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blurredout10 · 2 years ago

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This Is Not A Date

Upgraded Connor (RK900) | Nines/ Reader fanfic

Rating: Mature

Wordcount: 5560

Tags: Friends to Lovers, Intimacy, emotionally curious nines, groping, smut, p in v sex, rough, kinda soft kinda not lil boi

Link to AO3 here or continue below cut:

You envied him, really.

Holding down a forefinger, the imprint fogging your phone screen, the victim of your poking quite literally quivered under your fingertips; a damn bloody dating app. Its cornered ‘x’ be the only good idea it gave you since its offered romantic prospects surely weren’t.

It shakes a violent plead of mercy, like the castle clown prancing joyously, a jingle bell on its neck collar shaking its head desperate no’s where you snapped two fingers for its forthcoming executions. Disappointing. As per usual.

But punishing the joker meant nothing if its replacement came from the same circus. You downloaded another app, pinky peach hearts pictured on a mobile symbol, your expectations had sunk passed the depths of hell.

You were no less given the attention, a text ping except for a joker's bell. Despite Detroit’s ever-growing gene pool with the doubling population of both humans and androids, your huddle of situationships barely satisfied you, lacking a spark you so craved. Matches appeased your eyes, descriptions void of icky pick-up lines, but with every other text you were sent, something scrunched up your face worse than the last.

“Why are people so boring?” you vented to the brioche-scented air, very much aware that fine-tuned android ears had spaced out. You’d grown to suffer alone.

He didn’t have to worry about bearing the weight of carried conversations, he was perfect. Bloody hell looked it too.

Nines envied you equally, but for the opposite reasons.

There hadn’t been a day's rest of his HUD, notifications running haywire like sugar-induced children running laps in a playground. But even little humans collapsed in exhaustion — you did a lot of that — and energy was spent, Nines’ string of leeching matches never tired.

“How tall are you?”

“Glad we matched! My place or yours?”

“How big did they make you?”

“Boring indeed,” silencing the utter mess of thirsty texts, he turned his attention back onto you, a croissant half-stuffed in a stun where you hadn’t expected an answer. Flakes stuck to your lip as you chewed, fluttering eyelashes moaning for you at the fill of French delectables. Your reactions amused him. People were boring, indeed.

You, however, were quite interesting.

Many months of a developed friendship had the both of you puzzlingly closer. Intending to better work efficiency, Nines fed into your friendly advances, but he hadn’t expected to actually enjoy your company. You two had clicked like polar forces, self-fashioned laws of physics in your own little world together.

Nines, surprisingly, was a pretty handsome wall to talk to. You enjoyed every little teenage-like whisper of gossip you shared, to which the android’s sharp ears picked up on the latest in the DPD. You’d grown accustomed to his partially stiff persona as he did to your free-spirited one. The moon to your sun, and he surely brightened in your gifted happiness. Kindred souls hand-in-hand, shoulder-to-shoulder, you were there for him, and he was there for you.

Nines scoffed at deleting another chat thread with a persistent match mate.

It started as a joke. ‘I can get more bitches than you,’ though you knew you were speaking out of your ass. You did not, dare you say could not get more bitches than a man who mastered being a man, despite being made plastic and steel.

Eyes blue like arctic winds, soft but intimidatingly focused in burning through flesh, his face sculpted unfairly to turn heads his way. Broad shoulders and a narrow waist that looked good in anything, even you could admit that. You were no stranger to getting asked about his romantic status.

The sheer size of him shifted uncomfortably in the little bakery’s equally little seats, shoulders swallowing the back of his chair as if his steel spine served a replacement. Discomfort, albeit making him stir again to lean forward with a frustrating twitch of brows, was still foreign to him; a bitterness that squirmed deep in his chassis. It had taken a while to identify and label the feeling.

Experience was the tutor in the study of emotional understanding. Experience was his guide to an emotionally coloured world and discomfort was by far the dullest, sluggish and unattractive hue he’d come across.

Nines heard an audible moan deep from your chest, satisfaction making you lick buttered fingers clean. Your palate cleansed except for pastry bits on your plate, following a trail to your lap, above your chest and still on your bottom lip. You, however, were that bit of colour that sagged his shoulders, the bit of colour that made him agree to silently accompany your weekly brunch ravishment.

His chest shook in a chuckle at seeing you no less a mammal in its habitat, wild and careless, waving away thrown looks at your poor table etiquettes. Hair frenzied in a mess, your posture slouched as if you owned the ground around you, you had a flair of contentment with everything you did. Interesting human, indeed.

“I wasn’t aware wearing your afternoon brunch was socially acceptable,” he quipped and your eyes widened, patting hands rubbing away crumbs that doubled his laughter. Croissant bits projectile in his direction, ultimately landing on the table and his lap.

Your phone announced itself, a text ping waking up your screen with the surprising icon of a newly downloaded dating app. Flat on the table, Nines perked in out of curiosity. Your spread grin was better at drawing his attention.

It could only mean one thing.

“I’ve got a date on Friday.”

-.—.-

It just happened.

Somehow in some weirdly fated way, you and Nines had your dates aligned. When you’d dress up for a dinner evening, he’d be suited up for one couple of roads down. The forgotten competition falling into a routine of complimenting each other’s outfits, you pointlessly fixing his collar and escorting either into another’s hands.

As expected, you’d gasp at the sight of his fitted dress shirt, threaded buttons pulled taunt to the rise and fall of his chest. Bigger biceps smoothed into the arms of his blazer, an icy pair of eyes that’d drop anyone to their knees; you watched appreciatively, blessing your eyes with what his dates would be so lucky to sit across.

Dang, he looked good. Who needed dinner if desert sat inches away?

And he’d eye you similarly, following the curves and dips of your dresses, a taunting hug of fabric an extension of your skin leaving little to the imagination, not that he had any. Loose silk that hung low, embraced your thighs just right, it was enough to have you smiling at your reflection. You liked to look like this, beautifully sexy, earning heart eyes from victims you’d never contact again.

Nines was effortlessly attractive, but you sure believed you were too, and confidence was already half the charm. There was a reason your dating race lingered neck-and-neck, people wanted him and people wanted you.

Still, you didn’t understand why serial dating was so damn hard.

Nines excused his admiring as a friendly reciprocal to yours and then you interlinked arms, trotting in pretty shoes to leave some date awestruck.

Struck, definitely, so much so they didn’t show.

“Fucking flunked on me,” all of your hours getting ready wasted for nothing. A dangling table light held you in spotlight, the universe laughing at your misery. The waiter dared to make a brief visit, scurrying away when you shot daggers, Phone glued to your ear, you lined a fork with distracted fingers, “I went through all that effort, for what?”

“He dodged a bullet,” Nines teased, a smirk leaking into your speakers. You groaned annoyingly, a tad bit hurt though you’d never mention it. Nines only chuckled, “are you not hungry?”

“Of course, I am,” your volume had diners eavesdropping, you lowered it, “but I’m not gonna sit here and eat alone like some… loner .”

An elderly woman leaned into your line of sight, doing little to mask her judgement.

“It’s embarrassing,” you sighed, straightening up subconsciously. Nines remained silent, a little something nagged you, “tell me you have better luck than me.”

He did. Unlike you, Nines was glad his date didn’t show.

“Unfortunately, detective, I have been cancelled on too.”

“No. Way.”

So, obviously, the next step pretty much carved itself out. You were both in need of a nice dinner, dressed to impress, and without your respective dates. Nines took no longer than necessary to join you, filling in the void of an empty seat as you did for him.

This happened again, from your silk dress to a casual getup, and again, from fancy dining to amusement parks. From black tie gallery visits to turtleneck picnic dates. You found it harder to believe Nines was getting cancelled on when he kept miraculously showing up.

It wasn’t a date, even if it always looked like it and you’d get ready as such. Painted lips smiled at him rather than some other guy, and neither of you was complaining about it.

Upon reaching the front of the queue to an ice cream cart, did someone first state the obvious.

“Here’s one for you and a drink for your partner.”

You stilled, “oh, we’re not- he’s not-"

“Thank you,” Nines took your waffle cone, giving it a tasteful lick before handing it to you. He walked away before you could protest.

“What was that?” You fell behind his longer strides struggling, Nines always found it amusing.

“What was what?” Pale flickers of his eyes were a tell of his naivety, “are we not partners?”

Work ones, sure. “Pretty sure she was calling you my date.”

For his advanced prototype kinks, he hadn’t preconstructed that theory. It was his turn to freeze, the ice of his irises solidifying the rest of his body, the only tell that he hadn’t fallen stasis being an amber spin on his temple. His abrupt halt had you bumping into his back with a grunt.

Though your complaints died into laughter at seeing him so… off guard.

“It’s not so bad,” you nudged him, elbow meeting his midriff, its proximity to his thirium pump regulator pulled a heavy huff through his voice. You winked, “you’d be lucky to score with me.”

Park attendees walked in their chatter, dogs let off their leashes, rolling in the glass with both furry flesh and synthetic plastic alike. Families shared inside jokes, children playfully screaming on the lake’s perimeter. Information coded everywhere in his scans, the broken grid of his deviancy reminding him of his freedom.

But he grew overwhelmed around you.

The past few mutual flunks hadn’t exactly been… mutual. The moment you’d text him your date was boring, or the guy left you hanging again, he’d be the one to disappear mid-mingling and scurry away to accompany you. Surely, that’s what it meant to be a good friend, right?

He wasn’t looking to replace your flings. He just merely wanted to be there for you. Be a light of colour as you had been for him so many times before.

Nines blinked erratically, warning ambers giving him away.

“Jeez, I’m not that bad,” you joked but he caught wrinkled brows of concern, following another lighter playful nudge on his arm. The contact teetered on the edge of overwhelming his processors.

Neither of you talked about it.

On came another Friday evening, a ping reminding you of a ‘Tomas’ looking forward to seeing you. Your dressing table mirror applauded the artistry of makeup whilst you merrily shoed up, throwing a text back via that dating app 2.0.

“I’m so sorry! Can we reschedule?”

“No show again,” you sighed, lying out of your ass, “how’s that android with the green hair doing for you?”

“I’m afraid she does not feel interested anymore,” also a lie, Nines had pretty much blocked the persistent woman.

Getting comfortable in the back row of your local cinema, which was supposed to be Nines escapade for the day, he passed you a popcorn bag, one he’d already bought for you. Lights dimmed at the title screen, Nines sneaked a glance at you, silently admiring the palette of your makeup. Nines liked it when you played with pigments, orange and purples finely painted on eyelids, bringing out the colour of your eyes. It pleasantly stimulated him.

“What?” Curving in a half-smile, you caught his ogling.

“You look lovely, detective,” it was pretty much routine at this point, to compliment you. Though this time, the air hung heavier, the smile never making it to his lips, his thirium pump straining for a beat when your vitals jolted the slightest.

He said it so sincerely; why did he sound so different? Your retort wasn’t given voice, a prickle of shivers meeting your extremities in a blush, you were glad the darkness covered for you.

You swallowed down. He cleared his throat. The movie went on. But the heat of your body, the subconscious leaning on his arm, close enough he could decode the product in your hair, the movie wasn’t plenty distraction.

And as if rA9 evilly taunted him, a couple cornered in the cinema audibly moaned, latched onto each like horny teenagers. You bobbed your brows at him, ‘kids these days’, but your skin grew hotter, ultimately arising a glitch or two in his system.

“The movie was great,” you gulped a smile when he walked you home, kicking lone rocks, eyes weighed to the pavement, “I guess, I’ll- I’ll see you.”

“Yes-,” he spoke too quickly, nodding, “I wish you a good night, detective.”

You blinked, “you too. Goodnight to you too.”

“Thank you.” His feet shuffled, “I shall go now.”

“Get home safe, alright? Goodnight, Nines.”

“Take care, detective.”

Awkward couldn’t even begin to describe it.

-.—.-

The competition was long gone, dating threads snipped weeks ago when you decided to delete the apps once and for all. Nines had pulled from the single scene even before you did, gulping down excuses as to why he decided to bail on all his prospects.

“No, we’re friends,” you’d say. Friends that helped each other down a couple drinks. Friends that slow-danced at New Jericho’s fancy dress party, to which Connor had invited you both. Friends that publicly teased each other with a flutter of eyelashes and hot heavy breaths.

“Since when were you two dating?”

“This is not a date!”

Said you at a party where Nines was your plus one, glued to your side like your extension.

It was getting ridiculous.

Eventually, neither of you spoke about seeing other people, just assuming the other would turn up. On paper, and even in person, you both looked pretty stupid in denial.

But one night, clinking afters with your department crew, did the dusted line between friendship and something more sharpen, something that made sense in the entanglement of your not-dates with Nines.

Officer Wesley was clear in the intention to woo you and have you in bed, playfully raking his gaze and hissing out a compliment. He leaned in closer, elbow atop the bar front with a daring smile. Admittedly, you missed the thrill of being a tease, slipping your tongue out to wrap around the straw but not enough to give him a show. Wesley caught on your game, and for the officer he was, he’d happily play cat and mouse.

But this time, things felt different and flirting with the dirty-blonde man felt wrong. Flirting with anyone felt wrong. And you couldn’t understand why.

You flickered in the RK900’s direction, only to find him already watching Wesley talk you up at the bar. A heartbeat thumped particularly loudly when he held your eye contact, leaning back in his booth whilst tonguing his straw similarly to how you had done it.

Fucking hell.

“So, how about that drink?” The officer reminded, thumbing at the display of bottles behind the counter.

Holy shit. You didn’t want to be like every other victim to the reeling of those darkened blue eyes, you weren’t like that.

With a double take, you caught that damn triumph smirk on his face, as if he could see exactly what that tongue did to you, being on the receiving end of it. Fuck him, you wouldn’t let him win.

Nines’ smirk faded as soon as you gave the officer your undivided attention, edging your barstool. Your touch crawling up his arm, soft lips leaning closer to his ear and speaking just out of earshot. It had the android inexplicably grinding teeth.

That was another thing about deviancy it had taken him a while to calibrate; urges. The urge to partake in conversation, or flee from it even, the urge to tease you to the point your cheeks were coloured tomatoes. It was this urge that had an added darkness looming over you, two icicles boring into the back of your head.

Sixth sense tied a thick knot in your throat.

Wesley cleared his throat too, sitting up straighter, “Nines, you ah - you good?”

The android didn’t look it, stalking over your shoulder like he’d no less bite into your neck and suck you dry in one go. But if this officer be a conquest you wanted to take to home, Nines would personally help you put on a show.

That’s what good friends did, right? Help each other?

He slitted fingers between chunks of your hair, pulling your head aside abruptly, the contact freezing you in place. You gasped as he lowered his mouth, speaking to the shell of your ear but loud enough for Wesley to pick it up, “we know you want to fuck our little detective, officer.”

Nines dragged his lips against heated skin, tongue peeking out to taste you. And just as he expected, his HUD blasted with paintballs of colour at the encoding, his pump fluttering when your lashes did so.

His other hand dragged up your waist, curving at the shape of your breasts and ghosting over your nipples. Lips replaced his tongue, and a trail of android saliva burned into your skin in his venturing down your throat. You took a staggering breath, forcing your eyes open, not realising they had closed.

“Your advances could use some work,” Nines spoke to Wesley, the man’s larynx bobbing at the sight of you melting.

Large palms curled inwards on your thighs, pushing them apart on display and kneading flesh through fabric. You held back a moan, biting down on the feeling of leaking arousal. God, when did Nines feel so good?

Nines smiled against your skin, lipsing down the expanse of your neck whilst you pretty much leaned to give him more room. His tongue prodded and lined the length of your passing artery, tasting your fastening pulse, you shivered under him. Even if rendered speechless, your body did the talking.

Wesley couldn’t decide where to look, Nines prompted further.

“You just need a little push.”

Fingers roughly pressing between your legs, one push of a massage that forced a moan deep from your chest, and Nines retreated, taking a large step back. Wesley looked half as shocked as you did, your jaw clenching in the realisation of what just happened.

Nines leaned carelessly on the bar, unbothered in leaving you aroused. That was his intention, no? To give you and your prospect a push in getting things going? Which is why he blinked confusingly when you shoved him, a frustrated scowl leaving your lips before you stomped out. Wesley sat glued to his chair, still recovering. Nines ran out after you.

Light patters of rain met his scalp upon catching up to you. You groaned when he called your name.

“You can’t just- do that!” You yelled, frustration grating your throat, showers dampening your hair, “you can’t just-“

The android remained still, attempting to understand you with a series of yellow circles.

“You can’t just touch me like that, Nines!”

But his touch had arisen positive responses, his brow furrowed in confusion, “why?”

You stumbled, eyes widening, “why- why? What do you mean why? You can’t go around touching up random people! It’s- it’s wrong!”

You weren’t random people. Nines processed for a moment, rain splatters snugging the fabric of his sweater against his skin. His scanners quickly caught your gulp, “did you not enjoy it, detective? I assumed he needed a little push.”

You blinked again, dumbfounded. Who gave him the right to put on a show for Wesley? What on Earth goes on in that metal brain of his?

“That’s not- I wasn’t going to go home with him,” water collected on your lashes, “I don’t want him.”

A wave of understanding struck him. He had misunderstood you and his ‘help’ stood void of reason. And recalling the way he stalked over you, no reconstruction software helped in justifying what he did, because the urge didn’t do it for you, it did it for himself.

The warmth of your chest invited him, kisses digging into the valley of your neck whilst he continually decoded the electrolyte contents of your sweat. It quite literally fuelled him.

Deviancy was a strange thing, though the only explanation for why Nines wanted to taste you again; he wanted to hear you breathe out his name, shaking with need, begging for more.

You shivered under water pellets, the silence weighing down each of your breaths. And hidden in the muddle of conflicted feelings, you craved Nines to touch you again, give you a warmth in frozen winds. Neither of you moved, and the ghostly burn of his lips longed for his return.

“I’m going home,” you muttered, straying away from his scanners.

He wasn’t your date. You weren’t together. But hell, if the assumptions of such didn’t make your heart flutter, you didn’t know what will. Besides, Nines was the embodiment of allurement, poised and perfect, what would he do with the likes of you?

