#and there were so many situations where they did actually hate crimes

[bandzboy]

there were found many that many members of the portuguese all over the country are part of this facebook group where they post xenophobic, racist and homophobic posts and for some reason everyone is in shock when the standard for being part of the police is being these things! people wanna claim that there are “good” members of the police but in reality there isn’t bc guess what? this system is rotten to the core and people that claim this only happens in the usa are just delusional this happens with police everywhere in the world! everyone that is part of the police is a scumbag yes even your dad your brother or your uncle they all suck and that’s how it is

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 19

PREVIOUS

There’s a couple things about FF that might be good to know at this point.

1. There are few things in the world he hates doing more than asking for clarification or admitting he doesn’t understand / know something. The thought of going up to someone and admitting that he hasn’t perfectly comprehended the situation upon the first explanation is something makes his stomach twist like he’d just eaten Mango-Habanero ice cream.

He has figured out his own math theorems in the pursuit of not having to ask the math teacher to explain he doesn’t understand. He got lost in an Ikea once for over 6 grueling hours where he considered making a home there and living among the display rooms until his grandma grabbed him by the ear and dragged him to safety (the food court) and let him regain his strength (eat Swedish meatballs). He, to this day, is not sure about one of his foreign language friend’s names (how embarrassing he just keeps waiting for someone else to say it but they go by some insane nickname).

So he has become a master of piecing shit together on his own. He sometimes gets it wrong (Andrew, god how embarrassing) but for the most part 8 times out of 10 he can get to the right answer if he just has a couple pieces to work with. No one had ever actually explained to him how Exy works and he was too embarrassed to ask after the third week of practice in middle school so he just pieced together what he was and was not allowed to do through the art of trial and error. He’s even mostly pieced out the rules for the other positions.

So with the information he has gotten through people being bound and determined to talk in foreign languages in front of him he has an idea about the tenuous situation some of the older Foxes find themselves in.

He’s heard Kevin Day and Jean Moreau talk in French.

He’s heard that the anxiety in both of their voices as they talked about their futures and owing 80% of their salaries to the ‘Moriyamas’ and how nervous they were about getting on professional teams or else they’d be killed.

Captain Neil and Andrew are not always using Russian to talk dirty.

He’s heard Andrew soothe Captain Neil’s worries about playing for a professional team. He’s heard Captain Neil mention that at least ‘Ichirou’ would likely just kill him and not make a game out of it like his father did.

Organized Crime might have more to do with Exy than FF had originally thought.

(He had thought it. Plenty of times he had thought it but his Gran had warned him that he was overthinking things. That he wasn’t playing a sport invented by the Mafia. That he had caffeinated coffee instead of decaf. “It’s going to be okay sweetie. Just take a deep breath.”)

This leads into the second thing you should know at this point.

2.  Before he had signed with Wymack he had known the broad strokes of Captain Neil’s life. There had been a lot of news articles about it and Gran (bless her) loved trashy gossip magazines.

After he had signed with the Foxes he had done a bit of a deep dive on as many of their controversies as he could find. There’d been things from brawls on the court (worrying), player overdoses (concerning), a straight up MURDER (Oh god), and the very public breaking of the King of Exy’s arm resulting in his suicide (Warranted, that wacko was going to take off Captain Neil’s HEAD.)

But the thing that had made him actually a little bit, dare he admit, excited to go to Palmetto was the fact that Captain Neil was there.

For someone who froze for almost a decade, who just took it and didn’t have the balls to even react? Neil Josten is an inspiration.

This is someone who got away, who lived a life completely unlike FF’s, someone who knew how to run and more impressively someone who learned how to FIGHT. Captain Neil was being hunted but he still ripped people to shreds in interviews. Captain Neil was probably more scared of the Butcher than FF had been of anything in his entire life but Captain Neil was way braver than FF could ever hope to be.

Captain Neil was taken and tortured but he still fought. FF had seen the scars and Captain Neil is right to wear them proudly (though based on some conversations he has unfortunately overheard he is sure Andrew may have a role in Neil’s positive feelings about them).

FF had thought that he was being lead to his death down in a basement of a club (Don’t cringe. Don’t cringe. Don’t cringe. Don’t-) and he just trailed right behind the two of them without even an illusion of a fight.

Neil Abram Josten was a bit of a personal hero.

He’s proud to call him Captain Neil. He wishes Andrew hadn’t been there when Greg had mentioned wanting autographs because FF wants an autograph from Captain Neil but now Andrew has probably mentioned it to Neil.

Long story short, FF had looked into a lot of details on Captain Neil’s case.

Including two of the Butcher’s top men who were still on the loose.

Romero Malcolm and Jackson Plank.

He keeps his presence low but no matter how many times he blinks the man grumbling in Italian next to him continues to be Romero Malcolm.

Moreover Romero Malcolm continues to grumble about the fact that he is having a hard time finding ‘Nathaniel’ and that he’ll have to grab one of ‘The Wesninski brat’s friends’ to draw him out.

FF is a recently confirmed friend of Captain Neil.

FF who is standing next to this man, with his dick out, and trying to remain as invisible as possible.

After two shakes (Yes he was watching but only because he had to! He wonders briefly if he goes to the FBI if they would accept a description of Romero Malcolm’s penis for the wanted poster? Probably not but it is BURNED into his retinas.)

He watches as Romero tucks, zips, and then bypasses the sink entirely.

FF shivers at how unhygienic that is. Who RAISED him?

The door shuts and FF needs to get out of here ASAP but his hands are shaking with the sudden adrenaline of ’One of the FBI’s Most Wanted just took a piss next to me and is looking for me friend’. He pulls his phone from his pocket and ducks into one of the stalls. Even if there’s no door it’ll at least FEEL a little safer, a little more private. He needs to warn Neil, Warn Andrew, and warn-

The door to the bathroom SLAMS open and music blares in (palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy-) and his phone slips out of his hands and into the toilet. There are footsteps coming towards him and FF digs deep.

He’s in ultra stealth mode. He is the wall behind the wallpaper. Mantis shrimp can only dream of the color he becomes, the United States military have the CIA on the look out for him because he’s fallen off all conventional forms of radar and tracking.

He is a bargain fruit platter on a dessert table at a kid’s birthday party.

He is ULTRA stealth.

Romero’s gaze glides over him.

Then the man leaves (STILL DID NOT WASH HIS HANDS).

His heart is hammering in his chest but he manages to reach down and grab his phone. Well, Coach Wymack had gotten the extended warranty at least. (“Do you know what these fuckers do to phones? Josten crushed his last year in a fight with the Baseball team captain.”)

His phone’s extended dip into the toilet water had not done it any favors in working properly.

Well fuck.

He wipes his phone down the best he can. He wipes his phone down with some toilet paper before cramming it into his pocket (Sorry Nicky, he’ll wash the toilet water pants if they survive).

He sees a flyer on the wall of the bathroom and starts to think of a plan.

He rushes out of the bathroom (he still washes his hands because he will not have something in common with a man on the FBI’s most wanted list and he just dipped his hand into a CLUB TOILET) and clocks Nicky’s wild arm movements and WORSE clocks Romero just 10 clubbers away.

He sees Romero’s eyes lock onto Nicky and a smile that terrifies him.

He’s out of Ultra Stealth Mode even if every atom in his body wants to run.

He is so stressed and panicked that he has gone beyond his body’s ability to process that so all that is left is determination. He’s got a head full of a half-baked plan, a hand going to his pocket, a second hand on the only ‘weapon’ he has on him, and a stomach full of acid.

He’s pulling his phone out of his pocket before he can really let himself think about it and walking up next to where Romero is standing. He holds his toilet water phone up to his ear and does the one weird social anxiety thing that he had never done before.

He pretends to be on a phone call.

“Hey Captain Neil,” he says and in the corner of his eye he can see Romero’s gaze shift from Nicky (surrounded by an adoring public, covered in sweat and therefore difficult to grab - a difficult target) to himself (alone, shorter, and probably looking like he’s about to pass out). “Yeah I think I’m going to take a break outside after I grab quick drink and then a water at the bar.” He says because he has to be the easier target and he has to go to the bar. “Yeah, yeah, okay I’ll mention it to that bartender guy.” He says and pretends to hang up.

He turns and he walks towards the bar and feels his pulse in his throat go to the beat of the music (success is my only motherfucking option, failure’s not).

He only knows about the alley because in the car ride to Sweetie’s Nicky had mentioned that he wouldn’t let FF’s first time be out there. He had been embarrassed but it was the only way he knew to get Romero out of the club and away from where he could hurt Captain Neil or anyone else in the pursuit of that.

He spots the bartender who had gotten the drinks for their table and his mind completely blanks on the name but the bartender sees him and smiles. “Oh you’re Neil and Andrew’s new friend! What can I help you with? I thought you were-“

“Hi, yes I am Captain Neil and Andrew’s friend.” He says a little loudly because he can feel Romero behind him and he does NOT want the man to know anything about where Captain Neil was.

“Captain Neil? Oh wow that’s adorable.” The man gushes. “What can I help you with? I won’t ask for ID for one of their friends.” He winks.

“I’d like to order the uh…” he tries to remember the exact drink name from the flyer, “…the deluxe chocolate martini?” He asks and knows he got it right when the bartender’s expression shifts ever so slightly.

“Oh yeah, how do Andrew and Neil feel about that?” He asks and oh great a coded conversation. It’s nice to actually be having a real one of these for once instead of just perceiving normal conversations to have hidden meanings.

“They don’t know. They probably prefer that I order it instead of Nicky or Aaron.” He lets his eyes dart to the wide where he believes Romero is watching him.

“I don’t know if that’s true.” The bartender says, “Nicky knows how to handle a drink and Aaron’s not a lightweight either.” He adds.

FF struggles to find a coded way to say ‘It’s not that someone’s hitting on me too hard like the flyer mentioned. It’s that there’s a mafia hitman in your club.’

Finally after a moment, “It’s not the usual kind of drink they get.” He tries and the bartender looks confused by the statement, dammit. He struggles to find a different way to say it before the bartender smiles.

“Y’know you’re really cute.” He reaches under the bar top and grabs a piece of paper and a pen. “How about you write down your number for me cutie? We can meet up sometime.” He says. “I’ll get started on that chocolate martini for you.” He says.

HE COULD KISS THIS MAN.

“I’d like that.” He says.

He writes out a quick message on the small note paper.

‘Armed. After Neil. Looked at Nicky. I’m going to the back alley. Phone is dead.’

The bartender comes back and looks at his note. “We’re out of chocolate martini mix, can I get you something-“ He hopes the club lighting obscures how pale the man got, “something else?” He asks and FF can SEE his pulse.

“Can I just get some water then?” He asks.

The bartender nods and pulls up his phone and hopefully is dialing the police and hands FF a water. His hand grabs hold of FF’s “You don’t need to go out into the alley. You could hang in the backroom with me?” He offers.

There really are some kind people in the world.

“I think it’s better if I’m not in here for a bit.” He says back and honestly he needs this kindness and he has a spare bit of courage, “What’s your name by the way? Sorry I missed it.” He says.

The bartender swallows, “It’s Roland.” He says.

“Thanks Roland.” He twists the cap off of the water bottle and takes a sip.

He turns and pretends not to notice how Romero is trying to be inconspicuous pretending to be on his phone.

