#regardless of where rat wars is set

[critterbitter]

What do you know- I'm trying out the askbox *eyes*

anyway I just wanted to say that high-key I think I'd follow any content you make at this point bc your art brings me so much joy. That doesn't tend to happen super often since i am,,,, very much so a hyperfixation-focused person HAHA

regardless I'm not exactly quiet about it but I adore your art and I look forward to each new time you post :D

I WISH i had the capability of pumping out art like you do bc man while I love to draw and have so many ideas all the time picking up the pencil is Hard Dude.

Also! In a recent post you mentioned the whole Twin Dragons AU and HC that people love to have- I'd be super curious as to your opinion on it!

-( ╹▽╹ )

I SEE YOUR TAGS AND IM.

I’ll have to slow down at some point on that Submas Grind, but the hyperfixation throes are REAL. Thank you for inhabiting the tunnels with me! People that tag and cheer artists on are the real mvps of the art economy.

As for twin dragon aus!

I’ve always seen Emmet as more zekrom esque, and Ingo more reshiram esque. Is it cause the typing matches their starters? Maybe, hehe.

Ultimately though, the guys are too multifaceted for me to easily split them into truth and ideals.

I also see the legendaries as Eldritch Abominations Beyond Understanding, so having the dragons in my iteration become the twins would, uh, have consequences. The funny goofy story would dip into horror territory instead. (Reshiram demands only truths, and anything not Absolute will burn. And zekrom’s ideals are beyond human understanding, and trying to understand the mad tangle of thunder would drive somebody insane.)

(I’m a huge tma fan. Can you see it? Man.)

((Also N’s a scary mofo for summoning reshiram. I’m digging directly into the whole “twin heroes have a civil war and it destroyed unova” backstory that pokemon set up, and the more I think about it the stronger my dread mounts at the idea of Zekrom OR Reshiram casually flying overhead.

But this is also just how I see the legendaries of the pokemon world! Lugia sinks islands. Groudon covers towns. Arceus loves the mortal world, and mourns because its immortality only brings grief. Giritina hates, because it’s the ghostly remains of every one of Arceus’s mistakes given drive, banished into the distortion realm. Normal stuff!)

You sly dog, you got me monologing! But here’s the tldr: Not sure i’ll ever make my own serious Dragon AU that follows my internal world building for pokemon. I’m too attached to my favorite trope: “the smallest people can still initiate the biggest of changes”, and I’m too attached to my other favorite trope: “legendaries are actually gods and you Should Be Frightened.”

So that’s why, in this essay, if the trio gets turned into pokemon, I’d make them route 1 run of the mill rats. Because rats can do whatever they want.

(Plus, patrats and pachirisu aren’t banned from the subway battles last I checked.)

If i had to make a goofy crack dragon au though, I think this would be the result:

The whole story would just be the trio and historians trying to figure out what the hell the twins got turned into, and concerns of other people becoming pokemon as well. So far, people are convinced they’re a paradox version of an archen. (I mean…)

(Alternate take of THAT, where elesa gets turned into a victini.)

[raxistaicho]

It really bothers me when people claim Edelgard was taking advantage of Dimitri at the end of Azure Moon and used his attempt to reach out to her as a chance to try and kill him. And it makes me realize most people don't keep their minds open to other perspectives past their favorite house.

First, did anyone else notice WHERE Edelgard chose to throw that dagger? She chose his left shoulder. In a spot where the armor is thinner/weaker but not deadly. If she really wanted to kill him, she could have thrown it at his head which is completely exposed. Or, better yet, accept his hand and then stab him in the heart, neck, or stomach several times. Edelgard isn't an idiot. She would know where the killing blows would need to land.

Second, in Silver Snow and Verdant Wind, Edelgard makes it VERY clear that, once she loses, there is no way this war ends unless she dies.

This is literally what she says to Byleth when about to die.

Edelgard: It looks as though… my path… will end here. My teacher… claim your victory. Strike me down. You must! Even now… across this land, people are killing each other. If you do not act now, this conflict…will go on forever. Your path… lies across my grave. It is time for you to find the courage to walk it. If I must fall… let it be by your hand.

If she stays alive, those loyal to her will continue to fight. Those opposed to her would rise up against any leader that offers her clemency. The people of Faerghus are very set in their ways (even if Dimitri is more open to change than the rest of the Kingdom). If he let Edelgard live, it would have sparked another civil war within the Kingdom, while encouraging those who believed in Edelgard's cause to keep fighting. The war would never end.

On top of that, Edelgard already spent so much time locked up in dungeons and being treated as a prisoner when she was a child. If she accepted Dimitri's offer of peace, her future would see her locked up in cold, dark dungeons with the rats, potentially facing torture for the rest of her shortened life. Even if Dimitri doesn't want that, the people will demand it of him. The CHURCH would demand it of him. And he's made it very clear in other routes and supports that the Kingdom opposing the Church is bad for him and the people of Faerghus because of how entwined the Church's influence is in the kingdom.

Edelgard went into this war knowing exactly what was at stake and what her fates would be regardless of outcome. She knew what accepting Dimitri's hand would mean. So she chose to make the hard choice that he refuses to make; she ends the war she started by forcing him to kill her.

I love Dimitri, but I have to say it. He's probably the most coddled of the three lords. Yes, he's been through a lot and struggles with his mental health, but when it comes to making the hard choices as a ruler, he sucks at it. And Edelgard, and to a major extent Felix, are the only ones willing to call him out on it. Everyone else just stands by as he makes decisions that are, frankly, completely irresponsible of a man who has an entire nation he's supposed to govern and protect.

Yeah, people saying Edelgard was trying to kill him are a special kind of desperate. You had it perfectly: she was trying to convey to him that it had to end that way.

[nonuel]

so, mass effect galaxy ends with the big bad telling jacob that they are more alike than he thinks - that jacob would also go to great lengths to protect his own people. you know, standard villain stock phrases and stuff. there are a few options jacob can say here, but as the game is defunct and there's only one existing playthrough left of it that i can find, i have no way of knowing what all the variances are. the playthrough has jacob say "we are nothing alike" - you know, standard hero stock phrases and stuff - and that's really it, the game ends, jacob saved the day, and we never hear anything about this ever again

this bothers me, because i can't help feeling this was the perfect set up for what jacob's loyalty should have been about. while the lines exchanged were cliché, they're cliché for a reason: the villain is often a foil to the hero in any given story, and while mass effect galaxy is a mobile game of limited storytelling, it is Still A Story where the writers were making conscious decisions to include the dialogue and story beats that they did

when you combine this with the fact that (1) jacob is introduced to us as a counterpart to miranda's staunch support of cerberus, someone who is far more critical and doubtful of cerberus; (2) yet he is in cerberus anyway because of the freedom it allows for him to get the job done in a way he was unable to in the alliance; (3) then when you ask jack's opinion of him, she says "jacob doesn't know who he is"; (4) and when you ask samara's opinion of him, she says "events will either forge him into a great man, or utterly destroy him"...

all of these provide a proper set up for a loyalty that would have jacob reckoning with the idea he is, in fact, willing to go to certain and possibly dubious lengths to do what he think is right for humanity. he is already on this path by willingly being in cerberus, instead of staying within the tried and true but often utterly ineffective method (as evidenced in me2) of being in the alliance

note here that this is not a criticism of the alliance per se so much as an observation of the obvious. the alliance is an organization that cannot afford to do what it pleases regardless of the cost, because if it did, then it would have no allies and various wars. these are the sacrifices that have to be made to Exist In Society. this naturally means that the alliance is not always effective at its stated goals

jacob is an action-oriented character concerned with doing good, but he didn't have to join cerberus to keep doing good, because one's standard for "doing good" is subjective. let's contrast him with another action-oriented character concerned with doing good who doesn't join cerberus, and in fact is utterly hostile toward the idea of doing so: kaidan. this post is not about kaidan and i have no desire to derail it by spending much time on him, but i want to illustrate a point

kaidan, much like jacob with cerberus, is willing to criticize the alliance but overall defends them as being the best option. unlike jacob, he is unwilling to meaningfully consider alternatives due to his own personal hangups that relate to his story and background. despite his own misgivings, kaidan will stay with the alliance because he believes it will always be better than joining cerberus, even if cerberus is objectively doing a better job in the moment of handling a dire situation. this is all to say: kaidan already has a hard limit of what he is personally willing to do in order to "do good" like he wants

we never see this hard limit for jacob, hence my saying he is already on the path of doing whatever it takes by merely joining cerberus. my personal feelings of cerberus aside (as that would really derail this post), they are known for the dubious methods they are willing to take to get what they want and are, canonically, classified as a terrorist organization

it would have made a lot more sense to actually explore this hard limit in jacob for his loyalty, rather than we got. what is jacob's limit? what lengths is he actually willing to go in order to do what he feels is right? what effect does this have on him? and this is where jack and samara's statements about him materialize. like most of the loyalties, there would've been a paragon and a renegade route, and samara's prediction would correlate with whichever route was done. and at the end of it, jacob would grapple with his identity in a way a lot of the squadmates do at the end of theirs, and this is where jack's assessment would be answered. jacob would know who he is at the end of his loyalty, for better or for worse

the details of whatever it is jacob does isn't really the point of this post, because it could really be anything as long as the dilemma within the loyalty was sufficiently complex enough. i personally think something involving cerberus, the alliance, and characters from mass effect galaxy would be best, because these are all things that already relate to jacob's character and the main plot (or significant b plots)

[violetreminder]

really hoping that this isnt an awkward translation and means that you'll be able to put the OG Frank model in all the funky clothes and not be stuck with the new Frank model they have if you want to dress up bc its just....

Like, credit where its due, that *is* recognizable as Frank West as opposed to his appearance in 4, but he's just so...old. His face has too much texture, like this looks like how Frank West should look around the time of DR3. (ftr I dont dislike Old Frank but this feels like the face he should have if they get to remaking OTR)

Compare this to the "classic" model they show off and its night and day. Admittedly his old model does look a bit young for a 36 year old war-covering journalist but he's got that greasy rat-face look that's perfect for him. Regardless of my nitpicks on Franks Face, the game does look pretty good. Gameplay seems to be intact, the dumb fun spirit is certainly still there, *Gone Guru* is still there, and the mall as a whole looks really nice too. I like the extra set-dressing they've added with the nautical themes, idk if thats just in Paradise Plaza and all the others have their own theme or if its all seaworthy but either way its a fun look. Everything is immediately recognizable while still having a unique visual identity to the original.

(though I will say this suffers from the current AAA trend of 'everything looks way too shiny bc tech assholes cant stop jerking off to raytracing') TJ Rotolo not voicing Frank again is a huge letdown, ngl. But such is what happens during actor strikes. Dave Fennoy as a fully voiced Otis does have my attention and begs a question unanswered in the previews: Will Otis's calls still demand your full attention or will it be a more passive action like in DR2? Whatever the case, I am cautiously excited about this. I've long thought this game could benefit from a remake that adds some QoL, and that only intensified when the REmakes were fresh. Also I just want to say that the dev preview for this game feel so remarkably candid. Like this isnt a tightly edited supercut of Capcoms Next Big Thing, its not a cinematic trailer that shys away from actually showing what the game is, its just a loose cut of the director running around and doing random things in the mall like wearing new clothes and throwing sandwich boards at zombies. It feels more directed at new players rather than any returning DR fans, and I feel like this may point to a sort of soft-reboot where Capcom just kind of ignores and sidesteps DR4 like they did for RE6, renewing the series while planning a comeback. Though admittedly thats all just speculation on my part. Regardless I'm very excited to see more Dead Rising as I'd kind of written the series off over the last few years. Here's the video in case you want to see for yourself

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERES A DEAD RISING REMAKE IN PRODUCTION

ANNOUNCED A MONTH AGO??? AND IM ONLY NOW HEARING OF THIS???

