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batshit-auspol · 3 months

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have we talked about the woolworths debacle yet?

Sigh.

Alright kids strap in, because the culture wars are back and stupider than ever.

So there are two characters you need to be familiar with in this story before we continue:

Woolies (i.e. Woolworths) - One of two supermarket chains in Australia. Not related to the giant Woolworths chain that used to exist overseas, other than the Aussie one swiped the name because the original forgot to trademark the name 'Woolworths' here. Biggest company in Aus, and also the biggest employer. Not a brand anyone with more than two braincells would pick a fight with.

Peter Dutton - Man with less than two braincells, and current leader of the political opposition in Australia. Best known for bearing a passing resemblance to a potato and once demanding that a homophobic song get played for balance when a football halftime show performed 'Same Love'. His reputation is so bad that if you told an Australian that Dutton's favorite pastime was drowning puppies, they probably would believe you.

And to prove our point, here's the best headline a friendly newspaper could come up with to try spin his image:

The third thing you need to know is that in Australia we have a national holiday called "Australia Day" which is basically a scheduled day for everyone to get into a giant argument.

This is because for the last 30ish years it has been held on the anniversary of the British claiming the land around Sydney as a colony which was:

a) More the founding of an English prison then the founding of Australia, and more importantly

b) from the perspective of the people who were already living here, kindof a very shit day

Now not everyone agrees on this, and even those that don't 'celebrate' will often still have a get together with friends, but it can't be denied that we've shifted a long way from the days when the country used to celebrate Australia Day by kitting ourselves out in Aussie flag budgie smugglers, drinking enough beer to drown Harold Holt, and partying like it's 1789.

(Now a brief break for a real photo of Peter Dutton at a press conference)

Good luck sleeping tonight. Anyway back to the story.

As a result of this shift away from the trend of showing your patriotism by wearing Australian flag underpants, this year Woolworths decided that they were no longer going to be rolling out their box of southern cross thongs - on the grounds that "this kitschy shit never sells" and they are far too busy with more important things like blaming price gouging on inflation and installing self-checkout machines that think your canvas bag is a crime against humanity.

Never a man to miss an opportunity to act like a massive twat, upon hearing that Woolies had dumped their flag merch, Peter Dutton rushed onto the airwaves to declare that Woolworths had "gone woke" (paging 4chan circa 2009) and called for the country to boycott the store, a story which Australia's media have gleefully put on loudhale for over a week now in order to drive outrage clicks.

We at this point remind you that Woolworths is a company which, as we previously mentioned, basically has a monopoly on selling food in this country. Not exactly something you can boycott.

(Another real Dutton photo break)

Needless to say Dutton's dumbass plan did not immediately put Woolies out of business, however the relentless media campaign by Rupert Murdoch's minions did result in a bunch of innocent low-wage floor staff being harrassed by The Dark Lord's fanboys and a few Woolies stores were graffitied.

Allegedly being the 'free market' guy, Dutton also kindof snookered himself by demanding the free market not decide the fate of Australia day, but logic was never one of his strong suits.

Anyway, in the end we're just going to keep having this dumb circular argument every year, fulled by a media who love fanning the flames, until a politician has the guts to shift the date to May 8 (pronounced m8), and everyone promptly forgets this was ever a thing.

All in all, that's the long and the short of it. As a final touch we'll leave you with this real tweet by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, in all its batshit glory.

We look forward to the absolute dumpster fire of comments this post is going to generate - as is the Australia Day tradition.

#australia #auspol #batshit

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inkskinned · 8 months

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it is totally okay to be hurt and tired and fed up with the american schooling system but i need you to understand that we need to be better about loudly and routinely defending public education.

yes, many teachers suck, many schools utterly suck. i also got bullied and was absolutely not given the right support for my needs. i am not defending public education because it was kind to me. i am defending it because it needs to exist.

right-wing republicans do not want an educated population. they want kids to be homeschooled or in private school. there is a huge religious undertone to this.

the most common argument is that despite high costs, the "result" is not "good" enough. they point to failing schools as proof that public education is just never going to work out. there will be arguments made here that you actually agree with: that teachers can be bullies, that we taught online for 2 years and still charged the same amount of tuition, that we have no recourse for students to actually have agency or a voice, and that schools are now unsafe for kids due to risk of illness and gun violence.

these are all placing the blame in a fraudulent way, one intended to get your parents to homeschool you. the less kids in a school, the less federally-awarded funding for that school, the less any school succeeds. they will not mention the fact it is their legislation that takes away important funding opportunities, that teachers are living at or below the poverty line, that buildings are not kept up to code, that administration is overpaid and forces specific curriculums, that corporations like (my personal enemy) Pearson Education control certain classroom goals because teachers can't afford other options. they pretend to be ignorant of the gun violence and say "oh just get a gun" - but these are the same people who will be sending their child to a private school with a bulletproof backpack. they don't care if your kid dies, though. they "don't believe" in covid, but they did get their kid vaccinated, because of course they did.

it is a closed loop. conservative parents hear the fearmongering and remove children from the system. frequently these parents are also deeply religious. the kids are raised without access to other media & learn to parrot their parents. you have now created a new generation of conservatives. additionally, one of the parents/caregivers must stay home and homeschool the children, usually for free. i will give you 1 guess which parent tends to stay home to homeschool the children. these parents are encouraged to have many, many children. those children are most likely not getting access to safe sex ed.

we might laugh at fox news suggesting teachers are forcing children to use kitty litter but: first of all, there is kitty litter in the classroom. it's part of an emergency kit in case children are locked in due to a shooter. so that's fucking dystopian, and the fact they've completely reimagined the scenario to somehow make the teachers look bad when it's instead a fucking huge symbol of our failure as a country to protect our children.... it feels a little intentional.

secondly: don't just dismiss the situation. because, yeah, obviously, no teacher is encouraging kids to be a catboy. but the actual undertone that fox news is trying to sew is an outright distrust of teachers and of public education. they rely on the dehumanization of trans people as a common touchstone to hide the fact they're pushing two agendas at once. (which is ironic. because the thing they accuse teachers of. is pushing. an agenda.)

whenever someone tells you they want you to read less, you should be suspicious of that. when someone tries to separate you and your education, you should be suspicious of that. i don't even like incel rhetoric nor would i want my kids exposed to it - but i would not take away my child's (age-appropriate) access to the internet. i would just provide more educational materials, not less. the difference here is that i believe we can resolve ignorance with knowledge; whereas conservatives believe that ignorance is bliss.

they misappropriate funding and demonize teachers. they pull the same trick each time - the same thing we are seeing with anti-trans rhetoric. they do not want you to have access to safe sex ed, so they act horrified, claim sex ed teaches you how to thrust deep, claim that we have no idea what "age-appropriate" means. since the mid-nineties, the united states has spent at least 2 billion dollars on abstinence-only education, even though to quote the above link: "a preponderance of studies has found no effect of abstinence education at reducing adolescent pregnancy". conservatives want you to think less of any person struggling with addiction so they can continue their racist "war on drugs", so they spend up to $750 million dollars a year on the DARE program which has absolutely no effect. acting like teachers "must" be "grooming" children is just the same thing - so they can demand that funding either goes to their causes or the funding doesn't "exist" ("i'm not paying for our kids to learn that thing!")

and they want you to feel uncaring about this. they are aware that you will hate some parts of your school experience. pretty much everyone does. they want to lean into the parts that you hate so that you don't put up a fight about it when they take it away for not being "good enough."

i know i maybe sound like a conspiracy theorist. but truly. truly. it is beneficial for conservatives to reduce your faith in the american public schooling system.

one of the explicitly stated campaign promises of the conservative party: to axe the Department of Education in 2024.

i know we are all tired and burnt out and there is so much else wrong with their entire platform. but maybe just - pay attention to this one.

#i can't believe i have to say this #the conservative party is legit like ''is it anything good? okay we hate it.''#''lets kill lgbt people and ummmmm school children shouldnt be able to read they should be at home watching jordan peterson :)"#the fact that it's like all related is. wild.#like it's wild bc if u start being like. actually making it impossible to afford housing is part of how they keep the nuclear family.....#it's just like lines connecting to lines. EXCEPT ITS OBVIOUS?#what's wild to me about most conspiracy theorists is that they're like . ohhhh the govt is hiding shit!!!!!!! they don't want u to know!!!#and im like. this old man literally got up on stage and said he hates public education and will let our kids die before taking away ak-47s #and ppl are like: lol thats just bob's sense of humor he didn't mean it literally uwu

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insertdisc5 · 4 months

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✨ The In Stars and Time Spoiler Q&A ✨

it's time. MASSIVE IN STARS AND TIME SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT. IT'S GONNA BE SO LONG. LET'S GO

I hope you are aware of The Secret Final Boss because I'm also gonna spoil the crab out of that. If you haven't,

1. Did you know the events for interacting with your souvenirs are randomized for some of them, and also change depending on how far you are in the game.

