#clearly it would have to be on brand

[thetomorrowshow]

poisoned rats in a pot of grain - ch. 6

Masterlist - Previous - Next

i spent like days struggling with one scene near the end of this fic only to finish writing it and realizing that it doesn't flow right for the main fic. rip me but hey at least now i've kicked that writer's block! it's a very sizable chunk to cut but it's still a good scene so it'll be repurposed into a post-story one shot :)

cw: past minor character death, violence, blood, dehumanization (the usual)

~

 “You’ve fought the Canary?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“It’s Solidarity. And I think he’s being mind-controlled.”

“Right. Sure. Major, would you be able to come with me to meet someone?”

The streets are dark.

It’s nighttime when Mythics, villain of Empires City, wakes. He’s lying on the ground in a tucked-away alley, staring into nothing, when he suddenly sits up and looks around.

He’d stumbled there earlier that day, clutching his head and groaning in pain, had collapsed on the ground and laid there for hours.

Now he heaves himself to his feet, glances around again, and limps out into the city, one hand clamped over his mouth and the other shading his eyes.

He follows a path that is clearly well-known to him, doubling back at points to ensure that there is no chance of any tails. The walk is two hours, two hours that might have been expedited by the use of his powers, but he never uses them. He walks and walks, pace growing slower and slower, on his own two feet until he reaches some dingy townhouses on the outskirts of the west side rundown part of town. Once there, he loses all sense of stealth (which, admittedly, had not been much) and directly approaches one of the doors. He knocks seven times.

There’s a few moments of waiting, waiting that Mythics does not do patiently. He taps his feet, looks around at the neighborhood, runs his hand up a seam of his costume nervously. Right as he reaches to knock again, the lock clicks and the door swings open.

“Hey, Sausage!” well-known antihero fWhip exclaims, spreading his arms wide. Despite the late hour, he’s still fully dressed, leather coat rustling and creaking with his movements. “Long time, no see! How’re you doing?”

Mythics shifts, looks around again. “Can I come in?” he whispers, leaning in close. fWhip frowns, looks past his shoulder.

“Is everything . . . good?” he asks cautiously, adjusting the goggles that serve as his mask. Mythics hesitates, before leaning even closer.

“Something’s wrong. Xornoth’s planning something bad. I’m in too deep. I—I need help.”

-

“You’re—you’re going to what?”

“I’m going to kill him,” Lizzie repeats simply, eyes daring Scott to oppose her. “I’m going to hunt him down and fill his lungs with water and watch as he chokes to death slowly.”

Scott blinks.

He opens his mouth, closes it again.

What?

“I’m—” he starts, but Joel cuts him off.

“Yeah, he’s your nemesis,” he says, “but Liz has got personal history. I think you ought to work together to kill him, but it’s not me doing it.”

Kill—kill Solidarity?

“Ex-explain to me, why, exactly, we’re killing him?” Scott asks, voice faint in his disbelief. Lizzie looks down, then back up, glare steely but eyes far away.

“I can’t remember much,” she says, her voice smaller and more unsure than anything she’s said so far, a stark contrast from her stormy appearance. “I lost my memory. Years ago. But I remember this. When I was young, I lived in a city. Maybe this one, I don’t know. I don’t remember. But. . . .”

She sits down in one of the folding chairs, rests her head in her hands. “I was young. I don’t know. I came home. Solidarity was there. He was—he was standing over their bodies. He saw me, and—and the house went up in flames. He ran. I don’t—I don’t know how I survived. I only remember flashes. But he killed them.

“I don’t remember anything else. I woke up underwater, no idea who I was or how I could breathe. Swam until I found land. Started a life. I didn’t start remembering anything until he started appearing on the news.”

Scott blinks again, looks away when Lizzie’s shoulders start to shake. Joel kneels beside her, rubs her back.

“Sometimes—” she chokes out, “sometimes I wonder if I forgot these things on purpose. With my water powers, I—I could have just taken them away. Saved myself the pain I feel now.”

Scott’s been close to just driving ice through her ankles for the past three minutes, but those words give him pause. “I—how would that work?”

Lizzie shrugs. “Memories are fluid.”

“No—”

“Shut up, Major,” hisses Joel. “Are you with us, or not?”

He’s definitely not with them, thank you very much. How can he be? They want to kill Solidarity, and Scott has found himself inexorably in support of the man. But some of the things Lizzie had said. . . .

Unfortunately, Scott can relate. Solidarity had killed his own father, even if it wasn’t by blood. He knows where her anger, her grief, is coming from. Just thinking of Aeor makes his chest ache, even after all this time.

