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magicalgirlartist · 6 years

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West City Public Library, Part 30: Red Ribbon

Summary: A censorship group has set their sights on WCPL. Bulma 100% doesn't need this right now. Word Count: 4370 Notes: I tried to be fair because this is a real-world issue but like. Have you guys ever seen the ALA or CLA top banned/challenged books lists they're a fucking joke. From the ALA alone, Drama by Raina Telgemeier and George by Alex Gino were #2 and #3 respectively in 2016 for including LGBT+ characters. The Holy Bible was #6 in 2015 for, I shit you not, "religious viewpoint." Two Boys Kissing was at #5 in 2016, up from #10 in 2015, for LGBT+ content and "other," including "condoning public displays of affection." I wish I was kidding, guys.

You can probably see why I, a liberal lesbian librarian, had a hard time painting these people as anything other than strawmen. I have met people like this; I work with people like this. So tough cookies.

(I will say, however, that this was written before the ALA's 2016 list had come out, so it's not super well reflected here.)

Krillin plastered his best customer service smile on his face and tried to tamp down his urge to scream. "I'm sorry you feel that way, sir. I'll take it under advisement."

The man slammed the novel on the desk and Krillin allowed himself some pride in the fact that he didn't flinch. "Under advisement isn't good enough! Leaving this book around where children could get at it...it's disgusting."

"Sir, Go Ask Alice is part of our teen collection." Krillin picked the book up and gently placed it on the ever-growing pile of books people had challenged at his desk. "So not only is this technically the wrong department, it's not going to be taken out by anyone with a children's library card. Our system is set up so that children can only take books and other materials from the children's section--"

"But a teen or adult could take it out and leave it lying around where a child could read it," the man argued. "Besides, it shouldn't even be in the teen section. It shouldn't be here at all."

"The teen section is a perfectly reasonable place for Go Ask Alice." Krillin turned to Namu, who was very pointedly pretending to ignore the argument by typing up the Reader's Advisory department's program schedule for the month. "Namu, could you grab one of the challenge forms for me? I can't reach from here."

"It is not." The man drew himself up to his full height and Krillin grimaced. Why did people always do that to him? He got it, he was short, they didn't have to rub it in, geez. "It contains heavy drug use, sex, and teenage pregnancy. It's absolutely inappropriate for anyone under the age of eighteen."

"Just a second, sir." Krillin took the form from Namu and grabbed a pen. "Alright, so, Go Ask Alice, on...Namu, what's the date today?"

"The fourteenth."

"Thanks." He handed the pen and paper to the man on the other side of the desk. "Sir, if you'd fill out this form for me with your reasons for wanting to have this item removed from our collection, we'll take it into consideration."

"Into consideration?" The man bristled, wrinkling his nose. "No, it has to be gone, do you understand? Gone completely."

"I don't think you understand how the process works," Krillin said gently. "When a complaint is made, the book goes under review with the employees of the affected department as well as administration and the appropriate members of the library board. Together, they discuss what to do, and a decision is made. I can't just outright remove books from shelves on my own authority." He smiled apologetically. "This is the best I can do. But I promise it'll be looked into."

The man hesitated, then nodded. "Well. Thank you, I guess." He picked up the pen, his sleeve riding up his arm as he wrote. Krillin caught a glimpse of something red around his wrist and grimaced. Oh. So that's what this was. Couldn't just be some conservative kook, no, it had to be one of these guys. He forced his customer service smile back onto his face when the man handed the form back. "There."

"Thank you, Mister, uh..." Krillin glanced at the sheet. "Blue. I'll get this looked at as soon as I can."

"I'll be checking back in on the status of the inquiry," Blue warned.

Krillin's smile never wavered. "Of course. Have a nice day."

Thankfully, he seemed to take that as an indication to leave. Krillin slumped into his chair and let his smile drop, a scowl twisting his features instead. "I hate everything about today."

Namu patted his shoulder as he walked past. "You did great. I'm going on break."

Krillin sighed and reached for the phone. This needed to end, and fast.

"They call themselves the Red Ribbon Army."

Krillin scrolled down the webpage open on his tablet. "According to their website, they're 'crusaders for safety,' but really all they do is annoy people. Red Ribbon members identify themselves by wearing a red ribbon around their wrists and using colour code names." He shifted through the stack of challenge forms. "In the last month, they've been submitting constant complaints to Reader's Advisory, Children and Youth Services, and Info Services. The only reason we know it's them is because they all sign their forms with things like Blue, Silver, Black, and Yellow. I haven't seen anyone named Red yet, though."

"Have all the complaints been from them?" Bulma asked.

"No," Yamcha piped up. "I got one the other day from a law student named Todd who said one of the books we had about preparing for the bar exam was out of date and useless. That's a legitimate complaint and I told him I'd bring it up."

Bulma nodded. "We'll definitely replace that one with something more up to date. But is that really it? Are the rest of them from these Ribbon guys?"