Arms wrapped around to wade off the cold, teeth chattering, you blinked a few before turning away to walk to your car, the gusts of wind trying to push you back. Nines wouldn’t see you as anything more than a friend, you were sure of it, but your disappointment was cut short when a firm grip latched around your wrist.

He twisted you, swallowing a squeak with a collided kiss. The colours returned, blinding him tenfold in pretty pinks and bubbly yellows, prompting him to press a hand firmly on the base of your skull and keep you there.

The tension in your spine remained, but you quickly came out of shock and fervently returned the moulding of your lips with his, hand trailing the flex of his pecs, damp fabric squelching under fingertips.

The hand on your wrist migrated to the small of your back, pulling you closer. His tongue poked into your mouth, making you gasp at the added anatomy whilst he curled around ravishingly, wet sounds amidst the ambient splashes of rain. Both of your minds dazed, Nines blinking ambers at devouring you and you suddenly patting his chest with a light push.

He pulled back to let you breathe but returned mid-inhale, this time eagerly tilting his head to see what better fit. He made out the whisper of his name between kisses, responding with an approving groan.

“Nines,” you tried again, water running streams down your back as it poured heavier. You wondered if hypothermia was worth it, “nines, wait-”

He kissed you passionately, hoping to swallow the colour of lips and paint his innards as such. Though he eased, slowing to a stop and you panted onto his jaw. He took in the sight, mimicked tears streaking your blue eyeshadow and mascara under the rain, he fought the urge to prod his tongue in your mouth again.

He awaited your rejection. As you loved to remind everyone, Nines wasn’t your date, always the friend accompanying you instead. He’d be lying if he said watching you with other people didn’t bother him.

But you didn’t scold him, nor push him away in a fury. You smiled, a toothy grin that you failed to bite away and broke into a soft giggle, “we’re in the middle of a street,” you shook your head, leaning a fraction of an inch closer, “and I’m soaking wet.”

Nines pulled into a smirk, “you’re welcome.”

There, the cherry rouge of your cheeks, that was another part of you he wished to consume wholly, preferably with his tongue.

Everyone else felt wrong, but Nines felt right.

And upon passing the threshold of your home, Nines proved the feeling to be mutual by meeting your lips again, vocally praising you when your arms wrapped around his neck. Kicking the door shut, his biceps wrapped you tight, squeezing the air in your lungs and suctioning it straight into his chassis.

He stepped you back, tongue dancing with yours, his fingers tucking away wet hair from your face. You gasped as you hit the wall behind you, his hip bucking into yours with a noticeable erection.

Hands rummaged under clothing, your damp shirt peeling off your skin with a gust of cold, leaving your hairs on end. The foyer’s air, however, grew dense when Nines hungrily eyed your body. Calm blue of his LED blinked an amber and he suddenly threw you over his shoulder.

“Nines!” You shrieked, your protests dying as he caressed the back of your thigh. He carried you to your bedroom, bouncing you onto the mattress with a look that kept you frozen. You gulped in anticipation as he undressed whilst you were only stripped of your shirt.

“Your body temperature has dropped to lower ranges,” he knelt between your legs, clasping your wrists immobile and kissing you into the sheets. You arched into him, gasping at the skin-to-synthetic contact. His lips ghosted to tongue at your jaw, a wet pad of the plastic muscle running up just below your ear.

“I must heat you.”

“You’re as cold as they come,” he pulled back to meet your remark, a teasing glimmer in your eyes. Nines kissed your collar, the sound of compensatory breaths prompting him to lower to your bra, unclasp it and swirl a perked nipple with his tongue.

The moon slitted through blinds, painting him a blue that matched his temple. A warm breath breezed over your lower abdomen, fingers gripping the hem of your pants and shimmying them off. Wet skin made you sensitive to his touch, a tingling working overtime where he wrapped around your thighs, his lips hovering over your remaining underwear.

Of all your dating partners, specifically those you had slept with, only a handful of them had been androids, and it never made it passed foreplay. Whether that be inexperience or hesitance, flings would be done after a touch-up.

Nines had his fair share of sexual partners, learning what got people going and what fed his desires. But your unfiltered storytelling exposed you of kinks and likes that a curious android like Nines couldn’t help fantasising about.

What would you look like under him? How did you sound when forced a rolling orgasm to ripple through you?

A devilish smile made his lips before he took your undergarments in his teeth, lust-blown eyes watching how you shivered at the sight of him dragging them off. Wrapping around you twice as tight, he gave you a flat lick from slit to bud, pushing down your hips to stop your squirming. He was glad to find you were, indeed, soaking wet.

Having him right there, head of brown bobbing up and down, experimentally sliding his tongue in places you didn’t know existed, the sight of him had you biting your lower lip, trying to chew down an embarrassing whimper.

His tongue made circles around your clit, flickering left and right at a gasping pace. Your hands found his scalp, splitting his hair into sizeable chunks, holding on like the handlebars of a rollercoaster; and the way he looked at you, pupils swallowing icy blue into a predatory black, a shiver ran down your back, clenching your thighs against his biceps.

Wet muscle prodded into your slit, eliciting a moan. You almost squealed when his thumb continued to press patterns on your clit whilst tongue-fucking you into the sheets. You pulled at the root of soft, chestnut hair, and he only picked up the pace, having you pant in line with his pace.

You tipped over unexpectedly, crying out your orgasm with an abrupt push against his mouth. Nines crawled above you again, making you taste yourself with a deep, sharp kiss.

To see you like this, body quivering for his touch, an undertone of pink blushing your skin, his field of vision saturated in the colour of you. He wanted more. He wanted to see you come undone again, paint you an orgasm that would stain him for the rest of his android existence. Maybe he understood why Markus created art so often, maybe abstract understanding was closer than he realised. Nines wished for nothing more than to place you high on a pedestal or pin you against the wall for reasons other than framing you a painting.

“Every date you were bailed on,” he whispered confessions on your skin, gently lipsing your shoulders, “I cancelled mine to join you.” You stiffened under him, muscles taunt under his lips, he clarified, “I’d much rather have you than anyone else, detective.”

Of course. You were right. Nines wouldn’t get bailed on that often, it was impossible. You mustered up enough air to speak, “if we’re confessing, I deleted the apps weeks ago.”

Like the robot he was, he halted mid-kiss, a shifting yellow giving him away as it did back at the ice cream cart. You were both lying to each other, simply to be in each other’s company.

You added with a tease, “you don’t have to lie to score a date with me, Nines.”

“I thought I was ‘not a date’,” blue-greys accused you.

“Yeah, I guess we’re both pretty stupid then.”

Your smile brightened the room, despite moonlight barely filtering through your windows, corners bordering darkness. Nines mirrored the grin, dipping down to kiss you with a newfound heaviness in his chest. He pulled off his briefs, lips never leaving yours, and lined himself between spread thighs.

Your breath hitched at the stretch of muscle when he pushed in, barely giving you time to adjust and pushing in further until he bottomed out. Or at least you hoped he did, you weren’t sure if you could take any more of him.

Breathing in each other's pants, he rocked slowly, fingers bruising your wrists, lips bruising your neck. Nines grew desperate to see you in the colour of his lips, turning purples in broken blood vessels. His pelvis smacked again your clitoris, grinding an added stimulation, your head rolling back, moaning his name right into his ear.

Setting a brutal pace abruptly, swallowing squeals in messy lip-locking, Nines stretched you to the teetering line of pain and pleasure, the head of his cock driving into a sensitive spot that jolted your nerves in bliss. He rutted like an animal, resting his forehead on yours, fucking you with a harsh snap of hips, your legs could only hold on for dear life. He loved to see the dip between your brows, raccoon-faced from messy makeup. It made him twitch inside of you.

“You feel so good. You look perfect,” he praised, bringing two fingers under your jaw to prompt eye contact. You met his darkened expression, his rouge curl tickling your forehead. Thumb shaping your lips, he pushed in knuckle-deep, pressing down on your tongue. You gave an instinctive suck as he growled, “you’re mine.”

Every thrust brought about a new sound from your throat, and with your mouth forced half-open, there was little you could do to stop them. Your eyes rolled back, toes curling at a rolling orgasm, the sounds of sex driving you to buck into him as he did you.

You were desperate, needy, and what was left of Nines’ restraint was snapped. He fucked hard, muttering profanities as he edged closer, seeing you at the mercy of everything he gave you flipping him inside out.

He wanted to see you like this, again and again. His thumb subconsciously retracted his simulated skin, a ripple in your mouth that diverted your attention, and a glowing blue lit up from below the whites of his hand. An interface, the both of you realised. You moaned at his display of intimacy.

Nines staggered into you, losing his rhythm.

You looked good in blue.

“Come for me.”

And with sharp thrusts, you arched into a mind-blowing orgasm, limbs shaking as he continually dragged in and out to chase his own. He spilled with a throb, panting at the chance of painting you inwards as you did to him, and watched the slowed pumping of where the both of you connected.

Though upon spotting a trail of blueish white leaking out of you, his hips bucked involuntarily, eager for another round.

You moaned in euphoria, and that was enough for him to keep going.

It was no surprise Nines adored the sight of you decorated in his markings, growling in every painted colour you presented. So, the next steps carved themselves, and you had a great idea for your next date.

Painting.

#dbh fanfic #nines x reader #nines rk900 #rk900 #dbh smut #dates #detroit become human #dbh #need me some emotionally curious nines

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mariacallous · 2 months ago

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TikTok went all out to defend itself in a court hearing last Monday, to block a law that could force TikTok to be sold or banned in the United States. That included using one surprising strategy: to bring other Chinese apps down with it.

Earlier this year, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA), which aims to prevent national security threats from apps like TikTok, took less than two months to pass both the House and the Senate, before it was swiftly signed by President Joe Biden in April. It caught almost everyone by surprise, including TikTok. The law requires TikTok to find a US buyer to take over its operation soon, or face being banned in the US. TikTok promptly sued the government over it.

At the Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, on September 16, Andrew Pincus, a partner at law firm Mayer Brown acting for TikTok, argued that the law unfairly targets the social media app for the speech on the platform and that it violates the First Amendment. Specifically, Pincus said the law exempts other Chinese apps that could have been doing worse on the concern of data security protection.

“There are very significant ecommerce sites based in China and other places that collect much more data than TikTok does. Very sensitive data,” Pincus said. At another point in the hearing, he narrowed down the targets to “two Chinese, two e-commerce sites that would certainly meet all of the other criteria in the law.”

Pincus did not name-drop the two sites in his statements, but a TikTok court filing from August 15 cited the privacy policies of Shein and Temu—two ecommerce companies linked to China—to make the same argument Pincus made. The filing also cited research from April 2023 on the data risks of these two companies, collated by the US–China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Shein and Temu came from China’s fiercely competitive ecommerce industry and were able to take over the world by storm by shipping low-cost apparels and goods globally. Each boasts tens of millions of customers around the world, and they are often compared to TikTok as the rare examples of Chinese tech companies that have truly succeeded in the US.

TikTok, however, claims there’s an exemption clause in the PAFACA Act that essentially protects Chinese companies like Shein and Temu but not TikTok. When defining what companies are covered, the Act has only one exclusion: companies and products “whose primary purpose is to allow users to post product reviews, business reviews, or travel information and reviews.”

To be fair, the clause that TikTok highlighted was a bewildering inclusion from the beginning. Even some lawmakers claimed they weren’t sure why it was necessary to put in place such an exception.

But TikTok is seizing this opportunity to argue that, because the clause would likely protect Shein, Temu, and similar ecommerce sites that also have significant presence in the US and collect a wealth of privacy data, the Act is narrowly tailored to punish TikTok. It went as far as to claim that the clause shows Congress favors topics like products, business, and travel instead of politics, religion, and entertainment, making it a First Amendment infringement. The DOJ has denied this characterization in written court briefs.

It is a valid legal strategy, Alan Rozenshtein, an associate professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School, explains to WIRED, as the First Amendment can consider a law unconstitutional “if the law hinges on solving a particular problem, does so in an extremely limited way, and leaves the law unsolved.”

But the judge didn’t seem to buy the argument. “It’s a rather blinkered view that the statute just singles out one company,” said Judge Douglas Ginsburg during the hearing. “It describes a category of companies, all of which are owned by or controlled by adversary powers, and subjects one company to an immediate necessity because it’s engaged in two years of negotiation with that company, held innumerable hearings, meeting after meeting after meeting, [and] an attempt to reach an agreement on a national security arrangement which failed.”

The DOJ also replied to TikTok’s problem with the exclusion clause, saying in a court brief that if the clause were to be found problematic, the right solution would be to simply take out that clause about excluding businesses, instead of invalidating the whole law.

In recent years, data security concerns have become one of the main friction points in tech policies in the US and China. While the Chinese government passed a law that regulates cross-border data transfers, the US government has taken a more piecemeal approach, investigating risks posed by products like TikTok and Chinese-made smart cars.

Some experts and lawmakers advocate for a more comprehensive legal framework to solve this issue. “This bill not only fails to solve the problem, but also jeopardizes the free speech and livelihoods of 170 million Americans who use the app. Instead, Congress should pass a bill to prevent apps, whether it's TikTok or any other social media platform, from collecting or transferring data and make foreign interference in social media algorithms illegal,” said Representative Ro Khanna in an emailed statement. Khanna voted no on the PAFACA bill.

For now, Chinese ecommerce sites like Shein and Temu have faced much less scrutiny around data security than TikTok. But TikTok’s legal strategy of highlighting the alleged data security risks of other Chinese companies will no doubt put more pressure on them. If TikTok fails its legal challenge and is banned from operating in the US unless it is sold, it’s not hard to imagine that lawmakers might turn their attention to other prominent Chinese tech companies.

“There might be some kind of legal strategy behind this, but in terms of how the public will now perceive TikTok, it has voluntarily opted to be associated with Temu and Shein and has undone a lot of the narrative work it has been trying to do,” says Ivy Yang, the founder of Wavelet Strategy, a strategic PR consultancy who has worked in Alibaba’s PR department.

By comparing TikTok’s data security concerns to Shein’s and Temu’s, the company essentially has labeled itself among a number of Chinese companies considered security risks.

So far, Shein and Temu have not made any statement about the PAFACA bill and its potential implications on their businesses. A Shein spokesperson responded in an emailed statement: “SHEIN has robust data security policies and practices in line with industry standards, and we are committed to only collecting and using the minimum amount of data needed to fulfill orders. SHEIN stores US customer data within Microsoft’s US-based Azure cloud-based solution and within AWS’s US-based cloud-based solution.” Temu and TikTok did not reply to requests for comment.

These ecommerce companies have plenty of problems to deal with at the moment too. A September White House decision to scrap a tariff exemption policy could significantly increase shipping costs for them and harm their profitability. Meanwhile, the two ecommerce companies have been embroiled in a tit-for-tat legal battle in the US since July 2023, accusing each other of monopolistic practices and deceptive marketing.

“What they are doing is basically airing all the dirty laundry,” Yang says about the Shein–Temu court fights. “It’s very much, ‘We are competitors and we have to beat the other party no matter how far we go, even though as a whole it’s a terrible look on Chinese companies.’” The same problem is playing out as TikTok seemingly decided to take down its fellow Chinese companies to save itself in the court.

But TikTok’s gambit may not pay off in the end. Even if it successfully argues that the Congress shouldn’t just target one app for its data security risks, it still needs to refute the government’s other justification for the law—that TikTok could be subject to content and algorithm manipulation by the Chinese government in the future. “The law has used two justifications. [If] one is invalid and the other is valid, the law is still valid,” says Rozenshtein.

There has been no proof—at least not in the nonredacted materials—that the Chinese government is currently interfering with TikTok’s content in the US. But during last week’s hearing, none of the judges seemed interested in discussing this point with TikTok or the government.

��[TikTok] made the best argument they could. Just the argument went very poorly for them,” Rozenshtein says. “I don’t think it’s conceivable that TikTok will win, at least on this level.”

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analogwriting · 11 months ago

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It Comes in Waves

Chapter 17: Diffraction Trafalgar Law x gn!reader word count: 2.6k first|next

You heard Momonosuke’s voice informing everyone that Jack was attacking the elephant. And apparently Luffy could hear this voice as well? He seemed to be yelling to thin air, trying to make sense of what was going on.

“The elephant…he says that he committed a crime and has been wandering the ocean ever since.” When you heard Momonosuke’s words, you looked at him. Hold on…you remember a child’s tale that was passed down on your island. An elephant that had committed a crime and made to walk the sea for eternity. You remember picture books and some people saying that the elephant was misunderstood and tried unfairly, but you don’t remember it too well. They couldn’t be connected could they?

Then the small lord gave the order, telling the island to fight. In mere moments, all the movement stopped and everything was calm again. It was only then that you realized you were still in Law’s lap from having taken a tumble. You quickly stood up, apologizing and helping him up. You were still upset with him, however. Your conversation was likely not over.

You keep from Law for now as everyone disperses to get ready for the next legs in the adventure. Luffy is gathering food and whatnot. Nami is going over the map of Big Mom’s territory with Pedro and a few others. Law is getting his crew ready to head back to the Polar Tang. Chopper, Robin, and Franky all began to make preparations to fix up Zunesha.

You’re with Nami currently, looking over this map to make some kind of plan of infiltration. Suddenly, an easy feeling settles over you. It feels as it does when someone is really upset at someone. You’re trying to figure it out. Law couldn’t be that upset, could he? You begin to walk out of the small hut your in when Nami gasps. “What?” you asked, looking at her. She’s staring at the sky.

“A storm is coming,” she said, her eyes widening. “A big one.”

You both run out of the hut, looking towards the sky. That feeling is growing stronger and you feel something pulling you in a certain direction and you step to follow it. “Oh no!” You look at Nami and notice her pointing. The sky quickly becomes dark and you notice cyclones in the distance. “We need to get the medical team back!” you shout.

Come to me. You whip your head around. What was that? “Y/n?” You hear Law’s voice but you pay no mind to him as you start running in the direction that you feel the pull. You hear him shout after you, but you’re not responding.

