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therealbeachfox · 1 year ago

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Twenty years ago, February 15th, 2004, I got married for the first time.

It was twenty years earlier than I ever expected to.

To celebrate/comemorate the date, I'm sitting down to write out everything I remember as I remember it. No checking all the pictures I took or all the times I've written about this before. I'm not going to turn to my husband (of twenty years, how the f'ing hell) to remember a detail for me.

This is not a 100% accurate recounting of that first wild weekend in San Francisco. But it -is- a 100% accurate recounting of how I remember it today, twenty years after the fact.

Join me below, if you would.

2004 was an election year, and much like conservatives are whipping up anti-trans hysteria and anti-trans bills and propositions to drive out the vote today, in 2004 it was all anti-gay stuff. Specifically, preventing the evil scourge of same-sex marriage from destroying everything good and decent in the world.

Enter Gavin Newstrom. At the time, he was the newly elected mayor of San Francisco. Despite living next door to the city all my life, I hadn’t even heard of the man until Valentines Day 2004 when he announced that gay marriage was legal in San Francisco and started marrying people at city hall.

It was a political stunt. It was very obviously a political stunt. That shit was illegal, after all. But it was a very sweet political stunt. I still remember the front page photo of two ancient women hugging each other forehead to forehead and crying happy tears.

But it was only going to last for as long as it took for the California legal system to come in and make them knock it off.

The next day, we’re on the phone with an acquaintance, and she casually mentions that she’s surprised the two of us aren’t up at San Francisco getting married with everyone else.

“Everyone else?” Goes I, “I thought they would’ve shut that down already?”

“Oh no!” goes she, “The courts aren’t open until Tuesday. Presidents Day on Monday and all. They’re doing them all weekend long!”

We didn’t know because social media wasn’t a thing yet. I only knew as much about it as I’d read on CNN, and most of the blogs I was following were more focused on what bullshit President George W Bush was up to that day.

"Well shit", me and my man go, "do you wanna?" I mean, it’s a political stunt, it wont really mean anything, but we’re not going to get another chance like this for at least 20 years. Why not?

The next day, Sunday, we get up early. We drive north to the southern-most BART station. We load onto Bay Area Rapid Transit, and rattle back and forth all the way to the San Francisco City Hall stop.

We had slightly miscalculated.

Apparently, demand for marriages was far outstripping the staff they had on hand to process them. Who knew. Everyone who’d gotten turned away Saturday had been given tickets with times to show up Sunday to get their marriages done. My babe and I, we could either wait to see if there was a space that opened up, or come back the next day, Monday.

“Isn’t City Hall closed on Monday?” I asked. “It’s a holiday”

“Oh sure,” they reply, “but people are allowed to volunteer their time to come in and work on stuff anyways. And we have a lot of people who want to volunteer their time to have the marriage licensing offices open tomorrow.”

“Oh cool,” we go, “Backup.”

“Make sure you’re here if you do,” they say, “because the California Supreme Court is back in session Tuesday, and will be reviewing the motion that got filed to shut us down.”

And all this shit is super not-legal, so they’ll totally be shutting us down goes unsaid.

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We don’t get in Saturday. We wind up hanging out most of the day, though.

It’s… incredible. I can say, without hyperbole, that I have never experienced so much concentrated joy and happiness and celebration of others’ joy and happiness in all my life before or since. My face literally ached from grinning. Every other minute, a new couple was coming out of City Hall, waving their paperwork to the crowd and cheering and leaping and skipping. Two glorious Latina women in full Mariachi band outfits came out, one in the arms of another. A pair of Jewish boys with their families and Rabbi. One couple managed to get a Just Married convertible arranged complete with tin-cans tied to the bumper to drive off in. More than once I was giving some rice to throw at whoever was coming out next.

At some point in the mid-afternoon, there was a sudden wave of extra cheering from the several hundred of us gathered at the steps, even though no one was coming out. There was a group going up the steps to head inside, with some generic black-haired shiny guy at the front. My not-yet-husband nudged me, “That’s Newsom.” He said, because he knew I was hopeless about matching names and people.

Ooooooh, I go. That explains it. Then I joined in the cheers. He waved and ducked inside.

So dusk is starting to fall. It’s February, so it’s only six or so, but it’s getting dark.

“Should we just try getting in line for tomorrow -now-?” we ask.

“Yeah, I’m afraid that’s not going to be possible.” One of the volunteers tells us. “We’re not allowed to have people hang out overnight like this unless there are facilities for them and security. We’d need Porta-Poties for a thousand people and police patrols and the whole lot, and no one had time to get all that organized. Your best bet is to get home, sleep, and then catch the first BART train up at 5am and keep your fingers crossed.

Monday is the last day to do this, after all.

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So we go home. We crash out early. We wake up at 4:00. We drive an hour to hit the BART station. We get the first train up. We arrive at City Hall at 6:30AM.

The line stretches around the entirety of San Francisco City Hall. You could toss a can of Coke from the end of the line to the people who’re up to be first through the doors and not have to worry about cracking it open after.

“Uh.” We go. “What the fuck is -this-?”

So.

Remember why they weren’t going to be able to have people hang out overnight?

Turns out, enough SF cops were willing to volunteer unpaid time to do patrols to cover security. And some anonymous person delivered over a dozen Porta-Poties that’d gotten dropped off around 8 the night before.

It’s 6:30 am, there are almost a thousand people in front of us in line to get this literal once in a lifetime marriage, the last chance we expect to have for at least 15 more years (it was 2004, gay rights were getting shoved back on every front. It was not looking good. We were just happy we lived in California were we at least weren’t likely to loose job protections any time soon.).

Then it starts to rain.

We had not dressed for rain.

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Here is how the next six hours go.

We’re in line. Once the doors open at 7am, it will creep forward at a slow crawl. It’s around 7 when someone shows up with garbage bags for everyone. Cut holes for the head and arms and you’ve got a makeshift raincoat! So you’ve got hundreds of gays and lesbians decked out in the nicest shit they could get on short notice wearing trashbags over it.

Everyone is so happy.

Everyone is so nervous/scared/frantic that we wont be able to get through the doors before they close for the day.

People online start making delivery orders.

Coffee and bagels are ordered in bulk and delivered to City Hall for whoever needs it. We get pizza. We get roses. Random people come by who just want to give hugs to people in line because they’re just so happy for us. The tour busses make detours to go past the lines. Chinese tourists lean out with their cameras and shout GOOD LUCK while car horns honk.

A single sad man holding a Bible tries to talk people out of doing this, tells us all we’re sinning and to please don’t. He gives up after an hour. A nun replaces him with a small sign about how this is against God’s will. She leaves after it disintegrates in the rain.

The day before, when it was sunny, there had been a lot of protestors. Including a large Muslim group with their signs about how “Not even DOGS do such things!” Which… Yes they do.

A lot of snide words are said (by me) about how the fact that we’re willing to come out in the rain to do this while they’re not willing to come out in the rain to protest it proves who actually gives an actual shit about the topic.

Time passes. I measure it based on which side of City Hall we’re on. The doors face East. We start on Northside. Coffee and trashbags are delivered when we’re on the North Side. Pizza first starts showing up when we’re on Westside, which is also where I see Bible Man and Nun. Roses are delivered on Southside. And so forth.

00000

We have Line Neighbors.

Ahead of us are a gay couple a decade or two older than us. They’ve been together for eight years. The older one is a school teacher. He has his coat collar up and turns away from any news cameras that come near while we reposition ourselves between the lenses and him. He’s worried about the parents of one of his students seeing him on the news and getting him fired. The younger one will step away to get interviewed on his own later on. They drove down for the weekend once they heard what was going on. They’d started around the same time we did, coming from the Northeast, and are parked in a nearby garage.

The most perky energetic joyful woman I’ve ever met shows up right after we turned the corner to Southside to tackle the younger of the two into a hug. She’s their local friend who’d just gotten their message about what they’re doing and she will NOT be missing this. She is -so- happy for them. Her friends cry on her shoulders at her unconditional joy.

Behind us are a lesbian couple who’d been up in San Francisco to celebrate their 12th anniversary together. “We met here Valentines Day weekend! We live down in San Diego, now, but we like to come up for the weekend because it’s our first love city.”

“Then they announced -this-,” the other one says, “and we can’t leave until we get married. I called work Sunday and told them I calling in sick until Wednesday.”

“I told them why,” her partner says, “I don’t care if they want to give me trouble for it. This is worth it. Fuck them.”

My husband-to-be and I look at each other. We’ve been together for not even two years at this point. Less than two years. Is it right for us to be here? We’re potentially taking a spot from another couple that’d been together longer, who needed it more, who deserved it more.”

“Don’t you fucking dare.” Says the 40-something gay couple in front of us.

“This is as much for you as it is for us!” says the lesbian couple who’ve been together for over a decade behind us.

“You kids are too cute together,” says the gay couple’s friend. “you -have- to. Someday -you’re- going to be the old gay couple that’s been together for years and years, and you deserve to have been married by then.”

We stay in line.

It’s while we’re on the Southside of City Hall, just about to turn the corner to Eastside at long last that we pick up our own companions. A white woman who reminds me an awful lot of my aunt with a four year old black boy riding on her shoulders. “Can we say we’re with you? His uncles are already inside and they’re not letting anyone in who isn’t with a couple right there.” “Of course!” we say.

The kid is so very confused about what all the big deal is, but there’s free pizza and the busses keep driving by and honking, so he’s having a great time.

We pass by a statue of Lincoln with ‘Marriage for All!’ and "Gay Rights are Human Rights!" flags tucked in the crooks of his arms and hanging off his hat.

It’s about noon, noon-thirty when we finally make it through the doors and out of the rain.

They’ve promised that anyone who’s inside when the doors shut will get married. We made it. We’re safe.

We still have a -long- way to go.

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They’re trying to fit as many people into City Hall as possible. Partially to get people out of the rain, mostly to get as many people indoors as possible. The line now stretches down into the basement and up side stairs and through hallways I’m not entirely sure the public should ever be given access to. We crawl along slowly but surely.

It’s after we’ve gone through the low-ceiling basement hallways past offices and storage and back up another set of staircases and are going through a back hallway of low-ranked functionary offices that someone comes along handing out the paperwork. “It’s an hour or so until you hit the office, but take the time to fill these out so you don’t have to do it there!”

We spend our time filling out the paperwork against walls, against backs, on stone floors, on books.

We enter one of the public areas, filled with displays and photos of City Hall Demonstrations of years past.

I take pictures of the big black and white photo of the Abraham Lincoln statue holding banners and signs against segregation and for civil rights.

The four year old boy we helped get inside runs past us around this time, chased by a blond haired girl about his own age, both perused by an exhausted looking teenager helplessly begging them to stop running.

Everyone is wet and exhausted and vibrating with anticipation and the building-wide aura of happiness that infuses everything.

The line goes into the marriage office. A dozen people are at the desk, shoulder to shoulder, far more than it was built to have working it at once.

A Sister of Perpetual Indulgence is directing people to city officials the moment they open up. She’s done up in her nun getup with all her makeup on and her beard is fluffed and be-glittered and on point. “Oh, I was here yesterday getting married myself, but today I’m acting as your guide. Number 4 sweeties, and -Congradulatiooooons!-“

The guy behind the counter has been there since six. It’s now 1:30. He’s still giddy with joy. He counts our money. He takes our paperwork, reviews it, stamps it, sends off the parts he needs to, and hands the rest back to us. “Alright, go to the Rotunda, they’ll direct you to someone who’ll do the ceremony. Then, if you want the certificate, they’ll direct you to -that- line.” “Can’t you just mail it to us?” “Normally, yeah, but the moment the courts shut us down, we’re not going to be allowed to.”

We take our paperwork and join the line to the Rotunda.

If you’ve seen James Bond: A View to a Kill, you’ve seen the San Francisco City Hall Rotunda. There are literally a dozen spots set up along the balconies that overlook the open area where marriage officials and witnesses are gathered and are just processing people through as fast as they can.

That’s for the people who didn’t bring their own wedding officials.

There’s a Catholic-adjacent couple there who seem to have brought their entire families -and- the priest on the main steps. They’re doing the whole damn thing. There’s at least one more Rabbi at work, I can’t remember what else. Just that there was a -lot-.