[jordanstrophe]

War of Royalty

Masterlist

CW: medeival whump, slavery, kidnapping, noncon touching/stripping (rather mild and non sexual), very protective possessive caretaker, branding mentioned, manhandling, fight scene, stabbed whumper

King Arvend threw the scroll across the room from this throne, watching a cleaning servant instantly snatch it from the floor and take off with it. He sighed as he dragged a hand down his face. 

“This letter from Ravenhill is... Disturbing.” He rasped. 

“An empty threat, my lord. They wouldn’t dare set foot within the kingdoms.”  Margrave spoke; one of four horsemen. 

“I should have flattened them when I had the chance...” He growled, his fists tightening. “I'm just... I have him to worry about now.” His posture loosened as he sank further within his throne. 

“Worried about whom?”

“The boy, Eden.” 

Margrave's head snapped towards the King, taking a long inhale to hide his hesitation. “With all due respect, your majesty, that slave will only bring you trouble. He’s practically a stay dog plucked from the streets.” 

“I know you mean well, my friend, but I care not where he came from. I chose him and he’s mine.” He hissed.

“Then why? Why did you take him?”

The King didn’t respond. He didn’t even look at him as he stared at the golden jeweled rings on each finger. 

“My lord, he is just a child’s toy to you. That little entertaining pet is nothing but a distraction-”

A woman bolted in, her face as pale as snow and gasping heavily. “Y-you’re majesty! A window in the corridor is broken! There’s an intruder in the palace!” She cried. 

Margrave’s face froze as he turned towards the soldiers. “Guards! Into position!” He snapped, his words instantly causing a flood of a dozen knights welding spears and shields surrounding the King.  

“Margrave please! This is nothing but a pathetic attempt to frighten us. But regardless, I want you to find someone for me.” The King spoke. “Your majesty, it is my duty to protect you, I will not leave your side!” He hissed, unsheathing his sword. “Your duty is to protect me and my household! I want you to find Eden!” He slammed his fist against his throne.

“Th- the boy!? Have you gone mad? You would send your trusted warrior to defend a slave over yourself?” Margrave shouted.  “Silence! If someone’s in the palace, they would be a fool to come for me.” The King grasped Margrave’s shoulders, turning him to face him. “Please, I’m asking you as a friend... That boy is important to me. Go.”

“But my lo-”  

“GO!” 

Margrave forced his lips shut, letting his gaze be pierced by the King before bolting for the corridors. He passed the shattered window, colored stained glass shards glistening in the carpet as it crunched beneath his boot. 

That stupid slave... It was all Arvend gushed over these days. The King used to be a strong heartless warrior! But now, he had a speck of a soft spot in his heart. 

A speck of weakness. 

He shoved the heavy door open, letting it slam on the wall just so he could watch the slave jolt off his feet with a gasp. 

“There you are...” Margrave hissed, slamming the door behind him as Eden quickly shut the book in his lap. He wouldn't let the boy speak before pinning him to the corner with his elbow resting on the wall over his head. Eden cringed when the man’s hand slowly ran up his chest to his collar, pulling it down until he could see the brand of Ravenhill burned into his chest. 

“So it’s true...” He whispered. 

“Enough!” ”Eden shoved hand away, ducking under his arm to get out from his height. “Wh-who are you?” He shuttered, quickly pulling his collar back up to cover the brand.

“I guess you can call me your knight in shining armor for the hour.” Margrave shrugged. 

“Okay... Mr. Knight in shining armor. How about you keep your hands to yourself.” Eden grumbled with his arms defensively crossed over his chest. Margrave just crumbled in laughter, before his hand shot out and grabbed his hair, yanking him closer as he gasped.

“Listen here, you little rat... The only reason I’m here is because the King sent me to watch his favorite pup. There’s an intruder in the palace and he dubbed you valuable enough to send his most trusted man to protect it.” He hissed. 

Eden glared up at Margrave for a moment, before seeing the door behind him silently open as a hooded figure crept in. They made eye contact as the figure tilted their head to the side, motioning a finger over their lips with an inhuman smile.

“B-behind you-!” 

“wha?-” Margrave turned around too late as a sword hilt was pulled from its sheath against the man's face. He shouted as he released the boy, staggering back and hitting the desk. Eden scurried to the far side of the room as the figure fully unsheathed the blade, chuckling as they approached the man. 

“Bah! Why you lowlife-” Margrave spun around in the nick of time to block the swing from the intruder, pushing the sword to the side as it stuck into the wood of the desk. He kicked the figure off, grinning as they lost their grasp on the sword. “I would be expected to turn you in alive, but alas, I just don’t have the patience today.” Margrave smirked, cornering the man as he raised his sword. 

“Long live the king.” The figure hissed with a smile, ripping a dagger from their cloak and throwing it into Margrave's shoulder. He gasped as he dropped his sword, clutching his arm before the figure took a blow at his head.

The figure slowly turned towards Eden, whose face was drained from all color with his hand over his lips. They stepped over Margrave’s unconscious form, listening to the boy’s cries when he was yanked off the wall by his collar. 

"We've been looking for you, little Eden..."

ʕっ• ᴥ • ʔっ Thank you for reading!~ @tears-and-lilies  @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @starnight-whump  @bumpthumpwhump @whumpcreations @myst-in-the-mirror @heathenville @grizzlie70 @castielamigos-whump-side-blog  @thegreathowdini @kim-poce @digitalart-dwa @kittyfrostsworld @andwhump @sunflower1000 @kim-poce  @lonesome--hunter   @cupcakes-and-pain @as-a-matter-of-whump

[bloodyshadow1]

I really like that we got to see what the actual magical coven types can do this season because a lot of them were told to us but not much was actually revealed about what they can do, or what the could do in the first season wasn’t very impressive. most of them were self explanatory like the plant, potion, healing, oracle, and illusion was pretty self explanatory with knowledge fo other fantasy series, but the rest were more confusing.  The construction coven we were told used power glyphs, be we also find out that there also seems to have some form of earth bending or earth/stone magic.  The others from our first introduction seemed lacking compared to the rest.

Like with Beast Keeping we seen Viney have her griffin fight the basilisk in the “First Day,” but it seemed more like her pet doing what she wanted instead of actual magic they have in the show.  I don’t think she did any circles with her griffin to command them, when they combo attacked the Basilisk and I think that was the only time we saw a beast keeper in the show until season 2.  It was fine, but it seemed like care for magical creatures in HP, something neat but odd to have it be one of your 9 major powers when it didn’t seem to take any magic, just heart.  But this season we see from Gwen that Beast Keepers can command magical beasts, which could have been assumed but the way she used those bees against the gremlins was a huge display of magic, not just animal handling skills.  And in the most recent episode “Eda’s Requiem”  we see Eberwolf, the coven leader of the beast keepers demonstrate a huge assortment of powers that we haven’t seen before.  It’s shown that she can summon magical creatures, dig through the dirt like a mole, augment her sight to track foot prints, and have a war form for herself with extra claws and teeth when about to fight.  In dnd terms it looks like beast keepers are actually like rangers or druids, they can summon magical beasts in aid and combat, but additionally buff themselves with the abilities of magical beasts to make themselves more powerful. That’s a lot more than care for magical creatures as it was demonstrated in HP.

We also see a lot more of the Abomination casters abilities in season 2 which I love because personally I felt it was a very lacking magical subset, probably the least impressive in the show in my opinion from season 1.  For almost all of season 1 we only see abominations being used as slow mindless slaves, that aren’t particularly strong or durable.  Luz was able to destroy a bunch of them with punches when she tried to escape Hexide with Willow and Willow was able to tear through a bunch of them with the plants she created from a single seed.  Amity who is the best student at Hexide and in the abomination coven has her biggest show of strength and abilities when buffed by a power glyph is to create a really big abomination, one that still got tossed around by spells Eda put in the ground as traps.  It’s not until ‘Wing it like Witches,’ that we see Amity create a massive arm that can stop a guillotine ax, that we see any real creative application to abomination magic, and that’s the only instance, done by Amity who is again, the best student at Hexide.  It’s understandably useful creating an army of mindless servants that can do simple tasks for day to day things, but seemed lacking compared to what the other covens can do.  But then we see in “Escaping Expulsion” with all the abomination themed weapons that Alador created some more creative applications of them, especially with the Abomiton creating weapons, a far more durable Abomination that can tank more than one hit as well as move with some sort of intention and speed when attacking a foe.  And now in “Eda’s Requiem,” we see Darius, the head of the Abomination Coven, and his application of Abomination magic was incredibly creative and powerful compared to what we’ve seen so far like with Eberwolf and her Beast Keeping magic.  He was able to set a trap with the Abomination Goo, capable of holding 3 people easily, he was able to teleport said people at least a mile away to the conformitorium easily, he was able to use the Abomination Goo as a way to travel quickly through the forest, and perhaps most impressively he was able to merge with his abomination goo to become a giant power ranger monster form with the ability to create weapons.  We didn’t get to see much of his abilities because Eda and Rain’s combo spell took out everything in the area, including them, but it was still something to see. 

Bard magic still seems to hard to pin down, I’m not sure if we saw any examples of bardic magic in the first season.  From ‘Eda’s Requiem’ it’s obviously music based, as could be assumed, but other than that, it seems to be anything you can do with music, completely different from the other 8.  Most of what we see in the episode seem to be like the enchantment school in dnd, being able to put people to sleep, control the movements of people against their will, and other mental magic things.  However it an also do other things like make objects and people float in the aura created when they play music, summon physical objects like instruments out of thin air (granted we’re not sure how much and what was Eda’s curse interfering with her attempts at bard magic vs what normal bards can do).  Rain, perhaps because they are the head of the bard coven, seems to be able to do a lot with their bardic magic that other bards might not be able to do,  being able to control objects (ex when they made the Emperor’s coven Captain’s cloak dr strange themselves), disrupt another person’s circle they summon to cast spells, being able to send out a shockwave of sound from their lute to maybe use as echolocation to scout an area out, and was even able to use their music as a cutting weapon when they escaped Darius’ Abomination trap.  

