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villainsandvictimsalliance · 4 months

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Whenever I remember that Tenya almost went full vigilante mode for Tensei I want to scream so bad like it's not even funny.

Bnha somersaults its way into saying "maybe heroes are just good citizens with the power to do good things" and "maybe heroism is not in the big notorious acts but in being kind and fair in the day to day details" AND THAT'S ALL TENSEI.

AND THAT'S WHAT MOTIVATES TENYA TO GO FULL BLOODHOUND ON STAIN.

I'm not denying that the world needs the big ass heroism acts like defeating AFO or saving a city or all those flashy notorious feats. All Might is very needed, because there are threats that are too old and developed and have accumulated too much hatred and damage over the years. You cannot always prevent those things from happening and to believe so would be naive, right?

What I'm saying is that those big events are the lowest percentage. They are the consequences of a systematic failure.

Take two of the biggest evil plots in the manga: AFO planning to still OFA and Overhaul with his quirk-erasure bullets. Both plans depended on an abused child being used as objects, Eri because her quirk was the base of the bullet working and Tomura because he was just meant to be AFO's new body in the future. In both cases, AFO and Overhaul were cornered after losing the child they were using for their plots. In fact it was the kids resisting the abuse that contributed the most to their failure: Eri prevented Overhaul from hurting Deku and Tomura prevented AFO from escaping his decaying body.

In that sense, the little unknown pro-heroes taking care of their neighborhood's children do a lot to prevent cases like Tomura or Eri from happening. Hell, AFO and Overhaul were also kids who went the violent route to survive.

Ingenium's silent heroism is probably the best example of what a hero looks like. They don't seek fame or glory. They regard heroism as their duty, their responsibility. No matter how little the act is, it's still important to do it.

At this point, we must admit the Tenya's crisis over what happened to Tensei is not only about their bond as brothers. Yeah, that was Tenya's big bro, but it is no less than when Deku and Bakugo saw All Might fighting AFO for the last time— the last moments of their role models.

The Iida brothers' crisis was deep rooted in the main issues of the story, so I'm still baffled at how people just tend to ignore it.

Before Stain, the "League of Villains" was just a minor threat. Dabi was a nobody with no real crimes to his name. Toga was just a lost little girl trying to survive the streets. Spinner didn't even think about being a villain. Before Stain, things were bad, but no one really thought they could change the status quo, you know?

The USJ incident was not the big deal because 1) how was attacking kids the answer? and 2) going for All Might was expected, since he was almost invincible and the biggest hero in the world and blah blah blah.

When Stain started attacking minor pro-heroes...

Stain was the opposite of Tomura. He admired All Might and saved those kids, but went after the pro-heroes with less powerful quirks. He gave the population a sense of control. It's like he said "hey, you don't have to go after All Might to change the system and why would you? The real problem are the ones on the lowest part of the pro-hero chain".

Suddenly, they could go against pro-heroes and win. Divide and conquer. Suddenly, there was a ladder to climb. Suddenly, you could target not the institutions responsible for the rotten ideology of your society, but the people who enforced the ideology with their daily work.

Stain defended his posture by saying that those people didn't want to be real heroes. They just wanted the money, the fame, they were not really committed to their duty.

And then attacked Tensei, of all people.

If big crimes are built from little crimes that are accumulated over time, what would happen if you decided to eliminate the people taking care of the little crimes?

The crisis of belief in pro-heroes was triggered by Stain. When Stain pointed out at Ingenium (the one in the suit was Tensei) and accused him of false heroism, it's when shit started to go south. He created the idea that pro-heroes should be punished if they don't perform correctly and that they deserve to die if they don't have pure ideas of their job— or whatever.

Tensei being the victim is supposed to show how hypocritical Stain is. Tensei is probably one of the only pro-heroes that never did anything wrong in the manga and one of the best family men to be presented. A man who was loved by everyone for being good in every sense of the word.

Stain projected his own fantasies on Tensei in order to accomplish his witch hunt, not truly caring to figure out who the person was. He just attacked for the sake of attacking, which explains why he was so popular: anyone could do the same and project their issues on him, fighting different battles disguised as just one cause.

When Tenya went after him, it could only make sense. The little of the Iidas is too righteous and noble, quick to judge and act, prone to making mistakes and getting carried away by the looks of it all. So easily his justice turns into revenge and he falls into the trap Stain set. Who knows what a hero student killing Stain would have caused...

At this point it's obvious I'm just ranting for the sake of ranting but 😭😭😭 give the Iidas the respect they deserve please.

#bnha #mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #league of villains #lov #shan's bnha rants #shan's mha rants #iida tenya #iida tensei #Ingenium #pro-hero ingenium

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anghraine · 4 months

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On the one hand, I absolutely love the high tragedy of Denethor's arc in the book, think it's amazingly well-written, and that he is one of the most complex and fascinating characters that Tolkien ever wrote.

On the other, there's part of me that's also a little frustrated by how much it has to happen because Tolkien kind of wrote himself into a corner with the Ruling Stewards. He's insistent on a few things about them:

Their initial rise to power as perma-regents of Gondor was squeaky-clean. Mardil was a paragon of virtue, he tried to prevent Eärnur from getting himself killed, there were no clear successors, and retaining the regency prevented another Kinstrife and created a stable institution that would hold Gondor together for 900+ years after the failure of the kings.

They are a high Númenórean family descended from Elendil, even if they're not formally of the line of Elendil (for unknown reasons, but most likely because they're descended through women).

Denethor is notably very similar to Aragorn, in intellect, wisdom, stature, ability, even appearance. He is a towering and respected figure, and he and his sons are highly popular with their people (even with children).

Denethor's military tactics in the book are very good, and UT says Sauron hoped Denethor would be less prepared than he actually was.

Denethor is proud, unbending, and personally dislikes and distrusts Aragorn. He thinks Gandalf is using him against Sauron for now while planning for Aragorn to take power later (this is filtered through his pride but ... um, is he wrong?).

Faramir, now Denethor's last heir, is a fantastic if reluctant warrior and captain, a super special Númenórean throwback, and a thoughtful, intelligent, and wise person who is humbler than Denethor, but also established as wary about Aragorn.

Gondor formally rejected the claim of Aragorn's family before the Ruling Stewardship even existed.

What all this means is that Denethor, if alive, is someone who will never willingly give way to Aragorn. Denethor has legal precedent on his side, he is himself a perfectly good ruler from a long-standing, stable, legitimate ruling family and a highly capable military leader in war, he is liked by his people, and he even has a viable heir regardless of the personal strain between him and Faramir.

There's just no reason for Aragorn to take power that Denethor, as written, would find remotely persuasive. But Denethor is also too noble and capable and special for a power grab on Aragorn's side to feel right, esp given how destructive it would be in the middle of a war (as Aragorn acknowledges!). Despite the sparkly kingliness and mystical airs, this is fundamentally a dynastic dispute between two different houses descended from Elendil, based on the minutia of Gondorian and Númenórean law and precedent, and a fight over that is ... not the kind of story this is.

Denethor has to be driven to self-destruction by the plot so that Aragorn's rise can happen. It simply would not occur if Denethor was alive and in his right mind. Faramir has to be mystically healed by Aragorn so that his reservations will dissolve and he will voluntarily remove himself from the picture in a way that doesn't feel bad.

And both scenes are fantastic, and make sense for the characters. But I do feel that they kind of get steamrollered by the plot to make way for Aragorn.

The thing that makes that doubly fascinating, though, is that Tolkien didn't have to prop the House of the Stewards up so thoroughly. He could have written a version where the Stewards are inadequate or really sketchy or simply can't be compared to Aragorn's greatness and it's clear why they should be replaced by him and his house. Tolkien could have made this a lot easier for himself! And I do respect the more difficult and nuanced approach Tolkien took with the Stewards by making them genuinely impressive and noble and capable in their own right and not just cardboard-cutouts for Aragorn to kick over.

But, well.

#anghraine babbles #long post #legendarium blogging #legendarium fanwank #húrinionath #denethor #faramir #mardil voronwë #etc #ondonórë blogging

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waltzingwithspirit · 10 months

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PICK A CARD: LOVE NOTES FROM YOUR FUTURE SPOUSE

Top Left: Pile 1 Top Right: Pile 2 Bottom: Pile 3

Disclaimer: This is a general reading, so take what resonates and leave the rest.

You are not allowed to copy my work under any circumstances.

All personal tarot readings are PAID.

Thank you for all letting me read for you, please provide feedback.

Pile 1

‘We would be a wonderful us’ ‘Workplace romance’ ‘I’ll follow you till the end’ ‘I’m always gonna be in love with you’

You might get text like this: 1. Them: You are beautiful, more than you realise. 2. Them: I’ll make you breakfast.

Your future spouse and you share a similar sense of humour, you both will be teasing and joking a lot. I see they are into philosophy for some of you, definitely a deep thinker either way, their view of life might intrigue you. This person an you will have many conversations, they will be mentally stimulating to you and get you thinking. Definitely some air sign presence (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius). I see rain is significant, maybe you’ll meet that time but it is coming in strong. Either one of you loves to style hair. I am seeing a man braiding a girl’s hair. It’s the little things about your relationship, spending quality time whenever you can, through thick and thin. They only like you and want you to be verbal in expressing your feelings. They really want to get married to you have an unbreakable bond.

COMMENT 111 TO CLAIM!

🌙To know more about your future spouse in detail, DM me for a personal tarot reading🌙

Pile 2

‘Hopeless romantic with high standards’ ‘Star-crossed lovers’ ‘You look at each other like the two of you have your own language’ ‘One in simping, the other is oblivious’ - literally everyone else sees it. ‘Are we friends? Or are we more?’

They might say these things to you:

1. I am not supposed to be thinking about you. 3. Why won’t you leave my mind? 4. Wherever I look you are there. 5. Them: fight me for the rest of our lives.

Their heart flutters when you are in close proximity to them. Romantic tension and some awkward moments, with stealing glances and shy smiles. You guys will also have a lot of healthy debates where you disagree and argue, but overtime know how to work things through and are respectful. The transition period from friends to lovers is really being given emphasis here, it’s like everyone else sees it, when you two are together, you forget other people exist. Some of you might even know each other since college or some educational institution. Your love is very pure, only wanting the best for them. It is a slow-burn romance, with hands almost touching but didn’t. You guys are each others safe space, giving a sense of security.

🌙To know more about your future spouse in detail, DM me for a personal tarot reading🌙

PILE 3

There are many different messages for this group, take it as it resonates. ‘Enemies to lovers’ ‘Friends to lovers’ ‘Workplace romance’ ‘SO THIS IS LOVE’ ‘Cute nicknames’ - even if you find them cringey right now, with the right person I see you turning into a puddle. ‘I feel lovable when you take care of me’ ‘Talk like best friends’ ‘Power couple’ ‘Someday when I say I am going home, it’ll mean I get to see you and that will make all of everything worth it’ Things they might say to you/text you: 1. You are so cute. 2. Do you wanna go driving? Just me and you. 3. We fix it together, because that’s what a relationship is about, going through life together as a team 4. You are so physically and mentally attractive at the same time, that’s why I am so crazy about you. 5. I only pretend I don’t like you. 6. [ angry whisper ] do you even know how cute you are. One thing is settled, that they definitely find you attractive. It might start out as dislike which will morph into a friendship of sorts leading to a love connection. You guys love to banter. I see a lot of banter. If you read ‘the hating game’ I get those vibes. They find excuses to spend time with you until they are like I am gonna be honest and be more upfront rather than relying on some external factor. One of you is unconventional and the other finds them interesting and the constant need to be in touch, might also be a therapist of some sort, or just have healing energy. 🌙To know more about your future spouse in detail, DM me for a personal tarot reading🌙

EL TAROT

#pick a picture #pick a photo #pac tarot #free tarot #pick a card #pick an image #pac reading #pick a pile #future spouse pick a card

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alwaysgodownwiththeship · 10 months

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"Got Any Better Ideas?" Aziraphale's Conviction and Crowley's Resignation

I was watching that scene in 1x06 again, and something clicked for me that never any sense to me before. In fact, it explained a couple things in season 2 .

See this scene is beautiful, heartbreaking, and hilarious all in one. We see yet another example of how much Crowley cares about Aziraphale... And we see Aziraphale making a bizarre move to (?) attack Crowley, then make a childish threat that won't matter given that they're both about die.

Before, I just assumed that he was just saying whatever thought ran through his head.

Now I get it.

Recap: Crowley realized that Gabriel and Beelzebub told on them Satan. Satan, who was now coming to kill them all. Crowley was this close to giving up, and then Aziraphale picked up his sword.

There's only one reason why: Aziraphale wasn't going to give up. In that moment, Aziraphale chose to fight Satan. He knew he would likely die trying.

