#potential triggers?

[directactionforhope]

By the way, even if you fully plan to vote for Biden in November (because Trump would be worse and has declared that if elected he would ban Palestinians from entering the US x, x, x, x)...

You can and I would argue should call or email Biden or whatever other Democrats represent you and just straight up lie about it. Tell them "I'm a constituent, and I've voted for you in x number of elections, and thanks to your support for the genocide of the Palestinian people, I will never, ever vote for you again."

Politicians, Democrats, and especially Biden need a fire lit under their asses, because the vast majority of them clearly aren't going to do shit without one. Or, worse, be like Biden and actively be the reason that Israel can continue its genocide on a political, monetary, and military level.

Tell Biden and other politicians that you will never vote for them again. It doesn't matter if it's true. It will help pressure US politicians to stop this genocide, and therefore it's the right thing to do.

Obviously this also applies to other countries where politicians are supporting Israel's genocide, especially countries that have cut funding to UNRWA (list here).

[ducktracy]

there are a lot of evil people in the world and a lot of darkness in the world and so it’s very important for me to stress that now more than ever is the time to spread kindness and compassion. combat the evil by not only not partaking in it, but actively refuting it. destroy the notion that being compassionate or generous or kind to someone is uncool or embarrassing or even scary. be the change you want to see. start a chain reaction. positivity only breeds more positivity. do an act of kindness for someone so that that person who is too afraid to do it themselves can see you, realize that they’re not alone, and perhaps sheepishly follow your example. and then the next person who is too afraid but sees that person can do the same. when bad news comes out about bad people or horrible atrocities in the world it’s such an easy impulse to despair, and obviously it’s important to feel what you need to feel. grieve. be angry. be sorrowful. be empathetic. but dust off your pants and get up and be a part of a chain reaction that, no matter how small the scale, and spread compassion and love and care. all the reasons why you might not—“it’s hard! it’s scary! people will make fun of me! it’s useless because there’s too much evil!” are all grade A arguments as to why you should. you have no idea how many people you could inspire to do the same. even if it doesn’t get you anyway far, you can at least say you have the nobility of trying. please choose love and please choose life. you are worth loving and you are worth inspiring others to love

[freshgalaxycheesecake]

I think it's important to note that this isn't news: it's been going on for years and no one protected these girls. They all protected him, shushing the victims. All these testimonies that are emerging online can't be part of a terf conspiracy, be for real: some of them are older, some could be fake or highly exaggerated, there's no way of knowing for sure. One thing is sure. More allegations will come. Some of these are pretty graphic so take care.

(in the reblogs there's more screenshots of testimonies from people in the publishing world and fans, there's enough proof to say this was a consistent way of behaving around young fans and workers).

[beemovieerotica]

did you guys know that if you try to search for "crying" or "sad" gifs on tumblr, the site intervenes because it thinks you're gonna kill yourself and links you to KoKoBot, the thing that data mines users' mental health crises

[canisalbus]

I have a phobia of dogs like can't stand seeing images of them phobia but I love your work so much, I don't know what it is but there's something beautiful about how I can look at it without feeling that phobia. Like being on top of a mountain and seeing the view of the world below or how fire looks pretty close up. Your art to me feels like that scene in fantastic mr fox with the wolf.

Ah, that's both heartwarming and very interesting, I've never heard of any cynophobes liking my work! Thank you!

(I won't bother you about it of course, but I can't help but wonder if it's the same thing for all furry/anthro art you see or for some reason just me, and if it's the latter, what could be making my stuff more palatable for someone who is that intensely uncomfortable with canines. My style isn't realistic but it isn't super stylized and exaggerated either. Is it about the anthropomorphization and the humanlike features, expressions and behavior? When I draw actual dog-shaped-dogs, are they harder to look at?).

[zerosuitsammi3]

If I can take a moment to share my experience as a trans woman on the internet

My experience is by no means unique, it's just one experience in the plethora of trans feminine experiences and not unique to only tumblr. Though, I'll mostly talk about what I've experienced here. In the light of recent events, the reaction of "the ceo," and the comments he contributed regarding dog pile harassment; I simply wish to share my experiences that I have had to juxtapose the dynamic of his statements against a lived experience.

