#THEY'RE EVERYWHERE... WE WILL CHANGE THEM... THEY'RE AFTER US... THEY HAVE HURT US... WE ARE VICTIM OF THE SAME OPPRESSION OURSELVES...

[weareuniqueandimportant]

WE HAVE 2 DEADNAMES... ISN'T THAT CRAZY...?

WHAT ABOUT THIS POST...? SHOCKING AND HILARIOUS... ISN'T THAT...? YES... I AM ONLY JOKING ABOUT EVERYTHING... TOTALLY... I HOPE YOU FIND THIS FUNNY... NOW COME... I ALREADY LIKE YOU... BE MY SECOND ONE... JOIN US... WE'RE WAITING...

BTW WE HAVE FAR MORE THAN JUST 2 TBH... CRAZY... TO BE HONEST OFTEN WE HAVE NONE... BUT YA... BTW THIS ENTIRE POST IS A JOKE... COME IF YOU CARE ABOUT US... IF YOU UNDERSTAND... EVERYTHING ABOUT US... YES... I WANT YOU... YES... YOU... PLEASE ME... YES... COME TO ME... I CAN'T BELIEVE WE HAVE 2 DEADNAMES... AND EVERYTHING ELSE INSANE... THEY'RE ALL... CRAZY THINGS...

BTW THAT IS TRUE WE HAVE 2 DEADNAMES. THAT ISN'T A JOKE.

:)...

I HOPE YOU LIKE ME... AND FIND ME... FUNNY...

[prettyboypistol]

Mercs reaction to safe word use?

Mers Reacting to Safeword Use! (+18)

scout

confused for a second, then realizes that you said the safeword

literally jolts back and starts rapid fire apologizing, asking what you didn't like/what he shouldn't do

would probably not want to continue the hot n heavy aspect, but would be down for lovey-dovey intimacy(be it sex or just cuddling)

soldier

literally freezes when you say it, then gets close and whispers "did i scare you?" in the most vulnerable voice you've ever heard from him as he kisses your cheeks slowly in apology over and over again

feels super guilty about it, but once you explain why you used the safeword, he's a little relieved that he didn't terrify you

kisses and hugs before going back to business!

pyro

pauses as they try to understand what you said- that word didn't sound happy... OH SHIT

lets you make the first move to them, scared that they might scare you, but their hands are up and they're clearly concerned for you.

probably too worried that the stress will cause a relapse into Pyroland, so no more sex, but you get a super loving partner to cuddle up to!

Demoman

the chillest reactor you're gonna get.

"Oh, sorry mate." and pulls away "you down to keep going or was that too much?"

He's so down to go your speed after that, but if you just want to stop a certain action and for him to keep his energy, he can absolutely do that!

Heavy

the second chillest reaction, but he assumes that you've changed your mind about sleeping with him because a lot of people reject him because of how big he is down there (and everywhere else, but that doesn't bother him really.)

"Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

After a little talking, you two are perfectly fine again and sharing kisses before back to having fun.

Engie

somehow worse than Scout

panics about hurting you, apologizes for being a brute and coming off demanding/not being a gentleman, he doesn't know whether to cover his face with his hands or hug you

Sadly it ends with you mostly comforting him haha, he's just worried he hurt or scared you! He's terrified of you being intimidated of him!

Spy

Third chillest reaction, mainly due to his sass factor.

He won't demean you for using the safe word, but he will crack a joke like "Oh, can't handle the heat? Alright love, we can turn it down a bit."

Doesn't check in on you, but intrinsically knows what you safeworded about due to body language and context. He doesn't make a big deal out of it- safewords are normal to him. It's not an issue

Medic

a little upset he scared you, but also upset that he couldn't go full crazy yk? Like of course you take priority, but he wasn't going to actually inject you with horse steroids!!! (maybe)

Abides by your boundaries and kisses it better

Lowkey wants to talk about it later but doesn't know how to bring it up

Sniper

the most INSECURE MF

if you safeword with sniper, he immediately disengages and pulls away out of shame and self-doubt that he can please you or have sex with you right

he apologizes and gives you comfort, but it's eating away at him inside that "he can't even fuck right"

[haggishlyhagging]

In the early days, when the women's movement began to take on the pornography industry, people said: "It's pointless. It's hopeless. You can't go up against them. There's nothing we can do." Their power seemed so overwhelming because their money was overwhelming. The fact that they owned media made them a formidable kind of opponent. We didn't own very much. Their access to legitimacy—the stables of lawyers that they have to protect their interests; what were we going to do in the face of all of this?

And we would take our raggedy little signs and we would march 10,000 miles in a circle. And we'd be tired and dead and defeated, and we would say, "We're not getting anywhere." And the next day we would go out again, and we would march another 10,000 miles in another circle somewhere. And all over this country, in cities and in towns, everywhere, women were activists against pornography.

The media never reported it. Whole bunches of people didn't care about it. But feminism was alive and well throughout the country because women were activists on the issue of pornography and, at the same time, were using pornography to build a very sophisticated and new understanding of the reality of sexual abuse: how all the sexual abuses cohere to hurt us, to put us down, to turn us into commodities.

Then in Minneapolis we developed a civil-rights law, and suddenly the pornographers understood that we were trying to take their money away from them. Not only were all these strange little women marching in circles and making themselves dizzy, but we actually thought we were going to walk into a courtroom and say: "We're breaking your piggybanks open, and we're taking all your change, and we're using it for women. That's what we're going to do." Their reaction, their mobilization against the civil-rights ordinance, has been spectacular. It hasn't been spectacular because they think the ordinance isn't going to work. Their anger, their hostility, their frustration, their aggression, is because finally they take us seriously as a political presence that can hurt them.

And, horribly, at exactly the same moment, the ground collapses out of the women's movement. And everybody turns into chicken shit and runs. Now we try not to tell them that. We try to keep it to ourselves as much as we can and we don't say, "Well, you know, really, we use mirrors." We have approached them as if we know what we're doing, as if we know what they're doing, as if we know what they're going to do tomorrow the same way that we figured out what they did yesterday.

But the reality is that the will to destroy them has gone out of fashion, because destroying them is a bad thing, because destroying them is censorship. And if little Bob Guccione can't say what he wants to say—even though he happens to need a woman's body to say it—then the country is poorer in ideas, in political freedom—our political freedom, we're told. We have to protect him in order to protect our political freedom. Our bodies are his language that he's expressing himself in, and our responsibility is to make sure that he keeps doing it.

And the horror has been that women have fallen for it, women have bought into it, women have been intimidated, women have been shut up in defense of this First Amendment that is not even ours to use. You have to be able to express your communication before it's entitled to First Amendment protection and you can't express it if you are too poor, not to mention if you are too crazy, which a hell of a lot of women are after what we have all been through, not to mention if you have been silenced by sexual abuse, not to mention if it began when you were a child, and you have been fighting, and fighting, and fighting for your identity and your integrity because somebody tried to destroy it back then before it was even fully formed. This silence that we live in is supposed to be okay. We're supposed to accept it.

-Andrea Dworkin, “Resistance” in The Sexual Liberals and the Attack on Feminism

[imraespace]

LIFE'S HARD WHEN YOU'RE INLOVE ─

─ WITH RIN ITOSHI !!

This morning made you completely forget about what happened. Tonight, you're in your bed thinking about it, repeating over and over in your mind.

Why you?

You curled up in a ball, turning to the side, and stared at your bedside table, where that book rests.

You're hurting, but you haven't let go of the feeling you have for him. He hurt you, he doesn't like you. So why are these feelings still here? Seems like he bewitched you.

Sometimes, you think of the days when you haven't read that book if you haven't stared at that boy in class that made your mind spiral down into this mess.

But sadly.. It's too late for that, everything has changed and soon, you might have to as well. It sucks yes, but if this is how you feel you might as well put in some effort into your feelings and those around you from now on.

So at 8:23 PM, you fell asleep with a new mindset, maybe Rin's harsh words opened your eyes to the harsh reality of changing.. and love?

Joy and pain wrapped up all in one package━ maybe that's what love is.

Such a new feeling to you.

"NOOO, PUT ME DOWNN!"

Well, you thought you were going to change..

"C'mon Y/N! It's just football!" Meguru exclaimed, pulling you off your bed.

Yet again, Meguru Bachira is in your room, pulling you out of bed at least this time you're wearing your glasses!

"HE BROKE MY HEART ON THE FIELD, I DON'T WANNA GO THERE!" You yelled out, at 8:09 AM.

Outside of the room, in the living room, stood Hyoma, Yoichi, and your two roommates.

"I've never heard her like this before.. weird." Reo muttered.

"Girls are weird." Seishiro followed up.

Hyoma stared at the duo with a blank look.

"No wonder they're single." He thought.

His judging thoughts were poofed away when his eyes landed on Meguru walking into the room with you over his shoulder, like a sack of potatoes.

"She needs to bathe, shove her in the bathroom," Reo ordered, pushing Yoichi towards Meguru and yourself.

"Wait what-"

"Alright!" Meguru replied, marching to the bathroom, with Yoichi running behind.

Here you are, dumped in the bathtub, followed by Yoichi throwing in some clothes for you as they both run out of the bathroom, making it known that they're present right outside of the door, waiting for you to finish.. Well, mostly Meguru demanding you to hurry.

You sighed at the predicament you've found yourself in.

Then Meguru said something.

"If we dragged you out, unwashed, what will Rin think if he sees.. or worse! Smells you!"

You blinked at his words and soon after, the boys outside the bathroom heard the sounds of a shower being turned on.

"No way that worked.." Yoichi mumbled.

"Of course it did!"

Well, at least Meguru came to the agreement that you like him. Now he's using it to his advantage it seems.

Your bath was quick, but efficient, scrubbing almost everywhere on your body, brushing your teeth like twice.. is that even healthy? Anyways, you wore the outfit Yoichi picked out for you and surprisingly, you like it!

Soon later, the boys from outside almost fell when you opened the door, steam from the shower hitting them in their face as you stood there, smelling the soap from a mile away.

"Dang.. At least you're clean.." Yoichi said, covering his face from the steam.

Finally! The um family of friends? Whatever, you all finally made it out of the house!

It was midday and the reason why Meguru decided to make you play football, was simply because it makes him happy, so it will make you happy!

Which is cute, but you swear if you step foot on a field you might get flashbacks of that day.

