#nit bringing this up again here its just like

[organicgirl]

can you ppl be normal please for 5 minutes ohmygod im BEGGING

[somanyratsinthewalls]

Burning Hearts Chapter 13

“I 

Pairing: Law x Straw Hat Zoan Type (named) OC 

Summary: You were teleported across the globe in an instant, away from your crew. Your body was badly broken and beaten, thrust into the harsh landscape of a Northern island. You are discovered by the Heart Pirates and brought back to health. Startled upon waking up in a foreign place with an unfamiliar crew, you are shocked with the news that you’ll be spending two years there. Trafalgar Law, the captain of the Heart Pirates has made a promise to train you, but will it become something more than a mentor relationship?

**MINORS DNI** ADULT CONTENT

TW: Kissing, dry humping, clothed sex, smokable plant usage.

WC: 3100 LOL

Taglist: @zoros-fourth-sword @cottoncandyloverrrr @nothing-but-brass

Burning Hearts Chapter 13: Accidental Dosage

— — 

“You keep dropping your shoulder, leaving yourself open for attack.”

“I’m not dropping shit, you’re nit-picking- UGH!” You were knocked backwards into a tree trunk. 

“You were saying?” Law cheekily grins from across the clearing. 

You roll your eyes while you catch your breath from the impact. 

“One of these days, Law, your mouth is going to write a check your ass can’t cash.” You sputter as you lunge towards your opponent, blade in each hand. 

Your attack is predictably blocked by Law’s giant katana and he forces you back again. 

“I have no problem putting my money where my mouth is.” 

*GRWWOOAAAR*

Both of your heads snap in the direction of the sound emanating from the dark woods. 

“The fuck was that?” You turn to Law and ask. 

“Probably some sort of-“

*RRRRAAA* 

A giant brown bear no less than 800 pounds bursts through a gap in the tree line and lumbers into the clearing, teeth bared. 

“Bear.” Law finished with an unamused expression. 

“What do we do?” You asked, heartbeat in your throat. 

“It’s fine.” Law states casually. “Room. Shambles.” 

At once, in a flash of blue, Law is right in front of the bear and rapping it harshly on the nose with his blade. The bear yelps. Before you could even comment, Law was back at your side at the edge of the clearing. 

“No need to show off.” You huff. 

Suddenly, the bear does something you don’t expect. It brings its front paws up to its nose in pain. The bear flops backwards holding its muzzle and starts to wail and cry like a toddler. 

“What’s it doing…” You cock your head, confused. 

“It’s… throwing a tantrum?” Law speculates. 

*GRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAA* 

A much louder, deep sound resonates through the forest around you. 

*crash* *snap* *thump*

*ROOOAARR*

You notice the tops of trees being felled in the distance, but not comfortably far away. You realize what it was. 

“You fucking moron… that was the baby bear… and we just pissed off mom…” You look to your right and make eye contact with Law. 

“Oops…” Law’s eyes widen. 

With a thunderous growl, an unimaginable beast emerges into the clearing. This brown bear was no less the size of a two story building and looked ready to swallow the both of you whole. 

With shocked expressions the both of you take several steps backwards. 

“Well? Any brilliant plan here, Mr Warlord?” You snap without taking your eyes off the face of the snarling creature. 

“Unless you have any bowls of porridge on you… I think we have to fight this thing.” Law draws his blade. 

“Great.” You sigh and unsheathe your swords as well. 

“You’ll take it from the top?” Law asks. 

“Got it.” 

*Grrrrrr*

The massive bear growls lowly and stalks towards the two of you, readying itself to attack. 

“On my word…” Law was waiting for the perfect moment to strike, and you held yourself to his go. 

*sniff sniff* 

The bear was so close you could smell the salmon on its breath. You shuddered. 

“Now!”

You spring up into the air and unfurl your wings and launch an attack on the beast from above the nape of its neck. Law was working at disabling the creature from its legs and arms. The two of you fought for what seemed like ages against the hulking monster. 

During your assault on the back of the animal you hear Law groan from somewhere underneath you. You land back on the ground and see Law pinned to the dirt by one large paw, fighting off the bear’s jaws from piercing his neck. 

“Law!” You see red and your vision blurs. You find yourself no longer in control of your body and are hurtling towards the beast at an alarming rate, driving your head straight into the side of the animal. 

The giant beast groans as your slam it off of Law, leaving two gored holes in its side where you had made contact. 

“Hhaaaa!” You scream as you turn to slam your black spiked tail into the creature’s head. You don’t remember changing forms, all you knew is you had to make sure Law was safe. You sigh as you realize the mother bear was now finally unconscious. You notice the smaller one out of the corner of you eye and you let our a bellow that was far more beast than human… 

Upon hearing your cry, the baby bear retreated back into the woods. 

Your chest heaves and you finally come to your senses, looking around to find Law. He was already up on his feet and making his way towards you. He looked… shorter?

“Holy shit… look at you…” Law looks up at you. 

You look down at your feet. They weren’t yours anymore. Huge black, scaled and clawed haunches were where your normally slender tanned legs would have been. This must have been how you launched yourself at the bear so forcefully…

Your head was swimming… what ugly features… 

“Daisy? You okay?” Law’s voice sounded like he was underwater to you. 

You look over at the giant bear’s body and notice the two puncture wounds you had made in its side. You gingerly pat at the top of your head. You feel something that isn’t just your hair… two curved horns protruded from your skull.

“No…” You gasp. 

Everything goes black. 

— — 

You wake up alone in your own bed at the base. You try to process what had happened in the clearing but you felt sick thinking about it. You couldn’t help but think that this training was more than you could take. Maybe you were just naturally weak, unable to handle this powerful of a Devil Fruit ability… maybe you should renounce the pirate life and tell your crew to go on without you after the 2 years is up… 

*knock knock knock knock*

“Hiiiii bitch good morning! Just kidding good afternoon. Heard you kicked a bear’s ass into next week?” Ikkaku comes into your room without waiting for a response. She carried a pile of clothing in her arms. 

“It was way bigger than just a bear…” You sigh as you sit up in bed. 

“Well either way, the weather’s going to change soon so we need to get our tan on before we’re stuck offensively pale for the rest of the season.” 

“You want to go tanning? In the yard? I don’t have a bathing suit. I don’t exactly go swimming often…” 

“You don’t think I thought of that? That’s why I brought you some of mine to choose from. Hurry up, we’re burning daylight!” 

— — 

What incredible power she held. If only she wasn’t so afraid of it. She saved his life today. 

Law sits at his desk pouring over more books about ancient devil fruits. She could take on the world with this ability if only she would push herself to harness it. Law felt partially responsible for her stubbornness to use her abilities, he had become softer on her since… acknowledging the feelings he held for her. He battled with the idea of pushing her to harness her full strength and the thought of cultivating a romantic relationship with her. 

Law pushes back in his chair and rubs his eyes. The smell of warm baked goods hits his nose. Law sits up straighter. Man… that smelled nice…

“Captain! Daisy made brownies, come have some!” Penguin calls from outside his office door. 

Brownies. 

How could anyone resist that luxurious aroma?

Law is brought out of his office by the smell of sweet treats like a cartoon character being drawn by a pie cooling on a windowsill. He makes his way to the main living area and finds his whole crew minus Daisy and Ikkaku shoveling chocolate brownies into their mouths. 

“Here cap, have one! I’ve already had 3! They’re so good!” Penguin hands him one as he enters the room. Law inspects the confection before taking a bite. The flavors were immaculate, even he couldn’t deny that. Daisy truly had a knack for baking. They tasted a little different from the brownies he had eaten before in his life, but they were beyond delicious. Law quickly gobbles up the rest of the square. 

“Hey you two.” Shachi approaches Law and Penguin. “Seen the garden recently?” He says with a smirk on his face, pointy teeth poking through. 

“Why?” Penguin asks. 

“I dunno. I think you should check it out, though. Sooner rather than later.” Shachi’s grin grows and he heads back to sit on the couch. 

Law’s curiosity is piqued. He turns tail quietly and heads to the back door of the base that headed straight out to the yard. 

“Wait I’m coming too!” Penguin hollers and picks up his pace to follow his captain at his heels. 

The two men exit the base through the back door and round the corner towards the garden. 

Law gasps and throws his arm out to the side to block Penguin from proceeding any further. 

“Holy shit…” Penguin breathes out heavily. 

Several yards away, seated on lounge chairs were Ikkaku and Daisy taking in the sun. 

They both held magazines and beers in their hands as they laughed about something they were reading in their gossip rags. Ikkaku wore a low cut pink one piece swimsuit while Daisy wore a black string bikini. 

This was clearly Ikkaku’s bikini, seeing as how Daisy’s breasts struggled to maintain their position in the tiny top. Law couldn’t help but notice the way they jiggled when she laughed. The small triangles holding in her supple flesh strained against her ample chest. 

Law felt the crotch of his pants tighten. He remembered he wasn’t alone. 

“we… we should go back inside.” Law mutters.

Penguin said nothing. Mouth still wide open. Law grabbed the sleeve of his jumpsuit and dragged him back inside the base. 

“pervert…” 

— — 

“The sun’s almost down. We should head back in.” You said to your friend. 

“Ugh, back to that sausage fest? I could stay out here all day.” Ikkaku lays back in her chair. 

“I almost got eaten by a bear this morning. I’m ready to eat and go to bed early. What’s with you and Peng anyway?”

“Nothing really. We hook up sometimes but it’s not serious.” Ikkaku says casually. 

“you’re hooking up???” You sit up on your elbows.

“I mean sort of! He goes down on me, that’s it.” 

“THAT’S IT? You’re getting licked and I’m just hearing about it now?” You gasp. 

“When was I supposed to tell you! You’re always playing nurse ratchet to the captain.” 

You roll your eyes. 

“Well is it good at least?” You lift your sunglasses and ask. 

“Not really… but he’s learning.” Ikkaku chuckles. 

“Men are very trainable.”

“That they are.” 

As the two of you clink your beers in agreement, Bepo stumbles out into the garden. He looked disoriented.

“Woah, what’s wrong big guy?” You rise to your feet. 

“Miss Daisy! We need your help! Quick!”