This account started as a way to document my social transition and eventually my journey with HRT. Tumblr had always had a large lgbtqia+ community. The queer people here inspired me and gave me hope. What I didn't know, but soon learned, is that there were people here who hated me for being trans. Being early in my transition I was a prime target. TERF groups would plan raids on my account. What this entailed was: rebloging my selfies into circles that would say the most vile things about me, threaten to kill, tell me I was ugly, tell me that everyone I knew thought I was a joke, I was a monster, my family hated me, that I should kill myself, they'd download and edit my photos into caricatures or depictions of violence. They would fill my ask box with hundreds of asks detailing how they'd kill me, call me slurs, describe the ways that I should kill myself, and pretty much everything else I mentioned above with the reblogs. Their words were carefully curated to try and break me, break my spirit, break my will to live. I tried reporting it. But it was impossible to keep up with, and like many others I saw no real response. Eventually I learned that I had to block all of them. 100's of blogs, eventually 1000's of blogs. My block list these days is incredibly extensive. I had to wade through their blogs, traverse sickening hate speech and imagery to eliminate entire circles of people harassing me. I became jaded to the hate speech, hardened to it. But mind you, I shouldn't have had to expose myself to all of this just to be at peace here amongst my community. I received no help, I was left to my own devices to protect myself. The people who hurt me never saw consequences. It was painful, it was unfair, and no one else should have to put the hours upon hours of effort and exposure to hate in to protect themselves like I did. But again my experience is not unique.

I have had to repeat this process of preemptive blocking periodically once a new circle discovers me. Blocking them all before they can start the process of hate all over again. A process of hate that seems to be hitting my community with rapidly increasing fervor as of late.

I've seen others experience far worse than me. The TERF circles will hunt down their personal information and doxx them. Expose their home address, telephone numbers, names of their family members. I can't begin to imagine the terror my queer siblings must feel when someone tells then that they want to murder them all while showing them that they know where you live. This is not a new thing, not a rare tactic, it happens. And we've all seen the news stories of trans people being murdered by people who planned it and were vocal about it.

I know this is depressing. And it doesn't reflect all of my experiences. I've had wonderful experiences here, met amazing people, made close friends, found inspiration, found hope. I found a community.

And it's my community, and I never want to let it go.

I do have fear that making this statement will get me banned. But, I wanted to say it. I wanted it to exist in the world so that everyone who doesn't know our experiences has a chance to understand and with luck empathize.

I'll part on these words and hope for the best both for myself and for every member of the community.

[pompadorbz]

OK SO HERE'S THE RUB. I think that as it currently is, the base uniform for hope's peak looks boring as shit to me. like. yes. it is very customizable and versatile and when they DO stuff with it then it usually looks great. BUT for such a prestigious school I think there could be just a tiny bit more flare to it. So before making any design I made some changes to the hope's peak emblem itself. The design is fine on its own, but I thought it could add to it if i gave it a couple of colour variants, so this is what I came up with!

Each variation belongs to a specific group, with the coloured versions belonging to the student groups. For the sake of this were just gonna focus on the student emblems so like. ignore the other 2. Here are the uniforms themself!

I wanted to give a BUNCH of options that range from totally normal to. fashion crime territory if you arent careful. The solid orange options are by far the least popular ones, and the reserve course is really just hung out to dry, unless you want orange pants with a black blazer. I imagine that there are so many pieces because not only can hope's peak afford it, but they have had this consistent issue for years where the one thing they just cannot keep straight is a dress code. So as a result, they allow students to mix and match all they want, so long as they're wearing the emblem to SOME extent. try as they might, they can't enforce the school colours as much as theyd like to.

[faeriekit]

Despair of Your Discovery

Phic phight fill for @carelisswriting. I am so sorry.

(Relevant warnings are tagged below)

**********

“Oh my god,” Danny says, horrified. “That’s…oh my god.”

The plant looks very innocent amongst the rows and rows of lush green pots in Sam’s greenhouse.

It isn’t.

“You cannot tell anyone,” Sam hisses, and shoves the wicker harvest basket back over the bush, as if there was anyone safe to tell! “Not a word. Not a whisper.”

“This is bad. This is really, really bad.”

“I know!” Sam snaps, looking two steps away from a screaming freakout. “But what can I even do with it?!”

The answer seems obvious. “Get rid of it?!” Danny exclaims, throwing his arms out for additional emphasis. “Making sure there isn’t any evidence left??”

“By what, burning it?!”

Danny opens his mouth to affirm the obvious— only to realize there is another, equally as obvious problem with the usual method of extermination.

“...Put it in the trash?” Danny tries again, grimacing. He crosses his arms, taps his toes. “I mean. It’ll go out eventually.”

“And if someone sees it in the trash?!” Sam volleys back, eyes wide with furious distress.

Okay. There's a clear problem here. All they need is a solution.

Tucker wanders into the greenhouse; he probably found out that they weren’t in Sam’s room and figured out their second location pretty quickly. “Hey, Sam; hey Danny. I thought we were doing Doomed today?”

