#and instead attacked one of its symptoms

[hesgirf]

there is no way that booktok has actually “ruined reading” let’s be more normal about this. let’s put our thinking caps on

[ablednt]

NPD BPD combo will make you feel like a starving wild circus animal every time you remember other people exist

[kissmefriendly]

The chronically ill problem of “is one of my meds fucking with my kidneys again or am I having a heart attack”

[qqueenofhades]

I got political whiplash on Threads. First, everyone was screaming, “All is lost!” I came back an hour later, and everyone was screaming, “We Ride at Dawn!”

The right-wingers are in panic mode. Steven Miller was practically screaming on Feckless news. 🤣

I mean. The right-wingers' entire mentality, the fuel for the January 6 attempted coup, the recent SCOTUS President God-King Immunity ruling, and all the rest, is premised on the simple fact that the president is indeed, Almighty God King who serves for life and will never, ever willingly give up his power. So that's how I can guarantee that the GOP, because they are short-sighted fascist morons, did not plan for this. Their entire strategy was built around attacking Biden, because they hate him. Like, really hate him. He defeated Trump the first time and there was still a good chance that he could do it again. Trump got impeached the first time for trying to extort Zelenskyy for dirt on Biden, because he didn't want to face him. That's why they went after Hunter on largely bogus charges, tossed around the idea of impeaching Biden, actually (uselessly) impeached Mayorkas, etc.

And yet, because Biden (even if he was forced to do it) decided to step away and voluntarily give up his presidential power instead of wrecking American democracy to hold onto it, that has broken their little shriveled fascist brains. They literally can't comprehend it, and I can guarantee they're now shit scared about having to face Kamala, a brown woman, who is the epitome of everything their tiny evil brains hate. As noted by those bangin' fundraising numbers, there is also a lot of excitement around her. And suddenly, after MONTHS of "this election is a referendum on which old and mentally declining man you hate more," that has been removed as a factor. (Watch the media suddenly forget all about age and/or mental competency as a factor now that Biden is out. Does it apply to Trump, you ask? CRICKETS.)

Kamala is going to mop the f'n floor with Trump at the next presidential debate, and I guarantee that the GOP knows that too. Because yes, if Biden had another bad debate, or if he has a bad case of COVID that might end up giving him long-covid symptoms or keeping him off the trail for days or weeks, that would have been very, very hard to recover from. Now the GOP is the one stuck with an old, mentally baffled, virulently hated presidential candidate and the most pro-Russia, anti-woman, demonstrable-sellout whitebread VP pick imaginable, that they had to choose because Trump nearly got the last one killed and he wasn't interested in the job again, for some weird reason. And as we have pointed out before, this is the last-chance saloon for Trump in any number of ways, and he has been demonstrably overconfident the last few weeks as the media was consumed with discussion of Biden's stumbles rather than Trump's manifold unfitness, treason, felonies, and all the rest.

I don't agree with Biden on everything he has ever done in his long career in public service, but I will say that I don't think he would have actually done this if he wasn't eventually convinced, for whatever reason that might be, that it was the right decision. And my one big fear about him stepping down was that the party would instantly fracture, people would start flogging unrealistic Magical White Boy replacements, and otherwise insist on an "open mini-primary!" or some other fucking bullshit. Now, there are still a few idiots trying that, but by and large, the Democratic power apparatus has instantly thrown its weight behind Kamala. That doesn't excuse them for the weeks of wibbling Anonymous Sources self-sabotage beforehand, and I still vote that we destroy the billionaires at our next opportunity, but if we can stick with that and keep up those mongo fundraising numbers, we might indeed actually have a better chance than before, and that was what this was all about.

As I noted yesterday, Black women have been disproportionately influential in taking Trump down (think Leticia James, Fani Willis, etc) and there is undoubtedly a huge, HUGE amount of poetic justice if Kamala can be the one to stick the knife in his greasy orange gut once and for all. I can likewise guarantee the GOP is well aware of that, and the fact that while they can yell even louder and trot out the same old racist, sexist, misogynist fearmongering dirtbag attacks they used on HRC, that is a strategy with demonstrably diminishing returns (it sure as hell isn't going to help them win any more female or suburban or black voters or anyone else we always hear about how they're Making Inroads with). And we're not going to talk about how it's Obvious that America would never elect a black female president. Obama won two terms. Even with all that weight of frothing misogyny and DECADES of Republican smear machines, HRC won the popular vote and was ratfucked out of the Electoral College by the slimmest of margins, after a massive interference campaign by the Russians. It is fucking possible, we are going to do it, and the Republicans are so, SO FUCKING SCARED of having to live in an America run by a brown woman, that can only be for the good.

Kamala Harris 2024. Let's go.

[joaniscruzing]

echoes in the elixirs

WOOHOOOO yay this fic is finally done! i had so much fun writing this! thank you to everyone who supported the last fic i did, i was so happy to see so much interest! special shoutout to @joj0-thesimp for requesting and proofreading beforehand! per usual, requests are ALWAYS welcome! I write for jinx, vi and caitlyn, and do take smut requests.

also, i did my research on the herbs. a good amount of people predict that Jinx struggles with schizophrenia, which its symptoms can be alleviated with ginkgo. please let me know if my research is wrong, that way i can fix this :)

summary: jinx, looking rather off, enters your apothecary, to which you take care of her for the night.

warnings: mention of jinx's mental health issues, mention of seizures, lots of fluff, herbs are basically meds for jinx, jinx needs a hug, one-bed trope, cuddling

“Have a great day!” you called as you gave your product to your client. In the Undercity, every day in the apothecary was quite a busy one. Hundreds of people would file in every day, as they would trade in for your elixirs and remedies that would cure their pain and suffering, even if it was just for a while. The atmosphere was always loud and bustling, making you struggle to keep up.

However, when Jinx would arrive in your shop, things would usually calm down for the amount of time she was there. Business would slow down, and it was usually just you and her alone in the store. Or maybe it wasn’t, and you were just so enamored by Jinx to even notice. Either way, Jinx was your one time to stop and take a breather during the day, which was ironic, considering her electrifying, energetic presence. 

“So, do you have my order, sugar?” Jinx would ask when she would enter.

“Sure do! Right here,” you’d always answer. However, today, there was something different. Jinx seemed like there was some sort of hole inside her. She hadn’t shown up for a while, since Silco had died, Piltover had been attacked, and she had had to hide to stay alive.

Today, however, she entered the store, a hood over her head, and her head low. Not to your surprise, instead of greeting you with those words, she browsed the store first, looking around, and generally not communicating with anyone. Understandable. However, you saw she was shaking as if winter’s frost had bitten her, and she had been without a coat. Trying not to overthink it too much, you went on with your business, packing up and giving your orders and occasionally convincing customers to buy more. When your final order was given, you left your table to check up on Jinx.

“Hey Jinx, are you okay?”

She seemed startled by your words, as if she didn’t expect you to come up to her and ask her that. She immediately tried to leave the store, ultimately avoiding your question.

“Jinx!” you called after her, grabbing her arm. “Do you need anything?”

“Yeah,” Jinx admitted, choked up in tone, “I need a shit ton of ginkgo biloba. More than you usually give.” Your stomach drops. Fortunately, now you know exactly what’s going on, and what you can do to help her.

“Is it getting worse?” you ask, turning Jinx around, and holding her shoulder. Her face was all you needed as an answer. Tear streaks lined her face, black and mixed up with her makeup. Her fingernails were unpainted and outlined with her blood from picking at the skin around it so much. The only distinct features that stayed were her two long braids, still hanging off her head and cascading past her waist to her ankles.

“With Silco dead, I just… don’t feel important anymore. They’re getting louder. I can’t sleep, or work, or do anything, I-” Jinx divulges, her head in her hands. You remove her hands from her face and replace them with your own.

“Jinx, do you need to stay here tonight? I can make you some food, and make you a nice tea with the ginkgo, as well as some lavender to calm you down. Whatever you need.”

“How much ginkgo?”

“The usual dosage I give you. Any more could make things a lot worse. Plus, the lavender will calm you down, help you sleep.”

“How much worse? Like what, I pass out for a week or something?”

“Jinx, have you ever heard of a seizure?”

“Oh. I guess I could stay the night. It’s not like I have anything better to do at home or anything.” With that, you closed up your shop, locking the doors, and covering the windows, that way no one knew you were secretly housing Piltover’s most wanted criminal.

You took the time to make Jinx a nice meal, as you knew she already didn’t eat enough, let alone whatever her eating habits were during this tough time of hers. As the meal cooked, you also ground up some lavender and ginkgo, which you then put into a bag in order to prepare her tea. After that, you left the kitchen in the back of your shop real quick to check on Jinx.

“Shut up! She wants to help me, I know it!” you heard her shouting, pacing around the room. Before you knew what you were doing, you ran up to her and hugged her as tightly as you could, making sure she knew that you did care. You heard her breathing slow down, and her body unwind as her tense state left her.

“You good, Jinx?” you asked. She pulled away to look at you, surprised.

“Why do you even care this much?”

“Look, you’ve told me a few things about yourself here and there. And it sucks. Other than the herbs I know you need to calm down, I know you need to be taken care of right now. You need someone to be there for you. And I want to be there for you right now.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re nice to be around.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re funny, and caring, and innovative, and your presence always brightens my day.” With this, Jinx’s round, purple eyes widen.

“I brighten your day?”

“Yes, Jinx. You brighten my day. I look forward to seeing you on the days you’re to come pick up your herbs just so I can see you, even if it’s for a few minutes. Jinx, everyone here is so down to business, and you’re the one who always lingers. Well, sometimes. Other times you were afraid of getting caught for sneaking out, so you were in and out.”

Jinx hugs you this time, burying her face in your chest.

“You’re a good person, don’t ever forget that,” Jinx discloses, tightening her grip.

“Okay, hate to let you go, but I do need to check in on the food and tea.” Jinx holds on as you struggle your way to the kitchen, making sure the food didn’t burn during the moment between the two of you. Luckily, everything was ready, and in about five minutes, dinner had been served for you both. Jinx’s tea helped her greatly, calming her down. The sense of calmness in her eyes brought relief to yours, as you were glad to know that Jinx’s head would slow down for a bit. She was also happy to eat the meal you cooked, which, per your prediction, was the first proper meal she had had in a very long time. After your scrumptious meal, you both prepared for bed. However, there was one small kink in the works of your plan to take care of Jinx; there was only one bed.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” you assured, “I can sleep on the floor.”

“Are you sure? I can sleep there too,” Jinx replied. You put your foot down though, insisting that she needed a proper sleep. It truly didn’t worry you at all. You began to lay down on the ground, preparing for your sleep. Just as you were about to close your eyes, you heard Jinx’s voice from the corner.

“Could you maybe sleep in the bed with me?”

“Yeah, is everything okay?”

