#if that means taking a risk donating to something they care about like. it's their money and their judgement and their decision

[naivety]

not to be an ass but if you're giving so much to fundraisers spread around on tumblr dot com that you're out of money that is a you problem. most are asking for single digit donations or a share for other people to decide if they want to do the same. if they are a scam, make sure you lose money you can stand to lose, and if not, 100 people who can afford to donate $5 each will add up real quick for someone who needs it and will absolutely not be a waste to anybody anywhere. if you have time and energy to research multiple fundraisers yourself, awesome, and if you don't, $1 or $5 or $10 is not going to kill you, unless it is, in which case, you can simply not donate! nobody has a gun to your head. ultimately it is your decision and your judgement call if that's something you can afford to spend, scam or otherwise, vetted yourself or otherwise, as a grown ass adult with functioning free will. it is not that complicated, next question.

[hazbinbabbling4ever]

I think purity culture has ruined fandoms: everyone is so ansty to prove how pure they are that they attack and harass people horribly and call it "activism". Be it people attacking teenagers in the Marauders fandom because there's this new rule you can't even write the words Harry Potter without summoning a hoard of naysayers who accuse you of endorsing holocaust or some shit just for liking something linked with Miss Black Mold, or be it people harassing SA victims who still dare say they find solace in their old NG's fandoms, in the stories they loved and made theirs from their childhoods or as adults. This uglyness that runs into tumblr and is infecting every fandom, every social media actually, is so fucking gross. Putting the blame of the evils of consumerism or rich people onto the single person reeks of late stage activism. No one knows what to do anymore, so we start eating each others, and then purity culture morphs into these extreme forms of harassment, that are becoming more and more normal by the day.

I'm starting to get tired of the internet as a whole.

[omgthatdress]

Sooooo ummmmmmm this is something that's probably going to piss a lot of people off, but I feel like I really need to say it.

If you get a message from an account claiming to be a Palestinian fundraiser, it is a bot. It is a scam. You need to report & delete the message and encourage others to do the same.

I know because I get messages on this account DAILY. I have a very high follower count and I'm pretty active and I interact with my followers a lot, and apparently that all adds up to one big bot magnet.

Bots following and messaging this account was a MASSIVE problem before Tumblr fixed its new account policies. I used to spend literally hours blocking and reporting the hundreds of bots that I would get following me each day.

I learned a lot about bots and how to identify them. The easiest way is with no avatar, "untitled" in the blog description (BTW if your avatar is still set to default PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD change it because you run a substantial risk of being accidentally blocked & reported as a bot).

One of the dead give aways of a bot was what I call "word salad" names. Three seemingly random words strung together making no sense, always adjective, adjective or noun, noun. If you reported a lot of these bots, you'd notice the same words kept showing up.

Nowadays, I am bombarded with fundraiser requests and sometimes, they don't even bother to hide the fact that they're a bot. The avatar is default, the blog title is "untitled," and the blog name is a classic randomly-generated word salad.

However MOST of the requests I get come from at least semi-legit looking accounts. There are pictures, a name, a story. Never mind that I've gotten that message three times from different accounts.

Sometimes, they claim to be vetted, but the whole vetting system essentially adds up to "trust me bro." There is no way of guaranteeing that this account isn't just lying about being vetted, claiming to be vetted by a false person, or are using the identity of a real Palestinian to scam people.

Previously, I've seen a lot of people getting attacked for raising questions about these fundraisers and getting attacked for being racist or for harming Palestinian families in danger, like Tumblr isn't a website famous for its scams and the words "The Arkh Project" "All or Nothing" or "Miss Officer and Mr. Truffles" mean nothing to you.

I personally have been scammed by people claiming to be charities on Tumblr before, specifically, The Leelah Project which used the name of a trans teenager who died by suicide to swindle people out of their money.

Luckily, there are actual, respected charities out there you can give money to if you want to help the cause:

Palestinian Children's Relief Fund

Palestine Red Crescent Society

United Nations Relief Works Agency

Islamic Relief

World Central Kitchen

Médecins Sans Frontièrs

One of the hardest things to accept about the situation in Palestine is that realistically, there is very little that your average outsider can do to change it. However, these large, well-respected and trustworthy charities are out there doing the hard work to keep people alive, and should be where the donation money is going

These scam bots feed on people's naïvety and need to believe that they are making a difference, and even worse, feed on the fear that by ignoring them, it somehow makes you a racist doing direct harm to a refugee family, when in fact they are using the suffering of Palestinians to take away money from those in need.

As far as fundraisers that don't send out random asks for donations, I honestly don't know. You'll have to do the work yourself and approach with much caution.

Be careful out there.

[roboticchibitan]

Today I'm going to talk about a form of radical resistance that anyone, no matter their situation, can engage in: cultivating hope.

Are you filled with hopelessness and despair at the state of the world? I have some good news and some bad news.

The bad news is you've fallen for a tool of the status quo. Despair freezes us. It keeps us from imagining and working towards a better world. Despair is easy, because it means we have no reason to take action to make things better. Capitalism? Our oppressors? They want you hopeless for a reason. Because you're easier to control that way.

The good news is! There's a lot of very real reasons for hope. However, hope is something you have to cultivate. It takes work. It is a radical act. It is looking at the status quo and going "actually, no. I refuse."

Maybe you can't risk losing your job to unionize your workplace. Or maybe you're an oppressed minority who can't risk going to protests because our criminal justice system is racist. But cultivating hope in yourself is just as radical an act of resistance as those two things. It is another form of imagining and working towards a better world.

It's not as flashy as starting a union or going to a protest, true. Maybe it feels selfish, like you're only helping yourself. But that's not true. It's a lot harder to help others when you, yourself, are frozen by despair. By working on yourself, you are making it easier for you to help others, in whatever form that takes for you.

For me, since I started my hopepunk practice I have been more able to engage in activism, even if I no longer post about it. Before calls to action froze me. I was so overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of our problems that I was unable to address any of them.

Since I've started cultivating hope in myself, I've unfrozen enough that I was able to choose the causes that matter to me and put my energy there. I engage in more charitable donations and political actions now than I did before. I am happier and also helping others more than I did before.

Cultivating hope in yourself is hard at first. You feel defeated before you even start. But you start putting work in and you find a little hope. And then a little more. And a little more. And then, suddenly. It snowballs and you're doing better than you have in years, and hope comes easier to you now.

If you don't know where to start, go follow @hopepunk-humanity @hope-for-the-planet @afeelgoodblog and @reasonsforhope or follow the hopepunk tag

There's also things like the good news network, who have a daily email they send out with a handful of positive news stories. Some of them I find kinda dumb and shallow like "lost dog returned after 3 years" type stories. But there's also a lot about scientific advancments in green energy, medical care, etc that I find helpful for cultivating hope. Did you know about the CRISPR gene editing tool that's being used to cure incurable illnesses? I didn't! And now I do! afeelgoodblog also runs a substack "best news of last week" newsletter every Monday that I find has stories with more substance, tho it is US focused.

Despair isn't helping anyone, especially not you. Engage in a radical act and start cultivating hope in yourself. You deserve to leave that despair behind, and in the process, you are directly going against the powers that have decided we are easier to control if we are miserable.

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

What about the Doors/Pressure shopkeepers trying to pretend they aren't giving their crush special treatment when in groups. Like, special inventory, discreet discounts, all that jazz

Jeff (Doors)

"Oye, I see what you're doin', Jeff. Thought you weren't one for giving out freebies."

*shrug*

"Don't play dumb! I saw you sneak the skeleton key into their bag! Even Bob's a witness!"

