#sleep with the entire consenting human population if you want

[shit-people-probably-didnt-say]

Diego: I can be compassionate

Five: You just called your brother a whore

Diego: *Scoffs* Like thats the worst thing Ive ever called him

Allison: It gets worse??

#tua #you decide which brother #most will assume klaus #but consider we’ve seen Luther sleep with 2 women and Klaus’ Dave was off screen implied #also fyi whores dont exist #sleep with the entire consenting human population if you want #break the world record for shagging #is there a world record? if not go forth and make one #tua shitpost #five hargreeves #tua incorrect quotes #the umbrella academy #tw: sex shaming #diego hargreeves

[pinkandpurple360]

Triggering material: Dangerous SA victim blaming rhetoric of the HBoss fandom that’s sending a dangerous message and hurts real people:

Pretend this isn’t about your ship or your faves, just listen objectively.

[character] guess who, of HBoss is not a victim of r*pe / SA by [character] because:

The guy doing it to him is an abuse victim himself

This is not an excuse.

The guy doing it is sad and crying. His mascara is flowing. He’s on anti depressants.

I’m sad you think that’s an excuse to SA someone regularly.

The guy doing it doesn’t mean it.

Still doing it.

The guy doing it is a queer man!

His victim is a queer man.

The guy doing it has repressed sexual urges he needs to let out, his wife and him didn’t have a good sex life and she’s a bitch. He makes him feel better.

Hell fucking no. Just no.

You’re playing into the stereotype of gay men being sexual predators.

You’re defending the sexual abuse of a queer male character. An abuser can be any orientation. How many lgbt+ victims are afraid to speak out on their SA by another lgbt+ person, in case they also fuel stereotypes, do you think?

The guy doing it is offering him something in return

He’s holding his job and entire livelihood over his head and knows he can be killed by him at any time.

The guy doing it doesn’t understand consent cause he’s very sheltered, he doesn’t mean it. He’s actually in love.

Id argue that he doesn’t understand love because he’s sheltered, he actually just thinks consent doesn’t really matter. And a victim shouldn’t worry about the abusers rationality.

He (the main character) is just a sex worker so he can’t be a victim of SA, you’re a prude who hates sex workers

He is not willingly a sex worker this is not his choice of work, he has no choice in the matter. And sex workers have higher rates of SA and r*pe than any other member of the population!!! Sex workers are human beings who get to say “no” who shouldn’t have to sleep with people who abuse them and who people they find repulsive. They should choose who they want to be with, on their terms. Sex workers do not have to be down for everything!!!

It’s kinky and meant to be dark

If it’s meant to be dark it should stay dark, and stop trying to make the SA a comedy and then into a sad romance. It also worryingly, correctly portrays something sex workers have to deal with, Johns imposing increasingly violent, damaging, possibly fatal kinks on them with each session, and coercing the person to go along with the elevating kinks out of their comfort zone because they know that they can’t really decline.

He’s the top, he’s tough and he’s masculine. He’s confident in his sexuality. He can’t be a victim of SA

Girl. Go home. That is sick. This is the worst fucking one for me because when are we going to let the myth die that only effeminate or weak virginal people can be victims of SA

He deserves it because he’s hypersexual to other people too, and he stole from the guy and played with his heart.

Nobody. Deserves. S.A. No matter what. Scream. Also being objectified in this manner actually triggers an unnatural hypersexuality as a way to claim back a feeling of control over the situation. That is no excuse either, but it shows that SA only leads to more SA.

(Some micro-aggression about bisexual/Pansexual or polyamorous people or anyone who is promiscuous in general, being down for everything from everyone at all times)

Stop.

He’s a bad person too! He’s just as toxic!

Bad people don’t deserve SA. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A GOOD PERSON TO BE A VICTIM OF ABUSE

The guy doing it thinks He likes that sort of thing.

He was told “Stop it.” In that same scene. He won’t stop.

He’s a grown man who can make his own decisions.

You can be any age or gender and be a victim of SA, his decisions have been taken away from him. That is not something to be ashamed of. Small decisions being available don’t downplay big decisions not. His abuser is a grown man too.

Ok, it is SA, they need to break it off, make character growth, and then they’ll get back together healthier. Redemption!

“He can change!!” “I went back to him Martha, he changed just for me!” Once you get SA’d by somebody, PLEASE NEVER GO BACK TO THEM. YOU DONT OWE THEM SHIT even if they’ve changed. The reward for you not being shitty anymore isnt the love of the person you abused.

He secretly wants it and enjoys it, he’s playing hard to get. He hates himself too much to admit he loves it and is afraid to let it develop into love…the guy doing it is the real victim here.

Jesus fucking H Christ hopping on a pogo stick Batman go to gilded jail

I know this last one is probably what the writers are trying to do but that doesn’t make it any less fucking disgusting and vile.

Lust shouldn’t be about force. And there’s no going back once you have forced that.

#triggering #sa mentions #mentions of sa #helluva boss fandom #Helluva Boss

[venom-inside-you]

ommmgggg just read that ask ! give us more symbiotic powers during sex Head Canons !

Okay! Y’all asked for it! I am sorry but also not sorry if this is not coherent to anyone else but me but I have a lot of thoughts so this is long, again Nonnie you asked for this. I’m also on mobile and it would be a pain in the ass to put a read-more so sorry about that as well!

(Please note mun has only seen the movie and read a few snippets of the comics regarding Venom so these are completely made up out of mun’s mind and not part of any universe except my own lololol. I also refer to Venom as he/him.)

Symbiote Powers During Sex - Head Canons!

-Before we talk about anything else!!!!! Venom’s species reproduce asexually, so he does not inherently understand copulation between humans nor does he understand the pleasurable aspects of sex. He has Eddie’s memories but that is not the same (will explain later) and understands that is how Earth is populated, but regularly scolds Eddie for being weak to others’ sexuality and needing the human connection in order to survive, constantly criticizes humans for being overly-emotional life forms. Eddie has also not had sex or has had daydreams or wet dreams about having sex with Venom.

-Let’s talk about long distance. This symbiote can stretch out pretty far from Eddie’s body so if his partner/SO/lover/whatever is in another room entirely, small tendrils or even larger tentacles can be used to do whatever.

-Speaking of what the tendrils, tentacles can do, here’s a few suggestions: licking, sucking (with little suction cups like an octopus), biting, tugging, vibrating!!! You name it, Venom can probably do it and with more than one tendril/tentacle at a time.

-Don’t even get me started on texture!! But let’s— Venom’s mass is cool and slick to the touch, but not sticky or too goopy. He does produce a substance so that in his constant shape-shifting, he doesn’t create too much heat from the friction so this could be used as a sexual lubrication. He also produces saliva that is similar to the lube but thicker and a little more sticky. ANYWAY, these tendrils/tentacles can be ribbed, bumpy, ultra smooth, and textured after a real penis (most likely Eddie’s but he’s been in other humans before Eddie so it might sorta be an amalgamation of multiple) among other textures I haven’t even mentioned!

-Foreplay (long distance or not) - tendrils and tentacles EVERYWHERE. Humans (usually) have two hands and two arms— Eddie can only do so much!! But Venom can do anything, literally anything with whatever amount of mass he’d like to use. Multiple tendrils can come together to make one tentacle or one tentacle can be split into multiple tendrils depending on the partner(s) pleasure— yes I said multiple, we’ve got a poly-alien on our hands. The more the merrier but Eddie gets tired so keep that in mind. This also means that he can fashion himself (or even Eddie’s member 👀) after all of those sick-looking Bad Dragon-esque dildos (more on that later).

-Sex can be as spontaneous or as regular as Eddie and the partner(s) and Venom want it to be, but Venom can read Eddie’s mind (and vice versa, sorta) so if Eddie thinks of something Venom may not even hesitate to go ahead and do it. Consent is always key of course!!!

-First time with a partner(s), Venom will most likely stay in the background of Eddie’s mind to experience it happen in real time. He has access to all of Eddie’s memories but it’s something else entirely to be feeling the actual act rather than watching it. Symbiotes are really observant, which gives them the ability to make quick decisions to get the upper hand, so this translates over to sexual acts.

-For Eddie’s sake, Venom prefers if the partner asks or allows Venom to participate. Venom may get more touchy-feely with the partner(s) as time goes on if the physical aspect hasn’t been introduced yet.

-Eddie is up to try anything once. Venom will do anything without hesitation, which could lead to some negative sexual experiences for either side or both if it isn’t handled right.

-To piggy-back off that, Venom does not understand aftercare. In the beginning, if Venom is too rough, Eddie is the one that has to do the aftercare. It may cause some tension between him and Eddie and the partner(s), but more conversations about what’s expected is always a healthy way to approach boundaries and future sexual endeavors! Soon he’ll start to get it, but it will be rough going at first.

-Once a boundary/sexual relationship has been established, Venom will become possessive of said partner(s). He will also touch the partner(s) in public where he knows he won’t get caught and if the partner(s) get into a position where others want to possess the partner(s), Venom will then mark the partner(s) in a place so that others know that they belong to him. And Eddie.

-Venom has observed Earth animals and their mating behaviors (either through personal experience or watching the Discovery channel while Eddie’s sleeping), so he knows that humans do not have a mating season. He does not experience heats or ruts but can pick up on human’s fluctuation hormones and pheromones enough to know when someone is aroused.

-Does Venom orgasm? Yes, I think he does. Just like a xenomorph, I HC that Venom inherits traits from the beings he has been in before. Being in Eddie for so long, he would then adapt the ability to orgasm. When he does, his mass shifts like it does when he hears higher frequencies (see the scene with the airplane and the MRI machine) and he gets a bit feral.

-Does Venom ejaculate? As a symbiote, no. But when he decides that he wants to, he uses Eddie’s cum (whether or not he has to manipulate Eddie’s body to produce more), but this also means that if he has sex with a fertile partner, that baby(ies) will not have symbiotes in them in utero. In order for baby to have a symbiote, he would have to make one but that’s a long story.

-Am I getting a little too lost in the woods here? Maybe I should rapid-fire a few to get my brain straight

-Venom can pin the partner down by any body part and basically anywhere. Weight and size don’t even matter in this context, and Y’ALL HE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT YOUR CHUBBY PARTS OR ANYTHING YOU HAVE INSECURITIES ABOUT. GENDER ALSO DOESN’T MATTER AT ALL. Whatever he can tease to pull another moan out of you is exactly what he wants.

-He can also LIFT YOU IN THE AIR. I REPEAT— LIFT YOU UP IN THE AIR AND USE YOU AS A FLESHLIGHT. For multiple holes as well.

-Biting— lots of biting. Can draw blood (again, see boundaries) from the body and clean you up afterwards.

-Breath play, choking, blood play, knife play (like he can draw blood from you himself), whipping (think about all those textures!), etc

-If he has too much energy and he can’t use it all on you because he knows he can snap you like a twig, his tendrils can crack like whips around him so don’t be scared! He’s just really excited.

-THE TONGUE. I guess I have to explain this one a little bit but just imagine his tongue as whatever you want it to do, just like the tendrils and the tentacles. Wrapped around a clit, vibrating, corkscrewed around a cock and balls, etc

-Saliva literally everywhere. He doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.

-He may not talk to the partner much but when he does, it’s usually very like proper and straight-forward. As in “You may orgasm now” or “We can feel that you are close to your peak” etc

-PET NAMES. He likes calling you Little One

-Pet names for him? He prefers being called Venom because like duh that’s his name and he doesn’t understand the pet name at first. Whatever the partner(s) is/are comfortable with calling him, he will respond to it after a while. Maybe even get an ego boost from it.

-Is there anything he doesn’t like to do? YES. Vore— sorry y’all. Even if the partner can regenerate, that’s not something I as a writer am comfortable with writing. In other universes, maybe.

Okay so I’m going to stop there or I’ll be here all day. I’m sure I’ll think of some more but if there are any specific scenarios, please ask!! Anon is on so feel free to submit whatever your heart desires!

#venom #venom movie #ask blog #rp blog #symbrock #we are venom #marvel #mcu #venom let there be carnage #tom hardy #Eddie Brock #Eddie and Venom #Venom and Eddie #tw: mentions of vore #tw: blood #headcannon #sex headcannon #symbiote sex headcannon

[specialmoogakii]

Medieval!Vampire Bakugo x reader

-STILL A WIP,i found this old piece around my documents-

((if you like me to continue it,write it in the comment))

There were many nights where katsuki was furious or agitated, there was always a new problem for katsuki to fix mostly caused by your father, you could hear his steps running in the hallway and screaming to the guards to follow him in the military supply room for a private conversation. It disturbed your nap, clearly hear katsuki yell insults to the guards from the third floor.

 Other than multiple steps of the guards, the whole castle including the village was quiet as usual. The village was fullied of vampires like katsuki, they were fugitives of your old town because of your father's strict rules on species like them, he wasn't a fan of them especially after they killed your grandpa in a cold war.  Now, he is planning an attack on the vampire town after you decide to run away with katsuki.

"THAT FUCKING BRAT! NOT EVEN ONE MINUTE OF PEACE!" Katsuki says frustrated and tries to keep himself in control, the guards look at him afraid to say something to the angry king, it would be a self-destruction move if they try to even get close to him. The king calms down and takes the map, he walks to the big table and commands the guards to get close to it. Katsuki prepared a new technique of resistance, for now, he isn't planning to strike an attack because even if his hate for the humans is strong, he doesn't feel like causing a new massacre as they did with his species.

"B-but sir! we cannot submissive to their attacks forever! We need to atta-" Katsuki slams his hands on the table and growls, the guard screams a surprise "EeEk-" and immediately shut himself up, trembling like a scared dog hoping he didn't make the king more mad than he usually is.

"Did I stutter? this is an order, not a kid game. If I said we need to do this new resistance method.." bakugo takes a deep breath in and composes himself, trying to not murder the guard for speaking back. He was ready to slams his hands on the table again to make the guards more afraid than before. He slams the hands on the wood stronger than before, showing his powerful powers and his big fangs. It's a thing that vampires do for showing their power and dominance.

