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#one of those true crime girlies (but like as a dude)
bubblyernie · 6 months
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the feminine urge to give every oc i have a tragic backstory despite it being completely unnecessary
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musashi · 8 months
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its just frustrating because the video i made, while under the guise of "hey, i think maybe a more nuanced take on this over-simplified character is a good idea," also had a lot to say about fanon, reductive discourse, fandom puritanism, and retributive justice/prison abolition. i talked in depth about the irony of a story like ace attorney, where culprits of violent crimes are often and frequently portrayed as morally grey/nuanced characters, and where you're trained to be inherently suspicious of the systems that incriminate the accused because you are playing as their defense attorney.
it's a game that encourages you to not see the characters are "victims" and "perpetrators" but instead people, capable of all the good and bad they are, and more often than not multi-faceted. but then you take a look at the fandom and that's ALL it is--people throwing characters into those two boxes. phoenix is a victim, dahlia is a perpetrator--ignore that dahlia was a neglected child who turned to crime at 14, clearly in need of support and intervention but simply unlucky to have no adults in her life to help. at the end of the day, she is a victim too, and her being a victim does not justify the lives she ruined and the people she hurt and traumatized, but it is a hard truth to acknowledge that evildoers are not monsters from birth but shaped by their circumstance. people do not want to acknowledge that, because then they have to acknowledge that they, too, can become abusive and cruel. they want to believe they are safe from it.
while ace attorney does not take a stance in favour of rehabilitative justice in a literal sense, it certainly makes you fucking root for it by presenting murderers and criminals who are, more often than not wholly sympathetic.
manfred von karma is, arguably, not meant to be sympathetic. but i am very charmed by AA's tendency to make me think harder about these perps. and so i think harder about mvk. because that is what the story has told me to do. in running that thought experiment, i found that i like it a lot more when he is, on the surface, a good person to those he considers worthy of his love. he is a rat bastard, a fucking brat, an entitled control-freak, and a little bit of a bitch... but, like, so am i, and those traits make him annoying, not abusive. if he was 40 years younger and conventionally attractive, the fandom girlies would fucking love him, but he's old and disabled so he doesn't get that privilege.
he sucks and he's a murderer. i just don't think he hurts his kids. when people get furious with me for this, they often say that i have dubious evidence. which is true, it's just my personal interpretation, backed up by some subtext in the games. same as theirs. they do not like when i tell them this, and when i ask, 'okay, where's your evidence, then?' they just kinda say 'dude, fucking trust me.' or 'did you play the games???'
i did. we took different things from the games, though. that is okay. why are people so mad? why can't they just understand, that is okay. they don't have to agree with me. they can just... exist elsewhere...?
first, the repeated line was that i said mvk was justified in all he did because he was lead poisoned (i did not say that. it's a joke headcanon i have.) now, the line is that i am apparently declaring the anime canon. i did not say that, just that i enjoyed the takes on canon they proposed and liked to incorporate them where the main canon does not contradict them. people in the fandom do this all the time, for instance a lot of folks put the signal samurai into their gameverse fic because shit's cute and adds a lot to narumitsu. why is that worthy of praise, but my own take worthy of mockery?
every single time someone doesn't like my opinion on this matter, instead of just ignoring it and doing their own thing, they instead... zero in on one point i made, take it out of context, completely misinterpret it in... not even bad faith, but STRANGE faith, and then spread it all across the internet as if it was gospel.
why... do they do that?
if i'm truly wrong, can't you just lay out the ACTUAL argument i made, and strike down its points with evidence of your own?
i've asked before. i get blocked. i get ignored. i get "its just vibes" or "play the game."
okay. i played the game. here's my favourite part:
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what's yours?
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musigrusi · 1 year
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More random Headcanons of 141
And since I'm a horse girly, we gon add unnecessary amounts of equines (including my own)
Soap is the kinda guy who would love animals like no other, but with the same amount of knowledge as a chicken has about being a shark, you get me?
Ask the man to feed a cat, yES he will do so, but don't be surprised when you find the cat eating pizza.
Bestie says he would be the second half to my demonic stallion (I agree wholeheartedly)
While Soap and my good-for-nothing horse (his name is Legolas by the way... I *had* hopes when I named him... not anymore) would be partners in crime by unintentionally causing the most chaotic of accidents, baby stallion (whose name was almost Hades but I changed it to Leviathan) and Soap would *intentionally* cause the most chaos fathomable to the laws of physics.
Ghost, man... I would put him in a horse therapy group. You know what you do during equine therapy sessions?
You pet them
You brush them
Sometimes you go on a quick spin on them (definitely am not bitter that my family didnt put me in an equine therapy program as a kid, not me, not at all)
Ghost has a handful of cats he just randomly collects from the side of the road too. They got their own cat room, cat TV, couch, a bazillion cat beds in all shapes and forms and... indoor grown, well trimmed cat grass.
Gaz... I feel like he's one of those guys that like animals but dont seek them out? But when they befriend one, it's for LIFE and they will do anything for em?
Which makes him best friend material for dumbass Leggy (or the very pissy matriarch of my collection, Titan)
Rudy has a Banana Ball Python he named "Pasta". Alejandro is deadly afraid of her while Valeria is besties with her (it started off as her befriending danger noodle out of spite for Alejandro but turned into a true and beautifully sinister friendship).
Graves' grandpa is an old farmer and the brat defo helped him out on the ranch before. Boy is a proper cowboy.
And for that exact reason I would dare him to work with Titan (my pissy mare).
Dude will either become her new favorite human or learn physics like never before. 20/80, not in his favor.
I'd put Shepard on her too, especially when she's in one of her shitty moods. Couple that with his old values of "you break em and build em back up" and you got his death reciept guaranteed.
Alejandro loves cows. He wants a full ranch of em for the sole purpouse of cuddling, grooming and petting. I'm also feeling like he would be slightly intimidated by horses (lol especially the pissy one, who isnt tho. Also not helping that if he would be introfuced to mine... well I only have giants, no ponies or normally sized horses around my stables) so he'd either play farmer with a trusty old quad, should he ever settle down. Or he would get a sturdy lil Quarter pony, maybe even a Mustang (I totally see him as one of those "Wendy" girls, "wE hAvE suCh A StRoNg CoNNeCtIoN" those chicks? yeah he is one of em and he defo watched the movie Spirit, then went out and bought a Buckskin/Dun Mustang and named him Spirit too)
Since we're on the topic of "what horse do they ride", here's my own list: Alejandro and his sturdy lil Dun/Buckskin Spirit
Graves would ride his Gramps' old strawberry roan bronc named "Bob" who's probs been considered old before Graves was even born and yet he's still going strong
Shepard, god I hate this guy, he gets a good old American Saddlebred, Chestnut, constantly looks like she's on the acid trip of her life (I find saddlebreds' expressions so fucken entertaining, 10/10) and her name is "Sandy"
Soap gets a Haflinger to A) deal with his bullshit like a champ and B) add to the crazies. The name is probably "Alastaire". Haflingers only come in flaxen chestnut (varying in shade, rarely pure chestnut) so there u go for the colour
RUDY MY LOVE gets a Criollo, suitable in location and even more suitable in their firey nature. defo has an Overo/Sabino Roan+Buckskin Paint named "Fernandito". Fernandito is a cool dude, only scared of Chihuahuas tho.
Valeria has a GIGANTIC Lusitano Stallion, either pitch black with mean eyes or a golden chestnut Pearl with green ones (yes they do actually have green-ish eyes sometimes) His name is something like "Gladiolus" or "Cor Leonis" any FF15 fans eh?
Ghost... I think he probs walked in to an auction once bc he saw a sign and found a scared little ugly duckling, felt a connection and bought him for like 300 bucks (basically Leggy's OG story, that's why I thought these two would click) His name is "Spooky" and he's a blue roan dun with a white face and blue eyes
Gaz first took over his neighbor's shetland after she passed away and then decided, fuck it, and went out to buy another horse as a companion. Now, I would believe he's the kinda guy who would pay top buck for whatever he wants. And he decided on a top grade low 6 figure Warmblood he imported from Germany with the likes of Donnerhall, Franziskus, Totilas and Quarterback all stuffed into his pedigree which made one(1) dangly silky coated long noodle. The shetty is probably a lump of semi white-ish furr named "Chickeb Nugget" and the Warmblood is probably a basic ass bay, 4 white socks named "Kevin". He has an official name (something like "dancing shadows" or "Donner's Hall" or whatever other whackey play on speech the germans come up with) but that name was too official for Kyle so he only calls his 6 FIGURE HORSE "Kevin". Extra brownie points when he exclusively goes on walks with the two of them and gets dragged regularly by Nugget. Not even rides Kevin, let alone have other people ride or even compete him ... no, Kevin, top grade dressage horse, spends his days in the field, caked in mud and living his 6 figure life.
Also Gaz bought all the top grade gear and stuff for his furr babies. 6k saddle that he never uses? Check. Custom made Bridles that he too does not ever use? Check. A collection of saddlepads, leg protection and fly bonnets that would make This Esme go pale? double check. 12 thousand blankets for any change in temperature (even for the hermetically sealed Nugget)? Check. Monthly checkup by the chiro/massage therapist, visits to an aqua trainer, top grade supplements and only bio apples and carrots for Nugget and Kevin? Check Check and Check. A 80k horse box to drive them around once every blue moon? check, he also had it custop wrapped with their pictures on it.
Price gets an icelandic horse. They are pretty small ranging from 125cm to 150cm but incredibly sturdy and strong, meaning, the PERFECT CAMPING BUDDY. Plus Icelandic Horses can eat fish so Price has someone to feed the fish he catches to lol. I immagine that he got an averagely sized 140cm tall girl he named „Fish“ because A) he loves fishing and B) „Fish“ likes to eat fish (premium dad joke right there). Fish is a silver dapple (they are super rare and hella cool) with so much hair that Price either puts in an ugly ass braid or just all together ties it to the side.
For Laswell I’m torn between a tennessee walker or a friesan, so lets just say she has both. The tennessee walker is a proper golden palomino (a real ass barbie horse) and her name is Jodie. Jodie has one braincell. The friesan I immagine is a big boy, and since friesans only come as black, he‘s black. His name is „The dark Emperor“ and is primarily Kate‘s wife‘s horsey, they nickname him dumbo because he got unreasonably large ears. Dumbo and Jodie share her braincell and are the perfect „old married horse couple“.
König my man. His uncle took over the family‘s farm and König used to help out by driving the horse cart around and such. He found a Noriker mare at a market once and immediately fell in love and bought her. She now vibes at his uncle‘s farm with the cows and occasionally will help out with the local forest work (pulling tree trunks in remote areas). He named her „Sissi“, sometimes calls her „Punktle“ tho (little dot) and she’s a dotted thicc chick. They have a shaby old horse trailer that is basically a metal frame with old moldy wood and a rug as a roof, Sissi doesn‘t complain tho, she once trailered on the back of his pickup. She‘s also the town‘s favorite pony to ride when they do a town fare (She gets beer afterwards as a reward).