“I just, haven’t slept in a new place that wasn’t where I was holed up in for a long time. Plus, you’re comforting to be around.” You get up, pillows and blankets in your arms, and settle into the bed with Jinx. She clutches onto your waist, her legs wrapping around yours. It takes every fiber in you to not turn around and spoon Jinx right there and then. However, your bountiful dinner, Jinx’s tea, and the calming atmosphere put both of you right to sleep.

so. i originally was going to make this some sort of a love story, but i felt like i couldn't considering jinx's mental state in this fic. shall i draft a part 2/ time jump where they get together?

taglist: @ananas26t @stupendousbananasharkcop @sarcasm-is-my-form-of-attack @t-wylia @emiliaisdead @ihatethis222 @west-c0ast-00 @shootingc @iliterallyhavenoideawhattosay @sweetstarfalls @klerns-birdie

(btw, this is the largest taglist i've had per explicit requests. thank yall so much for supporting <3)

[rnelodyy]

The Owl House And Restorative Justice

At the end of Season 1 of The Owl House, it is revealed that Lilith, the main overarching antagonist of that season, was the one to curse her sister Eda, one of the protagonists, to win a tournament when they were teenagers. This information causes Eda to fly into a screaming rage and attack Lilith, and understandably so.

Eda’s curse is essentially a chronic illness, one that, in Eda’s own words, has ruined her life, being the reason she’s considered a social outcast and why, before meeting King and Luz, she hadn’t gotten close to anyone in years. In season 2, it’s revealed that the curse is why she pushed away her partner Raine to the point that they broke it off with her, and that during a particularly bad flareup, she accidentally maimed her own father, leaving him half blind and with permanent nerve damage to his hands, making him unable to continue working as a Palisman carver. The curse has ruled Eda’s life for decades now, so to Eda, this is the ultimate betrayal.

In the first episode of Season 2, Lilith has defected from the Emperor’s Coven, split the curse between Eda and herself to mitigate the symptoms for her sister, and has moved in with Eda at the Owl House. While Lilith herself still feels guilty and feels she has to make it up to Eda, everyone else, Eda included, has seemingly either forgiven her or chosen to look past it. Eda even makes fun of her for feeling bad about cursing her, and Lilith’s guilt is seemingly absent for the rest of the series. 

The response to this was… Less than stellar, shall we say. A lot of people were angry, saying Lilith got away with her crimes without even a slap on the wrist, and that Eda’s forgiveness of her was far too sudden.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this kind of critique. Amity spent years bullying Willow after her parents forced her to break off their friendship, and when she began trying to mend that relationship, the response from fans was that Willow should have been a lot more angry at Amity, and that they went back to being besties far too soon. I’ve even seen this criticism leveled at Hunter for the things he did while working for Belos, at Vee for impersonating Luz for months to trick her mother, and at Luz for hiding the fact that she helped Philip find the Collector from her friends. And it does seem strange for the show to keep tripping on this same point again and again.

Except, it’s not really. Because I think that, when viewing this show from a different angle, those supposed flaws are actually symptoms of something very important to understand – The Owl House operates on a system of crime and punishment that is very different from our world’s.

More specifically, our world mostly utilizes retributive justice. The world of The Owl House utilizes restorative justice.

So first, what do those terms mean? Broadly, they’re two different forms of handling interpersonal disputes, or dealing with crime. 

Retributive justice is the one our current justice system uses, where the focus is primarily on punishing the perpetrator. Retributive justice can mean detention, suspension, expulsion, jail time, monetary fines, some kinds of community service, exile, or in more severe cases, corporal punishment or the death penalty. It’s the lens most people view the world through, where if someone hurts you, hurting them back is the correct response.

Restorative justice is a very different approach, where you instead focus on helping the victim recover from what happened, and rehabilitating the perpetrator to prevent this from happening again. Restorative justice can look like verbal or written apologies, monetary compensation for costs and trauma, therapy for both victim and perpetrator, education for the perpetrator, mediation between victim and perpetrator, a restraining order, etc. 

When viewed through a retributive lens, The Owl House lets its characters get away with a lot of shit. Lilith cursing Eda, Hunter rounding up Palismen knowing they’ll be killed, Amity tormenting Willow for years, it’s all stuff that, in a retributive environment, they should be punished for, and they’re just not. Eda is only genuinely angry at Lilith for two scenes, Amity and Willow fix their relationship very quickly once Amity starts making amends, and Hunter isn’t punished at all. 

However, I believe the story of The Owl House is best viewed not through a retributive lens, but through a restorative lens.

Let’s look at the Lilith-example again. Lilith’s offense was cursing Eda, which she did because she wanted to win a spot in the Emperor’s Coven. Knowing Eda was better than her, she cast a curse on her, thinking it would only last for a day. But when the time came, Eda forfeited the match, soon after which she transformed into the Owl Beast and was pelted with rocks until she ran. The curse turned out to be very permanent, and Lilith spent the next 20 years trying to fix her mistake by working for Belos to try to capture Eda, since he promised to heal her curse. 

However, when she finally succeeded, Belos went back on his promise. Instead of healing Eda, he ordered her to be publicly executed. When Lilith protested, Belos essentially told her to shut up, that it was the Titan’s will, and left her there. 

So, having realized her method of fixing her mistake has gone real bad, Lilith sneaks down to the Conformatorium to free Eda herself, but arrives too late and finds Luz instead. After a brief fight they end up teaming up, and Lilith leads Luz to the elevator, but they are captured by Belos and Lilith is thrown into the cage with Eda. There, she restores Eda’s partially petrified body, and after fleeing with her, Luz and King, uses a spell to split Eda’s curse evenly between their two bodies.

From a restorative justice point of view, Lilith has done pretty much everything she reasonably could do to fix things. She’s denounced the Emperor’s Coven, returned Owlbert to Luz, helped Luz find the elevator to the execution platform, saved Eda from petrification, apologized to Eda, and while there’s no way for her to cure Eda’s curse entirely, she took on half of the curse at great expense to her own health, in order to ease Eda’s symptoms. 

Eda isn’t angry anymore because in her eyes, Lilith has already fixed things with her. Punishing her more at this point is pointless. What more could Lilith do, really? What other lessons could she learn? The only thing that punishment would bring at this point would be more suffering. 

Let’s look at another example: Amity and Willow.

Amity’s offense was breaking off her friendship with Willow because she was a late-bloomer, bullying her for years, and allowing her friends to do so too. Willow is left with horrible self-esteem issues because of this, and combined with her failing grades, turned her into a horribly shy and withdrawn wallflower (no pun intended). After she’s moved to the plant track she starts actually getting better, but Amity and Boscha especially continue to torment her. While Amity’s bullying of Willow does peter out over time, Willow is clearly still extremely resentful of her. In an attempt to make Willow forget their friendship, Amity accidentally sets most of Willow’s memories on fire, leaving her confused, amnesiac, and unable to grasp basic concepts like that chairs are for sitting in.

Luz pushed Amity into fixing Willow’s brain by going into her mind together and piecing her memories back together. There, the Inner Willow revealed what happened to Luz and the audience.

At this point, Amity shows her that her parents were actually the ones who forced her to end the friendship because they didn’t think Willow was a suitably powerful or influential friend, threatening to make sure Willow would never get accepted into Hexside if Amity didn’t force her to leave. Amity then apologizes to Willow for going along with it, and for the bullying, and vows to make sure her friends never mess with Willow again. 

Willow accepts her apology, but also makes it clear that, while it’s a start, she’s not yet ready to accept Amity in her life again. Restorative justice has not been fully attained, because to Willow, Amity hasn’t fixed everything – Boscha and her squad are still bullying her, and still consider Amity one of them. This changes two episodes later, when Amity tells Boscha to grow the fuck up when she starts bullying Willow again, and joins her and Luz’s Grudgby team despite her personal issues to get Boscha to back off. Willow doesn’t make a grand gesture of forgiveness in this episode, but it is after this point where the two become comfortable around eachother again. 

Did Willow forgive Amity too quickly for years of trauma? Maybe. If she had chosen to continue keeping Amity at a distance I certainly wouldn’t have blamed her. But in the end, Amity fixed the mess she caused as best she could, and has proven herself to want to be a better person, to want to be Willow’s friend again. She worked hard to prove herself to be a person worth trusting, and Willow decided to give that trust a chance again.

And while they did become friends again, that friendship was clearly still affected by what happened, which led to bumps that the two of them had to work through. Like in Labyrinth Runners, where Amity’s overprotectiveness over Willow makes Willow feel like Amity thinks she’s incompetent, and still only sees her as the helpless person she used to be. 

Willow continuing to be mad at Amity and punishing her for what she did wouldn’t be an unreasonable reaction, but it wouldn’t have fixed anything. It would certainly have an impact on Amity, seeing her former best friend rejecting her attempts to make up for what she did, but the hurt on both sides would have continued festering, because deep down, Willow missed Amity too. 

In Hunter’s case, there’s the question of whether he can even be held responsible for his actions. The Palisman-kidnapping in specific was explicitly done under duress – if he failed he would face verbal and physical abuse, and be threatened with his nightmare scenario: getting thrown out of the Emperor’s Coven. 

And that’s not an empty threat either. Hunter has no magic, and Belos has drilled it into him that witches without magic have no future. Without the Emperor’s Coven, his only future prospects would be starving to death on the streets or wasting away in prison. Either way, Hunter would be alone, without family or friends, without a job or job prospects, without anyone to turn to for help. Any child would be terrified of that. Hunter wasn’t always acting on direct orders – in fact he defied direct orders to stay in his room in Eclipse Lake to go look for Titan’s Blood, and then again in Hollow Mind to arrest the rebels. But he made those choices based on the idea that Belos wouldn’t want him if he was a failure, and that he needed a chance to prove that he could still be useful.

And contrary to popular belief, Hunter does know right from wrong. He has a very strong moral compass, he’s just been forced to ignore it in favor of doing whatever the Emperor wants. To shut up that little voice telling him he’s doing the wrong thing, he uses what’s called a thought-terminating cliche, a statement that feels so fundamentally true that the argument need not continue. In Hunter’s case, that statement is “It’s for the greater good.” Sure, kidnapping his new friends and abducting Palismen to feed to the Emperor and threatening someone who’s been nothing but kind to him to take the portal key from her girlfriend and justifying terrorism makes his stomach feel like he swallowed a cactus and saying it out loud makes him sound like a horrible person – but it’s for the greater good. He’s doing it to serve Belos, and Belos knows what’s best. 

So by the time Hunter is out of active danger and able to rest and recover from what happened to him… what would further punishment accomplish? He already knows that he did fucked up shit while working for the EC, and he’s proven time and time again that while he’s not fighting for Belos’s approval, he’s actually a genuinely kind-hearted kid. Punishing him now would likely cause him to react very poorly, because he’s been at the wrong end of that stick so often that he’s developed severe PTSD because of it.

And if you think restorative justice is still in order – Hunter is currently hyperfixated on making sure Belos can never hurt anyone again, and for the long term, he has expressed that he wants to become a Palisman carver when he grows up. While it won’t bring back the Palismen that were killed, it will help the current Palisman population recover and reintroduce Palismen to witches who may have had to give up theirs. 

When viewed through this lens, the writing of The Owl House starts to make more sense. As a show, it is extremely forgiving towards its characters – they’re still held accountable for their actions, but as long as they’re willing to grow and learn and fix the damage they caused, they are very quickly forgiven. 

However, I do understand why these writing choices can be… controversial, so to say. Because it doesn’t feel very satisfying, does it? When someone hurts you on purpose, your first impulse would be to try to hurt them back, that’s just how people work. 

That’s the hardest thing to come to terms with when you become an advocate for prison abolition for example – you’re not just arguing for freeing a guy who got 5 years because a cop found weed in his pockets, you’re arguing for the release, and most importantly, the humanity of some of the most vile, disgusting people this planet has ever produced. Even now, when someone commits a truly awful crime and gets sent to prison for life, my first thought is “Good, I hope they rot in there.” But that’s not justice. That’s just revenge. And revenge is not something we as a society should want to build our justice system on.