"...THEN YOU NEED TO FOLLOW IT. NO SPEAKING BACK, BRATS!" The guards immediately went away from the room, trying to get away from the king as much as possible and warning the others about the order that katsuki gave to them. The steps of the guards were very loud, they can probably disturb a whole neighborhood in the morning if they were able to survive with the light of the sun. He hopes they didn't disturb you while sleeping,bakugo doesn't want to see you tired than before.

Even though he already woke you up with his screams but doesn't perceive it yet.Katsuki knows the mentality behind these entire circumstances, he acknowledges it's not only for the old king, your father desires to get you back to his side. He wants to change your mind on vampires, your father always hated the fact you were stubborn like your mother.

You were stubborn about protecting katsuki and his species, you love them, you were curious about them, and that the reason why you're married to katsuki now without his consent. His blood boils thinking about it, he hated seeing you with the king of all vampires. His overprotective behavior makes him go out of control and katsuki knows this behavior more than the father himself. You were his queen, a human, a mortal that not all the peoples in the village appreciate. Most of the vampire ladies were jealous or most of them want you to be dead, just to try your "royalty" blood.

He sighs and looks outside of the open window, the cold air caress his face while the messy sounds of the populated village slowly go away with katsuki thoughts. His thoughts were always the same thing, about his life without you, a boring and superficial life like he used to have. A life where everyone misunderstood him and avoid him, you were the only one who never leaves him no matter what and he couldn't handle the thought so katsuki went for a walk in his big garden.

Hoping that he could free his mind from such negativity on his mind. While he was walking in the hallway for going to the big garden, someone was getting close to him in slow steps. Katsuki immediately alert and went into defense mode.

"WHO THE-" He saw you and stopped yelling, you look so tired and disturbed and you just wanted a hug. He smirked and hug you softly, katsuki wasn't a soft man but accept all your love and affection if there aren't any guards around here. For your own security, he refuses your affections in public because he doesn't want someone to use you as a vulnerable victim to get what they want from him.  

He doesn't want to show any vulnerability in front of someone unless it's you, The only thing he does as an affection gesture is a kiss on the forehead. His hug was warm, it's was perfect for cuddling in the cold bedroom you slept in before.  Even though the hallway is fullied of darkness, you can clearly see his crimson blush and his rare smile on the grumpy man's face, you don't see his calm expression every day especially in this situation but honestly, you love when he is mad.

"Why are you up so late, shitty woman? You need to recover all your energy at night like a typical mortal." Katsuki says in his monotone voice, no yelling, just looking at you in the eyes in silence. The usual annoyed bakugo, he is very strict on.. well everything.

"Oh you know... with a wolf that always screams isn't really easy to fall asleep" you giggle a little looking at bakugo's confused face for a moment, then his face starts to get soft and annoyed at the same time, he wasn't so loud, right?Y/n  POV

"Tsk, those guards are deaf like shit! that why I always have to yell" he looks at the guards' dorms with his murderous face, he really hates them, huh? I'm surprised they are still alive.

"But, you scream every day with everybody-" I say trying to hide my giggling with my hand, not wanting to risk death today but teasing him is sarcastically fun. I catch his attention and now his eyes are looking at me.

"Don't question me, shitty woman. I barely have any patience today"  Katsuki growls and decided to walk to the end of the hallway to go to another room,

"You don't even have patience katsu! Are we sure we are talking about the same person?!"

#bnha bakugo katsuki #bakugou headcanons #bakusquad #bnha bakugou #bakugou katsuki #bakugo x reader #bakugou fluff #bakugou x reader #bnha x reader #bnha imagines #bnha fanfiction #bnha #mha x reader #mha bakugou #mha imagines #fandom #mha headcanons

[theconcealedweapon]

This is a post that bootlickers are sharing on Facebook.

It's not the police who need to be retrained, it's the public. We have grown into a mouthy, cell phone wielding, vulgar, uncivil society with no personal responsibility and the attitude of 'it's the other person's fault', 'you owe me'. A society where children grow up with no boundaries or knowledge or concern for civil society and personal responsibility.

When an officer says "Put your hands up," then put your hands up! Don't reach for something in your pocket, your lap, your seat. There's plenty of reason for a police officer to feel threatened, there have been multiple assaults and ambushes on police officers lately. Comply with requests from the officer, have your day in court. Don't mouth off, or fight, or refuse to comply... that escalates the situation.

Police officers are our sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters. They're black, white, brown, all colors, all ethnicities, all faiths, male and female, they are us. They see the worst side of humanity... the raped children, the bloody mangled bodies of traffic victims, the bruised and battered victims of domestic violence, homicide victims, body parts... day after day.

They work holidays while we have festive meals with our families. They miss school events with their kids, birthdays, anniversaries, all those special occasions that we take for granted. They work in all types of weather, under dangerous conditions, for relatively low pay.

They have extensive training, but they are human. When there are numerous attacks on them, they become hyper vigilant for a reason, they have become targets. When a police officer encounters any person... any person, whether at a traffic stop, a street confrontation, an arrest, whatever... that situation has the potential to become life threatening. You, Mr & Mrs/Miss Civilian, also have the responsibility of keeping the situation from getting out of control.

Many law enforcement officers are Veterans. They've been in service to this nation most of their lives, whether on the battlefield or protecting us here at home. They are the only thing that stands between us and anarchy in the streets.

If you want to protect your child, teach them respect.

There’s so much wrong with this.

“We have grown into a mouthy, cell phone wielding, vulgar, uncivil society with no personal responsibility and the attitude of 'it's the other person's fault', 'you owe me'. A society where children grow up with no boundaries or knowledge or concern for civil society and personal responsibility.“

That perfectly describes the police. They believe that they’re owed more respect than anyone else. They have people covering for them no matter what they do. Anytime they kill someone, they make up 1,000,012 excuses to justify it.

“Comply with requests from the officer, have your day in court. Don't mouth off, or fight, or refuse to comply... that escalates the situation.”

But in some cases, if you comply, you waive your rights. If a police officer wants to search you and you comply, that’s considered “consenting” to the search and an otherwise illegal search becomes legal.

Also, don’t mouth off? If mouthing off is enough to make someone feel threatened, they shouldn’t be a police officer. Anyone who works in customer service has rude people “mouthing off” to them. And they’re expected to just calmly tolerate it.

Why is it that when the police want respect, you demand that people give it to them, but when marginalized groups of people want respect, it’s political correctness?

Also, do you realize that the courts are unfairly biased in favor of the police?

“They work holidays while we have festive meals with our families. They miss school events with their kids, birthdays, anniversaries, all those special occasions that we take for granted. They work in all types of weather, under dangerous conditions, for relatively low pay.”

Then demand better pay for police officers, not a free pass to murder.

“When a police officer encounters any person... any person, whether at a traffic stop, a street confrontation, an arrest, whatever... that situation has the potential to become life threatening. You, Mr & Mrs/Miss Civilian, also have the responsibility of keeping the situation from getting out of control.”

So if the police are justified in considering every single person they encounter as a potential threat just because they could get killed on the job (which is not even one of the top 10 most dangerous jobs), then why aren’t black people justified in considering every white person as a potential racist after centuries of being treated like garbage?

The police chose a job that they knew would be dangerous, and they’re paid to do it. Black people, LGBT people, disabled people, etc. are attacked and bullied on a regular basis. They had no choice in being part of a targeted group, and they’re not paid for the suffering that they endure. Not only are they prohibited from violently lashing out in response to the life-threatening situations that they’re put in, but they’re expected to pretend it’s not even happening. If you can expect civilians to go out of their way to make police officers feel safe, then why is it considered “political correctness gone mad” to expect white, cishet, abled men to go out of their way to make people of color, LGBT people, disabled people, and women feel safe? 

“They are the only thing that stands between us and anarchy in the streets.”

In other words, you believe that the entire human population is so evil that the only thing stopping them from hurting others is fear of punishment. But if that’s the case, what makes you think the police would be any better? If society is filled with bad people, what makes you think those bad people aren’t becoming police officers so they can be bad with impunity? If you admit that accountability is the only thing stopping people from doing horrible things, why do you complain every time someone tries to hold police accountable?

“If you want to protect your child, teach them respect.”

Breonna Taylor was sleeping. Quit acting like it’s only disrespectful people who get killed by police.

#police brutality #bootlickers

[ask-de-writer]

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT : Part 45 of 83 : World of Sea

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to World of Sea

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT

Part 45 of 83

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

140406 words

copyright 2020

written 2007

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

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Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users   of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may   reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information   remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in   my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical   compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

New to the story?  Read from the beginning.  PART 1 is here

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Doctor Worran put her arms around her Captain and looked at Mord as she said, “It was Ord smoke that contaminated provisions.  My Captain and over seventy of the crew were hurt.  Twenty seven died.  She’s been poisoned twice.”

Sula blinked back her tears and regained a semblance of composure.  To control the feelings that still raged in her after more than ten Gatherings, she spoke with almost academic detachment.  “These provisions would have prevented those deaths and saved many more, myself included, from injury.  If we’d had this process we could have just washed the Ord smoke from the blocks.  The total populations of twenty three murdered ships could have been saved.”

Once again, the circling Wide Wing became a thing of interest.  It helped Sula to focus and get her thoughts under control.  She picked up the block of preserved crab and looked at it with both sorrow and hope.

“These provisions will enable us to make long, swift runs when necessary.”

“Like battle intercept runs?” Mord asked brow furrowed with curiosity.

“Like battle intercept runs,” confirmed Sula.

“The Captain of Captains got away from us after the Second War,” put in Doctor Worran, “because he had more provisions than we did.  Nets, lines and catch processing slowed us down, allowing him to escape. Provisions like these could have ended the matter there.  Instead, thousands died and over a hundred ships were lost in the Third War.”

Kurin, who had been listening intently, asked, “Where is he now?”

“At the end of the Third War, we had more provisions than he did,” Sula said shortly.  Kurin was awed by the thought that so small a thing as this might have saved thousands of lives and many ships.  She mentally filed away the notion that a big picture is made up of small details and sometimes just one detail can change the entire picture.

Sula was staring at a lowly block of preserved fish and seeing carnage, a war that could have been prevented, ships and lives saved by a bit of safe food.  She was biting back tears as she signed the agreements that Alor put in front of her.

Soon, the Longin’s cargo crane was lowering bulging nets into lighters. The provisions were being transferred to the Dark Dragon.  The two galley Masters had their heads together, going over the whole process and the equipment needed.

Master Juris was busy in the boat-shop, fabricating two new sets of block presses, one for the Dark Dragon, and one for the Soaring Bird. Kurin could not help in the manufacture, as she normally would have, so he set her to making drawings and writing directions for the equipment.  Both Captain Mord and Captain Sula were watching the work going on in the shop.

A runner from the Council located Sula and conveyed their urgent request that she come back.  All of the Captains that had left the Council were also being recalled.  

As Mord and Sula left, Master Juris remarked to Kurin, “There’s a Wide Wing hunting on this breeze.  The Council’s asked for Sula and Huld both.  I’ll wager you that they want more than just advice on how to run the search for the Grandalor.”

“I know what you mean.  They are the only Captains here that have any experience in searching for ships that don’t want to be found.  If we catch the Grandalor, I hope that the Dark Dragon doesn’t have to sink her.  It would cause Sula grief that she doesn’t need.”

“I did see that even the thought of war bothered her,” said Master Juris, looking up from the mold and press that he was fabricating.

Kurin continued to carefully copy her drawing as she replied, “Sula still cries in her sleep for the folk that she’s killed.  She can’t forget them.  She sees no difference between them and her own crew. The last war that she fought was over ten Gatherings ago.”

“That must be hard,” said Master Juris sympathetically, as he methodically shaved the carefully shaped press ram for a perfect fit in the mold.  “The Dark Dragon has sunk what, about thirty ships?”

“Thirty six,” said Kurin, concentrating on a bit of tricky detail in her sketch.  “She has damaged and captured fifty three and taken the surrender of a hundred and twenty-one.  While I was on board the Dark Dragon, I was allowed to read what I could in Sula’s library and sailors will talk.  Most of her books are written in Winternight.  I can’t read it but I did look through quite a few of them anyway. They had pictures that I could understand.  I know what war is, now. It scares me.”

Master Juris had a tight, angry smile as he spoke, “It is hard knowledge to have.  I think that you had an easier time receiving the knowledge than the Grandalor will have.”  He carefully measured another press part with a caliper, so that it would exactly match the previous press, standing on his bench.

In the Council Pavilion, Master Juris’ prediction was being borne out. Captain Sarfin was addressing both Sula and Huld.

“We have no claim on your time.  You came here for a clearly stated purpose which you have accomplished.  In all honor, you could leave us here to deal with the situation that has arisen in our fleet.  I do hope, indeed we all hope, that you will continue to help us as you have already.

“You have made one search sweep for the Grandalor.  We know that you have experience in searching for ships that want to hide.  We have to find the Grandalor and bring her to justice.  Will you help us?  If you will, we will put the fleet under your command.”

Huld was sitting cross-legged on the deck.  Sula turned to him and crouched down to his level.  “Honored One, this is not my decision alone.  May we do this thing?”

Huld did not open his eyes.  He replied quietly, “We must.”

Sula uncoiled, a spring of human energy.  “We will organize and guide your effort.  When you find the Grandalor, do not try to take her. Huld and I have the experience and equipment for that task.  We will not take the reward but will see it shared out to the ships that found her.

“Set up a large table and bring me maps showing your territories.  I will need sailing data on all of the ships that will be in the search.  In particular, I will need your wind nomograms.  

She looked about at the Captains, some like Sarfin, were already beginning to dig through the fleet Archive for what she had asked. Others, Skua in particular, seemed troubled by the way that she was taking charge.

