#idk i'm open to debate/argument on this (to a point) but this has moved from a personal gripe to

[mangled-by-disuse]

talking to friends about The Horrors, specifically the Trumpian Horrors, and, like

the more I consider it, the more I think that the best thing we outside the US can do - for ourselves, for the world, and for America as well - is to just holler to the fucking rooftops that AMERICA IS NOT THE WORLD.

By which I mean:

we do not let politicians, media, and our own social circles convince us that American issues are the only issues worth discussing;

we challenge politicians, media, and our own social circles on the politics of appeasement;

we challenge ourselves on the assumption that laws passed in the US affect us directly, and we do not place ourselves in American shoes;

we focus on our own shit. Not because it's more important, but because we need to remember that it still exists. Our eyes cannot be on the USA while the legislative and political rights in our own countries are eroded from under us.

we look to the rest of the world. We get used to viewing people who don't look like us, talk like us, or even like us as an equal and crucial part of the political landscape.

WE ARE LOUD ABOUT THIS. In politics, in activism, in social contexts, in our own assessment of our own politics, we remember and hold up that America is NOT the centre of the world, and that American hegemony is NOT inevitable.

This is not because I'm trying to undermine American struggles. This is because the Trump administration is strengthened and bolstered by every other country that chooses to suck the cock of American supremacy in the desperate attempt to maintain the last remnants of the old imperial order.

It is up to everyone in the world to challenge that, and to say: yeah, this fucking sucks, and we want America to be better, but we don't need America.

There are other markets. There are other allies and potential allies. There are other global powers (Personally I think we should try to dismantle global powers entirely, but, you know, one battle at a time) and there are other political shifts.

So much of the current rightward swing in the UK, at least, is directly modelled on MAGA to the point that it's the same movement, to the point where the branches of that movement feed power and influence to one another. You know what has consistently been one of the more successful tactics? Fucking reminding people that they are not, in fact, offering solutions to the problems Britain faces, because these are American solutions and we are not America.

idk it feels stupid to say this. it feels stupid to have to point out that Not Everywhere Is America, and it feels even stupider to think that this is something that needs pointing out to the systems of power. But the more I think about it, the surer I am that one of the tentpoles of American power, and therefore of Trump's power (in the US as well as beyond it!) is just... the willingness of so much of the world to say: yeah, sure, everything is America.

WE ARE NOT AMERICA.

AMERICA DOES NOT HAVE TO CONTROL US.

idk. maybe it won't change shit. but maybe yelling that at international power structures loudly enough - making noise about issues that are not American, focusing our efforts outside America, challenging American supremacy on the global stage - is, in fact, the most useful thing we can do.

[eight-cats-in-a-box]

Was wondering if I could request a little thing (idk what you'd call it like a drabble/story?) about Viktor and a reader who's also a scientist/big science nerd? Tysm!! And your Viktor works are SO cute I just binged them all hehe!! :3 🫶

oh my god I'm so sorry this took me so long

FINALLY HOPEFULLY OFF HIATUS THO

one viktor/scientist!reader coming up!

warnings: none except for my probably inaccurate science knowledge

format: HC's + drabble

He genuinely adores watching you work. Be it working together, or separately, or being banished to the Spinny Chair Of Shame(TM), he really likes seeing how you do things. The way you move through your process is almost mesmerizing to him, and he's accidentally fucked up his own stuff because he was too busy being in love.

If you're a fellow slime scientist, he'd love to compare notes! Seeing the conclusions you've drawn and debating each other on the discrepancies is probably one of his favorite activities

It doesn't really devolve into arguments, fortunately- if you can't come to a conclusion, you'll just run tests until one (or both) of you are proved wrong.

If you're not a slime scientist, and you're like...a geologist or something, he'd still like to compare notes. Seeing the world he studies from a different point of view can be eye-opening, and you've helped him through many a rough problem.

He also really likes it when he helps you out- he may or may not have some self-image issues, and he sometimes feels like you could do so much better. Don't worry- some kisses and cuddles will cheer this melancholy man right up

SPEAKING OF CUDDLES. Hugs from behind are very common, from both sides. Unless you're taller than him- then he just shoves himself against you and refuses to move until you hug him. Touch-starved mf.

Pet names. He will call you all the stupid, cheesy petnames relating to your field and there is pretty much nothing you can do about it.

...I mean, he'd stop if you asked, but it'd make him sad and they are really sweet petnames

he likes how you look in a lab coat. he thinks you're hot. I mean, he always thinks you're hot (and beautiful, and handsome, and gorgeous-) but you in a lab coat (god forbid HIS lab coat) is very nice in his opinion

If you're the reckless type, he is going to panic at every little injury. Papercut? He has a whole eight-step process. Chemical burn? INTO THE SHOWER. NOW. RIGHT NOW. And god forbid it's something more serious.

He'll still panic if you're not reckless, don't get me wrong, you'll just see it more.

OKAY SHORT STORY TIME

Warnings: you getting hurt a little and Viktor panicking like a madman. Nonsexual nudity (you take your shirt off) and inaccurate science things

No pronouns used, G/N reader in mind

-----------

You and Viktor had settled into a comfortable routine over the months since you had started working together. It was nice- while you each had your own area, the other was never far, and that came in especially handy on a day like today.