— — 

“YOU FUCKING ATE ALL OF THE BROWNIES?” You scream at the crew of white jumpsuit clad pirates in front of you. “I put a god damn note on these saying these were MY brownies and for NO ONE ELSE to eat them!”

“Yes but we just thought since you make us other stuff to eat we could have these too!” Bepo was panting and looked very nervous. 

“No way…” Ikkaku holds in a laugh.

“Are you guys that fucking stupid?! Do you have ANY idea how much herb you’ve all just ingested?!?” You continue ranting at the men. 

“I don’t really think they need yelling right now, D…” Ikkau puts her hand on your shoulder. 

You look around the room. Jean Bart was asleep in the middle of the floor, Uni and Shachi were huddled together on the couch looking terrified, other crew members were pacing the floor, Penguin was rambling to himself in the doorway. Even Bepo was having a hard time holding it together… he must have eaten a lot…

Your eyes were drawn to Law, who was seated on a singular cushion in the corner of the room with his knees pulled up to his chest and eyes bugged wide. 

“Fucking idiots…” 

“Miss Daisy what do we do… please help…” Bepo digs his claws into your shoulders. 

You rub your eyes and sigh. You clear your throat.

“EVERYBODY! Go to bed! Lay down! Turn on the TV or some music and just sit the fuck down! The sooner you go to sleep the sooner this will be over! And once this is over I can beat the shit out of you all for eating all my weed!” 

The room is silent for a moment before the group of terrified men heed your orders and head to the door. 

“Can you make sure everyone makes it to their rooms okay? I’m gonna check on your greened-out captain.” You ask Ikkaku as you nod towards Law huddled in the corner. 

“Got it.”

“I’ll come check on everyone in a bit.”

Ikkaku nods and follows everyone out of the living room. 

You approach Law and kneel down next to him slowly. 

“Hey… how’s it going?” You speak in a soft, gentle voice. You get no response. 

“Whatchya doing, pal?” You ask. 

“Breathing.” Law states, not making eye contact, still staring wide eyed at some unknown point across the room. 

“Right, right okay good! Breathing is good!” You were trying so hard to hold in your laughter. “Can you maybe come with me and we can get you into bed?” Law nods and you help him rise to his feet. He follows you wordlessly to his room and you get him seated on his bed. 

“I’m going to check on everyone else, how about you change and get into bed, okay?” You ask carefully. 

Law nods. You leave him to go do rounds in the rest of the state rooms. Most of the rooms were full of very happy or very sleepy men, but you found quite the interesting situation upon reaching Penguin and Shachi’s room. 

You open the door and find Penguin curled up like a toy poodle in Ikkaku’s lap as she strokes his hair. Shachi was peering out the windows and breathing heavily. 

“This one’s fine…” Ikkaku nods down at the man in her lap. “But the other one thinks the government is here to murder us.” She rolls her eyes at you. 

“Shachi if you don’t get your ass in bed right now I’m going to beat your ass worse than a Marine Admiral would and I MEAN that.” You growl at him. 

“They’re watching us right now! You don’t hear that?” Shachi exclaims. 

You huff and grab the mans face in your hands. 

“You’re fucking high, you idiot. If you don’t chill out I’ll make sure you’ve got bigger issues.”

Shachi, terrified, tucks himself into bed. 

You give Ikkaku a thumbs up and return to check on Law. 

After making your way back to the captain’s quarters, you find Law laying on his back in bed, shirt unbuttoned but not off, pants off, briefs on, socks and hat still on, staring at the ceiling. 

“Feeling any better?” You chirp as you quietly enter the captain’s bedroom. 

“Daisy!” Law sits up and pulls the comforter over his exposed legs and thighs. 

“It’s fine, Law, just relax. You okay?” You move to sit on the side of the bed at his hip. You look down and look into his eyes. 

To your shock, he bursts out laughing. 

“Yeah? What’s funny, huh?” You smile, seeing the normally stoic, anti-drug pirate captain high out of his fucking mind. 

“Remember when I almost got eaten by a fucking bear this morning?” Law chokes out between fits of laughter. 

“You’ve got a sick sense of humor, man, because I did NOT think that was very chill.” You couldn’t help but giggle along with him. Instinctively, you place a comforting hand on his chest. 

Law grasps at your wrist with his right hand. He strokes it gently up towards your shoulder. 

“You kicked its ass, though. Saved me.” 

“You would have been fine.” You blushed. 

Law’s hand makes its way up to your neck, pulling you closer. 

“Your skin is so soft…” Law says lazily through hooded eyes. 

You laugh. 

“You’re high.” You smile down at him. 

“And you’re hot.” Law smirks up at you. 

“Oh stop it.” You try to brush him off. 

“No seriously…” Law runs his fingers through your hair and you couldn’t help but lean into his touch. “When you grew those horns and those claws, you were like some sort of angel…” 

You scoff. 

“Not sure what kind of angels you read about… but I’m certainly not one of them.” You sigh and avert your gaze. 

“Let me kiss you for a little, please?” Law, while still dazed, pleads with you. 

“Ask me again after you’ve come down, you aren’t thinking right.” You move to stand up. 

“Need you now, though. Don’t wanna be alone. Please?” Law grabs your wrist as you try to stand. 

Holy shit he was hot when he begged. Every logical thought in your brain told you to leave but he was pleading for you so sweetly… you had to give in against your better judgment. 

“Fine. A few kisses and then you’re off to bed.” You hop up onto the bed and straddle his underwear clad waist. Law smirks and grips your waist with both hands. You lean down and capture his lips in a soft kiss. You feel Law groan into your lips and it sends shivers straight down your spine. 

As the kiss became more heated, you feel Law push your hips down onto his. Wait… was all of that him? Gods there was no way… 

You were just in a tank dress over your swim suit so you could feel the hardened length against your core so distinctly. You were so shocked at his sheer size that you yelp in surprise as Law pushes his tongue into your mouth. You couldn’t help but notice his kissing skill was improving.  Law grabs the back of your nape with one hand and pulls your backwards so he could plant wet, open mouthed kisses on your neck.

“Oh!” You gasp in pleasure, feeling his lips on your skin and his throbbing cock underneath your wet, bikini-clad sex. Law used his other hand to guide your hips back and forth across his clothed manhood. 

Law digs his teeth into your neck and purses his lips to suck on it. 

“Gods, Law!” You cry out. 

“Nggghh!” Law groans loudly and grips your hip impossibly tight and presses your core into his pelvis. 

Suddenly his hand on your waist loosens and he releases your flesh from his mouth. His head flops back onto the bed, hat askew. He was panting heavily. 

“Wait.. did you?” You cock your head from your position above him. 

Law covers his eyes with his arm that was just around your body. 

“Shit.. yeah… I’m sorry…” He whispers out softly. 

“Hey…” You move his arm and kiss his lips, his face stained beet red. “It’s okay. You’ll sleep better now right?” You chuckle. 

“Ugh…” 

You pull his hat off his head and set it on his bedside table. You cup his face for a moment before you rise from the bed. 

“Get some shut eye. I’ve gotta check on the rest of your crew. I’ll be back to-“ You move to the archway and look back. 

Law was already snoring. 

You smile and head out. 

— — 

*Author’s Note* SORRY THIS WAS A BILLION YEARS LONG. I HAD A VISION. Omg he’s gonna be so embarrassed I can’t wait. At least he’s finally getting some sleep? Idk y’all give me some feedback here because we’re getting to the MEAT! 

[piffany666]

Ok just one more punk progeny won't hurt~

Chapter 7: family meeting

(Ftm trans Bright eyes (uses he/him pronouns. This Chapter isn't going to make any sense unless you've read all the other chapters but to save you the time I'd like to remind you that treasure and Bright eyes are the same person in this fic)

Family meeting.

That's what William called it.

Admittedly that's also what Vincent called it but after his encounter with Porter he was feeling a little....raw.

Especially after hearing that he would be bringing a newborn as his date.

Vincent explained to Lovely that that was the vampire equivalent of bringing a baby to a funeral.

But Lovely was quick to point out that they themselves where also still technically a newborn. Vincent was quick to add that they were the exeption.

Vincent and Lovely were the first ones there besides Bright and alexis, who had been In the house all night.

Which did make Vincent more than a little concerned for Bright's safety but he trusted the kid's resolve. They pulled up by sky side then took a moment to compose themselves.

Lovely handled the Porter situation very well in Vincent's opinion, but he was sure that others may disagree considering they decked him.

Hopefully Porter hasn't tatteled on them to William during their "meeting".

Vincent smiled at Lovely before they exited the car.

They got this.

Upon arriving they were both met with the sound of.....a piano?

"Wow that Sounds beautiful!" Exclaimed Lovely

Vincent was befuddled.

"Yeah....it dose..."

"You look surprised"

"I am. The only person here that knows how to play the piano is alexis but she's....let's just say that THIS isn't her music...(if you could even call it that)"

Lovely giggled

"Is she not very good?"

Vincent shuddered.

"No. No she is not."

His face gave the impression that alexis playing the piano wasn't the most....pleasant of memories.

But once they both arrived in the common room, they were met with a not so cheery looking alexis.

It was safe to assume that she was in fact NOT the current pianist.

"Hey alexis, who's?-"

"Bright eyes"

She interrupted sternly.

"You let him touch your piano!?"

She scoffed.

"No. He's playing on William's, I always play the burgundy one William got for me"

"Oh. Right"

Vincent and Lovely sat down. Awaiting Sam, Fred, William and Porter's arrival.

Hopefully not for very much longer, the uncomfortable tension was becoming too much to handle.

"Hey before everyone eles gets here, could you go get Bright?"

Vincent asked alexis, partly to give him and Lovely somw more time to anticipate the meeting and because Vincent wanted to know if Bright had made his decision yet.

Then again this meeting was most likely going to answer that question.

Alexis groaned

"Fine"

Alexis looked out from the doorway into the music room at Bright eyes as he played William's grand piano.

She had previously played it during the first few years of her turning until eventually William got one for herself.

A seemingly kind gesture but alexis had always suspected that his reasoning for this was so that she'd keep away from his things.

The sight caused a possessive rage to shoot through her.

She grabbed a random book from one of the shelves in the hallway next to the double doors

And threw it at Bright's head.