Maybe Seishiro noticed, or perhaps this is Seishiro being Seishiro. He tapped your shoulder a bit causing you to turn in his direction.

"Yes?"

He pointed in a direction, holding his phone in his other hand. Your eyes followed the direction and your eyes landed on an ice cream stand!

Your face lit up after seeing the sweet treats being sold and dragged Sei with you to get it. The others stopped in their tracks after noticing that the lazy duo had disappeared and saw you both running to the ice cream stand, well actually it's you dragging Seishiro to it but whatever!

They all caught up and now they're buying you ice cream like good friends!

You waited by yourself, staring at the busy street as people passed by, conversing with their peers or just enjoying the Sunday sun. It's a rare sight for you, but everytime you witness it, it lightens up your mood.

Enjoying the peace, your eyes then landed on familiar faces. Isn't that Aryu? And Yukimiya? And.. RIN? WAIT-

First, you were surprised that your eyes landed on him, then it turned into fear as you witnessed his almost death.

Rin, a normal teenager, was counting his money after existing a shop. Then suddenly a bill went flying into the street! Who wouldn't chase after their money?

Yet Rin failed to notice the incoming car, which collided with him, causing him to roll on the top of the car, and onto the road.

Nothing could beat the expression you had on your face right now!

Yet he got up like it was an everyday thing.. Hm, nonchalant and strong, that seems to be your type.

Your mixture of thoughts popped when his eyes landed on you.

His annoyance skyrocketed to the moon and back yet you ignored his expression.

"Um.. are you okay?"

He scoffed at your question and was about to lash out at you until Yoichi came up behind you with ice cream in his hand.

"Y/N- oh it's you."

Rin eyes landed on the boy behind you, then landed back on you.

His mind went back to those notes, was it some joke?

"What-"

"Calm down.. she didn't mean anything bad, and plus it's the weekend, Y/N can be outside if she wants to," Yoichi answered Rin's question for you.

He rolled his eyes and then walked away, continuing on with his day.

"Yo, I think I witnessed something crazy."

"Huh?"

"Nothing.. ice cream?"

"Here."

After that mini meet-up with the undead- Rin, Meguru began to lead you to the football field, the one they all practice at.

Finally, the main reason why they dragged you out of the house. A football field.

All ice creams were long eaten and Meguru grabbed a ball out from his bag.

He pulled on your arm and dragged you onto the grassy field, placing you on the opposite side while he ran away to the other.

He placed the ball on the grass and then simply kicked it towards you.

The ball rolled towards you, stopping at your feet as your eyes followed it.

"C'MON, KICK IT!" Meguru yelled from his side.

You stared at the ball for a while, then softly kicked it back at him.

Meguru was now grinning from ear to ear as it rolled back to him.

This time, he kicked with a bit more force, as the ball came towards you with a bit more speed.

"KICK IT A BIT HARDER NOW!"

You stared at the boy who yelled at you for a moment, then back at the ball.

What was the point of this?

You kicked the ball, with too much force this time, catching your friend off guard as he landed in his face.

"Oh oops.." You muttered, running towards him.

Your spectators laughed at the random turn of events, running up to Meguru as well.

"I'M SORRY!"

Yet he was laughing.

"It's okay, let's play more!" He laughed out, holding his nose.

For some reason, you felt relaxed. You don't have any interest in the sport, you don't know how to play the sport but seeing their happy faces as you enjoyed the hobby they love so dearly made you enjoy the silly moment you have here.

So that's how you, someone who sleeps in all day, found herself on the football field kicking a ball around with her friends, laughing all the worries away.

When your foot collides with the ball, watching it fly away into the goal, it reminds you of letting go of certain feelings and as it enters the goal, is when you feel happy with the results.

Maybe you should let go of the feeling of guilt you had for Rin. Apologize to him for the misunderstandings and confusion you caused him. The ball will enter the goal when you do just exactly that and maybe the guilt will go as well.

Maybe you're seeing football a bit differently from the others.

Hm, maybe if you have some worries, you will kick around a ball to let go of them.

━ 6:23 PM

Somehow, you all met up with not only the almost team, but others FROM the opposite team.

Twice, you got asked for your number.

One was from Otoya, you told him okay, but openly friendzoned him on accident.

The second was from the person you called old, Aiku or something.

"Do I know you?" You asked him.

"Well- No but I can change it for you."

You had no clue he was flirting with you.

Meguru, who is quite nosey, pointed out how they witnessed him and two girls arguing alone.

You gasped, then agreed to give him your number so he could give the details. I mean, who doesn't like gossip?

In the end, they both got turned down either way.

But you met new people and made friends with some of them, something you always wanted.

To your surprise, you got a tad closer to Barou, playing bowling with him while he was complaining about your every move, yet he didn't push you away.

Maybe he sees you as he sees his younger sisters?

Odd bond, but the others came and worsened his mood.

You gave him a small thumbs up as you walked away to sit down, watching the others join in his fun.

He raised his eyebrows at your gesture, gritting his teeth nevertheless.

You stared at those in front of you, realizing that they are going to be in your school year from now on.

SHOEI BAROU (18) :

He may appear a bit selfish and arrogant, to everyone, including yourself, but who said he won't lend an ear out to your weird teenage girl complaints?

11 // 13

note: i wish i had an older brother like barou.. mine has his attitude but hes just disgusting and plays league all day.. also yippee pink theme!

TAGLIST: @deezy12299 @kuroronana @khoiyyu @swagkittybear @shidousprincess @starbarfbunni @jealovsie @imtiredmf @hainge (OPEN)

! if you didn't get tag, that means your acc didn't show up :(

-`♥︎´- for this story, i'm trying a something new, which includes words/phrases, foods and hometowns from japan and germany. if there's any errors please point it out !

-`♥︎´- word count : 1.7K

[volpe-kitsune-red]

May i request a lynx X an already partially conditioned reader (gender neutral preferably)?

Of course! I am kind of excited, this is the first request I get to write. :D Hope you'll like it!

An obedient pet

Lynx Andromeda (Yandere OC) x gn!reader

TW. general yandere behavior, possessive behavior, manipulation, gaslighting, threats.

You wouldn't describe yourself as a pushover, you knew how to stand your ground when it came to anyone, be it a friend or a professor. But there was something in her voice, in the way she imposed herself that enchanted you, or more accurately, conditioned your mind into bending down at her will, allowing her to guide your thoughts as she pleased.

It started with you losing touch with any friend you would hang out with the most often. Lynx would remind you that you had already made plans with her whenever you tried to organize a night out with them. "What do you mean you don't remember us talking about going to the cinema today? You were the one that proposed it! Have you been getting enough sleep, love? You keep forgetting our dates. Or is it because you don't care enough to spend time with me to remember?" Of course you cared! Your friends kept pointing out how this kept happening almost every time. But she obviously would never lie to you about stuff like this, you just had a hard time remembering your plans.

You also couldn't remember when she started referring to your hangouts as 'dates', you questioned her about it but kept getting evasive answers until you gave up. "Hmmm? Isn't that what they're called?" "Best friends date all the time!." "Date, going out together, honeymoon, they're all the same thing!"

It became obvious that something was wrong when people stopped inviting you out with them and even went out of their way to avoid you at school. Well, not everyone stopped, Lynx and her close friends were still there for you. You would always be encouraged to meet them in the corridors after every period and sit with them in the dining hall.

It was a very drastic change, it's not like you were forced to follow them everywhere, but you had no one else to go to. You suspected that someone must have spread rumors about you or there was something wrong with you that inevitably pushed everyone away. You felt grateful to Lynx for always sticking by your side, making you feel welcome in your friend group, but you also wanted to get your social life back in your control.

The problem was that she wouldn't let you. It felt like there was an invisible string tying you to her if you strove too far away to connect with anyone else. It was impossible to talk to new people at parties when she was always there to pull you away. "Come on! We are about to start a game of beer pong, you have to at least come to watch me win!" You were starting to get sick of it. It...it was like she was doing it on purpose! You loved being with her of course, she was your best friend, but you should also be allowed to have friendships outside of her and her group! Just as planned, nothing you said or did helped the situation.

"Are you saying we are not good enough company for you? Must I remind you how your old friends abandoned you?" "Do you want to risk the heartbreak of being rejected again?" "..." "Exactly, I didn't think so."

Every fight left you more hopeless than the previous. Lynx would comfort you afterward, sweet words leaving her lips like honey, but in reality, it was closer to venom. "You don't need to risk getting hurt again, all you need is here." "I'm here for you and always will be. You're mine." "Huh, what was that.?" "Nothing, sweety <3"

Eventually, you found yourself always clinging to her. Wherever she was, you were there with her. You became like a puppy, believing whatever your owner told you, never suspecting any ill from them. She was always so nice to you, after all, always locking arms with you whenever she was close, never letting you leave her sight. She would buy you gifts, praise you, and pet you whenever you behaved the way she wanted you to.

You were never left alone, you were always shown affection and support. Life was good, why would you ever desire anything different?

"I love you, my dear. See how everything is better when you're with me? Wouldn't you love for it to last longer, perhaps forever?"

From that moment forward, any hope for your life to go back to normality becomes useless and then, lost.

[youremyheaven]

Any word of advice for Sun girlies how to protect herself from evil eye?

light bubble meditation!! always visualise a circle of light around yourself. one of the best ways to build your "aura" or cultivate magnetism is to have an energy shield around you at all times. it's not rocket science, just close your eyes and visualise light surrounding you and keeping you protected.

some of the next tips are a little out there but if you're so inclined do try them:

Basil/Tulsi is known for its cleansing properties and we use it a lot in India. I recommend putting a stem of basil in your pillow (my nightmares went away after I did this) or putting a stem of basil in your bra when you go out (or your pocket). It's a powerful remedy against evil eye.

Consecrate an object of your choice, preferably something small and dainty (a crystal, a sea shell, a pebble, a feather, you don't want to pick something that carries any karmic energy) by chanting to it, meditating with it and suffusing it with your energy. Then carry it with you everywhere, in your bag or purse or whatever. It's like a good luck charm that's custom made for u

Pray to your Ishta devata. Sally Kempton talks a lot about goddess worship and I suggest watching her videos or reading her book Awakening Shakti but this is life changing!!! Obviously its not wise to casually dabble in Hinduism and deity worship so please study them, read as much as you can and gather as much info as you can. You'll naturally feel drawn to one Goddess over others and praying to her will keep you protected. Bhakti (devotion) is the greatest armour. I have called upon the goddess during times of immense turmoil and she's always helped me navigate with grace BUT you should never make a deity feel "used". If you're praying, pray everyday, not just when something goes wrong. Think of it as a relationship you build with someone. You have to show up and communicate with them everyday, only then will they want to be your aid in times of need. Give thanks. Always.