We get directed to the second story, northside. The San Francisco City Treasurer is one of our two witnesses. Our marriage officient is some other elected official I cannot remember for the life of me (and I'm only writing down what I can actively remember, so I can't turn to my husband next to me and ask, but he'll have remembered because that's what he does.)

I have a wilting lily flower tucked into my shirt pocket. My pants have water stains up to the knees. My hair is still wet from the rain, I am blubbering, and I can’t get the ring on my husband’s finger. The picture is a treat, I tell you.

There really isn’t a word for the mix of emotions I had at that time. Complete disbelief that this was reality and was happening. Relief that we’d made it. Awe at how many dozens of people had personally cheered for us along the way and the hundreds to thousands who’d cheered for us generally.

Then we're married.

Then we get in line to get our license.

It’s another hour. This time, the line goes through the higher stories. Then snakes around and goes past the doorway to the mayor’s office.

Mayor Newsom is not in today. And will be having trouble getting into his office on Tuesday because of the absolute barricade of letters and flowers and folded up notes and stuffed animals and City Hall maps with black marked “THANK YOU!”s that have been piled up against it.

We make it to the marriage records office.

I take a picture of my now husband standing in front of a case of the marriage records for 1902-1912. Numerous kids are curled up in corners sleeping. My own memory is spotty. I just know we got the papers, and then we’re done with lines. We get out, we head to the front entrance, and we walk out onto the City Hall steps.

It's almost 3PM.

00000

There are cheers, there’s rice thrown at us, there are hundreds of people celebrating us with unconditional love and joy and I had never before felt the goodness that exists in humanity to such an extent. It’s no longer raining, just a light sprinkle, but there are still no protestors. There’s barely even any news vans.

We make our way through the gauntlet, we get hands shaked, people with signs reading ”Congratulations!” jump up and down for us. We hit the sidewalks, and we begin to limp our way back to the BART station.

I’m at the BART station, we’re waiting for our train back south, and I’m sitting on the ground leaning against a pillar and in danger of falling asleep when a nondescript young man stops in front of me and shuffles his feet nervously. “Hey. I just- I saw you guys, down at City Hall, and I just… I’m so happy for you. I’m so proud of what you could do. I’m- I’m just really glad, glad you could get to do this.”

He shakes my hand, clasps it with both of his and shakes it. I thank him and he smiles and then hurries away as fast as he can without running.

Our train arrives and the trip south passes in a semilucid blur.

We get back to our car and climb in.

It’s 4:30 and we are starving.

There’s a Carls Jr near the station that we stop off at and have our first official meal as a married couple. We sit by the window and watch people walking past and pick out others who are returning from San Francisco. We're all easy to pick out, what with the combination of giddiness and water damage.

We get home about 6-7. We take the dog out for a good long walk after being left alone for two days in a row. We shower. We bundle ourselves up. We bury ourselves in blankets and curl up and just sort of sit adrift in the surrealness of what we’d just done.

We wake up the next day, Tuesday, to read that the California State Supreme Court has rejected the petition to shut down the San Francisco weddings because the paperwork had a misplaced comma that made the meaning of one phrase unclear.

The State Supreme Court would proceed to play similar bureaucratic tricks to drag the process out for nearly a full month before they have nothing left and finally shut down Mayor Newsom’s marriages.

My parents had been out of state at the time at a convention. They were flying into SFO about the same moment we were walking out of City Hall. I apologized to them later for not waiting and my mom all but shook me by the shoulders. “No! No one knew that they’d go on for so long! You did what you needed to do! I’ll just be there for the next one!”

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It was just a piece of paper. Legally, it didn’t even hold any weight thirty days later. My philosophy at the time was “marriage really isn’t that important, aside from the legal benefits. It’s just confirming what you already have.”

But maybe it’s just societal weight, or ingrained culture, or something, but it was different after. The way I described it at the time, and I’ve never really come up with a better metaphor is, “It’s like we were both holding onto each other in the middle of the ocean in the middle of a storm. We were keeping each other above water, we were each other’s support. But then we got this piece of paper. And it was like the ground rose up to meet our feet. We were still in an ocean, still in the middle of a storm, but there was a solid foundation beneath our feet. We still supported each other, but there was this other thing that was also keeping our heads above the water.

It was different. It was better. It made things more solid and real.

I am forever grateful for all the forces and all the people who came together to make it possible. It’s been twenty years and we’re still together and still married.

We did a domestic partnership a year later to get the legal paperwork. We’d done a private ceremony with proper rings (not just ones grabbed out of the husband’s collection hours before) before then. And in 2008, we did a legal marriage again.

Rushed. In a hurry. Because there was Proposition 13 to be voted on which would make them all illegal again if it passed.

It did, but we were already married at that point, and they couldn’t negate it that time.

Another few years after that, the Supreme Court finally threw up their hands and said "Fine! It's been legal in places and nothing's caught on fire or been devoured by locusts. It's legal everywhere. Shut up about it!"

And that was that.

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When I was in highschool, in the late 90s, I didn’t expect to see legal gay marriage until I was in my 50s. I just couldn’t see how the American public as it was would ever be okay with it.

I never expected to be getting married within five years. I never expected it to be legal nationwide before I’d barely started by 30s. I never thought I’d be in my 40s and it’d be such a non-issue that the conservative rabble rousers would’ve had to move onto other wedge issues altogether.

I never thought that I could introduce another man as my husband and absolutely no one involved would so much as blink.

I never thought I’d live in this world.

And it’s twenty years later today. I wonder how our line buddies are doing. Those babies who were running around the wide open rooms playing tag will have graduated college by now. The kids whose parents the one line-buddy was worried would see him are probably married too now. Some of them to others of the same gender.

I don’t have some greater message to make with all this. Other then, culture can shift suddenly in ways you can’t predict. For good or ill. Mainly this is just me remembering the craziest fucking 36 hours of my life twenty years after the fact and sharing them with all of you.

The future we’re resigned to doesn’t have to be the one we live in. Society can shift faster than you think. The unimaginable of twenty years ago is the baseline reality of today.

And always remember that the people who want to get married will show up by the thousands in rain that none of those who’re against it will brave.

#gay marriage #gay rights #gay history #gay

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thatsmzbitchtoyou · 5 months ago

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Please come back... Oneshot

Word count: 2681

Y/N was found by Nick Fury a year ago in a Hydra facility that was mysteriously blown up while S.H.I.E.L.D was surveilling it. She was a mutant born with the ability to manipulate energies, which had a broad spectrum of uses, but Hydra focused on her ability to take life. Life itself is an energy, and Hydra had wanted to use it to their advantage and make her a walking angel of death. Unfortunately their efforts backfired, and Fury found her as the only thing that had survived her self-made explosion.

He propositioned her to join the Avengers, hoping to help her hone her abilities for better use, or as their own last resort when there were no other options. She agreed, and was accepted by the rest of the Avengers happily. Y/N was quiet, still dealing with night terrors and the demons of her past with Hydra. Bucky had been quick to help her through it, being the first to reach her room each night when she woke the whole tower with her screams. She had naturally gravitated towards him, and they were rarely seen without the other.

It was pretty obvious to everyone but them that they had feelings for each other, but no one wanted to put that pressure on either of them, so they let them be to figure it out on their own. Bucky felt damaged, like he didn’t deserve her, while Y/N was afraid to put him in danger as she still worked on getting a hold of her abilities. She knew they were both mentally still healing, and she didn’t want to derail his efforts or ruin their friendship by telling him about her feelings that may or may not be reciprocated.

After her first year with the Avengers and many hours of training and working on figuring out how to handle her abilities better, Tony decided to throw a party for Y/N to celebrate her joining the team. That night was quite the rager, with dancing, singing, and lots and lots of drinking. Y/N had come out of her shell as she drank, and the rest of the Avengers had cheered her on as she enjoyed herself. Thor had brought quite a lot of Asguardian mead, and Bucky had indulged himself a little too much. As the party continued that night the Avengers were too far gone and hadn’t paid attention as Y/N dragged Bucky out of the party, or seen them start making out passionately in the elevator.

The next morning Y/N had woken up entangled in Bucky’s arms, which wasn’t new due to their previous times with him helping her through nightmares, but this time they were both naked. She had sprang away from him, waking Bucky up and making him jump out of bed ready to fight. They stared at each other in panic, realizing they were both naked and grabbing the bed sheets to cover themselves. Y/N had shut down at that moment, shutting her eyes tight. “I’m sorry,” she had whispered before turning, grabbing her clothes off his bedroom floor and running from his room.

After that they hadn’t spoken again, and avoided each other like the plague. As much as it worried and confused everyone else, whenever someone tried asking either of them about it they refused to talk and would either walk away or change the subject. Unfortunately they couldn’t avoid each other forever.

“Avengers! Assemble!” Steve called out one day.

Friday’s alarms started blaring, and everyone quickly got ready and loaded into the Quinjet. Fury filled them in over comms as they flew to the drop point. “Looks like a subset of Hydra operatives have been messing around with more otherworldly things they shouldn’t be. A door has been opened into another dimension, and basically…we’ve got vampires.”

“Vampires?” Tony scoffed. “So what do you need us for? Just wait till morning and the sun will kill them. Or, oh! We’ll drop ten tons of garlic on them. Where’s my wooden stake?”

“These vampires are a little more than urban legend, Stark,” Fury said in an annoyed tone. “So far all we know is that the sun only maims them. Silver bullets have been loaded into your weapons. They are the only things that have proven to work, so aim for the heart,” he said. “Y/N.” She perked up and looked at the screen. “We might need the angel of death on this one.” She inhaled deeply and nodded. Bucky watched the interaction with a deep frown, glancing at Y/N as she settled back into her seat. She flexed her fingers and shook out her hands as she continued to breathe deeply. Wanda approached her as Fury ended the call and they were soon reaching the area.

“You ready?” Wanda asked her quietly, kneeling down in front of her.

Y/N looked up at her as her power overtook her body, making her eyes black and purplish-blue veins spread around the skin of her eyes. “I’m ready,” she answered, her voice distorting to sound deep and gravelly.

Bucky and the rest of the team hadn’t fully seen what she could do, only glimpses during training, so seeing her like this was jarring. The hanger door opened on the Quinjet and they all prepared to jump. Y/N didn’t need a parachute with her ability to manipulate the kinetic energy she would have in falling, but Bucky did. “Can I catch a ride, doll?” he asked her, trying to break the silence between them.

Y/N looked up at him, her black eyes intimidating. She nodded and opened her arms as if to hug him. He stepped into her embrace, then she fell backwards out of the Quinjet. They hurtled toward the ground headfirst, and as scared as Bucky was, he held her tight, trusting her to save them. After what felt like an eternity she spread her arms and twisted them both in a kind of whirlwind that slowed them down, and then glided them onto the ground where they held each other tight and rolled in the grass. They finally came to a stop with Bucky hovering over Y/N. He let out a huffed laugh as he tried to get his bearings. “Thanks,” he said, looking down at her.

Y/N didn’t say anything and just pushed him by his shoulders to get off of her. He stood quickly and helped her up before getting his gun ready. They stayed close to each other for a while, hearing the other Avengers touchdown, their voices whispering through the comms as they spread out. The first scream came from Wanda, and Y/N bolted toward her.

“Y/N, wait!” Bucky called out, then he was tackled from behind. He fought with whatever was behind him as it pawed at his uniform, trying to rip at the guards on his neck that had been added for this mission. He was finally able to kick it off and turn around to see what it was. If he had to guess what vampires looked like, this was pretty close to his worst nightmares. It looked like a regular man, but a whole head taller than him, with angular features that made it look unearthly and glowing red eyes in the dark. The moon illuminated its iridescent skin and glinted off its two long sets of fangs. “You are one ugly motherfucker,” Bucky scoffed before shooting at it. The vampire didn’t move out of the way in time and was shot through the heart, letting out a gut wrenching, high pitched scream as it spasmed and fell to the earth. Bucky watched its body begin to melt from the gunshot wound, the silver disintegrating it from the inside out.

“Fury was right, aim for the heart,” he said into his comms earpiece. “The silver disintegrates them. They’re strong, but not too fast.”

Y/N was on the other side of the field they had landed in, trapping vampires in her energetic grip as the other Avengers ended them one by one. The Avengers seemed to have the upper hand, the fight attracting any other vampires that may have tried to explore the newfound dimension. Bucky rejoined the group soon after, shooting more vampires dead as they arrived to try and join the fight.

