#mining recruitment agency

[age-of-moonknight]

“Party Monster,” Moon Knight (Vol. 9/2021), #18.

Writer: Jed MacKay; Penciler and Inker: Federico Sabbatini; Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg; Letterer: Cory Petit

[metamatar]

Employers desire foreign workers who are accustomed to the hazardous work sites of industrial construction; in particular, they specifically solicit migrants who do not have a history of labor organizing within SWANA. In response, labor brokerage firms brand themselves as offering migrant workers who are deferential. Often, labor brokers conflate the category of South Asian with docility; [...] as inherently passive, disciplined, and, most important, unfettered by volatile working conditions. "We say quality, they [U.S. employers] say seasoned. We both know what it means. Workers who are not going to quit, not going to run away in the foreign country and do as they are told.” [...]

For migrants, the U.S. oil industry presents a rare chance to apply their existing skill set in a country with options for permanent residency and sponsorship of family members. Migrants wish to find an end to their tem­porary worker status; they imagine the United States as a liberal economy in which labor standards are enforced and there are opportunities for citizenship and building a life for their family. [...] What brokers fail to explain is that South Asian migrants are being recruited as guest workers. Migrants will not have access to U.S. citizenship or visas for family members; in fact, their employment status will be quite similar to their SWANA migration.

While nations such as the Philippines have both state-mandated and independent migrant rights agencies, the Indian government has minimal avenues for worker protection. These are limited to hotlines for reporting abusive foreign employers and Indian consulates located in a few select countries of the SWANA region. [... Brokers] emphasize the docility of Indian migrants in comparison to the disruptive tendencies of other Asian migrant workers. [...] “Some of these Filipino men you see make a lot of trouble in the Arab countries. Even their women, who work as maids and such, lash out. The employer says one wrong thing and the workers get the whole country [the Philippines] on the street. [...] But you don’t see our people creating a tamasha [spectacle] overseas.” [...] Just as Filipinx migrants are racialized to be undisciplined labor, Indian brokers construct divisions within the South Asian workforce to promote the primacy of their own firms. In particular, Pakistani workers are racialized as an abrasive population.

[...] While the public image of the South Asian American community remains as model minorities, presumed to be primarily upwardly mobile professionals, the global reality of the population is quite to the contrary. [...] From the historic colonial routes initiated by British occupation of South Asia to the emergence of energy markets within the countries of SWANA, migrants have been recruited to build industries by contributing their labor to construction projects. Within the last decade, these South Asian migrants, with experience in the SWANA oil industry, have been actively solicited as guest workers into the energy sector of the United States. The growth of hydraulic fracturing has opened new territory for oil extraction; capitalizing on the potential market are numerous stakeholders who have invested in industrial construction projects across the southwestern United States. The solicitation of South Asian construction workers is not coincidental. [...] Kartik, a globally competitive firm’s broker, explains the connection of Indian labor to practices of the past. “You know we come from a long history of working in foreign lands. Even the British used to send us to Africa and the Arab regions to work in the mines and oil fields. It’s part of our history.”

Seasoning Labor: Contemporary South Asian Migrations and the Racialization of Immigrant Workers, Saunjuhi Verma in the Journal of Asian American Studies

[ja3hwa]

♡ 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟑: 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲 - 𝐂.𝐒 ♡

Make You Mine

【sʏɴᴏᴘsɪs】 : San can't help but send death glares to any man that tried to have your attention for too long. Too bad you dont belong to him... yet.

『ᴡᴏ��ᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ』 : 1.87k 

-> ɢᴇɴʀᴇ: Suggestive. Office Au.

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: CEO!San x Assistant!Reader

[ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢs] : Man handling. Pet names. Dominance kink. Choking kink. Fingering.use of the name slut. Slight Exhibitionism kink. Mention of sex. Making out. Edging.

Thank you, @wooya1224 , for requesting San for this day ♡♡♡.

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He was staring you down like a piece of meat. His lips were snarled as he watched you standing among newcomers. Recruits from a highly skilled agency, joining the team company for the moment until they later get filtered out to other buildings that lay under Choi San’s name. Choi, the largest family company in Korea. San took over soon after his father passed, he was only twenty-five when it happened. But he grew up quickly, so naturally, taking the role of CEO was easy. It was hard, and the toll it took on him was painful. But the one thing he looked forward to every time he came into work was you.

His pretty little assistant.

You were young, just turning twenty-one when you joined his team. That was three years ago now. He always made sure to have you by his side whenever he could. Oh, he needed a coffee? He’d make sure to grab one for you, but not a coffee, no, no, you like a hot chocolate no matter the weather cause you only like sweet things. He needed to organize planners and meetings, he’d make sure you were sitting with him in his office while you both chat the day away as he worked on the planners. Grabbing lunch? Always without fail he’d grab you something to eat, drop it off in front of you on your desk along with a white chocolate and raspberry cookie and before you could even tell him he didn’t need to buy you food, he was gone. Slipping into his private closed office space.

To say he was in love with you was the only thing to mention. And no, he did not have a crush or a thing… he wasn’t a player looking for a hookup even though practically every woman that worked for him and all the past assistants threw themselves at him. He didn’t budge.

Until you.

He was a man, deeply in love, the moment he laid eyes on you. A sweet thing looking for her first big girl job. You were smart, reliable, friendly, and oh that smile you make every time you look at him. His heart would swoon every time you sent it his way. You were the definition of perfect. And he wanted you as his. So seeing these new men, crowding you at the office party made his blood boil. No man was worth your attention, even he at times. Wooyoung, A friend of San’s seemed to take notice of the way San’s nostrils were flared and his brow was knitted with frustration. He could practically see steam pouring out of his best friend's ears.

“If you’re so mad, go talk to her instead.” Wooyoung nudged San, snapping him out of his stare for a moment to shoot a quick glance at the younger, only merely grunting in response before turning back. “Come on boss man, tell her you like her. You know she likes you right.”

Okay, Wooyoung officially has San’s attention now. “What now?”

“You didn’t know? Of course, you didn’t see it, you are so stupid sometimes.” The young one laughs, chuckling thickly. He couldn’t believe his old brooding friend was so blinded by the idea of you being someone he could call his. Before San could respond, his eyes shifted to your suddenly moving figure. You were walking away with Lucas, one of the new recruits following you like a lost puppy. San’s brain was suddenly on high alert. Where were you going? Why was Lucas going with you? He needed to know, and he needed to find out now. “Hey wait, where are you going?”

San didn’t answer instead he strode through the crowds of people, weaving around bright faces thinking they’d gotten the chance to talk to the quiet boss, but was quickly greeted with a grunt for them to move, or a long-distance stare that was nowhere near wanted pointed in their direction. No, San was on a mission and had no time for chit-chat from anyone other than whatever Lucas could possibly say to keep your attention. Jealous was reeling through The large man’s veins and he did not care in the slightest. And once he turned the corner seeing you trapped in the hallway with Lucas too close to you for comfort, he knew he had to act quickly. Taking large steps, he made his presence known to both of you. You snapped you glance to San’s the moment he was in view but Lucas, well, he simply pretended the older male didn’t exist. He only wanted you, and to have you in his mind, so the boss just had to wait.

“What do we have here?” San’s deep velvet voice sent shivers down both your and Lucas’s spines. But they were both very different effects. Lucas swallowed thickly trying to keep up the tough guy act, while you melted, squeezing your thighs while never breaking eye contact with your employer. “The party is back there.”

San had no time for games, but a part of him didn’t want to scare you into thinking he was being controlling. Yes, he wanted you to himself, and he wanted nothing more than to show Lucas exactly why you belonged to him. But alas, you weren’t his…

Yet.

“Oh hey, boss we are just getting to know each other a little more.” Lucas didn’t even let his eyes leave your figure, not paying the taller, broader man standing in his frustration behind his attention. That pissed off San, and a snap went off, grabbing the collar of Lucas’s and tugging it back making the small man let out a cough. He stepped back trying to save his breath but San kept pulling back, making Lucas not able to breathe.

“I don’t think this beautiful woman is interested in whatever comes out of your filthy mouth.” San’s voice was deep, seductive. Everything was screaming sex appeal and you wanted more. San finally let go of the other man's shirt, letting him finally suck a jagged cough in. He held his neck, feeling a soreness begin to form;

“You fucking ass.” Was all Lucas could say, going to stand but San caged you for a moment, checking to see you were okay. You quickly nodded giving your boss a smile, letting him turn around to see Lucas running at him. Why? You couldn’t understand that, it’s not like Lucas could do anything against someone like Choi San. “Why can’t you just―.”

Lucas’s words were cut short as Sans's left hand cupped his neck, pushing the smaller male against the wall next to you. San’s grip got tighter and his eyes were darker than normal. You watched intensely, seeing the soft smile disappear from San’s features, being replaced by one of a sadistic nature. Heat grew in your core, seeing San rough up the pathetic excuse for a man. The way his fingers are wrapped so beautifully around his neck, the way he holds Lucas’s life in his hand. Call you crazy but the scene in front of you turned you on more than you’d admit.

“Just what hmm? Why can’t I leave and let you continue to harass my girl? Hmm, let me think… One, that gorgeous thing next to us belongs to me. Two, You are a waste of space and you’re lucky I don’t fire you for harassment. And three, if I ever see you near my girl or any of the women here for that matter, I will ruin you to the point no one will ever hire you. Do you understand?”

Lucas nodded.

“Do. You. Unerstand.” He punctuated every word with a loud, deep whisper. Lucas started nodding like an idiot, before coughing out.

“y-yes s-si-irr.”

San let him go after that, making the man fall to his knees, sounding like he was about to cough up a lung. Your boss just stood staring at Lucas with pity and disgust, straightening his own tie before saying. “Go, Before I change my mind.” and with that Lucas ran from the hallway heading straight for the elevators, not wanting to mingle anymore. Silence fell quickly as you both watched Lucas scurry away, but your eyes drew to San soon after, studying his deadpan face. “Your girl huh?”

He turned with a simple smile, stepping closer to where you still stood, leaning against the wall. “Of course you are. As I am yours...” he placed his hand next to your head, tilting his head slightly. “You want that?”

