#he is literally the saviour of the country

[thenameswinter99]

I generally avoid to talk about politics in my blog, but I woke up choosing violence and I won’t keep myself any longer.

Message to the Americans from an European:

FUCK YOU ALL.

How could you ever, EVER think of voting a racist, homophobic, misogynist, megalomaniac and all the negative adjectives of the world man? I had little hope in Kamala, I had the feeling she would not win… BUT HOW COULD YOU, HOLY SHIT?

Do you think your “saviour”, the same who said that he should have trusted men around like Hitler with their generals? The same man who allowed one his constituents to call Kamala a “whore” and simulated a oral practice with his microphone IN FRONT OF THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE (who have less brain than him, let’s be honest), the same who organized the assault of Capitol Hill because he could not accept defeat, the same man who had another scum called Elon Musk corrupting the people by donating millions for voting for Trump (a practice ILLEGAL, I L L E G A L), would really MaKe AmErIcAh gReAt AgAiN?

We will talk about this when you’ll cry about multiple civil war starting in your country, because this is what will happen. And I will not be impressed when I’ll read the news in the newspaper.

Don’t cry when you’ll lose your house due to the climate change, because your beloved new President doesn’t believe in climate change and will do everything to turn your back and keep polluting the world, affecting us as well (the Spain floods should be a living example)

Europeans (the intelligent ones, as there are the no brained ones who are celebrating Trump’s victory) are looking at you with extremely side eye because you ruined us. You LITERALLY ruined us, already fragile from two wars that are far from seeing the end. Don’t think that he will be the Messiah that will stop all the wars: it won’t happen. Don’t think the economical and commercial relationships will improve under him: it won’t happen.

For all the women voting for Trump: I hope you look in your mirror in the morning and be ashamed of yourself, because there were women behind you who FOUGHT AND DIED for your fucking rights, and you put your vote on a man that will erase your rights in a heartbeat. Don’t cry when you’ll be treated as a baby machine, because you’ll have to shut up when it will be too late to complain.

For all the Americans who voted for Kamala and tried to break the cycle and giving America a better future: I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. I know she wasn’t your best candidate, that she has lots of flaws, but the damage would have been less instead of the orange tycoon. We’re living in a simulation of the 1920’s, where violence and ignorance are reigning without being punished. These four years, barring unforeseen events or coups, will pass. And a better future will come.

Thank you for ruining our world, America. Hope you’re proud of yourself. 💜

P.S. Before you attack me after reading my useless wall of text: I’m from Italy, governed by a party of fascist people, with the first Prime Minister being a woman who hates women; who are annulling the women and the LGBTQ+ rights; with the worst press and television censorship; with the population clamouring for higher salaries and lower taxes, but they do nothing; with the highest tax burden but NOTHING is done to lower them; with a Ministry of Transport investigated for kidnapping for ILLEGALLY holding a boat of migrants. I know what will be your destiny, so don’t worry. 💜

[sleepyorchidmonster]

What if king Henrik managed to steal Malleus's egg after defeating Meleanor?

The main point is that the egg WOULDN'T hatch because it needs love (and even in canon it took a couple of centuries to hatch, despite the presence of Lillia and Maleficia).

So after a few tries, he discards his plans and keeps the egg as a trophy. Years pass and a five year-old Silver finds the trophy room while playing. He stumbles into the pedestal holding the egg, but manages to save it before it falls.

The child then senses a tiny heartbeat, and realizes there is a baby inside the egg!

The egg hatches immediately. Baby Silver loved it at once (the way he did once upon a dream).

And that's how we get a Dragon Prince journey (sorta).

After the dragon hatched, Silver went to talk with his animal friends to see if they could help (he loves his parents, but he couldn't just tell them he went to the trophy room to play, some instinct of his was also telling him they couldn't be trusted).

He left the little dragon under the care of a mother bear and went to the library to see if he could find anything. He came across a few old books from before the Silver Owls that described the Draconias (the little prince was so excited! His dragon friend could become a friend friend! He didn't have any friends besides the animals! And the dragon was even a fellow prince!)

But first things first! His dragon friend needed to meet his actual family, they were probably worried sick! So he grabbed a few maps, marked out the closest fae castle, told his parents he would go play with the animals in the woods and left.

The trek was very long and dangerous, but the entire forest was on his side. Baby Silver kept talking to Malleus, explaining life as a prince, introducing his animal friends, and trying to find out if he liked to eat berries.

They avoided war-stricken areas and managed to reach fae territory. And that's when things took a turn for the worse.

Henrik and the Silver Owls found them. Apparently, the egg was missing and a search party was assembled to follow its magical traces. Baby Silver didn't know that, and went to greet his uncle, saying that he was helping out a friend find his family!!

Henrik looked at his nephew, then at the dragon, and went for the kill, literally. The kid couldn't even defend himself, as his uncle cut him down with a simple strike (dawn knight was at home).

And that's when baby Malleus's magic blew up.

A snowstorm of cataclysmic proportions struck, complete with fire tornados and lightning. At the center of it all stood two children, the tiny Silver that was bleeding out, and Malleus, who had taken a human form and was trying to close the wound (he changed forms because he was scared and emulated the only thing he could think of as strong and protection, and that thing was five year-old Silver). Meanwhile, all of the animals formed a protective circle around them.

Luckily, reinforcements soon arrived. Both Lillia and Maleficia came (that storm could only be a Draconia's doing, they would NOT lose the egg again). They made quick work of the rest of the Silver Owls before rushing to Malleus's aid.

The animals let the faes though, as if they knew the dragon had finally found his kin. But Malleus wouldn't let go of Silver, even when the kid started telling him "Look, we found your family!! You're safe!", smiling despite the pain and looming death.

With the use of "Far Cry Cradle", Lillia quickly explained the situation, and the faes made the decision to save the human. They had a much too big debt with this child, who was so innocent it hurt.

They were also keeping the human. If that despicable man was his UNCLE, then no way in hell were the rulers of Briar Valley going to give the child back to his family. It would be a disgrace to the Draconia family.

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

Now, there a a few ways this AU could go.

1. The faes weren't able to save Silver. They create a monument in his honor and he becomes the only human they respect. Relations with the Silver Owls may improve now that Henrik is dead, if they can convince Dawn Knight his son died to save Malleus.

2. The faes save Silver, who lives in Briar Valley until the end of his mortal lifespan, acting as Malleus's big brother and knight. The Silver Owls are angry, but eventually come to an agreement once they realize there was no mind control involved.

3. The faes manage to save Silver, but the wounds were so grave that he had to stay in magic stasis for a few hundred years. Receiving the BOTW Shrine of Ressurection treatment. Due to the nature of the magic, he lost his memories, got silver hair and became sleepy. He later wakes up and becomes the Silver we all know and love. Malleus still sees him as the older brother, but thinks that now it's his turn to protect the human!

[phoenixcatch7]

If there's one thing I like more than time travel it's crossover reincarnation, so.

Botk link reincarnated as Damian Wayne.

An incredible weapon master of all types, but especially prodigious with a sword - he was beating knights at the age of 4 and with his memories as intact as they get for him I can see that goalpost moving even further (probably with traps and tricks, a 3yo doesn't exactly have great bodily control).

He's an excellent survivalist, agile, strong, durable, cunning and creative. He can move like a feather in the breeze, strike from behind with ease. His first kill, an animal, did not stir him as it did the other children. With his poise, grace, skills, obedience, he ought to be ra'as' finest assassin in the making, a jewel in the crown of the league.

Except he never speaks a word. Half his targets escape unscathed. He skates by true punishment on the merit of his skills and achievements in other missions. Testing has shown it is not a physical deformity that prevents his speech, but not even talia has been able to coaxe a word from him past his second birthday.

It is a defect ra'as is growing more and more frustrated by, as each attempt to fix these two final flaws ends in resounding failure. Less extreme solutions are running dry.

Talia fears those solutions. Her child does too, she knows. For them, there is a possible solution, more extreme than anything ra'as would tolerate.

She sends him out of the league. To his father.

To Gotham.

[montanabohemian]

i honestly don't know how many times i have to repeat myself that the u.s. is not a two-party system but is already a multiparty system. you're just being deliberately obtuse ignoring other legitimate parties that are not republican or democrat. you're just mad that the republican and democrat parties have spent literal decades building foundations to have a platform and raise a ton of money to run candidates across the country. if you want other parties to do that, then you have to actually put in the fucking work.

if any of you actually took two seconds to study comparative politics (or just looked at a multiparty system in action), you'd recognize that every single one operates the same fucking way: through coalitions. there are usually two major opposing parties and if one can't win a majority, they work with other parties to create a fucking coalition party. you fucking dumbasses are so thick that you can't be bothered to see that that is exactly how it works in congress in the united states (and in all state legislatures). most independent politicians are gonna lean towards the left and libertarians are gonna lean to the right (until the republicans piss them off).

it isn't fucking rocket science. politics is pretty similar across the world. but every single country is just a little different. and it has to be. because every nation is unique. their way of government cannot be cookie cutter same.

the real problem facing the united states elections is two-fold: money in elections and voter suppression.

stop getting your fucking information from idiotic memes about european countries that are wildly racist and xenophobic.

[iocaisaint]

I don't know how to explain but one thing I'll always love about Nesta is her accomplishments and how she's seen in the eyes of canon vs how they genuinely don't register to her (like not in a humble way she genuinely just never thinks about)

like she's able to circumvent a high lords glamour through pure strength of will

she then treks on a 4 day round trip through wolf country in the dead of winter to go get her sister back, simply because it wasn't right she was taken when the family has only benefitted from that

this leads into ACOMAF where Feyre thinks about asking Rhysand if he can force Nesta's hand if she doesn't agree to host (daemati powers) and then questions if he could even do it to Nesta

We've got literal gods talking about some Nesta "you're the one the wind whispered about" in ACOWAR

her having the King off Hybern scared as a human simply because she pointed a finger at him

Then there's the king slaying obviously

Then at some point between ACOFAS & ACOSF she manages to deal with her terror of bathtubs through pure exposure therapy and no outside help

Then there's the weapons she made

Not being able to be contained by Rhys at the height of her power (+ him admitting that she scares)

Kelpie slaying, dread trove, pure death etc.

Then there's the mother imbuing her power into Nesta's friendship bracelets? This one was genuinely crazy

Her managing those 10,000 steps that were difficult for even the bat boys on nothing but strong thighs and spite!