Roach found the shittiest OTTB out there and said „That one is perfect, I take it“. This thing has more issues than Payboy magazine. GIGANTIC and skinny as shit, suuuper hard to gain weight and has one mental meltdown after another but Roach deals phenominally with it. Her name is probably „Roach“ as an homage to his own callsign but also to „The Witcher“ lol. Roach is a dull brown kind of bay.
Farah gets an Arabian Mare no Qs asked. A dark liver chestnut, absolutely stunning, looks like she‘s coloured with dried blood and her name is Safanad after the mare from King Solomon‘s legend. Fiesty around anyone but Farah and loyal to a T. Absolutely hates the feeling of gras tho lol.
Alex I immagine would get himself a Fjord and go camping with Price with it. He named her „Mjölnir“ after Thor‘s hammer, since Fjords are a Norwegian breed but can‘t pronounce her name so he just calls her Milly instead for short (And to save himself the embarassement). Milly is a simple creature, give her food, water, somewhere to sleep and she‘ll be beyond content. He defo got her a whole western rig, but rides her bitless in a ropehalter because he tried a bit once and she was so upset with him, she didn‘t accept treats for a week (Sounds familliar to me lol). Mjölnir is a typical dun, as all Fjords are, but I immagine her to be slightly darker and after living out his „Fjord roached mane“ phase, let the mane grow out into a messy fluff.
I went overboard again lol… never mind, I think I will do some more hc‘s along the lines of „What kinda X does Y have?“
Also, for all my non horsey people, here are the respective horsies in whatever order (Alejandro, Graves, Shepard, Soap, Rudy, Valeria option 1 and 2, Ghost, Gaz small horse, big horse, Price, Laswell, König, Roach, Farah and Alex)
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Also bonus for those that scrolled all the way down, here‘s a pic of my Leggy gremlin
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tragically-jane-doe · 8 months
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I'll never be able to acutely explain how lovely and disappointing it was that I figured out who the fuck killed Luke with in the 1st few episode chapter thing anyways me screaming about who dun did it in read more thing a ma bob so like
SPOLIERS for the book
Murder in the family
IVE SEEN TO MANY CRIME SHOWS AND HAVE ZERO FAITH IN KIDS LIKE HOLY FUCK NO ONE THOUGHT TO LOOK INTO THE KIDS A BIT MORE AT THE TIME LIKE CMON YOU WANT ME TO BELIEVE THAT GUY HEARD NOTHING WHEN HIS STEP FATHER WAS KILLED MR I WAS 10!!!!
Anyway it was repeated so fucking much guy was only 10 guy was the only one at home like c'mon baby please hear me out kids can be fucked up
But like so disappointing cause I got reced this book offa tiktok and like the ppl who read it said they didn't see it coming and I was so fucking excited for that I was ready to take fucking notes my dude I did I took notes for all of 3 chapters and they did nothing for me because of one simple line that cemented that one of those fucking kids did it
Guy "then you called 999"
Maura HESITATES then nods
Like okay why you hesitating baby why your obvs disturbed bout something it's a very known thing that family usually protects family I doubt you'd be doing this for ur mama
But like I understand her I would probably not cover for my sibling but I understand also low-key love how Maura covered for Amelia and Amelia covered for Guy those fucking kids are nutters
POOR FUCKING AMELIA BTW she legit saw guy do it and proceeded to shut the fuck up about it and then 20 YEARS LATER that mother fuckin boy is bout to air the shit like damn also I saw her I saw her little why don't we air his shit text like girl ffs you would have ended that show so fast if you did
And on a different note in one of the reddit bits this chemical thing gets brought up that can make it look like you've had a heart attack I for sure thought they would tie that shit in with Andrew later on like damn you had my ass but also could've tied it in with guy cause u know the last bit
And maybe a tiny bit it was maybe lazy to do that final meeting like c'mon
I also hope Mitch goes to prison which probs he didn't cause time limits and such which actually I'm not sure if London has that like america does and also on the fact that it was statutory so whooo knows but I know I wanted to smack a bitch like how dare how dare you say oh she was sophisticated motherfucker girlie pop was 15 I don't care if she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth she was 15 and you sir were 21 stop referring to yourself as a kid stop it please
ALSO I LOWKEY HATE HOW BILL KNEW A BUNCH OF SHIT B4HAND it kinda ruined the fun for me but the twisty bit of Luke being Eric and Eric being Jonah was neat I'll give them that
Also fuck Nick just fuck him
A film genius though like damn I actually wanted to see the show and had to remind myself it didn't exist
Imagine how fucking insane it would be if it did it would be so fucking huge (if there is a show like this that's real not like fiction I would eat that shit up) but also I have issues with how true crime media is most of the time cause some of it is a bit dick sucking towards the bad dude which in turn has mentally ill women/girls be also very very dick sucking towards the fucking murderer but also some of it is just fucking gross towards to victims
ANYWAYS IM CONFUSED ON HOW TO FEEL ABOUT GUY AND THAT FUCKING SUCKS BECAUSE LALIA EXPLAINED HOW IN THEORY IT HAPPENED BUT LIKE FFS HE WAS A KID AT THE TIME BUT THEN AGAIN HE BASHED THE SHIT OUTTA LUKE
Also for any of the mentally ill bitchs like moi that's watched criminal minds a million and one times my faith in kids was killed off in the ian Gallagher episode and I refuse to ever watch it again it makes my skin crawl
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geeksauruse · 1 year
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hello ! if you're still taking requests for matchups, i'd love to participate ! i'm a 5'2' stoner girlie with she/any pronouns. my personality type is infp, but i do have quite the handful of hotheaded moments. my aesthetic is a nice hybrid between pastel, y2k and alternative influences. lover of all things pop culture, true crime, and the peculiar!
  I would pair you up with our wonderful Mikey!
 Yall met in an abandoned building, you were just smoking some weed, reading up on an old article you found about Jeffery Dahmer.
All of a sudden there were several large bangs above you followed by creaking of old wooden floors, almost as if someone was jumping onto it.
You being about half in your own world and half in reality, you practically sprinted up the stairs, as quietly as you could( it wasn't very quiet)
All of a sudden you ran face first right into something hard.
Or someone
It took you a hot minute to realize that they did not look like average people, let alone people who hung out in abandoned buildings
You thought you were higher than you were because the person standing in front of you was for some reason Green,  and was BUILT.
You stumbled back right on your ass and passed out 
When you woke up in the lair you had a headache and was so confused, especially with the bright orange masked creature talking to you about how he liked your dark gray pink floyd shirt and your sleek black, 2 inch, heel boots.
And that was the beginning, of how yall started becoming close
Once things were cleared up and you agreed to keep the family's secret,  you and Mikey became practically inseparable. 
He loved how compassionate you are when it came to your interests especially when it came to true crime.
He didn't care too much for it at first but it grew on him after a while and he became the conspiracy theory master, yall would be working on unsolved crimes hours into the night   drinking orange crush and having a ball laughing at each other's bad jokes.
And he has A LOT of bad jokes.   
Ngl this man loves the way you laugh
You may hate it but he will physically adore it.
Didn't know you had a temper, until a fateful day where Raph was coming at you poking fun at your high and then you went off on him.
Swearing,cursing, you name it girl
My dude was speechless, everyone was.
Offered video games and pizza to try to chill you out.
Yall played mario kart all day nonstop( it's so common that y'all have those gaming beinges that y'all know every power move in super smash bros)
You introduced him to weed and he was pretty chill about it
Actually started doing it with you( in my opinion, he has ADHD so i think it would help him out)
You really were one of the coolest people he knew, you took him seriously when no one else did, you listened, not to mention in his eyes you were smoking hot.
Soooooooooooooooo many insecurities one he realized he liked you and yet he just decided to flirt more to see if it got across to you.
Do I look okay? Do I smell nice? Was that joke stupid? What does she think of me right now?
Dude definitely tried to teach you to skateboard(ngl he just wanted to hold your hands and be close to you)
And that's the day he accidentally told you he liked you.
You were wobbling on the skateboard and he was holding your hand just staring at it then he kinda spoke his thoughts out loud.
“You're pretty good looking on my skateboard,ya know babe?I wanna keep teaching you if it means I get to hold your hands like this forever.”
Dude died that day, thought you were going to reject him on the spot.
You didn't of course but he immediately became ecstatic when you gave him a little kiss on the cheek and hopped off to go get a drink
Just standing there beaming and in shock he brought his and to the place you kissed him, than turned around sprinting to the kitchen
“ Hey,Can I get another one of those?
 or maybe a couple more for later?”
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Beautiful Spouses Rewatch Thoughts SPN 01x17
Hell House
“They found dad so now they have no purpose. What do they do now?” “Haunted House? Wait. They have parties in there? I don’t remember.” “That was kinda rapey” “that’s kinda funny - where Satan canned all of his vegetables” “you’re about to get fucked buddy” “Big Texas.”
“THAT IS NOT INTERSTATE 35” then we googled how big and how long I-35 is “if only the radio was actually that good in Baby”
“That PRANK stuff” “Since when do you believe anything anybody says?” “What are they making fun of here? The editing cuts?” Neither of us know
“What album was that?” “Didn’t the guy make it up and post it on the internet and isn’t that the whole episode? Its the manifestation of the energy of thinking about the same thing or something like that.” “Curb appeal. Ahahah” “I wonder what frequency EMF uses. There’s really nowhere you can go without some sort of frequency now” “Why would Dean make that joke then? That’s just weird timing. They get better on timing delivery later.” “Dean, you just worked with cops.”
“Let’s clip clop our feet loudly AS FUCK over to the door and prepare for a stealth attack.” “Do you hear all that CLIP CLOP?” “Facing the ghosts, man.” “haha”
“A Vazzzzzzzzzz?” “This is a serious investigation” “Sometimes Dean can never give up, and sometimes he’s just like FUCK IT”
“I don’t feel like Dean is the one you want to pull a prank on” “What is with this dude being all rapey and shit?” “Dude, I would be 40ft in the other direction already. Fuck the rapey guy; I’d already just leave the party” “You fkn play all this music while I was wandering around, I’d be wondering what the fuck is happening” “It would be funnier if the people in the show could hear the music too” “howdy cowboy” “thats what you think man” “think of all the smoke machines dude” “not sure how you can see shit with night vision with all those flashlights because it would be bright as shit out there” “they did the thing again. Now this time Sam handed Dean the gun like it was planned, ya know” “Why did you point the gun in the same direction as your brother, you idiot?” Talking about Sam
“I guess it’s not that bad, because he’s pulling it up behind Dean before walking by him” “He hates rats? Did they ever bring that up again?” “One of them has night vision on and the other has it off” “Remember when it was edgy to put stickers on your laptop?”  
