#it was a minor character who got some good lines then got murdered

[gremlynslemyns]

btw my claim to fame is that my name (very unusual) is in one of the skulduggery pleasant books bc i met derek landy at a book signing. however it's my deadname so i can't actually tell anyone....

[comatosebunny09]

tw: profanity, blood, torture, implied minor character death notes: up late again. i started thinking about a guard dog au again and spat this out.

“You still let that sick fuck control you!” Carlos spits. Voice gurgles, blood puddling in his throat. For someone on the edge of death, he sure likes to talk. “He’ll kill you when he no longer finds use for you, you stupid bitch!” 

You ignore his monologuing, more concerned with the speck of crimson flying from his mouth to stain your shirt collar. 

You fret over it, smearing the bloodstain with your thumb. Your brow ticks as you attempt to rub it clean. No dice. 

You really like this shirt.

Sucking your teeth, you twirl the tactical knife in your hand before driving it into Carlos’ thigh. He screams bloody murder. You wince; you’ve never known a man to cry like that. He’s not the one with blood on his favorite shirt. 

You pop up from your spot crouched before him. Wipe your hands on your thighs, heaving a sigh. You circle the chair Carlos is bound to, deceptively gentle as you clasp his shoulders once you're behind him. 

“I no longer have a use for you,” you whisper, squeezing his arms with a reassuring smile. You bend to ear level, Carlos’ blubbering simpering as your lips graze the shell of it. “But they might.” 

He follows your line of sight. You wordlessly signal to two brutish-looking men Sylus left at your disposal, framing the door.

You pat Carlos’ shoulder. “Good luck,” you say, stepping around him and between the hulking guards. You tell them to have fun, tossing your bloodied gloves over your shoulder on your way out. 

The steel door slams shut behind you. You straighten the lapels of your blazer. A muffled scream erupts from the room you just exited. They didn’t waste any time getting to work.

Carlos is in good hands, you think, exiting the warehouse. You throw your leg over your motorcycle seat after you turn it on, stuffing your helmet onto your head. You’ve got some debriefing to do. They can handle the rest.

—

The twin doorknobs are cold in your palms. 

You exhale as various masculine voices filter through the door leading to Sylus’ office. He’s in a meeting discussing things you can’t be bothered to follow. You don’t want to interrupt, yet the twins told you he wanted to see you immediately upon your return. 

You look down at your clothes. They’re bloodied and streaked red. Damn Carlos. Who knew someone could bleed so much? You can’t go in there like this. Not when you have a reputation to uphold. 

Shutting your eyes, you focus on controlling your breaths. Home in on a flicker of energy collecting in your solar plexus. You tap into it, a stream of it steadily bleeding out. It pulses through you, a cooling sensation wading over your skin. You don a glamor, a veil to hide your disheveled state until you can shower and change your clothes.

With a surge of confidence, you push through the heavy doors, a cool gust of wind kissing your molten skin. Six sets of eyes settle on you. The conversing peters to dull murmurs as you make your way to your boss, your heels clicking soundly over the marbled floors and a smile cresting over your lips. 

He’s sitting down at the head of the table. Tapping his temple in mock contemplation. He seems annoyed if the tense line of his shoulders is anything to go by. Maybe some good news will help lighten his load. You angle yourself to earshot, your torso brushing his shoulder. You get a whiff of the warm scent he carries. Try not to let it deter you from your mission. 

“It’s done,” you murmur. He smirks in your periphery, glancing at you with eyes the color of a wildfire. It’s a brief exchange, enough to warm you from the inside out. He dismisses you with a waggle of his fingers. 

You try to ignore how your heart swoops when you step back, a hand over your bosom as you bow tersely. You’re halfway to the door when he calls to you, stopping you in your tracks. 

“Make sure you clean up before your show this evening. Wouldn’t want to scare off our guests now, would we, darling?” 

You stiffen. Heat prickles your cheeks. Of course, he can see through your glamor. The aether core embedded in his eye allows him to do so. 

The businessmen sprinkled around the table exchange hushed words, unsure of what Sylus is on about. You look impeccably polished to them. You bow again, tamping down your bashfulness. You’re mortified. “Understood.”

You exit the room, mouth drawn into a rigid line. If no one else, you never want to look unkempt in front of your boss.   

[hqlmsbury]

A good girls guide to murder tv show review

Haven’t been on here in a hot sec but I just really feel like venting about this show. I LOVE the books they are incredible and pip and Ravi are SOSO special. The tv show had all the capabilities to be a great adaptation, I don’t mind minor changes that make it easier for first time viewers but a lot of it rubbed me the wrong way. Here are some of my thoughts so spoilers ahead!

• nats character. What in the actual world made them decide to merge Nat with (Chloe? I think was the name) Andies other best friend. It changed Nats ENTIRE character. It lost that interest factor which made it seem like Nat really could be the bad guy, it felt unnecessary and disappointing to her character

• my pipravi moments. Why was there not one single Pipravi moment that was the same in the books. Literally not one. Pip doesnt share her location so Ravi has to go to Cara at the end. Ravi doesn’t go into Becca’s house at first because he’s scared, rightfully so but Ravi would never have endangered Pip like that! Ravi wanting to move away immediately after they figured out sals innocence???? The moments they got lacked the essential chemistry that all those little moments had. There was no reason for Pip to go into Becca’s house alone Ravi easily could’ve went with her just like in the book and we could’ve gotten the “real men wear floral while trespassing” line. Those small but important moments that make the characters and the relationship.

• Pip was not as smart as in the books. I sort of understand why they made it seem that way as they had to progress the show quicker but I think certain things were handed to her. Finding Howie was one of those scenes why was it so quick, easy, and almost painless. And later on he’s barely mentioned at all. Where was the blackmailing?!?!

• going of the last point why did Naomi tell Pip about Maxs secret instagram, again it made it seem like pip could not figure it out herself, there was no sneaking around and logging into Naomi’s computer. It was all handed to her

• the girl in Mr. Wards attic. Why did she know who she was lol? I think it unfairly made it look like Mr. Ward was more evil than he really was. In the book he really did think it was Andie and that he was helping her. Keeping this girl “trapped” in his attic because he told her he killed Sal was also an unnecessary part of the story.

• having Victor Amobi be suspected?!?!? What in the world was that. It added drama that was completely unnecessary to the story, Victor is such a great character and he is so special to Pip in the books. I feel adding that was something they tried to do to “spice things up” when sticking to the original storyline would’ve been a much better path.

• Barney’s death. I can’t recall if it was ever mentioned Becca was the one who killed Barney but again where was that suspenseful feeling? And also this was a purposeful kill when in the books Becca actually did release Barney and he was killed on accident.

• a couple of little things. I felt like the actors they cast for Pips friend group looked way older, however Asha who plays Cara grew on me and I really enjoyed her as Cara.

If they make a second season I will watch it and hope for better and hopefully they get more funding and Holly is more involved with the script. These are only a few of the things I was disappointed about because overall I don’t think it did the books justice at all. I enjoyed pip as Emma and think Zain did a good job with Ravi considering the script they had.

[halaboyz]

undercover, sangyeon

bff, police detective! the boyz sangyeon x special operation unit gn! reader fluff, angst wc: 3.7k warnings: mentions of minor character death, guns, you know police/detective stuff (ie cults) on kdramas but nothing too deep (ie blood, murder, etc.); reader is not especially on the modest side, i would say tomboyish but just imagine hyojoo's charac in happiness! everything's revolved in there (charac's love plot) a/n: RRRRRRRAAAAAAHH sangyeon FITS detective charac so mUCH you have no idea how much my brain racked this idea ;; kdrama happiness and flex x cop inspired !!! GOD i just canNOT make action fics bffr i do not KNOW HOW TO DESCRIBE THINGS networks: @kflixnet

"Public rental unit for police at Gangnam? Won't you need, like, high points for that?" Changmin questions, mouth full of food as he stares curiously at you.

"Mmm, they're giving out three special units to the police." You casually nod, downing a spoonful.

"Really? What are the conditions then?" Changmin perks up, suddenly curious when he senses that you were too nonchalant, conditions may be as simple.

"They score it based on seniority, size of family, marital status, etc. etc. You know, basic requirements. But you know what matters the most? Number of arrests and evaluations," You ignorantly shook your shoulders, making Changmin's drop. You sigh, "I'd definitely get it if those were the only requirements," You shake your head, losing confidence.

"What are you going to arrest, terrorists?" He scoffs, smirking at you.

"In life, Changmin, you never know." You point your chopsticks at him.

"Evaluations are good, but I quit getting them. The apartment's all yours. How are you getting more points?" You had no idea at all, opting to just eat in silence when your phone rings and vibrates in the table.

"Might get married, might not." You slyly smile, slowly widening when you read the caller ID. "Let me get this for a second," You excuse yourself out of the table with a smile, Changmin gawking at your sudden and absurd idea.

"Good morning to my most handsome friend there is," You start as you answered the call, hearing him chuckle in the other line. "You miss me?"

"I think I should ask that. I'm guessing you need something for you to call me something like that," He instigates, and you hear him unlocking his car.

"I don't. At least yet. Why'd you call though?" You pick on your helmet that hung in one of your suit belts, looking longingly at your food. "I got some eating to do, you know."

"I'll be fast. I heard there's someone in your team leading drugs associated with child prostitution. Police will be there after some investigations, but right within the day." Sangyeon informs, starting his car and putting you on hold for a second.

"Oh," You coo, nodding. "Who is it?"

"I'm just informing you, not blatantly revealing files to you," Sangyeon teasingly laughs out, and you hiss.

"Then, if I catch them before you do, it will be my arrest, right?" You think of the points for the free special unit that are being given away to the police, making you smile widely.

"Look at you," Sangyeon hisses as well, "I'm actually on the way there now, partner in crime. You will need to sit your ass down because your best friend will be arresting the bad guys. You be the good cop," He chuckles, warning you. He asks you to go back and eat and bid farewell, hopping back to your seat.

You squint your eyes at the contact, pointing at it as if a light bulb just lit up in your mind.

"You're scaring me," Changmin says, pouting at the phone. "What's the face thing doing on your phone?"

"I think I just found my husband."

"What a waste." You scoff as you cross your arms over your chest, glaring at your once favorite student getting arrested right in front of your eyes. Sangyeon mirrors your actions, standing beside you with a smirk.

"Well, we never really know people." He shakes his head, signaling his team to go on without him. "That's how my work goes," He removes his id and tucks it in his pocket, meaning the end of his work. "Should we go for lunch?"

"I just ate, but who am I to decline another round of food?" You give a bright smile, patting him in his arm. "Wait for me here, I know a good restaurant just near here."

You grab your things as you bid goodbye to Changmin, leaving him speechless at your sudden leave in the middle of the training.

"Hey! Where are you going?! What am I supposed to do with the newbies alone?!" Changmin screams as he watches you hop away, glee in your steps.

"You can handle them alone! I'm off to go get more points for my future apartment, I'll just treat you to some delicious food next time!" You wave, even giving a flying kiss which he annoyingly swatted away.

"Let's go handsome!" You drag Sangyeon away as his face contorted as if he just ate something sour.

"Why do you keep calling me that? It's getting on my nerves," He shivers in his place, taking a good look around the restaurant you were arrogant about.

"Let's eat first, hmm? The beef here is so delicious you have no idea." He chuckles at how you acted, all giddy and excited at how the beef was grilling in front of you.

"Hey, hey! That's not yet cooked!" He swats your chopsticks away with the tongs, hissing at you. He glares at you as he points the tongs at you, making you wait.

You shrink on your seat as you nib on your chopsticks, eagerly waiting for it to be, quotation marks, cooked.

When you were finally done, Sangyeon finally waits for you to open up a talk.

You uncomfortably shift on your seat, smiling wryly.

"Sangyeon," You smile a bigger one, "Should we get married?"

It was needless to say Sangyeon almost coughed all his intestines out. You stretch a glass of water out to him, rubbing his back with an apologetic smile.

"Did you lose a screw or?" He coughs out, pointing at your head. You click your tongue, explaining the situation you wanted in. "So let me get this straight, you're short on points, so you want my arrests to be of points to you?" He summarizes, gulping down another glass of water.

"Yeah, that's basically it." You nod shyly, forking another slice of beef to your mouth. "Hey, when you think about it, I'm a decent per-,"

"Okay."

"Huh?"

Silence engulfs the both of you, just silently staring at each other. Yet your heartbeat was ringing in your ears.

"I said okay. We can get married." He nods, now finally calm and collected, repeating what he said.

"Sang... married, as in... married. Living for life," You clear out, clearing your throat.

"You wanted it, and I said okay," He chuckles at your bewildered state, feeling all jittery inside.

"Oh, okay." You shortly reply, nodding. "Wow, okay. I didn't expect that you'll agree like that." You chuckle, finally calming yourself down. "I should've accepted your confession back in high school," You mumble, shaking your head.

"H-hey! Are you still not over that? I didn't mean my confession back then! It was... pressure! Right, pressure only! My friends were there and urging me and-,"

"Fine, fine! Why are you explaining over again..." You mumble, chuckling at his now sheepish state. "I'm sending a form then. We're married." You confirm, stretching out your hand for him to shake. He chuckles, shaking your hand with a hum.

Well, that was easy now, wasn't it?

You know what's not easy? It's suppressing your growing feelings for your best friend.

"I did not even dare imagine I would get to live in an apartment like this," Your eyes roam around the newly renovated apartment flat, on your tippy toes as Sangyeon tailed you with a smile. "i'm planning on changing a lot, but since it was just renovated, we can push that off for a while and enjoy the scent of the new flat," You smile, turning to him as he agrees whatever you want to do with the apartment. You stop when you open a room, spotting two beds beside each other with a table lamp between it.

"Oh, that..." Sangyeon trails off, thinking of any reason. "The other room is packed with storage boxes so... I moved in here first. Don't worry! When we get it cleaned up I'll move," Sangyeon panics, pointing here and there to prove his point.

"It's okay," You nod, glancing at him awkwardly. "We can stay together. To be safe from unit inspection officers, too. We're married. We should be together in one room, at least." You ignore the thumping of your heart as you made your beeline away from the tightening walls of the room, leaving Sangyeon stunned. "Well, I'm satisfied. Are you?"

You both finish wandering the flat, satisfied smiles on your faces as you plan ahead on how the bills would be parted.

Your little bubble of happiness pops while you both were eating your housewarming meal when both of your phones rang together, signaling an emergency.

You both looked at each other curiously, wondering why it had to be the same time your phones alerted an emergency when you had different fields.

So when the police and the special operation units team up to take down a massive cult, Sangyeon and you grow worried about each other.

"You be safe." You mumble to Sangyeon before he drives off after dropping you to your outpost, having to run to his station as well.

"You too. See you later." He nods at you before seeing you off, dashing inside to be on the emergency meeting.

"Oh, y/n. You're here." Changmin pulls a chair for you as the meeting continues, summarized as the SOU will only be a back-up and the police will be leading the operation.

Specifically, Sangyeon is.

You raise your hand immediately to gain attention, silence overtaking the whole room when the supervisor points at you to continue.

"Can't we lead with them? I mean... wouldn't it be the same to go there as back up? Why can't we lead as well so that there are more people to ambush the place?" You suggest, but the supervisor shakes his head immediately to dismiss you.

"It's a case that's been going on for years already. We can't afford to fight with the police to take credit for their hard work. They only asked for back and especially the SOU so that more range of the main post of the cult will be surrounded and ambushed." You nod in response, growing worried of how the case was being approached.

If it was lasting for a year already, wouldn't the suspects already be so cut out to be hard to take down? So why would you have to be at the bleachers when your man is risking his life out there in the fields?

"That being said, yn and Changmin, you'll be with the Tech team of the police in contact with those getting silently in the field in disguises. You'll be together with them for stakeout. Get ready for any alerts and emergencies."

"You mean the police will disguise themself as part of the cult's members?" You clear out, repeating what the supervisor said.

"Yes. It's their plan and we're acting on it." You stayed quiet after that, letting the meeting go on while you were on your head until Changmin gets to the best of you to remind you the meeting's done and you got to move.

