#I'm like traumatized by my two previous workplaces

[a-lil-strawberry]

New workplace downside: as we are tearing down old electronics and there's everything in the air..... My snot is black (they do regular medical checks on us to make sure there aren't bad levels of toxins like lead or whatever building up in us)

[orginllazyblog]

Back with Ramshackle residents

After 7 (or is it 9 considered the dwarfs OB) overblot, Yueme was able to work now that everyone is gone back home for the summer, so them and Grim go to another disney dimension to hang out (mostly Grim) and to earn money. Mizuki and Yueme reunited during Yueme's workplace: House of Mouse

During summer, the next semester was coming. Yueme wanted to change their hairstyle but can't since their hair is now short.

Yueme: Hey, Mizuki?

Mizuki: *chilling at the lounge, designing the Ramshackle dorm uniform* Mizuki: Yeah? What's up?

Yueme: Can you use your powers to change a bit for my hair? I kind of want my hair to be a bit longer.

Mizuki: No problem. How long do you want it to be?

Yueme: By my ears.

Mizuki: Okay

Mizuki: All done! You look just like your old self again

Yueme: Thank you, Mizuki.

Mizuki: No problem, Housewarden.

Yueme: Wait, why I'm I the Housewarden? Shouldn't it be you?

Mizuki: I don't see myself as a leader. Besides, you and Grim were the first ones to reestablish Ramshackle, and the ghosts are more like your own personal tutors.

Yueme: I only ask the ghosts when I'm having trouble with my assignments. Though, I do see them as family members.

Mizuki: I can see that, too. Now I got the official papers for the headmage. The designs for the dorm uniform are still in process. And lastly, I'm planning to find a way to get your magic back.

Mizuki: *holding a pen*

Mizuki: Yueme, you and Grim will become two students instead of two in one students. Making you to be the Housewarden, Grim as a normal student and me as the Vicewarden.

Mizuki: I also have access to the JP server, so will know what events would be coming to the ENG server.

Yueme: So is like we're living at the west while the others are at the east?

Mizuki: Kind of like that.

The two of them kept talking of new ideas for the dorm, like changing to a new name since it was no longer damaged. Details for the dorm uniform, a new bow for Grim, new capes for the trio ghosts, adding telephones so that they won't shout out their names, planting trees for the front yard, the list goes on!

Yueme: So, how long will it take for the new Halloween event? I'm actually surprised that two new characters are inspired by a fox and cat from Pinocchio movie.

Mizuki: I'm the opposite, I know the movie well that it traumatized me back in my previous life. I can only hope for "that one place" does not exist here in Twisted Wonderland.

Yueme: Don't tell me, a demon prince is scared of a child's movie? 😏

Mizuki: Oh? I can actually get the movie so we can all watch it. Then let's see if it'll scare you and Grim.

Yueme: I'll go get the snacks ready. I'll ask the ghosts if they want to watch

Mizuki: Sounds good to me. Hehe hehe

Meanwhile

Grim: *At Yueme's room, coloring on their coloring book*

Grim: Why do I feel like something scary is going to happen?

[hebimoonlightwrites]

omg I'm glad you write for poly! Can we get a drabble with Hifumi x Y/n x Doppo, where Hifumi and Y/n decided to make a romantic evening with dinner and everything for Doppo so he can finally relax and receive all love and attention that he deserves? 😩 With GN! Y/n please..

Writer's corner: Hi, darl! I've actually never written any poly! before! So, please, if you have any tips or advices, feel free to text me! I want to improve my poly! writings ahah! Thank you anyway for requesting! I seriously hope you'll like the drabble! If not, let me know, so i can fix it for you! Happy late Valentine's Day!~♥

Words: 1456

y/n's pronouns: THEY/THEM

Warnings: poly!, cuddles, affection (nothing traumatic, guys, don't worry! XD)

~♥"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚅𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎'𝚜 𝙳𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎..!"♥~

"I'm going now.."