You couldn’t help but smile, taking your chance to lean forward, taking his soft lips against yours. He wasted no time in wrapping his right hand around your waist while the other gripped the back of your head, keeping you in place as he swallowed your moans. You could feel his growing bulge on your thigh, through his slacks. The fighting must have excited him a bit, along with…other things. You moaned out his name, bucking your hips in order to find his, but his hand kept you in place. He had to chuckle at how responsive your body was for him, never knowing you could be even more good than you already are.

“My sweet, sweet thing.” He groaned between kisses, “You just need someone to hold, you.” His hand that held your hip, moved down slowly letting his fingers graze the top of your dress pants before slipping into your panties “Someone to touch you where you need it.” His left hand that held the back of your head suddenly moves to snake around your throat, making your eyes widen at his bold move, but he just smirks, eyes dark, filling with lust. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the way you clenched your pretty thighs at me strangling that dickhead before. How your eyes sparkled…”

He tightened his grip slightly making your head begin to spin in the best way possible. Spreading your stance more you let his index finger slide against your soaking cunt, letting out a moan from the pleasure surging through your body like a firecracker. “S-San please…”

“Shh it’s okay baby. You just a dirty little slut, needing to be pleased no matter who might see. But don’t worry my darling, I’ll make sure to fuck you good once I get you back to mine. Well unless I get too patient and decided to fuck you in my car.”

You couldn’t help but yelp when San pinched your clit. He crashed his lips against yours one more time letting his hand that sat beautifully on your neck squeeze a little tighter. It felt like he was literally stealing the air out of your lungs and before you could do anything he pulled away entirely, and if it wasn’t for the fact he grabbed your waist you would of fallen on your knees from how wobbly your legs became. He kept his hand around your waist, helping you get your footing before giving you a gentle smile unlike the sinisterly cheeky one you saw prior.

“Let’s get out of here hmm? I still wanna fuck you before the day ends.”

Nope still sinister and still very cheeky...

- ♥︎

[murfpersonalblog]

I wanted to respond to this post & tags by @mdeitrick13, after I saw @fishjellylou's response here.

I HATE book!film!Louis. It's actually a very popular opinion, esp. wrt film!Louis--there's a lot to hate, without ever getting into morality politics--from his plethora of stupid life choices, to his hypocrisy, to his whiny attitude, etc. And wrt to pimps & slavery specifically, we can get into all the ways owning & controlling people's bodies, freedom, & autonomy/agency is effed up. But where exactly does LOUIS exhibit any of that behavior towards Armand--book, film, and esp. on the show??? 🤔

Almighty all-powerful all-gifted uber-privileged vamps can get away with literal murder: Lestat can spitefully beat the hell out of Lou, Armand can sadistically torture HUMAN!Daniel, the coven can gleefully kill Claudia & Madeleine (who literally did nothing), Armand can petulantly drive the mentally ill (Nicki & Louis) to suicide--but disenfranchised weak AF desperate HUMAN!Black Louis is "worse" than all of the vamps, cuz he was a pimp who tried navigating the crap hand he'd been dealt the most effective way he could? 🤨🤨🤨

What did Louis do as a human pimp that makes him so much "worse" as a person than Armand is? Since when does AMC/the show or Lou absolve himself of guilt for being a pimp OR a vampire? In Lou's eyes, evil is evil, and he doesn't give vampires a pass AT ALL--eff all the "biological imperatives" Rashid was simpering about. Since when are demonic serial killing cannibals given a pass in the IWTV Morality Olympics, over prostitution? Cuz prostitution & vampirism BOTH exploit human vulnerability & weakness & bodies, and by the show's logic, one is no better or worse than the other--ALL vampires on this show are COMPLICIT as predators feeding off the lives & miseries of humans. Santiago only used the stupid "vampires are monsters" excuse to justify his personally-motivated vendetta to kill Louis, dismissing Lou's experiences to absolve Lestat's flagrant abuse of power against the man he claimed to love whom he knew was weaker than him and thus intentionally "broke."

The whole point of show!Loumand's dynamic is right here:

ARMAND, the 400+ year old Coven Master, stalked & approached & invited & courted LOUIS. Louis never spoke or utilized his past as a pimp when they met. Armand knew Louis was afraid of him ("I thought he was going to kill me....I sensed his ancient power"), and he promised Louis (who'd suffered from SEVERE PTSD after the last older more powerful vampire broke every bone in his body), that he would never hurt Louis, "and I never have," LOL.

In ANY of Loumand's courtship, where does Louis having formerly been a pimp give him ANY advantage over Armand, or the coven? 🤔

Where does pimp!Louis factor in as the "gross" part of their meeting & courtship--when Lou explicitly told Armand & the whole coven that they were NOT companions, and that he had ZERO interest in Armand tryna RECRUIT Louis to join Armand's coven (*cough* CULT *cough*)? 🤔 Who's pimping whom in this situationship? 🤔

Esp. since Claudia's the one who was actually recruited, to try to lure LOUIS in as the one they REALLY wanted to join, so offended when Lou refused ("[Madeleine] must join or die."). They used the same Charles Manson-style cult tactics on Claudia AND Louis!

Rolin explicitly used Charles Manson music in 1x5, but y'all keep missing the links between Lestat & Armand's treatment of Louis & Claudia to talk about how Armand was groomed & abused--by WHOM?! Certainly not LOUIS! And here the tags go AGAIN tryna link Louis with Marius. 🤦‍♀️ (I cannot WAIT till y'all show-onlies actually see Marius in action, not just picking up crap from hearsay.)

Where is Louis the predator out to harm Armand? How is Armand the one being "grossly" threatened by Lou, pimp or otherwise? When did Louis rape Armand, or pimp him out, or "donate" him to someone else? For all Louis' claims that "he's mine" cuz Lou got to top someone who's not his Maker, how does Louis actually come out on top or benefit, being with Armand? 🤔

For all Armand's simpering about "Are you asking me or making me, Maitre?," where does Louis FORCE Armand to do ANYTHING? Louis states what he wants to do/happen (make Madeleine for Claudia; save Daniel from Armand killing him), and Lou gives Armand the CHOICE to do it it or not. Armand could've had the whole coven descend on Lou the night Lou made Madeleine (as we see in the movie, which clearly noticed the same thing)--instead, we learn that he was actually writing/rehearsing the Trial script the whole time jfc 💀💀💀. He could've snapped Daniel's neck, and what could crispety!Lou have done to stop him, hobbling around all burnt up? But he complies, cuz he'd already sabotaged Loustat's chance to get back together by not telling Lou that Les said he loved him; instead CHOOSING to stay with the man who literally just said he's bored & hates being with Armand & literally just tried to kill himself rather than be with Armand anymore--like WTF???? But ARMAND'S the one who's been in danger from Louis!? 🤣 THIS dude!?

OK, Lou was a pimp, but Armand was running the frikkin vampire MOB in Paris--a literal biker gang of Charles Manson sickos! An effing wet room full of offed "heretics and rule breakers" (inc NICKI, who was NEITHER--SUS!!!) buried in the frikkin walls of his torture-basement, but Lou's "worse" for being a HUMAN!hustler, when Armand's a whole cult-leading mobster his effing self!?

On top of the legit torture we see him do to HUMAN!Daniel, playing with his effing food worse than anything we saw Lestat pull in S1.

(x x x x x)

How does Lou having been a pimp protect him from Armand lying about "Banishment," or having his mind wiped for 77 years, or Armand going behind Lou's back to tear out Claudia's diary pages Lou didn't even know about, or Armand throwing Daniel (& Sam & the Talamasca) under the bus to keep gaslighting Lou about the script?

Where does Louis abuse Armand's trust, lying to control Armand's actions? When has Lou hobbled Armand's bodily autonomy, and the thing Armand can(not) physically do? When did Lou donate Armand to other people? Or act outside of Armand's boundaries/consent?)

The whole point of IWTV is to emphasize LOUIS' vulnerability, and how it's constantly exploited & abused by people more powerful than he is--from humans in NOLA & Romania/Eastern Europe, to vampires in Paris, and especially Lestat.

Armand knew immediately that Louis & Claudia were lying about Bruce being their Maker, cuz he's THE best vampire with the Mind Gift. He knew EVERYTHING, and told Louis to his face in 2x2 that Louis's a terrible liar who can't hide anything or keep secrets from him--just like the last older more powerful vampire read Louis' thoughts & used them to seduce him; "Come to me, Louis."

Armand & the whole coven were Europeans who'd never even met an American vamp before--but they knew Louis was a pimp from New Orleans with a whole failed sugar plantation--cuz they they read his mind; what Claudia explicitly called "invaded their thoughts." Santiago called them BOTH out in 2x3 (more subtly with Claudia but straight up explicitly with Louis, as someone whose mind they could all read way easier than hers).

It especially confuses me when show fans complain all about pimp!Louis being with Armand on the show; but make no noise about slaveowner!Louis being with Armand in the books? (Or they're against pedo!Marius being with Armand, but make no noise about pedo!Lestat being with Armand? Let alone Daniel (who, unlike Marius & Lestat, is NOT an Old World European vamp from a different time period with different morals/ethics), or any adult attracted to a 17 year old's body--including book!Louis?) People have shipped Loumand for decades, yet it's only once Lou's a pimp (amongst other things....) that people suddenly care about poor innocent Armand being abused by the evil thug jezebel who got Armand's daughter killed and lied to Armand about his Maker and allowed Armand to be tortured & humiliated by the public with his ankles slashed open & buried alive for over a MONTH so he couldn't escape? 🙄😒

The Vampire Armand is only ever beaten TWICE: by Santino & the Children of Satan in the books, and by Daniel on the show. That is IT. NO ONE else gets the jump on Armand, or gets the upper hand over him--he's not even one of the ones Rhoshamandes kidnaps! NO ONE effs with TVA, or effs TVA over--HE'S the boogeyman of the vampires preying on his own kind, not the other way around.

The sheer IRONY of Mr. "I Could Not Prevent It" Armand as a character is understanding cycles of violence.

You're missing the whole point of AR/RJ putting the former sex slave Armand in relationships with a slaveowner (book) or a pimp (show). It's about realizing how a former sex slave (kidnapped & trafficked overseas to be tortured so bad that his PTSD gave him amnesia) became a powerful vampire with THEE strongest Mind/Spell Gift powers, leading entire covens/cults purging ALL fledglings in their territories who resisted--thus perpetuating SYSTEMIC & INSTITUTIONALIZED ABUSE.

