#and i had a city council thing in class today and i was the only person that was denied any funding at all and i was trying not to take it | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

communistkenobi · 6 months

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Hi, you tend to have well-thought-out political opinions (I don't always agree with you, but your reading liveblog were the kick in the ass to make me read Orientalism, and you have managed to change my mind more than once), maybe might have a better answer here than me.

Is there an ideological reason that American (b/c it typically is, god help me) left-of-center types love electoralism so much online (and offline too, tbh. College continues to deal new and fun kinds of psychic damage), but only in the context of the general national elections? I so often receive various extensive breakdowns of reasons that I MUST vote for Biden in 2024, but less about the benefits of, like, getting really invested in my city council elections or the school board.

We have so many freaking elections for goddamn everything because the US/Canada are fuck-off huge that it's super easy to argue for the importance of participating in electoralism and instead I (especially recently) see so many people picking the worst hill to die on, that I really struggle to. Well. Understand why.

I’ll speak mostly to Canada since that’s where most of my formal knowledge comes from and also because I live here lol. Also a lot of what I’m talking about is coming from books I’ve read - Still Renovating by Greg Suttor for example is a pretty in depth history of social policy (primarily housing) in Canada, it’s very dry but is useful for this conversation. This is off the dome and not meant as a PSA or anything, it’s my own perspective, if people want sources for what I’m discussing I can go dig those up, but I’m just putting this disclaimer at the top in case this post leaves my circle.

To answer your question, my instinct is that it’s because north american democracy is increasingly necrotic and disconnected from the general public (with the usual list of caveats about how much liberal capitalist democracies have ever been “for the people”). Reading up on social policy in Canada directly post-WWII is pretty bleak when comparing it to today - social housing used to be a robust part of the housing market, people were paid far better and had far more economic security, our healthcare was freshly socialised and invigorated, the promises of the Keynesian welfare state were generally being met (for a predominantly white middle class electorate, of course), and so on. Even conservatives were basically on board with these things in the 60s, at least in Canada, although that obviously did not last long. And over the decades we have become entrenched in neoliberal cutbacks, the gutting of public institutions, the sale of public space and utilities, the downloading of responsibility for social welfare onto provincial and then municipal governments who have smaller budgets and more limited institutional power, the massive expansion in public-private partnerships, the militarisation of the police - these things really kicked off in the 80s/90s in Canada and have showed little signs of stopping or even really slowing down since (something that also obviously happened in the US). People make the joke that if libraries were suggested as a policy goal today it would be called a communist plot, but it’s true - all of the shit the government offered us forty years ago is unthinkable to even suggest now. Life in general has gotten more difficult as private wealth and deregulation has taken a progressively stronger hold on domestic affairs. This happened slowly over the course of decades, and as political horizons shrunk in terms of what you could expect/demand of your government, there was a real air of this being inevitable, not a result of conscious political decisions but just some organic outcome that no one had control over (“the invisible hand of the market”). Democratic civic responsibility demands we vote as citizens of our country, but for all the reasons outlined above plus a bunch of others I’m sure I’m forgetting, the liberal conception of democratic participation shrunk to the ballot box alone.

And while we all joke about everyone having the historical memory of a goldfish, I think the pandemic made this a deeply dissonant position to hold onto - we saw the government seemingly awake from a long slumber to exercise its might. It placed eviction bans on landlords, enforced mass quarantines and social distancing measures, provided economic relief to people who lost their jobs, stationed itself inside every building and public space to enforce mask mandates, rolled-out universal vaccination programs that were mandatory if you wanted to keep your job - we saw the government flex its power in labour, in housing, in healthcare, in civic life, and at the border in a way previously unheard of, particularly for people who were not alive to experience the welfare state of the 50s and 60s and even 70s. The state revealed itself as the life-structuring force it always had been before receding again, telling everyone to go back to normal as if nothing had happened, as if millions of people had not died in a global plague, as if it had not just demonstrated to everyone in the country that the state can at the drop of a hat order your landlord to stop evicting you and your boss to give you paid time off. This of course didn’t really happen in the US, or at least not nearly to this degree, which resulted in the deaths of over a million people.

So now when politicians perform this same incapacity to do anything, when they trot out hyper-specific policies that might benefit a couple thousand people at most, when they make stupid non-promises and shrink away from even mild forms of social democracy (eg Sanders-style campaign promises), I don’t know how much people buy it. I’m not particularly optimistic about the pandemic radicalising large amounts of people, but I think even if it doesn’t, we saw what happened! And we’ve all seen a million fucking articles about how people don’t want to go to work anymore, about labour shortages, we’ve seen essentially every sector of labour go on some kind of strike in the past two or three years - there is popular organised political participation happening far away from the ballot box, and is only growing in power by the day. Socialism is now a word that exists in the national consciousness, something that was unthinkable even a decade ago. Currently right now we are seeing an international conversation about (and global popular support for) indigenous sovereignty, we are seeing a full-throated articulation of what a LandBack policy would look like, and this comes on the heels of the national Canadian conversation of residential schools and missing and murdered indigenous women. Decolonisation is now a household term. In the case of the US, we are seeing people make the very obvious point that America can conjure billions of dollars to bomb hospitals and civilians, but any social policy to help its own citizens is too expensive, pie in the sky fantasy nonsense.

And by the same token, there is organised right-wing and fascist violence happening in the streets, massive increases in hate crimes, insane political stunts and demonstrations like the Freedom Convoy and 1 Million March 4 Children (inspired by the Capitol Hill storming in the US), Qanon plots to kidnap and execute elected officials - things that right wing parties are actively encouraging, particularly the PPC and CPC. More and more we see that electoral politics is the domain of the far-right, whose culture war issues have the best chance of being realised through the sacred portal of the ballot box. Democrats can’t even offer people legalised abortion now!

I think this is why liberals are in a state of hysteria. A healthy liberal democracy does not require constant, unrelenting reminders to “vote your ass off.” Liberals are very much aware, even unconsciously, that voting does less and less of what they want every single day - you see this openly admitted to by American liberals, who are now doing Hitler % meter calculations about which fascist to vote for come the next federal election. Voting itself is what matters, even as they openly, frantically admit it will do nothing but slightly delay the inevitable.

So to like directly answer your question: I think it has less to do with federal elections as a specific political strategy and more just an expression of anxiety about the fact that voting does not do what you want it to do, or what it once did - perhaps encouraging larger questions if voting does anything at all. If national federal elections don’t do anything, if you voting for the most powerful position on the planet doesn’t really change very much regardless of who’s in power, what is the point of voting at all? So I don’t think they are articulating an actual political strategy or way of doing politics, because by their own admission it’s not going to do much of anything (while at the same time being an existential crisis). I’m in a similar boat to you, I vote in smaller elections where I feel they will do some measure of good (in part because municipalities are responsible for so much more of civic life than they were a few decades ago), I have engaged with the Ontario NDP for several years (although that has come to an end now because of their position on Palestine). Electoralism is a compromise, it is an avenue for potential good, but not always, or even most of the time.

Thankfully there are other avenues for politics - labour organising, protesting, mutual aid support networks, getting involved with community work, even something like local neighbourhood councils. Those are places of political potential, and a single person’s presence in them can make a legitimate noticeable difference (speaking from several years of heavy involvement in community orgs). I have never really felt like I was making a change while voting, but I have felt that way helping community members not get evicted, or offering them free daycare a few times a week, or running programs from lgbtq kids who don’t want to go home after school. Those things legit save peoples’ lives, a lot of them are low stakes relative to their benefit, and they help stave off the alienation and loneliness I know everyone feels. Obviously you run into the same structural problems you would everywhere else, it’s not a paradise by any stretch of the imagination, but they are so many avenues outside of voting that do actually help people around you.

And I think if liberals admit that these actions are more powerful, more effective than voting, they are admitting to themselves that their core beliefs are wrong, that the communists and anarchists are correct and have been correct long before their dumbass was born. They can no longer point to any institution that gives a fuck about them as a defense against left-wing critiques of liberal electoralism. I think that is part of what animates their hysteria, their temper tantrums, their screaming about the only thing to do is do nothing at all. It is a full-throated defense of self-defeat. They are wailing as everything they believe in dies. I’d be pretty upset too if that were me! Luckily I grew out of that when I was like 19

#asks #and thank u!!! super happy you’re reading orientalism it rules

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girlactionfigure · 6 months

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ISRAEL REALTIME — war news - late day

— LONG RANGE ROCKETS from GAZA… shot at Haifa, ending at nearby Israeli Arab suburb (shot down), and at Eilat (missed).

— ROCKETS from LEBANON… at Kiryat Shmona, Tel Hai, Kfar Gildi.

— SYRIA AIRPORT BOMBED… Syrian media reporting yet another Israeli airstrike against the Aleppo airport, causing damage to the runway. It marks the fourth time the airport has been hit in recent weeks.

— TURKEY SAYS… The President of Turkey, Erdogan: Hamas is not a terrorist organization, it is a liberation movement that saves its land and its people. We had good intentions towards Israel but they did bad things. I canceled my planned visit to Israel. We cannot accept the killing of children by Israel.

Israel strongly condemns Erdogan: "Israel rejects with disgust the harsh words of the President of Turkey. Hamas is an abominable terrorist organization, worse than ISIS, which brutally and intentionally murders babies, children, women and the elderly, takes citizens hostage and uses its own people as human shields.

— PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY SAYS… “We cannot continue to accept the division between the Palestinian lands (Gaza and the West Bank) - because this is an Israeli interest. We are not talking about a scenario of the PA returning to power in the Strip.”

— UN SAYS… UN Secretary General: Fortunately, some humanitarian aid is finally getting into Gaza. This is a drop of aid in an ocean of need. The residents of Gaza need continuous assistance at a level commensurate with the enormous need. It must be given without restrictions.

— ASHKELON RESIDENT GRANT… A financial grant for the homeless (displaced, evacuated, home damaged) in Ashkelon: The mayor of Ashkelon instructed to divert budget directly to the benefit of the city's residents and give the homeless in the city a financial grant that can reach up to 9,000 shekels for a family of 4. Mayor: "The money goes to the residents and it will reach them”.

— ASHKELON PATROL STARTS… Patrols in Ashkelon from the new security patrols and municipal inspectors will start, increase, and be in the new neighborhoods.

— ESHKOL FREEZES PAYMENTS… The Eshkol Regional Council informed all residents that it is freezing all payment requirements, including property taxes, sewerage fees, classes and more due to the war and its impact to the residents.

— MDA OFFERS FREE FIRST AID COURSE… MDA on a first aid course free of charge to the general public. To coordinate a course for a group, send the word "קורס" on WhatsApp to 03-6880022.

— CZECH REPUBLIC PRIME MINISTER VISITED… today.

— WHAT ZAKA HAS SEEN… (HORROR warning) Zaka is the volunteer body handling society in Israel. Their people have seens every inhuman horror, beheaded babies, whole families whose organs were removed while they were still alive, a father and his child who were set on fire while they were tied together until they melted into one body. Collected and seen over 700 bodies. They only ask to pray for the Zaka people’s and for the security forces to return to their families sane. Zaka accepts donations on their site and ONLY on their site -> Link

#Israel _Hamas War #war news - late day #Hamas Massacre

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mariacallous · 5 months

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BERLIN (JTA) – Several thousand Berliners braved a chilling rain Sunday to demonstrate against antisemitism at an interfaith rally at the city’s iconic Brandenburg Gate.

The event — which drew a broad coalition of politicians and religious leaders as well as popular stars — was a response to a record increase in reported antisemitic incidents across Germany in the month after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

Dubbed “Never again is now — Germany stands up,” the rally was organized by a Jewish real estate magnate, Nicolai Schwarzer.

In announcing the event, Schwarzer, 48, said he wanted “to send a powerful and unmistakable signal to the world — from the heart of the capital — that no form of antisemitism, hatred or xenophobia will be tolerated in Berlin or anywhere else in Germany.”

The rally joins several others organized in major cities in Europe and the United States to demonstrate opposition to antisemitism. They have been organized in part as a counterpoint to the large pro-Palestinian rallies that have taken place in many of those cities. Such rallies have been relatively muted and heavily monitored by police in Germany, where antisemitic speech and criticism of Israel are circumscribed by laws enacted in part because of the country’s role in perpetrating the Holocaust. Still, pro-Palestinian sentiment, including among Germany’s large immigrant population, is high.

“Sometimes I don’t recognize this country, something has gone out of control,” Josef Schuster, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said at the rally.

He described a pro-Hamas protest that took place at Berlin’s University of the Arts on Nov. 13, where he said participants “dressed in black to look like Hamas terrorists. They had painted their hands red — a clear reference to the murder of two Israeli soldiers by an Islamist mob in Gaza more than 20 years ago. The whole thing was orchestrated by visiting professors from the global south – how can that be?” Schuster said the incident was proof of the danger of the movement to boycott Israel, which has been considered officially antisemitic in Germany since 2018.

Bärbel Bas, the president of Germany’s parliament, read through a litany of antisemitic incidents: “Swastikas and Stars of David have been daubed on synagogues, memorials and even private homes.” In one notable incident on Oct. 18, two Molotov cocktails were thrown at a Jewish community center that houses a synagogue as well as a kindergarten.

Bas described hearing from a student who was the only child to attend class at her Jewish school on a day when fear reigned about a Hamas call for violence abroad.

“Jews are afraid, and they feel left alone. And it’s not only hate that creates this feeling, but also silence and indifference,” she said. “And that’s why it’s important that we make a powerful, wipeable and loud statement here today. Never again is now.”

Other speakers included Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor; Berlin’s mayor, Kai Wegner; author Michel Friedman; 1990s pop music icon Herbert Grönemeyer; and Hubertus Heil, Germany’s minister of labor and social affairs.

The rally began with the lighting of a Hanukkah menorah by Rabbi Yehudah Teichtal, the head of Berlin’s chapter of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Representatives of Catholic and Protestant churches lit advent candles.

Eren Güvercin, a member of the German Islam Conference — which the German government started as a forum for dialogue in 2006 — delivered a prayer of his own, for “peace for the souls” of the Israelis murdered on Oct. 7 and for the hostages and their families, “who fear for their loved ones.”

“And we pray for peace for the people who are now suffering the consequences of this terrorist organization’s crimes in Gaza,” he added. “Nothing we say here today will solve the Middle East conflict. But we raise our voices to remind everyone who lives together here in this city, in this country: Faith is a source from which we draw to create peace. Faith must not divide us. It must unite us.”

Organizers claimed 11,000 people had taken part in the rally, though police estimated the attendance at 3,000. Those gathered were praised by many speakers for braving the weather to show their support. They included members of Berlin’s Jewish community, estimated at over 30,000, as well as non-Jewish allies.

“This is the third time we have been here in front of the Brandenburg Gate since Oct. 7,” said Berliner Melanie Schmergal, 55. “It upsets me that you don’t see any big demonstrations for Israel’s right to exist and against antisemitism. You see other people screaming quite a bit. [But] I believe… that the others are not in the majority.”

