#when i was a kid this trope im children's books was so common for what reason

[severefartoholic]

Yeah thanks for having me as a guest i really love it here NO i CANT fucking take this large misshapen jacket off with a hood that covers the maw where a face is supposed to be I'll collapse into a pile of bugs and worms and other gunk which is what I'm really made of!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[witchthewriter]

helloo! i hope that you’re having an amazing day!! i saw your blog through one of my mutuals and let me tell you, im amazed! you are so talented. do you have a watt pad? or will you publish books in the future? id love to support you. 🤍

okay im sorry if that’s too personal I just got carried away 😄. i wanted to join your ship game if its still possible. fandoms i choose are peaky blinders, harry potter and stranger things.

about me: she/her, heterosexual, infp

little bit more:

i love reading and annotating books.

i love baking especially things that have chocolate in.

i love Winter and snowy days .( im happy that they’re close now anyways)

i am afraid of bugs (sadly) but i hate it when someone kills them.

i like drawing and sketching.

i am fascinated by different cultures but always keep a safe line between so I don’t come off as disrespectful.

i love it when people are thoughtful and understanding towards each other.

i hate conflicts and people misunderstanding me.

fun fact; i love ballet and bella hadid (but I have many more loved celebrities like lily rose 😌) 🫶🏼

i like vintage and retro stuff

my personality: quiet and cold from outside but if you’d get to know me i am not cold 🤧. would say emphatic and sensitive but I don’t know how others see me 😄.

okay that’s it! Thank you so much for your time energy and patience. Have a great day, waiting more posts from you 🫶🏼🥰

Want one? Here be the rules 🦋

I am LITERALLY DOING PUPPY DOG EYES RIGHT NOW, why would you say such a nice thing! I'm actually going to cry. Your support means so much to be. I actually am writing a book! I started it for my uni assignment and I decided I want to publish it someday (although there's a long way to go before THAT ever happens <3)

What each ship has in common:

⋆ They’re usually the leader/in charge ⋆ Responsible  ⋆ The person who people look to for advice ⋆ Get shiz done ⋆ Get along well with kids (I mean Tommy might not fit in this but he does love his children very much)

𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐲 𝐁𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬

𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

I ship you with Thomas Shelby! I can see your relationship firstly being a fake one. Where you have something he wants and vice versa; you get married to so his business can progress even further, and you do it so your family is protected/safe/well-looked after. While spending more time with each other, you fall in love. 

𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑠

・Very sarcastic and witty with each other

・Relationship tropes; ‘partners in crime,’ ‘fake relatiopnship > falling in love > actually happy you married each other.’ 

・He buys you anything and everything. I mean it gets excessive. You probably donate a lot of stuff to charity/neighbours/family/friends. He doesn’t mind. He just wants you to have everything you ever dreamed of

・Isn’t big on pet names, probably calls you a variation of your first name. Maybe even your last name

・Rocky relationship until you understand Tommy’s motives; not just about the business, but himself, his backstory, the war etc

・You’re always protected  - you’re literally apart of the Shelby family. No one tells you what todo, actually no one even denies you anything. I feel like you could do WHATEVER you wanted and no one would bat an eye

𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫

𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

I ship you with Remus Lupin! (Whatever age you wish) the only difference would be that Older Remus is a bit more mature and ... has suffered more ... I’m so sorry I could have worded that better but my brain is having a hissy fit <3

AND! I actually want Joseph Quinn to play young Remus Lupin? Tell me he wouldn’t fit the role so fricken well?? 

Okay so I think you two would be such a good match! I get the sense that you’re very kind, moreso then you realise. Compassionate and caring also, which would catch Remus’ eye. 

𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑠

・Being so so soft with each other - like holding hands, stroking each other’s hair, swift kisses, rubbing the palm of his hand. 

・He likes to rest his head in your lap. It’s where he feels safest, and the most calm. 

・On full moon nights, (when he isn’t able to take his potion) he will lock himself in a room, chain himself up and you have to listen to his cries/whines/howls all night...

・Being a really really strong couple - your relationship is founded on honesty, real love and understanding. People look up to you guys. 

・He likes it when you hum, or sing. It makes him feel all fuzzy inside - he hadn’t ever dreamed of someone falling in love with him. 

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬

𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

I ship you with Steve Harrington! I get ‘it’ girl vibes from you to be honest, like you would totally be queen bee - but not in a mean way - not at all negative. I just think you would do really well in a leading role! 

𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑠

・Making fun of his hair, trying to mess it up and Steve is like “Hey! Woah woah woah what are you doing little missy!” And he’s swatting your hand away

・THE KIDS LOVE YOU. If Steve is the Mum then you would take a more relaxed approach. Because I love it the thought of him being absolutely worried about these kids and so overprotective. “Dustin put that down,” “Lucas do not make me come over there,” “Max I WILL pull this car over!”

And you’re like, “honey it’s okay. Really it’s alright.” Trying to soothe your flustered boyfriend who is taking this babysitting thing so goddamn seriously

・Making a playlist for him, and it’s about how you feel. He gets giddy dude.  “For me? Babe! I love it!!!” And he scoops you up and spins you around. He plays it all the time. Everywhere. In his room. In his car. In other people’s car. He takes it everywhere with him. 

・Is so much more responsible then people give him credit for - like your parents (or single parent/guardian up to you) thought Steve was a playboy who was  up to no good. But he was literally the one making sure everyone else was safe

・Getting drunk with Steve, can you imagine? He comes up with the most randomest stuff. But I also feel like he would be worried what you’d say (because of what happened with Nancy) but you just gush about how much you love him and never want to be without him. He is literally a blushing mess and won’t stop repeating ‘I love you y/n’

[weird-crackship]

A Heartfelt post about Phillip and Eloise aka when an introvert meets an extrovert (Spoilers talk!)

As a huge Phillip+Eloise lover it truly pains me to read some people ought to dismiss their love story just because they dont like the pairing, thus, makes it okay to omit them and change their dynamics. It is so disrepectful to the people who LOVE this pairing. Common arguments I read (going through Reddit) are:

1. Eloise acted out of character. People are livid that spunky, rebel Eloise did not go to a University but instead “settled down” with a boring single dad who doesnt even spend time with his kids. Seems like people want her to be Arya Stark and go sail to some unknown lands and be a badass monster-slayer. Going the traditional route of MARRIAGE to someone like Eloise is just unimaginable! To be fair though, can anyone blame Eloise for marrying Phillip Crane? The guy is described to be MASSIVE and ELEMENTAL. If Im Eloise - University be damned I’ll move in quickly too and be Phillip’s wife and mother his children! Kidding aside, the fact that Phillip Crane is also described to be a botanist and an academic (also known in modern terms as HOT NERD) will truly understand Eloise wanting to gain more knowledge and go to a University. In fact, I bet he will be the one to even suggest and make arrangements for it to happen.

2. Controversial argument: Marina in the show is a WOC and making her miserable to the point of death just to make room for a boring white pairing does not sit well to some. They prefer for Marina to have her happy ending with Phillip while Eloise does whatever she wants, like be a lesbian. But the thing is, Marina in the books is not even a WOC so Netflix brought this upon themselves. If I didnt read the books, I would totally LOVE for Marina to be happy as I am a sucker of the arrange-marriage-eventually-falling-in-love trope. But the core of the story is already laid out. I do hope though that they tackle depression in such a respectful manner.