"Let me make a quick call." You pat Changmin and excuse yourself to the bathroom, hands shaking as you start looking for that certain contact. "You dipshit! How could you not tell me about this?!" When you hear the line connecting, you immediately curse out Sangyeon which earns you a chuckle.

"I'm a police. Cases are top secret. I think I've told you that a hundred times already." He scoffs, and you hear a lot of background voices in the back, probably getting ready.

"You're going in alone?" You put your annoyance aside to finally get some information from him, he sighs.

"Did you not listen on your meeting?" A soft chuckle leaves his lips, "We're five." Opting to just answer your questions, he leans back as the chaos erupts behind him. "Oh, yn. We need to go, they go around picking victims by this time of the day in the park. You should go with your team no-,"

"For how many days will you be inside? When's the attack going to be?" You cut Sangyeon off, wishing you can stop him longer from going.

"Will be there for at least three to five days to offer some comfort to them. Could be earlier, could be later." He hears you heave a deep sigh which prompts pulls the sides of his lips to a genuine smile, appreciating your concern over your friend which is now your husband. "Hey. Listen to your supervisors, okay? I don't want you getting hurt." Because of him.

"Are you kidding me?" You retort, "Then try not going on dangerous missions!"

"It's my job though," He replies calmly, making you weirdly more agitated. "You don't have to worry about me, yn. I'm Lee Sangyeon, I've been awarded as the Honorable Police Detective for three consecutive years now. I have my back."

"If you come out there with the slightest scar on your body you'll die by my hands," You threaten so lovingly, Sangyeon lets out a hearty laugh. "Be safe, Sangyeon. I'm serious,"

"Okay. Thank you, I will. You too, okay! Don't be so rash about making decisions." You hum in reply as you end the call, sighs still coming out of your lips in worry.

"Don't worry. He'll be fine." You comfort yourself in front of the mirror as you washed your face, heading bravely now outside to pack your things.

After another briefing of the mission, it is now taken into action. You jump into the van with your bag of protective gear with Changmin.

"Hey, yn. Don't let your emotions get through, yeah? I mean it with no offense," Changmin pats your arm in assurance. "Team work."

"Oh, absolutely." Half sarcastic, half not. Of course you shouldn't be putting your emotions into cases. You're not allowed to do that.

Of course. Okay. You can do that. You can, right? You nod at yourself. That was easy.

You spent the first two days cramped up in the back of the van with another police who handled the tech, the tech, and you and Changmin and only listening to Sangyeon and the other four whatever was happening inside and only when they had something to share to the bud.

"We're going ahead and sneak to the office by night when they announce lights out in bedrooms," You hear Sangyeon say through the speakers, and you nod at Changmin. It was an hour before said takeover.

Both of you changed into your gear and vests, preparing everything you need to prepare. Just as time had passed, you were on standby, You sigh, anxiously picking on your finger.

"He's going to be fine, yn. Loosen up."

"Can you... I'll... stay outside. Call me in if something happens and we need to go. I'll remove the bud."

"You can't do that," Changmin hisses, holding your hand to make you stay. "Stay here. Remove the bud but don't go outside. At least, you'll see what's going on." He suggests, and you remove your bud. Through the small cameras set up by the five inside the 'house', you watch each of their movement.

"Fuck." Right when they were in a blind spot inside the office, the tech exclaims and the both of you perk up and the lights inside the office lit.

"What happened? Do we go inside?" You ask, grabbing Changmin by the shoulder in panic.

"We still haven't gotten any orders, yn." He levels with your panic, but still trying to calm you down.

"The team's silently making their way around and inside. Please don't move unless we tell you so," The police you're with pleads, and you stay put on your sit with a huff and a heavy heart.

Your eyes search for Sangyeon through the cameras but no signs seen. Assuming their buds were taken since no one has then uttered a word, they've been taken by the members into interrogation.

"So what, are we just going to fucking sit here? There are five of your team there! Are you just going to let them die?!" You get loose, grabbing your helmet. Changmin stands up and calms you down once again, and the police doesn't bat you an eye.

He remains seated and eerily busy in his computer, showing that police cars have already surrounded the area.

You wait for any order, any, just to go out of these sickening van. Your husband was out there, not knowing if dead or alive, and you were out here stuck on your sit because they told you so.

"They rang the car sirens," You hear the numerous and loud police car sirens which also alarms your leave, sharing a look with Changmin and getting your gears and guns, rushing out of the van and skillfully making your way to back up the polices, already in their places. Plenty of suspects make their way out of the house in a hurry not knowing they are already surrounded as some detectives fight their way into these suspects and in the house.

After a suspenseful, agitating wait until they've all surrendered, arms and feet get impatient as it shakes in worry and anger. Lastly, who you've been briefed about as the cult's leader, make his way out of the house and handcuffed, one by one, the disguised detectives make their way out of the house honorable, but not quite yet.

Sangyeon was still inside, location unknown.

Another surge of detectives make their way inside to search for said man and you're on the surge of breaking down.

"Where the hell is he..." You mumbled, eyebrows meeting in the middle as you stand up straight and fucked the form up, chucking your gun into your holster and make your way to the front.

Changmin wasn't able to stop you now because of how determined you were and how worried about not seeing Sangyeon. So you immediately ask one of his colleagues that went in. But to no avail. They were separated when the lights lit and since Sangyeon lead them, he was interrogated alone by the cult leader.

Okay. If they're not able to tell them where Sangyeon is, the cult leader will.

You angrily heave a sigh as you stride closer to the handcuffed man, still all dignified and mighty even though he was caught. You remove your helmet to throw aside, grabbing him by the collar aggressively which makes heads turn, the polices and now Changmin gasping, trying to stop you but your hands stayed where it was.

"Where's the other one?" You ask through gritted teeth, glaring up at him. He scoffs, smirks, shaking his head and looks at you with innocent eyes.

"I have no idea. You tell me," He smiles devilishly once again, and you click your tongue in annoyance. You step farther away from them and your face scrunches, annoyance and anger getting the best of you.

You launch a hard kick on his stomach which sent him flying away from the polices hands, and you dashed at him with the intent of then punching him in the face as he folds in pain. You put your foot in his chest and sigh satisfyingly.

"I'm asking you once again. Where the hell is he," He cowardly hides his face under his hands as he groans in pain due to your weight on his chest.

"He's in the walk in freezer in the basement!"

Right as he reveals Sangyeon's location, the police runs to the basement as you tail them, leaving the assailant with a hard, last push of your weight on his chest.

The medical team prepares heaters and hot packs, towels, coats as you wait for it to be opened, tapping your foot as finally, Sangyeon- half conscious and shivering and all tucked up in a corner, comes into sight.

They rush in to usher him out, putting endless of towels and coats over him and handing him hot packs and leading him to a heater. He sighs in relief, seeing your worried face that he oh so loved so much, unscratched and waiting for him, he smiles.

The police, now all done with their work inside with Sangyeon spotted, leaves you both alone and you finally break into tears.

You tightened your jaw, making your way towards him with heavy, angry steps. Sangyeon ineffectively tries to turn around to find someone that can shield him or just run away but the towels and coats limit his movements.

You warm your fingers up as you land a hard punch on his arm, the punch going through the thick layer of towels coats that causes him to groan in pain and lie on his side.

"Oh my god," Sangyeon breathes out, looking at you. "I thought you were worried about me!"

"I said I was going to kill you with my own two hands if you had the slightest scratch on your body." You remind him, fingers folding to a fist to get ready to punch him again.

"Stop! That hurts!" Although it really did hurt (two things he feared for life was death and an angry y/n), a smile was plastered on his face as he shuffles himself to sit, facing you with the biggest smile. "The operation was a success, aren't you happy for me?"

You were silent. You were still glaring at him as he met your eyes, but he knows that you were only worried sick about him. It was indeed a dangerous mission, and the fact that if he wasn't found for another minute, he would've died.

But he didn't, and he get to see how worried you were right when those doors of the freezer opened. He gets to see you.

That was worth it.

Your fist relaxes as you meet his eye level, sighing in relief as you took him into your arms, giving him the tightest (almost deadly), warmest, and sweetest hug that assured him of everything.

"Never do these kinds of operations again," You mumble, burrowing your face in the towels that held him closer than you. "I get worried sick. Being a good cop is boring. I'll be the bad cop now so you don't get to do these kinds of things anymore. How about that?"

You hear Sangyeon chuckle as he's now the one burrowing his chin in the crook of your neck, enjoying the warmth you exuded. He definitely was not going to let you do that, but now he just decided to keep quiet and enjoy how he fit right into your arms.

"I missed you."

permanent taglist: @sunlightwoo

[progamer27]

EPIC: The Musical - Character Growth

I like it when characters aren't one-dimensional, especially main characters.

Sure, it's fine and fun to have characters who are solely evil or solely good from time to time.

But I vastly prefer characters that go thru some sort of development - that takes its time -, and then come out changed by the experience.

Enter: Odysseus and Athena (and also Eurylychous)

I think it's pretty safe to say that, at least at the start of the musical, a lot of people didn't like Athena and Eurylychous too much - and were quick to label them as, at the very least, "villain-adjecent".

But now that we have had 6 out of 8 Sagas released, we can understand them better. And same for Odysseus.

Eurylychous: In the Odyssey, he is a minor character whose only role is to be a plot device (killing and eating Helios's cattle). In EPIC, Eurylychous is shown as someone more focused on the crew than anything else. Brash and Hot-headed, he is the opposite of Odysseus.

So, why is he interesting? Because we SEE (or HEAR) how he grows from just; a soldier whose first instinct is to murder (Lotus Eaters) or flee (After blinding Polypheamus), to a desperate man who wants to get back home as fast as possible - even if it means leaving his comrades behind (Circe), to a man who needs to confess his guilt (Scylla, as a follow up to Keep Your Friends Close and Puppeteer), to someone who's desperate and has given up entirely (Mutiny and Thunder Bringer).

In conclusion: Eury isn't a villain, but Just a Man. He made mistakes and was abrasive, but so would many people in his place.

ATHENA: In Greek Mythology, Athena is one of the most Hubris-Filled (Prideful) Goddesses out there. In EPIC, she is much of the same... at the Start.

Because Remember, prior to the Wisdom Saga, we only really saw/heard Athena 3 times. And in those 3 times, we get presented with who she is at the moment; A Goddess who views Odysseus as a "project/creation" (Warrior of the Mind and Remember Them), and as the less rose-tinted Goddess who lost her friend because of the circumstances (My Goodbye).

Now, at this point in time, most people would simply label Athena as a "typical greek goddess" - that is to say, a deity who doesn't really view humans as equal to her, and who lacks Humanity.

....until she meets Telemachus.

Then, the characterization... matures; she becomes less closed-off (We'll Be Fine), admits that she was pushing too hard (Little Wolf), realizes that what she did to Ody was HORRIBLE - and, if I may interject, she will probably be a bit shocked/traumatized at seeing Ody trying to kill himself (Love in Paradise), and finally as someone who realized they STILL CARE for their friend, and that tried to do everything to save them (God Games)

In Short: Athena went from being an unlikable cold goddess - one who refused to comprehend human emotions -, to being much more "human".

(And please, if you are a fanfic writer, try to write a story where Athena just... realizes how shitty her life was, and how badly she treated others, and let her have an home with the Itachan Family. She needs her friends, and she probably needs to express her emotions in an healtier way)

ODYSSEUS:....

....

....

What is there to say? The musical is ABOUT HIM, and about how the line between man and monster (good and evil) is incredibly thin... but also about how you CAN come back from the brink, how you can "Become Yourself" again.

In the Odyssey - even if the story is a banger -, I didn't get the impression that Odysseus changed too much. Sure, he may have some trauma and suicidial thoughts, but he didn't do a 180°, then another one, and finally got a better understanding of life. He was still just... Odysseus, the King of Itacha and Father of Telemachus. Odysseus, the Silver-Tounged Liar. Odysseus the sacker of cities.

In Epic....

...Well, I think you know where I'm going with this..

In Conclusion: The EPIC versions of the characters feel like Actual Characters - almost actual humans - who make mistakes and aren't wholly "pure villainy" or "goodie two-shoes".

Sure, we have example of both of these things (Goodie = Polites, Penelope, Astynax; Villains = Poseidon, Polyphemus, Scylla, Zeus, The Suitors), as well as some morally-grey ones (Dark Grey/Leaning toward Evil = Calypso; Light Gray/Leaning towards Good= Circee, Aeolus, Tiresias)

But i think that I've said enough.

[the-path-to-redemption]

Really late because only yesterday I've started browsing the RWDE tag to see what the fandom has been up to, and saw some of your WF posts.

*rips off hair* Is it weird that I feel SO uncomfortable with the "redeemed Adam" AUs? I adore Adam 100% but every AU, even from some Adam fans, has that "Adam has to learn not to be racist" condescending vibe and punishes him more harshly than other characters. But, people, he WAS a literal SLAVE?! Doesn't matter if it happened when he was a child or a bit older, HE WAS A SLAVE AND HE WAS BRANDED?! PLEASE CUT HIM SOME SLACK?!

After a couple years of not being around I just feel that Adam fans as a collective still feel a bit traumatized from the discourse, so they try to justify their liking of Adam and overcompensate by punishing him harder, as if to say "See? I'm not that blind and biased as Adam haters say!".

I'm reading a fic currently that it's very good but even faunus are condescending and rude to Adam because of his 'racism' and my soul vanished. Instead of faunus trying to understand and support each other, isn't that even more isolating and alienating? Why are they cannibalizing each other? I know it literally happens in real life but as far as I've read, it's not bringing attention to that fact, but more like presenting it as a good thing. Again, I feel that everyone (fans) as a collective is FORGETTING ADAM WAS A LITERAL SLAVE and treating as if he had just been bullied in school for having horns. He shouldn't have other faunus policing his reactions (so far, he hasn't committed a crime, he just yelled and got very angry because he felt unsafe). It's clearly drawing a line where certain attitudes from trauma are "right" (being a cute crier, submissive, etc) and others are "wrong" (being angry, yelling, etc) because "it makes faunus look bad". Even worse, the faunus that scold Adam are generally on the cuter side of faunus traits. Isn't that just feeding into the ideas already set by humans? That faunus should be cute and behave well and that any faunus that is more aggressive and "dangerous" should be considered a threat?

*very deep sigh* I'm sorry for the long ask but I had to vent for a bit and see if I'm not that crazy yet. It's just that reading those fics makes me think we're gaslighting ourselves somehow, and how that can impact real life if we act like this over a cartoon, and it's really depressing. Thank you if you read all of this.

Long Post Ahead. Contains Spoilers for RWBY and Full Metal Alchemist. Mention of child slavery, genocide, systematic oppression, branding, disfigurement, violence, and racial abuse.

Don't apologize, babe, you're more than valid in your feelings regarding this issue. And yes, I do feel like there is a lot of overcompensation when it comes to how a lot of "Adam redemption" AU, but I believe that it's just because the writers haven't seen another way of writing his story without invalidating his experience yet. And that's understandable! This is a topic that is extremely complicated to explore, and to start one has to understand that there shouldn't be any separation of "good" and "bad" minorities, as well as the willingness to challenge the status quo that has taken characters like Adam on this path towards liberation.

I don't know if you have seen my post comparing the way RWBY and FMA writes a narrative of a minority opposing a racist system through violent means here, but the way that I see FMA succeeding in its efforts was that the narrative never demonize the way Scar feels about his hatred towards the people who wronged him and his people. And it rightfully shouldn't! His people were systematically murdered and experimented on, his brother who wanted to peacefully contribute to helping their people and was willing to learn about alchemy to find a common ground was murdered when he tries to protect Scar, which resulted in his arm being grafted onto Scar to save him, and the oppression of the Ishvalans still persist long after the conflict while the government oppressing them prosper. Scar has all the rights to be pissed off and went on a murderous revenge, and the narrative does. Not. Demonize him for that.

However, it criticize his actions when innocents are involved. And I'm not talking about Ed and Al, I'm taking about Winry. The daughter of the couple who saved Scar's life who he murdered in a fit of rage. The little girl who still extend her kindness to him despite not forgiving Scar for leaving her orphaned, because she broke the cycle of violence and that choice of hers let Scar pick an alternative to his violence. AKA, murdering the dictator who created the genocide of the Ishvalans. Again, the narrative of FMA doesn't make Scar out to be this monster who should be put down for not asking for his rights "nicely", it empathize with him, offer him new perspective, and gave him a chance to do the right thing while still getting his justice.