It’s not satisfying to see Lilith go from using Luz as a human shield in her fight against Eda to sleeping on the couch in Eda’s house within 2 episodes. It’s not satisfying to see Willow let Amity back into her life when Amity has hurt her so badly before, or to see Hunter become romantically involved with Willow after he literally abducted her the first time they met. But that satisfaction isn’t really the point. Revenge is satisfying in the moment, but an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, and if someone shows a genuine willingness to change, it’s often better to give them a chance to.

However, my final point is about what happens when this approach fails. Because not everyone is willing to change. Some people, when faced with the consequences of their actions, decide to dig their heels in and refuse to admit fault, or blame the victim(s), or use those same thought-terminating cliches that Hunter used to justify their actions, “I was just following orders” being a big one.

And thus, we come to Belos.

If Belos showed a willingness to change, a genuine one, not an attempt at manipulation, should he be given the chance to? That vengeful part of me is VERY empathetically saying no. But logically, reasonably, he should be given that chance, if only because he’s a human being and no human being deserves to be mistreated. That doesn’t mean his victims are obligated to forgive him or be around him again, in fact I think that, for the sake of Hunter’s mental health, Belos should stay as far away from him as humanly possible. But he should be given the chance to start over, to truly better himself and do something good with the rest of his life.

But Belos isn’t willing to change. 

Belos is a product of a bad environment and grew up with a cult-like mentality and hatred for witches that he had to adopt for his own safety. It’s hard to break out of that mentality, but not impossible. Case in point: Caleb. The tragedy of Belos’s character to me is that he had so many chances to change, so many people to help him make that leap, but all of the people who offered him that help ended up dead by his hands because he couldn’t handle the idea that he may have been wrong.

At this point, Belos is stuck. Changing would mean not only giving up on his life’s work, but acknowledging to himself that everything he’s done, mutilating his body, killing his brother, slaughtering thousands and installing himself as God-Emperor of a population he despises more than anything in order to facilitate a genocide, was completely pointless.

He can’t admit that to himself. Especially the thing about Caleb’s death. He’s sunk-cost-fallacied himself so far into a corner that all he can really do when faced with opposing viewpoints is dig his heels in even deeper and lash out in a rage at anyone who challenges him. Even now, when his body is literally falling apart at the seams, he’s still trying to commit witch-genocide, because it’s all he has. 

Restorative justice doesn’t work in this case, because the perpetrator needs to be receptive to it. Logically you would assume the show would default to retributive justice, and characters like Willow and Camila do take a very vengeful glee in imagining themselves beating the snot out of Belos. But right now, the primary motivation of the Hexsquad and Hunter in particular when it comes to Belos is to end the threat he poses. As long as Belos is alive and free, he will continue to hurt and kill people, and if he can’t be talked down, he needs to be either contained or killed to prevent him from causing more harm.

The Owl House provides, in my opinion, a very nuanced take on restorative justice. It shows how it works in action, how different situations impact what it looks like, and what happens when it’s simply not an option. It’s not the most satisfying story to tell your audience, because when someone hurts our babies we want them to suffer, no matter how sorry they say they are. But in this case, I think that sacrificing that bit of audience comfort is worth it to tell the story like this.

[thewertsearch]

TC: it rots you. TC: RUSTS YOUR MOTHERFUCKIN THINK PAN. TC: and the floor all stares up back at you through the motherfuckin hole. TC: BUT THERE IS NO HOLE NOW. TC: only under motherfuckin standing of who all i was made out to be all along. TC: ONLY UNDER MOTHERFUCKING STANDING OF WHO ALL I WAS MADE OUT TO MOTHERFUCKING BE ALL A MOTHERFUCKING LONG.

This doesn't look like lucidity to me. He's barely conversing with Karkat, instead repeating his own phrases and musing about his mental state. His quirk makes it seem like he's alternating between a whisper and a scream, and I don't think that's too far from the truth.

He's certainly more… focused than he was before, but he still doesn't seem entirely coherent. Withdrawal symptoms, perhaps?

TC: i've been kicking the wicked ignorance on this shit. TC: BEEN MOTHERFUCKIN SLAUGHTERING THE WICKED IGNORANCE, BRO. TC: all up in lifelong denial about my calling. TC: AS A DESCENDANT OF THE HIGH MOTHERFUCKIN SUBJUGGLATORS. TC: we are higher than you, brother. TC: WE ARE HIGHER THAN MOTHERFUCKIN EVERYBODY.

Oh, this is exactly what we don’t need right now.

The guy’s been awake for five minutes, and he’s already gone full hemospectrum. He is between Equius and Eridan on the blood chart, after all, and he seems to have embraced the former's prejudice and the latter's violence.

I don't know where they came from - whether he picked them up offscreen, or if they've always been innate to his personality - but if they're asserting themselves this quickly, they're clearly as deeply-ingrained in him now as they are in Eridan. That guy just murdered two of the most benevolent trolls we have - and I'm getting the sinking feeling that Gamzee is more dangerous than he is.

Is this the next crisis, then? A newly-reborn Gamzee is going to take charge of the session himself, and enforce the hemospectrum's hierarchy on the surviving trolls?

TC: and now. TC: AND MOTHERFUCKING NOW. TC: i am going to motherfuckin kill all you motherfuckers. [...] TC: and paint the wicked pictures with your motherfuckin blood.

....evidently not.

He's in some sort of frenzy, then. This is highblood violence in its purest form - violence that's been repressed for years, but is now being released all at once, in a torrent of blood.

TC: FROM YOUR VEINS WILL DRIP MY MIRACLES. TC: your crushed bones will make my special stardust. TC: WELCOME TO THE DARK CARNIVAL, BROTHER.

Blood.

That blood. From earlier.

He wasn’t the one getting attacked, was he?

What the hell does it mean that this Gamzee is the most important character in Homestuck? What the hell is he going to do?

You have never been so scared in your entire life.

Correct - and neither has Karkat.

[librarygarten]

BotW Link x Lynel Hunter! Reader

I think we as a community are sleeping on the fact that BotW is a post-apocalypse. The settlements are few and far-between, most NPCs we meet on the road are being attacked by monsters, and more than one quest is a villager asking for help because they can’t deal with Calamity Ganon’s forces. So, what if Reader had to grow up in that world? How would they deal with the horrors? TW: mentions of death and disease, canon-typical violence

The world was broken. It had been broken long before you had been born. The dark clouds hanging over Hyrule Castle, the wandering machines, the monsters– all merely symptoms of the sickness plaguing the land. The elderly would occasionally tell you of a time before. When there was a princess and a knight. Champions to watch over the people.

Whoever they were, they had failed.

Growing up, your little town was relatively safe. Monsters didn’t venture too close, but they were always too close for comfort. The forest just below your village was home to more than a few Bokoblins and Moblins, not to mention the giant structure some other monsters had cobbled together just over the horizon. It was almost comical, how much their little fort looked like a tree house. But they were not to be trifled with.

Then the clouds over the castle got darker… and the monsters more numerous. Your quaint little village became less and less safe. Traveling to the next village over, which used to be relatively safe, if a bit stressful, was practically a suicide mission now. It would have been okay, you think, if nothing else had happened.

But then people got sick.

Really sick.

Maybe it was another curse of the land. Maybe it was punishment from the goddesses. Whatever the case, people were dying. You were lucky; you were still young when you got sick. A few weeks of shivering, coughing, sweating, and crying later, and you had the strength to get out of bed. Your parents weren’t as lucky. You took care of them as best as you could, but you could still hardly reach the stove to boil water for dinner.

You still aren’t sure which was worse: burying them that spring, or waiting all winter for the ground to thaw.

The rest of the adults fared about as well. Eventually, the sickness burned itself out. Nobody left to infect. Over the course of a year, you had become a village of orphans. The children who survived were weak, but did their best to put the pieces back together. But it quickly became apparent you didn’t have enough supplies. The gardens had been planted too late. The monsters were getting closer.

With no other options, you hugged your friends goodbye and set out on the road, praying to the merciless goddess that you would make it to the next village. That was years ago.

You snapped out of your own thoughts, focusing instead on the task at hand: the hulking beast that had been threatening the local Zora. The damned thing had electric arrows. It was almost like the beast had been perfectly selected to threaten the city below.

No time to think about what kind of divine wrath had placed it here. It swung its sword, and you jumped out of the way just in time. It swung again and you flipped over the blade. The monster roared, its mouth beginning to glow with flame.

Perfect.

You quickly take out your bow, firing an arrow directly at the thing’s face. It slumped forward, temporarily stunned. You ran forward, plunging your blade into its head. The creature let out a horrible death cry before collapsing into a pile of black goop and purple smoke.

“Stay dead, you stupid Lynel.” You kick the last of the black sludge, scattering it in the grass. You know it’s unlikely. It’s only a matter of time before another Blood Moon brings it back. But for now, the Zora should be safe.

You start walking back down the mountain, pulling your hood closer to shield from the pouring rain, but it’s no use. Vah Ruta’s rain was inescapable. You watch your footing as you walk, the muddy ground slippery beneath your feet. Perhaps it would be best to stay the night at the inn in Zora’s domain.

Glancing up, you’re surprised to see another Hylian. His armor makes him look like a Zora. He seems equally surprised to see you. You suppose you are covered in Lynel guts. You give him a polite wave, making a mental note to bathe before checking into the inn. He gives a hesitant wave back. You turn, continuing your path down the mountain.

At the inn, you hear the Zoras excitedly gossiping. Apparently, the centuries-dead princess’ lover had returned. Thinking nothing of it, you pay for a bed and set out at first light. Curiously, there was no rain that day.

The next time you see him is a few weeks later. You had been tracking a Lynel, this time near the base of Mount Lanayru. It manages to get a few good hits on you before you take it down. As you patch yourself up, making sure to stay out of sight of the Lizalfos in the area, you feel the ground beneath you shake. Looking at the mountain, darkness seems to erupt from it, spewing down the sides and straight towards your location. As it nears, you realize it’s not darkness– it’s a dragon, flying down the mountain at breakneck speeds. It’s covered in slime and eyeballs. You watch as the young man, around your age, dives off a nearby cliff and takes aim, hitting the goop. The dragon flies back up the mountain, and he lands near where you sit. Well, land is a strong word. He folds up his paraglider and just kind of.. faceplants into the dirt.

He looks at you. He looks at the Lynel bits still covering the ground. He looks back at you. You raise an eyebrow at him. Looking at him now, you can see his face and arms are covered in scars. Well, maybe scars wasn’t the right word. It looked like half his body had been burnt by a guardian laser and healed. His clothes were absolutely filthy, to say nothing of the smell.

He looks like he’s about to say something, but the dragon roars, snapping his attention back to it. He sprints after the beast, trying to hit the goop with an arrow once again. You decide to leave the dragon to the professional(?) and begin the long hike to the nearest village. If you hurry, you might make it before dark.

Hateno was surprisingly nice. The dye shop guy was… a bit strange. And apparently there was a mad scientist living up the hill. But other than that, it was nice. It almost made you wish you could stay. But you had things to do.

“Two arrow bundles, please.” You tell the shopkeeper. As you pack them in your bag, you hear the door behind you open. The shopkeeper greets the new customer. You look up. It’s the crazy guy that fought the dragon. He was sporting multiple new bruises and cuts across his face and arms. Before you can think, you blurt out “Dude, what happened to you?”