The corner of the book hit his skull and it caused him to jolt away from the piano

He winced in pain as a look of annoyance and fury made its way across his face.

"OW! WHAT!?"

He saw alexis scowling in the doorway.

"Come on kid, family meeting in the common room"

After this, she retreated back to the common room, nit waiting for Bright eyes to get up from his chair and close the piano.

Eventually he caught up with her.

Once Bright had entered the common room, Vincent immediately pirked up and started a conversation with him.

It wasn't long after that when Sam and Fred arrived.

Vincent and Lovely seemed happy to see Sam and were quick to start conversing about the anticipated meeting.

Which left Bright and Fred to awkwardly shuffle and avoid eyes contact with eachother.

/ Fred's pov: /

Should I say hi?

We haven't talked at all since our argument and only occasionally brushed shoulders.

But with Tank moving in with Sam....I kinda feel like mabye it's time to move out and back when we were.....alive Bright would always talk about how one day we'd move in together.

He finally mustered up the courage to look at Bright and was about to ask him about there living situation.

But as soon as they locked eyes, Bright had a scowl plastered on his face.

So Fred looked away before he got the chance to ask

/ end of Fred's pov /

Suddenly, William opened the double doors of the mansion and entered.

"I'm sorry, are we the last ones here?"

'We'? Thought Bright eyes.

"Where's Porter?"

Asked Vincent almost sternly.

"Hes still in the car but don't worry he'll be out soon"

Vincent scoffed

"I am not worried about him"

William sighed as he removed his cloak. Vincent, Sam and Lovely were sitting on the same couch with Sam sitting on the edge of it and Vincent and Lovely next to eachother.

Bright and Fred were sitting on the couch opposite to them with Bright being the closest to William as he remained standing.

Alexis had her own chair.

Then Porter entered the room.

Fred was the only one in that room that hadn't yet seen Porter so he made note of the man's appearance.

He wasn't particularly tall, mabye only a little taller than Bright eyes, but he was wearing stilettos so it was hard to tell.

There were various scars across his face. Three long claw marks layed upon his left eye and one smaller one on his jawline that reached the cusp of his mouth.

He also wore pitch black shades that were the shape of bat wings.

(Refrance ^)

Vincent scoffed

"Sunglasses at night huh? Classy"

He said sarcastically to no one in particular.

Though Porter answer him.

"Oh why thank you~"

As Porter's eyes scanned the room, his gase eventually landed on Bright eyes.

And as he did he slowly removed his shades in shock.

Bright gave him the same look as they realised the situation they had found themselves in.

And simultaneously thought of the thing that usually comes to mind when you run into somone you had a one night stand with just the other night:

"SHHIIITTT"

_____________________________

(I accidentally posted an unfinished version of this cos tumbler was mad at me for the chapter being to long so I cut it in half. This is the first half. For those who saw the unfinished version...keep what happens to yourself for now)

Taggs:

@darlin-collins @anexistingexistence @you-think-i-care-mate

[pumpkinsy0]

Dally and Buck hcs please❣️

rare buck n dallas ask omg

•i like to think that to buck, dallys the equivalence if a stray cat who wont leave his store

•the upstairs part of bucks bar he likes to double as like a hotel, does dally pay???? very very rarely, y does he let dally stay still???? he doesnt know

•after dallys death it took him a while to actually clean out that room so he can start using it again, but when he did, he saw that dally carved his initials into that wall of the room and buck never covered it up

•iiiii think we should traumatize buck a lil bit and say that the night dally died, he heard the sirens of the car from the cop that would eventually kill dally

•ANYWAYS buck to me is like late 20s early 30s and he was never exactly a greaser??? more like lower middle class and that was always a point of tension for dally lowkey??? i dont think dally rlly trust anyone thats nit a greaser his guard is always up

•they met when dally was 12 and buck 22, 10 year age difference between em!!! buck saw dally was about to b arrested n pretended to b his guardian and they aint talk or see each other for a while after that

•they have never like EVER hung out just w each other, bucks grown as hell and has no interest in what dally does as long as he doesnt bring that mess here

•i dont see them as like #secretfamily, i wouldnt say theyre that close, neither r they rlly CLOSE friends, but theyre,,,,somethin for sure

•bucks the one whos well versed on what the hell sylvia and dally r arguing about bc its either he hears them arguing upstairs or dally drinks at his bar and rants about her

•buck has saved dally ONE TIME, like actually saved him, there was a bar fight between dally n a few guys and buck had to help dally bc believe it or not he doesnt want the guy DEAD, plus he doubles as the bars security, he did kick dally out for that one tho

[beabnormal24]

Hi, hello, it’s me again here.

So, of course my competitive butt had to take my own comment about Yuki/Alex as a challenge and now I have 12k or more of a draft.

But I don’t know if I’m doing it correctly, I NEED HELP (also mental help, possibly). I was mostly inspired by AJR’s song ‘Turning out’, which I highly recommend because it’s A MASTERPIECE.

The general idea is: Yuki finds a stray puppy during a storm and he brings it to the prt clinic at the ground floor of his apartment complex where Alex has just started working.

They start to get to know each other but Yuki is still nit sure if he actually likes Alex or if he sees him as a best friend, since he’s never cared about actually getting into a relationship so he had never actually looked at the difference between love and in love.

But it’s also a big period of his life because both Charles and Pierre have moved out of the apartment that they used to all (as in Yuki, Pierre and Charles) live in during university because they have started working and have decided to move in either their respective partners.

Charles is already engaged with Carlos (of course there’s Charlos, it’s my fic) and Pierre hints at proposing to George (I don’t know where this ship came from in my mind but I wanted it, so I wrote about it), and Yuki is starting to feel lonely. [also, other side-couples are Sewis and Landoscar]

He has the company of a puppy called Kuri (because it’s Japanese for chestnut, and I imagine Yuki with a poodle with chestnut fur) and Alexander Albon, funny and tall and easygoing but he doesn’t know what it means to him.

So, lots of introspection as it’s common in my fics and fluff because Yalex has to be a comfort ship, sorry. (And I’m also planning on smut, hehe)

Anyway, here is a little snippet, let me know what you think about it (keep in mind that I am NOT British and I do NOT have a beta reader):

—

Karma may be a little fickle tonight, but it certainly pulls him to its side when the heavy rain turns into a light drizzle halfway through his way back to his apartment complex – which isn’t a long journey, per se, but Yuki surely isn’t one to look into a gifted horse’s mouth.

So, by the time he has reached the closed doors of the vet clinic, he is shivering much less than before and the biting cold in his bones has turned into an uncomfortable chill shiver running down his spine from time to time.

What is annoying is the hair plastered down to his eyes dripping wet and the fact that he can’t even try and move a few strands out because his arms are already stuffed full of the sleeping body of a tiny, harmed puppy.

Good God.

The doors stay closed when he finds a sheltered place under the brick's roof of the entrance, but Yuki knows for a fact that Sebastian is never able to leave this place until it’s ten in the evening, because there’s always some animal staying the night after an operation, and he would probably rather close the clinic for good instead of leaving them alone for more than eight hours.

Yuki had never got it, honestly, the sleep and the warm comfort of his bed seems like a much better prospect than staying around sleeping animals in pain, but now that he’s looking at the limp tiny thing in his arms, he may start to understand.

“Sebastian!” he calls out, reaching with his pinky finger to the doorbell. He cries his name a bunch of times, because the rain is starting to fall again and his voice might get covered soon enough, and there’s no way that Yuki is going to wait for him to close everything up – that might take hours, the puppy may be hurting too much by then. “Sebastian, please, it’s an emergency” he must sound like a possessed man, and the lady on the first floor will probably have something to complain about in their next condominium meeting. But she always talks too loudly on her phone on Sunday mornings when Yuki is trying to sleep away a tremendous hangover, so she can honestly go fuck herself – respectfully.

It still takes a few more minutes and a few more desperate calls for the door to open and the dim yellow light of the waiting room to seep on the steps. Yuki slips inside without even waiting for it to open completely, clutching the jacket close to his chest and exhaling deeply through his nose when the warmth of the air-conditioned room finally engulfs him. The puppy sighs against his chest, so it must appreciate the change in temperature, too.

“See, I told you buddy I would get you safe. Yuki always keeps his promises” he says softly, shuffling the bundle of leather closer to his face. The puppy smells pretty bad, a mix of blood and dumpsters rubbish from London neighborhoods, but its tiny eyes are staring back at him all lucid and wide and full of fondness, like it can actually feel love for him, and Yuki can’t even consider the possibility of getting it too far away from his nose.

Yuki may have just fallen in love, too. But it also might be the adrenaline of acting like a freaking hero in a rainstorm when he can barely reach the top cupboard of his kitchen with the help of a stepladder.

But Disney never made a movie about short heroes; he never had a figure to look up to during his childhood.

“Now Sebastian here will take really good care of you, yes? He won’t ever hurt you. Right Seb-” Yuki stops in his tracks when his gaze meets a pair of brown eyes that definitely do not belong to Sebastian, especially with the way he almost has to bend his neck in half to actually look at the face in front of him and not at the expanse of a broad chest hugged by a plain blue polo.

This is not Sebastian’s chest and not Sebastian’s hair and definitely not Sebastian’s lips and definitely definitely not Sebastian’s white coat. Oh.

“You’re not Sebastian” Yuki says dumbly.

Surely enough, there’s a tall lanky guy standing in front of the now closed door, looking only slightly stunned at Yuki’s sudden outburst, like it’s normal to have someone barging inside a vet clinic at half past nine on a Thursday night in the middle of yet another London’s rainy day.

Oh god, but what if this guy is the one who actually barged in? What if Yuki has just uncovered a burglar? But would a burglar open the door for him?

The guy stares at Yuki in silence for two long seconds before he starts patting his abdomen, pretending to check his whole appearance. “Oh, fuck I’m not Sebastian!” the guy exclaims, looking frantically at his fingers, clenching and unclenching his fists like he’s trying to make out the shape of them.

Yuki snorts, shaking his head. This guy could never be a burglar even if his life depended on it, it seems. Besides, he might be slim enough to pass through anything, but he’s still too tall to go unnoticed.

“No, I’m not Sebastian” tall guy says, chuckling to himself. “I’m Alex. You almost made me have an existential crisis right then and there.”

