#it's basically an active hostage situation

[forjustice]

If any of my new followers wonder what my life with my abusive mother is like…I could go on and on about the torments I suffer but to give a brief picture let me give you a list of things I am not allowed to do without my abuser's permission:

Leave the house

See or speak to anyone IRL, or have any IRL friendships with anyone she doesn't approve of

Call anyone

Buy things for my personal pleasure such as books, art commissions, merchandise, etc. (she only minds if she catches me which isn't often but every time I buy something this hangs over my head)

Donate to friends or charity (again, she doesn't often catch me but every time I do this it hangs over my head)

Put money into my private bank account instead of our shared bank account

Have Internet time or any free time whatsoever

Vote

Practice my religion

Experiment with my gender

Buy clothes I want

Wear my hair in a style I want

See a therapist or otherwise have full autonomy over my own medical treatments

Study using the methods I find most effective rather than the ones she suggests

[solxamber]

Kidnapped(?) - Malleus x reader

You were sick of the taxes imposed by the aristocrats in your already poverty stricken village. Your idea of a solution? Kidnap their young master , and make them reduce taxes as the ransom, of course. Only problem is that you went into the wrong manor and kidnapped the wrong young master.

crossposted from my ao3!

It’s far too late for a sane person to be awake, let alone breaking into an aristocratic manor, but here you are, perched atop a wrought iron fence. You inhale deeply, the cool night air doing nothing to calm the wild thudding of your heart. Sure, you’ve trespassed on fancy estates before—who hasn’t?—but this time, you’re aiming high. Really high.

Tonight, you’re going to kidnap the young master.

It sounded less ridiculous in your head, but the village’s plight had pushed you this far. Unfair taxes, people going hungry, all thanks to the greed of the lord’s family holed up in their luxurious estate. Someone needed to stand up for the people. That someone just happened to be you.

You’d never kidnapped anyone before, but how hard could it be? Grab the rich guy, ask for a ransom—specifically, less ridiculous taxes—and stroll away like a hero. Easy.

The manor looms in front of you, all dark windows and dramatic architecture. It's almost too easy to slip past the guards. You start to wonder if they’re just really bad at their jobs or if this is some elaborate setup. Still, you can’t help but smirk. You’re so good at this, it’s almost criminal.

Well, it is criminal. But you know, details.

Inside, the place is eerily quiet. Every shadow seems to be watching you as you slink through the halls, making your way toward the young master’s room. You’ve heard the rumors—aloof, cold, basically allergic to feelings. Intimidating him into compliance? Piece of cake.

After a few minutes of creeping around like a ninja, you find a room with the door slightly ajar. A faint light flickers inside. Jackpot. You steady your breath, grip your very intimidating (okay, slightly makeshift) weapon, and push the door open.

Sitting at a desk, seemingly unfazed by your dramatic entrance, is the young master.

“Ah,” he says, turning slowly to look at you. There’s a glimmer of... curiosity? in his eyes. “A visitor. How... unexpected.”

You blink. This is not going to plan. Where’s the panic? The yelling for help? The appropriate reaction to being ambushed at night?

Determined to salvage the situation, you wave your weapon and try your best "intimidating kidnapper" voice. “You’re coming with me! I’m here to kidnap you, and if you want to see your precious manor again, you’ll lower the village taxes!”

There’s a beat of silence.

The young master raises an eyebrow. “You’re kidnapping me? How... amusing.”

Amusing? You falter. “This isn’t a joke,” you insist, shaking your weapon for emphasis. “I’m serious! Ransom, taxes, starving villagers—ringing any bells?”

Instead of, say, panicking or fleeing, the young master stands up from his chair, all calm and composed, like this is a perfectly normal Tuesday night activity. “Very well. I suppose I should humor you.”

You blink again, utterly at a loss. “Wait... you’re just agreeing to this?”

“Of course.” He tilts his head, giving you a strange, intrigued look. “I’ve never been kidnapped before. It sounds rather... interesting.”

And just like that, he strolls toward the door as if this is his idea. You scramble to follow, wondering what exactly you’ve gotten yourself into.

As you lead him through the estate, you’re still grappling with the bizarre reality of the situation. Here you are, attempting to kidnap someone, and the guy is practically rolling out a red carpet for you.

“You know,” you mutter, glancing over at him, “most people don’t just let themselves be kidnapped. It’s not really how this works.”

He turns to you with a serene smile that’s entirely too pleasant for a hostage. “Why should I resist? You don’t seem the type to harm me.”

You narrow your eyes. Is he flirting? Intentionally or not, this guy’s nerve is off the charts.

“I didn’t catch your name,” he says suddenly, voice smooth as silk.

“I’m not giving my name to my hostage,” you snap back. This is Kidnapping 101.

“Ah, of course.” He nods, clearly amused. “Then I’ll introduce myself instead. I am Malleus Draconia.”

Your stomach drops to the floor. Malleus Draconia. THE Malleus Draconia. The name practically vibrates with power and danger, and you suddenly realize you’ve made a colossal mistake. You haven’t kidnapped the young master of the manor—you’ve kidnapped the prince of the fae.

“Oh no,” you mutter, horror creeping into your voice. “Oh no, oh no, this is bad. This is really bad.”

Malleus watches you with mild amusement, an eyebrow raised. “Why the sudden distress?”

You whirl on him. “You’re Malleus Draconia! I— I wasn’t supposed to kidnap you! This is a mistake—like, a huge mistake. I’ll just let you go and we can pretend this never happened, okay?”

But instead of looking concerned, Malleus just smiles wider, a wicked little gleam in his eyes. “Let me go? But I’m having so much fun.”

You gape at him. “You... want to stay kidnapped?”

“Indeed.” He seems completely unbothered by the sheer absurdity of the situation. “It’s been quite some time since I’ve had such an engaging evening.”

Well. This is officially the weirdest night of your life.

The night only gets stranger when you run into his retainers.

“Young Master!” a voice bellows, and you look up to see a tall, green-haired fae charging toward you, fury in his eyes. “What is going on here?!”

Before you can even explain, Malleus casually steps in. “Ah, Sebek. Allow me to introduce my kidnapper.”

Sebek freezes mid-charge, eyes wide. “Y-Your... kidnapper?!”

Malleus nods with an unnervingly calm smile. “Yes. Isn’t it wonderful?”

Sebek’s brain seems to short-circuit, and he storms off, shouting something about telling Lilia and Silver. You groan, burying your face in your hands. “This is a disaster.”

Malleus, of course, chuckles softly beside you. “On the contrary. I think it’s rather amusing.”

Of course he does.

By the time Lilia and Silver arrive, you’ve already resigned yourself to your fate. At least they’ll make your execution quick, right?

