#when the left is ALSO screaming for our genocide

[hazel2468]

I just had a friend tell me “Well, Jews DO have white privilege- when was the last time you were hatecrimed for being a white Jew? Cops ignore you!” and I had to inform this person that my earliest fucking full memory is my mother and I being harassed by a cop at a park SPECIFICALLY because he looked at her, pegged her for a kike, and then told us that “your kind of people” weren’t welcome at this public park. He then threatened her with arrest, said a few choice words, and ten minutes later mom was explaining to little me that people will hate us because we’re Jews (I’ve posted about this before). I had to inform them that the town I grew up in was SUED for passing laws to purposfully try to keep Jews- and mostly WHITE Jews- out of their public parks and, later, out of the town entirely. And that effort was backed up by wails of “it’s not racism/antisemitism! We’re not RACIST! They’re WHITE! We just don’t want those JEWS here because they’re dirty/welfare users/ disgusting pedophiles”.

Do I pass as white on the street? Hell yes. Is there a sort of fucked up privilege in that, so long as no one knows I’m a Jew, I get treated like any other white woman? Yeah.

But does all of that change the INSTANT someone finds out I’m Jewish? Have I had people instantly begin talking to me and treating me in ways they weren’t literally three seconds prior? Have I had the attitudes of authority figures, including fucking cops, change to hostility the SECOND they have ANY indication that I’m a Jew? Have I experienced everyone from food delivery people to passersby to postal workers give me and my mezzuzah dirty looks? Yes.

It isn’t a fucking “privilege” if that privilege is contingent on you fucking hiding yourself. In the same way that (to draw a personal example here) mspec queers don’t have “straight privilege” when they date someone of what appears to be the opposite gender, Jews do not have “white privilege” when those of us who are perceived as white are conditionally given access to those benefits. Because the SECOND someone finds out we’re Jewish. We’re not white anymore. We’re either, depending on who you ask, non-white non-European pedophilic invaders who want to corrupt Christian America (Qanon), subhuman vermin who are the worst of the worst and a threat to racial white purity (Nazis and white supremacists), or uber privileged more-than-white super-rich oppressors-of-all genocidal assholes who are personally responsible for every atrocity ever committed by the government of a state the size of New Jersey (progressives and Leftists).

Until y’all are capable of understanding that not everything works under the very narrow view of race and religion that America has, until you can understand that it isn’t “you are privileged or you’re not”, until you can understand that telling Jews that we are all white and privileged when we have been and continue to be murdered for LITERALLY not being white is ignorant at BEST and racist antisemitism at worst. Until y’all can actually LISTEN to Jews when we tell you our history, our experiences, what it’s like to be part of a group that has ALWAYS been on the outside- the same shit you (rightly) offer other marginalized groups.

Fuck off.

#antisemitism #k slur #I am so sick of this shit #people really think that Jews just have it so good #when the right is screaming for our genocide #because we're either tools in their christian death cult #or they're nazis and want us all dead because we're of the Jewish race #when the left is ALSO screaming for our genocide #either because Israel is THE hot topic #and it's so cool to hate on the only Jewish state endlessly #with no nuance #and to bring all the Jews everywhere into it #OR because y'all atheist fuckers seem to be chugging the antisemitism jucie #like your life depends on it #we are SCREAMING for help #we are BEGGING for solidarity #and you don't give it #and then you complain about Jews being too insular #or too confrontational and nasty #WE CAN'T TRUST YOU ASSHOLES #We have learned #and you have PROVEN over and over #that we can't trust ANYONE but us #because NONE OF YOU care about us #rant

[beardedmrbean]

I’m with brosef; I also didn’t think there were so many Nazis. Didn’t realize that all the far lefts screaming about Nazis being everywhere was actually about them. They were trying to let us know.

more likely they were trying to distract everyone, misdirection by pointing at a pastor that just wants to speak to his flock not over the internet, or truckers that would like to not be forced to take a vaccine without any knowledge of long term effects, or a veteran who would like to show that they love the country they served by placing flags around their yard, or a group of restaurant patrons that show their patriotism by standing up and joining in with the national anthem, or people that would like to speak about the great things about living in a nation where they're allowed to openly dissent and speak their minds without also condemning some injustice

And on and on.

___________________________-

Those of us that remember 9/11 and the days and weeks after will likely recall a strong level of patriotism and unity and all that good stuff, as a nation we were in shock.

On top of that there was a very loud minority of people that decided that every single person that looked vaguely middle eastern was involved and needed to be punished and a lot of animosity was brought on to not only the Islamic community (who were the intended targets) but also the Sikh and Hindu community because like most racists they were pretty damn ignorant.

It's a stain on our country that that happened, and is still happening occasionally.

I don't remember any significant amount of sanctioned protests calling for the destruction of an entire country and people when that was all going down, note significant because yes it did happen but nothing like what we're getting now with academics and institutes of higher education joining the fray on the side of genocide instead of reason.

This is a headline from yesterday I held on to

wonder if NATO knows what a proportionate response is and that in this instance it would involve the the intentional murder of hundreds of civilians, proportional would not include giving northern gaza 24 hours to get the civilians out before sending people in, that's going to cost the IDF in lives because it's also 24 hours for booby traps, snipers nests, and various other defensive devices and fortifications to be put together

That's what they've done on top of everything else over the decades to try and minimize civilian death hamass could keep it from happening too, if they wanted the people of gaza to be safe they could surrender, but they likely won't.

And the people on the left and the right that hate Jewish people will firmly place all of the blame on Israel and the Jewish people in general, because the had the audacity to be there first and somehow build all their holy sites right underneath the Islamic ones.

#anonymous #middle east mess

[goldenpinof]

Knowing how left-leaning their audience is I definitely think it's been a cop-out on dnp's behalf to not say enough about the genocide, especially considering they're white Brits, the UK has caused half the problem here.

That said, your discussions about their management getting sponsorship deals and 'getting money from zionists and donating to palestine' thing reminded me of something else I observed. Like with Jacksepticeye's thankmas stream, when he announced the donations will go to World Central Kitchen, I realised he's talking around the issue a lot, saying stuff like "with all that's happening in the world" and even WCK in the stream talking about war vaguely, and I had made sure to look through their website to check that yes they were indeed sending aid to Palestine. And I understand the logic there from both Sean and WCK that there's a big audience that they're trying to take advantage of, but if you take any strong political positions beyond "charity good, helping war torn regions good" then it might lose you a lot of donations and derail the fundraiser making it harder to get that aid in the first place. I've seen similar things happen with a lot of well meaning people who try to keep their political positions away from the public eye.

Personally of course I'd prefer to see dnp say more about these topics and engage in important stuff like that. But the discussions about the management getting those sponsorships also makes me wonder if purely strategically speaking it helps to keep controversial things out of the public eye to be able to gain the funds to donate in the first place. My main problem here isn't them getting paid by Amazon, it's the fact that they're promoting and giving a platform to that company at all. Idk how far you can negotiate that stuff with your managers but if there's ever a time to put your foot down it's with this.

Nevertheless, I can also see the merits to an approach where you try not to alienate sources of funds which can do more for aiding a cause than paying lip service would have, but at the end of the day it's up to every individual how they navigate this and what they give more importance to, and I can live with the fact that some people walking that line in the public eye can help get funds on a larger scale. It's not what everyone should do, more of us and especially celebrities who have less to lose/have loads more influence like a listers should be speaking up and not mincing our words, but perhaps there's a particular social position where not alienating big sponsors and donors can help that individual do more good in the long term.

~ 🪴

P.s. sorry about the long essay I've been thinking about that particular social dynamic ever since the thankmas charity stream bc again it raised a LOT of money that way

about Amazon i completely agree. promotion does more damage than dnp getting paid by Amazon. they technically can donate that cheque to Palestine, if they want to. but Amazon will still get money from some of the audience, and dnp working with someone like this one sends a confusing message to their audience.

i wish those things weren't labelled as controversial. and, to be clear, i'm not saying dnp should scream about genocide and war every day or every week. that would have the opposite effect. just, you know, simple reminders here and there, verified links to charities and protests/marches.

i don't really have anything to add to your ask. thank you for sharing, a lot to think about! <3

#dapg-otmebytheballs #answered #sean mcloughlin #tagging it to not lose #like i always lose everything #sponsors

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Winkfield Twyman Jr.

Published: Dec 27, 2023

I have a tender spot in my heart for race pioneers. My spirits were lifted when L. Douglas Wilder was sworn in as the first Black American governor of a U.S. state—the state of Virginia, of which I am a native son. My mom was dying of cancer at the time, but she wanted me to witness Black History in the making. So on that cold January day in 1990, I left her bedside and bore witness to the coming of a better time in Virginia.

Similarly, on the night of November 4, 2008, when Barack Obama was elected the first Black President of the United States of America, I joined family and friends to run into the darkness of the San Diego night, yelling and screaming, whooping and hollering. It was a sacred moment in our American history to be always cherished and never forgotten. That the American electorate would elect a Black person to the highest office in the land was something our grandparents and our grandparents' grandparents could only dream of.

I considered the project of race in America to be finished that November night in San Diego. The election of a Black U.S. president broke the psychological barrier in our minds. There is no higher office than President of the United States of America—in the entire world. For me, the questions of race were all answered. I was done with race.

But too many Americans can't seem to quit race. Fifteen years after President Barack Obama's triumph, some feel it noteworthy to remark that Claudine Gay is the first Black President of Harvard University. Worse, in the face of numerous mounting scandals, many are defending Gay by claiming that the attacks against her are racial in nature.