2. Did you know there's a way to show souvenirs to a certain character.

3. Did you know you can go back to Dormont during the Epilogue.

Figure that out, and come back here! Or watch a let's play online. You can also do that.

I will also try to adopt a ~mysterious cool voice with no exclamation points~ for Effect. Come with me on this journey.

Now. Questions time!

✨ Will you ever make a sequel to ISAT, or make a game in the same universe?

Nah. This was always intended to be The Story. This is your turn to imagine things now.

✨ But so what happened to the Country? What was its name? What about the wishes? What about the colors? What did Siffrin say as an openphrase to open the door to the King's room? What about--

I will not answer those. It's your turn.

✨ BUT THE COUNTRY AND THE COLORS AND THE WISHES

Ok fine. Here are some facts that I alluded to in-game, that I am confirming now.

-The Country disappearing and the events that made colors go away are not related.

-The colors disappeared a loooong time ago, which is why knowing they even existed is a relatively new find.

-A wish made everyone forget the Country.

I will ALSO say that ISAT's map operates on Final Fantasy/General Fantasy rules (i.e. in-universe locations are based off of real ones when it comes to culture, but are not one to one parallels, especially for geography), so no, the Country isn't based on the UK oh my god please do not say that to me again or im deleting ISAT out of your computers and putting legos at the foot of your bed. It's based on another place. You can figure it out, I believe in you.

✨ But why won't you give more info on what happened :(

Can you imagine if I did answer. Wouldn't that be a bummer, whatever my answer was. Sometimes things need to stay a mystery. And also, I don't want to answer <3

✨ Does the world Loop came from still exist after they left? Or is this a get mystery'd situation?

There is only One Timeline and it's the timeline that goes from the prologue to ISAT. Every timeline that gets rewound does not exist anymore, and that includes the prologue's timeline.

✨ What's the deal with Siffrin's dream at the start?

It's Siffrin's dream, but that doesn't mean our Siffrin is the main star.

✨ Is [specific missable game moment] canon?

Every moment that you personally experience in the game is canon.

✨ Is there a reason Siffrin remembers their name but the King doesn't?

What makes you think Siffrin does?

✨ At the very very end of the game, if you look out the window behind the Head Housemaiden, Sif mentions seeing an island in the distance. Is that his country?

It is. It's always been there, for the whole game. You can see it in the distance, too.

✨ Who was the King, before?

He was just a guy!

✨ With the King left remembering in the end, does that in any way change the redaction effect for other people in the world going forward?

That's a fun idea. Maybe!

✨ One thing that never really clicked for me is: Is the sweet smell Time Craft or Wish Craft? Or is the sweet smell TIme Craft and specifically the burnt sugar smell is Wish Craft? Other way around? Does this question even matter since without Wish Craft you can't attain Time Craft in the first place? (To me, yes.)

Wish Craft smells sweet. Time Craft doesn't have a smell per se, but it does do something.

✨ Does Mirabelle retain her immunity to being frozen in time after the events of the game or does it go away after the Head Housemaiden is saved? Or does it persist for a while and eventually fade away?

I imagine the immunity slowly faded away. But no one's left to do Time Craft, so it's a moot point anyway.

✨ How was Odile able to stop Siffrin from looping back during the fight against Siffrin?

In the Discord channel I stated that it's because "she's just that cool", but really, she does have access to some skills that heighten the efficacity of Rock/Paper/Scissors attacks, so it's not too much of a stretch to imagine she could lower the efficacity of Time Craft as well. In this last loop, while listening to Loop and observing, she could figure out Siffrin was looping way earlier than she could in even the Sus Quest, so she made plans. She is Very Smart <3

✨ Will you ever share everyone's full names?

That's artbook content <3

✨ In the ending, what happened to Siffrin's hat?

Flew away. It's gone now.

✨ Looking back at the original comics, and seeing how comic!sif has both eyes at the start of their loops, but in ending sequences is shown with his eye patch...did you ever consider making that concept of sif losing their eye a part of the main loop in either of your games? and if so, was there any reason why you decided against it?

Early on, I did think about making that whole event an event that happens during the loops, but quickly let that go since 1. it would be a pain to write and code (two different sets of Siffrin portraits!) and 2. if it happened, the player might want to look for a way to NOT make that happen and so 3. it would be a pain to write and code

✨ How was Siffrin's homelife before?

Pretty good!

✨ How old were Nille and Bonnie when they ran away? How old was Sif when their home got zapped?

Both were teens.

✨ How old IS everyone?

Siffrin is mid-late 20s. Mirabelle and Isabeau are early-mid 20s, with Isabeau being slightly older. Bonnie is a preteen. Odile is Too Old For This. Petronille, Bonnie's sister, is late teens-early 20s. You can ignore whatever I said in the prologue's artbook, whoever wrote this was Wrong!!!!!!!!!!

✨ Regarding the book that talks about someone who crafted a copy of themself using wish craft: is that meant to imply someone we know is the author (and/or the copy), or is it not directly related to any of em? or is it a "who knows ;)" situation where we can just speculate and theorize either way?

Please check the book again during Act 5! This applies to most items/map events by the way, like the pendant. You can check those during Act 5 and 6 for some fun new dialogue!

✨ Why are Siffrin's clothes so warm looking?

The Country got cold at night.

✨ What's up with Siffrin's pins?

They're made out of a special material. And also, they make Siffrin look cool <3

✨ I want to know the story behind Loop’s different eye shades!

They're blind in one eye. Also, fun foreshadowing <3

✨ What determines whether someone is paper/rock/scissors craft? Is it assigned naturally at birth or something else (and how do you find out)? Does it make you more inclined to use that specific craft or is anyone generally free to use whatever craft they want?

Astrology rules, It Just Is A Thing. Being Rock Type means it is way easier for you to do Rock Craft, but that doesn't mean you can't learn other types of craft, although it's way harder. Doing Craft of your type is instinct, doing Craft of another type would take some time and resarch.

✨What crimes has Odile committed before. I need to know.

Odile just smiles.

✨ Why did the King specifically target the House of Dormont?

I had a reason in mind, but adding it to the game would've added a layer of Explanation that really didn't need to be there. It's just a nice House.

✨ Who was Odile's hatecrush...

Dunno. It's your turn.

✨ What is loop's body situation. like is the surface of their "skin" solid? they did poke siffrin that one time, and we know they aren't cold, but...

I have some idea. But it's your turn!

✨ Would Sif still have looped if they hadn't made the wish he made in the beginning? As in, would Vaugarde's combined wish have made him loop until managing to beat the King?

No. But without time powers, you can imagine what would've happened next.

✨ During the Loop Hangout, how did the rest of the team make it all the way to The King? What about during Act 5?

During the Loop Hangout: with difficulty. During Act 5: Loop was there to guide them.

✨ Is Loop: 1. Actually comfortable with both he and they, but only gave the one pronoun to emphasize the distance? 2. Only using they/them because a large life event led to a shift in identity/ how they'd like to be perceived? or 3. time lops stole he from they they :(

Mostly that first one. But all three of those reasons have a bit of truth to them.

✨ Who cooked crab in the House of Change???

This is a very funny question! I've never thought about it. It's your turn.

✨ What are the Orbs that open the gate? Did the King create the Gate or was it there before?

(did not think about the orbs or the gate beyond "plot that proves there was a journey before") Stop Asking Questions,,,, It's your turn,,,,,,

✨ Bonnie's dialogue is *extremely* accurate to how overexcited kids talk, which is really rare to see. Was that something that took a lot of effort to achieve, or did it come naturally to you?

Thank you <3 I'm just that good. Really, Bonnie is an adult with no filter, and less general knowledge. I'm very glad I managed to write Bonnie well, especially since. I haven't talked to a kid. Since I was one myself

✨ The Spoilery Concept Art. Blease

oh yeah. here have it all. this is what I gave Mimi to do the animated trailer!

✨ So. What's everyone's favorite shade.

FINALLY the question. Plus I can say shade names now. White = darkless, Black = lightless. Light and Dark is like light grey/ dark grey. Oh my god I'm checking my notes and I wrote a small event I never used about hair dye colors like "midnight dark", "tomato grey", "snow light" past me that's so fucking funny

Anyway, Siffrin loves darkless, Mirabelle is more of a light shade lover, Isabeau loves that lightless (BECAUSE ITS FASHIONABLE OK), Odile likes darker shades, and Bonnie also loves that lightless (BECAUSE ITS AS DARK AS MY SOUL OK)

✨ Are there any bugs you found during developments that you've made into features?

Two! The first one was the ability to ask Loop to just silently hang out during Act 4. I messed up the code and the game softlocked there, with Siffrin and Loop sitting there silently. I thought it was very sweet. They deserve a little quiet time.

The second was in Act 5 - the House map had a lot of issues with the Act 5 map bringing you back to the normal House map. So one of the testers got brought to the normal House map and didn't notice, and interacted with the Mirror on Floor 3, and it gave them the normal interaction with everyone seeing the mirror and taking a picture, and when they went to look at the picture in their inventory, it gave them the actual Act 5 picture. A little bit after they realized the game bugged out, and told me about it, and begged me to keep that in because they were very unsettled by it. So here it is! Beforehand, it was just Siffrin silently taking a picture, so I'm glad I changed it.

