#i organize in my city with a really small group

[16ozicedcoffee]

les mis fic writers who write really really great stories about the amis where political organizing is one of/the main plot (especially stories that feature such realistic organizing experiences) i want to give you all a kiss!!!!! many kisses!!!!!!

[latenightdaydreams]

"Can you pretend to be my boyfriend for a few minutes, please? Those guys won't leave me alone.."

Feel like Mafia König would get a kick out of this.

Mafia!König x Reader (fem)

MDNI🔞

Part 2

Master List✍🏽

>cw: fem/afab, intimidaion, light violence, suggestive moments

1.0k word count

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König was walking down town late one night just enjoying the liveliness of everyone gathering and having fun after dark. His eyes drift from beautiful woman to beautiful woman mindlessly as he continues on. Then he feels a smaller hand slip into his. He turns his head to make eye contact with you, gazing up at him with such wide eyes. A small smirk curls at the corner of his lips.

“I’m sorry, but those men won’t leave me alone.” You glance over your shoulder at them, his gaze follows. “Can you pretend to be my boyfriend?”

König eyed the small group of pathetic men. Who goes out to harass beautiful defenseless women? He tightens his grip on your delicate hand as he nods his head. “I’ll be your boyfriend, Prinzessin.” His Austrian accept drips smooth like honey.

König takes a moment to inspect you, taking in every inch of your body. He wouldn’t mind really having you as his girlfriend. The perfect piece of eye candy. What a fun turn of events for him tonight.

“Hey! Love, come back.” One of the men shouts at the two of you as you continue to walk on.

König lets go of your hand, wrapping his arm around your shoulder and turning around to face the men. Standing at 6 '10 with an impressively muscular physique and being the Don of his organization, he puts the fear of God in most people with a single look. He isn’t afraid of anything.

The look on the men’s faces drop slightly as they see your smaller frame is pressed tightly against König as his arm caresses your waist in a tender and possessive manner. He slowly guides his hand to your ass and squeezes, causing you to blush. They exchange glances before deciding to approach you anyway.

“Why did you leave us for this old man?” The leader speaks up once more.

König laughs before removing his arm from you and stepping in front of you to block your stunning body in that red party dress from their view. He crosses his arms over his chest, showing off just how big they are. The group stops only a few feet from König.

“Do we have an issue boys?” König speaks in a condescending tone.

“That my girlfriend you put your hands all over. She’s just drunk.”

The man attempts to walk around König and grab your arm, but König grabs his arm first. The younger man looks up at König with a glimmer of fear in his eyes as he feels his powerful grip on his arm. He leans down to be able to speak in his ear. “Do not lay a single finger or her or I will personally snap them off one by one.” König’s voice comes out as a low growl.

“Let me go! Who the fuck do you think you are?!”

“König.”

The simple mention of his name causes the group to slowly back up, not even attempting to give their friend back up. König, the illusive man, is only known by name in this city. He’s sort of a boogie man, a demon in the shadows.

“I- I- I didn’t know she was yours.”

“You didn’t see this older man’s arm around her?” König laughs and pulls the smaller man closer like a ragdoll. “You really need to learn some fucking manners.”

You stand behind König watching this all unfold. When you hear who the mysterious man you ran to for help is, your own stomach does a flip. The lore attached to this man makes your skin crawl, and yet here he is defending your honor.

König lets go and punches the man with such force he falls back on to the ground. He quickly begins to scramble away, attempting to pick himself up but the rush of terror causes his whole body to shake. König takes mockingly slow steps as the man attempts to back up.

“Where are you going? I thought you wanted to show off how big of a man you are?”

“No, I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!”

Without a second though you walk forward and grab König’s arm. You fear what he can do to the man, probably things that you don’t want to see. Your soft eyes gaze up into König’s as he turns back to you. For a second, you fear him growing angry with you.

“Ja, Prinzessin?” His tone changes in a split second to a gentler softer tone for you.

“I- I think he’s learned his lesson.”

König can see the uncomfortable look in your eyes as you beg him to leave the man alone. His gaze turns back to the scared man on the ground with blood pouring from his mouth onto his shirt. The group he was with had fled by this point. In his mind he weighs his options before deciding to listen to you.

“I never want to see you or your friends again. My men will know who to look for.” He threatens.

“I promise! Never again.” The man scrambles to his feet and turns to run away.

König watches the man rush off into the crowd to get out of König’s sight. He turns back to you and places his arm back around your waist and pulls you into a tight hug. His other hand went back down to your ass and squeezes the plump flesh tightly.

“What’s the matter? Are you a good girl? Don’t like to see people hurt?” He asks in a tender tone as he takes in every inch of your beautiful face.

“I don’t.” You whisper almost feeling afraid now that his full attention is on you.

“That’s okay.” His hand moves from your rear to your face, gently caressing your jaw. “Such a delicate thing. Are you afraid?”

You shake your head no, but he can tell that you’re lying. “I don’t hurt beautiful women. What’s your name, Prinzessin?”

“Y/n.”

“Well, y/n, I’ve enjoyed being your boyfriend for the night. I’d love to really take you out, maybe make you my girlfriend for real.”

“I—”

König leans in to kiss you before you can reject him. His hands travel over your body as his mouth presses hungerly against yours. He slowly pushes your back against a building's brick wall, moving one hand around the hem of your dress desperate to see, touch, taste… your pussy.

When he pulls away from the kiss a string of saliva connects the two of you still. “I’ll walk you home, Prinzessin. I wouldn’t want someone else to bother you.” He say’s covering his desire fuck you with concern as you both begin to walk in the direction of your apartment.

Part 2

[coollizzylou]

Everyone’s correct in saying that now more than ever we need to be building our communities, but it can be difficult to know what that actually *means*, especially in our isolating society. So here’s some straightforward practical advice I’ve learned over the few years I’ve been organizing in my own life.

You do not have to reinvent the wheel.

There are people who have been fighting this fight for decades. You are not starting from scratch. You do not have to do it all by yourself. All you have to do is find your allies and engage.

On the ground resistance movements/aid organizations that have legs under them may not have much of a social media presence. You may have to do some legwork find your place.

Check the local papers if you have one for your area. Sign up for your city government newsletter. Go to the library and ask what events are being hosted. Check Churches! Schools! Small businesses! Ask your local old ladies!!!! They have time on their hands and know what’s going on in their communities.

It’s ok if you don’t know anything. Listen to the people around you, ask questions, be respectful and curious. Just show up!! As you do this, you will learn more about the place you’re in and the people that live there. Those people will guide you, and there’s a non-zero chance that you’ll find a mentor willing to take you under their wing.

The logistics make the movement.

Demonstrations are important and powerful, but they are NOT the be all end all. Not even close.

There are people who’s job it is to take notes, people who host meetings, and people who pick up snacks. Some folks are especially good at getting the word out through tabling and canvasing, others are better at making the pamphlets that get handed out. You could be in charge of carrying heavy boxes of donated food, or you might be better suited preparing a hot meal sitting at the table. Are you able to watch young children? Drive carpool?

All of these tasks and more are essential to maintaining a healthy community group. Don’t be afraid to try new things and experiment to figure out where you can do the most good.

Your stories are your power

One of the most effective tools in your arsenal are your testimonies. When shared with friends they remind us we are not alone in our struggles. When shared with adversaries, they are undeniable proof of our humanity. You can quote facts and statistics all day, but a personal experience will always punch above it’s weight.

Think over your life and explore questions of what your personal stake in the game is. What about your life makes you want to fight. Really dig in deep. This can be uncomfortable. I recommend doing this among friends and being gentle with yourself. You don’t have to have any particularly special reason. This isn’t supposed to be performative. You aren’t trying to get a good grade in leftism, your goal is to identify your self interest. For example, I first got involved with the tenet union because I wanted to go to college in the city but knew I couldn’t afford to live there. I first got involved with planned parenthood because I was scared when Roe v Wade overturned. These are selfish reasons, they have to be for this to work.

With that information, you are prepared to sit with other people and ask them the same thing. If you are open and willing to listen to people’s stories, a casual conversation can lead to strong bonds of friendship. And when you’re friends with someone, you fight for them. This is the core of relational organizing.

There is joy here

Organizing can be difficult. Many things are in life. But from personal experience I can tell you that not only is this work worth it, but it can be *fun*. You can sing and dance and play music and scream and laugh and you’ll do it all together. Hold onto your hope, find your joy where you can, and take the plunge. You’ll be better for it, I promise.

[theabigailthorn]

Do you think you’ll ever write a book, either philosophy related or maybe memoirs? I really love your content and your ideas and would love to know more about how you organize your worldview.

FUNNILY ENOUGH

I've been seriously considering writing a book about the way the NHS treats trans people, and more broadly about institutional pathologisation in the current global moment we're having. I've had meetings with some big publishers, even drafted an introduction and proposal, and gotten offers back!

BUT

I don't think I'm going to do it, for a few reasons. In no particular order:

Writing a book about that subject might raise the consciousness of a few folks, but does it help build material power for trans people against my country's healthcare system, and the other systems that subjectify trans people globally? Not really, no. In fact it would legitimise the elite media consensus that engaging with elite media is the path to achieving change. Books aren't just books, they're "media events," and accordingly they increase the power and prestige of the media they happen in. If I wrote this book, newspapers would review it, chart it, I'd be invited onto Radio 4 and shit to "debate" and "discuss" it... Does doing that actually help get medicine into trans people's hands? Not really! Writing books and "getting ideas out there" is pretty busted as a theory of change unless it builds power. The fantasy of writing a really good speech or article or book and suddenly the scales fall from cis people's eyes is just that - a fantasy. No minority group has ever gotten change or justice that way. All that would happen is I'd "enhance my brand" - which means that I, with my private education and privilege and opportunities, would make money and get clout whilst contributing to the elite capture of trans rights as a political struggle. I'd become "a leader in the community" and get invited to some dinners and media events and blah blah blah - meanwhile the violence continues. That media event would also enhance the brands of those cis-dominated media outlets and the "having conversations" industrial complex, who are part of the fucking problem! The struggle should be led by the poorest and most vulnerable among us and link up with other material struggles like resisting immigration raids, prison abolition, decriminalisation of drugs and sex work, etc. So I could likely do more good for my community by donating my time and money to good causes and also by some uhhhh... other stuff - let's call it 'direct assistance' - which I already do and find fulfilling.

The offers aren't that big! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Writing that book might do harm if it's co-opted into ongoing right wing attempts to dismantle the NHS and all trans care. It'd be intellectually satisfying but not creatively satisfying or fun. I'd have to immerse myself in a very bleak world for a long time: I would enjoy having done it but not the doing.

It'd ruin my career. Right now I actually fly pretty under the radar of a lot of my country's nastiest transphobes. That would end if I wrote a book about the NHS. Newspapers, editors, publishers, journalists, and probably some MPs and Lords would become very invested in tearing me down. I've seen it happen to queer writers and journalists before. Remember, Britain is a small country and our media is run out of one city by a very small group of people who all know each other and who also know all our politicians, in some cases because they're literally the same people! That book would be like kicking a hornets' nest. Maybe they'd come after me publicly, or maybe it would be more British: somebody would make a quiet phone call and I'd suddenly be radioactive. Bye-bye acting career, bye-bye any public career.

For related reasons, writing that book and doing the necessary media campaign would expose me to a WORLD of harassment and shit from some of the worst people in the universe, which I frankly don't want. That might include lawsuits.

My dream job is to play [REDACTED] in [REDACTED]. Writing a book wouldn't take me closer to that. It would cement my brand as 'trans educational writer' instead of 'actress and writer,' which is what I am.

So yeah, all in all, I don't think I'm going to do it. Not right now anyway. I reserve the right to change my mind. Think I'll write a screenplay instead!

[rogueddie]

Eddie slams his pile of books down on the counter, grinning at how hard Steve startles.

"Jesus, fuck," Steve holds a hand to his chest, glaring. "Man, come on, I'm too young to die of a heart attack."

"Are you sure about that?" Eddie reaches over, to tug at his hair- Steve bats his hand away before he can get near. "What are you now, seventy?"

"I'll have you know that the silver only adds to my charm."

"Sure, keep telling yourself that." He pats the pile of books. "I need to check all of these out."

"You know the limit."

"Please? Pretty please? I'll never insult you for going grey early ever again! Promise!"

"You've made that promise before," Steve grumbles, but starts to check the books out anyway. "What's all of this for anyway? New campaign or something?"