RWBY doesn't have this nuance to it, and I think that is why a lot of times, the "redeem Adam" AUs goes too hard on excusing his actions and/or overdo the criticism on his actions without attempting to unpack the systematic oppression that creates people like Adam and break it down. There's a balance you have to understand in order to write a convincing "redeem Adam" narrative that doesn't erase his own trauma, and it comes with actually calling out what happened to him as wrong and inhumane.

For Adam to "unlearn his racism", the authors have to look at the events that caused him to have this mentality and admit that it's a flawed system. They have to recognize that there is implicit biases like you mentioned between Faunus and how they're perceived in comparison to each other. The authors have to admit that Adam's hatred for humans and his actions were products of a hateful, racist society that sought out to kill him in every way that matters. You can't half-ass this topic by putting the blame on him; this isn't me saying that he shouldn't be called out for his violence on others, not at all, this is me saying that you need to see the forest, not just the tree. Adam unlearning and breaking the cycle of abuse requires him to be given some kind of hope, some kindness that he isn't a monster for rightfully being hateful towards people who oppressed him and his people. He needs to know that the world still have a place for him to heal and be better. And Adam shouldn't be the one to have to beg to see it by being "nice enough".

Thank you for your ask, anon. Please take a step back if this discourse is too much for you, your well-being is much more important. And I hope that my answer to your ask is somewhat satisfactory.

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

Reading your post about buggy and shanks. I get a lot but why guy like shanks would care about guy like buggy?

Their interactions in marine ford for me were just nostalgia with using buggy for what he needed. The way he talked about him with white beard also seems just nostalgia vibes. He doesn’t even know if he is a pirate or not.

Shanks seems so much more open to others. He parties with Mihawk. Drinks with Whitebeard. His crew interactions. All of them are much better. More honourable. Have courage.

Let’s be honest, buggy is one of the worst people. He is greedy and selfish af.(( I think it’s good he gets some shit from cross guild) I don’t see any reason other than my childhood was with this guy so I have soft spot but nothing special here.

well, if you don’t like buggy, i can see why you’d have trouble imagining what shanks might see in him.

but one of the worst, really? the guy who lied and stole to get a devil fruit is on the same level as the guy who murdered a decades-long ally for a devil fruit? like, yeah, buggy’s greedy and selfish… he’s a pirate. i know most of our heroes are Good And Noble Pirates, but it’s not strange to see pirates in one piece who have more ordinary motives.

imo buggy’s worst trait is not either greed or selfishness, but his two-facedness. he’s got a very very small number of people he actually feels loyalty towards, and everyone else is one bad situation away from getting metaphorically stabbed in the back. he tells himself it’s their fault for thinking they could trust someone like him—or in the case of his impel down followers, that they admire him so much they’d want to die in his place. sometimes he feels bad about it! (he wouldn’t bother trying to justify his actions to himself otherwise!) but self-preservation is always buggy’s highest priority.

he’s made himself into a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy of untrustworthiness, acting like this… and i find it kind of funny, because buggy takes other people at their word even when they’re obviously manipulating him! a very trusting, very untrustworthy guy. these contradictions are a big part of what i like about buggy as a character.

as for cross guild… i might enjoy the shit buggy gets from them more if it was for anything he did on purpose. like, beat him up for making unilateral one piece-hunting announcements, sure! but he didn’t design that boat. it just feels like punishing him for having followers who buy his hype… who mihawk and crocodile are also taking advantage of, so it’s not like they have any real moral high ground there. they’re just embarrassed to ride on the clown boat.

anyway, you aren’t really asking about buggy’s qualities, you’re asking about shanks’ feelings. and as i’ve mentioned a time or two before, we don’t really have any insight into those in present day! my big shanks/buggy post is about their thoughts and feelings in the past, because those do seem a bit more transparent to me, so i feel more comfortable speaking on them.

but present day shanks…

he says natsukashii when whitebeard brings up buggy, which is usually translated as “nostalgic” or “fondly remembered.” he’s not like buggy, when they parted ways he didn’t linger over any hurt feelings and let them grow bitter. that’s good! that’s healthy behavior! and his knowledge of buggy’s current status is kaze no uwasa de mada kaizoku wo yatteru to kiita, “heard a rumor on the wind [he’s] still being a pirate.” shanks has been on the grand line, in the new world, for years, why would he know anything concrete about a minor east blue pirate? he only learns about luffy’s first east blue bounty because mihawk brings the poster to him; i think we can assume shanks doesn’t have the time to search through newspapers from a distant ocean in the hopes of maybe seeing a one-line reference to an old friend.

i do find it amusing that the verb he uses to describe their separation is also used to mean “break up/divorce” but i’m sure you don’t care about that.

as for being more open with others… it’s not like they reunite under good circumstances. ace and whitebeard have just died, along with who knows how many others; massive bloodshed is only being held off by shanks’ presence and attention. shanks uses buggy to keep his old promise with luffy from being broken because that promise matters to shanks but he cannot afford to put in the time himself, he has to keep the marines from starting shit while they sort through their dead and wounded. it’s not exactly a “let’s get a drink and catch up” moment.

and that’s the only time we’ve seen them interact as adults!

claiming that because shanks wasn’t open with buggy in that moment he would never be open with him in another time and place is an ungenerous interpretation of the character. even if you don’t think the chapter 581 cover is canon, one of the few interests we’ve seen the buggy pirate crew and the red-haired pirate crew have in common is their love for a party. (probably taught to their captains by roger back in the day!) why wouldn’t they hang out and get day drunk if the opportunity presented itself?

and saying “my childhood was with this guy” and “nothing special” in the same sentence cracks me up—it’s not like they were in school together with dozens of other kids! buggy is the only other person who went through that experience. everyone else on the oro jackson was an adult, many of them 20-30 years older than those two. their experience of those events was inherently different. sharing an experience like that with one other person is special, even if that’s all there is between you.

and that’s what your question is ultimately about, right? is that nostalgia for their childhood all that exists between shanks and buggy? i don’t know. i don’t think we’ve seen enough of shanks around buggy in present day—or heard any of shanks’ present day thoughts about buggy—to make a definitive claim one way or another.

sure, on paper buggy seems like the kind of person shanks would look down on at best. but he smiles when buggy chews him out for saying hisashiburi (long time no see/it’s been a while) like he didn’t just lie about having a treasure map for buggy. now, maybe that’s just shanks being amused by a tiny yappy dog who’s no real threat to him. maybe it’s a real, sincere affection for this dumbass who still doesn’t see shanks as a threat. or maybe it’s nostalgia for the dumb fights they used to have as kids, with a hint of disbelief at how little buggy has changed.

even if it is, i don’t think that’s all their relationship has to be. an old fond feeling is a fine place to start from, to build something new—if that’s what they both want.

[core-bagg]

----[TAKING WHAT'S NOT YOURS]----

!NO BETA, WE DIE LIKE HENRY!

1,138 words

Characters: Angus Ciprianni, Matteo Schiavoni (Belongs to @double--hh, check them out they're super cool!!! :3), Dr. W Afton, Oswald Keppler

Trigger warnings: Violence, guns, minor cannibalism, mentions of scars, mentions of stabbing, mentions of organ theft, threating at knife point

Author's note: @double--hh I'm sorry if I wrote Matt out of character, I tried to follow your posts as much as I can. I hope you like this :3

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Angus leant on the armrest of the chair, watching his business partner, Matteo, fold his checkered suit into a neat pile. Something caught Angus's eye, there was a new scar on his partner's body, a scar just left above his waist with visible lines coming off it.

Angus: "Another stabbing, ey Matty?" Matteo: "Actually, some parassiti da laboratorio stole it while I was out…Dunno where it went since."

Angus raised an eyebrow as he sat up.

Angus: "What did they look like?" Matteo: "Ginger hair, lavender shirt, small glasses, weird logo on his lab coat sleeve, sembra mezzo morto, why'd you ask, angel?"

Angus gazed on with a determined, enraged and shocked looked. He seen someone with that appearance before. It belonged to Afton's friend. Angus loaded and cocked his gun, his grip on the gun was tight.

Matteo: "Ang-?" Angus: "I just wanna talk to him, amico."

Matteo only stared in confusion as he saw Angus get up from the chair, walk out his front door and march down to where-ever-the-hell the kidney stealer lived with murderous intent, before deciding that it would be a good idea to follow his purple friend.

Meanwhile, Afton and Oswald sat around the latter's wooden dining table. Oswald prodded the kidney with the back of his scalpel. Afton parted the sea of biology books with his hands to talk with his pal.

Afton: "Soooooo, who did you get this from again?" Oswald: "Some guy in a yellow suit passed out in the gay bar. I dragged him to the bathroom, made an cut on his abdomen, jarred the kidney and patched him back up just as he was about to come back to consciousness, Wali." Afton: "Why were you at a gay bar?" Oswald: "I was banned from almost all of the normal bars." Afton: "For what?" Oswald: "Organ theft, why-?"

Angus kicked down the door to Oswald's apartment, causing Afton to jump back in fright. Oswald quickly spun around to face the other duo. Matteo was behind Angus, trying to make sure he didn't do something stupid.

Angus: "VA BENE, COGLIONE VIOLA, DOV'È IL RENE!?" Oswald: "MY DOOR!!! AND I JUST GOT IT REPLACED TOO!"

Oswald launched up from his seat and pulled Angus closer, holding the scalpel up to his neck. Anger boiled in Oswald, nobody was going to barge into his apartment, spouting, what was for all he knew or cared, some random voodoo language at him and get away with it. Matteo stared at the unfolding situation, not knowing whether or not to draw his own gun. Afton, on the other hand, was silently panicking, it was rare that he saw Oswald angry and even rarer that he was at a state where he was willing to draw blood. Angus was trying his hardest to not sweat bullets, but Oswald's faux-friendly smile and one-stubbed-toe-away-from-going-postal eyes didn't help it all, not to mention the fact that the scalpel was threating to pierce his skin.

Oswald: "Now then! I'll give you one chance to answer this: What are you doing here? Keep in mind that the penalty for not answering me is to be strapped to my operating table and be dissected while you're awake…And no, there won't be any anesthesia."

Angus would've gulped if there wasn't a blade dangerously close to his throat. He shook his head and scowled at Oswald.

Angus: "I want my partner's kidney back! And, for the record, you're not beating my pervious allegations of you being a complete and utter lunatic."

Oswald scowled back, pressing the scalpel deeper near Angus's throat. Matteo shot in Oswald general direction as a warning, one that put a hole through his drywall. Oswald's eye visibly twitched at the site of the hole before he dropped Angus and glared at Matteo.

Oswald: "Oh sure! Because that's what my klutzy ass needs, more property damage. Thank you! I shall keep the kidney as payment…Gelber Trottel…" Matteo: "Ovviamente lo scienziato pazzo sa parlare tedesco, perché a questo punto perché no… Aspetta, cosa-"

Oswald threw the scalpel at Angus, narrowly missing him as he tried to snatch away the kidney. Matteo rolled his eyes and began shooting. Afton joined the brawl for the kidney. He grabbed the kidney from Angus, used him as a launch pad and attempted to kick Matteo in the chin. Unfortunately for him, Matteo had bones of fucking titanium so Afton broke his foot. Afton used his last moments in the battle to fastball the kidney at Oswald. Oswald, thankfully, caught it. Angus clambered onto Oswald in a attempt to get the kidney off him, Matteo went into the apartment and watched them both from the side to he who'd win. Angus almost had the kidney in his grasp until…

HOMPH!

Oswald, in an admittedly gross act of "act now, think later", shoved the kidney into his mouth to the shock of everyone else in the room. A tear welled up in his eye as he choked down the kidney. Angus watched in disbelief as he saw the thing he was fighting two goddamn scientists for get pushed down Oswald's throat. Afton looked like he didn't know whether to either gasp or throw up. Matteo, for some reason, looked so shocked and disgusted that it looped back around to being admiration. Angus got off Oswald and began to walk out of his apartment, dragging Afton behind him.

Angus: "For the record, I'm going to make sure you never live that down Afton."

Matteo and Oswald stared at each other. He began to approach Oswald, towering over him in height. Oswald cowered and raised his hands up to his face to shield himself, expecting the worse…But Matteo laughed and jabbed Oswald in the rib playfully.

Matteo: "Taste good, Doctor?" Oswald: "No, obviously…You might as well head home, there's nothing here for you."

Matteo smirked at the doctor's comment.

Matteo: "Ohoho, that's where you're wrong, gazza zenzero. Vede, sono interessato a toglierle qualcosa dalle mani. Forse mi venderebbe una delle sue scoperte in cambio di un po' di denaro?"

Oswald scowled at Matteo, not understanding a word he said.

Oswald: "Wenn du kein Deutsch sprichst, heißt es Englisch oder verschwinde, Kumpel."

Matteo nodded, he didn't understand all of what Oswald said, but he knew that he didn't speak Italian.

Matteo: "To paraphrase what I said, I would like to buy something off you." Oswald: "What do you want?" Matteo: "You don't happen to have any…Sedaters, do you?"

Oswald went to his medicine cabinet and pulled out a bottle of trichloromethane. He swished the liquid inside it around as he turned to Matteo.

Oswald: "Will this do, big guy?"

Matteo nodded and pulled a $50 bill out of his pocket, handing it to Oswald. Oswald pocketed to bill and bid Matteo goodbye before he was left alone in his apartment.

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[yggdraseed]

My Deal with Giselle Gewelle

So, let me preface this by saying that I'm trans. I'm not saying that to invalidate the feelings of other trans people, just to specify that mine isn't some outsider's perspective. There's also spoilers for Bleach: TYBW, but I'm guessing that there aren't a lot of interested parties left who don't know about this. You probably also know this goes into transphobia, necrophilia, and rape, but if you don't, uh... trigger warning! Reader beware, you're in for a scare!

Recently, an episode of Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War came out in which noted bitchy asshole who uses too much product Yumichika Ayasegawa misgendered darling, sweet murderous trans babygirl Giselle Gewelle. It's also implied that upon necromancing Bambietta's corpse, Giselle had sex with her, probably against her will. That's all pretty fucked up, and I want to talk about it.

I started my transition about ten years ago, and exposure to trans or gender non-conforming anime and manga characters in general went a long way towards me accepting I was trans. Looking back, Giselle was one of the most significant characters to me at that early stage. I've always loved her design, and she was the first legit trans character I ever really saw and resonated with in anime and manga.

Get this: there used to be this thing in Shonen Jump's manga line-up called the Big Three. The most influential, bestselling manga in the bunch. One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach. And you wanna know something? Bleach was the first one to have a trans woman character. We can debate whether or not Giselle was good representation, but you know what? At the time, the closest we ever got was Haku pulling the "Oh, by the way, I'm a boy" card in Naruto's first major arc back in the early 2000s and a constant bombardment of okama jokes in One Piece. Okama is a derogatory term for gay men and drag queens, and for a long time, Oda could not get enough of making jokes about big, hairy men in women's clothing.

Now there was also Alluka Zoldyck in Hunter X Hunter, but the vast stretches of time Hunter X Hunter spends on hiatus makes it unclear to me whether she or Giselle came first. But within the Big Three - a designation which doesn't mean much now, but meant a ton back then - Giselle was first. Hunter X Hunter was never quite considered part of the Big 3. But either way, I think Alluka is the better character in terms of how her being trans is written. She's cute, she's precious, she's perfect in every way, and I'll make you pay if you say a single bad thing about her.

Years and years later, Oda would go on to write Kikunojo and Yamato. I still have complicated thoughts about Yamato as trans rep, but Kiku is great trans rep for being a relatively minor character. Oda has also phased the okama jokes out of the story over time. Jujutsu Kaisen also has a subtle, but well-handled example of a trans woman in Kirara Hoshi. She doesn't get nearly enough time in the story, and her identity hasn't been explored yet, but I hope GeGe will unpack that before the story's conclusion.

