#but he still decided it’s a life worth living

[f1amour]

heyyy! can i request “i’m scared of losing you” (from angst1) with oscar piastri?

❝ i’m scared of losing you ❞ — oscar piastri

pairing | oscar piastri x reader

content warnings | lots of miscommunication, angst, comfort, happy ending

★ JOIN MY SHORT N SWEET FRIENDSGIVING !

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it had been a few months since you last attended a race due to your job obligations but in oscar’s eyes he only saw it as one thing; you’ve missed him winning a race, twice now.

in his eyes he thought you may no longer love him that he wasn’t worth enough for you. however, in your eyes you believed he no longer loved you especially due to his lack of presence in your life and never asking you to join him for a race weekend in months. both of you afraid to lose each other didn’t touch on the subject and living as if everything is okay.

until it wasn’t.

“i may not win another race this season but i would appreciate your support! you weren’t there for my two wins and i…i’m tired of this,” oscar argued back, you had both gone out to dinner in monaco after he returned from singapore. it started with a sweet conversation of what to do for the break to now bitter comments towards each other.

“tired of what? of me? i’m trying, oscar. i just started my third year of university and then work—.”

“work! it’s always work this work that. they always need you for something even though it’s not even in your title to do all that! you drop everything to be there for them but you can’t be there for me not even once…baby?” his mean words hit you immediately and you sit on the couch of your apartment hands covering your face as you sob uncontrollably.

“baby, yn…hey, hey breathe with me. it’s okay i’m here” oscar whispers on your ear, both arms cradling you now. was it okay? his approach may not have been the best but he wasn’t wrong. your job had been putting too much on your plate when you were meant to just be an underpaid intern who was doing multiple jobs that were not your responsibility.

“but you aren’t here, osc. i…i know that your career is demanding but you didn’t take a second to look back and realize i ease being left behind. i feel guilty i wasn’t there for your two wins especially your first. i begged my job to let me just visit you for a day to celebrate but they made me stay. it wasn’t even my day to work and i still stayed. i chose a job that doesn’t value me over you…you do care about me maybe not right now—.”

“i’m gonna stop you right there. i’m an idiot who didn’t bother asking how you’ve been recently and expecting you to support me more when i didn’t see what you’d been going through. i’m so sorry,” he whispers, his forehead pressed against yours kissing your tears away.

you whisper out five words you’d been feeling for awhile now, “i’m scared of losing you,” closing your eyes ready for oscar to say you’ve already lost him, “i’m scared too.” his voice matches your vulnerability.

opening your eyes looking at him in shock, “you are?” you felt like you were both taking a big step in admitting this. maybe, just maybe this would help in repairing your relationship.

“i am. i think we’ve been selfish towards each other but we also haven’t communicated right. i should have asked you more about how the job was treating you-,”

“i should have asked you how the team had been treating you.” you counter back and he chuckles.

“i know you want to be independent when it comes to your career. but i think you should quit that job and focus on school only. i know you don’t want me to take care of you financially but just let me do that for now until you graduate and find a job that will value the skills you have. i can’t lose us. i can’t lose you, yn. i love you.” his words filled with nothing but love, oscar meant well and for once you decide to take him up on the offer he’d been giving you since you started dating two years ago.

“okay.” a simple word replacing your frown into a smile on each others faces. there was work to do on your communication with each other but for now you both got to breathe a sigh of relief after facing a fear that would no longer happen.

[caplanbuckybarnes]

Behind Closed Doors (mafia!bruce wayne)

Summary: unbeknownst to you, you become friends with the city's famous mobster.

WC: 1,3K

Warnings: fluff,angst, bruce is a mafia leader AU

Read on Ao3!

Clint Barton Version Here!

--

The dim lights of the bar flickered slightly as the low hum of conversation and clinking glasses surrounded you. The city was alive, but you were still an outsider—new in town, not yet used to the rhythm of things. You had hoped for a quiet night, a drink to wind down from the overwhelming chaos of moving to a new city.

That’s when you first saw him.