"Nah. Robin mentioned something about the cold war and nuclear shit. Got me curious."

Steve pointedly looks at the books, snorting. "Curious."

"What, you've never wanted to learn some new thing or something?"

"Not this much."

"What about all those sports you played?"

"That was more to do with my parents than me actually wanting to do it."

Eddies eyes narrow because... yeah. Outside of his old King Steve days, Eddie doesn't think Steve has ever wanted something. Not even for his birthday, or Christmas.

All he asks is for them to come to his and Robins flat. All he seems to want is confirmation that they're ok and alive.

"You always say you want kids though, right?"

"I mean, kind of. Though, I'm starting to think the brats we babysat might be more than enough for me."

"Chocolate?"

"Oh no..."

"What?"

"You're planning something, aren't you?"

"No! No, no, no... but there has to be something, right?"

"Something?"

"That you really want."

"There's nothing I need."

"That's not what I'm asking."

"That's all the answer you're getting." Steve shoves the pile of books towards him. "Get lost, I'm supposed to be working."

"Ugh, fine, you're no fun."

But he can't stop thinking about it. He ends up returning the pile of books, despite the fact that he barely read one page. When he tries to use it to question Steve, he dodges the question again.

He very quickly gives up, deciding to pester Robin until she tells him. That takes three weeks of constant, daily efforts. And, in the end, the answer is obvious.

Steve just wants to spend more time with people he cares about.

It's not easy to gather anyone in the party, given that there's no holiday or significant occasion- he manages it, though. All the kids, now young adults, organize transportation. Nancy and Jonathan, over the phone, help Eddie and Robin plan out where everyone will sleep with their small apartments.

The effort, and pain of organizing it all, is worth it for the look on Steves face when he comes home to find them all waiting for him.

When Dustin almost knocks him over with how harm he hugs him, for a second, Eddie is worried that he's going to start crying. But he holds it together, greets them all with so much enthusiasm...

"I forgot that he used to be like this," Robin comments, late into the night. They're sat a little away from the group, watching them argue over their games. "The kids mean a lot to him."

"He means a lot to them."

"I know. I think he forgets though, so... thank you."

Steve doesn't corner him until they've got the kids asleep- half of them going with Nancy, Jonathan and Argyle to Eddies appartment, the rest of them fighting over the little space in Steve and Robins.

"You could've got me chocolate," Steve says, nudging him.

"This is what you really wanted though, isn't it? That was the whole point, big boy."

"Right. Sorry, it... I wanted to say thank you. I know this must have taken a lot to organize and-"

"Steve. You don't need to thank me. Besides, I could never have done this on my own."

"Still... thank you." Steve is quiet for a moment, looking out to the busy city street. "What do you want?"

"This."

"No, what do you really want?"

"Yeah, this. Everyones together, having so much fun. We're gonna do a one-shot when you go to work tomorrow. And, uh... you're happy. I don't need anything more than that."

"Right," Steve clears his throat. He shuffles a little closer, so their sides are almost flush together, tentatively reaching out to hold Eddies hand. "You don't need anything else. What about what you want?"

"You know what I want."

"I want you to say it."

Steve leans over, bumping their shoulders together when he hesitates. He smiles, reassuring, and gives Eddies hand a squeeze.

"What do you want, Eddie?"

"You. I- I want you."

It's terrifying to admit, a horrifying leap... but the smile Steve gives him, so soft and happy, is more than worth it.

"As you wish."

[flemingsfreckles]

Replacement Part 3

Read the other parts here

Warnings: PLEASE TAKE THESE SERIOUSLY homophobia, parental abuse (emotional, mental, and physical), internalized homophobia, language

WC: 3.5k

A/N: alright so this sorta took and added extra turn to it, on top of the enemies to lovers, we’re now going to be working through some internalized homophobia stuff too,

“Ladies, this weekend, after training Thursday I want you all to go do something for team bonding, goalkeepers together, midfielders together, defenders, you all get the idea, try to make small groups, 3-4 players and pick an activity. We want you to get comfortable with the people who will be your support system on the field, we’ll do more full team bonding later. Starting small.” You usually didn’t mind team bonding, it was always a fun time, getting to hang out with your friends.

“You’re coming in my group!” Coffey grabs the back of your training top as you both walk away from the huddle.

“Yeah, cool.” You were more than happy to let someone else organize the groups and the plans, that was never really your forte.

“Me, you, Hina, and then Fleming too.” You give Sam a look that must’ve expressed your frustration with her adding Jessie. “You can handle an afternoon with her, you need to remember your teammates.” You bite your tongue before anything rude comes out of your mouth, you were doing your best to keep it civil with Jessie, Sam was right, she was your teammate at the end of the day.

You and Jessie hadn’t spoken since you lashed out at her on the field, but that didn’t mean the girl had given up on being your friend. The Monday back after game day you had walked in early to a mostly empty locker room, a few teammates here and there. You noticed Jessie’s bag already in her cubby, her clothes already changed. You then noticed the muffin sitting on the top shelf of your cubby. You had rolled your eyes at the sight of it, knowing who brought it. When she came back into the room and you muttered a quiet thank you to her, she gave you a tight lipped smile and a small nod before turning her attention away from you again. The two of you remained in silence for the next week, not exchanging compliments or critiques. You only spoke when necessary for drills or in training. Jessie stopped her typical pleasantries to you when she’d arrive to training every day, instead a small hello with no follow up was how she greeted you.

Thursday comes unfortunately fast for you. You really didn’t have a huge desire to do things after training normally and now you had to do something with Jessie.

Sam made you and Hina send her your favorite parts of the city, you were responsible for picking a coffee shop, Hina picked lunch, and Sam was responsible for dinner. She had said today would be a good day to give Jessie a less formal, more fun tour of Portland.

You all met up at the coffee shop you had picked. Jessie showed up smiling, camera slung across her chest. She had on a hat, her hair was down, she was wearing a simple white shirt and black pants. You find yourself admiring her, simple and yet somehow good looking, clothing choice before quickly shaking the feeling off. Much to your surprise she immediately came over to you asking about the coffee shop what was good, asking how you found it, how long you’d been going to it. It was if she had forgotten the scuffle between you and the fact that you both had been avoiding each other all week. You however, hadn’t forgotten, so you gave her short answers, letting her know anything was good, you hadn’t had a bad coffee yet, but pretty much ignored all her other questions.

“Hey, can we talk really quick?” Jessie poked you in the shoulder as the two of you stood, coffee in hand, waiting for Sam and Hina who had both ordered sandwiches with their coffee.

“Sure.” You weren’t in the mood to talk but you were going to have to with it just being the four of you.

“I don’t know what the issue is or was between us, can we pretend it doesn’t exist, I don’t know, at least for today? I don’t want them to feel uncomfortable.”

“Yeah, it’s fine, I just was having a bad day that day, sorry, I didn’t mean for it to carry over this whole time.” You half ass apologize, all while lying to her face. You hadn’t just been having a bad day, she was the cause of all your bad days so far. If you hadn’t meant for it to carry over all week you would’ve apologized days ago. But to keep the day going smooth, you made up the story, to make her feel better, to help you both move on.

Once you’d all grabbed coffee you walked around, Sam had named herself the tour guide and proceeded to walk you all over town to see various things. She would point out stores she liked, the best place for pizza, all hoping to give Jessie a better lay of the land. Jessie seemed to enjoy herself, you watched her look around in awe at the city you’ve come to call home. She had such a sense of wonder to her, looking at all the buildings, stopping to read the plaques with historical information. She also was constantly stopping for a step or two to take a photo. On a few occasions you caught her taking photos of the three of you walking.

When you look at her and she realized you’ve caught her she smiles. “Sorry, I just like capturing what going on around me, the people around me. I can delete them if you don’t want to be in photos.”

“Oh, no that’s fine, I don’t mind.”

“Cool,” Jessie gives you a smile before pointing ahead where Sam and Hina were standing up the street, both turned back waiting for you. “We should probably catch up.”

“Right.” You head up to where the other girls were, you couldn’t help but wonder about the photos Jessie took, you wanted to see them, but you didn’t want to ask.

Sam had stopped with Hina in front of a bar. “My first date in Portland was here, cute place, terrible date!” Turns out it was a popular first date street as Hina points out the first date she went to in Portland was just across the street.

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see where Fleming gets dragged to on her first date in the city. Where was your first date in Portland?” Sam turns her attention to you. You should’ve changed the subject before she had the chance to ask you.

“Um.” Nowhere is the correct answer, you hadn’t dated, you had no interest in dating the men in Portland or anywhere, so you didn’t. You kept to yourself, you were also still learning life after college, life in a new city, you had every excuse not to try dating. “I haven’t been on an official date since moving here, just too busy with moving, new city, training, all those things.”

Sam gives you a strange look, you’re not sure why, she knew you hadn’t been on dates. The two of you talked about her love life all the time, you figured she knew you hadn’t seen anyone.

“Yeah I wouldn’t expect any date stories from me anytime soon, I’m probably going to make sure I get settled first before I try seeing anyone, plus dating is exhausting.” Jessie quickly speaks up, you’re not sure if it’s intentional but it takes away from the awkward realization that in the year and a half you’ve lived in Portland you’ve never been on a date. Sam and Jessie fall into a debate over if dating is fun or exhausting and you’re happy to slip back into your own thoughts, not having to think about dating, relationships, or anything of the matter.

The day wasn’t nearly as bad as you had thought it was going to be. It was different, not being in a competitive environment had you looking at Jessie differently. She even made you laugh at lunch a few times. She was wittier than you expected for how quiet she tended to be. As you toured around you constantly found her walking next to you, letting Sam and Hina walk together. She’d point things out to you that she found pretty. When she’d stop to take a photo, you’d find yourself waiting for her while the other two walked on. It was weird, you felt less hostile towards the girl.

Jessie had stopped again, pointing out across the way to a bridge. You looked at the bridge and then watched Jessie take a couple of steps, bending down and then standing back up, trying to figure out where to take a photo from. She was calculated about it, just as she was with playing. For a minute you watch as she brings her camera to her eye before snapping a photo. You watch as she looks down at the screen with a smile, proud of whatever photo she took and for a split second you’re filled with a feeling of warmth, a small tingle in your stomach, stronger than the feeling you would get when she’d hand you a coffee or when you’d see the muffin she’d brought you. You physically shake off the feeling, you weren’t feeling that for anyone, especially not a girl, and especially not Jessie. You hated her.

The rest of the afternoon goes by, you don’t participate much in conversation, at dinner, letting the other three carry on. You’re too focused on that single moment, the moment you forgot you hated her and instead you felt something else. You felt a feeling you hadn’t had in years, a feeling you couldn’t have, you had promised yourself that.

No boys would get in your way of your career, no relationship would be manageable, your parents made sure of that from a young age. There would be no distractions, you didn’t have the time for a boyfriend, husband, anything it wasn’t an option, never had been. You had always been focused on school or training, never enough hours in the day for anything besides those two. Your parents pushed you to what felt like every minute of every single day, even as a kid. Doing extra school, extra weight training, extra running. You hardly had friends, having only one or two good friends your whole childhood outside of your teammates, you had no other hobbies, you played soccer and went to school. There was no time for a boyfriend.

A girlfriend certainly wasn’t an option, not even a thought, but that wasn’t a problem, you weren’t gay. You had been subtly taught your whole life that men date women and women date men, those were the options, anything else was unacceptable. You had been called gay, lesbian, and a variety of slurs, kids would tease you when you were younger, you preferred sports, you dressed in shorts and basic t shirts, you weren’t a girly girl, so you were teased, assumed to be gay. Then in high school people made fun of your close relationship with your former best friend, Grace, claiming the two of you must be dating. Those rumors made their way around until almost everyone was asking if you were with her, but you weren’t gay. You weren’t and you couldn’t be, your parents made sure you knew that.

They had temporarily kicked you out of the house when you were 16 after finding what they called “love notes” between you and your best friend. They kicked you out only after ripping apart your bedroom while you were at school, searching for evidence that you were seeing Grace. They didn’t find anything beyond the letters. You hadn’t even viewed them as love notes, just letters you had written to her and she had written to you. They were notes mentioning your appreciation for her and her friendship, telling her how much you enjoyed your time together, how she made you feel safe. There were mentions of “I love you” but purely platonic, nothing romantic in your eyes. Your parents didn’t see it that way and you could still feel the sting on your cheek from your mother’s hand that she had laid on you as you tried to pack and leave all while you argued there was nothing romantic with Grace.