I tell you all of that so you realize that even if Giselle could have been handled better, Kubo was the first of the Big 3 authors to even try to write a trans girl. Not a femboy, not an okama - a trans woman/girl. He also gave us Charlotte Cuulhorne, and while Charlotte's depiction flirts with being just an okama gag and nothing more, she's so fabulous and so positive in her outlook on life that I can't bring myself to be mad.

So let's look at Giselle as a character. She's very cute, with her big eyes and goofy, purposefully adorable mannerisms. None of the other Sternritter girls try to be cute in quite the way Giselle does. Meninas likes cute things, but doesn't act cute, and that's as close as it gets. Unlike the other Femritters, Giselle wears clothes that cover up as much as possible. Even Liltotto's outfit shows off her shoulders and thighs some; Giselle keeps her shoulders and neck completely covered by a baggy sweater, and her legs covered by tights. Kubo drew a swimsuit picture with the Bambis all together, and he opted to put Giselle in a swimsuit with a skirt. It's pretty apparent that Giselle has concerns about how she looks and covers up as much as she can out of dysphoria. As a card-carrying member of the big jacket-long pants-closed toe shoes gang, I can tell you that when you're not very progressed with your transition, it's like that.

I think you can also make the argument that part of why Giselle acts so cutesy is because of her insecurities and feeling like she has to make up for them by being extra, overtly feminine and adorable. It's like that.

There's not a doubt in my mind that Kubo intended for Giselle to be trans. But is she good trans rep? Probably not, but she might not be as bad as she's made out to be.

People who criticize how Giselle is depicted as a trans character have two or three go-to arguments. Three points of interest to say that she's being written in a transphobic way.

1.) Yumichika scopes her out as trans and misgenders her.

2.) Charlotte says she and Giselle have a lot in common.

3.) The most damning: what Giselle does to Bambietta.

So, I've never liked people using Yumichika as a litmus test for how Kubo feels about trans people. Let me explain something to you: Yumichika is a bitch, an asshole, and the consummate gadfly. One of his defining traits is his awful personality and his inability to resist saying cruel, petty things to others. He's awful to Charlotte and he's awful to GiGi, and he's pretty much awful to anyone besides Ikkaku and Kenpachi, but especially Charlotte and GiGi.

Yumichika is an allegory for a closeted gay man. He has this deep admiration, respect, loyalty, and arguably love for Kenpachi and Ikkaku that's led him to stay in the 11th Division even though it's not where his talents are best put to work. He's adept at kido and his zanpakuto is based in kido, but he refuses to use the former or reveal the latter to his squad because he doesn't want them to reject him. The 11th Division is the manly man squad, all testosterone and sweat and bulging muscles and... ahem. Sorry, I got a little carried away. It's all very erotic. Anyways, Yumichika wants to be close to the men with whom he shares a bond of emotion and martial loyalty alike, and he refuses to embrace his gifts because of it. He's afraid his friends in the boys' club will kick him out for having interests and inclinations that most of them look down on.

I think you can make the argument that Yumichika hates Charlotte and Giselle precisely because they're being true to themselves, meaning they've made a leap he hasn't yet. He's too scared of what might happen if he doesn't keep the lie going about his zanpakuto, and he resents Giselle and Charlotte because they overcame a similar fear of rejection. And he expresses that by rejecting their truth, i.e., misgendering them. This is the interpretation I like the best. It's a sad fact that lots of gay men, closeted or otherwise, refuse to accept trans women.

Charlotte says she and Giselle have a lot in common, and honestly, I don't think this is transphobic either. If you choose to read Charlotte as a trans woman who isn't stereotypically feminine, but is true to herself, then what she's stating is just a fact. She and Giselle may not look the same, and Giselle may have an easier time passing, but they're both trans women if you ask me. And I think Giselle reacting with discomfort isn't innaccurate, either. Charlotte's confidence is admirable in some ways, but I think it sets of Giselle's alarm bells that she's going to be outed and rejected. Lots of trans women - myself included - are haunted by this fear that we'll never pass, never be accepted, or will be incapable of retaining our desired presentation as we get older. It's like that.

So, that brings us to the Bambietta Incident. Not quite as wide-reaching as the Shibuya Incident, but about as traumatizing for some, apparently. Full disclosure, I don't believe any heinous acts should be censored from fiction. If it makes you uncomfortable or awakens traumatic memories, then I'm sympathetic to that, but I do not believe that the right answer is to sanitize every work of fiction of every immoral act that could have that effect. You know where your limits are, so don't count on authors to protect you. Most of them won't, and I think you're stronger and smarter and more able to navigate a world with fictitious depictions like that in it than you realize.

I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, Giselle probably sexually assaulted Bambi. And is that right of her to do? Fuck no, it isn't. But nobody's really debating if that's right or wrong. The problem is that if you look at it a certain way, this is just reinforcing the old, awful stereotype of trans women being predators in disguise. Lots of shitty writers have done that, and it sucks.

However, those depictions assume that trans women are predators, by definition. Or at least sexual deviants. We could go down the rabbit hole of how sexual deviancy has historically been defined by people who use sex as a form of control anyway, but I'm not well-read enough to do that and - well, you've seen how long this post is. Be honest, you wouldn't want me to even try.

The point is that a depiction like that assumes trans woman = deviant. I don't want to make that logical leap here, because that means you need to assume that Kubo wrote Giselle with the intention that she assaulted Bambi because she's trans. I'm not a mind reader, so I'm uncomfortable with acting like I can know Kubo's intentions. It's a bad look to us in the Western sphere of the anime fandom, but I'm not sure how Kubo saw it. He might have not realized how it would look until that chapter was out there and he couldn't undo it, but given the fact they kept it in the anime, he either probably doesn't see a problem with it or there were other rewrites he saw as more important to allocate his mental energies to. Writing Bleach burned this man out, so I'll cut him some slack if so.

My point is, I'm not sure if you can say for sure that the story intends you to believe that Giselle assaulted Bambi because she's trans. When you look at it, Kubo seems to have a more in-depth understanding of trans people than some of you might have first realized. And I mean, shit man, he gave her biology manipulation powers. Every trans girl's first pick for super powers is shapeshifting or some form of biology manipulation. He knows. He's onto us. He's familiar with our ways. The jig is up, girls.

Looking at the broader scope of the narrative, Bleach is littered with characters who perform heinous actions and are not just shoved out the "All Villains Die" airlock. Chief example being Mayuri. The man committed war crimes, experiments on human beings, turns his own subordinates into bombs, and is heavily implied to have performed some very sexual deeds to reconstitute his daughter Nemu after Szayel parasitized her. Yet he still saves the day multiple times and he isn't gotten rid of, because he's more useful to the side of overall good alive than dead. Bleach is one of very few series to have characters who perform heinous deeds and still be treated as humans, rather than reducing them to those deeds and nothing else.

Plus, nobody really treats it as an issue with Kubo's writing that Bambietta killed one of her own fellow Quincies in cold blood just to vent her frustrations. I think because it's sexual and because Giselle is trans, she ends up being the lightning rod when... let's be honest, compared to what some of the Shinigami have done, what Giselle did is kind of quaint. She even helps rescue Candice and I think Meninas after they're taken captive by Mayuri in the novels, and she's considering releasing Bambietta from her control.

Given what we've seen, I think it's less accurate to pick on Giselle and try to say she's a case of Kubo being transphobic, and more accurate to say that living in the Shadow Realm under Yhwach's cruel, exploitative regime has made all the Sternritters fucked up in their own unique, vibrant ways. And for that matter, Kubo never kills her off. He clearly likes her enough to want her to still be around after the end of the series.

When you look at how Kubo draws Giselle in the manga and in illustrations after the manga's conclusion, you can tell he enjoys himself when he's drawing her. He always lavishes her facial expressions with detail, and you can feel love radiating off the page. That's more than you can say for a lot of the Quincies. I think Kubo was overjoyed to not have to draw PePe and his Vollständig anymore.

So like, yeah, Giselle is my problematic fave transgender character. And I don't think she's even as problematic as people's kneejerk reactions are to think she is. If you disagree, I don't care, I don't value your opinion. Particularly if you're not trans. If you're an ally, then that's sweet and all, but never try to speak for trans people about depictions of trans characters. If you are trans and Giselle made you uncomfortable, then I'm sorry you feel that way.

[life-despair-and-monsters-blog]

Kinktober Day 23 & 26: "Bondage/Restraints" & "Voyeurism/Exhibitionism" - For OTP: "Femme Fatale and the Apex" (Sonya x Jennifer)

Tagged by @socially-awkward-skeleton @imogenkol and @josephseedismyfather

Tagging @adelaidedrubman @spookyrares @derelictheretic @inafieldofdaisies @noodlecupcakes @direwombat @voidika @cassietrn @aceghosts @icecutioner @shallow-gravy @strangefable @statichvm @cloudofbutterflies92 @carlosoliveiraa @wrathfulrook @ladyoriza @la-grosse-patate @thewanderer-000 @omen-speaker @alypink @shellibisshe @josephslittledeputy @skoll-sun-eater @g0dspeeed @afarcryfrommymain @strafethesesinners @turbo-virgins and @florbelles + anyone else who want to join.

Prompt based on this kinktober post made by fellow mutual @starsandskies. While the main Kink of this post is "Bondage/Restraints" & some "Voyeurism/Exhibitionism", there's also some minor inclusions of "Dirty Talk", "Orgasm Control", "Praise Kink", "Knife Play" and "Dom/Sub dynamic". I would have put down "Naked-Clothed" but the "clothed" person in question is an almost 10-foot tall cyborg beastie (with a human's brain) whose only covering is metal welded into the flesh so... SHRUG!

Anyway, SimpleGenius here from my Life, Despair & Monsters Blog. Just making my first contribution to Kinktober. I'm not really an excessive smut writer, though with that being said, I have written it on occasion, just never posting it (...until now). This is a oneshot devoted to Sonya and Jennifer just being their kinky selves.

From the mature tag and the title you can probably already guess that this oneshot (which will also be uploaded onto my AO3 as well) contains explicitly sexual content meant for 18+ users only. Minors Do Not Interact!

Here's some more warnings to scare off any stowaways.

CW: Explicit BDSM, Teasing/edging, stripping, (tail???) knife play, the equivalent of thigh riding for these two (but on Sonya's tail), naked female with not kind of non-naked female (there's like barbie physiques/anatomy involved with Sonya), and minor mention of a blood kink (unsurprisingly Jennifer's kind of a freak too). Basically monster-fucking (maybe robot-fucking? Or would it be cyborg-monster fucking???). A mix between praise and degradation kinks. Sexual fantasies. Really freaky behavior coming from these two. But very enthusiastic consent! Also vulgar language. And whatever else there is.

I’ve tried my best to research the sex aspect of it all, and even if I don’t believe it’s all accurate I think I did good with what I could find.

TW: Slight mentions of referenced murder and maybe cannibalism (Sonya's got a human brain inside a very non-human body so I don't know what lines that crosses). And minor implications of a toxic dynamic. They're both possessive people who suck so bad.

With that out of the way, I hope you do enjoy what I've written below the cut. This will officially be my first smut that I've publicly published. I'll be sure to reblog this post with the link to the one that'll be posted on my AO3. Also I'll be publishing another Kinktober Oneshot shortly after this one from my @the-silver-chronicles blog, about the main couple of that series, Silva and Faith. So don't be alarmed by a random ping from an icon you may or may not recognize.

Title: The Tails That Bind

Series: Life, Despair & Monsters (Love Death + Robots)

Character/s: Sonya/Sonnie | The Apex/Khanivore (re-interpreted canon character with OC qualities), Jennifer, Dicko (referenced in passing) and Sir Enigma Malvolio (referenced OC).

Words: 5,635

She heard her before she saw her; the click-clack of heels on marble closing in to their quarters.

Sonya remained where she was though; hanging from the ceiling in the expansive space that was refurbished to specifically accommodate her massive form, the high walls adorned with deep claw marks and scrapes she entrenched her talons and tail spikes into. Certainly, better than the restrictive pod or the dirty paddocks.

In contrast to her usual straightforwardness, when it came to dealing with her "mistress" of all people, Sonya made an effort in entertaining her more dramatic flairs.

If only to piss off the shrewd woman.

The door opened with such force that when Sonya peeked through her only optic, shutters uncoiling from her lens, to witness the blonde slam the door shut with a ferocity that immediately turned her on.

Someone's already pissy today, Sonya noted as she continued to observe with growing interest.

Jennifer turned around, short blonde hair barely touching her shoulders, noticeably a little frazzled with a few more wild strands curling out than usual. Her yellow rose still managed to survive staying pinned in her hair in spite of the fact Jennifer looked on the verge of ripping her hair out.

Her brows were furrowed, her face was scrunched in anger and a lovely snarl adorned her lips. Blue eyes darted to her white laced gloves, ripping them off as she mumbled curses under her breath. Sonya's optic lingered on the curves of her body, covered only by the golden dress Jennifer preferred to wear.

Sonya preferred when she didn't wear anything. Ogling Jennifer had been the closest her human brain could get to experiencing arousal within a body that wasn't designed to feel it. She had to get creative and tamper with many of the strange machinations and codes Malvolio left in her cursed Beastie body to at least have her body acknowledge the feelings.

In spite of this, she was still so far from reaching her goal of actually feeling the satisfactory conclusion of pleasure.

"-that old fuck!" Sonya was brought back to reality by the enraged outburst from Jennifer.

"Which old fuck are you referring to this time?" Sonya spoke in a voice more mature and sophisticated than her original gruff and accented voice, the crackling of the speaker embedded in her throat alerting Jennifer to the other presence in the room.

Jennifer's alarmed blue eyes pointedly gazed up to meet her gleaming red optic. However, she relaxed once she saw it was just Sonya, who uncoiled herself to lower her body, but refrained from leaving the ceiling just yet.

"It's one of Dicko's closer business partners," Jennifer told the Apex, kneeling down to take off her heels, "And I thought you were down in your workshop."

That doesn't narrow it down to who it is at all, Sonya wanted to retort, but chose to respond with, "I was, but it's so hot down there that I decided to seek out the coolest room I knew of."

"The wonders of an air con," Jennifer remarked, moving over to her vanity desk to set down her yellow rose from her hair.

Sonya rolled her optic at the snide comment, and returned her attention back to the source of Jennifer's sour mood, "Which one of Dicko's partners had it been? Ross or Carmen?"

"Ross. Carmen took a vacation, lucky bastard," Jennifer grumbled about the latter, though the former's name was spoken with disgust, "He was countering every proposition I made. Questioning my ability as a successor to Dicko's business. And attempting to belittle me in front of every one of those weak and cowardly geezers. The absolute gall!"

Sonya lowered herself above the bed, talons underneath her jaw as she watched her mistress rage. If she could, she'd be squeezing her thighs together to add a little friction. Unfortunately, her body wasn't included with genitals, and rubbing her thighs together in this body would just be pointless, so she could only visualize the image to force herself from screaming internally.

"The fucker was also leering at me. Almost all of them were," Jennifer continued, sitting down onto the foot of her massive mattress with a huff.

"I don't blame them," Sonya replied, extending her neck so her head was close above Jennifer, "Your body is desirable. You're probably the only woman in their life they can jack off to. I know that's what I'd be doing."

Jennifer abruptly turned with a face full of red; not blushing red, but pissed off red.

"Oh, fuck you," she replied, standing up to move away from Sonya and the bed.

"You'd have to beg me for that," Sonya said in a sing-song rhythm, chortling.

Jennfier crossed her arms as she stewed in her anger more, "This is serious. I know they're conspiring against me. Honestly, I wish I could have them all dead by tomorrow morning."

Sonya piqued at that, red optic widening with optimism.

"You know, if Ross is being so bothersome," she spoke up, her next words a suggestion, "I could eat him for you."

Jennifer turned to look at the beastie, opened her mouth to chide her, but closed it as she considered the idea, a smile crossing her lips, until a frown swiftly replaced it, and she shook her head.

"While I certainly wouldn't be against the idea," she told the Apex with sincere consideration, she rebuked the idea, "I can't just make an example out of him. At least not right now. I require his cooperation to gain access to his assets, and if I killed him now, it'd harm my reputation and standing with the other partners. And without them, we won't have a chance of finding Malvolio."

