#feel free to disagree of course but please be civil
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Very interesting to me that a certain subset of the BES fandom's favourite iterations of Mizu and Akemi are seemingly rooted in the facades they have projected towards the world, and are not accurate representations of their true selves.
And I see this is especially the case with Mizu, where fanon likes to paint her as this dominant, hyper-masculine, smirking Cool GuyTM who's going to give you her strap. And this idea of Mizu is often based on the image of her wearing her glasses, and optionally, with her cloak and big, wide-brimmed kasa.
And what's interesting about this, to me, is that fanon is seemingly falling for her deliberate disguise. Because the glasses (with the optional combination of cloak and hat) represent Mizu's suppression of her true self. She is playing a role.
Take this scene of Mizu in the brothel in Episode 4 for example. Here, not only is Mizu wearing her glasses to symbolise the mask she is wearing, but she is purposely acting like some suave and cocky gentleman, intimidating, calm, in control. Her voice is even deeper than usual, like what we hear in her first scene while facing off with Hachiman the Flesh-Trader in Episode 1.
This act that Mizu puts on is an embodiment of masculine showboating, which is highly effective against weak and insecure men like Hachi, but also against women like those who tried to seduce her at the Shindo House.
And that brings me to how Mizu's mask is actually a direct parallel to Akemi's mask in this very same scene.
Here, Akemi is also putting up an act, playing up her naivety and demure girlishness, using her high-pitched lilted voice, complimenting Mizu and trying to make small talk, all so she can seduce and lure Mizu in to drink the drugged cup of sake.
So what I find so interesting and funny about this scene, characters within it, and the subsequent fandom interpretations of both, is that everyone seems to literally be falling for the mask that Mizu and Akemi are putting up to conceal their identities, guard themselves from the world, and get what they want.
It's also a little frustrating because the fanon seems to twist what actually makes Mizu and Akemi's dynamic so interesting by flattening it completely. Because both here and throughout the story, Mizu and Akemi's entire relationship and treatment of each other is solely built off of masks, assumptions, and misconceptions.
Akemi believes Mizu is a selfish, cocky male samurai who destroyed her ex-fiance's career and life, and who abandoned her to let her get dragged away by her father's guards and forcibly married off to a man she didn't know. on the other hand, Mizu believes Akemi is bratty, naive princess who constantly needs saving and who can't make her own decisions.
These misconceptions are even evident in the framing of their first impressions of each other, both of which unfold in these slow-motion POV shots.
Mizu's first impression of Akemi is that of a beautiful, untouchable princess in a cage. Swirling string music in the background.
Akemi's first impression of Mizu is of a mysterious, stoic "demon" samurai who stole her fiance's scarf. Tense music and the sound of ocean waves in the background.
And then, going back to that scene of them together in Episode 4, both Mizu and Akemi continue to fool each other and hold these assumptions of each other, and they both feed into it, as both are purposely acting within the suppressive roles society binds them to in order to achieve their goals within the means they are allowed (Akemi playing the part of a subservient woman; Mizu playing the part of a dominant man).
But then, for once in both their lives, neither of their usual tactics work.
Akemi is trying to use flattery and seduction on Mizu, but Mizu sees right through it, knowing that Akemi is just trying to manipulate and harm her. Rather than give in to Akemi's tactics, Mizu plays with Akemi's emotions by alluding to Taigen's death, before pinning her down, and then when she starts crying, Mizu just rolls her eyes and tells her to shut up.
On the opposite end, when Mizu tries to use brute force and intimidation, Akemi also sees right through it, not falling for it, and instead says this:
"Under your mask, you're not the killer you pretend to be."
Nonetheless, despite the fact that they see a little bit through each other's masks, they both still hold their presumptions of each other until the very end of the season, with Akemi seeing Mizu as an obnoxious samurai swooping in to save the day, and Mizu seeing Akemi as a damsel in distress.
And what I find a bit irksome is that the fandom also resorts to flattening them to these tropes as well.
Because Mizu is not some cool, smooth-talking samurai with a big dick sword as Akemi (and the fandom) might believe. All of that is the facade she puts up and nothing more. In reality, Mizu is an angry, confused and lonely child, and a masterful artist, who is struggling against her own self-hatred. Master Eiji, her father figure who knows her best, knows this.
And Akemi, on the other hand, is not some girly, sweet, vain and spoiled princess as Mizu might believe. Instead she has never cared for frivolous things like fashion, love or looks, instead favouring poetry and strategy games instead, and has always only cared about her own independence. Seki, her father figure who knows her best, knows this.
But neither is she some authoritative dominatrix, though this is part of her new persona that she is trying to project to get what she wants. Because while Akemi is willful, outspoken, intelligent and authoritative, she can still be naive! She is still often unsure and needs to have her hand held through things, as she is still learning and growing into her full potential. Her new parental/guardian figure, Madame Kaji, knows this as well.
So with all that being said, now that we know that Mizu and Akemi are essentially wearing masks and putting up fronts throughout the show, what would a representation of Mizu's and Akemi's true selves actually look like? Easy. It's in their hair.
This shot on the left is the only time we see Mizu with her hair completely down. In this scene, she's being berated by Mama, and her guard is completely down, she has no weapon, and is no longer wearing any mask, as this is after she showed Mikio "all of herself" and tried to take off the mask of a subservient housewife. Thus, here, she is sad, vulnerable, and feeling small (emphasised further by the framing of the scene). This is a perfect encapsulation of what Mizu is on the inside, underneath all the layers of revenge-obsession and the walls she's put around herself.
In contrast, the only time we Akemi with her hair fully down, she is completely alone in the bath, and this scene takes place after being scorned by her father and left weeping at his feet. But despite all that, Akemi is headstrong, determined, taking the reigns of her life as she makes the choice to run away, but even that choice is reflective of her youthful naivety. She even gets scolded by Seki shortly after this in the next scene, because though she wants to be independent, she still hasn't completely learned to be. Not yet. Regardless, her decisiveness and moment of self-empowerment is emphasised by the framing of the scene, where her face takes up the majority of the shot, and she stares seriously into the middle distance.
To conclude, I wish popular fanon would stop mischaracterising these two, and flattening them into tropes and stereotypes (ie. masculine badass swordsman Mizu and feminine alluring queen but also girly swooning damsel Akemi), all of which just seems... reductive. It also irks me when Akemi is merely upheld as a love interest and romantic device for Mizu and nothing more, when she is literally Mizu's narrative foil (takes far more narrative precedence over romantic interest) and the deuteragonist of this show. She is her own person. That is literally the theme of her entire character and arc.
#blue eye samurai#mizu blue eye samurai#akemi blue eye samurai#blue eye samurai meta#just in case... im gonna tag this as#mizukemicritical#akemizucritical#though this post isnt actually criticising the ship itself but rather fanon's portrayal of the ship and the characters#for that reason lemme also tag this as#wank.mp3#feel free to disagree of course but please be civil#and if you need to rant about how wrong i am without any convincing evidence kindly feel free to make your own post. peace and love <3#fandom.rtf#meta dissertations.pdf#shut up haydar#edit: for full disclosure. i do rather dislike this ship. but obviously it's fine for anyone to enjoy it. please do! have your fun!#it's just that as usual! popular fanon and fandom around a ship is what has completely deterred me from any sense of enjoyment of it#it's a shame too because i was very open and even eager for some mizu/akemi romance in the future#but out-of-character fanon + the rudeness of certain fans has definitely soured it for me#but that doesn't mean people can't enjoy it obviously! ship and let ship!!!#plus it has its appeal which i DO STILL see and enjoy!!!!#i would even go as far as to call them soulmates because their narratives and characters are LITERALLY intertwined!!!#but. yeah. my gradual distaste for this ship is indeed very unfortunate.
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So a political ad that I've seen a lot recently has smthn in there about how one of the candidates supported (quote) "gender-mutilating surgeries" (unquote) and honestly that is just like so telling of...certain people's views on gender. It's something that they pin so deeply onto these arbitrary bodily characteristics, which can be fairly neatly changed by a good surgeon anyway, that to them gender is something that can be mutilated, because it's housed solely in a physical form. From my point of view it's impossible to "mutilate" gender because it's a part of the soul, the spirit, the anima of a person, which can't be touched by corporeal procedures and exists separate from the physical characteristics that are generally used to describe it.
#which of course is not to say that gender-affirming surgeries/etc. don't have positive benefits#they do#largely because as a society we attach so much of our perception of gender to the physical traits like breasts and genitals#but THE POINT is you can't mutilate a gender#it's not something you can cut into or harm#it's not a physical thing in itself#and I feel sorry *derisive* for people who have such a narrow view of gender that they believe it's solely what physical bits you have#anyway if you disagree with me feel free but please be civil#I just thought this was in interesting little encapsulation of a specific demographic's view of gender#also gender affirming surgeries rock#shoutout to the gender affirming surgeons of the world#gender#trans#transgender#nonbinary#genderqueer#genderfluid#queer#sorry if it's a lil fuzzy btw I'm not the most eloquent person alive#martianbugsbunny opines
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Frequently Asked Questions:
How do I submit characters for consideration?
You can submit characters through this submission form.
What constitutes an acceptable justification?
Anything you want. You could write a whole college thesis on the thematic and/or textual relevance of your blorbo's repressed transfemininity, or you could just say "just a vibe" or "I think it would be funny" and leave it at that. You can even use fan art and fanfic to make your case, provided you credit the artist/writer, of course.
Are there any characters you won't allow?
As said above, no real people will be accepted. This includes personas of real people (apologies to mcyt fans), because the lines are just too blurry.
Fictionalized versions of people (i.e. Our Flag Means Death characters, The Terror characters, etc.) are on indefinite hiatus until I figure out a universally fair standard by which I can measure them.
Also, I figured this is a given, but just in case, I won't be accepting any transmasculine/nonbinary characters, as I feel like that's basically arguing to detransition some of the very few transmascs and nonbinary folk in fiction.
Will you accept my submission through the ask box?
Please don't do this. It makes keeping track of submissions a lot harder. I might accept it, assuming it doesn't get buried.
Are there transmasc/enby equivalents of this blog?
Yes there are! @/could-transition-save-him and @/couldtransitionsavethem (note: I don't run either of those blogs).
Are you a trans woman?
Yes!
Hey, this character is a horrible person/this justification sucks, why are you allowing this?
A lot of times, I agree with you there! I believe that some of these people are irredeemable bastards, no matter how much estrogen they receive. However, there are a few things to keep in mind regarding these characters.
This is a vote for a reason. If you dislike a character, you have every right to make as much anti-propaganda as possible, so long as you keep it civil.
Posting a character is not necessarily a yes from me. I've posted a few characters that I vehemently disagreed with. I am here to hear the arguments more than I am here for the verdict.
What's the turnaround rate for submissions?
Usually about 2-4 weeks.
Has anybody submitted the Riddler from Batman yet?
Yes. Many many many many many many many many many many times.
(If there's a version I haven't covered, feel free to submit again, and I will post it immediately)
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▸Welcome to the Blog for My HK AU◂
Hello, and welcome to my blog! Be prepared for mediocre art and insane, 3AM crackhead ramblings.
This blog is for my Hollow Knight AU, which I've called Nyctophobia. Originally, Nyctophobia was just a placeholder name but I'm attached now, please help.
My personal art blog is @rottika
▸ABOUT ME◂
▸ My name is Rot, but you can also call me SFBE or Sexy Fictional Bug Enthusiast. Yes, I am normal.
▸ I'm nineteen.
▸ My pronouns are he/him.
▸ Member of the LGBTQ+ community. (Trans, aromantic, polyamorous, and bisexual specifically.)
▸ I am an American but I use British English because American English hella stinky.
▸ I'm an amateur artist and writer. I also do YouTube sometimes, but that's wholly unrelated to this blog.
▸ Neurodivergent; please use tone indicators if possible!
▸ Hollow Knight is my special interest. I have three hundred hours on the game, and you should be concerned.
▸ IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN COMMISSIONING ME, YOU CAN FIND MY COMMISSION SHEET HERE. To order one, DM me on Twitter or Instagram! (Links are at the bottom of this post.)
▸ABOUT THIS BLOG◂
▸ This blog is essentially a dumping ground for artwork and ramblings related to a Hollow Knight AU I created.
▸ Hopefully, I'll be turning this AU into a full fic at some point, but I'm slow so don't count on it anytime soon.
▸ I have taken some creative liberties in many of my own interpretations of the characters. If you disagree with a ship I like or an idea I have, that's perfectly fine and valid! Just ignore and DNI if it upsets you.
▸ I appreciate asks and will answer all of them as long as they are respectful and not directly hateful or crude. Anything of a rude nature will be ignored and deleted.
▸ I would prefer that you send questions to my ask box and not in comments. I am more likely to see them and reply with a longer response that way! :]
▸ Feel free to reblog my work! However, please do not repost any of my work or use it as pfps/headers WITHOUT CREDIT.
▸ If you want to use any of my personal designs for different characters, feel free to do so! I would appreciate it if you were to credit me as your inspiration though, so that I can see the work you create!
▸ Feel free to request work or suggest ideas! Though I am taking requests, I still have full rights to deny or ignore any requests I get if I do not want to draw them. (Please only request art related to this AU/HK.)
▸ This blog may contain very mild NSFW topics. There will be nothing explicit of course, but just be mindful of your own boundaries and DNI if something makes you uncomfortable.
▸PERSONAL BOUNDARIES◂
▸ DNI IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF FIFTEEN.
▸ Do not send in asks about any incest or underage/adult pairings.
▸ Do not request artwork of any incest or underage/adult pairings.
▸ Do not request NSFW artwork.
▸ You MAY send in asks related to NSFW topics, but please keep it civil and non-explicit. I don't wanna see any nasty shit, thanks. Questions of that ilk will be ignored.