"They even put it on their website." Krillin handed her his tablet. "Apparently they're against libraries, because we allow access to 'unsavory' material."

Bulma snorted as she scanned the tablet. "Unsavory? It's nothing you couldn't find at your local big chain bookstore. Or on the internet, even." She tossed the tablet on the table and looked around at the rest of them. "Ideas?"

"We could always just ban them," Recoome suggested.

"We can't ban everybody who asks us to make sure our collection is up to date and appropriate," Yamcha said. "If we did that, we'd have to ban Todd, too, and he hasn't done anything wrong."

"Can we streamline the process a little?" Piccolo asked. "Dragging everybody into a meeting to discuss a book is time consuming, especially if we have to get the board in on it."

"That's a good short-term solution." Bulma crossed her arms and rested them on her stomach. "But it won't stop them from coming in constantly."

"How about a change to the challenge policy?" Yamcha asked. "We can say that only one complaint can be made per person per month. That'd force them to slow down, at least."

"Make them leave their library card number with their name, too," Krillin added. "That way we can check to make sure they're not just going to a different department."

"Oh! Oh!" Recoome waved his arm in the air. "Make it so they can only challenge a book if they have a valid card! If they ain't a patron they ain't got no right to demand we change our collection!"

Krillin blinked up at him. It was surprisingly well thought out for Recoome. Usually he just sort of blundered around.

Bulma glanced at Jaco. "You're getting all this, right?"

Jaco paused his frantic scribbling to glare at her. "I'm an elite assistant for a reason."

"Just checking. So, boys." Bulma steepled her fingers and looked at the ceiling in thought. "We're going to make three changes to the challenge policy: only patrons can submit challenges, no more than one challenge per patron per month, and we meet no more than once a month to discuss the books." She counted each change off on her fingers as she said them. "We're also going to ask the board if we can oversee the challenges without their help. Honestly, I'm not sure how well that's going to go over, but I can at least ask. And if we're not meeting too often, the time commitment shouldn't be as high." Bulma looked around. "That about cover it?"

"Hey, um, question." Yamcha raised his hand. "What's to stop them all from getting library cards just to make complaints all the time?"

Bulma shrugged. "Nothing. But at least this way we can keep track better."

Yamcha grimaced. "Remind me to apologise to Tien later. His department might get real busy soon."

"Can we stop being so nice to them if they were assholes first?" Piccolo asked.

Recoome glared at him. "Guess."

"Worth a shot," Piccolo muttered. "What if they're complaining to me about same-sex relationships? Or Yamcha, for that matter? Are we allowed to laugh in their faces or what?"

Bulma giggled and Recoome glared at her, exasperated. "Oh, come on," she said, "you have to admit that'd be great."

"No laughing," Recoome said, shaking his head. "But if they start using slurs, call Recoome and we'll get them banned."

Krillin breathed a sigh of relief and thanked his lucky star that Recoome was here now instead of Cell. Sure, Recoome sometimes spoke in the third person and he was kind of terrifying and he was a loudmouthed idiot. But at least he wasn't Cell.

Piccolo fixed the man with the deadest, blankest face he could manage. "You can't be serious."

The man pointed at the book on the desk, face red with anger. "What part of this don't you understand? This book promotes sinful relationships--"

"It's about penguins," Piccolo interrupted, picking up the book in question and flashing the cover at the man. "Penguins. It's a picture book based on a real story about two real penguins who really raised a chick together in a real zoo. Here, I can look it up for you."

"They're HOMOSEXUAL penguins!" The man folded his arms, giving Piccolo a good look at the ribbon tied around his wrist. Out of the corner of his eye, Piccolo saw Chiaotzu lean over the Circulation desk to see who was shouting about gay penguins at two in the afternoon. Well, at least someone was entertained. "You can't put homosexual characters in a picture book! Think of the children!"

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Piccolo folded his hands and reminded himself that Recoome would kill him if he punched a patron. "Sir, I'd like you to check the date on your phone and remind yourself what year it is."

"You're treating this serious issue like a joke," the man snapped.

"That's because it kind of is."

"I want to speak to your supervisor!"

Piccolo grinned. "I am the supervisor." From the office, he heard Selri giggle, and he mentally patted himself on the back. "Look," he said as the man started turning red again, "I'll get you a form and we'll put it on our 'challenged' list. It'll go in for review."

"Good." The man nodded, smug now that he'd seemingly gotten what he wanted. "I don't see why you had to be so--"

"When we're done reviewing it," Piccolo continued, like the man hadn't spoken, "it'll go back on the shelf where it belongs, because it's the 21st century, gay people exist, gay parents exist, with children, and hey, gay children exist, and maybe they'd like to see a little something of themselves or their parents in a book, or maybe their parents love them and want them to know that same sex relationships are okay, and this book can give them the tools to have that discussion. Or maybe they just want to read a picture book about penguins. The point is, you aren't the first person to contest this book, you won't be the last, I haven't had coffee in over an hour, I am cranky, I forgot where this sentence was going. Libraries only remove items from the collection for very specific reasons and this case fits none of them. We're not going to ban a book because some guy thinks same-sex relationships are too 'adult' for children." He tossed the book on a pile, folded his arms, and stared the man down. He'd said his piece. Recoome could chew him out later if he wanted, but he'd said his piece.