“Identity theft is not a joke”

Alex raises an amused eyebrow at him, like he’s trying to make out the space where Yuki fits in his vision, and he smiles, wide and bright with big teeth and all. “You’re a cultured man, Yuki.”

Yuki furrows his eyebrows in confusion, “How do you know my name?” He asks, looking at the puppy in his arms to make sure- oh, right. “Oh”

Alex laughs again, his eyes crinkling at the corners. He must have a tendency for it or maybe it’s just Yuki who looks funny in general. A lot of people have told him that in the past and he still doesn’t know if it’s a good or bad thing.

“You’re funny” Alex states, like it’s some kind of irrefutable axiom. He clasps his hands, taking a few steps forward to start inspecting the bundle between Yuki’s arms. “I heard there was an emergency.”

Instinctively, Yuki clutches the jacket closer, one finger gently caressing the single dot of white in the middle of the beige fur of his head. The puppy yelps softly, snuggling its little nose towards Yuki’s chest, and his heart swells like a balloon.

“Yeah, I really need Sebastian” Yuki says, “I mean, this little thing is hurt, and it really needs a vet.”

“Well, then, it’s a good coincidence I work here, no?” Alex smiles wide, teeth showing between his lips.

Yuki blinks at him. “Uh, no you don’t?” He says but it sounds more like a question than a statement. But, to be fair, he lives above the place, and he has known everyone around here for ages, he would’ve surely remembered someone as tall as this Alex, with such bright dyed hair and this adorable smile-

“Uh, yes I do?” Alex says back, grinning. “I mean, just since this morning. But officially I work here.”

“I’ve never seen you around. And I live here” Yuki says defensively, trying his very best to show at least a smidge of self-consciousness even though he will probably give up pretty easily if Alex keeps staring at him like this – big eyes, big smile, hair that look incredibly morbid.

He hasn’t seen a new face in a while, more so belonging to a cute guy, and there’s still a beer slowly swimming in his stomach, so he should be justified.

“I moved recently” Alex explains, not giving much information away to satiate Yuki’s curiosity. He arches an eyebrow, finally touching the sides of the jacket hanging from Yuki’s arms. Yuki lets him just because he doesn’t really know what to do anymore, and if the guy is really a vet as he’s claiming to be, then he should trust him more than himself.

It definitely is not because his brain is slowly turning to mush at their proximity.

“Now, let’s see what we have here” Alex says, carefully taking the jacket from his arms.

The puppy goes willingly without even whimpering once, instead snuggling happily as it’s deposited against the chest of a new stranger. Traitor, Yuki thinks, though he would probably react the same in its place.

“Hi little baby. How cute are we? So much” Alex coos gently, caressing with his index finger the same spot Yuki had been gently scraping earlier. The puppy gives another satisfied yelp. “Oh, are we hurt? Poor little thing. But now Alex will take good care of you, alright?”

Yuki just stands there looking at the interaction with his hands to the sides, suddenly feeling too empty after so long of hanging desperately on to the tiny animal. But it’s incredibly adorable and endearing the way Alex keeps comforting it, as if it can actually understand what he’s saying, its tiny tail wiggling against the jacket when he manages to scratch a good spot behind his ears.

The puppy must sense that Alex is a good person, and Yuki may be a little dramatic most of the time, but he probably trusts the puppy more than himself. Especially if it’s about a cute guy talking with a high-pitched voice to an adorable animal in pain.

“Now Alex will take you to the other room and we’ll check everything, yeah?” He looks at Yuki then, eyeing him up and down, probably taking in his conditions.

Only then Yuki realizes what he must look like, with his hair flat over his head, raindrops still sliding down his nose, the simple white T-shirt he had been wearing under the jacket now completely soaked, tight against his chest. His shoes make a weird squelching sound when he takes a step forward, his socks clinging uncomfortably to his toes and his pants scratching against his probably already bruised knees.

Fuck, he wanted to wear them for work, there’s no way he’ll wash them in time.

“Uh, sorry?” He mumbles, painfully aware of the puddle he has formed under his feet. He grips at the hem of his T-shirt, uselessly trying to straighten it out and immediately regretting it when his palms leave sticky red handprints in their wakes. Yeah, no, there’s no way this is recoverable.

Alex doesn’t seem angry about it, and as his gaze falls to the stained fabric, he frowns, concerned.

“It’s the puppy’s” Yuki says, cringing at the feeling of blood against his skin.

Oh God, it’s the puppy’s blood. A puppy’s blood is staining his clothes and his hands and he’s going to puke, isn’t he? Or worse, what if this cute guy thinks he hurt it? What if this cute guy thinks he is an attempted murderer? A murderer of puppies?

Yuki is honestly afraid of his own shadow most of the time, and he still sleeps with his night light on when there’s too many thunders outside, but how can he convince Alex of that without embarrassing himself even further?

To his delight, Alex smiles at him, shaking his head with a twinge of fondness that makes Yuki’s cheeks feel incredibly warm for the way he’s still shivering from the cold. “Come on, then” Alex says, turning around “You can clean up and dry off in front of the radiator.”

Yuki doesn’t have to be told twice.

[beelspillowpet]

Honestly, I'd be surprised if they went all in with the angels vs demons thing because every time this game introduces a big plot point like MC having to break pacts or Diavolo's dad potentially waking up, it never amounts to anything.

At the end of the day, these characters are gonna stay mostly the same even if the writers actually make something significant happen because they know they have an audience that wants as much content as possible as opposed to good writing.

You hit the nail on the damn head. REPEATEDLY might I add. Instead of growth or interest we get complacency and more of the same. Nothing has EVER changed in this game for any of the characters. They relearn the same things on loop- something we've seen literally happen between beel's chapter and the recent as LAST NIGHT lesson 19. What did we learn in Beel's chapter? While satan has his tiffs we can all nit-pick about, he's still our brother.

What did we learn in lesson 19? satan is our brother and we wont go back to celestia and leave him behind!!

whats the difference?

there was a fake plotline to bring them to the same conclusion. nevermind the fact that they all already came to their own conclusions in their respective chapters that they did originally want to go back but have already adapted to their new life in the devildom and dont want to give that up again. so really, trying to force the whole "ohhh... WILL they go back after all?" thing was never a point of tension. the threat from god is.

and its a weak threat at that. because i just know that by the end of lesson 20 the threat of war will either be over or drawn out so we can talk about each of them fearing the threat of war looming. STILL.

If lesson 20 ends with god (or michael or raphael) saying "i see how much you guys care about each other and like living here now. alls well that ends well i guess!" you wont hear from me again

[bell-writes-wierd-shit]

BIIIIIIG REQUEST IF YOU COULD WRITE BOTH OF THEM I WOULD DIE HAPPY (involve sui attempts)

Vox and a reader who's attempting but instead of pills its like something else??

same thing but w stan marsh :3 tysmm

Yes bbg *kisses u bc you reqested smt aka i can write and nit be as weird*/j/pos

But yes!!!!!!!!

Human au for vix bc a attempt in hell doesn't fully make since(would it just be self harm them? -)

Do,

Human! Vix x gn!reader,

Stan marsh x gn! Reader

They/them/thier prns:3

And again,

I AM COMPLETLY COMFORTABLE WITH REQEST AROUND 3DS AND S3LF H4RM AND SU!C!D3!!!! ITS VERY INTRESTING TO ME SO YIPPPER

Ims going write my crazys now, but not headcanon for once bc i wanna w r i t e .

Okay, here the good good

Under a cut for trigger warnigs and if u dont wanna read u can just scroll

V_O_X_(_H_U_M_A_N_)

P_O_V_:_Reader/second person

.

..

...

I sat in the bathroom. Back to the tub, blade in hand. My arms burned cuts littering them. Im so fucking done. Done with life. This world. This world that holds nothing for me. Nothing. At all. All that fates throw at me is shit. Pire and utter shit.

The cuts burned but not bad. After a while of doing it its almost a euphoria. But i started at them. Bloodied and red and rised. I pressed the blade to mt wrist again. I held it and closed my eyes. I contemplated. Lost in thought.

And thats when the door opened.

He steped in, slightly panting over his worry. "What the fuck are you doing, that you cant, just open the fuck-" he looked up, seeing yiur , covered in blood and cuts, blade to your arm, pressed down, and he could tell from the intendt, that cut could kill. He froze for a second. Then reached out and grabed the blade, slightly skiming the skin and makeing a small scratch. He looked at the small blade, a broken sharpener. Small and easy to hide. Blood stained brown. He shoved it in his back pants poket, and pulled you up from the floor. He hurried you towards your bedroom, sitting you down, and grabbing somr paper towles, prseeing them on your arms. Stoping the bleeding and bandage them. He stayed quite. He cryed a bit, but sucked it up. He changed you into a jacket of his and some sweatpants, and told you to kaydown and try to sleep. Leaveing you, and going into the bathroom cleaning any blood that spilt to the floor.

.

..

...

_S_T_A_N_._M_A_R_S_H_

_P_O_V_:_S_T_A_N_._M_A_R_S_H_(inbetween 3rd and him im so bad at first oersin)

i walked into the house. Thier parents off on some trip, as always. They wernet in the liveing room. Nor thier bedroom. Thier parents bedroom was locked. It wasnt nirmale locked?. So i knocked. "Hey, (name), you in thier? Whys the door locked?"

... Slilence.

"(Name), i know your in thier. Open the door. Please." He tryed it again, and to no avil. Hr got up and grabed a butterknife, and unlocked the door. Opening it, and looked, he saw it.

Thier dads gun cabinet open, and his pistole missing. He paniced. Thier bsthroom door was also locked. As. He got closer, he heard the clicks if the gun being loaded. Just unlocked the door with the butterknife, finding them in the shower, gun to thier head. On reaction, he hit the gun down and out thier hands, kicking it toward the wall, and koveing between them and thr gun.

"WHAT THE FUCK (NAME)?! WWHAT THE ACCUALY FUCK. WHY?. Why did-.." tears welled thier eyes, and he stoped yelling. The grabed them by thier waist, and carryed then bridal style to thier bedroom. In a worryed state, he checked thier arms and thighs. Finding cuts that he didn't bring up. He went though thier room, finding a few blades with also a kitchen knife. He hated doing it but he had too. Takeing the blades, he threw them in his back pack. He layed down next to you, takeing off his shoes, and comforted you. Scared. But reliaved that he got here when he did.