✨ Did you ever have emotional difficulty writing the more sensitive parts of the script, like Siffrin’s intrusive/negative thoughts, for one reason or another? Moreover, did you worry the script may be darker than your initial vision for it anticipated?

Not really. The Mirabelle and Odile hangout scenes were the hardest scenes by far because I really wanted to get them right, but everything else was about the same amount of difficulty. And actually, I wanted to go a little bit darker for the script, but I was worried it was going to be too dark... When it comes to the dagger event, I had a whole tangent about Siffrin thinking about the best way to strike, so to speak, but I deleted it because it was getting A Little Too Detailed. T rating come back to me

✨ For the questions you WON'T answer, did you have your own answers while making the game? Or were they left blank?

Some of them I do, some of them I don't!

✨ I loved this game and I want to replay it but I don't want Siffrin to go through everything again!

Here's a little fun fact I decided: if you hit the credits, you helped a Siffrin escape. If you start a new game, you are creating a new Siffrin that you can emotionally tortu-IIIIIIII MEAN, a new Siffrin that you can help. Do not worry about your Siffrins they are fine

✨ A lot of those answers ended up being "It's your turn", huh.

Yea <3 The answers to some of those questions ARE there if you look. Some just aren't. But you can imagine whatever you want. It's your turn! I finished the game! I'm done working! It's your turn!!!

✨ I loved ISAT and it made me feel so many feelings!

Thank you so much. I'm sorry if you sent a message or ask and I didn't answer it. I read every single one and cherish it! Thank you for playing and thank you for writing me a message!!!!! When I get a little down I look at all of those and I feel better. Thank you. I'm sorry I can't answer them all.

✨ What will you work on next?

I have a project I'm currently in the preproduction stages of. I don't want to talk about it until I feel like I have some stuff to show. Plus I still have to make the ISAT artbook and some other stuff, so it won't be for a while. Nonetheless, I hope you will enjoy it!!!

#in stars and time #in stars and time spoilers

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fairuzfan · 1 month

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I believe the word Palestine was first written in 5 BCE to refer to a part of Syria specifically. So I was curious about you saying how "Palestine" as a nation goes back 4000 years? From what I've read, the land was called Judaea in pre-biblical times, and then was renamed Syria Palaestina when it was corporated as a Roman province. The people who are from what is today variously Syria/Jordan/Lebanon/Iraq and migrated to the land only began to identify as Palestinian in the 1960s for the national resistance movement (because it had been known as Mandatory Palestine in the 1900s under the British) -- however even pre-British rule, under the Ottoman Empire it was referred to as "Southern Syria" by many who migrated and lived there over hundreds of years, and/or had varying names because the land (known as "Palestine" now) was divided with no one centralised administrative control. I'm in no way saying this delegitimises the liberation struggle for people known as Palestinian today obviously (and I grew up with a friend from there, whose family fled from Israel, who identified as Palestinian + Lebanese simultaneously for political/personal reasons which adds to my understanding of this) Saying Palestine has 4000 years of history seems to me like saying any country has 4000 years of history just because the land existed at all, even though the term is relatively recent & was only ever first used within the common era, and the land had multiple other earlier names, even during the Ottoman rule right before the British gave the name of "Mandatory Palestine" to specified territories within the last century.

This is not true actually, palestine was referred to as palestine in Assyrian transcriptions and among greek scholars. I really recommend reading "Palestine: a 4000 year history" by nur masalha. It dates the use of the word Palestine and describes how zionists often manipulate archeology to align with biblical stories. He also goes more specifically into the names of different regions (Gaza, Askelon, etc) and describes their relevance to identifying Palestine.

Now I feel like I was misunderstood a little that Palestine was a "nation" because in arabic there are 2 words to describe this, "watan" which is more contemporary and used in the 18th century i believe and "balad" which is far far older. Both terms have different implications. I can't exactly describe it but when I say "nation" I'm not speaking contemporarily. Masalha discusses this too.

But yeah he also discusses how Philistines were not a seafaring people as commonly thought but archeological finds suggest that we're indigenous to the geographic area of Palestine.

There's more but even just the introduction summarizes the history of the word "Palestine" and the colonial implications of denying its relevance. Really recommend a lot of Masalha's books actually.

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ddejavvu · 3 months

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Begging Spencer to show you ‘the X-files’ that the FBI must have and doesn’t he trust you enough to let you see them? You know he knows where they are. C’mon you won’t spill government secrets! You know they exist

And you will not let up begging Spencer to tell you about them, no matter how many times he swears there’s no kind of x-files department in the FBI

this request made me remember that i've never seen any episodes of the x-files and then i googled it and wanted to watch it until i clicked 'images' and was scared shitless because i forgot i can't really handle Scary Creatures

Spencer looks very unimpressed when he makes his way out of your bedroom, phone pressed to his ear as Penelope berates him on the other end.

"Y/N," He starts, tone accusatory and posture stiff, "Why is Penelope shouting at me because I 'told you I didn't love you anymore?'"

"You did," You gripe, unapologetic towards Spencer's plight, "You told me you didn't trust me, and that's the same thing."

His brows furrow and the hand holding his phone isn't pressed as tightly to his ear anymore, "When did I say I didn't trust you?"

"You won't show me the x-files!" You gush, and Spencer's face shifts, from concern to incredulity to exasperation.

"Penelope," Spencer cuts off whatever lecture she was in the middle of, "False alarm. I'll fix it."

He hangs up without another word, which he wouldn't normally do, but he knows she's beyond reason. He'll call her back later, and beg her to forge a convincing-looking government file with something silly for you to entertain yourself with.

"There are no x-files in the U.S government!" He insists, and it's a phrase he's starting to think he's said more than his own name since he began dating you, "Honey, if there were monsters rampaging around the country, you'd know about them."

"Not if the government was trying to cover them up," You grumble, "I know they're there somewhere, Spence, you can't hold out forever!"

"I'm not gonna break," He laughs at your choice of words, "Even if I did there'd be nothing to show you!"

"Right, okay," You nod, clearly disbelieving, but looking to avoid any more of Spencer's attempts at getting through to you, "Y'know, pretty boy, I'll take off my top if you let me at 'em."

"I- that's not fair!" Spencer stammers, pink tinges spreading through his cheeks and down his neck, "I can't show them to you-"

"-Aha!" You cut in, "So they do exist, you just don't trust me!"

"-Because they don't exist!" Spencer finishes with an exasperated huff, "Sweetheart, ask Garcia if you don't believe me. She'd rather get hit by a bus than lie to you."

"I will," You vow, snatching your phone off of the couch cushions to text your favorite technical analyst, "Then you'll be sorry, Spence. Then she'll get to see me take my top off."

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid scenario #spencer reid oneshot #spencer reid one-shot #spencer reid one shot #spencer reid headcanons #spencer reid headcanon #spencer reid hc #spencer reid hcs #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid fic #spencer reid blurb #spencer reid drabble #spencer reid dialogue #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid x reader fanfiction #spencer reid smut

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nerdylilpeebee · 4 months

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Why are you pro Israel instead of pro Palestine?

A number of reasons:

First, Hamas, Gaza's elected government, attacked first and has been attacking for decades. And even before Hamas, the people who would later call themselves Palestinians along with several other Arab countries, attempted to kill the Jewish population of Israel. All of this, by every reliable source I can find, was done unprovoked. The original Israeli settlements did not displace anyone, and Israel only claimed the territory it has now due to the fact these two wars were waged (much of it was even given to them by these Arab Countries in order to prevent them launching a counter-offensive).

Second, sources within Gaza have been proven over and over and over to be lying. From using AI to add corpses to pictures to using photos of murdered Israeli children in collages of "missing Palestinian children." We can't even rely on their numbers for how many have died. The side that lies so thoroughly that you can't even trust when they say "this many people have died in this conflict" is not the side that's in the right. I have not seen anywhere close to this level of manipulation from Israel. Literally the worst I've seen from Israel is a few of their government officials talking in a way that dehumanizes Palestinians.

Third, one side is a historically oppressed group who has suffered CONSTANT attempts at their lives. Several genocides, many attempted genocides, and now one side of this conflict is ruled by people who openly declare they want to kill all the Jews. Even their propaganda piece openly admits that they want to kill all Jews GLOBALLY.

Fourth, falling in line with my last point, Hamas openly says that they view Gaza as a country of martyrs that they're willing to sacrifice. One side being a genocidal terrorist group that views the people of the country they're occupying as disposable fodder to achieve their goals is not the side that deserves to be supported.

Those are my reasons, tho I will add one thing: I may be pro-Israel, but I fully believe Palestine also has a right to exist. Gaza and the West Bank should both be free to govern themselves. A 2-state solution is the only way forward.