Seeing his reluctance, Sula asked Skua directly, “Do you want to be a part of this search?”

He scowled, “Not really.  The Fauline really isn’t up to this sort of work.  Our schooner rig is handy but it’s not very fast.  We should be going to our Spring waters and fishing.”

“Then go to notify the Arrakan fleet.  You can begin fishing after that is done.”  Sula turned her back on him in dismissal and began to study the data piling up in front of her.  As Skua stalked out, he heard her saying, “Longin, you and the Dorton are both fast and sail tight to the wind.  You will take the North.  Go to the Dragon Sea and begin your mapping.  Dorton, you go with the Longin and patrol one degree south of them and one half day upwind from them.”  

As they began to protest that they could not cover so vast an area, she handed them a different chart.  “Here, this polar projection will make the real situation clear.  Mercators always distort the northern latitudes.”

The Fauline gathered her crew and left, ostensibly for the Arrakan fleet.

TO BE CONTINUED

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#SEA DRAGON’S GIFT #Part 45 of 83 #World of Sea #Written by De Writer

[sunny-hopewell]

#2 - Helena Stinchcomb

posted by sunny hopewell on sept. 12th, 20XX

DISCLAIMER: Please note that, just by reading this, you may succumb to the very phenomenon described here. My hope is that the next people or intelligent life who read this are either themselves resilient to it, or that enough time has passed that the sheer weight of this knowledge no longer causes such a heavy impact on the reader.

This is an attempt to record the phenomenon, once referred to colloquially as “ghosting,” that has resulted in a mass decrease in the Earth’s human population. More specifically, the latest estimate (prior to the disappearance of professionals who had counted) was that only 0.002% of human life remains.

In this series of accounts, I document interviews with remaining survivors of this phenomenon. For more details on the nature of the phenomenon itself, please click here. Otherwise or afterwards, read on at your own risk.

I encountered a woman by the name of Helena Stinchcomb when I saw the fourth floor of a large office building entirely lit up. Thinking perhaps it may have been an outpost containing multiple survivors, both my mission and my curiosity led me to that floor.

I rang the fully-functional doorbell at the back entrance of the first floor. I would consider breaking in only if I received no response, but just shy of a minute later, the very articulate voice of a young woman spoke, asking how she may help me. I explained that I was hoping to ask some questions relating to her take on recent events, but expressed that I understood if she declined to speak— multiple people had already done so for me at this point. You would understand my pleasant surprise when I heard the door bolt unlock, and I was invited in. The woman told me to come on in, explaining she would need to allow me to the fourth floor with her own badge, so she would meet me just inside shortly.

The office lobby seemed unremarkable, aside from its emptiness. The lights seemed to come on as soon as I walked in— likely on a motion-sensor.

It wasn’t long before a young, dark-haired lady emerged from a door that seemed to conceal a concrete staircase. She smiled at me as though I was a visitor to her office, urging me in with an energy that was both friendly and professional. She wore a dark, pin-stripe pantsuit, and her thin, black wireframe glasses only added to her aesthetic.

She showed me upstairs, thanking me for my patience. She explained she was in a meeting until just a few minutes ago, and that the speaker system that allowed me to speak with her outside was across the office. Of course, I asked her how many people were stationed on that floor. To my own disbelief, she estimated nearly 30 folks were in-office that day. 

At this time, we entered the fourth floor’s reception area, which appeared entirely empty. She waved to the empty reception desk on her left briefly, not ceasing her conversation with me about the work they did there. She explained that she worked for a newer kind of advertising firm— when in the 2020’s, social media and technology users realized the extent to which their information was being used without their consent, such firms opened up, acting as a middleman between web users and advertisers who wanted their attention. In essence, she explained, users would come to these firms seeking to sell their web usage data to these advertisers, and the firms would act as representatives for these individuals to advertisers, who they often partnered with for competitive pricing. 

As she finished explaining this, we entered her office. She asked me to wait just a moment while she typed away— a quick message, she said, to one of her part-time work-study students, asking if she could bring the two of us some bottled water and cookies. As she finally closed her laptop, she thanked me once again for my patience and gave me her full attention. The transcript of our interview is as follows:

SH: So, tell me about yourself. What’s your name?

HS: My name is Helena Stinchcomb. I serve in senior leadership here at The People’s Information firm.

SH: It’s very nice to meet you. How has the Ghosting Phenomenon impacted you?

HS: Do you mean personally, or professionally?

SH: Oh, uh— both, provided you’re up to speaking to them.

HS: Sure, I’ll start with personally, since that’s less complex. A few people close to my circles apparently ghosted, but I’ve yet to have anyone in my innermost circles ghost, themselves.

SH: That’s fantastically fortunate, given the numbers.

HS: [laughs] Yeah, I guess you could say that. It’s hard to trust the numbers anymore, though.

SH: How do these people in your circles spend their time?

HS: [hesitating] I— you know, I’ve been so absorbed in my work lately, I really should reach out to them and ask instead of answering that at this time.

SH: Sure thing, thank you for that. Let’s talk about work, then. How has the Ghosting Phenomenon impacted workflow?

HS: Honestly, it’s mostly the same. Lots of people are hiding out in their homes, and are trying to work less at times like this. This, as you can imagine, drives their web usage way up. We’ve since fortified our model for online communications with clients so they never have to meet us in-person. This is the perfect recipe for helping them earn some money just by using the internet.

SH: Have you, personally, been able to reap any benefits as a result of your strong model’s success?

HS: Well, I’m in the process of giving everyone else in this office a sizable raise to recognize our efforts.

SH: That’s fantastic. You must be very proud of your team.

HS: Thank you, I am.

SH: How many folks did you say are in-office, today?

HS: Hmm, I’d say probably just under 30.

SH: All holed up in their office, I take it?

HS: Some of them are a little concerned with ghosting and are isolating there, yes, but not all of them.

SH: What of the others? I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else here yet, today.

HS: [briefly hesitating] I haven’t seen many, but our receptionist Patricia waved to us just in the door. You must have just missed her.

SH: Ah, I see— my mistake. Maybe I’ll catch her once we’ve finished up here and apologize for that.

HS: I think you’d love her— she’s always smiling. Very sweet woman.

SH: So, enough about business— what do you do when you’re not working?

HS: [laughs] Sleeping? We keep pretty busy here, so I work long days, six days a week.

SH: So you just hang loose on your one day off?

HS: Typically, yes. I have three little ones at home— Jack is six, Joseph is seven, and Elena is twelve. They keep me busy in other ways. I’m thankful to my partner for sticking around at home to watch them.

SH: A stay at home parent, then?

HS: Yes, and I’m grateful that she is so willing and capable.

SH: I’m sure she’s lucky to have you, too.

HS: Thank you. [smiles] I like to think so.

SH: If I may ask— [I was cut off by the sudden manifestation of bottled water and small bags of chips on the desk between me and Helena]

HS: [looking at an empty space adjacent to her desk] Ah, thank you, Patricia! Sunny, I’d like for you to meet our receptionist.

SH: [Greeting the empty space] Hello, it’s so nice to meet you. Sorry I missed your hello, earlier.

HS: [After a momentary silence in the room, smiles and chuckles] That’s excellent, Patricia. Thanks so much for bringing this by!

(As if some invisible entity had left the room, Helena’s attention returned to the interview.)

HS: Sorry, what were you saying?

SH: No worries. I was going to ask if you could speak on your perspective of the Ghosting Phenomenon more specifically.

HS: [letting out a deep sigh] I think local leadership has been excellent, given the circumstances of it all. I know it’s still a touchy topic for some people, but I’m still certain that there have been massive exaggerations about the impact of the Ghost Phenomenon on society. Am I saying it’s fake? No. I’m saying it was being used as a ham-fisted tool for social control.

SH: I see... Yes, I can see that causing a mass panic surrounding the phenomenon is usable as a strategic power-move.

HS: I’m so glad you agree. I feel like people are going crazy over a phenomenon that has long since passed.

SH: When was the last time you heard news of a ghosting?

HS: [pausing to think] It’s been a pretty long time… Probably nearing two years, now?

SH: Two years…

HS: I could be a little bit off, but probably by no more than a couple of months. It came and went like that. [snaps her finger]

SH: Ah, I see. Well, before I wrap this interview up, is there anything else you’d like to say to my readers?

HS: Don’t believe everything you hear. Trusting people can be too easy. It takes discipline to distinguish delusion from reality.

SH: Thank you so much. Readers out there, be sure to check out The People’s Information Firm if you’d like to make a little extra cash by just browsing the web.

At the conclusion of this interview, Patricia and I exchanged a few formalities before she showed me back down to the door at my request.

Just to make things absolutely clear: There was not a soul in Helena’s office space apart from the two of us. She spoke to thin air when a Ghost had evidently brought us those snacks— likely in response to the message she had sent out earlier. As stated in my previous post, the general work completed by ghosted individuals in their pre-phenomenon lives remained mostly unchanged. I recall reading about bosses who would send emails to their ghosted employees with assignments, only for the assignments to be completed somewhat quickly. These bosses would scarcely receive reply, but if they ever did, it was in the form of an incoherent, word-vomit sort of email, much like many of the messages you might see online today.

Helena seems to have survived this phenomenon by deluding herself into believing all of these people never vanished. Although nothing could be farther from the truth, I couldn’t bring myself to try and question that reality of hers during our interview. Should I have succeeded in casting doubt on the coping mechanism she had developed, she would have likely ghosted shortly thereafter. My hope is that she continues to live happily as such, blissfully unaware of the empty society in which she lives.

‘Til next time,

- sunny hopewell 

----

tags: #ghosting #hope #humanity #nonfiction #bliss #lifegoeson

#hope #humanity #nonfiction #horror #life goes on #ghosting #sunny-hopewell #the empty society

[destieltropecollection]

Destiel Trope Collection 2019 Day 28: Soulmates

Too Many Zeroes | @isolemnlyswear-iamsuperwholocked Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 2896 Main Tags and Warnings: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmates Castiel & Dean Winchester, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Strangers to Lovers, First Meetings, Castiel and Dean Winchester First Meet, Lonely Castiel, Misunderstandings, Sexuality misunderstandings, Angst with a Happy Ending, Sad with a Happy Ending Summary: Honestly, Castiel doesn't have any idea why he turns away from the familiar apartment block and enters the local bar on the corner. He tells himself it's because it's cold outside and his coat isn't keeping him warm enough, because his apartment is too dark and lonely, because it's a Friday night and he hasn't gone out anywhere in ages. He tells himself that it doesn't matter if he goes, that it won't delay the inevitable disappointment that's going to happen tonight. But now he's walking through the door, and sitting at the counter, and ordering a drink, so he might as well make the most of the terrible night his soulmate clock finally reaches zero.

Near Misses | @imbiowaresbitch Rating: Explicit Word Count: 27212 Main Tags and Warnings: Cheating, explicit sex, consent, light bdsm Summary: Five times Cas and Dean almost met, plus the time they finally did.

Meeting my roommate...damn he's fine | @roobear68 Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 9725 Main Tags and Warnings: Underage, soulmates, past abuse, social anxiety Summary: Dean Winchester is a genius, who has horrible nighttime anxiety which manifests itself in nightmares. Castiel Shurley is a genius who has social anxiety which manifests itself in him being awkward. Columbia University decided to make them roommates. Fate decided to make them SoulMates.

Collapsed Rainbows | @suckerfordeansfreckles Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 6125 Main Tags and Warnings: graphic depictions of violence, soulmate AU, soulmates, first touch leaves a mark, nurse!Cas, hospitals, blood and injury, hurt/comfort Summary: Dean wakes up on his 18th birthday, giddy and a little scared, and rips his blanket off of himself to start searching his hands for the soulmark that is supposed to appear somewhere on his body today. Nothing. His arms. Nothing. Shoulders, upper body, legs. Nothing. It’s okay, he tells himself, don’t panic yet. But then he rushes to the bathroom and braces himself on the edge of the sink to look up into the mirror, and it’s right there. Black streaks and blotches along the edge of his jaw, dark like ink. Marks like the imprints of knuckles meeting Dean’s chin. It takes him a little while to fully realizes what this means. That his soulmark is there, for everyone to see, right on his face, impossible to hide. That his soulmate’s first touch will be a punch to Dean’s face.

Birds | @lemonsorbae Rating: General Word Count: 1542 Main Tags and Warnings: Soulmates, First Kiss, Fluff, SPN Universe - Canon Divergent Summary: Dean’s just been rescued from Hell by an angel who’s making outrageous claims and staring way too much.

I Knew All Along It Was You | @pherryt Rating: General Word Count: 3157 Main Tags and Warnings: Soulmate AU, Soulmates, blind!cas, self worth issues, Angst, Fluff, Low Self Esteem Summary: Almost nothing is actually known about the new phenomenon of Soul Marks, but one thing is certain - no one's ever gotten one past the age of 30. Dean's 29 and in love with his best friend when his finally appears. His only hope is that Cas has the matching one. He has to, right?

J Train | @drawlight Rating: Explicit Word Count: 7129 Main Tags and Warnings: Soulmates, Romance, Pining, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Feelings Realization, AU - Human Summary: If you want to be somebody, you have to go to the Chelsea Hotel. In 1979, aspiring writer Castiel Novak takes room 109. His roommate is not quite what he expected.

Syncopation | @thebloggerbloggerfun Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 14900 Main Tags and Warnings: Celebrity!Castiel Summary: Dean Winchester is almost fine with not knowing who his soulmate is. He's got a good life, good family, and doesn't mind the one night stands with others who also haven't found someone with their same soulmark. It isn't until Sam shows Dean a picture of the pop-star Castiel - a celebrity infamous for hiding his soulmark among hundreds of other tattoos - that Dean thinks he may have found his soulmate. But how is he supposed to let a worldwide phenomenon know that they belong together - and will Castiel even care?

