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mokulule · 1 year

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The Number You Have Called Cannot Be Reached 3

Part 1|Part 2

Ship: Dead on Main (Danny/Jason) Warnings: angst/depression and canon typical violence

I'm not entirely happy with this, but I hope you enjoy it anyways. Some things will probably be changed for the Ao3 version, this is very much first draft and I want to do a proper rewrite before then.

Jason parked his bike next to the Batmobile. There was a strange air in the Batcave or maybe it was just him being different. He couldn’t tell for sure. He stepped off the bike so he had his back towards Bruce, who sat by the Batcomputer with his cowl off. Jason could still feel his gaze when he looked up. He didn’t know what to feel. Where was he supposed to start?

“Little Wing!” Dick announced happily, suddenly slinging an arm across his shoulder from behind. It was only all his training that stopped him from jumping three feet into the air from the fright and he managed to just tense - but that was normal. Dick would consider that normal. Pull yourself together, Jason, he scolded himself. Normal, act normal, for one long moment he was grasping for what was normal. It definitely wasn’t the urge to lean into his big brother.

��Jay?” Dick asked quietly, worried, thankfully too quiet for anyone to hear. Panic grasped him and he elbowed Dick to get him off. Dick bent over with an oomph. At least elbowing Dick was a normal response, even if it was for the wrong reason.

Ignoring the strange urge to check on Dick, he squared his shoulders, firmly didn’t look back and walked forward towards the Batcomputer, where now that he had arrived the rest of this night’s patrol team gathered. Damian already out of his suit with damp hair and a towel slung around his neck glanced surreptitiously at Jason out the corner of his eyes even as he pretended to look towards Bruce - brat was still worried. Tim was curled up in an office chair doing who knew what with his laptop in a way that did not seem conducive to the healing of the broken ribs he’d been benched for. Bruce himself, paused what he was doing and spun around in his chair. Even sitting he managed to draw everyone’s attention, Tim even closed his laptop.

Jason purposefully crossed his arms and widened his stance. That’s what they expected of him, probably? How did he usually stand? He usually always felt one wrong comment away from a fight when he was here, he should stand like he expected it, right? Defensive.

This was exhausting.

At last Dick walked up to them completing their loose circle. He was rubbing his side and Jason felt a stab of worry and guilt. Had he aggravated an existing wound? Shit. Fuck. What was wrong with him? Why was he so worried?

“Oracle,” Bruce spoke, “please start.”

“Thanks to Hood, we now have a better headshot of the thief,” Oracle announced from the computer speakers“The Ghost,” Dick interjected in a sing song voice, “after what happened tonight you can’t disagree.”“Nightwing,” Barbara replied flatly, she didn’t even need to say she thought it was a stupid name. “The thief,” she reiterated in a way that left no room for any other arguments and Dick wisely held his silence. At least Dick knew Barbara well enough when to stop. Finally she pulled two photos up on the large screen. The one on the right was an older/early photo with the green glassed goggles obstructing much of the upper half of the face, a grin was a sharp line of white on the lower half of the face in the blurry photo, the quality was terrible and caught in movement.

The newer photo on the left showed a young man, maybe even late teens, eyes were wide, bright green, not quite glowing and his face beet red in embarrassment, mouth slightly open - this was taken just after he’d pushed away from Jason. His goggles sat at the edge of his messy black hair, just high enough to see the way he was beginning to swell on his forehead where Jason had clocked him.

Jason looked from one picture to the other, something was off to him. The grin was an obvious difference, but these where snapped in very different moments, and he shouldn’t let different emotions cloud his judgment.

“He’s lost weight.” The realization hit him with the certainty of a sledgehammer.

There’s dubious mumbling around him, about the blurriness of the first picture. But Jason is unmoved, there’s a hollowness to the guy’s cheeks that wasn’t there before.

“We can’t really judge that sort of thing with the quality of the first image,” Barbara cut through the murmurs. Jason knows he right, but he doesn’t feel like arguing.

He doesn’t feel like arguing, it’s another realization that leaves him wrong footed and he’s not listening for a minute. Checking back into the conversation he only caught the tail end of the conversation that was apparently about the Meta’s skills.“-we can now add phase shifting powers-““Like a Ghost.”

Tim groaned and Barbara outright growled - Jason reevaluated his earlier thought that Dick knew Barbara’s limits. Damian had already accepted the logic and Bruce had long since become immune to this sort of Dick antic.

“Back on topic,” was all he said. “Tim.”

Tim opened his laptop back up.

“Yes, so the items the thief-” There was a small beat as everyone waited for Dick to interrupt, Tim was side-eyeing him but continued; “-is stealing are still painting a very alarming picture, and there is a multitude of very dangerous uses, not to mention what kind of world ending horror they could be built into. Luckily he didn’t get the prototype spectral calibrator tonight, and we’ll be keeping it here for the time being and set the project on an indefinite hold at Wayne Enterprise.”Tim looked up at Bruce. “We’ll be needing to monitor Star Labs as they have a similar project, but so far the Ghost has not operated outside of Gotham to our knowledge.”

Bruce nodded, “I’ll arrange something.”

It was a signal for Tim to continue, “we’re still no closer to a way to capture him and the phase shifting is a whole other added concern. We’ll need to figure out if there’s something he can’t phase through, some denser materials perhaps. I just finished looking through tonight’s footage and from what I’m seeing at least the new filter program is holding up; both the audio and visuals have very few glitches now. But we still don’t know how he’s sending out the electromagnetic interference.”

“Ghoooost,” Dick said quietly under his breath.Tim’s left eye twitched dangerously. Jason couldn’t help smiling, it was very good he was wearing the helmet. Bruce once more ignored Dick looking to Damian.The kid straightened imperceptibly at the attention, it really was adorable, but his voice was as haughty as ever. “Blood sample is already being analyzed of course, tt.” Blood sample? Oh, that’s what Bruce had been doing on the roof, when Jason was distracted. A sick feeling rose in his stomach thinking of the blood, was Ghost even alive? He could be bleeding inside the head for all they knew.

“Hood,” Bruce asked quietly, “do you know why the Ghost reacted to you like that?”Jason stiffened. Fear grabbing cold onto his heart. There was no way he could tell them he thought it had to do with the pits. They’d think Jason was being influenced by the Ghost and bench him. He couldn’t let that happen, he needed answers. He didn’t need to fight his family.

“No damn clue,” he scoffed, hoping he sounded nonchalant and none of his panic shone through, “some weird trauma response? He’d just hit his head real good.”

Bruce looked at him dubiously, but he was clearly unwilling to risk pushing. Their truce was a tentative one after all, one they’d come to after many false starts and stops. Jason had never before been so glad for their tattered relationship.

“So to conclude,” Dick drew everyone’s attention off Jason, “the Ghost is still a mystery, we don’t know if he’s just a thief or a supervillain biding his time.”

“He’s not a supervillain.” Jason could have cursed himself, he’d just gotten their attention off him. Now he was forced to elaborate. “He’s not wearing any sort of body armor, just that hoodie.”

And he’d definitely broken some of his ribs landing on him, Jason thought with a pang of guilt.

“Not all villains wear body armor though,” Tim pointed out carefully, and now Tim was worried too, Jason had no clue what had given him away.

“The ones who engage in close combat with us usually do though,” Dick returned, and Jason could have hugged him for bailing him out again (if that had been normal, which it was NOT).

“He could just not be a very good villain?”

“Or he’s just banking on the fact that he’s very good at dodging,” Barbara interjected with annoyance before the discussion got out of hand, “or did you all just forget you’ve been chasing this guy for weeks without landing a substantial hit on him?” She could always be counted on to be the voice of reason.

Dick scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Tim looked down at his computer. Damian scoffed, trying to look unaffected but that was definitely almost a pout.

Bruce’s eyes twinkled in amusement as he stood up and was that almost a smile? How was this happening? It felt… His fingers dug into his arms. It felt like all the things Jason had convinced himself had never really been there. And there was Bruce’s hand landing on Damian’s shoulder; a silent comfort-encouragement, because Bruce was terrible with words but his touches always spoke volumes. And as the small smile bloomed on Damian’s face and he quickly looked away to hide it, Jason remembered exactly how that felt. Shit.

“Oracle, that’s all for tonight, we’re not getting anywhere without more information.”

“You got it, B, Oracle out.”

Jason spun and stalked towards his bike, before he did something, he didn’t know what exactly.

“Jay?”

Bruce’s voice stopped him in place. He glanced over his shoulder to see them all watching him. Don’t give anything away, he scolded himself.

“What is it, old man?” Jason asked trying to interject as much annoyance into his voice as he could, but it was so hard dredging up any of that when they looked at him worried like that, and his chest ached and he just sounded tired.

“It’s late,” Bruce said with a small unconscious wave of his hand as if anyone could tell the time of day from within the cave, “you could stay the night?”

After a beat he added, “Alfred would love to see you.”

Jason’s jaw clenched. Alfred would, but that’s not what Bruce was really saying, he was saying he would love to have him stay, but didn’t think Jason would be receptive to that and so he brought out the Alfred card. It was plain as day and how had Jason never seen that? Seen the longing on his dad’s face? His chest ached, he knew why. He was always so busy reading everything Bruce did as him trying to control him, every interaction tinted in green. His chest ached. Every inch of his body wanted to stay, to take a step back, see where this could lead, but he couldn’t.

He had to act normal. Normal Jason would never. Normal Jason could be back tomorrow for all he knew. He couldn’t do that to any of them, to himself.

With great difficulty he tore his gaze away from his family and walked the last steps over to his bike.

“Tell Alfred I’ll be coming over for tea on Tuesday,” he said loudly over the noise of his bike, not looking, because he didn’t want to see any of their reactions, then he tore out of there.

This was better for everyone.

