#thank you for the debate/conversation and keeping it civil

[andragoras-in-vanity]

yeah i need to bow out of this post because i have no idea where youre getting your information or how the space animal farms take up is relevant? humans dont need to keep spreading their cities outward and using land thats currently allocated to farms when it could be rehabilitated, plus animals tended to properly actually HELP the land if theyre native to those lands and cared for properly, and farming plants takes up an equal amount of land and resources to grow and farm on the scale needed to replace the meat industry (not even getting into exporting or importing due to climate). i live in a rural area and what your saying would be the case isnt how things have gone here, and the land isnt used and isnt part of any other ecosystem, its just fields anyway and wouldn't (shouldnt) be built on for housing or businesses, so the animals might as well get massive pens to roam

my argument is that reforming the meat industry IS reducing it, and since there just isnt a demand for things like leather goods, less product isnt an issue. without overproduction and consumption the population of animals being kept will drop anyway. small scale farms wont make things worse, and the impacts the meat industry has on the environment dont come from meat farming itself.

if i had the brain power id go through and link the articles to show you what i mean about the difference between the meat industry vs animal farming and the impacts they have cause i dont think im articulating it well, and i dont think i can unless i actually go to one of my local farms and show you how they work when not bound by corporate greed or the government 🙃 but i also know different cultures have different practices so maybe yours actually are that bad even on a small scale?

i do think there needs to be lots more options for personal choice, but i dont think converting entirely to a vegan option is the solution and i do hope that more people will acknowledge veganism as an option for things, but i also want some of the uppity types to realize importing of nuts and plants that arent native in order to sustain vegan diets is a massive issue for the environment too (but i also acknowledge that ive fallen into a lifestyle that means what i eat follows the seasons theyre harvested in so i dont typically buy imported foods, and not everyone can do that)

i argue in favour or small and local so you can verify the quality of the animals lives, the farms, and the products you get from them, rather than doing away with it or even simply reforming it and developing different issues that trickles down from government control (like throwing away tons of milk to create scarcity, not like...health codes involvment). we just need both plant and animal in smaller doses, easier to control the output of harmful effects such as a greenhouse vs massive international shipping operations.

its all just a complicated conversation with no real solution on the horizon until larger conversations are had at higher levels to protect animal rights and the environment without just shifting the same problem to another source. there has to be better ways for all of it to work but so many things need to come first for us to come to those solutions, i just hope we see the shift in our lifetime.

Ayoo just to preempt the inevitable dumb takes we’re about to start seeing;

I am PRO-WOOL

I am PRO-LEATHER

I am PRO-BEES

Fuck the idea of replacing durable, sustainable animal products with cheap, flimsy plastic that doesn’t bio-degrade. Agave nectar and other artificial sweeteners are expensive, labor-intensive, and destroy the environment to be farmed.

Do not buy into pernicious marketing campaigns pushed by dickhead organizations trying to stay relevant, like PETA.

[foundfamilywhump]

serious word of warning about a server that's been making the rounds

i've debated about making this post a lot, for a lot of reasons. i'm concerned about making it as a trans person and as a relatively new blog, though i've been involved in the whump community for years. i hope you'll hear me out and i'm not looking forward to whatever backlash may come my way, should anyone actually pay attention to this at all.

the short version is: the whump discord server 'whump lovers collaborate' (@/whumplovers-collaborate) is unsafe and hostile to trans people and the server owner will not take action to shut down transphobia, nor will she allow her mod team to do so. i am certain this would apply to other bigotries as well. i know this because i am trans, and when i called out some disgustingly transphobic commentary being made by a member of the server i was blamed for causing drama, essentially, and there was a rule added to the server not to talk about 'controversial topics' or get into arguments, and that was all that was done.

the much longer version is under the cut. i just can't sit on this anymore after seeing that the server got advertised in the whumptober server (to no fault of the whumptober mods who didn't know about any of this, they're fine) and also seeing hundreds of notes on posts broadcasting it. this server is unsafe for trans people and the server owner is actively enabling bigots. given the whump community has a bit of a transphobia problem in some places, i wanted to make sure no trans person or ally was unwittingly walking into that without warning. i'd appreciate it if you would spread the word as well, to keep trans community members and allies safe.

so, here's what happened:

i was in the whump lovers collaborate server for a while earlier this year. in february, a member of the server started spouting off some extremely transphobic rhetoric, including talking about inherent biological differences between men and women, that women are inherently and unchangeably weaker than men, that men have a 'biological instinct' to protect women, and other things. (there was also some bizarre commentary about how abuse or assault committed against men was inherently less upsetting, and often funny to witness because of this).

seeing this and being unwilling, as both a trans person and someone who believes it is important to not let bigotry go unchallenged, i stepped in and called out these statements for being both factually untrue and steeped in both misogyny and transphobia. this person and i went around and around in circles as he asked 'genuine questions' which were just thinly veiled excuses to continue needling me on the subject. eventually, i shut it down by saying that this was not the appropriate venue for a transphobic cis person to get educated about the nuance of the trans experience and trans issues, but what he was saying was transphobic and he needed to stop now that he'd been told that.

throughout this interaction, mods were emoji-reacting and responding to other things. at no point did any mod step in to help me or shut down the transphobia or at all intervene in what was happening. after i shut things down for good, one of the mods said 'thanks for keeping everything respectful' which was a truly laughable thing to have said in that situation.

after this, the server owner made an announcement that said, among a few other things about Not Fighting: "Friendly reminder that we are all here because of what we have in common, our love of writing We are not here to debate controversial issues Or say harmful opinions If you cannot hold a conversation without being civil and without escalating conflict, back away from the channel, and cool down All involved in a conflict are responsible for turning a chill space sour No matter how right you think you are (I’m not saying no mention of controversial things is allowed per se, I’m saying be civil, if that means avoiding controversial topics, avoid away)"

this is not an appropriate response to one person espousing blatant transphobia (among other disgusting views) and being called on it. a rule was added that if a mod or the server owner asked you to change the subject from a topic, you had to do so immediately and there should be no more discussion of it 'by any of the participants'. no rule was present to begin with making clear that bigotry was not tolerated, nor was one added.

subsequently, the server owner made it clear she had no interest in protecting marginalized community members, and that she blamed me for what happened because i refused to allow rampant transphobia to proceed unchecked.

when either asked by other server members about what happened or when asking server members who left why they left (which is a weird thing to do on its own) the server owner responded by essentially throwing a fit and asking what she was supposed to do? kick the transphobe out? she whined about how the person saying something should be done about the transphobe was assuming that she hadn't already done anything.

(she also said that she hadn't done anything. the person was not warned, muted, banned, there were no consequences. but she whined about the assumption that she hadn't done anything about it.)

she also said that it wasn't just the transphobe's fault. "[transphobe] was not the only one at fault there in that others contributed to the conflict by engaging them, drawing out more of their unpleasant opinions. If I punished [problem person] alone, the others might think that they were in the right" that is a direct quote from the server owner. i was clearly the person she was speaking about, and she refused to enforce consequences on the transphobe because that might lead to me thinking that it was okay to call out transphobia and protect myself and other trans people in that space.

when i spoke to a few of the other mods about what happened, the response was disappointing, to put it mildly. the mod team had apparently tried to argue with her and get her to enforce a no bigotry policy but she was afraid of causing arguments and didn't want to deal with conflict, and so refused to do so. this is not acceptable behaviour for someone who is in charge of such a large space. you cannot be this conflict-averse and also run a server of hundreds of people, especially if the outcome is protecting bigots.

the mods i spoke to also got defensive and upset when i pointed out that by not expressing disagreement with the owner's actions and by throwing up their hands and saying 'oh well, nothing we can do!' they were also tacitly endorsing transphobia and a community that protects transphobes at the expense of trans people. they were unwilling to do anything in the moment, and failed to do anything after the fact either.

i have screenshots and proof of all of these events, but i didn't add them here bc i didn't want to make this even longer. please feel free to contact me directly if you would like any further information or to see proof of what i have mentioned here.

in short:

please do not join this server. you will not be protected there, as the server owner cares more about making it as big and as popular as possible than she does about keeping her server bigot-free. please do not promote this server or allow this server to be promoted in your own spaces either. please do your part to keep trans people in the whump community safe.

[unsolicited-opinions]

Re: your post about the Ezra Klein, Coates interview, and specifically the analogy you drew about civil rights; I’m kind of confused about how you came to the conclusion that the Palestinians haven’t tried doing nonviolence. Did the march of return not count? Furthermore, moral sobriety did not convince the American public that black people weren’t inferior. I think you calling Coates a polemicist was incredibly uncharitable and shows apathy to the point that him and Klein both agreed on: that Israel is an apartheid state.

Thanks for the comment. I'll presume your good faith and return the same in this longish answer.

You wrote: "I'm kind of confused about how you came to the conclusion that the Palestinians haven't tried doing nonviolence." 

Your confusion may be a result of the fact that I neither said nor implied this. What you're doing here is called a straw man fallacy.[1] 

What I did say was that Civil Rights activists led by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Congress of Racial Equality were utterly committed to nonviolence. You can tell this is true by how they never committed acts of terrorism. 

You wrote: "Furthermore, moral sobriety did not convince the American public that black people weren't inferior."

I don't know what "moral sobriety" is. I don't know what moral inebriation would be, either.

I certainly didn't claim that moral sobriety accomplished anything and this is another straw man.[1] 

What I did claim was that the principled nonviolence of the Civil Rights Movement impacted public opinion sufficiently to get the  Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed. 

This is from the transcript of the Coates/Klein conversation[2]:

TA-NEHISI COATES: I can’t accept that your interest in a true democracy was destroyed by violence from your partner. I just can’t accept that. First of all, I think even in this rendering that we have here, I suspect that there are reasons for why that suicide bombing even happened.

'You' here refers to Israel. Coates is saying that Israelis must not be committed to peace because violence from Hamas derailed Israeli public support for a peace process. If this is true, why is it not also true for the Palestinians? This seems to me like both a double standard and terrorism apologetics.

You wrote: "...I think you calling Coates a polemicist was incredibly uncharitable…"

Coates himself acknowledges this. Here's a long excerpt from the transcript [2], keeping his comments in context:

EZRA KLEIN: Did you go around with anybody who would say, no, we’re doing the right thing here. Or even we’re not doing enough here.

TA-NEHISI COATES: No.

EZRA KLEIN: Why?

TA-NEHISI COATES: There are things in this world that I see that I just don’t want to hear the justification for. I just don’t think can be justified. I don’t want to hear — I don’t know what I can glean from a justification for — and I’m talking about in an American context — segregation.

I don’t know what necessarily I can glean from a justification for enslavement by hearing somebody like interviewing somebody and say, tell me why this is legal. Some things come down to, for me, just a moral decision. And I actually think journalists do this all the time. I think we all draw a line somewhere about what we feel is out of bounds and what we feel is beyond.

For me, I was willing to entertain probably a debate from people who were anti-occupation, but maybe not necessarily anti-Zionist. Maybe it would be classified as liberal Zionists even. All the way over to people who thought Zionism was a terrible idea and the worst thing that had ever happened. The justification for settlements was outside of my frame.

EZRA KLEIN: But that does wipe out all of Israeli society almost, right?

TA-NEHISI COATES: I was concerned with what I don’t know. And what I haven’t heard. And for me, Palestinian voices have been pushed so far out of the frame. Like that is the thing that is hard to access. And I think this is open for critique. But I made a conscious decision, frankly, in the language, you know what I mean?

Later in the interview, Coates returns to Klein's criticism:

COATES:... this was just a decision I made. OK, who am I not hearing from? Who have I not heard from?

And so that necessarily means marginalizing a portion of it.

Coates openly acknowledges that he decided consciously, deliberately, to ignore the parts he didn't want to hear in order to protect the narrative he wanted to focus on. He states that this is open for critique…which is what I'm offering. I haven't been uncharitable in any way. 

You wrote: "...and shows apathy to the point that him and Klein both agreed on: that Israel is an apartheid state." 

That's a third straw man[1]. Look again. How did my post start?

I agree with Coates and Klein both that the circumstances for Palestinians in the West Bank can be compared to apartheid. Israel within the green line can't be described that way, but the West Bank, in my opinion, can be described that way.

I think the West Bank settlements are indefensible. They are shameful and wrong. Israel could have protected its security without building settlements clearly meant to eventually annex the land into Israel. I have nothing but contempt and condemnation for them. 

Coates and Klein, however, also agreed about what would happen if Israel unilaterally pulled out of the West Bank as they did in Gaza in 2005. Again, here's the transcript:

KLEIN:...If we ever pull back, if we do what we did in Gaza, and allow this to be self-governed, an army will be raised, and what happened on 10/7 will be a small preview of what will be coming for us eventually.

That doesn’t make anything happening in the West Bank right. It doesn’t have any effect on the morality of it whatsoever. But it is the politics of Israel that somebody is going to have to deal with at some point or not. And then we’re just here. I’m not here to tell you I’ve come up with some answer. It’s just one of the things that has to sit in the pot.

TA-NEHISI COATES: Yeah, I don’t disagree with that at all. I don’t disagree with that at all.

Given this agreement between Coates and Klein that Israel pulling out of the West Bank unilaterally without enforceable security guarantees would result in disaster, what would you have Israel do? If it was up to me, I'd start with making water distribution fair in area C of the West Bank.

Now that I have defended my reasonable and supported criticisms of Coates from three straw man comments, I need to mention that the same category of error Coates gives us had a mirror image this weekend in Bill Maher.

BONUS GRIPE: Bill Maher does the same kind of thing as Coates, but in a mirror

Did you see this?