--------------------------------------------------

YIPPE THANK YOU FIR READING!! I ENJOYED WRITEING IT:3

Bounse

(stan forgot to take the knife out his backpack and it fell out in the middle of class and he was put though some long at trile iver why he had abloodied knife in this backpack. He tryed not to but eneded up amiti g it was yoes you confimerd, and they ordered in the summer you sprnt it in a ward so polic did pop up ripe on may 24th at 7am.)

[laprimera]

" Sheesh, I only ask that they raise the stage by .5 inch to reach safety standards and it's like I've asked them to make oranges out of Flapples or something. ..What do you mean that's being nit picky?? "

" .. Oh wait the mic is on fuc- "

AHEM.

" Thank you all for such an exciting conclusion to the Luvdisc Day Festival here in shinning Paldea! What's a little excitement to enrich the sweetness, hm? None to worry our dear Saguaro was not in any real danger and there's some fun to be had in drama especially with you sleuthers out there. " In fact Saguaro might've been having too much fun I heard-

" But to wrap this up in a beautiful bright bowtie let's announce some booth winners. I would love to point out that our lovely craftsmen, bakers, chefs, crafters, and the like worked so hard and diligently to make the festival shine in a way its never been before! Truly this year has been so utterly unique and a new shinning standard has been made for next year. Without further a do here we go chosen as a community in all the right places:

Best Booth Award: Tunnel of Romance by the lovely Jasmine ( @irxnmaiden ) and James ( @spikemuthtoothfairy ). Oh isn't that precious, their names even match! What an attraction for couples, friends and self-lovers alike!

Best Effort Award: Lovely Ponigiri powered by Hiroko Azai, Katsu Inoue and Shiori Ito ( @ranseiuniter ), now that's what I call cooking in the kitchen! Bringing some lovely flavors from their far off home for all of us to share!

...Wait what's that in the margins..? Saguaro voided on account of an unmanned booth for so long? Sheesh should've told management it isnt his fault for being kidnapped ... wait, I'm management? FineI'llcompensateforitlaterthemicisstillon-

... Anyways--

Academy's Choice Award: Bright Cider Life by our very own Brassius ( @grassius )! Oh he's worked very hard on his booth with lovely Applins of many varities. They do say in Galar they exchange these Pokemon to their beloveds. Just as sweet as he is~!

People's Choice Award: Winsome and Woven! Speaking of Galar this festival featured a booth by their very own grass gym trainer, Milo ( @cottonthumb )! Amazing what variety nations over are bringing to our lovely culture. Milo here offered their craftsmanship from the wool of Wooloo in every fashion needed!

And last but not least my very own choice award! You didn't think I'd sit this one out, did you? I've been more then a spectator!

La Primavera's Choice: ...Benji's Luvdisc Day Personal Delivery Service! by ofcourse, Benji ( @deliveryhimbo )! There's just something so intimate about having something delivered in total anonymity to a friend or a lover. And on such an important day? It simply must get there on time! Benji does not fall short in this matter and goodness someone who works so hard won't go unawarded!

Congrats all of you! You'll all be invited back next year as featured booths alongside some lovely grand prizes to sweeten the deal.

Everyone participating of course is getting league points and a lovely velvet ribbon for all your hard work. Again I can't thank you enough for bringing the light and festivities here in Paldea's most treasured festival!

While it saddens me to bring this to a close fret not, I believe there's more Paldea has to offer in the distance, hm? Thank you for coming and I wish you the brightest of days to come~! I hope you've found your sweetheart in the people you've met, in that special someone or in the very light within you! "

[rjalker]

Tumblr said the first is illegal so here it is again because I saved the meme to my computer.

Finding out The Murderbot Diaries was inspired by The Imperial Radch series is the opposite of propaganda. I don't think I've ever heard worse news about a story I enjoy in my life.

Let's take the ideas this story did right -- but make it bad!!!!!

it's so fucking funny and just. proves even further Martha Well's inability to understand the concept of gender as separate from sex.

She can imagine dozens of nonhumanoid fantasy species, but couldn't once imagine a gender system that was no still locked into the white western gender binary, even when her prominant fantasy race has what ammounts to six different genders if she'd actually given it a single moment of thought.

Martha Wells literally looked at what Ann Leckie did and then went "Oh that's so cool. Let me just not follow any of the examples you set in regards to gender tho"

[ID: A two panel meme.

The first panel shows cupcakes based on the Cookie Monster from Seaseme Street, with expertly decorated icing, a cookie, and eyes.

It reads, "The Imperial Radch series talking about pronouns before the first scene is even over and then consistantly bringing them up and having them play an important role throughought the course of the story".

The second panel says "Nailed it!!!" in large comic sans font, and shows a failed attempt to replicate the cupcakes from the first image, with the icing flat and melting, with the eyes falling off.

It reads, "The Murderbot Diaries literally not even having the word "pronouns" i nit even one single time, never discussing them or having characters share theirs, even though the protagonist uses neopronous."

End ID.]

do you think the word "pronouns" will appear even once in book 7, which is coming out November 2023?

I guess we'll find out, won't we?

If a single character tells anyone else their pronouns, Martha Wells can have this sticker:

[ID: A gold star against a transparent background, surrounded by smaller golden sparkles. Black comic sans text on the star reads, “You did the absolute bare minimum required to respect trans people”. End ID.]

I'm serious I'll never be able to get over the knowledge that she really really really read The Imperial Radch series, which has more understanding and representation of gender in its first two pages than the entirety of The Murderbot Diaries series has in its entirety, and then decided, yeah, I'm not going to do any of the things that actually made that radical and interestng actually. This robot is nonbinary and aroace because it doesn't have genitals teehee that's how gender and sexuality works :))))))

Like. how did you manage to fail that badly when Ancillary Justice is already talking about pronouns in the very first scene.

this is the opposite of propaganda and it's fucking hysterical.

Especially because it is a perfect mirror to everything this fandom does with the things Martha Wells actually does right. She says "Don't ship slaves with their owners and don't demand peopel conform to your idea of normal" and they're all screaming and crying that if they can't ship this touch averse aroace slave with its owner they'll just die.

LOL

[silriven]

A bit more complaining about how Wrathion is written in the 10.1 PTR

Ok last post on this for now, promise.  I'll end this one with some things that I liked about the Dragonflight 10.1 PTR (Embers of Neltharion) to counter all of the salt I've been sprinkling around here.  Here we go.

I've nit picked Wrathion's individual lines but I don't think there's any one single exchange in particular that brings him down...with maybe one exception which I'll get to.  It's more like, by the end of the campaign, his entire character winds up worse than the sum of the parts.   Because on paper I'm not opposed to Wrathion butting heads with his siblings or loosing his edge because Sabellian has thrown him off guard.  This is like a "death by a thousand cuts" situation.  Each line on its own is maybe not so bad but everything all together is...a lot.

This bit here though is definitely the worst, my least favorite. Wrathion comes off as almost unforgivably callous. He enters this scene with a clear view of the smoking remains of a village he got to know earlier, Ebyssian and Sabellian are horribly injured, there's a DEAD BODY like a STONE'S THROW in front of him and THIS is the first thing that comes out of his mouth?  And he needs to be told by Ebyssian that this is inappropriate?  Really?  This out of everything just lingered with me in an irritating way.

It also comes right after a harrowing questline which features some very touching, mature moments between Ebyssian and Sabellian as they work together and help each other.  After watching all of that play out, Wrathion rudely crashing back in like he does is such whiplash.

And it's not like he gets it together after Ebyssian snaps at him.  He still acts weirdly aggressive when everyone returns to Valdrakken, getting defensive and snippy with Ebyssian and Sabellian for no reason WHY IS HE LIKE THIS NOW??

Ok, so now that's all off my chest.  Time to talk about stuff that I liked.

I loved this bit where Wrathion helps the elderly niffen field dress her game and carry the meat back to Loamm. I have such a soft spot for characters knowing wilderness survival. It's also a rare moment where Wrathion is being courteous so it's like a breath of fresh air.

I really liked this bit of dialogue.  I don't know what it is but something about the idea of Wrathion giving up the life he's built for himself to conform and become one of Sabellian's soldiers is so *depressing*, but in a delicious angsty way, like yes, Wrathion would hate that and I would hate watching that.  Don't know if that was the intention or not but thank you for the hearty fanfic food, that would make such an interesting AU.

This was a nice bit of horror: the charring flesh of Sabellian's burning arm saying 'hello' to him in the voices of the old gods.  Love that, excellent suffering.

"Salt returned to the ocean" is a really nice line.   It was also clever seeing Ebyssian use some kind of earth shaman magic to put out fires.  I liked how much he did in general during the campaign, it was really good to see him in action again.

Ok and to close out I feel like I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this: after everything, Wrathion does get this nice little mature and considerate line at the end.  Thank you, I'll take it.

[thewinter22]

I had always hated being "owned" by this fey. They treated me well, like us humans treat our own pets, yet I was disgusted by every second in their servitude.

I found it unjust. Knowing someone's name was not something that was supposed to give you power over them. Fey culture confused me, and it would have been intruiging if it wasn't for its its strict yet unwritten laws, instead making me frustrated and annoyed.

What made it worse was that it seemed they thought I would be like their previous slaves. Adapting and accepting my fate. Yet I did all in my power to disobey. Not that I always could. The power a name held was beyond my comprehension.

Now, after a festival of the fey, I had their name, and with years of firsthand study of Fey powers, I knew a bit about what to do with it.

Once again, I heard them call me. "Winter!", the calling of my name making my body feel violated everytime, even after all these years. "Be a dear and bring me some of the leftover tea." I sighed. "No", I said. They were no longer surprised by my disobediance. "I love it when you say that, because I love punishing you." I took a deep breath.

"How shall I punish you today, Winter?". My emotional distress, over years of this abuse having bottled up. I did not care about plans, or revenge. I was done. "You shall not punish me, Irides."

I could feel the shock in their expression. Speaking their name must have had the same effect as it had whrn they spoke mine.