The very name of that... thing made Sonya's entire nervous system shudder, the dark thoughts resurfacing. She let them fester at the edge of her mind, before dispelling them back to the pits. She'll let them re-emerge once they found the creature; let him face the result of his violation towards her body.

Jennifer huffed out a sigh, which returned Sonya's attention back to her even as she went to make her leave, "I need to let off some steam."

Sonya tilted her head as she watched Jennifer pause just a step away from the door. The woman's blue eyes glanced back to the beastie, gaze following the Apex's elongated muscled arms, thick metal-plated tails, their twitching rattles near the piercing pincers and closed sharp jaw.

She bit her bottom lip, her hands slid down to her hips as she slowly strutted back over to Sonya.

"You know," Jennifer said as she reached the bed, "I just remembered how I never thanked you for stopping that assassin. And a good beast like you deserves a fitting reward for protecting her mistress so well."

Sonya cocked her head, red optic narrowing down at Jennifer. Sonya remembered the incident clearly; there had been a scorned bidder who lost because of Dicko's fateful mistake of convincing them to bet a lot of money against Malvolio. He managed to slip past Jennifer's guards and got too close for Sonya's liking.

Luckily, the Apex was on Jennifer's patrol guard, and she had spotted the glint of the knife before it had even left its sheath. Fittingly, she gave the man the same end she gave Dicko when saving her mistress; a biting introduction to her maw.

But that had been several weeks ago.

"Is that so?" Sonya inquired, wishing she had a brow to raise.

Jennifer only nodded, wetting her petite lips. She slid two fingers on both hands underneath her dress' loose straps, letting them fall limply down her arms to expose more skin. She reached behind her back, tugging the zip down behind her dress so she could loosen her front, exposing a small amount of cleavage to the Apex.

Sonya was surprised of her own self-control when her lens zoomed in on the skin, how calm and collected she managed to breathe. She restrained herself though; she had too much pride in herself to lay down and roll over like a dog.

No, she had a better idea.

"Oh, don't bullshit me with your "reasoning" darling, you just want me to fuck your brains out until you forget your own name and can't remember your troubles in the morning," Sonya retorts, her talons touching the ground as she leans over the bed, bringing her head closer to Jennifer's face.

There was no fear in her mistress' eyes, only a waiting expectation and a carnality that involuntarily made the Apex shake in excitement. Sonya continued, "If you think you can flatter me into getting between your legs, then I encourage you to resume because it is working."

Jennifer grinned in triumph as she proceeded to pull her zipper down further, but halted when Sonya added, "However, as I said before, it'll require you to beg."

Jennifer scoffed and shook her head, "I'm not doing that. You fuck me, or you don't. Your choice."

Despite her confidence, Sonya saw through her act and huffed out a disappointed steam of air as she started retracting backwards, "Oh well, I guess I won't-"

With her bluff blown, Jennifer's eyes widened as she reached forward for the Apex's face, pleading, "Wait! Fuck, fine, please fuck me. Please plow my pussy with your long, flexible and magnificent tongue until my mind goes blank. Make me scream your name each time you make me cum. I'll do anything you want, Sonya."

Sonya wished she could grin just as badly as she wished she could get wet right now.

She decided to put an end to her mistress' misery.

"Since you begged so desperately for it, I guess I have no choice but to fuck your brains out," Sonya concurred, and hummed, "But I'm curious... you'll do anything I want?"

Jennifer paused, narrowed her eyes in challenge, and responded, "Yes. I'll... try whatever you want, as long as I get fucked in the end. Sound like a fair exchange?"

Sonya nodded and tapped a talon on her chin in thought. There weren't much things her body could be used for during sex that wouldn't be detrimental to Jennifer's health, with exception to her tongue and the rattles under her curved blades that tipped her tails.

Although, she recalled the night she and Jennifer had met and began their cooperation, specifically to the moment where the Apex had Jennifer restrained with her tails, That has been something I've wanted to do again.

Gaining an idea, she replied, "You know, I've been wanting to try some bondage on you."

Jennifer's face scrunched in confusion until Sonya's tails disconnected from the walls and awaited by the Apex's sides. There were three in total, all tipped with dagger like pincers, and two rattles that resided near the curve of the blade, which she's been allowed to use like a vibrator before.

Jennifer once again bit her bottom lip while she thought of those around her body.

"I have no complaints," she tells the beastie, though frowns at the state of the bed, "Though I'm not getting naked until the bed's cleared of your mess."

Sonya knelt up so she could get a better look at the bed. Her optic immediately spotted the dust and chips of the ceiling that managed to fall down.

Without much patience, Sonya took the solution of using her tails to tip the bed to the side and shake off all the unwanted variables, before setting it back down normally.

"That better?" she asked.

Jennifer looked at the newest state of her large bed, which now lacked the pillows and blankets that were unceremoniously tossed off. Though seeing that the silk sheets remained on, all Jennifer responded with was a calm yet exasperated, "Sure."

Sonya positioned herself closer to the wall of the bed's frame, knelt down so she wouldn't cover most of the bed's space when her head laid down, while also keeping her tails free and ready.

Jennifer crawled onto the bed, swaying her body seductively while she made her way over to the Apex's head, which allowed the straps of her golden dress to loosen further down, just above her elbows. The front of her dress barely hung close to her chest, and Sonya swore she felt her brain overheat when her optic focused on the view of more of Jennifer's cleavage barely hidden by the loose clothes.

Jennifer got close enough to the Apex's face just to lean upwards until she sat at her bare heels, one hand going behind to zip her dress down the rest of the way, while the other kept the front of her dress from falling down. Sonya slightly tilted her head up so her optic could capture everything.

"I know how excited you've been for this," Jennifer purred as she gazed into the red hue of Sonya's optic, "I know you've been craving to see these again."

She pulled one strap down all the way, and then freed her arm of the other, before grabbing her the front of her dress and pulling the golden gown down, slightly jiggling free her petite perky tits. Sonya shook with a passionate eagerness at the visual image, just about all her mind could express through the body without pouncing onto Jennifer to forgo the bondage altogether.

She wanted to restrain herself, to prolong this just long enough to enjoy the experience and ensure she actually succeeds in listening to Jennifer's only demand.

"I know you've missed them," Jennifer swayed her chest, catching the Apex full attention. She grabbed hold of her breasts, massaging and giving her tits a pleasing yet playful squeeze as Sonya observed, winding herself up while putting on a show for her beastie. She gasped as she flicked her nipples, gently twisting them between her fingers as the tingling sensations caused her thighs to rub together.

She was enjoying herself now, and from how she looked at Sonya's quivering form, she knew the Apex enjoyed this show as well.

Jennifer stood up, dragging her hands over her breasts as she brought them across the skin of her body, the ticklish senses stirring a heat to coil within her. She performed a sensual dance in view of Sonya's optic, bringing her hands down to her hips where her dress hung closely, thumbs digging under the gown's hem, teasingly dragging it below her pelvis.

She spun around in her erotic sway, much to Sonya's surprise, but leaned down as she dragged the rest of her dress over her sexy ass, nothing worn underneath. She let the golden gown fall the rest of the way and glanced back at Sonya's now widened optic. With a pleased smirk, Jennifer gave herself a resounding smack against one of the cheeks.

Sonya's talons scraped against the marble floor. She clenched her jaw as she clutched hold over her fraying self-control, deciding that Jennifer's teasing needed to end here.

Thankfully, it was just about time Jennifer finished her little striptease for Sonya, and her blonde mistress knelt on her heels, dainty hands grabbing hold one of the alien protrusions coming out the Apex's head and underneath the narrow chin of her sharp jaw respectively, intentionally pressing her petite breasts against the optic as she leaned her head down to a small slit beside Sonya's frame to sultrily whisper in her audio receptors.

"What now, Sonnie?"

The lustful softness of her nickname snapped Sonya out of her patient observations, and she lifted her head up out of Jennifer's hold so her red optic could meet her mistress' blue eyes below.

"Now, I'll require you to turn around," Sonya instructed, her tails moving closer to the bed, "Make sure your arms are crossed behind you, and legs spread apart."

Jennifer turned around as instructed; not without doing a little show of shaking her ass temptingly as she settled into the position. Sonya was fueled with even more excitement of the opportunity of returning some teasing of her own.

Jennifer crossed her arms behind her, and Sonya immediately coiled her middle tail around the smaller woman's waist which then extended to her dainty hands, earning a surprise yelp from her mistress as her arms were secured tightly.

"Do you trust me?" Sonya let the question out softly at the shell of Jennifer's ear, her middle tail's blade carefully and gently stroking its cool steel-like tip down the human's back. The bladed pincer soon curved to brush one of mistress' lower cheeks, sensing her body clench at the sensual contact on instinct while the other tails began to coil under and around her thighs, "To release your doubts? To let go of all your inhibitions?"

With me, Sonya left unsaid. She shunned the thought... the very emotion infecting it, aside to the corners of her mind. No need to mix feelings with pleasure. Especially when she was nothing more than a thing to Jennifer...

As both tails snaked up from Jennifer's thighs to her upper body, the left pincer delicately scraped along her stomach while the right began to curl around her right breast with the blade leaving a ghost of a kiss to her jaw in passing.

Jennifer gasped out a light moan when her middle tail began to rub against her wet cunt, in a back and forth motion, ensuring the blade's sharpness did not touch the soft flesh. Soon the sleek metal was glistened with her slickness.

"Fuck, yes," Jennifer answered approvingly, rocking her wet cunt in unison of the tail. She bit her bottom lip to suppress another moan as the left and right tipped tails coiled around her tits, the appendages lightly playing with her breasts with deliberate twists and squeezes, the blades lightly kissing along the sensitive flesh.

Sonya focused on the priority of not piercing the skin with her tipped blades. She teased the flesh with an expertise akin to a surgeon, with her only intent of not cutting in and letting Jennifer bleed.

God forbid Jennifer cums early to the sight of her own blood because Sonya got sloppy. The Apex wanted to prolong this for her own sense of pleasure as well.

Soon her tails lifted up Jennifer, much to the smaller woman's surprise. Sonya raised her above the beastie's head, claws brought on to the bed in case the Apex had to catch her.

Slowly, she rotated Jennifer upside-down so her optic could get a better look at her reactions. To her delight, Jennifer squirmed in her grip, like last time. Unlike last time, the cause of her squirming came from the vibrating rattles that grazed closer to her swelling clit, the tipped blade positioned to poke above her trimmed blonde pubic hair.

Jennifer whined when the rattles on the left and right tails began to move, flicking her erect nipples between the vibrating pair on both coiled tails. She tried to arch her back into the vibrating sensations, as well as attempted to widen her legs so the rattles on the middle tail would have more space, but Sonya kept her restrained in position, brushing the rattles to her wet puffy pussy but never staying for long. She was completely at Sonya's mercy.

Much to the younger woman's growing frustration. A frustration that transitioned into a filthy, primal need.

Sonya was enticed by the desperate whines that escaped Jennifer's mouth, her red optic hungrily filling it's view of her elevated bare body; held up by her, restrained by her, receiving and being denied pleasure from her.

She focused on the blonde's gaping pouts, faint blush forming across her face, her blonde hair flowing downwards. Sonya's tongue flicked within her closed maw at the sight of sweat beginning to break from her mistress' body, who uselessly rutted her hips in the air to reach the teasing rattles, how pronounced her small breasts were from their bound state and the slick juices surrounding her pussy.

Sonya's entire system felt a fluctuation of pleasure within herself from the visual stimuli. It wouldn't be enough to ever reach a satisfying conclusion, though it was fun, nonetheless. When her audio receptors picked up pleading mewls coming from Jennifer, Sonya knew it was nearly time to settle her part of this exchange.

"What was that?" Sonya playfully inquired, listening to the words being interrupted by soft gasps whenever her rattles vibrated too close to her sensitive cunt and swollen clit, "I can't hear what you’re trying to say over such lewd sounds darling. Could you perhaps speak up?”

Through shaky breaths, Jennifer swallowed her murmured pleas and choked out a strained, "Sonya... I don't know how much longer I can do this. I want to cum. Please, it's unbearable, let me cum already. Stop teasing and fuck me!"

Sonya ate up her begging cries; she could see a glimpse of forming tears at her eyes. She briefly wondered if she should just wait long enough for her mistress to start crying, so she could bring out her tongue and lap up the falling tears. She hadn't kissed the woman's face with her tongue in a while, it could be a nice change of pace to show she cared-

As quickly as that idea came, Sonya dismissed the thought with a visceral fear? rejection. If she did that, then she wouldn't stop at the tasteful tears; she'd continue stroking her tongue along Jennifer's sweaty and salty unmarked flesh, until she got down to between her thighs and fed on the fluids there.

She could make Jennifer cry from pleasure then, sure; but she didn't want to use her tongue to have the woman undone, she wanted her mistress gushing from her very touch.

Sonya refocused on Jennifer once more, her helpless form cursing underneath her breath as her breasts were continuously played with while her pussy received nothing but teasing touches that edged her on but denied her true release.

Sonya hummed, feigning pondering in thought, as she took a sweet moment to bask in the wanton whimpers that were caused by her.

"How badly do you want this?" Sonya asked her, bringing her red optic to Jennifer's pleading blue eyes, "How desperate are you to want to be undone by a terrible beast like me? Say it..."

Those two husky, imploring, eager words made Jennifer shiver, feeling hotter. Through the haze, she rasped out with a sense of urgent need she's never spoken in before, "I can think of no one else who can satisfy me like you..."

Though caught off-guard, Sonya was not unsatisfied with the answer. She absorbed those words into the very core of her mind, sparking a renewed sense of determination.

"Well then," the beastie said, Jennifer's words lingering on the precipices of her audio receptors, feeling her "heart" pump faster, "I think you've endured enough teasing. You deserve this for being such a good, patient girl."

Jennifer shrieked in surprise when the vibrating rattles were buried against her slick folds and sensitive clit. However, when the initial shock wore off, it was replaced with an alluring moan, followed by a symphony of gasps, the short bursts of pleased shouts, and the sweet curses that she managed through her panting. She closed her eyes and started to arch her back again, and this time Sonya adjusted her tails grip to accommodate Jennifer's position.

It wouldn't be long until she was finished. Though Sonya decided to speed up the process by taking advantage of one of Jennifer's weaknesses; her voice.

"You should see yourself," Sonya husked out, her voice thick with lust, "How fucking enrapturing you are right now. Above here, bound by me, fucked by me, you look like a goddess. Oh, your little noises make it so tempting to ravish your flesh and pussy so I can make you scream louder."

Jennifer failed to suppress the whiny, pathetic whimper with a tender lip bite, and Sonya snickered at the reaction.

"Oh, but it's true," Sonya responded, the quills along her back standing up, elated by such noises as she continued, "Though I never realized how restraining you like this could bring out even more beautiful noises from you. I could just have you like this whenever you're being so bratty. Rip that dress off. Bind your limbs. Tease your wet cunt, edging it as you rut like a bitch in heat chasing after that final release. But it'll never come. More accurately, you'll never cum."

The image of Jennifer on her knees in this bedroom, writhing in the restraints of Sonya's tail, desperately begging her to end the torment, brought a familiar sense of sadism into her system. However, she did feel an odd sensation of heat rise in her body.

She returned back to the assignment at hand, the heat radiating at the back of her mind as she hummed and said, "Oh can you envision it, Jennifer? How much of a writhing, filthy mess you'd be? You'd be left unsatisfied, without release. Not unless you crawled onto your knees and begged so pitifully. Maybe alone. Maybe not. But tell me, if you were to do that, should I give in and fuck you like I do now?"

A resounding and gasping "YES" was Jennifer's response as her hips jutted at the rattles faster. So close now...