No matter what El Goblino says, Jeff will just wave off any accusations of him giving you "special treatment" whenever you stopped by the shop with your group.

While none of them donated to the tip jar, you were the only one who ever did...and even when you came back again and again, it was always you who showed him charity.

The rest of your group would just argue over what to spend their money on, try to rush ahead, mess with his radio, etc. etc.

But you trust Jeff, and he trusts you <3

So you get small discounts on his wares, and despite him not being able to speak, you could tell he's only looking after you.

The goblin jokes about Jeff's little "crush" on you...then he sees the entity's eyes widen and realizes "wait amigo,,I wasn't being serious do you actually like them?????"

He just shoos him away and will deny it to kingdom come, but it is true.

The moment you realized his feelings for you was when Rush attacked the shop once, and you thought you were done for-

When Jeff instinctively pulled you behind the counter and slammed the shutter down, keeping you uncomfortably close (yet somehow you've never felt safer).

When it's all over, he blushes and lets you go free.

You thank him with a small kiss on the forehead(?) and promise to see him again soon.

The next time you get duped by Dupe, or attacked by Eyes, Timothy, Screech, or a snare and need to heal...you discover a few bandaids in your pocket that weren't there previously...

Huh.

Wonder who gave you those?

Sebastian (Pressure)

Normally, Sebastian doesn't care to make personal connections with any of the expendables.

He's just there as their supplier before seeing them off on their journey, hoping they're putting his resources to good use.

But recently he's been seeing you more often, coming by with a new group or by yourself, trying your best to survive long enough to reach him.

Ofc, you've died to stupid things before (or maybe you're just trying to get all the monster documents..in which he's convinced you're some masochist), but you did have the most common sense out of your group and didn't try to annoy him.

The others just waste flash beacon charges on trying to blind the poor guy and stick the keycard in a medkit they couldn't afford...and for what?

Why do your "friends" do that? Are they stupid or something?

You tell them to stop, and it's...actually kinda nice to hear somebody willing to defend him.

People usually don't give a shit about the giant scary fish's feelings, yet for some reason you do.

Of course, Sebastian was reasonably suspicious about it.

"Are you acting this way just to get a freebie?" He assumes. "Because if you are, then you're definitely as stupid as-"

"No, I'd never do that to you." You shake your head. "You're here, helping us survive out there, risking a lot to get us those supplies...is it wrong for me to appreciate that?"

"......"

He goes quiet for a minute, but after the rest of your group leaves, he asks you to stay for a moment.

"You were looking at this Necrobloxicon for a while...you must reeeeally want it, huh?" He grins, flicking his tail where the book was strapped. "It's a rarity."

"I...can't afford that. I'm fine with this dingy flashlight-"

"It's yours for 70% off. Take it or leave it."

You do a double take. "Wait, wha-"

"70% off. Take it. Or leave it." He says through gritted teeth, impatient, only to smile when you accept the deal without further question. "Good. Now don't go telling anyone I'm offering discounts. That's your only one unless I feel generous. Capiche?"

"Gotcha. Thank you, Seb. This means a lot. I hope to see you again soon." You smile back, holding the spooky book tightly, and leave him alone with his thoughts.

And a warm and fuzzy feeling in his chest-

Wait.

"Oh no....what the fuck am I doing????? That's it! NO more discounts for anyone, Sebastian!" He scolds himself.

Little does he know, he's gonna keep giving them out, but only for you.

[st4rtar0t]

Random messages for you

DM to purchase a reading. currently offering donation based readings including special offer for Indians.

Picture 1

I see that some of you will literally be changing home this year or you may have live away from your parents for sometime. for others of you I see that you will be making a new addition to your home. ALSO you need to clean your doorstep, especially if you have a lot of shoes there. remove unwanted things from your home. You may face some kind of opposition in the upcoming days, spirit is telling you to stand your ground and DO NOT BACK DOWN. I see that some of you will be getting a lot of recognition this year. This will ignite a lot of intense emotions in other people for you, some will love you and some may hate you. Some of you are dealing with a two faced friend, yes that person that came into your mind right after you read this. They may have cat like features for some. Invest in high quality food. Do not joke around with your health. This year is good for you if you want to start something new. I see that you will be getting a lot of creative ideas. If you are planning to go somewhere try to wear red or include flowers in your outfit. Some of you may receive flowers form a friend or lover. your favourite ones. Take extra care of your hands these days.

Picture 2

Okay so for you I see that you need to be extra careful about everything. Its not the time for you to take risks and if you do take risks you may end up regretting in the future. I also see that some of you may even win a lottery of you may get some money from your elders as a gift. I see that you may get a chance to travel overseas this year. If you have been asking if you are on the right path, YOU ARE, I kept getting this message. I see that some of you are running from your problems, you need to understand that running away from your problems will only make them worse. You may get invited to some sort of celebration or party, do not even think about rejecting this offer, you will make a lot of connections from this event. You may face some kind of fraud especially if you own a small business so be careful of people darling. They don't always have the best intentions. You are also being encouraged to go on a trip with your friends or family. This months will be the moth for intense character development for you. A lot of new lessons will be learned. Also be extra careful around sharp objects.

Picture 3

I see that some of you will be receiving some kind of precious gift from somebody you love, this doesn't necessarily mean expensive gift, it may be a handmade gift. Fruits are going to be really significant this month, especially grapes. You will be rewarded for something you did a long time ago, this may be something you started in 2020. Some of you will be meeting someone really significant, may be some kind of partnership involved. Something or someone is restricting you from acknowledging your potential, this may be a habit, a person or some kind of obsession. Be careful of energy vampires around you. Learn to preserve things, learn sustainability, it will be helpful for you. If you are looking for something you lost, look into that white bag in your room. Your guides communicate through birds and nature, dove more specifically. Somebody who has a V in their name, born in July or an Aries will be asking you out. If you are single you are not going to be single for long, if you are already in a relationship things may get more passionate between you are your partner. Btw pay attention to your finances.

[theambitiouswoman]

Wealth Building: Money Topics You Should Learn About If You Want To Make More Money

Budgeting: This means keeping track of how much money you have and how you spend it. It helps you save money and plan for your needs.

Investing: This is like putting your money to work so it can grow over time. It's like planting seeds to grow a money tree.

Saving: Saving is when you put some money aside for later. It's like keeping some of your treats for another day.

Debt Management: This is about handling money you owe to others, like loans or credit cards. You want to pay it back without owing too much.

Credit Scores: Think of this like a report card for your money habits. It helps others decide if they can trust you with money.

Taxation: Taxes are like a fee you pay to the government. You need to understand how they work and how to pay them correctly.

Retirement Planning: This is making sure you have enough money to live comfortably when you're older and no longer working.

Estate Planning: This is like making a plan for your stuff and money after you're no longer here.

Insurance: It's like paying for protection. You give some money to an insurance company, and they help you if something bad happens.

Investment Options: These are different ways to make your money grow, like buying parts of companies or putting money in a savings account.

Financial Markets: These are places where people buy and sell things like stocks and bonds. It can affect your investments.

Risk Management: This is about being careful with your money and making smart choices to avoid losing it.

Passive Income: This is money you get without having to work for it, like rent from a property you own.

Entrepreneurship: It's like starting your own business. You create something and try to make money from it.

Behavioral Finance: This is about understanding how your feelings and thoughts can affect how you use money. You want to make good choices even when you feel worried or excited.

Financial Goals: These are like wishes for your money. You need a plan to make them come true.

Financial Tools and Apps: These are like helpers on your phone or computer that can make it easier to manage your money.

Real Estate: This is about buying and owning property, like a house or land, to make money.

Asset Protection: It's about keeping your money safe from problems or people who want to take it.

