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attapullman · 2 months

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Pretend | Robert "Bob" Floyd

Summary: You aren't sure what's worse: having to share a bed with the boy who was your first boyfriend who you haven't seen in years, or having to pretend he's your boyfriend when you wish he actually was.

Word Count: 4.4k

Warnings: f!reader, light smut, 18+ only as always, unprotected pinv, fake dating trope, one bed trope, lots of switching between present and past tense whoops

A Note From Mo: It's Choose-a-Fic! Thank you to everyone who voted and has been part of my 500 Follower milestone! Hopefully you like the fic I wrote just for you (with a little extra one bed trope as a special thank you)! 😘

Coupe glasses tinkle and laughter rings out as the rehearsal dinner draws toward an end. Everyone’s had a little too much of the hotel’s signature white sangria. On your left, Isabel and Reuben are frozen in blissed smiles, the outdoor lights casting an ethereal glow. An idyllic night before the wedding.

You should be relaxed. You’ve had a little wine, the most delicious dinner, and tomorrow your college roommate is getting married at this stunning resort. But every time that big hand grazes your shoulder or his breath heats the skin of your cheek, you’re reminded none of this is real and you desperately wish it was.

The only difference between six-year-old Robert Floyd and the man standing in front of you is the broad shoulders. Those pink cheeks are just as prominent and his eyes are wide behind updated corrective frames. Sandy hair politely brushed off his face. Even his thin lips warp in that same warm smile that instantly relieves tension. The only significant difference is those shoulders that fill out the entire doorway as he checks his rooming assignment with Isabel.

From where you stand behind her, suitcase in tow, you feel your cheeks warm and your gaze drop. You haven’t seen him since the engagement party where you muttered, “it’s a small world after all” more than once. It seemed all too coincidental that your college roommate would be marrying a guy who just happens to be in the same Navy squadron as your first grade boyfriend.

To be fair, you had “dated” Bobby Floyd for a total of a week before your parent’s divorce landed you on the opposite side of the country. There hadn’t even been a formal breakup. He’d simply been the guy you jokingly referred to as your “first love” at wine nights. Occasionally you remembered his collection of vintage Coke bottle caps.

He was practically a figment of your imagination until Isabel introduced you to the man in the nicely ironed pale blue button down and you sputtered out that you already knew each other.

You’re so lost in how bizarre the coincidence of it all is that you zone out through Bob’s check-in and the next few guests that arrive. It’s not until her line of relatives has dwindled that she remembers you’re sat behind her, sorting out the favors for after the reception.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I should have given you your card earlier!” she apologizes as she flips back over her clipboard to find your room number. It’s all forgiven, you were waiting to finish up your bridesmaid duties before checking in. Get the work out so you can slip on your bathing suit and enjoy the amenities - pool, sun, and cabana boys - before dinner tonight.

She hands you a room card and walks you through the map of the hotel. You miss the second half while gathering up all your items, mentally trying to remember exactly how many rights before a left. Dinner is at seven and anything else surely she will remind you. With a kiss to her cheek, you head off to your room to begin the fun part of this destination wedding.

The property is stunning, all sun-washed sandstone and lush tropical plants. Deep blue terry cloth draped over the sun loungers you would live on all weekend. Some sun to compliment what should be a flawless wedding weekend. Maybe you’d get lucky and one of Reuben’s hot Navy friends would join you for some eye candy. You deserved a little one-weekend-in-paradise romance.

Suite 4. It’s a little deflating to remember that you’re in this big suite alone because all the other bridesmaids have dates. A least you have some privacy. The intricately carved door accepts your room key and you push the heavy wood open, ready to change and relax.

W-why was Bob in your villa?

Standing amongst the floor-to-ceiling windows draped with ochre that overlook the ocean, white oak furnishing topped with plush linen bedding, and a trailing pothos overtaking the wall, was Bob Floyd - right in the middle of changing his shirt. Equally wide eyes taking you in as he held the bunched heathered grey cotton right in front of his head, thumbs through the head hole, mouth open in shock.

“What are you doing in here?”

What was he doing in here? This was your room. “Why are you in my room?”

Despite knowing he’s not in the wrong, his cheeks tinge a deep pink. Takes a moment to pop his head in the hole of his shirt and brush out the wrinkles. You cling to to the annoyance of him interrupting your afternoon instead of focusing on how toned he’s gotten as an adult.

“This is my room. Suite 4. See?” He holds up a card identical to yours, the glossy ‘4’ reflecting the sunlight. The same ‘4’ that looks back at you.

Clearly there’s been some sort of mistake, someone at reception accidentally typing in the wrong number while going about their busy day or Isabel reading her meticulous list wrong. An easy fix.

You bite your lip. “Oh. Maybe I grabbed the wrong card. I’ll go find Isabel and sort it out.”

“I’ll come with you, she might have handed me the wrong card. Probably supposed to be sharing a bed with Fanboy.” He’s impossibly sweet as always.

You have no idea who or what a Fanboy is, but you accept his company back to reception, leaving your bag in the room purely because the bridesmaid dress alone weighs a half ton. The walk back there - with a few long turns - is a tad awkward as you both walk in silence, occasionally jerking your heads in the direction to turn.

Isabel has wandered away from reception, and is now soaking in one of the poolside bars with Reuben, their lovesick smiles contagious. She gives you the warmest smile when you approach, face splitting in two as she takes in your companion. “Hey, you two! You get settled in okay?”

God, this is awkward. Thankfully before you can muster the courage, Bob steps in. “I think there’s been a mix up with one of our rooms.”

Her eyebrows furrow as takes in what he said. Eyes flit to her lounger where her clipboard of rooming assignment lies within her tote. Reuben sips his frozen margarita in casual interest, not involved in the logistics.

“Which room are you in?” Even without her clipboard, Isabel is pretty sure she knows who is in what room. She spent months perfecting these details.

You hold up the glossy ‘4’, now slightly sticky with your sweat.

“Four? Hmm, I’m pretty sure that’s right. Was there a problem with the key? Both your keys?”

You give her a bewildered look. “One of us has the wrong key. We’re not sharing a room.”

“Why not? Your prude parents aren’t here to care if you share a room with your boyfriend.”

Every muscle in your body freezes. What is she talking about?

And while you’re paralyzed on the spot, Reuben looks like he’s about to throw up the margarita. Because he knows exactly what just happened. And not only is it his fault, but he does not have a solution.

Before you can question Isabel, the pilot is throwing his arm around your shoulders and grabbing Bob’s elbow, whisking you two away, calling out to his confused fiancée not to worry, he’s got it handled. The controlled hands of a fighter pilot steering you back in the way of Suite 4 while his face reads like he’s watching a plane crash.

Reuben won’t answer any of your questions, holding up a palm while you sputter out the who, what, where’s? of what is going on. Bob silently allows himself to be directed, confusion upon his brow, but patient enough to wait for an explanation.

Once you’re privately within the confines of Suite 4, the soft scent of bergamot and sandalwood wrapped around your bodies, Reuben finally confesses his mistake.

“Isabel thinks you two are dating.”

You expect to see eyeballs on the floor from how violently they pop out of your head. What? Bob doesn’t look much better. You two have barely spoken in decades, let alone are in a relationship! Why in the hell would Isabel think that?

Reuben drags a hand down his face, wishing he was back in the pool drinking. “When Bob over here told me that you two dated way back, I casually mentioned it to Is. When she asked the other week if he’d be good sharing a room, I thought she meant Fanboy or Harvard.”

You skip over the fact that Bob has talked about you to other people to focus on the details. “She meant me.”

“How was I supposed to know that?” By this point he’s rubbing the skin on the back of his neck raw, eyes wildly desperate. “Can you two share? It’s only two nights.”

Your eyes meet ocean blue as you both look at the single bed, then at each other. Bob intervenes calmly. “Why can’t you just tell her we need another room?”

Reuben crosses his arms across his chest, suddenly defensive. “We don’t have any other rooms. We booked the place out entirely. Short of Aunt Muriel keeling over, one of you would have to be at another hotel.”

“That’s fine,” you quip, grabbing your suitcase and ready to get the hell out of this situation.

“There’s nothing within a half hour drive. And you’re both in the wedding, that is not going to fly with Isabel.”

You’re tough, you can do hard things. Two nights at a gorgeous resort where you have to share a king-sized bed with the sweetest man on the planet? Could be so much worse. From a look at Bob’s face, he’s having the same realization.

And right as you’re about to tell Reuben that it’s not a big deal, he sends in the clincher.

“You’re also gonna have to pretend you’re dating.”

“You’re joking.” Your tinny voice rings out in the room. You can do a lot of things - go to a wedding alone, sleep in the same bed as Bob - but you draw the line at pretending you’re dating someone you hadn’t seen until an engagement party six months ago. Nope, no way.

You look at Bob, standing with his hand resting low on his hip, watching this entire scene unfold. Giving him an expectant look, he smooths out his face and gives you a little nod. He’s on whatever team you’re on.

And just as you were about to tell Reuben to get lost, Isabel’s sweet face floods your mind’s eye. That happy smile she always greets you with, and her dismay that something had gone wrong with your room. Her perfectly planned out wedding weekend ruined by her misunderstanding a minor detail. She would insist that you have separate rooms, even if it interfered with plans, and she’d be upset - the smallest tinge of disappointment clouding her bridal smile.

Isn’t the job of a bridesmaid to make the bride not have disappointment?

And now, sitting here at the rehearsal dinner, warm conversation all around you, you can still hear yourself let out a large huff of breath and agree. “Alright, we can pretend for the weekend.”

It’s a decision you stand by, but doesn’t make the subtle way Bob has been playing your boyfriend the last 24 hours any easier. He plays devoted partner a little too well. Carrying your beach bag down to the water that afternoon when everyone wanted to sit by the pool, sweetly rubbing sunscreen into that spot on your back that you can never reach. Grabbing a drink for you when he went up to the bar.

Your lonely wedding weekend is suddenly filled with this broad-shouldered Navy man who gives you a shy smile every time you make eye contact.

There wasn’t time to put in ground rules before Reuben threw you you to the wolves to socialize with the rest of the wedding party. When Isabel saw you, standing a healthy foot away from Bob and her sculpted eyebrow raised, it was the first test of this “relationship”. Your heart slamming in your chest as you slipped a hand around that thick bicep and rested your hot cheek against his shoulder. His own face fighting anxiety as he allowed you to set the pace. Isabel’s smile brightening as she beckoned you closer, instantly fawning over the two of you and the way Bob’s hand fits a little too nicely around your waist.

Thankfully the copious amount of relatives and friends constantly interrupting Isabel and Reuben prevented your friend investigating too close into this development in your love life. Happy to believe over some intentionally placed hands and the casual way he throws sweetheart in when asking if you want a drink.

“Now that I have you alone, why didn’t you tell me you were together? First loves reunited?!” Isabel drags you away to the other bridesmaids, Bob giving you a small wave as he joins the men.

You shrug, making a show of looking at the hibiscus to avoid her eyes. Desperate for a believable lie. “I didn’t want to…uh, distract from your big day?”

She wraps you in a warm hug you don’t deserve. “Not distracting in the slightest. He’s the best, you’re so lucky!”

You throw a glance his way, watching his good-natured grin as Reuben’s groomsmen, mostly aviators he’s worked with over the years, joke and jostle on the other side of the lawn. It’s side glances like these that carry through the night; when he pulls your chair out for dinner, asks the waiter to refill your water, and offers you half of his dessert. When your eyes do meet, you drown in the twin oceans that twinkle back at you.

By the time you’re heading back to Suite 4 to share that big bed, you’re pretty sure you’re not pretending to like him anymore.

You’re regretting not putting up the pillow barrier Bob so kindly offered to set up. It seemed childish at the time - you didn’t need a divider to stay on your side of the bed - but now you’re lying here in your little cotton pajamas you did not expect anyone to see and you can hear him breathing and the room is a little too warm. Every sense is on high alert and a pillow barrier would give you an inkling of privacy.

In the silhouette of the moonlight peaking through the curtains, you watch the planes of Bob’s face as he peacefully sleeps beside you. If he’s good looking in the daytime, he’s breathtaking at night. Pale eyelashes against his cheeks, lips slightly pouted, hair mussed from changing sides. You wish you could smooth your fingers over the planes of his face, appreciate the sharpness of his jaw, the roundness of his cheeks.

Tomorrow you have to pretend all over again to be in love with him. A feeling that’s already starting to creep inside you. A whole day of his gentle touches and laughs against your cheek. He was the perfect boyfriend that week in grade school, and even more perfect as an adult. Holding his hand made you want to never let go…which promptly made you want to jump out of your skin.

This was a tiny white lie to get through Sunday morning. That was it.

You keep replaying the last moment before you retired back to your hotel room for the night. The drunken group sitting around the fire pit, a bottle of tequila making its way around the circle. Not enough chairs so you ended up in Bob’s lap, body cradled in the firm comfort of his chest.

He made it so natural, the way his hand ran up and down your arm when you shivered in the night chill. You knew he could feel the shock up your spine when you noticed how intently he watched you during your story of how Isabel found a rat in your dorm room. He made you feel like the only person out there by the fire pit. The only person on this island.

When even the tequila couldn’t keep you warm any longer, the group disbanded in favor of cozy beds and hot showers. And even when no one else was in sight he still kept his arm around your shoulder to share his warmth, the pinching heels you’d shed in his hand as he asked whether you wanted to shower first.

Lips accidentally brushing your ear when he said he liked your dress; it matched the bougainvillea.

While you hadn’t spent much time together since your parents moved you away too long ago to remember, you were continually floored by how thoughtful he was still. He remembered how Isabel didn’t like ice, and that a few members of his squadron had allergies. Giving up his water because the woman next to him was without. Not to mention how he seemed to go the extra mile with you. All the years of boyfriends before this and not a single one had ever noticed you picked the pine nuts out of your salad; your new fake boyfriend requesting a fresh one sans nuts.

And it was borderline torture watching him get ready for bed post shower. Face and chest red from the scalding water and slick hair pushed back, towel slung a little too low as he dug through his suitcase. You were still speechless as he offered to put up a pillow barrier or something if it would make you more comfortable, making sure you knew he respected your boundaries.

His eyes were so blue without his glasses…

Caution to the wind, you run a finger over his cheek, brushing away a rogue eyelash and promptly turn away from him. Only one more day and you would be free of wanting a man that wasn’t yours.

The Fitch wedding day was perfect. Wide smiles, bridal lace, stunning hydrangeas, and not a dry eye in the house when Isabel and Reuben officially became husband and wife. It was the storybook start to a happy ever after.

The sunlight blessed ceremony was followed by a lantern-lit reception, dancing and drinking overtaking the sprawling beach-front lawn of the hotel. You stayed out until the evening ended, the wedding party laughing and overfilling glasses of champagne until the last lantern was blown out.

You barely remembered your rooming/relationship situation until a warm hand was on your forearm, asking if you were ready to go back to the room. It’s entirely unfair how good he looks in his suit. All day you’ve admired it, from the moment he emerged from the bathroom asking for help with his bow tie to an hour ago, when the wedding party did one last rendezvous on the dance floor.

Bob has an ease on the dance floor, clearly practiced, the hand on the small of your back gently guiding. A hand big and warm and more distracting than trying to remember your own footwork. The dark-haired woman he seems close with whooping out, “Look at those moves, Floyd!” every time you get close, her own date cheering along.

You shake the memory from your brain as Bob walks you back to the room. Keep the pining to a minimum until you can get to the airport and not have to see him ever again. You’re doing this for Isabel, your own emotions have no place. Even as you watch him open the door to the room and welcome you inside, looking so perfectly boyfriend-shaped.

Your skin feels too hot, your head clouded by bubbles and loud poppers exploding into the sky. Shedding this satin dress and getting into a warm shower sounds like heaven, washing away the buzzing ill-content flooding your body since you joined the wedding group that morning hand-in-hand with Bob. But a broken zipper interrupts those plans.

“Bob?” He stills on his way to the bathroom, bow tie loose around his neck. You indicate to the stuck zipper you’re fiddling with, warmth flaring at the top of your cheeks at your predicament.

The tips of his ears flush as he walks to you, chest a breath away from your back, admiring the way the satin flows over your curves and dips. Takes a moment to gather your hair over your shoulder before reaching for the zipper. The skin of his pinky accidentally brushes your neck, twin breaths catching at the shock.

Firm fingers guide the zipper onto the track. As they guide the cool metal down your back, the boiling point that has been simmering below the surface since yesterday afternoon comes to a head. The lace of your bra is visible. Now the silken band of your underwear. The air of the room is still, eagerly awaiting what happens next.

While his voice is shaky, his words are firm. “I don’t want to pretend anymore.”

Your head turns to the side, eyes catching his profile, too scared to look at him directly.

“What are you pretending to do?”

His face falls into the crook of your neck, fingers tightening along the satin of your hips. “Pretending I’m doing our friends a favor. Pretending I’m not falling for you. Pretending every time I touch you it’s not the best part of my day.”

Your hand wraps around his, rough skin and satin beneath your fingers. Needing to tether yourself to reality to make sure this isn’t a champagne-fueled dream that he’s professing against your neck.

“In that case, I don’t want to pretend anymore either.”

While you can’t see him, you can feel his realization against your skin. Brow furrowing, lips parting. The soft brush of his nose as he straightens up, uses his hands to turn you to him. Finally forced to look at each other amidst the information divulged.

You aren’t sure who leans in first, who braved the waters of uncharted territory. Time stills and speeds up as his face grows closer. The scent of sandalwood and bergamot that’s followed you all weekend replaced by the woodsy mint of his cologne you’ve treated yourself to when tucked into his side. Anyone outside can hear two hearts beating erratically, anxious and excited.

His lips are warm and comforting, just like everything else about him. Pressing delicately against yours, taking his time and letting you set the pace. You’re torn between the shock of how divine he feels and the greedy need for more. Senses overwhelmed by him; you want to taste more, feel more, see more.

When he pulls away, a gentleman not wanting to overstep, you’re breathless.

“I’ve always wondered what it would be like to kiss you.” His confession is paired with pink cheeks and large hands playing with your fingers.

You can’t help but to tease him, the banter from your childhood coming back. “Did it live up to expectations?”

“Way, way better.” Your smile is swallowed in his kiss, chins knocking as you trade off enthusiasm. A groan leaving Bob as you grab his hands and walk back to the bathroom. That hot shower still sounds amazing, but you need more of him.

The travertine tiles glow in the soft light as you watch your childhood love remove his suit, taking time to fold the pieces on the counter, letting you indulge in unbuttoning his crisp shirt as you share another sweet kiss. His own hands twisted in the dress barely clinging to your skin. The sounds that escape him as your hands explore his chest are purely sinful, meant only for your ears.

He barely lets you bask in his body, honed from years of Naval training, before he’s stripping the satin from your frame. You beg for another kiss, but he denies you. He can’t be distracted from watching every inch of skin being revealed. From letting his fingers follow the fabric as it pools at your feet. From kissing his way back up your body until your head falls back against the wall, fingers beckoning him to the shower.

“You’re so beautiful.” It’s more breath than words, but ignite the goose flesh along your skin as he adjusts the hot water and shower head to your liking.

Minutes or hours passed as you reacquainted under the steam. Your fingers tangled in wet strands of sandy hair, fingers slipping along any skin you can reach. His own hands tightly hugging your body, holding you close as he appreciates your nude form. Swallowing each other’s moans as his fingers dip between your folds and you run your palm along his shaft.

The universe has ceased to exist by the time Bob kisses you against the shower wall, fingers wrapping under your thighs to hoist you to his level. Loving the way you giggle as your arms wrap around his neck, trusting him wholeheartedly. Eyes trained at where he lines up with you, relishing the way your breath catches in anticipation. He kisses your forehead as a promise to take care of you, a promise you know he’ll keep.

Once he’s seated deep in you, the moment about connecting rather than getting off, he tilts your head up to check in with you. A kiss as his eyes search you for discomfort. The flames of his eyes burning the brightest blue. One final clench around him and he knows he needs to move; if not for his sake, for yours.

It’s the most glorious dream as he fills you completely, hips rocking into yours as sweaty foreheads meet.

When he brings you to orgasm, a steamy moment punctuated by your muffled screams against his shoulder, there’s nothing fake about the affection as he peppers you with praise. Or when he fills you with his own release a moment later, exhaling thank you, thank you, thank you.

A pillow barrier isn’t even discussed as you lay in his arms that night, cheek against bare chest. His arm trails down your arm like it had the night before, a mindless action you now recognize as meaningful to him as to you. Sated and content, as it should be.

You sit up a little to run your nose along his neck, producing a low groan from him. “You need something, sweetheart?”

“I was wondering, after that,” you gesture to the shower, cheeks heating, “does this mean we’re, uh, dating again?”

He smiles at your flush, cupping your face with one of his large hands. Presses the sweetest kiss to your lips.

“You know, we never had a break up. Technically we’ve been dating this whole time.”

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wandasfifthwife · 1 month

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your jealousy is showing (on me)✩‧₊˚

—> hockey player/coach!wanda x afab!reader

tw || SMUT MDNI, top wanda x bottom reader, dom/sub dynamics, established relationship, jealous wanda, exhibition (janitor closet), marking/impact play (hickeys, bruises, thigh spanking), fingering (r receiving), r gets hit on but is oblivious, tyler mention!, reader is said to be wearing a dress, person who hits on r sees the two of them, not proofread!

a/n || in such a slut for this woman. so sorry if my writing is nastier than coconut, idk how I feel about it haha but I hope you enjoy bc this made me hot and bothered tbh

series m.list ✩ ══╡˚2.3k words˚╞══ ✩ wanda m.list

Practice has been going well, better even. There’s been an increase in number since people started to find out that wanda has experience on the ice as a player on a professional team. The stands have become packed, families and friends taking up every corner, a completely contrast from before. You remember the days when you first came with your nephew, sitting and having a seven feet distance from another person. Tyler’s since graduated from wanda’s class, now attending another with a different coach.

It was a sad day for him, hugging your girlfriend tight and exclaiming how he wishes to have her as a coach for every class. She had laughed, resting a hand on his back and reassured him that she’ll attend his other classes. She even went as far as to mention private classes, saying they can spend time together on the ice. A smile had come upon your face as you watched the two interact, thankful your nephew is able to have such a wonderful relation with his coach, your girlfriend.

Since then you’ve been attending his classes with Wanda. You can’t help yourself, curling a hand through her arm to hold her close. You complain that it’s the cold, but you both know it’s a shit excuse. Regardless, she’s never going to turn you down, if anything she’s pulling you tighter and pressing a kiss to your head.

“He’s improved a lot. Lately he’s been practicing outside his house with some friends on the street.”

“That’s probably the only reason why he’s able to skate in a straight row now. Do you think he’ll continue to play?”

“I think so. It’s all he talks about, but of course we can’t say definitive terms. He could fall out of love with it in a year and choose like baseball.”

“If he were to choose another sport it’d be football, not baseball. His favorite part of hockey is running into others, he forgets there’s an actual game going on.”

You stifle a laugh, “he’s trying.”

