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thessalian · 1 year

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Thess vs JK Rowling

So let’s talk about JK Rowling for a minute. Yes, I know that you’re probably sick of hearing about it for one reason or another. I get it. I just ... have a distinct need to vent here. So I’m sorry for bringing it up again, whatever side of this argument you’re on. Just ... come on. Hogwarts Legacy comes out on my fucking birthday. The only thing that’s saving my birthday at this point, given the mess the internet’s going to be Friday over this, is sushi dinner and a little Legend of Vox Machina watch party.

The summary basically goes as follows: JK Rowling is a TERF and a horrible human being, and she underlines that fact every time she opens her virtual mouth, and now Hogwarts Legacy is coming out and it’s been an internet slap-fight ever since. The reactions I’ve seen so far have been as follows:

“I’m buying multiple copies to own the libs!”

“I’m buying a copy but I’m donating twice as much to trans organisations so it’s fine, right?”

“SUPPORT THE DEVELOPERS OMG!”

“It doesn’t really deprive her of that much money anyway given how rich she is, so a boycott is pointless.”

“I’ll just pirate it and you should too!” (bonus points for talking about the cracker who’s making it a point to crack Denuvo over this, and that’s about the one good thing coming out of it because Denuvo is bullshit)

And then there’s me. I’m trying not to ascribe hateful intent to anyone who wants to buy Hogwarts Legacy. I really am. The only reason I can manage it is - and I’m sorry to put it this way but there’s literally no other way I can phrase it - US news is basically the centre of the media universe and a lot of people only hear the very basics about how JK Rowling is a TERF and a horrible human being. You combine that with nostalgia goggles and it’s a recipe for what I can only really call quasi-deliberate cognitive dissonance in people with the best of intentions. Sorry for doing this; I just need to pull this apart.

We’ll start with the nostalgia goggles. I mean, I was a ... sort of a fan when I was younger. Looking back on it, I can see why “more or less average kid from a household that treats them unfairly is suddenly elevated to popularity, wealth, a stable emotional support network and ADVENTURE!” had appeal. Thing is, looking at it with a more critical eye? It was racist as fuck. Not that much better on the sexism. Not any better on the antisemitism either. Apologetic of slavery (”No it’s okay because they like being slaves!” my entire oversized ass). Don’t even get me started about the “lycanthropy as AIDS” thing that she actually admitted to, and literally highlighting how she killed her gays when she stated that Dumbledore was gay after the last books were already out instead of actually showing any of that in the text. On top of all that, I can’t say with any honesty that it was even that well-written. While I don’t think a lot of people are forgetting that book 7 epilogue any time soon, the rest of it ... just ... doesn’t hold up to me. The wizarding houses that sold a few billion pieces of merchandise were just an excuse to legitimise bullying within the text. Her portrayal of Snape had her confusing “doomed love” with “incel”. Dumbledore was sold as a benevolent sage but came across to me as a fucking maniac and a horrible educator. Most of all, half of this series was held together with plot glue, communication fail, and having a non-omniscient, highly distractable POV character throughout. I have things to say about the pacing, particularly as regards the introduction of the Horcruxes and the Remus / Tonks relationship (which, given the “bad man spreading this AIDS-analog to people deliberately” the still somehow existing view of AIDS as “a bad gay’s disease”, and Remus’ bond with Sirius, feels like an attempt to “de-gay” Remus somehow, but all that did was code him bi and she killed him anyway, apparently to tug on heartstrings in a really clumsy-ass way, so eh). But we’ve got colourful houses coded by desirable personality traits (EXCEPT SLYTHERIN, like cunning and ambition are somehow inherently evil) and Quidditch and Every-Flavour Beans, so that’s fine, right? Egh. Sorry; I was never one to hang onto the nostalgia goggles for very long. I love poking the Jenga Tower of Logic too much.

(Also, frankly, if she’d taken Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them and turned them into a Steve Irwin-type nature series instead of the racist imperialist pile of garbage that series turned into, she’d have been a lot better off. Though I’m not sure I like her rooting around in the cultural heritages of others because she handles this shit like a moose handles a Ming vase.)

Of course, Hogwarts Legacy is a different kettle of fish. It’s not in the modern era or anything so it can’t be that problematic, right? It’s set in ... *checks* 1890. So the height of British imperialism. Oooooooh yeah that’s going to be a Thing, isn’t it. Let’s see ... Super Special Student thrown into Hogwarts in their fifth year, Possessed of Ancient Secret Magic ... Chosen One. Got it. Wikipedia won’t even go into the full plot but what I seem to recall is “Evil (and Jewish-coded) Goblins Attempt Wizard Genocide”. So that’s nice. And its lead designer is ... Troy Leavitt, Gamergate supporter and creation of such videos as “In Defense of Cultural Appropriation”. Which, given Rowling’s history with same, is on brand. So how about we not go too far into the “But SUPPORTING THE DEVELOPERS!” argument? This man does not need support; he needs a good swift kick in the balls.

So, back onto Rowling, because I really can’t talk about the game much as it’s not technically out yet. Yes, TERF and horrible human being, but there are examples of this that go beyond the shit she spouts on Twitter. As far as the TERF shit goes, here’s an example: a little while ago, the devolved Scottish Parliament wrote a law - only applicable to the Scots, incidentally - that said that people age 16 and up should be able to decide what gender to put on their identity documents. It’s called the Gender Recognition Act. Now, the UK government at Westminster didn’t like this at all, and - in a move they’re not actually supposed to make - blocked Scottish Parliament from being able to enact that law within its own borders. This kicked the Scottish devolution movement (already pretty heavy because of the end results of Brexit) into even higher gear, because fuck the English government wanting to uphold their terfitude so much that they’d dictate what Scotland can do in its own borders. Rowling is on the English government’s side here, and is very against Scottish devolution. The money she has doesn’t only go to that LGB Alliance that leaves out the T so very deliberately; it also goes to blocking Scotland’s attempt to unstaple itself from this hellscape, just because she agrees with blocking the rights of people to choose whether an M or F goes on their official documentation instead of basing it on their assigned gender at birth.

And then there’s her most recent book, written under her (ironically male) pseudonym. Yes, it’s a TERF manifesto with chapters, but it’s more than just “Evil Mass Murderer Hides Behind Woke Transgender Propaganda To Gain Access To Women’s Bathrooms And Murder Them”. That book also includes a “poor influencer accused of being ableist being murdered by disabled people because they consider said influencer too ableist to be condoned” plot. Fibromyalgia is mentioned (dude, I have fibro and even if I wasn’t a decent human being, I hurt too much to be able to actively murder someone). Also autism, which is pretty telling when you consider that she also says that “poor confused autistic girls are being forced into gender conversion because they’re too autistic to understand what they’re doing”.

If you honestly want to own anything with this woman’s name attached, that’s fine. That’s your prerogative. I am probably going to judge you, though. It’s not the money, or at least not just the money - it’s the platform this is giving her, and the validation. Even piracy says “I don’t care about your behaviour because you’re giving me what I want”. Not even need; want. I don’t get why anyone wants it, but people are allowed to have different tastes, so that’s a whatever-thing. But I live in the country where her voice has the most influence on things that aren’t entertainment. She is defended by so many of the wealthy and powerful because she thinks the same way they do. And the more she’s lauded for anything she does, the more they’ll point to her as something good about this country. She is not a good thing about this country, and no amount of flying broomsticks and jelly beans that taste like earwax can change that, in my mind.

(Also, I’ve seen some of the preview pictures - the game looks like hot garbage anyway.)

#Thess has opinions #Thess plays video games #But not that one #Not ever

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resowrites · 2 years

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We Were The Better Kind - a Lloyd Hansen oneshot.

Summary: Lloyd Hansen is now one of the most feared and revered contract killers in the world. But after a particularly hard day at work, he reminisces on where it all began…

Pairings: AU!Lloyd Hansen x OC!Maria

Warnings: NSFW, 18+only MINORS DNI, angst, language, kidnap, interrogation, abuse, torture, humiliation, waterboarding, violence, threatening behaviour, murder/mention of death, mention of blood, adult/dark themes, misogyny, lightly proofread.

WC: 4324

A/N: My work must not be copied, reposted, or translated elsewhere. Likes, follows, reblogs and comments are thoroughly welcome and appreciated! No copyright infringement intended, gifs/pics not my own, my asks are open so please feel free to message me your requests/questions/critiques. Please also message me if you want to be added to the taglist. I hope you all enjoy!

We Were The Better Kind - a Lloyd Hansen oneshot.

Lloyd sat comfortably in his armchair, a drink in hand and the fire roaring loudly. It had been a long day and all he wanted to do was rest. He'd managed to get the intel from the target he'd been torturing all afternoon. It took a more ingenious method on this occasion but as he often found, persistence was key. As was usually the case on these cold, December evenings, his mind flit back to how it all began. He wasn't a sentimental man, not by any means, but even he was surprised at the turn his life had taken.

He had no intention of working for the government. He'd majored in football, and fully expected to turn pro when he and two of his friends were approached one hot summer's afternoon and offered the opportunity to train for the CIA. Lloyd had been benched almost the entire season recovering from a foot injury, so he saw no harm in giving the training a go. Despite being in peak physical condition already, it was a lot more full on than expected, especially the theoretical work. Although he considered himself shrewd, he wasn't the academic sort, and some of the more technical training threw him for a loop at times.

But Lloyd was determined to do his best, his supervisors thought he showed great promise and would have a distinguished career if he applied himself. That was certainly the goal throughout his first four months on the job. He remembered the morning of the mission that changed everything like it had happened only yesterday. He remembered pressing his suit and coiffing his hair, even giving his shoes an extra shine though, for the particular job he was about to partake in, it wouldn't really matter.

His particular team had almost captured one of the most notorious criminals their country had ever seen. Far more deadly and scheming than the mob lords on their lists and even internationally, Carlos Mondalez was both well known and feared. From humble beginnings as a drug dealer on the streets of Buenos Aires, Mondalez now operated a multi-billion dollar arms trade and sold on whatever intel or data he could get his hands on. Although they'd missed the opportunity to bring him in after a six year chase, they had managed to capture his girlfriend, an American woman fifteen years his junior named Maria.

Except she was suspected to be far more than just a girlfriend. Apparently, Maria had planned and orchestrated most of Mondalez's major deals and was at least partially responsible for his now considerable wealth. The CIA suspected she was agency trained, though without interrogation this would be hard to prove. Lloyd's team, headed up by his supervisor Harold Finch, had been read into the case and permitted to employ 'enhanced interrogation techniques.' What this actually meant was that they'd be allowed to systematically torture Maria using methods otherwise employed in remote facilities such as Guantanamo Bay.