Bardic magic also seems unique in other ways compared to the other magics we seen, like it has an actual weakness, if the target can’t hear the spells being played it seems like they’re unaffected.  I suppose that might be similar to the weakness of illusion magic where it only seems to affect the visual and auditory senses (so far at least), and can’t physically touch you so if you know about it you can mentally power your way through, but no hearing = unaffected seems a bigger drawback and an actual weakness.  It also seems to be a type of magic that doesn’t require a circle to cast spells, Rain was able to summon instruments with their circles, but most of the spells bards cast seem to be without circles at all as long as it’s played through an instrument (though maybe the items themselves have circles carved into them or something to allow bard magic to be used through them, like oracles in their crystal balls, but I can only talk about what I’ve seen and what I can speculate.  It seems foggy since when Eda initially played her instrument she wondered if her magic was back only for the objects she was levitating to fall the second she stopped so maybe extra confusing).  Granted some spells seem to not require circles in the show, but for the most part the rules seem to be you need a circle to cast most spells, ever since Eda told Luz about them in the ‘Intruder.’  So far it also seems to be maybe more powerful witches don’t need circles for their spells, Eberwolf and Darius were able to go into their powered up forms without casting a spell or traveling under their magic, but Eberwolf needed a circle to summon her rat worm and give her eyes the ability to track something that didn’t leave footprints.  Regardless, the last unique thing about Bard magic that I’ve noticed is that so far it’s the one magic type that Eda seems to be able to cast even thought the rest of her innate magic seems sealed away due to her curse.  She’s still able to use glyph magic like Luz, but Luz as a human with no magic bile sack can’t do witch magic like most on the boiling isles. Even if she doesn’t seem to have control of it and it’s affected by her curse, it is bard magic, like the other bard witches we’ve seen in the episode use.  (Eda and Lilith can also create potions another form of coven magic , but I’m not sure if the potion coven is actual casting magic or more Alchemy and application of ingredients, more science magic than spellcasting)

I’m just really glad we see more applications of the magic system in the Owl House because I felt it was lacking in the first season.  It made sense because Luz as a human can’t learn the same magic witches in the Demon World can do, and she had to learn about glyphs to get power, so we as an audience learned about glyphs and only got the gist of the coven system magic through the bare minimum of appearances.  Not to mention that the people Luz was around to use magic were either other kids who had no reason to be skilled or super creative, members of the Emperor’s coven who in addition to the nine forms of magic taught on the boiling Isles also know other magic that doesn’t fit in the 9 types, or Eda and Lilith who can do all forms of magic because Eda never had her power sealed away by a coven and Lilith was a member of the Emperor’s coven until the finale.  The world of the Owl House is so unique and creative, it felt like a shame that the actual magic system seemed stale and uncreative.  If that was a point since the coven system itself seems to be a bad thing, that would make sense, but it seemed odd all the same.  Season 1 was great but it had a lot of things lacking and seemed to lean too hard on Luz doing the stranger in a strange land trope, that it limited itself to what it could show the audience.  

[dabi-does-cocaine-fight-me]

Hallucinations

Dabi x Shigaraki One-Shot

Warnings: So ooc, bugs, slight gore if you squint really hard, swearing, rOmAnCe, fEeLs, omg cliché

Shigaraki strolled into the League of Villains’ bar, wiping the blood off his hands with a discarded, musty towel. His gaze swept over those present in the room, hidden by the obstructing hand on his face. Toga was sitting at one end of the bar with Spinner, giggling obnoxiously at his dramatic hero imitations. Twice perched on a barstool at the opposite end of the bar, staring sullenly into the distance while puffing leisurely on a cigarette. Meanwhile, Kurogiri stood behind the counter, polishing glasses in a dutiful, restless manner, while Dabi lounged on an old moth eaten couch. Across from him, Compress made a move on the chessboard the two shared.

All of them eyed Shigaraki as he stepped further into the room, clearing his throat to get their attention. The effect was immediate. Toga and Spinner fell silent, Twice came out of his trance, and Dabi’s posture straightened slightly.

“News, Tomura?” Mr. Compress questioned. Shigaraki’s head turned in his general direction and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

“Different factions of the yakuza are still at war, competing for control now that they’ve removed Overhaul. One of the factions was delivering me a shipment of illegal drugs…I was expecting to use it to create more of those quirk destroying bullets, but it was intercepted by Ryukyu, Selkie and a few U.A. brats,” he reported in a bitter tone. He clearly wasn’t happy about how events had transpired.

“And all that blood on your hands, you slip and fall into Kool-Aid, boss?” Dabi snickered. Shigaraki turned to him and flexed his fingers, the unspoken threat apparent.

“How would you like to find out?” Tomura intoned quietly. Dabi scoffed, unfazed by the hostility.

“Well, you know, if you weren’t an insufferable dick and gave us straight answers…” he shrugged maladroitly. An unsteady and tense silence had fallen over the room, and everyone present was waiting to spring into action, should the need arise. Kurogiri inched closer, recalling the volatility present in the two’s previous encounters. Shigaraki and Dabi were continuing to stare at each other, Tomura’s demeanor calm and collected, Dabi’s wary yet relaxed. As they eyed each other quietly, Dabi realized Shigaraki was balancing all his weight on one leg and holding-no, more like nursing- his right arm. His gloves were absent. Tomura detected his examination and shot Dabi a nasty glare as their eyes met, daring him to say something. Kurogiri observed this interaction and decided it was time to step in, before things went any further.

“Tomura, where did all the blood come from?” he inquired, making sure to keep his tone level and to keep from sounding interrogating so as not to anger Tomura further. Shigaraki tore his gaze away from Dabi, muttering a response.

“One of the yakuza factions at war with the one I employed recognized me. Overhaul followers…one had a paralyzing quirk,” he seethed. It had hurt his pride immensely to have been surprised so easily, pinned so effortlessly, paralyzing quirk or no, and having that scarred idiot examining him only pissed him off worse. Kurogiri’s mist blew slightly, a draft from the open door causing him to dissipate and then reform as he spoke again.

“I see,” he soothed, “why don’t you go lie down, I’ll prepare you some food.”

Tomura nodded, looking rather beaten. He began to shuffle off to his room, Spinner and Twice both averting their gaze out of respect to their boss. Dabi sat thoughtfully on the couch, sweeping a hand through his hair as he rendered Compress checkmate.

~

A few hours later, Dabi was sauntering to his room in the evening, but as he passed Tomura’s room he heard muffled cursing. He turned around and rapped the door. The sounds quieted, and Tomura muttered gruffly for him to enter. Dabi obeyed, leaning against the doorframe.

“You okay in here?” he interrogated, already knowing the answer. Tomura was in bad shape. His food sat untouched, his laptop shut on the desk, no online gaming visible. He was sprawled on his bed, sweatshirt hood up, panting slightly.

“I’m fine,” he snapped, his face obscured by his hair in the dark of the room.

“Cut the bullshit handyman, what’s got you sitting on tacks?” Dabi shot back. Tomura huffed.

“Why the fuck would you care? Get out,” he barked. Dabi scoffed.

“No wonder no one wants to be around you. You’re so kind,” he murmured sarcastically, turning to leave. He was halfway to the door when Tomura spoke again.

“The attack….there were three people. One paralyzed me, another rendering me mute, I’m assuming those were their quirks…”

Dabi raised an eyebrow. “The third?” he questioned.

“The third…didn’t move until the other two started leaving…as they walked away, he threw something at me….I flinched, so I didn’t see what it was but I felt it hit me…like…worms eating into my brain. I didn’t think anything of it, because there were no unusual effects but now I…”

He trailed off, glancing at his food before quickly turning his gaze elsewhere once more. “When I try to eat the food is all…full of maggots, and mold. When I try to patch up my injuries from the encounter, all I see is…blood. So much blood…gushing, squirting, blood. Bugs. Lots of…”

He shuddered. “In the mirror…my nails turn to beetles and crawl away…my eyebrows, spiders…worms for-for lips. My gloves…they’re rats…”

His voice broke slightly, and he stopped speaking. Dabi sighed, observing him quietly. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that Shigaraki was trembling, his knees pulled up to his chest. He was scared. The kind of fear that you know is irrational, but it’s bone-chilling anyway. He knew that fear, he felt it roll through his body, consuming his thoughts every time he heard his father’s footsteps near his bedroom door when he was a small child. Something inside him tugged at his consciousness, telling him to comfort the man in front of him. He gave into it, strolling over to Shigaraki and perching hesitantly next to him on the corner of the bed. He clenched his fist, opening it to reveal a small, flickering blue flame.

“Focus on it,” he suggested quietly, softly nudging Shigaraki with his shoulder. Shigaraki turned his head, hyper fixating on the fire, anxious for his mind to be anywhere but on the events of the day and their effects. After a while, he sighed softly.

“Thank you, Dabi,” he murmured, looking up at the raven-haired male. His shivering had eased, and he felt slightly calmer. Dabi noticed the hand wasn’t on his face, as usual, and was surprised by how red Shigaraki’s eyes were. He’d been crying, for a long while. Dabi nodded.

“Anything for you, boss man,” he replied truthfully. He may act abrasive towards Shigaraki, but there was a fondness for him, somewhere deep inside. Shigaraki had accepted him, however slowly, and had given him a place to stay, a family, somewhere he belonged. Maybe that platonic feeling of respect and devotion had turned into something else…something more serious. Seized by a sudden inexplicable urge, he tucked a small portion of Shigaraki’s hair behind his ear. The smaller male turned to him, a soft vulnerable in his eyes that Dabi had never seen before. It made Shigaraki seem…almost fragile. Dabi slid his thumb over a scar on the man’s cheek, frowning slightly. Two imperfect beings, two scarred, broken creatures, adapted to the circumstances of the cruelty they were subject to…so perfect. Almost poetic, how they were frozen together in anarchy, yet the world kept spinning on its axis around them. And they were safe. Safe from it all, because, all though unspoken, now, they had each other.

He never thought Shigaraki would be so soft, so fragile, so carefully built. He wanted to accept Shigaraki as a part of him, to take him in, take his bones, his flesh, his mind and make the two of them one. To protect him through anything and everything, always. He’d break himself to keep Shigaraki intact, he’d never let the world touch him again. When his thought process broke, he looked up, only to find Shigaraki’s face mere inches from his own. The blue haired male exhaled slightly through his lips and Dabi could feel it on his own. Unconsciously, his tongue darted out to wet them.

“Why are you such an ass to me?” Shigaraki questioned bluntly. The flame in Dabi’s palm flickered once, twice, and blew itself out.

“I’m…afraid of what I feel.” The hand that had been holding the flame came to rest on his upper thigh.

“What do you feel?” Shigaraki asked, a note of gentle yet earnest curiosity in his voice. Dabi licked his lips once more, swallowing heavily. Shigaraki seemed much too close…

“Tell me,” he whispered when Dabi failed to answer. Dabi hesitated, visibly struggling before leaning in to capture Tomura’s lips in a gentle, tender kiss. Shigaraki gasped softly, but didn’t pull away, instead lifting his hand to hold the back of Dabi’s neck, pulling him closer. Finally. Finally, they both thought. Shigaraki’s hand came up to brush the stubble on Dabi’s jaw gently, and they were no longer aware of the passage of time. The stars whirled, the sun rose and set, a million years passed, and it made no difference. Their souls merged, never to be torn apart. They pulled away as one, exhaled as one. Their gazes caught each other, holding each other in a silent embrace, one that said everything…and nothing. They never left that place, that space of eternal bliss, where for once, everything was right.

THIS TOOK SO LONG TO WRITE I’M SO SORRY- If you like this story, drop a request for part two, and if you like my work so far, send a request in for another story!! Remember to name the characters (or if an x reader story, who you wish to be paired with) and a situation I can build on; i.e hanging out at the mall. I love all of you, regardless of whom you are and I hope you all have a wonderful October!!