(Psst! Past self: He's not giving Crowley some weird, friendship ultimatum!)

He's terrified. But resolved. And he knows this really will be their last conversation.

And Crowley gets it. He might not have believed that they were going to survive Satan's arrival, but he hadn't quite put together like this: If he isn't able to come up with another plan, Aziraphale will take up his sword against Satan and Crowley will have to watch him die.

So Crowley got a better idea, remembering Adam's power, he decided to give the human(s) the choice and protect it alongside Aziraphale.

Season 2

This is part of larger ongoing dynamic where (unless circumstances allow Crowley to give Aziraphale a better plan which actually addresses the problem) Aziraphale will act, like choosing to help Jim!Gabriel. If he thinks it's the right thing to do, he'll do it, regardless of the costs. It won't deter him at all.

Crowley learned that about him some time ago.

He saw Aziraphale lie to save Lot's children despite fully expecting to go hell for it.

(Plus Aziraphale straight up lied to God about the flaming sword that time, right? UMM... Why didn't he fall????)

So there Crowley is, apologizing(?), dancing, and lying about the full extent of the danger they're in.

I don't agree with Crowley's actions, with the lying especially. (Seriously, Crowley? Tell Aziraphale about the Extreme Sanctions!!) But Crowley is resigned to help at this point because he knows Aziraphale will be in danger anyways and he knows that when Aziraphale has made his mind up, he won't change it. Crowley can only offer his help or provide a different solution.

And since their communication problems are so big right now, their dynamic is to work around each other rather than with each other.

Right from the very beginning, their conception of the problem is very different.

Crowley: We're exposed to danger because of Gabriel, we have to find a way to hide Gabriel/ourselves from Heaven and Hell.

Aziraphale: Jim!Gabriel (innocent like Lot's children/rather childlike himself) is in danger, we have to find a way to hide Gabriel from Heaven and Hell.

TAKEAWAY

-Crowley wants them both to stay away from the toxic plans of Heaven/Hell so they can be safe together.

-Aziraphale wants to directly interfere with the plans of Heaven/Hell when he feels the responsibility to do good.

Takeaway on the ending of season 2:

When their perspective on the problem is so different to begin with, the breakup makes a little more sense to me. Though no less horrible.

(Wild Card: Heaven is the symbol of what is right and good? Aziraphale since when??? UGH, I have to meta more about this: Aziraphale's (and Crowley's) belief in the ineffable plan and how it affects his idea of reform/fixing the institutional problem of Heaven.)

#good omens #good omens meta #aziraphale #crowley #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #aziraphale defense squad #aziraphale meta

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plushyvi · 14 days

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“it’s a common notion!”

game: fallout 4

characters: paladin danse, arthur maxson

summary: he gets a little jealous seeing someone else be interested in you the same way he is. he starts to wonder if it’s a common occurrence for you.

warnings: g/n! reader, they/them pronouns used, reader isn’t sole but you can read it as if they were, jealousy,

↣ paladin danse

“knight.”

you glance up from your seated position to see your sponsor, power armour and all, watching over you. “paladin danse. how was your search in lexington? find anything useful?”

“yes. recovered some brotherhood weapons and holotags for captain kells,” he explains to you as he watches you take your hands off the scribe in front of you, “what have you been doing since i left the prydwen?”

you think it was pretty obvious with how proctor cade has you running a mock infirmary in the armoury bay. you were given a white coat to show people you were acting as a second doctor to cade. the bay was filled with tens of soldiers who came back for a fight with the institute at a hold-out spot in the commonwealth, all injured and most near to death. cade’s office was packed and you offered your help since you worked closely with him a few times.

“are you blind, paladin?” you mumble out in a joking matter. danse shows a slightly embarrassed look. but you smile at him. “the most recent outpost the brotherhood established was overrun by synths. proctor cade cannot tend to all of these soldiers.”

“right…” he grumbles off as you turn back to scribe in front of you.

you hold his hand, wiping the blood off his palm and trying to clean his cut. he winces, but the obvious blush that patterns his pale cheeks is obvious. he cannot stop looking at you.

“i… i have some injuries i’d like you to look at,” danse suddenly speaks up. you look up at him from your seated position. “i know cade is busy.”

“oh, well, i’m also a bit preoccupied too, paladin,” you say and finish wrapping the scribe’s hand, “is it urgent? how badly does it hurt?”

“a ten,” he says without hesitation. you stare at him with a raised brow. “i, uh… just come see me when you have the time.”

you go to respond when proctor cade comes into the armoury in a hurry. his sleeves are tugged up to his elbows and he has dried blood on his fingertips. his eyes meet yours and he hurries over.

“thank you, knight y/n, i appreciate all your help,” he sincerely says. you finish off the bandages before sending the scribe off. he does so reluctantly and shakes your hand for a bit too long for danse’s liking. “i can handle the rest of the soldiers here. you need to get some rest yourself; elder maxson said that you had a tiring mission this morning.”

“are you sure, proctor?” you ask as you stand up. there were still a lot of patients here, albeit you had dealt with the more serious cases. many of the ones left were just injuries. “i can stay for another hour.”

danse stands behind you. cade, looking between the both of you, notices the paladin’s slightly furrowed brows. he only nods.

“yes, knight, do not worry. i’ve been the doctor on this ship for as long as i can remember, i know a thing or two,” he says to you. you nod your head and wipe off the blood on your own hands. “thank you for your help. i’m sure maxson is also grateful for your actions. now, go rest.”

you put the coat down on the box you were sitting on and take out the supplies from your pockets. the medkit was given to cade before you turned to danse.

“okay, leave your power armour here and i’ll meet you at your room.” you tell him. danse agrees and moves carefully around the patients to take off his armour.

as he removes it, the same scribe from before approaches him.

“paladin danse?” he mutters out quietly.

“yes, soldier?” danse replies, head held up tall.

“i wanted to say… thank you for teaching y/n the way of the brotherhood,” the scribe says to danse. his cheeks are tinted red and he plays with his fingers nervously. “they’re an incredible soldier, and they’re so nice… i admire them quite a lot—”

“that is ‘knight y/n’, scribe,” danse interrupts with a harsh tone. the scribe jumps a little at his words, and he slowly nods. “they are just doing their job, as they are ordered to.”

the scribe looks to the ground for a moment, a bit upset. danse feels like he should be apologetic, but he isn’t. he only keeps his stoic look on his face.

“right… i apologise, paladin danse, i did not mean to overstep my boundaries,” the scribe salutes to danse before looking away, “thank you, and knight y/n.”

danse lets the scribe go in silence.

“be easy on the kid, danse,” cade speaks up as he grabs some stimpacks from the box against the wall. danse turns his head to look at him. “it’s just a lil’ crush. knight y/n saved a lot of these soldiers, who wouldn’t be compelled to think about them?”

danse is quiet as he ponders the question. proctor cade goes to do his work as danse moves to his room.

he opens the door quietly to see you sleeping on his bed. your outer layer was taken off, jacket strewn on his desk and you laid on his bed, silently breathing. danse closes the door behind him and unzips the back of his uniform as quietly as he can without disturbing you.

truth be told, he wasn’t injured at all. his retrieval mission went as smooth as humanly possible, so he didn’t need to have anything looked over. he just wanted your attention on him.

he changes into a comfortable shirt and sweatpants before locking the door. it would be heinous is anyone caught you two together in his quarters. you yourself were in a tank top and your pants from your gear, shoes set by the bed. you looked peaceful.

danse sits on the bed as he stares at you.

cade had him thinking; did lots of people have a thing for you? if yes, then how many?

he feels as if it’s childish to wonder such a thing, but he couldn’t help himself. you were an intoxicating thought that clouded his mind.

he thinks that maybe you heard his thoughts, because you suddenly stir and turn around, now facing him. your eyes flutter open and danse feels his face heat up at how you look at him.

“ah, sorry,” you say and start sitting up and wiping your eyes, “i’m exhausted—”

danse leans forward and wraps an arm around your shoulders. he tugs you close before he lays down on the bed. his thin blanket is pulled on top of the both of you. your face is smushed against his chest and your hands press against his upper stomach, trapped.

“get some rest,” he tells you.

“danse…?” you murmur against his skin. he shivers. “what’s going on with you today? i don’t see any injuries.”

he doesn’t say anything in response at first, utterly embarrassed by how he’s acting. he would never tell off a scribe for something like that. perhaps he should apologise when he finds the time.

but for now, danse kisses the crown of tour forehead.

“nothing, soldier,” he sighs out quietly as he closes his eyes. he can feel your hands slowly circle around his waist before you tug him closer, “i was just concerned, is all.”

“i’m okay, danse,” you respond, “you didn’t have to lie.”

“i’m sorry…”

“it’s fine. let’s just sleep now.”

he keeps his eyes open for a bit longer, which prompts you to sigh and lift yourself up. he watches as you plant a kiss to his lips, gentle enough to try and lure him to sleep. he relaxed into you in seconds.

“just talk to me later.” you tell him with a small smile.

he manages to doze off not long after you. the whole entire time, he thinks about how the scribe is right — you are an amazing soldier, and you have the biggest heart. that’s why he fell in love with you.

could he really blame anyone else for doing the same?

↣ arthur maxson

he’s on the ground for a change as he decided he should accompany you on your next task: training the new initiates.

“keep your hands steady,” you say as you watch them attempt to shoot the glass bottles on the boxes. most shots miss. “and don’t hold your breath for so long. you want to pass out in front of the enemy?”

“no, knight-captain!” a call is heard from the firing team.

“i want to see a smashed bottle from each of you,” you say with crossed arms. you watch from the sidelines and see how confident they are with a weapon — which isn’t that much. “we aren’t moving on until we get a clean shot from each of you.”

elder maxson had taken it upon himself to come and watch how you trained them, and he’s impressed. you’re not bad at it, just the right mixture of tough and encouraging. however, he thinks maybe he should’ve asked someone else to do this.

“well done, initiate frieda,” you say as you walk behind her. she lowers her gun and looks back to you, big doe eyes. she was shorter than you and her eyes seemed like the glossiest thing in the world. “you’ll be a sharpshooter in no time. i’m impressed.”

maxson clenches his hands around his bicep. he's let you train initiates before. did you always act so friendly with them? no, you weren't even acting friendly, you were being... genuinely nice. it made maxson wonder how you survived out there.

as you continue to help the other initiates, the girl turns to her friend beside her and begins to squeal quietly.

“did you hear that? knight y/n likes me!” she giggles out, unaware of the looming presence behind her. her friend goes wide eyed before going back to shooting. “i hope i’m on their team when we’re ready for the field, they’re so nice and so pretty—”

“shoot initiate dina’s bottle, soldier.”

frieda slowly looks back behind her to see elder maxson’s glaring eyes. his presence shook her and made the poor girl panic. her laser pistol shoot in her hands before she gulped.

“y—yes, elder maxson, sir!” she replies loudly.

that grabs your attention. you stop mid-sentence as you were talking to another initiate. looking to see the commotion, you’re surprised when you get the scene of maxson standing a foot away from the initiate you had complimented, looking about as mad as ever. you let out a small sigh.

initiate frieda shakily aims at her friend’s bottle. it isn’t a surprise when she misses by a long shot. that makes her friend and all the other initiates, who witnessed you compliment the girl, cringe in fear. the girl swallows the lump of nervousness and carefully lowers her gun.

“if you cannot shoot the target on demand, or under any pressure at all, you are not a suitable candidate for not only the brotherhood, but for knight y/n’a team,” elder maxson’s booming voice reaches across the whole training ground. the initiate looks as if she’s about to cry. but the leader doesn’t let up. “their team is only filled with the ones i deem the best. if you wish to be chosen for such a task, you must work very hard.”

“yes, elder maxson.” initiate frieda mumbles. she wanted to shrivel up.

“and if i may give you a word for advice,” his voice goes quieter, but his glare is harsher. she feels like she’s seen a ghost. “keep you focus on the brotherhood’s goal of freeing the commonwealth. i assure you, knight y/n does not have the time or the interest in someone like you, the way you do for them.”

she’s silent for a moment before she nods her head. elder maxson lifts himself up high again before looking around to the older soldiers.

"take this as a warning to all of you," he shouts as he begins to march. you have to hold back from rolling your eyes. "the brotherhood is now your whole life. you have no time to think of anything other than the good of the commonwealth. if you have joined for any alterior motives," he takes the time to look at you up and down. you don't know whether to be offended or not. "it's best if you leave now while you still can."

the initiates are quiet before they call out a 'yes, sir!' to him. going back to their training, most of them are scared out of their minds. but frieda especially; all she even did was call you pretty.