He makes his way over to the alley door and notices that Romero is tracking his movements but is not following him like he did to the bar.

His heart is pounding and he can’t BELIEVE he’s doing this. He wants to run, wants to hide somewhere, wants to become imperceptible but…but…

He opens the door to the alley as the bass of the remixed song finishes.

(You can do anything you set your mind to, man)

He lets the door slam behind him and he is alone in the alley.

He was not expecting a van to come to a screeching halt in front of the entrance and for a different face to appear climbing out of the car.

Jackson Plank.

FF looks at the ugly smile on the man as he walks towards him with a knife in hand.

Okay now what genius?

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

NEXT

5/26/23: EDITED. Can’t believe I forgot to put the Captain in front of Neil’s name on the meme. I’m blaming the accidental early awakening.

Per your requests:

@i-have-three-feelings​ @blep-23​ @dreamerking27​ @andreilsmyreligion​ @belodensetdust​ @rainbowpineapplebottle @yarn-ace​ @iwouldlikesometea @lily-s-world​ @obscureshipsandchips​ @booklover242​ @whataboutmyfries​ @sahturnos​ @pluto-pepsi​ @dreamerthinker​ @passinhosdetartaruga​ @leftunknownheart​ @aro-manita-muscaria @hologramsaredead​ @Chaoticgremlinswishtheycouldbeme @tntwme​ @tayspots @nick-scar​ @crazy-fangirl2524​ @blue-jos10​ @stabbyfoxandrew​ @splishsplashyouropinionistrash​ @sammichly​ @the-broken-pen​ @bitchesdoweknowu​ @very-small-flower​ @ghostlyboiii​ @its-a-paxycab​ @bisexual-genderfluid-fan​ @cheesecookie​ @theoneandonlylostsock​ @foxsoulcourt​ @blueleys @adverbialstarlight​ @elia-nna​ @can-i-just-stay-in-the-corner​ @nikodiangel​ @foxandcrow-inatrenchcoat​ @hallucinatedjosten​ @satanic-foxhole-court​ @vexingcosmos​ @chalilodimun​ @insectsgetcooked​ @angry-kid-with-no-money​ @queer-crows​ @lillyndra​ @themugglemudperson​ @readertodeath​ @apileofpillows​ @mortalsbowbeforeme​ @hellomynameismoo​ @next-level-mess @youreonlylow​ @interstellarfig​ @notprocrastinatingatalltoday​ @percyjacksonfan3​ @queenofcrazy27​ @bsmr261 @ghostlyscares​ @spencellio​ @adinthedarkroom​ @harpymoth​ @sufferingjustalilbit​ @anxietymoss​ @oddgreyhound​ @ohno-myhyperfixation-itsbroken​ @ken22789​ @atiredvampire​ @isoldescorner​ @not--a--pipedream​ @azure-wing​ @bushbees​  @roonilwazlib-main​ @crumplelush​ @foldedaces-paperbirds​ @thesenseinnonsense​ @let-tyrants-fear​ @ketchupfriesandallthingsnice​ @legowerewolf​ @deadlydodos​ @but-we-respect-his-craft​ @cariniqe​ @zanypersonapricotbiscuit​

The requests to be added to the tag list keep being spread out across a few different areas. If I missed you please just ask again in the replies I promise I just missed you.

As stated before if you’re up here and I spelled it  right but you didn’t  get a notification there might be something  switched around in  your settings that won’t let me tag you properly?

Lillyndra it worked this time!!!

[booksinmythorax]

So you're an adult who wants to start reading for fun, but you don't know where to start

I'm a librarian, and I hear at least once a week from people who sheepishly tell me that they'd love to start reading for fun (for the first time or after a long break). Here's my best advice broken down into bullet points, but start here: there is no shame in being a beginner.

-Think about what you do enjoy and start from there. So you're not a book person. Do you like movies? Television? Podcasts? Music? Tabletop games? Video games? What other media do you like and what does it have in common? Make a little list and Venn diagram that shit.

Maybe you're into stories about fucked-up families (Sharp Objects, Succession) or found families (lots of realplay TTRPG podcasts, Leverage, Avatar: The Last Airbender) or fucked-up found families (various Batman media, Steven Universe, The Good Place). Maybe you mainly watch or listen to stuff for the romance (Taylor Swift music, The Best Man, Heartstopper) or the sci-fi horror (The Magnus Archives, M3gan, Nope) or the romantic sci-fi horror (Welcome to Night Vale). And hey, maybe you're not a fictional media person at all. What do you like? What do you want to know about? World history? True crime? Home improvement? Birdwatching? Gardening? Various animals and their behavior? Human psychology? Cooking? If it's a thing, there are books about it. Start there.

Think about why you started to dislike reading. Did an adult snatch a book you thought looked cool out of your hands and say "Don't read that, it's below your reading level/above your reading level/a comic, not a real book"? Did school give you an endless parade of miserable, bleak books and tell you they were universal stories about the human condition? Or did it maybe only give you stories with saccharine, unearned happy endings, or only show you stories about straight cis wealthy abled white kids, or keep you from reading entire books at all in favor of endlessly dissecting tiny passages out of context? (For some vindication, check out "How Teachers Make Children Hate Reading" by John Holt.) Did you have an older sibling or a friend who was better at reading? Did adults put you in competition with that other kid and make you feel like shit about it? Were you in a situation where you were good at reading in one language, or even more than one, but required to read in another that you were still learning? Did this make you feel like you were "behind schedule" or like you shouldn't read at all? Or was reading just harder for you than it seemed for other people? Did reading give you headaches? Did the letters or numbers seem to float around on the page? Was it hard for you to focus for long enough to get through a whole book? Did you need to learn to read differently than the kids around you could? Did adults punish you for this instead of helping you? (Look, I'm not a doctor, but if any of these apply to you, consider going to an optometrist, a psychologist, and/or a psychiatrist to talk about these things if they're persistent and interfere with your life.) Or maybe you're burned out on reading. Maybe you did an advanced degree in literature or writing or history or some other reading-heavy discipline and you're just tired. Maybe your professors or classmates got snobby about what constituted "literary" works and their good opinion didn't line up with what you actually enjoy. You get to be sad and angry about these things, if they happened to you. They're also clues to how to move forward if you'd like to read more, or enjoy reading more.

Give yourself permission to read whatever you want, in whatever way you want. Wanna start with young adult books? Middle grade books? Awesome. Many of them have stories that are sophisticated and complex. Starting with re-reading the first books you enjoyed reading could help jog your memory about why you initially found it fun. Hell, even picture books are a good start. Have you read a picture book lately? Those things are getting cooler every day. Comics and graphic novels? Those count as reading. Many of them are published for adults, though again, the ones published for a middle-grade or young adult audience are often complex and moving. If you're an anime fan, give manga a shot. The source material for many anime go deeper into the characters and stories, especially now that anime seasons are often truncated to 12 episodes for entire series. (The right-to-left thing is easier to get used to than you think, too.) Romance novels and mystery thrillers and science fiction and fantasy? Those count as reading. Many of the things you might have liked about the books you read as a child or a teenager are present in adult "genre" fiction, and many of the things you might despise about adult "literary" fiction (god, I hate that word, but that's another post) may be absent from those titles. E-books and audiobooks definitely count as reading, and they're often more accessible than paper books for some people. Anybody who tries to genre- or format-shame you is a dick and not worth talking to.

Go to your local library. All right, shameless self-promotion here, I'll admit it. But I promise you, if you walk into a library and say "I'm an adult, I stopped reading a while ago, and I'd like to start back up again but I need suggestions," you will make someone's day. I get asked for my opinion about books approximately once a month. I get asked how to use the printer approximately eighty-five times a day. I love helping with the printer and I'm saying that unironically, but my colleagues and I absolutely adore "readers' advisory" questions. If you come with the answers to the above questions about your preferred genres, formats, and reasons you'd like to read, it'll help the process, but most of us are trained to ask follow-up questions to get you the best possible book match. Do not apologize. You are not bothering us. It is literally part of our job. We want people to know that reading is fun, and you are a people.

[good-beanswrites]

I talked about my Milgram actors theory earlier, but @amugoffandoms reminded me I also have a little emotional support au version of the idea I’ve been meaning to chat about! It's actually not a typical actors au -- the canon events still happen, but are staged by the in-universe Milgram organization.

(Edit, now with a fic!)

Just like in canon, the organization has a mysterious/supernatural ability to identify and track down ten specific people at their breaking point. In this au, though, it's ten people who could have committed crimes soon. They discreetly reach out to these individuals, requesting for them to be actors in their experiment. They say there will be someone playing a prison guard, and explain the premise. With a bit of coaxing or bribing for a few, they all accept.

Milgram ensures these newfound “prisoners” don’t need to change many details about their lives – the less lies to keep track of, the easier it would be for these ordinary people to pull off such an extensive con. 

Some of them are exactly as they were right before their murders, such as Yuno, Fuuta, Muu, and Kotoko. Haruka, his sister, and Amane did go through traumatic abuse, but it was Milgram that pulled them out of the situation before they resorted to murder. Mikoto is/has been aware of his alters for a while at this point.

Some of the others are taken from their lives after things that could have ended fatally turned out alright: Shidou’s family got into an accident but all recovered; Milgram picked up on his private realization that he would have done anything to save them, were the damage worse. Mahiru and Kazui’s partners attempted/considered suicide, but did not succeed. In Mahiru’s case, they reached a friendship despite breaking up. I still don’t know enough about Kazui’s wife, but I like to think they’re pretty separate now. 

The ten prisoners weren’t allowed to meet beforehand, but they individually collaborated with the Milgram team to write the lyrics for their t1 songs and film their videos. I'll mention more about the other actors later, but the filming process is a lot of fun. Though the topics confront them with some unsavory thoughts about themselves, it's a good time singing and acting and getting the giggles on set and everything.

Milgram pulls Es from wherever they were for whatever reason, wipes their memory, and drops them into the prison. The prisoners are unaware that Es didn't come willingly, as they all did.

Once the experiment begins, everyone’s interactions that we’ve seen to this point are genuine. The prisoners get to know each other, while they come to terms with the fact that themselves and these others all had murderous potential. Their personalities, behaviors, and stories from their lives are all true. In the interrogations, they speak honestly to Es about their values and choices. The only faked things are the actual references to the murders, and the “invisible force” that they pretend to hit when acting in violence. Mikoto is instructed to use a bit of violence during his interrogation, though Kotoko sneaking in wasn’t scripted – she genuinely had her concerns about his character and acted accordingly. 

While Es sleeps after T1, the prisoners are treated the same regardless of verdict. They provide the team with their genuine thoughts about one another to decide what the staged incidents should be. Kotoko doesn’t actually hate the guilty prisoners, but she recognizes she would’ve wanted to take justice into her own hands in a real situation. Amane is very upset but Es' verdict, but the team helps her dramatize her transformation a bit. Haruka and Muu genuinely get that close. Yuno does wish to be left alone.

