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deansapplepie · 4 months

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The Spitting Image | Part 1

Summary: Years passed since last time you saw your ex-boyfriend and father of your son. Fate decided the perfect moment for you to reconnect was after the end of the world.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x f! Reader

Warnings: swearing, threatening, someone is punched, mentions of violence, mentions of doing harm to children (none of the characters, it’s just a thought), walkers, mentions of injuries, a little angsty. Minors do not interact. (If I forgot anything let me know)

Word Count: 4,419

A/N: It was supposed to be a one shot, but it was getting too big and I wasn’t in the middle of it, so I’ll make a mini series of it.

The reader’s son is 17 yo, so if you don’t feel comfortable reading something self insert having a kid this age, it’s up to you.

Here I’m supposing Daryl is in the beginning of his 40s when they get to Alexandria to make sense the age of his son.

Also, I have no idea how are the laws in the U.S.A. To register your children, so if it’s not possible to register a kid with the name of the father without the father, let’s pretend in this universe it is.

Series Masterlist Part 2

Main Masterlist

It had been days that you were out there with Aaron and Eric, you had found a possible group to invite to Alexandria. While you and Aaron was observing them from afar in the road, Eric was in a nearby city waiting for you.

That group seemed like a good group, they took care of each other and shared. They also had a kid and a baby, it needed to mean something. As a mom, you could clearly identify with their struggles and want to protect every kid you came by, unless it was a psychopath kid that wanted to kill you and your son, then… you had no empathy.

United and righteous people were exactly the kind of people you needed for Alexandria. It seemed as they were hungry and thirsty you had some supplies you could give them to help. Hiding on the trees you could only observe them using binoculars as you needed to remain far from them because of safety. You had never zoomed to observe them this much before, but there was something intriguing you and you didn’t voice it to Aaron yet. He was one of your best friends back in Alexandria, but you had to make sure.

There were a guy, all wearing black. He had a sleeveless black shirt that showed his toned arms, he seemed to be tall and had really broad shoulders and a relatively long hair. He carried a crossbow, and even though he was as tired and week as everyone else, he tried to not let it show. You only knew a person like this, but it had been so long since you last saw him that you thought this was your mind playing games with you. You were so young back then, you changed so much… he probably did too, probably you even crossed paths before the world ended and you didn’t recognized each other. But you had to make sure it wasn’t him so just your mind would relax and you could control your anxiety.

That’s why you were zooming the binoculars to the maximum and focusing solely on him, expecting him to look to a side so you could clearly see his face. He did, and when he did your heart stopped for some milliseconds and you thought all the air was drawn from your lungs. “Holly shit!” Was the only thing you were able to say, so glad now you could openly curse, because there wasn’t any child around.

“What’s it?” Aaron asked curiously and you passed him the binoculars unable to say anything. He looked at it, zooming out and couldn’t see anything extraordinary. “I don’t see anything. What did you see?”

You rested your back on the trunk of the tree that you were both sitting on its branch. You tried to breath in and out, just like your therapist had recommended you when you started to treat you’re anxiety.

“Y/N, what happened?” Aaron asked again turning his attention to you and holding your hand, which you accepted gratefully.

“I… I think my ex is in this group.” Oh my God. You were freaking out! It wasn’t as if you had ended bad, well it depends on the point of view, but seeing him after all this years, after all that happened, after…

“You think?” Aaron asked one more time, if it was your ex why you sounded like you were not completely sure.

“Yes, it was a long time ago. We were barely adults, so we changed a lot, but I’m 98% sure the archer is him.” You said continuing your exercise and taking your canteen with shaking hands to drink some water.

“Oh… let me check him out and see if you have good taste in men.”

“Aaron!” You protested the most silently you could. “Well, you may surprise a little when you see him, he is…”

“… DJ’s father! Holly crap!” He looked at you as if he had seen a ghost as the man looked exactly like the teenager boy he knew back in Alexandria, of course the man was way older than the boy. “Do you have an uterus or a copy machine in your belly?”

“Ok, if even you can see it’s totally him.” You said and you didn’t know if you were relieved or anxious, probably both at the same time.

“Ok, so… is he a good person to take with us?” He had to ask, even though you were good friends, you never talked much about him, it seemed to hurt you a lot, so he never pushed.

“Yes, of course. Don’t think I’d have named my child after him if he wasn’t.” You answered. It wasn’t his fault or yours, you just had to blame people like your parents that thought they were better than everyone else. “It’s just that it has been so long after last time we saw each other, I’m just nervous to meet him again.”

You tried approaching them by letting water and food as a gift for them on the road, but they just rejected everything, they were suspicious, they probably went through a lot of shit. You don’t blame them, you’d react the same if it was you. A heavy storm caught you by surprise, you needed to find shelter and protect yourselves. Once you saw the group entered a barn, you decided to go back to your RV and wait the next day or the storm pass before approaching them more directly this time.

The next morning the weather had improved, so you left again to where they were. At distance you saw two women near to the location of the barn, you approached them and presented yourselves and minutes later both of you were on your knees, hands behind your heads and an angry man in front of you. But before the said angry man could do anything or ask anything, the archer came from the shadows and your name left his lips. “Y/N”

“Daryl.” You replied a smile on your face, you wanted to keep a more straight face don’t be so pathetic about how you were happy to see him there alive, older and hotter, but you couldn’t, because it had always been like that, you’d see him and you wouldn’t be able to control yourself. You’d open the biggest smile at him and would have your heart racing with excitement and anxiety.

“Do you know each other?” The angry man asked Daryl, but you replied. You couldn’t hold your tongue, you were anxious and when it was like that, you’d say even what you weren’t meant to say.

“We dated.” You answered, also you knew that Daryl would die of shyness if he had to say you dated or anything like this. That’s if deep inside him he was still that boy.

The man you came to know the name was Rick Grimes shot you a look that said ‘I wasn’t talking to you.’ and then looked back at Daryl in hopes he would confirm it or not. “Yeah, it’s true.”

“If she’s his ex, she’s no good. We should better don’t believe them.” You saw a ginger man with a big mustache speaking.

“Listen here, Obelix. You better not bad mouth me again or I’ll beat you so hard your mustache is going to end on your ass!” You were normally sweet and polite, but you’d never let anyone judge you, or anyone that you loved, especially this person that doesn’t even know you.

“Definitely related to Daryl.” An asian man said and couldn’t contain a small laugh, even in the state the group was.

Daryl had a smirk on his face and you couldn’t read what it meant. The Rick guy didn’t took it easy on you just because Daryl knew you, he argument people could change and he wasn’t wrong. Most of the time he hold the conversation with Aaron and you were glad about it, Aaron was better at this than you were, even though you could bring a sense of comfort most of the times when you approached women or groups with children, this wasn’t a situation where Aaron actually needed you. Unless they decided to kill both of you or something else, then you’d have to play the last card you could with them and that could only be used with them, because of Daryl. You’d need to use your son to convince them to let you go, and you’d hate to do such thing. Using your son to blackmail someone was never something you’d like to do.

You remembered the day you first had the courage to talk to him, you had always thought he was cute and cool, but you never had the courage. Until a day your “friends” excluded you and you didn’t even got to know why. You were 16 and they were so immature to do such thing, so yeah, it was their loss you thought. That’s what you tried to say and convince yourself you were better without them.

At lunch time having no table to sit, you went straight to his table, that was it, your opportunity to get to know him. “Can I have a sit here?” You asked in front of him.

“ ‘m not the owner of the chair.” He said, eyes on his plate. “But ya won’t want to be seen with me sweetheart.”

“Thanks.” You put your tray on the table and took the chair in front of him. “I’m Y/N.”

“Daryl. We already know each other. We had a subject together. Once.” He remembered! You were ecstatic, of course you’d remember him, you developed a huge crush on him since you had to pair up, but you didn’t expect him to remember you. You didn’t think you were as cool as the other girls to be remembered. “Ya still have time to maintain the integrity of yer reputation and leave.”

“I have no reputation to save, my friends simply decided I’m not cool anymore, so… fuck them, gonna make whatever I want.” He snorted, he never thought he’d live to see you cuss. You never looked like one to do so. “What’s funny?”

“Thought you never cussed.”

“Well, there are a lot of things you don’t know about me Dixon.” You replied and from this time you started to pass more and more time together, starting a strange friendship that was the commonest thing for both of you, but people outside loved to judge.

Most of the time they were discussing, you couldn’t take your eyes off him. It was as if you did, he’d disappear into thin air. In the end Rick sent a group to your RV to confirm if you were telling the truth and threatened killing you if they took too long to comeback. After they came back, Rick agreed to go to Alexandria but they would drive and you should tell them where it was, and then started again another drama.

“How are we supposed to trust you? Maybe you got another group and a radio and you’re going to attack our place. We have children and elders, we can’t risk.” You tried to reason with him, even though you knew you were in a small number and you’d never win this ‘battle’.

“Don’t you trust Daryl?” Rick threw this card. Really?

“How am I supposed to when you didn’t believe me and he did nothing to tell you were wrong and I could be trusted?” He knew you were right, not even for a second you thought Daryl wasn’t the same, but you had a point and even he knew it.

In the end you had no option but give in to their requests. You took them to the nearest city so you could take Eric too and while fighting against walkers he got his ankle hurt. Not longer after you got back to the road and in direction of Alexandria. While going there you tried to make some small talk with them, but most were not very open to it.

“What’s her name?” You asked Daryl that had a beautiful baby in his arms.

“ ‘s Judith.” He answered, he looked at her with such adoration. It was adorable to see such a big and rustic man being so tender with a baby in his arms.

“She’s so pretty.” You always wanted a baby girl, but of course you were more than happy with your baby boy. It was just a silly girl dream to have a daughter so you can play doll with them. “Can I hold her a little? There’s a long time I don’t get to hold a baby.”

Despite the common silent agreement of the group to not trust you just yet, he trusted you and was sure you’d do nothing against his ‘lil ass kicker’. So he let you have her a little in your arms and she continued to sleep peacefully. Carl observed you with the eyes of a hawk, ready to end you if you did anything wrong against his little sister, but you didn’t.

“Is your family with ya?” Daryl drawled by your side while you were mesmerized by little Jude. He wanted to know if your asshole of dad was still around and also your mom, but he couldn’t ask it like this, he didn’t know how your relation with them were after everything, he didn’t want to offend you.

“It’s just me and my son, but he’s not this cute anymore and I no longer can carry him in my arms like that.” You replied, wishing he’d have curiosity about DJ, but also afraid of where this curiosity could take you in this moment.

“What’s his name?” He asked trying to be polite, but deep down it hurt him that you had another lover and had a child, he couldn’t control this, but it was painful anyway.

“DJ.” You simply said, god you didn’t want to reveal at this moment your baby was Daryl Dixon Junior. Before he could ask the name and not the nickname, you threw another question at him. “Did you get any of my letters?”

He was taken aback. You tried to keep contact with him. You tried to reach him out. “Did ya send me letters? I… Ididn’t know. I left with Merle shortly after what happened. Probably old man got them.”

By his surprise you believed he really didn’t know. He never read the letters. He never ignored you or pretended your son didn’t exist. Deep down, you knew he’d never do that, but you never could confirm it, because you never got to see him again. Until now.

A little after Carl took Judith from your arms, you already had enough. He couldn’t let you more than you were supposed to with the baby. While your mind wandered to the past, Daryl’s were a turmoil trying to decipher what could be the name of your son, since you gave no detail.

The day prior he had warned you ‘wear sneakers tomorrow, you asked why and he just repeated what he said before. So you did. There was almost a year since your friendship with Daryl Dixon started and at that moment, he was your best friend. Sometimes he’d stay with you studying in the library or just hanging out around the city. You trusted him.