"elder, may i speak with you for a moment?" you question with a clenched jaw. he stares at you and, without even confirmation, you grab the fur of his jacket and begin dragging him around the corner of a building. you turn back to the eavesdropping initiates. "continue your shooting. when i come back, i do not want to see a single bottle left standing. knight rhys, make sure no one is cheating!"

the knight standing to the side on watch duty at the airport perks up at his name. with a silent groan, he nods his head. he turns to face the initiates and calls out to them to begin. laser shooting fills your ears before you hide behind the corner with maxson.

"arthur!" you grumble out with furrowed brows. he raises a brow at you. "what are you doing? i told you that you could come and watch if it meant you were quiet and didn't scare off my initiates more than you needed to!"

he crosses his arms over his chest as if to show you that he was pissed off as well. you rest your hand on your hip.

"you need to get your initiates in check. you cannot have them thinking this way about you," he tells you with a shake of his head, "not only will they be fawning over you all the time instead of doing brotherhood work, they will be distracted on the battlefield. careless lives will be lost, knight."

"what are you even—arthur," you sigh as you rub your temple. it's not like he was wrong, you needed to whip them into shape, but it was so early. "this is my second lesson with these initiates. give me a week and i'll have soldiers. just... you need to calm down a bit. what happened?"

he holds back from telling you. maxson was only slightly above admitting that he was wrong, but he'd be damned if he had to admit this to you. the crease between his brows becomes more defined.

"initiate frieda will be under knight wagner's supervision. i don't believe she would be an asset to you."

"shouldn't i have a say in that, elder?" you inquire as you raised a brow, "she is becoming a good shooter, and she gets along well with other brotherhood soldiers. not only that, but she got the highest agility score on the first day. i'd say she is an acceptable candidate for my team."

maxson rolls his eyes at you. your eye twitches at his behaviour.

"arthur, seriously," you exhale slowly and take his gloved hand in yours. he finally drops his arms from his chest and slowly relaxes his shoulders. "what's wrong? you've never been so hostile towards an initiate before."

it takes him a moment to gather up the courage to tell you anything, but soon enough he does.

"it would seem that these new initiates have taken a liking to you," he admits, "and i... i don't intend on letting that go any further."

your heart melts at his words before you let the smile you were holding back now take over your face. it’s a little funny, which makes you cover your face with your free hand. maxson’s brow twitches at your reaction.

“alright, that’s enough, knight,” he scoffs at you. he yanks his hand out of yours and massages the back of his neck. “don’t coddle them, is my point. you have to be their commander, not their crush-magnet.”

“‘crush-magnet’? what are you, 12?” you joke with a hearty laugh. that makes his face turn pink with embarrassment. “it’s okay, arthur. i’ll make sure to keep them in line.”

he looks at your face a little longer before he nods his head. you smile again as he rests a hand on your shoulder. he’s always been sheepish when it comes to any form of affection towards you, even if it was just some kind words. you let him come closer to you and soon press a kiss to your cheek. an arm comes around to hold your waist and he sinks against you.

“captain y/n, they’ve successfully—” knight rhys comes around the corner to interrupt, only he widens his eyes at the scene. he stops on his tracks and clears his throat. maxson is quick to remove himself from you and you rake a step away from him. “ah, i apologise, i—i didn’t, uh… excuse me, but the initiates have cleared all the bottles.”

“thank you, rhys,” you say as you nod your head, “i’ll take it from here.”

he nods his head and walks away while rubbing his ear. you glance to maxson before you stretch your arms.

“okay, i have to get back to work,” you say as you straighten your jacket. maxson runs fingers through his hair and fixes his own overcoat too. “now if you’re going to stay, you need to keep quiet, arthur. they need to be scared of me too. the way you look at people is already enough to make them shit their pants.”

“alright, knight, i will still supervise.” he replies.

you flash him one last sweet smile before he hears you call out an order for combat training as you turn the corner. he stands there for a few seconds longer.

he’d have to get over the fact that you were as amazing to him as you were to others.

#paladin danse #paladin danse x reader #danse #danse x reader #elder maxson #elder maxson x reader #arthur maxson #arthur maxson x reader #maxson #maxson x reader #fallout 4 #fallout 4 x reader #fo4 #fo4 x reader

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celestiaras · 3 months

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‧₊˚✧ ❛[ succubus at the school of mythics ]❜

━━━ .°˖✧ requested by anonymous (at the end) ˚₊ ⊹

ft. scarle yonaguni, aia amare, maria marionette, aster arcadia, kyo kaneko, ren zotto (seperate) x f! reader — iluna, nijisanji en

╰₊✧ iluna members dating the new girl at the institute of mystics who happens to be a demon of lust┊2.8k words

contains: smut!! dom reader & sub scarle, aia, mari, aster, kyo, ren┊succubus reader (obviously), established relationship(s), high school setting but all characters are adults, ooc iluna probably, mentions of reader stealing life forces but dw she has the self-control of a loving partner not to go too far :) scarle - strap-ons, size kink, belly bulge kyo - slight fighting for dom, receiving oral, little hair pulling aia - risk of getting caught, fingering maria - sex toys, corruption kink aster - handjobs & blowjobs, overstimulation ren - heats/mating cycles, teasing & edging, horn stimulation, creampie

➤ author's note: it’s finally out of my drafts, oh my god. finally, a proper fic after thirsting so much for someone who hasn’t even debuted yet

the iluna institute of mythics tends to be hesitant when it comes to enrolling succubi and incubi into their ranks despite the strict policy not to discriminate based on species, that’s what the entire point of the campus was about! it’s not because they have anything against beings from hell, but they know that from the very moment the demon steps onto the site, everyone won’t be able to keep their eyes off them and chatting among themselves about how hot the new student is. it puts the entire school on pause because of how people skip their classes just to get a glimpse of them and are far too lovesick thinking about their next interaction rather than their assignments. don’t even get them started on the nightmare that is their birthday or valentine’s day, presents in front of their locker fill up the halls and leave no room to pass through them.

the worst part is that they are fully aware of all the attention they get and make no effort to put a stop to all of the nonsense— most actually try to milk it for the massive confidence boost added to their already inflated ego and the gifts they receive daily to have their hearts won. it’s just what they always do, feeding off the affections of others for their own powers. the hype doesn’t die down until every student is rejected or until they decide to get a lover and snap others out of their delusions of dating them. it took a lot longer than the administration would like, but after a few months, you found yourself a lover and the school is finally slowing down to its regular schedule.

━━━ .°˖✧ scarle yonaguni ˚₊ ⊹

╰₊✧ the beautiful and alluring enchantress of iluna, truly, there isn’t anyone who could be better back for you as two lovers with such a seductive aura to them… at least that’s how it seems to outsiders whowould look at your relationship thinking that you both were dommy mommies who fight each other to the death for the right to top, but anyone who has spoken to scarle would know who’s really in charge in the relationship. scarle still can’t believe that she pulled you after engaging in conversation with you and revealing her true shy and awkward self without the help of a love potion (which she totally wasn’t intending on actually brewing, that would be crazy aha). she still trips over herself which talking to you, and even though you find it to be so charming, she dies a little inside every time you lovingly bully her.

even though she’s been prepped thoroughly by your fingers, she still feels intimidated by the size of your strap that had her stomach twisting in knots. yes, it was one that she picked out, no, she will not be backing down. she gripped onto the bedsheets under her as you eased yourself into her, whining at the big stretch that burned yet felt so pleasurable at the same time. it took a minute for her to adjust, but she was quick to roll her hips back into your touch to tell you that she was ready to move. scarle’s braced herself to wait for the brute force that came with your usual animalistic pace, yet it never came because you were fixated on something else.

her eyes trailed down and widened at the sight of the shape formed in her abdomen from you bullying inches of your cock into her, skin slightly raised with your strap to show you how good she was at taking whatever you gave her. she didn’t have much time to admire it though, slamming your hips into hers and hitting her g-spot with the tip so hard she saw stars. you were to hypnotized by her that your thrusts were almost sloppy, watching intently at her fat tits bouncing and tummy bulging in accordance with your movements mixed with the loud pornographic sound of sex. the way she moans and clenches around your cock would be enough to drive anyone crazy with lust, you can’t help but wonder if your pretty and alluring enchantress was actually a succubus in disguise.

━━━ .°˖✧ kyo kaneko ˚₊ ⊹

╰₊✧ ah yes, the one you pursued because he was the only one who didn’t fall at your feet upon meeting your eyes for the first time. you always get what you want without any effort, so it was both dejecting and exciting to see someone who scoffed and rolled his eyes at your flirtatious behavior that would have had anyone else fainting on the spot instead. kyo was simply someone you thought you couldn’t have, making you want him even more. it did embarrass you to get off your high horse and flirt with him like a normal person, but after noticing that he was reacting with stutters and blushes while making weak insults, you knew that you already had him in the palm of your hand and made the humbling move of being the first to ask him out when it was always the other way around. that’s when you learned that even though he’ll always complain and be a brat about it, he actually indulges happily in everything you ask.

“don’t fucking look at me like that when you’re already kneeling between my thighs,” you giggled, looking at the blue-haired male sighed in annoyance before grabbing onto your thighs to pull you closer to him. despite acting like he was hella irritated, it didn’t translate into his actions with the way he keenly flicked his tongue against your clit and licking lope stripes along your slit. it almost made you laugh how the blunt and pessimistic kyo kaneko was secretly such an enthusiastic pussy eater. that’s what being a succubus’s lover gets you, you suppose, it really brings out another side of people in the bedroom.

while he does like to fight you for some semblance of control when you're in such a compromising position and attempt to leave you pathetic under him, you have to remind him who is really in change. it doesn’t take more than a tug on his cyan hair to pull him off of you to make him slip up with a whimper, making you snicker in response. he’s so cute when he pouts with your slick shining his lips and running down his chin as he starts complains like a brat before shaking his head out of your grip and moving on to continue with the reminder that he isn’t domming you today.

━━━ .°˖✧ aia amare ˚₊ ⊹

╰₊✧ a heavenly maiden dating a demon of lust? how scandalous! despite the forbidden romance, she’s absolutely head over heels for you as you are for her. others at the school are supportive of your relationship and your folks could care less about how you feel towards an angel, but her family is a different story. aia was already in trouble for getting kicked out of the heavens for the accumulation of her petty crimes and needed to attend the institute of mythics as punishment, so something like dating you was certain to land her in even hotter water.

╰₊✧ they were definitely suspicious of your intentions with their daughter, worried that you were just trying to seduce her and siphon power from her, but you seem earnest enough when it came to caring for their angel so they aren’t as doubtful anymore as they were when they first met you. you’ve even reached the stage where you two are allowed to sleep in the same bedroom together with the door open, but that doesn’t stop either of you from getting frisky late at night while everyone’s asleep!

“just gotta keep quiet— sounds good, angel?” you whispered in her ear as heat spread throughout her entire body with your hand reaching under her nightgown and dipping into her underwear. it sounded easy enough, but the house was as silent as a catacomb and any noise made was sure to be amplified, the smallest moan having the potential to alert someone that the two of you were up to something heaven wouldn’t approve of. aia loves to take on challenges of all sorts, however she only realized how difficult it would be when you began to toy with her clit and press your fingers past her folds into her weeping cunt that barely needed any prep with how much she wanted you. she whined and it made you chuckle softly with your wings fluttering slightly, “not as easy as you thought, huh?”

feeling generous enough to help her out, you raised your other hand to rest over her mouth to remind her to remain silent and to muffle any sounds that threatened to slip. she must have been into it because you could feel her tighten around you after you stretched her out with a slowly added third finger, arching her back and bucking her hips into your touch. she gasped into your hand when you curled your knuckle to feel around her gummy walls and pressing into her g-spot, something that usually had her squealing when the gesture makes her orgasm all over your hand, but all she could do was let a groan that was smothered out by your hand.