They film their second trial videos, now allowed to be around the other prisoners as they do so. They also invite people in their life to come in and play their victims. Yes, it’s just as awkward as it sounds. This is where the prisoners do their real reflection – they think about Es’ verdict for them and what they could have been capable of. There’s a bit of relief from both parties knowing that things will turn out alright now that Milgram intervened (ironic, I know, but this is my fix-it hehe). Shidou’s kids are excited to be filmed, not really understanding the context. Haruka once again works with an actor playing his younger self, a bit put off by how similar they look and the memories he bring back. Haruka’s mother, Rei, and Amane’s cult members (if they appear) are some of the only characters played by strangers, though they do look strikingly similar to the real people. Fuuta’s victim is also played by a stranger. Things are still tense with Hinako, but she agrees to appear. 

The team helps the prisoners fake injuries with lots bandages and slings. Then they wake Es. The same is repeated for T2/T3.

Now, I’ve played out a few different paths depending on my angst tolerance at the moment – sometimes Es goes through with the third trial verdicts and is forced to watch the executions (not realizing they're cleverly staged). Sometimes they refuse, finding a way to stop the whole experiment. Sometimes the prisoners realize that Es has been an unwilling participant, and bring the experiment to a stop themselves. Sometimes someone jams a wrench in the mv machine and try to blow it up in order for everything to end before final verdicts.

Because of limited details, the ending can play out however one wants. But my go-to is that Es wake up sometime afterwards in a clean facility filled with scientists. They’re brought to an interrogation room – this time on the other side of the questioning. They’re asked about their motivations, actions, emotions, choices, verdicts (or the reason they rebelled at the very end). A few doors down, the prisoners are being asked similar questions of self-reflection and morality. 

Es demands to know what’s going on, while the team tries to assure them that the prisoners are all fine. Es doesn’t buy this, though. They know what kind of mind games the experiment has tried to pull, and can’t tell what’s truth or lie anymore. Things get heated as they demand to see the prisoners. Meanwhile, the prisoners are getting worked up asking about Es. If they haven't already, this is when they learn that Es was an actual prisoner there the whole time. The last time they were together the situation was very intense, and they’re all incredibly worried about them. 

In the end, they manage to break out of their rooms and reunite in the middle of the facility, and Es is shocked. All ten are alive and well, even those they may have seen die. No eyes or limbs are missing. They’re all laughing and getting along, no matter what kinds of fights they got into between trials. Even more shocking is when the victims join them later – also all alive and happy. 

The ending has a bit of unavoidable angst since Es would be pretty fucked up by the whole experiment. They’d struggle with trust issues and knowing what’s reality. However, it’s still an overwhelmingly happy ending. They get to befriend the prisoners and their families outside of the painful context they met in. Regretting their ignorance of the situation, the prisoners decide to make up for lost time and spend a lot of positive, quality time with Es. The kids are finally allowed to play, and the they finally let the adults act a bit protective over them. This is when the found family completely kicks in lol. Es gets to sleep easy knowing they are all alive and happy, they receive all their memories again, and they get to return home to their own family.

I added it to a reblog but editing with @/qrevo's tags because this is what I was looking for but couldn't quite pin down to make it healing for Es too:

[sokkastyles]

Some of the bingo card thingys caught my eyes with the dissonance

1) I'm sorry "mai and ty lee secretly hate and fear her" uhm the fear is quite explicit in Ty Lee's end, did y'all forget her introduction?? and Mai wasn't handled that well but she also explicitly says that she feared her.

2) "sibling disagreements are abuse" what disagreements? to have a disagreement you have to be on equal terms, and Zuko is never in equal terms with anyone as long as he is in the palace, they are also literally threats, not discussions, is Zuko just supposed to sit and take Azula's threats?

3) "seductress! Azula" what even is this, is it talking about that weird manipulation tactic where they circle around someone that she and sometimes zuko used that was clearly them trying to copy Ozai?

4) "Ursa made zero mistakes" I mean I've never seen anyone say this actually, Ursa wasn't a perfect mother, but she did try to do the best she could in the situation she was in, being with an abuser that also happened to be her king (people often seem to forget that part) while being a non-bender.

idk this only tells me 4 things, 1. Azula stans don't remember the episodes they don't wanna remember, 2. They either fell for Azula's act or don't understand that power dynamics between siblings are a thing that exist, 3. They seem to shift Ozai's blame into other characters or just, make it dissappear? (oh no, she wasn't using her brother as a scapegoat like she learned to do from her father, she was actually being a good sister 😌😌) and 4. They generalize and strawman and recontextualize so much they turn their claims into lies.

Yeah, it's not a secret. And as I said in another ask I just responded to, you can love someone and still fear them. It's weird, especially, for Azula stans, to not get that, considering that she both loves and fears her father.

Sibling disagreements are not abuse, but framing Azula manipulating, tormenting, and literally trying to kill her brother as "sibling disagreements" is abuse apologism.

Yeah, and I think the reason people do this is for the same reasons people sometimes act weird about zutara. Like, I'm sorry the bad guy made you feel some kinda way in your loins and now you gotta repent for your sins, sounds like a you problem!

Even saying Ursa "wasn't a perfect mother" makes me itchy because we barely saw her in the series, and her choices were so limited that she gets criticized more for what she didn't do or what she might have done more than anything. I've never claimed she was perfect but the second I hear people talking about her "flaws" which are actually entirely invented and exist offscreen and in the mind of a literal abuser, you better believe I'm gonna be like "actually she was an amazing mom." She "wasn't a perfect mother" because she once reacted with shock at seeing her eight year old child wish death on someone??? I'm gonna reiterate what I said before, the one talking point that I see get mentioned, when she said "what is wrong with that child," which wasn't even said to Azula, is actually for the audience's benefit more than anything. Which means that we're blaming Ursa for thought crimes here. For the purpose of excusing and minimizing Azula's actual crimes, and in many cases Ozai's as well, by insisting that Ursa was actually just like him because she tried to tell her daughter no a couple times.

[ozimagines]

The Trouble with Robson…

So… I’ve seen some discourse on this site about James Robson… and I want in lol.

I’ve got a lot of thoughts about this man, and based on everything I’ve read from other Oz fans, I might have an unpopular opinion.

Please don’t get me wrong! Season 2-Season 5 he was a tremendous piece of shit. Like in every way possible it is to be a piece of shit. But that said I have two points: 1) that’s what makes him an good CHARACTER, not a good person, and 2) a redemption arc doesn’t mean that person is automatically forgiven, but are going down a better path and MIGHT be forgiven for their actions at a later date. It is with this, your honor, that I submit that Robson’s redemption arc was actually one of the better plot lines in Oz. (Please don’t hate me lol)

Okay, so Robson season two, pretty easy to characterize. He’s a Nazi. He’s violent. He’s a rapist. Very easy to hate. Season three, he’s lieutenant to Vern Schillinger in the Aryan Brotherhood. He boxes and such. In season four, he’s a menace, coming into his own character. He threatens on his own and has his own plot lines now. Season five is more of the same, at first, he rapes Peter Schibetta, he tries to ruin Beecher’s life, etc. He commits one of the more heinous of his crimes in my book when he kills the young Muslim man in the store room. A long, drawn out process that James is smiling through. He LOVES violence. More than anything he seems like he was made for prison. Then he learns about his gums, makes racist remarks to the doctor, one thing leads to another, he has black man gums and gets kicked out of the brotherhood.

He’s destitute and alone, which is all he deserves. But even Kareem Said finds pity for him and says “God is trying to teach you something. Please be smart enough to learn.”. What can even God attempt to teach someone like James Robson? He does what he needs to survive. He joins Cutler and agrees to be his prag. Here’s where some views from other Oz fans and I start to diverge. You look at videos on YouTube, many of the comments you’ll find say “good, he deserved it.”. The best argument I heard for this was actually from Funky Frog Bait on YouTube talking about misgendering murderers. Many people misgendered the nonbinary Nashville shooter. Why would you respect the pronouns for a person that horrible? Because, as Funky Frog Bait said in their video, it revolves around your opinion of gender as a whole. If you can just revoke someone’s preferred pronouns when they’re bad people, how “bad” does a trans person have to be to not have their pronouns respected? People of differing “politics” (morals) say different things, but if we apply this argument to Robson’s situation, I think it has to do with one’s overall view of rape. How “bad” does someone have to be before being raped is considered a reasonable punishment? For me, it’s never. For me, just as in never revoking someone’s right to their preferred pronouns, I also think it’s never justifiable to rape someone. So, no, I don’t think Robson deserved to be raped, even though he was a serial rapist himself, because there’s no situation where I think rape is a justifiable response. People may disagree with me, but I think it’s a slippery slope when you can deem someone as deserving of rape.

We learn during this time, as he’s being beaten and abused sexually by Cutler, that James was beaten and abused by his father as a kid. He confirms that this occurred while he was only five years old. His first introduction to life and sex was violence. Maybe this gives you sympathy for him, as it did me, but maybe you say fuck him, it doesn’t excuse anything. But I don’t think that it was meant to be an excuse, I think it was meant to be an EXPLANATION. I think we were learning how he became James Robson of unit B, not justifying his actions as James Robson of unit B. He was a child and the person he was supposed to trust most in this world gave him very harsh lessons very early on: no one cares about you, and do what you need to do to survive. He becomes demure and pitiful in Sister Pete’s office. One line that stuck with me was “here I am, 35 years old and I have nowhere to run.”. He’s been running his whole life. Running away from an abusive father and running away from his own actions. “I shame to think of what I’ve done. Look on it again, I dare not.” Is Cutler’s line as MacBeth in the play. It is an apt line for James. He’s been running from his own actions for as long as he could remember. Like I said, none of this justifies the lives he’s ruined and taken, but it does explain the inter-workings of a character that was pretty static for four seasons. That he survives. He tells Sister Peter Marie that all he does is run from things. I truly believe that some of the reason he was able to be as ruthless as he was is because he doesn’t let himself think about his own actions.

Finally season 6! He kills Cutler with some kinky play, joins the brotherhood, and it seems like he’s back, right? Only when he sees his wife, we see some of the shame come back. Some of the embarrassment of being taken in that way. If he feels this way now, he felt this way for however long his dad was abusing him. He loses it with her for calling him a “cock sucker”, which CLEARLY he’s embarrassed/ashamed about. He hurts her, and immediately, instantly, feels bad about it. I love learning the morality of immoral characters. With everything he’s done, why was hurting his wife crossing a line? Because she trusts him, just like little James trusted his dad. I think, personally, that he sees himself as her personal protector. Since he couldn’t protect himself, he became the protector for her, and then for Vern, but James isn’t stupid enough to think Vern can’t take care of himself. I think hurting his wife tore him up so much because he remembers when he relied on his dad for everything, and his father took advantage of his state.

Then he finds out he has AIDS. He joins a support group for rape survivors. They talk about their experiences and James listens to all of them. He thanks them towards the end, saying it was good to “hear it from both sides” which we know is something he knew already since he was at least five. But hearing those stories, all of which are upsetting but some are straight gruesome, puts FORCES him to face his actions. He can’t run anymore, his lifestyle caught up with him. Am I saying he deserves AIDS? 🤷‍♀️ Chissà. Who’s to say? He has it though. There’s a deleted scene where he lets Clarence rape him (I understand “lets” and “rape” don’t make much sense together but I don’t think coerced consent is consent at all so it’s still assault), and it gives Clarence AIDS. Robson says something interesting, with his classic smile on his face. “Retribution. It’s all about retribution.”. That’s what Oz is about. Retribution. It should be about Rehabilitation, but it’s all about Retribution. This is where James’ story ends on the show. With him moving to unit F, the AIDS unit. Finally, even if only physically, is he forced to face his actions.