Fate | @galaxystiel Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 1338 Main Tags and Warnings: Anti Soulmate AU, homophobic John Winchester, established relationship Summary: “C’mon, it’ll be fun,” Dean tugged Castiel towards the storefront. “Don’t you want to find out who your soulmate is? Who you’re fated to be with?”

Timer | @galaxystiel Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 2147 Main Tags and Warnings: Human!Castiel, Soulmate AU, angst with a happy ending Summary: Dean doesn't have a soulmate, but if he did, he swears it would be Castiel Novak.

Written in the Stars | @lunastories Rating: Mature Word Count: 36900 Main Tags and Warnings: Wing fic, Alien Castiel, Domestic fluff Summary: In the beginning of time itself, there were many Celestials, stardust beings that populated the galaxies. Then, the Fallen came into existence, devouring them. Castiel, one of the last of the Celestials, descended onto Earth by orders of his garrison leader. What he finds there is the soul he lost long ago, the other part of him that he'd been searching for. Dean was a normal guy, living his life and trying to take care of his errant researcher brother. When his brother asks him for a favor, claiming that an alien wants to speak to him, he's of course skeptical. He didn't expect that meeting to change the course of his entire life, throwing him into a war that he wasn't prepared for.

By Any Other Name | @funnywings Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 36695 Main Tags and Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Soul Mate AU, Societal Issues, Established Relationship Summary: After a home invasion ends in the deaths of Amelia and James Novak, Dean and Castiel think the worst of their problems is going to be handling their grief and making sure their niece Claire adjusts to living with them. Unfortunately, despite both James' and Amelia's wills indicating they want to pass on guardianship to Dean and Cas in the event of their death, they are denied as legal guardians since they can not confirm whether they are a soul mates. After hearing this, they contact Charlie, a lawyer who promises to help them.

Duck Duck Boots | @almaasi Rating: Explicit Word Count: 92927 Main Tags and Warnings: Alternate Universe, Domestic Fluff, Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Soulmates, Biker Dean, Teacher Dean, Crossdressing Dean, Dean in Panties, Bisexual Dean, Soft Dean, Switch Dean, Bottom Dean, Veterinarian Castiel, Lonely Castiel, Depressed Castiel, Agoraphobic Castiel, Switch Castiel, Dominant Castiel, Matchmaker Rowena, Animal Care, Tantric Sex, Impotence, Magic Realism, Wet & Messy Sex, Accidental Watersports Summary: Castiel doesn’t do one-night stands. Once he hit forty, he figured his time was up, his life had pretty much come to a halt, and there was nobody out there for him. He lives in a cute little village, riding his bicycle between his vet clinic and his cottage; that’s his world, and he’s given up on expanding it. But in one last, desperate attempt to find someone, he contacts Rowena, the local witch, and asks her to summon his soulmate. Rowena brings a storm. The storm washes up a trio of ducklings, huddled for shelter inside the rainboots of the new-to-town kindergarten teacher (and retired motorcycle daredevil), Dean Winchester. Ducklings in hand, Dean seeks out Castiel’s veterinary expertise. Somehow, in a flustered, spontaneous burst of attraction, they spend the night together. And just like that, Castiel’s life starts again. With every passing week they become better friends, sharing deeper intimacies, caring for their duck babies as well as each other. But staying together requires taking risks which neither of them planned for. Dean’s risk puts him in extreme physical jeopardy. And Cas? He has to overcome fifteen years of emotional hurt, just to follow where Dean leads.

Serendipity My Ass | @sternchencas Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 12104 Main Tags and Warnings: doctor!Cas, nurse!Dean, enemies to lovers Summary: Dean Winchester has a particularly bad day. Not only does he have a thousand things to do, like grocery shopping and getting to a doctor’s appointment, he also keeps running into Castiel Novak, an annoying and impolite douche who’s only reason to exist is making Dean’s live a living hell. When Castiel also shows up at Dean’s workplace, things are about to get ugly. After all, Castiel is neither cute nor nice, and definitely not Dean’s type.

Dean, 2 pm | @sternchencas Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 1464 Main Tags and Warnings: suicidal thoughts, emotional hurt/comfort Summary: Cas is done with his life. He's ready to end it all. The only thing that might be able to change his mind is one little note in his calendar that says 'Dean, 2 pm'.

Calm, at Peace, Happy | @suckerfordeansfreckles Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 1352 Main Tags and Warnings: Soulmate AU, Soulmarks, Circus AU, Getting Together Summary: In a world of color and noise and constant action, Dean often has a hard time grasping just how much calm and ease Cas brings into his life. It shouldn’t be this easy, really, not with how stressful Dean’s life has been ever since he joined the circus two years ago. But since the very first day, since the very first time Dean got to watch Cas perform in the ring, this has been his happy place. The only time he gets to calm down, except maybe for the few hours of sleep he gets every night. It’s been two years, and Dean is still not over it. Will never get over it, probably.

#destiel #writersofdestiel #destielfanficnet #deancasfanficnet #destiel trope collection #tropes #soulmates #soulmate au #2019

[a-safe-and-quiet-place]

 Tlingit Kushtaka

here are five important facts to know about otters: 1-They are believed to be one of the most intelligent non-human species on the planet; 2-There is evidence that they have endured for more than 30 million years; 3-They have been known to create tools; 4-Every continent except Australia and Antarctica has an otter population; and If the legendary Southeastern Alaskan Kushtaka is any indication, 5-they would like to steal your soul.

The Tlingit and Tsimshian peoples, indigenous inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest Coast of the United States and Southeastern Alaska, have a robust folklore surrounding a mythical and maniacal trickster race called the Kushtaka, which roughly translates as “land otter people”, a shape-shifting species of otter that is rumored to spend a lot of its time trying to lure unsuspecting humans away from their homes in order to turn them into more Kushtaka (which in Tlingit folklore basically amounts to preventing us from achieving reincarnation and consequent everlasting life).  Sometimes they don’t bother, and simply tear a victim to shreds. Not cool.  Bad otter.

The Kushtaka has been treated in some literature as a boogeyman or hobgoblin. This is inaccurate and does not honor how seriously the Tlingit feel the threat of the Land Otter People.  In a sense, the Kushtaka deprived the victim of everlasting life, for his soul could not be reincarnated.  The Land Otter lurked to “save”, that is, to capture, those who drowned or who became lost in the woods.  The unfortunate captives were taken by the Land Otter People to their homes or dens and, unless rescued by a shaman, were themselves turned into Land Otters.  Kushtaka often appeared in the form of relatives or friends to confuse the victim.  Dogs were protection against Land Otter People, for not only were the animals afraid of dogs, but the dog’s barking forced the Land Otter People to reveal themselves.  Small children were thought to be the most in danger of being captures by the Land Otter People and were warned not to wander off from parents or to venture away from home alone (Pelton & DiGennaro, 1992).

Despite the fact that the Kushtaka are considered evil and overwhelmingly regarded with a certain level of trepidation, perhaps because otters are just so darn cute and fuzzy, there are instances of benevolent behavior on the part of the Kushtaka.  While they generally are credited with merrily tricking Tlingit sailors farther offshore to die, imitating the cries of an infant, or screams of a woman to lure hapless victims into rivers, or preying on small children, occasionally a tale is told of Kushtaka saving lost individuals from freezing to death in the Alaskan wilderness or freezing ocean by conveniently transforming them into a Kushtaka. More often than not, they are just plain mean.  Consider a Tlingit folktale called “The Land Otters’ Captive”, recorded by John Swanton of the Bureau of American Ethnology.

Several persons once went out from Sitka together, when their canoe upset and all were drowned except a man of the KîksA’dî. A canoe came to this man, and he thought that it contained his friends, but they were really land otters. They started southward with him and kept going farther and farther, until they had passed clear round the Queen Charlotte Islands. At every place where they stopped they took in a female land otter. All this time they kept a mat made out of the broad part of a piece of kelp, over the man they had captured until at length they arrived at a place they called Rainy-village (Sî’wu-â’nî).

At this place the man met an aunt who had been drowned years before and had become the wife of two land otters. She was dressed in a ground-hog robe. Then she said to him, “Your aunt’s husbands will save you. You must come to see me this evening.” When he came his aunt said, “I can’t leave these people, for I have learned to think a great deal of them.”

Afterward his aunt’s husbands started back with him. They did not camp until midnight. Their canoe was a skate, and, as soon as they came ashore, they would turn it over on top of him so that, no matter how hard he tried to get out, he could not. In making the passage across to Cape Ommaney they worked very hard, and shortly after they landed they heard the raven. They could go only a short distance for food.

When they first started back the woman had said to her husbands, “Don’t leave him where he can be captured again. Take him to a good place.” So they left him close to Sitka. Then he walked around in the neighborhood of the town and made the people suffer so much every night that they could not sleep, and determined to capture him. They fixed a rope in such a way as to ensnare him, but at first they were unsuccessful. Finally, however, they placed dog bones in the rope so that they would stick into his hands, dog bones being the greatest enemies of the land otters.

Late that night the land-otter-man tore his hands so with these bones that he sat down and began to scream, and, while he was doing this, they got the rope around him and captured him. When they got him home he was at first very wild, but they restored his reason by cutting his head with dog bones. He was probably not so far gone as most Victims. Then they learned what had happened to him.

After this time, however, he would always eat his meat and fish raw. Once, when he was among the halibut fishers, they wanted very much to have him eat some cooked halibut. He was a good halibut fisher, probably having learned the art from the land otters, though he did not say so. For a long time the man refused to take any, but at last consented and the food killed him. (Swanton, 1909, p189)

In case you are under the mistaken impression that Kushtaka sightings are ancient history, in 1900, a gold prospector named Harry Colp and three companions, exploring the Patterson Glacier north of Thomas Bay (Known locally as “The Devil’s Country”, and called “The Bay of Death” by the native Tlingit due to a 1750 landslide that killed 500 villagers, incidentally attributed to the machinations of malevolent Kushtaka), returned with a tale of a disturbing encounter with the Kushtaka.  Colp wrote about his encounter, but the manuscript he penned was not discovered until after his death by his daughter, and has since been reproduced as “The Strangest Story Ever Told”.

I left come the next morning, which was a fine sunny day. I took only the rifle with me, and when I came to the ridge, sure enough there were a few grouse hooting. I shot two and had gotten them when I bagged another one, which fell down the ridge about a hundred yards before it hung up.

While on my way down to pick it up, I found that piece of quartz. Up to that time I had paid very little attention to what the country I was in looked like, as it was so heavily timbered and brushy. The formation didn’t show up and I had no tools with me to uncover it. The top of an old snag had broken off and fallen, scraping the top moss and loose dirt for a space of about eight feet wide and eighteen or twenty feet long, uncovering this quartz ledge which is where I found this piece.

This ledge was worked smooth by a glacier at one time. I couldn’t find anything to break a piece off with, so I used the butt of my gun to get that piece. In so doing, I broke the stock of my gun, thus ruining it for further use. This didn’t worry me any, as I knew there was not game in the country larger than a grouse and damned few of them. “My first thought was of the richness of the quartz and of you fellows and getting back to town to round you all up so we could get busy on it. After looking over and enjoying the feeling of knowing I had made a rich find, I covered the ledge up again with moss, limbs, and rotten chunk.

Finishing that job, I thought I would climb the ridge directly over the ledge and get my landmarks, so I could come back to it again or tell you where it was if anything should happen to me. This I did, climbing straight up over the ledge on the ridge till I reached the top, which was about six hundred feet above where I found the ledge.

I looked down below me and picked out a big tree with a bushy top, taller than the rest and about fifty feet to the right of the ledge. Looking over the top of this tree from where I stood, I could see out on Frederick Sound, Cape of the Straight Light, the point of Vanderput Spit (Point Vanderput); and turning a little to the left, I could see Sukhoi Island (Kodiak) from the mouth of Wrangell Narrows.

Satisfied with that, I turned half round to get a back sight on some mountain peaks, and lying below me on the other side of the ridge from the ledge was the half-moon lake the Indian had told me about.

Right there, fellows, I got the scare of my life. I hope to God I never see or go through the likes of it again. Swarming up the ridge toward me from the lake were the most hideous creatures. I couldn’t call them anything but devils, as they were neither men nor monkeys-yet looked like both. They were entirely sexless, their bodies covered with long coarse hair, except where the scabs and running sores had replaced it. Each one seemed to be reaching out for me and striving to be the first to get me. The air was full of their cries and the stench from their sores and bodies made me faint.

I forgot my broken gun and tried to use it on the first ones, and then I threw it at them and turned and ran. God, how I did run! I could feel their hot breath on my back. Their long claw-like fingers scraped my back. The smell from their steaming, stinking bodies was making me sick; while the noises they made, yelling, screaming and breathing, drove me mad. Reason left me. How I reached the canoe or how I hung on to that piece of quartz is a mystery to me.

When I came to, it was night; and I was lying in the bottom of my canoe, drifting between Thomas Bay and Sukhoi Island, cold, hungry and crazy for a drink of water. But only to satisfy the latter urge, I started for Wrangell, and here I am. You no doubt think I am either crazy or lying. All I can say is, there is the quartz. Never let me hear the name of Thomas Bay again, and for God’s sake help me get away tomorrow on that boat! (Excerpt from “The Strangest Story Ever Told”, Handwritten Manuscript, Colp MS 140, Alaska State Library)

Now how does such a screamingly adorable fuzzy head like an otter get mixed up in this sort of soul-eating behavior, you ask?  I mean, for god’s sakes, Otters hold each other’s paws when they are swimming and cover their eyes as they swim on their backs napping.  They ooze cuteness. The Tibetan symbol for universal love involves the pairing of the six traditional enemies – garuda and snow lion, otter and fish, crocodile and sea-snail.  According to Ojibwa legend, an otter was entrusted with the secrets of the Grand Medicine Society.  Zoroastrians hold ceremonies to honor dead otters they find in the wild, and consider it an act against nature and their gods to kill one.  Otters are widely regarded as fun-loving, industrious, sociable creatures.  How do we reconcile the soul-stealing, flesh-rending, child kidnapping monstrosity that is the Kushtaka with the insufferably whimsical creature that launched a thousand children’s stories like The Wind in the Willows or inspired American naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton to say, “the joyful, keen and fearless otter; mild and loving to his own kind, and gentle with his neighbor of the stream; full of play and gladness in his life, full of courage in his stress; ideal in his home, steadfast in death; the noblest little soul that ever went four-footed through the woods”?  The trickster element of the Kushtaka is understandable, as one can imagine the playful otter pranking people with abandon, but that does not account for the more malevolent aspects that appear to be more central to Kushtaka mythology.  A few people have begun to suspect the otter of hiding depravity and criminal insanity, such as Richard Martin of Coast and Kayak Magazine, who said, “Otters exhibit no self control, no family values, and practice lots of kinky sex” (“The Dark Side of Sea Otters”, 1997),  but Mr. Martin is in the minority.