Harold Finch, a hardened, long serving officer who didn't suffer fools and had about as much patience to match, was especially looking forward to the task. There were rumblings that Finch had gone off the book many a time during his long career and this made newer members of the team, like Lloyd, especially nervous. He didn't know what granted Finch that much power, or what it was he knew, but he definitely didn't want to get on the wrong side of him. Much of Finch's team felt the same way, he was a hard taskmaster and didn't tolerate even the slightest indiscretions. Many a time he sent home officers home for being tardy or even wearing creased suits. He took his job incredibly seriously and that was at least one quality Lloyd did admire.

He remembered how cold the building was that morning. Of course, now that the 'official' preliminary interviews had taken place and Maria had been as tight lipped as a clam, she'd been moved to another facility that was regularly used to detain their more important captives. Lloyd remembered trailing after Finch with his hands behind his back, wishing he'd worn a heavier coat. The building used to be a meat packing facility and as such was used to being kept at low temperatures to prepare and store raw meat. He couldn't help but note the irony, the building's purpose really hadn't changed that much at all. When they finally came upon Maria's cell, he was shocked to see her being led out in nothing more than a thin tabard that didn't even cover her knees.

She was exceptionally beautiful but then they'd all been warned ahead of time. But most of what he'd read about her was far less conclusive. They still had no idea of any prior affiliations or even her educational background. She knew more than one language and appeared to have excellent reasoning and mathematical ability. So far, so predictable, thought Lloyd. To move in the sort of circles Mandalez operated, one had to have above average qualities. What concerned them most, especially Finch, was her loyalty. They'd promised her a new life in witness protection if she agreed to give them the information they needed. But Maria simply wouldn't play ball. She'd been cross examined until Finch's colleagues were blue in the face.

So this was to be the next step. With little information even linking her to Mondalez, they already had a tenuous grasp on the situation, but Finch always got results and he was certain this time would be no different. Everybody has a breaking point, they just hadn't found Maria's yet. Lloyd was tasked mainly with observing and assisting with the techniques used where necessary. He was still very green and not overly looking forward to seeing a helpless woman battle the will - and cruelty - that he knew his agency was capable of. Yet he also knew people like Mondalez had caused almost limitless suffering for the poor unfortunates of the world. Thanks to him, Argentina's drug trafficking and gang violence had reached critical condition and much was the same in many of the world's more vulnerable populations.

Still, to look at her as she was led to a large, sparsely furnished room, he could hardly believe she was some criminal mastermind. Already he could see she'd been starved and sleep deprived, her pale face and purple eyes didn't signify a well kept prisoner. Maria was marched towards a desk in the middle of the floor and shoved onto a hard metal seat. Lopez, one of Finch's more experienced officers, then shoved her into the edge of the desk which caused the chair to scrap loudly against the floor.

"Well Maria, I'm sorry it's come to this I really am, but you're not leaving us much choice are you?" Finch lazily opened her file and glanced down at a couple of sentences towards the top of the first document. "You won't tell us how you met Mondalez, how long you were associated, or just how much you were involved in his business. So, we're gunna cut to the chase… unless you tell us where he is or at least where you suspect he's gone, and why, you'll be tortured for the foreseeable future. How does that sound?" He didn't even bother to look at her, instead, he spoke as though he was a waiter reading the day's specials. Maria said nothing but quietly cleared her throat. Finch pursed his lips and snapped his fingers in Lopez's direction. "Force her into position."

With that, Lopez dragged her from the table and practically kicked her to an empty spot on the floor. She was then forced to squat on her feet with her hands tied behind her back and her eyes blindfolded. It was a difficult position to hold even for several minutes, but Finch was determined to conduct the rest of that morning's interview that way. Maria made no noise at all. She didn't whimper or whine, she didn't even grunt as her legs already began to shake with the strain.

"Alright Maria, now that you're all set up, let's discuss the idiocy of your little plan. Here you are, bound and gagged, while the man you supposedly love is far away without a care in the world. He's made no attempt to contact us or negotiate for your release. You're as good as dead to him. So why defend someone who doesn't give a fuck about you hmm?" Finch stood in front of her with his legs splayed and his chest stuck out proudly. Lloyd noticed that he seemed to be enjoying himself, though he personally couldn't see what was so enjoyable about a vulnerable woman cowering on the ground.

Eventually, Maria collapsed on her side and panted quietly though she continued ignoring Finch's questions. Becoming more and more fed up, he decided to try another tactic. Again Lopez pulled her to her feet, keeping her hand restraints and blindfold in place, and led her to another small but much colder room. Lloyd noticed the drain on the floor and looked up to see an otherwise blank ceiling. What on earth did Finch have in mind next? He didn't have to wait long to find out, he ordered him to strip Maria naked and suspend her tied hands from a hook on the ceiling. Lloyd did as he was told though he tried to be as gentle as he could. He didn't look her in the eyes though he thought he could sense her trying to make eye contact with him several times.

Her body was in a similarly bad state, he could see the faint outlines of lash marks and many ugly, black bruises. In all honesty, she'd gotten off easy until now, Lloyd had already witnessed many detainees injured far worse for a lot less. He felt a particular uneasiness about this line of treatment being conducted against a woman though. He tried to remind himself that she was just as much a hardened criminal as their other prisoners, capable of the same treachery and diabolical behaviour. Maria coughed as a gust of cold air flew in through the barred, but open window. Lloyd felt freezing in a three piece suit and coat, so God only knows how she was managing completely naked. When she was finished being undressed, Finch started to unfurl what appeared to be ropes at first.

It was in fact a hose and his objective now was to blast Maria with a harsh jet of freezing cold water until she begged them to stop. She screamed as the first salvo hit her skin and stung worse than being knifed over and over in the back. Finch would stop after thirty seconds and question whether she was ready to tell them what they wanted to know. But she continued her silence, that was until the hose started up again and she yelled in agony. After another half an hour of this exercise, Finch was again losing his patience and threw the hose to the floor in a fit. He walked swiftly towards her and struck her hard across the face. His ring must have caught her cheekbone as large amounts of blood began streaking down the side of her face.

"Alright enough you stubborn little bitch… tell me what I want to know or you're going to regret it. I'll leave you here all goddamn night if I have to!" He'd now grabbed her weary, bloody face and was bending so low she could feel his spit hitting her cheeks. She took a deep breath and screwed her eyes shut, determined not to make eye contact. Finch was close to blowing his top and quickly turned toward Lloyd.

"Cut her down, I've got a much better use for the hose…" Lloyd gulped but silently followed his orders, taking care to be as gentle as he could with Maria's exhausted and visibly shaking body. He had to help hold her upright while Finch ordered Lopez to bring something else to the room. He couldn't overhear what it was exactly, but knowing Finch, she was probably about to regret not submitting to his earlier line of questioning. Carefully and without Finch seeing, Lloyd placed his hand gently on her lower back in support. He could feel her shudder at his touch.

It turns out Maria was indeed foolish for not caving in. Lopez had dragged in a tilted wooded platform that Lloyd immediately recognised from his textbooks. This time, however, he was ordered to strap her down and as he was being carefully watched by Finch, he wasn't able to take as much care of her aching wrists and ankles. Lopez was then ordered to wrap her face in a thick cloth and Lloyd regretted not being able to perform this particular task himself though he wasn't sure how he could have somehow made it easier for her. It was at this point that he started having doubts. They'd catch Mondalez in time, no one was able to run from the government forever, so surely whatever information she had wasn't worth this degree of extraction. He wanted to say something to his boss and even went so far as to look at him a couple of times. But what could he have said?

It didn't take long for Maria to start panicking, she stoically took the first two bursts of water directly to her face with as minimum fuss as she could muster. But then she started writhing in agony, her naked limbs flailing uncomfortably as she was slowly but surely being drowned. As before, Finch gave her multiple opportunities to confess what she knew about her boyfriend's whereabouts. But she could only manage to cough and splutter in response. Lloyd knew then that the situation was hopeless. She was clearly prepared to die for Mondalez, and no amount of inhumane treatment was going to change that. Out the corner of his eye, he could see Finch turning a gradually deeper shade of red. In fairness, most people didn't hold out as long as Maria but Finch was not a man accustomed to failure. He'd hold out as long as she did, whether that meant several more hours or weeks, if necessary. Finally, she'd grown suspiciously quiet and Finch ordered Lopez to revive her if necessary. Instead, it turns out she was just playing possum and when Lopez removed the cloth from her face, she swiftly spat in his eye. Lloyd tried desperately to hide a smirk.

"You dirty little bitch…" Lopez looked to Finch who nodded his permission. He then smiled back down at her and punched her right between the eyes. That left her out cold and for the first time since they began, Lloyd breathed a sigh of relief. They'd have to resume their interrogations the following day and at least that would give her some time to recover and rethink her obstinance. Lloyd made a move to untie her from the bench but when he hoisted her into his arms, Finch bellowed at him to put her back onto the floor. Once lying there, he kicked her sharply in the side, eliciting a strangled moan from her throat. Lloyd stared at him in equal parts confusion and horror.

"That bitch isn't to leave this room, nor is she to be fed, watered, or even dressed. Let her spend the night freezing her perky little tits off, maybe she'll then think twice about assaulting my god damn guards…" He then ordered Lloyd to keep watch until that evening when Lopez would come to relieve him. The two men hurried out of the room with Finch promising to get Lopez, who was still rubbing his eye, a large drink. Once they'd left, Lloyd quickly ran into the other room to fetch her clothes. He had no intention of dressing her again, but he did want to dry her off as best he could. The room the pair were in had no cameras, even the CIA wouldn't risk that, but he knew someone would come to check on them eventually. He had to be quick then, and once he'd finished drying her off, he wrapped her in his coat. He’d leave her to sleep off her pain for the next few hours.

Eventually she began to stir and Lloyd pulled her up by her shoulders. It took several minutes but she eventually came round. Her eyes were already swelling up though he felt the bridge of her nose and determined that it wasn't broken. When she fully came too, she quickly pushed him away, shocked that he was kneeling beside her and putting his hands on her face.

"H-hey… what the fuck are you doing?" But he just motioned for her to stay quiet.

"Be quiet, or you'll alert the rest of the guards." Maria blinked at him a couple of times, still heavily confused about what was happening. Lloyd sighed and wrapped his coat around her tighter, sensing her vulnerability at being sat naked on the floor. When she was fully covered, he laid her back down and bundled her now damp uniform behind her head as a pillow. She breathed a sigh of relief and took a moment to gather her thoughts.

"So what's happening now? Are you playing good cop or something?" Lloyd smirked but said nothing, instead, he checked his watch and tried to puzzle out when another guard would come to check on them both.

"Hardly, I'm to watch over you until I’m relieved me this evening." At this, her eyes hardened and her mouth set in a frown. But he was determined to keep her talking.