Next day, you arrived at school and found him next to an old blue truck. “What’s that?”

“A car.” He answered the obvious.

“I know dumbass! But where did you get it?” You asked curiously, he had never gone to school in one.

“I borrowed it from Merle without telling him.” Which means he stole his own brother, at least for some hours. “I’m returning it later, probably won’t even know about it. He’s knocked out in his bedroom.”

“Ok, if he catch us, I’m telling it was all you.” You played with him, but you knew Merle would never catch you, at least not before Daryl arrived at home with it.

“It actually was.” He shrugged. “Also, no way he’d believe a sweet thing like you helped me in any of that.” You instantly blushed, it wasn’t always that Daryl would throw sweet words or compliments at you, so every time you’d not fail and blush. “Did ya wear sneakers?”

“Yep.” You put one foot in front of you to show your sneakers.

“Pink? Really?” He teased you, he knew for sure you’d wear at least one thing pink and you were always wearing sandals or any other more delicate shoes.

“I don’t have many sneakers, so… yeah.” You retracted your foot to stand close to the other again.

As soon as the bell rang you entered the school and went to your classes. In the end of the day, you got together at the parking lot ready to spend your day together. “Where are we going?” You asked curiously.

“Get in the car and you’ll see.” He replied going to the driver’s side.

“Ok, Dar. I’ll let you be all mysterious while I die out of curiosity.” You dramatically entered the truck and took the passenger sit.

You drove for some time and even got outside the city. You knew he was familiarized with the forest, he told you he’d hunt, but you never thought he’d bring you someday near it. “You know I know shit about hunting, don’t you?” You asked while the car stopped close to a small trail.

“Yep, dun worry. I didn’t bring ya here to go hunting. It’s something else, wanna show you a place.” He slightly touched your hand reassuring you and you could swear it sent a delicious tingling sensation all over your body.

He got out of the truck, took a bag in the truck bed and waited for you so you could start the trail. There was 5 minutes you were walking when you tripped and almost fell down, leading to the boy to hold your hand until you arrived at your final destination.

It was a waterfall, a beautiful one, with a small lake. The water was a beautiful green surrounded by big rocks. You got all excited with the sight and gave your biggest smile to him, which made his heart flutter and stole a small smile from him.

You took your sneakers off and both of you sat on a rock where you could put your feet in the cold refreshing water. There was the shadow of a tree that made it bearable to be outside there in the warm weather. You loved how Daryl was relaxed and just enjoying the place and your company, you could talk a lot or talk nothing and it would be perfect for him.

You don’t know what made you do that, but the moment just felt perfect to speak your mind to him, actually speak with your heart. “I like you, Daryl.”

“Yeah, we’re friends of course ya do.” It was obvious if you didn’t you wouldn’t be around.

“No, I like you in the way I’ve been crushing on you for years and just now I have the courage to say, yay…” you said, trying to be a little funny so the moment wouldn’t be so embarrassing, but it would be already too embarrassing if he just rejected you at that moment.

He looked at you impressed and thinking how you could like him for so long if everybody in the school, no, in the damn city thought he was a sore loser and a scumbag. “Are ya sure?” He double checked, just in case.

“I wouldn’t put myself in this embarrassing situation with risk of you rejecting me and losing your friendship if I didn’t.” You turned to look at him and were struck by his deep blue eyes that seemed to see your soul every time you looked into it. “It’s ok if you don’t feel the same, I’ll…”

Before you could finish your apologetic sentence, his lips crashed on yours and his hand held yours one more time, and that was the first of many kisses you’d come to share in the following years.

You woke up startled, the RV came to a stop. You were finally at the gates of Alexandria, you and Aaron got off first and the rest of the group followed you and once the gates were open you could see that at the same time they were cautious they were also impressed with the place. You entered the gate and Deanna came to welcome the new people. Aaron took Eric to the infirmary and before you could excuse yourself and go home take a good bath and spend some quality time with your child, you saw the tall teenager in his 17s running in your direction. You suddenly worried, he would see him. Both of them would see each other. You smiled at your baby boy that wasn’t a baby anymore, and he hugged you tightly even taking you from the ground. He had became so tall in the last years that it was funny to see the difference of his height to his mom’s.

Daryl was frozen in place, when he saw the young man running in your direction it was as if he could see his younger self in the past, but he wasn’t hallucinating or anything like that, because that boy that looked so much like him had also many features from you. The group looked surprised at the boy, probably thinking the same thing Aaron thought when he landed his eyes at Daryl. A million thoughts ran on the hunter’s mind, this kid just could be his… he had too because no way someone could look so much like the other and don’t be blood related, especially being the son of your youth lover.

“How are you baby?” You asked cupping DJ’s face with your hand and checking his face to see if he was healthy and well.

“I’m ok mom, are you good?” He asked back observing you, he had always been such a good observer.

“We need to talk…” you started to say but couldn’t finish because the boy’s eyes landed on Daryl some meters behind looking at both of you.

DJ knew, you told him before how he looked so much like his dad. So he knew when he looked strictly to an older version of him. He put you aside and walked strong steps on Daryl’s direction, you yelled his name but he just ignored you and before you could stop him, he punched his father right on his jaw.

“DJ! No!” You put yourself between both of them.

“No? Mom! He never cared about us and now he just shows here like this? He ignored all the letters you sent and the pictures of me, and…” he bursted the feelings trapped on his chest all those years. He had the perfect speech on his mind, he elaborated it for years just to end his father and make him ashamed of what he did, but now he didn’t even say half of it and the rest stayed stuck in his throat unable to come out as tears accumulated in his blue eyes.

“It’s ok. I probably deserve it.” Daryl said from behind.

“Honey, it’s not like this. We don’t solve anything like this. You don’t know the whole story.” You rested your hands on your son’s shoulders.

“You mean the edited version of how he never cared about us, or looked for us? I know you never told me everything, I’m not stupid. And I also know men are bastards that don’t care about discarding pregnant women!” Shit. Shit. Shit. Things were getting out of control the boy was causing a scene.

“Listen to me, Daryl Dixon Junior! I’m your mother and I’d never name you after your father if he was this kind of bastard!” You firmly told him, there were so many years that you didn’t call him by his whole name that he knew he would be in trouble if he didn’t obey you at that moment. “Now, apologize, go home and wait for me.”

“Fine.” The young man said teeth greeted. “I’m sorry for punching you because you’re an asshole.” With that he turned around and left before you could lecture him one more time in front of everyone.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Daryl asked. Obviously not talking about the past, it was clear to him that you tried in the past.

“I wouldn’t dare use my son to bring you to safety. I know you’d come if I said, and your group… I know this kind of bond, you’re family. I didn’t want to be selfish and make all of you come because I used DJ to convince you. I wanted you to come because you wanted, because you trusted what Aaron and I were offering.”

He couldn’t understand well about it, he wasn’t a father till some minutes ago… even though he wished he was one long before, the kid really had a personality, reminding him a lot about himself and even about Merle. But he could try to understand, to listen to you and if he stopped to think, it didn’t made a difference if you told before or now, he would still have the same feeling of anxiety, excitement and lost, lost for all the years and everything that he lost not being around his son.

“I’m sorry you had to discover like that.” You apologized even though you knew in no way it would be less shocking for him. “We have a lot to talk, the three of us… of course, if you want to.”

“Yeah, we need to talk. I wanna know everything and I wanna know him, if ya allow me and if he wants.” He was quick to answer. God, how could you even give him a choice? He had to do it.

“Great. So… I’m gonna let you finish solving things with Deanna, when you are free, come to my house. It’s the one with the magenta pink doormat.” You give some steps backwards, eyes still on him.

“Pink, hugh…” he knew everything with you needed to have a little of pink and for sure with the end of the world you could not afford pink acessories, at least you’d make sure that one thing in your life was.

“Yes…” you almost murmured. “I’ll see you later.”

“See ya…” he replied. Wanna be added to my tag list? Let me know. (Please tell me if you want to be tagged on everything or just specific series)

Everything Taglist: @lilyevanstan1325

Dividers by @cafekitsune

#daryl dixon #the walking dead #the walking dead daryl #twd #twd daryl #daryl x reader #daryl x y/n #daryl fanfiction #daryl imagines #the walking dead daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl #daryl x you #deansapplepie

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rollinouttahere-writes · 1 year

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Lucky Break Prologue

Yandere Straw Hats x fem!Reader

5k words

I finally got this done, boy did it take longer than I had planned. I’ve worked hard on this and will continue to, so I hope everyone who takes the time to read this enjoys it! This fic is for the most part going to feature platonic yanderes, and the reader insert does use she/her pronouns.

There isn’t much One Piece stuff in this chapter, but there will be in the next.

When you’re a kid, everything seems so simple. You look around at the world around you and assume you know exactly how your life is going to go. After you finish high school, you’ll go to college and study for a major of your choosing. Immediately upon graduation, you’ll get a job in your desired field, and have a prosperous career to be proud of. Somewhere along the way, you’ll get married, maybe have some kids, and eventually enjoy a comfortable retirement where you will look back on your life with nothing but pride!

Yeah right. What a joke.

If provided with the opportunity to go back in time, you would kick your child-self’s ass for her naivety and optimism. How dare she foolishly get her own hopes up for a good and easy life.

Okay, so maybe you’re a little bitter, but who could blame you? Who isn’t disappointed with how at least one aspect of their life is going? It’s perfectly normal. Though, admittedly, for you it was wayyyy more than one aspect.

For starters, your job sucked. Not an uncommon complaint, but one that wore you down dramatically. Being a waitress was hell, but what could you do? You need money to live just like anyone else. Not that you were making much, not if the late fees were anything to go off.

You couldn’t get a better job because the more desirable jobs were all long since taken. Well, what few jobs you could apply for given the lack of a college degree. Oh yeah, you’re a college drop out. Much to the intense disappointment of your parents. They kicked you out when you told them and have hardly spoken to you since.

Seriously though, what did they want you to do? Keep going to school in hopes that you’ll magically figure out what you want to and go into horrible debt in the meantime? It’s easy to tell someone to keep going to college when you're not the one paying for it. You don’t understand how you’re the bad guy for not wanting to take your student loans to the grave.

It didn’t help that the friends you had have all slowly fallen out of contact with you since you moved away. You thought that maybe starting new somewhere else would be refreshing, foolishly not realizing how difficult making new friends as an adult is. You had some coworkers that you go along with well enough. They had even talked about meeting up outside of work to just hang out, but these plans never fully came to fruition thanks to conflicting schedules.

Whatever. Dwelling on it isn’t going to help you. You need to focus on the here and now.

Currently, you were on a bus, and not to go to work this time. No, you were going to indulge yourself tonight with a little urban exploration. Today’s target was a somewhat recently abandoned mall. It’s been closed for around a year now, long enough for retailers to take what they wanted and for cops to be beginning to lose interest in constantly patrolling it. It was still under surveillance, but nothing you didn’t know how to navigate.

You spent a couple weeks scoping out the place, a nearby cafe made it easy to do so without raising suspicion. There wasn’t any on site security to worry about, you just had to keep an eye out for the occasional cop car that would drive by. They only stopped to investigate if there was a car in the parking lot near the building. This wouldn’t be a problem for you given your lack of a personal vehicle.

The plan was straightforward. You’d already identified an entry point while poking around the building at night, an employee only door with a busted lock. It took a bit of elbow grease to jerk it open, but there wasn’t an alarm rigged to it, so it was perfect. All you needed to do was make sure no one spotted you as you went in, and you would be golden.