They are not. They are all well deserved.

The demand that Gay resign stems from the utter lack of moral competency she displayed in her testimony before Congress, in which she said that calling for the genocide of Jews is only against Harvard rules in certain contexts. She also failed to condemn the Hamas atrocities against Israel in real time on October 7, another reason she should resign. There is also now evidence of serial plagiarism. And did I mention Gay has published no books—an unprecedented feat for a Harvard President, unless one travels back in time to the year 1773?

And yet, many are coming to her defense. Having finally got their wish of a Black president of Harvard, Harvard seems unwilling to let her go. The racial wagons have circled around Gay, with President of the NAACP alleging that White Supremacy is afoot and Morehouse President David Thomas claiming in a Forbes interview that Gay is a scholar at the "top of her profession... as qualified as any President Harvard has ever had."

This is not only misguided, but deeply ironic. Did you know that Claudine Gay during her Harvard career has repeatedly targeted and disrupted the careers of prominent Black male professors?

As Dean of the College, Gay terminated Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr. as Faculty Dean of the Winthrop House. Professor Sullivan, Jr., a graduate of Morehouse College and Harvard Law School, was the first Black faculty dean of a house in the history of Harvard College.

What was Professor Sullivan's offense? Sullivan deigned to represent the disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein—an act of moral conscience, since all are entitled to legal representation in our legal system. Yet legal conscience mattered not to Claudine Gay, who terminated a race pioneer for doing his civic duty.

You may excuse this heartless termination as a one-off. You would be wrong. Economics Professor Roland G. Fryer, Jr. was next in the sights of Dean Gay. Fryer was a top Black professor at Harvard. After having overcome all sorts of hardship and childhood deprivation, Professor Fryer joined the faculty at Harvard to become the second-youngest professor ever to be awarded tenure at Harvard, and went on to blaze a trail of distinction, including winning the MacArthur Fellowship and the John Bates Clark Medal.

Yet when Fryer undertook research into the killings of unarmed Black men in Houston, Fryer's research found no racial disparities. He made the mistake of undercutting the racial narrative that the Left has adopted, and as a result, Gay did her best to remove all of his academic privileges, coordinating a witch hunt against him. Fryer survived Gay's crusade of discharge but Fryer's lab was shut down, his reputation tarnished.

No one in good faith should defend President Gay because she is the first Black president of Harvard. Even if you don't agree with me that our racial struggle is in our past, someone who has targeted Black male professors has waived any benefit of the "first Black" defense.

W. F. Twyman, Jr., Class of 1986 Harvard Law School, is a former law professor. He is also co-author of Letters in Black and White: A New Correspondence on Race in America published by Pitchstone Publishing.

==

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Claudine Gay is as corrupt as they come.

#Winkfield Twyman Jr. #Claudine Gay #Harvard University #Harvard #Claudine Gay is corrupt #Roland Fryer #academic corruption #diversity hire #diversity equity and inclusion #diversity #equity #inclusion #plagiarism #corruption #religion is a mental illness

[dreamlandsystem]

We went to our town’s city council meeting last night, where an item on the docket was for our city to support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, added by a recently elected city council member. The assembly room was packed. Here are the highlights:

- 80 people had signed up to speak on this issue. Our mayor made the public select 3 people who are pro ceasefire and 3 who are against to speak, stripping the remaining 74 people of their first amendment rights.

- The council member who added the item to the docket introduced it by asking the public and the city council to look at the facts, acknowledge what scholars and experts are saying (that a genocide is happening in Palestine), and that we must do what we can as human beings to demand a ceasefire and stand up against genocide.

- When they allowed the 6 (out of 80) people from the public to speak, each person was given 5 minutes to say what they wanted.

- The first people to speak were those who were in support of a ceasefire. The people who spoke were two Palestinians and a Jew, all permanent residents of our city. These people brought up the immense death toll, the spike in islamophobia and antisemitism in our town, how Israeli violence had affected them personally, how Palestinians in Gaza and in our own city have been called animals and treated as such, and how the UN, humanitarian experts, and many other cities in our country have also demanded a ceasefire.

- While the Jewish woman was speaking, Zionists in the crowd screamed at her “You’re no Jew!” even though she has been a lifelong active member of our city’s Jewish community.

- The last three people to speak were against the ceasefire. The people who spoke were our conservative synagogue’s president, our Jewish Alliance’s president, and our local Chabad’s rabbi. These people told genuine lies to the council, things that are easily fact-checkable as untrue, like mass rapes of women and children by Hamas. They used the Torah as a justification for violence and murder, claiming that this is a holy war, and that the Jewish people are standing in complete solidarity with Israel and Zionism - that anyone who supports a ceasefire is antisemitic and not Jewish.

- After the 6 people spoke, the council voted on whether or not to support the ceasefire.

- THE COUNCIL MEMBER WHO BROUGHT THE ITEM TO THE DOCKET WAS THE ONLY PERSON TO VOTE IN SUPPORT OF THE CEASEFIRE!

- We were horrified. The public chanted “ceasefire now!” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” We chanted deafeningly and unified until they dismissed the meeting. A lot of people left. We stuck around just in case they came back.

- They did come back after around 10 minutes. We started chanting again, but they started stationing cops all around the assembly room. Cops were removing anyone who shouted. So we left.

We are immensely heartbroken by these events. We had to write them down and get this off our chest. We feel incredibly dismayed and let down by our city council, and especially our spineless mayor. Even now our stomach is in knots and we feel sick. Our city council made it clear that they favor death and genocide over peace and humanity.

Bless the council member who brought this to the assembly. She is amazing and we are lucky to have her as a seat on our city council. All of the other council members are monsters. They’re cowards.

But city council meets once every two weeks. So we will most certainly be back. This time we will bring a Palestinian flag and will cry out for Palestine until we have no voice left.

🇵🇸 From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free! 🇵🇸

🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE!!!! 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

#sys.txt #genocide #ceasefire #free palestine

[wolfgabe]

I have been observing the whole mess down in Israel right now over the past few weeks and have been reluctant to share my thoughts here considering how my thoughts will likely get me branded as pro genocide by the internet hive mind, but I feel I need to get this off my chest now.

Do I acknowledge Bibi is a piece of garbage who played a large part in sparking this conflict and making things worse? Yes.

Do I recognize that Hamas is a terrorist group that is basically the reason why its practically impossible for there to be any true peace between Israel and Palestine? Also yes.

Calling out Hamas for the shit they have done does not make one pro genocide. It's frankly been infuriating seeing how people seem to gloss over the fact that Hamas has no issue with using their own civilians as literal meat shields or how they have been hording stockpiles of fuel and supplies in their underground tunnels. There are people who really want to leave but can't simply because Hamas won't allow it.

The problem is a lot of these people you see online screaming free Palestine probably never even heard of Gaza up until now nor would they be able to actually locate it on a map if they tried. It's basically East Palestine all over again with bad faith actors capitalizing on the conflict for easy clout or closet right wingers looking for a convenient excuse to bash Biden only it's 100x worse.

It's been quite depressing really how this conflict has ended up exposing a lot of people on the left as raging anti semites. People can scream how this will haunt Biden in 2024 all they want but frankly I would say this has probably done more damage to the left wing movement than Biden's reelection prospects. The hard truth is a majority of Americans think Biden is doing the right thing with Israel and see Hamas as the one most to blame. There is a reason why supporting Israel often falls within America's own interests especially considering they are our closest ally in the middle east. Tearing down posters of Jewish kidnapping victims doesn't make one pro Palestine. It's also quite telling how a lot of these anti-Israel protesters apparently get mad very quick when you point out that Hamas are in fact terrorists.

Those who demand a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza are not serious about actual peace in the middle east and/or are woefully ignorant of the reality of the situation. If you honestly expect Israel after suffering one of the worst terror attacks it has seen in decades to suddenly agree to a ceasefire with a Terrorist group that has openly called for the eradication of all Jews which they will likely violate just like they did with the last ceasefire that was brokered by Egypt, then I got a magic bridge to sell you. A ceasefire at this point is basically the equivalent of slapping a band aid on an open wound and the only one who really benefits from it is Hamas since it grants them time to rearm and regroup.

Just suddenly barging into a neighboring country and indiscriminately kidnapping, killing and beheading adults, children, and babies is not liberation. Mind you it was not just jews but also Arabs, Muslims, Ethiopians, African Guest Workers among others that were among the 1400 needlessly executed by Hamas on that day. I also will remind people there are innocent nationals including Americans that are being held hostage right now so no it's not just Jews that are suffering.

And I just would like to give a shout out to Biden here. I don't he is getting nearly enough credit for the fact that he might be the one person that is seriously preventing this conflict from spilling out into the rest of the Middle East. And this is on top of pushing for more humanitarian assistance to Gaza residents as well as pressuring Israel to hold off on a ground invasion and working to open humanitarian corridors. I find it ironic how people can scream Joe Biden is pro Genocide when he has probably been one of the most pro Palestine presidents seen in decades.

War sucks all around that's a fact and its even more frustrating in this day and age with places like Twitter having become certified disinformation cesspits. As the old saying goes truth is often the first casualty in war.

And perhaps a bit of advice if you are looking for reliable news sources right now on Israel and Palestine. I would probably avoid Twitter and TikTok like the plague.