“Uhhh, sledding accident?” The blond scratches the back of his head nervously.

“Oh, that’s our Link!” The shopkeeper laughs, bundling up the newcomer's purchase and handing it to the boy. “He goes away for weeks at a time and comes back with the craziest stories. Did you know he’s gone to Hyrule Field?”

“Isn’t that place a death trap? There’s guardians everywhere.” You look at this ‘Link’ guy. He looks like he weighs four pounds soaking wet with shoes on. Definitely not someone you would imagine taking on a guardian. Then again, he apparently survived his encounter with the dragon on Lanayru.

“I mean, it was a bit tricky. But once you have the right equipment, it’s pretty easy to reflect the lasers back at them.” He smiles awkwardly under your gaze.

“Reflect the lasers back at them?” You cross your arms, unconvinced. “They break most shields in one hit. Two if you’re lucky. What kind of equipment could you possibly have to deal with them?”

“Just my shield.” Link looks puzzled. “I got it from inside the castle. Maybe it’s made better than the shields you’ve been using?”

“I’m sorry you went INSIDE the castle?” You scoff. “Nobody goes in there and makes it out. Hardly anyone even makes it to the gate.”

“Well, I did.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” You roll your eyes. This guy sure was full of it. Sure, he had shot a dragon. But there was no way he had been inside the castle. The darkness inside. The monsters roaming everywhere. It was simply impossible.

“Fine.” Link suddenly grabs your arm, clearly annoyed. You don’t even have time to react as he pulls a device from his hip and hits the surface. You see a light surround you and suddenly you’re standing on a circular platform. There’s some sort of structure behind you. But that’s not what has your attention. The field in front of you, dotted with small patches of trees…

“What the HECK?” You exclaim, twisting out of his grip. “How are we at Hyrule Field? It’s days away from Hateno!”

“Magic?” He shrugs, and you can feel your blood pressure rising. “Anyway, wait here. I can take you back after I show you.” He takes off sprinting into the field.

“What the– ARE YOU INSANE!?” You yell, but he’s long gone. You watch where he disappeared for a few moments. Did he just leave you here? Okay, surely there wouldn’t be too many guardians between here and the road. There were enough trees you could hide behind, if need be. Just as you’re about to walk away, you see Link sprint out of the tree line.

With a guardian hot on his tail.

He waves excitedly at you as the machine powers up its laser. Welp, that settles it. This guy is clinically insane. Carrying his corpse back to Hateno would be impractical, but the village would surely appreciate some memento. Maybe after the guardian leaves you can take his sword? Or that tablet he had at his hip? You watch as the guardian fires at him. He holds up his shield… and the laser bounces off, hitting the ground a few feet away from you. The guardian fires again, and this time Link swings out his arm as the laser connects with the shield. The robot explodes.

“See!” Link runs over to you, ignoring the pile of guardian pieces. “Believe me now?”

Your jaw is still on the floor. Snapping your mouth closed, it takes a moment for you to process what you just saw. He killed a guardian. He killed a GUARDIAN. Which means he wasn’t lying about going inside the castle.

“You’re insane.” You laugh, finally able to speak. “How are you not dead, yet?”

“What can I say? I’m simply that good.” He puffs his chest out, clearly proud at proving his abilities to you.

“I saw you faceplant while fighting that dragon.” You giggle as his shoulders droop.

“Right. You saw that.” Blush creeps up his cheeks, dusting them a very cute shade of pink. Suddenly, he gets a confused look on his face. “Wait. What were you doing there?”

“There’s a Lynel that lives near the base of the mountain.” You shrug, as if that’s an explanation. Link waits for you to say more, but you don’t. Instead, you start walking southwest. You’ve got a vague idea of where you are, and you have a job to do.

“W-wait!” He yelps. When you don’t stop walking he falls in step beside you. “I can take you back to Hateno. You don’t have to walk.”

“Nah.” You wave your hand. “I’ve actually got stuff to do in the area. You saved me some travel time with your… whatever that was.”

“Like what?” He tilts his head, curious.

“Like that.” You stop walking. In front of you is a bridge, and beyond that, a giant colosseum. The walls are half-collapsed, and a black goopy substance clings to parts of the exterior.

“You’re not going in there, are you?” He looks worried.

“Of course I am.” You drop your bag, knowing it would slow you down too much.

“Umm, I would advise against that? There��s a bunch of monsters inside, and I’m not saying you can’t handle yourself, but it’s just that-” You ignore him and walk into the arena. The Lynel notices you almost immediately and brings its weapon down on the ground, sending a shockwave out in all directions. You backflip out of its range just in time, knocking an arrow as you do so. Before you land, you fire, hitting the beast directly in the face. It roars and rushes towards you, but you step out of the way just in time. You can feel yourself falling into the familiar patterns. Dodge. Strike. Parry.

The beast falls without much fanfare. It simply dissolves into darkness, like all the others do. You turn to collect your bag, and see Link, his mouth hanging open like a fish.

“You can close your mouth, pretty boy.” You chuckle as he snaps his jaw shut. “Why do you look so surprised? You killed a guardian not even ten minutes ago.”

“That was awesome.” He has stars in his eyes. You walk down the road and he follows behind you. “How did you learn to do that?”

“I’ve been doing it for years. Just trial and error. And a lot of healing potions.”

“Years?” He seems surprised. “You can’t be much older than me.”

“What is this? An interrogation?” You roll your eyes.

“Sorry. It’s just–” he pauses, and you can see the blush creep back up his cheeks. “I’ve hardly seen anyone on the roads. And when they do travel, half the time I have to save them from Bokoblins. And you handled that Lynel like it was nothing.”

“Yeah, most people don’t travel, genius.” You wave your hand dismissively. “Too many monsters nowadays. Have you been living under a rock or something?”

“Uhh, not necessarily.” He looks confused. “Maybe? Technically?”

“Do you really not know?” You look him over. He seems well-traveled, if a bit dirty.

“Know what?”

“Dude, where have you been in the past couple of years?” You turn around, pointing towards the castle as you walk backwards. “Couple years ago, the clouds around the castle started growing. The elders all told us it was a bad omen. Course, nobody paid attention until the monsters started multiplying. The towns got less safe. And Blood Moons started happening.”

“Oh. It hasn’t always been like this?”

“Nah. When I was a kid traveling between towns was relatively safe.” You turn back around and look towards the setting sun. Crap. You hadn’t realized how late it was getting. You weren’t going to make it to the stable in time.

“So the monsters are getting stronger?” Link glances back at the castle. There’s something in his gaze you can’t quite decipher.

“Yeah. And bolder. Used to be they wouldn’t get too close to settlements. Now they’ll set up camp within sight of village gates.” You shrug.

“Then why were you going after Lynels? They don’t go near towns. I’ve only ever seen them in the wild.” 

“Those places weren’t always in the middle of nowhere. Lynels are super territorial. If their numbers aren’t controlled, they’ll fight over territory and drive each other closer to villages.” You veer off the path, deciding this patch of trees would be good enough to rest by. The skeletons that rose from the ground were too much of a hassle to deal with. And you were tired.

“Why did you start hunting monsters, though?” He follows you into the small forest.

“Why do you ask so many questions?”

“Sorry.”

“My turn.” You sit cross legged on the ground, leaning your head against your arm. “How come you didn’t know the monsters were getting worse? You from overseas or something?”

“No. I’m from Hyrule.” He puts up his hands defensively. “I’ve just been in a coma for… a while.”

“Coma? Dang.” You pull some food out of your bag and offer some to him. He takes it. “Well, I’m not sure how things were before you went under, but now we have a little something called personal hygiene. You should try it out sometime.”

You laugh and he looks down at his clothes, as if only now realizing how filthy they are. He raises his arm and sniffs.

“I don’t smell that bad, do I?” he asks.

“Like an Octorok ate you and spit you out.”

“Aw, man.” His shoulders slump, and you have to suppress a giggle.

“Don’t worry, man. It’s nothing some soap and water can’t fix.” You smirk and take a bite of your food. It’s not the greatest, but it’s one of the few foods that travel well.

“I guess. I’ve been so busy I guess I hadn’t noticed.” He grimaces and takes a bite of his own portion. His frown deepens, but if he has an issue with your food he doesn’t say anything.

“Busy with what?” You ask. “Fighting dragons?”

“I was freeing that dragon, thank you very much.”

“Freeing it from what? This life?”

“No!” Link crosses his arms. “I was shooting Ganon’s Malice off it. Now it’s free and can fly around, just like Dinarri and Farosh!”

“Ganon? Don’t tell me you believe those fairy tales.” You snicker. He doesn’t seem to find it funny.

“Fairy tales?” He looks offended. “Calamity Ganon is in the castle right now! Zelda’s been sealing him for the last century!”

“Sure. And Santa comes down your chimney each year.” You scoff.

“How can you not believe me? There are still people alive who remember the calamity!” He’s yelling now. He sure did take it personally.

“Those are just stories grandparents tell kids to get them to behave.” You make your hands into claws, as if telling a spooky story. “You know, ‘Ooh you better eat your vegetables or else Ganon will get you!’”

“What about the champions? Don’t tell me you think they’re fake, too!”

“Of course they existed. I’ve been around Zora’s domain. I know their princess died in Vah Ruta or whatever.” You shrug. “The royal family lost control of their robots and tons of people died. The champions failed to protect their people and perished like almost everyone else. But that’s history.”

“DON’T TALK ABOUT THEM LIKE THAT!” Link slams his hands down and lean towards you threateningly. You lean away, shocked by his outburst. His expression softens as he backs away. His next words are whispered, almost too quiet to hear. “They were heroes. They gave their lives to stop Calamity Ganon. We never could have predicted he would take control of the divine beasts and guardians.” He pushes the bangs out of his face, ruffling his hair in the process.

“I’m sorry ‘we’???” You’re not sure what he’s on about.

Link doesn’t look at you. His bangs fall back in his face, covering his eyes. Without meeting your gaze, he unsheathes his sword.

“Is that–?” You don’t finish your question. The sword has a faint glow, but you can also feel the pure power radiating off of it. There’s only one sword that could be. But that was just a story. A myth that came about after the world fell apart 100 years ago. Surely, this was a trick. Or a strange coincidence?

No. Don’t be foolish. The proof was right in front of you.

Link swings the sword around, putting it back in its sheath. He stands up without another word.

“Hey-!” You jump up. He starts walking away, back to the road, and you need to jog to catch up to him. “Wait up! You can’t just drop that info and leave!”

“I’ve got stuff to do.” He says coldly.

“Yeah, no shit!” You can’t believe it. This was the hero everyone said had failed 100 years ago? Where had he been all this time? Why wasn’t he vanquishing evil or whatever? “If you’re the hero, castle’s in the other direction, my guy! Rescue the princess or whatever and the monster problems we’ve been dealing with will clear up.”

“It’s not that simple.” His hands ball into fists.

“Uhh, pretty sure that blade’s supposed to defeat Calamity Ganon. Go in. Slice his face. Problem solved.”

“I can’t do that yet.” He groans.

“Why not? You’ve got the sword. I saw you fight a dragon and a guardian.” You motion towards the place he had fought the guardian. It’s out of sight now, a few hills between you and the fallen machine, but your point still stands.