But Lilia just grins mischievously, clearly enjoying the spectacle. “Well, well. This is certainly the most interesting kidnapping I’ve seen in centuries.”

Silver, on the other hand, just raises a brow. “He seems to be enjoying himself.”

Malleus smiles at you, as though being abducted by a random stranger is the highlight of his week. “Quite.”

You’re about to protest when Malleus turns to his retainers with a firm nod. “I’d like to speak to my kidnapper alone.”

Sebek looks like he’s going to explode, but Malleus’s sharp glance shuts him up. Lilia throws you a wink as they all leave, and just like that, you’re alone with the fae prince. Again.

Malleus steps closer, his calm mask slipping just a little. “You know, I’ve grown quite fond of this little adventure.”

You blink up at him. “Are you serious?”

He tilts his head, lips quirking into a smile. “I propose a deal. I’ll help your village with the taxes. In return, you’ll... continue kidnapping me.”

Your jaw drops. “Wait... you want me to keep kidnapping you?”

“Yes. It’s been rather fun.” His eyes twinkle with amusement. “What do you say?”

You sigh, rubbing your temples. “This is the weirdest deal I’ve ever made.”

Malleus grins, entirely too pleased with himself. “Wonderful. Now, shall we shake on it?”

And so, your bizarre, extremely non-traditional kidnapping arrangement begins.

Every few days, it’s the same: you sneak into his manor (more like casually walk in, since he always leaves the window open for you now), and the two of you embark on whatever adventure catches your whimsy. Sometimes it’s sneaking into human markets where Malleus marvels at the mundane—like street food or ridiculous trinkets. Other times, you explore abandoned castles with winding, forgotten hallways that echo with untold stories.

It’s almost normal now, the way he expects you to “abduct” him with little more than a raised eyebrow and a soft chuckle as you half-heartedly demand his presence for another outing. The most feared prince of the fae is now, apparently, your willing partner in crime.

The first time you take him to a local fair, though, you realize just how out of his element he truly is. Malleus spends a good twenty minutes, completely entranced, watching a cotton candy machine.

“Is it... magic?” he asks, his (very pretty) eyes locked onto the swirling pink clouds as the vendor twirls the sugary fluff onto a stick.

You can’t help but laugh, the sound coming out far more amused than you intended. “Nope. Just sugar spun into fluff. You’ve really never seen this before?”

Malleus watches the process with a reverence usually reserved for ancient relics, finally accepting the cotton candy as if it’s some kind of delicate treasure. He takes a cautious bite, his expression lighting up like a child’s.

“Incredible,” he murmurs, his voice filled with awe. “It dissolves on the tongue.”

You bite back another laugh at the sight of this powerful fae prince, someone who commands fear from almost everyone around him, completely taken by spun sugar. “Glad you like it.”

After that, it’s a night of him eagerly trying every strange, sticky fair food he can find, utterly fascinated by things as simple as corn dogs and funnel cake. You can't decide if it’s endearing or a little embarrassing, but either way, you’re having more fun than you’ve had in a long time.

As the weeks pass, the more you look forward to your little "kidnapping" escapades, and that in itself is a whole other problem. Malleus’s wide-eyed curiosity about the human world is... strangely adorable, and while he’s still every bit the regal fae prince, there’s something endearing about the way he asks you questions about everyday things with such genuine interest. He’s surprisingly easy to talk to, his quiet intelligence making for great conversation—when he’s not completely sidetracked by things like human street food.

The more time you spend with him, the harder it becomes to ignore the truth creeping up on you. You’re starting to fall for him. It’s ridiculous, and yet... here you are.

Of course, not everything goes smoothly.

“Human!” Sebek shouts dramatically one afternoon as you and Malleus return from yet another outing. “How dare you abduct the Young Master again!”

You roll your eyes, half-expecting this by now. “Sebek, I’ve told you before. He wants me to kidnap him.”

Sebek bristles, sputtering indignantly, his green hair practically standing on end. “Lies! The Young Master would never allow—”

“Sebek,” Malleus interrupts, his tone calm, but with that unmistakable edge that immediately silences his retainer. “I went willingly. Again.”

Sebek’s jaw drops, looking like someone just told him the sky isn’t blue. “But... Young Master...”

Malleus gives him a slow, deliberate look, his lips curving into a faint, almost predatory smile. “You should try it sometime. You may find it... enlightening. Although,” he turns to you, his voice soft but with an unmistakable possessiveness, “you’ll have to find another human. This one is already mine.”

Your breath hitches as Malleus’s words hang in the air, and you can't help but feel your heart skip a beat. Sebek, meanwhile, looks utterly scandalized, his eyes wide as saucers. Lilia, who has been watching the whole thing with far too much amusement, claps Sebek on the back.

“Don’t look so shocked,” Lilia chuckles. “Let them have their fun.”

Sebek looks like he's about to explode, but instead storms off, muttering something about propriety, while Silver smirks quietly from the sidelines.

One night, after another "kidnapping," you find yourself sitting beside Malleus on a hill overlooking the village, the faint glow of the fair still visible in the distance. The stars hang bright overhead, and there’s a soft stillness between you as the cool air nips at your skin.

Malleus’s voice breaks the quiet, low and thoughtful. “You’ve given me more than I expected.”

You glance at him, curious. “What do you mean?”

He turns to you, his dark eyes holding a depth you hadn’t seen before. “Companionship. I hadn’t realized how much I longed for it until... until you.”

Your heart does something funny at his words, the raw sincerity of them tugging at something deep inside you. Without thinking, you reach out, brushing a stray lock of hair from his face, your fingertips grazing his skin. The air between you seems to still.

“I’ve grown... quite fond of you,” he murmurs, his voice softer now, almost vulnerable.

You swallow, feeling your pulse quicken. “Malleus, I—”

But before you can find the words, Malleus leans in, his eyes never leaving yours, and you feel the warmth of his hand gently cup your cheek. The world seems to fade away as you both hover there, caught between anticipation and something more.

“I do believe,” he whispers, his lips brushing against your skin as his eyes darken with something you can’t quite name, “that I’m falling for you, my little kidnapper.”

Your heart stutters, and before you know it, you’re closing the space between you, your lips meeting his in a soft, tentative kiss. For a moment, everything else ceases to matter—no fair, no adventures, no strange arrangements. Just the two of you, finally giving in to the pull that’s been drawing you together for weeks.

When you pull back, breathless, Malleus smiles, and it’s the softest, most genuine smile you’ve ever seen from him. “Does this mean,” he says, his voice still low and teasing, “you’ll continue kidnapping me?”