The bus was slowing to a stop, and it was your turn to get off. Shouldering your backpack, you scooted to the edge of the seat in preparation. As soon as it stopped, you were on your feet and hurrying to the door. The mall was only a couple blocks from here in a rapidly failing part of the city. The only businesses around there were the aforementioned cafe and a couple of thrift stores. Fortunately, your way in was facing away from those stores. As long as a cop wasn’t driving by as you snuck in, no one would see you.

As you made your way there, you could feel the excitement setting in. You didn’t have much in your life to look forward to, this was one of the few things that made you feel alive. The thrill of getting in and out without being caught was addictive if you were being completely honest with yourself.

There were other pros to it, too. Sometimes you got lucky and found something valuable that you could pawn. A forgotten piece of jewelry, a dropped phone, some abandoned tools, you never knew what you were going to find. Even if you didn’t find anything, it was fun to be able to explore an old building with no one around. It gave you this sense of adventure your life was otherwise devoid of.

Granted, there were risks. Cops being the biggest one. Having a criminal record sounded less than ideal to you. There was also the concern raised by the fact that you did this completely alone. If something went wrong and you got seriously hurt, no one would be likely to find out until it was too late. That, and the threat of encountering someone dangerous.

So far, you’ve gotten lucky, only ever personally running into a couple of other urban explorers that were fortunately perfectly nice. There had been a few other close calls, but you were able to avoid detection those times. Your mom used to harp on this, saying one of these days you would get killed or kidnapped while doing this. Maybe she was right, but you couldn’t say you cared that much.

At least you wouldn’t have to go to your next shift!

You shook your head at the depressing thought. It’s not good to think that way, even if it was how you felt.

The mall was just ahead now, you looked around the parking lot for any indicators that anyone else was here. Nothing. It was completely empty. Good. Despite your excitement, you keep your pace casual, not wanting to attract attention.

Taking a cursory glance around, you don’t see any cop cars on patrol. You’re officially out of sight of the nearby businesses, so you shift into a power walk, wanting to get inside quickly while no one is around. You put on some disposable gloves and also pull a facemask out of your pocket and fasten it onto your face. Partially in case the air is bad, but also to protect yourself in case there are any security cameras.

The door takes a good few pulls to open up, but that’s fine. You do one more look around, and upon seeing nothing, you go in. The second the door shuts, you’re thrown into darkness. You fish a flashlight out of your backpack and click it on. It became immediately apparent that you were not the first person to discover this way in, the walls were already covered in graffiti. That and there were some heroin needles on the ground. You know, the usual signs of life.

You carefully make your way down the hall, trying to make your way into the main part of the mall. The air was musky, the smell easily cutting through your mask. It was far from pleasant, but you’ve smelled worse. At least you weren’t smelling any shit (yet).

The door at the end of the hall was easier to open than the last, no resistance at all. You peek out, looking for anything concerning before stepping out. There was natural light coming in from some sliding glass doors nearby. Looks like this place used to be a Macy’s or something like that. Lingering near the glass doors wouldn’t be a good idea, so you hurry off away from it. Once you’re in the main part of the mall you shouldn’t have to worry about being spotted from the outside.

The former maybe-macy’s was picked clean, they didn’t leave anything behind besides the counters and some flyers advertising a long since past sale. No shelves, no mannequins that would give you a heart attack if you saw them out of the corner of your eye, nothing.

Outlets in malls were typically very thorough when cleaning out after closing, you doubt you’ll find anything valuable here unless some other explorer left something behind. Oh well. You do this more for the experience than anything.

You found the way out pretty quick and took in the sight of the abandoned mall. Even after being closed for a year, it still had a certain beauty to it. The research you did on the mall told you it was built in the early 70’s and the architecture reflected it. The ceiling had a quirky pattern to it, with blocks of it being solid and other blocks being glass to let natural light in.

There was also an artsy metal structure that climbed all the way up to the second floor, and a big water fountain that acted as the centerpiece. Granted, all of this was decorated with a layer of broken glass from the shattered guardrails on the second floor, but still. This kind of decor was rare to see in modern malls, with all of them wanting to be as plain as possible. This was a pleasant change of scenery.

You meandered through the open space, glass crunching under your boots with each step. The escalators were right ahead of you. Like the guardrails, the glass on was also shattered, but that didn’t matter. As long as the stairs were in one piece, you could still climb them.

You had a specific destination in mind for your visit here. Yes, you would like to see every nook and cranny, but the movie theater was especially exciting. You’ve never been in an abandoned theater before, so you were dying to see it and made a beeline for it.

It was damn near on the opposite side of the building, but that just gave you a chance to see what other places you could check out later. While many people find places like this unsettling at best, you found an odd sense of comfort in it. Part of it was the silence. Provided no one else rocked up, the noisiest thing you would hear would be some birds flying through.

There was also the nostalgia of being in a mall and seeing the familiar, albeit vacated, stores you remember from your childhood. Malls simply aren’t what they used to be, and it’s nice to reminisce on what once was. Sure, it’s not like you could afford to shop at one, but just being able to walk around and window shop was enjoyable. At least you could still do the walking around part even when they’re closed.

As you make your way down the second story walkway, you take note of all the signs of life around you. Lots of spiders have set up shop with massive webs in every corner to make meals of the local insect population. Nests were crammed into the spaces in between letters on the remaining signs, and although you haven’t seen any, there are enough droppings here to indicate the presence of a thriving rodent society. That means there’s probably some stray cats lurking around here, too. You hope you get to see one. There’s a laser pointer on your keyring and some treats in your pockets just for such occasions.

You look up and are thrilled to finally be at the theater. There are blank rectangles on the wall from where movie posters used to be. The sign that used to display movies and showtimes now simply says closed. Well, technically it says ‘CL S D’, but you got the drift.

The lobby is surprisingly intact. The ticket and snack counters are both still here, even the glass around the ticket counter was unbroken. Some of the old snack machines still remained, which surprised you. It was faint, but you think you could still pick up on the smell of popcorn. It could also just be a placebo effect but shh.

You hop over the snack counter to see what’s back there. The first thing you notice is how sticky the floor is, your boots sticking with each step. The remaining machines are in rough shape, but that’s to be expected. The nozzle on one of the slushie machines was snapped clean off, and the doors on the popcorn machine were just gone. You meticulously opened all the drawers and cabinets, hoping to find something interesting. You didn’t. Just some garbage and rat shit.

Moving on, you head towards the really exciting part. The showing rooms. You can’t help but pick up the pace as you run into one, only to feel a touch disappointed. It was completely gutted. The screen, the chairs, nothing was left. Who the hell even wanted a bunch of old ass movie theater seats? Where did they go?

There was a problem though, the area near where the screen would be was completely flooded. You shine your light up to the ceiling and are baffled that there’s no hole for this much water to leak through. Where the hell did it all come from? It also smelled weirdly fishy? The fish smell was so potent that it almost distracted you from all the mold on the fabric covered walls. Yikes. “N95 mask don’t fail me now,” you mumbled under your breath.

Whatever. Spinning on your heels, you head for the stairs to go to the top of the room. They’re creaky and the carpet is coming off of them in bits and pieces.

There really wasn’t much of a reason to come up here beyond it just felt like the right thing to do. You decide to peek through the window to the projection room. Surprisingly, it’s very cluttered in there, it almost looks like a storage room. Oh, you’re definitely going to have to go in there!

… But how?

Now that you’re thinking about it, how do you even get inside one of these? It must be behind some sort of staff only door. You hope it’s not locked, there was a lot of stuff in there.

You rush down the stairs, ecstatic at what a good find this was. Once you’re in the hallway, you whip your head around to locate any possible entrance, and you find it. A plain, unmarked door between two of the theater rooms. Bingo. You twist the knob, but it doesn’t budge.

Not bingo.

It’s unlikely that the keys for this door are still here… but you can’t just let this go. After testing the fortitude of the door with a few kicks and yanks, you resolve to look for the key despite the low odds of actually finding it.

The most likely place it would be would be a main office or something. You head back to the lobby, that’s probably where the door to one would be. The beam of your flashlight flits over the surrounding walls in search of a side door.

Some fallen ceiling tiles and wires almost hid it from you, but there it was. You pick up what looks like a snapped off broom handle and use it to push the debris out of the way and keep the wires off you while you try the door, praying that this won’t also be locked.

It doesn’t turn. Dammit! Out of sheer frustration, you give it a violent shake. It snaps clean off, the knob from the other side loudly clattering to the ground. Looks like your luck is coming back around.

The door still takes a bit of rattling to shake loose the remaining bits of the old locking mechanism, but it finally creaked open. Wasting no time, you hurried in, observing the new area. While it was dirty, it was untouched by graffiti and general vandalism. It’s a simple long hallway with two doors. You get to the first and open it up, greeted by the sight of an old bathroom.

The mirror above the sink doubles as a medicine cabinet, so you decide to check it out. When you pull it open, the whole door comes right off. Oops. The cabinet in question didn’t have anything interesting in it, only being occupied by a bottle of tums, some nail clippers, and a box of dental floss. Thrilling stuff.

You move on and head for the other door. Surely that has to be the office. The door clicks open again, thank god. You grin to yourself, it is the office. The desk is right in front of you and in good shape, not appearing to have been tampered with this past year. Excellent.

It’s surprisingly clean in here. There is some dust, but not nearly as much as you would have expected. The desk itself is old and made of wood. It honestly looks way too nice to have been left here. The chair is, weirdly enough, not present. What, that was worthy of being taken but not the desk? Whatever. It’s not important.

You’re quick to start rifling through the drawers. Paperwork, pack of gum, more paperwork, some pens, a few paperclips, even more paperwork… it’s not looking good. Your heart is sinking with each passing second. You squat and look under the desk as a last ditch effort. Your light reflects off something. Keys!

There’s a strip of tape attached to them, like someone had taped them to the underside of the desk rather than using one of the drawers. An odd decision, but who cares? These might be the keys you need!

Not wanting to waste any more time, you run back to the possible projector room door. The key ring has several keys on it, so there’s a bit of trial and error to go through in your attempts to unlock it. Your heart rate steadily picks up as you go through each key with no success. It’s not until the second to last key that you finally hear that much anticipated ‘click’.

The door is surprisingly heavy, you really have to pull to get it open enough to slip through. It loudly slams shut behind you and you’re met with the sight of two staircases. The room you saw through the window should be on the right.

The stairs are carpeted but not as worn as the ones in the theater, making them less of a tripping hazard. Dust is being kicked up with each step, you can see clouds of it flying through the air and clinging to cobwebs.

Now you’re at the top and there’s another door. This one wasn’t locked. The room itself honestly resembles a boiler room to you. Pipes and cables were running along the walls, and the walls weren’t painted. There was a table in front of the window where the projector would have been.

That’s not what made you want to see this room though. Shelves were along every wall and they were loaded. You’re gonna need both hands for this. Luckily, you have a lantern type of flashlight in your backpack just for situations like this. You fish it out, click it on, and set it on the projector table before turning back to the shelves.

There were lots of boxes, so you grab the nearest one and bring it over to the table to go through it. It’s full of what you think are spare parts for a projector, though you don’t know enough about this stuff to be sure.

The next box has some old broken lenses. Then one with tools. You even found some film, but it seemed blank. You held it up to the light and saw absolutely nothing. You suppose it makes sense for all these things to be in here, but you can’t help but wish there was something more exciting.

You pull down another box, this one from the top shelf and open it expecting to see glass cleaner or something like that, but instead you find another, smaller box. You pull it out, and it looks like a jewelry box. There’s an image on the top of it: a skull and crossbones that’s biting what looks like a wand. Interesting. It kinda looks like something you would see on a pirate flag. What were those called again? Jolly Rogers? Yeah, that sounds right.