Philanthropy: This means giving money to help others, like donating to charities or causes you care about.

Compounding Interest: This is like a money snowball. When you save or invest your money, it can grow over time. As it grows, you earn even more money on the money you already earned.

Credit Cards: When you borrow money or use a credit card to buy things, you need to show you can pay it back on time. This helps you build a good reputation with money. The better your reputation, the easier it is to borrow more money when you need it.

Alternate Currencies: These are like different kinds of money that aren't like the coins and bills you're used to like Crypto. It's digital money that's not controlled by a government. Some people use it for online shopping, and others think of it as a way to invest, like buying special tokens for a game.

[justsomeoneintoomanyfandoms]

hello! i just saw your post about Tokyo debunker ! 🫶 and I wanted to request something :

can you do haku, romeo, sho and Rui with an easily flustered reader ?

thank you ! hope it’s not a bother 🙌

Hi Anon! Thank you for your request! I hope you like the headcanons!

Fandom: Tokyo Debunker

Characters: Haku Kusanagi, Romeo Lucci, Sho Haizono, Rui Mizuki x gn! Reader (separate)

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

How do the characters react when you get super easily flustered?

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

Ooh, Haku’s going to have so much fun with you. He’s a naturally flirty person and that’s only going to increase when he finds out how easy you are to fluster.

Whether it’s a compliment or a teasing comment, he just loves being able to openly express his feelings and seeing you flustered is an added bonus.

I feel like Haku would never take it too far though. If you ever express discomfort, he’ll stop straight away and apologise for his actions.

He’ll also check in with you a few days later just to make sure he hasn’t made you truly uncomfortable. He does care about you after all.

Romeo swears he’s not even trying. It must just be his natural good looks and suave attitude.

He thinks you’re kind of cute when you get flustered. Not as cute as him of course but certainly cuter than anyone else.

He likes seeing you get like that but probably won’t go out fo his way to fluster you. He’s got a lot of things to do and as much as he’d love to, he doesn’t have time.

On the other hand, if anyone else makes you flustered, he’s going to make time to chew them out. He’s the only one who can make you flustered, got that?

I think Sho would be middle of the road with this. Sure, he likes seeing you flustered, but I don’t think he would go overboard to fluster you.

I think he’d do things a lot more subtly than the others. Whether it’s making your favourite food or complimenting your outfit, he likes making you flustered through little actions.

I feel like Sho can be pretty easily flustered as well so if you retaliate in any way, you’ll both end up flustered messes.

Sho’s also not someone who would ever take things too far. Since he’s a lot more lowkey, he’s at less risk of overstepping boundaries than the others.

Rui’s a lot like Haku in the sense that he’s very flirty and likes seeing you flustered. I think he might be a bit more over the top with his comments.

I think he would actually be quite surprised to see how easily you get flustered by his words and actions.

But as soon as he realises how much he likes seeing you flustered, Rui’s going to somehow up the ante. He’s already flirting non stop but you’ll never get a break now.

Of course, if it gets too much, Rui will notice and back down. He’s pretty observant and he doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable and drive you away.

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

Hey, did you enjoy this? If you like my writing, please consider donating to my Ko-Fi page! This will allow me to make some money off my writing, something I enjoy doing.

ko-fi.com/justsomeoneintoomanyfandoms

Important Note: Please only donate if you are financially able to. If you are currently in a position where you can't donate, a like, comment or reblog will mean just as much.

[auspicioustidings]

Ae Fond Kiss - Part 4

A Prayer in the Prospect of Death

Summary: The years pass and you find out how Simon feels about you before a familiar face arrives. Words: 2.8k

Parts: 1 2 3 4 5

“Tell me luv.”

Simon had his fingers tucked under your chin to tilt your head up so you could no longer easily hide. Urgh he was so bloody perceptive. 

“It’s silly.”

“You’re always silly, now tell me.”

You fought the urge to blow a raspberry at him. He was truly the most stubbornly protective human you had ever met and he never just let things go if you said it was fine. He always knew when something was bothering you despite your attempts to hide it. 

“What am I supposed to do when Joey starts nursery?”

You sighed and dropped any attempt to hide how miserable the thought made you. When you and Johnny had gotten married you had decided that you’d be a stay at home mum. You didn’t have a career you were attached to and Johnny made enough to support the household. Honestly you had come to enjoy it in the last year. You decorated your home for every holiday, experimented in the kitchen until you were actually a very good home cook and baker, always felt safe and content with how well you knew your own space and how cosy and clean you kept it. 

It was never how you imagined yourself if you were honest, a homemaker. The idea of you actually sort of enjoying cleaning would have made you feel somewhat ill 5 years ago. But now you were in your own home with a toddler you loved to death and, though you often were reluctant to admit it out loud, a man you loved to death. You had been front and centre for all of Joey’s firsts and you wouldn’t trade that for anything. 

Simon missed his first steps. Johnny had been fine doing video calls while he was on base during off hours, but you didn’t even have the number of Simon’s work phone. It used to frustrate you that it felt like he didn’t even exist the moment he left for work, but he had spoken about his family on your first Christmas together and it made you understand. He would never carry anything on him as the Ghost that could link back to you, even in the relative safety of the base during downtime. 

Now Joey would be out of the house for most of the day. You could have waited, not sent him to nursery and just kept him home until school, but you knew it would be for your sake rather than his. He loved being around other kids and some of the friends he had made from you taking him to every toddler group in the area in an attempt to be a good mother would be starting nursery as well. 

Could you just do nothing all day? Between Johnny’s insurance and death in service benefits and Simon insisting on funnelling money in, you could certainly afford it now, but it felt so wrong when Johnny was dead and Simon was doing the exact job that had killed him.

“What do you mean? You do the same as you do right now if you’re still happy doing it but without him.”

“Lounge around and do nothing while you are out risking your life you mean.”

Simon considered, always careful to think the situation through rather than reply impulsively. He was annoyed with himself for not seeing sooner that you were undervaluing yourself, only considering taking care of Joey which was a full time job in itself as contributing. While it had been a source of bitter guilt in the beginning, he had started to forget how much younger you were than him. He really should have seen it, no woman in her early 20s saw her full worth. 

“Princess, you decorated this whole house while I was deployed and you’re the one that fixes things or organises for them to be fixed when they break. You cook almost all our meals from scratch and then make extra to donate to the community kitchen. The garden is immaculate because you follow the planting plan you made yourself and are out there doing maintenance every day. You do not now nor have you ever lounged about doing nothing, even if I would like it if you did.”

He already felt bad enough about it. When he was home he threw himself in, tried to take as much off of you as possible even when he was nowhere near as fast or good at things. If anything he was contributing nowhere near enough money to cover all the full time jobs you were gracefully juggling (only because it had already been a fight to accept any money at all, he gave you what you accepted and then put almost the rest of his pay into an account for Joey).

“Shut up!” you whined, battering fists against his chest as your face flamed. 

You had lived together now for just around 3 years. You had been intimately involved for 2. It still absolutely floored you when he was nice to you and made butterflies erupt in your stomach. It was so ridiculous to feel like some wide eyed teen with a crush when it came to this idiot. Unfortunately his favourite hobby was fucking with you when you were taken off guard like this.

“Aww baby girl, you know how much I appreciate everything you do for me and Joe don’t you? We’d fall apart without you beautiful” he said in a smooth rumble, peppering kisses across your cheeks and down your neck. 

It wasn’t fair that he could just tease you with a version of him that adored you. A version that you enjoyed even if you didn’t really think it was real. Sure there had been a maybe ‘I love you’ years ago after all that sexual tension broke and he seemed to be happy enough, but you could only imagine that if he ever knew how you felt about him he would run. The last 3 years you had fought at every turn to protect your heart, but you had stopped denying at least to yourself that it was pathetically his now.  