“It is important to take a stand against any kind of extremism,” said Christian Götz, 60. “And that Israel has a right to defend itself, and that we as a population have to show, especially here in Berlin, that we are on Israel’s side.”

The pair, who are not Jewish, said they had met the descendants of Jews who used to live in their building in Berlin, and who were either deported or managed to flee Nazi Germany.

“It’s so incredible that something like this seems possible again,” Schmergal said.

***

On Dec. 8, the Bergen-Belsen Memorial in Lower Saxony hosted a public panel discussion marking 75 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, specifically addressing the issue of antisemitism after the Hamas terrorist attack.

Next week, the Berlin-based Tikvah Institute is co-hosting the presentation of a study on how Russian-speaking Jews in Germany perceive antisemitism after Oct. 7. About 90% of all Jews in Germany today are migrants from the former Soviet Union.

And though not in Germany, the annual Claims Conference International Holocaust Survivors Night on Dec. 11 — a star-studded event whose virtual guests of honor will include German Chancellor Olaf Scholz — “takes on unique significance,” said the organization’s president, Gideon Taylor: “We are reminded that some of the strongest among us survived during the darkest of times.”

Despite the alarming statistics in Germany and elsewhere, Jews are in a better position today in terms of world support than they were in the 1930s-40s, said New Yorker Menachem Rosensaft, who was born at the displaced persons camp at Bergen-Belsen and participated in the recent round table at the memorial.

“President Biden, for one, is the polar opposite of FDR in his unequivocal support for Israel after Oct. 7 and his equally unequivocal repudiation and condemnation of all manifestations of antisemitism,” said Rosensaft, who is also the chair of the Advisory Board of the Lower Saxony Memorials Foundation.

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bookwyrminspiration · 1 year

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alright, so i haven't been able to stop thinking about a/b/o elves since you replied to that ask, so as an Official Omegaverse Connoisseur (that's only mostly a joke), here's my thoughts on who would be what (keeping in mind that omegas and alphas were much more common back in the ancient days and their presence has diminished greatly):

Sophie would be a beta, purely because otherwise it would be impossible to hide her in the human realm.

Most of the main crew are betas, excluding Marella who's an omega and Fitz who's an alpha.

Alvar is also an alpha, which is another reason why he dislikes Fitz--alphas are pretty rare in the present day, and of course his baby brother had to also have perhaps the one thing that made Alvar stand out. (Especially in the Vacker family, which was proud of having lots of alphas in the past.)

Bronte and Oralie are omegas. Oralie uses it to her advantage and plays into the old stereotype that omegas are just frail creatures and manipulates lots of people that way. Bronte just hides it, especially because back when he grew up it was the one way to make sure you wouldn't get anywhere in life.

The rest of the Council are betas.

Fintan's an alpha. So is Fallon.

The parents are all betas too. (Except maybe Grady is an alpha, idk)

Jolie and Brant were an omega-alpha couple.

+ some general worldbuilding notes! lucky you.

So in the present-day, any kind of discrimination based on statuses is illegal, but, y'know, people are still shitty and both alphas and omegas will be pressured into fulfilling certain roles because of the presentations.

Heat cycles! And rut cycles. I won't go into this in detail because I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable. But it's a yearly thing.

Omega-beta, beta-beta, and beta-alpha couples are normal, with beta-beta being the most common for obvious reasons. Alpha-omega couples are seen as, like, the "best" kind of couple, leading to lots of alphas and omegas being pressured into relationships they don't want. Alpha-alpha and omega-omega couples are severely frowned upon.

These codes of conduct are way more pushed in more historically powerful & noble families, but the general ideas still pervade elven society at large. (Though you will notice differences among social classes and depending on what big city you're near--for example, Eternalia has a very different vibe than Atlantis, and the ways omegas and alphas are treated vary from place to place.)

That's... probably enough rambling for today. Figures this is what would get me thinking about KOTLC again.

victor out of everyone I know you are exactly the one I'd expect to be capable of an a/b/o breakdown of the keeper series; this popped into my ask box and I went yep! checks out!

There's so much going on and I am, disappointingly, not an Official Omegaverse Connoisseur (yet), so I can't really add. I'm curious about the Marella reasoning, and fascinated by the implications this has on Fitz and Alvar's relationship and why Alvar is the way that he is.

Does this mean that the original council was composed of Alphas? Because being part of the council gave them their legacy in canon, but if it's also a family known for its alphas does that tie the two? If so, how did omegas like Bronte and Oralie end up on the council? Did the diminished alpha and omega presence make it necessary? Is that why they're all betas now?

Idk what to do with that tidbit about Jolie and Brant though that's a whole thing on its own i think

Oho lucky me! Worldbuilding! Ah that discrimination thing might explain the council situation, I should pay more attention. But then again they're nominated for the position so the social stigma would still make it harder. *taking notes* yearly heat cycle, cool, I'll add that to my belief system.

I don't know enough to know why alpha-alpha and omega-omega relationships are bad I just have to take your word on this one. I do think it's fascinating how what you're saying here just also mirrors the elven world. The codes of conduct being more prominent in certain powerful families, discrimination being technically illegal but still very practiced. I feel like an a/b/o keeper situation would be quite simple to arrange.

This is an absolutely fascinating dip into the omegaverse via a media I never expected to intersect with the omegaverse, thank you for the thought and explanation put into this. I am a changed person

#kotlc #a/b/o kotlc #kinda nsft #quil's queries #commonghost #love learning things :)#i've sorta absorbed some of the knowledge via passive osmosis so I'm not totally in the dark #but this is enlightening #i may not know exactly what's going on but I'm having a delightful time!#long post

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theomisu · 2 years

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What sort of cultural stuff does each of the species have going on? Thanks!!

Hmm I think, maybe, this is a little spoilery?

You’ll learn some things that are written below in Chapter 2 and 3. The story will naturally take you to all four of the supernatural cities still standing. Chapter 3 will be with the Astraeus where you will be joining in on a festival, Chapter 4 with the Merfok, find out more about the Salamanders in Chapter 5 (but probably won’t be going underground until part II) and the Sylphs in Chapter 8.

Now, I don't really mind spoilers in general, so here's a preview of the cultural setting for the main 4 groups, below the cut for spoilers, if anyone else minds them:

Sylphs - as a general theme, think 1800 royalty but with warrior angels

The sylphs were initially nomads before their current monarchy started. They lived simple day to day lives and were scattered all across Zaellor (their world) in small packs, usually families. They were considered among the weakest creatures. They had no name of their own and were usually lumped together with the fairies, despite the more obvious differences (feathered wings, nomadic lifestyle and lack of magic dust).

Everything changed when Syl sacrificed himself to unite all the nomads under one rule, granting one of them the power to control gravity. The flying city of Mardaar was born and the sylph nation with it.

Once they took roots, they built grand buildings and took on a lavish lifestyle, but never lost their more practical spirit. The Ruler is the supreme power figure, an embodiment of their martyr God, and their word is absolute in both political and military matters. They can also choose who the power will pass onto, not being constrained by bloodline.

Syllalia is their biggest festival, celebrating their martyr-like figure turned God, Syl. It is a celebration of self-indulgence and gift-giving, a practice to distance themselves from the simple life of their ancestors.

Salamanders - think Catholic church ran by giant dwarves of Moria

The salamanders are governed by a highly religious faction. Their system creates four classes: the ruling group, the nobility, the working class and the pariahs.

The doctrine starts from their creation myth, from the first four Salamanders that ruled over Zaellor. It is said that one of the four great rules, Cahanti, made a deal with Lacuna - the malevolent force at the core of the planet - dooming her people to go blind and mad, a trait still seen today in the golden-yellow eyes of some salamanders. Queen Thisaya stopped the affliction from spreading to the others and was named absolute ruler over the salamander people. Her blood was thought to possess divine powers and in time her descendants formed a ruling Council rather than having just one king.

The four casts were created in time, after the images of the three great salamanders and Cahanti, and influenced by the Council.

Only half of the Salamander city of Krenn'laris was transported to Earth, the majority of the working class being lost in the Event, forcing the nobility to take on more menial jobs.

Most of their traditions and celebrations focus on Thisaya and her achievements, with some minor holidays popping in for her descendants each year. There’s a yearly stage play that portrays the fight between Thisaya and Cahanti.

Merfolk - think GTA and industrial/cyber revolution

The Merfolk were the supernatural group most affected by the Calamity Event. The entire city of Talisant was at the bottom of the ocean before they were brought to Earth. So the merfolk found themselves on land, with very little access to their powers. To top things up, their entire royal family was lost somewhere in the transition.

New world, new terrain, no powers and no ruling class. The years immediately after the Event had been hard on them, with little time for keeping up with traditions and barely making ends meet. They were the first to surrender and plead for help to the humans. Many parts of the city had been rebuilt to sustain life outside of the water (simple things like stairs, elevators and windows that had no use before). There are now tourist resorts and fully human residences as well as mixed neighborhoods where supernaturals from all around Earth came for refuge.

The Merfolk never were particularly religious or superstitious. They used to live a quiet life in their habitat, cherishing the underwater currents that brought food more than any hero or god. There is a clash between the older generation that still remembers the life they had underwater and the youngsters that got a second chance at life only with the help of the humans.

They have adopted many human holidays, Halloween and Obon being some of the more popular.

They are currently run by a figurehead president put in place by the CCO, but it is widely known that the Merfolk mob is also pulling strings.

Astraeus - think high elves and divination

They are ruled by the Oracle, a supernatural being that dies and is reborn again within their numbers. They answer to, what they would call, an universal God of Creation that spawned all beings and that uses the Oracle as a messenger, through the prophecies sent to them.

They are thought to be both extinct and the cause of a different world shattering event that happened some thousand years prior.

They are a knowledge seeking people. A rite of passage to maturity is setting off into the world and returning a piece of new information to be added to the tomes. The practice had stopped when they went into hiding, but something changed when they were transported on Earth.

Aim’rian - The city of a thousand Stars - is a spiraling tower made entirely of light-catching crystals, where all the Astraeus reside. It was considered a wonder by supernaturals all around Zaellor.

Hope this answers your question. Let me know if you meant something else entirely, I tend to overthink @_@

#thank you so much ♥#calamity control #calamity control if #anon asks #calamity control lore #twine wip #twine game #did I come up with some of these names on the spot?#sure did #how do people name things???#i hate naming stuff...#the sylphs #the salamanders #the merfolk #the astraeus

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faithnfrivolity · 3 months

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2024/01/18/electric-truck-drivers-vehicles/?utm_source=reddit.com

For truckers driving EVs, there’s no going back

Electric trucks still make up only a tiny fraction of trucks on the road in the United States

Shannon Osaka

(Illustration by Emily Sabens/The Washington Post; iStock)

Gary LaBush remembers the first time he sat behind the wheel of an electric Ford e-transit delivery truck at the Frito-Lay distribution center in Queens. Like most first-time EV truck drivers, LaBush wondered if the vehicle was actually on. “I was like, ‘What’s going on?’” he recalled. “There was no noise — and no fumes.”

Now, LaBush trains other drivers on how to operate a fleet of 40 delivery trucks at the Frito-Lay facility. The 49-year-old, who has worked at the company for over two decades, said he would struggle if he had to return to gas. “I wouldn’t want to do it,” he said. “After being in this — it’s just night and day.”

LaBush belongs to a small but growing group of commercial medium-to-heavy-duty truck drivers who use electric trucks. These drivers — many of whom operate local or regional routes that don’t require hundreds of miles on the road in a day — generally welcome the transition to electric, praising their new trucks’ handling, acceleration, smoothness and quiet operation.

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But some companies and trucking associations worry this shift, spurred in part by a California law mandating a switch to electric or emissions-free trucks by 2042, is happening too fast. While electric trucks might work well in some cases, they argue, the upfront costs of the vehicles and their charging infrastructure are often too heavy a lift.

For the United States to meet its climate goals, virtually all trucks must be zero-emissions by 2050. While trucks are only 4 percent of the vehicles on the road, they make up almost a quarter of the country’s transportation emissions.

On most of America’s roads, electric trucks are an anomaly. According to an Environmental Defense Fund analysis of the nation’s 12.2 million truck fleet, there are almost 13,000 electric trucks — which can be defined as Class 2B to Class 8 vehicles, or anything from a step-up van to a large tractor-trailer — on the road today. Around 10,000 of those trucks were just put on the road in 2023, up from 2,000 the year before.

Amazon, for example, has ordered and deployed thousands of electric delivery vans made by Rivian; the company says it has electric trucks operating in 1,800 cities in the United States. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) FedEx has electric trucks rolling through the streets of Los Angeles. The logistics company Schneider has dozens of Class 8 electric semi-trucks delivering loads throughout Southern California.

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And the drivers operating them say they love driving electric. Marty Boots, a 66-year-old driver for Schneider in South El Monte, Calif., appreciates the lightness and the smoothness of his Freightliner eCascadia semi-truck. “Diesel was like a college wrestler,” he said. “And the electric is like a ballet dancer.”

Boots, who also trains other drivers on how to optimize the battery in the electric truck, said some drivers were hesitant when first trying out the technology. But once they try it, he said, most are sold. “You get back into diesel and it’s like, ‘What’s wrong with this thing?’” he said. “Why is it making so much noise? Why is it so hard to steer?”

“Everyone who has had an EV has no aspirations to go back to diesel at this point,” said Khari Burton, who drives an electric Volvo VNR in the Los Angeles area for transport company IMC. “We talk about it and it’s all positivity. I really enjoy the smoothness … and just the quietness as well.”

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Mike Roeth, the executive director of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency, said many drivers have reported that the new vehicles are easier on their bodies — thanks to both less rocking off the cab, assisted steering and the quiet motor. “Part of my hypothesis is that it will help truck driver retention,” he said. “We’re seeing people who would retire driving a diesel truck now working more years with an electric truck.”

Most of the electric trucks on the road today are doing local or regional routes, which are easier to manage with a truck that gets only up to 250 miles of range. “We’re building from areas that have a fairly defined route,” said Jason Mathers, associate vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund’s zero-emissions truck initiative. “Or within a fairly defined geography — they come back to the same place every night.”

LaBush, for example, drives his Frito-Lay delivery truck around the Queens metro area delivering products to supermarkets, bodegas and delis; his truck has an estimated range of 108 miles and only needs to be charged once or twice a week. “We usually don’t let it go below 50 percent,” he explained.

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Boots’s deliveries for Schneider are more variable — most days, if his mileage tops out at 200 or so, he can remain in one truck. Other times, he says, he’ll drop the trailer and switch in a new truck if he needs longer range for the day.

Charging and range are the primary reasons some companies are hesitant to go electric — or have found the transition challenging. Jim Gillis, the president of the Pacific region for IMC, said his team has found that their six EV trucks are best suited for trips less than 25 miles. “Coming from the port to our warehouse, generally that driver can enjoy three to four trips before we have to get that charged,” Gillis said.

