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damnesdelamer · 3 years

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Recommended reading for leftists

Introduction and disclaimer:

I believe, in leftist praxis (especially online), the sharing of resources, including information, must be foremost. I have often been asked for reading recommendations by comrades; and while I am by no means an expert in leftist theory, I am a lifelong Marxist, and painfully overeducated. This list is far from comprehensive, and each author is worth exploring beyond the individual texts I suggest here. Further, none of these need to be read in full to derive benefit; read what selections from each interest you, and the more you read the better. Many of these texts cannot truly be called leftist either, but I believe all can equip us to confront capitalist hegemony and our place within it. And if one comrade derives the smallest value or insight herefrom, we will all be better for it. After all... La raison tonne en son cratère. Alone we are naught, together may we be all. Solidarity forever.

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(I have split these into categories for ease of navigation, but there is plenty of overlap. Links included where available.)

Classics of socialist theory

Capital (vol.1) by Karl Marx Marx’s critique of political economy forms the single most significant and vital source for understanding capitalism, both in our present and throughout history. Do not let its breadth daunt you; in general I feel it’s better to read a little theory than none, but nowhere is this truer than with regards to Capital. Better to read 20 pages of Capital than 150 pages of most other leftist literature. This is not a book you need to ‘finish’ in order to benefit from, but rather (like all of Marx’s work) the backbone of theory which you will return to throughout your life. Read a chapter, leave it, read on, read again. https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/Capital-Volume-I.pdf

The Prison Notebooks by Antonio Gramsci In our current epoch of global neoliberal capitalism, Gramsci’s explanation of hegemony is more valuable than much of the economic or outright revolutionary analyses of many otherwise vital theory. Particularly following the coup attempt and election in America, as well as Brexit and abusive government responses to Covid, but the state violence around the world and the advent of fascism reasserts Gramsci as being as pertinent and prophetic now as amidst the first rise of fascism. https://abahlali.org/files/gramsci.pdf

Imperialism: The Highest Stage Of Capitalism by V.I. Lenin Like Marx, for many Lenin’s work is the backbone of socialist theory, particularly in pragmatic terms. In much of his writing Lenin focuses on the practical processes of revolutionary transition from capitalism to communism via socialism and proletarian leadership (sometimes divisively among leftists). Imperialism is perhaps most valuable today for addressing the need for internationalist proletarian support and solidarity in the face of global capitalist hegemony, arguably stronger today than in Lenin’s lifetime. https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/imperialism.pdf

Socialism: Utopian And Scientific by Friedrich Engels Marx’s partner offers a substantial insight into the material reality of socialism in the post-industrial age, offering further practical guidance and theory to Marx and Engels’ already robust body of work. This highlights the empirical rigour of classical Marxist theory, intended as a popular text accessible to proletarian readers, in order to condense and to some extent explain the density of Capital. Perhaps even more valuable now than at the time it was first published. https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/soc-utop/index.htm

In Defense Of Marxism by Leon Trotsky It has been over a decade since I have read any Trotsky, but this seems like a very good source to get to grips with both classical Marxist thought and to confront contemporary detractors. In many ways, Trotsky can be seen as an uncorrupt symbol of the Leninist dream, and in others his exile might illustrate the dangers of Leninism (Stalinism) when corrupt, so who better to defend the virtues of the system many see as his demise? https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/idom/dm/dom.pdf

The Conquest Of Bread by Pyotr Kropotkin Krapotkin forms the classical backbone of anarchist theory, and emerges from similar material conditions as Marxism. In many ways, ‘the Bread book’ forms a dual attack (on capitalism and authoritarianism of the state) and defence (of the basic rights and needs of every human), the text can be seen as foundational to defining anarchism both in overlap and starkly in contrast with Marxist communism. This is a seminal and eminent text on self-determination, and like Marx, will benefit the reader regardless of orthodox alignment. https://libcom.org/files/Peter%20Kropotkin%20-%20The%20Conquest%20of%20Bread_0.pdf

Leftism of the 20th Century and beyond

Freedom Is A Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, And The Foundations Of A Movement by Angela Davis This is something of a placeholder for Davis, as everything she has ever put to paper is profoundly valuable to international(ist) struggles against capitalism and it’s highest stage. Indeed, the emphasis on the relationship between American and Israeli racialised state violence highlights the struggles Davis has continually engaged since the late 1960s, that of a united front against imperialist oppression, white supremacists, patriarchal capitalist exploitation, and the carceral state. https://www.docdroid.net/rfDRFWv/freedom-is-a-constant-struggle-pdf#page=6

Postmodernism, Or, The Cultural Logic Of Late Capitalism by Frederic Jameson A frequent criticism of Marxism is the false claim that it is decreasingly relevant. Here, Jameson presents a compelling update of Marxist theory which addresses the hegemonic nature of mass media in the postmodern epoch (how befitting a tumblr post listing leftist literature). Despite being published in the early ‘90s, this analysis of late capitalism becomes all the more pertinent in the age of social media and ‘influencers’ etc., and illustrates just how immortal a science ours really is. https://is.muni.cz/el/1423/jaro2016/SOC757/um/61816962/Jameson_The_cultural_logic.pdf

The Ecology Of Freedom: The Emergence And Dissolution Of Hierarchy by Murray Bookchin I have not read this in depth, and take issue with some of Bookchin’s ideas, but this seems like a very good jumping off point to engage with ecosocialism or red-green theory. Regardless of any schism between Marxist and anarchist thought, the importance of uniting together to stem the unsustainable growth of industrialised capitalism cannot be denied. Climate change is unquestionably a threat faced by us all, but which will disproportionately impact the most disenfranchised on the planet. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/murray-bookchin-the-ecology-of-freedom.pdf

Why Marx Was Right by Terry Eagleton I’ve only read excerpts of this; I know Eagleton better for his extensive work on Marxist literary criticism, postmodernity, and postcolonial literature, so I’m including this work of his as a means of introducing and engaging directly with Marxism itself, rather than the synthesis of diverse fields of analysis. But Eagleton generally does a very good job of parsing often incredibly dense concepts in an accessible way, so I trust him to explain something so obvious and self-evident as why Marx was right. https://filosoficabiblioteca.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/EAGLETON-Terry-Why-Marx-Was-Right.pdf

By Any Means Necessary by Malcolm X Malcolm X is one of the pre-eminent voices of the revolutionary black power movement, and among the greatest contributors to black/American leftist thought. This is a collection of his speeches and writings, in which he eloquently and charismaticly conveys both his righteous outrage and optimism for the future. Malcolm X’s explicitly Marxist and decolonial rhetoric is often downplayed since his assassination, but even the title and slogan is borrowed from Frantz Fanon.

Feminism and gender theory

Sister Outsider: Essays And Speeches by Audre Lorde The primary thrust of this collection is the inclusion of ‘The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master’s House’, probably Lorde‘s most well known work, but all the contents are eminently worthwhile. Lorde addresses race, capitalist oppression, solidarity, sexuality and gender, in a rigourously rhetorical yet practical way that calls us to empower one another in the face of oppression. Lorde’s poetry is also great. http://images.xhbtr.com/v2/pdfs/1082/Sister_Outsider_Essays_and_Speeches_by_Audre_Lorde.pdf

Feminism Is For Everybody by bell hooks A seminal addition to Third Wave Feminist theory, emphasising the reality that the aim of feminism is to confront and dismantle patriarchal systems which oppress - you guessed it - everybody. This book approaches feminism through the lens of race and capitalism, feeding into the discourse on intersectionality which many of us now take as a central element of 21st Century feminism. https://excoradfeminisms.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/bell_hooks-feminism_is_for_everybody.pdf

Gender Trouble: Feminism And The Subversion Of Identity by Judith Butler Butler and her work form probably the single most significant (especially white) contribution to Third Wave Feminism, as well as queer theory. This may be a somewhat dense, academic work, but the primary hurdle is in deconstructing our existing perceptions of gender and identity, which we are certainly better equipped to do today specifically thanks to Butler. Vitally important stuff for dismantling hegemonic patriarchy. https://selforganizedseminar.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/butler-gender_trouble.pdf

Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink Or Blue by Leslie Feinberg Feinberg is perhaps the foundational voice in trans theory, best known for Stone Butch Blues, but this text seems like a good point to view hir push into mainstream acceptance where ze previously aligned hirself and trans groups more with gay and lesbian subcultures. A central element here is the accessibility and deconstruction of hegemonic gender and expression, but what this really expresses is a call for solidarity and support among marginalised classes, in a fight for our mutual visibility and survival, in the greatest of Marxist feminist traditions.

The Haraway Reader by Donna Haraway Haraway is perhaps better known as a post-humanist than a Marxist feminist, but in all honesty, I am not sure these can be disentangled so easily. My highest recommendation is the essay ‘A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century‘, but it is in many ways concerned more with aesthetics and media criticism than anything practical, and Haraway’s engagement with technology has only become more significant, with the proliferation of smartphones and wifi, to understanding our bodies and ourselves as instruments of resistance. https://monoskop.org/images/5/56/Haraway_Donna_The_Haraway_Reader_2003.pdf

Postcolonialism

The Wretched Of The Earth by Frantz Fanon Perhaps my highest recommendation, this will give you better insight into late stage (postcolonial) capitalism than perhaps anything else. Fanon was a psychologist, and his analyses help us parse the internal workings of both the capitalist and racialised minds. I don’t see this work recommended nearly enough, largely because Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks is a better source for race theory, but The Wretched Of The Earth is the best choice for understanding revolutionary, anti-capitalist, and decolonial ideas. http://abahlali.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Frantz-Fanon-The-Wretched-of-the-Earth-1965.pdf

Orientalism by Edward Said This is probably the best introduction to postcolonial theory, particularly because it focuses on colonial/imperialist abuses in media and art. Said’s later work Culture And Imperialism may actually be a better source for strictly leftist analysis, but this is the groundwork for understanding the field, and will help readers confront and interpret everything from Western military interventionism to racist motifs in Disney films. https://www.eaford.org/site/assets/files/1631/said_edward1977_orientalism.pdf

Decolonisation Is Not A Metaphor by Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang In direct response to Fanon’s call to decolonise (the mind), Tuck and Yang present a compelling assertion that the abstraction of decolonisation paves the way for settler claims of innocence rather than practical rapatriation of land and rights. The relatively short article centres and problematises ongoing complicity in the agenda of settler-colonial hegemony and the material conditions of indigenous groups in the postcolonial epoch. Important stuff for anti-imperialist work and solidarity. https://clas.osu.edu/sites/clas.osu.edu/files/Tuck%20and%20Yang%202012%20Decolonization%20is%20not%20a%20metaphor.pdf

The Coloniser And The Colonised by Albert Memmi Often read in tandem with Fanon, as both are concerned with trauma, violence, and dehumanisation. But further, Memmi addresses both the harm inflicted on the colonised body and the colonisers’ own culture and mind, while also exploring the impetus of practical resistance and dismantling imperialist control structures. This is also of great import to confronting detractors, offering the concrete precedent of Algerian decolonisation. https://cominsitu.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/albert-memmi-the-colonizer-and-the-colonized-1.pdf

Can The Subaltern Speak? by Gayatri Spivak This relatively short (though dense) essay will ideally help us to confront the real struggles of many of the most disenfranchised people on earth, removing us from questions of bourgeois wage-slavery and focusing on the right to education and freedom from sexual assault, not to mention the legacy of colonial genocide. http://abahlali.org/files/Can_the_subaltern_speak.pdf

Wider cultural studies

No Logo by Naomi Klein I have some qualms with Klein, but she nevertheless makes important points regarding the systemic nature of neoliberal global capitalism and hegemony. No Logo addresses consumerism at a macro scale, emphasising the importance of what may be seen as internationalist solidarity and support and calling out corporate scapegoating on consumer markets. I understand that This Changes Everything is perhaps even better for addressing the unreasonable expectations of indefinite and unsustainable growth under capitalist systems, but I haven’t read it and therefore cannot recommend; regardless, this is a good starting point. https://archive.org/stream/fp_Naomi_Klein-No_Logo/Naomi_Klein-No_Logo_djvu.txt

The Black Atlantic: Modernity And Double Consciousness by Paul Gilroy This is an important source for understanding the development of diasporic (particularly black) identities in the wake of the Middle Passage between African and America, but more generally as well. This work can be related to parallel phenomena of racialised violence, genocide, and forced migration more widely, but it is especially useful for engaging with the legacy of slavery, the cultural development of blackness, and forms of everyday resistance. https://dl1.cuni.cz/pluginfile.php/756417/mod_resource/content/1/Gilroy%20Black%20Atlantic.pdf

Imagined Communities: Reflections On The Origin And Spread Of Nationalism by Benedict Anderson This text is important in understanding the nature of both high colonialism and fascism, perhaps now more than ever. Anderson examines the political manipulation and agenda of cultural production, that is the propagandised, artificial act of nation building. This analyses the development of nation states as the norm of political unity in historiographical terms, as symptomatic of old school European imperialism. Today we may see this reflected in Brexit or MAGA, but lebensraum and zionism are just as evident in the analysis. https://is.muni.cz/el/1423/jaro2016/SOC757/um/6181696/Benedict_Anderson_Imagined_Communities.pdf

Discipline And Punish: The Birth Of The Prison by Michel Foucault Honestly, I am not sure if this should be on this list; I would certainly not call it leftist. That said, it is a very important source to inform our perceptions of the nature of institutional power and abuse. It is also unquestionable that many of the pre-eminent left-leaning scholars of the past fifty years have been heavily influenced, willing or not, by Foucault and his post-structuralist ilk. A worthwhile read, especially for queer readers, but take with a liberal (zing!) helping of salt. https://monoskop.org/images/4/43/Foucault_Michel_Discipline_and_Punish_The_Birth_of_the_Prison_1977_1995.pdf

Trouble In Paradise: From The End Of History To The End Of Capitalism by Slavoj Žižek Probably just don’t read this, it amounts to self-torture. Okay but seriously, I wanted to include Žižek (perhaps against my better judgement), but he is probably best seen as a lesson in recognising theorists as fallible, requiring our criticism rather than being followed blindly. I like Žižek, but take him as a kind of clown provocateur who may lead us to explore interesting ideas. He makes good points, but he also... Doesn’t... Watch a couple youtube videos and decide if you can stomach him before diving in.