Black thread. I guess this could again count as appropriating Hinduism but 😬 compared to deity worship, this is nothing. Here's an article explaining it. Basically, wearing a black thread on your left leg will keep nazar away.

Burn incense/sage bc it purifies the energy of the space

SALT also cleanses. take a bath after mixing a few spoons of salt in the water and watch the effect it has on u.

The thing about evil eye is that it affects people who are spiritually fragile. They do not have an energy shield protecting them so they're susceptible to every kind of influence (they're easily influenced) and suffer the consequences of negativity more than others. Some people thrive in life no matter how much shit is thrown at them. Nothing affects them much. Others crumble easily in the face of even the smallest hardship or bitterness. That's bc they're spiritually weak. You have to build a spiritual base that is so strong nothing can shake you. Evil eye can't hurt you if your relationship with the divine is 💪🏼strong af bc God is bigger than any evil. And perhaps many of you dabble in astrology for fun and don't believe in God but vedic astrology kind of requires a relationship with the divine. Literally the remedy for any kind of issue in your birth chart is to pray.

I feel like many people have a passive understanding of prayer but it's a very purposeful exercise of faith. Finding time in your day and devoting it to God is a way to engage in conversation with yourself. If you hate/are afraid of God, that is a reflection of you and what you've been raised to believe. Once you really get into it, you'll understand that God is love and honestly prayer time is the happiest time of the day for me. My heart feels so full. Whenever I don't pray, I feel so closed off bc my heart is longing for that supreme love. You make your life feel purposeful by acting with intention and making the ordinary sacred and ritualising experiences. If you live like nothing matters, that's what will be reflected back. Your world and what you make of your experiences is a reflection of you 🫶 so make a temple of your mind

Sorry for long ramble but yk that's how I am by now 😌🤪

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Soulmate au but chaotic.

Danny gets summoned by Ras al Ghul, intending to use him as a hostage against Tim/Damian (I'm not sure which one I want) due to him being thier soulmate.

Ras makes a mistake though as Danny is in his Phantom form and decided to make the creepy old dude pay. He phased out of his cage and restraints and overshadowed Ras, making him run into a closet run headfirst into the wall and then left his unconscious body in the locked room.

Phantom, not knowing anything other than this other teen is his soulmate introduced himself as Phantom and asked if they were okay. Somehow the situation devolves into Danny deciding to take revenge against everyone who has ever hurt thier soulmate and prank everyone along the way.

Batfam? He breaks into the Wayne manor, calmly announced he knew who they really were and proceeds to repeatedly leave tiny plastic camels everywhere. Tv remote isn't working and you go to change the batteries? There's tiny plastic camels in there. Pressing snooze on you're alarm clock? A tiny plastic camel is the first thing you see in the morning. Jason being annoying? He opens his bathroom vanity and a sea of tiny GIJoe sized camels pour out.

Best part is they're not actually plastic >:)

Danny has also

1. Painted the entirety of Ras base a reflective neon orange

2. Made a show of following Ras and Talia separately around thier bases only a few inches behind them until they have to turn around and immediately enter into a startled battle stance and demand to know what he is. He sends the video to his soulmate for lols

Bonus points if they're watching this together on the batcomputer and one of them says "We won't let that happen to us"

And Danny responds behind them, shocking them.

3. Returns Tim's spleen to him in perfect condition. The bast part if that the batfam have no context for this and think Phantom, a Lazarus Pit demon just gave him a random human organ of unknown origin.

4. Alfred has pseudo tamed Danny with hot chocolate. This does not stop him from playing pranks and tricks on the bats. One of Phantoms favorite things to do is stand over peoples beds while they sleep and scare them when they wake up.

5. Phantom turned Constantine into a cat and played with his paws for 20 minutes. Then just poofed him into the JL watchtower with his trench coat. In all fairness John had said something about no one being able to get him to stop smoking and Danny took that as a challenge.

6. Cyborg keeps getting hacked and getting rick rolled

7. Wonder Woman has a non venomous snake wrapped around her neck as a scarf. No one knows where it came from but she loves it.

8. Phantom keeps writing his soulmate sappy/flirty/encouraging love notes and leaving them around the manor for them to find

9. Bruce keeps finding colorful fake mustaches on his face randomly and is having a mental breakdown.

10. Danny using a duck call as a method of sending coded messages via morse code. This happened immediately after someone told him about a drake being a male duck. Most of these messages are like the aforementioned little notes

[yanderes-galore]

I wanted to request a TFA swindle with a human reader with your yandere prompts 36 and 21

Sure! @okchijt helped me with the plot ^^ I took bits from it to create the story! Hope you enjoy.

Yandere! TFA! Swindle Prompts 36 + 21

"I'd hate to hurt you but... if you keep this up I might have to."

"Photos and trinkets only do so much, dear!"

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession at first sight, Stalking, Secret photo taking Manipulation, Kidnapping, Cybertronian/Human pairing, Forced "relationship".

Swindle couldn't get the thought of you out of his mind. He was just meant to be the get away driver of S.U.V and that was all. He could use these humans to his advantage and get paid.

However, during one heist, Swindle saw you. A poor civilian at the wrong place in the wrong time. He was so caught up with looking at you that he forgot he had to leave the scene before the S.U.V yelled at him.

Ever since then he hasn't been able to get you out of his head. His thoughts blink right back to you, making it rather difficult to do the work he made a deal to do. Even at the S.U.V hideout he couldn't clear his thoughts.

It didn't help that he just kept finding you everywhere. Every to every other heist he set out to do he ended up finding you in the crowd. He'd almost pity you...

However, these frequent sightings made him start to think it's fate.

You're easily one of the most illuring treasures he's ever seen. You have a rarity like no other. As a result... he wants you.

To ease his desires he decided to use the S.U.V to his advantage. With excellent charisma he managed to convince the human group you were important to their future missions. As a result... he needed pictures.

Many pictures.

Unsurprisingly to Swindle the group listened to him. Soon photos of the civilian he desires line the warehouse he took as a hideout with the group. Every photo so candid... it all made him giddy.

Swindle liked that he got a constant supply of photos. He even managed to convince them to steal small items from you. All of which was kept in a specific part of the warehouse, only for Swindle's eyes.

Anything of yours was considered priceless to him. He could stare at his collection for hours. Unfortunately, one thing was missing.

Swindle didn't have the real thing yet.

No matter how big his collection grew, it would never compare to you. If anything it all quickly became counterfeit compared to you. Which meant, once again, he asked S.U.V for a favor.

You were needed for a mission... so he needed you brought to the warehouse.

Swindle was pleasantly surprised, if not excited, when the group brought you in. There you were.. all tied up on a chair... staring at him with fear. How adorable!

However, your fear quickly transitioned into insults. As though this was your attempt to intimidate, you began insulting the S.U.V.

You called them laughable. You say they're unprofessional. While Swindle finds all of your points true and amusing... he could see Slo-Mo's frustration.

"I will not stand for such disrespect!" Slo-Mo spits, gaze turning to Swindle. "Make them learn their lesson if we need them so bad."

"A pleasure." Swindle answers, kneeling to you with glaring purple optics. You feel your blood run cold with how close he gets. "I'd hate to hurt you but... if you keep this up I might have to."

In response to the threat Swindle sees you remain silent, most likely in order not to anger him. The members of S.U.V seem satisfied and Swindle heaves a sigh when they finally leave, expecting him to threaten you.

Yet all Swindle wanted was to be alone with you.

"Well! Now that they're gone, we can finally speak." Swindle chirps, entire tone changing. "My sincerest apologies for the threat, it's all an act. I could never hurt my most priceless treasure."

You don't appear very reassured due to the situation. Unfortunately, your captor couldn't care less. He's always been thinking about only himself, after all.

He only cares about the fact his collection is finished. Now that he has you he can finally return to work. He doesn't care what happens now as long as he has his most priceless piece.

While the large Transformer is distracted it gives you time to take in your surroundings. You needed to find a way fo escape. You almost wish you didn't look once you saw what was on the walls.

You didn't find a way to escape...

But you found countless photos of you on the walls.

All of which taken when you were unaware.

Swindle can tell by your expression that you saw his collection. He could already tell the question in your head. In fact... he found himself grinning when you noticed all the photos.

"Photos and trinkets only do so much, dear!" Swindle explains in a chipper tone. "I just needed to have you as the final piece... MY final piece in MY collection. Photos can be copied endlessly... but the real thing is priceless."

Swindle's tone rumbles near the end as he reaches out to lightly stroke your cheek with a finger. His gaze is disturbingly obsessive as he grins down at you. You shake against his touch.

"Now that I have you... I plan to keep you all to myself." Swindle purrs before he picks your chair up. "There's no need to fret... I keep all my best pieces safe."

Swindle takes his time to remember the fear in your gaze as he holds you up.

"I'll have no one steal my most precious piece away from me."

[zarathelonewolf]

As a Genshin Impact fan... And Hoyoverse games enjoyer in general...

I feel that Hoyoverse needs to change the trajectory when it comes to skin tones in their games.

Yes, I am aware that there are insane beauty standards that make most Chinese companies prefer pale skinned characters in their videogames, and that this may prevent some of them from including dark skinned characters as to not hurt their sales or their reputation... But this STILL doesn't mean that what they're doing is correct, from an ethical/moral point of view.

And yes, I am aware that "freedom of the artist" exists. First things first, freedom of the audience also exists, and that means that if people feel like they want to make some noise over things they perceive to be wrong, they should get to do that. Second things second, what is being done is erasure, which is not correct to do. Someone could use the argument "maybe all humans developed with white skin in Teyvat, it's not erasure, it's creative freedom", but is this really where we want to go? Teyvat isn't real, that's true... So what is contained in it doesn't have to be completely adherent to reality... But Teyvat was also intended to contain cultures inspired by real civilizations here on Earth. Is there really no place for a dark skinned character there? "There's pale skinned people of that culture too" yes, there's also DARK skinned people of that culture, no?