Bucky and Steve were physically fighting more of them. They were getting overwhelmed and one vampire ripped off one of Bucky’s neck guards, its teeth dangerously close to him. “Buck!” Steve yelled out, trying to get through the vampires to him.

Y/N heard Steve and whipped her head to Bucky’s direction. “NO!” she screamed. She stretched her hands forward, her power ripping through the earth and scattering the vampires around Bucky and Steve. Her body flew forward, her hands shaped like claws in a cupped position as she gripped each vampire’s life in her hands, making their bodies twitch in unnatural and strange ways, grunting and whimpering in pain. Her power spread across the field and beyond, rooting out all the vampires that hadn’t joined the fight yet, their stiff bodies floating towards her. Bucky lay watching in shock. Her black eyes and the veins around her eyes were now glowing indigo, the same color swirling around her fingers and sucking the vampires’ lives out of them. “Enough,” she growled, and her hands closed into fists. The vampires’ screams filled the field, ripping through the air as their life forces were taken. Each one went suddenly silent, and the resounding thuds of their bodies hitting the ground sounded like an earthquake. Bucky looked around at the dead vampires with wide eyes as he caught his breath. She saved him. She had saved all of them.

Bucky looked up to see Y/N panting and shaking as she floated back down to the ground, then collapsed. “Y/N!” he ran over to her, falling to his knees as his hands hovered over her, unsure of what to do. The other Avengers all came running to her.

“Friday?” Tony asked.

“All vitals are stable,” Friday’s voice echoed from Tony’s suit. “From what we know of her abilities, the immense amount of energy she has taken in from taking so many lives needs to either be expelled immediately or absorbed, which will take time. She is in a coma of her own making to heal.”

“How long?” Bucky asked, looking up at Tony.

“Unknown,” Friday answered.

They all sat in silence, staring at Y/N. Bucky fought back tears as he leaned down and cradled her into his arms, picking her up and walking to the Quinjet. He sat on one of the larger chairs, making sure she was settled in his lap comfortably as the others filed in. Bucky’s flesh hand pushed her hair back and traced her face as he looked down at her. Steve walked up as the Quinjet lifted off, squeezing Bucky’s shoulder. “She’ll be okay, Buck.”

“We don’t know that,” Bucky whispered. “What if she never wakes up?”

“She will,” Steve reassured him. He walked away and Bucky held her close, pressing his forehead against her forehead.

“Come back to me, Y/N,” he whispered, nuzzling her nose. “I know you’re not talking to me right now but…I need you. You can’t leave me. Please come back.”

***

“Hey doll, good morning. You’re looking better today. Got more color in your face.”

“I know that neither of us really remember anything from that night. That Asguardian shit really took it out of me. I wish I did…I always thought that if we had a first time it would be special. But that’s not our style, is it? Um…I don’t regret it, though. I wish you would have stayed that day, so we could have talked it out. But I guess I understand why you ran, too. Maybe we can try again, for real this time. I’ll take you out on a real date, we won’t get wasted, maybe some dancing. Or just staying in like we usually do. I don’t care. As long as it’s with you.”

“Y/N.”

“Please wake up.”

***

Y/N’s eyes fluttered open and she breathed deeply. Her body felt sore and stiff, and as she tried to slowly move to stretch she felt something in her hand. She looked down to see Bucky holding her hand, his upper body laid on her bed and fast asleep. She smiled as she turned to lay on her side to face him, groaning at the effort.

Her groan woke him up and his eyes snapped open, his head jerking up to look at her. “Y/N!” he said loudly, standing and hugging her. “Oh my god, doll. You’re awake! She’s awake!” he called out towards the hallway as he looked back down at her.

“Hey Buck,” she croaked, her voice gravelly from being unused. She cleared her throat as his hands cupped her face. “Water?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah, yeah,” he nodded frantically, letting go of her and grabbing a water bottle he had next to the bed, bringing it to her lips.

She drank a lot then sighed heavily when she finished. “Thank you,” she whispered. “How long was I out?”

Bucky grimaced. “Three weeks, three days and ten hours,” he said quietly.

Y/N nodded, opening her mouth to speak when her door flew open. “Y/N!” Wanda’s voice cried out as she rounded the bed, standing next to Bucky as she touched Y/N’s face, her own power flitting around Y/N to check on her. “Are you okay? How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” Y/N said, her eyes blinking slowly.

“Don’t you ever scare us like that again,” Steve’s voice came from behind her, and he leaned on the bed so he could look at her. He looked stressed but relieved and it made Y/N smile.

“Yes, Cap,” she muttered.

Dr. Choi walked in the room and shooed everyone away to do an examination. When she was done she called them all back in. “She’s fine. It seems the coma worked to absorb all that extra energy.” She turned to Y/N. “Just try not to end an entire population of vampires again anytime soon.”

Y/N huffed a laugh. “Yes, doc.” The team each visited her, making sure she was alright and commending her for her abilities and her sacrifice to help them all. Once they all left she was alone with Bucky again. “You stayed the whole time,” she said, reaching her hand out to him.

He sat back on the chair he was on before and took her hand again. “Of course I did,” he replied.

“I heard you,” Y/N said. Bucky’s eyes slightly widened and he blushed, but nodded. “I was asleep but…not fully.” She squeezed his fingers. “I’m sorry I ran away from you that day. I couldn’t remember anything from the night before and I just…I was scared of your reaction, and embarrassed, and afraid that I had done something wrong–”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Bucky shook his head, leaning toward her more.

Y/N nodded. “I don’t regret it, either,” she whispered. “I don’t regret you.”

Bucky's breath sputtered at her words and he blinked back tears, his lips twitching up in a smile “I love you, doll,” he whispered back. “I’ve loved you for a long time.”

Y/N smiled. “I love you, too,” she said. They smiled at each other for a long moment. “Can I have a kiss? You know, to help me heal faster?” Y/N asked, her smiling turning into a teasing smirk.

Bucky laughed, then stood and leaned forward. He slowly pressed his lips against hers, kissing her like he was afraid she would break if he was too firm. Y/N’s free hand lifted up to cup the side of his face, holding him to her as she kissed him back. When he pulled away he didn’t go far, his nose nuzzling hers. “So about that date?”

#marvel #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes oneshot #oneshot #imagine #request #ask

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brucewaynehater101 · 8 months ago

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okay so I think I recall an ask here about Jason and Tim who got JJ'd having to work with an alternate Good Joker and it got me thinking about those actor AUs where canon is just a live-action piece of media, specifically this post

So now I'm thinking of Actor!Joker having just left the bar after a good day of drinking, not drunk enough to not get home by himself, only to get non-lethally isekaied into DC

From his perspective, one minute he was walking home, the next he started seeing himself playing the most lucrative role in his career. Dissassociation if he had to guess. He might need therapy

Oh, the Joker he plays is trying to kill him. Self defense it is-- he killed him. well he can't fault himself for it if he never learned self defense now can he :/

Is that a camera? Oh yeah, Joker and loads of his other roles break the fourth wall, and improvisation is expected of him

He looks straight into the camera, the audience, "this is why we don't method act kids. hallucinations" he points at not-him with that final word

"but you all see me pointing at nothing, don'tcha?"

Fuck it, for added humor, the minute Batman gets on the scene & Actor!Joker lays eyes on him, he say "now I'm hallucinating my fiance's role too, what a day," and also Jason and Tim and Duke are there for maximum psychic damage

Hey maybe the three were hostages because the Joker wanted to torment the top three bats he fucked up the most on live television for all of Gotham to see only for Actor!Joker to ruin everything

But also the three seeing this go down through the screen would be funny as shit too

Actor Universe lore; Actor!Joker and Actor!Bruce met through previous roles, kicked off a friendship that became a relationship and soon to be marriage and thats how Actor!Joker met Actor!Bruce hoard of children

this would lead to much of the quote on quote Batfamily Plotline being concieved, through Actor!Joker and Actor!Batkids scheming together to make the most drama-filled superhero story they could

So Actor!Joker and Actor!Batkids would cook up the most gutwrenching ideas, building of eachothers ideas, and cheered eachother on as the Batfamily lore became more and more emotionally devastating

Actor!Bruce can testify because years later into Batman, he still cries fountains of tears when he reads the script and something awful happens to the roles his kids plays, or Bruce Wayne is a shit father

actor!joker: my love, I have propositions the directors will grovel for

actor!bruce: oh no

his kids: daddy I have a new idea for my role >:3

actor!bruce: OH NO!

I think it goes without saying that the actors and characters they play don't have the same name, but I can't be bothered to come up with any mysel lol

Yo!!! This is a wicked cool idea. I dislike Joker/Batman (unless it's the Lego Batman), but I am vibing with this one.

To add on, what if Bruce and Joker became directors specifically so they could sort of adopt their kids? They would be those actors that also direct and screenwrite their own movies.

I want to see Crystal Brown being on set (not necessarily on scene) whenever Steph is, and Bruce and Joker chatting with her when they aren't working. Arthur Brown makes plenty of jokes and pulls pranks on his daughter.

Willis and Catherine cheer on Jason (and sometimes *can't* be on set when certain scenes play out) and smother him in affection after he's done.

The Drakes have their own careers they have to pursue while Tim is filming, but they try to make it on set at least once a week and watch every premiere with Tim. They are good friends with the other parents and only allow Tim to be on set without them because they trust Bruce and Joker.

The Graysons are acrobats in real life as well. Dick wanted to pursue a career in acting instead. They support their son, and he often does performances with them.

Would Damian still be Bruce's kid? If so, I wonder what Joker and Talia's relationship is like. Talia is obviously a fierce but loving mom in this AU. She viciously protects Damian, his privacy, and his ability to stop acting at any time. Damian enjoys acting and being on set with his dad. I also hc that Talia is famous as well. Maybe a model, maybe another actor, or maybe something else. Ra's is the owner/head of a really famous entertainment business. It has branches all over the world, including America.

The Thomases take turns with who's on set with Duke. They both work as well so that a majority of the income Duke makes goes towards his savings or his own spending.

I didn't talk about Barbara or Cass or Alfred or Kate or etc., but feel free to add more!

Actor!Joker would be appalled and disgusted with Batman. Actor!Bruce was playing a role. Yes, the role was somewhat based on Bruce, but he would never harm his kids. He would rather kill than allow them to come to harm.

When Actor!Joker gets transported to that universe, his distaste for Batman is the truly jarring piece of it all. He's not obsessed like their universe's Joker. Actor!Joker shows understanding for their hatred/distance from him. He accepts their boundaries and considers their feelings (in his own very weird way). He doesn't torment. He killed the other Joker.

Just Joker's mannerisms of "whelp, what can you do?" as he murders the other Joker. He still laughs a lot, does harmless pranks, and makes a ton of jokes. Somehow, he does this while lecturing Batman on treating his kids better.

#joker #bruce wayne #dc au #duke thomas #tim drake #dick grayson #damian wayne #talia al ghul #jason todd #steph brown #thank you for the ask!!!!#batman

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kissesandarsenic · 4 months ago

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I asked my girlfriend how many people she'd had sex with and didn't like the answer. In fact I hated it. I couldn't deal with it to the extent that I ended up sedating her every night and retiring to my little room where I watch monitor screens of the multiple CCTV cameras installed in her bedroom to ensure she never has sex with anyone but me ever again.

One night we get burgled and five men in balaclavas break in, gag and tie me to my chair making me witness the ensuing events.

They have rough sex with her and I have to watch the pleasure in her face as she finally gets what she's dreamt of after all these years. My panic and fear turn to arousal. I see glimpses of her through all the thrusting bodies. Her dimpled cheeks, her eyes rolling back.

I have to ask for trick in the hope for a plot twist as this is so awful for me.

I'm insecure about the size of my penis. Go to town on this if you like, I'm currently caged for Locktober.

Rape is a hard limit (obviously) but cnc and somno would be excellent! Maybe it was inside job and she texted the security alarm code to an ex lover?

You don’t know what hurts worse, the ropes digging into your naked flesh slowly cutting off the circulation or the looks of raw pleasure on your girlfriend's face as she's fucked from behind while another man sucks on her clit from below.

Or maybe it's the way your little cock is straining against the bars of it's cage at the sight in front of you. It might be breaking your heart but it's also turning you on like nothing ever has before.