A man in a tailored suit, dark hair combed back effortlessly. His presence was magnetic, like something about him demanded attention without trying. He wasn’t loud or boisterous, but his calm demeanor stood out in the crowd. And when his dark eyes landed on yours from across the room, you felt the pull—almost as if he had already decided you were worth his time.

He stood and approached you with a smooth stride, a slight, charming smile playing on his lips. “Mind if I join you?”

You blinked, caught off guard, but something in his gaze made you hesitate just long enough to give a nod. "Sure."

He slid into the seat next to you, the bartender already setting down a drink in front of him as if he were a regular. "Bruce Wayne," he said, offering a hand. His voice was smooth, controlled, like he was used to getting what he wanted.

"Y/N" you replied, shaking his hand. The touch was firm, but you noticed the way his hand lingered a little longer than necessary, almost as if he was savoring the moment. “I’m new in town.”

“I gathered that. Not many people in here don’t know how to blend in.” His smile turned a little teasing. “What brings you to Gotham?”

You shrugged, trying to play it off as casual. “Just needed a change of scenery, I guess. The usual story. New job, new city, new start.”

“New start, huh?” Bruce raised an eyebrow. "I can relate."

There was something cryptic in his words, and for a moment, the conversation faltered as you tried to read him. But then, he shifted the focus back to you, asking about your new life in Gotham and how you were adjusting. His charm was effortless, his attention focused entirely on you, and it wasn’t long before you found yourself laughing and talking about everything from mundane details about your job to the oddities of living in a city like Gotham.

By the end of the night, you were exchanging numbers, your curiosity piqued by his mysterious air, but also by how strangely comfortable you felt around him. Something told you there was more to Bruce Wayne than met the eye, but for now, you were content to just go along with it.

The next few weeks passed in a blur of coffee dates and casual conversations. Every time you met, it felt like you were peeling back another layer of him, but it was slow, almost too slow. Bruce always seemed interested in you—truly interested—but there was a distance in his eyes, a guardedness that made it impossible to get too close.

And then there were the disappearances.

You’d be sitting at a café, enjoying a warm drink, and Bruce would be there, his attention on you, his voice a calm presence in the noise of the world. But then, just as the conversation would begin to dip into something deeper, his phone would ring. His expression would change in an instant—controlled but sharp—and he’d apologize, excusing himself to take the call in a more private area.

You didn’t think much of it at first. Work. That was all he ever said. But the more times it happened, the more it felt like an excuse. And then you started to wonder: was he really that busy? Or was there something else going on?

One evening, after yet another brief and unexplained disappearance, you found yourself sitting alone at a table, swirling the coffee in your mug absentmindedly, thoughts racing. A small part of you had been entertained by his mystery, but now, it was starting to bother you. He’d been so elusive, almost like he was keeping something from you. And when he disappeared on the phone, you couldn’t shake the feeling that there was another woman involved. Maybe that was why he was always so distant when you weren’t with him. Maybe the phone calls were just him checking in with his girlfriend.

You tried to push the thoughts aside, but they clung to you, nagging at the back of your mind.

It wasn’t until a few days later that your suspicions were confirmed—but not in the way you expected.

You were walking through the city, lost in your thoughts when you spotted Bruce across the street, standing outside a sleek black car. You froze. He was talking to someone—no, giving orders. The man he was speaking to nodded respectfully before walking away, and you could see Bruce’s posture shift just slightly, a certain authority in his stance.

That was when you saw it.

The man had passed by a neon sign on the corner—an inconspicuous one, but you caught a glimpse of the symbol on his jacket. A logo you recognized. One that wasn’t just associated with business deals or high society parties, but something far darker.

You weren’t sure what exactly you were seeing, but you knew one thing: this wasn’t just a businessman you’d been having coffee with. Bruce Wayne wasn’t just charming and mysterious—he was dangerous.

A mob boss. It made sense now, all the late-night calls, the secretive exits, the way people in Gotham seemed to give him a certain level of respect.

But before you could process the full weight of the realization, you felt a hand on your shoulder. You turned quickly, only to find Bruce standing right behind you, his face unreadable.

“I thought I might find you here,” he said smoothly, his tone even and calm, though there was an edge to it now. “You’ve been thinking about me.”