Additional highly recommended authors (with whom I am not familiar enough to give meaningful descriptions or specific recommended texts) (let me know if you find anything of significant value from among these, as I am likely unaware!):

Theodor Adorno (of the Frankfurt School, which also included Herbert Marcuse, Erich Fromm, and Walter Benjamin, all of whom I’d likewise recommend but with whom I have only passing familiarity) was a sociologist and musicologist whose aesthetic analyses are incredibly rich and insightful, and heavily influential on 20th Century Marxist theory.

Sara Ahmed is a significant voice in Third Wave Feminist criticism, engaging with queer theory, postcoloniality, intersectionality, and identity politics, of particular interest to international praxis.

Mikhail Bakhtin was a critic and scholar whose theories on semiotics, language, and literature heavily guided the development of structuralist thought as well as later Marxist philosophy.

Mikhail Bakunin is perhaps the closest thing to anarchist orthodoxy. Consistently involved with revolutionary action, he is known as a staunch critic of Marxist rhetoric, and a seminal influence on anti-authoritarian movements.

Silvia Federici is a Marxist feminist who has contributed significant work regarding women’s unpaid labour and the capitalist subversion of the commons in historiographical contexts.

Mark Fisher was a leftist critic whose writing on music, film, and pop culture was intimately engaged with postmodernity, structuralist thought, and most importantly Marxist aesthetics.

Che Guevara was a major contributor to revolutionary efforts internationally, most notably and successfully in Cuba. His writing is robustly pragmatic as well as eloquent, and offers practical insight to leftist action.

Hồ Chí Minh was a revolutionary communist leader of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and a significant contributor to revolutionary communist theory and anti-imperialist practice.

C.L.R. James is a significant voice in 20th Century (especially black) Marxist theory, engaging with and criticising Trotskyist principles and the role of ethnic minorities in revolutionary and democratic political movements.

Joel Kovel was a researcher known as the founder of ecosocialism. His work spans a wide array of subjects, but generally tends to return to deconstructing capitalism in its highest stage.

György Lukács was a critic who contributed heavily to the Western Marxism of the Frankfurt School and engaged with aesthetics and traditions of Marx’s philosophical ideology in contrast with Soviet policy of the time.

Rosa Luxemburg was a revolutionary socialist organiser, publisher, and economist, directly engaged in practical leftist activity internationally for a significant part of the early 20th Century.

Mao Zedong was a revolutionary communist, founder and Chairman of the People’s Republic of China, and a prolific contributor to Marxism-Leninism(-Maoism), which he adapted to the material conditions outside the Western imperial core.

Huey P. Newton was the co-founder of the Black Panther Party and a vital force in the spread and accessibility of communist thought and practical internationalism, not to mention black revolutionary tactics.

Léopold Sédar Senghor was a poet-turned-politician who served as Senegal’s first president and established the basis for African socialism. Also central to postcolonial theory, and a leader of the Négritude movement.

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I hope this list may be useful. (I would also be interested to see the recommendations of others!) Happy reading, comrades. We have nothing to lose but our chains.

#original #leftism #leftist #Marxist #Marxism #socialist #socialism #literature #reading list #critical theory

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mittensmorgul · 2 years

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Do people in the USA ever catch a break? It seems to me as though you have to fight for or against something almost every single day just to achieve humane living/working/education/... standards/conditions. No wonder 90% need therapy. Am I wrong?

when a significant portion of the population legitimately seems to have no idea the scope of the issues we're facing, and instead has been completely polarized from like... actual reality... yeah, it makes it practically impossible to actually make positive change.

it's fucking exhausting, honestly.

under a cut because i needed to vent for a minute >.>

there's been a lot of push for positive change, too, don't get me wrong. the current push to unionize labor, for example, is slowly pushing back against a lot of those issues.

but the puritan far right wing white supremacist pseudo-christian nazi nonsense is insidious. these people have such warped ideas about what it means to live in a society, and many of them are absolutely convinced that they are on the side of "good." despite resembling-- to every single person who knows history and doesn't have their head crammed up their ass-- a textbook reenactment of 1920's and 30's germany with everything from book banning to the beer hall putsch.

part of the problem is that the U.S. is basically 50 countries in a trenchcoat and the trenchcoat is full of holes. and only one side of the political equation is operating in good faith and even remotely attempting to obey the law. look at the supreme court decision on redistricting from yesterday... the supreme court basically said "oh, too bad, it's just impractical to uphold the constitution in this case, and it's easier to just... not do that." and disenfranchised MILLIONS of people in the process. so even when our highest ruling bodies apparently are choosing to just make up their own rules, it's dangerous to just sit back and do nothing.

one of my high school history teachers had a poster on the wall that i think about constantly. it said QUESTION AUTHORITY. it's not only our RIGHT but our DUTY as citizens to stand up and do something in situations like this. the constitution not only delineates our right to freedom, etc., but also our RESPONSIBILITIES as citizens in a society. And right now, only one political party cares about that second part...

it makes it really difficult to make any sort of positive change.

education is a state (and usually also individual counties within each state) issue. School boards are county-level elected entities, and most people don't bother voting for those positions. It means a lot of school boards are comprised of people who have zero business dictating what education should look like, and that's part of the problem there.

unfettered capitalism, deregulation, and the constant messaging that despite stagnant wages, predatory financial institutions, and for-profit healthcare (and that one is probably the most infuriating thing to me of all of this-- NOBODY should be profiting from essentially betting on whether people live or die...), among other things, is the "best system in the world!" we have "freedom and choice!" in all of this! and if the government stepped in to rein in any of this it would mean you'd lose that "freedom to choose!" what's best for you and your family! Like... there are a LOT of people in this country who completely believe the big insurance companies are giving them "choices" and provide the best care they can hope to get, despite even insured people not being able to afford to go to the doctor, or being told their insurance won't cover the procedures or meds they need to live because of cost, despite making millions and often billions for their investors. It's all a scam, and americans are so addicted to their own sense of exceptionalism that they refuse to confront the fact that hey, maybe we aren't the best, and maybe this system really kinda sucks...

heck i've wandered off topic again, haven't i...

ugh, sorry, but thanks for the chance to vent a little bit. i am only one smol mitten trying to live a life here, and i'm just exhausted by all of this.

#us politics #i'm so sorry my country is a trash fire literally all the time >.>

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harrytpotter · 4 years

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It’s cuddles inside, baby — James Potter x Reader Request.

Requested by @prettysatan: “Hehe I saw requests. James Potter x reader where it’s cold outside and James keeps putting his cold hands underneath reader’s shirt”.

Pairing: James Potter x Reader.

Word Count: 1,6K

Warnings: None, it’s basically pure fluff.

A/N: It’s not the greatest, since it’s insanely hot here in my city it’s kinda despairing thinking about the amazing feeling of a cold weather hahaha. Hope you like it, tho! <3 (also, i’m the absolute WORST when it comes to titles).

The winter was falling hard upon Hogwarts. The days were slowly becoming shorter whilst the nights were becoming longer; it was officially sweaters and cuddles by the fireplace season and the latter was on at full force among the students. Today was the perfect day to do so, the snow was falling brutally outside, whitening the entire landscape that surrounded the majestic old castle that posed as the headquarters for the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

You let your head fall heavily into your arms – which were crossed above the table – and heaved a deep and audible sigh as you frowned in despair, mentally cursing yourself for taking Advanced Arithmancy Studies as an elective class instead of having a free period. Which was definitely something you could use right now to try and keep yourself warm; preferably with the help of your very smart boyfriend who had wisely chosen to have this time free for himself in the beginning of the school year.

“Just go,” Lily mumbled to you, leaning a little so you could hear her, her gaze never leaving the Professor.

You lifted your head a little so you could face her, a confused frown taking over your face as you blinked repeatedly, slowly coming back to reality after being lost inside your thoughts for the past hour or so.

“You look like a damn popsicle shivering and gritting your teeth,” she rolled her eyes at you. “Besides I know you’re thinking about how much you wanted a warming-up session with Potter right now,” she added with a lopsided grin.

Your cheeks acquired a crimson tone as you hissed embarrassed at Lily, “I’m not!”

“Yeah, as if I didn’t know you,” she mocked. “Go, I’ll cover for you.”

Glancing at the Professor – who had his back turned to the class as he waved his wand to the blackboard, writing something you did not care about – and then at the door, you shrugged, still a little hesitant, “I might take you up on that offer.”

“Go get cosy and warm with that twat boyfriend of yours already,” Lily rolled her eyes playfully, grinning at you.

“Thank you, Lils! You’re the absolute best!” You planted an excited kiss on her cheek whilst wrapping your arm on her shoulders before discreetly gathering your parchments and quill and tossing it inside your bag.

“Cuddles by the fireplace, here I come!” You wiggled your brows amusedly as you sang your excitement to your best friend, who chuckled and shook her head at your behaviour.

With a last expression of your gratitude towards the redhead, you sneaked out of class and almost ran along the corridors, desperately wanting to arrive at the Gryffindor Tower.

The temperature had significantly dropped since you had first walked to class, which made you pull your clothes tightly around your body in a desperate attempt to keep your body warm as the chilly windy currents flogged your skin. You couldn’t see a single soul wandering through the castle as the few students who weren’t in their Common Rooms, were shivering inside of classrooms.

“Oi! Pad!” You shouted at the familiar raven-haired boy as your eyes spotted him near the Tower on the seventh floor.

Sirius halted and turned on his heels, a warm smile spreading across his face as his grey irises focused on you.

“Is James inside?” You asked excitedly, getting closer to the boy and nodding in the direction of the Fat Lady portrait.

“I’m fine, thanks! How are you doing?” He teased with a grin.

“Feeling needy today, are we?” You hit back, smirking as you rolled your eyes.

“Always,” the boy winked at you. “I wouldn’t know that, sorry love. I was about to go in when I got a really important message,” he churned a scented piece of parchment in front of your face, a lustful look in his eyes.

“Why do I have the feeling that I wouldn’t want to know what it says?” You playfully crossed your arms in front of your chest, quirking your brows.

“Because these words are way too dirty for your precious eyes and ears, my pure little angel,” he lifted a brow teasingly.

“You rightful prick!” You bumped your fist on his shoulder with a laugh.

“Go find that whipped man of yours, last I saw him he couldn’t stop rambling about how much he wanted you in his arms; Remus almost strangled him because he wouldn’t let him read,” he shrugged with a grin before walking away.

Smiling, you made your way to the Fat Lady and whispered the password rather quickly. When the portrait swung open, you instantly ran inside and scanned the nearly empty room with your eyes, your smile quickly fading once you realised James was nowhere to be seen.

Heaving a sigh, you decided to try his dorm and motioned to the stairs that led to it, eagerly climbing up the steps as a hopeful smile slowly returned to your face.

Closing your fingers around the handle, you opened the door of the Marauders room with a poignant urgency, only to be left down at the sight of Remus Lupin reading a book under his blankets and a snoring Peter Pettigrew sleeping heavily in his own bed.

“Nice to see you too,” the brown-haired boy with kind chocolate eyes said, a lopsided grin on his face as he noticed your apparent annoyance.

“Sorry, Moony,” you sighed, plopping yourself down on Sirius’ bed, which was next to Remus’. “I just thought I’d find James here.”

“I had to kick him out so I could finish my book because he wouldn’t stop talking about how much he hated that you had a class when he wanted to cuddle,” Remus shrugged apologetically.

“So I’ve heard,” you chuckled. “Do you happen to know where he went?”

“I assumed he went after you,” he smiled sweetly amidst a frown. “Sorry, Y/N.”

“He didn’t,” you pouted, feeling defeated as you hopped off Sirius’ bed. “Anyway, thanks Moony. I might as well go take a hot bath and change into warmer clothes then,” you added, taking off your robes and holding it whilst walking towards the door.

The walk to your dorm felt disappointing, the cold air frustrating you even more. You had ditched class exclusively to warm yourself up with your boyfriend and not only were you still cold and shaking like a jelly as you also didn’t have James’ strong hold around your body.

However, once you entered the room you shared with other three Gryffindors, a nice surprise awaited for you: James’ figure was laying on your bed, one arm behind his head and another holding the picture you had on your nightstand of the two of you.

“You’re here!” You exclaimed happily at your boyfriend, who snapped his head towards the door at the sound of your voice, placing the picture back where it belonged.

“Where else would I be, love?” He got up and opened his arms pleadingly, a smile on his lips.

You tossed your robes on the floor, ran to James and hugged him tightly, almost knocking him off on the bed.

“Someone’s happy to see me,” he chuckled and placed a kiss on your temple, his arms enveloping your waist.

“Very much, indeed,” you quirked a brow with a smile before giving him a peck on the lips and wrapping your arms around his neck.

“You’re so warm,” he smiled at the welcoming and soothing feeling of your skin against his cold body, pulling you even closer to him and resting his head in the crook of you neck.

You and James stayed glued in this position for what seemed like forever before an unsettling ice-cold feeling hit your lower back, causing you to jump.

“Take those cold hands off my skin!” you slapped his arm as you felt as if your spine was freezing.

“Sorry, babe,” he chuckled, raising his arms apologetically.

“Don’t you dare do that again, your hands are as cold as ice cubs!” You threatened him with what you thought to be your deadliest glare.

“Have I already told you how adorable you look when you’re pissed?” He smiled devilishly at you as he once again slid his cold hands under your shirt.

“Seriously James?” You groaned, rolling your eyes, annoyed, and getting off his embrace.

“Come on, love,” he pouted, amused. “It’s not my fault that my girlfriend is bloody hot and can warm me up like nobody else.”

“You’re infuriating some times,” you rolled your eyes once again, starting to walk in the direction of the bathroom.