Nothing romantic, until when you showed up at her family’s house crying, unable to get the words out to explain what was happening and she had taken you in. Once you finally calmed down and had explained what was going on she held you tight, her arms wrapped safely around you. She held you and rubbed your back. Grace simply let you exist in her presence, no expectations, no explanations. You didn’t tell her why your cheek was bright red, but you think she figured it out herself. When you pulled back from her grasp she reached to wipe your tears, the way you flinched away told Grace everything she needed to know about the marking on your cheek. She waited before slowly bringing her thumbs up to wipe your tears before holding your face and staring at you with such intensity it made your stomach turn. She told you she loved you, to this day you weren’t sure if she’d meant it romantically or not, and before you could register your own actions you had moved in and kissed her. She kissed you back for a moment before you both pulled away, never mentioning it again. The two of you never got the chance to discuss or even acknowledge the kiss you shared.

Your parents had dragged you back into their house the next day later after learning you had gone to Grace’s house. They welcomed you back into their home only to force you to sit through hateful speeches and lectures about how you’re made to be a wife to a man and how it was disgusting to find another girl pretty. They told you you’d marry a boy and have plenty of his children, you’d raise them while he worked, you would be loyal to him, of service to him, the lectures went on and on, day after day. You we’re grateful though, they kept their hands off of you for the most of the time, instead subjecting you to emotional and mental abuse.

They no longer let you speak and see Grace. Out of fear and a new deep guilt for what had happened between the two of you, you didn’t attempt to reach out. Your parents didn’t know you kissed but you felt like they did, like they knew everything between the two of you. The two of you fell out of touch quickly, you hadn’t seen her since the night you kissed.

Your parents kept you on a strict schedule, baring all communication with anyone who wasn’t a teammate, coach, or school teacher. They made you dress more feminine, they limited what music you listened to, what movies and television you watched, essentially controlling every aspect of your young adult life. They even set you up on dates with boys whose parents they knew, explaining to you that one of them could be your husband. All those dates ended in gross, overly sloppy kisses on your parents doorstep that had you running to the bathroom for mouthwash. It was a miserable few years of your life, ones you prefer to pretend never existed.

When you received a full scholarship for soccer you left for school and never looked back. It wasn’t easy to cut off communication completely with your family, they knew where you were, where your games were held, where to find you, but after your freshman year, they stopped showing up unexpectedly and you finally found a sliver of peace. Despite no longer being in communication with them, those few years still weighed heavily on you. You still flinched slightly if someone made a quick movement toward your face, it had been noticed by Sam and Janine, both asking if you were okay, you lied of course stating it was nothing. Your parent’s words haunted you even more, continuing to impact the way you felt, acted, and existed on a daily basis.

So that’s how you knew to handle your feelings, write them off as something else. The reason you had kissed Grace was because you were too overwhelmed with the thought of being kicked out by your family, you didn’t love her, it was just irrational behavior. The feeling you just experienced towards Jessie wasn’t anything other than displaced emotions. You were just too overwhelmed with your dislike of her, it was starting to show up in different ways. The same displaced emotions that you had felt toward Grace, and again toward your college teammate a few years ago, and now towards Jessie. But you weren’t gay. It was just confusion, too much going on in your head.

“Hello?” You suddenly snap back into the conversation being held in front of you, Hina waving her hand in front of your face.

“Huh?” You had no idea how long you had been zoned out for, reliving the harsh moments of your teenage years. You were just hoping your face didn’t give away to the group that you were remembering some of your worst days.

“Are you okay?” She asks.

“Yeah sorry, just sort of zoned out I guess.” You don't miss the way Jessie sends you a concerned look across the table.

“We’re talking about Saturday's game, how do you think it’s going to go? Are you going to get your first goal of the season?” You know it’s casual conversation but you had no desire to talk about playing

“I’m sure it’ll be good.” Is all you say before putting a bite of pizza into your mouth.

“I’d put money on you scoring.” Hina says before she takes a bite from her own slice.

“That’s if I even play.” You mumble and a silence falls across the table, a blanket of uncomfortable tension falling between the four of you. “Sorry.” You mumble this time with the intention of the others hearing you. You notice the apologetic glance Jessie sends you across the table before you turn your attention back to your plate. The silence until everyone finishes eating, everyone using bites of food to avoid being the one to break the silence.

After dinner Sam and Hina both take off in the direction of their places, opposite of where you lived, leaving you to walk alone with Jessie.

She doesn’t say much on the walk, you’re not sure if she knew, if she knew you had resentment toward her, that deep down you hated her, that you wished she’d go back to Chelsea, leave to somewhere else. Or maybe she just felt the tension at dinner and didn’t know she was the problem.

“How much further is your place?” She asks when she stop walking in front of her own building.

“Just right there.” You point a couple blocks up to your apartment building.

“Do you want me to walk with you?” She offers, it was dark out, she probably just meant it out of kindness.

“I’ve been here longer than you, I don’t need an escort to my own place.” It wasn’t more than a 3 minute walk away, you didn’t need her help walking there.

“Right, sorry, just let me know you get in safe?”

“You’re not my parents Jessie, I don’t need to be watched, I’ll be fine.”

“I know I’m not, but sure like your parents I’d just like to know you made it home safe. I always ask my friends to let me know, I asked Hina and Sam to text me too!”

“Yeah, news flash, we’re not friends, you know nothing about my parents.” You spit out before turning quickly and walking in the direction of your place. You don’t look back, you’re not sure if Jessie went inside or watched you walk all the way. When you’re inside you don’t text her, part of you feels guilty for not, she was looking out for you, but you put your phone on the kitchen table and head straight into bed.

You were emotionally exhausted from the day, first with training, then with spending the afternoon chatting and socializing, and finally with the internal fight over what you were feeling for Jessie and what you had been told your whole life and on top of knowing she was your replacement, you can’t feel anything but hatred for her. When you lay your head down on your pillow you felt a tear run from the eye across the bridge of your nose and drop onto the pillow.

You felt scared and uneasy, having no idea how to process your emotions and having no one to turn to. So you laid in bed, awake staring at the ceiling in a pit of uncertainty, feeling so unsure of yourself, as a player and even more so as a person.

[ghostieyanyan]

Is it ok if I can ask for a yandere Rollo Flamme? I like the idea of Rollo because he’s already based off a yandere villain so it makes sense. And I think Rolli would like to get close to Yuu cuz they don’t have any magic so they’re seen as ‘pure’ in Rollo’s eyes. Maybe Rollo can be seen trying hard to control his urges at the fireplace or he captured MC and tried to burn them at the stake like in the movie? Your choice.

hehehe... why not just add salt to injure? what if mc has pyrophobia, a fear of fire?