#israel #Palestine #gaza #joe biden #geopolitics #politics #hamas

[heavensbeehall]

"Mockingjay", Chapter 23

Part 3: The Assassin

Chapter 23: ... so everyone is dead including the random lady with a sausage that Katniss shot. What is left of Squd 451 has made it to the City Center. They play dress up in the dead woman's apartment. Cressida leads them to Tigris. You remember Tigris, right? From the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes! Tigris hides them in her shop. Katniss confesses that she has no assignment to kill Snow and everyone is like, "Duh." Peeta says they really thought she could kill him and I have questions about that. Tigris gives them food. Then Katniss overhears Gale and Peeta talking. Gale gives a somewhat harsh--in my opinion--assessment of who Katniss will pick.

One glance at my companions tells me this is no time for a stealth attack on Snow. Gale's still losing blood from the neck wound, which we haven't even cleaned. Peeta's sitting on a velvet sofa with his teeth clamped down on a pillow, either fighting off madness or containing a scream. Pollux weeps against the mantel of an ornate fireplace. Cressida stands determinedly at my side, but she's so pale her lips are bloodless.

Squad goals, amirite? (Also lol at the two women being the only ones to hold it together. Cressida is probably the Victor of the 76th Hunger Games? Any objections? I love Pollux but I think his head isn't in the game since his brother died.)

Behind a counter sits the strangest person I've ever seen. She's an extreme example of surgical enhancement gone wrong, for surely not even in the Capitol could they find this face attractive. The skin has beenpulled back tightly and tattooed with black and gold stripes. The nose has been flattened until it barely exists. I've seen cat whiskers on people in the Capitol before, but none so long. The result is a grotesque, semi-feline mask, which now squints at us distrustfully.

Here's my Tigris headcanon: She starts as a stylist to help her Cousin. She believes he will stop the Hunger Games when he becomes President. ... Except he doesn't. She makes excuses for him for awhile. She loves him. Being part of the Games every year makes her anxious. She turns to her mother's fur coat, and later other fur items (as Katniss does with the pearl) in her anxiety.

Eventually there comes a breaking point, probably at the "earliest Games" Katniss remembers when she was last a stylist. Tigris is probably a stylist for 1, 2 or 4 because we know them to be the most successful districts and we know Tigris to be a bad bitch. Given that she is part of the Rebellion and 4 is the only Career district part of the Rebellion, it's likely things came to a head whens she is told what the Victors have to do... sexually. The same things Tigris herself had to do for Snow, who was also once her boy.

Snow tries to convince her of his dark view of humanity--that the Hunger Games is humanity "undressed" (as Gaul says in the film). That this is who we are. Tigris doesn't want to believe this. She doesn't want to be part of humanity if that is what we are. She makes herself look like a cat. Because if the Hunger Games is who humanity is, then she doesn't want to be human. She probably helps with the attempted rebellion through Finnick, which gets put down by Snow and is then banished to this sad corner of the Capitol, where she waits, hoping for change but not truly believing it will come--when Katniss Everdeen walks through her door. Tigris can't kill her Cousin. (Perhaps murder is not in her?) But Katniss can.

Tigris gives a low growl, not unlike one Buttercup might greet me with.

I like how Buttercup (who Katniss hates!) is associated with Tigris and Katniss, who are our heroes. Be more like cats. They might be mean and dumb, but have they ever committed genocide or done a Hunger Games...?

#mockingjay #katniss everdeen #tigris snow #thg reread #thg reread: mockingjay

[iamnotawomanimagod]

welp. time to just get this off my chest.

on tumblr it's "support Palestine or you are the scum of the Earth" but literally everywhere I go and everyone else I talk to is spouting the "there's two sides to this" "there are no good guys" rhetoric

so no, I'm not surprised that people who aren't chronically online in the deepest left spaces on the internet support Israel.

does it piss me off? of course it does. do I understand the omnipresent and pervasive nature of Western propaganda and the way very few people in Western culture are interested in confronting that? yeah, I do. is it fucked up that that's a reality in Western/American culture? yeah, it is. do I think screaming and mud-slinging at every person who even slightly suggests that there could be no good answers in this is even remotely productive, useful, or helpful? no. I'm not going to end the war by calling my chronically-ill, dying mother a genocide supporter.

I do not support the genocide and I am part of those that see the absolute need for an immediate ceasefire. I am the only one I know in my offline life that feels this way. My friends and family are all left-leaning.

it's difficult not to see the attitude here on tumblr as virtue signaling. it's also difficult to have any meaningful conversations with the people in my life about Palestine when this issue has been ongoing since before I was born. since before my mom was born. yes, people feel overwhelmed and scared and unsure of what the right thing to do is. that's a very human response to war. it's awful.

I don't think we should stop talking about Palestine. I do think tumblr has distilled this issue down to a single talking point that does not allow for any meaningful conversation to take place with the people who could actually have their minds changed, because if you step even the tiniest bit into the "two sides to every 'conflict'" discourse, you are labeled a supporter of genocide.

even posting this is going to get me some major side-eye, I know that. and yes, I am speaking from a place of enormous privilege, safety, and distance. I know.

I just think of all the other horrific shit going on in our world, every single day, and of how little impact me and my family and friends can actually have on any of it, and then I come on tumblr and every other post is about abhorrent actions taken against people who I cannot help. an absolute deluge of human suffering, graphic violence, and traumatizing images and stories that I can do absolutely nothing about.

geopolitics is not something I've ever had any hope of having significant impact on. it's so so so far above my head. it's so far out of my control. and I'm too sensitive of a little bitch to just keep swallowing the bad news and knowing I can never really fix it or even help in a meaningful way.

I don't want to visit a blog about bears and see images of children crushed under rubble. I don't want my favorite fandom blog to post video of victims waving white flags and being shot down.

who is this actually helping? whose mind is this actually changing, when you're on the "there is ONE side to this and if you think anything even a little bit otherwise, you are Evil" website?

I get two options when I vote. less genocide or more genocide. voting is the only thing I can do to influence my country's politics, and I was going to do it already anyway. my president is 100% culpable in this and he's STILL the better option.

and how people posting on tumblr lowkey do seem to think that they're going to stop the war that way. you aren't. this is a fucking echo chamber, and I know that's true because the moment I step outside of it, the discourse changes completely. you cannot and will not save the world by blogging. people who aren't blogging about it are not contributing to the genocide.

I guess if this is upsetting to you and you think I'm a bad person because I feel this way, you can unfollow me. if you're a mutual, at least soft-block me on the way out.

#rambling about my life #not going to tag this but it's about i/p

[alexissara]

My Favorite NPCs

We're at it again talking about my OCs. We've talked about Current OCs and my favorite OCs who never really got to see play so today we're talking NPCS. I GM a lot, more than I play. So of course, over that time I've made some characters whom I just love so much and have become some of my favorite OCs despite them never really being PCs or only being PCs very briefly. Honorable Mention to Jillian Owlnight whom I have already wrote about when I wrote about The Iconic Matriarch from TSL.

Grifta Scamsly

System: Anyone I can fit them in

[ https://picrew.me/ja/image_maker/296093 ]

Grifta Scamsly first appeared as a one off joke NPC who was intended to divert the players in my Fellowship campaign just a little. However, Griffta Scasmsly, They/Them, as in THEY got THEM deals but seriously please use the right pronouns was a big hit with the players. Since they were well liked I had them show up in little bit roles again and fleshed out a backstory from jokes I told during appearances that actually lead to them being a big part near the end of the campaign establishing firmly The Scamaly and their backstory of being part of a group of Orphans who were abused by the adults running the orphanage and managed to take over the joint and get all of them out of their lives by conning everyone they could in an elaborate scream proudly taking on the Scamsly name they formed for themselves.

Griftta would appear in multiple worlds since then with the consistent beats, They/them, is from a found family of orphans and actually a very helpful friend who just also happens to be a con artist. They even went on to inspire me to make the playbook for Thirsty Sword Lesbians The Swindler which also started as a joke that I could make the Griffta playbook since they didn't fit any of the playbooks perfectly.

Celeste

System: Fellowship

[ https://picrew.me/ja/image_maker/332600 ]

In the same campaign that Griffta appeared we had our Overlord Celeste. A chaotic being who altered areas to make them strange, fun and weird wishing to alter the whole world to her amusement altering reality wherever she went. In truth the woman was possessed by an evil force who simply wished to ruin the world and had attempted to burn the world before and was sealed away in a Crystal the girl found. She was a weirdo who just had her crush and best friend in a very uptight community of light mages. She wanted to make the world break through all the norms and everything for her beloved taking it too far.

She was really fun to play because she had a very fun voice to do and a very strange manner of thinking and doing things while being rooted in one of the PCs in a positive way and in a negative way with the other two. Celeste was a house of mysteries for the players to crack and a force of chaos that was hard to get pinned down. Then getting to play a touch of her without the force inside of her at the very end was very rewarding and her being united with her mutual crush and them getting together was just very sweet. It was overall really great to have this very recurring villain that the game itself put under protection and the effects of could be felt every single step of their adventure.

Altia

System: Thirsty Sword Lesbians and King Is Dead

[ https://picrew.me/ja/image_maker/227881 ]

Altia was "Her Holiness" the voice of the goddess of The Pure Light was another villain that was just an utter blast to chew up as a GM. She is really special becuase she was really fun on multiple layers. There was her while she was possessed by the Pure Light both as mostly herself but swayef and more of a direct take over. Then there was her post being free of The Holy Lady fully herself but trying to make up for past wrong doing. Then her more exploring herself phase but equally fun was showing the counter balance to her. Altia always posed herself as a reformer, progressive, to The genocidal churches left and improving monster relationships. Since her personality was mostly involved in most choices she really had made some strong reforms and having The Holy Lady move to her more conservative counter part and war errupting right away and policies shifitng to further fash then the existing bad fash was fun and only had the impact because Altia set up varying degrees of awful for us.