Your heart pounded in your chest as you tried to swallow the shock creeping up your throat. “I... I didn’t expect this.”

He studied you for a moment, his expression softening. “I guess I should’ve told you sooner.”

“Why didn’t you?” you asked, unable to stop the words from spilling out. “Were you hiding something from me, Bruce? Or... was there someone else?”

A slight smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “There’s no one else, Y/N. But there are things about me... things I can’t share easily.” He stepped closer, his voice low, almost like a warning. “I didn’t want you to get mixed up in it.”

Your stomach twisted with a mix of confusion and anger. “Mixed up in what? What are you really doing, Bruce?”

He hesitated, but then, his hand moved to your cheek, his touch tender. “I’m doing what I have to do to protect this city. And anyone who gets close to me—who gets too close—becomes a part of that. You need to understand that.”

You looked up at him, a chill running through you. “So this—us—wasn’t real?”

Bruce’s gaze softened, a brief flicker of vulnerability crossing his face. “It was real. But my world is... complicated. I was hoping you wouldn’t find out this way. But I won’t lie to you, Y/N. This is my life. And if you want to stay in it, you need to accept what that means.”

Your heart raced as you tried to piece it all together—the man you thought you knew, the mystery, the lies. But no matter how much you wanted to run, something about him held you in place, anchored by the truth in his eyes.

“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” you whispered, the weight of everything crashing down on you.

Bruce’s expression darkened, his thumb brushing over your cheek before he spoke again. “You’ll figure it out. But just know—no one ever walks away from me once they’ve seen the truth. And that includes you.”

[freewilllife]

So I will be honest, I am also not 100% sure about that... Su-Won did give Il more time, but I'm going to go an extra mile and wonder if that only meant Su-Won might have just allowed Il to "save the country" and then kill him after that.

On the contrary, it is very likely, he would have let King Il live...

Since it would implicate that King Il was indeed right with his estimation and his father wrong.

King Il killed Yu hon, because he did not believe in the gods power and will...

Soo Won surely wouldn´t have liked it. But he is not the kind of person that would have killed a good king. Soo Won feels too responsible for Kouka to do so (You proved it yourself down below)

Additonally he, Soo Won, has no reason to lie to his mother here, because he does misjudge her speechless response and even believes that she wants King Il dead...Undoubtly, he wished King Il´s death...but Soo Won is not a person that would kill King Il, if he had been right.

"We need to see wheter King Il can protect the nation".

Heck, as a 9 year old Soo Won even hesitated despite his pain to make the final decision to kill him or not...

Reason is because, he also tells Yona that he cannot die yet, until he finishes saving Kouka. Judo also tells Su-Won the same thing, to die by Hak's hand only after he protects Kouka.

And here, you have literally proof of Soo Won´s character. Soo Won is a person that feels a great deal of responsibility towards the people of his country or some people.

He takes care of them...is it as "mother" to Yona, "as husband" to his mother or "king" to the nation.

I will also consider that Il already had a pretty poor reputation. So I'm wondering if Su-Won might have just expected Il would be a bad ruler from the beginning… and the reason he never stepped into power at age nine is because he still had to train for the position (also for Kouka to not be unstable).

I doubt it. Soo Won is a curious person. He has also no reason to lie above. Surely, he followed his father´s path here...or did believe he followed him, but he is the kind of person that would want to know.

So it has never been a thing that was 100 % sure from the beginning.

That said, if Il was a capable ruler (and you know, proved that Yu-Hon's influence was detrimental), Su-Won would not be able to kill him without being condemned by the nation. And Su-Won did also tell his mother that Yona's box could not be prioritized because Kouka required a strong ruler… implying that if Il was strong, then that box could be? So maybe he would end up in the same place, unable to discard them despite trying.

Look above, he would have not killed him then.

Soo Won would have sacrificed his life for his father´s reputation despite having no chance or not. He is the kind of person that would sacrifice himself for a cause he deems necessary.

However, he would have not killed him because Soo Won understands the concept of sacrifice...he offers his life a couple of times for the wellbeing of the country.

