#this can be any of the three ships btw

[lizard12323]

I just realized that when it comes to flying Uzi never really got to fly when it was storming, though the disassembly drones most likely did.

Just imagine her clinging to one of them (no matter how close they are relationship wise) and not letting go until they're away from the storm.

[fantasticenthusiasttale]

Donald's Week, day 13 – Post Card

For the last day of Donald's week, i come with a one-shot fic! It's been a while since the last time i wrote something and posted it, so let's come back to it this time right under the cut!

Characters: Donald Duck, José Carioca, Panchito Pistoles, baby!triplets

Hurt and fluff fic

tw angst, tw implied death

A soft knock of the door didn't take Donald surprised, he was already waiting for these guests, even though them not being terribly loud don't felt right to him. But it doesn't matter, because all he needs now is just a shoulder to cry on and a hand to hold.

Saturday morning, José and Panchito found themselves on flies from their respectives hometowns right to the city of Duckburg. Since these post cards with the same small text to fit on the space to write arrived on their houses in the day before, they needed to visit him as soon as possible. Both of them had read it again and again, getting more worried each time.

Dear José/Panchito,

Please come to visit me on Duckburg as soon as you can. My address is on the back. I am needing your support.

Donald Duck

Donald was in what now is only his house, barely awake after not sleeping in two days and full of a mix of coffee and energy drinks. Big dark circles under the eyes and dirty clothes in a messed up home. He can't deal with all of this for once, especially with the new three little balls of yellow sunshine that made him feel an unconditionable love but also a growing fear and a giant sadness. He will keep his promise no matter what it costs, no matter how long it will take, but he shouldn't be doing this, they're not his.

It's been two weeks since the happened forced him to send post cards to his friends. Gyro said that see them to get a little bit of help will give him part of the support he needs to keep going.

Sitting on the couch with his cup of coffee, he listened to the soft snoring they were making. Even though still being very young to be able to walk and talk, they were babies curious enough to not need any of these abilities to mess up somebody's life. Hear the sounds of them sleeping calmed Donald down, even though he couldn't fall asleep too.

They reminded him of her so much, painfully, all the time. He is not ready to become a father all of a sudden, but she was ready to become a mother. She was taking care of herself and them so well while he was on the navy, it isn't fair to them to switch the care of their loving and multitasking mother to the care of their clumsy uncle that just had to leave his sailor life to be there for them. Grandma Duck is too old to be taking care of her three great grandsons as babies, uncle Scrooge is too busy in getting richer (and searching for her) to be a help most of the time, and his cousins are pretty much a disaster around children. He is a disaster too, but playing the big brother role to Fethry and Gladstone made he learn a thing or two. They send to most help they can, but it's Donald who really had to step up.

The soft knock of the door took Donald out of his thoughts but not in surprise, he was already waiting for these guests for so long even though them not being terribly loud don't felt right to him. But it doesn't matter, because all he needs now is just a shoulder to cry on and a hand to hold. He got up slowly and unlocked the front door. The parrot and the rooster were ready to scream and hug him happily, but before they could even breathe, he warned "Quiet!"

The guests were took by a surprise because of this reaction of Donald, but also by how terribly tired and sad he seemed to them. Donald opened the whole creaking door, and they could see how messed his house was even not noticing the oddly big baby stroller on the middle of the living room. They entered quietly and their exhausted friend closed the door back.

"Donal', we missed you!" Both of them took Donald in probably the most silent hug they ever gave to somebody, which the duck returned letting himself fall into their arms. The hug was unbraced after a long while, and Donald already felt a bit of a healing happening with a little smile.

"You told us that we needed to come here as soon as possible! What happened, mi amigo*?" Panchito started, desperate to know the reason of Donald's post cards and how bad he seems to be.

Donald put on a sad face, pointing to the big baby stroller made specifically for triplets that was facing the couch. The group went quietly to the front of the baby stroller to see what was inside.

"Panchito Pistoles, José Carioca, meet the triplets Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck. The newest family members." Donald said, smiling proudly with the other two were focused on the little snoozing yellow balls of feathers.

"Donal'... they're beautiful! Congratulations! Meus fofos patinhos*!" José said with stars in his eyes, until suddently they vanished "But... where's their mother?"

Donald's face got fastly melancholic again, with a bit of anger. They sit on the couch "They are... hers." He said pointing to a photo of him and his sister from a while ago in a frame that rested on a small coffee table. He couldn't even say her name, it was too painful.

Now the other caballeros started to know what is the point of the problem, and had to go very cautious to find it all out.

"And... where's she?" Panchito said before he could think of first, and José's answer came fast as a step on his foot that he had to put up with silently to not wake up the kids.

Donald's hands started to shake and his voice started to trembling as he looks away to the floor "Well, y'know... she's a pilot... and i was proud of her..."

The tears started to show up on his eyes "There was a new mission that she accepted right when i came back from months on the sea... she is the first woman to go to the space... and... a-and..."

Donald dismantled. He covered his face with his hands but it wasn't worth, it wouldn't hide his feelings from his friends. He's just... so destroyed. So lost. So lonely. It's been two weeks without his twin, the other half of himself, and he didn't even know if she was fine. He was holding all his hope in the promise Scrooge made to his broken nephew in the name of the space station to take her back home, no matter what. Donald's pain was specifically worse on Scrooge's eyes, because he knows how does it feel to lose a sister. He encouraged the nephew to not make the same mistake of his and get up to be brave enough to take care of the kids because, differently from Scrooge, Donald was a good brother.

José and Panchito held Donald on a big bear hug, the best they could do to calm their depressed friend down. They stayed for a long time, as Donald could feel the soft back pats in his back from José and the gentle head rub from Panchito. The most silently they could to not wake the ducklings, but after all they were sleeping heavy enough to nothing wake them up until the next snack time with milk.

"I-I should have done something! Something to stop her! Now it's too late! And it's my fault! I cannot raise them, they're HER kids, not mine!" Donald said through sobbing. He was really feeling the worst, like he's that dirty puddle of slurry that come out of a trash can. "And here i am with them, all alone!"

Even with the best aim to shoot of his country which could have made him with a toughie fame, Panchito was good with comfort words. "Donal', you are not alone! You have your family supporting you! You have us, right, Zé?"

"Right! We are the three caballeros, all for one and one for all! We will help you to turn into be the best uncle even seen until their mother come back!" José answered, putting some excitement in his words to encourage his friends.

Once Donald wiped his tears and gave his friends a smile of relief and bravery, the hug got unbraced, José and Panchito blinked to each other leaving Donald out confused. The three of them got up of the couch, and José headed to the door while Panchito took Donald by his back and pushed him to the stairs of the second floor.

"Hey, where are you going?" Donald asked, confused.

José pulled his sleeve and showed his wristwatch to them "It's almost 12pm, i'm going to the restaurant down the street to grab us some lunch."

"Why don't you call for a delivery?" Donald asked again, and the realization came fast as he rolled his eyes "You have money to pay for it, right?"

"Better, i have an idea!" and José ran away closing the door after him to not get the opportunity to get followed by an angry duck.

"It's better for him if he don't get able to teach the boys these schemes he's always involved in." Donald complained.

"And you are going to take a shower right now!" Panchito pushed him up in the stairs "I will replace you taking care of the children and make their nursing bottles for when they wake up for lunch too!"

"You?! Are you sure of this? They are three!" Donald asked, unbelieving of his friend's ability with kids.

"Don't worry, i got you! Soon they will be talking and calling me their tío Panchito!" They laughed and Donald went to the second floor alone to grab a towel.

While searching for a towel in his bedroom, Donald realized how he's not alone, as nobody ever is. Even on one of the hardest times of his life, in a soul-crashing pain of loneliness because of the missing of his beloved twin sister, he still have a lot of people to care about him. Della, wherever she is; lost in the space, coming back home or, on the worst hypothesis... watching him along their parents, she would be happy to know how much people care and want to see her brother well and taking care of her kids, as she would be also happy that her boys weren't left alone, that they still have a loving family that will always be there to tell them a hundred stories about the family.

She wouldn't trust anybody else but Donald to take care of them, and she was right. She knew that, if anything happens, Donald would be the best for them even with all his flaws, and he wouldn't do this alone. Not only because of their family, but also his friends.

We are the three caballeros, all for one and one for all.

_________

*Mi amigo = my friend

*Meus fofos patinhos = my cute ducklings

[the-oracle-of-the-lost]

not to be a hater for a second but i am mildly peeved at how much the internet is screaming that spirk is canon now because... it's not? feel free to enjoy unification as much as you want and there's certainly a romantic angle that's very easy to see but there's nothing in the content of the film that makes it "canon" and i highly doubt it was the intention of the creators. at the end of the day, similar scenes with romantic subtext are in pretty much every one of the tos movies. they're just like that. ship all you want but... i just don't really understand a need for ships to be canon for them to be enjoyable? spirk is always gonna be famous for being the original slash ship, it's always gonna be famous for being realllllly (mostly unintentionally) romantic, it doesn't need to be canon to be validated?