This is one I hate but the IC just throwing her at any single man (Helion & Eris) in Pyrthian to get what they want and it working

Holding the pass for Gwyn & Em, murdering Briallyn, stopping time, making a deal with a soup pot, having a one on one with the mother and saving Nyx, Feyre and Rhys in one morning

Then HOFAS she's calling up the dread trove through universes and slaying the wyrm, getting Gwydion and going down as saviour of another universe

This entire moment>>>>>> "Rhys nodded without looking at the warrior, and focused all his fury on Nesta. To her credit, the female stood stiff-backed, chin high. Imperious and unbending. Ember couldn't help but admire her.

Rhysand’s violet-blue eyes guttered into pure darkness at the challenge in Nesta’s expression, her stance. A predator recognizing a worthy opponent—and unsheathing its talons. His hands curled at his sides, as if invisible claws were forming."

Then we get into Nesta's pov and her only desires are to go home to her man, hang out with Emerie & Gwyn, get her hands on a pegasus, read smutty books and eat chocolate cake 😭

I may not like how her story went but I'll always appreciate that this part of her stayed the same

[quixtrix]

dolph was always meant to be doomed; something of an analysis

i'm on my third rewatch of captain laserhawk, and on this one i've been focusing more on the little details that you don't get on your first or even second time watching it. i've noticed little things, such as pey'j helping and then going on to shield a hybrid who's dressed similarly to jade in the third episode. but i've also noticed bigger things, such as alex and dolph.

keep in mind that this show is just filled to the brim with political messaging, it was purposefully designed that way. so when someone mentioned on here that alex was an accelerationist, it explained a lot. we don't know much about alex in terms of his backstory, we only know he helped dolph after dolph attempted to mug him and they ended up falling in love. it's also implied that alex and dolph have been repeatedly reported on the news as terrorists more than we've seen, with rayman referring to them as being the usual suspects when the kaiju attack happened, despite dolph literally not even being there when alex did that shit. they're known to do this shit, and we know alex is a charismatic guy. it's not too far fetched to say once or while dolph was falling in love with this gayass white saviour saint that alex talked him into this shit for alex's own purposes. because yes, he has a cause, but he's also a bit in over his head, maybe with power. he's aware of the power he has over dolph, how he actively uses the 'i love you' card multiple times when they're together and when they're not together. he just had a bit too much confidence in his hold over dolph, but to be fair, alex, you were topping some indulgent mob boss for your cause (because let's be honest of course your sources would be tight if they were being fucked for it) then continued fucking said mob boss and got caught with your dick out by your ex who you think you can get back with. alex uses people as tools, he just doesn't put his shit in the right places at the right times.

i'm getting off track, but the point i'm getting to is that alex most definitely saw dolph, a man who clearly has some jacked up eden tech smacked onto his twink ass, at his lowest, and picked him up like a shiny new toy. he was always going to use dolph. but how come dolph is so easy to use? he's starved for kindness. he's the stray dog that comes up to you at restaurants to act all nonchalant because 95% of the time he gets neglected, but the second he gets offered scraps, he shows how hungry he is. we don't know much about his childhood, and what we do know is under the lenses of literal eden propaganda. we do however know how people get like underneath the hand of eden.

everyone say thanks to rayman, who concidentally, is dolph's foil. both of them worked under eden as their lap dogs, one as a propagandist and the other as military, but dolph had gotten out of the hold the propaganda had on him while rayman's barely shaking it off. both of them are also portrayed as poor little tragic immigrants and the impoverished stand ins both in universe and story wise. they're the feel good picking yourself up american dream stories that people can feel inspired by or feel proud about the country with. dolph had a photo with a kid holding a doll of him. before he became ex military, he was definitely the guy they paraded around as a previous lost cause that eden helped. red, who's as political as his assigned colour, bitches about identity politics in that one off line for a reason. he also jus hates brown people fr he kicked me down a flight of stairs

now we can assume that dolph had picked himself up out of the propaganda machine somehow. he realised he was used and he didn't want that shit. he's attempting to get himself his own life, for fucks sake. he jus happened to get lead on by the wrong guy, which then lead him to get used by eden AGAIN. this time not only in a physical way via soldier work, but emotionally too, with sarah easily manipulating him with what? a sob story and helping him out, maybe being friendly with him along the way.

he wants a normal life. he wants a goddamn normal life. he jus continues to be selected as a tool.

you can see how fucking starved he is for kindness. you ever think about the fact that in his dream life, he sees jade and pey'j? he knew these people for less than a week, yet they get a place in his dream life. most notably, jade gets a speaking role in his dream life. the only other person who speaks, besides marcus, is alex, someone who had known him and shown kindness to him. jade has also shown kindness to dolph. she's the friendliest face there in the ghosts, being the first one to check on dolph when he wakes up, offers an explanation to him, and also makes an effort to include him in her little shenanigans with the video and all!! dolph was all emo alpha wolf and all, but despite his constant cold shoulder, she was kind!!

there was someone who was more than kind though; bullfrog. because bullfrog actively looked out for dolph, despite his constant pushback against bullfrogs advice whenever they weren't separated. and in the end, it's bullfrogs kindness and compassion that hits dolph the deepest. dolph gets out of his depressive state to go back for bullfrog. he cares about people, he goes out of his way to do shit for the people who show him the slightest bit of kindness. he backed up sarah after one good conversation with her to marcus for fucks sake. dolph is just a guy who keeps getting used though. he's so loyal to anyone who looks his way that it's a fatal flaw that ends up with his head blown up. he's a shakespearean tragedy at the moment. i hope in the potential season 2 that he gets to have more moments where he gets to be his own person. not defined by an organisation or a person or a cause, but what he chooses to define himself by. he's on his way there. he jus deserves to be allowed to live for himself. after all, he has already met his end of that story. he can make a new one.

anyways if u reached the end of this im down to discuss this :D i also did get a few points from other people on here, but let me know what u think nd all

[mettywiththenotes]

I know the general conclusion people are coming to is "wow so nothing has changed the civilians haven't changed their minds nothing has changed in society" but. how many chapters has it been since the end of the war. actually a better question would be how many days/weeks has it been since the end of the war. because idk man things aren't going to change as quickly as that

You have to factor in how no one outside of Izuku, Shouto and Ochako knew about them wanting to save the villains. When the footage of the final war is inevitably shared around, the first thought probably isn't "wow they saved those bad guys" but likely just the fact that they stopped them from doing more damage meaning they can put them in jail or whatever

Even when you put that aside, society is unlikely to change in a short space of time anyway because there was the general idea that the heroes winning meant bringing things back to how they were. And bringing things back to how they were means a society that favors the good quirks and good victims over the people who are ignored and those who slip through the cracks. If they get that back, then of course things aren't going to change immediately

And in the end, they did get it back. The villains have been stopped. The heroes prevailed. Society is rebuilding as fast as possible like nothing happened. But we've been shown that the idea "things are going back to normal" is usually accompanied by the implication it may seem like that but really things will change in an inevitable way

The saviour squad as a whole (Izuku, Shouto, Ochako, Hawks) all have the potential to speak up about their experiences, prove the world/country wrong about their surface-level view of villains. Shouto and Ochako could relay their thoughts, what their intentions were, what their conclusions are now. Izuku could choose to tell everyone what he saw in Tomura, the crying child. More than that, he could do some introspection, think over his time with Tomura (USJ, mall scene, war arc and so on) and talk about his thoughts too. Hawks being one of the first of the heroes who tried and failed to save his villain is an interesting parallel to Izuku, and also shows that he could have a personal account on this too

With all this in consideration, I believe that it's not going to be a random relaying of these experiences in bits and pieces over the remaining chapters, but rather a single united action together - like their own televised interview or something. It's not like Hawks wouldn't have the power to organize it, the HC literally has the authority to put what they want in the media. Though whether that happens or not remains to be seen

But the point I'm trying to make is that this is going to take time. The whole of society isn't just going to wake up and realize the error of their ways after all of that. There has to be a beginning, a starting line, to the conclusion that maybe villains deserve something better

I say that this is going to take time, while knowing that we have only 3 chapters of the story left... and while it frustrates a lot of people, it's looking to me like this is going to be an open ending. I imagine the very last chapter will show the starting line of change. Personally I'm okay with that, I think it would be compelling. Depending on how it is set out, I don't think it would be a bad ending

Idk how exactly to end this post but... it just seems like people think that all hope is lost because the civilians didn't all collectively wake up the day after the war and change their minds, and I don't think it works that way. It will take time. I believe Hori may give the story an open ending so we are shown the starting line and in the end it will be up to us how things change specifically

[moongothic]

There is something so funny to me about, how like...

Like when Oda fully revealed Crocodile to us for the first time at the begining of the Alabasta Arc, although we already knew he was just a dastardly evil bastard trying to usurp the country... When we first actually saw him, what did we see him as?

The Hero of Alabasta. Protecting the people of Nanohana from pirates pillaging the town.

Compare that to when Crocodile makes his way to Emptee Bluffs. When an unknown force started taking down the Marine battleships that had come to fetch Buggy, what did Buggy have to say about it?

Sidenote: Now you wouldn't be able to tell based on the English translation, but when watching the anime I was delighted to hear Buggy use the term "seigi no mikata" (正義の味方), literally "ally of justice", in this scene. Like "hero" is a perfect translation to use here, it rolls of the tongue better etc, but, I dunno. There's something extra about Buggy not just saying "hero" but "a hero of justice" when refering to someone going against the fucking Marines lmao

Of course, it is a funny gag to have Buggy go from "oh, my saviour <3" to "oh shit oh god oh fuck it's Crocodile oh no god have mercy on my wretched soul" in just mere seconds.

But there is a part of me that looks at this a little like

Like realistically, this is probably nothing. But my brain is fried and I can't help but to wonder if this repetition of Crocodile being introduced as a "hero (with a twist)" has something more to it. The OG introduction was "this 'hero' is actually an evil bastard in disguise (no surprise)", so could the re-introduction be the reverse of that? "This evil bastard is actually going to be our hero (a twist)"?

[famwhy]

Saviour Complex

Yandere! Tangerine X Reader

Act 1 | Act 2 | Act 3

Synopsis: One night, you're pushed straight into an incoming train, causing everything to go black. When your eyes open up once more, you find yourself in a completely different country and face-to-face with your favourite character whose demise was right around the corner. Too attached to the man, you find yourself hatching a plan to save him - unaware of the consequences.