3. Phillip is a terrible and lazy father since he’d rather spend time with his plants than with his kids and just leave the work to Eloise and/or the house help. This is, to be fair, the entire crutch of his character - he is scared to be just like his father and do something wrong so he shuts himself out. There are people who’d rather not “be involved” because of the fear of doing something wrong. It is stupid, yes, but it truly happens. Think of absentee fathers. The more you read through it, the more you realize he really is trying but doesnt know how. However, the fact that by the end he had made himself available to his kids is such a character growth. A huge character growth.

Seems like people also forget that Eloise in the book isnt the 17 year old girl we see in the show. She is 28 during the events of To Sir Phillip With Love. She had a quarterlife crisis of the fear of being left behind since Penelope’s marriage threw her off the loop. She was relying on her best friend for spinster companionship. But love has other plans for Penelope and now, for the first time, Eloise felt that she is alone. And knowing Eloise to be someone who is going take action, of course she will go to someone who can offer her a solution, and for that, I totally understand why she acted out of her whim.

Phillip Crane as a love interest is so unlike the “I am a rake but when I got married I became reformed and now I love my wife dearly” which was the theme of the other books. Phillip is a NERD (a hot one though). This just makes it all the more special, intriguing and interesting because he truly did not know what to do with Eloise the first time they met. It is like the hot, popular, extrovert girl falling for the silent, brooding, introvert scholar. Their first meeting is so awkward when they were in the drawing room and both have nothing to say. That is so believable. And that is also the reason I love this book. It is the most realistic out of the Bridgerton books.

As you can tell I just love them. And I hope Netflix dont change the pairing just because a few voices wanted Eloise to not get married or for whatever agenda. Im so protective of them and Ill be so disappointed if I won’t see them come to life. 😢

[salzmine]

Tov headcanons

Been a while since I posted, was busy the last days. I dont have art to show right now but scrolling through the fluri tag I saw someone posted a tov headcanon list and I thought, why not make my own. Also includes postgame babies. 

So here goes.

-Raven is straight, he loves women. Im not sure why people hc hes crushing on Yuri, I dont see how people look at a man thirsting for women in every second sentence and conclude he is gay. Then again there are people who ship Raven with the underaged Rita, so anything is possible I guess. But at some point yall have to accept when a guy is straight. I kinda like Rudith, but I dont think it would work out. Raven is still not over Casey and probably never will be and Judith wants to travel the world with Baul. I kinda like the idea that they had a thing post game but it didnt last long. Judith left, not knowing she was pregnant, and dropped the kid on Raven to take care of after she gave birth, and left again. A half krytian daughter. Shed be insecure about her short pointy ears and lack of or short antennae. She resents her father for giving her his human half. 

-I really wish they had made Rita older. The game hints at Ristelle a lot, but though its cute, I kinda feel uncomfortable shipping an underaged girl with an adult woman. Id rather have them get together when Rita reaches adulthood. They have a daughter (with the help of a potion that she worked on all these years, maybe), who one day as a toddler goes into Ritas lab that she forgot to close the door of, and gets her limbs blasted off by accident. Rita creates mechanical arms for her, but since that incident she distances herself from her child, as to not hurt her again.

-Estelle moves to Halure (likes seen in the credits). Fullfilling her dream, she writes childrens books and reads them to the town kids.

-Repede probably has puppies at some point. Im playing with the idea of him having half monster puppies. If regular pups, one surely goes to Karols kids as pet and companion.

-Karol and Nan marry soon after they reach adulthood. They have two kiddos, maybe more, not sure yet. Also not sure if Karol drops Brave Vesperia and goes back to the guild Nans in.

-I see some hc of Yuri and Flynn being exes. I personally dont like that idea, especially when Yuri is the one who broke it off and Flynn is thirsting after him. Since everyone and their mom seems to be after Yuri I like to think that Yuri should be the one to be after Flynn. Like the “whole world” wants the mc but the mc only has eyes for a certain someone. I think Flynn being the husbando is more common than the other way around, and I see the appeal, but I kinda prefer Flynn being the wifey. A strong independent easily kicking his husbands ass commandant wifey. At first I thought of adoption, but thats pretty cliche, orphans adopting orphans. Also I like the idea of them having biological children. So they do with the help of Vesperias blessing. Flynn gives Yuri (not identical) triplets (might change, played with the idea of two surrogate birthed children via sperm donation and one biological kid through the stars blessing but I kinda tend to triplets). They get them soon after post game. Yuri provides financial support with guild gigs (if Brave Vesperia is still a thing) but mostly is a stay at home dad. Though I much rather prefer couples being established in their teenager phase, and though I hate this trope, I think this is calling for a “they didnt realize they had feelings for eachother, and only figured it out during to post game.” kind of thing. Or maybe they just fell in love during this whole thing. I like to think Yuri is still a virgin despite his bad boy image, would be a refreshing thing, And my pure boy too. Also kinda like Yuri being ace (not enough ace rep out there) and Flynn is a no smutt before marriage kind of guy (maybe demisexual), not that he has any time to think of this sort of things anyway, hes trying to change the world.

-Not sure what to do with Patty. I initially wanted to give her a son, but then I remembered her curse. Since shes probably staying a kid forever (unless she somehow finds a cure) she simply travels the sea, occasionally visiting her old travel companions. (But to be honest I cant really bother to think about it, because I simply dont care for her character)

I might post family stuff eventually.

That being said, I much prefer canon stuff so if any relationship is made canon by namco, my headcanon will not apply anymore.

Also I mostly use the Vesperia cast for my own ideas, since its easier to build on an already established world. So if I ever get my lazy butt to stop being lazy I may just move any OC or idea mentioned here or in future pictures to my own tov unrelated story.

[livinginlandmarketing]

“Asian Lives Matter.”

Those three words — spoken loudly and emphatically by a Black pastor — moved Hyepin Im to tears.

“I felt chills going down my spine,” recalled Im, who leads Faith and Community Empowerment, a nonprofit based in Los Angeles’ Koreatown, which works to connect Asian American faith leaders with the community at large. “I was so grateful. I’ve waited a long time to hear this.”

Im and the Rev. Mark Whitlock, who spoke those words, have had a professional relationship and a personal friendship that has spanned three decades. Whitlock, a longtime Orange County pastor, now leads one of the nation’s largest Black congregations at the Reid Temple in Maryland. He gave a toast at Im’s wedding

Despite that connection, they said, speaking openly about lingering tensions between their respective communities was uncomfortable. It remained a chasm too painful to bridge until March 16, when a gunman opened fire in three Atlanta-area spas killing eight people, six of whom were Asian women.

That incident motivated Whitlock to reach out to Im and start the conversation afresh, Whitlock said.

“The reality is that Asian and Black communities in America have a lot more in common than in contrast,” he said. “We both deal with the evils of white supremacy. We both deal with systemic racism, economic challenges and losing jobs because of the color of our skin.”

Their candid conversations have now expanded to include other faith leaders in Southern California and beyond. Though efforts to build solidarity between Black and Asian communities are not new, there’s an urgency to the work after the past year — the racial reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd compounded by the disproportionate decimation of communities of color by the coronavirus pandemic and an unprecedented surge in anti-Asian hate crimes.

