#the election is already starting to create cracks

[bloodpen-to-paper]

Should this conflict of interest actually go through, its gonna be real interesting.

Tazercraft have plans to target and potentially assassinate Baghera, who they see as a core competitor. They are still family to/allied with Forever. Forever is not only Baghera's brother, but her political ally as them + Badboyhalo have a pact to work together so long as one of them wins the election. Cellbit is also running as a front to aid Forever, and is presumably allied with Baghera, but also has butted heads with her over policies, meaning the two could see each other as potential threats. This isn't even getting into the other French members: Etoiles is very down for assassination, more so than actually being president, and is backing up Baghera, and the other French presumably as well (yet some of them are also friends of Tazercraft). Then you've got Fit being a friend of Tazercraft, and whatever strange secrets he's got up his sleeve. Felps is running by himself it seems, but I wouldn't be surprised if he allied with another Brazilian candidate at some point (or even became forced to choose between Forever/Cellbit and Mike).

Outside of this web, you've got Foolish running independently and only having an official ally in Jaiden as his ghost writer, and as such (along with his motivations for the server being very superficial) he'll most likely lose and ally himself with another candidate (either to help himself or them). BBH is allied, but he's also not fully trusting Baghera and Forever due to his own paranoia, which could cause a rift (I'm predicting now a BBH and Foolish team up behind the Ordo's backs). Quackity doesn't currently have any solid allies save for a potential and very mysterious connection to the Federation, making him a wildcard. There's a chance the Spanish speakers may favor him, though Roier doesn't want to get involved (his marriage to Cellbit could make him either support Cellbit or go against Cellbit since he doesn't want his husband involved either, which could lead him to Quackity's side), Vegetta would most likely support Foolish (which would give Foolish a very powerful ally and assassin on his side), and Maxo has pledged his support for Forever (they are also both Ordos and Maxo would most likely support the Forever/BBH/Baghera/Cellbit alliance). Gegg is a joke but Charlie is a menace and a friend of Quackity who could stir things up in his favor when it comes down to it (that or he commits to being Mike's brother and another ally goes into TC's field). And Philza is an anarchist who would kill everyone involved if given a motive...

I can see the train crashing...

[redtsundere-writes]

Part 27: I'm Sorry

King!SukunaRyomen x Servant!FemReader

Summary: You used to be just another servant among the army of humans operating under the command of the terrible king, Sukuna Ryomen. An ordinary human who only knows how to wash, clean and cook. Until one day, he notices something in you that you hadn't seen before.

Tags: MDNI. +18. Murder. Blood. Cannibalism. Sukuna Ryomen Is The Warning Itself. Nudity. Sexual Display. Vaginal. Fingering. Sometimes fluff, sometimes angst. Beta read.

Word Count:  9690 words.

A/N: This one is a long boi. It took its time. :3

Beginning. | ← Previous | Next →

The world knows of the kingdom of Sukuna, a place shrouded in shadows, where the ruthless tyrant and his curses reign with an iron fist. However, few know of the existence of a crucial region north of the main city: the human commune. A place set apart by a strong rock wall, surrounded by rolling hills, humble huts and vast fields of crops, worked with care by the humans who, in the eyes of the king, are nothing more than resources: his precious chickens.

With a population that once reached 6,000 inhabitants, which decreases every night, the humans have managed to build a home despite the adversities. Although they live under Sukuna's regime, they refuse to obey him blindly. To maintain order and ensure their own survival, they decided to create a figure that would represent their values: the Judge.

The Judge is a unique authority, founded on justice, fairness and good manners. This mediator not only resolves conflicts, but is an essential pillar of the commune. Someone who is at the service of the people, whether it be day, night, snowing or lightning. Unlike kings, whose power is inherited, the position of Judge is earned through elections. When the sitting Judge reaches 50 years of age, they must select six young candidates, who will dedicate five years to rigorous training. They shall study hard to meet any challenge, learn to serve impartially, and most importantly, accept the sacrifice of not marrying or starting a family. This ensures that their devotion is exclusive to the commune. At the end of their training, the community elects the next Judge by vote, allowing the current one to retire in peace.

Among the aspiring Judges was Hiromi Higuruma. At 15 years old, Hiromi already demonstrated a strong conviction of service and an innate empathy towards those most in need. As part of his training, he attended the daily hearings, taking a seat alongside the other candidates as he watched and took notes on the cases being solved. That morning, he was reviewing his notes when a sharp, unmistakable voice echoed through the room, eliciting sighs of exasperation from the other candidates. Hiromi, however, quickly turned his head. If Yorozu was in court, then so were you.

You walked down the hall towards the courtroom, trying to calm your sister down, as the angry neighbors and your younger sisters followed close behind. The tension was palpable. They had gotten into a heated dispute at the neighbors' house over their older brother, and now they were there to settle the matter. Nagi, the neighbors' older sister, who you had hit with a plank in a fit of anger for defending Yorozu, was giving you glares that could cut through steel.

When it was your turn, you introduced yourself by name and age to the Judge, feeling the weight of all the gazes on you. You looked back and cracked a smile at the sight of your friend, Hiromi. He responded with a slight, somewhat shy smile before looking back at his notes. From his bench, the Judge rubbed his forehead as he read the name of Yorozu, who had once again caused trouble.

“I open the file for case #7 of the 10th of the fifth month of the current year.” The Judge dictated for his students to take note of what was about to happen, clearly disappointed to see the girls who were involved in a domestic fight. “Now, who wants to explain to me what happened this time?” Yorozu and Nagi began to shout to speak first. Nanako and Mimiko came to the defense of their older sister, while you just sighed at the commotion. “Order! Order!” The Judge exclaimed, slamming his gavel against the table.

“Jealous brother loving bitch!” Yorozu managed to scream before you could cover her mouth for her own good.

“Order!” The Judge threatened Yorozu with his gavel. “Miss eldest Yoshino, I grant you the floor.”

“Why her?!” Nanako and Mimiko exclaimed, annoyed.

“Because the Yoshino family doesn’t have any crimes to their name, while Yorozu is here every week,” one of the candidates answered behind her. The Judge nodded, agreeing with him. Yorozu just crossed her arms in annoyance as you continued to cover her mouth.

“Thank you, your honor.” Nagi gave Yorozu a victorious smirk. She flipped her off, but you gave her a smack to put it down.

After the Judge heard both sides of the story and questioned everyone involved, he ruled that the Yorozu must now do all of Nagi’s chores so that she could fully recover from the blow you gave her and cut off contact with the oldest son of the Yoshino’s. In addition, they must pay the Yoshino’s a compensation of 10 gold coins. Normally, it would be 20 coins, but since the blow was in self-defense, the compensation was reduced. Yorozu grumbled, but you accepted the punishment for her. They all left the room, still upset with each other, but Higuruma couldn't stop looking back at you worried. The Judge quickly noticed it, as he knew of his good friendship with you.

“Young Higuruma, please take a 20-minute break,” he said as he finished filing the case.

“Thank you, your honor,” Higuruma left his things on his seat and ran off to find you.

He found you just outside the convention hall, where trials were held in the early hours of the morning. You were walking home with your sisters while scolding Yorozu for getting into so much trouble lately. Even though you were angry, you still looked very cute with your scowl and your accusatory finger. Hiromi took a second to admire how good your light blue dress and matching scarf looked before catching up to you.

“Y/n! Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” Hiromi grabbed your arm to inspect you better, but Yorozu pushed him away.

“Yeah, thanks for worrying about me, Hiromi,” Yorozu replied sarcastically. “I almost got hit with a rock, and you were licking my sister’s boots!” She squealed angrily. Higuruma just rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“Enough!” You scolded her before reluctantly pushing her away. Yorozu snorted and walked ahead to the house on his own.

“Y/n and Higuruma sitting on a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Nanako and Mimiko teased you before running off, so you wouldn’t give them a scolding.

“I’m sorry, Hiromi, you know how they are,” you sighed tiredly before heading towards him.

“Don’t apologize, I’m used to it.” He smiled softly. “Are you okay?”

“Aside from being exhausted from dealing with those little girls, I'm fine.” You barely responded to the gesture.

“I can imagine your mother is going to be furious when she gets the compensation letter.” Hiromi put his hands in his pants pockets as he inspected your face.

It was one of the things he liked most about you: your transparency. You were like a crystal under the light, honest and clear, without shadows to hide what you felt. You had always been easy to read, and he had the gift of deciphering you with a simple glance. It only took a moment to know what was going through your mind, as if your beautiful eyes were an open book that only he knew how to interpret.

“Mom gets angry about anything lately. Dance classes aren't going the way she expected.” You shook your head.

“Is she still thinking about going to Gojo Kingdom to get you married?” Hiromi ran a hand through his well-combed hair. You nodded with a grimace. “But that means traveling through the Impossible Belt. It's a suicide mission.”

“Mom said we'd be fine.”

“Your mother doesn't know what the curses are like over there.” Hiromi grabbed you by the shoulders to shake you, in an attempt to get your mind straight. “Hundreds have tried to cross it, but no one has succeeded, do you really think you can?”

“I know what they say about the Impossible Belt, but my mother says that the men on the other side are very rich,” you explained.

“Is that what you want? To marry someone for their money?” Hiromi questioned you. He never considered that you could be someone so materialistic.

“Of course not” You shook your head.

“Then marry me.” Hiromi proposed decisively, kneeling in front of you. To which you could only laugh.

“No.” You rejected it completely with a smile.

“Am I that ugly?” He asked worriedly, to which you burst out laughing.

“Of course not, but I’m not going to let you give up the Judge position for me.” You helped him get back on his feet.

“Just because I’m a candidate doesn’t mean I’ll be Judge.”

“Oh please, everyone talks about you being the next Judge, and I’m not going to let you throw away your future for me.” He was about to contradict you, but you attacked him by surprise.

At 15, it’s easy to believe that you know everything, when in reality you’re a whirlwind of confusion. It’s a chaotic age, full of uncertainty, where you’re just beginning to figure out who you are. Maybe Higuruma wasn’t clear on who he was himself at the time, but he was absolutely sure of one thing: you were his soulmate.

Your hands surrounded his face with a tenderness that seemed to stop time. Your thumbs traced small circles on his flushed cheeks, either from the warmth of the bright morning sun or from the deep feeling burning within him. His lips parted, intending to convince you that you should marry him, to say something to break the moment. But no words managed to escape.

“You are special, Hiromi. You will make a good Judge.”

The loud, urgent knocks on the door broke the silence of midnight, tearing Hiromi from the fragile sleep he had fallen into. The memory of his childhood, warm but distant, faded as the guard claimed him. The candle on the desk flickered dimly, barely illuminating the scattered papers and the open book next to which he had fallen asleep. Another knock resounded, more urgent than the last. Hiromi jumped on his feet, grabbed the cloak that rested on the back of the chair and headed for the door. Opening it, he found himself face to face with Kuzakabe, whose face was filled with palpable panic.

“A horde has arrived! There are more than 10 of them!” The leader of the night watch exclaimed before running off with his axe.

“Fuck,” Hiromi muttered before grabbing a bow and quiver before following him at full speed.

The night enveloped him once again in its dark cloak. It was the third time this week that a new wave of curses attacked them. For months, the attacks had increased exponentially, and no one knew exactly why. Hiromi ran towards the point of the attack with Kuzakabe, while the echo of the bells resonated from the control tower. Nagi rang them loudly, alerting the villagers to come to help or rush to safety to get the children to their huts.

The place of the attack was behind some houses that bordered the wall. The stone had been devoured by the curses as if they were termites, opening a hole through which they now entered en masse. Kuzakabe rushed forward with other men, axe in hand, trying to cut down the grotesque creatures that mocked them. Each blow seemed harmless, as if the edge of the blades barely tickled them. No matter how hard they struggled, they could never kill the curses; the most they managed to do was wound them enough to drive them away, even if only temporarily.

Hiromi drew back his bowstring and fired an arrow at the head of one of the curses. The arrow pierced the air accurately, but upon impacting the creature’s side, it was absorbed into its body. “They’re like damn jellies,” he thought in frustration as he pulled out another arrow. Before he could fire, however, the creature fixed its attention on him and charged straight in, its movements grotesque but swift.

Desperate, Hiromi released another arrow, this time aiming for its head. But, as before, the projectile was useless. The curse caught him with an outstretched arm that lengthened unnaturally, clinging to his shirt tightly. Fear paralyzed him as he realized there was no escape. Another arrow would make no difference, and if it hit him, it would probably swallow him just the same.

“I will die here,” he thought, resigned, as he felt the grip tighten around his neck. Although he had always been a man of principles, dedicated to his community and willing to protect everyone, even in his final moments he could not help but regret it. He had made mistakes, but there was one that constantly watched over his head that did not let him rest. He was about to close his eyes, waiting for his life to pass before him.

But then, a red sparkle illuminated his vision.

You fell from the sky with impossible grace, wielding Sukuna’s dagger. With a single, clean and precise movement, you cut the curse in two, making it disappear in a whirlwind of shadows. Hiromi fell back on the grass, panting, and opened his eyes wide when he saw you in front of him.

Your red dress, tight to your figure, shone under the moonlight. Calmly, you lifted your skirt to hide the dagger in the garter of your leg, revealing a fraction of your underwear. Hiromi gulped, his mind unable to process what he was seeing. It couldn't be you. It was impossible. A year ago, your mother had sold you to the tyrant Sukuna. There was no way you were here, alive and in front of him. “Am I in heaven?” he thought. He couldn't take his eyes off you, completely captivated.

“Give me that,” you said as you leaned down to take the bow and quiver from him, snapping the poor man out of his forbidden thoughts.

“Do you know how to use it?” Higuruma stuttered in shock.

“Watch and learn, my friend,” you replied proudly as you put the quiver on your back in a quick, precise movement.

The rainbow dragon that had traveled nonstop to the commune was taking care of a few curses as the men ran away in terror at the sight of a curse bigger than the last, but there were some lucky curses that were escaping through the gap they had created to enter.

“If you focus 100 percent on your target, the object you give your cursed energy to is destined to hit the target 100 percent of the time.” You quoted King Gojo in your mind.

You took a deep breath, letting the air fill your lungs as you got into the T-position you had practiced so many times, it was already part of your muscle memory. Your gaze, sharp as a blade, focused on the three curses trying to escape. With a small dose of imagination, you visualized the path of your arrow before firing. “Focus,” you repeated in your mind like a mantra, banishing any distractions until the curses were the only thing in your field of vision. A satisfied smile curved your lips as you took them into your sights. The creatures had lined up clumsily to cross the hole in the wall, one by one. You let go of the string and the arrow shot out like a fireball. The whistling sound cut through the air before piercing through all three heads in a single shot. The final impact against the stone wall shattered the arrow into a thousand splinters, but it didn’t matter. The curses were gone, dissolved into the void. 

“Wow…” Higuruma whispered behind you as he witnessed what you had done. You quickly hung onto the arch over the body to help your friend up.

“Hiromi! Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” You asked worriedly as you inspected his body.

You brushed his hair back like you know he likes. His black eyes looked at you, still surprised that you were in front of him. His nose was just as big as ever, but the maroon bags under his eyes were new. It hadn’t changed since you last saw him walking through the commune, heading to the court to start another busy day as a Judge.

“Y/n…” He whispered your name as if it was forbidden. “Is it really you?”

“It’s me.” You gave him a smile as you put your arms around his neck to hug him.

Before you could pull him towards you, Hiromi beat you to it. He held you firmly by the waist and pulled you towards his body with a desperate, urgent movement. The impact left you breathless for a moment, but your defenses crumbled when you realized that you were finally home. He wrapped you in his arms with a strength that was not only physical, but emotional, as if by doing so he promised himself that he would never let you go again. An intense warmth ran through you when you felt his hand pressing firmly against your back, anchoring you to him.

“I can't believe it. Everyone already thought you were dead.” Hiromi gently pushed you away to see your face, verifying that it was indeed you. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” He asked, worried as always. You were going to answer, but your hungry stomach answered for you.