Word Count: 7,556

Act 1 - Regrets, Regrets, Sinking in Regrets

The rough, bumpy texture of a fruit grazed the nerves of your skin briefly before it disappeared immediately - spinning through the air and landing back in your palm with yet another small burst of gravity.

"Stop throwing and catching that dumb orange of yours, you don't look cool."

The biting words of the person next to you could be perceived as venomous by any passerby who decided to eavesdrop in that split second; to anyone who didn't know her personally. You knew her though - you spent your whole life with her, how could you not know her? 

Your beloved sister.

"Tangerine, you mean." Your lips split open into a smirk as you corrected her.

Your words caused her brows to furrow in deep irritation on the surface, but, underneath it all, you could tell she wasn't actually mad with you.

"Same thing." She scoffed.

"It really isn't."

She gave you a look, one you were familiar with; a look which told you that she found what you just said utterly ridiculous.

"They literally look the exact same."

"But they aren't."

"Oh shut up." She huffed, one arm crossing over the other in a display of irritation. "You were never so picky about their difference until we watched that stupid movie."

You were torn between lighting up at the mention of your newly-crowned favourite movie, or showcasing your offense towards her critique of said movie.

In the end, you chose to do both.

"Okay, one, that movie isn't stupid-" she rolled her eyes as you spoke, "-and two, I can't go butchering the alias of my favourite character, now can I?"

"I don't get what you see in that guy." 

Being sure to exaggerate it as much as possible, you let out a loud gasp.

"How could you say such a thing?!" You proclaimed. "He is so cool and I love his accent."

"You literally have the same accent." She deadpanned.

"Yeah but I don't sound as good as he does." 

"You don't sound good in general."

You exhibited yet another over-exaggerated gasp.

"My own sister," the palm of your dominant hand pressed against your chest, fingers curling around the soft fabric beneath them, "treating me in such a way..."

"Oh, get over yourself." Another scoff left her lips, "I don't see how you're still such a carefree person despite what we used to do for a living."

For a moment, the grin on your face faltered and a flicker obscured your vision of reality. But that was all it was, a flicker - and it was only just for a moment. It was gone the next, you swore it was! No crimson substance stained against your mind or hands; no cold steel felt against the heat of your palm as your index finger wrapped tightly around that little lever; no screams that echoed through the confines of your head over and over and over-

-no, none of that. Not anymore, at least.

You were over that.

It was done and dusted.

It was thrown under the rug, ready to compile dust and slowly wither away through the teeth of the critters that lived alongside it.

It was never to be seen again.

At least, not by your hands.

"-ey! Hey!" 

Your eyelids met several times in rapid succession as you blinked away the sudden blur that kept you from seeing the concave of your sister's lips.

Ah, see? She did care for you.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was light, barely there, with a sense of gentleness she wouldn't be caught dead exhibiting towards anyone that wasn't you. "I didn't mean to, I was just... I didn't mean it."

"Nah," a small huff left your lips as they curved up into that familiar, carefree grin, "it's fine, I don't care anymore."

The way her expression didn't shift in the slightest was enough to tell you that she didn't believe you. However, even if she had her doubts towards your words, she chose not to speak more on the matter.

After a few beats of silence, a large red vehicle slowly approached from the horizon - emerging as though it was Harley Quinn pulling herself out of the toxic substance the Joker decided to drown her in.

There it was, your bus.

"Listen," your sister's voice was quieter than normal, tender and soft around the edges - still speaking as though what she brought up had bothered you, "I just want you to know that... I find it hard too. You're not alone in this. I was there with you too."

You paused for a moment, standing right outside the open doors that led inside the vehicle. 

Then, you took one step on, your hand reaching for the pole inside. Not too long after, you tilted your head towards your sister - towards Lena - and smiled, "I know."

With that, you thrusted the rest of your body onto the vehicle and sent her a wave as it started up - the screeching sound of its wheels being drowned out by the sound of the engine starting back up.

And then, you were off.

.

.

.

The glow of the night sky shined through the see-through walls of the office, lighting up several seats as it bounced off the monitors resting on each desk.

It was quiet, the only sound being the clicks of your heels against the solid ground, approaching the switches on the wall to turn off the one light that remained on. The one hovering over your desk.

With a flick of your finger, the only yellow glow in the room faded away to allow for the moon's blue rays to completely take over.

You didn't mind night shifts, they were comforting - some might even argue - relaxing. 

They had this feel to them.

One where you could remain unbothered, trapped within the confines of your mind forever to wonder what exactly life had in store for you next.

There was once a time where you hated being left to your thoughts; nay, you loathed it. 

Being left with your thoughts meant being left with your memories; being left with your memories meant being left with the haunting actions of your past; being left with said past actions meant being left with that same voice that berated your existence.

It was frightening.

It was terrifying.

So you ran from it.

You ran until it affected you no longer, you ran until your legs started to ache from the pain; until your lungs shrivelled up from the lack of air that it was so gluttonous for. 

You ran until you had left it all behind.

But even then, it still came back to haunt you.

Even then, you couldn't help but catch little glimpses of hair that would disappear past the sharpest corners - hair that seemed to belong to one of them.

But that was impossible.

After all, you-

Your head shook from side-to-side, eyes finally returning to reality and finding yourself right by the lights of your office, finger still hovering over the switch.

You sighed.

It was time to go home.

Your hand instinctively rose up, gripping the disk that surrounded the hat on your head and pulling it down slightly to ensure it stayed there. 

Then, your fingers curled tighter around the handle of the gray briefcase and you set off, footsteps swift as they echoed down the empty corridor.

With a 'ding!', the doors to the rectangular space parted to allow you to fill the vacant spot inside.

You stepped in, curling your other hand around the handle of the briefcase as you held it in front of you and leaned against the cold, metal railing. 

The glass at the back of the elevator provided for a good scenery that overlooked the night sky twinkling over the busy streets of the city; still ever-so-alive despite the time.

One particular puff of air that left your mouth fogged up the glass in front of you, the sight filling you with a familiar childish sense of delight and, before you even knew it, one of your fingers rose up to draw two lines and an upturned curve underneath before it returned to the briefcase once more.

A small smile drew out your lips as your eyes fell half-lidded.

The moment was then interrupted by the 'ding!' of the elevator once more.

You turned around, stepping outside before tipping your sunhat at the male stood with a phased-out look in his eyes, adorning a black hat of his own with the word 'Security' printed onto it.

Luckily, he wasn't phased-out enough to not notice your greeting, to which he returned with a small, nervous smile of his own.

One of the cuter security guards of your building.

A particular strong breeze had your hand clutching tighter onto your hat and your eyes squinting, trying to avoid any dust from getting inside.

The street lamps illuminated the road as many individuals rushed by, ranging from stressed business men to childish couples wishing to play a game of tag with one another.

You didn't stay too long to observe though; no, you couldn't. Didn't have the time. Your sister was probably awaiting your arrival with anxious, clattering teeth - wondering what was taking you so long while not daring to admit that she was worried for you.

Your eyes travelled over to the stairs in the middle of the street, leading downwards into the network of tunnels connected underground to allow for easy access to many different places in the country. 

Soon, your heels were clicking against those stairs, traversing down them to get to the tracks you would need to wait by to be able to set course home.

You stood at a queue, waiting to scan your card. It wasn't a long wait. It never was. At least, not at this time of night. Many people preferred snuggling under a blanket at home and watching a movie with a few snacks rather than having to work a late night shift where who-knows-what could go wrong.

Once you scanned in, you swiftly made your way to your platform, not needing to take the smallest glance at the signs to be able to know where to go. By now, it was all muscle memory anyway.

As you approached the rails, your heels made contact with a prominent bump on the ground - causing you to stumble the slightest amount before you were able to regain your footing just like that.

Now, it was just the waiting game.

You were a professional at waiting. Patience was practically your middle name; it had to be if you wanted to get your previous job done quickly-

-or... the job you had currently. Right, this normal, little office job. You had to be patient when waiting for the printer to be done with your papers, or awaiting an email from a co-worker of yours. Patience was key.

Patience was also risky.

In the time that you were patient, so many things could happen. You could wind up with your hands tied up in a basement because you decided to be patient and wait for your friend; or you could wind up with a gun to your-

"Enjoy hell, you murderer!"

Now, your reflexes were normally stupendous. Out of this world, really. When someone wished to deliver a rapid left jab to your face, you would twirl your body to the side to avoid it. Or when they went in for an uppercut aimed to take out your jaw, you would take one step back too quickly for them to react.

You wished you could claim your reflexes were good in this instance too- but it had all happened so fast.

The flashing lights of the incoming train; the harsh shove against your back that sent you tumbling over the platform; and the searing, white, hot pain that exploded against your side like a highly reactive chemical would with water.

So quick. So sudden.

So painful...

For a split second, everything went black.

Then, your eyes opened back up again.

The first thing you noticed was that you were stood upright, exactly as you were before being pushed - waiting in almost the exact same position. The railways right in front of your vision would have been enough to trick you into thinking that was all a daydream; some cruel concoction your mind conjured up to punish you for your sins.

You would've believed that whole heartedly had it not been for the fact that you were no longer underground.

The light of the moon was barely prevalent with the harsh illumination that was emitted from the lamps of the train station. There were a lot more people at this platform than the one you were previously at, the chatter was also louder than before; lively and sporadic, as though nothing just happened. As though you didn't just die.

You blinked slowly, brain struggling to process what, exactly, had just happened.

You died... didn't you?

No way you went through that pain and didn't die.

Someone pushed you into the tracks as a train was incoming.

How could you have possibly survived that?

Your head glanced from side-to-side as you noticed the people around you - specifically, their features. It differed from the Western features you were used to seeing in your day-to-day life. Instead, they looked to be East Asian, Japanese if your geography skills were doing you justice.

Another thing you noticed were the signs.

They weren't in English, instead filled with the symbols your mind automatically associated with the Japanese language.

You were in Japan somehow.

Was this some sort of final dream?

No way you imagined all that pain- that abrupt slam against your side that caused you to wince just thinking about it. 

Before you could further indulge yourself in the expanding, vast sea of your thoughts - a sudden pick-up in the breeze sent your hat flying straight off your head and towards your left.

A small gasp left your lips as your hand reached out, fingers stretching and just barely grazing the ridge before it picked-up speed once more and narrowly escaped your grasp.

It was then that you decided to rush after it, careful to steady yourself lest you stumble over your heels.

Luckily, you didn't have to move much for, soon, the ridge of the hat was caught by a set of fingers that grasped onto it before holding it out towards you.