"Winter! How did you-", they did not finish the question. The sound or my name from their voice no longer held any power. "Oh I was such a fool... What will you do to me now?"

I was confused. "I hold no more power over you than you do over me now. We are equals." I shook my head and went to leave, but they stood in my way. "No! You cannot just leave after all this! Will you not punish me for what I have done?"

I was completely bewildered. Was this... What they wanted? "Out of my way, I have spent years against my will trapped by you. I do not wish to spend another second here." "You need to punish me! Or it will all have been for nothing!", they insisted.

Disgusted, beginning to realize what was happening, I asked, "This has already been for nothing. And either way... Is this what you wanted? Is this all a game to you?!"

"Of course it is. Life is a game. Some of my previous pets learned my name, but stayed mine until the end of their lives. Some others learned my name and got back at me. I do not mind either outcome. It is their choice, and they are happy no matter what", they explained.

"Happy? Happy?! You kept me here, stealing years of my life, all because you think I'll enjoy torturing you like you did me?" "It was not torture, it was-" "It was worse is what it was!" i yelled, cutting them off.

"I spent years of my life trying to figure out the social cues and rules of humanity, and when I understood it, you take me away, and make me learn everything anew. Not only that, but everyday you torture me for... For your sick pleasures. And worst of all, you seem to genuinly think I enjoy it. "

They looked at me with an expression I had learned well. Bewilderment at human nature. Confused at the implication that human society could be anywhere near as complex as that of the fey. I did nit need for them to say a word.

"Indeed, fey aren't the only creatures who are hard to understand. Humans themselves are quite similar in that sense." They were getting frustrated. It truly seemed like they were willing to put up with anything, except with the idea of me leaving, as that would mean their time had truly been wasted.

I continued, "Many things humans expect from each other may be confusing, and I understand them just as well as I understand fey culture. But there is one thing I want you to know about, which I have understood without the need of being taught..."

After another deep breath, I spoke once more. "Consent. Your games you play with humans may be fun to you, and some of the humans may even have appreciated it. Maybe it was their dream come true. Yet, no matter how many humans you made happy, it will never excuse lives you've ruined against someonecs will..."

After a long silence I turned to face the door. "As I've said before, we are equals now. You may come to visit me, and I may let you in, or I may not. All I ask is that from now on, you are aware that when you kidnap a human, it is a purely evil deed. If you truly want to make humans into your pets, and them to enjoy it, then... Ask for their consent. It is the simplest rule xou should remember."

Years ago a fey tricked you into giving her your true name. After several years of being her “pet”, today you overheard her true name.

[corvus-coins]

literally made a new blog just for this and i have little to no experience on tumblr at all so haha sorry this formatting might be a nightmare!!!! also i ramble a lot sorry i cannot help it, like, at all

i've never coined a term before, never planned on it, but man none of the gender neutral/agender terms were working for me at all and i decided i needed to take this into my own hands.

so, introducing:

GENDERELIMINANCE

aka genderlacking, gender avoidance (not genderavoidant! that is an entirely separate term and you can read about it here.), or simply...nothing at all, literally nothing, this is not a tangible thing and it is meant to be the lack of presence. it's not just to describe it, this is exactly WHAT it is entirely. it is "no" in its purest form, and it is nothing and never in its purest form.

actual alternative term list: gender nonexistence, genderlacking, gender avoidance, gendereliminate (eh-lim-ih-nit), gendernothingness.

side note: eliminance technically isn't a word in dictionaries? but fuck you, this is how english evolves and its my word now i'm shakespearing this shit. therefore, "eliminance is the state of something having been eliminated - in which this fact is now a staple element of its existence -, and is therefore gone." "example: The fallen empire of Rome forever hangs in [its] eliminance."

WHY CREATE THIS?

i created this term (gendereliminance) because agender was not working for me, there was something there that just didn't fit. then neutrois....broadly nonbinary......and, like, you get the point, nothing is working for me. and i know at least one other person has this experience, man.

MY POOR ATTEMPT TO PUT THIS INTO WORDS (when it's something that really isn't meant to be constricted to words, like, at all)

gendereliminance is not a gender (sort of), it does not fall into the system and concept of gender, it is the opposite of it ENTIRELY. whether one chooses to consider it as a gender identity for themselves is up to them (in which it is, in that form, a xenogender) and is completely allowed of course, but at its default/textbook definition state, it is not, it is the COMPLETE absence of gender.

you may ask yourself of course, why not just say genderless? well, friend, that word didn't work for me either. gendereliminance is, again, an identification term that shows someone is entirely separated from gender, entirely or somewhat, there is usually not a single link there, not even a fraction of it. and i feel not even genderless gets that across in my own mind.

this term is also to describe individuals that cannot, genuinely CANNOT, perceive gender in the scope of themselves whether it be due to other factors in their life or just a pure and genuine lack of capability to understand it beyond words and definitions and therefore bring that into themself as their own person. perhaps they may find gender identities (especially xenogenders) as more of/entirely an aldernic (or even kinnity) experience for themselves or a way to piece together and describe parts of what they consider who they are beyond any manner of the physical world and even mind. just them. like me.

CONNECTION & THE GOAL

gendereliminance heavily ties into neurodivergency, mental illness, nonhumanity/alterhumanity/otherhumanity, isolation and societal rejection, as well as indescribable psychological experiences that just...set you apart. it may also tie into the personal existence of being in a system and feeling an utter disconnect from outerworld experiences and social constructions. HOWEVER, this is not exclusive to individuals who fall into these experiences and never will be, as i feel that entirely defeats the point of it all - the point to reject standards, figurative boxes, and 'nonfluid' terms. it is all about fluidity here and the incapability to face impeding contradiction. and it is about providing comfort and acceptance and something to latch onto for people like me who couldn't find something that worked for them.

OKAY SO LIKE ACTUALLY WHAT IS THIS

this is, depending on the person, either an entirely solo identity OR a xenogender. the feeling of how they feel about it may fluctuate or it may be a rigid thought.

QNA...AND...STUFF, I DON'T KNOW MAN

is this/can this be considered a gender system? * it can be...it can be.

^ isn't that contradictory? * "the point [is] to reject standards, figurative boxes, and 'nonfluid' terms. it is all about fluidity here and the incapability to face impeding contradiction." contradictory? yes. wrong? nope.

where's the alt. text? i don't know how to accurately describe the flag without rambling (rambling is my whole fucking thing this should be heavily evident), PLEASE help me out if you'd like. i want to provide accessibility!!!

can i repost this? only offsite, and please do give me full credit through a hyperlink.

can i make an alt flag? yes??? fuck yes by all means. go for it my brethren.

what pronouns go with this? gender doesn't equal pronouns you go by whatever you want not whatever something guides you to. but like if you really need a reference, all gender neutral (or not neutral, even) pronouns such as they/them xe/xem and all sorts of neopronouns etc. etc. literally there is no restrictions that's the entire opposite of what this identity encompasses pleas

you have to have a gender!!!!111!1 please eat dry dirt

there's only two genders!11!1 see above and also trip hard on asphalt with your mouth open

[cksmart-world]

SMART BOMB

The Completely Unnecessary News Analysis

By Christopher Smart

April 30, 2024

CAMPUS PROTESTS: THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

So Wilson, it must be déjà vu all over again for you and the guys in the band. Campus demonstrations — students getting beat up and arrested. It's gotta bring back fond memories of the war in Vietnam. Cops wielding batons, bloody foreheads, handcuffs, all that good stuff. It's like 1968 all over again. It started at Columbia University where students apparently don't appreciate their bloody fingerprints all over the 34,000 dead in Gaza. The protests spread from NYU to USC. It's the same but different from protests over our disastrous and deadly 10-year soiree through Southeast Asia. The National Guard hasn't killed any students yet — like at Kent State on May 4, 1970 — but give it time. Remember those days, Wilson, when young people wouldn't take ownership of all the bullshit the old, white men were up to in the nation's capital. Those screwups. It's always the young people who have it together. What was the battle cry back then — sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. It does have a ring to it. Yes Wilson, we know, you and the guys took it very seriously. Such dedication. This time around Republicans in Congress are getting into the act with public executions of university presidents for allowing civil disobedience. Meanwhile they hail Jan. 6 insurrectionists as heroes. What're you gonna do? Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.

TOP 10 NAMES FOR UTAH'S NEW NHL TEAM

The Arizona Coyotes NHL hockey franchise is moving to Utah and there's a big buzz over what to name them. Already a bunch of dumb names have been suggested, such as The Pucks, The Blades, The Pioneers etc. etc. So the staff here at Smart Bombs got to work on some totally better proposals. Here they are:

10 – Latter-day Saints

9 – The Jack Mos

8 – Crispy Creams

7 – Swarming Locusts

6 – The Salt Water Taffy

5 – Jesus's Sunbeams

4 – Jiggly Jell-Os

3 – Skating Apostates

2 – Gayful Rainbows

1 – What's wrong with the Coyotes, anyway. We kill plenty of them in Utah each year. How about Grateful Dead Coyotes?

TO RECUSE OR NOT RECUSE — THAT IS NOT THE QUESTION

Recently Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. suggested the U.S. Supreme Court move its chambers to the headquarters of the National Republican Committee because the justices act like partisan hacks. Nanner, nanner, nanner! Raskin took out after the high court's conservative majority as they looked to be receptive to Trump's claim of absolute immunity. But the big question is, does the RNC have parking for Justice Clarence Thomas' 40-foot, $267,000 motor home that he purchased with a “loan” from billionaire Anthony Welters. If not, he'll have to leave it at the Walmart parking lot. During the recent immunity hearing nothing was mentioned about Thomas' wife, Ginni, and her critical involvement in a conspiracy to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election. Some of those liberal nit-pickers say Clarence should recuse himself because he appears to have a conflict of interest. But just because Ginni was up to her neck in the planned coup is no reason Clarence should bow out. That would signal jurisprudence, which has little to do with the Roberts Court mission statement. It hews toward “originalism,” that is, bullshitting your way through any argument by claiming to read the minds of the long-dead framers of the Constitution. And then there's always voodoo.