~Let the fire purify you~

Yan!Rollo x Pyrophobia!Mc

Warnings: Fire, burning, kidnapping, anxiety attack, chains, gag, breakdown,

~~~

Rollo hated magic... with a passion. A passion that burned so bright that hurricanes, rainstorms, floods, and tsunami together couldn't extinguish this flame of pure hatred.

How does no one sees the danger of magic? How many lives have to be taken in the hand of magic for people to understand this is a problem? He guesses that its one of humanities sin, playing dumb, playing ignorant, until it becomes someone they care about that gets hurt. its always like that... why could people just see things through his lenses BEFORE someone got hurt...

But for now, he just has to do gods work for everyone else, until they see things his ways...

He had a plan. a plan that will solve this problem before it could get worst. The plan to get rid of magic, from one of the most powerful mages in twisted wonderland, to the student "prodigies" of that sick, sinful school, to the townsfolks of Fleur city, to every inch of Twisted wonderland.

With this crazy plan, he'll make, no, he'll force everyone to see how he sees life should be. he didnt care on who got hurt-

until-

he met Night Raven College's gem in the rock, their Perfect. When all the students were introducing themselves, when it was your turn. He swore the world stopped and he would have swore on his life that he saw wings and a halo on you. You looked, spoke, and acted like an angel. you even allow these sinful... beasts... breathe the same air as you. then you have an ACTUAL beast as a familiar. don't tell grim that.

your heart and soul must be made out of pure gold. he has to protect it at all cost. he will use his own body to shield you from magical blast and then some to keep your purity in tact. he will move mountains and redivert lakes, rivers, seas, and oceans for you. Rollo Flamme will make you into his deity that he worships.

~

All the students decided to split into groups and explore Fleur City, after they got changed.

to say Rollo thought you looked breathe taking in your glorious masquerade outfit was an understatement. he was about to come up to you and compliment you, maybe even starting small talk with you but a certain lizard decided to be the first to do so...

Of course that monster would be charmed by an angel like you. Evil loves to tempt with good.

no matter, he'll just have to see you another time but if he gets too busy..? He'll make time for you.

~

Rollo lead you into his office, you didn't mind too much because he was telling you all about the school's history and art. it is a really pretty school, it gives very romantic feelings.

when you finally made it into his office, you froze at the doorway at seeing the fire place. Rollo quickly notices and puts out the flame with a very helpful near by bucket. You were grateful that Rollo was very accommodating to your fears.

you thanked him and sat down across from him while Rollo sat in his chair.

"I'm very sorry for asking you to meet me at this ungodly hour but i just needed your input on something and if i didn't ask you, i would have had a sleepless night tossing and turning." Rollo said as he got everything on his desk organized.

"hehe, its alright. I just happen to have a restless night myself.. but i don't mind the company."

"oh my that sounds awful. what seems to be troubling you?"

"w-well.."

It was really hard to tell someone you only just recently met that you had a "bad feeling" about something and how so far, in twisted wonderland, its always comes true...

"well.. i think... maybe, its just the 'sleeping at a new place' feeling and I'm just not getting use to it. but I'm sure its fine. heh.."

"hmm.."

Rollo seemed satisfied with that answer and continues, by leaning towards you on the desk.

"i know i asked you about this before, but id like to discuss it with you more in depth... hmm?"

since Rollo put out the fire place, there was only a small lamp on the desk to shine light in the room. you kind of wished that the fire place was still lit... cause everything in this scenario was telling you to run and never look back..

"o-okay..? what would you like to know..?"

Rollo smiled and leaned back into his chair.

"as a magicless student in a full school of magical.. mages, aren't you scared they might... turn and hurt you..?"

the way he worded that made you feel more unnerved.. you trusted your friends in Night Raven College. Even the ones that did try to hurt you, they still came to your defense and help and protected you when you needed them.. you trusted them with your life and having this man tell you "you shouldn't because they can use magic" was... laughable...

"no.. because they've earn my trust and I've earn theirs..!"

"Earned..?"

Rollo's face darkened as you stood up from the chair you were sitting in.

"I'm sorry Rollo. Thank you for your hospitality but i have to go."

you start walking to the door but stopped.

"with however you feel about magic, i wont sit down and let you disrespect them just because they possess a special ability and i don't. It doesn't make them less of a person. Magic or no magic."

you walked to the door but before you could even touch the doorknob, you feel a body press against your back, pinning you against the door. you couldn't even move, much less move the door.

"I'm sorry my sweet angel~... i guess.. I'll just have to show you myself then~"

you see a quick purple blur and then tightness around your throat. Rollo was using his signature purple and gold handkerchief to strangle you! you tried to struggle. you tired to jab your elbow into his chest but his uniform was too thick for it to do any good.

You started to feel light headed then everything you saw was slowly turning black. the last thing you saw was Rollo, and the insanity in his eyes.

~

you had so many questions...

why you? was it because you don't have magic so you were "easy"? aren't there other people in twisted wonderland without magic? you just happened to go to a school "for" magic users so of course you'll see it a lot.

what's so bad about magic? ya it almost killed you here and there but it also almost killed either the user or other people around you.. but afterwards everything would have been fine. Plus you didn't blame the magic for those situations. you couldn't even say you blamed the user. some deserved the blame.. but not everyone..

how did you get here..? probably from your big mouth, you should have been smart when you were talking to Rollo. he was already giving you weird vibes and you just had to make it worst

you had more questions but you knew none of them would get answered..

you started to slowly open your eyes..

where are you..? what's this sound..? why cant you move..?

you slowly looked around, you remember this place... Rollo showed you, with your friends. the big bell, the bell of Solace. you noticed that you were alone though..

you looked around some more, you looked out from where you sat on the floor. it was dark out but with an orange hue... was the sun rising..? what's going on?

you went to take a step, to look out but something stopped you. a cold hand..? no..? a chain?!

if you weren't fully awake then, now you are! the chain was short, at least 2 feet long from the floor, it was attached to both your ankles. you could only go so far out.

what happened?! what's going on?!?

you started breathing heavily, tears started to form. you felt so confused, so lost. someone, anyone, please hel-

"oh my dear! you're awake."

your blood became ice, you looked up to see an uncomfortably happy Rollo.. he had a basket of breads and fruits.

"i was so worried that you'll never wake up. I'm very happy you did~"

with a heavy chest, you spoke.

"what's going on, Rollo!? Why are we here? why am i-?"

"oh within time my dear angel~ we just have to wait for those flowers to do their miracles. in the meantime, eat. you've been sleeping for a while and-"

"flowers..? what are you-...? Rollo...."

you took a deep breathe to try to settle your nerves.

"Please, Rollo... I'm scared. please tell me what's going on."

he looks at you and sighed, placing the basket down on a near by table. He then walked over to you and sat beside you, motioning you to come closer to him.

You did. you don't really have a choice right now..

"I'm making our perfect little world my love~ our paradise~"

you looked at the man like he was crazy. he was, at this point. But he continues.

"the Crimson flowers, the one that looks like fire, the flowers i shown you when you toured the city, they have the ability to take a mage's magic until they are just magicless people.. like you."

you stared at him but he kept smiling.

"magicless.. like me..?"

"yes my dear, then everyone in this world would have to understand magic is like a poisonous weed that has to be pulled out. or it'll spread to the other crops."

you just stared. you couldn't bare to keep looking at him so you turned to look at anything else..

magicless like you... no.. this isn't right. this cant happened!

Rollo thought the conversation was over and sat up to get the basket.

"Before this started, i made sure to get some food. i thought you'll be hungry so-"

"...mon...ster..."

Rollo froze. he was facing the backet and didn't turn around.

"excuse me..?"

you stood up, leaning against the wall, as best as you could. You knew your big mouth was gonna put you in a tough situation again but- what were you suppose to do?

"you, Rollo Flamme, are a monster."

he slowly turned to you, his eyes screamed murder. even if your body is shaking, from fear, from anxiety, from anger, maybe all of them at once's, but you kept your eye contact with Rollo.

You knew a comment like that will hurt him. you knew you couldn't physically harm him but you just wanted to hurt him like he planned to do the same to everyone you cared for..

the silence was deafening.

Rollo took some slow steps to you and leaned down to your level.

"take. that. back."

"no. cause i didn't say anything wrong.."

you hear Rollo take a deep breath and he quickly snaked his hand to grab the nape of your neck. you let out a gasp, from the sudden movement. he straighten his posture and brought you to his eye level.

"it's seems that those... mages.. have filled you with their poison. I'll just have to purify you myself. don't say i didn't warn you, my angel.."

he dragged you to a window and made you look outside. the entire city was filled with those flowers but... the looks of those flowers... made it look like you were in the middle of a raging firestorm. you felt your stomach drop. you felt cold shivers, and you didn't even realized that tears were falling. when you looked more, you noticed that the "fire" was slowly climbing the tower you were in.

you were about to let out a blood curdling scream but you were stopped by Rollo tying that purple handkerchief into a makeshift gag for you.

After that, he threw you, face down into the ground. Your body was shivering from fear so intensely, to the point that it feels like you lost complete control over your body. you couldn't even fight back when Rollo tied your hands together.

"i, really, am sorry for this my sweet angel~ but i have to get rid of the poison that those mages put in you... you have to be purified."

Rollo walked off and came back holding a fireplace poker. it was glowing red and you could see smoke coming off of it. where he got that, you didn't know but your attempt to get away from him was met with a wall against your back.

you felt your head spin, you were trembling to no return, the hot tears wouldn't stop, and the makeshift gag he put on you was now soak with tears, saliva, and snot.

Rollo kept walking towards you, in an agonizing slow pace.

"don't worry, my angel love~ after this, all will be forgiven~"

when he went to grab your face, he-

"MC!!"

those are.. familiar voices.. you know those voices..

"tch.. i suppose your punishment will have to wait my love. apparently, ill have to finish these pesky mages off myself."

[lorelaiblair]

It all started with a phone call. Wednesday swore that modern technology would be the downfall of humanity.

“Wednesday” The boy pleaded.

“Eugene” She countered.

“I haven’t seen you in months, and you’re coming to the city anyway” He explained, for nearly the tenth time.

“I can afford a hotel room”

“I am well aware” Eugene laughed “What kind of a person would I be if I let my sister sleep alone in a hotel, especially when I have an apartment with a guest room barely five miles away from your publisher”

“Don’t imply that I cannot handle myself”

“I know that you can, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want you here with me”

“I would be there for quite a while, the editing process for this book is proving to be tedious”

“I’d love to have you, for as long as you want to stay”

“I will arrive Tuesday”

“Really?” Eugene asked, the excitement obvious in his voice. He was met with the dial tone, the conversation apparently over.

Two days later, he woke up to his alarm. He showered, brushed his teeth, and was sitting at the dining table eating breakfast when he realized something had changed. He went to make himself some coffee, and there was already half of a fresh pot.

Was someone in his apartment?

He was tired. He was too tired to care all that much. He poured himself a cup and sat back down.

It only took a couple moments for Wednesday to join him in the kitchen.

“Where do you keep your sewing kit?” She asked

“Junk drawer” He told her, pointing despite the fact that she already knew which one it was, despite knowing that she would be angry at its disarray considering she had been the one to organize it for him the last time. She pulled the kit out and tsked at him, before wandering back to her room.

Eugene took a sip of his warm drink before blinking in surprise.

“Wednesday?” He yelled

“Yes, Eugene?”

“When did you get here?”

“About two hours ago” She explained, he climbed out of his chair to walk down the hallway and stand in the doorway of her room. She was using his sewing kit to reattach one of Thing’s fingers.

“I would ask how you got in but” He laughed to himself “I’ll get a key made for you on my way home from work”

“Alright”

“What happened to Thing?”

“He fell out of the plane” Wednesday told him.

“What?” Eugene blanched. “What do you mean he fell out of the plane, is he okay?”

Thing wiggled his remaining fingers to tell the boy yes, he was fine.

“Just pulled a few stitches” Wednesday explained “My first meeting with the editor is later today, although I will probably be back before you are”

“Okay, I’ll see you tonight” Eugene said, turning to head out “Oh yeah, i’m off tomorrow and a few friends from nevermore are coming over for lunch”

“Eugene” She complained

“You don’t have to socialize, I swear. This door comes with a perfect little lock on it” He grinned, as if it could counter Wednesday’s death glare.

Eugene’s friends had arrived nearly twenty minutes ago, and Wednesday was facing a bit of a conundrum.

She had been up all night writing. Her editor left her with so many notes that she considered stabbing him in the eye with his own red ink pen, which had marked and marked all over Wednesday's first draft.

Not to mention her publisher wanted it all completed in less than a week.

She really had her work cut out for her. Wednesday was completely capable, she would get it done with time to spare, but what she really, really needed was another cup of coffee. Coffee. Coffee, her savior. Coffee, which was in the kitchen. Eugene and his group of very loud friends, sat in the dining room, nothing but a single door separating them.

She would send Thing to do it, but the last time she had asked him he had spilled scalding hot coffee all over himself. Now he refused to help her with the specific conquest.

She exited her room and stalked down the small hallway. Wednesday cursed herself, for knowing what she would be getting into when agreeing to spend the next few months with Eugene, and agreeing nonetheless. This was a torture of her own making.

As Wednesday scooped spoonfuls of coffee into a filter she could hear the people in the other room laughing. She turned the pot on and sat at the small table Eugene kept in his kitchen.

Wednesday’s publisher had gone on and on about how her book needed ‘character’, said that it wasn’t at all personable. She absolutely detested that. The book was full of character, she had been writing about Viper and her adventures for years now, and not once had a person mentioned a ‘lack of character’.

It was frustrating.

Wednesday knew that the publisher was onto something.

Wednesday had been writing Viper for years, and the stories she wrote were becoming almost predictable. She hated it. She absolutely despised it all.

She needed to change something, but she had no idea what that something was.

The door into the kitchen swung open, and Wednesday cursed herself once again. She had no energy for any of the ‘friends’ Eugene had invited over. It didn’t help that her eyes were assaulted the second the girl walked through the door.