Your own hand reached out, grasping the other end of your sunhat as you lightly pulled it down - ready to meet the eyes of the one who saved your beloved hat and thank them.

"'ere you go, love."

Your mouth fell open, agape in pure astonishment and disbelief.

The way this person didn't pronounce his 'h'; the way he gave you that specific nickname; those familiar incredibly handsome facial features that belonged to ATJ himself.

This person was-

"Tangerine..." You whispered lightly under your breath, voice practically inaudible as it was drowned out by your pure amazement.

"Sorry?" Your favourite character rose one of his eyebrows, cockney accent as prevalent as ever.

Was this guy really Tangerine? There was no way, right?

"Oh, uhm, I said thank you." 

He nodded briskly, about to turn and board the train when a voice called out to him.

"Oi! You coming?"

Another cockney accent paired with the broader figure and unique, silver-dyed hair that belonged to the brother of your favourite character.

That was Lemon, there was no doubt about it.

And if that was Lemon, this was definitely Tangerine.

You watched as Tangerine's facial features shifted, brows furrowing and lips tugging down as he turned towards his brother's direction. "Yeah, I'm coming! Hold your fuckin' horses, mate!"

He then immediately turned back towards you, eyes slightly wider than before. "Beg your pardon, love. Sorry, I forgot there was a lady present for a moment."

His chivalry was cute, and his looks just made him all the more attractive in your eyes.

Before you could even realise it, your lips curved upwards into a huge smile and a small, amused giggle left them as your eyes shone with mirth.

Once again, you seemed to have caught him off guard, causing his eyes to widen a little more as he paused for a moment. But that was all it was, just a moment. The next, he was shaking his head and heading off towards his brother without another word.

Holy shit, you just met the Tangerine!

The same Tangerine that you gushed to your sister about, complimenting his strength and looks and amazing accent.

But if you just met Tangerine... and you just saw Lemon with him... did that mean..?

"Holy shit! I'm in Bullet Train!"

One of your hands rose up to your mouth, pure excitement coursing through your veins as you refrained from letting out a high-pitched squeal.

Although, it wasn't long before that excitement of yours shifted into pure, unadulterated horror. 

"Holy shit. I'm in Bullet Train."

Somehow, some way, you had died and got transported into the world of a movie. 

And of all the movies you could have been transported to, it just had to be Bullet Train - the movie that ends in this very train flying off the rails and crashing straight into the ground underneath. 

How the fuck were you supposed to survive a train crash from a vehicle going two hundred miles per hour?! You weren't Ladybug, you didn't have insane levels of luck!

Okay, okay, everything should be fine so long as you didn't board the train, right?

Dear lord, was this all really happening right now? Were you seriously in your favourite movie?

The setting and two of the characters matched exactly so you must be in the movie.

But then, what the hell happened to you? Who pushed you into that train? If you died, what would happen to Lena? 

If you seemed to recall correctly, that person referred to you as a 'murderer'. They must've known, right? And if they knew... then that meant they would go after Lena too. 

She would be fine though. You were caught off guard, a moment of weakness - Lena never had one of those. She was always on guard; had been since you both first agreed to stop. She could handle herself.

Yeah, she'd be fine.

Right now, you had more pressing matters to attend to.

Perhaps if you never boarded the train, you could go about your life as normal? Maybe start a new life here, completely fresh? You knew enough Japanese to get by.

Maybe you could start a nice, little bakery and get cute regulars that always asked for the same order. You could hire sweet people to work as waiters or waitresses and create treats for those around you to enjoy. Maybe you could even find the man of your dreams and start a family?

Oh, who were you kidding?

How on Earth could you find another man when you were literally in the same world as Tangerine? 

No other man could scale up to the handsome assassin with anger issues.

That's right, he was an assassin. Both him and his brother.

If you recalled correctly, their current mission was to keep the White Death's son safe and retrieve his briefcase of money.

The White Death was a very dangerous individual. The head of a very dangerous criminal organisation. 

He was powerful. Too powerful.

Did you really want to get yourself wrapped up in that?

A light bump against your side snapped you right out of your thoughts, causing you to look straight at the cause of the interruption. 

"Sorry, that was my bad."

Your eyes widened by a fraction, gaze landing on the face of Brad Pitt himself. 

The main character had just bumped into you. Ladybug, himself, had just bumped into you.

Ladybug was yet another assassin who had almost no affiliation with Lemon and Tangerine except for one time where he was shot twice by Lemon on one of his missions. Ladybug used to be brash and temperamental but you believed that, during the events of this movie, he was trying to turn over a new leaf and get his job done as peacefully as possible.

Unfortunately for him, he was both extremely unlucky and extremely lucky. 

And he would also later find out that this mission of his wouldn't turn out as peacefully as he hoped.

"Miss, you good?"

You blinked twice, suddenly capable of seeing the furrowed brows of the laid-back male in front of you. He was probably concerned considering the fact that you phased out right as he bumped into you and apologised.

"Uh, yeah." You smiled, nodding your head very slightly. "Thank you for your concern."

He reciprocated your smile with one of his own, eyes twinkling a little in what you deduced was delight. "It was no problem. Y'know I admire your capability of putting that little interaction behind you and moving on. You go, lady."

Lena always found his little bursts of, what you liked to call, 'spiritual awareness' extremely irritating - although, you begged to differ. You found it cute how hard he tried to turn over a new leaf and gain a new attitude towards life. It was nice to see him try.

"Thank you." You bowed your head again, lips still stretched into that smile.

He then excused himself, putting the phone in his hand back up to his ear and walking over to the lockers behind you.

Well, now was probably your queue to leave.

So long as you never entered the Bullet Train, you should be completely fine, right?

With that thought in mind, you turned around, taking one step towards the exit of the station...

...and then a face flashed through your mind.

The handsome features belonging to your favourite character, drowning and choking in his own crimson substance, desperately trying to warn the main character; to let him know of the danger he was with; the danger he was right next to. 

That's right... Tangerine died in the movie, didn't he?

Could you really sit back and relax, in the same universe as your favourite character, and not do anything to save him? 

You paused mid-step as your chest heaved outwards, a large sigh escaping your mouth before, ultimately, you twirled around; gaze set straight onto the bullet train in front of you.

Curse your favouritism for ATJ.

Alright, well, if you were doing this, you might as well do it with some sort of preparation. Entering a train with several highly-trained assassins and surviving it was no easy feat, after all.

If you recalled correctly, which you almost a hundred percent did due to how many times you had watched the movie, Ladybug retrieved all the aids for his mission from that locker he just went to. In that locker should be a gun which he never bothered picking up.

If you could get your hands on that, you would be able to hold your own pretty well.

It should be fine, you were over your past anyway. It was no longer a bother so you would definitely be able to pick it up again.

Besides, you weren't gonna use it lethally. You swore off of that ages ago.

Now, your only problem was how to keep Ladybug from closing the locker after he was done taking out what he needed from it.

How did one stop another from closing a locker?

It's practically done from muscle memory; an action not given much thought but done as habitually as breathing was - something which was not easy to keep someone from doing without physically harming them.

And you would prefer not to harm Ladybug for the contents inside his locker.

Maybe if you...

No, that wouldn't work.

What if you-?

Nah, that definitely wouldn't do it.

Perhaps you could-

Before you could even think about the third thing, a familiar grey hat passed you - the same hat Ladybug wore throughout the start of the movie.

Did he just pass you?

In panic, your head frantically did a full one-eighty, eyes landing on the blue rectangular spaces lined up in a shelf behind you, one of which was very slightly open - Ladybug's to be specific.

Well, that was convenient.

With a confident strut, you made your way straight towards the locker - eyes trained on the prize. You stopped just a centimetre away from the shelf before your dominant hand rose up and pulled it open, gaze landing straight on the dark object to the side; completely untouched and fully-loaded.

Your lips turned upwards in a sense of accomplishment, despite the fact that you hadn't done much to acquire this object in the first place. Still, you reached for the pistol with that sense of pride - although, it slowly started to ebb away the closer your fingers got to the handle, nerves causing them to start to shake as they drew nearer and nearer; almost like you were about to touch something you suspected was poisonous. But it wasn't poisonous, it was just a gun. You could pick it up. 

Yeah, you could pick it up.

Your fingers lightly grazed the familiar cold metal, flinching back after only two seconds of contact, eyes squinting shut as though it was going to explode merely from your touch; as though it would kill you to hold it.

But it wouldn't.

It couldn't.

It couldn't harm you without anyone touching it.

You were fine.

With a small breath of air leaving your lips, you curled your fingers back around the weapon, picking it up and immediately hiding it behind your hat. You waited a few moments; as if to really ensure you would be okay; as if to instil in your mind that it wouldn't hurt you, wouldn't hurt anyone else using your hands.

Then you turned around - eyes widening way more than usual as you witnessed the train start to move and the doors start to close. Quickly, you rushed towards it stumbling a little on your heels before your foot almost got caught on a wedge in the ground. It was at that point, you decided 'fuck it' and lunged towards the door, just barely falling inside the capsule between carriages as you rushed to pull your knees up, narrowly avoiding the doors almost cutting them off.

You let out a sigh of relief before getting up and dusting yourself off, using both your hands to place your hat firmly back onto your head, pushing down on the ridge to do so. 

When your hands lowered once more, however, you caught sight of that wretched thing in them once again.

Your breath hitched in your throat; refusing to leave it as the drum of your heartbeat echoed through your ears, growing louder and louder and louder. You could feel it in your ears, as though it traversed your veins from your chest all the way up to the caverns you used to be able to hear, blocking out every other sound so that it was the only thing you could listen to because of how selfish it was for your attention. 

As if that wasn't enough, you could even feel it slamming against your chest over and over and over-

-and then it all just stopped.

Just like that, gone.

Your shrunk pupils enlarged once again, eyes landing on the now-empty gun in your hand - the cartridge loaded with bullets having fallen to the ground underneath you. 

Without even thinking, you threw the cartridge straight out the open window.

After heaving a few breaths, you realised what you had just done.

"Ah, shit."

What use was an unloaded gun to you now?

"Woah, what are you doing, lady?"

A sudden voice broke you away from your thoughts and caused your eyes to trail up, meeting a certain pair of mesmerising blue ones that belonged to the main character of the movie. You then slowly trailed your eyes back towards the empty gun in your hand before meeting the blonde's eyes once more and slowly, ever so slowly, raising both of your hands up.

"This isn't what it looks like."