He proved Wanda’s words to be correct because the next second he’s slamming into one of the team members, pummeling the two into the wall. The coach had come to talk to you after, seeking you where you stood by the concession stand. You had a hand on Wanda’s arm, informing her of where you’ll be.

You were paying for the snack, thanking the person behind the counter. He had stood behind you just out of your line of sight, so just enough that you ran into him when turning around. His shirt smelled of sweat and his cologne, a lot of his cologne, so much so it overwhelmed you.

“Hey, you’re tyler’s mom, right?”

“No, just his aunt.”

“My bad. Sorry that was terribly rude of me, I was going to say you look good for your age.”

“Thank you, that’s very kind.”

“Of course,” he flashes a smile, leaning onto one of the tables beside him, “I’ve notice how often you come, it’s great that you’re supporting him like this. Most kid’s don’t have such a supportive aunt.”

“I try. My brother and his wife are busy, so I take over. He’s means well but he’s still a young teen.”

“Yes. He’s nothing new. A lot of teens enjoy the physical aspect to the game, it’s normal for them to be competitive even with each other.”

A few minutes have gone by, enough time for concern to begin swirling through Wanda’s mind. She’s relieved to see you’ve not gone missing and that you’re all in one piece, standing only a few feet from her.

“That’s my coach,” Tyler starts, seeing how Wanda’s attention was directed at the tow of you.

“I know,” she deadpans, turning her attention back on your nephew, “finish untying your shoes.”

“I know,” he mimics, tone lowering to frustrate her further.

You’re walking back over with a grin plastered on your face. Tyler’s already grabbing at the drink you got, pulling it from your hands to open it already.

“Just talked with your new coach, Tyler. It seems you have a track record with finding amazing coaches.”

Already Wanda didn’t like him. She kept quiet about her disdain, knowing how important it was to you that Tyler doesn’t come to contact with a terrible one as you had.

It grew difficult. Each practice he always seemed to find you, drawing out a long conversation with you. Usually it’s fine, as a coach herself she understands the important of keeping up with the families, but this was excessive. The constant parade of compliments directed at you were unnecessary. He wouldn’t really care to talk to Tyler, and as far as she knew, Wanda didn’t exist around him. He’s either dumb, or he’s choosing to be ignorant towards the intimacy between you two.

What brought her to the edge was when he began to touch you, a hand on your shoulder or the back of your waist. It was in moments where it could’ve been excused; done to either move you out of the way or make sure you don’t trip.

You were sweet, engaging in a conversation he had started yet again down at the end of the bleachers. Wanda had her attention set on Tyler skating around before practice, eyes flickering to where the two of you stood every minute.

“I have a conference this weekend and we’re allowed to bring a plus one. Would you be interested in joining me?”

“Oh. I already have someone that I’m going with. So I won’t be going with you, but I will see you there.”

He looks disappointed, eyes shooting to meet Wanda’s, “I’ll see you there then.”

Wanda doesn’t like that man.

You walk up the stairs all sweet-like, sitting beside her and placing a kiss to her cheek, “when’s that coach award event again?”

“Saturday, 7PM.”

You hum, leaning your head on her shoulder, “you better win an award.”

“If not, I have you.”

An elbow shoves into her side, “you’re such a sap.”

“No, I just love you,” she murmurs, pressing her lips against yours, feeling like she’s won when she catches the coach looking. She had hoped the soft public display of affection would be enough of a sign to back off, but it wasn’t.

The weekend came soon enough. Wanda standing by the door with her keys in hand as she waits for you to join her.

“Beautiful,” she says when you step down, opening the door for you.

“I hope you win one award, that would be amazing.”

“It would look great for my public imagine,”she laughs at the look you give her, “you know I don’t care about that, love.”She gives your thigh a squeeze before backing the car out of her apartment complex.

She should’ve known he’d be stuck to you most of the night. Wanda tries to engage in the conversation, but he tunes her out, keeping his attention on you. Ever so sweet you try to include her, smiling back at her but this time it’s not enough to quell how she’s feeling.

“Hey Micheal, can you go grab her another drink?”

“Wanda, I can’t—“

She shuts you up by pinching at your waist, cutting your sentence off. He looks mildly annoyed, “sure.”Once he’s turned around, she’s guiding you out of the room.

“Wanda there’s only like sixteen minutes until the ceremony—“ your mouth goes numb when you realize where she’s walking you towards. There’s a closet at the end of the hall, tiny and small as its only purpose is to hold supplies for the janitors. Tonight it will be used for another matter.

“That’s enough time,” she says lowly, shutting the door behind her, enclosing the two of you in darkness.

She’s lifting you with her hands under your thighs, dropping you down onto the extra school desk stored away in the room. Her body’s leans into you, hands on either side of your body as she kisses you passionately. They turn messy, trailing from the corner of your lips to end up on the bottom side of your neck. You gasp when she bites down, a hand reaching to push at her chest.

“Wan—wait.”

She doesn’t listen, too focused on making your neck show an array of purple marks. You whine, squirming in her hold as she leaves one after the other, stopping only on areas that you’re sensitive to. She’s severely quiet, attentive to every heavy breath and sound coming from you. You’re weak, arms wrapped around her neck, head pressed into the wall behind you. You’ve completely given up control, neck tilted back to give her more room.

“Oh—” you shiver when she moves towards the spot behind your neck. Your reaction gave her another reason to press her lips against it, nipping at the skin there.

Her ministrations leave you wet, your hips grind down onto the desk below you to try to seek relief. Wanda coos, cold fingers sliding under your dress, finding the wetness between your thighs. You cry out when she thrusts two in, pushing through your tight walls. It’s intoxicating, the wet sounds filling the room, turning you on even more.

“Ah! Wands—you—“

She’s shushing you, lips on yours to keep you quiet. Her fingers are splitting you open, angling perfectly towards the spot that makes your back arch. Her thumb catches onto your clit with each thrust, brushing perfectly to make you see white. You weave your fingers into her hair, moaning into her mouth when she bites at your bottom lip.

You’ve completely forgotten about the event, and most importantly, Michael. You’re clenching onto her finger, arousal covering her hand and dripping onto the wood below you. You choke on a moan when she’s guiding you to lift your left foot onto the desk, the position spreading you open to allow her fingers to push deeper. The bottom of your dress slips up, clothing pooling around your waist. You feel your orgasm build, a series of whimpers spilling from you.

“Fucking say my name when you come,” she demands, holding back moan when she hears your strangled whine after she brought her hand down onto your thigh. The way your cunt squeezes around her fingers then makes her weak.

“Like that?”

She’s cocky, hand coming down harder on that same spot.

“ah! wands please—“

Your body jerks after her fifth slap, mouth dropping open in a silent scream. She nuzzles against your head resting on her shoulder. You relaxed into her hole, breathing heavily as you come down from your high.

It was fine until wanda carried you into the bathrooms to clean off and you caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror, easily spotting the splotches painting your neck.

You leaned over the sink to get a better view, eyes snapping between the marks; the one by your ear, another under the strap of your dress, one more at the base of your neck. You weren’t aware of the severity of her actions in the moment, your mind was too busy trying to deal with the fuzziness spreading throughout your body.

“Was that okay,” she asks from where she stands by the entrance.

“Very,” you mumble, looking back to her with a smile.

“Hey, I want to apologize. I knew something was wrong,” you say, grabbing a paper towel from the machine, “he was a jerk to you. Like just earlier he wasn’t letting you get a word in, but I really just thought he was being nice at first.”

“You’re fine, love.”

You wet the towel, rubbing warm water over the cloth to get it wet, “you say that but I still feel bad.”

She crosses the room to grab at your wrist after seeing what you were doing, “why’re you trying to rub the marks off?”

“Because?”

She raises an eyebrow, “because? What?”

“This is your event, I don’t want you to loose your job over me.”

“I won’t,” she tosses the towel away, “I knew what I was doing when I gave you those.”

“But the staff—“

“There’s enough of them screwing around.”

“Oh.”

She huffs, hooking a finger under the hem of your dress, drawing it up your thigh until the red, swollen marks on your thighs from where she was aiming her hand earlier begin to show. You hate how affected you get by the sight of them, thighs squeezing together.

You were only meant to be gone for ten minutes. That was the original goal, but she began to fold with how you were looking at her. Your eyes were dark, locking onto hers from within the mirror. She had you pinned to the counter in seconds, forcing you to watch how easily you melt under her touch.

Footsteps echoed throughout the hallway, getting closer to where the two of you stood. You had begun to push back, mumbles on how she needs to stop so they don’t get caught, but it’s like she knew. You caught on later, realizing it was Micheal by the sound of his voice calling out to you.

“Wanda, he—“

She’s slapping a hand over your mouth, pulling you back against her chest. You look over your shoulder, finding Micheal freeze after entering into the room. Wanda had you in a position only he could dream of. He was like a fish out of water, mouth opening and closing as he processed what he was looking at. The marks on your body, eyes glossy and faraway even as you look in his direction. The muscles in Wanda’s arm flex as she presses her hand tighter against your mouth. You’re absolutely dripping, excitement pooling from the behavior this man was bringing out of her.

“I was worried… but I see you’re.. okay.”

“I see you’ve met my girlfriend, Micheal?”

series m.list ✩ ══╡˚2.3k words˚╞══ ✩ wanida m.list

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wayslidecool · 5 months

Text

arabic numerals ranked from worst to best by their potential as the lens in new year's glasses

#10: Seven (7)

seven is a very awkward number for a lot of things, and new year's glasses are no exception. its weird angular shape leaves no opening to put a lens in, and unlike the next entry, it's too wide to comfortably squeeze between lens in the second and fourth digits. and the impressive thing about 7 is that this is a number with plenty of writing variations, and yet i can't think of a single one that makes it an efficient lens! sorry 7. i think you're the best number for a rating scale, but that's about it.

#9: One (1)

the 2010s were a rough time for new year's glasses, huh? coming off the high of the 1990s and 2000s, people were determined to make the 2010s work, but that's a tall fucking order. the saving grace of 1, and the reason it's above 7, is that it's skinny enough that you can slide it between numbers and use the fourth digit of the year as the lens, but the fact you have to resort to that is only further evidence of how much 1 sucks at being the lens.

#8: Two (2)

two is definitely a tier above the previous two entries. it's an interesting and versatile enough shape that you can mess with it to try and make a viable spot for a lens, what with the upper loop and lower angle, but i feel no matter what you try, you always gotta make some concessions. like, you have enough to work with that a talented enough designer can make something that works, but usually the result is more "functional" than "good".

#7: Four (4)

now we're getting into numbers that could actually make for passable lenses. i mean, check it out! we have a closed loop here and everything, that has GOT to count for something! what makes me put four relatively low on the list is that with its right-triangle shape, i can't imagine it being a very comfortable shape for a lens, especially with how much ends up sticking out and downwards. still, a vast improvement over the previous three entries, even if it's basically just a worse 9.

#6: Five (5)

i feel like depending on what you prioritize in new year's glasses, these next two entries could end up going below the previous one, but personally, i think the not-closed round loop feels like a more practical spot for a lens than 4's closed-but-angular loop, y'know? so what if the loop isn't closed, it still mostly surrounds your eye, and feels generally passable to me. this is a number that wouldn't inspire the idea for new year's glasses, but certainly works now that the idea has been established.

#5: Three (3)

three is basically the same thing as 5, and i could even see some people putting it below 5, since 5's loop is a bit closer to being closed than either of 3's loops. that being said, 3's dual-loop is ultimately what gives it the edge to me. it ends up feeling more versatile to me. i feel the bottom loop is generally the correct choice, but just having the option of the top loop as well really helps it out. either way, after suffering through the 2010s and 2020s, i expect the 2030s to be a welcome breath of fresh air.

#4: Nine (9)

now we're getting to the really good ones. i mean, the 1990s are when the trend of new year's glasses started! if this number was good enough to kickstart the trend, then clearly it's a good number to put the lens in. having a closed round loop really goes a long way, it turns out! what puts 9 below the next three entries is the tail. having that swoop down towards your face feels like it'd be a bit uncomfortable, and this issue doesn't crop up with the next three entries. still, 9 is a trailblazer and its place in the New Year's Glasses Metagame needs to be respected.

#3: Six (6)

if 9's only issue is the tail getting all up in your face, then what better way to solve that then just turning it upside-down? it might just be me, put having it brush up against your forehead feels much, much less intrusive than having it brush up against your face. and plus, it can give the impression of a raised eyebrow! bonus! the 2030s-2050s are going to be a refreshing breath of fresh air following the awful new year's glasses of the 2010s and 2020s, but the 2060s are going to be a true new year's glasses renaissance.

#2: Eight (8)

hey, so remember how i put 3 above 5 since i felt the double loop made it a bit more versatile? well now imagine that, but both loops are closed. 8 makes for such a good lens, it's a little surprising we didn't see new year's glasses in the 1980s (i'm guessing having two of the same number is more inspiring than two different numbers?) either way, eight isn't content to give you just one closed loop. it'll give you a second closed loop right above. (or below!) 8 is a versatile number with many options, and i hope i can live to see the day we see it in new year's glasses. a true stand out in its field.

#1: Zero (0)

still, even with all the good years ahead, it's hard to ignore the fact that the best years are sadly behind us, with the 2000s being the absolute pinnacle of new year's glasses design. i mean, come on. a single loop with no frills is basically what glasses designs default to already, so using the middle two zeroes as the lens for glasses? impeccable design. the 1990s were good enough to kickstart the trend, but the 2000s were good enough to make us want to brute force the 2010s and 2020s. if that's not the mark of a good design, i don't know what is.

sadly, it's likely we'll never see design this good again. the next year with the middle two digits being two zeroes is 3000, and while we might be able to execute double-zero designs at the turn of each century, they'll end up looking weirdly lopsided in the process. i believe humans are hubristic enough to try and brute-force bad decades, but multiple bad centuries? forget about it.

oh well. happy new year

#happy new year

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wileys-russo · 4 months

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Ella Toone

“Jesus Christ love I didn’t know you could hit like that”

Rage room 🙂🔥

rage room II e.toone

"baby! i love ya so much but please hurry up." the mancunian groaned, twirling her keys around on her pointer finger. "el we are literally not booked in until three and it's only eleven thirty." you laughed at her impatience from the bedroom.

"yeah but we're gettin our nails done and then goin for lunch and then the rage room at three. we're on a tight schedule here woman chop chop!" the midfielder clapped, popping her head through the doorway with a raised eyebrow.

"sorry! i'll hurry up love." you made a point to bend down and lace your sneakers in slow motion, ella leaning against the door frame with a long and annoyed groan.

"i'm getting grey hairs here man." your girlfriend huffed with a shake of her head, smacking your hands away and kneeling down lacing up your shoes for you.

"sure babe you can borrow my jordans, thanks for askin." ella mocked sarcastically as you grinned. "sure love you can borrow my prada sunglasses, thanks for askin." you quipped back as the smile was wiped from her face.

"fair point. come on then!" she took your hand and pulled you to your feet. "baby!" ella moaned as you dug your heels in just to annoy her further, trudging slowly across the living room.

"you're such a fuckin wind up!"

"thank you for today el, its been perfect." you smiled sincerely, sat across from your girlfriend at your favorite japanese restaurant, leaning across and meeting her lips in a sweet kiss. "anything for you and that gorgeous smile baby." ella flirted charmingly as you shook your head.

"if only you were this smooth when you asked me out the first time." you teased as ella's cheeks flushed bright red. "you promised to stop bringin that up!" ella whined burying her face in her hands.

you'd transferred to united from bristol city two years ago and ella had been enamored by you from the moment you stepped foot into the locker room with a shy wave, a little taken aback by how forward and friendly the entire team was.

her best friends very quickly picking up on the developing crush she'd been relentlessly bullied into eventually asking you out on a date. though with half the team well aware of her feelings and the lingering fear of rejection she'd been a nervous wreck.

the words got jumbled up together and her attempt to ask you just for coffee wound up with her asking you to buy her a coffee and you leaving with a confused nod, showing up the next day with a flat white in hand for her and a very embarrassed number seven who hurried to correct what she'd meant.

"babe its a crucial part of our epic love story, i can't pretend it didn't happen." you grinned as your food arrived and you both thanked the server. "teach me please?" ella asked eagerly holding up the chopsticks in hand.

"el, love we tried this last time." you smiled sympathetically but unable to say no to her pleading eyes you walked her through it, the brunette eventually dropping them to the table with a clatter and a list of swear words dropped from her lips.

"fuck this." ella grumbled, snatching the fork you'd made sure to order for her and stabbing the california role before shoving it angrily into her mouth in one go.

"what?" she asked with a frown, mouth still full of sushi. "you know babe sometimes i miss when we weren't so comfortable around each other."

"so obviously the walls are off limits! they are cement though so i wouldn't recommend to hit them anyway because the shock of the bat hitting it could break your hand." the worker shrugged casually as you and your girlfriend shared a look.

"thats mostly everything. have fun ladies!" he shrugged, stepping out and closing the door as music filled the room. "ready baby?" ella grinned, moving forward and tugging your glasses down over your eyes.

"go!" ella cheered, swinging her bat at a stack of as you pumped your fists and the music got a little louder. you watched on with a grin as your girlfriend wreaked havoc, letting out a war cry and hauling a few plates at the wall.

"go on baby, your turn!" ella encouraged with a wave as you lifted your bat and swung at an old computer monitor barely knocking it over. "nah you can do better than that! think about that prick from ya old job, the one we used to scream into the pillows about!" ella remembered, clicking her fingers.

a sudden rage filling your body you let out a war cry of your own and swung at an old tv sending the glass screen flying in hundreds of tiny pieces around the room.

"jesus christ love i didn't know you could hit like that." ella whistled in shock. "baseball?" you gave her a wolfish grin holding up a mug as she perked up and readied her bat.

"ya know we should really bring mary here babe, she has a lot of rage."

#woso x reader #woso #woso fanfics #woso community #ella toone x reader #ella toone #woso imagine #woso blurbs #engwnt

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harrysmmm · 11 months

Text

✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡♡˚ ᴍᴀɢɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ ᴀɴɴᴏʏɪɴɢ - ᴅ.ᴍ

Draco Malfoy x Y/N (f!reader)

Setting: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Summary: where Harry and Draco have a crush on you at the same time and they both ask you to the yule ball.

A/N: should I make a part two? I feel like a little bit of jealous Malfoy after knowing that Harry has a crush on Y/N could make a nice follow-up.

W/C: 1.6K

masterlist here

Annoying. That’s the word you would use to describe that moment. One of the qualities you always acknowledged possessing was empathy. You softened with people that were sensitive; you listened to people that were suffering; you loved people that were lonely. It was in your nature to care for people, to try to understand their motives. But at that specific moment in time, you wanted to slap the shit out of a certain one.

Brat, bugger, git, prat, smart-ass, toff, wanker, yob, the list went on. That’s how you would describe Draco Malfoy. He had it against you and your friends. No - correction: he had it against everyone that was not a damn pureblood slyther-fucking-in. You would turn a corner and there he was casting a spell that would make you slipper like a seven-year-old in a slide. You would enter a classroom and find your table gravitating in the air, with all your notes scattered all over the classroom. You would eat in the Great Hall and a dead tarantula was right in your pumpkin soup. Since first year, he had been mocking you and your closest friends, Harry, Ron and Hermione. And even if the most well-known rivalry was the one he had with Harry, yours was more personal.

That cloudy day of October he decided to throw bird notes at you in Transfiguration class that distracted you from paying attention. Some of the messages followed as:

“Hey Y/L/N, I bumped into the kitchen elves this morning, they were wondering why the dishes were not done. I told them you were probably busy eating all the leftovers.” “Hey Gryffindork, saw Longbottom is still free for the yule ball, maybe you can both live your pathetic little Gryffindor tale together. P.S. You could also ask Hagrid. Bet he’s free for you.”

Private. That’s the way you would describe Harry Potter in one word. You two were close, although not as close as he was with Ron, or as close as you were with Hermione. The fact that he was always bearing the prophecy of being the chosen one was something that would set you apart – mostly because you weren’t living it and he didn’t like to further explain. It was in third year that you surprised yourself with your body’s reaction to his presence. How you started to care about the way your laugh went out during a joke; you started to care about how your hair would fall when you were sitting at the library. You developed a crush on the boy. You never made a move; he never seemed to notice, nor reciprocate it, so you eventually desisted and focused your attention on other matters.

Those were the only two boys you would mostly communicate with, for better or worse. You didn’t particularly consider yourself an introvert, but you surely counted your acquaintances on a low number, especially when it came to boys. You also bared the weight of Hermione’s influence, who was surely not into boys’ talk, or boys in general. When you were with her, which happened to be most of the time, you followed her flow and ended up not particularly wondering about dating, or romantic feelings for the matter.

However, due to the debut of the Triwizard Tournament, there was a ball that was going to take place on the 25th of December. A ball that you needed a date for. Date that, after a week of having been announced, you still didn’t have. You hadn’t been worrying until Hermione had told you that she already had a date, with no other than Viktor Krum, the hottie of the year. And if even Hermione had already managed to find a partner, that meant that you were way behind.

“You have a date?!” asked Ron, very surprised.

“Yes Ronald, why that tone?” Hermione replied.

“Bloody hell, who are you going with?” he continued, still shocked.

“I’m not telling you, but I have one,” she pretentiously replied.

“’m sure you’re bluffing,” he insisted, grinning.

“I am not! Ask Y/N!”

“She’s not,” you simply replied.

“Just because you still don’t have a date, doesn’t mean I don’t get to have one,” she said. You noticed Ron’s reaction really got to her.

“I don’t have a date because I don’t want one just now.”

“Now you are the one who’s bluffing,” commented Harry.

“You gotta help me out here, mate,” Ron whispered to Harry.

“You’re pathetic Ronald Weasley,” added Hermione, furiously closing her notebook. She stood up from her seat, handing her homework to Professor Snape. “See you later, Y/N.” You waved goodbye at her.

“Bloody hell, this woman is so delusional. I bet she made that man up,” Ron continued after Hermione had left the classroom.

“You’re too hard on her, Ron. Besides, she does really have a date,” you said, defending her.

“I already pity the man then,” he replied, focusing back on his homework.

You rolled your eyes but didn’t answer, also focusing on the task that was on the desk.

“For Merlin’ sake, I can’t focus. I’mma go, I’ll finish it in the dorm.” Ron stood up and exited the classroom.

“You’re probably gonna have to pass it to him,” you said to Harry.

“You bet on that,” he replied, grinning.

You focused back on your homework.

“Y/N,” uttered Harry.

“Yeah?”

“Well, I was wondering… if you want… well, I was just thinking… that if by any chance you… uh… still didn’t have a date… for the ball… you might… perhaps… wanna come… with me?”

You had a surprised grin on your face,

“Well, I mean, I thought you wanted to go with someone special… taking into consideration that you’re one of the champions,” you managed to say.

“Yes… that’s why I’m asking you,” he replied.

The entire scene unnerved you. You had been wanting to be asked out by Harry since third year, and now that he was starting to conceive your dynamic as more than friendship your feelings for the boy had already worn out.