"You know you were pretty impressive back there, do I gather you've been waterboarded before?" She squinted her eyes at him as though she was struggling to see his face clearly.

"What's the matter? Vision a little blurry?" Maria scoffed and let her head roll to the side on her makeshift pillow.

"Well, wouldn't yours be?" Lloyd chuckled and considered her for a moment. They must have been around the same age and yet their lives had already taken significantly different paths.

"Well, that's what you get for hocking a loogie." He smiled at her again but she was staring at the ceiling, deep in thought.

"You know, he's not gunna stop. He'll kill you if necessary and sooner rather than later. Trust me… you don't wanna piss him off." Maria furrowed her brow and looked at him incredulously.

"You think I'm frightened of your boss?" Her voice was hoarse, he didn't know when she last had a drink.

"No, no… you don't seem frightened of anything." He wiped down his jacket sleeves and she couldn't help but notice the hint of jealousy in his voice.

"Why won't you just give him what he wants? Is Mondalez that important to you?" He didn't expect her to answer so when she cleared her throat and motioned for him to help her sit up, he was surprised at how complaint she was now being.

"No… he's not. But I was prepared for this outcome as was he. He knows his days are numbered." Lloyd could see from her eyes that she was sincere.

"So why get involved with someone like that, to begin with? You clearly have a lot of skills, they would have been put to better use elsewhere." At this Maria scoffed again and rolled her eyes.

"Before I met Mondalez I was a nobody, a pregnant teenage runaway fleeing an abusive stepfather with no money and no future. He helped me get an abortion and trusted me to learn his business despite my lack of experience. I don't know where I would have ended up without him." Lloyd shook his head unconvinced.

"That doesn't excuse your line of work, crime is crime no matter the personal motivation or reward." She then tried to meet his eyes, determined to get through to him.

"And aren't crimes being committed here? Against me and all the other prisoners? Look, to be honest, I know nothing of the true extent of Carlos's business. What I did for him amounted to very little in the end and wouldn't provide you all with any new evidence." She winced as a surge of pain ran up her left side. Lloyd placed the palm of his hand against her waist and applied pressure.

"Thank you." She looked up wearily into his cold blue eyes and a thought seemed to flash across her eyes.

"Tell me, Mister…" She waited for him to provide his name but he simply smiled and shook his head.

"Well, no matter. Tell me Mister Blue Eyes, what led you to the CIA?" Lloyd bit his lower lip and wondered if he should answer her. But then he'd already questioned her a lot, it was only fair he gave some information in return.

"Happenstance mainly, I went to college to play football…" She looked at him in surprise but said nothing. Several moments passed in silence. The wind outside was gathering speed and left them both shivering on the floor.

"Much the same as myself then. It was circumstance that led me into Carlos's life and it's circumstance that led me out of it." She gazed towards her feet, once again deep in thought. Lloyd wanted to say something but decided against it.

"Do me a favour though Mister Blue Eyes, whatever the reasons for your future decisions… stick to them. Integrity doesn't count for much in this life, but it's really all we have. Prince or pauper, lead your life with intention and leave the rest to fate. You won't have any regrets…" Maria smiled at him weakly before closing her eyes, intending to rest before whatever Lopez had in store for her that evening. But Lloyd couldn't help himself.

"So you don't regret getting mixed up with Mondalez? You know, someone like you could have had it easy…" He looked away from her shyly and she could have sworn he was blushing. Again she sat up and rested a hand gently on the side of his face. He turned to look at her earnestly.

"Oh Mister Blue Eyes, don't feel sad for me. I've had a great life, I had the freedom to do as I pleased and I took full advantage of it." She then winked at him which caused Lloyd to blush even harder.

"So you really loved him?" Maria tilted her head and looked at him almost pityingly.

"Of course, and I hope you find someone you can devote yourself to as well. No matter how we behave, love is always our salvation. Don't close yourself off to it." He nodded slowly and she smiled, glad to have finally had the chance for a normal, human discussion. He wanted to respond or do something to help her at that moment. But Maria seemed sanguine about whatever fate would befall her and Lloyd couldn't help but admire her fortitude. Nor could he stop himself from falling in love with her just the tiniest bit either.

Suddenly they heard footsteps approaching and he motioned for her to give back his coat and the rest of her clothes. By the time Michaels, another of Finch's guards, popped his head in the room, Lloyd was standing far away from Maria. He kept his head bowed and hands behind his back, as though he was struggling to stay awake. Maria had her back to them both as she lay on her side, simulating light snoring.

"Just an FYI, you’ll be relieved you in another ten minutes." Lloyd nodded the man away and looked at his watch, the whole day really had flown by.

The present day.

Lloyd let his empty glass fall to the table with a clunk. He was pleased with the pleasant warmth now spreading through his tired, aching limbs. At least now he'd have less trouble getting to sleep tonight. He felt his eyes flickering shut when suddenly one of his goons burst into his office.

"Mr. Hansen sir, we've got him, we've got Carlotto! Managed to locate his broad as well, when dya want them bought in?" Lloyd's eyes flung open and he coughed to clear his throat.

"I'll deal with Carlotto tomorrow morning, let the woman go though. She's not gunna tell us anything." His guard stared at him dumbfounded.

"What? You know we don't take women, besides they're never fountains of information when it counts. It'll be a waste of time and manpower bringing her in. Now get out of my sight, it's been a long day…" The guard mumbled his apologies and fled the room, leaving him to his thoughts. He stared over at his drink but decided against refilling it. He'd need to be sharp for tomorrow. His mind then roved back to Maria.

She was found dead in her cell the following morning. The autopsy declared it was suicide but from Lopez's insufferable smirking and arrogant swagger, he was sure he'd killed her. He handed in his resignation to Finch later that day. He figured if the CIA employed no greater morality in their line of work than any other agency, he may as well work independently. However it would be untrue to say Maria’s death hadn’t hardened him considerably. He was now one of the most brutal contractors in the world though he took no real pleasure anymore in his line of work. Mondalez was eventually captured and tortured to death, though not before handing over his empire to his illegitimate son. Lloyd couldn't help but pity Maria. She'd loved a man to death even though he continued whoring about and made no effort whatsoever to avenge her. Lloyd decided on another drink after all. As much as he continued to love Maria and always would, he wouldn't let the same fate befall him.

A/N: I hope you guys like this new Lloyd Hansen oneshot and please feel free to send me any more requests for stories/series. I love hearing from you all! Thanks so much for all your continued support and I hope you enjoy the story ~ Reso x

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#chris evans #chris evans fanfiction #lloyd hansen #fanfiction #chris evans fics

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shadowmaat · 2 years

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Fffemales can write??

That "not long before Rowling was published, women authors were unheard of" post has crossed my dash again and as always, I'm left bewildered and bemused. The post itself has lots of great examples of how wrong the quoted person is, but I just... what possible context could there be for saying something like that? What criteria were they using? What timeframe is "not long before?"

Is it the NYT Bestseller list? Nora Roberts, as just one example, has been publishing bestsellers since the 80s.

Is that too recent? Pearl S Buck was on the list in 1932.

If it's copies sold, Rowling's around 500 million while Agatha Christie is around 2-4 BILLION. Of course Dame Agatha wrote a lot more books than Rowling, so maybe that's unfair. LOL!

If it's monetary "worth" then I'm not playing that game. A) it's too subjective and B) I'm not adjusting for inflation or whatever to figure out modern values for older authors.

I KNOW the post is bullshit. I KNOW it's easily disproven by anyone with two brain cells to rub together. That's the problem: it's so blatantly obvious I have trouble grasping how anyone could say something like that. Are they so steeped in misogyny that they were literally unable to think of a single woman author? Were they lying and confident no one would care?

I know it's probably just unthinking arrogance and misogyny, but WOW. Sometimes the mindblowing ignorance of others still manages to surprise me. lol

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kaifitize · 4 months

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Amazon fee calculator | How to set the selling price on Amazon

When we were trying to set the price on Amazon for our product we faced a lot of difficulties we missed some prices, and we missed the calculation properly so after we had to tackle some profit issues, as I talked lot of the sellers they were facing the same issue I help them to resolve the issue so I thought why would I not help you guys

So here we go.

As you are selling on Amazon or want to sell on Amazon so there are a lot of prices and commission

Referral Fee (based on Category)

1st is the referral fee which is category based For each product sold, a referral fee is applicable which varies by product category and is calculated as a percentage of the total selling price of the product

For example, if you are selling shoes the category percentage is something about 15% I guess

Closing Fee (based on Price)

2nd Closing fee is nothing it is just about the fee that the Closing Fee is charged every time your product is sold on Amazon based on the price range of the product. This fee also varies based on the fulfilment channel you are using.

Weight Handling Fee (Shipping Fee)

3rd If you use Easy Ship or Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA), Amazon will deliver your products to the customer and charge you a fee. (If you are choosing to Self-Ship, you will have to bear the cost of shipping and deliver through 3rd party courier service/own delivery agents).

Other Fees

4th last fee-fees are FBA and other charges which all are cunt in another fee

So Whenever we set the price we need to calculate all these Fees

That is difficult sometimes to set the price

To make it easy we go to Google to find some calculators that also have the same issue,

Those calculators somehow lacking as our calculation is lacking

So tackling this situation, Amazon has a calculator for India and Globally we can check.

That calculator not only can be used to set the price but also can be used to check to get an idea of what or how much profit is making our competitor.

So the question is how can we use that calculator to set our price or whatever we can do..

We don’t need to do anything as we know there 5 Billion+ + products are listed on Amazon so it has products as well somehow we just have to find a product that is similar to ours.

Let's take a look here.

let's pic an example for the shoe

As I search for a shoe here

In a lot of results, I found a shoe that is similar to mine

In this, we have to copy its ASIN

ASIN is nothing it is just a Product Identification Number the format of the ASIN is 10 digit number and it starts with "B0"

We can copy it from the link to the product

Or we can search ASIN

Or we can scroll down and find the product details there we can see the ASIN of the product

That is how we can get the ASIN of the product

Now we have to open a new tab and in the search bar we have to search

AMAZON REVENU CALCULATOR

We have to clink any one of them if we are selling on amazon.com so we can clink .com one if we are selling on .in so we can click accordingly although we can change the country from there

To change the country

Paste the ASIN in the search bar and click on the search

Here we go

That is how you can check or set the price of your product or check the computer's price

In this calculator all prices are mentioned we don’t need to use any calculator

Watch the video to know more

youtube

#Youtube

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samspreviews · 8 months

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ravingraeven · 1 year

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I know some people are tired of hearing people talk about the stupid fucking wiz/ard game (i am too) but I have some opinions I need to get out somewhere and my house isnt very safe so. Theres your warning if you wanna scroll passed this.

I have been seeing the nonstop talk, its even in my home from roommates while I (closeted) was trapped in the kitchen and panicking, and just.