If King Il was a god king, then the sacrifice (the pain that Soo Won had to suffer due to the death of his father, his father´s death) would have been worth it. His father instilled into his son the care for his country, early on.

How old is he here? 4 or 6 years old, when his father tells him that his actions decide the fate of a whole country.

And Su-Won did also tell his mother that Yona's box could not be prioritized because Kouka required a strong ruler… implying that if Il was strong, then that box could be? So maybe he would end up in the same place, unable to discard them despite trying.

The box is Soo Won´s love for Yona and Hak...no Soo Won cannot allow himself to feel for Yona or Hak, if King Il is weak...because the whole country will go to waste, if Soo Won prioritizes one person instead of the whole country...that is his understanding of the situation.

By the way...you actually answered your own question. The last reason, why it is very unlikely that he had killed King Il.

Because he loves Hak and Yona and yes, then he could allow himself to not cut the people out he loves the most in this world besides his parents.

Nevertheless, Hak point blank told him to convince Il to let the marriage happen on the day of the murder, and Su-Won kept denying that such a plan was even in the works. If he really considered negotiating with Il, why say that? In fact, if he had agreed with Hak, that might have helped avert suspicion. Unless he was lying, but I doubt it.

Because this solution was his vain hope?

Soo Won wanted it to be true, that this could have been a way...He himself later tells us, that this was a dream...

He remembers "the dream" on the day of his coronation, when he thinks both have died...

Chapter 11 tells us

about how much Soo Won had wished to come back...(and spit in Hiryuu´s face).

that Soo Won became the 11th king

that he has to unite the tribes and a bunch of enemy kingdoms arount them

and that he would have loved to marry Yona and keep both Hak and Yona by his side.

it also tells us that Soo Won hates the gods, and prefers human strength.

However it is a dream...and I guess, even Soo Won who had tried to achieve that dream was responsible enough not to count on it.

Therefore he did not tell Hak anything or even the guards...the chance was so thin...

Imagine, would a person that put 10 years into training as a king, that knows the kingdom is soon to be attacked by outside forces and is aware of Soo Jin´s coup really place all his hope on King Il?

Definitely not.

For Kouka. Not for Il or Yona. Hak noticed it in the recent chapter, Su-Won is selfless when it comes to the nation's welfare.

Could you repeat that again?! So Soo Won was worrying about his mother, who is seriously ill, but still rushed without thinking about it to Yona...to care for her...

Soo Won also took care of his mother, when his father died, even though it should have been the other way...this person has always taken care of people...quite selflessly.

Ever since Su-Won made the decision to make Yona the queen and Yona heard of it from Hak instead of him, I've been quite curious about what they'll say to one another when they finally meet face to face again. I don't know, I feel like that encounter just going to be different from all the others, intense. Because both have acknowledged her as his equal, just not directly to one another yet.

First there’s a political side. Whether Yona wants the throne, whether Su-Won really wants to pass it down. There is also the emotional side.

Yona remained calm (though disgusted) when she commented that Su-Won was selfish, but that was still from a distance. Which is why I can't shake the thought that Yona could be absolutely livid if Su-Won actually manages to enter the chalice (especially if it's with some intention to "save" Yona and "sacrifice" himself like some fear).

If it happens, can we get a scene where she slaps his face? Tells him to snap the fuck out of it? Stop making all these selfish decisions for her? To not put her on a pedestal and be so suicidal all of a sudden? That she's not a damsel in distress who needs saving, that she'll find a way to make the dragon gods to understand? Because such a scene will actually be a good subversion of expectations. Kusanagi has done it before, so this would be a great opportunity.

I mean Yona's already said it in her mind. "Don't you dare die as you please. Rely on those around you." She even said it to Hyu-ri. She just has to actually say those words to Su-Won himself.

Yona did disappoint me in the recent chapter because she became quite literally a damsel in distress (how else are we supposed to describe her in that scene), but a hypothetical scene like this would make up for it. It would return her agency. And honestly I've been dying to see a scene where Yona just lets all the resentment out instead of constantly suppressing it for the country or because she wants to be the better person. The dragon gods said she was also selfish, so let's see that side show a bit more.