Doppo said with a bored and tired tone while giving Hifumi a kiss on his cheek and y/n a kiss on their forehead.

"Aww… You work even today..?", Y/n sounded so surprised but also felt sad for his partner, who really looked like he needed to get some rest. Hifumi chuckled a little bit, worried as he spoke: "Honey.. You sure you can go?.. You really look like you're going to faint from a moment to another!"

Doppo tried his best to convince his partners that everything was fine and that he was okay. Though he thought to himself that he was lucky to have them in his life.. They were amazing and could understand him even when he didn't speak, just by looking into his eyes! They were amazing.. They didn't need his words to know his feelings..!

Doppo smiled warmly, thanking them for being that wonderful, and then closed the apartment's door behind his back, walking to his workplace while holding his bag full of documents.

Hifumi sighed and smiled softly, looking at y/n. He seemed to be quite worried about Doppo. It was even Valentine's Day..! Why did he have to keep working even that day?!.. It looked like he was the only hard-worker of his company! Y/n wasn't less worried about their dear Doppo.. The fact that his boss constantly stressed him about everything.. Did that old brat know that Doppo wasn't the only worker in there?!?

"Y/n.. sweetheart.. I have an idea for spending this evening!"

As Hifumi spoke, y/n smiled brightly and turned their sparkling eyes to him, while he was approaching the kitchen and taking two aprons. He gently helped y/n to wear one of them and then gave them a cute and quick kiss on their lips.

"We're going to cook a delicious dinner for our sweet potato?", y/n laughed adorably as they referred to Doppo as "sweet potato". Hifumi nodded chuckling as he spoke: "Yes! So he will relax after a long day!"

Y/n couldn't help but blushed and smiled warmly after hearing how cute Hifumi was while worrying about Doppo. The fact that he really cared about both Doppo and them.. y/n loved it..!

Both the partners started cooking with all their love for Doppo, cooperating for the perfect dinner of all the times!.. That was how Hifumi called it..! While y/n was preparing their dear salaryman's favourite dessert, Hifumi was baking a cake and some other dishes. Soon they both left their apartment to buy some flowers and chocolates. They had fun even trying some clothes on in clothes' shops.. for example Hifumi tried a funny t-shirt on and made y/n laugh a lot, or even joking about lingeries…

Everything was going to be the best! And both Hifumi and y/n really hoped to surprise and make Doppo genuinely happy. He needed to have some time of cuddles and affection and to rest after that long stupid day at work.

After some minutes of walking around and buying stuff for the dinner, Hifumi decided to bring y/n to a specific clothes' shop.. Some previous days Hifumi had walked by that shop with his dear partner and had noticed how they had looked at the shop window and, in particular, at some clothes worn by a mannequin.

"B-Babe..?", they asked whispering when he gently took their hand and walked into the shop. He looked around and immediately spoke to a saleswoman, pointing at the mannequin.. He had completely ignored y/n, who was trying to understand what was happening while blushing like crazy.. They didn't need to understand it, because they had clearly already gotten it!

"Can I have those clothes right there?… They're for my partner here~"

As Hifumi spoke, the saleswoman smiled at y/n and immediately took the clothes, saying they could have tried them on!

Embarrassed, y/n turned to face Hifumi and, after some minutes, they tried those clothes on, blushing while looking at the mirror. Even Hifumi's face turned to be all red, seeing how beautiful y/n looked in those clothes.. Well.. they already were amazing.. they were the most beautiful to his eyes!.. So those clothes were simply helping y/n to highlight their own natural beauty more!

"H-..How do I look..?", y/n blushed and whispered, seeing Hifumi who had his eyes completely open up in surprise. The blonde man smiled sweetly and then kissed them on their lips quickly, before speaking with his loud and adorable voice:

"You're always beautiful, honey~!"

~

As they left the shop with that gift Hifumi had bought for y/n, both they came back home. It was about 8:30 pm, and Doppo had just called Hifumi to announce that his boss had decided to send him home earlier. As Hifumi told y/n about it, they couldn't help but joked:

"At least once that stupid brat let our sweet husband to have some time free!"