Post script — That's a wrap for another fabulous but frightening April here at Smart Bomb where we keep track of the nastiness at the Utah Republican State Convention so you don't have to. Hey Wilson, if you think Marjorie Taylor Greene is a bitch you weren't at the state GOP convention. There was so much malevolence there that it threatened to peel the paint off the convention center walls. It made MTG look like a Girl Scout. Let's agree to disagree or I'll rip your f-ing head off. Eesch! The rabid right contingent even booed the mild mannered Gov. Spencer Cox, to which he retorted: “Maybe you hate that I don’t hate enough.” The Party of Trump, where if you ain't mean, you ain't American. People believe what they want to believe. For example: 9/11 was an inside job. George W. Bush pulled it off so he could expand government power and the military industrial complex to profit on the war on terror. Don't forget Pizzagate. Hillary Clinton and her band of thugs ran a child sex ring in the basement of a pizza place in D.C. One problem: no basement. For his part, Donald Trump made 30,573 false or misleading statements while president, according to The Washington Post. Hey Wilson, did you hear that Trump won the 2020 election. It must be true — just ask the MAGAtes.

Reality isn't for sissies. As it was in Vietnam, it's up to the college kids to point out the slaughter in Gaza is inhumane. And as it was then, too, the response of university administrations is flat-footed and dumb-headed. The more things change, well ... So Wilson, get the guys in the band and take us back to the future:

There's something happening here But what it is ain't exactly clear There's a man with a gun over there Telling me I got to beware I think it's time we stop Children, what's that sound? Everybody look - what's going down? There's battle lines being drawn Nobody's right if everybody's wrong Young people speaking' their minds Getting so much resistance from behind It's time we stop Hey, what's that sound? Everybody look - what's going down? What a field day for the heat A thousand people in the street Singing songs and carrying signs Mostly saying, "hooray for our side" It's time we stop Hey, what's that sound? Everybody look - what's going down? Paranoia strikes deep Into your life it will creep It starts when you're always afraid Step out of line, the man come and take you away We better stop Hey, what's that sound? Everybody look - what's going down?

(For What It's Worth — Buffalo Springfield)

[lasisgood]

Svu and law and order crossover I wrote something similar like this on my selfship blog but this is more updated? I don't know recent? I wrote this all on tumblr and I don't want to copy and paste it one by one onto docs then onto my other blog.

So here it stays

I don't really write. But I suddenly got a bunch of inspiration to.

Self insert and Nolan Price/Las.(me)

I like Nolan Price okay. He's pretty. Hugh Dancy is my boy.

~~~~~~~~~

Las hummed as she made her way to Benson' s office coffee's in hand.

"Oh, Carisi" Las smiled as she put down all the coffee she brought back. "I brought you coffee. Still milk and 2 sugar?"

Carisi smiled, "oh yeah, and thanks Las. I missed this."

"What me bringing you your coffee?"

"Being here. It's nice. Oh Las. I saw you with Ada Price the other day. What were you doing with that guy?"

"Ah, well. Benson's sending me off to Mccoy. And I was meeting Mr. Price."

"Wait. You're sending her off to Mccoy?" Carisi frowned.

"I thought, he needed an assistant. And I can handle myself for a week or 2."

~~~~~~

Benson cannot handle Las away for 2 days. She's lost papers. Forgotten notes. Didn't remember her coffee order. Las knew it hell she knew everyone's orders.

~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~

"I don't need you." Mccoy said to Las.

"Ex-excuse me? Sir? I was assigned to you I can't just go back-"

"I didn't finish. I don't need you. But. I have an ada who could use an assistant. Do you know ada price?"

"I met a few days ago. He seemed okay."

"Well, you're working for him now. If he tries to talk his way out of this, say it's Mccoy's orders."

"Okay."

"Now go. I'll see you later. Actually I'll show you to his office."

~~~~~~

"Oh, Miss its good to see you again." Nolan smiled at Las who was followed by Mccoy.

"Oh. Sir. Hello-"

"Nolan. Call me Mccoy. Anyways. This here. Is Las. She was assigned to be my assistant. By Captain Benson. She'll be here 2 weeks. I don't need an assistant though. So I'm handing her to you my most capable laywer. I know you'll work great together. I'll be going."

"But Mccoy I don't need a-"

"Cmon Nolan. I need you to do this for me. We can't just send her back to Captain Benson. She's here and she's Your assistant starting now. That's an order."

And with that Mccoy was gone.

Las smiled at Nolan. "I'm sorry. I'm just supposed to be here-"

"That's okay. I can work with this. Do you want coffee?"

"Huh?"

"Coffee. I'm going to get some. Would you like to join me?"

"Sure."

So Las memorized Nolan's coffee drink, got a nice tea and Nolan told her having her around might not be so bad. He's got cases and he sometimes loses paperwork.

"Now you can have my card. I'll pay for the drinks." Nolan said matter of factly. Las frowned.

"No that's okay. I can pay for them myse-"

"No. You're my assistant. I'm paying for my own stuff and for you. I can afford it. Don't worry. Now I need you to file these bunch of papers. While I go over this case."

"Okay."

So las ended up spending the afternoon organizing papers into files and files into categories, while Mr. Price sat at his desk going through his latest case. Muttering to himself every once in awhile. To be fair las expected this. Benson told her ada's had so much paper work. And if Las went to grab him a cup of coffee every once in a while when he looked like he needed it he stared at her confused the first few times. Then slowly came around to expect it.

"Having you around isn't so bad." He mumbled to himself as Las went back to her organizing. Price felt a little thump in his chest everytime Las smiled at him.

"Did you say something?" Las asked flashing him a smile as she began organizing his law books.

"No, no. Are you hungry? I don't know about you. But I'm getting there. How about we take a break? Go grab a bite?"

"Okay. I don't have any idea what to get though?" Las wasn't familiar with this area the law offices were a little ways from svu nit too far but enough to be confused.

"I know a place down the block, I'll show you."

~~~~~~~~

"Hey finn?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you go pick up Las at the ada's office. I wanted to bring her home, I wanted to ask how her first day working for Mccoy was going."

"Yeah I can-"

"Mccoy? Las isn't working for Mccoy." Carisi said as he put his briefcase on Bensons desk.

"I lent her to Mccoy. She's supposed to be-"

"Mccoy said he didn't need an assistant. Gave her to one of his ada's."

"Can we not talk about Las like she's property." Benson frowned.

"Sorry. But Mccoy lended his new assistant to ada Price if I'm correct."

"Price I know that name."

"Hot shot prosecutor. Brown hair, cute eyes."

"Cute eyes?" Finn chuckled

"Well that's what I hear from my coworkers " Carisi chuckled. "the one's that work with me. He's cute. Pretty. Handsome. Single. i don't know. I just know he's a good prosecutor, wins cases. But he usually keeps to himself."

"Oh great." Benson sighed. "Now I gotta worry about Las for 2 weeks."

"He's not a ladies man Benson. He's just a quiet guy who's a damn good laywer. Looks aside. Las probably won't fall for him. She's professional like that."

"I'm not entirely worried about las. I'm worried about him. Las is naive she's overly affectionate, nice, very giving. Anyone would fall for that. Hell she's won over our whole squad."

"She's won over Stabler, Amaro, hell even munch." Finn chuckled. "Don't worry, Liv. Maybe Las will win over this guy, and we can have a backup attorney."

"Hey. I'm your ada. I know svu better than any of those hot shots." Carisi smiled.

"Oh. Liv do you still want me to get her?" Finn asked.

"She's not there." Carisi chimed in. "Saw her heading somewhere with Price right as I was leaving. Something about food?"

"That's it we need her back!" Benson shouted, standing from her seat. "I'm gonna talk to Mccoy and get her back."

"Whoa whoa, wait a sec Liv. What if Las found herself someone nice? We'd all like that. Especially after Stone left. She could use some happiness right?" Finn shrugged "I'd like to see her happy. And I know you would too. Let's wait this out. If Las needs our help, she'll ask us, and we can step in. But for now. Let's see where it goes."

[skinnyravs]

Always venting

It seems when I feel like coming here I just complain. lol. But that's because there is too many people on my FB and Twitter that will just say shit to others if I rant there. haha.

So what do I have to complain about this time?

Well my last post I think I was talking about how you think you have friends in game but they eventually just fizzle out or leave etc. The more I look at it the more it makes sense of why I feel that way about it. Every day that I play Destiny i see a common thing.

I have always talked about people I used to know, people I used to play with etc etc. And when you see them on and you don't get a reply or an invite but they will do shit with other people it brings about a feeling of dejection, abandonment, and rejection. And it makes you question why. Why should you make an effort anymore.

It gets tiresome when you feel like you are always making the effort and people just sort of fob you off. Be it in the obvious way or in the subtle way. And when it keeps happening you start to lose faith in people and you sort of retreat to yourself and you want to spend more time alone. Then when you say something because of how you feel, people will just say oh your being too sensitive, your nit picking your not getting along with people your burning bridges with them. When in fact that isn't it. The feeling of disappointment becomes so overpowering you just can't take it anymore and you lose yourself in anger and you can never shake it and when you see it in front of you on the screen / in a game it actually gets worse. Nobody but yourself will understand it.

I see my friends list on the game and i sit there thinking. "What more can I do?" And the only answer is: Nothing, just do it yourself. Nobody wants to play with you so just find a way to do it yourself. I have messaged people in the past, I've tried to talk to them but all it ever leads to is silence and at first its fine but the longer it goes on it makes me question why I have even bothered. And yes I know the whole that's just life etc etc speech but the end story is I'm sick of always trying. For once why can't others take the lead?? Why can't both sides do it? Nobody seem to be doing it, and in the end I'm the one that gets kind of pushed aside. I'm sick of that. I'm sick of trying to be better trying to be open when that's not a natural thing to do for me. For damn once I'd like the people in this game to come to me and go: hey come join this and this and this. Not me asking people for once it be nice for others to do that and not just because they desperately need help with a quest, an exotic, a mission etc. I mean, there was only ONE person recently that did that and it wasn't even in the same clan I didn't even know who they were. It was someone that was following one of my streams and ended up talking to me and stuff and it was fun. That is the kind of thing I need, not me constantly having to reach out to people.

So ugh frustrating to handle no wonder I get snappy because i am god damn tired of it.