Bloody Potter, always wrong timing.

“Can I give you a proper answer tonight?” you asked, knowing that you had to process things through before saying yes.

“Sure, yeah, no problem,” he replied.

You both smiled at each other and went back to the Potions’ homework.

It was almost time for supper but you were headed to the Great Lake to read for a few moments. Technically, you were forbidden from doing so. You meant technically, because being friends with Hagrid gave you some advantages, like a free pass to visit him and wander around. You also absolutely adored that time of the year, when the leaves were of warm tones and the chill breeze made you wear white turtle neck jumpers or jumpers that had the Gryffindor patch sewn in them.

You were comfortably reading under the shade of a tree when you started hearing boyish sounds. One of the voices you recognized belonged to a particular bleached boy.

“Woo-hoo, look who came to visit her giant boyfriend.” Draco approached you, followed by his sidekicks Crabbe and Goyle.

You didn’t even wait two seconds to get up and start packing your things.

“Leaving so soon? Are we bothering you?” He cockily started approaching you.

“Fuck off, Malfoy,” you replied, closing your bag.

“What do we have here, huh? Let me see,” he asked, referring to the book you were holding.

You held it tightly but he managed to pull it from you.

“The summer I met you, ha,” he snickered. “Romantic heart, wouldn’t have bet so from you Y/L/N.”

“Can I get it back?” you asked, pulling your arm forward.

He smiled at you. “Nah.” He threw the book into the lake.

His friends started woo-hing and laughing.

“You disgusting little rat,” you pulled out your wand and directed it towards him.

He was not laughing anymore, his sidekicks directing their wands toward you too.

“You cast something, we make sure you can’t walk again,” Goyle threatened you.

“It’s alright guys,” Draco said. “Just go.”

The boys seemed confused. “Who are you talking to?”

“You, idiots. Go!” Draco snapped.

The boys didn’t move.

“You heard him. Go!” you insisted.

They pulled back, confused, and eventually left.

Your wand was still on Draco’s neck.

“Easy now, lower you bloody wand,” he calmly said.

“You’re disgusting, Draco. I mean it.” Your blood was boiling. “You treat everyone like shit. I never did anything for you to hate me. I never asked for any of this, nor did anyone.”

“Go to the ball with me,” he said.

Your heart stopped.

What in the actual fuck?

“What?” you replied.

“I want you to go to the ball with me, if you want to,” he repeated. Your wand was still on his throat.

“Why would you want that?” That was the only thing you managed to say.

He placed his right hand on your wand and slowly put it down, without losing eye contact with you.

“Isn’t it obvious, after all this time?” he said.

“I’m lost, Draco. I have no idea what is going on,” you replied, ideas of him feeling the opposite of hate for you coming to your mind.

“You’re that blind, aren’t you?” he continued, placing one hand on your wrist.

You freezed at his contact.

“Why am I blind?” you were only able to ask stupid questions at that point.

He held your face with his left hand.

“So blind…” He got closer to your face, his eyes slowly closing.

You waited for the impact. And there you had it.

His lips slowly brushed yours, still not fully colliding.

“I’m crazy for you, Y/N,” he said with both of your faces glued to each other. “You can’t even fucking imagine.”

“Since when?” you replied.

“Since always.”

Magically annoying. Those are the words you would use to describe that moment.

part two

#draco malfoy fanfiction #draco malfoy imagine #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy x y/n #draco malfoy fluff #draco malfoy smut #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter imagine

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chrollohearttags · 11 months

Text

foot locker manager!sukuna x executive black!fem reader

content warning: banter, reader is kind of bougie, sexual tension, finger sucking, oral/fingering, hate fucking, panty stuffing, throat training, cumshot, pet names (miss, sweetheart, baby), Sukuna has an accent (he gives me Houston idc 😫)

.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*:.･*:｡.･*:｡.･

sukuna, who had been working within the mall for a few years now, had worked his way up to manager of the Foot Locker within it.

sukuna, who never took life too seriously, applied the same approach to his leadership style. His store was by far the most fun in the district. Always blasting music..bumping everything from Moneybagg to DMX (and trust, he knew every word).

everybody wanted to shop at his location. The men saw him as their homeboy; talking about basketball and women as he helped them find the perfect pair shoes to compliment their fit. And the ladies because the handsome, hilarious manager makes them smile. Greeting them with a ‘miss’ or calling them ‘gorgeous’. Smooth and fast talking, laying the charm on thick.

helping single moms find their babies the perfect shoes or the kid going to state championships the perfect basketball sneaker.

“Little man starts second grade this year. We gotta have him looking right.” “You’re going to state this year, bruh. Can’t be playing on worn out shoes. Trust me, did that and almost threw the whole tournament for us. I’ll use my discount, don’t even worry about it, lil bro.”

sukuna, who was always laced; Diamond stud earrings, a gold watch, matching necklace and the latest sneakers. Tattoos littering his muscular forearms and chest. Not to mention his signature Dior scent. Looking good and smelling even better. Any girl that he had come in contact with instantly folded at the slightest bit of flirtation. All the Sephora and Victoria’s Secret Workers were in love.

“Good morning, ladies.” “Girl, that’s Ryo I was telling you about. He fine ain’t he?”

every woman except the newest regional manager, (y/n) (l/n). Who was notorious for your no nonsense attitude and authoritative style was shocked to see how he ran his store and even more so how he greeted you as if you weren’t his boss.

“How we doing, miss? Can I help you find sum’?” “Yes, the manager. Ryomen Sukuna? Is he the one who runs this location?” “You’re in luck, baby. You’re looking at him.”

sukuna, who carried on with business as usual, watched you give glances and eye tolls as you jotted down notes on your clipboard. Strutting around in that short pencil skirt, tight shirt and tall heels. Wet and wavy flowing down your back and face done up. He hadn’t seen a bitch as bad as you in a long time, if ever.

sukuna, who couldn’t help but to stare and ogle as you followed him around the store. Completely puzzled by how someone so fine could be so damn mean..listening to you spout off orders about how this shelf should be organized and how that display was against regulation. And especially how the music was distasteful.

“No disrespect, miss. But I run this store so let me do my job and stay out of the way. I do the best numbers in the district every month, I don’t see the problem.” “You won’t be for long if I have anything to do with it. This is a business, Mr. Sukuna. Not a nightclub.”

the week went on with you monitoring the store and making notations for final review. And after almost seven days together, you were at odds and each others throats.

(Y/N), who was taking notes and auditing in the office during closing when you were interrupted by an irate Ryomen.

“Yes, Mr. Sukuna. Can I help you?”

sukuna, who had spent years building a repertoire with his customers, was upset that a lot of loyal buyers refused to come back until the ‘mean bitch’ was gone.

“You’re ruining my store, that’s what! When the hell are you leaving?” “Correction, I’m fixing this mess and you better be grateful because corporate is two seconds from getting your ass out of here.”

the two of you got into a bit of a quarrel, resulting in rising tensions..in more ways than one!

sukuna, who had you cornered against the desk couldn’t help but to laugh at the stark difference in your height. Especially when you began to rant and rave about how unprofessional he was.

sukuna, who had seen your type before and knew exactly what you needed to quell that horrible temper, ran a finger underneath your chin and tilted your head up mid sentence. Causing you to stutter over your words and become flustered.

“Why don’t we stop all of this fighting and settle it then? Tell the truth..you don’t really want me fired, do you?”

sukuna, who puts that charm to good use by mumbling into the crook of your neck..moving his hands up your body and smirking against your ear. Seeing as clear as day how much you liked it.

“What are you trying to do, bribe me?” “Bribing only works if I want something out of it. I’m just tryna’ make you feel good, sweetheart.”

sukuna, pulling you into a deep kiss, shoves his fingers into your panties and works you around on the tip of his digits as the two of you make out. Making certain that the door was bolted and the store was empty so that no one could disturb him or what he was about to do.

sukana, who had you exactly where he wanted, sets you atop his desk, pulling your skirt down and panties to the side. Only after you got him out of his shirt; admiring that sexy body and countless tattoos..along with the third leg he was hiding behind his work pants. Playing with it as he kneels down to devour your pussy. Working his thick fingers around in that juicy cunt, lapping up juices and letting them dribble down his tongue.

“Oh fuck…”

sukuna, who lets you suck his fingers clean as he slides inside of you, starting off with slow thrusts because he knew you couldn’t take it all at once. Watching it press into your skin.

sukuna, who had a week’s worth of tension and lust built up took out every bit of his frustration on you..pounding your shit into oblivion.

“Ah shit! Right there, Ryo..fuck that pussy. Take it!” “That’s it..that’s why you need, baby. That lil’ attitude fucked out of you. Some of that good dick, isn’t that right?”

sukuna, amazed by how creamy you got for him only a couple strokes in couldn’t restrain himself or his strokes. Making you tug your own panties between your teeth and bite down to withstand it as he folded your legs up.

sukuna, who had enough of your bitching, decided to put you on your knees and fuck your throat. “Much better use for that pretty mouth, don’t you think?”

making you touch his abs with his forehead by the time he finished.

sukuna, unable to hold back, painted your face and titties with a warm stream of nut, releasing loud groans with it..really loving when you proudly put it on display with your tongue out and a smile.

sukuna, who kisses you after filling your mouth up, knows that he doesn’t have to worry about losing his job or you after this. Knowing you’ll keep the dirty little secret as long as you can come back for another ‘inspection’..anytime you’d like.

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jovial-thunder · 22 days

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Pre-alpha Lancer Tactics changelog

(cross-posting the full gif changelog here because folks seemed to like it last time I did)

We're aiming for getting the first public alpha for backers by the end of this month! Carpenter and I scoped out mechanics that can wait until after the alpha (e.g. grappling, hiding) in favor of tying up the hundred loose threads that are needed for something that approaches a playable game. So this is mostly a big ol changelog of an update from doing that.

But I also gave a talent talk at a local Portland Indie Game Squad event about engine architecture! It'll sound familiar if you've been reading these updates; I laid out the basic idea for this talk almost a year ago, back in the June 2023 update.

youtube

We've also signed contracts & had a kickoff meeting with our writers to start on the campaigns. While I've enjoyed like a year of engine-work, it'll be so so nice to start getting to tell stories. Data structures don't mean anything beyond how they affect humans & other life.

New Content

Implemented flying as a status; unit counts as +3 spaces above the current ground level and ignores terrain and elevation extra movement costs. Added hover + takeoff/land animations.

Gave deployables the ability to have 3D meshes instead of 2D sprites; we'll probably use this mostly when the deployable in question is climbable.

Related, I fixed a bug where after terrain destruction, all units recheck the ground height under them so they'll move down if the ground is shot out from under them. When the Jerichos do that, they say "oh heck, the ground is taller! I better move up to stand on it!" — not realizing that the taller ground they're seeing came from themselves.

Fixed by locking some units' rendering to the ground level; this means no stacking climbable things, which is a call I'm comfortable making. We ain't making minecraft here (I whisper to myself, gazing at the bottom of my tea mug).

Block sizes are currently 1x1x0.5 — half as tall as they are wide. Since that was a size I pulled out of nowhere for convenience, we did some art tests for different block heights and camera angles. TLDR that size works great and we're leaving it.

Added Cone AOE pattern, courtesy of an algorithm NMcCoy sent me that guarantees the correct number of tiles are picked at the correct distance from the origin.

pick your aim angle

for each distance step N of your cone, make a list ("ring") of all the cells at that distance from your origin

sort those cells by angular distance from your aim angle, and include the N closest cells in that ring in the cone's area

Here's a gif they made of it in Bitsy:

Units face where you're planning on moving/targeting them.

Got Walking Armory's Shock option working. Added subtle (too subtle, now that I look at it) electricity effect.

Other things we've added but I don't have gifs for or failed to upload. You'll have to trust me. :)

disengage action

overcharge action

Improved Armament core bonus

basic mine explosion fx

explosion fx on character dying

Increase map elevation cap to 10. It's nice but definitely is risky with increasing the voxel space, gonna have to keep an eye on performance.

Added Structured + Stress event and the associated popups. Also added meltdown status (and hidden countdown), but there's not animation for this yet so your guy just abruptly disappears and leaves huge crater.

UI Improvements

Rearranged the portrait maker. Auto-expand the color picker so you don't have to keep clicking into a submenu.

Added topdown camera mode by pressing R for handling getting mechs out of tight spaces.

The action tooltips have been bothering me for a while; they extend up and cover prime play-area real estate in the center of the screen. So I redesigned them to be shorter and have a max height by putting long descriptions in a scrollable box. This sounds simple, but the redesign, pulling in all the correct data for the tags, and wiring up the tooltips took like seven hours. Game dev is hard, yo.

Put the unit inspect popups in lockable tooltips + added a bunch of tooltips to them.

Implemented the rest of Carpenter's cool hex-y action and end turn readout. I'm a big fan of whenever we can make the game look more like a game and less like a website (though he balances out my impulse for that for the sake of legibility).

Added a JANKY talent/frame picker. I swear we have designs for a better one, but sometimes you gotta just get it working. Also seen briefly here are basic level up/down and HASE buttons.

Other no-picture things:

Negated the map-scaling effect that happens when the window resizes to prevent bad pixel scaling of mechs at different resolutions; making the window bigger now just lets you see more play area instead of making things bigger.

WIP Objectives Bullets panel to give the current sitrep info

Wired up a buncha tooltips throughout the character sheet.

Under the Hood

Serialization: can save/load games! This is the payoff for sticking with that engine architecture I've been going on about. I had to add a serialization function to everything in the center layer which took a while, but it was fairly straightforward work with few curveballs.

Finished replacement of the kit/unit/reinforcement group/sitrep pickers with a new standardized system that can pull from stock data and user-saved data.

Updated to Godot 4.2.2; the game (and editor) has been crashing on exit for a LONG time and for the life of me I couldn't track down why, but this minor update in Godot completely fixed the bug. I still have no idea what was happening, but it's so cool to be working in an engine that's this active bugfixing-wise!

Other Bugfixes

Pulled straight from the internal changelog, no edits for public parseability:

calculate cover for fliers correctly

no overwatch when outside of vertical threat

fixed skirmisher triggering for each attack in an AOE

fixed jumpjets boost-available detection

fixed mines not triggering when you step right on top of them // at a different elevation but still adjacent

weapon mods not a valid target for destruction

made camera pan less jumpy and adjust to the terrain height

better Buff name/desc localization

Fixed compcon planner letting you both boost and attack with one quick action.

Fix displayed movement points not updating

Prevent wrecks from going prone

fix berserkers not moving if they were exactly one tile away

hex mine uses deployer's save target instead of 0

restrict weapon mod selection if you don't have the SP to pay

fix deployable previews not going away

fix impaired not showing up in the unit inspector (its status code is 0 so there was a check that was like "looks like there's no status here")

fix skirmisher letting you move to a tile that should cost two movement if it's only one space away

fix hit percent calculation

fix rangefinder grid shader corner issues (this was like a full day to rewrite the shader to be better)

Teleporting costs the max(spaces traveled, elevation change) instead of always 1

So um, yeah, that's my talk, any questions? (I had a professor once tell us to never end a talk like this, so now of course it's the phrase that first comes to mind whenever I end a talk)

#lancer tactics #lancer rpg #indie game dev #made with godot #godot engine #godot 4 #Youtube

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adropofhumanity · 5 months

Text

IMPORTANT CRISES THAT ARE BEING IGNORED BY THE WORLD

[ we already are aware about palestine, NOT just gaza so i will refrain from mentioning anything here regarding it ]

these crises will not follow any specific order but i will be numbering them for the sake of proper structure.

i also did my best to find reliable and accurate information. please do not start hating me or questioning my efforts if i have mentioned something wrong or incorrect. instead you can correct me politely. additionally, if there are any crisis that i have missed out on, bring it to my awareness.

i am not going to be including all details but some major highlights so as to be able to keep ourselves updated of atleast the surface level knowledge (so i will try)

reblog and include (or highlight what needs to be excluded) any details that would serve in the best interest of this post.

1. TAMIL EELAM

sri lanka is an island historically inhabited by tamils, sinhalese, muslims, and other communities. the tamil nation is concentrated in the northeast. the muslim community generally speaks tamil. the majority of the country's sinhalese population lives in the southern part of the island and are buddhist.

following independence from britain, the sinhalese ruling class began to build an ethnocratic nation-state that entrenched sinhala-buddhist supremacy. tamil workers' rights were denied in the new nation-state, while tamil students were refused equal access to education. tamil people protested peacefully, but sri lanka responded with arrests and massacres.

in july 1983, the worst anti-tamil pogroms swept the island: tamil people were hunted in the streets, pulled out of their homes, and killed while sri lankan police watched on. In six days, 4000 tamils were killed. government ministers led mobs and targeted tamil homes in areas where tamils and sinhalese both lived, amounting to what the international commission of jurists labelled an act of genocide.

sri lanka booted the UN and international press from the country before relaunching its war against the tamil people in 2006. the state used banned chemical weapons like white phosphorous on civilians. a UN report estimates that 75,000 tamil civilians perished from september 2008-May 2009 alone. ground sources place the number much higher and estimate that over 120,000 people were killed in the final stages of the war.

nothing was spared. hospitals and religious buildings, full of the sick and wounded, were routinely bombed. the armed forces shelled food distribution lines and near International red cross ships picking up wounded civilians from beaches. even the government's own "no-fire zones," packed with thousands of civilians, were indiscriminately attacked from the ground and sky.

for the tamils, the last stages of the war fit into a broader pattern of sri lanka's post-colonial state-building project: a protracted genocide involving massacres, economic embargoes, indiscriminate bombings, discriminatory policies, and the dispossession of tamil lands. tamils fear their political identity, as a distinct group of peoples, a nation, will be dismantled and reduced to a scattered minority across the island.

12 years after the genocide, the sri lankan armed forces maintain complete control through a military occupation of the tamil homeland. five of the seven regional headquarters of the army are entrenched in the tamil homeland, with over 100,000 soldiers maintaining an environment of harassment and surveillance over the tamil people. like kashmir and palestine, the tamil homeland remains one of the most militarized places in the world.

HOW TO HELP

2. ROHINGYA

in august 2017, armed attacks, massive scale violence, and serious human rights violations forced thousands of rohingya to flee their homes in myanmar’s rakhine state. many walked for days through jungles and undertook dangerous sea journeys across the bay of bengal to reach safety in bangladesh. now, more than 960,000 people have found safety in bangladesh with a majority living in the cox bazar’s region - home to the world’s largest refugee camp. the united nations has described the rohingya as “the most persecuted minority in the world.”

the rohingya are a muslim ethnic minority group who have lived for centuries in predominantly buddhist myanmar - formerly known as burma. despite living in myanmar for many generations, the rohingya are not recognized as an official ethnic group and have been denied citizenship since 1982, making them the world’s largest stateless population.

as a stateless population, rohingya families are denied basic rights and protection and are extremely vulnerable to exploitation, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and abuse.

the rohingya have suffered decades of violence, discrimination and persecution in myanmar. their largest exodus began in august 2017 after a massive wave of violence broke out in myanmar’s rakhine state, forcing more than 742,000 people - half of them children - to seek refuge in bangladesh. entire villages were burned to the ground, thousands of families were killed or separated and massive human rights violations were reported.

more than 1 million rohingya refugees have fled violence in myanmar in successive waves of displacement since the 1990s. now, more than 960,000 rohingya refugees are living in bangladesh with a majority settled in and around kutupalong and nayapara refugee camps in bangladesh’s cox’s bazar region — some of the largest and most densely populated camps in the world.

more than half of all rohingya refugees in bangladesh (52 percent) are children, while 51 percent are comprised of women and girls. the current refugee population accounts for one-third of the total population in the cox’s bazar region, making support to host communities essential for peaceful coexistence.

since 2021, to decongest the 33 camps in cox’s bazar, nearly 30,000 refugees have been relocated to bhasan char island by the government of bangladesh. while protection services and humanitarian assistance have been scaled up on the island, significant gaps remain in service delivery and the sustainability of critical assistance.

rohingya refugees have also sought refuge in other neighboring countries like thailand (92,000) and India (21,000), with smaller numbers settling in indonesia, nepal and other countries across the region.

armed clashes across myanmar have continued to trigger displacement, bringing the total number of internally displaced people (IDP) within the country to more than 1.8 million — including 1.5 million of whom have been internally displaced since february 2021.

as of december 2023, however, a new issue arose. the indonesian navy has pushed back a boat carrying rohingya refugees as it approached the coast of aceh amid resentment among some residents about a sudden increase in boat arrivals. the military said the coastguard first detected the wooden vessel entering indonesian waters on wednesday, before the navy ship KRI bontang-907 located the boat about 63 nautical miles (117km) off aceh on the northwestern tip of the archipelago and drove it out, “ensuring that the boat did not return to indonesian waters,” the navy said in a statement posted in its website.

military spokesperson nugraha gumilar said it was not known how many people were on board. they are suspected to be rohingya, a mostly muslim minority from myanmar who were forced into neighbouring bangladesh by a brutal military crackdown in 2017 that is now the subject of a genocide investigation.

more than 1,500 rohingya refugees have landed in indonesia on barely sea-worthy wooden boats since november, according to data from the united nations refugee agency (UNHCR), and the sudden jump in arrivals has aroused growing hostility among people in aceh.

indonesia has appealed to the international community for help and intensified patrols of its waters, promising to crack down on suspected human traffickers it says are involved in the latest wave of boat arrivals.

on wednesday, a mob of students stormed the basement of a local community hall in banda aceh, the acehnese capital, where about 137 rohingya were taking shelter and called for the group to be deported.

many of the refugees are in poor health after weeks at sea usually with insufficient supplies of food and water.

the UNHCR said it was “deeply disturbed to see a mob attack on a site sheltering vulnerable refugee families”.

indonesia, although not a signatory to the 1951 UN convention on refugees, was once known for providing a safe haven to the rohingya even as neighbouring malaysia and thailand pushed them away.

but the mood has soured this year, especially in aceh, where some residents claim the rohingya behave badly and create a burden on society.

muslims make up nearly 90 percent of indonesia’s 277 million people, and aceh is the only state in the archipelago to follow islamic law.

the growing hostility towards the rohingya has put pressure on president joko widodo’s government to take action.

“this is not an easy issue, this is an issue with enormous challenges,” foreign minister retno marsudi told reporters.

HOW TO HELP

3. MANIPUR

on may 3, members of the kuki and naga tribes, who inhabit manipur's hills and are regarded as scheduled tribes, or india's most disadvantaged groups, launched a protest against the possible extension of their benefits to the dominant meiteis.

meiteis account for half of manipur's population and extending limited affirmative action quotas to them would mean they would get a share in education and government jobs reserved for kukis and nagas.

meiteis have traditionally lived in manipur's more prosperous valley region that makes up 10% of the state's area. they have also had better access to employment and economic opportunities.

nagas and kukis live in the poorly developed hills.

the development imbalance favouring the valley over the hills has been a point of contention and rivalry between the ethnic groups.

the groups coexisted peacefully until unrelated events in recent months exposed old faultlines.

manipur shares a nearly 400-km (250-mile) border with myanmar and the coup there in 2021 pushed thousands of refugees into the indian state.

kukis share ethnic lineage with myanmar’s chin tribe and meiteis feared they would be outnumbered by the arrival of the refugees.

separately, the state government in february launched a drive to evict tribal communities from forests in the hills, saying they had encroached on government land, sparking anger among tribal people that they were being forced out of their homes.