▸ If I see a racial, transphobic, homophobic, or ableist slur, you will be blocked. <3
▸YOU CAN ALSO FIND ME◂
#pinned bios#bio#i explain my blog essentially#personal boundaries#important info#pls read#before you follow#before you interact#rules#may update
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hello! hope you're doing alright. just a quick vent
i do this annoying thing were i defend questionable behavior that i 95% of the time know i wouldn't partake in because there's this little voice in my head that's like "but imagine if under other circumstances you did this?"
and it's so dumb because i want to take accountability when i'm doing something bad and move on but i'm so afraid of somehow being in the criticized crowd that i defend the people in it for a sec before i cam reason with my own self and be like "yo wtf i wouldn't do that and i agree that it is wrong"
i don't like that i'm so susceptible to criticism when ideally i would want to learn humbly
also regarding similar matters: sometimes i get educated on something or prejudice that i sometimes had and sometimes haven't and when i'm encountering people who have said prejudice i get mad at them because their ideas are harmful (not attacking them i don't interact). but then i stare back at myself like hello this could have been you, you're lucky someone told you about it before you acted like it
for example for things like using words like "psychotic" to describe violent behavior etc. i genuinely get upset when people misuse it because parts of my aches at the prejudice that people with psychosis experience. but then i look back at it and i'm like "there's so many outcomes in which you could have not known that and been this person and you could have been just as awful and perpetuated stereotypes". and then i wonder "how many similar things are you being an asshole about just because someone didn't give you a cheat sheet with what's bad to assume/say/think?"
i'm honestly quite ashamed of my lack of critical thinking because i stumble upon a lot of things were i'm like "oh i didn't even know/think about this being an obvious problem" (for example individual's waste being very low when compared to the amount companies waste or idk the whole goncharov thing and tagging posts with unreality)
Hey anon,
In retrospect I made this more about me than I meant to but I hope you can understand that I'm trying to relate to you and it's a bit late atm.
Honestly I know what you mean, especially about being a contrarian even if you don't even believe what you're defending. I used to defend Ben Shapiro by saying he wasn't completely wrong. I do try to see the nuance in things in an attempt to humanize people I am made to antagonize. I like the idea of unity over polarization, but at the same time I also need to recognize when someone is just bad and not going to change, so not worth my sympathy or defense. Basically I build bridges where they've been mutually burned just because I want everyone to hold hands, so to speak.
What you said also reminded me of my boyfriend. We began to discuss politics and civil rights issues and I quickly realized that he almost has a compulsion to disagree with me, even if he actually does.
Personally I have a hard time leaving ignorant people be, because sometimes I see myself in their shoes and am like, what if I just gently handed you information instead of calling you a name and blocking you? Of course they're rarely receptive to any bubble-shattering information, but I'm stubborn.
I think it can be hard to be mindful of what's potentially offensive unless someone tells you, you know? I didn't even know what the problem was with narcissistic abuse until I came to Tumblr, I think. I guess what I would say is like, just because you may have been in that position at one point doesn't necessarily mean you have to put up with it. Like, imagine yourself spouting something ignorant and other people ignore you instead of perhaps insulting you or otherwise adding insult to injury. Wouldn't it be best for them to just move past instead?
I kind of lost my train of thought, but I hope I could help and that some of this could resonate with you. Please feel free to follow up and comment if you'd like, otherwise I'm here if you need anything.
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𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫
✦; ꒰Dick Grayson ✗ Bleak!Reader꒱ ;;✦ ↴
✎ . . . Summary ⊹ ≫ Unlike your brother Klarion, you find beauty in the order of human life on earth, so you leave The Light to explore the world on your own, crossing your path with the Boy Wonder by coincidence.
➬ Word count ⸼ ೃ ⊹ 4,481 words.
;; "Warnings" ¡! ❞ . Slight mention of death.
⿻ – ❝ Notes〻*ೃ༄. I didn't want to put too much emphasis on the reader's familiar, so just imagine it's a small animal that you like.
ೃೀ꒲Ko-fi !¡ ⌇ ⁺ ◦ If you enjoy my writing and would like to support me feel free to leave me a tip on my Ko-fi. It's something I will always remember and be grateful for, I assure you.
(English is my second language, so if something sounds out of place or is misspelled, please let me know).
Human life, something so insignificant and fragile, but at the same time so wonderful and intriguing, from its inception found a way to thrive with nothing but their ingenuity and survival instinct. Creating entire civilizations and communities, banding together to fight adversity, evolving through the years to become what they are today.
For you it was simply extraordinary, for hundreds of years you watched them closely, learning from them at the distance and occasionally protecting them from major adversities without leaving a trace. You were the complete opposite of your "brother" Klarion, you knew he would never understand your admiration for humans, just as you would never understand his uncontrollable desire to cause chaos. That was why you never fit in The Light, you didn't desire to cause chaos, but you had agreed to join at your brother's request, even so, your participations were minimal, almost nonexistent, and despite being on the side of the "villains", it was always wonderful for you to see how the heroes protected those who couldn't protect themselves.
So, after thinking about it for a long time you decided to leave The Light and explore the modern world, and as expected, Klarion was the first to disagree, for him it was impossible to assimilate that his little sister had so much interest in a species as inferior as humans. Although it was hard for him to accept it, eventually he respected your decision to explore the world as a human, even so, he always took care of watching you closely, regardless of whether you were a member of The Light or not.
— Where do you think you're going? — Your brother's voice echoed behind you taking you by surprise, even though you and Klarion rarely stayed in the same place for long, you both had taken over one of Gotham's many abandoned mansions, making sure to scare off anyone who tried to approach with magic. You could say you lived there, though most of the time it was just you.
— I'm going to the circus, Klarion. — You turned around to face your brother. — Do you want to come with me? I have an extra ticket for the show in Geneva. — A huge smile came across your face, you loved spending time with Klarion.
— Of course not, those things are for little kids, I have more important things to do like cause chaos. — An egomaniacal smile formed on Klarion's lips.
— However, I'm leaving. — You turned around again walking towards the door, ready to leave, but your brother appeared in front of you cutting you off.
— I didn't give you permission to leave. — Klarion's tone was authoritative, sometimes he took his role as your "brother" very seriously.
— Klarion, I'm hundreds of years old, I don't need your permission. — You crossed your arms over your chest in indignation.
The witch boy remained silent for a couple of seconds, finally, a sigh of resignation left his lips.
— Fine, I want you here before ten o'clock, don't talk to strangers and take a sweater with you.
A huge victorious smile came to your lips.
— I'll be back in a while. — You approached your brother and sweetly kissed his cheek as a farewell.
— Do you have your familiar with you? — Klarion asked as you stood just inches from the door.
— I do. — You pointed to the bag hanging from your shoulder, your familiar was small and most of the time was asleep, so it was easy for you to carry it that way.
Finally, you smiled one last time at your brother and left the mansion.
The witch boy remained in his place for a moment. — I have a bad feeling Teekl… — The feline simply answered with a meow that echoed through the walls of the empty mansion.
Despite his foreboding Klarion left the place behind disappearing into a portal ready to cause chaos.
[•••]
The night sky seemed darker than usual, but that only made the lights that adorned each of the tents shine more brightly, the laughter of happiness mixed with the soft circus music gave you a warm feeling in your chest, an atmosphere so cozy and yet so unfamiliar to you, you remained static while you watched all the families and children, seeing the innocence and emotion reflected in the eyes of each one of the kids was magical to you, no matter how many years you spent among humans they always were able to surprise you.
The number of people outside decreased quickly, apparently everyone was excited about the show, not wanting to be left behind you moved forward until you finally found yourself inside the tent, moving slowly through the darkness finding an empty seat for you, the view from there seemed to be just right, it wasn't too close to the ground, but it wasn't too high either, it was perfect.
The place remained in darkness for a couple more minutes, the only thing that could be heard were the whispers of excited children that were quickly interrupted by the rumble of a drum, in a matter of seconds the whole place was silent, the crowd was expectant of what was to come.
— Ladies and gentlemen. — Two spotlights illuminated the place, focusing on the center of the tent and revealing a man who appeared to be the master of ceremonies of the circus. — Welcome! To Haly's circus, the only circus where everything you think is possible gets overshadowed by the impossibilities you will see here. — Once said that a huge rumble echoed through the place accompanied by a huge smoke layer, the master of ceremony had disappeared and the lights went out again. A small gasp of surprise escaped from the lips of the entire audience, including you. It was ironic to think how being a "Lord of Chaos" who has lived millions of years you would be impressed by a smoke trick, if Klarion was there he would surely call you dumb for being impressed by something like that.
The show continued, and you were certainly enjoying it more than expected, clowns, music, jugglers, it was all a delight for you to watch, you could easily be mistaken for one of the many infants who watched the show with a unique excitement. And it was then that the master of ceremony interfered in the show again, the music had stopped and the lights had faded, which silenced the crowd.
— Ladies and gentlemen, the farewell performance of the Daring Dangers! — The excited cheers from the crowd were immediate, even though you didn't know them you joined in welcoming them with a round of applause, apparently, they were recognized artists in the industry, and that only made you feel more excited to see them perform.
The spotlights illuminated the place again, this time focusing on the upper part of the circus, making you notice the presence of two trapeze artists, and the show began. Despite the presence of the other four Dangers, you could not take your eyes off one of the trapeze artists, his movements were so elegant, so fluid, so hypnotizing, it was impossible to take your eyes off him, he had captivated you.
The young trapeze artist twirled through the air gracefully earning a gasp of surprise from the audience, his eyes roamed the crowd with a smile, enjoying the feeling he had forgotten since the death of his parents, and then his beautiful blue eyes met yours. Dick's heart jumped in his chest, and not out of emotion or love, but out of fear, he knew who you were, it was easy for him to recognize you, he had encountered you before, you were (Y/N) Bleak, Klarion's sister and a "Lord of Chaos" according to Kent Nelson himself.
Your presence might mean an attack from the light, Dick was worried, there were hundreds of children and innocents in the audience, however, this was not the time to panic, Dick knew perfectly well that the slightest mistake in the air could be deadly, he decided it would be best to stay calm and keep your presence to himself, keeping an eye on you, the team already had enough that day.
[•••]
People were slowly starting to leave the tent, the show was over and everyone seemed more than satisfied, you got up from your seat and started walking towards the exit, the circus had been accompanied by a small carnival, so even though that had been the last show of the circus there were still lots of people enjoying the attractions of the carnival, you walked among the people, thinking if you should have fun for a while at the carnival or go back home. A distant voice called out behind you, you ignored it, too focused on your thoughts. One, two, three steps behind you until finally a soft tap on your shoulder stopped you, turning around, again, finding yourself face to face with those beautiful blue eyes.
You looked him up and down, your face softened when you saw his clothes, it was nothing more and nothing less than the acrobat who had been stealing your interest, this time, thanks to the absence of his mask you could appreciate his face, you couldn't lie, he was good looking.
— Oh, you're one of the Daring Dangers, aren't you? Can I help you with something? — Even though you knew he was the trapeze artist who had captivated you at the show you couldn't help but think he looked familiar from somewhere else.
— I… — Dick had gone blank when he had you in front of him. Remembering that time he had the "pleasure" of meeting you for the first time, the power emanated from you, your eyes burning bright red as you fired attack after attack, you were so powerful and imposing, but now, you looked so different, there seemed to be no evil in you, your eyes were a nice shade of (e/c) and the small smile on your face seemed genuine, you looked so... Human, and he didn't know if that made him feel more confident or more uneasy. — I just... I saw you in the crowd at the circus, and... And I wanted to know your opinion about the show! — A slight smile came to the acrobat's lips, he knew his excuse was lame, but he didn't show his insecurity.
— Oh, well… — You hesitated a bit about what to answer, after all, you didn't expect one of the circus acrobats to come and personally ask your opinion. — I really enjoyed it, I had never seen anything like that… — You thought some more about what to say, for a moment you contemplated telling him how much you were captivated by his performance, but that would be a little embarrassing. — It was... Beautiful, magical.
— I'm glad the show was to the liking of such a beautiful lady. — A shy smile graced your lips, compliments were something you weren't used to. — How rude of me, I didn't introduce myself, I'm Richard, Richard Grayson. — Dick decided to stick with his cover story, or at least for now. He held out his hand, waiting for you to take it.
You looked at it for a moment remembering that it was a human practice to shake hands after meeting someone. — I’m (Y/N) Bleak.
It was so impossible for Dick to take in that the beautiful girl in front of him was the same one he had fought months ago, the same one who had taken down his entire team in a matter of minutes, it's like you're a completely different person. For a moment he paused to think, since that time he fought you he hadn't seen you work with the light again, neither did you have any criminal activity on your own. But still, he wanted to be careful, he decided to continue his interaction with you to try to get some information.
— So (Y/N), you're not from around here, are you? — The boy wonder began to walk slowly through the crowd, you followed him closely keeping up with his conversation.
— No, not really. — As both of you moved forward you couldn't help but stare in amazement at each one of the rides, your eyes reflected the excitement and innocence that the eyes of a child being taken there for the first time would reflect, something that didn't go unnoticed by Dick.
— What, you've never been to a carnival before? — Even though he had said it as a joke he was surprised when he saw you shyly deny with your head. — Oh… — He was silent for a moment, an idea crossed his mind, he knew that if Batman were there he would be reprimanded for letting his guard down in front of a possible enemy, but... But for Richard Grayson, it was never a bad time for a date with a pretty girl. — Then, we have to make the first time unforgettable. — You were about to ask him what he meant by that, but before you knew it, his hand held yours, leading you quickly through the crowd to the line of one of the many rides. — I'm sure you will love the roller coaster, believe me, you will never forget the feeling of the first time.
Although the rides were supposed to be fun for humans, you still felt intrigued when you saw the horrified faces of most of the passengers on the "roller coaster". — Why do they look so scared? — You asked your companion.
— You'll see it soon. — A cute smile spread across Dick's face, you looked down, noticing that his hand was still holding yours, his hand radiated warmth and made you feel comfortable.