[squarecloud73]

Who's your favourite dungeon meshi character? (not to reduce you to your obsession atm) but i'm intrigued about why you like this character. is it their interactions with others? gay? how they view the world and how it's similar to you? ^#^ thanks

I like every character for different reasons but like, emotionally, Mithrun stood out to me in a way.

At first glance, he appeared to be the angsty pretty character sunken deep into tragedy and vengeance, but that changed when we saw more of him.

After his identity and basic abilities were stripped away, his body and mind betrayed him, but he survived. Just… look at him when he just left his dungeon, he was skin and bones, covered by wounds from self-destruction, barely functioning, but he managed to train himself up, physically and magically more powerful than ever, went back to Canaries and became a captain who is respected even by Cithis.

Kabru’s talk was his last one step to a new stage of life, still, without all the hard work and companionships he previously built with his teammates and families, he would vanish in a pit of despair long ago. When Milsiril found him in front of the broken mirror, when Kabru asked him to search deeper with him, when Senshi gave him that piece of advice, he allowed the sparkle of life to flow back within, eventually, his beauty came out of ashes like freaking Deadpool.

Mithrun proved that leftovers can still be brew into a nice warm soup.

[clownsuu]

Small detour of what I usually post, but I absolutely wish (other) clown the best of luck during these confusing and almost hopeless times- nobody knows how to deal with such amount of attention in such short amount of time- a blessing and a curse to behold

[astralhope]

Rank 52: The final duel!!

[asktheevilgeniusesson]

“Hm. All life is valuable, or just ones you decide are? I would assume the first option, for heros like yourself.”

Metal lets out a mechanical hum wt the thought,watching the tails spin- he tries to copy the tailspinning. A small tail-like attachment on his behind starts to whirl and spin- like- literally just spin in place with a small rickety ‘dunk dunk dunk’ like a washing machine.

Infinites ear flicks and twitches at the foxes words and he casts a glare as the kid speaks up more, narrowing his eyes with an unreadable expression from where hes standing. He was ready to lash out if the fox tried to sympathize, or even defend shadow. He was so used to the heros defending that asshole for slaughtering the only family he’d had- but tails didnt defend shadow. Didnt try and say ‘he didnt mean to kill your entire fucking family’ or something. The only thing that ticked him off was the fact tails mentioend shadow forgot him. Ofcourse he did. That hedgehog never owned up to the genocides he commits. The jackal takes a heavy breath and faces the fox again.

“Ofcourse i’m unhappy. I try to prove my worth in this world after my entire family dies and i fail, now little to nobody but you, and your stupid brother remember me at all. All you remember is the ruby literally stuck inside my chest. Put yourself in my shoes for a minute, fox. The entire world forgets you. The only memorable thing about you is the thing that is STUCK in your body and you die if its removed. You have no family, just surrounded by a madman and his robotic family of murderers. Tell me, would you be HAPPY, living like that? Its BULLSHIT!”

Infinite barks and yips, stomping his paw(foot) on the floor with a refrained snarl.

“And to top it all off, your family will NEVER be avenged or rest peacefully. Because the fucker who killed them is in the good graces of the heros. And not to mention when YOU get mad and rageful and want to kill someone for taking someone from you, its all ‘you can improve, you’re better then this! You’re not like this Sonic/Tails eyadaya- you can still be a hero!’. But when I get that way. When I want to fucking help my familys ghosts move on and give them revenge, do i get the sympathy? Do i get ANYONE wanting to help me get better? NO. You heros are all stuck up bastards who want to protect eachother but FUCK anyone else who dares get angry about their losses.”

(Hello, Metalsonic (and most of the rest of the eggpire) askblog here! Hope u dont mind :))

“Greetings, little yellow rat. I have overheard you speaking of mints very highly, and as i am built without any mouth, nor tastebuds, i must ask.. what do mints taste like. From my discoveries, they do not sound nice for a lifeform to consume daily. Are you secretly some strong creature we’ve been underestimating?”

The robot stares at you. Waiting an awnser with a dead serious look. But then again it always looks like that.