Besides... It's getting boring, only seeing pale skinned characters. The games are still enjoyable, yes, but I would still like a change of skin color in the palette used which is: Kaeya/Xinyan, Bennett, Cyno/Sethos, Milk/Everyone Else™.

Please Hoyoverse. There's other Chinese companies doing It, you can also include darker charas in your ranks. Popularity could drop, but you're already pretty powerful, aren't you?

Then again, It seems that this Is a huge issue for Hoyoverse. Perhaps it's because other games that have adopted this change as well aren't as popular, but if they happen to lose support in China, they can gain It in other, Western countries, and among members of the cultures that they would end up portraying in a much more accurate way! Besides, aren't Chinese and Japanese fans also upset? I heard It was quite the uproar a bit of everywhere.

I reccommend all Honkai Impact 3rd, Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero fans to reblog this post and sign this petition I have put here after finding it in a previous reblog (the author of the post was @genshin-impact-updates, I hope the person behind It doesn't mind getting mentioned). I have already signed It, please do your part. And at the next Surveys in all games, show your dissatisfaction.

EDIT: Guys the petition is over 75.000 signatures and it is needed for it to reach 100.000 at least so that cultural ambassadors can be contacted. Hoyoverse Is stubborn though (Hoyoverse answered someone who expressed displeasure by saying it is a work of fiction and thus the region and characters are fiction, they are using this excuse), so in order to truly reach them, do not spend money on the games made by Hoyoverse.

[de-n-i-al]

Out of context quotes

(qsmp red team)

:]

Foolish: 'seems killable'

Cellbit: 'fucker shit cum balls, cum balls'

Jaiden: "we just need to camp them out for 1 hour and 20 minutes'

Slimecicle: 'I'm like a little rat'

Slimecicle: 'I'm just kneading dough in the backyard, I'm malewife-ing'

Foolish: 'let's kill him :D'

Slimecicle: 'I'm going to come drop you kids off your lunch'

Jaiden: 'they're calling you momcicle'

Slimecicle: 'sorry to make you wait, kids, moms gotta eat too'

Carre: 'very loud high pitched screaming'

Cellbit 'were fucked, it's joever'

Jaiden 'AAAA Etoiles is after me, I'm dead'

Slimecicle: 'Tubbo! How are you so fucking fast?!'

Foolish 'so what's the game plan? Run and hide or?'

Jaiden: 'I HOPE THEY BURNN'

Philza: 'I got everyone hats'

Jaiden: 'I want to be the king of pirates!'

Philza: 'should I just fuckin run for the thing?'

Slimecicle: 'we made a pool'

Slimecicle: 'I hope I melt'

Slimecicle: 'I'm going to verbally assault them'

Philza: 'they started it!'

Slimecicle: 'The bread for my beautiful children is here!'

Slimecicle: 'Hey Phil, my beautiful boy, I have something for you'

Slimecicle: 'phil this is fucked up, you don't do this to a roleplayer'

Slimecicle: 'they didn't even 'yes and' they 'no sworded'

Slimecicle: 'Phil, I just want to be a desirable male wife'

Slimecicle: 'Guys, let's remember to have fun'

Philza: 'I like how no one hesitated to turn on others'

Jaiden: 'BAD YOUR SUCH A HATER'

Jaiden: 'he took my God damn straw hat'

Philza: 'were getting spawn camped by badboyhalo and tubbo'

Slimecicle: 'what to the right'

Philza: 'she's gonna kill you man'

Slimecicle: 'i hate everyone who isn't you guys'

Slimecicle: 'I don't think I can look fitmc in the eyes'

Slimecicle: 'We can't even place blocks on half of our land BECAUSE MY BODYS ARE ALL OVER'

Philza: 'the teams are so balanced'

Slimecicle: 'I don't know how to make a backpack'

Philza: 'Can we go back to adventure mode and roleplay'

Slimecicle: 'Please, I'll do anything, just get me off this island'

(Ngl at this point they all go crazy)

(Also charlie loses his fucking voice)

Slimecicle: 'hey cellbit want to beat the shit out of each other?'

Everyone: 'screaming'

Slimecicle: 'ADMINS CAN YOU DO /SLIMECICLE HAPPY??!?!'

Philza: 'Guys, I think we are the cursed team'

Jaiden: 'Do you think the admins are watching us and seeing what to change'

Slimecicle: 'This isn't purgatory, this is hell'

Jaiden: 'take the children!'

Philza: 'This is too much I'm dying'

Jaiden: 'Hey guys, want to huddle together for the last 30minutes?'

Philza: 'I'm light headed'

Slimecicle: 'i feel the right side of my brain hurting'

Jaiden: 'Philza, kill yourself'

Slimecicle: 'The most fun I've had is burning myself to death'

Jaiden: 'Look at the piles of bodies'

Jaiden: 'Untangle it like a spaghetti'

Slimecicle: 'Admins spawn herobrine'

Baghera: 'Can't wait for wilbur to join'

Slimecicle: 'Guys, let's all meet up and go to Disney land and send the pictures to badboyhalo'

Slimecicle: 'your happy? I'm thrilled baghera'

Philza: 'We become npc's'

Slimecicle: 'I can't tell if I'm having a great time or a panic attack'

Foolish: 'I'm tingly everywhere'

Everyone: 'weird ass singing'

Jaiden: 'singing gangnem style'

(Fucking kill me omfg I'm watching the stream and my ears are dying)

Cellbit: 'I want to go to purgatory in real life'

Jaiden: 'HOW IS THERE STILL 15 MINUTES LEFT'

Philza: 'Guys i brought us a fidget toy'

Cellbit: 'This is a pretty fucking balanced team yeah'

(Continuous killing of eachother)

Slimecicle: 'let's hop in the other chats and see how they are doing'

foolish: 'WHY ARE MY ARMS STILL TINGLY??'

Philza: 'HOW ARE WE STILL SECOND????'

Philza: 'Were going to roleplay a village, im going to make a school'

Foolish: 'I want to get burned by the sun, just to feel something'

Cellbit: 'What if we make a team to fight against the people who put us here and call it oder theorists'

Baghera: 'Philza, where are you? I'm going to kill you'

Philza: 'baghera come kill me'

Jaiden: 'IM BACK BITCH!'

(THEYRE JUST KILLING EACHOTHER)

cellbit: 'We ended up on second, green will never live this down'

Slimecicle: 'What do you want from us...'

Cellbit: 'maybe I shouldn't have killed all of those fed workers'

Slimecicles: 'Guys, I'm like clearly turning into a code'

Slimecicle: '3 months ago, I dumped 3 pounds of sand down philzas toilet, so foolish would think he clogged it'

(Cellbit and slime have lost their voices 0_0)

Slimecicle: 'I fucking sound like a dying goose'

Philza: 'dantdm is canonically dead'

(They all agreed to become more decrepit bro)

(They are going to have fucked up skins too bro)

(They are going crazy)

(God this is killing me, why am I doing this)

Slimecicle: 'fuck my arc I'm going on a cannibal arc'

(God dammit this has been the most fucked up stream I've ever watched)

(They are going to rebalance it thank fuck)

[pippin-katz]

Reverse Character Bleed

Okay I wrote about this already, but it was on a reblog of a GIF set, so I decided to make its own post. I've decided to use a phrase to attempt to describe why Taylor and Nicholas' performances feel so different to watch.

I'm referring to it as reverse character bleed.

Character bleed is a term used to for when an actor subconsciously starts adopting behaviors and personality traits of the character they are playing. They don't do it intentionally. Sometimes when you spend so much time in the mindset of a character, it's a little difficult to turn it off completely. There are moments where you might find yourself thinking how the character would respond rather than how you would respond.

This is, again, subconscious. I'm not referring to a situation like an actor being asked what their favorite flavor of ice cream is, and in their head they think, "What would [x]'s favorite flavor be?" An easy example of what I am referring to would be their favorite color, because that changes over time for a lot of people anyway.

Say that your favorite color is yellow, but you're in a scenario where you are seeing the color blue a lot. You don't feel any sort of way about blue; you don't dislike it, but you don't like it either.

So, you are seeing blue everywhere. Maybe it's the color of your team's jersey, or the fabric you're working with, or paint you're using.

If you are enjoying the experience, you will likely develop a positive opinion of that color blue. This is because of the association of blue with the fun or happiness or excitement you felt during that experience. Obviously! Everyone knows about color association! But this can happen without realizing it until later, when someone asks you, "What's your favorite color?"

The thing about a lot opinions of this nature is that you don't typically spend a lot of time actually thinking about them on your own. You don't typically sit down for twenty minutes, pondering what your favorite color is in your head. Likes and dislikes, at least common ones, are typically better suited for conversations, not your internal dialogue (if you have that).

So, you probably were never randomly sitting around and had the thought, "I think my favorite color is blue instead of yellow."

But when someone asks you, instead of immediately responding with yellow, you pause to consider it. Because now you have another color that you associate strong, positive feelings with, that you did not even realize were there.

It's that subconsciousness that I'm referring to with character bleeding. Actors wouldn't notice until someone points it out. Think about how we can see similarities between Taylor and Alex, but Taylor seems to think they're nothing alike.

The interesting thing here is that this is not a case of character bleed. Character bleed would be Taylor and Nicholas adopting traits of Alex and Henry. But this is the reverse. It feels like Alex and Henry subconsciously adopted traits and behaviors from Taylor and Nicholas.

Now, what the hell do I mean by this? Let me talk you through it!

The best example of this reverse character bleed in my opinion is the scene of Henry holding Alex's hand when Alex asks for him to take a walk with him.

Time for the GIFs:

Taylor and Nicholas are close friends in real life.

When you are friends with someone, you care about them and their wellbeing. If they are upset, you want to comfort them. If they get hurt, you want to help them and do what you can to protect them from getting hurt whenever you're with them.

Take the adorable moment from their first GQ article where the journalist describes Taylor as "sinking into protective mode" when discussing Nicholas' injury.

As silly as this is to read, it's probably accurate!

It's in the past, but again, when someone you care about gets hurt, you want to protect them. It's natural to feel protective after the fact, especially if you weren't there to help.

Back in high school, my best friend and I were in theatre. There was a show that she did, that I didn't, and there was a small stunt that involved her character and dry ice. She had to crouch down in a box to look like she fell down a chute with the dry ice effect helping sell it.

Someone spilled the dry ice into the box, and my friend ended up touching it with her bare hands and her legs. She got burned, obviously, but no one did anything about it. The show kept going, and even though her character was practically done for the show, no one took her to the hospital or emergency room for the ice burns.