You give it a little shake and hear something clatter inside it. Trying to open it, however, is fruitless. It’s locked. All the keys you got earlier are way too big to fit the hole, but you think it should be easy enough to break open yourself at home.

A genuine smile spreads across your face, you found something cool this time! The jewelry box goes into your backpack, and you’re about to resume your search when you hear something. It sounds like voices in the hall.

Quickly, but quietly, you snatch your lantern to turn it off and creep down the stairs and towards the door to try and listen better. There are two sets of footsteps but only one voice.

“-nd today WE are doing an overnight challenge in a haunted abandoned mall!”

You cringe. Oh great. Youtubers. Liars too based off that comment about the mall being haunted. In all the research you did on this place, you never saw so much as one ghost sighting.

Huffing out a sigh, you know that your fun is going to be cut short. There’s no telling whether or not these idiots parked right by the front door. You need to get out before cops show up. That, and you don’t want to accidentally end up in one of their videos. You can practically see the title now: “REAL ghost sighting at ABANDONED mall??? SCARY!!! (NOT CLICKBAIT)”

No thank you.

Lucky for you, you’ve already got a nice find, so at least you’re not leaving empty handed. You wait until they go into one of the theaters to leave the room, carefully easing the door open and closed. After a moment of thought, you lock it, too. You want this to be untouched when you come back. Naturally, this means you’re taking the keys with you. They can’t be that important to anyone if they got left behind like this.

Your escape from the mall and trip back home was uneventful for the most part. You were able to leave unnoticed and before cops got there. The youtubers did, indeed, park at the front door, so it was only a matter of time.

The apartment complex you lived in was kinda run down, but overall not that bad. Sure, it was dingy and the bathroom had a mold problem, but it kept you warm and dry so things could be worse.

After entering your apartment, you immediately lock your door behind you. No sense leaving it unlocked and letting some creep in. With that taken care of, you drop your backpack by the couch and go to grab some tools.

You unceremoniously plop yourself onto the couch and toss a screwdriver and hammer onto the coffee table. You bring out the old jewelry box and really look at it now that you’re in a properly lit room. The dust was really caked on, prompting you to use your sleeve to wipe away the bulk of it.

The picture was very detailed. The skull and crossbones were painted beautifully, even the small wand looked lovely. The box was wooden, expertly varnished. You already feel bad that you’re going to have to break this open. Hopefully you’ll be able to keep the damage to a minimum, that way you can use it for yourself after this.

Experimentally, you try to pull it open again. It does have some give to it, but not enough to actually get it open. You grab the screwdriver and wedge it into the sliver of space between the lid and the box. You try and pry it open. It creaks a little, opens up slightly more, but stops short. Okay, time for the big guns.

Using your feet to hold either side of it in place, you grab the hammer, aim, and bring it down on the screwdriver handle. You hear a crack, but it’s still closed. You raise your arm and bring it down again, harder this time.

CRACK

Both the plastic screwdriver handle and the lock shatter from the force of the blow. You discard the hammer onto the floor next to the bits of handle and throw open the box.

There’s only two things in there. A rolled up piece of paper, and a necklace. The pendant on the necklace sports the same image as the top of the jewelry box over a bronze lattice patterned circle. You gingerly pick it up. It’s thin and feels brittle, like you could snap it in half without much force. What’s the point of a necklace being this fragile?

You set it back down gently and pick up the paper. It’s almost as bad as the necklace, it looks very old and is crumbling around the edges. Slowly, you unfurl it and see there’s a message scrawled onto it with red ink.

“Congratulations on your lucky find

I wonder what desire you have in mind

Close your eyes, make a wish, and break the pendant in two

Whatever you want most will come to you”

An eyebrow quirks up and the strange rhyme. What, was this left by a genie? You sigh, and here you thought you might get something valuable out of this.

Still… What would it hurt to play along for a second?

You grab the pendant again and examine it while you mull over what to wish for. Money? Nah. Money can be earned, however difficult it may be. If you’re gonna be using some sort of (allegedly) all powerful magic necklace, it should be something more unobtainable. What do you really want?

If you’re completely honest with yourself, you hate where you are in life right now. The monotony, the loneliness, everything. You need a new start. A new start with some new friends. Friends that actually give a shit about you. Anyone that loves you for you. Yeah, that sounds good.

Leaning back, you close your eyes and make your wish. You’re not sure you need to say it out loud, but do anyway, “I wish to have a fresh start somewhere new. A place with adventure where I can be loved.”

The pendant snaps in half easily. You hold your breath and wait. Nothing. You crack an eye open. You’re still in your same old apartment. Of course you are. Why did you think that would work? How childish.

Even though you expected this, you can’t help the wave of bitterness that washes over you. Angrily, you stuff the broken pendant into your pocket and grab your backpack. You stand up to go put this shit away, but…

You fall through the floor.

The floor didn’t break, it’s like it just ceased to exist. As you fall, everything goes black, and there isn’t a sound to be heard besides your own screaming. What’s happening? What’s going on? Shit, was that stupid thing really magical??? Was it fucking cursed???

Trying not to panic wasn’t even being considered, how could anyone not freak out from this? So here you are, screaming and crying while holding onto your backpack for dear life as if it’s going to help you right now.

Suddenly, you can see light coming from underneath you. You’re torn between being relieved to see light and being terrified that you’re about to splatter onto the ground. A wave of warmth hits you, carrying the smell of sea water. You realize that the ‘ground’ beneath you is actually a huge body of water.

And then you’re in it.

There wasn’t enough time to prepare for the sudden immersion. Water flooded into your open mouth and you scrambled and flailed in an attempt to get to the surface. As you break the surface, you’re coughing and hacking the salty water out of your lungs. You weren’t anywhere near the ocean, how are you suddenly fighting for your life in one?

You whip your head around and are horrified to see absolutely nothing, No land or ships in sight. Oh my god. You’re going to die out here.

“HEEYYY! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”

You attempt to spin around to identify your potential savior, but a wave hits you, knocking you under the water again. Dammit, no! Not like this!

Miraculously, you get back to the surface again, and the second you do, something grabs onto your shoulder and pulls. And pulls. And keeps pulling. You went from almost drowning to feeling like you’re flying over the surface of the ocean. In an attempt to feel some semblance of security, you grab onto whatever is holding you.

It… it feels like a hand??? No, that doesn’t make sense, who could be pulling you along like this with their hand???

“Luffy, you need to slow down! You’re pulling her in too fast!”

You try to look over your shoulder to see what the hell is going on, and through your hair you think you can make out what looks like two people on a small boat. The boat is already very close and rapidly getting closer. Way too close!

THWACK

And everything goes dark again.

#one piece #yandere one piece #one piece x reader #one piece x you #one piece x y/n #one piece reader insert #yandere #platonic yandere #monkey d luffy #zoro roronoa #this prologue got so out of hand it was only supposed to be like 1k words i don't know what happened #lucky break

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breekento · 2 months

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Have you ever gone into possible hobbies that Nanami has vs Higuruma? I'm disappointed we never got to see his likes and hobbies 😭😭😭

Welcome back to another HiguNana analysis by Bree!

Unfortunately we don’t ever get to know very much about the personal interests and hobbies of Higuruma and Nanami throughout the show. They already have very little screen time and what we do see is usually pertaining only to the world of sorcery. But something that Higuruma and Nanami nation have decided is that both of these hunky men are wealthy and wealthy men have hobbies.

Like usual, these are my personal head-cannons please don’t be mad at me.

Hobbies that HiguNana have in common:

They are men of style and class, both wearing luxury suits and splurging on nice cars and watches. They adore shopping with you. They’ve worked hard in their careers to be able to afford their lifestyle and they both have the love language of gift giving. Those two things combined equals shopping trips for the two of you. They love dressing you up, watching you spin around for them. They can put their money where their mouth is. When you can’t decide which dress to buy for their work party, they say, “Just get both, darling. You can use one for a date night and one for the party.”

In a similar vein, they love traveling. And they love bringing you along. Even if it’s just a weekend getaway somewhere you’ve never been, they will book a last-minute trip and pack your bags for you. They already know your essentials and favorite outfits so you can expect your bag to be packed as soon as you get home.

Nanami’s hobbies:

Starting off with the most obvious, something we do know about Nanami is his love for reading. Before his death, he mentioned all of the books he never got around to reading. I like to think he has a home library and a wide range of taste in books from historical non-fiction to fiction fantasy books. In the mornings, he brews a cup of black coffee and sits outside, reading whatever current novel he is on before getting dressed and ready for work.

Something that we don’t have any clues for but is something that I can see fitting his character very well is a love for baking and cooking. He seems like the type of man to insist on cooking for holidays like Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. His love for pastries only signifies that he at some point has dabble in baking. Plus, he would look just adorable in an apron.

Maybe this is just me self-inserting myself but as an avid plant mother Nanami has the type of personality to be a loving plant father. He’s patient and gentle and would take the utmost care of a garden or home jungle. He could use his own fresh vegetables in his cooking!

Now, this might tie in to the shopping hobby but we all know Nanami is a man of funky ties. I could see him collecting fun ties. Shopping for other items and coming across a new pattern he has never seen before, he can’t help himself. He has a drawer only for his ties and picks them out for every occasion.

Nanami is a white collar man and who do all white collar man love? Golf. Nanami is a man of golf. It only makes sense that he would have a section of his closet dedicated to his golf attire. Many times, business deals and business meetings are done over a game of golf.

Higuruma’s hobbies:

Higuruma was much more difficult to identify some hobbies but after some deliberation, I think I’ve found a handful that I would coin. Maybe I will even write them into future Higuruma fanfics.

The first one would be poker. You can’t tell me you can’t imagine Higuruma, cigarette in mouth and whiskey on the table playing poker with a group of other lawyers in his firm. After a long and stressful day of being professional, they undo their ties and relax over a game of poker. They have enough money to make the stakes higher by adding bets and money on the line.

To me, Higuruma strikes me as a music type of guy. More specifically, old music. He has a collection of vinyls that he will pull out and show guests and more importantly, you. Weekend mornings, he heads down to the local record store and thumbs through the new albums they have in stock. He has a well up-kept vintage record player, only the finest machine to play his collection.

I honestly can’t remember if it was ever made evident in the manga that Higuruma smoked or if we all just collectively gave him that head cannon but Higuruma is a smoker. Not only a smoker but he collects cigars. Rarely does he smoke his fine cigars, only pulling them out for special occasions such as weddings or other important events.

Similarly, Higuruma is a bar hopper. Not in the same sense as a twenty-something college kid but as an established lawyer with a wealth behind him. He finds new and fun bars with good live music to sit and have a few drinks at. His favorite thing is bringing you along. He gets to hear about your day, listen to the smooth local band behind you and have a nice drink. It’s an excuse to see you dressed up in your shopping spree outfit.

#jjk #jujutsu kaisen #fanfic #jjk fanfic #jjk x you #jjk nanami #nanami kento #higuruma hiromi #higuruma x reader #hiromi jjk #kento nanami x you #kento nanami x reader #nanami fanfic #higuruma x you #jujutsu kaisen higuruma

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krewekreep · 7 months

Text

So the case of Nigga Eren/ Black coded characters in fanfic is getting WILD. Now as someone who was on tumblr when people would lowkey get weird if you asked for a race specific fic NOW it’s like because of that lapse in representation and the new wave of tumblr, there’s this overcompensation online for Black users to feel seen and build community. Sometimes I wonder if the writers know how to even write a fanfic (not because they are bad 🫤 but the fact a lot of them just seem like self insert smut) ((arguably that’s all smut on here but still work with me)

As a tumblr user in my 20s with an account over ten years old, I feel like I can kinda Grandma the situation. Both sides have a point which is why the arguing isn’t going anywhere. I believe Black women can be attracted to negative, toxic masculinity. (I personally don’t read alot of x black reader fics cause it’s just not what I like or how I get down in real life). These characterizations bleed a bit too into the real world where these traits and ways are very unhealthy, toxic, and unsafe.