━━━ .°˖✧ maria marionette ˚₊ ⊹

╰₊✧ oh, maria looks at you with the widest, brightest eyes of puppy love— you’re simply so sexy and sophisticated in contrast of her adorable appearance and chuuni personality! she just has an attraction to girls who have more of a mature appeal, she can’t help it! meanwhile, you find her to be so endearing, how could she be one of the cutest dolls you’ve ever seen? she never felt things that her peers felt like sexual want before and didn’t have too much understanding about the action other than the biological function, but now that she’s a real girl instead of a doll, she can’t think of anyone better than a succubus girlfriend to guide her through this journey!

the vibrating toy you were pressing onto her clit was creating a strange foreign sensation within her by making volts of pleasure ripple throughout her entire body, making her core burn with pleasure as the tips of her fingers and toes tingled with numbness. it maintained an unchanging pace and the only difference in intensity came from the pressure you were putting on it, but just the slightest shift in force was enough to drive her crazy. she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sight and neither could you, her pussy being abused by this silicone toy and reducing the cheerful mari to a pathetic moaning mess.

isn’t she just the cutest with her mouth making a perfect ‘o’ shape for her dulcet cries and her face flushed a pretty pink to match her color scheme? god, you just want her ruin her innocent mind and are looking forward to corrupting her, getting her drunk on the feeling of pure ecstasy you provide so that she’ll learn to be you for more of it— it’s just the instinct of a succubus to teach people all about their world of carnal desire! although, you think she might be even more excited than you are about discovering this new side of her that came with becoming a human and using it to spice up your relationship…

━━━ .°˖✧ aster arcadia ˚₊ ⊹

╰₊✧ it makes so much sense that he’s the celestial one because he’s so beautiful that you assumed he was a demi-god of sorts, the most enticing eyes and unique hair you’ve ever seen immediately attracting you to him (you’re almost envious of how stunning he is). similar to the doll who’s now a real human, aster perfectly balances out your foxy charms with his “cyuteness” and he’s just the right amount of unseiso to bounce off your jokes. you just love it when he makes a dirty joke before acting like he doesn’t know what you’re talking about when you catch it, always with a sly smile on his innocent-looking face and humming with his sweet-sounding voice. of course, he can never outdo you since he’s still the bottom bitch we all know and love, but it’s simply so much fun to see him try!

he’s too feeble and still too horny to deny you, so he says nothing but a weak whimper and watches you continue to fondle with his balls and lick at his sensitive red tip after you already made him cum. his heterochromic eyes were already threatening to tear up from overstimulation as they stared deeply into your mischievous ones, feeling his thighs quake and back arch at the overwhelming pleasure. your head steadily bobbed up and down, holding him down slightly so that he wouldn’t be able to buck his hip into your mouth and everything remained at your pace. from his silly ahoge to his smooth ivory skin to his needy cock was gorgeous, almost distracting you from the task at hand because you just wanted to look at him forever. however, you were certain that you wouldn’t miss the look on his face and the moan he’ll let out in a minute or two, so you can afford to look away for a moment and focus on giving him another mind-blowing orgasm.

━━━ .°˖✧ ren zotto ˚₊ ⊹

╰₊✧ one of his favorite things about attending the iluna institute is meeting other species as it’s always nice to meet another being who looked human for the most part but had things like wings or horns to set them apart from others. ren’s native planet didn’t have any creatures who feed off of live forces through seduction, so he was immediately enthralled by you and wanted to learn more about your kind. he was more interested in what you could do with your powers rather than what you could do for him and you were wondering if the life force of an alien was more powerful than that of a human, a relationship that sprouted from the roots of curiosity!

╰₊✧ ren’s actually thrilled to have a succubus partner to learn so much from, but he’s mainly grateful because he has had a bit of a problem ever since he entered young adulthood and was usually far too embarrassed to ever bring it up for previous partners. just alien anatomy things that weren’t human and biology that couldn’t be controlled, you know? he has no words to explain the wave of relief he felt when he awkwardly told you about it and you welcomed it with open arms, promising to care for him no matter how long his heat lasts or how wild things may get when he’s influenced by it. however, he can’t help but feel a bit uneasy by the almost sadistic look in your eyes.

his neediness and desperation for you increases tenfold when he’s in heat, his face buried in your tits and his cock pulsating inside of you frantic for release. he felt like he could burst with just the slightest shift of you body, but it was never enough stimulation. must you always be so vexing with rewarding promises if he does as you say? he felt like he was going to go crazy with not-so-subtle ruts into you to try and chase his high, but it was all for naught and only edged him even more. it just made you look at him with pity and coo at how pathetic he was, the alien prince infamous for destroying entire planets crying like a little bitch because you wouldn’t let him cum just yet.

he was in heat! couldn’t you be a bit nicer to him? he swears that he’ll let you torture him all you want a different time, but right now he’ll do anything for you to stop teasing him! you hummed in amusement and cupped his face to give him a kiss, running your hand over his skin and observing all of the little alien features that were normally hidden from plain set. eyes set on the glorious jet-black pointed horns atop his head, you experimentally wrapped your fingers around it feel the strange texture more properly and noticed a spark in his green eyes as electricity shot up his spine.

“oh, you’re sensitive there, aren’t you?” you cooed, pouting when you realized that he never told you about this wonderful snippet of information but smiling again when he got all flustered. you started gently, tracing patterns and running along the shape, noticing that his tail began to flick around and his cock twitching in reaction. with your motions steadily getting faster and rougher, he began letting out slurred moans and biting at his bottom lip to suppress them as he pulled you closer to his body. it barely took anything more than a light tug to get him to spill over, unexpectedly emptying himself into you and making you chuckle in response while he was huffing for air. you really needed to tease his horns more often!

request was [ iluna with a reader who is a succubus? i think it would be a really interesting concept! ]

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xetswan · 1 month

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Twilight- Unknown: Chapter Seven, The Battle

(Alice x Reader x Jasper)

[six] [seven, end of The Eclipse]

Later that night, Bella asked for a sleepover like old times. It shocked me at first. I was expecting her to ask more questions about my past lives but surprisingly she didn't.

We just watched movies together, eating popcorn. Maybe a random question about what it was like being a vampire.

She was sound asleep after the second movie. I decided to watch a few others but in the middle of the night she swings her fist, hitting me right in the arm. "Bella? What happened?" I woke her up, she breathed heavily, her heart racing.

"The intruder... The newborn army. They're all her puppets. Victoria." She says out of order and I raise a brow. "Alice or I would've seen if she wanted to make an army." I argue. "Unless she's hiding behind them, and she's letting someone else decide. Maybe she found out how you guy's visions work." She explains, I sit a little straight. Considering it.

"Trust me, I hope what you're saying is true and that it's her. I'll speak to the Cullen's about it, go back to sleep." I tell her, she nods her head. "We'll talk more about it tomorrow." I assured her since she seemed like she wanted more from the conversation.

I told Edward about it over the phone, now he's changed his mind about Bella being allowed to be even near the fight. Knowing she's a huge target. He's so serious about it he wants Jacob to help him with his idea.

We stand in the woods together. Jasper, Edward, Bella, Jacob, and I. Jacob goes away with Bella in his arms. Us three wait here.

"Okay, go ahead." Edward nods to us. Jasper and I take each other's hands and smell for my sister. Nothing comes about, only Jacob's wolf smell.

"All we picked up was wolf stench. No Bella. This will work." Jasper tells his brother who seems relieved. "Great."

"Okay, Alice, don't be a stranger." My dad waves to my girlfriend as Bella gets out of her truck, confused. "Okay." Alice grins. I see Bella's surprised face.

"Your alibis for the battle is all arranged." She says, pulling me into a small kiss. Holding onto my waist. "Really?" Bella asks.

"I told your guy's father that our whole family's going camping this weekend. So you two are having a sleepover with me. Charlie is going fishing anyway." Alice simply tells us.

I'm surprised he went for it since I am dating Alice but it's probably because Bella will be there and he doesn't think I would do that around my sister. Which I wouldn't... Just in the woods...

"Charlie? You guys are on the same name basis now?" Bella questions. "Yeah, that's crazy." I add in with a little chuckle.

"Me, he likes. Actually, you and Edward will have the house to yourself tonight." Alice smirks at my sister. "Like alone?" "We're all going hunting. Powering up for the battle. You're welcome." She smiles, walking me to her car and we stand there.

"I'm going hunting?" I raise a brow.

"Well, we can go away from the others, of course." She flirts, pulling me closer by my neck to kiss my lips. "Mm, I guess so." I kissed her once more.

"I'll see you later, lovebug." She tells me, opening her car door. "Can't wait." I wink, walking away to join Bella again, going inside our house.

"Hey. Do either of you want a sandwich?" Charlie asks us. "No, I'm good." Bella says. "I'll take one." I yawn.

"Well, the sister. [Name]'s girlfriend. I like." He points to me and I smile, Bella playfully rolls her eyes.

"Alice, yeah. She's great." My sister agrees. She moves over to the sink to start washing the dishes. "Hey, dad. I was wondering. Why didn't you get remarried, after mom?" She asks him suddenly. I look over to him, he seems a little stunned by the question but nonetheless he answers it.

"I don't know... Guess I still haven't met the right gal. Why?"

"I don't know. I thought you just... Maybe you gave up on the whole institution of it. Of marriage. But do you think there's any value in it?" She rambles a little bit. I scrunch my face in where she's going with this.

"Yeah, yeah marriage has value. When you're older. Much older. Like your mother. It seems to work out fine for her the second time around. Later in life." He says.

"Yeah, I guess." She shrugs.

"You definitely don't wanna have to get married because you weren't careful." He tells her and I snort out a laugh, getting a small glare from both of them. "What?" She huffs.

"Look, you know what I'm talking about. Both of you should listen. There's things that you need to think about if you're gonna be physically intimate." He begins, both Bella and I groan.

"Not the talk." I complain. "Oh don't, it's just as embarrassing for me as it is for you two." He tells us. "I doubt that. And don't bother because mom beat you to it like ten years ago." Bella tries to stop him.

"Well, you two didn't have partners ten years ago." Charlie defends.

"I'm sure things work the same way." Bella shakes her head. "Alright, so you guys are taking precautions and-"

"Okay, dad. Please don't worry about that with me. Edward is old school." Bella admits to him. I see my dad perk up a bit.

"Old school, great. What's that? Like code for something?" He questions her. "Oh my God. Dad. I'm a virgin." She blurts out.

"Okay, good. Glad we covered that." He sighs. "Me too."

"Virgin...Liking Edward a little bit more now." He says and that makes a mortified Bella bolt for the door. I laugh quietly.

"I wouldn't laugh [Name] I still gotta talk to you." He points to me and I smirk.

"I'm a virgin too." I lied to him, why would I tell my dad I've had sex? Do I look stupid to you?

"Good, Cullens are getting on my good side today." He mutters and I shake my head, leaving the room.

Later that night Bella had left to go to the Cullen's house as I was joining the others during their hunting.

The whole time my mind was away from everything. Thinking about how the fight is going to go down. How I have to use my wolf form during it. I've been practicing with Sam but it hasn't been easy. It's been the complete opposite.

I can't get used to using it. It doesn't feel right.

I want to let the others know I don't think I'm going to turn but I know that would only upset them. They're busy hunting right now though so I've just been climbing through the trees.

Watching the view above. It's a scene I don't think I could fully appreciate as a human. I mean I can see further so there's that.

"[Name], darling." I heard Jasper speak, startling me since I wasn't paying attention. I jumped down from the tree.

"Yes?" I innocently ask, smiling at him. "I have something to talk to you about." He admits, I tilt my head. Not saying anything, just letting him continue on. "So, the battle." He starts then immediately pauses. "Mhm." I hum out.

"We've come to the conclusion that you should be with Bella. Away from the fight. Edward thinks it's best that it's another person protecting Bella up on the mountain. And then he and Jacob will be-" "Pause." I laugh out loud.

"I'm getting put with the weird love triangle?" I question, a little offended that they're making me do this. "I don't want to but yes." He nods his head shamefully.

I stare at him for a moment. Calming myself before I speak. I understand where they're coming from and it won't hurt to be up there. I'm confident in my family to get it done without even getting hurt. They're strong.

"Okay, I'll do it. Only because it does help me make sure my sister is safe. The only thing is I won't know if you and Alice are." I frown, grabbing his hand.

"Alice thought of that. You're a hybrid, you can hear everything from a distance." He tells me. "If one of us gets hurt you'll hear it and you can come a runnin." He smiles. I shrug my shoulders letting out a long breath.

"I guess, if I hear anything of your two's distress I will be there." I warned him. "Understandable, darlin." He kisses my lips shortly.

In the morning I'm waiting for Bella and Edward as Bella spread little drops of blood around the woods. "You're going overboard." I heard Edward say.

"If this is all I can contribute, I want to be thorough." My sister tells him. "The newborns will be frantic. Now let me put a bandage on that." He tells her. "It doesn't bother me anymore." He adds and I'm a little confused on why he said that. "Since when?" My sister asks.

"Since I spent 24 hours thinking you were dead." "You're not wearing your ring." Mm now I understand. "Well, I didn't want to risk losing it." She simply says. "Or risk Jacob seeing?"

"I think we should wait to tell him. I mean, at least till after the fight." I can't believe I found out they were engaged this way. "If you're having second thoughts..."

"I'm not. I just want him to have a clear head." Bella assures him. I hear Jacob come into play so I walk towards them as well.

"Whose head is unclear?" Jake asks. "Nobody's I hope." My sister says. "Alice says there's a storm coming." Edward announces.

"I can feel it." I stare up at the sky. "Me too, we should get going." Jacob says. "I'll take the longer route. But I'll get there first. Set up camp." Edward tells Jacob and I who nod our heads in understanding. He turns to my sister and kisses her before leaving.

"I have to turn. I'm not getting carried by you, sorry Jake." I apologize unsincerely. "Understandable." He waves me off. "Here. So I have something to change into." I hand a small bag to Bella.