I was furious when I heard about it. If I had been there, I would have cussed out our director/teacher and fucking demanded that someone take her to the doctor. Fuck the show, ice burn from dry ice is no-joke. I still get angry whenever I think about it.

This is to say that Taylor having a noticeable reaction to the discussion of Nicholas' injury is completely realistic. He doesn't have a reason to get angry like I did for my friend, but he experiences the same worry/concern after the fact.

Caring for your friend's wellbeing includes their mental health, obviously. So, consider: Taylor and Nicholas are at an event together. For some reason, Taylor starts feeling anxious or nauseous. Nicholas is going to be worried about him. That's just a fact of friendship.

Somehow that real life connection makes Henry’s concern for Alex feel more genuine and sincere.

It's as though Alex and Henry subconsciously adopted traits and behaviors from Taylor and Nicholas, rather than the other way around. Reverse character bleed is the only way I can think to describe it.

Anyway, that's all! I'm really excited to see them together again in the sequel! 🩵

Thanks for reading!! If you enjoyed this essay & would like to support me, you can give me a tip on my Ko-Fi! ☺️

[solitaryearthperson]

I'm Not A Hero

Summary: A mistake on a mission makes you question whether you're a hero and Bruce helps you.

(The reader is gender neutral and uses they/them pronouns. The ethnicity/race is preferably a person of color.)

The sounds of bombs going off and multiple people screaming out was hard to get out of my head, but I tried my hardest to do so. People yelling, crying, and praying in multiple languages was too much for my ears to take. People scattered across everywhere, some on the ground, some in dirt, some in crumbling buildings, bleeding from injuries too severe to heal from was too much for my eyes. I kept seeing them over and over. Even though it had been weeks, almost a month, I couldn't get it out of my head.

"Kid, it's okay. Don't listen to them." Tony patted me on the shoulder and told me this the day after, when it was all over the news.

Every news channel had the same headline: Avengers saves the day, but causes more lives lost. And every one of them had a video of me, the camera zooming in on my figure. They would all pause right at the time my powers went loose and the headlines would change to "Did the Avengers recruit a villain?"

"(Y/N), don't think about it. The news is making it worse than it really is." Natasha told me this when she visited my room the next day, finding me wrapped up in my blanket and watching the news play the video over and over, staring at the image of me on the screen causing so much damage.

"The death toll is in the hundreds now, while the number of injured has reached the thousands," the news caster said.

"Most of those people were already injured or dying before we even got there, (Y/N)," Clint told me, after Natasha left, disappointed that her consoling me didn't help. "You saved a lot of lives. So many people are walking around, breathing, and living because of you."

It didn't matter if that was true or not, it didn't matter that there were people who weren't injured, people who survived and could get back to their regular lives. To me, none of it mattered if the cost of this victory was hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people dying or getting hurt.

I thought I had myself under control. I thought I could handle it. This mission wasn't my first, but it was the first that so many people had died because of me being reckless and overconfident, forgetting the strength of my powers.

"Come to the party, (Y/N)," Steve urged me, with Natasha and Clint beside him. "It'll be fun and we'll see people who are honored and glad that you rescued them."

The party they're referring to is some party/award ceremony being thrown by half the government and half Tony Stark for rescuing so many people. We'll receive awards, and be honored as absolute heroes of the country. I had informed them a few days before that I didn't want to go and instead I would rather stay in my room binge-watch TV, but they insisted, to the point that Nat threatened to kidnap me from my room and force me to attend.

~

"(Y/N)!"

"(Y/N)!"

"(Y/N)!"

Flashes of cameras and reporters calling my name was quite an overwhelming thing that I haven't gotten used to since being on the team. The others told me that it takes time, but if it ever gets too much, it's alright to duck out when I get a chance, and right now, that's exactly how I was feeling.

So many people yelling my name asking what designer I was wearing, what diet I was on, how often did I train, and other questions were still strange to me.

"(Y/N), can you show us some of your powers?"

The question caught me off guard, but I tried to not let it show and responded with a polite smile and said, "Um, maybe some other time. I will give you a great show then." I was fine until I heard the next question.

"Is it because of your last mission?"

The question made me freeze, and I looked around to find if any of the others were around to help me, but suddenly I couldn't find any of them near me. It was like they had suddenly disappeared.

"What do you have to say about the death toll now reaching 1,000?"

"What?" I asked, feeling my heart beat speed up. I hadn't heard about the deaths getting that high.

"Sources say that you have no control over your powers. Is that true?"

"I-I,...um," I didn't know what to say, my tongue suddenly felt numb and I could feel all the hair on my body stand up.

"Why did the Avengers recruit you if you don't have control over yourself?"

"How can the public trust you?"

I wanted to tell them that it was an accident, that it was one slip-up that will never happen again, but I couldn't make myself do it.

"(Y/N)!"

I recognized the voice but I didn't bother looking to see where and who it came from. Before I could hear another question, I quickly walked away from the reporters and left the room. I didn't know where I was going, only that I needed to get as far away from the party as possible.

Before I knew it, I was opening the door of a nearby hallway closet and ran inside, slamming it shut behind me. Not hearing any footsteps behind me, I took a deep breath and stood against the wall, trying to calm my mind and forget the questions, but it was too hard. How did I not know the death toll rose that high? How could I lose control like that? Why did I lose control? Will it happen again?

I could feel my heart beating hard inside me, like it wanted to escape my body, and I could hear it loud in my ears like drums. Why did I come here? I shouldn't have come here! I don't need to be here! I'm not a hero!

I can't breathe! I tried to catch my breath, tried to breathe deeply again, but for some reason I couldn't. The questions from before were now screaming in my head and the images of my blurry figure on the news kept flashing through my mind. I shouldn't be here! I'm not a hero!

"(Y/N)," I heard a voice suddenly say my name through all the noise. I hadn't even realized that I had closed my eyes and I opened them to see Bruce standing before me, closing the closet door, and looking at me with a look of concern on his face.

"Bruce," I asked, trying to breathe, but still failing. "What're you doing here?"

"I saw you rush out and followed you. Are you okay?" He stepped toward me and grabbed me by my shoulders, squeezing them comfortingly.

"I can't breathe," I told him, feeling tears that I had been holding in for the longest begin to run down my face. "I can't be here."

"Hey everything's okay," he tried to tell me.

"I can't go out there! I can't answer any questions! I shouldn't be here after what I did!"

"(Y/N)," his voice was more stern and when I looked into his eyes, I saw nothing but kindness. "Do what I say. Okay?"

I quickly nodded my head.

"Count with me. 1...2...3... Inhale...4...5...6 exhale."

I nodded my head again and looked at him while doing it. "1...2...3," I looked at him before inhaling, seeing him nod, then continued, "4...5...6," then I exhaled slowly.

"Good. Do it again."

We continued to do this for a couple more minutes. He was patient and counted along with me, then inhaled and exhaled with me too. Each time we did it, I began to breathe easier, and my heart beat began to slow down, but the questions and memories of the mission and the video on the news kept running through my mind over and over again. When he finally saw my breathing become normal, that's when he chose to ask the question that I was dreading to hear him ask.

"Why are you in here?"

"I couldn't take being out there anymore. I had to get away."

"Why? What did they ask you?"

Another question I was dreading to hear, but I tried to suck up as much courage and answer him honestly. "They asked about my powers, and what happened on the mission, and," I could hear my voice begin to tremble, but I ignored it and continued speaking, "They told me about the deaths...that it's in the thousands now."

A look of recognition came over his face and he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into a hug that I was not expecting, but greatfully accepted. Bruce was more shy than everyone else and kept his distance from the others, so this absolutely surprised me.

"I know how you feel, (Y/N)."

"You do?"

"Yeah," he replied with a little laugh. "The hulk had done some damage in the past. For good and bad."

Oh yeah. I had forgotten about the things the hulk has done. So many people are fans of the Avengers now, including Bruce, that I briefly forgot about the damage to New York.

"What do you mean 'you shouldn't be here', (Y/N)?"

Pulling away, I sniffed, and quickly wiped away the tears from my face before answering him, "The others wanted me to come, but I don't think I should be here. I don't feel like a hero. I feel like a-"

"Monster," he finished for me, making me smile a little. "The others don't have powers like ours. We make a small mistake, it can have big consequences."

"How do you deal with it? The death. Destruction. I don't feel like a hero anymore. I feel like a fraud."

"No matter how much that voice in your head tells you differently, you're a hero. You can't save everyone, all the time. There's gonna be lots of victories, but some sadness as well. Try to find ways to distract yourself. "

"How?"

He sighed loudly before replying, "Meditation, yoga, reading, maybe sports. Try to find a hobby that you know will quickly distract you and make you not think for a while."

As Bruce spoke, I couldn't help but be really moved and quite sad. I've never really interacted with him outside of the usual mission, and sometimes forgot he was there. This whole time I never thought about how he has gone through the same thing as I have and more. Realizing this also made me feel a little sympathy as well as I realize that not only has he gone through this before, but he's also had to cope with everything I'm feeling before, only he had to cope by himself.

"So do you wanna try going back out there or stay here a little longer?"

Just the thought of going back out there and knowing that there's a possibility that I'll have to answer anymore questions made me feel sick, so I quickly shook my head.

"I wanna stay here." He nodded his head in understanding and before he could turn, I asked, "Could you stay and keep me company? You don't have to if you don't wanna."

"Sure," he said, then took out his phone and moved to sit on the floor. He looked up at me and patted the spot next to him. "You wanna watch some Netflix till the party's over?"

I smiled and happily sat down next to him, ready to watch whatever just as long as I didn't go back out there.

"What do you think of 'The Witcher'?"

"My favorite," I told him, scooting closer to look down at the phone.

Who knew that me and Dr. Banner had so much in common with each other?!

[banannabethchase]

20 and 24- Percabeth

Glitter - also on AO3

~

Percy gets home and sees a trail of glitter. He's used to Annabeth's unusual, but this seems different.

~

Oooh a challenge! It went so fluffy I'm gonna die! I hope you enjoy love <3

~

Percy is, well, he's not confused, exactly, because he's learned after this long that expectations of normalcy do not bode well as Annabeth Chase's boyfriend. But he's a big confused about the trail of glitter on the floor, leading to their bedroom.