Poor Jay really is having the time of it, maybe next part he'll get to actually enjoy not being angry.

next Masterpost for subscription link

#dead on main #poor Jason has no idea how to act #when he's not perpetually angry #also he just really wants a hug from his dad #but that would be WEIRD #bruce is a good dad #Missed connections #Jason is catnip to Danny #thought sadly no Danny this snippet #probably next time though

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mechaknight-98 · 4 months

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Party Time (NSFW): Session 0 FT: Dahyun

Author's note: For this chapter, I will be changing the character perspective of this story slightly. the characters will still be the same however I wanted to try something different. As I learn more I'll probably come up with a much better way of writing the characters and differencing between them.

PreSession 0

You were blared awake by your ringtone Our Song by Silverstein. you looked around confused to see what was going on when you picked up your phone to see it was a call from Atticus. you grab your phone and answer,

"Yo, what's up?"

"It's session 0 of our Uber campaign today," Atticus responded. "Don't tell me you forgot Mordekai." You groan because you had an alarm that was set to go off in 4 minutes.

"Atticus Why are you like this? Look I know you are anxious but you beat my alarm by 4 minutes. I was going to be there."

"But you said you didn't have a character."

"Yeah because I was going to choose based on what everyone else was."

You rub your face before responding, "Dude I just got off work. I don't have the patience for this conversation I'll talk to you in a bit."

"Okay see you soon, and get here safe. As..." Atticus began

"Yeah I know My safety is a priority," you respond

finishing Atticus' statement, and hanging up. "Ahhhh. you groan." knowing you lost the last 4 minutes you get up and start your character. when you start getting deeper into the build your alarm goes off and you begin the rush to get ready. You shower, brush your teeth, and leave to go. Unsurprisingly you are early. Atticus is happy to see you and asks to see your character sheet.

Atticus looks at your character sheet and groans before asking, "Monty...Why is there only a Name and a Class?"

"Well, I figured we could hash out more of the details when it came time, Like what subclass and what race?" You begin. Atticus looks at you annoyed before you qualify the statement with, "I don't want to encroach or step on toes and I know people don't play Monks all that often." You say

Atticus shrugs in understanding, "Okay Fair. How about this then You play the Avatar Race."

"the Avatar race? Never heard of em." You say flatly

Atticus laughs as he explains "Well that's because it's a race I made specifically for this campaign."

"Okay so what's it do?" you ask intrigued to play a new brew of Atticus'

Atticus pulls out a little cheat sheet with the races he had available, "Well it's simple. It's just a generic humanoid in all aspects that is just molded to your character. they gain; +1 to three ability scores, a Feat, A language, and a skill."

"that's a lot." You exclaim

"On paper sure but ultimately not really because those +1s are so marginally good." Atticus elaborates

You roll your eyes before saying"Well if I roll a bunch of odd numbers it's pretty good, or do point buy."

"Oh about that. so to ease everyone into the game we are doing actual character-building with our physical selves. so how good you are at things determines your actual stats." Atticus explains

"Huh?" You ask

"Yeah," Atticus affirms

"That's dumb and I love it Atticus." You say

The door to Atticus's home opens and you hear a tiny voice say "Hey Atticus my Unnies are on their way." you turn around to see Dahyun of Twice. You quickly turn back to Atticus who you look at.

"Hahaha." is Atticus's only response. you blink slowly and turn to face Dahyun.

"Wow like you are way prettier in person," you say to her Seeing her gorgeous face up close and not separated by a distance of several thousands of feet. Dahyun smiles at you with the most adorable smile.

"I like your necklace," Dahyun replies shyly. you smile at her.

"What are you playing?" Dahyun asks

"Oh I am just playing an Avatar monk, and you" you reply. You notice Atticus smirks and when Dahyun goes to grab his character sheet you shoot him a furious look.

"Oh Changeling Blood Hunter."

you raise your eyebrows surprised and reply, "Impressive." Dahyun was listening intently

Dahyun blushes slightly then smiles and says "Thank you"

"Great my two Chingu are getting along great Atticus says happily

Dahyun looks at you surprised "We are the same age?" you nod. She eases and replies "I thought I'd be the youngest."

"Nope, I believe that is David who is one year younger than us," you answer Dahyun nods and eases into you more. You smile at her and say “Excuse me miss. Are you trying to charm me?”

Dahyun gives you her dazzling eye smile and says, “Maybe I am. What are you going to do about it?” you are taken aback by her boldness. You lift your hands in surrender, which causes Dahyun to laugh heartily.

The door opens again and Dahyun and you jump upon hearing it, taken out of the little world you two found yourself in. You turn to the door to see a young lady with pink hair apologizing profusely “Sorry for scaring you.” she says meekly. Dahyun and you quickly work to attempt to diminish the fears of the young girl as you both wave off her apology citing that you and she should have been paying attention. The girl smiles and hugs Atticus. You tilt your head but say nothing. The young lady then turns to the two of you and says “Hi I'm Jeewon nice to meet you.” Dahyun and you both wave at the girl. When she asks your names

“Mordekai. but everyone calls me Monty,” you say

“Dahyun” Dahyun adds Jeewon smiled brightly as she sat next to the two of you.

"So what are the the two of you playing ?" Jeewon asks brightly

"Avatar Monk," you answer

"Changeling blood hunter." Dahyun follows suit

You clap your hands in approval, "Ooh it gets sexier each time you say it." you say hyping up Dahyun who turns to you and blushes. she hits you and says "Stop it" but her gaze tells you not to stop.

"Are you two dating?" Jeewon asks intrigued.

"Nah we went on one date." You answer. Dahyun looks at you confused.

"Wait...Mountain?" Dahyun says as she realizes who you are. You smirk at Dahyun who smiles at you further. Atticus laughs when he makes the connection that when the two of you did that Rugby tournament a few years back and you said you had a date with a pretty girl was with Dahyun, but before anything else could be said the door opened again and a very bright voice crashed.

"Sorry, I am late. Traffic was really bad" A cheery voice says. As the group turns you see Sana skip into the living room. Sana recognizes you instantly and smiles

"Mordekai! How are you cutie?" Sana says as she envelops you in a clumsy hug.

"I am good noona, how about you?" You reply to Sana

"Oh, you know. being the prettiest in Twice is tough." She said

"Oh come on you know Dahyun's the prettiest." You counter

Sana feigns a pout before smiling at you and giggling. She took her seat next to Dahyun. After that, the rest of the "Party" fills in which includes members from Red Velvet (Irene and Seulgi), one from Twice (Nayeon), and surprisingly one member of Dreamcatcher (Handong). There are also four more guys who show up in this order David, Timothy, Alan, Kento, and Charlie. As more people show up you introduce yourself and appear friendly enough, but for the most part you stick to Dahyun and Atticus (When he's not swooning over Jeewon) as Dahyun speaks the best English and you know her the best. Eventually, Nayeon approaches you and says "Hey so we have a playlist featuring a song dedicated to everyone's character. Do you have anything in mind?

You scour your mind trying to find something but as it goes blank the choice rises from that.

"Power to Tearer." You reply. You notice Kento and Sana look at you as Nayeon nods.

"got it. I'll add it" she says.

Sana slinks over to you, "That's an interesting choice for a Character-inspired song."

"Well I figure this is the only place where it will be appreciated and understood," you reply. Sana smirks.

"You're pretty interesting Monty." Sana coos with a mischievous smirk, that worries you.

After y'all mingled for several minutes Seulgi stepped to the front and said, "Okay now that everyone knows each other partner up and each one of you give backstories for your characters."

you turn to Atticus but when Dahyun claims you as her partner. She seems anxious so you smile and say "Okay" to her.

"So what basic things would you like for me to include?" you ask Dahyun

"I want you to use your best judgment." Dahyun says and you give her a thumbs up and say, "Do you have any idea for a character name?" Dahyun shakes her head before saying just use her name. You nod and when Dahyun asks you the same questions your only response is the name, Montaigne. Dahyun gives you a gummy smile and gives you two thumbs up. you both begin spinning tales about the other as you write. you find yourself connecting with Dahyun more and more as you start looking at her and noticing her little ticks like how she puts her hair in front of her face when she's embarrassed or when she drops something the repeats "Oh mo mo Oh mo mo." It helps you write a more authentic Dahyun (the character)

After you two finish up Seulgi notices and says "OH Dahyun and..." She gestures to you and you give her your name. "Mordenkainen?" Seulgi asks for clarification.

"Mordekai." you clarify Seulgi nods focused and asks for you two to give your partners' backstory. You nod. seeing Dahyun's anxiety you go first.

You stand up in front of the party and muster all the confidence you can," Gather around as I tell you the tale Of Dahyun the Blood Hunter..." You hesitate and turn to Atticus. "Hey, What's the name of the World Again?"

"Daebak" Atticus answers

"Cool." You say to Atticus

"Not Cool, it Daebak" Atticus teases

"I freaking hate you." You reply

"Coming to Paradise from her small religious home of Songnam the changeling knew little of the big city but her hopes for reaching the big time brought the young changeling girl to join a traveling dance group where her comedic skills and quick wit brought her quicker fame, but what captivated people was her even larger heart. despite being a relentless flirt and tease no one could ever stay mad at her. She brought smiles and laughs everywhere she went regardless of her previous disposition there. this kindness was so profound in fact that all who interacted with her had to be careful not to fall under her charms lest be driven to be one of her many admirers, but there is more to the small Changeling. She is feisty and a passionately hard worker who hones her skills and her beliefs on every test she receives and usually passes with flying colors, but why does she do this? What is Dahyun's true motivation? Dahyun's motivations are simple. she wishes to leave the world better than she left it, and do her family and her community proud in her adorable and sometimes clumsy way." You say. Dahyun smiles before clapping. Everyone besides Dahyun, Jeewon, Timothy, Seulgi, and Atticus Looks at you a bit confused. You shrug and hand your notes to Dahyun who says to you "Thank you. I love it." you smile mission accomplished. She stands up courageously and says