He rose an eyebrow, eyeing the gun in your hand and then looking at your face once more.

"Awh, man, lady - I really thought you were better than this. A gun? Seriously?"

"No, no!" You quickly denied, shaking your head from side-to-side. "Seriously, I- I wasn't going to use it maliciously, I swear!"

"Look, we can talk this through, yeah?" He rose one of his arms to the back of his head, scratching it rather awkwardly.

"Yeah, yeah! Of course!" You agreed. "I'd love that!"

"Okay, so how about we put the gun down first, yeah?"

You took off your hat, placing the gun inside before fitting it right back around your scalp and saying, "there. Out of sight, out of mind."

He gave you that same skeptical look you had seen in the movie and, now, had seen twice in real life. Then he decided to leave it be.

"Do you mind if we have this chat after this call I have to take? Sorry, I don't wanna be rude or anything but I did kinda leave someone on hold."

Ah yes, he was speaking to his Handler, wasn't he? The woman who gave him the job as opposed to his sick co-worker Carver, who was actually played by your favourite actor, Ryan Reynolds. 

"Oh, yeah, go right ahead. I don't wish to interrupt." You added a little, nervous giggle to the end of that sentence; if only to further push the harmless citizen act you put on.

Act? Sorry, no - it wasn't an act. It was the truth. You were a harmless citizen. All you wanted to do was save your favourite character's life; nothing more, nothing less. 

"Could you, uhh, follow after me? Just, keep a little behind though. Y'know 'cause... it would be kinda rude if you listened in on my conversation." He looked to the side awkwardly.

"Yeah, yeah, I could do that."

It wasn't like you didn't already know his exact conversation like the back of your hand anyway. But he didn't know that and neither did he need to know that. 

You then watched as he entered the next carriage, being stopped by the staff member who asked for tickets as he proceeded to give the receipt for his ticket but not the actual ticket itself - just one of the many instances where his bad luck kicked in.

Soon enough, it was your turn to follow after, walking down the carriage a little nervously as you were stopped by the exact same guy. 

"Ticket please."

"Ah, right." You let out a little, nervous giggle similar to the one you did earlier. "Lemme just..."

You pretended to look for the tickets on your person, fully knowing that you didn't have any considering the fact that you were... well- not really part of this world until you opened your eyes straight after dying.

Your nervous smile grew even further as his gaze grew more stern. 

"One stop."

"I know." You sighed, giving up on the act.

You then moved past the man, not wanting to stay any longer under his scrutinising gaze. It wasn't your fault you didn't have a ticket! This world didn't even exist!

Or- well, it shouldn't exist. But somehow, it did.

The door to the capsule in between carriages slowly opened as you approached, allowing you to step through and see Ladybug scouring through the shelves, looking for the briefcase he was assigned to retrieve.

"Oh, uh," as soon as he noticed you, he stopped his search; hand pausing where it was as his head faced you. "So, lady, wanna explain to me what was going on back there?"

"Oh, well... I was just making sure it wouldn't get into anyone else's hands, y'know?" You looked off to the side, wondering how you were going to get away with sneaking a gun on a train right in front of the main character, loaded or not.

"Uh huh..." he sounded skeptical - rightfully so, you would be too if this happened to you. "Why don't you let me hold onto it for ya?"

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly ask that of you."

He gave you another skeptical look and you found yourself recalling The Prince's line in the movie, what was it again..? Ah, yes, 'the innocent girl act doesn't get you far when you have a gun in your hands' or something along those lines.

"Look, lemme just-"

Before he could finish his sentence, you started to spin on your heel and swiftly turned around, making you way back to the carriage you just passed - the carriage housing both Lemon and Tangerine if you recalled correctly.

"Wait! Lady!"

You chose to ignore his calls, continuing to walk until you reached the movement-sensitive doors that opened up for you once more.

Before you completely left, though, you gave one more glance over your shoulder, so sure that he would follow straight after you. You were proved wrong, however, after seeing him pause and reach one hand up to his earpiece, eyes immediately averting from your form over to the shelf once again.

The Handler must've-

Just then, your chain of thoughts was abruptly halted by a collision against your front side. The surface you collided with was rather hard, if you did say so yourself - so hard, in fact, that it caused you to lose balance on your heels - body beginning to stumble before a strong pair of arms caught your form.

"Fuckin' 'ell. Do you mind-?" An irritated voice paused mid-sentence. "Woah, you alright there, love?"

The familiar cockney accent had your heart beating right out of your chest and your head tilting up to peer through the ring of your sunhat and meet eyes with your favourite character himself.

Holy shit, Tangerine just caught you.

The Tangerine.

You could die (again) happy.

Dear lord. This was like all those scenes in those romance movies you would watch with Lena; the ones where the female lead would get caught in the male lead's arms and they would get lost in the endless pools of one another's eyes, drowning in the moment as time seemed to stop around them. 

Just the thought that you were having that moment with Tangerine, your favourite character ever, was enough to fluster you beyond belief as a small, bashful smile stretched over your lips.

"'ang on..." he rose a brow, staring into your eyes with such intensity, you almost fainted then and there. "You're the girl whose 'at I caught."

"Yep, that's me." You let out a small, nervous giggle. "Sorry about bumping into you, I wasn't quite looking ahead of me."

At your words, his eyes trailed behind your form, furrowed with that irritated expression that seemed to never leave his face. "What? Is some fuckin' creep following you or something? You look worried."

"Oh no, not at all!" You quickly drew his attention away from Ladybug, not wanting to interfere too much with the movie's plot. "I'm just really clumsy. It's really hard to walk around in heels, haha."

"That so?" He rose a brow at your words but chose to press no further.

Instead, he slowly helped you back up onto your feet and you were so sure he would've left the interaction at that but you didn't want it to end so quickly. Call you selfish but, was it really too much to ask for your favourite character to stick around a little more with you.

So, in hopes of keeping him around for just a little longer, you winced and he immediately took notice.

In all his gentlemanly glory, he clutched your arms tighter and helped lead you over to the set of seats that were completely empty, aiding you in sitting down by helping to gradually lower your body.

Meanwhile, Lemon and the White Death's son both stared at you incredulously.

"Just... sit 'ere, yeah? 'Think those things may have twisted your ankle or something."

He was referring to your heels.

"Thank you, mister..?"

"Tangerine." He introduced himself before jabbing his thumb out towards his brother. "'E's Lemon."

You nodded, parting your lips before hesitating for a second. Should you give your real name? Everyone in the movie went by aliases, not a single real name was disclosed - other than Kimura, of course. 

Then again, the reason they went with aliases in the first place was so that they couldn't have their personal information disclosed in the crime world. You literally had no personal information to your name.

Ah, fuck it.

"I'm Y/N. Nice to meet you Tangerine, Lemon." 

The Brit then turned towards the Russian seated at the other window.

"See? She knows not to question it."

After that, he gave you a brisk nod and resumed taking his seat on the opposite end of his brother and the mob boss' son once more.

"Right, your daddy hired us to get you out of the trouble what you got yourself into, didn't you, naugh'y boy?" Tangerine smirked as he taunted the boy.

His words damn near drew out a chuckle from your lips had you not restrained yourself enough. One slip of the tongue and you could be regarded as a threat by the 'twins' (a debatable title), and you did not want to be seen as a threat to the people who ended up sawing the limbs off a dozen of the White Death's men in Bolivia.

So, to fully ensure that no suspicion was instilled your way, you turned your head to the side, facing the window that sped by the land of Japan at high speeds, providing a vivid yet beautiful view of the country. 

But that didn't matter to you, all you cared about was the reflection of the three men in the glass - looking exactly like they did in the movie. This way, if their comments brought about a smile on your lips - they wouldn't be able to tell you were eavesdropping.

It was such a shame that you missed out on Lemon's tangent about Thomas the Tank Engine though.

"Why, uh, why Tangerine though?" The Son asked, bringing you straight out of your thoughts.

"Oh it's a sophisticated name." Lemon answered.

"Oh, fuckin' 'ell. It's not impor'ant, is it?" Your favourite cut in, looking as annoyed as ever. "What is impor'ant are the seven'een dead bodies we left getting you back from the triad that kidnapped you with plans to ransome you to your extremely psychotic, fucked-up father."

"Actually, it's sixteen." His brother corrected him. Although, he himself wasn't correct since he wasn't counting that one innocent person they killed.

"What's that now?"

"Sixteen kills, mate."

"Oh no, it was seventeen."

"Iiiit's sixteen." Lemon drawled out.

"Lemon, you're starting to get on my fucking tits." Tangerine scowled and you almost let out a giggle as you watched them bicker back and forth.

"It's sixteen."

"I'll smash my fuckin' 'ead through a brick wall."

"Well maybe that'd help your memory 'cause it was sixteen."

"The fuck is wrong with you, man?! It was seventeen goddammit," Tangerine slammed his hand against the table before continuing, "I wanna fuckin' strangle you-"

"Do you mind if we do this right now?" Lemon turned to the Russian male sat beside him.

"Don't worry about him-"

If you remembered correctly, now would be the time where they showed a montage of what happened with Lemon and Tangerine before they entered the train with the White Death's Son.

The montage was funny to watch but Lena begged to differ, scowling at each and every thing they did on screen; loathing the corpses they left behind and the way they carelessly killed other people as if she didn't-

-ah, what were the characters saying again?

"Our job is to keep you safe and to recover the briefcase with the ransome money inside." You heard the character with the face of ATJ say as he looked off to the side, eyes seeming to search for something and growing more frantic the longer he couldn't find it. "And I plan on completing my job and keeping-

"Lemon." He interrupted himself as he called to his brother, pupils stopping their wandering around to land on the other man.

"Hmm?"

"Where's the briefcase?"

"Oh I stashed it."

A pause.

And then, Tangerine placed both of his hands on the table, fingers intertwined with one another. "The case, Lemon. Go get me the fucking case."

The broader male got up to do just that, leaving the two other males on the table alone. You could practically feel the stress seeping from the male with a cockney accent.

"You're a liability, you know?" The Son spoke up again. "To my father."

"Hm?" The Brit left at the table perked his head up.

The Son leaned in, facial expression hard to decipher through the glass - but it wasn't like you needed to, after all, you watched the movie a dozen times before. "He doesn't need a reason to kill people like you, he needs a reason not to. Does he have one?"

The assassin paused for a minute, giving the other male a weird look before opening his mouth as if to respond. Before he could though, his phone went off and he reached for it - though, not without uttering one last sentence. "That's fucking confusin'."