This is why I think his story was beautifully written. He’s just a meathead in the beginning, but we learn about his morality -because he does have a code, even if it’s not a good one-, his past, and his future. They took a character that was frankly very flat and gave us a wide enough view on his life and character to confuse our anger into sympathy into more anger and into sadness. I don’t know if anyone else felt this way but my heart just dropped when he mentioned his dad. James Robson never stood a chance. He was a monster in training since he was five. But no one deserves to be raped. (A good reference is Adam Gunzel who was a BIG prick… but never deserved that shit.) Anyway these are just some of my thoughts on one of the most interesting characters in Oz (to me at least) and gave us an actual character out of a plotless muscle man.

One thing I think we can all agree on:

Retribution. It’s all about retribution.

[firesnap]

i hate how toxic my mind is being, it’s firmly in the denial stage despite objectively knowing all the facts, and watching the vod, and i keep waking up and thinking it was a weird dream i had. worse, the denial is not being very feminist bc while i 100% believe shelby and do Not think she’s lying at all, and I 100% think she should have come forward to share her story as she did, and i think it sets a good example for her viewers and for culture of staying silent in general, I still keep hoping it’s actually all made up or that the stream never happened and she said nothing and we all lived in blissful ignorance. i think this is karma for not understanding why others had similar extreme reactions when the same sorta thing happened to their fave celeb. i’d never state any of these rather cruel thoughts as any sort of fact or truth but i still feel guilty that i have them and i still feel bad that i still wish they were the case, bc it is all just very self-centered. tldr: :(

I really need to acknowledge something that Bee said along the lines of "thought crimes aren't real as long as you recognize and still support Shelby despite your conflicted feelings." Like that's really the base of it, you know?

You can't control how you feel but the internet these days pushes such a weird idea that if you don't have the 'right' emotional response to something you're a terrible person. There were so many people that first day, when fans were grappling with the truth and grieving the loss of community, acting like that anything other than righteous anger was the wrong response. It wasn't. Shelby wanted us to take her warnings, but she also wanted to cut the support this guy was getting for a facade. People grieving and coming to terms with that part of it was a huge part of supporting Shelby.

It's okay to have messy feelings about a guy you supported for so long. I had long, long conversations with some of my closest friends that first day where we swung wildly between believing it, because we KNEW it was true, and sorta going back and forth about what if's.

It's just important to not choose to live in ignorance. You're not a self-centered for having those feelings, it's about how you respond to the actual situation at hand, and I can tell you're acknowledging what happened and choosing to not ignore it for your self-comfort. Everything you're going through is normal and you're trying your best.

[fablesrose]

Ch 6 - The Order 23 Job

Series Rewrite Masterlist 

Pairing: Eliot Spencer x Ford!Reader

Description: The team messes with a dirty financial planner's mind by stealing a hospital and convincing him of a disease.

Words: 2355

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our next job kept us in Massachusetts, where a finance guy had stolen money from his clients. Many had relied on him, only to leave them penniless. This was an interesting job, however, as he had already been charged for his crimes, in fact, we had shown up for his sentencing. The money he stole, though, was still missing. 

We gathered in the courtroom, discussing the situation. Eddie, the mark, was going to a glorified prison in Florida that sounded more like a country club for only 18 months before he could come back and collect the nearly $400,000 he stashed before his trial. 

“Alright, if this guy’s not afraid of prison,” Sophie started, “then what incentive does he have to tell us where the cash is?”

Nate didn’t have an answer. 

“Nate, hate to rush you, but Eddie goes to prison in an hour so…” Parker probed. 

“Yeah, yeah yeah…” 

“Did you guys notice how much hand sanitizer that guy was using? Seems like a germaphobe on top of being a jerk. Makes me like him even less” I commented, mostly to myself. 

“Did you like him at all?” Eliot asked me.

“No.”

Nate turned to us, “What are you more afraid of than prison?”

“Death?” Sophie guessed.

“And what are you more afraid of than death?” Nate raised the hand sanitizer Eddie had and looked at me, “Exactly.”

Nate quickly came up with a plan, Parker would sneakily drug Eddie’s water with some spy type vent menuevers. Nate would then pose as a doctor to keep Eddie in the area, even getting him to a hospital so we could have an even greater control over him. Once we stole the hospital of course. 

Once we arrived Hardison and Parker set up equipment on an abandoned floor. Sound systems, cameras, anything you could think of to be able to convince Eddie that he was in an operational floor of the hospital. Nate sent me to grab some things with a list. Once everything was set up we met in one room which would be our makeshift HQ.

“Hey, are you sure there are no patients on this floor,” I asked after I had gathered all the stuff.

“No, they use this place for storage. We own it,” Hardison answered. 

I nodded, setting the duffel I had down. “Alright, well here’s the stuff from the van, plus almost everything from the list. And by the way, nurses haven’t worn skirts with white stockings since the 70s.” I didn’t fail to catch the slight smirk that came from Hardison and Eliot when I said that. 

“Guys listen up,” Nate caught our attention, “Eddie is here for an MRI, that gives us two hours. Don’t need to tell ya that’s not a lot of time. You might be playing multiple parts on this one.”

“Even me?” I asked, I hadn’t had a large role in a job yet, or any role at all for that matter. 

“Yeah, even you,” Nate answered. “Parker, y/n, and I will be the medical team. Sophie, next door to the patient.”

Eliot and Hardison were bickering over shirts.

“Guys, just keep an eye on the Marshalls alright? We’ve got two hours starting now. Go.”

We split up with Eliot giving Hardison some last splitting words before walking off. Parker went down to the lobby to prepare and retrieve Eddie for the con. Nate went down in his doctor persona to meet them. Eliot and Hardison were down there dressed as cops to distract the marshals. I couldn’t help myself from taking a second look at Eliot in uniform before shaking my head to snap out of it. I was actually going to do something in this job, I had to prepare for it. 

Sophie and I stayed on our floor, waiting for them to come back up. Sophie posed as a patient in the same room and chatted up Eddie when he got there. 

“How’s this supposed to work?” Parker asked in our HQ room, “I barely dosed him with Rohypnol, I mean, it must’ve worn off by now. Especially with the rash.”

“Yeah, well look at him. I mean, he’s totally fine.” Nate answered. He handed me a script, “This thing, I need you to read on the…”

“PA?” I asked.

“PA thing, yeah.”

“Want me to make announcements?”

“Yeah, could you?”

“Yeah, you’re really selling the whole hospital experience.”

“No, that’s not what I’m selling.”

He didn’t explain further so I went to make the announcements he told me to. “Dr. Burns, please report to the cardiac ward. Dr. Burns, to the cardiac ward. Infectious disease unit, please pick up line 23. Infectious disease, pick up 23.”

When I came back Nate started to explain to the both of us, “See, you tell someone they have a bunch of symptoms, and the information gets processed in the executive center of the brain, right? Its job is to question assumptions, start an argument. But, if you suggest symptoms, you can bypass all that.”

“Like subliminal advertising?” Parker asked, asking my own question.

“It’s actually neuro linguistic programming. You know the gateway to the amygdala and… Which is the fear center of the brain,” Nate explained, “you asked what we’re selling, that’s what we’re selling.”

“So we’re selling fear?” Parker asked

“Yeah, we’re selling fear.”

“Lovely,” I commented, mostly to myself. The plans he comes up with are both amazing and somewhat frightening. I found it interesting I didn’t see as much of this growing up. It was like seeing a whole different side of him, and while he was still my uncle, I don’t think he was the same man anymore.

We watched on the cameras as Eddie became more paranoid with a fake special report on the TV and different recordings talking about contagions coming from the hallway. It all seemed to be going smoothly until the marshals discovered that Eddie was missing. Luckily Eliot convinced them to not call it in yet, but this was not ideal. 

“So much for having two hours,” Parker said. 

“We’re gonna stick to the original plan. We’re just gonna move things up. Eliot, lose the uniform, Sophie, it’s time,” Nate directed. 

Sophie started to act disoriented and distressed, “I don’t feel good!”

The four of us, Nate, Parker, Eliot, and I all stormed the room with medical supplies. I pulled the curtain, and we all acted like we were doing things behind the curtain, giving Eddie shadows to look at while Nate barked orders. We simulated cpr and defibrillators before Eliot called time of death.

We all acted distressed at losing a patient as we rolled Sophie out on a gurney, leaving Eddie by himself. 

 Eliot went back downstairs to help Hardison stall the marshals.

“What do we do now?” Parker asked.

“Now, we wait. This is the stall. It’s no different than any other con.”

I took a mental note of that fact as I watched Eddie on the cameras. “Wait, his nose…” I pointed out, “Is that real blood?”

Eddie started screaming that he was bleeding.

“Yes, yes it is…” Nate replied. 

“Did you just give a guy a nosebleed with the power of your mind?” Parker asked.

“Amygdala mania,” Nate said, “The almond tonsils…” He walked away quickly. 

Parker turned to me, “did you know he could do that?”

I shook my head quickly.

“But you’re his niece!”

“I may be Nate’s niece, but…” I trailed off, not knowing how to finish the sentence. 

Parker then looked at Sophie who entered the room in her normal clothes, “Is it just me or has Nate gotten a little sadistic since he quit drinking?”

“Is it just me or does that make him even more attractive?” Sophie responded before snapping her eyes to me as if just remembering I was there.

I just shrugged at her with my hands raised, “I’m not gonna comment.”

We continued to watch Eddie and listen to Hardison as he investigated the marshals a little bit when a guard came up to our floor. Nate told Sophie to take care of him, which she did in the form of an intimidating hazmat suit. 

Hardison, on the other hand, had found some interesting things about one of the marshals in his car, namely that he wasn’t a marshal at all. He was a hitman sent to kill Eddie. Eliot was supposed to meet up with him, but Hardison couldn’t get him on comms. He took a somewhat drastic measure of speaking in code over the intercom of the hospital.

We had our own hands full playing with Eddie’s mind a bit more. Nate went in to him and explained a little bit about this virus that has been infecting people before collapsing. Me and Parker rushed in, trying to help him, all in character of course. We hauled him into the bed next to Eddie, where Sophie was before. 

“I’m fine, you know. The rash is localized,” Nate said drowsily, “I just need an anti-inflammatory nurse. What, what are you doing?”

Parker handcuffed Nate to the bed, “I’m sorry, Order 23.”

“Wait, where are you going?” Eddie asked, “You can’t just leave me here!’

“Please, nurses!”

I tied a mask around my face and made a show of pulling Parker out of the room.

“Let me talk to CDC Atlanta,” Nate called.

Parker pulled back to answer him, “I can’t, they’re coming.”

“Who’s coming,” Eddie yelled, “wait! What is Order 23? Is it to leave us here to die?”

I made another act of pulling Parker away, “Come on, we’ve got to go now!”

“Please, get me out of here. I am not sick,” Eddie pleaded. 

“Don’t listen to him,” Nate said, “Variant U cannot be released into the general population.”

“You heard him, I’m leaving right now!” I told Parker, “I’m not waiting for you anymore.” I dashed off down the hallway.

“It’s not my decision!” Parker told Eddie.

“Is it for $400,000?” Eddie asked. “Is it your decision then? I have it. Near here. And I’ll take you there, all you have to do is let me go, please!”