The sound of glass breaking was the herald to doom. The potent corrosive was caught mostly by the tray under your working area, but you had jumped, startled, when the glass cracked under the strain of the exothermic reaction occurring between it and the radioactive slime plort sample, and the liquid had gotten spattered across your front.

It had mostly absorbed into your lab coat, but a few stray droplets had eaten their way through it and your shirt, sizzling on your bare skin.

You were already tossing your gloves and yanking off your coat when Viktor sprinted over, immersion bubble down and clearly panicking.

"Are you alright, what happened?!" He exclaimed, skidding to a halt beside you.

"The beaker broke," you mutter grimly, tugging your shirt off before Viktor has a chance to respond. "And this was my favorite shirt, too..."

You look over, confused by his lack of response, and find him very red in the face, stubbornly averting his eyes. "Warn me before you start stripping, please!" His voice cracks a little.

You laugh, and he somehow goes redder, and then he remembers that oh, right, you got a highly corrosive substance spilled on you, and he starts herding you away from the lab, scolding you the whole way on proper lab safety and for god's sake, [Y/N], quit taking your shirt off in the lab!

You won't be laughing once he shoves you into the cold-ass decontamination shower, though.

That's not funny at all.

Masterlist

[50shadesofjakemckenzie]

Hey again !! IDK if it is, but I'm guessing sending multiple asks for fics is okay for you?? sorry if it isn't !! But anyway can you please write another Zahra x Craig fic with a prompt "I wish I could ask you to leave... but I want you to stay." Thanks in advance !!

Of course! This is gonna take place pre-La Huerta in Hartfield!

-

Zahra was curled into a ball. Her arms wrapped around her knees as she rocked herself back and forth, sobs continuing to overtake her body. He was gone. The one good part in her life, the man who taught her to love, he was gone.

He had stormed out of her dorm that night, after an argument about how she couldn’t accept his new lifestyle. Each word he had said was a shot to the heart, and as she watched him walk out of her door that night, tears in her eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to believe that he would come back.

The argument was initially over some stupid frat party Craig was invited to. He had tried to convince his girlfriend to go, he wanted her to be there. Despite all of his persuading, she continued to refuse. He was frustrated, not because she wouldn’t go to the irrelevant party, but that she seemed to refuse to support him.

He had left her room, tears clouding up his vision. After leaving her, he wandered around campus aimlessly, trying to understand how their relationship has taken such a drastic turn for the worst. He had come to fall helplessly for the girl, Craig would do anything for her. So how did they get to this place? 

How did they get to the point where they spent hours upon hours yelling and screaming at one another when all they wanted to do was kiss each other’s lips? How did they get to the point where they fall asleep in separate beds, using their pillow to drown out their sobs? How was their love that was once so pure, falling apart before their very eyes?

The thought of it tore both of them apart. Zahra clutched her pillow tighter, wanting some sort of comfort. Craig kicked a rock on the sidewalk, desperate to take his frustrations out on something. 

As the moon rose further in the night sky, their sorrows seemed to intensify. They were both lost without one another, but they were also both too stubborn to admit it. The pair was hopelessly in love, despite what they believed.

Craig ran his hands over his face in frustration, his thoughts beginning to clear. He had realized he was pushing his girlfriend to her limits, and he wasn’t completely sure why. He just wanted her support, but she always provided it. While she may never be front row at a football game or by his side at another party, she did support him. Zahra made a point to comfort him after a loss, or have endless tournaments of video games whenever he wanted to celebrate. She was trying her best, and Craig was going to accept that.

Zahra rubbed at her eyes with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. She was pushing her boyfriend away, and she wasn’t completely sure why. She just wanted him to understand her, and when he pressured her into parties, games, stuff that wasn’t her she snapped. She didn’t explain herself, she just pushed him away because he didn’t understand what she was feeling.

He arrived at her door an hour later. Craig lifted his arm, hesitating for a moment, debating whether or not he should knock. After one more moment, his fist hit the wood, sounding through her dorm. She sniffled, rubbing at her eyes once more before pulling herself from her bed. Zahra crossed the room, pulling open the door to face her boyfriend.

They didn’t have to say anything to one another, they just fell into each other’s arms. Zahra sobbed into Craig’s chest as she held him tightly, not wanting to watch him leave again. Craig rubbed her hair gently, wanting to provide comfort to the girl he walked out on.

The pair had settled into Zahra’s bed, wordlessly holding one another. They sat there for hours, cuddled up against each other. Zahra’s tears had stopped flowing, Craig’s anger faded away. They just wanted to be together.

As the alarm clock on her nightstand struck twelve, Craig began to untangle himself from his girlfriend. She immediately sits up, gripping his wrist to prevent him from moving further. “Are you not mad at me?” Craig questioned, confused at her actions.

“I am mad, Craig. And I wish I could ask you to leave, but I want you to stay,” She explains, her eyes darting from his. He places a gentle kiss to her lips, savoring every inch of her. Craig lays back in the bed, taking Zahra in his arms, the couple completely content entangled with one another.