It was fun to have this religious and political agent, the ways she changed the world when she was evil and the ways she wanted to actually change the world, the ways she was twisted and the ways she resisted. Altia was just a really fun character and as a shared NPC in a CO-GM campaign she was really fun to build on with others and go through varying twists I'd never have made myself but loved.

Queen Azure

System: Masks: A New Generation

Art by Littleinksheep

Another Villain and this time one that didn't get to see too much spotlight but even found herself in lore in a future campaign so one I have a ton of fondness for. This NPC was a little bit different in that it was an NPC I designed from a PC perspective with the Masks Playbook, The Innocent. The playbook has you make a future version of yourself that is a big time baddy or otherwise messed up and have that be the main focus of conflict for you.

Azure was the princess of a Fire Emblem land on Earth that was taken from earth and into a space collector of abnormally magical and powerful places to "protect the universe". When this tech was being used to move it Azure was hit between a pivotal moment in time and space duplicating herself one being shot through time far into the future 1418 years into the future and the other, Queen Azure remaining in her place in time but in a new universe captured by the man.

Her farther killed before her and her people and culture being wiped out while she was captured by him to remain part of his "preservation of history" lead to her getting angrier and more aggressive, she had fought in a war before always with the power of friendship and with hope to reach every opponent, now she wanted death for her enemy no path to redemption or understanding. Azure managed to lead other captured cultures that hadn't resisted and therefore still had numbers left to rise up against the man who captured them and kill him and sized his operation. With his tech she took her old castle and turned into into an intergalactic spaceship and reality traveling ship. Azure then went to start conquering worlds with the intention of using her domain over them to protect them from a force as powerful as that man and threats that might grow to his level gathering the strongest warriors to work under her directly.

Over time Azure also learned the dark secrets of her own culture and embraced all sides of her abilities to become more powerful in order to protect the multiverse. After so many years she finally found her home reality and home world returning to find her first and truest love was still alive and had become a vampire in her absence but rejected the path she had taken and fought back against her. I GMed the first encounter session as a set up for my character coming into the campaign as I switched characters and I was in tears as she fought her beloved and they reached that moment of impasse where she realized the only thing left from what she knew, the woman she loved most, all of that were no longer compatible with her but refusing to let go of her role as the protector of The Multiverse and Queen of The Arondite Kingdoms.

I can't help myself but ramble about her as you just saw, I got so much more to say but she is such a tragic villain who isn't like mind controlled or corrupted just brought to a radical position by radical trauma but genuinely doing her best and what she thinks is the kindest option. She worked really well as a natives foil to Princess Azure and this looming threat of the kind of person she could become, she would become if she saw what she saw. Azure doesn't deny that if she suffered the same trauma she would have been different, she knows they are the same exact person she is simply a younger version of her but she wants to remind her of why she fought, why what they fought for matters but she also had to come to terms with the reality her life was fucked up too and that part of what was going on with Azure started well before "that man".

Mona

System: "Masks: A New Generation"

[ https://picrew.me/ja/image_maker/86774 ]

Mona was from my very first dedicated TTRPG campaign that actually had consistent games. There was a session I made specifically to present a bunch of hot NPCs to the players and attempt to get them to hook up with someone. Our Alien Stoner Pizza Delivery girl fell head over heels for one of the most silly of my silly sexy characters Mona. She has a magic staff that can do anything but it's totally random and triggers off her saying magic. One day Mona found it on the ground, she brought it to The Lost And Found and they ended up returning it to her when no one claimed it. Since then she has used it and her super power to jump really high [above average] to work as a part time gig hero on apps.

This bisexual dork fell head over heels for the cute alien girl being mutually considered fuck ups but both seeing only the amazing things about one another. Over time they stood up for each other and fought for each other and time and time again despite how wild, scary or out of this world things got Mona was there to provide magic.

I had a really funny little voice I did for her and to this day randomly I'll just say "Magic!" in her voice and get a giggle out of my fiancé or my girlfriends who were in the campaign.

Sapphire Riches

System: Masks: A New Generation/Thirsty Sword Lesbians

[ https://meiker.io/play/11994/online.html ]

Sapphire Riches actually started out as PC in a Thirsty Sword Lesbians One Shot I did on stream. I started a Masks Campaign shortly after that stream and in the first session of the shared GM campaign I ran I decided to put Sapphire in as a bit NPC still in her rich bitch era with none of the introspection I gave her for the TSL game. She was a rich girl super hero using tech she mostly just bought along with maybe a few of her own mods added in and part of a corporations super hero department. She ended up with a romance with one of the PCs and she did in fact manage to fix her, mostly, kinda, she improved a lot.

I really enjoy playing a terrible rich girl but typically those characters can not be fun to have around long term but here everyone knew where I was taking her so it was even more fun to be able to lean into it and show that development. She remained a fairly minor character even after the time skip where we switched to Thirsty Sword Lesbians. Sapphire is just one of those really fun characters to have show up and be a little cute or sassy or out of touch and remained a high light any time I brought her in. Most recently I used her in a private RP as a main character but leaning more into the toxic elements for spice and that was a really fun take too.

If you enjoyed hearing about my OCs then you can support me on Patreon or Ko-fi or you can just tell me you liked them. Sharing this stuff probably helps in theory someone hire me to GM something so rebloging helps a lot too.

#OCs #Fellowship #Fellowship TTRPG #Villians #TTRPG Villains #TTRPG NPCs #NPCs #thirsty sword lesbians #masks: a new generation #TTRPG OCs #OC #Grifta Scamsly #Sapphire Riches #Mona #Queen Azure #Altia #Celeste

[acidbathcat]

1)how do you decide a hadith is authentic or not and 2) even if he didnt pretty much the entire muslim world accepts that he did and still defend it to hell and back (so its sort of hard to call it bs) along with all the rape, slavery, pillaging and genocide he committed. Why is it so important to u

if you know nothing about islam of course you don’t know what an authenticated hadith is, which is essentially, a confirmed and corroborated one RETOLD BY trusted people. there are a finite number of these and they have been compiled into books already for everyone’s convenience.

and who is this entire muslim world. are they on the phone with you right now. ask them how it’s possible for them to be on the phone if they’re currently being bombed, flooded, and exploited by the west. i find it hard to believe they’re more concerned about the tumblr radfem slandering them online.

here is a comprehensive discussion of the prophet’s sex life WITH sources and context. so you can see for yourself what the “entire muslim world” believes.

“why do i care” uh because you guys ARE racist. “oh the liberals always scream islamophobia is racism how come we can’t just critique the religion” well you can. but you are not doing it justly. you are again 1) making up lies 2) excusing the murder and torture of middle eastern men because “they deserved it” 3) islam is not just a religion it is a culture. the people that practice it are largely the same race. when you say “muslims say it’s okay to rape slaves” you are saying “middle eastern people say it’s okay to rape slaves” whether that’s the intention or not. you can’t say these things without considering the implications or context. there is no separating the religion from the culture from the race.

i understand it’s hard to see when you’ve lived in a christian dominant society your whole life, but christianity is imbued into your culture. you’re just blind to it. if i start mocking christians for inbreeding, violence, and alcoholism, i am also attacking the western society. because these go hand in hand. but you’ll notice i’m not. because this isn’t real criticism. real christian criticism is attacking its control on politics, its indoctrination of children, its saturation in our education system. real critique of islam is attacking the men in power, the men who sell out their countries to the west, the men that don’t speak out against the injustices done to women and children with their blessing. and there are plenty of male islamic scholars that speak out against this. but see, they have no actual control over what the men in charge do. the men in charge don’t have morals. they want money. power. they don’t care about the religion. they don’t care about heaven or hell. they don’t give a shit if the prophet was a pedophile or not. but you painting him as one makes it easier for them to do wrong: they’ll say, “i’m just practicing my religion.”

and, to end this, i’ll just say islamophobia is entrenched with racism and here is my statement:

this weekend my family and i were at a park having a barbecue in a predominantly white town. this was a blue state, but people of color know that means nothing about the actual attitude you’re met with. my dad and brothers needed somewhere to pray, so they did, in our own space, quietly, on our own mat that we brought.

as soon as we left and got on the road we got pulled over by the cops. they asked us what we were doing here, where we lived, and so on. when we told them we were just going home, they let us go, and then tailed us through the state until we were out of their jurisdiction. all we know is someone at the park reported us. they saw a family of brown people, speaking in their own language, performing their strange rituals, and wanted us to pay for the audacity.

last WEEKEND. 4 days ago. do you know how much i suffer because of my perceived religion? whether i practice it or not? did you have the privilege of being socially outcasted and getting called a “terrorist” at school after 9/11? did your mom have to change the way she dressed because people were out there assaulting and attacking women who dared wear too much clothes on their good white christian land? did you worry about your dad going to the mosque after the new zealand shooting, and now when you visit with him you see bars on the windows and a digital lock on the door? do you fear getting on a plane because you get “randomly searched” EVERY TIME without fail? do you have a gnawing anxiety in your stomach when your parents visit their home country, knowing they could get caught in a war zone at any freak moment?

because the demonization of an entire culture still shows in people like you.