I smiled from my chair in our little HQ, we got him. 

Nate cried no from his bed, begging Parker not to do it, but she released Eddie and led him out of the room. 

Nate dashed from the room quickly after and joined me so we could clean up quickly to avoid the marshal that was reaching our floor. It wasn’t too long before the Marshal called it in that Eddie had escaped causing the whole hospital to be flooded by cops. We made our escape, Parker sticking with Eddie after he thought he tased her, the rest of us close behind. 

Eddie led us right to the cash, which was hidden in the court house, ironically enough. Parker took the money after she punched him in the face, “Deal’s a deal.”

“So what happened, Eddie, huh?” Nate asked him. “You got a little bored during your trial, started looking around and you thought, ‘now what’s the last place someone would look for stolen money in this town?’”

Eddie looked from Eliot to Hardison who were holding him up to Nate before he started laughing. 

“What’s so funny Eddie?” Eliot asked. 

“I’m just thinking about all the crimes you committed today,” he pulled himself loose, “burglary, assault, kidnapping. I’m going to prison for eighteen months. But you, every one of you is looking at 25 to life.” He panted, backing away from us, “I know your faces. I know all your faces. I am really good with faces.You’re gonna pay for what you did to me. Right now!” He dashed off down the hallway as we heard sirens outside. 

I rolled my eyes and moved my hands in a talking motion, mocking him, “ho, ho ho, I’m a jerk, AND an idiot!”

Eliot huffed a laugh before turning to Nate, wordlessly asking if we should follow.

Nate shook his head no. 

We watched from a distance as Eddie got arrested, yelling like a maniac about us.

Nate exited the courthouse first, “So, here’s everything you need to know about criminal law. Every crime has two elements: Actus reus, the act itself, and mens rea, literally the guilty mind.”

“Wait, now you’re a doctor and a lawyer?” Hardison asked.

“Yes,” Nate answered without missing a beat, “Now, for the escape, the prisoner has to both break out of custody and show intent of escape.”

“Wait,” Sophie interjected, “So, if, let’s say, a prisoner was taken hostage during a jailbreak, then he wouldn’t be guilty of escape.”

“That’s a perfect example,” Nate praised. 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I commented. 

“Which brings us back to our friend Eddie,” Nate continued, not acknowledging me, “and how the brain reacts to fear. In the heat of the moment, Eddie didn’t ask himself one simple question, who would doubt his guilty mind?”

I leaned over to Eliot, “I wouldn’t have asked myself that.”

He just nodded at me. 

There were a few loose ends that still needed to be cleaned up. We split up again, Eliot and Hardison had to go back to the hospital to take care of the fake marshal. I kept my comm in, just to listen and make sure everything went smoothly. What I wasn’t quite prepared for though, was Eliot’s request of the marshal.

When he came back, there was a moment with just the two of us.

“I heard what you asked that marshal to do. To help that kid…” I looked to see him ticking his jaw, “that was really good of you. I’m glad he had you to look out for him.”

He glanced at me for only a moment, “Yeah well…” He gave me a tight smile, but didn’t finish his thought. He looked at the time, gave me a curt nod, and left.

I looked at the time myself and thought it was time to head home, I quickly said my goodbyes to everyone else before heading back to my apartment, wondering if I said something wrong.

Tags: @isoldeahlstrom @kniselle

[thepurplewombat]

For the violence ask game, can I request your answers to numbers 3, 10, 14, 21 and 22?

ooooh lovely choices here!

3: screenshot or description of the worst take you’ve seen on tumblr

Oh, god, there are so many. But I think the worst and most frustrating ones are related to Jin Guangyao and Mo Xuanyu. I've seen a number of people say things about the whole thing being a lie from JGY's end to discredit MXY, and I've even seen some that called JGY a groomer, and tbh, it makes me sick on multiple levels. Allow me to explain:

So first of all, denying that MXY really did what he was kicked out of JLT for completely ignores some of the only things that we know about him from his own words (filtered through WWX of course, but isn't everything?). On Page 19 of Volume 1, WWX is reading MXY's demented scribblings and comes across the part where he is talking about having been kicked out of JLT. It is never mentioned that he feels resentment for this, or that it was all a lie - and if there is anywhere that it would say outright that MXY was angry because he was falsely accused, wouldn't it be in the private ramblings hidden in his own room?

Second of all, if JGY had really fabricated rumors that MXY had harassed him in order to get him kicked out, he would have had his own wound on WWX's arm. Which, let me be clear, he does not. We're talking novel canon here, and in the novel, all the wounds close once the Mo family are dead.

Third of all, I find it sickening because it is part of a pattern of placing JGY at fault for sexual and other violence committed against him. He was harassed by his own brother to the point of forcing him to expel him from the clan, he ended up married to his own sister - neither of those were his fault, but people tend to look at these situations and have just the most absolutely dumpster-fire rancid takes, like JGY committing sexual assault against Qin Su (he didn't - once he knew about their relationship he never slept with her again, and while yes, he should have told her the truth about why, his reasoning is completely understandable), or being into incest etc.

Actually also a lot of takes wrt JGY and sex are pretty rancid, but I think the MXY thing is the worst, and it keeps coming up and make me want to set the whole tag on fucking fire.

10 - worst part of fanon

There are a lot of fanon takes that annoy me - WWX is good at diplomacy, NMJ is a fluffy cuddlebear, LXC is a himbo, but none of them quite make me want to Hulk Out as bad as fanon JGY, who is essentially just JGS in a funny hat.

You want an uncomplicatedly and unrepentantly evil villain to pin your hate on? JGS is right there.

You want a rapist who never shows an ounce of regret? JGS is right there.

You want a monster who ordered human experimentation with resentful energy to be done? JGS is right there.

You want the author of all of WWX's post-Sunshot misery? Jin Guangshan is RIGHT FUCKING THERE!

But no, we're gonna go ahead and pin all of JGY's father's crimes on him.

ugh.

14 -that one thing you see in fics all the time

oh god, if I could have a penny for every time I have seen surprise villainYao in a fic tagged with xiyao I would be so rich. It's especially frustrating when it's in a modern AU, when a lot of the pressures that caused JGY to do the shit he did just didn't exist. With a lot of modern AUs you can't even say 'cool motive, still murder' (a valid take on JGY tbh) because 90% of the time he doesn't even have a motive? He's just out there killing people for shits and giggles and I'm like, 'You're thinking of Xue Yang. This isn't JGY, this is Xue Yang in a funny goddamn hat.'

21 - part of canon you think is overhyped

I've been sitting here for ten minutes trying to think of a specific part of canon that's overhyped and not just annoying to me personally, and I can't really think of anything? Like, there's this perception in fandom that LWJ is a loving and caring brother who did a lot for LXC, and that pisses me off because he is the worst didi in a work full of bad didis - JGY killed his elder brother, and still managed to not be as terrible a little brother as Lan 'abandon my brother who's just killed his best friend of twenty years with his own two hands to go fuck Wei Wuxian under a bush' Wangji. But that's annoying because it's wrong, not because it's overhyped, so I'm just gonna go with a big old 🤷‍♀️here.

22 - your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

I mean, I don't think it's ignored necessarily, but I would love for more people to pay attention to the fact that WWX literally made Wen Chao eat his own flesh, and that was really gross and horrible but also very sexy of him.

Because like, a part of the appeal of WWX is that he is legitimately monstrous. He does absolutely monstrous things during the Sunshot campaign, and people are right to be afraid of this extremely powerful and unpredictable person who commands the goddamn dead. But WWX is like an example of how you can be a monster but also try to be a good person, and a lot of people strip a lot of the complexity out of him by making him a Manic Pixie Dream Necromancer who's like, a little quirky but ultimately cool, and no, fuck that noise.

Wei Wuxian was a monster. He became a monster in response to the pressures of the war and his massive pile of untreated PTSD, but he was so terrifying that for a moment while I was reading the rescue of the Wen, I wasn't sure that they were going to go with him. And I wouldn't have blamed them for a second because this is the man who nearly single-handedly destroyed their clan, slaughtered their friends and families, and then commanded their corpses to slaughter even more. That's fucked up and villain behaviour, and nobody would have blamed the Wen for preferring the ordinary human torture and death and murder over whatever Wei Wuxian might choose to do to them. At least once the guards killed you the torment was over.

But a monster isn't all he is. He tries to do the right thing, he tries to be good, and while it doesn't solve the situation, it does mean something. Wei Wuxian's story is the story of a man who covered himself in blood to save his own life and the lives of others, and then found out that sometimes you don't get to go home. Sometimes the blood doesn't wash off and you spend the rest of your days with the shadows of your past hanging over you.

But he still tried! He still tried, and in the very end of the story, he is free, and happy, and loved.

But removing his darkest moments takes so much away from the light at the end, renders it so much less meaningful without the contrast of his darkest times.

Thank you for playing, sorry that my answers are so damn long, but apparently I get wordy sometimes!

[afterthelambs]

PLEASE spill the Makoto cop tea. I'm always down to hear people's thoughts on that

Thanks anon! I do my best to keep this blog positive-vibes only, but since you asked I will answer. Warning: DO NOT read this post if you do not want to see any criticisms about Makoto Nijima from P5 + discussions of police. This is not hate towards the character or her fans. It's just criticism for the writing choices and their implications for her.

Makoto Nijima does NOT want to reform the police. There's a mandela effect in the fandom where everyone seems to think she does, but rewatch her rank 10. Reform isn't mentioned at all. I'm so serious. What she actually says is this:

Within her confidant, the context is the host that was preying on her friend Eiko. Wanting to stop situations like that is good and makes sense 👍 The writers framed her decision to become a cop as a response to the most clean-cut black-and-white situation ever.

But here's the thing though: what happens when the lawless and the victims are the same people? Because in the real world, crime tends to concentrate among the poor and marginalized. The real world is not black and white. And I try to separate my personal experiences with the law from the media/art I engage with, but that doesn't work here because the game at large doesn't portray society as black and white.

There are a number of people in this game that do wrong because they have been hurt or are marginalized or did not receive proper help. A lot of mementos requests are about 'lawless' people and yet many are portrayed as 'due to systemic issues' or a lack of support or developing mental illness. It's also not a coincidence that Akechi is the most marginalized of all the phantom thieves and he was the one who did the most crime. There is deliberate social commentary here. People do not become lawless out of nowhere. They are shaped by their circumstances. And the game itself sympathizes with these people, focusing on changing/ helping them. The game's conclusion is that providing support and rehabilitation is the solution. Rehabilitative justice > Punitive justice.

Police wouldn't achieve that. Police in the game are framed as corrupt and incompetent at their core. Our protagonist is one of their biggest victims to demonstrate how they are weaponized against the weak. Even Sae Nijima at the end of the story has shifted to become a defense attorney rather than attempting to reform it (best character arc btw) because she recognized that the system is broken. And you can't even blame it just on Shido controlling the police because we see that the problems persist beyond him. By the end of the story they remain useless or outright harmful. The police do not help or rehabilitate, they only punish.