You stop at the edge of the island, looking down. You see the ocean is furious. No, no. This isn’t good. You hear Law’s voice again and you look back at him as he’s panting. “What are you doing?” You shake your head. “I’m not quite sure.”

You look back down. You needed to do something. Come to me. Was that…the ocean? Was she speaking to you? You back up a few paces and Law is watching you, but it seems to sink in. “Wait, no-” He tries to grab you but you’re already running full speed to the edge of the elephant and diving down towards the water and Law screams after you, saying you’ll splat like an egg.

Only you didn’t. The ocean sent up a cyclone to meet you halfway, swallowing you up into the ocean. You open your eyes, but it’s dark. You can only imagine how deep you were pulled, but you weren’t struggling for air. A soft glow began to come from your necklace and soon you saw the outline of a being in front of you.

“Are you…” You were speaking, but you weren’t sure how. You were in the ocean, you could feel it around you, but at the same time, you could breathe and speak as if nothing was happening. “Please, calm your waters.”

“And why should I?” The voice rang around you like an omnipresent being. “Because people are going to die!”

“People are the ones who destroyed Zou and harmed Zunesha. They must be punished.”

“But Zunesha took care of those people! The ones there now are trying to help.” There was silence.

“There are also devil fruit users, nothing good comes from them.” You had no idea why the hell you were trying to argue with the ocean. Was it the ocean? Maybe you were dead right now and arguing with a ghost. You had no idea what was going on.

“You and I both know that’s a lie. I know you hate them, but there are some that have used the power for good.” You thought of all the good Luffy had done. That Ace had done. Chopper, Law, you could go on.

“What I want to know is - why are you teamed up with devil fruit users?” The question was suddenly pointed at you. You blinked, tilting your head to the side. “It just…happened?”

“You know what they have done to your island, yes? It is because of one that your island was destroyed and my children were slaughtered.” Your head was reeling and you felt anger rise in your own chest.

“That’s because you abandoned us!” You were seething. The protection had been waning on your island, less people were connected to the sea, people were able to find the island once more.

“How dare you blame me?” You felt the water around you begin to move rapidly and slowly crush you, but you weren’t going to let the ocean end you right here. “You were beginning to pull away! People were discovering the island, less of us were able to connect with you. And we didn’t know why.” You felt tears forming in your eyes, disappearing into the sea itself.

“You are the ones that left me,” you heard her say. You paused. “What do you mean?”

“Your people are from these waters. Then, eight hundred years ago, you moved to the North Blue. It’s true, I was mad. I granted less and less of your people power, but my power isn’t as strong as it is in these waters.”

“What do you mean? You’re the ocean. You’re everywhere!”

“It’s different! I don’t expect a mere human like you to understand but…less people respect and love the ocean in the other seas compared to the New World. Not even the Grandline. I am not able to be as sentient. Just because humans call it the New World doesn’t mean it’s new.”

Well, she had you there. They just discovered it and dubbed it so. There were already civilizations here, long established. Nothing was actually ‘new.’ Just new to the people everywhere else.

“I tried to reach out to you as long as I could but as time faded so did my powers. I just couldn’t reach you as well and I’m sorry for that.” You were quiet.

“Don’t say sorry, it’s not your mistake.” It wasn’t her fault. You supposed you somewhat understood. Your people used to be so intertwined with the ocean. Talks of her manifesting a body and speaking to your people like a goddess among men. You also thought about your own power. It wasn’t exactly strong when you were in the North Blue. It began manifesting itself when you were in the Grandline but…it was nothing like it was in the New World. You felt yourself so connected with the ocean. You also were able to actually stay more conscious when using your power. You weren’t passing out every time you had to call on the ocean.

You felt the water turning around you gently, like an embrace. “I already calmed them, you know.” You heard her speak. “The moment you hit the water. I needed you to come to me. I needed to speak with you. To connect with you a bit better. I hadn’t felt you in my waters for some time. I was worried you’d leave too.”

Ah, so she was worried that she’d lose her last child. “You still have all of the fishmen.” She laughed. “That’s true. And I love and cherish them all. But, you have an important task. You still have so much to do. And you’re going to need my help to do it.”

Huh?

“I should send you back up before I start worrying your friends.”

“Two things.”

“Yes?”

“I thought you hated my friends because they were devil fruit users and also what do you mean I have important things to do?”

“I just needed to rile you up a little. Start a fire in your heart.” What the hell did that mean? Nothing was making sense now. What the hell was this whole conversation even? You felt like you were missing parts of it already. You weren’t already forgetting things were you? Was that even possible? Ugh, your head hurt.

Once more, you felt the water begin to swirl around you and raise you up. “Wait, you didn’t answer my other question.”

“All will be answered in time. You’ve grown into a fine, young individual. Now, go. I just…needed to see you at least once, my keiki.” You felt your heart stop. You looked back to the figure and it was clearer now. Of course, she wasn’t your father. But, she looked a lot like the woman in a photograph you saw long ago. A photograph in a locket that your father always wore.

“Hold on - wait!” You tried to reach out, but you were already being carried in the tunnel through the air.

Next thing you knew, the water set you down gently on the ground and dissipated. You sat there in shock, unable to move as your head reeled. “Y/N!” You heard someone yell, but you were far away right now. You felt tears sting your eyes. You were frustrated. You had so many questions. Who was that person, really? Why did your dad have a photo of her? Was it true - the tales about her manifesting herself to walk among men all those years ago? But, your dad was always in the North Blue.

You felt someone shaking your shoulders but you still weren’t there. Your mind was running a million miles an hour. As far as you knew, your dad was always in the North Blue but…you don’t really remember your dad ever talking about his life before you were born. Just that he had met the most beautiful and wonderful woman that had blessed him with you. But, he was unable to stay with her and so he had to raise you on his own. Whether she had died or moved away, you had no idea. You just knew that your dad loved her, but he just never said much about it because it pained him.

You felt hands on your face and something press against your forehead. You slowly felt yourself stop spinning. “That’s right. Come back to me,” you heard a voice say, but still in the distance. You blinked, for a moment only seeing a shade of gold. A familiar, unique shade.

You blinked once more, realizing that Law was crouched in front of you, your head in his hands and your foreheads pressed together. “There you are. Focus on me.” He stared into your eyes, making sure that his eyes and face were all that you saw until you were fully grounded once more. The world stopped spinning, your breathing returned to normal, and your thoughts were starting to process a bit better once again.

He slowly backed away from you, letting you go. “What happened? You jumped and when you entered the water, everything stopped.”

You shook your head. “I’m not even quite sure.” You were telling the truth. Nothing really made sense. The ocean was mad but then she wasn’t? Ugh, thinking about it made your head hurt.

Law looked at you for a long moment. You could tell he was deciding whether or not to press the issue, but decided not to.

“Are you still going to go with Luffy?” A change of topic, but you weren’t sure that was a blessing at this point. You sighed, nodding. “Yes, I plan on still going. And I still don’t understand why that bothers you so much.”

“Big Mom is a Yonko. It’s dangerous-”

“So, Luffy will need all the help he can get.”

Law was quiet. He knew arguing with you was useless so you didn’t know why he kept trying. You thought for a moment. “Do you think I’m going to go back on my word and join the Strawhats instead?” you asked, eyebrows knitting together.

He didn’t say anything, staring at the ground. You sighed. “Luffy’s crew isn’t exactly my speed. I love Luffy with all of my heart, yes. But he has his own journey. Besides, I already said I’d join your crew.” You moved closer to him and he looked at you. Your hands moved to your necklace, thinking for a moment. Then you slid it off and looked at him. He stared right back at you.

“Collateral.” He shook his head. “No. Absolutely not. I know how much you need that and how much it means to you.”

“All the more reason for you to look after it. I mean, we’re going into enemy territory, not exactly safe for a family heirloom.” You shrugged. You moved without much thought, taking Law’s hat off. He seemed frozen as you moved so casually. You placed the necklace around his head, resting it on his chest. “Look after it for me, yeah?” You grinned at him and, boy, he was so red you could’ve swore he was glowing.

You took his face in your hands this time, looking him in the eyes. “If you can keep this safe while I’m gone, then I know that I can fully trust you with my life and I will pledge my loyalty to you and the crew,” you said. His eyes widened at your words and he seemed utterly speechless.

Then it hit you - what you were doing and how close the two of you were. You two stared at each other for a moment. All you could hear was the sea breeze and the far off sounds of everyone getting ready to leave. You broke the trance, moving. You placed a kiss to his forehead before moving to place his hat on his head and he just stared at you.

He opened his mouth to say something when you suddenly heard Luffy’s voice call for you. “That’s my cue.” You stood up, helpling Law in the process. His skin was red and he was still speechless. You weren’t exactly sure why you did what you did, but it felt right.

Luffy broke through the trees, finding the two of you. “There you are! I was about to leave without you!” He puffed out his cheeks and you laughed. “I know, I know. My bad.” It seemed like he had no idea what happened. It made you wonder if Law was the only one that saw you. You’d like to keep it that way, you didn’t want anyone else to worry.

“Is Traffy okay?” You looked back and he was still as red as Luffy’s top. “He’s fine. He was…running. We were trying to find you.”

“Oh, okay! Well, come on! We’re going to be late!” He bounded back into the forest and the both of you went after him.

#one piece #law x reader #one piece x reader #trafalgar d law #one piece x you #trafalgar d water law #trafalgar law #trafalgar law x reader #iciw #am fics

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almacambiondaughterofsaleos · 3 months ago

Note

Your responses to the Stolas/Blitzo debate are… odd. I agree that Stolas is being hypocritical, overly judgmental, unfair, and ignorant of his own behavior- but isn’t that the point of the show? Blitzo’s also messing up in a lot of ways, he takes jokes/insults too far, he has problems respecting boundaries, he’s acting unfairly aggressive and apathetic. But that’s the whole point of the show, isn’t it?

We are only halfway through season 2 of a 3-4 season show, which means we still have sooo much further to go in the story. Therefore, of course the characters are still flawed. If Stolas and Blitzo were perfect and weren’t being flawed the story would be flat and boring- or if Blitzo was the only one making mistakes. Then there would be no show to watch, no?

Also, I feel like, if Blitzo’s allowed to be ignorant, narcissistic, and intentionally hurting others due to his insecurities, trauma (like being overly rude bc he’s defensive, disrespectful of boundaries) AND he’s allowed to make mistakes on his path to healing and redemption-

then so isn’t Stolas? Stolas also had a hard upbringing and an abusive marriage, so there’s many things he flawed in (like expressing proper intimacy, or properly self-reflecting). He’s not as far as Blitzo right now in his journey to be better but he will get there- as Vivzie has said herself. There’s still AT LEAST one and a half more seasons, in which will contain Stolas’s self reflection.

This is also why I think you might have the perspective that the SHOW itself sets Blitzo up as the bad guy. Because 1. Anyone with proper media literacy can also see Stolas’ flaws but more importantly 2. The show is about Blitzo, and at the moment is focused on Blitzo. Therefore we are seeing every side of him, the good the bad and the ugly. We haven’t entirely begun Stolas’ arc (we’ve like… dipped our toes) and thus the show isn’t putting a main focus on anything about him- his mistakes OR his healing. But those things will start to unravel as this season goes on and into the next season.

If you have the opinion that the FANDOM hates on Blitz? Well I can’t really help that, besides saying idk what side of the fandom you’re on. My side very much stays in the middle and admits they are both wrong.

I just feel you’re being too harsh on Stolas and aren’t really seeing the show for what it really is: HALF of a story about two equally flawed individuals.

Thoughts?

You think I'm too harsh. I will be even harsher. The reason why I am harsh on Stolas is because the crew doesn't realize how much Stolas is fucked up as a person and how realistically in life Blitzo would get the heck out of their with that crystal and leave. Yep, no being gaslighted into a relationship based on a facetious grand gesture but just leave that unapologetic bird. The guy said he was trying to make things right but he never properly apologized nor showed he truly understood the gravity of power he had on Blitzo. Also most of all he doesn't understand how condescending and bigoted he was and even when Blitzo spells it out the doubles down and claims Blitzo is the bigoted one. It's projection on his part and shows he still hasn't learned anything while pretending he is. The problem is he doesn't have he narrative harshly hold him accountable. It doesn't try to correct his behavior but gives him new excuses to feel sorry for him as we groan at the narrative's favoritism towards him and how supposedly he's actually this great guy despite that erasing all of season one. Sorry, but Stolas is worse and the show refuses to admit it because they have fallen so in love with him. Also the guy should expect to instantly be forgiven and be sympathetic for it. That is what shows Bojack called out for which is feeling entitled to forgiveness after you didn't do anything to try to properly heal those around him while Blitzo gets wrecked for the same thing. The show is hypocritical on who it wants to punish and who it wants to reward. And it's rewarding a abuser who thinks he's the victim.

#helluva boss #helluva boss critical #vivziepop critical #vivziepop criticism #vivziepop #helluva boss critique #helluva boss criticism #anti-vivziepop #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel critical #stolas #stolitz #stolitz critical #blitzo #stolas critical

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clumsiestgiantess · 1 year ago

Text

Day 8: Puzzle

These are the true events that happened to an other-worldian named Wes. He was abducted during the invasion of giants donning hazmat suits. The full version of this sneak peek I posted a while ago.

It’s been almost a month since I announced this so if anyone here is still interested, read away! (@ndrogyny, @not-a-space-alien, @bittykimmy13, @itrenchcoati, @smolghostbot, @kindii, @agh-agh-agh, @hellbreakher, @littlescaryinternetguy, @endersyneart, @pablozqui, @waitisthatgt, @patrocolus3, @truegears, @jakersdaboss, @prettykittyfox, @yeerkkiller96)

(tw this stuff is torturous horror fuel; a lot of people will be punished/die unfairly)(these ‘giant’ people are the antagonists of the story for good reason)

Life had always been so monotonous that I desperately wanted something, anything to change. I didn’t mean like this. It had happened so suddenly I couldn’t even properly react. Gigantic beings clothed in sterile yellow-white hazmat suits and large filtration masks stepped out through a deep abysmal tear in the sky. How is anyone supposed to react to that?

They were taller than any building or tree as far as the eye could see — emotionless giants that trampled right over streets and houses as if they weren’t there. The invaders tore off roofs, bashed out walls of buildings, and shredded open cars. People were snatched hundreds of feet in the air, writhing and screaming. Cages awaited them in the hands of other gigantic beings.

I only regained my senses after something nearly missed falling on top of me from above. It landed with a heavy thud behind me, nearly startling me into a fetal position. I flinched away and whirled around to find a body; shattered bones tore through their skin, having been ripped open by the impact of the fall. It wasn’t even a gorey mess — barely any blood either. The body had simply been impaled by none other than its own bones, head bashed flat against the well-kept lawn. I turned and ran as another limp form collided with a telephone pole, jerking and coiling around involuntarily at the incredible surge of electricity coursing through it. I’d dodged the strike of the pole, but the electric snap it made alerted one of the giants in hazmat suits. I ran for a nearby car as fast as my legs could carry me, scrambling beneath it with the thunderous sound of impossible footsteps right behind me.

My labored breaths echoed around the underside of the car as I looked madly around all sides of me. The thick-soled boot disappeared. They’d lost sight of me. I took a shuddering breath of relief, keeping watch for anything else. Only a moment passed before I watched a pair of legs my own size dash toward my hiding place. A kid about half my age got down on his knees and reached beneath the car. “Please! Let me hide here wit- AAAAAHHHHHHHH!” I threw my hands over my ears as he screamed. Fingers as thick around as his body curled into him, dragging him up and out of sight. The shadow of his kicking legs slid down the street and over the roofs of nearby houses as he was lifted, the rest of his body engulfed in the shaded blob of a gigantic fist. I watched the shadow for as long as I could until it was too distorted by the distance to properly see much of anything else. All the while, the kid’s pleas grew fainter and fainter until they disappeared entirely.

There was a brief moment of deafening silence before a loud thud startled me. Long black rubber coils slid beneath the car, creating an awful metallic groaning sound as the entire vehicle was torn off the ground and into the air before being launched across the street. Those coils were actually large fingers, now reaching for me. I could barely get up before I was pressed against the flesh-warm rubber of the thing’s gloved hand.

The beginnings of a shriek escaped my lungs before it was squeezed out of me by fingertips digging into my back and chest, pinching me with crushing pressure. Briefly, I tried to wriggle and claw my way out, fight or flight instinct kicking in and immediately choosing the latter. Then I looked down. A dizzying drop was laid out before me. No wonder there were bodies falling from the sky; people were so desperate to escape the giants’ crushing grip that they were throwing themselves out into open air, and a long, deadly fall to the ground.

Breathing as shallowly as I could, I managed to make it to my destination without falling unconscious from the pressure on my lungs. Briefly, I made out a plastic cage with a wire mesh door — just like the kinds used for shelter animals. The cage was opened for a split second and I was thrown roughly inside, landing against something hard and warm. Whatever- whoever I landed on groaned painfully and I quickly tried to get off them. It wasn’t easy. The cage swayed as the giant moved somewhere else to get another victim, sending me and the person beneath me colliding with the side of the carrier. A sob wrenched out of them as I finally scrambled back. A woman who couldn’t have been more than a few years older than me stared up at me from the floor. Her chest heaved and her eyes moistened with tears. She whined as we were again jostled around, gripping her leg as her eyes squeezed tightly shut. I glanced down at it and gagged. Her whole right leg was twisted nearly backwards.

My shock was interrupted by the terrified screams of new people falling into the cage. I backed up against the wall and tried to take in the place. Between the humid, rancid air and the various sounds of people giving up on life, it was a grim picture. Dull slitted lighting gave the whole thing a hazy waking-nightmare-like feeling. Beams of light occasionally landed on awful scenes that made my skin crawl. There was everything from people scream-crying to people vomiting or wailing in pain to people who just sat in wide-eyed silence, staring at nothing.

The next time the cage door was opened, I noticed in utter horror that some people were waiting by the opening, throwing themselves out intentionally just to ensure their death over capture. A dying shriek reverberated through the air as an unlucky person got stuck between the metal bars as they fell closed. Only half of them landed back in the cage, spraying everyone in close proximity with blood and gore. Their severed legs writhed for a second before spasming and falling limply to the ground.