Me telling Spouse that people still put stickers all over their laptops
🎶hellhounds lairs dot com🎶
Dean has really pretty eyelashes
TCU = Texas Christian University “oh my godddd” “If this was a crime show, it would be the Winchesters investigating the film students, but instead, it’s them investigating this guy” “How did Sam not notice that?” “If tulpas are true, does that mean Castiel is real since all the girlies think about him so much?” “how does Sam not notice all the pepper in his crotch? He’s old enough.” “Sam is an idiot. How did he not notice the pepper in his shorts? How did he not notice the grit falling down onto his legs? How did he not notice his balls sloshing around in the stuff? H left his underwear on the whole time without thinking anything about it. He didn’t even go to piss to check if something was wrong with his dick. YOU WOULD EVEN SMELL THE PEPPER. HOW DID HE NOT NOTICE IT?” I told Spouse that he spent more time thinking about Sam’s dick in the above rant than I ever have in the entirety of my brainrot career.
“With girls.” “Buffy would probably fuck other girls” “Slow your roll? It’s been around for this long?” “That ain’t a prank, Sam. That’s bodily harm.” “Those sheets are awful white for just blowing in the breeze for however long” “they’re not reloading right now?” “nice” “Those guys really are fkn dumb” “If he was swinging with that much force, Sam would have gone further into the wall, especially with that much rotted wood.”
“Dean really has fun with fire blaster things” “There’s no amplification sigil so the house burning would work.” “But couldn’t they have just broken the sigil in general to stop the whole situation or was it too late since the dude was manifested?” “uh huh” “flamingo” “not even going to look down into your seat before you get in?”
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duckpatrolstories · 3 years
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𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄, tetsuro kuroo x reader – ch. 3
— in which an unfortunate bartender in the wrong place at the wrong time gets kidnapped by one of the biggest crime syndicates in the city.
female reader, original on wattpad, cw; swearing, violence, blood, kidnapping, suggestive context, sexualisation
word count: 1498 — first previous next
They flanked you like a hungry pack of wolves. They cornered you, trapped you, ripped away any hope of escape.
You crawl away from the men, trying to get some distance. "Get away! Leave me alone!" you shout.
As they step closer, you see the faces of the men. Glasses guy and the ravenette were the ones that saw ahead and went around front to block off the alleyway.
"Quiet, now girly," glasses guy says lowly. "You don't want anyone to hear you."
Your eyes widen and you quickly scramble to your feet, your mind immediately going to the worst that could happen to you. You try to run back the other way, but stop when you see the silver-haired man standing there.
"Fuck..." you mutter under your breath.
Curiosity really does kill the cat, doesn't it?
"Grab her," the silver-haired man orders.
The other two men quickly lunge at you, each one grabbing an arm tightly.
"No! Get off me! Let me go!" you snarl, trashing your body wildly to try and get free. But the men easily hold onto you. It pisses you off.
You start to feel a little helpless and you kick and squirm to no avail, but it isn't enough for you to give up and accept whatever is going to happen to you.
The silver-haired man steps forward, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket. He gags you with it, tying it tightly behind your head.
"Bring her out here," he orders and walks out of the alleyway and back into the parking lot.
You continue to fight as the two men drag you out into the parking lot, your cries for help suppressed by the handkerchief. And at the nod of the silver-haired man, they push you down onto your knees, tightly holding your arms up by your wrists.
You glance beside you and see mohawk dude sitting up with his busted knee clutched in his hands. His short friend kneels beside him with a first aid kit and tries to tend to his injury the best he can.
"Now," the silver-haired man speaks and you look up at him. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."
"Easy way; you be a good girl and cooperate with us," glasses guy says, gazing down at you.
"Hard way; your body will be so bruised and beaten they won't be able to identify it," the ravenette sneers, a malicious grin growing on his features.
"Think it over carefully, now," the silver-haired man says, stepping into an intimidating pace before you. "We won't have a problem with whichever way you want to go."
You don't need to think it over. Cooperating sounds better than the police finding an unidentifiable corpse behind a bar. However, you've realised that this is something much bigger than a simple drug dealing. These men are with the Yakuza.
And if what you heard about them is true, the Yakuza are unpredictable, merciless, and brutal. They aren't afraid to get their hands dirty, twist the truth in their favour, use and cheat those around them to their advantage.
They are criminals with absolutely no remorse for their horrendous actions.
If you were to choose the easy way, they can go with the opposite and beat you to death.
After giving you time to think, the silver-haired man reaches over and pulls the handkerchief out of your mouth. "Your decision?" he asks.
You exhale sharply through your nose, your chin down casted as your gaze bores into him. Your stomach churns at the thought of doing as they say, wanting you to fight back, but you're smarter than that. If you fight back any more than you already did, you'll for sure meet your maker. But if you go the easy way, there's still a chance you can make it out of this alive.
"I'll cooperate," you reluctantly say, hating every syllable that rolls off your tongue. But what other choice do you have when you don't want to die?
The silver-haired man smiles and you feel a sense of dread slowly crawl through your body.
"Good," he says and he takes a couple of steps back. "I'll just ask a few simple questions to gauge the severity of the situation, and you'll answer truthfully, alright?"
You nod, your body itching with fear. You can't help but shake the feeling you made the wrong choice.
"How much did you see and hear?" he asks.
You take a second to think over your answer. If you lie and say nothing, he might go easy on you. He might think you're too scared of what could happen to you, too scared to tell anyone. However, it could be the exact opposite.
If you tell the truth, there's the chance you will be killed for how much you say you know.
"Nothing," you say firmly. "I was just taking out the trash. I was gonna head right back in."
The silver-heard man gives an amused huff, tilting his chin up to stare down his nose at you. One commanding glance towards the ravenette with his brown eyes and your heart drops to your gut again.
The ravenette grabs a fistful of your hair and holds your head up. In one swift movement, the silver-haired man socks you square in the fist. His knuckles dig into the bridge of your nose, almost fracturing the fragile bone.
You strain out a scream as the ravenette lets go of your hair, letting your head fall. You stare at the concrete beneath your knees with tear-blurred vision, wanting desperately to hold your nose in a sad attempt to subdue the searing pain. Blood drips down from your nostrils, down your lips and chin, and onto the concrete.
"You wouldn't have been hiding if that was the case," the silver-haired man points out.
You choke back sobs, the pain unbearable. And the blood tastes like old pennies in your mouth. Disgusting.
"So let's try this again," he says.
You manage to bring your head up and look at him, spitting out the blood infiltrating your mouth and assaulting your tongue with its sharp, metallic flavour.
"How much did you see and hear?" he asks, his tone dropping the friendly facade and acquiring a menacing seriousness.
"Just you guys ripping off shortie and mohawk here," you say, your voice wavering. "Something about this White Crow, too, but that's it."
Debating if your answer is satisfactory enough, the silver-haired man hums. After a long minute, he begins to pace again.
"What should we do about you..." he says quietly to himself, tapping his chin in thought. "You know a little too much for my liking. I mean, you can easily go report all of this when we're done here, can't you?" he rhetorically asks, turning to you.
"I won't tell anyone," you say with pleading eyes. "I won't report this. I'll keep my mouth shut."
Completely ignoring your words, the silver-haired man focuses his attention on the short blond and mohawk dude.
"Kuroo won't like you two coming back empty-handed, and this young lady here is quite the beautiful creature," he says with a smile, but when he glances back at you it falters a bit. "Well, without all the blood spewing from her nose..."
"A bed warmer won't equate to White Crow," the short blond snips at him, finishing wrapping up his friend's leg. "Especially one that's all beat up."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," the silver-haired man counters. "Kuroo doesn't seem to be the picky type."
"You sick fucks..." you growl, starting to thrash against the men's grips. "You sick, sick fucks!"
No way in hell are you going to let this happen to you. You would rather die.
"Let me go! Let me go, fuckers!" you try to rip your wrists out of their grasps, attempting to stand up and kick your way out.
But they easily overpower you. The wind knocks out of your lungs as your chest collides to the ground, a knee pressing into your spine. Your arms are pulled behind you and pinned against your back tightly, your cheek grazing against the concrete, the rugged texture cutting and tearing up your skin.
You struggle to breathe, squirming beneath the men as they hold you down.
"Quiet," glasses guy sharply warns as he drives his knee harder into your back. You let out a distressed noise.
"Besides, she's got too much fight in her," the short blond says, packing away the first aid kit. "Why don't you just kill her?"
"No, no... no!" you shout, squirming and trying to kick free again. "No! Don't kill me!"
"What the hell did I just say? Quiet!" glasses guy glowers. He grabs you by the hair and lifts your head before brutally banging it against onto the ground.
Everything goes black.
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otometearoom · 3 years
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I Finished Tsumugu Logic!! Overview/Rant
It took me a month, but I finished the last chapter of the game and got the true ending. I will keep playing to get all of the other bad ends, etc. 
I have so so many feels about this game, y’all. I will be highlighting a few chapters in the game, so if you haven’t finished it. Beware of spoilers!!
[MANY SPOILERS/ENDINGS BELOW]
To recount my feelings throughout the game for each character: 
1. Tsumugu is a cutie pie. I actually really related to him, because I’m also at that point in my life where I have to decide what exactly I want to do for the rest of my life. I just finished university, but I’m still unsure about my career ahahah. So, seeing Tsumugu struggle to figure his life out was refreshing. 
2. “Sosei” is so hot. I laid eyes on him and thought, uh-oh, he’s my new addiction ahahah. I would buy his merchandise if there was any. The dude loves sweets (how cute is that) and he has such a good head for mysteries (my dream man). Plus, he’s a tsundere but really cares about Tsumugu, often giving hints and advice to him. He’s a very trustworthy older brother/senpai. I could gush over how much I love Sosei for ages. His drunken habits -> those are to die for. He becomes so lewd and straightforward. I love it. 
“Koyo”, on the other hand, I didn’t like him as much as Sosei. Which is weird, cause I love ikemen. Maybe I’m just drawn more into the withdrawn, mysterious guys?? I do like the concept of twin brothers though. I have a bit of a dirty mind so when the twins said they shared everything, even their gf, I was like ohohoho, 3p? 
I absolutely enjoyed the twins together though. I love seeing them pretend to be the other. I wish they had more of an appearance lol. I could even say that Sosei and Koyo are a scale higher than Tsumugu for me. I wish the twins were the main protagonists ahahah. No offense Tsumugu. 
I’ll just summarize my first impressions for others real quick: 
3. Kotoko - I thought she was cute, but I never really liked her and couldn’t quite pinpoint exactly why. This feeling will come into play later on. So at first, I was like meh, she’s okay, I guess. But, as I learned more about her, I really didn’t like her character that much. I mean, I wouldn’t say I hated her but I didn’t find her as a good fit for Tsumugu. 
- When she told Tsumugu to be a salesman or whatever. I was like, do you even know Tsumugu? Lmao. I didn’t know if it was just me empathizing with Tsumugu cuz I’ve often been told of what I should be, but no one asks what I want to be. 