“By any chance, do you have anything to eat?” You asked, embarrassed.

After the rainbow dragon returned to its sphere, and you reluctantly swallowed it, Hiromi placed his cloak over your shoulders and led you to his hut. He lit the candles again, leaving a plate of bread and cheese in front of you before making you a pot of tea as you told him everything you had learned since you were Sukuna’s servant. You still couldn’t believe that phase 1 of your plan had been completed. You were in the commune and Sukuna was thousands of miles away. It was unreal, but you had to believe it soon because this was only the beginning. Phase 2 was simpler: warn the entire commune about the upcoming war.

“Let me see if I understand correctly.” Higuruma sat in front of you with a small teapot made especially for him by the craftsmen. “Sorcerers do exist. They use something called “techniques” to exorcise curses. The neighboring kingdoms are full of them. There is also a kingdom full of curses that is now ruled by Sukuna, and he plans to use them to declare war on everyone, starting with the Zen'in. The Zen'in are very strong, especially an idiot commander named Naoya Zen'in who has entered several times, proving that Sukuna's kingdom is not as difficult to perpetuate as he thinks.”

"What a good memory you have, Hiromi." You smiled at him with your lips full of bread crumbs.

"A war..." Your friend held his forehead worriedly.

"I came as soon as possible to plan a strategy to defend the commune." You explained.

"Defend the commune? But I doubt we will participate in the war if Sukuna has a kingdom full of curses on his side." Hiromi frowned in confusion. You took a paper and a pencil from the pile of paper that was stacked on the coffee table that acted as his dining room. You drew a makeshift map of the world map that Sukuna had once shown you.

“We won’t participate in the war, but if the kingdoms decide to attack from the Impossible Belt, we’ll be right in the crossfire.” You explained, scribbling on the paper to prove your point. “Also, the curse attacks are only going to keep increasing because of Sukuna’s decision. He’s the one who imposed the curfew. That’s why the curses only attack the commune at night.”

“We are the bargaining chip for the curses to cooperate in the war,” Hiromi concluded.

“Bingo.” You dropped your pencil on the table before taking your cup of tea. It couldn’t compare to the tea Uraume made.

This wasn’t just bad, it was a disaster, a potential catastrophe. If what you said was true, the commune, their only home, could be wiped out before the rooster announced a new dawn. That little corner of the world was all they knew, all they loved. They weren’t going to let it crumble under the weight of an arrogant tyrant’s desires for grandeur. The mere thought of losing it ignited an unbreakable rage in them. The commune wasn’t just a place, it was their refuge, their history, and they would fight to their last breath to protect it.

“How much time do we have to prepare?” He asked, intrigued. This was the part you were afraid to discuss with him.

“That’s the good news. We have at least 8 years,” you replied.

“Really? I thought we’d have months at most.”

“It’s because the king wants an heir,” you explained.

“Who would be crazy enough to give that thing a child?” Hiromi asked sarcastically before sipping from his warm cup.

“Me.” Your friend’s eyes widened, and he dropped the cup, crashing to the floor.

“What?! No, no, and no! You’re crazy!” Hiromi shot up from his seat as he rubbed his forehead. A headache took over his head from lack of sleep and stress.

“It’s too late, I’m engaged to him,” you added shyly, knowing the reaction he’d have.

“Engaged?! Have you lost your mind?!” If you told him that you almost lost it (literally) for kissing King Gojo, the vein on his forehead would pop.

Hiromi was a protective man, sometimes too much when it came to you. He would scold you severely when you made a bad decision since you were children, he taught you to read so that you would develop your mind for your own good, and he helped you in whatever way he could when he wasn't studying all day for the Judge's exams. He also used to bring you groceries from time to time and a few gold coins when your father died. He was an excellent friend and that could play against your plan.

"No! I will not allow you to marry him! You are too good for that damn genocidal!" He exclaimed before you forced him to sit down in an attempt to calm him down. He dropped his head into his hands. "I'm sorry, Y/n..."

"You have nothing to apologize for." You stroked the black hair that stuck out from the back of his neck.

“I should have asked for your hand. I should have married you to protect you. I never thought your mother would be so cruel as to sell you to King Sukuna.” A tear fell on your bare foot, creating a lump in your throat. “I was so busy that I didn't even notice. Your sisters told me a week later. You wouldn't be in this huge trouble if I had been a better friend. Forgive me.” He implored while hugging your legs and his head resting on your stomach. Hiromi spoke as if he could finally free himself from a weight that has been eating away at him for a long time.

“It's not your fault…”

“It is! Instead of helping others, I should have always been helping you!” Hiromi exclaimed to drown any attempt to make him believe otherwise.

“And you helped me! You always did!” You imitated his volume, causing him to get up annoyed to look you straight in the eyes.

“I should have helped you when it mattered the most!” Hiromi grabbed you by the arms so you wouldn't run away from the argument like you used to do, so as not to worry him anymore.

“And I would have rejected your help!” You shouted, causing your friend to jump, but he still didn't let go. “You're the best Judge this commune has ever had, and I'm so proud of you. I wasn't going to let you put that aside for me. I could never do that to you,” you told him, calmer now.

“Look at you, always thinking of others before yourself.” Hiromi sighed in disappointment. “I'm not going to let you marry a fucking tyrant.”

“I want to!” You replied.

“You can’t be serious.” Hiromi shook his head, almost laughing at how stupid that sounded.

“I love him.”

That was the hardest part, the one you were most afraid of revealing. You mentally prepared yourself, anticipating the monumental scolding you felt you deserved. But, to your surprise, all you received was a dense, impenetrable silence. It was worse than you had imagined. The absence of words did not calm you, it only intensified your anxiety. Something in his gaze, in his stillness, worried you even more than any reproach.

“You don't love him…” Hiromi took you by the chin so you could look into his eyes. “You only got used to his presence to survive.”

“No, no… I really do love him, and he loves me too. I'm sure,” you said, pulling yourself from him. “I know it's a terrible curse that has killed thousands of people and sees humans as rats, but he's different with me. He cares about me, gives me beautiful things, touches me like he's afraid of breaking me. He does love me."

"Do you even hear yourself? Sukuna Ryomen is the most horrible curse there is, you can't be serious." Hiromi sighed before sitting down to process what you had said.

"I know this is all crazy, but it's the truth, Hiromi. It's why I'm still alive after making so many mistakes. Besides, if I was madly in love with him for survival, I'd still be at that ball and not here to warn everyone about the war."

"You say you love him, and you think about betraying him. That doesn't make any fucking sense," he hissed angrily.

"It's not betrayal if I'm doing it for his kingdom." You shrugged. "I just want to protect the commune, and I know you do too." Hiromi raised his head to finally look at you. “So, please help me one last time.”

Hiromi sighed and then gave you a weak smile. “As many times as you like.”

Mrs. Inoue was enjoying a lemonade while waiting patiently for the chocolate cookies to come out of her oven. It had been two days since the ball and there had been no news of any disturbance in the Zen'in kingdom, so surely you and the king should be back at the castle soon. Mrs. Inoue enjoyed baking, but being someone who worked her ass off for her entire life, she never had time to do it until now. It was the first time in her life that she had a couple of days off, so she spent it baking and sharing them with the curses. And now that you would be arriving soon, she was baking some cookies especially for you. Everything was peaceful and quiet, until a curse slammed the kitchen door.

“The king is coming!” Announced. Mrs. Inoue smiled excitedly at the thought of your arrival. “And he comes alone!” She had never lost her smile so quickly. 

Sukuna slammed the castle door and entered without saying a word to anyone. Everyone was watching their gaze. With that attitude, he could kill someone just by hearing a breath he didn't like. Kenjaku offered him ideas on how he could relax after the two-day trip, but ended up being completely ignored. The master could only sigh as he watched the upset king walk away through the halls towards his room.

"What happened? Where is the lady?" Mrs. Inoue approached Kenjaku, distressed to see the state of the king.

"The lady must be fine. She must be in the castle of Sukuna’s kingdom right now," Kenjaku explained.

"Why is she there? What happened?" She inquired.

"I'm not sure. The only thing I was able to understand was that our king had a severe argument with the lady. My theory is that Y/n perhaps did something that was not to the liking of our king." Kenjaku explained.

Something in the poor lady's mind finally gave up, as if a thread had finally snapped from the tension. It couldn't be true. After hearing you anguish over why the king wouldn't ask you to marry him, you were going to do that to him? The situation had crossed the threshold of absurdity, bordering on unbearable. Her thoughts were in turmoil. This couldn't continue like this. If no one else was going to put things in order, then it would be up to her to do something about it.

"Mr. Kenjaku, if King Sukuna were to kill me today, tell the lady it's her fault." She asked him for a favor before walking back to the kitchen at a determined pace.

"What did you say?" Kenjaku asked her, stunned.

"You heard me!" She replied like a battle cry. "Every day I understand humans less," Kenjaku thought with a giggle.

Mrs. Inoue took a deep breath to steel herself before knocking on the large door to his majesty’s room. Unlike the sorcerers with impressive techniques, she only had a tray of chocolate chip cookies and a glass of cold milk to defend herself against the great tyrant. She knocked on the door with loud knocks to break through the thick wood.

“Get lost,” the king ordered.

“It’s me, Mrs. Inoue.”

“Go away,” the king growled again.

“I brought freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.”

There was a moment of consideration.

“Come in.” “It always works,” she thought with a smile.

Mrs. Inoue entered the room, her steps falling short against the imposing elegance of the place. A cut crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling like a luminous jewel, while a splendid balcony gave a glimpse of the vast landscape beyond. Every detail in the decorations spoke of a luxury that seemed unattainable, pieces that surely cost more than she could ever imagine in her entire life. But none of that was as striking as the figure of the king, lying in bed.

Sukuna was completely wrapped in the blankets, with his eyes closed, and his face marked by a fatigue that was not only physical, but emotional. His powerful silhouette now looked like that of a man who carried a weight too great even for him. Since he made that decision, the king had felt trapped in an abyss. His appetite had abandoned him, his words had been reduced to nonexistent murmurs, and all he wanted was to sleep, to sink into an endless dream that would take him away from his thoughts. But not even the refuge of the bed offered him comfort.

This was what he feared most when he realized that he had fallen in love with you. That love had turned him into someone he despised: weak, vulnerable, and tormented by emotions that he believed he had buried centuries ago. Sukuna couldn't stand being that man again, the one who once let the world watch him fall.

"They're chocolate cookies, my specialty." Mrs. Inoue set the tray on the nightstand.

"Just leave it there and get out." Sukuna ordered, turning on the bed until his back was facing her.

"Actually, I have something to tell you." "I know you wanted me to keep it a secret, Y/n, but I'm doing you a favor," she thought. "I wrote the letter." She confessed.

Sukuna frowned and turned back on the bed to face Mrs. Inoue. "But Y/n already confessed that she wrote it." "Explain yourself."

"The lady asked me for my opinion on a love letter she had written for you. It was horrible. The harvest contract was more romantic than what she wrote." This made the king's lip curl slightly. “So I asked her to tell me everything she felt for you so I could rewrite the letter.”

She still remembered that day in the library with astonishing clarity. Every detail was etched in her mind as if it had happened yesterday: the way your cheeks instantly flushed, tinted with a blush that seemed even more vibrant under the light filtering through the large window. Your hands trembled slightly as you crumpled the napkin where you had written your horrible draft, as if you wanted to erase not only the words, but also the audacity of having written them. Then, a nervous giggle escaped your lips, soft and brittle, filling the space.

“He makes me feel like I’m the only girl in the world. I can’t stop thinking about him even when he’s not around. I want him to kiss me, touch me… I mean, I’m happy, even if he looks in my direction…” Mrs. Inoue watched you curiously as you wandered around the library.

There it was again, that look. That unmistakable sparkle that lit up in your eyes every time you spoke of him. It was a spark of pure emotion, a loving glow that she had recognized since they were both simple servants. She didn't hesitate for a moment, taking the sheet of paper and pen that you handed her. While you spoke with a mixture of enthusiasm and nervousness, she concentrated on translating your words and feelings into the most romantic letter she could imagine, a masterpiece that captured the essence of what your heart wanted to tell him.

“Oh no, did you write on the paper?” That romantic look turned into a worried one.

“Yes, it’s real and lively.” Mrs. Inoue asked you as you took the letter and read it. “Was it wrong?”

“I just wanted to write it myself, and this is the only paper our king gave me,” you explained.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Mrs. Inoue apologized.

After a second of consideration, a mischievous giggle escaped your lips. “No, don’t apologize. This is perfect, actually.”

“It is?”

“Yes, it’s just what I need.” You walked over to the table to fold the letter in four and trim the edges to make it look like a heart. “Just don’t tell anyone that you wrote it, is that clear?” You swore her to secrecy with a wicked smile she had never seen before.

“Why are you telling me this now?” Sukuna asked, sitting on the bed while eating a cookie and listening intently to Mrs. Inoue.

“Because you two are acting like silly children,” Mrs. Inoue scolded him. “It’s obvious that you love each other, but you keep sabotaging each other as if it were a game of who falls first when you’re both already at the bottom.”

From his dull eyes, which seemed to carry an old pain, to the way he held the cookie with both hands, Sukuna was nothing more than a lost child trapped in the body of a monster. Mrs. Inoue, accustomed to fearing him, realized that something had changed. This Sukuna, so vulnerable, was not the ruthless creature she had come to know. It was a version she never thought possible, but there he was, in front of her, stripped of all power, displaying a fragility that almost broke her heart. “This poor boy just needs his granny,” she thought, her resolve strengthening as she looked at him tenderly.

“Why don’t you tell me what happened? Surely it can be fixed.” Mrs. Inoue reached over to feel his knee in an attempt to comfort him.

“I almost cut her head off.” “For a second, I forgot who I was talking to,” she gulped. “We argued, and she said she wasn’t sure she loved me anymore,” Sukuna whined before devouring the cookie in anger.

“Oh…” “Why did you do that, girl?!” she scolded you telepathically.

“I only got distracted for a second, and she was already with a… normal man. They looked so good together.” Sukuna pulled his legs to his chest to curl into a ball.

For as long as he can remember, Sukuna has hated his appearance. It was the root of all his problems: the reason his mother looked down on him, why his hometown rejected him and stoned him, why on more than one occasion he saw death as his only way out. Over the centuries, he learned to see his body in a new light. He understood the advantages it offered him, the power it conferred on him, and slowly began to love it, not for what it was, but for what it allowed him to be: the feared king of curses, a symbol of strength and dominance. But that fragile balance he had built was shattered in an instant when he saw the only thing he couldn't do: look good next to you.

You were a beautiful, kind-hearted maiden, and he was an abomination that nature couldn't undo in time. All those barriers that took centuries to build collapsed when he saw you next to him. A beautiful man, of almost heavenly grace, someone who conquered hearts without even trying. Even yours. Suddenly, the old insecurities came back like a cruel echo, a reminder of the part of himself he had buried but never overcome. And at that moment, for the first time in centuries, Sukuna didn't feel like a king. He felt like an insufficient man.

"Who wants a normal man? That's boring. You have character, strength and that champion smile." Mrs. Inoue encouraged him. "Let me see that smile."

Mrs. Inoue moved closer to tickle his ribs, on the sides of his mouth. Sukuna tried to push her away, but she was faster. That itchy sensation he hadn't felt in years made him laugh out loud.

"There it is. You look very handsome, my king. I'm sure Y/n thinks the same. Don't you remember how she saw you at the coronation? She almost wanted to take your clothes off with her eyes."

“Did she really look at me like that?” Sukuna blushed as he thought of how good you looked too. You always look good, though. You were like his little doll that he could dress up in pretty clothes to his liking.

“I don’t know anything about love, so what I know is that it’s very hard to find.” The lady gave a kind smile. “What you two have is beautiful and unique. She really loves you, so I doubt she’ll stop anytime soon. If you apologize from the bottom of your heart, I really think she’ll forgive you.” That was all Sukuna needed to be able to get out of bed.