Otter behavior can seem very human to us, and this can be misleading.  “The suggestion is that we understand (rationalize, make sense of) the actions of others by ascribing to them the kinds of thoughts, perceptions, motivations that we ‘know’ govern our own behavior as individuals.  Thus we make sense of the behavior of a pet dog or a filmed otter by ‘anthropomorphizing’ the animal – by ascribing to it a human intellect with human values, goals, and reasoning abilities.  We appear to do the same with more metaphoric creatures as well” (Kronenfeld, 2008, p128).  In fact, otters have been described as “charismatic megafauna”, that is, easy to anthropomorphize, magnets for conservationists, and lending themselves to marketable toys and popular zoo exhibits. The ease with which the otter can be anthropomorphized may give us a clue as to why it was viewed so ignominiously by the Tlingit, and also may explain a difference in perception between the sea otter and land otter.  As observed in anthropologist Richard Barazzuol’s thesis The Tlingit Land Otter Complex: Coherence in the Social and Shamanic Order, “The land otter was probably perceived as the most human-like animal in that environment.  The sea otter had a prestigious place in Tlingit society as a bringer of wealth during the period of the fur trade until its near extinction in the nineteenth century.  However it is the land otter that occupied a prominent place in the belief systems of the Tlingit.  Particular attributes of the land otters lead to the perception that it has the ability to create a symbolic bridge uniting human and animal.  It was seen as an ambiguous figure which had the ability, like the Tlingit themselves, to function well both on the land and in the water” (Barazzuol, 1981, p.74).

Due to a direct association with Tlingit shamanism i.e. one who manages to escape the land otter people and return home is regarded as prime shaman material (also, some Kushtaka myths allow for humans who have been turned into Kushtaka to occasionally return home to their village and provide assistance to relatives), the Kushtaka represents a symbolic link between the living and the dead.  As observed by anthropologist Kenelm Burridge, the most significant confrontation with truth and reality among traditional societies is death.  How you die, when you die, and where you go when you die are cross-culturally fraught with significance.  In a harsh environment like the Alaskan wilderness or coast, death can come suddenly and unexpectedly, and bodies may never be recovered.  Tlingit treatment of corpses is cosmological significant in that they believe with proper preparation; a dead person’s spirit is reincarnated back into the clan lineage. An unrecovered corpse presents a significant liminar problem – does the Tlingit individual who disappears in a blizzard or drowns at sea get reincarnated despite the lack of proper ceremonial?  The problem is solved by saying that the unrecovered fatality has “gone to the land of the otter people”.  The application of this theory to those who are psychologically troubled (they are regarded as having been captured by otter people, but were incompletely turned into Kushtaka), further suggest that this is a symbolic means for dealing with the marginal, either socially or ritually.

Next time you are at the zoo admiring the antics of the playful otters as they slip and slide, look for the little gleam in their eyes that says, “I may be cute, but I’ll eat your soul for dinner and drag you away to the den of the land otter people, where I will vampirically turn you into one of us”. Otters have had it easy for too long.  They know they are cute.  They will use it against us.  As William Burroughs said, “Like most qualities, cuteness is delineated by what it isn’t. Most people aren’t cute at all, or if so they quickly outgrow their cuteness … Elegance, grace, delicacy, beauty, and a lack of self-consciousness: a creature who knows he is cute soon isn’t.”  Then they come for you.

References

Barazzuol, Richard.  “The Tlingit Land Otter Complex: Coherence in the Social and Shamanic Order”.  Masters Thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, 1981.

Kronenfeld, David B.  Culture, Society, and Cognition.  Mouton de Gruyter: Berlin, 2008.

Pelton, Mary and DiGennaro, Jacqueline.  Images of a People: Tlingit Myths and Legends.Englewood, CO: Greenwood, 1992.

Swanton, John Reed, 1873-1958. Tlingit Myths And Texts. Washington: Govt. print. off., 1909.

#Evil #otter #land #people #cute #william burroughs #qualities #dark #obscure #Tlingit Kushtaka #living #dead #storie #myth #haunted #ghost #curse #possession #vampire #grace #occult #gore #trippy #crreature #rgb #witch #magic #folkore #greek #vaporwave

[sanguisfulgur]

Give me your sweet, sweet Trek meta.

send me a topic to write a meta about my muse on

Okay, so, here’s some stuff on Vrykos and Vrykosian culture:

The planet itself is altogether more temperate than Earth. Of course it’s colder towards the poles/warmer along the equator but not to the extremes of Earth. The poles have no ice caps and snowfall is rare even the far north/south of the continents. It means seeing snow is a rarity for most Vrykosians as they can go decades or even centuries without doing so. They tend to get excited about it. (You can imagine any Vrykosian who leaves the planet is in for a surprise if they visit Earth.)

It’s traditional for both men and women to wear veils in Vrykosian weddings. The style and length vary based on personal taste, but they always cover the face and are adorned with flowers. 

Wedding ceremonies tend to take place in the late evening or at night. They happen outdoors with pathways lit by lanterns and the bioluminescent flora that is prevalent on the planet. The couple have their hands bound together and a ceremonial knife is used to cut through the silken rope used as well as creating a superficial cut on each party. They must allow their blood to fall freely and mingle together on the ground beneath them. 

Elaborate private gardens are tended to and set up for the wedding night. Though cabana-like structures are present for the sake of shelter and a bed to sleep on, couples are expected to consummate their union in the flowerbeds themselves. 

The gardens are usually entirely made up of different cultivated types of rhódis, a species of flower most often linked to romantic love and passion in Vrykosian flower language. 

Floral teas are common, widely enjoyed beverages on Vrykos. Teas brewed using species of hikosi flowers have medicinal properties; what they aid varies between the specific type. Some can be used to help calm anxiety and other panic-disorders and responses, some to aid sleep and others to relieve nausea or to help cleanse the body when poisoned.

As much of the galaxy was seeded by one ancient humanoid species, it’s not uncommon for similar fauna to evolve on various planets as well. Vrykos is home to feliforms similar to Earth’s domestic cats. They differ in that they possess a third vertically-orientated eye on their foreheads and possess minor telekinetic fields that allow them to seemingly ‘float’ up to a metre off the ground. 

Vrykos is also home to feathered creatures whose forelimbs and back limbs are semi-functional wings. They can glide long-distances but can only achieve powered flight for short distances. These wings possess clawed fingers/toes that allow the creatures to crawl/climb up surfaces to reach more effective gliding heights amongst tree tops ect. There are various species of these (alongside more typical ‘birds’), the smallest only a few inches in size and the largest reaching up to three foot in height. 

The smaller species, along with an arboreal rodent, are common prey to the Vrykosian Python. These snakes can grow to around 40 feet in length and are nocturnal hunters, spending their days soaking up sunlight in order to be active once dusk falls.  Their scales are an iridescent black and whilst smooth-bodied, the scales around the head are rough, and keel upwards into a bristling ‘crest’. Like Earth python species, they are constrictors and are a popular reptile to keep as pets. 

Vrykos possesses three moons. One is barren save for a mining colony but the lack of atmosphere prevents proper habitation. The other two have been terraformed and are largely populated. A large proportion of colonists here are farmers. Whilst off world Vrykosians will ingest synthesised blood, in their own space they prefer to have the ‘real’ thing. Whilst many Vrykosians enjoy actively hunting, production like this is necessary to supply the population. Not all farms orientate towards livestock, however. Whilst Vrykosians must consume blood/plasma they do enjoy eating other things even if there’s little to no nutritional value in most of it. 

Though they are a Federation member, Vrykos and most Vrykosians tend to keep to themselves. The xenophobic attitudes many possess towards their species cause tension and suspicion and most of them do not want to deal with that. If they’re not made into monsters and beasts by a species, they are sexualised and exoticised by them. Their open attitudes to sex and sexuality feed in to this unfortunately, but it’s no less wrong, ignorant or disturbing to reduce them to entire sexual beings who exist for no purpose but fulfilling fantasies. Earth and humans, unfortunately, with their legends of vampires tend to be the planet and people most guilty of BOTH vilifying or romanticising their species. As such, outside of diplomats Vrykosians are a rare sight outside of their own sector of space. Even amongst Starfleet. 

Contaminated blood is toxic to them. The degree of which varies with what is wrong with the blood, but it means they are careful about what - or who - they feed on. Their sense of smell is acute enough to allow them to pick up abnormalities in an animal or beings scent, detecting possible illness. 

Vrykosians in wider Federation (or non-Federation) space WILL feed on other sentient beings if granted permission. Though this is most often done discreetly and privately, and only with individuals they trust greatly. It is also common for them to bite and feed on romantic/sexual partners. Especially during the actual act of sex itself. (Again, with consent.) 

#ask #mxthborn #v: to boldly go #meta

[felidfavs]

last night while on the edge of sleep i was having a thought i made a mental note to remember when i woke up so, goes like this: 

What if every human currently alive on the planet reached a consensus to be the last generation of humans? (ignoring the fact his is wildly impossible and u couldnt get children to consent etc etc, just go with me for a second) Like we all agree not to reproduce, to not do anything wild to try and prolong life (standard stuff should be fine, im not picky) etc. like. were it. then were done. 

And just like. Think about what we’d have to think about if we had this inevitability in mind. its crazy. 

We’d have to come up with a ~90 year plan on wrapping up our existence. We’d have to slowly downgrade our entire society! Because you wouldnt want to leave massive nuclear plants running when theres only 5% left of the population, we wouldnt even need them by that point. So we’d have to constantly think about balancing whats absolutely needed for the remaining population, and how quickly we can dismantle things that we dont need and that will be dangerous unattended. About teaching the younger ones how to do these things as the older die off. We’d have to think about how we would prepare our environment for our extinction- what do we do with the animals that are dependant on us? how do we deal with the open mines and empty forestland, do we leave it and hope the earth recovers by itself? or do we do some forethought and plant some trees in those forest and what not before we’re all gone? 

And it just kinda. Struck me. With just how extensive our manipulation of our planet has gotten to, and just how much we would have to do to even TRY to revert it to something remotely resembling pre-industry if we were to die out. 

because in a way... thats whats about to happen? We’re living in a doomed timeline for humans at this point, so like..... if we’ve long since abandoned the idea of trying to live alongside our planet until a catastrophic event like an asteroid or something.... are we gunna do anything before we push it to our on ends? To make that end a little safer both for us and for the planet? or we just gunna. wait till everything starts exploding. 

[ask-de-writer]

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT : World of Sea : Part 45

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

140406 words

copyright 2018

written 2007

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

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Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions. All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

New to the story?  Read from the beginning.  PART 1 is here

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Doctor Worran put her arms around her Captain and looked at Mord as she said, “It was Ord smoke that contaminated provisions.  My Captain and over seventy of the crew were hurt.  Twenty seven died.  She’s been poisoned twice.”

Sula blinked back her tears and regained a semblance of composure.  To control the feelings that still raged in her after more than ten Gatherings, she spoke with almost academic detachment.  “These provisions would have prevented those deaths and saved many more, myself included, from injury.  If we’d had this process we could have just washed the Ord smoke from the blocks.  The total populations of twenty three murdered ships could have been saved.”

Once again, the circling Wide Wing became a thing of interest.  It helped Sula to focus and get her thoughts under control.  She picked up the block of preserved crab and looked at it with both sorrow and hope.

“These provisions will enable us to make long, swift runs when necessary.”

“Like battle intercept runs?” Mord asked brow furrowed with curiosity.

“Like battle intercept runs,” confirmed Sula.

“The Captain of Captains got away from us after the Second War,” put in Doctor Worran, “because he had more provisions than we did.  Nets, lines and catch processing slowed us down, allowing him to escape. Provisions like these could have ended the matter there.  Instead, thousands died and over a hundred ships were lost in the Third War.”

Kurin, who had been listening intently, asked, “Where is he now?”

“At the end of the Third War, we had more provisions than he did,” Sula said shortly.  Kurin was awed by the thought that so small a thing as this might have saved thousands of lives and many ships.  She mentally filed away the notion that a big picture is made up of small details and sometimes just one detail can change the entire picture.

Sula was staring at a lowly block of preserved fish and seeing carnage, a war that could have been prevented, ships and lives saved by a bit of safe food.  She was biting back tears as she signed the agreements that Alor put in front of her.

Soon, the Longin’s cargo crane was lowering bulging nets into lighters. The provisions were being transferred to the Dark Dragon.  The two galley Masters had their heads together, going over the whole process and the equipment needed.

Master Juris was busy in the boat-shop, fabricating two new sets of block presses, one for the Dark Dragon, and one for the Soaring Bird. Kurin could not help in the manufacture, as she normally would have, so he set her to making drawings and writing directions for the equipment.  Both Captain Mord and Captain Sula were watching the work going on in the shop.

A runner from the Council located Sula and conveyed their urgent request that she come back.  All of the Captains that had left the Council were also being recalled.  