Its so funny watching people say stupid shit and try to defend it and try to defend themselves. The point that I’ve wanted to talk about most was the one I hear echo’d and misunderstood the most. The drop in the bucket argument.

What does it matter if someone does or doesnt buy the game- she’s already rich and its just a drop in the bucket? While a sound sentiment, to a degree, not only is it just wrong (does a faucet not turn off until you start turning the tap off)- thats not the biggest issue here. The biggest issue (in my eyes) isn’t the individual dollars from the game going directly to her (while it IS a problem, its not the biggest in my eyes) Its the message. Its the intensive. etc etc etc. You buy this stupid, terrible fucking game, forgoing your morals in what you deem is the right choice. So does everyone else. Just a drop in the bucket. Whatever! She’s rich! Except now other game companies and other merch companies and other corporations are seeing that its a GOOD IDEA, it sells.

Thats your drop in the bucket turning into an ocean turning into a flood thats killing your trans/jewish friends.

Game companies, ‘we only sold 25 million copies in the first month when we imagined selling 25 billion :( its an entire failure’ companies, would make a face at the idea of the ip if the world gave this game even the CDProjec/t/red/ Cyber/.pu/nk treatment of TRASHING it. Even if it was just trashing it for a year or a few months.

Why is that so hard to understand?

Shes already lowkey trying to backpedal and appease the looking-for-the-reason hopeful allies that are waiting for a single sign of ‘look she ISNT transphobic/antisemetic!’ people by releasing a fucking DOCUMENTARY about how “look im not actually transphobic!! uwu you people misunderstand me and are so mean!!!”

Imagine what she would do if this game bombed.

#current events

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rauthschild · 1 year

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Yes, we have paid foreign corporate private security personnel called "law enforcement officers" to sneak into public bathrooms to capture your snot, blood, or whatever other body fluids you might just toss away -- and then using this purloined evidence to connect you to crimes, real or imagined.

It's a bizarre and demeaning job for them, and entirely detrimental to you, because the DNA they capture can inevitably be sold as "abandoned property" and used in a variety of ways to make new drugs and products and even developed into a full-scale clone of "you".

We should all know by now that our "meat body" though spectacularly engineered and divinely inspired, is, in the end, just a space suit we live in while sojourning on Earth. The DNA that directs the nature and construction and functioning of the body is what's precious, and so, no surprise that the theft, sale, trading, and commercial exploitation of DNA is well underway.

We missed a crucial turning point when we allowed laboratories to experiment on lines of stem cells culled from aborted babies, when we legalized abortion (thereby allowing the sale of abandoned baby body parts and DNA), when we assumed that hospitals properly disposed of placentas and blood and tissues that accrue during childbirth and surgeries, when we failed to react to the international black market in organs, tissues, and body parts --- ghastly "natural products" collected by evil men and sold to other evil men, all eager to make profits from a whole new "industry".

Your DNA which encodes enough information to write a single line of genetic code back and forth to the moon 500 times is very valuable. It contains a record that is 13.5 billion years old. And every copy is unique. If you never thought that you were special, think again. Maybe even take a bow. Your DNA is supremely valuable, and you are just throwing it away --- leaving it as "abandoned property" ---or so the Perps claim.

All those organizations like "Ancestry.com" might provide a nice service and connect you with long-lost relatives and might give you some basic information about your heritage and racial mix, but what they are really designed to do is to steal your DNA and pass it on to other buyers. There is nothing in your contract with them preventing that. Buyer beware now and forever.

Just recently, all over the internet, are all sorts of health coaches and health analysis services and testing services of all kinds ----- same issues apply. You send in a blood sample to have it analyzed, and it gets analyzed alright. In an increasing number of cases, it also gets fractionated and your DNA gets sold on.

Your DNA is also the stuff needed to do advanced cloning procedures and make the Med Bed hum.

Now, you can get all excited if you want to, but when the Dry Bones were breathed upon and the flesh assembled ("Come, Breath......) it was assembling according to a pattern preserved in those bones as DNA. Your physical pattern is written there, for better or worse, as well as in the mind of God, from which it can never be erased. At least, not by us.

These Med Beds are reading your DNA and looking for any obvious errors or undesirable cell memories in your entire organism, so that they acquire a template for correcting and rebuilding you --- which is really just a different kind of cloning process with a different overall purpose.

So if they have Med Beds they have cloning and if they have cloning they have Med Beds.

It's not science fiction. It's science that is very, very old.

Now that you know that the name of the game is to steal your DNA for nefarious purposes, use alterations of your DNA (by adding patented scraps of DNA to it to make claims of commercial ownership of your body as a GMO) and pollute and experiment on your DNA to make hybrids and test bioweapons, it's time to put this information under the noses of the members of the foreign corporation's "Congress" --- the same men and women who exempted themselves and their families from this horror of science run amok.

It's time to tell them and the local mayors and the tax collectors and doctors and everyone else point blank that they are going to liquidate the offending corporations, exempt everyone from all aspects of this nightmare, make health care a non-profit economic sector again, hand the guilty parties over to us or to the military for prosecution, and no, the offenders are not going to be allowed to profit by bringing forward other "vaccines" as the answer to the problems they have created.

0 notes

thatsoup · 2 years

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I have big ideas about how to change Twitter for the better.

I will require every user to give twitter a physical mailing address for their account (it won't have to be theirs, it will just have to be a real address). I will then sell all the collected user data to marketing companies. Users will be sent a letter in the mail explaining that I am doing this. In the letter they will be required to hand draw a QR code onto a grid on a post card to opt out of having their data sold. The post cards will be thrown away and users will be sent another letter saying that they have opted in to papertweets, a new service where they will be sent all the tweets that they would see on their timeline, but as individual postcards made on special paper that cannot be recycled through normal methods. Papertweets will be a paid service, and users will receive a bill every month, the bills will become extremely aggressive if they are not paid but the service will not discontinue without payment and there will be no actual repercussions for nonpayment because the system isn't exactly legal. During this process I will lobby congress to dismantle the USPS and allow Twitter to handle all mail within the US. Once I have all the mail, I will "inspect" it for further data collection and to steal things from packages. There will be such public outcry against Twitter that people will begin attacking the politicians that are on my payroll in broad daylight. People will be changing their addresses to send thousands of copies of papertweets to people they hate. The papertweets themselves will be printed on a laminated sheet whatever hazardous materials I can get, saying that this process lets papertweets become infinitely recyclable through a proprietary process. This will also mean it is illegal to dispose of them through any conventional methods, letting me charge people to pick the papertweets back up once they've been read. By this time if environmental groups haven't killed me and exposed the recycling process as just shipping them to Centralia, Pennsylvania and jamming them into holes I've dug into the burning mines, I'll probably just shutter the entire company, leaving the country without a post office and billions of pounds of toxic waste spread across it in shoddily built distribution centers.

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emptymanuscript · 2 years

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Is a Goblin a Jew?

Three things about the human mind really do seem to be true:

The human mind is GOOD at connections. We’re basically lazy, we’ll go for what we have usually thought before. And our conscious mind is really just our mental tip of the iceberg meaning we’re often unaware of everything that we’re doing.

Those three things together interact to do some terrible things.

Yes. Goblins, as they appear in Harry Potter, ARE anti-semitic stereotypes. They draw extremely heavily on old racist tropes.

That isn’t necessarily an attack on or critique of Rowling.

Goblins and weak supernatural races often draw on racist stereotypes because that’s been built in to them for a good long while. It’s actually significantly worse if Rowling is to be believed that she didn’t read fantasy. I do not believe she is being truthful about that. Authors do lie for marketing purposes. I think it is part of her campaign to show Harry Potter as something different from run of the mill fantasy. And that idea has worked to her benefit. But she sure does use a lot of standard fantasy elements for someone who has never read fantasy. Her goblins are fairly typical once you get past them being organized into a banking community, instead of living as scavengers. If Rowling is lying about not reading Fantasy and instead adapted the normal trope of goblins into bankers, she has actually slightly improved the stereotype by portraying them as more respectable. If she is being honest, then she has somehow recreated from whole cloth a very anti-semitic stereotype, and connected it with the modern anti-semitic legend that Jews run the banks. That doesn’t say anything good.

The thing is those three basic features of the human mind lead to some great complexity. They make all the connections above. But they are as likely to work the other way.

Remember that the human mind is LAZY. Unless you give it a reason to hunt around and draw more connections than it is has to, it just takes the first off the list and calls it a day.

The Harry Potter books are now a more intimate connection for many than Jews. There really aren’t that many of us. There’s something like 20 million of us globally. We’re about a quarter of one percent of the global population. For reference, the population of just my home state in the US is about double that. So, for many, a goblin is a more present thing in their lives than a Jew. Which means that lazily pulling the first item off a list means they pull Gringotts.

That does not mean that a Goblin isn’t a weapon in an anti-semite’s arsenal. It’s simply that it now works in reverse. It’s no longer that Goblins are a metaphor for Jews. Now it’s that we can look at Goblins, see what they’re like, and then start equating their features to Jewish features so as to get people to draw the conclusion that they should expect a Jew to act like a Goblin. The Goblin is now the prime reference. So if someone or some group is like a Goblin: They’ll be difficult. They don’t care about the same things you do. They’re dangerous. They’ll betray you at the opportune moment. And they aren’t worthy to keep a hold of whatever badge of honor they claim to have a right to. Pointing out similarities between Griphook and Jews will be telling people to expect Jews to act like Griphook. That absolutely is a weapon and it can be a powerful one.

The question is, is it a weapon when it is unguided. With no one to explicitly make the connection between Griphook and me, will people make the connection that they should expect of me behavior like Griphook’s. And I am not so sure.

Again, the fundamental problem is both laziness and being GOOD at connections.

Laziness says no. If a Goblin is a category in and of itself, then a person will simply take a goblin as a Goblin. At this point, some version of Harry Potter has been taken in by over 60% of the US population (the number I could find) and it has sold more than half a billion copies in over 80 languages. So, it really is probably going to be first on the list.

Connections don’t allow for a simple answer. We’re GOOD at connections. Not kinda good. Not ok. We’re really good at it. Yes, some people are better at it than others of us. But we’re all good at it. Give us the opportunity to make a connection easily and we’ll make it.

Which finally leads into the very long trailer for the new Hogwarts Legacy game:

youtube

At about 5:25 the trailer leads into a 30 second or so snippet of what it portrays as the fundamental villains of the game. An uneasy alliance between:

Dark Wizards, represented by this guy.

And Goblins, represented by this guy:

This Goblin wants a child that the Dark Wizards were supposed to get for him while he caused a distraction. Having failed to get the child, the Dark Wizard is now upset and he wants to know what is going on. He demands “Who is this child? What are you not telling me?”