But Gillis worries that the transition isn’t ready for prime time. Volvo has recalled the trucks six times, causing them to rotate out of commission and forcing drivers back into diesel temporarily. “We’re not seeing a ton of qualified technicians in the shops,” Gillis said. “You’re paying a penalty when you have a truck that goes into the shop for three weeks.” The company is planning to introduce a number of hydrogen trucks to balance out their electric ones.

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Trucking advocates say electric has a long way to go before it can take on longer routes. “If you’re running very local, very short mileage, there may be a vehicle that can do that type of route,” said Mike Tunnell, the executive director of environmental affairs for the American Trucking Association. “But for the average haul of 400 miles, there’s just nothing that’s really practical today.”

Lewie Pugh, the executive vice president of the Owner-Operated Independent Drivers Association, points out that long-haul trucking already has a parking problem: There are not enough safe and secure spaces for drivers on the road. “We definitely don’t have enough places to put chargers,” he said. “If you can’t answer that for an automobile, for heaven’s sake, forget it for a truck.”

Some truck companies and advocates say they need further incentives to push the industry into the next phase — and help getting the required power and permits to install charging infrastructure. While trucks can sometimes charge on public fast chargers, many of those fast chargers aren’t set up to accommodate something as large as a semi-truck.

The drivers who are going electric, for their part, feel that they’re on the leading edge of a big transformation. “I want to be happy that I started it,” LaBush said, “for the young kids growing up and the next generation.”

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thelonesgroup · 5 months

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The Power of Data

This week I want to talk about data - yes data! This is not a boring data conversation we are having today because having the right data is crucial to understanding your market and your business success!

When you research and you begin to uncover and understand data - whether that is new construction starts in your area or how pending homes have changed from month-to-month, or how your town is updating its comprehensive plan - you will discover new opportunities for your business. Suddenly that data has come to life!

Having information has become one of the most powerful tools in our industry. This past year we have seen more changes in our industry to do with housing, mortgage rates, building, zoning and re-zoning, density, middle-housing, ADUs, and more. The list just goes on and on! Knowing the data that is behind these changes is your secret weapon. Whenever I am able to take data and research and bring it to life for my clients. When they can be at the forefront of these changes and benefiting from that knowledge, that's what gets me excited.

For example, five or six years ago I was in front of my Encore coaching group that I mentor and I had noticed that there had been absolutely no pendings in the 2-million and above market. Now there had been no pendings because there was a glut of inventory and things were overpriced. As I started watching the market there, I noticed something interesting - there was an uptick in pending numbers beginning. I mentioned this to my coaching group and told them that these properties which had been on the market two, three, even four months, would be pending in the next month. Some of my clients didn't believe me. A month later, at our next meeting, those properties had pended and my agent-clients asked, "How did you know that?" I knew it because I had been tracking these numbers on a weekly basis so I knew, that was not the time to push for a price reduction, that was the time to hold steady as the market rose to meet the demands of sellers. What a great opportunity for those sellers!

Again this year I am teaching my State of the Market class. Ever year the content is incredible and this year we are taking it up a notch again. In addition to trends, new construction, and resale, I'll be discussing HB1110 and HB1337, middle-housing, ADUs, how cities are changing their comprehensive plans and infrastructure - changes that are going to have important impact on your clients and your real estate business.

Now, if you are wondering comprehensive plan changes are important, knowing which direction your local government is leaning and why creates opportunities for you. For example, some years ago I was present at a city council meeting and they were discussing annexation of a local neighborhood. I was working with a gentleman who owned a large piece of property in that area that he wanted to sell to a developer, but had held off because he believed that the city would never annex it. Having that data meant that I could go to him and be the one to tell him that annexing the area his property was being discussed. No other agent was communicating this valuable information to him, only me and only because I understood the value of being informed by city council meetings. When the time came to sell, I would be the first person he thought of to help him with that important transaction.

So, get involved! If you don't know what a comprehensive plan is, find out. If you're not sure how your city's planning is coming together, get involved. If you don't know how their decisions are going to affect you and your clients, be present! As a real estate professional, your voice and expertise is valuable to your local government. I highly encourage you to get involved.

And I highly encourage you to join me at State of the Market this year. It's going to be three packed hours of incredible information and you are going to feel way more prepared for 2024-2025 when you attend this event. The next few years are going to be pivotal years for real estate and you want to be at the forefront of that!

By Denise Lones CSP, CMP, M.I.R.M. The founding partner of The Lones Group, Denise Lones, over nearly three decades of experience in the real estate industry. With agent/broker coaching, expertise in branding, lead generation, strategic marketing, business analysis, new home project planning, product development, Denise is nationally recognized as the source for all things real estate. With a passion for improvement, Denise has helped thousands of real estate agents, brokers, and managers build their business to unprecedented levels of success, while helping them maintain balance and quality of life.

#zebra report #real estate #real estate coach #housing market #communication #the lones group #data #comprehensive plan #knowledge #opportunity #market trends #market knowledge #city council #state of the market #RESS #real estate success summit #housing trends #Denise Lones

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ghostofasecretary · 5 months

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i upped my dose of focus meds in October because i was having A Bad Time getting things done. also then Nakba 2.0 started at the same time i switched over and i have been bowled over with grief and shame and nervous energy to take action and more grief

(i was part of a local movement that recently helped stop a "we uncritically support Israel" statement from going forward in the city council, which is probably not very meaningful but i do think it's better than the alternative, so, yay?)

and i have just been feeling. SO shit lately. i have had 5 days from October 7th to now (5/40 days) where i only did one or two things worth recording in my planner, and only 2 from August 27th-October 6th (2/40 days). there were a few extra days in the pre-switch times where i only did 3 things but i don't think i felt so shit then???

and like. i have had great things in the last month-and-change! i have a new class, i've met some cool people, i've had some good social interactions.

i have also been thinking "i want to die" and "i wish i were dead" WAY MORE OFTEN in the past few weeks than i remember thinking previously. i had some rough days during my hellish job situation but was pretty firmly in "being alive is great and i love it, i'm so glad i'm alive" from March to August this year, i think?? so it's kinda scary to be back to "i wish i could sleep forever" and "if i were dead i wouldn't have to feel so bad" and "oh kill me already"

also i have been taking my PRN anxiety meds waaaaaay more than baseline in the last month. the baseline is 0. i got them in December and, though i needed them then, couldn't take them till January, and in January and February i took them rarely, and then i maaaaybe took them once between March and August but certainly not more.

earlier this year i was like "huh, i really don't think i have general anxiety anymore, just PTSD symptoms after major triggers and the occasional hard time with ADHD symptom management" and today i woke up from a nightmare about my shitty ex visiting me (!?) and--i will spare the details but it sucked ass, and plus it took me *twenty minutes* with *another person helping me* to text someone back today and like. some help with unusually stressful communications is normal but i knew i needed help with this as of 3pm yesterday and did not ask for help till, like, 3pm today. which i don't...think?? is normal for me??

oh god i just remembered another crushing anvil of a contact i haven't replied to, fuck my LIFE

i feel like i have the emotional self-awareness of a bug right now

(please no one suggest therapy i think it would make my life much worse actually and though it may look like i have no clue what's happening inside of me, you certainly have less of a clue)

but also, like, there are some unusual stressors. there's a genocide happening. i've seen a lot more dead bodies in the past month than i usually do. the normal number of dead bodies i see is none. ditto the number of injured people covered in the dust of their bombed homes. and it's The Dark Time as of 12 days ago. my whole family was sick and i had to avoid them for most of October. i have no income and grad school deadlines are approaching and both of those facts are bone chilling.

but i think that my meds may be making my anxiety worse and also making my likelihood to have suicidal thoughts a lot higher. i think.

so i probably need to lower my meds.

even though they *have* helped me focus when i can snap out of the hours long borderline-catatonic dread i get locked in and actually do work i need to focus for

it's. maybe not worth it. probably not worth it. it is genuinely hard to tell

(and like--i requested an upped dosage BECAUSE i was really struggling! and having a hard time doing things! and didn't feel like i could focus. and i felt really bad!! but maybe objectively the anxiety and increased-wanting-to-die are bigger and that outweighs the potential benefits)

(like. i don't think i was having *zero* suicidal ideation before the med increase but i think it was. less? i remember the first "oh shit that's not normal" was before one of my Tuesday calls and. hm. i think it was in October that this started. October 17th or maybe even the 24th? though my mental health has been trending down since August, more generally.

trying to figure out how much current events may be impacting me. covid didn't make me suicidal? --actually it kinda did but i had also just been assaulted and had no routine and a ton of pressure and grief and it was a much worse time for me than this. and most of those thoughts were concentrated in a 5 day period of frantic sleepless essay writing. this situation is like. grief that isn't about me. a degree of shame i think is reasonable to feel. not "i am the worst person on earth" just "i am ashamed to be part of the world that enables this horror and ashamed to be from the only country in the world frothing at the mouth to support it." despairing at how many people have been killed and at how slow anyone is to stop it. i am sad about all that a lot and sorrow doesn't make anyone fast or mega productive, but this major historical event touches me a lot less directly than covid? so maybe it's not actually a good comparison point. i would certainly be happier if Israel (and the US) stopped attacking hospitals and destroying critical infrastructure and trying to erase Palestine and Palestinians from existence)

i remember we tried lowering my dose of antidepressants earlier in the summer because i'd been Feeling Peppy the week i was forced to go off of them, but that did not help. when was that? did that start me getting crazier?? i have no clue

1 day in 8 is a lot more days lost than 1 day in 20. i should probably switch my dose back and suffer through it.

in conclusion: gratgkrhejrisjdkskskekzARGH

i'm gonna go cook

#feelings sorting #personal #ghost speaks #i'm warning for suicidal ideation and nothing else. author chooses not to use content warnings about their own life read at your own risk ig

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tricia-swritingcorner · 2 years

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Prologue

This is a prologue to a story I’ve been working on for a while now. It’s an OC x Fenris (Dragon Age II).

Royal Palace, Denerim, Fereldan 09:37

Seven years. Seven years since the first blight in virtually five hundred years. Seven years since the Grey Warden order saved the humans, elves, and dwarves from eradication. Seven years since Queen Elissa Therin’s personal aid was able to have a full night’s sleep. Lucinda Vallen believes that seven years ago the worst thing that she needed to worry about was a Templar capturing her and dragging her off to a Circle Tower. Now, she fears that one day she would be forced to choose between herself and her queen during an expedition…even if she decided that outcome seven years ago.

Thankfully though, today was not one of those days where the thought lingered in her mind. Instead, today was one filled with boring council meetings and little to no real work being done. As she stands off to the side within the war room of King Alistair and Queen Elissa, it is not difficult to listen in on their meeting with Knight Commander Greagoir and Royal Magic Advisor Wynne.

“As I have stated, I cannot interfere with another Knight Commander and their tower. There are protocols in place and the Fereldan circle must be expected to follow them!” The knight’s voice boomed through the small room. For the leader of a prestigious order of glorified jailers, the man certainly could use a lesson on handling his temper around his betters.

“Since you want to maintain decorum so much Greagoir, then maybe you could enlighten me on where it is written that a Templar may take tyrannical hold over a city-state. Viscount Dumar’s premature death last year has left Kirkwall in chaos, but it does not give Knight Commander Meredith the right to assume his role without a vote. Furthermore, I know you have read the same reports as I have. Can you tell me truthfully that they do not worry you?” Ever the voice of reason, Lucinda shuddered at the mention of reports Wynne referred to. While she had seen hostile takeovers in the past, including several in Seheron, nobody has seen the horrible lengths the Knight Commander of Kirkwall has taken before.

The city’s turmoil stemmed from what Lucinda could only describe as a power vacuum, one that stemmed from a single act of kindness. From what reports tell, Viscount Dumar had granted asylum to a group of stranded Qunari and just a few months ago their leader, the Arishok, repaid the man with a swift death. Ever since, much of the city’s upper class looked to the only other leader for guidance, Knight Commander Meredith. Unfortunately, as Lucinda watched on in the Fereldan war room, Meredith has lost control over not only the city but also the circle mages and tensions were growing destructive.

“Wynne, Greagoir enough.” King Alistair spoke firmly, preventing any further debate, or rather arguments, from breaking out. “We have all read the reports and some of us have even heard first-hand testimony from witnesses of Meredith’s actions. However, the Queen and I have a duty to the people of that state as an ally and cannot simply stand aside. As I understand, Kirkwall has a champion who was once one of our own. Have there been any attempts to reach them and devise a solution?” Despite not being known as a great strategist, all he said rang true. Although, from the collective looks of disappointment on all their faces, it was clear nobody could answer him.

Lucinda stepped forward and with her armor clanking in the silent room, everyone’s gazes turned to her. “Unsuccessful, your highness. It would appear that Knight Commander Meredith has halted nearly all correspondence entering and leaving the city. Even attempts to contact our friends in the city have proven difficult.” Stepping back, she could see the negative mood infect all in the room as hopelessness began to set in. However, the only person Lucinda was genuinely concerned about was her Queen.

Noting the tone in the room, Queen Elissa dismissed all from the room, save her husband and Lucinda. To her counselors, she appeared merely contemplative and focused on devising any number of solutions that may be attempted. However, once the doors were shut, the true Queen appeared from behind her façade. Staring at the war room table, Lucinda took a deep breath before dropping her own mental shield as being a statue in the corner for two hours was never easy.

“I have an ally city-state on the brink of civil war, none of my counselors can figure out how to stop the slaughter of innocents in the chaos and the one person who has any power in stopping this conflict is out of reach. Do I have that right?” Smirking at the question, Lucinda could hear the King sigh before nodding his head. While the sarcastic tone was palpable, the Queen was shaking as she gripped the war table. Initially, one may believe that her reaction was out of fear, but for Lucinda and King Alistair it was clear what she was really feeling, rage.

Placing a hand on his wife’s shoulder, the king waited a minute or two before speaking up. “This will sound sappy, but we can figure this out between the three of us in this room. You have always been the strategist, but you have been gone for a while, and I have been the one receiving constant reports. Furthermore, you have always gone on about Lucinda’s knowledge on obscure military tactics, so why not use it?” Grabbing five pieces around the war table and placing them in a simple group, King Alistair took his wife’s hands into his own and effortlessly soothed her frustrations and anxiety. Not bothering to hide the loving smile he gave her; he grabbed one more piece and held it out for Lucinda. It was the golden crown of Fereldan.

“Lucinda, you once mentioned that your cousin is in the city guard, correct? What have they told of the city’s defenses and Meredith?” Taking the piece from him as she approached the table, Lucinda tried to remember all the many things that her cousin had mentioned in her letters prior to the takeover.