I go off into the woods, taking off my shirt and pants before transforming into my wolf form.

I meet them up at the mountain, beating Jacob and Bella by a few minutes. Edward covers me in a blanket as I transform back into my regular form.

"Jesus, I'm glad I have the wolf heat." I let out a small shiver. He laughs. "Here." Bella hands me my bag and I thank her before going into the tent.

I quickly changed. I hear them talking but I don't pay much mind to it. Not really caring enough to do so. "You guys can come in now."

Late in the night the storm gets worse and worse meaning it's only colder. Bella's freezing, her teeth chattering can be heard miles away.

"I should have chosen a site lower down." Edward frowns. "No, it's fine. I'm okay." Bella assures him. "What can I do?" He asks. She only shakes her head. The zipper opens, revealing Jacob.

"I can't sleep with all that teeth chattering going on." He chuckles. "Forget it." Edward stops him. "She may need her toes someday and let's face it. I'm hotter than you and [Name] here." He begins to crawl to Bella's side but Edward's hand is suddenly hard on his shoulder.

"Get your hand off me." Jacob warns him. "Get your hands off her."

"Don't fight." Bella says, still shivering. Edward notices how cold she looks and pulls his hand away. "Ashe gets sick, it's on you." Jacob tells him. Edward glances at me and I nod my head.

"Just let him, it will help her." He closes his eyes, letting Jacob do it. "Why, You're freezing, Bella. relax , you'll warm up soon. Faster if you took your clothes off." He jokes around. I make a disgusted expression.

"Jake." Bella warns him to stop. "Survival one oh one." He sighs. Edward glares at him. This is going to be a long night.

I lay in the corner of the tent in my own sleeping bag. I slowly fall asleep, luckily just missing the conversation Jacob and Edward have.

In the morning Bella and I climbed out of the tent. We're met with the young wolf, Seth sitting there. Staring at us. "Hi, Seth." Bella waves to him. I give the boy a small smile who huffs in response as a little hello.

"Where's Jacob? Did he already..." "Not yet." Edward cuts off her sentence. "He's checking to see if the woods are clear before he goes." He tells her, wrapping an arm around her and that makes Seth job off.

"I'm really sorry about last night. That couldn't have been easy for you." Bella begins and that's my cue to leave the scene.

I joined Seth up above from where he was. It's boring up here. I wish I argued with Jasper and stayed to fight but I knew it would've made way more problems than what it's worth. I don't want to argue with them anymore.

After a while passes I know that Jacob joined them. I listen to the fighting down below. I focus on Jasper and Alice's voices, their grunts and orders to each other. I wish I could be there with them. I hear Alice and Jasper fighting one of the same newborns.

"Jasper- back off- you can't be everywhere at- watch out!" I hear Edward shout to the air, knowing they couldn't hear him. I hear Alice tell Jasper she can handle themselves.

I stand up to go join but Edward's already at my side stopping me. "He's alright. She is too. You can't join." He tells me and I glare up at him.

"Like hell I can't." I push past him but he only speeds in front of me once again. "Not yet." He tells me. Then we both stop. We share a look with Seth.

"Someone's hurt?" Bella asks us. "Seth, go." I ordered him. He bolts away from the campsite. "Is it Jasper?" She asks another question.

"She's close. I can hear her thoughts. She knew we weren't there but she caught mine and [Name]'s scent." He explains. I stand close to Bella, he stands in front of her. "She knew Bella would be with me. She thinks she's lucky with [Name]." He translated her thoughts out loud to us.

"She found us." Bella whispers.

"She's not alone." I add in. Then a boy, the missing one from the papers, steps out of the woods.

"Riley, listen to me. Victoria's just using you, to distract me, But she knows I'll kill you." Edward tells the boy who looks shocked at first. He hesitates. "In fact, she'll be glad she doesn't have to deal with you anymore." He tries to convince the boy, knowing it's the truth but he of course doesn't know that. Victoria emerges out of the woods.

"Don't listen, Riley. I told you about their mind tricks." She tells the boy, who is obviously easily influenced. "I can read her mind, so I know what she thinks about you." Edward tells him.

"He's lying." Victoria argues. "She only created you and this army to avenge her true mate, James. It's the only thing she cares about. Not you." Edward says.

"There's only you. You know that." Victoria says after seeing the hesitation in Riley. He focuses back on us. Positioning to attack. Victoria's eyes meet with Bella's, filled with bloodlust and revenge.

"Think about it. You're from Forks. You know the area. That's the only reason she chose you. She doesn't love you." Edward was a bit more harsh with his choice of words. Riley falters slightly. "Riley, don't let him do this to us. You know I love you." Victoria forms her face to be more emotional. Somehow convincing the boy.

"You're dead." Riley attacks Edward.

Seth leaps from the cliff above and lands on Riley taking a chunk out of hus hand. He screams in pain. Seth circles back for another attack. Edward starts toward Victoria as I hold onto Bella making sure she's not able to be touched. Victoria goes to escape but Edward darts in her path.

"You can escape. You always do. But you won't get another chance like this again." Edward threatens her choices. She hisses back at him, backing further away.

"You want her. You want [Name]. You want me, Jasper and Alice to feel the pain you felt when we killed James. When we tore him into pieces. Then turned him into ash. When I turned him into nothing." Edward edges her on. Which it works. She erupts and charges toward Bella and I.

I hold onto Bella before running out of the way. Edward intercepts her plan and they roll down the hill.

We watch Seth get kicked down the cliff. Riley spins toward us. To help Edward I push Bella back and grab Riley myself. As we fought together he got me into a headlock. Edward fighting with Victoria seemed a little hopeless.

That was until Bella stabs her arm with a shard of some rock slate.

They stop going towards the smell. I take the arm that was around my neck and rip it off. A loud screeching noise because of it.

I toss the arm to the side and Seth leaps up, tackling Riley. Dragging him into the woods. "Victoria! Victoria!" Riley screams but the redhead does nothing, not even giving him another glance. We hear the screeching of his head getting torn off by Seth.

Edward charges towards Victoria, the two clash and begin to fight. It was fast.

He pummels her down and has himself behind her, holding her in a death grip. She struggles glaring at Bella and I. I ripped my shirt and tied it around Bella's wound tightly. Edward bares his teeth and bites a chunk from her neck, ripping her head off.

"Edward." Bella says, going towards him as she tries to touch him but he turns away. "I didn't want you to see that."

"I'll get some bandages for your arm." He starts for the tent but Seth lets out a small howl.

"Something's wrong." Bella says. "Alice needs us." I tell them. "And now." Edward agrees. "Why? What's happening?" Bella asks.

A massive fire burns when we show up. The Cullens and the wolves drag what's left of the newborns into the fire. "How long?" Edward asks.

"A few minutes. Maybe ten." Alice tells us. "They timed their arrival well." Rosalie joins in. "Probably hoping the newborns took a few of us out." Emmett spits.

"What's she doing here?" Edward points to the newborn girl behind them.

"We offered her safe haven if she stopped fighting. She took it." Esme tells him. "The pack needs to leave. The Volturi won't honor a truce with the werewolves." Carlisle speaks up.

"Where's Jacob?" Bella asks. "There." Edward points to the large world but then he hears a vampire behind him. Leah charges.

"Leah, don't!" Edward shuts but it's too late. The newborn grabs her ruff, yanking her off of her paws but Jacob leaps onto him tackling him. He tries to bite the newborn but it gets its arms around Jacob, crushing him. Jacob howls in agony. I wince at the sight.

"Jacob!" Bella screams. The other wolves pounce on the newborn, pulling him apart.

Edward and Carlisle appear to Jacob's side. Jacob is back to his human form. His face contorted and looked like he could barely breathe.

"Hold on, carlisle is gonna take care of you." Edward tells the boy. "The bones on the right half of his body are shattered." Carlisle tells everyone. Jacob squeezes Edward's hand. Bella reaches them, dropping to her knees and she strokes his face. "Bella." He huffs out. "Jake, I'm right here." She says.

"Jacob, you idiot. I had it." Leah tells him, saddened by what happened and obviously feeling guilt. "Leah." Sam states, basically telling her not now.

"I need to set the bones before his accelerated healing kicks in. It's already starting." Carlisle says. "We need to get him out of here. We;re not gonna win in a fight with the Volturi." Edward orders,

"We'll take him back to Billy's." Sam nods. "I'll be there as soon as I can." Carlisle assures them. "Hand in there, Jake. We got you." Bella touches him one last time.

Jacob cries out in pain as the pack lifts him.

"They're here." Alice speaks up. I stand between Jasper and her. "It appears you've done our work for us." Jane comes into view out of the smoke.

"Impressive. I've never seen a coven escape an assault of this magnitude intact." Jane raises a brow. "We were lucky." Carlisle smiles.

"I doubt that." Jane hums. "It appears we missed an entertaining fight." Alec frowns in disappointment. "Yes, it's not often rendered unnecessary."

"If you'd arrived a half hour ago, you would've fulfilled your purpose." Edward hostilely tells her.

"Pity."

She then looks behind us, spotting the young girl. "You missed one." Jane points.

"We offered her asylum in exchange for her surrender." Carlisle informs her. "That wasn't yours to offer." Jane moves towards the young one. Esme shoots Carlisle a concerned look.

"Why did you come?" But before the girl can answer the question she uses her power on the girl. She screams in pain.

"They came to destroy us. To kill Bella and [Name]." Esme speaks but Jane ignores her. Enjoying the pain. "Who created you?"

"You don't need to do that. She'll tell you anything you want to know." Esme pleads with the blonde vampire. "I know."

Carlisle puts a hand on his wife's shoulder. The girl's screams stop. "I don't know, Riley wouldn't tell us. He said our thoughts weren't safe." She tells Jane, who only zaps her again.

"Her name was Victoria. Perhaps you knew her." Edward says.

"Jane faces Edward with an unnerving smile. The other three positions behind Jane. "Edward. If the Volturi had knowledge of Victoria, they would've stopped her. Isn't that right, Jane?" Carlisle makes eye contact with the girl who just stares at him.

"Of course. Felix." She suddenly says and the brunette male moves to the girl.

"She didn't know what she was doing. We'll take responsibility for her. Give her a chance." Esme begs with Jane and the other members.

"The volturi don't give second chances. Keep that in mind. Caius will be interested to know that she's still human." Jane looks over to Bella. "The date is set." Bella spits out.

"Take care of that Felix. I'd like to go home." She ignores my sister.

The male does it and we all wince at the noises. "Thank you, Felix. Until next time." They all leave.

Later that day I sat in my room. On my bed more specifically. Alice and Jasper at the foot of it.

"Edward and Bella are engaged." I suddenly tell them with my lips pursed out stuck in thought.

"Mhm, that's huge. Are you excited for them?" Alice asks me and I nod. "Of course."

"Why are you bringing it up, darlin '?" Jasper asks with a small smirk on his lips.

"Oh no reason." I lay back in my bed. I hear them snicker at me. Joining me in laying on either side of me.

"Is there something you're hinting at?" Alice pokes my side. "I don't know, am I?" I stay strong with a stern straight facial expression.

"Well polyamory isn't exactly legal in most states." Jasper points out to me.

"Let's move to another country." I simply shrug my shoulders causing them both to laugh.

"We'll get married." Alice hums. "Someday."

"Why not now." I offer. "Are you proposing to us?" She asks and I raise a brow. "Mmm, why do I have to be the one to propose?" I huff.

"You brought it up." Jasper reminds me and I chuckle.

"Fair, fair." I kiss his lips then face Alice to do the same.

"Let's let them have their moment then right after steal their thunder." I exclaim, closing my eyes.

"Sounds fair to me, lovebug." Alice lays her head on my chest.

"Yeah, very smart, darlin." Jasper agrees.

Masterlist

A&J ML

Taglist: if you want to be added lmk!

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@l3ejm

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communistkenobi · 6 months

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Sorry if this is a dumb question can you talk a little bit more about what you mean when you say someone’s politics are reactionary? And what the opposite of reactionary would look like in politics or media or what have you? I get that it’s a bad thing but not totally why and also what something better looks like

Not a stupid question at all - I use the term reactionary broadly to refer to right-wing responses to/analyses of current political circumstances. They are reacting to social, economic, and/or political progress and fighting for those things to be dismantled or destroyed in order to return “back” to an idealised past where those social and political advances were not available to people. This is the reason why the right wing has an eternal obsession with “tradition.” I don’t know the exact scope of the term’s lineage within Marxist thought specifically, but part of reactionary politics is, well, reaction - there is no political imagination offered beyond what already exists or has existed, reactionaries can only react to current conditions, and so right wing political projects demand a backwards historical trajectory, either to an earlier stage of capitalism or even feudalism, where these institutions better enforced (in their view, not necessarily in reality) gendered divisions of labour and gendered roles in society, cisheterosexual norms and practices, racial segregation, imperial and colonial domination, aristocratic class structures, and so on. These are founded on moral claims about what society “ought” to be like, and those moral claims are often bound to religious authorities like the Christian church, intellectual and political projects like white supremacy, colonial states like the US or France or Canada or the UK or etc, and so on. The goal is to protect these existing institutions and reinvigorate them with more political and social power - to make them great again, one might say!