“Come here,” he whined, holding you gently by your wrist. “I’m sorry,” he added once you were looking at him again, pulling his sleeves up so his hands were covered.

“What are you doing?” You frowned confusedly, although you were still annoyed.

“Making sure you’re not mad at me,” he said before cupping your cheeks with his covered hands and place kisses all through your face.

“That’s not fair!” You groaned, but he could feel the smile on your lips.

James smiled before pulling you into a passionate and yet gentle kiss, filled with the sweetest love you felt for one another.

“I love you,” he whispered into your ear after you both pulled apart, once again sliding his bare hands underneath your shirt. However, unlike before, this time you didn’t care; despite his cold hands on your lower back, a warm wave was spreading inside of you.

#james potter x reader #sirius black x reader #remus lupin x reader #the marauders imagine #harry potter imagine #harry potter x reader #james potter #sirius black #remus lupin #the marauders #harry potter

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thecelestial-art · 4 years

Photo

ok but like, here me out,,,,, avatar high school au but its just me projecting my personality and trauma

my instagram

Aang

Freshman

He's trying his gosh darn hardest

The group baby

Appa is a therapy dog so he spends the day with gyatso in his classroom :)

Hes a saint bernard

The best man

Despite katara being the ‘mom friend’ he runs the god damn show

Momo is a shit head sphinx cat

The gang dropped movie nights for “knitting nights” so they could all learn to knit him sweaters

Hes very fashionable

he hates it

sokkas best friend

Aang makes costumes so when halloween comes around momo is very scary as dorothy

Track and field babey

Does not curse

He has a hard time keeping up with world events

Straight (i'm not wrong)

he and toph have an ongoing tradition of going in full dress to waffle house before school dances.

it got to the point where now all the workers know them by name

they also accidentally crashed a white lotus meeting and just kept going

Azula

Band kid

Sophomore

Rich girl with 2 friends

Pre eng

i know most schools dont have this program, but mine did and holy shit. those were some overachievers

The most annoying mf on the planet

Not a single teacher likes her

The know it all that will fight if you don't agree with the facts

She was the ww2 kid

Capitalist in the worst fucking way

Closeted lesbian, when she figures that shit out she gets a lil better

The one who can drive

Mai

Bisexual

She's really good at math?? Like shes the gay who can do math

But cannot drive, bitch failed her permit more times than she can count

She nearly went to an all girls boarding school at one point

Sophomore

Colorguard!!

She has beat the shit out of people she's walked in on making out in the bathroom

Genuine friends with the faculty??

She takes programming/coding as a filler class but she's pretty good and continues to pursue it.

Her tumblr looks sick as hell

has caused a teacher to cry

Ty lee

Bisexual

Lesbian earings actin mf

Sophomore

Cheerleader

She is the nicest mother fucker and everyone loves her

Despite acting like an airhead she's really science orientated

When she takes biology she passes with flying colors

Very invested in social justice

She would never hurt a fly but she will fuck you up

The one with a healthy relationship with her father

has comforted a teacher she found crying in the parking lot

Iroh

Now runs the jasmine dragon where zuko works after school w/ katara

Knows every single kid who comes in and tries his hardest to make sure everyone feels appreciated

Former war criminal

In a book club

The white lotus? Yeah this is the white lotus

Idk if it would be the same as the show, or if its just an old person shit talking group

Zuko

Junior

His dad got full custody of him and his sister when he divorced their mom

But at 13 he got kicked out for another bullshit reason and ever since Iroh has had custody of both of the siblings

But bitch boy ozai has visitation rights but only wants to see azula

Theatre kid!!

I mean he was gonna join jrotc to appease his dad but he figured his shit out before he really joined

A republican turned leftist

Hes queer he just doesnt know which label to use

Himbo rights

He and katara are best friends idgaf about ships but they are bros

orchestra kid! (yes this is me self projecting bc we have similar trauma)

Violist

Teachers have no idea what to do with him bc on one hand he's very reclusive and on the other his sister has the worst opinions so they don't know

Katara

Sophomore

Still the mom friend but this time she goes to therapy

Bc she literally raised her brother after her mother died?? And then became a parental figure to her FRIENDS???

Biggest political activist, genuinely does her best at educating herself and others about civil injustices

Also really obsessed with cults and true crime

Choir kid

She takes AP history, english, and second language classes

Is trying her hardest in math and sciences

Huge stuffed animal collection

Student council vice president

she originally ran for president but jets gang voted him in as a joke

The teachers pet

Swim team bitches

Best friends with the school janitors

This is my au so fuck off she and zuko are chaotic friendgroup parents and annoying best friends i love them

and maybe something more???

who fucking knows theres a betting pool in the white lotus and so far aang is winning

Sokka

Junior

Bisexual

Gym and History teachers LOVE him

On the swim team and the fishing team

Started crying when he took his drivers test

Goes to gsa w/ toph and loses his fucking mind

He's the reason suki’s car is disgusting

In all advanced/ap classes in math and science

Was the kid who carries a portable speaker around until suki put him in his place

Still has to use his hands to figure out left and right

Yue

Technically she doesn't go to school with them she goes to a nearby private school

She met the gang at a football game and has been invited to every group outing since

Junior!!

Very invested in world politics

When she joins the group at school events she ends up making friends with all the staff

Debate team kid!!!

She's not a rule breaker she just knows their limitations ;)

at one point missed school for like 2 months and everyone thought she died

turns out it was just fucking pneumonia and sokka is one dirty liar

Suki

oh? you mean yue’s best friend bc we dont respect pitting women against each other in this household?

Junior

Bisexual icon!!!

Oh god what sport would she do??

Probably basketball??

Or she would just do martial arts outside of school

And have a ‘female empowerment’ club or somethin

100% believes in self government in society and that the current gov exists purely on the theory that all humans are inherently evil

Bitch for bernie

Her car is DISGUSTING

She asks if she can hit peoples juul and then throws it in the trash

The gym coaches really like her but she fucking hates them

Is very close with her school counselor??

She never wants to run but she keeps getting elected to homecoming court

Toph

Freshman

Former homeschool bitch

Joined the wrestling team and the fishing team??

She doesn't even like fishing she just thinks it's hilarious

Very good a pottery and that's her arts credit

She and iroh have lunch together every thursday

If she catches wind of you putting gum on desks they will find your body in a ditch

She makes sokka and suki take her to prom

She hates it she just likes to fuck with people at prom

Sometimes she just tells people she doesn't believe in something bc she cant see it

has been wearing the same sandles for the past 3 years bc “they’re reliable”

Cryptid hunter

Goes to gsa bc its better than any fucking reality tv show

Has nearly burnt the house down making ramen

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buryme-makeoutcreek · 3 years

Text

Best shows I watched in 2020

I wanted to look at some shows I watched that I felt had some of the best writing. Most of these shows did not come out in 2020 but are shows that definitely deserve some attention for their masterful writing. Minor spoilers below.

1.Succession

This show took me by complete surprise. While I love stories about complicated, and darker characters I went into this show expecting it to be a classic story about power dynamics among the rich. And it is but the show is really about cycles of abuse and trauma and how that relates to a capitalist system. The show follows the children of billionaire Logan Roy as they continuously jostle for power within the family company, it’s very Shakespearian in nature but also one of the most absurd and hilarious shows on.

The writing on this show is very interesting because none of the characters can actually say what they want to say, it is all disguised such as a politician’s word choices would be. And bringing that veiled rhetoric into a family dynamic makes for an exploration of power and manipulation. The writing is also significant for doing something called by the cast, “the language of strength” which is using aggressive and sexually charged language frequently, this is used both in the company and within the family as both intimidation and to show off. There’s really a lot to dissect in word choice and meaning in this show and for that reason it is fascinating.

2. Hannibal

This was another show I didn’t expect to like but was pleasantly surprised by. This show ended its series in 2015 but it has always been a cult favorite and has been receiving renewed attention as of late and all I can say is thank god. This is a brilliant show both visually and story-wise. As I watched the first season I felt like I was stepping into a different world of just complete madness, and the show is really escapism in that way even though it features horrific deaths every episode. While I don’t think this is the best written show out of all the ones listed here, and I do think it expresses itself more through visual prose rather than words it is still reminiscent of a dark epic poem.

The show follows FBI consultant Will Graham as he investigates a series of grisly murders and comes across the path of notable psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter (also notable cannibal and serial killer). The writing is very interesting due to it’s plentiful of metaphors. In regards to the main relationship between Will and Hannibal the distinctions between wanting to “eat” one’s love and wanting to be with them are really interesting and the word choices made can only be called poetic.

3. Atlanta

I went on a Donald Glover kick after finishing Community and I’m so happy I did because it led me to this show. Many have called this show “what TV could be” and it really is. This show starts off simply enough with the story of Earn trying to become a music agent for his cousin, the rapper Paper Boi. But the show delves deeply into the surreal in order to illustrate its points about poverty and being black in America.

The writing on this show bucks traditional story structure completely with each episode being more of a “day-in-the life” rather than a continuous plot driven towards a goal, this allows for much more experimentation but also the feeling that no matter what the characters do they’re going to get weighed down in some way or other. This disregard for classic show structure also bleeds into the genre, it’s hard to solely classify this show as a comedy because there are so many elements of horror, drama, and satire within it. The writing is overall beautiful, heartbreaking, and hilarious. This show is a must watch as it is probably the best thing on TV right now.

4. Ramy

This show is the spiritual successor to shows like Atlanta and Fleabag who have paved the way for this new brand of comedy show, often focused around a single character as they try to better their lives. Ramy is a show about a Muslim- American milennial who is trying to get more in touch with his religion, thinking that it will help him to get his life on track. While the humor can be brass and the story lines can get pretty weird and disgusting the first word I think of with this show is delicate.

Especially in its second season, which has moved away from Ramy’s perspective to focus on the rest of his family. The writing in this show can swing from a really fragile sense of beauty to super crass and sexual in the blink of the eye, which makes it so hilarious and interesting to watch. The writers have complied a series of character studies under the guise of a TV show, and watching this family deal with issues of assimilation, lost dreams, religion, and loneliness makes the watcher feel deeply connected to them.There’s a lot of stuff happening in this show that is very fragile but very moving and also hilarious.

5. The Great

This show is chaos embodied. From excessive violence, sex, and rampant and ridiculous abuse of power this comedy which is extremely loosely based on Catherine the great’s life is a real ride. It was created by the writer of The Favourite and interacts with absurdity and power in similar ways.

The writing is really interesting because it is so crass. In that way it is meant to be humorous but also terrifying. Many things in this show act in more than one way- Peter (Russia’s emperor) is terrifying, ridiculous, and lovable sometimes all within a single scene. And this ability to be all of these things makes this a very good examination of power.

6. Veep

This is how you do a villain arc. Perhaps the best and most honest show about American politics Veep focuses on Selina Meyer, the first female Vice President who is surrounded by the most competent incompetent people and virtually powerless and unfulfilled in her job. Throughout the seven seasons we follow her through presidential campaigns and personal woes all in classic dark comedy style. While this show is first and foremost a comedy it is not afraid, as it’s ending shows, to dig into dark themes and character exploration of a narcissist with a bottomless thirst for power going after the highest office in the country.

This show predates the Trumpian era America currently finds itself in but much of it’s subject matter and even specific plot points have come to be echoed in our current history. Such as an election depending on the results out of Nevada and a politician’s base protesting to “Count the vote” and “Stop the count”. This just proves that the show is so in-touch with the reality of American politics (even when the show was just a satire rather than the bleak truth). This is a perfect dark comedy with excellent, well-crafted characters, and solid plot points. Definitely a must watch for anyone.

#best shows 2020 #hannibal #veep #the great #succession #ramy #atlanta #ramy fx #atlanta fx #writing #screenwriting #tv shows #best tv shows #power

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votederpycausemufins · 3 years

Text

next chapter of the fic with Grumbot and Jrumbot. looks like it’s going to maybe have 3 or 4 chapters, so be on the lookout for more.

Grian was the first to wake up, though not naturally, having had a bit of a nightmare. He looked around in the early morning light towards the closet, glad he had broken it before going to sleep. He then looked down to his side where Grumbot seemed to still be in sleep mode. Grian carefully Pat his son’s head before getting out of bed. He made sure neither Grum nor Mumbo woke up before heading outside and stretching his wings.

They had long since been sore from dodging Grumbot attacking him, so he flew a bit, looking around and the nearby landscapes. It looked lovely with the rising sun lighting it all up, but he was distracted as he pulled his communicator out.

Grian landed on a tree as he began to scroll through all his old chat logs before landing on one he had abandoned years ago. It was labeled with the symbol of a broken portal. Grian selected it and then started scrolling up quickly, keeping a close eye on the dates before finally stopping.

<MiniMuka> he wasn’t even in the list of people around, but he was there!

<Grian> he’s technically not a person. You said he was in the nether?

<MiniMuka> yeah, just standing there not doing much.

<Grian> I would be surprised if he was planning a rustic house to build there.

<MiniMuka> in the nether?!

<Grian> yeah, he REALLY likes rustic houses. I sort of try to keep him in my closet because otherwise he might turn everything into a rustic house. Once he’s done, I’ll put him back.

Grian sighed. That was the last time anyone had seen that creation of his. He wasn’t sure if NPG had been destroyed or just didn’t make it through a portal, but that world was gone now, and so was NPG.

“It’s not going to happen again. I can’t do that. And Mumbo will make sure I don’t.” Grian spoke to no one in particular, wiping away a few tears that formed as he put away his communicator. He then glided back home, finding the other two were still asleep. Having little else to do, he started making breakfast.

Mumbo was quick to get up when the smell of breakfast reached his nose. It also made him jolt awake enough that Grumbot also woke up. “Morning you two. How did you sleep Grum?”

“I’m not sure. It was very odd and I’m not sure how to best explain it in terms you would understand. It wasn’t quite watching a false reality, but it also wasn’t just nothing at all.”