The discussions have been thought-provoking, and the participants vulnerable, honest and empathetic, Im said, giving her hope the work will lead to lasting, fruitful partnerships between members of both communities.

Hyepin Im, left, director of Faith and Community Empowerment along with Bishop Kenneth Ulmer as a group of faith leaders from Southern California are leading a partnership between Black and Asian faith communities on a national level, after a number of recent high-profile videos that showed Black people committing violent hate crimes against Asian Americans. Instead of pitting these two communities against one another, this group of faith leaders has started a conversation and dialogue between the two communities with the hope for healing and solidarity in Los Angeles on Friday, July 9, 2021. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)

History of unity and tension

Black-Asian solidarity has a long history in the United States. In 1869, civil rights icon Frederick Douglass gave a speech taking a stand against restricting Chinese and Japanese migration to the United States. At the turn of the 20th century, African American figures like Henry M. Turner and Ida B. Wells spoke out for Filipino freedom fighters and against American colonization in the Philippines.

In the early 1960s, an unlikely bond between Malcolm X and Yuri Kochiyama, a Japanese human rights activist, helped each other develop global perspectives on human rights.

And in 1982, Black civil rights leaders including the Rev. Jesse Jackson joined forces with Asian American activists to demand justice for Vincent Chin, a Chinese American man who was mistaken for a Japanese man and beaten to death in Detroit by two White autoworkers who blamed Japan for the decline of the U.S. automotive market.

These moments of unity, however, have been punctuated by conflict.

Tensions between the two communities boiled over in early 1991 in Los Angeles after convenience store owner Soon Ja Du, a Korean immigrant, shot to death an African American customer, 15-year-old Latasha Harlins. Evidence in that case showed Du had no reason to shoot the teen from behind as she attempted to leave the store. Du was sentenced to 10 years in state prison, but the sentence was suspended and she was instead placed on five years probation with 400 hours of community service, a $500 restitution and funeral expenses.

The lingering anger and resentment in the Black community over Du’s light sentence exploded a year later, in April 1992, after a jury acquitted four Los Angeles Police Department officers charged with the use of excessive force in the arrest and beating of Rodney King. Widespread riots in Los Angeles resulted in more than 50 deaths and 1,000 injuries and caused about $1 billion in property damage, approximately half of which was sustained by Korean-owned businesses. Those tensions have since eased, and over the past year, there have been renewed efforts to build solidarity between the two communities, largely led by faith leaders and grassroots activists.

After the May 2020 death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of a White police officer in Minneapolis, Asian Americans along with White people, Latinos and other communities of color rallied around the Black Lives Matter movement and the racial reckoning that followed. According to a survey of Asian Americans conducted by AAPI Data, about 67% of Korean Americans, 59% of Asian Indians and 51% of Japanese Americans said they believe Black people face “a lot” of discrimination “in our society today.”

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Healing the divisions

The surge in anti-Asian hate illustrates the pain that Black and Asian communities have in common, said Bishop Kenneth Ulmer, senior pastor at Faithful Central Bible Church in Inglewood. High-profile videos of Black people attacking elderly Asians have led some observers to reduce anti-Asian violence to the trope of Black-Asian conflict that was also perpetrated during the LA riots, he said.

“The truth is there has been no real, meaningful relationship between Black and Asian communities,” he said. “But now, as we see our Asian brothers and sisters being attacked, we’re simply saying: Wow, you too. We’ve seen pictures of Asian men and women minding their business, walking on the street and getting attacked. As Black people, we know what that’s like.”

The first step toward achieving solidarity is to start the conversation, Ulmer said.

“So long as we don’t do that, Koreatown is Koreatown and Watts is Watts,” he said. “For us, the encouragement for the conversation is the common ground of our faith and the recognition that it transcends color, ethnicity, language and neighborhood. Faith is the gathering place. The challenge then is how we go from here to the individual directions we take when we leave that common ground. How can we effect significant change and progress?”

For some faith leaders, efforts to build relationships between communities are not new. Pastor Dave Gibbons, who heads Newsong Church in Santa Ana, said his multi-ethnic congregation has had Black people in leadership for many years now and even planted a predominantly African American church in Culver City more than 20 years ago. Yet, Gibbons said, he has always been careful not to be political. Floyd’s death changed that, he said.

“I felt I needed to say something and I decided to take a stand,” Gibbons said. “I’ve always stood up for the Black community and for anti-racism, but I felt what I say needs to be clearer, more pronounced and articulated.”

Pastor Dave Gibbons, left, of the Newsong Church and Darryl Brumfield, right, a teaching pastor at the church and an advisory board member, stand in the sanctuary on Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Santa Ana. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Reconciliation is part of Newsong’s DNA, said Gibbons, who was born to a Korean mother and an Irish American father. Feeling pain is part of the hard work of reconciliation, he said.

“You have to let people sit in that pain and listen to one another,” Gibbons said. We need to step into the tension as a listener, a learner and a lover.”

Lessons in diversity and stereotypes

For Darryl Brumfield, a teaching pastor at Newsong who has enjoyed a 20-year friendship with Gibbons, a logical first step is to acknowledge that “white systemic racism was not an injustice on any one minority, but on all minorities.”

Brumfield is an African American man who grew up in Compton in the 1950s, in a time when White people were moving out of the city and Asians moving in. Asians were mostly store owners and Black people were their customers, he recalled.

As a child, the only view of “Asian life” he had was through his neighbor’s window. He saw the family eat together. The children studied as Brumfield watched television and his mother would ask him: “Why can’t you be more like those Asian kids and pick up your books?”

“I stereotyped them as the model minority too, which I learned later, was not right,” Brumfield said. “I was the same as people who marginalized and looked at me as one-dimensional. I’ve learned about the rich diversity within the Asian community and how there are connections and walls within that community.”

This is true for African Americans as well, Brumfield said. His wife is a Black woman from Costa Rica. His brother-in-law is from Nigeria and his best friend is from St. Lucia, an island in the Caribbean.

“People might just see four Black people at the table,” Brumfield said. “But they all have different stories. When I came to Newsong, I saw that same rich diversity in the Asian community.”

While a young Brumfield worked in an Asian-owned store in Compton, the Rev. Walter Kim worked a summer job in high school at his uncle’s clothing store in New York City’s Times Square where most of the employees and clientele were African American.

“That was a formative experience for me because I learned about some of the challenges that African Americans faced historically, which we weren’t always privy to in the Korean American world,” said Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals. “I learned not from a history book, but from a community that was vibrant, active and engaged.”

Kim has been engaged in conversations recently with groups of faith leaders convened by Im and Whitlock. He said he has learned from this group that it is pain that first draws Black people and Asians together.

“It’s powerful to see the depth of hurt and suspicion and wariness of the Black community toward Asian Americans,” he said. “These are not isolated incidents, but numerous persistent conflicts. It’s a hard thing to hear, but also so important to hear.”

The friendships he is developing through this group are precious because their honesty is refreshing, Kim said. He has been struck by the impact the “model minority myth” has had on Black Americans and the education system as a whole.

“It’s one thing to read about it in a newspaper or journal,” he said. “But to actually hear that from a Black person who experienced disadvantage because they were compared with Asians — that was very painful. It’s no longer a statistic for me. It’s a story. It’s real now.”