- When she didn’t want to help Mirei, I thought how odd, for someone who tries to befriend everyone, she’s not doing so well as a heroine. I mean, it was realistic, at least. But, I think the chapter where she admits that she tries really hard to fit in so others will like her was starting to draw some red flags for me. It made me wonder how much of her was ‘real’. Idk if I’m making any sense though.
- When she swung the knife at Tsumugu, I didn’t hate her as much as I did when she swung the knife at Sosei (who protected Tsumugu) and killed him. I was furious then. 
4. Sally - I admit I was really turned off by the girly lolita style. Mainly because I’m more tomboyish irl. But, she had a good sense of justice so I actually liked her. It did come as a shock to me though that she was the “gorilla” girl that was forced to kiss Nozaki. Tbh, I was kinda sad she died at the end. Like, I know she killed Hikone, but I could understand her motive better than I could understand Kotoko’s motive. Maybe cuz I have an older brother and can’t see myself being a brocon? ahahah. 
5. Toma - In terms of hotness, he comes 2nd right after Sosei. He’s a really good friend. And I absolutely adore how he scares ppl with his glare lol. i love yankees ahaha. He’s not afraid to speak his mind. He’s a very solid character.
6. Daimon - My girl crush. High key curious who she’s arranged to marry because her fiance seems boring. Who takes an hour to choose a handkerchief? Anyways, Im sad that Daimon and Sosei never got to meet because I’m low key shipping them. Idk if they’d click well romantically because they’re so similar, but I would’ve loved for some sort of interaction. They’d make for an epic couple, solving mysteries. I really wanna write a fic for them. 
7. Tsukasa Tsukasa - I didn’t like him because of the cheating and blaming on my poor Toma, but after that, he was okay. Plus, he helped write the Tsumugu’s love letter to Kotoko. Which I find is funny, because Kotoko copied Tsukasa’s writing, thinking it was Tsumugu’s. Ahahah. The lesson here, folks, is that don’t use your own handwriting in love letters, you never know if you’re crush will copy said handwriting into your own suicide letter. 
8. Mirei - that girl can sing. I kinda cried after hearing it cuz I was going through something at the time and it really encouraged me. 
9. Landlady & Hikkimori - Both names that I can’t remember off the top of my head. I think both people are fun. The landlady is super supportive. And the hikkimori refusing to talk with Sosei made for a fun dynamic. I genuinely enjoyed seeing Sosei offended. Nice way to see emotions on my fave character. 
10. Other characters (Rindo, Happy, Travel Club Members) - I genuinely did not care enough about ahahah. I think I even enjoyed seeing some of them murdered, tbh. They were really horrible people in different ways. 
The Black club members headed under Fumi. Like what? How do you control victims to be assailants and live with yourself to be a future kindergarten teacher? Like what? I couldn’t live with myself if I was her. Plus, her disproportionately large boobs were really weirding me out. I can’t believe Yu died all because Fumi wanted to f*ck him. It’s like one day you’re living your best life and someone thinks, ah, I wanna ruin this person. 
Don’t even get me started with Nozaki. That dude is a piece of trash. Human garbage. He knows how it feels to be a victim and yet thinks it’s his right to assault women. I wanted to slap that guy so hard. So many times. He was like the boy who cried wolf. He kept pretending to be dead and eventually died in the hands of Kotoko. XD I wonder what his last thoughts were. To have died in the hands of someone he trusted. 
Hikone was another nutcase. From what I understood, he just saw everyone else as characters in his book. Sure, he didn’t physically harm anyone, but doing nothing and observing is just as much of a crime as committing it. 
Shun. I never really like cutesy guys. But when he turned out to be an ex-pimp plus lover of Fumi, he fell off the likeable scale. 
Yoshimoto being an uncontrollable drunk murderer was the only thing needed to complete the psycho Travel Club members. Tbh, I thought he was the one behind the killings at first ahaha. 
Suguha. I thought she was a tough chick. It was cool to know that she had another motive to get closer to Fumi. Because I thought it was weird how she took her cellphone at the BBQ restaurant. It’s nice to know that SEEC still foreshadows like that. 
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olderthannetfic · 4 years
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You’ve probably heard of that film version of The Magnificent Seven from a couple of years ago. Maybe you know it’s based on a film from 1960, which is itself a remake of Seven Samurai.
But if you’re like 99% of fandom or even that guy I know who worked on the 2016 version, you probably don’t know that there was also a TV series starring, among other people, Ron Perlman.
(This came up because said dude and I were working on another Western starring Ron Perlman. A sucky one though. Alas, I cannot pimp it.)
Mag7, as it is usually called in fandom, was quite the little slash fandom in its day, yet it is nearly forgotten by newer fans. The show aired for two seasons from 1998-2000.
It’s one of those shows I bought, sight unseen, so I could catch up on older fandoms. I ended up liking it more or less, but I don’t think canon has aged well. It’s too bloodless for the era it came out in while making a pretense at covering serious, dark shit. It has neither the standing sets of old Western TV nor the big budgets of the 2010s Western revival. It’s too white. The one black lead gets relegated to token status along with all Native characters. The treatment of women is laughable, from the Happy Hooker stuff (gah!) to the time they try to teach the tomboy to be more girly so she can get the young dude in the cast (ragescream!). It feels more in line with what I’d expect a Western to look like in 1988 than 1998, especially on the heels of the far more inventive The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. in 1993.
Fanlore says that Mag7 suffers because current fandom is not into Westerns, but my problem is that I am far too into Westerns, and this show is not a good one.
OTOH, there is a lot of material here to work with, and work with it fans did!
It’s a super interesting fandom for a fandom historian because of how intensely AU-infested it is. Maybe you’ve heard something about “ATF-verse”? That’s a Mag7 thing. It’s not just regular AUs: The fandom is full of these shared universes with established rules for writers who want to play in them.
The “Seven” are:
Chris Larabee: The black-clad, taciturn loner with... wait for it... a dead wife and child.
Vin Tanner: The soft-spoken woobie, sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, who has spent time amongst the Indian tribes. (It is every bit as cringey as you think.) Fandom’s #1 fave, natch.
J.D. Dunne: Horrid little twerp with a terrible hat. I wanted to stab him every time he was on screen. x100 whenever he was interacting with a woman.
Buck Wilmington: Played by Dale Midkiff of Time Trax fame! (What? Everyone important, by which I mean me, loved Time Trax!) He is Chris’s old friend and polar opposite, a jolly, good-humored man raised by a prostitute mother. Ladies, including the working girls, love him. Also he gets fake dead more than once, so he’s clearly the BEST character, and fandom ought to have loved him the best too! >:( 
Josiah Sanchez: Ron Perlman plays a wacky preacher and ex-gunfighter. Is he haunted by his past? Does he make woo-woo philosophical proclamations about this? Does this show love its ubiquitous Western cliches? (Don’t answer that.)
Ezra Standish: If Vin is the quiet, soft-spoken woobie, Ezra is the woobie who hides his Tragic Pain under a mask of charm and cheer. He’s the one with the rapidfire con artist patter, the fancy suits, and the Southern accent. He has a complicated relationship with his con artist mother. His wardrobe is a thousand times prettier than anyone else’s, and he crossdresses at some point. Naturally, he is fandom’s other darling after Vin. Possibly the #1 darling in ATF-verse.
Nathan Jackson: Nathan is a former slave and a doctor. He has a girlfriend in the local Seminole village and not enough to do on the show.
Other characters include a sad widow for Chris to have sad dead partner angst at, the judge who sends them on missions, and, in the pilot, that guy who played Harper in Sharpe. The judge is played by Robert Vaughn, which I 100% did not realize until I was looking at wikipedia just now!
Anyway, standard Western hijinks happen. The mystery of Chris’s wife’s death is eventually solved as angstily as possible. Chris pretends to kill Buck as part of a ruse at one point, making them my ship of choice. (What?) J.D. and the local tomboy get set up by all the other characters, causing me to want to stab not only them but also myself in the eye.
COME AT ME BRO!
Oops. I’m supposed to be promoting Escapade, not starting fights about old tv shows. Anyway, I think the canon has some issues, but the fic... let me tell you, there are no words more likely to attract me to a fandom than “presumed dead”, and Mag7 fandom delivered, not only in the slash but in the gen. I have no idea, years later, where to find any of those fics or even which ones I read, but I remember there was self-indulgent melodrama and it was GREAT.
Sweet, sweet idfic, come to Mama!
I would link you to a vid, but as Fanlore hilariously confirms for me, there are like no good vids in this fandom. They did eventually release it on DVD, but the image quality is... uh... not great. Oh, wait, I did love this lulzy het vid about ladies being thirsty for Buck.
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Actually, that’s a total lie. I have gone looking for Mag7 vids repeatedly for the Escapade dance party. Excavating my old spreadsheets, I see a bunch of interesting ones, like this slash vid of Nathan/Ezra. The Southern gentleman and the black guy are an obvious cliche teamup for Westerns, but the fandom rarely went there. This vid is great though! The only reason I’ve never played it is that no one at the con ships this.
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Past Escapade panels include:
2001 - True pairings and permutations (Who are the "right" couples, and what other combinations are remotely possible? Video excerpts for newcomers.)
2003 - AUs! Crutch or creative lifeblood? (Are ATF stories a creative extension of the universe or a cop-out by folks too lazy to do their historical research?)
2004 - The Multiverse (Where canon is a formulaic retread of a remake of a classic, the critical mass of fan creativity has exploded in fascinating and bizarre ways. Often, richly textured parallel universes seem more attractive than stories based on the original source material. From conflict over "closed" AUs to creative in-breeding, what's really going on in the Mag 7 multiverse?) [HAH, EVEN YOU GUYS AGREE WITH ME.]
2005 - Where has the Old West gone? (Magnificent Seven has it all! Seven sexy men, horses, the old west, guns, adventure, right and wrong, you name it! So why isn't there more Old West fic? Why all the modem and future AUs? Where do we go from here?)
2006 - Cowboys- Real Life v. Fantasy (From Magnificent Seven to Brokeback Mountain, from John Wayne toughness to curtain fic. What's reel? What's fun? And how much reality do we want in our fun?)
2007 - Chris Larabee: Tragic Hero or Pig-Headed Bastard? (How worthy is Chris to lead the Seven? Does he lead them because he believes in protecting the weak an innocent, or because it strokes his ego? Does he truly value Buck's friendship and support? Vin's? Anyone's?)
2008 - M7: Need Topic! by Megan Kent [LOL]
2011 - Mag 7: Deader Than a Beaver Hat (They're gorgeous. They're archetypes. Lots of other fandoms have less to work with. So, what the hell?)
2012 - My Paring is OK. Your Pairing Sucks! (In a fandom famous for pairing wars, let's get it all out in the open and put it to bed. Come and defend your pairing of choice, and enjoy others doing the same. Inflatable lightsabers, laughter, and the ability not to take yourself seriously. All welcome.)
2013 - What holds the gang together? (The deal was simple: a dollar a day, plus room and board, for a month. And now they've been together *how* long? What holds these seven loners together over the long haul? All pairings, all points of view. Bring story recs to share.) [Duct tape. The answer is always duct tape.]