But judging by the admittedly very brief and confusing conversation he had with Solidarity, no harm he does is on purpose. He can’t control his powers. And right now, no matter what the Mad King says, he is not in control of himself.

These two aren’t going to sway from their task. The revenge Lizzie seeks is what’s pushing them forward, and she won’t believe anything Scott tries to tell her.

And as much as he hates it, he needs them. He’s been searching for Solidarity for months with no results. He can’t keep going on alone.

They’ve set up a plan already. He just needs to follow along with it, then double-cross them later and save Solidarity.

Or maybe he can convince them that Solidarity deserves a chance.

Strange bedfellows, he thinks to himself. Now lie in it.

“I’ll help,” he says aloud. Joel shoots up, shakes his hand, telling him he won’t regret it and the like. Scott waits until he’s led back out of the building and until he’s skating home to call the mayor.

“Xornoth’s getting dangerous,” he says. “They’re my responsibility. I’m going to be doing some strange things, all right? Just know that whatever happens, it’s all part of the plan.”

-

Gem waves her staff, sends a bolt of purple lightning out, but Jimmy sidesteps it and keeps stalking toward her, his bad leg making his limp prominent.

His master is just watching. They'd pointed at Gem, they'd said "Attack," and they'd left Jimmy to it. He's not sure how far they expect him to go. He finds he doesn't care. He's being good. He's being a very good boy.

Gem's on the ground, scrambling back and away from him, and she looks scared. Good. He needs to be feared.

There's people watching this fight, a small crowd and a news van, but they're silent, holding a collective breath.

Then a couple of younger guys join the crowd, and as Jimmy is closing in on Gem, one of them shouts out in an annoying, high-pitched voice, "Canary! Step on me!"

Jimmy's head whips to find them in the crowd, their obnoxious floral button-up, and it's barely a moment and barely a disaster (it's just their shoes catching fire, it's really not much at all), but Xornoth hisses in his ear.

"Pet, your task," they tell him through the crackle of his comms, and Jimmy turns away from the panicked shouts and stamping and back to Gem, who has regained her feet and is holding her staff out threateningly.

"Stay away," she says shakily, taking a step back for every one of Jimmy's steps forward. Jimmy gathers what adrenaline he can, feels it thrum through his veins, and directs it at her.

It's one of his more powerful hits, and Jimmy takes a couple of steps away as leaves swirl down, faster and faster, the wind picking up around Gem as she cries out and is suddenly surrounded by a mini twister. It manages to pick her up and carry her several meters before she breaks it apart with a purple blast of energy, stumbling out and to her knees.

"What on earth is your power?" she gasps, brushing her hair out of her face. Jimmy doesn’t respond, just keeps pushing toward her.

He’s tired. He’s not sure he has the energy to do much more power-wise. He’s flagging fast, months of the bare minimum amount of food and sleep catching up. He doesn’t stumble, though. He’s better trained than that.

He doesn’t mind physical combat, he supposes. Anything to keep fighting.

Gem’s again scrambling back, eyes flicking back and forth between the staff that had been torn from her hands with the twister and Jimmy. 

Jimmy flicks a knife out of an inside pocket, grips it tight in his trembling hand. He’s winning this fight.

Or not, because just as he’s about to leap onto Gem, a blast of ice knocks him aside. Great. Incredible. Just what he needed.

Jimmy struggles to his feet, wincing as his bad leg shifts a bit in its socket. He checks on Gem—she's gotten her staff back—and then looks up.

Major's up there, coming down an ice slide from a high window. He lands with a flourish in the middle of the intersection where Jimmy and Gem fight, waves cheerily to the now-growing crowd.

"Hey, Xornoth. Hello, Canary. Good to see you, Gem," Major says loudly with a nod to each of them. Jimmy steals a glance at Xornoth, sees their thunderous expression, and turns back toward Gem. Xornoth told him to fight Gem. He can do that.

Major's saying something, and Xornoth is spitting something back, but he doesn't hear any of it because he has to focus on Gem. He has to take her down. His master told him to attack and he can’t stop, he can’t disappoint them, he can’t be in trouble. . . .

Something hits him from behind and Jimmy crumples, his forehead smacking against asphalt. There’s a weight on his back, and even as he flails he can’t become free—this isn’t good, something’s on top of him and he needs to get back up—

What are you doing? a voice whispers in his head. Jimmy bucks at the sound, foreign and unasked-for and intruding. It’s terrifying—there’s something in his head and he doesn’t know what and he wants it gone. “Master,” he whispers, hoping his comms pick it up. The feeling of something pushing at his brain, the voice, rears back for a second before pushing again.