Hifumi laughed and then put his index finger on his nose, taking y/n's hands and looking at their eyes:

"Shhh…!!.. Now we need to surprise him..! Follow me, okay? I have an idea…"

As Hifumi spoke, y/n chuckled and followed him upstairs. They both reached the bedroom and decided to create the perfect atmosphere. They left some flowers on the floor and turned on the TV with a movie ready to be watched. They wore some cozy but adorable clothes and prepared the most comfortable clothing for Doppo as well. Y/n had the best idea and prepared the bath tub with some smelling shampoos and face masks.

"So.. your idea is to cuddle Doppo even with face masks..?! Aww!! I like it!! Let me brush his hair, though!", Hifumi chuckled and helped y/n setting everything.

While they both were in the bathroom, somebody opened the apartment's door downstairs.

"Psss! He's here!!", Hifumi whispered and they both went downstairs. At first they hid behind the corner, wanting to surprise their sweet lover. Doppo had just come back home. He sighed, looking exhausted but, as soon as he smelled the dinner coming from the kitchen, he smiled softly and called for his sweet partners. They both reached him and hugged him tightly, kissing his cheeks: y/n kissed Doppo's left one and Hifumi kissed his right one.

"Happy Valentine's Day, babe!!", they said together while Doppo was weakly giggling happy in response. Soon they all reached the living room and ate the various dishes both Doppo's adorable partners had cooked for him. The red-haired salaryman was feeling so happy he could have also cried.. He felt so lucky again to have those sweet and lovely lovers in his life!

"Everything was delicious, sweethearts!.. T-thank you..!", he said as he finished eating.

"Surprises aren't over yet~!", Hifumi announced as both he and y/n took Doppo's hands and led him upstairs. As they reached the bathroom, Doppo looked surprised and blushed seeing the bath tub ready for him! He could smell lavender's bubble bath and some muck's shampoo too while he could also see some face masks ready on the small white table.

"Let us cuddle you!"

~

Doppo giggled as Hifumi brushed his wet hair and gently rubbed his ears. He smiled warmly and blushed while in the meantime y/n was putting a face mask on his face, caressing it. As y/n quickly and playfully kissed his lips, he adorably blushed and chuckled too. After some minutes Hifumi dried Doppo's messy red hair, and occasionally kissed his head, while y/n was still cuddling his face after the mask, putting some coconut cream on it. They rubbed his nose against his one, making him blush a little bit. Doppo's heart was beating faster as he realised that both his partners were there for him… only for him! For making him special and appreciated..! For making him feel loved..! It was… perfect..!

The rest of the night passed with they all watching a movie, laying on the bed and cuddling: Hifumi was laying hugging the right part of Doppo's torso… his blonde hair against the red-haired man's chest; while y/n was holding Doppo's hand, hugging him on the left, putting their left hand on his chest and reaching Hifumi's hair. Y/n was occasionally caressing Hifumi's blonde hair or squeezing Doppo's hand, while Doppo was keeping both his partners as close as he could.. softly kissing both when he felt like he needed it.

"Th-This… this is the best Valentine's Day of my entire life..!", he whispered looking at both Hifumi's and y/n's eyes as the movie finished and they turned off the TV.

©hebimoonlightwrites_tumblr Please, do not copy my contents nor repost it without my permission.

[whumpster-fire]

#bartimaeus#simpkin#idk it just feels like why i do think bart's relationship with his humans#is different than simpkin and pinn and ammet and khaba#you do definitely get a bit of self-hatred and maybe even guilt over being sort of a species traitor from bartimaeus#that ends up shaping his opinion of simpkin and ammet for the worse#though i think it is interesting to note that bartimaeus talks about how queezle had some decent masters#and he doesn't think of her or her experiences derogatorily at all

I still need to get to Golem's Eye in my rereading of the series and never got to Ring of Solomon but: I think Barti's hatred of Simpkin is partly because he must mentally be like "Why are you giving this guy all this respect and admiration. He's nothing like Ptolemy, he's just some everyday jackass magician." And partly because Simpkin let it get to his head and acted like his privileged position over other spirits was something he'd earned by being the bestest little assistant and this made him better than others.