The balaclavas have been torn away at this point and you recognise the faces of her five ex lovers. Of course you know who they are. You did the research before you bought the security system. Before you decided it was okay to drug your girlfriend into compliance. She must have had a hand in this. There's no way these men could have gotten in on their own.

But your girlfriend is past the point of coherency, can't answer your pathetic cries. She's had two loads fucked into her and a third on the way and you, her darling boyfriend, have drugged her out of her mind. This is exactly what you deserve, and everyone in this room knows it.

'I bought this for her,' a dark haired ex says, pulling out a large hitatchi wand. 'She told me you bitched about her using toys. Said it emasculated you.'

'Jesus,' a heavily tattooed ex says with an eye roll. He nods down at your caged cock. 'You expected her to cum just from that fucking thing?'

Shame curdles like milk in your gut. You try and squirm back as the one with the toy approaches you. But the bonds hold firm. He plugs the toy in and turns it on. The sound is almost enough to drown out the wet slaps of your girlfriend being ruthlessly fucked.

'She doesn't need this,' the ex says. 'But you're sitting here aching. So I have a proposition. I strap this to your thigh while the rest of us fuck our pretty girl dumb. If you manage to not spurt in that cage of yours, we'll call this a once off and never darken your doorstep again.'

'But if you do...' the tattooed ex says.

He grins wide, eyes sliding lazily over to your girlfriend and dancing with mirth. You swallow hard. Twisting and straining to get away from the approaching toy.

'Colour, baby?' your girlfriend calls out.

The scene pauses, everyone looking to you. Warmth bubbles up in your chest at the concern in her eyes. Despite the awful feelings bludgeoning you before, you find yourself smiling.

'Green,' you say and choke on a gasp as the toy is pressed taut against your caged cock.

Trick or Treat Ask Game! Send in a fantasy with a "Trick" or "Treat" attached and I'll elaborate on it!

#cuckcold #cuckholding #gangb4ng #intox kink #cnc free use #cnc drugging #chasity #trick or treat #trick asks #loretta replies

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wolfpants · 2 years ago

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Terrible People, a Drarry Fic (Chapter One: Men Are Shit)

Terrible People | Chapter 1/9 | Rated E

The Gay Cruise fic™️ is here! Thank you so much to @getawayfox (for creating wonderful art as well as being an amazing cheerreader and friend) and to @citrusses for the best cheerreading and beta/alpha advice! To all of you who have had to hear me go on and on about this for... well, over a year. Here you are. I hope you enjoy. Chapters will be posted on a weekly basis.

Tags: EWE, minor Harry/Charlie, past Draco/Zacharias, background relationships, romance, romcom, meddling friends, beaches and beach holidays, cruise ships, clubbing, summer holidays (in september), truth or dare, adults playing games designed for teenagers, Harry is in a silly goofy mood, Draco has a dog called Hermes, Healer!Draco, Sports Media Mogul!Harry (but really he just sits around all day buying art from Sotheby's), Drarry in their (late) 30s, pining, FWB, FWB to lovers, smut

What happens when Harry and Draco end up on the same Muggle gay cruise? They certainly didn't plan for it to happen (but their friends might have). They're stuck with each other for a week, they might as well make the most of it, right?

Featuring a holiday-long game of Truth or Dare, a very ill-judged FWB proposition, decades-long pining, lots of gin, and a small pair of green swimming trunks.

🍸🛳🩴☀️🕶

“We thought about a cruise, but we wanted something less wild, you know?” Justin says.

Draco hums distractedly, looking at the buildings around them, at the milky blue and burnt-orange sky as true night draws in closer.

“We did see a cruise aimed at singles,” Ernie says. “Single gay men, I mean.”

Draco pauses. He makes a face. “Thank you, but no thank you.”

“It’s Muggle,” Justin adds excitedly. “Draco, you should see it. It’s stunning! The boat, I mean—it’s huge. Top of the line. Four swimming pools. Four! And a fully kitted spa and gym.”

“A cinema, a theatre, loads of bars and clubs and restaurants,” Ernie says. “We think you’d love it.”

Draco frowns. “What on earth makes you think I’d love it? I haven’t been out clubbing since I hit thirty, you know that. And,” he adds dramatically. “I hate boats.”

He doesn’t really. His feeling on boats in general is pretty neutral, but he knows where they’re going with this, and he’s not having it.

So he stands, resolute, on his lie.

read chapter one: men are shit on ao3

expand to view El's beautiful cover image in full!

#we did it!!#it's august and it's here #terrible people #drarry #drarry fic #drarry smut #draco/harry #harry/draco #drarry fanfic #hp fanfic #draco x harry #harry x draco

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screemnch · 2 months ago

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My silly little thoughts on "Labyrinth" (1986)

This isn't gonna be well put together at all, but I've just rewatched Labyrinth for the first time in years, and I have some... Thoughts

Watching it, the whole way through I kept thinking "woah, this is such a girlhood movie, damn" and while I think it goes a little bit beyond that, I still stand by this to a degree. Partially because I believe that it contains within itself a few core fantasies that young girls have drilled into their heads. Not to say that there's anything wrong with those fantasies, or that they're exclusive to women, BUT because I feel like it feeds in to the rest of the analysis.

The "I Can Fix Him" Fantasy.

I feel like this is pretty self explanatory, and also not really. I never found the movie particularly romantic (maybe that's just the aroace experience), it always felt deceptive and exploitative to me, BUT: Jareth does very much position himself as some sort of a dark romantic figure. He is being predatory towards Sarah, but in a way exploits the ideas that have been fostered by the books that she's read (or alternatively, he is constructed by Sarah entirely to match the book character, potentially deviating in where she personally wanted him to. But for this analysis, we're taking the existence of the goblin city, as well as Jareth's agency, at face value).

He presents himself as someone who has Sarah's interests in mind, even positioning his acts of malice (shortening the time she has to save Toby) as some feat he accomplished for her sake. If a person were to buy into his deception, at most they could grant him that he's "misguided" - which is where the fantasy kicks in. "If only Sarah could have done something to direct him, reign in his power towards what she actually wants, instead of outright rejecting it" - is a sentiment that I image people could have towards this story. And obviously, I disagree, in the sense that I believe that that is all a facade. It feels pretty textual to me that what Jareth is saying is very much a load of bullshit. The thinking of "if only" that he attempts to encourage in Sarah during the final confrontation is made to make her feel guilty for his actions and instil further compliance. If she doesn't do as he says because she is tempted by what he can offer - perhaps attempting to trick her into thinking that it's all her fault and what she actually wanted all along could work? But more about compliance later. For now, let's move to fantasy number 2.

The Plausible Deniability of Desire.

I don't actually have a name for it, and I don't know if there is one... But I find it to be one of the reasons why abduction, kidnapping, and other such tropes exist in media targeted towards women. You see it a lot in stories, even when it's painted in a negative light - a female character is held prisoner by a character who is either evil, or perceived to be evil, and to get her to cooperate the character offers (or forces onto) her fancy dressed, jewellery and other luxuries. Usually it's seen as the character attempting to "buy" the woman with "vain" items, but... The character still spends some time running around in the fancy dresses, even as she rejects the character's propositions, she still has to deal with all this luxury being thrust upon her. That's not even mentioning the stories where the person forcing these things onto the woman is her love interest.

I believe that there is a certain appeal that these scenes hold for the audience. This appeal is directly linked to how often young girls are raised to look down upon "vanity items", regard themselves as better and unlike those "dumb pretty girls who would sell their souls for a pair of shoes". Girls are also, in general, taught that they shouldn't want things. We see there are stories that focus on girls that want things, but you see way more often the girl that rejects the "vapid normalcy" of girlhood. Media teaches girls to not want things, that they are to be a passive receptacle of the will of those around them, all so that they can grow up to be good housekeepers and caretakers. The less you want, after all, the less the dissatisfaction of your everyday life hurts.

So, girls are taught to not want anything, and yet - they still want. After all, those dresses and jewellery and all that other stuff does look awesome. It's made to look awesome. The way that this is resolved, at least in fiction, is through the fantasy of this abductor/captor, that gives you all these fancy things, sometimes forces you to engage in all these "vain" activities such as dancing and having fun (god forbid) - and that's where you get the plausible deniability of desire. After all, it's not your fault that you're being given all these nice things! They are nice, and much better than whatever you had before, but it's not like you wanted it. The character gets something the audience wants, without committing the heinous crime of wanting.

I don't think I need to explain how that plays into the "Labyrinth". You just have to look at the tag and see all the gifs people share of Sarah in the ballroom scene, with the gorgeous dress and the slow ethereal dancing amidst a fantastical and dream-like masquerade. It's not her fault that she's going along with Jareth's plant at the moment - her memory's been erased! If she also gets to dance with David Bowie in one of the most beautiful dresses that I've ever seen... Well what can you do?

Sooo... Girlhood?

I don't even know how to get into this properly, because there are so many different approaches to this, and I don't wanna show all my cards at once, but...

"Everything you have wanted, I have done. You asked that the child be taken, I took him. You cowered before me I was frightening. I have reordered time, I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for you." "I ask for so little: just let me rule you, and you can have everything that you want." This is Jareth's main "thesis" so to speak. His final appeal to Sarah. Summing it up in less fancy and manipulative terms "Um, actually, you wanted me to do all these things that made your life difficult (but surprisingly, none of the things that could've made your life easier), and if you just want what I want, then you can have what I you want" - according to him, Sarah's the unreasonable one for not wanting her brother to be turned into a goblin, and she should've just let Jareth placate her with pretty dresses and parties for god knows how long.

This kinda felt like this... Experience to me. Again, not exclusive to women (if, at the very least, because I am not a woman and I find this relatable), but very frequently present in girls' upbringing. People telling them that they know what they want, and that all these things? It's done for them and they should be grateful. But if you look past the guilt tripping - what Jareth is looking for is a means of control. This is where we bring back the "if I could fix him" fantasy. Because there isn't actually any fixing being done.

I don't wanna go on too much of a tangent, but I find this to be present in a lot of stories where the love interest (which I hate to use for this movie) needs "fixing" - most of the time the "fixing" is just the female character adapting, complying and submitting. The one who's the asshole at most just becomes an "asshole but monogamous" now, while usually also getting to call the female character out for "being a hypocrite" and essentially bullying her into accepting the character with their flaws and assholishness. In "Labyrinth" Sarah did the right thing, which left her without Jareth's illusory offerings of happiness, which in reality was just complacency. Any kind of "if only" speculation, would involve Jareth having a degree of power over her. And then it hit me.

The Anti-Capitalist Curveball

I think "Labyrinth" goes a little bit beyond being a "girlhood" movie, as I've stated at the beginning. In my humble opinion, the "girlhood" aspect of it, ties into the more expansive anti-capitalist, revolutionary messaging of the story. Let me put it like this:

There is a king. He is powerful, and uses this power to push around his subjects, forcing them into misery and suffering, where there is no protection against inter-community violence and those who do not support the king's selfish ideas are punished. The King commits a transgression, a crime - kidnaps a child. His offering to the young heroine to save the child is an empty one - he doesn't believe that she'll get even as far as the oubliette. Once she does, he instructs one of his subjects to thwart her, which doesn't pan out - said subject is at first tricked into helping her, and then forms a genuine friendship with the heroine. All the king has to offer is threats of violence, which does work for quite a while, but does not reach sufficient results.

The girl, it turns out, has befriended those who have been made miserable by the king's rule, so one saboteur isn't enough to stop her. When at first she saw the "unfairness" of the labyrinth as something bizarre, she has since grown to understand it as part of the design, and taken active steps to prevent unfair treatment towards those she considers friends - even if they appear monstrous.

So the king takes a different approach - he offers her something that none of her friends could offer her, nothing that she could possibly achieve on her own (at least as long as she plays by his rules). He grants her an escape - a special status away from her responsibility (induced by amnesia), where she can have the fairytale setting she had always wanted. It's stuff - dresses, jewellery, dancing, masquerades, decoration. Even he is there, a figure of authority and power. Within this "escape" - he is reachable to her, they are almost on the same level.

