#I'm sure that even the federation would stop doing whatever they are doing if this poly pocket love happened

[usakkhae]

I have to admit that I didn't like the 4chicomax polycule that much (they were cute but..nah) but yesterday' stream changed me. I SEE THE TRUTH NOW!

[mj0702]

The other Bronze – Pt. 16 🔞

This Chapter contains some adult content

Por mi vida... Te amo a la luna y de vuelta mi hermosa....♥️

“You can keep dreaming because that won't happen” the dark haired woman laughed

“Worth a try” you smirked as you pulled Jennis jersey over your head

“Dear jesus Christ” you gagged lightly after you sniffed the fabric “Sure you only wore that for that game??”

“Actually no... that's the same one we wore at the Euro final” the spaniard deadpanned “We're broke you know... we have to re-use jerseys”

“Seriously??” you asked outraged your eyes wide with shock while Lucy started to snicker behind you

“Of course not... but you and your stupid tactic had me run a lot – sorry that my jersey doesn’t smell like detergent” Jenni rolled her eyes

“I think it was a good tactic” you defended yourself pouting “Lucy you tell her”

“You put me in goal!!!” your sister exclaimed

“Yeah... that was funny.. the way you panicky screamed at Mills to keep “that bloody ball far FAR away” from you....” you chuckled as your sister hit your shoulder

“Y/N... you still have something to do” now Sarina interrupted and you know you still need to come up with an apology to Rubiales

“How believable would it be if I suddenly have a stroke?” you asked the dutch innocently and all players around you snorted

“Not very believable... come on... the sooner you get it over with the sooner I can reward you for your actions” the blonde coach winked

“Hermoso” you looked at Jenni “... it was a pleasure as always... I have to go and fake apologize to your... whatever he is”

“Oh Corazon... I didn't even show you pleasure but okay...” the dark haired winked “and he's the federation president”

“He's a fucking cunt that's what he is” you grumbled not even catching up on Jennis comment

“And THAT'S exactly what we don't say in our apology” Sarina said chuckling

“Do I really have to come up with an apology on the spot without swear words?” you asked in disbelieve

“Yes Bitsy...” Keira rolled her eyes “... and I know you can – you always pull your head out of the sling somehow”

“Okay okay... give me a minute okay” you huffed starting to think of what to say “... Hermoso could you stop drooling over me abs? I know they're fantastic – me girlfriend tells me every time we...”

“STOP talking!” Lucy exclaimed shuddering at the thought of you and Georgia doing anything else than holding hands while Jenni, Keira and Sarina bursted out laughing

“It's distracting!!!” you huffed

“I am distracting you?” Jenni smirked enjoying the little banter which distracted HER from the previous incident

“Not you... you eyes” you grumbled “I need to think quick here”

“Come on Liefje” Sarina suddenly pulled you away “We won't get anywhere if you butterfly with Hermoso all the time”

“I'm NOT butterflying” you huffed annoyed

“Yes you are... now... this is going to happen now... you are going to apologize officially right in front of the crowd and later again at the post-match press” the dutch said and you grimaced

“Really? In front of the crowd?” you whined

“Yes... this is damage control and when everyone sees how “sorry” you are we have a good chance that FIFA won't interfere” Sarina said seriously and you huffed

“But I don't wanna” you whined again but one look from the dutch shut you right off

“You'll do fine Bitsy okay... you're good at that” Keira squeezed your shoulder supporting

“Ugh.... fine” you huffed annoyed as someone handed you a microphone connected to the stadium speakers

You started to walk out of the tunnel and you knew the second the camera caught you and your picture appeared on the big screens since suddenly there was loud cheering and it made you smirk. You walked all the way to the kick off point standing there for a second taking a deep breath before turning around facing the spanish bench where Vida and Rubiales were still standing. You saw how the medics just packed their stuff together and how Rubiales had two tissues hanging out of his nose. You really needed to bite your tongue so you wouldn't start laughing – you were “sorry” after all. At least that's what Sarina told you you were. You saw how all the players – Lionesses and Spanish – were lingering in the tunnel entrance waiting for your speech

“Hi” you started awkwardly looking into the stands after the crowd calmed a little bit which caused a new round of cheering and whistleing. Vida and Rubiales looked at you expectantly and when they saw you wore Jennis Jersey you saw how Rubiales jaw set challenging.

“Okay guys... I'm here to apologize for me actions towards Mr. Rubiales a few minutes ago” you said using your “I'm so so SO sorry”-voice “... I honestly don't know what caused me to act the way I did... I'm in the wrong here because violence is never the answer no matter how disgus... no wait... I'm not allowed to say that... violence is never the answer! Let stop there... I never meant to assault you Mr. Rubiales...” you looked at Rubiales himself trying to sell your apology so hard by talking directly to him “... I never meant to hurt you and I don't have an explanation for what happened. Please believe me when I say I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart”

Even you know you went a little over but you really REALLY tried not to verbally assault him right now

“You did nothing but being polite to me and what happens in your federation is not my business” you said and some people would swear they heard a threatening undertone “I hope you accept me apology and we can forget this... incident”

You walked back towards the tunnel before making a turn towards Rubiales himself offering you your hand to shake it. He grabbed your hand hard his jaw still set when you pulled him a little forward

“If you ever pull off something like that again you fucking cunt I personally will cut off your balls and feed them to you through your asshole and then I make sure that there's no inch of DNA left of your existence...” you growled into his ear covering it up with clapping on his shoulder like both of you made up “... most of them players I consider my friends – family even... I don't take it lightly if they get put in an uncomfortable situation and I always will have their back”

You let go of him smiling sweetly before turning around walking back into the tunnel where everyone stared of it with disbelieving looks. You smirked feeling great pride and satisfaction with yourself.

“I am REALLY proud of you Liefje” Sarina beamed as you reached her letting her pull you into a hug

“I can't believe it... you actually delivered a grown up apology” Leah said her face showed pure shock

“Yeah well...” you shrugged your shoulders

“I can't believe you apologized” Mapí looked at you a little disappointed

“Had to... they made me” you pointed at Sarina, Keira and Lucy

“I'm proud you didn't punch him again – I was worried there for a second when you made a beeline for him” Lucy threw her arm over your shoulder standing next to you proudly “And you didn't threaten him”

“I definitely didn't” you quickly said and your voice was a little high-pitched

“Bitsy” Keira warned you

“Hm?” you looked at her innocently

“Please don't tell me you did...” the blonde looked at you expectantly

“So... my reward” you turned towards Sarina

“Bitsy!” Keira exclaimed

“What? You said to not tell you... so I don't” you defended yourself

“What did you say... I knew that handshake was a cover up... I KNEW IT” Keira said annoyed

“Look... I just let him know how... I consider most of the spanish team me family... and that I'll always will have their back” you said honestly “andhowIwillfeedhimhisballsandthattherewon'tbeanyDNAleftifhepullssomeshitlikethisagain” you mumbled before quickly sprinting behind Alexia and Jenni ducking for cover

“Come again???” Keira looked at you shocked while the spanish players looked at you confused since you spoke to fast for them to understand

“Could you repeat that for the not english speakers please Cariño?” Alexia said confused

“I rather not” you mumble “Keira will have me head”

Luis Rubiales chose that exact moment to walk into the tunnel and you immediately stood up taller again moving in front of Jenni in a protective manner – which looked kind of ridiculous since Jenni was over a head bigger than you. He threw a death glare at you but continued walking as the crowd of english and spanish players parted like the sea for Moses.

“It's kind of cute how you try to protect me little one” Jenni chuckled from behind you

“He's a... Mapí... worst spanish curse word you know” you spat looking at Mapí

“Cojones or Cono” Mapí easily provided earning herself a really hard slap to the head from Irene and a death glare from Alexia

“That... he's both of that...” you growled looking after Rubiales

“Don't teach her that” Irene told Mapí off harshly

“She asked” the blonde tattooed woman defended herself

“And you CHOSE to answer” the Vice-Capitan answered

“I just wanted to helpful...” Mapí mumbled pouting

“Don't push it María León and just keep your mouth shut” Irene grumbled

“Bitsy... come here sweetie” Keira cooed sweetly

“Oh no... not gonna fall for that... it's like the time you told me you wouldn't get angry if I tell you what I did and after I told you you made me do push ups in the pouring rain” you shook your head looking at her scared shuffling backwards

“I promise...” the blonde tried again smiling sweetly but you saw right through it

“No no... I think I'm gonna stay with Ona” you said and the people who knew you could hear the slight fear in your voice

“You still have a pre-match conference to attend” Sarina reminded you smirking

“Aaaawww maaaaan” you whined “I did what you told me to do – why do I have to sit through that as well?”

“Because it was your game today and not mine” the dutch said “So YOU are going to answer all the questions... in a nice civilized manner”

“Ugh” you huffed and turned to walk towards the media room “But I'm not sitting next to that sorry excuse of a human being”

“Good evening Ladies and Gentleman – this is the post-match conference and we have 60 Minutes. We do it the usual way and go 30 minutes each. All question have to remind professional and under no circumstances will private questions answered. You all have one question if you want a follow up you have to talk to the person if they're willing to do one. We start with questions for the representatives of the english Lionesses Head Coach Sarina Wiegman and Y/N Bronze before going to the spanish representatives Jorge Vilda and Luis Rubiales” the coordinator said and you knew the cameras where already on so you pushed the urge down to roll your eyes your face staying stoic “We're starting with Alex Scott”

You exhaled deeply knowing Alex wouldn't ask anything regarding the Rubiales-event and probably would ask something frivolous.

“Alex Scott for BBC Sports” Alex started smiling at you “A question for Y/N Bronze”

“I know your name and where you work... I've known you for years now” you interrupted her confused which lifted the mood in the room since all of the reporters started chuckling

“That's how it goes y/n... we reporters have to introduce ourselves before asking the question” Alex smiled at you

“Oh okay...” you said quickly “... sorry for interrupting”

“No problem... but my question to you... we were all informed beforehand through different social media channels that you joined the Lionesses as a side line analyst – how comes that you basically dictated the game today?”

“I was given the chance by Sarina... Mrs. Wiegman... Coach? What do I call you?” you started then looked at Sarina unsure which caused another round of light laughter

“Sarina is fine...” the dutch smiled encouraging squeezing your knee under the table in a calming manner

“Sarina gave me the chance to work on a tactic for this game – Spain is a hard opponent to play. I got to Camp with Lucy... Bronze... Lucy Bronze my sister” you started but then got all nervous again since you actually never had to do any press stuff before.

Again Sarina jumped in by stroking over your knee calming

“... but you all know that...” you chuckled at your idiocy “... so when we arrived at Camp Sarina pulled me aside telling me she wanted me to watch some of the spanish games and to come up with a play where we at least can annoy them a little bit. I'm pretty sure she just did that to keep me occupied so I wouldn't do some stupid shit...” you said but quickly slapped your hand over your mouth “... I mean so I don't do... stuff... but yeah... after I sat down with her showing her some plays she told me to put a starting XI together.. at this point I still thought it was all like... hypothetical.. so I did... after that she said that she liked what I came up with and that she trusts me and that I'll have the lead on the game...”

“Would you be interested in answering a follow up?” Alex asked quickly knowing that she only had a short time frame before the next reporter would be called up

“For you always... I mean... you did change me diapers – I think it's just fair” you grinned

“And you were so squirmy about it... but my follow up... what made you come up with putting Lucy in Goal?” the short woman asked smiling

“Knew you would pick up on that” you laughed feeling slightly more relaxed “... that was a last second decision – I had four subs planned... two at half time, two around 70th minute... I left one slot for a possible injury sub – I played some players who just came back from an injury and I didn't want to overwork them. That's why I subbed Meado off 73rd minute in... she played outstanding and I didn't want to risk setting her back in her recovery... I quickly talked to her after she came off and she said she felt good but also appreciated getting off. So after I didn't need the left over slot and Lucy was mean to me earlier – and Keira said she would pay to see Lucy in Goal – I thought... why not... and come on... it was funny seeing her panicky waving her arms around like a monkey absolutely losing her plot screaming at Mills to keep the ball far FAR away” you laughed which caused the room to interrupt in laughter

“Okay next question please...” the coordinator said also laughing and called up a reporter you didn't knew who had a question for Sarina so you turned out and started to look around the room with a bored face which ended in a edit about how you and Lucy are so much alike in conferences

“Question for Y/N Bronze...” a young lad said and after you didn't react in the slightest being busy counting the sponsor labels on the wall behind you Sarina flicked your ear

“Huh??” you looked at you confused

“There's a question for you” the dutch gestured towards the room “Attention on the room”

“Sorry...” you said embarrassed

“You got a yellow card... how did that happened?” the young reporter asked

“First of all... that wasn't MY yellow card... THAT was Onas yellow card” you started serious but your lip tugged upwards and everyone noticed that you were joking “... she committed the foul... I just... asked the Ref if she doesn't see the need to card it”

You heard Sarina clear her throat next to you and you looked at her innocently

“What? I did” you defended yourself

“You took my glasses and ask the Ref if she needs them to and I quote “see a foul when it's happening”...” the dutch looked at you unimpressed

“Not my fault she's a blind moron – that WAS a yellow card” you exclaimed before remembering where you are and – again – slapping your hand over your mouth

Sarina exhaled deeply and started to pinch the bridge of her nose shaking her head slightly as the room erupted in laughter again

“Okay next question... Barry... your turn” the coordinator said and you tensed immediately.

Barry O'Connor was a legend under the reporters – he was one of the ones who could make you or break you. He never held back with the uncomfortable questions and he immediately knew when you lie and THAT he would use to break you.

“Thank you Tom... Barry O'Connor for The Guardian...” the older gruff man said and looked straight at you and you just KNEW what was coming “... question for Bronze... there was a slight – let's call it ruffle after the game... any comment on that?”