The man narrowed his eyes. "Give me the form."

Piccolo shrugged. "Alright. But you're wasting your time and mine." He stuck his head into the office. "Selri, grab me one of the new challenge forms and go help Mai with today's craft, alright? Looks like I'll be away from the program room longer than I thought." The girl nodded, blue hair bouncing around her face, and handed him a sheet of paper before ducking out of the office. She smiled at the man on the other side of the desk as she passed. He ignored her. "So, if you could just fill this out, we'll be on our way." Piccolo slid the form and a pen across the desk and stepped back.

"Fine." The man snatched up the pen and started writing. Piccolo sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. God he hated his job some days.

"Is this a bad time?"

Glancing over, Piccolo let himself smile when he saw Nail approaching the desk. "No, it's fine. Hi." Nail stopped on the other side of the desk, next to the man with the ribbon. He always kept his distance while Piccolo was working, at Piccolo's request--he was still on the clock, and some modicum of professionalism had to be maintained. Besides, Piccolo had never been one for public displays of affection.

A thought occurred to him. "Dende's not here today."

Nail grinned and hefted the bag on his shoulder. "I'm not here for Dende. I have the rest of the day off, so I'm here working on a group project for school. Just thought I'd stop by and say hello to my boyfriend first."

Piccolo flushed--he still wasn't used to having someone call him their boyfriend--and glanced at the man filling out the form. He'd raised his head and was squinting between the two of them.

A decision was made, and Piccolo leaned across the desk to brush his lips against Nail's cheek. "Thanks," he said, pulling back. "I'm done my shift at six; want to go for dinner after? Since you have the day off."

Nail was blushing and Piccolo bit the inside of his cheek. Nail never blushed. He was so cute; how had it taken him so long to figure out he was in love with him? "I--yeah. I'll come back here around six and we can head out?"

"Sounds good. Thanks for coming to see me." Piccolo squeezed Nail's hand. "See you at six."

"Six. Yeah." Still blushing, Nail turned and scarpered towards the stairs.

Piccolo turned back to the man from the Red Ribbon Army. "All set? I'll take that." He deftly picked up the form and set it on the pile. "Anything else I can help you with?"

Glowering at Piccolo, the man turned away. "No."

Piccolo stretched as the man walked off. He thought he'd handled that fairly well. He glanced over the form. "Oh, sir," he called after him. "Mr. White, you forgot your library card number."

White turned around and glared at Piccolo with open contempt. "I don't have one."

"Then I'm afraid you can't file a challenge." Piccolo shrugged and tossed the form into the recycling bin under the desk. "Library policy."

"What?" White stalked back over to the desk. "I've never had this problem before."

"Recently a change has been made to the policy," Piccolo said smoothly. "Library card numbers need to be written on the forms for our files." The practised words flowed easily, and for once Piccolo was actually grateful for Jaco's pedantic ass making them all memorize patron interaction scripts before changing the policy. "If you don't have a library card, you can't file a challenge."

White jabbed his finger at Piccolo's chest. "You can't do that. You're making it up to make me look bad."

"Sir, you're doing a fine enough job of that all on your own." Piccolo mentally kicked himself. Antagonising a patron never went well for him.

Sure enough, White puffed himself up and raised his voice. "You can't treat me--a patron--like this! I demand to speak to whoever's in charge."

"First of all, without a library card you're not really a patron," Piccolo pointed out. "Just a guest, really." He sat down and reached for the phone. "And I'm sure our Human Resources representative would love to speak with you."

Jaco stuck his head into Recoome's office. "More forms for you."

Recoome held out his hand. "Thank you. Recoome didn't realise banning someone for screaming profanities about an employee was such a boring process."

"Yeah, it's a little more complicated than just having Upa and Bora escort him from the premises." Jaco leaned in the doorway. "How're you getting on so far? Crazy shit to have happen in your first week."

"Could be worse. You should see what Recoome had to deal with over at City Hall. Everyone was backstabbing each other all the time." Recoome shrugged. "Some guy yelling at me about having a gay guy working in the children's section is pretty tame in comparison."

"You only say that because it wasn't really directed at you," Jaco pointed out. "It was directed at Piccolo."

Recoome grunted. "Probably. Well, it might make Recoome's job harder, but hopefully everyone else's job is easier now."

Jaco edged into the room and reached for Recoome, hesitating before patting his shoulder. "I don't know if anyone else has said anything yet, but I for one am glad you're here. Our old HR guy was...a problem."