He then picked up the phone and gave his greeting before the male on the other side asked him for The Son, if you recalled correctly.

"What? You mean this dickhead with the silly face tattoos? Yeah, he's sat right here."

Ah, so you were right. Of course you were.

"Yes, of course..." the male continued after a pause, leaning backwards and peering to the side to see Lemon's form stressing over the fact that, unbeknownst to him, Ladybug had stolen the briefcase. Once Tangerine saw, however, the confidence in his tone fell and his voice wavered as he continued, "...I've got the case..."

He kept the phone up to his ear for only a few seconds after as his eyes furrowed and a flicker of realisation crossed over them before the phone in his hand slowly lowered to his side.

After ending the call with one of the White Death's men, he strutted over to the capsule his brother entered - the way he walked almost made a squeal pass out of your mouth - the straight line across his lips, the furrow of his brows, the way he fixed his collar; it was all so smooth, you couldn't help but want to swoon. 

Once he left though, your rose-coloured lenses slowly paved way for you to finally see the bigger picture; to understand fully what sort of a predicament you got yourself into.

Your life could be in great peril (once again) because of one specific character that was on her way to this very carriage to kill the White Death's son himself...

...The Hornet.

I just love that Tangerine apologises for swearing in front of a lady before going ahead and doing it again haha

Next Act

[l-in-the-light]

Some thoughts on the relationship between Law and Corazon? Is Law obsessed with Cora? Are there romantic vibes (maybe Law would chose a partner that reminds him of Cora 🤔)? Sometimes I have the impression he values him more than his dead family🙄 I mean we never hear him saying he wants revenge for Flevance.

Tbh I see why you would think that, because I also used to think this way. Like everything Law does is for Cora-san, but never for Flevance, for his parents or his sister. This won't be the usual analysis post, but more like me trying to put everything Law did so far into a bigger picture, to reveal what his actual, longterm goals might be. But first, let's start with Law's love for Corazon.

Who is Cora-san to Law? Many people say a parent, a sibling, a religious figure (because of his devotion and obsession), but I think it's actually none of these. I think Corazon is for Law what Oden is for Yamato. Yamato idolizes Oden, wants to be like Oden, but Oden also gave him hope, a dream, a heart (you could say), because before Oden all Yamato had was Kaido and Kaido took away Yamato's freedom long before Oden even happened. He expected Yamato to be the next ruler of Wano for him, to continue in his footsteps, ever since Yamato was born. Yamato's own wishes didn't matter. But the moment Yamato saw Oden everything changed. It's exactly how Ace says it "you're imprisoned by cuffs, but why would you let him cage your heart as well?". Oden was that light for Yamato he finally saw in the darkness, passion, love for the country and people in it, freedom. And he wanted that too, probably for the very first time, for himself. That's why Yamato carries Oden in his heart wherever he goes. Because Oden just by existing and loving his country gives Yamato hope and strength to keep going. Just like Law carries Cora-san in his heart wherever he goes as well.

Cora-san is his saviour, without him, Law would not be alive anymore. But more importantly he saved Law's heart, he showed him love, compassion, he treated him like a person, not a monster. And he gave him all that when Law needed it the most, literally like a hand of salvation. In that case it indeed feels a bit religious. Does it mean Cora-san is more important for Law than his parents? Not neccessarily, let's not forget Law still has at least one tattoo in memory of Flevance, also he still keeps his hat with him at all times and that's his only memento of his family, most likely. But Cora-san is the one who gave Law a "new life", the same way Yamato received "new life" from Oden, even though they didn't even talk once. And that new life is definitely like a new (re)birth for both of them, that's why Cora-san and Oden will never get replaced in their hearts. Taking away Oden from Yamato will leave him with nothing, and while maybe it wouldn't be as drastic for Law, it would still remove the core of who he believes himself to be and cause a major inner crisis.

In another translation of this line, Law says "It's thanks to Cora I'm what I am now". Cora-san is indeed always on Law's mind, just like Oden is always on Yamato's mind. They both try to live like their idols, Law even called his crew the Heart Pirates in honour of Cora-san, but he also mimicks Cora in many ways: how he walks, how he sits, not to mention that silencing spell he used in battle. Yamato as well, even to the point of him changing his gender and wearing Oden-like clothes. Those hearts on Law's clothes also resemble a bit Cora-san's clothes that always had some heart-like motifs. Would you call it idolatry to the point of obsession? Personally, it reminds me of fans behaviour towards their boyband/girlband idols, especially in Japan. I know it, because I'm also part of that fandom. One of my idols has a special place in his hometown and he talked about it in one of his concerts. Next time he knows he hears from his friend reporting him that fans are now flooding that spot, because they all want to see it. They all want to experience that special connection and treasure it inside their hearts. That's devotion and obsession, sure, but you know, I also think it's really beautiful when the love you have for someone expands to places and things they love, cherishing them like they're special now to you as well. And it doesn't matter if that love is romantic, platonic, family-like, worshipping, because love is just love. If you feel it, you get it. It's that special feeling, the warmth, you carry with you everywhere you go and want to share with the world (or keep it close to your heart, or, sometimes, even both?).

So do I think Law has romantic feelings for Corazon? Nope. But he does love him the most in the world. Would Law want his partner to remind him of Corazon? That's a tricky one though. I basically think Law has a thing for cheerful people (Heart Pirates are cheerful, Bepo is joyful, Luffy is also full of smiles and joy), because he surrounds himself with them. But then one thing doesn't really leave my thoughts: why is Sanji the only one who is called by his title "Blackleg-ya" besides "Strawhat-ya"? Zoro, Nami, Chopper, they're all called by their names or surnames, not counting the few exceptions who get no name/title at all. I can understand why Luffy is privileaged considering the importance of their Sabaody meeting, but why is Sanji? They seem to have no connection. And then I realized what LawSan shippers probably did forever ago already: Sanji is a caring blond guy who smokes like crazy. And that must remind Law of Corazon. And that's the only reason why Sanji gets the extra respect (the onigiri though probably helped as well, ngl!). So I guess I have to reluctantly agree that maybe he has a soft spot for smoking blond guys, because they remind him of his beloved Cora-san. Law seems to be a pretty sentimental guy, so it does make sense.

Now let's move on to the question you didn't ask but sort of asked: does it all mean Flevance or his family doesn't matter to Law anymore?

For starters, Law's goals are very obscure and not really explained well in the plot. But let's look at "waves" that are the result of his plan to defeat Kaido and Mingo. Just the news of Doflamingo quitting warlords put the whole New World in a state of panic. It kickstarted rebellion in Dressrosa. Rulers of kingdoms in the middle of wars started to feel anxious, because they got their weapons from Doflamingo. Kaido was also in trouble, ofc. But it's not just that: right after Dressrosa Big Mom suddenly became interested in Germa... seems she was also benefitting from her deals with Doffy (it shouldn't surprise us, he did say he was holding reins to every emperor and monster there is in the new world!) and with Doffy out of the picture, she was in emergency to find a new business partner. Why Germa? Because of his scientifical research. Many of those kids of Big Mom might also not have been "naturally" born, who knows.

In the end those who benefitted the most from Law's plan were Revolutionary Army (they gained weapons, many nations stopped wars and they could instead influence them for rebellion), Blackbeard (unfortunately) and Buggy (his business was suddenly flourishing). After Wano repercussions for the world grew even bigger, but especially in one direction: World Government. We were told Kaido and Orochi did business with World Government, that's how they got their weapons. Now they're kinda in a pinch, aren't they? They can't get them from Kaido, they can't get them from Doflamingo. This was a huge blow to the Government.

And then we also have Sword, which is rumoured to aim it's blade against World Government or at least Marines in some way. Law clearly has some connections to Drake, whether we believe he's part of Sword himself or not doesn't matter (I know those theories are floating around, and I personally think they're just scratching the tip of the iceberg).

Now let's go back to Flevance. Who was responsible for the tragedy?

World Government. And let's not forget for Law World Government means also Navy. They're both guilty. Taking down Kaido helped Wano, ofc, but it also hugely impacted World Government's sources for supplies of weapons. Taking down Doflamingo freed Dressrosa, sure, but it also eliminated a person that was Government's errand boy, basically. That's another blow aimed at Government. It's all about weakening them, they're extremely strong enemy that no one can take on alone, overpowered, cutting them off from supplies sounds like a good first step towards taking them down, wouldn't you agree? That's a similar thing to what Revolutionary Army did to Marie Geoise, btw.

But then, Law said he only cared for taking revenge on Doflamingo, didn't he? That he has been living only for that purpose. Actually... that's not true, he says some really contradictionary things about his own goal:

Let's sum it up: his goal is to fullfill Cora-san's wish, to free himself (because that's what Cora-san wanted for him, to be free), to pull the trigger Cora-san couldn't on that day 13 years ago. If he thinks Cora-san wanted to pull that trigger himself but couldn't then that would make sense. But that's disregarding the fact that Corazon probably never wanted to kill Doffy, he even said it himself that dying is the only option for him. Law knows it. When he says the line about the "trigger" it's about Law's own wish, he thinks Doflamingo should have died instead of Corazon after all. Cora-san's actual wish was for Law to be free, but Law thinks it was something else: stopping Doflamingo. There are like multiple different wishes clashing here, obscuring the truth from us. And let's not forget the most crucial information: Law never planned to take down Doflamingo by himself! The whole plan was about making Doflamingo resign from warlords so he leaves Dressrosa. Law didn't even care what will happen afterwards to him (though it's clear he wished Navy would take care of him, more so than he cared for Kaido to take care of Doflamingo).

And then we have this:

"I've lived the past 13 years so I could strike Doflamingo down" which sounds suspiciously close to what Kyros was saying before and Law was there to hear it. Yeah, I think he "borrowed" that reason from Kyros, because he didn't actually want to voice his real intention here. We never doubt Law in this scene, because later on he repeats the same thing to Sengoku, and we don't expect him to lie to Sengoku, right? But I think what Law said was aimed just to make Sengoku feel better (he can relate to that, Sengoku is just mourning Rosinante!), and Law keeps quiet and hesitating what to say before Sengoku literally pushes an answer out of him. Law is hiding things from us, many many things, and most important one of all: what's his ultimate objective.

Whatever Law's true goal is, it must be related to this conversation he has with Cavendish. "You will be in the eye of a storm", and Law's answer: "That's my intention".