#there are typos i don’t care.

[silkendandelion]

Mirage In The Desert - Chapter 9

Summary: The lovers are damaged beyond repair. But what does this mean for the plan?

Rated Mature for suicidal thoughts, non-graphic violence and blood. Ongoing, will cover the Alabasta Arc. Cross-posted to Ao3, same username. Send me a DM: yell at me, send flowers. Cheers.

~*~

“I’ll ask you one more time: what happened in the desert?”

“No, you’ll answer me.” River clenches but does not back away when he closes the space between them, a suffocating gesture that would kill a lesser animal.

“Who brought the dance powder to Alabasta? Was it Baroque Works? Your orders?”

Crocodile seizes the front of his shirt, the stitches protesting, threatened to break, and River believes for a moment he should have stayed away, kept his head low, and taken their memories with him as the gift that they were.

Can you kill me? Have I failed you if it turns out you can’t?

River has never managed to look afraid of him, not even when they were strangers across his desk, but now. Now. He yanks his hand away like it burns, knuckles popping where he clenches his fist.

His cold demeanor washes back over him faster than it left, a regal apathy that River used to admire, not resent. “You seem to have already made up your mind about what you want to believe.”

“Don’t LIE to me, Crocodile—”

“I’ve never lied to you.”

“So tell me it isn’t true. That’s all I want, just tell me you didn’t do this. That I’ve been misinformed, misled—wouldn’t be the first time—tell me our business is just gold and, and guns, not genocide.”

“River.”

The calm, gentle rumble of his voice can’t help but disarm him, with River’s despair unable to stand under the weather and weight of it’s embrace.

And he hates that.

“What, Crocodile?” He lifts his face to look at him, the ghost of a tender hand on his cheek, the same one that threatened him.

“This apartment is yours if you choose to stay in Rainbase. We can find other work for you, I won’t require a second contract... Stay—” He exhales slowly around his cigar.

“Or go. Those are my terms.”

River’s lips are tight around the sour taste in his mouth, the burden on his heart. And he’s silent so long, Crocodile wonders if he’s—not gone too far, everything about them was too far—if he’s wounded him in place that won’t heal.

“I’ll stay. I will… still be Mr. i.” His sigh trembles from his lungs, fragmented and sore. “But I reserve the right to refuse any assignment I dislike.”

“Haven’t you always?” Crocodile reaches into his breast pocket and pulls out his copy of River’s key, flicking it onto the bed with a metallic ‘ting’.

“Rest. You’ve traveled far in the last few days.”

“Crocodile.” River called, his suddenly stable voice halting him in front of the door.

And when he turns, River feels the last of his heart shatter, the pattering drips now a torrent that pours into his belly and down, down until it runs out over the floor in a puddle that stains both their shoes.

He’s never seen the Warlord so hollow, cold gaze—guarded again—fighting on numb legs to protect an empty horde. Or something dead. Just another thing he couldn’t manage to keep.

“Was it real? What we had?”

His eyes close as he removes his cigar to lick his lips, a tick River knew he used to buy time, and the unflappable, detached Warlord is the one who opens his eyes.

“I didn’t think it ever left.”

“You said you’ve never lied to me.”

“I haven’t. Whether you choose to believe that or not is none of my business.” ____ ___ __ _

For 3 nights and 3 days he didn’t leave the apartment.

Living off his stolen coffee maker and cigarettes, he cried when he wasn’t sleeping, and slept when he was tired of crying. The den den mushi from his suitcase (also stolen) was too young to reach Oasis, eventually puttering off when it grew tired of dialing over and over, unable to connect.

When the cigarettes ran out he found anger, a raw, helpless itch in his chest that didn’t leave with a scream, couldn’t be scratched by shattering the vase he kept by the window, it’s flowers long dead and water stinking.

He eventually began dialing the den den mushi in futility, his bandaged hand unwilling to write for him.

“Claudia, I… need you here. I’ve made a mistake, so so many mistakes. And now…” He reaches into his shirt to find his talisman, the golden diamond dimpling his thumb.

“I just—I need to ask someone what to do.”

“How can I attempt to make this right, and if there’s nothing I can do… how do I begin to ask for forgiveness from an entire nation?”

Knock knock knock.

The lights of the hallway sting his sore, red-rimmed eyes when he pulls open the door. “Miss All Sunday?”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Faustina.” She holds up a garment bag, well-mannered enough to not mention that he must look like he’s been, well, whatever her morbid mind can come up with wouldn’t be half-wrong.

“Crocodile has requested your presence in the casino tonight. You’ll wear the clothes he’s provided.”

He doesn’t reach out, even leans away. “I refuse.”

“He said you might. Your only alternative is to join Miss Valentine and Mr. 5 on assignment.”

The inside of his cheek gives easily under his teeth, and he feels that Robin is the one who speaks to him this time.

“I’ll be on the floor tonight.”

For such a cold woman, you always manage to make me feel warm.

“What time?”

“Dinner is served at 7:30.”

“Well… I’d better hurry then, I need to shower. And all that.” He waved his hand dismissively, finally receiving the garment bag as she bid him until later. ____ ___ __ _

Downstairs, one of the concierge extends their gloved hand. “Your coat, Mr. Faustina?”

He could feel the lecherous eyes of the room on his skin, no doubt missing him while he was away—the version of him they were encouraged to enjoy.

The one that leaves his hair to fall down his back, only privileged to pin the hair back from his face, and draped in a deep indigo ensemble that complimented Crocodile’s evergreen coat too well for how River averted his eyes when the warlord came to greet him.

“The kitchen is serving your favorite.” He said plainly, uncaring if River caught the way he admired the Bananawani collar pins on either sides of his bobbing throat, connected with a golden chain and provided with the rest of his suit.

“Am I meant to be your entertainment for the evening? Or for the guests?” Even the staff can hear how he bites, scurrying off when they’ve taken his navy blue coat.

“You know how I feel about that. But if this is the only way you’ll eat—” He leans down to speak into his ear.

“Then I’ll drag you down from your tower every night, even if I have to sit you in front of all these people in nothing but the smell of cigarettes.”

He replaces the cigar in his mouth, aware how River’s knuckles creak inside his fist.

“Enjoy your evening, Mr. Faustina. I’m due elsewhere.”

His temple throbs where he left daggers in the warlord’s back, hand darting out to snatch a champagne flute off a passing tray.

For weeks, it’s the only way he can eat: breakfast in bed and dinner in the resort’s restaurant, chased by wine and the sugary praise of the socialites who hope his smile will make them worth even more money someday.

He hates how they think they’re privileged to touch him, a hand on his arm when they ask for more liquor, eyes dragging fingers down the small of his waist when he chases chips at the blackjack table.

You think you own me, as much as you think you’re not compliant to the suffering of my country.

Tonight, he’s drank too much, feet propped on the Baccarat table while he chain smokes with one hand and tucks the other under the chin of a patrician beauty, beckoning her to smile at him while she nestles under his arm. She’s blushing like she’s also had too much to drink, hoping she can entice him to kiss her with the flutter of her lashes against pink cheeks.

He hadn’t been so relaxed in recent memory, keeping her close so she can whisper to him while he pretends to pay attention to the game.

“You really like my voice, don’t you?” She giggles at him while she twirls his hair around her finger and admires the stones in his earrings.

“It’s your language, my father was from Dressrosa—I never get to hear it anymore. I have a friend who can speak it with me but… we don’t speak much anymore.”

She smiles and leaves a kiss on his cheek, keeping his attention too long when the dealer clears her throat. “Final bets, please.”

He tosses out a few chips but they land short of the player square, and someone around the table sighs when he returns her kiss.

He can’t remember her name (did she say?), but he wants to hold her perfume in his lungs until she numbs the ache behind his ribs.

“If I promise to be good for you, can you take me to Dressrosa?” He murmurs into her hair.

She giggles, and he can’t tell if his breath tickles or he said something dumb again. “Mr. Faustina, I haven’t been back there for years. You’ll have to settle for my villa in Lulusia.”

“Anywhere but here.”

“I second that.” A man pipes up across the table, interrupting the dealer with his low drawl, wide shoulders stuffed into a fur that reeks of stale cologne. “Thing’s have really gone to hell around here.”

The dealer tries again to keep the game going but the harrumphs and complaining around the table keep them quiet.

“How’s that?” River asks, benevolent even as he leans back in his chair.

The man blows smoke from his nose, setting down a cigar in the ashtray that leaves orange stains on his fingers.

“It’s gotten worse every year. Cobra has no spine, his lineage is old. Crocodile keeps this city running, let him be king. He would find a use for the people in the street, they wander around like their brains are cooked from the sun.”

River watches the man lick his grimy thumb to peel a few bills off his money wad to satisfy the server at his side, his thumb itching for swords he wasn’t wearing.

“I think he should start with Oasis, actually. They’ve lived off Alabasta’s economy for how long? And Cobra doesn’t get anything from them, no taxes, nothing. A useless king leads useless people, I guess.”

“How do you suggest he make use of my island then?” River’s voice chills the table, and the dealer bows their head as they begin to pack away the cards.

The man picks his cigar back up to clean the end, the casino floor falling mostly quiet to eavesdrop on the commotion beginning at Baccarat, and he lights it again with a match.

“I think he should round every single one of them up and yank them off that tiny little island. They want to buy our goods, sell theirs, then they’ll live on our land.”

“You’re making me angry.” His smile shines anyway, and a non-hearing spectator might assume he’s ordering more wine.