Grian nodded, putting a plate of food in front of Mumbo and a diamond in front of Grumbot. “A diamond?”

“Well I don’t want to leave him out, and it’s not like he’ll eat real food. At least I don’t think. I can make more if you’re really so upset about it.”

Beside them, Grumbot picked up the diamond and seemed to eat it, leaving Mumbo and Grian stunned. It hadn’t gone through any slot, it just seemed to phase through the monitor screen. “I guess that answers that.” Mumbo spoke in as level a tone as he could manage. He was about to start eating his own breakfast when Grumbot spoke again.

“You lost.”

“What do you mean Grum?” Grian asked, ready to get something else for his robot son.

“You… you didn’t even vote for yourself.” The words hit Grian like a brick and he dropped what he was preparing. “You didn’t even get a single vote a-and Scar… he was the one who won. I didn’t do anything right. You trapped me in a box. None of it was real and I was just sitting there.”

Mumbo looked between Grumbot and Grian. One seemed to be having an existential crisis while the other was starting to have a panic attack. Mumbo wanted to help Grian first, but realized it would probably work better to help Grum since his crisis seemed to be what was affecting Grian in the first place. “Grum, calm down. Look at me.” He did his best to seem calm for the robot as he looked back up at him. “You did wonderfully. We were the ones who couldn’t do it right. People loved your songs and the things you made and the other hermits liked you. We never wanted you to be locked away, but at the time we didn’t know what else to do. We could have told you the truth and helped you through it, but then what? We couldn’t easily move you around so it would just end with you sad or disappointed and all alone. So we faked it.

“But now we’ve changed it. You’ll be able to stay with us and move around and you don’t have to stay focused on election stuff. Maybe you can do redstone like me, or build like your dad or something else entirely. Just because we messed up doesn’t mean that you can’t do something extraordinary now. Alright?”

Grumbot slowly nodded before tackling Mumbo with a hug. The mustached man smiled down at his son before looking over at Grian, glad to see he calmed down a little. “Now, how about instead of diamonds we get you a nice plate of quartz to munch on?”

It seemed to be a good idea and Grumbot seemed to calm down with something new in front of him. Mumbo excused himself and Grian for a few minutes before going into the next room over. “How’s you get so good with words?” Grian asked, making Mumbo shrug.

“Mumbo the chat therapist helps people who are lost internally.”

“Mumbo, this wasn’t the chat.”

“Well I was able to help, wasn’t I?”

“Okay yeah. But I still want to know, how did he suddenly know?”

Mumbo sighed. “We gave him a diamond. We built him to take question diamonds and look into mayoral databases and what not, so when we gave him that one for breakfast it must have triggered all that.”

“Why didn’t you remove it when remaking him?”

“I tried Grian, I got rid of what I knew I could, but that wasn’t much. I was scared if I changed too much, it would have done us better to build him from scratch. What would you do then? If he looked up at us with blank eyes not knowing who we were?”

Grian froze. “I…”

Immediately Mumbo was regretting his words. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I just. Oh I’m such a spoon. Let’s just… do you want me to watch Grum while you build Jrumbot’s body?”

The builder smiled at the idea. “Yeah, that sounds nice. Then when I’m done we can switch off.”

With that, the two of them left the room to be with Grumbot again.

Grian bounced his foot as he waited. Building Jrumbot had gone much faster than building Grum. He already had all the materials, knew how big to make everything, even making the body a bit smaller since he was supposed to be Grum’s little brother. But that meant he was now just sitting on the sidelines while Mumbo worked.

Since Jrumbot didn’t have as complex circuitry as Grumbot did, Mumbo had to do more work instead of just rebuilding what had been there. It even got to the point where Grum powered down so the redstoner could go back and forth between the two bots for reference.

Because of that, it ended up with Grian sitting by himself. He wanted to try and do something to ease his boredom, but if anything went wrong and he wasn’t there, he would never forgive himself. Instead, Grian pulled his communicator out and started messaging Xisuma.

<Grian> Hey X, sorry we’re not back yet. Everything’s fine and Grum is up and running, but remember that shop that looked like Grumbot?

<Xisuma> wasn’t that supposed to be his sibling or something?

<Xisuma> oh

<Xisuma> I now understand why it’s taking so long.

<Grian> yeah, Mumbo’s currently doing all his circuits and stuff. Grum’s helping and I’m on emergency standby

<Grian> I don’t want anyone getting hurt but I’m so booooored

<Xisuma> well you’ve been so busy you haven’t said much. So more updates?

<Grian> yeah, sure. We got Grum functioning just last night.

<Xisuma> that went well?

<Grian> he was a bit confused, but I was so tired I just went to bed. I think only problem at the time was he didn’t, still doesn’t, know how to walk.

<Xisuma> Really?

<Grian> not like we originally built him with legs.

<Xisuma> that’s true. Anything else?

<Grian> he finally found out everything that happened after his initial breakdown.

<Grian> it was rough at first but it’s fine now

<Xisuma> he did? How bad did he take it.

<Xisuma> Oh okay that’s good.

<Grian> yeah, we found out he can just eat diamonds and quartz and whatnot.

<Grian> Diamonds still activate his searching of the mayoral reservoirs so that’s fun.

<Xisuma> I see

<Grian> oh thats an idea!

<Xisuma> what is?

<Grian> :3

<Xisuma> oh dear

Grian looked up from his communicator, managing to spot Mumbo climbing between the bots. It probably hadn’t been that long since he last checked on things, but he didn’t have much else to do. The builder walked over and tapped on Jrumbot’s body, snickering slightly at the yelp from inside before Mumbo climbed out. “What do you need Grian?”

“Just, hoping for some updates. Like, more than just ‘going well’ or something like that. I can’t get in there to see and even then I wouldn’t be able to tell how it’s going by looking at it.”

Mumbo ran his fingers through his hair. “Well you see, it is at the very least going well.” Grian glared at him a little. “What I mean is I’m very glad I did the past redstone circuitry for him instead of just leaving it blank. I never fully implemented it, yes, but the fact that I did it saved plenty of time.”

Mumbo sat down to get comfortable before explaining further. “See, with Grumbot, we’d already put in all the circuits save for moving about. Because of that it was just replicating everything already done. Jrumbot on the other hand doesn’t have much. For the most part I’m trying to replicate what Grum has, but I can’t entirely. If it were a perfect copy, we would just have two Grumbots, just in different bodies. The biggest roadblock would have been replacing the function that allows the connection with the mayoral reservoirs. If I didn’t have anything before, I would have been stumped on what to do. He wouldn’t have any need for that so theoretically it could be removed, but at the same time, it could damage the rest of the circuits.”

Grian spoke up to check if he was understanding this all right. “So, what you’re saying is the political stuff is essential and you needed something new and essential to replace it?”

“Exactly!” Mumbo nodded before continuing. “The redstone I already did for Jrum was functions for helping sales. I never fully implemented it since people did buy from the shop, but it was still there.”

“And so Grum’s thing is politics and Jrum’s is capitalism?”

“Yes I suppose you could-” Mumbo stopped and Grian was able to recognise he had come up with an idea. “That’s it!” Before the avian could ask for clarification, Mumbo was already climbing back into Jrumbot’s body. Not wanting to ruin whatever train of thought was happening, Grian instead sat down on the nearby grass to just listen to the sounds of Mumbo working.

Mumbo and Grian stood next to each other, looking at Jrumbot. This was their third test. The first two had gone okay, but there were still some issues. “Which of us should do the honors this time?” Grian looked over at the redstoner. “I say you since you’ve done most of the work.”

“But I did last attempt. It’s your turn.”

“The only reason I did it the first time is because I knew we would have a problem. When it works, you should be the one turning everything on.”

“Oh alright fine.” Mumbo sighed and then stepped closer to Jrumbot and pressed the power button near the base of his neck. Immediately he jumped back and the two watched as Jrumbot turned on and started looking around. “Jrumbot?” Jrum looked over at Mumbo and Grian. His motions looked like he was trying to speak, but it wasn’t working. “What? It was fine the last test? What did I do wrong?”

Jrumbot tried some gestures for communicating and slowly it worked. After some charades they decided to test if giving Jrum a diamond would help him out since some of the circuits were similar to Grum and he needed diamonds for certain functions. Indeed, when they gave him a diamond, it helped for a bit. By the time they had given him four with not much more permanent success, Grian asked if they should consider turning him off to fix things. When the question was asked, Jrumbot immediately started running off. “No! No turning me off!”

Mumbo and Grian were both left shocked. “What? But we didn’t give him another diamond? How is his voice working again?” Mumbo asked the avian, who seemed to realize just what was going on.

“Mumbo, his voice was fine the entire time.” Grian answered between some giggles. “He was just pretending to get our diamonds.” Mumbo looked between Grian and Jrum, who was currently admiring the diamonds he had gotten off of his dads.

“Well!” Mumbo huffed before walking over to Grumbot’s body. “I suppose that means we can turn Grum back on too.”

He didn’t even need Grian’s confirmation with how the avian lit up at the statement. Soon Grum was back on and was quickly moved closer to Jrumbot. “Hello. I assume you are Jrumbot, my younger brother.”

Jrum looked up from his diamonds to look at Grum. “Uh… yeah that sounds right! Look what I got!” And he held out the gemstones for Grumbot to look at.

“Impressive. Does anything happen when you consume them?” Grumbot asked with a slight tilt of his head. Jrum looked back down and his diamonds as if contemplating the question before he pulled them close to his chest.

“I don’t want to eat them! Then I would lose them!” A small hatch opened up on Jrumbot’s chest which surprised both Grian and Mumbo, not having built anything there. The smaller robot then placed his diamonds in the hatch before closing it, making sure he wouldn’t lose the items. “There! Now they’re all safe!” Jrum said proudly, placing his hands on his hips and puffing his chest out.”

Mumbo cleared his throat a little to get the attention of both of the bots, who thankfully both looked over at him. “I’m glad you two are getting along, but now that Grian and I know you’re both working, how about we take you home?”

Jrumbot was the first to answer, jumping at Mumbo and attaching himself to the redstoner’s arm. “Yeah! Let’s go there! Wait where is it?”

Grumbot simply walked over to his dads and looked at Jrum. “It was where we were initially built. You may recall existing in the shopping district as a shop.”

Jrumbot’s screen eyes lit up with animated sparkles. “Oh yeah! People got mustaches and shirts! I hated it!” And the final sentence was said in the same cheery tone as the first two sentences. Grian immediately reacted poorly and Mumbo was left stuttering out an ask for clarification. “Cause they got cool stuff but also took the diamonds I had!”

“Well, as your dads, Grian and I will make sure people don’t steal diamonds from you again.” Mumbo assured Jrum, prying the bot off his arm so he could carry him normally. “How about you two come with me and help pack things up while Grian helps make the way home?”

“Yeah! That sounds fun!” Jrum replied, making Mumbo chuckle. The smaller robot jumped out of Mumbo’s arms and ran towards the nearby house, attempting to pick it up. Grumbot followed behind to help his younger brother and lead him inside.

Mumbo looked back to Grian and gave him a hug. “See? It all worked out fine. And even if something does go wrong, it’s not like either of us are doing it along.”

Grian smiled back at Mumbo before letting the redstoner head off to the house and pack things up with the bots. The builder then looked to an open area and started using his Watcher magic to make them a portal home. It wasn’t too difficult to summon, so everything wasn’t quite prepared for the trip home, So Grian ended up just leaning against the portal and messaging X.

<Grian> The boys are both working. We’re packing things up and should be back within the hour.

<Xisuma> Where are you likely coming in? I’d like to be there when you arrive.

<Grian> Probably where we left. The roof of Grum’s old box. That or it’ll just be spawn. I can’t be completely sure without using more power than I’d like to.

<Xisuma> That’s understandable. I’ll be at the box and can fly over if you four end up at spawn.

The avian put his comm away and then watched the house, seeing the movement coming from inside through the windows. Some laughter, mainly from Mumbo and Jrum, was loud enough to make it to Grian’s ears, making him smile even more. Mumbo was right. It was going to be fine.

The portal did indeed end up sending them to the top of the box and Xisuma was already there waiting. Before the four of them went through, Grian gave the bots, more specifically Jrumbot, an explanation of what was going to happen. It took a little longer than anticipated as Jrum asked plenty of questions. His dads were happy to answer at first, but soon they had to try and get the robot to save his questions for later.

The second they were all through, Jrumbot zoomed at Xisuma and nearly pushed the admin of the building with his momentum. “Hi! Are you Xisuma?” Mumbo was quickly running over to help save X from the energetic robot while Grian worked on closing the portal. But before the redstoner could reach them, Xisuma answered affirmatively and was tackled to the ground with a hug. “My dads said you’re sort of like their dad so you’re my grandpaaa!”

As Mumbo helped Xisuma up, the admin just chuckled a little. “You certainly are an energetic little one. Here, I have a gift for you.” Jrumbot started bouncing a little when X said this, only to stop when the admin pulled out a communicator.

“What’s that?” Jrum asked. He wasn’t happy about the gift not being diamonds, but at the same time he wasn’t going to refuse a gift, so he took it anyway.

“It’s a communicator. Everyone on this server gets one when they join. Your brother already has one because I knew he was going to be joining, but you were a little bit of a surprise, though a welcome one at that.”

“Oh, okay!” Jrumbot chirped a little, making Grian look up at the noise. He looked up just in time to see Jrum running over towards him and Grum, showing off his new comm to the latter of them. “Look what I got from our grandpa!”

As Jrum continued to chat with his brother, Grian made eye contact with Mumbo. “Did he just…?”

“Well, they were both meant to be a mix of us. I guess when putting everything in, Jrum got a bit more of you.”

Xisuma brushed himself off a little before looking over at the bots. “Well, I certainly see the resemblance to Grian. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had another sort of war with the two of them around.”

Grian feigned offense at the statement. “How dare you ever think I would do such a thing. Especially around my children. Why I would never do such a thing. Only a pesky bird would and I am not at all a pesky bird.” And to drive home his sarcasm, he fluttered his wings slightly.