“For one, the city’s harbor is near impregnable. You must sail through the Gallows to enter and that is where the circle lies. This in turn cuts off any naval attempts.” Moving the pieces as she spoke, one was placed upright on the coast, and another lied toppled over atop the Waking Sea. She grabbed two more pieces before continuing. “Furthermore, her Templars have begun patrolling the city outskirts and that robs us of a direct march onto the city.” Placing the pieces down, another one stood tall facing the Vimmark mountains with one more piece laying down. Only two pieces remained, there was seemingly only one more path that could work. “With all this knowledge, a militant assault to wrestle control from Knight Commander Meredith is ill-advised. However, a diplomatic envoy could sail through the harbor and meet with the champion.” Placing down the final pieces, the golden crown was placed atop the city-state and only one of Meredith’s “pieces” was toppled.

“Wonderful, but I believe there is one thing we need to ascertain. Who could we send that Meredith would not be able to turn away?” King Alistair questioned, though it was something that had an easy answer. Met with what could only be understood as a mischievous yet apologetic look, the color drained from his face. “No, me?! Elissa, you cannot be- “Turning to his wife, the king found a near mirrored look in her eye though perhaps one that was more apologetic than Lucinda’s. Heaving a heavy sigh, he simply shrugged his shoulders and begrudgingly accepted his likely role in the oncoming plan.

All that was left to do was devise the safest plan to get him, and possibly another, in and out of the city without rustling Meredith’s feathers too much. Though, Lucinda supposed her cousin Aveline could help on that score and possibly the champion himself. Time would only tell.

Stepping back from the war table, the attention of both Lucinda and the King fell to Queen Elissa once more as she cleared her throat and composed herself. This time, instead of utter rage, her features held a calm yet calculated look before she turned to Lucinda. “Well then, we had better get started.”

Feel free to comment or share, not sure when I’ll post the next chapter. Hopefully you guys like it.

#dragon age #fenris #daii #short story #fenris x oc

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violettelueur · 3 years

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— RYOMEN SUKUNA || LET ME MARK YOU THEN

↳ featuring : ryomen sukuna from jujutsu kaisen

↳ warnings : mention of sex, mention of hickeys and grammar issues

↳ form : imagine

↳ published : 22 january

↳ pronouns : she/her

↳ word count : 3.7k

↳ synopsis : (modern!AU) after your lectures, you decided to pay your tattoo artist boyfriend a little visit only to then be persuaded to let him draw a tattoo design on you even though you never actually wanted a real one to be marked with.

↳ barista’s notes : just a little gift to you all before today’s episode and the reset the ‘coffees in progress’ list (wip) when i get enough sleep and after my disgusting online classes, i hope you enjoy the free cup of coffee everyone ʕ•ᴥ•ʔﾉ♡ - also i feel like this is the longest imagine i have ever posted ʕ ㅇ ᴥ ㅇʔ

Having a morning full of tedious lectures was not someone’s ideal day and it was definitely not yours. Although, there was nothing you could do but pursue them through with as much enthusiasm and determination that you could possibly muster while being impatient about the hands on the clock taking forever to move a single inch.

However, at this moment in time, you were able to escape the suffocating lecture hall after many hours for today and was now walking down the busy streets of Tokyo with a white plastic takeaway bag in one hand while the other was occupied with your tote bag that was resting on your shoulder, which surprisingly kept hold of some of your textbooks as well as your laptop giving you some reassurance that the bag that your boyfriend gave you was going to last for quite some time.

Looking around the busy quarter of the capital, you began to notice a few high school students roaming about here and there with some hanging out with their friends - mostly likely going to a cafe or to the nearest karaoke lounge that they could find - while other were either rushing home as they entered the station or to their part-time jobs that they had managed to obtain for a few extra bucks to save up for their next step in life. Noticeably, there were also a few adults out and about with some working as street-food vendors selling delicious treats that you would be craving if you weren’t so full while others were dressed extremely professional with their laptops out on their cafe/restaurant table to what seemed like they were on their lunch break.

‘He should be on his lunch break right now, but if not, I’ll just put his food in the shop’s fridge’

Continue walking to your destination, you finally reached to a quieter area with the city leading you to then stand in front of a glass order with a ‘closed’ sign in front along with another extremely noticeable sign proudly stating ‘Malevolent Shine’ to which if you had said that to any tattoo fanatic within Japan, they would instantly know what you were talking about.

Opening the door, there was a sudden noise of a ring being heard leading you to immediately look up to see the silver bell that you told him to arrange since he always got annoyed about the number of potential clients popping up without his acknowledgement only to tell him that they didn’t book an appointment at all causing him to become more irritated - and as a matter of fact, you couldn’t blame him at all.

Looking around the tattoo shop that you had entered, there wasn’t a single person in sight leading you to come to the conclusion that you were right about his lunch break since his assistant would be at the front desk if they weren’t. Although there was no one to greet you, the dark atmosphere did. It gave an odd sense of comfort with its hints of red that could calm a customer down if they were worried about the tattoo they were committing to having on their body or if it was their first - especially when it came to him.

“Oya~ ain’t you a sexy customer? But I’m afraid we’re closed, but I don’t mind giving you a private session if you want, kitten” someone smoothly stated, leading your eyes to slowly shift to the person who was leaning against the desk with a confident smirk on his face. There he was, the mastermind behind the whole shop itself.

“Well, I’m not coming in for a tattoo but I am here to give a little gift, Sukuna,” you mischievously stated, as you lifted the white bag with the takeaway you had ordered for the man himself, leading him to look at you in surprised before tilting his head indicating you to come to the back with him.

Following his lead, you placed the bag on his table once you reached the backroom before placing your tote on the floor beside the table’s leg so it didn’t fall, letting any of your precious studious contents to be lost as well as avoiding any damage to your laptop.

“I’m surprised you’re using the bag, kitten,” Sukuna suddenly commented, as he sat on his chair while pulling out the white styrofoam box of Thai food that he always ordered along with a bento box that was wrapped in a black cloth.

“Well, how could I not? You did buy it for me,” you quietly mentioned as you took off your black longline coat before placing it behind your chair since there was nowhere else to put it.

“Did you make this?” Sukuna quickly questioned as he lifted the bento box causing you to nod at his question once you saw what he meant leading you to state, “I didn’t know if you were going to stay back tonight, so I prepared some food for you in case,” causing Sukuna to smirk since you were right about your assumption and it did catch him by surprise since he didn’t mention it to you today when he left your shared apartment.

“Thanks,” he quietly muttered before pulling his chair closer towards you so he could place a lingering kiss on your cheek to show his appreciation towards you. “How was class?” he then asked, as he began to unwrap the cloth of the box to your surprise since you bought his favourite item from the Thai restaurant but made no mention of it.

“Annoying, it was suffocating in there but the lecture was interesting so that’s a plus,” you answered, as you began to scan his messy desk that displayed the many drawings that he was working on. Some of the designs that Sukuna was drawing were almost complete, while others were in the same situation but for some odd reason, it was crossed out as if he was unsatisfied with the outcome that it was going to have which lead you to be perplexed since some of the drawings were incredibly detailed and beautiful. However, you didn’t have the eyes of an artist like your boyfriend did, instead, you had the eyes of someone that was able to analyse things exceedingly well hence why you decided to pursue a career as a criminal lawyer.

“How has the shop been while I was away?” you asked, as you carefully picked up one of the designs that the tattoo artist seemed to have scraped leading him to answer with an annoyed huff. “A pain, there’s been so many dumbass people coming in thinking they could just walk in and get a tattoo done immediately without even booking a meeting,” Sukuna answered before taking a bite of the soy-glazed fried chicken you made as he then continued with, “it was a good idea to get the bell since I could see if it was a customer I knew or not,”.

Looking at your boyfriend, you couldn’t help but smile at the man as he continuously munched the context in the box as if he hadn’t eaten in the past week when in reality he had been raiding the fridge back home only just this morning. Slowly, you turn your head back to the paper that you were holding as you continued to admire the work of art right in front of you.

To be honest, it was quite simple compared to all the other ones that were lying about on his work desk but that didn’t mean it wasn’t beautiful. The light sketch depicted a short section of a branch or stem decorated with different types of beautiful flowers and next to it was the same design with the only difference of it being coloured lightly in case the client wanted to have options.

“What happened here?” you asked before tilting the paper to the side, letting Sukuna have a glance at the design he decided to discard.

“Oh, the client cancelled since I wouldn’t have sex with her,” Sukuna casually stated leading you to nod before taking another look at the design with a small smile on your face. Sadly, it was such a waste since the design was beautiful and it was disappointing to not see Sukuna put this beautiful art into life.

Some people might wonder why you were so calm about the statement he had just given you, heck even his younger twin brother Itadori Yuji thought it was weird that it didn’t bother you as much as other girls would have been. The reason was that you were so used to him having female attention as well as male attention and it wasn’t a surprise when people would book an appointment with him just for a fling or hoping for something more than just that - and even though you were calm, there was also a hint of jealousy and fear within your heart that you couldn’t help.

It was like the first time you saw him in your second year of high school.

ꕥ

Stretching your arms, you had finally finished the last sheet of the budgets for the school clubs leading you to carefully clip the pile of sheets into the folder as you then stood up from your desk before quickly heading out of your homeroom, so you could give the documents to the student council president, who was a third-year within your school.

However, as you were walking past a few classrooms with some people greeting you with a smile, you came to a sudden halt when you saw a whole crowd of female and males students in front of you leading to a blockage of the halls and a blockage of the classroom you need to go through to hand the documents to your senior.

“Did you hear, I heard he was back?!”

“I can’t believe he’s back, I missed him so much!”

“I like Yuji’s kind and goofy personality, but how could you not love a bad boy like him?”

‘Bad boy?’

Carefully, you managed to find a gap between the sea of students and forcibly made yourself fit within the gap before badly struggling to make it through the arc of the classroom door leading you to nearly trip the second you got the chance to push through the gap to ender the class. Quickly looking around, you found your senior sitting next to someone who looked like your friend and basketball club member Itadori Yuji - well more like a mature replicant of the boy you were used to. However, unbothered by the sudden appearance of the new third-year, you speedily made your way to the council president and handed him the booklet that he needed today leading you to receive his gratitude.

Yet, before you could even take a single step away from your senior, you unexpectedly felt someone grab your wrist causing you to quickly turn around to find Itadori’s replica behind you leading to a few gasps coming from the students from the outside as well as in the homeroom.

“Is there an issue?” you firmly asked, as you looked down at his hand that had a tight grip on your wrist causing you to have a small glance at the two black bands that were tattooed around his wrist - even though it was prohibited to have any in your school, you weren’t the type to scold someone for having them since you weren’t sure on how the teacher’s thought it affected someone’s education.

“Have you ever thought about getting a tattoo?” the salmon-haired third-year curiously asked, as he began to admire your wrist by gently turning it for your veins to come into view before beginning to trace your skin with the tip of his thumb causing a light shiver to go down your spine due to the ticklish feeling as well as his deep voice which was the complete opposite to what you thought it was going to be.

‘So this is the infamous Sukuna everyone was talking about’

“Not really,” you answered as you looked at him causing his eyes to look back at you before you continued with “I don’t think it would suit me at all,”.

“I disagree,” Sukuna counteracted, as he went back to admire the blank canvas of your wrist that he wanted to draw on so badly. No not draw. Mark. “I think you’ll suit something, maybe something on your neck or collarbone at best actually,” Sukuna mentioned leading you to give him a confused expression before he then proceeded with his speech by saying, “I’ll convince you one day and mark you brat”,

‘What...did….he….just….call….me..?’

“Ah...good luck with that idiot,” you stated in an annoyed tone leading to a few of the admiring student to gasp at your wording as well as sudden confident as they were scared on what was going to happen to you now since Sukuna wasn’t the type to tolerate insults in a nice way no matter what gender you were. However, exceeding the audience’s assumptions, Sukuna began to smirk excitedly at your attitude as he suddenly found you more interesting than any other girl he has met at the back of the school.

“Be prepared, little kitten”

ꕥ

‘That nickname….’

Back then Sukuna was known to be a playboy from what you could recall, every week there was news on the new girl he had managed to convince to meet at the back alley of the school while you were just being a model student with the dream of going to law school. However, during the middle of the school year, you began to realise that the common scandalous news that seemed to be popular enough for it to be on the front cover of the newspaper began to gradually fade as Sukuna slowly pushed himself into your life since you were close with his twin brother due to your friend being part of the basketball team as the assistant coach - she even mentioned that ever since Sukuna came into your life he had stopped his acts and change slightly because of you to which, of course, you denied at the time.

It was during the first term of your third-year that you agreed to give Sukuna a chance since he was constantly annoying you by popping up at the school gate after school to ‘walk you home’ ever since his graduation - when in reality it was to take you out somewhere - without fail even when you had to stay in a few hours. However, you had given him three conditions since you were still conscious of the consequences of dating someone with such a disgraceful built reputation - much to his dismay, he shockingly agreed.

If you are going to have a fling with someone behind my back, don’t think about seeing or talking to me again.

I know you are sexually active, but you have to wait until I’m ready.

Don’t tattoo me.

Let’s just say that Sukuna had managed to keep condition number one in check and you didn’t have to worry about it at all, while with condition number two he didn’t have to wait that long for you to give in to your desires which you could tell he certainly enjoyed when you finally gave him the ‘okay’.

Number three though...

“Do you want to try that design out?”

Breaking from your daze, you quickly turned your head to find your boyfriend staring at you - with the bento box practically empty at this point - while tilting his head to the paper that was still within your grasp.

“I think you giving me hickeys are enough in my opinion, babe” you jokingly mentioned leading to both you and Sukuna laughing at each other slightly.

“I mean, do you want me to draw it on you to see how it looks?” he then asked, causing you to look at the floral design one last time before giving him a hesitant nod.

‘Trying it out won’t hurt right?’

“I need a confident answer little kitten, where did that feisty attitude of yours back in high school go?” Sukuna teased, causing you to give him the side glance before giving him the verbal permission that he wanted, leading him to smirk at you since knew his mockery would get you to give him what he wanted since you were also the stubborn type - a side that he always loved to play with.

Grabbing his pen and a black pot full of his thin-tipped coloured skin markers, he wheels his chair even closer to your before pausing, leading you to look at him in confusion since you had already pulled your wrist in front of him, the same area he had grabbed back in high school.

“You’re wearing a lot of clothing today,” Sukuna muttered as he began to fiddle with the collar of your white silk dress shirt causing you to look at him with extreme confusion before mentioning, “well it is getting colder since the Autumn season is coming around,” leading him to hum in an understanding tone as he continued to play with the smooth fabric.

“I want to draw on your collarbone area, I don’t want to draw on the area where the client wanted it to be,” Sukuna stated as he lightly pushed away your wrist leading you to realise why he paused. “You can,” you quickly mentioned leading the tattoo artist to look at you to see if you were lying, only to see nothing but the light of the trust within your eyes.

Slowly, Sukuna began to reach over to the top button to then unhook it from its loop before continuously doing the same with the others until enough skin of your shoulders were exposed with the top half of your shirt resting on the side of your arms to which then he slowly moved away the right-hand side of your bra strap to fully expose the canvas that he wanted to mark so eagerly.

Admiring the skin that was in front of him, Sukuna began to trace the area with his thumb before leaning in to place a chaste kiss on the same side of your neck before cradling your face on the other side with his other hand - as if it was a way for him to say ‘thank you’ for letting him do this.