“Good evening Mr. O'Connor” you said politely “... I'm afraid you have to be more specific – there was a lot going on after the game”

“You punched the president of the spanish federation – the proof is sitting right there” the reporter said pointing at Rubiales

“Yeah... not my best moment is it... I want to apologize again and honestly I can't tell you what happened... I saw how he moved towards Jenni Hermoso and the next thing I know is Sarina yelling at me in the locker room...” you said and everyone in the room knew you told the truth “... I got the great honour to meet most of these players beforehand when I was visiting my sister in Barcelona and they welcomed me with open arms and helped me when I needed help – looked after me when I needed guidance... so I consider them as family... I don't take it likely if someone makes my family uncomfortable – which everyone who knows me can confirm... so I just – acted to protect my family”

“You said you needed help in Barcelona... what happened?” the older man asked

“Barry you had your question and we said from the start...” the coordinator interrupted but then got interrupted by you

“No it's okay... I'm honoured to be interesting enough to get a follow up by a reporter legend” you said and Sarina heard that you were about to get serious “It's not really a secret that I don't play because I suffered quiet early in my career from three ACL's... so even if I wanted to play I simply can't... in Barcelona a... incident happened that left me with a PTSD episode... all of them helped me afterwards – Mapí León right up top.. she went all the way to the airport to get me english chocolate... I got in the honour to get to know a few teams through Lucys career... if it was City, Lyon or now Barcelona... all of the teams have a special place in my heart but Barca now – they are something else... Alexia Putellas is an amazing leader – on and off the pitch... under her lead this team stepped up coming together as a family – no matter which nationality or background...”

You looked back at the reporter who smiled appreciative nodding slightly

“So yes... they helped me a great deal... even when I got overdosed on pain meds and didn't know what I was doing and gave them nicknames and was high as a kite” you winked

“Okay last question for the english side before we're moving on the spanish representatives” the coordinator said and pointed at a young blonde woman

“Thank you... Sarah Mulligan for ITV” the young woman said “Question for both Sarina and y/n... Sarina what made you involve y/n as much and y/n how did feel or managed with the pressure?”

“You first?” you looked at Sarina a little lost which caused the dutch to chuckle

“Thank you for your question” Sarina started and you interrupted her

“We have to thank for questions...” you exclaimed shocked before looked into the room “Thank you?”

This made everyone laugh again before Sarina continued

“It's polite Liefje” the dutch said lovingly “... but back to the question... I got to know y/n when she was recovering from her third surgery. I just took over from Phil Neville trying to get a read on the Team having called up a few young players but also some experienced ones – like Lucy Bronze. Lucy called me two days before Camp would start asking if she could bring her little sister who just got out of hospital. I agreed knowing from former games and also from stories how much Lucy cared for her sister. The moment I saw her for the very first time I knew she was someone special. She was still wearing a leg splint and was still on crutches but that didn't stop her from refusing help even going so far to hit Lucy away with her crutch...” the dutch remembering your first appearance smiling slightly “.... she was so grumpy and angry – a deep anger and I must admit I was unsure for a moment if it was a good idea to have her with the team. I feared she would bring the team spirit down – but I was wrong. So very wrong. The moment she stepped into the Hotel lobby and I saw how many players were happy to see her I knew it was the right decision. At the first training session she sat in the stands just staring down on the pitch – I must admit I kept an eye on her because Lucy asked me too... y/n never moved one muscle just stared down on the session. So I thought I let one of the assistants take over and went up to sit next to her. I sat down and asked how she was doing. Her answer was that I should rethink this formation because it's putting to much pressure on the midfield. Then she just stood up and left. I looked down on the pitch and saw Keira and Jordan Nobbs were struggling to keep up with the pace I tried to put up with the play. That was the moment I decided to get her involved more – one because she has an eye for things no one ever sees and two she needed a task. She needed something to take her mind off her injury and what it meant – what she lost. I got her involved a little bit more every camp and this time she finally accepted my offer to employ her full time which I know is a big step for her. But a big step in the right direction. A big step towards healing” the blonde said lovingly and squeezed your hand

“That got deep Mama Rina” you mumbled getting a little emotional before looking at the young reporter woman “Thank you for your question”

The room chuckled again enjoying your young easy and light way you were handling the situation of getting thrown into a press conference for the first time

“I'm sorry I can't provide such a deep meaningful answer but... I didn't feel any pressure to be honest. As I said before until the very last moment – the moment that Sarina made me explain my tactics to the team to be exact – it was all hypothetical for me. And after that I didn't really have time to feel pressured – I tell ya this team is a handful. Just yesterday Niamh called out Code Red – which means no one is allowed to leave – because she couldn't find her lucky socks... turns out the washed them in the sink and hung them on the balcony and they just fell off onto the balcony of Lottes... that's the shit you guys normally don't get to see” you said shaking your head when you remembered how ridiculously headless Niamh tore her room apart because of a pair of socks.

After the room quiet down from their round of laughter again the whole questioning shifted towards the spanish men and you started to spin with your chair until Sarina stopped you gently putting her hand on your arm to calm you down. You huffed but stayed still trying to listen to the answers of the Vilda and Rubiales but it was no use.

You heard your name a couple of times but since you didn't have any context you chose to ignore it – that was until a fuming Mapí León with an equally fuming Leila Ouahabi hot on her heels came blazing into the room both of them throwing some words at Vilda and Mapí even went so far to crawl onto the table separating the trainers from the reporters. Seconds later an angry looking Alexia entered the room just in time to grab Mapís ankle and pulling her back and away from the spanish national team coach. She tried to get her players under control by pulling both of them back by the hem of their jerseys. Mapí was kicking and screaming like a five year old – of course in spanish so you didn't understand a word – the only thing you understood was when Mapí yelled “mi Nena” - but when you looked at Vildas face it told you everything that you needed to know. You looked flabbergasted to Sarina who looked just as shocked and shrugged her shoulders before you turn towards the reporters where some just shook their head in disbelieve.

The post-match conference was ended pretty quickly after that and you basically jumped over the table sprinting out of the room past Keira and Lucy – who were waiting for you outside the room – towards the spanish locker room. This time you weren't as friendly as before and bolted through the door without knocking even tho you could hear Alexias angry voice half way down the corridor. The second you threw the door open the whole team looked at you and everyone fell silent – even Alexia.

“What the fuck just happened?” you looked at Alexia lost

“Cariño I love you I do... but this is something we have to talk about internally” Alexia said softly

“Mapí was about to strangle that mop in front of thousands and you say this is an internal thing?” you raised an eyebrow

“He called her a “lost little child who wears shoes that are to big for her and she's useless”... mi Nena knows EXACTLY what she's doing... mierda we lost FIVE zero...” Mapí started to rage again and you became big eyes

“Mapí ENOUGH” Alexia scolded her “Everyone SAW what she did and her head coach isn't a useless... culo like ours... there's no need for you to defend her... she has Lucy for that”

“But Lucy didn't do anything...” Mapí said outraged

“Because her spanish is shit and she probably didn't understand” you shrugged accepting the water bottle Ona held out for you “And the way you hesitated at the word “culo” means it's bad and I'll definitely save that down in me brain”

“No you won't Bebita” Ona smiled sweetly but you know just like with Keira it was a warning “Bad word”

“Then Alexia has to do push-ups... that the bad word rule!” you exclaimed and Alexia looked at you unimpressed

“I'm an adult... I can say whatever I want” the blonde spaniard said flatly

“Rule applies for everyone Capi” Jenni now grinned “Down on your hands and knees you go”

“What does culo mean?” you leaned over so you could whisper in Mapís ear

“Asshole” Mapí whispered back

“That'll make 15” you looked at Alexia “That word is an A-grade swear word.. A-grade swear words make 15 push ups...”

“I most definitely won't do any push-ups...” Alexia rolled her eyes

“But I always have to do them” you whined

“And look how much more your arms and shoulders are defined since I last saw you” the spanish capitan smiled and pinched your cheek

“You suck” you grumbled pushing yourself behind Ona to seek cover from her prying hands

“No little one... that's me... she's more the...” Jenni smirked but before she could end the sentence she got punched very hard in the shoulder by Alexia

“Come on Bebita... let's get you back to the Lionesses...” Ona said lovingly already pushing you forward slightly “Say bye-bye”

“Ass-dios” you waved which caused the younger players to explode in laughter – including Jenni – while Alexia threw you a death glare as Ona quickly pushed you out the door

“Keira...” Ona yelled seeing Keira down the corridor

“There you are!!! We where searching the whole place for you!!” Keira exclaimed the second she laid eyes on you “Don't you ever do that again!!!”

“I was just at the spaniards and pretty spaniard taught me a new word” you smiled at the blonde proudly

“Don't even” Ona warned you

“What happened?” Keira turned towards the blonde spaniard

“She suddenly kicked in our locker room door... and didn't except “it's an internally affair” from Alexia” your sisters girlfriend shrugged her shoulders

“Uh Kei...” you pulled on her jacket a little bit “Alexia said an A-grade swear word... and she refused to do push-ups”

“Really now... we can't have that now can we?” Keira mused sensing that you started to get tired and pulled you into her side winking at Ona before turning around slowly leading you back towards the Lioness locker room pulling out her phone to text Lucy and Leah that she “found” you

“You little shite...” Lucy started immediately but got cut off by Keira

“Leave her be... she's dead on her feet” the blond said firmly basically carrying all your weight your head on her shoulder

“Come here Bubs” Lucy exhaled deeply hoisting you away from Kei into her own arms cradling you like you were a three year old again while Keira got all your bags

“How bad is it outside?” your sister asked Leah who sneaked a look outside looking at the crowd waiting for the players to emerge from the stadium walking to the bus

“Nothing we're not used too...” the blonde capitan shrugged

“I'm asking because of her” Lucy nodded towards your sleeping form in her arms slightly drooling on your sisters jacket “If she gets startled half the team won't get an inch of sleep tonight – you remember the drama after the France game?”

“Wait... I get the noise cancelling headphones” Mary said thinking quickly pulling already on Rachels headphones getting them off her and carefully sliding them on your head.

You quickly got startled by the sudden loss of hearing but Lucy had you under control quickly by manoeuvring your head into her neck. The moment you smelled the familiar scent of your sister skin you relaxed again becoming boneless in her arms.

“She's so out” Keira chuckled

“You surprised?” Lucy answered hoisting you up a little more “Fuck me... this was easier when she was 3”

“No shit Sherlock” Millie deadpanned “Gimme... I'll carry her”

“Naah – we're good” your sister said but smiled at her teammate thankfully “I'll just bring her into the bus and then come out to sign some stuff...”

“You don't have to – you're not obligated to do so and you know it” Leah said seriously

“I know... but they waited long enough now and she'll be good once she's inside the bus” your sister answered “Let's get this show on the road”

As soon as the doors opened the fans went wild – as usual and Lucy was so SO thankful for Marys quick thinking of putting the noise cancelling headphones over your ears. Your sister walked quickly with you in her arms towards the bus disappearing inside it. She disposed you into her own seat asking the bus driver if he could have half an eye on you. Of course he agreed quickly being a fan of you himself with all the shenanigans you came up with all the time.

Your eyes fluttered open slowly and you were met with – darkness. Darkness and softness. You bolted upright searching for your phone in the dark. Getting more arrogated which each passing second you knocked over a bottle of water which caused a light to get switched on and you were met with the sleepy looking form of your girlfriend.

“What you doing baby?” Georgia asked her voice raspy

“What are you doing in my room?” you asked confused “Why am I in my room??”

“Firstly... that's my room... secondly... you were out like a light once Keira found you and then YOU wouldn't let go of me shirt and Keira got Lucy to agree to let us room for tonight under the promise that I won't touch you in any “not biblical” form” your girlfriend informed you

“Wait... what day is it???” you looked at her confused

“What?” Georgia asked equally confused

“Day baby... what DAY is it?” you looked at her like you're going to have a mental breakdown any second

“Still Wednesday... game day.. 23:48... why” G answered keeping her voice even to not set you off further

“Oh thank fuck” you sighed “Get ready... come on... take your phone”

You ushered your girlfriend out of her bed – not without ogling her body for a second longer that would go through as “biblical” - and then out of the room up a floor hiding behind a corner taking out our phone.

“23:52... perfect” you grinned

“What have you planned??” your girlfriend whispered in your ear from behind/above you which cause a shiver to run down your spine

“Welcoming Sarinas new year of age” you swallowed hard trying not to think what you could do now with your girlfriend instead of hiding waiting for the pipers to come down the corridor.

“Oh god... WHAT did you do??” G whisper yelled “If I get in trouble for it...”

“Please... as if I let you get in trouble” you snorted spotting the first piper stepping out of the elevator

“Oh god... oh god no... no no no no no” your girlfriend mumbled with wide eyes having spotted the piper as well “You didn't”

“Oh I so did... mi Vida” you grinned evilly

“Me what?” Georgia asked confused

“No idea... Lucy always calls Ona that – probably something dirty turn ons in spanish” you shrugged your shoulder “Where the fuck are Toons and Less?? And Jill... where is Jill?”

The moment you said it you saw your two best friends sprinting down the corridor, little party hats askew on their heads another set in their hands. Less was carrying some glitter bombs and confetti canons.

“We're not late” Toons panted coming to a halt in front of you “What she doing here?”

“I'm her girlfriend??” Georgia said confused

“Still doesn't answer me question... you don't get to bake in our fame” Ella said annoyed holding out a party hat for you which you immediately placed on your head

“Fame? You really think that going down well for you?” your girlfriend snorted nodding towards the piper who just set up their bagpipes.

“Of course... that a birthday she'll never forget” Lessi answered grinning widely “Can we start?”

“No.. we still missing Jill” you pressed taking Georgias phone to look at the clock “23:59... come on Jill”

You heard the “ding” of the elevator and surely enough there came a big three story birthday cake wheeling out with a widely grinning Jill Scott pushing it down the corridor towards you.

“Where were you?” you came out of your hiding – which was useless anyway since Toons and Less stood right in front of you – speed walking towards Jill smashing a party hat on her head.

“Had to think about something to get the room card” your Godaunt and most trusted adult friend – after Keira – said pulling out the little plastic card from her back pocket

“What did you say?” you snorted Jill could come up with the best backstories

“Want to surprise my wife for her birthday” the older woman smirked back “easy in the nights since there are only teenage boys covering Front Desk”

“We'll leave quickly after we delivered our present so you two have some alone time” you smirked

“Thank you Cookie – we very much appreciate it” the dirty blonde laughed “You guys ready?”

All of you nodded and Jill very VERY carefully pushed the card into the electronic lock waiting for the signature “click” before pushing open the door. You had Georgias phone ready and when Jill gave you a thumbs up you started recording. The pipers shuffled into the small hotel room and on a small cough from you they started piping “Auld Lang Syne” and not even five seconds in the light next to the bed got smashed on and a completely demolished Sarina Wiegman sat in her bed, blanket pulled up to her chest, glasses askew from being placed quickly on her nose, hair standing in every direction like she just got electrocuted her eyes wide in shock. The pipers went seamlessly over to “When the Saint go marching in” before finishing with “Scotland the Brave”. The second the little private concert was over Toons and Less let the Glitter bombs and Confetti canons explode right over Sarina – and her bed – all of you yelling “Happy Birthday”.