The line moved quickly, and soon it was your turn, you followed Dick's steps and got on the roller coaster (Not without first leaving your bag in the care of one of the carnival employees), the attendant made sure you had all the necessary safety measures, and then it began. A small gasp of surprise escaped your lips as you felt the movement, a smile came to your face, for the first time in a long time you felt excitement, slowly you were gaining altitude until you reached the highest point and stopped there for a couple of seconds.
Dick looked at you for a moment, a huge excited smile on your face, "What a beautiful smile" he thought, he was so distracted that he completely forgot where he was, his smile faded when he felt the quick descent of the roller coaster, his back crashed against the seat due to the force of the fall, the horrible screams of the passengers didn't wait, and you, unlike them, seemed totally excited by the adrenaline of the moment, something to be expected from a Lord of chaos.
[•••]
— It was amazing! — You said still excited about your roller coaster ride. — Can we try it again? — You cheerfully asked the acrobat who seemed a little dizzier than you.
— Why don't we walk around and see what else we can find? — Dick suggested. You looked around, and indeed, there were still many things that caught your attention.
This time it was you who took his hand to guide the way through the people, for you it was just a way to avoid losing him among all the people, but the feeling of his hand was comforting. You looked at everything around you with a certain wonder in your eyes, Richard couldn't help but look at you with softness, seeing you so amazed by things that for him were so ordinary touched him. You walked for a couple of minutes until something seemed to catch your attention, it was one of those little aiming attractions about shooting hoops, but that didn't seem to interest you, what had caught your attention was one of the big, colorful, fluffy stuffed animals that were given as prizes.
— Want to give it a try? — Dick asked, pointing toward the hoops.
— Oh no no, I've always been very bad at aiming. — You denied somewhat embarrassed, but Richard wouldn't take a no for an answer.
— Come on, it'll be fun. — The boy wonder gently dragged you over to the hoop stand, paid a dollar to the attendant at the attraction who handed you three hoops. You closed one of your eyes trying to aim to get it right, but just as you expected you missed all three. A snort left your lips earning a small chuckle from Dick. — Let me try. — He paid another dollar, he knew perfectly well that these games were designed to lose, but please, he was Robin. Without making a major effort to aim he threw all three hoops at the same time getting each of the shots right. A silent gasp of surprise came from your lips which brought a slight proud smirk to his face.
— Okay kid, you won, pick your prize. — The stand attendant pointed to the different gadgets and stuffed animals to choose from, but Dick already had it clear.
— I want that one. — He pointed to the huge stuffed animal that had caught your attention before, the employee handed him the stuffed animal, he looked at it for a moment and then held it out to you with a bright smile.
— For me? — You blinked for a second, stunned by Dick's cute gesture, he just nodded smiling, hesitantly you took the stuffed animal from his hands, your eyes wandered a couple of times between the stuffed animal and Richard's beautiful eyes, you had never received a gift from a human before. — Thank you... — You hugged the stuffed animal against your chest trying to hide the pink that was beginning to grow on your cheeks.
A strange feeling that you couldn't identify came to your stomach, it was similar to what you felt when you were on the roller coaster, but it was different.
— Come on, I'm sure there's still a lot you'd like to see. — He reached out his hand to you and without even thinking you took it, letting him guide your way.
All the people who walked by and noticed the two of you thought you were a young and beautiful couple in love, although that was far from being real. You were just two souls brought together by the paths of fate, two souls that somehow fit together perfectly, chaos and order, although the word "chaos" had never described you well. You momentarily thought of Klarion's reaction if he saw you at this moment, sharing such close interaction with a human, he would probably squirm with anger and disappointment, just like the other Lords of Chaos who had surely witnessed it all from their place in the cosmos. Certainly, you sensed that none of them were happy with your job on earth, but you couldn't care less, you knew that no matter how hard you tried you weren't like them.
You would have been lost in a sea of your thoughts if not for a lovely scent reaching your nostrils. You stopped in your tracks, forcing the boy wonder to do the same. You closed your eyes and exhaled sharply making your “date” laugh.
— What's that smell? — Guided by the scent, you started walking, dragging Dick with you, who seemed both amused and moved by your behavior. You took a couple of steps until you found the source of the enchanting smell, a small cotton candy stand. You watched as the little clouds of sugar took shape, the gleam of excitement could be seen in your eyes. — Do you want one? It's on me. — You asked Richard as you searched through your purse until you found what you needed, a couple of dollars that Klarion had given you a long time ago in case you needed to make a purchase.
— Sure. — The boy wonder shrugged his shoulders not wanting to reject your proposal.
You paid for both cotton candy, taking a bite to your mouth as soon as you had it in your hands, you tasted the bite just like it was the most delicious food in the world, you concentrated so much on the taste that you didn't feel how a small sugar stain remained on the skin next to your lips.
— Wait, you have a... — Dick pointed to the side of his own lips, but driven by inertia he moved his hand and removed the small spot with his thumb leaving it there for a couple of seconds longer than necessary. — I'm sorry, you had sugar on your cheek.
— Oh, thank you. — Finally, he withdrew his hand, your face began to burn, and the unfamiliar sensation took hold of your chest once again, it was so strange to feel this way. As a Lord of Chaos who had lived for centuries on earth it was normal to see human emotions, but never to feel them, it made you feel vulnerable, but at the same time it excited you.
[•••]
The hours passed quickly, neither knew exactly how much time had passed, but both could feel how your time together was coming to its end, walking in silence, feeling the warmth your hands produced together, and enjoying each other's company.
— It's getting late… — Dick finally dared to end the comfortable silence that enveloped the two of you.
— Yeah… — You replied a little awkwardly.
You both knew it was time to leave, but neither of you wanted to say goodbye.
Richard stopped, forcing you to do the same, he stood in front of you and looked at you with some embarrassment, he didn't know exactly how to end your "date", he doubted that accompanying you home would be a good option. — I think we should…
— Wow… — The words left your lips like a whisper, even though Dick was in front of you your attention seemed to have been stolen by something behind him.
He turned around, realizing what it was, you moved forward, unable to take your eyes off what had so attracted you, Dick followed close behind you, his heart gave a little jump at seeing you so surprised.
— What's that? — You ask, pointing slightly to the machine in front of you.
— It's a carousel. — Just as you couldn't take your eyes off the carousel Dick couldn't take his eyes off you. The soft lights of the carousel illuminated you in a beautiful way, and the bright reflection in your eyes was simply lovely, a smile formed on his lips. A few hours ago he saw you as a threat, and now the idea of you being a Lord of Chaos was completely out of his mind.
He shook his head still smiling and started walking, his hands were still together, you followed his steps without even questioning where he was taking you, your eyes focused on the carousel. Without you even noticing, Dick had guided you to the entrance of the carousel so you could both get on together, you felt the warmth of his hand leaving yours, which made you come out of your trance and look for him, it was then that you noticed where he had guided you to. The machine had stopped spinning, all the people in had left the attraction so the others in line could have their turn, you saw his back in front of you, he walked up the stairs and then turned around extending his arm to help you up, with your heart beating fast you accepted his hand and went up.
Your lips turned into a small smile as soon as you climbed onto the plastic horse beautifully detailed with different colors that made it look vibrant, Dick was next to you riding a nice black plastic horse with red and blue details.
The music slowly began to play, you could feel the machine begin to move; the smile on your face only grew bigger with each movement, you turned to look at your companion only to see that he was smiling as much as you were, your eyes met once again, a feeling of warmth and joy invaded your chest, a feeling that had come over you multiple times in the night, you thought it was because of everything you had experienced at the carnival, but it was none of that, it was him, he was guilty of such a feeling, how bold of a simple human to cause such feelings in you, a Lord of Chaos, but the feeling was not unpleasant to you, and neither was he.
You lost yourself in his eyes, during your long existence you had been able to glimpse all kinds of blues, but without a doubt, the most beautiful so far was the blue of his eyes. For a moment you realized that today you had witnessed countless things that you would describe as beautiful, but you didn't realize that the most beautiful of all was him.
Your hand reached out in the air taking his, you exchanged a smile and continued enjoying the beautiful moment, it was so perfect, so magical, you could swear that at that moment it was just the two of you, but all good things came to an end and that moment was no exception; you both stepped off the carousel, your hands together as was now becoming habitual.
— It's late, I think I'd better go home. — Even though it was a farewell there was no sadness in your words, it was like you knew that fate would lead you to him again.
— Yeah, I think I should go too. — Dick was also peaceful, he had no doubt that you would meet again, after all, he had put a tracker on your bag, so as long as you didn't notice it he would be able to know your location, he just hoped, that the next time your paths crossed would be in this way, and not as enemies.
You remained silent for a second, your hand released his, and as soon as you did you began to miss the warmth of his skin, you remembered a weird human habit you had witnessed multiple times before. You moved your hand to his shoulder and drew him down gently pressing your lips on the skin of his cheek.
— Thank you for tonight Richard, it was wonderful. — The surprise on the boy wonder's face was replaced by a sweet smile.
— I promise next time will be even better. — His words only made you more certain that you would see him again. You smiled at him one last time and slowly walked away, losing yourself in the darkness of the night as Richard watched your silhouette fade away.
His smile never left his face, Batman would probably kill him and the team would blast him with questions when he returned, but it would be worth it. Without a doubt, this day had been a roller coaster of emotions for the two of you, your hearts longed with excitement for your next meeting.
#dick grayson x reader#young justice x reader#dick grayson x you#dick grayson x y/n#dc x reader#young justice x you#dc comics#young justice#robin x y/n#robin x reader#klarion x sister!reader#dick grayson#robin#young justice one shots#young justice dick grayson#dick grayson x bleak!reader#robin x bleak!reader
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Anders and ‘‘Murder’’ in Dragon Age
Ok so I’ve seen this a few times recently and want to break down my thoughts on it.
Anders is a murderer - this is true.*
(*Though there are some really great meta posts proving how by Dragon Age Canon he killed less than 100 people in the Chantry boom. I’m on mobile but if anyone wants to add that please do.)
Hawke is a murderer. Varric is a murderer. Isabela is a murderer. Fenris is a murderer. Aveline is a murderer. Merrill is a murderer. Sebastian is a murderer.
Guys you, you have a kill count. Hawke and their whole gang are a group of dangerous vigilantes who kill people according to their own personal moral judgements.
The difference between Anders’ Chantry Boom and the Kirkwall Crew’s merry decade of mass murder is that a) the Chantry Boom was the beginning of a Civil War b) That Civil War started, in part, to prevent a genocide
(Canonically, Meredith had called for the Rite of Annulment with no good reason. Canonically, she is going to enact it knowing the Circle mages are innocent. Canonically, the Gallows had over 800 innocent people inside including children and the elderly. Not to be utilitarian, but yes, I would kill 100 political and religious leaders in a corrupt, dictatorial, violent theocracy in order to save nearly a thousand innocent people.)
The third difference between Anders and Hawke and the gang’s multiple-hundreds head count is that you, the player, don’t do it. So you don’t excuse him the way you excuse yourself - despite the fact that Anders’ last ditch effort to save over 800 people after ten years of peaceful protest is infinitely more justifiable than Hawke’s slaughter of hundreds of refugees and gangs in a city that is canonically riddled with poverty, prejudice, unemployment and homelessness.
When I say Anders Was Right, I don’t mean, “he’s my favourite character so I’m turning a blind eye to his actions”. I mean, seriously, I think that what he did was the morally correct choice and a necessary one.
I don’t mean that Anders isn’t an asshole. He’s a huge asshole!!! He shouldn’t have lied to Hawke. He shouldn’t have manipulated them. He’s selfish, and ignorant, and often blind to the way his words and actions hurt other people. He can become self absorbed and arrogant. He demands disclosure of trauma, he’s short tempered, he leaps to conclusions, he hurts people’s feelings, he IS blinded to the causes and needs of other communities because of his single minded focus on mages and his own suffering. And a lot of his dialogue towards Fenris and Merrill (however cartoonishly exaggerated, but more on that anon) is unforgivably rude AT BEST.
I think Anders actions at the Chantry were correct and morally justifiable. Does that mean I think he’s perfect? Of course not! His flaws are what make him interesting!!!!
But even if all of this weren’t true - EVEN IF the rest of the gang didn’t canonically have a kill count as high as, or higher than, Anders’ first action in a civil war to prevent a genocide - EVEN in that case.
I also cannot condone Bioware’s conscious, deliberate, centrist, toxic, ableist caricature of a mentally ill, queer character and his fight for civil rights. I…don’t actually think we need a story right now that explains to us how, fundamentally, queer bipolar men are ‘unhinged’, violent and evil, simply for the fact of their resistance against state and religious abuse. Even when they’ve been tortured. Even when children are going to die.
We have this appalling, condescending, imperialistic idea that people - in reality and in fiction, are only allowed to violently resist violent oppression by the state and church if we find them palatable. If they step a toe outside of our personal comfort zones, (themselves constructed by the same imperialistic propaganda we’ve consumed since childhood) we immediately rescind that right - damning an individual for resisting, even if their life is on the line. Even if it concerns the death of children. This is not a moral choice. It’s a social bias.
As for Fenris and Merrill - I struggle to believe that a man who spent ten years providing free medical treatment to refugees, criminals and the homeless never met an elf or learned anything about discrimination against elves. I also struggle to understand how - despite the fact that the Circles are the only place in southern Thedas where elves are not segregated from humans, and where they can reach an equivalent position of authority to humans, somehow Circle mages are most often the mouthpieces for anti elven discrimination.
And by this of course I mean I don’t struggle at all. It’s very helpful for bombastic, oppressive governments like the USA, and all who support them, to set up a false dichotomy between marginalised communities. To peddle the lie that marginalised communities’ biggest threats are one another and not, say, the church or state actively enforcing violence against them. (The Chantry teaches that mages corrupted heaven. It also teaches that elves are inherently more sinful than humans because they are ‘born further from the Maker’s light’).
