#the amount of times i've been sexually assaulted in bars

[cremationangel]

secret post

[leafjoon]

When you get like this

Words: around 3k

Warnings: smut, swearing, alcohol, minor mention of violence, jealousy, rough sex, degradation, dom!alex, sub!reader, daddy kink (only mentioned once), aftercare.

You and Alex had planned to go to Jamie's birthday party.

You weren't particularly excited since all you wanted to do was spend time with your boyfriend, cuddle and laze around in your apartment. Lately, it had been work, work and only work for the both of you. You hadn't had much time for, well, anything. Needless to say you were feeling more than just a little bit sexually frustrated.

"Babe, I know, I'm sorry. We'll just hang around for a couple of hours for Jamie and get going okay? Promise." Alex pleaded trying to convice you.

"Ugh I know. Its not that I don't wanna be there for Jamie, I'm just grumpy and tired and I've missed you."

"I've missed you too. So much." He says while enveloping you in a gentle hug.

He pressed his lips on your cheek and gave you a pleading look.

"Fine. Lets go get ready."

"Thank you, darling. I'll make it up to you tonight." He said in a gentle tone.

Well, you were definitely excited now.

*

The party was in full swing when you arrived, albeit slightly late because it took you a little longer than usual to get ready.

You looked gorgeous, wearing your favorite short red dress that always left Alex drooling for you. It gave your thighs just the perfect amount of coverage, stopping mid-thigh, driving him crazy.

"Fuck babe, you know what that dress does to me." he said groaning.

"Really?" You said teasingly, fully knowing the way he was going to eye you up all night.

His friends were already smashed and you had some catching up to do, so you started ordering drinks at the bar and downing a shot of tequila or two.

You and Alex were catching up with Jamie and Miles, sharing stories and having a laugh. You guys had all taken turns to tell each other the most ridiculous thing you've done while drunk.

They started teasing you after you told them about that one time you were out partying with your girlfriends at a club and a man had smacked your friends ass. You, being shitfaced naturally punched him square in the face out of instinct. After that, security intervened but not without questioning you and throwing your friends out. This left you and your friends frustrated since you were only protecting yourselves from assault but it made for a funny story.

"You know, (Y/N) I never took you for a violent person, but now that you told us I don't know how I didn't see the signs earlier." Miles said and cackled.

"Yeah, I ought to be careful not to upset you now." Jamie continued.

"I can't believe you guys didn't notice before." Alex said dramatically.

"What are you talking about Alex, that's not true!" you said while hitting his chest lightly.

"Oh, there it is!" Miles exclaimed and you all started laughing.

"I'm just teasing you babe." Alex whispered in your ear and snaked his hand around your waist, which sent a shiver down your spine.

You shot him a playful look and you gazed into each others eyes for a few seconds.

After looking away you noticed a familiar figure standing a few feet from you. You weren't sure if your eyes were deceiving you. When he turned around fully you recognized him. It was your ex-boyfriend Thomas! More specifically the guy you had dated throughout college.

You had broken up because you both had different aspirations for your lives and knew it wouldn't work out long distance. The break-up had been amicable and you still held respect for each other and talked when your paths crossed. This time was no different.

"Oh my god, Thomas, is that you?" You called out.

He looked at you and it took him a second to take you in. "Oh my god! (Y/N)! I haven't seen you in so long!"

"What are you doing here?".

"You mean in London, or this party?"

"Both!"

"Miles invited me."

"No kidding!"

"Thomas was my flatmate for a little while after college. How do you guys know each other?" Miles chimed in.

"You're kidding right? We dated in college." You exclaimed.

Alex perked up after hearing this and felt a bit strange at how excited you were to see him.

"This is so weird. How do you all know each other?" Thomas asked.

"Well we all met her through Alex here." Said Jamie.

"Oh, nice meeting you mate." He extended his hand to Alex with a smile.

"Likewise." Alex muttered returning the handshake.

While Jamie and Thomas exchanged pleasantries, you failed to notice Alex's gaze on you.

"So how have you been? What brings you to London?"

"I've been great! I came here to visit my mum."

You guys started catching up and were talking for about 10 minutes while the boys were chatting about something else.

"Do you want something to drink?"

"Sure!"

"Still a vodka sour girl?"

"Yes. How do you remember that?"

"(Y/N), we dated for years. How could I not?" He chuckled.

"Fair point." You laughed.

Alex clenched his jaw when he saw Thomas bring you a drink. He wasn't sure if he was being irrational or if it was strange for your ex boyfriend to chat you up for this long. The thought left him with a sour taste in his mouth.

After a little while,  you excused yourself from Thomas and told him that it was great catching up. He asked for your number and said you guys should hang out sometime. You thought that was a little weird but complied anyways. You figured he just wanted a friend.

You found Alex on a couch with Jamie and Miles all downing their drinks.

"Drinking your sorrows away tonight, boys?"

"Does it look like that?" asked Miles.

"We were just reminiscing on our youth." said Jamie sighing.

"Always a fun topic." You said while sitting down next to Alex.

"Where'd your friend go?" he asked.

"Oh I said goodbye to him. Wanted to join you guys."

"Nice." He muttered.

You noticed he was acting strange and didn't know if you had struck a cord by hanging out with Thomas.

Alex wasn't a particularly jealous man but he did get insecure from time to time. Although he never had anything to worry about with you, especially after reassuring him time and time again that you only had eyes for him.

"D'ya wanna go soon, love?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm getting a bit tired."

*

After a while you decided to get up and say goodbye to your friends. You noticed Alex was being silent and gripped your hand more roughly than usual. He lead you to the car and opened the door for you.

You mumbled a 'thanks' and got in.

While driving you turned on the radio and 12:51 by the Strokes was playing.

'Friday nights have been lonely, change your plans and then phone me.'

You were mouthing the words to the song and wanted to ask Alex if everything was okay.

Before you got a chance to do that, he put his hand on your thigh. You were slightly taken aback but put your hand on top of his.

He started gently stroking your thigh. You let out a sigh, observing his big hand gripping you. You definitely had a thing for his hands.

His hand began to inch closer to your crotch. Your breath hitched.

Your dress was giving him full liberty.

"Alex..what are you doing?" You said in a whisper.

"Nothing." He said cheekily.

He squeezed your thigh. You were getting a little worked up and he knew exactly what he was doing.

He removed his hand while stopping at a red sign. You squeezed your thighs together a little, trying to give yourself some stimulation to your growing arousal.

Alex noticed and asked "What are you doing?"

You were confused. "What do you mean?"

"You get to squeeze your thighs when I tell you to, alright babe?" He said while turning to look at you. His eyes were filled with lust.

Fuck. Fucking alright. "Okay." you muttered.

After a while he returned his hand to your inner thigh, pulling a little and causing your legs to spread. He was driving you crazy. He continued stroking and you remained silent for the rest of the drive.

Fuck, you thought. You knew where this was going. Alex rarely got like this but sometimes when you were feeling bratty, you teased him relentessly, which brought out his dominant and bossy side. Although this time around you didn't do anything to provoke him, you thought.

When you arrived at your apartment you quickly took off your shoes and jacket and got yourself a glass of water.

Alex followed you and stopped behind you. After a few seconds he pressed himself against you and put his hands on your stomach and waist.

"You looked really sexy tonight, you know." He whispered in your ear, hands roaming on your abdomen sometimes going a little lower.

"I know." You muttered putting your hands on top of his.

"Oh you do, don't you?"

"Yes Alex, course." you said furrowing your brows.

"Talking back huh? You in that mood babe?"

You whined quietly and pressed your head on his shoulder. You were squirming and soaking your underwear.

"Are you this worked up just from a few words?" He said while stroking your inner thigh once again.

"Yes.. and what about it huh?" You sighed loudly.

"You're such a brat." he said while turning you around and gripping your jaw to press his lips on yours hungrily.

You moaned loudly and pressed yourself against his body.

You made out, slipping your tongues into each others mouth's messily while your hands shamelessly roamed your bodies, groping whatever you could find.

"Alex.." you moaned.

"What?" He asked in a flat tone.

"Need you.."

"What do you need?"

"Fuck..you know what I need."

"You're gonna answer when I ask you something."

God, you thought. You might just burst right then and there. "Need you to fuck me..please."

He chuckled. "Begging already, my pretty baby? We haven't even done anything yet." He said while holding the back of your neck and pressed his lips gently on yours.

He brought his hands between your legs gently rubbing your clit.

"Fuck, Alex" you moaned breathlessly.

"Yes babe?"

"Feels good."

He continued for a few minutes.

"Too bad" he said and stopped.

"Alex!" You whined.

"You didn't think I was gonna give it to you that easily, did ya?"

You rolled your eyes at him and he gripped your face "Don't you roll your eyes at me."

Fuck. You wanted to talk back so bad but you knew he would just make you suffer more.

He softened a little and said "Let's go to bed." while taking your hand and leading you to the bedroom.

He pushed you down and climbed on top of you immediately attacking your neck, biting, sucking and kissing while pressing his hard length on your arousal.

You gripped his hair and tried to grind on him but he held your hips down as to stop your movements.

"You can move when I allow you to. Got it?"

You nodded.

"Answer me."

"Yes."

"Good girl."

You moaned at the words and he smiled, knowing how much that turned you on.

He slipped your dress past your tits and grabbed them. He buried in face in them, inhaling your scent and moaning. He stayed there for a few moments then wrapped his mouth on one of your breasts, sucking it while flicking the nipple of the other one.