Armand used & abused Claudia's naivety & Louis' trust in him, cuz he lulls victims into a false sense of security before the trap springs open--"NO PAIN."

AR put Loumand together NOT to make a point about how "gross" it was that slaveowner!Louis was taking advantage of former sex slave Armand. It's about how effing ironic and SAD it is that Armand (the one who IMO experienced THE WORST horrors as a victim of abuse in all of TVC) was now the ONLY one in a position of power to PREVENT things that happened to him from happening to anyone else--and did NOTHING. Or rather: he made already bad situations even WORSE.

Armand weaponizes his past to destroy other peoples' futures, victimizing & harassing & abusing everyone as the Coven Master of that EFFED UP coven. He CLAIMS he cannot prevent bad things from happening, flashing 🥺 all day--only for us to find out that behind the scenes, this mofo was a master manipulator who gaslit & schemed against his lover Louis ("alright, I sold him out"), tricked & abused his frenemy Lestat, mutilated Claudia's body and hid the evidence (I PRAY that ghost!Claudia reveals that the Frankenstein scene from TVA happened), and psychologically tortured his human/fledgling Daniel.

Armand was originally intended to be the main villain of TVC, all the way up until the 3rd book, when AR softened Armand's edges & gave it to Akasha in QotD, and Rhosh in the PL Trilogy. ALL of AR's vamps are sympathetic villains, not cuz one is morally/ethically "better or worse" than the other--arguments have been made even to understand Rhoshamandes & Akasha's perspectives. YES, Armand had horrible things happen to him--but LOUIS is NEVER the one who does those horrible things to him, nor does he EVER benefit from Armand's past. Armand ALWAYS had the advantage over Louis, pimp or no. STOP overestimating the Maitre stupidness! AMC already told y'all what that was about!

But y'all pointedly isolate every other vamp from culpability & accountability under the thinly-veiled guise of caring so much about the freedom/autonomy of people's bodies, when really it only serves to spread hate & vitriol for Louis. All I'm seeing in this fandom is the "GROSS" inequity of how Louis is treated & talked about, versus everyone else, and it's fishy AF.

[identifying-guns-in-posts]

hello! i am a creative who is trying to learn more about guns so i can write them in an informed way, but a lot of the sources i'm finding are like. kinda uncomfortable, in the sense that they're very conservative and kind of reactionary about defending from "Invaders" or whatever. i was wondering if you happen to know of like, youtube channels or blogs (other than this one ofc) that are informative about firearms but also, not, like. sponsored by US military recruitment agencies? sorry for the trouble

Hiya! I totally understand the discomfort. I do have a couple of recommendations to give, but I do also want to share my experiences, too.

Looking back, I'd estimate that about 70% of my arms research has always been with the caveat of having to navigate those kinds of conservative elements, unfortunately. (And another 20% was on sources that weren't very open about it, but I can't recommend for one reason or another after hearing about them from other places) I know it's really unfair, and I wish I had better sources to recommend for deeper knowledge, but to get the best understanding, it may be required to navigate those waters oneself, and focus on separating the educational elements from the ideological bullshit.

And from experience, if you're gonna look at IMFDB (Internet Movie Firearms Database, an extremely well-documented and exhaustive wiki on gun identification with regards to the media they show up in, including video games and anime), I would recommend running Firefox with the latest version of AdBlocker to get rid of the more problematic ads.

Outside of that, I've got a handful of decent recommendations for you to check out still.

Ahoy has some great videos that cover a number of historic firearms, though there is a slight focus on their relation to video games.

Though not a standard educational channel per se, Anton Hand is the creator of Hot Dogs, Horseshoes, and Hand Grenades, a VR game that's a sandbox with advanced firearms simulations, where the only organic creatures are cartoonishly nonhuman sausage creatures, which is an intentional design choice to avoid the game being an Active Shooter Simulator. While his channel is primarily dedicated to updates to the game, whenever he goes about adding in new weapons, historical firearms, attachments, functionalities, etc., he does go into the history of those features fairly often.

I asked a friend of mine, and he recommended InRangeTV, who is a leftist gun blogger, so there's a fitting recommendation, I suppose! I haven't seen this guy before but I already like his vibes quite a bit.

[vickyvicarious]

To one thing I have made up my mind: if we find out that Mina must be a vampire in the end, then she shall not go into that unknown and terrible land alone. I suppose it is thus that in old times one vampire meant many; just as their hideous bodies could only rest in sacred earth, so the holiest love was the recruiting sergeant for their ghastly ranks.

Jonathan, 3 October

She lay in her Vampire sleep, so full of life and voluptuous beauty that I shudder as though I have come to do murder. Ah, I doubt not that in old time, when such things were, many a man who set forth to do such a task as mine, found at the last his heart fail him, and then his nerve. So he delay, and delay, and delay, till the mere beauty and the fascination of the wanton Un-Dead have hypnotise him; and he remain on and on, till sunset come, and the Vampire sleep be over. Then the beautiful eyes of the fair woman open and look love, and the voluptuous mouth present to a kiss—and man is weak. And there remain one more victim in the Vampire fold; one more to swell the grim and grisly ranks of the Un-Dead!…

Van Helsing, 5 November

One thing I noticed this year was the way Van Helsing echoed Jonathan's declaration about lovers joining the ranks of the undead. They both use very similar language, but with a couple huge differences. This makes these quotes almost a reverse of one another in a really interesting way.

Van Helsing's theoretical men who become vampires out of love are very clearly victims. They are foolish, fascinated by a vampire woman's beauty, and don't need to have known her beforehand to be mesmerized. Their hearts fail them, when they allow beauty to stay their hand which had previously been poised to kill the undead they've been hunting.

Jonathan's very real man willing to become a vampire (and his presumed others before him) is making a deliberate choice. He is not being tricked into anything. He knows exactly how horrible a choice he is making, and is in fact doing so well away from the sight of any supernatural beauty or mesmeric power. His heart feels the holiest love, which guides it into darkness rather than ever even consider harming the undead he loves.

Van Helsing's assumption is that the men who falter didn't already know the vampire who eventually turned them, and thus no deeper love is really possible. This is very much not the case for Jonathan's quote. But I think even in that situation, the Professor would still consider Jonathan himself much closer to the foolish, mistaken victims of his own quote - rather than recognizing the agency and deliberate nature of Jonathan's choice. That's the main difference for me - even more than the depth of the connection/length of association (though of course that hugely informs the situation and is a necessary distinction), it's the knowing/unknowing nature of each one.

In both situations the men are guided by their hearts, but Jonathan knows the truth even as he declares he would join his love to be a vampire. In Van Helsing's scenario, the men act against what they know by feeling pity and affection for what they intended to treat as a monster. They forget that the ranks of the undead are "grim and grisly" just long enough to fall prey. But Jonathan never does. He knows Mina would become a monster, knows that in this scenario he'd be joining the "ghastly ranks" of the undead. He doesn't forget that fact. He just considers his love to be more important, enough that he is willing to subject himself to such a terrible fate rather than harm or be separated from her. It's the opposite of someone mesmerized into delaying and being enticed into putting down their weapon. Instead he resists entreaties to pick it up in the first place. (At least to point towards Mina.)

[itsclydebitches]

Layers I love in the "King Roach" moment:

Roaches are commonly associated with resilience and their ability to survive extreme conditions. Alastor becomes their king right before he fights Adam, nearly being "killed by a hair" but ultimately pulling through

The subject/royalty dynamic given that Niffty is someone Alastor called in to serve the hotel

The reversal too where Niffty is the one doing the dubbing here, demonstrating agency as she grants this title, reflecting how she seems to be on more equal footing with Alastor than, say, him and Husk

We know Niffty has a "collection" of bug-related things (not just the bugs themselves but stuff like bits of Valentino's fur too) so by making Alastor into a bug-thing she's going, "You're mine and important to me! :D"

The crown is made out of literal bugs so this is Niffty presenting Alastor with her conquests. It feels like a cat bringing their owner dead birds if the owner also had a deep appreciation for that because they collected human souls on the side

Niffty has just mentioned putting on "roach puppet shows." Alastor is now a (kinda) roach (kinda) puppet (the threads and strings holding his limbs together when in his demon form)

Alastor has also just admitted that he could get used to staying here. Niffty likes the HH fam because they're nice about those roach puppet shows. It's like a through-line: Hazbin Hotel is good b/c acceptance of roach things + Alastor is now a roach thing = Alastor good for Hazbin Hotel?? You fit! Let's stay!!

The roaches have red eyes so they pair well with Alastor's suit and there are pink flowers that pair well with Niffty's outfit

Big ol' smile from Alastor that comes across as genuine, like those he shares with Rosie

Another file for the "Big bad manipulator becomes a kitten around cutsey, murdery ladies, huh?" folder.

The fact that obviously Niffty is making awesome bug-flower crowns in her spare time. Charlie recruiting her for bonding arts and crafts when

It looks like there are teeny tiiiiiiny daggers hanging off the crown. You know, in case Alastor should ever need one and Niffty stares soullessly into the camera when I finally notice that

Alastor dislikes touch yet (not for the first time) he lets Niffty climb his head while showing off her twisted little mind <3

[spiritedscorpio]

Mine - Osamu Dazai

Warnings: Mentioning of murder, blood, knife play, possessiveness, degradation, breeding.

Despite his flirtatious nature, Dazai actually didn’t have a serious partner until you. He was fairly afraid of rejection so it took a while for him to actually ask you out but when he did, you instantly agreed. Even though you had known each other for over 5 years, your relationship hadn’t changed drastically until last year. He recruited you because of your mind reading ability and because of it you often got called to investigate cases along with him and Ranpo. With your mind reading ability, Ranpo’s deduction skills, and Dazai’s smarts and connections, the three of you were unstoppable.

The current case you were investigating was regarding a series of murders. All the victims had short black hair and were in their late 40s to early 50s. Ranpo soon deducted that these acts were somewhat out of revenge and the killer had some tragic family issues. Soon you were able to find the culprit based on the locations of the murders. He was a young man, no older than 25. Despite his identity just being revealed to the three of you, he had a terrible reputation on the news; everyone was calling him a monster and saying they wished he would just disappear. Dazai and Ranpo examined the most recent body while you kept an eye on the culprit. He was kneeling on the ground and mumbling barely audible sentences. “Monster... I’m not a monster...”