Your plan was nearly perfect. Get glitter and confetti all over Sarina before bolting. What you DIDN'T think off – pipers where loud. Very loud. Waking up most of the squad in process. Like Leah. And Lucy. And – most dangerously – Keira. So the moment you wanted to bolt you were met with a LOT of Lionesses. Angry looking Lionesses. Angry looking Keira. You locked eyes with her and after a second ducked behind Toons before sinking down on the ground trying to army rob out of the room hoping everyone was too distracted by everything that's going on. Oh boy where you wrong – of COURSE Keira saw you the second you tried to rob out of the room placing herself right in your way. You looked up when you hit her legs with your head which you kept down so it wouldn't been to obvious who was pressed in that room – which was overflowing with players now. Niamh and Toons already got cake in their hands (plates were overrated at this point) as Leah tried to control the chaos. You bumped into Keiras legs and looked up scared to be met with two angry glaring eyes. You tried to quickly rob backwards just to get stuck in Millies legs.

“I don't think so, y/n Bronze” Keira seethed pulling you up by your ear “Are you actually mad? Did you finally lose your plot? Why in gods name...”

“Hey Kei... you want cake... it's chocolate” your sister interrupted Keiras rant holding a hand full of cake right under the blondes nose

Keira just looked at Lucy then to you and back to Lucy who smiled like a happy kid with her handful of cake.

“I don't know if I should yell at both of you or just give up...” the blonde shook her head

“Keep calm and eat cake” Lucy smiled pushing her hand closer to Keiras face who automatically moved her head out of the way

“No thank you... it's in the middle of the night” the blonde said a little disgusted

“And?? You think we ever get away with eating cake in the middle of the night ever again??? Embrace the moment Kei... USE the moment” your sister said before she pushed the handful of cake into her mouth and you listened to what your sister said and used the moment to carefully sneaked away from Keira.

You tugged on Georgias shirt at your swift exit and she followed you just as quickly

“You know you're in big shit tomor... today... today morning... later... in the morning” your girlfriend rambled

“I know... but so worth it” you smiled and the second you two were through the door to the stairs case you pulled her back on her shirt kissing her deeply

“Not that I'm complaining...” Georgia started once you parted again “... but what brought that on?”

“You still had a little frosting..” you smirked pointing at your own lip “... I think I better check for more frosting once we're back in our room... you are a messy eater after all”

“I.. I think I dropped some of the cake...” your girlfriend stuttered a little bit and you could see her eyes darkening

“Yeah... thought so...” you smirked starting to walk up the stairs towards Georgias room when you suddenly feel your feet leave the ground and your girlfriend hoisted you over her shoulder

“What are you doing??” you laughed loudly as Georgia sprinted up the stairs

“You're a slowpoke sometimes” your girlfriend said exiting the staircase sprinting down the corridor on your floor before fumbling with the key card to open the door

“Open you stupid door” your girlfriend grumbled you still hanging over your shoulder snickering

“Let me down... makes it easier” you laughed slightly

“I nearly got it... wait a second” Georgia mumbled but a second later you heard her kicking the door

“Baby come on.... let me down” you laughed louder lightly poking her rips

“But don't run away” your girlfriend said her voice a little whine

“As if” you snorted and felt her scrunch down to put you on the ground before she came up again and you were face to face with each other

Your eyes quickly flickered down to her lips before looking at her eyes again. Before you could make up your mind you felt Georgias lips on yours kissing you deeply and you couldn't suppress a moan which your girlfriend used to slip her tongue into your mouth. She pinned you against the door her hands against your hip she used her whole body to keep you were you currently were. You on the other hand fished the little plastic card out of her hand where it poked into your skin and opened the door behind your back without even looking. The door opened with a small “beep” and you smirked against your girlfriends lips.

“Show off” Georgia mumbled against your lips and pushed you backwards into the hotel room already pulling your shirt over your head

“Fuck” you panted as your back hit the mattress next to your girlfriend a light sheet of sweat covering your body “THAT...”

“Better than the last time?” Georgia smirked smugly her breathing coming out laboured

“Nothing can top last time Babe... but you tried” you chuckled turning your body so you were pressed into the blondes side tucking your head into her neck feeling how her arm sneaked around your back pulling you closer

“I mean... I can try again” you heard the smirk feeling how her hand started to wander again “and again... and again... and again”

“No... please don't... you tried enough for tonight” you chuckled as Georgia stroked lightly over your ribs tickling you slightly before pushing her hand away positioning it on your hip

Georgia showed mercy just rubbing her thumb soothingly over your hipbone pressing a soft kiss to your hair

“You only getter better with training...” your girlfriend smirked then yelped as you poked her side

“You telling me I'm bad at what I'm doing?” you pushed yourself up onto your elbow looking down at her raising your eyebrow

“No no no no...” Georgia quickly said pulling you back down this time on top of her holding you tightly to her chest

“Mhm... that's what I thought” you mumbled closing your eyes relaxing against the blondes chest just enjoying the time you have with your girlfriend without needing to worry about your sister interrupting

You felt Georgia wriggling around under you which caused you to lift your head – again.

“Really? You still want to... again?” you look at your girlfriend expectantly

“No... I actually just tried to get the blanket” Georgia laughed as she finally got the hem of the blanket and pulled it over the two of you “... wouldn't want to deliver you back to your pit bull-like sister with a cold”

“DON'T mention my sister right now... that doesn't.. no.. just no” you grunted

“Sorry...” your girlfriend chuckled

“You're disturbing my post-orgasmic-bliss” you complained whining

“Sorry... I can... I don't know... make you forget that I just said that?” Georgia smiled her hand starting to wander towards your ass again while the other grabbed your breast teasingly

“Gosh... you really are impossible” you rolled your eyes prying her hand off your breast

“I mean... did you see my girlfriend? I can't help meself” the blonde grinned pulling you a little upwards to press a kiss to your lips

“Mhm... I did see her... still don't know how you scored her?” you teased smirking

“I didn't... she's stubborn... but I'm glad she threatened to break me legs if I don't pull my finger out of me ass...” Georgia murmured kissing you softly and smiled

“Did she now? I should talk to her... apparently she knows how to keep you in check – you can be quiet... defying” you grinned letting her kiss you over and over again

“Excuse me?” your girlfriend exclaimed acting upset

“Mhm... didn't my sister told you – multiple times I might add – to keep your hands away from me?” you grinned kissing her this time

“I CAN keep me hands to meself” Georgia smirked “Question is.. would you want that?”

“Such a rebel aren't you...” you smirked kissing along your girlfriends jaw down her to her neck

“Have me moments” Georgias voice betrayed her as she clearly getting turned on again

“Mhm.... Keira told me” you smirked against her neck before biting down slightly

“Keira??” this time it was G who got sober immediately

“It's a turn off isn't it... hearing about them” you grinned sitting up now straddling her waist

“Yes” your girlfriend grumbled “What did that wanna be ginger told you?”

“That you got your first tattoo the day after you turned 18” you smirked the blanket loosely draped around your hip

“SHE roped me into it!” Georgia exclaimed sitting up as well

“Oh really?” you smirked down on her taking her face in your hands kissing her softly “Do tell”

“She just got a new one and because she knew Mama Walsh will have her ass she convinced me to get one too... then after the next england game she hugged her mum and of COURSE Mama Walsh immediately saw it” your girlfriend told you rolling her eyes “And the next thing I know is she pulled me over by me sleeve “Georgia has one too – and she's basically a baby”... then Mama Walsh had me ass too”

“She played you...” you laughed loudly “.... she played you so hard”

“Yeah... I had to stand there for 12 Minutes getting lectured by Mama Walsh about the risks of tattoos...” your girlfriend grumbled

“To be fair... when Mama Walsh has it out for your ass you better find someone who you can distract her with” you shrugged still grinning

“Yeah... she can be scary... but I'm still sure she loves me more than Keira” Georgia grinned straining her neck a little so she could steal a kiss again

“Bet she loves ME more than all of you” you smirked pressing a wet kiss to her lips

“Yeah yeah... you're everyones favourite” your girlfriend rolled her eyes again but the slight smile never leaving her lips

“G... I... have a question” you hesitated a little bit

“What you need, baby?” Georgia asked softly but seriously

“I want a tattoo... I want you to do it” you blurted out

“What?” your girlfriend looked at you dumb folded

“I want you to tattoo me.... I know what I want and where I want it...” you said seriously

“Baby.... I can't do that” Georgia looked up at you as you stare down at her with a little betrayal in your eyes “... first.. I never inked someone and secondly... Lucy and Keira would definitely kill me... and third.. you're 16...”

“Then I'm gonna be your first like you were mine...” you grinned and with each passing second it got wider “... Lucy and Keira never need to know... and my Birthday is in two weeks”

“Which still makes you underage” your girlfriend pointed out and you heard that you slowly wearing her down

“I can get you Lucys signing if you want... like... setting up a document that she's not allowed to kill you” you smiled widely

“I tell you what... If you get that done I'll seriously think about it” Georgia said and you leaned down kissing her softly “... but I'm not doing anything big”

“Don't worry... nothing big...” you promised scratching your girlfriends neck lightly

“And where?” Georgia kissed your neck softly

“Right...” you took her hand laying it on your left side guiding it up to the point where your bra would sit “... here”

“A rib tattoo? Baby... that's a bad idea... that will hurt like a bitch” your girlfriend murmured against your neck kissing her way down to your collarbone

“I can take it... I really want it” you said breathlessly

“Maybe somewhere else?” Georgia mumbled kissing her way further down her destination clear

“That's the only place Luce won't see it immediately” you now outright moaned “Fuck”

“Mhm” your girlfriend hummed sucking your hard nipple into her mouth

“You just can't... fuck...” you started to complain but your voice betrayed you once again and your hip rocked forward on its own accord

“You want something baby??” Georgia asked after she let go of your nipple with a wet pop

“More... please” your head fell onto Gs shoulder your hips still rocking in her lap

“More?” your girlfriend smirked starting to knead your other breast

“Please” you whined

“Fingers or mouth baby?” Georgia basically growled against your skin getting slightly possessive

“Fingers” you whined lifting your hips a bit and Georgia got the hint letting her hand slip in between your legs

“You're gonna be good for me?” your girlfriend growled starting to mark your skin with small bites not enough to leave a constant mark like she'd like to

“Yes... but please” you begged and whined trying to get her fingers inside you but her hand laid still between your legs

“You won't come without permission will you baby? You'll wait until I tell you that you can come, right?” Georgia playfully bit your nipple

“I won't... I promise” you moaned rocking your hips down trying to find some pressure relieve

“Good... and you won't becauseeee...” your girlfriend teased your entrance with one finger

“Yours” you whined desperately

“Mine what?” Georgia nudged the underside of your jaw with her nose

“All yours...” you nearly broke “... G please”

“Ssshh baby... I've got you” your girlfriend soothed you slipping her finger into you

“Fuck” you whimpered feeling Georgias digit enter your heat

“Mhm... so wet... so hot... so desperate” Georgia mumbled against your jaw kissing her way to the point just under your ear “All for me or is there someone else?”

“No one else” you panted against her shoulder

“Are you sure baby? No one...” your girlfriend bit down lightly “... someone spanish maybe... Jenni Hermoso maybe?”

Your hips rocked down hard on her finger your rhythmic movement faltering for a second before it picked up again

“Hmmm...” Georgia hummed pleased “... maybe that could be arranged one day”

“Fuck...” you whimpered

“Bubs??” you heard suddenly through the door loud banging followed

“Fuck” you looked at Georgia shocked her face just as frightened

“BUBS?” Lucy said a little louder

“What??” you yelled back your hand covering your girlfriends mouth

“You okay? You were gone suddenly” your sister spoke loudly

“Yeah... just... didn't wanna wait till Keira recovered from her confusement” you tried

“Can you maybe open the door?? I'm standing here like an idiot” Lucy sneered

“It's... not the best time Luce...” you whined “I'm... about to go shower”

“Well... then let me in and shower then” your sister wasn't giving up and you knew it

“You can also go back to your own room” you said helplessly

“Can't... Less has the key card and I don't know where Less is” Lucy groaned

“Lucy please... just... go somewhere else” you whined back even knowing all mood was gone

“You are my sister... why would I go somewhere... wait a second... where is Georgia?? Is Stanway with you???” your sister exclaimed

“No for god sakes Lucy... I just want to shower in peace... fuck off now” you yelled through the room and suddenly it was quiet

“Fuck me... she really knows how to ruin the mood” you grumbled lifting yourself off your girlfriends lap who was still rooted in her place “Unbelievable”

“That was close” Georgia stammed still a little scared

“Yeah well.. I was too...” you continue to grumble mostly to yourself until... you heard the signature “beep” of the door – your head shot up first to the door then to your girlfriend who spotted the same frightened look as you

You quickly threw on a shirt and gestured to Georgia to hide – which was ridiculous since it was firstly her room and secondly there wasn't really anywhere for her to hide

“Hide” you whisper yelled panicked while you threw a shoe at the door trying to block it

“Where??” Georgia whisper yelled back looking around just as panicked

“I don't know” you pulled on some shorts quickly

“Bubs... you blocking the door?” you heard Lucys voice and already saw the crown of her head trying to make its way inside the room

“Why would I??” you answered and tried to sound annoyed watching your girlfriend ripping open the door of the closet “Really?? You wanna hide in the wardrobe??”

“You have a better idea?” your girlfriend hissed back

“Bath or Balcony?” you looked at her confused

“Bubs... the door is stuck” your sister complained again

“You are stuck you muppet” you shot back pushing your girlfriend outside on the balcony

“Yeah well maybe you open the door then” Lucy said annoyed

You quickly went over ripping the door open looking at her expectantly

“What you want and where did you get that key?” you grunted at her

“Wanted to make sure you okay – you're on Sarinas list now... and key... Leah – as the capitan she has a universal key” your sister shrugged her shoulders “Jesus Christ Bubs... open the windows would you... it seriously stinks in here”

“I will... I just didn't want to come back from me shower into a cold room” you lied weakly “you saw that I'm alright now... so... good night”

“Yeah since I don't know where Less is... can I crash at yours?” Lucy rubbed the back of her neck embarrassed

“No” you exclaimed before clearing your throat “I mean... that's a little inconvenient Luce...”