He was rewarded with a giant grin that was missing a few teeth. "Thank you."

Jaco patted his shoulder a couple more times before backing off. "Well, I should get back to work. Good luck with Red Ribbon."

"Recoome will need it," he sighed, shifting through the forms.

"Well, on the bright side, library memberships have gone up, but because these assholes aren't actually taking out any books our borrowing statistics are skewed." Tien shook his head and poked at his tablet. "I get that this was the only solution they could come up with, but it's making our department look bad."

Chiaotzu patted his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Bulma knows what's going on, and she'll keep that in mind when you send the statistics report. Hopefully this will blow over soon now that we all know about it."

"I hope so." Tien set the tablet down and stretched out his back. "I'm going to the cafe for break. Want anything?"

"Coffee, two sugars." Chiaotzu glanced at the doorway to the Circulation office. "And a new coworker."

"Har, har. Shu's doing his best." Tien patted Chiaotzu's back and headed towards the front doors. "I'll see you in a bit." He pulled out his phone as he walked, no doubt to text Yamcha and ask if he wanted anything at the Ox Cafe, too. Chiaotzu sighed. Honestly, when Tien and Yamcha finally started going out, he'd been a little worried that he'd be losing his best friend to a relationship. Thankfully, that hadn't happened, but it was still a little weird seeing Tien and Yamcha nearly attached at the hip when he'd always been the one attached to Tien.

Well, whatever, it was nice to see Tien happy. And he wouldn't want to see them break up for anything.

"Where's Tien?"

Grimacing, Chiaotzu looked up at Shu. "On break. Why?"

"I need someone to check my shelving cart before I take it out."

Chiaotzu stood up. "I can do that. You watch the desk for a minute; I'll be right back." He propped his hands on his hips. "And remember, if someone with a red ribbon comes to the desk, you...?"

"Ask them what book they'd like to complain about and send them to the appropriate desk." Shu rattled off the instructions like they'd been drilled into his head, which they practically had been by Recoome and Jaco.

"Good." Chiaotzu scurried into the back room. Shu could organise a book cart faster than any of the other pages they'd ever had, and he was usually mostly accurate, but he was inaccurate enough of the time that someone still had to check for him. He grabbed the footstool in the corner and started checking the spine labels.

Surprisingly, Shu had only messed up once, and it was an easy oversight to make. Chiaotzu hopped off the stool and gestured to the cart. "All yours. Only one slipup today! Good job!"

Shu beamed at him. "Thanks! Okay, I'll be in the stacks then!" And off he went.

Chiaotzu wandered back out to the front desk and grabbed Tien's tablet. He added another cart to the day's tally and was about to start compiling a pick list for Shu to work on when he was done when a voice interrupted him.

"You work here, right?"

He bit back his automatic response of "what makes you say that, smartass?" and instead looked up. A middle-aged Japanese man leaned on the desk. A flash of red under purple sleeves caught Chiaotzu's eye and he sighed. "Yes," he said. "Can I help you?"

"I need a library card. This the right desk?"

"Absolutely." Chiaotzu fished around for a new card form. With all the Red Ribbon people lately, they were starting to run low on forms. He'd have to photocopy a few more. "Fill this in. I'll also need some ID with your address."

The man fished out his wallet and handed Chiaotzu a driver's license before methodically filling out the form. Chiaotzu tried not to sigh as he went into the back to photocopy the license. Yet another Red Ribbon here to mess up their statistics and waste people's time. Fantastic.

By the time he got back, the man had finished filling in his form and Chiaotzu handed him his license back. "Thanks. Let me just get this set up." Tien often said Chiaotzu was the best at setting up new patrons in the system, and Chiaotzu was proud of that fact, but he took his sweet time with the Red Ribbon people. "Sorry for the wait," he lied. He held up his hands. "Tiny fingers."

The man--Murasaki, according to his form--laughed. "Not to worry!"

Chiaotzu shrugged and went back to work, pulling a new card out of the desk drawer they were kept in and scanning the barcode to connect it with Murasaki's account. "Okay, so sign on the white strip here and you're good to go." Chiaotzu handed him the card and sat back.

"Excellent. Thanks!" Murasaki scribbled his name down and handed the card back to Chiaotzu. "I'd also like to take out a few things."

Chiaotzu blinked. This was the first time he'd ever seen a Red Ribbon member actually borrow anything. "Oh. Okay. Hand them over, I guess." He opened the circulation software and scanned Murasaki's card again.

Murasaki deposited a grocery bag full of picture books on the desk. He grinned sheepishly when Chiaotzu raised an eyebrow. "I'm babysitting my grandkids tomorrow," he explained. Chiaotzu nodded and reached for them.

If nothing else, at least this guy wasn't going to screw their statistics up any further.

Bulma tossed a newspaper onto the desk proudly. "Never underestimate the power of press," she gloated.

Jaco picked it up. "'Shushed No Longer: the Growing Book Banning Problem at WCPL,'" he read. He looked up at Bulma. "What did you do?"