Once again, apart from the catastrophic failure in internal logic that results in these forced, cartoonish caricatures of Anders as a character - I also disagree with this because I fundamentally do not believe that we need a story about queer people and mentally ill people fighting people of colour but never daring to raise a finger to the people lobotomising them, r*ping them, killing them and driving them to s*icide. I don’t like that story because I don’t think it’s a good one - I don’t think it’s narratively interesting. I do think it’s morally corrupt. I think it’s toxic propaganda. I think it drives us apart.
There’s this incredibly condescending attitude among DA fans towards people who like Anders. The patronising, lazy assumption is that we saw a pretty blonde white man and didn’t engage with the narrative at all. This is rarely the case. We are also adults. We also played the game. We just came to a different conclusion.
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By now, some of you might have heard about the situation in Poland. The following text was posted on FB by a Polish friend of mine following the events of 07. August 2020 in Warsaw. It describes what happened, and the context of what led to the events of yesterday. Please reblog and share this post to spread awareness about the current situation.
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For a very long time it has not been easy for me to write and talk about my country. Publicly, for a very long time I haven't. Disagreeing with most of what the current government stands for, that would have become a full-time job. Feeling that one is powerless, one can easily become indifferent and either emigrate abroad or immigrate inside to the bubble of like minded friends, trying to just go on with life regardless, to wait out the storm, to hope for the world to change one day on its own. I am guilty of doing both. But yesterday, I believe that Poland came to its turning point. We went to sleep in a troubled democracy and woke up in an authoritarian country that uses the full force of the state apparatus to oppress and unjustly prosecute members and allies of the LGBT+ community.
No good person can stay indifferent facing these circumstance.
General context:
👉 It all began members of the activist collective "Stop Bzdurom" (eng. Stop the Bullshit) spray-painted and cut the tires of an anti-abortion van. This van was taped with graphic images of dead fetuses and frequently driving through the streets of Warsaw. While the activists spray painted the van, the driver intervened and it came to a light physical quarell with pushing and elbowing. This is the video of this altercation: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1324521857722944&id=137358556439286
👉 On the basis of that, the Public Prosecution (which is under total political control in Poland - the Minister of Justice IS the Attorney General) decided to press charges of violent assault and destruction of property against one of the members of the collective - Margot. Margot identifies as a non-binary person (it will be important later in the story). Under those charges Margot could face up to 7 years in prison.
👉 Some weeks ago, Margot was dragged out of her apartment by police in civil clothing. At that point, police refused to give any information about her whereabouts or charges. It took many hours to establish that she was taken to the prosecution office for interrogation and to provide her with a lawyer. The prosecution filed for two months of arrest, awaiting trial. The court initially denied prosecution's request and released Margot. At that stage, this story could have ended as yet another, relatively harmless episode in our disfunctional democracy - unjust and infuriating of course, but at the end smoothened out by the somewhat independent parts of our judiciary.
👉 In between that and yesterday, the same collective hanged rainbow flags from monuments in Warsaw. One of those was a statue of Jesus. This was follwed by a wave of arrests under the charges of "desecrating monuments and offending religious feelings". The arrested were charged while our prime minister and president were visiting desecrated monuments and placing commemorative flowers.
And then yesterday happened:
👉 The prosecution appealed the court's denial to put Margot under arrest. Another court, for reasons still unclear, reversed the decision and decided to put Margot in jail for two months before any trial. There could not possibly be any reason to make such a decision legitimate. Margot is a special case because Polish arrest and correctional facilities are an extremely dangerous place for a (visibly) queer person like her.
👉 When Margot learned of the decision, she happened to be in the office of the biggest Polish LGBTQ+ NGO - Kampania Przeciw Homofobii (eng. The Campaign Against Homophobia). With the police on the way to arrest her (quite symbolic, isn't it), a few NGO’s asked people to gather in front of the office in a demonstration of solidarity. A few hundred people and plenty of journalists showed up, including multiple members of parliament from left and center opposition parties.
👉Margot decided that if she has to go, she won't just go quietly but as publicly as she can. She walked through the demonstration up to the police officers, offering herself to be taken away. They refused to arrest her. We thought they got scared of the public support and the cameras. It looks like we couldn't have been more wrong.
👉 The spontaneous demonstration moved to a nearby allegedly desecrated monument. There, peacful demonstrators were met by an excessively large police force seperating them from the monuments. And then someone has given an order to make an example out of demonstrators and turn the arrest into a show of power.
👉 First, an unmarked car approached. A bunch of police officers in civil clothing dragged Margot inside. For all that has happened later the crowd remained non-violent.
👉 Then, demonstrators sat down around the car to prevent it from leaving. (see Photo) The police attacked with an unprecedented brutality. Tens of undercover police officers arrived and together with their colleagues in uniforms they begun brutally attacking, beating, suffocating and throwing the demonstrators into police cars driving away with them. All that during broad daylight, in front of TV cameras. Without any shame or hesitation. Multiple photos of police brutality bellow. All questions about the basis of the detention were met with laughter. The protestors were not even called upon to disperse. Just faced with violence for the sake of power - no law, no order. TV cameras have caught police officers giving eachother orders to arrest "three random people from the crowd". Bystanders and people passing by were also arrested.
Yesterday in Warsaw is was enough to be in a wrong place, wrong time. We witnessed a straight up round up.
👉To paint the picture of the excess of the police brutality in more detail, I'll quickly describe one of the detentions. During that whole time, MPs (Member of Parliament) were present at the site. Now, they hold immunity from being arrested, but I don't believe anyone in Poland ever imagined that this immunity would have to be used in such a way. Among the photos below, there is one of a blonde woman, holding her hand on the back of a demonstrator, who's being pushed to the ground by the police. That women is an opposition MP who left yesterday's protests injured by the police and described in detailes what had happened. She saw police officers throwing the protester in the picture to the ground and kneeing her down. Her head was bleeding on the pavement. The MP run torwards them screaming to let go and pushing the police away. She lied down on the protester to guard her with her own body. Only then the police let the MP to put her purse under the bleading head of the protester (seen photo) and take care of the head-wound. The protester was then taken away by the police to an unknown location. That story is just one among many horrifying stories from yesterday.
👉 Later, noone knew where exactly the detained people were taken. We guess that around 50 people were arrested.
50 political prisoners.
Police has been refusing any information. The demonstration has moved under the main police stations and the second wave of random arrests happen (you can see it on the video: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=295720058542451&id=107750507339408).
👉Members of parliament and attorneys have been present at the police stations all night trying to get any information and to provide legal help to the detainees. In order to prevent this contact, police has started to move the arrested people out of Warsaw- a tactic straight up from the harshest repressions of the communist times. On one of the photos below you can see two MPs standing in the way of a police van in the middle of the night to prevent that from happening. People were being dragged out of the police stations to the transport vans. They were shielded on the way to the car by other police vehicles to make identification impossible. Few of them managed to scream out their last name. Attorneys were immediately requesting access to their clients, and were met by police officers bluntly lying that such a person was never there.
👉 To paint the picture in more detail, again, of what was happening on the police stations- below you have a photo of a lady reading a piece of paper standing in a window with bars. That's yet another Polish MP, reading a list of the people being held at that particular station to the desperate families searching for their loved ones.
As for today, we are still unsure about what is going to happen.
We know that the arrested people are being presented with bullshit charges, citing ”the participation in an illegal gathering with an aim of violently assaulting a person or a property". Those charges don't stand on any grounds - not only we have photos and videos - the whole peaceful protest was on live TV.
We know that the Polish Ombudsman and the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture has started visiting the police stations.
We know that the first international institutions have started to speak out. Example is in the photos below. With the gravity of what is happening, I'd urge for more and sooner.
Poland is not living up to any standards of a free country. Poland is below anything, that should ever be accepted within the European Union. The long-standing aspiration of my country to become a part of the "West" has shifted towards countries like Russia in a matter of a night.
I will fight this, my friends will fight this. We will not let this go gently into silent night.
But I am not sure how much more fight we have in us.
I'll end with asking all of you abroad for support. Let people in your countries hear about this. We in Poland may not be enough.
#poland#lgbt#lgbt rights#human rights#EU#europe#police brutality#activism#demonstration#protests#warsaw#lgbtq
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I have many questions about Kichiro (sorry). Did he know about Genichiro before he came back to Ashina? How do they get along? How's he doing once Kuro is in Ashina castle, especially with Genichiro threatening Kuro and Wolf apparently dead? Did he know Wolf was "killed" at Hirata? Did he know Owl was "killed" at Hirata? How'd he react when Wolf and then Owl both showed up alive, or was he out of commission by the time Owl came back?
no need to apologise at all, i love talking about my ocs so the more the merrier! i'm really glad you like kichiro, i saw the tags on your rb while i was out today and they made me super happy ^^
i hope these answers are satisfactory, please feel free to ask more if you want because i'm always eager to infodump oc lore >:)
Did he know about Genichiro before he came back to Ashina?
yes! he heard about isshin adopting genichiro around when it happened and it made him feel a bit better about not going back to ashina because now he knew isshin wasn't "alone" anymore.
How do they get along?
at first they didn't have any reason to quarrel -- kichirou didn't threaten genichiro's position of heir to ashina as he didn't particularly want to lead (he didn't think he deserved to due to his past), so they got along fairly well. it was only after the whole situation with kuro that things started to get messy -- genichiro grew jealous of kichirou for having dragon's heritage and kichirou obviously did not agree with his plan to use kuro, so things started to get heated.
kichirou tried to keep things respectful, but genichiro's tunnel vision for protecting ashina caused him to lash out at his unwillingness to lend a hand. it eventually reached a tipping point where they fought physically, and kichirou ended up losing his eye. this all happened in front of isshin who took kichirou's side immediately and exploded at genichiro out of frustration.
after this the two of them decided to try and keep things civil for isshin's sake -- they didn't want to cause him any more stress -- he loved them both equally and didn't want them to fight like this, even though he disagreed with genichiro's methods just as much as kichirou did. unfortunately, after isshin passed things began to get tense again as much as kichirou tried to keep the peace afloat.
How's he doing once Kuro is in Ashina castle, especially with Genichiro threatening Kuro and Wolf apparently dead? / Did he know Wolf was "killed" at Hirata?
it's really a mixed bag of emotions for him at this point in the story. he's happy to be around kuro again because he missed him a lot (and kuro is happy to see him again too), but of course genichiro threatening him causes him a lot of stress.
kuro told him that wolf was "killed" by genichiro which only furthered their quarrel, but also took a HUGE toll on him considering he thought up until that point that wolf had died in the hirata incident. finding out that he was alive the entire time but died before they could meet again absolutely ruined him for a while, but kuro's insistence that he would come back kept him hopeful. luckily when isshin met wolf as the tengu of ashina he let kichirou know because he knew how deeply the two cared for each other, so he wasn't left completely in the dark.
Did he know Owl was "killed" at Hirata?
he did, and it hit him quite hard. he wasn't as sad about owl as he was about wolf as they weren't as close, but he still mourned him. he didn't take to owl as much as wolf did but he still respected him a lot and was grateful for everything he did for them both.
How'd he react when Wolf and then Owl both showed up alive, or was he out of commission by the time Owl came back?
owl returned before kichirou and wolf met again, but he never got to see him. when he learned of what happened, he was more shocked at the fact that wolf had killed him than he was about the fact that he was alive in the first place. he'd always seen owl as a sly and cunning man, so faking his death wasn't out of the realm of possibility for him.
when wolf returned to ashina castle later on (i'm not sure if i want him to be summoned there by kichirou or not. it's either that or he just went there to talk to kuro??), that's when he and kichirou reunited and duelled -- kichirou had a feeling that their meeting would end in a fight, so he pre-emptively equipped his discarded shinobi prosthetic (which he made himself using dogen's blueprints after losing his arm in the coup).
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Hello. I am the part of slavic fan club of Ercole. My friend told me about a situation with your Giulia/Ercole art. We don't ship it but. PLEASE READ IT TO END!
I think fan community is free to shipping everything they want without being bulled. I also consider that adult! AUs may and can exist. I am really sorry for my bad English, I (we are) just really want to give you some support.
Also some words for haters
Dear Haters. I also can understand your reaction (but I don't support it) and I think that when someone draws something you don't like or when author wrote some explanation for this ship and you're disagree with this, you don't need to write about it. Of course, there is a borders. I have it too. I am against pedophilia/rape/violence. But we see two characters, that were aged up. Giulia is about 12. Ercole is 16, as he said (but he's official 18-19). And I think age up is really okay. If you blame this ship for "incompatibility" of characters, please, agree the fact of possible AUs and theories, that can explain the relationship of this couple and make them harmonious, without pedophilia and vulgarity.
Dear Author. I know that there will be some people who will not understand me and you. They could tell me that I am homophob or pedophile. I am not. I just don't want that someone will bulled at this point. Have a nice day:)
Hello! Thanks for writing me this very kind message, it was completely unexpected and made me so happy! It’s great to know that there’s a fan club of Ercole 😊
Sorry if my reply will be long, but I’d like to express what I think about what happened too.
Yes, I drew a Giulia x Ercole ship artwork. I don’t know if you saw it, but it showed Ercole paying Giulia a compliment in a self-confident and a little arrongant way (not so effective xD); Giulia was looking away, appearing to be almost upset, but she was blushing too, because she actually liked him and she found his words very flattering, despite their conflictual and inflammatory relationship.
I want to say it OUT LOUD: the scene was totally clean and sfw, I didn’t have ANY intention to make it naughty or sexualised! I simply took the scenario from my adolescent memories: the first crushes, the first interests, the way I wanted to be considered cute and pretty, the way I desired an older boyfriend… and I thought it would be nice to draw something related.
Here where I live it’s perfectly normal to see teen couples with age gaps… for example, I was 17 years old when my ex boyfriend and I got together, he was 22.