And if memory serves, back in Prague Bartimaeus knew that Queezle was "only" 1500 and more importantly only had two previous masters, which is so insanely young and inexperienced compared to him, but it doesn't seem like she tried to lord it over other spirits or had delusions about the nature of servitude, she was just less emotionally closed off from her colleagues.

It's like, comparing it to a human workplace, Simpkin is the guy who happened to get picked as the boss's favorite and worked his way up to a high position by sucking up but acts like it's because he's the smartest, hardest working etc. when really he's just as disposable as everyone else, and Queezle is the new kid whose only prior job was mowing the lawn of a nice elderly neighbor who paid her way above market rate to be nice, and is friendly with coworkers in a naive "hasn't been traumatized by the toxic culture of this industry yet" way, but is fully able and willing to join on making fun of Management behind their backs.

WRT Barti's relationship with Nathaniel, both Bartimaeus and Simpkin have high opinions of themselves and their importance to their masters but Simpkin looks up to Pinn and Barti looks down on Nathaniel. Simpkin is like "My master is a wise and generous man for relying on me and recognizing my talents," Bartimaeus is like "My master is a dumbass loser kid who can't even dress himself without committing crimes against fashion. He would be lost without me and his only good decision aside from the rare occasions when he actually listens to my advice was summoning me, and even that I'm chalking up to beginner's luck the first time. He is reliant on me over other spirits because I'm not afraid to call him an idiot to his face."

Unpopular opinion-

Simpkin deserved better.

[smolstarthief]

Persona 5/Persona 5 Strikers: Pro-Police or Anti-Police?

Hoo boy... So this honestly has been a LONG time coming on my end because I have seen so much of that debate on social media (Twitter namely) and I can see the points of BOTH sides but there have been moments where it just got out of hand... Especially whenever people tried to put in a more grey/nuanced take only to be slammed and taken out of context. Even repeatedly mentioning the interrogation at the beginning of P5 which, I will admit has gotten tiresome. At least for me, I do still feel for Joker and I wished the game acknowledged his trauma more but there's a thing called, "beating a dead horse" and this is one along with "Haru says ACAB" in Strikers (which was done THREE TIMES in the same arc and it got annoying fast, like shut up already! We get it!). So, let's dive in a little bit:

MAJOR SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!!!

Persona 5/Persona 5 Royal

Now let me just say I know! Police in Japan are just as bad if not worse than the West and I STILL hate the idea of Makoto wanting to become a cop for such naive reasons (especially with what happened to Sae, her own sister!)... But there are at least some of form of nuances sometimes and by that I mean, I can see what they were trying to do? I do agree that P5/P5S backpedaled SEVERELY by deciding to sweep issues under the rug after addressing them and not continuing from such. In fact I feel like it could have been a hell of a lot better. But P5 did something different compared to previous games and addresses the issues DIRECTLY right at the beginning of said game! It was tense and horrifying, but needed. Of course... They then sweep it under the rug and act like nothing traumatic happened to our protag which is NOT a good look at all and I'm still pissed off about it. In the main game's case, it's portrayed as more black and white with only a SMALL amount of nuance like that cop that was trying to help Futaba when she went out by herself and got lost (which people ignore entirely by the way). So I CAN see where people got the "anti-police" message from... But that's only the tip of the iceberg as it's ACTUALLY more about Systematic Corruption, not exactly or JUST police corruption. Namely in politics with Shido and the Conspiracy (which is apparently still somewhat around in Strikers until Owada's downfall) controlling everything all the way to law enforcement. The force had been basically under his payroll (including the corrupt SIU Director before his death) whether by force or not (mostly not in this case though). Now honestly, the police depicted there are undoubtedly rotten to the core save for a VERY SMALL handful (the cop that was trying to help Futaba which, again, gets ignored by several). Look at the interrogators who ruthlessly beat and drug a minor without any second thought or remorse for example. But again, the black and white narrative the game kept unwittingly doing ended up being to its detriment in a way. I'm not defending those assholes AT ALL! They deserved every punishment given to them! But for a game that goes on about grey morality... It doesn't quite deliver on that. Still though, it does emphasize that it's more of the fault of the whole corrupt system, not just one part of it. There needs to be change and reform which is what our MCs were trying to do in a way (more like inspiring change but still). In the end, it's all about the following:

Corruption and abuse of power.

Again the police depicted in this game were incompetent at best, corrupt at worse with very few silver linings. But it's not just them but rather the one person responsible for the whole mess. Who had them under his payroll? Who controlled them and by extension all of Tokyo? Who was willing to dispose of anyone who "outlives their usefulness" or is perceived as a threat to what he wants (including his own family)?

SHIDO AND BY EXTENSION THE CONSPIRACY

Bottom line: They are definitely a problem but it's not just them.

"But, Joker and his trauma?"

I definitely understand that and still do. I fully believe he has and still has trauma with the police. Easy! But... I do feel like people go too far with it sometimes. It's hard to explain but there have been moments where people either use it as a justification/argument against someone trying to provide a more nuanced view of things or... Dare I say, depict him like a "uwu soft traumatized boi." Like I said, it's hard to explain on my end so feel free to ignore it. Everyone deals with trauma differently so there is STRONG chance that I'm overanalyzing it. I just remember moments where I just feel a little, I guess annoyed? I'm not sure exactly but final thing: I understand what he went through and I can't imagine how long it would take to recover but I hope he DOES overcome it.

"Sae? Akechi?"

Yep, even though their jobs are different, they are by and large members of law enforcement no matter how you spin it. Both were broken in a way. Akechi is pretty easy to explain with how Shido negatively impacted his life but not much about Sae, who dealt with sexism/misogyny at her workplace along with the trauma of her father's (also a cop) death. She no doubt had some idealism only to be hit with the fact that she's gonna have to use underhanded/downright illegal tactics to get by and even rise up the ranks. She, therefore ended up (well, nearly) corrupted herself before coming to her senses. That's honestly one of the BIGGEST REASONS why I felt like Makoto joining the force to become a police commissioner isn't a good, even a downright naïve, idea. I honestly would have been somewhat fine with it if it weren't for that fact among other things. Regardless of her willpower, it will go south fast.

Now... Onto Strikers!

Persona 5 Strikers

Since the game came out and I started playing it, I still feel like the system is still beyond saving, especially when attempting to do it from the inside. But I don't mind the added nuances that P5 didn't do much of. It's still continuing the critiques, just shows more of what does happen within said system and even has an ACTUAL officer (Zenkichi) say, "Yeah, my job sucks, everyone's corrupt, there are much better ways to do things and make a change but not this. I'm only staying because I have a daughter to take care of and it's all I know. I'm no different from them." Was it all handled well? I wouldn't say "yes" (Joker's trauma is BARELY addressed at all of course) but a little better than what P5's narrative did which only addressed the issues but not exactly follow up on them. Now to be fair... In the system, regardless of where you live, any one within it who remotely tries to do something or speak against it either lose their jobs or even go "missing" irl. Those have happened and it's more proof that yeah, it's rotten to the core. There's no denying it but regardless, that's NOT what the game is about at all. At least that's what I feel about it as it's only PART of the narrative. I think Zenkichi puts it best here:

Speaking of Zenkichi... Oh boy... Now I definitely understand some of the criticisms with him but honestly, he was the best written (PT) character I've ever encountered! He was honestly the perfect representation of those that genuinely want to help and do good, only to be held back by an extremely harsh reality. It was already hinted at with Sae but here? It 100 percent confirms just how harsh and even cutthroat it can be if it could break someone's idealism so badly. Even Kaburagi of all people thinks the same thing Zenkichi said:

Then there's his past and it's a tragic one! But let's look more at the decisions he ended up making:

While it was no doubt done to protect his daughter, he ended making a selfish decision along with a selfless one (which was brilliant!) with not only allowing the cover up of his wife's death and denying justice for her, but also ruining an innocent person and their family's lives.