“Ignoring the rat comment, let me find the best way to describe it to you. When certain things are ‘hot spicy’ in the way that it feels like burning, mints are the opposite with ‘cool spicy’ which make your mouth feel colder! Of course, it’s not just spicy. It’s described as refreshing because of it’s cooler effect, and mint candies are basically sweet candies complimented with the sharp, fresh, taste of mint. Smells wonderful, too. Either way you’ve been underestimating me, and then you keep doing it! Pretty sure the mint thing shouldn’t change that.”

[dearmrsawyer]

on the loose live my beloved

[poisonedapples]

Super heavy vent ahead in the tags

[monty-glasses-roxy]

Ah fuck it whatever

There's something I love about the new Consequences AU and how it compares to the AUs and music it's come from.

Where things like Roxy's old kingdom being destroyed and her being almost drowned as a baby are metaphorical, there's a lot of things that strangely aren't. Roxy specifically denying the gods and the powers that be is something she does in most of my interpretations of her. The gods in most situations, isn't a spooky green rabbit, it's the people in the Fazbear boardroom making the world's worst decisions ever. To the animatronics, they are the gods. There's no higher authority than them, and they can have them destroyed without ever having met them, at just a moment's notice, for seemingly no reason.

Bonnie once believing in the gods and turning against them works like it does for most of the animatronics too. Even just questioning Fazbear isn't something many of them have been able to do, but all of them will eventually learn to. The more they learn through Roxy, despite what they might have known before, the more they realise what kind of company they've been forced to be a part of.

And Roxy's attitude towards these gods is always the same. She won't pretend to be nice to people she knows don't care about her. She won't put any extra effort into maintaining social etiquette if there's no point, if there's nothing for her to gain from it. Fazbear CEOs and board members have hurt her so much already, she doesn't give a flying shit about them, she's not wasting her time on them unless she absolutely has to. In this universe, the same can be said about the gods. She doesn't care for them and they don't care about her, so why bother? They've told like six people to assassinate her already, why would she choose to listen to them?

Roxy's relationship with the Minis and DJ? That's the same as it is across the board with most of the AUs I have. The attempt on Roxy's life when she's barely been born is shown differently in the new AU, but is still the same concept. Some things have been shifted around, such as the specific motivations, but not by a lot. I suppose Bonnie's dad in this fills the roll of Vanessa if Vanessa was also actually Mimic? He doesn't have an exact match here in terms of scale, but the comparisons are there.

The whole kingdom being destroyed, Roxy finding out that that's where she originally came from, that she was the newborn prince with a wholeass family she's never known, all lines up so well with everything else too. The pizzeria, scrapped storage, the old attractions there before her racetrack, it's all gone and she knew nothing about it. She's once again found out the truth in possibly the worst way imagineable, and she doesn't know what to do with this information, but honestly, who would?

The biggest difference there is that in this new AU, Roxy has the choice of what to do. In what's basically canon to the game, Roxy doesn't have that choice and likely never will. Where she's had to sacrifice her Raceway and Salon, sacrifice the vast majority of her life and her purpose for the safety of everyone around her, in this universe, she can choose not to. She sacrifices certainty this time, something she can regain as time goes on but in any other universe, there is never any certainty to get back. There will always be a Mimic threat and she can't get any of her old life back until it's dead and gone. She has to pay a price to keep Mimic contained, and while the Afton/Glitchtrap gods scramble to convince her otherwise, the Roxy in this new AU does have the choice whether she pays it or not.

But she will always still have to deal with the consequences of those with power. Every single time. And every single time so far, her entire existence is the consequence for them. Her life overall has not been the result of her own choices, but rather, the choices of people that never cared about her to begin with...

At least in this new universe she has a good childhood to fall back on and a cool ass horsie. And can actually do something about this shit. She can't normally do that :(

[scattered-winter]

aough I'm actually going so insane about peter/caspian again

[dokjaism]

[canceriancryptid]

.

wow so apparently 30 tags is the limit, that's cool, not rereading any of that shit, the void can have it and my run on sentences

[arolesbianism]

I’ve been getting withdrawals from not making random worldbuilding characters that don’t matter to the actual plot. Anyways meet 60 👍

[29121996]

.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

There's a viral video circulating from the Fort Worth Zoo, of two keepers who ended up in a habitat at the same time as a silverback gorilla. Spoiler for good news: neither the humans nor the gorilla got hurt. It's a bad situation that ended extremely well, and that's why I want to talk about it.