"The Hero of Sunrise, The King of Beasts, The Sword of Ruin, the Shield of Restoration, The master of Arms, The Gentle Fist, The War God's Instrument, and The Wiziend One are all titles garnered by The warrior Known as Montu. (You blink thrice at her name, but you smile regardless) Forced into the fight at an early age against all kinds of monsters and Mayhem. Montu grew up quickly adapting and finding his style along the way, but he never lost that spark of wonder that drove him to be larger than life. However in those soft eyes and that Joyous personality hides a sadness and a darkness that desires the destruction of all around him who would disturb his "Endless party".He fights, loves, laughs, and Lives for thrills, but is kind and considerate. He surrounds himself with joy and life. He desires the people around him to feel loved and valued, but beware because he will face any odds and destroy any obstacle to win. Proof of this is when he killed 1,000 men in a battle to secure his home from an invading force. He is a man of Duality. A man of Great Honor and equally Great Ruthlessness. He is confusing but what I can say about him is that he is a Legend in the making that lives up to all of his titles." Dahyun says then you assume she repeats the same thing in Korean. Everyone looks at you surprised to hear Dahyun's backstory for you. You thought you were going to be a normal pit fighter but her words inspired you to be more, but that's just who Dahyun was anyway. you got up and hugged her there were woos and hollers but you didn't care you just carried out the hug and smiled at Dahyun before saying thank you to her. The smile you garnered was the softest yet brightest one yet. You sat down as an energetic Nayeon and Charlie got up

Atticus translated the much less intensive Backstories for you, "Nayeon was a farm girl who rose to prominence performing with Sana and Dahyun, Chrom (Charlie) was a Privateer of the Paradisan Crown. Seulgi was a sorcerous whose power awoke after Her parents informed her of an arranged marriage. So on an Impulse, she and her Tutor Irene left the Kingdom of Paradise and worked adventurer jobs to bide their time. The arranged marriage in question was a Plasmid prince named (Timothy) Thordak who was more interested in Courting the powerful Goliath Herd leader named Handong. Handong was currently visiting Paradise to negotiate Peace talks between her nomadic herd and the crown, but also to meet her Friend The Harekin Warlock Sana, who worked with Dahyun and Nayeon. Her pact with The Powerful Archefey led to several chaotic encounters including A wizard student Named Alan (Alan) who was currently working a magic shop with an Orc Artificer named Demyx (David), and a Twin soul Echo Knight and Captain of the Kingdom Guard named Kaido (Kento)." all that was left was Atticus and Jeewon's backstory.

Jeewon stood up nervously and began her account of Achilles’s (Atticus) backstory it wasn't in English but you were able to manage a few pieces like exiled child warrior, on the run, and very powerful. after that Atticus did Jeewon’s and you kinda spaced out as your brain just couldn't take any more information. After that, Alan stood up and said “Now for the test of strength.” we followed him to the garage where several weight stations were set up.

“The rules are simple we are maxing out on lifts today.” Atticus translated for you. You nod but when Alan turns to you and Atticus he says in clear English

“Not you two. You two will “spot” us. You're both set at 18.” Atticus and you looked at each other sad but understanding why. So over the next hour Atticus and you worked to help the others with their test of strength. No surprise that the top ones were Nayeon and Handong for the girls and Kaido and Chrom for the guys. The next test was one you could participate in and was led by Dahyun. it was the test of Wisdom. The test was simple we have a product we know is less than Ideal on release but need to sell it to gain the capital to sell more how do we sell more products? Most of the responses you heard were good. some on the more shady side but still good nonetheless, but a lot of them failed in a very simple manner from your perspective. None of them mentioned lowering the price. So when it was your turn you gave that as your major first answer and then was honest about everything after that, which led to silence in the group until Dahyun wheezed and said, "FINALLY someone said lowering the price." you blinked three times before Dahyun smiles at you and says "Good answer." you nod confused but accepted the compliment.

The rest of the tests follow this structure and you place well in most so when you get your Ability score distribution you are pleasantly surprised to have all positive scores, but as you looked over everyone else also had higher scores so you don't get too stressed about it. after finishing up basic character design and the like All that's left is to start the game.

session 0

You woke up to another day in Paradise. It was a cool Spring morning which led you to eat on the patio of the inn you were staying in. You ordered a simple breakfast that consisted of egg, pork, spinach, tomatoes, rice, and a couple of pastries you didn't recognize. While you are a very tall and very attractive Goliath woman approached you.

“Hey you are Montu right?” she asks you nod hesitantly until you recognize her

“You Handong you won the tournament yesterday. Congratulations hope the 2,500 gold and magic great sword are to your liking,” you reply. Handing smirks and nods.

“I am surprised that you only wanted third.”

“Well, I have been looking for a bag of holding, and getting third fighting random people seemed like a reasonable way to do so,” you answer. Handing laughs

“You are silly well see you around,” she says. You nod and tell her

“We are all silly in this crazy world, and I wish you well as you navigate it.” Handong chuckled as she walked away from you. After breakfast, you go to the celebration event in the palace where you meet the Queen, King, and Princess of Paradise along with other visiting leaders. You relax at the party by finding a high and dry area (you despise alcohol and its many debilitating effects) while on a balcony one of the performers approaches you. A changeling with jet-black hair and two short blue horns growing from her forehead approaches you timidly.

"Well hello there." you greet the timid changeling without turning around.

the changeling approaches next to you and says, "You are missing quite the party down there."

You shrug and reply, "Well I prefer my celebratory engagements more intimate, and with less show."

the changeling smiles at you and says, "I know a spot that might fit your tastes?"

You turn to the changeling and say, "Oh really tell me more."

The changeling grabs you and states "It's better if I show you.", As the changeling drags you, you ask her name she says "Dahyun," and you smile as you follow her out of the palace where the celebration is occurring.

With that, she whisks you away from the garish and loud party to the base of the hill that borders the capital city's edge. It's a quaint town that is quiet and peaceful. You turn to the changeling and say, "This is more my type of engagement." The changeling smiles as the two of you venture deeper. you find a small tavern where the two of you get Lunch and journey to a book shop where the two of you spend hours reading a book that piques your mutual interest. The changeling loves it when you read to her and nestles in your lap as you read off to her tales of Heroism and Champions of long ago. She falls asleep but is stirred when you begin to stroke her hair.

"Why'd you stop?" she asked groggy as she woke up.

"I didn't wish to wake you sleeping beauty," you say to the changeling whose face blushes a deep azure shade. she smiles at you and your heart begins to race.

"There is one more place I want to show you." you nod and follow her out of the bookshop, but not before purchasing the one you read to her. you store it in your bag of deep pockets and follow her to the cresting hill line where you see the entrance to an inn that houses both Hot Springs and Saunas. Dahyun Checks the two of you in for the night. You get to your room but before you can unwind Dahyun says, "Come on let's try out the couple's springs." You follow her lead into the hot springs and follow her to the dual-gender springs. As she strips before you, you marvel at her shapely ass and dazzling ravenous figure. Dahyun notices and begins to make a show of it. teasing you more and more hoping to get you to make a move, but you remain disciplined, well parts of you do, as you follow her lead she sees your raging erection and smirks at you while licking her lips. eventually, the two of you manage to get to the springs and share another Chaste moment. you sit at the edge and Dahyun nestles in close to your body. As she shuffles to get comfortable you make space for her. when the two of you intertwine in peace Dahyun uncoils herself and you feel all of her tension release.

"This is nice," she says as the two of you watch the sunset from the springs which leads into the night's fireworks show. you nod at peace and are comfortable with her. She kisses your cheek and then turns your face to hers. her breath is soft and heavy. her eyes stare deep into yours. her brown pools stir your manhood to attention once more. she lifts herself to straddle you. you continue to stare at her unable to speak,

"Are you sure?" you ask bashful.

"Why so shy?" Dahyun asks voice hungry with desire but also affection drawing a light groan out of you as your cock grows harder.

"I just never have done this before," you say.

Dahyun smiles and replies, "Let me be your guide." she slides down and takes you inside of her. you moan as the feeling overwhelms you. A moan escapes your lips which eggs Dahyun on. "Let it all out Darling." She says as your hips buck into her. she yelps and moans in response. She moves your hands so one is on her tits and the other massages her ass, but all you can feel is the tightness of her womanhood as she takes more of you in. As she does she draws more of you out.

You stare into her eyes and say “Are you like this to all the champions?”

Dahyun smirks, “no just the reserved ones. The others are usually either not loud enough or too loud for my tastes.” she teases as she grinds on your crotch. You moan again as she gives you the first orgasm of the night. You look up and see stars as you cum in her Dahyun smiles at you. When you finally come down she grins madly at you and says “We’re not done.” and just like that gone is the reserved martial artist. In his place the frenzied and skilled wandering warrior scoops Dahyun. She yelps in joyous surprise as the two of you barely make it to get clothed and back to your room before you're all over each other. The tenderness and shyness of earlier are gone now both Dahyun and Montu are exploring each other’s bodies with earned confidence. In between fights of dominance in the form of fevered kisses Dahyun nibbles on your sensitive ear lobe. You counter by tracing circles around her right nipple. Dayun moans before she climaxes but it doesn't calm either of you down. It only adds more to the wild hunger you have for each other. Which leads to you bending the flexible changeling over and smacking her ass as you ram your cock into her pussy

“Oh gods yes. She screams as you pound into her from behind. You marvel at her fantastic ass as it jiggles as you pound her relentlessly from behind. Your cock is suffocating in her warm and dripping snatch. It's like the rougher you go the wetter and tighter she gets. It makes you grow harder inside as both of you use each other for more pleasure. However, this tempo can't last forever and the both of you cum together.

The both of you can't stop however as Dahyun pushes you into the bed and begins riding you ragged. Her small but perky breasts bounce hypnotically. You reach out and trace circles around her right nipple. This sends her into further ecstasy. It causes her to get tighter and wetter around you. Dahyun her head back and moans vocalizing the pleasure without words. While riding she rings another fervent orgasm out of you while giving herself another. The two of you now finally fall to the bed exhausted. Dahyun spoons you as the both of you drift off to sleep. Your dreams are full of her as hers are full of you.