Regrettably pulling away, Sukuna quickly grabbed his black pen as he then leaned in towards your collarbone to start drawing the outline of his design on his now favourite canvas causing you to shiver somehow due to how ticklish and weird the sensation felt when the ballpoint pen continuously gently gilded upon your skin. However, what got you shaking the most was the constant feeling of your boyfriend’s breath being felt on your upper body now that your shirt was basically off - it wasn’t completely off to the same feeling when you were underneath him the first time you allowed him to make his claim on you.

“Baby, it feels ticklish,” you commented, the second you felt a different sensation upon your skin leading Sukuna to glance up to check if you were alright like you were an actual client before placing another kiss on your jawline in a way to comfort you since he had switched to his skin markers to colour in the design he had drawn on you.

“You’re being a good kitten though, you’re not moving a lot then I thought you would,” the tattoo artist whispered leading you to quiver as his deep voice was not helping so much with your beating heart - erratic to the point where you thought he could hear or even feel.

Due to Sukuna concentrating, you couldn’t help but keep silent to help him continue with his work causing you to glance around your room with your eyes before landing upon a wall where there was a multitude of messages written leading you to carefully scan the writings that were visibly presenting themselves.

As expected, there were messages of encouragement - not that the arrogant Sukuna needed it to be honest, but it was nice of the client to do so - and a few drawings from other tattoo artists that Sukuna had famously done. However, not to your surprise, there were a few numbers here and there causing you to sigh since you couldn’t help it - you couldn’t blame your boyfriend for being an extremely handsome man.

Unexpectedly, you felt another kiss being placed upon your cheek causing you to look towards your boyfriend with a smile on your face - it was as if he knew what you were looking at. “I’m finished by the way,” Sukuna announced, causing you to look at him with widened eyes since the drawing session was a little faster than you had anticipated.

Reaching over to a drawer in his desk, Sukuna suddenly pulled out a mirror before passing it to you, leading you to lift up the little instrument to see the result that was drawn on your skin.

“You changed the design,” you quietly stated, as you began to tenderly trace the design with your index finger as you began to admire the piece of art that was masterfully drawn on your collar bone. The tattoo beautifully depicted a single strand of a blooming lavender across your collarbone with each petal in different shades of purple while the buds that weren’t in bloom were in a slight pale pink shade making you smile more since Sukuna drew this straight from his head causing you to have a hint of proudness for him.

“I wasn’t going to give you that previous design, it doesn’t suit you one bit,” the salmon-haired artist mentioned as he continued with, “I’m not going to let that disgusting design touch your skin, especially since this is the first time you let me mark you somewhat,” as he then moved behind you before placing his chin on your shoulder to look at you through the mirror you were holding.

“I might let you mark me permanently then,” you suddenly announced causing your boyfriend to look at you with a surprised look on his face leading you to giggle at his reaction.

“Yeah, let’s break condition three then, you can mark me this one time,” you informed him as you turned to look at him, causing Sukuna to give you his classic smirk before possessively grabbing your chin leading him to lean closer to you.

“Let me mark you then”

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kittyt-hexxed · 2 years

Text

Hexed (Vi/POC!Reader) - Ch. 14

Next Upload Date: February 27th

Act 2: Chapter Fourteen - I Did Something Bad

Warnings: Murder, Blood, Mentions of BDSM practices

Preface: It’s been six years since everything went up in smoke. You’ve got a job at Babette’s brothel, an exciting friendship with Jinx and you’re enjoying your life in the Firelights. Yet, you have your own issues lurking in the background.

You hum along to the music as you watch the concert below you. Piltover has some great performers that come through every once in a while. You have a newfound love of music thanks to Umbra and Iesura. You could feel the intentions of the songs that you listen to. It spoke to you in ways it never had before.

It was especially true for the songs you first heard when you became a daughter of the Arcane. Iesura’s words, not yours. No matter how hard you tried to find where the songs came from, you couldn’t pinpoint a location. It was as if they kept on moving around, and every time you got close, they’d move again. When you asked Umbra, she said she’d tell you when it was time, but to focus on the matter at hand until then. The most haunting of them, you could only hear when you stood on the bridge at night. Sometimes, when you couldn’t sleep, you’d come out to listen to it. It confused you to no end, but Umbra knew what it was and you trusted her.

Today was a long show in preparation for Progress Day. You have been sitting on the stage since morning, watching various performers share their songs, and lurking around backstage. You’ve been enjoying your little outing. It was a great way to stretch your wings and get a better read on the Piltovens. As much as you disliked their nobility, the lower class were interesting people. You took your chances to watch and observe them. You had learned much from Professor Uley about their ways, but people change. You learned when people started their day, when school got out, when the council regularly met, and what time everyone was home. Their behaviors were drastically different from your home, but they lived by the day and Zaunites thrived in the night. If you wanted to experience both cities, you’d have to stay awake for days.

Your feet swing back and forth as you gaze around the stage rafters. You thought it was the best seat in the whole place. Cloaked by the shadows, no one would know that you’re up here. It allowed you to hear a lot of juicy information while the crews set up.

The current performer was a visitor from outside of the isthmus. You didn’t know much about him except that his crew was not a fan of him. Their complaints were hilarious to you and you wondered what was so bad about him until you listened to his soul song. A sour feeling sets in your stomach causing you to tsk. His soul song was utterly foul. When you focused, you could hear the song of someone’s soul. You don’t know how it happened, since it’s another thing Umbra refuses to explain. You don’t use it often because it takes away the fun of getting to know someone. It showed you their true selves no matter how hard they tried to hide.

‘Human music is strange. Some do have a good meaning or two, but this song is rancid like rotten fruit.’ You choke back a bewildered laugh at Umbra’s comparison.

“I take it that love songs are not to your liking?” You giggle at Umbra’s obvious distaste, “Has no one sang you a love song, Umbra? Are you feeling jealous? Are you?”

‘They are beautiful when done with good intentions. This one is not… And, yes, you annoying child. I have, in fact, had a love song sung to me before. That’s how my mate professed his love for me.’ A twinge of annoyance filters through your connection and you snort. ‘Oohh, I hit a nerve!’ You tease her.

‘You’re too many moons young to be talking about love.’ Umbra growls.

‘Too many moons?! If you haven’t realized it, Humans have very short lifespans! You’ve had four years to realize this!’ You complain.

‘I’m aware. Your eldest humans are nowhere near our youngest.’

The performer kisses a man on the hand before continuing along with his singing. You caught the darker verse and it makes your good mood instantly drop at the display, “You are correct. This song is rancid. I should get rid of it.” You hiss in disgust knowing that this innocent man is his new target. You click your new metal talons together letting the sound soothe you. They were a gift from Heather as a joke for your birthday, but they’ve become your favorite weapons to use alongside your daggers. You were pleasantly surprised by her craftsmanship. You smothered her with kisses and praises that had your curly-haired friend blushing fiercely. After tinkering with them, you could use your magic to summon the talons out of the rings. Now, you never went anywhere without a few rings on. They pleasantly doubled as brass knuckles.

‘You’d be doing them a favor by getting rid of this… rotten fruit. In whatever way you please, solely using your magic. I’m sure the Arcane will be pleased with it.’

‘You speak of the Arcane as if it watches my every move.’ You say with amusement.

‘Does it not flow through your veins?’

You hum and nod your head in response. You raise your hand and point your middle finger and pointer finger down at the stage. You take a deep breath and concentrate. You feel the magic in your veins stir before it comes alive. There’s a warmth flowing through you that reminds you of the power you possess. The area around the stage warps as the capillary waves ripple and vibrate. It starts slow and quickly picks up speed as the ripples become more abundant. The only thought on your mind is of the air combusting. There is a second of silence as the world seems to pause before multiple explosions flash in front of your eyes.

There’s screaming as the performer on stage is launched into the air. The speaker boxes are triggered along with the fire rig and fog machine causing those to explode too. The stage rumbles and creaks as it starts to collapse around you. You hum to yourself, stand up and take a deep breath before walking off of the support beam. You fall into a rift and find yourself free-falling towards the singer. You smirk, tightening your arms and legs to your body so you fall faster towards your target. The wind whips around you, tugging at your hair and clothes and bringing you glee. You love the feeling of falling through the air.

Below you, people are screaming and pointing at the falling man. He’s screaming, visibly injured from the explosion, and can’t orient himself properly. His body flips and turns as he panics and you find it amusing. ‘I wonder what his reaction would be if he knew that he’s the prey now.’ You aren’t worried about people seeing you as they’d only see the performer and the sky. It was another ability you discovered out of pure necessity.

Your magic sings to you. It calls to you. The things you could do with it were only limited by your imagination. You could do anything you put your mind to, even if that was hiding your body from sight. You close your eyes and feel the magic crackle around your body. People screaming for help reach your ears and you feel the pulse of the magic around you. The next thing you know, your body is launched forward and you flex your talons.

You feel the heat radiating from your metal claws that makes you smirk. You rip into the man’s chest as he screams in pain. The smell of burnt flesh makes your nose twitch. You twist and sink your talons in deeper, dragging the claws up from his chest and to his throat before yanking them out. Discolored, charred flesh was quickly covered in scarlet as screams turned to gurgles. ‘Weird, it didn’t cauterize. The heat should be hot enough to do that.’

You open a rift in front of you and fall into it. You twirl around to orient yourself before landing on a building by the concert stage. His body hits the ground as the timer on your watch goes off. ‘Wow, that was only three minutes?’ You blink and turn it off. You’ve become used to timing yourself when it comes to fights. It was to initially see how you improved with your practice. Thick black smoke billows from the ruined stage as hundreds of people scrambled to the exits. It is utter chaos but you’re practically glowing with happiness about getting rid of that horrible human. Enforcers yell and direct people as the medics run for the stage and the performer’s body.

‘Congratulations, my child. You have mastered your channeling of the arcane. I sense no more strain within you.’

“Yes!” You squeal happily and clap your hands before flicking droplets of blood off of them, “Three years of hard work, you know.” You pout and put your hands on your hips, staining the white fabric red. The amusement from the creatures rings in your mind as you watch the chaos below you. After whatever happened to you on the bridge, Iesura had you practice using your magic on everything. Plants, animals - which you cried over afterward - people and other things. There were things you could do that sickened you and things that excited you.

The thousands of years old soul was very gentle with you. He explained that you were a part of the earth, a part of the world, and it would treat you as such. You shouldn’t feel bad for doing what it allowed you to do. There was still much for you to learn from the Elder but he said he wanted to teach you slowly. There were things out in the world that you’d need time to comprehend.

You were in awe of your magical abilities. You kept it a careful secret from everyone, including your brother, since you didn’t know the extent of what you could do. It pained you to lie to Ekko but you knew it was only for his safety. You promised yourself to tell him once you had a hold on your magic. That time has finally arrived.

“Poor, Piltover. They can’t see the horrible people in front of them.” You sigh, “They rely too much on those monsters to take care of them. What are they going to do when they’re gone? They take all of these wonderful things for granted. It’s okay, I got rid of the nasty man for them.” You giggle before you hear an owl hoot in your ear. You pause to listen to the incoming message from Ekko, “Info - Progress. Airship. Ghost.” You groan, “I’m always on the reserve. Why can’t I be on the forward team-” You stop, spying an Enforcer walking into the side street next to the building you are standing on. Your hand twitches as you tilt your head. She glances around nervously and keeps on messing with something on her belt.

‘A little fly has wandered into the web.’ You drop down into the alley behind her. Your boots don’t make a sound and you watch as the Enforcer walks right into your barrier. The only sign of it being there is the faint rippling where she hit it. She stumbles back and curses as an object tumbles to the ground with a clatter. It rolls closer to you. You hiss seeing the neon purple liquid in the vial. Shimmer. The monster whips around and raises its weapon at you.

“Stay back! Who are you?! Identify yourself!” A woman’s voice calls out to you. You scoff, stepping into the light and picking up the vial. You couldn’t see the ornate ‘S’ that marked it as one of Silco’s. You tilt the vial into the sunlight and spy the slight discoloration of the liquid. ‘Hmm, it’s darker than it should be. Laced most likely. This isn’t the good stuff that Silco’s trusted use, but the polluted, experimental kind. The kind that’ll send you to an early grave.’ You sigh in disappointment. ‘I’d be impressed if it was the real stuff.’

“What’s a hot-shot like you…” You notice that the vial contains about three-fourths of the drug. The lip of it was tacky, indicating that a dose had been taken within the past few hours, “Doing with a nasty drug like this?” You look at her and notice the slight tremor in her hand. ‘An Enforcer using shimmer? It’s her job to stop them, not help the Chem-Barons get them in.’ Umbra snarls. ‘Enforcers are despicable humans!’

“It’s evidence. Now, give it back and tell me who you are.” Her voice wavers as her eyes roam your body. No doubt confused by the bloodstains.

“Tsk. You don’t have to lie. I’m not a snitch… but, man, the withdrawals… deadly stuff. Especially when it’s not… pure.” You give her a dazzling smile that puts her off, “I’m sure your captain will be thrilled to know that you’ve been using it.”

Her eyes widen in panic, “I’m not using it! It’s evidence of what happened at the concert! Besides, you shouldn’t know anything about shimmer!”

“Oh? I uh… didn’t say the drug’s name.” You raise your eyebrow. The woman only looks more panicked as you say that. She grips her gun tighter but doesn't say anything.

“Shaky hands, skittish behavior, and that hollow look in your eyes? That’s just the beginning. I’m surprised your veins haven’t changed color yet. It tends to happen quickly with the tainted stuff. I’ve seen my fair share.” You crush the vial in your hand. The liquid drips down your fingers, mixing with the dried blood as the pieces of glass land on the ground.

“NO!” The monster pulls the trigger, “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!” She screams in anguish. You flick your fans out and deflect the bullets as she curses profanities at you. You hear the tell-tale click of an empty chamber and lower your fans. You growl as she charges towards you and you throw your fan. It sinks into her stomach and she screams in pain. She collapses to her knees and you feel like you are floating as you approach her.

“Shimmer…” You hiss, yanking the fan from her body, “is a disgusting drug that ruins lives, tears apart families, and makes bad people feel oh so big.” You crouch next to her as she clutches at her wound. “Let me guess, no one believed you could get into the academy. Said you were too fragile, so you decided to microdose with shimmer and you felt powerful. The others apologized and you kept taking it because it felt good.” You stroke her face, “Let me tell you something… that power only lasts as long as your body does. It eats you from inside and turns you into more of a monster. How many Zaunites have you hurt with that?”

The monster gives a weak laugh as she struggles to speak, “Y-You r-rats don’t d-deserve to l-live. I don’t count.” Your anger goes cold. You sigh and gently pat her head, “Well, look where that got you, hm? Dying in an alley with no one to help you. No one. Don’t worry, your wound will kill you before anyone arrives.”

“They won’t stop until they find you, rat.”