“Don’t do that.”

“You don’t want praise and kisses?”

He raised an eyebrow and tried to hide a small smile. You loved praised and kisses, he knew that because in the bedroom he could use that to turn you into a pile of obedient princess who did whatever he said if it would earn you his adulation. But it was just sex wasn’t it? 

“I don’t want you to pretend.”

He was confused by that and you wanted to sink into the floor to avoid this conversation. You had been avoiding it for a while now. 

“I… fuck. Simon, I don’t- it’s not just sex to me” you choked out, not sure how to put it into words without straight out admitting that you were hopelessly in love with him and wanted him in you and J’s lives permanently. 

“Christ, you pretty little idiot” he growled, grabbing your face roughly in his hands. “I love you. I am in love with you. I’m not Johnny, I don’t do big romantic gestures. I’m not the kind of man to tell you all the time how I feel. I’m the kind of man who is a selfish bastard because I don’t give a fuck if you deserve someone who does. You are mine. You have been for years. Do you understand me?”

You could only blink wide-eyed as your brain tried to catch up with the whole world restarting itself after the shock.  

“Do you understand me?” he snapped. 

“Yes sir.”

“Good girl… wanna get married?”

You stuttered out an outraged shout, feeling the tears that had been building drying up at the audacity of this man. 

“Johnny took me to the cabin. He made me a replica of the first dinner we had together and set the table outside during the sunset. He organised for fireworks!”

“Told you I don’t do romantic gestures.”

“Fine!”

“Fine?”

“Fine, let’s get married Casper. You’re the fucking worst.”

“Don’t I know it princess. I’m not wearing a tie.”

“Then I’m not wearing a dress.”

“Yes you bloody well are!”

“Wanna bet?!”

-

He did not wear a tie, but Joey did. Your dress was beautiful. Gaz officiated your wedding for the second time. Price said there was an emergency so he couldn’t make it - you weren’t really sure you believed him.

-

As you cleared up after the whirlwind that was breakfast in a house with a 9 year old late for school, you sighed and stuck on a heat patch. You were starting to wonder if being off birth control was maybe a little pointless because in the past 18 months it had only reminded you how much you hated periods after years of them being gone as a useful side effect.

It had been something you were speaking about since you got married. You had always wanted more kids. Simon had never even expected he’d have one. You were terrified of a repeat of your first pregnancy, he was terrified that his genes were poisonous. You had enough money with his hefty pay and your small business (you had started it up soon after Joey had started nursery and you got a lot of orders for events, birthdays and weddings for sets of biscuits. You imagined wherever Johnny was he was howling with laughter that you had turned into a home baker after all the kitchen disasters he had seen). 

In the end it had been Joseph who made the decision. One shrugged mention of how he thought it’d be nice to have a little sibling and that was that. There was not one thing in the whole wide world you and Simon would not give him if it was in your power. Although you were starting to think it wasn’t in your power at all. 

It wasn’t like you didn’t have an active sex life and in honesty it had only gotten more active from the breeding kink Simon had uncovered as soon as it was a possibility. But it just hadn’t happened. 

You wondered if it was better that it hadn’t, at least until Joey was 10. That was when you had agreed you would tell him everything. On advice of a psychologist you had told him that Simon wasn’t his biological father very early on, as early as he could understand the concept, although stressed he was still his dad. The only thing you mentioned about his biological father was that he had died even though that was very much against the psychologists advice, she had said to tell him everything about Johnny.

But in 4 months he would turn 10 and he knew that you would answer his questions then. It was shitty of the two of you really, to hide Johnny until now. Joey’s grandmother still saw him, but she never talked about her son or who he was. It was cowardice. Simon had been speaking with a therapist for years about how to let go of the idea that Johnny died because he couldn’t save him. You felt ill at the idea of your son knowing you had married his dead father’s best friend. Both of you were so scared of Johnny’s ghost that you kept him from his son for nearly a decade. 

Well sort of. Joey knew who Johnny was, just not that he was his father. There were photos of him in the house. Whenever Gaz, Price and their partner (that had been a whole drama, but you were happy the three of them finally worked it out) were around, sometimes they would reminisce about him. Well Gaz and Simon did, Price would just look pained and excuse himself to get a drink.

You could only hope that Joey wouldn’t hate you, but then he was such a great kid. A little wild, but incredibly kind and empathetic beyond his years. He had Johnny’s eyes. You thought that he’d understand when you explained it all. Maybe he’d yell at you for thinking he would blame you for falling in love with his dad, but he’d understand. 

You focused on cleaning up and getting the kitchen back clean and cosy how you liked it, deciding not to borrow worries from the future.

–

Price had told him to settle his arse down in the base and let him travel down and talk to him before he went anywhere. Johnny ignored him. He had just saved the fucking world, there was not one thing that was going to keep him from his wife and child one second longer.

He had debriefed already, been medically cleared to leave. He knew the paperwork was going to be horrendous given that he was legally dead, but frankly he’d leave it for the intelligence agencies to deal with given how much of a big bloody favour he had just done them. He got your address off of them given that Price hadn’t given it to him, just telling him to wait until he got there. Fuck that.

It didn’t take too long to get himself there. It was oddly comforting hearing all the English accents after a decade of hearing almost entirely Russian even if he’d be moving your pretty arse back North of the border as soon as he could. Not a chance was his family living in Carlisle. He wondered why you would move that far from the Highlands where his family was. You had always been no contact with your own family, maybe you had reconciled with them and moved to be closer? 

He would find out. Whatever it was he’d support you. God he loved you, he had missed you so fucking much. He had imagined the reunion for years, thought of your smile and your laugh when he needed to remind himself what he was fighting for, thought of your soft skin and tight pussy when he needed to relieve some tension with his right hand. Whenever he sent up a prayer in the prospect of death, it was for you that he prayed he would survive.

He thought of how he’d hold you for days when he got back. He knew you would have raised a wonderful son and he could not wait to meet the person he had become. He’d hold him as well, spend days cuddled up and watching movies with his family. 

And then he’d take you to the cabin and lose himself in your body. Fuck it was strange to think he’d have to consider it wasn’t just you two anymore. He didn’t want to lose any time with his son, but he needed alone time with you as well. He’d work it out. 

The house was nice, sort of quaint with the pretty flowers both real and painted on the door. It hurt knowing if he hadn’t been away you’d have something bigger. You would have had to for a growing family. 

He wished he had stopped and gotten a change of clothes and a haircut. He was in military issued sweats and a hoodie and his hair had grown out to curl around his ears. He really should have shaved as well, a task he hadn’t had time for in the chaos of the last few months. But fuck it, he was here and he couldn’t wait. 

It was almost like an out of body experience knocking on the door, knowing he was seconds away from you. He should have realised that there was another person around who could answer the door, but he hadn’t been thinking. The Joseph he knew was a tiny baby, not a bright eyed kid with a toothy grin in a football strip (a bloody Man U strip at that, Johnny just knew his uncle Simon would have had a hand in that and it made him grin knowing his best friend was still in his son’s life).

“Ye got big!” he belted, excited beyond proper introductions at seeing his son. 

The kid furrowed his brows for a moment before he brightened with recognition. Johnny assumed now was about the time for crying and yelling and hugging. He was unprepared for the alternative. 

“I know you! You’re dad’s Sergeant! I thought you died.”

His heart lurched, putting the dots together well before his brain could. 

“Joe hurry it up! We’ll miss kick-off!”

Johnny knew that voice. It was not yours. 