“I'm your sister” Lucy exclaimed rolling her eyes

“I know and I love you... seriously... but I just want to shower and go to bed.. I...” you said trying to come up with an excuse “... I... have this... woman problem you know....”

“Your period?” your sister asked confused

“Yes...” you nodded slowly

“And? Gosh Bubs you really scared me there for a second... you need anything?” Lucy said lovingly

“Just... peace and quiet... please” you basically begged her at this point

“Geez okay... I'm already leaving...” your sister said and you noticed she got all defensive

“Luce” you whined

“No it's okay... you're a grown up now... you don't need me anymore” Lucy said already half way through the door

“That's not true.... Lucy come on...” you said again trying to calm your sister down

“Keira said I need to let you spread your wings... WINGS Bubs... not your legs okay” your sister said and pointed at you threating

“Okay Ew... that's disgusting” you pulled a face disgusted

“Exactly... sex is disgusting... never take part in it” Lucy said happy with herself

“Yeah...” you said embarrassed “... you're too later for that I'm afraid”

“Good... now go shower and then to bed... Sarina will blast through your door in... four hours” your sister smiled quickly checking her watch

“What does Sarina want?” you ask confused

“You're on her list... you gonna run” Lucy smiled before disappearing into the corridor again

“Fuck me” you exclaimed whining closing the door making your way to the bathroom

You just stepped under the shower when you remembered something important

“FUCK” you quickly jumped out of the shower wrapping yourself in a big fluffy towel before speed walking through the room opening the balcony door again pushing your head outside looking at your girlfriend who was just covered by a thin blanket standing pressed into the corner of the outside space

“Lucys gone” you smiled innocently ushering Georgia inside

“Do you know how cold it is in England this time of the year??” your girlfriend said her teeth chattering slightly

“Yeah I know... I'm sorry... but come on... I already turned on the shower for you” you smiled

“Gosh I love you” Georgia said pressing a kiss to your forehead heading towards the bathroom

“Oh and babe... Sarina will kick our door down in about four hours...” you nonchalantly called after her and you heard a crashing sound

“WHAT??”

[carriesthewind]

The IA's "Open Library" is Not a Library, Yesterday's Lower Court Decision does Not "Hurt Authors," and the Planned Appeal Is (Almost Certainly) NOT a Good Way to Try to Change Bad Law (In Fact, It's More Likely to Make Bad Law Worse)

Ok, so a day later, I'm still mad about this. If anything, I'm even madder. I'm going to write this as a response to the Internet Archive's "The Fight Continues" blogpost, but before we begin, let's get some facts straight:

Copyright law in the United States, especially the law around digital lending, currently sucks. It's really really bad, and anyone with a stake in the game - except the big publishers and e-book services that profit from it - hate it.

That said, copyright law exists as a thing. As I said in a previous post, you *can* try to change it through court cases, but there are certain things you cannot change. And there are certain things you can try to change, but it will be an uphill battle to change them in a positive direction. And notably, as bad as digital lending law is in the U.S., it still could always get worse! And one general rule of impact litigation: if you are trying to change the law, you want to make sure you have the best possible facts. Because the worse your facts are, the worse your case is likely to go.

Yesterday's district court ruling DID NOT CHANGE ANY SUBSTANTIVE COPYRIGHT LAW IN THE U.S. I cannot emphasize that enough. Regardless of whatever you think of the ruling, it was applying already existing law to the facts.

This is because the Internet Archive's "Open Library" absolutely violates existing copyright law. It just does! They broke the law, they had plenty of notice they were breaking the law and harming authors (more on that below) and just think the law shouldn't apply because they don't like it.

The Internet Archive's "Open Library" is not a library. Some big ways it differs:

While it pretends to have a one-to-one owned-to-loaned ratio, as the opinion granting the publisher's motion for summary judgement notes, IA concedes that it allows "partner libraries" to add books to its collection and then doesn't check (and has no way of checking) if the book is out of circulation at the "partner library" at the same time it's being "checked out" of the Open Library. In other words, it's like if you took a book, scanned the pages, and then gave the scans to your friend who then loaned the scans out to other people but totally promised they were only lending the scans to one person at a time so it's basically like there is still just one copy! And meanwhile you still own, are reading, and lending out the physical copy of the book. Except instead of one book, they were doing this on a massive scale. NO, THAT'S JUST THEFT.*

Speaking of which, the "Open Library" didn't keep that promise! Their "Emergency Library" just let everyone borrow as many copies at a time as they could! Again, THAT'S JUST THEFT.

Like I'm sorry if you don't like the idea of copyright at all: right now, we live in a capitalist system where authors need to be paid for their work in order to, like, not die. If you take their work, scan it into your computer, and give it away for free to anyone and everyone, THAT'S JUST THEFT.

Also, most authors love libraries! Libraries allow more people to access their books while not substantially impacting their revenue and not impacting their rights! AUTHORS - not just publishers, authors - DO NOT LIKE AI'S "OPEN LIBRARY." Why haven't authors sued to stop this before, why is this the publishers suing? From the above letter: "Even simple copyright lawsuits must be brought in federal court, and often cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. A challenge to the Internet Archive could easily cost millions." Publishers have deep pockets that authors and authors' groups don't. Also, authors who object to AI stealing their work are frequently subject to harassment.

If IA won this case, the new law that would be made is this: it would be legal to steal an author's works.

*I'm using "theft" and "steal" instead of "piracy" throughout this write-up to make it clear what this is. "Pirating books" is just stealing them.

So to sum up the facts above: copyright law in the U.S. sucks, but it exists. Attempting to change it for the better through the court system would be very difficult. Even then, changing the law for the better would likely require a case with good facts. Unfortunately, the law could also change for the worse. Yesterday's ruling did not change any law. The facts in this case are very bad, because the IA absolutely violated copyright law. That is in part because the IA's "Open Library" is not a library; they just steal books. Many (if not most) authors and author's groups don't like that IA is stealing from them. If IA won this case, that victory would mean that anyone was allowed to steal an author's works.

*deep breath*

Ok, let's turn to the IA's statement, "The Fight Continues":

"Today’s lower court decision in Hachette v. Internet Archive is a blow to all libraries and the communities we serve."

The Internet Archive is not a library.

No it's not. It is a blow to the Internet Archive, specifically, because you broke the law and it ruled you broke the law. As stated above, it does not change anything with regard to copyright, including digital copyright, law in the U.S., and therefore does not impact libraries or the communities they serve. If you appeal this ruling, as you have stated you intend to, and the law does change for the worse (which is always a risk of appeal, and a risk that gets worse when you have bad facts), THEN libraries might be affected.

"This decision impacts libraries across the US who rely on controlled digital lending to connect their patrons with books online."

I mean yes, in the sense that "controlled digital lending" isn't normal e-book lending. It's the thing you made up where you steal books and illegally redistribute them.

This genuinely sucks for libraries and communities that don't have other ways of accessing digital books because the current copyright scheme sucks so bad! Real libraries are doing things to try to help, and not just steal from authors! More on that below!

"It hurts authors by saying that unfair licensing models are the only way their books can be read online."

OH GO FUCK YOURSELVES

Ok this line, this line right here? That is honestly why I wrote this whole thing.

How DARE you cloak your theft in the real struggles authors face with unfair licensing models. How DARE you pretend you are on the side of authors when you are stealing their works, and they have made it quite clear that they would like you to stop, please. And how DARE you frame it in this "for exposure" bullcrap that ignores the real struggles that authors have to eat, to get healthcare, to get any sort of fair pay and wages for their work, and instead pretend that all authors should care about is whether or not their books can be read online.

And bluntly? If you - not IA, YOU, tumblr user reading this - if you shared this bullcrap statement and told people to donate money to the IA because of this? If you told people they should steal more books in response (because it's the publishers fault, ignore the real authors who are actually harmed)? How DARE you. How DARE you pretend to be on the side of authors and writers.

"And it holds back access to information in the digital age, harming all readers, everywhere."

Except for those readers who are also authors, and need to eat.

And readers who want to read books that will never get written if authors can't write (because they need to eat).

And also, no it doesn't, because it doesn't change the law. It just applies the law that already exists to you. Because you are not above the law.

"But it’s not over—we will keep fighting for the traditional right of libraries to own, lend, and preserve books."

You are not a library.

You were not (and are not) fighting for "the traditional right of libraries." Plenty of other organizations are fighting against bad copyright law in the U.S. This court case, however, was literally just about you stealing books.

Like I cannot emphasize enough that you were just stealing and you got caught.

"We will be appealing the judgment and encourage everyone to come together as a community to support libraries against this attack by corporate publishers."

You aren't a library.

Fuck you for borrowing the (justified) hatred of corporate publishers to paper over your bad actions.

Does "coming together as a community to support libraries against this attack" mean giving you money, as suggested by the calls to action at the bottom of this page? Because you aren't a library.

"We will continue our work as a library."

You aren't a library.

"This case does not challenge many of the services we provide with digitized books including interlibrary loan, citation linking, access for the print-disabled, text and data mining, purchasing ebooks, and ongoing donation and preservation of books."

First, and most important: these are all uncritically good and important things that the IA does! Despite the rest of this post, I am really really glad the IA exists, that it is doing these things, and I hope that it will continue to do this things!

You are correct that this case does not challenge those services! Because those services aren't just stealing books from authors, which is what you were doing, which is what this case is actually about!

I'm skipping the statement from Brewster Kahle because it's just more of the same. The statement then invites you to Take Action! by donating to IA and positing themselves as standing up for libraries! (They are not a library.)

But real libraries and librarians are actually fighting the good fight over lack of access to materials, especially digital materials and bad laws, and you can support them!

If you actually do want to "come together as a community to support libraries," and support digital access, may I suggest instead donating to The Brooklyn Public Library's Books Unbanned program?:

https://www.bklynlibrary.org/books-unbanned

While they aren't directly challenging bad copyright law, they are directly fighting back against laws that are much more actively and materially impact people's access to books, including providing free e-book and database access to everyone in the U.S. age 13-21. It's a great and important program, and your donations can really help!

[thelastmemeera]

The Trolley Problem: Inconveniently Labeled Lever Edition™

Let's do a little thought experiment:

Suppose a runaway trolley is speeding towards an indeterminate number of people who've all been tied down to the railway. You happen to be standing next to a lever that, if pulled, will briefly divert the trolley onto an unoccupied passing loop, thereby avoiding one of the people tied to the rails before merging back onto the main track and proceeding to run over everyone else. Regardless of your actions, most of the people tied to the track will likely die, but one less person will die if you choose to flip the switch. What should you do?

What's the catch?

Aha! You see, some dastardly ne'er-do-well has welded a sign onto the lever that reads "By pulling this lever, I hereby give my full support to this trolley and whatever it happens to do, especially if it ends up killing a bunch of people tied to the train tracks."

Will I be held legally, financially, and/or socially responsible for my choice to pull or not pull the lever?

No. In fact, no one will even know you were anywhere near the lever unless you decide to tell them. But you'll know, of course.

Wait a minute, who's going about tying people down on train tracks in the first place? Could we stop the trolley and untie them, and perhaps devise an alternative means of transportation that doesn't involve vehicular manslaughter?

All very good questions! We absolutely can and should stop the trolley and address the issues that lead to this situation, but you almost certainly will not have time to do that before the trolley hits the first person on the tracks.

If I pull the lever, does the sign make me ethically responsible for the deaths of whoever the trolley hits? If I don't pull the lever, am I ethically responsible for the person I could have saved?

I can't tell you that. What do you think?

You probably see where I'm going with this.

It basically comes down to whether you agree with the following two statements:

Barring one of them being struck by lightning or something like that, it's overwhelmingly likely that either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will become the next US president.

Both Harris and Trump will do terrible things if they become president, but there are significantly bad things Trump will do that Harris would not, whereas the bad things Harris will do that Trump would not are comparatively minimal.

If so, then unless you've got a plan you're very sure is going to completely upend the political system before the winner takes office on January 20th, you'd kind of have to agree that if you're eligible to vote in the US and you don't vote Harris, you're doing actual material harm to the world for largely symbolic reasons.

But voting doesn't do anything!

Off the top of my head, Trump appointed 3 Supreme Court justices during his term, directly leading to rulings that badly limited the EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse emissions, blocked $430 billion of student loan debt from being cancelled, and overturned federal protection for abortion rights, causing abortion bans in multiple states. I'm sure you can think of other examples. If none of this is at all significant to you, then yes, perhaps voting doesn't do anything.

But the system is inherently broken, and voting isn't going to fix that.

Voting isn't signing a blood contract that you've given up on the revolution, it's a minimal effort thing you do to limit the extent of bad things happening in the immediate future. Even if socialist utopia is instated on January 21st, that's still one day you could've possibly made less bad with almost zero commitment on your part.

But Harris is contributing to the genocide in Palestine, and will continue to if elected.

Trump is even more unabashedly pro-genocide than Harris is. Yes, you'll be able to proudly say you didn't vote for anyone who would bankroll Israel's ethnic cleansing, while in all likelihood making things actively worse for the people you're purporting to support. And that's entirely your prerogative, but understand you're taking your hand off the lever and watching someone get splattered by a trolley so you could pretend your inaction wasn't also a choice.

But perhaps we need the Democrats to lose to Trump in order to force them to put up slightly more reasonable candidates next time around.

Did that work the last time?

[wsdanon]

among us au please?

hi \o/ firstly i'm going to direct you here for some backstory/information about the au

next: here is a bit of the first chapter \o/! it's 2500 words basically so reblogs are appreciated but it does cut off before a proper chapter resolution

Really, there are better things Felps could be doing with his life. But technically he’s obligated to do this, and he hasn’t found anything else to do, so, here he is. Handing over the fake ID Cellbit made for him. 

The security guard barely even scrutinises it before passing it back, and nodding him through. It’s always a gamble, though. So, he keeps walking until he’s far enough out of view that the other guards won’t really pay attention to him, and lingers until Cellbit catches up. 

“Easy.” Cellbit mutters. “I don’t even think he read our names.”

“Well, easier is better, right?” 

“So careless. It’s like they’re asking us to kill them.”

“He’s not in the line of fire.” Felps says with a shrug. “Even with all the security crackdowns, no ports have been attacked yet.”

“We should change that.” Cellbit says, far too determined for Felps’ liking.

“I dunno… you know the plan. Cucurucho won’t like it if we deviate from it.”