But this kinda requires eliminating Hamas and every other extremist group that decides to break the peace every time it's achieved. Gaza and the West Bank cannot have their freedom if every time they get it a terrorist group steals all their international aid and uses it to fuel their genocidal campaign. They will never live free so long as they're under the yoke of monsters.

#tvp discourse #hamas #gaza #israel #arab israeli conflict #palestine

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nats--sw · 6 months

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Living Together | Alessia Russo

Alessia Russo x reader You just need to learn how to live together.

Having a relationship with Alessia Russo was the closest thing to perfection. You never argued, she never forgot important dates, and she always made sure to make you feel like the most loved woman in the entire world. The only problem was the distance; she lived in Manchester while you lived in London. You didn't play for the same team or the same nation, but somehow you ended up meeting at an event, and the rivalry that existed on the field turned into the best romance of your life.

Sure, maybe the distance wasn't as much as other couples living in different countries or continents, but it was still exhausting and sad to come home every day to an empty house, relying only on nightly video calls and trips during days off.

But that problem was ending now.

Alessia Russo had signed for Arsenal for the next season.

"I still can't believe it," you said, carrying the last box of Alessia's things.

"Babe, it's like the fourth time you've said that" Alessia laughed, taking the box from your hands. "I thought that once you saw all my stuff in your flat, you could finally process it."

You also thought that, but even now with the stack of boxes piled up in the living room of your small flat, you still couldn't believe it. It was unreal that now you would share your home with Alessia, going every night to bed with her and waking up by her side.

In addition to sharing your flat, you would also be at the same team. Nothing could be better in your life than now.

"Can I ask you something?" you approached Alessia from behind, hugging her and resting your cheek against her back. Alessia always found it an adorable gesture, given that she was some centimetres taller than you.

"Of course," she replied without hesitation, placing her own hands over yours, enjoying the moment.

"Why did you decide to come to Arsenal? You never told me why you decided to leave Manchester so quickly..."

"I wasn't happy there anymore... for various reasons. But what motivated me the most to come here was that my happiness is with you. And the opportunity presented itself, so I suppose it was a bit of destiny, and I wasn't going to let the chance slip away." She spoke without putting too much thought into it. Alessia was like that, always uttering words that made your heart race without her even realizing. "Would you have preferred me to go to another club?"

Alessia laughed and turned around, grabbing you by the waist and slowly leaning towards your face as you considered your response.

"Of course not."

Everything would be perfect now.

But unfortunately, it wasn't like that. After a month, everything wasn't as you had always imagined.

Sure, having your girlfriend with you was a dream come true, but you hadn't considered the things that also came along with it.

"I can't believe it..."

Alessia was like a tornado, wherever she went she left a trace of her presence. From trainers to socks to her underwear. Every day you would stumble across one of her trainers that for some reason were never in your shoe cabinet, always in the hallway, in the living room and even the kitchen.

"Alessia?"

You had just come from a little interview, so Alessia had arrived hours before you, but when you did a little inspection around the place it looked like she hadn't arrived yet because the dirty dishes were still in the sink, but her workout bag was on the sofa, so your girlfriend was at home.

"Alessia?!" this time you called her name a little bit louder and it worked because immediately your girlfriend appeared in the doorway of the room you now shared. She was wearing comfortable clothes and had a towel over her shoulders to keep her freshly washed hair from getting her shirt wet.

"Hey! You're here" As soon as Alessia smiled at you, you forgot about her trainers in the hallway, the dirty dishes and the training bag on your sofa. That was one of your biggest problems with Alessia, she'd smile at you, look at you with her sparkling eyes, and everything else would slip your mind. "How was everything?" she asked before giving you a short kiss on the lips, then turning away from the door to let you into the room.

"It went well," you replied and threw yourself onto the bed with the intention of relaxing. However, it was the opposite when you felt something against your abdomen. "Ouch! What was here?" you asked, quickly pulling out what was under the covers.

"You found my headphones! I've been looking for them for like 3 hours," Alessia ran towards you and took the headphones from you, giving you a short kiss on the lips as a reward. "What would I do without you?"

"I wonder the same thing..."

You could tolerate how messy Alessia was at home, because in return you got to live with her, so, in terms of pros and cons it wasn't so bad. Did you miss how tidy your flat was before? Of course you did, but now you had Alessia.

And you had Alessia not only in your flat now, but also in your work and in your life.

The idea of going to work together was nice, but Alessia had convinced you to take turns driving and today it was her turn to do it. You usually managed to convince her that you would drive anyway, using the excuse that you liked driving, but the truth was that -although you didn't like to say it out loud- every time Alessia got behind the wheel your heart would race, but not in a nice way.

"Alessia! We'll be late!" It was the second time you called her, but your girlfriend was still in the room, which would probably now be a mess.

"I can't find my car keys! Give me a minute!"

Tired of waiting sitting in the kitchen you stood up to go to the sofa, because you remembered that yesterday after coming home from work Alessia had collapsed on the sofa without even taking off her jacket. So you started to remove the cushions until you found the car keys underneath them.

"I found them," you said, raising the keys in the air as Lessi appeared in the hallway.

"You don't know how much I love you." And just like every time you found something she had lost, she kissed you while taking the keys from your hand. "I don't know what I'd do without you... I'd probably go crazy."

This time you didn't say anything in return, you had barely even reciprocated her kiss.

In the car, you didn't say anything for a long time, but when you noticed Alessia had turned into a street that wasn't the usual one, you couldn't help but speak.

"Why did you turn here?"

"Well, you didn't have breakfast, I know your morning isn't pleasant when you don't drink your coffee, so I'll stop by and get you something, I won't be long" she said, stopping in front of the coffee shop that according to you sold the best coffee you ever tasted, although Alessia thought the opposite. "I'll be back in a second."

The second turned into about 15 minutes in total. By that time, your lips were nothing more than a straight line after answering messages from some of the girls asking where you were. You didn't even look when Alessia opened the car door, so you didn't see her coming with your coffee, a paper bag, and a small bouquet of flowers.

"We'll be late-" Your smile returned when you noticed the flowers. It was a sweet gesture because Alessia knew you hated big bouquets, you always chose the simplest arrangement and the one she was offering you with a smile on her face was just what you would have picked.

"They were taking a while to prepare your order, so I took the opportunity to stop by the florist near here" she murmured with relief as you accepted the bouquet of flowers. "Here, flat white and your sandwich, I ordered it with ham, is that okay?"

"Yes, that's perfect."

Alessia waited for you to settle in, leaving the flowers on the back seat and unwrapping your sandwich to start the car and get back on the road. It wasn't until you finished your coffee that you noticed Alessia hadn't brought anything for herself.

"You didn't have breakfast either."

"I bought myself an orange juice, but I drank it while I was waiting for your sandwich to be made."

"But that was to drink, don't you want something to eat?"

"I'll eat something when we get there, don't worry about me."

"Did you leave your smile at home? " Was the first thing Lotte said when she saw Alessia arrive, throwing her training bag on the floor.

"Don't mess with me today" muttered Alessia taking her seat. "Got any of those cereal bars?"

Lotte nodded and pulled a cereal bar from her bag, handing it over. If it had been any other day, she wouldn't have hesitated to throw it in her face, but she could tell the mood wasn't the best today.

"Thanks," Alessia took a bite as if it were the best meal of her life. "I was starving."

"Why? I saw YN before and she didn't look hungry like you."

"I stopped to buy her something on the way, I'm sure if I didn't, I wouldn't have made it here alive."

"Trouble in paradise? I thought you'd be happy here with YN, I remember hearing hours of your complaints when you lived apart."

"Yes... Don't get me wrong" she was quick to say "I'm happy with her, it's just that.... We're not used to living together."

"How did you do it before? I mean, when one travelled to the other, you stayed at each other's houses and there was no problem."

"Yeah, but it was only for a few days" Alessia muttered and fell silent when she heard the door open, thinking it would be you and that you would catch her talking about you.

Luck seemed to be on her side after her horrible morning because it wasn't you who had entered, it was Lia.

"Who died?" she laughed when she saw Alessia's pale face. "Who are you talking about?"

"How do you know we're talking about someone?" Lotte asked.

"When two people are talking about someone else, they always go silent when a third person appears," she explained without much detail. "Besides, both of you look guilty of something. So, who are we talking about?"

Alessia was about to make up something to avoid mentioning your name because, of all the girls on the team, Lia was the closest to you. Unfortunately for her Lotte spoke up first because of the guilt she felt for having been talking behind your back.

"YN, we were talking about her. Alessia didn't—"

"Lotte!" Alessia kicked her leg to make her stop talking.

"Ouch! What's wrong with you? Is it true that- where are your socks?" Lotte was distracted when she saw the foot Alessia had kicked her with. Alessia was wearing her usual trainers, but it was clear that she didn't have anything else underneath them.

"I couldn't find my socks this morning... I don't know where the hell YN keeps my socks, but they're never in my drawer, and I didn't want to ask her because it was already late, and she was already mad at me."

Lia started laughing as soon as she heard that.

"It's not funny."