[north-park]

I think s19-s21 is a pretty interesting window of sp regarding taking a new approach towards Many Things (starting with a new brand new principal) including female characters and while a lot of it amounted to writing Leslie and Heidi from props into more fleshed out characters (one day we'll reach double digits trust me 🤞) i think the early part of s20 is where they got more ambitious bc it actually recognized the key flaw of their female cast which is being second class citizens whose voices are never listened

This season set the things to change and then it didn't, and to even make things it arguably enforced that ultimately the only real strenght the girls truly have is being The Girlfriends and even then they use their one sexist ace in the stupidiest and most pathetic way imaginable into trying to rope the male 4th graders into ratting out SkankHunter who they assume is another kid for... some reason and i guess this causes the boys do to the only almost reasonable action of blaming Cartman, who is not guilty, making the overral situation so shitty and confusing, all just to isolate Cartman and Heidi and have them to connect thanks to the most contrived and useless plot ever who only serves to say "Wendy&Co's only value to the boys nothing more as "love interest"" which is true. Very true. But i really would have preferred Anything else to prove this point and still make s20's plot (regardless of the stupid president election changing the plot or whatever, bc i doubt M&T actually ever cared about the "gender war" plot beyond being a plot device) work

If you wonder how low the writing for female characters can go in this series just see the first few eps of s20

[terrence-silver]

Did Terry volunteer for the war or was he drafted?

Oh man, I've no clue.

I always preferred the old fanon idea that his parents died in a car accident and left him destitute, knee-deep in gambling debt that ate away at Terry's inheritance as a teenager and that he literally and ironically enough volunteered for the army to survive and have somewhere to go (damned if you do, damned if you don't type of situation), but now that the show jumbled everything by not only telling us Terry's parents (or at least his father) was very much alive during the time, that he was possibly obscenely rich, in charge of a company and could've easily gotten his only son and heir out of a war that could've had him killed or MIA, sparing him from the danger of it all as people of wealth often did, I literally have to wonder.

I'll justify this by imagining that Terry's dad was an old fashioned traditionalist and probably something of a patriot and to extend upon that, I think that he was tragically enough, very much ashamed that Terry, due to the reasons that later had him dubbed Twig, didn't fit the classic bill of masculinity early in his life. Terry was scrawny, skinny, gentle and shy. Possibly, if we take into account the queer subtext of Terry's entire character, maybe his father wanted to, literally speaking, 'set him straight' by sending him off to war as a rite of passage because he already had prior suspicions about his son's leanings and gave him an ultimatum; either come back a real man, or die. Because, to his father, a dead son was better than a wrong son. A son with a fault or a 'defect', as he saw it. A strange son. A strange son was social suicide for a family with a big reputation to maintain. At least a dead son can be written off as a war hero --- that sounds lofty as an idea and as a concept, rather than a living, breathing person. A dead soldier son. It is like an accessory one can pin to their list of achievements. There's gravitas and weight to that. Much better then having a gay son. Or a bi son. Or any other son that isn't acceptable in the 60's.

As a result, I think Terry was coerced, pressured and pushed into volunteering as a way to prove himself to a dyed-in-the-bone, relentless, despotic family patriarch with a multigenerational old money wealth behind himself and possibly risk being cut off from the Silver inheritance and disowned. Maybe even thrown out and made homeless as a mere teenager with no resources to support himself. We don't know for sure, but I'm speculating. It is just another type of 'no win' situation where Terry's options were extremely limited right down to very easily risk getting killed in Vietnam, being captured, tortured and being exposed to unspeakable horrors and trauma intended to 'make a man out of him' --- or refuse and simply be cut off from his entire family and ushered off to war regardless, once his impossibly rich and powerful father pulls some connections to have him ratted out and drafted anyway, purely out of some personal pettiness and spite. Maybe going to war seemed like the lesser of two evils at the time, because in the off chance that he survived, Terry at least clung unto the hope he'd have a place to come back to. But, then again, this headcanon makes his father seem stupendously evil, giving his own son the bleak options between experiencing all-out war as a way to become tougher, getting isolated from his own family unit, blackmail, jailtime for draft dodging, homelessness and the elaborate version of what his father no doubt saw as conversion therapy.

It is Terry Silver's father, though --- so what do I know?

Guy really might've been that hideous.

He was probably at least a couple of shades worse than Terry himself.

[girl-bateman]

WIP Tag Meme

Tagged by: @dont-offend-the-bees <3333

Rules: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send  you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a  little snippet of it or tell them something about it! Tag as many people  as you feel like tagging because you haven't had breakfast yet and your  brain is oatmeal.

Ok ok, I can’t post every wip because that would take too much time, but I’ll post the most recent ones in my google docs folder, enjoy ! (I've provided a lil translation for all the swedish titles, dont worrry)

The List:

“Namnlöst document” - (this means "nameless document" and is just the standard naming for all documents. I couldn’t give this story a name because I’m too embarrassed about it LITERALLY)

“pedro försvann :((” - (means: “pedro disappeared”) 

THE CARETAKER

“Implications of Mortality”

“Elefanten i rummet” - (means: “the elephant in the room”)

“World War Skarpnäck” - (ok the title is NOT serious, and Skarpnäck is just the name of where I live lmao)

“The romantic act of hiding a dead body” - (technically not a wip, but I might decide to continue it so...)

“Kortfilm liten” - (means: “short-film small”)

“s.p.y. - Ep1 - Draft 1″ - (This one has 3 drafts)  

“Nimon - an I take you on a date wip”

“The gr8 Gatsby”

Prompt 34, 48, “You come to my room at 4 am and...”

“Christmas movie idea”

“diana skiss”

“Rat Girls”

“The Set Up - Ep1 - Draft1″ - (This one has too many drafts to count)

“Decameron”

“Quentin manus - vafan ska jag göra????” - (means: “Quentin script - what the fuck am I supposed to do???”)

“One last job - Ep1 - Draft1″ - (There are 2 drafts)

“Macdennis shit I guess”

“This is not about me - Episode one″

“Svt Watch out - Avsnitt 1 - Skiss 1″ - (does not refer to the kpop band but the swedish television network “SVT”, also “avsnitt” means “episode”)

“Blessing the gays with some quality tv”

Feel free to ask about any of these lil projects :)

I tag @boyloser99,  @mangoslixes and @zine-e bc I know you guys are writers <33 

[i-want-candy]

Space Camp [Part Three: The Cliche Party Scene] ! [Canvan]

In which Candace and Vanessa go to a party...[takes place: July 14]

@vanecessary-conditions

[tw -- none]

CANDACE: It had actually been Vanessa who’d gotten invited to the party, not Candace. She hadn’t really made friends with many people in her part of the program. They were nice! She liked them! But, she also felt like she’d embarrassed herself in front of them one too many times already. Asking questions she was supposed to already know the answer to, talking about how she had been a theater major before this hadn’t really endeared her to anyone. 

She was jealous of the way Vanessa came home talking about Kyle, Jessica, and Blake. How they seemed to have inside jokes. They’d invited them over for a game night one time and Candace had been absolutely crushed in a game of Trivial Pursuit, though she and Vanessa had made up for that embarrassment, at least a little, by crushing at Pictionary. 

This was a real party. Held at someone’s house who lived near the laboratories. (Convenient both for them and our story.) 

It was a large, white block building that looked like something right out of the movies, including the pool and the twenty somethings already out on the deck when they came up. The NASA program wasn’t that big. Probably about twenty-five people, but that was enough to make Candace extremely nervous as she flipped her braided hair over her shoulder and shifted from one foot to the other in her sandals. The edges of her summer dress fluttered around her thighs. 

“Do we knock you think?” she asked Vanessa as they approached the big, imposing door. “Or--is this a…walk right in situation?” 

VANESSA: Before Vanessa could answer Candace’s question, the door flew open. It was Blake, who grinned at her and waved.

“Hey! We saw you on the doorbell cam!” Blake motioned to the little camera perched on the doorframe. “Soo-young was just telling us about how she rigged hers up back at MIT to play the Imperial March when people walked up — that’s from Star Wars,” they added.

“Oh my God, way to mansplain!” Vanessa laughed. It was a running joke they had that one of their little group would overly explain some simple pop culture concept and everyone else would jump on them, shouting “way to mansplain!” (regardless of the person’s gender). At this point, Vanessa couldn’t really remember how it started, but it was really funny. Well, to her and Kyle and Jess and Blake, at least. 

Blake laughed too and then ushered them inside. It was decently crowded already — Blake actually grew up in the area, and this was their parents’ house. Their parents were out of town for the weekend, so it was perfect for party time. They’d invited some of their friends in the area too, and also a lot of people who went to Stanford who they knew from an old internship. 

Vanessa wasn’t intimidated, though. These were her sort of people — the people who’d play Spotify through their PS5 and keep it on meme songs throughout the night (currently, it was blasting Shooting Stars). 

“Drinks are in the kitchen — cold stuff in the fridge.” Blake pointed in that direction. “Help yourself to whatever. There’s a ton of mixers too. We were gonna set up beer pong on the deck in a sec!” 

“I just remembered I can’t legally drink in the United States,” Vanessa snorted, as they made their way to the kitchen. “Don’t rat me out.” 

CANDACE: Candace jumped a little when the door opened and then stayed quiet…and awkward…as Vanessa went back and forth with her friends. Her brow furrowed a little at the explanation of the Imperial March, because she thought it was kind of annoying to assume they didn’t know--but then, Vanessa was laughing about it. That was definitely not something she’d laugh about usually…so there was something going on here that she didn’t understand. 

It made her feel…really out of place. Candace had gotten used to that at work. No one else really talked to her unless necessary. She did her work, and she did it well, and then she went home where Vanessa was, usually, kind of a reprieve. The only person here who really paid attention to her. But seeing Vanessa around her friends, laughing and being included. It made Candace jealous.

Though, she wasn’t sure who of. Vanessa or her friends. 

When Vanessa turned to her and murmured about drinking, Candace was pleased. Some of her awkwardness sliding away. As long as Vanessa didn’t like…ditch her or something, maybe this would be okay. 

“Good thing it’s not BYOB,” she told her, nudging her arm as they wove through the crowd and were spit out into the kitchen. “I woulda had us covered if it was, don’t worry.” She moved over and picked up a good ol’ red solo punch and then peered at the punch sitting in a bowl. Getting hammered kind of seemed like a good idea, so she dunked her cup into it and took a sip.

“Wow, shit. This is strong.” She took another sip.

VANESSA: Vanessa curled her nose at the punch and took a small sip. She smacked her lips together. 

“Ah, nothing like American college jungle juice — or at least I’ve been told. Y’know, I guess I’m kinda spoiled by being able to just walk into a bar back in Swynlake.” She took another small sip. This time the flavor went down a little easier. “But then again, they don’t have these red solo cups in England.” 

She let out a cackling little laugh, though she wasn’t sure why, except — well, this was weird, wasn’t it? She and Candace at a party, because of their NASA internship. She and Candace were roommates and they weren’t fighting (as much) and this was gonna be a fun party, the sort of party where people would get drunk but they’d also play Super Smash Bros and Jackbox. She could see a faint haze of reagents buzz around everyone, and it all glowed in the summer air in a way that made her feel… well happy. 

It was the coolest Vanessa had felt in a long time. She felt like she belonged. 

“You wanna go out and play beer pong?” asked Vanessa, after she’d managed to gulp down more of her drink. “Or if they already have teams, we can sit by the pool. I think I see Jess out there!” 