So no, this isn't me projecting my personal issues with cops onto the story because within the game's own story, law enforcement is not the solution. If it were a question of reform, we could debate about whether police reform is possible, but again: Makoto doesn't care about reform. It never comes up. According to the writers, she wants to be a cop because she thinks not enough lawless people are being punished. You can argue that her wanting to 'head an organization' means she wants to be in a position of power where she can reform them, but remember that police only enforce the law. They do not make the law. If reform was her goal she would be a politician. (I honestly thought that's what she was set up to be, since she was student council president and all but I digress)

Also a small detail, but notice how she mentions destroying the lawless before she mentions helping victims? It's super minor but I think it's indicative of the cop mentality. There's greater priority on punishing than helping.

I also dislike this conclusion to her arc because it's net zero character growth. You're telling me the character that was rebelling against corrupt adults' orders is now becoming a cop, the biggest bootlicking profession of them all? She started the story being a well-intentioned pushover, and she's ending her story being a well-intentioned pushover. And it doesn't matter whether she as an individual is a good person or not. All cops comply to be active participants in a system that is designed to hurt the weak and prop up the powerful.

TLDR: You do not help victims by punishing the 'lawless'. You help victims by helping victims. Period. Makoto becoming a cop is a contradiction of this and her own character arc. Either the writers did her dirty by not thinking this through or this is meant to be who she really is, and both those possibilities upset me.

[crash-bump-bring-the-whump]

In the spirit of that reblog, could you tell me more about Luis? He's the primary whumper in lots of your writing and many of the war mages seem to sincerely loathe him, but then Mariano is shown to have a really trusting relationship with him and Luis clearly cares about the war mages at times. I haven't quite strung together the complexity of it all yet~

Ohhhh my god yeah this ask has activated my Cannot Shut The Fuck Up Disease so let's GO.

Luis is absolutely a complex whumper and hard to easily grasp. He has nothing but love and care in his heart for his mages. He's trained literally every single one since they were 18, and you can't not form a bond of some kind with someone in that time--and all of them know that he loves them. They know he would rather die before seriously, legitimately harming them on purpose without reason. They know he gets zero actual enjoyment out of hurting them.

Unfortunately, they're all special ops soldiers. People who, sometimes alone, are put in situations where they face capture and torture and unthinkable suffering. So Luis has to prepare them for these possibilities. He's seen what happens when you aren't prepared, back when he was one of the very first war mages on his own squad.

He's seen people give up and die, people he loved dearly. He's lost mages, Dimitri and Laredo's old squad, because there was an accident and (in his eyes) they didn't have training and clear guidance to fall back on (I will get to that in the stories though, it's something that informs the "you have to save yourself" standing order he has in place). Luis is someone who fears loss, especially loss of bright, young, talented mages. So he tortures them in a safe area with his own two hands, and teaches them how to read a torturer and captor, and how to mentally recover from the immediate aftermath, and how to escape even if it feels impossible.

He trusts his mages to follow his orders, and they trust that if they do what he wants, he'll treat them well. It's a basic sort of thing but it's necessary for their relationships, and generally he's very fair with not punishing them too harshly for silly stuff so he legitimately does build a good rapport with them all. If they get the training room, or are threatened with death, it's because to Luis what they did was just that serious.

Unfortunately, he does still butt heads with them, and he does still threaten their lives if they decide war crimes aren't something they want to do, all on top of punishing using their worst fears. Over time, no matter how much you love someone, that sort of abuse sours all the good feelings. The good feelings don't go away, bc when they're good they're good, but it makes things complicated.

Dimitri trusts Luis to not freeze him to death over simple disobedience, but he's afraid of him, and he hates him, and loves him, and if Luis approached him with an apology and changed behavior after prison? Dimitri would forgive him, because he was forgiven after making changes and working on himself.

All of the war mages feel similarly, really, because Luis' warmth and care isn't an act. They know that like them, he's also receiving orders that he can't just disregard. They may hate him sometimes, and they may disagree with him on fundamental stuff like "hey, perhaps stopping the war crime stuff could improve our lives in the long run", but they're all stuck with each other in a shitty, traumatic situation, so they make it work.

BASICALLY with Luis I'm exploring complex, complicated feelings about someone who has power over you, sincerely loves you, and who hurts you anyway bc I just think it's interesting! :)

[forestwhisper3]

Remembering that time I almost wrote a Danny Phantom/Justice League crossover. It was many, many years ago (so long ago that I actually did forget exactly when I wrote it), but I only got a teeny bit done before I completely lost the motivation for it and stopped. Since I know I’m never going to continue, I thought it might be fun to show you all that tiny segment. Past me was even kind enough to make a fic summary, ahaha! So...here you go!

Summary: Alternate realities are a curious thing, though not always pleasant. In a world where a battle between Phantom and Plasmius results in the Fentons' deaths, Danny is forced into being the ward of one Vlad Masters- who has gone insane with grief and guilt. Determined to have Danny with him forever, Vlad does everything possible to hide him from the world.

That is, until a meeting with billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne throws a wrench in his plans.

                         OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Amity Park was a peaceful looking town. Hardly any of the buildings were more than two stories tall, there were multiple parks, and there was just a quaintness to it that seemed to isolate it from the world.

That last part was exactly why he was here.

While to many people it would appear as if the man walking down the streets of was exploring with a pleased curiosity, Bruce Wayne's mind was hard at work. Months ago, the League had detected a massive surge of energy coming from the small town, and had been more than a little startled at its sudden disappearance while investigating the cause. That had immediately sent up red flags to many of them. There were very few things that could make an entire town vanish without a trace in an instant, after all, and none of them were good.

Unfortunately, the energy was different from any they had dealt with before. It made it hard to figure out what was going on and how to solve it. It was only due to a comment from Wonder Woman that they were able to get on the right track, although even then, it had been a little hard to believe.

Before then, they'd never dealt with ghosts.

Dr. Fate had been the most help, as knowledgeable as he tended to be on the strangest subjects. He had confirmed the energy as the supernatural kind, and had then gone on to identify it as a form of ectoplasm. When asked why the ghosts were focusing on that one place, and why the ghosts themselves hadn't been causing problems elsewhere, Fate had only said that the situation was unique, and that the ghosts never ventured far because they weren't allowed to.

Batman hated Dr. Fate sometimes.

Trying to glean any information from Amity itself was frustrating as well. The local newspapers would mention ghost attacks on a regular basis, but never went in depth. The only two articles that seemed to be of note were the one of its current mayor, Vlad Masters, being possessed, and the one praising a ghost boy the town called Inviso-Bill. A ghost that had, strangely enough, been blamed for the possession of the mayor and dubbed a public enemy.

He didn't fail to notice that they started calling him a hero after the incident where Amity vanished.

He might have passed off the lack of information as the fact that the people of Amity were generally familiar with what went on, if it hadn't been for what happened after. Looking into the situation had been put into the backburner when the town returned unharmed, mostly due to more pressing situations elsewhere, but it wasn't forgotten. During a lull in crime some time later, Superman decided to finally begin the investigation by travelling there as Clark Kent, who wanted to write a piece on the town for tourists looking to get away from the city.

He wasn’t even allowed to enter the city’s limits.

Other attempts by lesser known, though well trusted, reporters ended up the same. Masters claimed it was because Amity preferred its solidarity, and that tourism would make things much too chaotic. Batman didn't buy it. There was something going on, and Masters himself seemed to be covering it up. So, how did one go about gaining the trust of a paranoid rich man? By introducing another rich man into the mix.

It was times like these that he truly appreciated his wealth.

Vlad Masters wasn't a terribly rich man in comparison, but he was good at putting his money to work. That was the first cause for caution- it meant that he was intelligent. The second was that his criminal record was suspiciously clean. While Wayne Industries never delved in the illegal, Bruce Wayne was still guilty of a few traffic tickets and small time offenses. It was true that his suspicions might be unfounded, and that Masters might just be a good man, but he had learned that wasn't usually the case with the wealthy. It was better to consider him like the others until proven otherwise.

Other discrepancies had popped up in his background check, but these were the ones placed on the forefront as he knocked on the large wooden doors.

                       OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Vlad was not happy.

The treaty he had made with the inhabitants of the Ghost Zone was being broken. He should have expected it, of course, but it did make things difficult. Apparently the knowledge of Daniel's treatment under his care was no longer enough to stay their hands and keep them from attacking the human world.

Boredom could be a quite a dangerous thing in the uncouth and uneducated.

Fortunately, those foreign reporters had stopped sniffing around months ago. He didn't know what he would do if one were present just as activity started picking up again. Should the rest of the world would know that ghosts were more than a small town's crazy paranoia, people would come- bringing unwanted attention, and if it was deemed a threat, Amity Park might actually find itself visited by superheroes.

Vlad hated superheroes.

It was a miracle he'd kept everything under the radar as long as he had, although money and connections had surely played a large part. Looking at his record, he was the epitome of a decent citizen. No one could and would suspect him. He was free to do as he wished, unless a hero were to get involved. He'd heard rumors- X-ray vision, telepathy, super strength; all sorts of abilities that put him at risk. No, it was better to keep Amity away from the rest of the world. Away from prying eyes and questions.

Away from the chance of them finding his Daniel.

Oh, he had no doubt they would be interested. Daniel was special. Unique. They would snatch him up in an instant, wanting him to join their little group and use his powers for good. Well, not if he had anything to say about it. Daniel was his, and the boy would grow to appreciate this in time. Time without distractions from the outside. Time with just the two of them.

What he failed to remember, however, was that time favored Danny.

                         OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Danny sighed, gazing desperately out a window. It felt like ages since he'd been outside, and he was going crazy. He longed to feel the sun on his skin, the wind in his hair, and the liberating sense of freedom all of these things entailed. But he couldn't. All he could do was sit here, wondering when that now literally insane fuitloop would decide he wanted to spend some quality time together.

He grimaced just thinking about it.

Guilt, sorrow, loneliness, anger, and frustration settled in his stomach as his thoughts turned to the cause for all this once more. 

His family- gone. Caught in the crossfire of one of their battles. It had been Vlad's attack that did it, but it wouldn't have happened at all if it weren't for him.

His life- taken from him. Pulled out of school, forced to live in this house, all contact with the world cut off.

His powers- stifled. The madman had made some sort of deal with the other ghosts, ending all attacks on Amity Park.

His friends- Oh, his friends...He could still hear their screams. Taken from their families. Assumed dead. Trapped somewhere he didn't know.

Couldn't reach.

Couldn't save.

It was all his fault.

So, he did the only thing he could- he stayed. If he stayed, they didn't scream. If he stayed, he could help them, even if just a little. If he stayed, he could pretend they weren't in danger.

He needed to stop before he really did go crazy.

                       OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

[decepticononline]

MTMTE! Megatron x Femme Reader

Warnings: toxic, not a healthy relationship at all, Dom/Sub, hate sex, pet play, choking, spanking, vaginal sex, war crimes, sexual intimidation, the autobot symbol on his chest hasn't changed shit.

Summary: The reader has an unhealthy obsession with Megsy

Requested by: Too many people to tag.

You were a therapist on the Lost Light, but you definitely weren't an ambassador. It wasn't your job to make sure the Decepticons aboard feel welcome, nonetheless Megatron. If you could press a tiny red button and kill every Decepticon while simultaneously taking your own life you would do it. That's how much you hated them. You are far too young to even fight in the war but you still felt the woes and damage of it.

Every con on the ship should be thankful that you weren't a mech because you'd strip the very metal attached to their structures off, and no-one would be able to stop you or contain your rage. You'd save Megatron for last honestly just to kill him off even slower than the rest to make sure he felt it.