He was shaking and gripping at his hair before he grabbed onto your ankles. “You! You don’t think I’m a monster to do you? I swear... I...” he was choking on his sobs.

Like the majority of the members in the Detective agency, you came from a problematic family so you understood him. You kneeled down to his level. “You’re not a monster” You placed a hand in his shoulder. “You’re just hurting and you’ll get the help you need soon" Your smile and tone was genuine.

By now Dazai was watching your interaction. The way you treated an "evil" and broken man with such kindness reminded him too much of how you were when he met you. You both worked for the Port Mafia previously so you learned of all his crimes and occasionally worked together. He came off as pretty odd but the more you worked together, you noticed his humor was somewhat of a coping mechanism-- it was something you had in common. Regardless of his reputation or the things he had done, you always treated him with a kindness that no one ever had before and felt he didn't deserve. The current situation was too familiar and he couldn't allow it. You were one of the few people he had been vulnerable with and something inside him simply couldn't let anyone else get the same treatment you gave him. As per usual, he didn't say what he was really thinking and just interrupted your conversation while wearing a fake cheery smile. "It truly is an unfortunate situation you were in and while I understand your motives..." He swiftly moved behind the culprit to handcuff him. "That doesn't excuse your actions"

"Ranpo, you take him in, y/n and I are going to check out the other crime scenes. He agreed since it meant he would be able to avoid doing paper work for longer. You and Dazai got in his car and drove to what you thought was the crime scene but when you looked out the window, you saw your apartment. "What are we doing here?"

"Oh there's just a few things I forgot earlier, mind giving me a hand?" His tone and smile convinced you.

You agreed and went inside with him, not suspecting anything. He walked in after you and silently locked the door. You turned to face him. "Where is the stuff you need?"

"It should be in the bedroom" he said and you quickly headed there leaving him smiling; admiring how naïve you could be.

While you were looking through a box in the closet he entered the room and leaned against a wall. "Y/n do you love me?" he asked abruptly.

"What? Of course I do"

"Interesting... Then why were you giving that man earlier the time of day?"

"I..." you tried to protest but he didn't give you the chance.

"Do you need attention from every man around you? If not I don't see why you'd treat scum like him that well." He had you backed up against the wall, cowering before him, flustered, and unable to speak.

"That's it isn't it? You're an attention whore" He let out a chuckle. "I'm afraid that won't work because... He tilted your head up so you were making direct eye contact with him.

"You're mine"

He smashed his lips onto yours, exploring your mouth when you gasped at the sudden action. There was a certain unfamiliar feeling of anger in the kiss. "Get on your knees" he commanded once you parted.

You unbuckled his pants and pulled both them and his boxers down. There was no time for you to do anything on your own before he gripped your hair and forced his cock into your mouth. You took sharp inhales through you nose as he pushed your head down the entirety of his cock, leaving your nose brushing against his abdomen. "T-that's right, put that slutty mouth of yours to good use" He tried to suppress his noises of pleasure to seem more dominant but you still noticed how his voice slightly wavered. His grip on your hair tightened, allowing him to thrust into your throat, using it for his own pleasure. Words of degradation fell from his lips as he went on about how this is what you were made for. You couldn’t deny the fact that you were really turned on as you brought one of your hands into your pants and rubbed circles over your clothed clit.

He let out another chuckle, “Are you really getting off on this? Getting off on being my little fucktoy? How pathetic”

“Anyways stop that, if you’re going to get off, it’s going to be because of me". You whined in response but obeyed, placing your hands on his thighs to prevent you from touching yourself. As he used your throat you let out whimpers and moans that were muffled by his cock but still brought him closer to his release.

"You're gonna swallow for me okay?" It sounded like a suggestion although you both knew he wasn't giving you a choice. After a few more thrusts, he came with a loud groan and you swallowed, using the back of your thumb to catch anything that spilled out. He told you to get on the bed after removing your clothes, leaving you completely nude.

You started to feel self-conscious and crossed your limbs to hide your body. “Don’t get all shy on me now” He nudged your legs open with his knees and attached his lips to your neck. He used the sound of your moans to find your sweet spot and focused his attention on it. After decorating your neck with hickeys, he sank his teeth into the same spot, drawing a little blood. You let out a gasp from the sudden action but soon enjoyed the mixture of pain and pleasure as he licked over the bite mark. His hand travelled down to your cunt and found that you were soaking. “My, aren’t you enjoying this. You’re enjoying me marking what’s mine?”

He didn’t even wait for your response before trailing his lips down to your breasts, nibbling and sucking on the tender skin. Soft moans left your mouth as his mouth sucked on one of your nipples and his fingers fiddled with the other. He finally made his way to your thighs but before he did anything, he removed the clothing on his upper body revealing the full glory of his naked form. When he returned to your thighs, you thought he would tend to your aching cunt but instead you were greeted by a cool metal feeling on your left inner thigh.

“W-what are you doing?” He didn’t respond and instead continued what he was doing. You focused on the movements the blade made and you realized it was his name. He wrote his name, on your thigh. A place where no one would see it but you both would know it’s there. You shouldn’t have found it that hot. He collected the few drops of blood on his tongue before embellishing the word with a few hickeys. He roughly propped you up against the wall and slid into you easily due to your arousal. No time was given for you to adjust to his size before he began thrusting into you, already moving at a fast pace. His grip on your hips was tight and likely guaranteed a mark being left to add to the collection of markings.

The grimace on your face when he first entered you had been washed away with no traces. "Well look at that! All of a sudden you're taking my cock so well, but I bet I'm not the only one you'd spread your slutty legs for huh?" You couldn't form a full sentence so you shook your head furiously. His right hand snaked up your body and his fingers wrapped around your neck. "You have a voice, correct? Then use it"

"N-No" you choked out.

His fingers tightened around your neck, applying pressure to it but still allowing you to breathe. Your noises began to sound weak and strained as an uncanny grin spread on the brunettes face. "No, I-I'm yours, only yours" you said between moans.

His hand released your neck and returned to your hip. Your body was spared no mercy and with the way it was being treated so roughly, tears began to fill your eyes. Dazai would be a liar to say he wasn't enjoying your reactions. Despite how much he may be bothered by you paying a lot of attention to others or men being overly attentive around you, none of them would get to see you like this or be this close to you. Only he could make you feel this good. After a few more thrusts, he felt your walls clench around him. He gave you a certain look and you immediately knew what he wanted from you. "Please..." You said, your voice breathy. "Let me cum"

A slight smirk spread across his face. "Fine" he spat. "If you're that needy" As if on cue you came seconds later, your back arching against the wall. Once you came down from your high, the sensations began to feel overstimulating yet his pace didn’t slow down. In fact he seemed to speed up his movements, clearly enjoying the way you whimpered and squirmed beneath him. Tears continued to fill your eyes and run down your cheeks but that didn't make him spare your body any mercy, instead he just kissed your tears away before pulling you into a kiss, muffling each others noises. He soon reached his own orgasm however he pulled out first, spilling his cum on your lower stomach. You were soon moved onto your back and he threw both of your legs onto his shoulders, allowing him to reach the deepest parts of you. His cock and hands worked to make you come undone, your inner sweet spots all being hit as your nipples were stimulated with his talented fingers. The room was filled with your high pitched whimpers and his low groans, both increasing in volume as you grew closer to your next release. His fingers travelled down your body and to your clit where he drew small circles, surprisingly bringing you to your next release rather quickly. Memories of you and that guy earlier filled his mind and his nails dug into your sides, he was still fairly angry however he still felt his release nearing. “You’re mine, got that?” he said, his aura completely changed.

You nodded in response even though you didn’t completely hear him and didn’t really care what he said, you were willing to do anything to keep him from stopping.

“And I’m gonna breed this greedy little cunt of yours“ He felt you shudder under him and pulsate around his cock. “You like that idea, hm? Should I indulge you in your naughty desires?” He continued however by this point he was having a conversation with himself and was going off of your body’s reactions.

As he continued to thrust into you, his name and moans left your lips, fueling his actions. “Yeah... I’m gonna fuck a baby into you” he huffed out, wrapping his arms around your thighs. After a few thrusts, he filled you with his final load, groaning loudly. When he pulled out, he stopped to watch the way his cum dripped out of you before laying down next to you. Once your breathing settled you finally spoke up.

“You know that I know what you’re thinking right?” You looked up at the brunette.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about”

“You were worrying about that guy” You rested your forearms on his abdomen but he averted your gaze.

“See, I’m right!”

“So what if you are?” He said, trying to defend his ego.

“So, you’re worrying about nothing, you know how empathetic I am and besides I only love you” After pressing a kiss to his lips he still seemed bothered causing you to pout. You finally got a smile out of him after peppering his face with kisses. “Geez, I love you too”

“So, are we going back to the agency?”

“I don’t wanna” he complained, letting his head fall onto your shoulder.

“Fine but you’re coming up with a good excuse, Kunikida’s gonna be mad”

“Deal” he smiled, settling in bed with you in his arms.

[fostercare-expat]

Today I told my “Safe Families Model” agency that I’m stepping down from active fostering with them indefinitely.

I will just be focused on supporting the 4 Cutie Siblings and Fearless to help them thrive and hopefully break the cycle of poverty and domestic violence that has plagued their parents and grandparents. I’m not taking on any new kids. Oh yeah, and I need to raise the original 2 kiddos of mine as well :)

It’s been 6 years and 18 kiddos with this agency so it’s the end of a significant era in my life. But it’s the right decision. So I’ll grieve this loss of identity for awhile and then I’ll enjoy the next phase, which is just spending the next 12 years managing teen drama from these 7 kids that I’m committing to. And focusing on being more successful at the job I get paid a lot to do.

In 12 years and 6 days from now, the youngest will turn 18 and I can celebrate a job well done. (I’ve just looked at her birth certificate and she’s turning 6 in a few days. I knew her birthday was coming but I thought she was turning 7! I forgot that some local families state the age that the child is turning in this year, even when their birthday hasn’t happened yet.)