“Fuck him.” Cellbit hisses. “Any day now I’m going to get you your freedom, and then we can kill whoever the fuck we like.”

“Keep your voice down.”

Felps says it calmly, but he won’t deny that the slight rise in Cellbit’s volume sent a spike of fear through him. Cellbit doesn’t seem to care as much—confident that he’ll be able to break them out of whatever prison—but Felps would rather not chance it. That’s the whole reason they’re doing this, after all. He’s caught between a prison sentence from the Federation, and a prison sentence from the human government.

Ultimately, Cellbit would prefer the latter, Felps is sure. If the Federation finds out he’s travelling with Felps, they’ll probably just kill him. 

Thankfully, though, Cellbit changes the topic to something less incriminating, and Felps spends the rest of the walk through the station feeling calmer. Until they hit the body scanners. 

The ID check is always easy. Even when heavily scrutinised, Cellbit is good enough at making them that they always end up passing through with no problems. 

The body scanner is a different subject. 

It’s finicky. Relies entirely on Cellbit’s ability to successfully use sleight of hand to put in the USB with the code that’ll make Felps look human, and then take it out again. Without any guards noticing. 

One of the reasons they hit this port specifically, though, was that they haven’t been involved in any incidents. No caught aliens, and no departing ships that never arrive to their destinations. The crackdown has been intense, but people are lazy. A persistent, unconscious thought of, but it’d never happen to me. 

This station is fairly busy, too. A lot to keep an eye on, no reminder to keep an eye on it—it’s the best shot they have.

Cellbit steps on first. The holographic grid climbs up his body, and then back down. He’s waved along. He stops, and leans close to the guard—his elbow resting on the desk, hand lingering past their view. Easily, he slips the USB into the computer.

“I’m just gonna wait for my friend, is that okay?” 

Felps can’t hear him over the crowd, but they’ve gone over the plans a million times. 

The security guard nods, looking bored. Felps steps onto the platform. The scanner sweeps over him, static and nerves following it. But it’s easy enough to keep his cool while his heart is beating in his throat. He’s always been good at that, even without the amount of practice he’s been put through recently. 

He steps off the platform. Doesn’t even get the chance to worry as the computer quickly confirms him as human. The guard waves him through. Cellbit pushes himself away from the desk—USB safely retrieved, and quickly hidden back in his sleeve. 

“Easy.” Cellbit mutters again. 

“Easy is good.” Felps reminds him again.

When they first started doing this, Cellbit used to revel in all the gaps of transport security, and how easy it was to exploit them. Felps thinks, maybe, Cellbit misses the challenge a little. He doesn’t know a lot about what put Cellbit on that prisoner transport ship, but with the gleeful look in his eyes when he murders, he can take a guess. 

“Do you remember where our ship is?” Felps asks, before Cellbit goes on another rant about lax security.

“Of course I do.” 

Cellbit takes his arm, and pulls him off in a direction. Felps lets himself be led. 

It’s a smaller ship, as usual. Which means it’ll stay in port until they arrive. Felps is tempted to take a detour to eat a proper meal before they leave, but he knows they need to stake out the situation. 

The information on this ship is frighteningly scarce. Usually Cellbit can have a whole crew list pulled up, as well as general spaceship schematics. This one has nothing, though. All they managed to find was a list of potential departure stations so they could sway the choice their way. 

It’s not the kind of mission Felps is happy to take. Cellbit’s eyes had practically lit up the second he realised it wasn’t going to be easy, and had spent roughly the next forty eight hours trying to dig up any scraps of information he could. 

Felps hid all his coffee sometime around hour number thirty nine; when he was too focused on the investigation to remember how much he had in stock, and figured he had just run out. Or, that’s what Felps assumes, considering Cellbit never bothered him about the missing coffee. Either way, he eventually passed out at his desk.

The point is, even though they should be through the difficult part, Felps still feels his unease grow. 

Cellbit stops abruptly, Felps bumping into him. 

“There.” He points over to airlock number six. “That one.”

Felps cranes to try and look at the ship through the window. It doesn’t look like a model he’s familiar with, but he’s a little too far away to tell.

“Let’s go introduce ourselves then.”

They walk over, dodging through the crowd. There’s no one waiting outside the airlock yet, but Felps catches a glimpse of someone with bright pink hair carrying cargo onto the ship. 

He makes a beeline towards them. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Cellbit heading to the window facing the ship. Felps knocks quickly on the edge of the airlock to announce his presence. 

“Yeah, hold on.” 

The voice is familiar, but Felps can’t place it. Probably just the accent. 

They place down the boxes hastily, turn around—and practically jump five feet into the air.

“What the fuck?” Mike exclaims, eyes wide. “Felps? You’re alive?”

Ah. That’s why it’s familiar. 

“Oh. Yeah!” Okay, this complicates things. “Hi, Mike!”

“What are you doing here?” 

“I’m the pilot.” 

“You’re—? Ugh.” Mike swipes a hand under his glasses, and drags it back down his face, clearly annoyed. “These stupid fucking blackout documents. Well, it is good to see you, at least.”

“It’s good to see you, too.” And it is, really. Felps had grown… maybe too attached to him and Pac. “I’m here with Cellbit—he’s my co-pilot.”

“Cellbit made it out, too? Damn, soon you’ll be telling me the murders just completely stopped after we left.”

“Ah, I wouldn’t know.” Felps lies. “We took a page out of your book.”

“Good idea.”

“So, you’re working here?” Felps asks, dread curling through him. 

He managed to get Cellbit to leave them alone before, but this ship is a lot smaller. They probably won’t get that luxury this time. 

“Yeah, me and Pac. We’re the engineers.”

“Nice!”

Not nice. Really not nice. Shit.

“Well,” Mike points a thumb behind him, “Pac’s in the engine room setting some stuff up if you want to go say hi.”

He resolutely tries to ignore the butterflies floating through his chest at the thought of seeing Pac again. He’s probably going to have to let Cellbit kill them, now is not the time.

“Thanks. I think Cellbit’s taking a look at the ship.”

“Cool, cool. I’ll see you later, then.”

“See you later.”

As they go their separate ways, Felps quickly messages Cellbit the news. Then he tries to find his way towards the engineering room. 

It’s more difficult than it should be. The ship’s layout isn’t like any he’s been on before, and there’s absolutely no maps, or directions anywhere. But finally, he stumbles into the place. The heat from the engines is overwhelming, but nice. Felps rarely feels temperatures that mimic the types of weather he grew up with. 

There’s a grate on the floor that’s pulled up, and Felps can see a blue hoodie, and black hair crouched down in the space revealed. 

“Hi!” Felps calls out over the sound of idling engines, trying not to startle him.

It doesn’t work. Pac yelps, and there’s the distinct sound of something being dropped. Then he pokes his head out from the space, and grins.

“Felps!” Pac pulls himself up so he can sit on the floor, legs still dangling over the edge. “Mike told me you were here.”

In lieu of taking off the hoodie, he’s just pushed the sleeves up to his elbows. Grease covers his arms—there’s spots of it on his face, too. He looks good. 

“Yeah! It’s good to see you again.”

“You too! Man, I’m so glad you’re alive.” Pac winces. “Sorry we didn’t take you with us. It’s just the lights went out, and we couldn’t find you, and then—uh, yeah. We, like, had to get out.”

Felps keeps his eyes carefully trained on Pac’s face, instead of letting them dip down to where his legs are. He’s not supposed to know about that.

“It’s fine.” He says with a shrug. “Me and Cellbit got out pretty much right after you, anyway.”

“That’s good.” Pac clicks his fingers. “Oh, hey, have you met Miss Government Agent yet?”

“Miss—huh?” He laughs, not worried about the fact it sounds nervous. He thinks anyone would be in this situation. “A government agent?”

“Yeah! She’s who we’re transporting. Bagi, her name is.” Pac lifts his legs out of the hole so he can stand up. He’s wearing long pants, so from Felps’ brief glance, he still has no idea what his leg looks like now—how well it managed to heal, if it did at all. “I know, I know those blackout documents are so annoying, right? But, yeah, that’s the reason—safety protocols, and all that. I don’t even know what she does in the government, it’s that top secret! I can introduce you guys, if you want?”

“Oh, sure. Thank you.” He watches Pac shift the grate back in place. “Unless you’re busy?”

“Nah, Mike’s better with all this stuff, anyway.” Pac shrugs, and wipes his hands together as if that would do anything but just smudge the grease more. “He’ll do a check over on my work, and finish up anything I missed.”

“Okay, nice.”

God, he never should’ve let Cellbit accept this mission. A government agent? Who the government is going to these lengths to protect? They’re never going to live comfortably again if they follow through with it—constantly on the run from authorities who would never leave a case as big as this alone. 

Pac grabs a rag near his toolbox, and absently attempts to clean the grease from himself.

“Also, don’t be surprised if you see a kid running around.” Pac informs him. “His name is Richarlyson, and—my god, Felps—he’s so cute.”

Felps feels the blood freeze in his veins.

“A kid? There’s a kid here?”

“Yeah, he’s mine and Mike’s actually.” Pac says, unaware of Felps’ escalating crisis. “We adopted him—totally legally, by the way—hm, maybe earlier this year?”

“Oh, how cool!”

A kid. Felps can’t kill a kid. Well, technically he hasn’t really killed anyone, but he knows that the blood on Cellbit’s hands may as well be on his, too. 

They’ve never been in a situation where a kid was on the line. Felps doesn’t know how to proceed now that there is.

He knows he’s gotten a reputation within the Federation of being brutal, but efficient. All Cellbit, really, but Cucurucho doesn't know about him. Maybe that’s why he was given this mission.  

But he hasn’t even come to terms with the fact he’ll need to let Cellbit actually kill Pac and Mike this time. And now there’s a kid. And they also need to kill a government agent, too, and there’s no way the aftermath of that is going to be pretty.

This is very quickly spiraling out of control—veering heavily away from the kind of chaos Felps enjoys with these missions.  

He needs to talk to Cellbit. Quickly. 

But, for now, he also needs information. So, he follows Pac out of the engine room, and down the confusing hallways. 

“The ship layout is very strange.” Felps comments.

“Yeah, you can thank Mike for that.” Pac says with a laugh. “He designed it.”

“Really? That’s cool.”

“We built it a couple years back. I don’t know why the government wants to use our ship, though. Surely they’ve got better ones at their disposal, right?”

“Must be to do with the whole secret thing.” Felps shrugs. “Like, if people want to attack the ship a government agent is on in the middle of space, they’re probably not going to look for something two random guys built, right?”

Not like it really worked out for them. Somehow Cucurucho still got their hands on the information.

“Ohhh, very true, very true.” Pac sends him a smile, and Felps tries not to trip over his feet at the sight of it. “You’re very smart, Felps.”

“Thanks!” He thinks he’s smiling a little too much like an idiot at the compliment, and quickly changes topics. “Wait, but if it’s your ship, why are me and Cellbit here? Surely you both can fly it.”

“Well, we can, but… I dunno. More hands on deck if there’s an emergency, maybe?” 

“Ah, true.”

“Here, let me connect to your comm—I’ll give you a map.” 

Pac stops in them in the middle of the hallway. While he’s distracted with the task, Felps takes the opportunity to drink in the sight of him—now that they’re closer and he can see all the little details more clearly. He looks mostly the same as Felps remembers, honestly. Still beautiful. If Felps had to point out what’s changed, he’d say that Pac looks less scared.

See, Felps hasn’t been able to forget the expression on Pac’s face when the lights turned out, and Cellbit tackled him to the ground. Even after all this time, he can still conjure the sound of Pac’s screams of pain, and desperate pleas for help clearly in his mind. 

Felps usually likes to let Cellbit have his fun. This was the first—and only—time he’d ever interrupted that.

It’s… nice to see Pac not so scared.

--

and that's what i have so far \o/! hope you guys enjoyed! unfortunately this is way too much of a multi-chaptered fic for me to work on actively right now, but maybe when i finish one of the others i'll come back to it

[postingonanon]

Hey Everybody, you need to get ready.

I've seen a LOT of posts floating around left-leaning spaces lately about "I'm not voting for Biden next year." And... I get it. I'm not going to even attempt to argue over strategic voting or whatever, because it rings hollow and it's pointless - there are a LOT of people saying this, and whatever reach this tiny scream into the void may have it won't shift those numbers.

So I'm going to be straight - get ready for a second Trump administration. It's obvious that he's going to be the Republican nominee in 2024, and the literal only determiner of whether the Republicans win is Democratic voting turn-out. Biden won because Trump was awful, but Trump won in the first place because people didn't vote for Hillary. That's looking like it's going to repeat itself.

I'm not saying this to shame anybody - you don't want to vote for someone complicit in genocide, I get it. But there isn't going to be a leftist alternative that wins the 2024 American election. There isn't one even running in the major two parties that the system is designed to accommodate.

I'm saying this because you need to get ready now. All that online leftist talk about community self-support, community policing, organizing with like-minded people? If you're just talking about it, you need to stop talking and put it into actions. As soon as you can. BEFORE TRUMP TAKES OFFICE AGAIN. You may not have the MEANS to organize afterwards. The major platforms online are all held by right-wingers who imagine themselves American oligarchs. They WILL turn over your identities upon request by a Trump administration. Even this one.

The Republicans have gone mask-off fascist since 2016, and they weren't meaningfully punished. Project 2025 is a direct, published by conservatives statement that they plan to end democracy and install direct autocratic rule. Even if they don't succeed at that, expect Texas and Florida to be the model of the federal government with targeted persecution of oppressed classes as a direct, OVERT point of policy. Expect direct, OVERT support for genocide of "undesirable" populations in the global south, Palestine, and pretty much everywhere else - including in 'Western' nations. Expect the defunding, privatization, and asset-stripping of all government funded social-support networks. Expect an exponential increase in violence across all right-wing political apparatuses, from the informal (militias and organized hate groups) to the local (police) to the national (military). However bad Trump was through 2020, keep in mind that he's going to be on a revenge tour and will - one way or the other - never have to be worried about getting reelected again. I mean this clearly and with as much seriousness as I can convey: people are going to DIE. People are going to be KILLED.

If you're in the United States, you need to organize resistance NOW. Whatever you're doing in support of Palestine, whoever you're talking to, whatever you're doing to build a community to protest or slow the progress of the decimation of Gaza - you need to keep it going, and prepare to need to apply those same techniques to protect indigenous/oppressed people in the United States in just over a year. Because the left looks like it isn't going to vote for Biden again, but the right is sure as shit going to vote for Trump again. And the United States, as it is today, will not survive another Trump presidency intact. You need to prepare for it like you would a natural disaster. You need to prepare for it like you would an army you know is marching in your direction.