There are a few ways to interpret this.

If the primary thing on your list is fantasy and a goblin is a Goblin. Then it is pretty much the standard trope of the villain’s search for the child of prophecy. The Goblin is the same as Queen Bavmorda in Willow.

“Find the child!”

Or any other fantasy story where there is a prophecy about a chosen one and the big bad is desperately trying to destroy the chosen one first, while they’re strong and the Chosen One is still weak.

Said trope does have some history in the Harry Potter franchise:

Unfortunately, If the first thing off the list for a goblin is a Jew, then we’re drawing on another of those terrible legends about Jews: Blood Libel.

Blood Libel was a popular anti-semitic myth from the middle ages that stated that Jews abducted young Christian children for the purposes of sacrifice and using their blood in religious and mystical rituals. It was often used to justify anti-semitic violence. And it is still a weirdly present belief among anti-semites in modern times and still provided occasionally as one of the reasons why violent anti-semitism is reasonable to engage in.

If a goblin is a Jew, having their goal be to abduct a child is problematic. And in this particular case, with the portrayal of the dark wizard challenging the goblin: “Who is this child? What are you not telling me?” It pulls on other anti-semitic myths in relation to the idea of an evil Jewish cabal bent on killing the innocent.

There is a common popular Christian myth that states that Pontius Pilate, the Governor of Judea who was said to have executed Jesus, was not actually responsible for Jesus’ death. He wanted to spare Jesus’ life. But he was weak because his primary responsibility was to the mundane world and the Roman Empire which demanded order. The leadership of the Jews at that time supposedly hated Jesus because he was a threat to their order and was bringing the light of reform and a deep threat to their cabal of power. So they demanded and threatened Pontius Pilate with trouble if he didn’t do what they wanted: kill Jesus. Pontius Pilate didn’t actually want to but he relented because he put his empire before his morality. He was weak. But the ultimate responsibility lies not with the people who carried out the execution, Pontius Pilate and the Romans, but with the people who forced it to happen: the Jews. This is the ultimate sacrifice of the innocent. Jews are the responsible party for killing God. They sacrificed HIM in order to assure their power. And you can kind of see how this is reflected in the idea of Blood Libel. Jews are literally killing Christiandom by eating the basis for its power in order to increase their own.

And, again, this idea is still around.

If a goblin is a Jew, this is showing the Jew as the shadow villain behind the front villain, manipulating the person who is weak but might be decent if they were allowed to be, in order to get them to commit the unholy act that they can’t do on their own. It’s a nasty cluster of ideas that’s great for inciting violence.

The most frightening part is the third essential statement about the mind: most of our decisions and actions are triggered by the unconscious which our conscious mind then retroactively justifies. Our conscious mind is just the tip of the iceberg and the list to pick from lazily and the methodologies for both arranging the list and picking from the list are all kept down in the subconscious mind. We don’t get to consciously choose, even for ourselves, which of these interpretations we’re going to use when it matters.

My wife, a huge fantasy nut and married to a Jew, is probably not going to have her brain spit out the blood libel connection, even having gone to Catholic school, even if someone who is actually a Jew does something actually awful. She lives in a space where that’s really just not the easy conclusion to make. Her world isn’t arranged for that connection to be easy.

An active white supremacist who believes all this stuff about Jews is going to have their brain spit out Blood Libel at just the picture of a Goblin, forget anything else they do. Their world is arranged to make these connections. It’s the easy and obvious connection to make. They don’t need any help.

The fear is for the majority who lie in between. Most people won’t ever think about this. A goblin is going to be a Goblin. A jew is going to be a Jew - if they even know any Jews. This is just going to sit there as a story with no meaning outside of itself

Until

Someone else draws the connection. When someone says or does something to connect Jews and Goblins the being GOOD at connections kicks in. And then we simply don’t know how much anyone is going to extrapolate or what they’re going to extrapolate. At best it will be none of it. “Huh, I don’t see it.” At worst it will be all of it, “Holy shit, Jews ARE Goblins!”

In my experience, life doesn’t like extremes, either way. You have to build to those. Instead we’ll get a little bit of identification. A seed. That can go either way.

So that’s the danger of giving Goblins the full slate of bad Jew mythology. Any bad connection is the doorway for the whole connection to grow.

The danger of getting too up in arms about it is the danger of the self fulfilling prophecy. Most people will simply not think about all of this. By laying it all out, we’re the ones spreading the seed and saying the full danger is there when it’s actually probably pretty low. Because people just don’t care. We’re reenforcing a system that might very well simply fail without us.

I tend to favor information because I find that it isn’t the first gut reaction that is most important. It’s thoughts two and three and so forth that really drive the world. Give the conscious mind information and it can engage consciously and decide whether or not the subconscious choice is the one they actually want to go with.

In most ways, I think, we get confused on the most important topic of conversation.

I think the mistake, and it is common, is to give far too much import to what people say. What does the “author” intend you to hear? Fuck the author. They’re just one person and everything they say is subject to connections and both the audience’s conscious and unconscious mind before anyone even gets to discussing it. That’s not to let authors off the hook, it’s just to paint them as less important.

The more important question is: what do you, as the audeince, hear? What is provoked for you by these messages? Are you ok with that?

That is, admittedly, significantly harder, and we are lazy. I think that’s a tiny part of why we tend to focus so much on authorial intent because if we focus on audience perception it’s just a buttload more work. But I think it’s a much better way to work with dangerous seeds like this. Asking yourself what lessons you’re drawing from what you’re taking in lets you work with them consciously. Asking yourself how this bundle of information might affect your thinking when connected to other bundles is hard but its work that can actually pay off in the moment of need.

So... is it worth it to worry a lot about this?

I don’t know.

Honestly.

I am anxious that the villain for this game plays right into these tropes, I definitely don’t like this configuration, and I sincerely do not like that this is what they thought was a good idea given all the possible choices. It is a poor decision. Period. It’s something someone should have caught and stopped. But I don’t think I buy that it is going to be particulary dangerous going forward. I just think that goblins are going to be Goblins in the majority case and not Jews. Goblins are now the more familiar thing. So I’m not particulary worried about it causing more anti-semitism as I might have been back before Rowling was so successful.

Unfortunately, all that does nothing for the basic idea that the good wizards have the main goal of putting down a Goblin rebellion when the majority of the Harry Potter texts up to now have been pointing out that the Wizards are racist supremacists who are out to opress all the other peoples of the world. It does intrinsically carry some nasty commentary to have the villain be someone fighting for their rights against heroes who are fighting to keep them in their place, and this being morally ok because the villain is evil, so there is a natural right to put that rebellion down. I just think that’s a separate problem at this point from the anti-semitic issue.

#harry potter #hogwarts legacy #antisemitism #murder #racism #ted talk

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btsmutimagines · 4 years

Text

Our Future

Look, I suck at titles, y’all and I’m a day late ffs but happy birthday Kookie

Arranged Marriage AU

Word Count: 7.5K (I really need to stop)

Grey skies arched above you as you walked home, kicking a small pebble along with you until it got caught between a crack in the sidewalk.

You audibly sigh, enjoying yourself as you kicked it further and further each time. It was almost like you were that pebble, your life seeming to be pushed by something until it stops.

You were stuck, just like your little pebble.

You finally reached your house, unlocking the front door and noticing the familiar shoes. They were shined up and as uninvited as usual but their owner paid no mind to what you thought, clearly.

The back of your father’s head greeted you as you stepped into the living room and he put down the newspaper he was reading.

You brace yourself, knowing he came to talk to you about something. He never really looked for a conversation, just a breathing punching bag.

“Hello, father.”

“I expected you to be home sooner.”

“I hadn’t expected any guests.”

“Maybe if you answered my phone calls once in a while.”

“You don’t pick up when I call back.”

“I’ve been busy, Y/N.” When are you not? You silently retorted in your mind.

“What did you need to say, father?”

“I’d like you to come to dinner with me tomorrow night.”

“I rather not.”

“Tell me why? Is there something unpleasant about a father and daughter enjoying a nice dinner together?”

“When have we ever done anything ‘nice’, father?” He cocked an eyebrow, he knew damn well that your relationship was far from any loving familial ties.

If you had it your way, he won’t ever know where to find you.

“The Blanche, seven o’clock. I’ll have Hyunjin pick you up.” He adjusted his tie, standing up to walk away and you clenched your fists.

You wanted to yell, at least tell him off for coming over uninvited to force you into some weird dinner. But you merely stood as he brushed past you, you standing in your spot until you heard your front door shut.

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

This morning, you found a box with a card attached in front of your door.

You could tell from the intricate design on the card, it was from your father. Inside was a gorgeous red dress, the off-shoulder design along with the leg slit satisfying your tastes.

You held up the dress, looking in the full-length mirror and imagining yourself in it.

“As if he would know what I liked.” You scoffed to yourself, pulling the dress back on your bed. He probably just sent off one of his servants to find something for you.

Even so, what would be so important that he would send you something to wear? You were his well-kept secret, him wanting you to keep yourself hidden from his life for appearances.

He couldn’t afford to be distracted, he said. In exchange for you disappearing from his life, he sends a weekly allowance that you’ve been saving in a separate account.

Maybe one day when you’re finished, you can pack up your things and truly disappear. Nothing was tying you down to this city anyways.

Bzzt.

You heard your phone vibrate, a text notification appearing on the screen.

Incoming in 5, 4, 3, 2…

“One!” You heard your friend, Yeseul entering your apartment and you put to the dress back into its box hastily.

“Where are you?”

“Bedroom.” She wandered in, quickly embracing you in a hug and you stood still. You’ve been friends since freshman year, Yeseul being the only one who put up with you.

You didn’t mind hanging out with her but you didn’t put your eggs into her basket yet.

Memories of your ‘friends’ asking you to hang out, racking up a huge bill and then making excuses to leave you to pay each time. Your dad even got on your case, interrogating why you spent so much each week. He cut you off, only giving you enough for lunch and your so-called friends were suddenly too busy for you.

How naïve.

“You’re doing that thing again.”

“What thing?”

“Zoning out, burning imaginary holes into the last thing you looked at. You know, the usual.”

“I was just thinking, Seul.”

“Well stop that, we got other things to do.”

“We? What are you roping me into now?”

“Why do you say that like I only get you into trouble?”

“Because you do.” You deadpanned, you haven’t forgotten the time she thought it was a good idea to stay for after-hours when there’s a curfew in place. You had to dip into the savings to pay off the ticket you got.

“It’s harmless fun, Y/N.”

“That citation definitely harmed my savings.” You muttered.

“Anyways, listen. You and me, dancing and drinking at Hoseok’s party tonight. Sounds like a dream, right?”

“A nightmare, actually.”

“Come on, Hoseok was gracious enough to invite me with a plus one, meaning you.”