You laugh softly, feeling the warmth of his words settle deep in your chest. “I suppose I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”

Malleus grins, his fangs glinting in the moonlight. “No, I suppose not.”

And honestly? You wouldn’t have it any other way.

This is my first time posting here so i have no idea what i'm doing and the formatting is probably off because i'm on mobile but i'll slowly figure it out.

Masterlist

[opiopal]

imagine just a regular human OM au,

as in like, no angels, no demons, no magic, none of that whatsoever, everyone is just their character trope but in a regular kinda sitcomy romance

RAD is just a fancy private school, Dia is like, the rich principals son who’s also like class president, and Luci is vice, snd luci made all his brothers join student council because he wanted them all to have at least one activity that would look good on a resume for them, mams is still known for being scummy, Levi is rarely seen at school cause he’s a shut in nerd, Asmo is super popular, ect. Ect. Literally it’s just them but… human. and mc showing up is just like, they qualified for this program and didn’t really know it(bc public schools suck at communication dog), and so they are suddenly told they’re gonna be flown halfway across the world for this, and the rest is history.

now, you guys are probably thinking, “Opi, you basically just said imagine OM but without the thing that makes it OM” and to that I say,

Yah lol,

BUT LISTEN!

it has potential to be cute, like, instead of big cool pact marks, it’s just the brothers who like mc doodling on their arms in pen when they’re bored, like they all do it and don’t really know why, but mc lets them so they do it. or like, mc is just given an item to signify that they gained that brothers friendship, like a bracelet, painted nails, a keychain, hairclip, a book, literally anything at all.

So maybe mc and mams becoming friends would have to be more of a hostage situation rather then an exchange??? Like, instead of “if I give you your credit card you gotta make a pact with me,” it’s “if you don’t give your brother his toy back I’ll cut your card,” and somehow it turned into mams hanging around mc more often, maybe he liked them being mean or something lol, we know how he is.

also, maybe this would make the brothers whole situation sadder?? Since it would practically be a highschool au, they’d all have to be like 16-19, so would this mean they got kicked out of their home after the death of their sister? Maybe their father, while in grief, decided to blame the seven of them for encouraging her? Maybe she got attacked/mugged, or got into a car crash with her bf? Obviously this work leave zero room for mc and her being related in a sense(maybe they had been friends in the past?) so the brothers beginning to like mc more would have to happen more organically instead of being pushed further along with the Lilith plot point.

Thought moving onto the other characters, Solomon is probably just a weirdo that’s into scifi stuff, and believes in a bunch of stuff(maybe ghosts are still real or something? So he gives mc things to ward off evil spirits as gifts) he’s probably still a student as well, but has back problems or something so everyone calls him old. Thirteen prolly just skips class whenever she feels like it(which is prolly always) so she’s rarely seen/isn’t seen until later into the series, but whenever she’s around she’s like, that one super cool side character that you want to hang out with but luci doesn’t allow it because he worries that she smokes behind the school or something wild like that. Mephisto I feel like would be that one kid you rarely see because he’s in all the honors and honors college classes, so unless you also get into one there’s a rare chance of seeing him around the school, though when you bump into him, he’s so weirdly passive aggressive, like sorry for breathing wrong I guess???? (He would totally get into a fight for someone stepping on his designer shoes) I could also imagine him pulling the whole “my father will hear of this!!” Crap. Though eventually he’d warm up and be pretty nice! Though wouldn’t wanna show it often in public, but he just might, only for mc of course. Raphael simeon and Luke are most likely those close family friends that you legit forget aren’t actually family because they’re so insanely close, and I can imagine they’re basically the same, though maybe luke isn’t a little speciest. Luke is most likely either just like, a 6th grader that is around sometimes, or is in a higher grade cause he was moved up. Simeon is on ao3, and TOL is totally an on going story he wrote in like the 5th grade and just kept it going because he realized people really really liked it. Levi is probably just one of those WEEEIRRDOOS who got the fics printed out into book format to keep physical copies of lol, rapheal.. I don’t know him very well, though I feel as if he’d be one of those like, eerily quiet kids, not like “the quiet kid” just.. he’s quiet, but you chat with him and he’s a bit of a nerd, not a raging one, but a chill one, and he likes his hedgehog, I could see him carrying a photo of his hedgehog around to show people.

now here’s the gag guys..

barbatos is the exact same, like there is nothing with him that seems different at all, he’s odd, he shows up randomly, he’s very attentive, and has his strong hate/fear of rodents. no one knows if he actually has any classes of his own because he just follows dia around all day long,

but yea, also no I’m not running out of ideas gang lol, this is just one of my many many OM AU’s I think about often, and I guess I’m just in a domestic mood today lol

[hemlock-dreams]

I love MJ. Peter must have really been devastated by her being affected when he was outed as Spider-Man. I have a few questions! You mentioned in the original universe she had a relapse — was it just the same universe changes that made Peter a criminal that caused there to be an MJ that was an addict? Would the venom have caused her to die in a while like most people, or no because Peter became her supplier and had presumably good control? Wouldn’t she have known the reasons he had hesitated to kiss long eventually, since he had to tell her everything to help with the venom thing? And does his venom just… come out automatically after a bit with anything, or is it possible for him to have situations where it’s not involved at all for a time? I’m sure he misses her and usually MJ and Peter are friends before they get together in many canons, so I’m really happy that he’s able to be her friend in the new universe and didn’t lose her entirely 🥺 even if he basically had to reform the relationship from scratch. (Also if Peter and Marko were such good friends, why was he willing to put him and his loved ones in danger by telling everyone?) all of this is very cool and fun ty for sharing.

So OG-MJ was an addict before she ever knew Peter(and before everything with the knock off venom.) She had been sober for two years at that point, and continued to stay sober for a few years after she and Peter officially got together.

However, Peter was always gone, flaking on all their special dates/anniversaries etc. He'd make plans and then never show up, or cancel at the last minute. And despite being super affectionate with his words, was always really physically distant. All of this left MJ feeling really alone and angry, as she was dealing with her own abandonment issues (foster care).

Eventually, everything was just a perfect storm of frustration (struggling with her boss, Peter flaking on another date, a new job opportunity not coming through) that she ended up reconnecting with some old friends who convinced her to try 'this sick new upper'.

The issue with manufactured venom (gonna call it Aurora) is that in it's impurity, it had extremely degenerative effects at lower doses. Peter's venom, while just as bad, was 'cleaner'. He can secrete it at will, but his body starts automatically pumping it when he gets excited (not to mention his fangs do not retract!!!) (They are very sharp!!!)

As for Marko, he'd been Sandman for a while before he revealed Spiderman's identity. Not only was he mentally very unstable, but he'd been very bitter over Peter going 'straight'. They were supposed to be ride or die, but Peter kept drifting away and eventually cut ties with him when it was obvious that Marko was never going to leave the lifestyle.