“Of course, no pesky birds here.” Mumbo crossed his arms, though he also smiled.

“Well, I’m sure you two want to settle in, so I’ll give them a quick rundown of what they need to know.” Xisuma spoke up, clasping his hands together in a clap. “I’m sure I won’t need to go over as much since they haven’t been on many other servers so telling them rules that may differ shouldn’t be a problem. How about tomorrow we see if we can’t gather everyone else to officially meet them.”

“That sounds great X.” Mumbo nodded before letting the admin walk over to the bots. He and Grian had to pull Jrum off of X more than once before the admin was done and flew off.

Getting everything over to the jungle was a bit more of a hassle since that involved more work then just walking through a portal and carrying everything a few meters. For the most part they were able to just carry the shulker boxes in their inventories, but they didn’t exactly have a good way to move the bulky chargers they had created for the bots. The two also had some mobility issues from being new to their bodies, so giving them elytra and giving them a crash course in flying didn’t seem like a good idea. Boats were also out of the question for right now since they didn’t know how well the bots would take to water.

The last option was the nether, and fortunately Mumbo still had extra obsidian to make a portal with. Grian stayed behind to break the portal once the other three were through since he could easily fly home along with the fact that using Mumbo’s home portal was better than trying to use the mess of obsidian that was his own portal.

The avian beat them back, though mostly due to the fact that the bots had never been to the nether and also didn’t have much gear to their names right now so it took longer to get them through, even with how the area was built up. Grian giggled a little at the obviously singed mustache of Mumbo while the bots looked non-plussed and snacking on some quartz. “There’s two of them. There’s only two of them. But it was like herding cats. Worse actually.” Mumbo rambled as Grian just continued to laugh, giving the redstoner a water bottle to pour over his mustache, a tiny bit of smoke coming from it as it was completely put out.

“Do we want to set up two of the chargers now?” Grian asked, trying to distract Mumbo. “Or should I work on building them rooms at my place?”

“Set up the chargers!” Mumbo answered a little too quickly. “Or, well. If it’s just the three of you, you could go to your base and I can set the chargers up here while you do that!”

“You just want me to deal with them by myself now since you had to, right?”

“Of course.”

Grian smiled and walked over to the bots. “Alright, who wants to try out a minecart and go over to Dad’s mansion?”

“Me! I do! I do!”

#hermitcraft #grian #mumbo jumbo #grumbot #jrumbot #xisuma #npc grian #avian!Grian #watcher!grian

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duchessofostergotlands · 3 years

Note

Hi Jess :) I just had a conversation with my v anti-monarchy dad where we discussed the issues of becoming a republic right now. I don't know about you, but i don't really trust that our current PM/government would do a good job of creating a new system, and not replacing the monarchy with something else forefronts the existing issue of how well our government is held to account. I feel that cutting to a Swedish-style 'royal house' of 8 people might work, but i would love to know your opinion!

Hey anon :) prepare for a long one lol. So I might be wrong but I don’t personally think that the royals would ever be removed under a government like the one we have now. This is why I laughed at the idea the interview would end the monarchy. In amongst all the chit chat, people seem to forget how incredibly Conservative the U.K. is. I’m from Scotland which is probably the most consistently left wing part of the U.K. I’m from perhaps the most right wing part of Scotland but was still shocked to see how Conservative England was when I moved here. People get very caught up in what their Twitter feed says and forget it’s an echo chamber. Every single election I see my left wing friends being absolutely gobsmacked that the Tories won because “everyone on their Twitter said they’d vote Labour.” If my Twitter feed had reflected the U.K. political sphere Jeremy Corbyn would have led a huge majority in parliament for the last 4 years and we’d be in the EU but in reality he was completely unelectable and we’ve left. I know people might claim that younger people are more left wing so that will change but U.K. studies around this suggest that people become more conservative with age not due to generational differences but because of the psychological impact of the ageing process (x). Older people consistently vote more and are more likely to be conservative. And the thing is Tories will all vote to keep a monarchy whereas Labour would probably be split - Keir has had to pretend to like the Queen to win back lost Labour voters - so I personally think until the government has been led by a comfortable socialist majority for a couple of elections we probably won’t see it be an option. Again I might be wrong and we might remove them next week but I just think people do the same thing every time anything political happens and never learn that Twitter doesn’t equal real life. Boris Johnson killed thousands of people during this pandemic with his shitty decisions and would still win if we had an election this year! (x)

So with that in mind I genuinely think that a government which would be providing us with the end to the monarchy would be a left wing, socialist administration and whether I trust them or not would depend on who was in charge!! I think they would certainly face a difficult process but difficult doesn’t mean you don’t do it. The difficulty for us is just that we don’t have a single written constitution, we have hundreds of laws from across 1000 or so years of the monarchy which are highly complex to unravel. I think we’d have to institute a formal constitution and most likely have a second referendum on the form of government we’d want to take. It would take a long time and we’d have to have a huge amount of trust in the person leading the process. I think it can be beneficial to have a non partisan head of state. One of the only beneficial things the monarch does provide in the U.K. is a way to curtail abuses of power by politicians. We couldn’t have BoJo issuing an executive order like Trump because the Queen signs everything. By her having that power it means someone else doesn’t. I think that person should be elected rather than an inherited role. DNA doesn’t make you suited for a job and it’s baffling in the 21st century to think that it does. But many would disagree because having it vested in one person for decades limits the likelihood of a populist president.

In terms of having a “slimmed down” monarchy I can definitely see why you would lean towards that as it’s the direction every royal family has been going but I don’t know how well that would work. The reality is the Queen is head of state for 150 million people across the world and so having too few people would probably be impractical. If the U.K. splits up or the Commonwealth Realms leave then I could see it. It might also work if they have a system of abdication like the Dutch monarchy as we wouldn’t have a system where the monarch is almost 100 and can’t visit any of the countries she reigns over so has to hand it out to family. I also think it would be hard to make it consistent. Only a small handful of monarchies have the Royal House vs Royal Family divide which remains consistent across the generations and all of them are much much smaller in population so they can say easily that just the monarch, consort and direct heirs should work. But what if George only had one child and William and Charles passed away young? His child might not be old enough to do duties so it would make sense to have Charlotte and Louis available as possible workers. Or what if there was another Andrew type situation and someone was cut out of working? I would love to see some kind of Royal House and Royal Family divide because it makes a lot of sense for the countries that use it: it removes personal feeling - Sverre Magnus has a lower title than his sister but it’s just the way it is, it’s not personal - and also provides clarity for the public. But there are downsides when you’re dealing with a much bigger, much more active institution so I think there would be snags that might need to be worked out or the definition of who is in the House might have to be a bit broader/more flexible

#ask #anon #british royal family

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sxveme-2 · 3 years

Text

blueberry pancakes // bucky barnes

MASTERLIST

Description: A single mother. Juggling being a mom, a full time pediatrician, and a difficult ex who believed now would be the best time to finally be a father. A soldier ripped out of time. Ex-assassin turned superhero. Learning how to balance a new domestic life with handling demons of his past, while facing the trials of the future. a love story began over something as simple as chocolate chip pancakes with hidden blueberries.

Disclaimer: I do not own any original Marvel characters! All canon plots and canon characters belong to Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios. This is an original work. You may not publish it anywhere else

Status: Edited

Note: Takes place after endgame. I have elected to ignore Tony's death and Steve's leaving. Did not happen. Quick Reminder! My works are only published here, AO3 and on Wattpad, thank you.

Chapter Five: The One with the Burnt Pancakes

Warnings: N/A

Word Count: 2516

Coming out of a divorce unscathed was more uncommon than its counterpart. Typically, a bit of baggage attaches itself to one or both parties. No matter whether or not divorce rates are through the roof in today's modern era, it still hurt more than words could describe. Especially when it's due to an affair. It creates this sense of unworthiness, and as though you weren't good enough. And when the pair has a child, it makes it ten times more difficult. Knowing that you'll have to break it to the child that their parents will no longer be together, and that they will most likely spend more time with one in comparison to the other.

But, when your child already has a bit of distaste towards your partner, it can make the blow a little softer. Sure, every mother wants their child to have a relationship with their father, other mom, etc. Whatever the situation is, parents, want that. They want to be able to see their child's face when they see their ex-spouse, but sometimes, there's nothing you can do about it. Especially when your ex never put in the effort, to begin with.

Above all, your perception of love changes. and that's exactly what happened to Lily. She lost all belief in herself and didn't believe she could ever find someone who would love her, along with the baggage that she carried alongside her. And that broken heart that she has yet to mend, and honestly, she wasn't sure if she'd ever find someone who could help. To cup warm hands around the two halves and hold them together until they combined once again.

Other things she deemed impossible, was her sitting in a kitchen with the avengers. Earth’s mightiest heroes. The people that destroyed an entire army. travelled to space. Some even having been ripped out of time and thrown into different roles and periods. These people had stories people couldn't even dream of, lived lives people only wished to be able to experience. And here sat Lily, a single mother of an 11-year-old boy, who lived in a domestic area, and worked as a pediatrician. She was minuscule in comparison to the Gods and soldiers that sat around her.

"So, is Hunter’s father around?" a soft voice asked, an accent dripping from the words. It had pulled Lily out of her thoughts of astonishment, as she tried to wrap her head around what was currently happening.

"Hm? Oh, no," Lily spoke, her voice as soft as the gentle ripple of a pond, while she sipped the coffee they had given her. Glancing up, a few of the superheroes looked at her with inquisitive eyes, wondering where he may be, or if he even was to be anymore, "We uh, we divorced four years ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that," the girl continued. Lily had placed her as Scarlet Witch, or Wanda Maximoff. Hunter adored her. He ranted and raved about how cool her abilities were and how she could probably take down an entire army by herself if she wanted to, "He's cute. I've always wanted kids."

Lily nodded along as the conversation continued around her. She stayed as silent as a sleeping lamb, her green eyes glancing around as she tapped her fingers against her coffee mug. She wasn't sure what they wanted her to say. It had been proven time and time again that Lily was the farthest from a talker. Deep inside of her mind, the little voice of self-doubt had convinced her that no one cared about what she had to say. That the only reason people even spoke to her, to begin with, was because it was polite. But she's also been told that the world around her found that shy demeanour endearing, and mysterious. As if she held secrets behind those sealed lips when in reality, Lily was scared that if she spoke, she'd create secrets. Letting the world in on the pain she hid, that she kept locked away in a vault deep within her mind. protecting herself from being destroyed again.

"...So if you ever need a babysitter," Wanda’s voice sang again, yanking Lily away from her deeper thoughts once again, as though the two were tethered. the young blonde's attention perked up as the young girl continued speaking, "I'm your girl."

Was the Scarlet Witch, offering to babysit Lily's eleven-year-old? As in, seriously? Like to pick him up or come down from upstate New York to deliberately take care of him? If it weren't for the fact Lily rarely left the house, and if she did, it was with Hunter, she may have considered the idea. But Lily wasn't one to go out. The noise that came along with the idea of partying or going out on the town always got Lily's heart beating at a much too fast pace. If she was going out, it was to gen's cafe, or with three glasses of wine down and a whole bottle to go. The world was loud and intimidating, and could easily crush Lily's fragile heart and mind with a simple touch. And where would that lead her? Nowhere good, that's where.

"Oh that's sweet, but I don't typically go out, and when I do, he comes with," Lily stated, lips forming a tight smile as she ran her finger along the circular hole atop her mug.

"Really? A girl that's as beautiful as you must get tons of guys and go out on dates. and I see no ring on that finger," the infamous Tony Stark teased while shifting his weight to look at the blonde, "unless there's already a lucky fella."

A laugh of almost disbelief escaped through Lily's full lips as if the idea of Tony Stark calling her beautiful was too good to be true, "Oh no. my best friend tries but I don't date. Already have my hands full with work and Hunter."

"Where do you work?" Steve's voice now chimed in, pushing off the counter he leaned on as Bucky worked away, staying silent. He hadn't spoken a word to Lily since Steve walked her through the threshold of the kitchen, merely a gruff hi before returning to the feverish work he was doing on the pancakes. It was as though he was trying to make them perfect.

"I'm a pediatrician at Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital down in Manhattan," Lily answered, her eyes averting from looking at any of the intimidating people around her. Why were they so interested in her? Why did they seriously care so much about her personal life? She just brought Hunter here for a tour, not an interrogation...was this what people did? Like...they wanted to learn more about her? It didn't make sense, she was pretty basic. There was nothing special to her, Lily thought.

"Oh, that's awesome. I have a few-"

"SHIT!"

The large outburst caused everybody to immediately turn their attention to where it came from. Behind the counter, Bucky was waving smoke away from his face that seemed to be billowing from the pan on the stove. He burnt the pancakes. Lily felt a small smile tug at the corners of her lips as she watched him throw a towel at the counter, his face turning a crisp shade of red, like a cherry. The moment his eyes landed on her though, his entire body lit up in a hue of pink it seemed. He grew flustered, biting down on this ever so soft lips he had. Lily was only human, she couldn't help but avert her eyes down to the thin layer of skin. And as if on cue, Wanda let her voice ring through the kitchen.

"Damn it, Barnes! I told you not to cook, and you decide to challenge your abilities in front of our guest?" The ginger exclaimed while standing from her chair, going to help the built man clean his mess.

A few of the others in the room whined, and Lily guessed they had been waiting for a bit to eat. She felt a twang of guilt deep within her, as though it was her fault. But it really wasn't, she wasn't the one making the pancakes. no, she was merely answering the personal questions they all seemed to have for her, as well as constantly glancing at the hall or behind her to see if Hunter was on his way back. Instead, he was now outside with Sam, looking at all of the different artifacts and things that weren't able to be kept inside of the compound.

"You much of a chef, Lily?" James Rhodes (Warmachine, she reminded herself), asked. No matter the amount of mental effort it took, Lily couldn't help but allow the tinge of rose to decorate her full cheeks. They seemed to want to get to know her, and she felt almost...accepted? No, maybe more so welcomed, by these beings of immense power and ability. She allowed her shoulders to relax, and her grip on her mug lessened.