Challenges and pitfalls

Im’s presentation to a group of Black faith leaders about disadvantages that Asian Americans face in terms of access to health care, education, jobs and housing was “eye-opening,” said Barbara Williams-Skinner, CEO and co-founder of the Baltimore-based Skinner Leadership Institute, which trains faith leaders.

“Organizations should start building (solidarity) into their priorities,” she said. “It wasn’t a priority for us before, but it is now. We need to reach people where they are so we can stop hating and start connecting. The alienation is real, but we have a lot more to gain by coming together than we do by continuing with that alienation. We need combined voices articulating the need for solidarity. We can start by getting our churches across the racial divide.”

It is important to focus these efforts at solidarity on mutual understanding so it is sustainable, said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder of AAPI Data and director of UC Riverside’s Center for Social Innovation.

“It’s not just about focusing on areas of common interest, but actually making change in communities,” he said. “For example, when people hire in ethnic enclave economies they tend to hire family members or friends. They could think about hiring local. Building solidarity is not just about lowering prejudice, but to figure out what the economic and policy interests are, and to support that.”

Also, if part of what brought communities together is crisis, they may not stay together once the crisis recedes, Ramakrishnan said.

“That’s where leadership and funding play a role,” he said. “It’s hard to keep communities together if there is no funding to staff that solidarity.”

Learning each other’s history and stories is a crucial part of understanding each other, said Jemar Tisby, deputy director of narrative and advocacy at The Center for Anti Racist Research housed in Boston University and led by Ibram X. Kendi. One of the pitfalls in this type of work is the tendency to collapse distinct narratives into a single narrative, Tisby said.

“People of Asian descent have their own stories and history when it comes to racial oppression, triumph and struggles,” he  said. “Similarly, (Black people) have our own story. We shouldn’t lose the specificity of each of our stories in an attempt to foster solidarity. The challenge is to maintain your unique history and identity while partnering with others.”

While Black people cannot claim to own all social movements, Tisby said, history shows that whenever Black people were able to make progress, other racial groups benefited as well.

“In the midst of long-overdue cooperation, we are never to forget that the main vector of division in this country is between Black and White,” he said. “This is not to say any other group is not important. But if you want to cut off the head of the snake, you have to address anti-Black racism.”

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Speaking up

Faith leaders’ voices can be particularly impactful in this push for understanding and solidarity because both Black and Asian communities have strong connections to their churches, Im said. In the Korean community alone, about 75% are churchgoers, she said.

“It’s powerful to hear Black leaders acknowledge for the first time that they may have overlooked other communities of color in the fight for social justice,” she said. “It’s been heartwarming to see such support from Black leaders who have used their voices to speak up for the Asian community.”

Im hopes this model of using dialogue and storytelling to build solidarity helps take the two communities further down the road.

“It’s not based on explaining away things saying it’s a cultural difference,” she said. “It’s about truly understanding that we’re all human beings and that we’re on the same team. My hope is that faith leaders who have the power to influence can also let go of their preconceived notions and completely engage in this effort.”

Whitlock said Black faith leaders must have the courage to say those three words that moved his friend, Im, to tears.

“Asian lives matter, and they matter on their own,” he said. “I will acknowledge that I took my Asian brothers and sisters for granted. I was floored to hear (Im) talk about challenges they had with home ownership, unemployment and criminal justice. I would not have been as insensitive as I was, had I known they were being treated as badly as we are. I saw Asians as White people before. All of a sudden, now, I see the truth.”

Asian Americans are not the model minority, but they are an “invisible community,” Whitlock said.

“We must see their pain, anxiety, tears and depression,” he said. “I had to criticize myself because I was sweeping these issues under the rug. We must talk about it and share our own biases. We must see we have more in common than not. Silence is not acceptable.”

-on July 09, 2021 at 10:52AM by Deepa Bharath

[ryntaia]

Title: Etwas Passierte Diese Woche

Fandom: Yu Gi Oh

Rating: M (Strong child abuse) 

Genre: Angst/Friendship

Pairing: Implied KaiJou/Puppyshipping/Violetshipping

Summary: Kaiba Seto, eleven years old, and learning German from Kaiba Gozuburo. He doesn’t have time to be distracted. Yet for one week, he is. 

Status: Complete

Read on Ao3!

Read on FF.net!

Or read below the cut.

Sunday – Sonntag

           This week, he was learning German.

            Last week it was English. The week before that it was Finnish. It’s all blurring together at this point for Kaiba Seto. In the back of his young mind he already knows that the mush these languages are blending into will infuriate Gozaburo. As if instinct his hand lifted to his neck to caress the marks around it; cuts and bruises from a tightened collar. He has passed out enough to know that his adoptive father is not joking when he pushes the riding crop under his chin and tightens the loop around his collar.

           His eyes blurred; it has only been a year with the megalomaniac but it felt like decades off his life. In the back of his mind he blearily tried to remember why he’s there; faintly he thought of wild black hair and lost dark eyes. A child weak and meek, to protect. Seto grimaced; his folly has put him right out of the frying pan and into the fire. It had taken all he had to distract Gozaburo from Mokuba and even after all of that effort, the man would barely let him see his brother.

           “Sie hat einen Vogal, sie hat niche alle Tassen im Schrank.” He processed his boorish pronunciation of the words in the book before him and shook his head. It wouldn’t do; his accent was still too thickly Japanese. Gozaburo had snapped the riding crop for far less than that. “Nul acht funfzehn…”

           A buzzing sound broke him out of his reverie.

           The young child cautiously strode to the door of the library to catch an entourage of guards rushing down the hall. Glancing back and forth down the hall, he slipped out of his room to creep quietly down the halls. The bodyguards were busy and Gozaburo was likely happily snoring in his sleep—Seto wrinkled his nose at the thought, bidding back a dark feeling that had been growing over the past few months to interrupt his adoptive father’s sleep with a knife in the neck. He never would do that, though.

           It wouldn’t be quite enough.

           Instead he carefully followed after the trope of guards. The back of Seto’s mind questioned his logic; he had work to do, even if it was only Sunday. He couldn’t slack or else there would be consequences to face. But there was that small piece inside him, that very obnoxious annoying child that stomped its feet and demanded to know what was going on. Usually easy to ignore but…well, it was late and he was a bit out of it. So after them he followed.

           Passing through the double doors that lead outside the house, he was greeted with a bit of a strange sight. The massive guards of the Kaiba manor….holding up a small child by the cuff of his shirt as the boy struggled vehemently and swore loudly. Seto wasn’t unused to the sight of the guards hurting children, per se—they would do it to him on Gozaburo’s command—but they rarely would push violence onto children outside of the manor or the KaibaCorp building. Too easy to stir up ugly press if anyone saw the employees harassing children.

           Then again, if the boy’s screaming expletives and obnoxious kicking was any sign, he wasn’t the type who encouraged people to want to be around him. He would’ve thought that any child with common sense would know not to yell and kick at six foot tall men with bulging muscles in suits, but apparently this one either lacked that sense or was arrogant enough to just not care. Judging by his behavior it was possibly a combination of the two.

           “What’s going on?” Seto’s voice was soft and quiet, yet commanding and icy. It sparked some sense of pride in him that it brought pause to all of the men in front of him, cautiously looking backwards at the young heir to the company. After they didn’t answer his question, he pressed on, his tone more demanding. “Did you not hear me? What’s going on here?”