Of course as we learn from his conversation with Sengoku, Law has perhaps some doubts whether going around and causing chaos (and perhaps aiming for Government's neck) is the thing he should be doing, and he voices his concern like this:

Is this what a D. should be doing? Is this what Law should be doing?

And then in Wano we learn that his next goal is, curiously, to find out the meaning of the D. He still wants the answer to this question (is this what he should be doing?), that's why. But I believe Law is already setting a plan in motion to take down the Government somehow. That plan is very dangerous and can swallow his life in the process. He never told Luffy about it, because he wants to keep him out and away from it, not to "drag him down" together with Law (trying to finish alliance early was probably also partially a prevention of this). I wouldn't say what Law is aiming for is suicidal, but he is ready to put his life on the line and die if that's what it takes. And I hope we will finally find out the full scale of this and his ultimate objective, before this guy does something extremely stupid and reckless.

Last, but not least: Law is basically the person pushing the new era (after Whitebeard's death) forward: he destroyed the gears in Punk Hazard, he announced the deaths of the emperors, all those moments carry symbolic meaning. But is Law trying to make a world a better place or is he just trying to get revenge on World Government? I guess only time will tell us. I have faith in him and I think he cares more about the world and people than it seems. But he definitely also wants to give them a payback, for Flevance, for his parents, and also for himself. And now that he's free, truly free (in his own words: he stopped Doflamingo so he's free to do whatever he wants now), what's stopping him? Probably his own heartbroken ass at the moment, because of what happened to Heart Pirates, but ugh. I really think it won't stop him for long. We will get that revenge, Law will be the vigilante we hoped he will be and it might break us.

I could ramble more about Law's plans, but it would enter highly speculative territory and basically I would be grasping at straws at every corner. But I think I did catch on to some obscure foreshadowing, once again. Anyway, anon, not sure if this is the answer you hoped for, but those are my honest thoughts based on overthinking a lot about plot, story and stuff like that, as well as about Law, like always.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Some of these zutara takes I regularly see are along the lines of "I can excuse genocidal colonialism, dictatorship and forced displacement but I draw the line at misogyny!"

Apparently the Fire Nation having women in prominent roles and equally participating in the brutal murder of other tribes means that they are not an evil force to be reckoned with.

It's giving this:

Meanwhile Darling Zuko and his people are actually the saviours of the damsel Katara, rescuing her from her misogynistic tribe and their customs. Literal coloniser propaganda.

We have no proof that the Air Nomads perpetuated misogynistic ideals, but because a 12yo did something dumb that means his entire nation were evil rapists who deserved to die.

Genuinely sick of these brain-dead takes!

Not to mention: we have no real evidence that the Fire Nation treats women equally.

It is a nation based on imperial Japan. Azula was going to be the FIRST woman to be Fire Lord (and even that would basically be the same as just "princess" once Ozai became Phoenix King). Mai and Ty Lee were not invited in the war meeting to plan for the day of the comic even though they helped basically end the war through the downfall of Ba Sing Se - Azula was the ONE girl there, and her friends only played a role in her mission because SHE chose to have them help. We mostly see women as guards, not as warriors going to the battles, indicating that they're not usually the first choice for these roles if they're prodigies/very high in their society's hierarchy. Ty Lee literally makes herself likeable to everyone, mainly guys, by PRETENDING TO JUST BE A DUMB, SILLY GIRL THAT IS EAGER TO PLEASE.

It is better than the Northern Water Tribe? Yes, but that doesn't make it a feminist utopia.

At least in the Southern Water Tribe we saw women warriors consistently through the flashbacks. We know that Gran-Gran fled south especifically because it was a more egalitarian place than her tribe. Katara wouldn't have even had to step up as a parent if nearly every adult hadn't died or left. Sure, we know for a fact that Sokka heard his sexist beliefs from someone, but the simple fact that Katara feels so comfortable shutting that shit down, on top of Hakoda never doubting her abilities as a warrior, shows that these beliefs were not held by the majority of the tribe before everything went to hell.

Where would Katara have a bigger chance of being treated fairly? In her tribe, that is sometimes sexist but not THAT sexist, or in a nation that on top of having an issue with sexism also doesn't see her as a human being in the first place?

And yeah, it's funny how Aang screwing up once means he's a raging misogynist and so was his entire culture, yet you constantly see Zutarians act like Katara has to "realize the Fire Nation is more complex than she thought" when the whole point of the show is "This country works under a system that is inherently unfair, violent and dehumanizing, and the whole world is paying the price for it."

[halloworhorecrux]

Warning: slight NSFW and dubious consent at the end.

Where is the waking up married Drarry? Right here my friend

It's been one week of Draco being free of Azkaban. Ron and Neville are on Harry duty.

(You are telling me that Hermione does not have a schedule to make sure Harry does not bother *stalk*Draco Malfoy. Take your filthy lies out here. )

She knew he was flying and watching over that scrawny ferret since his trial.

Harry smells of the North Sea, and his hair has been even more of a disaster. The daily prophet calls him a Casanova because anytime he is seen, he looks disheveled, just shagged barely left the bed disheveled.

So its been a week, and they have been able to keep Harry away from Malfoy. Ron boasted to Hermione he is doing a brilliant job as they enter a bar where Harry is beelining to the white blonde head in the center of the dance floor. Dean Thomas is quick enough to rugby tackle him before he makes contact. Well fuck.

Pansy Parkinson saw the Saviour looking at her friend and did her best to stear him away to go somewhere else, literally anywhere else. Dear, sweet Draco is wasted and horribly clingy, so he tells her to "carry me Pans."

Like what the fuck, he is 6ft tall and yea maybe he weighs like a sack of bones that doesn't mean Pansy can carry him. Ever loyal Goyle decides he will take him . The problem is Goyle looks different ( he doesn't Harry just doesn't care) and so Harry sees a man trying to manhandled Malfoy, and just bulldozes everyone and disapparates with him to Las Vegas.

Draco vomits throughly on Harry's shoes.

The humiliation is enough that Draco decides he will just get Harry wasted too. So they continue their night blasted until they decide to enter a chapel and get married.

Potter I swear to hex and hold you, in sixth year bathrooms and ballroom manors, with a muggle pence and all the galleons in a malfoy vault. Till we fucking die together, i vow to never leave you alone, Potter"

Malfoy I swear to hex and hold you, in forbidden forests and any sea your stranded in, you use to find me every train ride but now it's my turn to find wherever you want to be. ill be there with you. I vow to watch you until we greet death, and even then, I won't let you go"

"Wonderful vows gentleman, with power vested in my by the state of Nevada I now pronounce you husband and husband"

"Merlin, where am I?"

"We are in the America's, and you should probably wake up. We are in loads of trouble, Potter. " Harry speaks his last name with relish and just enough posh that Draco gives himself whiplash, turning towards him

"Potter"

"Ohcome now, it's your name too, may want to use my first name sweeatheart"

"Sweetheart?" Draco's face is gobsmacked and it's glorious.

"Yes, baby?"

"Merlin"

"No its Harry, you screamed it enough last night"

The flush that begins at his chest travels all the way to the tips of Draco's ears.

"I-- I thought that was a dream"

"Dream about marrying me often, Potter?" Harry ask.

" sometimes, sometimes it's of our honeymoon, where you spend hours licking-"

"Yea, well as much I want you to finish that, the MACUSA is outside our door and waiting to charge us for illegally entering the country and some other minor charges"

Dracos eye grow huge, with fear mixed in because he was only recently released from Azkaban.

" No, No, don't fret love. I won't ever allow you to return there or any prison ever again. Do you hear me? I'll kill them before anyone puts a hand on you."

A nod " I trust you, Harry"

His name on Draco's lips is enough for Harry to say fuck it and begin to strip his cloak from his shoulders. Thank merlin Draco is still naked and filled with his cum leaking out.

A better version of this is if this happens before Draco's trial and he doesn't go to Azkaban at all. Whatever floats your boat

[council-of-beetroot]

I had a dream I published this without making it anonymous lmao

I like ameliet only if it's done well. In my own family, people like my great great grandmother came to America at the age of 16 alone so I have that connection to the eastern European immigrant experience that Tolys has.

Seeing my last post this is hypocritical but it's not like I care that much because I read anything and will still enjoy it.

Common things I see in ameliet that I dislike

Alfred being interested in Tolys' culture

Especially during this era, assimilation was expected of any immigrants at the time. I don't see Alfred learning Lithuanian or learning Lithuanian cooking or whatever because all that was seen as something you left at the docks the moment you stepped foot in America as an immigrant during those times

The 1920s itself

I know it's canon but I personally in my fics have the outsourcing somewhere between 1890-1915. This is because in 1921 the us restricted immigration based on race and ethnicity so that the only people that could really move to America were Canadians or Western Europe such as the UK or Sweden. But I won't complain since it is canon.

Alfred as Tolys' saviour

I think this is just one annoys me because America has very little to do with say things like Lithuanian independence and the like. Also the way I see it depicted often renders Lithuania completely powerless and unable to lift himself up.

Now onto the other thoughts

I want to see more in outsourcing fics someone calling Tolys polish or Russian as at the time you could be labelled on papers as Russian despite not being ethnically Russian because your country was a part of Russia. For example my Great Great Grandfather's records are listed in the Russians to America files.

if it's the 1920s even better because you can have someone calling Tolys a Pollack and he gets pissed off, but not because it was meant as an insult but because how dare they mistake him for ugh a pole. 1920s is like the worst points for Tolys and Lithuania.

More red scare stuff too please

Tolys confronting the difference between his own experiences living with Alfred and his countrymen who are living in America working backbreaking jobs in poverty with little support. Yeah my great great grandfather ignacy for example was a miner upon immigrating to America. The work was literally back breaking in his case and he fractured his dorsal vertibrae which is incredibly painful but he managed to live with it for nearly 18 years until he got septicemia and died at 52. American dream amiright? There were instances where immigrants who tried to unionize were met with violence. I just think it would be interesting to see tolys grapple with this as he knows what it is like to work in a hostile environment.

Cold war era for example, I think Tolys would also have to grapple with the fact that he has romanticized America like literally as such a great place and Alfred is so much better than Ivan. So then when say Alfred does equally dumb stuff Liet finds it hard to take in.

1992 Barcelona Olympics these two and basketball. Read my basketball fic okay

Tolys thinking that certain things are normal American things as he doesn't realize it's literally something only Alfred does

The Feliks and The Baltics thinking Liet is an Expert about america but his knowledge no longer useful as it's been how many years. Same with slang

Tolys sabotaging his own relationship with Alfred because he thinks Alfred will manipulate him or end up hurting him like past relationships.