"Of course it is" she said trying to hide her laughter by covering her mouth with her hand. "Is that why I sometimes see you wearing her clothes?"

"Yes," she replied, cheeks slightly flushed. "Since I take care of doing the laundry, she takes care of putting it away once it's clean, but I've told her to put hers away and I put mine away, but she doesn't listen to me. But she hates to see the clothes on the bed, so she ends up taking everything and putting it in her part of the wardrobe".

"Well, it's something to be expected from her. YN is a neat freak," Lia commented, still smiling.

"What do you mean?" Lotte interrupted, joining the conversation.

"What I just said, Lotte. I lived with her for a while when she twisted her ankle, you know, to help her and all. I didn't think it was a big deal because I had stayed overnight at her place several times, but I stayed for several days that time and at the end of the week I discovered that she's crazy," Lia explained. Lotte still didn't seem to understand, but Alessia caught on to where Lia was going. "I'm not exaggerating. One time she got mad because I cooked dinner because she was starving but I didn't wash the dishes when I finished because I went to take a shower. Obviously, I planned to clean everything when I was done, but when I returned to the kitchen, she had already washed everything."

"Yes! She has done the same to me!" Alessia almost jumped out of her seat in relief at Lia's words. "I thought I was the one exaggerating, but it's true. Besides, the organization she uses doesn't make sense, when we first started living together, I wanted to keep the cups near the things to make our tea, but she keeps them in the cupboard next to the fridge." Alessia put her hands on her head. "God, I thought I was the crazy one," she said standing up to hug Lia, who returned the hug not quite understanding Alessia's emotion.

"Haven't you tried talking to her about it?" Lotte asked.

"Of course I've tried, but as soon as I mention anything about it she starts complaining about how messy I am and yes, I admit that" she said before Lotte could interrupt, "But I always end up doing my things. The problem is that YN wants everything done immediately, and there are times when I just want to come home and lie down on the bed with her."

"I'm surprised you haven't complained before," commented Lia, feeling a bit sorry for Alessia. "How do you deal with the food?"

Both Lotte and Alessia looked at her abruptly, the first girl looking like she didn't understand anything, and Alessia looking relieved that finally someone understood her.

"YN buys just what is necessary, you'll never find sweets or more than one type of cereal in her kitchen because she doesn't eat much of those things," Lia explained to Lotte.

"I've been starving" muttered Alessia "She prefers to do the shopping because according to her it takes less time, so I always ask her to bring me a couple of extra things, but she always forgets, plus we don't have the same tastes in food. I don't want to make her feel guilty, so I don't mention it to her."

"I've been starving" muttered Alessia "She prefers to buy our food because according to her it takes less time, so I always ask her to bring me a couple of extra things, but she always forgets, and we don't have the same tastes in food. I don't want to make her feel guilty, so I haven't mentioned it to her."

"You can't go on like this," Lotte worried about her friend's state because she knew that it would only get worse every day. "You have to tell her something."

"I second that," Lia said, having stood up to take a pair of clean socks from her bag. "If you want I can help you talk to her," she said, handing over the socks and giving Alessia a reassuring pat on the shoulder before leaving them alone again.

"I need to talk to her."

But the day had passed and although there were several opportunities to talk, Alessia never mentioned anything to you. The next few days were more of the same and neither Lotte, who continued to hear Alessia's cries every morning, nor Lia, who listened your complaints about Alessia's behaviour during the warm-ups, could take it anymore.

So that night, you and Alessia were at Lia's house, who had invited you both for dinner.

You had already finished dessert when Lia brought up the issue at the table.

"Well, Alessia, it's time for you to talk to YN about what we've discussed this week," Lia's words caught both of you off guard, so much so that Alessia froze for a few seconds, not knowing what to say.

"What are you talking about?" you asked with a nervous smile "Did something bad happen?" Alessia immediately noticed your concern in your tone, the guilt quickly invading her.

"It's nothing, love," she tried to reassure you that everything was fine, placing her hand on your thigh under the table.

"That's not true," Lia said getting a bit annoyed. "It's about you and your flat."

"What's wrong with our flat?" you asked defensively.

"That's the problem YN, that it's your flat, not yours and Alessia's."

"What the hell are you talking about, Lia?"

"Lia is right, YN... I don't feel comfortable living there, and one of the reasons is because it's your place, not ours."

The three of you remained silent after Alessia's words. But Lia, not wanting to witness the awkward moment, decided to leave the two of you alone by going to her room.

"What do you mean you're not comfortable living there?"

"I think we both know that this isn't working the way we wanted, love."

On impulse, you removed Alessia's hand, which had been on your thigh until that moment.

"It sounds like you're going to break up with me."

"I don't want to break up with you," she rushed to say, a little scared of where the conversation might be heading. "But I think we don't know how to live together."

"Do you want to live on your own?"

Alessia thought about it for a moment. Did she want her space? Yes. Did she want to be away from you? No.

"No... I don't think I ever want to live away from you again," she murmured taking your hands, a little scared that you might pull away. "But I want to have a place that is ours. I appreciate that you let me live in your flat, but it's yours. Everything there is yours, love. I can't change anything because you're used to your place."

"Does that explain why you leave your things everywhere?" you asked a little upset because deep down, you knew Alessia was right, and you felt bad for not noticing it earlier.

"No, I admit I have a problem with that, but I'll work on it... if you can also work on some things."

You let out a deep sigh; you knew you had issues with certain things and that you weren't an easy person to live with, but for Alessia, it was worth making a change.

"I'll need a list..." you muttered, a little embarrassed.

"I think so," Alessia whispered, a little more relaxed as she noticed that everything was turning out well "I'll need a list too. But I think there's something we should start with."

"What is it?"

"We need to find a new place for both of us."

"Good morning," Alessia's murmur made you smile. You had been awake for a while, but Alessia had you trapped against her.

"Good morning," you replied, feeling Alessia snuggling you closer. "Why did you want to buy this huge bed if you practically sleep on top of me?"

After the conversation at Lia's house, it didn't take long for you both to find a new place to move to, this time deciding everything between the two of you when it came to buying all the furniture and practically everything else in the house. One of those decisions was the enormous bed that Alessia insisted on having.

Alessia loosened her grip on you a bit, so you took the opportunity to turn and face her.

"I don't think I ever apologized," you whispered, caressing her cheek.

"Hmm... What are you talking about?" Alessia still hadn't opened her eyes, but you knew she was awake enough to talk.

"It was unfair all the times I got annoyed with you before... I didn't realize I hadn't given you a space for yourself."

It was something you had been thinking about for a few days, because it took you by surprise that since you now lived in the new house, Alessia's mess had decreased almost completely. You hadn't tripped over any of her trainers again because now Alessia had her own space for her shoes –noticing now that she has a lot more shoes than you- or that now that she had a small desk, her things were always there and not between the blankets like before. Sure, you still found the kitchen a mess after Alessia had cooked, but as she had said, she always cleaned at some point during the day.

"Don't worry... Maybe you were too used to living alone. Besides, your flat was small, there wasn't enough space for two anyway."

"So, do you forgive me?" you asked, resting your head on her chest, taking advantage of the intimacy to slip your hand under her shirt and caress her abdomen.

"I'll think about it- Ouch!" You had pinched her abdomen, not too hard, but Alessia tended to exaggerate a bit. " Okay, fine! I forgive you" she said, making you move away from her.

"I love you," you said, moving closer to her again.

"Are you sure?" she mumbled, looking at you a bit doubtful, but she took it back when she saw you move your hand closer to her abdomen again. "Stop! I believe you!".

Alessia was the one who came closer this time, giving you a kiss on the forehead and then hugging you.

"I love you too."

#alessia russo x reader #alessia russo x you #woso x reader #woso imagine #alessia russo imagine #no beta read sorry

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woso-dreamzzz · 5 months

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If Music Be The Food Of Love

Laia Aleixandri x Reader

Summary: Leila can't quite believe that Laia's bringing her to see the orchestra

"Since when were you into music?"

"I've always been into music."

Leila gave her a deadpan stare, one perfect brow raised. "Not classical music. You told me when you moved in that classical music was the bane of your existence and if you found out whoever played it in the locker room, you would come down upon them with a vengeance."

Laia had forgotten that but she awkwardly clear her throat, trying to brush the comment away. "Things can change," She said," Maybe I've matured."

"Matured? Ha!" Leila replied," Sure, and pigs can fly."

"Look, if you don't want to be here then fine! Leave!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Leila held her hands up in defeat. "I never meant that. Thank you for the tickets, really. I was just questioning your newfound love for the orchestra. Sorry if I hit a nerve or something."

Laia ignored her friend as they filed into the auditorium, finding their seats in the box. "Hi," She greeted the other people in the box with familiarity as she took her seat, dragging Leila with her," Hello. It's good to see you."

"Who is your friend, Laia?" A much older woman asked, hands wrapped tightly around the walking stick between her legs.

"This is Leila, we play together. For club and country," Laia said, indicating to Leila who looked incredibly confused as to just how many times Laia, the self-proclaimed classical music hater, had been to see this orchestra.