“Just apologize?” Sukuna made a face of displeasure.

“What’s wrong with it?” Mrs. Inoue asked, confused.

That wasn’t enough for him. Vulnerability might have gotten to him, but he was still a king, and a king didn’t have the luxury of losing himself in regrets. This wasn’t the time for weakness or regrets; What was done was done, but there was always room to try again. I had to prove it to you. I had to make it clear that you had chosen the right king, not just the man who ruled with power, but the one who would treat you like no one else could. Not just like a queen, but like a goddess descended from heaven, someone worthy of being worshiped in every breath and gesture.

He was no ordinary man, and he couldn't offer you ordinary love. Sukuna knew he had to show you that, in his hands, you would never be just someone else; you would be his everything, the center of his universe. And if he had to try a thousand times to prove it to you, he would do it.

"She deserves much more than my apologies. I am the king of curses and I always win. I may have lost the battle, but I am going to win the damn war the only way I know how: I am going to conquer her heart back." He got out of bed and took another cookie from the tray. "And you are going to help me." He ordered the lady, frightened by his evil speech, before leaving her room.

“Yes, my king!” Mrs. Inoue exclaimed like a soldier before following him.

After Hiromi helped you plan a strategy for the commune to defend itself from the impending war, you spent the next three days writing down everything you remembered about the sorcerers so that Hiromi could later make them known to everyone at a mass meeting. You had spent it locked in your personal library and eating bread, rice, and boiled vegetables to continue writing down all the information that the Judge would need in order to explain everything that they once thought was a myth. But that wouldn’t be enough.

You had to make the most of the king’s absence. Since finding the sorcerers hidden in the commune would take quite a while, they had to move quickly to get the next best thing: cursed weapons. You knew that the warehouse was full of them, and they could use them while they found a way to make their own. The plan was relatively simple. You would enter the castle and at night you would steal the weapons and bring them to the commune.

“Are you sure about this?” Hiromi asked you as you walked towards the wall with the intention of returning to the castle, holding your heels by the laces.

“I know it’s a very risky plan, but it’s the best we have,” you explained.

“It’s not going to work,” said a third voice behind you.

She was an imposing woman, tall, with a silver mane dyed a soft blue hue that fell in messy cascades, partially covering her face and torso like an ethereal veil. One of her eyes, a deep and magnetic purple, peeked out between the strands, sparkling with an almost feline cunning. She wore a black dress that seemed to absorb the light. On her shoulder, a raven descended from the sky with calculated precision, spreading its wings before landing, as if that were its natural throne.

“Who are you?” You asked, confused.

“My name is Mei Mei, it's nice to finally meet you in person.” She introduced herself with a smile.

“She's the commune's tarot reader,” Hiromi added to put you in context.

“Meet me in person? Did you already know me?” You asked confused.

“I've been watching you for a while with the help of my crows. I can't help it. Your romance with the king is so interesting,” Mei Mei let out a smile.

“Can you see with your crows?” You asked, shocked.

“I knew you were full of shit! You spy on people!” Hiromi accused her, to which Mei Mei just laughed.

“You're a sorceress…” You concluded.

“That doesn't exist,” Mei Mei scoffed.

“Cause tarot is super real.” You rolled your eyes at the hypocrisy.

“Why are you revealing your secret to us?” Hiromi asked suspiciously.

“I spy on everyone here. I couldn't help but listen to your entire conversation about your discoveries, and I was intrigued by the thing about weapons that can kill curses. I want one for self-defense, so let’s make a deal. I help you get them, and you give me one. What do you think?” Mei Mei explained.

“Give us a second,” you asked the woman before team meeting with Hiromi. “What do you think?” You whispered.

“I don't know… People here don't trust her,” he explained.

“But she's a sorceress. I think she could really help us, and she doesn't ask for much in return. Since she wants something, she'll do whatever we ask of her." You shrugged. Hiromi looked at Mei Mei over his shoulder and she just waved at him.

"Fine... Just because the current plan is shit." You both returned to the position you were in to bring Mei Mei back into the conversation.

"Welcome to the team." You gave her a thumbs up.

"Perfect. Now let's plan something that's actually going to work." Mei Mei smiled at them.

First Step: The Crying Lady

Uraume was walking through the halls with their usual cold and calculating gaze when the creaking of the drawbridge descending caught their attention. Their eyes, always calm, opened wide, unable to hide the surprise at seeing you appear. You walked barefoot, with the elegant red dress torn and covered in dirt. Hiromi cut parts of your dress with the dagger and Mei Mei dirtied your dress with mud to make your tragedy more believable. You sobbed with a desperation that tore at the air. With trembling hands, you wiped your tears with a torn piece of the same dress. The contrast between the vibrant red of the fabric and the pale tiredness of your face made even Uraume, for a moment, feel the weight of your suffering.

“Y/N?! What happened?! Where is the king?!” They asked you, bewildered, as they ran towards you.

“The king saw me kissing King Gojo and punished me by making me walk here from the Zen'in kingdom!” You sobbed, tears running down your cheeks to swing on your chin. “I was cold and scared! I'm so hungry! I never thought I would make it, Uraume!”

Uraume didn't know how to react or what to do in the face of your shock. If the king had already punished you, then the only thing they could think of was to give you a warm welcome after fulfilling such a martyrdom.

“Welcome home, Miss. Why don’t we go to your room for a hot bath?” Uraume helped you into the castle.

“I can go to my room by myself. I’m starving, could you make me something to eat?” You wiped away your tears.

“Yes, of course, Miss.” Uraume nodded and ran to the kitchen while shouting incoherent orders to the servants.

You smiled to yourself as you wiped away the tears you were crying because of the onion Hiromi had slashed in your eyes before leaving the commune. The first step of reintegrating you into the castle had worked. As soon as Uraume left, the other servants came out of their hiding places to greet you with words of encouragement. Among them was Wasuke. Just the man you wanted to see.

Step Two: The Helper

“Wasuke!” You jumped into his arms as if he were your grandfather. “I missed you so much!”

“Miss! Are you okay?!” He asked you, worried.

“I’m better already,” You smiled at him. “My legs are exhausted from walking so much. Help me, please.” Wasuke took you by the arm to lead you to your room.

Once in your comfortable room, you stepped inside and made sure no one had followed you. You pulled Wasuke into the room and locked the latch behind you.

“I need your help,” you whispered to him.

“What? Are you okay?” Wasuke whispered back to you with a question mark on his face at your change of mood.

“I’m fine, I just need a simple favor.”

Step Three: Curfew

The bells rang punctually at 10 pm. You had already taken a bath and rested all day for this moment. You put on the dress you used to train archery in and a black cape, perfect for camouflaging yourself with the surroundings. You had already done the easy part of the plan, all that was left was the almost impossible. Getting to the weapons room without anyone seeing you. It was a warehouse that could only be entered from the courtyard. You could see it from the small window that opened from your window. There were already several crows hanging around the area as usual. “Who would say that someone was always watching me and I didn't know” you thought. You took out the dagger that Sukuna had given you, you caressed the rose with your thumb.

“If you won't do anything for them, I will, my king,” you said to the dagger before leaving your room.

You walked barefoot through the halls to avoid making as little noise as possible. You looked around as you watched a crow follow your discreet movements from the window. When you were about to run into a curse, you just dodged it or hid until it passed. Just like you had done that night when the king kissed you for the first time. You blushed as you remembered that. “Focus!” You scolded yourself for thinking about that at a time like this.

You reached the main entrance, and now you just had to wait for the signal. You opened it a centimeter to see the perimeter. Three curses patrolled from the bridges that connected the towers. Mei Mei, seeing your head sticking out of the gate, sent the crow flying near the curses.

“Hello! Hello!” The crow spoke, perfectly imitating its owner's accent, to get her attention.

“Do crows talk?” A curse in armor asked the other.

“How are they going to talk?” The other curse answered sarcastically.

“Well, that crow spoke.” The first curse spoke.

“Actually, crows don't speak, they just imitate the sounds of their environment.” The third curse entered the conversation.

“Ah….” The first curses nodded.

Another crow landed at the front door, your signal to leave, but you froze as you felt a curse appear behind you with a candle.

“Miss, it’s curfew,” he reminded you in a whisper.

You held the dagger under your cloak with a trembling hand, the cold metal feeling heavier than you remembered. “Sorcerers kill curses, we don’t save people,” King Gojo’s words echoed in your mind, sharp as the weapon you held. Guilt began to envelop your chest like a cloak of thorns. Killing an innocent being, even if it was a curse, was an act that ate away at you from within. It didn’t attack you, it didn’t show any signs of hostility, but the dilemma had no place in your mission. You couldn’t afford to take the risk. Any mistake, no matter how small, could crumble the plan on which everything depended.

“It’s not personal.” You whispered before throwing the dagger straight at his forehead.

The body disappeared before your eyes. You swallowed the lump in your throat. This was not the time to give him a minute of silence, you would do that when you returned to the castle. You pulled the dagger out of the wall and quickly left for the warehouse while the guards were distracted. The small wooden block Wasuke had put there to keep it from looking unlocked from afar allowed you to enter the warehouse without the key. You locked yourself in place. You took the dagger and pushed it to stab yourself in the throat. The rainbow dragon, feeling the adrenaline rush through your body, shot out of your mouth before you could hurt yourself. You ordered it to open its mouth to shove all kinds of weapons into its snout. You could finally breathe a sigh of relief that the plan was going according to plan. Swords, daggers, bows, axes, you crammed everything you could into 10 minutes. Pushing in as far as you could, you stuck your hand out the door and waved it like a flag. One of the crows called out in understanding for you to take shelter.

Step Four: The Distraction

Uraume patrolled the halls like every night, deep in thought. They wondered if they should check one last time to see if you needed anything else, but the late hour of the night deterred them. They decided they could wait until dawn. However, something in the air caught their attention: a pair of crows flying by, but it wasn't their presence that made them uneasy, but the place and time. Crows were common, but they rarely ventured out late at night. A pair of curses watching the area crossed their path, distracting them. Believing there was nothing out of the ordinary, they decided to ignore the black birds. Big mistake.

Without warning, a huge flock of crows crashed through the castle's glass with deafening violence, flooding every corner with their dark threat. "A surprise attack!" They thought, adrenaline beginning to course through their body. Quickly, they covered themselves with a layer of ice, seeking protection, but what he hadn't anticipated was that one of the crows hit the frozen barrier. The blow was so strong that it exploded like a bomb, throwing Uraume against the wall with such force that they fell unconscious.

The screams of the curses, overflowing from the ferocity of the attack, were the clear signal that it was time to escape with the cargo. Quickly, you took the rainbow dragon out of the warehouse and, without hesitation, you mounted it. As you soared through the skies, the curses continued to fight to save themselves, too busy with the rain of bomb crows that mercilessly lashed at them to see the giant dragon. You looked back, contemplating the chaos you left behind, and a proud smile appeared on your face. You had managed to successfully complete the plan, leaving a wake of destruction.

Final Step: Deliver the Cargo

You arrived at the commune with the rainbow dragon. Hiromi was already waiting for you with a group of people, to whom you would distribute the cursed weapons.

“You did it. You really did it.” Hiromi whispered to you in relief as he gave you a big hug.

“This is just the beginning, my friend.” You reciprocated.

You and Hiromi began to distribute the weapons among the guards who watched the borders. Mei Mei, as promised, received a giant axe for her magnificent work. Kuzakabe received a sword, like the vast majority of his compatriots. Nagi was next in line. She had her arms crossed and a face that smelled like farts. She really didn't like seeing you alive.

“How is your crazy sister?” Nagi asked you reluctantly.

“Dead.” You answered without blinking. “How is your brother who was crazy for her?” You gave her back to him.

“Dead like the rest of my family.” She answered, trying to imitate your tone, but her shaky voice gave her away.

Now they were in the same conditions. Older sisters completely alone because of a curse. You decided to be the oldest person in the conversation, it was the best to avoid resentment.

"Truce?" You understood her hand.

"Just because you're the Judge's friend." She answered reluctantly before shaking your hand. You smiled at her before handing her a sword.

After handing out the weapons to their new owners, it was time to return to the castle. You fine-tuned the last details of the plan with Hiromi while you stroked the soft fur of the rainbow dragon that rested majestically next to you.

"I'll try to look for information on how to identify sorcerers, but in the meantime, don't tell anyone that sorcerers exist. We need to hide Mei Mei in case Sukuna comes looking for the person responsible for the surprise attack and the disappearance of the cursed weapons." You explained.

“Of course. We’ll find a safe place to hide the weapons in case of an intrusive inspection, and I’ll see what I can do to get Mei Mei to cooperate with us in the future. She seems to be very interested in material goods,” Hiromi replied.

You gave him a knowing smile before climbing onto the dragon's back, but before you could try, Hiromi grabbed your arm to get your attention.

"Take care of yourself, please."

"I'll be fine." You told him.

"I'm serious. Promise me we'll see each other again."

"Hiromi…."

"Promise me you'll take care of yourself before anyone else."

"I promise." You squeezed the hand holding yours.

Hiromi scanned you with his gaze before letting you go. You jumped onto the dragon.

"See you later." You promised him.

"See you later." Hiromi whispered, clenching his fist behind his back, not wanting to let you go.

Uraume woke up sometime after the chaos had cleared. Their mind was clouded and their body ached with every movement. It had all happened too fast, a whirlwind of violence and destruction that left them stunned. Never, in all their years of service, had they witnessed anything like it. As they stood up with difficulty, they noticed the state of the castle. Black feathers covered the floor like a funeral carpet, mixing with the broken glass that reflected the faint moonlight. Every step crunched beneath their feet. The curses, those creatures that used to fill the halls with their menacing presence, had almost completely disappeared. Uraume pressed a hand to their still spinning head. It all felt like a fever dream, but the pain in their body reminded them that it was very real. Uraume looked around, searching for answers, but found only desolation. It was then, as they walked down the main corridor, that something caught their attention. A strange feeling ran down their spine as they realized what was missing.

“The lady!” They exclaimed before running to your room.

Uraume arrived at your room with hurried steps, their expression marked by urgency. Without a second thought, they pushed the door with such force that it crashed against the wall.

A heart-wrenching scream escaped your lips as you threw yourself behind the bed, holding the dagger in shaking hands. Seeing you jump like that and with a weapon in your hand, they let out a scream so sharp it seemed torn from the depths of their soul. Both of you stared at each other for a moment, panting, completely bewildered by the sudden chaos.

“Fuck Uraume!” You exclaimed, catching your breath. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“Are you okay, miss?” Uraume asked you with their hand on their chest.

“I'm fine. Luckily those birds didn't attack here,” you said, relieved.

“Thank goodness,” Uraume sighed, returning to their monotonous voice. “It was a surprise attack, but it seems that everything has calmed down now. I will go to clean up before sending a report to the king about what happened.”

“I will go with you,” you offered.

“Why?” Uraume asked, confused.

“You scared me to death, so I won’t be able to go back to sleep,” you complained.

“I'm sorry, miss.”

THE UPDATE DATE WILL BE SUNDAYS FROM NOW DUE TO PROOFREADING! THX :3

Next →

Masterlist.

taglist:

Tag list: @bbnbhm @pxnellian @kbirdieee2540 @konigswifeyforlifey @kyo-kyo1 @calico-cheriies @imas1mpp @alone-the-honored-one @vlads-dracula3 @bigraga-sk @neeke-lilac02 @shaazd @airandyeah @energiepie @awkward-walking-potato @delightfully-studying @danniwerner @paradisestarfishh @missroro

(let me know if you want to be tagged in next chapters!)