My eyes were torn away from the awful scene by a familiar sob that came from beside me. I turned slowly, still in shock, finding the woman with the mangled leg staring at the bleeding piece of body in distraught and terror. Her whole body shook violently, and the wet glint of tears slid down her cheeks. I slid a hand down and reached for hers, trying to comfort her. She flinched away from me, eyes darting back to mine. Recognizing what I had intended to do, she dragged herself closer, wrapping her arms around me and clinging to my side like a scared child. I didn’t blame her. I hadn’t expected it, and shied away from her touch at first. However, the ride was long and she refused to let go for anything. With all the nightmarish events happening around me, I soon found myself returning her frightened grip.

The cage was so jam packed within only about a half hour that people were trampling and climbing over one another because there wasn’t enough room for everyone to stand. Bones and limbs were torn up or broken left and right as they were stepped or fallen on. Most of it couldn’t be helped. The cage swung along to the giant hazmat suit creature’s gait with no particular care for any of us passengers inside. The stench of such close quarters made everything all the more unbearable. Thank god I managed to get a spot against the wall and the thin breathing slits.

The woman at my side clung almost desperately to me then, trying to sidle her hurt leg between us so it wouldn’t be torn up further. “What happened?” I asked her, gesturing at her leg. It was the first thing I actually said to her. She seemed slightly shocked that I’d spoken, and glanced down at it before forcing her gaze somewhere else. “I- I was trying to hide under a stairway. One of those g- giant things grabbed me by my leg, but I held on to the railing. When I wouldn’t let go, they-” She took a shuddering breath, “They yanked and twisted it until I let go.” I sucked in a shocked breath of air. “I- I’m Tanya.” “Wes,” I replied.

We sat together in a small huddle as things continued getting worse around us. What did the giant hazmat creatures want with all of us? Why did they want so many people? Where did they even come from?

Unfortunately, we found out where they came from soon enough. With the cage full, the giant that held us stepped back through the tear in the sky. The transition made my hair stand on end. For the brief moment we passed through, everything became deathly cold, and I felt like I was being choked. It was like a whole other world opened up on the other side. I wasn’t close enough to the cage door to see anything outside, but the temperature dropped like we’d stepped into an air conditioned building, and echoes of unnaturally loud voices and footsteps bounced off walls. Along with the sounds of normal activity, there was an awful cacophony of begging, screaming, and crying, warped into one raucous sound by the sheer size of the large room.

The cage was roughly placed on a rolling belt of sorts, sliding down into some unknown space. Moments later, everyone was thrown partway into the air by the momentum of our cage hitting another in front of it. Soon enough, a similar chain reaction happened as another cage hit ours from behind. People started talking again, even yelling to those in other containers, searching for someone they knew. The spiking panic never quite went away though we were now left alone on the conveyor belt; it couldn’t. There were still the awful tortured noises, and with every move the belt made to pull us further, the closer the sounds became.

Theories were thrown around as to what would happen to us come the end of the line. Some thought we would be cast into a furnace and burned for energy, others thought we would be dissected alive. Neither idea made much sense — the beings would take everything, not just us, if they were feeding a flame-powered engine, and if they were dissecting us alive.. surely they wouldn’t need thousands of test subjects, would they? Despite neither guess being very logical, people were too scared to doubt anything. Along with theorists, there were others banding together at the entrance, trying to scale their way up to the lock and pick it open.

For the entire tenuous time we waited, Tanya and I had our own quiet conversation, which was mostly me trying to disprove the deadlier theories, and her nursing her twisted leg. However, after what might’ve been hours, the cage in front of us was hauled away. A brief glimpse of a large glass holding cell flashed in front of us before a cover slammed down over the belt tunnel, stopping our cage from rolling any further. Anxiety prickled through the crowd as more screaming and begging came from the voices we’d heard in front of us. Everyone got quiet after that.

At last, the screaming briefly stopped, but that was worse. The cries had always halted just before another cage was taken. We were next. Everything was suddenly hauled into the air, cage door thrown open. All of us went tumbling into the basin we’d caught a glimpse of earlier. Tanya fell on me that time, but neither of us cared much at that point. We just wanted to know where we were. Some people were unlucky enough to land at a very wrong angle. Of them, there were a lot of broken bones and dislocated limbs, but a very unlucky — or maybe lucky — few had landed upside down, snapping their necks or spines in the process — dying pretty much instantaneously. One of them was miraculously still alive, though. They wheezed out choked tears before a gloved hand descended from above. This glove wasn’t a thick rubber hazmat glove, but rather a thin steril blue one.

All of us watched stunned as the person was lifted up by the gigantic appendage. Frankly, I wasn’t even fazed by the near-dead person; I was fazed by the gloved being. No one had been able to see them before. They were covered head to toe in hazmat gear. This one wore nothing but a doctor’s mask and surgical gloves, as well as a crisp white shirt with a small logo in the right corner that I couldn’t read. Besides the being’s impossible size, it looked exactly like a person. She looked like a person.

The giant woman examined the wheezing, writhing person in her hand with a near deadpan expression. With one swift move, she pressed their spine between her fingers and squeezed, effectively snapping the person in two. Gasps and whimpers rose up around me as we all watched her casually toss the body into something below the tabletop where we sat, then dust off her hands like she’d taken care of a piece of trash rather than a dying human being. Afterwards, her gaze landed on us.

She replaced her gloves with a fresh pair, then reached into the container. Everyone scattered, trying desperately to avoid the hand that had just killed so easily. Some poor soul was swept away, and they became the new spectacle for the rest of us to watch. The man was strapped to a swiveling platform tray and brought beneath a large magnifying glass, lit up and attached to the side of the table. She examined him, tested his reflexes, drew blood with an incredibly thin needle — it was like being seen by a gigantic doctor. His blood samples were stuck into a machine for a minute while the giant continued to inspect his health. Finally, as the blood samples returned, he found the courage to speak.

“P- Please! What do you want with us?” The giant glanced up at him briefly, then finished reading the test results. Without looking up, she replied. “I want to make sure you’re in good condition.” Confused silence. “You are, by the way. In good condition.” Jotting something down on her clipboard, she looked up at the man strapped to the tray in front of her. He squirmed slightly under her gaze. “Why?” She shrugged, “Pays well.” Her massive gloved hands reached for him and he struggled as she undid his restraints and placed him in a different container. It was smaller than ours and made of metal. The side was labeled ‘passing containment’; there was another bin beside it, but the label was blocked by medical equipment. “Alright,” the woman said with a sigh, “Who’s next?”

Everyone still evaded her grasp to the best of their ability, but someone was caught in the end. They were strapped down and examined in the same way. Her willingness to speak with us sent up a lot of questions from the group, but the giant ignored all of them. The only one she did answer was the question of the person on the lifted tray in front of her. “What will happen to us after this?” Quietly, she drew their blood and stuck it in the machine again. “I don’t know; that’s not my job. I just make sure you’re healthy when you come in.” “What if we aren’t?” someone called from somewhere to my left. She glanced at our container. “You go into that bin.” A long finger pointed out the second metal container. “Again, I don’t know where you go after that.”

The machine dinged, signifying the blood sample’s results were back. The woman turned to check on it, then huffed and checked again. At last, she turned back to her ‘patient’. “Do you know you have lung cancer?” she asked them. The guy sputtered, looking around as if he expected the question to be part of some cruel joke. “Wh- What? No I don’t!” “Says here you do.” He shook his head angrily. “Well, it’s wrong.” The giant shrugged, reading from the machine. “I’ll run the test again if you like.” After another few minutes, the results remained unchanged. “Well, into the unhealthy bucket for you.” “What?! What does that mean?! What’s gonna happen to me?!?” He panicked, trying to squirm out of her grip. “I told you, I don’t know.”

Every person was subjected to the same basic checkup, and were tallied down on whatever papers the giant had on her clipboard. All of us had to take a turn. All of us were afraid she'd find something wrong. Tanya shook me gently, “What happens when she gets to me?” There were a few people with broken bones or dislocated shoulders that had gone through the giant’s evaluation. She’d slid their tray into a black box-looking device and sat them in there for ten minutes or so. Some people took more time than others, usually the ones with more severe injuries took the longest. When they came out, their bones were perfectly rearranged and rebuilt. Others with more serious problems — illnesses and missing limbs — were thrown into the dreaded other bin. Funny; I doubt many of those without certain limbs had that issue before they were abducted. “They’ll probably just stick you in the healing machine,” I told Tanya quietly, “You’ll be alright.”

I let her go first. I wanted to be able to see what happened to her; if anything happened to her. The giant went to strap her to the tray like usual, but hesitated as she noticed her twisted limb. Her eyes narrowed, scrutinizing Tanya’s leg as she held it between two fingers. I held my breath the entire time, eventually letting it out in a relieved huff as the giant finally strapped her to the tray. She hadn’t immediately put her in the reject bin, or whatever it was. However, instead of reaching for the syringe to take blood, or the tweezers to move limbs, or even the small dull hammer to check reflexes, the woman reached into a drawer beneath those tools, hand retreating with a sharpened scalpel. My stomach dropped and Tanya struggled in her bindings. “Wh- Wait! What is that for?!” The giant bent over her, “I need a better look at your leg,” she mumbled, not exactly to her.

With expert movements, she cut a long thin slit down the length of the twisted pant leg. “Wait.. what are you-” Swapping the scalpel for tweezers, the giant pulled her leg out of her clothing, holding it up to the magnifying glass pinched between the metal prongs. Tanya cried in pain, and I had to turn away. Her leg looked so much worse without clothing to hide it. No wonder she hadn’t stood up since I met her. Not only was it twisted backwards, it was jammed up through her side, bone nearly impaling skin. The awful image of the person who first fell from the sky flashed through my mind.

“Yeah I.. don't think this’ll work,” the giant mused, “You’d probably die of shock if I stuck you in the Patching and Reworking device. I’ll just stick you in the unhealthy bin.” I spun back around just as Tanya started begging. “No! No, please! I- I’ll do it! I’ll try it! If I die, I die! Just don’t-” Her voice cut off in a pained sob as she was taken from the tray and lifted into the air. “Just let her try it!” I chimed in as she was lowered into the bin. The giant turned to me with a surprised expression, but it quickly faded into a pitying one as she reached for me.

“Sorry, little guy. If any of you come to me alive, I have to keep you that way. I can’t do it if it might kill her.” She explained it to me as if I were a little kid, her voice lilting and patronizing. “You snapped that first person’s spine! The hell are you talking about?!” She froze for a split second, eyes briefly darting to the bin beneath the counter. I could see it now that I was high enough in the air, and I immediately regretted it. There were way too many corpses in there. Like, really too many — more than the population of the whole town. How many places have they been to? How many people are here?!

I couldn’t even speak as I was strapped down and checked over. I was given the all clear fairly quickly, but I wasn’t worried about myself. Struggling in the giant’s hand, I tried to peer into the ‘unhealthy’ bin as I was whisked overhead. There were a few people lying on the floor, so I couldn’t even find Tanya before my vision was cut off by the metal walls of the bin. The last of the people in our group were checked; a few were reunited on this side, happy just to be together, others looked like they wished they’d jumped out of the cage while they had the chance.

With everyone done, the woman pressed a buzzer on the wall and finished up her work, dumping all the collective dead bodies that had complied during our trip into the bin beneath the table with the rest. Soon, we were taken out of the room by another giant. All anyone could see was the underside of our carrier’s head as they walked. Some people tried to ask what was going on, but we were all ignored. Our bin was deposited in yet another room. We couldn’t see anything beyond the ceiling high above, but we could hear the voices of other people like us. There was constant yelling, but that was nothing new. All I and anyone could do was wait for our turn to find out what was happening. My thoughts were preoccupied, though. The only thing I could think about was what might happen to Tanya and everyone else in the other bin. They weren’t being killed, right? I had to hold out hope that they were being brought somewhere that could treat them with another strange miracle machine, and not anything else. Please don’t let it be anything else.

Not that I really had the privilege to worry about someone besides myself. The assembly line reached our bin. Ten at a time, people were scooped up and shoved into shelving that lined the wall. I ran away from the oncoming hand like everyone else, but where could we even run to? What was the point of delaying the inevitable?

I was shoved haphazardly into one of the shelves, which turned out to be a normal-sized room, decorated with nothing but a few rows of cots and two vertical empty tubes that stuck through both the floor and the ceiling. One small section with a sink and a toilet was blocked off by a curtain. All the walls were an empty, clean white except for one. The wall on the opposite side of the opening was made of glass so we could be viewed by whoever was passing by. It made my adrenaline spike for no reason other than the uncanniness of it all. A few others — nine others to be exact — were locked in with me. The final white wall fell closed on us with a dull click.

We all stared around at eachother — took it all in. There were three women, one of which sank to her knees and started bawling. The other two just glanced around uneasily. Three other guys beside myself stood around as well, two of them helped the crying woman onto a cot. The others were just kids. One of them was glued to the side of a man that hadn’t moved, and the last kid stood alone in the furthest corner. She might be closer to adulthood, but there was something about her features that made her seem younger.

It was about four days until our room opened up again, but I learned quite a lot in those first few hours alone. The younger kid was only nine years old, and the man he refused to let go of was his father. They were Jim and Darian. I thought the mother might have gotten separated from them during the day we were abducted, but she’d actually separated from them long before then.

The woman who’d cried throughout the whole first day had been taken from her wife and two kids, and she was fully convinced they were in the room next door. After calming down from crying, she began to call through the walls. Everyone kept trying to quiet her — the walls were soundproofed — but nothing could stop her from trying. She was Lucille.

The oldest person, the other man who’d tried to help Lucille up, had complained the most about her whining, and quickly began to resent her. He resented everything, though. That was Mr. Ferguson.

The two other women were about my age, as well as the other guy. We formed a sort of apocalypse committee where we hatched plans to escape. Well, Brendon, Sylvi, and I came up with escape plans. Emma, the eldest of us, shot them down. We let it slide though, because she was basically the mom of the group. She was practical, and reasoned with everyone, even Mr. Ferguson, without losing her temper. No one knew why or how, but it was nice to have someone who wasn’t freaking out. The older teen I never got the name of. She hasn’t spoken a word since she was put in here.

Our first night, we claimed beds and Emma assured us that we would be alright here. They’d checked our health and gave us a place to stay, which was a pretty clear sign they wanted us alive and well. For what, no one knew, but at the very least we weren’t strapped down or kept in those awful cages. Brendon determined that the best thing was being able to understand our captors. His first plan of many was to try and guilt-trip one of the giants into letting us go, but everyone thought that was an awful idea. None of them seemed very apathetic to our situation.

While we argued over what we could do, the pipes rattled in the wall. Our conversation came to an abrupt halt as water sloshed into a basin that jutted away from the tube. Moments later round pellets scattered down the second tube, falling into a similar basin. Everyone glanced around uneasily. The food smelled unappetizing at best, and the way we were fed was so eerily similar to a small animal or pet that it made my hair stand on end. Now that the idea was in my head, the entire room looked like a cage in a pet store, minus the cots and bathroom amenities.

Just as all of us began getting used to the new routine, things changed for the worse. Again. Mid-morning, shortly after the next round of water and pellets made their way through the tubing, the back wall was pulled away. All of us raced to the opposite end of the room, pressed up against the glass. A gloved hand reached in for us. I was pressed tightly between the others, all of us desperate to get back.

Despite our warnings against it, Brendon slid to the front to speak. “When can we go home?” he asked, “We’re thankful you’ve given us a place to stay here, but we don’t want to stay! Whatever you want with us — will you take us back afterwards?” The human sneered, hand retreating from the room. A moment later their head ducked into view to look at him.

“Sure, we’ll release you once we’re done with you.” Before anyone could react, the giant’s hand reached in and dragged Brendon out into the same type of bin we’d been carried there in. The rest of us were gathered up shortly after. I don’t know what I expected to happen to me, but it certainly wasn’t what did happen. I was stuck in a small room even for my own size, and given a ridiculously long exam. Yep. A paper bubble sheet and booklet exam where the booklet of problems was as thick as a novel and the answer sheet spanned several pages. I started taking it when I was told to by some giant outside the room, but after a while, I got up and wandered around. There was a metal box in one corner that I hadn’t investigated. Turns out, it was a fridge with concessions. A suspicious amount of concessions.

Hours in, I’d taken about a quarter of the test out of boredom, when at last I heard another voice. It was a giant walking by. “Wait! Hello?” I called, hoping they’d stop, “When is test time up? When do we finish?” I didn’t plan on taking the entire exam, which consisted of math, grammar, science, mechanics, illusions and puzzles, almost anything you could think of to solve. It was way too much for something I could care less about. “Your time is up when you finish,” came the giant’s response. “I.. Do you really expect me to finish all of this? This’ll take days!” I heard an annoyed huff. “Then you better speed it up, then. I’m not allowed to let you out until you’re done.” Just to spite them, I filled in all my remaining multiple choice answers as C, and any free response ones with whatever shit I could think of to write the giant overseers. It still took me a while just to do that and chuck all of it into the bin that slid out of the wall once I answered everything.

I was met with an extremely unamused look when I was let out. The giant above me lifted me up between two fingers, frowning at me. “Really? You didn’t even try. That’s going to mess up your results.” I tried to say something back, but I could barely breathe, and all I could do was wheeze. “Oh! You can’t.. Here.” Their hand opened, letting me fall into a palm the size of a small car. “Th- Thanks,” I said weakly. “I would've tried a bit harder if you’d let me have a fucking break.” The giant shrugged, bouncing me up and down with the large movement. “You could take as many breaks as you wanted; you just had to stay in the box.”

He ended up putting me back in my new room. It wasn’t that much of an improvement. No one else was even there. I guess none of them had figured out that they could just bullshit every answer to get out early. Remembering Brendon’s idea, I tried one last brief conversation. This was a giant I hadn’t met before — one that had the decency to stop crushing me to death, which was still awful, but it was better than the others. It couldn’t hurt to try.