"A different type of playing than this," The old woman joked.

"Very different to this," Laia agreed.

A hush descended upon the audience as the curtain rose and revealed the orchestra, a group of smartly dressed individuals in all black.

Instantly, Laia's eyes sought you out. She had no problem finding you. She never had a problem finding you - even though you sat closest to the audience in the first chair to the conductor's left. She was drawn to you no matter where you were and could find you in a crowd without a second thought.

Your face was a mask of professionalism but, when your eyes glanced to the box, the barest hint of a smile poked at the corner of your lips.

"Don't tell me that's why we've come," Leila hissed in her ear," Because you've got the hots for a violin girl."

Laia didn't get time to respond (not that she would, lost to the world staring into your eyes despite the distance between you) because the conductor cleared his throat, hand up to begin the concert.

Music of angelic quality filled the room but Laia didn't turn her gaze from you. Your eyes were slightly closed as you counted your beats and rests. Your violin was a snug fit under your chin and your bow moved over your strings with such experience and skill that it was obvious why you were the concertmaster.

Laia didn't stop watching you even when there was a flute solo. You caught her eye several times but mainly stayed focused on your conductor. But, every so often, your head would tilt the slightest bit to the side, towards the box that Laia was sitting in.

Your eyes would meet for a moment and you would instantly be transported back to when you first met her, in a hole in the wall café that served the best coffee in the city.

She had asked to sit at your table as everywhere else was full. You would later learn that it was just an excuse so she could finally pluck up the courage to speak to you.

You welcomed her into your booth and got to talking, about her football matches and your orchestra concerts. She confessed her hatred for all things classical and you invited her round to your place to listen to good classical music - because only people who heard bad classical music ever swore off the genre entirely.

Things had blossomed easily from there and soon she was sat in the family box with your fellow musicians' families, listening to you play with a soft smile and warm arms to welcome you at the end.

You adjusted your positioning as the introduction to your solo began to build. The music swelled before, one by one each of your fellow string sections dropped off. Your first violins accompanied you into the first few notes before stilling, letting you take the lead - your shining moment of the song.

You kept your eyes on Laia as you played, not really needing the conductor when you had played this particular solo many times to perfection.

It was actually the first solo you had ever played in Laia's company when she had demanded to hear your excellence on your third date, curled up in your apartment after a warm meal.

●～●～●～●～

"Are we allowed to be here?" Leila asked in a hushed voice even as she took a flute of champagne from the waiter offering it to her.

"For the last time, yes," Laia said back, sipping her own champagne. It wasn't her alcohol of choice but your events tended to be fancy like this so she had gained an appreciation for it.

Leila let out a breath as she surveyed the room where the afterparty was taking place. "You never told me how much I owe you for the tickets. I mean, a box Laia? How much did this cost?"

"Nothing." Laia was only half paying attention, eyes focussed on each of the doors, trying to guess which one you were going to walk through. "They were free."

"Free?" Leila's voice was steeped in incredulousness. "Have you been donating to the orchestra or something? Those seats were fancy."

"Not quite."

You stepped through the door on her left. Your face held a single-minded purpose as you walked across the room. You took a glass of champagne on instinct, not bothering to look at the waiter as you joined Laia and Leila.

"Hi," You said.

"Hi," Laia said back.

"Hi," You said again.

"Hello."

You broke your gaze from Laia and turned it to her companion. You smiled. "You must be Leila, it's so good to meet you. I'm y/n." You held out your hand.

She took it and nodded knowingly. "Violin girl."

You giggled, taking a sip of champagne. "That's not a name I'm quite accustomed to. Usually, it's just the concertmaster."

Leila grinned. "I'll pretend that I know what that means."

"It means that she's second in command," Laia said quickly. She placed her champagne flute off to the side and wrapped an arm securely around your waist. "I'm very proud."

"I'm glad you could come," You said to Leila sincerely," It's nice to finally meet one of Laia's friends."

Leila looked between the two of you suspiciously, taking in Laia's arm and the way you leaned into her grip, practically laying your head on her shoulder.

"I take it I have you to thank for the box tickets."

Your cheeks coloured. "I get up to four free box tickets for every performance. I told Laia she could bring whoever she wanted."

"And is Laia a constant audience member for you?"

"Always." You pressed a kiss against her cheek. "Laia's been coming to shows ever since I made her fall in love with classical music again."

"Laia? Into classical music?" Leila laughed," You must be some persuader."

"I like to think it was my kisses that really sealed the deal."

Leila roared with laughter but Laia didn't care.

She dipped her head down to meet your lips. You tasted exactly like usual, a mix of fancy champagne and the chewing gum you always used before a performance.

You kissed her back just as sweetly.

"So," Leila said, wiggling her eyebrows," I'm getting the sense here that you two are an item."

"What gave it away? The kissing?" You asked.

Leila shrugged and Laia already knew she was going to regret introducing her friend to you. "And the eye fucking every time she looked at you on stage."

#woso x reader #laia aleixandri x reader #laia aleixandri #woso community #woso imagine #woso fanfics #woso

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florenceafternoon · 2 months

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━。゜✿ jily fic recommendations ✿ ゜。━

Because I will never get tired of them, here are some more fic recs. These fics are set in the wizarding world but aren’t necessarily canon complaints.

For reference, anything in italics is an extract from the summaries on ao3.

Never Quite Awake by @sunshinemarauder

“Endings are nothing unfamiliar to Lily Evans; she’s seen the ends of sisterhood, friendship, and innocence, all from miles away. But this is an end unlike any other. An end that was never supposed to happen.”

If to love someone once is to break their heart, to love them twice is to break yours.

Lily falls for James in her seventh year. But the couple are sent onto two diverging paths when a life-shattering altercation halts their burgeoning relationship. Five years later, she's a curse breaker and he is a soldier.

When they meet again, it feels like coming home.

All the angst that comes with a jily second chance romance that takes place during wartime. A fake dating subplot, cursebreaker!Lily, pining!James. What more could you want. France (country) - a relevant tag

Through The Rain by @bookeatingbean

James and Lily's first kiss, and the story behind it. There's some fluff, some character study, and some good old-fashioned angst.

If you're looking for a character study that shows how they grew up through their school years. This fic shows you that Lily was not a perfect person and James was a bully for the sake of it but he grew to understand that the world does not revolve around him and strives to do better. Or Lily is stubborn and James is the definition of a ride-or-die

It's been a long time by writtenbyfreckles (on ao3)

It's been ten years since Lily left Hogwarts. She's returned to England to work as a Healer on the "ward of the wacky", only to find home isn't as safe as she thought it was. An attack leaves her locked in a ward with her patients, a bunch of Death Eaters and an Auror she hasn't seen for a long time.

I need more cannon divergence Auror!James and Healer!Lily

The Guide To Becoming A Better Man For Lily Evans by @padfootswhiskers

prompt: I decided to walk outside shirtless (accidentally) but I forgot it's winter and why're you screaming at me like that? And oh gosh, you're very pretty.

lingering days, short-lived nights by letthebookbegin (on ao3)

The summer before seventh year, James is desperately trying to think of anything but Lily, who's burrowed her way into his mind and looks quite comfortable there.

The summer before seventh year, Lily is craving a distraction. Avoiding her sister, she picks an ice cream shop for shelter.

At the end of a long summer day, their paths cross - and the rest, as they say, is history.

Ties That Bind by @charmsandtealeaves

Lily Evans grew up with old wives tales about soul mates, but she'd never put much stock in the idea. Not until after she learned about the world of magic and the fact that soul bonds were a thing that actually existed. Which makes these strange new feelings and experiences that much more difficult to manage.

So I read this a while ago but stupidly forgot to bookmark it and then I spent nearly an hour trying to find it again. Needless to say, I ADORE this fic and you should all go read it. Like, right now. Then come back here to talk to me about it.

Lily Evans Doesn't Believe In I Love You's also by @/ charmsandtealeaves

“Did you hear Lily Evans doesn’t believe in I love you's?”

It wasn’t exactly a secret. But no one knew why, until she decided to share a bottle of fire whiskey in the astronomy tower with James Potter.

Same Lily, same

Meet Me At The River also by @/ charmsandtealeaves

A chance encounter with a misplaced owl leads to a correspondence between pen pals. Lily confides in her mysterious Flea and finds herself falling along the way.

I can't remember if I've recommended this one already, but even if I have I'll rec it again because I love it so much!!

Your Friend, James by @thelighthousestale

It is the summer before their 7th year, and Lily and James spend the entire holiday writing letters to each other as their relationship slowly changes from friends to something more.

Just the ending of this one is everything. James and Sirius are never beating the codependent allegations

Castling by @missgryffin

When they were still very young, Remus Lupin’s dad married Lily Evans’ mum. It changes everything.

Lily and Remus are like the little brother who got bullied and then found friends except he invited them over for the first time and they all act weird because they're mildly terrified of his older sister. Friends to lovers jily is only rivaled by academic rivals jily.