Most people are going to pull a 1930s Germany and hunker down, comply with the demands for brutality, and hope to make it through. That means they will not act to save you, or anyone else, out of fear of being targeted. If you expect to survive without doing so, you're going to have to organize a critical mass of resistance EARLY so that you aren't relying on people to spontaneously organize while staring gun barrels in the face. The 2020 George Floyd BLM protests only happened because people had time due to the COVID shut-downs and the military officials refused Trump's orders to deploy on American soil to "bust heads." The Republican party is currently trying to hold up as many military promotions as possible so that the next Republican president gets to fill them all, to prevent a repeat of that scenario. They LEARNED from that, and will act to keep it from happening again in that way. They're going after mutual aid groups using RICO right now.

I'm serious. Get ready. Start getting ready now. If you don't wind up needing it, it will still help you to have a local organization for support. I hope that you will not need to rely upon this to save your life or the lives of those near you. But I expect this will be necessary.

GET READY.

[wireman-au]

SWAP COMPLETE.

Your name is Bdubs. You are currently sitting on a bench on the street in your coworker's neighborhood. About a block down the road, there's a bar you've personally decided must at least be a little evil. On either side of you, your coworkers are mother henning you. It's unnecessary. They both know you've done this song and dance before.

They both hate you've done this song and dance before.

Whatever. Two more years and you're done with your contractual obligations, and you'll have enough hazard pay that you and Etho and Cleo can all go retire to like, you don't know, a town outside a ski resort in Colorado or something. Live where all them rich, fancy celebrities live. Or, well, maybe not that, but retire to the country and you can finally actually use that architecture degree you sold your soul for. Maybe.

Anyway, none of that matters that much, given that, at the moment, you're still reeling from both having briefly been someone else (what?) and also no longer having a migraine (this should be fine but it's weirder than you thought it would be).

"I'm going to do it. I'm going to kill a general of the United States Army," mutters Cleo. "I'm actually going to do it."

"Chill out!" you shout, irritated.

"You chill out! I just watched you nearly collapse for no reason but the thing they put in your neck!"

"Yeah, well, it's supposed to help me be better, isn't it? Wouldn't'a done it if there weren't upsides."

"Oh, I can name a few reasons they would--"

"Wouldn't'a sent me out on a mission if there weren't upsides, or at least, few enough downsides to make it worth it," you clarify. Cleo shuts her mouth and looks away. Yeah. Okay. Okay.

You take stock of everything that's happened since you left base two days ago:

You've been dizzy.

You've been nauseous.

You've been having trouble sleeping--weird, because you could fall asleep on a bed of nails directly in front of stadium lights, but there you are.

You've been getting migraines.

You've been--weird. You don't know how to put it. You've been weird. Cleo knows it. You know it. You're pretty sure in the like, three hours worth of talking you've done to Etho today, he knows it.

There's been something scratching at the back of your head, like it's trying to get in.

It's stopped. You don’t think that’s because it’s gone. You suspect it’s because it won.

You have to admit Cleo has a point. You aren't going to say anything, though. She's already mad enough she might commit a federal crime and get you both disappeared for, you aren't sure, threatening the integrity of classified military experiments? Like, you're not sure you own the thing they implanted in you, which is--

Which is--

Focus. It doesn't matter for today. For right now. As long as you stop Cleo from committing a murder, you're probably all good.

"Uhh, guys, you two... okay?" Etho asks.

"Peachy," you say. "Don't even have a headache anymore."

"I hate that they do this to you," Cleo says.

"Yeah, uh, count me in. Towards. The hating things," Etho says awkwardly. God, you love that man. No one else could declare his loyalty so badly. "So I guess you're allergic to alcohol now or something?"

"What? No, that can't be it," you say. "I refuse. If I don't get a beer after this I'm suing."

Cleo huffs. "Well, if I have to perform CPR because you try to drink a beer, that's not my fault."

"Oh, screw you."

A shudder runs through your skull. It rings like a bell. You stick out your tongue and don't say anything yet; you'll put it down in the stupid diary later.

[CONNECTION GRANTED.]

Besides, the sooner you get your current job done, the sooner you can go home and ignore all of this.

[morns-fevered-dream]

Well I've tried to avoid spoilers but their are a few things I know going in the appearance of a character from ENT I'd originally guessed Trip Tucker because he died in a weird way and in non-cannon he did things after his "death" but a sci fi news article discussing Daniels gives me a feeling it's him makes more sense though and I saw two images one of a old Burnham and one of Burnham and Moll standing in front of some light on a cliff or something due to a current boycott of Paramount and Paramount+ I'm watching this from a pirate cove and I'd encourage you to do the same and without further ado live blogging of Star Trek Discovery and as always 🌟SPOILERS🌟

Season 5 Episode 10

I'm still sad this is the last episode of DIS

Well I'm glad it's longer then a regular episode but part of me was hoping for a 2 hour finale but considering it wasn't known until after shooting that it was the last episode and then reshoots that I'm sure are the extra length of this episode

I wonder if we'll see the Breen that went in before Moll and Burnham?

Huh Burnham had the same thought

Nooo Burnham

Oh there's one of three Breen cracked like an egg

And their is the other Breen not a happy one either maybe if the Breen had sent scientists instead of Soldiers they'd be more willing to work together Burnham

Damn that was a football tackle

About to be pulled away by a hurricane and still trying to punch damn Burnham is right "STOP IT"

Lots of slow mo

Damn the Breen is back

Why is Moll flying with a gun?

Why did Moll shoot the Breen? I mean the Breen is under her command

No wonder the Breen was so mad their own boss killed the other Breen like a cracked egg I'd be pissed too

Damn Moll is not likable even for a villain

Yeah that's what I thought

Now thinking about it I definitely thought that Detmer and Owosekun would be back by now tbh

Yeah Nhan stepping up suck it admiral

"At least the Breen have a vested interest" didn't you just kill your own Breen soldiers?!

Return of the spinning camera and a surprise appearance of shaky camera

Since it's the last episode I want to say I think DIS has my favorite Engineer crew out of all the Trek shows between Stamets, Adira, Reno and the occasional Booker, Tilly or Culber it has my favorite dynamic

There's one of the images that was spoiled them standing in front of whatever that ripple thing is

Oh they aren't fighting Tahal yet? Then what Breen Is Discovery fighting oh is it the Ruhn Breen Dreadnought or whoever runs it now Moll or that Asrisar Breen

"Ambassador Saru are you insane?" Is hilarious

Just like her Breen colleagues don't turn your back on Moll

Moll isn't very smart Burnham told you the clue and you didn't even use it

What was that scream Moll that was some serious yelling in lower case

Yes trust the good doctor odd visions or whatever

Damn Seru that was cold as ice

I swear Burnham is like the perfect Federation Captain because I would have been pissed

I kind of like that the most powerful tech in the universe is represented with some simple glass triangles

Ancient humanoid appearance!

Something before the progenitors? Mmmh interesting I know Q and the Guardian Of Forever were before the ancient humanoids I'm pretty sure but not much else is known

I love that it's Booker that's with Hugh others would try to explain or theorize but Booker is just like "damn that's crazy" the same nonchalant attitude when Hugn decided to join in the shuttle in the first place

Wow that's a lot of camera spinning

Separate the what?

Damn the ancient humanoids really trying to put this technology off on someone else

A TNG Enterprise D style saucer separation WOOOOOOOOOOO BABY

Is that the Breem Scout ship it looks nice

Ain't no way they just spun that colossal giant Dreadnought like a bayblade that was totally cool

Damn the Progenitor really gave Burnham a crash course on almost all of existence huh?

Honestly I've been thinking all season that kind of technology needs to go permanently

I'm sad Stamets won't get his legacy dream the spore drive program was canceled and made secret, spore drive didn't replace the regular warp drive in the 32nd century and now unable to study the progenitors tech what I'm really sad about is that this arc for Stamets won't be resolved because this is the finale

Picard Wine, Geordi old visor and a baseball presumably something to do with Sisko interesting

Kovich was Daniels all along?! This isn't what I thought the returning ENT thing was gonna be I'll be honest I was actually surprised

Yes! The Saru x T'Rina wedding what everyone was hoping for

Talaxian pirates? Mmmmh

All of the dress uniforms and fancy wedding clothes look great

Old Burnham and old Booker look like themselves but with gray hair I look forward to seeing irl old compared to TV old like they did for TOS, TNG and DS9 episodes where it showed a older version of a character and then people put up a image of them later irl when the actor was actually older

Burnham 33nd century civilian clothes look like she ready for the wild west I guess some fashion just comes around huh

Admiral you say

Oh that's a alien deer cool

Ooooo another uniform

They got kid in Starfleet already wow future jumps do that though

I like these even further in the future 33nd century uniforms that admiral one is nice I like the line going down the pants but I also liked that on the PIC S3 uniform too so I guess I'm just a sucker for that uniform design choice

I also like the new 33nd century Starfleet logo

For future versions of the Starfleet logo post ST Nemesis I think this new one and the Future Imperfect TNG one from the fake future are probably my favorites

Damn how many refits has that ship undergone to be still be in service

For a minute I thought she was about to pass down Discovery to her son

So a short explanation of Calypso but I still don't understand why Zora had to wait for Craft or the importance of Craft tbh and poor Zora has to wait 1000 years alone is so strange I also assume it was a life or death thing with the crew abandoned ship rather then this whole red directive thing its just kind of odd

Ah Detmer and Owosekun finally returned for the last few minutes of the finale

Ah a impressive fleet shot I do love the Merian Class, Kirk Class, Courage Class of my personal favorite out of the 32-33nd century ships the Eisenberg Class

So that's it the end of Discovery it had its hurdles but it also started Nu-Trek I personally am indeed a fan of the show this and Lower Decks are definitely my favorite of the Nu-Trek shows I am sad to see it go

It started my tradition of watching Nu-Trek and drinking canned Guayaki Yerba Mate late at night and it started many fond memories I've never said this online before but I never watched the last episode of ENT until the pilot of DIS came out I waited years to watch it but I couldn't bring myself to "finish" Star Trek until a new show was announced so I waited years to watch that last episode of ENT and after years of waiting and it was terrible but luckily this finale was better then that

[shadowmaat]

Freedom of speech as freedom to hate

America has a truth problem, and it loves to hide behind the First Amendment as an excuse to say appallingly false and dangerous things.

Part of the problem is that, unlike other places that draw the line at hate speech, the US still protects it. Sure, "incitement to violence" is bad, but there are whole universes of horror that are allowed to propagate because they don't specifically say "go out and kill these people." Although if we're being honest, even that still manages to find some wiggle room, allowing politicians in particular to do and say whatever they want.

Disinformation has grown exponentially over the years and, as far as I know, little is being done to try and curb it beyond the occasional wrist-slap at social media empires who can pay fines without even noticing it.

Brazil took the dramatic step of blocking Twitter because Melon refused to block a handful of accounts that are under investigation for federal crimes relating to disinformation and the organization of digital militias bent on destabilizing the government. According to Melon, that should be allowed because freedom of speech! Upholding democracy! Not my problem! (Unless it's the terrorists and dictators asking for help, then he's happy to suppress.)

US coverage has been mixed, but seems to lean towards agreeing with Melon and saying that Brazil has gone "too far." What else, exactly, could they do that would have any kind of impact on an egotistical near-trillionaire? At least they're trying to do something.

Meanwhile a former US President has gone on live television stating that Haitian immigrants are eating "cats and dogs," and as far as I know, other than some fact-checking that flew over his swollen head, he hasn't faced any repercussions. None. Shit like that can (and has, in the past) gotten people killed, but it's being allowed because, what? It isn't a direct order telling people to go out and kill Haitians? It's also proven false. Not that anything that extreme should need fact checking, but it was and the answer was: that's fucking bullshit. And yet Trump has said it. Vance has said it. Others in the government have parroted it. They KNOW it isn't true, but truth hasn't mattered to them for a long time. And since they can say the most horrific shit imaginable without getting in trouble, they keep doing it.

If the families of Sandy Hook hadn't gotten together to sue Alex Jones, he'd still be out there spreading lies and conspiracy theories. And if they hadn't had some damn good lawyers, they still might have lost. Is that what it comes down to? If we want to see any justice for the blatant and damaging lies told by politicians and public figures, we have to gather our own little groups to sue them and then hope we can win?

It's disgusting. And it's destroying whatever's left of this country. I'm also tired of excuses like "we have to be careful about the wording of laws because it could be weaponized against its purpose." It already fucking is! Grow a backbone! Stop the hate! Too many have suffered and died already.

[redshift-starfire]

Getting my thoughts on the election out since I've been seeing some squabbling on my dash and I wanna make a futile attempt at clearing shit up that probably won't change anyone's mind

I'm gonna get the president shit out of the way first. Just vote for the genocide woman if you live in a swing state. We (leftists) all hate her, we are all aware that she won't stop the suffering going on in Gaza or Lebanon or anywhere else and she's not going to do much good here. I don't like voting against my morals or best interest, but that was never an option for us. Our voting system is first-past-the-post, winner takes all, so if we don't ensure that the genocidal cop woman with some good policy doesn't get into that office, then we WILL get genocidal old orange billionaire "man" who is hellbent on making everything infinitely worse. It's much easier to bully the former into ending the genocide than the latter. The latter will get you shot by the national guard. Vote strategically then bully relentlessly. We need to get our shit together if we want things to change for the better.

But more importantly:

THERE'S MORE ON THE BALLOT THAN JUST THE PRESIDENT

Do not fucking forget about Congress and how much of a hand they play in all this. God fucking forbid the GOP get another trifecta, if they do it's fucking over, we can't let that happen again. Conservatives are going out in droves to vote early and we need to beat that. A dem majority (especially a supermajority) would make it infinitely easier for the progressive caucus to get their bills through. And that would make many things possible, including better border policy and a ceasefire. This is the best outcome we can hope to have.