Often to justify these political goals, claims are made about harm being done to a nation or people (this is what animates “the great replacement” conspiracy about white people being bred out of society), to traditional family values, to IQ, but these are not empirical claims being made - the harm is metaphysical, the progress they oppose destabilises idealistic categories like gender or race, it’s not actually physically harming real human beings in the world. Reactionaries can hold the belief that the white race needs to be protected from non-whites, for example, despite the fact that “race” is not something that can be discovered or proven in the material or natural world, it is a fiction that organises society hierarchically but is not premised on anything real. Reactionaries equate the destabilisation of these categories with harm (eg trans people destroy the gender binary, gender equality destroys the need for men, racial equality harms whites), and so their opposition is founded on maintaining these categories, not reducing harm. The harm is part of their goal! It’s why when you point out that, for examples, trans healthcare greatly improves the lives of trans people in order to rebut reactionary claims that most trans people regret transition, they don’t care - their goal is not to reduce harm, it is to maintain existing gendered institutions and norms. They are using the language of harm for rhetorical purposes, but they are not making empirical claims about harm because they don’t give a shit about reducing harm to trans people.

It is opposite to revolutionary politics, a political imaginary looking to produce new institutions, new forms of social and economic relationships, new political horizons not previously developed in human history, or to build upon past projects that have come before. These projects are premised on analyses of current political and social conditions in order to identify the harms they cause. Things like decolonisation, socialism, transfeminism, and so on can act as (potentially) revolutionary political projects that seek to abolish old social/political relationships and hierarchies, be they gender, capitalism, settler colonialism, etc, for the purpose of creating a more just and equitable society. Demands to abolish old social and political forms are founded on empirical claims of harm - settler colonialism produces harm, the gender binary produces harm, capitalism produces harm, etc., and we can measure and assess the extent of these harms. This is part of the reason people claim Marxism is scientific, because its political conclusions and proposed solutions are based on an analysis of “material conditions” ie the real world & its various structures

#asks #anyway hope that answers ur question !#I guess you can also call it progressive politics although that has a lot of pre-existing baggage and vagueness to it #like I don’t want to lump liberals in with this definition because they have different goals and sets of analysis #effortpost

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ariaste · 5 days

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Avra talks about his Orphan Gruel a lot in RUNNING CLOSE TO THE WIND. If he was a TikTok influencer, what would the recipe in his video be, and how sidetracked would he get while filming the video?

Hi everybody it's meeeeee again, ur boi Avra! Today i am going to show you my recipe for a hot steaming bowl of ORPHAN GRUEL because I am being MOST CRUELLY BULLIED [turns around with the camera so Tev is in the shot, sitting dourly in the background, interrupted in the middle of taking a bite of cheerios, glowering] Look at that. Bullying me right now. I didn't hardly even do anything and I get all of these GLARES for absolutely no reason. All I said was "I think the milk's gone bad bee-tee-dubs" and obviously they had to tell me to fuck off and they're eating their cheerios with gross chunky milk just because apparently I'm not allowed to even try to be HELPFUL or THOUGHTFUL or anything, and now I've been forbidden from speaking or using the toilet in Tev's apartment. [walking slightly breathlessly into the kitchen] It's fine, i'm used to it, I am used to a life of being forced to live in a little rotting crate in a smelly alley and having to fight with a mob of possums for every piece of stale bread that Teveri kicks at me with their boot, I am accustomed to it [passive aggressively taking every single pot and bowl out of the cupboards] Anyway so when you are a tragic little orphan living in this alley, being bullied and exploited by the possums, all you want is a little bowl of orphan gruel so you don't perish of STARVATION in the tragic midwinter night on someone's doorstep like the little matchstick girl [passive aggressively filling every pot and bowl with water] orphan gruel is very simple, you just need -- [Teveri yelling from the background to cut it the fuck out] -- so much water, you NEED this water, even if it makes Tev's water bill go up by a hundred bucks, and then you need some [pathetic grunts of effort as he, a short king, attempts to hop up high enough to get the flour from the shelf] -- TEV. TEV WHERE'S THE STEPSTOOL. Nevermind I'll just climb on the counter-- AIEEE! NO! TEV! NO! [camera jostling violently as Avra scrambles into the highest shelf of one of the cupboards to escape Tev trying to haul him off the counters] NO TEV I'M FILMING A VIDEO, I'M DOING A TIKTOK, I'M MAKING MY OWN GRUEL SINCE YOU WON'T EVEN-- [video cuts out]

(RUNNING CLOSE TO THE WIND comes out in ten days on June 11th! It's a comedic fantasy novel about queer pirates stealing and trying to find a buyer for the most valuable secret in the world and fighting back against oppressive institutional powers! You can read a review of it here and the first chapter of it here, and you can preorder it here.)

#running close to the wind #alexandra rowland #chantiverse #fantasy #pirates #comedy #books

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newtthetranswriter · 11 months

Text

Cuddles And Mischief

Paring: Yuta okkotsu x Gn! Reader

Featuring: Yuta(duh), Toge, Panda, Maki, and Gojo for like two seconds

Warnings: Migraines, cuddles, Toge is a little shit, Panda is Panda, Implied reader trying to kill Toge and panda (Don't worry they’re fine)

Word Count: 3308

Summary: Having chronic Migraines is a bitch, but on the brightside Yuta is the sweetest person to ever live and he just so happens to be your boyfriend. Cuddles are on the agenda and also apparently killing two classmates.

A/n: This is just something I thought of cause I've had a crazy bad migraine for the past week and just needed some cuddles. I believe that Toge 100% knows how to pick a lock, you can fight me on that. Also, I wrote this with the thought of JJk happening more like when they’re in college just cause I was more comfy with that, I’ll probably go back and edit my Toge fix to be the same at some point. Also please request stuff, i have a list of fandoms i will write for in my pinned post and i'm going to update it later to have the characters listed as well. Anyways enjoy this Yuta fluff. MINORS AND AGELESS BLOGS DO NOT INTERACT

If I had to describe the worst week of my life it would probably be this one. I know saying the worst week of my life is maybe a slight stretch but damn this week sucked. I’ve had a migraine for the past week, and nothing helps, I’ve taken ibuprofen and drank tons of water but again nothing helps. I just want to lay down in a pitch-black room with my boyfriend, Yuta, and sleep in his warm embrace. I crave cuddles, which is odd for me. I’ve never been big on hugs or cuddling but he’s just so warm and inviting I can’t help but crave to be near him.

There are two reasons I have yet to do this though. One, we've been busy with school and training. We go to Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu Technical Institute, it's a school to learn about cursed spirits and how to fight them, most of our day is taken up by training and the occasional mission. And secondly, no one knows we are together. You see when me and Yuta started getting closer, we agreed that it would be best to keep our relationship secret from our classmates because some of them can be a lot to deal with, and we didn’t want to deal with the endless teasing. Cough Panda Cough

It can be difficult to find time for ourselves when dealing with our crazy life. So here I am sitting on the steps next to the training field, watching Maki fight with Panda because he did something stupid. Yuta and Toge are also on the field practicing hand to hand combat, not that either of them really needed it with their powerful techniques. And as to why I'm just sitting here, well one like I said before I have a migraine and two there are only five of us in our class so not enough for even groups, so I'm sitting out right now.

As I watched Maki pin Panda, I noticed a certain black-haired swordsman eyeing me with concern. With us trying to keep our relationship on the down low, I haven’t had the chance to tell him about my migraine, but I know he could probably tell something was up because I was currently wearing a pair of dark sunglasses that could put Gojo’s to shame. I know I could have texted him, but I didn't want him to worry about me. So here I was being watched by my secret boyfriend while trying to hide the fact that my head felt like it was going to explode.

“MUSTARD LEAF '' I heard I disgruntled Toge exclaim as Yuta completely lost focus on his sparring match with the cursed speech user.

“Sorry Toge, just lost in thought, would you give me just a minute I need to ask Y/n a question?” Yuta asked as Toge waved him off, obviously upset that his best friend is stopping their training. Yuta then proceeded to make his way over to where I’m sitting on the steps. “Hey Y/n, are you ok? You seem a little out of it, not to mention I don’t think Gojo could even see through those sunglasses.” He asked as he approached.

“Yeah, I’m ok. Just have a small migraine don’t worry about it. "I'm going to go take a nap after training is over, it should go away after that.” I responded by trying to downplay my condition so he didn’t worry too much. I could tell he didn’t fully believe me but nodded in understanding before walking back to keep sparring with our classmate.

After training was over I headed in the direction of the dorms to try and sleep off this migraine even though I know it likely won’t work. As I made my way through the halls I felt a hand grab my wrist and pull me into someone's bedroom. I let out a startled gasp, before I turned to see my boyfriend smiling sheepishly with a blush on his face as he scratched the back of his neck.

“Sorry didn’t mean to scare you, just wanted to ask you again if you really are ok? You’ve been acting weird all week and I wanted to know if it was something I had done.” Yuta asked again, obviously concerned for me and worried that it might be his fault I’m not doing well.

“It’s not your fault Yuta. I just have chronic migraines. They just happen randomly and this one has been a bitch. It just won’t go away. Light hurts my eyes, loud noises hurt, ibuprofen doesn't help, sleeping only postpones the pain if I can even fall asleep. I’m just so tired.” I finally told him about this annoying pain. “ I’m sorry for making you worry, I know I should have told you when it first started but I didn’t want you to worry about me. I’m used to this at this point, it’ll go away eventually, until then I'm just going to be tired and on edge.” I could see multiple emotions pass his face as I told him all of this. First was relief that he did nothing wrong, but then concern as I told him how bad it really was.

“It’s okay, I understand you not wanting me to worry but I want to help. You said lights hurt and it's hard for you to get to sleep so I’m going to help out with that.” He said with a serious look on his face and I was slightly confused. How is he going to help with that? “Go lay down in your room and I’ll be there in an hour. I know exactly how to help.” I was shocked as he grabbed his wallet and pulled me out of his room and gently pushed down the hall towards my room. As we reached my room he looked around the hall, making sure no one was around, before leaning in and placing a kiss on my cheek before saying “I love you, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Before he ran off down the hall to god knows where.

I decided that it wasn’t worth stressing over cause that would just make my head hurt more so I just went in my room and changed into a pair of light pajama pants and a hoodie I’ve had for almost a decade, don’t judge the hoodie it’s gotten me through a lot of crap. After getting in my pajamas I laid down on my bed trying to relax even though the small amount of light barley breaking through the closed curtains was way too much for my sensitive eyes. I laid there for a good twenty minutes before I fell into a restless sleep that did nothing to block out the sounds of trees blowing in the wind and the distant sound of arguing, probably still Panda and Maki.

Just like he said about an hour after he had run away on a mission to do who knows what, I opened my eyes to see my gentle boyfriend enter my room quietly with bags of stuff hanging from his arms as he closed my door. He turned around and nearly jumped out of his skin when he noticed I was awake and smiling at him as he nearly dropped his bags on the floor in shock.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up, I was just trying to get in here before someone else saw me.” Yuta said as he walked to my small desk and set the bags of stuff down.

“It’s ok, I wasn’t really asleep anyway. But what on earth did you buy?” I asked as I walked over to peek in the bags. I reached in one and pulled out a bag of my skittles and looked at him confused. “How are skittles supposed to help with a migraine?” I asked, trying to figure it out.

“Those are because I know you love them. This on the other hand I figured would help out a bit with the light sensitivity.” He responded with a smile as he pulled out a package that looked like a black sheet. I again looked at him in confusion. “ It’s a black out curtain. I’m going to hang it in front of your window to block out the light that still comes through your normal curtain. Also figured you could turn on some gentle music to help block out unwanted noise.” He said looking pleased with himself for coming up with the plan.

“You didn’t have to do all this really. I would have just been fine laying in here hiding under my blanket by myself. I really appreciate you taking the time to get me all this, but I can hang this up on my own. You can just go hang with the others, Yuta” I said thinking he was probably going to hang up the curtain and then go hang out with our friends as they did whatever it was they were doing right now.

He tilted his head to the side before smiling and chuckling softly. “No I’m going to hang this up, then you and I are going to lay down together. I know that when you have trouble sleeping you like to have someone with you, I also know it puts you right to sleep when someone plays with your hair. We are both taking a nap and I’m not taking no for an answer.” I was shocked to hear him be so confident about something. Normally he was shy and let others tell him what to do but this was different. I was surprised but also thankful that he was willing to set aside his afternoon to try and make me feel better.