Mag7 on Fanlore (including links to many smaller archives)
Mag7 on AO3
Mag7 on FFN
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romaniassexdungeon · 5 years
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Just Kids - chapter 46
A Wy chapter!  Don't have much else to say except I wonder if I'll ever get this finished.
Read on AO3
...
New year, new me.
What a heap of shit, the Coopers collectively agreed, and yet, it was the perfect opportunity for Charlie.
No, it wasn’t.
But when would be a good opportunity?
Never.
But he might as well get it all over and done with, find out what his brothers thought and deal with the consequences as they came. As long as it was out in the open, he could start being himself and things would work out in the end.
No, he was 13. Where could he go if Logan kicked him out?
Huna would take him in.
But his life would still be hell, and he would have no family left. And everyone at school would treat him like shit. He might have to change schools, like Oscar did.
He’d still have Peter, Lars, Kuzey and Franz. And Huna.
And he’d probably be murdered in some horrific hate crime. Or die of sadness from every member of his family rejecting him and daily bullying.
He'd survived his own father abandoning him; Charlie could survive this. It didn’t matter how many times life kicked him, he could get back up and try again. The thing was, though, at those times, he always had Logan to help him move on and set up a new life. Do all the grown up work while he just packed his bags, looked after Oscar, and wondered what his new school would be like.
Would Huna do that for him? Blow this town and move somewhere else? Start a new life as Charlie Cooper’s guardian? Not that Charlie could ever ask, but he got the impression Hunapo would do that for him anyway. And it could be fun, hanging out at Hunapo’s studio flat, snuggled up with his new parent-sibling in the fold-down bed, watching bad sitcoms on their little box TV.
Well, Logan had always said Flight of the Conchords was bad, but Charlie had never watched it.
If he turned out to be a transphobic cunt, Charlie would watch every episode with Hunapo out of spite. Whilst eating vegan sausages in an All Blacks shirt.
Still, he didn’t need to think about that now. It was his first day back at school, and he wanted to end the term as a boy. He was going to end the term as a boy.
“Look, I just think it’s important that we’re all on the same level,” he began. Mr Fernandez Carriedo had let him use the room over lunch, apparently to work on their website. Charlie needed somewhere private at school, somewhere he could get everyone together and talk properly. “Some of you know already know what I’m talking about, but I wanna come clean to everyone.”
“Wait, where’s Oscar?” asked Mike.
“I wanna talk to him separately,” said Charlie, “him and Logan. As a family.”
“So it’s a big thing, then,” Mike looked around, “a coming out thing?”
“Yeah,” Charlie picked at a nail. “I’ve been thinking about stuff and I’m trans. I’m a trans guy. I would prefer it if you stuck to calling me Charlie, none of this “Charlotte” wank.”
“Sure thing, man,” said Mike, glancing over at Sal with amusement. Sal was speechless, brain seeming to take a while to process everything.
“You’d make a beautiful man,” he eventually spluttered out. Charlie blinked.
“I know you already told me,” said Franz, “but it’s kinda cool we have some gays and bis and stuff, but you’re our first tran. Congrats.”
“Wait, who’s gay and bi here?” asked Nobuyuki.
A chorus of “me”s sounded from several boys. Kuzey kept very quiet.
“So, is there any straight people besides me?”
“I am, I think,” said Sal.
“Gotta keep a few around,” said Peter, “you know, so no one thinks we’re straightophobic.”
Charlie smiled. He wasn’t alone. Not only did he have Hunapo, but now he had a solid support network of friends. LGBTQ friends who might not know exactly what he was going through, but he wasn’t alone.
He was never going to be alone again.
“I can’t believe we’re your token straights,” said Nobuyuki.
Peter shrugged. “Who else am I gonna talk about football with?”
“Since when did I care about football?”
“No offence but this is about me, remember?” said Charlie, hands on hips. “I’m trying to come out here!”
“Sorry, sorry,” said Lars, “so you gonna come out to the whole school?”
“I don’t know. I mean, I want to start living as a boy, but school sucks. Everyone here sucks.”
“If anyone gives you trouble, we’d shank them,” Franz inspected his nails.
“I need to see how my brothers react, anyway. We can go from there.”
“I mean, I’d be really disappointed in Oscar if he ends up being a dick about it. Like, I like him, but I’d dump his ass in a second. And Logan fancies the agender one, right?”
“Yeah. But it’s different when it’s family, right? It gets real .”
“Fancying one of those transgenders makes it real,” said Peter, "right?"
“Pete, you use transgender as a noun again and I’ll kick you in the dick. We’ve been through this.”
“But it makes you so mad, you transgender.”
Charlie threw a pencil at him.
“You bisexual.”
“Yes, that’s me.”
Kuzey glanced between them.
“Wait, so are you gay or straight?” asked Sal.
“I dunno. I’m nowhere near figuring that out. I’m better than you, but I can only do so much at once. Anyway, might as well get some work done.”
“We got a full inbox,” said Lars, “guess people get lonely over the holidays. I’ve been trying to keep up, but…”
Charlie knew. He’d seen the surprisingly heartfelt, empathetic messages Lars was leaving people, the advice he’d give on bullying, loneliness, being in the closet. The last one Charlie himself had sent in. This was the guy who’d filmed Peter as his appendix burst and pointed and laughed. Lars didn’t do respectful. He wasn’t sensitive. Charlie hadn’t been sure the guy was capable of sympathy.
“We all need to pull our weight,” he told the group, “I want to go to the library in a bit and get some new year reading. Research some issues and how to talk to people about them.”
“A library?” asked Franz.
Charlie shrugged. “Oscar rubs off on me; sometimes I feel like sitting in a library and reading.”
“No, I get it. It’s quiet and aesthetic. Like the art classrooms.”
“You two are lame. I’m gonna play games in the IT suite.” Lars got up. “Later, gayboys.”
“You’re literally the only gay here, Lars,” said Peter, getting out a football and leaving.
Mike and Sal watched everyone else leave one by one, then they pulled out their lunches and phones.
“Think Oscar’s lonely?” asked Mike.
“Probably,” said Sal. “Wanna risk texting him?”
“Nah. Kinda wanna talk about Charlie.”
Sal looked at him, face unreadable for once. “You do?”
“Just... so what do you think about it?”
Sal shrugged. “That’s he- his business. I just want… him to be happy.”
“Still have a crush? I mean, do you get crushes on dudes?”
“No, but Charlie still kinda looks like a girl right now. I mean, when he starts looking like a guy, maybe I’ll not fancy him anymore. Or maybe it’ll turn out I’m bi. I don’t know, but Charlie’s a guy, so… I just want him to be happy.”
“Yeah, just want him to be happy.”
...
Hunapo held his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He would be okay. There were people on Charlie’s side. But it would be really, really nice if his brothers were too.
“We learnt about chromosomes in science,” he began, “you know, about how I have two X chromosomes so I’m a girl and stuff.”
Hunapo smiled. “Yeah, basic biology is so oversimplified. Shame not many people ever move past that.”
“Yeah, like, I’d rather not learn the hard stuff right now, but I still felt weird listening to it. Not as scary as hearing about puberty and how my body's gonna "go through some changes".”
“Don’t worry too much about your chromosomes,” said Hunapo, “you can’t change them, but that’s okay. They tell you what you look like, but they don’t tell you what you are inside.”
“Cheesy. I’m glad you’re with me.”
He hadn’t told Logan he’d asked Hunapo to pick him up from science club, just sent Oscar home and let him explain it. It also gave Logan an hour so to clean up himself and the house for his crush.
Outside his house, Charlie hesitated. This was it, the last chance to turn back. He looked up at Hunapo.
“It’s gonna be okay,” they replied. “Whatever happens, you’re gonna be free to start being who you are.”
He nodded, then opened the door.
...
“I mean,” Logan paced the room as it all sank in, “I guess we’re gonna save on water.”
That wasn’t the response Charlie had been expecting. Not even remotely. He sat on the sofa, watching Logan pace and Oscar sit in silent thought in the armchair. “Er, why?”
“Well, guys don’t shower as much. Some spray does us for a few days. Could probably stretch it out to a week, like me.”
“Absolutely not true,” said Oscar, “Charlie, you’re about to be going through puberty. You’re going to smell. You’re going to get spots and sweat and it’s gross. Please keep showering.”
“This conversations going weirdly,” Charlie mumbled.
Hunapo put down their cup of tea and put an arm around him. “Look, Charlie’s just poured his heart out. Are you gonna accept him or not?”
“Of course. We’re an LGBT-only household now,” Logan ruffled Charlie’s hair. “I mean, fuck, it’s gonna take a while to get used to it, but we’re gonna stick with you. The Coopers got each other’s backs, and no one messes with us.”
“You can have some of my old clothes,” added Oscar, “I think I have some stuff that doesn’t fit.”
“Thanks,” Charlie grinned, “and we can sell the girly clothes and you can use the money for bills-”
Logan cut him off. “No way, it’s your money. You’d have earned it. You can buy yourself some boys clothes and get a haircut.”
“I don’t mind treating Charlie to a haircut,” said Hunapo.
“Because sh- he caught it off you? Fuck. I was trying to joke but slipped up the “she” and “he”, sorry Charlie. It might take a while to get it right.”
“Chill, Loggie. As long as you’re trying. I still misgender myself in my head sometimes.”
“I do too,” added Hunapo, “it’s annoying, but happens. And I haven't finished indoctrinating Charlie in the trans agenda yet.”
"I'm going to throw bricks at fascists!" Charlie chirped.
"I'm so proud of you." Logan sat down next to Charlie and pulled him onto his lap for a cuddle. "Aww, kid, you haven't been worrying about how I'd take it, have you?"
Charlie nodded. "I... we never talked about this kind of stuff. I had no idea how you'd react."
"Everything about you is offensive, down to your smell," said Hunapo flatly.
"Shut the fuck up, Sheepshagger." He kissed the top of Charlie's head. "Chubba-Charlie, I'm always gonna support you, okay? You and Oscar are my brothers. My babies. Remember that. I'm here to help you be who you are."
"I absolutely support you too," added Oscar.
"Love you Loggie. Love you, Oscar."
"Love you too, baby."
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elanska · 4 years
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Miss not so sidekick - chapter 86
still on our latte dunnit...not! case. mob...apawn bring out her witness (oy, this level of preparedness is very suspicious, but yeah, Latte already figured this is Peridot's doing). Anyway, witness A also quickly hop onboard of Latte dunnit! train which makes us hates her already (you filthy liar! you dare to besmirch our latte??)
apawn and false witness A putting 'oh how horrendous her crime is' - making the library crowds murmuring amongst themselves.