[everysongineverykey]

what the fuck do you mean soul brother is about brian may. what do you MEAN freddie mercury wrote a song about brian harold may that went "he's my best friend, he's my champion, and he will rock you, rock you, rock you, cause he's the saviour of the universe, he can make you keep yourself alive, make you keep yourself alive, cause he's somebody, somebody you can love" what do you mean he just wrote that and then casually told brian may about it in the studio one day and was like surprise! i've written a song about you, but it needs your touch! break out that guitar! what do yuo mean they both wrote songs aimed at each other at least once but brian wrote so many for freddie he can't remember which one he was working on at the time. WHAT DO YOU MENA

[quantum1mmortality]

Captain Curly; marriage hcs <3

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Chat I know I mentioned getting back into writing for twst but the current hyperfixation is too strong rn so just bare with me I NEED to write for mouthwashing

!this is written with an AU in mind; curly still works for pony express, but there's no ship. Just a normal job. Also J***y doesn't exist.!

Tw/cw; afab!reader, mentions of pregnancy and having said baby, MANHANDLING!!!!, teasing, use of pet names, uhhh I can't think of any else

Not proofread

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Sfw

I think Curly would definitely be a family oriented person. The further you'd get into your relationship, the more he'd ask about your opinion on kids and if you'd want any in the future.

I also think Curly would be on the traditional side, too. If you said yes to having kids, he'd take that as an opportunity to show you how good of a provider he can be, and how willing he is to become a father.

When you do eventually have children, he'd be more than willing to take off work to help around the house. You just gave birth, he knows it's hard for you, so he'd make breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all three of you.

Sidenote; Curly would definitely be a good cook. He probably took culinary in highschool

If he knew Anya at the time, he'd have her babysit your children so he could take you out on dates. This happens quite often, too; probably around once or twice a month. He just wants to show how much he appreciates you and everything you've done for him and your relationship <3

He'd take you to the most expensive restaurants and tell you to order whatever you wanted, and if you're done breastfeeding, he'd order a bottle of champagne for you both.

He'd be one of those "I love my wife" husbands. Everyone at his job is so sick of hearing him talk so highly of you. It'll be someone's birthday, they'll bring a cake, and he just won't eat it. Why? "My wife could make a better cake."

After you guys got married, he couldn't stop calling you his wife. That name felt so surreal to him; like the woman of his dreams is finally his? And there's a title for that?? Of course he's going to use it constantly.

He probably also took Anya out to help him pick out a ring. And thank god he did btw because he would've gotten you a ring with the biggest diamond they had 😭😭 (sorry to all the big ring lovers in chat rn they're just not it for me)

Nsfw

Curly is a romantic. He'd want to take things slow, cherish you as much as possible, especially if it's your first time.

He wouldn't think of it as sex, he'd think of it as lovemaking; showing you his worth and how much he cares about you.

He rarely gets rough, you have to ask him to be because he just won't do it. But, he's a suck up for you, so if you want something, it's yours.

So, he'd get rough. He'd go faster than he usually does, maybe put his hand around your neck and squeeze ever so gently. But afterwards, he'd feel awful; like he was hurting you or something.

He'd apologize profusely, say he's never gonna do it again, but does it a few days later. It's like going through the five stages of grief but skipping the first four and consistently being at acceptance

He's a hand holder. Since he's an intimate person, his preferred position is missionary. He likes this position for a few reasons; he gets to see your expression if you're enjoying it or uncomfortable, he gets to kiss you, and he can hold your hand. It's one of his favorite things to do, not only because he finds it much more romantic, but he also loves how you squeeze his hand when you're getting close.

Teasing is one of the things he does best. But verbal teasing, not physical. You can hear him giggle anytime he's inside you, practically taunting you when he knows you're close. He'd say something dumb like, "aw, is princess gonna cum?" And then have a shit eating grin on his face.

Pet names are another thing he uses often. Like I said previously, he'd call you princess, but there's also other names he'd call you during the act. Love, darling, and angel are the ones he uses for you most commonly, aside from princess of course.

I saw someone else say this on here and their hcs were actually what made me want to write (I swear on my SOUL I am NOT trying to copy them 🙏🙏🙏🙏 sorry if it comes off like that) but they said Curly would be buff and I completely agree. He would be HUGE, I'm thinking 6'3-6'5, easily over 220lbs.

The manhandling would go CRAZY, you don't like a position? No issue, he'll just pick you up and put you in a different one. Can't keep your legs open while he's being a munch? As much as he enjoys the feeling of suffocating between your thighs, which believe me, he does, he can't exactly pleasure you if he's unconscious from the lack of airflow. Not a big issue, a firm hand on each leg will do the trick.

Another comment on his body alone to wrap this up; he'd definitely be muscular in his legs and especially his arms. I think his stomach would be toned, not a six pack, but toned. Maybe even a little pudge and a v line 🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭

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A/N: hi guys pls send requests for curly fics plasplsplspslsplsplslsplspls I'm so thirsty for this man oh ky god I'm crynng

[sans-enjoyer]

Inanimate Insanity Episode 16 Spoilers!!!!

its been like, two days since episode 16, and people are already arguing about Mephone's age. He is a child, and this didnt come out of nowhere guys, he's always BEEN a child:

^post from 2018!! 5 YEARS ago!

^Brian reposting art (amazing art btw<3) where Mephone is described as a CHILD and drawing in a childish way.

^Brian saying that Mephone is so young he doesn't even know how to SPELL.

Now; heres some stuff ive been hearing in argument against him being a child.

"Cobs is infantilizing him." I agree with this to a certain extent, he is acting like Mephone is a child who cant comprehend anything like an abusive parent. but thats where it stops. Children can ALSO be infantlized! But aside from that, Cobs even says; "I forgot how young you are!" Parents don't say that to their adult children, because it makes no sense unless Mephone is a child.

Secondly, why would Brian and Justin be doing the same thing? They say he's young!

"He has an adult voice." Robots don't hit puberty! This means nothing. Unless youre saying that the creators implied hes an adult because hes voiced by an adult, well i'll have to refer you to the images above.

"He hosts an entire show." Arguably not very well, also again, he's a robot, and also, theyre on an island! its not like you need a permit to film on a random island in god knows where. Any child can "host" a show if they have enough determination, general knowledge of how they work, and equipment, and would you know it Mephone has all three! He knows how they work because he watched them in meeple, and he can generate any equipment he needs.

"He's a robot, he doesn't have an age." True..? sort of...? But the thing is, being legally defined as a child is based off your mental capacity. Children arent as mentally/emotionally intelligent as grown adults, because they don't have the life experience nor the capacity to be. Mephone barely has ANY life experience, he grew up in Meeple, and then started the show immediately after leaving. And obviously, in Inanimate Insanity (and all object shows), robots are almost always sentient beings, unlike real life.

"He's much more mature than a child, especially one that couldn't spell." Debatable! First of all, he thinks things like 'going to jail for one day' and 'the calm down corner' are terrible punishments, like children. If you tell a child to go sit on the stairs for 5 minutes and frame it as a punishment, they will take it as serious as anything else. Secondly, he literally decided to make a random species of bat.. things? fight to the death because they ate his four month old ice cream. No mature person would do that... Thirdly, abused children ACT more mature than others because they HAVE to be. Abused children are not ALLOWED to act like children. They have to be mature for themselves because who else is going to be? Who else is going to take care of you when your parent doesn't? But that doesn't mean they arent still a child.

So now we tread into questionable territory. Is it okay to deny the idea that he is a child at all costs, just so you can ship him or sexualize him? There is really no other reason why you would deny that he is a child.

Now obviously; lets not harass anyone who has drawn ship art of him or sexualized him in the past. This stuff was not commonly known, most people thought he was an adult. But if you look deeper, he isn't.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk, if anyone reads this far (￣^￣)ゞI know I usually only post art, but this is an important topic to me as i am very hyperfixated on Mephone4 i swear i can't control it guys!!

Feel free to make any counter points, im open to discussion, but i am also very set on this opinion. Have a good day everyone!!☆

[soaringthroughthegalaxy]

hiiii!! absolutely love your crosshair stuff (i’ve been on a crosshair binge since season three started lol) anyways i was hoping you could write something that’s like post-omega and crosshair escaping tantiss and reuniting with hunter and wrecker (end ep 4) with the prompts

11. I promised to love you forever, and that is a promise I intend to keep.

and

16. No matter how much time we’ve spent apart, I never stopped loving you.

like i was thinking crosshair and the reader are married but canon happened so the reader stayed with the bad batch and this would be the first time her and crosshair are seeing each other again since the end of season one at kamino

no rush for any of this btw. thankssss

Hello, hi! Thank you so much for this request. I had something similar going through my mind after the episode aired so was excited to see this drop in!! I hope you enjoy 😊

Never Stopped

When Omega's cryptic message leads to a heartfelt reunion on Ryloth's nearest moon, you didn't expect her to be accompanied by the one man you never thought you'd get to see again.

Pairing: Crosshair x f!reader

Word count: 2k

Warnings: spoilers for S3E04, we love a good reunion, inner turmoil, fluff, comfort, pet names.

“I had help.” Omega’s statement hangs in the air until the light sound of footsteps on metal reaches your ears, and you turn alongside Wrecker to watch as someone steps out of the stolen transport.

No. Not someone.

Him.

For a second, you forget how to breathe, unable to tear your eyes away from the man you never dared hope you’d see again. The last time you’d seen him had been after the fall of Kamino, on that blasted platform in the middle of the ocean. You’d pleaded with him to come with you - to leave the Empire’s clutches - but he’d declined. Your stubborn, infuriating husband.

Maker, you’d missed him.

Before you even know what you’re doing, you’re running, crossing the inky darkness between the two ships, closing the distance between you as Crosshair takes the final step down onto the planet’s surface. He doesn’t have time to protest before your arms are around his neck, hauling him into a crushing embrace. His brothers might be wary, but you aren’t.