           “Y-young master,” The largest man stumbled over his words, trying to find what to say. The boy dangling from his grip shot him an annoyed look; Seto could see the small hands curling into fists. “We saw this child on the surveillance camera. He was trespassing in the manor’s gardens.”

           “So instead of simply tossing him out, you’re sitting here picking fights with eleven year olds?” Seto said, making the annoyance in his voice as clear as possible. The bodyguards exchanged looks. They were all under the control of Gozaburo yet something about the youthful Kaiba ward made a lot of the housing staff nervous. He liked it better that way, the lot of fools they were. The less they liked him the less likely it was that they would bother him.

           “We thought that, uh, he might be…trouble,” The guard said lamely.

           “You thought that a grade schooler would be trouble.”

           “I, well, it’s possible?”

           “Put him down, you idiot.”

           “Y-yes, young master.”

           The minute the other boy hit the ground, he turned on the heel of his foot and spat at the foot of the bodyguard. Seto’s eyes widened a fraction; did this child have no sense of self-preservation? Apparently not, as he immediately launched forward to kick the massive man in the knee right afterwards. A howl of pain filled the quiet night and a vein of frustration pulsed at Kaiba Seto’s forehead as the odd boy turned to run off through the gardens and towards the gates.

           Before he did, though, he hazarded a glance at the brunette.  

Monday – Montag

           Hazel. Yes, they were hazel eyes. The color had evaded Seto in the moment that the other boy had glanced at him. He tapped the tip of his mechanical pencil against the paper absentmindedly. It had been a long time since he had felt this unfocused, and his stomach turned at the idea of being caught acting so nonchalant, but his own mind had fixated on the odd happenings of the previous night. The cowardly, idiotic guards and the mysterious boy who seemed to be fueled by pure aggression.

           In retrospect it was more than the aggression. The boy they had caught was, for lack of a better word, a bit unusual. He stood out. Seto hadn’t focused on it the actual evening prior but when he mused on the events, the pieces started to click together. Hazel eyes, those weren’t uncommon, although they leaned more towards that odd shade that looked like the honey that Gozaburo’s maids put in his tea. But the Kaiba family lived in Japan. One could find plenty of hazel-eyed children in Japan, but one could rarely see a blonde child running around haphazardly.

           And so aggressive. American, perhaps.

           But he realized that couldn’t be right either; the child had possessed features that were definitely Japanese. Seto groaned in irritation, trying to focus back on the homework sheet in front of him—he had a good twelve more to finish before noon and yet he had spent a good whole of the morning dwelling on the happenings of the previous night. With a groan, he stood to slam open the window; perhaps some fresh air would clear his mind.

           It didn’t.

           Mostly because down in the garden, crouching by the entrance of the hedge maze, was the same boy from last night.

           Seto could feel irritation pounding at his ears as he stormed downstairs, homework forgotten; none of the maids stopped him, only exchanged worried glances. They knew all too well that the ward of the household was beginning to pick up on Gozaburo’s less desirable tendencies, most particularly his paper thin patience and irritability. If the master of the house wished to do something about it then he could but for now, the house staff let him by without a complaint. The brunette youth was soon standing out in the garden with an incredulous look on his already sharp features.

           The other child was digging around in the hedge.

           “What,” Seto asked slowly, letting his shadow fall over the blonde. “Do you think you are doing back here, exactly?”

           The kid looked up, apparently surprised. Then he stuck his tongue out obstinately, returning to digging through the thick leaves of the hedge maze. Seto fumed internally; he had helped this boy from getting his idiotic self hurt only the night before, and this was how he was going to treat the brunette? This shameless, low bred…

           “Bonkotsu!” Seto snapped. That caught the blonde’s attention; he whipped his head up to glare at the other boy and rose to his feet to step threateningly towards the wealthy heir. Seto didn’t as much as twitch. The intruder was not taller than him and he was not older than him, and chances were that if he wanted to pick a fight that he wouldn’t be able to hold his own. The Kaiba family had already enrolled him in regular self-defense lessons.

           “What’dya call me, huh?!” The blonde barked. “Screw off!”

           “One would think that you’d show some modicum of respect to someone who had HELPED you.” Seto replied, shifting his weight from foot to foot as his crossed his arms and glared harshly at the other. The blonde’s look of annoyance didn’t fade, lower lip jutted out in annoyance, but he didn’t seem to have a retort for that comment. Silence overtook the two boys for a slight moment.

           “….’m lookin’ for my sister’s ball.”

           Seto was a bit thrown off by that. He hadn’t actually expected a reply that was anything but cursing; that was all the blonde kid had done so far anyways. With his voice more controlled, Seto could detect the slightest hints of an accent he couldn’t quite peg—Kansai, maybe? He wasn’t sure. All he could tell was that the boy was kicking his hole filled sneakers back and forth in the dirt that lined the pathway of the hedge maze, eyes squarely focused on his feet. As if he was embarrassed with himself or something. One half of his mind was proud of himself for humiliating the boy. The other half tugged at his chest when he heard the word sister.

           “Was that why you came in last night too?”

           “Well, yeah. She knocked it over earlier and I jumped the gate.”

           “…I see.” Seto took a deep breath. “If its still here then its already been taken inside by the garden staff. It won’t be out here.”

           “Wha…huh? Are you serious?” The blonde gaped stupidly. Seto nodded slowly. “Oh maaaan, are you SERIOUS?! I jumped the goddamn gate twice for nothing!”

           “Come back tomorrow. I’ll…see what I can do.”

           Seto wasn’t sure what had compelled him to say what he said. Maybe it’s the panic in the blonde’s voice, or maybe it’s the little bit at the back of his head that has sympathy for any brother looking out for a sibling. Maybe it’s the fact that the blonde clearly didn’t think any of this through and his idiotic overreacting is charming in its own way. Whatever it is, he received a weird look for it.

           But the blonde nodded anyways.

Tuesday – Dienstag

           It’s probably the first time that Kaiba Seto had a guest since he and his brother moved in with Gozaburo. Although it’s hard to call the weird kid, whose name he didn’t even know, a guest. The blonde seemed to agree; his eyes were darting back and forth nervously. Judging by the state of the kid’s clothing, Seto could easily figure that the ratty mess had never set foot anywhere near a house as nice as the Kaiba Manor. His earlier insult of ‘bonkotsu’ might have been too generous, even—the boy was so out of his element that it was almost funny.

           “Uh, this place is…uh, big.” The blonde said lamely. Seto nodded, a smile threatening to flicker on his lips. “This is all just for one family? I thought it was a club or somethin’…you like, super rich or something?”

           “My family is quite wealthy.” Seto replied shortly, resting his hand on the cool metal of the doorknob to the garden supplies room. “My…father owns a company that produces a large amount of military technology. It’s quite lucrative. Now, are you coming or not?”

           “Wha…oh, we’re here?”

           As if he expected us to be walking forever. There’s only so much manor here.

           Behind the door is a bevy of gardening supplies for the always short handed gardening staff. It was impossible to ever be fully staffed for the huge expanse that was the Kaiba Manor gardens. Despite any of this, though, the blonde immediately dove into a pile of the supplies in an effort to find what he wanted. Seto raised an eyebrow; he certainly wasn’t going to find his sister’s ball alongside the garden sheers.