As Mord and Sula left, Master Juris remarked to Kurin, “There’s a Wide Wing hunting on this breeze.  The Council’s asked for Sula and Huld both.  I’ll wager you that they want more than just advice on how to run the search for the Grandalor.”

“I know what you mean.  They are the only Captains here that have any experience in searching for ships that don’t want to be found.  If we catch the Grandalor, I hope that the Dark Dragon doesn’t have to sink her.  It would cause Sula grief that she doesn’t need.”

“I did see that even the thought of war bothered her,” said Master Juris, looking up from the mold and press that he was fabricating.

Kurin continued to carefully copy her drawing as she replied, “Sula still cries in her sleep for the folk that she’s killed.  She can’t forget them.  She sees no difference between them and her own crew. The last war that she fought was over ten Gatherings ago.”

“That must be hard,” said Master Juris sympathetically, as he methodically shaved the carefully shaped press ram for a perfect fit in the mold.  “The Dark Dragon has sunk what, about thirty ships?”

“Thirty six,” said Kurin, concentrating on a bit of tricky detail in her sketch.  “She has damaged and captured fifty three and taken the surrender of a hundred and twenty-one.  While I was on board the Dark Dragon, I was allowed to read what I could in Sula’s library and sailors will talk.  Most of her books are written in Winternight.  I can't read it but I did look through quite a few of them anyway. They had pictures that I could understand.  I know what war is, now. It scares me.”

Master Juris had a tight, angry smile as he spoke, “It is hard knowledge to have.  I think that you had an easier time receiving the knowledge than the Grandalor will have.”  He carefully measured another press part with a caliper, so that it would exactly match the previous press, standing on his bench.

In the Council Pavilion, Master Juris’ prediction was being borne out. Captain Sarfin was addressing both Sula and Huld.

“We have no claim on your time.  You came here for a clearly stated purpose which you have accomplished.  In all honor, you could leave us here to deal with the situation that has arisen in our fleet.  I do hope, indeed we all hope, that you will continue to help us as you have already.

“You have made one search sweep for the Grandalor.  We know that you have experience in searching for ships that want to hide.  We have to find the Grandalor and bring her to justice.  Will you help us?  If you will, we will put the fleet under your command.”

Huld was sitting cross-legged on the deck.  Sula turned to him and crouched down to his level.  “Honored One, this is not my decision alone.  May we do this thing?”

Huld did not open his eyes.  He replied quietly, “We must.”

Sula uncoiled, a spring of human energy.  “We will organize and guide your effort.  When you find the Grandalor, do not try to take her. Huld and I have the experience and equipment for that task.  We will not take the reward but will see it shared out to the ships that found her.

“Set up a large table and bring me maps showing your territories.  I will need sailing data on all of the ships that will be in the search.  In particular, I will need your wind nomograms.  

She looked about at the Captains, some like Sarfin, were already beginning to dig through the fleet Archive for what she had asked. Others, Skua in particular, seemed troubled by the way that she was taking charge.

Seeing his reluctance, Sula asked Skua directly, “Do you want to be a part of this search?”

He scowled, “Not really.  The Fauline really isn’t up to this sort of work.  Our schooner rig is handy but it’s not very fast.  We should be going to our Spring waters and fishing.”

“Then go to notify the Arrakan fleet.  You can begin fishing after that is done.”  Sula turned her back on him in dismissal and began to study the data piling up in front of her.  As Skua stalked out, he heard her saying, “Longin, you and the Dorton are both fast and sail tight to the wind.  You will take the North.  Go to the Dragon Sea and begin your mapping.  Dorton, you go with the Longin and patrol one degree south of them and one half day upwind from them.”  

As they began to protest that they could not cover so vast an area, she handed them a different chart.  “Here, this polar projection will make the real situation clear.  Mercators always distort the northern latitudes.”

The Fauline gathered her crew and left, ostensibly for the Arrakan fleet.

TO BE CONTINUED

<==PREVIOUS   NEXT==>

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to World of Sea

#SEA DRAGON’S GIFT #World of Sea #Written by De Writer #Part 45

[adeocs]

Every time the Cullens were awful people.

Carlisle

Potentially harm his patients by canceling appointments on sunny days.

Repeatedly transform people without their consent for selfish reasons.

Consent his “children’s” human victims with little more than a slap on the wirst.

In general being a horrible doctor.

Esme

Human victims

Consent her “children’s” human victims.

Emmett

Human deaths and acting like it's no big deal.

Rosalie

The murder of two guards in her revenge.

Jasper

Human deaths.

Zero interest in the vegetarian diet except to make Alice happy.

Deliberately wanting to consume human blood before fighting newborns.

Constantly drugging everyone to manipulate them.

Psychologically torture Bree.

Wanting Bella to kill people just to feel better about himself.

Edward

Human killings

Deliberate human killings.

Fantasize about murdering an entire class.

Fantasize about murdering and drying Bella.

Fantasize about massacring the Quileute tribe.

Sneak into Bella's room while she sleeps.

Trying to force an abortion on Bella

Plan to massacre scores of people to have the Volturi kill him.

Trying to expose himself to tons of people so the Volturi kill him without worrying that they would also kill those people

Alice

"It helps if you think of them as people."

Human victims.

The fact that she only follows the vegetarian diet because saw it in a vision.

All of them

Zero concern for human life.

Absolute contempt and dehumanization of, well, everyone non-vampire.

Zero interest in the Seattle deaths.

Being friends with human killers.

Ally with the Romanians and Egyptians.

Letting the very dangerous with obviously lack of control Jasper hang around among humans.

Not straying from the human population before Bella's transformation.

Constant racism against werewolves.

And this is just what I can remember right now.

#the cullens #twilight #stephenie meyer #carlisle cullen #edward cullen #esme cullen #rosalie hale #emmett cullen #alice cullen #jasper hale #anti twilight

[kpopfanfictrash]

Breaks

Author: kpopfanfictrash

Pairing: You / Jackson

Rating: R (mentions of smut)

Word Count: 3,176

Summary:  In the world of Lore, there are no soulmates. Not anymore. But what happens when you start to dream of yours? - Soulmates!AU

The city of Lore is cursed; or, it used to be. Back when the skies were cluttered with smog, the streets filled and stilted with anger - there was a plague called amor. People lost their minds for it, gave away their very souls for no reason at all. During this time there was a thing called soulmates, a horrible disease where each one person was destined for another.

A pretty fucked up concept, when you stop to think about it. They said once you found your soulmate, that was it. You no longer belonged to yourself, but to them. All our thoughts, love, life were theirs; a horrifying concept to think about. You don’t tend to think about it often though, because it’s not a plauge which affects you anymore. 

Not in Lore, at least because everyone in Lore undergoes a surgery around the age of six designed to remove this dangerous and unstable part of the brain. There’s still the ability to love, of course. Still the ability to care, though you’ve heard it said before the surgery makes you love less. This is something you've never believed because each breakup you’ve experienced has been painful, terribly so and it’s hard to imagine there’s something worse than that. It’s only the old ones who say this though, since they’re the only ones who remember a time before Lore.

Even they recall only vaguely. You’ve heard stories in flashes and memories, not none of which you’re able to relate to. When the surgery became law, some seventy-five years back, everyone living underwent the procedure. That was a tough time, or so the history books say. It was full of political unrest, because those who’d found their soulmates didn’t want to let go. Which only goes to show how dangerous the disease was. Even broken, even bound and enslaved, these people were chained by the disease.

These days, it’s not a concernt. These days, everyone is at peace because these days, there’s no reason to lose your mind. Love is peaceful, love is calm. Love is the sure sense of knowledge that you have family, that you have friends and that you chose them. There’s no such thing as destiny, no such thing as fate to mess with your mind.

Life is simpler, cleaner; it’s easier to see things, to understand and since the surgery there have been fewer instances of depression, anxiety, suicide, anything which could be considered an emotional disease. Truly, Lore is the city of the future, one unlike any other.

Until the day that you dream.

That’s one, unintended side effect of the surgery - human beings no longer dream because of it. Truthfully, you don’t remember a time when you could, so it’s not like you’re missing out. It’s a strange concept to think about and one that you’ve never really understood. Dreams were once explained in school as a vivid hallucination, an event which seems real but is not. The subject has always seemed fascinating to you, despite the lurid undertones of your mind not telling the truth.

Or perhaps this is why you find it interesting. You remember Into to Procedure, a class every citizen of Lore takes in order to graducate University. You had a teacher who droned on in a monoton. speaking of interesting subjects in a way to make you fall asleep. You weren’t asleep though, you were wide-awake and hanging on every word of the soulmate bond, the surgery and the aftereffects. Side effects of the surgery are nearly unnoticeable, practically invisible apart from the dreaming.

This, of course, was when Jackson Wang raised a hand. A talented, good-looking student not born in Lore. 

“Nearly,” he stated, leaning forward. “That’s not an absolute word. What are the side effects which are visible?”

The professor seemed displeased by his question. “They aren’t significant,” he coughed. “Decreased motivation and sex drive, decreased population increase, along with a few others.”

Mouthing the words in repitiion, Jackson’s frown deepened. “A decreased increase. There’s some wordsmithing for you. Plus, decreased sex drive? Why would that even happen?”

Slight titters echoed through the room as the professor turned pink. “If I had to hazard a guess,” he responded. “I’d say the loss of soulmates has made our race a more individualistic species. We’re not as interested in furthering the race so much as furthering ourselves. Does that make sense?”

Jackson settled back in his chair. “It makes sense,” he said slowly. “I don’t know if I like the answer, though.”

At this, you turned around. Jackson’s words shocked you, since no one ever expressed those kinds of notions out loud. He wasn’t looking at you though, only at the professor and this was the first time you reconsidered the status quo. Most people accepted the surgery as fact - it was like a vaccine, or something similar and not to be contested. 

Perhaps this had something to do with your decreased motivation.

Jackson cocked his head. “It seems like a lot of side effects for few benefits.”

“Few benefits?” The professor raised his eyebrows. “Mr. Wang, have you ever been in love?”

Jackson paused, then nodded. Yes.

“No,” the professor sighed. “If you had, you wouldn’t have paused. Love is a searing, painful thing. It leaves its mark and once you’re touched, you’re branded forever. Does it seem fair, then, to be cursed without your consent? Without your knowledge, your explicit choosing?”

Jackson’s eyes were wide. “No,” he exhaled, faintly excited by the prospect.

“No,” the professor agreed, taking off his glasses to lay flat on the counter. “I thought not. Now, back to dreaming.”

This exchange faded quickly into your mind and were it not for the events following, you would have forgotten al about it. It was a strange moment, but unrelated to you. For the next year or more, you didn’t think twice about Jackson Wang.

Until the day that you dreamed.

At first, you didn’t know what was happening. The oddest part about dreaming was how completely normal it seemed. You were asleep, but you were not, there was a part of you acutely aware of this. As you walked through a shadowed hallway, dusted your fingers over a dark wooden counter, it was hard not to convince yourself it was real.

It was not, of course, it only existed in your mind. Rather absently, you wondered about your body. Were you still a part of your body or somewhere else entirely and if so, could you go back to it when you woke. Your thoughts were still yours though, you were still able to grasp the conversation and so you continued walking forward. You walked and you walked until reaching a door and grasping its handle, you pushed it open and froze.

You weren’t alone. Another shadow turned, you made eye contact for only a second before recognizing Jackson.

Gasping, you woke. You were still in your own bed and there was sweat on your brow, in your hair, chest tight with the impossibility of breathing. Your eyelids fluttered, caught between one world and the next until very suddenly, you pushed your sheets aside. Barging into your bathroom, you dropped to your knees as your stomach roiled and dry-heaved into the side of the bowl.

Very slowly, you lowered yourself back to a sitting position as mind buzzing, you fought to keep calm. It was a dream. A dream, or a hallucination but you weren’t sure which would be worse. If it was a dream, it made no sense. Humans can’t dream, not since the surgery.

And if you did dream, you dreamt of Jackson. There was that moment, right before waking, when you felt like you were falling. His eyes locked on yours, widening only slightly before disappearing from view. You were pulled back before you could move, before you could so much as acknowledge you saw him.

You wonder if Jackson dreams, too. If he does, maybe he saw you and that room as well and perhaps you’re alone. For the first time in your life, the thought of being alone no longer seems so appealing.

These questions, this uncertainty buzzes clear through your mind until the following day when you see Jackson on campus. He’s walking across the quad, talking to a friend of his while getting steadily closer. His brown hair is messy beneath his ball cap, shirt slightly untucked from the top of his jeans and as the distance closes between you, the beating of your heart only gets louder.

Clutching your books tightly, you’re unsure when this crazed sort of nervousness even began. This is unlike anything you’ve felt before. Nervousness is familiar, you’ve felt it on test days, during interviews, before you achieve or lose a game. Never for a person though, and never for a stranger. Never, because you’ve caught sight of his eyes and are thrown by their deep shade of brown.

No, these feelings are new and they scare you. Especially when your gazes finally meet, and his slides right past. Jackson walks past you, as though nothing has happened and he doesn’t even know you. Which he doesn’t. It - hurts? This seems an odd word to use, when describing a strabger, but there it is. Seeing Jackson... hurts.

The dreams continue. Night after night, they plague both waking and sleeping hours. Always the same ending, with differing variations of a similar theme. 

Until the night that things change. Operning your eyes, you find yourself in the same hallway. The lights are dim, the air cool and as you make your way forward, the door opens without you touching it. Freezing in place, you’re unsure what to do when Jackson enters the hall.

He seems lost, judging by his expression. He seems lost but when he spots you, Jackson stops in his tracks. He stares back, speechless, before looking around. 

“What is this place?”

It’s the first words spoken, in the shadowed place. The shadowed place, is what you’ve taken to calling this dream-land of yours. 

“I don’t know,” you admit, taking a step closer. “I’ve been trying to figure that out for myself.”

Jackson seems surprised, hearing you speak. “You - you can hear me?”