You wake up to Dahyun facing you. Your body jolts and her eyes flutter open and she smiles brightly at you. She caresses your face. “I know you plan to leave again but can I ask you to stay Darling?” she asks. You nod as she wraps her left leg around and pulls you closer causing your rod to rub against her folds forcing a jolt out of both of you but before anything else can progress Dahyun's bag begins vibrating you point this out to her which makes her sigh as she pulls out a blood red scroll. You notice her face grow pale (well paler her skin was already porcelain adjacent). She unfurled it, read it, and looked up to you with a face of need.

“Darling I know it's a lot to ask, but…” Dahyun began sensing her anxiety you made your move.

Before she could finish you reply, “It's done.”

Dahyun nodded worried and the two of you got cleaned and then got dressed before heading into town. You look back through the pamphlet given to you and notice the couple's hot springs clearly say that the waters have an intense aphrodisiac effect which makes a lot of the haze of last night make more sense. Upon arriving in town you are devastated to see massive burns across the city, but these were not fire burns but electrical ones. You notice Dahyun's shift in affectation and bring her in closer. “No Dragon who rampages will prosper,” you say to alleviate her worries. This works to some degree as some of the color returns to her face. You follow her to the palace where ten vaguely familiar faces (plus the Queen and King) reside.

Nayeon… you think approaches the two of you, “Where were you ?” she says frantically

Dahyun points to you and explains how she was with you at the Kimura hot springs. The rest of the group sizes you up as they vaguely recognize you. You nod curtly and politely.

Handong steps up and says, “So how are we talking this Dragon down?”

Surprise happy New Year/Christmas gift to my readers Enjoy.

#kpop fanfic #male reader #dnd smut #dnd fanfiction #twice fanfic #twice smut #dahyun #dahyun smut

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1-800-cr33py · 1 year

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Forelsket

(n) the euphoria experience when you first fall in love

Okay so its not the best, Benadryl making life hard rn TvT

Word count: 3400

TW: It’s HABIT cmon nw, dubcon, he kinda breaks in????? Dom/sub undertones but never stated outright, breeding kind kinda, my bad writing while im sick.

Haven’t wrote smut for a while so this will probably be re-written when Im in my right mind

The taste of you was heavy on his tongue, so much so that every word, every breath was you, and only you.

Balance. That's what the universe needs, enforced. A never-ending balance that no one, not ever the strongest or oldest of Entities challenged. Where there was light, there shall be dark and vice versa. Habit hated it. He hated seeing people heal, he hated seeing a familiar iridescent form from the corner of his eye. It was a never ending cycle; Habit would bring some undeserved wrath to some poor mortal unfortunate enough to have caught his eye, or maybe it was his hatred for the Slender Man that that pushed him, but nonetheless he’d drag out some unnecessary,torturous game that only he finds entertaining, and there you’d be. When Habit was created, born of hate and trickery; you were also brought forth. A being of an oh so tender light that even he could only stare in a curious awe. You were his balance, always there to counteract whatever damage he’d done. Habit hated you for a while, avoiding you for the longest, trying to reverse whatever you did; and for a while those feelings were mutual. You, still young and naive, believed that this was some kind of sick punishment that you’d somehow earned yourself in the brief moments you’d met the creators. Fos, your creator, a being of an eternal, cold light, caressed your cheek and sent you on your way, giving you favored blessings and best wishes. You were a favorite, a purer being that they’d created to serve as a buffer; sometimes you’d wish you weren’t. Habits, well habits made you sick. He’d toy with mortals like he was a creator himself,a god. And you’d mess with him back all the same, pulling his horn like appendages, calling him out on his name; a constant back and forth you'd both soon tire of.

“ You think you’re so much better than I, don’t you, pretty? “ his voice, rough and condescending, questioned, his many eyes all gazing down at you.

“ Of course I do, mutt. I am better. ‘ You hated this man, if he even was one. It didn’t matter how many times you changed your form, he’d always make it his mission to make you feel small, weak. You couldn’t take much more after the Dark Ages, too much suffering and not enough time to fix it. You, and your brethren failed for many, many years. Fos, in all their luminal glory, felt pity upon you all, and gave most of you the sanctuary you needed to regain the lost energy and strength you’d lost during the seemingly endless wars and revolutions. It had been 798 years to be exact, and many things changed since that day. Ligo Fos, as your kind had come to be called, were ridded of your old appearances, no matter the differencing in forms. The small, branch like ‘horns’ fell, and your skin became soft, many ranges of colors that still felt limiting.

‘ We must cater to the mortals, my dear children. ‘ Fos's voice was caring, yet stern. The Creator willed it, so as dutiful servants you must obey, lest you want to be repurposed. It would be alright.

Time skip

Ligos Fos, elusive creatures known to heal the sick and punish the guilty. Beings of a light so bright that only artists can gaze upon. All these titles boosted your ego. Mortals viewed anything they didn’t understand as a higher being. They viewed your blessings as some mystical power that was your own. Laughable.

As the sun rose and fell, you spent your days following your hellish counterpart. Trailing behind him wherever he went, fixing his wrongs. It was the late 90s when he caught on. Habit would flick his eyes to your hidden location and smile a cruel,twisted smirk that had only gotten worse than you remember it. Habit had changed, he wasn't a twiggy, short thing made of the darkest ink anymore. He’d grown into what mortals called a ‘man’. He’d taken on a vessel of sorts. A human man, barely reaching 19 summers at this point. You had to admit, he would be attractive once he grew into his looks. This ‘highschool’ and ‘college’ would be stressful, and human hormones would fluctuate often. Habit, or Evan, as he’d been calling himself nowadays, was almost dog-like, always chasing down something he shouldn’t, getting overly excited, etc. etc. His antics were cute to you, making you forget that this wasn’t this Evan person, whoever he was. This was Habit, your Habit. The same creature that mocked you, pulled at your cheeks until they were sore, muddied your outerwear. You felt pity for whoever Evan was, because you knew well enough that he was gone, his body nothing more than a husk for Habit to use and bend until it broke. For three years you did this, slowly getting closer and closer to the thing you’d been made with. Forced a bond in which you didn’t know how to work with or use in any way.

For the longest it was awkward to say the least. Habit wanted nothing more than to make your life a living hell, doing the most trivial things to irk your nerves for the sake of it.

“ Your cheeks puff up when you get upset, pretty. Did I upset the pretty dove? Ruffle your feathers? “ he, Evan, all but cackled his rough hands cupping your jaw. You were sure you hated him, but even you, in all your prideful ways, had to admit he was attractive. You scoffed at his statement, retreating out the door, your feet stomping angrily. He’d never let you live this down. Habit would call you brattish, daring you to object and ‘prove his point’; yet some part of you wanted that. A part of you that thought about the young man in facetious ways. Ways that would leave a damp spot in your panties. You suppressed these urges for the longest. Fos found it funny when you consulted them, thinking you were defective, broken. One had to admit, you’ve always been a theatrical type. Fos explained you were mature now, one of the first of their creations to fully mature actually; something that had you preening for a while. Fos sent you back to the mortal realm, with no instructions other than to get used to these urges, for they wouldn’t end now that they’ve started. And stars above they weren't wrong about that one bit. During the early months of spring you suffered. Your lower abdomen ached and your fingers didn’t provide you the relief you needed. After you found out about toys, they only satisfied you for about a year in total. By now, your ‘heats’ had begun to hurt progressively more.

➞break

Habit knew something felt wrong. He felt something gnawing at the pit of his stomach, or a nagging voice in the back of the endless void he called a mind. Then it clicked for him. It was the turning of the seasons. Spring was approaching and he’d forgotten about it.. Habit mentally cursed himself. Quickly bringing the phone to cancel any and all plans or work he may have had the next week and a half. Sure his pockets would hurt for a while but he’d manage. After the first few days he began to feel the effects of his upcoming rut, and something told him it would be bad. His urge to nest and hoard was already something when he wasn’t being pumped full of unwanted hormones, but now? Now he’d be growling at air if he felt his space was being threatened. He’d spend his days shirtless, a pair of sweatpants hung loosely around his waist; a thin layer of sweat covered his body as he fanned himself. Habit’s house was on the verge of freezing, yet he still panted like a dog. What made it so much worse was that his cock ached, the tip a hot red now from past abuse and Habit still wasn’t satisfied. By now he was pushing 21 summers, well the vessel was anyways; many of the entities Habit had familiarized himself with in the past now sired many cherub faced cambions, hell, a good many knocked up the Ligos they’d been balanced with when they were created alongside. One acquaintance spoke of how pretty her Ligos looked underneath her. Habit’s mind slowly drifted towards the idea of you, and how you’d look beneath his, whining and begging for him to fuck his cum back into your soaked hole, or maybe you’d beg him to stop, tell him you hated him and that he was lucky to even be this close to you in the first place. Habit laughed at the last thought, his cock twitched as he palmed himself through his pants. He’d have you. He needed to have the pleasure of seeing such an elusive, prideful creature reduced to a whimpering, blubbering mess below him, your voice cracking and begging for him to slow down, begging him to breed you. The mere thought of shooting his cum down your sopping hole made a guttural groan leave his throat as he continued to palm himself through his sweatpants. He ached for you, longed for you.

-with you-

The empty feeling in your stomach was enough to make you whine. As much as you adored your Creator, they did little to help ease the tightness. Your hand was buried between your thighs, fingers soaked with your cum, and yet it still wasn’t enough. You needed something more than just your fingers and toys; you’d brought yourself to orgasm after fucking orgasm and yet you still felt wrong. Your body was slick with sweat at this point, the scent of sex heavy in the air around you. As you bit on the now clipped fingernail, listening to the rain outside the small glass window, sometimes you’d like to think that your savior would waltz out of the treeline to solve all your problems; you’d laugh at the childish thoughts then. Now you wish they would. You continued your daydreaming, oblivious to the creaking floorboards. You smelt him before you saw him. He smelt like teakwood and fire; he smelt like home, safety.

‘ Habit. ‘ your voice croaked, hoarse from the screaming and whining you’ve done. Habit laughed, his voice gravelly as he continued.