But the heroine manages to break out of this dream, this... False consciousness, one might even say, and (getting really heavy handed with the metaphors) finds herself in a junkyard. She is placated again with complacency - go back to her regular life, focus on the things, focus on the material, objects, do not think about what you were searching for, what you wanted, what injustice has been committed against you. Do not think of the crime that has been done. But that doesn't work either.

After storming the castle, the heroine goes to confront the king alone. Her friends are always there for her, as she is there for them - they have found solidarity, and therefore no longer need to push each other down in an attempt to climb further up the ladder. All that remains is to confront the one who made this horrible labyrinth. Metaphors even more heavy-handed than before find the heroine meters away from rescuing her brother, except no matter where she runs, the labyrinth is set up in a way that she will never get to him. There is no way to win, when following the rules that the king has set. So she jumps.

And the whole thing comes down.

We can bring back the feminist messagings with phrases like "my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great." But we can also acknowledge that Jareth's power is perceived, when Sarah's is denied up until the very end (when it's suddenly all her fault). Jareth can only be in power if she allows it, which is what allows him to present himself as better than her. But having seen through the lies of things meant to placate her, come together with those who actually do care for her, Sarah is finally able to defy the rules of the game and bring down the made up system that protects this man from the consequences of his own transgressions. He has no power over her.

And look, I'm not saying that this is how it is in the real world. Obviously things are a lot more complicated, and the goblin kings of this world will most likely just kill those trying to defy them, rather than turn into an owl and fly into the night. I'm also not denying the main theme of "growing up" present within the film. I just think that it's an interesting viewpoint to take on. For most of the story Sarah cannot see a solution, because believes in an answer that doesn't involve deconstructing the walls around her, and I find that this mirrors the current sentiment of a lot of people. The regular everyday person (from my experience) can hardly picture a future without capitalism, without oppression, without division. And this "taking things for granted" is how Sarah is set up to fail. If she doesn't believe that the walls are illusory, if she doesn't defy the appeal of the material things offered to her, if she doesn't break the rules - she doesn't rescue her brother.

All this to say - yeah, I like this movie.

#labyrinth #labyrinth 1986 #analysis #literary analysis #oops accidental anti-capitalism message #text post #ramblings

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dreaaspeaks · 1 year ago

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You can't be serious...

georg listing x reader

Summary: You spend Christmas with Georg after not seeing him for months and try to make him watch 'Love, Actually'

(fluff, tooth aching fluff)

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You hadn't seen Georg in months, the band's popularity had grown immensely, way beyond Germany, even Europe. His constant traveling, band practices, live shows and interviews made it hard for either of you to even find time to call each other, with texts being answered only hours after being sent.

When the band was finally able to take a short three week break before going on tour again after New years, it made you eager to spend every second with Georg. Thankfully, after he picked you up in his arms in the airport, you knew he had the same plan too. A movie night was not uncommon for the both of you, after all he didn't have a whole DVD collection for no reason, however, what was usually a five minute affair of picking what to watch resulted in a thirty minute back and forth.

"C'mon please...I love this movie!" you said with a smile, having tried to force Georg to watch 'Love, Actually' the past half an hour, promising anything you could think of for a chance that he would give the movie a go.

Georg shook his head and pulled you close to his chest, littering soft kisses on your jaw and he muttered against your skin, "You can't be serious...Love, Actually isn't even a really Christmas movie! It just takes place during Christmas, it's like calling Die Hard a Christmas movie" Georg reasoned with a smile still on his face, his chin resting on your shoulder, his fingers playing with the tips of your hair.

You sat up looking at him offended, "Oh my god am I dating someone who doesn't think Die Hard is a Christmas movie?"

Georg rolled his eyes playfully and pulled you back into his chest, you leaning up to kiss his chin softly, "I'll watch Elf if you watch Love, Actually...how about that?" The corner of Georg's lips turned up, a glimmer in his eye as he thought about your proposition.

"Alright...alright, but if I end up sleeping don't blame me, the movie is just boring." Georg stated as you loaded up the DVD, making you playfully glare at him.

You sat back down on the sofa with him, cuddling into his chest, taking in his warm scent. You missed everything about him, the way his arms wrapped around you as if he was protecting you, the way his hair would still fall in his face despite him putting it up in a low ponytail with the old hair tie you gave him. The way he oddly smelled like sleep, the warm, safe scent of faint cigarettes that he would never admit he smoked, the generic cologne scent that always lingered on his skin and clothes from him using too much in his early and mid teens.

Maybe it was subconscious, maybe you had done it on purpose but your hold on his waist as you cuddled into him tightened, your face resting flat in the crook of his neck.

"Now you aren't even watching the movie." Georg teased, kissing the top of your head, running his fingers through your hair making you laugh and hit his chest lightly.

"Shut up...I just missed you that's all." You mumbled softly, lifting your head up from his chest, seeing his eyes soften and felt his arms wrap around your torso tighter.

Georg sighed and kissed your forehead, "I missed you too, I wish I could spend more time with you, really I do..."

You caressed his arms slowly, placing a soft kiss on his cheek, "I know, I know, but you have other commitments as well-"

Georg tried to cut you off but you covered his mouth, "Shhh, you missed me right? So listen to my voice will you? Geo...I'm okay with you being away often, as long as you come back and let me force you to watch sappy movies as we drink coffee at 8pm, I'm happy."

You saw a smile start to grace his face, his perfect teeth flashing before you as he brought his index finger to your chin, bringing you into a soft kiss, his hand cupping half your face as you melted into his arms. As Georg tried to deepen the kiss, his tongue grazing softly on your lower lip, his fingers digging harshly into your fleshy thighs, you slowly pulled away, leaving him with a soft peck.

"What?" Georg asked softly, his eyes staring up at you, your chin still between his thumb and pointer finger.

You smiled down at him, your fingers removing his hair tie in a swift motion, "Nothing...just that this is so cliché." You muttered, your head resting back down on his shoulder.

Georg's brows furrowed, his eyes squinted as he turned to you, "I still don't get it, what?"

"I mean, the fire place, the movie playing in the background going on about love, warm winter sweaters...you've got admit, when we started to make out it just got really cliché." You stated, smiling as you realised that if this was a movie, you'd be given the cheesy happy ending, a love song sang by some indie band playing you to the credits.

Georg chuckled and sighed, suddenly pulling you into his lap, his right hand cupping your cheek, "You can't be serious, you stopped us making out for the first time in months to state the obvious?"

As your fingers ran through his hair and your head nuzzled into the crook of his neck. "I had to, because you're the one" You mumbled into his neck, holding up your pointer finger and wiggling up and down, mimicking the love-sick Simon in the scene in Love, Actually playing behind you.

Georg’s cheeks flushed as he rolled his eyes playfully, he pulled your head up, pulling you into a soft, loving kiss, making up for his constant absence and drowning you in his aura.

His warm and familar scent that you dreamed about every night for months now surrounding your every particle, the firm grip you imagined as you slept, holding you so assuredly that you knew you'd never be lonely again, the faint taste of mint on his lips from the lip balm you practically forced him to wear when you first started dating. All of it was just...him.

"Maybe I do like this movie after all."

#georg listing #georg listing x reader #georg listing imagines #bill kaulitz #bill kaulitz imagines #bill kaulitz x reader #gustav schafer x reader #gustav schäfer #tokio hotel #tokio hotel imagine #tokio hotel x reader

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tricornonthecob · 1 year ago

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I'm bored.

#folk music #folk music ftw #my taste in music is eclectic and Not Good

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vertebrae-entertainment · 3 months ago

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04.11.2024 - Status update!

Hey!! You're being too quiet!! Whats going on over there!! Well, good question- lets get into that:

Things are going slow! There are multiple reasons for that. First, we took on a load of side work this year to keep the lights on. Second, we're moving apartments right now, with very sudden and short notice!! Third, we have two projects and half the team is absent because of sickness! Bad news for project productivity, indeed.

Other Projects

Theres some cool stuff going on here! People who keep up with our Facebook page may have seen that we're currently collaborating with Likestillingssenteret (The Centre for Equality), Ungdom og Fritid (Youth Work Norway) and streamer MarinaaD on the multi-year educational project Trygg Gaming (Safe Gaming) on how to build safe and equality-minded gaming spaces for youths and discourage hateful conduct! This is our second time collaborating with Likestillingssenteret and MarinaaD, and we are supplying the project with some gaming and game design expertise, as well as our knowledge on the queer subset of game and gaming culture. Additionally, we have had the honor of supplying the campaign with its visual design, much helped by the center's in-house media team!

Other than that, we have some updates on the game development scene in our hometown of Hamar! I was invited to participate in a small project group to map out the potential for establishing a new hub for game development studios in the region, alongside the capable hands and minds behind Sarepta Studio, Encircle Games, Raidho Games and Snowleaf Studios. Last week we presented our proposition to the other businesses in town. Big things are happening, and i advice any game developer in town to keep their ears open!

As well, Global Game Jam Hamar 2025 is right around the corner! Like '23 and '24, buying a ticket to the event ensures you an event t-shirt designed by yours truly. Operations here are now in the hands of the freshly established Hamar Game Events... which is to say, its the same group as before but under a new name! Its gonna be loads of fun, and i hope to see some of y'all there :D

Life and stuff

Earlier this year Åge got very sick, and has been unable to regularly join me in the office. This has affected development greatly, as i am unable to work on Fangst by myself- and i can only do so much graphical work before the pile becomes too much to implement for a two person team.

Then a month ago we got an email that our apartments are getting torn down in favor of a new block project!! Poor luck!! So in short, now we're moving. We should be relocated by December, hopefully before the snow starts setting in.

Teknokrat > Fangst

The main point of this blog post, really. So, given that half the team is sick for the unforeseeable future, what are my options? I have little chance of finishing Fangst in any defendable state by myself, and we do not have the means to hire or outsource.

I decided i should focus on giving Fangst a fighting chance by releasing an self-driven project before it, which ended up being Teknokrat.

So here i am, making an unfiltered gay romance sci-fi visual novel. I write, code, make the art and the music. The rawer and raunchier the better. This should help us gain experience with a commercial release, and help us find our audience. Its lack of workforce and budget will be both its strength and weakness. And when its out, we will be readier for Fangst than we ever were earlier!

I'm very excited for this one- its currently resting at a comfortable 15k script length, soon in a demo-worthy state which will get an early playtest run in our Discord before being dropped on Itch and Steam.

If you havent heard about it before, its about class warfare, cyborgs and techno! I hope you'll look forward to it :3

In the meantime, consider Fangst on hiatus until Åge is able to rejoin full time. This doesnt mean their unmistakable creative flair will not be found in Teknokrat, however! Åge is helping me with design, marketing and planning- as well as lending me their video editing expertise. Get well soon, your presence is missed!

Twitter is dead!!

We moved that branch of our social media operations to Bluesky. Hit us up here! We're also here on personal accounts, and are really enjoying our time here so far. Live updates can as usual be found through our Discord.

_______________________________

OK! I think thats most of whats been happening lately. As always, i hope you're all well, and that you know we appreciate your patience and enthusiasm for our projects! Talk soon, when Teknokrat is looking more ready for sneak peeks!

-Hauk

#gamedev #indie games #fangst #update #teknokrat

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twosheepandagoat · 4 months ago

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This is primarily for any friends/family in Colorado. However, it applies to any pet owner in the U.S., because what's happening in Colorado will happen in your state sooner or later, guaranteed. It is very long, but if you have a pet, this should matter to you.

Coloradans are being asked in this year's election to vote on Proposition 129, which would establish a mid-level veterinary position (Veterinary Professional Associate, or VPA). Think of this like a Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant, positioned between the veterinarian and the veterinary technician.

I know it sounds good, but I would very strongly encourage you to vote against this if you live in Colorado.

It is being proposed as a way to relieve a hypothetical veterinarian shortage by creating a position that could perform all the functions of a veterinarian (except, currently, prescribing medication due to FDA restrictions) - but with far less training. And yes, they explicitly would be allowed to perform complex surgical procedures. The argument in favor generally posits that by reducing the training requirement, the cost of education will be lower. This will make it a more financially bearable choice, enticing people into the field, and thus relieving the (hypothetical) shortage of veterinarians by providing an alternative care-giver to the veterinarian. They also argue that it 'frees up' the veterinarian to focus on more complex cases by offloading more commonplace responsibilities, which they claim will reduce veterinarian burnout by lightening our load. The cost of care will go down, they say, because VPAs don't need to be compensated like a veterinarian.