“Watch what you say to someone twice your size, son... They should call themselves Alabastan, and stop wearing those tacky blue skirts—”

It all happened so fast.

But this time, no one was in any danger, except the man who kept talking without a care for who was listening or whom his words might harm, only concerned that they were heard (like his opinion was so important). River throws his drink to make the man splutter as he stumbles backwards, struggling to wipe himself off when the Oasin stands to round the table.

The woman watches him with a vague amusement in her red-lipstick smile, satisfied her partner for the evening diffused the foul man with his temper intact.

“Can I help you clean your face, sir?” River stands taller than him as the man sits, still wiping his eyes.

“You fucking brat, you—” His face slams into the felt-covered table with the force of River’s grip on his hair, startling the other patrons to stand and flee with varied shouts.

He backhands the man clean out of his seat and into a crumpled heap on the floor, suddenly aware of his face, damp with tears, and unable to recall when they began. His boot squishes in the man’s damp shirt when it pins him flat, too easy to make him cry out while he leans over him to spit and sneer.

“Don’t speak to me as if you have any idea what’s happening on this island, least of all when the only thing you can come up with in that sloppy, rotten head of yours is the subjugation of MY people, you—”

“RIVER.”

The boom of Crocodile’s voice from the entrance stills his fist, primed to hit the man where he lay prone, nose already bleeding down his cheek and onto the ornamental carpet.

His chest heaves as they stare each other down, but he’s still wounded, weak, and averts his eyes, a public admission of defeat.

“C-Crocodile—”

“Shut up.” He aims at the man on the ground (gurgling even after River removed his boot) and never lets his eyes off the Oasin.

“Get out of my sight, River. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

Robin watches him go from where she had spectated with no intention to intervene, an unfamiliar pang in her heart for the man she struggled not to call a friend.

“You’ll pay for letting this happen on your watch, Crocodile—”

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?” His voice pins the man back where he lay, and whatever threat he wanted to aim at the warlord withers on his tongue. ____ ___ __ _

River is sitting beside his snail phone when it rings later that night, having waited for the wrath he knew would come for him whenever it pleased, whether it be wet and naked from a bath, or half-asleep and still unable to speak.

“Do not sit.” Crocodile says when River walks into the searing spotlight that victimizes the floor in front of the wide, ornamental desk.

“State your full name.”

He knows his face must betray his confusion, voice quiet. “What—?”

“Do not make me wait.”

Neither blinks while they let the silence wade between them, stagnant and choking while it splays atop a cloud of cigar smoke.

“… River Joel Faustina.” He manages not to stammer.

“State your occupation.”

“This—Crocodile, this is—”

But that cold stare claps his mouth shut, cements his feet to the floor.

“I… am an officer in—”

“Are you? Act like it—”

“Cuh—Crocodile, please—”

“DON’T stutter—”

“MY NAME—” His yell surprises even himself. “Is River Joel Faustina. I am an officer in Baroque Works, code name: Mr. i.”

“That’s right. A title I gave you.” He rounds the desk, and River’s never hated before now that he has to strain his neck to look at him, flinching on instinct when that golden hook catches the lapel of his waistcoat, stuck on his amethyst lapel pin.

“Wearing jewels I bought.” Thik. The hook cuts the pin free and it clatters to the floor.

River assumes the hand he raises is going to strike him until it grips him by the jaw, and even with haki he wonders if a single good squeeze would maim him.

“An absolute fury in your face for only me—I made you, Kingfisher, down to the rage in your bones.”

“Then you can unmake me, can’t you?” He grits where his cheek gives under Crocodile’s thumb.

“Do it.”

“No,” Crocodile says, too calm for the inferno inside River’s ribs that threatens to kill him first.

“Why can’t you?! HUH?!” He screams, fingernails raking down his hand even as it lets him go without a fight. “I’m not worth the effort?!”

“Because I love you.”

Beside his feet, the lapel pin lay shattered on the pristine, marble floor.

A piano for his childhood home.

A watch for his first ship.

And a ring for River.

The fire in his stomach is drowned in an instant, leaving only a shaking in his core that reminds him of being caught in a storm, having to walk miles back home without a coat, and believing you might never be warm again.

“Why would you say that?” He says so quietly, and yet it threatens to shatter their eardrums.

Crocodile has no answer, and River can see blood dripping from his palm to the floor, the pattering louder than the storm in his thrumming ears.

“After everything I know now, why would you say that?”

“Why?” Crocodile finds his voice finally, not so calm. “Because after everything I’ve done for you, if I took it all away you would be nothing less than who you already are.”

All I’ve ever had for control is my ability to give and take.

To never let anyone control me.

“I’ve never been able to control you.”

“Isn’t that worse?” River cries. “That I was, of my own free will, building your name that contributes to just—suffering, hunger. I had no idea, if I knew about the drought from the beginning, I would have never—”

“Don’t bleed to me about those people. If I hadn’t fed you, you would have gone out and found a way to survive on your own. That is the nature of people, the weak and strong. Those who can’t persevere will die, and what’s left will be mightier than anything else in the world.”

“… that’s what you want. To be king.”

“Perhaps. No one will dare to challenge me, us, our country. And even now I would take you with me—”

“You can’t—”

“WHY SHOULDN’T I BE KING OF A WORLD SO CRUEL?!”

The echo of his voice startles even the Bananawani away from the windows, ringing around the tall ceilings of the apartment until all either of them can hear is his heart crumbling. Years of stone, decades of layers, melted by the rain to dry even harder the second time, the third time, until they shattered with the pestering of one, nosy kingfisher.

“I’ve wanted the world as long as I can remember. A shitty prize, really, this world where you fell in love with me when I was already undeserving of you a decade before we even met.”

I thought I was the only one capable of such evil.

“So it begins here. Alabasta will fall. Look away if you like, but trust Oasis will be unharmed when you open your eyes. It will be a sovereign nation sooner than you think.” ____ ___ __ _

That night, the lights of Rainbase are dimmer than River remembers, and no street vendor can hope to reach him with the smell of their comfort.

I can see the entire city from here.

A semblance of a wind brushes his hair from his face, dries the stale tear tracks on his cheeks, saltwater like the lake hundreds of feet down from the top of the casino.

He shivers under a stronger gust of wind that slides easily into his open shirt and waistcoat, haphazardly yanked from his clammy skin and hanging from his tired bones.

I wonder if Coco’s asleep yet, his thoughts drift down to his favorite wani, the one with white speckles around their mouth like the baby he left behind on Oasis (were they big now?), and who loved coconut but only when he peeled it first.

Ramon would like to meet them, I think.

“I wanted it to last forever.” He speaks to the wind, hoping the stories were true (at least for the moment) that she will take your words to whomever needs them most.

“River, help me, please. My arms are getting tired,” Claudia said while she pointed to her dough with a sticky finger.

Their home always smelled of her, the herbs from her garden and the flatbread on her cooking stone, the one she kept busy even on leaner days when bread was all they ate hot. He could feel her head on his shoulder when he closed his eyes, hear her remind him not to overwork the dough before mumbling her thanks, and leaving a kiss on his hair.

“Do you think you’ll ever leave the island?” Esai had asked one night while they sat beside the ocean, their bellies full of seasonal fruit and lips wet with a tea of Ines’ specialty.

“I mean, actually this time. Not like when you said you were leaving on pilgrimage and decided only when we were all standing at the bridge that you ‘changed your mind’.” He snorted, and River laughed as he took a sip from the water-skin they shared.

“I don’t know. Maybe. Claudia needs me here… I’m afraid, too, if I can admit that to you.”

Esai stopped before he took another drink, watching him look out at the sea. “You can admit anything to me.”

“Even you left for a little while.”

“That’s right,” Esai took his sip, “I did that mechanic’s apprenticeship.”

“Maybe that’s what I’ll do. Come back after a year or two, in time to watch you grow old and even crankier.”

He spluttered, wiping his mouth with his arm and turning away to cough (and to hide his blush).

“Shut up, River.”

“Will you do the same for me?”

And Seth help him, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the earnestness in his best friend’s eyes, longing for something he couldn’t name, and yet he wanted to stay here if he never figured it out. Stay here with me.

“Yeah. Yes, River. Of course… it’ll be strangely cathartic when all that hair of yours starts to go gray.”

“You’re just jealous.”

“I have nothing to be jealous about.” Esai rubbed the top of his head, scratching an imaginary itch.

I think I was the one jealous of you, River wondered as he pulled the pin from his hair to set it down.

“I didn’t think you knew about this place,” came a voice behind him.

“Robin—” She startled him from his thoughts, and his spin to see her kicked his hair pin from the golden roof, too far down to hear or even see whether it landed in the lake or the walkway below.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” She offered with a smile.

“Do you... need something?” He said slowly, carefully while he dried his face with his sleeve.

“You worried me today. In the casino. You’re not one to lose himself in that way.”

“In other ways?”

“You’re an emotional man.” Her quiet laugh pinged his memory of their traveling to Rainbase together so long ago. “I imagine you’re easy to get riled up.”

“I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.”

“You didn’t. I only came to make sure you were still up here.”

The implication in her melodious voice wrapped around him on the cool night wind, embraced him in a way she couldn’t.

“I thought you a good woman, Robin—I do, still do… But you always knew, didn’t you? What we were meant to do here, and you’ve stayed all this time. I’m jealous, you stand so tall—”

He took a stuttering breath, and the kindness in her eyes only kept his moist, kinder than he had ever seen her. “You’re so strong, and I… I’m not.”