Blonde hair with pink and blue ends, and an entire pink ensemble. Brilliant blue eyes, a shiny and slightly too sharp to be human smile.

“Uh, hi?” The bright girl asked, a sheepish smile on her pretty face.

Wednesday raised her eyebrows at the girl.

“Who are you?” She asked, turning to look back into the dinning room as if making sure she didn’t accidentally step into somebody else’s apartment. Wednesday leaned back in her chair, watching her.

The girl’s blue eyes met Wednesday’s again.

Wednesday Addams needed to change something, in her book and in her life, and she knew now what that thing was.

[unicorncornflakes]

Summer Isles - Modern!Aemond x Reader | Chapter 1

Next Chapter

Paring: Aemond Targaryen x Reader

Summary: After two years in the Summer Isles, Aemond returns from his international stay during his doctorate ready to be with the girl he left Westeros for.

Tags:  Alternate Universe – Modern/ Setting Emotional Hurt/ Comfort/ Drama & Romance/ Eventual Smut.

Warnings: Not at this moment, maybe later :P This is the best I can write these days, sorry :(

General Tag-List (If you wanna be tagged in thi series or all of my work, let me know):  @thedamewithabook @bluevxnus @hiddencurator

Author´s note:  Pls, enjoy! Feedback, shares and comments are always welcome!

Word Count: 3.5K

The sunlight had disappeared two hours ago. From the large window of the office, you could see how the yellow lights of the streetlights illuminated the deserted streets of that old industrial estate. Normally, at that time, there would be a multitude of operators and porters working in the warehouses that surrounded the modern, newly built building in which you worked. But, that autumn afternoon there was not a single soul. From the second floor of that building that broke the skyline of the place, you could see a paper bag rolling alone along the sidewalk.

You sighed, trying to gather strength for the next email you had to answer. You always sat next to the window, as if that could cheer you up during the at least eight hours you spent at work. The head of the service, in a show of trust and invented friendship with you, always placed you in the last shift of that customer service of the large multinational for which you worked. Although it may sound strange, it was the simplest and most complicated shift at the same time. Few clients with very big problems. Brilliant.

A new email popped up on the screen and you sighed right after replying to the last one. You grabbed the back of your head and closed your eyes, tired. Well, it could be worse, you thought, you might have to take a call. That thought crossed your mind when you saw your colleague Cristof closing his eyes tiredly while he explained for the last half hour to a client that the delay of her wedding dress was a problem of the transport company, that a claim had been opened and that we would try to give her a solution first thing tomorrow morning, not then, in the last shift.

“This is an idiot,” Cristof turned on mute just to talk to you and make you smile. You frowned and shook your head at him as he laughed again. "Yeah. Of course, I'm still here and I understand your situation perfectly, right now there is a team of five people working to get your dress to you first thing tomorrow morning, Mrs. Thyrosh” he completely changed the tone he had used with you, showing the best side of the service. That's what your job was about, showing your best possible face, or rather, your best possible voice.

“Is Aegon finally coming to look for you today?” Irmis, sitting right next to you, was also typing quickly to answer a customer who had decided at the last minute to change his expensive order for shoes from a famous brand. When they had offered you that job at a prestigious clothing brand, you never thought it would be like this. Five years in design school practically thrown away.

You shook your head as you looked ahead, ready to respond to that email. “No, he can't. You can see the fireworks from his house and he has organized a party with his friends to watch them from there” you responded completely naturally, although it had really hurt you that he didn't come for you on the same day that the local festivals were inaugurated. That was the same reason why not a single soul could be seen in that place. All private businesses closed earlier so that people could attend with their friends and family at the beginning of something that marked the beginning of autumn in a city as small as the one you lived in, but you work for a multinational. That small group of five people must have closed the shift. You were all unmarried or single. People who, according to the head of service, nothing happened if they did not attend the event. After all, what did it matter if you were missing? You sighed as you read what the last client who had written to you wanted. “I'll take the bus and I'll be there in an hour,” you explained to Irmis while she kept her eyes on the screen.

“If you want, I can take you” Roy stuck his head out of the cubicle that was right in front of you. With his headphones on and the smile he always had when he saw you, he continually offered to take you home or to Aegon's house.

"No. Don't worry, I'll go on the bus” you smiled at him with your best smile and as always Roy returned to his seat calling himself stupid. The truth was that you didn't like him taking you home. You knew he had a slight crush on you. Whenever you argued with Aegon, he was always there to listen to you and bring up all the many bad things Aegon had as a partner. You didn't want to raise his hopes. Aegon wasn't perfect, but he was the one you had chosen to be with, right?

“Well, it's cold today to be waiting for the bus.” Marga turned around in her chair right behind you. She was much older, a woman who had dedicated her entire life to customer service. She never said anything, but you knew she didn't like Aegon for you.

No one seemed to like Aegon as your partner. The five of you always closed the service, so you had ended up being a family, in which everyone knew everything about the other. You were grateful to have companions like that, but you didn't like that they interfered so much in your life.

Your cell phone vibrated. At that time, none of the bosses were still in the office, so you looked at him without any qualms. You couldn't help but smile while the others commented on whether or not it was advisable to wait in the autumn cold for the bus.

You saw Aegon at the party, being silly as always. He had sent you a photo in which he said that they were waiting for you. You continued typing and answering emails until the departure time was given. You grabbed your shoulder bag ready to leave that place for a whole weekend. You always loved Fridays. They meant not having to put up with one more customer.

“Let's go have something to drink tomorrow?” Cristof asked as you passed the security cards to exit the building. All dressed in your jackets to avoid the cold, you waited for him to close the door. It was your obligation to close the building as you were the last to leave it.

"Impossible. I have to take socks to the vet,” Marga answered.

“It's not going to take you all day.” Cristof narrowed his eyes in amusement while Roy laughed right behind him.

“Y/N?” He asked you, almost hoping that you would say yes. You were a motley group that would never have gotten together if it hadn't been for that job.

“I can’t,” you laughed, not wanting to explain much more. Really, you couldn't and you didn't want to. You were especially excited about what was going to happen the next day. Seeing the look on Roy's face, you repeated again, “Not really. “Aegon’s brother is returning from a stay in the Summer Islands and we are all meeting up for lunch” you responded happily.

Aemond had always been your best friend. You hadn't seen him for two years, almost a little after you started dating Aegon. He had gotten a scholarship to do an international stay during his doctorate and he had accepted it without a second thought, without looking back. You couldn't help but miss him, but you were happy for him. That's what was going through your head, it wasn't as if... you had always been friends, since high school. He had never hinted at anything and neither have you.

“Is that the one who is missing one eye, has long hair and is always smoking?” Marga asked, shrugging her shoulders.

“Marga, don't be rude,” Irmi reprimanded him when she saw the same sad and confused face that you had made, as if it had been a low blow to define him as the guy who was missing an eye.

“If there is one like him there,” the woman said while pointing with her head, right behind you. You turned around while your heart was going a mile an hour, while you didn't think that her words could be true, but you felt like your world stopped, right at the sight of him.

He was there.

Aemond Targaryen.

After two fucking years, he was just there. Leaning against his car, the same one you had seen during those two years parked at the family residence. He was just blowing out the smoke from the last puff he had just taken. Always dressed in black, from head to toe. His black leather jacket, his turtleneck sweater of the same color. Aemond had never been one to change his style, but you could see how in those two years he had stopped wearing his tall military boots and was now wearing black shoes that cost the same as your entire month's salary. A very expensive and new rolex on his wrist… otherwise it was him. It was just him.

Your companions stayed behind you as you ran to hug him. You couldn't see it, but the corners of Aemond's lips curled into a smile. The smile that his always stoic face had wanted to give you but had never dared. “See you on Monday,” you heard one of your workmates say while the others said goodbye to each other, but you didn't care. He was there. He was there.

“But, what are you doing here?” You smiled at him sincerely, because in those two years not a single day had passed in which you hadn't missed him. He was your best friend. It always had been. “You were arriving tomorrow. You were arriving tomorrow” that stupid smile did not leave your lips. Your hands patted his chest affectionately and he smiled. His single purple eye fixed on yours.

“The flight was early,” he lied. Aemond had never heard of a flight coming forward. Just that they were late, but he had taken the first one that was available. A feeling of indescribable warmth filled his heart, as nothing had filled it for two years. You punched him in the chest again as you hugged him again. Aemond could feel you close your eyes snuggled into his chest and he wrapped his arms around you. His aroma of coffee and cigarettes mixed with that perfume he always wore filled your nostrils, bringing back memories of a time that had undoubtedly been better than the one you were living in then.

“Yes, but what are you doing here?” You laughed again.

“Waiting for you to come out,” he shrugged with a smile you had rarely seen on his face. A truly genuine smile. “I arrived at Aegon's house and you weren't there. Helaena told me you were still at work” he sighed “So, do you work here?” He asked with a shrug, looking at the spot where you had ended up. He would never be the one to say it out loud, but you didn't deserve more. You had studied for much, much more. However, it was the job you had decided to have. Aegon had gotten you the job. All his influences had reached that place and you had accepted it gratefully because you needed the money, not for anything else.

“Have you come to look for me?” you asked in disbelief, ignoring his question. In two and a half years of their relationship, Aegon had not gone a single day. In truth, you had always fantasized about him coming for you. Up in his car, sunglasses on and ready to take you anywhere you want. However, it had never happened and you had told yourself that it was simply because he was tired from work, or that it didn't matter... or that you didn't deserve it... But, Aemond had gone. He was there, like you had always dreamed that your boyfriend would do.

“You wouldn't make it in time to see the fireworks if I wasn't here,” he said, trying to make light of the matter. He opened the passenger seat door in an almost theatrical manner and you got in. Just as he closed the door he told himself that this was going to be the big night. He needed to do it. He had been needing it for two and a half years. Since the same day he had taken that flight to a foreign university that had little or nothing to do with his field of study.

“It's not something that fascinates me either,” you sighed, exhausted and tired after such a long day. You fastened the seat belt and Aemond opened the driver's door, just after he had nervously stubbed his cigarette against the sidewalk. Frankly, fireworks didn't fascinate you. They had never done it. As a child you had been terrified by the roar that stirred in your chest every time one exploded. As an adult you had been bored by the always repeated pattern of the same in that small town near the landing that had so little to offer.

“I brought you something,” Aemond smiled. You weren't used to seeing him smile so much. Those two years away from home, away from everything he knew, must have been good for him. He took out two small packages that he placed on your lap. “Open it, please,” he finished as he watched your eyes light up. In the middle of that industrial estate, was that the best place he had found to give you his gifts? He martyred himself. Nothing was going as he had planned, but he had also imagined you in a completely different scenario.

“You shouldn't have bothered,” you replied. You chose the smallest of the packages first and opened it delicately. Aemond heard you laugh as he started the car engine. His face showed a grimace of relief. At least He was still thanking you for those nonsense. “How did you remember?” you laughed as you held up the fridge magnet he had brought you.

“I remembered the refrigerator at your parents' house,” he lied. He just remembered how you were always amazed at the refrigerator in his family's house. Full of the magnets of the places they had traveled to. Aemond knew you never spoke it but you had always been envious of those who could really travel. As far as your best friend knew, you had never left the small town where you lived, except on the occasional occasion to see or visit King's Landing. “I guess you can put it in your new refrigerator” he tried to smile, but it didn't come naturally. He didn't dare look at you. He had seen Aegon's new apartment before he came to find you. He had imagined which side of the huge bed in the bedroom you would lie on, how you would cook dinner with his brother while you smiled at him and he did something stupid... he had imagined how you would make love anywhere in it... without any ties... and then he had died of jealousy.

“What refrigerator?” You asked, completely confused, and he simply looked away from the road for a moment, as if hope was returning to his gaze again.

“The one in the kitchen of your new house?” Aemond wanted to affirm, but it all came out simply as a question.

“Oh, that.” You said pursing your lips in an embarrassed manner. “Aegon is going to become independent, but he hasn't told me anything about living together so…” you looked ahead. You didn't want anyone to see the pain that situation caused you. Your boyfriend had bought the apartment of his dreams, but you had not entered into the equation for a single moment. You had thought that the topic of living together would come up during the renovation, then you had imagined it would happen while you were helping him choose the furniture and then you had expected it during the first night that you had dined there alone, the two of you. He hadn't shown up and you had simply closed the topic with a sheepish smile every time someone asked you about it. Because you, like the others, knew that the normal thing would have been for you to go live with him. You could have told her, but saying things was never in the plans of a girl who was too shy and complacent.

Aemond ignored the comment. He thought it was best not to pick at the wound, but he couldn't help but smile with satisfaction. So you and Aegon were not as well off as he had assumed. At that moment, a small part of himself hated himself strongly. What kind of friend was happy because things weren't right between you and his brother? Well, he was the kind of friend who had had a crush on you since high school, the kind of friend who had taken the scholarship that took him as far away as possible from the girl he liked and who had decided to date his lazy older brother, the kind of friend who hadn't texted you in two years under the guise of being busy but had sought you out in every woman he'd ever been with. He was that kind of friend.