Set aside for a minute that Maher condescending to Chappell Roan and Roan's audience won't change any minds and set aside that Maher continues to be a living avatar for Peak Boomer Asshole Behavior - and what we're left with is a narrative about Israel/Palestine which is made to seem reasonable only by consciously, deliberately, dishonestly choosing to leave out utterly essential information. They're both writing for confirmation biases. There are only two differences between what Coates did and what Maher did:

1. Maher leaves out essential information about the Palestinian concerns and Palestinian realities while ignoring or downplaying Israeli failures…while Coates leaves out essential information about Israeli concerns and Israeli realities while ignoring or downplaying Palestinian failures. 

2. Coates at least ADMITS, when pressed, that he's doing this. Maher, smug prick that he is, does not. 

They're both wrong. It's assholes running the Israeli government, assholes running Hamas, assholes running the Palestinian Authority, and assholes running the Iranian government- and NONE of these parties has honestly sought peace for at least a couple decades. (Iran and Hamas have never sought peace.)

And with their deeply dishonest determination to serve their narratives by leaving out half the story, neither Coates nor Maher are helping elevate the conversation and fumble towards truth or resolution nearly as much as Ezra Klein does with consistent intellectual honesty.

[1] https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/strawman

[2]https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/11/podcasts/transcript-ezra-klein-interviews-ta-nehisi-coates.html

[chewiiez]

Mu Qing for the character asks!

hehe thank u for sending <3

mu qing...my hissy cat...my misunderstood emotionally constipated pookie....

fav thing: honestly? that attitude! i love his snark, one of the main things that made me like him the most. also, his resilience and how even after losing his mom, being bullied and his status he truly never gave up and ascended to be considered one of the top martial gods! we love a hardworking king. but mostly his attitude lmao 😭 you can never win a debate against him, probably.

least fav thing: not his fault but the DONGHUA DESIGN!! eww...okay he's DESCRIBED. described as an elegant, refined god who appears to be a civil god at first glance. the least they could do was give him robes similar to ling wen's to give that vibe? he downgraded so bad in the donghua, and im honestly surprised people liked his character design. MANHUA MQ FOREVER!!

fav line: is it bad that i was kicking my feet during the ju yang poem recital... or when hua cheng confronts him abt kicking him out of the army and mq is just like: wtf idek who u are ._.

brOTP: not talked abt enough, but qingqing! sqx and mq would make great besties. mq would definitely defend sqx, especially if they re ascended, and sqx needs to have a fashion buddy in the heavens. they would eat everyone else up in styling btw.

OTP: fengqing!! (wow, how surprising.) they just click so well!! still mad at mxtx for never giving us at least one fq side story. didn't even have to be romantic. i do enjoy from time to time some xl3 fluff too, it's cute af!

nOTP: surprisingly, i don't see the appeal behind huaqing! one of the reasons might be my slight dislike for hua cheng, but seeing that their relationship is tense af and hc accuses mq of working with jw in book 5, it's safe to say i would want to keep this rarepair maybe one or two steps away from me..?

random hc: just like how fx isn't the open extrovert that the majority of the fandom seems to mischaracterize him as, mq also isn't your retreating introvert! i would like to say that he can maintain a conversation, with an elegant smile and refinery, and may also be more open in public than feng xin, who keeps this guarded, dni expression on his face!

also, i think mu qing might be a secret reality TV show watcher. he's there to shit on the drama, okay? don't blame him.

unpopular opinion: i don't like silver haired mu qing!! he'd be even more bullied if he had silver hair, and i don't understand where we got this hc from. i also hate fandom extremes where he's either super buff to avoid feminizing him or extremely feminine. like give me a guy who has good fashion taste, applies some makeup, but can kick ass, wield a sabre, and outwit you. the best of both worlds!

song: OH I LOVE THIS QUESTIONN! honestly, i have a few, so lemme list them!

teen idle, marina

together, beabadoobee

bitter sweet, twice

cruel, twice

seventeen, marina

i have so many more, eventually i will make a masterlist lmao. for now have a top 5 of sorts!

fav pic of them: any manhua panel is gorgeous. nothing from donghua because again, donghua design sucked. any mq manhua panel is stunning, but the one where his hair blows into fx face is really funny.

ty for the ask! <3

[hjellacott]

What trans women, feminists and Jews all have in common.

A/N: I originally wrote this as a response to a reblog, but then I realised it's perhaps the most important post I've ever written, and I know it's very long, but I hope that you, whoever you are, will read it. That's why I wanted to give it a voice of its own, shortening it a tad. This post discusses, in a kind, friendly and polite manner the whole fight between trans and feminists, the debate about Hogwarts Legacy and the problems of anti-semitism and transphobia. And it does so lovingly, and without an aim to brainwash, hurt or offend. So please, if you have ten minutes, please do read. Whoever you are. Thank you.

----

1. FIRST LET ME TELL YOU WHO I AM, SO THAT YOU KNOW THE KIND OF PERSON YOU'RE READING FROM.

I am very much sick of the fights between people who at the bottom, all just want to feel safe, and I am very much sick of the lack of actual polite conversation between us. I come from a Jewish background, from Sephardic Jews (meaning ethnically Jews, which makes me ethnically a Jew both in my maternal and paternal lines), but I also come from a city that has historically been Roman, Iberian, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Arabs, Visigoth, Phoenician, Tarshish and many more, which means I am aware that I am only alive because my ancestors mixed with people very different from them, and repeatedly survived persecution because their religion and/or civilization wasn't the "right one" to stay alive in depending on the historical time. My Jewish ancestors were likely prosecuted to such an extent, and not even that long ago, but during World War II, that they hid and pretended to be Catholics and kept quiet to save their lives. And then there's the fact that I'm bisexual, and whenever I've been in a same sex relationship (one of which lasted me several years) I had to hide, keep it quiet, and keep it a tight-lipped secret because I knew even on this day and age a lot of my loved-ones wouldn't understand, not because they're right-wingers (which they're not), but for other reasons. And I'm saying all of this because I want it to be understood that I know what it is like to be persecuted because of who you are and to never feel entirely safe. I never even felt I could hold my girlfriend's hand in public without receiving some kind of backlash. I never even dared to go into a LGBT march without wearing something to conceal my identity. And on top of things, I'm a woman, and I've never, ever in the decades I've been in this world, in no city I've ever visited, felt safe to be alone out in the street at night. I know I'm talking a lot, and I'm sorry, and I know you'all just want to shout terf, antisemitic and transphobe at me and stop reading, but I beg you to keep reading, even if it's long, because I'm hopeful that we can finally reach some kind of understanding.

Let's forget what divides us. What unites us is that we all feel unsafe. We all, women, gays, trans people, POC people, Jews, we all feel like just because there's something about us that we can't change, we're more likely to die than anyone else. To be raped, beaten-up, abducted and taken from the face of the Earth, just because of who we are.

So what I'm saying is, you're afraid? I understand. So am I. Too afraid to walk alone at night, too afraid to date anyone who isn't a friend of a friend (therefore pre-approved), too afraid to go around in my real life outside the internet telling people how multi-ethnicity I am, simply afraid. All of the time.

I am a fairly cultured person. I'm not the kind of person who simply goes online, believes whatever without evidence, and on and on. I am the kind of person with several higher education certificates, with studies both locally and abroad, the world-traveller, the ferocious reader, the one who reads all the news every day (Spanish, English and French) in several newspapers both right wing and left wing so that in the end I have all sides of the story, I come from a well-educated and very humble family, and I am not someone who blindly decided to support J. K. Rowling. I was horrified when I read the first people saying she was transphobic. But hey, I'm the kind of person who, if I disagree with someone, I read them to bits, because I want to know exactly what they think and why, and why I think differently, and I know that's not something a lot of the people you read do. And I'm in the arts, so half my friends are gay, another are trans, and a very small minority are straight and cisgender, so I promise you, that if I had any sincere belief that Rowling went against any minority, I would've been ferociously against her. I would've. And with that aim I set out to read her every tweet, and you know what I found?

She never actually says anything wrong about transgender people. Never. In fact she doesn't speak against them, she speaks in favour and defense of women and against sexist, violent men. Not against trans people. And I had this conversation with my transgender friends, asking them why they'd gotten offended exactly, and when they looked at Rowling's tweets, you know what they told me? That that wasn't what they'd been told she'd said. Because like many of you, they'd read some rumour in social media, some article in the press, and got so angry they never bothered to actually read what she'd really said, in their context (meaning, following the Twitter conversations and everything, not isolated tweets either). But when I showed them? They were baffled. And they understood she wasn't transphobic. It's been years, and I still don't have a friend who does not stand with J. K. Rowling. And that, listen, that includes Jews, trans, gays, lesbians, and so on, because like I said, I work in the Arts, which as you know is one of the most diverse collectives. And another thing that I noticed was how much had been lost in translation. English is not my first language, but as you can see I mostly manage all right. But when I read translations into Spanish and French, they missed so much about what Rowling had really said, and twisted so much. So let me give you a brief summary of what she actually believes:

2. LET'S DELVE DEEP INTO ROWLING'S ACTUAL WORDS.

Sex is real. If you're born with female or male sex that cannot change. We know this to be scientifically and medically true, which is why when you have surgery to transition, for which a friend of mine is preparing right now, you need to have lots of hormonal medications to try and keep your body behaving as the gender you identify with and against your sex, and the minute you stop, your body will naturally begin behaving like your sex again. And this doesn't change even if you have surgeries, this is for life. If you don't believe me, simply check medical websites, I promise you this is true.

It is dangerous to have transgender women who have not undergone a physical transition in the same private spaces as women. I know this point is very contentious, but before you get angry, hear me out. This is not because anyone thinks transgender people are dangerous. This is because men have proven to be dangerous. What's more common, for a man to rape a woman, or for a woman to rape a man? how often do you hear of women who were murdered by their male exes or even partners, or relatives? I mean, I've gone to several of those funerals and vigils for women and girls killed like that. So the idea behind not wanting trans women and women to share spaces where trans women might have it easier to rape women is that perhaps those trans women, if they haven't physically transitioned, still have the physical advantages of the male sex: more strength, bigger body, and a penis. Imagine my shock if I was getting naked in my prison cell and then I found a person physically stronger and bigger than me, with a dick, naked next to me, in a perfect opportunity to rape me. Would I call them a trans woman? No. But they would call themselves that, and use it to get into that space. That's why Scotland had to backpedal in their laws allowing people to identify themselves as trans women and go into female prisons, because they had several cases in which this resulted in women being raped by trans women, or by people who claimed to be. Because as we all know. plenty of men who are sexual predators will identify as women not just to have access to women, but to have access to transgender women as well, and rape them, and kill them. So it appears that in order to keep trans women and women safe from male predators, we need to make sure that no one with biological advantages of men can share private spaces with them. And if this means having a separate prison for people with the physical built, strength and sexual organs of men, so that they cannot predate on anyone, I vote we do it.

Women won't wheesht. This refers to the fact that achieving rights for someone shouldn't mean removing them for someone else. So in order to give transgender people rights, we cannot take them from another collective, in this case, women. If women are shouting they're terrified of being raped and killed, we need to listen. It is a disrespect, a sexist, female-erasing, cruel thing to do, to ignore them and force them to accept sharing spaces they don't want to share with anyone else. And the only thing that imposing transgender women in their spaces is going to cause is what's happening now: violence, harassment, and an imposibility to have peaceful conversations, not to mention an immediate dislike and fear of transgender women. So instead of achieving transgender rights by harassing someone else, we need to give them their own things. For example, say you have a sibling and you want their room, right? well, harassing them into letting them share it is not going to work. You'll never again get along with your sibling. But asking your parents to build you your own bedroom will keep both sides happy. That's what Rowling and people like me believe in. That fine, if you don't feel safe sharing spaces with people with a dick because you don't want to be raped and murdered, hey, neither do we. So why don't we respect each other's fears and safety wishes and each have our own spaces? And then we can all feel safe around people exactly like us.

Transgender CHILDREN shouldn't be able to go through life changing, irreversible surgeries to remove their sexual organs without plenty of check-ups with doctors and psychiatrists or psychologists who can make sure the child fully understands the risks. This is due to the avalanche of feedback we have from detransitioners who spoke up about having been brainwashed, having given "informed" consent that wasn't actually very well informed, and having deeply regretted surgeries they did without really knowing what was going to happen, and that have now caused them chronic pain that cannot be cured and irreversible physical, mental and emotional damage.

That's all Rowling has said. Nothing against transgender people. She's only worried about the safety of children and women. Period. And I can tell you that with my hand on my heart because I have read her every tweet, and I have also read her open letter against cancel culture, and plenty of articles on the matter.

3. LET'S TALK ABOUT JEWS.

Now about the Jewish thing. Rowling is NOT an anti-Semitic. The first person who called her anti-Semitic was a Jewish man called Jon Stewart, who did so jokingly, and who was immediatelly appalled by the harassment Rowling received from people that took him seriously, forcing not just him, but also multiple Jewish celebrities, Jewish organisations and Jewish charities, to speak up in support of J. K. Rowling and publicly state that they don't believe she's anti-Semitic.

I bet you've only been reading from people who think like you. Many of you, the second you've heard something you didn't like, shut the other person out, called them insults and names, labelled them as Terfs, transphones and anti-Semites, and refused to listen. And if you never hear the people you disagree with, you're never going to hear anything but validity, even if your ideas are insane. Like the flat-Earthers. And all you've been reading from Rowling have been things taken out of context, or told to you by someone else. Do your people ever encourage you to read extract from the source? no. Do they ever show you receipts? only if they've been carefully trimmed.