“I died! Okay?” Link points to the great plateau. Its cliffs cast a dark shadow in the moonlight. “I spent a century in the Shrine of Resurrection recovering from my last fight against Calamity Ganon. I still haven’t recovered all of my missing memories from before! Without the Divine Beasts, there’s no way I’m winning.”

“Is that what you were doing at Zora’s domain the first time I saw you?” You gasp. “You’re the reason Vah Ruta stopped spouting water everywhere!”

“Yes? Now if you’ll excuse me, I have two more Divine Beasts to free.” He walks faster down the road, trying to put distance between you two. You match his pace.

“You’ll be going after Vah Naboris, right? The Gerudo Desert is this way.” He doesn’t respond. You keep talking. “I don’t usually go into the desert, but some of the Gerudo keep me updated on the Lynels living in the mountains over there. Vah Naboris has been kicking up a sandstorm. With lightning. The only way to get close to it would be to use the Gerudo chief’s lightning-proof hat.”

“Great. I’ll do that.”

“You’ll be turned away at the gate. Gerudo only let women in their city.” You smile smugly. “Let me help.”

“What? Why would I want your help?” Link side-eyes you. “You called my friends and me failures.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” You wince. “But what you’re doing is going to save Hyrule. No more Blood Moons. No more monster attacks. Let me help.”

He’s silent for a long time. You continue walking with him. Then, he smiles. He’s not quite sure why, but you remind him of someone.

“Goddesses, you’re stubborn. Fine.”

[rei-ismyname]

Let's talk R-LDS

R-LDS or Resurrection-Linked Degenerative Sickness was alluded to in X-Men #4 and the Infinity Comics before being named in X-Men #7. We're told that Magneto has it and it's directly caused by Krakoan resurrection/The Five, kinda.

Here's Beast doing some alluding.

In the panels above, we learn that Hank McCoy is the only one working on the problem - the problem being Magneto's loss of his powers and his body breaking down rapidly - his very chromosomes unraveling. He seems quite sure that it could happen to 'any of us' though the lack of quarantine suggests it's not contagious.

The next bit of information we receive is from Magneto and Scott in conversation, reflecting on The Iron Night. They took down a wild sentinel that was attacking the town and Mags lost control over his powers immediately after, requiring Scott to knock him out for safety's sake. Scott is no scientist, and while Magneto is a genius polymath autodidact (with plenty of experience in genetics) it's not a character trait that's seen focus lately. Thus, I'm assuming they're discussing it as amateurs and as patient zero in Magneto's case.

Magneto confidently names the condition for the first time as well as using an acronym for it, suggesting it's confirmed to exist, he's had a positive diagnosis, and they're using the term enough to require shorthand. He even spells out the subtext for us - it was a hidden flaw in Krakoan resurrection. I'll come back to that notion. Scott says 'we don't know that for sure,' implying that R-LDS is just a theory or speculation, which Mags doesn't directly refute. Instead he lays out the worst case scenario. They can't both be right here, so what's the deal? Magneto's symptoms are obviously confirmed, but how did they get from there to here?

If Magneto is the first and only person affected by his condition, why are he and Beast so sure about its providence and everyone being in danger? How could they possibly link it to Krakoan resurrection? I'm no scientist but I do know that there's only so much you can conclude from a single data point. Magneto was indeed only resurrected by the Five once, but he died again after that on Arakko (X-Men Red #7). The body he's in came out of a portal from Overspace in Adam Brashear's underwater base (Resurrection of Magneto #3.) His body suffering a condition borne of something that happened to a different body doesn't make sense. Considering he's the only person to return to life that way AND the only one allegedly with R-LDS, that would be the place to start for Beast's sciencing.

There he is, good as new.

Word of God

In a recent AIPT interview, Tom Brevoort removed any ambiguity and just straight up confirmed it. With the caveat that his recent X-history knowledge seems pretty poor, he is the de jure ultimate authority on the matter. I don't agree with that, and not just because I don't respect him as a creator. This habit of on-panel ambiguity and editorialising in interviews is vexing.

It's especially vexing when he contradicts himself. He counterpoints his own information with some of what I just pointed out, but the fact that they've made a list of who was and wasn't resurrected suggests R-LDS is a plot point they're committed to. I have to wonder why he bothered giving a detailed answer to this question if it's 'yes,' then 'maybe', then 'it will definitely be a thing you'll see as we progress.' Saying all of that and then ending with 'we know very little so far' really makes me wonder what he's thinking. Tom Brevoort could have given his usual cagey answer about not wanting to spoil anything, but he didn't here. I'm saving most of my Brevoort-specific criticism for a separate piece, but this glib and irreverent tone is typical of his commentary - even managing a light jab at Jordan D White.

Frankly, I think it's a graceless and cynical development. There are so many character beats, mistakes, and conflicts to use from the First Krakoan Age that choosing to create R-LDS feels like a shot at the core of hopefulness and creativity that blew our socks off in 2019.

HoxPoX

House of X/Powers of X was hopeful and magical. After a decade plus of endless misery and genocides, dull stories and bizarre characterisation, for once mutants got a W. The ability to use mutants working together to right the horrendous wrongs they'd suffered was central to that - the power of community and cooperation. What they built wasn't perfect but The Five was something they got right.

What would possess someone to take the cornerstone of the greatest X-Men story of all time (don't @ me) and try to tear it down? Remember, when the dust settled we ended up in Moira X life 10E. In 10A, the original Krakoan experiment, the mutants won! They thrived and protected what was theirs against Dominions. It took a literal apex AI God existing outside of space and time directly opposing them to fail. Enigma, on the back foot, sent Omega Sentinel through time to start ORCHIS years early and ensure Krakoa's collapse. Am I to believe 'no, sorry. That was a dead end?'

Haven't we been here before?

We've had mutants suffer from the Legacy Virus and M-Pox already, and I might even be missing other examples of nebulous diseases that threatened to wipe out all mutants. Obviously it's the prerogative of the X-Office to use whatever plot points they want, but do we really have to do this again? There are plenty of ways to sideline Magneto as a combatant that don't require repackaging old storylines. We've even had Hank McCoy decades behind the curve desperately trying to catch up before - in All-New All-Different X-Men.

Small World

Defenders-era Hank McCoy might be the worst possible 616 scientist to tackle this problem. He's literally decades behind the science curve and doesn't have the experience in dealing with anything like this. He's not the same guy that worked on M-Pox or the Legacy Virus. He never set foot on Krakoa and has never met any of the Five. We don't know how much data was recorded or kept from The Five but Beast may not have access to it.

Why isn't he talking to Cecilia Reyes, Forge, Jean Grey, Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, Adam Brashear, Healer, Doctor Nemesis? Even doctor dickhead that extorted Storm has the ability to instantly diagnose anyone. It makes the world feel tiny, and when you're following an era of interconnectedness that's just so disappointing. Portraying him as supremely concerned about 'all of us being ticking time bombs' rings hollow if he's working on it solo. Hank McCoy has always had a sense of arrogance where his scientific ability is concerned but not to this degree. Look at the guy! He's hating the stress he's under.

Sins of Sinister and the White Hot Room

I have to wonder if the implications of linking Magneto's illness to The Five's resurrection have been fully considered. The Sins of Sinister timeline ran for a millennium with the Five resurrecting on an industrial scale. Rasputin IV would have noticed, or the Quiet Council. The mutants left behind in the White Hot Room in RotPox spent 15 years bringing back ALL the dead mutants. That's 16 million, minimum. 15 years is less than a thousand but it's still longer than the First Krakoan Age, several times over. Nobody noticed anything? Elixir, member of the Five and Omega biokinetic, with his unlimited mastery of DNA didn't notice anything? Destiny didn't see mutants falling apart? Sounds dubious as hell to me.

Towards the end of the era many humans were resurrected too. 5% of the Five's work was set aside for bringing back poor children etc through the Phoenix Foundation. Steve Rogers was resurrected into his current body on Judgement Day. I am extremely skeptical that this has been considered, and in Steve's case whether the X-Office can even use him.

Conclusion

Magneto's physical degradation has been swift. Here he is in Uncanny X-Men #700, implied to be at most 6 months before X-Men #1. I think I've demonstrated that the concept is nonsensical and to reiterate, I think it's a terrible narrative choice. If I'm being generous, it'll be interesting to see if they can explain R-LDS in a way that makes sense - if they can do something new and interesting with a tired concept. There's only been one issue since it was introduced, so perhaps I'm jumping the gun on breaking it down. Let's check back in 6 months.

What do you think of R-LDS? Do you think my reasoning is sound? As always, I'd love to hear what other fans think.

[justkidneying]

Why the Spleen Sucks

The spleen is a really shittily placed organ, making it prone to injury. This injury is usually severe and can lead to death if not properly managed. We're going to look at the function of the spleen, what happens when it is damaged, and how to write about.

Where is the spleen? It's in the upper left quadrant of the abdominal cavity, nestled right against the ribs (typically 9-11) at the midaxillary line. It's behind the stomach and is considered intraperitoneal. The main thing is that the spleen is very vulnerable. It is literally right up against the ribs without much protecting it. It's shaped like a little bean and is purple in humans. It is fed by the splenic artery, which comes off of the celiac trunk (which sticks off of the abdominal aorta).

What does the spleen do? Its main job is to filter out old and malformed red blood cells. It also holds immune cells. Certain diseases can cause the spleen to enlarge, including cirrhosis of the liver (it's connected to the hepatic portal system), sickle cell anemia (RBCs are stuck in it), and autoimmune disorders. The spleen also holds about 250 mL of RBCs in reserve in case you need them.

What happens when it is injured? The spleen can be ruptured and lacerated kinda easily. Blunt trauma to the ribs can cause it to rupture, and this is seen in contact sports and car accidents mostly. Because of those giant gaps between the ribs, it's also prone to injury from knife attacks. Gunshot wounds are another common cause, as well as broken ribs penetrating it (broken ribs are very sharp, like way sharper than you imagine). Rupture is more likely when someone has splenomegaly.

When the spleen is damaged, you're going to get a lot of intraperitoneal hemorrhaging. The spleen filters a lot of blood and has blood in it, so there's going to be a lot of blood in the abdomen (obviously). This will lead to distention, guarding (abs are tense), and hypovolemia. The left upper quadrant will be painful, and there can also be referred pain to the left shoulder (Kehr's sign).

If the patient has a small laceration, the symptoms aren't always as dramatic. Sometimes they'll just have low hemoglobin (which is on RBCs), maybe some thrombocytopenia (lots of platelets in the blood).

How do you fix this? If the injury is small and the patient is hemodynamically stable, they can usually be given a blood transfusion and the spleen can heal itself. Sometimes surgery is also performed to clamp a vessel or repair the outer layer of the spleen.

If the injury is major, then surgery will be performed. If the patient is less critical, they may go in and try to fix the problem. If it can't be fixed, they may do a splenectomy (remove the spleen). In a critical patient, they might forgo the nice pretty incision on the left side, and instead just split the patient down the middle. In these situations (in my experience), there isn't a lot of time to waste. One thing that we aren't going to waste time on is anesthesia, for example. This is with a lot of very critical surgeries, at least from what I have seen. Like the surgeon will start cutting as they are working on knocking out the patient, but usually they are in so much pain that they don't even register it.

If you remove the spleen, the patient is more at risk for infections, but with modern medicine and vaccinations, it's not as much of a big deal as it used to be. The patient will probably be fine.