“I'll put it on the blackboard at the job” you smiled, trying to recover from that blow. “I have a whiteboard full of notes in the cubby and I always have problems with magnets,” you smiled. Always grateful. How could someone like Aegon take down a girl like that? You opened the shoulder bag and put the magnet inside, but not before wrapping it so it wouldn't break.

“There is another one,” Aemond told you without giving it importance. However, he was dying of shame. That gift did make him feel indescribable. He didn't know what he had been thinking while choosing such a gift. It had been a simple impulse at a summer night market. While he was drunk, more than he had ever been in his entire life. He was lying. In those moments he was lying. Of course he knew why he had taken it. It was for you. At that time he had only thought about spending a couple of months clarifying his ideas on the island. He had only dragged it out because he didn't dare come back and see you and Aegon. It was beyond his strength.

He heard a small gasp just as he finished listening to you open the other small package. He smiled while not taking his eyes off the road. “Aemond, it's beautiful,” you replied in a sigh. A blue beaded necklace rested on your lap. All blue. Sapphire blues, just the way he liked them, but there was something about the patterns on the necklace that made your heart sing. That was what you always liked about traveling, bringing things from the place. Not just a souvenir, this was much more, much more than Aemond would ever confess to you. It was everything that the woman who had sold it to him had explained to him.

“I'm glad you like it” he finally stopped the car. He had found parking in front of Aegon's house. He had already reached his final goal. Now he would start pretending that he was happy for you, for his brother, for your relationship...

“How does it look on me?” You woke him up from his thoughts, you had just put on the necklace with a smile and your eyes looked at him lit up while you smiled, a wide, perfect smile.

Aemond could not speak. He was only able to swallow saliva. His single eye scrutinized you silently. You were beautiful. You had worn his necklace. His necklace. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, almost as if he were going to destroy it. His knuckles white. His fists tense. He looked at your lips. He was going to kiss them. He had had that one thought every night for two years. He was thinking of bowing. Close his eye and savor you...

Someone banged on the window of his car, breaking him out of his own fantasy. His sister Helaena and his boyfriend, Cregan Stark, were both out. “Heyyy” Helaena greeted, completely happy and excited to see her brother. Aemond watched you unbuckle your seatbelt excitedly and you got out of the car. He did it too, although in a much worse way. He closed the door rudely and Cregan looked at him, raising an eyebrow questioningly while you greeted Helaena. Aemond knew what his sister's boyfriend thought. There the boy with anger problems from high school came to light. Aemond already controlled any attack like that, but the memory of everyone who had experienced it was still very present among them.

“Aem,” his sister greeted him again, as if she had not seen him in those two years when she had been the only one along with her mother who had visited him on the summer islands. Furthermore, he had already seen him when he got off the plane and he was the one who had taken him to the family home after the trip. A small part of Aemond hated his sister's meddling.

“It looks like she hasn’t seen you in decades,” Cregan laughed and Aemond released his sister from his neck. Cregan shook his girlfriend's hand and you remained in the discreet background. At that moment, Aemond also wanted to hold your hand, intertwine his fingers with yours as you headed to watch the fireworks. But, you weren't his girl, you were Aegon's girl.

The four of you walked to the portal of that luxury building in the middle of the city. Helaena kept asking Aemond about his trip, but he couldn't help but glance at how now all your attention had returned to your mobile phone. You half-heartedly checked your social networks. You didn't seem very excited about the prospect of seeing the fireworks. In reality, you were too tired during the day and having to share the end of it with Aegon's friends you couldn't stand didn't help the outlook.

“My God, that's me” you laughed half-heartedly when you saw yourself in the elevator mirror as you went up to the 20th floor of that luxury building. The last one, from where you could see the entire city and where Aegon now had his new dream apartment, in which you were not going to live.

“It's normal that you are tired. I don't know how you put up with that job” Helaena commented while Cregan nodded his head. “I don't know what Aegon thinks letting you stay in a place like this,” your boyfriend's sister shrugged her shoulders. “He has enough money to support you both and a good job…” he began without any malice, but then Cregan whispered in his ear.

“Hel, we've already talked about this a thousand times,” her boyfriend commented, a whisper that you barely heard, but that set off all of Aemond's alarms. He also wouldn't have let you be in a job that was obviously destroying you, not with all the money they enjoyed. He would take care of you. That's what was said...

“I just prefer to be financially independent,” you smiled again, in a polite manner. You didn't want Aegon to pay for any of your whims. Absolutely none, but it was true that the Targaryens had always seen it differently. Helaena had stopped working the same day she had gone to live with Cregan and their mother, Alicent, you doubted that she had ever worked in something other than taking care of her children. They were traditional. Everyone had very marked gender roles and… that's why everyone had expected that you and Aegon would have lived together, but that wasn't the case. Sometimes you thought about whether you and Aegon had some kind of...future.

“You're beautiful,” Aemond whispered in your ear and you smiled at him again. Helaena looked at you out of the corner of her eye. It was obvious that you were dating the wrong Targaryen. But, Aemond had never been brave enough to confess in all those years during high school, not even during university... the elevator finally stopped, but Aemond continued with his only eye fixed on you. You laughed as the door opened and you walked away from him, but that grimace with his lips half open and a mischievous smile showed Helaena that Aemond had not returned with the intention of just being your friend.

You were the one who pressed the bell, waiting for Aegon to open the door, and Helaena watched as Aemond stood right behind you, placing his hand on your lower back, in a protective movement. You didn't say anything. You were always too polite, but you weren't single. When you and Aemond had been in high school you hadn't minded gestures like that, in college neither, you had even appreciated them, but... now you were with Aegon.

Aegon opened the door, as always with a drink in his hand, inside you could already see a large crowd of people that Aegon called friends and the noise of the music was already strident. “My dragon girl” he smiled seductively at you, ignoring the others. Aemond entered the house rolling his one eye in annoyance and Helaena and Cregan followed him while you continued with a silly smile looking at him. The truth was that whenever he looked at you like that and used that tone of voice you fell apart just for him. Attraction. That was the only thing that had kept that relationship afloat. It was what you feared. “Are you staying over tonight? “To ride your dragon?” Aegon whispered to you. His breath already smelled of alcohol and Aemond pursed his lips as he left his coat on the coat rack in the hall. Was that his brother's best way to seduce you?

"Do not be silly. Of course I'm going to stay the night” you smiled at him, hitting him lightly on the chest, with an embarrassed smile. Aegon smelled of sweat and alcohol, but that didn't seem to matter to you. You had gotten used to it and took the lazy mood of the eldest Targaryen as normal.

“How pretty.” Aegon ran his fingers over the necklace Aemond had brought you. Just getting on his younger brother's nerves. His fingers handling each of the beads, without any shame. “Have you been to the stands at the fair?” He smiled at you. He was so drunk that Aemond doubted he could stand much longer, but of course he could when it came to partying, Aegon could always stand.

“Aemond brought it to me from the Summer Islands” you smiled and saw how Aegon smiled a superb smile. Of course he brought it to you. He turned to look at his brother, who at that moment took his one eye away from the two of you.

“Thank you, little brother. It's very nice what you brought for my girlfriend” he laughed cheekily, marking his territory. It seemed that the only one who didn't realize that Aemond was crazy about you was you.

“Hmm” was all you heard Aemond say as he turned and disappeared into the party. Aegon left too and you closed the door to Aegon's new house. They had both left you alone. Alone but surrounded by people. Helaena looked into the distance. Aegon was stupid to leave you alone, but Aemond was even more stupid. His pride got the best of him and he just missed a brilliant opportunity to be alone with you.

That night, Aemond Targaryen planned to confess, because the only thing that was clear to him in his life was that he could no longer hide what he felt for you.

[genderqueerdykes]

How can i find queer spaces irl? clubs arent really my thing, but its all i can find thats around me

good question!

this one can be tough, as bars/clubs are usually what come up the most readily when searching on google maps and social media. they can and do have days where the atmosphere is calmer but i still don't like being in bars. i think there may be some options for you, depending on your area

i would recommend checking your library if you can, a lot of the time they will advertise queer events if there are any going on in the area. if not they often times have information on local queer organizations. if you are unable to do this, universities usually have good lists of local queer events and spaces. usually people are going to say LGBT (event) so phrasing it that way may help a bit. but regardless universities often have groups that are open to the public so you may be able to find support there, or at least suggestions on where to look

you may have transgender resource or gay or lesbian resource centers in your area. you may have some type of organization that helps local queer folk get in touch with things like HRT, top surgery, drag shows, art/zine nights, when local queer businesses are hosting events and so on. if you use instagram or facebook, they are very good for finding these types of events if you search for lgbt (your area) and "local lgbt events", those kinds of things

you can also try to take a look at if you have a pride parade/event in June, you can try to find the information about who is organizing it and what types of organizations and businesses show up to those kinds of things. you may be able to find local social media pages that post about local queer events. sometimes it's something simple like a queer operated coffee or ice cream shop holding socials with reduced prices, for example. in a lot of places, there are spaces for queer minors who need somewhere to go away from alcohol, drugs, uncomfortable contact with adults, and so on

it can be harder to find spaces for adults that don't involve or contain alcohol which makes it difficult for someone like me who has a lot of trauma with that and bars. however, sometimes you can find small political organizations or even art collectives, who use parts of their buildings as queer hangout and event spaces. it's going to depend heavily on your area, so the best you can do is search for "lgbt events in my area" and "lgbt (your city)", things of that nature, as well as trying to keep an eye out for businesses you see when your'e out and about who have LGBT flags inside or outside. if they have even 1 progress pride flag it's worth asking if they can tell you about other LGBT businesses in your area or if they do any collaborations with other queer places and events

i hope any of that helps or makes sense. some places, people can find queer spaces very easily- in big urban cities in California like San Francisco, for example, has a lot of queer historical locations, political organizations, casual hangout spots, advocacy groups, resource centers, and more. some places may only have one or two spots where they can safely meet, and a lot of people are somewhere in the middle. good luck, i know it's not easy, but i hope you find something that works for you

folks are welcome to contribute any ideas they may have. take care for now!

[myfavouritelunatic]

More Painful Sacrifices - Chapter Five

I got myself in the feels with this one! Here is that epic fight with the added context of this fic. I really hope you enjoy it!

She knew many perils would lay on the path towards the foe she sought to find her life with. But she did not expect to encounter at every turn, a reason not to join with him.

Sauron’s influence was everywhere. In the uruk camp as she watched Adar perform funeral rites for his fallen children; in Arondir’s eyes as he considered laying down his life for vengeance that was caused by more vengeance; in the destruction of Eregion itself.

But none were so utterly devastating and heartbreaking, as the moment Galadriel laid her eyes upon Celebrimbor.

He was an elf in ruins. The very physical embodiment of her inner torment. She wept for him for she knew keenly everything he felt. The deception, the betrayal. The loss of a love of some kind. She could see that in his eyes, hear it in his voice as he described what Sauron had done to him. And in that moment she was compelled to admit to him how he had made her suffer. How she had let it happen.

It was only when the sound of Sauron screaming echoed down from the tower to her ears that she was reminded of the true purpose of her visit. She had come here for him. To be at his side. But after all she had seen… was it simply too late to join with him?

“It is him.” Celebrimbor spoke, bringing her out of her brief reverie. “Hurry. The old dwarven tunnel. I used it to enter the city undetected. It will bear you and the rings far from here.” Galadriel wanted to save Celebrimbor, to spare him of any further pain. Pain she expected awaited her now when she entered the tower to face her love. But the greatest of elven smiths refused her. He implored her to flee. “Take the rings, save anyone in the city you can! Hurry!” “No. I will not let you face him alone!” Galadriel pleaded with him, knowing what fate awaited him if he remained.

“I… I built this city. My place is here.” “And he will not be alone.” An elven commander spoke as the group of soldiers stood ready to answer the call. More that were doomed to die. Galadriel’s heart ached greatly. “I’m sorry I brought him here. I’m sorry I wasn’t stronger.” “Neither of us was strong enough. There might not be anyone in Middle-earth who is.” Celebrimbor pointed out rather bleakly, but Galadriel watched the hope in him remain alive, hope that would endure forever as he spoke his next words.

“But perhaps, the elves need only remember that it is not strength that overcomes darkness, but light. Armies may rise, hearts may fail, yet still, light endures, and it is mightier than strength. For in its presence, all darkness must flee. Namárië.”

The she-elf was stunned in her grief as she watched the small elven troop escort Lord Celebrimbor to where the Deceiver awaited. A final march. A funeral procession, for them all.

Concealing the pouch of rings against her breast, Galadriel was resolute. As much as she wanted to go to Sauron in this moment, to Halbrand, there was no world in which she would dishonour the last words Celebrimbor would ever speak to her.

So she ran.

Scouring every part of the city she could find on her way, by the time the sun rose again, Galadriel had amassed a small gathering of elves to lead to safety. At last out of the city, and hoping that all the uruk were behind them, the group were dismayed to discover that was not the case, and Galadriel once again offered up her own life to spare others.

Taken to him once more, she spied Adar in the distance, kneeling against a rock in an almost prayer-like manner. “Leave us.” He commanded his children. “I accept your terms, Uruk. I have what Sauron seeks. End this slaughter, and I will do as you asked. I will help you destroy him.”

Destroy Sauron yes, but not Halbrand. Galadriel would find a way to sunder him from the dark lord that persisted within him. Allying herself with Adar would help her achieve that and put an end to all of this loss and violence. Though she did not even know if it would be possible, to separate her greatest love from her greatest enemy. But she had to try. After seeing what he had done to Celebrimbor… this was the only way forward she now saw, the only way she would be able to be at Halbrand’s side.