"it has been building up for a long time, in some ways unseen and some ways quite openly, but the government was not paying attention," said pradip phanjoubam, editor of the imphal review of arts and politics.

although the first outburst of violence was put down by mid-may, sporadic reprisal attacks began within days.

both the meiteis and kukis are known to be flush with arms, including automatic weapons either stolen from the state police or sourced from across the border in myanmar.

new delhi has held talks with senior myanmar leaders to help control armed groups that operate from across the border but this is yet to produce results.

kuki and meitei groups also refused to join a peace panel formed by the federal government due to differences over names included in the panel.

the indian army and federal paramilitary forces in the state cannot act independently and are legally bound to work with state police and authorities, who analysts say are also divided along ethnic lines.

also, kukis accuse the bharatiya janata party-ruled state government's chief minister biren singh, a meitei, of complicity and inaction, and have sought his removal. singh denies the accusations.

HOW TO HELP

4. HAWA'II ( MAUI )

maui wildfires of 2023, a series of wildfires that burned parts of the island of maui in the U.S. state of hawaii in august 2023. the fires, which began on august 8, struck hardest the historic resort town of lahaina, on maui’s western peninsula, reducing most of the town to ash and ruins. 98 people were killed in lahaina by the smoke and flames or by drowning, making the wildfire one of the world’s deadliest on record. almost 3,000 structures were reported to have been either damaged or destroyed by the fire. in addition to the fires on maui, a series of less devastating wildfires burned parts of the island of hawaii starting on august 9.

while local and state government officials have hesitated to identify a specific cause of the wildfires (in general, uncontrolled fires in a forest, grassland, brushland, or cropland) as of august 17, some evidence suggests that sparks produced by a downed power line may have touched off at least one of the fires. meteorologists and climate researchers noted that the fires were likely to have been the product of several intersecting factors. the fires occurred at the height of hawaii’s dry season (which lasts from april to october). their severity was exacerbated by the presence of el nino—that is, the development of unusually warm ocean waters in the central and eastern tropical pacific ocean. el niño brings increased rainfall to south america’s west coast but brings drought conditions to the hawaiian islands. indeed, the interval of june to august 2023 was a period of worsening drought on maui and in other parts of hawaii. as the drought increased in severity, it dried vegetation, much of it made up of large tracts of fire-prone invasive shrubs and grasses.

in addition, the pool of warm water in the tropical pacific kept fueling hurricane dora, a powerful tropical cyclone that had formed off the western coast of mexico on august 2. dora passed some 1,100 km (about 700 miles) south of the hawaiian islands during the week of august 8, the day the fires began, which created a substantial difference in atmospheric pressure between the storm and a high-pressure system located north of the islands. that pressure difference drew high winds southward and funneled them into the centre of the tropical cyclone, which helped intensify and spread the wildfires. wind speeds reached as high as 107.8 km (67 miles) per hour on maui and up to 132 km (82 miles) per hour on the island of hawaii.

some researchers have noted that climate change may have played a part in worsening the wildfires’ severity. increases in global and regional surface temperatures due to ongoing global warming are thought to have caused grasses and other vegetation to dry out faster than usual. in addition, studies that considered trends in hawaii’s rainfall indicated that some 90 percent of the state had experienced at least some decline in overall rainfall between 1920 and 2012 and that rainfall amounts at higher elevations had fallen by more than 30 percent between 1990 and 2015 during the state’s wet season (november to march). in addition, the replacement of native vegetation with crops over the last century has affected local climate conditions, primarily in accessible areas in several parts of the state of hawaii, including near sections of coastline and in maui’s central valley—the sites of the island’s wildfires.

the fire near lahaina, a municipality of 12,702 people, began as a small brush fire just beyond the town’s eastern outskirts in the early morning hours of august 8. although local officials considered it to have been contained by mid-morning, the fire flared up during mid-afternoon, forcing officials to close lahaina’s bypass road. driven by the high winds, the fire then moved downslope into the town, and it spread quickly between the parched grassy landscape and the town’s predominantly wooden buildings, generating an immense wall of black smoke. within 15 minutes, the fire had spread to the centre of the town, burning the area between the town’s two primary access roads, which prompted additional road closures that hindered evacuation. the process of alerting residents to the danger was severely hampered by the toppling of several telephone and electric power poles in the area by high winds earlier that day, which had cut power needed for wireless services and telephone lines used for 911 emergency communication. as the fire grew, it became so intense that it melted pipes delivering water to lahaina’s residences, which reduced the town’s overall water pressure and thus inhibited the fire department’s ability to contain the wildfire.

ny 5:30 PM large areas of lahaina, which included tracts of residences and the town’s central business district, were on fire as exploding gasoline tanks in vehicles and filling stations contributed to the conflagration. since emergency services had no way to alert people through their mobile devices, the fire caught many residents by surprise, forcing some to flee in haste while trapping others in their homes. many of those who fled became boxed in by fire, smoke, and road closures; some sheltered in place, whereas others sought refuge in the pacific ocean, clinging to docks, pilings, seawalls, and other infrastructure. by 7:00 PM the fire had reached the harbour, and boats caught fire from the mix of wind-whipped flames and flying embers, causing their fuel tanks to explode. although the fire continued to burn in lahaina throughout the night, U.S. coast guard boats arriving offshore were able to evacuate several people trapped along the coast.

during the morning of august 9 the winds abated enough to allow firefighting crews, helicopters, and other resources to begin to make their way into lahaina, where they found a grayed landscape of ruined buildings and burned-out vehicles. officials reported that the lahaina fire had been 80 percent contained by august 10 and that it had burned nearly 890 hectares (about 2,200 acres) by august 14. maui’s other wildfires, which included the pulehu/kihei fire in maui’s central valley and the upcountry/kula fire along the slopes of the island’s eastern peninsula, were less severe, resulting in far fewer damaged homes and other structures and no reports of serious injuries or deaths. similarly, on the island of hawaii, fires scorched some 600 hectares (about 1,500 acres) of ranchland in the north and south kohala sections of the island, but no injuries were reported.

even as the fires began to spread on maui, government officials started to issue disaster declarations to fund firefighting efforts, rescues, and recovery. hawaii’s lieutenant governor, sylvia luke, issued an emergency declaration during mid-afternoon of august 8, which was followed later that evening by the activation of hawaii’s national guard. the following day, as reports of the unfolding disaster in lahaina reached the outside world, the U.S. federal emergency management agency (FEMA) authorized payments to fire victims, and U.S. pres. joe biden promised that “all available federal assets on the Islands” would assist in relief efforts. such efforts had increased by august 16, aided by state and federal agencies (including the U.S. Army, which provided logistical support and assisted in road clearing) and private charter flights that delivered donations of food and other supplies. In the aftermath of the wildfires, thousands of displaced maui residents were taken to shelters and evacuation centres on the island, which included hotels abandoned by tourists who had been evacuated to other islands or to the U.S. mainland.

HOW TO HELP

5. KURDISTAN

kurds have never achieved nation-state status, making kurdistan a non-governmental region and one of the largest stateless nations in the world. portions of the region are recognized by two countries: iran, where the province of kordestan lies; and northern iraq, site of the autonomous region known as kurdistan regional government (KRG) or iraqi kurdistan.

the turkish government claims to be conducting operations against the kurdistan worker's party (PKK) - a kurdish rebel organization that is outlawed by the state. through the use of airstrikes, the turkish military is hitting targets across the region and pushing deeper into southern kurdistan, launching ground operations from the military bases that it controls in the area.

a consequence of this encroachment into southern kurdistan is that civilians are being hit by turkish drones. those who are being hit are not just fighters but also ordinary kurdish civilian. innocent lives are also being lost when those who are hit succumb to their injuries. turkey justifies such acts under the pretext of fighting the PKK a rationale that it has used repeatedly to justify other military incursions. is this conflict new? absolutely not. what is new is the response to these operations. In previous decades, the turkish state could get away with indiscriminate bombing and military incursions as long as its justification centered on fighting terrorism. this justification was, after all, what other state actors operating in the region would use to rationalize military incursions against those deemed state enemies. no longer are there just people from kurdish diasporas across the world calling out the turkish state for its disregard for international law, but also from non-kurds. even at the administrative level of the united states government, officials are no longer believing the rhetoric that the turkish state uses to justify its military incisions. there will be no peace in kurdistan until turkey withdraws. there will be no peace for victims until turkey is held accountable for its criminal actions now and in the past. and as long as these atrocities are left without a response by international state actors and multilateral organizations such as the united nations and NATO, turkey will continue to commit crimes against kurds, including kurdish civilians.

HOW TO HELP

6. YEMEN

yemen is in the middle of a complex humanitarian crisis driven by a brutal civil war. indiscriminate attacks and chronic shortages of medical staff and supplies have led to the closure of many of yemen's healthcare facilities. more than 4.5 million people have been displaced since the war started in 2014. qith an estimated 21 million currently in need of humanitarian assistance.

collapsed health system- warring factions have extensively damaged public infrastructure, notably health facilities. since the saudi-led coalition (SLC) imposed a blockade in 2015, import restrictions and soaring inflation have severely limited yemenis' access to healthcare and essential services. the blockade has led to the cessation of salaries for many of the 50,000 health workers within the country, compelling them to exit the public health system in search of alternative income sources.

disease- due to the ongoing war, obtaining clean water, waste disposal, and accessing medical care have become even more challenging for the people. coupled with limited access to vaccinations, this heightened vulnerability has left yemenis susceptible to preventable diseases and emerging epidemics. the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was particularly severe, with yemen having one of the lowest vaccination rates globally in 2021. in 2017, a cholera outbreak led to 101,475 patients being admitted to hospital. the same year, cases of diphtheria emerged, a disease largely eradicated in most countries due to systematic childhood vaccinations.

trauma- continual fighting and indiscriminate attacks have affected the ability to provide trauma care, which remains a vital responsibility of hospitals in the area. teams in hospitals near the frontlines routinely react to mass-casualty incidents and continually strive to enhance their capacity year-round to address the frequent arrival of war-wounded and other trauma patients.

malnutrition- yemen is grappling with alarming rates of malnutrition. widespread food insecurity and limited access to essential healthcare services leave many children vulnerable to infectious diseases. Inflation exacerbates the situation, making it progressively challenging for yemeni families to provide nourishment for their children and cover the expenses of transporting them to hospitals.

it has been troubled by civil wars for decades, but the current conflict intensified in march 2015 when a saudi-led coalition intervened on behalf of the internationally recognised government against houthi rebels aligned with the former president ali abdullah saleh. the war is widely regarded as having turned a poor country into a humanitarian catastrophe. riyadh expected its air power, backed by regional coalition including the united arab emirates, could defeat the houthi insurgency in a matter of months. instead some reports suggest nearly 100,000 people have died. others put the death toll much lower, but fighting this year alone has displaced 250,000 people. there are more than 30 active front lines. a total of 80% of the population - more than 24 million people - need assistance and protection, including 10 million who rely on food aid to survive. its roots lie in the arab spring. pro-democracy protesters took to the streets in a bid to force the president, ali abdullah saleh, to end his 33-year rule. he responded with economic concessions but refused to resign. by march 2011, tensions on the streets of the capital city, sana'a, resulted in protesters dying at the hands of the military. following an internationally brokered deal, there was a transfer of power in november to the vice-president, abd rabbu mansour hadi, paving the way for elections in february 2012 - in which he was the only candidate to lead a transitional government. hadi's attempts at constitutional and budget reforms were rejected by houthi rebels from the north. the houthis belong to a small branch of shia muslims known as zaydis. they captured the capital, forcing hadi to flee eventually to riyadh. there is also a strong secessionist movement in the south. arguably too many sides benefit financially from the status quo. united nations officials warned that without more donations, nearly 400 hospitals and health care centers it finances would have to reduce services just as the coronavirus pandemic has surged in yemen. already, food rations have been halved for 8.5 million hungry yemenis, and 10,000 health care workers have lost the united nations payments that for many are their only salary, ms. grande said. since the war began five years ago, pitting the houthis against a government backed by saudi arabia and the united arab emirates, yemenis have endured doomsday after doomsday: relentless airstrikes against hospitals and schools by the saudi-led military coalition using american-made weapons, a severe cholera outbreak, the ever-present threat of famine, a health care system in collapse and now the coronavirus. "yemenis themselves say things are worse today than at any time in their recent history," mr. lowcock said in his appeal to donors, asking "whether the world is prepared to watch yemen fall off the cliff."

HOW TO HELP

7. SYRIA

over 80% of the population in syria is living below the poverty line. that means they make less than $1 a day. more than 11 million people require humanitarian assistance, 5 million of which are children. 93 million people across syria are now food insecure lacking reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. 70% of the population is without regular access to safe drinking water. 6.1 million people have been internally displaced. up to 70% of healthcare professionals have left the country & 50% of hospitals are non-operational. 40% of school infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged.

government and allied forces continued to commit war crimes and other serious violations of international humanitarian law, including indiscriminate attacks and direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects. according to the UN, government forces did not approve around half of their requests to carry out humanitarian missions to:

monitor

assess and accompany aid deliveries,

provide security, logistics and

administrative support.

you may ask, how did the "war" start? even before the conflict began, many syrians were complaining about high unemployment, corruption and a lack of political freedom under president bashar al-assad, who succeeded his father, hafez, after he died in 2000. in march 2011, pro-democracy demonstrations erupted in the southern city of deraa, inspired by uprisings in neighbouring countries against repressive rulers. when the syrian government used deadly force to crush the dissent, protests demanding the president's resignation erupted nationwide.

the unrest spread and the crackdown intensified. opposition supporters took up arms, first to defend themselves and later to rid their areas of security forces. mr assad vowed to crush what he called "foreign-backed terrorism".

the violence rapidly escalated and the country descended into civil war. hundreds of rebel groups sprung up and it did not take long for the conflict to become more than a battle between syrians for or against mr assad. foreign powers began to take sides, sending money, weaponry and fighters, and as the chaos worsened extremist jihadist organisations with their own aims, such as the islamic state (IS) group and al-qaeda, became involved. that deepened concern among the international community who saw them as a major threat. syria's jurds, who want the right of self-government but have not fought mr assad's forces, have added another dimension to the conflict.

the united nations human rights office estimated last year that 306,887 civilians - 1.5% of the total pre-war population - were killed between march 2011 and march 2021 due to the conflict. it is said 143,350 civilian deaths were individually documented by various sources with detailed information, and that a further 163,537 deaths were estimated to have occurred using statistical techniques. at least 27,126 of those estimated to have been killed were children. the then-UN commissioner for human rights, michelle bachelet, stressed that the fatalities were the "direct result of war operations", adding: "this does not include the many, many more civilians who died due to the loss of access to healthcare, to food, to clean water and other essential human rights." the syrian observatory for human rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group with a network of sources on the ground, had documented the deaths of 503,064 people by march 2023. it said at least 162,390 civilians had been killed, with the syrian government and its allies responsible for 139,609 of those deaths. the group estimated that the actual toll from the war was more than 613,400, with an additional 55,000 civilians believed to have died of torture in government-run prisons. another monitoring group, the violations documentation center, which relies on information from activists across the country, had documented 240,215 battle-related deaths, including 145,765 civilians, as of march 2023.

the government's key supporter has been russia while turkey, western powers and several gulf arab states have backed the opposition to varying degrees during the conflict.

russia - which had military bases in syria before the war - launched an air campaign in support of mr assad in 2015 that has been crucial in turning the tide of the war in the government's favour. the russian military says its strikes only target "terrorists" but activists say they regularly kill mainstream rebels and civilians.

the US, UK and France initially armed what they considered "moderate" rebel groups. but they have prioritised non-lethal assistance since jihadists became the dominant force in the armed opposition.

aUS-led global coalition has also carried out air strikes and deployed special forces in syria since 2014 to help an alliance of kurdish and arab militias called the syrian democratic forces (SDF) capture territory once held by IS militants in the north-east and stop the jihadist group rebuilding.

turkey is a major supporter of the opposition, but its focus has been on using rebel factions to contain the kurdish YPG militia that dominates the SDF, accusing it of being an extension of a banned kurdish rebel group in turkey.

turkish troops and allied rebels have seized stretches of territory along syria's northern border and intervened to stop an all-out assault by government forces on the last opposition stronghold of Idlib.

saudi arabia, which is keen to counter iranian influence, armed and financed the rebels at the start of the war. having refused to engage with president assad for more than a decade, it is now discussing how to facilitate syria's "return to the arab fold".

twelve years of war have inflicted immense suffering on the syrian people. in addition to the bloodshed, more than half of syria's pre-war population of 22 million have had to flee their homes. some 6.8 million are internally displaced, with more than two million living in tented camps with limited access to basic services. another 6 million are refugees or asylum-seekers abroad. neighbouring lebanon, jordan and turkey, which are hosting 5.3 million of them, have struggled to cope with one of the largest refugee exoduses in recent history. at the start of 2023, the UN said 15.3 million people inside syria were in need of some form of humanitarian assistance - an all-time high since the war began - and 12 million did not know where their next meal was coming from. the already dire humanitarian situation in north-western syria - the location of the last opposition stronghold - was made significantly worse by the huge earthquake that struck near the turkish city of gaziantep, about 80km (50 miles) from the syrian border, on 6 February 2023. more than 5,900 people were killed across Syria and another 8.8 million were affected, according to the UN. thousands of homes and critical infrastructure were destroyed, leaving many families without food, water and shelter. deliveries of life-saving aid to opposition-held areas were also delayed for days because of what a UN panel described as "shocking" failures by the warring parties as well as the international community. the disaster happened at a time when the prices of food and fuel in syria were already skyrocketing because of runaway inflation and the collapse of its currency, as well as the global crisis exacerbated by the war in ukraine. syria has also been one of the countries in the middle east worst affected by the covid-19 pandemic - although the true extent is not known because of limited testing - and is now also having to deal with a deadly cholera outbreak that was made worse by the earthquake. access to medical care is severely restricted for the sick and injured because only half of the country's hospitals are fully functional. despite their protected status, 601 attacks on at least 400 separate medical facilities had been documented by physicians for human rights as of february 2022, resulting in the deaths of 942 medical personnel. the vast majority of the attacks were blamed on government and russian forces. entire neighbourhoods and vital infrastructure across the country also remain in ruins. UN satellite analysis suggested that more than 35,000 structures were damaged or destroyed in aleppo city alone before it was recaptured by the government in late 2016. much of syria's rich cultural heritage has likewise been destroyed. all six of the country's unesco world heritage sites have been damaged significantly, with IS militants deliberately blowing up parts of the ancient city of palmyra. a UN commission of inquiry has concluded that the warring parties "have cumulatively committed almost every crime against humanity... and nearly every war crime applicable in a non-international armed conflict".

"syrians," a february 2021 report says, "have suffered vast aerial bombardments of densely populated areas; they have endured chemical weapons attacks and modern day sieges in which perpetrators deliberately starved the population along medieval scripts and indefensible and shameful restrictions on humanitarian aid".

HOW TO HELP

visit the websites [ save the children.org/ syria ] and [ islamic-relief.org /syria crises ]

8. LEBANON

lebanon is currently facing a deep economic crisis as a result of government corruption and financial debt. this is partly a repercussion of the lebanese civil war (1975-1990). during this time, the government piled up huge amounts of debt through corrupt and lavish spending. banks have now become unable to process transactions because the currency (lira) is crashing. this has left many unable to access funds, which are now worth only a fraction of their original value.

in recent years, the situation has only worsened with the pandemic completely shutting down tourism, previously an important source of income in lebanon's economy. this has left a large portion of the lebanese population impoverished and without access to basic necessities. for example, many people in lebanon now rely on private diesel generator operators to have sufficient electricity.

another event that worsened lebanon's current state is the explosion that happened in the port of Beirut in 2020, which killed over 200 people and left many without a home. over a year after the explosion, critics claim that the judicial investigation that should uncover what happened has been continuosly hindered by the country's political leaders. lebanon's current president, michael aoun, hasn't addressed these accusations, but he said no one will have political impunity if found guilty.