Arwin asks Latte whether she dunnit (unlike Latte who read the novel, he doesn't know about the events or even about Peridot making this crime case. And even though Apawn is very suspicious to quickly loaded them all with the scenario and even bring the inside jobs testimony (you fuckin liar, I will get you for this!) making the case seemingly very tight, so probably it's nice gesture for him to ask Latte.......wait a minute, but he knows Latte is Ibelin's fangirl so there's no fuckin' way Latte would done it! at least not to Ibelin! do you badly wish Latte to off your rival or something? hey bunny!) (on the other thought, we found it's amusing for Arwin to be in situation where Ibelin got attacked! and instead getting all angry or protective over the female lead!Ibelin that he's fish #3 for, he's more concerned with Latte got accused and whether it's true or not *because he likes Latte now, and doesn't really care about Ibelin, heh. Our Arwin has really left the fisheries long time ago*
Latte, despite bearing the unjustness of totally got framed by cunning and filthy liars situation and uncomfortable stares from the crowds still keep her calm and 'dude, this whole farce' demeanor. She's totally innocent and telling him that she was staying at her home NEET style 2 hours ago and watching her daughter's hair being brushed by our magnificent Esula. Arwin follows it up by concocting 'then ‘tis must be daughter's revenge since you botched her hairdo' and Latte 'hey that's art!' (somehow they sounded like my parents on silly fight. Also, yes, they make fun of the situation again)
Kenneth, already have enough from our baka couple totally not taking this seriously, step up to take the straight man role. He confront the filthy liar inside job and Apawn if they really, seriously, claiming that Latte done this crime. Apawn and inside jobs (both filthy liars!) shuddering under Kenneth's serious stare. They didn't expect somebody will step up to defend their victim (me, glance at bunny = oy, they think you're a joke. Wait, yourself busy joking with Latte. Well, the jokes are on you then). Latte also seems surprised to see Kenneth step up to her defense, since he always treat her as nuisance and something annoying. C....could this be? a power of friendship? Mah Friend Kenneth?? uwu
this doesn't escape Arwin's attention, who quickly trying to establish his closeness with Latte by uh....getting closer and ask if she and Kenneth are friends now. Latte gives ambiguous answer and I'm sure Arwin feels a bit jealous here. Especially since he's been busy poking the fun with Latte while Kenneth shows himself to be da MAN! da KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR! defending the distressed lady in trouble (Latte seems very impressed by Kenneth's action too). Uh oh, it's like 0-1 for Arwin (but it's not like Kenneth ever sees Latte in that way. He's just serious character and feel offended that his friend get accused of crime that she said she didn't commit. While we think Arwin is totally okay with both do/do not commit crime option. He's magician's tower lord you know? even if Latte did, what would they do to her if he interjects? worse come to worse, he can just take Latte to his tower and that will be the end of that. plus, she will be separated from ibelin /heh/ ***oh no, I'm getting affected by this psychopath thoughts, moving on moving on***
oh yeah, talking about distressed lady, how come we forgot about the actual victim of bookshelf-nearly-fall-on-top-of-me Ibelin! sorry we forgot about you since those two filthy liars are accusing our precious Latte making our blood boils (GRAAAA!!). And hey Latte, aren't you a bit of also distant to not checking up on your best friend and start playing detective!mode instead? (uhm, she seems okay after Kenneth's save and Latte is always this curious tabby cat that check her surrounding so she might interested to check the bookshelf that nearly fall on top of her best friend ****and then she got framed immediately**** but we still think you really need to check on your friend Ibelin earlier, Latte).
Latte doing his late check-up on Ibelin who reaffirms that she's alright, but then starts to passive-aggressively reassures Latte that she believes Latte didn't do it, and even if she did, Latte must have good reason for it and how she totally wouldn't ever blame Latte. Uh Ibelin, we get it if you're mad got almost getting hurt and then suspicious people ganging up and *le gasp!* putting your friend as the culprit! ..........but, aren't you two friends? like, you totally knows that Latte likes you very much, always get trouble because she's hovering near you, yet never blames you (because you're like, her fave character, and yes she knows what she's getting into by hanging around you, yet still done it anyway), but this is even worse than vote of no confidence from Arwin before (at least he was asking if Latte done it instead 'it's fine, I totally understand if you done it'). Moreso to  says it loudly so everyone in their vicinity can hear it? and right after Kenneth put his vote of confidence in Latte's defense too?
though to be fair to Ibelin, Latte might also not be 100% sincere of being friends with Ibelin either. She likes Ibelin, sure, but as the perfect!angelic!character from her favorite novel and refuse to see past that. When Ibelin acted angelically (like Latte knows) Latte overjoyed, but if not, she frowned. Almost low-key pressuring (to act perfect angelically all the time) there, but latte brushed off her own perception and just making excuses for Ibelin (and from what we know from spoiler, Ibelin aware she have to act goody-goody angelical girl so probably no harm from our Latte's expectation on her either)
Anyway, anyway. furthermore, Ibelin's settings are a female lead so perfect that her best friend will ended up betraying her out of jealousy. We don't know how much it had happened to her before she came to Empire, but we know she's not a perfect angelic character image she's showing us so far, so maybe, just maybe, she had *bad* thought of Latte *really* backstab her this time, just like her previous 'friends' and being a goody-goody girl, choose to deliver the perfect angelic-but-still-passive-aggressive-I-know-what-you-did-you-two-faced-bitch! (noooo, our Latte is innocent! innocent I tell you!)
Ibelin vs Latte cracked friendship showdown interrupted by the head librarian whose name is good reminder to us all. Apawn like 'tsk, nuisance' but important reminder bringing a good and useful news (while we’re at it, please fire that insider job girlie, damn gurl being false witness of a crime! it’s a crime!). Y'see, the library recently installing CCTV recorder that they bought from magic tower! Apawn is very SHOCKETH (ha! fucketh over aren't you pawnie?!!). important reminder droning about the CCTV recorder are like, so expensive, but the magic tower apparently having discount sales so he buy it to protect rare books from filthy thieves
Latte, goes, "really?" and Arwin goes, "yea, the mages are whinning aout no revenue recently so........" LOLOLOLOL even though you're a genius, you apparently make a mistake lending Bishot to Latte for a month, Arwin (he's also following her around to taking cares of the thugs, but we won't hold it against him for that one). Also, see? see? he's a responsible tower master (well we already seen it previously when he investigate and punished the magicians for defective scroll case). When the household are having strict finance, he made that orb and sell them to finance the household (Yeah, I'm under impression that Arwin is the one solely responsible making this orb since 1. Arobrock and other mages having difficulties with making scrolls; and 2. He's the one to show up for the orb maintenance on the library today (of course other wizard could probably do maintenance and Arwin probably just get bored getting sieged by Peridot and other girls and/or decided to just stalk Latte per usual. Well, just my 2 cents)
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CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT
ADDISON WOODS, P 1
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Requested by @zoophobiapika
For anyone who does not know what this is, Character Spotlight 1 is where I criticized how a specified character is written. Part 2 is where I analyze the character and make predictions. Also, I'm doing these in a slightly different format, so if you see me redo my Damian character spotlight, don't be surprised (plus I'm not proud of that one). I am also specifically criticizing how the character is written. I'm no expert when it comes to art, so if you'd like a critique on his design, I'd recommend bugging @rzphhs.
Zoophobia belongs to our fandom's Lord and savior, Vivziepop. This, however, is not a critique of her CURRENT writing skills. Not sure if you noticed, but zoophobia is kinda old. The reason I'm doing this is because I believe that when we analyze stories we love and find flaws within them, we can find ways to improve our own writing. I do not hate Vivziepop, and this is not meant as an attack. Also, you're free to disagree with me. I'm not some godly figure who's always correct. However, I ask that any comments remain civil. If any arguments or whatever break out over this, Imma Chase some bitches with a pool noodle. We good? Let's go.
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" BREAKING NEWS. LOCAL CANADIAN HAS DECIDED TO ONCE AGAIN TALK BAD ABOUT AN INCREDIBLY CUTE CHARACTER! IF YOU HAVE SEEN THIS INDIVIDUAL REPORT THEM TO THE DEPARTMENT OF WHOGIVESAFUCK AND TURN THEM IN IMMEDIATELY. THIS PERSON WAS LAST SEEN ROBBING A STARBUCKS, WHICH YOU'D THINK WOULD BE A BIGGER CRIME, BUT HEY, WE ALL KNOW WHAT TAKES PRIORITY! "
Oh what a lovely day. I haven't slept all night, and I have ammonia or something. Lovely. What a perfect time to talk about a fictional character. Look, if it's any comfort to the fan girls who come across this, part 2 will have me being more of a fan than a critic. Just bare with me for this, and if worse comes to worse, blame Pika.
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As per usual, let's get started with some criticism I don't agree with.
Addison looks like a girl
Alright, first of all, don't read my stories. Second, maybe this is because I live in Canada where the need for equality is pounded into your head every other hour, but...yeah? Dudes can look girly. Have you never seen a girly guy before? If so, how? Now, I'm aware that some people have an issue with this because Addi is gay, and girly gays are a common trope when gays are presented in media. While yes, this is true, Addi being a sort of trope isn't necessarily a bad thing. A trope-y character can still be written well and be entertaining. Besides, it's been said that all original ideas have been done before, so good luck trying to ever find a 100% original character anywhere.
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That's about all, but before I tear this character limb from limb, I'd like to go over things I DO like about this character.
He was ok in chapter 3
Yeah, he had problems there too, like when he just stood around and had little to no reaction to his bff turning into a mini cuthulu, but those are not problems exclusive to Addi. He didn't stand out much, per say, but what we got wasn't terrible. His banter with others was fine and even funny at some points.
He has a character motivation
Yeah, his goal to find love is a boring one, but unlike some of our other important characters, he actually has one.
He might be more interesting in the future
Addison is basically an artificial life form created by Xirxene, and not only is Xirxen after him, if Vivz still goes with this concept in the reboot, he apparently has mad sword skills yo, a dark side called Adder, and can summon two giant ass snakes. If that concept is still going to be used, then hell yeah, I'm down for that shit
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Now the moment we've been waiting for. What do I have against Addi? Why do I find him annoying as a critic of zp? Grab a cup of maple syrup, because this'll be a doozy. I'll order my issues from least bothersome to the most.
His relationship with Gustav
Ok, I think we can all agree that this relationship was poorly done. While I myself have no problems with this pairing, the way Vivz had them come together was shit. Gustav looks like a pedo creep hitting on a student, and Addi looks like an idiot as he just lets Gustav insult one of his friends. Their relationship is hasty, and the only apparent attraction they have for each other is their looks (and Addi looking like a 12 year old doesn't really help Gustav's pedo case. Don't worry, any concerned readers, there isn't any pedophilia going on. Addi has apparently been aged up to 17, and Gustav is 19)
Just to clarify, hasty relationships in stories aren't in themselves a bad thing. This could serve as a reflection on both the characters. Perhaps they fall in love easily. Perhaps their just the type of people who'd do these sorts of things. The problem here is that Addi is the only one of the two who seems like he'd do this. It's stated by Dame (who could be hyperbolising here for all we know ) that Addi throws himself at guys very often. Gustav, however, doesn't seem to have anything about him that'd suggest he'd be down for dating someone he just met.