"Fuck, Alex." you whispered. You absolutely loved when he played with your breasts since your nipples were sensitive.

He switched and started sucking on the other one, giving it much needed attention.

You were aching for him down there and you knew it wasn't easy for him to have no stimulation but damn, he was determined to make you suffer tonight.

He pulled back and ordered you to slip out of your dress and watched you struggle with it.

"Can't do anything without my help huh? You're pathetic babe."

His words went straight to your arousal.

You were almost completely naked while he was still in his clothes. You pulled at his shirt and he watched you as you unbuttoned it. When you got down to his belt, he grabbed your hands and pinned them back to your head. "Not so fast, sweetheart."

He started grinding on your clit and you became a moaning mess in a matter of seconds.

"Fuck, Alex!"

He moaned quietly while staring into your eyes. "You're mine, you know that right?"

You stared at him, not responding, knowing it would drive him mad.

"Say it."

"Say what?"

He took one hand and smacked your thigh hard.

"Fuck!"

He smacked it again pulling a "I'm yours, I'm yours, I'm yours" out of you.

"Good girl."

"Alex please, I can't take it anymore."

"I know babe." he said gently seeing how worked up he got you. He pressed his mouth on yours slipping his tongue inside and tasting you.

He pulled back and stroked himself a little through his clothes, looking painfully hard in his slacks. God what a sight to see.

He then leaned down and started sucking and biting your inner thigh.

"Alex, can you smack my thighs again?" You pleaded shyly.

He looked at you with with full blown lust in his eyes. "You're such a slut." He muttered.

You whined.

Fulfilling your request, he smacked them hard a few times, causing your skin to turn pink.

You moaned loudly and gripped his shoulders.

He then removed your panties, revealing your wet arousal. "God, you're soaking. All for me?"

"Yes.."

He took two fingers and played with your wet folds then brought his thumb to your clit, giving you much needed stimulation. You moaned while he played with your sensitive nub.

You whined loudly when he slipped one finger inside and heard him say "such a pretty pussy", fingering you. He insterted another finger, turning you into a moaning mess. You gripped his arms and pressed your nails into his skin, knowing you would leave a mark.

After a while he slipped his fingers out of you and started sucking on them wanting to taste you. "So good." he moaned.

"Alex.." you whispered slightly tearing up from the stimulation.

"What it is babe?" He asked gently. "Need me to fuck you like the slut you are?"

"Fuck, yes please!"

He returned to you and gave you a few kisses, cupping your face. Letting out a deep breath he sat up. He ordered you to turn around and get down on your fours.

You turned around, ass up, resting your face on your pillow anticipating what was to come. You heard him unbuckle his belt, pull down his zipper and slip off his clothes.

He took out the lube from the bedside drawer and make sure you were both lubed up and comfortable.

You waited impatiently as he lined his cock with your entrance and started teasing your folds with his tip.

"Ughh, Alex." you whined.

You tried pushing down on him but he gripped your hips tightly and said "Fuck, you want this cock badly huh? Want me to fill your pretty cunt and fuck you silly?"

Your eyes rolled to the back of your head and you muttered a quiet "Please.."

"Daddy'll take care of your pussy babe".

He started inserting his cock into you slowly, pulling out a moan out of you. He let you adjust to him before he started moving at a tantalizingly slow pace just to tease you. Putting one hand on your lower back and the other gripping your hip he started moving faster giving you what you needed leaving you a shaking mess.

"Alex!" You moaned loudly.

"You like that?"

"Yes, please, don't stop".

"Fuck." he moaned as he fucked into you.

"God, you're mine. Say it slut".

"I'm yours, I'm fucking yours".

Filthy noises were filling the room as he pounded into you filling you up completely. You were at his mercy.

He brought up a hand to your clit and started rubbing it, driving you crazy. His other hand smacked your ass hard, leaving an imprint.

"Fuck!" You shouted.

"I love you Alex-" "I love you too."

He knew you were getting close by the way you were slamming yourself into his cock sloppily and falling silent, your mouth forming into a 'O'.

"Are you close baby?"

You only whined, not being able to say anything. He continued fucking you and you gripped the sheets feeling yourself slowly getting closer to your climax.

"You gonna cum on my cock?"

You screamed, seeing only white, letting go on his cock, clenching and convulsing while he gripped your hip and rode you through your orgasm, still stimulating your clit.

Alex was getting close himself, your orgasm sending him over the edge. "Fuck (Y/N)!" he moaned loudly and started releasing his hot load inside you, rolling his eyes and fucking into you as he finished his climax.

It took a few moments for both of you to calm down from your high. He pulled out of you gently, admiring how his cum dripped out of you. You slumped on the bed not having an ounce of energy to do anything. He laid down beside you, heart still beating loudly. After a few minutes he asked "You okay, babe?".

"Yes." you whispered.

"Hey." he said, putting one hand on your back, urging you to turn and face him.

"Was I too rough?"

You looked into his concerned eyes and shook your head. "No, it was amazing."

He moved closer to you and kissed you gently, stroking your hair. He took you into his arms.

"So, wanna tell me what happened tonight?" You broke the silence.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you don't usually fuck me senseless. Unless I act like a brat."

He chuckled. He hesitated. "I uh-I don't know. Got jealous I guess." He muttered the last part.

"Why?"

"I don't know. That Thomas guy was all over you. Made me feel insecure."

"Babe why? It wasn't like that. He and I are friends. You have nothing to worry about."

"I know that you meant no harm (Y/N) and for you it was probably like catching up with an old friend. But I can tell when a guy has other intentions. I know men."

You rolled your eyes at him. "Not all guys are like that." Even though you knew he was probably right about him. You continued "Either way babe, you have nothing to worry about. I love you, no one else."

"I love you too, sweetheart."

You stayed like that, holding each other for a while.

Later on, you got up to clean yourselves up and took a hot shower. Afterwards you huddled yourselves in your shared covers and fell asleep in each others arms.

[caseynovakslut]

Cross-Examining Casey

Casey Novak x Female Reader

The never-ending bustling sounds of the streets of New York could barely be heard on the seventh floor of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit office. The bustling inside was enough. The cases that came through these walls daily were graphic and disturbing; you'd have to be disconnected to some extent just to cope with the things you see. Special Victim's just so happen to be those extreme cases involving sexual assault, kidnappings and child predators.

You'd probably wonder why l'd pick up a job that's so stomach-rattling. "She must be a messed-up individual herself!" And for that assumption, you'd be right. I've been on the opposite end. I've had to be the one on the stand, and maybe that's what led me here. I had an idea of what I wanted for myself. I did this as a last resort, I wanted to help women in the way I wasn't and made a career out of law. I could never have dealt with prosecuting addicts; l've seen too many back-handed judges, lawyers, and cops get away with wrongdoings in the eyes of the law for monetary and personal gain. My morals lie in helping people, not in the amount dimes I can put in my pocket. I honestly don't dislike my job, nor do I regret a thing, because if I wasn't here, I most likely wouldn't have met you, Casey Novak.

Casey Novak was a prosecutor on the 11th floor. She also worked for the SVU. She was a glistening ruby in this dark building. I don't know how her light stays so strong, almost like she's never struggled a day in her life. I know for a fact that's not true, though. She walks into the courtroom with such a confidence that it will always go in her favor. That we'll catch the latest psychopathic pedophile predator. Maybe that confidence is what makes her one of the best prosecutors in the precinct. I see it over and over again-the way she handles herself in a courtroom. A true Hedy Lamarr: beauty and brains. You wouldn't expect her to be so sharp, so quick-witted, and precise. For goodness' sake, she rides a bike to work! She's such a character, she can't help but plague my mind.

The clock nears 11:30 p.m., and I'm wrapping up my work for the day. Casey should be finishing up here soon too. If she doesn't, I'll have to take matters into my own hands. She's really been cracking under the pressure of this current case in a way l've never seen before. It's a case involving a schizophrenic serial rapist who targets brunette college students at local bars.

We've had this case open longer than we should, even though we've caught the 'perp'.

Now it's just an issue of his mental health and if he was lucid. If he didn't know whether he was aware of committing the rapes or not. Poor Casey, having to be the deciding factor of which way the case will go. It's also a matter of whether the case will be successful for her or what could be morally correct. Who's to say her morals are free of bias either? I'll have to do something nice for her tonight, I thought.

It's now a quarter past midnight, and I bring my hand up to knock on Casey's office door.

In my other hand, I hold a bag of Pongsri Thai, which I barely made it to on time, just to share with Casey. A simple gesture, but I'm sure she'll enjoy it, Thai food always puts a smile on her face. Knowing that it was worth the rush.

"Come in!" I hear her call out, her voice reverberated from the other side of the door. As I slip past the wooden slab on hinges, I knock again on the doorway to get her attention off the legal briefs in front of her. Not that I don't love seeing it—she looks so pretty, focused on her papers, red pen in hand, so concentrated you could see her almost unnoticeable tiny frown pulling her lips. Her eyes finally meet mine.

"Hey, Case." I hold up the Thai takeout with a grin slowly creeping onto my face. "Howabout you take a break from work, and we get out of here for the night?" I take slow steps closer to her desk. She puts her pen down and crosses her arms in front of her.

"You know I can feed myself," she huffs through a smile. So defensive for a prosecutor.