Just the Two of Us by @arianatwycross

Head Students James and Lily face a perilous twist when a malicious potion surfaces in hate mail directed at Lily. Dumbledore orders a week-long quarantine in the Head Students' suite. With unspoken crushes lingering, the duo navigates close quarters, leading to unexpected revelations, lingering looks and forehead kisses.

silence and patience, pining in anticipation by @kay-elle-cee

Lily’s been hung up on James for years; a tipsy conversation might be the push she needs to do something about it.

DRESS IS A JILY SONG FOREVER AND ALWAYS

The Devil in the Cloak Room by @chiechie97

Getting your heart broken when you’re 17 seems to alter your brain chemistry more than you would think. Which is the precise reason why Lily has no intention of reconnecting with the friends she lost at the end of school.

And besides, she has no chance of knowing anyone at the masked Halloween party her friend drags her to. Especially not the guy in the devil mask. Right?

Usually I rec complete works but this one is so good I had to include it

Deception and other ways to find love by @annasghosts

“I’ll be your fake girlfriend, Potter.” And this is how Lily Evans embarks on the adventure of (fake) dating her former Hogwarts nemesis (and crush, but ssssh, it’s a secret). Will she be able to keep her cool? Will he?

Class of '78 by @emeralddoeadeer

Class of 1978 Five Year Reunion - July 29th, 1983

Now is the time to look upon our shared experience, our similarities must unite us rather than letting our differences divide us. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry invites the Graduating Class of 1978 to return to the castle for a weekend of reconnecting, reminiscing and recreation. We hope the passage of time has been kind to you all and look forward to welcoming you soon.

Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster, Order of Merlin First Class, Grand Sorc, DWiz, X.J sorc, S of Mag Q

It's been five years since graduation, and while many things have changed, some things never will.

James Potter Won't Go Quietly by la_plus_heureuse (on ao3)

Lily Evans remembers plenty about James Potter from Hogwarts. But an assignment from Mojo Magazine to profile the Quidditch star turned activist makes her realize what she remembered was all wrong.

canon divergence staring quidditch player James and journalist Lily

On A Scale of One to Ten (requires an ao3 account) by @petalsinwoodvale

Lily starts falling for an insecure, yet charming auror named James who is recovering from injury in her ward. No one else on staff will sit and talk to him, mostly due to septic skin covering most of his upper torso. Lily, however, finds him charming and funny. Naturally, when James' injuries start healing, he grows more and more handsome. The other healers suddenly take interest in James, romantically ...

foxy by lizpaige (on ao3)

Lily joins the boys at the shrieking shack on a particularly difficult moon in her new animagus form.

Lily & Remus friendship is so special to me

#jily fic rec #jily #jple #lily x james #lily evans #james potter

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the-ace-with-spades · 2 months

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I need a fic where Ghost and Soap are on the run but like, framed and on the run.

They're on an assignment, just the two of them, to co-lead a team for the prevention of assassination for some big-name politician (dunno, I like to think this would happen either in usa or in the uk...) and it's all done and they're about to pack their shit and go back to base when Soap gets an encrypted call from Price to tell him that a video of Ghost killing the same big-name politician is on the telly

It's not Ghost, obviously, but it's someone of Ghost's posture, in Ghost's gear and Ghost's mask.

Also obviously, Soap doesn't believe it.

They get surrounded pretty fast by the local SWAT-like team and Soap makes Ghost use him as a hostage so they can escape with a minimal amount of maiming -- Soap is pretty sure Ghost could escape on his own, but it'd be a bloody mess that would follow him after he was proven to be framed.

Of course, Ghost tries to get Soap to leave once they're out of the danger zone. He does not.

Cue Ghost and Soap on the run while Price, Gaz and Lasewell try to find out who is framing him.

Simon's existence was erased so much that there are no pictures of him anywhere so instead, his APB has a sketch and a description. Problem is, the scars on his face were included, and way too characteristic to miss them (whether it's the glasgow smile or other scars, dunno, but you get my point). At first, it's really hard to move around because scars/mask + Simon being like 6'4 and built like a tank scream 'notice me'. Simon grows out a beard - it's red-ish blond colour so he ends up dying his hair red too. He absolutely doesn't care but Soap mourns because he's barely started being able to see Simon's face and hair and now it's all changed up.

Soap doesn't have an APB at first, but after a couple of days he is named as complicit (because he's seen helping Ghost run) and his photo is out. He has to shave the mohawk because it's too eye-catching (he's fucking bald and he hates it). He has to rein in his accent because he is described as glasgowian scottish. He can't call his maw so he sends her a random postcard he picked up a few towns ago and sends a short and cryptic message, hoping she believes he's not a terrorist.

Soap also finds out Ghost knows way too many shady people and knows way too easily where to look for even more shady people if he needs something the former people don't have. They steal shit out of necessity, often clothes and food, but sometimes they pickpocket cards and wallets. Some days they sleep in the car, some days they stop at questionable motels or hostels, and some days they don't sleep at all. They have burner phones but don't contact Price at all.

There would be a mandatory 'taking care of each others' wounds' scene (no bandages, please, you rarely use bandages in healthcare nowadays) after a dangerous run-in, a mandatory 'pretend to be a couple to lose the trail' and after that, an awkward 'there was only one bed' scene where things happen for the first time and they have a sloppy handjob or two.

They're probably trying to escape the country but can't do it via air because of the APBs and have to make their way to some shady port and even shadier ferry or cargo ship that won't run their fake passports in the system if they pay well enough.

Ghost is surprising Soap once again with an off-shore bank account and a knowledge of whichever country they're in's language. They move somewhere less crowded but not small enough that two Brits would be weird. Some people refer to Ghost as Soap's husband.

Weeks or months go by.

"What if they can't prove I didn't do it?"

"You faked your death once, love, I think you can do it twice."

#ghostsoap #ghoap #cod #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #q

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dykealloy · 5 months

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spoilers up to the end of dressrosa arc here but. I can't stop thinking about how Law takes on Rosinante's will. Corasan freed him from Doflamingo and the marines and the world government and everyone that ever could have touched him at the time, but has Law really felt free? “Everything I do until I die represents what Corasan achieved” is sweet until you recognise that Law is willing (and planned) to go to the grave for that belief. Until Doflamingo dies there is always a part of him stuck in that treasure chest, constrained by what Law felt happened to Corasan due to him that day.

It's crazy how textbook survivors guilt victim Law is (I’m new here so I wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t the first time this has been brought up), but let’s just quickly go over some symptoms:

Obsessive thoughts about the traumatic event ✅ (will go over this in greater detail below)

A sense of disconnection or detachment/need to isolate oneself from others ✅ (Law doesn't fully isolate himself but he definitely has his walls up at all times, though there are often subtle hints of him enjoying the company of the people he chooses to surround himself with. He is notably more reserved, emotionally unavailable, cold and distant than others around him, and watching closely you'll notice that even physically he has a tendency to situate himself three steps behind the group)

Insomnia, nightmares, flashbacks of the traumatic event ✅ (if we can assume some of his backstory expressed in Dressrosa are flashbacks, and also assuming that the perpetual eyeliner he wears are covering some pretty heavy eyebags. Also mention that the only time we see him resting is against Sunny's mast on the way to Dressrosa - and that was 1. a filler episode, and 2. if he was sleeping, it was very quickly interrupted by an attack by petplay guy - a nightmare in of itself)

Irritability and anger ✅ (though elements of this could just be attributed to Law's personality or a natural response to the straw hat's shenanigans, as well as Luffy's total inability to stick to a reasonable plan)

Feelings of despair and thoughts of suicide ✅ (that's Law's Dressrosa arc babe)

Now, there's many reasons why Law is unable to move past this guilt (an apparent lack of therapists in one piece being one of them) - but his inability to believe in unconditional love is likely the biggest offender.

Law may have started off (initially) with one of the most fortunate, stable beginnings, with a loving family and a big house in a rich country (wealth of which was built off the back of lies and corruption and the murder of innocent future generations - we'll get there). But he had a mother and a father who loved and nurtured Law (and were both highly respected doctors in their own right who citizens trusted and relied on). Law's happy beginnings really juxtapose the unfathomable horror that had been lying in wait in Flevance.

Even when shit started to hit the fan, at a very young age (<10 yrs old), Law was already stepping up and showing love for his little sister (lying to her when she was on her deathbed, knowing full well he would likely face the same fate after reading his charts, putting on a brave face for her so she wouldn't be afraid when the screams began to reach their front door, hiding her away when soldiers sieged their home and rushing to check on his parents). Given everything that happened in Flevance, it's completely understandable that, while Law will likely never forget the love his family gave him, remembering it became twisted in the lasting memories of his home — parents riddled with bullet holes. a closet holding a sick little sister waiting for him in a house engulfed by flames. stumbling through a town of friends, neighbours, just... people he used to pass by on the street, now all dead.