[mesetacadre]

how come the last time the fascists started being popular the commies were too, but now the fascists are rampant whilst the commies aren't (specifically talking about germany rn)

Let's all first be at the same page when it comes to Europe's context at the moment. GDP growth has been stagnating for a few years, save for the momentaneous rebound after most pandemic restrictions were lifted. Regardless of how aware capitalists and economists are, capitalism is facing down another crisis. The EU specifically is beginning to show the first countermeasures in the form of militarism and the beginnings of cuts in the budget. If I recall correctly, the Next Generation fund is drying up, which is a pretty wide-reaching fund. But what's more relevant is the turn towards a war economy, I detailed more on this here and here.

Both the war economy that the EU and NATO are pushing and the pre-existing downturn push people to find answers as to why the European welfare state is showing cracks, despite professional economists insisting the economy is doing well, and despite the economy supposedly recovering from the pandemic restrictions. Now, this might come as a shocker to some, but most Europeans are still pretty fucking racist despite how sorry they say they feel about (past) colonialism and despite how much the word "decolonial" is appended to higher education. So this, mixed with the petty-bourgeois aspirations hammered into everyone since you learn to read, make it extremely easy to feel as if this situation is the fault of migrants. Many of the modern fascist or fascist-adjacent groups haven't really continued with the centrality of antisemitism, substituting it with xenophobia in general, and more specifically against arabs or muslims (they don't see a difference between those groups). Fascism reflects the already-present bigotry in society, it does not invent new types of bigotry.

Having laid this out, I would argue against you when it comes to evaluating forces. Fascism, by virtue of its own nature, is always loud and seeks to create conflicts. It's how they grow. Communist practice, on the other hand, tends to go more unnoticed. Both because serious communists don't actively seek loud conflicts as a structuring tactic, but also because bourgeois press don't have any good reason to publicize, say, a victory achieved by a group of workers organized by the communist party. Each year, marxism-leninism is growing in Europe, especially in the south. You don't hear about it unless you know where to look and who to ask by design. I don't think there is that dramatic an imbalance (if you treat the very conservative parties sweeping recent elections distinct from the organized fascist groups equivalent to those rising in the 1920s, which I do), but regardless, I do think there is being a considerable preemptiveness in this rise in popularity. It's no accident every one of these groups has a money trail leading to the most reactionary factions of the bourgeoisie and their corresponding parties. The eurocommunist parties are also fulfilling their role as the left-wing of social-democracy, and acting as a sponge that absorbs a considerable number of would-be communists with a will to organize.

[kiddbegins]

Elections • A. Hotchner

A/n: this is self indulgent and heavily politically charged. I need to get how I’m feeling out in one way or another. So. …

There was only one thing you didn’t want to wake up to today. Weeks of going out and spreading the word. Hours of pacing, worry, anxiety, fear, filling you from the tips of your toes to the halo a top your head.

Election Day had never been this difficult. Usually you could see a light at the end of the tunnel but not this time. This time it felt like you were going to wake up drowning if the wrong side won.

Aaron was working. He had to be. You were home alone, everything spotless thanks to the anxious cleaning you did.

He’d been keeping tabs, knowing how much this was getting to you. You’d cried into his arms a few times already so it was no wonder that he was trying to get home to you now.

Because the first thing you and all Americans did the second they woke up was check the polls. 209 - 277.

He won.

Again.

Bile immediately grew in your throat, barely making it to the bathroom before it came out of your mouth. Retching with fear, anger and anxiety.

This meant horrible things. That you, a woman, were going to be the target of negativity for at least the next four years.

Your phone was ringing but it wasn’t audible over the higher pitch in your ear. The news wasn’t on and you were so glad it wasn’t because what exactly would that pull from you?

More tears? Screams?

It felt like hours you’d sat there on the tile floor, eyes starting to burn and thoughts running back and forth.

Leaving was always an option. But maybe not when your husband worked for the government.

Sterilization, except you were 34 and have no biological kids.

Abstaining, the most likely option at the moment but you’d miss the way Aaron held you before, during and after.

You didn’t hear the key in the door downstairs or the footsteps cracking the wood of the steps. The only sign someone was home was the bathroom light flicking on and the LED lights replacing the small bit of natural sunlight to hit your eyes.

“Oh sweetheart…” Aaron’s voice was so soft and warm it immediately brought another strong wave of tears out.

For you, for any possible child you’d have, your friends. Everything.

“I know…” he held you to his chest, knowing… knowing there was little he could do now. That anyone could do.

It took a small while before you got a calm spot. Eyes too tired to create anymore.

“Let’s get you up.” His voice gentle as he flushed the puke that still sat in the toilet and helped you up. Your body was numb.

Both from your emotions and position.

“We’ll figure something out.” He tried to make you feel better but how could he? How? You felt like someone shot you dead without ever pulling an actual trigger.

“You can’t.” Your voice raspy and full of congestion.

“Like hell I can’t. We are going to figure this out. As a couple. As a family, a country. We. Will fix this. And I would burn anything down that tried to get to you.” His voice was so firm, so full of his own fear for you that it made your heart lurch.

“This is just day one of a fight. I have no right to tell you this, but today you mourn, and tomorrow, if you can, you get back out there and you fight as hard as you have to. And i will have your back.”

“We all will.”

“Don’t do that. I am SO angry Aaron. I want to fight NOW.”

You take a breath.

“I want to scream and cry and get into a fight with everyone that voted the way they did. It’s like I have a huge bag of flames in my stomach that I want to spit out at anyone I talk to…”

“Everyone. I’m angry.”

I’m not even gonna promo down here or tag anyone. I’m just so devastated and wish I had this.

[seraphica]

A Walkthrough of Project 2025

By Emily Galvin-Almanza, originally on Twitter.

You may have heard the term “Project 2025” floating around, and you may even have cracked open the 900+ page document yourself, only to see a lot of kind of bland, policy-wonk text. So let me crack through the policy-speak and tell you WTF is in this document.

This is, um, a long thread. But if you want a lot of info about Project 2025, all in one place, you've come to the right place.

This document is what Trump and his team will do if elected. It’s their document, their plan, their platform. So like…it’s not *me* saying what they’ll do, this is *them* saying so. documentcloud.org/documents/2408…

Shall we dig in? I’ll organize and give you page numbers. I’m going to start with criminal justice stuff (of course) and then we’ll wander through other topics like repro rights (none), discrimination (fine, unless it’s against nuclear power), environmental protection (gone), etc

Predictably, this is a document full of states-rights claims, but (true to form) there is very little left to the states when it comes to a Trump criminal legal system.

Generally, the Constitution reserves criminal law to the states, allowing localities to create criminal accountability as they see fit. But under a Trump regime, “small government” just means “no EPA or medicare and HUGE expansions of DOJ’s criminal division power.”

A primary target? The discretion and decision-making of local prosecutors.

Prosecutorial discretion is part of the foundation of our legal system—the idea that the people elect their prosecutor, and can elect (or not elect) a person whose judgment they agree with when it comes to what to focus on when it comes to criminal prosecution.

The Trump DOJ will basically override local voters and prosecutors, bringing federal charges where they deem states not punitive enough. (553)

I should note that this is a ridiculous, massively difficult thing to do—our criminal court system is spread across 3,143 counties.

So what it really means is that the Trump DOJ will troll for cases they find politically meaningful, and use the full weight of the federal government to prosecute specific individuals who stand for stuff they don’t like.

They’re not just going to take on targeted prosecutions, they’re also going to legally come after prosecutors who they feel aren’t prosecuting enough. (553) It’s like this, but EVERYWHERE politico.com/news/2024/04/1…

And somehow they’re also going to do everything they can to make sentences harsher, and increase utilization of the death penalty (553-554).

They’re going to double down on the war on drugs, prosecuting interstate drug cases much more harshly (and by “interstate drug trade” they also mean “mailing abortion pills”) (555, 562).

They will also take election integrity out of the hands of the Civil Rights Division and put it in to DOJ’s criminal division (563), which means you see a lot more cases like Crystal Mason’s, but at a federal level: nytimes.com/2024/03/28/us/…

The long and short of it is, we often think of “prosecution of political enemies” as, like, Donald Trump sending DOJ after Liz Cheney or Rachel Maddow or something. And we forget that this can also mean persecution of ordinary people like Crystal Mason.

People who are not high profile themselves, but whose conduct (or even mistake!) is in a subject matter area that makes them the political target. Under this regime, being in a state that would not choose to prosecute them may be no help.

It’s also important to remember the ramifications of highly punitive policies. A DOJ that seeks the max on every case, seeks the death penalty, increases immigration detention (below), is a federal government expanding (& lining the pockets of) the prison industrial complex.

We already live in a country where basically all social ills are funneled into our criminal court system. SCOTUS just increased that trend by allowing people who are living on the street with nowhere else to go to be prosecuted for…existing…outdoors.

But in this administration, we can see an expansion of what is criminal. You’ll see a lot of Torquemada-esque interrogatory stuff in the doc (especially at Treasury?!) but the most obvious expansion of the criminal system is into the zone of women’s health.

In other words, reproductive rights? Never heard of her. The document is pretty fixated on abortion, unsurprisingly, with plans to end all forms of abortion access (including pills) throughout the document (6, 104, 284, 450, 455 - 459, 503 - 529, 562)

There’s one point I’d like to hit on in particular: this week SCOTUS punted a case back to Idaho which was covered as a case allowing emergency abortions to save a woman's life.

But in fact, that's not what really happened here---the Court punted the issue back to the Circuit court, leaving the question of whether women need to be actively dying to receive an abortion open.

Reminder: long as there is legal uncertainty, there are doctors doing nothing while wondering what they're supposed to do as a woman lies bleeding and septic on their table. msmagazine.com/2024/06/28/emt…

The fact of the matter is, under a Trump administration, they could (and would) simply choose to stop fighting to make hospitals to offer abortion in cases where it is necessary to save a woman's life.

They could simply stop fighting for EMTALA, the statute that says hospitals that get federal dollars have to offer emergency care.

And also, in Project 2025, they want to go even farther than that, farther than banning abortion. They want to MAKE SURE DOCTORS DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO DO IT.

Specifically, this doc makes the Dept of Health and Human Services responsible for ensuring that training for doctors, nurses, and doulas doesn’t include anything about abortion (485-486).

Oh also DOJ is going to be the Abortion Police and go after anyone mailing abortion pills (562).

Side note: I don’t actually disagree with ensuring more coverage for things relating to women’s preventative healthcare but Project 2025 weirdly endorsing the rhythm method is hilarious

So they're gonna make you have all these babies. Who is going to take care of these babies? Were you thinking maybe you could get access to daycare? Oh no, mama, we want YOU to take care of the babies. What’s that? You had a job? Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.

HHS now, under Trump, thinks the gay agenda is destroying families, but the presence of a biological father can prevent all manner of bad things up to and including teen pregnancy (presumably because dad is going to meet your date at the door with a shotgun)

But also….having an adult male father figure who is NOT your bio dad is apparently the worst and most evil thing in the world. BAN BOYFRIENDS.

The Trump administration would like to make the federal government close its eyes, put its fingers in its ears, and hum loudly when anyone says “gender." Specifically...

...they will scrub out any mention of the existence of trans/nonbinary/LGBTQIA+ Americans in federal agencies, policies, regulations, and legislation (4-5, 62, 259, 333, 475).

To quote, “the terms sexual orientation and gender identity (“SOGI”), diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”), gender, gender equality, gender equity, gender awareness, gender-sensitive, abortion, reproductive health, reproductive rights”

These terms are getting cut “out of every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists.” (p 4-5)

Damn, who's the language police now?

This document—in a quest to be really, really fundamentalist about gender identity—also completely abandons the idea of supporting gender equality as a whole. Efforts to protect women and girls internationally? Hell no.

Like, USAID should “remove all references, examples, definitions, photos, and language on USAID websites, in agency publications and policies, and in all agency contracts and grants that include the following terms"

And the terms are “gender,” “gender equality,” “gender equity,” “gender diverse individu- als,” “gender aware,” “gender sensitive” (259)

They would very much like to kick trans people—and anyone gender nonconforming!---out of the military (103-104). Remember Demi Moore in GI Jane? Yeah the second she gets that buzz cut she’s OUT.

What about race discrimination, you say? Well, we will have no idea, because the Trump administration plans to stop collecting any data about that. The EEOC will stop collecting data about race entirely (583).

BTW when I say this is a tricky document, this is what I mean...

The document justifies ditching any data collection by saying that “Crudely categorizing employees by race or ethnicity fails to recognize the diversity of the American workforce and forces individuals into categories that do not fully reflect their racial and ethnic heritage.”

Which at first glance, a person could be like, yes! Racial identity is complex! Let’s not put people in boxes!

But then you step back and realize that NO LONGER HAVING DATA ABOUT WHETHER BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE ARE OR ARE NOT GETTING HIRED does exactly ZERO GOOD THINGS it just makes us UNABLE TO TELL IF BAD THINGS ARE HAPPENING.

The document is full of this—really normal-sounding pablum that actually means “we are choosing to have no idea whether Black and Brown people are being shut out of the workforce, why would the government want to know that?”

The government doesn’t need to know! Because they don’t think disparate impact—when a particular group is disadvantaged in the workplace—matters anyway!

They would “eliminate disparate impact as a valid theory of discrimination for race and other bases under Title VII and other laws. Disparities do not (and should not legally) imply discrimination per se.” (583).

BTW on this point they get hella hella weird about the idea of racial equity at the Treasury Dept…where they would essentially like to have an Inquisition:

Essentially, under this administration, any agency that wants to think about whether race is playing a role in the fairness of their sector can GTFO.

If you go into the original doc and search for “DEI” you basically enter a forest of grandpas yelling I DON’T SEE COLOR YOU CAN BE BLACK WHITE GREEN PURPLE OR POLKA DOT FOR ALL I CARE

BTW you were hoping that a Democratic Senate could be an effective check of some kind, first thing in this doc is that they want to kind of tell the Senate to F off

Specifically, the plan is to get Trump-loyalist appointees into position, scrap the Senate confirmation process for a lot of these appointees and let the rest start working even before Senate confirmation. (p136-137, 173)

All of the agency heads are clearly designated as political in this doc, not expert/neutral. So EPA (428), DOJ (560), FBI (552), HUD (508), DOL (615)...basically the doc calls for the insertion of as many loyalists as possible

And yes, the job of these loyalists is, in many cases, to dismantle the agency they head.

I don’t really know where to categorize this, so I’ll put it here: they think the Department of Homeland Security suffers from “wokeness.” I’m not making that up, they said in black-and-white serif font. I can’t make this stuff up. Page 135.

So like, to be clear, in the same breath as they’re talking about the wokeness of DHS, they would also like to reinstate the Border Patrol officers (who work under DHS mind you) who were accused of galloping up on migrant families and whipping them from horseback.

“CBP should restart & expand use of the horseback-mounted Border Patrol. As part of this announcement, the Secretary should clear the records & personnel files of those who were falsely accused by Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas of whipping migrants and issue a formal apology” (139).

FWIW what they’re referring to is some CBP agents who nearly trampled a kid and used their reins in a way that was, er, whip-like (and before you accuse ME of being overly sensitive, I have ridden exactly this way in my life BUT I WAS MOVING CATTLE NOT HUMAN BEINGS.) politico.com/news/2022/07/0…

Anyway, because DHS is too woke, they need to shrink it down until it mostly just detains and deports immigrants.

They’re gonna bust its union and remove most of its programs and privatize both the TSA and also FEMA’s flood insurance program so you can get bilked if you live in a region prone to flooding (shhhh don’t say the floods are due to climate change).

SPEAKING OF CLIMATE, we’re definitely going back to the same “if you don’t have any information about the problem, the problem cannot exist” strategy they use on race.