But people have agendas, you know? That's what happened with Nazism. So you get a collective of Trans Radical Activists, radicals who might not even be actually trans, but know that if they fight women, people like Rowling, and put enough pressure in the governments, they can make laws change so that men, not trans women, but men pretending to be trans women, have easy access to rape women and trans women. Think about it. Wouldn't it be incredibly smart for alt-right men to infiltrate the Transgender activism to start violent fights against women, calling them cunts, telling them to kill themselves, and telling them to suck dick, making women the bad guys, convincing trans people that women are out to get them and to kill them, and getting lawmakers to make laws that allow anyone to simply say they're women and go into female prisons or lockers? Hold on. That's exactly what's happened. I don't believe for a second that the TRAs are all transgender. I believe many of them are alt-right men. And you'll identify them easily by their sexist, violent behaviour and speech, and their whole discourse against women and claims that women like Rowling actively threaten trans people's rights, when none of it is true.

So now say the TRAs, who want women to have less rights and men to have more, and who want to easily be able, as men, to infiltrate spaces that were previously private to women, so that they can no longer have their own spaces, find something else that gets people furious towards their enemy. Rowling has stood against alt-right men her whole life. Naturally, when they saw someone call her anti-Semite, they jumped into that waggon. Another opportunity to get someone cancelled. To demonise a defender of women, until there's none left. So that's what they did. They called her anti-Semite, came up with the whole BS about the goblins, made lots of things up, took more stuff out of context. And because they were in the trans collective, aka, "the good guys", the perceived victims, people have been far more inclined to believe them, to listen to them, and to be compassionate to them. But let me tell you, if these men are allowed into female spaces, and actual trans women find themselves in those spaces with them, they'll be in as much danger as any other woman, if not more.

Now you probably think we're crazy and paranoid. Question. Is the transgender collective telling you that? and if so, isn't it a little suspicious that someone wants to convince you that someone else is being paranoid? that they're out to get you? Because that's what they're doing. Me? Rowling didn't convince me. Nobody had to. I just had to read the news, like I told you I do all the time, and see all of this coming true. See women being repeatedly harassed, sexually and physically, threatened, often by men, far-right men who are strangely, suddenly, very interested in trans rights (isn't that also suspicious?), and seeing all the news and personal stories around me of women being raped because a man was allowed to identify as a trans woman and put into their space, where they had freedom to rape and murder. This is out in the news. The real news. And it's happening all over the place, which tells you I'm not being paranoid or dellusional, I'm telling you what's going on.

This is how Nazism worked as well. It started with Nazis who wanted a kind of economical power that at the time was in the hands of Jews. Do you remember when people tell you immigrants take jobs! women are transphobic! black people are criminals! All that is classic far-right speech. And it's all studied in the Nazi propaganda techniques, which had been long studied and employed by all politicians across the globe. What you do is identify one minority you can blame for current problems, and turn the world against them, in such way that the public doesn't realise all you're doing, supposedly to erase the problem, that is actually just to make you more powerful. The Nazis decided Jews shouldn't be having so many businesses and thriving economy, so they demonised them, said they were greedy, thieves, the inferior race, less good than aryan people, criminals, that they didn't deserve to live. The Nazi was a legal party that was elected to remove the problem, much like Trump was elected to end the problem of the immigrants and the POC. And legally, Hitler got his people to vote for him to have more and more power, until he could rule the world, on the basis that he'd do it to rid them of the Jews. Only that then he didn't stop with the Jews. He went after "traitors", after gypsies, after LGBT, after POC, and so on. And they took or burned art and books along the way.

So now think again of who's supporting Hitler-like conducts. I'm not supporting anyone who's telling me not to listen to opposing opinions, who's telling me to spread a message of threats, harassment and sexual insults, nor who's telling me to burn books, culture, and cancel, silence, erase, eliminate anyone who has an opinion other than mine. You are. And that's what's Hitler-like. That's what's fucking dangerous, and a threat to freedom of speech, to democracy.

Going back to the bloody videogame. You know why they call it anti-Semitic or blood libel? first was with the goblins. Now that speech seems to have died down because we're pointing out that seeing goblins as Jews is more Nazi-like, than non-Nazi. That they're simply folklore. So now they shut up about that. Now they tell you that the Avalanche developers (that's the company behind Hogwarts Legacy) are anti-Semites. That's based on the fact that an alt-right, Troy Leavitt, was the lead designer of Hogwarts Legacy. Well, you've been pleased to know he's lost his job now, and also, that Avalanche is full of normal people just like us, and that the alt-right was a minority. This guy, perhaps one or two more we're yet to know about, which, given the amount of alt-right worldwide, it's safe to say that every big company has at least a small amount of alt-right employees or even bosses.

But it takes thousands of people to make a videogame as big as Hogwarts Legacy, and just because two or three are alt-right, it doesn't make the game anti-Semitic. We're taking the game from them. We're making it ours. And personally, I've been playing for a few days now, and there's nothing even remotely far-right or anti-Semitic. Any war game I've ever played is far more anti-Semitic and racist and sexist than this one will ever be.

And in any case, before you go like dumb sheep simply believing what people say, I encourage you to make your own informed opinions. Don't be lazy. Empty your brain from judgement and make your own research. Be like scientists. But believing whatever BS you hear from people who've never played the game about said game, from people who've never read Potter about Potter, and so on... That is such a stupid thing to do. Such a brainwashing. You don't believe someone can cure you if they don't show you a CV and reputation as great doctors, so why do you believe a word from people who haven't even researched the thing they criticise, on their own, not through other's comments and ideas?

But hold on! Don't just take my word for it. Don't just believe me. Please, do research. It's time-consuming, but you're going to want to read the news, who are TRAs, their links to the alt-right, Rowling's actual tweets, who Troy Leavitt is, what Avalanche Software is, and you're going to want to read the news about female violence, legal changes, and detransitioners, and a horrible thing called transmaxxing, which will really open your eyes. I won't tell you to burn books. I'll tell you to open books, newspapers, everything... And get really informed. Knowledge is power.

[le-scenariste]

For the Ghosts asks: 2, 8, 9, 10, 27 👻

Woah so many to answer let's fuckin GO !

2) If you could see the ghosts like Alison, which one do you think would come the closest to making you want to leave the house?

Okay definitely not Cap, Pat, Humph, Mary or Robin. Thomas would be kinda annoying but also kinda amusing. Kitty I think could grow on me since she definitely did in the show. I'm not sure about Fanny since she nags quite a bit but then there's Julian with all his innuendos and sex stories which would be such a pain. Actually I think Julian's constant horniness could get me to leave more. And also the fact he's a Tory and really just oozes PoliticianTM.

8) Which ghost do you think you'd get along with the best?

Oooh shit this is a good one. I mean my faves are Cap and Pat so I'd like to think those two but honestly...I think I'd get along real well with Humphrey. I like discussing shit and he enjoys the company and actually being involved and shit. I think he'd be great to talk to about things in a civil conversation ya know. Not like a debate or argument or anything just sharing ideas and shit. As much as I love Pat, he is VERY upbeat and that's great ofc but sometimes can be a bit tiring. Cap ? Idk, I feel like it could easily become very awkward with him. Although I am interested in history, especially his era (mostly cuz of Sabaton) so I guess if i got him talking on military history it could be pretty fun. But if i made one gay joke he'd panic and shut up even tho being gay and making jokes about it is so fun. Come on Cap you got this king I believe in you <3

9) Which ghost would you say you're most like?

Hey Seb, if you see this, don't read my answer and tell me which Ghost YOU think I'm most like. I wanna compare my answer to yours. ANYWAYS (if you're Seb do not keep reading)

Hmmmmmmmmm. This shit's hard cuz I don't wanna be like "well this character's my fav and i wanna be just like them" but also Cap is my fav for a reason. I mean, I do find it hard to talk about emotional shit like him. I'd say we have That as a strong similarity. Pat and I are both short kings but otherwise, he is so outdoorsy and i am NOT plus he's super outgoing and loves helping others whereas interacting with new people and all that seems so exhausting. Oh yeah, Cap (and Pat)'s need for routine. I like having a routine too but also I don't (ADHD ahA). Cap and I are both enjoyers of pretty men :)

10) Which ghost would you say you're least like?

Julian. Easily. I mean, I am a...not conservative (cuz Liberal and liberal here are two different things and it's very confusing sometimes) and very asexual. Oh and Fanny. I know she lived in a different time and all but growing up "as a girl" while later realizing i am transmasc, all her comments about being unladylike towards Alison woulda pissed me off (they don't really in the show cuz it's a comedy and I enjoy Martha's performance and Fanny isn't like...a shithead, she's just a bit behind sometimes). I probably would get into an argument with either of them about something. Love them as characters tho.

27) Favourite episode?

I think overall it's gonna go to The Woodworm Men. Not just cuz of the PatCap moments but also the ghosts listening to Pat's ghost story, all of them moving to Mike's tent to be with Alison <33333, Julian and Robin being scaredy-cats. Alison and Mikes competition. Such a good episode. Stellar performance from everyone. Redding Weddy and A Perfect Day are close seconds tho.

As you can see...I really enjoy rambling but I also gotta make sure my thoughts are clear ya know ? Thanks for the asks, I very much enjoyed answering them thoroughly >:)

[sellenite]

how about . . . all of the questions for you and suguru? mwehehehehe 💝

oh my goodness, roma, I think you may have broken the spell on my writer's block finally :') I AODRE YOU; thank you for all of the beautiful questions :3 I feel like this just helped my solidify the sugurelle storyline too, so this is really exciting to write out :') I didn't end up doing all of them because I wrote such longer answers than I expected I would, but it was so hard to pick which ones to include :') I will list all of my answers below the cut so I don't take up too much room on to tl though hehe

heaven sent: I'm inserting suguru into a modern au for this, but we meet in our latter university years, and it's a bit of a meet-ugly. we are in the same philosophy class, and what begins as a harmless academic rivalry begins to heat up very quickly to the point that we argue against each other's points in class just to try to disprove the other. we keep it civil in class, and the professor never stops us because he thinks the conversation is educational, but the tension builds very steadily, an unspoken agreement that we want to best each other. I win a decent amount of our debates, but suguru is more than smart and I feel like he wins a lot of them too, and will always sit there with a smile on his face while I'm quietly fuming and trying my best to pretend not to care. but that's only the start of the story...

mocha: OUR FIRST KISS! angry. but in a sexy way. I think it's after our semester ends; our rivalry remains unsettled. we see each other out at one of the local bars one night, and he comes up to pester me further. I think at this point, though, he's always been a little into me and aware of that. arguing with me turns him on, unfortunately for me. but I never interpreted his debates as his version of foreplay (I just thought he was arrogant), so when he flirts with me more openly at the bar, I'm really confused. we don't kiss that night, but he asks me out on a date, and I spend the next few days constantly thinking of him and accepting the fact that I'm into him, too, and decide to go. the first kiss is more fiery than I would have anticipated, maybe a little on the messier side, too. it's charged with all of the ego debates and competitive flirtation that preceded it that it all just spills out. I feel like it's less of a first kiss and more of a first makeout lol

lovesick: suguru geto is a brat tamer!!!!!! through and through. he takes my tendency to people-please and completely turns it upside down. he not only encourages brattiness, but he instigates it, because it turns him on when I have an attitude and he needs to fix it. he's almost a brat himself in that sense, but he does it in a very sneaky sort of way... he tends to lean on the dom side of the spectrum, but he exerts his control in a very measured, calculated way that I find really hot :3

blossom: suguru walks this incredibly fragile line between praise and degradation so expertly, it is actually insane. but he does both; he praises in a way that sounds like degradation and degrades in a way that sounds like praise... I think it's all about the tone of his voice when he's speaking. he'll praise me sweetly but with a condescending edge, and when he says something more nasty, it'll come out so sweet and affectionate. all of it just scrambles my brain in the best way...

rose petal: suguru and elle love dry humping <3 I feel like this is a favorite form of "punishment" that he gives to me, where he'll have me ride his thigh until I come. it's really not a punishment though, he just think it's sexy to make it seem like its a punishment so he can add a hint of degradation into the mix. if he doesn't come in his pants, then he'll usually have me blow him after <333 depending on how nasty he's feeling, this is usually the mood where he's more likely to cum on my face...

I need him so bad...

[xt1me]

"I know it's spooky season but this one's going to just be smoopy fluff. I hope all my fellow Gothamites are safe indoors tonight." "I want to state, for the record, I did not copy 'a Winter in Gotham'. Read the fic, the only thing the same is one conversation between Batman and Mr. Freeze. Tons of people were in that train station when it was iced over. Stop accusing me of plagiarism just because they posted their fic first." "This story uses the oft unpopular army-of-Steves theory for Batman. This isn't an invitation to debate things in the comments, please keep things civil."

"Kay guys, this fic has got 1000 kudos! Here's the Blüdhaven's best booty chapter I promised. Pure 100% Nightwing thrust!" "I just want to apologise for my last update. I know people were confused as to what first chapter of Alice in Wonderland had to do with Naruto but I've gone back and fixed it. That'll teach me to dye my hair blond in Gotham I guess."

"OMG! In honor of me overhearing Red Robin mention a boyfriend I just had to dived back into my old Teen Titan days. Here a new Robin/Suberboy fic. Vindicated! ---- Yes of course Red Robin was Robin. It's in the name!"

"Hi everyone, I know it's been a while. As you might have noticed this is marked complete even though I was planing at least 10 more chapters. I've thought long and hard about this and I sorry to say I'm leaving the Batman RPF fandom. I visited Gotham last month (I'm not going to go into details here) and I just can't in good conscious continue this fic anymore. For all my loyal readers this chapter is just going to be bullet points on where I was planning on gong so no ones left hanging. Thank you for everything and maybe I'll see you all in another fandom one day."

how crazy do you think the AO3 authours notes are in gotham?

"Joker killed my grandma with a reindeer whilst playing 'grandma got run over by a reindeer' and i don't think i can continue to write this JokerBat fic anymore guys sorry :/ it just feels disrespectful."

“Look, I get if Batman/Clark Kent isn’t your cup of tea, but the guy writes more about Batman than anyone else outside of Gotham. There’s got to be a reason, is all I’m saying.”