HOW TO HELP

visit [ savethechildren.org / lebanon ] and [ irusa.org /lebanon ]

9. AFGHANISTAN

even before the withdrawal of international forces and diplomatic missions and the takeover by the taliban in august 2021, afghanistan was one of the world's largest and most complex humanitarian emergencies (CHEs). more than two years after the withdrawal, and despite massive amounts of humanitarian assistance poured into the country, enormous humanitarian needs remain.

the 2023 afghanistan humanitarian needs Overview (HNO) says afghanistan is facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis “with a very real risk of systemic collapse and human catastrophe.” while in past years humanitarian needs have been driven mainly by conflict, the key drivers of humanitarian need in 2023 include drought, climate change, protection threats (particularly for women and girls) and the economic crisis.

the UN 9ffice for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (UNOCHA) estimated at the beginning of 2023 that a record 28.3 million people will need humanitarian and protection assistance this year, up from 24.4 million in 2022 and 18.4 million in 2021. with 28.3 million people in need, afghanistan is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. the 2023 afghanistan humanitarian response plan (HRP) requests $4.6 billion to reach 23.7 million people.

in addition to the political, social and economic shocks from conflict and the withdrawal of international forces, disaster risk is becoming an increasing driver of underlying need. a national drought was officially declared in june 2021 and is the worst in more than 30 years.

on oct. 7, 2023, two separate 6.3-magnitude earthquakes near herat in afghanistan’s northwest caused significant damage and killed thousands. another earthquake shook herat province on 9ct. 11, resulting in further damage. the herat earthquake response plan from UN and humanitarian partners asks for $93.6 million to support 114,000 earthquake-affected people in herat.

following the devastating June 2022 earthquake that hit eastern afghanistan, CDP hosted a webinar to provide funders with information about the intersection of a natural hazard disaster amid a humanitarian crisis. the insights and recommendations webinar panelists provided remain relevant.

in 2023, 28.3 million people will need life-saving assistance. humanitarian partners have prioritized 23.7 million people to receive multi-sectoral assistance in 2023.

according to WFP, nine out of 10 afghan families lacking adequate food and children and pregnant women are the hardest hit.

each year, the international rescue committee (IRC) releases a list of the 20 humanitarian crises expected to deteriorate the most over the next year. IRC’s 2023 watchlist puts afghanistan in the third spot due to widespread poverty, harsh winter conditions, disaster impacts and violence and exploitation against women and girls.

on average, 200,000 afghans are affected by disasters each year. from jan. 1, 2023 to oct. 5, 2023, 26,014 people were affected by disasters throughout afghanistan. this figure was before the deadly earthquakes on oct. 7 and oct. 11 in herat province, which affected more than 275,000 people. as of nov. 22, humanitarian actors had reached 242,400 affected people with assistance.

in 2022, humanitarian partners reached 25 million people with at least one form of assistance. yet, millions who received one form of assistance will continue to require multiple rounds of support in 2023 to survive.

humanitarian access constraints continue to impact the operational environment. in 2023, there has been a 21% spike in incidents reported by partners compared to the previous year, as of ict. 31.

the taliban’s ban on women working for NGOs and UN agencies in the country means assistance will not reach all targeted women and girls. as UN women survey of humanitarian partners released on feb. 8, 2023 showed that 93% of organizations saw an increased impact on their access to affected women.

decades of conflict and severe drought contributed to afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis, but economic shocks are a primary driver of the deteriorating situation.

according to the 2023 afghanistan HNO, “afghanistan’s economic crisis is widespread, with more than half of households experiencing an economic shock in the last six months.”

a study by the United Nations Development Programme in April 2023 found that “afghanistan’s economic output collapsed by 20.7 percent following the taliban takeover in 2021.” the study also says, “the edicts restricting the rights of women and girls, including a directive banning afghan women from working for the UN, directly affect economic productivity and may also impact the level of aid inflows.”

when the taliban assumed power in august 2021, the country faced daunting economic and development challenges, and recent political developments have pushed the country into an economic crisis.

according to the world bank, “rapiid reduction in international grant support, loss of access to offshore assets, and disruption to financial linkages are expected to lead to a major contraction of the economy, increasing poverty, and macroeconomic instability.”

before august 2021, afghanistan’s economy was 75% dependent on foreign assistance. after the taliban assumed power, most international assistance was cut off, which caused a drop in purchasing power. the U.S. renewed the blocking of afghanistan’s central bank’s foreign assets amounting to over $7 billion (Executive Order no. 14064). in april 2022, United Nations (UN) experts called on the U.S. government to unblock foreign assets to ease the humanitarian impact.

in august 2022, 32 afghan and international NGOs called for a clear roadmap to restore the afghan central bank’s essential functions and release afghanistan’s assets frozen abroad. however, western countries have not been ready to lift sanctions until the taliban sets up a more diverse government, permits girls to return to secondary school and allows independent control of the afghan central bank.

a significant development occurred in september 2022 when the U.S. said it will transfer $3.5 billion in afghan central bank assets into a new swiss-based trust fund to be used “for the benefit of the people of afghanistan.” the new trust fund was created after months of talks between the U.S., switzerland, other parties and the taliban. no funds will go to the afghan central bank. the unfreezing of afghan assets has been called for by humanitarians.

however, the mandate of the afghan fund does not include support for humanitarian assistance. in their january 2023 snapshot report of the afghan economy, ACAPS said the key functions of the fund include price and exchange rate stability, payment of world bank arrears, representing the Afghan Central Bank (DAB) in court, payment for some critical imports, assessment of the capacity of the DAB, and support to the third-party monitoring of DAB’s anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing systems.

more than one million people were estimated to be without work in august 2022. an FAO household survey released in may 2022 found that 26% of respondents lost employment. severe cash shortages continue to limit economic activity within banks and local markets. another alarming statistic is that people's debts have increased both in terms of the number of people taking on debt (82% of all households) and the amount of debt (about 11% higher than the previous year).

in august 2022, dr. ramiz alakbarov, then the UN Deputy Special Representative in afghanistan, who is also the resident and humanitarian coordinator in the country, said, “without functional markets, without (an) operating banking sector, without investments in basic-level jobs, we will not be able to reverse the trends which we are observing now in afghanistan.”

HOW TO HELP

visit [ irusa.org ] and [ savethechildren.org /afghanistan ]

10. VENEZUELA

venezuela is engulfed in a political and economic crisis which has led to more than seven million people leaving the country since 2015.

since 1999, venezuela has been run by two men from the same party. hugo chávez was president from 1999 to his death in 2013 and was succeeded by his right-hand man, nicolás maduro.

their socialist PSUV party has over the past two decades gained control of key institutions, including much of the judiciary, the electoral council and the supreme court.

as a result, the role of the president has become much more powerful and the system of checks and balances has been severely weakened.

not long after mr maduro was elected, global oil prices plummeted and venezuela - which relies almost entirely on oil revenue for its income - went into a seven-year recession.

inflation skyrocketed and shortages of basic goods became widespread.

waves of anti-government protests in 2014 and 2017 fizzled out after a police crackdown.

millions of venezuelans left the country to escape economic hardship and political repression. But despite growing discontent, mr maduro was re-elected in 2018 in a presidential election widely dismissed as neither free nor fair.

with the executive and the judiciary under the control of the PSUV, venezuela's divided opposition in january 2019 united behind the only major institution where they were still influential: the National Assembly and its speaker, juan guaidó.

arguing that mr maduro's re-election was not valid and the presidency was therefore vacant, mr guaidó, with the backing of the National Assembly, declared himself "interim president".

he predicted he would be governing from the presidential palace "within months".

and while more than 50 countries, including the US and the UK, recognised mr guaidó as venezuela's legitimate leader, venezuela's military stayed loyal to mr maduro.

mr maduro, with the continued support of china and russia, remained firmly in charge of the country.

but tightened US sanctions made it harder for the maduro government to sell oil and restricted its access to foreign currency.

wiith the economy in freefall, mr maduro in 2019 relaxed some of the strict foreign currency regulations brought in by chávez.

shortages eased as a result and in 2021, the economy started growing. But extreme poverty remains shockingly high and many of those without access to foreign currency continue to struggle.

disillusioned with the failure of juan guaidó to seize control of anything more than some venezuelan embassies and assets abroad, the majority of opposition parties withdrew their support from him in december 2022 and dissolved his "interim government".

they said that their aim remained to defeat mraduro, but argued that mr guaidó's rival government was no longer the way to go about it.

negotiations between opposition and government representatives - which have stalled on several occasions in the past - resumed in november 2022.

the opposition hopes they will lead to free and fair presidential elections being held in 2024, for which they plan to field a unity candidate to take on mr maduro.

HOW TO HELP

visit [ globalgiving.org / venezuela ] and [ donate.worldvision.org / venezuela relief fund ]

11. HAITI

the country has been in a state of electoral and constitutional turmoil since the assassination of the president, jovenel moïse, in 2021 at the hands of colombian mercenaries with unknown paymasters, but the immediate crisis can be traced back further.

haiti has not held functional elections since 2019 – and the country has been in a fragile state since the 2010 earthquake that killed up to 300,000 people. but moïse’s death in July 2021 – and a new earthquake the following month – sent the situation spiralling out of control.

moïse was replaced by an acting president, ariel henry, who is unelected and widely viewed as illegitimate. in september, the G9 gang coalition blockaded the main port and fuel terminal after henry caused fuel prices to double when he announced a cut to fuel subsidies – a development that brought the crisis to new heights. haiti is now experiencing its worst-ever famine, with 4.7 million people facing acute hunger.

at the same time it is impossible to understand the current situation without acknowledging the dark history of international interventions, including US occupation from 1915-1934, that have blighted haiti. “those interventions have shaped haiti,” smith said. “there’s a chain-link connection.”

long before the litany of recent disasters, he said, “the duvalier dictatorship [the rule of father and son françois, or “papa doc”, and jean-claude, or “baby doc”, duvalier from 1957-1986] destroyed the hopes of a functioning state that serves the nation."

gangs have a longstanding role in political life, and have operated in tandem with political actors since the 1950s to intimidate rivals and deliver votes. there are suggestions of oligarchic figures with ties to the drugs trade pulling the strings – but “many of them are not affiliated to anybody”, smith said.

“the international drug trade is a very important part of it, but that was only the beginning. now gangs have secured their power locally, it is very hard to see that any more powerful actor can control them. the situation has dissolved into the incomprehensible.”

there are almost 100 gangs in port-au-prince, many of them in loose alliances at war with rival groups. gangs control major roads and draw income from customs, water and electricity distribution, and even bus services. membership has become so desirable for some young men that some gangs now have waiting lists for new recruits (pdf).

the country’s army – disbanded in 1995 after years of military interference in politics – has been reestablished but stands at just 500 soldiers, while police also appear impotent.

the ongoing violence has forced the closure of hospitals and has been blamed in part for the re-emergence of cholera, as well as fuel shortages that only worsen the crisis. last month, the UN estimated 155,000 people had fled their homes – almost one in six of the city’s population.

HOW TO HELP

visit [ savethechildren.org/ haiti ]

12. ETHIOPIA

between 2020 and 2022, ethiopia fought a war with militants from its northernmost region of tigray, then under the control of the tigrayan people’s liberation front (TPLF). the conflict was one of the deadliest in recent world history and drew international attention for a preponderance of alleged war crimes, human rights abuses, and ethnic cleansing in tigray. the war formally ended in november 2022; tigray was left in ruins, and its capital was turned over to the federal government.

for decades before the war, the TPLF was a dominant political force in ethiopia. between 1991 and his death in 2012, tigrayan soldier-politician meles zenawi governed ethiopia as an autocracy with the backing of a TPLF-dominated coalition. the zenawi regime oversaw rapid development and increased the international prominence of ethiopia, but his government marginalized ethnic groups, including the oromo and amhara, to solidify government power. additionally, ethiopia was at war with eritrea [PDF] from 1998 to 2000. the war was followed by a nearly twenty-year-long frozen conflict, effectively paralyzing both countries politically and economically.

the TPLF continued to govern ethiopia after zenawi’s passing until 2018, when protests, especially among the oromo population, prompted the government to appoint abiy ahmed ali as the next prime minister. abiy, born in oromia, was heralded by international actors and ethiopians alike as the country’s new hope for peace and ethnic harmony. abiy promised early in his premiership to heal broken trust between the country’s ethnic groups and began to roll back restrictions on certain political freedoms. in 2019, he received the nobel peace prize for negotiating an end to ethiopia’s two-decade standoff with eritrea.

by 2020, ethnic relations within ethiopia once again began to deteriorate. multiple delays of long-promised national elections and the declaration of an extension on abiy ahmed’s first term as prime minister in june 2020 drew indignation from the TPLF. the tigray state council’s choice to hold local elections in defiance of federal orders further inflamed tensions. the elections ultimately solidified the TPLF’s control of the region. on november 4, 2020, abiy accused tigrayan troops of attacking a federal military camp in the tigrayan capital of mekelle and ordered ethiopian national defense Force (ENDF) troops north. this began a military operation known as the mekelle offensive, which escalated quickly as the ENDF pushed further into tigray, and the tigray defense force, or TDF, ramped up their response.

abiy first framed the offensive as a targeted operation against TPLF leadership. a communications blackout implemented at the outset of the conflict shuttered coverage of ground conditions, but media and UN officials began sounding the alarm about improper treatment of civilians, especially ethnic tigrayans, by december 2020. ethiopia’s neighbor and former adversary, eritrea, intervened in the conflict militarily on the side of the ethiopian government. after months of denying their presence, in spring 2021, prime minister abiy ahmed admitted that eritrean troops were fighting in tigray.

in 2021, the United States characterized the war as an ethnic cleansing against tigrayans, and some NGOs raised concerns about the potential of genocide. in march 2021, the office of the UN high commissioner for human rights announced a joint probe with the ethiopian human rights commission (EHRC) to investigate alleged abuses and rights violations in tigray, although the impartiality and accuracy of the report [PDF] were called into question following its presentation at the United Nations.

tigrayan forces retook the regional capital of mekelle from the ENDF in june 2021. a month later, addis ababa announced the results of a national parliamentary election—which prime minister abiy ahmed won in a landslide. the TPLF boycotted the election, and opposition leadership in parliament accused the abiy government of banning poll observers in some states. later in the summer of 2021, abiy called on all capable citizens to join the war against tigrayan forces as the conflict began to spill over into the afar and amhara regions, growing closer to addis ababa. in november 2021, tigrayan troops and allied oromo militants marched within eighty-five miles of the capital but were forced back north by ENDF forces.

after a series of failed efforts to negotiate a settlement, the TPLF and the Ethiopian central government signed a cessation of hostilities agreement on november 2, 2022, in pretoria, south africa. followed by implementation negotiations in nairobi, the agreement promised to disarm tigrayan troops, hand control of tigray to the ethiopian government, end the mekelle offensive, and permit full humanitarian access to tigray.

notably, the pretoria agreement does not explicitly mention eritrea, nor were eritrean representatives present at the negotiations. this omission raised international concern that eritrean troops would continue operations within ethiopia in spite of the agreement between the ethiopian government and TPLF. as of january 2023, displaced tigrayans reported that amhara and eritrean soldiers continued to occupy western tigray. the amhara have contested ownership of the area; the displaced population was informed in late 2023 that they would be returned to their land, and the political fate of the territory would be decided in a referendum.

in 2021 alone, 5.1 million ethiopians became internally displaced, a record for the most people internally displaced in any country in any single year at the time. thousands also fled to sudan and other countries in the region. by the time the pretoria agreement took effect, the tigray war and its associated humanitarian disaster had killed approximately 600,000 people. in late 2022, humanitarian groups were permitted to meaningfully operate in tigray for the first time since november 2020.

HOW TO HELP

visit [ savethechildren.org/ethiopia ] and [ irusa.org/ethiopia ]

13. SUDAN

the dramatic evacuation of international residents from sudan has been a top media headline in recent days, as military conflict spreads across the country. violence in and around the capital of khartoum has forced Concern, along with other NGOs, to suspend activities and evacuate non-national staff.

“this conflict couldn’t have come at a worse time for the people of sudan, who were already suffering terribly,” explains dominic macsorley, humanitarian ambassador for concern US. “the country is just facing into the ‘lean’ season — that time when the remainder of last year’s harvest is gone and this year’s crops have not yet matured. the fact that most humanitarian supports have been suspended and conflict is restricting movement leaves many people in a truly horrific situation.”

violence in sudan has been a fact of life for years

many people last followed sudan in the headlines back in 2019, when months of civilian protest led to a transitional government. since then, however, slowed progress on this front has left room for uncertainty and violence. (similar circumstances have fuelled the crisis in neighboring south sudan for more than a decade.) according to UNOCHA, an estimated 300,000 people were displaced by conflict in 2022 — with nearly 33,000 displaced in november alone due to fighting in west kordofan and central darfur.

at the beginning of this year, concern listed sudan as one of the world’s “forgotten” humanitarian crises due to this fragile balance of security and instability. unfortunately, it is once again front-page news due to the crisis escalating out of the spotlight.

one out of every three sudanese requires humanitarian aid

the protracted nature of the situation in sudan has led to dramatic increases in humanitarian aid. as of december 2022, 15.8 million sudanese required humanitarian assistance, approximately one out of every three people in the country. this represents a 10% increase in humanitarian need compared to december 2021.

those numbers are expected to rise dramatically after the last two weeks. as of earlier this week, over 22,000 civilians have fled the country—many to neighboring chad, as well as nearly 3,000 to south sudan. as peter van der auweraert, the south sudan representative for the UN’s international organization for migration, told the new york times earlier this week: “The people that get out first are the people that have the means,” indicating that thousands more will likely be stuck in the country with increasing needs.

this new wave of violence will affect the global refugee crisis in more ways than one

sudan is both one of the largest host countries for refugees (1.11 million as of january 2023), and one of the largest countries of origin for refugees (844,000 as of january 2023). in the first two weeks of fighting, more than 20,000 sudanese have crossed the border into Clchad, with the UNHCR estimating an additional 100,000 could follow in the coming days.

the knock-on effects go beyond sudanese refugees. many of the foreign refugees (especially from ethiopia, syria, and eritrea) currently in sudan are also in areas affected by fighting. with fewer resources than locals, they will face additional challenges in moving around or outside of the country (much in the same way that refugees living in ukraine dealt with additional challenges in moving to safety). these large displacements will also create additional pressure on host communities in countries like chad and south sudan, where resources are already tight. psychological support will also be a key necessity for those who have been forced to flee.

“day and night the fighting went on — to save their lives people moved and left everything behind,” says concern sudan country director, AKM musha, who like many of concern’s in-country staff was advised to leave khartoum for his own safety. “the journey to escape was very difficult…a very frightening and horrible experience.”

for those remaining in sudan, there is a catastrophic combination of challenges beyond violence

as ranked in the 2022 global hunger index, sudan is the 15th hungriest country in the world. food insecurity and malnutrition have run high in the country for decades due to the combined impacts of conflict, drought, locusts, and disease. the conflict in ukraine and COVID-19-related impacts have contributed to inflation rates in excess of 400%. “hospitals are not working, people cannot buy food, water is in short supply — everything has been eroded,” says musha.

carol morgan, concern’s director of international programs, adds that healthcare will be a key issue for the people of sudan. “THere are only enough health personnel to cover about 17% of the population,” she explains. With the added pressures of conflict, this could seriously affect ongoing health concerns in the country, such as diarrhea — an issue responsible for one out of every ten child mortalities.

humanitarian assistance is not guaranteed

while humanitarian organizations both international and local are designed to help in times of crisis, the safety of staff is the number-one priority. the focus of violence in khartoum has led to concern evacuating its 10 non-sudanese staff members from the country. over 150 local staff members are either internally displaced or sheltering at home with challenges like rolling blackouts the rule versus the exception.

this means that not everyone who requires humanitarian assistance at this time will be able to get the help they need. concern had been working with the ministry of health in 73 health facilities and last year treated over 200,000 children for malnutrition. in total, the sudan team had planned to reach over 500,000 people through a variety of humanitarian programs in 2023, vital work which has now been put on hold.

concern has called for an immediate end to hostilities in sudan, as well as for protections to be put in place to allow aid workers to provide essential community support. “we need the fighting to stop and humanitarian access to be restored or else sudan is facing a really disastrous situation,” says musha.

HOW TO HELP

visit [ savethechildren.org/sudan ] and [ irusa.org/sudan ]

14. SOMALIA

during a year that marked the 30th anniversary of the collapse of the somali state, domestic and international attention was focused on plans for the delayed parliamentary and presidential electoral process. political tensions stalled reform efforts key to advancing human rights in the country, while conflict-related abuses, insecurity, and humanitarian and health crises took a heavy toll on civilians.

all parties to the conflict in somalia committed violations of international humanitarian law, some amounting to war crimes. the islamist armed group al-shabab conducted indiscriminate and targeted attacks on civilians and forcibly recruited children. Inter-clan and intra-security force violence killed, injured, and displaced civilians, as did sporadic military operations against al-shabab by somali government forces, troops from the african union mission in somalia (AMISOM), and other foreign forces.

Federal and regional authorities continued to intimidate, attack, arbitrarily arrest, and at times prosecute journalists, including by using the country’s outdated penal code. Somalia continued to rely on military court proceedings that violated international fair trial standards; it did not hand over Al-Shabab cases from military to civilian courts.

key legal and institutional reforms stagnated. the review of the country’s outdated penal code stopped; there was no movement on the passing of federal legislation on sexual offenses or on key child’s rights legislation. the government also failed to establish a national human rights commission; the appointment of commissioners has been pending since 2018.

allegations that somali soldiers were trained in eritrea and deployed in ethiopia’s tigray conflict added to the political tensions. the disappearance of the former intelligence official, ikran Tahlil farah, reportedly missing since late june, led to a standoff between president mohammed abdullahi “farmajo” and prime minister mohamed hussein roble, including over the control of the country’s powerful national intelligence and security agency (NISA).

attacks on civilians

the united nations assistance mission in somalia (UNSOM) recorded at least 899 civilian casualties, including 441 killings, between late november 2020 and late july; a marked increase compared to the same reporting period the previous year. most were killed during targeted and indiscriminate al-shabab attacks using improvised explosive devices (IEDs), suicide bombings, and shelling, as well as assassinations.

after the parliament extended the presidential term on april 25 by two years, armed confrontations between security forces linked to different political factions in various districts of mogadishu, the capital, resulted in the displacement of between 60,000 and 100,000 people, according to the United Nations.

federal and regional military courts continued to sentence people to death and carry out executions despite serious due process concerns. puntland executed 21 men convicted by military courts of al-shabab membership and killings on june 27, in three separate locations.

al-shabab fighters killed dozens of individuals it accused of working or spying for the government and foreign forces, often after unfair trials.

the UN attributed six civilian casualties to AMISOM forces between late 2020 and late july. AMISOM established a board of inquiry into an August 10 incident involving ugandan soldiers who were ambushed by al-shabab fighters around golweyn, lower shabelle and responded by killing seven civilians. a ugandan court martial found five soldiers responsible for the killings, sentencing two to death. reports of civilian harm as a result of airstrikes in the gedo region increased.

despite federal and regional investigations into the may 2020 massacre of seven health workers and a pharmacist in the village of gololey in balcad district, the outcome of these investigations remains unknown.

sexual violence

the UN reported an increase in incidents of sexual and gender-based violence, including of girls, which often resulted in the victims being killed.

key legal reforms stalled, notably the passing of progressive sexual violence legislation at the federal level. the somali criminal code classifies sexual violence as an “offense against modesty and sexual honor” rather than a violation of bodily integrity; it also punishes same-sex relations. article 4(1) of the provisional constitution (2012), places sharia law above the constitution and it continues to be applied by courts in criminal cases. consequently, the death penalty for consensual same-sex conduct could be enforced.

in puntland, the first region to pass a sexual offenses law, the UN reported on government interference and blocking of investigations into sexual violence incidents.

abuses against Children

children continue to bear a heavy burden of ongoing insecurity, conflict, and lack of key reforms in the country. all Somali parties to the conflict committed serious abuses against children, including killings, maiming, recruitment and use of child soldiers, and attacks on schools.

somali federal and regional security forces unlawfully detained children, notably for alleged ties with armed groups, undermining government commitments to treat children primarily as victims. the government failed to put in place child rights compliant justice measures.

the previous year, pending legal reforms sought to reduce the age of marriage, including a controversial draft law on sexual-intercourse related crimes—the status of which remained unknown—which would allow a child to marry at puberty regardless of their age.

when the covid-19 pandemic started in early 2020, schools were closed or partially closed for 134 days, including several weeks in march and april 2021, affecting at least 1.2 million children.

freedom of expression and association

federal and regional authorities throughout somalia repeatedly harassed, arbitrarily arrested, and attacked journalists. moments of heightened tensions around the electoral process correlated with an uptick in incidents of harassment toward journalists.

the UN and amnesty international reported an increase during the first quarter of the year in restrictions on journalist in puntland. in march, the military appeals court in puntland sentenced kilwe adan farah, a journalist, to three years in prison under the outdated penal code for his coverage of anti-government protests. earlier, a military court sentenced him to three months, despite the judge reportedly acknowledging a lack of evidence. the journalist received a presidential pardon.

several journalists covering protests in mogadishu were temporarily detained and harassed. on september 5, bashiir mohamud, producer at goobjoog media, was filmed being dragged through the streets by somali police while he covered protests demanding justice for the killing of a former intelligence officer, ikran tahlil farah. he was then held for a few hours at the hodan police station.

al-shabab claimed responsibility for the march 1 killing of journalist jamal farah adan in galkayo.

displacement and access to humanitarian assistance

over 2.6 million somalis are internally displaced, increasingly because of conflict. the UN said over 570,000 people were displaced between january and august 2021. droughts, flooding, and desert locust swarm—increasing in intensity and frequency due to climate change—exacerbated communities’ existing vulnerabilities and contributed to displacement. the UN and Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) reported that between january and august, droughts and floods displaced over 90,000 and 49,000 people respectively. tens of thousands of internally displaced people were forcibly evicted, notably in mogadishu.

nearly 3.5 million people were expected to face acute food insecurity and need emergency food aid in the last quarter of the year.

humanitarian agencies continued to face serious access challenges due to conflict, targeted attacks on aid workers, generalized violence, restrictions imposed by parties to the conflict, including arbitrary “taxation” and bureaucratic hurdles, and physical constraints due to extreme weather. al-shabab continued to impose blockades on some government-controlled towns, notably the town of hudur, and occasionally attacked civilians who broke them.

an Amnesty International report documented somalia’s inadequate response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and highlighted the chronic underfunding of the country’s health system.