CANDACE: Candace didn’t really want to go play beer pong with Jess and whoever else. Not because she didn’t like beer pong. She wasn’t that much of a stick in the mud. Beer pong could be fun! She’d played it a few times at PrideU. She just…didn’t know Vanessa’s friends. But what would be worse would be being left behind by Vanessa. So, she nodded and followed Vanessa out onto the patio. 

This house was swanky. She wondered if Pacifica’s house looked like this. (Pacifica was the richest out of the Henry, Pacifica, and Rose trifecta, at least as far as Candace could tell. Only one of her friends had a Wiki page, after all.) The water was cool. She’d slipped off her sandals and hiked up her skirt, sitting on the pool’s edge. She chatted with a few people. Was handed a refill by Vanessa at one point. 

She liked watching Vanessa playing. There was a strand of her hair that had escaped her ponytail and stuck in a curl against her neck. The reflection of the pool lights made her skin glow blue and she looked--ethereal. 

God, Candace was drunk. She had no idea how much time had passed but when she stood up, her legs dripping water and moved towards Vanessa, she was feeling a little spinny, but in a good way, like Jupiter. She slunk towards Vanessa, who was chatting now with her other friends. Her chin snuck over the other girl’s shoulder.

“Hey,” she giggled, “do you know where the bathroom is? I gotta dry off.” She touched a wet foot to the back of Vanessa’s leg. 

VANESSA: Vanessa was having a great time. 

She’d drunk just enough that she felt like she was floating. She was totally winning beer pong with Jess. Everyone was laughing at her jokes and everyone was smiling at her. When she did a little bit of transmutation magic and turned the ping pong ball into a glass eyeball and back again, everyone oooh’d and aaah’d. And Vanessa just felt cool.

She hadn’t forgotten about Candace, though, and she kept looking up and across the pool to make sure Candace was okay. Because they’d come here together, duh, and it was like unspoken girl code to make sure that the person you came to a party with wasn’t being, like, forced to binge drink or being taken into a dark room by some douchebag.

But Candace looked alright. She sat by the pool and she talked to a few people. The wind swept through her hair. At one point, when Vanessa looked up, Candace was already looking at her. And Vanessa stuck out her tongue, but smiled, and Candace giggled, and Vanessa totally missed the next shot in beer pong.

Anyway, when Candace came over, Vanessa was already pretty drunk. And also, she definitely needed to pee so she nodded to Candace.

“Let’s go together,” she said, leaning forward a bit so she didn't have to yell over the crowd of people. “I gotta take piss anyway.”

CANDACE: “Cute,” Candace said with her nose wrinkled, but she reached down to take Vanessa’s hand. She didn’t think about it, just did it. After all, they had to navigate through the crowd inside the house and she didn’t want to get separated. Vanessa’s hand was calloused, but warm. A little sticky from sweat, but so was Candace’s. 

They went through the sliding glass door, music pumping out of the speakers. The house was filled with warm yellow light. Candace had no idea where the bathroom was, but she headed towards the hallway she could see past the living room. Inside, it was suddenly darker, the lights not turned on. The first door she opened was to the laundry room, which was kind of weird, because this was a mansion, didn’t they just--send out for their laundry? 

Whatever.

She found the bathroom on the next try and opened the door. Searching for the light along the wall, she lit up the room. 

“Wow, this place is huge--you could have a party just in this bathroom.” Her hand dropped from Vanessa so she could put them up over her head as she danced over to the linen closet to the beat of the music that they could still hear. 

VANESSA: Vanessa snorted. She found her gaze lingering on Candace’s wiggling hips. She didn’t know why, except she thought it was kind of cute the way she danced towards the linen closet. She immediately snapped her eyes away and looked for the toilet. 

Candace was right — the bathroom was big enough so that the toilet, for some reason, was in a separate room within the bathroom. Vanessa wasn’t going to question it because it worked exactly for their purposes right now. Namely, so that she could pee while Candace looked for towels. Or danced.

“Don’t get lost in here,” she said, passing Candace on the way to the toilet. Their shoulders brushed slightly. Vanessa smirked, then slipped into the toilet room.

She once read somewhere that you never really knew how drunk you were till you stopped to take a pee. She thoguht of that whenever she went out — her first freshers night, every time she went to Pixies, whenever she trekked to an off-campus party. Tonight was no exception. She sat on the toilet, forearms resting on her knees, and the whole room seemed to spin.

After she flushed and washed her hands — because this fancy toilet room had its own dang sink! — she opened the door, and there was Candace, standing in the white marble bathroom, the light catching on her hair and illuminating it like a halo.

Vanessa’s heart skipped a beat. It fluttered, and she must’ve been really drunk because she blurted out, “Your hair looks pretty.” 

CANDACE: Candace reached up and touched her hair, the towel she had been using to dry off her legs limp in one hand, her foot still on the lip of the tub. She blushed. 

“Oh, uh--thanks! It took me a long time to do something with it that was like…not annoying and ugly.” Candace shrugged a little. She never liked her hair. The color was ugly, in her opinion. It couldn’t decide if it wanted to be blonde or red and wound up this lame…washed out color. Not the dark auburny color of Phineas’ hair or even the rich red of her mom. She got some lame, low resolution version. 

“I could, uh, do yours like this sometime if you want? It’s, uh, long enough. And pretty too!” It was. She was pretty sure it was a nice brown usually, but right now, under the lights, from the sweat of the California heat, it looked black as an oil slick. She came a little closer and picked up one of the locks, twirling it between her fingers. It was soft. She remembered that from when--

Her eyes darted to Vanessa’s, then away, then back again. 

VANESSA: “Did you ever read Anne of Green Gables?” Vanessa didn’t know why she suddenly said that. Maybe she was drunker than she thought, her mouth kinda moving on autopilot. The fact that Candace was twirling Vanessa’s hair between her pale fingers didn’t help. Vanessa tried to stop herself, but the word vomit kept coming.

“There’s that part where Gilbert grabs Anne’s hair and calls it carrots and she gets all upset and smacks him on the head with her chalkboard thing.”

Vanessa had never understood that. Judging by the illustration on the cover, Anne’s hair was a pretty red-gold, almost the same color that Candace’s was. And Vanessa thought it was beautiful and yeah, okay, when she watched the movie and realized that Gilbert had a crush on Anne and vice-versa, it all made sense. 

She reached to grab one of Candace’s braids now. She felt the overwhelming urge to tug on it, just really pull on it. Her heart beat stronger and she almost felt it in her fingertips. 

And instead of pulling Candace’s hair, Vanessa surged forward and kissed her on the mouth. 

CANDACE: Vanessa touched her hair and Candace felt like someone had pushed her into the pool, the way the feeling shivered all the way through her. And she didn’t even have time to recover before Vanessa kissed her. 

Her lips were cold and tasted like alcohol, but her breath was hot and wanting. Candace’s hands went to her face at once, tangling in all that wild hair as she kissed her back. Didn’t even have to think about it. She just did it. And it felt good. They stumbled backwards until Vanessa hit the wall, Candace crowded up against her.

It was just because she was drunk. That was the only reason she wanted to rub her body against Vanessa’s and never stop. Only because she was drunk did her fingers tremble and her breath catch when the kiss broke before she kissed Vanessa again. Only because she was drunk. This was fluke. Like the other kiss was a fluke. 

Vanessa was warm and familiar. Her kisses bit like fire. Candace felt the little explosions all over her body. Wherever Vanessa touched her. 

VANESSA: Candace’s lips tasted so familiar. In her slightly drunk state, Vanessa let that thought overwhelm her. Candace tasted familiar and like the best thing Vanessa had felt on the tip of her tongue in her entire life. Like a little bit of whatever flavored vodka she’d been drinking, and like a little bit of something like cinnamon, spicy and sweet.

Candace pushed her up against the wall and Vanessa felt a growl deep in her throat. She parted her lips, so that she could taste Candace fully, so that she could feel the heat of Candace’s mouth and the slick wetness of her tongue.

One of her hands wrapped around Candace’s braid, the other went down her arm, then to her waist, pulling Candace as close to her as possible.

Vanessa could feel her heart beating in her throat. She could feel it in her fingertips and in her chest and just everywhere. She’d never kissed anyone like this and she never thought that she’d be kissing Candace like this. Oh, she’d wanted to — she’d definitely wanted to, but she thought that first time they kissed was Candace being desperate and that it would never happen again.

Not that this was anything. This was being drunk, with a party raging outside, drunk and a little horny from the heat of the summer and the low thrum of the music. That was it. 

CANDACE: Vanessa pulled her closer and Candace was dizzy. She wanted to kiss and kiss Vanessa until she didn’t have any breath left. It had been a long time since she’d kissed anyone. And she’d never kissed someone like she wanted to drink them. Like she wanted to disappearing inside of them. But that was how it felt. She wanted this never to end. Vanessa smelt good, like her shampoo and sweat and alcohol and chlorine. She breathed hard against her. Her jaw was sharp against Candace’s fingers. Candace wanted to bite her, wanted to pull her hair and pull her shirt off--

“Hey!” Someone banged on the door and Candace jumped back from Vanessa like she’d been electrocuted. That was how it felt too. Now that their lips weren’t connected it was like the circuit was open. 

“Other people have to pee too! Hook up somewhere else.” 

Candace’s wide eyes blinked at Vanessa’s and then she turned towards the door, frantically trying to fix her hair in the mirror before opening the door. 

At least the person standing there wasn’t someone she recognized.

“We weren’t hooking up,” she blurted, stupidly. 

“Yeah, sure, whatever. Can I use the bathroom now?” 

“Er, yeah. Uh--sorry.” Candace blushed and glanced at Vanessa before moving down the hallway and back to the rest of the party, where she lost track of Vanessa. They met up to walk home though. It was well past midnight. You couldn’t see any stars in the city, but Candace kept her eyes on the sky anyway. And if her knuckles kept brushing Vanessa’s as they stumbled home, well--it was only because they were drunk.

[0gasstationcoffee]

LWA rewatch episode 20

·      Why is Andrew there when walking to the ceremony

·      Oop thought Andrew was gonna pull a dick move but he’s on Akko side

·      LIAR Diana of course there’s more you want to do at Luna Nova

·      Oh so that wasn’t a sorcerer’s stone that the Manor has but a beacon when the ceremony is approaching

·      The night of the Venus eclipse is when the ceremony takes place

·      Fuckin Daryl with her snakes

·      Wait the dad left without his son? Lmao what a dick

·      Andrew trying to figure out what Akko’s deal with Diana is

·      “I know in my heart she doesn’t want to leave Luna Nova.” Awww Akko

·      Wait is Akko trying so hard to bring Diana back because she knew Diana was researching the seven words?

·      Andrew about to drop Diana’s backstory

·      There was a time when she couldn’t use magic when she was little. But she never let that stop her.