Then one day, during a fight with Spiderman Marko just...recognized the body language, the words, just...something clicked, then broke. Because not only did Peter leave Marko, the guy who had his back all those years in prison, his supposed 'ride or die' was also fucking Spiderman. The guy who had been actively fucking up Marko's life for years. The enemy.

Payback was an easy decision for a guy who held tight to grudges.

And for the kicker, he didn't even sell the information, just gave it to JJ for free-- that's how much he wanted to hurt Peter. Later, he would really regret it, but it would be too late at that point.

After Marko threw Peter's life into the fire, he and MJ had a blowout fight. At the height of it, MJ told Peter to 'prove he loved her' and used her own addiction as a way to control his time and attention after being starved for so long (kind of holding herself hostage).

Yeah...it all kind of went to real shit after Lmaoo

Once again, thank you SO much for the support and all these amazing asks!! <3 <3

[somethingsomethingstarward]

no but like. if we are going to be talking about the yaoqing trio-

feixiao and moze are in the middle of a crisis. they came to secure a prisoner, and not only is that prisoner not secure, he has in fact escaped! and is now holding their ambassador hostage! and that's if said ambassador is even still alive- for all they know, hoolay might have decided it's not worth waiting and killed him anyway. they are dealing with not only a massive diplomatic issue, but a massive threat to the security of the entire xianzhou alliance, especially to anyone who's foxian. the only silver lining is that hoolay is, for reasons they don't know, still on the luofu, but that also means that they cannot afford to make mistakes right now, because it's basically their only chance to prevent this from spiraling completely out of control. they absolutely have to be at their best here.

and also- that's their friend. he hates coriander and he makes them hot pot and he's had his heart broken too many times. he mourns every person he's ever healed and sent back out to die on the battlefield- and he came back anyway, to try and save someone who he knew was dying. how long do you think it took for him to believe that caring about them wqs worth the pain? how long do you think the two of them spent trying to figure out how to walk the line between being a soldier and having someone to come back to? how long do you think it took, for a general and assassin and a medic to decide there was something worth caring about anyway between the three of them- that even though they knew it would hurt in the end, it was worth trying?

and now one of them- that wasn't even a frontline fighter, that was never supposed to be in this position in the first place- is either dead or captive with the worst enemy of his entire species. if he's alive, then he is actively experiencing the effects of a fear toxin and surrounded by enemies who think he's property at best. so if they want to get him back, he's going to have to survive all of that and give hoolay a decent reason to keep him alive long enough for them to rescue him. and maybe the worst part is, if they have to choose- and I think all three of them know this- they cannot prioritize his safety over neutralizing the fact that hoolay presents.

on some level, of course, they had to be prepared for this. fexiao is a general. moze and jiaoqiu are her retainers. you are inevitably going to end up in a situation where one of them is in danger and the other two just have to deal with it. it comes with the territory. moze was ready and willing to leave jiaoqiu behind, and i think that's not because he doesn't care, but because that is the deal you make when you choose to care about somebody within this situation. your higher priority has to be the safety of your general and the xianzhou, in that order. and feixiao, as the general, has to prioritize the safety of the alliance above either of them.

but i think about what it must be like to try to make those plans, knowing all of this. because they were never going to be safe- not as the general of the yaoqing and her retainers- but none of that changes the fact that feixiao and moze know, keenly, that somebody they care about is being hurt. and they might, if they get this right, be able to save him- but the damage is being done as they speak, and every second they take is another second jiaoqiu suffers.

i think it must kill them, just a little bit. 

[theonceandfuturefool]

daniel jacobi in the wolf 359 finale is in the fucking scenario of all time. imagine. imagine that, after a tense hostage situation, you get shot in the leg, even though you did nothing to deserve it. this is a non-issue, of course, because thankfully your evil science overlords brought an automated surgery system with them. leg gets patched up. you take none of their meds. eventually your team figures out that they probably popped a tracker in your open wound while their spaceship was playing operation™️ so, either by your own volition or someone else’s suggestion, you end up with the job of distracting the super dangerous dude who basically specializes in murdering other super dangerous dudes while everyone else handles the rest of the station. you decide to do this by locking yourself in a room with him. you probably have a little hand-to-hand combat training, but making shit blow up isn’t necessarily an intimate activity. you are only moderately dangerous. also, you still have a bullet wound. also, you’re a bit of an asshole. and for some reason you brought confetti into space.

so you get the absolute shit beat out of you for probably the better part of the day while everyone else does their part before the bomb you planted earlier finally joins the party and blows up the room you’re in. thankfully, you’re an expert, so you get out of the way in time to not end up in bits and exit this room probably feeling pretty good about how the plan turned out. only to join the rest of the crew to find that your captain is asleep, your commander is bleeding out in a pool of her own blood, your comms officer has no memory of what the hell he’s even doing here, the AI in charge of the station is rebooting, there are 11 minutes before you all end up freefalling into the star you’re orbiting, and someone fucking harpooned your (ex) boss. so you, your bullet wound, and your various injuries from several hours of losing at physical combat and surviving a bomb exploding gather everyone up into the one functioning ship you have left and take off into space. and somehow you still had the most normal day out of everyone else there

[unbidden-yidden-deactivated20240]

I know this is asking people to like, have basic empathy and therefore asking way too much, but I'd just really love if before you [general] comment anything on the current Israel/Palestine situation, you considered how you would react if the roles were reversed.

If, for example, Israeli extremists raped and butchered their way through Gaza (or the West Bank) killing 1200 Palestinian men, women, and children who had been peacefully hanging out observing a religious holiday or sleeping, and especially if they had caught the whole damn thing on film and broadcasted it and celebrated it as if this was some huge win for Jews instead of the biggest chillul Hashem possible - just think about how people would have reacted. And what if they hadn't? What if the entire Western left, up to and including the United fucking Nations had denied the sexual violence and torture? Y'all would be pretty rightfully livid, no?

And let's be honest about how the global Jewish community would react if 23,000 Jews were killed for literally any reason whatsoever. Even if they were all adult male soldiers in active combat, never mind if they were non-combatants or children? We'd shit bricks. It would not feel neutral or not targeted, no matter how objectively true that might be. As it is, every Jew I know is one degree or less of separation from someone directly affected by the October 7th attacks and that's a with a maximum of 1500 casualties and hostages involved. Can you imagine if it were 23,000? We would all be sitting shiva, with no one to answer amen during Kaddish. The reality is that killing a large amount of people from a small minority that has been persecuted throughout its history cannot be a neutral act.