I’ll still keep my status active with my agency just in case any of my previous kids come into care, and of course I’ll be continuing with the current government fostering for the Cutie Siblings as long as needed. There’s no requirement for ongoing training so no issue to keep it open. (That’s weird but that’s a different conversation.). I’ll also try to support the agency with recruiting new foster parents if they want. But it does feel like it’s time to focus on being a long term support to keep the Cutie Siblings back home with their mom (whenever the heck the last 2 end up back home) and for Fearless to help provide stability, global exposure and healthy relationship modeling for these awesome kids so they don’t have the same challenges their moms have had.

[way-too-cool-skeliton-dude]

Can you draw more lore of your oc sanses? 🥺

I'll probably respond again with some art of their lore, but this is currently my sans ocs (in order left to right with a brief description)

1. D-DIN/Gill Sans; he started out as D-DIN, a worker for the Multiversal Intelligence Agency (M.I.A) that originally came from a 1950s detective Underfell Mafia AU. He was sent to Regicidefell to better understand the AU, soon being captured by Alphys as a gift to Papyrus and brainwashed into believing he was Sans to replace the original Sans of that world.

2. Scar Sans; from an original world much like Geno Sans, where in a genocide route he dodged too slow. The entire left side of his face is scarred so he is unable to use magic. He wastes his "afterlife" in a M.I.A void under constant surveillance, they're studying him to try to understand his situational immortality

3. Project Cancelled (P.C) Sans; From the same AU as the creator of the M.I.A, being his nephew. He is from the same timeline as P.C Papyrus and is responsible for the havoc that he is causing across the multiverse. His AU fell apart, now being cared for/working for the M.I.A under his uncle's wing. He can't use magic and his face is cracked and green from constantly having to be healed. His soul is extremely weak and he has to use wires to help control some of his motor functions due to how weak his body is. He's also the oldest of the group, being around 40ish years old (Papyrus being early 20s) he's also definitely a pothead and always has been. He also kinda has a complicated relationship with the Alphys of his universe

4. Regicidetale Sans; The tallest of the group and definitely the strongest when coming to health and stats. He has absorbed two human souls because of the difficult living situation in his original timeline. He comes from an original world, but much like Horrortale it was a neutral route (Pacific until Asgore). When Frisk passed the barrier it caused a cave collapse, killing almost everyone in the capital and causing the core to overheat Hotland and the Waterfall. Undyne took the crown after kicking Toriel out, banishing Sans and Toriel to the ruins. He's the only one of the group who has a child (and an actually good/healthy relationship lmao). He was recruited by the M.I.A for guarantee that Toriel, their child (I don't have a name for them yet 😭), and Papyrus to be safe and well fed. Originally working for P.C Papyrus until he was captured by the M.I.A and held for observation. Regicidetale Sans's AU has reached it's conclusion by the time he was taken from it, unlike many of the group.

5. Project Cancelled (P.C) Fell Sans; much like the original P.C Sans, he's in his late 40s. He showed more compassion to his version of Papyrus and played along with the brotherly role, so when another version of his brother (Original P.C Papyrus) said he could make him immortal for the price of his soul, he took the deal. He's now in hiding from P.C Papyrus after betraying him, letting him get captured by the M.I.A for the promise of protection. Originally he would travel the multiverse, collecting souls (human and monster) and DT for P.C Papyrus. He was unable to die unless the snake in his body was harmed, but P.C Papyrus was the only one that could control it. He soon got sick of the chores, deciding to betray P.C Papyrus for an easier life as a guinea pig for the M.I.A

Anywayyy, that's all for right now, feel free to ask questions and let me know what you think^^ I love drawing and talking about my OCS :]] I may do this same format with different OCs because most of mine are original, Toriels, or Papyruses lol

[diaphin93]

Thank you for pointing out the Dimidue vs Dimilix thing. I get loving angst and why people ship the latter. But what really grinds my gears is the fact that Dimidue has less fanfiction than Dimiclaude. Dimitri and Claude barely even interact together in game. They interact more in Hopes. Meanwhile Dedue and Dimitri are practically inseparable. Their paired ending has Dedue being the royal consort. I can't help but wonder if it's because Claude is lighter skinned and more "conventionally" attractive.

The Edelcrit crowd keeps trying to pain her as racist, but it's hard not to say the pot's calling the kettle when you look at how often they forget about Dedue when discussing Black Eagles vs Blue Lions.

Honestly? I think Dimidue has alot more high quality angst potential than Dimilix in my opinion. It makes me think of the impression a friend of mine had when first playing Azure Moon. During her first playthrough, she speculated that Dedues attitude was some act and it would be revealed that he wanted to get close to Dimitri to get revenge for his people, because he seemed to be just too calm and subservient for what was done to his people by Faerghus, while also keeping a distance from Dimitri during their supports. And I totally get this, I personally also would have initially assumed that Dedue hides more anger than he shows, because why set up the dynamic of him being a survivor of genocide by Dimitris people, if not for some pay off, especially considering Azure Moons themes of revenge and being haunted by the dead? Alas, it didn't came to be because the game instead has Dimitri just play Faerghus police by squashing the Duscur Rebellion without another genocide, instead of turning against the nobles who commit it to begin with, and Dedue is effectively written out of the story in Part 2, due to being an optional re-recruit you can easily miss and so that Dimitri can have his loner boar arc.

Also I'm not really saying that I want Dedue to ultimately turn against Dimitri and become his enemy, but some messy complicated feelings and resentment would have added much needed depth to both the plot and Dedues character. Usually you would expect it to be like Dedue claiming to actually hate Dimitri for what Faerghus people did to his, while having conflicting feelings because over the years he grew to genuinly love and care for him, while it would have been a good growing experience for Dimitri, becoming much more aware of the pain and resentment others feel, similar to his own hatred against Edelgard, and how he as the King ultimately shares his own responsibility for Faerghus bloody history. Sadly the game never challenged Dimitri to this extent and makes his entire character development purely centered around Byleth and Rodrigue, but I think the set up has alot of potential for some introspection and alot of Angst when shipping those two.

But alas it shows the Fandoms strong racial bias against men of color, especially those who present as very masc. Instead they go for your typical two light-skinned Bishonen options for the most part. When it comes to Dimitri and Claude, I have my own problems with the ship. It is for all intends and purposes basically just Dimigard in Yaoi, the ship centers usually purely Dimitris values and validates his feelings and perspective over Claudes, enforcing this very white savior-esque perspective on themes of racism. I would say Hopes even made this much more clear, considering how their interactions are fairly awkward and Claude practically promises Dimitri to turn on him when it comes to taking out the church, something strongly hinted at in AG's ending. Alas, I also think they lack alot of chemistry and I have a problem with how Claude inside Blue Lions routes is always marginalized and turned into either a sidekick or PoC in Distress for Dimitri to act as a white savior towards, with little agency and respect for his own perspectives and ambitions. It is different in the case of Edelgard and Claude, where superficially people claim that he just follows everything Edelgard says, ignoring the larger context of him acting the entire time to push forward his own ambitions and that there differences are much more nuanced, them agreeing in their opposition against the Church and Crests but otherwise having distinct goals.

But back to the topic, I would say, yes, Claude being a more conventionally attractive in anime terms, which means bishonen, and lighter skinned PoC plays strongly into it. Claude being smaller and presented as physically weaker than Dimitri also usually pushes him into the position of the Bottom or Uke in that ship, which is another problem in the way PoC's are often represented, namely that Brown Men are usually only validated when they can be contextualized as emasculated and the more effeminate part of a ship compared to the stronger and more dominent white partner. We see this Dynamic play out in one of the most notorious Edelcrit ships, which also features DimiClaude. It generally reveals a strong racist element inside Fandom by erasing Claudes culturally middle eastern inspired heritage by recontextualizing Almyra as Japanese, a culture that white supremacy often contextualizes as the Model Minority, and presents him as the submissive to Dimitris dominant, while also being used to elavate Dimitris status as a white savior to further glorify him. I think this happening in one of the most popular FE3H Fanfics, that goes into alot of religious apologetics as well and involves strong misogynistic themes both surrounding Byleth and Edelgard, reveals a strong anti-MENAT (an extended acronym to also include turkey) bias inside the community.

As I said, FE3H is a true microcosm of fandom and its typical biases, bigotries and problems, which is thanks to its diverse cast. The top list of AO3 ships also showed so much, it was predominantly white and light-skinned asians and alot of Harry Potter.

[ddostoyevskyy]

CHASING THE SUN

ALTERNATIVE TITLE; MY KIND OF WOMAN

Kunikida Doppo

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒... f!reader, demure!reader, reader has older siblings, ADA member!reader, misogynists, slightly fear of men, reader is quite similar to Louisa’s personality, soft spoken, reader is working with Yosano as an assistant doctor, smitten!Kunikida (cause, why not). And, reader and Kunikida was batchmates in college.

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄... a short apology fic for those TLOA readers of mine. 😔 I haven’t been updating for so long and the chapters has been on drafts. I’m proofreading my own work, okay. 😔 Anyway, this oneshot (or two? idk) is on Kunikida’s perspective;) Also, I feel like his short fic is a mess, idk.

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒... 4.246k

MASTERLIST.

Kunikida muttered under his breath about being a little too early when he arrived at the fourth floor of the building where the Armed Detective Agency’s door is located. He sighed, rethinking of opening the door in front of him when he knew he’s going to deal with a headache once he stepped inside the Agency; a headache in a form of a brunette with a burgundy coat and a suicidal maniac. Nevertheless, with only a second early on his schedule, he opens the door which always remained unlock as he steps inside, slamming the door gently on his back before he announced his entranced.

He could hear the brunette’s dreamy voice from afar as his ears twitched, his handsome face frowning as he glance to where he’s been hearing Dazai Osamu’s voice, accompanied with Nakajima Atsushi and Izumi Kyouka whose staring at him in disbelief. Once the younger two noticed him, they looked a little relief, their faces telling him the “please-deal-with-him” look.

“What’s gotten you so cranky about, Dazai?!”

“Ah, Kunikida! I just met the most beautiful woman I’ve seen in my whole life!” The brunette answered and Kunikida’s face turned more darker as he scowls before throwing a smack to the brunette’s back, causing him to yelp.

“Shut up! It’s too early for that! Did you invited her to double suicide again?!”