"Such an enthusiastic answer. You must be so close now," Sonya noted, not noticing her own jaw gaping open as her red optic recorded Jennifer's unravelling, "You've taken me so well this far. Letting me taste you, ruin you. So strong and resilient. With the most perfect body just for me. You do these filthy activities so impressively, as a naughty girl like you should. Oh, I love the way your flesh bruises and reddens and scars from me. I love the taste of your tears, of your sweat and of your juices. And I love how loud I make you scream and cry and moan. Especially when the only word coming out of your mouth is my name. Makes me fantasize doing it all in front of everyone. What say you? Perhaps on a live hologram broadcast during a Beastie tournament? In the storage unit for all the passing guards and personnel to listen to? Or maybe in a meeting with those morons who dare to ogle you-?"

Sonya was interrupted by an abrupt and approving moan, which slipped into a pleased humming smile from Jennifer.

"Oh? You like that idea? Is that what you want?" Sonya inquired with an endeared curiosity, surprised by the quick nod that followed, "Does it turn you on? At the thought of me fucking you in front of those leering senile men? My, my. What a dirty little slut you are, wanting to be humiliated by me so desperately that you would want those old fucks to see how good I make you feel. Or perhaps it because you want to show them that you're mine. For me, and me alone. No one else. Maybe in one of your next meetings, I'll accompany you. And whenever you go to speak, I'll be behind you, my long, flexible and magnificent tongue lapping at the nape of your neck, nibbling at the flesh with teasing little bites, my claws digging at your glimmering dress. One tail snaking under your skirt. Maybe I'll leave small cuts in passing, letting that lovely crimson run down those fine legs of yours. But once that tail reaches its destination, I'll let the vibrations tease your wet cunt until your legs begin to wobble."

"I'll tear open the front of your dress, let those ravishing tits of yours breathe within a room where they've been dreamed about for so long, except the only one having any fun with them there will be me," Sonya had a tail squeeze promisingly around one of Jennifer's tits as emphasis, "I'll have another tail play with one while my tongue lavishes the other. Don't worry, I'll have my last tail free to ensure none of them stop us, and no one leaves, bound by their pathetic fear. I'll rip your dress off, exposing your body to them all, let them see how dripping fucking wet you are for me, and I'll pick you up, bring you to the table, splayed out like a feast ready to be dined. But only for one though."

She pressed her closed jaw to whisper, "None of them will touch you. We'll show them how well you take me. How beautiful you sing my name. How much you enjoy being fucked dirty by me, and how good of a naughty girl you are to me. Show them you find more pleasure whoring yourself to a beastie than being touched by any of their limp dicks. Reveal your deadliness to them, unleash your claws and mark my metal with your scratches as I leave my own marks along your beautiful body. I bet their hearts would give out at the sight. I don't think their weak pride could take it. The fact you'd cum to a- disgu- terrible monst- beast like me, wouldn't you agree, my sexy- gorgeous- beautif- fucking - goddes- belov- m-!"

Everything was so unbearably hot. Her mind seemed to be on some kind of fritz, just like her voice box. Diagnostics on the system returned with nothing of issue, nor of any errors.

And yet Sonya felt so unbelievably strained from the task at hand. As if exhaustion of all things was overcoming her body as she continued to bring Jennifer closer to her release.

And her voice box. She didn't understand what was wrong with it. It bugged out, replacing words she wanted to say with those she'd never in her life say to Jennifer. But most importantly...

Was that my voice? Not her current voice, the one she was forced to adopt, but the one that Malvolio stole from her.

It didn't matter much, focusing on it was too much of a strain while she was fucking Jennifer at the same time. She refocused her efforts in bringing her mistress over the edge.

Luckily, she didn't have to wait long.

Her words, in combination to the unrelenting rattles fucking her pussy and fondling her breasts, had culminated in Jennifer arching her back more while screaming out Sonya's name, accompanied by the gushing squirts onto the Apex's tail.

Witnessing the result, Sonya swiftly stopped the rattles and brought Jennifer down to the bed safely. She managed to lay the woman down onto her front before her usually durable limbs failed her. She caught herself from laying on top of Jennifer, and carefully positioned herself to lay down by Jennifer's left.

Both beastie and mistress heaved for air, the activity exhausting for both parties involved, much to Sonya's bafflement.

They laid beside each other, just for the moment, to catch their breath.

Jennifer opened her blue eyes to just gaze at the Apex, eyes taking in Sonya's strangely exhausted form. She brushed a strand of her now messy and sweaty blonde hair aside, let out a little laugh, and said, "That was... amazing."

Sonya grunted in agreement, unable to currently verbalize. She did use enough strength to bring the tipped middle tail to her view, the rattles and the curved blade under it glimmering in Jennifer's juices, not dissimilar to the woman's dress.

She opened her jaw to bring her tongue out, cleaning up the slick fluids. She rumbled approvingly at the sweetly sour taste.

Her audio receptors picked up on the soft sound of a slick pussy being gently stroked. Sonya looked over to see Jennifer still staring at her but with a newfound hunger. Sonya noticed that her ass was slightly bent up, with one of her hands massaging her cunt.

"You look so hot when you do that," she husked out, and Sonya felt her exhaustion dissipate when Jennifer asked, "Do you want to put that tongue to better use?"

Sonya tilted her head, her lens focusing on Jennifer's face, "Round two? Now?"

"Don't you remember what we agreed on? "Until my mind goes blank", "until I forget my own name" and "can't remember my troubles in the morning"," Jennifer recalled, and in that sultry mocking tone of hers, "Or are you tapping out after round one?"

A new edge burned within Sonya, and she leaned up, looking down at Jennifer's nude body, asking, "Is that a challenge?"

Jennifer though playfully shrugged, spreading her legs wider as she continued stroking herself with hushed breathy moans.

Sonya took the opportunity to place her right hand over on the other side of Jennifer, until she was above the woman. She retracted until she was staring at both her mistress' sexy ass and her glistened pussy.

Blue eyes glanced to Sonya's observing form, and removed her slick-covered hand, caressing it on one of her ass cheeks before giving it a smack to entice the beastie, as she returned her hand to under her chin.

Sonya let out an amused chuckle as she took out her tongue. However, she pressed it from her mistress' tail bone all the way up her spine, the heat and wetness of the elongated and rough bio-mechanical muscle causing Jennifer to gasp and shiver from its texture.

Sonya lowered herself so she was right on top of her mistress, her gaping jaw releasing a soft exhale of hot steam brush at the woman's ear.

"You're not going to make it to any meetings tomorrow," Sonya informed her mistress.

Jennifer only smirked at her words, not returning a reply as she got comfortable. The beastie retracted back to where her mistress needed her the most.

Though unnecessary, Sonya couldn't help but lick around her mouth as she prepared to satiate her hunger, as well as Jennifer's.

[A/n] And from there on, Jennifer decided bondage was an excellent excuse to get out of a meeting she didn't want to attend the next day.

I wanna say that I may have gone a bit overboard, but overboard is just in-character for them (at least in my series).

[quirkwizard]

I HAVE to get your input on this. lately I've been seeing a weird amount of Inasa hate lately, because of what he said in chapter 381 about Shoto and Endeavor. I saw someone say that him watching and rooting for them = giving a message that hating an abuser is a bigger sin than the abuse? Because apparently Inasa "doesn't care" to see how Shoto feels about the matter and instead is quick to "ride on Endeavor's side" which I think is such an incredibly stupid thing to say. Inasa isn't going to just walk towards Shoto during a literal war to ask how he feels about his dad. And even if Inasa could have done it post-dabi reveal and pre-final war, he's a minor character. And as much as I wished that him and the rest of Shiketsu got more attention, that's obviously not going to happen.

They also claimed that Inasa is a "parallel" to Dabi (which I think is a bit of a stretch? Don't know about that one.) and that apparently Inasa has "decided what's best" for them because he saw one interaction of Shoto with Endeavor wanting to change for the better. I obviously think that's blowing it so out of proportion because Inasa, much like Shoto himself, although in his own way, literally said he was looking forward to it. It would be even more strange for Inasa to just revert onto his already established development to start hating Endeavor again when Shoto himself doesn't even resent him that much anymore.

Are these people looking too deep into these things? Am I being biased because Inasa is my favorite character? Sorry if this feels like a rant-- because it kind of is, but I genuinely DO want your thoughts on this because honestly you're the only person I trust anymore in this fandom to make actual good and nuanced takes.

So I was hesitant to talk about this. This could involve someone else's post and I only have your notes on the post to work off of as I can't for certain find who you are referring to. Regardless, I can still try to talk about this going off what you said and what I've seen. And I could make this a whole diatribe about Enji and how people see him as a character, but I'll try to stick to the main points about Inasa.

I understand where people are coming from, to a degree. Having Inasa come back to root for Endeavor and not having any specific interactions with Shoto can be jarring. However, it's important to think about Inasa's role. Because he is like Dabi, at least in how he works in the Todorokis' arc. They are both people who were hurt by the Todorokis' in some fashion and who came back to haunt them. It's just that Inasa has a much more superficial level of that than the much deeper and more personal role that Dabi serves. Inasa's part is about how the two acted and treated people before their change. He's basically acting as a benchmark for the two of them. Shoto and Inasa already had their reconciliation back during the Remedial Course and the same thing happened with Enji. Inasa's recognition is showing their growth. It's why he's saying he's rooting for Endeavor and Shoto, not just Endeavor. As clinical as it sounds, him saying he believes in the two is all you really need him there for.

Then there is what the comment he made about anger and the implications of that. Yeah, Inasa never said that. That is a follow-up line for Seiji talking about how his dad was murdered by All For One. It's next to Inasa in the manga, but I don't even think it's about him in passing. If anything, that's more about Seiji's mini-arc about being less angry and dogmatic. As for what Inasa actually said, there is his speech about fear, but that speech is all about All For One. With him rooting for Enji and Shoto, I think that line is more about Inasa's change and, by extension, the two Todoroki's changes. By saying that boiling blood will triumph over fear and that he's rooting for the Todoroki's, it's showing that they moved past the colder versions of themselves, and Inasa is acknowledging them and how they'll beat All For One. This has nothing to do with Dabi specifically and everything to do with All For One. And by extension, fighting back against the regressive dark age that All For One wants to bring back, opposing the Todoroki's growth and change.

[popironrye]

What's the appropriate standard for shipping discourse?

Pretty much a vent post on the whole pro vs anti shipping discourse. This is gonna be a long one.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this, but please read the whole thing.

So I like and share a lot of shipping prompts, positive self-ship posts, and no shame attitude to fandom ocs and indulgence in general as a frequent oc shipper. I mean, it makes sense right. I create a lot of fan characters of my own and it's a fun time.

What I can't help but notice is how much more frequent it is to see positive shipping posts with an abundance of 'proship dni' stamped somewhere in the post. I tend to ignore them, as I do not call myself proship because I feel like it's an unnecessary label in shipping spaces, but this one post I saw was a very good self-ship positive post with the same 'proship dni' at the bottom, but the only comment on the post was the op talking about adults being sexual with minors and it made me pause.

If you hear the word pro-ship and immediately think of pedophilia, then I think that's more a you problem than anyone else.

The word 'pro' in proship is a prefix meaning 'in favor of'. As in an 'argument in favor of fictional shipping'. It doesn't mean "problematic shipping", at least not to a lot of people.

But that's where the problem lies. The standards of morality, especially in fiction, is actually incredibly subjective when you think about it and even the darkest of subjects have nuances to why the creator chooses to explore it. Where is the line drawn for what is considered 'the bad kind of proship'? Not every dark theme is created with the intended purpose to 'glorify' it.

You will never catch me defending or engaging in works of biological incest OR pedophilia, I don't care if it's fictional or not/meant to be screwed up or not. I have a problem with those types of subjects, but I certainly won't wish harm on people who do.

But beyond that, there's always the issue with the more pearl clutch types to view other types of ships as morally wrong in all sense, even if the creators don't. Like is it still problematic for fictional adults (both of legal age) because of a massive age gap? Is it problematic to ship villainous characters without completely rewriting them as to not have villainous traits? What about fictional monsters and murders? Are they not allowed to have human dynamics because they're monsters and murders?

Morality isn't as black and white as people think and it REALLY isn't black and white in fiction because fiction should be a place to explore the topics for all kinds of reasons.

In my many years of making fancharacters and sonas, not all of them exist for shipping, but some of the ships I do have are not all gonna be this perfect wholesome cotton candy clouded wonderland of niceness. Characters are flawed, it's what makes them more interesting. While I completely understand a lot of people not liking ships that are straight up abusive and a certain level of toxic (myself included) there are ways to write "problematic" ships in an interesting and thought provoking way.

I've come to a realization something about myself through my sonas. My sona ships either involve giant class difference/power dynamics or some exploitation. Basically it's either my sona lets themselves be taken care of by someone else or they take care of someone.

And for some oc ships, while there are plenty of wholesome cute ones, I've also dipped my toe in morally grey and even villainous personalities. Unwholesome things like mutual drug abuse and criminal activity. Codependent incapability. Brutal enemies to lovers. Actually got a few enemies to lovers funny enough. Huge age gaps (between adults). Master and mentor and of course canon villains being shipped at all.

While none of my ships have the obvious gross stuff people associate with proship, I know plenty of anti ship spaces who would have problems with other ships of mine for being too "toxic" or "problematic".

Basically what I wanna say, if you don't like a ship. Just scroll on. Mute the tags or block the poster, but move on to something you'll actually enjoy. And certainly don't attempt to dox, harass, or tell the posters you hope bad things happen to them.

[misrepresentedmorallygrey]

PROPAGANDA

The Darkling

Okay so this guy is the main bad guy of the series. He made “the fold” this barren wasteland of darkness and monsters dividing the land, causing like hundreds of thousands of people to die. He killed his mom. He psychologically manipulated his girlfriend (like, he caused her to hallucinate and a whole bunch of other crazy stuff). He made one of his followers (a young girl) use her body to slowly poison the king over time. He started a cult. He did a LOT of crazy stuff. However, we do see his backstory of him as a kid, and learn that he did all this in the name of equality, so people would stop torturing and killing the ‘grisha’ or the witches/magic users. Later, he fakes his own death and starts a cult worshipping him and acts as the leader of the cult, going by his old name Aleksander. He is a very complicated character. So tell my why everyone thirsts after him and is like “he did nothing wrong” HELLO?! He is NOT your poor little meow meow he is complies please please don’t sanitize him.

Mikoto Kayano

Mikoto is really kind and friendly, he gives people nicknames, and he tries to talk to everyone. He cares about his little sister and his mom; he doesn't want to worry anyone and will hide when he's really stressed out and try to act like everything is fine. He just laughs and hopes everything will work out. He overworks himself and thinks that he needs to keep working, even after he's already pushing himself too hard. He doesn't remember killing anyone and he's in MILGRAM because of it and he got voted to not be forgiven in the first trial which is making his stress worse.

Mikoto's characterization within the fandom is either sexy man or baby who couod never hurt a fly. Despite that in his introductory voice drama he folds a fifteen year old for several minutes abd the fact that he's now in a mystical prisoner for definitely committing murder. Like the entire premise of the series is contingent upon everyone who is in it killing a person. Mikoto has dissociative identity disorder the fandom uses this to basically go normal Mikoto the one Milgram arrested (the prison that can look into people's minds by the way) is the good one. He hates violence and I'd just a silly little office worker but the other one I'd the literal devil. An evil man who likes violence and just hates people real antisocial. The fandom is so bad at understanding moral ambiguity and dissociative identity disorder that despite his songs being called MeMe, Double, a line in the second song being literally "Just the two of us" and one of the creators puting out a statement after the seconds songs release saying "I wonder what will happen to the two Mikoto's now"- A good majority of fans have convinced themselves there is a third very normal and chill alter (because they seperate them by emotional states like this is fucking inside out for some reason) who is just a guy and consistently state Mikoto will be bad representation if there are only two. It's to the point that a good deal of the fanbase are fans of this character and not actually Mikoto. Only using his actual character for ship fodder to fuel their switch fetish. I don't know if it's not understanding moral ambiguity, just not knowing how to fucking read, or hating a minority of people simply based on how a dissociative disorder presents in them which is apparently a bias that the dissociative identity disorder community has had for a long time i.e treating people more poorly based on alter count but whatever it is I believe it's enough to qualify him for this.