Slowly, you nod. “Can you hear me?”

“Yes,” Jackson exhales, then stops. When he speaks again, his voice is hoarse. “I’ve been trying for so long, to get out of my room. I kept seeing the door open but no one would entier. Finally, last night it occurred to me I could go through the door.”

“Ah,” you blink back at him, your voice quiet. “Last night was a night I didn’t dream.”

Jackson is silent for a long moment. “Is that what this is?” he breathes, looking around. “Dreaming?”

“I think so,” you nod. “What else could it be?”

“But we’re not supposed to dream,” Jackson counters, eyes wide. “Not if the surgery worked.”

Ah, there it is. The fear that’s been eating you alive, ever since you woke up from your dream and realized the truth. Dreaming is not posisble, this world is not possible. Not if the surgery worked.

You’ve heard of such things, before. Similar stories are mentioned in Intro to Procedure. Before the surgery, twenty-one was the age at which you first saw your soulmate and rather than see them in person, you dreamt of them. You would see their face in your dreams until... something. Something would happen, some unknown bonding whose secrets have been lost to time.

For some people, the surgery just doesn’t take. They dream anyways, find their soulmates anyways and you call these people Breaks, because they are. Breaks in the system, breaks in the process, breaks in the very fabric of society.

Jackson steps closer, his gaze searching. “Do you think… this is real?”

His question isn’t what you expected. “I don’t know,” you answer him honestly. “What’s the difference, really, between being asleep or awake?”

You never noticed before, the shape of Jackson’s face. He’s so open, honest; everything you’re too scared to ask out of life - his face is the embodiment of passion, of courage. Even before the dreams, you thought this. When he spoke up in class that one day, you felt this strange kind of spark and when he takes a step closer, your entire body thrums. 

“Have you ever wondered,” Jackson muses, gaze dropping to your lips. “What it would feel like, having a soulmate?”

You don’t answer him, too confused by his nearness. “I’ve never given it much thought,” you confess and Jackson’s face falls somewhat. “I am now,” you add.

Jackson’s eyes lift, full of joy. “I want to know if this is real,” he whispers. “I want to know if you’re real, Y/N.”

Your heart catches in your chest, a confused murmur of emotions. “You know my name?”

“Of course,” Jackson confesses, lifting a hand. “How could I not?”

You can only stare, as his hand moves closer and when his fingers brush yours, it can only be described as a shock. Bright, burning pain sears through you, lancing into your chest. In bed, you bolt upright, clutching at your sheets and trying hard not to yell. Your shirt glows, fervent letters spilling out and when your trembling hands lower the fabric, you see. There, in golden letters, is Jackson’s name.

It’s written in semi-neat cursive, right over the space where your heart is. An organ thumping wildly as you stare, unable to look down until your phone buzzes on the nightstand. Without looking at the name, you swipe right to answer because it’s obvious, somehow, you already know who it is.

555-8924: is it there for you too [3:21 AM]

Your fingers tremble as you type.

Y/N: Yes [3:21 AM]

Jackson: breaks [3:22 AM]

Jackson: we’re... [3:22 AM]

Y/N: Don’t say it, jackson [3:23 AM]

SInking back in your bed, the rising panic consumes you. Breaks. That’s what you are, what Jackson is. Soulmates aren’t supposed to be real, not anymore. Worse than that, you’re not supposed to want one. You’re supposed to be fine on your own, happy on your own. Your entire life, no one has ever felt like you do now. You’ve never seen someone this crazy, this stressed, this worried, this happy -  all at once, all at the same time.

It feels... shakily, you exhale. It feels like bliss. Even despite the fear and the pain, you’re happy. You want to text Jackson. Want to see him, talk to him, feel more of this spiraling wanting that just the thought of him seems to inspire. It’s terrifying to you, not normal to feel this, to feel so manic. This is what the surgery is supposed to correct; a fix which apparently, does not work on you.

You’re a Break.

The dreams continue but now, Jackson is in all of them. The room sometimes changes, depending on your mood and sometimes you’re in a cafe, which are the nights that you talk. You talk about your dreams, not this dream, but your living ones. You talk about your wants, the hopes you’ve never voice aloud. Wishes you’ve never even spoken, in case they might not come true.

Jackson responds to you in kind. He explains he’s suspected he was a Break for some time now because he’s always wanted more, always wanted a human connection nonexistent in Lore. When he looks around he sees zombies. People going through the motions, only existing at the surface level. They never find the true depths of themselves, since they never find love, or understand who they are.

It’s funny you call this place the shadow world, because Jackson feels like this about the real world. The world you once thought of as pristine, now you can’t stop seeing the holes. The order you once thought was lovely, the cleanliness you once valued above all - now you can’t see the point, because they’re nothing behind it. Peace and calm, you realize, mean nothing without something to fight for.

The times you feel most peaceful are in Jackson’s arms. The time spent nuzzled between the sheets, his lips tracing over your skin while you sigh into his body. This is your new peace, new joy and the contentment you didn’t know you were lacking.

When your teachers described love, they called it overbearing. They said you would forget yourself and it’s true, and sometimes you do. This doesn’t seem such a bad thing though, it only serves to remind you that you’re a part of something more. It lets you know the world is bigger, it’s huge and you’re one part of the whole, not the puzzle itself. Jackson helps you see this, he completes you in a way you didn’t know you wanted and gradually, you stop seeing him in your dreams. 

You start seeing him in life; real life, not the shadow one. Jackson sleeps in your real bed, real arms and slowly, you lose yourself in his real touch and real emotion. Jackson, your soulmate, as the world breaks slowly around you. You are broken, yes. And now you’re remade.

The day a knock comes on your door, you’re wholly unprepared.

Throwing open the entrance, you expect to see Jackson and are surprised when faced with a man in a suit. 

“Miss Y/N,” he reads his phone, frowning down the length of his nose. “I need you to come with me.”

Words seem to fade when your hand gently drops from the door. “Why,” you respond but the man doesn’t respond, gaze oddly sympathetic. Casually, you take a tiny step backwards. “What’s all this about?”

The man tilts his head to one side. “I think you know,” he states calmly, placing one hand over the space where his heart is.

Veins freezing, your mind whirs around the implicatoin. “I- I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The man sighs, stepping slowly inside to block your doorway. “Don’t make this more difficult than it must be.”

You don’t scream. No, there will be little sympathy for you in this scenario and so you just move. Stumbling backwards, your feet pound through your hallway whlie your thoughts quickly turn to escape. You can do this, you can get to your car, to Jackson. Once you have Jackson, it will all be okay. 

The man’s arms wrap around your torso, yanking you backwards. You didn’t even hear him coming, your head hitting solid chest as you grunt, all breath exhaled in a swoop. “Easy,” he sighs, slightly exasperated. “This will all be easier if you don’t fight.”

Biting down on his hand, you force him to let go and you’re off. Running, turning - so fast, you don’t see the second man step free from your doorway. You run straight into his frame and after that, there’s darkness.

When you wake, it’s in a police car, no sirens blaring while speeding fast down a highway. The wind whips at your hair and for just a moment, you can’t see. Everything is black and you panic, until feeling the touch of his hand. Jackson is with you, you know from the sureness of heart and release in your blood.

Glancing sideways, you see he’s handcuffed as well. Metal bites into the skin at his wrists, the same pincing pain you feel on your own. Head falling to his shoulder, your shirt flutters in the wind to reveal the top of his name. Seeing this, Jackson smiles.

Gaze softening, he opens his mouth and the person who’s driving clears his throat now to speak. “You're awake.”

Your head whips forward, nearly colliding with Jackson’s to meet the gaze of a stranger. Well, not entirely a stranger, it’s the suited man from earlier. Repressing your hiss, you struggle to push yourself upright. “Where are you taking us,” you croak, as though you haven’t spoken in hours.

“Out,” the man responds. “The two of you can no longer remain in Lore.”

Behind you, Jackson's hand tightens on yours. “Why now?” he asks, voice steadier than yours. “What does it matter, now that I've found her?”

The man sighs, gaze focused on the road. “Lore exists as a haven. It’s a space for those who no longer want the curse of soulmates, who only want peace. You cannot stay while you’re marked.”

Marked. Thinking of Jackson’s name, edged in gold on your heart, you feel this is an appropriate desc.

“But,” you interrupt, voice thick with emotion. “My life. My family? Friends?”

“I am sorry.” Surprisingly, he sounds like he is. “I don't make the rules. All Breaks go to Reviva. All Dulls come to Lore.”

Dulls. A word you haven't heard before, but you assume means the opposite of a Break. Someone from Reviva, who does not have a soulmate. The word is sad to you, so much that you lean your head wearily on Jackson's shoulder. His touch is comforting, reassuring and when you look up, he’s staring back.

“We'll find our way,” Jackson murmurs, low enough that the man doesn't hear. “I promise you that.”

“I know,” you smile faintly, closing your eyes. “We will. Together.”

His hand tightens in yours.

Author’s Note: #maketiffweakweek @baebae-goodnight - happy day two! <3

#kwriterskollection #kpoptrashtag #noonanet #maketiffweakweek #jackson wang fluff #jackson wang fanfiction #jackson wang one shot #jackson wang scenarios #jackson wang angst #jackson wang au #got7 fluff #got7 scenarios #got7 au #got7 angst #got7 jackson #jackson wang #jackson got7 #jackson #got7

[timalexanderdollery]

America’s sex education system is broken. This chatbot wants to be the solution.

Planned Parenthood created Roo, a sex ed chatbot that answers teens’ questions while maintaining their anonymity. | Planned Parenthood

Can a chatbot teach teens about sex? This episode of the Reset podcast uncovers alternatives to traditional sex ed.

US sex education is decades behind other countries. Right now, it isn’t even mandatory in every state. Add to that the awkwardness people feel about sex and bodies in general, top it with the idea of having to have these discussions in public, and what you get is a system that’s devolved into a total mess.

It’s no wonder 84 percent of teens look for sexual health information online. The problem there is that a lot of the answers they come across — about everything from STIs to puberty to pregnancy to sexual orientation — are often just plain wrong.

Naturally, tech wants to find a solution.

That’s how Planned Parenthood created Roo, a sex ed chatbot that encourages teenagers to ask all of their potentially uncomfortable sex-related without ever revealing their identity.

To build Roo, Ambreen Molitor, senior director of the Digital Product Lab at Planned Parenthood, first interviewed Brooklyn high school students about their online habits and what they would want out of a bot that talked to them about everything from safe sex to coming out. Her team discovered that above all, “teens really wanted to be anonymous.”

“Sometimes they didn’t feel comfortable talking to the community around them or in the sex ed classrooms. But also online, because more often than not, Gen Z’s teens in general are very aware that when you’re searching on Google, you’re being cookie’d. They’re very cognizant of what they type into the browser or the search query — which is really unique.”

In this episode, Molitor tells host Arielle Duhaime-Ross that Roo is seeing great success so far. Parents have even reached out on LinkedIn to praise her bot.

Of course, the complexities of human sexuality, specifically as they need to be explained to a developing and curious teenage population, can never be fully resolved through an anonymous computer that’s been preprogrammed with answers.

That’s where Nora Gelperin, a parent and longtime sex educator who’s currently the director of sexuality education and training at an organization called Advocates For Youth, comes in. She developed a sex ed video series called Amaze.

With over 80 installments on topics ranging from gender identity and sexual orientation to sex trafficking, intersectionality, puberty, and even wet dreams, Gelperin revealed that technology can be “really a great companion for adults, whether they’re parents and caregivers or professionals having these conversations.”

But don’t expect a chatbot like Roo or even an extensive and informative video series like Amaze to solve the problems that a lack of comprehensive sex education leave behind.

“I think that there is a lot of information that needs to be supplemented to any of those technology-based resources because they can’t talk about values, they can’t talk about what do you do if you think you want to have an abortion but your religion tells you you’re going to go to hell. Or what do you do if you think you’re committing a sin by masturbating. Those are the things where the technology is kind of limited,” Gelperin says.

Listen to the entire conversation here, where you can find out what a high-school-age person actually wants to be told about sex. Below, we’ve also shared a lightly edited transcript of Molitor’s conversation with Duhaime-Ross.

You can subscribe to Reset on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Spotify.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

Kids and teens are hungry for this kind of information.

Ambreen Molitor

Almost 84 percent of teens actually look for sexual health information online. So our team built a sex ed chatbot named Roo. It’s only 9 months old. Very much in its infancy.

Roo allows folks, specifically teens, to anonymously ask all kinds of questions around sexual health information. The interface is very much like a text format. So Roo will prompt you, greet you, and allow you to have the open space to ask a question. It can be as short or as long as you want and Roo will respond to you in 180 characters or less.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

I’ve had pretty terrible experiences with chatbots and they don’t have the greatest track record in general. Maybe you remember Microsoft’s chatbot attempt a few years ago. They had to shut it down because Twitter managed to train it to be racist and misogynistic in less than 24 hours.

So when I heard about Roo, I was honestly pretty skeptical. I know Planned Parenthood is good at teaching people of all ages about sexual health but I wasn’t convinced the organization would have the tech chops to make a bot that didn’t suck. So I decided to put it to the test.

My experience with Roo wasn’t terrible. And that’s surprising. So I asked Planned Parenthood how they went about designing it.

Ambreen Molitor

How Roo works is three-fold.

First there is software that is built. It’s artificial intelligence, and the actual software that we use is called Natural Language Processing (NLP). For folks who are not familiar with what that does, it’s the same software that allows you to talk while you’re texting, it completes your word or completes your sentence.

That’s the same software we’re powering with Roo. So Roo is trained to anticipate the question and also anticipate the sentiment of the question to be able to answer it.

The second and third layer are human inputs.

The second input is we have a content strategist that comes in and ensures that the answers that we provide have that nonjudgmental tone. It provides the personality that brings Roo to life.