However, I decided to delete the picture because I realized the situation was becoming problematic. I imagined many people would turn their nose up at it and wouldn’t approve it, and I was completely ok with it! Everybody should be free to ship whoever they want and however they want, without conditions!
But I didn’t imagine I would get several insults and shameful accusations towards me, as well as reports on my artistic profiles. All of this for having drawn a teenager couple, it’s crazy!
I support every kind of headcanon and I like the AUs and the adult!AU too! I find them interesting and I like seeing how a relationship evolves in the future. At the same time, like the Alberca couple, I believe that the ship between Giulia and Ercole works also without aging them up, due to their different characters, their fights, their arguments and their way to consider each other important without saying it directly: they are worthy rivals.
Some rude, aggressive and senseless reactions made me feel very sad, especially because, I repeat it again, I didn’t come up with an erotic or sexual idea, so who cries scandal should reflect on their view on things and on human relationships themselves.
Last, but not least: we are talking about FICTION, anyway. People need to understand that fanarts in general have NOTHING to do with real life, it may sound taken for granted, but it seems that many people have problems dealing with this. NO ONE bullies me for shipping Luca x Alberto, but I don’t think it would be perfectly normal to ship 2 kids like them in real life, it would be creepy.
This means that making differences between Luca x Alberto and Giulia x Ercole is senseless, because shipping young characters works because they are CARTOON, not irl people, regardless their estimated age.
Ercole and Giulia don’t exist, nor they have any connection with real life. I would also reflect about on how unproductive it is to get mad at something which does not exist and will never do.
My coscience is clean, I know I’ve done nothing wrong and I will continue supporting the ship! I don’t expect anything, but I hope people will learn to ignore what they don’t like, or at least to express their opinions in a more civilized and polite way.
Thanks again, a strong hug from Italy! ❤️
Erikoon
#luca#disney luca#giulia marcovaldo#ercole visconti#giulia x ercole#erculia#giucole#ship#couple#pixar luca#pixar#thank you#thanks for sending!#love and hugs#my opinion#haters#antis#anti shipping#purity fandom#illustration#fandom#fan art
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Nothings changed at all
ooh my first lil one shot on here?!?! not really sure how I feel abt this one but hey ho we move.
summary: 2 years have passed with 2 people living completely separate lives. That’s until Paddy the matchmaker gets involved by not liking exams.
“Y/n?…. Y/n?” Brought out of her ferocious typing, Y/n dragged her attention away from the screen infant of her and looked around the coffee shop to identify the owner of the voice. Sure enough, standing opposite her was an adult and teen who both smiled excitedly at her.
“Nikki! Pads!” Y/n exclaimed while she jumped out of her seat to hug Nikki first, then Paddy. “Wow it’s been ages! You want to join me?”
“Yeh that’d be great!” Nikki smiled already pulling out the free chair opposite, while Paddy stole a chair from a nearby vacant table and pulled it up next to Y/n.
“God you look so grown up since I last saw you!” Nikki grinned, but her eyes held a little surprise making Y/n giggle. It had been at least 2 years since she’d seen the Hollands, and life had changed tremendously for her.
“Yeh well 24 and a qualified doctor now so it’s all happened. But speaking of… what the hell have you done with my fake baby brother Paddy?”
The three spent 40 minutes just catching up with each other, it felt like some weird family reunion. Nikki knew she would be told off by her other sons for ‘consorting with the enemy’ but Nikki really did like and miss her. It was more than clear Paddy did too. Y/n had practically been a part of the Holland family for three years while her and Tom were together, it was fair to say they had all got used to having her around. So when Nikki saw this elegant, grown young woman sat in the coffee shop she couldn’t help but say hi.
They chatted about everything… well almost everything. There was a large gaping hole in the conversation though, where casual references to Tom would usually lie - but neither felt comfortable broaching that subject with the other. Not yet anyway. Y/n could not believe that paddy was in year 11 and taking his GCSEs, in her head he was still the hyperactive young boy who loved to play spies.
“We only came out today to give this one a break from his revision did we?” Nikki spoke kindly towards her youngest, Y/n raising her eyebrow at the tone.
“Yeh I just proper hate maths and I know I’m going to fail it-“ Paddy sighed, suddenly feeling the need to twist his empty hot choclate mug round and round, clearly nervous just talking about it. He clearly wasn’t especially gifted academically and in a school system where talents for the arts and less ‘mainstream intelligence’ isn’t celebrated - he was just considered a write off.
“We’ve been looking for a tutor for him but… well you know at this point in the year so is everyone.” There was almost a look of resignation in Nikki’s face, quite clear that Paddy had already given up. Y/n knew she had to offer, her history of tutoring meant this would be just like any of her other clients and she knew the curriculum inside out and back to front.
“Well you know… only if you want… but I still do tutoring when I have the time?”Looking cautiously between the other occupants of the little table, she wore a kind smile. It would be weird - yes. Tutoring her ex’s brother. But he didn’t have to know, and the Hollands had always been a second family to her.
“Mum can she? Please I really need help and-“
“Only if you have time Y/n, sorry I dint mean to guilt you or anything?”
“No no you didn’t! But I would love to, you know Paddy’s always been my favourite Holland!” Nikki laughed at that, nodding her head as she looked deep into Y/n’s eyes.
“Well then, no harm in trying right?”
///////////////////////////////
Y/n the tutor was a massive hit. Paddy’s confidence almost instantly sky rocketed, with Y/n’s familiarity with him she knew exactly how to approach different subjects and get the best results. She would come over twice, sometimes three, times a week - but there was never any issue since Tom was away filming with Harry, meanwhile Sam and Dom were sworn to secrecy. The one hour sessions quickly evolved into staying for dinner just so Sam could practice from his cooking course. Then there was a little extra tutoring of english too, then a glass of wine or so.
Then came the actual exams. A terrifying process not only for Paddy, but everyone else associated with it also. Somehow though, they all made it through alive and without the excuse of tutoring it just became an invite to dinner once a week. Just ‘because’. Nikki and Dom would love to say they only offered because Paddy wanted her there, but truth be told they all enjoyed her company. Especially with two of their sons on the opposite side of the world, it was nice just to have that familiarity again. She would go to the pub every now and again with Dom and Sam and just generally was a part of the families day to day life.
Then came the night before Paddy’s results.
As expected Y/n had been invited round for a barbecue that evening, with the Hollands and some of Paddys friends families. The whole thing was just a distraction for Paddy who was nervous beyond belief. He really needed to pass to go on to college and chase his dreams of going to university. He couldn’t afford to cock up, even at the tender age of 16. So fair to say a jovial evening where the word ‘GCSEs’ was banned - it was exactly what the boy needed. Everyone sat in the garden chattering away happily, enjoying the glorious and rare British sunshine.
Sam popped inside to go to the loo, but on his way was dragged by unfamiliar hands round the corner into a study room. He shrieked in fright, before his eyes widened in recognition.
“Missed us?” Harry smirked as he let go of his twin however he was immediately pounced on by Sam, who had of course missed his twin brother for the half a year he’d been away. Next he turned to Tom, the both of them laughing as he hugged his older brother, Sam having to hide his surprise at his bulkiness. The new role obviously had him working out a hell of a lot.
“What are you doing here anyway?”
“We got some time off and mum said Pads is terrified so we thought we’d pop in for moral support.” Harry exclaimed, clearly very proud of themselves for organising it for their littlest brother.
“ Does anyone know?”
“Um… well you…now” Tom couldn’t hide his mischievous grin, making Sam shake his head at his over excitedness “So what’s going on? Is it a party or something?”
“I’ve just done a barbecue for Paddy friends families… you remember Jack? Another guy called Zak and then two girls too-“
“Ah cool so we will just walk out and surprise him?” Harry asked and Sam was about to encouragingly agree, until something struck him.
“I…um…Tom there’s something you need to know.” His voice was deadly serious and Harry noticed the warning tone; Tom always oblivious didn’t catch on so quick, just scoffed and asked why.
“While you’ve been away…. Paddy had tutoring to help and um well… Y/n-she’s here.” Tom closed his eyes and shook his head, taking a breath and gulping it down before looking intently at Sam.
“She…she what?”
“Mum bumped into her in town and she got Y/n to help Paddy with maths. I don’t know… she’s here for Paddy and well…”
“Mum knows that we aren’t speaking right?” Sam nodded in defeat, taking a small step back from his brother “and she still…she still did this?”
“You were the other side of the country and you know how close Paddy and Y/n were. And by the way she worked it looks as if she might’ve made him pass which would be a miracle in itself! So please can you just be civil?”
“It has been like 2 years Tom” Harry, very unhelpfully, felt the need to input - earning him a glare from both of his brothers. Tom just shifted his weight nervously from foot to foot, eyes glued to the floor.
“Yeh…I mean we are adults” His words were stuttered, as if his brain was desperately trying to force out words his heart completely disagreed with. Harry and Sam knew of course, they knew their brother never really had got over his first love. With a sympathetic smile Sam led the way out of the study room.
It was fair to say to Holland’s were ecstatic about the twos return, Paddy’s face had been the most priceless because although he was 16 - he still really was an overexcited little kid. The whole garden energy skipped about twelve levels when they walked in, Paddys friends and families also a little excited to see ‘spiderman’ in real life. Yet Y/n… she was less pleased. Sam had instantly come over to her asking if she was okay. Which she was. Unlike her ex, Y/n had properly got over him and had serious relationships since. She just felt awkward for him, she was in the way of a family reunion, she was the sceptre at the feast. Bless Sam for keeping her company, they sat on the outdoor furniture in the corner and just chatted, while Mr centre-of-attention relished all the love from his family. She knew she should leave, so leaned closer to Sam to barely whisper. “I’m gonna go now”
“Y/n you don’t have to, Pads still wants you here and-“
“Sam could you give us a minute?”
Interrupted by the oh so familiar voice, Y/n smiled nervously at him, before giving Sam a side eye saying it was okay for him to leave. Swapping seats Tom sat down in Sams seat, running a hand through his hair nervously.
“Look Tom I was just going to go so you guys can have a proper reunion and-“
“Please stay. Paddy wants you here and tonights about him so?”
“That’s very kind of you but...well you made it clear we couldn’t be friends. I don’t want to intrude and-“
“That was years ago and I was being naive. For paddy please?”
“Tom I….I’m-“ Stopping promptly as she was interrupted.
“staying yes I agree. Now come on he’s looking…” Tom lowered his voice as he motioned over to Paddy standing with Sam, who appeared to be watching the exchange between the two ex lovers intently “so pretend I said something funny, laugh and then we can go mingle”
“Hard to imagine… you have no sense of humour” She smiled sarcastically, before throwing her head back laughing - as if she had said something hilarious. Tom knew he had to join in, however much he tried to hide the grimace at her remark.
“ You haven’t changed at all” He muttered under his breath following her as she stood up and headed back towards the main group.
“Oh but I have” Tossing her head to look back at him, flowing hair flicking round too “I’ve learnt my worth.” Her words were dripping with sass and a little passive-aggressiveness, but all Tom could think was how amazing she was, how much he had missed that little smirk she did while flicking her head back round and pull Paddy in for a side hug.
////////////////////////
The evening flew by, all of Paddy’s friends and their families went home, yet Y/n stayed and chatted with the Hollands as if this was completely normal. They had all long since migrated into the sitting room while the sun was setting, playing some board games of Paddy’s choice - his results long since forgotten early that evening. Truth be told, Y/n really enjoyed catching up with Harry and although they hadn’t really had any personal conversations- seeing Tom and taking the piss out of his uselessness at the games was also very enjoyable. After her and Paddy’s turn ended Y/n excused herself to go to the toilet but instead of going straight back to the living room she went to grab herself a glass of water.
“Oh Y/n… I was meaning to catch you” The soft and very very familiar voice startled her a little, the warm tone sending shivers down her spine as if a reflex. Turning round to see Tom leant against the counter with a small smile.
“Well what’s up then?” She tried not to be too open too quickly, as much as her heart just wanted to skip the small talk.
“Just wanted to catch up, it’s been a while and just feel like we should be friends since my family seem to sort of adopted you” She scoffed at his statement, very obviously rolling her eyes, a little annoyed.
“And who was it that didn’t want to be friends huh?” She raised an eyebrow and this was Toms turn to scoff as he looked down at the ground.
“Yeh yeh I deserve that… shall we just skip past the blaming me huh?” The cockiness wasn’t hidden in his voice and that made her laugh, clearly not that shy. In fact he was terrified, but wanted to look as if he didn’t care, like he was flippant.
“Alright Spiderman, so how’s life?” …
The truth about their break up was quite simple. Tom had got too busy and had stopped making time to their relationship. Y/n grew tired and had had enough, which he completely understood. He’d tried to promise more effort, flying back for extra weekends but they both new they were hollow, it wouldn’t be maintained. Their last meeting hadn’t been an angry shouty one, rather just depressingly sad. They’d both been upset, recahingn a mutual conclusion it was just the wrong time. Which they had both agreed with... but one thing they hadn’t. Tom thought it was like dangling a carrot in front of his face, having Y/n still present in his life. He had given her an ultimatum, they either keep going on together p as a couple or they would become strangers. And that’s where it had been left 2 years ago.
They spent the next half an hour or so, chatting away as if nothing had ever happened. It felt normal again, all jokingly catching up about the most ridiculous things - the low hum of the left on radio in the background. That was until a certain song came on the radio - it was ridiculous, the most insane unlikely eventuality to happen. Their old song.
Of course that would happen. Y/n released a breathy laugh and Tom’s grin just grew and grew across his face, slowly transferring into a smirk. He stood up from leaning across the counter, that Y/n was now sat cross-legged on top. In his ever so dramatic movie like style, he rounded the counter to her side, and held an arm out to her.
“Dance with me”
“Tom that’s-“
“Oh come on, dance with me!”
“You’re ridiculous”
“I know. So dance with me?”