Anyway please I'm begging people to reverse the roles for four seconds to re-humanize the people on the "other" side. Because the truth is that there is no "other side" - there's just the everyday people who want to live in safety, dignity, freedom and justice with their families and friends. And then there's the small minority of very powerful groups and individuals who actively benefit from the conflict continuing. And the faster that those of us who aren't Israeli or Palestinian realize this, the sooner we will be able to effectively support the people on the ground seeking lasting solutions that benefit the majority of the population.

[retributory]

Thank you for the post saying Binghe wouldn't care if he found out Shen Yuan replaced Shen Jiu, I saw a post on that danmei confessions blog that was something like "Shen Yuan being compared to Helen of Troy is accurate bc they both bring ruin to those around them, since if people found out about Shen Yuan then Cang Diong would want Shen Jiu's body back for a burial (so they would basically exorcise Shen Yuan out of it I guess and he'd die again) and Luo Binghe would break up with him for not being able to trust him anymore" and that pissed me off so much bc like. Worstie how can you read the novel and be this wrong about everything in it. Personally I don't think people know Shen Yuan replaced Shen Jiu (except maybe Binghe) but if they found out about how he was forced to due to the System, like he was a hostage and cursed by some entity, they certainly wouldn't blame him or force him to leave. I mean literally the only person who would mourn Shen Jiu is Yue Qingyuan, and he likes the current Shen Yuan too! He wouldn't want him dead either. Idk how some people can misinterpret a novel's point this bad but I wish they'd stop talking about it as if they're facts

yeah idk the average user on that blog appears to be reading entirely different novels and you go in the notes and people are nodding sagely as if the posts make sense. like if the actual text of the novel disagrees with you i think you're just wrong lol.

and yeah they . . . pretty much have already guessed it isn't shen jiu anyways. like they don't know who it IS, or what exactly the truth of the situation is, because the system and such are out of their scope of knowledge, but they're quite confident in running theories like "qi deviation-induced amnesia and personality change," so they don't consider him the same guy anyways. they were actively shocked it WASN'T possession (though the possession theory is kind of correct. lol). it's also so weird to think that cqms would (for lack of nicer terms) give a fuck at all if sy DID maliciously possess sj. in the original timeline it's made pretty clear no one comes to sj's defense except yqy, because sj specifically desires that outcome. sj isn't some helpless baby at the whims of everyone around him - he specifically and intentionally seeks to ruin his own life and the lives of everyone around him, or at the very least make them as miserable around him as possible. thus, no one else likes or misses him at all, and in fact every peak lord at that meeting was jumping for joy that they got Other Guy instead of sj, which is a contributing factor to why they just decide to simply not call him out on it.

i also think (says guy who posts about svsss 3 times a day) people are like. taking it too serious. you're not supposed to be seriously considering lines of thought like that because svsss is a transmigration parody novel of xianxia power fantasies - whatever exists in the background exists purely to support the world of this satire. and while that certainly is a fun topic for meta - i enjoy reading posts like that! - it becomes irritating when the meta is framed as if somehow you are in the wrong for enjoying a novel the way it was intended to be enjoyed by the author, and that the only True way to enjoy it is through enlightened meta-contextual analysis that assumes all the characters are actually different people.

someone on that blog was like "why doesn't svsss expand on the lore and fights and characters!!!" because they don't matter to the story my friend. not every novel is lord of the rings. this is xianxia transmigration parody novel my friend. just read . . . an actual stallion novel. actually really do that because then you'll form a connection with sy because these things are written SO bad and then you'll understand him LMFAO

[hello-nichya-here]

Is stockholm syndrome a real disorder or is it a myth? Do you have anything to say on it?

Pretty much every competent therapist currently agrees that Stockholm Syndrome is made up - and their reasoning becomes quite easy to understand once we look at the incident that led to said "disorder" being introduced to the world.

In 1973, two men took four hostages while trying to rob a bank in Stockholm, Sweden. Six days later, when the hostages were finally freed, not only did not testify against their captors, they were actively raising money to try and get them a decent defense in court.

Sounds crazy, right? Like these people were either already insane or were brainwashed somehow? That's what the psychologist that the police turned to explain the victims' "strange" behavior thought, and he thus created the term for the "disorder" that makes people bond with their captors and believe in their humanity, while wrongfully mistrusting/resenting the authorities that are just trying to help.

But that "diagnosis/theory" already has quite a few issues if simply look at the way this psychologist handled it: He never even spoke to the hostages to try and understand why the fuck they were acting that way.

No matter how qualified of a doctor you are, you do not diagnose someone you've never spoken to because said diagnosis will be based on your assumptions about that person and their situation, not on the actual experience and feelings that only they could accurately describe to you. He diagnosed these people based on literally nothing. He might as well have labeled them as having schizophrenia and hearing voices that told them to not testify against the man, or having multiple-personalities, or being bipolar, or having literally any other condition with symptoms that he did not even know if they genuinely shown.

If he had bothered to talk to the four victims, he would have discovered a few things:

1 - The police was being so incompetent in negotiating, that it forced the hostages to negotiate with their captors directly. Naturally they were very afraid of having to confront these men that could shoot them dead at any second and were not happy about the police, who was supposed to protect them, exposing them to such danger. In turn, the captors were shaken by the experience of having these frightened people who posed no threat to them looking them in the eye and simply begging for lives.

2 - The captor beings shaken and second-guessing themselves for putting these people in such hell earned them some sympathy from the victims, and, more importantly, gave them hope that they COULD reason with the criminals and thus they were less afraid of them and continued treating them kindly - which only made them second-guess themselves more, which earned them more empathy and gave the hostages even more hope, which made then act even kinder to the criminals, and so on and so on.

3 - The police repeatedly made the situation worse by threatening to shoot the captors with the hostages in the room - making the hostages afraid that they'd be caught in the crossfire, accidentally shot by the cops themselves, or that the captors would panic and shoot them. One of the hostages even told the cops "You're going to get us killed" and basically got a "You'll have to accept that you're gonna die then" as a response. The police's incompetence made the hostages realize bonding with their captors was the ONLY WAY to have ANY chance of surviving because they could actually be reasoned with, unlike the cops. The police pushed them into a US VS THEM situation. They stopped being four people being held hostage by two evil men and instead became a group of six trapped inside a building together, unsure if they would survive the crazy cops outside.

Stockholm syndrome is bullshit because it ignores three crucial facts:

1 - Human beings are social animals. "Bond with the people around you and work as a group" is a survival tactic so old it might as well be permanently part of our DNA. It's in our nature to try and form bonds with others, even in awful situations, even with people that don't "deserve" it, even if they are temporary, because that's the ONLY way we know how to live. That survival tactic is not without flaws, but it exists for a reason. We are so social we bond with other species, for fuck's sake!