Crosshair freezes, caught off guard by your affection. In the short time it had taken you to reach him, he’d braced himself for a slap or to be chewed out. This was…unexpected. You’re warm against him, the softness of your body so familiar, as is the scent of your shampoo. Tentatively, he slides his arms around you in return, pulling you close to suffocate all space between you both, soaking up the feeling of having you back in his arms. “Kitten...”

The whispered term of endearment is all it takes, and a heaving sob leaves you before you can stop it.

Everything since the order was given crashes down on you – the shots he’d fired as you scrambled to escape Kamino, how relentlessly he’d chased you across the galaxy, Kamino falling, the distress message he’d sent to your old comms channel…it had felt never-ending.

But it was over now. 

As you bury your face against his chest, the torrent of emotions overwhelms you. There’s a sense of catharsis, a release from the pent-up anguish that had threatened to suffocate you. The weight of his presence feels like a balm to your wounded soul, and with each sob that racks your body, it’s as if a burden is lifted, allowing you to finally exhale the turmoil that had gripped you for far too long.

He’s here. In one piece. Free from the Empire’s clutches, with Omega in tow.

Hunter and Wrecker’s tension eases slightly as they witness the reunion between you and Crosshair, but they’re not ready to let their guard down just yet. They exchange knowing glances before Hunter clears his throat. “We need to go.” He shouts across the distance, feeling guilty for breaking the moment but knowing that the Empire won’t be far behind.

You pull back slightly, hands still clutching desperately at Crosshair as he meets your gaze. He’s never been one to cry, but unshed tears line those sharp eyes you’ve missed so much. Silently, you swipe away your tears with one hand, the other finding his to guide him towards the Marauder. A blur of motion whips past you, and you startle, but with a click of his tongue, Crosshair stills the creature responsible, and a hound falls into step beside him as you lead him back towards the ship.

It feels too good to be true, too easy. The nervousness Crosshair had felt rolling through him as he’d forced himself down the steps of the transport returns. Fingers interlaced with yours, he can feel the skin-warmed metal of your ring. It’s still there after everything.

He feels nauseous as you cross the darkness towards the ship that had once been his home. He glances at Wrecker as you both pass him and the apprehension on his big brother’s face wavers for just a second before Crosshair looks away, unable to stand it.

Hunter has already ushered Omega inside, the young girl saying hello to Gonky, who beeps happily at her return. Crosshair lets you situate him in one of the back seats in the cockpit as Wrecker comes up the ramp, smacking the button to shut it as Hunter takes Tech’s seat and fires up the engines. 

Tech.

Crosshair swallows, bile rising in his throat. His twin is gone. Omega had brokenly told him what had happened during one of her many visits to his cell. Guilt curls through him - his brother had insisted on the mission to Eriadu and had been keen to find him, which ultimately led to his sacrifice.

Crosshair barely registers the ship setting off or the jump to hyperspace.

A soft squeeze of his hand draws his focus, and his head tilts to look across at you. Your wide eyes, which he adores, look at him with concern and something else he can’t quite put his finger on. Hunter and Wrecker are in the pilot and copilot seats, Omega curled in Hunter’s lap as they catch up while Wrecker pets Batcher.

You can practically see Crosshair’s discomfort, so you lead him out into the belly of the ship, closing the cockpit doors behind you to give the pair of you some privacy. “I thought I’d lost you.” You whisper, your voice barely above a breath as you sit side by side on one of the bunks, bodies tilted towards each other.

“Have to try harder than that.” Crosshair’s answer is quick, and the vice-like grip of dread that had encircled his heart slackens as he hears you laugh - it’s a short and sharp sound, nothing like the melodic giggles he’d grown accustomed to during the war, but it’s something. And Maker, does it feel good.

You’d almost forgotten what it was like to be on the receiving end of his quips, and for a moment, it’s like nothing has changed. But you spot something missing as you turn his hand over in yours. 

His wedding ring is gone.

“They took it from me.” He’s quick to reassure you, seeing the pained expression on your pretty face. He hadn’t even been able to fight to keep it, having woken up on Tantiss without it. The troopers had quickly silenced him whenever he’d asked about its whereabouts.

Silence settles between you both for a moment, your gaze fixed on this hand - on the vacant spot. “We’ll get you a new one,” you state quietly, lifting your eyes to finally meet his.

Crosshair’s brows furrow in disbelief at your words. After everything he’s done and the pain and betrayal, he can’t fathom why you still want to be married to him. Guilt and shame churn in his gut, threatening to overwhelm him. “Why?” he asks, his voice low and raspy, his gaze searching yours for some semblance of an answer.

You reach out and gently cup his cheek, your touch sending shivers down his spine. “I promised to love you forever, and that’s a promise I intend to keep,” you say simply, your eyes reflecting a depth of emotion that Crosshair can’t comprehend. “Despite everything, I still believe in us - in you. No matter how much time we’ve spent apart, I never stopped loving you.”

A lump forms in Crosshair’s throat as he struggles to process your words. He’d spent so long convincing himself that he was better off paying for his sins in that cell. But here you are, offering forgiveness and understanding. He searches your eyes for any sign of deceit or resentment but finds unwavering sincerity and love.

Crosshair reaches out, hand shaking as his fingers brush your cheek. “Maybe you’ve hit your head too many times, kitten.” Crosshair quips, a hint of his trademark sarcasm slipping through. Despite the gravity of the moment, he can’t resist teasing you. But deep down, he’s grateful for your forgiveness and unwavering love, even if he doesn’t understand it.

You roll your eyes at his remark, a smile tugging at the corners of your lips. “Maybe you just need a few more hits to knock some sense into that thick skull of yours.” You retort, your tone teasing yet filled with affection.

As the playful banter lingers in the air, a moment of quiet settles between you both, the reality of the situation sinking in. Crosshair’s gaze softens, his hand lingering on your cheek as he soaks in your closeness. “I love you too.” He whispers, his voice barely audible above the hum of the ship’s engines. “I never stopped either.”

Your heart swells with relief and happiness, and with a soft smile, you press a gentle kiss to the back of his hand, feeling the slight tremble beneath your lips. “What happened, my heart?” You ask, your voice soft and concerned, brows drawn down as you watch how he shakes.

Crosshair hesitates for a moment. “They did…things. Some I remember. Some I don’t.” He answers vaguely.

You’re familiar with this game. He doesn’t want to think about it. Doesn’t want to talk about it. And while you know he'll need to one day, today’s not that day. Respecting his unspoken plea not to delve deeper into the horrors he endured, you gently squeeze his hand, offering him a reassuring smile. “We don’t have to talk about it now.” You murmur softly. “But we need to get you out of those awful clothes.” You change the subject, wrinkling your nose. “Handsome you may be, but this is not working.” You make a vague gesture at his outfit.

Crosshair chuckles softly at your remark, the memories chased away for the time being by your attempt to lighten the mood. “I’ll have you know; I make anything look good,” he retorts with a smirk. “But I suppose some fresh clothes wouldn’t hurt.”

You nod in agreement, grateful for the ease with which the two of you fall back into rhythm. “Exactly, and I’m sure I can find something more comfortable for you.” You reply, standing up and glancing around the small quarters of the ship.

As you start to pull crates out from the nearby storage racks, Crosshair watches you with a slight smile, admiring the familiar sight of you in motion. “You always know just how to take care of me,” he remarks, his voice low and warm, a tone saved just for you.

You shoot him a playful smile over your shoulder. “Someone has to.” You quip back, pulling out the crate you’d been looking for.

His kit crate. You still had his kit crate, with all your doodles on the outside – his name in Aurebesh, the squad’s symbol, a copy of his tattoo, and ever so slightly wonky hearts that he’d made a show of grumbling about but secretly loved.

Crosshair’s surprise is evident as he watches you retrieve a clean undersuit from the crate. He’d assumed its contents would be long gone - tossed aside, sold, or scrapped. The fact that you kept all his armour, along with his bucket, fills him with a strange mix of emotions. “Didn’t think you’d keep it,” Crosshair finally manages to say.

Before you can respond, footsteps interrupt the moment, drawing your attention towards the source. Hunter steps out from the cockpit – even with the door shut, he can still hear everything. His eyes meet Crosshair’s, and while he knows there’s a lot for them to talk about and work through, and he’s still not entirely sure he fully trusts his baby brother, he wants to offer him some reassurance. It’s the least he can do. “We were never going to get rid of it,” Hunter says, his voice firm yet gentle. “You’re still one of us.”

Crosshair finds himself at a loss for words. Emotions swirl within him, a tumultuous mix of gratitude and guilt. As Hunter’s words sink in, his gaze flickers back to you. Despite the doubts and fears that linger in his mind, one thing is certain: he’s home.

With a small smile, you offer the clean undersuit to your husband. “Here,” you say softly, your voice laced with affection. “Let’s get you changed.”

Tag list: @clonethirstingisreal @starrylothcat @cw80831 @issa-me-bry-blog @leftealeaf @isaidonyourknees @padawancat97 @dangraccoon @jedi-hawkins @dreamie411 @sverdgeir

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[bitterlemonade-1]

So this is my au where Maxime was able to successfully kidnap Gru jr without Gru knowing, and he,Valentina, and Bratt raise him.