“Tooommm” She drew out his name in refusal, but her body said something else as she slid off from the counter - delicately landing on tiptoes as she lowered herself down.
“Just come here, for old times sake” He grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him, transferring his hand to hover at her waist, not touching until she gave him a small nod in permission. Hesitantly she knew where her hands were supposed to go and slowly drifted them up to round his neck, but balanced her forearms further on his collarbones so she held her own hands rather than gripping his neck as was natural. They slowly moved in unison, just slightly rocking from one side to another - Tom’s eyes locked on hers.
“So are you happy?” Something about the way he said it made her internally shudder. It was the pure care, all his sarcasm and cockiness stripped back to expose himself just for this moment.
“Um yeh… I don’t know feel like I’m starting to figure out this whole ‘life’ thing.” She smiled up at his chocolate brown eyes, while he seemed to absorb all she said.
“And he treats you well?”
“He?” She narrowed her eyebrows in confusion, cocking her head to the side slightly.
“Oh er… before you said that ‘we’d moved out’ and I just assumed-“
“Ah um yeh I moved in with someone but he’s not in the picture anymore… got the bed to myself again” Tom thought she didn’t seem very affected by it yet still felt guilty for bringing it up.
“I’m sorry… er how long? Are you okay?”
“Yeh I really am. A year and a half so we taught each other a lot, but it was mutual. We’re still friends.” Smiling, Y/n watched as Tom nodded minutely and they drifted to silence, listening to the song bringing back all sorts of memories. “What about you? Got yourself a super model I assume?” She didn’t mean to ask that. Because why did she need to know? She didn’t care about that. Did she? Tom chuckled nervously before replying.
“Umm no. I haven’t really dated anyone since… just all the travelling and everything doesn’t really work with the dating scene.” His voice was quiet, as if hiding something, and he couldn’t meet her eyes looking at the floor.
“Oh… yeh I get that” Unconsciously letting her hands slip back, connecting with the back of his neck- instantly making him meet eyes with hers again. They just stared at each other, still swaying from side to side as the music flowed. He didn’t want this moment to end. And secretly… neither did she.
“I can’t take you seriously when you look at me like that” Breaking the intensity, nervously Y/n giggled, leaning away - but Tom’s arms, still on her waist, kept her from going anywhere.
“Like what?” His eyebrows raised, enjoying her nervous flush present on her cheeks a little more than he should.
“Like nothings changed” She all but whispered, the gap between the two almost magically diminishing. The pause was long as Tom tried to formulate the idea he so wanted to get across.
“ Maybe that’s because… right now I have exactly the same feelings I did two years ago… that maybe I want so badly to kiss you?” His voice was barely audible at the point, but their faces were barely centimetres from each other; noses hovering side by side as his lips brushed hers. He didn’t want to push her, yet at the same time one of his hands moved to her cheek - gently cupping it as his eyes flicked between her wide eyes and pink flushed lips.
“Maybe… maybe you should kiss me then?” The tension was palpable as she drew out her words, purposefully teasing him a little. Because she wanted to keep him on his toes. When her heard her suggestion she had to stop herself from giggling at the smile that instantly grew across his face, the way his pupils grew in shock . Safe to say he didn’t reply, instead slowly and delicately pressing his lips on hers. She reciprocated tentatively and deepened the kiss bit by bit. Her hands now running through his hair on the back of his head, Toms other hand now on the small of her back - closing the distance completely, their bodies connected. It didn’t last long before she pulled away the most seductive smile on her face, while Tom subtly tried to regain the breath that had been knocked out of his lungs.
“We should go back” She whispered, while running her thumb over his left flicky eyebrow that always intrigued her. Suddenly his eyebrows furrowed in concern, worried he had made her feel uncomfortable. Instantly recognising this, she calmed his nerves very simply by pressing a fleeting kiss on his lips once again, grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the living room.
As soon as they entered Y/n and Tom both realised how long they’d been in the kitchen. The game long since abandoned, probably waiting on one of their returns at their go, the rest of the Hollands now all sat lounging on different areas of the sofa - who all immediately looked up as they shuffled in. Luckily the lights were dimmed for the movie playing on the TV screen, so that no one would see her blushing cheeks. She sat in the middle of the sofa which only paddy was on, and Tom followed sitting next to her - but not too close that it would be suspicious . No words were exchanged throughout, though Nikki did exchange a knowing look with Dom - who had seemingly finally learnt when to keep his mouth closed. Both Y/n and Tom pretend to fix their full attention on the film for a short while, even if both their brains were whirring away with very very separate thoughts to any critical analysis of the storyline.
After about 10 minutes though, Tom pulled his leg up, just so it was obscuring the view to the sofa opposite and took the opportunity to clasp Y/n’s hands in his. Slickly, even though she wasn’t expecting the contact Y/n didn’t react her eyes still trained on the TV. However, Tom didn’t miss the small upward tug on her lips as she squeezed his hand back. No one noticed.
Except Paddy.
Paddy from his vantage point on the sofa he was sharing with the two, peered over subtly as he went to the loo - and a massive smirk appeared across his face. He might just’ve got his sister back.
#tomholland#tom holland x reader#idk how to use tags#idk how to use tumblr either#pls help#tom holland fluff
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Your take on cancel culture and stan culture?
Oh boy, oh boy, it's happening.
Alright, let's talk about toxic people on the internet. And keep in mind that my opinion goes beneath the mcyt community. I feel the same about the kpop community and any other community that is famous for having lots of toxic people.
Also, keep in mind that this is my opinion about these topics, I don’t intend to offend or misinform anybody. I might be wrong, and if I am wrong indeed, please help me correct any mistake that I’ve done.
Cancel culture
Before ranting about its toxicity, let's understand what it actually means and how it works.
What is cancel culture?
Well, according to Wikipedia, “cancel culture or call-out culture is a modern form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles – whether it be online, on social media, or in person” (source).
Basically, cancel culture is the process of ceasing offering support to a public figure after saying or doing something that is considered objectionable or offensive.
In theory, cancel culture is a good thing that helps the victims speak up and properly defend themselves, as well as preventing other people from doing the same mistakes. No harm done to innocent people, just a way of saying why a certain person or a certain company has done something that really hurt a category of people. Some even say that it’s an exercise of free speech.
However, while a culture that encourages calling out inappropriate behaviour is important, a culture that is quick to cancel and reluctant to forgive is something that divides the internet and starts wars in the trial of defending an opinion that is not shared by every single person on the internet, thus becoming the thing that its purpose is to defeat. (a vicious cycle of hatred)
So why is it toxic?
From my point of view, I don’t think that cancel culture is a toxic thing in theory. But the way people actually use it is what concerns (and bothers) me.
In its current form, anonymous and fuelled by negative emotions, cancel culture has the power to destroy a person’s career in a matter of minutes. There are no gray areas, just the white and black pack mentality: “I am right and you are wrong”.
The subject of the cancelation becomes “cancelled” for disagreeing with a certain opinion, and the cancelled one feels like the whole world is hating them. No one can argue that going through a cancellation, no matter how big or small it is, can severely affect one’s mental health and leave them scarred for life.
Cancel culture, at this point, is bullying someone famous without facing the consequences. We are already used to surf the web and stumble across someone’s cancelation over something that not even in our wildest dreams we would be able to imagine otherwise.
I think that all of us are familiar with a stupid cancelation, like canceling someone over a burger that somehow became the sole reason of obesity (see: Dream MrBeast burger). We can’t help but laugh at people trying to cancel someone for a stupid reason.
But, unfortunately, not all of our cancelations are stupid or laughable. There are people cancelled over their physical aspect or them not being political active, people cancelled over being friends with certain people or over saying something that is now considered to be slightly offensive a few years ago. The ones who are under the spotlight can’t make jokes or take decisions by themselves, they are supposed to be the marionettes of their fans.
(I do not intend to say that all cancelations are bad, but I’m trying to highlight how the majority of the most recent cancelations are out of place. If someone actually tries to actively harm your minority, your beliefs etc. you should call out that inappropriate behaviour, but without purposely harming that person as a means of payback)
There is also a toxic behaviour that I’ve noticed in a cancelation: the “I forgive you”/”I don’t forgive you” phrase used by people who have no right to do so. If you are part of the minority who has been hurt, then you have every right to forgive or not someone for saying or doing something hurtful towards your minority.
But if you are not a part of that minority, shut the f*** up. By speaking on behalf of a minority while you aren’t part of that minority you take away the right of actually addressing the issue from the people who are part of that minority. You can support them from the sides and let them express their pain with their own voice. They perfectly capable of addressing the issue, they need your support but not you taking the spotlight away from the actual problem.
What is my take on cancel culture?
I think that there are more civil ways of resolving an issue without actively trying to destroy someone’s career. Instead of cancelling that person, we could educate them (but not in that harmful way I’ve seen on twitter) on the subject and on why their words or actions are hurtful.
We should remember that we are all humans and that every human makes mistakes. Don’t forget that children learn by making mistakes. And while I’m well aware that we are not talking about children here, you should also be well aware that we are talking about actual humans with feelings.
Cancelation should be the last weapon we use, but only if that person refuses to give an apology and educate themselves on the subject.
Overall, don’t. Just don’t cancel people. Don’t attack people on the internet. Don’t try to harm people on the internet.
Some of you might disagree with my opinion and I’m open to criticism as long as you can help me educate more on the subject.
Now let’s move on to the other topic
Stan culture
Before I start talking about this one, I’d like to point out that stans actually scare me, a lot.
What is stan culture?
“Stan culture describes an online phenomenon in which communities of stalker fans, or stans, engage in overly enthusiastic support of a favorite celebrity online (called “stanning”), including at times vehement, coordinated attacks against detractors and critics” (source).
Basically stan = stalker + fan.
There are also people who say that the word stan comes from Eminem’s song “Stan” which tells the story of a crazed fan. I do recommend listening to the lyrics of this song if Eminem is not your cup of tea, it’s a good intake in what stan culture was at the beginning of 2000′s.
To be honest, I don’t have anything more to add at this section. Anything more I’d say would, in the end, be the same as what was already stated. (but you can see my opinion on it with more comments at the end)
It stan culture toxic?
You have to live under a rock if you had never seen a stan on twitter or tumblr. You usually recognize them by their profile pictures, the content they share, their posts and their ready to argue behaviour in case you insult or disagree with the ones they worship.
I’d like to point out that there is a fine line between a stan and a fan: stans know no length when it comes to defending their object of worship and often have really toxic ways of expressing their opinions, while a fan is there just to enjoy their favourite content without engaging in harmful discussion and hate speeches.
This topic is filled with controversy. In essence, stanning should be a means of showing support. The majority of them don’t even realize the toxicity they spread only after leaving the fandom.
The real problem here is the moment when they engage in conflicts without entertaining the thought that they might be wrong. Anything they do is right and their object of worship can say or do no mistake. This extends to the point of sending death threats and even doxxing.
For those who don’t know about doxxing, short for dropping dox: doxxing is an internet slang that means to publish personal information (of an individual) on the internet. You can find more about it here.
With no intend to disrespect or disregard one’s religious beliefs, you can say that stanning is like being part of a religion. The stans are the extremist people who practice that religion, while the fans are those who practice it from time to time (eg. like a Christian who goes to Church only on Christmas and Easter - me).
In the end, stan culture is toxic to both the stans and celebrities.
Is there a connection between stan culture and cancel culture?
They are both toxic internet cultures, this one is right for sure.
From what I’ve noticed during my short timed stay on twitter, a lot of cancelations are made by stans from the same community or different communities.
I’m part of mcyt community, so I’ve seen a lot of Dream fans and Dream antis fighting over the past months, trying to cancel each other and harm each other. It’s mental seeing people actively trying to do these kind of things just because they love or hate a certain person. Of course that we can’t tie the situation to a certain content creator.
I know that his also happens a lot in the kpop community where stans are in a constant fight to destroy the career of each other’s favourite idol group or bias (someone's most favorite member of an idol group).
What is my take on stan culture?
I feel like I need to repeat myself: stans scare the s*** out of me.
It’s like their sole purpose in life is to support someone and don’t have the basic sense of boundaries. A lot of problems arise with this: like shipping people who are uncomfortable being shipped with, intense sexualizing (sexualizing the minors is the worst from my point of view), creating drama and intentionally ignoring real world problems just to make their favourite person(s) trend, and the list is so long that I feel like I’d create a record on tumblr for the longest post if I go on.
We are talking about some weird adaptation of Lord of the Flies where children raise each other on the internet. It’s like a cult and they are brainwashed into believing what everybody else thinks. And the worst part is that I don’t think we’ll ever get better from this, things are only going south to heaven.
I might be wrong and biased, so I do expect someone to help me understand these topics better, but for now these are my firm opinions.
I’d also like to clarify, once again, that in the religion example I’m not making fun of Christianity, I’m just using it as a means to help people better understand my point.
#if you think doxxing and death threats are justified unfollow me#I'm sorry but I'm so fucking sick of internet at this point#or even better block me you fucking coward#I feel like I have lots of words misspelled but it is what it is#cancel culture#stan culture#mcyt#kpop#free speech#censorship#stanning#important#personal opinion#ask
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Welcome to the Nightmare Game II - CH33
**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**
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Chapter 33: Star Death Reality Show (XVI)
With He Yi's intermittent narration, Qi Leren finally connected all the dots.
The amphioctopuses, a cosmic alien that could destroy civilization, would hatch once they had spread to a civilized planet and sensed nearby creatures. Generally speaking, this kind of "hatching" was slow, and it took more than half a month to break free from the outer shell of the glowing stones and begin to parasitize. However, there were also ways to stimulate the amphioctopus to incubate quickly, that is, to make an organism's body fluid—usually blood—come into contact with the amphioctopus’s shell, and the amphioctopus will complete the incubation within a few minutes and enter the parasitic state.
That smear of blood on the glowing stone in the church: apparently Annie or Mark had consciously awakened the octopus inside and made it parasitize Mark.