Writing tips: (new section idea, hope you guys like it, lol) As with any injury, you have to make sure that you are giving them an acceptable mechanism of injury. With the spleen, this is either blunt trauma or penetration/laceration. Getting tackled, getting stabbed, getting shot, all great MOIs.

Second thing, present the appropriate signs and symptoms. A sign would be like bruising, hypotension, tachycardia, etc. A symptom would be LUQ pain, Kehr's sign, etc.

Next, figure out what you're going to do and where you're going to do it. In the field, there probably isn't much you can do. The most would probably be a laparotomy and clamping the splenic artery, but I mean, when I was an EMT, we were not doing this. There's a lot of stuff you can theoretically do, but never gets done. But I mean you can write it. If the patient makes it to the hospital, I think it would be more fun to do emergency surgery and just split them right down the middle. There's going to be a lot of blood in the greater omentum, very high stakes and exciting.

Anyways, hope you guys liked this, please let me know if I got anything wrong. I wrote this off of my personal experience and a few good textbooks, but there can always been mistakes in things.

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a message from Yahya Sinwar (the Hamas leader inside Gaza) was passed to Hamas leaders who live outside of it, and the essence of that is not to worry, because Sinwar believes they have Israel exactly where they want it. In other words, when Hamas is estimated by Israel to have at least 12,000 of its terrorists killed, and despite the fact that they could stop the death of Gazans by releasing the Israeli hostages and surrendering, Sinwar doesn't see any issues with where the war is at. I think the most important part is this: "According to the report, Sinwar also told the Hamas officials that the terror group is prepared for Israel’s expected operation in Rafah, the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city, and is relying on the high civilian death toll reported by the Hamas-run health ministry to cause enough global outcry that Israel is forced to withdraw" (my emphasis). At what point do people realize that they are serving the interests of Hamas' mass murderers, kidnappers and rapists?

A few days ago, I wrote about the attempt to allow aid trucks into northern Gaza directly from Israel, instead of bringing it to the south, and waiting for Gaza-based elements to deliver it to the north. This means an escort of Israeli soldiers is accompanying the trucks. This is the route the aid trucks cross:

Today, these aid trucks were stormed by a huge crowd, and according to the IDF, many people died from pushing and trampling (at the link you can see aerial video footage of the stampede), not an unheard of phenomenon when a huge herd of people all rush in at the same time. On top of that, some Gazans were also advancing at the soldiers securing the aid trucks. The soldiers felt undr threat, and they opened fire at those charging at them, but according to their estimate, this accounts for only 10 of the dead. Still, you can count on the anti-Israel crowd to adopt a narrative that, immediately and without investigation, calls this a massacre and blames every single death on Israel, not on Hamas, which started the war that made even aid supply into a dangerous and complicated situation.

Here's a reminder that even in the middle of the war, when no one is paying attention to it, Israel continues to demolish illegal homes built by Jews. But you're never gonna hear about it, not even during more normal times, because it doesn't fit the anti-Israel narrative, so anti-Israel sources will only ever tell you about it, when Israeli demolishes illegal homes built by Arabs.

As threats to British Members of Parliament (MPs) are rising due to threats from the anti-Israel crowd, the UK has allocated bodyguards to some of them, along with 31 million pounds designated for the security of British democracy. If some of the most powerful people in Britain are that scared, what do you think Jews there are going through? Indeed, today we heard that 72 million pounds are meant to help secure Jewish centers and institutions in the UK. The problem is that until the root of the problem will be tackled, this is just taking care of the symptoms, instead of curing the disease.

Israeli security forces have stopped two Palestinian cousins, one 17 years old and the other 29 years old, from carrying out an independent terrorist attack. I refer to such attacks as independent in order to point out that they're not a part of some greater plot, unlike every single terrorist attack on Oct 7, which were all interconnected, and rocket attacks since, which are launched as a part of the war that Hamas started waging against Israel. However, some of these attacks ARE connected to Hamas. Apparently, these two cousins contacted Hamas in Gaza to get help in committing their intended crime.

This is 59 years old Michel Nissenbaum.

He made alyiah on his own from Brazil when he was 13 years old. Friends say that coming to Israel saved him. He worked in hi-tech, as well as a tour guide, and volunteered with Bedouin kids. Here he is with one such group:

On Oct 7, Michel heard that the Re'im IDF base was under attack from Hamas terrorists. Knowing that his granddaughter was there, visiting her dad, Michel decided to go there and get her out. While he was making his way to the base, he stopped responding to messages. His granddaughter was rescued from the place hours later, but Michel himself had disappeared. He's believed to be kidnapped in Gaza, but his family is scared, because he wasn't spotted in any of the pics or vids released by Hamas.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[howlsofbloodhounds]

I need to see more content of Color matching Killer's freak, and not just in terms of suggestive themes.

Obviously he's not direct or loud about it, obviously it's not easy reading that off of a person like him, but I imagine Killer would pick up early that Color's a bit of a freak cause why the hell else would he be trying to help him so much? Freak recognizes freak. Freakception. It's just kind freak on fire vs knife freak, that's what this has become.

Color is the subtle kind of freak. There is always a 50/50 chance that if Killer's got an urge, Color's gonna indulge it and act like he always does in the process. He is a "go with the flow" kind of guy on the surface until he decides to rip off that facade. His friends already know how freakish he is to a certain extent but it's people like Killer, Epic, and Delta that truly do vibe with it in their own ways.

Killer would want more of it and look for ways to encourage Color's "dark side", Delta would compete with it, and Epic would think of any punchline to add to how hilarious he finds it.

This is a group of equally as unhinged men.

The signs of Color's freak would be evident to Killer long before he decides to take up Color's offer in leaving Nightmare behind. He would pick up those signs and use them against him, specifically during arguments or fights where Killer accuses him of having crude ulterior motives.

And Color giving him little to no reactions on that basis would not only infuriate Killer but also fascinate him even more than he already was. Cause he can't always tell whether or not a comment set something off in Color's mind, or if there really was nnothing.

And then as time continues to pass, that is when Killer's observations start to make sense. He and Color are a lot more alike than he previously thought, well beyond the "we both used to be Sans and got fucked over by the same stupid kid" commonality.

They both have deeply-rooted trauma from two of the same fucking child. While Color was eventually provided with the resources to start healing, Killer was routinely denied those resources.

Perhaps Color has one of those warped bouts of hyena-like laughter too, except while Killer has it casually, it's a red flag coming from Color as it's indicative of a panic attack, complete breakdown, or weak attempt at stress relief following either of those things.

They both struggle at showing vulnerability because of their trauma. Killer hides that in multiple shitty ways while Color has had several years of therapy and a solid support system and because of that developed a stable "fake it till you make it" mask for only the worst case scenarios where he can't catch a break soon enough. (He's had to use that mask A LOT in dealing with Killer before he left Nightmare)

Think Stage 3 doesn't have enough reasons to regard Color as a source of safety? They've both got distinct animalistic traits and behaviors, and Color dedicated the patience and time to let Stage 3 learn that at its own pace. Stage 3 finds a mutual understanding with Color that it can't with anyone else BECAUSE of the effort and comfort Color provided.

And what about the fact that they've both lost their sense of identity and since gaining freedom had to gradually make a new one with the shards they managed to salvage? They both aim to keep some aspects of "Sans", but can never truly be "Sans" again. They've both grown past the point of ever being the exact same as they were decades, perhaps hundreds of years before.

In various ways both before and after escaping their traumas, they are both in constant physical, mental, and emotional pain. Some conditions simply have no cure, no medication to soothe their symptoms.

They are so similar yet so different. So of course Color would match Killer's freak. Under calm and casual circumstances he'd agree with (Stage 2) Killer's accusation of him being a masochist and Killer would be caught off guard because he was aiming to make Color angry. But instead Color gives him that simple admission with no strings attached.

Like golly gee fuck, Killer, it's almost like he has to be one in order to cope with the amount of agony he deals with every day. Speak for yourself, motherfucker.

Unhinged freaky old men is where it’s at.

People look at the chromatic crew and think Color’s the odd one out, that he’s the hinged one, but definitely not.

Bro probably finds it comforting and reassuring when killer licks away his tears 💀. Mans would be so willing to indulge nearly anything killer wants to try or do, and he’d likely enjoy most of it.

Need more of Color matching Killer’s freak and rolling with it. Wonder if Color ever surprises Killer sometimes.

[anameistoohard]

Oh boy, lets open that can of worms

There's a LOT of discourse with endo vs anti-endo stuff (endogenic system=plural system not formed by trauma if you don't know 🙂). Like, death threats coming from both sides kinda thing. We try to stay out of it. But it's easy to accidentally stumble into it if you're not familiar with some of the nuance. So we want to share some observations as like, a crash course. (And apparently we had a lot to say lol.)

This post isn't really to debate how plurality forms. Just to give some context as to why so much hate is flying between these two groups.

Basically, you have 2 extremes. (And everyone in between obviously)

On one side you have people making up extra rules on top of the diagnostic criteria to exclude and gatekeep anyone who doesn't meet "their level" of disordered. (I've literally heard people say "you can't be a system, you're not as traumatized as me"). A lot of accusations of faking come from this bunch. Too much internal communication? Faker. Too many non-human alters? Faker. Too many or not enough alters? Faker. You can't win with them even if you have a diagnosis.

We've noticed a lot of parallels between this group and transmeds. You need to have x level of dysphoria to ride this ride. You can't be trans if you don't want xyz treatment. You need to reach my arbitrary bar of "trans enough". Enbys and everyone else are fakers. That kind of bs.

But on this side you also have a lot of people who just want to be taken seriously. They want to be validated by their diagnosis and feel hurt when people say or do things that they think will compromise that validity. They, at least initially, come from a place of sincerity not malice. But they fall into the trap of trying to be "one of the good ones".

On the other extreme you have the wild west. Things people treat as fact aren't codified with the same scrutiny as the DSM-5 or ICD-11. This breeds its own confusion and misinformation. We've seen people conflate plurality with things like maladaptive day dreaming, lucid dreaming, adhd, and (applying it to other people with ferocity to the point of harassment) metaphors of all things.

They have a spaghetti at the wall approach that reminds me of a less extreme MOGII (an attempt to define just about every possible form of gender and sexuality). It's a messy patchwork of ideas. We've seen 8 different labels that all mean the same thing and are being used by exactly no one. Redundancy and hyperspcificity, that's the name of the game. But frankly we like this if for no other reason than we want to see what sticks, what becomes mainstream.

We've seen people from this group attack people as badly as the anti-endo group. Openly mocking people for having trauma or saying vile shit like "traumagenics kys". They feel threatened by the exclusionary nature of diagnoses. But instead of taking their frustration out on the systems of power they take them out on normal people. After all if you're diagnosed, you "represent the system"... I guess. Equally bull shit.

But this is also where the edge cases go, the exclusions, those that don't fit into a neat little box. The DSM excludes people whose plurality is accepted as part of their culture or religion. These people don't suddenly stop being systems just because they're accepted, but they're distinctly not disordered. They don't meet the clinical definition of DID or OSDD. Same goes for someone whose symptoms are mild enough to not cause "clinically significant distress". You also have people who don't want to be pathologized or have been failed by the medical system.

So lastly, a warning: When dealing with plural stuff, it's very easy to go stumbling into a mine field.

Tldr: I would always rather land on the side of letting too many people in than exclude people who needed the support. However, no matter your in-group, some people take things too far. Like, ffs don't attack people. 