Seeing hell, knowing why and how it transpired, who were responsible (spoilers, the World Government; the same body that most citizens believe exist to protect them — yeah, sister "a merciful hand of salvation waiting to help" were perhaps the worst possible combination of words you could have left Law with here. Likely instrumental in having him lose his faith "I don't believe in anything anymore."), knowing he is the only survivor, and fated to die anyway due to the terminal illness that is slowly killing him because some figureheads years back were greedy and the governing powers above the figureheads were willing to cover up everything if it meant garnering a portion of wealth and maintaining influence and control. It's beyond grief, beyond rage. And there's absolutely nowhere Law can put it. No one he can retaliate against. Who could come out of hell knowing this and not want to see the world burn?

So, smart little Law escapes under a pile of bodies and goes to the one person infamously revered for being in the business of that kind of thing. And boy oh boy I can only begin to imagine how a young and impressionable Law - fresh from a genocide, with a hole in his heart and a hatred for everything still alive - had his concept of love warped whilst surviving those two years around Doflamingo and his family. A family where members are only welcome so far as they are useful to Doflamingo and his aspirations. Of course Law's going to pick up some fucked up ideas about how love works outside this little white fence he grew up and watched burn down.

Then. Enter Corazon.

Their relationship may begin on shaky legs (near-juvenicide via defenestration in a failed attempt to ward Law away from sticking around) but Corazon quickly becomes the one person in the world Law can trust and rely on again. And Rosinante can only do so much in terms of healing and guiding this broken kid (yes, his position both as Doffy's brother and as a double agent made things difficult, but need I mention he was only 26! 26 when he died!) but he showed Law kindness and compassion when he was at his lowest. He had faith in the existence of a cure that Law was long past believing. Was determined to help him, even against Law's wishes, even if it meant having Law relive his trauma over and over again. Corasan becomes incredibly important to Law, giving him a reason to live beyond just destruction and revenge.

After the rest of the world had long turned his back on him, when he had been nothing but a dying puddle of rage and self-destructive nihilism, Corasan saved Law. He told Law "Aishiteru" - a very rare way of saying "I love you", never used casually due to the depth of its meaning and the massive connotations behind it - in essence translating to "I love you so much I cannot possibly imagine life without you". There's a high likelihood that at his age, Law had never heard these words before, and probably didn't quite understand the weight of Rosinante saying it at the time.

Corasan frees Law, then he dies at the hand of Doflamingo, Rosinante's own brother.

All Rosinante wanted was for this poor kid to go on and live his life unburdened by his more than turbulent history and his connection to Doffy, but I think for all his planning, Rosinante's one critical error was well and truly underestimating how much him loving Law, and loving Law to the extent he did, would mean to that kid. Law really went from that ten year old hollow void sentiment of "why does anyone or anything at all get to exist when everything that was important to me is dead, burned to ashes and wiped off the map" to "I should have died at age thirteen and every second I've lived since then, I've only lived as a result of Corasan's efforts and as a personal affront to Doflamingo." This time, Law has a tangible, heinous 10 foot monster of a target to direct 1. his grief and anger and 2. justice for Cora towards, and this time he has the power and will to follow through. More than that, he believes Corasan sacrificed himself for him because he's a D. (someone destined to rain down destruction on the gods - Doflamingo, in this case). Corazon becomes a saint that Law dedicates the rest of his life to. Which is something that Law is not vocal about to just anyone he comes across, but is so unbelievably obvious once you know what you're looking at — his tattoos, his jolly roger, his crew, his ship, his ambitions, his beliefs, his fucking. custom-made Corazon jacket. all of it for this man that showed Law - at a time when he hated the world and everything in it - love. For all of six months. max.

And his whole life and personality and behaviour CONTINUES to be guided by this trauma — the way he's reckless with himself, his borderline self-destructive actions, the way he keeps telling himself that none of it would've been worth it unless Corasan's last wishes are fulfilled, the way he surrounds himself with bright people and soft things, the way it doesn't register that his crew genuinely loves and cares about him, the way he's terrified of losing anyone important to him again (and I would say this is one of his biggest downfalls as a Captain compared to someone like Luffy - who is just as reckless as Law is but trusts his crew, doesn't try to send them away, isn't afraid to let them grow and risk their lives for him like Law is with the heart crew), his inability to take a damn compliment. The way he doesn't understand Luffy AT ALL.

Doesn't understand that this alliance that he's brokered means nothing to Luffy because he sees him as FRIEND. No transactions or mutually beneficial pacts necessary. Doesn't get that he's the one that inadvertently asked Luffy to be his friend, thus breaking a long chain of people (mostly parental figures and siblings) abandoning or leaving Luffy behind/no one taking the first initiative to ask to be around him. Law is complete and utterly in the dark as to why someone would ever bat for him when the stakes are this high for no other reason than because they like them and care about them as a person.

Luffy, with his playground rules where he loves unconditionally and will take on the world for a friend he made five minutes ago, perplexes Law with his sheer simplicity.

When Sengoku tells Law, "Don't try to find a reason for someone's love", I do NOT think he takes it well. Because there must be a reason. There has to be. Between the two options of Corasan saving Law's life and freeing him because he believed in the will of D., or Rosinante saving him for no other reason than because Law was a kid that was loveable, and because he loved him unconditionally... everything we've learned about how Law functions up until this point suggests the former will always make more sense to him, and after everything he's been through, is most likely less painful for him to accept.

#LONG POST #in this essay i will... oh no. this was a spiral i was not ready to go down.#I'm not doing okay btw #one piece meta #these were originally 2am tags but upon reflection i thought it should probably be its own post #CJ's op watch-through #one piece #op #trafalgar law #trafalgar d water law #corazon #corasan #donquixote rosinante #monkey d. luffy #lawlu #dressrosa spoilers #op meta #op analysis

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tanadrin · 22 days

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RE "revolutionary leftists are revolutionary because they know they can't win electorally."

It astounds me a little that there are leftists who think that a communist revolution is more likely to work than, like, fifty years of community-building and electoral politics. Sewer socialism, union activism, and other boring activities have brought much more success in the U.S. than agitation for a revolution.

What I mean is, setting aside the moral concerns (violence is bad, even when it's necessary, and if there are practical alternatives then we should pursue them), I am not a revolutionary leftist because I think we would lose a revolution. For one thing, there is a considerable right-wing element in the country that is much better prepared for this kind of thing, and I think that the majority of the institutions in the U.S. would pick fascism over communism if they had to choose, but also, prolonged violent action is ripe for breeding authoritarianism.

Goatse is concerned that "the party" might "abandon or neglect its primary ends," but what is leftism if it is not, at bottom, an attempt to improve the living conditions of all people, et cetera et cetera? To the extent that social democratic parties successfully pursue this end to some degree, they're better than than an ostensible communist party that talks the talk but commits human rights abuses. And, more than the fact that U.S. leftism has some pretty fierce opposition that would probably fare better if The Revolution happened tomorrow, I think that, even in winning, we would lose, because what came out the other end would look a lot more like Stalinism.

I think one thing the hardcore revolutionaries in OECD countries don't realize is that the reason they can't marshal support for their revolutions is that the socialists won most of the issues that were salient in the early 20th century--workers got more rights, better pay, unions were legalized, etc., etc. But it didn't take restructuring the whole political economy to do it, which is immensely frustrating if you believe that any society without your ideal political economy is inherently immoral and impure, so in order to justify an explicitly communist platform you have to rhetorically isolate it from the filthy libs and feckless demsocs who it turns out have been pretty effective within the arena of electoral politics in which supposedly nothing can ever get done, and treat them as of a piece with the out-and-out fascists and royalist autocrats of the 1920s and 30s.

Which, you know. Is not persuasive to most people! Most people understand intuitively the vast gulf between the SPD and the Nazis; they see that, milquetoast and compromising though they may be, the center-left can deliver substantive policy improvements without the upheaval of a civil war or political purges, and this is attractive to people who are not of a millenarian or left-authoritarian personality.

Which isn't to say that communists don't often make important points! It sucks having to fight a constant rearguard action against the interests of capital rolling back the social improvements of the 20th century, and it sucks that liberal governments in Europe and North America have historically been quite happy to bankroll and logistically support fascists and tyrants in the third world against communist movements (which invariably only exist as communist movements because these same fascists and tyrants have crushed more compromising movements and only the most militant organizations have managed to survive).

But I agree with you: communists also talk a big game about how liberalism is the real fascism (what's that line from Disco Elysium I see quoted everywhere about how everybody is secretly a fascist except the other communists, who are liberals?), while also being awful at democracy. Suppressing dissent because your small clique of political elites is the only legitimate expression of the people's will (which you know, because you have declared it to be so) really is some rank bullshit. A system with competitive elections is still, well, a system with competitive elections, even if those elections are structurally biased in certain ways; all the bloviating that attempts to justify communist authoritarianism cannot really obscure the fact that authoritarian systems are cruel and brittle, regardless of the ideology being served.

#world's worst leftist #i'm not a huge fan of capitalism #but i am a huge fan of democracy #liberalism rules actually #and its highest expression is probably democratic socialism

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