“I have to pass.”

“Why?”

“I have plans. Dinner plans, actually.”

“Who’s the mystery man? He must be worth your time since you’re passing up an offer from me.” She knows damn well you would pass up any party with or without plans.

“That’s not important. I just don’t think I can miss this dinner. Sorry.”

“So secretive. I expect no less though.”

“I’ll tell you about it later.”

“It’s fine, Y/N. I’ll take enough shots for both of us.”

“Remember to drink water in between and eat something too.”

“Okay.” She pursed her lips, leaving your apartment right after and you sat on your bed. You shook off the tension, checking the time and preparing yourself for this dinner.

Whatever it’s about, you had a feeling you wouldn’t like it.

You were adjusting your necklace when you hear a knock at your door. Opening the door revealed Hyunjin, one of your father’s drivers. He was newer than the others but devoted to your father like the others.

“Miss Y/N?”

“Y/N is fine. Take me to where I need to go, please.”

“As you wish, Y/N.” You took his arm, locking your door behind you and followed him to the car. The unease settled in when he started driving, part of you that you just went to that party with Yeseul.

Maybe she wouldn’t make that pointed comment and you would send your father a message.

Alas, here you are, walking into the Blanche like the little good girl he expected you to be. Wearing the dress he picked for you, even putting in the useless effort of making yourself presentable to only be met with him scowling at his phone.

“Hello to you too.”

“Ah, so you did come. Glad to see you have the decency to clean yourself up.”

“I rather you tell me why am I here instead of having this conversation with you.”

“First, sit.”

“I don’t plan on staying.”

“Then, change your plan. I have very important people that you have to meet arriving soon and it would be rude to stand there as you are.” You grit your teeth, sitting across from your father and crossing your arms.

A waiter braved his way to your table, filling up your water glass while you shot daggers at your father. Bastard didn’t even have the decency to even hint at who these ‘very important people’ are and why it should somehow matter to you?

You thought the deal was you wouldn’t even say your father’s name in passing and he could live his life freely. No burden of you.

“Ah, Younghee.” Your father got up, making you turn your head to look at a woman who was walking towards your table.

God, was he going to tell you that he was marrying this woman? Why would you even care if he gets remarried?

“I’m terribly late again, aren’t I?”

“Hardly. Is he here as well?” He? Was there a man accompanying her? Her son?

“Of course, he’s an important part of this conversation.”

“That is right. Oh, I almost forgot, this is Y/N, Younghee.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“How polite. Ah, you’re more beautiful than I thought.”

“Thank you very much.” Currently wishing the ground would swallow you whole, right about now. At least before this other guest shows up.

“Oh, Jungkook, darling, over here.” She waved someone over you, this time you stared forward. You froze as this man took a seat next to you. Fuck, you should have ditched when you still had the chance.

“Pardon my mother and I’s tardiness, sir.”

“It’s quite alright, Jungkook. All that matters is that we are all here now. Before we start, we should actually order something. Breadsticks will not get me through the night, I’m afraid.” This fucker is just going to keep dancing around the real topic for as long as he can-

“Um, I’m Jungkook. Y/N, I presume.” You looked at the man, quietly taken aback by how attractive he was. His hair was slightly parted, each hair perfectly in place. His shaped jaw highlighted his face, his pink lips were a perfect hue and he was just… perfect. But he was going to be your stepbrother, right? You shouldn’t even look at him in any other way.

“You would be right, Jungkook.”

“See, they’re already getting along.” You wanted to roll your eyes, all you did was introduce yourselves.

The waiter took your order, you quietly tapping your foot while your father acted jovial with his two guests. You only answered when addressed, quiet otherwise and hoping your food would arrive soon.

“So, Jungkook, your mother says you’re a game developer.”

“Yes, sir. Currently developing a sequel to one of my first projects.”

“My Jungkookie’s project has sold almost one billion copies globally. I’m lucky to have such a successful son.”

“Mother.”

“That’s impressive, right, Y/N?”

“Yeah, sure.” You were more interested in swirling the rich wine that sat in the glass you held in your right hand than whatever this conversation was about.

“Y/N’s in university, right? I’ve heard from your father that you have multiple companies scouting you.”

“That’s really cool.”

“Yup.” You said, taking a large swig and placing your glass on the table.

“Alright, enough of the small talk. Why are we really here?”

“Forgive her, Younghee, I’m afraid alcohol tends to loosen her lips. But I don’t mind cutting the chase.”

“It’s quite alright, I’m sure she wants to relax. After all, to be married so young in this day and age is a rarity.”

Married?

“Wait, excuse me. Who’s getting married?”

“You and Jungkook are getting married. Engaged for now.”

“Are you joking? This is a joke, right?”

“Had you not tell her? This is a lot to load on the child.”

“She could have seen it coming.”

“You’re too mean.” You got up, walking away from the table as you glared at your father. Of course, he would pull some shit like this with you now and then he has to remind you that he was in control.

“Y/N!” You didn’t look back, not caring about who was following you.

“Y/N, please.”

“Just leave me alone.”

“I can’t. Not when you’re like this.” You stopped, turning around to face Jungkook. He loosened his tie, his coat over his shoulder as he caught his breath.

“You know you walk fast in heels.”

“Why did you follow me anyways? Did your mom send you?”

“I came on my own. Your dad made some excuse about you being drinker than he thought, and my mom just accepted it. I figured it was more than that.”

“Even if it was, it’s none of your business.”

“Hard to say when we’re engaged now, Y/N.”

“I don’t want to get married to you, Jungkook.” He looked down, running his hand through his hair.

“Are you really okay with this, having everything in your life dictated by someone else? Don’t you want to know what it’s like to choose?”

“All I ask is that you give me a chance.”

“Jungkook.” How strong is his mother’s hold on him?

“I know that this is probably the worst thing that could happen to you, being forced to be stuck with someone like me but I want to show you who I am. Show you that I’m someone that you can fall in love with. If we don’t work, I’ll break the engagement myself.” You looked at him, his hand clasped together as he pleaded with you.

He looked so sincere, something in his eyes made you feel like he meant it.

“I’m holding you to that.” You replied, looking away from him and he pulled you into a sudden huh. Your body stiffened, not expecting the sudden skinship. He felt warm, the scent of his cologne making it hard to think of a better adjective.

“Thank you.”

“You’d be welcome if you let me go.” You blurted, not wanting to linger around him any longer.

“Sorry. Got a little too excited.” He cleared his throat, you avoid his eyes while you fiddled with your dress.

“Can I take you home?”

“If you’re okay with a few blocks.”

“Why not call a taxi?”

“Easier to walk.” You asserted, beginning to walk in the direction of your apartment and Jungkook could only follow you.

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

You made it home, Jungkook awkwardly bidding you goodbye while you muttered a good night before slipping inside. Thankfully, you had classes to distract you but all you could think about how your dad decided to basically sell you off for his best interests. Someone like Jungkook probably had a monopoly on the gaming industry and your father wanted to venture into technology.

Regardless of how good looking he was, how successful he is, you couldn’t shake the feeling that it was mainly your father’s and his mother’s influence that is driving him. How long can he put up this earnest act?

Give me a chance.

“Ugh.” You groaned, his words repeating in your head and you felt someone poking at your head.

“Quit it.”

“It’s only Monday.”

“That’s part of the problem, Seul.” You looked up to see her sitting next to you, she didn’t seem upset anymore.

“Then what is it? Mystery date was a dud?”

“Something like that.” More like mystery fiancé.

“What happened?” You came up with a lie, telling her that your father arranged your marriage overnight would result in questions you didn’t want to answer.

“I agreed to a second date and I’m not sure if I’m still up for it since we didn’t start on the right foot.”

“What do you like about him?”

“He’s loyal to a fault, he puts in the effort, ambitious…”

“Sounds like things you put on a resume.”

“It wasn’t the best first date.”

“But you said yes to a second one.”

“But he said some sweet things when he did. It sounded like something out of a drama.”

“Aw, he melted your heart a bit, didn’t he?”

“Shut up.” You snapped, embarrassed that you admitted that part of what he said actually affected you.

“I think you should give it a shot since you saw something in him. Plus, you could always dump him if he’s not what he seems.”

“I guess, you’re right this time.”

“What do you mean ‘this time’? Aren’t I always right?”

“You wish.” She nudged you, you were laughing in response.

After your talk with Yeseul, you felt better about the bombshell. But you figured you would have some time before you would see Jungkook. Not him standing outside of your apartment building with his hands in his pockets.

He looked formal, wearing a waistcoat with a dress shirt. You could see gloves covering his hands and you cursed yourself for immediately thinking of how hot he looked.

“Y/N.”

“At my pace, my ass.” You muttered as you tried to pretend that you couldn’t know him, but he started to jog towards you. The two of you ran in the opposite direction of your apartment until he caught you, your back pressed against his chest as he wrapped his arms around you.

“Caught you. Part of me is starting to think you like the chase.”

“I like space, which you’re invading.”

“Right, no hugs. But can we talk face to face?” He let go and you obliged to his request, currently giving him a hard stare.

“I really came because I don’t have your number, can’t give our relationship an honest try without each other’s number.” You gulped, even the word ‘relationship’ made you feel weird. He was right, you thought to yourself, you had to give this an honest try, so you could properly reject him and break it cleanly.

After all, how could you fall for someone like him?

“Y/N?”

“Huh?”

“Having daydreams about me?”

“Ha, you wish, Jeon.” You started to walk back in the direction of your house, not wanting to stay out for long.

“Not even my first name, I thought we were closer than that.”

“You have to work for it.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes.” How do you say things like that so casually, ugh? You pulled out your phone, handing it over to him to enter his number before he turned it over.

“Kookie?”

“It’s cuter hearing you actually saying it out loud.”

“I’m literally never saying that again.”

“Aw, come on Y/N, I can make up a cute nickname for you too.”

“Please don’t.”

“You seem like a sugar plum.”

“What kind of nickname is that? Sugarplum? I don’t even know what that is.”

“Have you never tried them?”

“I think your terrible nickname counts as a deterrent.”

“Why wouldn’t you want to be compared to a candy?”

“It’s not exactly something I want to hear, to be honest.”

“I promise to come up with something better.”

“A promise I wish you can’t keep.”

“I’m not giving up.”

“This is a weird hill you want to die on but by all means, go ahead.”

“At least it’s earned me a smile today.”

“You talk like the main lead in a romance drama. Just awfully cheesy.”

“I hope you’re not lactose intolerant.”

“Seriously, stop it.” You reach your apartment, the two of you talking while walking up flights of stairs until you were at your door.

“Time flies, doesn’t it?”

“Indeed.”

“I wish it would stop, kind of liked talking to you.”

“Mhm.”

“Ouch, you didn’t feel the same. I thought we had a good chat.”

