do not work alone.

 Torture by it’s definition and nature is a function of groups, of broken systems.

 Torturers are not individuals who arbitrarily decide to abuse someone. They are police officers with little training and no funding instructed to ‘do something now’. They are soldiers who’ve been taught over a lifetime that the ‘enemy would do the same to us’. They are teachers told to ‘control the class or else’.

 They’re groups of people in an environment that has a huge pressure to produce ‘results’ while also being under trained, under staffed, under funded and unsupervised. Into this already unhealthy mix throw the persistent background cultural lie that torture is a short cut to the results they want.

 Hell the persistent cultural message that violence is any kind of answer.

 Is it really a surprise that our police turn to torture when we don’t teach them to interrogate and our news outlets, our politics, our fiction is full of apologia telling them that abuse will get them the results they want?

 The mindset that let’s torturers abuse other people does rely on assumptions that some people are ‘lesser’ or otherwise ‘deserve’ to be abused. But the bit most fiction doesn’t capture is the social aspect.

 The way torturers egg each other on and the way they compete. The way they gradually become more or less the entirety of each other’s social circles. The fear they have of each other, which can trap them in the abusive role they’ve taken on. The way they lose other skills, making it feel impossible to switch. The way they seem to feel that stopping represents both personal failure and letting down the only people they still count as ‘friends’.

 The closest I’ve seen a movie come to this was The Shape of Water, the villain brilliantly captured the bizarre mix of self importance, incompetence and intense environmental stress that characterises torturers.

 Torturers say that they start because ‘there’s no other choice’. I don’t know how much they believe that piece of apologia.

 I do know that in any organisation that tortures there is often incredibly intense pressure to participate in, or at least ignore, torture. Refusal often leads to a person leaving an organisation, sometimes feet first.

 But the reasons they continue are complicated. For some of them they probably do believe the apologia, that they’re ‘doing necessary work’. Some of them definitely see their victims as less then human.

 All of them are caught in a... societal trap not unlike a cult. They’re isolated from non-torturers. They’re constantly fed the message that torturing is right. They’re threatened if they try to leave.

 I think that, whether they acknowledge it or not, the main reason torturers continue is because they know they’re at risk if they stop and they know they’ll be completely socially isolated if they stop.

 Of course sooner or later they do stop. It’s completely unsustainable.

 When they do they generally report isolation, low self esteem and difficulty functioning in society. They struggle to find and keep work. They struggle to form or maintain relationships. It wrecks their lives; the organisation chews them up and spits them out mangled to a point where they can’t navigate society.

 And because they rarely come to terms with what they’ve done they rarely recover.

Availableon Wordpress.

Disclaimer