“And here I am, jumping on the Batman/Bruce Wayne train like the rest of our beloved hellhole. Anyway, if you’re not from Gotham you can keep your criticisms to yourself or I will not be held responsible for the bloodshed that will occur should you insult our beloved sunshine child and his goth sugar baby. You don’t know them like we do.”

“Hey, sorry I haven’t updated in awhile. I died and then got caught up in this whole my-father-didn’t-avenge-me angst thing. Which was completely justified in my opinion. Anyway…”

“Let’s be honest, this entire series is dedicated to the fact that Red Hood could crush any of us with his thighs and we’d say thank you.”

“I just read a fic shipping Nightwing/Superman and I mean, come on. The author is clearly not from Gotham but I can never unsee that and I think I should be entitled to financial compensation.”

“Sorry it’s been awhile, I just got a new job! With the Best Boss™️ (if you know, you know). Also, my boss said he’d give a hundred bucks if I wrote a Batman bashing fic? Thoughts? Ngl I don’t think it’d even be that hard.”

“‘WHy aRE yoU WriTIng ABouT FakE SupERheROes WHen THe rEAl oNEs aRE riGHt tHEre?’ Uh, because it’s Gotham and they’re all a disaster? And also because I don’t want to be haunted by the venegeful spirits of robins past idk. Thinking of doing a crossover though. Batman in the Avengers? Thoughts?”

“I just want my husband Nightwing to be happy, is that too much to ask?”

“I came across Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy on my way home from school today and will now be hyperfixating on that ship, thanks.”

“Leave me and my 235k word fic of Prince!Bruce/Knight!Batman alone you Metropolis and Superman-loving traitors. This is not for you.”

[itsallyscorner]

Baby’s First Heartbreak

pairing: marvel cast x teen!fem!reader, Scarlett Johansson x reader, Elizabeth Olsen x reader

prompt: the youngest member of the marvel cast experiences her first breakup.

warnings: not much—crying, a break up.

A/n: Tom is 19 here because this is set during Civil War. He was such a baby omg🥺

You were always a firm believer in having hope. No matter what the situation was, you knew that you had to at least try before fully giving up. You were only 18, but it was the mindset you grew up with. You were taught to face things with bravery and confidence, you faced things head to head with all your might. Though some things never went the way you planned, you were still the ray of sunshine you were, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, eager to learn and explore the world.

You had the same mindset going into your first relationship. Love was something you’ve always wanted to experience. Sure, you received it from your friends and family. But you wanted the different kind of love. The special one that was shared between two people. The one that made your heart skip a beat and made you breathless. Where staring into that special someone’s eyes felt like you were being transported into another world where it was just the two of you.

You’ve found that kind of love in a boy from your hometown. The two of you had been friends since pre-k, growing up along side each other, and being there for each other’s success and failures. You’ve known him all your life but the feelings didn’t come till sophomore year of high school. It all just clicked all of sudden; that one day where he said you looked cute in his jumper and the next moment you knew you were seeing him in a new light. Junior year, you were both beating around the bush; constantly pining over each other with longing stares and fingers always brushing against each other. Though you didn’t see him all the time due to your job as an actress. You spent half of the school year in your hometown and the rest at Atlanta. Of course he knew of your job and as much as he hated to see you go, he knew you were doing something that made you happy. So he spent as much time as he could with you before your time together came to an end. A few days prior to your flight to Atlanta, under the night sky of your backyard, he admitted his feelings for you. By senior year, the two of you had been dating for half a year. It had been the best moments of your life, you were in love and high on happiness, it was like nothing in life could ever go wrong.

Now here you were, in your trailer on the set of Captain America: Civil War, sobbing you eyes out. You knew loving could hurt, but not this much. You still felt your heart skip a beat, but it was clenching in heartache. You were still breathless, but because you’ve been trying to catch your breath after every sob that wracked your body. You felt broken. The boy you loved had ripped your heart out of your chest and threw it onto the floor, stomping on it till it stopped beating.

You hiccuped as you stared at yourself in the mirror. You were nothing but a fool. A fool who had hope in something that was never going to work. You sniffled as you snatched tissues out of the box on your bathroom sink, dabbing the material onto your eyes and blowing your nose. Your eyes were red and your cheeks were puffy. A sigh of frustration releases from your body. There was no way you could walk onto set without people asking you what was wrong.

You debated asking your assistant to ask your designated makeup artist to do your makeup in your trailer, you didn’t want to be a bother. But your thumbs were already shamefully typing away the request on your phone. A few minutes later Eleanor, your makeup artist on set, arrives at your trailer with her supplies in hand.

She doesn’t directly question you, but she has the look of a concerned mother once she sees your face. You lie to her and tell her you weren’t having a good day and chalked it up to being homesick.

You dreaded going on set. You weren’t sure if you could face anyone without bursting into tears. The moment you felt like you were okay, your heart would clench, reminding you of the ache it was feeling.

You were in your costume, sitting on the sidelines of the set while you rehearsed your lines. The dialogue from the script acted as a distraction from the current pain you were feeling. The tears had stopped but your eyes felt dry, making you blink multiple times to keep them wet.

“Hey, sweetheart.” You look up and meet the stunning blue eyes of Chris Evans. That typical goofy smile of his was etched onto his features. Usually you would reciprocate that smile, but today you just couldn’t find it in your heart to do so. His smile falters when he sees your face.

“Morning.” You greet him, forcing a smile. Concern shadows on his face as he shifts a bit closer to you. “You alright?” He asks, eyes softening at you. Being the youngest of all the Avengers cast members, everyone had a soft side for you. Especially Chris, who saw you as a daughter.

“Y-yeah, I’ve just got—allergies.” You lied, another fake smile forcing itself onto your lips.

“Well have you taken something to help your allergies? Do you need Allegra? Claritin or something?” He looked around ready to call one of the runners on set to get you some meds.

“No! I took some already, a few minutes ago! It probably hasn’t kicked in yet.” You tell him. He eyes you reluctantly, not knowing if he should believe you. He decides to let it pass and nods, “Ok, tell me if you need anything though.”

You hum in response and tilt your head down back to your script.

The day goes on and everyone had caught on to your lack of—being you. The infamous smile everyone knew you by was barely on your face. You didn’t crack jokes with Anthony or share a giggle with Elizabeth. Instead you were quiet, a frown was on your face as you stared blankly at the floor. You didn’t interact with anybody, keeping to yourself and walking off set whenever one of the Russos called cut.

Anthony and Sebastian watched as you walked off the set. You have all finished a sequence of the airport scene and the Russos had given everyone a break while they rewatched the scenes they shot. Anthony’s brows furrowed while he watched your figure go further and further away. He had tried to cheer you up, telling you a joke about how Seb’s arm lube kept leaking out his fake arm. Your response was nothing but a fake laugh—it wasn’t even a fake laugh, more like a huff of laughter.

“She didn’t laugh at my joke.” Anthony thought aloud. Sebastian quirked an eye at his friend, “Does she have to laugh at all your jokes?”

“No, but even if I tell her a corny ass joke, she’ll still laugh at it.” He expressed, throwing his arms up. Sebastian’s lip pouted as he thought back to your behavior on set. You were acting unusual. He turns to Tom (Holland) and asks, “Hey, has (y/n) said anything to you? Like anything bothering her?”

The Brit shakes his head, “Um, nope. Besides filming, I haven’t spoken to her today.”

Anthony crosses his arms, approaching Tom, “Have you tried speaking to her? We’ve been trying to figure out what’s been going on with her today and you’re the closest to her age here.”

“I—I tried to talk to her, but she didn’t seem in a talking mood. I thought I was bothering her so I just stopped.” Tom answered. He gestures to the direction of the trailers, “I could check up on her right now? Maybe I’ll get her one of her favorite snacks from crafties, it might cheer her up.”

Half of a smile makes it way onto Sebastian’s face at the boy’s efforts. Though you were clearly upset and he felt like they were all prodding at your privacy. “Maybe we should give her some time alone.”

Tom frowns at the older man, “But (y/n)’s upset. Shouldn’t we do something?” Anthony agrees with Tom and looks at Sebastian.

Seb raises his hands up in defense, “I’m just saying—maybe she wants to be alone. She went back to her trailer away from everybody. She probably doesn’t want us shoving our noses into her business, we should respect that.”

Chris joins the group along with Scarlett and Elizabeth. He had overhead the group talking and urged the two ladies to join him in on the conversation.

“You guys talking about (y/n)?” Chris asks, hands on his waist.

“Yeah, Seb says we should leave her be.” Anthony fills him in.

“She told me she had allergies.” Chris starts. “She’s an amazing actress, but kid’s gotta work on the lying.” He finishes. Elizabeth and Scarlett glance at each other.

“Well has anyone talked to her at all today? Besides Chris?” Elizabeth asked the group. Everyone shakes their head. Elizabeth sighs while looking around at anyone else who could’ve talked to you. She spots Eleanor hanging along the sides with her makeup belt on, ready for touch ups. Elizabeth calls her over. Eleanor has her brush ready to powder her down, but Elizabeth politely declines.

“You do (y/n)‘s makeup right?”

Eleanor nods, “Yeah, I do.”

“How was she this morning? We’re just a bit concerned since she’s been acting different today.” Eleanor sighs, knowing if she told them it would be an invasion of your privacy. Although, they were all concerned for you and so was she.

“I got a text from her assistant telling me to do her makeup in her trailer today.” She began. “I walked in and her eyes were red, cheeks puffy—“

Chris apologizes and interrupts her, “Because of allergies?”

Eleanor shakes her head, “No, she never mentioned anything about allergies. But she looked like she’s been crying. She was wiping her face when I arrived.”

“Did she give you a reason for why she was crying?” Scarlett questions her.

“She told me she was feeling homesick.” Eleanor answered. Scarlett turned to Chris and shared a look. Elizabeth thanks Eleanor then turns back to the group.

“We need to check up on her.” Anthony says. All the men nodded and began to make their way to your trailer. Suddenly, they were stopped by Scarlett and Elizabeth.

“But (y/n)—“ Tom said pointing to the trailers. Scarlett shakes her head, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Lizzie and I will go. You guys are gonna overwhelm her with all your questions.” Scarlett insists, much to the men’s dismay. They wanted to be there for you, but maybe a mother figure might help you open up with what’s bothering you. They agree and let the two women go to your trailer. Before they can get to you, they get some snacks from crafties for you.

As soon as you shut the trailer’s door behind you, the tears welled up in your eyes again. It only took a matter of seconds until they fell from your eyes and down your cheeks. You heard some people walk by outside and cover your mouth to muffle the whimpers that came out your mouth. You slid down the door and shoved your head into your hands. You leaned forward against your knees as you cried into your arms. You felt pathetic, embarrassed, anger; you were feeling so many things and the only way to let them all out seemed to be crying.

They heard your cries from behind the door. Scarlett sends Elizabeth an alarmed look as she rushes up to your door. She knocked on it repeatedly, causing you to jump from behind the door. Your cries come to a stop while you try to wipe away the tears as best as you can.

“(Y/n), honey, please open the door.” You hear Scarlett say. You remain silent, getting up and dusting your legs off. You stare at the door, debating whether you should open it or not.

“(Y/n), everyone’s worried about you. We just want to help.” Another voice coaxes you behind the door. Elizabeth. “Please let us in.”

Outside, the two women had their ears pressed up against your trailer’s door. Scarlett tries to get you to open the door again, “It’s only me and Lizzie. I promise.”

There was some shuffling heard behind the door. The door pushes open slowly, making Scarlett and Elizabeth back away. A worried expression appears on Scarlett’s face once she sees you. She cups your cheeks, her thumbs gently swiping away some tears that fell from your eyes. The two of them shuffle inside your trailer. You burst out into tears once again when Scarlett wraps her arms around you. She moves you both to sit on the couch that was in your trailer. She lets you shove your head into the crook of her neck while her hands smoothed your hair. Elizabeth sits behind you rubbing circles onto your back. Your cries broke both their hearts. You were a fairly happy girl, to see you in such pain and heartache was hard to watch.

Scarlett rocks you back and forth, trying to calm you down by whispering comforting words into your ear. She presses a motherly kiss onto your forehead once she sees you start to calm down. Elizabeth waits patiently beside you waiting for when you’re ready to talk. When your whimpers turned into hiccups, Scarlett pulls your face away from her neck to look at you. She frowns when she sees your tear stained cheeks.

“Are you going to tell us what’s going on or are you going to keep bottling it up to yourself?” She asks you softly, tucking strands of your hair behind your ears. Elizabeth chimes in from behind you, “You know, sometimes it helps to tell others what’s bothering you. You don’t have to keep it to yourself, (y/n), you could talk to us.” She gathers your hair together, splitting it into two parts as she began to fish tail braid your hair. 

You take a moment to compose yourself before eyeying the two women. You knew you could trust them. Scarlett was like your on-set mom and Lizzie was like one of your aunts. If you could tell anyone on set what was going on, it would be them.

“He broke up with me.” You confess, eyes trained on your lap. Lizzie’s fingers stop braiding your hair, “What?”

“Peyton, he broke up with me.” You whined, not wanting to say it again. You fiddle with your fingers while a tear falls to your lap.

“Oh honey.” Scarlett cooes pulling you back into her chest. You sniffle and wrap your arms around her torso. Silently crying into her shoulder.

“Did he give you a reason why?” Lizzie asks softly. You move away from Scarlett’s hold and lean against the couch with your knees to your chest. Lizzie wraps an arm around your shoulder for comfort.

You glanced at your phone that was on the coffee table, “H-he texted me earlier this morning. He said he couldn’t do the long distance thing anymore and that he has feelings for somebody else.”

Anger flashes in Scarlett’s eyes, “He broke up with you over a text message?” You nod in response.