To that end, they would like to get rid of Offices of: Domestic Climate Policy (61) Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) (61) Clean Energy Demonstration (381) The Clean Energy Corps (386) Environmental Justice & External Civil Rights (442)

This means getting rid of climate efforts in foreign aid programs (257), stopping the USDA’s efforts to focus on sustainable food production (293—who will need to eat in 20 years anyway? Certainly not our children, they will have evolved to photosynthesize and graze on plastic)

Anyway they’re getting rid of energy efficiency standards for appliances (378) as well as cutting down all EPA activity related to climate change, including repealing the Inflation Reduction Act programs providing grants for environmental science activities (440)

BTW, I think it’s worth noting that there are a lot of things stated as binaries that aren’t binary. Ending energy efficiency requirements for appliances, for example, to focus on cycle time and reparability.

I also want a right to repair! I also hate it that my car’s internal computer makes it really hard to work on my own car! I just think that we, as consumers, have the right to demand BOTH and this doc incorrectly insists that we have to CHOOSE.

I don’t have to choose between repairing an appliance that massively pollutes the planet or having an energy efficient one that will lower my bills but break every two years. WE CAN DEMAND BOTH. False binaries are a sneaky, crappy constant in this document.

I’m highlighting them in particular because false binaries are also a way of dividing us. There are things I can agree with conservative friends on…literally Monday I was having a fun, productive, common-ground convo w/a conservative friend. False binaries are toxic bullshit.

Toxic ideas abound in here. You know how TX created an abortion regulation scheme that incentivized members of the public to effectively be abortion bounty hunters? Project 2025 would do the same for *science.*

Project 2025 would incentivize citizens to come after scientists under the False Claims Act for research misconduct. This is p 438. Fun times!

This is all part of diluting expertise so that the scientists who are trying to warn us about massive danger ahead can get drowned out by “citizen scientists” whose research the EPA will…equally prioritize??? 438.

Housing and Urban Development also gets their climate programs cut (508) because, much like food, who will need housing in the future? We will return to caves, as we should.

Oh, if how much oil drilling the US is doing matters to you as a voter, Project 2025 basically says maximum drilling, all the drilling, all the time (523-524).

Just a quick note in case you were thinking this was a serious policy document: note the contrast between the doc’s desire to let states drill as much as they want bc “States are better resource managers than the federal government because they must live with the results” (524)

And revoking CA’s ability to set its own air quality standards (627)…because…states…shouldn’t be allowed to self-regulate, I guess, if their regulations make things harder for the oil industry?

Oh also they’re gonna freeze all EPA activity which wasn’t Congressionally authorized on Day One (436). How often does stuff get through Congress anymore? This one echoes the recent SCOTUS decision which also strips regulatory authority.

Basically more drilling, no windmills, don’t even think about encouraging electric cars (286).

Also open season on wolves and bears (534) and let’s just mass execute America’s wild horses (529)

To break it down, if you, like me, are a mom who is concerned about the quality of water your kids are drinking at school, and wants the gov’t to be quickly responsive to new discoveries and problems (like PFAS!) that might give your kids cancer, well, you’re fucked.

If there’s a new thing that is discovered that we should regulate/know about, too bad, because of things like this: “Remove the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) for any source category that is not currently being regulated.” (425).

Climate, of course, impacts migration. The more the US contributes to climate catastrophe, the more the consequences will be felt by the developing world, particularly in regions close to the equator and low-lying regions.

What will we do about immigration? Build more prisons for immigrants (142), send unaccompanied children away (148) increase the fees to apply for asylum + generally make immigration more expensive (146) & make it so gang violence & domestic violence no longer justify asylum (148)

Cut funding for NGOs that help immigrants find safety, and instead spend that on walls and jails (149).

Eliminate prosecutorial discretion on immigration cases (150). Oh and we’re doing the head-in-sand thing again by eliminating the office that tracks immigration jailing. 165. They don’t want an “impediment to detention.”

For Americans who rely on government programs to do things like feed their children, keep a roof over their heads, or get healthcare, things will also get worse.

They really hate healthcare: “In essence, our deficit problem is a Medicare and Medicaid problem.” (283).

Even though they want people to have a lot of babies, they’re putting in new requirements on SNAP (299), reducing eligibility for Medicaid (467), cutting school lunch programs (302-303), and eliminating Head Start (482).

Oh and also fuck Sesame Street (247) (and public broadcasting generally).

Safe baby formula? Not a priority. “As for baby formula regulations generally, labeling regulations and regulations that unnecessarily delay the manufacture and sale of baby formula should be re-evaluated.” (302).

Speaking of schools, they’re going to get rid of the Dept of Education, which they say is “a convenient one-stop shop for the woke education cartel,“ (285, 319).

Instead of schools, let’s give teens more dangerous jobs. “Some young adults show an interest in inherently dangerous jobs...DOL should amend its hazard-order regulations to permit teenage workers access to work in regulated jobs with proper training and parental consent.” (595).

There’s kind of a sharp contrast here between high trust of parents in some contexts (to let their kids work dangerous jobs) and low trust of parents in others (if a father isn’t father-y enough terminate parental rights as fast as you can (481-482)).

Obviously, the Biden efforts to forgive student loans are toast (354) but also public service loan forgiveness is toast! “End time-based and occupation-based student loan forgiveness.” (361).

Having a job may be overrated anyway, and so the Trump Admin will tell the Fed to only think about price stability, eliminating full employment as an economic goal (661). Actually WTH maybe abolish the federal reserve completely (also 661).

Oh also if you were looking forward to lower drug costs, they want to end the program where the gov’t can negotiate lower prescription drug costs. 465.

As a matter of fact, no one will protect consumers against fraud and dangerous products under this admin…they are going to eliminate the CFPB completely and return consumer protection to banking regulators who are SO GOOD AT CONSUMER PROTECTION OF COURSE (/s/) 839.

Education, of course, is critical to the ability to distinguish misinformation. Under Trump, we better get ready for a lot more disinfo, because they’re going to yank federal efforts to combat misinfo/disinfo online. Facebook free for all, now with AI generated videos! (155, 550)

Speaking of misinfo, there will be no more independent Federal Election Commission.

Headed by a Trump official (with or without Senate confirmation!) the FEC will only investigate claims the Trump administration wants investigated, and remove its authority to decide what to litigate by handing that over to DOJ. (803, 865)

Oh also the new president will have to have a way to quickly deal with any ongoing, er, litigation, like, uh, criminal cases (but also ongoing litigation that conflicts with his agenda, like, say, civil rights consent decrees or environmental enforcement litigation. (28)

In the name of EXPEDIENCY, they say, the President’s lawyer (the White House Counsel) should give high-level super fast advice without wasting time on, like, researched legal memos or anything.

In other words, what Trump does will be on the advice of a counsel who doesn’t write stuff down. Not great!

Oh also the person chosen need not have fancy credentials (oh okay I'm all for that) as long as they’re LOYAL (oh wait no). Also p 28.

I’m sorry to tell you guys this, but this is like…scratching the surface. This is the beginning. This is the stuff you should know now.

If there is something you care about in this world, I think you should dip into this document and search for it, because you might find something hideous. documentcloud.org/documents/2408…

[original thread]

[mariacallous]

Georgia is at a turning point. Demonstrations have spread across the country in response to the ruling Georgian Dream’s shocking decision to suspend Georgia’s European Union membership process, started in 2022, after the opposition accused it of rigging a victory in the October parliamentary elections. The events bring to mind the 2014 Maidan Revolution, when Ukrainians protested then-President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to pull Ukraine away from the EU and closer to Russia.

Georgian authorities have responded to protesters with heavy-handed tactics. They have used water cannons, tear gas, and anti-riot forces, targeting journalists and arresting activists in an effort to weaken the protests and deter further dissent. These tactics, reminiscent of those used by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, indicate a dangerous shift toward authoritarianism.

It is unclear why Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced Georgia’s withdrawal from the EU accession process until 2028 now, but he wouldn’t have done so without the direction of Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia’s richest man and founder of Georgian Dream. While Kobakhidze accused the EU of blackmailing Georgia in his Nov. 28 statement announcing the move, his party had just campaigned for reelection promising to support EU membership. Perhaps the move was intended to preempt the expected suspension of the accession process by the EU in December; the European Parliament last week described the voting process in the October elections as “neither free nor fair” and adopted a resolution declaring the results invalid. Or perhaps it was intended to provoke protests, thus giving the government an opportunity to crush all dissent, just as Lukashenko did in Belarus in 2020.

If the latter is true, though, that strategy appears to be failing. The scale and scope of ongoing protests are unprecedented in Georgia. They are self-organized, with no single political leader or organization driving them, and are occurring in Tbilisi, the capital, but also in other large cities and even some villages. This grassroots mobilization highlights the Georgian people’s determination to keep their country on a European path.

Georgia’s institutions are showing signs of cracks. Civil servants from the ministries of defense, foreign affairs, education, and justice and other agencies have issued joint statements to distance themselves from the prime minister’s announcement. Several diplomats, including Georgia’s ambassador to the United States, have resigned.

The outcome of this standoff may hinge on the actions of security forces, law enforcement, and the military. If there are more high-ranking resignations, especially from the security services, Georgian Dream’s grip could slip. Another tipping point could be if police disobey orders to use lethal force against protesters. Already, the silence of Georgia’s military may indicate its preference to side with the country’s commander in chief, President Salome Zourabichvili.

For her part, Zourabichvili has refused to recognize the seating of Parliament, which four parties backing a pro-European charter have boycotted. Her refusal renders the current actions of the Georgian Dream-only Parliament unconstitutional. Zourabichvili has stood with protesters in the streets and has created a national unity council, designed to prepare the way for new elections.

Her efforts have borne fruit, with opposition parties showing unusual cohesion. But the president’s ability to drive change will remain limited without strong, immediate support from Brussels and Washington, even as the latter is distracted with its own presidential transition.

The days ahead will be critical. Georgia’s future remains deeply uncertain, and the stakes for the country’s democracy, let alone its European aspirations, could not be higher. Over the weekend, the United States suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia, but U.S. and European leaders can and should do more—and fast.

To this end, Georgia’s Western allies should declare that the October elections were fraudulent and thus the seating of the new Parliament and reestablishment of a Georgian Dream government—without the required approval of the Georgian president—are illegitimate and unconstitutional; there will be no recognition of Georgia’s government until new, free and fair elections are held.

They should also impose immediate and public sanctions on Ivanishvili and his associated business interests as a direct consequence for his role in undermining democratic processes, as well as provide strong political and diplomatic backing for Zourabichvili in her efforts to bring about new, free and fair elections, thus creating a path for democratic renewal. Lastly, they should call on the Georgian military and security services to uphold the country’s constitution, even if this means refusing to obey orders from the illegitimate government.

Russia is determined to flip governments in its near neighborhood, whether through presidential elections in Romania, general elections in Bulgaria, gas price pressure in Moldova, or fraudulent elections in Georgia. The West needs its own strategy to prevent Russia from succeeding. Georgia is now ground zero. The decisions made in the coming days will determine whether the country reinforces its democracy and moves closer to Europe or slides further into authoritarianism and Moscow’s orbit. And this, in turn, will inform Russia’s policies in the wider region.

[i-have-41-protons]

Lore for the Co-Dad AU:

So this began as a crack au with Jupiter and Ezra trying to out-dad each other for Morrigan, but now I’m in too deep and have created some actual lore and am in the process of making a comic at this very moment (probably, depends on when you’re reading this). Let’s begin!

Basically the main idea is that Ezra Squall somehow lives in Deucalion, not harming anyone, while Jupiter helps him protect his identity and literally nobody recognizes him as the horrible, terrible Wundersmith despite some people (like Dame Chanda) knowing how he looks, from photographs and stuff. How could this happen? Well, I really like the concept of unbreakable deals, so I decided that I could implement it here. Now, this is an au, so anything could happen, and I decided that Mog needs just a bit more help with her studies than shown in Hollowpox, to keep her from blowing up herself and/or everything around her, so she finally agreed to let Ezra teach her. Jupiter is knowledgeable in lots of stuff, right, so he could also know something about unbreakable deals (deals that cannot be broken from either side, no matter how powerful the person is or how much they try), right? So in this au, Jupiter made a deal with Ezra, in which:

Jupiter North will provide shelter for Ezra Squall in Deucalion, should he ever need it;

Jupiter will do everything in his power to keep Ezra Squall’s identity secret from everyone around, save for the individuals they have selected to tell, together;

Ezra Squall will mentor Morrigan Crow on Wundrous Arts;

Ezra will protect Morrigan from any harm;

Ezra will not use his Wundersmith abilities to harm or control, without their consent, anyone not posing a direct threat to Morrigan, himself or any individuals he and Jupiter have elected for him to protect together (this includes the Hunt of Smoke and Shadow and any other monsters or beings he creates);

Morrigan will fully pull Ezra through the gossamer, so that he is all, physically, metaphysically and mentally, in Nevermoor;

Ezra Squall, Morrigan Crow, and all persons in knowledge of Ezra’s true identity will not tell anyone not in that knowledge about Ezra Squall/Wundersmith being in Nevermoor;

these conditions will get edited as I go along with the comic, in different colors, so we can all pretend it’s Ezra and Jove revising the deal and not me noticing loopholes

And, through some complicated use of Wundrous Arts, Ezra charmed his face so it literally screams “I am not the Wundersmith you all fear and hate! Nope! Not me!! Look away and forget how this face looks!” into everyone’s minds. This is why nobody, except those who already know, will recognize him. Loophole: filled! How: magic!

Anyways Ezra is gonna get babygirl-ified, prepare yourself :3

I will be tagging everything on the co-dad au as #co-dad au :3

@pxme-granate @brainiacdunce ITS STARTING

[mornington-the-crescent]

I voted FDR in the poll because of well, the everything, and I was astonished to see how many people had chosen Nixon.

I know our education system is bad, but it was genuinely horrific to see all the other options in the single digits. For most of these people, the only bad thing they know about Nixon was watergate. I remember at least being taught about the internment camps in school, even if they neglected to mention who was president at the time.

FDR fancied himself king of America, and it's disheartening to know how few people realize how genuinely evil he was.

I mean, Nixon was on there mostly to prove that tumblr as a whole does not understand or remember history. Their knowledge of history comes from half-remembered public education, and from ahistorical and hysterical tumblr posts.

Don't get me wrong, Nixon did fucking suck.

He normalized trade relations with China, which ruined American manufacturing, sending countless American jobs overseas, and the rest of the world soon followed suit; that's why 90% of what you own is cheap and low-quality and made in China. Not to mention that the massive influx of foreign money is what led to the CCP being able to continue to prop itself up, when it otherwise would have collapsed under the weight of its own incompetence and inefficiency decades ago otherwise, like every other experiment with socialism inevitably does.

Then there's his taking America off of the gold standard, which permitted the massive expansion of the money supply, which led to the inflation of the 1970's, and all subsequent inflations, since the main safeguard and deterrent to inflationary monetary policy has been removed.

And then there's the incredibly underhanded tactics that he used to to get his political opposition: See, in spite all of his hatred for hippies and the Black Panthers, you can't ban ideologies or political movements. But, both groups tended to smoke marijuana. So what do you do? You stoke latent anti-Mexican sentiment in the American populace, and paint weed as a demon drug that makes people promiscuous and a danger to society. And once it was criminalized, well, now he had all the excuse he needed to crack down on certain groups who opposed him. He wasn't throwing them in jail for their ideology; he was throwing them in jail for the reefer! Totally different! The "War on Drugs" is total bullshit, and like all attempts at prohibition in this country, it just led to a greater amount of the "banned" item in increasing potency and availability, while creating a robust criminal underclass to supply the prohibited good.

And we can't forget that he ordered the bombing and invasion of Cambodia and Laos, two countries which had the misfortune of simply being next to Vietnam. He even ran on a platform of ending the war in Vietnam, and while the peace talks were already started by the time he was elected, it took four more years for America to finally withdraw from a war it had no business being involved with in the first place.

He weaponized the FBI and IRS against political enemies, keeping tabs on anyone that he thought was against him, spying on and even illegally wiretapping opponents. He, like so many others, tried to consolidate more and more power into the Executive branch of the government, outside the normal separation of powers. His election strategy was to openly court racists who were mad about desegregation.