2 - Authorities are not perfect. They are equally flawed human beings that can sometimes do more harm than good, and sometimes NOT trusting them is inevitable - and the only sane thing to do when they make it clear that your life doesn't matter to them.

3 - Bad people ARE humans. Their humanity DOES exist. It's a fact. They are capable of vile things, yes, but they are also capable of experiencing compassion and regret - meaning people can in turn FORGIVE them. Mercy, and even affection, towards a bad person is not a pathology.

That's what "stockholm syndrome" actually is. Forgiveness.

Do people sometimes forgive people who don't deserve it and get hurt again? Obviously. Are people sometimes put in situations in which they have no choice but to forgive, or at least temporarely not be hostile to, someone who wronged them? Yes.

But that doesn't make their forgiveness a mental illness that needs to be treated. It's just an emotional response humans are practically biologically trained to experience because, again, we are social animals. We don't know how to exist by ourselves. We NEED others. And the only options available to bond with being less than ideal has never stopped anyone from trying just in case it lets them live a little longer.

[lurkingshan]

Things That Have My Attention in 4 Minutes Episode 4

Congrats to the Dome is Tonkla's brother truthers!

Let's talk timelines again. I still think we're working with two timelines, but I no longer think they're cleanly separated. Because if they were, you could not have some of these things happening concurrently. If we only had an Original timeline and a Redo timeline, then everything Great changes should be part of the Redo timeline. But in this episode Great saved Nan in the same timeline where Dome was dead, which we know because Great got Nan's location by getting Korn trashed after Korn fought with Tonkla over his abandonment in the aftermath of Dome's death. These things are all connected, so we can't cleanly sort events into one timeline or the other.

Which means it's most likely that the two timelines are bleeding together, making things unstable. This would explain Great's experience of overlapping moments last week, and Tonkla seeing Dome briefly before things went all weird and he disappeared at the end of today's episode.

By the way, it turns out those cold opens are not of the future--Tonkla has already done the murder in the same timeline where he's messing around with the cop. ETA: @my-rose-tinted-glasses pointed out that this is not necessarily true if the scene of Win getting the fingerprints and the phone call is also in the future. So back to square one on that!

Speaking of, what is up with Win? He is fully engaging in an affair with a murder suspect and doesn't seem to be investigating Tonkla at all. And I cannot let this pass without comment: why on earth did Win not put his pants back on during the long scene of him listening to Tonkla and Korn?! Was this really an appropriate situation to Winnie the Pooh it???

The flashback to Tonkla and Korn's beginning gave good context for why Tonkla thought he might be able to have more with Korn. I appreciated the details there: Korn was giving him money before they even had sex the first time and was lying to him about his intentions from the start, while Tonkla had zero experience when they met and didn't know how to recognize the signs of Korn's lies. Korn basically groomed this kid to be his sidepiece and has strung him along for years.

Tonkla definitely feels like a tragic character heading for a bad end, though perhaps he will also be saved eventually by the timeline shifts. In the timeline where Dome is dead and he's fucking Win, Tonkla is being incredibly reckless. I couldn't believe he just moved a new man into the home Korn pays for, he's gonna get caught.

I was grateful the show did not actually go all the way with Korn assaulting Tonkla, but it was clear he would have if Tonkla had not managed to distract him.

I continue to find the emotional tenor of Great and Tyme's scenes kinda weird. I don't understand why Great is so willing to betray Korn to help Tyme after just meeting him, I don't understand why Tyme revealed his face only to run away and then accused Great of being in on the conspiracy after already confirming he's not, and I don't understand why they were acting all blushy and awkward in that sex scene rather than leaning into the adrenaline high for a more sultry tone. They have been on one (1) date so the emotional investment is not really tracking for me for two experienced adults, but I can't tell if I am supposed to find this all weird and confusing or just go with it. It feels like the show just wants me to accept the shortcuts and buy into them as a serious romance, so okay I guess!

Speaking of betraying Korn, Great's plan was abysmal. He steals the information from Korn's phone (so considerate of him to spell out his criminal conspiracy including names and locations in one convenient text chain), tells Tyme everything without any knowledge of what his brother did, then walks right into an active hostage situation in his designer whites and shows his face to all Korn's goons. Korn is gonna know you did this, bro! Do you care?

It seems that Nan has a friend who was killed in a similar fashion to Tyme's parents, though I'm still curious how they connected and came up with this plan.

I still got nothing on this Lukwa connection. Why are she and Great the only two experiencing this phenomenon, and why did they see each other in this liminal space?

Also noting that there were several sex scenes this episode and no condoms or lube anywhere. I guess this show only depicts safe and realistic sex when they have a sponsor paying them.

[fatkish]

Could you do a Aizawa x criminal daughter please? His daughter started stealing because of social pressure or something, but Aizawa found out because one day she and her friends were trying to steal something big (a bank or a hoter or something) and she was shooted or catched by the police and he was there patrolling by the zone.

I love your writing btw

Aizawa x Daughter Reader Drabble

Criminal Activity

You knew that your friend (f/n) was dating someone who wasn’t the best character. The person they had began dating was a thug and was constantly causing trouble. One day your friend’s boyfriend was in trouble and was found by a group of thugs. Apparently the guy had owed the thugs money but of course he was a coward and fled, leaving behind your friend. When you found out from their now ex-boyfriend, you decided you would try to help your friend.

When you tried to save your friend, the thugs threatened to hurt them, and began to use them as a hostage. Unwilling to risk your friend’s life, you had no choice but to do what they said. Your friend’s ex owed them 200,000 yen and they demanded that you find a way to repay them or your friend would die. One of the guys had a quirk that allowed him to silence people and make deals with them. His quirk was called blood oath. Basically once his blood makes contact with someone else’s, he’s able to make a deal with them.

He made you make a deal with him. You swore to get them the money and not report them to the authorities or your friend would be killed. When you left, you began to pickpocket and had managed to scrounge up about 3500 yen. You knew time was sensitive and you had to be quick. As you grew more desperate, you became sloppy. Leading to you getting caught by the cops. Unknown to you, your best friend Shinso, had learned about your situation and decided to help you and take matters into his own hands.

Aizawa was called down to the station and was informed of your criminal acts. When he tried to question you you desperately wanted to tell him everything but the oath made your hands cover your mouth and bite your tongue so hard it bled. Aizawa knew that something was definitely wrong so he asked if someone had used their quirk on you. You couldn’t say anything and started to cry fearing for your friends life. Aizawa was worried for you since he knows that you’re a good kid and was worried you got in some kind of trouble.