The third most important one is a team of educators that reviews each answer and ensures that it’s medically accurate and up to date.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

Ambreen’s team talked to teens at a high school in Brooklyn about their online habits and what they wanted out of the bot.

Ambreen Molitor

Teens really wanted to be anonymous. Sometimes they didn’t feel comfortable talking to the community around them or in the sex ed classrooms, but also online. More often than not, Gen Z’s teens in general are very aware that when you’re searching on Google, you’re being cookie’d. So they’re very cognizant of what they type in the browser or search query, which is really unique.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

Planned Parenthood actually even has a texting service where you can talk to a sex ed professional directly. But now you’re developing a chat bot. So it sounds like you still feel a need to remove a human from the equation even further.

Ambreen Molitor

Yeah. That’s because at certain times we found that teens feel comfortable with talking to a bot because it eliminates some strong bias and they’re quick to open up to the actual questions they need to get to.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

According to Planned Parenthood, teens like using Roo because it protects their anonymity. And the fact that it comes in the form of a cute little avatar doesn’t hurt.

Ambreen Molitor

It’s gender-neutral. You cannot determine if it has a certain gender identity or even sexual orientation. If you take a long time to type something, Roo starts to like fall asleep and has some Z’s going over his head. And they love that. They’re like, “This avatar is actually paying attention to me. They’re taking the time to understand and connect with me in unique ways.”

Another thing we get so much feedback on is, “Not only is it great that I feel safe, but I also feel like this avatar really is listening and understanding my habits.”

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

Does it have a human form or human shape?

Ambreen Molitor

It’s a blob. It’s just basically an avatar that’s a rounded rectangle with eyes and a mouth to provide gestures.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

So it’s your friendly neighborhood sex ed blob.

Ambreen Molitor

Precisely. It winks, sleeps, snores, all of those things.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

Planned Parenthood doesn’t keep track of who uses Roo but users can opt in to share information about their age and race.

Ambreen Molitor

Of those people who opt in to provide that information, 80 percent of them have identified as teenagers. So it’s about 60-40 percent male to female and 2 percent other gender identities.

Almost 70 percent of the folks that we talked to — again, who have opted in to provide us information — are what we consider people of color. So they’re of a diverse background and race and ethnicity.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

Planned Parenthood also monitors the questions people ask Roo. And some of the subjects teens broach with Roo have been surprising.

Ambreen Molitor

Consent is a topic that we did not anticipate either from the learnings through visiting the high school or through the data that we were seeing from our website. Otherwise, we anticipated lots of questions around puberty and around those changes.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

“Is this normal ...”

Ambreen Molitor

Correct. The spectrum of normalcy is what every teen wants to understand, it’s where they live. Normal is very important to a teen. And that’s something we knew going into it.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

These are big, complex, heavy topics. How does Roo answer these questions in 180 characters?

Ambreen Molitor

We start off by describing consent. We say that there’s no one way to do it. And then we provide just an example or some guiding principles for that. Once we answer the question, we recognize that someone may want to go deeper. And we have link-outs to pages on our site and videos on how you can find or figure out different ways that people can ask for consent. So it goes one step deeper when 180 characters cannot fulfill the curiosity that someone has about that question.

Approximately 80 percent of the time, we’re answering the question correctly. A lot of it falls on two years worth of data and testing that we did. So we didn’t just launch it and go with it.

The other reality we need to call out is that machine learning is not 100 percent accurate. I think Roo’s very humble to say, “I’m not built to answer this question,” or, “I don’t understand it,” or, “I actually don’t think it’s appropriate for me to answer it.” And we’re really good about handing it off to a human.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

So there are questions Roo can’t answer. Which means Planned Parenthood had to build in some guard rails. For instance, if someone appears to be in crisis, Roo will hand off the conversation to a mental health hotline.

Ambreen Molitor

The other time that Roo does handoffs is when there’s decision-making in mind. So the birth control question is a really good one where there are several different birth control methods and there’s not one directional way to suggest this birth control method that’s universally great. That’s where decision-making comes in. That’s an opportunity for Roo to understand that it’s best to hand it off to an educator.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

The feedback from teens seems to be positive so far. But there’s another demographic that Roo has also been attracting.

Ambreen Molitor

It’s so funny. Parents love this. I’ve actually had, anecdotally, parents reach out to me on LinkedIn and say, “Thank you so much for this bot.”

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

On LinkedIn — great place to talk about sex ed.

So Roo seems to be a surprisingly not-terrible chatbot. But when I think about Roo, I honestly feel kind of sad. Because I see why teens might prefer to use Roo rather than turn to an adult for help. And that makes me wonder:

Why is sex ed so broken? And is Roo really the solution?

For the answers to these questions and many more, listen to the full episode and subscribe to Reset on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

from Vox - All https://ift.tt/2Qs1Mvy

#Vox - All

[gracieyvonnehunter]

America’s sex education system is broken. This chatbot wants to be the solution.

Planned Parenthood created Roo, a sex ed chatbot that answers teens’ questions while maintaining their anonymity. | Planned Parenthood

Can a chatbot teach teens about sex? This episode of the Reset podcast uncovers alternatives to traditional sex ed.

US sex education is decades behind other countries. Right now, it isn’t even mandatory in every state. Add to that the awkwardness people feel about sex and bodies in general, top it with the idea of having to have these discussions in public, and what you get is a system that’s devolved into a total mess.

It’s no wonder 84 percent of teens look for sexual health information online. The problem there is that a lot of the answers they come across — about everything from STIs to puberty to pregnancy to sexual orientation — are often just plain wrong.

Naturally, tech wants to find a solution.

That’s how Planned Parenthood created Roo, a sex ed chatbot that encourages teenagers to ask all of their potentially uncomfortable sex-related without ever revealing their identity.

To build Roo, Ambreen Molitor, senior director of the Digital Product Lab at Planned Parenthood, first interviewed Brooklyn high school students about their online habits and what they would want out of a bot that talked to them about everything from safe sex to coming out. Her team discovered that above all, “teens really wanted to be anonymous.”

“Sometimes they didn’t feel comfortable talking to the community around them or in the sex ed classrooms. But also online, because more often than not, Gen Z’s teens in general are very aware that when you’re searching on Google, you’re being cookie’d. They’re very cognizant of what they type into the browser or the search query — which is really unique.”

In this episode, Molitor tells host Arielle Duhaime-Ross that Roo is seeing great success so far. Parents have even reached out on LinkedIn to praise her bot.

Of course, the complexities of human sexuality, specifically as they need to be explained to a developing and curious teenage population, can never be fully resolved through an anonymous computer that’s been preprogrammed with answers.

That’s where Nora Gelperin, a parent and longtime sex educator who’s currently the director of sexuality education and training at an organization called Advocates For Youth, comes in. She developed a sex ed video series called Amaze.

With over 80 installments on topics ranging from gender identity and sexual orientation to sex trafficking, intersectionality, puberty, and even wet dreams, Gelperin revealed that technology can be “really a great companion for adults, whether they’re parents and caregivers or professionals having these conversations.”

But don’t expect a chatbot like Roo or even an extensive and informative video series like Amaze to solve the problems that a lack of comprehensive sex education leave behind.

“I think that there is a lot of information that needs to be supplemented to any of those technology-based resources because they can’t talk about values, they can’t talk about what do you do if you think you want to have an abortion but your religion tells you you’re going to go to hell. Or what do you do if you think you’re committing a sin by masturbating. Those are the things where the technology is kind of limited,” Gelperin says.

Listen to the entire conversation here, where you can find out what a high-school-age person actually wants to be told about sex. Below, we’ve also shared a lightly edited transcript of Molitor’s conversation with Duhaime-Ross.

You can subscribe to Reset on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Spotify.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

Kids and teens are hungry for this kind of information.

Ambreen Molitor

Almost 84 percent of teens actually look for sexual health information online. So our team built a sex ed chatbot named Roo. It’s only 9 months old. Very much in its infancy.

Roo allows folks, specifically teens, to anonymously ask all kinds of questions around sexual health information. The interface is very much like a text format. So Roo will prompt you, greet you, and allow you to have the open space to ask a question. It can be as short or as long as you want and Roo will respond to you in 180 characters or less.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

I’ve had pretty terrible experiences with chatbots and they don’t have the greatest track record in general. Maybe you remember Microsoft’s chatbot attempt a few years ago. They had to shut it down because Twitter managed to train it to be racist and misogynistic in less than 24 hours.

So when I heard about Roo, I was honestly pretty skeptical. I know Planned Parenthood is good at teaching people of all ages about sexual health but I wasn’t convinced the organization would have the tech chops to make a bot that didn’t suck. So I decided to put it to the test.

My experience with Roo wasn’t terrible. And that’s surprising. So I asked Planned Parenthood how they went about designing it.

Ambreen Molitor

How Roo works is three-fold.

First there is software that is built. It’s artificial intelligence, and the actual software that we use is called Natural Language Processing (NLP). For folks who are not familiar with what that does, it’s the same software that allows you to talk while you’re texting, it completes your word or completes your sentence.

That’s the same software we’re powering with Roo. So Roo is trained to anticipate the question and also anticipate the sentiment of the question to be able to answer it.

The second and third layer are human inputs.

The second input is we have a content strategist that comes in and ensures that the answers that we provide have that nonjudgmental tone. It provides the personality that brings Roo to life.

The third most important one is a team of educators that reviews each answer and ensures that it’s medically accurate and up to date.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

Ambreen’s team talked to teens at a high school in Brooklyn about their online habits and what they wanted out of the bot.

Ambreen Molitor

Teens really wanted to be anonymous. Sometimes they didn’t feel comfortable talking to the community around them or in the sex ed classrooms, but also online. More often than not, Gen Z’s teens in general are very aware that when you’re searching on Google, you’re being cookie’d. So they’re very cognizant of what they type in the browser or search query, which is really unique.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

Planned Parenthood actually even has a texting service where you can talk to a sex ed professional directly. But now you’re developing a chat bot. So it sounds like you still feel a need to remove a human from the equation even further.

Ambreen Molitor

Yeah. That’s because at certain times we found that teens feel comfortable with talking to a bot because it eliminates some strong bias and they’re quick to open up to the actual questions they need to get to.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

According to Planned Parenthood, teens like using Roo because it protects their anonymity. And the fact that it comes in the form of a cute little avatar doesn’t hurt.

Ambreen Molitor

It’s gender-neutral. You cannot determine if it has a certain gender identity or even sexual orientation. If you take a long time to type something, Roo starts to like fall asleep and has some Z’s going over his head. And they love that. They’re like, “This avatar is actually paying attention to me. They’re taking the time to understand and connect with me in unique ways.”

Another thing we get so much feedback on is, “Not only is it great that I feel safe, but I also feel like this avatar really is listening and understanding my habits.”

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

Does it have a human form or human shape?

Ambreen Molitor

It’s a blob. It’s just basically an avatar that’s a rounded rectangle with eyes and a mouth to provide gestures.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

So it’s your friendly neighborhood sex ed blob.

Ambreen Molitor

Precisely. It winks, sleeps, snores, all of those things.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

Planned Parenthood doesn’t keep track of who uses Roo but users can opt in to share information about their age and race.

Ambreen Molitor

Of those people who opt in to provide that information, 80 percent of them have identified as teenagers. So it’s about 60-40 percent male to female and 2 percent other gender identities.

Almost 70 percent of the folks that we talked to — again, who have opted in to provide us information — are what we consider people of color. So they’re of a diverse background and race and ethnicity.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

Planned Parenthood also monitors the questions people ask Roo. And some of the subjects teens broach with Roo have been surprising.

Ambreen Molitor

Consent is a topic that we did not anticipate either from the learnings through visiting the high school or through the data that we were seeing from our website. Otherwise, we anticipated lots of questions around puberty and around those changes.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

“Is this normal ...”

Ambreen Molitor

Correct. The spectrum of normalcy is what every teen wants to understand, it’s where they live. Normal is very important to a teen. And that’s something we knew going into it.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

These are big, complex, heavy topics. How does Roo answer these questions in 180 characters?

Ambreen Molitor

We start off by describing consent. We say that there’s no one way to do it. And then we provide just an example or some guiding principles for that. Once we answer the question, we recognize that someone may want to go deeper. And we have link-outs to pages on our site and videos on how you can find or figure out different ways that people can ask for consent. So it goes one step deeper when 180 characters cannot fulfill the curiosity that someone has about that question.

Approximately 80 percent of the time, we’re answering the question correctly. A lot of it falls on two years worth of data and testing that we did. So we didn’t just launch it and go with it.

The other reality we need to call out is that machine learning is not 100 percent accurate. I think Roo’s very humble to say, “I’m not built to answer this question,” or, “I don’t understand it,” or, “I actually don’t think it’s appropriate for me to answer it.” And we’re really good about handing it off to a human.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

So there are questions Roo can’t answer. Which means Planned Parenthood had to build in some guard rails. For instance, if someone appears to be in crisis, Roo will hand off the conversation to a mental health hotline.

Ambreen Molitor

The other time that Roo does handoffs is when there’s decision-making in mind. So the birth control question is a really good one where there are several different birth control methods and there’s not one directional way to suggest this birth control method that’s universally great. That’s where decision-making comes in. That’s an opportunity for Roo to understand that it’s best to hand it off to an educator.

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

The feedback from teens seems to be positive so far. But there’s another demographic that Roo has also been attracting.

Ambreen Molitor

It’s so funny. Parents love this. I’ve actually had, anecdotally, parents reach out to me on LinkedIn and say, “Thank you so much for this bot.”

Arielle Duhaime-Ross

On LinkedIn — great place to talk about sex ed.

So Roo seems to be a surprisingly not-terrible chatbot. But when I think about Roo, I honestly feel kind of sad. Because I see why teens might prefer to use Roo rather than turn to an adult for help. And that makes me wonder:

Why is sex ed so broken? And is Roo really the solution?

For the answers to these questions and many more, listen to the full episode and subscribe to Reset on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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