All sounds great, right? Who wouldn't vote for something whose promoters are promising quicker and cheaper access to veterinary care?

But it's a sham. A complete, utter, disingenuous sham driven by greed.

IT WILL NOT REDUCE THE COST OF CARE:

1) Don't kid yourself - the corporations that have largely taken over veterinary medicine are not going to reduce the cost of an appointment and cut into their profit just to make it more affordable to you. They're going to hire VPAs that they pay less to replace veterinarians, and pocket the difference in salaries.

2) The cost of the consultation is a relatively small percentage of the overall bill. The remainder of the bill would be unchanged, regardless of whether you see a veterinarian or a VPA.

3) There is good data in human medicine to suggest that NPs and PAs increase the cost of care (though it is somewhat dependent on the area of practice, to be fair) through excessive use of diagnostic testing, over-referral to specialists, and potentially by increasing follow-up visits when they fail to address a problem correctly on the first interaction. There is no reason to think it would be any different with VPAs.

4) Did your cost of health care go down as NPs and PAs have expanded their role? Mine sure didn't. Corporations - especially insurance providers - have simply increased their profit.

THIS WILL NOT REDUCE VETERINARIAN BURNOUT:

1) Dealing with only complex cases is not what most general practice vets want. They enjoy some of the 'easier' cases - it's a chance to take a breath during their day and potentially bond with an owner when they see a healthy kitten for vaccines. It gives them a break between tough cases. Dealing with only complex, sicker patients is what we do in emergency medicine - and it is taxing and definitely not for everyone and the burnout rate is high. Specialists also only deal with more complex patients - but they deal with far fewer patients per day than a typical general practitioner.

2) A veterinarian would be required (by law) to oversee a VPA. So the workload reduction by transferring cases to a VPA is a wash, because now the veterinarian who would have had to see those has to review the cases from the VPA anyway. Instead of staying late to write your own charts, you get to stay late reviewing the VPA's charts!

THIS WILL BE DANGEROUS FOR PETS:

1) The master's degree required for this (created by Colorado State University, which deserves censure within the veterinary community for this - shame on you, CSU) is almost entirely online, and is highly abbreviated. There is one 2-credit course (online) on surgery, and one 2-credit lab. That's it. Four credits for surgery, and then turned loose to cut! Other areas of practice have similarly limited training.

2) VPAs would be allowed to perform surgery, including open abdominal procedures, amputations, etc. I realize that to most owners a 'spay' sounds like a very easy procedure, but it's actually not. You are removing an entire organ system from within the abdomen. Do not confuse 'routine' with 'easy'. There are many GPs who do not like to perform the procedure, and there are many patients (especially older overweight dogs) for whom it is a very difficult procedure. I have seen a third year surgery resident - i.e. someone at the end of very extensive surgical training - sweat and swear and struggle to perform a spay. Do you want someone with almost entirely online training cutting your dog? Do you think they'll know how to handle it if something goes wrong? Because things go wrong - more often than you might suspect. But trained veterinarians just adjust, deal with the problem, and move on. A VPA? Good luck!

3) Other procedures are not as easy as the supporters of VPAs are making it seem. They have specifically mentioned splenectomies, for instance. In dogs, the most common indication for a splenectomy is due to a ruptured mass where the abdomen is full of blood. These are often unstable patients who are literally bleeding out, and it is a race against time to stabilize them, open them up, stop the bleeding, and extract the spleen. It's not just about cutting the spleen out - it's about managing a patient who is bleeding to death with an elevated heart rate, decreased blood pressure, and poor oxygen perfusion: these are patients who are trying to die. Do you really want someone whose training is abbreviated and online doing that with YOUR dog? There are many, many veterinarians who don't even want to perform that procedure - it's absolutely absurd to think someone with half the training could be considered competent to do it.

4) The timeline for dealing with pet problems is often much quicker than humans. It is very easy to miss critical problems in pets because they can't talk to us and because they hide signs of illness - often by the time you realize something is wrong they are in distress. Do you trust someone trained largely online to correctly assess your pet? I don't.

5) The proposed training for a VPA consists of 65 credits, most of which is online. (I had to have 60 credits just as pre-requisites to get INTO vet school.) Vet school itself was around 200 credits plus electives (I forget how many I took, but it probably added 10-20 credits.) I have seen comments that VPAs would receive "half" the education of a veterinarian. In truth, it is actually less. So why should they be doing a veterinarian's job? Common sense says that it's silly.

THIS IS NO VETERINARIAN SHORTAGE:

1) A recent study commissioned by the AVMA concluded that there is no veterinary shortage. The perception of shortage arose during COVID when a surplus of money (and, perhaps, time) due to federal government stimulus caused a dramatic increase in veterinary visits. Those visit numbers are on the way back down. There are some veterinarians who still report excessive load, but there are many discussing how their caseload has dropped significantly. The study concluded that because of the addition of around 15 veterinary schools in the U.S. (at varying stages currently) there is likely to be an OVERSUPPLY of veterinarians within 10 years. So the the VPA proposal is solving a problem that doesn't likely exist.

2) It's true that there is a deficit of veterinary services in many rural areas. But this will not fix it because the shortage isn't from not having veterinarians interested in those locations - it's because the economics don't support a veterinarian. Since a VPA requires oversight by a veterinarian, it's a moot point - you can't have a VPA in rural Montana taking care of cattle unless there's a veterinarian already there doing it. You can't just graduate VPAs and send them to rural areas - it won't happen any more than NPs and PAs "flocked" to rural areas to solve the same problem in human medicine (free pro tip: they didn't).

3) There IS a veterinary technician shortage, which is interesting for two reasons. First, technicians are likely to be a sizable percentage of VPAs. So VPAs are likely to exacerbate the veterinarian technician shortage. And we can't function without our techs - they are the lifeblood of the hospital. Second, VPAs will need techs, too. So if there are already too few technicians - just who is going to do the tech work for VPAs? It doesn't matter how many veterinarians (or VPAs) you have - if you haven't fixed the tech shortage, you haven't increased access to care.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS

1) It's very telling that the proponents of this are almost entirely veterinary corporate groups. Think about that. Think really hard about that. Why would it be that a very large majority of private practitioners oppose it, but corporate interests promote it? Money. They want more. That is literally the only reason they are pushing for this - so they can reduce the number of veterinarians they employ, replace some with mid-levels, and pocket the difference in human resources costs. Do not believe them when they say that you - the pet owner - will see some of that money. When was the last time a corporation, out of the goodness of its 'heart', cut back its profit margin?

2) It's also very telling that the supporters initially tried to gain support within the industry - and failed. Then they tried a legislative approach - and failed. So now they utilized Colorado's constitution, which allows for it to be put to popular vote. In other words - experts understood it to be bad for pet and pet owners and rejected it. The legislature understood it. So they went to the public, where they can create deceitful propaganda to convince you it's in your best interests. After all, it's easy to ask leading questions like "wouldn't you like the cost of care to be cheaper?"

3) Note that the American Veterinary Medical Association opposes this. As does the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. As does the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association. As do 75% of veterinarians in Colorado. As does almost every other expert organization that has stated their position.

4) There are some excellent NPs and PAs in human medicine. And there likely would be some excellent VPAs in veterinary medicine. But it is really, really crucial to separate out anecdotal ("but I've had a great experience with my PA!") information from large-scale data. And the data doesn't lie with regard to the negative impact of NPs and PAs in human medicine. There are pockets where these 'physician extenders' have benefited health care, but overall the impact has been negative.

5) It's also important to remember that the scope of care for a typical small animal veterinarian is much larger than a typical MD, where hyper-specialization is routine. A typical small animal veterinarian functions as internal medicine doctor, anesthesiologist, surgeon, geriatrician, pediatrician, dentist, etc. Replacing that with a VPA is simply impossible without the same training.

6) As a "this would be funny if it weren't so terrifying" footnote: one of the supporters of VPAs recently suggested that the VPA position would be great for people who were unsuccessful getting into vet school. Stop and think about that for a moment - he is literally saying that someone who didn't meet the criteria to be a doctor ... should be allowed to doctor things. It's utterly insane.

This proposal will not help your pet. It will not lower your costs. It will not increase your access to care. It WILL increase the risk to your pet. It WILL increase profit for large corporations.

Vote against it.

*copied from a colleague, but I agree wholeheartedly*

#pets #pets of tumblr #vet med #don't let them get away with this #don’t let the corporate overlords have another win #save private practice #this is so dangerous #ONLINE surgery course?!?!?#the hell?!?!

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thatonerylan · 22 days ago

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Ice On My Teeth

Warnings: mature, smut, angst, death, violence, non-con

Summary:

When the mafia ruled most of the country, three boys found themselves stuck together, However, all were in rival mafia gangs. All ruling a part of Korea. One in the north, one in the middle, and one in the southern islands of South Korea. Will there be a Selfish Waltz between the three or will they be able to show their Crazy Form to each other while trying to keep their factions a secret?

Words: 1k

Being from the Seoul mafia is one thing, but ruling all over the upper part of Korea up until the 38th parallel, ranging from Gyeonggi-do all the way across to Gangwon-do had been another. Made normal activities difficult, Especially for Yeosang. Having the main headquarters in Seoul, and little meeting areas across Incheon, Suwon, and Chuncheon, he was out mainly most hours of the day especially since it was to protect their area from different mafias. He is Sector A, the most prestigious faction to ever start in Korea.

Being the lead in Sector A -Paradigm as most know- made the day interesting, considering he had to meet up with the other two factions. Sector Z ruled the middle part parts of Korea - Cheongu, Daejeon, Daegu, Chungcheongnam-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, and Gyeongsangbuk-do- and the Southernmost region that didn't have a name but ranged from Jeollabuk-do which held Jeonju, Jeollanam-do holding Muan and Gwangju and Gyeongsangnam-do which held Changwon, Ulsan, and Busan. Jeju Island as well.

However, there was a disagreement between Sector A and Sector Z. Sector A was known to be neutral against trivial matters that didn't evolve them and keep their space from the other two factions, however, Sector A had two men killed over Daegu which made news between the two factions. They were meeting in Busan to discuss the meeting since it would be in foreign land.

But Sector A, Sector Z, and the southern factions had been in cahoots together to try and get the leader out of hiding. Which they successfully managed to do when Sector A declared a meeting. A meeting that required all three sectors.

After what seemed centuries, all three Sectors would be meeting together. To either discuss a peace treaty between them or keep being at each other's throats. A peace treaty would be rare between the three Sectors, but it would be the first in 400 years since the Emperor had a peace treaty with North Korea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twirling his finger on the rim of the glass during his morning meeting with smaller groups in the area, Yeosang leaned back in his chair heavily. Unamused at the propositions he was hearing, his hand constantly waving with a flick of his wrist to send them off if he found them uninterested. What lay heavy in the back of his mind had been the big sector meeting. It made his stomach churn thinking about it. The meeting wouldn't be for a while - more like later in the day-, but it kept his mind going. Ultimately zoning him out when there was a man in front of him discussing how they could start smuggling in weapons from Jeju or other countries by boat so that way they could have more resources.

"What I'm saying could work- we get a few men to go on cargo boats at night to wherever the boats go- load them up and come back-"

The man waved his hands trying to describe the situation, Yeosang sat back watching and looking unamused at the whole thing, waving him off while the man was explaining mid-conversation.

"Bland, Boring, and how will this benefit me in any way?. If it can't benefit me and my men, then I will not see to it!"

He slammed his hands down on the desk, the anger getting to him. He had just lost two men in 24 hours and this was what he had to deal with? Having the man be escorted out, he downed the strong whiskey that lay bare in his glass, a subtle groan leaving his mouth before turning his head to look out the big window in his main office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He tilted his head with a slight glare when he got told that he would be picked up to be taken to the meeting place since it would be dangerous to go on the main highways and strips of the road... It didn’t seem like much, but he had to do it. Ether now or never, and if it didn't get done, who knew how many more men would die or if they would eventually come for him

“Where am I going to this boring meeting? Sector Z or something like that?”

"Actually, it is in Busan. Farther south than normal. It will take a few hours to actually get there."

The mention of where it had been located -which wasn't in Sector Z and somewhere that he hadn't been before- audibly made Yeosang groan. He didn’t want to go all the way there for a couple of hours. Besides nobody there he even liked, so most times he would always catch up later since he would get the message from a different guy that went.