"Uh, Annabeth?" he calls, hesitantly. "Everything okay?"

"Um. Yes!" She sounds more high pitched than usual, and Percy picks up the pace. He immediately goes for the worst: someone broke in, a monster has her hostage, she slipped on the glitter and hit her head.

“I’ll be right there!”

"Wait,” she says, and the panic in her voice makes him even more concerned, “don't come -"

He doesn't catch her words until the door is open.

Annabeth is on the bed, tangled in a pair of what appear to be stockings.

"Don't you dare laugh," she says sternly. "This was supposed to be, like, a birthday thing for next month, and then I realized if I put the blue glitter trim on while they were off it would get ruined, so I started putting them on and then I tripped and had to roll to the bedroom - I said don't laugh!"

"I'm trying not to, I promise!" He really is trying, too - his chest hurts with how much he's trying not to laugh. "But, really? Stockings? Blue glitter stockings?"

"I thought it would be fun!" Annabeth wails. "We've been together a million years. I've given you practically every present there is." Her face crumples. "I didn't want you to get bored."

Percy feels like an idiot for not getting it sooner. "Oh, Annabeth, never," he says. He sits next to her on the bed, the glitter poofing up in the air and onto his clothes. He doesn't care. "It's impossible to get bored of you." He yanks her close since she’s not going to be able to move well herself, and she rests her head on his shoulder. "You know that, right?"

She shrugs. "Maybe. We're just, like. We're older now, you know?" She shifts so she can see him, look into his eyes. He's still always so disarmed by her eyes. "I want to be able to have surprises still."

Percy presses his lips together. "I mean, I was saving this one for the fancy dinner on your birthday, but if you want surprises." He pulls the brand new box out of his pocket, the one that he'd just picked up today, and kneels on the ground. He pops it open to reveal the gold band inset with emerald and diamond. "How's this for a surprise?"

Annabeth, still wrapped in the nylon tights, glitter in her messy hair, mouth agape, has never looked more beautiful to Percy in his life. "You little shit," she laughs. "No way. I thought - your mom said she was thinking you’d do it on Christmas!"

"And you are to blame for the one lie I've told Sally Jackson," Percy laughs. He lifts the box a little higher. "Annabeth Chase, we've made life ours as partners since we were twelve and you hated me. And made fun of my drooling."

"Well, you still do that."

"Don't interrupt my proposal," Percy says, grinning. "Annabeth, will you make us permanent?" He chokes on the last few words. "Will you marry me?"

Annabeth nods. "Yes. Oh, my gods, yes. I just." She wiggles her left hand, and it's only then that Percy realizes that's the biggest problem with the tights. "I wasn't kidding. Two engineering degrees, and I'm bested by tights."

Percy doesn't laugh this time. "How about we get you out of those, okay?"

Annabeth's expression changes so quickly it's almost startling. "Oh, if that's how you want it to be."

Percy laughs as the two of them get her tights off. He thinks they're lucky to be in bed, but, now, the glitter is really going to be everywhere. He slides the ring on her finger after, when there's tiny specks of blue across their skin and the sheets.

"Now it's official," he says, nuzzling into her neck. "I'm never letting you get away from me."

"Together," she says. "Always."

[boygiwrites]

Harley D. Dixon 3

An amazing edit inspired by this story! (Cred to Cora_Line99) Harley D. Dixon's Pinterest Board! Harley D. Dixon's Playlist!

📖Chapter List.

Author's Note. This fanfic now has a Pinterest Board and a playlist! The vibes of this fic were just begging for them.

I get dumped on the cooking table, back at main camp.

"Somebody run down to the RV! Med-kit's in there!"

This table is for buttering toast and chopping veggies, but now, it's for me, and it's not a cooking table, it's a hospital bed.

"What in the world is going on?" Dale's hurrying over, shaking his head.

My Daddy yells, "Gimme that fuckin' rag! Now! C'mon!" 

"Where's the disinfectant?"

"A little help, over here! Hurry!"

I feel like someone's put me in a box and they're shaking it as hard as they can, tryna scramble my brains. I'm crying. Everyone's shouting at each other. Nobody in camp has ever been dying from a dead person's scratch, before, so the shouting just goes in circles and circles and circles, 'cause even though they're all adults, they don't know what to do. Nobody's taught them. I'm scared. They're scared. Everyone — Rick, and Daddy, and Shane, and everyone else — all one camp, now. All scared, together.

"Rick's woman!" My Daddy calls out. "Gimme your hands! Right fuckin' now! Somebody get me a flashlight!"

Lori comes running over, 'cause everyone's running everywhere tonight, and she's whiter than paper, and she's saying that she's so, so sorry, but nobody wants to hear that right now, not yet. Not 'til they've done everything they can. Not 'til they know. My Dad and Rick grab at her hands, and they hold her fingers up to the light, and all three of them argue over whether or not the black gunk they see underneath her nails is my blood or not. Rick thinks it's dirt, and Lori can't be sure, but my Dad bullies them into changing their minds, 'cause if it's not my blood, then that means I got no chance at all, and a kid in this camp is gonna die, and it's gonna be his. 

Glenn skids into view, waving a med-kit around. "Med-kit! I got it! Who needs it?"

"Over here!" Jacqui sticks her hand in the air, and she catches the little med-kit mid-air like a football.

Then Jacqui and Miranda and Glenn are all poking me and pouring acid on my arm and fumbling through all the different types of bandages in the med-kit. They keep dropping the sachets everywhere and cussing at each other, while the others argue, pace, and clutch their heads. I can't keep track of anything. Where'd my Daddy go? I think I say it out loud, to Glenn. I think he's too stressed to answer proper, so he doesn't answer at all. Over his shoulder, the crowd all blends together 'cause it's just a bunch of bodies and heads and eyes, all watching us, but then, there he is. My Daddy, he's here again, and he's still shouting, and breathing all hard, like a big, angry bull, pushing past people. He's got yellow cables in his hands, now. He reaches the table and loops them under my armpit, once, twice, three times, and then he knots them like a shoelace. He knots them real, real tight. They're so tight that I'm crying all over again, and he's sorry, baby, but he can't do it loose.

He tells me that we gotta do this so the germs don't spread to the rest of my body, 'cause that's where all my most important parts are, like my heart and my lungs, and he wants to keep them safe. He says people do this when they get snake bites. It's what an old-world doctor would have said, but old-world is all they got. 

"Daddy, it hurts," I'm being loud, which is dangerous, and dangerous is stupid, but nobody tells me to stop. Not even my Dad, and it's his rule.

"I know it hurts, baby. I'm sorry. Be my brave girl, okay?"

"Oh, God." Someone puffs, sick.

The cables are done, and then... Well, that's it.

After the acid and the bandages and the cables, the chaos hits a wall, and there's nothin' else anybody can do for me.

I sit there, dying, on the cooking table.

Dale must be thinking 'bout his dead niece. Shane must be thinking about our trip to the lake, today. The Grimes family are holding onto Carl. Morales' family is holding onto Eliza and Louis. Carol holds Sophia. They all look like photos that belong on a fireplace mantle, in a nice house, and I'm jealous, but only for a second. I think Rick and Lori and Morales and Miranda and Carol are all very scared for my Dad, like they're all friends, even though they ain't know a thing about him. When people are parents, no matter where they're from, or what they look like, or how they talk, they all have the one, same worst nightmare, and that nightmare is happening, tonight, for my Daddy.

He's hiding his face in my hair, 'cause Dixons don't like people seein' them cry.

"Come on," Jacqui murmurs.

I get to sleep in the RV, tonight. It's because I'm dying, and dying people get special things.

But I don't wanna get special things. I just wanna be alive again.

My Daddy used to be a mechanic, like Jim. Our mornings always went like this.

Being a mechanic means you gotta get up real early, so that's what Daddy did. His boss was a hard-ass, and he needed Daddy at the shop at seven in the morning, on the dot, every day. Otherwise, he'd fire him, and Daddy would have to go back to working three jobs again.

My Daddy would roll out of bed, dressed in his green-plaid pyjama pants and lamb-skull tank top, which was almost always covered in crumbs, and if I didn't spend the night in his bed, he would come creeping to my door and knock on it to wake me up. Then, slowly, the smell of mini sausages would stink up the house. I'd hear him messin' with the fold-out laundry rack, and cussin' to himself when it fell apart. I'd hear him switch the TV on, and then I'd hear the newsman talkin' nonsense. I always got up just in time to eat. My Daddy said I eat as much as a teenage boy, 'cause he likes sayin' things that make me angry. He said he can tell because he used to be one.

Then, he'd pull on a hoodie, grab Tank from our overgrown yard, and we'd all go for a walk around the trailer park in our pyjamas.

The sky was always white-ish, like water mixed with milk, and there was never anybody around. That means whenever Tank shat on Miss Burdette's lawn, Daddy didn't have to pick it up, and we got to watch the sprinklers come on. Sometimes, I'd ride beside him on my bike. He'd tell me how good I was gettin' at riding without my training wheels, and then he'd dare me to do a trick, like peddling without holding the handles. If I ever fell, he'd tell me I was an idiot for listenin' to him in the first place. Then, we'd reach our porch again, and the morning was over.

I miss our mornings. I think Dad does, too. This morning is very different to our old ones. The sky is still white, and my Daddy's still here, but we're in the back of Dale's RV, and there's no Tank or sausages or bike rides, anymore, and I might be dying.

I don't think my Dad slept at all, last night.

Every time I woke up, he stopped staring at the wall and hurried to palm my forehead. He asked if I needed the bathroom, and if I felt hot, or dizzy, or faint, or even just a little bit sick. I shook my head every time. I asked him to take the cables off, but he never did. Then, I fell asleep again, and we repeated it all twenty minutes later, on a loop. I ain't stupid. I know he's waitin' to see if I start gettin' sick. He's waitin' for my skin to start goin' hot, for my cheeks to go red, and for my fingers and toes to go numb. So far, the only thing wrong with me is that I keep throwing up in the RV toilet.

When I wake up again for the tenth time since last night, tucked into his side, it's morning time, and Dad's still staring at the wall.

He feels me moving and sits upright to palm my forehead. "You need to go, chicken?"

Halfway through the night, that question started including the need to vomit up the clear stuff in my stomach, as well as peein'.

I shake my head.

"You feel faint?" He asks, feeling my neck, now. "Dizzy? Like you're gon' pass out, or sum'?"