“I’m ready!”

“You better be! Right, who’s at the door then?”

The voice got closer and even though he wanted to run Johnny was rooted to the spot. It felt like the next 10 seconds as the footsteps and voice came closer was hours. The door swung wider open as a hand pulled on it from behind and then he was looking into the eyes of Simon Riley. The silence was deafening until Johnny broke it.

“What the fuck did you do Si!”

[thickamandlastenberg]

Support Che's Gender-Affirming Journey

Hello, my name is Che (they/he)!! I am a trans/queer, black, artist and writer. For my upcoming birthday, I am planning on having a long-awaited gender-affirming surgery. As this is my 26th birthday, it also means I will soon no longer be on my family's insurance plan, which is covering this upcoming procedure. I have worked multiple part-time jobs since graduating and have continuously applied and interviewed for full-time positions, but I have yet to find something permanent. This means until I find another source of income that provides benefits, then all my healthcare services like medication, doctor visits, therapy, etc will need to be paid out of pocket and become extremely expensive for someone making below a living wage. I am asking for assistance raising funds to help cover the remaining costs, supplies, etc. (I recently had nose surgery and used my remaining saved sick time off, so I am also including the costs to cover the 1-2 weeks I'll be taking off work to recover.) Even making a portion of this goal would be greatly appreciated as in the event I do not make my goal then I will have to pay a fee to reschedule. In the event I have to reschedule all the donations will be saved for the rescheduled date, but if my surgery is moved to another date then I risk my next insurance potentially not providing the same amount of coverage. Also, unfortunately, we do not know what transgender health care will look like going into this next presidency and I worry about having the same access or rights if this were to be postponed. Thank you so much for the support and generosity of anyone who donates and please share to spread the word if you can't!

[melanieph321]

Ruben Dias x Reader - Risk It All Part 4/6

⚠️Warning ⚠️

+18

Reader gets pregnant by Ruben. Although the two are not together Ruben promises to support her through the pregnancy, eventually letting reader stay with him until the child is born.  (This fic includes alot of angst and serious topics)

Enjoy!

You were married to Ruben.

Six months had gone by and following those six months your life was now unrecognizable. After a business like wedding with only one witness present, you were now Mrs Dias, swept into a life of luxurious parties and unwanted media attention, all whilst carrying your first child.

"You're gonna catch a cold."

"It's what I'm hoping for."

Ruben found you on the roof top balcony, hiding from your duties. Elena, the director of your life, would want you inside, shaking people's hands, talking about how excited you and Ruben were to bring new life into this world.

"Y/N, please come inside."

Ruben was better than you at playing along. He didn't mind lying to his friends, lying about how you two met and "decided" to keep your relationship private from the world. They all ate it up, even Ruben's family.

"I wanna go back to the hotel." You said, wrapping your arms around yourself to mend the nights cold. Ruben sighed, but took it upon himself to remove his tuxedo jacket, draping it over your shoulders. "We will, in time. The auction isn't over yet."

"And all the ice cream you can eat." Ruben smiled, grabbing your hand as he led you back inside. He kept his promise, of course. During your time living together you had come to learn that Ruben was no liar, even when the truth hurt sometimes.

It was a charity event in London, the money going to a good cause. However you had no idea why rich people had the need to dress up in expensive items costing more money than what they were actually donating.

"Do you promise to buy me Shawarma when we do leave?" You asked, pouting your lips and batting your eyelashes.

"Wait for me while I get the car." He said, leaving you and Elena sitting on the top of a set of concrete steps, enjoying your Shawarmas.

"He really cares about you." Elena said, unprovoked. "My job would be much more difficult if he didn't."

"Thanks." You mumbled, too busy enjoying your declicious food. The growth of your belly also followed the growth of your appetite, something that caused you to gain a bit of extra pregnancy weight.

"Ruben told me to make sure that you get a nice settlement once the two of you divorce."

You snorted. "How nice of him."

The two of you were literally playing house, getting married only to divorce a minimum of two years after the baby was born. If it wasn't for the security your life with Ruben offered, you would have never agreed to go through with any of it. I mean, you were literally playing with your own life, all because Ruben had a precious image of himself to preserve.

"That's us."

Elena stood, seeing Ruben's Mercedes coming your way. You made the effort to stand up as well, but lost your footing as the weight of your belly tampered with your balance.

"Dear god!" Elena gasped, as you came flying behind her, taking a tumble down the concrete steps.

"My Shawarma." You groaned.

"Y/N!"

Ruben was out of the car and rushing to your side before Elena had managed to. "Fuck, are you okay?" He didn't touch you,  afraid to do more damage as you stood on all fours, a hand wrapped around your belly.

"Y/N, please tell me you're okay?"

"I wasn't finished." You cried, a sad sight seeing the neatly wrapped bread now splatter on the ground before you.

"She needs to got to the hospital Ruben." Elena heels clicked as she descended the steps, reaching the bottom of them. "Now!"

"I'm fine." You reassured, but struggled to get up from the ground by yourself. Ruben's strong arm wrapped around your waist, pulling you up with one swoop.

"At least let someone check her out." Elena suggested.

"I promise, I'm all good." You said, trying to laugh it off.

It was as busy as any emergency in a big city. People from everywhere came with broken limbs and bleeding wounds to tend. For this you felt guilty that Ruben managed to convince a doctor to prioritize you. "Well, you seem fine to me Mrs Dias." The doctor stepped away from the stool on which you sat, removing his rubber gloves to make a few notes on his computer. "Has there been any unusual activity since your fall, like the baby moving around more than usual?"

"No." Ruben said, determined. "I'll take you to the emergency room." It was the urgency in his voice and the way his hands trembled as he still held to support you. "Okay." You nodded, agreeing to let Ruben take you to the nearest emergency room.

You bit your lip, pondering his question.  "Um, no. I don't think so. It doesn't really do that."

The doctor turned back from his computer, a deep frown on his face as he looked at you. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"The baby." You shrugged. "It doesn't move around. Or at least I haven't felt it kick yet."

The doctor turned to Ruben, the two of them sharing the same terrified gaze.

"What?" You frowned.

The doctor stood, retrieving another pair of gloves as well as calling for a nurse to assist him.

"What's going on?" You asked, uncertainty in your voice.

"Mrs Dias, it says you're six months pregnant."

"Yes, and?"

The doctor and his nurse worked together to rearrange his office, bringing in a monitor that looked like a tv screen on wheels. "Prepare for an emergency ultrasound. Patient is six months pregnant but has failed to notice any signs of life from the fetus."

"Doctor please, tell me what's going on. Is my baby going to be alright?" Things were moving fast, as well as your heart rate. You knew that things were serious when the nurse started attaching clips to your finger tips, setting up a graphic to show your pulse. Whilst all of this was going on the doctor had you lay on a medical table, pulling up your shirt as to expose your belly. "This might feel cold." He said, the only warning before rubbing a cooling gel across your stomach.

"Ruben." You flinched, practically panicking now.

"Hey, I'm here." He said, grabbing a hold of your hand, squeezing it to reassure you.

Your eyes traveled to the ceiling, the blinding lights causing tears to slid down the side of your face. You gasped as pressure was applied to your stomach, the doctor moving around with his tools. However, you were to afraid to look and confirm this.

"Ultrasound begins." The doctor said, speaking to his nurse. "We have a visual of the fetus...Everything looks fine. Let's move on to localizing the heartbeat..."

You tilted your head as Ruben grip around your hand tightened. He looked focus, brows furrowed as his eyes were fixated on the little TV screen. The suspens was killing you. What if something was wrong with your....