Why do you follow them?

Unbidden, unwanted, images flash through Jimmy’s mind. The beeping of a machine as skin is grafted from him by faceless scientists. Feeling the stitches behind his ear. The cage. Xornoth fixing the collar around his neck. The cage. Xornoth holding him as he sobs, soaking wet. Underground as he raises his arms. Xornoth’s steady hand guiding his knife maneuvers. The cage. His leash. He’s a pet. He does what he’s told.

“Oh, no,” someone says out loud, but before Jimmy can move to throw the weight off his back, there’s a hand reaching around to his face—he shakes his head, but it presses over his eyes—

There’s a pop and a burst and the weight—a person, he knows now—goes flying.

Jimmy rolls onto his side and takes a short breath before stumbling up, shaking out his glider. Some part of it is bent; he’ll have to make sure to straighten it out and give it to Xornoth before the next battle.

On the ground about twenty feet away to the right is the Mad King, groaning as he sits up. On the ground about ten feet to the left is Gem, staring fearfully at her own staff, which lies on the road before her.

Jimmy stares between them. He’s been commanded to attack Gem, but the Mad King is clearly a threat. He can’t keep his back unguarded. He can’t disobey his orders.

His comms crackle, and Jimmy glances up to see Xornoth held by a tentacle in the sky, Major creating spike after spike of ice to leap up to them.

“Incapacitate the wizard,” Xornoth tells him. “I need her. Get rid of the Mad King in any way you see fit, but do not focus on him. The wizard Gem is your main focus, pet.”

Jimmy nods, turns toward Gem. The Mad King shouts something, but he ignores it. He limps forward, straightens his glider straps. 

Gem looks up at him, eyes wide, opens her mouth—

A stoplight above her bursts, an entire bulb falling out. It falls, quicker and quicker, and Jimmy has a moment of thinking that it’s larger than he expected before it slams into Gem’s head and shatters. She’s limp on the ground in barely a moment, eyes closed, blood streaming down her forehead, glass shards around her.

Right. That’s that taken care of. He turns to the Mad King, only to see the man standing, arms outstretched defensively.

"I won't hurt you if I don't have to," the Mad King says, backing away a little. "You can come with us, Solidarity. Make it easier."

For a moment Jimmy doesn't even register the use of that name, but when it processes he stumbles. Do people know who he is? His eyes flick up to Major, who is hand-to-hand with Xornoth.

"It wasn't Major who told me," the Mad King says, calling Jimmy's attention back to him. “I figured it out on my own. Come with me, and I won’t hurt you.”

Jimmy’s mission isn’t to go with the Mad King. It’s to get him out of the way by any means possible.

He’s tired, maybe too tired to use his powers, but he can’t get in close combat with the Mad King at risk of losing his senses. He shudders, recalling just moments ago when the foreign voice had pulled at his brain. His best bet might be to collect Gem and run. The van is waiting not too far away, surely he can get there if he causes something small to happen?

He throws his arm out wide in the Mad King’s direction, hoping for anything to happen. Thankfully, there must be something left in his steadily draining energy reserves. The scar behind his ear buzzes with heat, sparks traveling down his arm, and the Mad King is bowled over by a runaway trash can.

Jimmy blinks back the fuzzy blackness that encroaches on the edges of his vision, turns back to Gem. He doesn’t think he can lift her. He hasn’t done any sort of weight training since . . . well, he’d only just restarted his workout regime after . . . before. . . .

It doesn’t matter, anyway, because a tentacle picks Gem up and drags her unconscious body away. Jimmy nods, begins to follow, when a small chunk of asphalt whizzes over his shoulder.

He spins around to find the Mad King standing, another rock in hand. “You can’t just leave!”

It’s all Jimmy can do to not roll his eyes before waving his arm again. The exact same trash can, which had happened to rebound off a spontaneous ice spike, rams into the Mad King from the other direction and again sends him to the asphalt. Again, Jimmy blinks away darkness. He needs to get out of here.

The crowd is so very, very loud, the fight itself full of shouts and crashes, and Jimmy’s already so tired. . . .

Before he can begin to limp back to the van, though, a tentacle grabs him around the waist and lifts him into the air. For a moment panic seizes his throat, certain that he’s going to be dragged up to fight Major (he doesn’t have enough energy he can’t do it but he’ll do it if his master commands), but it only carries him to the van and sets him down gently beside it.