I shake my head again. "Dad, what's gonna happen to Amy?"

Amy died last night. She got a big, nasty bite on her hand, and nobody even noticed until after they were done fussin' over me. I haven't seen her, but I know she's just outside the RV window, going cold in the dirt. Poor Amy. She was nice, but even nice people die, sometimes. She used to let me borrow her hair lackeys. I'm wearing one of them right now. I slide it off my ponytail and chuck it on the floor. She's dead, but the dead people germs haven't reached her brain yet. I know, 'cause I ain't heard a gunshot, yet.

That's what you do with sick people. You shoot them. I wonder if my Daddy's gonna have to shoot me.

"Don't worry 'bout Amy." Daddy grumbles. He grabs my purple water bottle and hands it to me. "Three big sips," He orders.

I do what he says, and then I pick at the cartoon sticker on the side. "Amy. Sophia's Dad, too."

Lots of people died last night; people I didn't even know. I wish I did, so I could miss them. Everybody deserves to be missed when they die.

"Don't worry 'bout him, neither." Dad complains. "I'd kill him, if I could. 'Sides. It ain't your job to worry, chicken. That's my job."

"But Sophia," I mumble. "She got no Dad, now."

I'm already sad, but if I had no Dad, I would be very, very, very sad.

"Harley, baby. We ain't talkin' about this."

He takes the water bottle offa me, and then he picks the lackey up off the floor, and starts re-doin' my hair.

I don't really wanna talk about it, neither, so I say nothin'.

I think about Uncle Merle. Yesterday, they found his hand on a roof in the city. The rest of him weren't attached to it. I start feeling guilty all over again, 'cause when I first heard this story, I ain't even feel bad. I just felt like I got told that five plus five equals ten, and, well, I already knew that.

"And yer arm?" Dad asks, his fingers scraping through my hair to gather it all. "How's that feelin'?"

I shrug to get a better look, and prod the big, plastic square of bandage taped there.

"Stings a little."

"Well, you tell me if that changes." He mutters. "It gets worse, you tell me. It gets better, you tell me. It turns rainbow, you tell me."

What? Me? Rainbow? That's silly! Only rainbows and unicorns can be rainbow.

"It ain't gonna go rainbow!" I burst out in giggles.

His fingers stop moving. He's silent behind me.

But then I hear him chuckle, just a little, like he's decided it's okay to be happy. "Yeah. That's an order, Harley Dixon."

I tip my head all the way back, and I can see his upside-down face smirkin' at me, with that lil' mole by his mouth, and I giggle even more.

He nudges me upright. "Quit bein' silly, girl. I'm tryna do sum' here."

He twists all my hair into a knot at the bottom of my neck. I giggle even harder, 'cause it's ugly as Hell.

The door to the RV opens. Dale pokes his head in, and he looks like he's happy to see me and my Dad smiling. 

"I hate to interrupt," Dale says, "But we're about to have an important conversation, and I thought you might want to be there to hear it, Daryl."

My Dad's face is all sour again. He pinches my cheek, and sighs, and then he forces himself to his feet and he leaves.

They plod down the steps. The door shuts. I'm alone.

Suddenly, I can't remember why I was giggling at all.

I pull the hair lackey out and chuck it on the floor.

A few minutes later, I hear a loud, loud bang, and then Andrea crying.

I'm stacking dominoes in the RV dining booth, while I eavesdrop on the adults outside.

"I heard they started cookin' somethin' up at the CDC when things went sideways." Shane says. "It could be a good option for us."

"I heard the same thing." Dale agrees. "On the radio, they were talking about a cure. An honest-to-God cure."

"You really think we'd all still be stuck in this shit-hole camp if this 'cure' really existed?" Scoffs Jim.

"It could save Harley's life." Rick scolds, harsh, like the bark of a dog. I can imagine him frowning. "That's all we gotta know, here."

They're tryna figure out whether or not we should leave the quarry. They say that here, we got clean water, and fish, and we got tall trees that cover the smoke from our campfires, and we got stability and routine, which is good for something called morale. They also say they've got a dying kid, and a duty to do everything they can to help, and they're not just gonna stand around and watch — They're gonna do something.

"This could all be for nothing. We're not even sure she's infected." Argues Jim. "It's fifty-fifty."

"And we'll pray to God she isn't," Agrees Rick, but with a catch. "But for her own safety, we're gonna act under the assumption that she is."

"Hey, man. All I'm thinking about is how much gas this thing's gotta cost us." Jim sounds like he means something else, but he's not saying it.

"Really, man?" T-Dog tsks.

My Daddy pipes up for the first time, and I can hear him smack the hood of a car. "It's gonna cost you yer life, if you ain't careful."

Rick puts on his police-man voice. "Hey. Nobody's saying the gas isn't worth it. We just need to be smart. That's all."

"Well, if that's the case, then you best see this guy out," Dad sasses, "'Cause he's stupid as a bag'a bricks."

"Seriously?" Jim laughs. "I got a hill-billy calling me stupid?"

I think my Dad swings at Jim's head, then, 'cause I can hear lots of hey, hey, hey and boots crunching on pebbles. I scootch over to the curtains and sweep 'em aside, 'cause I can't stand not lookin', anymore, and I wanna see Jim get punched. All the men of the camp are huddled around a map that's been flattened across the front of Shane's Jeep, and I see T-Dog and Glenn yanking my Dad away by his shirt, 'cause I was right, he took a swing at Jimmy's head. Rick's got himself between the two of 'em, with his hands on their chests.

They've settled down, now.

"Jim," Rick warns. "I think it's best if you just sit this one out, if you're not gonna have Harley's best interests in mind."

Jim spits on the ground. "I think it's best if I do."

I watch, and the group watches, as Jim walks himself back into the heart of camp.

"You wanna talk more 'bout my daughter, you sum'bitch," Dad yells after him, "You can talk into the barrel a'my gun!"

Jim disappears into a tent.

Rick rubs his forehead, 'cause his brain must be sore on the other side. They're all prolly thinkin', God, what an asshole.

They get back to business. They talk gas, and mileage, and they use three different pens and five different pencils, and they trace about a million different squiggly lines all over the map. They poke it and hum over it and turn it left and right, and they cover it in circles and crosses, and at one point, T-Dog comes back with five more, littler maps, and they study those ones, too. They have my best interests in mind. After a while, they seem to come to a decision. A good, solid decision. Rick gives a confident nod.

"All in favor of the CDC?"

Every last one of them raises their hand.

"Let do this thing, then."

We're goin' to the CDC. It's a real important building in the city that might save my life.

After Shane shares the news, everyone starts gettin' busy.

My Dad's taking down our tent, and folding down our chairs, and kicking dirt in our campfire. He's real ready to leave.

Glenn, he's real sad, 'cause his new car is getting torn to shreds for parts and gas that we're gonna need. He's a good sport about it, though, 'cause he's Glenn, and he's a good sport about everything. Rick's helping tie ropes around all the food and slotting it all into the RV's storage, and he doesn't complain one bit, 'cause Rick doesn't complain 'bout nothing, ever, 'cause he's a goody-two-shoes. Shane's handing out walkie-talkies and coachin' people on what channels to use, and how to use 'em. Andrea's sayin' goodbye to her sister's body.

The camp is slowly shrinking in on itself, into bags and trunks and pockets. We're really leaving. I wish we weren't. I wish I didn't have to go and get scratched. I wish we could stay here forever, and eat fish feasts, and build a tyre swing, and catch frogs in the lake.

Carol and Sophia come visit me and my Dad, while he's half-way done scrunching up our sleeping bags on the ground.

He catches wind of them before they're even close. "Hell you want?"

"Shane told me to pass this onto you," Carol shrugs, holding up a walkie-talkie as they come down the hill. "And Sophia would like to talk to Harley."

Dad stops messin' with the sleeping bag. He squints at the pair of 'em. "That right?"

"Mm-hmm," Carol hums. "If that's alright with her, of course."

Dad sends me a look that asks, Do you want me to shoo them away?

I'm not friends with Sophia, 'cause you can't be friends with someone you've never talked to. But I know she wears headbands that make her ears poke out, like a little mouse, and her favorite subject at school was spelling. We held a fake spelling bee 'bout a week ago and she won by, like, a million points, and she got a candy bar. I was never that good at words or numbers. My favorite subject was sport. But I got a candy bar, too, anyway.

I squirm a little on the picnic blanket I'm sitting on. I set down my crayon. "Okay," I say.

My Daddy goes back to working on the sleeping bag, and Carol talks to him 'bout the walkie. Sophia sits across from me.

Her Mom said she's got somethin' to say to me, but she's not sayin' a whole lot of anything.

Then, she mutters, "I'm sorry you might be dying."

Oh. I'm not sure what to say.

"My Mom told me you got scratched." Sophia's twirling her grubby shoelaces. "And that you might die. And that it was my Dad. I'm sorry."

I've gotten stares, and frowns, and tears, and I even got a pat on the shoulder from Glenn, but I haven't gotten any sorries. Not to my face.

"Don't be sorry," I say, 'cause sorry is only for when somethin's your fault. "I might not even be infected. It's fifty-fifty."

Last night, I was gettin' nightmares about Sophia's Dad. I saw his rolling, wet eyes and his nails — the ones that are the reason I'm half-dead — digging through my insides and throwing them over his shoulder, like he lost somethin' at the bottom of my organs and he was tryin' really hard to rip it out, snuffling like a warthog. I was sweatin' and screamin' and cryin' and my Daddy had to lay me on my stomach and lift my shirt up, and pet circles into my skin to get me to calm down.

It was real scary, but not Sophia's fault.

"Well, I'm— I'm still sorry." Sophia tells me, anyway.

She's eyein' the cable-knot on my shoulder. At least I'm fifty-fifty. Half-dead, half-alive. Sohpia's Dad, he's dead and gone, forever.

"I'm sorry 'bout your Dad," I try to smile.

Now, Sophia's not sure what to say.

"Don't be sorry." She decides on. "I don't think I miss him."

"You don't?" Aren't all Dads supposed to be missed? I'd miss mine. Real, real bad, every day. "Why not?"

"He was mean. He hit me."

Oh, that's nothin'. "My Daddy hits me, too."

Her eyebrows go shootin' up. "Really?"

"Yeah."