“I’d like to see them try.” You kick her in the head and watch as she slumps over unconscious. That rat comment hit the wrong nerve.

‘It’s a pity. Someone who is supposed to protect the people is using the very drug we are trying to keep away.’

“Yes, unfortunately. Piltovens don’t care about us slum rats so that’s why shimmer is so prevalent in Zaun. They don’t want us rats polluting their streets. The more of us drugged up and fighting each other keeps their streets clean. They’ll do anything to keep us down in the sewers. Even if that means taking the drugs they should be getting rid of.” You walk through a rift and step out onto the drop into Zaun.

‘Your brother is adamant about stopping it. The Firelights have been doing great on their runs.’

“We all are. Shimmer is disgusting, and the people who deal it out to the public are even more so. I’ve detoxed people from the drug and it’s not a pretty process. Not everyone makes it…” You say morosely.

“…Miss?” You pause and glance behind you. A man was looking at you in concern. You grin at him, “Don’t worry, sir. Just talking to my friends.” You giggle before dropping down. You hated being restricted and loved being weightless. There was something about the rush from it that you adored.

You’re silent as Eve works her fingers into your shoulders. You were laying on her bed after she insisted on giving you a massage. All you wanted was to go down into your lab, but she caught you as soon as you made it back to the base. You knew she’d continue to bother you if you didn’t let her do it.

‘You could kill her now.’ You huff at Iesura’s comment. You shift and rest your head on your arms.

‘They’d know it’s one of us.’

‘Would they?’

‘Yes. Yes, they would.’

‘We can be discreet…’

‘Guys.’ Your only response is their grumbles.

“So, why’d you dye your hair pink?” You question. Eve had told Ekko she was going to dye her hair, but you weren’t expecting pink. It made your stomach turn when you realized how close it was to Vi’s hair color. Years later, her death still affected you even though you didn’t want to acknowledge it. You wore a scarf that was her hair color as a memorial piece. Sometimes you’d sit by the memorial wall and sing her favorite song when you were missing her. You need to ask Jinx if she has the record.

“I got tired of my natural hair color. I was going to do white but Markee refused. I saw this shade of pink on the memorial wall and liked it, but Markee went a little darker with it… Ekko seemed upset about it when I came back. He ignored me.”

You scoff, “Choosing a color you saw on the memorial wall is in poor taste. The color you chose belonged to a very close friend of Ekko’s who is dead now. Dead. Of course, my brother would be upset.” You grit your teeth in anger. ‘How dare she get Vi’s hair color! What possessed her to get it done? What is this girl’s problem? She has been nothing but hostile with me.’

Eve huffs and stays quiet for a bit so you relax your body further to try and enjoy the massage. When you did get massages, they usually led to sex so this was a pleasant change even if it was coming from her.

“…Did you hear what happened at the concert in Piltover? My informants told me shortly before you arrived. There was a freak accident where the equipment blew up and killed the main performer. Apparently, it tore his chest open and the scene was gruesome. Luckily, it was just him.”

“What?! Today?” You gasp in shock. Internally, you were celebrating. You knew he was going to die but the confirmation felt good, “Accidents like that are rare in Piltover.”

‘My, my. Lying about your actions, my child? Do you not want to tell her of your success? Are you not proud of what you’ve done?’

‘I am proud. I don’t think she’d be able to comprehend it.’

“Deep breath.” Eve warns you before popping something in your shoulder. You narrow your eyes when your shoulder steadily starts to numb, “Yeah, people were horrified… until it came to light that he was a horrible person. He would drown his crew members when they angered him. ” The numbing works its way down your arm and to your fingertips. She does it again in the other arm and your mind rings alarm bells.

‘Why is she trying to incapacitate me? Do you think she knows?’

‘It could be a possibility.’

‘Hm, maybe she’s planning on interrogating me. Interesting.’ You grin.

“Of course he was. Pilties don’t look closer at anything. If they did, it would mean the world is ending. Zaun is the main example of their ignorance.” You feel your magic pulse and the numb feeling subsides. You hide your shock as the feeling comes back into your arms. ‘Umbra… Did you do that?’

‘No, child. I did not.’

“Do you know anything about it? The accident?” Eve asks casually.

“Other than what you told me? No.” You say innocently.

“Hmm. Anyway, Ekko told me you’re on the lookout for the mission. You’re always on every mission as our lookout. He doesn’t leave you behind anymore. What’d you do to piss your brother off?” You could hear the frustration in her voice. ‘Why is she frustrated over that? First, she complains I’m not on enough missions and now she complains that I’m on too many?’

“I didn’t piss him off. He just likes to keep me on reserve so I can let him know about any complications. I can jump in, if necessary. The only time I’m not on a mission is when I’m too busy with the healers.”

“So you’re our… eyes in the sky?” Eve jokes and backs away from you. You sit up and roll your shoulders. It was a habit you developed over the years. You always stretched and warmed up your body after laying down or sitting down for long periods of time. You notice that Eve seems to be hiding her shock in the corner of your eye. ‘So she was trying to incapacitate me… Why?’

“Oh, ha, ha. A bird joke. Very funny.” You say sarcastically as you pull your shirt back on. You roll your shoulders one more time and grin at how loose they feel, “You almost got me with that one.”

“Awe, come on, Hawk. You know I’m just trying to cheer you up. You’ve got to go see your devoted servants at the brothel.” Eve purrs playfully. You roll your eyes but can’t contain an awkward laugh.

“Don’t say it like that.” You huff, “You say it weirdly, besides, that’s what they call themselves. I did not choose that for them. One of the girls started it and it spread to the others.” You fluff up your hair to loosen the curls. You would be working in a few hours so you’d have to get changed soon, “I didn’t stop them. It’s what they wanted so that’s the role I took on.”

“I still don’t understand why you decided to work there. For the sex? Fun? Information? The Firelights make enough money collectively.”

“Maybe I just wanted something to do.” You shrug and stand up from the bed.

“Or someone.” Eve scoffs and crosses her arms. You narrow your eyes and get into her face, “Got a problem with the job I chose, Lieutenant?” You hiss. She grits her teeth and pushes you back, “I’ve got a problem with you. I don’t see why you think it’s okay to go around and fuck all the women in Zaun!” She shouts, “You’re supposed to keep a low profile. Going to a fucking brothel isn’t exactly a low profile, especially when so many women are singing your praises! I mean, seriously?! They practically worship you, calling you their “Goddess” and it’s disgusting! Even the Chem-Baroness has you on call!” Eve was breathing heavily while glaring at you. You were taken aback by her response before the anger bubbles up. Your hand twitches again. ‘Calm. Calm, child. Don’t do anything you’ll regret. She may be your enemy, but killing her out of instinct will only cause harm.’

“First of all, they don’t know my name. My identity is safe. You don’t even know my name, Eve. Secondly, I don’t need your permission to enjoy myself. And, I definitely don’t need this shit from you.” You laugh bitterly and head for the door, “So what? I have sex. I’m a grown-ass adult. I let women live out their fantasies in a judgmental-free environment. I make them feel good about themselves. I like what I do and not just for the sex. You should try it sometime.”

“Do these women even know what you are?!” You pause at the door and turn towards her, “You’re a fucking monster! I mean- You murdered a woman, not even a month after waking up from a two-year coma! And you just carried on like it didn’t happen!” Eve was borderline hysterical at this point.

“Watch. Your. Mouth.” You say through gritted teeth. You feel your temper shoot up and you try to squash it down. ‘Not the time. Not the time.’

“No! I’m sick of holding this shit in! I know you’ve been murdering people. I know that performer was someone YOU killed!” Eve stomps her foot, “You’re dangerous. Ekko shouldn’t be around you-!” The next thing you know your hand wraps around her throat and you lift her off the ground. You slam her back into the wall. Your talons had activated, digging the sharp points into the soft flesh of her neck.

“You don’t get to talk about my brother!” You snarl, “You don’t know him as I do! He’s MY brother, not yours. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you trying to get between my brother and me for years! I’m tired of your snide remarks, your attempts to get me distanced from him, and your aggression towards me!” Eve was struggling. Her nails dig into your wrist and her face is starting to turn red. You can feel her pulse beneath your fingers, “I’m a monster? Oh, Eve.” You coo and bring your mouth to her ear, “You don’t understand a word that’s coming out of your mouth. Stay out of things that don’t involve you.”

You let her go and she falls to the ground coughing. You stroll back to the door and give her a sickly sweet smile, “Don’t worry, Eve. You don’t have to hold it in anymore. Tell my brother after tomorrow's mission. Nothing is going to change how my brother sees me. Not even you. Your efforts mean nothing.”

“You don’t deserve him. He was doing way better without you! You’ll get him killed! You’ll get us all killed! You’ll be the reason everyone gets killed!” Eve rasps out as you open the door. You flinch as her words stab into your heart. ‘My childhood sweetheart and friends died because I wasn’t fast enough…’

“No…” You chuckle darkly, “I don’t deserve Ekko, but I’ll do everything to protect him.” Your grip on the handle is so tight your knuckles turn white. “If that means being a monster, then so be it. I’ll burn the whole world down for the people I love.”

“Hey, flower!” You call out to Jinx. Your eyes glide over the new graffiti on the blades of her workstation. Jinx shoots out of her chair with a wide grin, “Hey there, Hexxit!” Jinx gives you a tight hug. The hug brought warmth to your chest. She had grown up beautifully over the past few years. Jinx was all lean muscle, a colorful personality, and she had a very attractive face. After being around her for a while, it was obvious that she was unstable. She admitted it to you and said that you helped to keep her grounded at times. You weren’t delusional, you knew that she wasn’t the same girl you knew when you were younger. Powder had struggled immensely due to her trauma and mental health. She had insisted that you call her Jinx instead of Powder, so you obliged.

The first time you called her Jinx, she had frozen before giving you a teary-eyed smile. You tentatively questioned her about the name change, and she explained her reasoning to you. Power was a sweet and innocent little girl who tried her best and failed. Jinx was a fierce and trigger-happy woman who did the worst and succeeded. She didn’t want to taint the memories of Powder with the horrible things she did. Underneath it all, Jinx was still Powder. She has the same personality, fears, smarts but she drew that distinction so you accepted it.

“What are you doing here?” Jinx questions as she plops back into her chair. You hum and hop up onto her workbench. You blink when you notice one of Ekko’s hair clips but you choose to ignore it.

“I needed to blow off some steam before heading to work. I got into an argument with an annoying little insect and, well, you understand me… so I came here.” You sigh and lay across the table. Jinx places her elbows next to your head and rests her head on her hands.

“What was the argument about?” Jinx tilts her head in interest.

“Me.” You scoff, “She finds it disgusting that I work at the brothel and have sex with other people. Not only that, but she called me a monster since I’ve murdered people.”

“Well, she’s dumb. Why should what you do matter to her? If you want to have sex with hundreds of people, then go and do it!” Jinx exclaims.

“It’s not hundreds-”

“-And! Just because she’s jealous doesn’t mean she gets to tell MY girl what she can do.” Jinx carries on like she didn’t hear you. You freeze before an amused smile decorates your face.

“Your girl?” You mumble in amusement.

“You’re MY best friend!” She snarls, “As long as you’re being safe - which let’s be honest, you’re the real danger in that room - I don’t see an issue with it. In fact! I think it’s cool that you do that. I mean watching you fight and you’re all like - WOOSH! POW! Stab, stab, jab!” Jinx was acting out what she was saying and it made you laugh, “And the people you fight are all like - AHHHH! My arm! My blood is leaving me!” Jinx laughs and smacks your chest. She gives you a fond smile and gazes down at you with sparkling eyes.

“Hold on!” You start laughing, “Jinxy. Calm down, you don’t need to plot her death over an argument.” You grin at her. ‘That’s my job.’ Jinx huffs and rolls her eyes before leaning back in her chair. You turn onto your side to face her, “Besides, when did I become your girl?”

“Since my sister died, duh! I’m just saying that if she’s jealous she needs to do something about it rather than taking it out on you. Calling you a monster?” Jinx spins in her chair, “You are a monster. I’ve watched you murder people and laugh about it. I’ve heard you talk to the voices in your head. Why are you and Umbra always arguing anyway?” Jinx giggles.

“Not to forget that you seduce people for a living!” Jinx grins at you, “Of course, you’re a monster! But, you’re also still the Hexxit I’ve known since I was a kid. That's why I love you!” She says cheerily.

“Thanks, Jinxy.” You give her a sweet smile. Her words touched your heart. You understood each other better than anyone else. Jinx smiles back at you before she whips around and shoots the dummy of Mylo. ‘Didn’t I kick that off the ledge years ago?’

“SHUT UP!” She screams. You furrow your brow as she turns back to you and looks at you intensely. You sit up and tap her on the cheek, “Hey, don’t listen to him. We both know Mylo is an asshole. Remember, he can’t hurt you.” You say softly. You were there for her when she needed you, and you were painfully aware that she’d be a lot worse if she was alone this whole time. Silco didn’t care for her in the way she needed. Some nights you’d have to hide when he appeared for a visit and you’d watch enraged as he talked to her.

Jinx doesn’t respond but gets really close to your face. You can feel her breath fan across your lips. She backs away a bit and looks down as she starts muttering incoherently to herself. There’s a few seconds before she looks at you, “…I can see what my sister saw in you.”

“What?” You look at her in surprise. Jinx barely mentions Vi since it’s a painful topic. You never brought Vi up, and Jinx only mentions her in passing jokes. She didn’t have nightmares about it anymore, but she latched onto you harder than ever.

“Can I kiss you?” Jinx asks innocently like she hadn’t just mentioned Vi. She rests her hand by your hip and is practically nose to nose with you. You were thoroughly confused. ‘How did we get here?’

“Jinx, I-“ Jinx had never shown any interest in you or anyone really. She’d comment about the way you looked, the things you did, and would make these cute little glitter bombs to surprise you. As time went on, you started to see Jinx as less of a sister and more of a best friend. You still cared for her greatly but not in a familial way. It felt wrong to do so with Violet gone. “Please? Just one kiss for your dear old friend?” Jinx bats her lashes, and you can’t help the giggle that slips from your lips. You were surprised with yourself to realize that you aren’t opposed to the idea. In fact, you felt touched.

‘You two are not of blood. It can not hurt. She is but a curious child.’

‘I am aware. I don’t see anything wrong with her curiosity.’

‘Then?’

You exhale slowly, thinking about what to say, and look her in the eyes, “Okay. You can kiss me, but-” Jinx’s lips were on yours before you could finish your sentence. You kiss her softly, and you aren’t surprised at how eager she was to return the kiss. After a few seconds, Jinx backs away with a distant look in her eyes and a blush on her face.

“T-Thank you…” Jinx stutters and bites her lip.

You smile at her, your lips feeling slightly tacky from the chapstick that was on her lips, “You’re welcome… Was there a reason for that? For the kiss?”