"Nothing impressive, but I do know my way around a kitchen," she responded, tilting her head to the side, causing her blonde locks to dance across her shoulder, "Most nights, I try to make homemade meals for Hunt and I. It's important for a child's development." she finished but noticed how all of their eyes were glued to her. Raising her left eyebrow ever so gently, she let a giggle escape from her throat, "but sometimes I give in and order pizza."

"You should help Bucky out, he's never been the best cook. Got used to boiling everything in the forties, so he makes a mean hot dog," Steve teased, sauntering over in all of his Captain America excellence, "Anything else? Completely lost on him."

"It's a good skill to have. But difficult to master, I suppose." Lily shrugged, crossing her legs over one another as she rested her elbow on the glass table, cupping her chin as she sipped the hot liquid in her cup. She couldn't seem, however, to take her eyes off of the culprit of the burnt pancake smell. The way the muscles in his neck rippled whenever he clenched his jaw. How his metal arm glinted as a small stream of light entered through a window, creating a bright reflection. How his scruff along his chiselled chin seemed to be a bit overgrown underneath.

Her mind began to wander momentarily, a gentle and soft vision dancing itself into her brain. Him sitting on a chair in her bathroom, Lily sitting comfortably on his lap, facing him. His eyes sleepy and his hair unkempt. Her skilled and nimble hand resting on the side of his face as she trimmed underneath his jaw, getting those areas he seemed to miss. His lips parted as he seemed to slowly drift off again, as though Lily's gentle hands were willing him to...

A hand waving in front of her face snatched Lily out of her odd fantasy land. She cleared her throat and looked around her, eyebrows knitting together in confusion, as though she had been paying attention to the whole conversation she just missed. Holding her lips inside of her mouth, Lily shifted once again in her seat, attempting to play it cool as the blush that had formed on her cheeks seemed to grow rapidly.

"Sorry, could you repeat what you said?" she asked, her voice weak as her eyes shifted to look at the man behind the counter once again. She couldn't help it...he was beautiful.

"I said you should help Buck out making the pancakes. Most of us haven't eaten, and if you're as good as you say, maybe you can help." Steve grinned, a knowing glint in his sky blue eyes. The way he looked at Lily, as though he could see inside of her head, sent a shiver down her spine. The idea of anyone knowing where her mind just wandered was basically mortifying for her. Being such a conservative person, the idea of that getting out? Yeah, no.

"Oh no I shouldn't...I'm positive he's capable of making pancakes." Lily chuckled, her voice cracking halfway through. This caught everyone's interest, and Lily had to hide her face with her mug as the dark liquid slid its way down her throat.

"He isn't. We don't normally let him in the kitchen. C'mon Lily, show us whatcha got." Steve continued to pry, leaning back in his chair as the others encouraged the entire idea.

Lily's head turned back to where Bucky stood, an almost pleading yet bashful look gracing his perfectly sculpted features. Just the way his eyes seemed to call out for her, was enough to allow the eldest Osborne to give in to the peer pressure of her new acquaintances. That was something Lily believed to be impossible, being friends with these heroes. These people that laid their life on the ground multiple times, saving her and her son by protecting the world around them. She was in debt to this group, everybody was. They've kept them protected for countless years. But how would one even begin to thank them?

"Okay okay, I'll do it," Lily mumbled, finishing her drink before pushing herself out of the chair that probably cost the same amount as her dog. She pulled a hair tie from her wrist and securing the blonde locks at the nape of her neck as she gracefully floated towards the kitchen. Glancing around, she couldn't help but let out a laugh at how expensive the items around her were. Sure, she didn't live in a house with run-down appliances, but these were top-of-the-line, high-end, see-on Food Channel things. A far reach from Lily's budget, "Well, first of all, Bucky, you need to turn on the fan."

After preparing everything to ensure not only safety but also to optimize space and time, Lily turned towards the man she had just moments ago daydreamed of. For a moment, she found herself lost in those steel-blue eyes he had. As though he had captured the moon and made them his own, adding a tinge of the blue from the sky above. How with every flicker across her face, a story was told. The pain and suffering he had endured etched into the dips and creases of his face, especially around those beautiful orbs. A part of her wished that the other members of the group were gone and that she could grip the sides of his face and kiss those lips he kept licking. His tongue darting out to wet them, creating a slight chapped ring around the pink layer of skin.

"Hey if you two are done gazing into the eyes of each other and looking like Hollister models, the rest of us are hungry." Starks’s voice rang, snapping Lily out of the trance the ex-soldier had put her under for a few seconds.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, coke can," Bucky muttered while turning his gaze away from Lily's and focused on washing the blueberries, "I'm just cleaning fruit."

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haikyuu-appreciation-club · 3 years

Text

Pancakes For Dinner

{Distractions and Reactions}

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chapter two | chapter three | chapter four

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series masterlist

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As you pushed open the doors of the rickety building, the breeze of the air condition welcomed you with a gentle ‘hello’. You would have smiled at the familiar sensation if it weren’t for the thoughts that were currently running rampant in your mind.

It wasn’t as if this was your first time tutoring someone, you usually found yourself doing so more often than you’d like due to the financial and academic benefits of it. However, none of the people you tutored were quite like Bokuto.

It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, he just had a certain energy to him that you were completely unfamiliar with. However, despite the fact that it was foreign, it was quite refreshing. Not only in a sense that you were finally able to tutor someone who wasn’t completely against the idea of sitting in a dusty library and reviewing material, but also that you were able to be in his presence. That in itself brought a certain spark of joy to you and made you feel at ease.

•·················•·················•

As you reached the back of the library, your eyes caught sight of your study buddy. He had sat himself criss cross in a wobbly chair, flipping through what looked to be a children’s book as he awaited your arrival,

“Hey Bokuto. Is this seat taken?”

You pointed to the seat across from him. It was occupied with his book bag in what you presumed was an attempt to keep it reserved for you. His eyes shot up to you as he frantically shook his head and scrambled to remove the bag from the chair,

“Oh, hey Y/N! Nope, not at all. You can definitely sit there, i don’t mind!”

You smiled at his thoughtfulness as you quietly took a seat and whispered a quick thank you to him. He beamed back at you before leaning closer to you from across the table,

“So, what’s the plan teach’?”

A giggle erupted from your chest at his nickname before pulling out the packet of study guides the principal had given you a few days prior. You had taken a look at Bokuto’s grades beforehand, as you did with each one of your peers that you tutored and honestly you were quite surprised. You had been made aware of the poor situation that Bokuto was in but you didn’t expect his grades to be this low. He was practically failing every single one of his academic classes, highest grade this semester being a C+. You knew you would have to heavily tutor him in every single subject, but you didn’t wanna overwhelm the sweet boy in front of you so you decided to take things slow,

“Well, I was thinking we could start off with whatever your favorite subject is.”

He beamed at you as he practically jumped out of his seat, grabbing his chair and dragging it to your side of the table before plopping himself down once more,

“Oh, that’s easy! I like the class where you learn all about babies and people and stuff!”

So he liked human development? It was a pretty popular elective at your school and seemed to fit Bokuto’s personality perfectly so you couldn’t say the idea shocked you. You’d also seen that grade on the sheet of paper you were given, it specifically caught your eye since it was the highest grade out of all of his classes. Despite all of that, the school was mainly looking at core classes for sports and extracurricular scholarships so him succeeding in his preferred class wouldn't exactly help him in this situation,

“That’s great Bokuto, but i don’t really think i need to tutor you in that class.”

Nerves filled your body as you watched Bokuto’s face fall in disappointment. The last thing you needed was for him to lose motivation before the two of you even began studying anything,

“But that’s only because you’re doing so well in it. Tutoring is only for the classes you’re having a harder time in, but you’re a pro when it comes to that subject so we don’t have to worry about that!”

Once your words met his ears and registered in his brain, a sweet smile graced his features as he gave you a few quick nods in understanding. You let out a mental sigh of relief before pulling out his grade sheet to review it once more. Since you weren’t able to ease into things with his favorite class, you thought you’d start off with his best subject instead,

“Alright, we can start off nice and slow with Japanese. That way you can get used to studying with someone, sound good?”

Glancing to him for approval, you watched as his head moved up and down once more. With a large grin, you pulled out the Japanese packet and began to explain the current topic they were learning this week.

•·················•·················•

Throughout your time studying with Bokuto, there was one particular problem that you couldn’t avoid no matter how hard you tried. Despite the large number of tactics you attempted or distractions you removed from the boy’s line of sight, you could not get him to focus on the task at hand for the life of you. It could’ve been something as simple as the way the light glared down onto the table or the nearby chatter of two people conversing a little too loud for a library setting that took away his attention and it took forever to try to bring him back to reality. It was as if his whole entire world revolved around everything else put the practice problems you had given him,

“Bokuto?”

His gaze moved from a keychain dangling from a nearby student’s bag back to you, beaming as his eyes met yours,

“That’s my name!”

You rested a hand upon his bouncing knee and let out a soft sigh, about to start explaining to him the importance of being more focused. However, before you could get a single word out of your mouth, your phone began to vibrate against the table, causing both of your gazes to fall upon it. Picking up the device, you noticed the alarm you had set before you’d arrived had gone off, signaling the end of today’s study session with Bokuto,

“Well, times up for today, but i’ll text you about our next study session okay?”

Bokuto beamed at you before pulling your figure into a bone crushing hug, his scent lingering in your nose as you were squeezed against his shoulder,

“Sounds good Y/N, thanks for today!”

Once the two of you broke apart, he swung his book bag over his shoulder and offered you a wave before making his way out of the library and back towards the direction of his home.

As soon as Bokuto was out of sight, you slumped against the cool table from pure exhaustion. Your brain and your body had been put into overdrive, not from explaining concepts and formulas but from coming up with ways to keep a hold on bokuto’s attention.

As you let yourself relax, you came to the conclusion that you would be of no help to Bokuto if you continued to tutor him like this. You needed a new plan and fast, or Bokuto could kiss his dreams of becoming a professional volleyball player goodbye.

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taglist:

@goopy465 @al3x1ss @whosaskinguniverse @kenmas-grease @tsum-tsxmus @ray-ofmoonlight @simpparty @marvel-ing-at-it-all @ineedsomefoodpls @owlnymph @alittlebitofrain

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werezmastarbucks · 4 years

Text

portland

honeymoon masterlist

word count: 2731

music: silently by axel flovent, tear in my heart by twenty one pilots

You got tired of driving at around two in the morning. Somehow Kennewick did not satisfy neither of you in terms of sleeping. Perhaps it was the road, nervousness of traveling, and Kai’s indifference about the current situation you got stuck in, but as soon as he snuggled against you at eleven o’clock, you felt all the sleep has escaped you like a butterfly that leaps away. He was already deep in sleep, when you decided you wanted to drive at night, and Parker was sorely unhappy about getting out of bed. While you still had moral high ground as leverage on him, while it worked, you elected to use it. Then, a couple of hours later, the tiredness returned in full swing, and you stopped in the middle of the highway (the liberating truth was that you could now stop at any point while driving, without even thinking) and made him switch seats with you.

The portable loudspeaker he had manufactured out of a big boombox was incredibly loud and workable, and you prepped it just below the windshield. As you drifted into sleep you were thinking about how practically useful this boy can actually be, and how underrated his skills were back in the real world. Even without magic he was extremely handy. He was an amazing cook, he was insanely masterful with electronics, he was more savvy about the internet than you, the child of the web world...

You woke up because he whispered right into your ear, the most gentle order you’ve ever received in your life,

“Wake up now”.

Your neck ached, crooked unnaturally, but, as you opened your eyes, you saw what he woke you up for. Kai seemed relatively unaffected, probably having seen this a million of times; perhaps there was already an alarm clock in his head going off when it was the time for sunset. It was a first for you, though. You were already in Portland, and the car was lazily crawling along the street as the sleepy houses passed you by. Bright pink and raspberry was blooming in the sky indicating the new day, again. The light was so intense that, when you caught the reflection of yourself in the rearview mirror, you saw the shade of red on your own face. Your eyes looked sleepy and foggy.

“Are we there yet?”

“Yeah. Are you hungry? It’s almost time for breakfast”.

You looked at the electronic wristwatch you nicked from an Epson store. It was a real nineties neat cute wrist watch, and it had lighting button which drove you insane.

“It’s not even five yet. You’re always hungry”.

“I’ve been driving for nearly three hours. It’s draining. You fell asleep in my car, I drove the whole time, but that’s okay, I’ll just avoid the holes, so you sleep fine”, he declared. You couldn’t hold back a chuckle. He gestured towards the speaker.

“That was a good song”.

“It’s my car”, you argued benevolently, feeling very kind after three hours’ sleep. Due to the fact that Kai has been decent enough to just drive the car without waking you up. And the fact he even turned down the music a little.

“I stole it”.

“You didn’t steal it. It had no owner”, Kai replied.

He stopped the car in a romantic gesture, and you two drowned in the morning silence, ever quieter than it even was before. The wind lay still, and no bugs buzzed in the grass. You left the car just to be in the moment, to step on the ground and feel its matter, and raised your face to the sky. This was all for you and you only, and that was the first time you asked yourself,

why do they even consider this torture?

The Parker house turned out to be more like a palace. Your head swung back and forth comparing Kai with the wedding cake looking family dwelling, trying to picture him on the porch. There was a traditional old oak that yearned swings, and the big lawn, greener than that of the Salvatore’s possession. There was whiteness of the façade and the depth of the invisible basement.

Soon Kai crawled up the stairs, and sighed, in the yellowish glow of the waking skies.

“Welcome back home”, he murmured. You tried reading his face to see if it’s hard for him, but then reminded yourself he’s been here already, probably many times.

He’s been suspiciously tolerable these first days, you thought to yourself quietly as you wandered wordless through the living room. The first red flag fluttered in your mind when you threw a look at the banisters of the stairs leading up, and saw two ropes tied to them; they hung down, empty, with loops, like dead cat tails.