And, of course, I'd be remiss if I forgot to mention Tricky Dick's Wet 'n' Wild Water Heist of 1967. Leave the water in the Reflecting Pool alone, man.

[a-tale-never-told]

History of Novoselic (Part 3)

So the 1930s rolled in, and the question of who would succeed Josip was in debate. Zoya had most of the qualities to lead but did not have military experience. Paul, by comparison, had a few issues with ruling as a king, but was exceptionable in military tactics, specializing in air warfare and guerilla tactics, and had a keen eye for talent within the youth. But the debate raged on untill eventually, a solution was found: They would vote on it at the Rastek.

It was tough, but everyone in the Rastek and the public decided to vote for who would be the new monarch. After some complications and sorting out a bit, in March of 1932, the first queen of Novoselic, Zoya Nevermind was elected as the new Monarch, by a vote of 143 to 139 in the Ustek, or electoral college. As for Paul, he was appointed as the Novoselic ambassador to Great Britain.

Zoya right off the bat, started to show some strange behavior, such as exhibiting near-dictatorial power, banning free elections and the press, and cracking down on those who spoke up. Created a secret police, called the Auslejc, who proceeded to patrol the streets and arrest people on the accusations of them being "Communist" and "Stalinist sympathizers" Hundreds, even thousands of people were arrested and were purged from the start of her regin untill the end of the war. Propaganda was used extensively to promote Zoya's regime as a golden era and she would like to star in films a lot, often ones that were really bad. It was so bad, that she starred in more movies rather than leading the country, which was in the hands of her ministers.

Back home in Britain, Paul was horrified by the news, but he couldn't go back. Zoya had postponed his flight back to Novoselic indefinitely, no doubt in an attempt to hold onto power. And so Paul stayed, already trying to mend deteriorating relations with Britain and France as Zoya courted Fascist Italy, and now Nazi Germany too. Zoya had taken a liking to Hitler, supporting his policies, especially against the Soviet Union and Communism, even calling for a genocide of ethnic Russians. Paul, on the other hand, was making friends with people like Winston Churchill of all people, who was a key figure in getting Paul back to Novoselic.

As the 30s progressed, Paul was becoming more friendly with the British, though was frustrated at Parliament for hesitating against Fascist aggression in Africa and Europe, like the incidents over Ethiopia and Czechoslovakia. He demanded they stop trying to appease the Germans, claiming that starting a war was what they wanted, and it was already happening, saying that they wouldn't just stop at the German lands. And he was right. On September 1st, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, starting WW2.

Paul knew this would happen and so talked to Churchill, by now the prime minister, about the possibility of sending him back to Novoselic to lead an insurgent movement against Zoya. Churchill was a little hesitant at first because Paul would have to go through Greece, which was neutral at the time. However, in 1941, the Germans invaded the Balkans in support of Italy, who were getting their ass destroyed by Greece and Yugoslavia. With aid from Novoselic, the Germans invaded and conquered Greece. Since Greece was now part of the conflict, Churchill finally agreed to send Paul back to lead the resistance against the Germans, Italians, and Zoya.

Paul's plan was to fly a plane to occupied Greece in the middle of nowhere, and then drive several miles through tough terrain to head to Novoselic, where he would meet Novoselic partisans fighting the Axis and be their leader. Accompanying him were a few British commandos in disguise, sent by the British as bodyguards to protect him on the way. And so on July 8th, 1941, Paul flew to North Africa and then from there took off to Greece. Once in Greece, Paul wasted no time finding transport, eventually seizing an Opel Blitz that had been left abandoned by the Germans, and drove to Novoselic. The journey was tough, they had to stop for food, water, and gas frequently and were almost detained by the SS, but eventually, he made it to the town of Cara, where the British intelligence said the rebels were there.

Upon arrival, Paul wasted zero time taking charge of the rest of the group and broadcasted his voice to other rebel groups in the country, telling them to unite under him in a coordinated effort to bring down the Axis. Eventually, he untied the rest of the Novoselic groups around his cause by 1942 and went on a guerilla campaign against the Axis. What made Paul special, was that he was great at fighting and leading a rebellion even more than his own father. He would sabotage the tanks and select where to fight, either in the dense forests or the high mountains and hills. He also started the first command pose, which was to show authority in the line of duty.

By 1943, Paul had expelled the Italians out of the mainland, by capturing their field commander during the battle of Ostos. With Italy suing for peace soon after, Paul was left to combat the Germans and Zoya alone. By the middle of 1944, the rebels had taken most of the South of the country and were advancing North. The Germans, by this time, were fighting on all fronts, the Eastern Front had fallen apart and they had to pour resources into fighting everywhere, and fighting Yugoslavian partisans didn't help matters either. Eventually, the German commander in charge decided to give up, and by late 1944, issued a withdrawal into Czechoslovakia.

Zoya, pretty much alone at this point, tried to escape with them, but was found by the partisans. She was captured, tortured, and then executed on Paul's orders. Paul felt guilty at having to order the death of his sister, but it was either her or the nation, and the nation mattered far more to him than his sister, who betrayed the people to the fascists. The following year, British forces coming from Greece arrived in Novoselic, already having self-liberated itself. With Zoya's death, most of the generals surrendered or went into hiding. And so, Novoselic became united again, with them electing Paul as king shortly afterward, and proceeded to do away with Zoya's rules.

But now, Paul had to lead the nation into a new era, against a familiar rival and in a world more spilt the last...

[gregolwman]

"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to." - Gandalf the Grey , the Lord of the Rings

It's been a long road. Getting from there to here. It's been a long time. But my time is finally near. Sorry, not sorry, but I couldn't resist. Soooooo... It's been a while huh? I know what I said about trying to post something before New Year and all that pizazz. However, I have been in a food coma and then got swamped with work so not have a lot of time to continue my award-winning trash-talking about what Star Trek Discovery could have done to be an interesting show. Therefore without further ado, let's crack into it.

Season 3: Internal Strife! One year has passed since the Klingon War and the Federation has fallen on hard times since Starfleet is at its weakest and there are plenty of sharks smelling blood in the water. The Orion Syndicate, with the secret aid of the Romulan Star Empire, created the Emerald Chain out of several Federation planets and associates by muscling in on their turf. Some people in the upper echelons of the government suspect foul play, as such President T'Rina sends Commander Burnham to investigate the situation and throws her lot with Cleveland Booker, a rogue element within the supposed idyllic lifestyle of the Federation. Eventually, Michael rejoins the Discovery's crew, but often butts heads with Captain Saru since neither of them has any idea how to get past their issues of trust and trauma, even if they come to respect one another. At some point, they are joined by Adira Tal, an inspector with the United Earth Probe Agency after some troubles on the Jovian Moons. Together they find themselves on an emergency trip to the secular world of Trill, where Adira is forced to deal with her past and the isolationist tendencies of the locals. We already know that one of Dax's previous hosts had interactions with the Federation during the 22nd and 23rd centuries so there is no reason for other adventurous symbionts not to do the same plus we can justify the death of Gray with the Klingon's attack on Starbase 1 or just the War in general, as such we have a lovely aesop of letting go of the past and living in the present and such. Anyways, besides that we also have a lost Vulcan colony that has been rediscovered following the Earth-Romulan War, it was thought that the entire place was glassed in nuclear fire. It is here where Michael uncovers a person from her past whom she hoped to never see again and where T'Rina's resolve is tested as whatever the colonists are hiding might be truly damaging to the Federation and Vulcans alike. Spoilers, it is the fact that Romulans and Vulcans can live with one another and complement each other's style of living under the right circumstances. Also, the person that Michael wishes to avoid is her mother, who was neglectful due to her grief and trauma to the point where Michael preferred to spend time with Sarek's family. Michael finally forgives herself and therefore the Georgiou hallucination that has been haunting her fades away as Burnham learned to move on, all the while Saru decides to take a leave of absence and return to his homeworld to help expedite the unification process between the Ba'ul and Kelpiens. However, not everything is going well for everyone as T'Rina gets impeached due to the Council losing confidence in her abilities to lead and the new President-Elect happens to be none other than the hawkish Laira Rillak, who is a Denobulan this time around since these guys barely got featured after Enterprise. The whole thing also benefited the Romulans since now they have more up-to-date information about their enemies without having to start another war.

Season 4: Honesty, not a lot has changed from the original format except that Gray is not coming back to life and Ruon Tarka is none other than former Captain Gabriel Lorca, who is now working with Section 31 after they went underground. Lorca's plan is quite simple as he takes advantage of the chaos happening around him and wants to undermine Starfleet since he is both petty and bitter about his imprisonment, he wants to push Laira to extremism, not unlike that of the Federation First party later in the timeline and also wants to get himself a new apprentice who happens to be the new Warrant Officer Cleveland Booker, who is quite rightfully angry at the resident hyper-advanced space whales for blowing up his planet and family. Hugh Culber, who got a very nasty case of having his back broken during season 1 because his Paul was having the mother of all mental breakdowns following his ill-advised augmentation with space tardigrade DNA, decided to become the onboard Counselor since he finally got over the fact that he spent most of season 2 in a medically induced coma and the break he took from dealing with his husband's bad decisions to deal with his own issues.

With all of this in mind, all I can say is that I have no idea what season 5 will bring and the move from the 23rd century to the 32nd century was not a great plan considering that they could have just done all of the above to obtain the same results, but hey that's just Hollywood's desire to milk that cow for that sweet, sweet cash. Keep in mind that during season 3 they transition from the Enterprise Blues to the Origanl Sweaters, but with something more akin to what those guys at the Axanar production have in mind. Also, I have been noticing that a lot of my followers tended to be from the Dark Side of Tumblr, so I made the executive decision to start blocking anyone who didn't have anything posted on their pages and no titles. After all rule 190 of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition says "Hear all, trust nothing" and did I hear some things from those "followers" of mine that now I ain't trusting none of y'all without some proper IDs at hand.

This has been Greg for Owlman's Previously Owned Ideas. We do not advise you to let unknown people follow your profile unless you are into that kind of thing. We also do no refunds.

[newstfionline]

Saturday, September 16, 2023

Zelensky Plans White House Visit as U.S. Fights to Shore Up Aid (NYT) Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, will visit Washington next week following his appearance at the United Nations General Assembly, according to three U.S. officials. Mr. Zelensky’s visit comes as the Biden administration works to shore up support in Congress for an additional $24 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine amid a grinding Ukrainian counteroffensive that has so far yielded disappointing results. Mr. Zelensky insists that Ukraine can still make major gains. Mr. Zelensky last visited Washington in December, where he addressed Congress and urged the continued supply of American weapons for his country’s battle against Russia, which is about to enter its 19th month. Since then, anxiety has grown among Ukraine’s supporters as they have watched a decline in U.S. public support for continuing aid to the country.

Hurricane Lee targets New England and eastern Canada (AP) Fishermen removed lobster traps from the water and residents hauled hundreds of boats ashore — leaving some harbors looking like ghost towns—while utility workers from as far away as Tennessee began taking up positions Friday ahead of Hurricane Lee’s heavy winds, high seas and rain that’s expected to span hundreds of miles (kilometers) of land and sea. The storm is projected to be more than 400 miles (640 kilometers) wide with tropical-storm-force winds when it reaches land, creating worries of power outages in Maine. Lee remained a hurricane with 80 mph (128 kph) winds at night as it headed toward New England and eastern Canada with 20-foot (6-meter) ocean swells, strong winds and rain.

Politicians Charge Millions to Send Migrants to U.S. (NYT) Every step through the jungle, there is money to be made. The boat ride to reach the rainforest: $40. A guide on the treacherous route once you start walking: $170. A porter to carry your backpack over the muddy mountains: $100. A plate of chicken and rice after arduous climbing: $10. Special, all-inclusive packages to make the perilous slog faster and more bearable, with tents, boots and other necessities: $500, or more. Hundreds of thousands of migrants are now pouring through a sliver of jungle known as the Darién Gap, the only land route to the United States from South America, in a record tide that the Biden administration and the Colombian government have vowed to stop. But the windfall here at the edge of the continent is simply too big to pass up, and the entrepreneurs behind the migrant gold rush are not underground smugglers hiding from the authorities. They are politicians, prominent businessmen and elected leaders, now sending thousands of migrants toward the United States each day—and charging millions of dollars a month for the privilege. The United States, Colombia and Panama signed an agreement in April to “end the illicit movement of people” through the Darién Gap, a practice that “leads to death and exploitation of vulnerable people for significant profit.” Today, that profit is greater than ever, with local leaders collecting tens of millions of dollars this year alone from migrants in an enormous people-moving operation—one that international experts say is more sophisticated than anything they have seen.

Dominican Republic closes border with Haiti (Washington Post) The Dominican Republic had already begun building a wall at its border with Haiti. Then it cracked down on immigration, deporting tens of thousands of Haitians back to their impoverished and gang-ravaged country. Now it’s closing the border entirely. President Luis Abinader announced the Dominican Republic will shut all of its land, air and sea frontiers with Haiti starting Friday morning, amid a festering dispute over Haiti’s plans to construct a canal off a river that separates the two countries. The announcement Thursday afternoon significantly escalates tensions between the two nations, which share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola and a long history of strained ties. The closure of Haiti’s only land border threatens to worsen the crisis in a country on the brink of collapse. Haiti was already the poorest country in the hemisphere before its president’s assassination. Since then, much of the country has descended into lawlessness, with gangs controlling large swaths of its capital and blocking humanitarian aid.

At London arms fair, global war fears good for business (Reuters) As Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met this week to discuss what analysts believe will be a deal for an exchange of weapons, the West’s leading companies were descending on Europe’s biggest arms show in London. Since the last iteration of the biennial Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) in September 2021, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and dramatically increased tensions over Taiwan and North Korea have given a shot of adrenaline to arms manufacturers worldwide. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, European defence spending rose 13 percent in 2022 alone, bringing total global spending to an all-time high of $2,240 billion. Consultancy McKinsey reports that Russia saw its defence exports fall 21% over the first year following the Ukraine invasion, creating further openings for Western arms sales in the developing world. Overall, it expects military spending to increase globally by an average of 4% a year through to 2028, led by Japan increasing its military budget by an unprecedented 14% a year. As one defence executive put it: “War is good for business”.

Italy: Meloni under pressure (Washington Post) They arrived in rapid succession, a flotilla of rickety boats carrying desperate migrants from the Tunisian coast across the Mediterranean Sea. Within three days, their numbers—nearly 7,000 by late Wednesday—had topped the total population of their destination, the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa. The crisis has alarmed Italy. On the campaign trail last year, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had vowed to halt irregular migration even if it took a European Union-led “naval blockade.” But as arrivals in Italy have surged to 123,800 so far this year, Meloni has found herself criticized on both the political right and left for failing to deliver on her cornerstone pledge. The surge on the southern island of Lampedusa—which declared a state of emergency late Wednesday—came despite a new deal she helped strike with the Tunisian government aimed at blocking migrant sailings. At the same time, she is confronting fresh moves by Germany and France to stop migrants from leaving Italy.

Broken dreams, shattered families in China’s unfinished apartments (Reuters) Construction worker Shi Tieniu bought a presale apartment in an industrial city in northwestern China’s Shaanxi province, billed as a “superior product” to be “passed down through generations”. Eight years later, it is an unfinished shell, and every night he must climb 20 flights of stairs to sleep in a threadbare room without water, heating or electricity. “I almost never drink water, wash my face or brush my teeth,” said Shi, 39, who moved into the Gaotie Wellness City complex in May. Shi and a few dozen desperate home buyers live in the block in Tongchuan city as part of a nationwide campaign to pressure authorities to address so-called “rotting” or unfinished homes that have become more common during a years-long property slump that has bankrupted many developers and left others massively indebted. Since the property debt crisis began in 2021, thousands of homeowners have faced similar situations nationwide as smaller developers face liquidity issues and industry giants like Country Garden narrowly avoided default.