           “If its here then it will be in the basket in the back.”

           Immediately the blonde looked up, nodding determinedly as he dove into the basket. The outsider didn’t have any of the tact that the staff of the manor had. He acted more akin to the wilder children of the orphanage. Seto narrowed his eyes at that; his time now was certainly not pleasant but he had no love lost for that filthy rathole either. The other children behaved like animals, treated THEM like animals, treated Mokuba like a disposable punching bag. It was the determination of desperation to be the last man standing in a hellhole.

           All that had let Seto hold on was his brother.

           I’m looking for my sister’s ball.

           He paused.

           “What were you and your sister doing over on this side of town?” Seto asked, fingers tightly gripping together behind his back. Like hell he was going to let a stranger see his frustration and confusion. The blonde looked up with his head cocked to one side, then coughed awkwardly into his head. “Well? I believe its fair to say that this isn’t your neighborhood. So why were you loitering around our Manor?”

           “…It’s none of your business.”

           “I won’t let you have your sister’s ball back if you don’t tell me.”

           The blonde paused, irritation scrawled over his features as he looked back to the brunette. Seto didn’t feel particularly proud of himself—his word had come out like a little kid who was upset about not getting the right fast food toy. He had put himself above the child but not by much thanks to his poor delivery. Deep in his head he swore that he’d improve on that; he couldn’t be sounding like a child, even if he was one. It would allow too much potential room for Gozaburo to punish ‘unworthy’ mannerisms.

           “…M’dad dumped us there, alright?” He sighed. “He does it sometimes when he’s really drunk. Are you goddamn happy?”

           Dumped?

           Seto suddenly wished he hadn’t pushed the issue. The room went silent for several minutes as he observed the blonde move carefully through the basket, finally bringing up what looked like a pile of deflated rubber. It was hanging off a pair of old and rusty garden sheers that had been out of use for god only knew how long. The rubber had bright pink and yellow patterns across, and what looked like small white cats printed across it.

           The blonde sighed in irritation.

           “Great.”

           “I believe there might be a suitable replacement. I’ll have to check with the staff about it.”

           There he went again, saying things that he never intended to say. Seto felt a bit like a fool under the gaze of this other kid, a feeling he wasn’t quite used to. Despite the other boy’s somewhat punkish behavior and clothing, he had eyes that could drill right into the back of a grown man’s skull. He was somehow both intimidating and not at all, intimidated and yet fearless of the situation he had placed himself in not once but twice.

           “Come back tomorrow.”

           Was auch immer sein wird, wird sein.

           Whatever will be, will be.

Wednesday – Mittwoch

           “I didn’t catch your name.”

           Seto blinked as he handed the ball to the blonde boy; it’s an old one that Mokuba used to play with, now replaced with a newer one with some sort of cartoons on it. It wasn’t as if the one he was giving away had any sentimental value. If anything, it had nothing but memories of blood and beatings from orphan fists attached to it, so the brunette was more than willing to give it away. It certainly wasn’t ‘cute white kitties’ like a little girl would prefer but it was something and he dared the brat’s sister to challenge it.

           “And I didn’t catch yours.” Seto replied sharply; it was more of a challenge than it was a genuine question. The blonde raised a brow at this, cocking his head to the side; apparently Seto’s aggression didn’t quite get to him. Carefully he bounced the ball a few times to test it out.

           “I’m not tellin’ you my name, rich boy. You’ll try to sue me for trespassing or something.”

           “I assure you, bonkotsu, if I wanted to do that then I would’ve done it already.” Seto said irritably; the blonde boy bit his lip in frustration. He seemed to really dislike that nickname. The brunette filed the thought to the back of his mind to remember (the commoner doesn’t like being called a commoner) but made no move to apologize. Finally, “If it annoys you so much then just tell me what your name is.”

           “I thought this was to get YOU to tell me YOUR name.”

           “I suppose the odds changed against you, then.”

           “Katsuya. It’s Katsuya.” Seto waited patiently; there was no more. “Don’t look at me like that! I’m not tellin’ you my whole name.”

           “Why not?”

           “It…its not a common last name.”

           He was lying, Seto could tell, but there was no point pushing the issue. It was obvious that Katsuya was not planning to reveal much of his personal information. Again the brunette found himself wondering why he even cared. Maybe he was just so far removed from other children that actually encountering another boy his age felt near novel. Gozaburo didn’t allow Seto much interaction with other children; the only one he was really allowed to speak to on a regular basis was his younger brother and even that was heavily controlled.

           This was not. Nothing about this felt controlled.

           Seto wasn’t sure he liked that, but then, he wasn’t even really sure what to make of this situation as a whole.

           “Do you like games?” He found himself suddenly saying. Katsuya stopped bouncing the ball in his hands to stare blankly at the brunette. “I mean like card games and board games.”

           “Uhh, I don’t really play board games much…” Katsuya scratched his cheek awkwardly; he clearly was having trouble figuring out why the brunette was keeping him up like this. Seto would’ve liked an answer to that question himself but he was not about to let it show.  “…m’dad taught me some card games, though. I can play blackjack.”

           “I see…”

           Silence. Again.

           “Y’wanna play blackjack?”

           “…I suppose.”

           He should’ve been doing his worksheets, and he knew that. He should’ve been reading those thick German books with their words that sounded like choking on spit. He should’ve been refining his accent in the language and perfecting it for business practices. He should’ve been doing anything other than sitting down in the garden supplies closet to take out the deck of standard cards in his pockets to lay them down and play several rounds of blackjack with this stranger who he barely trusted and who barely trusted him.

           Yet he did anyways.

           Kaiba Seto had been surprising himself a lot, lately.

           The other boy was clearly no prodigy in gaming like he was, though. Certainly it could be said that blackjack was a game of luck in the end but one usually had to utilize some kind of logic and sense to really become good at it. Katsuya seemed to  have streaks of random good luck but his form was sloppy, almost as if his learning of the game was second-hand rather than genuinely taught. He surprised Seto once or twice but never on purpose.

           He ended up playing the blonde enough rounds to get all the way to sunset, though, so there was something to be said for Katsuya anyhow. Somehow, when the boy was leaving, he ended up being invited to come back again.

           Surprising that he would agree without asking for Seto’s name again.

           An unfocused mind, indeed.

Thursday – Donnerstag

           The blonde didn’t come on Thursday.

           Seto couldn’t comprehend it. The boy had come back every time before when he was asked—no, TOLD. Irritation itched at the back of his skull as he scribbled down German phrases. The brunette had gone back to his assignments from Gozaburo almost immediately, as they had been nagging him the entire week. But it was now hard to focus; his mind was going on over the rounds of blackjack and the one or two hands that Katsuya had won. Stressfully trying to remember the details of their little game, mildly remembering how he noticed the sunset because it dappled the blonde of Katsuya’s hair.

           It was frustrating.

           Sehr nervig…very annoying.

           He couldn’t even figure out why he should care, anyways.

           The assignments still lay half done for hours.

Friday – Freitag

           “Why didn’t you come yesterday?”

           Katsuya looked up from the blackjack game that Seto had engaged him in again. He wasn’t wearing his usual ratty clothing, now replaced by a suspiciously oversized sweater. It was very ill suiting for the weather—the boy was more than likely sweltering in the heat. Seto wasn’t about to ask questions, though. He already had figured out that Katsuya did what he wanted and wasn’t interested in any questioning towards his actions.