-Taylor & Mark

[somanyratsinthewalls]

Burning Hearts Chapter 21

Pairing: Law x Straw Hat Zoan Type (named) OC 

Summary: You’ve spent a year with Law and the Heart Pirates now. Law is still pressing to unlock the full capabilities of your devil fruit powers as a mythical zoan type, but you’ve got other things on your mind. You’ve uncovered Law’s plan to kill Doflamingo, but you’ve resigned to not stop him and accept the way things are meant to be. He needs you. Your heart lies half with Law, but half at home with the Straw Hats. 

Taglist: @zoros-fourth-sword @cottoncandyloverrrr @airwolf92 @nothing-but-brass @tuskjohnny

WC: 2200

MINORS DNI ADULT CONTENT!!! (no smut this chapter but mentions of abuse and murder)

Burning Hearts Chapter 21: An Attempt

— — 

Law was worried. 

The first day after Greyjaw’s letter left Daisy oscillating between dry heaves and violent sobbing. Once she had vomited and cried herself out, she slept. She didn’t leave Law’s bed for two more days, refused food and barely drinking water. The fact she refused to consume anything was the reason Law wouldn’t leave her side. After her collapse in the kitchen, the crew offered to help her into her own bed but Law had insisted she needed medical attention and would see to her in the medical suite adjacent to his bedroom. 

What the Heart Pirate crew didn’t know is he had moved her into his private bedroom instead of the medical suite, and his interest in her condition was far greater than just medical concern.

Law sat on the floor, parallel to Daisy’s sleeping form above him on his bed, stroking her arm softly as he held a psychiatric journal in his other hand. 

“Hmmph…” Daisy stirred and turned over under his grey, sealskin blanket.  

“Hey…” Law put the book down and leaned towards her. “Have some water, okay?” He grabbed the glass off his messy nightstand and brought it up to her lips. “Just a sip? For me, yeah?” He tried to smile but couldn’t manage it. 

“Okay…” The tired, messy haired woman croaked. Her eyes fluttered further open. 

Law tipped the glass back and Daisy took a small sip. 

“There’s my girl…” Law cooed as he smoothed back her hair with one hand. Even her bright, grey eye had lost its signature sparkle. He felt the back of his throat tighten and pursed his lips to fight the feeling. 

“Law… I-…” She starts. 

“Yes? Anything you need, I’ll get it for you.” Law asks. 

“No… I… I’m.. I’m sorry..” Daisy sits up on the bed and rolls her legs over the edge, the most she’d moved in days. “I’m sorry I brought this here… I need to leave… for the good of-"

“No.” Law cut her off. “You’re not going anywhere. I’m not afraid of him. None of us are.” He brings his hand under her chin as he sits up on his knees in front of her on the floor. “We’ll get through this together. I promise.” 

Law doesn’t wait for a response before he presses his lips softly to hers. He cups the back of her neck and holds her against him tenderly. 

Daisy pulls back, trying to manage a smile and she strokes his cheek. 

“How long was I-“

***BOOM*** 

“What the fuck was that?” Daisy’s eyes shoot open wide with panic. 

“Sounds like someone-“ Law starts before the door to his bedroom is kicked open.

“Captain! The base is under attack! It’s coming from the bay!” Bepo’s voice echoed through the metal walls of Law’s captain’s quarters. 

Daisy’s body goes rigid under Law’s touch. 

“It’s him. It has to be.” She says plainly, staring right through Law. 

“Bepo, get everyone out of the base except for Shachi, Penguin, and yourself. I’ll need you out there with me. Make sure the rest of the crew makes it to safety first-“ Law orders his first mate. 

“Aggh!” 

Law turns back to Daisy and suddenly she’s doubled over on her hands and knees on the steel floor of his room. 

“Daisy? What’s wrong? What are your symptoms?” He asks, frantically. 

“Shit- AHH!” Daisy curses then wretches forward, her black wings sprouting out of her bare, pale back exposed by her nightgown. “I don’t think-“ The fragment followed by a violent heave. A hollow belch produced a clearly involuntary fireball from her throat, singeing a hole in the floor. 

“Bepo… Get everyone out of here… NOW!” Law commands as he looks back over his shoulder. 

The polar bear nods and hurries out the door from which he came. 

“Law…” The name comes out as a guttural growl as Daisy writhes against the floor. “You need to leave- PLEASE!” She cries out as a long, scaly tail grows from her backside and twitches restlessly. 

“I… I’m not going anywhere… I’m right here baby, just relax…. Just breathe… It’ll be okay…” Law holds his hands out as he approaches her now much larger form. “I’m not scared… I love you…” 

Heavy breaths and deep pants come from Daisy as those horns that Law had only seen once before protrude from her skull… were they even larger now? And what was that down her back? Were those spikes? 

“No.. Law this is different… please get out…” Daisy lifts her head from the floor to look at him and he gasps. 

The only recognizable feature in her face was her differently colored eyes, both glowing with rage. 

Her body had doubled in size and taken a bipedal form, face horrifically contorted into an angular, draconic image. Her wings were nearly three times the size he had seen them before and smoke was billowing from her nostrils. Law knew what her Awakened Zoan Form was capable of… but he never expected to see it now. 

Law was broken from his trance by a heavy, black claw slamming into the ground in front of him before a long roar echoed throughout the base. 

“ROOM!” 

— — 

Law materialized on the beach outside the Heart Pirate's base. He looked out into the bay and saw a large pirate ship with its cannons bared in his direction. The boat flew a painfully familiar Jolly Roger. It flew the symbol he had removed from Daisy’s abdomen. 

He looked to his right and saw Penguin, Shachi, and Bepo running to join him. 

“Captain!” Penguin hollered as the three of them approached. “Where’s-“

***ROOOOOOAAR***

The sound of shattering wood and breaking metal filled the tense air. The four of them turned their heads towards the base to see a black creature nearly 3 stories tall burst out of the base’s ceiling and take to the air. Another screech hits their ears after the sound of a few heavy wingbeats. 

“That isn’t…. Right?” Shachi asks, horrified as he stares at the dragon in the air above them. 

The men were silent for a moment as the monster streaked across the sky towards the enemy ship. 

“I’m afraid it is.” Law unsheathes his sword. 

“So… what do we do? We can’t hurt Miss Daisy…” Bepo begins. 

“Well we can’t just let her-“ Penguin retorts. 

*SLAM*

*SCREECH*

Before Law had a chance to intervene, the enormous black wyvern he had come to know as his lover had landed hard on the deck of the ship and began lighting the boat up with dragon fire. 

Several minutes of carnage go by. 

Law and his crew watch from the beach as Greyjaw’s ship goes up in flames. Law can see silhouettes of men jumping overboard, choosing to drown instead of being ripped apart by teeth and claws or scorched to death by dragon fire. Law’s brows furrowed for a moment… it was brutal… but it was what they deserved.

Anyone who had any part of hurting Daisy deserved the worst and this sick fate would be too kind for them. 

The ship slowly sank into the sea, the tentacled Jolly Roger flapping sadly against the broken mast. 

Although the fight had been won, the giant beast continued its rampage. Fire streamed from its jaws and its massive talons ripped apart the last of the men on the deck. Just before the last bits of driftwood slipped into the water, the dragon cried out again and took alight into the cold winter sky. 

A long, lamenting roar rang out as fire lit up the sky. Daisy flew back towards the island, growling and bellowing all while spewing fire to singe the treetops. Law saw she was headed towards the mountain at the center of the island. 

“Stop the fires. I’ll find her.” He tells his crew. 

— — 

Law followed the trail of smoke and ashes through the woods. 

He held his arm over his mouth and nose as he approached the mountain, trying his bed to avoid any smoke inhalation… he knew he was getting close. The trees around him became increasingly burnt, the tall winter grasses towards this part of the mountain were turned to cinders. 

Law came upon a large-mouthed cave in the side of the mountain and felt a large gust of hot air coming from within. 

“Daisy?” Law called out. He coughed. “Daisy it’s me. Just me.” He trudged further into the cave. 

The walls of the cave lit up in a burst of flames. 

“Go away!” 

The voice sounded gravely and weak. 

“Now you know I can’t do that….” Law says as he stepped gingerly further into the cave. 

“It’s.. AH!” A gust of hot air rushed towards Law, causing his hair to blow back and sweat droplets to form on his neck. 

“I know… You’re still running too hot… but I’m not leaving…” Law continues to move forward cautiously. “I need to see if you’re hurt…” 

Law rounds a bend in the tunnel and finds a nude body laying on the floor of the cave in the fetal position. Daisy’s body has returned to her human form, but the energy was still causing her to radiate heat. The air around her was distorted like the ground on a hot summer day, steam rising towards the high ceiling of the cave. Her shoulders shook as she struggled to catch her breath. 

“You can’t!” Daisy tries to sit up and face Law. “It’s not safe!” Another fireball belches from her throat and she recoils in on herself again. 

Law raises a turquoise sheathed hand and materializes the fireball away. 

“It’s okay… I just need to see you…” Law gets as close as he can before he feels his skin blister from the heat and recoils. “Let me see that you’re okay…” 

“I’m fine!” Daisy musters as loudly as she can. “Leave me here. I’ll come back when I can…” 

“I’ll never leave you.” Law answers immediately without thinking. He sits cross legged as close as he can get to his lovers burning form without getting hurt himself. “I’m staying here until you cool off.”

“And..” Daisy lets out a hot sigh, stone cave floor beneath her turning to mud. “And if I don’t?”

“Then I stay here forever.” Law answers. 

Tears spill over from Daisy’s eyes as she begins to sob. Oh how Law wished he could scoop her up into his arms and comfort her if it wouldn’t kill him in the process. 

Minutes go by with no words spoken. 

“Well, it’s over isn’t it?” Law asks. 

Daisy lets out a sad laugh. 

“No. He sent his lackeys. He wasn’t on the ship.” The orange and blue flames surrounding Daisy’s prone body simmered down. “He’d never show up like this. This was merely the first wave.” She sighs again. “This was child’s play.” 

Law crawls closer to her as her temperature lowers. 

“You think he’ll be back?”

“Yes. I know he will.” 

“Then you’ll be ready.” Law responds, firmly. He waits another few minutes, hearing her breathing begin to regulate. “You handled this one within ten minutes. You’ve awakened your devil fruit powers, as long as you learn to control them you can-“

“I killed maybe a hundred men in ten minutes. I don’t want that power!” Daisy’s flames flare up again. “I… I’m scared… I'm scared I can’t control it. That I’ll freak out again and hurt someone I care about… someone like you or Luffy or Zoro or Nami or Chopper or Brook or-“

“You won’t. You didn’t today. You could have burned the base to the ground after you sunk the ship but you didn’t. You can control this…. I’ll help you.” Law tries his best not to pull away further after her outburst, but it nearly singed his eyebrows off. “I’m staying here then I’m taking you back to the base. I’m not going back without you.” 

Daisy sighs. 

“Deep breaths… try to rest….” Law continues, sneaking a few inches closer…

— — 

WE’RE BACK BITCHES (smut in the next chap I promise) THANK YOU all for staying with it! Daisy is getting real scary and powerful and I just think that’s neat :) Law is becoming a serious ride or die for our gal and I can’t wait until she kicks even more ass. Oh, also please comment! I love feedback! And send ideas for this series or one shots! My inbox is open!