Maxime isn’t a perfect dad, he tends to “neglect” Jr in favor for his work. But he tries to make it up to Jr any way he can. Same goes for Bratt, with him not really having a true childhood to experience, he makes sure Jr gets to be a kid. But he’s kinda still has his own childish mindset to be a perfect parent. Valentina is definitely the best of the three, she’s the one to be the voice of reason, but she also has a habit of making Jr doing things for her when he doesn’t really want to.

They’re trying, being a villain and a partner is no easy deal!!!

(BTW Valentina x maxime x Bratt ship name is Glam Bugs!)

[eelnoise]

gilded

zoro x afab!reader nsfw!! cw: aggressive sex, drunken sex, piv sex, sex sex sex, zoro is a bit of a smug smartass an: @kaizokuniichan this is your fault btw

One drink turns into two.

The briny, salty scent of the open sea has become something you associate with home. Surrounded by your crew as they chat amongst one another, collected and dotted around the deck as the sunset bathes the world in an amber glow, there's nowhere else in the world you'd even dream of being.

Two drinks turn into three.

The sounds of the world around you begin to fade into one another. Whatever conversation you had been a part of had now fallen to the wayside, now simply half-listening to whoever is closest. The ice cubes in your beverage clamor as you take a sip, the sweat from the glass running down onto your hand in the warm evening weather.

Three drinks turn into four.

You’re taking a stroll around the ship, wanting to stretch your legs in a bid to rid yourself of any remaining energy from the flow of the day. Unsure if it’s the rock of the ship or your inebriation that has each step weary, you take it slow - idly watching your fellow pirates without really paying attention to what they’re doing.

You only realize that you’re being moved when a large hand reaches up to grasp your wrist, and suddenly you land in Zoro’s lap, having absent-mindedly wandered his way during your laps around the Sunny. Sideways across his thighs, your legs stretched in whichever way they fell when the swordsman dragged you onto him. “What was that for?” you ask, unable to stifle a giggle at the way his arm snakes its way around you to grasp onto your thigh.

“Dunno,” he admits, a lazy grin dashing across his lips, “Just wanted ya here with me.” His other hand brings his drink to his mouth, taking a long and rather loud sip from the mug as he squeezes you closer.

Your gaze roams along Zoro. His cheeks are flushed from the alcohol that’s also hot on his tongue, the smell of insobriety stinging your nostrils. His shirt is open, as per usual, unbuttoned and leaving little of his broad chest covered, the warmth radiating from his bare skin encasing you in its hold. Just out of the corner of your eye, something glistens in the waning sunset.

A gold chain around his neck.

Despite his current disposition, Zoro is still very observant. He notices where your eyes have gone, and a smirk crosses his face before he leans back slightly, holding the gilded links in between two fingers. “This?” he asks, holding it up between you, “Ya like it?”

Like it? You’re absolutely enchanted by it. The way the necklace blends in beautifully with his tanned skin - it’s infatuating, to say the least. “Yeah,” you confirm, one of your hands reaching up to trace the outline of the accessory slowly, earning you a slight shiver from the bulky man in reward. “I do, actually.”

Twisting around on his lap, you move to straddle his legs. Zoro’s hands almost instinctively find purchase on your hips after placing his drink down onto the wooden deck, fingers pressing into your flesh in an undeniable hunger. “I like it a lot~” you hum coyly, voice low and words slurred as you slide your hand up to his neck, then to his right ear where you let your fingers clink his earrings together.

Zoro’s eyes darken at your words, a predatory gleam in them as he watches you straddle his lap. His hands tighten their grip on your hips, pulling you closer until there’s no space left between you. “Good,” he growls, his breath hot against your ear, “‘Cause I love when ya get all over me like this.”

His lips brush against yours in a rough kiss, his tongue pushing past your parted lips to explore your mouth hungrily. A hand moves to occupy your ass, squeezing it firmly through the fabric of your pants. Despite being drunk, he’s still incredibly strong, and you can feel every muscle in his hand as he grips you tightly.

Zoro's eyes flash with lust at your touch, but he doesn't pull away from the kiss. Instead, he deepens it further, his tongue dueling with yours as he tries to assert dominance over you. But despite his best efforts, there's something about the way you touch him that makes him weak – something that makes him want more than just control.

-

Four drinks turn into five, into six, into the blurred lines of the abyss.

It feels like the entire cabin is shaking violently alongside the dangerously loud creaking of the bed, the wooden posts threatening to crack into splinters as Zoro fucks you deep into the mattress.

His large hand presses into the underside of your right thigh, keeping it locked in place with ease tightly against your chest. Straddling your other leg with his own, he rails into you at a pace that doesn't even feel real.

His three earrings clash together with each harsh thrust, the gold chain around his neck bouncing against his chest as he bottoms out within you over and over. 

You're mesmerized by not only the way he's making your toes curl but also by the sheer beauty that he seems to radiate like this. The golden jewelry he's adorned himself with sheens and shimmers in the light of the newfound moonlight coming through the window, stunning you each time the glimmer catches your fucked-out, hazy gaze.

Zoro's movements are rough and unrelenting, his body fully giving into his desires as he takes what he wants from you without hesitation or remorse. The bed creaks and shakes under your combined weight, the sound echoing throughout the cabin like a warning call to any who might try and interrupt.

His free hand explores your body, finding new places to leave marks and claim ownership. Each thrust drives deeper into your core, filling you with a sense of complete depravity that leaves you feeling vulnerable yet exhilarated.

Your eyes threaten to close, a long sequence of elated whines rumbling out from deep within your gut as Zoro hits that heavenly spot within you with fury. As soon as you start to loll your head against the pillow, a hand captures your face, squeezing your cheeks together and forcing your gaze back up to the man ravishing you.

"Eyes on me," he demands, a devilish smirk across his lips. "You wanted the chain to stay on, right princess? Then pay attention."

His voice is rough and vulgar, filled with a raw power that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. His eye(s) burn into yours, daring you to disobey him. The thought of not obeying him sends a thrill through you, but you know better than to test him right now. With a weak nod, you lock your eyes onto him once again, letting him see the fiery desire burning within you.

With renewed energy, Zoro picks up the pace, driving himself deeper and deeper into you with each harsh buck of his hips. The sensation is overwhelming, and you can feel yourself getting closer and closer to release. The chain around his neck moves in tandem with his pace, the golden links catching the dim light in a mesmerizing dance that only serves to heighten the intensity of the moment.

He's just out of your reach, and so desperately do you want to pull on that stupidly sexy necklace, to drag him downward into the needy kiss you so badly yearn for. That damn look, that smug expression he's clad himself in as he takes you to heaven - you lose it, finding the strength to quickly latch your hand around the accessory and tugging it to get what you want.

Zoro's face twists into one of sudden surprise, but only for a moment, as you grab hold of the chain, yanking it sharply towards yourself. The movement causes him to pause, his body frozen in mid-motion as he looks down at you with a mixture of shock and something more... diabolical.

His eyes narrow, and a dangerous glint appears in them. He knows what you want, and who is he to deny you?

With a low growl, he resumes his relentless rhythm, pushing himself as deep as he can go. Lips clash onto one another. Zoro's grip loosens on your leg and you let it fall around his waist, both of his hands now on your cheeks as his tongue slips past your lower lip.

Zoro's mouth claims yours in a fierce kiss, his tongue tangling with yours with muffled moans. The combination of the rough, passionate kiss and the pressure of his body against yours is almost too much to bear, sending waves of pleasure through your veins.

Despite the ferocity of the kiss, there's also tenderness there - a hint of vulnerability that shows through in the way his lips brush against yours softly before returning to their bruising assault. Your hands find their way to his broad shoulders, clinging to him as if afraid that if you let go, everything will come crashing down around you. The heat between you both builds to a fever pitch, and you feel yourself nearing the edge once again.

The chain tickles your chest, causing you to writhe in overstimulation and twitch away from the kiss, sloppy, wet strands of saliva binding you before snapping. "Z-Zoro~!" Your cry seems to fall on deaf ears, the swordsman's pace doesn't let up.

Zoro's eyes are locked onto yours, his focus solely on taking you to the brink of ecstasy. He ignores your cries, lost in the passion of the moment. His body moves with a primal urgency, each thrust driving him further into you until you can feel the very essence of him inside you. The chain around his neck rubs against your chest, adding another layer of sensation to an already overwhelming experience.

The combination of pain and pleasure is almost too much to bear, but you hold on tightly to Zoro, determined to ride out the storm with him by your side.

As you approach the edge, Zoro's movements slow slightly, allowing you to catch your breath before plunging back into the depths of passion once more.

When he sheaths himself back inside of you, hips meeting flush against each other once again, you wail. The move brings you ever closer to the edge, so close that you can peer over it into the valley of ecstasy below. "Gonna cum for me again?" Zoro taunts from above you. "Or have I ruined ya enough already?"

Zoro's voice is low and rough, laced with a hint of egomania as he teases you with the words. You're far past the point of ruination, and he knows. You can only moan in reply, unable to form any coherent thoughts or sentences. All you can do is lay there, panting and writhing beneath him as he slams into you with relentless precision.

He pushes you to the very brink, and you can feel yourself trembling, on the verge of falling over the precipice into a sea of blissful oblivion.

You cry out, managing a sputtered, raspy sound that sounds close enough to his name to make him growl in pleasure as you reach that high for the umpteenth time that night.

Zoro's face contorts into a mix of pleasure and exhaustion as he feels you climax yet again. He holds himself deep within you, letting the wave of sensations wash over him before pulling back slowly, savoring every last bit of the experience.