           He did hate when the blonde didn’t answer his questions, though.

           “Katsuya.” He pressed. “Erklären.”

           The blonde gave him a weird look and Seto had to resist a groan. He had been using German all throughout the day, all throughout the blackjack game, and he had gotten the same glance from the blonde every time he had done it. But he couldn’t focus just on these petty games. He just COULDN’T. He could feel the collar already tightening around his neck just at the thought, the burning riding crop scars on his back protesting at the mere idea.

           Katsuya was still staring at him blankly.

           Seto sighed.

           “Explain.”

           “Oh. It’s none of your goddamn business. Hit me.” Katsuya said easily, as if he had said the same thing time and time again. His voice was still muffled by the sweater; Seto studied it carefully as he placed another card out in front of the blonde. As Katsuya swore up a storm at his bad luck—pulling a king, putting him way past twenty on—the brunette carefully reached a manicured finger out to pull the sweater away from his face.

           Blood.

           A huge, welting bandage on his cheek that was coated with dried blood.

           His finger snapped back immediately; that imaginary collar around his neck seemed to tighten more as Katsuya slapped his hands across the sweater and pushed it over his face. The cards dropped between them, hitting the floor and echoing in their ears. Seto processed quickly that the blonde was glaring almost homicidally at him now. Defensively, like an animal caught in a trap.

           Aber Warum…But why?

           Nein.

           You aren’t stupid, Seto. You know WHY.

           He played the rest of the game through quietly, not mentioning the sweater or the dried and bloodied wound on the other boy’s cheek. Katsuya seemed to appreciate the withdrawal from discussion.

           It wasn’t like Seto wanted to talk about when Gozaburo hit him, either.

           The hand played through.

           No one won.

           Not really.

           But something tugged at Seto and made that person across from him feel a little less distant, even as he tried to ignore the appreciation in the blonde’s eyes.

           Komm morgen zurück?

           Come back tomorrow.

           I’m starting to miss you.

Saturday – Saamstag

           He hadn’t been expected to be summoned to Kaiba Gozaburo’s study first thing in the morning. Certainly, he was expected to have an audience with the man at least once a day for ‘personalized training’. But it wasn’t like the man had any personal interest in either of his sons. Seto was more like a toy for the man to play with as he willed, and Mokuba may as well not be there for all that Gozaburo cared. Though Seto had to admit the latter was probably for the best. The last thing he wanted was Gozaburo focusing his attention on Mokuba.

           Mokuba watched him with huge, fretful black eyes as he entered the polished study of the megalomaniac that he laughably called a parent. Seto turned around to pointedly shut the door in his little brother’s face; the last thing that Mokuba needed was to see whatever it was that Gozaburo had in mind for him. It was cruel but it was what had to be done.

           He tried to remind himself of this as he clicked the lock shut and turned to the middle-aged businessman.

           Gozaburo stood with his back facing the boy, dark against the morning light of the window. One hand held out from his massive body, gesturing the small child forward to stand beside him. Seto swallowed his fear, ignored the tugging sensation that ghosted his neck, and strode up as confidently as he could to stand aside the intimidating creature that called itself his ‘father’ now.

One thick hand grasped tightly—too tightly—on his shoulder. Seto bit back the sensation of pain as he stared out the window with Gozaburo. They looked out on the garden that faced towards the gate, down at the hedge maze that Seto had been in just a few days ago. Down at the doorstop where, in this early morning light, no one stood.

           “Your friend is coming, Seto.”

           His resolve was immediately chipped at.

           Katsuya was standing at the gate—he had just arrived—and was being spoken to by one of the maids. Their conversation didn’t seem to be unpleasant but considering where he was, Seto could only have a bad feeling about the direction this was about to go. Especially as Gozaburo’s grip on his shoulder increased to a near burning level.

           “Hold out your hand, Seto.”

           He obliged the older man, biting his lip furiously and narrowing his dark blue eyes. In his hands Gozaburo placed a small button controller. Seto looked at it curiously, unable to control a feeling of discomfort twisting up in his stomach. He hazarded a quick glance at his adoptive father; he wore a smirk across his aging features, malevolence gleaming in his eyes.

           His grip tightened.

           “Report the child to security, Seto. He’s trespassing.”

           “No he’s not, I invited—”

           “No, Seto. You didn’t. Because if you did, then you have failed to learn a damn thing.” Gozaburo interrupted. The brunette felt as if his shoulder was about to dislocate with the grip held on him. “You are a Kaiba. That down there is a commoner. Your duty is to present me with what I need, do the work I require of you, and become worthy of this name. That down there has nothing to do with any of it so therefore, has nothing to do with you.”

           “What…”

           The hand on his shoulder loosened, rubbed Seto’s sore arm almost soothingly; somehow this was even more unnerving. He clutched the remote in his hand tightly as he looked down on the maid and the blonde child. He still was wearing that ungainly sweater, covering that sore on his face. But…

           “You know, the more time you spend with other children the less time you have to spend on my lessons. If you’re that unworthy than perhaps I’ll switch my focus to Mokuba.”

           He pressed down on the remote with his thumb, hard.

           In a way he could say he didn’t want to see this, that Gozaburo had held him there against his will. But he hadn’t. With dull, fading blue eyes he watched over the whole ordeal as blood splattered and the wound on the blonde’s cheek tore open again. Spit and blood was left where the boy had been talking with the maid, now left aghast as the guards bodily threw Katsuya out the gate of the Kaiba Manor. He could say he didn’t watch all of this of his own will.

           He could say that.

           But he wouldn’t.

           Because watching it helped what was left of him die.

           “A Kaiba shouldn’t be interacting with the common people. You have so much more that you have to do to prove yourself to me, Seto.”

           He was silent for a moment. Then…

           “Da liegt der Hund begraben.”

           Gozaburo chuckled darkly.

           “How morose.”

           That’s where the dog is buried.

[laveusa-a-blog]

really  LONG  CHARACTER  SURVEY.        RULES.  repost ,   don’t  reblog  !    tag  10  ! good  luck  !        TAGGED.  nobody ;  stole it         TAGGING.  once again, knock urself out

BASICS.

  FULL  NAME :   amélie lacroix   NICKNAME :   widowmaker, widow, la fatale   AGE :   thirty three.   BIRTHDAY :   feb. 18th.   ETHNIC  GROUP : caucasian  /  white.   NATIONALITY :   french.   LANGUAGE / S : european french, savoyard dialect, english, spanish   SEXUAL  ORIENTATION :   bisexual.   ROMANTIC  ORIENTATION :  tends to avoid and run from romantic involvement in general   RELATIONSHIP  STATUS :   widowed   CLASS :   upper class/very wealthy   HOME  TOWN / AREA :   lovagny, haute savoie, france   CURRENT  HOME :   annecy, france ; nice, france ; paris, france ; bordeaux, france   PROFESSION :   assassin / high ranking talon operative ( formerly a ballet dancer / instructor to young children )

PHYSICAL.