As you cried, Aizawa’s phone rang. When he looked at the screen it showed a text from Shinso.

‘(Y/n)’s friend is being held hostage by some thugs’

‘Image attachment’

When Aizawa opened the image it showed your friend being tied to a chair with some thugs in the background. Aizawa then informed the police who dispatched heroes and police to rescue your friend. When your friend was brought in for questioning they explained the entire situation and how one of them used their quirk on you. When Aizawa and the police took their statements they decided to let you go and not press charges since you basically had nothing else you could do and were also a victim.

When Aizawa got you home he sat with you and you finally were able to tell him everything. You told him about how scared you were and how you were worried about your friend. He consoled you as you cried into his arms as he hugged you. You told him how you didn’t want your friend to die and he knows what that’s like. That night you both snuggled on the couch and watched tv while you ate dinner.

[its-a-cautionary-tale]

This wave of people joining “creators for Palestine” has me really frustrated.

I have no issue with supporting the right to safety and freedom for the people of Palestine and I have no issue with wanting to help but I DO have an issue with the organizations that they are choosing to support.

One of the main organizations is the UNRWA, a confirmed Hamas puppet. The UNRWA is actively stealing aid from civilians, and members were actively a part of the October 7th massacre and held hostages in their homes. Why would you want to send them money?!?!?

The amount of misinformation and disinformation that is being spread at the moment is absolutely appalling. Israel isn’t “not sending enough aid”, Hamas is attacking humanitarian aid crossings and stealing the aid that they do let in.

In many of the cases of these creators, I do believe that they have only the best intentions but they are choosing to support a terror organization rather than actually helping the people they claim to care about.

There are also so many people denying the very legitimate REASONS that Israel is doing what they’re doing. I’m not saying I support everything they are doing but I understand why they’re doing it. If you want safety and freedom for the Palestinian people, you have to support the destruction of Hamas. There will be no peace until they are gone. It’s really a simple matter when you strip it down to the basics (not the conflict itself, that’s very complicated, but the reality of the current situation regarding any hope for peace).

Anyway… I now have to decide if I’m going to unfollow all of these creators whose work otherwise brings me joy. They are contributing to the false narrative and waving a literal imperial flag under the guise of “indigenous liberation” (don’t even get me started on the stupid fucking watermelons…)

If anyone has any advice about how to deal with this (tips on separating the content from the creator perhaps) or people who ARE doing good work and are actually helping the situation, please let me know.

This post is most specifically about SMOSH but it applies to a lot of creators. I’m so tired, and I can’t even begin to imagine how the Jewish people in those circles are feeling. People have been calling for Noah Grossman to be fired for being Jewish a zionist for months now, this cannot be helping that situation. I want him to know that the people with critical thinking skills and fucking basic understanding of the complicated history and current situation in the Middle East support him.

[hilacopter]

are you pro isreal?

listen bud. I hate hate HATE the Israeli government and military and think the situation in Gaza is unacceptable. I don't think the IDF is deliberately trying to cleanse Gaza, if they were they would be doing so much quicker, but tens of thousands of civilian casualties is still absolutely horrid. but the thing is I myself am Israeli so obviously when people blame the entire fucking population and justify a massacre against us I'm not gonna be chill with it. I know you think we're all evil blood drinking babykillers who cheer on Palestinian deaths like they're fireworks but believe it or not we're actually humans with basic empathy and the sane people here (everyone aside from extreme right-wingers) don't want to kill millions of people actually. you want my stance? I'm pro-peace. pro-war-not-happening actually. a mutual ceasefire needs to be reached, stopping the killings in Gaza and releasing the Israeli hostages. Hamas and the current Israeli government both need to gtfo and perhaps take a nice swim in an active volcano, being replaced by people with brains and human decency. a peace agreement needs to be reached and Israel needs to give back some land it has unrightfully conquered through war (which isn't all of Israel btw, maybe learn the history of the conflict you're talking about) for a peaceful two-state solution. I hate how pacifism is now a hot take. the solution to war is peace, not cleansing of your chosen Bad People™.

[vickyvicarious]

“What could I do but bow acceptance? It was Mr. Hawkin’s interest; not mine, and I had to think of him, not myself; and besides, while Count Dracula was speaking, there was that in his eyes and in his bearing which made me remember that I was a prisoner, and that if I wished it I could have no choice. The Count saw his victory in my bow, and his mastery in the trouble of my face, for he began at once to use them, but in his own smooth, resistless way”

I'm having a bit of trouble understanding what he means by "he began at once to use them, but in his own smooth, resistless way." As in, using his victory and mastery upon Jonathan?

Also oof, Jonathan is so aware that from Dracula's body language alone, he is the captor, and that any choices he's giving Jonathan are smoke and mirrors..m

Yes. So, basically, Dracula can see from Jonathan's reaction that he has won this interaction. Jonathan has read the room (it says DANGER DANGER DANGER) and isn't going to break this delicate balance where neither of them admit to this being a hostage situation. He's playing along, because he correctly reads that refusal will mean a worse situation for him. At least if they're still playing pretend that this is a friendly interaction, Dracula won't be outright locking Jonathan in a dungeon or physically hurting him or whatever else (vampire stuff, not that Jonathan knows that for sure here). So Jonathan bows acceptance. He 'willingly agrees' to stay another month, and tacitly accepts the lie that Dracula has been an excellent host/employer who deserves his utmost efforts in whatever way he wishes, because it's his job to answer those wishes. After all, he can't disappoint Mr. Hawkins (yet another form of power Dracula holds over Jonathan, even outside all supernatural/physical power - he could potentially hurt his career and maybe even that of his boss).

So yeah. Dracula sees Jonathan agree to all this. And he knows he's won. Perhaps Jonathan's silent bow even indicates to him how bitter a pill it is for Jonathan to swallow, that he doesn't even want to say it aloud. So Dracula, loving to make things worse, immediately starts to use his victory to ask for more. Specifically, by being "smooth, resistless", he's putting on a super charming front. His suavest voice, his most charming smile. He's acting super nice while he makes Jonathan actively lie about his safety and condition. He implements his mastery of the situation to force Jonathan to go along with him in a way that not only will serve Dracula by removing potential suspicion from others, but is also designed to make Jonathan feel complicit. (He also gave Jonathan three envelopes, but Jonathan only wrote two letters. This may suggest to Dracula that his guest has few people who would miss him, or at least who he feels any need to explain his absence to. Additional info.)

Not to spoil any specifics, but... this is a pattern. Both the "being extra charming in the worst moments" and the "making people feel complicit" stuff.