"Good luck with that. The crime might not shut down at midnight, but your favorite Thai place does." I sit down on the right corner of her desk now. "I miss you, you know? I know we aren't official, but I also want you to focus on yourself, or even focus on me, like you do a case file." She frowns at that, and I continue, trying to cheer her up from my previous statement.

"Not that I don't think you're amazing at your job; it's not that. You're just so bright, and I don't want you to lose your spar–I don't want you to dim, I jus–" I continue to trail on, probably embarrassing myself at this point.

"I appreciate the Thai. Really." Thankfully, she interrupts me. "I appreciate you too." She stands up from her leather desk chair and sits next to me on the desk. I finally get to take in her outfit: a black suit with spaced-out red pinstripes. Under the jacket of her wool set, there's a red tank top that compliments the silver necklace that lay just above the tops collar. The matching skirt falls just to her knees. My eyes trail lower, now noticing her smooth, bare legs to her cute red kitten heels. She knows she doesn't need any extra height. I do all of this in a quick motion—I'm good at observing things quickly; it comes with the job. When I look back at her face, I focus on the words coming out of her lips. I briefly watched the way they made out each vowel.

"You always know when I get too into the work. Sometimes I just can't be peeled away from it." She gesture's to me "without some assistance." no gaps between her words she continues, almost so I wouldn't take her next words in "It's been different for me since you came here." That's all it took to stand up and set the food down on the floor. Casey's eyes watch my every move, every step closer to her. I now stand in front of her and entangle my hand in her brunette hair. I can feel her inability to speak. There's this silence that pours out of her. It's always amusing how I can do that to her–bring someone so confident and precise in a courtroom to silence.

Knowing Casey, her silence is permission. I take it, and with that, I press my lips to hers.

It feels like the first time, every time–the softness, the way she tastes of rosey lip balm, the way she smiles into the kiss, and how you can feel her teeth when you deepen it. It's different with her every normal turn-off is a turn-all-the-way-up . I tighten my grip in her hair, tilting her head to the side to get a better angle as I trail a line of kisses down her cheekbones to her jaw. She lets out little sounds that drive me crazy.

"Casey," I breathe into her ear, her face painted in faint pleasure. "We have to finish our Thai before it gets cold," I tease, my voice shifting from a seductive whisper to a more cheeky tone.

"Haah... okay, get me all excited just to make me wait." she replied, trying to sound annoyed, but the smile on her face knew better.

"Be excited for your Thai." I roll my eyes at her and smile back. "Let's go back to my place."

This is an around season 5 timeline Casey fic feedback, reposts, kudos, comments are all appreciated. More parts will be in the making within the week. Will it get explicit next chapter ? 😳

[fantasyinvader]

Some more stuff clicked.

We all know about Houses' attempt at “morally grey” crossing the line into victim blaming at times. But victim blaming is something that's more accepted in Japan. It's can be summed up with the mindset of “if you hadn't have done X, then Y wouldn't have happened so this is your fault.” For instance, with bullying it's often that the victims are the ones held as being responsible rather than the group because they didn't fit in with the others. They stood out and because of that they were the problem, they're the ones making the group look bad as they're the ones responsible for the group acting in a such a way. This also applies to the workforce, when people don't stand up to domineering bosses and let their actions slide rather than calling them out and making the company look bad. And, of course, women being responsible for being sexually assaulted and stuff for reasons I'm not going to dignify here. This can also be combined with how Japan focuses on appearances, that things look good on a surface level.

Then we have Edelgard's accusations about Rhea and the Church. As I've mentioned before, Japan tends to view people accused of something as guilty until proven innocent. If they didn't do anything wrong, they wouldn't have been accused in the first place and even the accusation can reflect negatively upon the individual. Again, look at Persona 5's Joker being falsely accused for a crime and everyone acting like he's a criminal because of it.

As myself and others have pointed out, Houses was created by Japanese people primarily for the Japanese domestic audience and from a Japanese POV. And from that POV, Edelgard's accusations make her opponents look bad. It makes them look like they're guilty, and therefore Edelgard is justified in her actions against them. From a surface level, the game can be seen as morally grey and Edelgard as a heroic figure.

But the game's developers have said that they built Fodlan in order to support Silver Snow's story, where the player fights against Edelgard, and this is supported by tons of optional dialogue that pokes holes in Edelgard's claims (not to mention, Claude's route talking about clearing up misconceptions by getting to know people). Her route is supposed to be representative of hadou, something she herself says in the Japanese version of her S support (aka the player has chosen to get to know Edelgard in the most intimate way possible in the game), meaning if she wins it's not justice. That despite all the accusations she can sling, for justice to happen the player needs to fight against her as, and this was supposed to be a twist, Edelgard was one of the game's villains.

Flower isn't full of holes like Swiss cheese. It's more like Aero chocolate bar, whose thin surface make it appear to be solid chocolate. However, break one open and take a look inside and you'll find it's full of air bubbles, bubbles that collapse in your mouth. It may even be a different flavor on the inside, like mint or orange with appropriate colors.

Edelgard uses the Japanese mindset to try and sway players into becoming villains. She'll make accusations, trying to turn people against her enemies even when the evidence doesn't back up her claims. She'll even ignore information she doesn't like, in addition to withholding it or spreading misinformation to make herself look better. She's the one lord who doesn't want to dig deeper into what is going on, she just expects Byleth to follow her lead as she's the Emperor and will be quick to remind others of this fact should they cross her. Those who stand out and try to resist her within the Empire, like the commoners opposing being conscripted according to Ferdie's paralogue, are executed by her government. It's not “the people are against the nobility” or an information campaign that is calming the unrest in her own country. She'll even blame her own victims if her reforms don't work for her, and her reforms amount to taking away social security nets aimed to help those in need while also consolidating her own power so that she may make those reforms she says will fix everything.

That's the radical nature of Safflower, and it's only by breaking away from traditional Japanese thinking in the routes that Fodlan gets a good ending. But that's the type of thing that gets lost in the translation, partially by cultural differences and partially because the translators tried to alter the story to suit their own preferences. It kinda reminds me of the translation notes from The Three Body Problem, how a translator does not only where the translator does not only translate the words but also the way of thinking behind the source material.

[racksonjoss]

BEFORE YOU READ THIS, PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT I SAY. IM NOT TRANSPHOBIC OR ANY OF THAT SHIT.

Now please enjoy my little response to this post. :)

I get this, I really do. But I feel like one of the main points of a gender separated bathroom is that it makes them a lot quicker. For example if you have an Applebee's with a man's bathroom that can have 6 people in it going and a women's bathroom that can also have 6 people you got 12 people that can go to the bathroom at a time (simple baby brain math)

But the way bathrooms are designed in this day and age, a single person gender neutral bathroom can only take one person at a time. So say you remodeled the bathrooms to each be a gender neutral one, now you can only have 2 people in bathrooms compared to the previous 12. And now that Apple bees has a line of people out the door waiting to use the bathrooms, which is a big no no.

This idea works in theory for shit like a Starbucks, where people aren't always going to the bathroom like other places. But the world isn't all Starbucks. It's full of Walmarts, McDonald's, Fred Myers, Bars, Nightclubs, Waterparks, and every little other place that requires big gender separated bathrooms to keep the place going as before. Not saying there's a world where gender neutral bathrooms couldn't be made to be just as or more efficient, but that's not the case.

The other thing about gender neutral bathrooms are that they are expensive! It's hard and pricey to remodel or build an entire room for a single person use gender neutral bathroom. And frankly for a change that costs a hell of a lot but appeals to the 1% (yes its less than 1%, check bottom for source) it doesn't make any company really want to make the switch. I sure wouldn't if I owned a company.

Also in @redbuddi 's reblog they say this "They ignore the fact that women are just as capable as assaulting men as the other way around." Which I 100% agree with! Women are just as capable as assaulting men as men are to women. The key word here being CAPABLE. See Humbolt State University give us these stats: "An estimated 91% of victims of rape & sexual assault are female and 9% male. Nearly 99% of perpetrators are male. " -see citations page. (See Tumblr I did the minimal amount of research that everyone should do to back up a claim) Although women are just as capable of committing a crime of some sort that would full under the category of this conversation, they are nowhere nearly as likely to do one of those said crimes. The info from Humbolt University proves this by just bringing up one small part of the peice of the pie. It's not sexist to say that men in society are much more likely to a. Commit a crime like r@pe, and b. Commit torward a person of the opposite sex. So why the fuck does this matter torward gender neutral public or non public restrooms? Well I've been referring to gender neutral bathrooms this whole post as single person bathrooms that only one person can use, but let's imagine multi person gender neutral bathrooms. And let's for a second imagine that nobody has a problem with the people inside of them, everyone on the earth just accepts multi person gender neutral bathrooms as okay. Okay you got that image in your head? Now image the amount of violent crimes that would happen in that environment, the amount of men (and women!) That would do something fucked up to another cis person specifically of another gender. That is so clearly a reason that companies and places keep bathrooms gender separated.

Okay. *phew* that was a lot of stuff you guys might either agree with or not. Let's take a break to discuss what I've brought up so far, okay?