  HAIR :  very, very long. kept in very good condition --- dark blue/indigo color. formerly brunette.   EYES :   formerly blue, now golden. sharp, cold, cunning. wide set.   NOSE :   small, pretty nose -- sharp, distinct.   FACE :   heart shaped, angled, gaunt. sharp and prominent cheekbones.   LIPS :   soft, prominent, and plump. typically pursed slightly.  COMPLEXION :   full body cyanosis (pale blue due to chronic hypoxia)   BLEMISHES :  other than scars and minor contusions, no.   SCARS :   most prominent one is a large, faint scar running down her sternum from heart surgery. it has faded considerably, but is noticeable up close and under enough lighting.   TATTOOS :  both involuntary, but yes -- ‘araignée du soir, cauchemar’ , a play on words of a french proverb, is on her forearm. a large motif of a black widow spider is on her back.   HEIGHT :   5′9′’   WEIGHT :   ~130  lbs  .   BUILD :  slender, athletic, and curvy. dancer’s body.   FEATURES :   sharp and distinct, beautiful. not very expressive.   ALLERGIES :   none  .  USUAL  HAIR  STYLE :  high ponytail -- she will sometimes wear it loose when not working.   USUAL  FACE  LOOK :  she’s very good at makeup and is almost never seen without it. for features, see above.   USUAL  CLOTHING :   the suit is only worn on missions. when not working, she is very well-dressed and wears high fashion and expensive materials -- she is extremely fashionable. long coats and darker colors, usually -- favors tops with low necklines. high heels always, as well as very pricey sunglasses to help mask her identity. during the summer, she will wear form-fitting maxi dresses that are low-cut front and back.

PSYCHOLOGY.

  FEAR / S : loss of control, intimacy, and emotions. she’s also wary of betrayal and is hesitant to trust and open up to others.   ASPIRATION / S :   no clear aspirations. she does what she is ordered to -- that’s the end of it.   POSITIVE  TRAITS :  polite, intelligent, adaptable, assertive, decisive.   NEGATIVE  TRAITS :   abusive, sadistic, insensitive, shallow, snobby, delusional, insecure, withdrawn, manipulative, melodramatic, possessive.   ZODIAC :   aquarius.   TEMPEREMENT :   choleric.   SOUL  TYPE / S :   thinker, hunter.   ANIMALS :   wildcat, swan   VICE  HABIT / S :  chain cigarette smoker, cocaine addict.   FAITH : raised  catholic  ,  abandoned religion  .   GHOSTS ? :   no .   AFTERLIFE ? :  no.   REINCARNATION ? :   no  .   ALIENS ? :  no  .   POLITICAL  ALIGNMENT :   she does not care   ECONOMIC  PREFERENCE :   again, she does not care   SOCIOPOLITICAL  POSITION :  none .   EDUCATION  LEVEL :   lycée ( high school )

FAMILY.

  FATHER :  marie-laure moreau (deceased)   MOTHER :   léonard moreau (deceased)   SIBLINGS :   none  .   EXTENDED  FAMILY :   n / a  .   NAME  MEANING / S :   amélie (french origin) -- hard working, industrious, striving.   HISTORICAL  CONNECTION ? : named after her grandmother.

FAVORITES.

  BOOK :  no favorite, but tends to favor nonfiction and more serious titles.   MOVIE :  again, no specific favorite, but she likes french films/horror films/action films.     5  SONGS :   ONE, TWO .    DEITY :   n/a.   HOLIDAY :  july 14th (bastille day)   MONTH :   april   SEASON :   spring .   PLACE :   nice, france  .   WEATHER :   warm, but not hot. partly cloudy.   SOUND :  soft music or complete silence  .   SCENT / S :   lavender, new books, cigarette smoke, clean sheets and fabric.   TASTE / S :   café au lait, strong coffee. anything with sweet or buttery undertones makes her incredibly nostalgic.   FEEL / S : satin, silk, velvet, bare skin   ANIMAL / S :   arachnids, insects.   NUMBER :  8.   COLORS :   pale and navy blue, shades of purple and gold

EXTRA.

  TALENTS :   flawless  aim  , talented ballet dancer,  talented baker and chef.   BAD  AT : communication and emotional expression. struggles in forming relationships and sympathizing with others -- in general she just doesn’t really understand morality due to her lack of a real conscience   TURN  ONS :   the real question is what doesn’t. (see below). but violence/blood are big ones for her.   TURN  OFFS :  emotional intimacy and dropping the big l word on her are guaranteed to turn her off immediately. also bad hygiene, uncleanliness, poor manners.   HOBBIES :   singing, dancing, baking/cooking, reading, gardening.   TROPES :   and i must scream ,  absolute cleavage ,  arachnid appearance/attire , blood knight , brainwashed and crazy , cold blooded torture , cold sniper , the dreaded , fate worse than death , everyone looks sexier if french , death seeker, french jerk , tragic villain, yellow eyes of sneakiness.   AESTHETIC  TAGS :   guns  .  bullets  .  scars  .  purple  neon  .  blood .  lipstick . cityscapes .  sharp objects . velvet . silk .  spiders . sea .  lavender .  lace . cigarettes . scratches . tears . diamonds . roses .    GPOY  QUOTES : “ I’m a cobra and the Gods / help me / unscar my skin and swallow my heart whole and eat men alive.” — Melissa Lee-Houghton, from “Cobra,” Sunshine 

FC INFO.

  MAIN  FC / S :   i dont really have/use one but im 99% sure that dorothée gilbert would be who i’d choose so i’m going with her   ALT  FC / S :     OLDER  FC / S :     YOUNGER  FC / S :     VOICE  CLAIM / S :   chloé hollings who is literally her voice actress   GENDERBENT  FC / S :  

MUN QUESTIONS.

  Q1 :   if  you  could  write  your  character  your  way  in  their  own  movie ,   what  would  it  be  called ,  what  style  would  it  be  filmed  in ,  and  what  would  it  be  about ?          A1 :   it’d be called “widowmaker =/= amelie lacroix” and would be about how much i disagree with the fandom’s general portrayal of her   Q2 :   what  would  their  soundtrack / score  sound  like ?          A2 :  here here and here.   Q3 :   why  did  you  start  writing  this  character ?          A3 :   i could give the short or long answer here. i guess i was just really drawn to her character? i mean i love tragic female villains and widowmaker is hot and i’m gay. but in all seriousness i fell in love with her character and im super passionate about writing her and i felt i could bring my own thoughts and ideas to life. im  glad i did, even if im lazy as hell because i know What Im About. I Know.   Q4 :   what  first  attracted  you  to  this  character ?          A4 :  see above answer   Q5 :   describe  the  biggest  thing  you  dislike  about  your  muse.          A5 :   she’s really abusive and there’s no dancing around that   Q6 :   what  do  you  have  in  common  with  your  muse ?          A6 :   we are both snobs and we like nice things -- the only difference is that she has the money LMAO. we also both have back problems (lordosis) bc i said she has it   Q7 :   how  does  your  muse  feel  about  you ?          A7 :  she’d probably hate me who are we kidding   Q8 :   what  characters  does  your  muse  have  interesting  interactions  with ?        A8 :  if i were on here more, literally everyone. but basically everyone who has plotted with me!!   Q9 :   what  gives  you  inspiration  to  write  your  muse ?         A9 :   validation, like all things. nah in all seriousness i just listen to françoise and i feel muse coming back   Q10 :   how  long  did  this  take  you  to  complete ?          A10 :  this has been in my drafts for a couple weeks i think