VOTE FUCKING LOCAL

I've seen people talking a lot about conservative maniacs in office. THIS IS WHERE THEY ARE. GET. THEM. OUT. This election has State and Federal Senate and House seats up for grabs, Governors, Mayors, County Officials, Sheriffs. All people who have a much greater force on your personal material life than whoever's ass gets sat at that one chair in that one old ass building in DC. This is the one place in American politics where Socialist and Green party candidates are even anywhere close to viable right now and it's how we can get them to be more viable in the future. Do research and make your voice heard in your local area and conditions will improve no matter who the president is. Especially if you show up for primaries and runoffs. There's an independent journalist who makes leftist voting guides for my area and that's what I used to figure out who best to vote for (much more useful for primaries).

DO OTHER SHIT TOO

This is where you can do whatever really, so long as it helps. Poll watch to make sure the GOP doesn't try and completely derail this one. Cure ballots to make sure they're counted. Protest. Scream at people. Join a militia. Strike. Plan the revolution. Boycott. Jack off on Ronald Reagan's grave and post an image of the result on every social media site with the caption: "I'm doing my part!" Whatever. Go fucking wild. The most important thing is that you bully the shit out of whoever is in office until they do something. We by no means should only be doing one thing to shape this society into one we like. Reform/revolution is a false dichotomy. If we do both at the same time, one of them will work.

Do not let them know peace.

[velvetthebun]

Okay, I'm only 4 chapters into The Dragon Republic, so I'm ready to be either wrong or too right about this... but I haven't been able to stop thinking about this in cycles for the last 24 hours. This is probably not very cohesive, but it's a rant I need to write down so it can later bite me in the ass.

The narrative had me believe that Jiang was "the odd one out" at Sinegard, ya know in the group of teachers, literally training child soldiers, he was at first this ethereal chaos who did petty pranks and taught a subject no one really believed in anymore.

But I've been stuck in this thought of... he ain't much better than either of them, including Jun. He didn't fight enough to stay around Altan. Like... Rin still goes to classes with the other masters. What was stopping him from still giving Altan lessons? I know they wanted a Speerly in the army, but this is Jiang we're talking about. When did he care about what the orders were. Give him private lessons in the broom closet or whatever. Say you're doing it out of spite just like training Rin despite Jun's prohibition.

But my second line of thought is... even if he did, it wouldn't have solved anything. Because while Rin is full of stubborn rage and doesn't listen to any warnings... he did fuck all in explaining to her HOW dangerous calling on the Phoenix is. His lessons were the equivalent of telling a kid "don't touch the fire" in the middle of a cold dark night, without saying that touching the fire would result in burns instead of pleasant warmth. Like sure both him and Tearza said multiple times that the Phoenix just feeds and feeds and burns and burns, but words mean nothing when you have reachable power in the amount of powerlessness and suffering that the Federation brought. Those words mean nothing until you see with your own eyes how true they are. Or...hear actual consequences.

And then when Altan came looking like he's got his shit together and actually knows how to use said powers, how was this literal teenager not supposed to succumb to the pull? I don't believe there are many people as young as Rin who'd have done things differently under all of her circumstances.

There's also the fact of having had students before and then getting too scared and dumping them in Baghra.

Anyway, my conclusion to this stream of conciousness is - Jiang, as a very chaotic person with suspected ADHD who jumps from one thought to the next too quickly and happens to be teacher myself, you weren't very good at teaching.

[disfrutalakia]

The thing about all of this, though, is that there's probably nothing any of the islanders can do to undo the possession. Killing, talking, locking up... None of those things will change anything. At most, it will stop him temporarily from doing whatever evil thing he tries to do.

Richas maybe MAYBE can bring him back by talking, dying, or something but, after today, I wouldn't count on it.

The federation is a good candidate but they are absurdly untrustworthy and we don't know if they know how to undo it.

The resistance seems so afraid of the black concrete that I don't think they know how to deal with it. They don't care about Forever either. I can see them wanting to use the opportunity to attack the Federation though.

Then there's us ("the consciousness"). We theoretically allowed it to take over by completing the ARG so, theoretically, we could undo it the same way? But that's also a big maybe.

To me, Forever is now some kind of code monster that they should fear and I'm not sure how he'll go back to normal.

(It's an amazing RP, though I'll miss building the moon house and chilling.)

I genuinely don't know how they can get @v@ out honestly, like we don't even know fully what it is. My first thought would be an exorcize but it's not not a demon, at least doesn't feel like it is.

Medicine? Does nothing as far as we can see

The only way that I can maybe, just maybe see things working is if Forever himself is able to take control back and just, lock @v@ away, but even that could be risky because there could be a chance of it escaping and taking control again

[bbbellamywrites]

i just wanna start this with a note that i don't go here ( read: i lurk in the back of the class but don't participate, usually getting others (@lionheartedmusings) to share my answers for me ) but i've got thoughts and feelings about how things were going before i stopped watching last night. ( this got long so i tossed in a read more )

obligatory note that even if i don't add a q! i am entirely talking about characters here, not the creators.

q!bad is being accused of so much - some of which he is doing, sure, but honestly it feels a bit rich coming from most people on the server. some are newer and only have whatever people have told them to go off of, so i can understand their view to an extent, but there are others that have been here long enough to know different. to know bbh, to know the others, to know how the island is.

bagi saying bad is becoming evil - is he? outside of the fact that he's a demon of some sort and i think applying the human/mortal concepts of good/evil to beings that are not human/mortal doesn't work, what about how bad has been is evil?

telling her he was going to eat her pets? he wouldn't, and if he did accidentally kill one of her pets he would've felt guilty and replaced it asap. it was a terrible joke, but i think it's important consider bad's humor with his other friends - because he did come to think of bagi as a friend. if he'd said that to baghera, or foolish, or forever, or any number of other people, they would have known he wouldn't actually. they might have taunted him with a "oh yeah? do it", or showed up to punch him a time or two - but at most he would've put the pet in a cage and hid it away and giggled while searching his backpacks so he could give it back.

leaving mines in federation and public spaces? lets ignore the fact that he's trying to get the federation's attention. he isn't putting them in player bases, at least not in any way that would do damage to those bases ( he dug down and used the ghost blocks, yes, but from what i've seen he's only done that in spaces that wouldn't screw up builds ), with the exception of quackity's ( which i think he put down prior to this whole mess, if i'm remembering correctly ). even then... he is far from the first person on the server to put the mines everywhere, and i only vaguely remember at this point, but i don't think most people have been as careful with their use of them. plus... maybe i'm wrong, but i feel like he's only doing it because the eggs aren't here. i wouldn't be surprised if he went through and cleaned up as much as he could as soon as the kids come home.

stealing, or "liberating" furniture? this isn't a new behavior, and more recently when i've seen him pick something up, he just ends up putting it right back down. it was a fun little game, a little habit that was annoying but overall didn't hurt people. i even remember there being a little game of it between him and cellbit, a back and forth that might have been annoying but read as affection.

does any of that make him evil? because if it does, i think we may as well just mark down everyone on the island as being evil.

next up we have the kidnapping stuff. did he kidnap a worker? sure, but the only one that knows that is baghera. the others have no evidence, and are speculating, and most are just getting that information from tubbo. (for this we're gonna ignore that the evidence tubbo found was pretty clearly meant more for bad to find, because that doesn't matter anymore unless they force a retcon which i don't see them doing.)

• bad has, on a few different occasions, imprisoned people : - usually foolish, in those little cage traps - just a silly game between two ancient non-human creatures, a back and forth that no one seems to understand when they try to explain it. its a game, just like the fish slapping or inviting people to live in the dragon. • with cellbit and phil (with tubbo as an audience), caging forever and pac was done to save them. they were caged, and downed, so they could have their pockets cleared and then they could begin the detox to get them off the drugs the federation had them on. they were worried for their friends and were willing to go to extremes to save them. • ron. ron, who bad has had for ages at this point. he tortured him once and felt bad for it and hasn't done it again, as far as we know. he healed him up. bad gave him his name, if i remember correctly. he has come to care for ron, has given him as nice a cell as he can - nicer than the federation would have given them, if i had to guess. ron who, in some twisted reverse-stockholm syndrome moment, bad has come to think of as part of his family. he is using ron, and keeping him captive, but i fully trust him to find a way to let him go safely, and probably even get him set up somewhere.

one of those is pretty clearly wrong by the standards most people have, but he's already expressed he's willing to do whatever it takes to get his kids back. everyone is always ready to destroy the federation without a thought, without thinking about the details ( are any of the workers (canonically) in the buildings they're fucking with? are the workers going to get in trouble and punished for the things the residents are doing (look at walter bob, who was punished for looking different after mike's haircut, or when he was being kind/helping them in the prison)? are the workers the ones that are going to have to clean up the mess they make (the federation probably could've done it in a snap, but still sent workers to remove the cobble after the lavacast that fit/phil/tubbo did)?

so bad, from all of that, is evil and a problem and all that, right? what if we look at the things the others have done, or planned to do:

• that lavacast we mentioned up there? not end of the world, but the server is pretty quick to grief, especially to get attention. the melons in the church, the mines everywhere, the drills that were nerfed at least partially because people kept using them to break into federation buildings? most people on the island can be lumped in on this one. • the mines, by the way, that not only destroyed land and builds but downed (killed?) players? could've easily killed the eggs? • forever's plan from ages ago, in which he intended to kidnap philza and annoy (torture) him until he loved him back. • foolish taking pac & mike directly to cucurucho to be arrested, happily willing to arrest anyone else. • cellbit killing abueloier, straight up murdering the man. for what... saying he was gonna tell roier not to marry him? • quackity/elquackity? kidnapping - even if you don't count richas (who was still 1% his son), he kidnapped and threatened dapper and had tried repeatedly to take tallulah. constantly threatened the eggs, had plans to kill them various times.

but most of them aren't evil, right? sure they did bad things, but they're not evil?

i don't know, i simply think things on the island are too grey to use black and white words like "good" and "evil".

....also real tired of people saying bad is grieving his 'son' as if he doesn't also have pomme, as if he didn't love all of the other eggs like his own. he spent so much time with the kids. gave them so many resources, and was so quick to help them however he could - to give them any number of things they asked for. but now they're gone and he's lost, and his moral compass (dapper & pomme) is gone.

he's not bending over backwards to help people - he's playing the same games the others were playing in the beginning... and people are so quick to decide he's the problem.

because they care.

they're breaking into his house and ignoring the sign (which tubbo read out loud to phil and forever, which i'll give them that maybe they didn't know that was the direction forever went? because tubbo and phil went back to spawn briefly, but context clues should've told them.). they sneak around instead of talking to him.

because they care.

telling others and not needing proof to believe what's said. they know him, and the report tubbo's talking about doesn't sound too much like the bbh they know, but it makes sense.

because they care.

they refuse to believe him. because yeah, he lies a lot. sure he's been one of the most reliable people on the island, and even when he does lie it's usually harmless and playful. and sure when he does have something he might play for a few minutes but usually gives it back. but this time they don't believe him.

because they know him. because they care.

[zooophagous]

Today's entry of Wayward Souls deals with the aftermath of Mr. Strauss' big night on the town and is an aside exploring the point of view of a side character.

I went back and forth over when the best time was to share this. It's sort of been bothering me ever since it happened, and my therapist told me it's healthy to share and write it down. For a couple of reasons, I hesitated. First, because it sounds stupid. At best, people would think I was exaggerating for attention. Second, because some really sketchy people really, really didn't want me to say anything.

Well, sue me.

For the purposes of our story, you can call me "Tina."  Fake name, just in case someone figures out I blabbed, but it's not like they'll have a hard time figuring it out from the details anyway.

I used to work at a pet store as a sales associate. I say 'used to' because after what  I saw, I'm not going back in there. I didn't even go back to get my last check. I made them mail it. This wasn't a nice pet store, it was a chain store. A Pets-R-Inn in a shitty strip mall. The sort of pet store that sells puppies and always sort of smells like shit.

You know the type. Yeah, I know it's bad. I knew it was bad while I worked there. I figured maybe I could work part time with animals and elevate the care a little bit, you know? I can't make a store stop selling puppies but I can make sure the puppies are clean. I can scoop a dead fish out of a tank. I can quarantine a sick rat before it infects the others. Maybe trying to make a difference in a place like that was my first mistake.

I've seen so much shit and vomit and pee and parasites it would make your head spin. I'm not saying this to bring down the 'good name' of the chain pet store that sells sickly puppy mill dogs for three grand a piece and pays just above the federal minimum wage in the year of our Lord 2023 however. No, that's a rant for another time.

 I'm telling you this so you understand that I have a strong stomach. You HAVE to have a strong stomach when you work with animals. Any time you work with living things, inevitably you're going to work with dying things. Especially when most of the animals you work with are rodents with a natural lifespan not even a tenth of your own, who all live in close quarters and share their food and water and diseases alike.

I'm not being dramatic. I'm not getting worked up over nothing and I am NOT making this up. I was a good worker and I was good at my job. I didn't let one weird guy ruin it for me. It was ruined for me by a monster. And now I'm terrified I'm being followed by the FBI or the CIA or some government something. I don't know who they are. I don't care anymore. If I go missing maybe whoever reading this can figure out who to blame.

I'm getting off track here. So, this one day, I'm working the shop by myself. It was sort of a cold rainy day, real grey and dark. My stupid shit head manager Derek takes off for a "meeting" that was a 2 hour lunch he didn't clock out for, and left me to run the shop alone.

Not a huge deal, when I'm alone I can slack off and do whatever, and the major chores for the day were done because it was dead slow so I was just at the counter on my phone. As I'm standing there the door jingles open and this guy walks in.

I look up a little and say hi. I'm not really paying as much attention to him as I should, because he sort of looks like he knows what he wants already and heads right in. He looked sort of  bedraggled, scruffy, but a lot of our customers are "animal people" who have dirty stuff to do so I don't think much of it. It was half storming outside anyway.

He goes back to where we keep the feeder mice. Now, I'm sure you're probably aware that snakes eat whole prey. Well, we try really hard to get our customers to switch to frozen whole prey instead of live because live isn't as humane, and being the kindly little Snow White I am, I start preparing my spiel.

I see he's already trying to open the cages. That's no good. Liability. God forbid someone get bit by a rat or drop the whole fucking fish tank full of them and sue us. Or worse, some bleeding heart trying to "save" them again by stealing them or turning them loose.

So I'm helpful and I go back with my keys and I say to him "Hey, I need to be the one to open that for you." Now I actually do get a look at the guy. He's muddy. Like covered in mud. Soaked. He looks homeless and he might be having an episode of some sort and Derek is still gone. Great.

By this time he's got the cage open. Which, by the way, is locked. He broke the lock. The padlock. With his hands. His hands that are now rooting around in a tank full of white mice. I don't really want to stop him. I don't think I CAN stop him. He turns around and he looks at me.