In China, a Completely Different Approach to Lowering Healthcare Costs (WSJ) China is carrying out a massive anticorruption purge across its healthcare sector, in an effort to bring down medical costs and revive the country’s flagging economy. Communist Party enforcers have steamrolled through hospitals and medical institutions across China, detaining more than 190 hospital party chiefs, directors and deputy directors—incumbent and former—so far this year, according to a Wall Street Journal review of government disclosures. The healthcare campaign echoes recent crackdowns on internet giants and the after-school tutoring industry that have altered swaths of the economy.

U.S. cuts military aid to Egypt, sends money instead to Taiwan (Washington Post) The Biden administration this week told Congress that it intends to withhold $85 million designated for U.S. security assistance to Egypt this year, and instead provide the bulk of the money to Taiwan. The decision brought immediate criticism from lawmakers that the reprogrammed amount either wasn’t enough to punish Egypt for ongoing detentions of political prisoners and other human rights abuses, or that it was a paltry offering to Taiwan given the urgency of China’s aggressive behavior. The decision to redirect $55 million from Egypt to “strengthen Taiwan’s defense capabilities” is the second time in recent weeks the administration has authorized money to Taipei under the Foreign Military Financing program that previously was reserved for sovereign nations.

Libyan city closed off as searchers look for 10,100 missing after flood deaths rise to 11,300 (AP) Libyan authorities blocked civilians from entering the flood-stricken eastern city of Derna on Friday so search teams could look through the mud and wrecked buildings for 10,100 people still missing after the known toll rose to 11,300 dead. The disaster after two dams collapsed in heavy rains and sent a massive flood gushing into the Mediterranean city early Monday underscored the storm’s intensity but also Libya’s vulnerability. The oil-rich state since 2014 has been split between rival governments in the east and west backed by various militia forces and international patrons. Derna was being evacuated and only search and rescue teams would be allowed to enter, Salam al-Fergany, director general of the Ambulance and Emergency Service in eastern Libya, announced late Thursday.

Sharks on a Golf Course Made a Water Hazard Unlike Any Other (NYT) For nearly two decades, the Carbrook Golf Club near Brisbane, Australia, had the ultimate water hazard: a lake teeming with bull sharks. It all started in 1996 when raging floods swept six young bull sharks from a nearby river into a 51-acre lake near the golf course’s 14th hole. When the floodwaters receded, the sharks found themselves stuck, surrounded by grassy hills and curious golfers. The sharks spent 17 years in the lake, sustaining themselves on its large stock of fish and on the occasional meat treat provided by the club’s staff. One shark was illegally fished out, while the others vanished after subsequent floods. While the idea of sharing a lake with bull sharks may be scary to some, the golfers relished the opportunity, Scott Wagstaff, general manager of Carbrook Golf Club, said. “Every single member here just loves the sharks,” Mr. Wagstaff said.

[jirnkirks]

Also, what even is there to argue about? Voting Kamala and HAPPY About it describes 66% of Kamala voters of this poll.

Do you remember? The lack of sympathy for Israelis who didnt like it but enlisted and did their "duty" as IDF soldiers? The way we mocked how proud IDF were that its soldiers were queer friendly & filled women? The Israeli political left & center who believe Palestinians are terrorists but they shouldn't stoop to the level of them?

And not only that- Kamala has come out to say she wouldn't change a thing about Biden's administration except maybe add more Republicans to her Cabinet. Biden has been largely ineffective in changing or curtailing Trump era policies, meaning just 1 GOP president can fuck you all forever. Kamala is pro stricter border control, doesnt seem particularly interested in reproductive health, healthcare, debt forgiveness, minimum wage, accessibility. Biden has some good appointments namely in the FCC and his chair (Lina Khan) is cracking down on major tech consolidation especially with gen AI- Kamala wants Khan gone. Wants to start a major conflict with Iran.

I do think so many Democrats are disgusting in their callous denial of Palestinian lives and even Arab & Muslim voters who rightly feel that Kamala doesnt give a fuck about them and their family in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria & the Arab world being bombed by their taxes. But also, if maybe Kamala promised ANYTHING to ANYONE I would sympathize as someone stuck in a different country with absolutely dogshit politics.

But she doesnt! Shes literally offering the same thing Trump does but as a girlboss and maybe less quickly! And theres isnt even talk of local politics or which specific people cabinets do well or ANYTHING on why voting Kamala will actually help your stupid dogshit country when Dems are sliding right and Republicans are sliding even further. Theyre already ceding ground to centrists and conservatives! Everyone who isnt living in rosewater can fucking see it! Because they know they dont need to take anyone left of that seriously!

So what are you actually doing??? Who are you helping????? You are not special for having dogshit presidential candidates all around! But most even vaguely left or liberal citizens of countries with dogshit politics can recognize they live in a dogshit system where even in cases with a distinctively worse candidate, the system is so dogwater bullshit & specific elections can be so dogshit that we can accept its all such a nonsensical farce to pretend one candidate will create an even half decent world. And when decent is the bare MINIMUM, you cant really be pissed at the people who will live in the same dogshit regardless!

On tumblr and elsewhere in my internetsphere, I see a ton of people who have been very critical of Kamala, and I’m wondering, how these people are planning to vote. I’d also love to hear how the war in Gaza is or isn’t impacting your choice!

[enbycarp]

Got this in a newsletter for a podcast called RadioLab, and I thought it was interesting (and the episode they mention is really good):

Do We Really Have to Choose Between Safety and Freedom?

By Anna Rascouët-Paz Remember Section 230, the U.S. law that shields internet platforms from responsibility for the content their users post, sometimes to disastrous effect? We dropped an episode about it earlier this month, so if you haven’t heard it yet, do it now. I’ll wait.  Section 230 is credited for allowing the internet to be what it is; cases were brought against it, and everyone worried that the U.S. Supreme Court would strike it down. This, experts argued, would break the world wide web as we know it. There was a collective sigh of relief when the Justices left it in place. Case closed, right? Wrong. Unlike U.S. law, the world wide web is… worldwide. Sites we use in the U.S. serve billions of people across the globe. Guess who else uses Facebook, Twitter (sorry, X), TikTok, Grindr, Amazon: Europeans. And Europe really, really cares about keeping its people safe. The group of 27 countries is a pioneer of internet regulation—a phrase that, to U.S. ears, can sound like an oxymoron. But following their rules can force such huge changes, the vast majority of sites just implement them globally. You know how you have to approve which cookies can spy on you when you get on a new site? That’s the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). By giving Europeans more control over their privacy, they gave it to the rest of the world, too. And here comes another round of EU Laws That Protect Humans On The Internet: the Digital Services Act (DSA) rollout began last week, with full implementation by 2024. Fun fact: it’s trying to address many of the issues of Section 230. And like GDPR, it’s already affecting U.S. users. The DSA holds internet platforms accountable for the content users post on them. The EU believes that all “intermediaries”—sites that provide goods, content and services—should foster an environment that respects the rights of users. This law has created an obligation to moderate. Break the rules and companies will face fines of six percent of their global revenue, or even EU-wide bans. Platforms must facilitate reports of harmful content, and act on them. They must allow their users, not the algorithms, to rule their feeds (Facebook brought back its chronological feed last month, for everyone , to get a head start). By the way, they’ll have to share said algos with EU authorities. Kids will no longer be exposed to suggested content based on their activity. Once a year, companies will assess the risk on their platforms and share how effective their safety tools are. They’re also obligated to let researchers and internet watchdogs access their data—I’m eager to see all the science this will yield.    The law is going after the usual suspects: fake news, child pornography, racist attacks, harassment. Sites will need to crack down on content that gets in the way of public health, electoral processes, and fundamental rights. The EU promises that they won’t be gentle if platforms mess up. Europe’s approach suggests that they don’t see freedom and safety as opposing forces. They insist that the law will target what is already illegal, so the internet won’t be less free than real life. Also, if you disagree about a content removal decision, you��ll be able to challenge it more easily. Giants like Google, TikTok, and Meta are complying. Amazon is suing the EU . Elon Musk’s Twitter—sorry, X—was procrastinating, but the EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton warned that they’d better get in line before Europe’s election season begins, or else. Musk swore they’d be ready. If these announcements are anything to go by, adapting to the new rules represents a large enough operational shift that the companies might apply them wholesale rather than by location. Long term, many believe the DSA will be a model for other countries to follow and fine-tune. Who knows. I, for one, can’t wait to see how it’s going to play out for Section 230.  Next: the EU takes on artificial intelligence. Stay tuned.

[mariacallous]

In November 2004, Ukraine’s pro-Russian prime minister, Viktor Yanukovych, tried to steal the country’s presidential election, triggering the Orange Revolution protests and reactions from the West. Then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell memorably went to the press briefing room and declared that the United States could not accept the results as legitimate. Current U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken should do the same for Georgia now.

Georgia’s parliamentary elections on Saturday were marred by widespread attempts of “intimidation, coercion and pressure on voters,” according to international and domestic monitoring groups. Despite official results claiming that the incumbent government, led by the Georgian Dream party, retained a majority of seats, the election was not in line with international standards, according to independent observers.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who is not affiliated with the Georgian Dream government, went even further. “I want to say, as the [representative of the] only independent institution, that I don’t recognize these elections,” the president said in her post-election remarks. The country’s major opposition parties have similarly refused to recognize the official election results and plan to protest them.

The United States should follow the Georgian president’s lead and not recognize the results. Instead, the legitimate concerns raised by the flawed election must be addressed first. One way to incentivize proper resolution is for U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration to explicitly threaten sanctions against those responsible for the crisis—starting with Bidzina Ivanishvili, an oligarch and leader of the Georgian Dream party; Irakli Kobakhidze, Georgia’s prime minister; and those on Georgia’s central election commission.

Blinken’s statement about the elections, issued on Sunday, falls well short of this. Citing international observers, Blinken’s statement said that the election was not “free and fair,” but he avoided commenting on the legitimacy of the results themselves. Though Blinken encouraged Georgia’s political leaders to “respect the rule of law” and address any electoral deficiencies, he did not name Georgian Dream, which, as the country’s ruling party, created this mess in the first place.

No one should be surprised that Georgian Dream would make efforts to steal the election. This spring, Ivanishvili suggested that, in the event the party didn’t win, the opposition would drag the country into a devastating war with Russia. He made the absurd claim that the opposition was in thrall to its Western “patrons,” who had ordered them to ensure Georgia opened a “second front” against Russia. In August, Ivanishvili promised to make these opposition parties “pay for all the crimes against the Georgian people” by outlawing them.

Even without formally banning the opposition, Georgia has already taken on many of the hallmarks of a one-party state. Ivanishvili’s party has been in power since 2012, and it has been steadily gaining influence since then. Having established control over the parliament and the judiciary, Georgian Dream has also taken aim at the two remaining checks on its power in the last year: It has twice sought to impeach Zourabichvili and has cracked down on watchdog groups and nongovernmental organizations.

To undermine the NGOs holding it accountable, the government proposed a Russian-style foreign agents law that requires organizations receiving foreign money to register as “agents of foreign influence.” Fearing that Tbilisi—like Moscow—would use the law to marginalize and eventually shutter civil society groups and independent media, hundreds of thousands of Georgians turned out on the streets to protest. The government responded with a brutal crackdown on the peaceful demonstrations and eventually passed the law, overriding Zourabichvili’s veto of it.

The adoption of the foreign agents law and the large demonstrations against it did prompt Western capitals to finally act against Georgia’s authoritarian slide. The European Union suspended Georgia’s accession process and froze funds earmarked for government-directed programs. Citing democratic backsliding, the United States froze more than $95 million in intergovernmental assistance to Georgia and imposed a number of sanctions against some of those who were responsible for repressive measures, including the use of violence against demonstrators.

Though welcome, these actions were insufficient and ineffectual. They failed to include Ivanishvili and Kobakhidze, his hand-picked prime minister.

In a situation fraught with potential for unrest, both sides have dug in. Georgian Dream has claimed victory in the election, while the opposition has refused to recognize the results. Meanwhile, Zourabichvili called for protests in central Tbilisi starting on Oct. 28.

Georgian Dream has shown no indication that it would take criticism seriously or try to accommodate the concerns of the opposition. Kobakhidze has said that the opposition’s refusal to recognize the results amounted to a “gross violation” of the constitutional order and that Georgian Dream would form a new government without their participation.

The reports of election intimidation are serious and widespread enough to call the legitimacy of this weekend’s election results into question. Washington and its allies should not recognize this election before, as the German Federal Foreign Office suggested, all irregularities are addressed and remedied. As Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski declared, “Europe must now stand with the Georgian people.” So should the United States.

The Georgian people, who remain very pro-West and are eager to join NATO and the EU, deserve no less—just like those struggling for freedom and human rights around the world. Georgia has become the latest battleground, and it’s time for the United States to rise to the challenge.

[sleepy12ftpanda]

<- "Okay so according to this framing we have two options. Either we share works online freely without artists being properly compensated for their labor, or we submit to an exploitative system where artists get less than what their labor is worth and only rich production companies get the say of what actually gets made and distributed. I don’t like either option. Let’s make a third. How about we elect a democratic council to take public money to fund artists in our own communities?"

-> "You’d have to appease the whims of the council to get anything made."

<- "Then how about we set a universal basic income so people can create art without having the fear that they’ll starve?"

-> "And who would go out of their way to do the most humiliating, stressful, and dangerous jobs in our economy if poverty didn't force them?"

<- "What if we also paid a job proportional to how unpleasant and dangerous it is?"

-> "Wouldn’t that give excess influence to the people who chose to exclusively work in those sectors?"

<- "Yes, and that would also mean that everyone would start to participate in them because nobody would wanna be left behind economically."

-> "That would mean artists would still be poor next to their peers and have to work a side hustle to stay afloat."

<- "It’d be a side hustle where you wouldn’t have to sacrifice as much time to your job and could take breaks to finish your art without starving or losing rent and healthcare. Combine that with both strengthening and democratizing the National Endowment of the Arts to work via elected council at the county level, and you have a system where artists can work their non-art jobs one part of the year and produce their craft the other."

-> "So let me get this straight. We’d need universal basic income, universal public healthcare, labor and danger proportional wages, and an expansion/restructuring of the National Endowment of the Arts JUST so that artists don’t have to sell their labor to capitalist institutions to live?"

<- "It’d be much freer."

-> "At that point, why not end world hunger or global warming? Give all the land back to the natives! Finally get those reparations for slavery and colonialism you keep talking about. Take all the nukes and throw them into the sun, Superman!"

<- "Literally nothing of what you said was a bad thing."

-> "So why isn’t it already happening?"

<- "There isn’t the political will among those with power to do so."

-> "Right. Why do you even go through the bother of thinking up these things if you know you don’t have the power to put them to action, much less not be persecuted if you tried?"

<- "I just want things to be fixed and problems solved. It’s not like you’re any happier."

-> "At least I don’t waste my fucking time wishing I was a superhero."

<- "Really? You could’ve fooled me with the amount of escapist media you consume."

-> "I’m enjoying my life here. All the things you want are things working people would have to sacrifice their lives trying to achieve for the next generation, and I just so happen to want to fucking chill now thanks."

<- "The more we chill, the more time we lose."

-> "Exactly."

<- "Listen to yourself! You act as though you got it all figured out, but you're just running away. Life should be more than the crack of blue light between blinds of dread!"

-> "Uh-huh."

<- "Joy, man! I’m talking real joy. Contentment. Fucking…calm! When was the last time you felt, in the depths in your heart, that things will finally turn out for the best? That tomorrow had a promise? A future?"

-> [ boots up Ps5 ]

<- "I want that. I want that so bad! I need your help to make it, and you- …"

-> [ Elden Ring noises ]

<- "What are you doing?"

-> "Getting dopamine. We have a shift tomorrow, don’t we?"

<- [ Slumps down on the couch next to -> ]

"Can’t you just let me be Enjolras once in a while?"

-> "Only until you start building barricades."