“What a dick.” She mutters glaring at your phone. It’s quiet for a few minutes. Until you ask them, “Am I not worth trying for a long distance relationship?”

Lizzie shakes her head, “No, don’t you ever think that because you are.”

You sigh and throw your head back, “Then why did he break up with me? Is there something wrong with me? Am I not pretty enough?” Scarlett interrupts your questions by shushing you.

“There is not a damn thing wrong about you. Don’t you ever let a man, let alone a boy, make you question your worth.” Scarlett advises you a stern look on her face. “You are the most sweetest and loveliest girl I have ever met in my life. You’re kind, you care about the people around you—you even laugh at Anthony’s stupid jokes.”

Lizzie snorts beside you and squeezes your shoulder, “And his jokes are the worst.”

Scarlett continues, “You are a talented young woman already making it big in the movie industry and you did it all on your own. You are beautiful inside and out. You’re perfect, there’s nothing wrong with you.”

“Then why did he leave me?”

“Because he’s an idiot that doesn’t know your worth.” Lizzie answers resting her head on your shoulder. “I know it hurts now but these things happen for a reason. He wasn’t meant for you and you weren’t meant for him. Maybe somewhere in the future you guys will meet and try again. Or maybe you’ll move on with someone new. That’s just how it is. It may sound harsh, but it’s the truth.”

Scarlett nods at Lizzie, “Take it from me, I’ve been married twice. When it seems like you found that special person, sometimes it’ll all come crashing down. And it’s not an easy thing to go through. It’s full of pain, heartache, self doubt and a bunch of other heart wrenching things. But in the end you come out a stronger version of yourself.”

You stare at Scarlett, “How did you do it?”

Scarlett softly smiles at you, “Well, I had lots of friends who supported me every step of the way. But most importantly, I valued myself. I did things that made me happy and took care of myself mentally and physically.”

You bite your lip in thought as you stare at the ground.

“Listen to me.” Scarlett urges you, “You’re young, (y/n). You’re going to meet so many more people in the future that’ll bring you so much happiness and love in your life. Don’t beat yourself up over one boy who decided to leave you because he wasn’t committed for a long distance relationship. You’re going to be okay.” She assures you, cradling your face. Your lips form into a tight smile while you nod in response.

“You have us and the rest of the people outside of this trailer to support you. We’ll always have your back, whatever it is, I promise you that. You’re not going to go through this by yourself.” Lizzie promises you, taking your hand into hers. You hum and rest your head on her shoulder. You pull on Scarlett’s arm to join you and Lizzie. She chuckles and hugs you from behind.

“Thank you guys.” You whisper, genuinely grateful that you had them in your life. Lizzie pecks your temple, “Anytime darling.”

[i-just-like-goats]

Felix x Reader

Summary: you talk with Felix after he unexpectedly breaks up with you

Warnings: none that I can think of

WC: 0.8k

Main Masterlist

Final

“Yes. I’m confirming the cancellation of one ticket. Alright, thank you,”

You sighed, your heart heavy, eye bags dark and eyes sore from crying. It wasn’t too long ago that Felix broke up with you suddenly, so you were left with cancelling plans that took you months to prepare for. 

You weren’t entirely certain of what led to the sudden breakup (it all happened too fast for you to properly process), but it looked like Felix misunderstood something, his friends misunderstood it even more and he followed their advice. There was no resentment from you for following his friends’ advice, you knew you would likely do the same and you knew them, they meant well, they were just looking out for their friend. Is what you would like to think, yet there was a small part of you that was mad at his snap judgement and his unwillingness to hear your explanation. Had he listened, you wouldn’t be stuck in this bothersome situation, you’d still have a boyfriend and you wouldn’t have an aching heart.

You punched your anger out into the pillow and shouted at it as though it were Felix. Your phone buzzed and it showed a text from Felix’s mother.

‘Can’t wait to have you both over for Christmas! It’ll be such a nice surprise for Felix’

Her text dissipated your anger and all you could think about was what would have happened if he had just communicated with you. You internally debated on how to tell him. Should you keep it a surprise? Or should you just tell him bluntly. The ache in your heart reminded you of the cause so you shook your head. Why should you think of being considerate when he couldn’t do the same? With a determined look, you leave your house to go to the Stray Kids dorm.

Once you arrived at their door, your determination had disappeared and you paled at the daunting task ahead. You were about to knock when the door swung open. Minho stood holding the door with a look of surprise. You mirrored his expression.

“What do you want?” His face hardened.

Your shock melted and in its place a frown.

“I just came to have a civil conversation with Felix. Am I not allowed to do that?”

“He doesn’t want to see. And quite frankly neither do the rest of us,”

“Come on Minho, give her a chance,” Chan said from within the dorm.

“She looks earnest,” Jisung added.

With a roll of his eyes, Minho surrendered and allowed you inside.

“He’s in his room Y/N,”

“Thanks Chan,”

You steel yourself and knock on the familiar door.

“Felix? Can we talk, please?”

“No. Please leave,”

“If you won’t let me in, I’ll just tell you from outside the door. That’s what I came here to do,”

“Fine,”

“Before we broke up. I booked two tickets for the both of us to fly to Australia to see your family over Christmas. Circumstances happened and I cancelled my ticket and not yours. So I came just to offer the ticket if you still wanted it. Your family are expecting you, so you really should go,”

You were leaning against the door, but you suddenly stumbled. Felix opened the door. His eyes were red, and he appeared to have only recently ceased his crying, until you told him that and seeing your equally sad face reduced him to tears again.

“What’s with the tears?”

Felix made no answer and instead hugged you tightly. His tears seeped into your shirt as he cried into your shoulder. You stood there awkwardly with your arms held stiffly by your side. He showed no signs of stopping his tears soon, so you raised your right arm to pat his back lightly, which soon turned into soft soothing strokes.

“You’re too good,” he choked out, “You were too good for me when we were together. Even now I still don’t deserve you,”

“You should’ve listened and not jumped to any conclusions,”

“I know. I know. I know that now, and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Were you just planning this trip to surprise me? Is that where you’ve been?”

Your own tears started to form and the words just stayed stuck in your throat. You nodded. Felix sobbed impossibly harder at the revelation.

“I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve that. I was foolish. I let my insecurity delude me into thinking that you no longer loved me. I told my friends only my side of the story and with that biassed view told me to break up with you. And I listened,”

Even more tears started to gush from Felix’s eyes, while your first tears just started to pour uncontrollably from your own.

“I won’t say it’s fine. It really hurt me when we broke up out of nowhere. I could see what led you to think that, but you broke up with me with no explanation. That hurt,”

Felix pulled away slightly to look into your eyes while he repeatedly whispered ‘I’m sorry’. In time you would forgive him, but for now you’d stay in each other’s arms while grieving your lost relationship.

[ota-division]

Birds of Prey Drama Track 1 - The Future Is Now

Pt. 2

— Ōta City, Ōta City Suburbs —

[Kira is in her car, driving home from work. The frown seen on her face indicates that she is not in the best of moods.]

Kira: Fucking old prick. *Growls* Getting on me for something that wasn't even my fault!

Earlier in the day...

— Ōta City, Ōta Police Station —

Kira: I really hope he's been golfing and it put him in a good mood. ...Or that he's had one of his oh-so-special "liquid lunches".

[After being informed that the mayor had wanted to speak with her, Kira sighed as she mentally prepared herself for the lecture she was about to receive.]

Kira: *Picking up the phone* Detective Chinen speaking.

Nishikawa Sanjiro[1]: *On the other end of the phone* Are you really a detective, Chinen? *Snarls* Are you?!

Kira: Well, I think...

Sanjiro: *Interrupts her* Because I don't believe a real detective would let the town work itself into such a frenzy of panic! I've barely been able to fend off the phone calls!

Kira: *Frowning* Panic? People don't seem too disturbed these days that we've been...

Sanjiro: *Interrupts her again* Well, maybe that was before that damn reporter decided to make a mockery of your investigation!

Kira: ...What?

[Seeing a newspaper laying nearby on another officer's desk, Kira was relieved it was today's issue and looked at the front page as bold black words sat on stark on the white paper, making the investigator's heart sink into her stomach as she read the headline.]

"The Misfit in Action Strikes Again! The Ōta City Police are left scratching their heads as daredevil rogue continues to outwit and outrun authorities! Will the villainous bandit continue to go unpunished? Find out more inside. Written by Iseri Akemi[2]."

Kira: *Crushing the paper in her fist* I am going to kill them!

Sanjiro: *Loudly* You'll do no such thing, Inspector. I will be dealing with that so-called reporter! You, on the other hand, will be out patrolling tomorrow night and showing the town you're on top of this.

Kira: Mayor, with all due respect, I really don't think me out patrolling will help get this investigation going.

Sanjiro: Well I'm afraid that's just too bad, Chinen. *In a mocking tone* Your precious police chief assured me that you were up to this job. And if you're not, tell me now, and I'll gladly find someone who is.

Kira: *Sighs, keeping her emotions in check* Understood, Mayor.

Sanjiro: Thank you, Inspector. I expect a copy of your report on my desk by Friday afternoon.

Kira: Yes sir.

[With that, the conversation ended, surprisingly, on a relatively calm and civil note. Placing the phone down on the receiver, the investigator groaned out loud as she placed a hand over her face, annoyed.]

???: Inspector?

[Lifting her head, Kira turned to the side and looked as the voice belonged to none other than the mayor's own son, Utamuro. Kira couldn't help but give the boy an annoyed look, though she knew none of what had transpired was his fault.]

Kira: Muro, do me a favor from now on.

Utamuro: *Worried* Y-yes ma'am?

Kira: *Turns to look at him* Next time, please do not surprise me with a call from your father. I need time to mentally prepare for it. If he calls, tell him I'm unavailable.

Utamuro: *Looks down in shame* Y-yes, ma'am. Sorry.

[Sighing, Kira gave the boy a pat on the shoulder before departing.]

Current time...

— Ōta City, Chinen Residence —

[Parking her car into the family's driveway, Kira was prepared to enter her abode until she felt her cell phone vibrating in her pocket. Pulling it out, she frowned further as the Caller ID read 'Akemi'. She debated whether to let the call go straight to voicemail or answer it and see what the hell that obnoxious person wanted. Sighing, she hit the green 'Accept' button and placed the phone to her ear.]

Akemi: Hello, beautiful.

Kira: *Frowning at the nickname* What do you want, Kimmy?

Akemi: *In a tense voice* I just had the most interesting conversation with the mayor.

[Kira, though she knew it was wrong, found it hard to contain the half-smile on her face, as she could tell exactly how that "conversation" went.]

Akemi: Seems he didn't appreciate my story, especially considering the source of the information.

Kira: *Sarcastically* Gee, I wonder why? Maybe it had something to do with the fact that you were milking the mayor's own son for information?

Akemi: Oh, please! I didn't press the kid! If he didn't want me talking to him, all he had to do was say so! But he seemed quite pleased to tell me all I wanted to know.

Kira: Yes, and look what happened as a result. I got yelled at, and now I have to lose valuable sleep going on patrol because of you!

Akemi: *Nonchalantly* We all have to make sacrifices, beautiful. You are sadly not excluded from that.

Kira: *Annoyed* What do you want, Kimmy? Why are you calling me?

Akemi: I just called to let you know I won't be using the mayor's kid as a reference anymore. Of course, that now means I have to find another source of information. One that the mayor can't shut up so easily.

Kira: ...And? You called me just to tell me that?

Akemi: *Teasingly* That, and the fact that I'm always available if you need a good lay. I remember that you seemed so...

Kira: Goodbye, Kimmy.

[Hanging up the phone and ending the call before the reporter could react, Kira sighed as she walked up the doorstep and into the house.]

Kira: *Sighing* I'm home.

Taria: About time you got here, sis!

[Kira looked as her younger sister was sitting on the living room couch, watching T.V. while her older sister sat at the kitchen table, her hand on her head. She looked quite upset.]

Kira: *Suscipious* What's going on?

Chinami: *Looking up at her* I'm glad you're here, Kira. I needed to speak with you and Taria about something, so I was waiting until you got home.

Taria: Yeah! And apparently, it was so important, she said she needed both of us here. *Rolls her eyes*

Kira: *Nods* Give me a sec to get situated, and I'll be back.

[Heading to her room, the middle sister discarded her overcoat and switched into a tank shirt and some army cameo pants before coming back to the kitchen. Taria was there, her head resting on her fist, bored out of her mind. Chinami continued sitting at the head of the table, her hands clasped together. Kira took a seat in between the two, and as she did, Taria took that time to speak.]

Taria: Okay, we're all here. Now can you please spill what was so fucking important you had to wait for us?

[Sighing, more so out of her younger sister's impetuousness, Chinami reached into her pocket and took out the paper that was given to her by the officials from earlier in the day.]

Chinami: *Slides the paper to Kira* Some Chuohku officials visited me today.

[At this, both of the seer's younger sisters looked at their eldest sibling with shock and surprise in their eyes.]

Kira: *Surprised* C-Chuohku?

Chinami: *Nods* Yes.

Taria: What the hell for?! What did we do?

Chinami: *Sighs* The Prime Minister, Otome Tohoten, she requested that I work for her as her personal seer.

Kira: Again? You refused though, right?

Chinami: Of course.

Taria: Okay, you said 'no'. End of story, right?

Chinami: If only that were so. *Places her hands in front of her* Apparently, the Prime Minister's patience has run out. I've refused her so many times and now she demands that I pay for it.

Taria: Pay for it how? With money?

Chinami: *Looks at Taria* If it were just money, this wouldn't be so bad. No, she's demanding that I enter the Division Rap Battle.

[At the elder's announcement, time seemed to stand still. Both girls processed what their elder sibling had just said until the message became clear.]

Kira & Taria: ...What?!

Kira: You mean... they're forcing you to enter the D.R.B.?

Chinami: *Nods* Yes.