As he withdraws from you, he looks down at you with satisfaction and slight weariness. Despite the fact that he's nearly spent, there's still a fire burning in his eyes - a hint of determination that tells you that he won't be happy until he's taken you to the absolute limit.

Despite your overstimulation, he leaves you empty and wanting. Before you can oppose him, he rolls you onto your stomach, a breathless gasp leaving you at the sudden change of position. For a while, nothing happens. You hear him fiddle around with something behind you, and soon enough you feel him moving your hair out of the way to clasp something around your neck - the chain.

And in a nanosecond he's pushing back into you, resuming his pace as if there hadn't been a brief pause. One hand uses the gold links to aggressively pull you upward toward him, allowing him access to your shoulders where he doesn't hesitate to bite down.

Zoro's movements are relentless. The chain that now sits around your neck adds an extra level of intensity to the experience, pulling you upwards with each thrust and creating a delicious tugging sensation across your skin.

He bites down on your shoulder, marking you as his own once again, and the combination of pain and pleasure has you panting and clawing at the sheets like a fucking animal below him. The feeling of being claimed like this is incredibly arousing and primal, and it only serves to push you closer to the edge once again.

Frantic howls of pleasure are all you can muster as you see stars again. Drool runs down the side of your chin and down your chest as he tugs on the chain as if they were reins. Zoro feels that familiar tension pooling in him, and he knows he's about to join you in the throes of final satisfaction. "Gonna fill that pussy up until ya leak all over this fuckin' bed."

[mellosdrawings]

In your 2nd Place ship (which btw I love it) how would Bil, Leona, and Jamil comfort each other?

Hohoho~ Ok, first I need to say @aria-faye has helped a lot with answering this question because of our random brainstorming for a ~*project*~

Leona would be pretty physical at first. As usual, he's a "act don't tell" kinda guy so he'd offer more hugs or random physical contacts. If it needs stronger comfort though, he'd finally use his words, but in a way that doesn't sound comforting exactly. More like trying to get the fight back in the others, or forcing their brains to think differently so they don't get stuck in their thoughts. He'd have a "forward" and maybe a bit "aggressive" kind of comforting. He's definitely not the kind to coddle others.

Vil strikes me as an "act of service" kind of person. He offers care (often physical like taking care of one's hair in their stead) at first. When it comes to words, despite being straightforward and a bit judgmental at first glance, I think he would soften greatly if it's towards Jamil. If it's Leona he tries to comfort though, he might play more on Leona's bite, have him fight back, be a bit more snarky with him.

Jamil is also an "act of service" kind of person. He'd do pretty much anything to lift any burden from the others. Surprisingly I think he wouldn't be that good with words in this context. "Honest Jamil" does not mix well with comfort and he probably knows it. He'd try to be as kind and comforting as possible but (at first) it might not sound very convincing, whether he is genuine or not. But he'd definitely cook for them and make sure they're comfortable and have nothing to worry about.

(There'd probably be a lot of making sure not to hurt the others' pride while comforting each other though. Those three are stupidly prideful, even dating I can imagine fights happening if they coddle each other too much.)

[wishluc]

Can I request a yandre blade and kafka silently in a tug of war for the readers attention (btw the reader is a stellaron hunter being chill like silver wolf)

I adore them Ahhhhh Blade's characterisation is based purely off my impression of him :O

With Kafka seated so close to you, you were surprised that nobody had contacted the authorities yet. The three of you were treated like any other customer in the quaint restaurant, despite your companions having their faces plastered all over Starskiff Haven, and you had yet to be approached by furious soldiers or, if your luck had finally run out, the General himself.

Though you think that if anyone were to attempt to apprehend Kafka, it would make for quite the spectacle. You can already picture the unconcerned expression she'd have, her lips still smiling, her gaze piercing, and her form completely relaxed, and the words she would say to the poor fool—laced with just a hint of mock surprise—before making her way out of the building. At least they'd be alive; if Blade were to get involved...well, you were just glad that his unsettling presence was enough to ward off any justice-driven warrior.

Starwatcher Avenue was gorgeous, without a doubt. In the short time you had been there, you had fallen in love with the bustling streets and the lovely cuisine, though most of your days so far were spent hidden away and waiting for Blade. Despite this, you were really looking forward to leave the Flagship, the anxiety that followed you with being associated with two wanted criminals too much to bear. At least back on your ship, you could easily evade the authorities sent after the Stellaron Hunters.

Kafka, however, was clearly in no rush. She lounged around most of the time, sometimes taking you out for a meal or to go shopping, and appeared to have no worries regarding her status. Even though Blade had regrouped with you, she was still insistent on staying, attempting to placate your troubled heart with sweet, whispered promises and firm assurances. Today's trip was also her way of proving to you that you were in no danger, and you almost believed her.

But you recently realized that living in constant fear of being arrested was nothing compared to the troubles awaiting you. It could be much worse. It could be staying with Blade.

You could...manage, with Kafka. She was unpredictable, at times, but you could rest assured that she'd never put you in harm's way. She never told you what she was planning, forcing you to rely on her cunning words, but you were familiar enough with her by now to know what she expected, and how to appease her. You could play into her desires, smile at her clever quips and lean into her possessive hold, and she would find delight in it all, even though she was aware of your intentions. She liked your little schemes, though it was no use plotting against her—Kafka was always a step ahead, always prepared to pull you back to her side and remind you of just who she was.

Blade, however, was a complete enigma to you.

You weren't very familiar with the other Hunter, having spent most of your time being lugged around by Kafka, but even the little time you spent with him had already convinced you that there was something frightening about him. You think it might be his dark eyes, seemingly seeing through your every action, which, coupled with his habit of staring at you, never failed to unnerve you. Your first encounter with him, too, left you shaking—you'd never forget the sensation of cool metal pressing against your skin, his sharp gaze locked on you with the slightest curl of his lips. You could never tell what he wanted from you.

He had smiled at you when you were tasked with wrapping new bandages around his hand shortly after his escape, and asked if you came all the way to the Xianzhou Luofu just to see him (You remember the sound of his laughter when you turned to look at Kafka in response, and you remember how something inside you stirred at the mesmerising sight). But he had yet to pull you into his arms, or smother you with affectionate words and thinly veiled threats, and you weren't quite sure what to make of him. You could only hope that his interest in you was short lived—it was tiring enough to keep Kafka placated.

"Open up, darling," Kafka's smooth voice breaks you out of your trance.

She holds a silver spoon out, a small piece of the pudding she ordered balancing carefully on it. You quickly obey, letting her feed you despite the shame that lingered when you notice Blade's curious gaze directed at you.

"Why aren't you that well behaved for me?" You freeze at Blade's remark, the dessert in your mouth suddenly tasting like sand.

Kafka chuckles, putting down the spoon in favor for placing her hand on your cheek. She gently directs you to face Blade, the man regarding you with blatant fascination.

"Why, Bladie?" Kafka's gloved fingers trace your bottom lip, "Are you jealous?"

"You're always so stiff around me," he muses, "but here you are, acting as the perfect pet for her."

"That's because we are well acquainted," you catch a wicked glint In Kafka's eyes, "It's not an act," she taps at your cheek, "is it?"

You shake your head silently, and Kafka's smile widens. Blade's displeasure is obvious in the slight frown on his face and the glare focused at where Kafka's touching you, and you start to regret picking sides.

"How cruel."

You lean back into your seat, suddenly feeling suffocated by the tense air that enveloped the table. For a moment, you swear you catch the slightest twitch of Blade's lips, but you're immediately distracted by Kafka's displeased frown.

You clear your throat in an attempt to dissipate the tension, "When will we be returning?"

"We still have matters to conclude here," Blade informs you.

Your heart sinks, but you try your hardest to hide your disappointment, "I thought we were only here for..." You glance at him, "for Blade?"

Kafka's hand had found its way to your thigh while your attention was elsewhere, her fingers splayed over your clothes, "We need to wait for the Express crew, my dear. You can be patient a little while longer, no?"

You nod, and watch as she takes a bite of the pudding for herself, the spoon in her mouth for a moment too long before she placed it down again. You turn to look outside the window instead, not wanting to meet her gaze after that display, and instead catch sight of a familiar tall figure. Around him are multiple guards in uniform, and you can already see passersby begin to whisper amongst themselves while surveying the scene. You're reminded of the posters drawn in red ink, and the fate awaiting you if you get caught. They'd want to interrogate you, wouldn't they? To your side, Kafka stands up, carefully placing her coat over her shoulders before glancing down at you with her hand outstretched. A part of you wishes you could be as composed as her by everything, but her lack of concern came from a place of confidence, in her own ability and Elios' plan. You have neither—all you can trust in is your companions. You take her hand and get up, forcing yourself to hide your growing fear. Kafka strolls out of the exit, and you follow suit, making your way out of the building and back into the streets of Starwatcher Avenue. You don't look back to see where Blade is, assuming he had disappeared into the crowd already.

As the usual protocol in situations like this, you separate from Kafka (She has insisted, before, that you never leave her side regardless of the circumstances, but you know better than to comply), and start to find your own way back to your hideout, but as you make your way down the large staircase, a hand brushes against the small of your back and a figure appears beside you. If he noticed the way you stiffened up at his touch, Blade didn't comment on it, simply falling into step with you, as though he was always there.

"This way," he instructs, moving you towards an inconspicuous alleyway between some stalls. You don't want to follow him, but with the looming threat behind you, you can't afford to attract any more attention to yourself, so you let his hand rest on you and follow his lead.