<- [ Sighs and nestles against ->’s shoulder ]

< - > [ They stay there for a bit in silence, then- ]

-> [ pauses the game ]

"I’m sorry. You want good things. I’m just…"

<- "Scared?"

-> [ nods ]

<- [ takes his partner’s face in his hands kisses his forehead ]

-> [ kisses <- back and wraps his arm around him in an embrace. ]

"…we’ll get through this."

<- "yeah…"

< - > "…I know we will."

The IA's "Open Library" is Not a Library, Yesterday's Lower Court Decision does Not "Hurt Authors," and the Planned Appeal Is (Almost Certainly) NOT a Good Way to Try to Change Bad Law (In Fact, It's More Likely to Make Bad Law Worse)

Ok, so a day later, I'm still mad about this. If anything, I'm even madder. I'm going to write this as a response to the Internet Archive's "The Fight Continues" blogpost, but before we begin, let's get some facts straight:

Copyright law in the United States, especially the law around digital lending, currently sucks. It's really really bad, and anyone with a stake in the game - except the big publishers and e-book services that profit from it - hate it.

That said, copyright law exists as a thing. As I said in a previous post, you *can* try to change it through court cases, but there are certain things you cannot change. And there are certain things you can try to change, but it will be an uphill battle to change them in a positive direction. And notably, as bad as digital lending law is in the U.S., it still could always get worse! And one general rule of impact litigation: if you are trying to change the law, you want to make sure you have the best possible facts. Because the worse your facts are, the worse your case is likely to go.

Yesterday's district court ruling DID NOT CHANGE ANY SUBSTANTIVE COPYRIGHT LAW IN THE U.S. I cannot emphasize that enough. Regardless of whatever you think of the ruling, it was applying already existing law to the facts.

This is because the Internet Archive's "Open Library" absolutely violates existing copyright law. It just does! They broke the law, they had plenty of notice they were breaking the law and harming authors (more on that below) and just think the law shouldn't apply because they don't like it.

The Internet Archive's "Open Library" is not a library. Some big ways it differs:

While it pretends to have a one-to-one owned-to-loaned ratio, as the opinion granting the publisher's motion for summary judgement notes, IA concedes that it allows "partner libraries" to add books to its collection and then doesn't check (and has no way of checking) if the book is out of circulation at the "partner library" at the same time it's being "checked out" of the Open Library. In other words, it's like if you took a book, scanned the pages, and then gave the scans to your friend who then loaned the scans out to other people but totally promised they were only lending the scans to one person at a time so it's basically like there is still just one copy! And meanwhile you still own, are reading, and lending out the physical copy of the book. Except instead of one book, they were doing this on a massive scale. NO, THAT'S JUST THEFT.*

Speaking of which, the "Open Library" didn't keep that promise! Their "Emergency Library" just let everyone borrow as many copies at a time as they could! Again, THAT'S JUST THEFT.

Like I'm sorry if you don't like the idea of copyright at all: right now, we live in a capitalist system where authors need to be paid for their work in order to, like, not die. If you take their work, scan it into your computer, and give it away for free to anyone and everyone, THAT'S JUST THEFT.

Also, most authors love libraries! Libraries allow more people to access their books while not substantially impacting their revenue and not impacting their rights! AUTHORS - not just publishers, authors - DO NOT LIKE AI'S "OPEN LIBRARY." Why haven't authors sued to stop this before, why is this the publishers suing? From the above letter: "Even simple copyright lawsuits must be brought in federal court, and often cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. A challenge to the Internet Archive could easily cost millions." Publishers have deep pockets that authors and authors' groups don't. Also, authors who object to AI stealing their work are frequently subject to harassment.

If IA won this case, the new law that would be made is this: it would be legal to steal an author's works.

*I'm using "theft" and "steal" instead of "piracy" throughout this write-up to make it clear what this is. "Pirating books" is just stealing them.

So to sum up the facts above: copyright law in the U.S. sucks, but it exists. Attempting to change it for the better through the court system would be very difficult. Even then, changing the law for the better would likely require a case with good facts. Unfortunately, the law could also change for the worse. Yesterday's ruling did not change any law. The facts in this case are very bad, because the IA absolutely violated copyright law. That is in part because the IA's "Open Library" is not a library; they just steal books. Many (if not most) authors and author's groups don't like that IA is stealing from them. If IA won this case, that victory would mean that anyone was allowed to steal an author's works.

*deep breath*

Ok, let's turn to the IA's statement, "The Fight Continues":

"Today’s lower court decision in Hachette v. Internet Archive is a blow to all libraries and the communities we serve."

The Internet Archive is not a library.

No it's not. It is a blow to the Internet Archive, specifically, because you broke the law and it ruled you broke the law. As stated above, it does not change anything with regard to copyright, including digital copyright, law in the U.S., and therefore does not impact libraries or the communities they serve. If you appeal this ruling, as you have stated you intend to, and the law does change for the worse (which is always a risk of appeal, and a risk that gets worse when you have bad facts), THEN libraries might be affected.

"This decision impacts libraries across the US who rely on controlled digital lending to connect their patrons with books online."

I mean yes, in the sense that "controlled digital lending" isn't normal e-book lending. It's the thing you made up where you steal books and illegally redistribute them.

This genuinely sucks for libraries and communities that don't have other ways of accessing digital books because the current copyright scheme sucks so bad! Real libraries are doing things to try to help, and not just steal from authors! More on that below!

"It hurts authors by saying that unfair licensing models are the only way their books can be read online."

OH GO FUCK YOURSELVES

Ok this line, this line right here? That is honestly why I wrote this whole thing.

How DARE you cloak your theft in the real struggles authors face with unfair licensing models. How DARE you pretend you are on the side of authors when you are stealing their works, and they have made it quite clear that they would like you to stop, please. And how DARE you frame it in this "for exposure" bullcrap that ignores the real struggles that authors have to eat, to get healthcare, to get any sort of fair pay and wages for their work, and instead pretend that all authors should care about is whether or not their books can be read online.

And bluntly? If you - not IA, YOU, tumblr user reading this - if you shared this bullcrap statement and told people to donate money to the IA because of this? If you told people they should steal more books in response (because it's the publishers fault, ignore the real authors who are actually harmed)? How DARE you. How DARE you pretend to be on the side of authors and writers.

"And it holds back access to information in the digital age, harming all readers, everywhere."

Except for those readers who are also authors, and need to eat.

And readers who want to read books that will never get written if authors can't write (because they need to eat).

And also, no it doesn't, because it doesn't change the law. It just applies the law that already exists to you. Because you are not above the law.

"But it’s not over—we will keep fighting for the traditional right of libraries to own, lend, and preserve books."

You are not a library.

You were not (and are not) fighting for "the traditional right of libraries." Plenty of other organizations are fighting against bad copyright law in the U.S. This court case, however, was literally just about you stealing books.

Like I cannot emphasize enough that you were just stealing and you got caught.

"We will be appealing the judgment and encourage everyone to come together as a community to support libraries against this attack by corporate publishers."

You aren't a library.

Fuck you for borrowing the (justified) hatred of corporate publishers to paper over your bad actions.

Does "coming together as a community to support libraries against this attack" mean giving you money, as suggested by the calls to action at the bottom of this page? Because you aren't a library.

"We will continue our work as a library."

You aren't a library.

"This case does not challenge many of the services we provide with digitized books including interlibrary loan, citation linking, access for the print-disabled, text and data mining, purchasing ebooks, and ongoing donation and preservation of books."

First, and most important: these are all uncritically good and important things that the IA does! Despite the rest of this post, I am really really glad the IA exists, that it is doing these things, and I hope that it will continue to do this things!

You are correct that this case does not challenge those services! Because those services aren't just stealing books from authors, which is what you were doing, which is what this case is actually about!

I'm skipping the statement from Brewster Kahle because it's just more of the same. The statement then invites you to Take Action! by donating to IA and positing themselves as standing up for libraries! (They are not a library.)

But real libraries and librarians are actually fighting the good fight over lack of access to materials, especially digital materials and bad laws, and you can support them!

If you actually do want to "come together as a community to support libraries," and support digital access, may I suggest instead donating to The Brooklyn Public Library's Books Unbanned program?:

https://www.bklynlibrary.org/books-unbanned

While they aren't directly challenging bad copyright law, they are directly fighting back against laws that are much more actively and materially impact people's access to books, including providing free e-book and database access to everyone in the U.S. age 13-21. It's a great and important program, and your donations can really help!

[yanxidarlings]

Ummm Yandere Allies with a darling that has a husband. But the husband is sadly verbally and emotionally abusive to the darling and neglects them. Even if the allies is trying to seduce the darling away, the darling is dead set on staying with their rather shitty husband. They don't believe in cheating/ adultery, they hate it and refuse to stop so lowly.

𝒴𝒜𝒩𝒟𝐸𝑅𝐸 𝒜𝐿𝐿𝐼𝐸𝒮 𝒳 𝒰𝒩𝐻𝒜𝒫𝒫𝐼𝐿𝒴 𝑀𝒜𝑅𝑅𝐼𝐸𝒟 𝑅𝐸𝒜𝒟𝐸𝑅

AMERICA

• alfred didn't think it was possible to hate someone as much as he hates your husband. that repugnant man is lucky enough to be married to someone as lovely as his darling, and he isn't even grateful. and what irritates him more is that no matter what he does, you cannot be seduced.

• whilst he admires your loyalty and morals, he despises that you'd be so faithful to someone who'd probably cheat on you given the chance. wait, cheat on you... alfred is a yandere who will elect to sabotage before murder, he'd rather his rival suffer then be granted quick death. being the powerful country he is, creating a few lies about your spouse is easier than cracking an egg.

• you'll soon find out that your husband has been cheating on you for years, giving his heart and soul to others whilst you have been left in the dark. if you still won't leave your husband at this point, then alfred will be forced to take drastic measures.

• the news of your husbands death could be a shameful relief or an upsetting heartbreak, america won't give you any time to mourn as he whisks you away to his home, from now on he won't let anyone mistreat you, even if he has to use some underhanded methods to get you to see his point of view. but if you do, america will soften up, he may even start to believe your husband never even existed, and attempt to live normally with you.

ENGLAND

• calm and collected on the outside as his insides burned with rage. no matter what he said, what he did, his darling insisted on staying with that mongrel, when there's a gentleman like him willing to take you in and treat you in the respectful way you deserve, won't do, that won't do at all.

• if only your unwavering loyalty could be directed at him, that's all he could wish for. someone who would stay by his side despite his vices. he may have become obsessed with you for this reason alone. arthur is a lonely nation, so many have left him, and meeting a person as faithful as you would he a breath of fresh air. he's impressed with your unresponsiveness to his attempts at seduction, but after a while he gets impatient

• while he doesn't want to dirty his own hands, your husbands actions are unacceptable, but murder isn't gentlemanly, so he decides to take the america route. suddenly your co workers give you sad looks as you pass them, your in laws are aloof and standoffish, even your own family seems odd. then you return home to find your husband in another's arms, accusing you of neglecting and abusing him. no one believes the true story, no one, except arthur.

• you have no choice but to depend on england for comfort, and as your husband disappears off the face of the earth after you sign the divorce papers, beginning a relationship with him would not at all be against your morals anymore. but if you insist of rejecting him, then he can always make you a nice convicing cup of tea, and then you wonder why you ever waited so long to leave your ex-husband.

CANADA

• matthew may just be the most infuriated, with mostly your husband, but partly you. for having so little respect for yourself that you'd stay with such a putrid man, especially when held right there, ready to be the perfect partner for you. so stop being so stubborn and leave your husband already, eh?.

• he's another manipulative yandere, he works his way into your heart with sweet words of distraction from your husband. he's your supportive friend who regularly encourages you to leave him, that there are better people out there for you. he can come across as passive aggressive as he mentions his issues with your husband, how silly you are for staying with him, but you brush it off as him being socially awkward.

• if he can't convince you to leave your husband no matter what, or you reprimand him for trying to seduce you, he'll snap. he's a yandere who can be driven to the edge quite easily, but you won't realise until it's too late. and oneday you get a call saying your husband and his family have been in a fatal car crash, and has passed away.

• as you mourn he'll be there to comfort you, attempting to initiate a relationship as you slowly begin to get over him. he's patient at waiting for you to be ready for another relationship, he can probably tolerate just being your friend, as long as you never forget him, but if you start one with someone else. well you won't be seeing the light of day for a long time.

FRANCE

• a delusional yandere, francis will have convinced himself that this whole ordeal was an arranged marriage, your husband neglects you because he has another love, and you just wish to make whoever arranged this marriage happy. oh what a selfless darling you are, sacrificing your own happiness for other peoples wishes. but francis is here now, and will support you in anyway you require, so hurry up and divorce your husband, and let this chapter of life be behind you!.

• he won't understand why you refuse to be with him, he would treat you like the godly being you are, he would give you the happiest life you could ever live, why is his darling being so difficult?. francis will regularly persue you, there's no convicing him that you want to stay with your husband of your own accord. it takes the longest for his bubble to burst, but when it does, he's furious. so your husband wanted to be married to you and then purposefully neglects and abuses you? how dare he. francis won't tolerate the situation for even a minute.

• in a moment of recklessness, he'll knock you out and bring you to his place, when he realises what held done, you've already woken up and are demanding to know what's happening. francis will burst into tears, perhaps they're real or perhaps they're fake, and beg for forgiveness, explaining that he just wants to take care of you.

• he's manipulative, but rarely intends to be, france is genuinely upset many of the times, and you can't help but feel just a little but guilty for making the frenchman who, aside from kidnapping you, had been so sweet. if your husband comes looking for you, france will reluctantly kill him, especially if you still refuse to be with him because of your marriage.

RUSSIA

• ivan is displeased with his darlings reluctance to leave your husband, but maybe you just don't realise how much better ivan is for you, no worries, he can just take you to live with him, to get a glimpse of what your life could be, and will be from now on.

• you'll wake up in a different bedroom to the one you fell asleep in pretty quickly, confused as to where you were, you'd attempt to get out of the bed, only to realise you were chained to the bedpost. when ivan comes in and explains why you're there, you're quick to reprimand him, insisting on staying with your husband, russia will say nothing, and leave you in the room alone.

• this will continue for weeks, as the only human interaction you get will be with ivan as he comes upstairs each day to feed you, eventually the isolation gets to you, and adultery seems less horrible as it did before. ivan is surprisingly patient, but only with you, downstairs the baltics are getting a beating whenever you refuse his company.

• if it's because you're married then you don't have to worry, russia ended your husbands life when he first kidnapped you. if he see's you mourning that useless imbecile, then he'll snap, and your interactions will become more forced. and if even then you reject him, then he might just have to become much stricter with you.

CHINA

• aiyah.. yao will be irritated at his darling for making his life so difficult, he already feel incredibly childish for having one of these silly western obsession, but with you already being in a relationship, this is amplified ten fold.

• at first he attempts to ignore his obsession, hoping it'll go away with time. perhaps it would have, but when he saw your husband mistreating you, all rationality would have been thrown out the window. he's not obsessed with you, no, his intuition was just incredibly good. yao would think that he was just worried for you, as a yandere who thinks he's above being a yandere, this would be the point where he would embrace his obsessive tendancies, seeing them as justified, as you couldn't even choose a suitable life partner for yourself, you were like a child that needed guidance, and he would be more then happy to provide.

• nevermind if you cannot be seduced away, that just proves that you understand loyalty, a trait he greatly values in not just a partner but anyone close to him. yao will make quick work of your husband, either through ruining his career and reputation, or simply having him killed. but he'll be there to help you get through it all.

• china will be very pushy in convincing you to move in with him, saying that you'll need a place to stay without your husband supporting you. he's one who won't kidnap you easily, unless you go out and try to start a new relationship, he'll just show up at your house so often and invite you over to his that you'd might as well be living together. he's another that won't force a romantic relationship, as long as you stay single and close to only him, he's content.