Taria: All because you didn't want to be the Prime Bitch's personal lackey to see into the future?!

Chinami: *Frowns* Crudely put, Taria, but yes.

[Kira, still in shock, looked at the paper Chinami had placed on the table. Picking it up, she looked at it and began reading it for everyone present.]

Kira: Dear Chinami Chinen, as you probably are aware, the upcoming Division Rap Battle Tournament will commence in just a few short weeks. As the leader of the Party of Words and Japan’s current Prime Minister, I am sending you this letter to inform you that, as of this moment, you are now a willing participant in the D.R.B., and have been selected to represent Ōta Division in the tournament. Along with this letter are three Hypnosis Microphones, one for you and two for people whom you will choose as your partners for the tournament.

Kira: You have exactly one week from today to find two other people in your division who will be fighting alongside you in the tournament. After you have found them, you will register their names, as well as the name of your team, in the roster. Your opponent(s) in the tournament is unknown at this present time, but information will be sent to you and your team in the coming weeks about the other teams. During that time, I advise you and your teammates practice with your HypMics and get familiar with one another's strengths and weaknesses so that you may prevail in the tournament.

Kira: The people of Ōta speak positively about you. Despite only being a seer and character evaluator, you have helped people's lives tremendously. Plus, considering your previous occupation as a singer and lyricist in one of the most well-known rap groups ever created, I believe you will add a great amount of flair to this tournament. I am looking forward to your performance. Do not disappoint me. Sincerely, Otome Tohoten.

Kira: P.S. Do keep in mind that your entry into this tournament is mandatory. Failure to register your team in time will be seen as insubordination and will be treated as such. You will be fined and jailed, and your siblings shall have to live without you. Do keep that in mind. If you do not wish to enter, then please come to Chuohku at your earliest convenience and we can see about having you and your division removed from the roster.

[As Kira finished reading the letter, everyone at the table was silent. Chinami, who couldn't read the letter due to her blindness, now wished she hadn't given Kira the letter, as hearing her read off word for word what was written made her heart hurt. Kira, likewise, was thinking similar thoughts. She worked for Chuohku, so she was familiar with the sort of underhanded things that they did and do. But this... blackmailing her own sister? This took the cake.]

Taria: Those... those fucking bitches!

Kira: Taria!

Taria: *Ignores Kira* How fucking petty can you get?! That bitch is mad just because Nami refused to work for her! And now, just to get even, she's forcing her to enter some tournament?!

[Neither of her older sisters could dispute what their younger sister had just said. Because as much as they didn't want to, they agreed with everything she had just said.]

Taria: And what's more, it's not like they really want her to join! The bitch even wrote in her letter that if Nami went to Chuohku, they'd take her name off the list! She's just throwing a hissy fit cause she's not used to anyone saying 'no' to her!

Kira: *Sighs* So, what are you gonna do, Chinami?

Chinami: ...That's actually why I asked you both here tonight. *Looks at them both* What should I do?

Kira: *Confused* What do you mean?

Chinami: *Sighs* I mean, should I accept the Prime Minister's offer? To become her personal seer?

Taria: Of course not! Are you dense or something?

Kira: Taria!

Taria: *Ignores Kira again* Working for Chuohku is like selling your life away! And you'll be working for the Prime Bitch, herself, which is 10 times worse!

Kira: *Sighs at her younger sister* As much as I dislike her way of framing it... *Looks at Chinami*...I agree with Taria. You shouldn't have to do something you don't want to. It's sad that the Prime Minister is doing this. But trust me, if you join Chuohku, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. I've had friends who left to join Chuohku. And once they did, trust me, they were never the same again.

[Though Kira was saying all this, she knew deep in her heart the real reason why she didn't want Chinami to join Chuohku.]

Kira: Only one Chinen should have to bear the brunt of working for the government. It shouldn't be either of them.

Chinami: *Sighs* Okay, so we're all in agreement. I won't go to Chuohku.

Kira: *Nods, smiling* Right.

Taria: Well, obviously.

Chinami: But... *Places her hands in front of her* ...if I refuse to join, then my only other option is to join the D.R.B., which means... entering the world of rap once more.

[Both younger sisters were silent as they realized what this meant: their oldest sibling would be going back to the one thing she despised. ...Well, not so much despised, but disliked. Why? Because it took away someone that was very important to Chinami: her husband, Haru.]

Taria: ...Well, do you even have to enter it?

Chinami: Yes, I do, Taria. If I refuse, I'll be arrested for disobeying an official order from the Prime Minister.

Taria: Well... what if we run away? Like, go to another city or something? There are plenty of towns to choo...

Chinami: *Interrupts* That is one thing we are not going to do. We don't have the money or funds to suddenly move to another place, Taria.

Kira: Even if we did, it wouldn't matter. Chuohku would find us no matter where we go. Their reach extends all over Japan.

Chinami: *Nods at Kira* Exactly. And besides that, why should we be forced to leave our home? We've lived in this city for years. We can't leave now.

Taria: *Puts her hands up* Okay, okay. Sorry I suggested it.

Kira: *Looks back at Chinami* So, you're really doing this then?

Chinami: *Sighs* I'm afraid I have no choice.

Kira: *Places her hand over Chinami's* Come on, don't fret. It's not your fault.

Taria: *Sighs, putting her hands behind her head* Yeah, Kira's right. It's not your fault that Prime Bitch has a stick up her ass.

Chinami: *Softly chuckles* Thank you. *Looks at both her sisters* Both of you.

Taria: So, if you're actually entering this tournament, I guess that means you're gonna get your old crew back together.

Chinami: *Sadly shakes her head 'no'* As much as I'd like to, I'm afraid I can't ask any of them.

Taria: *Frowns* Why not?

Chinami: *Sighs* The last I spoke to them, Aimi was too busy working on their music album. And Nori is helping them. And I haven't kept in contact with Reiko. She seems to have gone back to acting, for good.

Taria: Well, what about what's his name? The tall, scary guy?

Chinami: *Shakes her head 'no'* I don't know what happened to Oki. He disappeared after C H A R O N broke up. And even if I knew where he was, I couldn't ask him. *Looks down* He and I... we didn't exactly part under the best of circumstances.

Taria: So, you've no idea who you're going to choose as your partners? Smart move.

Chinami: *Frowns* I didn't exactly have a lot of time to think or prepare, Taria.

Kira: *Interrupts them both* Wait, you said that you need two teammates to register?

Chinami: *Nods, confused* Yes...?

Kira: Then... *Points to herself and Taria* ...what about us?

Chinami: ...What?

Taria: *Is shocked* What?!

Kira: You need two people to enter, and there are two of us. Plus you, that makes three. That's an entire team right there.

Chinami: *Worried* Kira, I don't...

Taria: *Interrupts* No fucking way! I'm not joining some rap tournament to appease some governmental pricks!

Chinami: *Frowns at Taria, before looking back at Kira* Sorry Kira, but I have to agree with Taria on this. This is my problem. I don't want to get you two involved.

Kira: *Scowls at Taria* Sorry Taria, but you have no say-so in the matter. I'll explain to you why in private once we're done here.

Taria: *Shocked* What?!

Chinami: *Is confused* Wha...

Kira: *Looks back at Chinami* And Chinami, I appreciate you wanting to try to keep us out of danger, but you have no choice. You only have a week to register your team. And I doubt you'd find two more people in time who are going to want to join you. In case you forget, Chouhku isn't exactly well-liked around here.

Kira: *Continues her argument* It takes time to get to know and trust your teammates. And that's time you could easily spend getting yourself and your teammates prepared. Out of everyone in this city, you know us the best, and we know you the best.

Chinami: Yes, but...

Kira: *Interrupts* But nothing. Be honest Chinami, would you rather be fighting alongside a couple of strangers you know nothing about? *Points to herself and Taria* ...Or would you rather be fighting alongside your own sisters, whom you know you can trust to watch your back?

[Before the eldest sibling could answer, Kira stood up from the table, signaling Taria to do the same.]

Kira: Just think about it for a bit, okay? Taria and I have something to discuss. *Looks at Taria, scowling* Come with me, please.

Taria: Wha...?

Kira: Now, Taria.

Taria: Okay, okay.

[Following Kira, the two younger sisters left their eldest in the kitchen with only her thoughts and the Hypnosis Microphones still in the large, steel suitcase, as her company. She could vaguely hear the two talking, and Chinami sighed as she puts her hands over her face. She felt something land on her left shoulder and knew by the weight and smell that it was her pet raven, Karasu, who chose now to reveal himself. Smiling sadly at the bird, she gently pet it on the head, as she continued to wonder just how and why this was all happening...]

To be continued...

Nishikawa Sanjiro - The current mayor of Ōta City. He sees himself as a revolutionary, and claims that he has big plans for his city. He has so far claimed all but a few areas of the city as his own, with the police station being his last major opposition. He is universally disliked not only by most of the police force, but also by some of the residents of Ōta for his seemingly greedy and self-centered behavior.

Iseri Akemi - Ōta City's most well-known and most infamous reporter. She is always on the lookout for the latest scoop for her paper, "The Ōta City's Early Bird". And if push comes to shove, she has no problem stretching or overexaggerating the truth in order for her papers to sell. This has often put her in the crosshairs of many people in the city, who either dislike her for what she writes, or for where she gets her sources from. She and Kira were previously an item, but their relationship ended badly after Akemi misinterpreted and miswrote something that Kira had said in an interview, which got her in serious heat with the mayor. Despite their breakup, Akemi still has a bad habit of making more work for Kira because of her articles.

[mot-hesbian]

Thanks for being nice about this, it is refreshing to not have someone sniping at me for giving my opinion. I once brought this up and had someone say that I had it wrong and Colin took advantage of and abused Marina, that I was right about not having healed because of how incorrect my interpretation was, and that I should seek intensive therapy. So, this was immensely refreshing.

Thank you for agreeing about Edwina! I don't understand the hate she gets???? She was an angel who was complex and had layers but didn't do anything wrong, a difficult feat when writing those kinds of characters. Kate and Anthony were both in the wrong for not giving Edwina all of the facts and letting her make her own choice. I do enjoy how they resolve it in a realistic manner with a slow rebuilding of trust. I especially like the fact that Edwina is never actually shown to forgive Anthony, she pushes Kate towards him because she wants her to be happy.

That being said, I hope you understand my not being able to continue this conversation. I wrote the original post as a trauma dump using my hyperfixation after a therapy session wherein I talked about the Marina situation and how, from my perspective, it mirrors my trauma from a former group of "friends". It brought up a lot of feelings and memories, and I needed to get it out, so I used Bridgerton as a vessel, as I always do with my hyperfixations.

Talking about it right now (when I'm in a kind of precarious headspace that I worsened by watching both Inside Out movies), especially in a debate, kind of feels like I'm picking at the wound. So for the sake of my mental health I'm gonna walk away for the moment.

If you ever want to gush about Edwina though, hmu. Maybe we can just avoid the Marina topic since it's a difficult subject for me?

Thank you for keeping it civil!

Sincerely,

Harlot

Marina Crane, Nuance, Human Decency, and Differing Opinions

Let's talk about things that might make people mad on the name of addressing important issues

Let's start with some facts

Facts:

The hate Ruby Barker got is inexcusable. She's a human being and deserves to be treated as such. She has no control over her character and her character's actions overall.

Marina is a nuanced character with an interesting and tragic story. You can hate her and acknowledge this.

Marina is a flawed character who does bad things. You can love her and acknowledge this.

You can love or hate her without taking it out on other people or being disgusting about it. Loving her doesn't give you some moral superiority OR justify her actions. Hating her doesn't give you some moral superiority OR edge.

Some of the hate directed her away is because she's black and if you're one of those people you need to do some introspection.

Now, let's get into the opinion portion of this

Personally, I hate Marina. I don't wish a horrible death on her because that's horrible. I wish her circumstances were better. In fact, had her actions been slightly to the left I'd probably like her. My hate towards her also has nothing to do with racism, unlike some people.

I hate her because I've been on the receiving end of her actions. She's emotionally abusive and does not feel the need to apologize for it. She uses actual abuse tactics, many of which I have been the target of.

I see my abusers in her in those moments, outside of those moments I enjoy her story and character. I would have loved to see her play some Lord looking for a match of convenience. Instead I got to see some scenes that are extremely triggering to me. Marina is a traumatized characters, that doesn't give her the right to add to Colin's trauma.

So many of his actions in s2 and s3 are direct results from this, she traumatized him. This pain and hurt doesn't go away easily, I've been trying for 7 years to move on and I'm still a work in progress.

I don't hate her because she got in the way of my ship (I'm a hardcore polin fan), I don't hate her for existing, or for her situation. I hate Marina because of her actions. She had other choices in gentlemen who were close to her age and might look the other way with regards to a child that wasn't their own. Let's not discuss that topic today, I only mention this in regards to her treatment of Colin and how that choice led to it.

Colin was a romantic and felt an attraction to her, she saw that and took advantage. She singled him out, she was desperate and thought the love of her life had deserted her. Part of her draw to him was his family, both connection wise and, likely, in terms of family dynamic.

She love bombed him. It's that simple. The compliments, laughing at jokes she clearly finds unamusing, and the constant attention.

She manipulated him and his feelings, she's good at playing his thoughts and feelings against him. He wants to be seen as a man and taken seriously. What better way than for him to take a wife? In her obviously. She lets him think it's all his idea. He has a hero-complex so she mentions how horrible the Featheringtons are to her. It's calculated. (Again, if she did this to someone who didn't have feelings for her, I'd be cheering for her to get that bag.)

She isolates him from his family. With a tinge of gaslighting regarding his mother's feelings as Violet wouldn't have opposed their marriage if it made Colin happy. She creates this “us against them" mentality to separate him from his family. The Featheringtons are cruel to her and his family does not approve, there is no way this could work.