"Called in a few favours," she said smugly. "I know a guy who works at the paper, and he got them to run an article about our problem."

"'Libraries have always stood for freedom of information,'" Jaco read aloud, "'but they've also always come under attack by groups who disagree with their materials. Even in this progressive age, there are people who want to dictate the types of materials West City Public Library can and can't have on their shelves. According to WCPL CEO Bulma Briefs, this has been an increasing problem lately.'"

"I never referred to the Red Ribbon Army by name," she explained. "That'd just give them credibility. But they ran this article two days ago and we haven't had a single issue since. And you should see the comments online! We actually have the public's support for once!"

Jaco shook his head. "Congratulations. You solved book banning."

"Don't be like that." Bulma crossed her arms. "I know this is just a temporary solution. But at least I got things to quiet down a little before I go away on maternity leave." She gestured at the paper. "How would you like to be the one dealing with all that while I'm off having my baby?"

"Alright, fine. Thank you." Jaco handed the newspaper back. "You know, one of these days you're going to get yourself in trouble trying to solve things like this by yourself."

Bulma shrugged and started to shuffle back towards her office. "I figure if I'm gonna piss people off, go big or go home."

"Okay, so, um, sir. If you could just calm down--"

"Calm down? Calm down?" Red's face was the colour of his namesake. "You tell me I'm not allowed to file a challenge against this...this filth, and you want me to calm down?"

"Library policy," Yamcha started, "states that only one challenge can be made--"

"Per person, per month, I heard you, I'm not stupid." Red sneered. Yamcha folded his arms and kept his face as blank as possible. "But that's a stupid fucking policy and I want to know who I complain to about it!"

"You can always submit a comment on our website," Yamcha suggested, hoping it would get Red to leave him alone.

"On your website." Red scoffed. "Do you know who I am? Do you have any idea who you're dealing with?"

Yamcha looked at the record still up on his screen. "According to our records, you're Red Sosui, you just got a card last week, and you've already filed a complaint this month, at Reader's Advisory, about A Wrinkle in Time, which was the wrong department by the way--"

"I'm the leader of the Red Ribbon Army," Red growled.

Yamcha nodded. "Oh, that hate speech group. We've had to ban a few of your members already for harassing staff. If you keep causing a scene I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Red drew himself up to his full height (which wasn't much), snarled "This is not the end of this," and stormed out.

Yamcha shook his head and added a note to Red's record about the altercation. "I'm pretty sure it is," he muttered.

#dbz #dragon ball z #writing #fanfiction #library!au #west city pl

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lentils-writes · 7 years

Text

Day 9: Camp Half Blood AU

(this is, of course, based on Percy Jackson & the Olympians. I got a little overzealous and assigned parents to a ton of characters that don’t actually show up in this fic, but I was having fun. Basically: Melinda, Bobbi, Maria, and Bruce (Athena); Kara (Ares); Phil (Hebe); Fitz and Mack (Hephaestus); Jemma (Apollo); Daisy and Lincoln (Poseidon); Elena and Ward (Hermes); Trip (Nemesis); Raina (Demeter); Robbie (Hades); Hunter (Tyche); and Lorelei (Aphrodite). Oh, and I haven’t read any of the books in a few years so if I got something really wrong, please let me know.)

“So, are you ask Kara out this year?” Bobbi asks Melinda as they’re both unpacking.

Melinda grimaces. “What?”

“Kara,” repeats Bobbi, smirking at her half-sister. “You know, from Cabin Five. The one you keep staring at whenever she does anything.”

“I don’t do that,” scoffs Melinda.

“Actually, you do,” chimes in Maria, the head counselor.

Melinda rolls her eyes. “I’m not talking about this with you two.”

“C’mon,” coaxes Bobbi. “You like her. You should ask her out before somebody else does. If you don’t, Grant Ward might.”

Bruce, who made a beeline for the science books the instant he arrived and is now happily reading, groans. “I was hoping he wouldn’t be back this year.”

“I think we all were,” says Bobbi quietly.

Maria coughs. “He might not be nice, but you shouldn’t wish death on him.”

“Hey! I wasn’t!” protests Bobbi. “I hoped maybe he would decide he was too old, that’s all.”

Snorting, Maria shakes her head. “Come on, let’s go to the welcome lunch. Please try not to get us all in trouble by being jerks.”

“I bet nobody in Cabin Eleven is reminding Grant to not be a jerk,” Bobbi mutters to Melinda as they head outside.

While Mr. D. gives his usual welcoming speech at lunch, Melinda tunes it out (she’s sixteen, how much impact can it really make a fourth time?) and looks around to see who’s here. She spots most of her friends: Phil from Cabin Eighteen, Mack from Cabin Nine, Elena from Cabin Eleven (and, unfortunately, Grant sitting at the same table), Trip from Cabin Sixteen, Raina from Cabin Four, Robbie from Cabin Thirteen, Hunter from Cabin Nineteen, Lincoln from Cabin Two, and Lorelei from Cabin Ten. Lincoln is sitting next to a new girl, probably about twelve, with short hair and big eyes. Mack has a little shadow too, a scrawny-looking pale boy with curly brown hair.