“We’re not,” Sam and Danny chorus.

Tucker frowns. His eyes go back and forth between them. “...Is everything good?”

“No,” Sam says, cutting off Danny’s: “Sam stole another plant from the school garden again.”

“Oh. Is that all?”

Sam throws herself over the wicker basket and grooooooooans.

“Apparently someone was experimenting,” Danny offers flatly. “It’s bad.”

“How can a plant be bad?”

Sam straightens herself up, makes dead-on eye contact, and lifts the basket.

“Is that WEED?!” Tucker yelps. Danny immediately darts over to slap a hand over Tucker’s mouth, and the basket gets slammed back on top of the plant.

“Don’t shout!”

“Shouting is merited!! Sam grew drugs!!”

“On accident!!” Sam shouts back, very, very pale. “They just left the sprouts in the garden shed without any light or water!! I had to do something!!”

“Saaaaaamm,” Tucker groans, which is pretty unmerited, considering that Sam is probably the person suffering the most here. “Sam, we have to do something!"

“I know, I know!!”

“We know you hate pesticides, but isn’t there…some kind of natural weed killer? Or something?” Danny tries, struggling to think it through. “You can’t hand-pull all your weeds in this greenhouse. It’s massive.”

Sam bites her lip. She doesn’t answer.

“Sam…”

“It’s a waste of plant life to kill it,” Sam whispers. Her two best friends groan out loud, angled in two different directions.

“Sam. It’s illegal. You’ve got to get rid of it.” Tucker’s logic is cold, and brazen.

“...Fine.”

The procedure for killing off a plant the organic way is apparently pretty simple; vinegar, salt, and sunlight. The plant is looking dead and crispy under the glow lights in Sam’s greenhouse in less than an hour; by tomorrow, it’ll be long gone.

“We can never tell anyone this happened,” Danny decides, for obvious reasons. Tucker nods solemnly.

Sam sniffles a little, mascara running. Danny gently rubs her back.

[punkitt-is-here]

thank you for being an ally to fagdykes like me :]

helllllllllllll yeah hope you enjoy all those dudes, happy pride month

[sysig]

Experimentation (Patreon)

[hearts4werka]

NNN day 9 | Shattered Promises

summary: a dangerous war was declared, the one thing you feared would happen in your life ever since your husband Matthew joined the military. The fear of him possibly dying out on the battlefield without a proper goodbye always managed to deliver you nightmares and now your worst fear came true, Matthew had to go off to fight for his country. Is he going to make it and come back home safely, or maybe you’ll forever hold the weight of him in your heart even without him among the living?

warnings: ANGST, military, war, violence mentioned, possible murder, missing limbs, dark times, happy ending (or is it?), sorrow, depressive times, vivid nightmares, triggering content & possibly more! Viewers advisory is supervised and proceed with caution!

authors note: we’re almost there at the double digits! Kinda got this random vibe today and the idea just popped into my head, this is gonna take a lot of military vibe music to get me through this and keep me in the spirit, I’m sorry as this can be kinda inaccurate in some ways 😭, luv yall and hope y’all enjoy this one

no nut november | masterlist | guestlist

- a month before the war

Laughter fills the air as our joyful golden retriever, Danny continues to jump and deliver eager licks to the side of his face while he lays down on the couch next to me, the television shadowing a soft glow over our faces alongside sunlight pooling in the room, dancing along the shadows of the living room. “Hey, Danny! Calm down there buddy!” He calls out, chuckling between each word, I observe the playful fight, thinking nothing bad could ever happen to our small little family with our fur baby. My hand slithers its way over to pet and ruffle the hairs on Danny's spine.

The whole moment was filled with pure enjoyment and true love, my heart twisting with delight as Matt finally managed to lure Danny off from on top of him and shelds himself with my body, grabbing a hold of my biceps and pull me in front of him. My laughter only intesifying as now Danny begins devoting his attention off Matt to me, hopping onto my chest but this time without eager licks and just relaxes against me, Matt dramatically gasps but a sweet chuckle quickly overpowers it, "Looks like someone has a favorite parent." He jokes, slipping out from under my body and sitting down before me.

After another playful moment passing by, Danny begins to feel tired and snuggles into Matts lap and slowly drifts into peaceful sleep. A romance movie plays in the background as me and Matt starts to chat in soft whispers to not wake up our fur baby. Admiring how at peace and happy he seems in a simple moment like this, feeling like nothing could take away the joy we've build throughout these years of our relationship, I let myself rest my head down onto Matts shoulder, tiredness now shadowing my features. "I got two little cute sleepyheads now, wanna go to bed now?" I nod my head and murmur a positive response.