"Don't be afraid," he whispers, lips brushing against your ear, "nobody uses this path. This way, we'll have plenty of time to get...acquainted"

all works © wishluc. do not copy, steal or repost my works on other platforms. (including translations)

[zvaigzdelasas]

[BBC is UK State Media]

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has funded politically-motivated assassinations in Yemen, a BBC investigation has found, exacerbating a conflict involving the Yemeni government and warring factions which has recently returned to the international spotlight following attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

Counter-terrorism training provided by American mercenaries to Emirati officers in Yemen has been used to train locals who can work under a lower profile - sparking a major uptick in political assassinations, a whistleblower told BBC Arabic Investigations.

The BBC has also found that despite the American mercenaries' stated aim to eliminate the jihadist groups al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS) in southern Yemen, in fact the UAE has gone on to recruit former al-Qaeda members for a security force it has created on the ground in Yemen to fight the Houthi rebel movement and other armed factions.

The UAE government has denied the allegations in our investigation - that it had assassinated those without links to terrorism - saying they were "false and without merit".

These are largely between the two parts of the "real" "legitimate" "internationally recognized" coalition govt of Yemen you've been scolded so much about over the last month btw [22 Jan 24]

Continued after the cut

The killing spree in Yemen - more than 100 assassinations in a three-year period - is just one element of an ongoing bitter internecine conflict pitting several international powers against each other in the Middle East's poorest country.[...]

In 2015, the US and the UK supported a coalition of mostly Arab states led by Saudi Arabia - with the UAE as a key partner - to fight back. The coalition invaded Yemen with the aim of reinstating the exiled Yemeni government and fighting terrorism. The UAE was given charge of security in the south, and became the US's key ally on counter-terrorism in the region - al-Qaeda had long been a presence in the south and was now gaining territory.[...]

Under international law, any killing of civilians without due process would be counted as extra-judicial.

The majority of those assassinated were members of Islah - the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. It [...] has never been classified by the US as a terror organisation, but is banned in several Arab countries - including the UAE where its political activism and support for elections is seen by the country's royal family as a threat to their rule.

Leaked drone footage of the first assassination mission gave me a starting point from which to investigate these mysterious killings. It was dated December 2015 and was traced to members of a private US security company called Spear Operations Group.[...]

Isaac Gilmore, a former US Navy Seal who later became chief operating officer of Spear, was one of several Americans who say they were hired to carry out assassinations in Yemen by the UAE.

He refused to talk about anyone who was on the "kill list" provided to Spear by the UAE - other than the target of their first mission: Ansaf Mayo, a Yemeni MP who is the leader of Islah in the southern port city of Aden, the government's temporary capital since 2015.[...]

Mr Gilmore, and another Spear employee in Yemen at the time - Dale Comstock - told me that the mission they conducted ended in 2016. But the assassinations in southern Yemen continued. In fact they became more frequent, according to investigators from the human rights group Reprieve.

They investigated 160 killings carried out in Yemen between 2015 and 2018. They said the majority happened from 2016 and only 23 of the 160 people killed had links to terrorism. All the killings had been carried out using the same tactics that Spear had employed - the detonation of an improvised explosive device (IED) as a distraction, followed by a targeted shooting. The most recent political assassination in Yemen, according to Yemeni human rights lawyer Huda al-Sarari, happened just last month - of an imam killed in Lahj by the same method.[...]

Mr Gilmore, Mr Comstock, and two other mercenaries from Spear who asked not to be named, said that Spear had been involved in training Emirati officers in the UAE military base in Aden. A journalist who asked to remain anonymous also told us he had seen footage of such training.

As the mercenaries' profile had made them conspicuous in Aden and vulnerable to exposure, their brief had been changed to training Emirati officers, "who in turn trained local Yemenis to do the targeting", the Yemeni military officer told me.

Through the course of the investigation, we also spoke to more than a dozen other Yemeni sources who said this had been the case. They included two men who said they had carried out assassinations which were not terror-related, after being trained to do so by Emirati soldiers - and one man who said he had been offered release from a UAE prison in exchange for the assassination of a senior Yemeni political figure, a mission he did not accept.

Getting Yemenis to conduct the assassinations meant it was harder for the killings to be traced back to the UAE.

By 2017, the UAE had helped build a paramilitary force, part of the Emirati-funded Southern Transitional Council (STC), a security organisation that runs a network of armed groups across southern Yemen.

The force operated in southern Yemen independently of the Yemeni government, and would only take orders from the UAE. The fighters were not just trained to fight on active front lines. One particular unit, the elite Counter Terrorism Unit, was trained to conduct assassinations, our whistleblower told us.

The whistleblower sent a document with 11 names of former al-Qaeda members now working in the STC, some of whose identities we were able to verify ourselves.

During our investigation we also came across the name Nasser al-Shiba. Once a high-ranking al-Qaeda operative, he was jailed for terrorism but later released. A Yemeni government minister we spoke to told us al-Shiba was a known suspect in the attack on the US warship USS Cole, which killed 17 American sailors in October 2000. Multiple sources told us that he is now the commander of one of the STC military units. Lawyer Huda al-Sarari has been investigating human rights abuses committed by these UAE-backed forces on the ground. As a result of her work, she would frequently receive death threats. But it was her 18-year-old son Mohsen who paid the ultimate price.

He was shot in the chest in March 2019 while on a trip to a local petrol station, and died a month later.[...]

A subsequent investigation by Aden's public prosecutor found that Mohsen was killed by a member of the UAE-backed Counter Terrorism Unit, but the authorities have never pursued a prosecution.

Members of the prosecutor's office - who we cannot name for safety reasons - told us that the widespread assassinations have created a climate of fear that means even they are too afraid to pursue justice in cases involving forces backed by the UAE.

Reprieve has received a leaked UAE document that shows Spear was still being paid in 2020, though it is not clear in what capacity.

[professionalchaoticdumbass]

if it’s not too much trouble, could you share a bit about how to better support closeted/ just-cracked trans women?

Okay this is going to be a fairly long response, be warned. Its also based off personal experience (or lack of positive experience) from how I'm treated irl. also its 4 am some of this may be less coherent than I want but whatever.

The basics: name & pronouns. Ask who its safe to use these in front of!!! Dont out someone to their parents or partner or boss!! Otherwise use these as much as possible. Avoid deadnames and dead-pronouns as much as possible too - I am fine with being they/themed over he/him and prefer a nameless "later, nerd" to "bye, deadname". sometimes its unavoidable but many times its not. this is 101 stuff but I see lots of people forget it.

Going out and about: GO. WITH. HER. A LOT. She fucking needs it. Go clothes shopping together and teach her how to pick out good clothes/outfits and how to at least begin to decipher the mess that is sizing. Find her a "spinny skirt" (pleated mini skirt or skater skirt, forgot the exact one but anything similar to those) if she really wants one, I dont care how cringe you find the memes this is more important than Reddit Bad jokes. IF YOU ARE ABLE TO, TAKE HER TO THE WOMENS WASHROOM WITH YOU. yknow how girls go to the bathroom in groups for safety? yeah trans women need triple that safety and nobody provides it like ever, even other trans women. change that and be that safety. also, if youre like ordering food or at the cashier, always use the correct pronouns even if misgendering happens. if she gets a "what would you like sir" from the waiter, you are going to say something like "she would like a cheeseburger with fries and a fountain drink". this will save her ass from a lot of awkward correcting.

transitioning & hrt: if she needs a space to wear femme clothes safely, invite her over or go out together. try to avoid places where people she's not out to frequently go. for hrt, if you already accessed it HELP HER AS WELL. the amount of people who are like one step removed from pulling the ladder up behind them with regards to hrt is insane. so much "fuck you got mine" attitude in this community. anyways, DESCRIBE THE PROCESS YOU WENT THROUGH, STEP BY STEP. mention specific doctors, clinics, etc. if you do diy, mention the provider, what to look for on blood work, how to take it (injection, gel, etc) and send relevant articles/pages, about each part, not just the hrt wiki home page. if you have a prescription, mention ANY AND ALL procedures you went through to get hrt. psychologist? readiness assessment? any other screening process? DESCRIBE IN DETAIL WHAT YOU WERE ASKED AND HOW YOU ANSWERED. this can literally be a life saving thing. treat that information like the death star plans and she is the rebellion. precise motherfucking details. similar thing for any surgeries like ffs, tracheal shave, various types of bottom surgery. if you and her are going through different systems (say, you got it under 18 as a youth and she's 22 and no longer qualifies for that, or she wants diy while you have a prescription) then look up third party anecdotes as well. reddit is great for this as they often have city specific trans subreddits which lets you look at local doctors/clinics/providers & shipping. if she gets hit with dysphoria, "you are valid" CAN help new girls but as a half closeted girl for the past three years, I know I'm valid already thank you very much. dysphoria is different to each person, just be there to comfort her, help distract if nothing else. Teach her to shave if she wants, offer to do her makeup if you know how (some tutorials are made by and for trans women btw! check those out if you can). if she wants to order things online, anything from a flag to a dress to diy hrt, but can't for fear of outing, OFFER TO BE THE RECEIVING ADDRESS AND PASS IT ON IN PERSON. you can also try setting up a PO box away from home. covering some costs can potentially help lower suspicion but only do this of you have the money. in general just be a safe & informative helpful person who is willing to stand by her side.