‘ So this is what my little starlight does in her freetime? Stuffing her cunt like whore? ‘

Habit laughed as he kicked himself off the doorframe to stalk closer to your now shaking body. You weren’t scared, but the anticipation, the adrenaline. You could taste it, it was addicting, for once in your life you allowed yourself to become addicted to it. Dark eyes raked across your body, taking note of how your nightwear clung to your sweat covered skin. You looked absolutely delectable like this, and you didn’t even know. Habit was an impatient being already, but what little patience he had left was thinning, the last string so close to popping before he allowed those urges he’d taken so long to suppress. The scent of sex made Habit lick his lips as he crawled atop you, muscles tense as his hands pulled at your sheets. Habit trailed open mouthed kissed down your neck and throat, leaving a trail of bites in his wake, hickeys would be a pain in the ass to cover tomorrow, but you didn’t care. You didn’t care about the past resentment you had for this man, you didn’t care about the past teasing, arguments. Anything. All that mattered right now was him.

Then he stopped, and gods above you wanted to tear his throat out.

“ Tell me to stop dove. “ Habit’s voice was hushed, raspy even. He wanted you to tell him to stop, tell him to go fuck himself, find some cheap whore he could dispose of after he was done with them. He wanted you to tell him to go to hell, you weren’t like him, but yet here you were, shoving your head to the side, begging him not to stop. Your thighs pushed apart to fit his body against yours. To Habit, you didn’t want him to stop, no you wanted him to ruin you for anyone else, to leave an imprint of himself on your soul. A guttural growl left Habit’s throat as he bit down on your throat, a hand moving to grip your jaw.

“ I told you to do something starlight, " the man spoke through gritted teeth, a cruel smile etching its way onto his face. Your eyes locked with his, dark eyes a flurry of emotions. Lust. Need. Somethings else you couldn’t name. To think you’re relearning each other after so long apart, and yet he still remembered which parts made you weak. A smile etched itself on your features just when you settled your hand against Habit’s that still lay resting on your jaw. When you turned your head to gently kiss his palm.

“ If I wanted you to stop, I would've made you a while ago, Habit. '' your voice was muffled in his palm. “ And right now, I want you to ruin me. “ Habit’s eyes darkened at your words, pulling your hips closer to his, you almost whined at the feeling of his cock through the material of his pants. Habit’s lips were heavy against yours as he dragged his hands down your body, pawing at any exposed flesh he could feel, your soft nightwear being pushed out of the way for his preying hands to feel for more. You felt whole. His touch was electric, leaving sparks wherever his hands found sanctuary. Habit liked toying with his prey, feeding off their fear, their tears; and you were no exception. He’d tease, he’d edge if that's what it took for you to break before him. How long would you last? How long before you were fucked dumb? To braindead to speak coherent sentences? He’d find out. He’d find out if it took him all night and the next day. Habit’s hand slowly found itself between your thighs, the damp spot in your panties making him chuckle. His lips found your throat once again as his fingers traced your slit, gathering up your slick on his fingers before pushing them into your soaked hole. A breathy whine leaving you lips, eyes closing as your head lolled back into your pillow. Habit’s pace was slow, his fingers curling deliciously at that spot that made you want to scream. He wanted you to beg, to put your pride aside and ask him for your release that you craved so desperately. Maybe he’d be nice, maybe he’d set aside his usual cruelty and sadistic want and just give you what you wanted for once!

“ Fat chance, pretty! Tell me what I want and then you can cum.” Habit was a bastard, he wouldn’t give anybody anything for free, what made you any different. And you gave in. You begged, borderline screamed pleas for him to just let you come undone, the familiar tightness in your stomach threatening to pop; but he didn’t allow it. Habit pried his fingers from your cunt and brought them to his lip. The sight was erotic, taboo. Watching him lick your slick off his fingers made your thighs close, or at least attempt to. Habit groaned and threw his head back, eyes closed as the corners of his mouth made a lopsided grin. “ Gods you taste better than I imagine dove. “ he voiced his praise, your cheeks felt hot as you averted your eyes. “ Please…” a weak plea left your lips. It was almost laughable to Habit, you were throwing a tantrum all because he wouldn’t let you get off? Cute, but he’d be nice just this once. His cock was painfully hard at this point, the tip a burning red as he pulled his pants down just enough to free his member. Your mouth practically watered at the sight, but there’d be another time you’d get to suck him dry. Your panties had long since been discarded, the fabric laying in tattered shreds on your floor somewhere alongside the promise to buy you more. You squirmed, trying to find any friction you could but Habit’s firm hands kept you still, his fingers sure to leave bruises with his grip on your hips. “ No no pretty, tell me what you want. “ he chided, a sadistic grin on his face. His hair clung to his forehead, a sheen of sweat coating his body as his muscles tensed. He was holding back, waiting for those words to fall out of your mouth, and gods was it worth the wait. “ Please gods! Please just fuck me Habit! Use me! I don’t care just let me cum-” your sentence was cut short as Habit thrusted his cock into you without so much as a warning, tears pricking your eyes from the sudan intrusion. Something between a growl and groan left the man’s throat. Your warmth sucked him in. Habit gave you a brief moment to adjust before his pace was quickened, his grip on your hips bruising as your back arched. His intent was to breed you, mark your insides as his. You were his. His to hold, his to kiss, his to breed. The thought of you round with his children made his cock twitch. You’d be such a good mother, such a doting mate. Your sweet sounds filled his ears, urging him on. Habit was running on pure instinct at that moment, no words were spoken between you two, because they didn’t need to be. A hand left your hip to press on your stomach, a toothy smile on his face as he leaned down to kiss away the stray tears that fell from your eyes. You looked so pretty, all fucked out, dazed, and all from his cock. “ Aw is my little dove all fucked out? To dumb on cock to speak now? “ Habit cackled as he left soft slaps to your cheek, and all you could do was nod. Your brain long fried as he fucked his cock into you. Gargled pleas left your lips, yet you didn’t know what you were begging for at this point. For him to stop? Fuck you harder? He didn’t care, all Habit cared about was fucking you full of his kids. Habit groaned as your cunt squeezed his cock, a rough smack landed on your thigh making you jump. His dark eyes met yours as he hissed out a threat “ You better not fucking cum yet. Not until I say so. “. He left no room for objection, so all you could do was whine and take it, cunt fluttering around his cock as he mixed degrading words with his filthy praises. A high-pitched whine left your throat as you wrapped your arms around his broad shoulders, digging your nails into his flesh and burying your face into his shoulder; your pleas falling on deaf ears. You begged, cried, pleaded for Habit to just let you cum, that you’d do anything. Habit’s voice was hoarse as he laughed, a grunt heaved from his throat.

Your vision turned white as you came. It took a few moments to come back to your senses and even then they were fried. Everything felt fuzzy almost, hazy. Habit, panting and showering you with sloppy kisses and half-formed praises lay on top of you. His weight was nice, you felt protected and warm. “ You’ll be such a good little mate won’t you? “ he grinned, wiping the stray hairs from your forehead before planting a kiss on it. “ Such a good mother too? Maybe I’ll just keep you plugged so it takes? You’d like that wouldn’t you pretty? You want to make me happy don’t you? Yeah, you do. “ His voice was background noise to you at this point, but his words made you smile. You felt whole, full. No longer longing for something you couldn’t have or couldn’t reach. Habit hummed as he stroked your face, watching you doze every now and then. You’d keep him happy enough for now. And busy.

“ Oh don’t think I’m done yet, starlight, I’m just gracious enough to give you a break! Say thank you, why don’t you? “

#1800cr33py #emh smut #habit smut #habit emh #habit x reader #emh evan x reader #emh evan smut #emh x reader #emh x reader smut #slenderverse smut #slenderverse x reader smut #Im so sorry this is ass #send reqs #slenderverse #everymanhybrid x reader #habit everymanhybrid #everymanhybrid #evan everymanhybrid

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dduane · 1 year

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Today's Marital Challenge (Differentiated Type*)

...@petermorwood comes to bed late, just as I'm waking up.

DD: ...Did I miss something? Did you get any sleep last night?

PM: No. Having a shower now.

PM: (has shower) (returns) (gets into bed)

DD: ...So what was that about?

PM: Heraldry.

DD: ???

PM: Fimbriation. You didn't fimbriate the jewel on that sword. You can't just do that. It's tincture on tincture. It's illegal.

DD: (thinking: I haven't even had my tea yet, I cannot have a conversation about this right now. And also it was 1 AM when I stopped work and I said there were things that still needed to be handled about that pic. Eyes. Claws. The issue of whether to declare how "armed" the Lion is, meaning not just his claws but the issue of the demigod's weenie**: to tincture or not? A design decision, and the jury's still out, and anyway some of us actually need to sleep sometimes...!) (...and nonetheless:)

DD: Middle Kingdoms heraldry is more in the European mode than the British. You know that violations like that are a commonplace.

PM: Then why did you blazon it in British [heraldic grammar]? And you named a color twice. That's not on. It should have been "of the first" or whatever.

DD: (did I sign up for this? I don't recall signing up for this. Must have been in the small print..)

PM: I wrote a long post. It'll go up tomorrow. Not today, it's Caturday.

DD: (And you're going to correct my grammar, I bet. In a very caring sort of way. Á la Captain Amelia.)

PM: (turns on TV, starts watching a YouTube trailer about Irish Spitfire pilots: starts falling asleep)

DD: Time to get up and write up the Goddess's recipe for deviled eggs. Have a nice sleep. (But first...)

"FIMBRIATION: the placement of small stripes of contrasting colour around common charges or ordinaries, usually in order for them to stand out from the background, but often simply due to the designer's subjective aesthetic preferences, or for a more technical reason (in heraldry only) to avoid what would otherwise be a violation of the rule of tincture.[1][2]

...

FREELORN OF ARLEN: ...You re-rendered me for this??

DD: (glancing to see where in the MK Instagram timeline the character is at the moment) (wanders off snickering) When you're married you'll understand.

*...Or maybe just "differenced." :)

** (jots down title: "The Adventure of the Demigod's Weenie." [Please note, in a related development, that the heraldically-based "War of the Bear's Pizzle" turns out not to have actually happened. ...Dammit.])