But you know what wishing / hoping for that will never happen clearly I am just dreaming. So again I will always have to start stuff and hope i get a yes not silence. But believe me I know its always silence I receive or no i'm busy type thing.

[writingwithcolor]

Arab Character Joining Corrupt Superheroes, Police Parallels

Anonymous asked:

I’m writing a story with a Arabian diaspora main character. The story is about corrupt superheroes, and how they affect an oppressed superpowered minority. The main character is one of these superheroes, naively joining them in his teens believing he’s going to help people. Doesn’t help that his parents are having money trouble. Eventually he ends up fighting a superpowered crook, and gets a bystander killed.

1)I know portraying an Arabian character committing violence is a pretty touchy subject, even if accidental. Is there any way I can write this that makes it clear to the reader that the action itself is messed up without the unfortunate implication that Arabs are violent? 

2)A large part of the story is the MC’s parents reaction. They are loving parents, however after this incident happens, they are confused and ashamed. While they still love him, they temporarily cut ties with him. Eventually they reconcile and start to be a family again. In my research (they are diaspora Saudi Arabians), Family is very important and tight-nit. Shame towards the family is to be avoided at all costs. However I’ve also read that disowning a family member rarely ever happens. Is there a way to write this kind of narrative with respect to this aspect of Arabian culture?

Let us begin with some terminology.

- If a person is from Saudi Arabia, they are Saudi Arabian, or more commonly, Saudi. This is their nationality.

- They may or may not be Arab. Arab is an ethnicity. Not all Saudis are Arab. Not all Arabs are Saudi.

- Arabic is a language. Lots of people across the world who are neither Saudi nor Arab speak Arabic.

- Arabian on its own is a word used to refer to a specific breed of horses.

If you are referring to humans, you want to either say "Saudi Arabian" (both words) or “Saudi” to indicate nationality, or "Arab" to indicate ethnicity. If you’re looking to describe your character’s culture, you probably want to call it Saudi culture. (While grammatically correct, talking about “Arab culture” doesn’t make much sense because Arabs are an incredibly diverse ethnic group and there is no such thing as a single monolithic Arab culture).

Now for the first question. In my mind, the issue is less about the character committing violence, and more about the premise of the story and how it mirrors real-life oppressive structures. You have an organized group of superheroes who think they are doing good by fighting “crooks” but in reality are enacting systemic oppression upon a marginalized group. This immediately brings to mind police violence, racial profiling, and the way that policing in North America is used as a tool of white supremacy while glorified in propaganda as a force for good. Essentially, you are telling a story about a character who joins an oppressive policing force, enacts violence upon a marginalized group as a result, and (I’m assuming) eventually realizes that they are not, in fact, the good guys. This is very close to being a “bigoted character learns not to be bigoted” story. I recommend re-examining your premise in light of the real-life parallels and asking yourself whether this is the story you want to tell. 

The issue is compounded by the fact that your character is an Arab teen, who in real life is more likely to be the one facing racial profiling from the police. Taking this character and making him the oppressor in your story makes the already flawed premise even more problematic, especially if the characters in the oppressed group are white.

As for your second question, it seems believable to me that a teen’s parents might reject him if they learned that he committed a crime. However, when the family in question is Arab, you are suddenly feeding into harmful tropes about oppressive and violent Arab parents. You are asking if there is a way to write this respectfully. I believe that there is, but it requires a great deal of care, nuance, and cultural awareness. While it is possible to write a Saudi Arab character grappling with the consequences of violence and familial estrangement in a compelling way, the way your ask is phrased leads me to believe you are not equipped to do it justice. 

- Mod Niki

Think about why Arab people committing violence is a touchy subject, and then think about the general propaganda narrative that came about from the act that made things so touchy. 

It’s going to sound one hell of a lot like what you have here.

Military and police use buckets and buckets of propaganda to continue hooking in young, impressionable teens to commit state-sanctioned colonialism and oppression. That propaganda looks suspiciously like “we have health insurance, we will pay for your education, you just have to do what we tell you even if that means hurting or killing others, but it’s okay because you get to be the hero in the situation.”

Now, propaganda is a very powerful tool. I was taught, in my media classes, that controlling the message means shaping reality. The media is built as a propaganda machine, and when you start to see who owns what media properties you start to see some really disturbing patterns (Rubert Murdoch owns a lot of right-wing sources across America, the UK, and Australia, and he’s too rich to investigate his culpability in spinning terrible narratives found in right-wing publications. He owns the big names).

As Niki said, this situation mirrors police violence and police-sanctioned terrorism. And the very, very unfortunate implications of making the target of police violence be in that wheel. But I want you to look at the media situation that has made the plot happen.

Because even if you swapped out ethnicities, you’d still have a reckoning to do with the American culture that their primary social safety nets involve killing people.

I am not kidding.

Some of the most well-funded unions in the country are police unions. These people have pensions. They have health insurance. It’s damn near impossible to fire them. They get overtime very well mandated, and it’s a known thing among defence lawyers that arrests happen right before a cop’s shift will end so they get the overtime of filing the paperwork. They absolutely go into poor neighbourhoods and recruit based off people needing an escape, and them having the money to provide it.

A similar sentiment is true for the military, except they push for college education a bit more and don’t really have overtime, but they do have deployment bonuses. So the way to get extra pay for yourself is to go out and do colonialism outside the borders. The military doesn’t necessarily like it when the economy is doing well, and don’t like the idea of college being affordable, because they rely so heavily on poverty and fear of college debt to recruit. 

The story you’re telling here goes so far beyond an individual’s actions and instead taps into America’s single biggest cultural investment: that oppressing others makes you a hero. 

The Pentagon funds most military media out there as a propaganda tool, including most superhero movies and a large number of video games. This is in their budget. They will also go so far as to literally commission the games to exist. Part of getting that funding is you cannot critique America’s military, basically at all (the only exception I’ve seen is Ms Marvel, but that’s set in the 90s). This turns any sort of military-using media into a potential propaganda tool.

And the thing is? Even if you fall for that propaganda and were part of the military or the police, you still have to reckon with the fact you put whatever your own desires were above a huge track record of those groups being terrible. You still have to reckon with the fact you didn’t realize they were wrong, and were complicit in a lot of crimes.

This goes very far beyond “the action is terrible” and goes into “the system is rotten to its core, and you chose not to believe it, or to believe you could change what was built with blood.”

“Good” police officers get fired. If you try to question anything, if you try to say this action is wrong, you will absolutely get destroyed. Military’s much the same. You need some degree of buy-in to the concept of white supremacy to sign up for the military or the police, because you need to see their actions as not deal breakers instead of actions that violate multiple international laws. 

In short: you need to see the people being oppressed as deserving of being oppressed to some degree in order to participate with police and the military.

Marginalized people can hold this belief, it happens. But that is a very sticky situation that outsiders shouldn’t touch. 

It’s possible but difficult for you to write a white person having this sort of arc, but it would be extremely challenging to have it not come across as a white guilt story. To not have a socially aware audience roll their eyes at how long it took. You’d definitely not be writing a story with a diverse audience in mind, because you’d mostly appeal to those who saw the propaganda as just fine and not that bad.

This isn’t even getting into the oft-cited adage that boys who bully others become cops, while girls who bully become nurses. And the more police atrocities become mainstream news, the less and less people can convince themselves that becoming a police officer is a good thing.

Which brings me to the point of: how well-documented is this oppression? Is this character walking around in an oppressive situation like, say, pre-social-media where there was no direct access to the oppressed groups and you could close your eyes and look away even if it made national news? Or is this in a media connected world where these oppressed populations have a voice in the narrative?

The former has an angle of the character slowly realizing the horror and it’s slightly more forgivable for their early ignorance. But in any sort of world where there’s access to the people getting hurt? Things get more and more “ignorance is indistinguishable from maliciousness.” And keep in mind, these stories are read in the real world, where police brutality and war crimes go viral, and a lack of knowledge is getting harder and harder to defend as a position.

Media plays a huge role in shaping our perception of what’s happening. Cameras on a situation makes different activism tactics work, as we can see with how activism changed in the 60s and 70s as tv reached the masses. Social media has made it possible for you to look up firsthand accounts of discrimination within seconds. 

This is a factor you are absolutely going to have to consider, when you want to look at how nice your hero is seen by marginalized or otherwise socially-aware people. If there is a way to find out how bad this superhero organization is before you sign a contract with them? Then that doesn’t look particularly good on the “hero”. You’d really have to establish them as super idealistic, super sheltered, super desperate, and/or just swallow the knowledge that they really don’t see anything that happens “over there to those people” as that bad. 

All of the above is more than possible. And they’d still be seen as complicit no matter what justification you gave, because they are.

Does this mean all corrupt organization stories are off limits? No. The reason these stories have such deep cultural resonance right now is because of the propaganda I outlined above. 

But you as the author are going to have to examine your own engagement with the propaganda narrative and do your own private reckoning so your own sense of guilt and compliance doesn’t bleed through the narrative too strongly, so you can tell a good story instead of an overt message story that’s you working out your own feelings.

By all means, write a story where police and the military are taken down, where propaganda is weaponized and the media is controlled (because that’s sure as hell the modern world). 

But know that stories where the hero discovers the corruption already have a ticking clock because we, in the real world, are slowly being faced with a mountain of apathy instead of ignorance. The knowledge of oppression is out there so much that marginalized people are tired of the ignorance defence. 

As the saying goes, “privilege is the ability to ignore the oppression of others.” 

Propaganda, centralized media, and strategic cultural investment made it possible for police and the military to have a chokehold on their public perception. But that’s changing. The chokehold is starting to fade, people are starting to question their beliefs. 

The past year has shown that knowledge isn’t the issue; it’s white supremacy. People don’t want to believe that any of this is that bad. People want to believe that oppression is justified, that if people just followed the law they’d be fine. They don’t want to question themselves. And marginalized people are tired of these narratives where, suddenly, people snap out of it. Because there was so much evidence to show it was bad, but it was only when you do one of the worst crimes imaginable that you realize this is bad? It’s only when it becomes personal that things are worth looking at critically?

No. And you need to examine where you are in processing your own complicity before writing a story where you’ve swapped around the ethnicities to try and distance yourself from the problem, where in the end you made the target the oppressor.

~Mod Lesya