Slowly and gently removing Danny off his lap to stand up, straightening his legs and turning his head to look at my sleepy form that’s now beginning to fall asleep. He walks over and picks up my body, bridal style just like he had on our wedding and every time I was tired, as well as at unexpected times. I loved him dearly and would never let anything bad happen to him, I was always a deep sleeper but ever since Matthew decided to join the military I was afraid about him possibly dying on the battlefield and I couldnt bear the dark thoughts roaming inside of my mind, it started with simple flashes of him in my mind but then turned into full nightmares I couldn’t bear.

It started flashing his image as he carried me over to our bedroom and laid me down, covering my body with the duvet before undressing himself and sliding under it next to me, he wraps a warm arm around me and pulls me into his chest, nuzzling his face into my hair as a feeling of safety washes over me but when I close my eyes I can only see him, laying on the ground-shot and dead- while his buddies drag his limp to the side for shelter, trying to revive him back to live but without proper medical care it was impossiple for them to. My heart twisted with sorrow as my eyes immediately pop open, unable to fall asleep no matter how hard I tried. I shift my body to face Matt and hide my face in his chest while clutching onto his body as if I would lose him then and there.

- Present day

The morning approaches, sun barely rising over the horizon, casting a warm soft glow over our bodies as I throw the duvet off my body. Seeing Matthew is stil asleep so I make it my misson to quietly get dressed and exit the room, feeling like doing wanting to do something special I decided to make a hot breakfast for him when he decides to wake up. As soon as Danny catches a glimpse of me walking down the stairs he immediatly runs over and demands some head scraches as well as sustenance, chuckling at how much energy he has in the morning, "Oh you want some head scraches? I'll give you some head scarches, you little cutie." He follows me into the kitchen, grabbing his feeding bowl and placing it on the countet but as I was about to get his food I hear something weird from the radio, immediately turning up the volume to hear more context and its coming from the news.

"Welcome everybody, your news-reporter speaking. The United States Of America has declared war upon another country and we need every soldier we can grasp over the age of 18, this is not a drill but a serious war our country is under. Please seek immediate shelter and consider flying out of the country for safety if youre near any of there states..."

I immediately freeze, being unable to move as the other words coming from the reporter become irrelevant to my brain, "every soldier they can grasp" my brain cannot comprehend the state of fear I am before Im pulled out of my thoughts when Matthew comes rushing down the stairs, seeming like he just woke up telling by his messy hair falling over his forehead. He walks over to me, seeing how scared I have become and places a reassuring kiss on my forehead, “It’s going to be okay, darling. I'm going to be fine, I wont leave you." He softly speaks, assuming I've hear all of it on the radion while he got a call, cradling me in his arms and kissing the top of my head to calm me down in any bit, he's known this was my worst fear and the repeative vivid dreams I've woken up to multiple times and him trying to calm my nerves.

He pulls away from the embrace and leans down to be face level with me, his expression softening as my eyes become glossy and shiny with worried tears swirling around in them. "I promise I will come back to you as soon as I get back, you can come with me to the pickup bus." He reassures, wiping away the slowly sliding tear with his thumb on my cheek. My arms wrap around his neck and pull him back in, feeling as this could be the last time we speak and feel each others warm embrace. "I'll go get ready now." He pulls away before turning around and walking back upstairs to dress himself more properly and apropriate, my soul eternally freaking out and not wanting this to be real. Maybe its just a dream-yeah a dream-now I just have to wake up from this nightmare of a day, oh wait, its actually very much real life. Soon I follow Matt into our bedroom and dress myself properly as well, getting rid of the pyjamas and now in outside clothes.

- At the pickup spot

As we approached the bus, my heart ached and twisted in various ways that made me feel sick to my stomach. Other familys and couples surrounded the bus, saying goodbyes and crying as they got on the bus. Matt holds my hand before turning to face me and pulls me into a soft kiss which only lasted a minute before he had to pull away, "Be safe and please don't die out there." I stammered, full of worry and fear for his life. the news reporter stated it would be a dangerous and serious war which only heightened my pulse, for now I had to take his words and cling onto them as much as I can for them to be true. He gave me a last reassuring kiss on the forehead before he got onto the bus, some of his buddies recognised me and I recognized them since Matthew would have them over often and before they got onto the bus to join Matt, they walked over to me and suddenly picked me up into the air. "woah, guys, what are you doing?-" I questioned but without a response in return, they carried me over to where Matt was sitting, he popped his head though the window and suddenly kissed me, I melted right into it and kissed him back almost immediately. It was filled with pure true love and caring, the world around me disappeared and the happy cheers of others started to become more faint to my ears, all of my worries disolve into the air and my only value left was the moment right now.