So it did nothing but piss you off when Ultra Magnus suggested that Ex-Lord Megatron's therapy sessions were being switched from Rung and over to you. You spent at least three earth hours cycling through all the information you had on him within your datapads and compiling it. All his war crimes, rapes, murders, and any other violent transgressions he committed or incited against Cybertron and its population.

Many of your testimonials and excerpts were interviews with victims or just plain confessions from the mech himself. The things he confessed to having taken part in or witnessed never failed to make you feel like you needed to purge your tank. When you finished putting everything together you forwarded all your data to Rung, Ultra Magnus, and Rodimus Prime and told all three that you were uncomfortable you even threatened to resign and revoke your status from the ship.

The only mech that paid you any mind about this was Rung. After having a conversation with him through the comms he expressed to you that he didn't believe it was sane for them to assign a femme therapist to Megatron. As concerned and upset about this situation as he was he made sure to break it to you that there was nothing he could do especially since Megatron's sessions would begin the very next cycle.

You ended up waking up from stasis that next cycle and you decided you were going to brace it helm-on. You were going to perform your duties and show everyone else that you weren't afraid of him. While you weren't scared you just hated the very sin of his protoform and wished you could push your sharp digits directly into his red optics and penetrate them. There was no way you were going to lie and act as if you've never fantasized about murdering him before, not after everything he's done, and no one can blame you for that either.

Your first session with the mech drained you horribly of your own sanity, the mind games he played with you made you feel like your processors were spiraling. Rung had warned you about this, but even then nothing could prepare you for the actual games themselves.

Megatron had sat before you explained to you that he was focused on rehabilitating himself and looking to repent, while he said that you could see in his optics that clearly wasn't true but you still had to type it down into your datapad. Everyone else on the ship had seen a new reformed version of the ex-warlord but only you and Rung could spot the differences that screamed that this was all a facade. This was still the same Megatron that murdered thousands when he sieged Iacon, his faction changed but not his processors.

Just from sitting down with him in a sectioned off habsuite where you usually did your sessions made you feel uneasy. There were monitors processing a recording of his therapy session but that didn't make you feel any better at all. With every question he answered the more you just began to have the graphic images of the atrocities of his crimes play within your processors.

"There's nothing I want more at the moment than to feel like I'm forgiven by everyone."

You felt yourself glitch when he said that. His mannerisms already expressed to you that he could care less about forgiveness. If you had to make a hypothesis your idea would be he's bored and tired of fighting on the opposition. He's getting old and he can't keep doing this, he's probably decided that it just isn't fun anymore since Optimus Prime has been MIA.

When the session concluded it felt like you could actually vent clearly again. He gave you a farewell and leaned down and brought your servo to his dermas for a kiss of his gratitude for helping him on the road to becoming a better version of himself. The fact he felt like he could just do that without permission infuriated you and he gave you a fanged smile as if he knew he struck a nerve wire with that gesture.

The next five sessions he spent trying to reel you in and make you feel comfortable around him. He asked you questions about what you did when you weren't giving therapy sessions or what you would like to do when Cybertron was rebuilt. You answered every question of his with incredibly vague responses. He seemed to think it was funny that you didn't like to reveal much information about yourself.

"I don't believe it's all that fair if you know every little thing about me but I just can't take a peek in on what you're thinking in that pretty little helm of yours, am I right?"

Of course he's right, he's always right. You opened up that you'd never met your actual creator or sire due to them being offline while fighting against a 'con led attack on an Autobot safe haven. He immediately apologized about the damages and asked you if you'd like to talk about it and you declined. Why should you have to lift his ego up and remind him of the things he's done? So he can go to his quarters and overload to it? No, you're not giving any ego strokes to anyone this cycle.

The next sessions after that he spent time breaking you down even further. The tenth session was the one you had to miss due to spending the entire day cycle in your quarters going over your data archives about him. That's when you both knew that he was winning this game and there was absolutely nothing you could do about it.

You showed up to the next session functioning only on a few klicks of stasis and it was showing. He told you that your optics were dimmer than the beautiful blue hue they always were and asked if you were recharging well at night. You politely informed him that you were, considering the antics going on aboard the ship but you both knew that was a lie.

He asked for the session to be concluded early as he had a meeting with Ultra Magnus and Rodimus about what they were going to do with a few rogue decepticon prisoners they recently found at an autobot owned arsenal on the last planet they docked at. Knowing that today's session was ending early gave you the motivation you needed to deal with his mind games until the time was up.

That night you got a comm message from Rodimus explaining that both Decepticon prisoners became violent and unruly upon seeing Megatron and the mech ended up executing both of them. It wasn't like you to hate a blessing in disguise as that's two less cons around but their ex-leader still walked the halls of the ship unsupervised.

If there was anything you could do to prevent the situation you were in now you would have done it a long time ago, you could've; turned in your e-license, terminated your Lost Light ID Chip, and just escaped off to the next planet, just anything to avoid it getting to this point. After your twentieth session with Megatron, he had officially won this game you two were playing. You started to smile at him when he would give you compliments, even laugh at some of his jokes. You even spent time with him outside of sessions amongst the ship to the dismay of everyone else.

You had a polite conversation with him at the energon dispenser in the lounge room in front of the other crew members and they all looked in awe and shock. Rung had pulled you to the side later that day  cycle to ask if everything was alright and you simply smiled widely and told him that Megatron's therapy sessions were going great. The mech looked at you with concern but decided not to question you any further.

After all that, here you finally were now, down on your knee plates facing the far end corner of the metal wall. You had a pair of stasis cuffs around your servos as you sat there quietly. You were on timeout of course, a punishment he decided was fit for you since you wanted to misbehave today. There was a heated conversation today between you two about the 'Overlord' situation at hand and you got frustrated and walked off only to be yanked back by him immediately and yelled at in front of everyone.

You should have expected this would have been the consequence considering the size difference between you two. There was no way you were just going to walk off from him without his immediate reaction. Even if you would have ran he would have caught up to you with a mere stride.

The stasis cuffs were tightened so tightly to the point they felt like they were restricting your energon flow. He sat in a chair beside you speaking diligently to Ultra Magnus through a comm transmission. He was expressing his concerns about the Phase Sixer problem as well as the issue of the DJD possibly lurking around in pursuit of Overlord. He told you to sit there quietly and he'd deal with you after he dealt with Ultra Magnus.

You heard them both bid each other a good evening and felt your vents start to get heavier as you awaited your persecution.

"Was there a reason for you to behave in such a way earlier?"

You shook your helm 'no' and froze when you heard him growl.

"I'd like you to use your words."

"No."

You heard the familiar sequence of sounds from his interface panel releasing and then dropping to the floor.

"Turn around."

You turned around to face him and the look of disappointment on his faceplate made you whimper. You hated when he was upset like this. You felt like any sudden movement and he could hurt you like he's done to many others before you. Your optics looked down to his pressurized spike and you winced.

"I'm s-sorry."

"Show me then."

With your servos still restrained behind your back-strut you moved forward on your knee plates to him and opened up your oral receptor just to slide your glossa along his length. His spike twitched and you continued to use your glossa to swirl circles along it before taking him in and bobbing your helm up and down slowly. You kept the pace simple in case he decided to instruct you to do something else.

You've done this so many times for him, consensual or not, that you've learned just exactly what he enjoys. You paused for a moment just to let your fanged denta graze gently along his spike. You then nibbled down just enough to cause him to groan.

You felt his servo grab the back of your helm and urge you to take more of his length in and you did. The slick of your oral receptor's lubrication mixed with the taste of his pre-overload made you purr. Sitting still in front of him while doing this was beginning to become a challenge, as your interface panel heated up and your leg as struts shuddered with anticipation.

He was never gentle with you but you've come to appreciate his roughness and the way he treated you like an interface toy. Whenever he used your valve during one of his moods it was clear you were going to need to call out from therapy sessions the next cycle. You weren't going to drop your panel unless he gave you permission to so for now you've decided to suffer with the intense heat.

"Not that you're not doing a delightful job here, but I'd like to take the reigns for a moment."

You raised an optics ridge before he pushed your helm down further onto him until your faceplate became flush with his frame. He held you in place with a firm enough grip to give you a helm-ache before lifting himself up to thrust roughly into your oral receptor. With every thrust, your faceplate painfully slammed against his frame and you just knew your muffled groans sounded pathetic. However, pathetic was just exactly what he liked, he broke you down so easily from his enemy to his frag toy.

You fell over backwards when he finally let go of you and yelped. The walls on this ship weren't particularly thin but it's certainly possible at least a few people heard you make that noise. It wouldn't be anything they haven't already heard from the previous times you've gotten noisy while pinned beneath him. He yanked you up by your shoulder-plates just to politely motion for you to get on top of the metal table beside you.

Megatron had a habit of interfacing you on anything that was available, he's used you against doors, tables, your own therapy session desk, an energon dispenser, and just anything that gave him easy access to your frame. While you were on the table you felt his servo close around your neck cabling and your venting intake halted with a whirr.

Your optics flickered signaling you needed to vent and he only squeezed harder. You were waiting for him to tell you to drop your interface panel but he stripped it off your frame anyways.

You would have let your servos wrap around his own to tell him you needed desperately to vent but they were restrained underneath your back-strut by the stasis cuffs. You gave him a concerned look and only then did he slightly ease the pressure around your neck cabling, it was just enough for you to vent but not comfortably.

He never warned you before he pushed his spike into your valve and your reaction was always the same whine. You were just grateful this time you were actually slick enough and well lubricated so he didn't tear your walls open. His thrusts were unwavering as you laid there and just occasionally let your hip struts meet his for more friction against your outer node.

When you felt like you were getting close to an overload you dug your claws into your back-strut enough to draw fluid to let the pain overcome the pleasure. This was a punishment and you knew the rules for punishments, you weren't allowed to overload, you were only to just accept whatever fragging he was going to give you no matter how forceful it was.

"You just never learn, do you? I'm beginning to think you like to see me angry."

You felt a sharp pain when his free servo came in contact with the left side of your aft.

"- I just knew you were mine to take when I first met you. I could see how broken and lonely you were."

Your frame arched when you got close enough to overloading and another sharp sting hit.

"...You're so young and already so damaged."

The grip on your neck cabling got tighter and his thrusting gained a more intense rhythm.

"You're the only one I've ever met who could see the darkness and fire within my optics and wanted to play with it. And you just play with it so well don't you?"

You couldn't help but give him a smile and let out a choked giggle. He was always right, wasn't he?

[the-six-that-thrive-if]

I was actually holding off on playing this until my exams were over but I lost myself to temptation and honestly this was just an amazing update. I would have probably hated myself for not reading this sooner if I have waited tbh😭

Initially, I was a bit confused bout who exactly moi MC should romance but I think Dante just single handedly cleared those doubts by a landslide and we haven't even fully met the other ROs yet🛐 I'm just in love with the way you portray him, like he actually feels alive and reading his parts are like breathing in fresh air, you know.

And I had to read that 'nudges MC's leg apart' part 60k times just for it to register in my head that I hadn't hallucinated that😭 and also was the actually the Warden outside MC's window?? If it is, I find it hilarious that this dude was just casually hanging outside smones window and being just shady af.