“I did! But, she seems petrified when I touched her hand.” Dazai replied with a sad pout and Kunikida sighed, smacking him into the head again.

“I told you not to touch any women without their consent, Dazai! It’s sexual harassment!” Kunikida retorted as he fixed his glasses to the bridge of his nose, glancing at his watch before walking towards his desk. Dazai followed behind with a malicious grin on his face. “Besides, what is a woman doing here, anyway? Another complaint or spy?”

“Now, now, Kunikida. Let’s not be judgemental, okay? I heard from the President that he’s been recruiting another Agency’s member to help Miss Yosano with medical assistance.” Dazai finally confirmed, making the blonde raise his head away from his laptop, completely having his attention caught. A medical assistance huh? Kunikida pondered; if this new member of the Agency has a medical degree, why bother to apply in a Detective Agency and not in a hospital facility?

“Is this new recruit an ability user?” Kunikida questions and Dazai hummed under his breath, playing with the paperworks around him.

“I figured, she is, since the President is making me escort her through an entrance exam.” Kunikida had slammed his laptop close with a thud, staring at Dazai in bewilderedment before pointing towards his face.

“What, you?! No way, the President is letting you off to do an entrance exam, Dazai! Let alone with a woman!”

“Calm down, Kunikida! You and I were trusted to come along in her entrance exam, okay? Besides, I think I heard (Name) requesting the President for Kyouka for a personal reason I intended not to know unless she said it herself.”

“(Name)?” Dazai nodded with his question.

“Yes, (Last Name) (Name).”

That name. (Name). Oh, my gosh. Kunikida fell silent as Dazai noticed his sudden deep in thought but he never mentioned anything anymore. (Name), he repeated your name in his mind again as he bit his lower lip when he finallt remembered where he had heard your name.

It was back when he’s in college, young and determined to pursue his passion. He was never the most brightest student out there, but he’s smart and a responsible student, while you — you weren’t really noticeable since you always have a book covering your face and you were always hanging out in the library alone. You were in the nursing department.

He was starting to noticed you that time when you were prancing around his department, finding a student with a blood A type with a syringe and gloves tucked in your hands. Your hair is a mess and it looked like you haven’t sleep for months, although what he have noticed with your attitude when he volunteered is that you can’t look at him straight in the eyes nor the way your body language has been uncomfortably speaking when you made him follow through the Nursing Department’s laboratory with the consent of his professor that time. He’s silent throughout the process as he hissed when the sterilize water had been injected on his forearm. You apologized meekly as you tried to soothe the pain with a touch of your hand that gently layed right on his arm.

That moment when he realized you were quite popular around the campus because of your beauty and brain, you were one of the dean’s listers as their scholars and the proofs of your hardwork is definitely what he’s been admiring silently. Although, there is really something off with your attitude towards him... or any male that has been pursuing you, he knew something was wrong. Although, he has became your subject and a big help for your major subject, he never questions you, nor he tried to speak with you unless you’re asking him about how he feel with those harmless chemicals that you’ve been practicing on his arms.

It became a routine for him that he started to write your name on his olive-colored pocket book he always brought with him. Your name came off with a schedule on the right side as he memorized your work patterns, how long have you been staying in the library, how many books have you been reading in one day, or have you even gotten sleep for an exact eight hours? How long since your last meal? He sounded like a stalker now, but as your practicing patient, it looks like you’ll be the one who will ended up being in a hospital instead of working for the patients.

So, he started to bring homemade lunch with him that is good for two. He saw how you were startled as your body language started to yell at him to refused. Yet, young Kunikida insisted. Since, that following days, weeks, and months, Kunikida were always prancing around with you even though, your department is a little far away from his own.

You were bright even though you’re incapable of interacting with others even with him. You kept shining on your own as Kunikida watch your brightness blinded him with such intensity that he could feel his heart palpilate when he saw how dedicated and motivated you are in your studies. You were one bright young woman that continues to shine even more. And, once you have finally considered him as a friend, Kunikida had fell more.

You were kind, patient (which you really need as a nursing student), and a caring woman. Although, he was always drown to your silence, you swept him up again when you became more talkative; and he’s always listening, he’s all ears as you talked about why you pursue medical field, or your hobbies (which is quite obvious). He had it all written on his notebook, he had it all memorized. Those days with you were the brightest and he had admired you more than he already has.

But, he knew the sun he had admired will not be always by his side.

It was that one cloudy day when he had found you on his way home, crying with your head low. He asked you, he comforted you in silence as the thunder roars above the sky; it was as if though the sun disappeared and the woman whom he’s admiring her brightness dimmed and shrink in sunset, leaving the orange and pink hues into nothing but darkness with the moon without stars illuminating the sky.

You were left broken when you told him your father is not in your approval of having a degree of nursing.

He was left baffled in silence. He can’t do anything, nor he can confess his feelings to you at a moment like that as though it would answer your problem — no. He stayed with you until you calmed down; as if the sun were rising again, the determine look on your face came back, the light lit in your eyes shone — something that made his heart flutters as you promised him with your whole heart and soul that you will graduate with him; in which he found melancholic — a melancholy smile plastered on his lips as he watched you regained your brightening light back in your heart.

He knew he wouldn’t last long in college.

Nor he had even said goodbye or his feelings for you. You have to keep going.

Kunikida sighed as he felt his heart beats faster at those memories. It’s been years that he had last seen you. There’s not even a communication after he left, but he’s glad to hear that you’re alright and now successful in life.

“Say, Kunikida. You know her, don’t you?” Dazai’s question snapped the blonde out of his thoughts and an irk appeared on his forehead again. He felt annoyed at the sound of the brunette’s teasing voice, but he calm himself down with a sigh.

“Yes, I know her. She’s a... friend back when I was in college.” He answered as he heard the brunette snickered and let out an amusing huff of breath.

“You sound hesitant there, Kunikida!”

“Shut up! She’s really just a friend, alright?! Besides, I don’t think she ever recognize me.”

“Oh, hey, there, Miss (Name)!” Dazai’s announcement made Kunikida froze on his spot as he cleared his throat. He had no strength looking back behind him as he opens his laptop again before tapping on the keyboard, relentlessly, the loud clicking sound made his nervous visible. “We were just talking about you!”

You stared at the man waving at you with horror as you look back to see if the handsome man is really greeting you with enthusiasm and it felt like a slap on the face when you remembered the way you acted when he greeted you earlier with a kiss on your forehand. It felt embarrasing that you scurried away in fast motion to the President’s office. Your cheeks heat up as you meekly wave back and the brunette grinned.

“How’s your interview?” He asked once again but your gaze caught a familiar mop of blonde haired with a low ponytail, tipping on his laptop and his silence greeted you. You can’t fathom what you’re feeling right now, many emotions swirls in your chest; longing with a mix of happiness. Although, you noticed how he seems to ignore your presence even though, you both know you really didn’t forgot each other even for years without communication.

The brunette had noticed the tension in the air as he sighed. There’s really something going on between the two of you, but since Kunikida isn’t making a move, Dazai had tutted another conversation.

“Did the President asked for an entrance exam that’s why you’re here?” Dazai asked once again as he received a non-verbal answer of yes from you. “So, you’re an ability user, huh?”

You nodded again.

“Can I entrust Miss (Name) to you, Dazai?” The President’s voice startled you for a moment as you shift to the side a bit. His silver eyes shifted to your reaction, yet he understood the moment you can’t even look at him in the eyes nor you can’t even speak straight not until he called Yosano over did it make you a little comfortable with another woman’s presence in the room. “Though, she’s very wary of any men’s presence, I hope you will never make her uncomfortable.”

Dazai smiled apologetically towards you as he scratched the back of his head. “Of course. I also apologize for my behavior earlier, Miss (Name). Do you want to come with us, Kunikida?”

Dazai’s question is like a punch on the gut as Kunikida sent a daggering glare to the brunette whose smiling adorably towards him that made him flare even more. He composed himself before shutting his laptop close, his chair creating a creak sound on the floor when he stood up, grabbing his notebook and pen as he finally faced you — or the President rather.

His deep grey eyes were momentarily glancing at your way before he averted his gaze to the President. An emotion clogged in your throat when you felt like he’s seemingly ignoring you and avoding your eyes. You started to pick on your nails, plucking on the skin of your fingers as it started to bleed a little — a bad habit you made and as a medical allied. You remembered how this man in front of you would scold you for picking or biting your nails.

But right now, he couldn’t even look at you.

“Excuse me — ah! President! I’m sorry, but I had to cut your conversation short. There’s an accident near convention street.” Atsushi butted in as he glance at you nervously, face flushed in pink when he realized you were also here.

“Miss (Name), let’s go.” Dazai were quick to grab your wrist and drag you that you couldn’t even react in time as you were left speechless. Dazai had grabbed your bag and hand it to you in a hurry as you heard Kunikida’s voice threatening to kill the brunette. You tried to keep up on his pace and you mentally screamed when he even decided to use the stairs instead of the elevator, but you were thankful you wore a sneakers instead a pair of heels you never really wear in occasion like this.

“DAZAI! SLOW DOWN, YOU BASTARD! STOP DRAGGING HER LIKE THAT!”

“THIS IS URGENT, KUNIKIDA!” Dazai answered with a hint of teasing tone and the man whose following behind groaned as he finally catch up with the both of you.

“Is the location far?”

“You’re running that fast when you don’t even know where’s the location?!”

“Please, lower your voices and I know where it is.” You butted in and the two men fell in silence when you finally spoke up. Even though, you were meek in conversations, atleast you trained yourself physically at time like this.

“Alright, then, Miss (Name)! Let’s follow your lead!” Dazai’s enthusiastic voice made you sigh before you remove his hand on your wrist, holding the hem of his sleeve’s burgundy coat instead. Now, you were the one dragging him as you ran, you were quite thankful that you wore your nurse’ uniform — an all white uniform with white slacks instead of a pencil skirt to move around freely, your hair were tied in a bun with a few loose strands shadowing your face.

You became quite comfortable with the two — although, you’ve known Kunikida for years back then, the way he seems not to recognize you made an ache strike in your heart. You remembered the location, it is near where your father works and the thought made your anxiety risen. You haven’t seen your biological father when he opposed your dream to become a medical allied, you left home after that — and the same time Kunikida left you too.