What I've covered:

Gender neutral bathrooms are extremely inneficent

Gender neutral bathrooms are expensive and provide little to no incentive for companies to use them

The majority of places where the use case of a single use gender neutral bathroom would be okay is not the majority of the world

The amount of violent crimes that would be committed in gender neutral public bathrooms would skyrocket

Another thing @redbuddi says is this "The bathroom issue is just another whatabout-ism that they carry around to scare and recruit anyone vulnerable to believe them" Which I also agree with! To an extent... See I'm avoiding using examples of trans people being violent to a person of a same gender in the restroom (trans male attacking a trans female) for a reason, because you can generalize an entire group of people based on a few stories. That would be a "hasty generalization" fallacy and would not be okay to use in any discussion for any side.

Another reason these companies that are claimed as "bigoted" use gender split public bathrooms is as the old adage says "if it ain't broke then don't fix it" this means that the companies don't want to get into the argument at all, so they just continue with the social norm that is already set. Say a company named "Green Jeans" puts out a statement saying this "we here at green jeans have heard your concerns about the split gender bathrooms issue and we would like to say that we will not be allowing trans identifying people into same sex bathrooms and we will not be converting our restrooms into gender neutral bathrooms" If Green Jeans did this, they would be called transphobic and people would get mad at them for taking a side.

But let's look at a different reality, one where Green Jeans said this "we here at green jeans have heard your concerns about the gender split bathrooms and would like to say that we are going to change all Green Jeans locations rest rooms into gender neutral bathrooms to support the lgbt community" Now suddenly the tides have changed. The half that used to hate them loves them and vice versa. You see the problem here? The only way to appease everyone is to appease nobody. Not saying that this is the sole reason why companies love same sex bathrooms, but it's sure as shit one of the reasons.

Let's take this idea of consumer opinion to another level. Backing up the subject of safety concerns, a lot of American folk wouldn't be comfortable with gender neutral public bathrooms (I personally wouldn't give a shit but that's just me) And the company has to appease the large part of our country who would not like that. There are thousands of everyday folk who would be uncomfortable if they were in a 7/11 bathroom and someone they perceived as another gender came into the 7/11 bathroom. And by proxy I'm sure that that random midwest Christian mom would not go to that 7/11 again. Boom, lost consumer.

I feel like the post I'm reblogging is trying to argue a humanitarian view in an capitalist discussion. The poster of the repost I'm reblogging talks a lot about how this whole gender split bathrooms thingy is a big scam from "the man". But what is the scam giving "the man"? Split sex bathrooms are cheaper so it's not giving them money. It's not giving them power that I know of. It's not giving them joy or satisfaction. So what is "the man" trying to accomplish with single sex bathrooms? Maybe it's not "the man" and just how society is going right now. Maybe it's not all transphobic rich white assholes talking about this in a conference room. Maybe it's just how it is. And please please don't take this whole thing as me talking about how I'm on the company's side, I'm not and fuck like 2/3 of the companies we have here in the USA. They are all corrupt money sponges sucking our hard earned dollars.

To get it out into the air, I'm all for gender neutral bathrooms in America. The current bathroom system needs to be innovated and changed to fit the need. But this is really where I disagree with @redbuddi. They say this near the end of their post "While we should continue to criticize them, try not to fall into the trap of smug liberalism..." I think that this is a very messed up way of requesting change. I do think there is deep-rooted transphobia and homophobia in almost every major corp or chain, but at the end of the day, political opinions or not, gender split bathrooms are without a fucking doubt the best choice for a lot of places, big corporations, small mom and pop shops, almost everywhere in America. So what are we critiquing? What are we criticizing? Are we mad about the fact that society won't conform to gender neutral bathrooms? Because if that's the case then I feel that the Lgbt community has a lot more pressing issues to get frustrated over; and complaining about how gender split bathrooms are some sort of "Quanon, Charles Manson" "bigoted agenda" is not the way to change shit. We need innovation not misplaced frustration.

Citations section:

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/lgbt-gender-identity-ipsos-2021-survey/

Humboldt State University. (n.d.). Statistics. Retrieved from

the idea of public restrooms as "women's spaces" continues to confound me. you know who I hope is in a public bathroom when I go in?? no one. I would prefer no one else be in the bathroom. and if someone else is in the bathroom I am going to ignore them as much as possible. I did not go into the bathroom to connect with other women. I went into the bathroom to piss and/or shit. it's a toilet's space, not a women's space. shut the fuck up and let trans people piss and shit in peace. let's all continue to avoid eye contact with each other and any and all interaction in the toilet's space.

[mvtk42]

I recently got involved in a book club in my town, and for the most part I enjoy it - it's run in a combination bookstore and bar, and the vibes are immaculate. It's been a lot of fun reading both good and bad books, then talking about them over an alcoholic beverage with others.

The book we'll be talking about next week is The Ritual by Shantel Tessier, and to say I'm infuriated I've contributed monetarily to this author is the kindest thing I can say about this book so far, and I can't wait until next week to bitch about it.

TW: DISCUSSION OF DEPICTIONS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT TOUTED AS DARK ROMANCE.

It's like Tessier took the worst parts of Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey and went, "Y'know what, I bet I can miss the point of BDSM EVEN HARDER."

Every sex scene so far is a poorly-disguised rape apologist fantasy. If Tessier has ever heard of Safe, Sane, and Consensual, she hit it over the head with a stout club and dragged it out behind the shed to shoot it. The concept of aftercare is given the same consideration a worrying amount of the country gives vaccines: disregarded where not outright disparaged.

The book's concept is, "What if women volunteered to be sex slaves for the Illuminati?" The book takes great pains to point out women must volunteer for this servitude - except the FMC had never heard of this group, was not at all involved in it, yet was still given to the MMC without her knowledge or consent. Then the MMC begins stalking her, at one point sitting in his car in the parking lot of her apartment building jerking off to watching her while she has no idea he's there. Classy.

It turns out the FMC's boyfriend is also part of this group (not that she knows that) and was given another woman. He doesn't even do her the kindness of breaking up with her bedore gallivanting off with this other woman, and the heartbreak of betrayal and the author's sophomoric understanding of mommy issues cause FMC to lose all respect for herself and allow herself to be used as a cum rag under the misconception she's "finally making her own choices."

I don't know about you, but when I'm mad at my mom, my answer is not to roofie myself by drinking a random bottle of liquid someone broke into my apartment to leave on my nightstand.

Then the MMC breaks back into her apartment to finger her while she's senseless. He would've sexually assaulted her with his dick, but the Illuminaughty says he can't fuck her until she takes a vow.

Like, I understand CNC is a valid kink, but she had no idea what the liquid was, nor did she know ol' boy was gonna come do stuff to her. She was never given the opportunity to knowingly consent, because drinking random shit (while displaying the survival instincts of a helium balloon in a cactus orgy) is NOT consent.

The scene that made me put the book down to type all this out was when FMC finally gives her vow - not that she has any idea what she's agreeing to, cuz no one explains it to her. MMC uses police-issue handcuffs on her, purposefully tightens them way too tight, half-drowns her in a Slut-Shame Baptism (to "wash away the touch of other men," even though FMC is a virgin and MMC knows this), then violently shoves his dick in her mouth for the benefit of the audience.

Once she's gargled his Good Time Goo, MMC drags her out to the back of the building, and as she's begging him to take the handcuffs off because she's in pain, he shoves her underwear in her mouth and prepares to go to town because now he's finally allowed to fuck her pussy.

At that point my face was aching from the expression of appalled disgust it'd been locked in for the past hour and I needed a break. Like, I get that this is supposedly dark romance, and it'd be one thing if these sexual assaults were depicted as that - or even if the FMC had some reaction to them other than "Tra la la these are just things that happen I guess tee hee wow my pussy sure is wet." But so far this is literally just the author saying over and over again, "Women sure do love getting raped," and it's disgusting.

[coochiequeens]

A male judge just awarded custody of a teenage girl to the rapist who attacked her mother when she was the same age as the girl is now.

A watchdog group in Louisiana has asked outside authorities to investigate a recent ruling by a judge that granted an accused rapist full custody of the daughter his accuser — who became pregnant when she was 16 and the father was 30 — birthed nine months later.

Court records obtained by PEOPLE confirm that Judge Jeffrey Cashe also ordered Crysta Abelseth, 32, to make monthly child support payments to John Barnes, the man she alleges raped her in late 2005. 

Cashe awarded Barnes, 46, full custody of the girl on March 21, 2022, despite allegations made by a child that Barnes had been sexually, physically and verbally abusive. Those allegations were first brought to the state's Department of Children and Family Services by a school counselor. Barnes has not been charged with a crime in connection with those allegations.

"I just want my daughter home safe and my perpetrator out of our lives for good," Abelseth tells PEOPLE. "My quality of life has suffered tremendously and it has bankrupted me financially. It is my faith in God that has kept me strong for my daughter because this is truly more than anyone should ever have to endure."

The court documents, which were viewed by PEOPLE, include DNA test results, which confirm that Barnes is the biological father of Abelseth's daughter. Abelseth got pregnant when she was 16 and Barnes was 30, which means the encounter, even if consensual, would have amounted to statutory rape. In Louisiana in 2005, the age of consent was 17, as it is today.

According to WBRZ, the Metropolitan Crime Commission, a corruption watchdog group, has asked that an outside agency investigate the ruling.

Sean Cassidy, an attorney for the non-profit Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault, tells PEOPLE he finds Cashe's decision "awfully baffling," given the allegations. "I don't know how something like this happens," Cassidy says. 

WBRZ reports that Barnes owns a web company called Gumbeaux Digital Branding that counts the Ponchatoula Police as a client. (Abelseth alleges Barnes raped her in Ponchatoula.)