“ITS FAN FICTION.” Bitch I don’t really care and watch who you talking to…

Both sides tryna have an absolute opinion is really annoying and y’all lowkey making Black centric fanfic an annoying community. 1. Yes, we all can ignore what we don’t like 2. Yes, there’s WAYYYY too much toxic nigga coded material to even get to something someone DOES LIKE 3. Whatever your age it’s okay to say I’m attracted to toxic behavior AND like to express it in writing. 4. If you don’t like it it’s okay to have a critique. But y’all blowing the Fuck outta me now 😂

Now imma lowkey be a little mean. NO no one wants to read a hood/ghetto coded White dude or Asian. It’s lame in real life, it’s lame online. Whatever YOU like (as a black person) IS ON YOU. Im not into Wiggas and Chiggas though. And as someone who identifies as hood or from that upbringing it’s a bit *anti-Black* to see every characterization of a MALE is black coded and unnecessarily controlling, possessive, RUDE, inappropriately horny etc. Like you are using REAL LIFE IDEAS OF PEOPLE to get your rocks off…take accountability for how that OBJECTIVELY looks…

All in all TBH enjoy what you want but nothing in life has EVER said what you like, what you do, and how you do it can’t be criticized. And I personally resent Black women who are not of a certain experience and obsess or fetishize men of their own race who simply come from a different lived experience (+ having an accent yall also fetishize) it’s weird…

You can be black and be a part of the problem, y’all not gonna stop cause you don’t ACTUALLY care but imma add my lil two cents…

#black fanfiction #black reader #x black trader #nigga eren #black fem reader #black fanfic writer #black fanfic #aot x black reader #eren x black y/n #eren x black reader #can y’all lowkey shut the fuck up lmaooo #for you

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genericpuff · 9 months

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Genuinely curious as to if you asked permission to use Rachel’s characters and she said yes or if you just decided Lore Olympus is popular enough to make a fan comic of and are hoping you don’t receive a cease and desist? Can anyone create a remake comic of original content and just change what you don’t like about it and it’s considered legal if you say the characters belong to the original creator? There is plenty of disappointing media out there that could be remade. I understand you cannot use their characters for profit so is just posting it ok?

Yes, anyone can, because it's called fanfiction lmao Obviously in my case the term "fan" is being used loosely here as at this point it's more like "foe"fiction LMAO but the same principles apply. Unless I try to claim LO is my own creation or make a profit off Rekindled, I should be in the clear. If legal action was taken against me then it would set a precedent against all forms of fanfiction, rewrite, redraw, etc. content around LO which are all essentially doing the same thing Rekindled is doing. I think people tend to view Rekindled as somewhat of an "exception" that's vulnerable to legal action because it's an actual weekly comic put into practice in the same playing field as LO (though they're on massively different bases obviously LOL), but there's not much more separating it from the LO redraw accounts or even the genuine fan accounts that have learned how to draw in Rachel's style (and use it to make their own LO self-inserts and whatnot). I had the time and resources and experience to do what I do through Rekindled, but every redraw, rewrite, fanfiction, etc. account are making the exact same statement I am, whether intentionally or not - "I do/don't like the canon, but/so here's what I think it would be like if it went like this".

There is definitely plenty of media out there that could be remade, and a lot of them are by the fanfiction writers out there who are filling that niche within their respective fandoms. LO is the one I want to do because it's the one that interests me and compels me the most to rewrite.

Not to mention, it's already a bold statement in and of itself to say that I'm "using Rachel's characters", a statement that likely wouldn't hold up in court LMAO Her "characters" are literally just stylized self-insert versions of public domain figures. She did not write The Hymn to Demeter. She did not create Hades, or Persephone, or Hecate, or any of the other characters she writes about. She does not own an entire religion or its deities. The only thing that she really "owns" is the licensing rights to the name "Lore Olympus", and while the style of LO is very unique and identifiable, you can't trademark/copyright a style because that uproots the entire foundation of what art is (ironically no one has had an original idea SINCE the Greeks, we all just learn and adapt our styles based on other artists that we get inspired by and learn from).

Shit, there are series completely unrelated to LO that get harassed or otherwise warned that they could cross into "legal territory" with LO just because they're Greek myth comics. Punderworld, Theia Mania, H x P Ficlets, all of these are comics that also tackle the H x P myth, and while they aren't attempting to do the same thing as Rekindled (as they exist on their own terms) it's really disappointing when I see people talk about these comics purely through the scope of Lore Olympus as if LO invented Greek myth. If WT/Rachel tried to pull rank over the story's "characters", they'd be picking a fight with every other Greek myth comic, book, movie, etc. and they oughta know that's not a fight they're gonna win lol

So everything beyond LO's branding is, in and of itself, fanfiction. Rekindled is just another level deeper by being fanfiction of a fanfiction. As long as I'm not profiting off Lore Olympus' namesake or distributing my work with the misconception that I created LO, it's legally fine. Morally, I'm sure it doesn't exactly make me a saint to do it, it definitely took a lot of hubris for me to say "yeah I don't like how you wrote your story enough that I felt the need to rewrite it completely" and I wouldn't blame anyone for thinking doing so is icky. There are certain lines I won't cross - I don't use the general LO hashtags because my content is very critical and my work isn't really for the fans, I don't encourage anyone to "show Rachel" what I do here because none of what I do here is obligated to be seen by her (and I know it wouldn't be in her best interest to see it anyways, she's literally said that she doesn't like criticism so why tf would I wanna show her a comic that exists to criticize her work lol), and I'm not planning on posting it to Webtoons because that's Rachel's territory. I don't want to overstep both in the legal sense and in the moral one. I think it's more than enough for me to just post my stuff here for the people who are seeking it, and not profit off it or directly affiliate it with LO/Rachel beyond crediting.

All that said, in a moral and legal sense, what I'm doing is literally the basis of fanfiction, and I wouldn't be going to such lengths and spending this much time every week putting out episodes every week if I never cared about LO and how it made us all feel, even if some of us don't love it as much as we used to.

#also just as some food for thought and because i couldn't find a place to fit it in the post #sonic mania ended up being one of the best games in the sonic franchise in over a decade and it was made by a sonic fangame dev #a lot of shakespeare's most beloved plays were also 'stolen' from other works #and don't get me started on the screenwriting industry #many of the books they adapt into film are completely rewritten from weaker source material or material that just won't work in movie form #obviously sometimes it's for worse and not better #but rewriting works you're dissatisfied with is an age old tradition IMO #fifty shades of grey exists and it was literally twilight fanfiction when it started LMAO #innovation is found in fandoms #i could just be haphazardly defending myself tho LOL maybe i'm just an asshole #lore olympus critical #lo critical #anti lore olympus #antiloreolympus #ask me anything #ama #anon ama #anon ask me anything #lore rekindled #lore rekindled comic #lore rekindled ama

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drbased · 2 months

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i’m kind of a baby radfem and im learning about being gender critical and i definitely agree with most of it, the only part that i have thoughts about is the nonbinary identity. i believe that a gender non conforming woman and a nonbinary woman can mean the same thing. in that, i believe that you can be a nonbinary *insert sex here* and it basically just means you’re gender nonconforming. and then it’s like well why do we need two different terms to mean the same thing and we definitely don’t, but i think it’s dangerous to conflate being nonbinary with being agender bc it’s not the same thing and it just makes gender rhetoric even more stupid & ridiculous lol. i’ve seen plenty of people identify as nonbinary and still identify with their sex-based gender. i also believe you can be female and see yourself as a woman and still use they/them or even he/him pronouns. what do u think??

(Bear with me on this, this is a long response but I hope you find it illuminating)

People regularly accuse radfems of being nazis/right wingers and I take those accusations incredibly seriously, and as I result I regularly take time to doubt my position. But the thing I keep coming back to is that:

There is no proof, and perhaps there cannot be proof, that gender exists: it is fundamentally metaphysical, spiritual, soul-like, a product of mind-body dualism, the belief that there is some nebulous internal sense of self that happens to share some labels with sex classification but also happens to completely subsume it in modern leftist discourse, despite that

Regardless of whether or not 'gender' is real, it does not form the basis of the male class oppression of women as a class, and the moment you engage with any feminist theory this fact becomes impossible to ignore. There is no true biological backing behind race and yet we are (in theory, anyway) comfortable with being able to identify and codify the oppressor and oppresses classes in that scenario; however, arguments from the mainstream left will vaguely gesture towards sex being 'fluid' as justification for the dissolution of classic feminist arguments. It's important to be suspicious of why this is and who might benefit from it;

To build on point one, due to the fact that gender has no material basis in the real world, the only 'signifiers' for it are ones that already exist as cultural schemas - and these are, naturally, taken from existing sex roles designed to uphold misogyny and, more broadly, patriachy itself. 'Gender fluid' people are at this point infamous for their tik toks of when they're male or female, and the way they demonstrate this is through short hair and comfortable clothes vs long hair and feminine styling.

Occam's razor + feminist analysis will inevitably point towards women 'identifying' with nonbinary, agender etc. simply being women who are uncomfortable with the misogynistic connotations of femaleness, and who naturally wish to disassociate from them. When you see things under that lens, you can immediately notice patterns of behaviour and language that signal the belief system they hold. To 'identify' as anything is fundamentally meaningless, and signals nothing to both yourself and others except perhaps language. As a person recovering from depression, I have been detaching myself from all rigid concepts of classifying myself and instead focussing much more on being who I am in the moment. It it much healthier to be this way (and a lot less stressful, too)

When we call ourselves 'women', this is nothing more a neutral description of our biology. And due to our status as an oppressed class, especially one based on our biology, it is of paramount importance that we retain language that succinctly names us as such. Dworkin states in Pornography that one of the powers that men have is the power of naming. We still live under patriarchy, and the language we use cannot be separated from male ideas and male thought. Men had, and have, no problem naming us as the oppressor class when it benefits them (especially in the case of prostitution and pornography), but as it has become less, let's say' popular to be seen as a man in recent years, we have seen an explosion of transgender rhetoric enter the popular consciousness. Without the ability to recognise ourselves as women, we lose statistics, we lose safe spaces away from the oppressor class, and we lose class consciousness.

As for using 'they/them' and 'he/they' pronouns - well, I'm a straight woman, but I'm aware that there is a certain lesbian tradition of using masculine pronouns. But that's in a very different context to what's being described here. I've already addressed language but let's put a laser-sighted focus on pronouns for a second:

As a culture, we default to 'he' pronouns for a reason. For a long time, we were 'mankind' and everything akin to humanity is given masculine pronouns. Cute little critters are assumed to be male, probably all your soft toys are male, the most basic of doodles are assumed to be male and only allowed to be female once they are given a dress. It should be no surprise that women who want to escape the shackles of femininity want to be called he/him - they want access to the percieved full humanity of men. Meanwhile, the only times we attribute she/her to things other than people are to things like cars, ships, and natural disasters (with the exception of mother nature, of course) - tools of warfare, accessories of masculinity, and symbols of 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'.

There is a study somewhere that shows that when you use 'they/them' as a neutral pronoun, people assume male - especially if you're referencing a prestige profession. If I were to say, I went to the doctor yesterday, they were great - you would automatically assume a male doctor. This is no accident - as already stated, maleness is the default. Women who want to use they/them are dissociating themselves from femaleness but in doing so they are accidentally using language that signifies maleness. This is why feminist analysis is so important, and why 'identifying' as something holds little water in the real world. In an ideal world, perhaps they/them could be genuinely seen as neutral - but we don't live in an ideal world; we live in a world where women are oppressed.