I nodded in response and kissed him on the check as I moved to sit on my bed and eat skittles while he hung up the curtain. I couldn’t help but smile as I thought about how sweet he is and how lucky I was to have him. After he finished hanging up the curtain he walked over to the side of my bed and sat down. I scooted over to give him enough space to lay down as he took off his shoes. He laid down with his head on the pillow and turned towards me to pull me into him. I jumped slightly at the contact, while I was expecting it, I’m still not used to it. After relaxing into his touch a scooted into his side while resting my head on his chest.

It felt great to be held by him in the complete darkness caused by the new curtains. The only thing this moment was missing was quiet music to drown out the outside noise. Like he read my mind Yuta reached over to my nightstand and grabbed my phone, opening it and playing my rest playlist on spotify before setting it back down. I smiled as I leaned up and gave him a peck on the lips before cuddling into his chest whispering an “I love you” as I relaxed to the gentle music coming from my phone. I felt him peck the top of my head before he relaxed and started to gently run his fingers through my hair. After about ten minutes of this I finally fell asleep, and for the first time in a week it was like the world fully melted away.

P.O.V Switch to the other students

About an hour later, Y/n and Yuta’s classmates were starting to get suspicious as to where their two friends had disappeared to. It was already dinner time and it wasn’t like either of them to skip a meal so the three were rightfully concerned.

“I know Y/n hasn’t been feeling well recently so maybe they are asleep.” Maki voiced the fact that one friend had been under the weather this week. “But that doesn’t explain where Yuta is.”

“Tunamayo” Toge said as he looked at his fellow sorcerers.

“Yeah you’re right, Yuta was watching Y/n during training today. Now that you mention it they have seemed really close recently.” Panda said as he processed what was being said. “Oh my god, I think I figured it out. What if they are secretly dating and skipped dinner to go on a date?” He exclaimed, almost too excited about the possibility of his two friends getting together.

“I mean it’s likely they are dating but again Y/n isn’t feeling well and I watched Yuta run off earlier like he was going to do something and Y/n wasn’t there.” Maki said looking at the giant bear like he was stupid for forgetting that one of said friends is ill.

“Salmon” Toge said, agreeing that the two were probably a couple but also agreeing that they probably weren’t on a date right now.

“Well then how about we figure this out the old fashioned way.” Panda stated

“By asking them next time we see them?” Maki asked, hoping her friend would say something reasonable for once, though she knew it was unlikely.

“No we go find them, you said Y/n wasn’t feeling well and that they would probably be sleeping, so I say we go check their room. If they are resting, that's where they will be.” Panda stated as if it was the most obvious answer to their problem.

“Salmon” Toge exclaimed with mischief in his eyes as he was the first to dart out of the room towards the dorms. He was determined to see what his best friend was up to at the moment. He also secretly hoped that they were correct that Yuta and Y/n were together because he shipped from the moment he watched the two talk for the first time.

“Toge calm down if you want to find out you gotta be quiet when you go down there. Don’t want anyone hearing you.” Panda said as he followed his friend down the hall. Maki was also with them, though she would deny her curiosity saying it was only to stop the two boys from being stupid.

As they turned down the hall that held the room of their friend who had been unwell all week, they could hear quiet music coming from the bedroom. “You hear that, that’s Y/n’s sleep playlist; they play it every night to help them sleep.” Maki said as she tried to stop her dimwitted companions from disturbing their friend’s sleep.

Only there was a problem, as they didn’t stop and made it closer to the room the three stopped walking in a state of shock. Not because of something they say but something they could feel. It was strange only in the sense that this cursed energy didn’t belong to their ill friend, it belonged to their other missing companion. It startled all of them to feel Yuta’s cursed energy flowing from Y/n room, it was obvious that's where it was coming from as underneath the large cloud of his energy they could barely make out Y/n’s cursed energy mixed in.

“I knew they were together.” Panda stated as he moved closer to the room. Toge following close behind was also excited to break up his friend's private moment.

Maki followed them as they stopped at the door, “you guys know he could have just stopped by here a minute ago to check on them, right” she said, trying to reason this out so the two didn’t invade anyones’ privacy in their attempt to cause trouble.

Panda just looked at her with a roll of his eyes as he tried to open the door. “ Doubt it, his energy is too strong for it to just be a residual, Damn it, they locked the door.” He exclaimed as his plan was foiled.

“Yeah it's probably locked to keep creepy bears from going in there without knocking.” Maki responded not paying attention to the silent member of their group who had ducked down to a crouch in front of the door inspecting the lock.

“Well knocking would be counterproductive Maki, I want to catch them by surprise and not announce my presence.” Panda countered. Again neither of them noticing Toge pull out a couple paper clips from his pocket.

“I think we should just leave them alone, They will tell us when -” Maki started but was interrupted.

“ Mustard Leaf” Toge whispered, shouting to get his friends’ attention. The two bickering sorcerers look at their shorter friend in shock as they watch him start to pick the lock on the door.

“What the hell Toge, why are you doing that?” Maki almost shouted at her friend who just responded with a shrug as if it was a stupid question and kept working.

The three of them were so focused on Toge unlocking the door that they failed to notice their teacher making his way towards the group. “So what are you three doing?” the tall man with a blind fold asked right as the click of the lock coming undone sounded.

The trio nearly jumped out of their skin but as Maki was about to explain it in a way to not get in trouble for breaking and entering, Toge opened the now unlocked door. Panda took the moment of shock from his friend opening the door to tell his teacher what was happening.

“We are just trying to prove that that is happening.” he said, sounding triumphant as he pointed at his two friends who were peacefully sleeping in each other's embrace. As The Now Four of them took in the sight of the two young sorcerers looking the most relaxed that they have in a while, Toge couldn’t help but pull out his phone and snap a picture of the sweet moment. No doubt with the intention of blackmail in the future.

As the shutter sound resounded through the space the sleeping couple began to stir and with that the group snapped out of their shock. There were six different reactions, one from each person, and they were as follows. Yuta looked up in confusion still groggy from sleep and started blushing as soon as he saw his friends and teacher standing at the door to his partner’s room. Maki shook her head in disapproval of her friend’s stupidity for interrupting someone's well deserved sleep. Panda was holding back a laugh at his friends’ startled expressions. Toge started with a happy smirk until he made contact with the owner of the bedroom he just broke into. Gojo was also laughing as he walked away knowing that one of his students would deal out the punishment for his other students' mischief. And then there’s Y/n, while they were still half asleep they knew exactly who was standing in their doorway and were ready to kick someone’s ass.

Y/n jumped over a still blushing Yuta to get out of the bed, having the complete intention of taking their class from five students down to just three. First on their list was the one currently frantically sending the picture he just took to his other friends so when his phone was inevitably broken he would still have it. Second was the walking stuffed animal who hadn’t stopped laughing since they woke up to the intruders. The only reason Maki was safe was the fact that she had walked away after Gojo left, Y/n also knew she probably was trying to stop the idiots.

As Y/n chased the cursed corpse and cursed speech user, Yuta couldn’t help but start to giggle at his friend’s antics. He also let out a sigh of relief, knowing he no longer had to hide his affection towards the love of his life.

#jjk x reader #yuta okkotsu #yuta okkotsu x reader #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu sorcerer #jujutsu yuta #fluff

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cardinalcringe · 5 months

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(And in case you don’t have a NYT subscription, here they all are):

“We don’t take an oath to a country. We don’t take an oath to a tribe. We don’t take an oath to a king or a queen, or to a tyrant or a dictator. And we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator.” - Mark Milley

“The president has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military, to fight ethically or to be governed by a uniform set of rules and practices.” - Richard Spencer

“President trump and other officials have repeatedly compromised our principles in pursuit of partisan advantage and personal gain.” - HR McMaster

“Donald trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people- does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort.” - James Mattis

“ I have a lot of concerns about Donald trump. I have said that he’s a threat to democracy.” - Mark Esper

“ a person who admires autocrats and murderers dictators. A person who has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.”- John Kelly

“ I think the events of the capital, however, they occurred, were shocking. And it was something that, as I mentioned in my statement, I cannot put aside.”- Elaine Chao

“Unfortunately, the actions and rhetoric following the election, especially during this past week, threaten to tarnish these and other historical legacies of this administration. The attacks on the Capital were an assault on our democracy, and on the tradition of peaceful transitions of power of the United States of America, brought to the world.”- Alex Azar

“Moron.” - Rex Tillerson (re: trump, repeatedly)

“It’s more than just a bunch of papers and what big deal is this and so forth. Lives can be lost.” - Dan Coats

“I didn’t feel he did what he needed to do to stop what was happening.” -Betsy DeVos (a stupid bitch overall, but still right)

“It will always be, ‘Oh, yeah, you work for the guy who tried to overtake the government.’” - Mick Mulvaney

“The fact of the matter is he is a consummate, narcissist, and he constantly engages in reckless conduct that puts his political followers at risk and the conservative and Republican agenda at risk.” -Bill Barr

“By the time I left the White House, I was convinced he was not fit to be president… I think it is a danger for the United States if he gets a second term.” -John Bolton

“We need more seriousness, less noise, and leaders who are looking forward, not staring in the rearview mirror claiming victimhood.” - Mike Pompeo

“He asked me to put him over the Constitution, and I chose the Constitution, and I always will.” - Mike Pence

“He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him. And we can’t let that ever happen again.” - Nikki Haley

Stupid. Selfish. Divisive. Authoritarian. Unserious. Tyrant. Professional Victim. Insurrectionist. Narcissist. Dangerous. Moron.

Trump’s best people sum him up.

#fuck trump #fuck maga #january 6 #jan 6th #jan 6 #jan 6 insurrection #nyt #nytimes #new york times

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cenorii · 1 year

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Another little story again! I really love Alex Wesker and Natalia Korda, so I want to know the continuation of their common history. This is my version of their future, in which Wesker also survived, because I want to arrange some kind of brotp. An older brother and a little sister who commands him, what could be better?

AU - Immortal Connection

2013. AU in which Natalia Korda, after a good ending, began to gradually acquire personality traits of an adult Alex Wesker, but not her memory. She's still the same innocent child, just incredibly smart. The powers that Alex showed in her body during the bad ending also began to appear. And her half-brother Albert survived the battle in the volcano, but with great difficulty. It took him some years to recover, so he did not have time to arrive on the Sejm Island to obtain samples of T-Phobos, rumors of which reached him. By this point, BSAA and TerraSave had cleaned up everything there. Therefore, the only option was to find those who survived directly with the virus inside. But no sooner had Wesker realized that he needed Natalia, than he suddenly meet her in one of the TerraSave institutions.

He was supposed to sneak in there under the cover of night and steal the necessary data, but he absolutely did not expect to find a little girl doing the same there. This meeting made him stand in a stupor for a while.

Alex, having an impressive adult consciousness locked in a child's body, could not stay in Barry's family for long. Noticing her intelligence, Barry sent her to study with the idea that in their fragile world, good scientists are needed, which are so lacking in TerraSave.

That night Natalia, or Alex, was looking for information about herself. She understood that she was no longer the same person, no longer the Natalia she was. Her knowledge, intelligence, powers ... she wanted to find an explanation for all this, because she didn’t remember anything at all about Alex's experiment on the transfer of consciousness. And she didn't succeed, did she? Right?

Partially.

Alex didn't recognize her brother in Natalia's body, just like he didn't recognize her. Noticing something strange in the girl's behavior, Wesker would not attack her. And it wouldn't have worked. With the powers that received from T-Phobos, Alex would be able to protect herself, besides, she sees infected people through walls, so she knew that he was nearby.

«He's not a human... interesting» she thought.

Wesker, looking into her eyes, should have immediately understood that in front of him was a child under the influence of one of the strains of the progenitor virus, just like himself. The one he was looking for. Trying to play along with her in order to use her for his own purposes, he will face the fact that he will be reprimanded on the spot.

«I'm not a stupid child»

Well, he's in a stupor again. Now what to do? It won't be possible to take her blood even by force... because he is not in a condition to fight with someone. Even the few years it took to restore his body wasn't enough. Competing with someone who most likely surpasses him in strength is pointless. But their confrontation did not last longer than a couple of moments, because two people with high intelligence quickly understood that they needed to cooperate. They could benefit from each other.

«Probably you are here for information, I will give it to you. But in return, I’ll get it too, okay? »

He was completely lost. Team up with a child? Definitely the strangest collaboration, but if he can benefit from it, then…

«I agree»

Not a situation in which Wesker can afford to showing off.

#resident evil #au #albert wesker #alex wesker #natalia korda #resident evil revelations 2 #resident evil 5 #revelations 2

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see-arcane · 5 months

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A Magnus (Protocol) By Any Other Name…

…will be just as horrifying.