"I have seen some bad decisions. I've seen some indifference by law enforcement. I've seen what looks like bias from some judges," Cassidy continues. "But I have never seen the father of a child born out of a rape not only be awarded custody and some sort of payment, but also, that person even seeking custody. It is not something you see."

We 'Absolutely Dropped the Ball,' Police Admit 

In 2015, Abelseth filed a complaint with the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office against Barnes, alleging he'd raped her on Dec. 13, 2005, after they'd both been drinking at a bar in Hammond, where Abelseth said she got in with a fake ID.

Abelseth told investigators Barnes had offered her a ride home. Instead, she said, he took her to his place in Ponchatoula. "I had woken up on the bathroom floor nude," Abelseth wrote in her statement, saying she was unable to give consent as she was unconscious during the encounter. Abelseth further alleges in her written statement Barnes had threatened to seek full custody of the girl, should she ever pursue criminal charges against him.

Barnes has never been charged with a crime. 

Abelseth's 2015 complaint wasn't assigned to a detective until this year, the court records show. The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office in a statement acknowledged they did not properly investigate that allegation and said the case was turned over to prosecutors on Wednesday.

"In tracing this case back to the time the initial complaint was filed on July 1, 2015, it was discovered that the report never made it through the proper channels within the department to be assigned for investigation," reads the statement. "Therefore, our department absolutely dropped the ball, and we simply must own our mistake. This is a mistake, however, that simply has never been a problem before or since, and we must make sure to keep it that way."

Abelseth alleges in the filings that she didn't report the alleged rape for years because she thought victims had only 24 hours to go to the police after such crimes occurred. She ended up reporting the rape after learning the statute of limitations for rape was 30 years after the victim turns 18.

Custody Battle Began After Barnes Learned He Had Child 

The custody battle began in 2011, after the girl turned 5, and Barnes learned he might have a child; Abelseth tells PEOPLE she has no idea how he discovered the daughter's existence. Barnes took Abelseth to court, and once paternity was established, Barnes sought and was awarded shared custody of the child, despite their ages at the time Abelseth became pregnant. 

"I was under the impression I had no choice to let him be involved in my child's life," Abelseth tells PEOPLE. "He was threatening me. My attorney at the time knew he raped me and she didn't advise me of my rights."

According to documents obtained by PEOPLE, Barnes started paying $428 a month in support for the child in April 2013. 

Judge Cashe took over the case in August 2015 — a month after Abelseth reported the rape to police, and several months after Barnes asked the court to find her in contempt for allegedly violating some of the terms of their custody agreement.

Six months later, a split-custody agreement was reached, and Abelseth was ordered to pay $78.41 to Barnes each month. That sum increased to $117.72 per month in 2017.

Abelseth requested that Barnes' custody be limited, but Cashe denied that motion. Months later, Barnes began filing motions seeking to have Abelseth held in contempt after giving the daughter a cell phone; in a previous decision, Cashe barred the girl from owning a phone.

On Feb. 2, 2022, Cashe found Abelseth in contempt over the phone, and she was ordered to pay $500. He again told the mother not to get the girl a phone.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

In a March 18, 2022, hearing before Cashe, a child's abuse accusations against Barnes were brought up, and Abelseth asked for full custody. But Cashe said criminal charges were never pursued against Barnes and that the evidence failed to support allegations he had abused a child. 

Days later, Barnes filed for full custody, claiming Abelseth provided their daughter with a second phone. Cashe granted the request the same day. Abelseth tells PEOPLE the allegations made by Barnes she provided her daughter with a cell phone were "false."

Cashe did not respond to PEOPLE's repeated requests for comment. But on Wednesday, he filed a Reasons for Judgement, a document explaining his decisions in the case. In it, he says the allegations Barnes abused a child were only put forward by Abelseth after Barnes had asked to have her held in contempt.

Custody Trial Scheduled for July 15 

Cassidy tells PEOPLE the judge should have realized the 2005 sexual encounter between Barnes and Ableson — consensual or not — amounted to statutory rape. He notes that state law bars men from having contact with any child that is the product of rape. 

Barnes did not respond to requests for comment at press time. Neither did the Tangipahoa Parish District Attorney's Office or Gov. John Bel Edwards, who is the brother of Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Daniel H. Edwards as well as Frank Millard Edwards, the chief of police in Independence, a town in Tangipahoa County. 

The issue of the daughter's custody is set for trial on July 15, PEOPLE learns.

"This case is the ultimate example of a judicial system that has failed this rape victim and her daughter deplorably," says Stacie Triche, founder and executive director for the non-profit SAVE LIV35 Foundation, who is working with Abelseth on her case. 

"I thank God for the trauma counselor who advised her of her rights to file charges against her perpetrator in 2015, because her attorney at that time failed to do so. She has been drug through the mud in this court system by her rapist for ten years. I cannot fathom how this mother was forced to not only hand her 5-year-old daughter over to the man who raped her, but also forced to pay him child support and legal fees by the same system that is supposed to protect her rights."

Adds Triche: "I pray justice is served and that child is brought home to her mother where she belongs — and the perpetrator is put behind bars where he belongs."

Abelseth tells PEOPLE she hopes her story "will encourage women going through similar situations to have hope and to not give up."

[stillsimpinforfanfiction]

What can be Cradled but Never Held? Chapter 1

Paul Dano!Riddler x f!Reader NSFW Slowburn

18+ MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

Word Count: 3882

Warnings (not all in this chapter): Umm tbh everything at one point or another, this is Riddler we're talking about. Assault, murder/death, blood, harassment and sexual assault attempt (not by Eddie), abuse mention, neglect mention, sex/masturbation, mental illness (I'll try to depict this as well as I can), weapons, torture, kidnapping, BDSM themes, and more! lol

Summary: After meeting the girl of his dreams, Eddie is confounded in his new feelings. When he is supposed to be focusing on his Riddler agenda, as he had planned for the last two years, but finds himself thinking about you day and night instead, what will he do? Should he let you go and move on, force you to stay with him and learn to accept him as the Riddler, or stop his plans altogether?

A/N: Hey guys, I've been working on this one for a while, and have quite a few chapters ready already. Idk when I'll post them though since I may go back and tweak things depending on how the plot progresses. Also, I've never seen/read any other batman besides the newest one and was just obsessed with Dano's Riddler. So, I apologize if this isn't entirely canon, especially since I imagine I will have to write after the events of the first movie before the sequel is out. Any tips (good or bad) would be great. Thank you!

Despite loving your old town, getting to see your best friend in-person every day, and having a good connection with many of the locals, you decided that taking up a job in the city Gotham a few hours away would be good for you. The "good" parts, of course, being that it paid about 1.5 times the amount your last job did, and you had secured a decent apartment with lower than average rent. So even though you would be leaving behind your old life in a way, you could still talk to your friend online and visit every now and then, especially with the bank you were about to be pulling in.

You took up a position as a clinical lab tech at a prestigious animal hospital in the city. The job had its perks as you occasionally got to see cute animals going by and knew that your work was going to a great cause: saving animals. I mean, what could be controversial about that? The best part, though, was getting to work in a lab where no direct customer consultation was usually required as it was done through the veterinarians. I.e, you didn't have to deal with customer service drama. Everything seemed to fit into place almost too perfectly and you moved to Gotham with a naive but optimistic view about starting your new life.

The first few weeks were nerve-wracking but exciting. Getting used to your new job was difficult, and finding places for everything to fit in your apartment was as easy as a blood cell trying to flow through a blocked artery, but you managed, for now. After finally having being moved in all the way and having a good handle on your job, you decided to explore the city, albeit not venturing very far the first time.

After work one night, you walked to a nearby cafe, about 5 blocks from your apartment, to get something not hand-cooked by you for once. As you walk in, you can tell the diner is much larger than can be seen from the front window and had a retro-urban vibe to it that felt very comforting. Considering it was as late as it was, the only other patron was a man sitting at the bar with his head in a book and illuminated by one of the few dim lights left on.

As you drew closer, you could hear some faint sounds coming from the back, indicating that the place was definitely still open and you didn't just enter into a closed restaurant accidentally. Still a little wary, you decide to sit a few seats away from the man, but still at the bar in the best position for a waiter to hopefully notice you and get your order soon.

Trying not to look awkward, you scroll through your phone absentmindedly but definitely see in your peripheral vision the man sneaking glances at you over the top of his book. One time he glanced, you look up at him and smile which makes him immediately look back at his book with tinted red cheeks. Cute, you thought.

"Do you have any suggestions on what tastes good here?" you ask, setting your phone down on the counter to give a more direct presence.

"Oh, um....I really like their pumpkin pie" he stammers out sheepishly. You nod, giving your thanks and letting him get back to reading.

After a few minutes, a waitress finally notices you and scrambles out, apologizing for not hearing you come in and asks for your order.

"Oh, it's okay, I just got here! And could I get a burger, fries, coke, and....a slice of pumpkin pie?" you smile to the man at the last part. The waitress smiles and heads to the back as you give your thanks and go back to reading whatever smut you had pulled up on your phone.

After a few minutes, the waitress sets down your food and you thank her. Deciding to pay then, you try not to become feral when you finally can gobble the food down from your hunger. You're about halfway through your meal when you glance to the man again, this time focusing on the book he's reading.

"Is that Into the Wild?" you ask enthusiastically, although rhetorically since you would recognize the cover anywhere.