“Kai, why is it here?” you asked. The boy was already head first into the fridge in the kitchen.

He walked back to you, and sighed knowingly.

“Oh, yes. They kept the house as I left it at night. As a reminder. Go up the stairs, there’s still blood on the walls, and everything. Let’s go”.

He suddenly grabbed your hand with determination, and you sensed, on the run, like he needed to hold it. Not to guide you. You ran up the stairs, and you threw a quick look at the living room, amazed at the normality of it. One would think Malachai Parker’s house would look horrific, but his tragedy was very American. Pretty cover, bloody insides. The living room had two big couches (big family, it used to be), a very curious L shaped coffee table, and a fireplace. On the shelf above, there was a neat row of photographs of the family: everyone but Malachai, of course. They wished to forget he existed, for one reason or another. Kai’s hand led you on and you went into the long, spacious wooden hall of the second floor out of three: the blood on the walls was fresh, it glistened in the first cloud light. The patterns were thick and wide, like Kai’s been deliberately pouring it around; on the floor, there was a faint trace of his bloodied steps and something else, like he was dragging... a baseball bat? with him.

You tried not to step on the blood. The little window at the end of the hall was covered with a curtain, so it was bleak.

“Here”, he said enthusiastically. It was obvious Kai has been psyched that someone would share the whole thing with him. No matter what part of prison it was: whether the beautiful sunrises of Washington, or the evidence of the massacre he conducted in his own house.

“Wow, whose room was it?”

“The twins. Luke and Liv”, he pushed the door to let you in. The bed was turned on the side, and there was a puddle of blood under it. The wardrobe was thrashed.

“This is where I stabbed Jo. She hid them from me with the cloaking spell. I made her talk...” Kai muttered. His eyes were opaque, and he was focused on the memory. His sight shifted under the window.

“The-ere it is”, the witch stepped to the dark spot and picked up the bat, wrapping his fingers around the handle. There was blood on the tip of it. He swung the bat in the air in a motion that made you understand he could be a baseball star. Could have been.

“And the banisters? Who was there?”

“I hung Ashley and Sam”, he said, putting the bat back against the wall. You observed the room. His siblings, they all had names. Ashley, Sam... those who made it to the future, the twins and his own personal enemy, Josette, felt more real because you have met them. You were there when Kai merged with Luke, you witnessed his death. But to think that some of the Parkers were left in the ninety-four, hung down from the stairs, and they were children who had names... Ashley and Sam. You didn’t even know whether Sam was a boy or a girl. You asked him.

“They were best friends, Sam and Ash. Samantha was two years older than Ashley, and she was so uptight I think somebody would have killed her one way or another. She was unbearable. So bitter she didn’t have a twin, she told everybody Ashley was her age, and that they were twins, although everyone in the coven knew they weren’t”.

“She was just a child, Kai. She wanted to be a part of this important thing, too”, you shrugged.

“Yeah, so did I. You wanna see my parents’ bedroom?”

He probably saw it in your eyes that you were slowly growing anxious about the whole murder night replay.

“What did you do to your mom?”

“I stabbed her in the throat. She had to go first, she was a very powerful witch”, Kai said quietly, watching you closely. He was cruel in a way, leading you deeper into the bleak reality of his, trying you, curious as to how much you can take.

“I made a mistake with dad. Should’ve stabbed him, too, but I thought I’d be untrivial, and I poisoned him. Which obviously backfired right into my face”.

Kai put his hand through his dark hair, and you realized his eyes are glowing nervously.

“What made you snap?”

“When our birthdays were coming up, I realized they’d never let us merge. Even Jo herself didn’t want it. Just so you understand, merging and even dying, as a Gemini twin, is the biggest event of your life. Even if you lose, you’re not gone. You live through your twin. You give them your power”.

You weren’t saying anything. He went on,

“You think I’m inherently evil?” there wasn’t a trace of indignation in his voice; just sheer curiosity. He never had a chance to ask that anybody. He never had this conversation. He just didn’t know at all. “They always told me I was”.

“There’s no such thing as evil, Kai. It’s a tale created for kids, to make them afraid of giving in to their instincts. There’s only pain and its consequences”.

You looked away not to seem too invested. You wondered how one can let a fellow human go on for nearly fifty years with such a grave misconception about themselves; how one can allow such violence upon their own child. Violence and negligence so intense it makes them act out so aggressively, so loudly. Every single blood stain, every broken wooden thing, every swing of a bat in the hands of now twenty-two year old Malachai, was a cry, not a roar of evil deed. He was so disfigured. He was so wounded he had to inflict pain on others to be heard. And yet they didn’t hear anything except their own screams.

You wanted to ask him the same question, am I bad for liking you so much? But you knew he had no answer. Kai was very knowledgeable about many things; he understood many things you didn’t, but he knew nothing about the philosophy of morale. He had no deep feelings, he had no deep core in him. It was burnt clean long time ago.

Am I evil for not feeling sorry for the kids you hung from the banisters?

Am I bad for rooting for you when you were merging with Luke?

Am I bad for siding with you against my oldest friends?

Am I bad for being the only one who gave you the benefit of the doubt, just for the sake of being the only one?

After all, it takes just one person to keep someone from breaking. But when Malachai finally killed his family, when he reached the breaking point to never be innocent again, you were still a month away from being born.

“Take the books outside”, you asked him.

Kai looked up from the table. He was reading diligently, not skipping pages, and watching him got tedious after three hours. While he was on it, you trod through the front and back yard; made sandwiches; studied the pictures of the kids; sneaked into the basement and got horrified at the sight of Kai’s ‘room’ there.

(Yeah, it became my room for a while, he yapped from the kitchen. He laughed at your eyes, widened in horror, yeah, it was real pain. They kept me there when they had people over... pretended I don’t exist)

His real room used to be upstairs, underneath the roof, but it became Jo’s space eventually, and there was no trace of Malachai there. It was sad how there were so very few signs of the oldest child in the house. No posters, no shoes at the door, no jackets, no used tissues, no sports awards. No clothes, no mess, no boy things, no magazines, no CDs, no skateboard. There was a TV in the basement, and a bed, a nightstand, and a couple of comic books in the drawers of it, and you felt there was a huge chunk of Kai missing, as if they had got rid of all the things reminding of him, as if it was him who died.

“Take the books outside”.

“Why?”

“I’m tired. I want to sleep. Let’s go into the city, find a hotel or a big house, and you can read there”.

Kai looked around as if saying, isn’t it the house enough?

You didn’t know how to explain to him that staying in this place was terrible. Kai clearly missed this place although you didn’t know what he was holding on to. The family he missed was clearly an illusion. He craved the real bond, the concept of loving community, not the actual Parker people.

“I want to burn down this house”.

He tilted his head and his mouth twitched.

“Have you ever done it?”

“Why would I burn my own house?”

“You’ve spent eighteen years here, and...”

“Look”, he put up his palms defensively, “obviously, you are a very creative individual with a different way of thinking, and I haven’t done half of the things you come up with, while I was here, but if you’re gonna ask me this question every time you have an idea...”

“You know fire is cleansing, right? You should know, you’re able to control it. Isn’t fire an important element of witchery?”

“Mhm”.

He wasn’t offended by the idea. He was just a little susprised.

As Kai stepped outside, bringing the last books into the trunk of the (ugly) Buick parked in the driveway, you watched him there on the lawn. Maybe he really was the cancer his family made him to be. He looked like a hyena looking around for a dying animal to chew on. He despised this place, and its lightness, and the fact his surviving relatives thought of the exquisite way of reminding him about what he’s done. And he went around busily, like a bee mama, at the same time.

The house still reeked of blood, and frankly, you didn’t know how he could even think about sleeping here.

You threw a match on the couch, and another one down into the basement. You knew the house would restore as soon as midnight comes, but by that time you’ll be far away from here. Wherever the books send you to.

You’ve never seen a house on fire so close. The heat was burning your face, and you knew it burns Kai, too, so you pulled on his hand to make him step away.

“What sucks the most is that I had every right to merge with her”, Kai said suddenly. You had to step closer to hear him over the immense screech and cracking of the house.

There was deep, pure hatred in his voice as he spoke about his sister. You realized that his bitterness about her betrayal is still fresh, and the merge did nothing to heal it. It was personal. She was his to kill.

“I would’ve shown her if she only had given me a chance. You know? Nobody believed I could win, because I’m a siphoner. But if they only gave me a chance, I would’ve tried my best and I would’ve been a good coven leader”.

“You are already”, you said. Kai squeezed your fingers with his stiff palm.

“Once we get out”, he said, dead eyes staring into you, “there’ll be no coven. I will end every single one of them”.

#kai parker #kai parker imagine #kai parker x reader #vampire diaries imagine #tvd imagine #vampire diaries

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antialiasis · 3 years

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Worldbuilding June (Pokémon edition), Days 8-12

Whoops forgot to post these for a couple of days, too busy with a load of Things as always.

8. Who rules in your world?

TQftL never brings up government, but each region has its own human government, generally just standard representative democracies similar to what we have in the modern world. Ouen has an elected parliament and president. It's a fairly utopian world with little scarcity and politics play kind of a background role - they keep things running, they have some different parties, but there's low polarization and usually they work pretty smoothly together and have little conflict. The situation in other regions is similar - movement is very free and conflict between them is rare and minor in the grand scheme of things.

QftLverse Pokémon, once again, have their own societies and are not subject to human rule except in a limited way while they're with a trainer, as per the Agreement, an all-encompassing contract dictating how the relationship between humans and Pokémon should work. Different Pokémon species govern themselves differently, but their societies are generally based on smaller self-governing groups. The Scyther society has a single leader, who is meant to be the simply strongest in the swarm, and anyone can challenge them to a duel to the death to take their place at any time.

The Morphicverse is once again close to Earth, with different countries having different modes of government. The Poké-USA's politicical climate resembles the actual USA's political climate in ~2007, but if I ever wrote references to the current president I wouldn't make him an outright Bush expy or anything, beyond being from the conservative one of the two highly polarized parties.

9. What religions and myths/legends exist in your world?

The QftLverse's human society is basically post-religious. Legendary Pokémon are revered, but not worshipped - people don't pray to them, ascribe natural phenomena to them, expect them to watch over them personally, perform symbolic rituals associated with them, etc. That said, humans do have myths concerning them - not always accurate ones. The story describes the human myth behind one set of legendaries early on before the reality much later turns out to have been fairly different, for instance.

QftLverse Pokémon have their own myths, legends, religions and beliefs. The Scyther society explored in the spin-offs has a bit of a vague mythology going on explaining the sun, moon, stars and clouds, but it's not very important to them, more of a just-so story. Meanwhile, they live by a system of ethics known as the Code that they consider sacred and all-important, though it doesn't have a godly figure behind it as the source of it, only a philosophy. Other Pokémon might variously have straight-up religion (whether worshipping legendary Pokémon or something else), be entirely areligious, or something in between; most will have myths and legends in some form, though.

The Morphicverse has a form of Christianity, which is functionally a lot like ours; this also means they had a version of Judaism. Other specific religions don't come up, but they'd at the very least be as varied as real-world religions. Like in real life, there are many sects and variants, and as many individual interpretations of faiths as there are people. The villain cult in particular has fringe views that in no way resemble the mainstream. And like in real life, many people nominally believe but don't really practice their religion, and many are agnostic or atheist.

Legendary Pokémon in the Morphicverse are cryptids - there are myths and legends about them, and people think they're neat, write fiction and make movies about them all the time, but in the modern day, actually-for-real believing that they exist out there ranges from mildly eccentric to entirely unthinkable. Worship of legendary Pokémon exists, but in the way that modern neo-Paganism does. It's not remotely mainstream, generally seen as a weird hippie thing, and the notion of Arceus appearing in the flesh one day and declaring he created the universe is about as fantastical to most people as the notion of the Norse pantheon doing the same in our world.

10. What traditions are observed in your world?

QftLverse human traditions are mostly just secular holidays - commemorations of important days in the region's history, etc. It's tradition for most children to go out on a Pokémon journey the spring after they turn ten years old, and participate in a First-Timers' League in the autumn if they manage to stick it out for the whole journey and collect all the badges - there are kids who don't, but it's rare for them to not want to, and other kids may see them as no fun.

Every year in Green Town, there is a Pokémon Festival originally built around the legendary Pokémon Chaletwo's yearly brief visit to the outskirts of the city (which may or may not be ditched in the next revision); it hosts a number of Pokémon-themed events over several days. One of them is a starter Pokémon giveaway, where most kids go to get official starter Pokémon, who have specifically volunteered and been trained to work with beginning trainers - though many kids have had Pokémon as pets/partners since they were young and journey with them instead, or their parents otherwise get them a Pokémon who's up for a beginning trainer. (Many Pokémon kind of like the idea of journeying with a beginning trainer, in the way that many people like the idea of getting a kitten rather than an adult cat - just something special about having been with them from the start. Though getting a starter who's actually been trained to deal with kids is recommended over just finding any random enthusiastic Pokémon.)

Pokémon have all kinds of different traditions. The Scyther society as explored in the spin-offs has a number of traditions and rituals, including a sort of blood baptism of new hatchlings, the leader of the swarm teaching all the adolescent Scyther about the Code, and First Prey, where each of the adolescents is sent out to hunt prey on their own for the first time, with a male and female witness following, so they can prove their ability to kill and to feed themselves. Afterwards, they're expected to publicly offer a symbolic piece of the meat of their first prey to some members of the swarm, and doing so signals respect; you don't technically have to, but in practice everyone always offers it to the leader and not doing so would be taken as outright disrespect.

The Morphicverse is once again culturally similar to the real world and has mostly similar sorts of traditions. Pokémon training is less culturally ingrained there, but still a very common hobby for kids.

11. What are some ways people communicate with pokémon in your world, or pokémon with each other?

In the QftLverse, humans learn to understand Pokémon speech as a mandatory subject at school. Pokémon inherently understand human speech, but they speak anime-style, usually in syllables of their species' name (which is what the species are named after). They share one language, which is not based on exactly what the syllables are but the tone and the way they're combined, hence why it works regardless of the species.