Other general tips:

- if you are transfem yourself you will know and experience many of these things. do not withhold information like others do. did you have another trans person in your own life who helped you out when you first cracked? if yes, now its your turn. if no, then dont let her lose out on that too. actually support your sisters for once.

- if you are having sex, she may want to be submissive and/or bottom more as these are often "forbidden" when youre male. if thats compatible with you then try to accommodate that, and throw in some gender affirming stuff like a "good girl". praise kink often works well here, but always ask first. teach her how to bottom if she wants. AFTERCARE holy shit aftercare. yeah that should also be at least skmewhat gender affirming. dont skip out.

- the self doubt spiral: "you are valid" are the three words that get way more use than they really should. "valid" is so vague that its near useless. if you can, find the specific root (e.g. "I feel like a pervert cuz I get euphoria boners when I wear a sexy dress") and respond with counter examples that tell her she belongs, she is a woman, e.g. "youre not a pervert, plenty of cis women feel similar and enjoy dressing sexy as well". this is mainly for self doubt not other types of dyphoria.

- she will probably be really fucking depressed and possibly even suicidal at some point. usually close to egg crack or after a shitty experience. personally, I have a lot of passive suicidal thoughts where I dont wnat to make any attempts but wouldn't mind if I vanished, if it weren't for a few things. try to be there as a rock in the stream for her to hold onto during depression. it is fucking rough and in the words of bill withers, we all need somebody to lean on. eventually we will all stand tall together.

I am sure there's more but I think I covered most of the points I wanna make.

[mossadspypigeon]

As a late comer to some of the nonsense, can you explain or point to something explaining what watermelons have to do with Palestine? Asking google "what the fuck do watermelons have to do with Palestine" was not a productive search. Where did that come from?

hello anon! yes indeed i can. this is gonna be a long post, so buckle in lmao.

so the main and simplified reason the watermelon is used (and i'll get into some more complex stuff and context because both are important to understand with this) is because red/black/green represent the PLO flag, which is known as the "palestinian flag."

now, i don't know if you know who the PLO are, so:

(this notice to include secondary sources is so faulty btw. this is based on primary sources written BY the plo, which removes bias of interpretation)

i recommend reading this wiki page at least and clicking on the sources for more information. it isn't as bad as some wikipedia pages and it can provide a good introduction.

now, the PLO is an internationally recognized terrorist org. it split into numerous factions, including yasser arafat's "fatah." fatah controlled groups like black september, which committed the munich massacre and also murdered the king of jordan.

the PLO itself has committed numerous acts of terror, including the hijacking of the Achille Lauro. terrorists who hijacked this ship shot and tossed a disabled jewish man in a wheelchair named Leon Klinghoffer overboard, etc. so no, they are not a resistance group. this act was sponsored and supported by arafat.

if you want to know more about their bullfuckery, which i recommend, read their charter here.

okay, now moving on to the flag:

you've probably noticed that the red/black/green/white thing is a motif used by several countries. this is because of "pan arabism."

rootsmetals did some good posts on arabization:

the specific colors have meanings, and those meanings are either religious or secular. the religious and secular connect though. let's take a look. i'm going to use arab sources without commentary on any biases:

on the other hand:

so. we know about the flag's history and its meaning. we know what it represents. now, let's go into the whole "watermelon" thing:

the reason it's used depends on who you ask. if you ask the pro palestine crowd, the watermelon is used in place of the "palestine flag" due to "censoring" and "silencing."

this goes back to the propaganda that israel banned the palestinian flag. israel DID NOT ban this flag legally, but it did have it taken down because...guess why? why would israel want the flag of the plo not flown? it's like flying a kkk flag in the usa, that's why.

yes, you have freedom of speech in israel, but it has its limits. those limits are hate and incendiary speech. the plo flag is a symbol of hate based on the charter and acts of the plo itself. also, fatah/the palestinian authority, which currently governs the palestinian section of the west bank/judea samaria and east jerusalem still pays terrorists who murder jews and israelis and are imprisoned. sooooo you can guess why the flag was taken down, but here is some of the propaganda:

the lack of sources in this article lmao.

again, hilarious lack of sources.

if you ask the pro israel crowd, it's an appropriation of a very zionist crop and a symbol of decolonization.

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if i find more sources on this, i will do another post.

but yes, the watermelon emoji is used because "the internet silences palestine," which is hysterical, considering google favors palestinian sources and most major news networks employ either palestinians or palestinian allied supporters.

and of course, tiktok and the rest of social media won't remove antisemitism, but will constantly ban jews and israelis. hence why finding sources on the jewish history of the watermelon is difficult.

anyway. hope this helps. <3 if you're comfy, definitely dm me sometime if you want to discuss things and/or get sources.

@matan4il do you happen to have any sources on the israeli/jewish/zionist history of the watermelon? if you do, it would be so appreciated.

[drowninginblox]

Never read Fanfiction in the Kitchen at 3am. Or do.

Kurt Wagner (nightcrawler) x reader fanfic Reader and Kurt or similar ages, GN reader (don't mind how gendered the German language can be!), Mutant reader, very self-indulgent, and fic awareness BTW You can put in any iteration of Kurt you want. I just have a '97 and Fox bias (Yes my taste is shit, why are you surprised??) Btw this is written in the second person POV. I am not sorry.

It was late. You should have gone to bed.. what? Three hours ago? But you were being f e d. Your fave just uploaded after a year-long hiatus for a ship that you knew would never happen- Nightcrawler X Reader.

You were sitting in the kitchen, kicking your feeding and giggling into the hoodie you were using as pajamas. Oh, the professor must be so disappointed in you. But who cares! If he wants to know that you think his lingering gase whenever he talked about Magneto was grounds for a classic case of internalized homophobia then that's on him. He wouldn't be looking into the hellscape known as your mind if he didn't want to know the absurdity of the X-Men fandom.

You only lurked from the sidelines, giggling at the headcanons and imagine scenarios that people made up for the majority of the X-men. The funniest were always Logans even though most of them are so well written. But now was not the time for that- you were indulging in your crush on Kurt. This author is characterizing him pretty well all things considered. I mean yeah, they emphasize the tail a bit, and don't really lean into his German but- you'll take what you can get. Most of these people are humans that don't really divulge into mutant territory. But you think this writer is one. It's either that or they've done their research. They really understand the struggle and don't shy away from the animosity that comes with living with physical mutations.

You take another sip of tea as you read, savoring the dialogue of the reader insert. This Y/n is hilarious but sensitive. "Whatcha reading?" You immediately close the laptop as you jump- almost spilling your tea as you see Kurt, eating a banana. You shakily put down your mug "Holy fuck Kurt-" You mumble, taking a breath. "You scared me! What the hell?!" He only laughs at your suffering, making you huff. "What are you doing up?" she asks lowly. Kurt's laughter dies down after a minute or so. "Oh, I was just hungry. And then I saw you! You seemed very invested in whatever you were reading. Was it saucy?" He mused, taking another bite of the banana. You sigh. "I don't need to tell you what I was reading, I just was." You defend as your mutation activates on its own. You, dear reader, can change color! Any color! But you don't control it all the time. Sometimes it reflects your emotions- like right now.

"That's a wonderful shade of pink you have mein bunter freund. Jetzt bin ich wirklich interessiert... What had you so invested?" Next thing you know, he's gone in a dark cloud. Then he's holding your laptop. Now he's sitting on top of the fridge. "Kurtis!" You nearly yell. "Give that back!" Your skin only grows into a hot pink. He only laughs from his position, opening up your laptop. "Come now it can't be that bad!" He looks down at your computer, reading the fanfic. All you can do is watch as his face gets closer to the screen. Your skin erupts in various shades of dark blues, purples, and greys while tears build in your eyes. Embarrassment and shame make lumps form in your throat. "I-I hope you're happy Kurt." You mumble as you walk away, not caring anymore about what he may or may not think of you because now he knows two of your biggest secrets. The first being you read fanfiction, and the second that you have a crush on him. Just great.

"H-Hey! Wait! Mein regenbogen!" You hear him call but you keep walking back to your room. This night can't get any worse if you just hide from it. Maybe tomorrow you can convince him to forget that this ever happened. Or maybe convince yourself that this is all a bad dream. He keeps calling your name until eventually he appears a yard away from your door, laptop in hand. "Listen I-" You take your laptop out of his hands. "First of all, I don't care that I like you-grabbing someone else's shit regardless of who they are is not cool Kurt. Second- I was not reading what you may or may not have seen and any mention of it that reaches me is going to equal to one hour of ass-kicking. Do you understand?" Kurt looks on at you, startled by the sudden hostility. "Kurt." Kurt blinks a few times before nodding. "Good. Nothing happened, I'm going to bed, goodnight." You manage to say before tears start to run as you rush to your room.

Before you can get inside, he grabs your wrist "Before you go- please- hear me out" You look at him. "Nothing happened Kurt-" "I like you too!" Your eyes immediately widen. Any words you had in store for him vanished, only replaced by awestruck stuttering. "Wh-what-" "I have loved you for years! I never knew you were interested let alone pining-! If I had known I'd have confessed to you earlier and I know that I shouldn't have taken your stuff, that was awful on my part. Es tut mir so leid, meine Liebe, bitte verzeih mir. Ich werde es auf jede Weise wieder gutmachen.-" You blink a few times before taking a hand, making him stop immediately. "Meine liebe... my love? You- actually?" Kurt nods. "Almost as soon as I saw you." He squeezes your hand. "I- I didn't think you'd be attracted to-" Your eyes widen even more. "Kurt! Don't you dare finish that sentence! You are so handsome! You're the most handsome man I've ever seen!" You confessed. His face becomes a darker shade of blue as you realized what you just said.