Once parasitized, the host would quickly lose self-awareness and become the octopus’s puppet. The amphioctopus could develop into a mature body within 20 hours, enter the breeding period, lay eggs once a day, and parasitize the surrounding creatures in a relatively closed space, where the number of prey available for parasitization was less than the total number of amphioctopuses.
The amphioctopus was an intelligent creature. The smarter its host was, the smarter it was, because it perfectly inherited everything from the host after capturing its self-awareness. It would use its brain to "think" about how to reproduce more. Its ultimate goal was to reproduce and expand by hook or by crook.
In the late night of the first day, Mark, the first infected person, appeared, and in the late night of the next day, the second infected person also appeared—by various indications, it was Xue Jiahui. The "amnesia" after she woke up was not just her forgetting because she had been parasitized, but because the octopus in her body had borrowed her brain. After thinking, it had concluded that she had better pretend to have amnesia and hide what she knew about amphioctopuses.
On the night of the third day, two new infected people appeared again: one is most likely Annie, the other was uncertain at present, and the most likely one was Lara, who was responsible for taking care of Xue Jiahui. However, Qi Leren had doubts about this, because if Lara had been parasitized, she wouldn’t have mentioned the "contagious physiological conditions" key to Qi Leren when listening to the Best of the Day that morning.
Then there was tonight. There would be four new victims tonight, and the total number of amphioctopuses would exceed that of human beings. After these larvae reached the mature stage, the eight mature octopuses wouldn’t be able to get enough prey. They were about to start a massacre in order to get enough energy, and then enter a long dormant period like the original octopus until new prey appeared.
It was preliminarily estimated that this time would be on the night of the fifth day.
"If you want to save them, time is running out." He Yi’s tone was exhausted as he looked at Qi Leren. "Are you sure you want to try? There are probably eight amphioctopuses outside, at least four!"
"We still have time and methods. I can't think of a reason not to do it," Qi Leren said.
"Methods?" He Yi frowned.
"The instrument that can identify whether someone is infected." Qi Leren remembered that He Yi had used it to confirm that he wasn’t infected.
He Yi's face changed: "No! Don't bring them in! You can go out, but don't come back after you go out. I’ll wait here until the army arrives, but I will not let the infected people enter here!"
Qi Leren frowned and thought: "Well, this research institute is very big. You can find a safe room to go in and lock it. I’ll bring some people who may not be infected to come in for testing. If there is an accident... you can close the door along the way and hide in the power room. In case the situation isn’t good, you can immediately cut off the power supply so that all the doors are difficult to open. Even if there are infected people, they cannot enter your area."
He Yi still shook his head: "No, I won't let the monster in!"
"...Well, at least let me out." Qi Leren sighed, but he understood He Yi's concerns and his frightened mood at this time. If he wasn’t an outsider at this moment, but an innocent ordinary person who was involved in this dangerous situation, he wouldn’t have been able to behave righteously as he was now.
Deep down, Qi Leren still held a wait-and-see attitude towards He Yi, and there were still many doubts about this person, so to speak. But Qi Leren didn't even ask, because it was impossible to get any useful response by questioning He Yi face to face here, and it might even startle him.
"How do you want to leave? The entrance where I came in has been completely blown up, and I can't get out. The door to the outside needs a special ID card, and there is a life detection system and a gait recognition system inside the passage. The AI will automatically analyze your walking posture, which is much stricter than any fingerprint authentication. You can't cheat at all. Once the system determines that you’re not a person in the database, the laser defense system will start until the life detection system determines that there’s no living thing inside. Are you confident you can pass again?" He Yi asked.
Without confidence, Qi Leren silently thought about how the S/L Data’s cooling time was one hour, and that it hadn’t passed yet.
And the Prophet had said to minimize the use of the S/L... Qi Leren actually had no actual feelings, but he only vaguely felt that this skill was a bit evil, and dying too much would cause him to have frequent nightmares. But at the critical moments, he still instinctively relied on this skill.
I can't. There are too many gravestones on Undead Island.
"Where is the general control room for the laser corridor?" Qi Leren asked.
"It's useless, I’ve looked for it. I suspect that the door to the defense system’s general control room can't be opened without a password, and the monitoring can't be seen. Even if we find the password and go in, this system isn’t like the equipment that checks for the octopuses. It can't be operated at all without knowing the language here." He Yi shook his head.
Qi Leren pondered over it. To go out, you had to pass through the laser corridor. At the end of the corridor, next to the door that led outside, an ID card had to be used. However, Qi Leren had experienced the danger of the laser corridor once. Unfortunately, S/L solution was still needed to pass smoothly. Was there any other way...
"I have an idea!" Qi Leren shouted and scared He Yi, who looked at him suddenly. "He Yi, I need your cooperation!"
"...Go on."
"It’s like this: I will go to the laser corridor. You will go to the power room to turn off the power, so that the laser corridor won’t start, and the gait recognition system will be the same. I will go through the laser corridor to the front door and wait for you to turn on the power again, so that the ID reader on the door will start. I can open the door and go out once it starts ago!" Qi Leren said.
"Are you sure? What if the gait recognition system or life detection system starts first?" He Yi disagreed.
"It’s more likely for the door to start first once it’s powered on, rather than the laser corridor," Qi Leren said, "And isn't there you? It took me about one minute to pass through the laser corridor last time. Please calculate the time for turning the power on. Turn off the power again after about forty seconds. Forty seconds is enough for me to open the iron door and go out. If there’s an accident, I won't be able to open the door as I’ll be blocked by the lasers. As long as you turn off the power, the lasers will be turned off again with it."
He Yi thought for a while and nodded: "This method is good, double insurance."
For Qi Leren with S/L Data, this was three insurances. What he relied on was not luck, nor He Yi’s cooperation, but his own strength. Otherwise, he would rather study how to get out of the collapsed passage that He Yi had come in through, and would not consider such a dangerous laser corridor.
The two discussed the details again. Qi Leren also took off the watch he found when collecting materials and gave it to He Yi: "You can watch the time."
He Yi took the watch, nodded solemnly, and said, "Oh, I also found the arsenal here. Heavy weapons can't be used, but you should be able to get started with weapons like a handgun and hand grenade, you'd better take some with you."
No wonder this boy has a gun in his hand. Qi Leren glanced at He Yi: "Okay, thanks a lot."
The two men went to get the weapons, which were well preserved. Qi Leren picked a few easy-to-use ones and took them apart for maintenance. He could give them to Dr. Lu for use, while he took his usual ones and tested them on the spot. He Yi, who was on the side, said faintly because of his skillful technique: "You are indeed a military person. Or did you know there would be octopuses here? Did you secretly hide the octopus in that cave?"
Qi Leren said helplessly: "Oh, I’m really not, why do you think so?"
But he really had known there would be octopuses.
"Then who are you? Is it really possible that you’re an ordinary band lead singer?" He Yi was adamant.
Of course not. My singing is terrible, Qi Leren thought.
But... Should he pave the way for his skill card? So as not to expose the skills at the critical moment, be questioned by the audience, and lead to the failure of the task? With this in mind, Qi Leren decided to add some personal settings for himself.
"Actually, I do have a special identity," Qi Leren said with a dignified face. "I tell you, but don't tell anyone else."
He Yi waited for a while, looking at him carefully: "Then wait, should I turn off the tracking camera?"
Qi Leren couldn't help laughing, which exposed the fact that he was joking. Seeing He Yi looking at him with bitterness, Qi Leren corrected his expression and asked seriously, "Do you have a faith?"
He Yi was confused by his question and shook his head blankly: "I’m an atheist."
I used to be an atheist, until I got involved in the Nightmare Game, Qi Leren thought. In fact, he couldn't be regarded as religious even now. He just thought that there must be some great and incredible powers in the world beyond their knowledge. These were what were regarded as "gods".
—You can admire and question, but don't worship blindly and slander maliciously, otherwise you’ll be doomed to be unable to surpass yourself and enter a higher level. That's what Chen Baiqi had told Qi Leren, who thought what she said was very reasonable.
Seeing Qi Leren's delay in answering, He Yi asked again, "What about you? Are you a Christian? "
Qi Leren smiled: "I am an apostle of God."
“……”
"If I’m killed, I will be resurrected immediately."
“…………”
"When danger comes, God will give me strength to become an angel and fight against evil forces to the end."
“………………”
Qi Leren showed a sage's smile full of divinity and gently stared at He Yi, who was eager to speak.
Before the show begins, give the audience a little psychological preparation.
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Editor’s Notes: [Player Qi Leren has leveled up an ability: Bullshitting.]
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Things to Know Before You Request
✿ RULES ✿
↳ I take requests for headcanons only. There is a possibility that I may write some one shots eventually, but from experience, it’s better if I don’t take requests for those like, ever. I’m a very slow writer and I’m also shit at one shots, so I will spare you the disappointment and keep it to headcanons. They’re easier and more fun to work on, anyway.
↳ Now, I am a very biased person, which means that I’ll generally have more inspiration and motivation to write about my favourite characters first (i.e., Founders Trio, Kakashi, Sasuke (I have a complicated relationship with him. He’s my son but I wouldn’t hesitate to slap him. Still one of my faves though), Shikamaru and Ino. That doesn’t mean this blog is restricted to those only, however. Feel free to ask about any character from the original Naruto series (I haven’t caught up on Boruto yet, so I won’t be much of a help there I’m afraid) and I’ll do my best to… not neglect them lmao.
↳ I don’t know who in their right mind even likes them but just be aware that there is absolutely nothing good that I can say about Danzō, Hiruzen and Zetsu and I will not hesitate to trash them any chance I get. Just a heads up if for some reason you’re one of those weirdos who likes them.
↳ Please keep in mind that everything I will say in my headcanons aren’t made to be taken seriously. They’re only what I think, so if we disagree, please stay civil and respectful if you want to share your opinion. I’m always open to new perspectives.
↳ Bigotry of any kind will not be tolerated. If I catch any of you say anything that can potentially hurt a vulnerable group of people I will personally come to your house and kick your ass into the sun. That’s not a threat. That’s a promise.
↳ While we’re on the topic of vulnerable people, something I hate to see are requests that imply that mental illness can somehow be cured if someone else loves you enough, and that’s an extremely harmful mindset to have. I can and absolutely will write about how certain characters will support you through your struggles, but not about their love being a magical cure for it.
↳ Speaking of which, please do include a trigger warning before typing out your request. Better be safe than sorry.
↳ I do accept requests for specific ships between two canon characters. As long as it’s, you know. A consensual thing. Between two adults. And, obviously, I also do reader inserts. Y/N shall never be forgotten.
↳ This is a kinkshaming-free space. I’m very comfortable with NSFW stuff, and I’m comfortable writing pretty much everything except the more extreme stuff—by that I mean scat or emeto, so really, outside of those two things (once again, as long as it’s between two consensual adults), you can ask me anything—so don’t be scared to ask for NSFW stuff. Fair warning, however. I’m not responsible for the mental scarring if you ask me to give my all and come up with the dirtiest stuff I can think of. I don’t have a filter. I’m currently writing a BDSM fic for a different fandom, so that gives you a scale.
↳ If the gender of the reader isn’t mentioned, I’ll use they/them and avoid using gendered nicknames when mentioning Y/N by default. This is an inclusive space. And as a non-binary person myself, it would feel really weird for me not to do that anyway.
↳ Same thing goes for race. If it’s not specified then race/ethnicity will never be mentioned, and no description of skin color, eye color or hair texture will be stated. I’ll try my best to avoid giving anything away so that everyone can feel included. If you notice something off about the way I phrased things, please let me know so I can correct it.
↳ Uchiha apologists go away. I may be Uchiha trash myself but I don’t like y’all. No headcanons for you >:(
I only allow Danzō bashing in this house
↳ I do reserve myself the right to reject any request if they make me uncomfortable or if I feel like they’re too OOC (in my opinion, of course. Doesn’t mean I’m right). I accept AUs, that’s not a problem, but if I get something that says “Madara as a sub hcs please”... yeah, that’s going straight to the garbage, sorry ;-;
↳ Obviously, the more characters are in a single request, the longer it’s going to take me to write it. I currently don’t have a set limit on how many you can request in a single shot—worst thing that can happen is that I might end up splitting your request into multiple parts.
So, I think this is it. I may add some more things in the future, depending on what type of requests I get. In any case, I hope you enjoy what I have to offer !
- Anli
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"I want you to be a part of my future." For Azulaang
6. "I want you to be a part of my future."
Waking on a morning that followed an hour’s worth of sleep felt similar to rising after a night of ten hours. Azula’s eyes crept open slowly, like a snake in the shade looking for the sun. The first thing she wanted to do was stretch, to shake the stiffness out of her muscles. She wanted to yawn, long and loud. She couldn’t. She didn’t want to wake him.
The lemur sat curled at the foot of their bed. The heavy, rhythmic breathing of the bison from the next room pressed against the wall and spilled from the open door that connected their rooms. That Momo seemed fine with sleeping on either side of the bed now was a comforting thought. That she had grown almost reliant on the sound of Appa’s snoring to fall asleep was as bewildering to her as it was amusing.
The sounds of the Southern Air Temple came through the window on the breeze. Some of the new Air Nomads took their master’s teachings on rising and sleeping early too literally. The monks and nuns would no doubt be starting their morning meditations soon. Someone would be putting the first fruit pies into the ovens by now while also doing their best to keep the lemurs out of the kitchen. Others would be sweeping dust and fallen leaves off the temple grounds, tending to the gardens and orchards, sewing or washing clothes, cleaning dishes, all the constant, mundane labors that kept civilizations alive. She could precisely envision what one of the temple residents was doing at the moment. The girl, a fifteen-year-old who had only recently joined them, still felt that she didn’t belong, a feeling Azula knew all too well. She had caught the girl on multiple occasions looking for an extra chore to do so that the others would see her as useful. When the Nomads stopped to play their games, the girl would stand on the sidelines, too afraid to join the revelry. The master of the temple, as compassionate as he was, could be forgiven for failing to notice an individual’s crippling shyness when he had the needs of the group, the needs of the whole nation, weighing on his mind and shoulders. Azula would find her later and again encourage the girl to join one of the games. She would order her to have fun if that’s what it took.