But this time he actually had to go alone. No ands, ifs or buts. With a sigh, he turned on his heels, going to actually change into professional clothes. However, he decided he wouldn’t show all his face.

Grabbing his silver phantom mask, he buttoned up his lace black shirt, brushing his hair back before slipping on his silver mask. Part of his face covered as he smiled to himself before turning on his heels, adjusting his sleeves, and closing the door behind him. Going into unknown areas and revealing his whole face could deal bad things to his faction since the others could use it to slander his name, put hits out on him for no reason, or send men out to stalk him and go as bait for a hit and murder spree.

Once he reached the discreet black car that carried a fake license plate over the original one, he climbed into the backseat, closing the door behind him. Mentioning to the driver where he was headed.

The rumbles of the car underneath came to life as it pulled out of the hidden drive and onto the main streets which would soon turn into backroads and different routes to get there since they needed anyone tailing them that seemed suspicious of where they were going.

Glancing up into the rearview mirror, a slight smile raked over Yeosang’s face. Only half was seen since a chrome silver mask covered half of his face.

It would be amusing to him to see an old friend… one that took over Sector Z after disappearing off the face of the earth years prior, never reaching out or making any effort to contact him. Always ignoring his calls and letters that he would send or deliver.

The childhood friend was none other than his ex-bandmate… Jeong Yunho.

#ateez #ateez fic #ateez smut #song mingi #yeosang #jeong yunho #mafia au #south korea

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centrally-unplanned · 1 year ago

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I wanted to respond to this post from a bit ago, because I thought it was a good challenge. Certainly Japan is a wildly different country from the US, so the way it can be used sometimes as a "YIMBY model" can often be naïve. It is not YIMBY in many ways, for sure. Cowen sets out a list of ways Japan either isn't YIMBY or would have other reasons for its lower rents; as he puts it:

Yet the more I think about it, the more I tend to believe a very different proposition: Japan is in key ways a very NIMBY country, and its brand of NIMBYism has keeps real estate prices down. A corollary is this: YIMBYism gets much less credit for low Tokyo real estate prices, and furthermore the low real estate prices are a sign of something having gone wrong on the productivity side, in large part due to regulation.

So lets see how it holds up:

1. Japan has had very tough immigration restrictions. This has eased considerably, but a) the stock matters not just the flow, and b) current Japanese migrants often are from countries such as Thailand and the Philippines, which fills in for some mid-level jobs, but does not massively boost rents.

Meh - True, though its more cultural then legal imo. But we aren't talking about Japan, we are talking about Tokyo. Tokyo has has large amounts of internal migration from the rest of Japan; meanwhile its not like NYC's net population has increased dramatically in the past 20 years from immigration. Unless immigrations have magic rent soil I'm not seeing this.

2. It is extremely difficult to learn written Japanese. Among its other effects, this discourages high-value immigrants from settling into very high productivity service jobs in Tokyo or in Japan more generally.

Meh - definitely true! Japan needs language reform lol. But like above, immigration isn't magic rent soil, its about net people.

3. Various regulatory and legal decisions have prevented Tokyo from developing into the financial capital of Asia (haven’t you wondered about this?). I won’t go into all the detail here, this is the modern world so just ask ChatGPT. I’m sure you all know that major financial centers usually lead to exorbitant rents, due to the opportunity cost of the land.

Boo - so I literally asked ChatGPT, since I was curious, and I got absolutely nothing - just vague platitudes and literally some of the other reasons from this list, like "It lacks immigration". I don't doubt some of this is true, but I don't think its a load bearing reason it isn't a financial center. Or at least don't be lazy and tell us what they are.

Which I think is relevant, to be clear - but I think might be a bit more endogenous than the article is letting on. The inability to financialize rents in Tokyo might in fact be a reason its less of a financial center!

4. So, so much of Japanese regulatory policy and culture is geared toward maintaining small retail businesses, super small in scale, and low in productivity. They do not place much upward pressure on rents. By the way, this is one reason why tourists find Tokyo so wonderful, but those enterprises lower productivity considerably relative to say Walmarts. It is no accident that so many Japanese examples populate “Markets in Everything,” that they have cat and furry cafes, and so on.

Probably True - I think he is exaggerating, and like "culture" is doing a lot of work here, but its definitely true that Japan has large small business orgs that work hand-in-hand with government to shape the urban ecology for them. The big companies are doing their own thing of course, but I am open this idea for sure. Japan's business-political complex is very vast.

But of course it might all just be downstream of the rents; if rent is low, you can build whatever.

Overall, I think meh? But I think a better argument could be made - we do need more detailed understandings of how Japan's real estate market functions in relation to its urban planning. I see one or the other in a box a lot, but the interaction I think should be dug into more.

#yimby discourse

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marty-parties · 19 days ago

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Works In Progress and Some (light) Goal Setting

With 2025 just starting, I wanted to challenge and ask myself what I’d like to do in terms of creativity this year! So, below I’ve made a sort of masterlist of my current WIP’s, and ideas of fics I’d possibly like to do.

Already in the works:

One-Shots:

Bar Lime and Coaster Lines - UF Sans x Reader One-shot.

Current word count: 2,138. Expected 1 Chapter.

Summary:

You work as a contracted painter, who after a long day on your feet, are in dire need of a warm meal, and a cool drink. You settle for the nearest bar to your work site, some sort of Speakeasy by the name of "Grillby's". You didn't know what to expect, but a suave and funny red skeleton was definitely not on your bongo card of how you expected your night to go.

Arm rustling and banter ensues as the night carry's on.

TW: None that I can think of? Drinking, UF sans being flirty.

Goal: I’d like to get it done, it’s been sitting in my google docs collecting dust and it feels like a pity to let it die here. I’m maybe close to halfway through? I’ll admit, it’s been a Hot Minute Since I’ve actually taken a look at the doc. I’m a little scared to see what i’ll find, actully.

Into The Weeds - US Papyrus x Reader

Estimated length: 3 Chapter One-shot, maybe 4?

Current word count: 9,445 words or chapter 1 that’s posted, 2,625 words for the started chapter 2.

Status: First Chapter out, second chapter has been started, but has been put on hiatus.

Summary:

Ever since you dropped out of collage, you've sworn to turn your life into something meaningful, and you did. No more late night benders, no more waking up in strangers bed - no more. You've been running 'Int The Weeds' for years now, and it's been simpatico, except for one tiny little thing.

The one problem?

You don't smoke.

-Or vape, or ingest, or dabble with weed in any capacity.

Ever since you've got the boot, you've sworn to pull yourself together - and you have! But, you can't say you've have any interest

Luckily, you've concocted a lucrative business proposition to solve that very problem.

Hopefully your regular, Papyrus is amenable to the idea.

TW: Lots of talking about weed.

Goal: I’d like to get it done within the year, i’m thinking it’ll be 3-4 chapters at most. I Should really get it done while I work as a budtender, feels right for continuity purposes, since I started it working at the weed store. This will probably be my first project done after This Other Thing.

Longer Fics:

Bones and Beans - UF Papyrus x reader

I’ve gotta give credit where it’s due, this is fully timeofjuly’s idea! We were talking about it in discord one day, and Boom, we started a google doc about it. We’ve written the first chapter together, and the drafts of the second, along with some great world building and brainstorming. I'm really looking forward to getting back into this world. I really really love the idea and the underfell au, i’ve just been loading myself up with other fic ideas and other sorta secret projects, that this one has had to take a back seat.

Summary:

It’s a coffee shop meet cute with the one and only uf pap! He owns a cat cafe, and you (mc) are hired on as the cafe's media manager.

Goal: I’d like to get an outline, and go from there I suppose? I’d love to get it done this year, but in my heart of hearts, this feels like another long form fic, which feels a little intimidating, but I want to put it back on the flames! No more back burner for this guy.

(Other?) Secret Project that I can’t say just yet.

A very late secret project that needs to be done ASAP! It’s on the list so I actually do it. It’s almost done, maybe a bit over half way, but the end is in sight and it’s close! And now that my laptop has a working charger again, I hope to really hammer it out before January is over.

Once I get this one done, I’m going to be able to start going through this list, it’s just that this is a time sensitive one that absolutely needs to get done first.

Fic ideas for 2025

I don't know if most of these will be long fics, since they're still ideas cooking right now. Most of the ideas I’ve collected in a ‘Fic Idea’ Google doc that I think would be fun to write, even as little thought out as they are now. This is hella subject to change, it’s more of a thought gathering experiment, right now.

Setting Rough to Rest - a SF Sans x Skeleton!Reader

Current word count: Could not tell you, no idea and i'm not looking. Expected, 20-ish chapters.

Status: WIP

It’s a stardew valley x ugly farm life, a sort of grim slice of life romance. Some Real life anecdotes from what it’s like living on a farm/ranch. (sourse: Me, who’s been living in the Canadian Boonies since forever, and my grandpa: who’s the one who’s actually made a livelihood of farming/ranching.)

It’s got a little bit of everything, gore, romance, slowburn, being queer in a small town, past traumas and problems catching up to you in very specific ways, etc. The problem is, I don’t really know the story I want to tell with this. And because of that, it’s really fallen to the wayside. it’s one of the first fic ideas i’ve had, and wanted to write when I first started writing fic last year. So far, i’ve got a solid chapter 1 that I remember liking, and bits and bobbles here an’ there.

I think a part of me is waiting to write it until my skills have become “good enough” to tell this story. Sounds like perfection is the enemy of creation, I know– which is why it’s on the list!

I want to revisit the Mc and characters I’ve made, and try to understand what I’m trying to tell/express, otherwise I think this fic will be very pointless for me.

Goal: I would like to try and set out a nice updated chapter-by-chaper outline. Go through the old drafts and cut out the old rot, and see what grows. I'd like to have it finished this year.

Literally Bare-Bones Ideas—

Some kind of isekai undertale fic. I’ve been really into them as of Jan. 2025, and I think i’d like to try my hand at it. No idea for which au it’ll be, but I think there will be strong horror themes. What’s more horrifying than the thought of never being able to return home?

Some kind of hot neighbour x us sans. You have a dog. I love myself a slow burn, but the amount of long fics on this list is not sitting well with my write-a-chapter-than-take-3-months-off writing style. I could possibly see this as maybe a 10 chapter max.

I can’t decide if I want to try my hand at Kinktober when it comes around. The idea sounds fun, but Writing Every Day – Does not. I usually like to do an Inktober as well, as a fun little challenge for me. I can’t see myself feasibly doing both at the same time, maybe i’ll cherry pick days to make it easier? I’m not too sure. The idea sounds a little daunting, but i’m sure there’s a compromise to be had there.

Some kind of one shot with the different interaction of swapfell pap! No idea which one (as in, if he's indigo, or gold, or another colour I don't know about,) all I know his name is Cash and he’s a gremlin. I have a one shot started, but it’s really more of a warm up than anything satisfying to read.

I would love to do a take on the ‘lodge fic reverse-harem’ style fic. I think almost everything undertale fic writer has one. Truth be told, the one I have in mind is actually a sf sans x reader, but like all the boys are there. So, maybe not “True” reverse-harem we’ve all come to know and love - but hey, that’s the fun of being a fic writer – you get to create the content you want to see.

I also want to make a short game! Fan works of other fics! Maybe one from my own fics? Sky’s the limits. I’m interested in ren’py and I have a very minimal understanding of coding, but I think I’d like to try anyways.

Knowing me, there’s going to be ideas and other one ideas that wake me up late in the night, and others that will get dropped, so i’m really using this as a rough draft of what i’d maybe like to do this year. I think half the fun of creating fanworks is the random bursts of inspiration, and ideas you get in the most unlikely of places. I don’t want to limit that for the sake of following a list, SO. I suppose – take this list with a grain of salt.

I’m pretty sure i’ve got some Other e Old One Shots and Snippets that i’ve got backlogged, which may eventually make their way to the world. But, I’ll let those sit for now until I get around to it.

So. Stay tuned! Some fun stuff is (hopefully!) on it’s way this year!

#smartymarty #martyparty #writing

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slowlyhardgoatee · 2 years ago

Photo

Now, I bet you’re wondering why I brought you over here to my house today, right?

Well, there’s a couple of reasons, Smith. Let’s just say I’ve got a proposition for you.