"Ah, um, yes...you know it?" The man peers surprisedly at you through his clear-rimmed glasses.

"Yes- I mean- well, it's one of my favorites. Jon Krakauer is...an incredible writer. Is this your first time reading it?" You blurt out, a little too excited at the opportunity to share your passion for the book.

"It is. I've never read from him before, although I have to agree this is an incredible story so far. Especially knowing it's true." He exclaimed, his knee slightly bobbing on the footrest of the bar stool.

"I know right!? It makes it so much more thrilling knowing that you really can just...slip away from society. Makes you wonder why we decided to make this corporate world at all huh..." trailing off, you go back to eating the rest of your food, finally starting on the slice of pie.

The man hadn't responded to you after that, but you could feel his stare on you like a hawk the whole time. In normal circumstances, it would be creepy, but for some reason, you didn't feel like it was with him, more just that he struggled with social cues, which hey, you could definitely relate to that. After the first bite, you closed your eyes from how good the pie tasted, savoring the flavor before swallowing and looking at him again.

"You were right, this really is good, wow" you beamed at him. He smiled back shyly and attempted to push down a cowlick in the middle of his head to clear the air.

"I'm y/n by the way, what is your name?" you pushed further, leaning your head on your hand and tilting it as you stared back.

"It's-uh...it's Edward" he paused long before telling you, almost like he was deciding whether to say it or not.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Edward. You'll have to let me know how you like the book if we happen to see each other again."

"Yeah that...that sounds good" he smiles again, watching you grab your things and head back out into the night.

Little did you know, that interaction would completely change both of your lives forever.

It had been a few days since that night and work was starting to take its toll on you already. The higher pay wasn't just due to the prestigious level the animal hospital operated at, you discovered, it also came with many more duties than your previous job where you shared much more of the work. There were more tests that the lab ran compared to others within hundreds of miles, and that meant that you had to deal with tests being shipped and people travelling with their pets from all over. You also had to learn how to operate the new machines that were capable of such tests and interpret the data intervals for each kind, and so on. In other words, every time it seemed like you were getting used to your job, you found out something you were doing wrong.

Trying to relieve your pent-up stress, you took to driving before heading home after work. Both to explore the city more and to clear your head before getting into your comfort mode; you didn't want to bring that negative energy home. You had found quite a few odd but interesting places you planned to check out on the weekends, but your favorite spot was actually out of the city up a large hill to a long-forgotten park. Whilst kind of creepy at night, it had an amazing view that overlooked the city and reminded you much more of your old rural town, being able to hear crickets and see the stars rather than honking and air pollution. At some point, coming to this spot became ritual for you after work and you would destress in the cool breeze.

This night, however, the park didn't seem to be cutting it after a particularly bad day at work. See, your manager had gotten switched with one from another lab within the hospital and the new manager was...forward, to put it nicely. From the get-go, he had asked you in private if you had a boyfriend, to which you of course lied and said yes. This did little to dissuade him, however, and he had still taken to you in a way that was entirely unprofessional.

At one point, while preparing a specimen, he came up behind you and grabbed your hands, using his fingers to show you how to prepare it in a way you were quite literally already doing before his unwelcome presence. After declaring that you would prefer vocal instruction to physical in the future, he just laughed at you dismissively and continued his provocations.

Every time another lab tech or delivery person came in, he of course completely stopped his actions and put on the most charismatic persona equivalent to a devious politician. It ground your gears, knowing damn well that he had plenty of other work he should have been doing rather than bothering you.

Sighing, you tried to let the negative stress go but found it unbearably difficult and decided some food would help. Returning to the same diner you met Edward at, you were surprised to see it packed much more than last time, with about half the booths filled and only a few seats left at the bar. It was a Friday night, you supposed.

Despite your previous defeated thoughts, you perked up a bit at seeing Edward in the same spot he was before, with an open stool next to him. This time, however, he had a computer on his lap rather than a book, which he was currently typing away at almost in a frenzy.

You sit at the stool next to him, waiting to see if he notices you and smiling down at whatever it was he was so preoccupied with. You could only get a slight view with the now-glaring dining lights reflecting off the screen, but it looked like some sort of coding.

"Hey Edward! It's y/n, do you remember me? How have you been?" you ask, hoping you aren't bothering him too much.

"Yeah, I do. I've been fine" he forces out, not even looking up from the furious typing he quickly resumed with.

"That's good! Well did you end up finishing the book? I'd love to know what you thought of it" you try harder, hoping your first, much more friendly, encounter with him wasn't abnormal behavior for him.

"I did. Look, I'm not trying to be rude but I'm just really busy right now" he finally looks up at you, clearly annoyed with having to stop whatever he was working on twice now.

"Oh, okay, sorry" you mutter, feeling humiliated. Opting for a booth far from the bar instead, you head over and spend the rest of your time there looking out the window as you eat, feeling even more down than when you walked in.

The next time you enter the diner, you feel extraordinarily depressed, even compared to last time, and are solely going because you didn't have the motivation to cook. This time, the diner is mostly empty with only a few patrons in now, and, of course, Edward in his normal seat. You head for the same booth as last time and, after ordering, put your head down to cry silently despite telling yourself you wouldn't do so in public.

Edward obviously noticed this and felt his heart drop for some reason, which he knew was silly. The last time you had been here, he had been dealing with covering up some of the traces that he left when getting intel for his Riddler plan. Normally, he would do this from the safety of his own home, but, by the gift of Hades himself, his apartment's internet had decided to go out and his hotspot wasn't working. Thus, his best solution at the time was to just use a VPN and go to the closest place with free wifi: here.

Of all the days for him to get to see you again, of course, this was the day it happened to work out. His frustration with everything going on at work, the internet issue, and having to cover up his mistakes in the first place, made him quite agitated already. So when you innocently tried striking up a conversation with him like when you met, he regrettably took out the stress on you more than he meant to, instantly feeling terrible at your dejected expression and decision to leave.

As atrocious as it was, he took that opportunity to hack your own phone that night, once his own work was finished. It was easy, since you didn't have a vpn on and were the last to connect to the wifi. He didn't want to be too invasive, though, so he decided to simply find out your name and do a background check anyone could do, rather than snooping through your photos or messages like a total creep.

From this, he had found your previous work history, family, and university which all seemed pretty normal. You also didn't have any social media accounts, at least, none tied to your name, which he was surprised by. Really, all he could find on his "normal and not at all creepy" background search was a few newspaper mentions of you with honor roll, awards, etc. However, he decided to look a little deeper, just out of curiosity as to what you were suddenly doing in Gotham, and found that you worked for Tariel Animal Clinics, a corporation that he had the unfortunate experience with digging into, as they were infamous for money laundering off the ingenuine business of some of their patrons.

This immediately sent a red flag through his brain, completely disheartened that you, who seemed so sweet and rejecting of society, based on the little he had talked to you anyway, could be involved with this dark scheme. He couldn't say he was surprised, of course, considering this was Gotham, but it still sucked.

He thought about it, your background, the fact that this job was so similar to your last one, and wondered, did you know? Maybe you were just a naive outsider not prepared for the horrors of this city and not aware of the evil corporation you were working for.

Regardless of the self-preserving voice in his head telling him not to have hope, he couldn't help but keep that spark alight that his suspicion was true. But first, he had to be sure. He'd talk to you next time you were there.

Well, unfortunately, you didn't look any more elated than the last time he saw you, which was already not a high standard. In fact, you were crying, and that made him want to stop his investigating right then and there just to comfort you, which scared him. But maybe he could do both, he thought, starting to head over to you.

Once he was only a few steps away, your head perked up from the sound and he stopped in his tracks, seeing your eyes red and puffy made him want to cry, too.

"Hey...y/n...I am so sorry about how dismissive I was last time you were here. I had something urgent I needed to do but I could have been much nicer about how I communicated that, can I sit with you?" Edward gestured to the other side of the booth you were draping your arms across.

"Hi Edward...yeah, you can. And it's okay, I totally understand. I shouldn't have been so pushy." You apologized back, wiping your eyes and straightening out your shirt to look more presentable across from him.

"No no no, please don't be sorry, this was on me but....are you okay? I don't mean to pry but you seem quite down. Did something happen?"

"Ha...yeah I guess. It's a lot of things, really, but I don't want to dump it all on you and ruin your night" you said, watching the headlights of passing cars through the window.

"Please, by all means, it's the least I can do to listen" he half smiled, rubbing his thumbs nervously in his closed hands.

Sighing, you took a drink of your water before starting.

"Well, I'm new to Gotham and I guess altogether I just wasn't ready for the city life like I thought I would be, you know? Where I grew up, I only had a few friends and even in my college town there wasn't much to do so I usually kept to myself. But I could always go outside whenever I wanted and it was mostly safe. Here, though, it seems like crime happens around every corner and I'm constantly on edge about getting mugged or raped or killed or god knows what else. I guess I just really miss my friends and I hate how cold and lonely this city feels-" your sentence is choked off with a sob as the tears you fought to control came back down your face.

Edward immediately reaches out on instinct to comfort you, a sensation which was foreign to him, and realizes what he's doing. Right before going to touch your shoulder, he stops to gauge your reaction that it's okay. You answer silently, leaning into his hand and feeling the heat of his palm warm your skin through the fabric of your shirt. He tries to rub you reassuringly, but his labored breathing gave away his inexpertise in even the most subliminal touching.