She wasn’t their lady, as the Air Nomads knew no nobles or royals, no leaders save the wisest of their own, but she knew these people as well as a good queen knew her realm, and wanted nothing but the best for them.
Her ears took in the whole world around her. Her eyes, however, only cared for the man still sleeping in her bed.
Aang was such a peaceful sleeper, so unlike her. He preferred to sleep while embracing her, even if it meant waking up to a numb arm. She had convinced him to settle for letting one hand rest lazily on her back. The drool on his pillow chipped away at the image of the all-powerful, respectable avatar, but it amused her. It humbled him slightly, and gave her something to make fun of.
She stared at him for however long it took for him to finally wake. He blinked slowly, trying to escape the feeling that wanted him to shut his eyes again and fall back asleep. Once he made eye contact with her, though, there was no way he would allow himself to sleep in. “Hey,” he whispered, his voice deep and parched, as it was every morning. His hand slowly rubbed her back, appreciating the smoothness of her skin.
“Morning,” she replied. The way her voice sounded so soft in her ears whenever she was alone with him still surprised her. She never thought she could be this way around anyone, or that she’d find someone who made her want to be like this. What had been drilled into her since birth as a weakness had been turned by him into an invaluable power.
He could bend her perceptions and feelings as easily as if they were air and fire.
“How’d you sleep?” asked Aang, the ever attentive and caring lover.
She gave a half-hearted shrug. “I think you already know.”
She thanked Agni that last night hadn’t been particularly bad.
Aang didn’t have to be the light sleeper that he was to quickly stir awake when he slept next to her on one of her bad nights. The first time they slept together, she had thought it a miracle that she hadn’t ruined their intimate moment. The middle of the night had proven her fears well justified, when a scream erupted from her nightmares into reality.
Don’t touch me, she had thought as her tiny, shivering frame rocked in his arms that night.
Don’t let me go, had been the next thought.
Her mind had called him a liar when he assured her that she was safe, that it was going to be okay. She couldn’t deny when he reminded her that he was there for her.
Azula had never truly grown accustomed to her bad dreams, but she had once reached a point where she had accepted them, like an old warrior who accepted the poorly crafted piece of wood that had long replaced their lost leg. That had changed once she started sleeping with Aang. It had proven that the old wound she thought was finally closed was actually infected, and needed to be reopened so that it could be properly tended to.
While some minds had to rely on fantasy to craft their nightmares, Azula’s mind only needed her memories. The image of Aang writhing painfully in the air as her lightning surged through his body. The venomous, shameful smile she wore when Zuko fought father, or the way he struggled in the dirt after she struck him down. The blinding fury that had seized hold of her and almost killed Mai. She had never truly forgiven herself for any of that. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about Aang was that he had unequivocally proven that she had never started to heal. That he was willing to help her was a close second.
It made her feel cowardly and selfish, the way she had come to rely on the shelter his arms could provide her. It made her feel weak whenever she thought of how she relied on his strength to make up for her own shortcomings. It was the avatar’s duty to bring peace and balance to the world. Only the greedy princess of the Fire Nation could demand that he do the same for her.
She knew she didn’t deserve him. She also knew he disagreed with such conclusions.
“What do you want to do?” he inquired. “Sneak some breakfast out of the kitchen? Take a morning flight to the next mountain over?”
“Maybe later,” she answered. “I just want to lay here for a while longer.”
He gave her a little smile that was more welcome than the sunlight seeping through the gap between the curtains. “As you wish.”
He nestled back into bed and closed his eyes, moving a noticeable inch closer to her. Normally, a shared silence was enough, but Azula was overtaken by an impulse, one she could not ignore but wasn’t sure how to properly embrace. A healer Aang had put her in touch with, one who saw to ailments of the mind instead of the body, once counseled her to speak honestly with those she cared about. “Look at me, Aang.”
“Always,” he indulged. He turned to rest on his shoulder so that he could slip his free arm under her, enclosing her in his embrace.
A huff of a laugh escaped her nostrils. The way she would tease his romantic side never failed to please him, and the sight of his joy never failed to please her. Knowing that she had inspired such feelings in him put her in an undeniably good place.
“Tell me what’s on your mind,” he asked.
She pressed a hand gently to the center of his chest. “Are you sure you want to know?”
“Of course.”
She took a single, deep breath to calm her muffled nerves and find her resolve. “I spent too long not knowing what to make of you.”
“And now?”
One of the first things she had learned about Aang, when he had returned to her life to give her a chance to truly learn about the man behind the avatar, was that if she acquiesced to traveling an inch with him, he could easily convince her to travel a mile. He always wanted to hear what was on her mind, and knew just what to say to help her put words to her thoughts. “I can think of two things I’ve decided about you,” she explained.
“Would you tell me what they are?” he asked with optimistic curiosity.
“I wish you lived in a better place in my past.” If she could tear the memories from her mind, she gladly would. Even if she had to tear something good out with them, at least the intrusive, ugly images would be gone. But she couldn’t, so the bad remained with the good.
“And the second?”
Azula took a moment to study his gray eyes, the warmth of his chest as she felt it rise and fall with his breathing, the way his strong hands felt gentle against her skin. She moved her hand up until her palm covered his cheek. “I want you in my future.”
His smile widened, exposing the grin beneath. He pulled her closer until her chest met his and kissed her. Azula never wanted to know another morning when those lips weren’t there to greet her.
He only stopped to kiss her cheeks, the first stop of his lips on their familiar journey southwards. “Don’t get sappy on me, avatar,” she teased.
She could feel the satisfaction in his smile as his mouth fell against her again and again. “We’re far too late for that, princess.”
A light stream of laughter flowed from her throat, and Aang kissed every sound as it traveled up her neck.
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Please share this article, it important that you do so. These truths have to be told.
"Bethune’s name appeared in six reports in the House Committee on Un-American Activities and five times in Senate reports on people suspected of communist activity. While she was cleared of any involvement, the message was clear: Confronting racism and white supremacy is un-American."
"This is why white people are my bellwether."
"Whenever I am trying to decide whether or not a particular movement, policy or person benefits Black America, I wait and see what white people think. While that might sound racist, there has never been a movement, policy or person that benefitted Black America who was simultaneously embraced by white America. In this country, a stance against the trauma-inducing brickbat of whiteness is perceived as a stance against America. And anyone who disagrees can feel free to prove me wrong. Name one person who fought for Black liberation who white people agreed with."
"Whenever anyone does anything that includes the word “Black,” it immediately falls under the classification of Marxist and anti-whiteness. White people hate being left out, even though they are acutely aware that there is nothing more valuable in the known universe than a white life. White people will slit a Black baby’s neck for a white woman’s life."
"Let’s just say they will beat a Black baby to a bloody pulp, tie him to an industrial fan with barbed wire and toss his lifeless body off a bridge. Is that better?"
"But I understand why they vilify Black movements with Marxism."
"White people don’t know what Marxism is."
"According to a 1970 Harris Poll, 64 percent of Black Americans had a favorable view of the Panthers, while 92 percent of white Americans had a negative view. It’s probably because a lot of members of the Black Panther were Marxists, which is different from communism. Basically, Marxism is a way to examine history, economics and societies through the lens of class, while communism is actually Marx’s economic and political theory in which...wait. For a second I started to believe that there was some logic to white supremacy."
"White people hated the Panthers because they had guns and pushed for armed self-defense. For some reason, those America-hating negroes believed “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.”"
"I have no idea where they got that crazy idea from."
"Black people voting"
"Why white people don’t like it: States’ rights, something something, communism, something something it was a different time."
"When Black people marched on Selma for voting rights, they were called “communists.” The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was called “Un-American.” Of course, the 2020 election was about “socialism” because so many Black people voted."
"Southerners, conservatives and white people, in general, have never pushed for a single law to expand the electorate because they are the only true Americans."
"Critical Race Theory"
"Why white people didn’t like it: Because they don’t know what it is."
"This one is easy."
"The one thing that dumbfounds me about white supremacy is how much white people trust each other. They just trust the explanations for their fellow white people. In all this debate about CRT, I have yet to see one person who opposes CRT who can also explain what CRT is. And many of the legislators who are against funding K-12 teachers who absolutely do not teach CRT are already funding the leaders’ movement, such as Richard Delgado, the professor at state-supported Alabama Law School who wrote a little book called Critical Race Theory: An Introduction. "
"All they know is that it has the word “race” in it, so it must be bad."
"Legislators opposed the Civil Rights Act because it was “Marxist.” The House Committee on Un-American Activities investigated the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee for communism. The FBI did, too."
"In a 1964 New York Times survey, a majority of white people said that the “Negro civil rights movement had gone too far,” and a quarter of those people said their resentment was growing. They were right. Two years later, a 1966 Harris Survey, revealed that 85 percent of white respondents thought civil rights demonstrations “hurts the negro.”"
"Apparently, to white people, fighting racism is worse than racism."
"And if you think I’m kidding about white people not thinking Black people were smart, according to the National Opinion Research Center, it was not until 1963 that 50 percent of white people believed “Negroes” were born with the same intelligence as whites."
"History"
"Why white people don’t like it: Because white people might find out about some of the things white people did, which is racist."
"The fight against what politicians have deemed the Marxist, Un-American 1619 Project is actually a fight against teaching the history of slavery more accurately. And it is not new. White people said the same thing about teaching abolition. The United Daughters of the Confederacy said the same thing about the Civil War. White school districts in the North and South said the same thing about Jim Crow. And Black History Month."
"Plus if white kids learn about America’s racist past, they might start saying: “I’m not going to do that again,” and then, what will happen to white people?"
"Martin Luther King Jr."
"Why white people didn’t like him: He was a communist. He was anti-white. He was a Marxist."
"In 1966, a majority of white Americans had a negative opinion of King. When he died in 1968, 75 percent of Americans disapproved of him. Now they love him..."
"Because he’s dead."
"This is why we must never ignore white people."
"While we should never, ever do what white people collectively want, history has shown us that if something is good for Black people, white people will hate it. And if they vilify something as racist, communist or anti-white, you should take a second look because, nine times out of 10, it might be worth considering. When it comes to freedom and equality, the easiest thing to do is to see what white people have to say...
Then do the opposite."
I copied a lot of his article word for word those are Michael Harriot's words not my own.
The word's of people who commented.
"I was asking one of the few people on the Right side of politics I am still in touch with about why he hates CRT, and he sent me a link to a whole essay. It boiled down to a few leaps in logic:"
"1) the USSR used US race relations as a shield to deflect criticism of their own human rights record (“And in the USA, they hang n-words”)"
"2) therefore, any criticism of race relations was caused by Soviet propaganda (not, you know, by actually HANGING BLACK PEOPLE)"
"3) therefore any discussion of race relations was commie propaganda."
"4) therefore, any movement that calls attention to race is communist."
"It’s very similar to how the Communist League fired the original writer of The Communist Manifesto because he brought up ethnic minorities and racism and replaced him with Marx, outright rejecting any factor that so much as complicated their preconceived model. It also shares many of the issues raised in the “grievance studies” affair, being exegesis to elaborate and propound upon a founding scripture."
"That’s the most idiotic line of reasoning I ever heard. It’s so typical of white people as a group in this country that when someone points out some shit they did that’s fucked up that instead of you know, stopping the fucked up thing they basically say that the entity pointing out their fucked up shit is bad therefore bringing up solutions to the fucked up thing they did is wrong."
"Fuck the trolls, but if anyone is actually confused about the likelihood of any white person to trust any other white person over anyone at all who is even POSSIBLY not white, please refresh your memories regarding the multiple instances in the last several years of a Black person being anywhere near a house or building, then being approached by either a white guard, cop, or other self-important deputy of white fragility."
"In these instances, Black people are often believed to be up to no good even after they show ID proving they live in the building some white person has decided they don’t belong in. No amount of proof will have a fragile white self-deputy believing that even state-issued IDs are a real thing and this Black person lives in their own home."
"But when any white person walks by and says “Oh, this is _____, they live here”, immediately, that’s good enough to let this perceived criminal go into their home."
"Because any white stranger vouched in any sort of way."
"Literal evidence of address means nothing, but the word of ANY white person, with no proof of their authority, no hassle about “Well what are YOU doing here?!?”, just...instant belief of any white skin."
"Also, the main difference between Angela Davis and Assata Shakur is that Ms. Davis beat the system at its own game, the “proper” way. Racism couldn’t even beat her at their heavily-rigged game. Ms. Shakur ALSO beat the system, but because she didn’t get to win at a fully-rigged game, she found her own loophole and got out of this racist hellhole."
"Not that it matters, because they’re both the same to any racist. To me, they’re both brilliant heroes."
"If you asked these mouth breathers what they hate about CRT not only could they not tell you, they would call you “the real racist” for asking. There is no winning with these people because they refuse to see themselves as ANYTHING other than the good guys in any situation. It is fucking tiring to deal with this shit and yet they seem to not understand that we are more fucking tired than they are. With each comment, committee and talking point they pretty much prove that no white person could handle being anything other than well, white."
"To admit anything else would result in a reckoning. It will never happen and America will remain a racist society, with white culture pushing back and getting more extreme as each generation of BIPOC become more aware and angry over white supremacy. America will implode and whatever rises from the ashes will either be that reckoning with real change or a third world country."
Again I quoted these people
#black lives matter#justice for black people#blacklivesmatter#blm#justice for black lives#share#sharethis#sharetheword#spread the message#spread the word#marxism#socialism#communism#leftism#spread this#spread awareness#please spread this#end white supremacy#fuck white supremacy#fuck white people#abolish white supremacy
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