“Hey!” I yelled before the wall was closed, “When do we get let out of this room?” When will you be done giving us stupid tests? Why are you even-” The giant’s face darkened, and I quieted anxiously. “W- What?” My voice echoed almost fearfully in the empty space. “Nothing,” he responded with a quick shake of his head, “I just... Don’t count on going back to your world anytime soon.” With that, he shut the door.

“Wait! WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!” It was no use shouting now. The soundproofed walls would’ve kept him from hearing anything. I sulked in silence until someone came back. Sylvi was tossed back in a hurry almost four hours later; she’d been fighting through the two-handed grasp the giant had on her, caught inside the tightly enclosed space between their palms. She spat a few curses before the wall was sealed off. A shuddering breath escaped her lungs as she knelt on the floor where she’d been tossed, and I was scared that she’d start crying. She snapped out of it the moment she spotted me. “How did you get back so early?” Sylvi asked, quickly rubbing her face while she was turned away from me. I explained to her how I decided to finish the test; she had a good laugh at that.

The next to come back was the youngest kid’s father. He paced back and forth the entire time until his son came back. He was the last one because he’d actually been trying his hardest. It took him a day or two to actually finish everything. Again, Brendon, Sylvi, and I all argued over why they’d given us that test. Even Mr. Ferguson offered his opinion. The consensus was: we had no fucking clue. Abducting probably hundreds of thousands of people just to test them didn’t make sense. That night we all managed to get some decent sleep with everyone returned back. It’s a good thing we did. The following day we were all taken out again.

One by one, we were all stuffed away into a large container with others in the same row. I flinched as someone started sobbing behind me. Lucille rushed over to a woman huddling two kids close to herself and threw her arms around all three of them. The other woman — her wife, presumably — pulled her beneath her chin, kissing the top of her head. My heart wrenched in my chest knowing they’d be separated again. Memories of Tanya hugging me close threatened to make my eyes water, but I shook away the pain. She’s being healed up.. somewhere else.

Our group’s destination was a gigantic room about the size of a stadium, yet it was still dwarfed by the giant-sized room it sat in. We were all dumped in and sealed up inside. I tried searching for anyone I knew from before all this, but there were way too many people to pick out any familiar faces. A few billboard screens flickered to life around the room minutes after we were left alone. Welcome to your first assessment! a voice cheerfully greeted us from the speakers, In this trial, your goal is simple: leave the room before time runs out!

First an exam, now an escape room? Along with a way out, there will be numerous surprise chests scattered throughout the room, which reset every time they’re opened! You can win all sorts of cool prizes! Examples of them flashed across the screen, showing more comfortable amenities, private rooms, better meals, medication, and so on. What caught my attention was the prize of choosing a roommate. Sure, I could pick someone I knew, but if Tanya was somewhere worse off, I could at least get her to my uncanny, but otherwise tolerable place of living.

But watch out! the automated voice warned, Some of the boxes can spring punishments instead of prizes, so choose wisely! An animated stick person opened a chest onscreen during the warning. Moments later the cartoon effect of being zapped with electricity made their skeleton flash briefly across the screen.

The introduction video seemed so innocent it almost didn’t seem real, like this was all something pretend. But don’t worry; none of the punishments are lethal, so try your best! Despite the obvious dangers, I swore to myself that I’d try it at least once, just to see. Remember, get out before time runs out, and good luck! With that, the entire stadium rumbled to life.

Giants herded everyone into different hallways that had opened up around the stadium. People started yelling, getting separated from others they found in the crowd. I was corralled down a hall where I knew no one, but it didn’t matter much to me. We’d be put back in our weird rooms at the end of it all, anyways.

When we finally stepped out, the automated voice said: Trial Start! And the whole place lit up. Smooth grey walls shot up from the ground in random patterns, creating a labyrinth of hallways and cutoffs. I stared in horror as people rushed past me, driven by the timer flashing above our heads. Everything had clicked in my mind. This isn’t an escape room, it’s a maze — a maze of incentives and punishments for comparatively small living things to navigate for the gigantic scientists watching everything just outside. No wonder we’d been tested. No wonder we were kept in uncanny pet store rooms with little fucking food and water dispensers. We’re lab rats. All of us. And no one’s going home.

My existential crisis would have to wait, though. I’m on a time limit. I wandered the plastic halls searching for the exit before remembering the potential prizes. I didn’t want to give the scientists the satisfaction of learning some sort of lesson, but at the same time, the prizes were hard to pass up. The next time I came to a dead end in the maze, there was a small box at the end of it. I hesitantly stepped up to the podium where it sat and threw the lid open as fast as I could, bracing myself for something to happen. Nothing. Looking down, there was a small slip of paper inside. GOOD FOR ONE MODIFIED COT it read. Damn. Not the one I was looking for, but I’d definitely take it over electrocution or whatever else had been rigged.

When I came across the next box, I was nearly shoved to the ground by someone wanting to get to it first. I watched from against the wall as they flipped open the lid and reached inside. This was followed by the noise of a mechanical lock. “Shit! Not again!” The person who shoved me strained to move away from the box, but their arm was locked into it by a metal clamp. A punishment in action. I’d heard people yelling about them, but I hadn’t seen one actually happen. It didn’t seem all that bad.

On my search for a different box, I came across the exit. There were a good deal of people already outside, but I wanted to try one more box, so I turned and headed back into the maze. I opened the next box expectantly, only to be blasted in the face with a bucketload of freezing water. Damn the psychology of this maze bullshit. I’m going back to the exit. What direction was that again?

I glanced up at the timer; five minutes left. Surely I could find it by then. As I raced back through halls I might’ve been down before, I caught sight of a group of three panicked people. Two of them were desperately trying to get the other’s arm out of one of those traps. If it didn’t unlock soon, they’d have to leave them there and make a run for the exit. That’s if they knew where the exit was.

Thankfully, I managed to find it with a little more than a minute to spare. I didn’t know what would happen if I was in there past the time limit, but I didn’t want to find out. The second the timer ended, a wall slid up from the floor of the maze and blocked the opening. Those of us who’d gotten out were congratulated by the automated voice and herded into another bin before being lifted away. Through the hazy plastic, I could catch what the punishment was for not making it out.

The whole maze had shifted. Walls had gone up everywhere so the interior of the box was filled. For a brief and terrifying moment, I thought they’d filled the box completely, crushing anyone still left inside. Then I noticed little pockets of space. They couldn’t have been bigger than six by six foot squares. Anyone who didn’t make it out was forced to sit in a little claustrophobic box within the maze. Who knows when they’d be released.

I was lifted out of the container a while later and scanned by some sort of machine before being placed back in the room. I’ve never been more relieved and repulsed by a place in my life. The others were all put back too. Well, almost all the others. Mr. Ferguson hadn’t made it back. Each person shared some sort of story about what they saw except Lucile, who sat on her bed in teary-eyed silence. Emma’s story was the worst. She saw someone — still sopping wet from a water-based punishment like mine — get an electrocution punishment back to back. They’d spasmed and hit the floor unconscious. She’d rushed over to help them, but had to leave them behind.

“They were still breathing, thank god. But I couldn’t do much else for them. Hopefully they woke up before time ran out,” Emma said with a shudder. “We.. we’re being experimented on, aren’t we?” Sylvi asked, glancing around at everyone, “This is far from over.” “We’re just lab rats,” I added solemnly.

Everyone was in a pretty gloomy mood after that, but right before dinner, the wall behind us opened up again. A jolt of anxious fear spiked through me. I thought we were being dragged off to another test. “Any of you want to cash in a ticket?” the giant asked. I forgot about that. Digging into my pocket, I pulled out mine and hesitantly raised my hand. “Alright, give it to me.” Their outstretched hand slid into the room and everyone backed off. From as far away as I could, I passed them my slip of paper. The giant stuck it into some kind of reader, then nodded. He reached for something below what I could see, and brought up a whole bed. “Which one is yours?” he asked, nodding to the cots. I pointed it out and he replaced it.

“Anyone else?” Jim lifted his hand hesitantly. “I- I have a lone room, but I.. Can I bring my son with me?” The giant narrowed his eyes in thought. “Hmmm…. You won it, so I guess you can decide.” Jim nodded happily, “In that case, you can take my ticket, and I’ll bring my son.” He handed off the ticket and both he and the little guy were taken to a different room. None of us ever saw them again, and frankly, I don’t know whether that’s a good or bad thing.

Mr. Ferguson finally returned as the rest of us were going to bed. Brendon dared to ask him what had happened, and he mumbled under his breath something about having to repeat an entirely different maze before he was allowed to leave. He only spoke one other time to ask where Jim and Darian were before silently going to sleep. Speaking of, that night was the first night I’d slept longer than an hour at a time. My new bed was no joke. It felt like a normal mattress from the beds back home. It probably is. They probably stole it.

The next day was apparently a rest day. Brendon, Sylvi, and I tried again to come up with a plan of escape. Even Emma got involved. She was beginning to doubt her own idea that the giants wanted us safe. They wanted us alive so we could be experienced with. “What if we just refuse?” I asked the group, “I did that for the test and all the punishment I got was a stern talking to.” “Or they could pour boiling water on you,” Sylvi interrupted me, “or fucking blind you. That’s how they punished me in the maze.” I groaned, “But that was when you were playing their game! What if we decide to just sit out?” “Somehow, I don’t think they’ll let us do that anymore,” Emma said solemnly.

“I’ll try it.” Everyone turned to the person who’d spoken. It was the teen who previously hadn’t uttered a word. She slowly glanced between each of us like she was confused why we were all staring at her. “I’ll refuse to do the next test. I don’t really care what the giants will do to me, anyways.” We all glanced worriedly at eachother. “A- Are you sure you want to try that?” Emma asked, “They.. can do a lot worse than what they’ve been doing if they wanted to.” She nodded, and it was settled.

The following day we were all dragged off again. Another maze awaited us, only this one was filled with visual puzzles. Another automated video explained the different systematic sections of the game, but I could hardly concentrate. Again I searched the waiting room for someone I knew. There were less of us today. I recognized two people from my town, but I didn’t know them well enough to bother going up to them. When the gates opened, I stayed towards the beginning for a second, watching the teen. She stood unmoving at the entrance. A giant told her to go in, but she shook her head; I watched her speak to the giant, then yell at them. Their fist slammed into the ground beside her and I flinched. Miraculously, she remained still.

In one swift movement, the giant picked her up by her arm and dragged her inside it himself. I dashed behind a corner to watch how things played out. Despite being literally manhandled, she still refused to move from wherever the giant put her. The only way she’d complete the puzzles would be if the giant did them for her, and that would defeat the purpose of our little experiment. “Do the damn puzzles you little bitch!” the giant growled angrily, “Or I’ll put you in an experiment that you can’t refuse to participate in!” A forced experiment? They have those? Briefly I zoned out, thinking through what that might look like, when I heard a loud yelp. The angered giant had snatched up the girl rather forcefully, taking her away to some other place.

I tried to complete the test as fast as possible, hoping to see what happened to her, but the puzzles became too complex to speed through them. The first part of the maze was a mirror maze, similar to the ones in funhouses. That would end, and I’d be given another one. About five mazes in, I realized they all had the same layout, and rushed through. My sixth attempt, some scientist must’ve realized I’d solved the puzzle because the next room was completely different. Similar little mindfucks were presented to me throughout the day. I was starving by the time I made it out. When I was placed back in my room, there were food pellets waiting for me. It was the first time I enjoyed eating them, though their taste was still horrific.

All of the others were returned one by one. And finally, lastly, the teen who’d refused. I still don’t know her name; I don’t think she’s given it. Everyone was anxious to hear what happened to her, especially since she was sopping wet — a sign of a few of the punishments. All of us crowded around her as she relayed her story.

“It- They put me somewhere different,” she told us, “I refused to do any of the maze so they put me into one where I.. I didn’t have a choice.” She choked on her last sentence, taking a shaky breath. “I.. I killed someone.” Her whisper sent chills down my spine. I could feel the hair on my arms prickle against my clothing. “It wasn’t my fault!” she exclaimed suddenly, “They- The test, it- it made me! I-I couldn’t save them! I tried! I really tried!” “What are you talking about?” Mr. Ferguson asked. “What.. What do you mean you killed somebody?” Brendon asked quietly. “They.. It’s.. There’s this deep empty basin,” she exclaimed. “The giants tell you that you have to climb out, which is easy enough; there are footholds in the side of one of the walls. Then they…” She took another breath and Emma sat down beside her, offering some comfort.

“They put another person in there with you, right as they announce that the trial is starting. The other person.. they were covered in chains and weights. They could barely move. They were angry and confused, and I tried to explain what was happening, but then the water started coming in.” She was silent for a bit. “They were weighed down.” Her voice grew quiet again. “They started drowning. I- I tried to help them up the wall, but they were too heavy. Th-They begged me to help them, b-but I couldn’t lift them! They- I- I had to let them go! Don’t you understand?! I would’ve drowned too if I didn’t drop them!” The girl broke off and started wailing. Emma hugged her close with a darkened, faraway look. The rest of us stared around at eachother in horror. There were worse punishments. A lot worse.

Throughout the week we were tested over and over again, except for that teen. Every single day she was put in a basin with another person chained up. Every single day she had to watch someone die in front of her, knowing she couldn’t save them. One day, she didn’t come back. No one wanted to ask why, but Lucille did. “Oh,” the woman who’d come to get us responded, a bit shocked she’d been spoken to. “The one in the Basin Trials? She died — drowned trying to save someone she couldn’t. It was an anomaly case. Usually she gives up on the victim eventually, but that time she didn’t.” She shrugged, “Our hypothesis is that she might’ve known them, but we can’t be sure.”

I don’t know how long it’s been since everything started; time seems.. I don’t know.. blurry? It’s not definite anymore. Now time is based on whenever food and water get delivered, and when the day’s trial happens. Sometimes it’ll be just you alone in a room — tested physically, mentally, or both. Other times you have to work with or even against others. I don’t know what I did to attract attention to myself. I think it’s because I keep solving the logic puzzles too quickly, either that or it’s because I helped someone with theirs. Whatever the reason, suddenly I was brought to a completely different test. Alone.

The ever-present automated voice told me what to do while I stood in an empty room. It was uncanny. I hadn’t had time alone since.. I don’t know. The screen in front of me showed the rules to the game, which was basically Tetris. I had to stack and clear rows of differently-shaped blocks without letting them hit the top. If I did, I would be punished. I’m familiar with the punishments by now, not that I’m used to them. They’re still awful.

When the room opened up, a slim glass box sat in front of me, as tall and long as a gymnasium, but only thin enough to fit two people shoulder to shoulder. The pieces would fall in from the slot at the top, and I had to control where they fell in the box with a joystick and button console in front of the giant glass box.

I stood at the controls, expecting the voice to announce the game’s start, but it was still silent. Suddenly, a back door opened, and three people were shoved inside. They all stood at the bottom, where I had to stack blocks. “Wh- What?!” I gasped, looking around for a giant supervisor — there was usually at least one. That time, there weren’t any. “I… Why are there people?” The automated message again stated how to win. “I know how to win! B-But there are people down there! What do you want me to do, kill them?!” The only response I got was: Trial Start!

A large block about four feet tall slid down from the ceiling, and everyone inside panicked. They couldn’t see me on the other side, but they knew someone was controlling things on the outside. That first run was too confusing; I just piled all the blocks in one long line at the opposite end of the glass box from the people inside. One of them was significantly slower at moving than the others — I had to be wary of her. The game ended rather quickly as I stacked a pile up to the ceiling. The moment I did, electrical currents ran through the floor, briefly burning me from the inside out. I spasmed, falling onto the controller in front of me. Gasping for air, I glanced up at the people trapped between the glass. Did they know what was happening to me out here?

I stumbled over, reaching for the glass. My heart jolted in my chest as I got a good look and the designated victims for the first time. The slower one.. it was Tanya. I wasn’t sure at first; I hobbled over to the glass beside her, putting a shaking hand against it. It really is her. Her leg had healed all wrong, and she couldn’t even bend it. “Tanya!” I yelled for her, but she didn’t react. You’ve started a losing streak! the automated voice stated cheerfully. The more times you lose, the harsher your punishment will become! Let’s start another round! “I- I don’t want to do this anymore!” I shouted at the machine, “This isn’t right! I… Why do you want me to kill them?! This isn’t an experiment; this is torture!” Trial Start!

Again, I stacked the blocks in a single line up to the top. I didn’t know what else to do. Obviously, I wasn’t going to hurt the people trapped in there, but there weren’t many alternatives. For my next punishment, they’d upped the voltage. A shriek exploded from my lungs as waves of electricity tore through my skin, leaving parts of me burnt. I lay on the ground, wheezing for ragged breaths. If I keep this up, I’ll die. If I don’t keep it up, they die. What if.. What if I just try building around them? I can still complete rows above them, I just have to get the right pieces to suspend the rest of the blocks.

The next time the machine said Trial Start I put my plan to work. The designated victims couldn’t hear or see me, so I had to herd them with blocks to somewhere safe. It was hard, but I managed to build a small space for the three of them to huddle in while I filled up the rest of the board. I began scoring points. Enough of those and I can secure a win, breaking my nasty streak of losses. However, my plan began failing after only a few minutes. The tight space I’d left was surrounded in layers of Tetris-like pieces, sealing off air from getting in. Around ten minutes after enacting my plan, the victims began banging on the glass walls of their accidental prison, shouting that they couldn’t breathe.

In a panic, I let the pieces stack up and ended the game. I hadn’t won, but at least everything would clear away. All three people collapsed thankfully to the floor as their airtight box vanished. Relief briefly calmed my heart before I was thrown to the ground by another large shock. It hurt so badly I myself couldn’t breathe, and when it finally ended, I cried out in fear and staggered upward. I couldn’t see. Everything was dark and swirling like my eyes were closed, but I knew they weren’t. A minute or two of cursing and crying, my vision finally cleared. A smile involuntarily spread across my face, relieved that my vision had returned. Trial Start!