Does any of this justify hating on people who love her character? No.

Does this justify hating on the actress who played her? Absolutely not, she's not her character.

Until next time 🫡

[writingwithcolor]

Jurassic period alien interacting with key cultures and historical figures in Middle East & Asia throughout history

@ketchupmaster400​ said:

Hello, so my question is for a character I’ve been working on for quite a while but wasn’t sure about a few things. So basically at the beginning of the universe there was this for less being made up of dark matter and dark energy. Long story short it ends up on earth during the Jurassic Period. It has the ability to adapt and assimilate into other life animals except it’s hair is always black and it’s skin is always white and it’s eyes are always red. It lives like this going from animal to animal until it finally becomes human and gains true sentience and self awareness. As a human it lives within the Middle East and Asia wondering around trying to figure out its purpose and meaning. So what I initially wanted to do with it was have small interactions with the dark matter human and other native humans that kinda helped push humanity into the direction it is now. For example, Mehndhi came about when the dark matter human was drawing on their skin because it felt insecure about having such white skin compared to other people. And ancient Indians saw it and thought it was cool so they adopted it and developed it into Mehndi. Minor and small interactions though early history leading to grander events. Like they would be protecting Jerusalem and it’s people agains the Crusaders later on. I also had the idea of the the dark matter human later on interacting with the prophets Jesus Christ and Muhammad. With Jesus they couldn’t understand why he would sacrifice himself even though the people weren’t deserving. And then Jesus taught them that you have to put other before yourself and protecting people is life’s greatest reward. And then with the prophet Muhammad, I had the idea that their interaction was a simple conversation that mirrors the one he had with the angel Jibril, that lead to the principles of Islam. Now with these ideas I understand the great importance of how not to convey Islam and I’ve been doing reasearch, but I am white and I can understand how that may look trying to write about a different religion than my own. So I guess ultimate my question is, is this ok to do? Is it ok to have an alien creature interact with religious people and historical events as important as they were? Like I said I would try to be as accurate and as respectable as possible but I know that Islam can be a touchy subject and the last thing I would want is to disrespect anyone. The main reason I wanted the dark matter being in the Middle East was because I wanted to do something different because so much has been done with European and American stuff I wanted to explore the eastern side of the world because it’s very beau and very rich with so many cultures that I want to try and represent. I’m sorry for the long post but I wanted you guys to fully understand what my idea was. Thank you for your time and hope you stay safe.

Disclaimer:

The consensus from the moderators was that the proposed character and story is disrespectful from multiple cultural perspectives. However, we can’t ignore the reality that this is a commonly deployed trope in many popular science fiction/ thriller narratives. Stories that seek to take religious descriptions of events at face value from an areligious perspective particularly favor this approach. Thus, we have two responses:

Where we explain why we don’t believe this should be attempted.

Where we accept the possibility of our advice being ignored.

1) No - Why You Shouldn’t Do This:

Hi! I’ll give you the short answer first, and then the extended one.

Short answer: no, this is not okay.

Extended answer. I’ll divide it into three parts.

1) Prophet Muhammad as a character:

Almost every aspect of Islam, particularly Allah (and the Qur’an), the Prophet(s) and the companions at the time of Muhammad ﷺ, are strictly kept within the boundaries of real life/reality. I’ll assume this comes from a good place, and I can understand that from one side, but seriously, just avoid it. It is extremely disrespectful and something that is not even up to debate for Muslims to do, let alone for non-Muslims. Using Prophet Muhammad as a character will only bring you problems. There is no issue with mentioning the Prophet during his lifetime when talking about his attributes, personality, sayings or teachings, but in no way, we introduce fictional aspects in a domain that Muslims worked, and still work, hard to keep free from any doubtful event or incident. Let’s call it a closed period: we don’t add anything that was not actually there.

Reiterating then, don’t do this. There is a good reason why Muslims don’t have any pictures of Prophet Muhammad. We know nothing besides what history conveyed from him. 

After this being said, there is another factor you missed – Jesus is also an important figure in Islam and his story from the Islamic perspective differs (a lot) from that of the Christian perspective. And given what you said in your ask, you would be taking the Christian narrative of Jesus. If it was okay to use Prophet Muhammad as a character (reminder: it’s not) and you have had your dark matter human interacting with the biblical Jesus, it will result in a complete mess; you would be conflating two religions.

2) Crusaders and Jerusalem:

You said this dark matter human will be defending Jerusalem against the Crusaders. At first, there is really no problem with this. However, ask yourself: is this interaction a result of your character meeting with both Jesus and Prophet Muhammed? If yes, please refer to the previous point. If not, or even if you just want to maintain this part of the story, your dark matter human can interact with the important historical figures of the time. For example, if you want a Muslim in your story, you can use Salah-Ad-Din Al-Ayoubi (Saladin in the latinized version) that took back Jerusalem during the Third Crusade. Particularly, this crusade has plenty of potential characters. 

Also, featuring Muslim characters post Prophet Muhammad and his companions’ time, is completely fine, just do a thorough research.

 3) Middle Eastern/South Asian settings and Orientalism:

The last point I want to remark is with the setting you chose for your story. Many times, when we explore the SWANA or South Asian regions it’s done through an orientalist lens. Nobody is really safe from falling into orientalism, not even the people from those regions. My suggestion is educating yourself in what orientalism is and how it’s still prevalent in today’s narrative. Research orientalism in entertainment, history... and every other area you can think of. Edward Said coined this term for the first time in history, so he is a good start. There are multiple articles online that touch this subject too. For further information, I defer to middle eastern mods. 

- Asmaa

Racism and Pseudo-Archaeology:

A gigantic, unequivocal and absolute no to all of it, lmao. 

I will stick to the bit about the proposed origin of mehendi in your WIP, it’s the arc I feel I’m qualified to speak on, Asmaa has pretty much touched upon the religious and orientalism complications. 

Let me throw out one more word: pseudoarchaeology. That is, taking the cultural/spiritual/historical legacies of ancient civilizations, primarily when it involves people of colour, and crediting said legacies to be the handiwork of not just your average Outsider/White Saviour but aliens. I’ll need you to think carefully about this: why is it that in so much of media and literature pertaining to the so-called “conspiracy theories” dealing with any kind of extraterrestrial life, it’s always Non-Western civilizations like the Aztec, the ancient Egyptians, the Harappans etc who are targeted? Why is it that the achievements of the non West are so unbelievable that it’s more feasible to construct an idea of non-human, magical beings from another planet who just conveniently swooped in to build our monuments and teach us how to dress and what to believe in? If the answer makes you uncomfortable, it’s because it should: denying the Non-West agency of their own feats is not an innocent exercise in sci-fi worldbuilding, it comes loaded with implications of racial superiority and condescension towards the intellect and prowess of Non-European cultures. 

Now, turning to specifics:

Contrary to what Sarah J. Maas might believe- mehendi designs are neither mundane, purely aesthetic tattoos nor can they be co-opted by random Western fantasy characters. While henna has existed as an art form in various cultures, I’m limiting my answer to the Indian context, (specifying since you mention ancient India). Mehendi is considered one of the tenets of the Solah Shringar- sixteen ceremonial adornments for Hindu brides, one for each phase of the moon, as sanctioned by the Vedic texts. The shade of the mehendi is a signifier for the strength of the matrimonial bond: the darker the former, the stronger the latter. Each of the adornments carries significant cosmological/religious symbolism for Hindus. To put it bluntly, when you claim this to be an invention of the aliens, you are basically taking a very sacred cultural and artistic motif of our religion and going “Well actually….extraterrestrials taught them all this.”

In terms of Ayurveda (Traditional holistic South Asian medicine)  , mehendi was used for its medicinal properties. It works as a cooling agent on the skin and helps to alleviate stress, particularly for the bride-to-be. Not really nice to think that aliens lent us the secrets of Ayurvedic science (pseudoarchaeology all over again). 

I’m just not feeling this arc at all. The closest possible alternative I could see to this is the ancient Indian characters incorporating some specific stylistic motifs in their mehendi in acknowledgement to this entity, in the same vein of characters incorporating motifs of tribute into their armour or house insignia, but even so, I’m not sure how well that would play out. If you do go ahead with this idea, I cannot affirm that it will not receive backlash.

-Mimi

These articles might help:

 Pseudoarchaeology and the Racism Behind Ancient Aliens

A History of Indian Henna (this studies mehendi origins mostly with reference to Mughal history)

Solah Shringar

2) Not Yes, But If Ignoring the Above:

I will be the dissenting voice of “Not No, But Here Are The Big Caveats.” Given that there is no way to make the story you want to tell palatable to certain interpretations of Islam and Christianity, here is my advice if the above arguments did not sufficiently deter you.

1. Admiration ≠ Research: It is not enough to just admire cultures for their richness and beauty. You need to actually do the research and learn about them to determine if the story you want to tell is a good fit for the values and principles these cultures prioritize. You need to understand the significance of historical figures and events to understand the issues with attributing the genesis of certain cultural accomplishments to an otherworldly influence. 1.

2. Give Less Offense When Possible and Think Empathetically: You should try to imagine the mindsets of those you will offend and think about to what degree you can soften or ameliorate certain aspects of your plot, the creature’s characteristics, and the creature’s interactions with historical figures to make your narrative more compatible. There is no point pretending that much of areligious science fiction is incompatible with monotheist, particularly non-henotheistic, religious interpretations as well as the cultural items and rituals derived from those religious interpretations. One can’t take “There is no god, just a lonely alien” and make that compatible with “There is god, and only in this particular circumstance.” Thus:

As stated above by Asmaa and Mimi, there is no escaping the reality the story you propose is offensive to some. Expect their outcry to be directed towards you. Can you tolerate that?

Think about how you would feel if someone made a story where key components of your interpretation of reality are singled out as false. How does this make you feel? Are you comfortable doing that to others?

3. Is Pseudoarchaeology Appropriate Here?: Mimi makes a good point about the racial biases of pseudoarchaeology. Pseudoarchaeology is a particular weakness of Western-centric atheist sci-fi. Your proposed story is the equivalent of a vaguely non-descript Maya/Aztec/Egyptian pyramid or Hindu/ Buddhist-esque statue being the source for a Resident Evil bio weapon/ Predator nest/ Assassin’s Creed Isu relic.

Is this how you wish to draw attention to these cultures you admire? While there is no denying their ubiquity in pop-culture, such plots trivialize broad swathes of non-white history and diminish the accomplishments of associated ethnic groups. The series listed above all lean heavily into these tropes either because the authors couldn’t bother to figure out something more creative or because they are intentionally telling a story the audience isn’t supposed to take seriously.*

More importantly, I detect a lot of sincerity in your ask, so I imagine such trivialization runs counter to your expressed desire to depict Eastern cultures in a positive and accurate manner.

4. Freedom to Write ≠ Freedom from Consequence: Once again, as a reminder, it’s not our job to reassure you as to whether or not what you are proposing is ok. Asmaa and Mimi have put a lot of effort into explaining who you will offend and why.  We are here to provide context, but the person who bears the ultimate responsibility for how you choose to shape this narrative, particularly if you share this story with a wide audience, is you. Speaking as one writer to another, I personally do not have a strong opinion one way or the other, but I think it is important to be face reality head-on.

- Marika.

* This is likely why the AC series always includes that disclaimer stating the games are a product of a multicultural, inter-religious team and why they undermine Western cultures and Western religious interpretations as often (if not moreso) than those for their non-Western counterparts.

Note: Most WWC asks see ~ 5 hours of work from moderators before they go live. Even then, this ask took an unusually long amount of time in terms of research, emotional labor and discussion. If you found this ask (and others) useful, please consider tipping the moderators (link here), Asmaa (coming eventually) and Mimi (here). I also like money - Marika.

[masterjedilenawrites]

I’m not good at making requests, so forgive me if anything come out wrong.

But, could you do something were reader and Tech are fixing some eletronics and listening to cientific things, and start talking about a wrong thing people said there, so they get distracted and when realize, they’re in to a awkward position (like him btween her legs or sth like that)

I love your writing and thanks (: <3

Omg I've been so soft for Tech lately and this prompt is perfect 💚 I hope this is what you were looking for, I really enjoyed writing it!

Tech x reader | 2k words

...making bacta the most important scientific achievement in history...

"Dank farrik," Tech huffed beside you.

You came out of your daze at the sudden exclamation and looked at your friend with concern, trying to quickly figure out what had gone wrong. You were helping him with a project, though what it was exactly you weren't completely certain of. All you knew was it involved digging into the walls of the ship and untangling a lot of wires. You'd been instructed to hold onto several of them, keeping them pulled taught out of the wall so Tech could fiddle with the other ends, and the dullness of the task had caused your mind to wander.

"What's wrong?" you asked, doubtful you'd understand any explanation, but wanting to be sure you hadn't done anything to mess up his progress.

He waved a hand at you dismissively, not pulling his attention away from the work in front of him. "Just the radio," he mumbled.

You hadn't been paying attention; it had only been turned on as background noise to keep you from going insane with boredom. And since it was tuned into some kind of scientific news frequency, you didn't really understand much of what was being said anyway.

...with the most influential application simply being in the field of medicine, providing us higher life forms with a versatile tool in maintaining our quality of life, and potentially even prolonging it...

Tech huffed again. Scoffed. Your mouth quirked at how upset he was getting. It was kind of cute.

But, you had to debate whether engaging with his frustration would be worth it. He had only recently calmed down from his outburst earlier that day, the only time you had ever seen him genuinely upset. Wrecker had accidentally knocked over a piece of machinery that was... well, something very important, apparently. No one was too sure. But Tech had spent most of the week carefully arranging its parts just-so, so that when all his hard work went crashing onto the floor, his breathing had suddenly resembled that of a charging Nexu. He'd drawn himself up, trying to match his brother's height, and ordered the poor guy to never step foot in this part of the ship again. The other Batchers had tried to defend him and were subsequently banned as well.