[pienhime]

im gonna say something ppl say is problematic:

a dress saying it can make u look 5kg slimmer faster than you can get surgery to actually become 5kg slimmer isnt "fatphobic" or "pro-ana". its a tongue in cheek over-exaggerated way of saying the dress is very flattering and creates the illusion of a slimmer body. wanting a slimmer body isnt always (or even usually) indicative of having an eating disorder. most people want to wear clothes that flatter them! but the words "plastic surgery" and "diet" have triggered kneejerk "omg so problematic!!!" reactions.

also, even *if* it were ED related, being mad a jirai influencer made something related to a mental disorder and not in an "uwu ur so valid but also just stop having symptoms and unhealthy behaviors bc thats problematic and ur mental illness will spread" way is sooooo braindead. "i get some jirais want to protect the lifestyle but-" wrong, the people in the jirai kei subculture want to keep people who judge and shit on the culture of jirai kei (mental illness community thats neither pro nor anti recovery, even indicates in its name that it may be toxic or unhealthy) while wearing the styles we commonly wear but calling them all "jirai kei fashion" instead of their OG names bc the tag is more popular and claiming it makes them a part of our culture OUT of our subculture. because its already gotten bad enough that ppl who do use the OG names for things get attacked, and jirai girls are looked down on and called weird and problematic by the people who want to call themselves one of us while treating jirai subculture as a costume. fuck off and leave us alone people, the name of the subculture says its toxic!! idk what influencer lied to u ab that being "just a stereotype" and not the core of the subculture, or that jirai kei is the name of a spwcific new fashion and "the lifestyle" is separate, but you should be mad at them, not us.

[ghostybaby000]

He found you. Again. | Part 2

part 1 part 3

Pairing: Simon Ghost Riley x reader

Summary: He had found you and now you had seconds to react. Continuation to part one!

Warnings: 18+, stalker, symptoms of panic, knives, blood, violence

Word count: 2.2k

(Not fully edited, apologies for an incorrect information!)

You lurched forward trying your hardest to slam the door. He stepped forward just before you had and was pushing his way inside, he was far stronger than you had hoped. Your body weight pressed against the door pushing as hard as you could against the wooden floor, barely gaining any traction.

In that moment you wished you had gotten yourself a dog, or a roommate, any sort of protection against this ever happening. You’re now pushing with every bit of force you can quickly straining the muscles in your legs and back, when you see the rectangular table next to the door- there’s keys in a dish on the table with a few other things scattered around a lamp.

If you could just reach it, maybe you had a chance. 

It was too late for all this noise, what was going on?

The hall had never been this loud before at this hour, there were grunts coming from the hall, along with what sounded like distant slamming. This however was different, and aggressive at that-there were bursts of heaving weight on a door along with, sobs?

He couldn’t be hearing this correctly, there weren’t any other men that lived on this floor that were comparable to his size or stature, that he knew. He also hadn’t seen you on the floor with anyone before, let alone with a boyfriend which he is confident he would remember. You were the only one that was down that way of the hall which was practically abandoned besides the two of you and a few other older residents.

Ghost hadn’t been sleeping much not that he ever did, but felt he had been laying in bed listening for about a minute when he sat up straight, now a small concern slowly growing when he heard glass breaking and a shriek that didn’t sound good in any way. Suddenly he was masked up and lacing his boots, listening on the other side of his own door intensely. 

He was gaining traction. You couldn’t think with the sweat beading down your face and the millions of thoughts flying through your head, not to mention the ache you were feeling through your entire body. You couldn’t manage to even think of the pain when you realized he was winning the efforts to push, you look back at the table then to the keys and the lamp. 

You could grab the keys and attempt to stab him or maybe gouge at his eyes, but considering how tall he was it wasn’t likely; you would probably get grabbed and then who knows what could happen. The lamp. The taller but dense-based lamp that your mother had gotten for you as a moving-in gift, a gift you had never even considered would be used in this way but now you had no choice. 

The table was about a foot out of your reach, and you knew you’d have to be quick. You give one final good push to the door before stepping out of the way to reach for the lamp allowing all of your body weight to disappear from behind the door. Your attacker hadn’t expected this and instead expected to slowly make progress to getting inside, now fumbling in the room after using both hands to push into the door. 

You push your legs on the floor as fast as you can reaching the small table and ripping the lamp from the outlet you swing as hard as you can as you spin around, crashing the base of the lamp over the top of his back. You let the lamp fall after its broken over him creating a horrible crashing noise, along with his howl out in pain. 

You try to think of where your phone could be while sprinting to the nearest room, the bathroom. Forget your phone there wasn’t any time and you knew it wasn’t worth the risk you begin ripping things from drawers or cabinets looking for anything you could use. And then you hear it, the door to the apartment shuts and locks as you hear his boots make their way across the house, thankfully in the other direction, for now.

Ghost had just started to make his way out of his out of his now cracked door when he saw what was happening and hesitated. The door was slightly cracked, only enough so that you could see out but it was too dark inside for anyone else to see in. A large man, probably around the 6 foot range, in dark clothes and boots coming out of your apartment with looked to be blood trailing down his neck and back.  Ghost watched as the man peered down both halls for a few moments before making his way inside and locking the door, something wasn’t right.

Ghost collected a few things to get the lock picked and then a weapons of his own volition, a short blade that he carried often if not everywhere. He slipped the tools in his pocket and made his way down the hall, rushing ever so slightly and pressing his ear to the door he heard the man.

‘You really thought you could of stopped me?’ a small laugh rang out and it sounded now as if a table was being pushed against the other side of the door. 

Now he was confident this person was not meant to be here, which meant he needed to get inside. For a moment he considered just calling the police and having them deal with it yet some feeling told him that they wouldn’t make it in on time, and that he would regret not trying to help.

‘I’ll find you, I’ve searched for far too long to let you slip away now.’ The voice was growing dimmer, getting deeper into the apartment. Without a moment of hesitation he began picking the lock to the door, not that it was very hard as the building manager preferred cheaper over safer. With a small click the lock was undone, the door was able to be opened but not yet, the door opened outwards and he would need a time gap to move what he thought was a table and make his own way inside. 

You were now tip toeing through your narrow bathroom, taking a small stool that had once held toiletries trying to lodge it between the door and the cabinet attempting to keep it shut, no luck it was too big. Instead you grabbed a hot iron, hoping the cord would be enough if he got in the bathroom wrapping it around your small hands, although it was starting to feel more like when he would and not if. You silently made your way into the tub, now trying to steady your breathing and preparing yourself to jump on an attacker.

You shuttered as you heard his voice, now filled with a horrifying calamity began echoing through your small apartment.

‘Oh come out, please I won’t hurt you- I would never hurt you Y/N’

You heard a table clang to the ground, then the room down the hall to the bathroom opened, your room. He had thought you went in there, you had a few more minutes of precious time and immediately your eyes began to scan the small space. There was a window, but it was far too small and being on the fourth floor didn’t help if you wanted to get out that way. You could scream, call out for help and hope your bathroom handle lock would hold out until the police arrived-you shake your head to almost rid of the bad idea as you knew it wouldn’t work. You make your way slowly out of the tub and begin to look under the cabinets again glancing towards the back of the sink and that’s when you see the wrench. 

This wrench had been here for a while once left by a water company who looked over the pipes and toilet that had been long forgotten since by them and you until now. You reach down and slowly pick it up making your way back to the tub. You now had a choice, try to strangle the man with the cord, or try hitting the man over the head again this time being sure to go back for seconds. You chose the wrench this way you didn’t have to get close, and you could at least throw it at him if he entered the room-

What If he does get in? You’re entirely cornered in this tiny bathroom with no way out and no where to run. Your breathing picked up and you felt lightheaded. You wouldn’t let yourself go down, and you certainly weren’t going to pass out now, no way was he getting it that easily. 

You heard him going through the closet in your room, pushing things out of the way and knocking things over all the while. You hear him reappear and again the panic fills you, adrenaline and shock both fighting to take over your body.

You hear him now almost in front of the bathroom door, his boots scuffing against the floor as he moves, each time making you feel your stomach sinking farther. Then he stops, right outside the door. For what felt like an eternity you waited with your breath held tightly clamping the red and rusting wrench in your hands when he finally saunters off towards the office room at the opposite end of the hall. 

‘I come all this way to not even get a hello from you? Well that isn’t very inviting of you Y/N. You should know that when a guest comes over its polite to say hello and maybe even ask if they want something to drink.’ He lets out a soft chuckle, which sounds father away as if he’s fully inside the office now. 

‘You know, I missed you when you left…You LEFT me to go to school and then when you got back into town you leave me again I don’t understand why you keep leaving me.’ His tone begins to harshen as he swipes items off the desk in your office.

You squeeze your eyes shut trying to think of what you could do, do you sprint for the door and hope to make it out? Do you try and make it to the kitchen for a better weapon? Do you try to get back into your bedroom quietly and hide hoping he doesn’t re-check? You had decided. 

You get out of the tub as slowly as possible, making sure to avoid the places on the floor you knew would creak after spending so much time here. You press your ear to the door hearing him still mumbling in the other room about you and hoping that you missed him.

Your hand that was now clammy with sweat gripped the doorknob, ready to lurch it open at the right time. 

Ghost had now opened the door slightly, peering inside long enough to see the layout of the house, but couldn’t see the man. He didn’t try to move the table as he wanted to be as stealthy as possible, waiting to move it and instead getting to see the apartments layout. He can only see the kitchen and the start to the dining room on his left, a wall covering the rest of his vision on the right. He assumed the layout was similar to that of his own apartment and that a long hallway would be on the other side that led to the bathroom, bedroom, and storage space. 

Upon hearing the man continue to slam items down that very hallway, he slowly shut the door again listening, waiting for the man to be in a better position to attack, he didn’t want to be ambushed in a close corner environment.

You finally heard the man go through the larger closet in the room and decided it was now or never.

You allowed yourself to slowly open the door with your breath held you opened the door fully and began to step out. You made it down the hall and towards the kitchen, when you heard a loud creaking. The floor. You had forgotten to mind your step in trying to make distance quickly and stepped in a loud spot on this horrible, horrible wooden floor. Your eyes immediately sprang open, practically choking on your heartbeat, your hands shaking worse than ever you hear him. 

‘There she is…Ah yes, my Y/N you’ve finally decided to say hello.’ His footsteps slow as he makes his way down the hall towards you. You think you panic you try to do whatever imaginable to make the situation stop, but there was no time.

When he comes out, he sees you, only the thin couch and coffee table now separating you and your attacker. You stop for a second to see how tall and built he is, only making your hands and breathing shake worse. 

‘You look so beautiful, as you always have. Finally I get the chance to be here with you, so so close to you.’ He begins to make his way around the couch and towards you.

‘Y-You stay away from me you monster!’ You wished in this moment your voice would sound more courageous and fear-evoking, although you knew that it would do no such thing.

‘You leave me alone- just LEAVE PLEASE leave’ You feel the sting of tears in your eyes as your voice begins to break more, now gripping the wrench so hard it made your hands cramp, you didn’t feel the pain though as the only thing in your mind was fear.

‘Now, I’ve come all this way just to see you why would I just leave? I can’t leave no-no. I cant leave you, y-you’ll be here, with me. I won’t leave, NO I won’t leave because if I do YOU will leave me again and we don’t want that.’ His hands and his pace both moving quickly, pacing the room his hands going through his hair which you now took time to notice had streaks of blood in it.