I wanted to violently bash whoever was controlling this game with a fucking baseball bat. Desperately, I tried to form another plan, trying to build a staircase out of blocks so the people inside wouldn’t be stuck at the bottom, but keeping up an even staircase was hard to do without accidentally stacking pieces a bit too high. Even then, it was pointless. Tanya couldn’t get up the makeshift stairs in time thanks to her damaged leg. The others did try to help her, but only after they’d gotten themselves out of the way first. I was only a few pieces away from losing again. Fearing for my own life, I quickly spammed the buttons on the controller. Rows cleared. Blood trickled down them.

I won the game with enough points, but the game wouldn’t end. Looks like there’s still a hazard left on your game board! Your game will continue until it’s cleared! Tanya was still on the board. She was the only one I spared.

She lay on a flatter part of the stacked blocks, hands over her head like she expected to be crushed at any moment. I tried to avoid her as long as I could. The game just kept going. Twenty minutes in, and she just sat there staring at the glass, confusedly watching piece after piece fall around her, but never on her. All that effort, only to hit the top and lose. “Wait! Wait, please! I won! I got almost double the points you wanted me to! You didn’t say I had to kill everyone to end the-” My open mouth frothed out saliva as I was electrocuted again. I spasmed and shook and foamed at the mouth like I’d gone insane, then passed out.

Blindingly bright light gleamed directly into my eyes when I woke up, making my head throb. A moment later, it was blocked out by someone sitting above me. “T- Tanya? Did.. I save you?” She sobbed, gently lifting my torso up so she could hug me. “Oh god, it was you out there. I.. I wondered why the controller kept trying to keep me alive.” I tried to speak, but only coughed. Tanya lowered me back down. “Where are we?” I asked faintly. Trial Start!

Adrenaline spiked through my veins, getting me up in an instant. There were glass walls all around me, two of them much further away than the others, like the inside of an ant farm. A shadow passed briefly overhead before sliding somewhere else. “What…?” My stomach dropped as a larger-than-life Tetris block thudded to the ground behind me. Oh.

I glanced back at Tanya and she gave me a heartbroken expression. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I… I think we’re going to die.” Tears welled in my eyes and I brought her close. Another shadow fell over us and I dodged it, dragging Tanya along with me. I tried climbing the side of some blocks like stairs, but she couldn’t do it. Tears slid down her cheeks and she shook her head. “No. No, I’m not letting this happen!” I yelled frustratedly. Rushing back down the block, I hoisted her into my arms, and climbed up the side of it carrying her. Her eyes widened — tears stopping briefly as she stared up at me in shock. We managed to bide our time for a bit longer that way, but eventually my arms gave out beneath her and we landed in a painful heap.

“Wes,” she addressed me in a defeated whisper. “Thank you, but you have to leave me.” “N-No, I-” “Please! If.. If there’s a chance you can make it out of here…” “No, no, no, there’s no point! Get out and do what?! Come back here tomorrow to crush more people to death to earn points in some sick fucking game?! I just-” My voice cracked as a shadow slid over us. “I want to stay with you.”

I was pulled forward suddenly, lips suddenly locked with mine. Tanya’s breath was hot on my face as she kissed me with a passion that could only be brought out in someone’s last moments. Darkness gradually surrounded us as the lights above were blocked by a descending object. I returned Tanya’s affection, sliding her up until she was pressed against me. My eyes squeezed shut as the last of the light died out. I focused on the two of us — bodies close, breath synched, mouths locked on eachother. Then it was over.

#yes this is CURRENTLY happening in the background of the Other-world Universe #and similar occurrences will continue to happen unless someone manages to stop them #g/t #giant tiny #other-world universe #horror #promptober/inktober #tw death #tw injury #tw torture

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adamwatchesmovies · 2 days ago

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Passchendaele (2008)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

Written, directed and starring Paul Gross, Passchendaele is clearly a passion project. The grim reality of war is accurately presented but unfortunately, much of the film’s romantic passions come off as cheesy and disingenuous. This picture is much less than the sum of its parts.

In 1917, Sergeant Michael Dunne (Gross) is sent home as a war hero. While recovering in Calgary, Alberta, he meets nurse Sarah Mann (Caroline Dhavernas). Her younger brother, David (Joe Dinicol), isn’t eligible for military service due to his asthma but his girlfriend’s father pulls some strings and allows him to enlist. At the behest of Sarah, Sergeant Dunne returns to the battlefield to look over the young man, tackling his PTSD in the process.

Paul Gross incorporated certain of his grandfather’s own World War I experiences into the story. You can tell there’s a reverence for the armed forces here and a firm grip on the reality that war is hell. The film opens with a scene that burns itself into your head - the kind that would haunt a soldier until the end of their days. After Dunne and David are deployed overseas, there’s another great scene of armed combat. What was already a chaotic battle descends into madness. Guns are tossed away and men kill each other in the mud with knives, axes, rocks and even their bare hands. These moments are well done, as are other scenes at home. David wants to enlist so badly is because of his father, who left to fight in the war… on Germany’s side. We often hear of how unfairly people and governments treated citizens they theorized would align with their enemies during the war. It’s easy for us to feel like it was wrong and to gain sympathy for the people being victimized. In this case, it still feels wrong but you can certainly better understand why Sarah and David’s neighbors resent them. It's not theoretical. David's father is overseas right now killing his neighbors.

Everything Passchendaele does well makes the film’s mistakes that much more perplexing. Jim Mezon plays Major Randolph Dobson-Hughes, the recruitment officer who - at every opportunity - makes fun of his assistant for filling out forms instead of being on the battlefield and of Dunne for what he perceives as the man’s cowardice. Even if people like this did exist at the time, you know everything there is to know about this man after the first meeting. His character is only there so he can be punished later on. It’s supposed to be cathartic. Instead, it makes your eyes roll. Or maybe your “worst thing about this movie” pick might be the love plots, which are supposed to make us emotionally invested in the heroes but become increasingly embarrassing instead. Dunne meets Sarah on three separate occasions. It’s supposed to feel like destiny, like this romance is bigger than any distance the war might put between them and it might… if it weren’t for their sex scene, which comes in at the absolute worst time in every way. Nearly every scene that tugs at our heartstrings falls flat.

There isn’t a hint of cynicism or irony in Passchendaele, but there probably should be. A few lines of text appear on-screen right before the credits. They make so much of what we just saw feel pointless. Nothing about the film makes you think this was deliberate; it’s simply something that other, better war films have done before and Passchendaele is attempting to duplicate their success by emulating them. This feeling that the directorial choices Gross makes were made because "he had to" is present throughout and explains why so much of the drama and character moments feel so mechanical. (November 20, 2022)

#Passchendaele #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #Paul Gross #Caroline Dhavernas #Gil Bellows #Joe Dinicol #Meredith Bailey #Jim Mezon #2008 movies #2008 films

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reasoningdaily · 1 year ago

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Adultification means teachers, parents and law enforcement are less protective and more punitive with certain kids.

This story was originally published on Jan. 28, 2020 in NYT Parenting.

Punishment was a hallmark of my educational experience.

It started when my preschool teacher labeled me as manipulative and intentionally disruptive. She even tried to film me to prove to my mother I was a problem — she never got that footage, and accused me of pretending to behave at the sight of the camera.

Although I was only 3 years old, she was convinced that my insistent hand raising and refusal to sit still were signs that I was malicious instead of simply understimulated. As soon as I was old enough to understand what happened, my mom didn’t hesitate to tell me the story each time I expressed self-doubt. She wanted me to understand I wasn’t a problem, I was simply an engaged learner. In a world where falling in line was more important than shining, my strengths were a threat.

That experience set the tone for the rest of my schooling. “Disruptive,” “talkative,” and “distraction” were used almost as often as my name. It meant being paddled a lot, calls home to my mother and isolation from other students as punishment.

By high school, I stopped participating almost completely; it was easier to focus on boys than be misunderstood in the classroom.

[Why America’s black mothers and babies are in a life-or-death crisis.]

At the time, I didn’t know that my experiences weren’t uncommon. I was experiencing what academics call “adultification,” in which teachers, law enforcement officials and even parents view black girls as less innocent and more adult-like than their white peers. This perspective often categorizes black girls as disruptive and malicious for age-appropriate behaviors.

Adultification means black girls are punished more frequently, even when they’re under 6. According to a report from the Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection, from 2013-2014, only 20 percent of female preschoolers were black, but black girls made up 54 percent of female preschool children with one or more suspensions.

Now that I’m a grown woman raising a black girl, I’m at a crossroads. How can I preserve my daughter’s childhood while preparing her for a world that may judge her prematurely?

Jamilia Blake, Ph.D., a psychologist and associate professor at Texas A&M University who co-authored the 2019 report “Listening to Black Women and Girls: Lived Experiences of Adultification Bias” and its precursor, the 2017 study “Girlhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls’ Childhood,” said adultification impacts black girls early in life.

Black girls are treated like they are older than they are as early as preschool, Blake found. Unfortunately, the way others perceive Black girls gets worse with age. In one report, a young adult described her family’s difficulty finding an elementary school that would accept her after an allegation of assault and battery was added to her record when a ball she threw at recess hit another girl in the face.

Blake’s work explores how sexism and racism interact to shape our experiences in education, criminal justice and even our social relationships. Her research, which was published in collaboration with the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, suggests that bias toward black girls can lead to less protection and support, and more punishment, among educators and law enforcement.

[I’m darker than my daughter. Here’s why it matters.]

The National Women’s Law Center’s report “Dress Coded: Black Girls, Bodies, and Bias in D.C. Schools” concluded that dress code policy enforcement unfairly targeted black girls, echoing anecdotal evidence that every part of black girlhood — from their hair to their bodies and attire — has the potential to be penalized.

In short, the world ages black girls up, which leaves them unable to access the privileges of childhood, like the benefit of the doubt in punishment situations and support figures like mentors.

According to Joy Harden Bradford, Ph.D., a psychologist and host of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast, black girls are often characterized as “little women.” Teachers, and even parents, may expect black girls to exceed age-appropriate levels of responsibility at home or assume they don’t need to be comforted after emotionally distressing events, according to researchers.

Dr. Bradford said adultification surfaces in the chores parents assign to black girls — many are burdened with household caretaking responsibilities from an early age. Adultification even shows up in how we criticize black girls’ clothing in ways we wouldn’t with boys. Within the black community, calling our girls “fast” or suggesting that they “want to be grown” and deserve whatever consequences they face for their choices ages them and robs them of their innocence.

[Teaching your child to confront sticks, stones and ‘that word.’]

Blake noted that both black boys and girls experience adultification, though it can show up differently depending on a child’s gender. “We need to understand the unique experiences of black girls and black women so we can better support and empower them,” she explained.

At 1 year old, I’ve heard many people describe my daughter’s temperament as mean, sassy or intentionally difficult. The language makes me uncomfortable. But, if I’m honest, I’ve made these sorts of comments myself.

As a former victim of adultification, giving my daughter the childhood she deserves is my priority. It’s up to me to ensure she has the tools to thrive in the face of bias.

Experts I spoke to said it’s important to let my kid be a kid.

“Keeping little girls engaged in play as long as possible is important,” Dr. Bradford advised.

Words matter, too.

Blake said awareness of adultification, self-reflection and being careful about language choices are the first steps. This might involve calling out how adults speak to and about children in your community.

“I believe that black parents should be very explicit when communicating with their children and other adults about the descriptions of black girls’ behavior,” Blake said, pointing out the importance of correcting adults who use negative language to describe black youth.

I plan to listen for phrases the like the ones that were used to punish me for being inquisitive and involved in school. Statements like, “Her grades are good but she’s disruptive in class” or “She’s intentionally challenging my authority” will be causes for further investigation.

“As black parents, I know that we are tasked with having conversations with our children that others do not have to have, but it’s also important to have these conversations in a way that’s developmentally appropriate,” Dr. Bradford added.

A 6-year-old might not be ready for an in-depth conversation on how race and sexism make school harder for her. But she can understand the concept that there are people who treat girls differently than boys, or treat people unfairly based on how they look. When your child inevitably asks why, it’s O.K. to say you don’t know and to reassure her that all people deserve to be treated with love, kindness and respect.

There’s no shortage of identity-related curveballs thrown at black children. It’s important that we allow them to experience childhood and its related benefits for as long as possible. We owe it to black girls to challenge the obstacles in their way.

My childhood was compromised, but it’s not too late for my daughter.

#Why Won’t Society Let Black Girls Be Children?#Black Children #Black Children experiencing adultification #adultification of Black Children is white supremacy #\

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songbirds-wish · 1 year ago

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Another Nijisanji/Anycolor Rant

Now I know I am 2 months late into this but I saw a video where Zaion reveals her side of the situation in which she got terminated. And honestly? Now that we have both sides to one hell of a situation, I think it’s safe to say *both* sides were in the wrong.

There were a lot of things Zaion did wrong, like the weird comments about Genshin characters because they had “sh0t4 designs” , using her past life accounts when that was strictly prohibited,, regardless of reason, and playing ROM hacks in her previous life to name a few. But at least she took responsibility and held herself accountable for those issues, which I appreciate her doing.

But there’s also a lot of genuinely infuriating things Nijisanji/Anycolor did that had me baffled and pissed. the double standards, the TERRIBLE management, Zaion getting punished ALL BECAUSE SHE REACHED OUT TO A SENIOR STAFF MEMBER, and didn’t protect her from GENUINE death threats and SWAT threats due to doxxing while she was suspended and left her out of the loop. Yet said publicly that they were going to do so with all their talents.

What also pisses me off is the fact that, now looking back at the termination notice, they twisted the shit Zaion had done to try and make her seem like the one who was the asshole, someone who had no remorse for most of her actions, when in actuality, she *did* express genuine remorse for her actions and apologized in multiple instances to staff,,

Putting everything Zaion has done aside, no matter what an employee of your company does, even if they break the rules, you don’t treat someone like this. You shouldn’t not protect an employee from online harassment even if they’re suspended, you shouldn’t treat employees unfairly, and you CERTAINLY don’t demonize someone you fired just to make your company look good. It does NOT make you look good. And Zaion, regardless of her actions, did not deserve to go through what she did with Nijisanji.

My closing thoughts on this is simply fuck you to Nijisanji/Anycolor. The way they acted so slimey and disgusting towards Zaion is infuriating. There could’ve been other ways to deal with Zaion actions and Nijisanji chose the slimey route. It’s genuinely disgusting.

With that being said, please don’t harass anyone involved,, including the other Nijisanji livers as they weren’t involved with this situation. And that concludes my 2nd rant. If anything major happens I *might* post abt it but only time will tell,,

#nijisanji #nijisanji en #anycolor #rant

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natayejassaudiaarabianlitblog · 7 months ago

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Reflections on a Year of Reading Saudi Arabian Literature

List of Books

- Jean P. Sasson “Princess”

- Rajaa Alsanea “Girls of Riyadh”

- Moustafa Bayoumi “How Does it Feel To Be a Problem”

Based on what I read, I learned that Saudi Arabia is filled with resources that come scarce today. After reading Jean P. Sasson’s “Princess”, I came to realize that despite women being poor in power as opposed to men, Saudi Arabia has a huge wealth of oil. Saudi Arabia is also made up of desert plateau, so the temperature is hot. Hence why both Jean P. Sasson’s “Princess” and Rajaa Alsanea’s “Girls of Riyadh” show that in Saudi Arabia, men and women’s clothing are loose and tend to block their skin from the sun.

Based on Jean P. Sasson’s “Princess” I learned that back then, Saudi Arabia had treated women like their only purpose was to serve men. Women were punished and tortured, some even killed for rebellion against their fathers, brothers, and even sons. Men in Saudi Arabia could marry more than one woman and even leave their wives if they didn’t give them any children (preferably sons). Women were tied down by rules that they had to follow in order to even be considered marriageable or pure because if they weren’t, they’d bring shame on their families and possibly be punished by the man of the house. Back then women were forced to abide by the man’s rules of religion and their ways of living.

One thing I learned about the culture in Saudi Arabia, is that every individual views their culture differently. Depending on whether you are born and raised in Saudi Arabia or you are raised in the western hemisphere, you view your culture differently. In Girls of Riyadh, There were many examples on how four girls from Saudi Arabia lived their lives and viewed culture differently. Coming from the first book I read, “Princess” I was surprised to see that the girls of Riyadh didn’t follow the same guidelines as princess Sultana did. Michelle, the girl who was half Saudi Arabian, ended up moving to dubai because she felt that she didn’t fit in with the western or middle-eastern culture. While another girl named Lamese had the “happy ending” since she was the only one who found happiness with her significant other and business while still holding on to her culture.

What I learned from “Princess” by Jean P. Sasson is that women are strong and they are often mistreated due to not looking like it. I’ve learned that women are in fact stronger than men despite having no authority against the men in their family. From the book “Girls of Riyadh” by Raaja Alsanea, I learned that everyone views the world differently despite being born from the same cultural background. Your life, culture, religion will be perceived differently due to how you perceive the world. Lastly, What I learned from “How Does It Feel To Be A Problem?” by Moustafa Bayoumi is that differences shouldn’t matter. Something we struggle with every day is that we see people from where they come from instead of who they are as a person. It’s an issue that has been going on for hundreds of years and something that we shouldn’t be dealing with now. What I learned about myself is that despite not coming from Saudi Arabia, I can see and feel some of the things that the characters in these stories have gone through. Women being treated unfairly in “Princess” plays a part in my life as a young woman growing up in a world of sexist men. “Girls of Riyadh” is about four girls who are figuring themselves out while experiencing love, culture, and friendships. I feel myself going through the same thing in senior year alone, finding myself as I go off to college and start a new chapter in my life like when Michelle moved to dubai to start her new chapter. Lastly I learned that “How Does It Feel To Be A Problem?” is about struggles with racism and discrimination. As a person of color that is something that I’ve gone through since the day I was born, and something that I’ll have to keep going through until the end.