·      Like Akko

·      THE FLASHBACK OF LITTLE DIANA TRYING SO HARD TO USE MAGIC

·      AND LITTLE JUST WATCHING HER AND IGNORING THE OTHER KIDS

·      The damn Cavenbitches

·      Did Akko and Andrew just jump over the ledge to avoid the twins? That’s funny

·      Akko knowing something terrible might happen to her if she goes to rescue Diana and she goes anyways

·      Also that was sweet of Andrew to try and help Akko and Diana too

·      Wait if they are able to use magic in the sanctuary then there has to be a sorcerer’s stone somewhere

·      Little rat Akko at it again, picking the worst animal to be around snakes lmao

·      Hell yeah Elephant Akko

·      “THIS IS NOTHING COMPARED TO SUCY’S POISONS” LMAO I LOVE THIS

·      So the snakes are straight up trying to kill Akko if she’s already been poisoned

·      Akko is really smart with transforming herself into different animals

·      Diana’s back!

·      Oh no Akko!

·      “Akko please just hang on!” :’)

·      “It seems your recklessness knows no bounds.” Diana you don’t even know girl

·      Oh this is where softer Diana appears

·      Ooo I love they’re in a covert hospital. The good Cavendishes were hella good, treating everyone at their hospital regardless of which side of the war they were on

·      Diana is very calm about missing the ceremony, instead she’s just giving Akko a tour lmao

·      This is a very sweet scene with Diana talking about her history

·      When they are open like this with each other, they make a great pair

·      Akko convincing Diana not to give on her dream THIS GIRL I LOVE HER BUT WHAT A 180

·      THE FIFTH WORD IS HERE WITH DIANA AND AKKO REPRESENTING OLD TRADITION AND NEW POWER COMING TOGETHER

·      Diana: Akko, repeat this. SAYS SOMETHING I CAN’T EVEN COMPREHEND

·      CHARIOT’S BROOM SHINY VALLEY

·      CHARIOT MUST HAVE REALLY LOVED FLYING AND GOING FAST GIVEN THAT HER BROOM HAS THREE FUCKING HEADS

·      THE GIRLS ARE FLYING

·      Oop the Cavenbitches getting cursed because of interfering

·      Akko NOT getting cursed because she only wanted to help Diana

·      Diana making the same selfless choice Akko did when she set the fish family free in the earlier episodes

·      Beatrix!!!

·      I knew it!!!!! Anna trying to give Diana the Chariot card and telling her to go and live her dream at Luna Nova

·      Aww the staff at the Cavendish manor are way more kind than the remaining Cavendishes

·      Oh sure now you have a change of heart Daryl

·      I guess dad Hanbridge realized HE LEFT HIS ONLY CHILD BEHIND

·      Diana: I appreciate what you did for me. Akko: SAY IT AGAIN

·      Diana telling Akko “do you want to walk home?” cuz Akko keeps pushing her is sending me lmao

·      Good episode

·      NOW NEXT UP IS THE WAGANGEA EPISODE JEFFREY I AM AFRAID AND SO EXCITED

·      MOSTLY EXCITED BECAUSE I THINK THE WAGANDEA ONE IS MY FAVORITE

[alarawriting]

52 Project #41: The Blood Mage

Based on the prompt here.

***

Ailurin was five when she learned what she was.

Her older brother, a lanky eight, had just run away with her favorite doll, laughing. Ailurin ran after him, screaming “Give her back!”, but the boy was too entertained by his sister’s impotent rage to heed her. He ran straight up to the pond, grinned malevolently at his shrieking sister, and tossed the doll into the pond.

And then swayed on his feet, dizzily, his skin – ruddy from exercise – turning pale as snow. Ailurin stood in front of him, her little fists clenched, her eyes lit from inside like any magic user’s would be, her face a mask of fury as her brother toppled to the ground, narrowly avoiding falling into the pond himself.

In another town, there might have been a very different outcome. A child summoning magic that nearly kills another child? Somewhere less sophisticated than Ailurin’s town might have burned her as a witch. But she lived only an hour’s ride from the capital of their homeland Paozo, her father an experienced merchant who went to the city all the time, her mother a nurse in the Healers’ Guild, and so she had a far more auspicious fate than that.

It was the next day, after her brother had been fed with bloody meat and wine so watered down it was barely even alcoholic, and she’d been fed leafy greens, mushrooms and trout to help her avoid the muscle cramps that came with magic overuse, that her father put her on the back of his horse, and they rode together to the capital, where the Queen’s Academy of Magicks stood.

***

All magic was based in an element, but there were focused specializations.

A general earth mage could perform workings with dirt and rocks. A metal mage could do nothing with dirt and rocks, but had a level of precision control over metal that a more general earth mage couldn’t match. Likewise, there were general water mages who could change the flow of a river, and then specialized ice mages who could manipulate water only when it was frozen.

There were combination specialists as well. A weather mage fell under water, air and fire, but couldn’t affect a river or put out a blaze, directly – by bringing rain, perhaps, but the magic that could call lightning couldn’t affect a fire. A lodestone mage specialized in iron and other lodestone metals, but could call lightning just like a weather mage.

But one thing was true of all elemental mages. None could directly affect living things. The water and air within an animal’s body, the green growing things on the earth – those were subject to no magic anyone had ever heard of.

Ailurin broke that mold. Her specialization fell under water, but she could do what no water mage had ever been able to do in all recorded history… and control blood.

There were many tests to find the limits of her power – tests that were presented to her as games. She could not cause a body to move by pulling on the blood inside it (and how she cried for the rat she accidentally exsanguinated while they were testing that. Pulling on the blood inside a body only pulled it out of the body.) She could not work with the “blood” of plants or animals without spines; a heart and circulatory system were needed. She could cause blood to clot, but once it was a clot, the only magic she could perform on it was to dissolve it.

What could she do then? Well, her mother was a nurse, and had many suggestions for her teachers in magic. She had already proven she could slow the flow of blood to different parts of the body… her brother had fainted because she’d interrupted the flow of blood to his brain. She could also speed the flow of blood, to aid the recovery of a person who’d fainted for more natural reasons. When people suffered the sickness of terrible pain within their veins, Ailurin was able to find clots inside their bodies, blocking the flow, and she could dissolve those. People with the bleeding disease, whose blood would never clot and seal their wounds… she could close those wounds.

And when a person’s heart seized and stopped, she could usually get it moving again by taking over its function, using her magic to push the blood through the body until whatever had blocked the heart was gone, and it could beat naturally again.

For a child with such magics, there were only two possible choices: the soldiers’ corps, or the Healers’ Guild. But a girl who cried for the rat she’d accidentally killed had no temperament for using her control over blood to kill, and her mother had many contacts within the Healers’ Guild.

Ailurin spent three years studying her own magic, learning its limits. Then she was apprenticed to the Healers’ Guild, learning how to care for the injured and sick, so she could discover how best to use her magic to heal.

And what a healer she was! With Ailurin’s magic, the healers learned many new things about bodies. For instance, in many of the cases where a person was felled by a sudden stopping of their heart, it was because their veins had narrowed and it was too difficult for blood to find its way through. Some of these people could be helped by leech treatment. People who suddenly lost the use of limbs on one side of their body, and the proper working of their tongue, often had a clot inside their brains, and if it was dissolved immediately, they could sometimes make a full recovery. Tinctures of cinnamon and turmeric could make it harder for the blood to clot, and when Ailurin dissolved a clot in the body, the patients treated with such tinctures were less likely to relapse.

By the time she was declared Doctor – the title for a person fully trained to diagnose and treat a patient within the Healers’ Guild, as opposed to a Master Doctor who could take an apprentice, or an Intern who was an advanced apprentice – Ailurin and her magic had been responsible for the discovery of many new secrets of human and animal bodies that no healer had known before, and the discovery of treatments to help against things that had previously killed or maimed without warning or cure.

***

Most of the nation’s guilds were in fact the nation’s guilds. Ailurin’s nation had a leatherworkers’ guild, and the nation to the north had a leatherworker’s guild, and the two to the south both had their own leatherworkers’ guilds, and so forth.

Not so the Healers’ Guild. There was only one Healers’ Guild, spanning the known world. All healers swore their primary allegiance to the Healer’s Creed:

·         I will treat any patient in need, regardless of their creed, their nation, or their customs.

·         I will cause no harm to any, save in the preservation of life and health for those who come before me.

·         Though I may charge a fair and reasonable fee for my services, as set by the Healers’ Guild, I will never charge more than such a fee.

·         I shall have no sexual or romantic relations with one who comes before me to be healed. Should my own husband or wife fall ill, or one with whom I am courting or engaged, I will refer them to one of my colleagues, unless the situation should be so dire that that is not possible.

·         Likewise, I will not treat my family members, but refer them to a colleague, unless life or health should fail immediately if I do not.

·         In conflicts between nations, I will not take sides. I will swear again on my own life that I will treat any who come before me, even soldiers engaged in warfare on my nation.

Every company of soldiers traveled with Healers’ Guild members, and there was a Healers’ Tent at the site of every battle… often a tent that contained the healers of both the armies meeting in combat. It was an ironclad rule that no soldier could keep their weapon within the Healers’ Tent, and that soldiers or civilians from either side of the conflict were welcome in the tent if they were injured.

Ailurin began her career treating elderly city dwellers with pains in their chest, but she thought that her magic might be more needed on a battlefield, so she began to travel with military companies.

She saved many, many lives. Men who would have bled to death survived, because Ailurin was able to keep their blood inside their bodies until the wound could be cauterized or stitched. At times, she could even restore a severed limb; if the limb and the place it was severed from were both washed in the strongest of spirits, to drown any of the evil spirits that caused illness, she could cause the blood to flow between the limb and the place it was severed from, as her colleagues sewed the limb back on. The arms and legs that were so restored were never as strong as they had been, and those soldiers usually returned home as war-wounded with their pensions… but the limbs that had been severed cleanly by swords were back on their bodies, weaker but still of use.

Ailurin found as well that her magic could transfer the blood from a dead man, if he was freshly dead, to a dying man who’d lost too much blood to live otherwise. She learned to detect the spirit of the blood, to match it with a soldier of similar spirit… and, knowing of these spirits through her magic, she was able to devise a test that other healers could use to tell if the spirits would be friendly to each other, or hostile. Healers’ assistants who went out on the battlefield to retrieve the injured now retrieved the dead as well, in hopes that their blood was still fresh enough to save other soldiers. Often, ice mages, whose talents had been traditionally used in the Healers’ Guild to make poultices to reduce swelling and to preserve potions that would otherwise go bad, found themselves keeping dead bodies cold. Ailurin was still the only blood mage, but what she could do with magic, other healers found ways to do with potions or devices.

Within the Healers’ Guild Ailurin was remembered for the many discoveries she made or helped to make, and the many lives she saved directly. But there is another thing they remember her for as well.

***

She was traveling with a company from Paozo when their battalion met one from Shemora, and a fierce battle broke out. A Healers’ Tent was stood up between the camps of both battalions, and within that tent, Ailurin and her colleagues were very busy.

In the evening, when the battle was done for the day and both sides had retreated to lick their wounds, and the Healers’ Tent was especially busy, the general of Paozo’s forces came to the tent in person.

His soldiers who were conscious and could move their limbs saluted him. The soldiers of Shemora watched him. The healers mostly ignored him, with the exception of the Master Doctor in charge of the tent, who didn’t really have that option. She finished setting a soldier’s leg bone where he’d been trampled by a horse, and then went to speak to the general.

“What can I do for you, General?” she asked.

“You can get these Shemoran scum off these beds,” the general said. “We’re not wasting our resources healing the enemy.”

“Excuse me?” The Master Doctor was shocked. “Our creed is to care for anyone who needs healing.”