For darkness must flee from the light.

As now it had seemed to have done from Adar as he wore her ring.

Galadriel was awestruck by the sight of him looking like the elf he once was. Part of her heart sang to see him returned to his original and beautiful form, and part of it also wept for him and what he had lost. But he spoke to her as one who was proud of the scars he bore, the title, the name he had earned. Adar was changed by the ring, changed by all of the bloodshed he had helped wrought. It was astonishing.

He took off the ring and proffered it to her. “Take it. Help me vanquish Sauron with it. And I swear to you, I will recall my children to Mordor. Never to make war on Middle-earth again.” Galadriel could not believe what she was hearing, but she was so glad for it. “I have slain more of your children than any elf alive.” She couldn’t help but point out, feeling a guilt now overcome her. “I forgive you.” Adar spoke with an elven tongue. And as he continued to speak of Nenya changing things forever between elves and uruk, Galadriel let her ring slip back to its home on her finger. Reunited at last, she felt her spirit swell with enrichment, and a peace as lasting as the one Adar spoke of seemed not only possible without, but achieved within.

But this moment of peace ended before it could even bloom. More uruk arrived, carrying one of their own who seemed to lay dying. Galadriel stood and watched Adar go to his child to comfort them in their final moments, which tragically and suddenly were twisted into his final moments.

Adar was betrayed.

The lord father, slain now by his own children.

Nothing but the sounds of sliced flesh filled her ears until–

“Galadriel.”

She gasped and her body stiffened. Sauron. He was here. Fully. Truly. Himself.

He wandered slowly over to where Adar lay dying, Galadriel taking in his appearance, dismayed by how decidedly un-Halbrand like it was. Dark robes and armour. Long blonde hair with pointed ears peaking through. But it wasn’t until he turned around once Adar was dead, that she truly saw him.

His face. Halbrand’s face. There but hidden, shrouded by the guise of Sauron. Her heart was filled with so many emotions, so many things she wished to say to him, wished to beg of him, but most of all, she wanted to understand him. “All this… was your design from the beginning?” “Please… you think too much of me.”

Galadriel… here at last… so close… A voice in her mind. The intent unclear.

“The road goes ever winding. Not even I can see all its paths.”

The only path I saw was you coming to me, elf… It was Halbrand’s voice. Be at my side, my love.

Hearing him speak within her angered her, confused her. How could Halbrand enter her mind when Nenya rested on her hand? What was Sauron doing to her? It had to stop, one way or another. Galadriel seized the moment, Sauron with his back turned to her and kneeling over Adar’s body, and picked up a sword moving quickly to strike.

He expected this. Defending her blow with ease, and with the crown he longed to wear. But his eyes caught something he longed for more.

Her ring.

“It is even more beautiful than Celebrimbor lead me to believe.”

The ring I sought to place on your finger. The ring I wished to create for you. To see it on your hand… fills me with such joy.

“Give it to me.”

His contradiction pained her, and she could sense the parts of him she loved and loathed warring inside them both. Galadriel assaulted him with her blade but it was brief. Sauron circled around her. “Give me your ring… and the nine. It is not my wish to harm you.”

Nor do I.

“Do you wish to heal me?” She retorted, speaking only to the Deceiver. “I wish to heal… all Middle-earth.” “As you have healed Eregion?” Galadriel spat in mockery, feeling her anger for the loss of the once great elven realm. Then they continued to spar, to meet each other with their blades, to what end however, was unknown. All Galadriel could do was hope for her love to overcome the hate that was festering in all directions.

He wounded her, more than once, he kicked her down to the ground, but the Commander of the Northern Armies continued to stand. She fought for not only herself, or for the man she loved, but for all Middle-earth, and she would not rest until her victory was secured.

Using his crown, Sauron locked them into a temporary stalemate. “Galadriel…” He spoke her name and moved his blade closer to her throat. “Surely you of all elves must understand… that to find the light, we must first touch the darkness.” His might then moved her back against the rocks behind them, but still, she fought.

“We are not alike, we never were! It was just another of your illusions!” She spoke to Sauron, hurt that he would remind her of that moment he used her brother’s likeness to manipulate her, to twist his words. But she knew Halbrand was real. She felt it. There was no other way to explain it. He could not have been false. The feelings in her heart were not so, they were not made of any illusion. Every time she had seen him with her own eyes, all she had felt was peace, all she had felt was love. It was inside of him, he was inside of him somewhere. All Galadriel had to do was pull him out.

Like he had once her out of the sea.

It was all she could send him now with her eyes as they were locked in this conflict, and staring back at her, Sauron spoke in truth, with Halbrand’s voice.

“Not all of it.”

Close, she was getting so close to setting her love free. She could feel it. Continuing her assault, Galadriel gained the upper hand, kicking him now and sending him flying over the rocks to the ground below. She followed, jumping down after him, and was met with a sight she was almost entirely undone by.

Halbrand.

Halbrand was there, was here, in his armour once more, gazing longingly up at her. Galadriel could almost not believe it. Had she done it? Had she set him free of the great evil?

He rose and stepped to tower over her.

Galadriel… I’m here…

“Fighting at your side… I felt if I could just hold onto that feeling…”

Repeating more words previously shared, making a mockery out of the moment when Galadriel finally allowed herself to feel and no longer deny what she carried for him. Sauron was using it, making the one real thing she still held onto into something it was not. Making it an illusion.

Why are you doing this? She called out to the Deceiver with her mind. Why are you hurting me? With no response, she attacked Sauron again, her temper boiling as he blocked her strikes and backed away from her with ease, shedding the form of her love.

He then appeared to her as herself, which angered her even more, and then, as the now departed Celebrimbor. Hurling words at her like arrows, each one piercing her heart deeper. But Sauron used his strength to gain another advantage over her, collapsing the rock beneath their feet, sending them both tumbling to the earth.

The battle was beginning to take a physical toll on Galadriel, not only a mental one. She crawled across the dried ground towards her sword, but Sauron, in his darkened form once again, kicked it out of her reach. “I see you… I know your mind.”

And I know your heart, Galadriel. She wished she found Halbrand’s voice healing, but now, the further this went on, it was more like salt filling her wounds.

Finding the will to stand, the she-elf stood and watched as Sauron turned around to face her. “The door is still open.” He reminded her, offering partnership to her once more. He smiled. His face was soft and inviting. Tempting. She could not deny she had been tempted, that she was tempted. But all that had been reduced to now was the longing for the smith, the king within the dark lord that had set her heart aflame.

So to Sauron she declared definitively, “The door is shut.”

Sending him flying back into a stone pillar, their fighting recommenced, with Galadriel driven more than ever to put an end to it all. And so was Sauron it seemed, as his own temper flared, his rage coupled with his disappointment in his failure to win her over. He screamed at her as he laid into her, no longer the calculating and effortless fighter she had begun this duel with. Galadriel could not deny a part of her was pleased to see that, for once, she was affecting him. She even landed a wound upon his cheek.

But it was not long before Sauron’s strength proved simply too great.

Up against a column of stone, Galadriel’s sword was once again locked against his crown. All it took was one push, and one of its spikes penetrated deep into her flesh.

She heard Halbrand cry out in her mind.

Though the pain for her was overwhelming. She could do nothing but whimper and let tears fall as Sauron moved that spike inside of her.

What have you done? She called to him. No answer. The door was closed.

“I would have placed a crown upon your head. I would never have rested, until all Middle-earth had been brought to its knees, to worship the light of its queen.”

He was speaking to her now as if that offer had been rescinded. That it was too late. But the fire that burned for her within his eyes… the part of Halbrand within Sauron… she knew that he still meant it. He had said he did not wish to harm her. If he had wanted her dead, he could have placed Morgoth’s crown directly into her heart. No, this was the very summit of his anger. Sauron was punishing her, with his words and this crown, for her choice not to align with him, and also perhaps, for her choosing Halbrand over him.

Reminding her that only pain and suffering can exist when she is not by his side. Just as he had told her all along, in the moments when he first visited her in Adar’s camp. It was true. It was why she relented to come to him in the first place. But it was only Halbrand that she wanted, all along. Sauron sensed this and twisted the crown in her chest, sending a sharp and burning pain searing through her entire being.

He smiled down at her in her agony. Feral. Enraptured. A master at work.

Galadriel found what little strength she possessed in this moment, to retort back to Sauron, to make arrows now with her own words. “The free peoples of Middle-earth… will always resist you.” And though it worked, it was the she-elf who saw her wound worsen. Sauron used the crown to drag her across the stone at her back, breathing heavily as he did so, before ripping it out of her, leaving her no choice but to collapse to the ground.

Galadriel… hold on… hold on to me… bind yourself to me… Galadriel…

Halbrand’s voice was faint, as was her spirit. She could barely move. Not even enough to stop Sauron from picking up the pouch she had hoped he would never grasp. “The rings are mine.” He declared, but his victory was tainted by the sounding of dwarven horns down below. Galadriel smiled to herself, finding at last some good in this day.

The Deceiver did not move, and Galadriel sat herself up to witness the marching of Durin’s army into the city, before turning her gaze upward as Sauron called to her in her mind. Give me your ring.

His pull was mighty, and she got to her feet once more, compelled by her own will, and his.

Galadriel. Your ring.

His words in her mind made her wonder... perhaps it was his proximity to her physically that amplified his ability to penetrate her thought? Or was it because, even with her ring, Galadriel wanted to let him in? A subconscious desperation, an attempt to allow any path to Halbrand possible to be tread?

She gazed at Sauron now with a mixture of heartache and hope. But did he want her? Or only Nenya?

I want you, Galadriel. Only you. Halbrand spoke to her. Your light, remember? Your love.

Knowing this with all certainty, she slowly raised her hands up to remove from her the part that Sauron seemed to desire. Leaving only her.

And he would get neither.

“You wish to heal Middle-earth?” Galadriel asked him, goading him. He replied with a smile, a warm gesture that did nothing to conceal the coldness within. Then before she could tip the small silver object into his hand, she closed her fist around it.

“Heal yourself.”

Those two words were uttered as a command. For if Sauron did so, then Halbrand could truly exist. Then she could be by his side. But until that day, all she could do was fall away from him. The last thing Galadriel saw before she plummeted off the cliff was Sauron’s shocked face, his arm reaching out for her.

She felt her heart tear completely.

But her body hit the ground before her tears could.

[goatbeard-goatbeard]

Sure, Aziraphale lives in Soho and is THE southern pansy. But I’ve met multiple people in my own neighborhood who match Crowley’s exact description:

older trans/gnc person

military vet

living in their car

I cannot stress enough what a common combo that is, particularly for older trans folks. In my area, you can see the split between people who transitioned 10+ years ago vs. now, what kinds of experiences they had. There’s still a ways to go, but things have gotten dramatically better.

If you want to make things better even faster, vote in local elections.*

(that’s right, you’ve been tricked into reading a ✨🗳️ Voting Post 🗳️✨! Discover your civic obligations, fool!)

But seriously though, local politicians have TONS of influence on housing policy, and they really don’t hide their opinions. Even if their housing plans are awful, they’ll be easy to find on their campaign website.

They actually want to advertise those shitty plans, because those shitty plans are aimed at homeowners. Homeowners (1) have a stable address and (2) often worry about their home value. Both those factors make them super reliable voters.

Unfortunately, the “but my home value” folks always get riled up by low/no-cost housing. They’ll say it’s about “the character of the neighborhood”, but really, any increase in housing supply impacts the demand for their home investment. They also don’t want people visibly sleeping outside, so the combined effect is a neighborhood that blocks housing and harasses people for the crime of… peacefully sleeping in their car.

Whatever housing makes it through will often be too far away from necessary amenities or too busy/loud for folks with multiple overlapping traumas, whether from family or the jobs they took to get away from family (e.g. military).

But again, this is all very local politics, so you can outvote the Home Values crowd with a little bit of organizing!

For example: after voting, share your notes with your friends.** You have to research the candidates anyway, so why not pass around a little voter guide when you’re done?

List who you’re voting for in each position, and what info you saw that made you pick/avoid each person (this will also make your life easier the next time that person’s up for election). Even a very basic, bullet-point list can be the difference between someone forgetting the election date and filling out their entire ballot.*** Now instead of 1 vote, you’re moving a small handful of votes, which can have a big impact in local elections.

Also, creating a voter guide is surprisingly fun. There are some real characters in local politics, and you get to dunk on all their wacky policy ideas in your notes. An official voter guide will never say “<candidate name>: wtffffffffff”. But yours can!

*remember that local elections may happen more often than big-ticket elections. Search “<city name> election dates” and put reminders in your phone for a couple weeks before important deadlines, so you have time to research stuff.

**especially younger friends who may be less confident about voting their whole ballot, or unaware of different deadlines.

***this is one of the reasons why Christian conservatives are overrepresented in politics — they’re inherently organized because they already meet weekly (or more). It’s very easy for them to remind each other to vote. But we can steal this strategy! Don’t have a megachurch? That’s ok, remind your discord server to vote. Don’t have a Bible study? That’s ok, remind your D&D group, your boardgame group, or your knitting circle to vote.

[trans-axolotl]

Hi - I am planning to move to a large city soon and I desperately want to get involved with community organizing, mutual aid, protests, etc but I have 0 experience beyond attending a few small protests over the years. I've only ever lived in a small suburb and none of the people currently in my life are involved in anything. Do you have any advice for how to get materially involved for someone who doesn't know what that looks like? Is it a matter of networking via attending events, that kind of thing? Apologies if this is a silly question, I'm going to try my best to figure it out on my own but I feel extremely inexperienced and uninformed.

Not a silly question at all! So many times I see people telling other people "go out and get involved" like that's something that's really simple but there can be a lot more steps to making that happen! I'll share some general tips that have worked for me in the cities I've worked with, and other followers feel free to add on with relevant advice in your city.