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punkscowardschampions · 1 year ago

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Grace & Nancy & Teddy Pt.3

Teddy: Perhaps I’ll murder her, people snap when others are as cruel to them as you’ve been to me

Nancy: Why wouldn’t you murder me, I’m laying here with her

Teddy: Because I want you to live with it

Nancy: Yeah

Teddy: I’m serious about us being together, if you’re dead that’s hardly feasible

Nancy: then I’ll hold her down for you

Teddy: I can see it now

Nancy: Me too

Nancy: she keeps breathing too big though and it’s upsetting me

Teddy: You’ll have to think about something else

Teddy: I’m picturing you in a shock collar until your behaviour changes, for instance, it’s given me a real mood boost

Nancy: 🐶🥺

Nancy: Your punishment ideas are only making me want to behave much worse, btw

Teddy: I shouldn’t have shared them with you, giving you the silent treatment would be a fitting punishment, fatherhood is unfairly difficult

Nancy: You need some stimulating conversation after the long day you’ve had

Teddy: You’re right, I’ll go & talk to [some peeps at the club that they both know so she has an opinion about them]

Nancy: Ha!

Nancy: we both know I’m your favourite person to talk to

Teddy: Thankfully, because ALL we’re going to do is talk

Nancy: well if you won’t come over, I can’t do anything to change that

Teddy: You could, I know you always have your own ideas

Nancy: I suppose you could find someone in the club that looks like me

Nancy: but she doesn’t look a thing like you so what am I meant to do?

Teddy: A pillow over her head can only do so much

Nancy: yeah, no dick either 😔

Teddy: But you do have [whatever she used before that was the right size of his] to fit inside of her & then yourself

Nancy: OH

Teddy: Nobody in the club is going to be as fun as that 😔

Nancy: Come on, don’t give up

Nancy: we can think of an equally fun idea for you

Teddy: No, you’ll be having the most fun you can possibly have & I’ll be super bored, which is typical when you’re the one who’s supposed to be receiving a punishment

Nancy: I won’t touch her

Nancy: not unless we can do it together

Teddy: All I can do is take the word of someone who doesn’t even trust mine

Nancy: If you weren’t in a club, you could call me

Nancy: I’ll buy you a baby monitor, what about that?

Teddy: It won’t arrive immediately, she’ll be gone

Nancy: I’m not going to do it, please

Teddy: If you say so, oh wait, no, that’s still trust based

Nancy: Teddy, I get it

Teddy: Good, please understand that without it we can barely do anything we want to

Nancy: I’m sorry

Teddy: You will be, the amount of fun you’ll miss out on if you don’t trust me

Nancy: Okay, then I’ll trust you

Teddy: We’ll see

Nancy: I love you, I didn’t say it earlier when you did so

Teddy: You’re just saying it now as something you think I want to hear

Nancy: If that was the case, you’d be happier to hear it

Nancy: I just want to

Teddy: I’m happy when you mean it & I can tell that isn’t the case

Nancy: You don’t want to hear it because you’re enjoying being mean too much

Teddy: You want to get your own way

Nancy: I want you to love me again

Teddy: Well, the blackmail plot is reserved for my father

Nancy: Wow, alright then

Teddy: You can’t manipulate me as easily

Nancy: That’s not what this is

Teddy: It is, I’m not a complete fool

Nancy: Have a good rest of your evening

Teddy: You too

Nancy: yeah, fuck you too

Teddy: A fantastic choice of words considering how reluctant you are to

Nancy: You’re the one who won’t fucking come over and do it

Teddy: I wouldn’t need to come over if you hadn’t kicked me out in the first place

Nancy: It’s too late now, she’ll be too conscious

Teddy: Yeah, it is

Nancy: You’re a child

Teddy: You have the option to fuck someone your own age, tonight or on any other

Nancy: yeah, now you’re bored I do

Teddy: Have a marvellous time

Nancy: Obviously

Teddy: I’ll drink to it

Nancy: No need to waste any more time thinking about me

Teddy: The Nancy I think about isn’t a disappointment the way you’re determined to be, it’s fine 🥂

Nancy: You’re determined to be disappointed in whatever I say or do now

Teddy: No, but it’s unfortunate I am

Nancy: Yes

Nancy: all because I sent you away

Teddy: You’ve thrown this all away repeatedly, I’ve lost count of how many times over the course of today you’ve told me we’re through with everything

Nancy: So what, it’s your turn?

Nancy: If you don’t want it then you’re cutting your own nose off

Teddy: I haven’t once agreed to your nonsense

Nancy: You’re pushing me away

Teddy: I’m not giving you exactly what you want the moment you decide you want it, because the next you’ll change your mind & say you don’t

Nancy: Then there’s no point carrying on this conversation, so go talk to [whoever he said before] and have fun, seriously

Teddy: It’s always on your terms or absolutely nothing

Nancy: It was you who said you’d give me everything I want, now you’ve taken it back

Nancy: Do you actually have anything to say?

Teddy: I can’t do this with you at the same time as what I have to do with your idiot cousin, I’ll lose my grip on my sanity

Nancy: Oh my GOD, I’m not doing anything

Nancy: what have you taken, you’re being super paranoid

Teddy: [whatever he has taken because lol I’m sure you have]

Nancy: that explains it

Teddy: What explains you? Because today has been ridiculous

Nancy: If you’re saying I should be medicated, I’ve tried plenty of what they hand out

Teddy: I just want to know

Nancy: I tried to explain it to you before but I obviously don’t know well enough myself because we’re here again

Teddy: Things can’t have gone that right with her & this wrong with you, it’s entirely the opposite way to how I’d like them to be

Nancy: When you’ve come down and back up again, come find me and we’ll make up

Teddy: Okay, I will

Nancy: I’ll remind you if you don’t

Teddy: Please

Nancy: It’s a promise

Teddy: I hope so, it’s vile to miss you as much as I do

Nancy: I know, I told you I feel sick

Nancy: you can move in as soon as possible, can’t you

Teddy: Yes

Nancy: We can make an excuse, that you need to, she’ll be thankful, even though she can’t move herself in as well

Teddy: I’ll go with the star crossed lovers angle, my parents are furious I’m dating her but I am, because we’re SO in love I HAVE to

Nancy: She’ll eat that up

Teddy: & they are going to be furious, whether enough to kick me out in reality yet or not

Nancy: You can’t very well tell them it’s not real, ruins the fun

Teddy: You’ll come out of it extremely well, being supportive & offering me a place to stay

Nancy: I’m obviously your two’s biggest fan

Teddy: I’ve been an idiot, I don’t know why either

Nancy: Neither of us does this often

Teddy: I think I’m scared too, of you like you are of me

Nancy: yeah

Nancy: and tonight I’m sorry because I want you close to me

Teddy: I didn’t expect it to hurt as badly as that, when you didn’t

Nancy: It was like watching myself from the ceiling, it just happened, beyond my control

Teddy: I can relate, since I arrived at this club I may as well have been on the ceiling

Nancy: I know those nights

Nancy: where are you going to go after

Teddy: Home?

Teddy: the [this drug he’s on] isn’t helping

Nancy: Want me to keep you company then?

Teddy: I can’t promise I’ll be good company

Nancy: I can handle it

Nancy: you should probably have some [either booze or another drug that has the opposite effect to whatever he has taken] try to level out

Teddy: [go find that and send evidence of you taking it like a good boy lol, looking a mood and a moment doing it no doubt despite the state of you]

Nancy: There you go, that’ll help 🥰

Teddy: [suggest something she’d have to hand whether that’s drugs or a drink to help with how sick she said she felt] will help you

Nancy: [do the same and be in your own bed now because leave that gal alone]

Teddy: How DARE you look incredible when you feel bad

Nancy: says you, always looking like that

Teddy: I feel like a child, wanting to ask you out & hold your hand & kiss you

Nancy: Everyone is so corrupted by the time they hit like year 10, that’s why, everyone is a mess

Nancy: I like holding your hand, a lot

Teddy: It’s a blur, my entire childhood, perhaps I should find that slightly concerning?

Nancy: Quite possibly

Nancy: but you are the baby, if everything is already a mess before you even understand it all

Teddy: I didn’t quite fix everything as intended

Nancy: You’re too good to waste your time trying, it’s all a farce, the loving family

Teddy: You know I can give you that though, don’t you?

Nancy: Yes

Nancy: you already give me more

Nancy: attention, energy, even when that’s used on being mad

Teddy: Even fighting with you feels good

Nancy: It means you care, you’ve not given up

Teddy: Today was a blip, I’m not giving up

Nancy: Me either, I’m going to make you stuck with me forever

Teddy: Not stuck, that’s your cousin in her [whatever outfit she was wearing that he bought for her, calling it by its designer probably like a dick]

Nancy: The swelling 🤭

Teddy: Put it on for me when she leaves

Nancy: There’s no point her taking it home, after-all

Teddy: & let me take you to [wherever they went on this notp date]

Nancy: Please, you have to

Teddy: Anything Grace & I do

Nancy: I can’t stand being jealous of her, it’ll make me crazy

Nancy: crazier

Teddy: You don’t deserve to be left out

Nancy: thank you 🥺

Teddy: We aren’t going to have any repeats of what happened, I’m going to treat you like royalty

Nancy: I’m going to be so much nicer

Teddy: Rex can be jealous, neither of us

Nancy: He’ll be so happy to have you home with us

Teddy: He must be 🐶🥺💔 his mummy & daddy fighting for such a long time

Nancy: I’ll tell him we’re making up and he can watch, poor baby

Teddy: Is he there with you right now?

Nancy: Yes, I woke him up when I left the spare room

Teddy: [some kind of shameless voice note in his dog/baby voice that’s actually purely for her benefit, we know the vibes]

Nancy: I’m trying to give you so many babies so you have to talk like that forever

Teddy: I have no complaints about making them forever

Nancy: best daddy

Teddy: I want to fuck you constantly

Nancy: You need to, nothing else could be as important

Teddy: I was hard for you the entire time, she couldn’t even tell

Nancy: She couldn’t even see straight

Nancy: it’ll never be for her

Teddy: Every inch is for you

Nancy: I am so happy, I just want you, no one else

Teddy: I believe you this time

Nancy: You have to, I need to be with you

Teddy: I need you now, I can’t stand being without you

Nancy: I could come to yours? We can be together

Teddy: What about her?

Nancy: I think she’ll be fine

Nancy: neither of us has ever actually choked on our own vomit and we’ve been much more wasted

Teddy: Still, if anyone would die at the precise moment things are about to be really entertaining for us

Nancy: yeah, you’re right but

Nancy: God, I am losing it without you

Teddy: Embarrass her into boarding the earliest possible flight home

Nancy: That’s what I do best

Nancy: and you did go out after your date, what could be more shaming?

Teddy: I’ll come over the instant she’s away

Nancy: You’re only making it in the door so no one but us gets to appreciate all the things we need to do

Teddy: & I hate for Rex to escape thinking I’m upset at you because he hasn’t had a chance to see us happy again

Nancy: He’s too little, he has to stay with us

Nancy: he’ll be almost as happy she’s gone, she takes too much attention

Teddy: She’s too loud

Nancy: and clumsy

Teddy: There isn’t going to be any water in his bowl for him to drink with her kicking it as often as she does

Nancy: Did think you were going to force me to drink out of it… which is fun and all but I might want my own bowl so he doesn’t bite my face off

Teddy: I’ve NEVER seen you drink water, you’ll have to have your own for what you actually drink out of it

Nancy: Hey 😅 I hydrate!

Nancy: but again, the possibilities are intriguing and endless

Teddy: You must, your skin would be horrific otherwise & it isn’t

Nancy: are you going to call me old and wrinkly now

Teddy: No baby

Nancy: You kinda did, she said I was too old for you, or you were too young for me

Teddy: She’s got a lower IQ than Rex has, don’t listen to her

Nancy: We think the same, however old

Teddy: & I couldn’t be any more attracted to you

Nancy: You were hard the whole time 😸😸

Teddy: [some pics he had taken at some point to illustrate this fact but then got too distracted to show her because she kicked him out etc]

Nancy: I’m going to die when you’re inside me

Teddy: [tell her some more deets from this date that you forgot to whisper to her earlier cos the excitement and everything but have just come back to you rn cos of sending those pics]

Nancy: No one else could do this like you, you know that

Nancy: It would be so boring, if it worked at all

Teddy: I’m irreplaceable

Nancy: You’re perfect for me

Teddy: I’ll feel perfect inside of you, you already know that after [whatever she used as a replica]

Nancy: I kept that under my pillow, it’s the closest I could feel to you whilst you were on your date

Teddy: Keep it in you until she wakes up

Nancy: I’m practising 👅

Teddy: I want you to feel close to me, for it to feel real until we’re back together

Nancy: You’re not leaving, not until she’s back, all we’re going to do is fuck

Teddy: Order your new bed, it has to be here

Nancy: Alright

Nancy: you don’t have to call in sick to Uni, right, you just don’t show?

Teddy: Nobody’ll care but the rugby team

Nancy: They can have you back when I’m finished

Teddy: I won’t let you be finished with me

Nancy: Okay, but I absolutely insist you let me watch you getting all muddy wrestling around with other hot guys

Teddy: I’ll hurt someone just for you

Nancy: I’ll still kiss you better instead

Teddy: I’ll have to buy you something [whatever these rugby colours are], maybe [something boujee and ridiculous]?

Nancy: Rex wants us all to match too 🥰😌

Nancy: He just said

Teddy: [this boy just having a lil online shopping spree rn and letting her know about all of it, I dread to think]

Nancy: 🥳

Nancy: [send him bed options you’re looking at that have no business being so expensive]

Teddy: [Tell her your faves and ask her when’s the soonest they can be delivered etc because obvs wanna fuck on it ASAP and ideally for the first time that y’all do in her bed so dealbreaker on which one you pick]

Nancy: [do some more research because I’m sure for the right price you can make them take your bed and deliver this one tomorrow, everything can be sorted with cash as long as you’re not asking for some custom bed which is not the vibe, just new for the mood and the moment tah]

Teddy: [oh to be rich, we all know he’s gonna be buying her all sorts of shit for that bed too, the most expensive sheets ever like it’s nbd, a million pillows, the list goes on]

Nancy: 🤴👸

Nancy: No one else is allowed to sleep in it, ever

Teddy: Promise & I’ll trust you to keep it

Nancy: I promise, not even her

Teddy: Especially not her, some things need to be ours or this isn’t going to work

Nancy: Rex is ours too

Teddy: & he can be mean to her in ways we can’t

Nancy: YOU could bite her too, but how into it she could be is probably a little off-putting

Teddy: I’ll find what she isn’t & do it anyway

Nancy: 😍

Nancy: He isn’t house-trained, I intend to direct him towards her things when I next notice him looking for somewhere to go

Teddy: [just shading her by suggesting things you think she has that this dog should piss on based on your opinion of poor Grace, rightly or wrongly, soz hun]

Nancy: [just join in with suggestions that all seem outlandish but some are clearly real ‘cos you actually know and you’re leaving it to his imagination to work out what is and isn’t]

Teddy: [having a lovely time mocking this girl, excuse us]

Nancy: I missed you so

Teddy: I love you so

Nancy: I love you too

Nancy: you’re going to feel it

Teddy: I do, that’s been the difficulty of today

Nancy: I’m sorry I’m shit at this, I’ve never needed to be good, no one has wanted it

Teddy: I’m not used to struggling either, it rarely happens

Nancy: I can tell

Nancy: I’m going to show you, how to fake struggling at Uni

Teddy: It’ll make such a difference, to be able to put Uni to one side for the time being

Nancy: You’re already going to be pulled in so many directions for all our plans to come together

Teddy: I’m seriously relying on you & your help, you understand that now, don’t you?

Nancy: Totally, you need me

Teddy: We need each other

Nancy: yeah, every time it’s said, it becomes a little less terrifying of a prospect

Teddy: Soon you won’t even be afraid

Nancy: I don’t mind being a little bit afraid, I can handle it for this

Teddy: Be a big, brave girl & you can be a baby when she’s far away

Nancy: You did ask really nicely there 🥺

Nancy: I’ll try harder

Teddy: So will I, I haven’t been super supportive thus far

Nancy: We’ll learn together

Nancy: even if I’d been loads of people’s serious girlfriend before, I want to be right for you

Teddy: You are right for me, it’s crazy how right you are

Nancy: You’re too right, thinking about losing you nearly made me puke already

Teddy: Did the [whatever he suggested] make you better or have I got more work to do?