"I'm so sorry y/n. In a way I understand since I've always lived in Gotham, but I've also never known anything else so I can't imagine how difficult that transition is. How come you decided to leave everything and move here?" He questioned softly with his head lowered to meet your eyes.

"Well, I moved for work. It's essentially the same job I had as before but it pays much better and I guess I just wanted to make that sacrifice so I could save up, if that makes sense." You mumble, trying hard to keep the tears at bay once again.

"Yeah, it does. Do you mind me asking what you do?" he asked, despite already knowing the answer. He wanted to lead the conversation towards determining whether you were someone even worthy of the comfort he had already given.

"Oh, I'm a clinical lab technician at an animal hospital. I essentially just run different tests on specimen samples to help vets determine the health complications of animals." He nodded his head, acknowledging this like it was news.

"What got you interested in that kind of job? Do you like the new one more than the last?" He found that the previous job you had worked had no shady fraudulence, at least as far as he could find, which meant pretty much guaranteed.

"Well, it's complicated. The job itself I like because I love being in a lab setting and knowing that my work is used to save animals lives gives me...some sort of purpose that I can do good in this world. And I do like that my new job has more tech and tests for me to use is exciting but..." you trailed off, not sure you wanted to share this yet.

"But?" Edward pushed. Given what you had just said, it was safe for him to assume you definitely did not know about what was going on at the company. Which was both relieving for his sake and worrisome for yours.

"It's just that um...I got a new manager. The first one I liked and she really helped with my introduction to the lab but the new one is...a bit unprincipled." He watched as you bit your bottom lip, not making eye contact with him anymore. This news hit him like a freight train as he felt...protective. He definitely shouldn't, he barely even knew you yet.

"In what ways?" He almost whispered, trying to look up into your eyes with his head lowered down, worrying about your change in demeanor.

"He's been quite...forward with showcasing his advances towards me...." screw the formalities, you were just going to be blunt, you decided "multiple times he has grabbed me, made perverted comments towards me, and is incredibly condescending whenever I make the simplest mistakes. I would go to HR about it or something but he's from higher up in the company and I think if I did that I'd just end up getting fired. I can't lose this position, not after everything I gave up."

"That's so terrible, y/n, I'm sorry you're having to deal with that, I truly am." After giving your shoulder a squeeze, Edward drew his hand back and stared at you for a moment. Outwardly, he looked nonchalant but inside he was attempting to quell the burning anger he had for your despicable manager and everything this city is that has made you feel so downtrodden. He had to breathe deeply through his nose to calm down the side of him about to start the Riddler attacks.

In this time, you stared at him, seeing his jaw tighten slightly which you imagined had to do with anger in some way. Realizing you had made this whole conversation quite negative since the beginning, you decided that it was time to try something positive.

"Do you know the East Gotham Library downtown?"

"Huh? Oh uh...yeah I've been, why?" His trail of thought about how he was going to take out every corrupt person in this city was quickly stunted.

"I saw they were going to have a book sale this Saturday and wanted to go see if they have anything good, would you like to go with me? As friends, I mean?" you held your hand in your palm, your hair locks falling freely onto the table in a way that he wished he could picture and save forever.

Then, the weight of what you just asked him set in. Holy shit. You asked to hang out. Granted, it was as friends but he couldn't believe it. Someone as alluring as you was asking...him...the weird loner guy...to be friends? His face turned red against his wishes as he nodded a little too vigorously.

"YEAH! I mean yeah, I would absolutely love that" he stammered out

"Okay great! Would you like to meet up here around 1? I can pick you up if you'd like to go together"

"Yes, I would...I would love that" Edward was still fumbling over his words.

"Alright, well give me your number" Tossing your phone over to him, you saw his fingers effortlessly glide over the buttons despite his obvious nervousness.

"I'll see you then, Eddie, thank you for talking with me!" you beamed down at him as you grabbed your things, leaving the awestruck man sitting in the booth, still contemplating how this was even happening.

[circular-bircular]

Actually, going to reblog this again with some thoughts:

(Popping back up after getting past the third point, wanted to add: I am in no ways trying to suggest that all CDD systems are anti-endo -- just that there's a huge problem with anti-endos flooding CDD tags, and how that makes it feel as if CDD spaces are unsafe due to anti-endos).

Back when I first joined the system tumblr community, I was quickly driven into pro-endo spaces. There were a lot of reasons for that, but here's just some in particular off the top of my head:

One: I didn't remember my trauma, and it seemed like remembering my trauma was a requirement to be part of CDD spaces.

Every single post, every single user, every single community that was dedicated to DID... was constantly filled with venting about traumatic experiences. The amount of people trauma dumping constantly in the tags was heinous. It's... somewhat improved, now, but the tags were ridiculously bad. (There was also the issue of tag invasion happening frequently, but that's a discussion for another time perhaps). Needless to say, the constant message in CDD spaces was trauma, trauma, trauma -- and, as someone who couldn't recall it at that time, I felt I didn't belong.

This is, frankly, absolutely fucking ridiculous, given the fact that the majority of DID systems, particularly at system discovery, don't really know they have trauma. That's a staple of the disorder. There's this horrendous effect of being chronically online where people just always talk about the worst aspects of their trauma or alters, rather than discussing... literally anything else about the disorder (amnesia, derealization, depersonalization, or yknow, any of the positives?)

Two: Fakeclaiming and sharing explicit, traumatizing details about the disorder, due to not knowing my shit.

I was a 19-21 year old, trying to survive this disorder, and people fucking attacked me for it. I've talked extensively about how pro-endos hurt me on here, but anti-endos are certainly not innocent either. I was told graphic, traumatizing things by anti-endos that made me scared to even attempt getting a therapist, due to the fact that I was so young and inexperienced.

Most of this was because I was "spreading misinformation."

I don't know about you all, but... Remarkably, telling someone who's spreading misinformation that if they really had the disorder they said they did, they would be [INSERT GRAPHIC ASSAULT AND VIOLENCE HERE]... really doesn't fucking help them learn the truth. It just makes them angry (or, in my case, so terrified I nearly deleted all my accounts).

Look. People are going to make mistakes. Coming at them with graphic, horrific fakeclaiming and anti-psych fearmongering for making those mistakes is not going to help things. And unfortunately, this happens so often in syscourse, and was happening far more in anti-endo spaces when I first joined systumblr.*

I particularly am really fucked up still by one occurance with this (Flowers, shout out to you for letting me open up about it in DMs) where someone came at me for saying DID and MPD were different diagnosis. I didn't understand at the time the disconnect in language (in that I was saying "the diagnostic criteria aren't the same" and they were saying "the diagnosis was renamed to DID from MPD"). They're one of the ones who told me I would be sexually assaulted if I really had DID, and that a [whatever age I was at the time] year old shouldn't be trying to share information about a disorder anyways.

I had researched DID as extensively as I could in my abusive situation. I didn't have all the information. They could have approached me with kindness, understanding, "oh honey but no" mentality. Instead, I was fucking crucified for it! I deleted the posts, issued a huge apology for ever trying to educate others on DID, and backed off entirely for a little bit.

Glad I got over that.**

Three: Barring people who aren't [XYZ] from positivity.

I've also been vocal on my blogs about how radical inclusion really fucking hurt me, because the fact was, radically inclusive spaces were not inclusive of everyone, and lied about their unconditionality -- something which someone with disorganized attachments who was desperately clinging to any source of positivity available really did not need.

But let's turn around and look at why I ended up in those spaces in the first place.

Hello, negative nancies that are anti-endos. Every single positivity post had bright red "DO NOT INTERACT IF YOU AGREE WITH ENDOS" stamps. Every single positivity post had "THIS IS FOR DID SYSTEMS ONLY," which definitely did not help me when I was still uncertain what the other options even were. Every single positivity post had things I couldn't relate to, given my (not unique in the slightest, but somehow considered by the community to be) unusual traumas.

And that's if there was positivity at all.

So much of the tags was just hating endogenic systems and crying out about wanting a safe space. But the posts that weren't that? I mean... Y'all can check out MotCR still, the old posts I made and reblogged were there. I focused primarily on reblogging art, because weeding through the hell that was tumblr, that's really all I could find that wasn't negativity toward either the disorder or towards endogenic systems.

Meanwhile... Pro-endos offered me respect. They told me everyone was welcomed, and for someone who was going through massive amounts of realizations and changes, that was desperately needed, so much so that I fell into horrific crowds because of it. It's something I still struggle with today. I was shunted and, yes, as much as I hate this term, gatekept from the resources I desperately needed, because y'all can't be positive at all.

Not to mention, I liked being a system. I liked not being alone. I liked being able to retreat into my head and take a break, that I could survive like that, in a way I didn't know anyone else could to. Then I found a community of individuals who could do that too. Who would I side with -- the part of that community that constantly vented about how fucking awful it was to be able to do those things, or the part that constantly talked about how great it was?

For fucks sakes, y'all.*

That's just three examples from my experiences. There's countless more I've heard, but those are the big ones.

And, unsurprisingly, so many of these new anti-endos -- many of whom are minors, or fresh off the boat into Adulthood -- don't care about welcoming CDDs. They don't care about trying to correct misinformation, and instead, how to avoid it -- unwittingly spreading misinformation themselves. They aren't ready to accept nuance or systemhood that doesn't look like theirs, so they try to create spaces where they don't have to accept it. In fact, the majority of posts I see from anti-endos are about how they "don't have to believe someone else's beliefs." They're not even willing to begin to think that maybe, just maybe, they might be incorrect about someone else's lived experiences.