"Hearbeat located." The doctor said,  followed by a collective sigh from both Ruben and the nurse. You, however was still trembling all over.

"Congratulations Mrs Dias, you and your husband await a beautiful baby girl."

********************************************

You returned to the hotel room around midnight. Ruben was still on the phone with Elena as you went to wash up. Only when you were halfway asleep did you feel a dip in the bed that you shared.

"Ruben?"

He krept closer, doing something that the two of you had never done before. "I'm here." He said, wrapping his arms around you, pulling you close.

"Why are you shaking?" Your eyes flung open, turning around in order to face him. Your heart sank once you saw the exhaustion in his face, the remaining terror in his eyes. "Ruben?" Your hands went to caress his cheek, but he jerked away, not wanting to be consoled.

"Ruben?"

He sat up and you followed.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head, burring his face in his hands as if he suddenly suffered a severe headache.

"Ruben, please. You're scaring me." You scooted closer,  desperate to be near him, to touch him. However he jerked away once more, refusing to be touched. It broke your heart, seeing him this way.

"I thought I...." He mumbled. "I thought I lost..."

"Oh Ruben, the baby is okay. Everything is gonna be okay." You didn't care if he refused to be touched, you couldn't take it, leaping forwards to pull him close. However Ruben caught you in motion, grabbing your hands just as you were about to touch him. The room was dark but Ruben eyes were visible in the moonlight. They were shimmering,  shimmering with his tears. He pressed his lips together, uttering the words through gritted teeth. "No Y/N, I could have lost you." Your heart fluttered, eyes fixated on him and only him. He surrendered, lowering your hands so that they rested on each side of his face. "I could have lost you." He whispered, shifting his head a little so that your hand covered a part of his mouth, his lips soft beneath the palm of your hands. "I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you Y/N."

"You won't lose me Ruben. Not me or the baby."

"Fuck."

He looked up, eyes wide. The palm of your hand still covered his mouth, however his intentions were not to speak. He kissed it, the center of your hand, moving on to kiss the back of it, tracing the kisses all the way up towards your forearms, railing you in. You gasped once he had you pressed flush, against him, his head buried in the crease of your neck. He inhaled your scent,  preserving it in his memory. "Ruben." You groaned. The heat of the moment capturing you too. You knew that you wanted this, you've always wanted this. "I want you Ruben." The words were whispered against the smooth skin below his ear. Ruben responded with a low grunt made deep down in his throat. And then his hand slipped between the sheets in search for an opening.

Your back arched, to the sensation of him, Ruben's fingers, making their way down your damped panties.

"Say you want me Y/N." He huffed. "Say you want me forever."

"I want you Ruben, forever."

It was all that needed to be said. No further words were spoken as the movments between you synchronized into something fluid, a liquid of some sort. A liquid of love. Yes, it was the only to describe it. The two of you were in love.

[agentleem]

Another thing I love about HTP is how they develop the starting villains.

Now, we are introduced to this sabbat clan and they are all pretty one-dimensional. They are all generally just “crazy murderous vampires” and act as such in episode 1. The most personality they have can be gleaned from their fighting styles (shot beard just pummels everything, ape leaps and tackles at his enemies, Pyotr seems somewhat of a stealthy type, meanwhile Kevin takes a hostage and bends his opponent’s will).

By all means, Ogre Poppenang could’ve just left them like that, but they didn’t.

Shitbeard is a crass biker brute. He also recites many philosophical statements and viewpoints during episode 2, and seems to be jealous that the family have graduated college. He also constantly talks about how much he misses many of the mundane parts of life, such as existing in the sun and eating cream crackers. Additionally, he was turned while donating to charity.

Ape meanwhile is the newest member, not even being Blood Bonded to the others yet. He is also the most excited to be a part of the sabbat. He constantly is trying to say quotes that make him seem cool, help him fit in. He is massively cringeworthy—even in universe—but he is completely earnest. He reminds me of a young kid joining a fandom for a show or game they’re excited about.

Kevin is probably the most talked about member so ima keep it brief: his life was shit. He was raised to lead an ok but mind-numbingly uneventful life. He tried to strike it big, to give his life meaning, and failed horribly, leading him to continue his misery. And just as he’s about to swing his life around, he gets thrust into a world of darkness where he gains status but is enslaved in both body and mind. And once he gets tossed away by his new life, he joins the sabbat, because he feels like it’s the only real choice that would matter for him. That it’s the only one that he can make.

Then Pyotr. While everyone else has something hidden that makes them more endearing, Pyotr is shown to be much more VILE than we have thought. He is a coward who only comes out of hiding when he sees a weak or weakened target, and he is willing to backstab his teammates for any advantage without remorse. And when Kitten points this exact detail out, he gets absolutely PISSED that Kitten thinks he still cares about that (though with how pissed he got, I feel like there was at least some part of him that did regret, and his rant afterwards also serves to reassure himself that he’s a heartless vampire, banishing those feelings of regret and shame to the back of his mind. That’s just my headcanon though). When he diablerizes his teammates, however, he gets more careless. More risk-taking. More reckless. He uses his usual stealth approach less and less, going for more brutality. All of which leads to his death. Also, the reveal that he was a handsome man before his turn, probably turned BECAUSE of it, might factor into how he grew so wicked.

[wlfhrdlover]

Hello again ! Can you do Ajax x reader again ? when the reader have a teddy bear and he found out and she a little bit ashamed because she doesn’t want him to judge her. Please

hello! I love your ideas btw <3

MR. FLUFFY

Ajax Petropolus x gn!reader

summary: when you tried so hard to hide your teddy bear but your boyfriend found it and didn't minded it at all.

WARNINGS! none

— Where is he?- you panicked while tossing the blankets and pillows around, Ajax was coming to spend the night in your dorm, taking a chance that your roommate were out.

The thing is, Mr. Fluffy, the teddy bear that you had since 5 years old, you always loved plushies and when you went to Jericho you needed to close your eyes every time you passed by a Toy Store, because you know that if your eyes landed in a plushie you would buy it.

It wasn't something bad liking it, but after your last boyfriend and old friends laughed at it, you immediately tried to stop. You tried to hide Mr. Fluffy but you couldn't even sleep without him in your nightstand or hugging it close to your chest.

When you started dating Ajax, you always hided the teddy bear somewhere until he walked back to his dorm, you didn't wanted him to go away or make fun of you because of your childish manners.

Not that Ajax would even care about it, he was so in love with you that was kinda impossible for him to break up with you because of a simple plushie, but you didn't wanted to risk it, Ajax was way too important for you and you can't lose him.

Your heart stopped when you heard a knock at your door, you looked around and hoped that wherever that bear was, he stayed there and didn't even thought about coming out while Ajax was here.

Quickly throwing things back to place, you opened the door.

— Hey my love, you okay?- he chuckled and fixed your hair.

— Definitely, I was trying to find something- you shrugged and let him in.

— Yeah, what?- he asked smiling and you nervously laughed.

— Nothing really interesting, can you pick a movie while I shower?- you asked and he nodded taking off his jacket, you walked in the bathroom.

Ajax turned on your laptop and took off his shoes, when he sat down on your bed he saw something between your blanket.

A teddy bear, the red bow tie crooked, he chuckled softly and fixed it, he connected the pieces and figured out that you were trying to hide it from him.

Ajax decided to not embarrass you, hiding the teddy bear under the bed and picking a movie while he waited for you.

The next day, you were studying in your room when someone knocked, you made your way to the door knowing that it was Ajax.

He had a cute and kinda large box on his hands and was smiling when you opened the door.

— Hey love, can I come in?- he asked and you nodded, letting him in.