Jinx plops back into her chair, “I’m alone. I have nobody like that. You’re the only person I can comfortably be myself around.” Jinx threw up jazz hands, “I’m craaazzy! So, people don’t want to be around me.” She sighs and blows her bangs out of her face, “You do. As kids, I didn’t really understand the whole feelings thing. Catching you and Vi sneaking around and sharing kisses… but as I got older, I felt lonelier. I didn’t understand it… and then you came back.” Jinx laughs, “You came back and didn’t care that I’m crazy or stuck working with Silco. And then, I didn’t feel as alone!” Jinx goes silent and you watch her as she fidgets. You couldn’t believe what you were hearing, yet it made sense. Ekko was only able to sneak away with you every so often to see her. You can see Jinx thinking as her eyes move around and she taps her fingers.

“But… I think I started to get feelings for you? Don’t worry, I know nothing is going to happen. You’re Vi’s girl… but I’ve never kissed anyone before and I wanted to know.”

“Hey, anyone who doesn’t want to be around you are losers.” You playfully stick your tongue out, “And… I understand the loneliness. I’m lucky to still have Ekko. He knows I’ve killed people. He’s seen me do it, but he’s not aware of the voices. You weren’t stable as kids and I couldn’t imagine how you’d be feeling now. So, when I heard what happened, I knew I had to be there for you.” You hop off of the desk. You do a couple of pirouettes to get some anxious energy out, “I’m not Vi’s girl though. I haven’t been for years.” You snort.

Jinx scoffs, “Even with my sister six feet under, she’s still got a hold on you. If you’re not Vi’s, then how come you haven’t dated anyone?”

“I don’t want to. I’m enjoying the single life and it gives me more time with you and Ekko.” You huff as Jinx rolls her eyes.

“Sure, and I don’t hear voices.”

“I’m being serious, blue.” You groan, “I’m my own woman.”

“You could be my woman.” Jinx purrs playfully and gives you a sultry look. You raise an eyebrow at her as she bites her lip again. ‘Okay, too weird.’

You huff and pull a throwing knife out of your belt and hurl it at her. Jinx snaps out of it, yelps, and falls out of her chair to dodge the knife. It hits the wall with a clang before falling to the ground.

“You tried to kill me!” Jinx shouts at you in fake anger as she hops up from the ground and points at you. She’s trying to hide a smile as the corners of her mouth twitches.

“Oh, not like you don’t use me for target practice!” You scoff but let out a giggle. You didn’t mind her shooting at you, as it was a fun way to practice your reaction times. It was also a stress reliever for your friend. Jinx gives you a wide smile before pulling out her revolver.

“It’s because you’re so amazing at dodging!” Jinx says joyfully while spinning it around.

“Shit, I should’ve just closed my mouth.” You sigh. Jinx has a grin on her face that promises you a fun time. You know she’s aware that you’re more bothered by the comments than you let on.

Jinx nods, “Yeah, but you never do!”

“Jinx!” You yelp as you dodge the first bullet. Jinx laughs and you leap back from another one. She starts shooting at you quicker and you’re forced to cartwheel out of the way.

“What does she look like?”

“Dark pink hair! Scar over her nose!” You twirl.

“Dark pink hair?!”

“Yeah. The bitch thought she would dye her hair the same color as Vi’s!” You snarl. Your words hit one of Jinx’s nerves and the next thing you know a chomper comes flying your way.

“SHE WHAT?!”

#vi x reader #vi arcane #vi league of legends #ekko #ekko arcane #ekko's older sister #firelights #arcane reader insert #arcane jinx #poc reader #arcane act 2

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giorno-plays-piano · 3 years

Text

Vicious

Part IV

Pairing: Steve x reader, Bucky x reader, Thor x reader, Loki x reader, Peter x reader

Warnings: yandere, obsession, stalking, possessiveness, theft, all characters are adults.

Words: 1880.

Summary: Transferring to Stark Academy that has only allowed to take in female students last semester, you realize you are just one of three young women among hundreds of students. Your things are constantly being stolen, and soon you begin fearing for your safety.

Part I

Part II

Part III

_________

After you came back to your room, you got a message from Steve about changing the locks on both you door and your locker. You were so taken aback by today's conversation in the student council room that you had completely forgotten about it. Apparently, Steve had already requested the change of locks on your behalf through email, and you were really grateful to him for that: you dreaded coming back to the room that had been forced open. Of course, tonight you would have to move your dresser to the door so that nobody could enter when you'd be sleeping.

Shit. It was absolutely crazy.

"I'm not sure about all this, Steve." You texted him while laying on your bed and staring at your phone in the darkness of the room. "It doesn't seem right."

Naturally, you meant the fake dating thing. It felt horrible thinking of what others would think after seeing you with five different guys. Would they be calling you a whore in the open? Make some nasty jokes behind your back? Report you to the school administration for immoral behavior? Remembering those bigots from the student office, you cringed at the thought.

Besides, it still didn't make sense to you why you had to date all five. Sure, if they were around you at all times like your friends, these unhinged bastards who stole your things wouldn't do anything funny again, but it wasn't like that. What could one guy do against a group of other students?

"Listen, I didn't want to talk about it in class, but I'm worried it won't end with a stolen lingerie."

You didn't like his message.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. They might attempt something much worse than a theft."

Oh no. Was he talking about rape? Seriously? Did he anticipate others were so crazy they would do something like that?

But then again, girls were being raped in colleges even if it weren't the all-boys schools. A shiver ran down your spine.

"But if several people attack me, just one of you won't be enough." You typed with your shaky fingers, trembling beneath your blanket.

"It's not about the pure force. Each of us has a certain reputation, and others wouldn't want to cross us over because of it."

Wait, this was interesting. What on Earth did he mean? What kind of reputation was that to prevent people from messing with them?

"Thor is a good athlete and a great leader, his basketball team is ready to beat people to death for him."

"Loki's father is one of academy’s main sponsors, and he can have this school turned upside down if he wants to."

"Bucky is a threat by himself, but he also have a company of loyal friends."

"I don't think Peter is serious enough to scare anyone, but with his computer skills he could easily blackmail others, I’ve already seen him doing it. Students would be wary to cross him over just like any of us."

Steve was writing you a bunch of messages with a terrifying speed, and you could barely read the first when he was already sending you the second. It felt absolutely insane. Did he choose every guy because the more powerful admirers you have, the less others would intervene? Well, at least in case of Bucky and Thor who could beat people to near death, it was wise. You preferred not to think of Peter - you had no idea someone as sweet and caring as him did something as disgusting as a blackmail.

“But what others will think? 5 boyfriends? Others will think you are dating-” you paused, chewing your lips to bit, “- a whore. Nobody gonna stood up for me.”

"Imagine if each of us tells our friends that other four guys were just asked to watch over you, but you date only one.”

Oh. Yes, this was slightly better. Then you wouldn’t have to do something as bold as kissing every guy in public, instead maintaining the mystery who you were really dating.

Damn, how Steve even came up with this plan? Why was everything so complicated?

“It’s getting late. Good night.” Your phone vibrated again, and you huffed with irritation. You hoped you could ask him a bit more - about what you were going to do with the thieves Steve found, for example - but he was probably getting tired with all your questions. It was better to ask him tomorrow.

___________________

The next morning you were restless: since you were starting to going out with guys, you felt like you needed to look better than you usually were, so you spent your morning working on your hair and makeup. It was like fake dating, right? You had to pretend you wanted to look pretty for them.

What else did you have to do? Cook something sweet for them? Yeah, probably, but not at the start of your relationship. Going to cafe together? Helping each other study? Loki also mentioned the cinema...

You felt dumb. Of course, you dated guys before, but now you realized you had no idea how to act not to cause any suspicion. Oh boy, it was going to be a tough day.

Thor nocked at you door thirty minutes before your first session, but you woke up so early you were more than ready to go. As you opened the door, first moving the dresser back to its place, the guy looked at you with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Hey, what was that?"

"The dresser. I can't leave the door just like that until the lock is changed."

He blinked at you, watching the door and then probably remembering somebody forced the lock open to steal your underwear.

"These guys are batshit crazy." He mumbled and nodded you to go with him, putting his hand on your shoulder. "Don't worry, they won't do it again."

You wanted to argue they definitely would, but, seeing his warm smile, you thought Thor simply wanted to cheer you up and smiled at him in return. In the end, he was here only to make you feel safer: you didn't doubt he was very popular with the girls every time he went out to the city.

"You look great today!" He said sheepishly, walking in the dorm's corridor while other students were staring at him silently, obviously surprised to see you two together. "I mean, not that you looked bad yesterday, I just..."

Watching his face suddenly getting crimson red, you couldn't help but giggle at his expression. You could never think Thor was actually bashful around girls. Yeah, at your old place he'd definitely be one of the most popular guys around.

It was lunch time when you two could actually talk, sitting together at the same table and being watched by everyone around. Strangely, with Thor constantly talking and often rubbing your hand with his, it didn't feel suffocating, and you held your head high: regardless whether those pricks were looking at you, you weren't going to run away to your room and cry there like a little girl. Loki was right: you weren't a silly little sheep, scared of your own shadow. You wouldn't let anyone spoil your time in the academy you dreamt studying in.

Funny enough, Thor turned out to be a talkative type when he was speaking about basketball and his team in particular. He loved sports: while you were more into hockey, the way he talked was so enthusiastic it made you listen to him with a genuine interest. Thor's love for basketball was infectious.

He seemed a simple man, this giant bag of muscles who was laughing so loud people around him flinched; Thor wasn't the exact type of a guy you would encounter on your own, but he seemed nice, sincere, and surprisingly softhearted. You felt at ease talking to him, and soon you too acted like you'd known each other for long.

It was a pity you'd only met under this circumstances. It felt like you two could became friends.

But then when Thor absent-mindedly put his arm around your shoulders, you remembered Loki's warning: they would try to gain your favors. Was it the reason Thor was so nice to someone he just met? Wasn't it suspicious of him? You couldn't let your guard down after just one lunch together. In fact, you knew nothing of the man sitting in front of you.

"I knew something like would happen." Some guy to your left sighed loudly, catching your attention. "They were fucking crazy."

"I'm not surprised either. I just wanna know who they got in a fight with to be beaten like that. Have you heard they broke Gray's both legs?"

"Woah, both? That's brutal, man."

You shivered, trying not to listen to them.

"It'd happen sooner or later anyway. They were completely wild."

A word caught your attention right away: that was what Steve called those students who were stealing your things. Could it be a coincidence? Surely, in an all-boys school the students were fighting each other constantly.

But to the point of breaking both legs of someone? Really?

As you sent Thor a nervous look, he gently patted your shoulder, lowering his voice so no one would hear him, "I'm sure it's nothing to do with you. These things happen here from time to time because the guys have no idea what to do with all that testosterone."

You hoped he was right.

The rest of the day went as usual aside from Thor walking the corridors with you and chatting about sports: he managed to convince you to come see the game next month when they would be having a tournament. You were grateful to him for helping to ease your mind because the news of guys being sent to the ambulance made you shook. Steve also mentioned something about his and other's friends ready to beat anyone to death, right?

By the middle of your last class you couldn't think of it any longer and quickly typed a message to Loki. Of all people, right now he seemed the most sincere to you.

"Hi. Are the guys who were beaten last night are the ones who stole my things?"

Waiting was a special torture when you held the phone in your arms beneath your desk, hoping to see your screen lighting up with a message. In five minutes you got your reply.

"Yes." The message said simply, but it was enough for you to stare at your phone with horror, wishing you didn't ask Loki anything.

Oh shit. It wasn't a coincidence, right? It's impossible. Somebody did it on purpose. But who of the five?

"Do you know who did it?"

Next time he answered pretty fast, "No."

A part of you felt relieved. Maybe it wasn't related, finally. Maybe they got beaten by somebody who was fed up with their attitude because they were crazy as the guys in the cafeteria said.

But what if it weren't true?

"Who's the most brutal among you five?"

Biting your lips, you started rocking in your chair a little, making the guy on your left to roll his eyes in irritation.

The phone's screen flashed again.

"Barnes."

Part V

_________

Tags: @finleyjayne @alexakeyloveloki @helenaeisenhower @villanellevi @hurricanerin @inlovewiththefictionalcharacters @chris-evans-indian-fanfic @navegandoaciegas @rosalynshields @brattycherub @sllooney @angrythingstarlight @lookiamtrying @buckysbunny @soleil-dor @stargazingfangirl18 @dillybuggg @literate-lamb @cosicas-cuquis @sarge-barnes-sir @buckybarnesplumwhore @jaysayey @megzdoodle @gotnofucks @lux-ravenwolf @ximebebx @jeremyrennerfanxxxx123 @sourpatchspinster @biiskuitx @iheartsebandchris @lovelydarkdaydream @illyrianprincess @vampirestrawberries @stupendouslovegardener @goodgodimaweirdperson @frontmanash @freya-heya @yandematic

#steve rogers x reader #bucky barnes x reader #thor x reader #loki x reader #peter parker x reader #dark steve rogers #dark bucky barnes #dark thor #dark loki #dark peter parker #yandere

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annoyed-at-things · 2 years

Text

Recklessness (Part Eight)

Cross-posted on AO3

Inspired by @nobodyfamousposts’s Lament series

Part Seven / Part Eight (here) / Part Nine

———————-

She was excited. How could she not be? It was the first day of school. A lot of her friends were about as busy as she was during summer break (Although they’d argue that she was much busier than they were) but now she’d get to spend the entire day with them again! Not to mention the fact that they’d be getting two new students today! So, if you had to ask, yes, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was excited for today, and nothing could sour that mood.

Unless things went terribly wrong and a megalomaniac with a poor taste in fashion decided to pop up and ruin her life for good came along.

But that could never happen!

…

Right?

…

Right. She skipped downstairs, kissing her mom and dad goodbye while she grabbed the sandwich, they prepared for her and the two trays of macarons from the table. One was meant for her new class, obviously, while the other was the reason she was heading straight for the library. After all, wasn’t it the duty of a member of the student council to show up to meetings on time?

0-0-0-0-0

“And don’t forget to eat your lunch.”

“Okay Nora.”

“Try not to rush things, okay? It’s only your first day…”

Really, did she always treat her like a child? Last she remembered Nora went and dropped the twins.

Wait.

It was changing!

She got so distracted by her own excitement she tuned out whatever Nora was saying. Because she would be a hero today!

Wait.

Would she get the Ladybug Miraculous?

“…I know it’s great to be in a new school, but you really…”

She wouldn’t admit to thinking about it before.

…

Well, she would.

“…and we can’t keep doing this…”

Who wouldn’t want to be a superhero! It would have been so fun to go on patrols around Paris, stopping crime and having fun with her friends!

“…mom and dad are still upset…”

Honestly, she’s still a little mad at Marinette for keeping it a secret for so long. She’s good with secrets!

“…I know you had good intentions, but…”

Well, now she knows that Marinette is Ladybug, she can just tell her she knows that its her! And then they’d be superheroes together!

“…it might be intimidating to be in a new school…”

Or she could take her earrings from her before she even meets her Kwami! She seemed unreasonably upset before when she tried it, so maybe it would be for the best to not get her involved.