#Middle Kingdoms meta #heraldry #in-house dynamics #go off bb #infinite are the arguments of writers #:)

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yourpsicodelicbitch · 1 year

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Astrology placements combo+ pt 2

This picture is from Pinterest.

Disclaimer: I did a fucking tesis for each one.

Pisces rising + cancer moon combination is the representation of the stereotype of water signs. I’m serious. If the person grew up in an environment that couldn’t benefit them, they could use copy mechanisms that were not very healthy. They need a secure space, that won’t overwhelm them, that’s healthy. Because they are highly emphatics, they feel the energy of the environment, the energy of what their loved present because what they are passing trough. They are sensitive, and that’s not a problem, that’s what makes you human. Growing up, water moons could have been constantly criticized for showing sensitivity; expressions like crying or been affected by situations where they have observed and saw from a different point of view. Cancer moons could have grown up attached to their moms/mother figures. Serving and caring for her deeply. The relationship you have with them is THE relationship of what’s view as a mom-native relationship. Your mom is your home. You saw them as someone SO nurturing and full of love, maternal. You could admire your grandmas, uncles, etc. You needed to be cared. When the mom needed support, they could have not given the space or privacy the kid needed. She could have been clingy. A strong bond. You could have seen her passing some tough emotional moments, and probably you were the only one realizing it. This situations that happened to your mom could affect you in a way you try to escape from reality with those copy mechanism I was referring to. Plus the pisces rising, that’s ruled by Neptune, planet of subconscious mind and delusion. THEY FEEL. And are overwhelmed by the fact that the world is not as idealized -with pink rainbows and colorful butterflies with glitter (sorry🧚‍♀️)- as they thought. And Jupiter, planet of expansion and tolerant. Since this, they have difficulties having boundaries, with differencing reality from their dreams and desires. Also, boundaries with the relationship with themselves and others. They are CONFUSED about how they see themselves, about HOW they are. They have a hard time getting carried away by what others say, by what others tell them who they are. They don’t fucking know. Mostly, because neptune is the planet of delusion, it’s difficult for others people’s eyes to decipher them. So they idealize them, they, without realizing, put a standard on the ruled by neptune person. It’s chaos, because they could feel the need to meet those standards. They are highly emotional intelligent, that’s why, leaving the diplomatic stuff; stop fucking don’t being responsable for your actions, and then blaming others or the situation you’re in, victimizing yourself. Every fucking person is going through something, you’re not the only one. Only bc you FEEL -or show it- doesn’t mean is more valid. The emotions, sensitivity that they didn’t learn to handle + the lack of boundaries between reality and illusions/idealization. That’s it. I have to point it out. It’s too much water. Poor person. I have to ask you: How are you? How have you survived so far? 🤯 Well, I have to tell you, you’re so strong for being been here till now. For feeling misunderstood, trying ways to escape (even if those copy mechanism weren’t healthy, you tried because you couldn’t much, you didn’t know and were so confused), for to be able to breath, for being lost. But I gotta call out something, you’re still here and I’m so proud of you for that. Even if it doesn’t resonate :) You try and that’s good enough. Now it’s time to take advantage of the traits you are blessed with. And to learn how to deal with them, but in a way it won’t hurt you and won’t give you an instant relief, not a relief. A way of living, not surviving. Fuck, I’m being too dramatic again. Eww sorry it gives me CRINGE. But you got your moment cancer 🌝 + pisces ⬆️ Sorry if this doesn’t resonate, I think I introspected too much as a neptune dominant. Tell me in the comments if I exaggerated or something… 🤪

What I was listening while typing this 🎶

Sagittarius venus + 9H stellium (me😟🤪) People with these placements NEED -I’m not joking, bc the way I suffer If I don’t have this- freedom. The key word is exploration. Since sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter in both modern and ancient astrology. Is about growth, to living different experiences by the grace of expanding the knowledge you have till now. To learn, analyzing and observing the experience, the “good and bad” (I put it like that bc I don’t really believe in those terms, it’s too complex to just put it in black and white, good or bad), welcoming what could help you or benefit you in the future -such as values, ways of acting, etc.-, and reflecting why other traits, actions or values don’t function with their mindset/benefit them. Or simply questioning themselves “Why do I think like this?” Their whole life could turn around spirituality, religion -doesn’t mean necessarily that you believe in, but that you question it-, travel to foreign countries, politics, healing, fortune, lucky, optimism and miracles. (9H) This combination is in simple words, being a philosopher. What I meant is that the fever of expanding their knowledge consumes them. They love it, it’s so natural🤪. But sometimes could be hard, questioning too much. This people have a unique point of view, different than the average, could have a strong vision about a certain topic. If you ask them about it, PREPARE for the nerd moment you’re gonna contemplate: they’re going to get excited like a little kid, start explaining, showing you proofs, documentaries. They’re going to do the posible to make you understand and to make you share the same excitement as them. Freedom is on top of their pyramid, is not an exception in their relationships. Sagittarius venus + 9H combo needs someone to go with the flow, to contrast their anxious -most of you wouldn’t agree with me, but they’re ambitious, they want to learn more and more, they’re preoccupied to know, to be themselves, to not feel controlled- nature. They’re honest and sincere. And most important, they set boundaries, what most of the venus signs lack of. Sooner or later, they do. If something between you and them -talking about friendship- doesn’t fit with them they’re gonna tell you, what bothers them, or they’re going to ghost you. When there’s no meaning for them to conserve you in their lives, I don’t know how to explain it. It could sound selfish, but is healthy; being selfish for yourself is okay. Don’t force them, please don’t, they feel overwhelmed; they’re gonna escape. They look to be with someone who is their best friend and at the same time lover, someone that they don’t have to have filter, where they don’t feel cringe. And let them do their crazy stuff, joke around, being sarcastic, someone who understand/accept their jumps of energy or when they need space, because they do. They want a partner who accompanied them in their adventures, who help them grow. Someone that have the same mindset or is open minded; someone who aliment them with their intelligence. They don’t like short talk, superficial. They love depth conversation and with topics that could get them to reflect. They could not like people who seem too comfortable with they’re actual situation, someone who doesn’t seek change. Also, they don’t like when they are clingy, and when they are too delusional or too down to earth. No extremes. These combo get bored REALLY easily, those high standards are for a reason. I know they have a bad fame like “they’re players” blablabla, but when they know you’re the one -or feel it, etc.- they proof you wrong. They are loyal, give you attention, love physical touch or gifts -depends on the degree-, etc. They’re picky, they have high standards for establish in a serious relationship -or you can call it compromise issues🤪-. They know their value. That’s how they are and you can’t do anything about it. They’re free spirits. the fucking cliché phrase they always use to describe them🤮 but yes😍🥰🏃🍃🌬️😋

What I was listening while typing this 🎶

—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•

•This is based on my personal experience and what I have analyzed in my surroundings.

•English is not my first language.

•I am not a profesional astrologer, I just love astrology and I’m willing to learn.

Thank youu. baibaiii🫣🫶🏼💋

Do not copy. Please give me credits.

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cripplecharacters · 8 months

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Hello! I'm aware that this blog is about writing, and therefore might not be the right place to ask this, but I'm not sure where else I'd ask. I want to cosplay a character with a facial difference (burn scars) that I don't have. I'd be making my own makeup prosthetics to replicate the character's appearance. Would this be appropriate at all, and if so, how could I make sure to do it respectfully? I'd reference pictures of real burn survivors to try to make it look accurate, and not a caricature. The character is also non-human, and I'd be wearing other makeup prosthetics and face paint, so I think it would be clear that I'm in a costume (as opposed to, like, impersonating someone with a facial difference). I really want to be respectful. If that means not doing the cosplay at all, then I won't do the cosplay! Thank you for your time :)

Hi anon! My advice would be: absolutely cosplay the character, but leave out the facial difference if you don't have it. (and in case that's a concern, to me it wouldn't be "erasing the character's disability" or anything like that because you're a real physical person working with what you have and not an writer who has 1000 possibilities and still chooses to cure a character or something.)

It's kinda similar to a previous ask we had about cosplaying disabled characters, in that one it was about using a mobility aid rather than a facial difference, but I think that the general sentiment is the same. Disability isn't a costume or a prop and it should be just left out of that in my opinion. I would feel very strange if someone put facial-differencing/"disfiguring" makeup to make themselves look like a character that has the same condition as me. Not sure if that makes sense but if I were to cosplay an able-bodied character I would still need a cane and even if I put on makeup my face wouldn't look as theirs because it wouldn't fix nerve damage that I have regardless of if I dress up as someone or not. I can't just take off my visible disability for a cosplay so I do think it's weird to temporarily put a visible disability on someone who doesn't normally have it. I hope this makes sense.

I definitely don't think you should abandon cosplaying that character as a whole. Just skip over that disability part of the character's design and I think it should be fine. Good luck with your cosplay 😄

mod sasza

#anonymous #mod sasza #face difference #cosplay #cripping up #burn survivor representation

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siriusly-sapphic · 8 months

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thoughts on nobleflower i need to know i have so much in my brain

Oh oh oh! Yes!

Okay so I'm a little sick and my thoughts about anything Narcissa femslash related are usually already all over the place so? Bear with me while I type this on my phone?

First: let me establish the specific setting. Since I tend to mess about with Narcissa's age a little depending on the ship bc the canon Black family tree is a right mess that I've decided I can do whatever I want with. For alicissa tho, I tend to just go with Narcissa being 4/5 years older than the marauders, and Alice being like a year older than Narcissa.

And as for any Narcissa headcanon I have, I'm writing this with the idea of trans!narcissa in mind, though it works very similarly if you imagine her as cis. If you want more context for how I see trans!narcissa in canon compliant settings, I have a 7K meta post here but it's not necessary for this (I just like linking it).

Also we're going with some canon compliancy here. No happy endings today.

So.

Alicissa is one of those ships that, for me, starts out genuinely cute. Like... dorcissa starts out as denial and rivalry, narlily can end cute but starts messy. Alicissa starts sweet. It starts hopeful.