You can do this, (Name). Maybe your own father don’t even remember you anymore.

Your hands tremble as Dazai noticed the way your grip tightened on the hem of his sleeve. The brunette glances at Kunikida who looks back at him with confusion written all over his face and a slight annoyance, Dazai tilted his head to your direction and Kunikida raised a brow, a silent indication that the brunette is talking about you.

When you arrived at the site, panting and heart beating to your chest, your grip never left Dazai’s coat. Your eyes scanned the area of the incident, seeing the blood splatters on the ground — a police officer had noticed your uniform as he approached in your direction.

“Miss, are you a medical figure? Please, check the victim. I think, he’s still alive.”  You nodded at him as he gave you a latex gloves. You wear it with trembling hands as you huffed, pulling a mask from your bag as Kunikida showed his Agency’s identification before they allowed the three of you inside the incident.

You bit your lip when you saw your own father bathed with his own blood.

You activated your ability as flashes of yellow-ish light sparks in front of your eyes as you touch his wrist, checking for vital signs and his pulse that is barely even beating, his breath ragged while his mouth fell open.

“What is the victim’s situation?”

Flashes of yellows appeared again and a written information flashed in your eyes as you roam your eyes in your father’s body, examining every little details and fractures. “Few broken bones including the ankles, knees, bone marrow and the lower spine near his pelvic bone. It will definitely cause the patient in wheelchair forever. T-There’s also a lot of blood loss and a s-skull fracture.”

“You know him, don’t you, Miss (Name)?” Dazai questioned as you fell silent, unable to find words as you shakily sighed before nodding your head.

“H-He’s —”

“He’s your father...” Kunikida’s voice trailed off as he stared at you, examining your actions; the way your hands tremble and your thoughts swallowed you whole. “Dazai, we’ll take him to the Agency.”

“I don’t think so, Kunikida. It’s up to our future assistant doctor if she’ll help him.”

“What?!” Kunikida sighed exhaustedly as he put a hand in your arm. “(Name)...” When he muttered your name, your eyes widened a bit as though his deep voice snapped you out of your thoughts. Your eyes met his grey ones as a small smile appeared on his face.

“I...” You trailed off before squeezing his hand, “Let’s bring him in the Agency... please.”

“Don’t you think, it’s a little insensitive to force her to save that man, Kunikida?” Ranpo’s voice echoes on his ears as his eyebrow furrowed. “You were friends, right? You met her back in your college days.”

Kunikida nodded, finding no escape with his superior’s questions as he remove his glasses, washing his face with his own hands. You were now inside Yosano’s operating room and the last time he saw you, you were in a verge of breaking down. Seeing you like that brings back that memory of you crying when you told him your father will no longer financially support you to pursue your dream. It was the last time he saw you as he left without saying anything after that.

“Though, (Name) couldn’t do anything but to help the man whose the cause of her trauma with men, it’s her job as a professional,” Ranpo continued, munching on his sweetened snacks, “I hope you both talk it out, Kunikida. It seems like you never viewed her as a friend, but something... more.”

Kunikida sighed, he felt more exhausted than he already is as he closed his eyes tightly. The door opened in a swift move, revealing a tired Yosano. “I dealt with two patients today. (Name) had a sudden panic attack inside the operating room and it took me quite time to calm her down. She’s alright now, although a little drained, but you can talk to her, Kunikida.” Yosano tilted her head inside as Kunikida stood up without a word, walking towards the open door as he close the door behind.

His eyes averted to your form as you stared at the ceiling blankly, face void with little to no emotions as he take a seat on the chair besides the bed.

“Why did you left?”

Your voice is a whisper he caught on as though a silent breeze passed when a calamitous rain is ready to pour down, leaving the sun behind clouds as Kunikida lowers his gaze.

“You don’t really need to explain, I just want to know why.”

Kunikida gulped at your voice.

“College is never for me.” He shortly answered as you nod.

“What about me?” You muttered, playing with your fingers once again as you anticipated his answer. Your heart beats louder like thunders in your ears. “Am I never for you?”

“(Name)...” His voice trailed off as your eyes watered before you sit up on the bed gently.

“I’m your friend, right? That time when you left, I need someone by my side, Kunikida.” His name slipped on your lips with melancholic melody as you finally flickered your eyes to met his, admiring his handsome face you’ve adored before. He still looks dashing and more mature, broad shoulders and sharper jaw as his grey eyes never left your form.

“I know, (Name)...”

“Then, why?” Your voice cracked, you have no energy left to raise your voice, although you knew you can’t when you saw the emotion flashed in his eyes — the rain started to pour as tears pool in your eyes before it fell in one strike, the sound of your own thunders, your own cries rings in your ears. “Did you only pitied me before? Is that why you approached me?”

“What? No, (Name),” Kunikida sighed as he mentally slapped his face for almost yelling at you, “Please, don’t ever think about it like that. I left because things wasn’t easy for me back then too. It’s too complicated and I was —” Kunikida halted as his eyes slightly widened. Was he really going to confess to you at a time like this?! This wasn’t a confession he planned in his notebook to confess to the woman he love.

Fuck it. Fuck his ideals. He can’t lose you now.

“I was falling in love with you,”

Your breath hitched.

You feel breathless.

“And, I know even without me, you can shine in your own, (Name). You don’t need any men in your life, but I wished you did, you know? I want you to depend on me, I want you to cry on me, to smile with me, to achieve your dream and celebrate with me. I have it all written in my notebook; all the things I want to do together with you, but I was too late, (Name),”

Your hand clenched on the blanket draped on your lap as he reached his arm towards you, cupping your cheek as he wipes your tears away. The warmth of his hand made you shivered in delight.

“You were already shining on your own and I can’t bring myself to be the one who will hold you back down.”

“But, you didn’t, Kunikida,” You sniffle, “You became my inspiration to keep going even though you were no longer besides me.”

“It’s difficult to chase a sun so bright like you, (Name).” He muttered as he continue to wipe your tears that has been continuously dripping down your face as your eyes blurred.

“Why are you chasing me when there’s no chase to begin with?” You answered with a smile and his heart fluttered, melting in your rays of sunshine as you pull him towards you before wrapping your arms around his neck, burying your face on his chest as he sighed.

“You’re so stupid. I’m glad I saw you in a  news that you worked here in the Agency.”

“Did you apply here just for me?”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” You slapped him in the arm when you tore yourself away from his embrace as you faced him, “I did apply here because the government doesn’t accept an ability user to work on hospitals.” You answered with an adorable pout as you fixed yourself, wiping the remaining tears in your eyes.

“Alright, alright.”

“Pardon the intrusion, lovebirds!” Dazai’s voice erupted again as he peeks through the curtains, “Miss (Name), you passed the exam!”

You stared at the brunette in confusion. “What?”

“The entrance exam is saving your father,” Kunikida sighed, “And, you did your job without hesitation although with a little malfunction there, you proved yourself that you are capable of saving others even though they did something worse to you. Which, is not even a surprise to me.”

He glanced back to you as you plastered a smile on your face, gaze softening and the calamitous rain, the clouds covering the sun disappeared, leaving another brightest sun to appear in your face. There’s no chase to begin with — because the sun he’s been chasing is already his sun in the beginning.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

All Rights Reserved 2023 © ddostoyevskyy. Do not repost without permission or plagiarized.

[silverbladexyz]

hi! i see u often write hc's but do u take one-shot requests as well? if not, then pls feel free to ignore this!

i'd like to request for a dazai x fem!reader one-shot in which reader is a new member of the ADA and when dazai sees her for the first time, he instantly feels smth like love at first sight (yea ik it's cheesy sorry idk how to word it🥲). reader just shrugs off his not-so-occasional flirting and just casually thanks him when he gives her compliments cus she's heard stories about this side of him (being a playboy, womanizer etc) so she thinks he's just treating her like how he usually treats any pretty girl he sees, not knowing dazai is actually far smitten and is srsly head over heels for her lol

tysm!!!

Anon I'm so so sorry that this took so long!! This idea is quite nice since flirty Dazai is funny ahahaha. I tried my best with this oneshot :’).

The image used is not mine. It belongs to it's original owner.

TW: Mentions of suicide (Dazai)

Dazai with a fem!reader who thinks that he's just a friend

"Oh, Dazai-san, have you heard of the new recruit that's joining us tomorrow?"

Dazai looked up at Tanizaki, eyebrows slightly raised in interest. It seemed that everybody except for him knew the news, however Dazai knew perfectly well that it was because he ditched work too often.

No matter. He'd just ask Atsushi to fill him in on the news.

"A new recruit? Since when?"

"Since a few days ago... but you were too busy jumping into the river and I had to fetch you, and I somehow scraped myself pulling you out, and I had to be treated by Yosano-sensei..." Tanizaki shuddered as he recalled the 'treatment' that Yosano had given him.

"Go on. The new recruit?"

"Ah, right! She's Haruno's cousin, and she's just turned 20. She's currently studying criminology and criminal psychology, and her grades are at the top of her year level. I haven't met her yet, but she seems like a nice person." Tanizaki said.

"I see... that's so amazing! I finally would have a new double suicide partner! Ah, I simply cannot wait for tomorrow!" Dazai's eyes sparkled in excitement as Tanizaki laughed nervously, however a familiar green notebook whacked the top of Dazai's head.

"Stop it, you idiot. You don't want to scare her off on her first day tomorrow, and the Agency's already received so many complaints because of you! And as for the double suicide, I'll wring your neck with my own fingers, how about that?!" Kunikida reprimanded, while Dazai pouted childishly.

"But Kunikida-kuuun! I've been waiting for months for a beautiful lady to come by the Agency, and I've already gotten the ideal double suicide spot! Ne, do you want to hear about it? It's a lovely spot near Yokohama where-"

"I don't want to hear about your suicide antics or whatever! Just make sure that you behave yourself tomorrow, or else I'll actually wring your neck myself!"