By the time we pull away, the driver calls out for everyone to get on board as they will be driving away soon, they let me down onto the ground and hop onto the bus themselves, from a distance now I watch as they close the doors and drive away, a feeling of loss washes over me which I can’t brush away no matter how hard I want to trust his words that he’ll be okay but it seems thats a promise he can’t make. I leave the spot and get into Matt’s car in which be drove us here in, feeling his scent lingering still in the air as I drive off back home.

- a year after the start of the war

Everyday after Matthew’s gone off to fight for his country’s freedom, I’ve waited patiently for him to return back home, dreaded the time I would hold him in my arms again, feel his lips on mine or him holding me and calming me down after a terrible nightmare. They’ve only became more intense and I couldn’t bear being alone anymore but got used to it after awhile, everyday I would plant a single white rose in his name since he always loved gifting them to me to remind me of his love and now it reminds me of him, now that a year has passed I could have a whole garden of them.

I was sitting outside infront of my collection of white roses as the sun shined, the sun ever started to remind me of him, of how brightly his smile would light up any room he walked in. My poor baby, gazing upon the growing garden and every single time get reminded of him so I never forget him, I could never forget my poor baby. He was the only man I’ve truly loved and wanted to grow old together, now the only thing I have are reminders of him and dissolving hope of him still being alive out there. “Please come back, my darling.” I murmur under my breath before suddenly being ripped out from my thoughts.

My phone buzzes, indicating an incoming call, I pick up my phone and pick it up, putting on my professional voice and serious face instead of the broke woman I was, “Hello?” I spoke into the receiver, waiting for the caller to speak. “Hello, is this Ms. Sturniolo?” My eyebrows furrow in confusion and skepticism, it slowly easing into my voice. “Yes, this is she. I-Im sorry but who’s calling?” “A former friend of his from the army, I’m here to inform you that your husband Matthew Sturniolo has been pronounced dead duo to a fatal shot in the arm and bleeding out while on the battlefield”

I freeze, the words slowly sinking in before my phone drops on the grassy ground, here I was grasping onto the lasts of my hope that he’s still alive and now he is presumed dead, my hands cover my face as uncontrollable sobs leave my mouth. Tears staining my face and hands, I can’t believe this, he promised he would come back, he… is dead. The worst of my fears has now came true and it hit me like a thousand bricks, I feel something shatter inside of me beyond repair.

I feel… broken? Like a part of me has been ripped out of me without my permission, he has became a part of me and build me into the person I am today, but without him by my side I don’t think I can continue being the same person and living my life normally, he was the only man I’ve loved truly and now he has been taken away from me. What have I done to deserve such punishment? I continue to lay on the ground, consumed by complete depression and a feeling of loss. That night I haven’t returned to my house and slept outside in front of the white roses, the thing that reminded me the most of my dear husband.

- a month after Matthew being presumed dead

The sun slowly rose up over the horizon and I was off to go preform my mundane routine, getting out of bed has been the hardest part every morning and, every emotion has been wiped off my face after… you know after what, I slumped over to my dresser and thrown on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie I stole from Matthew, his specific scent still lingering on it. Walking downstairs, I walk into the kitchen and grab Danny’s bowl, filling it with food and placing it back down in its spot, he doesn’t greet me anymore, the only thing he has been doing besides eating was sit outside near Matthew’s grave in which I would join him every morning, I placed a hand crafted cross on the top of my white rose garden to indicate his grave, some of the older ones have started to wither and loose their beautiful white petals.

It reflects the feelings I feel, being like a withered white rose without him by my side, slowly loosing my color with each passing minute. I exit the house and drop down beside our dog, gazing upon the grave before I speak in a soft voice in hopes that he’s somewhere here, listening to the words I speak from my broken heart. “I wish you could be here with me, I can’t be the same person without you. If you’re listening to me, I love you more than anything in the world.” Every word stings the same amount, my throat feeling tight as I feel tears swirling in my eyes.

“Why wish when I’m right here?”

The sudden words take me out of my focus, the voice sounding too familiar to miss, looking around as my eyes catch a glimpse of Matthew. Wait… Matthew?- I stare at him as he suddenly is walking towards me but there’s something different about him-he’s missing an arm-so he isn’t dead after all? I could be imagining things, I wipe my teary eyes before he extends his arms, my body immediately rising from the ground and running into his warm embrace, feeling the touch I’ve dreaded to be able to feel again on my skin.

