#it's not murder

[mangotangerine]

inm ch43 snippet

I don't know that I'm going to get the chapter out in time for the appropriate Vox Humiliation Week day, so here's one of two scenes (under the cut):

“No, not like that,” Alastor sighs from where he stands in the middle of the living room, Vox on his hands and knees at his feet. “You have to—you’re doing it wrong.”

Vox gives Alastor an incredulous look, because he’s not supposed to talk. Dogs don’t talk.

“Bark bark,” Vox says instead.

With another heavy sigh, Alastor rolls his eyes. “I told you, that’s not—you’re too large of a dog to bark like that. It’d be more like a… a low woof woof,” Alastor says, sounding more like a dog than any dog Vox has ever met.

“Woof woof,” Vox says, an attempt to copy Alastor. His fiancé makes a complicated face—Vox knows that face, that’s the ‘you did something really stupid and I don’t want to be mean about it but it’s just so stupid, so dumb, wow’ face.

“Better,” Alastor says, sounding pained.

Vox sits back on his heels, giving Alastor a dry look.

“Dogs don’t—they wouldn’t sit like that,” Alastor says, then shakes his head. “Never mind. Let’s move on. I got—sit. Stay.” He leaves the room and returns quickly with a bag.

Of dog treats.

Are you fucking kidding me, Vox wants to say, but he’s a method actor. He keeps his human words inside.

“I’m going to teach you tricks,” Alastor says. “If you’re good, you get a treat.”

I don’t want fucking Milk-Bones, Vox thinks to himself. At least he bought the brand name shit.

Alastor pulls an honest-to-god clicker out of his pocket, and Vox feels his mouth drop open. Alastor mistakes it as a bid for treats, because he says, “No, you have to do the trick first.”

I love this man so fucking much, what is wrong with me?

Alastor gives him a command and Vox follows it flawlessly. He expects the Milk-Bone—not that he’d actually eat it… probably, anyway—but Alastor makes a frustrated noise instead.

“Dogs wouldn’t—dogs don’t speak human—you wouldn’t know what I mean right away. You have to—you have to pretend.”

Vox exhales sharply, then smiles placatingly at Alastor. His fiancé narrows his eyes, gaze wary. “You know that’s aggressive body language, right? I mean—well, you’re not showing teeth yet, but… dogs don’t smile. Like that.”

“How do dogs smile, then?” Vox asks, eyebrow raised.

“Shhh,” Alastor hisses. “Don’t talk, you’re ruining it.”

I’m ruining it?!

“Dogs don’t smile, it’s—I mean, if it were a cat, the… the slow blink they do. That’s a smile. For a dog, it’s more of a tail wag sort of situation. Anyway. Roll over.”

Vox cocks his head to the side and stares at Alastor like he didn’t understand. Alastor stares at him for a long moment before he frowns, and says again, “Roll over.”

Again, Vox sits—stands?—exists on his hands and knees as if he does not understand Alastor’s English words.

“Roll over,” Alastor says again.

“You’re supposed to demonstrate, I think,” Vox says.

“Dogs—”

“—don’t talk, yeah. Baby, I feel like you’re not really getting what this is supposed to be about.”

“You’re role playing an animal,” Alastor says, eyebrows furrowed. “I’m role playing as the owner.”

“It’s supposed to be like… a kinky sex thing, you know?”

Alastor makes a horrified face. “With animals?!” he yelps, scandalized.

[aropride]

did… did she do that?

[noodles-07]

to be fair to Cain if nobody had ever died before and I didn't know it was possible I would probably also hit my brother over the head with a rock if he was being really annoying

[goldensunset]

‘this could be us’ and it’s an image of one person

[inkskinned]

it's extremely critical that you see the photo of the perp walk for luigi mangione as being propaganda. i've seen so many people wave it off and instead fawn over his looks. and trust me, i know it ended up being kind of pathetic and weird - but please don't brush it off as a "modelling opportunity" for him. it's a fucking terrifying message the police are sending.

i want to make a few comparisons here, in case you're not from the US or familiar with why the perp walk thing is something to pay attention to. just to set the groundwork for why this is a purposeful, unusual, and cruel act by the nyc police - for why this is not a common occurrence and for why that matters.

the prosecution alleges the show of force is due to the charge of "terrorism." for comparison, in june 2015, tsarnaev was found guilty for the boston marathon bombing, which killed 3 people and injured hundreds. his actions are considered to be an act of domestic terrorism. i have spent the last hour looking through google for pictures of similar to mangione's perp walk - and so far, i have found zero. i also just do not personally remember a moment like that, despite living in boston at the time.

they allege that luigi is a stone-cold killer who carried out a longterm plan, making him particularly dangerous. again for comparison: in nyc, recently cory martin was found guilty of the killing of brandy odom. the murder was planned and premeditated to steal insurance money. and yet no staged perp walk. why didn't her life matter enough for a "show of force"?

but mangione gets paraded by a veritable army of police officers as if he is a rabid animal. for a single citizen who allegedly killed one other single citizen, the "largest perp walk ever" occurs.

so what is the "strong message" that the mayor and the police were trying to send here? the mayor speaks as if mangione is already convicted of terrorism. there is a very thin number of people who feel threatened by the CEO's death. none of us felt like mangione needs to be under massive armed guard.

the message is that you shouldn't resist. they are trying to "make an example" of him - that if you behave badly and kill a single rich person, you'll be treated as if you killed hundreds of people. you will be treated worse than a man who was found guilty of terrorism. you will be considered guilty without trial. the message is that the rich are a protected class, and you cannot touch them without massive punishment. they are trying to prevent a revolution by showing dominance and force against you.

the message is that the police are a puppet of the wealthy and that the law is not equally applied across class disparity. it is "some are more equal than others." it is "one life is more precious than another."

the show of force wasn't for luigi. it was for us. it was a warning. they are trying to remind us who is really in control.

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

person trying to get out of a timeloop but they keep getting brutally murdered by the other person stuck in the timeloop, who is having the most amazing vacation of their life and refuses to leave

[victusinveritas]

[purpleminte]

God sending his silliest soldier:

[starlightfae]

me, last week: my favorite holiday is coming up :3c mom: ? easter? st patrick's day? me: no no, it's not a holiday as in 'you get time off work' me: me: unless you and your coworkers all do something really funny

[hansoeii]

hannigram

[mangotangerine]

inm ramblings

I'm trying so hard not to write alastor and vox double team travis, idk if I will succeed guys. i don't know if i can hold myself back.

[rocktheholygrail]

Hannibal (2013-2015)

One of the crew members said it took six people holding the door up on the other side to keep Mads from breaking it down

[brainrotcharacters]

When irl pisses me off, I rewatch the Honda Odyssey scene to relax

[sexygaywizard]

Have not talked to my brother in 8 years because he went down a sad alt-right pipeline but he just gifted me a yaoi game on Steam for Christmas?? lol

[annabelle--cane]

to me the appeal of pathetic vampires is similar to the appeal of stupid cats. you have the teeth and claws to rip through flesh to your heart's content, but here you are. paw stuck to a quilt. staring woefully with eyes the size of saucers to get someone to help. same goes for a vampire failing miserably to use a touchscreen because his fingers are too cold.