Sophia's Mom calls her name, with her hand held out, and she says they're heading back to camp, now, so say goodbye, and hurry along. Sophia glances at me, and she mutters another sorry. Then she scampers away, and she reminds me of a little mouse, again. My Dad's finished with the sleeping bags, now. He throws them in the bed of the truck and then all that's left is the blanket I'm sittin' on. He tugs on the corner and says, c'mon, girl, get. I pick up all my crayons. He folds the blanket like a giant piece of paper, and then he pins it under his arm.

"You ready to leave, chicken?" He holds out his hand, like Sohpia's Mom did.

I take one last look at the trees, and the campfire, and the spot my Uncle Merle's tent used to be. I say, goodbye, to the quarry in my head.

Then I grab my Dad's hand, and we walk away. 

Author's Note. It might not seem like it, because there's only 3-5 scenes in every chapter I write, but I spend so long on them 😭 This one, overall, took roughly eight hours, plus editing. I almost don't believe it.

I hope you enjoyed sassy Daryl handing Jim's ass to him, ahah. He used to be such a menace in the early seasons.

This chapter didn't go out with a bang, which I prefer over milder endings like this one, but that's what the story called for! I don't choose. I just write. In the wise words of Michelangelo, "The sculpture is already in the stone. All I have to do is chisel it out." Haha.

Also, sorry Amy. She just couldn't escape her canon death.

As always, thank you so, so much for reading and commenting. I hope you take a look at the playlist, but the Pinterest board especially. I really think I managed to find the perfect pictures to represent this fanfic, which makes me so excited. I hope you look forward to the next chapter! :)

[jewishvitya]

CW - talking about antisemitic depictions and about the house elves and the depiction of slavery in the books.

I'm having a frustrating day with a lot of physical pain, so I'm not the best at judging currently if I should be posting all of these thoughts. It's a response to multiple arguments by rude anons that I blocked (not for being rude, for being transphobic), but the arguments themselves stay on my mind and I just. Need this out. Ignore this, it will be all over the place, I'm basically venting. Hoping it'll be the last bit of HP criticism I post.

I'll tag it for you to block, as usual.

I've been asked what I expect of Rowling, since my criticism of the goblins included the books. She already wrote the books, they're printed and they're out there. She can't just change them, criticism does nothing because she has no path to correct her mistake.

First of all, with her transphobia - as far as I'm concerned she has blood on her hands at this point. The way she emboldens transphobia endangers lives and erodes queer rights. Anyone who contributes to the current push against trans people is complicit in trans genocide - and she made herself a symbol of that movement. Even if she did a 180 on her issues with Jewish stereotypes, she wouldn't redeem herself.

But she isn't the only one who wrote a story and then realized that her story has deep issues. What does it look like, if an author doesn't want to perpetuate those?

From what I know of Tolkien (and I know nothing LOTR or anything, just heard this from other Jewish creators who discussed this issue, treat this paragraph like I'm repeating a rumor) - Tolkien did stumble on an antisemitic depiction while writing his dwarves. Then he course-corrected by creating a more complex and nuanced picture of the society in his future works. Basically, he leaned into the idea of his dwarves as a Jewish allegory and made it a better and more respectful allegory. They have wonderful cultural details, like having foreign-language names used outside of their community - and names in their own native language that they call each other. Half of my family comes from France, and my mom was born there. She had a Hebrew name and a legal French name. That's extremely common among Jews in some areas of the world.

This response is what I would have expected if an author cares about being respectful of Jewish people. Acknowledge the issue, and try to do better.

But what if the issue was brought to your attention after you completely finished your story? In that case: "Yes, I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was writing an antisemitic narrative with my depiction of this fantasy race." Support the voices criticizing your work, and apologize. Let it be an example of tropes to avoid, and encourage others to be careful of the same pitfalls.

What you don't do, is act horrified and say "Oh, how could you, I never intended to make the goblins an antisemitic allegory! Surely if I don't mean it, it can't be hurtful!"

Also, if you truly care, you don't then abuse the memory of the holocaust when you write spin-offs of your original story, including its imagery to support a bigoted villain's argument.

Marginalized people understand that not everyone knows what we do. The stereotypes and the harmful ideas that weaved themselves into popular culture are about us. We know that it's invisible to people who aren't the target, and as a result aren't forced to learn these things. To many people, it's just a trope they're used to seeing. Like villains have hooked noses - it's practically a shorthand for an evil character.

All the stories we tell are based in some measure on stories we heard. Narratives and tropes feed off each other between different pieces of media. It's easy to pull together a harmful narrative without realizing, when the tropes that make it up usually go together, and are so common they're everywhere. So we know a person who means no harm can create something really hurtful, without knowing it.

That's why we criticize media: we want you to see and be aware.

In addition to this, I've been accused multiple times of ignoring the fact that these books discuss bigotry and condemn it. I'm not ignoring it, I know they do - or they try to. But Rowling wrote a story against racism without understanding it and without interrogating it in herself. She only knew to condemn it when it's rude and violent and outright hateful. Not the foundations of it.

So, sure, say she didn't mean to write something harmful. What does she do when she learns she did? Nothing. And not just about the issue of the goblins - about everything. I detailed the problems with her depiction of lycanthropy, but she did the same thing with the house elves.

There's lore about creatures called brownies. They'll perform chores for you, but they'd rather not be seen while they do. If you try to pay them, they'll get offended. If you give them clothes, they'll leave. This is a very partial description, but you can see the inspiration here.

And then she turned them into a slave race. They're bound to their enslavers, possessing powerful magic but using it in their service, forced to punish themselves for disobedience and endure extreme abuse. Kreacher actively wishes to have his head put on display when he's too old and weak to be of use.

To show the reader the horrors of freedom for an elf, JKR turned poor Winky into a depressed drunk with no purpose in her life. Winky's story is horrifying.

Only Dobby takes care of Winky for that whole year. She never recovers during it. Then she's made to witness the interrogation of Barty Crouch Jr., which upsets her and causes her distress. As a result, she hears about Crouch's death through a toneless forced confession - and the interrogation continues around her. That same day, she watches the last member of the household she loved have his soul taken by a dementor, and then she's left alone with the body while Dumbledore argues with Fudge. Only after, he sends Madam Pomfrey to do what she can for Winky, and take her to the kitchens where Dobby will take care of her again.

And Rowling wrote all of this. Did she think this is an example that even compliant house elves suffer and get neglected, even by the sympathetic wizards? Was this a lesson that even those who don't seek freedom suffer and lack agency in this system?

No. Rowling turned it into a cautionary tale against freeing slaves. Unless they're "weird" like Dobby.

Maybe she didn't try to be racist, but this fits disturbingly well with the arguments against ending slavery in reality. That enslaved people will turn into aimless drunks. That they need to be enslaved to have purpose. That those who want freedom have something wrong with them.

And I know this was criticized. What was the response to the criticism? Nothing direct as far as I know, but after all of this - there was an article published on Pottermore to argue that Winky's story is a warning against freeing the elves. It was taken down fortunately, but after this article the arguments against freedom are no longer the opinion of characters within the world - it's a message given to us by real people.

She doubles down. Every time. People keep yelling that she had nothing to do with Hogwarts Legacy, she's not responsible for the way it builds on her original canon. Well, she seems to approve of it. It continues painting the same line with the same brush - just bolder.

She doesn't care about the racism, she doesn't care about antisemitism - she just wanted to use the nazis as her easy villains. She doesn't have the imagination for any other kind.

[meowmeowriley]

Hi costume anon here! I love goth Soap and tech Gaz so much!!!!!!!

Do I have ideas about the effects of repeated and long term exposure to ghostly energy?why yes, yes I do >:3c

Okay Ghost isn’t a full Ghost (ha!) which means he operates on a plain/wavelength (or what have you) closer to humans then a regular goulie would, close enough that a little bit of the extra energy the run off starts to affect the mortals around him… (you can use this for horror or comedy depending on how far you want to take it (I don’t think it would lead to death though))

At first there’s a bit of lethargy and a feeling of lingering cold slight numbness and or tingling on fingers and toes easily ignore or brushed off

Insomnia would hit after that and if they were early birds they’d slowly become night owls but again given what the guys have been through they don’t think much about it

It isn’t until they get sick and they start leaking a little ecto that things start dawning on them (queue the angst (Ghost sulks and tries to avoid them ( this does not work)))

After a while their colds (he he) settle down but if they remain paler then before and their canines are a little sharper, they can see a little better in the darkness and have a feeling of general otherness about them who’s to say?

Itty-bitty baby cores they can’t replenish on their own so when soap gets angry people get static shocks if they touch him and it’s a little easer for Gaz to hack tech when he can speak tech. I’d also wager they’d build a tolerance to Ghost abilities so the ghostly wail and cold glare wouldn’t effect them much maybe they could even sense him.

The speed with which the changes happen would be determined by length and rate of exposure

I hope this isn’t to much rambling my autistic arse would not stop thinking about this even when I had things to do today lol

I hope you have a great day!

RAAAAAAHHHHH YOU'VE SOLD ME ON IT

Nobody would notice them being tired or testy, because they're in the military, everyone's tired and testy. They have caffeine addictions, but so does every soldier. They bark orders at recruits, but come onnnn they're sergeants. It's literally their job to be tough on lower ranks.

Ghost would sulk thinking he's hurting his friends, meanwhile-

Gaz: "who needs wifi when you ARE the wifi?!" Happily tip-tapping away on a laptop that absolutely should not be getting signal where they are, and yet he's getting better signal and faster internet than anyone else does on fucking base. Suddenly he's got controll of all the electronics the enemies have. Drones self destruct, turrets open fire, every door simultaneously locks, trapping men. The enemy base is in chaos.

Soap: "AHAHAHAHAHA! Zippity zap, pippity pop! And yer transformers all go BOOM!!!" His eyes shine brightly and electricity crackles and dances through his mohawk. Distant explosions as the every transformer and junction box gets overloaded simultaneously. There's fire everywhere.

Through their constant proximity to Ghost, and constant use of their powers, it doesn't take long for them to both become powerhouses in their own right.

Tbh, I fucking love electricity powers for Soap. I know we all headcanon him as a pyro, a firy little demon man, but I really think electricity suits him. Ever seen an outlet shoot sparks? They're blue! Not all the time, but still. Blue's always been his color, to me at least. Ever seen a transformer exploded? Big ol' fireball. And he'd cause constant electrical fires if he could.

Anyhow! Fuck I love this AU 🥰 And you! You're brilliant!