“…in a new city…”

But her Adrienette ship would sail! She'd make sure of it this time!

"...but please..."

Her coming to a stop in front of Francois-Dupont High brought her back from her musings to whatever Nora was saying.

“…promise me you’ll try?”

“Huh?”

“Alya…”

She looked oddly concerned. Frick. Well, hopefully her response would be good enough for Nora to let her go. Destiny awaits!

“Yea, yea. Everything’s going to be fine, I swear.”

That brought a smile to her face.

“Okay Als. Have fun!”

Yes, yes she will.

“Don’t cause any trouble!”

Oh she’d cause trouble. But it was for the greater good!

With that in mind she rushed straight into the school building, not even registering the quiet, strained please coming from behind her.

——————————-

Taglist (Message me if you want to be tagged):

@tazanna-blythe @probsjosh

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculous salt #ml salt #ml salt fic #alya #alya salt #marinett #marinette dupain cheng #marinette deserves better #be careful what you wish for #ml wish

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miss-vortex · 3 years

Text

Mental Health and Los Angeles' Homelessness Crisis: Why "Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel" Is One of the Most Important Documentaries on Netflix

The series observes the devastating impact of mental illness and the stigma surrounding it and teaches us that the dire problem of homelessness in the city of Los Angeles is only getting worse

SPOILER ALERT: It may be best to only read on if you have already watched the documentary series.

"Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel" is not about a cursed hotel. This documentary series is so much more than that and I personally believe that it is one of the most important documentaries to air on Netflix. So many current issues are covered that are generally brushed under the carpet and left to rot and this is one of the reasons why it must be watched.

Elisa Lam believed that experiencing Los Angeles would change her life for the better. She wanted to discover "La La Land". Instead, what she discovered was not the glamorous city she had in mind - staying only a few streets away from Skid Row in a hotel infamous for its tragic history, riddled with stories of death, drug abuse and serial killer lodgings, Elisa was faced with a gruesome reality - that reality is Los Angeles's gaping wealth divide which is only widening as time goes on.

Elisa's dreamy expectations of LA being heavily dampened by the poverty she found herself in would have no doubt contributed to her worsening mental state during her stay at the Cecil Hotel. Los Angeles is often depicted as the city where people go to find themselves - after all, it's Hollywood's home - but the reality is that the city has many more dimensions that are not represented on holiday websites or tourist leaflets.

I have seen for myself only a fraction of the poverty which adorns the streets of LA when I visited in 2019 and what I saw was shocking enough. People are living in tents only streets away from where millionaires sleep comfortably in their high-rise apartments and mansions. A taxi driver told me "The council are building more apartments in downtown LA but it's only for the wealthy. They won't do anything about the problem of homelessness."

This is brought to light in the documentary also and it is clearly highlighted how much the homeless have been forgotten about in the city - for 100 years they have been shoved aside to make space for rich newcomers. Last year it was estimated that there are about 66,433 people living on the streets in Los Angeles and this increased by 12.7% between 2019 and 2020. The main cause of homelessness in the city is too many underpaid jobs and lack of affordable housing.

The fact that Elisa ended up losing her life in a place where she was looking to escape from her troubles is truly heartbreaking. She was incredibly bright, but severely mentally ill, and I believe that parallels can be drawn between Elisa's condition and the way in which the impoverished are treated in LA. Elisa was the victim of bipolar disorder, a mental illness which is heavily stigmatised like many other mental health conditions. Some people might speculate that Elisa should have been more responsible and taken her medication as it had been prescribed to her - and whilst I agree that we all have a responsibility for our own self care, there can be many reasons why people don't take their medication. These can include the stigma behind being prescribed medication for a mental illness and not wanting to become dependent on medication. In Elisa's case, the fact she strongly believed going to Los Angeles would help her find herself may have made her feel as if she wouldn't need her medication once she got to the City of Angels - she'd be okay without it.

But as the documentary demonstrated, the symptoms of bipolar disorder can become so severe that they cause people to do things that are completely out of character and even lead to a person's death. This is why mental illness needs to be better understood and why Elisa could have had more help - her sister mentioned she had had severe psychotic episodes at home previously, so why didn't her family make sure she was 100% safe and well before she travelled alone? It would be wrong lay the blame on her family though - Elisa was an adult after all and they had to let her travel if she wanted to.

The problem of homelessness in LA suffers the same stigma as Elisa's illness in a society where the elite are catered to and the poor are simply pushed aside. A Los Angeles Times analysis conducted in 2019 discovered that 67% of people living on the streets suffer from a mental illness or substance abuse disorder - a direct result of the city's lack of social care for its poorer residents. Just like those living on Skid Row, Elisa felt rejected by society, misunderstood. Her worsening mental health was a product of the same system which has left millions of Americans deprived - a system which belongs to the billionaire class, a system which wants to maintain a spectacular image at all costs, a system which doesn't want to talk about mental health issues.

The Cecil Hotel, too, is a product of its environment. It is not a cursed place in the paranormal sense - it is cursed in the fact that lives have been needlessly lost there through the lack of resources and funding that are contributed to Skid Row. Although the Cecil Hotel has provided many with shelter, tragedies are bound to happen when people are not given the help they need to battle drug addiction, mental illness and crime involvement. The lack of security at the hotel was also shocking to begin with.

These are the reasons why "Crime Scene: Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel" is so desperately relevant in today's society. With the pandemic taking hold of the world, more people than ever before are grappling with mental health issues and the wealth gap continues to increase worldwide. There will be more deaths like Elisa's if we don't start to talk about mental health and more people will resort to living on the streets if we continue to value wealth over human lives.

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batmanie · 3 years

Text

Worth it - Batman TAS

Out of the few books available at the Arkham rec room’s otherwise empty bookshelf Professor Crane had chosen to read “Pride and Prejudice” today. He had read it about ten times already but the small book collection was not getting any bigger and it was still better than reading the Bible.

“Alice’s adventures in Wonderland” had been banned from Arkham’s library quite some time ago for triggering a certain inmate, and “Christmas Carol” had lately been decorated with obscene doodles by the Joker which Jonathan did not wish to see ever again. The nursery rhymes book was always an option but currently, Harley had her fun with that, giggling each time she read a funny one.

Crane was sitting on the couch with his nose in the book, not bothering anyone with his presence. Next to him, Tetch was staring at the TV. The poor man looked so bored, mindlessly channel surfing, probably too high on medication to be able to entertain himself with any Wonderland plots.

With Joker not around, the rec room seemed calm, almost as calm as the sky before a heavy storm. And said storm came unexpectedly in the form of Jervis Tetch.

The bored man on the couch had switched to the Gotham’s evening news channel, listening in to the street interview with one of the new candidates for the city council, and then, out of nowhere, he threw a massive tantrum – his outburst included flipping the coffee-table and accidentally hitting Harley’s head with it. That, of course, resulted in Doctor Quinzel’s aggressive response. Not much remained left from the unfortunate table after Harley had finished with it.

Professor Crane watched in delight how Mad Hatter fought against a guard twice as big as himself, while Harley attempted to smash both of their heads with a table leg before two other guards managed to tranquilize her.

After a few more minutes, the rec room was calm again and Jonathan got back to his book. But as much as he tried to ignore the incident and focus on the plot, a little voice in his head, the voice of the psychologist who he’d never truly ceased to be, kept whispering a very important question. “What exactly has just happened here?” The voice asked, teasing Jon’s professional curiosity. He cast another glance at the tv. The candidate from the evening news smiled at the camera, still explaining how much he was helping the community.

Professor Crane had his suspicions. And who would have guessed? Mad Hatter broke out of Arkham no longer than three days after that event.

David Colton was in his mid-thirties and he was a man in his prime, looking exceptionally professional today in his expensive dark-blue suit, white shirt, and striped blue tie.

“Smoother than Bruce Wayne,” he thought with a pleasant smile, checking himself in the mirror.

Oh, yeah, he still got it! Still looking as youthful and handsome as the prom king he had been back in his high-school days.

“Almost ready Mr. Colton,” the make-up lady told him, and put some more powder onto his already fluid-heavy forehead. “No glossy faces on TV, that’s my rule. Those spotlights know no mercy,” she joked.

David chuckled. “The only thing that is allowed to shine tonight, is my charisma.”

They would have laughed some more, if not for a sudden knocking on the door to his private dressing room.

“Come in,” David called and took a deep, calming breath mentally preparing himself for showtime.

He was ready to present his best self to Gotham again, and at this rate of him constantly being invited to interviews, the seat in the council was practically his already.

His father was right, the ability to make a good impression and a thing for charity was everything that mattered in this town after all.

The door opened and a short man in a trench coat walked in, not a staff member judging simply by the lack of an ID. Yet, the man seemed familiar – Colton just couldn’t quite place him.

“Can I help you, pal?” He asked the newcomer, hiding his irritation behind a polite smile.

The man smiled brightly and took a few steps into the room. “Oh, yes, yes. I think you can,” he spoke with a quiet yet excited voice.

Colton caught his fake British accent right away – and again, it felt like he had heard it before.

“However, I wouldn’t call you my pal.” The man continued grinning. “Would I? Won’t I? Would I? Won’t I?”.

“Listen, pal,” Colton cut him off, not bothering anymore to be that polite. “My interview is starting in a few minutes. Can we get back to this conversation later?”

“I’m afraid that later will be too late,” the strange man shook his head and took out a silver pocket-watch. “It will take only a moment…”

David sighed, the intruder was really hard to get rid of – he hated those nosy people who worked for the press.

“Very well then.” He stood up from his seat and turned to his guest to shake his hand and introduce himself properly. “David Colton,” he offered his hand to the shorter man.

The man didn’t take it, which led to a very awkward moment.

“Oh, but we know each other,” he explained, staring at David with an intense glare.

Colton, confused as he was, took a closer look at the stranger – his blonde, messy hair, big nose, and even bigger front teeth. Suddenly it clicked. “Gotham High! Jervis, was it? Jervis the Jerkface,” he laughed at the old memories of those past, glorious days of his youth. “How have you been, Jerv?”.

“Surely not as good as you.” There was a hint of fake sadness in Jervis’ voice as he put on the black, old-school top hat that he had held in his hand behind his back the entire time.

That single move made Colton recall some very disturbing stories straight from Gotham’s underworld. He cast a worried look at the make-up lady – she looked terrified and about to scream.

Slowly, he gazed back at the small man before him – the man who used to be just a nerdy kid from his high school, a weird boy that everybody had laughed at – Jervis the Jerkface, Beaver-man, Ratter.

“They don’t call me names that often anymore,” Jervis said calmly, as if he had just read his mind, a nasty grin creeping back on his face. He held a card in his gloved hand. “They simply call me the Mad Hatter.”

-#-

Like every other Saturday, the rec room was hosting the four lucky high-profile inmates who had earned their right to be in here, thanks to their good behavior. This time it was Doctor Isley, surprisingly enough, Nygma and, even more surprisingly, Croc who accompanied Professor Crane during his well-deserved book-time.

Everyone was minding their own business, Ivy was occupied taking care of a small flowerpot of violets, Edward played chess with himself and Croc, well, Croc was currently using his claw as a toothpick to get rid of the remains of his dinner.

Jonathan relaxed on the couch that he had the luxury of having only for himself for once. He had tried to bury himself in a book but couldn’t concentrate on reading – something was on his mind ever since Mad Hatter had disappeared half a week ago. It was this tiny, little voice again, telling him to put the book aside and turn on the TV instead.

Slightly irritated by his own decision, he did as his intuition had told him to. The evening news was about to end and an interview with some philanthropist politician was about to start right after commercials.

When the show began, the fat, jovial host greeted his enthusiastic audience, gaining some applause in return, then he introduced the main guest of the evening, David Colton – Jonathan recognized the guy – it was the same politician who had been talking about the importance of charity just a week ago on the news.

Colton looked a bit stiff, smiling unnaturally wide. As the applause died out and the first question was asked, he didn’t move for a good few seconds, as if he didn’t even hear it. Jonathan couldn’t shake off the impression that the man was either on some medications or very, very stressed.

“David?” The host tried again as the uncomfortable silence dragged for too long. “Will you tell us about your foundation? We are all dying to know more.”

“No, Sam,” said Colton with a strangled voice, his face still kind of strange – more like a mask with a very fake smile and a dead look in his eyes. “First, I want to talk about my teenage years.”

“OK, let’s hear your story,” the host agreed, happily, probably determined to get anything at all from his non-cooperative guest. “I’ve heard you were an overachiever. A football player, a class president and even a prom king. Isn’t that right, David?”

“No. I was a selfish bastard who tormented less popular kids. I called them unfair names, put them in a locker, and made other boys beat them up just for a sake of it.”

The audience gasped at this confession. The host’s jaw dropped for a good five seconds.

Jonathan smiled to himself, satisfied that his intuition had not failed him.

“I was a popular kid so I never took the blame for my misbehavior,” Colton continued with a very calm and steady voice, his face showing no emotion. When the camera took a closeup on him, Jonathan noticed a tiny little detail – a 10/6 card sticking out of his boutonnière.

“I never cared for others' wellbeing either, this charity-thing is just for show. I only care for the fame and attention. In fact, you may say I’m not even a human being. I’m an ugly, stinking, lying chimpanzee.”

As soon as Colton finished his last line, an inhuman howl escaped his mouth. The audience screamed in terror. Colton suddenly jumped onto a couch he previously sat on, and he started to act like a real monkey.

Sam – the host – went utterly speechless, he jumped up from his own seat and just stood there, stunned.

Colton, screeching and howling like a mad chimpanzee, grabbed a glass of water from the tabletop and threw it at the host.

“Help, somebody help!” the poor host started screaming.

Meanwhile, Colton was jumping up and down on a couch, making “Ooh, aah!” sounds.

Before the security managed to catch him, Colton already had taken off his pants and his white, hairy ass was revealed for all of Gotham to see.

After that, the show was hurriedly cut off and the weather forecast started.

Professor Crane didn’t even notice that all the other rogues had joined him on the couch, and were now staring at the TV like a bunch of little kids watching their favorite cartoon.

“Well, that was definitely one way to destroy someone’s political career,” Nygma commented with a hint of amusement.

“A few more minutes and he would have started throwing his own poo,” Ivy added with a disgusted frown.

“Poo,” Crock giggled like a five-year-old and everyone else had to roll their eyes. “I like monkeys, monkeys are so stupid.”

“Well, actually, chimpanzees are…”

“Oh, shut up, Nygma!” Both Ivy and Crane growled as one and Edward went quiet.

“Anyway, Tetch should be back with us any minute now,” Pamela concluded with all certainty. “I hope his little revenge was worth a punch in the teeth from the Bat and getting dragged back to Arkham.”

Professor Crane didn’t say a word but he knew from an experience that yes, it was totally worth it.

#Jonathan Crane #scarecrow #Batman TAS #batman fanfiction #Jervis Tetch #the mad hatter #madhatter #bullying #revange #fanfiction #My Story #Bat-mania #temarcia #Batman animated series

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