And then there’s Kara.

Kara’s fifteen and doesn’t say a whole lot, but she always looks like she’s sizing everyone else up for a fight. Melinda’s never seen her go out of her way to get in a fight, but she has a feeling that anyone unlucky enough to fight Kara would regret it. She’s usually nice, but she’s a daughter of Ares and Melinda’s seen her in sword class and during capture the flag. She wouldn’t want to get on Kara’s bad side. That makes her respect Kara.

(And Kara’s pretty, but that’s not relevant at all.)

They’ve gotten their schedules already, so after lunch is over Melinda heads to monster assault techniques class. She’s pleased to see that Elena is also in this class, and she sits down to chat with her for a few minutes before Kara also comes in.

Elena must notice the look on Melinda’s face, because she smirks and says, “You should go talk to her.”

Melinda sighs. “Why is everyone obsessed with me talking to Kara?”

“Well, for once, Grant wouldn’t stop talking about how he was going to convince Kara to go out with him this year,” says Elena. “He said he had a plan to ‘wear her down,’ or something like that. He might be my half-brother, but I think he is an asshole and she deserves better than him.”

Melinda’s lips twitch. “And that’s me?”

“Yes.” Elena nods. “You are a much better person than him. Also, she has talked to you before without looking as if she wanted to punch you in the teeth. I’ve never seen her talk to him without making that sort of face.”

Melinda’s about to respond, but then, as if she’s heard what they’re talking about, Kara starts walking toward them. Elena nudges Melinda again and Melinda doesn’t have time to respond before Kara says, “Hi,” and offers Melinda a smile.

“Hi,” Melinda says, trying to seem normal. “Wanna sit with us?”

“Please.” Kara sits down on Melinda’s other side. “I was worried Grant would have this class. I think if he could switch all of his classes to match mine, he would.”

Melinda wrinkles her nose. “Ugh.”

“Yeah, ugh,” agrees Kara. “He hung around me a lot last summer, and I think it’ll only get worse this year. I wanna punch him, but I’d probably get in trouble for it.”

“Please, hit him for me!” says Elena. “I cannot, my counselor would raise hell, but if you could make it look like self-defense…”

“Sorry he’s so irritating,” Melinda says.

“Thanks,” sighs Kara. “I told him I’m a lesbian a bunch of times, but he told me I’m too young to know that for sure. I’m fifteen, but he’s sixteen, it’s not like he’s got more life experience than me!”

“Yeah,” says Melinda, although her heart is beating faster. She hadn’t known for sure if Kara liked girls, and now that she does…

But before she can figure out what else to say, the teacher calls them to attention, and soon she’s too busy trying to absorb new fighting moves to think about what to do about Kara.

---

Melinda waits, unsure of how exactly to make her move, until one day during free time when she’s taking a walk and she hears yelling from nearby.

“I told you to leave me alone, Grant!”

Melinda heads toward the voice, walking a little faster. She finds a tree to duck behind, but she can clearly see Kara coming this way and Grant following her. “I’m not interested!” Kara’s saying, turning around to face him. “How many times do I have to say it?”

“Why are you getting so angry?” Grant asks, sounding pretty pissed-off himself. “I was just asking if you wanted to hang out until dinner.”

“You’ve been bugging me since last year,” Kara says. “And I keep telling you, no. I’m gay, Grant, I don’t want to date you!”

“C’mon,” Grant coaxes. “I thought you said you were still figuring that stuff out. Can’t you make an exception?”

“No,” says Kara, “and especially not for you.”

Grant reaches forward to grab her arm, and Melinda almost steps out to help, but of course, Kara’s more than capable of taking care of herself. Her fist darts forward to punch Grant square in the nose, sending him reeling back. “Don’t touch me ever again!” yells Kara. “Or next time my fist is going up your ass!”

Grant, doubled over and his his hands over his nose, groans, “I’m gonna get you in so much trouble with Mr. D. and Chiron-”

At this point Melinda steps out and calls, “No you won’t. I saw what happened. It was self-defense.”

Grant, seeing that they’re not as alone as he thought, flees, still holding his nose. Kara, smirking, turns to look at Melinda. “Thanks,” she says. “I mean, I had it under control, but I appreciate you having my back.”

Melinda nods. “Of course. That guy’s an asshole.”

“I don’t know why he’s so obsessed with me,” says Kara, shaking her head. “I said I was gay so many times...last summer I said it and I wasn’t even sure I was, I just wanted him to stop talking to me.” She clenches her fist.

“Well, at least he finally listened to something,” Melinda says. “I’m pretty sure not even Mr. D. likes him that much, anyway.”