[noonmutter]

bit of a rant about Mists of Pandaria Remix below, skip this if you don't want to read what's mostly just me venting about some stupid shit the team did years ago. this involves minor spoilers about plot points that are largely irrelevant to the overall story but if you wanna be surprised you'd prolly be mad at me for mentioning

so I'm running through MOP Remix just like a huge chunk of WoW players right now, right

and this was the expac that'd come out before the expac I joined the game in, which was WoD. The Tanaan patch of WoD. I joined during an objectively awful part of WoW. People had a habit of singing MoP's praises (at least for the story) a lot in comparison to WoD, although the bar wasn't very hard to clear.

So I played MoP's story as a character that vastly outleveled it and didn't have to gear up and grind my way through it, and I had the same general experience as most new players did, which was constantly wondering what I was missing because a few fairly significant story beats were relegated to happening in novels or just had cinematics that weren't accessible in the game anymore, shit like that

and I remember actively avoiding the main alliance v. horde plot because I really didn't care, I wanted to see what the Shaohao stuff was about, because man those cinematics were gorgeous (and at the time, unique to MoP; they hadn't gotten lazy and reused the art style for Diablo 3 where it didn't belong yet). I wanted to know what those were about and how they expanded! And gosh, that was great and rewarding! Wow!

so in Remix, I'm running ALL the storylines, because every quest rewards a buttload of bronze and stuff, and gimme gimme gimme, I wanna collect all the cool shit.

but oh. my GOD.

I can't even evaluate the story from a watsonian perspective, where I look at the actions the characters take and their political ramifications and whether X person made the right call or if Y could've stopped this other thing if they'd just found the magic doodad or whatever. I simply can't. It's all written in such a hamfisted, "we don't understand politics or what actually causes systemic hatred or bigotry or the general concept of moral nuance" way that I cannot evaluate the characters because the writing is just not good enough to stay immersed in it when big plot points hit.

I can't sit here and compare Jaina's stupid murderous kirin tor rampage with Garrosh's Anything At All because I'm too busy thinking about all the ways both of them were poorly written into their respective story beats.

The Alliance and Horde stories do not depict the same events. An Alliance player sees the Horde do things that Horde players never even hear about, and vice versa. And it's not minor stuff. Alliance players do not experience an Alliance airstrip being built in one part of the Jade Forest, where they take Pandaren slaves--including children--to do it. We don't see it, we don't hear about it, it's never referenced even as a throwaway line later on. It's just a thing that happens completely in a vacuum. When I encountered this event in the Horde storyline, it was so unknown to me as an Alliance player that I went looking for the air strip and was surprised to actually find it accessible on the map. I fully expected it to actually not exist, phased or some shit, if you weren't Horde. That's how divergent it was. And that's bad. That's not like 'ooh wow what a twist,' that's 'who the fuck directed this?'

Remix really shines a spotlight on how immature the writing in MoP got, because it shows a fundamental lack of comprehension of the basic concept of equivalence. We didn't need to see both sides take slaves in order to accept that they were both equally morally wrong for perpetuating a racially-motivated war; they've already been doing awful shit to one another for years prior to the expansion that was good enough to showcase it. We especially did not need to not see our own side take slaves in order to stir up more hate against the other faction.

If that event needed to be included in the game so bad, it absolutely should've been something Alliance players found too. We should've been faced with the idea that xenophobia, zealotry, and hatred were not relegated to The Other Guy and that the guys who looked like us and wore our colors could be monstrous bastards, too. It would've played beautifully into the general theme of Pandaria.

But that writing team failed to do that at every opportunity, and given how beautiful and poignant other chunks of the story (the parts largely divorced from AvH) were, I can't think it's because the team itself was incompetent. It stinks of executive meddling and the kind of mentality that led to shit like the "build an entire expansion just to justify this cool image I have of Sylvanas burning down Teldrassil" incident.

It's just so disappointing to go through it and see it and be able to point a big neon arrow at it and go "this right here was a dev team actively encouraging its player base to actually hate each other" which is very different from encouraging competition. Even though the overarching theme of Pandaria was learning to let things go and swallow your pride before it destroys everything you care about, the actual plot frequently made the players experiencing it hate each other as people.

and I think that might very well have been an underlying point of Remix. because man does it make me appreciate the current story team even more than I already did.

[starskichild]

The Behemoth Father

Chapter 1: The Discovery

Cw: Blood, minor character death, self-sacrifice, mentions of kidnapping, murder, and slavery/dehumanization of humans Overview: To the North are the Northern Behemoths. These giants are two times the size of their Southern Giant brethren, usually around 20-25 feet in height, absolutely dwarfing the southern giants, who usually stand around 13-15 feet in height. While the Southern Giants consider humanity equal to them, and simply their smaller brethren to benevolently look over, the Northern Giants consider them in a much colder, cyclical, and brutal light.  The Northern Behemoths consider humans, or “man-swine”, as lesser beings, some even as pests. Given their strength/size-based class system within their culture, humans to them are no better or powerful than the dirt or scum of the earth. Given that human/smaller folk country is situated right between the two giant kingdoms, humans are much more fearful of giants (southern or northern) considering their violent frequent experiences with the Northern giants, who will sometimes attack and ransack innocent human villages. Either killing or kidnapping the humans of the village, deeming them as slaves or pets in the process. Some among the northern giants, however, do not all act or think this way. Such is the case with Ogden. A kind, intelligent, paternal man who thinks there is way more to humanity than simply being pests, lessers, pets, or slaves. He considers them sentient and equal beings, something that is somewhat a rare belief among his people, but not impossible. He simply wants to live a peaceful life with him and his precious little human daughter, Leilani.

So… This story is about my characters Ogden and Leilani. Ogden is a 27-foot 35-year-old Northern Giant (Or Northern Behemoth), and Leilani is a 2-year-old human girl. I love the found family trope, and the whole “good monster” story line and this story is just full of fluff between these two silly billies, so I hope you’re ready for some good found father/daughter goodness.

This is truly a guilty pleasure writing oop.

Word count: 5626

Special thank you to @narrans @minutemenren/@silverrens @izatoonist @dracothemdragon @orionlionscribs @Bat_Bimbo and my creative writing class for tagging in as early beta readers, proofreaders, and helping in critiquing/sending advice for the story! You guys are da best!

I woke up late one morning not feeling right. I sat up and sniffed the air with a cautious glance from my bed, it seemed to feel heavy all around me. Something wrong happened last night while I was sleeping, but exactly what I wasn't so sure.

I begrudgingly got out of bed, dead tired. I went and checked that the doors were all shut and that the windows had not been broken, but nothing was out of the ordinary. I glanced over the interior of my log cabin, built by my younger hands long ago. The wood chipped with age, but still a sturdy foundation. I checked the cabinets, the pantry, the kitchen, and all throughout the living room for… something, but found not a thing out of the ordinary… "What is happening?" I asked, to no one in particular except myself. My mind was hazy and groggy from some deep slumber I must have fallen into, I walked around and sniffed the air for any signs of intruders...or smoke.

To my horror, I did smell smoke, but when I focused in on the smell of it, it wasn’t coming from anywhere in my house. No, it was coming from close outside. Sure enough, I looked out from one of my windows, and there was a large billowing cloud of smoke above the treetops, not too far off from my humble cabin in the woods. What happened last night??

Oh no…Did a fire burn down the village?

I realized, as smoke seemed to be coming from a nearby human village. I bolted for it, hoping I could help. I had never really interacted with them before, not wanting to deal with a bunch of tiny humans screaming and running away from me, but I still worried something terrible happened, and deep down, I already knew that terrible feeling was right.

~~~

I rushed out of my home and raced towards the smoke. My legs moved faster than ever, my feet left deep divots into tree roots and soil as I ran with giant strides. I thought back to all the times I stood at the edge of the woods, watching the little human children play, or the townsfolk going about their days with a naïve innocence only people with carefree lives can feel. I envied them. Sometimes, I would help in herding animals towards groups of humans out hunting in the cover of night, but never once scrounging up the courage to show myself to them, from fear of how they’d react and how dangerous being seen could be. They’d only ever think me a monster… I could’ve possibly hurt one of them without even trying, but if they were in danger, I wouldn’t hesitate to make my presence known. I could promise that much.

I reached the edge of the trees quickly enough, not stopping in fear of what I was going to find...I looked around, my eyes scanning every nook and cranny.

I approached the village and what did I see? It lay in ruin: houses had been destroyed, and trees had been uprooted. I looked around for survivors, for anyone that had any information, only to find ash and soot that was once a village. I began searching in between the small houses for anyone that might live in the now ashen ruins, and to see what possibly could’ve done this. What caused such chaos to this innocent little human village?

…And then I saw it...large and deep footprints surrounded the village on all sides that were around the size of my own...northern giants were here.

My blood boiled in hot rage, these footprints...these footprints belonged to northern behemoths...My own kin were here. Someone had destroyed this village, and I was going to find out who did. I was going to avenge this village, no matter the cost. I started searching for any survivors or signs of life, hoping, and praying all the while.

I searched the human sized village, walking all throughout the little roads that intertwined within it, but other than finding the charred remains of minuscule bodies of some of the formal residents, I found nothing.

I saw the burnt remains of children, of people who could not fight equally in such a battle, and my anger grew tenfold. If I had met these people…If I had known them, could I have possibly helped in such a massacre? Would I have known sooner? Acted quicker? Could I have prevented such a loss of precious life? My insides churned at the thought of having betrayed these people because of my own cowardice, my ignorance…I must find something, I declared, anything that might explain what happened here. I looked around some more, growing tired and frustrated with every passing moment, every minute not finding a single thing. I was about to give up, turn on my heels and go, but in one desperate attempt for closure, I took one last look around…

Suddenly, as I was about to give into my despair and leave, my ears twitched as they picked up a sound. It was incredibly faint, my ears had almost missed it, but I could’ve sworn I heard a noise coming from one of the human houses. The softest of noises, almost like a squeak, or a whisper caressing my ears.

I froze at the sound, turning slowly, the anger in my chest starting to subside with a newfound curiosity of what the pained sound could be. I started to approach the little squeal with great caution, not knowing what might lie in wait for me inside…

As I got closer to the charred house the little noise emanated from, I gasped realizing what the sound was. It almost sounded like a very weak muffled cry, and it only got louder the closer I got, there was someone in there!

I began to move faster towards the house, the cry growing louder and louder...I needed to get into the house somehow, I needed to get to them - whoever they were. It would’ve broken me if I had lost another soul here, and the weight of the destruction would’ve been too much on my conscience. No more dead bodies to add into my thoughts, please. Not after what I’ve seen…the things that haunt my dreams, this village being a nightmarish addition…I would not let that happen.

I finally reached the burnt remains of the sagging house, the walls visibly quaking next to my footsteps. It was a one-story home, a quaint little thing, albeit barely standing from such fire damage, half the roof caving in on itself. I knelt down, overshadowing the house completely, wondering how in the world I was going to get in there. The faint crying was very clear now. However, a peculiar thought occurred to me, when I realized I couldn’t smell anyone in there, anyone alive, that is...what was going on? Who was in there? In the end, I just decided uprooting the roof from the house would be my best bet to get inside without hurting anyone. It's not like anyone was using the house anymore anyways…

I ripped into the roof like it wasn't even there, using my hands like a force of nature, and upending the roof from its hitches to carve a path directly to where the noise was coming from. I could hear it clear as day, a muffled cry that sounded so faint, it almost sounded like a small animal. I wondered what exactly I would find...someone was in there; I needed to make sure they were okay.

When the dust settled, the roof now completely uprooted from the house, it exposed the interior of the small abode. I overlooked the whole scene before me, a little confused. Down below, within the house, I saw a burnt but relatively unharmed younger human woman lying in her bed sleeping with a tranquil look across her features, and next to her, was a small cellar storage door with a latch on it where the sound seemed to be coming from. As I looked over to the woman my heart dropped when I saw blood surrounding her.

I almost couldn’t believe the scene before my eyes; it was like the world had flipped upside down. I looked at this innocent-looking, peaceful woman. I wondered what she did to be hurt so bad? I looked over at the little door and noticed the little latch on it, but I ignored the latch...there was something under that door, something that needed my help. I approached the door, and ripped it off, wondering what I would find…

I was instantly taken aback in pure shock by what was inside. In the small cellar space laid a tiny, tiny human toddler, probably no older than two years. A little girl, it seemed, who was completely unharmed, if not covered in a little soot and ash, but other than that, I couldn’t see any clear physical wounds on the child. The little one cried out, supposedly left there all night during the attack. Her poor face puffy and red from wailing, covered in snot and drool as she screamed to be heard, surrounded by pine of all things, and then it clicked. Pine! It's a natural masking scent to hide from giant senses. The human child had been put in there to be hidden from giant attackers, I surmised. I had to admit, I was quite impressed by the woman on the bed’s ingenuity, supposedly the child's mother. That explained why I couldn’t smell the tiny child, with her being so close to all the pine surrounding her. Once the child seemed alright, I turned my attention to the wounded woman on the bed, seeming to be in a much worse state than the child. 

With the utmost care, I lowered my hand and wrapped my fingers around the woman to turn her and see the extent of the damage, asking "Miss? Are ya alright?" but as soon as my fingers unfurled around her, my heart stilled. Her skin was cold, her back was soaked in her own blood, and her body was utterly limp in my hand.

Oh no…she was dead. Her flesh was cold, so cold, and her body crumpled into itself, void of life.... There was no saving her. My eyes widened, and I set her back down with care. I felt so much remorse and guilt for her - for this whole village. She was only trying to be strong, to protect her child, and now she was gone... No one deserves that. I turned back to the little girl, now realizing that I was her only hope in surviving this terrible tragedy.

It seemed her mother had been like this for a few hours at least, perishing during the village’s destruction. I put the covers over top of her bloodied body, out of respect, and gave her a gentle pat over the covers. I noticed that there was a letter by the head of the woman that I hadn’t notice before, and I took it in my fingertips, putting it in my pocket. I would worry about that later, I reasoned, as I directed my attention back onto the child. 

The little one looked at me through tear filled eyes. Her cheeks soaked from desperately wailing, praying for her cries to be answered, and after finally getting that attention, from a towering giant no less, she looked up at me with a frightened, but curious and expectant gaze through her whimpers. The poor thing seemed too young to realize the potential danger she was in, if I were a giant other than me, of course. I looked down at her, also with a curious gaze, as we both seemed to just stare at each other for a few moments, taking each other in. Finally, she sneezed from the soot and ash around her, adding to the mucus on her face. It broke me out of our collective trance, and I decided to break the staring contest between us by reaching out towards her, in her once hiding place, trying to be as slow and calming as possible so as not to seem like a threat to the human baby. 

With a hesitant determination, I tried to wrap my fingers around her minuscule frame, which she didn’t care for much at all. She whimpered and whined, recoiling from the touch and overwhelming sensations, as if the mere contact of my skin was burning her. Fat fearful tears started streaming down her face. She looked so miserable with everything. It made my heart wilt to see the child so on edge, but I couldn’t blame her. I must’ve been horrifying to look at from her perspective. However, it didn’t seem like it was my size that she was afraid of, but more-so the fear of a new face. Not terrorized of me because of being a giant, but rather a stranger. It was quite abnormal, not the usual reaction I expected from a human, especially one who went through such a harrowing experience in the face of my own kin…but I could work with this.

First step, I needed to get her out of the little space. She may not like it, but I had no other choice. I couldn’t leave her here knowing she would likely die if I didn’t do anything. So, I reached out to her again, this time, petting and rubbing her side with the utmost care, to get her comfortable with my presence. My massive fingers in comparison to her ruffling her clothes as she stilled, and looked at them seeming slightly confused by the feeling. That seemed to calm her down just a little bit, enough so that I could attempt to encompass my hand around her once again.

She wiggled and squirmed in my hold like a worm once I was able to pick her up. The feeling sending shivers down my spine. Her crying building with vigor from the new sensation. I tried to be as attentive as possible to her reactions, making sure I wasn’t hurting or squeezing her in any way.

I took a brief moment to take in just how tiny the precious life in my hand was, as I lifted her from the space. She was no bigger than my whole thumb, if I were to reckon her height. She weighed nothing, as if as light as a feather. She was so small and fragile in my hands; it was almost scary to think about how tiny she was there in my palm.

On her way out of the space, she looked over to her mother on the bed, and the small girl reached out to the body. She locked her eyes on her mother’s form, seeming only interested with the corpse as she wailed to go to her. She wanted the comfort of her mother… a comfort she would never get again, a comfort I would have to try and provide for her now in her mother’s absence. The child didn’t look back at me once as she was brought up from the house’s wreckage, her only regard being to her mother’s dead body.

I made sure to be exceedingly slow with her as I raised her from her spot, so I didn’t give the poor thing whiplash from any fast movements. She squeaked a little bit in my hold at one point, and I stopped to check up on her, but she didn’t squirm other than that and seemed fine. Soon after that, she turned her attention back to me, now looking up at me with an utmost wonder in her eyes. I hoisted her up with all the care I could muster as I shushed her in a calming tone, still rubbing her with my thumb to help soothe her, until I brought the child up to my face.

She looked up at me, eye to eye as she stared at my face, and my heart melted a bit. Her tears had relatively stopped flowing, as she stared wide eyed and mouth agape. Her form was still quivering slightly, but she was now much calmer compared to a few minutes ago. She looked so innocent and pure, yet so unsure by everything happening. Even though the events that transpired the night prior with her was terrible to think about, she no longer seemed to have a fear of me when she looked into my eyes. In fact, she looked into my eyes with a curiosity like one would look into the sea...I wonder if she was scared?

As I held her form up to my face, my eyes almost crossing to keep her in focus, I looked at her with as much of an entranced curiosity as she did to me. I’d never held a human before, and it was even more nerve wracking than I had ever thought. I decided at that point, since I was this close to her, I could probably smell her now to see if she had any unseen or even internal injuries from who knows what she experienced last night. I brought my nose close to her, and sniffed to sense for anything, and thankfully I could detect nothing out of the ordinary. This miracle child was somehow completely unharmed, albeit the only surviving human in the town. However, if I could save at least one human from my own kinds’ wrath, then I would be satisfied. As I began to pull my face away from her, not wanting to intimidate her with being so close, I immediately stopped when I felt the smallest hand I’d ever felt reach out and touch the tip of my nose. I froze on the spot in pure shock as I looked down, awe-struck at the sensation of the tiny creature touching my nose within my grasp.

She reached out with her small little stubby fingers to try and touch my nose - I could only assume she wanted to play. I smiled at her innocent gesture, trying my best to stay still so as to not startle her. She was so small, so adorable, and so pure in all her innocence. I wondered if she was even old enough to say anything…

She kept her hand there for a little bit as she grabbed the tip of my nose, feeling it with an intense interest. I could sense the almost imperceptible pulse in her hands. Her breathing had fully calmed, as her toddler mind was now enthralled by my nose.

I couldn’t help it; I brought my nose closer to her and pressed it up against her tiny form. Feeling every ruffle of fabric of her outfit, and a pure warmth filled me as her tender hands moved around to touch the oversized pores of my skin. I could feel her chest move up and down with her individual breaths as it was pressed against my flesh, and my nose was tickled by her hair as her face brushed against me. I then heard the most beautiful sound; I heard her giggle as she wrapped her little arms around my nose.

She giggled, at me! A high-pitched and pleasant noise, as she snuggled my nose with the gentlest of touches. It was like the tiniest little hug I’d ever received, and the warmth from her body made it hard for me to want it to end, to pull away, to not be a possible danger to her.

Did she think that we were playing a game? That we were friends? How could one have such innocence in their heart, when the world she existed in was so cruel? I could not help but smile when she giggled, like seeing a ray of sunshine inside a storm cloud.

She seemed to be taking quite a liking to me. Did this little one...actually enjoy my presence? Was she so young she didn’t remember or understand the massacre? Or maybe she was hidden during the attack, and I was the first giant she had ever seen or met? It would have explained how easily she was warming up to me, that had to be the case.

I looked into the girl’s eyes, who was still snuggling against my nose. I decided to see if she could understand what I was saying. I needed at least some way of communicating with the little one, if I was going to be taking care of her, and I would really appreciate it if she did not consider me a monster. I pulled her away from my nose, leaning away enough to where she could see my face, and brought my hands together as I talked to her "Hello. Can yeh understand me, lass?"

She looked at me curiously for a second, before going back to giggling, but to my surprise, I heard something else:

“Hehehe-mm-hi-big!”

It sounded mostly like baby babble, but I could hear her saying words! I laughed a bit, both in shock and joy. She speaks! She can understand! This was incredible - I could just about make out what she was saying, "Hi big." She must be calling me "Big" - is that what she viewed me as?  Her giant friend? Her "Big"?

I smiled down at the child, and asked her, "Am I the big?" while pointing at myself with my free hand. She giggled again, patted the hand she was on, and beamed up at me like a child who just told their proud parents a new word they learned.

“Mmmm! Big!”

The first thing I understood her say, was that she had dubbed me "big", not "giant", not “northern giant", nor "monster", or even "beast." "Big". I beamed down at the child; she saw me as a friend and a protector…my large heart starting to swell at this precious moment. I was her friend, her "big". Never in my life would I have ever thought about a human considering me in this way. It was a nice change of pace, I must admit!

I decided to test her on one more thing. I had only ever been able to theorize on human intelligence so far, since I never got close to communicating with the few humans I witnessed while in my old herd and clan, nor interacted with any human communities. Back then I couldn’t even speak in the common tongue, only in the giant’s native language, so I knew I shouldn’t be too harsh on my past self…at least in that regard. However, I knew humans were smart, I just wanted to see how much. "Ma’ name ‘s Ogden. Can yeh say Ogden for me?" With that, she seemed to understand, and gleamed at me again:

“Hehhmm! Oggie!!”

This little girl not only understood me, but she could speak, remember, could be taught, and had her own vocabulary! This was amazing! I wondered if all humans were this intelligent. They must be. I laughed with pride, her big "Oggie" comment making me smile from ear to ear, she said my name! It was at that moment, that my whole world had changed. My whole view of the world so much bigger, all because of her.

I looked down at my new tiny human companion in my hands, and she looked up at me with a smile. Her big eyes staring up at me with a twinkle, as if she was made to be in my gigantic arms. She looked so small in comparison to my body, as if I could eat her in a single bite, but I would never dare. She was a precious little soul who had had a rough life. She deserved a better one now.

I stood to my full height and started to walk back to my cabin deep in the woods of northern giant country. I took another look back at the little girl's now destroyed village with pained eyes, and an empty spot in my heart. What a terrible thing...Looking down at my new friend for the millionth time, I realized I had a responsibility to take her to a safe place. I was now a guardian to her…and I would take her under my wing no matter the cost, even my life. I vowed to give her the best life she could ever have as her eyes met mine, feeling a spark of hope.

As I started to walk out of the town, something stopped me in my tracks that broke my heart. She looked up at me and spoke once again.

“…Why leave mommy? She still home! She sleepin’. We gotta go wake her up! Go see mommy...” She said with a slight whimper at the end, still missing the comfort of her mother’s embrace.

I looked down at the child as my eyes started to water. She understood she was leaving her home, her mother. I had no way of explaining to this girl, in a way she could understand, that she would never be able to see her mother’s eyes open, to look at her with warmth and love ever again. I was at an utter loss for words. How could I even tell her? How could I possibly explain that the person she loved was now gone from this world? I did the next best thing I could think of in the moment. I told her a soft lie, the slightest of falsehoods weaved with some truth that would at least attempt to quench her anxieties as to why we were leaving her home and old life behind her. I was still guilty to lie to such a young child such as her, though.

I spoke with all the softness I could as I explained to her: “Yeh mother is goin’ t be sleepin’ for quite some time, child… We need to let her rest. Ya wouldn’t want her to not get a good sleep, right? For the time being, I’ll be takin’ care of yeh while your mother is asleep. Is that okay, little one?”

She looked up at me unsure of my words, like she was about to argue, but she relinquished and sulked back down into my hand a moment later.

“Okay…”

I sighed and nodded my head, relieved at her response. This little girl should not have had to witness such terrible events...I looked to her house once again. 'You did everything you could have done to protect her; I will make sure that she survives. I promise you that…' I remember thinking to myself. I walked back over to her former home and picked up some of the broken wood and debris from the mother’s ashen abode, to store in my pocket. I will keep this forever, so that she would always have a piece of her old home to keep as a memory. From my palm, the little human child looked over at her old home, grabbed my thumb for comfort, reached out to the house with her other hand, and waved goodbye.

“Bye bye mommy…”

I turned back and continued my journey home, with the small girl within my giant grasp, nestled safely in my cupped palm as I walked. We left that desolate and smoldering town behind us.