That left you as the only option for help.

Maybe that meant he wouldn't kick you out for debating him....

"Sounds like they're saying some pretty reasonable things. Am I missing something?"

Tech's fingers, which had been deftly working through the wires before him, clipping some and splicing others, finally froze. The clone's face tilted over to you, his eyes looking a little too judgmental through those glasses for your liking.

"You think bacta is the most important scientific achievement?" he asked. You didn't like his tone, either.

You scrunched your mouth in thought, actually giving the question serious consideration. While you mulled it over, Tech stood up from his hunched position in the wall and started pulling on some of the wires, unraveling them from their tangled mess.

"Yeah," you finally decided. "I think medicine in general is pretty important. And bacta specifically is the strongest known substance to deliver fast and effective healing."

Tech was mostly focused on the wires, but he spared you a glance.

"And treating symptoms is the most important thing for humanity? Here, hold this." He added another wire for you to hold in your hands.

You knew it was a loaded question so you chose to answer it with one of your own. "Well if it's not bacta or medicine, then what would it be?"

"Electricity," he said quickly and assertively, as if it was the most obvious thing in the galaxy. He continued to focus more on his work and you were annoyed he didn't seem to want to offer up an explanation to his opinion, despite having made you give one. He'd finally untangled the wires and was back to leaning into the cavern in the wall and setting them into their proper places.

"Why electricity?" You hated how dumb your question sounded; obviously you understood the concept and understood its importance. You just really wanted to challenge him to give you some explanations.

"For one, most medicines would not be able to be mass-produced were it not for the electrically-run vats in which they are made." He held his hand out behind him and made a grabbing motion. "Blue, please."

You sorted out the blue wire and passed it over.

"For another," he continued, his voice sounding distant as he leaned further away into the wall, "we must ask what constitutes a quote-unquote important achievement. For example, is an achievement worthy of the title simply because it improves our quality of life? Green, please."

You handed over the corresponding wire. "I'd say it's more about preserving life. Even outside of war, there's enough injury and illness that would end life were it not for medicine to heal them."

"Ah, but in that same reasoning, electricity also sustains life. It powers sources of light and warmth, which can also provide a means of boiling water and cooking food. All keys to survival. Yellow, please."

"So does fire," you shot back. "People survived long before electricity, and there's still plenty of civilizations living fine without it."

Tech finally emerged from the wall and took the last few wires from you, the red and black ones. He met your eyes with an earnestness that let you know how much he was enjoying this conversation. "And people have survived without medicine. At least the manufactured forms that you're arguing for, like bacta. Traditional medicine is as sufficient as fire."

Before you could respond, Tech moved to the side, motioning toward the wall with his head and holding up the remaining wires.

"Now, unfortunately these last ones need to be clipped in down below. I'm not able to fit through the lattice of the floor, but someone of your stature easily could."

You stepped forward and peered down. It was a mess of machinery and pipes and beams, but you could clearly see the port where the wires had been yanked out earlier. You knelt down, resting your stomach on the edge of the wall, but paused before bending over.

"If it wasn't for bacta, you wouldn't have been born." You were confident in your comeback and thus didn't linger for his reaction, turning to bend down into the ship with your wires instead.

You were disappointed to hear his soft chuckle from above you.

"And what do you think powers the bacta tanks that hold the clone embryos?"

You were glad he couldn't see the frustrated frown on your face. While you tried to think of a new point in your debate, you snapped the red wire into the proper port. But then you realized you couldn't quite reach the black one, and started carefully shimmying forward, deeper into the wall.

"It seems we have circled back to the initial question," Tech offered in your silence. You felt his hands hold on to your hips, steadying you as your legs lifted from the floor, most of your body now inside the ship. You didn't think anything of it, though, your focus split between your task and his words. "What makes an achievement the most important? Both medicine and electricity are capable of preserving life, but neither are essential to survival. So, what criteria are we left with?"

You were finally within reach of the last port and pushed the wire into it. "Sounds like you already have the right answer, so why don't you stop teasing me and just say it?" you called up to him.

"I...I didn't mean to sound like I was teasing."

You could hear the apology in his voice, how truly caught off guard he was to hear that you had perceived his attempts at a friendly debate, a conversation, as mocking or disrespectful. Your stomach knotted up in guilt, making your journey to wiggle back out of the wall a little more difficult.

"I'm sorry, Tech," you said through a grunt as you tried to push yourself back. "I didn't mean to sound rude. I just don't know the answer."

You felt his arms snake around your middle, pulling you the last of the way out. You came to rest on your knees, breathing heavily at the sudden increase in air supply. Tech was crouched alongside you, his chest against part of your back, his arms still holding you.

"I honestly don't know the answer, either," he blinked down at you, speaking quietly. "I don't know what criteria would constitute the most important scientific achievement. I thought maybe we could figure it out if we kept discussing it."

You craned your neck around to look at him, unconcerned about the discomfort it took to do so. You needed to face him fully. "Or... maybe we don't need to figure it out? I mean, does there need to be one achievement labeled more important than any other? Can they not all be valued equally?"

"I suppose..." he relented. But only a little. "It is a fun thought exercise, though."

You smiled at that, and it made your heart flutter a little to see him return the expression. There were a few seconds between you where you sat pleasantly in each other's arms... before the realization hit that you were in each other's arms.

"Uh," Tech stuttered first. His eyes looked about frantically as if the more he saw of you practically sitting in his lap, the more he would know what to do about it.

Your face was hot and your heart thumped forcefully in your chest. But you weren't panicking. Even though you'd been around the Bad Batch for a while now, this was the first time you'd gotten physically close to any of them, especially this dorky genius, who made you feel just a little better about life than the others did. You hadn't been sure why, not until this moment, your face being mere inches away from his own. Now it clicked.

His arms had removed themselves from your frame and he was starting to crawl backward on the floor. You quickly grasped his shoulder to stop him.

"Tech, wait."

He froze, looking at you with wide, apprehensive eyes. His shoulder was tense so you relaxed your grasp and simply let your hand rest on it gently. You gave him a small smile. Thankfully these little gestures were enough encouragement for him to lean back to you. He still looked at you timidly, but he wasn't pulling away anymore. It seemed like maybe he had been feeling the same things about you.

"Yes?"

He was waiting for you to make the next move.

"So, this project," you stalled, needing just a little more time to work up the courage. "What is it again? Why did I just crawl into the bowels of the ship?"

Your face was creeping closer to his, breath gently fanning across each other, warm but refreshing.

"I... I..." Tech seemed to be short-circuiting. "I was just, uh, re... redecorating."

Your nose had just brushed his when you suddenly frowned and moved back to look at him questioningly. "Redecorating... wires?"

You were very amused at how flustered he seemed to be in this situation. But then the tables turned as Tech rolled with it.

"Yeah, I didn't like the way they looked in there. Wanted to change things up. You know me."

The smile on our face spread as he talked and you couldn't hold back your laughter any longer. You bent forward, resting your forehead in the crook of his neck while your body convulsed with giggles. Tech laughed along, bringing his arms back around you to hold you in place. When you finally looked up at him and the shit-eating grin he had plastered on his face, you knew you'd finally found your courage.

"Oh, Tech..." you chided, pressing your smiling lips against his own.

[rayshippouuchiha]

i gotta be honest, i debated for over a week whether i should say something or not. i'd like to apologize in advance, if what i say here hurts anyone or is wrong, feel free to tell me so and i'll fuck right off. (cw: talk of rasism. i think? maybe? i'm not even sure how to properly warn for this)

i'd like to think i try my best with understanding other people problems, such as poc facing racism. i don't understand it bc i don't experience it, so i do my research and listen to those who do have this as part of their reality and learn what i can from them. but last week i stumbled upon a bit of a wall which left me confused and angry with myself.

it's about the star wars fandom, mainly the mandalorian and tbobf fans. idk how into either of those shows you are, so here are some sparknotes:

- the first four episodes of tbobf came out and they were... eh. not great

- the fifth episode came out, it was great except for the fact that pedro pascal seemed to have hijacked the show. ok, one episode for the exposition, no one loves that the best episode so far happened without the main character in it. i get it, i felt the same way, this is about boba, not din but we'll live.

- the sixth episode came out, still following din, not boba. not cool, nobody likes that myself included. especially since the 5th and 6th episodes were the best ones in the season and you can tell. i hated that, actually. i wanted boba and got the mandalorian season 2.5

but then! poc fans started to shit on pedro pascal for being a white man who hijacked a second show for himself and took away a chance for representation from maori people.

ok, the only thing confusing me here is the fact that the people who say that about pascal now, were the same people who cheered for him being the first poc lead in the star wars franchise when the mando series first came out in 2019.

how is it, that in 2019 he was a poc and now he's white? there are valid things to criticise about episodes 5 and 6, why the sudden need to reach for the racebending? is he a latino man or a white man? what made everyone change their minds about him, besides the airing of those episodes? i want to understand, i truly do, but i can't do that if people change their minds without explaining at least a little.

so, i guess what i'm trying to say is: please explain or if not, pick one and stick with it?

i know how this all sounds, and once again i apologize but i honestly don't know what to do anymore. i want to learn but i don't know what this lesson is trying to teach.

thank you for your time and i'm sorry for being the shit stirer (or, if you decide to fuck it and delete this ask i'm sorry for spoiling your mood)

You seem like you're coming from a legit place of confusion and frustration without any real malice so I'm going to post this and open the conversation for anyone who wants to take it up in the replies/reblogs (not my inbox) as I am 1.) white and 2.) also uninformed on this specific situation.

Let's make an attempt to keep it civil, please.

[on-a-lucky-tide]

Rawr! 2 or 19 with Vesemir and Guxart?

2. A forbidden kiss / has to be kept a secret.

Guxart and Vesemir had never seen eye to eye.

From the moment Aiden and Lambert had started dating, their two adopted fathers had bickered relentlessly over every minor area of conflict. From whether it was still important to have a "day of rest" on Sundays to the appropriate way to shell a damned prawn. Family dinners were uncomfortable, and their respective sons and daughters began finding inventive ways to keep the two separate.

They were just too different. Guxart was a well-dressed, wine-drinking professor of business and finance. He enjoyed the debates on Radio 4 and regularly attended operatic performances at the theatre. Vesemir liked his workman's jeans and jackets with lots of pockets, preferred draft beer and taught anthropology at the local polytech. Guxart thought Vesemir was slovenly, and Vesemir thought Guxart was a snob.

When Aiden proposed, the wedding planning forced Vesemir and Guxart into close proximity for extended periods of time, and Lambert organised a betting pool to see who would throw the first punch. Geralt put down a hundred quid on Vesemir, but Eskel was certain that Guxart would soon pull the stick out of his backside and beat Vesemir with it.

The wedding day arrived and the two grooms cornered their respective fathers separately.

"Don't ruin this for me, old man," Lambert said, waggling a finger at Vesemir. "Keep a beer in your hand and your mouth shut."

Vesemir huffed. "If he behaves himself, then I will."

"Fucks' sake."

In a room not far away, Aiden took the glass of wine out of Guxart's hand. "Be polite. No snarky comments about his bowtie or his tweed suit." Guxart huffed, rolled his eyes, but nodded in agreement.

The vows went off without a hitch. The speeches were suitably embarrassing and dinner was perfect. Everyone crowded into a huge hall for the reception to drink the rest of the night away. Lambert and Aiden spent their time thanking guests after their first dance but met for a breather a few hours in.

They clocked their two fathers propping up the bar as they flopped on one of the soft couches at the edge of the dance floor. Lambert's eyes widened and he lurched forward to intercept, but Aiden grabbed his elbow. "No, wait. I think--I think they're being civil."

"No way," Lambert breathed and looked again. Aiden was right. Vesemir was leaning on the bar with a pint, nodding as Guxart talked. Guxart was emoting with one hand, something he only did when talking earnestly about something, while he cradled a glass of merlot in the other. Lambert whistled quietly. "Shit, do you think we should split them up before they realise what they're doing?"

"Nah. We'll keep an eye on them. Send in the big guns," Aiden flicked his chin towards Eskel and Geralt doing shots at the far end of the bar, "if they start throwing hands."

"Gotcha."

The night drew on, Guxart and Vesemir took up a seat at one of the empty tables, still immersed in deep conversation. Everyone was too drunk or too busy dancing to notice the way they leaned towards each other, their palms open, their bodies tilted close. Eskel dragged Lambert over for some shots and Aiden was swarmed by his extended family to do the macarena; Vesemir and Guxart slipped outside into the gardens.

Geralt and Ciri followed them about twenty minutes later to get some fresh air (and check that Vesemir and Guxart didn't have their hands around each other's necks). They both stopped dead on the gravel path as they sighted two bodies pressed close in the shadows of a poplar tree. Vesemir had Guxart pressed to the trunk, their mouths locked in a slow, passionate kiss. Guxart's hands kneaded at Vesemir's waist and Vesemir had a hand tangled in Guxart's curls, the other supporting his weight on the tree behind.

"What do we do?" asked Ciri.

"Uhhh...." Geralt was still rebooting after his mental crash.

"Dad, do we tell Lambert and Aiden?"

"You know what?" Geralt rested a hand on Ciri's shoulder and turned her back towards the venue. "Ignorance is bliss, what they don't know can't hurt them, and, uh..."

"We saw nothing?"

"Yeah, we saw nothing."

Geralt and Ciri returned to the dancefloor.

Vesemir and Guxart had discovered a lot in common that night. Their left-wing political ideals, their love of cricket and jazz music, and the begrudging but earnest crush they had developed on the other. They had become so used to being lonely old men, self-sufficient and guarded to avoid disappointment, that they had feared giving it a chance. Their adopted sons being in love only complicated matters further.

Well, whoever said love was simple?