“I don’t give a shit about your creed,” the general said. Soldiers of his battalion filed into the Healers’ Tent. “We’re taking this Shemoran trash as prisoners of war to free up these beds for our injured.”

“No. You’re not,” the Master Doctor said. “The Healers have no specific allegiance. We treat both sides equally.”

“Yes, that’s part of your creed,” the general said. “And the other part is to do no harm.” His soldiers drew their swords. “You have no weapons. You have nothing to stop us but your bare hands.” He turned back to his soldiers. “Kill any of them that are too badly injured to walk. The rest can march to the prison or die.”

“No,” Ailurin said, turning away from the man she had been treating. “I have a weapon.”

The general laughed. “Oh, yes, I can see you’re a great warrior!”

Most mages were bone-thin, unable to keep on any weight, for magic was fueled by life force. Ailurin was beautifully plump, looking more like a pampered noblewoman than a powerful mage. Her face was soft, her belly round, with voluptuous breasts and hips. Her blood magic had allowed her to learn how to slow her metabolism when she wasn’t using magic, to keep her weight on… not because she was vain and sought beauty, though beautiful she was, but because she needed the fuel for stamina. When your magic is the only thing keeping a person’s blood moving through their body, because they were stabbed in the heart, endurance in your magic becomes the most important trait you can have.

With her soft skin and rounded curves, Ailurin looked like a wealthy woman who was waited on hand and foot, not someone who’d ever lifted a sword in her life. But when she faced the general, her expression was hard and her eyes were cold. “I need no weapon,” she said. Her eyes glowed like any mage's would, and the general reached for his sword, gesturing with his other hand  to his men to be ready.

It didn’t help them. His men dropped like stones, their eyes rolling back.

“What have you done?” he shouted,  drawing his sword.

Ailurin stood her ground with no sign of fear, her eyes still glowing.  “I am Ailurin the Blood Mage, first of my kind, and my creed – the Healers' Creed  - is to do no harm except when needed to preserve the life and health of my patients. You threatened my patients. “

“So you killed my men?” the general raged.

“They’re merely unconscious. I am sworn to preserve life; I don’t kill if I can avoid it.”

“Ah. Well, then.” With no warning, the general lunged forward buried his sword in Ailurin ‘s heart.

She stumbled back slightly from the force of the thrust, but didn’t scream, or fall down… or bleed. As the general pulled his sword back, he stared in shock at her chest, and the complete absence of blood staining her healer’s robes. “What…?”

“Blood Mage,” Ailurin said impatiently, her eyes still glowing, showing the world that she was still using magic. “That was a very bad idea, general.”

And then the general began to bleed profusely from every pore of his body. He looked down at himself, at the blood trickling out of him everywhere, turning his uniform dark red. “What—what are you—you can’t—”

As he fell to his knees, dizzy from blood loss, Ailurin said, repeating the words of the Creed, “I will cause no harm to any, save in the preservation of life and health for those who come before me.” She looked down at the general. “You threatened to kill my patients. This is preserving their lives. You are no patient of mine, or anyone here.”

The general fell all the way to the floor then, lying in a pool of his own blood, dead. Ailurin looked up. “I’m sorry, Master Doctor. I’ll need to clean this up.”

“Doctor Ailurin!” One of the nurses ran to her. “Are you—”

“Doctor Ailurin, I saw you were stabbed!”

“How are you--?”

“I’ll live until I sleep,” Ailurin said. “He pierced my heart. I can keep the flow of blood going with my magic, but when I sleep, I’ll die.”

The Master Doctor called orders to the nurses. “Take the men who fainted, confiscate their weapons and keep them sedated for now. Orderlies, please remove the general.” As the healers’ assistants jumped into motion, she said to Ailurin, “Doctor, we can argue later about whether your actions were justified. For now… how well can you endure pain and use your magic?”

***

It required potions that dulled the pain without removing her ability to focus, but Ailurin was able to keep her own blood under control while her colleagues opened her ribs up and stitched the hole in her heart.

The soldiers who’d fainted were kept sedated with potions while Ailurin was recovering. The fact that their general was dead was something the healers considered best for them to find out after the Blood Mage was back to, if not her original strength, at least enough of her strength to defend the healers again. The ones who’d already been in the tent, being treated, knew – because the healers had told them – that if the general had succeeded, the healers would have withdrawn from the Paozon army entirely. If the neutrality of the healers could not be respected, they could not afford to give their services at all.

After the battle, the Master Doctors convened to determine whether Ailurin had broken the Creed. They determined that, because she had acted in defense of her patients’ lives, she would not be banished from the Guild, but that five years would be added to the time before she could become a Master Doctor, and take apprentices of her own. This didn’t bother her; no Blood Mages had been born after her. She had no one to train.

***

It was understood after that day that the Healers’ Creed allowed the healers to defend their patients with deadly force, if necessary. No other general attempted to force the healers to violate their creed. There was only one Blood Mage… but many mages of other specialties were healers, especially mages of Water and Air.

Many years later, after Ailurin had had her Master Doctor status for several years, the Guild sent her an apprentice… a girl whose magic let her see and manipulate the invisible spirits that cause disease, or good health, in people and animals. She was the first mage to have powers over what lay within living things since Ailurin herself. No one was certain what her magic was a branch of; eventually they’d guessed Air, because she commanded tiny invisible spirits, but the truth that Ailurin was beginning to suspect was that life itself was a fifth element.

Eventually, her brother – the one who’d stolen her doll, so long ago – had a grandson who had blood magic, the same as Ailurin had. And others appeared, slowly – mages who could make flesh heal, mages who could grow crops, mages who could ease the minds of the mad. She had been the first of the life mages, but she was not the last.

[helenarlett-rex]

So today was a day...

Not more than 10 minutes after opening the doors at work this morning I had a man try to enter the building without a mask. As I was stationed at the door this morning I offered the man a fresh mask and informed him that we are requiring people to wear masks inside the building. He ignored me by telling me that he already checked with the county commissioner and there is no county mandate for people to wear masks then walked right past me into the building. I quickly followed after him, trying to inform him that it was library policy that had nothing to do with county mandates but he again refused to listen to me and started rambling on with the same speel, refusing to listen to me. And the kicker was... he didn’t even want to use the library... He just wanted to return his books. Books he could have very easily put in the drop box right outside the door. But instead of doing that, he wanted to walk into the building without a mask to return them. In other words, he wanted to swing his dick around and prove to me he could do anything he wanted and I couldn’t stop him.

This of course went into an incident report I had to spend the morning filling out... Just because this asshole wanted to feel like no one could tell him what to do, I was forced to spend the morning filling out paperwork when I really needed to be doing other things, putting me way behind in my duties for the day. Something simple that would have taken him all of ten seconds, or even less than that if he had used the book drop, ended up costing me an hour and a half of my time which I really didn’t have to spare in the first place...

But that was only the start of my horrible day... Because the rest of the day was filled with similar people just like him who all felt the need to make our lives miserable over the covid precautions put into place in the library. As it turns out, there was to be a board meeting at the end of the day held there at the library. A full board meeting consisting of the board members of both our library and the board members of our sister library in the next town over. And one of the topics on the agenda was discussing what covid precautions were to be taken going forward. Knowing this, the local rat lickers had apparently decided to start attacking us early, and keep at it thoughout the day, almost as if they were trying to wear us down and beat us into submission before the meeting even took place.

When my library director arrived at work that afternoon, she asked me to personally attend the meeting because she had added the incident report to the agenda and wanted me there if they had any questions. I agreed to attend. And when the day came to an end and the board meeting was begin, I received the unfortunate privilege of getting to bear witness to a mob of the worst, most entitled collection of plague rats our community had to offer.

I watched as somewhere around fifty unmasked people consisting of Covid Karen’s and their entire families came pouring into the library like a group of disease infested rats scurrying off of the docks of Messina. But they weren’t satisfied to just fill the building and breath their germs all over everyone. The moment they approached the area set up for the board meeting to take place, the began instantly, and loudly showing their complete disregard for the precautions the library was trying to take. Many of them loudly announcing that they had no intention of social distancing as they began moving all the chairs that had been set up for them to ensure they were as close together as possible. I myself was forced to leave my seat when a woman scooted her own so close to me she may as well have been sitting in my lap and then further refused to allow me to move my chair away from her. I was in fact forced to stand through the entire two hour meeting because it was the only way to distance myself from the rowdy crowd intent of breathing directly down my neck.

Even without the concern of covid, I have been diagnosed with PTSD and I don’t like people getting too close to me. But this angry mob that would have looked more at place gathering outside of Frankenstein’s castle with torches and pitch forks, many of whom would go on to complain about how masks were violating their medical rights, showed no concern for my own medical rights...

As soon as the meeting began, the board opened the floor to take comments from the public and what proceeded was a literal dick swinging competition as every Karen in attendance took their turn giving prepared speeches that went through the list of every rumor, conspiracy theory, easily disproven fact, bit of misinformation with no basis, and argument of having their freedoms taken away that anyone has ever heard in argument against covid safety. Each one trying their best to top the person who spoke before them with the rest of the crowd erupting in loud cheers and applauds at the end of each speech in what can only be described as the largest circle jerk I have ever witnessed.

Many of them even forced their children, some of them too young to even understand what was going on, to stand up and talk in front of the board for sympathy points...

When the floor was finally closed to comments, and the board began going over the topics on the agenda, the ill mannered crowd continued to interrupt as if it was their own meeting and they were only allowing the board to sit in on it. They had to be told several times by the board that their time to speak was over and still they continued to interrupt and even attempt to intimidate the board.

And then, after a period of topics the foaming plague rats didn’t understand or have any interest in, the moment finally came to discuss the matter of covid precautions moving forward. And to my horror... the proposal was immediately made by a member of our sister library’s board to immediately put an end to all policy and precaution related to Covid-19. I wasn’t surprised by this... I’ve long known that the director of our sister library was a rabid Red Hat, foaming at the mouth herself, and had likewise surrounded herself with like-minded people. But that made the horror no less real as this dead eyed, unmasked man who looked as if his heart should have been beating under the floorboards of an Edgar Allan Poe story, stated that he would accept no exceptions or amendments to anything other than pretending covid had never happened.

This decrepit old vulture went so far as to prevent the rest of the board from making any further suggestions and forcing a vote on the matter, all while exchanging winks with the mob of plague rats from the one eye that still worked. And when the vote was forced it came down to a 50/50 split. Every member of my library’s board voting against the proposal, with every member of our sister library’s board voting in favor of it.

And with the vote ending in a tie, it fell to the board’s trustee to cast the tie breaking vote... A man who is so out of touch with the actual workings of the library, and has so little regard for the members of staff who keep the library running... that after knowing the man for eight years he still doesn’t know my name and continues to tell me what his name is and where his library card is located every time he checks out a book... (Yes... I know who you are... Yes, I know your card is in the box under staff... And no... my name is not Bill so stop calling me that... Bill quit six years ago...) A treatment every member of staff receives from the man I might add... (Just how many people named Bill does he think works there...?) A man who’s term limit on the board is up and this was to be his last board meeting, no less... So regardless what decision he made, he wouldn’t have to stick around to deal with the fallout of such a decision... And this was who the deciding vote was given to...