HOW TO HELP

visit [ rescue.org/ somalia ], [savethechildren.org/somalia ] and [ irusa.org/somalia ]

15. BURKINA FASO

the world’s fastest-growing humanitarian crisis is currently unfolding in burkina faso.

nearly 2 million people need shelter after being forced to flee their homes due to extremist violence.

burkina faso is under threat from extremist attack in the sahel, a belt of semi-arid land south of the sahara desert.

less than ten years ago, burkina faso seemed like a beacon of stability in west africa. in 2015 the country held its first democratic election ever, paving the way to what seemed like a bright future.

but since then burkina faso has seen an increase in violence from jihadist groups, spreading from mali. armed groups quickly started expanding, crossing borders and setting up local groups across the sahel region – including burkina faso, mali and niger.

since 2019, insecurity has reached devastating levels and the number of burkinabe people fleeing violence has skyrocketed.

right now, burkina faso is one of the fastest-growing displacement crises in the continent.

according to the UN, more than one in every 20 people are forced to flee the violence.

burkina faso is a landlocked country situated in west africa.

the country is surrounded by mali to the north and west, niger to the northeast, benin to the southeast, and côte d’Ivoire, ghana, and togo to the south.

its capital, ouagadougou, saw a horrific terrorist attack at the beginning of 2016 which left 28 people dead, and 56 people injured.

the central sahel region, which includes the countries of burkina faso, mali and niger, is facing one of the fastest-growing displacement crises in the world.

yet, it is one of the most forgotten.

it is estimated that over 3 million people have been forced to flee their homes and at least 29 million are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.

the sahel region of africa is a 3,860-kilometre arc-like land mass lying to the immediate south of the sahara desert and stretching from east to west across the breadth of the african continent.

families started fleeing the central sahel region in 2011, after a violence outbreak in northern mali.

increased displacement was reinforced by poverty, food insecurity, unemployment and the presence of armed groups. climate change is also a challenge for families trying to flee.

HOW TO HELP

visit [ savethechildren.org/burkina faso ] or [ friendsofburkinafaso.org ]

16. JAMMU AND KASHMIR

as the sun rises over the picturesque landscape of kashmir, it’s easy to believe that all is well in the region. but beneath the scenic beauty is a harsh and unsettling reality — composed of a military occupation, oppression of the entire population and expression of fear, loathing and anger by the people of kashmir. the picture that the Indian government tries to paint — of normalcy and development in occupied jammu and kashmir — is a myth.

for the last seven decades, kashmir has been the epicenter of a bitter dispute between india and pakistan in which the people in jammu are an integral party. to resolve the conflict, the united nations security council adopted resolution 47 in 1948, and more than a dozen subsequent resolutions, stipulating that the final disposition of the state of jammu and kashmir would be decided by its people through a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the UN. this was accepted by india and pakistan and, in accordance with article 25 of the UN charter, both parties are obligated to implement these resolutions.

but this saturday, aug. 5, marks four years of india’s unilateral actions to consolidate its occupation of illegally indian occupied jammu and kashmir (IIOJK) and imposing what India’s leaders have ominously called a “final solution” for kashmir. to do so, india has resorted to a series of illegal actions, gross and consistent violations of human rights and other crimes that continue to this day.

india increased its military deployment in IIOJK to 900,000 troops right before aug. 5, 2019. this is the densest occupation in recent history — with one soldier for every eight kashmiri men, women and children. this massive force has perpetrated a vicious campaign of repressive actions, including extrajudicial killings of innocent kashmiris in fake encounters; custodial killings and “cordon-and-search” operations; use of pellet guns to kill, maim and blind peaceful protestors; abduction and enforced disappearances; and “collective punishments,” with the destruction and burning of entire villages and urban neighborhoods.

this brutal campaign is driven by the ideology of “hindutva,” which propagates the religious and ethnic supremacy of hindus and hate against muslims. noting this pattern, genocide watch has warned that “the indian government’s actions in kashmir have been an extreme case of persecution and could very well lead to genocide.”

to suppress the voice of the kashmiri people, indian authorities have used censorship and surveillance for decades in the occupied territory. since august 2019, information control has been fully institutionalized. journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders and the entire kashmiri political leadership are routinely incarcerated, beaten, humiliated, harassed and even accused of “terrorism” for reporting the human rights violations in IIOJK.

there is only one normality: the normalization of violence. generations have grown up witnessing violence, insecurity and trauma. numerous human rights organizations, international bodies and independent reports have documented use of rape, sexual assault and harassment perpetrated by Indian security forces against kashmiri civilians, particularly women as a weapon of war. emergency laws, such as the 1990-armed forces (special powers), have created an environment of complete impunity for indian security forces.

to extinguish the ethno-religious identity of kashmiris, historical sites have been destroyed and damaged. one of the most troubling aspects of the destruction of cultural heritage is the demolition of religious sites, particularly mosques, which inflicts deep emotional wounds on the muslim population.

in a classic settler-colonial project, india has initiated illegal demographic changes in the occupied territory, grossly violating international law, including the fourth geneva convention. this is central to its plan to convert IIOJK’s muslim majority into a hindu majority territory, to drown out the demand for freedom and self-determination. new “domicile rules” have been introduced, and more than four million fake domicile certificates have been issued to hindus from across india to settle in occupied jammu and kashmir. the land and properties of kashmiris are also being confiscated for military and other official use.

all the measures taken by India in the last four years are blatant violations of international law, including the relevant security council resolutions, specifically resolution 122 (1957). therefore, all the actions taken by India on and after aug. 5, 2019 are not only illegal but, ipso facto, null and void.

to justify its occupation and oppression, india has sought for decades, and particularly since 9/11, to portray the kashmiri freedom struggle as “terrorism.” likewise, to delegitimize the indigenous kashmiri struggle for self-determination, india falsely alleges that it is instigated by pakistan. to expose india’s falsehood, pakistan has proposed expanded patrolling by the UN military observer group in india and pakistan (UNMOGIP) along the line of control in jammu and kashmir. however, india refuses to allow the UN mission to patrol the line of control and to expand it. despite numerous attempts, india continues to deny access to jammu and kashmir to the office of high commissioner for human rights and other UN agencies as well as other human rights and humanitarian organizations and international media.

pakistan desires peaceful relations with all its neighbors, including india. pakistan has responded with responsibility and restraint to india’s repeated provocations. on the other hand, india continues to resort to aggressive rhetoric and repeated threats of the use of force against pakistan, even under the nuclear overhang. the onus is on india to create conditions that are conducive for a meaningful dialogue to resolve the jammu and kashmir dispute. to this end, india must:

• stop all human rights violations in jammu and kashmir

• halt and reverse its illegal demographic changes there

• reverse the illegal and unilateral measures imposed on and after aug. 5, 2019

• grant access to international observers, including human rights mechanisms of the UN and international media, to observe worsening human rights situation on the ground

the international community must play a proactive role obliging india to respect the human rights of the people of kashmir and to work toward a peaceful, inclusive resolution of the conflict. peace in south asia will be possible only when the jammu and kashmir dispute is resolved. the security council and the UN secretary-general must make concerted efforts, as empowered by the UN charter, to promote a peaceful settlement of the jammu and kashmir dispute, according to the relevant UN security council resolutions and wishes of the kashmiri people.

preventive measures to stop abuses in IIOJK and to promote global accountability is both a moral imperative and a collective human rights responsibility. millions of kashmiris have suffered for too long. to end their plight, they demand a peaceful resolution to the conflict. it is time to make peace a new normal.

HOW TO HELP

visit [ pennyappeal.org/ kashmir ] and [ standwithkashmir.org ]

17. UYGHUR CRISIS

the chinese government has reportedly arbitrarily detained more than a million muslims in reeducation camps since 2017. most of the people who have been detained are uyghur, a predominantly turkic-speaking ethnic group primarily in china’s northwestern region of xinjiang. beyond the detentions, yyghurs in the region have been subjected to intense surveillance, forced labor, and involuntary sterilizations, among other rights abuses.

the united states and several other foreign governments have described china’s actions in xinjiang as genocide, while the UN human rights office said that the violations could constitute crimes against humanity. chinese officials have said that they have not infringed on uyghurs’ rights and claimed that they closed the reeducation camps in 2019. however, international journalists and researchers have documented an ongoing system of mass detention throughout the region using satellite images, individual testimonies, and leaked chinese government documents.

when did mass detentions of muslims start?

an estimated eight hundred thousand to two million uyghurs and other muslims, including ethnic kazakhs and uzbeks, have been detained since 2017, according to international researchers and U.S. government officials [PDF]. the chinese government calls the facilities “vocational education and training centers;” the most common terms used by international media organizations and researchers are reeducation camps, internment camps, and detention camps. some activists describe them as concentration camps.

outside of the camps, the eleven million uyghurs living in xinjiang—officially called the xinjiang uyghur autonomous region—have continued to suffer from a decades-long crackdown by chinese authorities.

experts estimate that reeducation efforts started in xinjiang in 2014 and were drastically expanded in 2017. beginning that year, they documented the construction of new reeducation camps and expansion of existing facilities for mass detention. reuters journalists, observing satellite imagery, found that thirty-nine of the camps almost tripled in size between april 2017 and august 2018; they covered a total area roughly the size of 140 soccer fields. similarly, analyzing local and national budgets over the past few years, germany-based xinjiang expert adrian zenz found that construction spending on security-related facilities in xinjiang increased by 20 billion yuan (around $2.96 billion) in 2017.

in late 2019, xinjiang’s governor said that people detained in the reeducation camps had “graduated.” journalists found that several camps were indeed closed. but the following year, researchers at the australian strategic policy institute (ASPI) identified [PDF] more than 380 suspected detention facilities using satellite images. they found that china refashioned some lower-security reeducation camps into formal detention centers or prisons; expanded existing detention centers; and constructed new, high-security detention centers throughout xinjiang. (chinese officials have said that ASPI is an anti-china tool funded by australia and the united states.) instead of detaining people in reeducation camps, authorities have increasingly used the formal justice system to imprison people for years. In 2022, human rights watch reported that half a million people had been prosecuted since 2017, according to xinjiang government figures. the associated press found that in one county, an estimated one in twenty-five people had been sentenced to prison on terrorism-related charges, all of them uyghurs.

what has happened in the reeducation camps?

most people detained in the reeducation camps were never charged with crimes and had no legal avenues to challenge their detentions. the detainees seem to have been targeted for a variety of reasons, according to media reports, including traveling to or contacting people from any of the twenty-six countries china considers sensitive, such as turkey and afghanistan; attending services at mosques; having more than three children; and sending texts containing Quranic verses. often, their only crime is being muslim, human rights groups say, adding that many uyghurs have been labeled as extremists simply for practicing their religion.

information on what happened in the camps remains limited, but many detainees who have since fled china described harsh conditions. the UN human rights office released a report [PDF] in 2022 based on interviews with dozens of people, including twenty-six individuals who were detained, that found “patterns of torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment” in the camps between 2017 and 2019.

the UN report affirmed previous findings by international journalists, researchers, and rights organizations. various exposés showed that detainees were forced to pledge loyalty to the CCP and renounce Islam, as well as sing praises for communism and learn mandarin. some people reported prison-like conditions, with cameras and microphones monitoring their every move and utterance. others said they were tortured and subjected to sleep deprivation during interrogations. Women have shared stories of sexual abuse, including rape.

some released detainees contemplated suicide or witnessed others kill themselves.

detention also disrupted families. children whose parents were sent to the camps were often forced to stay in state-run orphanages. many uyghur parents living outside of china faced a difficult choice: return home to be with their children and risk detention, or stay abroad, separated from their children and unable to contact them.

what do chinese officials say about the camps?

government officials first denied the camps’ existence. by late 2018, they started acknowledging that there were “vocational education and training centers” in xinjiang. they publicly stated that the camps had two purposes: to teach mandarin, chinese laws, and vocational skills, and to prevent citizens from becoming influenced by extremist ideas, to “nip terrorist activities in the bud,” according to a government report. pointing out that xinjiang has not experienced a terrorist attack since december 2016, officials claimed the camps have prevented violence.

as global condemnation of the abuses has grown, chinese officials and state media have worked to discredit reports on xinjiang using a range of tactics, including disseminating disinformation and harassing activists. they have repeated a narrative that “anti-china forces” in the united states and other western countries are spreading “vicious lies.” beijing tried to prevent the UN human rights office from releasing its report. after its release, chinese officials described it as false information and published a rebuttal describing how foreign governments and organizations “spread numerous rumors and lies” about xinjiang.

why is china targeting uyghurs in xinjiang?

chinese officials are concerned that uyghurs hold extremist and separatist ideas, and they viewed the camps as a way of eliminating threats to china’s territorial integrity, government, and population.

xinjiang has been claimed by china since the chinese communist party (CCP) took power in 1949. some uyghurs living there refer to the region as east turkestan and argue that it ought to be independent from china. xinjiang takes up one-sixth of china’s landmass and borders eight countries, including afghanistan, pakistan, and kazakhstan.

HOW TO HELP

visit [ uhrp.org ] and [ saveuighur.org ]

18. THE REPUBLIC OF CONGO

the democratic republic of congo (DRC) is a country rich in resources, yet fraught with conflict and violence. the country is currently experiencing the largest displacement crisis in africa.

many of its people have not seen peace in more than 20 years.

the democratic republic of congo (DRC) is host to one of the world’s most complex and long-standing humanitarian crises, centered particularly in the east of the country. More than 2.1 million people were forced to flee their homes in 2017 alone — equivalent to an average of 50 families fleeing every hour, every day.

there are currently more than 100 different armed groups vying for territory and control in eastern DRC. this conflict is causing massive displacement and urgent humanitarian needs as families flee their homes for safety.

the armed conflict and insecurity has displaced 4.5 million people within the country. 13.1 million people need humanitarian assistance — 5.6 million more than in 2017. over the last year with intensified fighting, the humanitarian situation has dramatically worsened.

the rise of ebola has made the situation even more dire.

yes, ebola is endemic to DRC. the country is currently battling its tenth ebola outbreak, which has already killed more than 1,500 people. it is now the worst ebola outbreak in DRC’s history. over 50 percent of the total cases have occurred in the past three months.

on july 17, the world health organization declared the ebola outbreak in DRC a "public health emergency of international concern" (PHEIC). previous PHEICs include swine flu in 2009, polio in 2014, ebola in 2014 and the zika virus in 2016.

“We hope that [this] declaration by the WHO will translate into urgent and practical action, including more funding from international donors,” said laura miller, mercy corps’ acting country director in DR Congo. “every day, women, men and children are dying of the ebola virus and it is becoming too easy to forget that the ever-climbing case numbers are people.”

this particular outbreak is happening in the densely populated and conflict-affected provinces of north kivu and ituri, making it more difficult and dangerous to access affected people and areas.

a previous ebola outbreak in 2018 affected 54 people and resulted in 33 deaths.

what is the kivu conflict?

the conflict in north and south kivu began in 1996 in eastern congo in the aftermath of the rwandan genocide. the conflict involves numerous armed actors, including the DRC military, foreign rebel groups such as the democratic forces for the liberation of rwanda and allied defence forces of uganda and more than 100 local armed groups. due to this ongoing fighting, DRC is currently home to the largest UN peacekeeping force in the world, consisting of 21,000 people.

is there still war in DRC?

not technically. but there is still ongoing conflict, insecurity and a lack of effective governance. there are now more than 100 armed groups vying for territory and control in eastern DRC. the current president, joseph kabila, has been in position since 2001 following the assassination of his father, laurent kabila. the presidential election in december 2018 has thrown the country into further turmoil. in its 58 years of independence from belgium, the DRC has never had a peaceful political transition.

how densely populated is the democratic republic of congo?

DRC is the size of western durope and the second-largest country in africa. its population of 80 million people is spread throughout the country, with 40 percent of people living in urban areas. cities in eastern congo, like goma and bukavu, have been experiencing an influx of people fleeing violence from the more rural areas. people are seeking safety and security, and new opportunities to earn an income, as the conflict has forced many of them off their land.

this escalating displacement, coupled with resource mismanagement, is putting increasing pressure on the cities’ services. to respond to these needs, we’ve developed an integrated water initiative to improve access to water for the most vulnerable citizens of goma and bukavu. it also aims to provide equitable access to water for all.

how wealthy is the democratic republic of congo?

the DRC has vast human and natural resources, which could, arguably, make it one of the richest countries in the world. this central african country is home to the world’s largest reserves of coltan, used in mobile phones and electric cars, as well as significant quantities of the world’s cobalt and copper, as well and diamonds, gold and many other minerals.

yet, because of the ongoing conflict, poor governance and a lack of infrastructure, the congolese people are not benefiting from this immense wealth. in fact, in 2019, DRC will become the country with the second highest number of people living below the poverty line.

who is affected by the conflict in DRC?

in the conflict-ridden eastern part of the country, women and children are often most affected by the conflict, as is the case with many crises. more than 2 million children suffer from severe acute malnutrition. one in 10 women and girls experienced sexual violence in 2016. in some cases, women and their children have no choice but to flee the violence and hunger. women often leave their homes with very little but their children and the clothes they were wearing. men too are frightened of being killed or forced to join armed groups.

HOW TO HELP

visit [ savethechildren.org/ democratic republic of congo ] and [ ngocongo.org ]

19. WEST PAPUA

ever since the invasion of west papua over fifty years ago, the Indonesian security forces have committed a never ending catalogue of extreme human rights violations.

over 500,000 civilians have been killed in a genocide against the indigenous population. thousands more have been raped, tortured, imprisoned or ‘disappeared’ after being detained. basic human rights such as freedom of speech are denied and papuans live in a constant state of fear and intimidation.

genocide

almost all papuans will be able to tell you stories of friends or family who have been murdered. a paper prepared by the yale law school for the indonesian human rights campaign in 2004 found “in the available evidence a strong indication that the indonesian government has committed genocide against the west papuans”.

the use of torture by the Indonesian security forces against the indigenous papuan population is widespread.

there is much documented evidence of this endemic behaviour and in recent years video footage (captured as ‘trophy footage’ by indonesian soldiers) has been leaked and broadcast on international news channels such as al jazeera and channel 4 news.

rape

sexual assault and rape has been repeatedly used as a weapon by the indonesian military and police.

in a public report to the U.N. commission on human rights in 1999, the special rapporteur on violence against women concluded that the indonesian security forces used rape “as an instrument of torture and intimidation” in west papua, and “torture of women detained by the indonesian security forces was widespread”.

the robert f. Kennedy memorial centre for human rights prepared a full report on “rape and other human rights abuses by the indonesian military in iran jaya (west papua), indonesia”.

freedom of expression

the basic rights to freedom of expression are almost completely denied in west papua. anyone expressing any criticism of indonesian rule and in particular aspirations for west papuan independence can expect to be persecuted by the police and imprisoned.

recently, leading human rights organizations kontraS papua and the commission for the disappeared and the victims of violence, published a report on the increasing tendency of the indonesian state to charge people peacefully expressing their desire for political independence with treason. they state:

'in 2010, cases with a political dimension have characteristically become ensnared by the charge of makar, the indonesian word for treason or rebellion… altogether in 2010, 32 people were charged or investigated in connection with article 106 on makar.’

political prisoners

yusak pakage, sentenced to 10 years in prison for attending a west papua flag raising ceremony.

there are currently hundreds of west papuan political prisoners being held in west papua and across indonesia. many are serving long prison terms for peacefully protesting against indonesian rule or for being members of organisations calling for west papuan independence.

filep karma is a particular case in point, serving a 15 year jail sentence simply for raising the west papuan national flag. he is an amnesty international prisoner of conscience. conditions in the prisons are often very poor and maltreatment of prisoners is common with many being beaten and tortured while detained. prisoners have often developed severe health problems and been denied access to medical care.

lives lived in fear

papuans return to find their homes in burnt to the ground by the Indonesian army following a ‘sweeping operation’

papuans return to find their homes in burnt to the ground by the indonesian army

many papuans live in a constant state of fear and intimidation. people living in villages across west papua can at any time be subject to military sweeping operations.

under the pretence of looking for insurgents, the military have repeatedly swept through entire rural areas killing arbitrarily and burning whole villages to the ground, destroying subsistence food crops and livestock and forcing people to flee into the forests where they are prone to starvation and disease.

impunity

imdonesian special army force (KOPASSUS) have committed widespread human rights abuses in west papua

despite public statements that the Indonesian government is improving its human rights record, the situation on the ground seems very different. there are often limited or no investigations into human rights abuses and if any discipline is handed out it is normally of little significance to the perpetrators of the abuses. amnesty international states:

“impunity for human rights violations is commonplace. accountability mechanisms to deal with police abuse remain weak, and reports of torture by members of the security forces often go unchecked and unpunished. many victims of past human rights violations in papua are still awaiting justice.”

access to journalists and NGOs

west papua is currently off limits to international journalists. if discovered without permission they are arrested and deported by the Indonesian authorities. some have even been attacked and imprisoned.

it is clear that Indonesian authorities will stop at nothing to keep the ongoing genocide they are directing in west papua out of the international media agenda. west papua has also become impossible to operate in for many NGOs. in 2010 the international red cross were expelled, and in 2012 peace brigades international were forced to leave. International human rights organisations such as amnesty and human rights watch are also denied access to west papua.

HOW TO HELP

visit [ freewestpapua.org ] and [ freepapuamovement.org ]

20. ARMENIA

azerbaijan launched "anti-terrorist activities" in the nagorno-karabakh region on tuesday, saying it wanted to restore constitutional order and drive out what it said were armenian troops, a move that could foreshadow a new war.

armenia and azerbaijan have already fought two wars over karabakh in the three decades since the soviet union they were both members of collapsed.

here is a look at the history of the conflict and the latest developments.

WHAT IS NAGORNO-KARABAKH?

nagorno-karabakh, known as artsakh by armenians, is a mountainous region at the southern end of the karabakh mountain range, within azerbaijan. it is internationally recognised as part of azerbaijan, but its 120,000 inhabitants are predominantly ethnic armenians. they have their own government which is close to armenia but not officially recognised by armenia or any other country.

armenians, who are christian, claim a long presence in the area, dating back to several centuries before christ. azerbaijan, whose inhabitants are mostly turkic muslims, also claims deep historical ties to the region, which over the centuries has come under the sway of persians, turks and russians. bloody conflict between the two peoples goes back more than a century.

under the soviet union, nagorno-karabakh became an autonomous region within the republic of azerbaijan.