Tolys realizing Alfred's naïvete like omfg this is so good. Also Alfred turning to Tolys as almost a mentor or source of advice because Alfred on a nation scale is quite young

Also Alfred not grasping the reality of his actions because he has never been in a place where he has lost that power or been at the mercy of others while powerless. But Tolys is like wait a minute

Tolys having known both Alfred and Ivan and seeing what makes them different and quite similar

The awkwardness of moving in with someone you don't know well

Here is my fic that has ameliet as the backdrop of the fic

[uptoolateart]

The thing about Chloe is that, like many things in the show, the events in Collusion can't be taken too literally.

Yes, her appointing herself as mayor is insane - so insane that it immediately made me think of Napoleon. Bearing in mind this is a French show...let's dig into this.

First, a VERY condensed rundown from someone with only a basic, basic knowledge of French history: there were multiple French Revolutions, but the one that led to the Napoleonic Era was initiated by rebels who represented 'the people' (versus the corrupted nobility), who stormed the Bastille, then lopped off the heads of their opposition.

This went on for years, during which time Napoleon rose up the military ranks and ended up ruling France. He too was supposed to be 'of the people' but power went to his head and he appointed himself not just King but Emperor, then proceeded to invade neighbouring countries, until Russia and Britain spelled the end for him.

In 'Collusion', when Miss Bustier is akumatised she guillotines the heads off her victims. The heads float up as balloons so children can handle watching it, but the allusion is there, reinforced by all the red, white and blue, being the French colours.

She then storms the Mayor's office, but before she can chop off his head, he steps down, recognising his own corruption.

Chloe then bursts in and tells the public there is another corruption of leadership - all that power being in the hands of Ladybug and Cat Noir. Being superheroes, they are not 'of the people', while Chloe states that she is.

However, Chloe is one of the Bourgeoisie. It's been there in her name since the very first episode, and she really lives up to it. In the days of the Revolution, she wouldn't have made it out with her head. And like Napoleon, she has now appointed herself the power figure - in this case, the Mayor. But Napoleon fell, and so will she.

This scene then becomes a commentary on modern politics:

We have a leader without an election, which we have had multiple times here in Britain, and I'm sure it's happened in other nations too.

When Chloe can't pronounce 'democracy', I expect that's a dig at a certain very famous political leader....

Our political leaders all have their scripts written by others, and arguably, at least in some cases, there are others behind the scenes, pulling the strings - like Lila behind Chloe...or Gabriel orchestrating for Chloe to be a 'saviour'.

Andre Bourgeois is a coward. It might look good on the surface, him admitting his corruption and stepping down...but he just runs from the mess he created. He could fight for custody of Chloe and enforce discipline and values until she turns 18, maybe try to undo some of the damage he's caused, but he takes the easy way out and leaves Chloe and Paris to it. This, too, is what some real life politicians do. (I'm given to believe this last point might not have been intended by the episode writers, but it's what comes across nonetheless.)

Please note I am not condemning or condoning any particular political system or party. I'm also not getting into the debate over Chloe's story arc.

This is simply my observation on what else is going on at the end of the episode. Looked at that way...well, it's quite a lot more than just Chloe becoming Mayor.

Please no post-Collusion spoilers in comments :)

[spottheantisemitism]

Hit pieces

so like you know they guys who were 'NOOO Magneto can't be zionist😭"

One of them is Calina who used to reblog tikkunolamresistance claimed to go to every protest that she helped and Gazan family and they all happily celebrated Hannukah together even though many Gazans have religious trauma and would ABSOLUTELY NOT (Juju has a whole post about this)

Listen I've talked to palestineans, I'm more scared of white people but many Palestineans do not feel safe around Jews

I call bullshit on your saviourism and orientalism and you all celebrating hannukah (Hannukah too the most culturally christian holiday) happily when most Gazans can't even look at a Magen David. It's all too neat all too Norman Rockwell "can't we all get along". How did they fit in your house with your roomate? how did you feed them? Do they all smoke weed?

I mean he HAS (in X-men 2). So has Charles in the comics. So has Jean, she was even executed for it. That said this is a microaggression to make someone not enjoy the thing they like

Cope and seethe that others interpret him differently

Calina ignores basic comic history to suit her needs

seems blind to the irony of this statement when you do the same with literally all other Jews

Oh nOOO him wagging his finger at the ambassodor and telling her to do better means he wants Israel to be destroyed and stop it's wars. He was former Mossad he's telling her tactics are bad and the country is shit at keeping peace

"He's atheist so he sees through the lies of Israel and how they mistreated him" How anti theist of you. that's NOT what he says on panel. you're trotting out the "Israel mistreats holocaust survivors". In claremont's comics survivors are treated really well, sometimes comics don't match up with real life such as a boy has lazer beams or friendship can undo brainwashing.

"he lived their briefly" ah yes a few years is brief. He lived in Israel longer than he lived in Vinnistsya and his toddler daugther had time to be born and raised there before dying in a pogrom. Which WHY he moved to Israel

"he only lived there to track down nazis" NO CALINA, he lived because HE HAD NO WHERE ELSE TO GO. YOU REBLOGGED MY ESSAY ON THAT back when we were friends? don't you remember my talking points, old friend?

"Zionism isn't Judiasm" yes but his Judiasm is only ever spoken of in forms of his allegorical zionist

"I only blorbofy fictional war criminals" Honey you support TOR who suppurted ALL the terror orgs. You very much DO support real life war criminals

you even admit it.

while cannibal mostly writes porn so I thought it was "NOOO you put politics in my smut and actions comics" but Get this

he has a story about a Jewish character leaving to seek freedom in a town that's safe for Jews and Mutants alike in the wild west sounds like a "Put Israel in Alaska" story to me. Sir you 20K words of "zionism is fine if it displaces native americans instead of palestineans"

proof I didn't make this up:

last tag

you made this goy a Jew and had him go on an exodus but bitch about real life Jews? fuck off, hypocrite

nothing these two grifters can say should be taken at face value

[kutputli]

The Saviour and the Warrior: The two sides of masculinity in Ted Lasso

Somethin @hazelbeewitched said in a recent post about Sam Obisanya reminded me about the way Roy Kent has been constructed as one of the faces of positive masculinity in Ted Lasso.

It's hard to get white fans to read Ted Lasso himself as the epitome of the White Saviour, even though he is literally following the grand narrative tradition of escaping from his problems by going to a foreign country to participate in a martial art form coded sport that he knows nothing about and in which he will miraculously ascend to a position of generally respected and applauded leadership by virtue of his culturally specific (white, American) superior personality traits. It's 2023 of course, so the cast of the grateful natives gets diversified, and many are white. Ted Lasso is the World Bank funding microloans and Bill Gates Foundation 'subsidising' vaccines and every earnest, enthusiastic young volunteer for Habitat for Humanity who's poorly done brick work has to be secretly relaid by an underpaid local labourer.

Ted Lasso gets credit for being gentle and kind and sweet and vulnerable, as though that is a unique way to portray masculinity. But white patriarchy has always reserved a slot for benevolent, sophisticated tenderness - it has denigrated Black and Brown men as barbaric and crude and irrationally violent, while linking their own alignment with power through the patronage of art and culture, and charity works and the ability to be moved to tears by the pathos of the disenfranchised.

Ted Lasso arrived on foreign shores stranded, and a brown man gave him a lift. He arrived clueless, and a brown man gave him guidance on how to thrive and prosper. Ted Lasso introduced the brown man to proper society, and dressed him decently for it. Eventually, he gave the brown man a formal title within his organisation, and a contract (that of course the brown man was supposed to be pleased to sign unread, negotiated.) And then eventually the brown man was offered a better position at a different white man's empire, and he left, committing a typically barbaric, crude act of violence on an innocent piece of paper. But Ted Lasso, secure in his fortress of successful patriarchy, forgave him. Mighty white of him, right?

But on the flip side, (as @benicebefunny has pointed out), Ted Lasso needed someone to outsource the violence to, and that's where we get the other side of the Janus coin.

Roy Kent has been constructed as a warrior, not a hooligan, and the difference is this - his violence is considered justified. The patriarchy, after all has always differentiated between toxic masculinity and chivalry. Roy Kent is good with children (even if he doesn't consider what effect a large white man yelling might have on a Black or Brown 5 year old girl). He is ever-evolvingly sensitive to the needs of his (white, thin, rich, conventionally attractive) girlfriend. He is working-class poor made good on the strengths of his own sheer talent (One requires empires and war for plucky lads to make their fortune).

And in return, Roy is permitted to be the custodian of violence. When Nate is being physically bullied in the dressing room, it is Roy who is permitted to grab, yell at and headbutt the assaulters. (Let us observe, just as an aside, that we have seen Nathan being accused of homophobia in his retaliatory verbal set-downs to Colin, but no one has suspected Roy's concussion causing violence to be the same.)

When Sam is pushed, ignored, and maliciously taunted by Jamie, it is Roy who gets to fight with Jamie on his behalf. (The worst mockery that Jamie has directed to Roy has been regarding his age and his hirsuteness, as compared to that awful remark about Sam's mother and Maradona.) (Sam is actually never permitted to be angry, at all. Because as we all know, the solution to angry Black men being demonised is to just never have them express any anger.)

While white supremacy has always been happy to use Black and Brown bodies as cannon fodder in their wars of colonialism and empire, it has flinched from describing non-white opponents as equals. The native uprisings are quelled, the mutinies and dissidents dealt with, but to earn honour as a warrior one must go up against an enemy of equal strength and courage and acumen, and white supremacy does not acknowledge those to exist in other races.

Which is why Roy's main antagonist is his mirror - an attractive working class white man with talent and ego to spare. In accepting each other, Jamie and Roy are accepting themselves. There is no pesky cross-cultural boundary to cross, no genuine chasms of diverse difference to have to negotiate.

And most importantly, when the violence is outsourced to Roy Kent, then he also is granted the absolute power to choose diplomacy instead. If Roy Kent can forgive and forget Jamie's misdeeds, then he does so on behalf of all the people he (unasked for) championed. Nathan and Sam do not need separate, individualised amends from Jamie, because Roy Kent has claimed their narratives for himself.

Ted Lasso batting his eyelashes at Roy Kent is not queerbaiting - it hits a deep vein of truth. White saviors and white warriors need each other - and the son of their glorious union is the prick with empathy, the white man made good.