And honestly though, it should be a crime that Ro isn't actually an RO (...was that a twisted pun on your part btw?🥹)

I mean forget kissing MC's temple, stroking their spine but this man had me at stocking their fridge like hello? do u want to get married that badly?

Btw, it's implied a bunch of times in the demo, about how our dad clearly shows signs of genuine care towards the mc and blaming himself etc etc but the mc always has this 'he's disappointed in me' mentality. Is that actually a semi set feature of the mc coz it felt a bit contradictory to everything we've been getting about the dad in actuality. I mean I understand that we, the readers, maybe a bit omniscient in some things related to the plot, as in seeing things the MC can't see, but MC seems well aware of their situation it.

Either way, I think this was a great update mainly because it really balanced out the other chapter quite well, I think. It felt like the pace slowed down a bit and honestly that was a really great choice. Also, I did feel a lot of things were missing when i first read this if's demo but the additions in the previous chapters really bring together the entire demo as a whole. I think the only criticism I have is towards the amount of grammatical and vocabulary related mistakes, it did throw me off the plot in some areas but nevertheless it's pretty solid.

Also, have you already selected the beta testers btw?

(v sorry for this long ask, i think i rambled a bit too much😶)

The grammatical errors will forever be the bane of my existence and I will fix them. But everything else aside, I'm really glad and I adore long asks so don't worry.

But I'm really glad you enjoyed it, I had felt that the pacing was a bit off and there was just so many things I really really wanted to add, just wasn't equipped in doing so. Aswell as my financial situation is rocky and before I hadn't had access to a computer, which is the cause of my hella long hiatus. But I really really wanted to grow the world MC is in and make y'all familiar with it. So finally learning code and learning it well enough honestly helps me so much in accomplishing what I really want to accomplish.

With MC and their dad/ur dad it's sorta predetermined, but you'll get the chance to actually face you and your father's relationship before it's too late. I feel that where MC is, it's an honest bitterness. I mean comparing the rest of their family, Racheal, their mom, Charles, even Amelia show how much they love MC, but we'll definitely get more insight into why he acts the way he does and everything in the coming chapters!

And the Ro stroking your spine, yes he did that. I absolutely had to throw that in.

And Dante feeling alive, I really really try by just adding habits and things that extend outside of speech and just ugh, that is such a huge compliment!

[ryuichirou]

Hi I just wanted to also throw in my support and let you know that I'm sorry you're dealing with people being horrible. Art is meant to be whatever you want it to be and just because you like something in fiction doesn't mean you like it in real life or are some monster indorsing literal crimes (That's why it's called FICTION). You have an amazing art style and a great sense of humor and even though there are some things I don't like that you make I know all I have to do is skip them. People need to understand the difference between participating in ways to limit real threats real threats (like refusing to consume media made by proven abusers and crinimals) and functionally conservative censorship (even if they don't want to admit that is what they are doing) just because they do not like something or it makes them uncomfortable (especially when that censorship many times comes with unsubstantiated accusations and literal death threats). I'm not one to have the mind set of 'back in my day things were better!' because no they weren't, but one thing my generation did do right was learn how to block and ignore things that they were uncomfortable with instead of deciding that the best route to take is literal cyber attacks (I hate calling it 'bullying' since that doesn't even cover half the horrible stuff I've seen people say and do) on people to the point of wanting them to kill themselves over literal fictional characters in art.

I AM AND ALWAYS WILL BE A FIRM SUPPORTER OF NON-CENSORSHIP! NO MATTER WHAT NAME FUNCTIONAL CONSERVATIVES CALL THEMSELVES.

I'm sorry this was a rant but please know that you do have people who support you and even if I don't like everything you do, ultimately your art isn't for me. It's for you, and no one has a right to tell you what you are and are not allowed to create. I hope that things get better. <3333

Thank you very much for your kind words of support. I always say that, but I mean it: it's super important to hear that there are people who understand where we're coming from and let us know about it and are willing to express their opinion. Your ask actually really cheered us up that day <3

You’ve made a lot of great points, and I agree with you wholeheartedly! An artist has their freedom to draw and post whatever they want, and the viewer has their freedom to look at it or block it and forget it. If you don’t like it or don’t get it, it’s not for you to get – it’s plain and simple like that.

And yes, there ARE ways to limit irl threats and problematic situations! There are groomers, a lot of them are in fandom spaces, but these folks are looking at the wrong people. And they know it damn well, their goal isn’t actually to bring justice or make someone feel safe: if that was the case, they would just have a list of tags to block and that would suffice nicely.

Also you’re right, things weren’t better back then, but people really did seem to mind their business and ignore/block stuff they don’t want to see more often. And even when artists/writers/people in general received shit from others, it was understood by everyone than people doing this stuff were just straight-up trolls whose entire goal was to mess with others. But nowadays people who harass, bully, threaten and send “kys” messages somehow try to make it seem like they are morally superior to their victims??? Which makes them even more closely resemble pro-censorship conservatives. Honestly, it’s stupid how similar these people sound to some of the 70 y.o. fools who run our country and the censorship laws they create. It’s like verbatim sometimes. Sorry, I digress.

Once again, thank you so much for your support <3 I hope you are having a great day.

[megs-mostly-past-random-fandoms]

Masquerade

Based on this request:  Is it okay to request a Mycroft x reader where Mycroft is actually helping Sherlock with a case and the reader is a suspect? Mycroft is attending masquerade where the reader is invites. They dance and he learns that she’s innocent and maybe they fall in love? Maybe Mycroft and reader are telling an older Rosie how they met?

Here you are, lovely. I apologize for the wait! *Familiar Characters are NOT mine.*

Fandom: Sherlock (BBC)

Warnings: mentions of murder, a little angst, a little fluff-ish

Pairings/Characters: Mycroft Holmes x fem!reader, Sherlock Holmes, Rosie Watson

Mycroft cursed Sherlock in his head. He hated being surrounded by so many "goldfish" at once. Unfortunately, Sherlock was even worse in social situations like this and had not managed to snag an invitation to the masquerade. Mycroft had. And so had you, a suspect in Sherlock's latest case. It left Mycroft in the unique position of being able to get close to you. That was how Mycroft found himself discreetly scanning the large room for you. Thanks to Sherlock and a couple of carefully placed spies, he knew exactly what you were wearing. He merely had to find you in the sea of other people.

         "Looking for someone?" a voice to his right asked. Mycroft glanced over to see you standing next to him, a soft smile on your lips. Your features were even more pleasant up close. "No one in particular. I simply found myself bored with my acquaintances and decided to relieve myself of their company." Your smile grew a little. "I see. Perhaps you would care for some more agreeable companionship for the evening? I've been told I'm quite pleasant to be around."

         Mycroft couldn't believe you'd made it so easy to get close to you. He was about to reply when a waltz began. Time to put his plan into action. He placed his drink down and offered his hand. "Would you care for a dance?" Your eyes widened for a moment as if you hadn't been expecting that, but you nodded anyway and took Mycroft's outstretched hand. With effortless grace, Mycroft twirled with you onto the dance floor.

         You spoke softly as Mycroft lead you in the dance. He responded to your words, but Mycroft was waiting for a dance where he could hold you a bit closer. He was fortunate that the next song was exactly what he required. You looked slightly unsure. "May I?" After a split second, you agreed and Mycroft pulled you closer. Your eyes looked up at him through your mask and a shaky smile made its way to your lips.

         Being so close to you allowed Mycroft to learn that you had no weapons on your person, something you picked up on quickly, it seemed. After a moment, you rolled your eyes. "I have no weapons, Mr. Holmes. And I didn't do what they think. I've never committed a crime, especially not murder." There was a fire in your eyes that took Mycroft by surprise.

         "You know who I am?" he asked. You nodded. "Of course I do. You play a 'minor role' in the British government, after all. I know how to do my research. Your reputation precedes you. I know how intelligent and observant you are. I. Did. Not. Kill. Him," you emphasized through gritted teeth. To the outside world, it looked as though the two of you were simply enjoying the dance. You were apparently very good at keeping up appearances.

         Mycroft studied your face for a moment, but with the mask it was difficult to tell whether you were lying or not. Your body language indicated that you were being truthful, but if you were as intelligent as he'd heard, you could easily fool him. He needed to get you alone where you could remove your mask and speak freely.

         His eyes scanned the room to find a balcony. With ease, he danced you over to the balcony and pulled you outside. As soon as you were outside, you ripped your mask off your face. Your eyes flashed with frustration and anger. "I had nothing to gain from his death. I simply had the unfortunate luck of being the last person to have a disagreement with him and the last one to see him alive. I didn't kill him." You were staring Mycroft right in his eyes, trying desperately to make him believe you.

         Mycroft searched your face. He learned how to spot a lie early on in his life, having much practice with Sherlock, and you were most definitely telling the truth. "Do you know who is responsible then?" he asked you and you shook your head. "I don't. I only know that whoever is responsible has gone to the trouble of making me look guilty." Mycroft studied your face as you spoke. He deduced that you were in fact intelligent enough to get away with a crime, but you hadn't the emotional capacity(or lack thereof) to do so. You were anxious simply speaking with him about it.

         Before Mycroft could answer you, his mobile rang. The elder Holmes brother bit back a groan of annoyance. "One moment, please." He stepped back to answer his brother. "I am quite busy, brother mine. Is this of great importance?" Sherlock was quick to inform him of the fact that Lestrade was on his way inside. Mycroft cursed under his breath before hanging up.

         "We need to leave. The detectives of Scotland Yard shall be here momentarily." Your lips drooped into a slight frown. Fixing your mask back over your eyes, you headed back inside without a word. Mycroft followed you merely out of curiosity. Why would you head right back into the crowd instead of finding a stealthy escape?

         "The best chance I have of escape is by blending in until I can leave without drawing attention to myself," you explained as if reading his mind. Once you were back on the dance floor, you turned back to Mycroft. "Will you dance with me once more, Mr. Holmes?" Mycroft thought for only a moment. You were innocent so what was the harm? He took you in his arms and began dancing with you again. It wasn't long into the dance that he heard the tell-tale sounds of Scotland Yard entering the ballroom. Mycroft pulled you a little bit closer. Your eyes glanced up at him from behind your mask.

         "We must make it convincing, mustn't we?" he asked, earning a cheeky smirk from you. "If that were the case, I think a kiss would be much more convincing." Mycroft nearly tripped over his own feet for the first time in a long time. That wasn't what he was expecting. He searched your gaze for any sign of jest or discomfort. When he saw none, he smiled. "If you insist," he whispered, leaning closer to you.

         "YOU KISSED THE NIGHT YOU MET?!" Rosie Watson, now aged thirteen, screeched. You opened your mouth to reply, but Sherlock butted in, "They did more than that."

         "Sherlock!" you admonished with a hiss, "You shouldn't say things like that." Sherlock merely gave you a pointed look and continued on with his own devices. You looked over at Mycroft. "You really should do something about him," you muttered. Mycroft shook his head. "Nothing to be done I'm afraid, my dear. But yes," he said and turned to Rosie, "That was the night we met and the night that our relationship began." Rosie smiled. "And now you're getting married?" You smiled at Mycroft. "And now we're getting married."

(a/n: I hope you like it!)

Forever Tags: @supernatural4life2022​

Sherlock Tags are OPEN!