Well, it’s time for me to dust off the corkboard, unravel some fresh red yarn, and cook up some new incredibly wrong but passionate theories. First one is bouncing off some key points:

1) The Magnus Protocol’s logo is composed of certain alchemic symbols, chiefly a version of the sign involved with creating the Philosopher’s Stone; the catalyst for riches and the Elixir of Life’s gift of immortality.

Especially tasty to consider, what with the first episode introducing us to poor Red Canary who discovered the ruins of the Magnus Institute were host to some strange symbols of its own inside.

2) A fellow by the name of Saint Albertus Magnus was kicking around in the 1200s and, like that famous French scribe Nicolas Flamel, he got a hefty posthumous reputation for having been a great alchemist on top of being a philosopher and scientist.

What does this add up to? First, I want to look at identity possibilities when it comes to who the Magnus(es) in question might be here.

Theory A: Jonah Magnus was part of a lineage with an itch to chase the more-than-earthly and, naturally, immortality. If not a direct descendant, then a sibling or cousin line. Can’t say Albertus would be jumping to congratulate the bastard for his ‘success story.’

Theory B: With apologies to the actual Albertus, maybe Jonah is that original alchemic Magnus. Or at least he wore the guy once upon a time and kept the surname. Maybe he fudged the ye olde records some centuries back. Death records, life records, whether or not old Al ran into some unsavory character with unpleasant gray eyes…

Theory C: Circles a bit back to A, in that Jonah wasn’t the only one in his family tree poking around supernatural and supernal forces. Assuming Jonah existed as himself at all in this place. Someone or something else might have been running this world’s Magnus Institute before it was roasted. While the current assumption is that the cast of characters we knew in The Magnus Archives might exist within TMP’s universe as themselves, we don’t have all the pieces yet.

Fun stuff!

But oh. Oh boy. I am chewing apart the implications of the main logo and the ‘protocol’ like an excited dog. Specifically, the possible implications of the Philosopher’s Stone symbol visible in the logo not being this…

…but this.

The sign is inverted. Which shouldn’t mean much, right? All the other little symbols chilling in there are right side up, what’s the big deal?

The same kind of deal that we see in the difference between a pentacle, associated with magic and pagan faiths in various forms:

And a pentagram, associated point blank with outright devilish and demonic dabbling:

Or, if you’re up on your Tarot, you know that there’s a world of difference between getting your card right-side up (delivering on the image’s classic meaning) versus flipping it to see the picture inverted (the opposite of the original intent).

So what does that mean for the TMP’s symbol, the same stamp which we might assume the Office of Incident, Assessment and Response has on their workplace? My guess: This is the insignia of a force or founder who put the ‘protocol’ in The Magnus Protocol. A foundation based on actively opposing what they took to be forces of a classically alchemic and/or infernal nature rather than the cosmic horrors we know the Fears as.

The Enemy is using these powers to evil ends. The Enemy is made of monsters. The Enemy includes Jonah Magnus, the spoiled offshoot of Albertus Magnus. Our sign is the opposition to his and others’ vicious quest.

Or suchlike.

In the style of Gertrude Robinson, the original person or persons behind the Protocol and our main characters’ Office appears to have hit upon a ‘fight fire with fire’ reaction to the Fears. We see how Alice, a veteran employee of the Office, displays a strong insistence on categorizing its statements very, very loosely, and actively not prying into deeper research in the way a place wholly possessed by the Eye would encourage. She’s seen people go strange upon following the lure of weirdness; but she knows from experience that the Office can be worked in jovially enough, sans side effects. The implication being that Colin is sprinting down that rabbit hole, poor dude.

If the OIAR is of the Eye, it is also against the Eye. Against all Fears, even as it absorbs statements of their actions. Feeding its patron while also cutting back the portions by way of not being too careful about the filing or the tasty background research. If the Eye is present at all in the Office, then it is settling for granola bars versus Jonah Magnus’ offered banquets.

Which all comes back to the question of:

If Jonah Magnus founded the Institute here, who is responsible for the OIAR?

My pet favorite is the ‘one who got away’ as far as Jonah’s classic 19th century days went—one Dr. Jonathan Fanshawe who got an eyeful of a victim’s blinking innards and broke ties with Magnus like they were pretzel sticks. We never do find out what became of him afterward.

His last written words to Jonah ran:

Nothing stood in the way of my retreat, and I dragged Albrecht’s body back as far as the coach. We left that awful place, and I have endeavored most acutely to forget the route. Before he was buried, I was able to secure permission to do an autopsy. I had some thought as to discovering the cause of his sudden, violent passing. Do I need to tell you what I found, Jonah? Do I need to detail what covered his organs, his bones, the inside of his skin? What clustered together in their dozens, and all turned as one to focus on me as I opened his chest, their pupils constricting in the light, with irises of every hue and color? Because whatever it was that did this to him, I know in my heart that it is your fault. I have had the body burned. Please do not write to me again. Your obedient servant, Doctor Jonathan Fanshawe.

You can feel the polite antique ice on that goodbye. Just as we can read here, and glean from his full letter, that the whole experience surrounding poor Albrecht is one he actively wishes he could forget. To not examine. And, of course, there’s the baited hook of Jonathan Sims’ next lines after reading the letter aloud:

Statement ends. (sigh) Disconcerting to find my namesake in a statement, especially one connected so directly to the Institute. I can only hope breaking faith with Jonah Magnus didn’t go too badly for him.

I can’t think of a better ironic hell for the good doctor than to find himself the abrupt focus of the Eye all over again. Especially when the meat of the letter-statement involves this scene:

“I had them rebound last year,” he said. “Damp can do terrible things to a book.” I told him I was certain that that was the case, but I must insist we talk about his health. Again he ignored me. Instead, he took the seat opposite me and started to tell me a story. And then another. And another. A stream of strange tales began to pour out of him, and I just sat there, transfixed, desperately wishing I had the strength of will to leave, but all I could do was listen. He told me of a seamstress, who laced her body with fine black thread, and when she pulled it all out in a single swift motion, her skin dropped away like a loose shift. He told me of a man so scared to die he spent a year weaving a rope blindfolded, so he would not know the length, and could not foresee the moment it would tighten around his neck when he finally threw himself into the void. He told me of a fire that burns so hot and fierce that to even know about it is enough to burn a man’s tongue from his head. He told me so many terrible things.

And at the end of it all, the only thing I could think to ask him was where he read them. My eyes darted to the books that surrounded us, but Albrecht laughed at this, and placed his hands across a spine that was simply labeled ‘A Warning.’ For a moment, he looked as though he were about to wrench it from its place and hurl it into the fire. But it passed. He turned back to me. “You do not understand,” he said to me in German. “I do not read the books. They read me.”

Isn’t that something? A crossing of paths with the Eye that wasn’t just inflicting its Stare upon him through a victim or an avatar, but effectively pinning Dr. Fanshawe in the role of the unhappily avid audience, however briefly. Forced to absorb a litany of horrors as another Jonathan would so many years later. Good foundation for someone who, upon discovering the insidious supernatural Powers That Be were not about to leave him alone, would try his best to turn that force into something to use against the monsters. A habit among Archivists who’ve had Jonah Magnus inflicted on them.

Assuming it is Fanshawe at the roots here, the act of designing a symbol centered on inverting the Philosopher’s Stone sigil makes sense. Cosmic and eldritch horror wasn’t really on the table for that era. But the demonic and the arcane were. As were, we can assume, history books to do with famous old Albertus Magnus and his possible connection to Jonah ‘Wants to Be an Immortal All-Powerful Specialboy’ Magnus. Whether it’s Dr. Fanshawe behind the OIAR’s inception or not, having it be somebody from Jonah Magnus’ early days works out—they would assume the bogeymen at work were merely hellish, nothing broader.

Plus, there’s just plain narrative convenience to consider. ‘19th century guy knows Magnus is up to shit with his Institute. Gets suspicious. Gets avatar’d against his will. Gets proactive about it. Named Jonathan, good for a bait-and-switch down the line.’

But, I could obviously be 1000% wrong, as per usual with ¾ of my Magnus-flavored theories. It could be someone or something entirely unrelated, though I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Fanshawe. Especially when I stop to think about how very fond the Fears are of avatars who play hard to get, forcing their essence and power on those who want it least.

The arachnophobic Annabelle Cane.

The endlessly exhausted Oliver Banks.

The goodwilled and betrayed Michael Shelley.

The empathetic sacrificial lamb of Jonathan Sims.

And perhaps, there at the start, Jonathan Fanshawe. Seeing and being Seen, balking at the Ceaseless Watcher’s work and the stories it wanted to share with him. Maybe, maybe.

We’ll just have to wait and See. 👁️

#guess who's back on the wildly inaccurate theorizing bullshit babeyyy #the magnus protocol #the magnus archives #jonah magnus #albertus magnus #jonathan fanshawe #theory

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tanadrin · 8 months

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@zvaigzdelasas arguing in replies is annoying, so i am just going to put this in a post

Khmer Rouge wouldn't have been what it was without the US overthrowing Sihanouk bc of his perceived socialist sympathies and instituting & upholding the violent Lon Nol regime. You are in the imperial core in 2023, you are not in Angkor Wat in 1970

not my main point, which is just that revolutions (at least in the classic sense of storming-the-barricades or even just extraconstitutional shenanigans) are chaotic situations with unpredictable outcomes. you can get lots of positive changes. you can get lets of shitty ones. they're great for authoritarians and fascists in equal measure to sainted socialists or w/e. they do not solve the problem of having to do politics, but the rhetoric around the One True Revolution acts like it's the end of a long process, and not the beginning of a new, much more dangerous one.

if by "revolution" you just mean "major set of reforms carried out by winning control of existing political structures," sure, that's a lot less risky. but this would involve engaging with those wicked corrupt and nasty institutions of liberal democracy people are always so scornful of.

liberal democracy has pathways for lasting change [Citation Needed]

since the middle of the 19th century the US and Britain have seen massive improvements in income distributions, the creation of and the expansion of the welfare state, universal male suffrage, women getting the right to vote, (in the US) black people getting the right to vote, gay people going from criminals to a minority with rights protected under the law (including gay marriage), plus a laundry list of smaller but still important and lasting democratic, economic, and social reforms. yes, progress is not monotonic. no, no party is credibly threatening to (say) reimpose legal segregation in the US, or strip women of the right to vote anywhere in Europe. "nothing ever gets better" is an absolutely deranged take, especially when a lot of the reason things have gotten better is leftists willing to fight for improvements even if they fell short of total communist revolution.

You're aware of the world historic wave of reaction going across the western world like, right now right

Obviously! And I love the idea that a communist society would be magically free of prejudice or reactionaries leveraging it for power. Because it wouldn't be! And socialist countries generally have a human rights record that reflects similar issues!

(here I said even this language of "imperial core" involves assumptions which are silly and which i'm not willing to grant. marxists use the word "empire" in a way which is not actually very useful and has little explanatory power)

"within the geographic distribution of the highest value added surplus" very obvious explanatory power when the question is one of control over global labor capacity

i don't know if you're being deliberately disingenuous or what but the marxist use of the term "imperialism" is in fact much more sophisticated than that

and i think it's wrong in important ways, especially in the postcolonial period. the usage originated when colonial empires in the literal sense were very important; now, not so much. while there are important postcolonial dynamics of exploitation worth talking about, i do not think the framework of imperialism as articulated in the 19th century is anywhere close to sufficient, and it should be abandoned.

also don't wanna get bogged down in the weeds, just pointing out that one of the really irritating things about arguing with communists is you use words in annoying ways that inhibit rather than facilitate analysis.

And these are things that, for example, the AfD aren't trying to roll back?

you know you can look up the AfD's party platform online? like it's full of stupid, awful, xenophobic shit, and they are rightly reviled, but "return to the constitution and political structures of the German Empire" is not in there. i think the fact that even the biggest party of right-wing reactionaries can't imagine rolling back the clock more than a few decades is noteworthy--there are political gains over the history of modern leftism which are now so universally respected literally no one remembers we had a fight about them once.

like, obviously things have gotten better for the vast majority of people in germany, britain, or the US since the 1870s, and i don't know what we accomplish by pretending otherwise? except maybe creating some kind of martyr complex where we pretend leftism (and the labor movement in particular) is much less effective than it actually is.

i am going to mute replies to this and my other posts in this series, because on this particular morning i would rather have a root canal than argue about the word "imperalism," and i suspect this is the kind of argument that could go on literally forever. i do not think we are likely to persuade one another, but i have laid out why i find the contemporary marxist perspective on these things deeply unpersuasive (to the extent i can without rehashing a bunch of old posts), so i feel like i have said my piece.

#and i still don't feel like the real meat of my argument was engaged with #a lot of little smug jabs don't really constitute an argument

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