Naturally he voted in favor of the proposal and just like that I watched as every ounce of safety I had in my job was stripped away while the disease bearing pestilence in attendance all cheered like a group of rednecks who had just been told the south finally won the Civil War. (A war many of those in attendance no doubt still believe is going on if the flags flying from that backs of their pickup trucks are any indication.) No longer would masks or social distancing be required inside the building. In fact, it can’t even be suggested... Occupancy and time limits are no more. Hours of operation are to be restored to full time... A feat I am still confused as to how we are to manage considering we barely have enough staff members to keep the library open for seven hours a day and no takers on open job positions... For a moment it almost sounded as if my own right to wear personal protective equipment was to be taken away, although my own director has informed me she will not enforce that and I am free to continue wearing whatever I would like. Although her ability to allow this remains to be seen...

But there you have it. A library staffed primarily by immunocompromised employees had its right to protect the well-being of said employees  taken away based on the decision of a completely different library in a different town, an ineffectual old man on his last day on the job, and a raving mob of entitled vermin using intimidation tactics and threats of lawsuits. (Because yes, they did threaten lawsuits...)

All that remains to be seen now is if I will even continue to have a job in the wake of this decision. Because the board who decided to strip us of the only feeling of security we had, is in fact the same board who has time and time again refused to pay us anything more than minimum wage while every other business around us is currently hiring at double what we are making. If our job is no longer any safer than any other job, what’s to keep us from leaving for someone who would pay more? I’ve worked there for eight years and I can go anywhere else and get twice what I make as a starting pay... I think it would be quite funny if all of the people who demanded we drop our safety precautions so they could enjoy the library in a way that was convenient for them suddenly came back the next day to find it closed entirely due to having no staff.

Oh and the incident report I was asked to attend the meeting was glossed over by the board who no longer had any interest in punishing people for breaking rules they had just decided to do away with. So the extra two hours taken out of my day were for nothing as well...

[angelicamerlinbarnes]

Remus Lupin being an awesome teacher and human being

I Was Made For Loving You - Tori Kelly, Ed Sheeran

He exempts students with depression from participating in the Patronus lesson and students with anxiety from participating in the Boggart lesson. (He teaches them individually instead.)

He brings Sirius in for visits where he sits in the back of the class and jokes around with all of the students.

He gives extra lessons to students he knows have rough home lives. (He also teaches them spells that hide magic they did outside of school.)

He lends the Map to students who can’t get guardian permission to go to Hogsmeade.

He encourages self-love and makes sure to compliment all of his students on their good work.

He has a huge collection of chocolate specifically for students who are having a bad day.

The windowsills of his classroom are full of stuffed animals that are human size and perfect for hugging (most notably a stag, a rat, a dog, a wolf, a dove, a snake, and a black cat).

He asks every student about their day and actually cares about the answer.

He’ll play music using a Sonorus charm during almost every class (even tests!). (He does take requests; he does not care if they are “school appropriate”.)

He teaches kids spells to dye their hair different colors and thinks it’s a good laugh when one of his students dares to dye his hair pink. (Once one of them made Sirius’ hair purple. He refused to come out of Remus’ office for a week.)

He takes his kids to pride parades on brooms without school permission (not that he needs it; Dumbledore is a very proud gay) and conjures them pride-colored things whenever they want (most notably pencils and erasers).

He often invites struggling students to lunch or dinner in his office so they can talk to him about their issues.

He is notably quite good at catching suicidal or self-harming students and takes extra care to make sure they’re okay.

He ALWAYS gives students hugs when they need them and ALWAYS takes the time to answer questions about the war, his scars, or Death Eaters and Azkaban.

He works hard to dispel myths about magical creatures, werewolves included, and does his best to teach them openly and kindly.

He keeps careful watch of the Map so he can see if any of his students are in danger (wandering alone too much, hiding in the bathroom, on the ledge of the Astronomy Tower, etc.).

He decides it’s bullshit Hogwarts doesn’t have a counseling department and insists they implement one immediately. (It consists of only Sirius at first and then slowly grows as James and Max, (and Peter and Regulus, unofficially) all come in to help.)

He fiercely defends Squibs and Muggles and invites open conversations about any family members people might have who are. (He also holds a Muggleborn pride for people, which may or may not have earned him incredibly enthusiastic hugs from Regulus and Lily and an incredibly enthusiastic kiss from Sirius.)

He makes polite conversation with the house elves just because.

He’s open about being a werewolf and does his best to set a good example and teach his students how to open-minded about things they don’t know about.

He makes out with Sirius in places he knows they can get caught and simply laughs about it with his students afterwards. (They fucking love Sirius. They fucking love Remus. Everyone’s winning here.)

He and Sirius duel in front of the class to showcase fast and unpredictable spellwork.

He stress bakes a lot so after grading a test kids can usually expect cookies or brownies or sometimes even cupcakes with their graded test.

He makes Muggle and magical book recommendations for Hermione (and others of course), taking great care to find ones with main characters who are ace or polyamorous.

He entertains and explores Luna’s theories about imaginary creatures and lets Newt showcase and sleep with each of his.

He once thought it was Saturday and showed up to class in a white bathrobe with pink polka dots and bunny slippers and a cup of coffee and he taught the entire lesson without missing a beat like that, even when Sirius traipsed down with his matching bathrobe and slippers and mug and proceeded to mirror him for the entire lesson.

He knows how to deal with students who have ADHD because of Sirius and James.

He works really really hard on enforcing body positivity and self-love by openly sharing the stories of his many, many scars.

He brings students from abusive homes to Sirius for company, counseling, and protective rune tattoos.

You would think he tries to reign Sirius in from oversharing details about their love (and sex) lives. You would be wrong.

He’s very insistent on breaking down toxic masculinity. Sirius and James often help him out on this front. He’ll paint any student’s nails that asks him too, regardless of gender. (Remus has very steady hands.)

Remus cares. He cares a lot. And he does his absolute level best to ensure his students knows that.

[gailynovelry]

WIP List Tag

Thanks to @albatris for the tag!

Rules: Share a list of the stories you’re currently working on, regardless of whether or not you have introduced them to writeblr before. I’m going to apologize to you beforehand because all of these are going to long. They are also queer. I do not apologize for that.

Heralds of Rhimn: A YA Dark Fantasy and my oldest project. The first book in the series is Shadow Herald;

“Few gods remain on the world of Rhimn, and the ones that do use special servants known as Heralds as pawns in the conflict between themselves. And not every Herald is happy with their role…

As Navaeli the Shadow Herald comes clashing with the dual threats of the Irongardhe knights and her own vengeful goddess, she finds romance in a handsome hooligan girl and friendship in a young feyrie thief — and with them, the courage to fight back against the injustices of her world.

But can Navaeli break free from the chains of her duty, or will she be the first casualty in the oncoming war between the gods?“

In essence, Navaeli is a dark messiah lesbian who Does Not Want To Be A Protagonist Please, Crislie is a love interest who decides to put her brawling problem to work protecting Navaeli, and Meparik is baby, but baby with many issues. In the time you’ve taken to read these character descriptions, he has probably already stolen your wallet.

The series as a whole involves some good wlw rapid-yearning-to-mutually-protective-girlfriends, REVOLUTION, a new take on fairies and a big ol’ middle-fingered subversion to the Oppressed Mage trope, and eventually some good ol’ fashioned god-killing.

The first book is going to come out May 20th this year! I have made a pretty cover for it, and also for the sequel! I am very proud of this!

Mindhive: A NA dystopia and the first project I’ve written where my characters are explicitly allowed to say “fuck.” They very much need to use this word, given the world I’ve built for them to inhabit.

“Dead-broke and dead-set on paying off his student loans before he’s forty, Nathaniel Emersin signed up as a paid test subject for ReGene, a genetics company with a mysterious new invention that they promise will change the world; the Worker Bee Implant.

But Nathaniel has one little secret that didn’t make it onto paper…

He’s also been hired by ReGene’s rival company, Future Body, to sabotage the trial and steal the mysterious new technology that ReGene’s been working on.”

Complications arise due to the presence of a very amicable security AI and the fact that Nathaniel gets attached to the two other lab rats he gets assigned to for the trial. And by “attached” I mean “develops mutual deep crushes on both Lucine and Avery, has a few cover-compromising panic attacks over it, and eventually reveals to them that he’s being hired to be a secret agent guy doing secret agent things.”

So he sort of decides to run away with his new girlfriend and datemate to an activist group who could a) remove the implant possibly and b) sue ReGene?

Needless to say, ReGene nor Future Body are happy with this turn of events, and decide that they should probably stop him before they experience consequences for the human experimentation and corporate sabotage.

Also, they take the AI with them. His name is Vertigo and he would like for someone to explain to him what a Vocaloid is.

Galactic Empress: This story is me indulging in my very specific need to write a royalty space opera political thriller. It is very high up on the Maslow’s chart of needs for me. It showed up one day and did not leave my brain.

“After the unresolved assassination of her mother, sweet but politically-savvy Princess Glissandrah Ayamarak — known better as Gliss — ascends to Galactic Empress earlier than she’d ever wanted to.

With her mother’s murderer still at large, Glissandrah turns to outsiders to protect her while she figures out just what game is being played in the Galactic Quorum. And it turns out that turning three hardened mercenaries into loyal royal bodyguards is harder than she first thought… but when anyone inside the Quorum could be after the crown, what other choice does she have?”

The hot and slightly controversial bodyguard team in question consists of Li-ah-li, a polite and slightly tired space furry, Yuukmi, a plantperson gunslinger with a space blaster in each of xer four hands, and Jennifer, a gruff human mercenary with a protective streak for her two alien comrades. This story is also polyamorous!

The Ghosts of Grimmigkeit Manor: I literally started working on this one again yesterday; it’s a reworking of a VERY old fully-OC pokemon fanfiction I wrote when I was fourteen, which has been subsequently lost to time. The genre is uhhhhhh paranormal shenanigans with semi-mystery vibes and a strong dose of snark. Probably NA.

The story follows three protagonists. Firstly is Eustace, a coroner who is doing a terrible job of divorcing himself from his family’s slightly goth business and reputation. Secondly is his triplet sister Alison, who is currently being The Responsible One running the family business of selling funeral caskets and who maybe should stop breaking the maids’ hearts in her free time. Thirdly is Dirk, the other triplet, who looks up to Eustace quite a bit and would really like it if his siblings got along more and maybe relaxed enough to let him leave the manor to go to college?

Anyway, during Eustace’s yearly Christmas visit to the family manor, it turns out that Eustace and Dirk can both see ghosts! This phases Eustace significantly more than Dirk, since Dirk has schizophrenia and didn’t realize at first that the ghosts were separate from his usual hallucinations.

The story at large involves family secrets, intimidating and quirky relatives, a murder that happened a quarter of a century ago, and this one really terrible ghost who needs to STOP MAKING THE WALLS BLEED BLOOD and who maybe is the triplets’ father. They have to figure out how to yeet him into the afterlife so that he stops causing problems.

Also, a different and more chill ghost owes Uncle Freddie money.

Misc: I have a dozen other ideas that I float around but Deliberately Wait To Work On because my stories are stews and they need some time to simmer in the crock pot that is my brain. Among these are a mermaid/selkie wlw romance, a mlm post-apoc ??? story, and various wlw Eragon ripoffs where there’s dragons being ridden and cool things happening.