And that's really sad.

I don't know about anyone else... But I definitely would avoid the CDD community if it looked like that.

Notes:

*I am not saying I am immune to going off on people for making mistakes that ought to be understandable; it's easy to forget that people aren't always on the same page as everyone else in syscourse, especially when you've suffered from the brain rot for nearly a decade. That doesn't excuse the behavior though. We should all work to be a little more understanding of knowledge gaps, particularly when so much of this falls under nebulous concepts or hyper-specific medical jargon.

**I also disagree with the idea that the younger generation shouldn't be allowed to educate the older generation. I find myself constantly reeling at how quickly things change and move, and how much those younger than me educate me on new things. Moreover, pushing people away from knowledge is never a good thing; telling me that I shouldn't educate others instead of... y'know... actually correcting the misinformation... Didn't actually help anyone in the end. It just helped you get off on your own anger. (Yes, I am still a little bitch about how they treated me, and I think that's valid).

***I'm also not saying that DID is fun and games and all hunky dory. I was just barred from so many spaces to talk about the bad things due to also being able to acknowledge the good. "This disorder isn't happy or enjoyable, DNI if you think having alters is fun" has been around since long before 2016 when I discovered my systemhood, and unfortunately, I think it'll be around for far longer. Because of that mentality and those DNIs, I was shunted into places where I couldn't vent about my systemhood, or else I was "medicalizing myself" or "repeating sysmedical rhetoric."

Hot Take

Maybe instead of asking why or how some trauma-based systems turn to pro/endo spaces and mistakenly believe themselves to be endogenic, we should be asking why they felt invalidated about their trauma and experiences in CDD spaces

[mccleans]

I know you have been on footblr for a while, so I was hoping for your opinion/help on something, sorry if my English is not good. I'm feeling really sick and disheartened at the amount of s3xual criminals in football right now, my team is Manchester United and there is gossip that a certain player who was revealed as a horrible man might be coming back to play this new season of games, as well as the Ronaldo already being on the team. I love Manchester United, they are my father's team and his father's too but I am having difficulty trying to continue to love them as much as I did. If you or any of your followers have any advice I would be very thankful. Again sorry if I have bad English.

tw sexual assault

hi your english is absolutely fine but pls don't feel you need to apologise for it either way!

sorry you're having a tough time with all this <3 it really is so shit to be anyone other than a straight white man when you're watching sport because you're just constantly reminded you're not welcome. there's countless examples of times we've been made to feel like that in every sport, but it feels like it's constant in football. there's obviously no right answer here because how we react to things like this is so individual and what works to make one person feel safe won't work for others, but as a community we have to ensure we're holding these clubs, players and staff (and ourselves) to an acceptable standard - i can't even say high standard because i feel like not assaulting people is a pretty low bar to reach. rapists and abusers cannot be allowed to have a public career earning millions in peace. it is not a human right to be a millionaire playing football every weekend, despite what men in twitter replies would have you believe.

this is definitely an issue i've struggled with a lot in my head because it feels so unfair that the only people who seem to care about issues like this and work to raise awareness of and change them are the people affected. we as women or people of colour or lgbtq people or members of any marginalised community can talk and talk and talk about problems we see in football and how they impact us, and these men will still continue to have full careers, legions of supporters and suffer no consequences for their actions because they can kick a ball in the right direction. trying to get it into mens heads that ronaldo shouldn't be playing football because victims should matter more than goals is literally like talking to a brick wall and it's exhausting

i don't actually have an answer to your question or really any advice because i'm still working on dealing with this myself, but the main thing is keeping yourself and those around you safe, protected and educated. whether that's by taking a step back or changing your relationship with the club or whatever it takes that's up to you and i can't tell you what to do there, but just know we're all in the same boat on here and footyblr really is a safe space if you surround yourself with the right people <3

[pigeon-princess]

!!! Did you play any more of the Tybalt campaign? What happened, how are things between him and Evris rn??? If you wouldn't mind sharing that is... I've somehow gotten very invested in the love life of your green boy ^^'

YES!! We’ve played two more sessions and OH my god wow a LOT has happened!! I’ll try and summarise but I know this is going to be a big info dump!! And just in case (tw: sexual assault) due to some of the events in the last session. 

Tybalt and Evris continued: Princes and Prejudice 

So what we know about Evris is that his mother Elrynn, who is a drow woman, married a halfling bard named Yir. Despite Yir’s family’s disapproval, the two were passionately in love and had two children and although Evris was a child from Elrynn’s previous marriage he was loved and raised just the same. Elrynn’s past was also never discussed in the family home. 

We heard from Evris that a few weeks prior, a noble-looking drow man he had never seen before arrived at their home, talked with his mother, handed her an amulet and left. This same amulet was the one that the Lamia was looking for and the reason why Evris’s family was attacked so we decided our best lead was to track down this mysterious drow. Our wizard Merlin overheard that the mysterious visitor's name was Andras and that he was from Ered Wethrin, the neighbouring country. 

In order to cross the border we had to make our way over a mountain range known as The Trespassers. The trip across the mountains was rough to say the least, after narrowly missing some giant spiders, we ended up falling unconscious due to some sort of toxic gas and woke up, naked, tied to a log and being roasted over a fire pit by some hill giants. After a WILD combat and two dead hill giants later, we decided to camp out in the caves for the night.

Evris pulled Tybalt aside for a talk and Tybalt apologised for his behaviour the last time they spoke. Evris said that although he was not sorry for what he said, he’s sorry that he didn’t know the effect that it would have on Tybalt. 

The situation with Evris’s not sleeping (he was taking points of exhaustion) was also brought up and Evris admitted that he was scared that if he fell asleep he wouldn't wake up again or that he would see this entity that brought him back to life and that scared him. He doesn’t know what it means to be a cleric and everything was just too much, with his family dead, missing or turned to stone. When he started tearing up, Tybalt pulled him into a hug which startled him, but he accepted it before pulling back quickly. 

Later on in the evening while on watch with our monk Yarou, Evris confessed a very traumatic event from his backstory, about how he was once in love with a boy called Fenton, and how one day Fenton and a group of his friends sexually assaulted him. The whole table listened in shocked silence, aND I WAS HAVING A FIT that myself as a player knew this but Tybalt did not, and how I had been constantly getting in Evris’s personal space. Yarou also told Evris that it seemed like Tybalt was interested in him (I WAS LIKE AAA YAROU!!??) and was probably harmless but if he did anything to hurt Evris, Yarou would stop him. But Evris assured him that he was well aware and familiar with Tybalt's type (the overly flirty playboy) and could handle himself (OUGH MY HEART,,, I promise he’s not using you Evris).  

During our watch, we were ambushed by the Knights of the Radiance, the military power of Ered Wethrin. We were knocked out by poison darts and we all woke up in a cell, chained to the wall while the guards were interrogating Evris in the next cell over, asking him about a smuggling group. 

After we saw one of the guards was attempting to sexually assault Evris our whole party went into an angry frenzy. Tybalt almost broke the bars down trying to get out of the cell, only managing to bend them heavily while our rogue managed to pick the lock to the door. We had a bit of a scuffle, tackling the guards until Evris announced that he was the son of Elrynn and he demanded to speak with Andras, the guards immediately froze. BUT hearing the name Elrynn they suddenly agreed?? and took us through a teleportation circle to the capital city A'latariel. 

All feeling very apprehensive, we were led into A CASTLE?! Where we met with Andras who turned out to be both a prince of Ered Wethrin and Evris’s birth father?!?! So it looks like Elrynn was married to the prince!! And ran away with her halfling bard lover!!! So Evris is technically a prince??? And in line for the throne?? It was all a lot for us to take in, especially for Evris, so we stayed in a very expensive inn, ordered a huge amount of food and alcohol and put it on daddy Andras’s tab. We had a very lively conversation about how many nuns it would take to defeat 1 stone giant, and Evris being the giant expert drunkenly calculated that perhaps 1000 arcane nuns would be an adequate number. 

In the meantime since we’ve been in Ered Wethrin none of us trust Prince Andras and we’re learning more about the real truth behind that amulet, we’ve also just learnt of an underground resistance group that we’re trying to get in contact with. Tybalt has been helping Evris attempt to send messages to his missing family members through sending spells. Because of this, they ended up having a heart to heart conversation while sharing a room in the inn, bonding over the shared prejudice they’ve faced for being a drow and a half orc in places where they are looked down upon unfavourably. Evris shared his personal backstory trauma relating to his sexual assault and Tybalt actually shared his as well for the first time in his life (The other players did not hear this either, but if people would like to hear Tybalt’s backstory I can to put the details in a separate under the cut post!) 

In the next session I have been putting together a plan to surprise Evris with a “Lady and the Tramp” style outdoor dinner date by the ocean, with the help our our party and our new half orc friends being the butlers. Despite Evris’s previous assumptions about Tybalt, after their talk I’m hoping that he’ll think of this dinner as a sincere romantic gesture but if not I hope it's at least an entertaining distraction for him considering all the stress he’s been going through. 

And that's a very brief description of what's happened since last time!! This romance is so slow-burn but I’m enjoying every minute of it. I definitely focused this recount around Evris and Tybalt but a lot has happened with the other players in the party as well! I hope you enjoyed the update and if people have any further questions I’m more than happy to answer!