He's got a little pink tail coming out of his mouth. He has a mouse in his fucking mouth. He ate a fucking mouse.

My chest gets tight and I don't really know if I should scream or if that will make it worse but I'm screaming anyway and he spits the mouse out and shoves another one into his mouth and I hear it CRUNCH and he stares me dead in the eyes while he does it.

Speaking of eyes, his were glowing. The way a cats eyes sort of shine in different colors. He's taking a step towards me and I see he's got more mice in his hand and he has claws on his hand instead of nails.

This is when I started yelling. Not screaming, really, more of a holler. An angry yell. A garbled sort of half terror and half "what the fuck do you think you're doing" that came out in a single loud note that cut my throat raw as I let it out.

I hear the door jingle again. I'm hoping it's Derek. No, just more customers, or so I thought. They're yelling at him. He backs off, he's like... hiding from them? I think for a moment I'm saved, that maybe this is just some sort of patient that wandered away from his handlers or something. But then more people pile in.

And now one of them has a gun.

Somehow or other it has now managed to ESCALATE. This guy fucking panics, throws down a whole shelf of cages and they all shatter. There are mice EVERYWHERE. They don't just scatter though, they're running together in a swarm towards the lady with a gun. Did I mention it was a lady? I thought it was weird it was a lady. Usually ladies don't shoot up stores.

But anyway these mice are running to her and running up her legs and she's screaming and while she's freaking out the guy rushes them and knocks everyone over and he's just out of there like a bat out of Hell. The crowd runs off with him, and suddenly I'm alone again.

Just surrounded by broken glass, loose mice, and no explanation at all of what the fuck just happened. It was about this time Derek FINALLY decided to grace me with his presence and yell at me for all the shit that went wrong. As if I could have stopped it.

And of course he didn't believe me until AFTER he saw the security footage. I mean granted I sounded like a mess but what the Hell kind of lie would it be that a crazy person came in and started eating mice?

The aftermath was Hell. I had to stay late that night catching mice and cleaning up broken glass and spilled bedding. He broke the door too on his way out, which Derek had to leave yet again to go get a chain and padlock to keep it shut while I stayed behind and had another panic attack.

While I was cleaning up I found a couple of dead ones. Mice, I mean. They're not built to be thrown around like that. One I found though was very interesting. It was dead, yes, but it looked like it had been dead a while.

It was hard to the touch, and brittle. Mummified like a cat in the wall of an old building. I thought maybe it had escaped a long time ago and the activity only just now knocked the carcass loose from wherever it was stuck. But its fur was damp, and it had a large, suspiciously tooth shaped gash in its abdomen.

It was the mouse that guy ate. Except he didn't eat it. He just... sucked every drop of fluid out of it and spit it back out. Then he went back for more. He wasn't eating them, just... juicing them.

After finding that I finally gave up and called it quits. I didn't have it in me to keep cleaning and I wasn't sure I could come back to the store either, so despite Derek's vociferous petulant protests I went home.

Aside from suddenly being jobless, life was quiet and normal after that. I avoided the store but I'm told the creepy guy never came back. I thought maybe that lady actually shot him, not sure if it would really make me feel bad or not.

But the story doesn't just end there. Oh no! I should be so lucky! No, seeing someone having an episode or a meth bender or what have you is definitely distressing, but it doesn't really typically tip the scales from a moment of terror and confusion to a chronic anxiety that you're being followed and watched.

A few days after that little incident, I get a knock at my door. I open it, and I find an official looking little envelope. Maybe it's a subpoena to be a witness to the crime or whatever. I open it up.

No, it's a letter. Addressed to me, personally. "Dear Redacted, my name is Ursula Harker, I am writing on behalf of the Van Helsing Institute relating to a recent incident at 'Pets R Inn' retail store, in which you were the victim of an assault and may be entitled to financial compensation. Please contact me at your earliest convenience. This is an attempt to settle the matter out of court without the input of the police. By accepting our cash offer you are relinquishing your right to file civilly against the Institute, and agreeing to a non-disclosure cause. The Institute can be reached at..."

You get the idea. So I call this woman, Miss Ursula Harker. Even her name sounds creepy. She picks up, I tell her who I am.  She immediately starts apologizing to me, promising to pay for any store damages or medical bills and then some. Asking to buy my silence. So I tell her I've only got one question for her.

She says go ahead.

I ask her "What was that guy?"

She starts telling me that his name is Luther and he's a patient at such and such and I cut her off and I say again No.

What was that guy?

She's quiet for a bit and she asks what I mean. Now, I'm not a doctor. But I know a decent amount about animals. And I know this. People don't have eyes that glow in the dark. People also can't desiccate a mouse by sucking it dry in five seconds flat. She hesitates but then starts making excuses about HIPAA laws and how she can't discuss their patients and she asks me how much it would take for me to stay quiet.

I hang up on her.

Maybe that was really stupid. Could have got some cash out of the deal. The store got a new door and a nice fat payday they spent on a facelift for the place, and it only cost them their security footage.

More than that, it was really stupid because they kept calling me. She left me at least three messages before giving up. I was afraid to leave my apartment. They already knew my name and obviously knew where I lived. And they were protecting that guy... that THING somehow. Maybe they were the ones who made him? Like he was an experiment that got out and they were doing damage control?

I did a little asking around about "The Van Helsing Institute" and all I could find was that it's a private Catholic hospital. A "research hospital," whatever the fuck research that entails, I don't want to know about it.

The craziest shit though, is that this has apparently happened before. While I was digging around I found the contact info for a guy called "John." He's apparently an ex employee and now very outspoken critic of that hospital, trying to gather as much dirt on them as he can. I gave him my story, and all the descriptions I could. Basically if I see anything even remotely weird I report to him now.

It feels good, I guess, not being alone. I don't know that he could actually protect me if they got mad and came after me but I like that someone is watching them. Someone is keeping score. Mostly it feels good to know that I actually saw what I saw. It was a monster, I'm not crazy, and I think I did the right thing not selling my silence even though the lack of a paycheck hurts.

I keep getting more and more paranoid though. I've been seeing this weird woman follow me around town. Not the gun one- a different one this time. She's got sort of a medium tan skin tone, she's very petit, and she has this incredibly long dark hair and dark eyes. It makes her stand out in a crowd. I see her more and more whenever I'm out and I don't know if she's with John or with... the other guys.

I don't go out much after dark any more. I don't know how much this involves me now but I'm trying to move back in with my mom in Wisconsin. If I make it, you won't hear from me again. If I don't, just keep an eye on the obituaries. If I die, let it be known I don't want any part of my body used for research. It should be burned.

[dream-meister-translations]

DREAM MEISTER & THE RECOLLECTED BLACK FAIRY

MAIN STORY : CHAPTER 2 PART 18

━

Mateo was successfully purified, and the following day...

Sion, who had been unconscious since the incident, finally awoke. I, along with the members of the Magia Seminar, were visiting him.

SION : ...What have I done…?

KAI : Stop muttering and get some rest. You're still healing.

SION : Rest is unnecessary... I'm fine, I’ve more than healed enough…

KAI : I'll be the judge of that. You're still weak, so stay put.

ANGE : Nya〜n♪

KAI : See? Even Ange agrees.

SION : Well, I'm sorry, Ange, but I have something I need to ask Est…

EST : What is it, Sion?

SION : What I've done is unforgivable. What kind of punishment will be imposed on me? I fear they’ll be revoking my Meister qualification, but everything that happened here is the result of my own weakness. I'm prepared to accept whatever punishment comes my way.

EMMA : Sion...

EST : As a matter of fact, I've already informed the Federation about it. But since it involves the Black Fairies, I believe that, with His Majesty's support, we can protect your Meister qualification.

SION : But I used forbidden magic...

EST : Yes, because you were possessed by the Black Fairy.

SION : What!? No, I...

EST : Disqualifying a budding talent like yours would be a significant loss to mages everywhere, not to mention the magical world itself. As a teacher and a Meister of sorcery, this is my judgment.

EST : Let me handle the rest.

SION : Est...

EST : Of course, there's one thing I want you to promise.

EST : In the future, do refrain from using forbidden magic. It only brings misfortune to people.

SION : ...

EST : Can you promise me that much?

SION : I promise… Est…

SION : I'm sorry… Sensei… I apologize...

KAI & GUI : Did Sion just call him "sensei"!?

SION : Isn’t it you guys always telling me to call him that?

EST : Haha, oh, I’ll never get used to that…

EMMA : (He’s not used to it, huh? But Est-san is their teacher...)

EST : It's okay. Let's not rush into anything; let's just continue as we were before.

KAI : No way, Sensei. If you start spoiling him now, he'll be an even bigger pain for me to deal with...

SION : Understood, Est.

KAI : Hey! You little sh--!!

EST : Sion, I'm the one who should apologize. I never understood how you felt. I know you desire recognition more than anyone else. That's why I don't want you to rush anything right now. Your power will surely blossom someday. Take your time and nurture it carefully with your friends here at this academy.

SION : Yes, sir.

KAI : Sion, once you're better, let's get back to work on that joint assignment.

GUI : There are so many things I don't understand without Sion’s help...

SION : Heh…

SION : You guys can’t go a day without me, huh?

EST : Hm… It would seem I've come out of this incident with a little more courage, thanks to my students.

EMMA : Courage?

EST : Yes. I was worried about my being a teacher and whether I was doing it properly, but...

EST : Everyone seems to be growing.

EST : I'm looking forward to their future even more now.

A smile stretched across Est-san’s cheeks as he gazed upon his students in genuine happiness, but also with a hint of melancholic sadness... I couldn't help but gaze at his expression…

EST : By the way... Emma-kun.

EST : I wanted to talk about that fairy who has been watching us through the gap in the door...

MATEO : ...Uh...a...nu...

EMMA : Oh...

Mateo, who had been purified and placed inside the key, was already making a habit of coming out like this. He seemed concerned about Sion…

EMMA : Sion, may I ask a favor?

SION : Of course. After I put you through so much trouble…

EMMA : No, it's not about me at all. It's about the fairy...

SION : The fairy? Wait, you!?

MATEO : Uh...th...s...i...o...n...

EMMA : Look, Mateo, you want to say something to Sion, right?

MATEO : ...Sion...th...s...

SION : I've suffered quite a lot, you know…

MATEO : S...so...rr...y...

SION : But it's because of my weakness, not yours. Besides, you were also being controlled by that man in the hat.

SION : All that anger, the hatred... I could feel your emotions mingling with mine.

SION : So I don't place any of the blame on you. I'm just glad that your frenzy has subsided.

MATEO : Uh...Sion... Th...ank...y...ou...

SION : Hmph.

EMMA : (Anger and hatred, huh? I wonder how Mateo became a Black Fairy…?)

I gently held the key I was wearing around my neck.

EMMA : (Navi’s still asleep… so it would seem...)

I recalled the words Navi said to me right before returning to the key....

NAVI : Hey, Master. I'm a bit tired, so I'm going to rest for a while, but when I wake up, there's something I want to talk to you about.

NAVI : It’s my past… I think I remembered something about my past…

[found-wings]

evermore is such a q!phil song especially rn- I'm a bit busy rn so I can't dissect the Full song but I'll grab the bridge and brainrot as much as I can because holy shit especially with the storyline happening rn this song has never been more him and I Always accept the opportunity to appreciate a taylor swift song

-

"Can't not think of all the cost

And the things that will be lost

Oh, can we just get a pause?

To be certain we'll be tall again

Whether weather be the frost

Or the violence of the dog days

I'm on waves, out being tossed

Is there a line that I could just go cross?

And when I was shipwrecked (can't think of all the cost)

I thought of you (all the things that will be lost now)

In the cracks of light (can we just get a pause?)

I dreamed of you (to be certain we'll be tall again)

(If you think of all the costs)

It was real enough (whether weather be the frost)

To get me through (or the violence of the dog days)

(Out on waves being tossed)

But I swear (is there a line that we could just go cross?)

You were there"

-

OHHHHHHHHHHH THIS POOR CROW IM PUTTING HIM THROUGH THE WRINGER AND SQUEEZING OUT EVERY BIT OF ANGST POSSIBLE BECAUSE GOD. CAN HE FIT ALOT OF THAT.

okay especially with the story rn, I am 100% connecting the beginning to his feelings to chayanne and tallulah. the fact that every choice he makes even when they're gone, could be affecting his kids with the way that the federation 100% has them and are not above punishing innocent bystanders for other people's actions. all he can think about is his kids, all he wants is to be with them again. at this point his priority isn't even to keep them Safe or to leave the island, he just wants tangible proof that they're alive and to be there with them and AAAAAAA it hurts !!!!!! he would do anything to get them back and the feds knew that and def punished him so severely to make sure he'd wanna stay in line for anything else they'd do in the future ;;;-;;

and taylors parts of the bridges duet?? oh for sure that's phil while he was trapped, literally no way, locked in a place where in his sleep it's delusions of his life before where he was free to do anything he wanted- to waking in a place where he is the most imprisoned he's ever been is just so painful and the bridge describes the thoughts of unreality and searching for something tangible to hold onto so perfectly AAAAAAAAAA I NEED SOMEONE TO GIVE HIM A HUG ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ - 💿

OH MY GOD 💿 ANON PLEASE, WAAAH

I cannot properly put my thoughts together rn but gods I‘m listening to the song rn AND IT HURTS SO MUCH BUT FITS SO WELL

Phil just wants his two children back!! Please, I WILL CRY

Also for some reason, I can‘t quite tell why, but the part of

„And I was catching my breath

Barefoot in the wildest winter

Catching my Death“

Gives me such.. idk, odd vibes in relation to Phil?? Like it gives me slight vibes of Phils dreams of his Hardcore world(s) and how it could be viewed as him kinda.. processing things?

It doesn‘t quite make much sense to anyone but me probably ( #sick with too many thoughts WHEEZE ), but dreaming of being free, doing whatever he wants to. Building, breathing, flying and living, with death being the only thing that could ever stop him.

Dreaming of a world like that was his only escape of reality, because the situation he was in within the birdhouse felt like death for him. His two children are gone and god knows where, having been baited into a trap with a promise of slightest hope of finding them, his wings clipped with him being a downed bird basically inside a cage with no clue on if he’d ever go free again, if anyone would ever even find him - if anyone even cared. This was basically him watching himself die in a way

Or maybe I‘m looking too much into it WHEEZE