You know how this relationship could be fixed? Gustav is 19, so he would've graduated only a year or so ago. So, have him and Addi be old friends who hung out before Gustav graduated. Perhaps have them have an attraction to each other that was initially waved off by Gustav at first, but now he's back, he might be interested now. Also, have them be attracted to each other for more then just looks. Perhaps they respect each other's talents, perhaps they have similar interests. That'd make their relationship a little more believable.
His personality
You know, in all my time spent in the zp fan base, I've noticed that the majority of Addi fans like him because he's cute. Not because of his personality. Just because he's cute. I mean, I don't entirely blame them for focusing on his appearance more because his personality. .....woof.
Zoophobiacomic.com describes his personality as the following;
" Addison likes to keep to himself and spends most of his time working in the Art Wing. While he doesn’t often open up to others and can sometimes hide away an air of elitism, he has developed a close friendship with his classmates Damian and Sahara. Their outward energy and enthusiasm has begun to counteract Addison’s typically introverted nature"
So he's shy, and a bit of an elitist, and he's slowly becoming more self confident. Ok.....now let's look at what the comic itself presents us. For one thing, he's surprising sassy, especially in ch3, not just to Dame, but to Leeson the crazy priest as well. He's also surprisingly self centered. Look at how he reacts to Dame being a shit to other people compared to how he reacts to Dame being a shit to him. Orchestrating an event that gets your cousin set on fire? That's ok. Preventing Addi from going on a date? That bastard! He doesn't even seem to care when Gustav insults one of his best friends. He also doesn't show any regret about attacking Mackenzie. Him having these traits aren't a problem, but this raises a bit of a concern for me since I don't think this is the impression we're supposed to get from his character.
His dumbass decisions
Yes Addison, go off on a date with some sexy random dude when there's an entire organization after you and you have no way of defending yourself. 10/10. 100/100. A+. Gold Star, Gud Job, Perfect Logic, Go buy a colouring book you infant!
His PTSD
Let me get one thing strsight (so at least one thing in this post isn't gay af), I don't have an issue with him having PTSD. My problem is how it's handled. The story acts like Addi attacking Mackenzie is just peachy keen because it was triggered by his ptsd. Except guess what? It isn't.
I'm going to be honest, I (someone with more then one handicap) hate it when those with disabilities are treated like babies, and The world must conform to their needs, and nothing is their fault because mashed potatoes. Look, a handicap can affect how you live your life, but it doesn't mean you get a free ticket to easy street. If anything, your life gets harder. And guess what? People babying you and pretending that your disability prevents you from any fault DOESN'T HELP. IT MAKES YOU WORSE. I'll use one of my own handicaps as an example. I have Auditory Processing Disorder. One symptom is that I can't hear myself, do I often talk incredibly loudly without realising it. Now imagine I went through life always yelling because no one told me to take it down a peg. Soon, yelling would become a habit, and it'd be a much harder problem to fix.
You guys starting to realize why other characters acting like Addi did nothing wrong bothers me? That's not how you react when someone with a disability does something like Addi does. It also makes me concerned that the comic will continue down the route of "oh, he has a disorder, so he's not really at fault ", excusing various bad things Addi does on his PTSD.
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So now I've typed out enough words to rewrite the American constitution, I'll end it here. Thank you for reading, and tell me what you think. If you'd like to see me critique another character like this, feel free to request it.
I apologize for wasting your time.
-ATOUN
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(Wheezes on floor.) You are amazing. You are the most amazing of persons. How would the boys react if after that, the S/O's confidence grew and when Undyne was training with them, they wore crop tops and jogging pants, showing off their tats and scars to everyone? But the second someone other than the bros or Undyne mention them, they get spartan kicked away. Someone tried to touch once, and his arm was broken in half a second. Only the Bros get to touch anything on the S/O without permission.
My Heart = Kablammo
You speak with such kind words, Anon! Of course I shall answer your amazingly edgy ask!!
Underfell
Red-
Red was glad that you were able to open up to him and show off the scars of your past, figuratively and literally. In all honesty, he found your quirks and past life quite interesting and hot. So when Undyne had busted down that door, it became a blessing and a curse. She had quite literally opened the door of opportunity for you.
 A curse because duh, he’d have to fix the door, but also because Undyne was the toughest thing alive. Like seriously sweetheart, are you sure about this?
On the other hand though, Red starts to notice those small flares of self-confidence rise out from within you. It puts a smile on his face knowing that the true you was starting to show. The true blue tough you.
Plus, the more revealing clothes were an extra incentive in his eyes.
It was after another long training session with Undyne that you had experienced your first little…ouburst.
“Nice job today, nerd!” Undyne patted you harshly on the back as she slurped up a whole bottle of water in one pull. “Your stance was a little bunked up, but hell, your agility makes up for it! You’re a damn good fighter, punk!” She ruffles your hair, making your head spin.
“H-hey!” You choked with a smile. “Knock it off, fishface!”
“FISHFACE?!” Though she sounds mad, you can hear her stifling her laughter. “WHY YOU LITTLE-”
A loud wolf whistle interrupts her rampant yelling and obliges both of your heads to turn. There stood a monster with a devious gaze, eyeing your body up and down like a piece of meat. “Nice tats and cat scratches, girlie? They actually real, or is you just a little girl tryna make it out alive in the underground?”
You look down at your torso and know he’s talking about you. And you didn’t know what came over you as you high kicked that monster into the oblivion of the waterfall. 
Landing square on your feet, you received an encore of clapping from your dear fish friend. “YEASSS!!! YOU FINALLY GOT THE RIGHT STANCE DOWN!!!” Undyne whooped, and were those tears in her eyes???
That same day, Red had decided to treat you to some burgs and fries at Chillby’s. “hope you’re hungry doll, cause i sure am.” 
You sat next to Red’s stool with an empty stomach and full spirits. “Of course I’m hungry, nerd. What kind of person do you take me for?” You ask, exasperated.
Red laughs and puts his hands up in defeat. “alright alright, doll. you’re hungry. i get that.” Sans flags down the flamesman bartender with a wave of his hand. “two orders of burg and fries, my good man.”
Chillby is visibly repulsed by his presence as he nods his head and disappears into the backroom.
You eyed the flamesman and your jovial bonefriend.”He doesn’t seem to like you that much, Red.” You mused teasingly.
Red seems surprised at your assumption. “what? pfft, nah. chillby loves me. he’s just not good at showin’ how he feels, ya’ know?”
You roll your eyes, obviously not believing his lie. “More like he LOVES you.”
“oh ha ha ha. your wordplay never ceases to amuse me, sweetheart.” He rewards you with a slow clap.
You giggle, curtsying in your seat. “Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all night-”
“Yo guys, its the tattoo girl!” Someone exclaims from behind you. 
You jolt as an unfamiliar finger prods at your back. “I hear humans stab themselves to get the ink to stay on!”
Another hand pokes at your back, “Oh shit! That’s fucking meTAAAAHHHH!!!”
Oh stars, did you accidentally just snap this guy’s arm like a a twig? Oops.
You were about to apologize when a hand grabs you. “we’re gonna leave now, doll.” The world warped around you as Red quickly teleported you onto the bed with a plop.
He seems a little breathless as he sits next to you, his hand still firmly holding your wrist. “okay. i’m gonna be the first one to ask. what. the hell. was that?!”
You start to panic. Oh my, you’ve been screwey all damn day, haven’t you? “I-I’m sorry, Sans! I p-panicked!” You raked your fingers through your hair. “Gosh, it’s like some awful nervous tick or something.”
Sans couldn’t stop himself from yelling. “some nervous tick that was, huh?!” He can’t believe you just snapped some sad sap’s arm. He cringes as he recall the event. Oh stars, that noise.
Red eyed you nervously. You were the exact definition of hell’s little angel, presenting danger in such an innocent body. Well, innocent for his standards. Negative thoughts started to shroud him. ‘what if she turns against me?’ ‘does she hate it when i touch her?’ ‘am i a nuisance to her?’
His thoughts are interrupted as you guide his hand to rest on your chest. He looks into your reassuring gaze and blushes. Your fingertips brush against his wrist, leaving the sensation of you fresh in his senses. “Sans, you know I trust you, right?” You asked.
Red breaks from his daze. “o-of course, doll. i never doubted that.” He bashfully scratches his skull with the other hand. “a-and i, uh, trust you too, s/o.”
You smile, planting a kiss on his forehead. “Good. Don’t ever forget that.”
“oh i won’t doll.” Red feels his soul flutter in hid ribcage. It was moments like these that not only helped to reevaluate his relationship, but his own relationship with himself. He leans his forehead against your. “not ever.”
“And Sans?”
“hm?”
“I promise to never break your arm in two.”
Red pushes you away and chuckles. “well that’s a relief!”
Edge-
“I-I DON’T UNDERSTAND, PET?” Edge stared at your looming form as you held a sword to his neck. “H-H-HOW DID YOU-”
“Training,” You smiled. “Lots and lots of training.” You draw your sword back and help your bonefriend up.
He begrudgingly accepted your pity, a scarlet blush illuminating his skull. “W-WHATEVER. I SHALL DEFEAT YOU NEXT TIME. I WAS MERELY GOING EASY ON YOU.”
“HA! Didn’t you say that three matches ago, PUNK!?” Undyne interjects from afar. You realized that all of you training has payed off as you watch Edge turn a darker red.
“SHUT IT, SUSHI BAR!” Papyrus retaliates, making you nearly choke on air.
“WHAT?!” Ho boy, this will not end well. “THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL ME, SKELETOR?”
“SKELETOR?! HOW DARE YOU REFER TO ME AS SUCH A HEINOUS TITLE?!” 
Okay, time to play peacekeeper. “Now hold on just a second, guys-”
With a sudden force, Edge and Undyne are swept down to the ground, with only you left standing. You look for the source of the attack, cautiously eyeing your surroundings. Who knows what could be out here?
“Nice tats, babe.” A voice cooed in you ear. Instinctively, you delivered the harshest round house kick you could deliver and made the sneaking monster fly into orbit. And as quick as you were to attack, you were even quicker when it came to helping your friends up.
You weren’t quite sure who that monster was, but you sure as hell didn’t want to know. Just as long as they stayed away, you were fine.
You were with Edge when one of the snow monsters had decided to touch your tattoos, mind you without your permission. So it came to no surprise that you decided to snap their arm in two.
“NYEH!?” Edge yelped, jumping back at the loud cracking sounds. “S/O? DID YOU JUST-”
“I’m sorry!” You whined. “I-I didn’t mean it. They just s-scared me!”
Edge had a grin that could outshine a Christmas tree. “DO IT AGAIN, BUT TRY BREAKING THE ARM IN EQUAL PIECES!”
What??
You blinked. “What?”
Edge nudged you forward to the wallowing victim. “YOU HEARD ME! DESTROY THIS PERVERTED CREATURE!”