It starts in an icecream shop.

I'd say it starts the summer before Narcissa's 5th year, which is the time I headcanon she comes out as trans and has begun her transition. Which means 1. She is quite terrified of making 'another' mistake to embarrass her family and 2. The scariest moments of her life have just been blasted over Witch Weekly and the Daily Prophet. She is scared, she's being very brave about it, and she gets mean when she's nervous. (Well. Meaner than usual.)

Alice has a type of girl she loves and that type is brave and mean and a little sassy.

So you know, when Narcissa comes into Florean Fortescue's, ignores all the stares she gets, and gets snappy when Alice teases her about mint-chocolate chip being the worst flavour to order.... what choice does she really have except to fall in love right then and there?

And I think on Narcissa's side, developing any crush on a girl will always come with a bit of angst. Because from the moment she transitions, she has a very clear path in mind of what to do and what to be in order to make her family proud of them again. (I could go into more detail, but honestly for that if you're interested see the meta linked above.) And dating girls... not a part of that plan.

But she wants to.

And Alice makes it easier to be brave.

They're prefects in different years and different houses and they're good at keeping secrets and Narcissa can get Kingsley, the head boy, to move the prefect schedule so that she and Alice have rounds together. (She knows that Kingsley's into Rodolphus Lestrange like no other, and like I said. She can be a little mean.)

And I think that for that first year. The first two years, even, when they’re still at school and life hasn't gotten quite so tainted with war yet? They're happy. And they're cute. And it feels good. Like it can last.

It can't. Obviously.

One headcanon is that Narcissa starts struggling in school bc yknow she's going through some shit, and maybe there's a subject or two she's never been a natural at and is now falling behind in, and it just so happens that Alice is really good at that. So they can meet publicly in the library while Alice tutors her and Narcissa struggles to get over her embarrassment for needing a tutor.

Narcissa has only ever missed one quidditch game (she hates the game, but her best friends are the Lestrange brothers (oh yes that gets painful later) and they play on the team, sonshe has to go). That's the game Alice convinces her to come into the Gryffindor common room while everyone is gone and they make out in front of the fireplace.

They almost get caught. Narcissa avoids her for about a week. They never take that risk again.

And then the war. Alice graduates first, and I see her as being quite determined to make a difference in the war and unsure how to do it. Obviously the Order is a very secret organisation, and she doesn't know about it immediately, so she becomes an auror.

That's also where she meets her future husband Frank Longbottom (bless that man).

Meanwhile Narcissa is a seventh year, her best friends are losing their parents and are drowning in it and she is trying to balance NEWTs and helping the Lestrange twins and the ever important thing of Not Disappointing Her Parents (Again).

I think, however unjustly so, she starts blaming it on Alice for leaving. Which is obviously not actually Alice's fault bc that's just how gradustion works, but it's easier to blame a girl with who it never could've worked out (and maybe shouldn't have worked out as long as it did), than it is to realise that this is just a shitty collection of circumstances. Or worse, to blame her family. She can never blame her family. (She feels she owes her family too much to blame them)

So by the time Narcissa graduates, she's planning an engagement with Rabastan Lestrange that will fall through soon enough and she hasn't told Alice about yet. Alice, at that point, is an auror who's working together with Frank and feels so very betrayed when she does find out about Narcissa's engagement.

It's one of those things that has always been inevitable. But that Alice couldn't help but secretly hope wouldn't happen anyway.

And I think that's where it goes wrong.

Because Alice tells her not to marry Rabastan, around the same time that Rabastan is trying very hard to destroy everything good in his life because grief isn't kind, and Narcissa is the best damn thing to have happened to him. Druella Black ("you should do better than a miserable second son"), Alice Fortescue ("just get away from all of it"), and Rabastan Lestrange ("why are we bothering anyway?") himself, all tell her to break off an engagement that brought her SO much joy when it became reality.

And so Narcissa decides to hate all of them for it.

Except she can’t. Obviously. But she decides she does anyway.

Because Druella is still the mother she wants to be proud of her, and Rabastan is still her best friend who she wants to protect, and Alice is still the first person she ever really fell in love with. She can’t hate them. But she wants to.

But I think that strains alicissa's relationship a lot. Because it shows that Narcissa isn't just mean, she can be cruel and delusional. And it makes it clear that it doesn’t really matter how much Narcissa loves Alice (because she does. She really does.) Because as brave as Narcissa can be, she's a scared young woman who seeks to protect herself. And protecting herself in pureblood society means marrying a suitable pureblood wizard. It doesn’t mean running away with a halfblood witch and hoping life turns out alright.

Narcissa has always protected herself by planning ahead and following her plan. Alice doesn’t fit into that. And Alice isn't the type of woman who will wait around to see if Narcissa's plans change.

So when Narcissa gets engaged to Lucius Malfoy, and her happy and perfect smile is all over the Daily Prophet, Alice accepts Frank's invitation for a date.

And for a while that's that.

There's some looks, because Frank is a Longbottom and while he's on his way to become a traitor, his great aunt was a Black and he still gets invited to notable pureblood events. Not for long, but long enough. There are some strained conversations and longing glances and even, once or twice, guilt-ridden hookups when their respective husbands are out.

Alice feels a whole lot more terrible about that than Narcissa does. She loves Frank. I swear she does.

Alice is a renowned auror and joins the Order and is a genuine danger to any death eater who comes her way. Narcissa is terrified every day that her husband might die at her lover's hands — or god forbid the other way around.

Alice grows to hate Narcissa during that war. Because how dare she attend charity galas to safekeep the victims of a war, when she damn well knows it's her friends and family waging that war. The hypocrisy and the cruelty too much.

Alice likes her women brave and a little mean. Not cowardly and cruel.

They become mothers around the same time. Two months apart. When they’re both pregnant, they see each other occasionally in the same maternity shops and healer waiting rooms. There's a kinship there and this very strong desire for a closer bond, that ultimately can't withstand the hatred and the mistrust that the war and Narcissa's choices have brought upon them.

And then the war is over.

Narcissa and Lucius manage to escape any time in azkaban. Alice and Frank can finally settle and mourn their loved ones. All four of them can look at these beautiful young boys in their arms and hope with all their might that their lives will be easier.

(It’s unclear when the attack on the Longbottoms happened. We know it happened after the war, and we know it happened when people had just begun feeling safe again. We know there was enough time for Crouch sr to start greying by the time the Lestranges were put on trial.)

But that wrecks Narcissa.

I wanna say that Alice and Narcissa stopped actively seeing each other when the war ended. Alice doesn't want to have an affair when she is genuinely happily married and she has a son. Maybe she's trying for a second child.

But Narcissa’s best friends in the world. The family I tend to describe as "what the Potters and James were to Sirius, the Lestranges and Rodolphus were to Narcissa". And her sister. Two of whom knew just how fucking important Alice Fortescue was to Narcissa, once upon a time.

I genuinely don't think Narcissa believed it, when the Lestranges were first accused of that crime. I don't think she wanted to believe them capable of it. And when it turned out to be true.... I have so many thoughts about that connection I could fill another and longer post. But it wrecks her.

Narcissa only visits Alice once.

It's under the guise of "seeing what her sister has done, to put it behind her". Augusta Longbottom is there, in absolute pieces because her only son is gone. Neville is there, Draco's age. Alice doesn't recognise her. Narcissa thinks it might be better that way.

Narcissa just really doesn't belong there. And she doesn't belong there because of her own choices, her own mistakes. And I think that realisation breaks her even further.

Only one of them remembere what they used to be, and Narcissa selfishly wishes that it wasn't her.

Okay and this is getting long so. The rest is just little moments of pain. Draco writing home about how stupid this Longbottom kid is? The absolute guilt of knowing her darling boy is bullying the son of the woman Narcissa loved most? Post war, when maybe Neville is old enough to want to know more about Alice and find out that there aren’t many people alive who remember Alice when she was young. But Narcissa does.

And don't even get me started on the Lestranges escaping Azkaban. That's agony right there. I have no time. But also I have SO many thoughts and all of them heard more than the other so one day I'll inflict them on others.

This became so long I'm sorry lmao, but I hope you like the thoughts. This is why happier fix it AUs exists.

#alicissa #alice longbottom #narcissa malfoy #harry potter #hp femslash #marauders era #nobleflower #alice fortescue #narcissa black #my headcanons #headcanons #marauders fandom #answered asks #pomegranatepetrichord

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eightmakesonebraincell · 10 days

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loren!!! came back to talk about ateez at coachella becuase i’m ON MY KNEES they looked so good 😭😭😭

you have so many moots now omg the family is expanding!!!!!! don’t forget about me though…

— mafia anon

YEETING MYSELF INTO THE NEXT SOLAR SYSTEM BECAUSE OH MY GOD HELLO IT'S BEEN SO LONG 😍😍😍 honestly trust you to emerge from your cave to holler about coachellateez bc same i am SAT on my chair on my bed on the floor on the grass on san's lap- i mean what huh 🤨 gurl i'm crossing my fingers they perform fri/sat next weekend bc if they perform sun then the time differenc wWAIT I'M LITERALLY REALISING NOW AS I TYPE I HAVE A WEEK OFF NEXT WEEK WHICH MEANS EVEN IF THE TIME DIFFERENCE MEANS THEY LIVE STREAM ON /MY/ MONDAY I WON'T HAVE WORK AND I CAN STILL WATCH IT I AM SCREAMING RAHHHHH THE GODS ARE SMILING DOWN UPON ME 👆👇💃🕺🪩

but my girlie my girlie you have nothing to worry about i was literally thinking about you last night and wondering how you've been doing (ugh i'm like obsessed with you or sth 🙄👎) also the real ones will know that you the og <3

#loren answers #mafia anon #i've missed typing out your tag <3 #hope you've been well <3

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mariacallous · 9 months

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Kaplan Street is one of the main thoroughfares leading into and out of Tel Aviv. It was built along the outline of a German Templar colony, whose pro-Nazi descendants were expelled from British Mandate Palestine during World War II. During the 1960s and 70s, it was filled with Israeli governmental and cultural institutions, such as the Jewish Agency and the Israel Journalists Association. These days, Kaplan is the street where, every Saturday, hundreds of thousands of Israelis protest the attempted judicial coup led by the coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Contrary to the common version in the global press, the protesters are not only the scions of the old, privileged establishment. Those gathering on Kaplan are a big tent, including both the financially comfortable and the struggling. While some of the protest movement leaders are military elites or tech moguls, many others are not. The most vulnerable of them are set to become the main casualties of Netanyahu’s judicial coup. That’s because their children, who study in the public school system, may witness its slow collapse due to funds being redirected to the religious and ultra-Orthodox institutions.