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. Can’t play all my cards, can I?” You unlocked your door, letting yourself in but leaving it open enough that you could still see him.

“If this is a game, hope you don’t mind losing. I play to win, Y/N.”

“We’ll see about that. Good night.”

“Night, Y/N.” You shut your door, walking into your bedroom and plopping on the bed.

I play to win, Y/N. Not on my watch, Jungkook.

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

“If you stare at your phone that hard, you might actually shoot laser beams at it.”

It’s been two weeks since you and Jungkook had met, the man semi occupied your thoughts. He kept his distance, probably leaving the ball in your court in terms of whether you wanted to talk to him or not.

And you hate to admit it but you did want to talk to him at least.

“Har har.”

“Is Mystery Date on your mind again? Did you have your second date?”

“I guess you could say so, it went so much smoother like I could say anything, he would know what to say back. It was nice.” God, you sounded like a high schooler in their first relationship. And you can’t even see you and Jungkook beyond acquaintances.

“So, he wasn’t a waste of time but what’s wrong now?”

“I don’t know what to text him.”

“Wait, you weren’t already texting?”

“I met him off Tinder and he wanted to delete the app so we exchanged numbers.” You lied coolly, Yeseul humming in response.

“What are you hoping this message sends to him? Not literal, like do you want him to be more enticed by you or like you’re playing a hot and cold thing with him.”

“Just that I’m open to texting.”

“Oh. You’re not ready for sexting anyways.”

“What?”

“Just send him a simple ‘hey’.”

“Isn’t that too simple?”

“But you’re just opening a conversation, you don’t need much.”

“Are you sure?”

“Y/N, do it before I do it myself.”

“Okay, okay.” You murmured, typing it out and hitting send. He must have seen it, the familiar three dots appearing on your screen before his message came.

I didn’t think you would actually text me, I was preparing to camp out your apartment door.

I would totally call apartment security if you did.

So mean, honey bun.

Honeybun? I think you should retire from this nickname thing, it was funny the first time and now it’s just sad.

No good, huh? I have gotten plenty more to try out.

I swear I’m going to block you if you do.

Fine, I won’t try them out here. But believe me when I say that I’m going to have the perfect nickname for you and you’re going to love me for it

Sure, Jeon.

You do realize my name is actually Jeon Jungkook, not Jeon?

I am aware

Man, you play hard to get on the hardest mode, but I’m not giving up. I’m going to capture your heart.

“Oh my gosh, he’s going to ‘capture your heart’. He found your weakness, sappy lines.”

“They are not my weakness.”

“Please, all I have to say is ‘Don’t let go-”

“It’s too soon, Yeseul. Okay, too soon.”

“Are you sniffling?”

“Shut it.”

Great, you got my friend in on your corny lines

Aw, you talked about me to your friends? Can’t keep us a secret, babe? ;)

I rather keep it a secret but I need advice.

Advice?

Yeah, how to deal with such a shameless man.

Hey, I have some shame. It take a lot of confidence to talk to a girl like you, I feel like you can see through me

So, you know to not waste my time.

Time with me is always worth it, trust me.

Mhm

Somehow that hurt more than when you do that in person.

Hey, Y/N, I’m really happy you texted me but I gotta go? Talk to me later or something.

Don’t play too hard

That’s literally my job, Y/N but seriously bye J

“He sounds cute.”

“He’s something else, really.”

“I know you like to keep people at an arm's length but it really looks like he wants to be centimetres apart if you catch my drift.”

“We’ve been out twice, I’m not going to sleep with him.”

“Is he hot?”

“Objectively.”

“What kind of answer is that?”

“I’m not sure where you’re going with this.”

“I’m going to tell you to bag him.”

“You’re nuts.”

“No, it’s been two weeks since you met, he seems pretty decent and he’s objectively hot, whatever that means.”

“I still need to get to know him.”

“Just take him for a test drive.“

“Yeseul!”

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

You were scrolling through your twitter feed, reading some thread exposing another influencer when you heard a knock on your door.

“Coming.” You said, walking over and opening it to Jungkook.

He lost the business attire, wearing a simple black shirt and jeans. Fine, so it wasn’t the suits that made him look so hot.

“Wow.”

“Is there a reason you showed up on this fine Saturday?”

“Because I want to take you out. Plus I got to see you in shorts.”

“My eyes are up here, Jeon.”

“Wait, let me admire them a bit longer.” You were about to swing the door shut when he stopped the door.

“I was just joking, Y/N. But would you like to go out with me?”

“You don’t mean like a date, do you?”

“Whatever you want it to be.”

“Then we can hang out, Jungkook.”

“You said my name.”

“Did I? Must have been a slip of the tongue, Jeon.”

“Shoot, I should have enjoyed it while it lasted.”

“You can wait in the living room. Touch anything and I’ll have your head.”

“You’re joking, right?” You smiled in response.

“Oh.”

“So where are we going?”

“Somewhere fun, casual.”

“How descriptive.”

“It’s no fun if I tell you everything. You’ll know when we get there.”

“Of course I would because we would already be there.”

“Just get changed, Y/N.”

“Bossy.” You teased, going into your bedroom to change.

Should I dress up for him? But the most we are is friends and since when did friends have to impress each other? Gosh, why are you even thinking about this? Just toss something together!

You put on a crop top and some shorts, joining Jungkook in the living room after brushing your hair.

“Let’s go.” You clapped your hands together, getting Jungkook’s attention and walking towards the front door.

You thought you heard Jungkook mutter under his breath, making you quietly smirk before turning to look at him.

“Is something the matter?”

“Of course not. After you.” The two of you opted for the elevator, you listening to Jungkook hum melodically. He led you to his car, opening the door for you and you sat with a quiet ‘thank you’.

“Are you really not going to tell me?”

“I’ll give you a hint. It’s a building in this city.”

“I see you can be mean too.”

“Taste of your own medicine. A bit bitter, isn’t it?”

“You’re enjoying it, aren’t you?”

“A bit.”

“Hmph.”

“Sounds more cute than angry.”

“You’re a strange man.”

“Only to you, Y/N. Mother says I’m the most perfect person in the world, you’re a close second though.” You rolled your eyes, you’re surprised he went so long without mentioning his mother and chose now to bring her up.

“Of course she does. You’re her baby boy.”

“Oh shit, forgot about your father.”

“Let’s keep him forgotten.”

“Alright.”

“I’m surprised you know how to drive.”

“What a weird comment. Why wouldn’t I know?”

“You seemed like the type to have drivers, mommy won’t want her baby to get into an accident.”

“I’m not that much of a momma’s boy. I have a motorcycle license, I’ll have you know.”

“You? On a motorcycle?”

“I was 18 and feeling rebellious. It explains the earrings too.”

“They suit you actually.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, I have to see you on a bike.”

“Depends, will you take a ride with me?”

“You just want an excuse to get me to hug you, don’t you?”

“Damn, nothing gets past you. But I miss the night rides and it’s nicer with company.”

“I might take you up on that.”

“I guess I better dust off the old bike, then.”

“It’s not a date, remember that.”

“I know, I know.” He pulled into a parking lot, smoothly reversing into a spot before the two of you getting out.

“This way.” You followed him, the sign a dead giveaway and you smiled.

“I could have guessed that you would pick an arcade.”

“It’s fun and casual.”

“Hey, Ms. Han.”

“Oh, Jungkook honey, you came! Who is this lovely woman? Your girlfriend?”

“No, she’s just a friend, Ms. Han.”

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m Y/N.” You bowed to her and she waved her hands.

“No need to be so formal, a friend of Jungkookie is a friend of mine. This rascal has been coming to this arcade for years, even skipping classes to beat the high scores on most of these machines.”

“Is that so? What a bad boy.”

“Hey, don’t gang up on me. I still did well, didn’t I, Ms. Han?”

“With the skin of your teeth. You’re lucky you were a talented kid, now a big name game developer.”

“I’m still the same Jungkook.”

“You are the reason I still have banana milk in my fridge.”

“My favourite. Thank you, Ms. Han.”

“Ah, you.” Jungkook cheekily smiles before laughing, soon enough the three of you were. You took a seat at a machine, Jungkook sitting next to you and playing.

“Wanna make a bet?”

“Depends, what do I win?”

“Your most embarrassing baby photo.”

“Blackmail material, huh? Won’t put it past you.”

“Humour me with what you think you’ll win.”

“You let me take you out on a real date.”

“Aiming high, aren’t you?”

“Of course, the greater the risk, the greater the reward. You in?”

“Better be ready to hand that picture over tomorrow.”

“Don’t count on it, babe.” There’s the damned nickname, hearing it in person has the same effect as it does typed out. You didn’t let it seem obvious, focusing on the machine and the two of you playing a single round.

“I win. I can’t wait to get my hands on the sweet blackmail material.”

“Sure, after our date.”

“That isn’t part of the deal.”

“Check the scores again, Y/N.” You looked at the two screens, Jungkook putting his arm around your shoulder with a smile on his face.

10660 to 1066…5. He beat you by 5 points.

“How.”

“I’ve been playing since high school, I think I’m losing my touch. I have the high score on this game, I think.”

“I want a rematch.”

“If that’s what you want.” You tried different combos, putting all your focus on your character and finishing with a better score than the first time.

“Beat you by 10, this time.”

“Are you cheating?”

“I think it’s a classic case of sore loseritis.”

“I am not a sore loser, just can’t wrap my head around you beating me.”

“Well, I am a game developer. If I were horrible at games, that would be ironic.”

“This isn’t fair.”

“Wait here, I’ll get you some banana milk.” You frowned at him, watching him go into the back and Ms. Han hit you with a rag.

“He looks really happy with you.”

“I think he just likes winning games.”

“This is a different kind of happy, the smile on his face looks different than when he sees me coming into the arcade with a carton of banana milk or hearing about how the neighbourhood kids talked about his game.”

“It’s like he’s in love. Just like that girl he used to talk about in high school.”

“Jungkook had a crush?”

“But he has you now. Keep your eye on him for me, will you Y/N?”

“I-”

“Ms. Han, you’re running low on banana milk.”

“Ya, you punk, you should supply your own.”

“I promise I’ll buy some next time. Y/N, here.” He handed you a bottle, the straw already inserted and you took a sip. It was really sweet, you never thought he would like something like this.

“Can we book a karaoke room?”

“For how long?”

“An hour.”

“Jungkook.”

“I want to hang out with you a bit longer.” That innocent comment led to the two of you singing the opening to Naruto three times and you two belting Unravel on the top of your lungs.

You took a seat, tired and Jungkook sang on his own. He had such a pretty voice, each note sounding perfect in your ears. Is there anything he can’t do?

“One more song?”

“You’re totally going to lose your voice.”

“I’m dedicating this song to you, Y/N.”