“River, we—”

She searched for words, and settled for a hand that appeared on his shoulder, wiping his tears with a delicate finger before it poof—popped off in a handful of petals.

“We both have work to do. There’s still so much that can be done.”

Without revealing too much, she needed him to know the end was only beginning, that even if they could only be friends in the context of an awful, horrible company, it counted for something. Small but cherished, a flower petal on a sick tree whose pale blooms are still admired by everyone who stops to look.

And though she couldn’t help him, or tell him what to do—their goals were inherently too different to converge—she knew both their work had to be done.

So she settled for the calm on his face when he caught one of her petals, letting it dissolve as he finally gave her a smile.

I know it hurts, River. The most painful thing you’ve ever done—but I’m used to loneliness. So follow me.

“Okay, Robin. Let’s see this through.”

You’ve always been larger than life, Nico Robin, too much for me to hope to fit onto a page in a letter or poem that would just embarrass us both. So I’ll simply say thank you, and hope someday you remember too, that you want to live.

#one piece #sir crocodile #sir crocodile x oc #sir crocodile x reader #male reader #mirage in the desert #oc fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #x reader #x oc

[ani-shachaf]

I'm just gonna write a vent post of miscellaneous shit I can't say on my main blog without losing all my friends

anyone else annoyed at those posts going around where goyim are like "omg 30,000 people killed..............how can I go on with my life while this is happening....................." when like. there's so many other hugely tragic things going on in the world. why has this conflict in particular set off an existential crisis, hm? the vast majority of y'all don't have any stakes in this, you're just gonna forget about it like you did with Ukraine. stop with the groveling and the Holocaust inversion

look. people in the Israeli government have said truly horrible shit. but if you're gonna accuse Israel of genocide because of what they say, then why the hell isn't that standard being held to Hamas??????

one thing that's really telling to me is people only now being like "oh no, Israel treated the Holocaust survivors who fled there horribly! they're so evil" if you Actually gave a shit about Jews y'all'd've been talking about that ages ago, held huge events to raise money to help, any number of things! but you don't care. you just want to find any excuse to call for Israel's destruction.

and let's be clear - almost everything I've seen has been calling for a 1 Palestinian state solution. but there's never any discussion of how that actually plays out or what to do about "the Jewish question" beyond "oh y'all're all rich whities, go back to Europe"

are these European countries gonna kick out the people living in the houses that Jewish families fled from and give them back to their descendants? do you think Jews want to go back to towns that collaborated with the Nazis?

not to mention there's hundreds of thousands of Jews who left MENA countries. you think countries with at most 100 Jews currently living there would welcome the huge number of descendants that would pour in? you think they'd even be allowed to return?

and where exactly does that leave the Jews who have always been in the Levant? are you really naive enough to think that after nearly 80 years of fighting, the remaining Jews wouldn't actually be genocided??? (for the record, I don't think a one-state solution where Israel absorbed Gaza and the West Bank would work either; plenty of settlers have proven they can't live peacefully with Palestinians, and I don't think anyone wants to see that happen on a larger scale.)

don't talk to me about ~decolonization~ until Jews have full control over our holy sites. Obviously there's no way the compound would be taken down and a third Temple constructed; Arab countries scream bloody murder when Jews so much as pray there. (are they worried we're gonna do the same fucking thing they did??? lmao) but can we at least get the right to do that? that really shouldn't be restricted to one group.

the fact that people deny that Jews are indigenous to the Levant is fucking absurd. Jews have maintained their connection to their homeland for thousands of years. the fucking Dalai Lama asked Jews for advice on how to maintain Tibetan culture while in exile.

it's also like. I see people be like "you Jews don't own Israel just because your sky daddy said so in some old book, it even says you aren't from here because you had to conquer the land!" and ok sure. I personally as a convert with no known Jewish ancestry don't feel like I have more of a right to live in Eretz Yisrael than non-Jews who've lived there for hundreds to thousands of years. do you care about the historical and archaeological evidence that says Jews were Canaanites who eventually split off though or......? also these same people will be like "oh you should respect indigenous people and their religion; their oral tradition preserves facts about their past" while again, dismissing Jewish texts wholesale

I've seen tons of people calling out the soldiers that posted a video of them sniffing panties, and they should! it's deplorable and disgusting behavior! the sexual violence committed on 10/7? either "deserved," denied, or complete silence. it's fucking terrifying that people will justify that kind of thing in the name of decolonization.

I know nobody talks about antisemitism besides Jews, but it really is depressing to see absolutely Nobody talking about the horrific rise in antisemitic violence. It's all "uwu I'm anti-zionist, not antisemitic! it's actually very easy to criticize Israel without being antisemitic!" *does fuck-all to actually help Jewish people*

no one talks about the other countries involved either except to cheer on the Houthis for like a week before I saw maybe 1 (one) post about them being slavers and everybody shut up. didn't even bother reblogging that info to spread awareness or making a post like "whoopsie I didn't take 5 seconds to look up what this group is!"

and I stg if I have to see someone post that Israel sterilized Ethiopian Jews one more time I'm gonna lose it. there was miscommunication about temporary birth control. that shouldn't have happened! but it's a far cry from actually permanently sterilizing thousands of people.

I saw another post by a convert a while back saying something along the lines of "I'm anti-Zionist bc I think Judaism doesn't need a homeland anymore" and firstly like. Judaism is all about Eretz Yisrael; even if you don't like the modern country you can't really separate Judaism from the land it originated from. secondly unless OP was zera Yisrael, I don't really think it's our place as converts to decide whether Jews as a whole don't need a homeland like. yikes 😬

[moorheadthanyoucanhandle]

DISCOMFORT ZONE

Now playing in the Valley:

The Zone of Interest--A happy young German family swims in a lake. The kids play in the yard of their sunlit house; the mom gossips with girlfriends, or tries on a fur coat in the mirror. The kids surprise the dad with a beautiful birthday gift. The dad's colleagues show up at the house for work meetings.

Only gradually do we see that these people are living literally next door to a massive factory-like complex with spewing smokestacks. Just over the wall from the cheerfully flowered yard, faintly but constantly, we hear trains arriving, gunshots, people screaming. And dear old dad leaves for work in the unform of an SS Obersturmbannfuhrer. It's 1943, and he's Rudolf Höss, Commandant of Auschwitz and chief designer of the camp's systems of mass murder. The fur coat, and plenty of other loot, had previous owners.

Shot in Poland at Auschwitz, this quiet, reticent film shows us no atrocities; we only overhear them. It's Hannah Arendt's famous banality of evil dramatized, but with the banality front and center and the overt evil kept in the wings.

The English writer-director Jonathan Glazer (of Sexy Beast), very loosely adapting the like-titled novel by Martin Amis, keeps the family's pleasures and squabbles and mild career crises in the foreground, though even these are treated in a humdrum, naturalistic style. When the Commandant (Christian Friedel) learns that a major effort to exterminate Hungarian Jews is going to be named "Operation Höss" after him, he giddily phones his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) in the middle of the night to tell her, as if he'd been named Employee of the Month.

This movie makes its point, powerfully and fully, within the first ten minutes or so. Yet Glazer keeps it from becoming repetitive. He also offsets the main story with scenes, shot in a weird thermagraphic effect, of a young girl in the Polish Resistance furtively stashing apples, presumably for the prisoners to find, and the artifacts she finds left by them. Though based on testimony, these moments of courage and humanity have, in the context of the film, an almost fairy tale beauty; Glazer links them to scenes of Höss reading bedtime stories to his kids.

It's possible--not certain, but possible--that Glazer's elliptical approach here is more likely to have a meaningful impact on audiences than the piling on of graphic horrors and outrages that other Holocaust movies offer. Last year my kid and I visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. It struck me at the time that, as essential as the forensic explanations of the mass murder were (seemingly mindful of this, Glazer includes contemporary footage of the displays at Auschwitz being maintained), it was the exhibits describing the willfully oblivious or even approving society at large, leading up to and during the genocide, that felt most horrific and recognizable.

In the same way, The Zone of Interest can make us reflect on what we're tolerating, comfortably out of sight just over our own garden walls.

#the zone of interest #jonathan glazer #christian friedel #sandra huller #martin amis

[all-is-not-too-well]

A review on Bonjour Tristesse

Having just read Bonjour Tristesse and still being in that daze of trying to find my own footing in this world, writing a review was a sound way to make me come to the real world. The book made me relive summers that I recall only for their sweetness and their bright, breezy, lemony haze. 

Summers in the Aegean Sea with the burning sun and sand on my bathing suit. My father eating and drinking tea with me, when life was as easy as it could be for an 8-year-old.

 Cecile feels like a person I would’ve met on these vacations; for some reason, I would always find someone older than me. I don't know if it was guidance I was searching for and couldn’t find in my own life, but I’ve always surrendered myself to people older, much like Cecile. 

In a secluded villa, she and her father are to have the most joyous summer ever. Until this dream is shattered by Anne, a woman so wonderful and headstrong that Cecile sees her as an entity, not a woman, in a way I understand that, strong women have always had to forgo their femininity to gain power and respect in life, didn’t they? Like Lady Macbeth who screamed, ‘Unsex me so I’ll be strong,’ or Joan of Arc who wore men's clothes to end the hundred-year war between the English and the French and was later executed on the ground of blasphemy for wearing the same clothes. Anne wears the armor of a strong woman who doesn’t need a man at her age, but our illusion of her is shattered throughout the novel many times. 