Kara grins, eyes gleaming. “I bet he doesn’t. What are you doing out here?”

Melinda shrugs and replies “Walking” in what she hopes is a nonchalant tone.

“Can I join you?” Kara asks. “It’ll feel, I dunno, safer to be with someone else in case he decides to tell people I just hit him out of nowhere.”

“I’ll definitely make sure they know the truth.”

“Thanks.”

Their walk is nice, but mostly silent, and Melinda’s not entirely sure if Kara even likes her as a person (let alonee the other way) until that Friday’s game of capture the flag. Melinda is running through opponent’s territory, looking for the flag, when she spots Kara. Kara sees her too, looks around to make sure no one is looking, then nods at Melinda and runs by her without even trying to tag her out.

Interesting. Melinda’s never seen her not be ridiculously competitive.

When she mentions this to Bobbi later, Bobbi says, “Okay, but now you have to ask her out. She pretty much told you she likes you in the most Ares way possible.”

Melinda sighs, but when she asks Kara if she wants to go for a walk the next day, Kara beams and nods. They end up playing around and shadowboxing a little, and Kara kicks her ass but not embarrassingly so. On the way back to camp Kara grabs Melinda’s hand and holds it. She doesn’t say make a big deal about it, so Melinda doesn’t either, but it’s nice.

#karamel #melinda may #Kara Lynn Palamas #Bobbi Morse #grant ward #maria hill #bruce banner #fandom: agents of shield #fandom: percy jackson

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greypetrel · 4 months

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1, 11, 15 for Aisling Raina and Alyra? :3

Hello Laya! :D

Thank you for asking!

since number 1 was already answered here, I'll do 11 and 12! :P

Tis the prompt list

11. Did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation?

With a premise that my characters all start by default as bi or pan and I pinpoint later on the exact sexuality...

Aisling: She stayed bi, so yes. She gained a Templar kink along the way. (I started her playthrough with Cassandra as a LI. it didn't turn out *waves fist against Bioware* so yeah, by then Cullen was the most coherent option. She likes Templars, what can I say xD) Raina: It was when I realized I accidentally triggered Anders' romance that I realised she really stroke me as definitely a lesbian. Polyamory came later when I couldn't choose between Isabela and Merrill, I saw her with both and I asked myself: "Why choosing?". Alyra: I have zero idea whether I had any idea on the matter when I first created her. As per Aisling, I started by actively choosing every dialogue option to please Morrigan. Was disappointed when I discovered that at 100 approval, many children robbed and corpses along the way, she just defined Alyra as "a good friend"... and @diesvitae told me the harsh truth. In the meanwhile, I accidentally triggered Alistair's romance and well. It was already there. (in this case I refused to step down from Morrigan, tho.)

12. What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: writing, drawing, edits, etc.)?

Aisling: already answered here! Raina: I struggle drawing such short hair. Also her nose. I can't get it right on first trial, ever. Also: I don't write her much because she's too close to me, as a character, and it's always treading on very delicate ground, LOL. (also: DA2 is the game I feel I have the least to add to) Alyra: I was stupid and forgot to note down her faceclaim. I have ONE picture, but I had no luck in any reverse image search, so far. I'm getting crazy about it. I also am constantly fearing her skin colour is too grey. I know she has the Blight and it's done on purpose, I don't want her to look healthy, but... EH. My mind keeps reading it as "wrong". Writing-wise she's a delight.

15. What is something about your OC can make you laugh?

Aisling: Experiments with Dorian, hands down and the dynamic between them two and Solas. Also, from the AU, how she loves every animal... But penguins? EVIL AND MALEVOLENT. (i got her a reason for it... But her horse hurt her more than penguins did and she looks at him as he's the best thing after sliced bread). Raina: She's trash. Drawing and writing trash characters is fun. It's just... A layer of boundaries less. Alyra: She's a young version of Yzma and I laugh at putting her in difficult situations. Like sending her to Kirkwall. I should write more about her in Kirkwall.

#creating your oc ask #raina is the one I find the most difficult to write #I KNOW you sent me a prompt with her I'm working on it I swear it's just... I'm slow :"D

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greypetrel · 1 year

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Always happy to aid in procrastination c: Likewise, as many or few as you'd like!

Essentials 4 for each of them

Codex 8 for Alyra

Party 1 and 4 for Raina

DA:I 3 and 8 for Aisling

DA:I 11 for Radha

*Procrastinator highfive*

I did every of them, they were very interesting! And got me thinking quite a lot, thank you very much!!

I'll cut it down at some point because it's very long, but...

Tis the prompt list!