(If you want, I also wrote a meta last year comparing some of Dracula's wordplay in this scene with a later scene on September 18th, but it's obviously got spoilers. )

[titleknown]

I feel like what's most galling to a lot of us about the election is that, due to the monopoly inherent in the two-party system + first-past-the-post, there's basically no way for us to punish center-dems; and especially those in the higher party structure specifically, for their bullshit without fucking ourselves with a Republican hellscape.

It's basically "Fuck over your base, get a prize," with zero accountability because it's a hostage situation. The people who need so much they refuse to fight for, things like healthcare; housing; not letting us all fucking die to climate change; are pulled back by the fact that it's either them or the fascist death cult, and they never lose their fucking jobs over it when they fail us whether they win or lose the election.

And, even as someone fucking terrified of Project 2025, I can still get why someone would want to take the only route they know how to make these bastards face actual consequences for their actions and let them burn.

The trouble is, as I implied before, the idea that Dems will actually learn something when they lose has never fucking worked in the modern era.

They didn't learn shit with Gore, they didn't learn shit with Kerry, they certainly didn't learn shit with Hillary. Obama's actual wins could've taught them something, but they flushed those lessons right down the toilet as soon as Obama's first day in office!

Most of the haggard Skeksis who haven't had the decency to die that made those decisions are still setting the tempo of the party, even as it's fucked them, and they have a network of pundits at places like the Atlantic and the NYT insulating them from their base when they're not actively shitting on it.

So letting Trump win won't even work as a form of consequences! And I don't think a third party's going to work because like... we couldn't even get Bernie past their hegemony, do you think we'll be able to get something that's even more fucked over by both parties off the ground? Not without something like ranked choice voting, that's for sure!

But, on the flipside, the problem with the "Vote Blue No Matter Who" side of things is, and I speak as someone who again is terrified of Project 2025, that mindset gives no actual ideas on how to change this.

The closest we got was the "we can push him left" narrative, which people pooh-pooh as something they dropped the ball on, but I think the tragedy of it was not that it didn't happen, but that it actually did.

Like, Biden's views were pushed left of where he's been before, he's taken some policies from the progressive wing (The big ones being in the realm of antitrust IMO) but, as current events have shown, there's extensive limits to that and we hit them hard way earlier than anyone was hoping, because there's only so much you can polish a turd.

So like, I offer a question: If we're not pushed into Donnie's Fascist Coup Plan in 2025, what would longterm, organized action to force accountability on the Dems look like?

What would an organization to chase out the Skeksis inhabiting both their media apparatus and the party itself that have been failing us for over 30 years, a movement saying "Enough is enough" at us being used as props to be milked for votes then ignored at a strength and volume we never have before, look like?

I may as well tag in @afloweroutofstone, but the question is open to the rest of y'all too.

[hevexns-realm]

Okay, here’s a headcanon for y’all. It has an angsty scenario, so be warned.

Nazo speaks different languages when he’s genuinely angry, like, pissed. Or when he hurt himself on accident.

And sonic has an Australian accent that comes out when that happens too. Which can lead to an encounter with dark sonic.

So imagine a scenario where they both would get angry at each other… say a massive disagreement over how to deal with a new villain that took Amy hostage, and is threatening to use her life force to power something.

Sonic is the first one to get genuinely angry at nazo and starts cursing at him in the accent, but nazo isn’t really phased at Sonic’s outburst of rage. He’s delt with dark Sonic previously himself. Along with him being a traumatized gen Z kid (2006), he’s not the type of guy to be intimidated easily. That is until Sonic decides to fuck around and find out and say that the only reason why he’s so calm is because his beloved seelkadoom or Iris aren’t in Amy’s situation, basically saying he doesn’t care about Amy… bad decision.

Nazo starts going off on Sonic in a different language, fluently. However, you can clearly see it struck a nerve with him, because he was panting heavily and had to back into a wall to try and calm down once he finished cussing Sonic out. However, Sonic isn’t the type to quit either, and kept yelling at him, cussing him out, and trying to get closer.

Seelkadoom and shadow were about to intervene, that is until they heard the little sobs of cream. She entered right before Nazo went off on Sonic, and it honestly kind of hurt everyone in the room that she had to hear this, especially since she never heard Nazo go off like that in all the times he’s babysat her for vanilla.

Speaking of vanilla, she is pissed. I’m talking like she’s about to murder someone in cold blood because someone made cream cry, but Sonic didn’t stop until he heard vanilla’s voice.

V: “Boys.”

Silence, complete and utter silence outside of cream’s hiccups and Nazo’s heavy breathing. Everyone was staring at her, waiting for what could happen.

V: “Sonic. My living room. Now.”

And with that, cream is left in shadow’s care as seelkadoom tries to calm nazo down. You can hear vanilla drop the bombshell in the hall across the living room.

V: “Sonic, I am not mad, just.. disappointed in you..”

You can hear Sonic crying in the hallway as he’s being scolded about his behavior towards nazo and cream, saying she expected much better from him in this situation. As he’s considered a leader, and a leader wouldn’t be trying to actively make someone snap and keep on being violent and aggressive with them afterwards. Especially when loved ones are at stake.

Eventually, Nazo is called in. He was fidgeting with his gloves and he was expecting the worst, but surprisingly, vanilla was not as mean to him as she was with Sonic. While she was stern, she was aware Nazo was trying to be a good influence for not only everyone here, but for her daughter as well. While what Sonic said was out of line, and that his outburst was valid, he was a leader as well; times of high stakes shouldn’t be made worse with pettiness and rage. He should have left the room and let shadow try and calm him down.. but in the heat of the moment, she understood that not much else could’ve been done after Sonic’s comment.

N: “I.. I’m really sorry, vanilla. I didn’t mean for any of that to happen, and to make your daughter cry..”

Apologies aren’t Nazo’s strength via words, more with actions, but it gave vanilla some reassurance that he’s trying to be a better influence for cream and cheese..!

V: “I understand that you didn’t mean to, and I forgive you.. just try to keep yourself together. Stressful times like these aren’t the time for rage and pettiness.”

Vanilla puts a hand on nazo’s head, rubbing it softly. This made Nazo surprised.. then he tears up slightly, not really sure what he was supposed to feel in this situation… but he knew one thing, it’s something he never felt before, but yet it gave him so much relief that he felt like crying..

V: “now, would you like to go and apologize to cream?”

Nazo looks up at vanilla and nods softly before wiping his tears.

N: “yes, it shouldn’t be just you that I apologize to..”

After Nazo apologizes to cream, everyone starts getting ready for bed. Well, until Sonic trips and falls down the stairs. You better believe seelkadoom got a recording and photos of that while everyone was laughing their asses off!

Mutual tag list for my ✨au with no name✨:

@hunniegl4zed @nutnbreaddo