So to answer part of your question, no, I do not believe that 'nonbinary' and 'gender non-conforming' are the same thing; nonbinary is an attempt at classifying someone according to some nebulous, unprovable sense of internal identity that has no real material impact - and any attempt to 'express' this gender are simply taking existing sex roles and mashing them together. Gender nonconforming has a different meaning in radfem circles as it does in transgender ones - TRAs take it to mean that someone is indentifying with a different gender than they were 'assigned' at birth, but radfems simply use it to describe the physical act of being a woman (or man) who doesn't conform to expected sex roles. I am 'gnc' but that's just a neutral descriptor of my dress-sense - and it's a loose descriptor because in many ways I'm definitely not gnc in my behaviour, although I am working on my self-confidence, especially in contexts such as physical fitness and DIY. Gnc is useful shorthand for 'not conforming to sex roles in some major capacity enough to be noticeable by others' - and the only reason it's important, especially for women, is because femininity (our expected behaviour) is designed by the patriarchy to dissociate us from our bodies and keep us decorative, fragile, weak and sexually vulnerable to men.

#my writing #theory posting

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brennenscolby · 1 year

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Officer and I [Chapter two]: Surprises await

• Summary: Following the Arklay murders, a handful of similar incidents arise across Raccoon City. All the while, a handsome police officer meets a recently promoted detective. Can their combined efforts put an end to an impending doom?

• Warnings + content + genres: Mentions of blood & gore, [trigger warning] Violence, Weaponry, [Smut], Consensual sex, fluff, self-insert, crime & mystery, Horror, Romance, Angst, Hurt & Comfort.

• Pairings: Leon S. Kennedy (Police Officer!) x (Female) Reader (Detective!)

A/N: text is written in white, dark mode works best when reading.

Wc: 1.5k

Playlist:

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As you closed the door to the west office, a hand reached for your shoulder, giving it a slight pat before you could react, “Detective (L/N)”, You turned around, curious at the tone, before straightening up once you saw the familiar man,

“Lieutenant Marvin!”

“We’ve been over this”, he grimaced, expressing distaste for the honorific you often used, despite his best efforts to tell you otherwise. You chuckled, the apples of your cheeks churning in shade from your widened smile in addition to the feeling of the sun’s rays from the rectangular window overlooking the city. “Is there anything I can help you with?”, you questioned, raking your brain for any responsibility you might've missed on the way in.

“Fortunately for you, nothing as of right now. Just came to remind you. The rookie’s coming in soon”, you nodded.

“Knowing how good of a cop you were, I wanted this final assignment to leave an impression on you. So don’t fail me now.”, you looked at him intently, so utterly hard that you could almost see the remnants of admiration and sorrow swimming in his eyes. It was safe to say he’d missed you.

“In case you get side-tracked, I’ve listed every single duty on file, right on your new desk. With that, I’ll leave you to it. Wish you luck on your endeavors.”

“Lieutenant-”, you held out a hand to pause his departure, smiling desperately after seeing his faltering, stoic facade. He stopped, looking at you expectantly,

“You say that like I won’t be under your command anymore. I have a week left y’know. Appreciate me until then”, you winked, lips curling into a smile. In all honesty, you wished Marvin were less stressed about the ongoing situation. You could see through his hard exterior and it was clear he was holding his emotions back. Maybe he didn’t want to talk about it now, but something in the way he spoke to you this time around let you know that he’d grown so attached to you. The older male relaxed, stifling a soft chuckle before retreating from the pathway, “You’re right, detective. That reminds me, now that you mention it, I think I’ll add on another assignment for good measure”, shock washed over you as you quickly shook your head, earning another chuckle from the man who looked at you fondly, “Take care rookie”, he gently brushed passed.

“I’m not a rookie anymore!”, you huffed childishly as you turned, only for him to be nowhere near. Placing a hand on your perspirated forehead, you stifled a dry laugh, before moving from the walkway, and in the direction of the six desks seated in the middle of the office. You looked at the empty seats for a second, immediately noting that your team had an early start.

You withdrew focus from the notion, citing the fact that numerous riots have been occurring across the city. They probably had to go manage them. The reason for those occurrences has yet to be identified but rumors have been referencing some sort of secret organization that has been contributing to foul play through human experimentation. Even so, the police force has yet to comment on it, as they have yet to find any indication of said company.

While you never intended to make such things your everyday norm as a police officer, you often waited for your lieutenant's word as that's what you trusted best. And as of right now, he wanted you least concerned with it. However, even without a lack of bodies from your squad that usually invaded the room, something ultimately still felt off. Aside from the riots and rumors going on, perhaps, it was the details of your impending absence. Upon approaching the first workspace located between the rest, you grew glum, a frown making its way onto your lips.

Your old desk…

Your fingers drummed over it as you thought back silently to the many assignments you’ve had to do there. You hated to admit it, but while you had the most atrocious and traumatic experiences there, you also had pleasant ones.

Drawing closer to the area where your old name tag would’ve been, you spotted the new one. Bold, golden, letters contrasted against the black band that wrapped around the rectangular holder. Your anguish quickly dissipated, replaced by curiosity,

“Leon S. Kennedy”

So that was the new rookie’s name, huh?

You repeated it in your head, curious as to how it’d sound rolling off your tongue despite previously catching the first half of his name in your final group meeting with the lieutenant. The sun’s glint on the desk forced you to set the nameplate down as a new thing derived your attention.

You picked the neatly folded paper up from the center of the desk, taking a few minutes to read it, before setting it down.

What a cute assignment for a rookie. Easy work and it sounded like an icebreaker a high school teacher would’ve used. You found amusement in the idea that the Lieutenant concocted for the new member of the police force.

‘At least he tried’, you chuckled, thinking back to the goofy assignment Marvin first gave you. Knowing how hectic the next few days would be, you knew the new officer wouldn’t get to lay eyes on the paper until the end of the week at best.

He’d be stuck with you for the most part.

A gust of wind rolled over you, as a selective few of your colleagues came rushing in, paving the way to a loud and rowdy desk area,

“Hey guys”, you smiled, watching as Rita hurriedly climbed up on her wooden table with glittery alphabetical banners in hand. Elliot groaned lazily before shortly following suit. You proceeded to watch the two bicker for a hot minute before they snapped their heads to you in a quick manner,

“Oh! Heya, (Y/N)!”, Rita greeted, grabbing a piece of flimsy scotch tape from the side of her wrist,

“Don't mind us, we’re just-, we’re just,”

“Finishing some last-minute decorations?”

“Pretty much”, The female grabbed her police vector, tugging it down just a smudge to hide the embarrassment on her face.

“Hey you”, Elliot remarked, the exasperated look in his eyes leaving you confused as he handed you a pile of supplies, “Now that you’re here, do you mind helping Rita finish the decorations? Yeah? Please? Thanks”, he squeezed your shoulder before jogging in the direction of the doorway. You stood, dumbfounded before looking at the blonde in question, “He was tired of helping me. Said I was apparently too pushy and he wanted to do some real police work ”, she sighed, mumbling something about a “fuckin prick”.

“I heard that”, came audibly from across the room. You chuckled at them before sluggishly planting a firm foot on a desk and tugging your body on top. Rita smirked, giving you the end of the alphabetical banner she held,

“Sometimes, hard work isn’t police work.”

You nodded, “Especially when it pertains to throwing a surprise celebration in a police station."

You both chuckled. Although you expected the surprise celebration to be a difficult occasion to gain approval for by the likes of Marvin, it surprisingly wasn’t. Perhaps because it wasn't very often the lieutenant inducted a new officer. With what had been going on for the past few months, nobody wanted to work in Raccoon city. The violence often overwhelmed people. Especially when it contributed to death. It was too much of a burden for them or their family. Under that exact circumstance, you began to accept that perhaps you could see where Marvin was coming from when he decided to let the squad he commanded do this. The two of you tapped up the edges of the banner, with it finally and clearly reading, ‘Welcome Leon’. Rita helped you settle down carefully in your chair, shortly seating herself as well,

“Thanks for helping me, I know you have your own things to do”, she motioned towards your office, which sat directly to the right of the room. “Nah, it’s fine”, you waved a hand dismissively, “Might as well help set up the celebration since I’ll be the one showing him around”,

Rita smiled wolfishly, “Oh yeah, I forgot. Way to go robocop”.

“I try, I try”, you shrugged, laughing in the end. You both quieted down, eyes glancing over the time before hurriedly moving across the room. Work didn’t start until 8:30 am for either of you, but today, you were asked to come in early for the sake of the newbie.

“As much as I’d love to stay and chat, we should probably get to crackin.",

“Agreed. Lieutenant told me I could get started on my first assignment while I wait for the rook- eh, Leon.”, she eyed you suspiciously, sensing your particular avoidance towards his name. She began to nod slowly, “I see. well then, I salute you detective. Have a good rest of your day. It’s been a pleasure working with you”, she smiled solemnly, trying her best to keep her emotions at bay despite wanting to ball her eyes out in the work environment,

“Thank you, Rita. It’s been a pleasure working with you too." you grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze before standing. "Take care of the boys for me, will Ya?”, you gathered up a few pens and pencils from a cup on your desk, leaving some for your new friend while grabbing a few for yourself,

“Considering the fact that I’m officially the only female. It’s a definite yes”, she confirmed, grabbing at the stray supplies scattered across the workstation. Taking a moment to wash away the sadness of your old job, you took a deep breath before walking across the room and looking at your brand-new office space. The greyish-blue colors of the west office curved around the walls framing your cubic space, leaving just enough space for the three square windows right above your sitting space. The interior looked nice and neat, a big brown desk old with age, but brand new with purpose. Just as you move to hanker down and pop open one of the numerous files on your desk, the chatter from the west office rose in volume, spiking your curiosity,

“Welcome Leon! Nice to meet you!”

{Taglist!}: @hnyc0mb @holyhumorliteraturelight @trinswhimsys @xxsealitwithakissxx @zombies-man @bigjuicythotass @xbluegracex @juanasspirit

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#leon kennedy x reader #leon s kennedy #residentevil 2 #re2 remake #leon kennedy x you #leon kennedy smut #re2 #leon scott kennedy #claire redfield x reader #claire redfield

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mariailoveyou-guerin · 9 months

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People still making Mariana out to be the devil is so funny to me because they love white woman who do worse let’s say Georgia from G&G the same people who love her and think she’s badass amazing mother for doing everything children also love and watch Bridgerton but are call marina most vile cruel things all bc she too wanted to do what was best for her and her child everyone and their mothers how much I love and will die for Penelope but even she’s done unspeakable things to Colin Eloise and his family but they still ship her with him but Marian tries to trap him and she’s the demon span or the devil himself it’s so hilarious to me because it’s not them looking out or caring about Colin it’s them being flat out racist and they act like we don’t see it and pretending to hide their hatred for marina by saying she’s not a good person like ma’am neither is pen when she’s writting most cruel things about the guy she loves and his family and Mariana just say y’all racist and hate Mariana bc of misogynior and go stop hiding behind wanting best for Colin cuz my perfect baby still wanted to marry her and liked her even when pen told him about Mariana plans he understood her and acted like the perfect gentleman he is so don’t even pretend to be doing all that hatred and cruelty and name calling in Colin honour bc he would spit on your face if he wasn’t such a perfect gentleman!