It's horrible, but also... There's a grey area/nuance as with the rest of his character. It was both understandable, but also wrong as he, as Akane's Shadow puts it:

He sacrificed his values, his morals, all for the sake of having a peace of mind. Speaking of Akane, she's also an interesting case in a way that she more or less perfectly represents the more "black and white" views on justice in general. Namely the more toxic/biased kind. Her reasons are also understandable but she was also acting selfishly by only focusing on how SHE was effected by Aoi's death and not even considering those that were also grieving her death and/or that people grieve/handle grief differently than her. But back on topic.

Her own views and beliefs that law enforcement basically SHOULD be dismantled (mostly out of said childish bias and black & white views) and it's framed as WRONG and it's very much correct on that. Chaos and order are two sides of the same coin, one can't exist without the other. When I say ACAB, I'm calling for reform, defund, have the corrupt held accountable for EVERYTHING and even face jail time for their crimes! Defund the police, have the ones that arrest, harm, and even murder out of bias (race, gender, etc.), lose their badges/jobs and locked up, make improvements! It's saying that there IS still corruption out there and there's no denying it. But fully eliminating the law in general will just lead to more problems. Now granted, she's young and clearly doesn't fully understand why those views are ultimately wrong but still... It was a very interesting subject to tackle and I feel like they handled it well.

Now back to Zenkichi, he was at first in denial about his decisions ultimately being the wrong ones too and even tries to justify it. Of course, his Shadow said otherwise and that was when he finally admitted that he really did act no different from the criminals he despised. But it also doesn't mean he can't redeem himself and that's what ultimately leads to his new resolve:

That right there along with everything else! There's the nuance! And ultimately despite some hiccups, Strikers handled the grey morality and nuance beautifully! Especially regarding law enforcement! Dare I say, even better than the base game! It continues the critiques with no problem but also showing different sides and areas of it! There is good and evil, but what about in-between? What about the more greyer area? It still says that there IS corruption, sometimes even beyond saving but... Sometimes a small silver lining is hidden somewhere.

Now, the ultimate question:

Is P5 & P5S (namely the latter) Pro-Police or Anti-Police?

Personally, my answer is this: Neither.

Why? What theme do they both have in common?

JUSTICE

Someone puts it best on Twitter that the games are more pro-justice and I fully agree!

P5/P5S gives the idea about following your OWN justice, your OWN moral code and rules, paving your OWN path and not let others dictate it! That's what the MCs ultimately start to learn in both games. Therefore it's pro-justice. Again, do I agree that the system is beyond saving? Yeah. Do I at least acknowledge and understand what the narratives are trying to say and nuances regardless even if I don't agree with some writing decisions (ex: Makoto wanting to become a commissioner despite everything)? Also yes. But at the same time, don't judge a book by its cover for other people (not just law enforcement and politics mind you). Especially some that genuinely DO want to help at best. That there is nuance and greyness, just have to look closely. Some of the MCs are still TERRIBLY written and executed (even annoying) but the message was still somewhat there.

Final Thoughts

Now I fully understand how you all feel of course! I still believe in ACAB and even I agree that maybe I'm one to talk and have a lot more to learn about the world... This is just my own attempt at putting my own two cents in. If you disagree, that's fine! This is just what I've felt should be at least talked about more often. And I tried to phrase it as best as I can without coming off as insensitive or ignorant and if I did, I sincerely apologize for that! I'm not trying to say, come off as a "bootlicker" or any of the sort. I'm just trying show discuss more of the grey areas and nuances that are, more often than not, constantly overlooked. How one interprets both games is ultimately up to them. You, the player. And this is my own interpretation. Simple as that. I hope you all have a good day/afternoon/evening!