“Oh my god.” You covered your face, laughing as he dramatically pointed at you and he entered the code.

The gentle piano played through the speakers and he kept his eyes on the screen as he sang. It was a simple love ballad, it felt like he was truly saying these words to you.

“Are you crying?”

“Shut up, that was beautiful you ass.”

“I’m not sure whether to be offended or flattered.”

“It’s a compliment, you jerk.”

“Okay… let’s take you home.”

You followed him out to his car, going back to your apartment.

“Are we really going on a date?”

“Why? Can’t wait?”

“I rather not.”

“But we had so much fun today.”

“But it wasn’t a date.”

“I know. But it was a test run for our real date.”

“You planned this out, didn’t you?”

“No comment.”

“I can admire the sneakiness.”

“I planned the whole thing, except for the little chat between you and Ms. Han.”

“Did you eavesdrop?”

“No, I thought she would say something embarrassing that I rather not relive.”

“Really, not even the girl you had a crush on?”

“She didn’t tell you her name, did she?”

“No, but now I’m curious. A girl that got your attention, wonder what she was like? Could she be the reason you got all rebellious?”

“Hey, save these questions for our date.”

“You’re serious about that?”

“Of course. Let me walk you up.” He locked his doors behind the two of you, taking you up to your floor while talking with you more.

“Just what I wanted to see.” You looked at your father standing out of your apartment, Jungkook stopping behind you. He smirked at the two of you, your blood boiling as he adjusted his cuff links.

“Why are you here?”

“Is there something unusual about a father caring about his only daughter?”

“You? Care about me? When did that start? When I became an asset to you to use?”

“Watch your words, girl. Do you realize who you’re speaking to?”

“A deadbeat father who chose money over me.”

“You-” You shut your eyes, knowing what should come next but it didn’t. Opening your eyes, you saw Jungkook holding your father’s arm and he let go.

“Remember this, Y/N, your life was never yours. Never.” He spat, walking off and Jungkook turned to you.

“He’s done that before, hasn’t he?”

“I push his buttons a lot, don’t I?”

“You don’t have to tell me but I won’t let him get away with it anymore. Okay?” You let him hug this time, holding onto a piece of his shirt for a moment. He didn’t make you say it, thankfully but he knew what your father truly was at least.

His hand patted your hair, the soft gesture melting your heart a bit. Your mother used to do the same thing when you were scared at night before you’d fall asleep she would say these words:

“I’ll protect you.”

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

Yeseul came over, tossing dresses in your direction and currently spazzing while you dodged.

“Oh my god, how come you have like nothing to wear?”

“We’re standing in like a hill of my clothes right now.”

“And yet you still have nothing to wear.”

“Maybe I should get a raincheck.”

“Oh hell no, I can finally meet this mystery man tonight and you can’t take that away from me.”

“Yeseul, calm down.”

“I am calm.” So not calm. You sighed, just fishing through the clothes that Yeseul chucked and finding a simple little black dress.

“That is it. Simple, chic and elegant. My tossing abilities have never failed me.” You rolled your eyes, knowing better than to argue with Yeseul about her not noticing it when she initially tossed it at you but there was no point being a dead horse.

After putting on the dress and Yeseul becoming an impromptu hair and makeup artist, you waited for Jungkook.

You heard him knock and Yeseul sprinted to the door before you could make three steps.

“Oh my god, he’s hotter than I imagined.”

“You must be Yeseul.”

“So you have talked about me.”

“Yeah, just the usual, you being annoying and slightly overbearing. Everyday things.”

“Sometimes I wonder how Jungkook managed to get through 2 months of you without even thinking he needs a break.”

“I think about it every day, try me.”

“Oh yeah, you can start right now.”

“Oh no, missy, and pass up on this date when you’ve dressed up so beautifully? I’d would have to be locked up in an asylum.”

“I told you you looked hot.” Yeseul boasted.

“Hush.”

“Now, I’m stealing Y/N for the night. Not sure if I’ll get her back by morning.”

“By all means, take her.”

“Gee, Yeseul, some friend you are.”

“Have fun, lovebirds.” She rushed you both out, giving you a thumbs up and wink. You cocked an eyebrow, Jungkook leading you away and you were met with a midnight blue motorcycle.

“You weren’t joking.”

“I’d never joke about my Harley. Come on.” You took the helmet from him, placing it on your head and sitting behind him.

“Trust me and hold on.” You listen to the bike roaring to life before purring as he began to ride. He weaved through traffic carefully, probably because of you and parked at a restaurant.

“Can I..um…hold your hand?”

“Yeah.” You breathed, Jungkook quietly lacing his fingers between yours and leading you into the restaurant.

“Reservation for Mr. Jeon.”

“Right this way, sir.” The host led you to your table, an intimate booth with virtually no one in sight.

“A waiter will be with your shortly to take your orders.” He said, walking away and leaving you with Jungkook.

“Are you nervous?”

“I wasn’t expecting you to look this beautiful, it’s kind of distracting.”

“Should I be offended or flattered?”

“You’re beautiful.”

“You’re pretty handsome, I guess.”

“Compliments with you are like pulling teeth.”

“At least you know how much I mean it when I say one due to their rarity.”

“Point taken. But I’m going to keep telling you how beautiful you are until it sticks.”

“You might give me a big head.”

“Even so, you would be beautiful.”

“Charmer.”

“I aim to please, babe. Since you like it when I call you that.”

“When did I-”

“Didn’t think I would notice how you gulp anytime I said it and you look to your left?”

“Okay, that’s weird for you to notice.”

“It’s because I’m always looking at you. It’s hard to keep my eyes off you.”

“Sap.”

“But you drink it up like syrup.”

“Doesn’t make it any less sappy.”

“Fair enough.” The waiter came by, the two of you placing your orders and once again were left to each other.

“What was your childhood like?”

“Always with the hard questions, Y/N. Dad was busy expanding his empire and legacy, Mom took care of me and my older brother. My older brother started working for our dad, spending more time with the company then getting married and putting any other free time into his wife.”

“It was me and mom for a while, but my dad would come back to remind me that I was his son and he’s the one calling the shots.”

“I remember the day I ran off after turning 18, spending countless nights mindlessly riding through cities, spending nights in bars and crashing at random people’s houses to get by. My mother came for me with two men to drag me back home, my father was gone. Fucked off to god knows where.”

“Mom was lonely and so was I, so we lived together. I put my time into game development, being one of the lucky ones to hit big with my first project and here am I.”

“I guess a power-hungry father is a trope we share.”

“You’re right.”

“But you’re conveniently forgetting this mystery crush from high school.”

“She was so carefree, always doing what she wanted but never in the way of others. Like a bird. She flew away, out of my life for years.”

“Do you know what happened to her?”

“I.. don’t, could only guess she’s happy now.”

“I’m surprised your crush wasn’t a video game character.”

“Lara Croft is still my number one.”

“I see, that’s why you like shorts so much.”

“It was an awakening.” You tittered, he’s such a goofball.

“Your turn.”

“It was just me, my father and mom. My mom died in my first year of middle school, dad starts nosediving into work and I had to raise myself. Dad came home one day and told me that we shouldn’t be associated with each other anymore. Sent me away after high school and occasionally pops in to make me feel like I’m nothing without him.”

“You’re more than what he could ever be. He’s just a grumpy piece of shit.”

“It’s nice to hear someone else finally say it.”

“Glad we’re on the same page.” He reached for your hand, his thumb stroking the back of your palm.

“Yeah.” He caught your eyes, the two of you having a quiet conversation through eye contact. You didn’t know what to say next until Jungkook started to wiggle his eyebrows at you.

“God.” You started to laugh, breaking eye contact.

“I win.”

“When was this a competition?”

“Since I said it was.”

“Is everything a game to you?”

“Not when it comes to like… serious stuff.”

“How profound, Jungkook.”

“I should be a philosopher.” You shook your head, him chuckling to himself. The waiter came around with your food, appreciating the arrangement before taking a bite.

It was silent yet comfortable. The quite clatter for utensils against dishes left you to think about this moment in time.

You would have never thought that you would be able to sit across Jungkook, being about to joke around with each other and just feel happy in each other’s company.

Didn’t think that you’d find yourself talking every day, hanging out whenever you were free, sometimes even missing him- Wait, when did things become so different?

“Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? It’s just you got a little something on your cheek.” You took a napkin, gently wiping his cheek before he could. He watched you, those brown eyes drinking the sight of you and you felt like you were drowning.

His hand came to cover yourself when you were about to pull away. Your face grew hot, his large hand clasped over yours against his cheek while he gazed into your eyes. You were slowly becoming his leading lady and you hadn’t even realized it until now.

“I like you.”

“What?”

“I like you, Y/N. Not because of our parents, but because I got to see parts of you that I didn’t know existed. You’re witty, competitive, smart, beautiful, everything I could ever want and need.”

“Jungkook.”

“Tell me I’m not crazy for feeling like this, that I’m not the only one.”

“You’re not crazy.”

“But how do you feel about me?”

“Promise me you won’t grow a big head.”

“I won’t grow a big head all of a sudden.”

“I think you’re different from who I thought you were.”

“Good different?”

“Good different. Maybe more than that.”

“I’ll take it.”

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

You took off your helmet, fixing your hair and Jungkook getting off after shutting his bike off.

“You totally rode slower this time.”

“It’s the only time you’ll hold me.”

“That’s because…you’re the affectionate one.”

“And I’ve been deprived, you know.”

“You have my permission now.” He took a step closer to you, his hand gently smoothing over a strand of your hair before tucking it behind your ear. His hand swiftly moved to hold your cheek before he looked into your eyes.

“I want to kiss you so badly.”

“Please do.” You breathed mindlessly before he leaned in.

He was gentle, your kiss barely touching before you pulled on his tie to reel him closer. Your mind was racing faster than your heart, the softness of his lips blocking out any other thought beside Jungkook.

He tasted like the champagne you two shared, the sweet taste more intoxicating than the actual alcohol. You melted, him wrapping an arm around your waist and temporarily breaking your kiss.

You dived back in, not wanting to let go the feeling his lips gave you. It hadn’t occurred to you that you were waiting for this for so long, holding back for what?

You pulled away, needing to breath and he held you close. His heart was pounding as hard as you was while you quietly listened against his chest.

“Give me your hand.”

“Now, close your eyes.”

“You’re getting bossy, you know.”

“Sometimes I like to wear pants, you know.”

“Don’t get used to it. I like control.”

“Then I’m all yours. Open them.” You looked your hand, seeing a ring on your ring finger.

It was a silver band with red heart crystals embedded around it.

“It’s just a promise ring. A promise that I’ll be by your side… as your boyfriend.”

“Jungkook.”

“Will you be my girl?”

“Of course, I will, Kookie.”

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