It’s not shocking that a yt show has so many old hag yt woman hating on the one and only black character in a world they think black people don’t belong or shouldn’t be in because it’s not historic accuracy or whatever or don’t think black people don’t exist I haven’t seen polin stans hate Kate but I think they would’ve if she was somehow in the way or was an interesting enough character that was getting attention just because it’s taking away from their self insert yt girl they identify with (bc men probably never looked at them and they feel like Penelope book version at least with how she looks down on herself in comparison to other girls and the men thank god tv pen is amazing badass queen who has her own flaws but bigger better complexities) being centre of the story thankfully was so bland and boring she couldn’t take attention away from anything or anyone which is shame for an actress like Simone!

I don’t even know or like marina or if her name even is marinina because I’ve only seen s2 and I’m pen polin Edwina and Benedict person do not care about anyone else but them and ofc the queen the OG queen ofc! I just think it’s tired seeing so many polin editors making marina out to be devil all bc she lied like my best beautiful hiro Penelope ain’t been lying to her men and bestie for years the hypocrisy the double standards and the obvious racism and misogynior of it all makes me sick to my stomach y’all don’t like her and you are getting your polin season and she ain’t even there nor has she been a problem so why y’all still on her ass it’s weird and it’s showing y’all loser insecurities over a character that’s no longer there who was never ever a thread because show keeps sticking to the books ending so let the girl go and leave in leave and stop this very obvious racism as pen fan y’all make me sick!!

What gets me the most is they like Anthony of all men Anthony the most horrible vile character on that whole show but wanna speak on marina please it’s plain and simple racism anti black and misogynior the end stop lying to yourself making excuses shes mean cruel nah it’s not that it’s bc she’s black and dared to get with ur yt boy fav Colin and tried taking something y’all think belongs to ur yt girl self insert fav Penelope simple af!

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xxboneluvrr777xx · 2 months

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XxWELCOME TO MY BLOG.xX ENJOY!-★

(Nothing portrayed on this account is real, this is all roleplay. CW for: Themes of Murder, Kidnapping/Implied Kidnapping, Sexual themes, Cigarette Use, Drug Use, Alcohol Consumption, Implied addictions, Etc)

(Muse: Spencer “Kit” Valentine

Boyfriend to Death self insert/OC)

(OC INFO: Spencer was abducted by Strade after getting drunk during their “bar date” and passing out in his car. Despite being kidnapped and waking up half naked in a filthy basement, Spencer thought it was all just fucked up roleplay and went along with it. She eventually becomes an accomplice to Strade, willing to help him during his streams and even goes to bars with him to pick out their next victim.

After the events of BTD1 and Strade’s death, she goes her own separate way from Ren, despite the two of them forming a close friendship mainly due to them both being beastkin. They keep touch, but don’t live with each other anymore. He picks up a night shift job at a local gas station.

During the events of TPOF, he is 50 years old and goes by “Kit”. He is Fox’s right hand man, she often moderates his chat during streams and overlooks auctions to make sure they go smoothly and also prevent any bidders from breaking out into fights after a certain incident. Sometimes, it assists Fox during a stream but this is very rare. This version of Spencer will be used for any TPOF related RP, interactions with TPOF OC’S, etc.

Spencer/Kit is Scene-Emo (later more like a washed up metalhead dad in TPOF) and has a special interest in bones. It has a decorated skull taken from an escort he murdered thats lovingly named “Bonehead”.)

(Mun: @foxvampy . Mun is 22, Muse is 22-50 and uses He/She/It pronouns and identifies as Bigender. I WILL NOT WRITE: Child x Adult, Incest, Zoophilia, etc. If you try to force these subjects onto the muse you WILL be blocked.)

THIS IS AN 18+ ROLEPLAY BLOG. MINORS DNI, YOU WILL BE BLOCKED INSTANTLY.

(In case you need it, here’s his ref sheet! I’m currently working on his TPOF design.)

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cosmicjoke · 2 months

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“Why the hell can't we sympathize with a character that isn't like us? Why do they have to be what we are in order for us to care about them? Why do we have to see ourselves in everything?”

Thank you for this. As much as I understand that a part of connecting to literature (or media in general, whatever), when young, depends on how much that is relatable to your own experience, and that is why fair representation is important, I think that like many other things this need has been bastardized and commodified. Now you can’t connect to a character unless you convince your followers that the characters has the same sexual orientation/gender/ethnicity/brain as you do (but in an argument when you remove your personal need from it, and present your need as a hard truth that everybody has to agree to, or else).

You think it helps diversity; in fact, it only makes people see characters as recyclable labels, and people as well.

While I don’t think all the people that do this are assholes (it’s such a widespread trend, claiming I don’t know, bisexuality for this or that other character, that is mainly about being young, insecure, wanting to belong… then there are indeed assholes among those, but not all, and a lot depends on group dynamics, and pervasive violence in internet discussion spaces), I wish there was a clear understanding that the best thing you can do when experiencing stories is to find commonality with people different than you, and that knowing that commonality is part of the human condition, and not because they have the same X diagnosis you have.

*sigh*

Exactly, and well said.

And no, not all of them are assholes, just the ones that harass others and literally try to force their pathological need for these characters to be self-inserts onto everyone else. When they start becoming aggressive and hostile toward anyone who doesn't accept their headcanons as canon, then there's a problem. And those seem to be the ones that dominate fandom spaces, and make the general experience of fandom miserable.

And like I said, this absolute refusal to acknowledge that this or that character isn't them and doesn't encapsulate who they are and what they identify as, is often indicative of how they'll treat people in the real world, flying off the handle at anyone who expresses different views to the ones they hold, or isn't what they are (i.e. this general hatred and demeaning attitude toward anyone who isn't like them, or isn't part of whatever group they identify with).

The idea of story telling, as you said, is to find commonality even with people who AREN'T like you, and through that, to find empathy for one another through our shared humanity. But we've gotten to a point in society now where racial or sexual or gender essentialism has taken over, where once the goal was to render these things obsolete and recognize them as arbitrary and thus non-essential in judging another person. Instead we make them the only thing that matters about someone, and that's also reflected in this obsession with making every character gay, or trans, or nonbinary, or bisexual, or whatever. Because we make those arbitrary characteristics the most essential part of who we are, then we also want to make them the most essential characteristic of everyone else too, including fictional characters, and yeah, it ends up homogenizing everything, instead of creating actual diversity.

Relating this to Levi specifically, it's particularly ironic, since Levi is the most empathetic character in the story, and that empathy extends to people who are very, very different from him. The people that try to force Levi into a box then are completely missing the entire core of his character. Levi should be teaching us about the importance of compassion and empathy and kindness, but instead these people display this attitude toward Levi where, if they can't mold him into exactly what they want him to be, then in their eyes, he's worthless.

#Levi Ackerman #attack in titan #shingkei no kyojin #meta #commentary

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 1 year

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I heard a theory that the boys will be isekaied into yuu’s world after chapter7! Do you have any thoughts on that theory?

I don’t think it’s likely just from a practical stance?? 🤔 Like… the whole point of TWST is that there’s magic and whimsy and all of that. By comparison, isekai-ing them to a world without magic sounds so boring, and it doesn’t really fit thematically speaking.

Would it really be that exciting to have Yuu teach them how to live without magic when a lot of the characters don’t heavily rely on magic on a day-to-day basis to begin with outside of schoolwork (excluding maybe the fae)? How would that contribute to the game’s themes about good and evil, cooperation and teamwork? Would it expand on the characters and their lore in any significant way?

Furthermore, we, the players, from a meta perspective, want to be able to escape from reality and go into a world of magic. It takes a lot away from the marketed “enchanted” experience if the setting is returned to a mundane and magicless one. The situation of isekai-ing the boys into a magicless world also just interferes with the self-insert angle (which is a key part of the TWST experience). It would mean assigning Yuu a more concrete backstory regarding where they come from and their friends/family, who would inevitably get caught up in their life. Even something like as small as Yuu’s country of origin can disrupt immersion for those who don’t identify with it.

The theory sounds like more of an idea for fanfiction or fan art than actual TWST canon. I get that some people want it to happen, but we need to think if it makes sense for it to happen given everything else in the game.

We’ll probably just follow Twisted Wonderland from some new story angle, maybe expand on new lore and characters (be it non-OB boys, fourth years, RSA, etc.). It could also very well be a continuation of time, with new first years entering and the their years moving on to their internships, since there is a focus on time and change in episode 7. Depending on where 7 ends up going, maybe it’ll be a whole arc where Yuu has to help ease everyone into accepting that their idols are indeed villains 😂

#twst #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #notes from the writing raven #question #Yuu

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gingerjolover · 2 months

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hi ging i know this is totally not the place for unsolicited asking for advice so totally ignore this ask if it’s the wrong place to be doing this BUT in short i’m having an identity crisis yay!!! up until very recently i though i was just a very very supportive ally, eg when homophobic things were said around me i was personally offended but was just like noooo i’m just a huge ally i’m not gay!! i love love munagenius, and not just in a “i wanna be friends with all of them!” way, i’ve had crushes on girls irl, but have just pushed them deep deep down and i’m attracted to them and i would date a girl and AND I KNOW THAT SOUNDS SO GAY LIKE I SHOULDNT EVEN BEEN QUESTIONING BUT FOR SOME REASON IM IN DENIAL. it’s like i almost don’t feel gay enough? literally nobody knows because i like men (unfortunate i know) and have been in “straight” relationships all my life. i know nobody but me can tell me if i’m queer or not like this is my shit to deal with but maybe i just needed somewhere to dump my feelings anonymously :p

hi baby!

this is a safe space, you’re always allowed to ramble in my inbox (that goes for all of you!)

i can’t, in earnest, sit here and write, “well if you like girls and you would date a girl, you’re queer,” because i know first hand that it’s not that easy

i was right where you are not that long ago, and i hope i can use my experiences to give you some guidance?? without making it sound like it’s all about me??

we had very similar experiences, i’ve ALWAYS had crushes on women but never realized they were crushes, i was like “no i just want to be their best friend” or “i admire them soooo much,” or “i wish i looked like them” — and while those are totally normal thoughts to have, i also actively was pushing down the idea that i, as in me ginger, could be queer, i didn’t know what queer meant and i didn’t even know that bisexuality was a thing when i was young

i had a MAJOR identity crisis actually like right before i started posting on here consistently, if you look at my tumblr in the very beginning it was literally all “insert male celebrity x reader” because i did not allow myself to look at content that i was not “queer enough” for

denial is something i ALSO went through, i can’t tell you how many times my best friends (both queer) had to talk me down about WHY i was getting so worked about about labeling myself or feeling confused about liking girls, trying to find the root of why i wouldn’t allow myself to say i was queer or even curious about my sexuality

obviously accepting yourself is hard, right? it’s challenging an idea about yourself that is different from what you’ve always known yourself. i struggled so much with this because, like you sweet anon, i was always straight and nobody knew otherwise

self acceptance/no longer being in denial is also hard because there’s so many factors. one of the biggest factors for me was i was living in an environment at the time where queerness was NOT fully accepted, i know that i was going to be unsafe (mentally, emotionally, spiritually) if i had come out. (i eventually did to one of my family members and it worked out but most of them still don’t know)

one of my other things when not feeling queer enough was like “well i haven’t had a lot experiences with women so i can’t really be queer,” and my best friend literally was like “do you tell children who identify as queer that they aren’t because they haven’t kissed anyone?” and i said “of course not!” and he sat there and let me think about it… and then was like “well yeah, see how stupid that sounds? you’re not LESS queer because you don’t have experience, like maybe it’s more intimidating for you, but it doesn’t make you less”… and it’s something i still think about all the time

i know i’m rambling and i’m kinda jumping around but something you need understand and sit with is you don’t HAVE to label yourself! the biggest reason i hadn’t come out (combined with above) is because i couldn’t label myself, i didn’t feel queer enough for any label.