"I-I am the most handsome man... you have ever seen?" he mumbles. He takes a few moments to process that. "So... you.." You nod. "For little over a year." He smiles. You can't help but smile back.

Who knew life imitates fiction? Let alone fanfiction?

[feyrescourt]

This is a long and rambly discussion post for elriel nation btw so strap in

I want to preface this by kindly asking the elriel hive to not use any tags of #those ships if reblogged. I want to keep this in the elriel echo chamber. Please and thank u!

A huge part of fandom culture is to ship canonically compliant characters and crack ships. Everyone’s got them, and it’s totally normal, and it’s usually fun to engage with.

The majority of the time I have no issue with this (I am a wolfstar shipper and even though there is canonical evidence of them in the original HP books, they’re widely accepted online and balked at IRL usually due to homophobia and #that nasty, nasty woman’s bigotry), but over the last few years a certain group of crack shippers have taken it upon themselves to fly a little too close to the sun, and want to make it our (elriels) problem. I am talking about the Glees.

It’s late and this just popped into my head so I want to rant about it.

My friend who got me into ACOTAR gave me a breakdown of the ships (bc I read ToG first and went in blind. I became a doraelin shipper very early on and remained one halfway through QoS, it was a whole thing when I realized they were not end game lol), bc I asked her to after my ToG experience. She told me all the characters names and then told me about feysand and nessian endgames but didn’t mention az or elain’s situation. I asked her about it and she told me that she didn���t want to mention much about Az because “by the end of the series azriel has two options for how his story could go, elain or another way”. She shared some anti elain sentiment with me because she’s “boring and doesn’t do anything”. That went in one ear and out the other with me tbh.

When I started acowar, and feyre returned to the night court, I saw how elain and azriel were interacting and I concluded that mor was the second LI of az bc of acomaf. I was not apart of the fandom online at this point, so I was genuinely in the dark about everything around these two. I was just reading and talking to my friend about what I read. I also want to add that I still liked L*cien at this point in the series (it changed in acofas, I became apathetic towards him rather quickly when I finished reading that whiny ass convo with feyre…..I don’t play when it comes to her) but wasn’t sold on eluce because they had like one interaction and it wasn’t a great intro to a ship.

However this first meeting in acomaf….. :)

‘Can you truly fly?’ He set down his fork, blinking. I might have even called him self-conscious. He said, ‘Yes. Cassian and I hail from a race of faeries called Illyrians. We’re born hearing the song of the wind.’ ‘That’s very beautiful,’

“Rhys chuckled, Cassian’s wrath slipping enough that he grinned, and Elain, noticing Azriel’s ease as proof that things weren’t indeed about to go badly, offered one of her own as well.”

Well imagine my surprise when I finished acowar and it turns out mor (the person az has crushed on for 500 years) comes out to feyre before the book ends and she explains that she can never love az the way he loves her. After three books, and everything that happens in acowar it was clear to me that elain and azriel were being set up as each others love interests, despite the mating bond with l*cien.

After Acofas I was officially on the elriel train. I mean…

“Azriel strode to the lone window at the end of the room and peered into the garden below.”

“Azriel emerged from the sitting room, a glass of wine in hand and wings tucked back to reveal his fine, yet simple black jacket and pants. I felt, more than saw, my sister go still as he approached. Her throat bobbed.”

“But Azriel only took Elain’s heavy dish of potatoes from her hands, his voice soft as night as he said, ‘Sit. I’ll take care of it.’ Elain’s hands remained in midair, as if the ghost of the dish remained between them. With a blink, she lowered them, and noticed her apron. ‘I—I’ll be right back,’ she murmured, and hurried down the hall before I could explain that no one cared if she showed up to dinner covered in flour and that she should just sit.”

“Elain swept in, apron gone and hair rebraided. ‘Please don’t wait on my account,’ she said, taking the seat at the head of the table.”

“He [Azriel] was the portrait of relaxed, an arm braced against the carved mantel, his wings tucked in loosely, a faint grin on his face and a glass of wine in his hand. He slid his hazel eyes toward my sister without him moving an inch.”

“Azriel and Elain remained in the sitting room, my sister showing him the plans she’d sketched to expand the garden in the back of the town house, using the seeds and tools my family had given her tonight. Whether he cared about such things, I had no idea.”

(Damn the more I read elriel’s acofas moments the more I can’t help but conclude that they just hate/don’t understand introverts 😭)

Before I started SF, I decided to look at the online fandom and bitch……my jaw hit the floor with all the elain/elriel hate I saw on TT. And everyone was talking about a newer character in SF, and I was seeing the glee fan art and was like oh shit ok maybe elriel isn’t endgame.

Fast forward to SF……

‘What happened to Elain?’

“Nesta saw the blow land, like a physical impact, in Elain’s face, her posture. No one spoke, though shadows gathered in the corners of the room, like snakes preparing to strike. Elain’s eyes brightened with pain.”

……and I’m thinking ok, az obviously likes her. Then comes az’s BC. When I finished the elriel portion of the BC I was actually crying bc I was like oh fuck I really love these two….I knew it was over for me, and I was freaked out bc I thought I was going to get got with this “new ship” involving az. Plus I was thinking about elain being left alone in the dark without any explanation and feeling like an idiot for finally showing her true feelings towards him😭. It was like 3AM when I read it so I was hyper emotional lol. But then I read the rest of the BC and was still confused because I didn’t see any romantic subtext with g/wyn. I read it and saw a hurt male who couldn’t stand what he had done to elain the night before, was pissed at his brother for stopping it and making him feel bad when he was finally willing to voice what he’s been feeling for the past year or so and hating that he was shut down because we know he never voices his emotions, and couldn’t bear keeping a gift he picked out specifically for her. A necklace…..for solstice……Then I finished SF as a whole, and still, was confused as to why glee is a ship. Nearly all of their conversations were centered around training, and Sarah didn’t use any descriptors in their encounters that elude to any romance or mutual interest. (Btw I have a whole take on rhys’ part in that BC and I think a lot of ppl are dense and don’t understand what he was going through in that book but I can save that for another time)

Cassian and Feyre have more chemistry than those too lol.

I then talked to my friend about the these ships (elriel, eluce, and glee) ((i didn’t talk about eluce much in this post but that’s a lifeless ship too. I mean…..she can’t stand that red head anyway soooo)), and I said “I’m an elriel through and through. Idc that eluce are claimed to be mates you can tell she does not like him. also glee makes no sense to me.” Not verbatim but you get the point. My friend is very sensible so by the end of our convo, she told me that she’ll accept whatever way Sarah goes and that she’ll give elain a chance when her book comes out.

But isn’t that what all of this shit is about in the end: unjustified dislike/distain/hate for elain? That’s certainly how is appears to me. You cannot look me in the eyes and tell me that you love elain if you ship her with a male whom she has expressed, on multiple occasions, zero interest in AND becomes a shell of herself when he’s around because she just doesn’t want to interact with him. (I want to reiterate that I don’t hate L, I don’t think he’s awful or anything. elain just doesn’t want to know him. And that’s her right.) The glees don’t like her bc she doesn’t fit their stereotype for what they want in an FMC and therefore, for azriel. Which is why they have been chirping that the next book will be azriel’s. Not elain’s….WHAT??? You sound fucking crazy. The eluces (even though they claim they like her) dislike her so much that they go on and on about how she needs to grovel and apologize to the male they like because HE deserves to be happy……the same male who she associates with one of the most traumatic days of her life. Who also has not apologized to her for the part he played in that day, but I digress.

I say all that to point out that Glee specifically is in the crack ship category. No canonical evidence in the text can be used to claim they are ‘mates’ or endgame or anything more than acquaintances. And that’s fine, but don’t act as though they’re to be taken seriously as a canon ship when there’s no evidence to support it. Don’t boldly claim that azriel “has two love interests” when he literally doesn’t. He can’t sleep because of elain. He can’t stop thinking about her. He’s short with his family and others around him the days and weeks following solstice. His shadows threaten to strike nesta when she hurts elain and causes her pain. He doesn’t assign his spies to watch L*cien in acofas because he doesn’t want to know if he’s trying to court elain. He goes full lethal when he hears she may have been hurt. He follows the sound of her laugh to see what caused it. He goes on a suicide mission to save her. They communicate through looks alone when their family is around. Have you read an SJM book before? This is how she sets up her relationships. Like, holy fuck.

You cannot claim elriel is a crack ship because they have had background build up that both FMCs in their respective books have noticed and commented on. Cassian has noticed it too DESPITE not being hyper aware of what’s going on with az in SF. (referencing the scene in SF where elain tells everyone at family dinner about nesta’s love for dancing and the ball story from when they were human).

This ship war shit is fucking crazy because really this should only be between elriel nation and the eluces. Anyway, I’m over dealing with the fever dream brigade and their hallucinations. They’re going to come crashing down like Icarus when the elriel bible release day arrives and all our suffering will finally come to an end.

Then after that I’ll need to defeat the tamlin redemption arch threats, bc that is not a claim, that’s a fuckin threat and I won’t stand for it. But let’s tackle one problem at a time.

Pink: side notes/thoughts that give more context to my points

Blue italics: convos I’ve had being referenced

Purple: elriel moments <3