Their kids, who—unlike most ultra-Orthodox Jews—serve a full term in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), will sit idle at home because in Israel, there is no public transport on the Sabbath. Single mothers will have their state support reduced in favor of ultra-Orthodox families with multiple children. People who live in peripheral areas will have to struggle against an ultra-Orthodox takeover of their towns. The first step will be a political takeover of the municipalities, followed by massive benefits to the ultra-Orthodox population. According to reports, this process is already happening in cities such as Tiberias, Safed, Arad, and Mitzpe Ramon.

They are Jews, Palestinians, men, women, native Israelis, and immigrants who arrived from developing countries via the Law of Return. The common denominator for all of them is the struggle against turning into a so-called donkey.

In Jewish tradition, the Messiah’s Donkey refers to the donkey upon which the Messiah will arrive at the end of days. In Israel, the phrase refers to the doctrine ascribed to the teachings of Abraham Isaac Kook: The secular Jews, who represent the material world, are an instrument in the hands of God whose purpose was to establish the state of Israel and begin the process of redemption. Upon Israel’s establishment, the secular Jews would be required to step aside and allow the religious to govern the state.

Kook, who immigrated to Ottoman Palestine from what is now Latvia in 1904, is considered one of the spiritual fathers of religious Zionism. According to him, the Zionist enterprise was a new historical development of the era of redemption. Nevertheless, Kook was terrified of secularism. He believed that secular education had “sinned greatly against the spirit of Israel” and represented “the beginning of the decay and the basis of all bad assimilation.” Kook sought to settle the contradiction. The secular Zionists, he wrote, are allowed to be the bricks of the building of redemption, “but when the secret of the righteous is to be revealed,” it would be easy to differentiate “between God’s servants and those who are not.”

Unlike Kook, Israel’s founder David Ben-Gurion was an atheist. He came from a religious background and respected Jewish heritage. At the end of the 1950s, a Bible study group gathered in his house, and the prophets were his favorite biblical characters. Nevertheless, Ben-Gurion did not attend synagogue and used to travel on the Sabbath. He made compromises with ultra-Orthodox parties only because of political constraints. It turned out to be a disaster for secular Israelis.

Kook’s prediction is about to come true, with one difference: Israel will not be a theocracy. It will be a country using religious law to allow profound corruption. In the past six months, there have been many reports on improper political appointments within the Likud party and its religious partners. Some of the coalition members have past criminal convictions, and there are reports of improper past conduct by others. And the country’s transformation into a corrupt religious state won’t only strengthen its ideological rivals—Israel is also a potential international drug trade route; such a shift may boost organized crime.

Over the next decade, the government plans to increase the budget of ultra-Orthodox educational institutions by 40 percent. This will make Israel the first country in the developed world that incentivizes schools that barely teach core subjects such as math, science, and English. The governmental supervision of ultra-Orthodox schools is weak, leaving vague information available about their curriculum. But according to sources in the education ministry, these schools teach primarily religious topics: the Talmud, Mishna, and Torah.

English, math, and even Hebrew are studied at an elementary level. In addition, more than $600 million of the coalition budget will be dedicated to empowering Jewish identity among students in the state education system, IDF soldiers, university students, and residents of secular and liberal cities. Aryeh Deri, the head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, a convicted tax evader and one of the most powerful politicians in the coalition, plans a series of laws that might allow the ultra-Orthodox to take over secular towns politically.

Meanwhile, secular Israelis will pay six times more in taxes than the ultra-Orthodox, who constitute only 8 percent of the Israeli workforce. Their children will be obligated, as they are today, to serve a full term in the army (three years for men and two for women), while so-called national-religious men can serve in the army for a reduced term and most ultra-Orthodox are exempt.

Despite these facts, since the country’s founding, the secular population has been deprived of some basic liberties. This is because Israel has never created a constitution separating church and state. As a result, among other things, the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate holds a monopoly on marriage, which forces many secular Israelis to get married in other countries, or even online. Israel has no formal public transportation on Saturdays, which strands the millions of residents who don’t own a car.

“The liberals are beginning to realize that they will be used as the donkey up to the moment Israel is subjected to religious law,” said Yair Nehorai, a lawyer and the author of The Third Revolution, a book documenting the teachings of the rabbinic mentors of the messianic movement. “But this realization,” he noted, “is too difficult.”

“They will no longer be the majority in the country within a few decades, and they will have to say: This is not my country,” Nehorai said.

The idea of dividing Israel into cantons, which for years has been received with mockery due to the country’s small size and security challenges, has been gaining more and more traction over the past few months, and liberals are angrily calling to separate “Israel” from “Judea.” For some, Judea means the occupied territories. For others, Judea represents all ultra-Orthodox and messianic Jews, whether they live in Bnei Brak (in Israel proper) or Hebron (in the West Bank).

Sagi Elbaz, the author of Emergency Exit: From Tribalism to Federation, the Road to Healing Israeli Society, told me that these cantons will begin with the liberal Israeli cities. “A secular rebellion manifested itself, for example, when the municipalities of Tel Aviv and several other liberal cities launched a network of bus routes that operate on the Sabbath,” he explained.

Until recently, Kaplan Street appeared to welcome protesters of all stripes. Next to No. 8, where the offices of the tech company Fiverr are located, CEO Micha Kaufman hands out free water bottles. Not far from Kaplan 17-19 stand the protesters of the “Anti-Occupation Bloc,” forcing passers-by to acknowledge the elephant in the room with signs such as “No Democracy with Occupation.” Kaplan 22 looks like the mother base of “Women Building an Alternative,” whose photos dressed as handmaids from Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel A Handmaid’s Tale have gained worldwide publicity. Next to them are the members of “The Pink Front,” who have ironically swapped the Israeli blue-and-white flag for a pink-and-white one.

At the end of Kaplan and on the adjacent Namir Street, you can find the unironic blue-and-white. And khaki. This is the center of activity for “Brothers in Arms—Warriors Journeying to Save Democracy,” a grassroots umbrella organization that includes several reservist groups.

Israeli researchers have often noted that, compared to developed Western countries, Israel struggles with establishing a free and open civil society, as the Israelis are attached at the hip to their army. Despite this, the veterans demonstrating on Kaplan are not all the same: Some served in the special forces. Others spent three unremarkable years, mostly killing time. Some veterans abused their power over the Palestinians. Others were discharged with physical and mental scars.

Some believe that serving in the occupied territories is a critical security goal. Others feel that they were forced to go there, but never came out in public to say so. Some of them committed acts of heroism. A few others proved their heroism by refusing to commit acts that they have deemed immoral.

Brothers in Arms, the embodiment of the liberal side of the “People’s Army,” has the most leverage of any group in the Israeli protest movement. Now, with the coalition resuming its legislative blitz, special forces veterans have declared that hundreds of them will stop volunteering for reserve duty. The number of objectors is rising. Former directors of special intelligence operations have warned that units across the IDF, the Shin Bet and Mossad are angry and in a state of unrest.

Reserve Col. Ronen Koehler, one of the Brothers in Arms coordinators, told Foreign Policy that until mid-March, “we were just another activist group.” But in the time since, “we received a flood of phone calls from reservists who were expecting us to tell them what to do about their service.” There were questions from high-ranking commanders who have an in-depth understanding of Israel’s strategic infrastructure: What if you are ordered to shoot in a way you were never ordered to before, and you are experienced enough to know that you shouldn’t do it? What happens if a submarine crew is not sure that the person who sent them to sea is trustworthy?

“The flood of phone calls made us realize that something bigger than our protest activities was happening here,” said Koehler, who served as a submarine captain and is a former vice president at Checkpoint, a U.S.-Israeli hardware and software products company.

The government reached the same realization. A secret report that was submitted to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant caused a temporary halt of the judicial coup at the end of February, but it has now resumed with the passage of a law limiting judicial review on Monday—sparking even larger protests.

As successful as the protests have been, liberal civil society and the army veterans struggle to see eye to eye. For various reasons, some practical (to attract right-wing voters) and some ideological, the occupation is barely mentioned in speeches along the Kaplan encampment, and the number of Palestinian-Israelis joining the protests is low.

Recently, the Anti-Occupation Bloc, which usually demonstrates far from the main stage, decided to pass through the main avenue. The protesters carried a massive sign reading: “We Must Resist Settler Terror.” Some of the Brothers in Arms tried to forcefully remove the sign. After a time, they published a half-hearted apology, and a few days later, they met with Anti-Occupation Bloc representatives to settle matters peacefully.

Some protest participants hate each other, while others love each other. Some are caught in love-hate relationships. “We should be glad about the greatest achievement we got: the creation of a new kind of centrist identity,” Koehler said. “This center includes various shades, from the capitalist, hawkish right that believed in Netanyahu so far but not anymore, through the liberal center and up to the social-democratic left.”

“The protest doesn’t have intrinsic content yet,” Nehorai admitted. “But when a serving coalition is acting in a frenzy, it makes us feel, every minute of every day, that we are connected. The liberal camp is a country that is just being formed.”

All Israelis are facing legislation that will grant unlimited power to anyone the government chooses; they could be white-collar criminals, rehabilitated members of organized crime families, cocaine addicts, or messianic fundamentalists.

A growing number of Israeli liberals, especially younger ones, will soon start negotiating the cargo loaded on their backs, the identity of the hand holding the reins, and the direction of travel. And ultimately, they will refuse to continue being used as donkeys.

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