Then, you turned around and both of you stared at the same thing, Mr. Fluffy. The teddy bear staring back, he was almost laughing at your face.

— I can explain!- you quickly said and took the teddy bear, hiding it behind your back, your heart raced even more when Ajax chuckled- I'm sorry! I know it's childish, I'll donate him some day! Please don't break up with me- you panicked and tears started to prick on the corner of your eyes.

Now, Ajax panicked, his eyes widened and he quickly made his way to you.

— Oh no love, I wasn't going to break up with you, why you think that?- he asked.

— I thought you would judge me for having a teddy bear- you whispered and he smiled.

— It's adorable really, I would never break up with you because of a teddy bear, everyone had one at least one time, I mean, my mommas still keep my old toys at our house and sometimes it's creepy but comforting- you both laughed and he wiped the tear that rolled on your cheek- Don't worry about it my love, I couldn't break up with you because of something that makes you look even more lovable than you already was- he said and you relaxed- But I'm kinda upset that you never told me about it, because I would definitely show off my abilities in those carnivals we went, I would so try to win the biggest plushie for you- he said and you laughed.

— Jax, you literally missed all the balls in that clown's mouth thing- you said and he pouted.

— It was really far okay, not my fault- he joked and hugged you- Right! Look what I got for you!- he jumped and took the box.

You put Mr. Fluffy down near to your pillows again, opening the box your eyes sparkled at the thing inside of it.

— Oh my God! It's so cute!- you jumped and took a big snake plushie out of the box, it definitely reminded you of his snakes.

Ajax just admired the light on your face when you saw the plushie, taking notes to buy you more just to see your smile every time you open the box.

— Wait... oh! You... oh my God, you found Mr. Fluffy yesterday?- you widened your eyes and Ajax laughed.

— He was between your blanket, I thought that you didn't wanted me to know, so I pushed him under your bed and acted like I didn't even saw it- he said and you smacked his arm.

— Jax!- you exclaimed and he laughed more.

— Sorry my love, so... can I meet Mr. Fluffy?- he teased and you just hit him with a pillow, turning to admire the snake again, he smiled at the sight.

God, he was so in love with you.

[tate-lin]

Jason Todd is my favourite character in all of DC but:

If someone doesn't want to kill, you can't ask, tell, or expect them to kill for you

Or, you can, but you'd be a complete asshole. The only time those expectations are valid is when a person signed up for a job where killing is expected (e.g. the military).

But as we all know, Batman is not the military nor the police. He only has one rule—or only one rule he truly cares about—and that's to not kill.

And frankly, I don't care what his reasons are for that; the bottom line is that he doesn't want to kill and we should respect it. Because at the end of the day, when you take a life, you're the one who's fully responsible for it. You're the one who has to live with it. And because of that, nobody should force you to do it.

Look, like I said, Jason Todd is my favourite character too. But that doesn't mean I don't find it disturbing or unfair when he expects Bruce, and only Bruce, to kill the Joker for him.

Do I find it understandable and human? Of course! Jason died horribly and gruesomely to a madman who'd do the same to anyone else so long as he finds it funny enough. It's only natural for him to want and expect someone—especially his father, the one he loved the most and the one he'd been searching through the thin crack of the door for even as the countdown struck zero—to put an end to the clown permanently, but. Does that mean he should? Absolutely not, and I think it's straight-up awful that so many people in this fandom encourage this take.

And the kicker is, if Catherine was still alive, if Catherine was the sort to become a vigilante and this happened to the both of them, do you think Jason would have the same expectations for her? I bet not. Not because he's sexist, but because Bruce is Batman and we take Batman for granted.

Yeah, you heard me. We take him for granted. We expect too much out of him.

This has been a slow-coming realisation, but it comes after a particularly harrowing conversation with my sister during which she told me that I was taking her for granted and I surprised myself by agreeing with her. I won't go into the nitty gritty details but what I took away from the conversation was that just because someone can do something, and you yourself would do that something for them, that does not mean you should automatically expect them to do the same for you—especially if it goes against their character and what they stand for.

This goes the same for Bruce. Just because he's capable of murder and is justified in doing it, that does not mean that he should do it if he doesn't want to. And just because Jason would do it for him if the reverse happened, that still does not mean he should do it if he doesn't want to (which Bruce would have never asked for anyway because that's just not part of his character). No matter their similarities, Jason and Bruce are two completely different people and they can't be expected to do and choose the same things.

Batman, of course, chooses to take responsibility for many, many things, most of which are completely optional. He's a billionaire, he doesn't have to help his city by spending his nights saving people, facing the worst the city has to offer, and risk his life and sanity on the daily. He's the CEO of one of the most wealthy companies in the world, he doesn't have to uplift his city by donating to orphanages, hospitals, and charities, creating programmes to help the youth, the poor, the disabled, ex-convicts, and other minorities, as well as funnel any struggling person he encounters to his company so that they can be assured of a job. He was a single and free man, he didn't have to agree to care for several angry, reckless, and bitter kids with death in their hearts.

All of the shit he does is completely optional! Yet, the one thing he explicitly chooses not to do, the one thing he absolutely refuses to take responsibility for and takes great pains to avoid, is killing.

And I get it, this is murder we're talking about here. You can't just expect people to be just okay with doing that, even if that person is a demented dude in a bat costume.

Actually, why are we expecting so much out of such a person? Cause Batman can do anything? Cause Jason is his son and Gotham is his city? Cause if given half a chance, we wouldn't let Jason down? Cause if something happened to us, we hope that we mattered enough to someone for them to avenge us, no matter if doing so would completely destroy them? Tear them apart from the inside-out? No matter that we're already dead and they'd have to live the rest of their lives like that?

Just something to think about.

At any rate, I think it's wrong to look at someone and expect them to kill for you. If Gotham wants Joker gone, they're just gonna have to do it themselves cause expecting a volunteer to do this extra shit they never asked for and explicitly does not want to do is more than just appalling.

It's cruel.

[serialadoptersbracket]

Round 4, Match 5: Shōta Aizawa vs. The Fix

Submitted kids:

Shōta Aizawa: Class 1-A, minus Mineta, plus Shinsou Hitoshi (total of 20 kids). Mainly Eri, Shinsou, and Midoriya

The Fix: Conrad Schintz, and then he adopted like, an whole orphanage, named Madam Loathings home for wayward interests

Propaganda under the cut! (Spoilers ahead!)

Shōta Aizawa:

1. “This grumpy teacher pretends not to care about his students, sleeps during his own classes and why talk when you can also make annoying children silent by (harmless) force? Yet he loves them and they love him while he doesn't show it all that often.”

2. “He didn't mean to adopt them yet he did and he is grumpy about it. If he goes "those are my kids, damn it" it's not to someone else, it's to himself, with the damn it being a "fuck, why". Yet he is so 100% willing to risk his life for them. Because they *are* his kids now.”

3. “Idk the man is so tired what can I say. Harsh as australias wildlife but bc he doesn’t want them to actually die in the field so he’s trying to make them give up on signing up to risk your lives every day. I just submitted kiryu and I think that kiryu, bruce, and aizawa are soul sisters. They are all very special to me”

4. “Oh he tries so hard to stay scary and detached, keeps threatening to expel students, keeps saying he hates kids, and look at him now. Missing several pieces and risked death multiple times to protect them, at least 3 classes of ~20 students each lowkey adoring him, and literally canonically (not said out loud but it's basically official come on, they live together) adopted a little girl that was found by the protagonist and saved from the mafia. Also personally took the matter in his own hands when another department's student (so not one of his) showed a desire to change course, so much that even if this kid has living and loving parents he's often Aizawa's adopted family in fanfiction.”