“I told you I would come back.” He happily cheered, holding me in his embrace and placing a lingering kiss on my forehead. I feel like myself again, the part of me I thought I lost forever has returned, Danny comes running at us and jumps up and down, wagging his tail aggressively in joy. “I-I thought you were dead, I thought I lost you forever… I-I seriously can’t believe you’re alive, you know they called-“ before I could finish my sentence, he smashes his lips against mine and stopped me from ranting for half an hour about what it was without him for all of this time without him. I slightly relax into the kiss, our dog barked and we chuckled into the kiss together, today I was put back together and felt like myself again now with Matthew beside me again. I’m me again, my other half has returned into its place, I’ll be forever grateful for the lord letting him live and stay with me in earth longer. My poor baby has finally returned and that’s all that matters to me right now.

Guestlist!

| - @sturnsxplr-25 - @strnzzvsp - @luvvs4chriss - @sturniolosweetheart33 - @pussypie456 - @choclatestarfishwithahat - @venusxsturnio - @bagsbyclair0 - @sturnstvs - @dykes4chris - @hoe4matt - @cayleeuhithinknot - @strnilolover - @marrykisskilled - @phone4pills - @emely9274 - @cupiidk1lls - @lily-strnlo - @nicksgirlfriend - |

[stagefoureddiediaz]

If this scene shows me Medic Eddie tending Bucks wounds whilst standing between his legs - I will promptly expire

[depressedoompaloompa]

Omgggggggg

Looks like someone is wasting their time on tumblr needs a glass of ✨water✨

[jinxedshapeshifter]

I still can't believe there's a way to get Klavier to admit he's had to go through airport security "practically naked" before and that's one of the driving factors to me doing a third playthrough of Apollo Justice

[chackyxyooj]

The Beginning

──────────.★..─╮

Description: Gene just wants to have a smoke on school grounds but you, a Student Council member, particularly take an issue with this. Pairing: PDH!Gene x Reader. WC: 2.4K Content Warning: Smoking; Swearing; Implicit SA framing. !!READER DISCRESION IS ADVISED!!

╰─..★.──────────╯

Leaning back against the wall, Gene tucks his lighter into his pocket and takes a drag of his cigarette. With the fall playoff season just around the corner, the teachers and hall monitors of Phoenix Drop High have become lenient with students leaving class early. It makes it extremely easy for the boy to slip in and out of the school with no consequence - and with how slowly classes move through material, only Irene knows how bored Gene can get. He’s finally starting to remember why school is such a drag.

A bell rings from inside the school and Gene naturally checks the time on his phone. It’s the five minute warning bell; not that Gene intends to go to his next class. He’s perfectly content staying out of sight and out of mind.

As Gene takes another slow puff of his cigarette, his attention is drawn to the sound of footsteps. Shit. He didn’t think anyone would waste their time sweeping the perimeter of the school when they had their little sport teams to worry about. Not in the mood to receive a lecture, the boy prepares to put out his cigarette. That’s until he sees that it’s a student who has rounded the corner.

At first he doesn’t recognize the person who stands before him, but the look on their face as they approach sparks familiarity. It’s you.

Gene feels a frown begin to pull at his lips. His conversations with you have always been brief (and under dubious circumstances) but you’re not the kind of person he wants to deal with right now. Council members like you are always stuck up and self righteous; even more so than the teachers. Gene’s point is only proved right when you place yourself right in front of him, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

“Smoking on school grounds is prohibited.” You state, your gaze briefly snapping down to the cigarette Gene has in his mouth.

“And?” 

“And it causes significant damage to your health.”

“It does?” Gene scoffs and takes another huff of his cigarette, blowing the smoke at your face. “Well aren’t you just the sweetest little thing to tell me that.”

Gene attempts to blow another puff of smoke at you but you pluck the cigarette from his mouth and crush it with the heel of your shoe. It’s not unlike Council members to be so uptight about following school rules but Gene has never taken you for someone so confrontational. Something about that would be amusing if it wasn’t so damn annoying.

“The hell’d you do that for? That brand ain’t cheap, you know.” Gene scowls. When you don’t immediately reply the boy takes a step forward, grabbing your wrist and holding you in place. You instinctively twitch away but don’t really try to run. “Destroying someone else’s stuff is real mean. You ought to make it up to me somehow. Let’s say twenty bucks and we call it square.”

“Really? That much for a single cigarette?” Your voice comes out strained; as if you’re pushing out every single word you say. “Damn delinquent…”

“What was that?”

You frown and turn away. “Fine. I’ll pay you back at the end of the day, so meet me at the Student Council room when classes are over.”