One thing that was really hard for me when I first moved to a new city is that I didn't know anyone, so it was hard to find out what groups even existed. Because I didn't know anyone, I also didn't have anyone to vouch for me, and there are a lot of groups that (understandably) need people to vouch for you because of police infiltrators and other bad actors.

I think my biggest advice is to try to find a group with open membership, even if it isn't the thing you're the most passionate about, and start showing up regularly in order to get connected with other people. In my area, the groups that are most easy to get involved with are mutual aid groups and outreach groups. Particularly, if Food Not Bombs has a chapter in your area, in my experience they've been a lot easier to get involved with than some other groups. A lot of harm reduction groups in my area have things like supply kit packing nights, which are SUCH a great way for new people to get involved and meet people without having to make a huge commitment. Keeping an eye out for one time events like that, or other events like teach-ins about specific topics, can be a great way to get your foot in the door and start meeting more people who can connect you with organizing in the city. You can also go and access the services from a mutual aid group or Food Not Bombs group if those are relevant for you! A lot of groups will have days they do outreach that they'll post on social media, or other ways to get in contact. A lot of the ways I've gotten involved in harm reduction organizing is because I'll go to syringe exchange drop-in hours to get needles for myself, and then ask the people working how I can volunteer with them. From there, you might be able to get connected with groups that might have more intensive onboarding processes.

I also think it's really helpful to start showing up to protests and trying to get familiar with what groups are active in your city, but I think that's a hard way to meet new people, since a lot of people understandably have a lot of additional security concerns at protests and might not want to give out their name or contact info in that environment. But it can be a great way to get more familiar with the patterns of action in your new city and figure out what orgs to trust and what orgs to avoid. And once you're more involved in other orgs, it can be easier to find a crew of people to go to protests with.

In order to find out what all these groups are and when protests are happening, I usually go to instagram and start trying to follow as many organizations as I can. I usually start by searching for groups that I think I know are going to exist, like food not bombs, the local chapter of Black Lives Matter, local chapter of Palestinian Youth Movement, and then start looking for city specific mutual aid orgs, harm reduction orgs, sex work advocacy orgs, books to prisons or letters to prisons project, mask blocs, street medic collectives, anarchist and prison abolitionist collectives, tenants unions, sexual violence advocacy orgs, disability orgs, LGBTQ orgs, etc.And then, I go into the followers tab for each of these orgs and find out what organizations they're following--that has really, really helped me start to be able to map who's active, who knows who, and usually at least some of those orgs will be active on Instagram and publicizing events, protests, outreach, donation drives, etc. Also, if there's a leftist bookstore or infoshop in your city, they might have a pretty good calendar of events and be a good way to get looped in. (most of the cities I've lived in haven't had that though lmfao).

I think my biggest advice is to not get discouraged if it takes some research to find groups with open memberships or if there are groups that you're interested in but can't join right away. I'd also say it's definitely helpful to think through what your interests are and what your skills are. Are you particularly passionate about a certain cause? Do you enjoy cooking and want to help prepare food for mutual aid? Do you like doing social media graphics? What resources do you have that you can bring to groups--access to craft supplies, free printing, a space to host events, medic skills, good at building things, etc? There's so many different types of groups to get involved in that are doing direct organizing work for so many different specific causes, and I'm sure you could bring a lot to whatever group you're passionate about.

One random thing that I do want to mention is that a lot of times when I see people answering this question, the advice they give is to get involved in orgs like DSA, PSL (Party for socialism and liberation/ANSWER coalition), or other branches of national orgs like that. I disagree with that advice and I don't actually think it's the most helpful way to meet people or get involved. Although I think DSA is better than PSL, I have my own political issues with DSA and REALLY really do not trust PSL at all because I think that PSL is a really bad actor who actively endangers people in every city I've organized where they're in. (Here's links to articles that describe some of the issues--trigger warning for sexual violence. Article 1. Article 2. I can go more in depth into my personal experiences in another post if needed) But beyond that, I don't always think that's the most helpful way to get looped into other things happening in your city or direct mutual aid or direct action work--I think groups like DSA and PSL often have a lot of other priorities like intra party dynamics, electoral politics, etc, and that other things like protesting or mutual aid work is often a secondary priority for those groups. The only reason I wanted to mention this is because I think that these groups do a lot of recruiting, and that oftentimes these groups are the most visible organizations with open membership for new people in a city to find. PSL in particular does a lot of predatory recruiting, in my experience. And I've had a lot of friends who originally joined groups like these to try to get connected and involved and ended up just sort of sucked into a lot of unrelated drama, so I just wanted to briefly mention that!

Overall, I think the biggest things that have helped me get really involved is just consistently showing up places and also doing research when I first move to a city. Once I was able to meet more people, I was able to get looped into more types of organizing, including more secure or involved organizing that I wasn't able to join when I first got to a new city.

I hope that helped, and please feel free to reach out with any other questions! If any other followers have tips, please add on!

[eretzyisrael]

by Noah Pollack

How hard would it have been on Sunday, given the quantity of police on hand, to move the Hamas group a safe distance away from the entrance to the synagogue and ensure freedom of entry and exit? And it’s not just that this was entirely possible—it’s that this would have been the right thing to do, consistent with basic American values. We don’t do heckler’s vetoes here, or mob rule, and we don’t let masked thugs push around good citizens in broad daylight. Or at least that’s what I thought.

It was only in talking to people on the outskirts of the protest that I learned that the event was still on—you just had to find the alleyway behind the synagogue and knock on the right door, and there’d be an armed security guard who would let you in. So we did end up attending—but through the back door. 

In the midst of all this, my wife arrived, and also first tried to go in the front door. She was also stopped by the police and told “You’re not going in and you have to leave this area.”

I guided her via text messages toward the alleyway entrance. It was only as we left the event that the street fighting really picked up in front of the synagogue and, later, in front of Jewish restaurants and establishments along Pico Boulevard. A friend of ours who owns a small kosher restaurant a block from Adas Torah texted us a picture that afternoon of her and her staff standing in front of their restaurant holding baseball bats and knives, ready to protect their business. I immediately thought of the rooftop Koreans during the L.A. riots. Why did it have to escalate like this? Because, as they have realized on elite college campuses and in blue cities across the country, anti-Israel activists understand that they enjoy something like immunity. They can’t murder or severely beat people, but pretty much all other criminality—vandalism, graffiti, trespassing, harassment—will go unpunished. It’s one thing to understand that from watching the news. It’s quite another to witness it—to have to rush your kids away from a synagogue because Hamas supporters are getting violent outside and the police are letting it happen.

The groups organizing and carrying out these regular campaigns of violence across the country are well known. They fundraise for and promote their criminal enterprise openly. They boast on social media about carrying out violence. Their assaults are documented on video from a dozen angles. They routinely break numerous state and federal civil rights and hate crime laws. They could be prosecuted under a half-dozen different statutes. But it never seems to happen. So it is very difficult to reach any other conclusion than this is all quite intentional.

If you think that’s unfair, just look at the statement released yesterday by Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass. She pledged to take three actions in response to the Pico pogrom: convene meetings, increase coordination between the LAPD and Jewish institutions, and ask for more state money for security. Notice anything missing? The mayor of Los Angeles isn’t even pretending that she will ask law enforcement to prosecute criminals who target Jews.

[foursaints]

I NEEEEEEEDDDD your Regulus Black hcs. What is he like in your head??? Is he a perfectionist???? Is he downright insane?????? Which Sturniolo brother is he????? I need details on EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!

omg to start im not really a Regulus Blogger... i love him ofc but hes usually only in the background to my rosekiller. and i love all the regulus characterizations i read (more than my own sometimes tbh)

my controversial take is that my reggie is tall 😔..... he's small growing up but now he's the same height as James. who has a sort of furious, lustful conniption every time he wants to make a snide comment and remembers that The Baby Black is now a perfectly grown 20-something with unimpressed eyes and the world's unfairest aristocratic jawline

he and sirius both have that ethereal, feylike house-black thing going on, except sirius is prettier and more striking and softer and more girlish. like snow white. regulus looks every part the conventional pureblood heir: dark and austerely handsome and fine-boned and patrician. the thickest eyelashes.

undisputed leader of his friend group but not on purpose. reggie sees himself as this unappealing boring loser (the opposite of sirius) but he just has this? ineffable main-character thrall? once he's in your life you just want to die for him

he didnt mean to have the skittles but reggie can't help collecting outcasts & freaks like hes putting easter eggs in a basket. they really love each other but sometimes i see the slytherins as being a far more exaggerated version of the marauders perceived "roles": regulus as james (undisputed leader), barty as sirius (sexy ride-or-die), rosier twins as remus & peter ("nerds" 1 & 2)

very very tender and sensitive. perhaps more so than sirius

my reg is fastidious and organized and ALLEGEDLY an insane compulsive control freak like evan rosier. he has repressed every emotion he's felt for the last two decades under a cooly unbothered facade. except the difference is evan never slips up and regulus is having hysterical meltdowns into $5 chili's bottomless margaritas at least a couple times a month.

like he's eating a pint of ice cream alone in his car scream-sobbing to Since U Been Gone after he broke up with barty for the 800th time. #evanwouldnever

much love and respect to grumpy emo regulus but that is not my reggie... my reg is an posh antisocial City Gay drinking an extra dry martini at a gallery opening on the upper east side and scowling. wearing a fuzzy cream sweater and $800 loafers with no socks. his back hurts and he wants to go home

i fully believe he could survive being dropped in the alaskan wilderness with 0 supplies he just seems like he'd do whatever it takes to Survive etc. just like crafting a spear with the most "it is what it is" look in his eyes. wouldn't even faze him.

my modern au regulus works running one of those little stuffed animal hospitals repairing teddy bears and thats really important to me, personally,

[bokettochild]

lol I’ll guess that u listened to Monster while writing that scene? And yes I love Christian music. I care about the lyrics I’m listening to so Christian is what I tend to fill my playlist w. Plus, since I’m a Christian myself I like to support those artists and know they exist bc they’re less common than secular music.

On a LU note, favorite genres per boy? And do they focus more on lyrics or melody?

Oh fantastic! I was a bit wary of suggesting just the Christian artists I grew up on, but I'm glad to hear you enjoy it too! I tend to be more careful with what I listen to as well, but sometimes you don't get a choice (and that sometimes is when your room-mate doesn't give a darn).

For the LU boys:

Hyrule doesn't have a lot of experience with music, but most of what he hears in his era is folk music, much of it passed down from Legend's era (or just straight up written by Legend). He'd enjoy most stringed instruments, I think, but especially because stringed instruments are the best for group songs (the musician can sing too) and he loves the sense of community the music creates.

Legend would be a mix of folk and work songs, since, again, it's something he would have grown up around. He'd be pretty versatile about music though, but I think his favorite instruments would be the piano and the violin/fiddle. Still I think blues and jazz would be something he's really enjoy as well, or just anything really soulful, although he'd have to be in the mood.

Twilight is a country boy, need I say more? He's a fiddler himself, I think, but the banjo and guitar are special too. Mouth organ is a maybe, sometimes it's too much for his ears, but the way it compliments other music is something he really enjoys. French horn is something he really lives though (since it plays so prominent a role in Ordon's music)

Sky is accustomed to the lyre and flute family, but I think he'd really enjoy communal music like Legend, Twilight, and Hyrule. He'd probably get a rush from rock, but only in small doses, as I really can't see this man being a metal head. If he had the chance to hear a full orchestra though, I think he'd be utterly blown away and just dazzled! Same with a proper choir performance. He feels like the type of guy who'd enjoy a vocal arrangement as much as an instrumental one.

Time is a rock man. 80's style dad rock. He cannonically says things like "groovy", so this is cannon to me. (also @cantankerouscanuck got me hooked on the idea). He likes softer music too, but his happy music is the heavier stuff. The ocarina may be what he;s known for, but this guy performed with the Indigo-Go's, he knows how to handle a guitar!

Wind is a pirate, so like Legend, he's used to working songs mostly, but I think he'd also enjoy rock, like most 13-year-olds do at one point or another LOL. He'd be mostly versatile though! Anything with a beat makes him happy mostly (RIP Wind, you would've loved rap)

Four isn't much of a musical person, as none of the colors can agree and the chaos is a bit much, but when split, let's just say that they cover the full spectrum of musical interests :)

Warriors is one that I headcannon to come from a poorer background, so instruments weren;t much of a thing where he's from. Vocal arrangements and folk music were common, but because I love the idea of a Celtic Captain, there was a piper who came to town once and a bit and the music was much adored by a young Wars. Now that he's come city side, he's very fond of piano, but that deep love of the pipes will never leave him <3

Wild isn't much used to music, but I think he just likes anything you can play on an accordion, since the association with Kass and the Rito makes him happiest. Don't tell me that they don't all adore and treat "the champion's descendant" like one of their own! Rito village is his home away from home, but Kass's music is a constant no matter where he is. He'd like other music, I think, especially "exotic" music like what we hear played in Gerudo Town (Naboris' Theme slaps!) but the accordion is the sound of home to him.