~~~

We made it to my cabin, after a small journey, and my human companion looked on in awe at her new colossal surroundings. She gave an exhausted yawn. She did have quite the day, we both had. She must’ve been tired. So, I decided to gently rock her back and forth in my hand to lull her to sleep, which after her long day, did not take long.

I smiled down at her now sleeping form and found some spare cloth I had around the house, gently sliding her onto the scrap of cloth I laid on my desk within my bedroom, just to keep both my hands free. I decided this would be a perfect time to read the letter I found next to the child's mother. I fished the piece of paper from my shirt pocket, along with the debris from the human's old home, and placed it onto the table.

I studied the letter with much anticipation and interest, eager to read just what exactly was inside. The child was safe and fast asleep, and I hoped that her mother was at peace right now, wherever she was.

I opened the letter with utmost care, almost accidentally ripping it in the process, and had to grab my reading glasses just to read the incredibly tiny writing. The letter read as such:

[To whom it may concern,

If you find this letter, then I am probably long gone. Our village is being raided and captured by the Northern Giants at the edge of the woods. They came out of nowhere and just started killing and taking people I…

I don’t know what to do. I can feel them through the ground approach as I write this. I was barely able to escape with my life moments before I hid my daughter. I’m losing blood fast. I don't know how much longer I have…

If you find this and she is still alive...Please, take care of her. I pray that my sacrifice doesn't go in vain, that she has a chance at a better life. The smell of death should deter them from checking the house at least...

Just...please. Take care of my daughter. Give her the life that I couldn't. For my sake...

Tell my beautiful Leilani that I'm sorry.

I love you, my Leilani...]

[The letter ends in blood smears]

I stared in shock and sorrow, tears welled up in my eyes for the second time today, as my hand clasped over my mouth. The despair of knowing that this little child will never get to know her mother truly was heart wrenching. The final moments of this woman’s life were spent caring and fearing for the future of her daughter…I will make sure that this child has the best life there can possibly be, a life in which her mother can be proud. My little Leilani, what a beautiful name...your mother made sure that you were taken care of, even if she couldn't make it, I will... I promise…

I put down the letter next to the debris of the old house, setting it in a safe spot on one of my shelves, picked up Leilani's swaddle with her still fast asleep in it, and softly placed it down on the pillow next to mine. I gazed upon the human child’s swaddled form, a blaze of determination starting to form as I pondered: 'Your mother gave her life for her child to live - a terrible sacrifice, but not one in vain - for her little girl will live on, as long my heart beats. You will have all the love I have. Your mother died so you could live, Leilani… I will keep her mother's letter, so I can read it to her when she is older.' I set my reading glasses aside, and got comfortable in my bed. Reeling after everything the day had brought, but at the same time, swelling with pride for the tiny child sleeping next to me...

I fell asleep that night filled with a sense of hope and warmth, knowing that this child will always have a place to call home. I fell into a deep and peaceful sleep, the kind of sleep that can only come from doing good and knowing you've made a difference in the world. I hope this peaceful rest will last forever...

I am Ogden, a Northern Behemoth.

…and I am Leilani's father.

Here's my first ever written g/t story! I hope you guys like it! Again thank you so much to the people who beta read and gave feedback on this story I truly appreciate your kindness and help with this. If you like my work, please let me know! I highly appreciate any feedback, comments, or support that you'd like to send my way, and these two characters are free to send asks to anytime!

Thank you again everyone who got it this far to read this at the end, you're amazing. Have a great day everyone!

-MӨƬΉ

[cynicallgirll]

You know a lot of movies approach the audience with the idea that love conquers all. And I think people genuinely want to believe that. Like, what is the point of human connection if it can’t overcome the systems of racism, homophobia, sexism that have been put in place by our forefathers? So we believe in the idea that we can love it all away just so we can be with the person who makes us laugh and smile even though they could be holding the knife that kills us.

Killers of the flower moon contradicts that idea.

By exploring Ernest’s relationship with Mollie we are shown that his love can not conquer his greed. In the start of the movie, their relationship is framed through almost cliche romance movie story beats. We see Mollie get into the car and almost immediately sparks are there (the Osage are characterized as silent people so getting her to laugh is a big feat), a steamy secret makeout session in a car and personal proposal and a traditional wedding. At least that’s what it’s like from Mollie’s perspective, it’s almost the kind of romance that every woman dreams of. However, the viewer knows about Ernest's plot to take her money but at this point we don’t really see how far he’ll go, so part of us are inclined to believe that maybe he won’t go along with the more violent schemes that his uncle concocting (the viewer can’t help but fall for leo’s charm too). What we do see alongside the more ‘romantic’ scenes in Killers are the scenes of Ernest robbing the natives and wrecking their graves for jewelry. And is it really for the money? We’re shown that once he gets the jewelry he gambles it all away like it means nothing to him. For a guy like Ernest, it's not only his right to take but his right to lose it like it doesn't matter. He doesn’t want the money, he wants power over people he believes to be lesser than him.

I think part of me was rooting for him to be better, that maybe if he can find connection with Mollie then he can find connection with all of the Osage people, but did he really even find connection with Mollie? I think about the scene when it’s raining , Ernest is closing the windows, Mollie tells him to keep the window open and be quiet, Ernest can’t follow, he can’t keep quiet. It’s really such a simple thing he can't even try to respect on a surface level. The thing is though, even with all that, I do believe Ernest loved Mollie as much as he could. I think it would be easy to say that it was his uncle that got in the way, but he still chose to follow alongside him even when he was secure enough not to. So while he did love Mollie, his whiteness, and needed to fit in with them, had more power over him than what he felt for Mollie.

Mollie’s character represents a fear that I think many women of color have. They’ll marry a white guy and be ripped away from their family, and have the only person left comfort them be so disconnected from their culture, so the comfort their white spouse provides is nowhere near close to good enough. Mollie’s story is especially tragic though. The Osage had some level of power compared to other minorities at the time. They were blessed with oil money that gave them a level of protection from violent actions of the white people around them. It might not have protected them from gold diggers but it's still not the level of violence that they would typically be subjected to. But Mollie actively chose Ernest not just for his good looks or charming demeanor but to also avoid getting her family's money stolen knowing that his Uncle was as well off as them. She was unsuspecting of how large their greed was , and that even with what they had they still wanted more. She ended up putting herself in the line of fire by trying to be cautious. But that's not an indictment on her, of course anyone in her shoes could never suspect the person closest to you could harm you or your family. That’s why she ended up keeping Ernest so close in the thick of the murders, to her he was the only person she could trust because he was her lover, he didn't need her money, he should have no reason to be the one involved in those crimes. So he became her only safe place. And it's really fucked up, because what kind of comfort did he provide in the worst of her days? Even when she was sick in bed Ernest was off trying to find ways to secure his bag over caring for her. The sickness itself was made worse by her husband slowly killing her, and really there wasn't much she could have done about it. She married what should be her safest option and yet still was subjugated to violence and heartache. Her wealth couldn’t ever protect her, because to the white people around her it shouldn't have been hers in the first place, so to them what was happening to her was deserved.

Their love for each other wasn't enough to escape all of the ills of society. Ernest is still a white man who didn’t care about righting his wrongs until his own child was harmed, like his fiance's family didn't matter. Mollie loved him as much as she could but ultimately she couldn't change the systems that were already built for Ernest to win and take. The ending is what’s really stuck in my head, the fact that her story was used again for the profit of white people, and that her faith might just be a tool to get money horrifies me that even in death that she and people like her will have to go through that kind of exploitation again and again. I hope that this movie doesn’t end up that way, as another way to find entertainment from her life. And that people actually can take the lesson of not letting societal powers make you harm the one you claim to love.