Nancy: No it worked 🥰 and you being nice again

Teddy: I think you trump the [whatever drug he took to balance out] too at stabilising my mood

Nancy: This makes me feel like being unbearable in public with you

Teddy: There are somehow numerous places lacking the required courage to ask me to leave, you could be the girl to change that

Nancy: ‘Challenge’ accepted

Teddy: It’ll make the legitimate challenge your cousin poses much more bearable, for both of us to have that one in mind

Nancy: Definitely

Nancy: absolutely no one is going to tell her anything that happens whilst she’s not here, she doesn’t know anyone like that

Teddy: & should anyone dare to attempt it, she isn’t going to believe them over you

Nancy: Never

Nancy: not when I’m the only one supporting your forbidden union 🙄😘

Teddy: Our total freedom to do as we please remains, she isn’t turning our entire lives upside down

Nancy: this plan is for our benefit entirely, if it’s not working for us, it’s not happening

Teddy: We both need to just keep that firmly in mind & not lose sight of it again

Nancy: it’s just pretend she gets everything she wants, it’s real for us

Teddy: It’s OUR forbidden union

Nancy: I don’t care who I hurt for you

Teddy: Hurt [the peeps he mentioned talking to before, soz that you’ve done literally nothing to deserve this rn] for me

Nancy: Now I have your permission to act batshit… 😈

Teddy: Let it out, you’ve had a horrid day

Nancy: I’ll start tonight but how much does cyberbullying really get to anyone? I’ll have to get out tomorrow night

Teddy: They’ll be at [wherever they’ve said, whether directly to this boy or he’s overheard]

Nancy: And you’ll buy me a new outfit too

Teddy: Whatever she gets you will, except yours is allowed to be flattering

Nancy: I would recommend you let me look better at the end of it, for your own sake, darling

Teddy: Noted, the mighty will have fallen far enough when word spreads Grace & I are official

Nancy: 😬 Good thing you don’t care, it’ll be bad for your rep for

Nancy: forever, if it was real

Teddy: The sacrifices I willingly make for you

Nancy: It’s going to be worth it

Nancy: you can have anything you want from me

Teddy: I know, I’m spurred on by it

Teddy: waiting days to contact her will be tortuous

Nancy: You could open with that

Teddy: She’ll show you whether I do or not, do let me know your thoughts on the opener I choose

Nancy: Undoubtedly it will be far more restrained because she’s so frigid

Teddy: I’ll embody my brother for a spot of roleplay, flowery language that essentially means nothing & goes nowhere

Nancy: Copy and paste poetry for the most generic girl, couldn’t be more perfect

Teddy: I’m in no danger of losing myself as long as I also have you, the least generic girl in the city

Nancy: A boy like you could never be that boring, I’m not concerned you’re going to fall for her

Teddy: I’d sooner fall into [somewhere neither of them would be caught dead] or the arms of [likewise someone they mutually cannot stand]

Nancy: If you ever succumb to such insanity, I’ll get you sectioned, it won’t be hard for me

Teddy: Saving me from myself would be beyond necessary, yes

Nancy: That is how much I care about you

Nancy: you know I’d be so dreadfully bored alone, too

Teddy: You’re so loving 🥺

Nancy: You make it seem worthwhile, it’s always seemed pointless, caring

Teddy: It was, the point is you & I realising we’re perfect for each other

Nancy: How is it you, you’re so fucking gorgeous

Teddy: Because you are too

Nancy: marry me

Teddy: Meet me in [the boujee-est ring shop ever] when you’re ready to do it

Nancy: and there isn’t a half-dead girl to keep on the right side of 💀

Nancy: it can’t come soon enough

Teddy: There’s no harm in looking at 💍 until then, she isn’t even beside you in bed anymore

Nancy: because I’m behaving, was

Nancy: [send him these websites to look at together, trying to find how dramatic and expensive you can possibly be, which I’m sure we can’t even comprehend]

Teddy: My 😇

Teddy: [god, I just know most of them are hideous because the diamonds would be so big and ridiculous yikes, but obvs he’s joining in and getting into it, as well as being shady about Chlo’s ring and his sister’s at the same time I’m sure, as well as anyone else they know who has gotten married]

Nancy: Yours, however well I’m behaving

Nancy: [truly, just tell him about every friend you have who either outright gave their mans the ring they wanted like this or nothing or ended up returning whatever effort they got for the one they wanted because so real]

Teddy: You’re friends with some real pieces of work, Nance

Nancy: Isn’t everyone?

Teddy: Everyone worth knowing

Nancy: I’m not going to do that to you, I didn’t like hurting you like today

Teddy: Once will suffice, we’ve both learned our lesson

Nancy: you can still try the shock collar, if you like

Teddy: Have you ordered one?

Nancy: [confirmation, ‘cos you clearly have lmao]

Nancy: whoops

Teddy: 😈

Nancy: In my defence, I didn’t know how else to cheer you up at the time

Nancy: it was the one thing you seemed certain you wanted

Teddy: I haven’t changed my mind since, it’s still something I want

Nancy: I want it too, quite badly

Teddy: We do have an example to set after all, how else is Rex supposed to learn unless he sees me fucking you like a 🐶?

Nancy: He’s relying on you to teach him everything you know, truly

Nancy: and he does love to watch, he’s always staring at me, he’ll be even more intrigued when you’re the one pounding me instead

Teddy: I owe it to him to take the responsibility extremely seriously

Nancy: and me

Teddy: & you

Nancy: and I’ve never had this long to fantasize about anyone before, to prepare, it always just happens

Teddy: There didn’t seem to be any appeal to waiting, you want something & you get it as soon as is possible

Nancy: right, exactly

Nancy: and I haven’t even always got everything I wanted like you, that’s still how I felt

Teddy: You’re changing me

Nancy: not too much, I hope

Nancy: I like you as you are

Teddy: Hopefully in ways that’ll make me even more likeable

Nancy: 😸

Nancy: Would you like a housewarming party when you move in?

Teddy: I’d LOVE a housewarming party

Teddy: Is she going to be there?

Nancy: 🤔

Nancy: You’d have to be on your best behaviour until she was too blitzed to remember what you were doing

Nancy: not that that takes long

Teddy: We could have one with her in attendance & one without?

Nancy: We could, definitely

Nancy: or we could see just how badly we can get her to behave, anything you do will become irrelevant if she yet again commits faux pas after faux pas

Teddy: What a fantastic idea

Nancy: [tell him of examples of you being obviously shitty to Grace which you’ve then gaslit her away from by getting her blasted so she can’t remember and then makes a fool of herself in various ways you encourage her to]

Teddy: You have to be the mother of all my children, nobody else is going to come close to acceptable now I’ve heard that

Nancy: 😳😖

Nancy: ALL of them?

Teddy: It’s important I have sons, J doesn’t have any, but even I can’t control how many attempts it may take

Nancy: I’ll try my hardest but any myths about being able to control it are definitely bullshit

Teddy: Obviously, there’s getting science involved, but that rather takes the fun out of it 🧪

Nancy: I’d rather have several unwanted daughters, if it’s all the same to you

Teddy: They wouldn’t be entirely unwanted, as previously discussed I could name them after you as I like saying it SO much, or they’ll end up taking after you in other ways which will only please me

Nancy: Fuck

Nancy: as long as they look like you, for their own sakes

Teddy: My mother’s side of the genetic code has proven stronger, thankfully, but perhaps I’d like them to be the spitting image of you, what then? Are we going to have another fight?

Nancy: I know you’d make them feel the prettiest, so no, no fighting if that’s what you want

Teddy: You’re the prettiest

Teddy: you’re fucking beautiful, Nancy, no argument

Nancy: Ha, don’t make me cry, please

Teddy: It would take more than a few tears to turn you ugly

Nancy: You’ve always been distractingly handsome, now I get to do something about it

Nancy: as long as her back’s turned

Teddy: She’ll be busy waiting on me once I move in, fetching me drinks or whatever else

Nancy: She takes like no classes at school, she only needs [the minimum you do to go to beauty school] she’s not busy

Teddy: I’m doing her a favour, they’re skills she’ll need for her minimum wage job

Nancy: She’d be lucky to pick up for a guy like you, that job does actually require a little more than fast typing skills, after-all

Teddy: Maybe my father could be convinced to employ her, I doubt he’s opposed to my sloppy seconds given his track record

Nancy: Your father bending your future wife over a desk is very fair grounds to not show for the wedding

Teddy: Though I’m not certain how I feel about him taking away my role as villain

Nancy: Very true

Nancy: she’ll feel bad but in the guilty she lost you and ruined it way, not in the you never loved her and it was all a lie way

Nancy: entirely different plot

Teddy: She feels like that at the moment & satisfying as it is

Nancy: It’s not quite right

Nancy: plus your father is not leaving your mother to start a new life with Gracie

Teddy: He’d tire of her after 15 minutes

Nancy: Wow, giving him a lot of credit there

Nancy: Impressive for an old guy

Teddy: From what I’ve heard, it’s warranted, however begrudgingly I relay the info & almost immediately regret giving you access to it

Nancy: 🤐😶 from me, promise

Teddy: You’re not to sleep with my father, promise

Nancy: It would seem like I was trying to collect your family

Nancy: I would never, not now

Teddy: My sister would be a maybe, given the hostage negotiations necessary at this point to free her from her awful decisions, but regrettably I believe those bad choices extend to you not being her ‘type’

Nancy: What did she like, before old men?

Nancy: I didn’t ever feel in direct competition with her for dates, and trust me, it is that intimate a scene

Teddy: She openly dated [name drop some people that Nancy would know but I’m not committing my boo to anything or a time period given we are going to possibly play her and have an idea for that storyline]

Nancy: 🤔🤔🤔

Nancy: Lots of them are still available… we’ll work something out, that doesn’t involve an unwelcomed lesbian advance

Teddy: Tell me about your father, if my mother began seeing him that would fuck over yours in a personal as well as business sense

Nancy: He’s… money motivated, definitely but I don’t even know what he likes outside of things that everyone likes, and he’d always rather do them with my mum than anyone else

Nancy: has anyone close to your mum died?

Teddy: [one of her parents that it is irrelevant basically so I don’t need to commit rn] but everyone’s her age has

Nancy: His twin killed herself, when they were 13, then his baby brother died a few years back now, got stabbed

Teddy: How dark

Teddy: we could kill my father?

Nancy: How? 😏

Teddy: 🤔 something new to fantasise about

Nancy: It was fun to toy with smothering her

Nancy: I imagine your dad would require more planning beforehand

Teddy: Slightly, I’ve been too open about hating him, it’s a clear motive

Nancy: Rehab, psych ward, prison

Nancy: how many visiting lists do you want to put me on?

Teddy: ALL of them darling, you’ll simply have to marry me for that reason alone

Nancy: That’s actually SO romantic, babe 😄

Nancy: I’ll make sure we clean up after ourselves so well you never get caught

Teddy: Oh no, I can’t deal with the fact we’re not going to be able to pay someone to clean up for us, the plan’s FIRST flaw

Nancy: You’ll like getting clean with me this one time, I PROMISE

Nancy: it involves getting super messy first, that’s the main thing to focus on

Teddy: Okay, it does sound promising

Nancy: You know you wanna be covered in his blood, don’t play

Teddy: You’ll make me blush

Nancy: Good

Teddy: You want me to?

Nancy: Yes

Teddy: Regardless of where I am or who I’m with?

Nancy: You don’t have to explain about the whole dead dad element, so, of course

Teddy: I like our secrets too much to share them around

Nancy: it’s like having a real friend, or what siblings are meant to be like, I’m not sure

Nancy: but I like it too, maybe the most

Teddy: You deserve a better label than that & you know I don’t care for them most of the time

Nancy: I know the title you want to give me but until then

Teddy: Friend or brotherzoning me would be harsh if I wasn’t aware of how hot you are for yours

Nancy: You’re such a prick 😅😣

Teddy: There’s no shame, baby, it’s totally fine

Nancy: There’d be SO much shame, he’s a complete narcissist that thinks EVERYONE wants to bone him, it’s ridiculous

Teddy: I’ll keep it to myself

Nancy: It isn’t some sickness my entire family has

Teddy: I’m only playing with you, I promise

Nancy: It tops the porn cats for a reason, just another fantasy

Nancy: you wouldn’t be the first to make the jokes, don’t worry

Teddy: Would it cheer you up if we plot to break up his relationship too?

Nancy: Definitely

Teddy: What weaknesses does she have to exploit?

Nancy: Her family, she’s overly invested in them all

Teddy: But they’re already not happy, naturally

Nancy: but when she feels like she can step in and help, she does, and he hates it

Teddy: How convenient that Grace is her family

Nancy: mhmm

Nancy: She’s going to want to kill me

Teddy: There’s potential in how desperate she’ll be to stop the wedding

Nancy: There’s not a chance in hell she’ll be cool with this, if there was a way she could stop her, she would

Teddy: It isn’t adequate by itself but it’ll get to him

Nancy: He’ll hate how much she hates it, having to engage with it

Teddy: & the Jay drama will add to it, when we decide to fuck up J’s sobriety nonsense

Nancy: How unfortunate he’s got to behave now he’s a law school dickhead, he’ll wanna beat you and James up so badly 💔

Teddy: It would be the BIGGEST pity if he was provoked into snapping

Nancy: it’s a very provoking situation

Teddy: You can lose everything so quickly when you lose control

Nancy: and he has such a lot to lose

Teddy: & his loss is entirely your gain, especially if Ava is foolish enough to try & stand by J

Teddy: you can be their favourite

Nancy: I don’t think Grace appreciates yet how badly everyone in the family is going to hate her, for getting more involved with yours, making everything more of a mess

Nancy: and yeah, Ava will be in the same boat if she stays on his side

Teddy: It’ll be fun when she starts to appreciate it

Nancy: Doubles down on picking you… not at all a poor decision

Teddy: We’ll be all she has, you & I

Nancy: She used to listen to everything Rio said, wanna be just like her

Nancy: it hasn’t been like that in a long time

Teddy: She chose you

Nancy: and she’ll choose you

Teddy: Are you happy again?

Nancy: Always with you

Nancy: you give me so many ideas

Teddy: Once I’ve been invited to a few family functions with her I’ll have more, it’ll take a lot of the guesswork about them out of it knowing who I’m dealing with

Nancy: I’ll tell you more

Nancy: I’ve just spent the last… however long it is now, trying to ignore the fact I’m related to them all

Teddy: Of course you have

Nancy: Family events are only tolerable when I can ‘ruin’ them by being inappropriately trashed

Teddy: She can follow in your footsteps & make it tolerable for me

Nancy: It’ll be weird

Teddy: But we’ll handle it better than today went

Nancy: Or you’ll run in horror

Teddy: You have self awareness your family is a freak show, it’s not as if I’m going to have to try & break it to you gently when I discover the insanity myself

Nancy: Everyone’s is, it’s hardly as rare as people would love to pretend for their own shame’s sake

Teddy: Mine’s as horrific, when we run off it has to be hand in hand together

Nancy: Once they’re all fucked over completely, no way back from it for them

Teddy: The ultimate fantasy

Nancy: I need it to be real, Teddy

Teddy: I’ll make all your dreams come true, you know that

Nancy: Even the ones I don’t know about yet

Teddy: Even the ones you change your mind about & get upset at me for

Nancy: I need someone who knows me better than myself

Teddy: I want to

Nancy: Please, do it

Teddy: You’ve asked like that, I’ve been given no choice

Nancy: I told you I was going to trap you, you were warned if not given enough time to get out

Teddy: Trap me, do it

Teddy: please

Nancy: I swear

Nancy: once I focus all my energy on you, you’ll love me more than she does, need me more

Teddy: I need that to be real, I so badly want all of your attention

Nancy: I can tell

Nancy: and I think I’d like giving it to you, you being special

Teddy: Am I special?

Nancy: I don’t think I could say no at this point

Teddy: In that case, I’m happy again too

Nancy: You should be, I’ve never told anyone they’re special, not even as a blatant lie

Teddy: I can tell

Nancy: That I’m a cold bitch?

Nancy: Not sure it would be news to anyone 😏

Teddy: That even when you lie you’re careful with them

Nancy: There’s nothing more awkward than a compulsive liar… the delusion is too much for me, I have SOME shame, like 😳

Teddy: I agree, it does quickly become embarrassing

Nancy: It was very Chlo, when we were at school, it was entertaining at times but entirely irritating the rest

Nancy: That’s why I was like her ONLY friend, by the end

Teddy: The absence of her was vital for my heart to grow fonder, she’s an acquired taste certainly

Nancy: Oh, yeah, I’d forgotten you’re in love with her 🙄

Teddy: Ha ha

Teddy: there would be nothing more awkward than that cliche

Nancy: Yet more younger brother shame 💔 tragic

Teddy: She’s amusing, that’s all

Nancy: Of course

Teddy: Say it like you believe me

Nancy: 😉

Nancy: like you said, it’s a tired cliche, you can think of better

Teddy: Yeah & she’s looking tired

Nancy: She hasn’t stopped partying since abandoning her children

Nancy: Do I have to promise not to sleep with your brother as well?

Teddy: I assumed it was a given you wouldn’t be interested considering he hasn’t partied since [whenever it was in terms of how long ago now]

Nancy: I’m not interested but it’s always been part of my plan to fuck over Ava since they got together

Teddy: & we intend to, therefore I’m not overly concerned you’ll also sleep with him

Nancy: Well okay, if you’re sure

Teddy: You’re making me feel unsure

Nancy: I’m just joking, you can sleep with Ava though, if you want

Teddy: She doesn’t want to or I already would have

Nancy: She’ll get bored, she was all in on that girl before this, nothing lasts with her

Teddy: She’s too serious for me, I’d get bored

Nancy: It’s just the easiest way to break people up, that’s all

Teddy: If she’s being stubborn & ruining our plan, I’ll reconsider

Nancy: 😌 Thanks

Teddy: I’ve done worse things as a last resort

Teddy: [tell her about some of your schemes that have gone wrong cos some of them must have especially when you were younger]

Nancy: You’d obviously be so lucky and THRILLED to get the chance, but that’s the point, she acts so perfect and above it all

Nancy: Good thing we’re in this together regardless because that doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence… 😅🫢

Teddy: Well, the fact I’m telling you my failures SHOULD fill you to the brim with confidence, I’m trusting you

Nancy: I know you like to kiss and tell

Nancy: but at least you’re not lying, that would be pointless

Teddy: So share with me something you aren’t proud of

Nancy: How long have you got?

Teddy: Technically, a full week until Grace returns

Nancy: That isn’t how I plan to spend it

Nancy: I’d say it’d be easier to tell you what I’m proud of but not really

Teddy: 🥺💔 I’m about to be so extremely proud of you none of that will matter at all

Nancy: That got depressing, sorry, think it was the [whatever substances you’ve mixed at this point]

Nancy: gonna recalibrate

Teddy: [again suggest something she should do] is going to save you

Nancy: Good idea

Nancy: that and thinking about you being proud of me should work

Teddy: Because of the future I’ve promised you the past will simply cease to exist

Nancy: I’m not going to care how little impact I have in any of their lives if I’m the focus of yours, am I

Nancy: They all have it, I want it too

Teddy: You can have it all, darling, a big impact upon their lives & mine

Nancy: okay

Nancy: I’m doubting them, not you, I trust you now

Teddy: We won’t stop until you’re satisfied with what you’ve done to them, it’s as simple as that

Nancy: Yeah?

Teddy: I have more stamina than my father across the board

Nancy: God, I love you

Nancy: Be here now

Teddy: Grace is going to wake up [however long from now the random 5am you always seem to wake up at after a night out] you heard me, I need MUCH longer than that

Nancy: 😿😿😿

Nancy: but

Teddy: We can’t

Teddy: but I’ll call you

Nancy: You can tell me how much I should remind her of when she wakes up

Teddy: [do call her and just be as feral as you can for as long as possible, we know the drill]

Nancy: [living your best lives as much as you can when you once again cockblocked]

Teddy: [do you wanna post this? It seems like a good stopping point?]

Nancy: [I shall moodam]

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