Firstly, there’s the work situation. You’ve worked for me at my construction business for a long time now, and it doesn’t take a genius to understand why you stick around despite the low pay. Hell, everyone knows you like nothing more than jacking off over a pair of dirty construction overalls and boots in the back workroom. We’ve all seen you doing it. But I’ve noticed that, nine times out of ten, you specifically pick MY overalls and boots. Am I your type, Smith? ‘Yes Boss’, was that? Good. Keep that subservient attitude up, faggot. Oh, that’s your name from now on, by the way. Faggot.

The second reason you’re here is actually to do with my wife. As you probably know, I’m a married man. Been with my wife for just about 30 years, and let me tell you she is a classy lady. Very proper. Now, me, I’m the opposite of her. I’m ex-police, ex-military, hell, even did a stint as a prison guard for a while. Tough work, done by tough men. Thing is, all that testosterone flying around turned me into a 24/7 horn dog. My wife puts out once a month for the most missionary sex possible, and that’s nothing like enough for me. I need my dick sucked several times a day - and she does not suck dick. She said to me, ‘Find someone else if you want that shit’ - so faggot, I’m finding you.

I’m shutting down the construction company. But don’t worry, I’m keeping you on. Your new job is as my personal cocksucker. It’s a full-time, live-in and entirely unpaid position starting immediately. I know you live alone and have no family, so you should have no problem getting started right away. What do you say, faggot?

Atta boy - ‘Yes, Boss’, and dropped straight to your knees. Good faggot. Go ahead and get my cock out. Look at that. Look at the piece of meat that’s gonna be running your fucking life from now on. You want to nurse on it, faggot? Go right ahead.

Fuck yeah, right down the back of your fucking throat. Fuck, that’s a sweet and talented mouth. I’ll be putting it to near-constant use.

Ah - what do you think you’re doing? No no no - hands well away from your cock, faggot. In fact, give ‘em here. There. That’s where your hands belong when you’re sucking your Boss’s cock, faggot - tugging on my fucking nipples. I’ll be locking your cock up in a cock cage first thing in the morning - and you’ll beg me to throw away the key.

Oh, fuck yeah. Oh, you’re gonna be at my beck and call whenever I want. I think to start with, I’ll keep you down here in the basement. But every so often, on special occasions, I’ll take you upstairs and let you suck me in the actual house. Y’know, on my birthday, or our wedding anniversary, or my wife’s birthday, days like that. I’ll always make sure she’s in the house when I take you up there, as well, so she can see first-hand how you satisfy the demands she wouldn’t meet. If my wife won’t give me what I want, I’m happy to make a cuckold out of her in her own living room.

Last thing, faggot - you don’t smoke, do you? No? Good. Nor does my wife. She hates it when I smoke. So - I promise that every time I fuck your mouth up in the house, I’m gonna light up the biggest cigar I can find, and I’m gonna smoke it nice and slowly while you’re servicing my meat. Then, because we can’t have you taking too much pleasure out of your new life of servitude, once you’ve swallowed my cum in front of my cuckold wife, you’re gonna beg me to put my cigar out on your faggot balls. And believe me, faggot, the sound of you screaming and whimpering like a pathetic little bitch is only gonna get me hard all over again.

Now, hold still. I’m gonna blow my load all over your face, bitch. Here it comes, here it… fuuuuucking comes, you CUNT. FUCK. Look at that, dripping all over your face. That’s the first of many, believe me.

What do you have to say to me, faggot?

Yeah, ‘Thank you, Boss’. Good fag. Now clean my cock off for me, and then let’s go upstairs into the house. The wife’s due back from work in about fifteen minutes, and the first thing I want her to see is you begging for my cock in your mouth while I’m smoking. If you’re a good faggot, I might rape you in front of her, too. You like the thought of that, eh? Your Boss’s married seed up your faggot cunt? Yeah, thought you would. Well, you just concentrate on being a good cocksucker, and we’ll see what happens. Now, come on. Up we go. Time for you to get a good feel for your new job.

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exoticalmonde · 1 year ago

Text

Part I. Phantom and Crimson Solitaire but the part where Dr. Eve is reading where the mission is situated + history + collectibles

Instead of Dr. Pinkie being the actual loremaster that I expected given their superiority in everything that ever happens with the game, I have reclaimed the role (at least when it comes to IS2) and that includes all my assumptions about whatever has happened and is happening in it.

First of all, while re-reading the previous post I made about Shalem and Phantom, I realized that, wait a minute, where the hell is this even situated?

Apparently, Gaul. Which I have been able to understand is basically France, but gone because they were too sassy. Something of that sort. My understanding before versus now.

Second of all, it's not Gaul itself, the place we stumble into is a castle in Calais-Blason. That is a part of Gaul formally, now it is a part of Northwestern Victoria. After the war nothing was left of it because of devastation and because all the people either fled or died.

Phantom was told by the Crimson Troupe that he was born in Calais-Blason and was taken by the Troupe after a flood Catastrophe swept through the area.

We don't really know if that's true or not though.

Then there is a description as we enter the loading screen of the castle that states:

A castle hidden within the woods constructed under the auspices of a Gaulish noble who perished in the war a few years after its completion, leaving it derelict. But a mysterious group has been calling it home recently...

I'm about to eventually figure out who the noble is and we know that the mysterious group is The Troupe. Their 'Blood Diamond' is Phantom and during some investigating of his memories, he was attracted my goodness knows what machinations to re-visit his old home. Our job is to, you won't believe it,

Gaul's story in general is as straightfoward as it can be based on the Wiki. It was an empire ruled by a family of Liberi located between Victoria, Ursus, and Leithanien. Gaul was so influential that its grand nomadic capital, Lingones, was nicknamed the "Capital of Terra".

Gaul was primarily known for its expansionism, and it reached its peak during the reign of its last Emperor, Corsica I, following the implementation of the "Second Economic Reform Act," a new codex that drastically strengthened Gaul's military.

No surprise there, since Corsica I came to lord over the country because of his military prowess and the rewards he's gained over the years of serving. He was putting all of his military power into expansionism when demand had grown more than what the land's riches could produce. Like any time in history, he thought that it's time to knock on their neighbours' doors and tell them their time is up.

Big mistake. What kind of professional, a military veteran looks at this man and in return says 'I can take him'. Like any monarch, outraged by the Gaul's proposition to become a vassal state, the Witch King refuted by turning all Gallic envoys in Leithanien into lifeless statues. That's how we ended up with the Gallo-Leithanian War.

---

Pinkie: "I'm starting to believe you didn't read the story of Lingering Echoes." Me: "Which... I didn't." Pinkie: "There you go!" Me: *Appalled* Pinkie: "We will pick up the pieces left during Zwillingstürme Herbst."

---

That wasn't enough. Gaul also attempted to invade Victoria – which almost resulted in a complete defeat and annihilation of the latter, forcing Victoria to give up its northwestern colony that would later become Columbia.

In 1053, Victoria, under the leadership of King Frederick III, formed a coalition with Leithanien and Ursus to oppose Gaul, leading to the Battle of the Four Emperors. The war ends with Gaul's total annihilation, Lingones (the Capital) is wiped off the map, and the victors taking over Gaul's former territory.

The fall of Gaul is often considered the most tragic event in Terra's history. During its time, Gaulish culture was considered influential, but are now slowly fading to obscurity. Some collectors sought to preserve Galic relics while bakers and wineries tried to replicate the original Gaulish formula, but the latter are unable to match the original. With their homeland lost, many Gauls were scattered across Terra, and their nobilities were forced to serve the victors. Still, there are some Gallic restorationists who attempted to steal Gallic relics on display in museums in order to rally the surviving Gauls and bring the empire back to life.

Which leaves a lot of questions for where the current Victorian storyline is going to go, because I think most of the land and the people now consider themselves victorians. Granted, their descent remains marked, so here's a list of Gaulish people.

... Clément.............

To note before I go reading the collectables, here's the most metal thing I have ever seen being done in Arknights so far.

The Last Empress-Consort of Gaul: The wife of Corsica I, also known as the Natator. She chose to stay in the Gaulish imperial palace upon hearing the news of Corsica I's death and killed the invading enemies in a suicide attack by plunging an Originium shard into her body.

---

Pinkie: "So can we assume all catboys are Victorian?" Me: "Uh-- Well, I think so?" Pinkie: "Because, we already know all Perro are from Bolívar, and Ursus is a thing." Me: "Yeah, sounds the part actually. Officially, all Felines are Victorian."

---

Collectables I found cool, so i want you to know.

Banshee's Kiss

Outsiders make extraordinary displays of bravery that far surpass their normal abilities. However, as one of the few male Banshees out there, this has become a far too common sight to Logos.

You could lie to me and tell me that belongs to Logos and I will believe you. I don't understand a lick of what this signifies though. Maybe it is connected to death, maybe it is connected to music, or to the fact this is a relic of the Death Cult (The Troupe).

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Actor's Jewelery Box

A box containing all kinds of shattered jewelries. The young lead actress wore these jewelries and stepped onto the stage, in the end falling from its highest point.

Absolutely terrible, actually. Nobody will understand the reference but this reminds me of how Lumine fell off the stage in Off-Script by Jules and Amarettiii. Great scene, wonderful timing in what is happening before that. Genshin brainworms shall always swarm me when Arknightsing and vice versa.

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Fissured Restraints

It seems this sturdy band was once used to restrain something terrifying… Help…

????????????????????????????????????????

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Godmother's Token

A laurel of bones, the token of a Sicilian noblewoman. This symbol of order will smooth the turbulence of all desires, for conflict is not allowed. Genuine or counterfeit, it still demands you to kneel.

Laurel. Of. Bones.

Dude...

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Worn-out Group Photo

Do you know someone in the photo?

These are Gopnik and Hellagur as far as I can see.

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Writer's Tongue

The playwright penned his creations with a quill and his own blood, and for himself he devised an ending in which he perishes in a sea of flames.

Something something it has to do with the ending but I have not gotten to any ever thus... I will be reading that later.

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'The Whisperer in Darknight'

A black vinyl. DO. NOT. TOUCH. IT.

I played Darknights memoirs, you have no excuse to keep me away from it. Unless it's... who collected Vynil out of the Penguin Logistics? Was it Emperor himself? Croissant? I don't remember but my hands are up, you can see them.

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Gold-Plated Dice

The gold-plated die has one side representing life. As for the other nineteen sides…

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Emperor's Favor

A very sharp letter opener. It was one of the favorite possessions of the last Ursus emperor, and as such it was very rarely used to actually open letters.

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Silver Forks

One for dealing with actors who botch their performances, one for dealing with incompetent playwrights, and one for anyone who needs it. The Chief will not tolerate any mistakes on the table.

The more I learn about the Troupe the worse it just gets.

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Damaged Revolver Cyllinder

She never capitulated, even after enduring countless trials and tribulations. Her muzzle belched tongues of flame that burned like an angry sun, and the glow above her head was brighter than the daylight itself. Buried here is Outcast, our friend.

Outcast? Who is Outcast? *Googles*

Oh.

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Kryo: "She is past tense." Me: "She is a 'was'."

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Rusted Razor

If you cut yourself with this, you know what will happen.

Is this allowed? Is... Is this allowed? What do you mean- Yes we all know what happens with a-- goodness me.

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'Brilliant Lament'

His blood yet flows. He has never left this place.

Whose...? Whose???

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White Flower Crown

A floral veil used in Vampire rituals. Its once vibrant redness has been sucked empty, leaving nothing only a pale white color.

Oh, pretty!

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Dancer's Bracelets

The audience breaks into applause as the well-trained dancers waltz around the traps on stage. None of them are aware of the brushes with death the performers have just been through.

The trauma just continues. Thematic.

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This is just a set of pastries without context, I love the food in Arknights.

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Broke Mask

He’s wearing the mask. Is he the one who’s speaking or is it the mask?

Oooo it's Phantom. We Phantom enjoyers know when we see the mask.

#arknights #doctor of ri shenanigans #arknights event #Arknights IS2 #Arknights Crimson Solitaire #phantom and crimson solitaire #Arknights Doctor #Phantom Arknights #Arknights Lore #Arknights Art #arknights operators #lore and stories #Arknights Victoria #Eve's Exploring #Dr. Eve is also terrified

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