The audio for this video is mostly someone praying loudly, so if you need to turn the audio off to watch it, you won't miss anything relevant. If you don't want to watch it, here's the summary: it starts with a keeper running around the corner into the main exhibit, pursued by a large male gorilla. She is quickly able to get into a doorway at the back of the exhibit, but does not completely close the door because the gorilla is standing across from her, watching. He eventually moves off to the right hand side of the exhibit, where we can see a keeper is trapped in the corner at the front. She was trying to move towards the exit as he moved to the right, and she stops, standing very still behind a tree, while he stays along the far right wall. They stay like that for a minute, and then the gorilla runs to the front right corner, and the keeper is able to run to the door in the back of the exhibit and get to safety.

Let's start with basic information. Even though it's just going viral now, this video is from October of 2023. It was taken not by a guest, but by the zoo security officer responding to the situation. Hmmm, seems like he maybe should have been doing something else during that situation, instead of than taking a phone video. It's going viral now because the guy (who is no longer employed at the zoo) decided to post it on TikTok for his five minutes of fame. This guy immediately started giving all sorts of media interviews, answering questions like "why no tranquilizers" inappropriately, making memes out of his own video, generally distasteful shit.

Zoo spokesperson Avery Elander gave a public statement that "thankfully, there was no physical contact between keepers and gorilla, and all staff and animals are safe." A comment from the zoo has also indicated that the incident was due to keeper error. (As opposed to, for instance, something in the fencing breaking.) According to the guy who posted the video, a lock was left unsecured and the gorilla was able to open the door to the habitat. I don't know if I buy it, and again, this just... is probably why he doesn't have a job anymore. By sharing that detail - real or not - he places a ton of public scrutiny and blame on that keeper team. (If that's what happened, I can promise you it will have been dealt with internally.) He also was nice enough to say he wouldn't name the women in the video... but verified they're still staffers at the zoo... which means they're eminently identifiable! Excuse me while I ragequit for a second.

So there's two reasons I wanted to talk about this. The first is to make sure it is well known that this guy is purposefully and intentionally exploiting the worst day of someone's life for media attention. Their lives were in danger, and he's using it for fame. His name is in the media articles - I'm not going to share it because he doesn't deserve that attention. The second reason, though, is because this video is a masterclass on how to survive if you end up sharing space with a gorilla. Every zoo person I've spoken to or seen comment on the video is so, so impressed with how the keepers handled themselves.

The gorilla in this video is 34-year-old Elmo. All apes in AZA zoos are managed in protected contact, so keepers are supposed to be separated from them by a barrier at all times. The zookeepers were in the habitat putting out a mid-day meal when he got out. Watching the video, you can see he's not actively being aggressive towards them - he's not making threat displays or trying to approach them. Mostly, Elmo seems like he doesn't know what is going on and he's kinda freaked out about it. (This is confirmed in the zoo's press statement, too). The staff stayed calm, and importantly, watched and waited to see how he'd move and act.

The zoo did say one thing, though, that's a bit misleading. In one article, their press person I quote as saying ���In general, gorillas are considered the “gentle giants” of the great ape species.” Just because this may be true in comparison to other great ape species doesn't meant gorilla aren't still incredibly dangerous. This type of messaging always worries me, because I think it leads people to misunderstand the risks of being close to megafauna. Gorilla are extremely strong animals, and their social norms/behaviors are very different from that of humans. That's why it's such a big deal any time people end up in gorilla habitats, and why sometimes in those circumstances lethal measures have to be taken to protect human life.

These keepers are incredibly lucky to be unharmed. These women stayed safe specifically because they're trained professionals who knew how to act around gorilla, they knew this particular animal well, and they'd learned the escapes from the exhibit just in case this ever happened. We should applaud them for their cool heads and quick thinking.

As for the guy who posted the video? As a colleague put it, may he always step on a Lego.