i ended up (after truly months) coming out as bi (not even officially, i just started referring to myself as bisexual and posting stuff on instagram and creating my own lil community) because like you anon, i unfortunately like men😪 (even though i am actively only dating women/nb at the moment, don’t dissect this too much i am still in my identity crisis)

i guess what i am trying to saaaaay is be patient with yourself, you are queer enough, even if you’re just questioning (although it sounds like you were where i was and you’re def not but i can’t tell you that). as long as you are entering this space respectfully and your intentions are pure, you have nothing to worry about sweet anon.

working to get over the “my whole life is going to change” and turning it into “my whole life is going to change!!!” is a way to help with this identity crisis. any change is hard, change is super scary, but as long as you’re in a place where you are safe and healthy, living authentically, even if confused, is so much better than feeling trapped and trying to work through it alone.

i hope this makes sense, i am obviously oversimplifying a lot of the issues of coming out or identifying yourself, i am very privileged that most of my life hasn’t changed since i have come out, and i know it’s not always the easiest/safest for people

i love you sweet anon! my inbox is always open - so are my messages :)

#anon cutie #idk even what to tag this #coming out #maybe?#like #discovering sexuality #queer discourse #gingy talks too much

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mari-lair · 10 months

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I always wondered who the scientist responsible for Aoi in the Nursery Monster AU was, as this was never mentioned in the event posts. I even considered that it was Akane and that she would be called Aoi in this universe because he is terrible at giving names (or simply didn't even bother to give her an original name because he doesn't like monsters) and just gave her his last name, but I am not sure. What would your opinion be on this? (I know it's kind of a silly question because Aoi wasn't even featured during the event, but it's a genuine curiosity. I hope you have an opinion on this!).

Your ask got me curious too so I went to dig as much info as I could on her! Which... isn’t much. Aoi has so little spotlight in the monster nursery au that I genuinely do not know if she is named ‘Aoi’ in it.

They don’t call Aoi by name in the wiki, even her assigned name is ‘staff-in-training’ instead of an actual name.

And the monster eggs are identified by a single letter or a number:

So for all we know, Aoi could be called ‘A’ in this AU.

The researchers are also called by a letter though, like Kou being Researcher K and Sakura being Researcher S, so it could just be an aesthetic...

I’ll assume that’s how they are professionally called since I don’t have much to work with on this AU world building, and I need at least crumbs to speculate and overthink stuffs: So either they keep things very impersonal in this nursery, or this manager character (the au self-insert) is not fully trusted and information is being kept from them.

It get the feeling the researchers raise the monsters but do not name them, since the name was drawn in the eggs before people decided which researcher would take care of which egg, so I doubt who named Aoi was the one that raised her.

Most workers seem relatively attached to monsters so I am torn between Sakura (who introduce us to the eggs and always refers to them in a professional manner) or Akane (who was the one that sent the 'manager’ to check the nursery, but is still just named ‘supervisor’, so he is impersonal with anyone in the job) as the ones behind naming the eggs.

As for who raised her, it is just as hard if not harder to try to figure out since we really have no info on them, but I feel like is either Akane or Sakura again

Akane raising her would make sense if we assume that to work on the nursery the MS Countermeasure Department must deem them safe for work (Osha approved vibe) and that would be hard to accomplish considering Akane is skeptical if the nursery should exist in the first place and even when the “keep the nursery open” option won the AU poll, he still isn't very convinced.

He also immediately assumes the manager is ‘swayed by emotions’ so he must have some experience with being attached to the point of blinding his rational mind, which brings me to how Teru and Aoi are the only monsters we 'meet’ that are not kids/ seem to work in the nursery, so if Akane got attached to Aoi while raising her, it would explain why she got the job.

This option does make me sad though... Cause this is an au where every monster is loud and somewhat feral, very beast-like, but Aoi, who is described as ‘very bright’ is not sociable or confident, or if she is and just doesn't like the manager character, she is still not wild. If she was raised by Akane, who isn’t good at hiding that he thinks monsters are ‘dangerous’, yet she still chose to work in the nursery, she must genuinely be fond of her caretaker, and feel like she is better as quiet and ‘nondangerous’. If we assume she has the same canon problem of not wanting to be hated and Akane being oblivious to it unless she explicitly tells him, it would make her quiet attitude even more depressing... But I'm getting off topic tfyifgtydf

And I chose Sakura as the other option cause Sakura comments you shouldn’t step on Aoi’s tail when we pass by Aoi, so she seem to have some experience with Aoi, plus, the two are seem together here.

And Sakura is very quiet and calm, so if she raised Aoi and Aoi got attached to her, it would make sense for Aoi to try to copy her behavior and want to work with her!

#is not a silly question at all! Is the kind that make me think about things I wouldn't have otherwise and I love it #I did end up rambling and going into headcanon territory though... hope you don't mind #tbhk #monster nursery au

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idohistorysometimes · 2 years

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Trans Bones

"In 300 years when they dig up your bones they will know you are (insert sex here)” is an argument I see a lot in the comment sections of a lot of trans creators on sites like Tiktok. These are usually left in the comment sections of trans people’s videos regardless of subject and are usually there to try to goad these creators into detransition, self-harm, suicide, or are just there to harass the target.

Needless to say I dislike these sorts of comments.

For one these comments are usually just said to be extremely hurtful and, I don't know about you guys, but edgy comments made for the sake of edge’s sake are just extremely lazy and sad. I usually am not a fan of just listening to people spew the cruelest things they can think of to make themselves feel better or to try to outdo the last edgy comment. But that is not the only reason I dislike these comments. I also dislike these comments because they are not true and are a vast oversimplification of what archeology is and how we (being historians and people who work in history) research the past and treat people. That is not how that works.

So let's talk about bones (and more specifically, trans bones) and what makes this specific argument kind of dumb.

CONTEXT

When out on a dig archeologists don't just dig up remains, point at them, and proclaim what gender they think the remains are and then just walk away. There are a lot of things that go into identifying remains that go far beyond a passing glance. And all of them rely on something called “CONTEXT”.

So what is “Context”?

Context is everything that might tell us who that person was, where they were from, and any information that might give us a clue as to the circumstances in which this person lived. This can also include factors like the culture of an area, the time period the person lived in, the climate and geological makeup of an area, and even something as small as the things buried with the remains or how they were found. So when you find bones you are not just looking at the bones, you are looking at the bones along with everything else around them.

Let's take a look at these bones for example.

Without context, this is just a body sitting in a stone tomb. It is clearly dead, as you can probably infer, and if we just left things there it would overall be pretty uninteresting. But when you look into the context of these bones they tell a very different story.

These bones were found in Pompeii in the necropolis of Porta Sarno and the person buried here was determined to have died before the volcanic eruption that destroyed the city. So with his tomb we are able to learn a little bit about life in Pompeii pre-eruption. There are Greek AND Latin inscriptions on the inside of the tomb and these inscriptions suggest this person was: Greek, a former slave who gained freedom (based on what the inscriptions said along with things found at the site), and used his freedom to organize Greek theater performances within the city while he was alive. We also know his name, Marcus Venerius Secundio. So just by looking at the grave of this one man we are able to both learn a little bit about this person but also about the Greek influence in Rome at the time.

So what does any of this have to do with the bones of trans people?

Just looking at a body without context tells you literally nothing about that person. Because, as evident by looking at that image, without taking into account the context of the body in both its location and the history of the location you would know virtually nothing about the person. To quote an archeologist friend of mine: “You cannot tell who a person was just by their bones”. This is not supposed to be this hallmark card level quote either, you literally cannot tell who a person was just by looking at their bones. You have no idea who they were, what their life was like, how they lived, or virtually everything else about them just from the bones. Bones are not reliable for that.

This brings me to my next point...

Skeletal Remains and Hormonal Markers

It is extremely hard to tell male and female skeletons apart from eachother. Skeletons do not look like this:

See, this is fucking stupid. This is not how anatomy works. We are not on deviantart or in an anime.

This is a better example.

Notice how similar the skeletons on both the left and right are? There are SOME anatomical differences between the two but they are subtle and things can often remain pretty ambiguous since a lot of traits are not sex-exclusive. For example, many men can be shorter in stature. That is not just something you see only in women. In fact, there are many female skeletons that are taller than male ones. Another example can be the broadness of the shoulders. Many women can have broader shoulders and vice versa. Those are not reliable ways of determining the sex of a skeleton. And if you don't have the head or pelvis you will literally never know what gender that skeleton was. It is impossible to tell. And for prepubescent skeletons its also impossible to tell since those subtle changes that occur during puberty have not happened yet.

During HRT you are essentially going through second puberty. Your bones are going to change to match the hormones flowing through your body. And if you are transitioning to female: you might even have a few procedures to alter some parts of your bone structure to make it align better with your gender identity. Regardless of what specifically is at play: during your transition your face/body is going to change. And when those changes happen they will make you look like the sex you are transitioning to.

This man’s name is Jamie Raines and he was kind enough to document his own transgender jorney online for us to see. He started transitioning back when he was 17 years old (which is the first image) and the second image was taken at age 21.

Notice how Jamie’s face changes between these photos.

And this is Jamie now at age 28.

Are you guys beginning to see what I am saying?

When you are trans and on HRT your body changes and those changes are more than just skin deep. Things change down to the bone and those changes are visible. And this is totally leaving out other things that can alter bone structure that might obscure things even more such as genetic diseases, intersex people, and even just human error (since that also happens).

Skeletons are ambigious to begin with and if you are transitioning, your body is transitioning with you.

Records

Part of the reason we know SO MUCH about the past is that we have something called “Records”. All throughout human existence, there have always been people who have recorded details about people, places, and events. This becomes especially true when we get closer and closer to the modern day. And one of the things people usually kept the best records on was how and when people died.

Assuming we do not slip into an informational dark age where the internet is somehow destroyed and all physical records we have now are also destroyed: in 300 years archeologists and anthropologists will know what trans people are. They will know they existed (they have for much longer than that too) and they will be aware of the cultural circumstances in which they lived. They will also know how to find their birth records, records of them throughout their life due to things like the internet and our extensive recordkeeping methods of today, and death records with little issue.

We live in an age of constant record keeping and information sharing. Assuming trans people with either stop existing or will be forgotten about despite that is an unreasonable expectation given how good these records are. And they will only continue to get better.

So bottom line?

Nobody will be digging you up in 300 years and misgendering you based on just your bones alone. I dont even know why they would be digging you up specifically in the first place since, lets face it, since we are so good at keeping records you probably would not need to do that. You dont just go around digging up dead people at random if you are an archeologist. There is a process to that.

But regardless, you’re good.

This argument is dumb.

EDIT

I am aware HRT does not change EVERYTHING about a skeleton. Hormones effect the body in many ways and all of them depend on: what you are being given, the amount, your biological sex and what other hormones are already in your body, etc. I am aware that, specifically within the skull and pelvis, that there are differences. I mention that in the post itself.

This post is not meant to totally discredit the fact that sex is a thing. Its meant to say how archeology is nuanced and given the climate of today: will continue to get more and more nuanced. Transness is not something that will be forgotten by history or that will be ruled out by archeologists of the future because its part of our culture (and thus context). Is every person trans? No. Should every skeleton found be considered trans? No. But its a nuance people take into account. Transness is not a new idea nor is geneder nonconformity. The western binary does not exist in all cultures across all history and it probably wont always exist in the future either.

#transphobia #transgender #trans community #trans people #lgbtq #lgbtq community #lgbtq history #history #historians #historian #museum #museam #history museum #museum work

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