Essentials:

4. What is their moral alignment?

Alyra: True Neutral. Raina: Chaotic Dumbass Good. Aisling: Neutral Good Radha: True Neutral

Codex:

8. How do they feel about the Deep Roads?

Alyra: Seen them, done that, fare them well. She did what she had to do. She thinks it's a horrible place, why dwarves loves to live underground and so close to the Deep Roads is completely beyond her. Yes, yes, it's defensible, but what about: what happens if you get snowed in, uh? She's not easy to upset, but the Brood Mother creeped her out like few things ever could. She started cursing like the worst of the sailors when they found another in Amaranthine. Another who can talk. Justice stares in shock.

Party:

1. Who does their preferred party consist of?

Fenris, Isabela/Varric, Merrill. Anders used to be a part of it as well but… Next question.

4. Are there any companions (or advisors) they don’t get along with? Have any of them ever left the party?

She tried to like Sebastian. She really, really did. She's a pretty chill person, if you're not a horrible human being or hurt her loved ones with no reason, she'll be ok with you even if there are disagreements. What she can't stand are people shying away from responsibilities and looking at problems without doing nothing about it. She has a hard time understanding him or agreeing with him. Beside the fact that Raina has no love and very little respect for Elthina, she sees her as an ostrich with her head under the sand and that's everything she hates in a political figure. It's… She'd like him better if he was sure he didn't want the throne and fought to stay there. The constant indecision grates on her nerves. And when he threatened to move war to Kirkwall if she didn't kill Anders… That was it for her. (She never condone Anders' action, but sieging a city? How many casualties for one men that she also EXILED? "Dude, congratulations for having finally taken your head out of the gutter, but what the actual fuck." cit as an answer to the threat) So: Sebastian left the party.

Anders was shown the door after the Chantry. They started by getting along so well! They laughed and joked together, they were friends. And then, Anders fell, she turned him down because "…Dude… I'm a lesbian…" (read as: I accidentally triggered his romance. Don't ask me how, I did it with Alistair -yes.- and I did it with Anders). Things started to crack between them. Add Merrill. Add the fact that she made friend with Fenris. That Garrett learnt blood magic from Merrill and got with Fenris. Raina tried to stay friend with him because she genuinely see him as a lonely person who doesn't really deserve loneliness (if he just could be a little less of a dick towards Merrill and Fenris maybe…). But, not telling her what did he need the weird ingredients for, involving her nonetheless and killing innocents… She couldn't bring herself to kill him, but she showed him the door to exit the city and not come back.

DA:I

Aisling:

3. How do they feel about bearing the Anchor? For what did they declare the Inquisition stood for?

She feels it as a responsibility. It's not pleasant, it itches and hurt and yes, it's useful in battle, but it also trapped her into responsibilities she would have liked to choose. What's done is done, tho, no matter crying over it. It's her duty and Deshanna didn't raise a coward. Better in her hands than in others', anyway, she never complained. She told the Inquisition stood for its Inquisitor, declared herself an elf standing for Thedas, made the Inquisition a place for inclusion, all under one flag and purpose. She broke her head over this in the next years, oftentime thinking it was an egotistical choice dictated more by emotion than reasoning, and overall a poor political declaration: thinking about it better, without the surprise of being chosen as Inquisitor even being an Elven Mage, she'd probably get back and say the Inquisition stood for Order. Because the Inquisition was never about her, it was for peace and it was, for her, an orchestrated work. During the Exalted Council, tho, she rethought about it and thought that it would have maybe have been worse. Declaring the Inquisition stood for Order, potentially, could have made it harder to disband it all just because the Inquisitor left. If the Inquisitor is the centre of the organisation, tho...

8. What did their Nightmare appear as in the Fade? What was on their gravestone?

Her gravestone had one single word etched on it: "Adandonment". It was a very plain gravestone with no flowers or mementos on it, dirty and overgrown, one of those you can see of unidentified soldiers. The ones nobody recognised and nobody can remember with their names. Forgotten. It could have been anyone's, one could tell it was hers out of exclusion. Her Nightmare appeared as corpses of people she knows, died very gruesomely, wounds and blood still fresh and gushing right after death.

Radha:

11. How do they feel about Morrigan?

She doesn't trust her. Well, ok, Radha is very slow to trust. She relies in knowledge and learning things, and is… Suspicious as a precaution. Will smell a lie from a miles away. And Morrigan is fairly evident, to her, that hides more than she says. But like, clear as day. She won't trust her for this, because ok, Aisling likes her and likes Kieran. Her affection for her son seems genuine and if she lets Aisling close to the boy, chances are that she's safe. She doesn't really like her passion for elven culture and mystery about her sources on it: By all means, you have not one but two Dalish, one is a First and the other the daughter of a Keeper, why aren't you telling us more? Where did you find the informations? What else do you know? She… Doesn't hate her, she doesn't think she's a bad nor evil person. She doesn't really like how reticent she is. The Well for her was a big NOPE, for her it wasn't a choice and she drank, as Inquisitor, Morrigan lost the chance to gain her trust there and then.

#oc ask game #dragon age character questions #aisling lavellan #radha lavellan #raina hawke #character ask game #alyra mahariel #dragon age

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