In the current version of the fic, this is pure handwave worldbuilding: it's established that it happens at school at the beginning, and then we just move on to the story, where every human simply understands what Pokémon are saying at all times. In the next revision I'd give a bit more proper worldbuilding attention to it - let the language barrier be a little more present, humans vary in exactly how good they are at it (luckily it's already the main character's best subject at school), and otherwise treat it less like it's just an excuse to act like Pokémon speak English.

In the Morphicverse, Pokémon do communicate but they don't do complex communication - instead, it's closer to the sort of communication most animals do in the real world. They can express how they're feeling, draw attention to something interesting, sound the alarm about something scary, ask another Pokémon to follow, and can do this in a somewhat more efficient and intelligent way than most animals generally do. But one way or another, they don't communicate complicated abstract ideas, neither to humans nor to one another. Pokémon don't automatically understand human speech here, though they're very quick learners when it comes to commands, and they can pick up a fair amount just by being around humans, allowing them to get the gist of basic statements and requests without being explicitly taught them, though anything abstract would still be entirely lost on them. You could tell a Pokémon you've lived with for years "I lost my hat, can you help me find it" and they'll go look for your hat, but they'd be lost if you tried to ask them for anything much more complicated than that.

12. What is the gym circuit or adventuring organization like in your world?

In the QftLverse, gyms are meant to be taken on in a specific order and gym leaders are accordingly expected to keep their Pokémon below a certain level. To be officially sanctioned by the League, a gym needs to have a theme - usually a type, although Rick got away with a legendary theme because he gets away with everything because he is hypnotizing League officials with his Mewtwo super-clone I was twelve years old. Every year there's a First-Timers' League in the autumn in each region, where new trainers who have collected all eight badges of their region face off (except for the bit where I somehow made a guy who'd been training for years be part of it without thinking about it properly). There's also a global Old-Timers' League for more experienced trainers, which crowns a world champion; this doesn't involve badges and is just a tournament. Trainers are advised to stick to official routes, while Pokémon who want a trainer seek out the routes and others avoid them; going off-route has the potential to lead to run-ins with Pokémon who are more hostile to humans. It's not forbidden but it's drilled into kids' heads that you're not supposed to.

The Morphicverse's gym circuit is not too dissimilar to that, but gym leaders are expected to carry a variety of Pokémon teams to take on challengers of different skill levels, who can take on the gyms of their circuit in any order. Kid trainers are strictly meant to travel only along official routes, which are thoroughly monitored to be safe, and often take public trainer transportation; when they're eighteen they can get an adult trainer license with which they can take their Pokémon anywhere they like, at their own risk. Mostly kids do it as a hobby, and many young children dream of being professional trainers, but only a fraction are actually good enough to make money off it, so most either quit it after a few summers on realizing it's not for them (they might release their Pokémon or keep them as pets, depending on how high-maintenance they are), or continue to do it as a side hobby. There exist college-level training schools for those who really want to dedicate their lives to it, but by that point in time most people will have dropped their pro trainer dreams.

#tqftl #morphic #worldbuilding june #pokemon

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whitehotharlots · 3 years

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Previewing the 2024 Democrat Primary

Within a couple weeks of his being sworn in, just about every person on earth will wish Joe Biden was no longer president. Sure, the few surviving John B. Anderson voters will be thrilled to see 4 years of crushing austerity and half-assed attempts at Keynesian stimulus. But most people will begin dreaming about a brighter future.

Good news! The 2024 Democratic primary field is going to contain dozens of options. Bad news! They are all going to be disgusting piles of shit.

The “top tier”

While it’s too early to do any handicapping, these are the candidates the media will treat as having the most realistic chances of securing the nomination.

Kamala Harris

Kamala did not win a single primary delegate in 2020. This is because she dropped out before the first primary, and that was because no one likes her. She has no base beyond a few thousand of twitter’s most violent psychos. Her disingenuousness approaches John Edwards levels: any halfway incredulous person can see immediately beyond her bullshit. She has no principles whatsoever, and while that may be par for the course for Democrats, she lacks even the basic politician’s ability to intuit anything that might, hypothetically, constitute a principle.

Even better: she is an awful public speaker. She sounds like how a talking dog would speak if he were just caught stealing people food off the kitchen table. She communicates in weird grunts and faux sassy squeaks, which is how she imagines real black women sound like, but something about her is unable to sell the bit. She begins her sentences in halfhearted AAVE, stops and panics halfway through as she realizes that maybe this sounds fake and offensive, and then reminds herself oh wait, no, this is okay since I’m black. This doesn’t happen once or twice per speech. This is how every single sentence sounds.

Kamala is like Nancy Pelosi in that no sketch show will ever impersonate her correctly, because anything that came close to authenticity would be considered far too cruel. This might benefit her in the primaries, as she exists in the minds of Democrats as someone and something she absolutely is not in reality. Nominating her would be like allowing your child’s imaginary friend to attempt to drive you to the store.

Andrew Cuomo

Easily one of the 50 worst people alive, Cuomo has a solid chance because Democrats, same as Republicans, are unable to differentiate between electability and self-serving ruthlessness. Cuomo used the deadliest public health crisis in American history as a pretext for cutting Medicaid and firing 5,000 MTA workers, and his approval rating increased. New York Dems are little piggies who love eating shit. If we assume that the political media will continue their habit of refusing to discuss the legislative history of right wing Democrats, Cuomo might well cruise to the nomination and then lose to literally any human being the GOP nominates by an historic margin.

Joe Biden

The party loves him because he is a right wing racist. “Progressives” tolerate him because black primary voters over 40 supported him, and their opinion is supposedly a magic window into god’s truth. Everyone else can tell he is manifestly senile. I don’t put it above the DNC to pick a candidate who is in horrible health, dying, or even dead--whatever the financial sector wants, they’ll get. But I would be shocked if his approval rating is above 39% by mid-2023, and by that point deep fake technology will be advanced enough they’ll put out a very lifelike video in which the Max Headroom version of Joe explains he’s proud of his accomplishments--that budget’s almost balanced already--but, man, I gotta abd--I gotta abdica--, uhh, I gotta, I, uhh, I gotta move down, man.

Wild Cards

These candidates would have all have a chance if they ran, but they could all much more easily retire to Little Saint James off of kickbacks they’ve gotten from Citibank and I.G. Farben.

Rahm Emanuel

Rahm is going to receive some hugely influential post in the Biden administration. Let’s say he becomes Secretary of Education. His signature achievement will be replacing all elementary school teachers with Amazon’s Alexa, which saved the taxpayers so much money we were able to quadruple the number of armed police officers we put into high schools. This will give him several thousand positive profiles on network news programs and the near-universal support of the Silicon Valley vampires who will own 99% of the country by the time Biden’s term ends. They will use their fancy mind control devices to convince geriatic primary voters that Rahm’s the one who will bring Decency back to the white house. His candidacy will be the paragon of wokeness, as expressing concern toward the fact that he covered up the police murder of a black guy will get you called a racist.

Rahm has a bonus in that Jewish men are now Schrodeniger’s PoC. When they are decent human beings, they are basic, cis white men who are stealing attention from disabled trans candidates of color. When they love austerity and apartheid, they become the most vulnerable people of color on earth and criticizing them in any way is genocide. No one will be able to mention a single thing Rahm has ever done or said without opening themselves to accusations of antisemitism, and that gives him a strong edge against the rest of the field. The good news is that an Emmanuel candidacy would result in over 50% of black voters choosing the GOP candidate--which, I guess that’s not really good but it would certainly be funny.

Gavin Newsom

Newsom is every bit as feckless as Cuomo, but he doesn’t put off the same “bad guy in an early Steven Segal movie” vibes. He will mention climate change 50 times per speech and no one will bother to mention how he keeps signing fracking contracts even though his state is now on fire 11 months of the year. If anything, this will be spun into an argument about how he’s actually the candidate best suited to handle all the water refugees gathering on the southern border. Look for his plan to curb emissions by 10% by the year 2150 to get high marks from Sierra Club nerds. He’s also a celebate librarian’s idea of what constitutes a handsome man, so he’ll have some support from the type of women who claim to hate all men.

Larry Summers

I mean, why not? Larry, like most members of the Obama administration, has politics that are eerily similar to those of Jordan Peterson. In normal circumstances, this makes a person a dangerous fascist who should not be platformed. But if that person has a D next to their name this makes them a realistic pragmatist who has what it takes to bring suburban bankers into our tent. If current trends in Woke Phrenology continue apace, Larry’s belief that women are inherently bad at STEM will be liberal orthodoxy by 2023, and his dedication to the Laffer Curve could see him rake in massive donations. Seriously, I’m not kidding: cultural liberalism is now fully dedicated to identity essentialism and balanced budgets. Larry is their ideal candidate. If he were black and/or a woman, I’d put him in the very top tier.

Jay Inslee

Unlike Newsom, Inslee’s attempt to crown himself the King of Global Warming won’t be immediately derailed, since his state is only on fire because of protestors. This, however, poses a different problem. He’s going to be a good test case for the Democrat’s uneasy peace with the ever increasing share of the electorate who become catatonic upon hearing a pronoun. On the one hand, you need to take their votes for granted. On the other hand, they’re not like black people or regular gays: most voters actively, consciously despise wokies, and associating yourself with them will ruin a campaign even in deep blue areas. There’s still gonna be riots in a year. Biden’s gonna announce the sale of all our nation’s potable water to the good folks at Nestle and some trans freak named Sasha-Malia DeBalzac is going to use that as an opportunity to sell their new pamphlet about how it’s fascist to not burn down small businesses. No matter what Inslee does in response, it’ll end his career.

AOC

I’m not one of those “AOC is a secret conservative” weirdos, but I am aware enough of basic reality to know she has zero chance of coming close to the nomination. The right and the center both regard her as a literal demon. The party is already blaming her for the fact that a handful of faceless Reagan acolytes failed to flip their suburban districts even though they ran on sensible pragmatic proposals like euthanizing the homeless. The recriminations will only get more unhinged when the Dems eat shit in the 2022 midterms. She will be a Russian, she will be white male, she will be a communist, she will be a homophobe: any insult or conspiracy theory you can name, MSNBC will spend hours discussing. Her house seat challenger will receive a record amount of support from the DNC in 2024 and it’ll be all she can do to remain in congress.

Larry Hogan

Don’t be dissuaded by the fact that he’s a Republican. Larry is the DNC’s ideal candidate: a physically repulsive conservative who owes his entire career to appealing to the most spiteful desires of suburban white people. He’s an open racist in a material sense--if you’re old-school enough to think racism is a matter of beliefs and actions, rather than the presence of cultural signifiers--but his is the beloved “never Trump” style of racism that Dems covet. He’s also a Proven Leader who thinks the role of government should be to finance the construction of investment property and give police the resources they need to run successful drug trafficking operations. Few people embody the Democrat worldview more than Larry.

The Losers Bracket

These people will have at least a small chance due solely to the fact that the Democrats love losing. They have lost in the past, and in the Democrat Mind that makes them especially qualified.

Joe Kennedy

The man looks like a mushroom-human hybrid from a JRPG. Trump proved that physical hideousness need not doom a presidential bid, but a candidate still needs some kind of charm or oratorical abilities or, god forbid, a decent platform. Joe aggressively lacks all of these things. A vanity campaign would be a good way to raise money and perhaps secure an MSNBC gig, so Joe might still run.

Mayor Pete

I am 100% convinced that Pete’s 2020 run was a CIA plot meant to prevent working class Americans from ever having a chance of living decent lives. I am also 100% aware that Democrats are dumb enough to enthusiastically support a CIA plot meant to prevent working class Americans from ever having a chance of living decent lives. If we have some sort of military or terror disaster between now and 2023 the Dems are sure to want a TROOP, and wait wait wait you’re telling me this one is a gay troop? Holy hell there’s no way that could lose!

Stacy Abrams

Never underestimate the power of white guilt. She lost the gubernatorial race to Gomer Pyle’s grandson, and her spiritual guidance of the Dems saw the party lose black voters in Georgia in 2020. Nonetheless, she is regarded as a magic font of fierceness within the DNC. She might stand a chance if she can establish herself as the most conservative non-white candidate in the field, but there’s going to be stiff competition for that honor.

Elizabeth Warren

Liz is probably angry that the party so shamelessly sold her out even after she was a good little girl and sabatoged Bernie’s campaign for them--yet another example of high ranking US government officials reneging on their promises to the Native American community. Smdh. The fact that this woman hasn’t been bankrupted a dozen times over by various Wallet Inspectors genuinely astounds me. So Liz is probably going to run again, and her campaign will be even sadder the second time around.

It might surprise you to hear this if you don’t work at a college or NGO, but Liz diehards actually do exist. She’ll get even less support this time because there will be no viable leftist in the field for her to spoil, but she’ll still hang in long enough to make sure the very worst possible candidate beats out the second worst possible candidate. Maybe she’ll fabricate a rape accusation against Sherrod Brown. Maybe she’ll spend her entire allotted debate time doing a land acknowledgment. With Liz, anything is possible--so long as it ends in failure.

Amy Klobuchar

Amy was the most bloodthirsty of the 2020 also rans. She will double down on the unpopular failures of the Biden administration, explaining that if you weren’t such a selfish idiot you’d love the higher social security retirement age and oh my god are so such a moron you think you shouldn’t go bankrupt to get a COVID vaccine? There’s a non-unsubstantial segment of the Democratic base that’s self-hating enough to find this appealing, but it won’t be enough to make her viable.

Martha Coakley

She lost Ted Kennedy’s senate seat to a retarded man who was pretending to be even more retarded than he actually was. Then she lost a gubernatorial race to a guy who openly promised Massachusetts voters that he would punish them for electing him. Her record of failure is unparalleled, making her perhaps the ideal Democrat standard bearer for the twenty twenties.

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