FIRST KARABAKH WAR

as the soviet union crumbled, the first karabakh war (1988-1994) erupted between armenians and their azeri neighbours. about 30,000 people were killed and more than a million displaced. most of those were azeris driven from their homes when the armenian side ended up in control of nagorno-karabakh itself and swathes of seven surrounding districts.

44-DAY WAR IN 2020

in 2020, after decades of intermittent skirmishes, azerbaijan began a military operation that became the second karabakh war, swiftly breaking through armenian defences. it won a resounding victory in 44 days, taking back the seven districts and about a third of nagorno-karabakh itself.

the use of drones bought from turkey and israel was cited by military analysts as one of the main reasons for azerbaijan's victory. at least 6,500 people were killed.

russia, which has a defence treaty with armenia but also has good relations with azerbaijan, negotiated a ceasefire.

the deal provided for 1,960 russian peacekeepers to guard the territory's lifeline to armenia: the road through the "lachin corridor", which armenian forces no longer controlled.

PEACE TALKS

analysts say successive rounds of talks, mediated variously by the european union, the united states and russia, have brought the two sides closer to a permanent peace treaty than they have been for years, but a final settlement remains elusive. the most sensitive issue is the status of the 120,000 ethnic armenians in karabakh, whose rights and security armenia says must be guaranteed. prime minister nikol pashinyan has said armenia recognises the sovereignty and territorial integrity of azerbaijan, but baku says it is not certain the assertion was made in good faith and accuses armenia of fuelling separatism.

HUMANITARIAN CRISIS

in december 2022 azerbaijani civilians identifying themselves as environmental activists began blocking the lachin corridor, and in april 2023 azerbaijan set up an official checkpoint, saying it was preventing weapons smuggling. the flow of people and goods between armenia and nagorno-karabakh was largely cut off. the united states bemoaned the "rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation".

this week, the international committee of the red cross (ICRC) was able to make simultaneous aid deliveries via the lachin corridor and a separate road linking karabakh to the azerbaijani city of aghdam.

despite that, tensions have risen sharply this month, with armenia and azerbaijan accusing each other of building up troops.

HOW TO HELP

visit [ armeniafund.org ]

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entomjinx · 1 month

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ONE PIECE CHAPTER 1113 SPOILERS!!!

It's tagged, it's in bold, if you didn't see it that's on you, but I'm sorry. (I'm also a little sick so sorry for how this starts to turn a little insane at the end.)

The reveal makes perfect sense. I've seen a few people struggle to figure out where it came from, so I'm gonna explain why it makes perfect sense and then pop off with some silly theory.

The first hint at the fact that the One Piece world is sinking exists all the way back in Long Ring Long Island.

That seems like an odd place to start, but it's the first time we're shown how drastic the tides of the ocean in the One Piece world can change. It's enough to separate entire parts of an island, causing it to appear as separate islands, once every year.

This implies that the tides change drastically over the course of much longer periods than it does in the real world.

After that, we get to Water Seven and discover that it's sinking, and that the Aqua Laguna is getting worse every year. We also know that it's caused by the water receding at Long Ring Long island. We're also outright told that they want to make the city float to stop the sinking problem.

We also, much later, see just how high Wano is in altitude.

Knowing that the Redline is so tall that it cannot be passed by any ship, cannot be broken through, and that Mariejois is sat right on top of it only adds to why it makes sense.

The world isn't "sinking," those some islands technically are(Water Seven, modeled after Venice), the tides are going to rise exponentially, and fast.

The force of the water would instantly drown most people, and those who survived would be those who could get to higher altitude islands, the sky islands, Fishman Island, or the Redline.

And because I know someone will try to point this out: land bound plant life can temporarily survive underwater, so Ohara's 5000 year old library tree would be fine for a a bit while submerged. There's lots of places with high tides who's plant life is just fine. (This also could explain why they'd be so willing to throw the books into the water. Not only was it to save them from the fire, but many of them had likely been submerged for long periods of time before. They knew the books would be find in the end because they had record of it. And well, it's mentioned in the chapter that Vegapunk means to finish what Ohara started.)

This would also explain how thorough the government was able to be with wiping out information from the void century. If only a few places can survive, then few things that tell the truth will survive, and even fewer people.

Do I think I'm 100% correct about any of this? Or course not, it's Oda. It's One Piece. Things are pretty much never predicted with 100% accuracy. But that's my thoughts on why it makes sense. Now we get into theory:

I have several points to make, so I'm going to write out the shortest ones first.

-This would, completely unironically, explain some of the centuries long racism campaign against fishman. They have no reason to fear the high tides. They will survive no matter what happens on the surface, and that scares the humans who cannot.

-I think that the extreme tide is a part of why the bridge is being built in Tequila Wolf. I believe the bridges purposes is to connect all the highest points of the world so there's no need for ships to carry them. This way, the Celestial Dragons will still have access to more slaves, produce, and anything they can't get within Mariejois on their own during the time period when everyone drowns.

-and now we get to the big one:

I think that the reason the 20 kings and their people destroyed the ancient kingdom is because the ancient kingdom had a way to survive the high tide while keeping the maximum number of people safe in the process, and while being able to save many more people. They refused to ask for help, and were instead afraid of the power the ancient kingdom held, so they sought to destroy it.

I think that the ancient "weapons" were instead a means of survival, and the reason they were hidden is because the 20 kings would have used them as weapons instead. We don't know much about the ancient kingdom, so much of this is speculation.

I think Pluton was a large enough ship that it could carry the entire kingdom. We've already seen some massive ships in One Piece, and Iceburg intends to turn the entirety of Water Seven into a ship, so the idea of an island sized ship isn't all that odd.

If you continue to think about it, why did none of the Beast Pirates manage to find Pluton while searching for the poneglyph in Wano? I have two theories for this based on the fact that we're told Wano would have to open it's borders in order to get Pluton. If the walls would need to be torn down, then we can continue to assume that Pluton is massive.

Theory one is that Pluton is is hidden within the mountain itself, and that the mountain was man-made to hide the ship. Not only would the walls need to come down, but the mountain itself would have to be destroyed. They would also need a way to survive the high tide without it, so creating a mountain that is high enough in altitude to keep them safe would have been a necessity. I think this is the more believable of the two theories.

Theory Two is that Pluton is Wano. The entire island is the ship, and many of Wano's people descended from the people of the ancient kingdom or those they rescued. This one is much less likely, but it's still a possibility in my mind.

We know that Poseidon was the former mermaid princess, and that the current one is Shirahoshi. She can control the sea kings. Why would this be important? Because if everywhere floods, then the sea kings, who are already very large creatures, suddenly have an influx of room to move, food to eat, and places to lay eggs. It would cause a population spike. *However,* that would cause an ecological disaster within the food chain. The sudden influx of sea kings would be desperate for any food they can get their hands on, and many would likely die of starvation. This means they need some way to repel them from the large ship.

We don't know anything about Uranus yet, so I've nothing for you.

Another thing we know about the ancient kingdom is that they seemed to be friendly with everyone, or at least it's implied via how many friends Joy Boy made.

Fishman: Along with the bonus of having Poseidon, the fishman also have access to the tree resin from Sabaody. Should the ship(Puton) or the ancient kingdom ever need to submerge in order to keep people safe or to have a temporary air bubble, They'd be safe.

Lunarians: The people who originally lived on top of the redline. Sinee the redline is high enough to not sink, it would have made sense for them to be trade partners.

Skypians and Shandians: Another race with wings. if the tides really got too high, then they could join them in the sky sea for a time. They could also trade with them.

Minks: Zunesha was a friend of Joyboy's. We don't know much else about that situation, but it's likely that Zunesha is plenty tall enough to keep the minks from drowning, and they could have traded often as well. Maybe Zunesha was even able to do something similar to the giants.

The Giants: This feels like the most important one to me, and not just because of recent chapters. Obviously the giants think very highly of Nika/Joyboy, but it's also very likely that Elbaf is tall enough to survive the high tide, and if not, the the giants themselves are. If you look at what's known about current giants, some of them are tall enough to walk along the sea floor, and the ancient giants were so large that it's said they pulled and moved continents.

Why is that bit important? Because a ship the size of an entire island would likely need a lot more than sails buoyancy to move quickly. The ancient kingdom was pulled by the giants. They moved to different areas to rescue people and to trade so that life continued while the tide was at it's highest point.

Another random thing that supports this is the giant's vehement hatred towards Charlotte Linlin. She has Totto Land, which is supposed to be a place where all races live in harmony, but it would be a mockery of what the ancient kingdom was like, and for giants, who live about 300 years, that's only a few generations back. They would still have stories about the ancient kingdom and remember the truth.

Again, I don't think anything I predict will ever be 100% accurate, but I hope you enjoyed my rambling nonetheless.

#one piece #one piece chapter 1113 #one piece spoilers #one piece theory #nika #joyboy #one piece ancient kingdom #this kinda turned into stream of consciousness at the end #so I hope it makes some sense.#if you read all of it #thank you #I love and appreciate you #drink something eat something and take your meds today

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darqx · 6 months

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Some BP/HH/General asks

That mood when you want to share all the things but also want to keep it under wraps for the actual thing haha! Thanks very much anon!

As for your questions, I can't actually be specific cos there's no definitive number I have in mind for either. Basically there are a number of sectors (you can consider them their equivalent of countries - they have less than what we do though), and a number of species of demon of which I've designed about seven of. The ones I've shown before are these guys (and do you think I could find this pic again? No, I had to recreate it cos for the life of me I couldn't remember what ask I'd previously stuck it in lol):

One day when i have enough species and stuff out there I want to make a proper field guide \o/

Thank you very much for the interest! ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ I would actually love to for BP, but before I jump the gun there I have to get the comic out first lol. That being said I have made mini-games before featuring the HH versions and some other characs alas they are all lost at the moment to the sands of Flash becoming obsolete 😩

Me and Gato do still collab sometimes (and send each other Xmas presents)! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

I have been working on one off and on for a while actually! Hopefully I'll have some pages to post next year or so*, I've been doing a bit of thumbnailing recently :D

*that is the plan but i also don't know where people find the time to do anything with a full time job lol.

Hullo! Glad you are enjoying the snippets of BP I've got here and there :D Here is an older ref on Izm back when i first got the idea (at that time i didn't really plan to do anything with it, it was just an AU. Now it's my main project haha. Anyway the ref is a little bit out of date in that regard.)

I used to have a "field guide" which was also made quite a while ago, unfortunately the death of Flash kinda killed it. Here's a screenshot of some relevant info from it though.

That's an interesting one as it's questionable how sentient souls are after removal 🤔 In my mind its only form is the smoke light, it can "see" to some degree and MIGHT be able to talk (but in a very no one can hear them sort of way, a la i have no mouth and i must scream. So i guess it can think "aloud"). The more time passes the less sentience it has.

It could try, though it wouldn't really get anywhere if it's in Rire's collection. He might just eat it lol.

.D: Good with kids, will be fine in all aspects.

Izm: The fun dad however needs a partner that knows what they're doing to ensure the child safety during shenanigans.

Marcus and Zeke: Also would be good parents though might be more helicopter out of protectiveness/worry when first starting out.

Ren: Geek parent very good for homework help. Some Asian parent tendencies eg "ah see, i told you not to do that right? Now you see what happened."

They are similar to our known society for this! So basically, there are some good families out there (eg Zeke - who is a demon - is from a pretty average loving family), and there are some bad families out there who only care about power or having an heir or whatever.

HH Rire is a human. I differentiate between him and Demon Rire because they are two different characters...even though they are also technically the same character lol. You can consider them as alternate universe iterations of a base "Rire" concept.

I actually half jested this in an old comic lol

I am sorry to inform you that a HH webcomic doesn't actually exist 😅 I did a lot of art, animations and one shots (such as the HHJ comics) with them, but nothing actually planned or serialised or anything. Whatever's currently on my DA or here is basically what exists.

Bringing this image back cos it's relevant lol.

You spelled it correct there though! XD

#answer dump #battle priest #hh au #sz #hedonehigh #long post

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transrightsyamaguchi · 7 months

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blue lock fic rec list #1 (?)

i always liked when people made long masterlists of fic recs but i haven't seen anyone do it for blue lock yet. at least not recently. so in the spirit of Be The Change You Want To See In The World here's my list.

not in any particular order just going through my bookmarks lol.

sound of breaking down. chigiri-centric, 4k words, rated T.

“Is he dead?” “No, of course not.” A pause. “I hope not.” “Yo, Princess, are you alive in there?” The door rattles. OR Determined to prove himself, Chigiri disregards his health and deals with consequences. None of it is pretty. Set during the neo-Egoist league arc. it's a sickfic. it's a really good sickfic. it hits all the beats i like my sickfics to hit and then some. it's a genfic which is a major bonus. no romantic subplot just chigiri being vulnerable and getting taken care of. there's some sweet moments between him and chris prince that made me melt inside.

2. the rituals are intricate, bro. karasu/otoya, 2k words, rated E.

Otoya offers to groom the homie's wings. Things escalate in ways he did not expect. this is by one of my beloved mutuals but i'd still be recommending it even if it wasn't. great title. there's an "it's not gay with socks on" joke in there. there's the ever-present Otoya Eita Sexuality Crisis. the porn is less sexy and more funny (as tabieita deserves).

3. six facts about lobsters. bachira/isagi, 4k words, rated T.

What it says on the tin. (In fine print: six facts about you.) can't remember if ghost is on tumblr or not but this is another mutual fic. it's a take on the 5+1 format, tracking the bachisagi relationship through lobster facts. isagi's autism radiates through the text. it's so cute and so sweet and so very bachisagi essence. as expected of ao3 user smallghosts (<- the bachisagi essence writer)

4. counting crows on the windowsill. kaiser/ness, 18k words, rated M.

“How much,” you ask, “would you let me do to you?” The feeling of vibration on your fingers comes again, and he is thinking, or perhaps toying with you even more. Your grip tightens on his skin, and Alexis twitches slightly in the grasp. More than once have people told you to learn some patience. “You already know my answer.” “Doesn’t mean I don’t like hearing it in your own words.” Inhale, exhale, and they all fall onto your skin. There is a chill in the room—it is rising up your arms, your neck—but the whole of you is hot. “If it’s you, I’d let you do anything.” Seven snapshots of life through the eyes of Michael Kaiser. this is a longer one but if you have time and you want to feel some Emotions read this one. nskins contain such multitudes and this author understands them so well.

5. shidou-ctionary. shidou/sae, 4k words, rated T.

Contemporary linguists agree that achieving proficiency in a new language requires between six months and four years of study. Itoshi Sae knows better. He has anecdotal evidence to suggest that a person can become fluent in a new language in as little as one week. A week of Shidou Ryuusei's attempts to ask Itoshi Sae on a date: a story in emojis. yet another mutual fic. i can't help it that my mutuals are all extremely talented and correct about everything. it's got some experimental formatting going on and (in my opinion) it looks best on desktop. ft. shidou being shidou and sae being smitten (in the emotionally constipated way that sae is smitten with shidou)

6. puppy love. kurona/kiyora, 9k words, rated G.

Jin doesn’t fight the small smile forming on his face. It’s been a long time since he meshed well with anyone. People tend to avoid him; he avoids them in turn. He stopped caring (or so he had told himself), but he doesn’t hate the weight around his shoulders—doesn’t mind it at all, really. He wraps his hand around Ranze’s wrist, and he laughs along with him. Kiyora Jin has a number of problems. A growing crush on Kurona Ranze is not supposed to be one of them. this was the inaugural fic in the ranjin tag and. not to pat myself on the back or anything. but i beta-read it hehe. another mutual fic. kiyora jin character study before kiyora jin was even a character, with an adorable little romantic subplot. somewhat negated by the Recent Developments in canon but it's still good!!

7. pink light. shidou/sae, 19k words, rated E.

Fifteen years ago, Shidou took a pass from Sae that shattered his knee and ended his career, and Sae hasn't been able to speak to him since - and Sae wants it to stay that way. Deserves for it to stay that way. Unfortunately, the world has other plans for him, courtesy of a little art studio a five minute walk from his new post-retirement apartment. this is not a mutual fic but i'm trying to change that. it's post-canon ryusae ft. cane user shidou (!!) and emotionally constipated sae learning how to live without soccer. not quite old man yaoi but it has the spirit of it.

8. year one. snuffy & lorenzo centric, 3k words, rated T.

"When's your birthday?" Snuffy asks him carefully, moving on to the next field. "Today," Don answers immediately. "Really?" Snuffy looks at him suspiciously. "No," Don replies without hesitation, turning back to a poster describing professional tooth brushing. Snuffy tries not to look at the tense faces of the receptionist and the surgeon peering out of the room. Snuffy's first year of parenthood. what is it about snuffy & lorenzo fics that just hit so different. i swear everyone who writes for them is a genius. this fic is short snapshots of snuffy and lorenzo navigating their newly-formed parent-child relationship and it's heartwrenching and heartwarming and poignant. this writer has a few snuffy & lorenzo fics and they're all wonderful. (she's also on tumblr and writes in-depth lorenzo meta so you Know she understands him)

9. pov: you just want the world to be quiet. itoshi brothers, 4k words, rated T.

his big brother and football have become the only hope to which rin can cling to dream of better days. without them, he only and just remains that little six-year-old boy destroyed by the senseless atrocities of evil hands. hesitated to include this one because the tags are scary but fuck it we ball i do what i want. it's a rewrite of rin's backstory with a darker spin on it and it follows rin and sae's relationship through that lens. as par for the course with pre-canon itoshi studies, it does not end happily. it's incredibly well-done and it will give you Feelings. (this is one of those cases where the author drops a life-changing bombshell of a fic on you and then you go to their profile and there's no bio. there's no public bookmarks. this is their only blue lock fic. they haven't posted anything in a year. who are they)

10. peak male living space. kunigami/chigiri, 3k words, rated E.

Raichi and Kunigami had met at university; playing on the football team, sharing many lectures, and living through the shitshow that was university halls together. It seemed only natural that they’d move in together, and it had been great for the past few of years… Until Kunigami’s new boyfriend asked why he never invited him over to his place, and he was forced to deal with the realisation that he and Raichi have the most boyish disaster of a flat. part of a series but it can stand alone. t4t kunigiri smut. kunigami and raichi are disaster roommates and bachisagi play wingmen. lionel messi makes a cameo in the form of a cardboard cutout. all the kunigiri fics in this series are good but this fic in particular is just so funny.

if you notice any ships or characters Conspicuously Absent it's because they were positively dominating this list at first so i'm planning to make a separate list for only them hehe

there are many more fics that made my soul ascend from my body so i might make another of these

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missmonsters2 · 1 year

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—FLASHOVER | SEVEN

Pairing: Wednesday Addams x OFC/Fem!Reader

Summary: Wednesday finds it's pleasant talking to you. There's a rhythmic back and forth, easy to follow along. So, why is it that you've been making bets and comments in your latest conversations that are way too emotionally charged for someone like Wednesday to know what to do with the static and friction.

Warnings: Competitive!Wednesday. Jealous!Wednesday. Competitive!Enid—she's gonna win that trophy again. Thing—should be getting paid honestly. Xavier—only knows losing.

Series Masterlist | Library Blog | AO3

Reminder there’s no taglist but you can follow my library blog for notifications 💘

Note: This is a little longer to make up for the short chapter last time 🤏 let the action begin! I hope you enjoy it ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) also yes i did change part 6's graphic nobody say anything shh

Part Six

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷†⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

Flashover: Noun. The moment a conversation becomes real and alive, which occurs when a spark of trust shorts out the delicate circuits you keep insulated under layers of irony, momentarily grounding the static emotional charge you've built up through decades of friction with the world.

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷†⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

It was the day before the Poe Cup race, and everyone was finishing the last touches to their boat.

"Are you sure this is okay?" You ask with a tilt of your head.

Enid and Wednesday glanced at each other.

"No."

"Yes."

They say it simultaneously, and you give them an amused smile.

"I mean it's not, not okay," Enid explains to you. "I need to win this trophy a second time in a row, alright?"

Enid finishes polishing the last of the boat, waving the two of you off as Yoko comes in, holding a jumpsuit that makes Wednesday's lip part slightly and sigh. Placing her hand on the small of your back, she begins to push you to walk away.

"Aren't you going to stay and finish helping?" You ask curiously, though not resistant at all to being led away.

"No," Wednesday drones. "I'm only entering as Enid is down a rower. My conditions were that I'm copilot again this year and that outside of giving my input and checking on the boat, I wouldn't be forced into their team-bonding."

You give her an amused smile, stopping as the two of you stand in the empty hall. Turning to face Wednesday, her eyes are alight with curiosity, even if the rest of her face doesn't show it.

"Wednesday," you call her name softly, your smile lingering on your lips.

The ravenette peers back at you, and you feel memorized by how long her lashes are. It takes you to then admire her smooth skin—even if it lacks life. Wednesday's lips are also supp—

"What," Wednesday drives you back to reality. Her eyebrows are furrowed, confused by your intensive study of her face and silence.

You bring the crook of your finger to your mouth, clearing your throat with a cough, trying to suppress the blood rising to your cheeks.

"I was just wondering if you're ever bothered about the fact that we're..." your voice drifts off as you think about the correct way to label the two of you, "involved, and you don't have my number. I have yet to hear even one possible nickname for me from you."

"Why?" Wednesday asks with a raise of her brow. "Are you offering it to me without?"

You smile with a shake of your head. "I'm afraid not," you say but don't look sorry at all. "Rules are rules, Wednesday."

"Rules are made to be broken," Wednesday pushes back. "If I had followed every inane rule since arriving at this penitentiary, everyone would've been none the wiser and perished."

"Hm," you hum, conceding with a nod. "I would argue more that despite your lack of knowing the rules, everyone survived."

Wednesday glares at you, and she's about to demand that you explain, but you cut in before she can say anything.

"I'm enchanted by rule-breakers, Wednesday, but only by those who know the rules well enough to break them," your smile is teasing, but Wednesday can't help but tense her shoulders and stifle her frown. She's about to say something when she spots movement from the side of her eye.

That lanky, stuttering boy.

"F-Fae!" He started hesitantly but grew more confident when he saw you smile his way.

"Hello, Henry," you politely greet. "How are you today? Are you heading to the practice room?"

He nods eagerly. "I'm good, and yeah. I swear I can do something cool if you can come see it next time," he smiles shyly back but doesn't give you time to accept or decline. "Are you going to the Poe Cup race tomorrow?"

You nod. "Yes, Bianca has asked me to come cheer for her."

Wednesday bristles.

"Will you be going?" You ask Henry.

He looks regretful as he shakes his head no. "Unfortunately not. My father's birthday is this weekend, and I'm picking out his gift rather last minute. I'll be heading into town mulling over what I could possibly get the perpetually unsatisfied man."