“See? Was that so hard?” The boy grins down at you as you jerk your wrist away from his grip. You roll your eyes as you adjust your uniform, retreating from Gene almost immediately. The boy can’t help but let his eyes drag across your form as you begin walking away.

Gene doesn’t really like Student Council members, but he does seem to like you. It’s the only logical reason to explain why he’s so willing to go along with your terms. As soon as the school day is out and classes are dismissed, Gene meets you exactly where you told him to. It isn’t until he’s standing right outside of the Council’s door that he realises how troublesome you are.

Several voices talk over one another; about what Gene doesn’t care to find out, but the boy realises that he agreed to your terms a bit too easily. He won’t let that happen a second time.

Instead of knocking Gene opts to let himself inside. The weight of the entire student council staring at him doesn’t phase him. Rather, he finds it amusing how the entirety of the Council scowls at his sudden appearance. Questions like ‘what are you doing’ and ‘why are you here’ are like music to Gene’s ears. It’s an especially sweet sound when your voice lulls over the rest and you clear the confusion in the air.

“Apologies everyone, but it seems I’ll have to cut today’s meeting short. We’ll take care of everything in relation to the upcoming school sports event tomorrow.”

Quiet murmurs of confusion ripple through the room but they don’t last long. The room clears quickly, with the final exiting Council member closing the door as they leave. It all but leaves Gene feeling a bit impressed.

“All that for me? How sweet.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” You quip in reply. The boy watches with curious eyes as you begin rearranging the desks in the room. The group of desks that were previously arranged to face each other are moved into two rows of five. “Did you know that there are four separate teacher lounges across the school? This room was supposed to be another lounge but the school board deemed it unnecessary because of its proximity to the teacher lounge on the floor above. We’re right underneath it, actually.”

“And why do I care?”

“It’s called small talk. Ever heard of it?” You sweep the perimeter of the room before retrieving a clipboard that had been hanging on the door behind Gene. There’s a slight click as you pull it off the door and your brows furrow. “Seeing as you’ve become so adept at avoiding the teachers to sneak around, I thought a delinquent like you would find it interesting that the ‘esteemed Student Council room’ was once a teacher’s lounge.”

Gene rolls his eyes, his patience quickly wearing thin. “How about you stop stalling and give me my money already?”

You cross the room with a quiet sigh, placing yourself on top of one of the desks and twisting how you sit so that you face Gene. Only one desk sits between you and Gene and you’ve elected to rest your feet on its edge. “Money? When did we ever agree to that?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, sweetheart.” Gene’s voice comes out in a low, irritated grumble. You, on the other hand, smile a pleasant sort of smile - one that only serves to make Gene’s blood boil. “What are your fellow Council members gonna think when they find out you’re a stupid little coward who goes back on your word?”

“Are you trying to threaten me?”

“You? The Council President? Never.” Gene remarks sarcastically as he steps further into the room. He rounds the desk where your feet are rested and leans forward, reveling in the way your gaze narrows when he catches you off guard. “What? Didn’t think I’d notice the way your little council members followed your every whim? I wonder what they’d think of their president if they knew your true character.”

At first you frown, but then you smile. And finally you laugh.

“I’ll give you this, delinquent. You’re more intelligent than you let on. A near perfect grade point average is almost unheard of for someone who skips out on class so much. Who would’ve thought that a bad boy who loves smoking behind the school and who goes around calling himself a ‘Shadow Knight’ actually does all his homework? Students like you are a troublesome bunch, but you’re also… useful. So lend me a hand.”

“Lend you a hand?” At first Gene thinks you’re joking, but he quickly realises that he’s wrong. “Not a chance.”

“Oh, I wasn’t asking. I was simply displaying the extent of my generosity.” You use your hands to support your weight as you lean back against the desk. “Do you know what kind of trouble the school will get into if a scandal of some sort were to occur? What a silly question, of course you do. And as Council President, I can’t just sit by and let troublesome students do as they wish. I need to ensure that all of them are… compliant.”

“Compliant?” Gene scoffs, nearly amused. “You call that psycho sophomore girl compliant?”

“Her? She knows her place. I’ve made sure of it.” You muse, tilting your head ever so slightly. “And now it’s your turn, Delinquent. It’s about time you learn your place.”

Now it’s Gene’s turn to narrow his eyes. “Gonna write me up for smoking or some shit?”

“That? Oh, no. That would only get you a slap on the wrist.” You lean forward with a coy smile. “You’re going to agree to the terms of my generosity because it’s what’s best for you. Unless you want to find yourself expelled.”