The Fix:

1. “Ok ok so. Spoilers for mentopolis: First some context that mentopolis is a show that takes place inside one guys brain, all the characters represent something in the brain, and the guy whos brain they are in, named Elias Hodge, is so so very sad.

Ok so, The Fix, the personification of hyper fixation, is like is someone who has spent most of his life working for people, where his job was to 'eliminate distractions' (He kills people, basically). Then one day he is told to eliminate a child. His name is Conrad Schintz (Or the Conscience, due to an accident that happened to the guys who's brain they are in when he was a child- Conrad stopped thing he was useful, aka Elias stopped using his conscience, so his conscience has not grown since the incident, leaving him a small child)

The Fix has never had to hurt a kid before, and he doesn't want to do that, so he instead goes into protecting Conrad. Conrad kind of hates himself though and also kind of thinks he deserves to die so that's not good.

The Fix gave this like, beautiful speech to Conrad once about how hes important, I wont give the whole thing but something along the lines of ""There is a butterfly who has a tail that is there for if a bird was to grab on to the tail, it would break off and the butterfly would escape. I don't think you are the tail of the butterfly, I think you are the butterfly."" (its better in the actual show). I cry. There is another speech about eagles he gives Conrad when Conrad offers himself, to basically die, but i don't remember it that well.

Other then Conrad though! So There is this orphanage, called Madama Loathings home for wayward interests. Basically its a bunch of kids that represent past interests of Elias. Its run by this women called Madam Loathing (represents Elias' self Loathing)(she is very mean to the kids). The Fix donates a lot of money to this place, and visits a lot, the kids there love him and think he is so so cool. There is this one kid named Ronnie Reptile. He loves reptiles, and The fix gives him reptile facts, its cute. In the first episode, The Fix tells Madam Loathing how any of those kids/interests could be rediscovered by Elias at any time, and madam loathing sort of taunts The Fix, sort of saying how ""Oh I'm sure I can tell the kids they will call be adopted by The Fix soon, but that would be kind of cruel, wouldn't it?"" Implying that that won't happen. (cause, The Fix is hyper fixation, and hyper fixation adopting an interest would be good, you know.).

Note that Conrad used to live at madam loathing's, because he was mis identified as just a simple interest and not Elias' whole sense of conscience, but Corad ran away with his best friend, a dog named Justin. He lived on the streets after that.

So a bit later on in the series The Fix and Conrad have to go to to madam loathing's together (and another character is with them but he isnt relevant for this). When they get there Madam Loathing asks The fix if he is here to drop of Conrad here, and The immediately is like "Absolutely not, shut the fuck up." (I think that's the direct quote). I just really like that scene.

At the end, end of the series. Some plot stuff happens. The Fix met a women named Pasha N (She represents Passon), and they are in love, The fix proposes to her, its sweet, but then madam Loathing, who got some like, character growth I won't really go into here, and she says to The Fix how, she needs to go on a trip to find herself, and then she offers the entire orphanage to The Fix and Pasha, which is accepted. So in the end of the show, The Fix has basically adopted, that entire orphanage, so thats a lot of kids, along with Pasha, but she isn't in the show as much so I wont submit them as a pair. I didnt mention it before but The Fix is known for knowing a lot of facts and saying "Did you know." before saying a fact, which a lot of the time, it is a fact that is truly terrifying but thats a lot, and The narration at the end of the shows, says how The Fix and Pasha spend their lives with kids around them, constantly saying "Did you know? Did you know?" and it is very sweet. Conrad sort of had his own ending away from The Fix, but I still head cannon that The Fix adopted him too and Conrad comes to the orphanage sometimes.”

2. “listen. i don't know if this really counts as propaganda but just saying, mr. the fix thinks you're not the tail of a swallowtail butterfly. you are the butterfly.”

[misfitwashere]

Freedom and safety

A lesson from a demining test

TIMOTHY SNYDER

OCT 18

Maybe, for you Americans out there, it's time for a little break.  We are wonderful at talking to, for, about and past ourselves, and not so good at listening to other people.  So maybe for just a few moments we could pause to remember some of the people who allow us to have our quarrels, to have our election season, to have our elections, some of the people who are actually taking risks for the words like freedom and democracy that we throw around so casually, especially this time of year.

This could many groups, of course! I mean the Ukrainians. They are doing us a lot of good, as we tend to forget. They are holding back a Russian army so that other countries can keep all of their soldiers in the barracks.  They are deterring China from invading Taiwan by showing that offensive operations are risky and unpredictable.  They are making nuclear war less likely by ignoring Putin's bluffs.  They are defending the international order, which is based on states and borders.  And, yes, they are defending democracy as such, including our own.  They have bought us time since 2022 to recover from Covid and economic collapse by bearing the brunt of this crisis on their own.

This month the Biden administration is decising how much it will help during its last three months in office.  President Biden has a chance to leave with a legacy, by creating structures that will allow for aid to Ukraine to continue, and by inviting Ukraine to join our most important institutions.  Given the uncertainties ahead, though, the question goes far beyond that of how President Biden will be remembered.  If we allow Ukraine to lose, or if we vote for Putinist candidates who want Ukraine to lose, the costs will be horrible in Ukraine, but will be felt around the world.

So of course we can hope the president does the right thing.  And we can vote for the right people the next time around.  And if you are American and care about Ukraine, voting, canvassing, and donating for pro-Ukrainian candidates in American elections is likely the most important thing that you can do right now.  But if you are not American, or if you are American and can spare a little money, there are plenty of other ways to make a direct difference.  

You can do something to help Ukrainians be safer, even as they help us to be safer. Let me just suggest a specific step that I know something about, having seen the tools for myself.

When I was in Ukraine last month, I visited a competitive test for mine-clearing robots.  The moment was one of cooperation: private companies had brought their robots for a test organized by a couple of government ministries, with the participation of a presidential tech platform, in connection to a fundraiser supported by people around the world.  Along with Mark Hamill, I am supporting this fundraiser, called Safe Terrain, because mine-clearing robots can save human lives and prepare the way for humans to return to their normal lives.  Mark and I announced the fundraiser on my birthday, two months ago, and we are three-quarters of the way to the goal ($307,000 of $441,000 -- thank you to all of you who have donated!).

There were some fascinating moments at the test.  The detonation of anti-tech mines is very loud. I learned a great deal about the demining technology.  But I wanted to share with you a human detail that has stayed with me.  After it was all over, after the three robots had detonated mines safely, we all took some pictures together: the tech and corporate teams, the officials, the visitors.  Just as the photographer was about to begin, one of the corporate representatives told him to wait: one of the robots was blocked from the shot.  But here is the interesting thing: it wasn't her robot.  It was the robot of one of the other, competing firms.  She wanted to make sure that it was in the picture.

A small thing, perhaps.  Just a momentary gesture, it might seem.  But it was someone doing something for someone else, amidst the pressure of a competitive trial, under the stresses of a war.  It was someone who, for that moment, was not thinking about herself, but about fairness, about the good outcome.  Sometimes people do have to fight for democracy, as the Ukrainians are doing right now, but democracy itself is not a fight.  Freedom is not all about just doing what we feel like doing, just because we want to, right at the moment.  It is about seeing other people, hearing other people, working together, creating a world in which we can all be more free. 

I'm in southwest Ohio now, and I see that spirit here too, not of course in everyone, but in many people, the ones who care about the country, the ones who are not just arguing, the ones who are doing the little things they can do, the ones who want to open things up rather than close them down.  I'm trying to do the little things I can do, too, in my own country, but I don’t want to take for granted that I can. Along the way, today, I am also going to make a donation to those robots, or to the people behind them.