You look on pityingly at him. "I'm sure he'll be happy with what you get."

"Yes," Wednesday cut in. "If not, then get him something he will undoubtedly be miserable with."

Henry looks at Wednesday strangely while you try to hide your chuckle behind your fist.

"Well, Henry, Wednesday and I better head to class. I'll let you know who wins the race." You wave him goodbye, and he happily returns it back. He looks at Wednesday, waving at her too, but she merely stares at him before turning away to walk with you.

As they're walking, Wednesday can hear footsteps. There's a nagging feeling in her stomach and a pricking feeling on the back of her neck. She turns her head back to look at the lanky boy but sees him sitting under one of the arches of the hall.

The sight leaves Wednesday confused, but she turns her head back to you.

"You're cheering for Bianca?" Wednesday asks flatly, leaving out any emotions in her tone that could reveal her feelings.

"Well, she did ask me very early on," you reveal, slowing your walk down as you're in no rush to get to class.

Wednesday follows your pace, disgruntled by the sudden change in speed and your answer. "You have pledged your allegiance to the wrong side as I will be defeating Bianca for the second time in a row. Switch or you will taste defeat right along with her."

You lick your lips, trying to not laugh. "I don't know. Bianca mentioned she had a very strategic plan. It's possible she may win."

"Over my dead body. Thing is aggrieved with you."

"Thing isn't even here," you point out, laughing. "Alright," you grin. "Why don't we make a little bet?"

"And what exactly will the winner get?"

You look up slightly in thought before looking over to Wednesday. "How about the winner gets to plan the first date?"

Wednesday comes to a dead stop. She looks at you, a little wary. "First date?"

You nod. "I think we're due for our first one." You seem like you're going to say something else but pause for a moment before sighing. "Damn, we really have all of this backward. At this rate, we'll end up doing everything else before you get my number."

Wednesday mildly scrunches her nose, her lip curling at your comment. "Why on earth would I want to plan our...our..." Wednesday can't seem to get the words out. "A date," she forces out instead.

You smirk at her. "Because if I plan it, I might subject you to a night of snood-wearing, hair-braiding, nail-painting, 2000s romcom movies date night."

Wednesday's eyes widen, looking ghastly at the suggestion. Disgust is written all over her face, and it takes everything you have to not burst into laughter. "I thought dates were supposed to be enjoyable for both parties."

"I have to keep you on your toes," you say, trying your best to sound serious.

They start walking again, and Wednesday's eyes flitter back and forth as she considers your words. "Would you really subject me to that kind of torture?" She doesn't know whether to hate you or be proud.

"No," you admit, unable to continue your charade. "But now you know there is an appeal to being able to choose the activities we do."

The two of you stop in front of the class door, and most people have already arrived.

"Good luck in the race, Wednesday," you say softly, starting to walk into the classroom.

Wednesday feels the tension in her ease at your well-wishes and soft tone.

You look back at her with a brow raised. "And maybe next time, ask me earlier to come cheer for you."

Wednesday clenches her jaw, following after you as she snaps back. "Perhaps don't agree to cheer for the enemy regardless of how early she asks."

It's irritating when you can sense when there is and isn't a bite in her tone because you only turn around, giving her a smile that makes her own lips threaten to match.

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷†⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

The sun beats down on Wednesday, making her normally cool skin feel clammy under her catsuit. The race was about to begin soon, and Enid was yammering something to her, but she wasn't listening.

Looking around, Wednesday spots you chatting with Bianca, looking impressed with the sirens' boat. Her lips purses mildly in irritation as she turns back to Enid.

"What's the matter?" Enid asks, but Wednesday doesn't give her an answer, forcing her to search for what could irritate her best friend and roommate. Enid finds it immediately.

"It's totally fine," Enid dismisses, trying to comfort Wednesday. "Once we win, faerie berry will be celebrating with you."

"You already used that one," Wednesday ignores everything else Enid says, "and it's foul."

"To you," Enid says, stinking her tongue out. "I'll have you know it made Fae laugh."

"What's the point of having the nickname if you're going to call her Fae anyway," Wednesday points out. "Admit it. You've run out of ideas."

"O-m-g, just shut up," Enid scrunches her nose at her roommate. "This is what I get for trying to comfort you while your girlfriend cheers for someone else."

"She's not my—" Wednesday feels the heat flare up in her cheeks, even if it doesn't show (thankfully). But Enid cuts her off and starts dragging her towards the canoe.

As they all sit in their positions: Wednesday and Enid in the middle, Yoko at the front, and another girl at the back. The crowd settles and they prepare to hear the signal.

Ajax isn't participating this year, so there is no one to distract Enid. Or so Wednesday thinks, but Enid turns her head around and smiles at her boyfriend.

"Focus, Enid," Wednesday sighs.

The gunshot goes off, and everyone begins to paddle rigorously. It's similar to how last year started off. Everyone except Wednesday is unaware of the secret siren lurking under the waters. The first boat is eliminated almost immediately.

Wednesday finds it suspicious that Kent heads towards her boat despite knowing she has a net prepared. But she's not left with much choice and has Thing activate the first switch.

Just as last year, the siren is caught in her net. When Thing comes back onto the boat, he describes how the siren slowly sinks to the bottom as he tries to claw his way out. Wednesday hums, her eyes continuing to focus ahead as she paddles.

They reach the halfway point, and when Wednesday looks, she sees you peacefully sitting at the edge of the wooden dock, your feet free of shoes and socks as they languidly dip in the water.

You send her a small wave and smile at her, which she doesn't return. But then you also look at Bianca, who has also spotted you, and send her two thumbs up at being slightly ahead.

Wednesday rows more forcefully.

When they reach the Crackstone's crypt, Wednesday runs off to grab their flag as she did last year. She's highly sure that Thing won't be able to distract anyone else from deserting their boat, so Enid and Thing will need to get creative.

"Hope you don't plan on taking a cat nap this time, Addams," Bianca quips as she catches up to Wednesday.

"Why not?" Wednesday monotones, not bothering to look over. "I did last year and still managed to beat you."

"That was beginner's luck," Bianca snappishly says before smiling. "Just like fencing."

"We'll see," Wednesday answers with finality before out-running the siren to the crypt.

Xavier has already grabbed his flag, flashing Wednesday a cocky smile as he passes her. "I'm not losing this year, Wednesday!"

She doesn't pay him any mind as she runs up to grab their own flag. She grasps it, ready to run back, when something catches her eye from the side. Amongst the yellow and green leaves lay a single vivid cobalt teal petal. Leaning down, she goes to pick it up. The second her fingers touch it, her body seizes.

Controlling her gift has become better over the summer, and she can stop herself from falling over, but she can't contain how it feels like livewire ripping at her skin, unnerving her.

"Jericho grows these flowers—draeconiums. They're usually harmless and have a short bloom lifecycle."

"They bloomed under an eclipse."

"Poisonous sap—harder than any metal."

"It's the only thing that can cut off a faerie's wings."

Wednesday feels like she's choking. She sees blood coating her hands along with stray black feathers. Darkness slowly clouds her vision until it's all she can see.

"Did you think because I smiled at you that I was kind? That I wasn't capable of hurting you?"

Wednesday's eyes snap open. She looks around and finds herself still standing in front of the crypt, gripping the pole of her flag until her knuckles are white.

"Don't tell me you're winded." Bianca runs up, grabbing her flag and not even sparing Wednesday a glance. "Guess I should work you harder in fencing."

Wednesday doesn't say anything, beginning to run back to the boat.

The voice was distinctly clear. After all, Wednesday hears it every day and even dreams about it sometimes. She hears it every night she applies the salve to your wrecked wings. The only thing that throws Wednesday off balance is the acid in the tone—in your voice.

She looks at the creased cobalt teal petal in her other hand.

What was a draeconium petal doing on the island?

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷†⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

The second half of the race becomes tense.

Kent seems to not have escaped from the net, which Wednesday found odd. He must've been hiding somewhere.

Suddenly, the Amontillado team starts to sink, and Xavier lets out a big groan, slumping in the back.

"What did you do?" Wednesday asks.

"Thing and I switched it up this time. I distracted them and Thing drilled holes at the bottom of their boat," Enid wickedly grins just as Thing comes out from hiding under, dragging a cordless drill. "I bought that over the summer. It's waterproof!"

"How did you distract them?" Wednesday was curious.

"My feminine wiles." Enid looks so innocent that Wednesday almost couldn't tell if she was being serious or not.

Now it was just the Black Cats, and the Gold Bugs left, and it seems Kent decided to make his appearance known then, coming up to push the Black Cat's boat, steering them off course and towards the buoy.

Thing throws himself into the water, swimming under the canoe towards the siren, who is smirking. Just as Thing is about to punch Kent in his face, another siren pops up from behind, securing Thing into a bag and pulling the string closed tight despite the thrashing.

Wednesday waits a few more seconds, but the answer becomes clear, especially when she sees two tails splash up briefly from the water.

Thing doesn't swim back up from the water, and their boat is still being pushed off course forcefully. Wednesday turns on the second switch, which activates the harpoon spikes on the side of the boat. This year, they implemented a few more that would be underwater to deter sirens from getting close.

It seemed while Wednesday expected Bianca to bring more sirens to assist her under the water, Bianca had also anticipated Wednesday knowing and preparing their boat to adjust.

Therefore, the queen bee siren had prepared something unexpected at the very end.

Their boat suddenly stops being pushed off course but then something worse happens. In the water, the two sirens work in tandem, swimming in rapid circles, and a whirlpool near the Black Cat's boat forms with speed, beginning to drag their unwilling boat toward disaster.

"Paddle!" Enid screams, but it's useless.

Thing was trapped under.

It wasn't like he would die or anything, but there was no way his fingers would have enough strength to swim away from the forming whirlpool. He would be sucked in, swirling around until he likely hit the bottom of the river, exhausted and unable to swim back up.

They were just past the halfway point. Wednesday had seen you as she paddled back, looking just as relaxed and languid. Now, you were peering furiously into the water as if trying to find Thing.

Your head snaps up, locking eyes with Wednesday as she is being pulled into the whirlpool. She isn't too worried as she's an adept swimmer, and the most challenging obstacle would be holding her breath long enough to make it through to the end of the whirlpool and not slam her head at whatever was at the bottom, then have enough air to swim back up. She hopes her teammates are capable of doing the same.

If she didn't drown, she might try to find the opportunity to discover where Thing was trapped.

But then Wednesday watches you stand, loosening the tie around your neck, discarding it on the ground before you roll your skirt's waistband down several times and pull it higher up your body so the length is above your knees. Then, she watches you do a perfect dive into the river.

The first feeling Wednesday experiences is apprehension because Wednesday doesn't even know if you can swim. Why wasn't that one of the things she asked you?

But she only knows right now that there's a continuous rapid whirlpool, getting stronger by the minute. If you get sucked into that, and you aren't an adept swimmer, you will certainly, at the very least, drown.

It would be okay for Thing and sirens, but definitely not creatures that needed air.

Wednesday throws her oar back into the boat, ready to throw herself into the water, when Enid grabs her wrists and yanks her back down.

"Enid!" Wednesday snaps, feeling that apprehension grow into something worse when you haven't popped back up for air yet.

"You can't jump down there, you idiot!" Enid snaps back. "Unless your skin can absorb water and turn it into oxygen or you're hiding gills somewhere, you'll drown! Our best bet is to paddle into the moving downstream of the whirlpool and slingshot ourselves around and out."

"Yes, however—" Wednesday starts to argue but is cut short when the rapid current of the whirlpool and the pull of their boat suddenly begin to slow down.

The look of confusion passes through everyone's face, especially Bianca's, as she paddles past Wednesday.

Eventually, the water is still again, and the heads of the sirens responsible for the whirlpool pop out of the water.

"Fuck!" Kent shouts with his hands to his eyes, rubbing them. "I can't see anything!"

The other one near their boat pops up, looking frantic.

"Why is it suddenly dark?" She sputters, holding out her hand as she wades through the water, trying to find something. Her hand slaps against the Black Cat's boat, and she looks alarmed. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

"Are you blind?" Enid waves her hand in front of the girl's face, but there's no reaction. She even jumped at Enid's voice, not realizing how close she was. "It's very much still daylight out."

Wednesday looks into the girl's eyes but finds something amiss.

The girl is still sputtering, asking for help, but Enid is more ruthless than Wednesday thought, especially since it seems like the siren's vision is slowly returning.

"Peace and love to you but goodbye!" Enid shouts as she directs everyone to start paddling.

Wednesday paddles but looks to the side, where she sees an arm shoot up and grab the edge of the wooden dock. Another arm shoots out, and you're hoisting yourself up onto it. Thing is on your shoulder, and relief floods Wednesday's body.

Wednesday locks eyes with you, catching you wringing the bottom of your dress shirt and skirt. You smile at her before mimicking the gesture of her paddling, telling her she should paddle faster.

Turning back to the course, Wednesday puts her back into paddling. It seems that this year, Bianca learned her lesson, building her boat with deadly weapons, and prepared for the worst-case scenario of Wednesday somehow catching up.

Just as Wednesday paddles up next to the Gold Bug's boat with the spikes out, Bianca activates the harpoons from her boat, forcing them to keep their distance. The sirens have planted spikes around their entire boat to prevent the Black Cats from trying to get them on another side. With her team being stronger paddlers, Bianca gives Wednesday a victorious smirk as she paddles away.

But—Wednesday had banked on the fact that Bianca would grow smarter. She activates the third switch on the boat. A lid opens up at the bow of their canoe, and a small harpoon cannon rises.

"Don't miss," Wednesday threatens Yoko, who waves her off dismissively with a hand and grabs onto the handles.

"What?" Yoko smirks. "Do you think my eyes being in the dark with the sunglasses on would impede my perfect vision? I only bumped into a wall 6 times this week."

Wednesday doesn't comment back, mostly because Enid already seems too high-strung at this moment that she's confident the werewolf would kill her vampire best friend if the girl missed the shot.

Yoko spends only a few moments aiming before shooting, the harpoon shooting out with force, piercing right into the opening hole of one of the spikes on the Gold Bug's boat.

"See!" Yoko grins. "All that worry for nothing." Yoko presses a button to reel the harpoon, and as it yanks back, it rips a hole into the Gold Bug's boat.

Water quickly fills Bianca and her team's boat, and they're left bitterly watching the Black Cats row by them a second year in a row.

The cheers are deafening as they return to the dock, with everyone jumping and screaming.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Enid screams, hugging Wednesday as the girl grunts with displeasure but allows it. "This better be the only highlight of my year!"

Wednesday finds it amusing before she turns and scans the crowd. She sees you in the far back, trying to not draw any attention to yourself. Your hair is still damp, but your clothes look relatively dry as you've been standing in the sun. Thing isn't anywhere to be seen, assumedly going back to the dorm room to rest.

You're not cheering or clapping, but you're beaming, seemingly pleased at Wednesday's victory.

"You're getting really good at this school spirit thing. I know you have no beef with Bianca this year, but you have to admit that it feels good to beat her again," Enid conspiringly whispers.

Wednesday turns her head to look at Bianca, who is climbing out of the water, looking vexed. "Defeating someone always feels good," Wednesday smirks. "But it feels better when there's a reason to."

That's what her fencing rival gets for asking you to come and cheer for her.

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷†⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

Wednesday knocks on the door of your room carefully. She's never been to your room before, but she does like how isolated it seems. The room is further down the hall, away from others.

"Come in." Wednesday hears the muffled voice on the other side of the door.

Turning the knob, Wednesday enters to find you standing at your full-length mirror, drying your hair. You're in casual clothing, a sight that Wednesday is used to. Wednesday, herself, was wearing a striped black and white long-sleeved shirt and a black sweater over that.

"Hey," you look at her through the mirror, smiling as you lock eyes with her. "Not going to celebrate with your teammates?"

"I told Enid I'd think about it," Wednesday says, recalling the same words she told the blonde last year. Of course, she had been thinking about it if you were there, but Thing brought her a note from you saying to come meet you after she was done celebrating.

Therefore, Wednesday opted to skip if you weren't going.

You chuckle, not commenting on it. "Do you want some tea?"

Wednesday nods, looking down at the fuzzy black rug and a small round coffee table a few feet away. She strides her way around before sitting on the floor at the coffee table.

There are two mugs and a cordless electric kettle in the middle of your coffee table that you open up before grabbing a water bottle to pour its contents in. You shut the lid before turning it on, and the sound of water heating fills up the room.

Wednesday takes a moment to look around the room, noting how similarly plain it was like hers (her side, at least). The room was much smaller than Wednesday's, but it was obvious it was your room alone.

You had little personal items, mostly photos you'd taken with your friends. Instead of a twin bed like everyone else, you had a queen-size tucked in the corner. Beside it, against the wall and in front of a window, was a long desk, enough for two people to work on it if they squished. But it was barren besides a laptop and a photo of you and Bianca and you with Enid and Yoko.

At the end of your desk stood the full-length mirror. There was a reach-in closet on the opposite side of the room, filled with your clothes that hung neatly. A lot of them looked new and unworn.

There was little walking room, but Wednesday found it comfortable.

"You don't have a roommate?" Wednesday asks, even though the answer is obvious.

"No," you shake your head. "It'd be impossible to hide my wings with a roommate and I need to let them out every night or they'd be very, very sore. Not to mention how miserable I'd be keeping them for that long."

"It must be nice," commented Wednesday.

You shrug. "I'm used to it, I suppose. But sometimes I'm envious of the whole…" you wave your hand in a vague motion, "roommates thing. It seems nice."

Wednesday snorts derisively. "You say that without knowing Enid's habit for snoring and singing horrid pop music. It's hard to get work done sometimes."

You finish drying your hair, letting the rest of it air dry. You hang the towel on the mirror's edge before sitting down next to Wednesday, your shoulder bumping hers. "Well, you're welcome anytime here, even if I'm not around if you want some peace and quiet," you offer. "Usually if I’m here, I'm not doing anything much except on my laptop and with earphones in."

Wednesday fidgets with her fingers at your tempting offer. "I see you've fallen into the downfall of our age—technology."

You laugh, the back of your hand covering your mouth. It's such a melodic sound that Wednesday can't help but think of her vision earlier and the acid in your tone.

Was it even possible?

The water finally finishes heating up, and you place the tea bags into the two cups before pouring hot water into them, sliding one mug in front of Wednesday, who nods in thanks.

"I will admit that I've fallen into binging Netflix shows or documentaries, and the occasional snooping of Enid's blog, but I can't say it's an addiction of mine," you reveal. "Fae realms aren't as modern as the outside world. We have things like electricity, heating, and plumbing but technology isn't as prevalent. It's more used for research than it is for entertainment."

"I see," Wednesday tilts her head at the information. She wishes her mother would hurry up with that goddamn diary.

"I believe a lot of the younger generation is fighting for change but a lot of high lords are against it," you sigh.

Wednesday doesn't know what to say. She's not knowledgeable enough about fae realms to comment on it. But you change the subject before she can even attempt to think of an answer.

You turn to her, a crooked smile on your lips. "Congratulations on today," you say softly. "You were very impressive."

Wednesday shrugs off your laudatory. "Victory was only possible because of you," she acknowledges. She turns to you, narrowing her eyes. "You did something to those sirens. It caused them to be temporarily blind."

You nod.

"Is that your power?"

You vaguely nod again, swaying back and forth as if that's only part of the answer.

"One of them, yes." You finally say. "It's a mild form of psychic powers. I'm not actually physically impairing their eyes, but rather clouding their mind, cutting off certain brain signals so that they think it's pitch black."

"I'm not really good at it," you hurry to say after, as if worried. "I don't have a lot of practice, and it can only last a few minutes at best."

"That is impressive," Wednesday genuinely compliments.

You feel the heat rise in your cheeks and rub the back of your neck shyly. "Thanks," you mumble.

Wednesday senses your discomfort and decides to not push you about your powers for tonight.

"I thought you were rooting for Bianca," Wednesday says quietly. "We had a bet, did we not?"

You tilt your head at Wednesday, almost as if you're confused by her words. And then you're leaning closer to her.

Wednesday is impossibly still. The air suddenly feels electrically charged, sparks forming as the silence drags on. It was infuriating and intoxicating how you could turn the mood so fast.

"Wednesday," you call her name softly, silkily, making the ravenette twitch. "Are you a competitive person?"

"Most definitely." Wednesday answers without hesitation and in a tone that almost seems proud. "I can be obsessive, single-minded, and I don't often lose."

"I'm not a competitive person at all," you admit to her, leaning closer. "I make bets all the time without a care if I win or lose them."

You had taken a sip of your tea earlier, and Wednesday could feel the heat of it on your breath. She could practically feel the heat radiating off your lips.

"That's ridiculous," Wednesday tries to keep the steel in her voice, but she feels something in the back of her throat wavering.

"Is it?" You retort back quietly. "If I make the bets, I can tell you now that I'm winning either way."

The words take a moment for Wednesday to process. Her eyes focus, recalling the bet, and she feels her stomach knot.

"I don't care who plans the date," you say the words out loud, forcing Wednesday to publicly acknowledge it. "Because in the end, we'll be having a date."

You smile, and it causes your lips to brush against Wednesday, and her eyes flutter close.

"Although, I do admit it will be fun to watch you attempt to plan a date that will entertain us both," you tease.

Wednesday's eyes snap back open, glaring at you. "Don't get ahead of yourself," she raises her brow at you. "If I can't be sure to plan the best date, I may settle to plan the worst one."

"Worst?" You try to not laugh.

"It would end in tears…on your end. Uncomfortable displeasure on mine."

"And the best?"

Wednesday is silent.

You let the silence linger between the two of you, basking in the proximity of Wednesday Addams.

"Want to make another bet?" Your eyes flitter up to look into Wednesday's gaze.

"Exactly what kind?" Wednesday asks. Given your revelation, she knows she should say no, but curiosity has always been Wednesday's killer.

Wednesday watches you observe her, studying every meticulous feature of her face as if searching for something. Wednesday is stiff, but she's leaning closer even if she doesn't realize it.

"If you stay completely still for the next five minutes, I'll refrain and wait to kiss you on our first date," you say, moving somehow closer to Wednesday's face, tilting her face more against hers. Your lips brush but never fully touch. "If you move, you have to kiss me right now."

Everyone knows that Wednesday can stay still long enough to make people believe she's dead. You must've known that, especially having listened to people telling you about last year's events.

So, Wednesday thinks about what this bet is about.

"If I make the bets, I can tell you now that I'm winning either way."

And regardless of the results of the bet, you'd get a kiss.

Wednesday swallows, feeling something strange happen to her by just your words.

It's the kind of revelation that feels emotionally charged. It's a build-up of all the time she has spent with you and pathetically pined after you.

Wednesday is a very competitive person. She detests losing. It brings pity, rage, and self-disgust.

Yet, because it's you, there's an underlying spark of trust in defeat.

Wednesday Addams didn't mind losing to you.

Licking her lips, Wednesday moves her hand, grabbing the edge of your shirt at your stomach to anchor herself. She tugs, pulling you closer, and presses her lips against yours.

PART 8

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