Before Gene has a chance to question you, you reach up and roughly grasp his loose tie and jerk him off the desk. Once the boy is standing you kick over the desk in front of you to send it crashing against the floor, quickly followed by you calling out for a teacher to help. Almost as if on cue, there’s scraping and the sound of scrambling feet - as if someone from upstairs put an abrupt halt to whatever they were just doing.

Up until now Gene would’ve called your actions the result of a temper tantrum, but your intentions suddenly become obvious when your grip on Gene’s tie tightens.

Gene tries to pull away from your grasp but your grip is surprisingly strong. As the footsteps from upstairs approach the door, their hand fumbles against the doorknob. The door wasn’t locked when he barged in earlier but the sound of the approaching teacher’s keys makes it obvious that’s not the case anymore.

Just as Gene opens his mouth to speak you pull him down to your level. He has to put his hands on either side of you to prevent himself from falling into you completely.

“Imagine what a teacher will think if the commotion they heard is followed up by the sight of an intimidating delinquent like you towering over the Student Council President.” You speak ever so softly, your breath hot against Gene’s ear. “Not to mention that the door was locked when they arrived. How hard would it be to convince them you had less than savoury intentions?”

“You wouldn’t…”

“I would.” You laugh sweetly against Gene’s neck, your laugh soft and breathy. If not for the circumstances Gene might’ve called your laugh addicting, but right now that was anything but the truth. “Watch me.”

Gene can feel his blood boiling at the way you’re so smug. He racks his brain for some kind of solution to this mess but he knows you have him beat. Through gritted teeth and clenched fists, Gene submits to your will.

“Fine.”

“What was that?”

“I said fine!”

Not a moment sooner that the door to the Student Council room flies open, you release your grip on Gene’s tie. The boy immediately makes distance between himself and you but that didn’t stop the teacher from catching a glimpse of what happened. Or rather, what you let them think was happening.

The teacher quickly places themself between you and Gene, though their attention is very obviously focused on you as they ask what happened.

You, in all your Student Council ways, smile in apology. Off the top of your head you weave a lie that appears to alleviate the teacher’s suspicions. It’s almost disgusting how quickly you managed to turn the tides in your favour, though Gene would be remiss to think that he ever had a chance against you in here.

You get off the hook with barely a slap on the wrist, leaving Gene a frustrated mess. He can hardly wipe the scowl that has etched its way onto his face. On the other hand, you seem completely and utterly satisfied.

“Don’t look so upset with me. It’s not like you got in trouble.” You remind Gene in some cruel attempt to soothe him. You reach forward to straighten his tie but Gene swats your hand away.

“Fuck off.” Gene growls and you comply, but not without a smug laugh.

“Alright, you don’t have to be so hostile.” You back away from Gene and pick the desk up off the floor. “But as for your compliance, there’s only one thing I need from you for now.”

“For now?” Repeats Gene but you show no signs of hearing his question.

You tap around on your phone until you finally come across what you’ve been looking for. You turn your screen toward Gene and he’s irritatingly met with a map of the school, but several spots around the perimeter have been highlighted with different colours.

“You have to abide by this outline if you’re ever trying to sneak a cigarette break during school hours.” You explain.

Gene scoffs. “As if I’d listen to any rule you give me after the shit you just pulled.”

“I think you’ll find that the places I’ve highlighted are already many of the places you and your ‘Shadow Knights’ have scoped out for your shenanigans. I know the patterns of the teachers and hall monitors as well as you do, so I think you’ll find that this request is perfectly reasonable.”

“And if I refuse?”

“You can’t.” You feign a sweet smile as an airdrop notification appears on Gene’s phone.

Gene accepts the image but not without rolling his eyes first. “You’re a real sweetheart, aren’t you?”

You laugh, pulling your school bag onto your shoulders as you make your exit. Just before you leave you shoot Gene a quick glance. It’s surprisingly soft. Gentle, even. Gene isn’t quite sure what to make of it but it feels… different. He thinks it’s unsettling to be honest, but that word alone isn’t enough to describe the emotional highs and lows you just forced on him.

Never the matter. If there’s one thing Gene knows for sure, it’s that people reap what they sow; and you’ve just sown a particularly bittersweet seed.

[beneathsilverstars]

damn... siffrin has definitely always been a big dissociater but like. post-canon i bet snapping out of it could be a trigger itself now, bc it might feel somewhat similar to snapping into awareness at the start of a mid-house loop??

like in the loops it went -gets hurt / gets freaked out / knows they're about to die -dies / loops -now they're somewhere else

and now that they're out of the loops it goes -gets hurt / gets freaked out / feels like they're gonna die -dissociates / forgets -now they're somewhere else