Tanizaki laughed nervously as he watched the banter between the two Armed Detective Agency employees. He sure hoped that Dazai wouldn't scare off the new girl tomorrow, because then the Agency would have an enraged Kunikida out for a certain suicidal maniac's blood and it certainly would not be a sight to see.

~~~

“Welcome, Y/N L/N, to the Armed Detective Agency.”

When Dazai saw the girl who entered through the door, his chest seized and it suddenly felt very hot.

Oh no. Oh no no no no. Don’t tell me that I’m-

You raised your head, smiling the sweetest smile that made one’s heart melt when they looked at it.

“Feel free to call me Y/N, everyone. I hope that I will be able to make friends with everybody and contribute well to the Armed Detective Agency.” Your voice was impossibly sweet and clear, as if every melody in the world belonged to you. Those dashing E/C eyes and gorgeous H/C hair contributed even more to your beautiful self in general. Dazai felt his heart leap.

Yup. He was undeniably crushing on you.

~~~

A few months had gone by since you started working at the Armed Detective Agency, and you were liking it so far.

Yosano and Naomi had become your best friends, with Tanizaki and Kyouka close behind. Atsushi was still a little shy around you, but he liked talking with you. Ranpo talked about his cases a lot, Haruno kept losing her cat, and Kunikida was forever fed up with Dazai’s antics.

Speaking of Dazai, the suicidal maniac was quite energetic and flirtatious around you. He would cunningly turn situations into pickup lines, and complimented you everyday. You would’ve been flustered and perhaps even catching feelings for him were it not the fact that he was a womaniser and a playboy. Haruno had warned you about this side of him, because she didn’t want to see her cousin hurt and broken-hearted because of Dazai.

Unbeknownst to you, everybody in the Agency could clearly see how big of a crush Dazai had on you. Every time you forgot something he would bring it, whenever it was the end of the week there was always a gift of some sort lying on your office table, and not to mention he would actually do his paperwork when you asked him to. Kunikida was glad that you were keeping Dazai in check, however he himself was already wishing that Dazai would confess to you and for you to return the suicidal maniac’s feelings, because everybody was frankly a bit scared of Dazai acting non-Dazai like.

It was one lazy afternoon when Dazai approached you, looking quite confident and... different. The rest of the Agency quickly caught on to what was going to happen, and held their breaths, hoping that it would be successful. You looked up towards the man, your expression innocent and oblivious.

“May I help you, Dazai-san?” You asked in that sweet and beautiful voice that sent Dazai’s heart beating at 205bpm.

He took your hand and laid a kiss on it. You were slightly confused at this new behaviour, but you brushed it off, thinking that Dazai was just playfully flirting with you again. This wasn’t the first time that he held your hand, afterall.

“My belladonna... you’re as graceful and elegant like a swan in a crystal lake. You were the only one who could make me fall into the longing passion called love. So I ask you,” he leaned closer.

“Would you return my feelings of affection, and we may finally be the lovers that we were always destined to be?”

You had to fight to keep your blush in, because even though you harboured no romantic feelings for Dazai, he sure knew how to make you flustered and make your heartbeat quicken. You smiled, and opened your mouth to answer him, not noticing the tension building around the room.

“You’re really nice, Dazai-san. I really must say...” Everybody seemed to lean forward, desperate to hear a ‘yes’ from you.

“You’re such a fun friend to me.”

And with that, the entire Armed Detective Agency, even the Director himself, let out a huge, collective sigh at Dazai’s (and theirs) misfortune.

Hope you enjoyed, even though this is so bad ;-;

@pixyys @pianotross @nekokinax @yuugen-benni @xxelfmamaxx  @catzlivedforbsd @ashthemadwriter

[stormvanari]

Day 9: Relationships

Since Razor is another under-appreciated OC of mine who is in DIRE need of characterizing, I’ll talk about the Spino first:

Razor has better emotional intelligence, is less blunt and confrontational like Dynoraptor. Although, the Spino usually overanalyzes (extensive thinking period) out loud than the head Sharpie, but Razor can produce points that the Rapto's impatient brain never thought of.

Whereas Dynoraptor tells him to get straight to the point, Razor also pleads the head Sharpie to simplify his points since the head Brace Investigator cannot last a minute listening to Dynoraptor's complex vocabulary. Regardless, Razor is just as focused and tactical as the head Sharpie to sweep crime off the streets. But the head Brace Investigator devotes extra time solving "pacifist cases," such as providing comfort to his allies.

Now here's the answer to the Relationships prompt:

Will and Razor go way back at a science field trip in their elementary years. They've seen each other back at school, but it wasn't until their project in the Oma Kingdom.

As a result, the Spino learned that Will shared the same interest on chemistry and criminology and got to know the Rapto's perspective on each subject. They have butted heads on several occasions, many of them quite friendly. However, it intensified when Razor felt concerned about Will's growing workaholism once his father's murder turned cold. The Spino didn't want to lose a close connection: his emotional distance from his Primus Councilor parents being enough (and he's working on scheduling that). Not that the Spino doesn't like his older sister Ruby: they've been interacting with each other, but the Baryon doesn't share the same interests as Razor (though she's glad he likes talking about them).

Unfortunately, their relationship was slowly deteriorating until Razor was reported missing after his and Will's detective agencies were established. Adrenaline rushed up and the Rapto, now donning his Dynoraptor attire, focused on searching for his longtime colleague while the stress of the surging crime begins to take a toll on him until more Sharpies are recruited.

When his mother died from the alcoholic toll after her husband's killer was named, Dynoraptor felt hesitant, but surrendered to Razor's comfort. The Spino would then invite the Rapto to the former's house to rest and pent-up feelings would then be poured out, including the conversation about potentially improving their relationship.

So, is Dyno and Razor's relationship romantic and platonic? Well....let's have the detectives decide once they're ready to conclude their story.

[iteratedextras]

Collapsedsquid wrote (emphasis mine),

Also watched recent espionage thriller and I'm sorry but "Who here in the agency could be the secret Traitor who is betraying america?" doesn't work any more, we all either know someone who would betray america in a heartbeat or are someone who would betray america, partly because we don't agree on what america is anymore. Doesn't have the same dramatic oomph that it once did sorry.

To expand on this point and oversimplify things a bit:

Democrats believe that the state precedes the nation. Republicans believe that the nation precedes the state.

In the first view, the state can remake the nation so long as it has the 'enlightened democratic will of the people' (who can be of any background) behind it, and attempting to prevent this by rebelling against the state is treason. (Supporters would emphasize the US Civil War, which suppressed a secessionist rebellion.)

In the second view, the state is just something that the nation put together, so if the state attempts to unmake the nation, it has violated its foundational basis, and supporting this is treason. (Supporters would emphasize the US War of Independence, as national separatism.)

Who is right?

On the government-first side, the country has been able to attract a lot of really top-tier personnel through immigration over the years due to its overall high compensation and high standards of living, enabled in part by global capitalism.

This booming economy has enabled the country to maintain an order of relative global peace and prosperity.

On the other hand, the moment it looked like demographic change would lock in the ethnic majority losing their majority status, one of the two major parties immediately switched to supporting coalitional ethnic conflict politics, and now military recruitment is 25% below targets.

The ethnic majority are (or were) overrepresented in combat arms, which is to say infantry soldiers in the field, seemingly from multi-generational military families willing to send talented young men.

Some would be tempted to say, "So much the worse for infantry! Russia is a stoic country that celebrates their hard-training, masculine infantry, and what good is it doing them in the face of advanced weapons technologies?"

But the thing about capital is that it's a tool specialized to some particular problem, so things that get automated will tend to be simpler, while leaving the managing of context to labor.

This means that as the force's capital fraction increases, the cognitive burden to actually use all that equipment is likely to go up. And you'll still need infantry.

If the government was paying in some sense of national loyalty or patriotism before, it will now have to pay market rate. And if its own soldiers become mercenaries, well. The historical problems of that are well-known.

[erenspussy420]

WIP Neige and Alhaitham

So I basically disappeared off the face of the earth on most of my socials. I haven't been the best of mind space in a while and adjusting myself over and over.

writing had to take a back seat for a while, but thank you for your patience.

currently writing out old asks in my inbox, an Ace and Deuce fic, the title name and some personal fanfictions of mine for my oc's.

the Al-haitham one is for a trade between me and a dear friend of mine.

Neige is an old WIP of Two Face Pretty Boy:

In the world of acting, one must always be in character to succeed. That was the first lesson.

No one really knows where Neige has come from. One day he just appeared at the orphanage alone and drowning in a sweater too big for him 

From a poor boy who cleaned homes with his seven brothers, no matter if he was human and they from dwarven blood, he worked himself to the bone washing filthy floor boards and defiling rotting gardens. His clothes were always tattered and drowning him in excess fabrics, and hunger gnawing at his belly. But as long as Grum cheeks were full, where Dominic didn't have to scurry for tape when his old glasses fell apart, or worry where Shelpie fell asleep at— whatever it took, no job was too much for him. 

Ebony hair, skin white as snow and eyes like roasted chestnuts.

The day Florian's Wonder Talent Agency recruited him was the day Neige could finally breathe. Taking him and his brothers to a clean apartment, where the fridge is full and he can sleep easier at night.

Before he gets tossed to the wolves.

"I'm gonna treat you like a whore." The sweet voice mutters. It sends sparks running down your spine as Neige sucks down on your neck , leaving his marks for anyone to see. He’s greedy, he wants everyone to know that you were his. Walking around printed on by his lips, his adoration comes covered under the night. As much as he would love your marks on him in turn, his agency would throw a fit at any blemishes on his skin.

.

.

.

..

.

Taking in the beauty of such a realm, far away from the familiar rolling hills of Sumeru. It's been months now that he found himself here in this strange kingdom. A realm, literal worlds away from home— a land where time has mingled with past, present and future. Where those of the highest of nobles, kings and queens and down to society's lowest orphans, had gathered to fight for something beyond skirmishes of land. Even the gods fight by their sides— something he could only dream of.

Side by side, as if they were equals.

Almost. He clicks his tongue behind his teeth, watching the dragons fly freely into the open skies. The glinting eyes of the dark dragon's wings cut through the thickest of clouds, the faint sunlight catches the amethyst scales that marked several eyes leering at him menacingly. Its body ate the sun briefly. The world went dark when he breathed, the dragon known as Grima, dives under the clouds and the world is painted once more. The great dragon disappears with the younger dragons chasing its tail. They dive beneath the clouds in one swoop. Al-haitham loses sight of them. 

‘A realm of possibilities,’ Al-haitham had thought of it.