Cecile only sees her as the person who will ruin her life, and hamper her happiness, but still, she is conflicted. In a way, she does wander about the life she would have with Anne; eating lunch at the same time every day doesn't seem so bad; a true connection and the feel of a family is something she never tasted, and sadly, she only sees the con side of it. Cecile is only a 17-year-old girl; she is wondrous about life and only wants fun and laughter. Growing up seems unnecessary, so why should she study for university? It is her father's belief that she will find a rich husband much like him, someone gay and also of aristocratic background. She needs no guidance or knowledge about life because she is already living it. What good comes from thinking about your shortcomings or things you lost? 

Cecile is a girl who lost her mother young, yet the absence of a mother is both so obvious and impossible to see. At first glance, Cecile doesn't lack flirtation or femininity; she is a lovely girl at the height of her beauty. The absence of a mother is only questioned when there is a girl whose hair is in disarray and whose clothes are dirty like Cecile was, but only for a moment. Her father looks at her with pity for her frazzled hair when he first comes to pick her up from the station and shows us that. She seemed to take care of this with Anne, who taught her how to care for herself. When talking about her father, she tells us that he was widowed young, but she never mentions how she was orphaned young. She rarely talks about her mother; maybe it is because she doesn’t remember her, but it mostly feels like something she ran away from. And in the end, it is something she runs for. 

The presence of Anne is something she can now only remember in pain. It involved robbing a woman of love, a man of a better reputation, and herself of a peaceful and settled life – something a young adult desperately needs. 

This Hellenistic way of living feels like the summers I’ve left behind and can never achieve again. Not a care about the problems of the living world; no massacres, earthquakes, genocides, or ethnic cleansings; only the sweet and citrusy aroma of lemons.

#bonjourtristesse #myreview #myposts #girlhood #summers #francoisesagan #frenchliterature #all-is-not-too-well

[disgustedorite]

Joe Biden isn't 'misled' he's actively participating in a genocide while also denying its existence. What the fuck makes you think he, or any other democrat, would do anything to prevent a genocide here? Our only hope for liberation is organizing outside of bourgeoise political parties and forming militant organizations that can defend ourselves.

Remember that:

The prevailing propaganda in the US is "everyone in the middle east is a terrorist", and that politicians are not immune to said propaganda. Most people on the left aren't either. Biden is less sheltered than any other president we've had for a while, but he's still in the politician world which is more sheltered than it should be.

A lot of people really genuinely believe that the reports of genocide are exaggerated, a lot more than you realize, not out of malice but because of the propaganda I just mentioned and due to a lack of information being disseminated.

The vast majority of information about what's ACTUALLY HAPPENING in Gaza is exclusively circulating in extremely far left spaces, much further left than any in-office US politician you can name off the top of your head. Information simply isn't being disseminated to more left-center spaces, which is why you see so many people on the left supporting Israel and being confused and upset when people even further left start screaming at them.

Have you looked at any website that's been standing with Israel? Every single one of them has framed the Palestinian perspective as seeking a "final solution" against Jews--anyone who hears that first is gonna misguidedly shut out anything to the contrary because anyone against calling it the "final solution" is an automatic Nazi from that perspective. It's similar psychology to how so many people got locked into qanon not because they wanted to believe it, but because people going against it are framed as "supporting pedophiles".

Hamas is the face of literally all of this, especially in the media. It's not the fault of the Gazans that they're stuck with Hamas as their only chance at freedom at this point, but anyone not in the aforementioned far left spaces that actually report on it doesn't understand that.

I could be proven wrong, but it's realistic that Biden just straight up doesn't realize that people are telling the truth about it being a genocide and has, with information passed to him only though the filter of media and other politicians, and like basically everyone who isn't in far left circles, been lead to believe it to be a genocide against Israeli Jews instead, especially as the face of Gazan resistance right now is, unfortunately, Hamas. Knowingly supporting a genocide is in serious conflict with all of his other actions as president thus far, and someone needs to give him a reality check. It's a really fucking bad situation, but there's not much we can do about it at this point if protests don't get through to him. But as said in a previous post, it would also be so so much worse if Trump was in office--he'd proudly call it what it is with some stupid trumpy phrasing and support his literal buddy Benjamin Netanyahu anyway, and Gaza would just be a black mark on the coast by now with nobody left to report the number of casualties, and we might not even hear about it beyond a short "oh, Gaza was wiped off the map, aah, bad" that everyone forgets about in a day once the news suppression kicks in. And a bunch of people would be dead in the US too, we'd be in a hot nuclear war involving Russia and China, and the democracy would probably be over, but that's beside the point. I'd say that's a pretty important difference.

Meanwhile, while plenty of people are justifiably angry and saying they won't vote as a personal choice, many more who are actually calling for other people to not vote at all are social media accounts that mysteriously appeared or underwent a dramatic transformation only in the past three weeks. I spotted a former mutual who was hispanic living with their Mexican immigrant family in the US mysteriously turn into a Palestinian whose entire family except for themself lives in Gaza, whose deaths they then proceeded to liveblog one by one. Many of these blogs frequently share information sourced only from tweets and fake news sites that use overly loaded language that adds nothing to the information being shared, or even directly distracts from the facts, and serves only to make the reader angrier. Does this not sound a little bit familiar?

Everything sucks right now, but do what you can to slow down the rate at which things go downhill to give as many people as possible a fighting chance. If you don't, you become an easily sniped target in a worse world that could have been prevented.

[percontaion-points]

Firstlife chapter 10

Today’s review might be difficult for some; reader discretion is advised

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Chapter 10

“A covenant was offered to me years ago. My parents told me the offer was revoked. I’d done too much...”

 “No,” Archer says. “No. An offer is made to every child and once made, it remains active until Firstdeath.” 

Expression agonized, Clay whispers, “But...you don’t know the things I’ve done.”

 “I don’t need to know. Nothing you’ve done can compare to the things I did, and yet, when I was ready, I was welcomed with open arms.” 

The only thing I’m getting from this is that you can commit genocide and they’d still accept you. 

Two Prynne guards approach our well-lit square. Just before they reach us, however, they veer to the left, as if deep, deep inside they know to avoid what their eyes cannot see. 

Messengers in action. I can’t see them either, but I can see the result of them. 

Surprise! There’s more to the world—worlds—than I ever thought possible.

And they never once think that there might be more than Myriad and Troika? That the beings who view all living humans as being cannon fodder for their war HAVE AN AGENDA?!

“You should have told me you were a guy before I showered in front of you,” I snap at him. 

Unabashed, he says, “You’re in a mood. Is it that time of the month for you, too? Have our cycles finally synced?”

Again, as an author, you have the power to write literally anything. And the author actively chose to write Archer as a misogynistic pig. 

“Have you accepted your importance? Have you realized you’re the final drop of water that causes the cup to overflow?” 

For a war that’s been raging for millenia, I refuse to believe that a single person would somehow stop all of that. 

“She doesn’t want you.” 

“She doesn’t know what she wants.”

Hey bozos, not only is she standing right there, but she is also perfectly capable of making up her own mind. 

“I won’t let you hurt her the way you hurt Dior,” Archer says through gritted teeth. 

Dior? 

“By the time I finished with your darling,” Killian says, his tone nothing but silk and heat, and yet I pick up the underlying note of his rage, “she was begging me for more.” 

That rage...over a girl... Killian is doing his best to hide his feelings, but he’s failing. 

He loved Dior, didn’t he?

I love how the author set up this trilogy about the eternal war between heaven and hell. And the two main love interests hate each other… Because of a girl. 

 The sky is nothing but snow, ice and rock—and falling straight for us.

Chapter 10 summary: Ten and Clay get settled, and Archer encourages them to take a nap. Ten wakes up from a nightmare to find Sloan over her. Sloan is insanely eager to jump Archer’s bones, but that excitement quickly dies when Ten explains that not only was this Bow, but also a TL. 

There’s this really long scene where Ten leaves the magical hut to pee. The only thing missing from it is the actual description of her urinating. As she’s pulling her pants back up, she realises that Killian is there, and gets angry that he’d watched her pee. 

The four of them go back to the cave, for no real reason. Clay then says that he’s done being indecisive about which side to choose. He had been reluctant earlier because he’d apparently done a lot of terrible things. Archer had warned him that you never know when your firstlife is going to end… Which is such a shitty thing to say to somebody who’s probably not even 20. There’s also this bit about Archer saying about how he’d escort the souls of dead children to the afterlife, where they’d finish growing, and then chose a side. After having been indoctrinated in Troika. Clay signs up with Troika, and then bro-hugs Archer. 

Ten warns that they need to leave now, and they start to go. But right outside, they run into Killian, who starts to go at it with Archer. They start screaming about some girl named Dior. 

Sloan wants to leave, but Clay wants to stay. Clay’s actions are confusing to Ten, because he met Archer a few hours earlier; why does he suddenly want to go to his secondlife immediately after signing?

The earth starts to shake around them, and they think that this is another battle going on around them. But with horror, they realise that the battles have loosened the snow and rock on the nearby mountain peak, and there’s now an avalanche. 

#Firstlife #Everlife series #chapter 10 #Archer Prince #random background characters are random #Nobody fucking cares #what the fuck #shitty people doing shitty things #shitty authors writing shitty things #I would ask where the editor was but I think we all know there was none #Alrighty Then #Killian Flynn #Tenley 'Ten' Lockwood