Your hands hovered over the monster hesitantly. “B-but I don’t think they-”
“NONSENSE!” Edge assured. “THIS VILE PLEBEIAN TOUCHED YOU WITHOUT ASKING NICELY! PUNISH HIM FOR HIS CRIMES! NOW!!!” 
You sighed, knowing there was no way out of this. Powering your fists back, you get ready to attack once more.
“Sorry dude. Duty calls.”
You and Edge sit peacefully on the couch, your hands coated freshly in blood and dust. “Y’know, I think we were a little too hard on that guy.”
Edge scoffs, flipping the channels. “AND I THINK YOU’RE GOING SOFT, PET.”
“If you consider beating a guy to death soft,” You snuggle into his side. “Consider me damn stuffed animal.”
Edge smirked as he ran his fingers up and down your arm. He absolutely loved not sharing you. It was like winning the lottery and choosing to not donate a portion to charity, thus leaving him with the whole shebang.
“YOU’RE A VERY VICIOUS STUFFED ANIMAL, THEN” Edge commented.
“Ha!” You started to shake with laughter. “I suppose I am.”
 After minutes of silence and idle chatter on the TV, you and Edge fell asleep peacefully on the couch. 
Edge, even in his sleep, forever treasured these moments because by gosh, no other man truly deserved your affection as much as Edge did.
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imjustmejca1971 · 6 years
Text
I was (or am?) a racist- a blog about privilege
I figured it was time to call out a bit of the privilege in my life and to be honest with some of the ignorance I've had toward others and been on the receiving end of. I’m hoping by doing so it will allow all of us to see things (even for a moment) from another point of view.
I was born in the early 1970's to a loving family. We moved to small town in southeast Kansas when I was six. There were rumors that there was a sign that said "N***, don't let the sun go down on your ass here" in front of the city limits, but it must’ve been taken down before we moved there as I don’t recall ever seeing it.
As I remember, there were two African American families, in addition to one Latino and one Native American family, when I started school. As a young child, I didn't see anyone different because of what color their skin was. I was an introverted kid, so making connections was difficult. I would've been happy to hang out with anyone.
As I started to get a little older, I would listen more to the things adults would say in restaurants, sometimes the neighborhood or other public areas. I would hear things about "dark" parts of town in larger cities that were “dangerous” to go into. I would hear how it wasn't natural for people to be with someone outside their race. I would hear how people would take advantage of "the system," even if I didn't know what "the system" was. I heard stories of gang members that hung out in malls. I was always looking under cars in parking lots so my tendons wouldn't be cut.
When we moved to a larger city (for Kansas anyway), I saw many more people different than me. After all the stories I had heard, I was on guard a bit more. I didn't feel as safe or as protected as I did living in a small town.
When I was in my junior year of high school, there were a lot of rumors of the "gangs" infiltrating our school. I didn't think a lot of it, as I had never seen it. One day, I was leaving school when someone from behind me grabbed my ankles, which caused me to go head first into the pavement. I don't remember a lot of what happened after that, but I recall a circle of people intervening. I heard later I was "lucky," as the next thing that traditionally happened was for gang members to kick the person in the face until they were unrecognizable. I didn't see that kid again after that, but I was a little more scared from that point forward.
In my first job outside of high school, I met a girl who was smart, beautiful and very sweet. She had an amazing smile and we formed a friendly and somewhat flirty connection. She also happened to be black. I thought about asking her out (this is pre-out of the closet Chris), but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to or how she or other people would react to it. She left the job within a few months and I never saw her again. I still remember her smile.
A couple of years later, I was with a friend who wanted to stop to get beer at a liquor store. We were in my car, which was a red convertible. My friend went in the store (I was under 21) and I stayed in the car. While I was waiting, three guys came up to the car and one got in the passenger seat. I was frightened, but I tried to act like they were just playing around. The guy in my seat asked me for $5. I told him I didn't have any cash (I didn't). He responded he knew that I did because a "rich white boy" like me must've had cash. He wasn't overtly threatening, but more like jokingly serious. I again tried to play it off and he seemed to be ready to get out of my car. At that point, my friend came out and saw the two guys outside the car and one sitting with me. He got angry and yelled "what the hell is going on?" Any joking at that point went out the window. The guy got out and started getting in my friend's face (who was twice the guy's size). My friend was able to get into the car and I started backing out. They wanted us to get out of the car and started beating on it. One had a bat and started hitting the trunk and then knocked the side view mirror off my car. We sped away. I avoided "that part of town" from that point forward.
I moved to Kansas City in 1994. I recall being told there were "bad areas" not to go into. The neighborhood I lived in was only a few blocks from one of "those" streets. When I drove home, I would sometimes lock my doors at stoplights when I saw someone nearby.
On one of my soaps in the early 90s, a character I really loved started dating someone of a different race. It felt odd to me. It was the first time I had seen it. The relationship didn't last long (they rarely do in soaps) and the show didn't have anyone of different races dating again for quite some time.
Working for a global telecommunications company in the mid to late 90's, as well as developing a more diverse group of friends, I began to learn how much of what I thought I knew were actually stereotypes. I realized the negative things that had I had experienced above were about the PERSON, not the race. I took classes and even began to teach them on diversity. I began to feel a kinship with other minorities, because I knew what it was like to have people judge me just for being who I was.
That same soap had another character I loved start an interracial relationship years later. This time, it didn’t seem odd at all. It wasn’t any different than any other relationship.
Looking back, I truly hope that my ignorance was never known by others. I hope no one saw the fear in my eyes or heard the locking of my doors. I hope the thoughts I had on the inside were never acted upon on the outside. Do those thoughts still pop up from time to time? Yes. Do I always recognize those thoughts are wrong and never act on them? Yes.
So, why am I sharing this now?
I am very aware I've led a life of privilege. I am a man. I am white. While I am gay, I can "pass" for straight, despite that no one should have to. I've never been turned down for a loan, employment or housing because of my skin color or any other reason so many wrongly are. I have, however, been listening for over 40 years to comments about “fags,” “faggots,” “girly-men,” and other slurs. I’ve heard how gay men can’t possibly be real men. That gay people can’t truly love. That we deserve to die from AIDS or be beaten if we flirt with someone not interested, or literally go to Hell for our behaviors. All of these things were said (and still are) without any regard for their impact. These things, over time, can shape how you look at people, relationships and the world.
Race is a difficult thing for many to talk about. I hear so many say, "I just don't look at people that way" or "I'm color-blind." Many may say that, many may believe that, but it's not always true. We don’t want to believe that about others, let alone ourselves.
Remember the African American girl in the bikini in Texas that was thrown to the ground by a white police officer a few years back? Would the reaction have been different if it was a black police officer throwing a white girl to the ground?
How about all of the unarmed people of color that have been killed when white people under the same or worse circumstances have had every courtesy, every benefit of the doubt given to them?
What about Trayvon Martin? If he had been white, walking through the “wrong” neighborhood and a black man had killed him, would the reaction have been different? If he were white wearing a hoodie through the same neighborhood he was killed in, would that have made a difference? When it's a person of color versus a white man, we always seem to give the white person the benefit of the doubt and the person of color the opposite..or worse.
Think about the end of the book (or movie) “A Time to Kill.” The lawyer (spoiler alert) won the case because he had the jury envision the crime of a little girl being beaten and raped and nearly hung by a tree..but with the change that the girl was white instead of black.
Stephon Clark. Alton Sterling. If you’re not familiar with those names, look them up online. Their stories are horrific and there are so many, many more that don’t make the news for more than a blip.
Our first thought seems to be "they” must have done something wrong. Would we feel the same way if it were police officers of color killing unarmed white dudes? We say we should always obey the law and show respect. Yet time and time again, some in law enforcement act differently toward people of color because they know they can get away with it or don’t see what they are doing is wrong.
Let me be clear. I believe that the majority of police officers are NOT corrupt and provide a tremendous service to the public. They are underpaid and underappreciated. That belief, however, doesn't mean there aren't issues with some. And ignoring those issues has happened for decades and continues to this day. It doesn't have to be one or the other. I can support the police and know most do everything they can to serve and protect, while still recognizing the issues with others.
Racism has been a part of our lives all of our lives. Have things gotten better? Yes. Do we live in a post-racial society? NO.
The challenge is no one wants to admit anything about systemic racism. We know it's bad, we know it's wrong, but it's ingrained in us to think a certain way..and we don't want to admit or even recognize when we do.
Look at all the reaction to the confederate flag/statue removals last year. We're so concerned about "heritage," but not the reality of what those images stand for or why they were put in place during the civil rights era. We know what we BELIEVE, but that's not necessarily what's TRUE. There’s also a bit of hypocrisy- we’re just fine with people bulldozing Native American sacred grounds to lay a pipeline or a build a new building, but we’re not if we feel it’s “our” history that’s being messed with.
We see people roll their eyes or negate what happened in Charlottesville last year. People can't possibly believe what happened in World War II could EVER happen again, because we know better now. Those of us that are minorities know differently. It can always happen again..and mainly when otherwise good people look a different way.
Why is it when a terrorist act is caused by "radical Islam" it's one thing, but when it's a white "Christian," it's another? Why is it when ISIS kills people, the entire Muslim religion is blamed, but when the Westboro Baptist Church (or "alt-right") does horrifying things we are just supposed to know they don't represent all of Christianity?
People react to discrimination in different ways. Some take it in a quiet silence. Some want to educate. Some get angry and express that anger. Some want to build bridges.
I hear people say, "This is America. If you don't like it, leave." My first response to that is usually quite expletive ridden. This my America, too. I love my country. I love the dream I've always believed it can be. That doesn't mean I blindly follow any one person of any party. That doesn't mean I don't recognize we've done HORRIBLE things to people throughout our history.
Silence at times can be deafening. We’re told we have to remember that not everyone posts on FB. Not everyone comments. Many don't like being "political." That in and of itself, however, is privilege. Many of us are "political" because the same rights that others take for granted are ones we have fought and bled for. We learn to accept the racist, homophobic, transphobic and misogynist things we see online because that's always been a part of life. "That's just talk," or "I'm not going to agree with everything someone says."
So..what's the solution? It's not an easy one. First, we have to admit that we're not perfect. Those of us with privilege tend to live in a bubble of it and have no comprehension of being outside of it. We tend to only want to reinforce our vision of the world.
We desperately want normalcy..a belief that the world is a good place and that all bad times will pass, so we ignore all we can or at minimum limit access to the contrary.
Second, we should listen to others' experiences and try to understand, even if we don't agree. There’s a significant difference between ignorance and HATE. Ignorance can be overcome through education, love and understanding. Hate needs to be contained. We’re not going to know which is in a person’s heart until we listen.
Third, if someone grows and changes their viewpoint, they should be welcomed, not shunned for the time they were wrong.
Hopefully we can all start to stop marginalizing each other. Perhaps we can start understanding more of what we have in common while also being able to embrace differences that don't hurt ourselves or others.
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