He clambers into the back of the van, holds his hands out for the guard there to cuff them together. Gem is in his usual place on the floor, blood drying on the bright red hair splayed out around her. Jimmy looks down at her impassively, squished to the side, while the van starts up, then pulls away jerkily.

Xornoth isn’t back when they arrive at the manor, so the guards lead him directly to his cell, dragging Gem in with him. They leave her there, on the floor, while Jimmy takes a seat on the bed and lets them uncuff him.

They bring him half a loaf of stale bread and leave.

Jimmy stares down at Gem.

There’s another person in his cell. That’s not right. This is his cell. This is where he sleeps and eats and drinks and stares into space to contemplate death and eternity, not where people intrude to lie on his floor.

Is Xornoth getting another pet?

Jimmy feels his chest puff out at the idea, the idea that Xornoth would even consider it. He’s Xornoth’s pet, Xornoth’s perfect bird. They don’t need anyone else.

And Jimmy wouldn’t wish this fate on anyone else.

He knows what’s expected of him when Xornoth isn’t here, so Jimmy stands and strips off his gloves, followed by his musketeer hat and his glider and coat. He pauses, glaces at Gem, still motionless on the floor. He shouldn’t undress in front of her, right?

He flinches as he feels the phantom crack of a cane across his shoulder blades. He knows the punishment for not complying. He quickly pulls off the rest of the costume, leaving the Canary mask for last, for which he covers his face with his coat to hide until he can replace it with his plain black mask. Then he’s left in a mask and his collar and shorts, and it’s right. This is how he’s supposed to be. He gathers up the heavy bundle of clothes off the bed and places them in a heap by the door. Someone will come in while he’s asleep to take them.

He stretches a moment, feels rather than finds a sore patch on his chest that will certainly become a bruise soon. Then he lays back on the bed, eats a slice of bread, and promptly falls asleep.

-

“Wake up.”

Jimmy rolls off the bed, is on his knees before he even has opened his eyes. When he does, he finds that the person standing over him is neither a guard nor his master. It’s—right. Gem.

She watches him, eerie with the dried blood still coating her hair, waits until he meets her eyes to begin speaking.

“Where am I?” she demands. “What’s going on? If you tell me where we are, Solidarity, I promise I’ll try and get the judge to be lenient with your sentence.”

Oh, great. More people who know who he is. Jimmy doesn’t reply. She isn’t Xornoth and she doesn’t get to have his voice.

He rises from creaking knees, glances longingly back at the bed. He needs some water, though. His throat feels like it might just crack apart.

He limps over to the sink, jiggles the knob until it turns on. Gem follows him, undeterred.

“What are we doing here? Where have you been? Why . . . why aren’t you wearing clothes?”

Jimmy cups his hands, drinks a bit. The handcuffs are back on. Someone must’ve come in while he slept.

He shouldn’t have slept through that. He must be more tired than he thought.

Gem’s got cuffs too, he notices out of the corner of his eye. Maybe she is a pet.

He splashes some water on his face, shuts the sink off. Gem is tapping her foot, glaring at him pointedly. He’s not sure what she expects. He’s just a pet. He’s a pet. He has to be a pet.

He should probably give her the bed. He really doesn’t want to, but he’s used to the floor and she’s a girl, so he can let her have it. He’s just a pet, after all.

He points at her, then gestures to the bed, before moving to the middle of the room and easing himself down to the floor. The sack of bread is still there. He digs a slice out of it, tears a piece off and pops it into his mouth. Gem doesn’t move from by the sink and toilet, eyes narrowed.

“Why am I handcuffed?” she asks. Jimmy doesn’t know. He tears off and eats another piece of his bread slice. He’s tired. He’s always tired. He can’t have slept long if he’s still this exhausted.

“How long was I unconscious?” Gem seems to read his thoughts, and Jimmy would be scared if he didn’t already know her powers. He doesn’t know, anyways. Long enough that he’s handcuffed and the Canary costume is gone. Not long enough for him to feel properly rested.

He finishes eating the slice of bread and takes another before Gem speaks again.

“Why won’t you talk?”

Jimmy hunches his shoulders, stares down at the bread. He doesn’t want to talk to her. His voice is for Xornoth.

But they’re going to hurt her, aren’t they? There’s no other reason for her to be here, in his cell, handcuffed. They’re going to experiment on her and hurt her and chain her to the table leg. That’s—that’s not good.

He has to help her.

Gem sits carefully on the edge of the bed, fingers tapping on her knee. “I don’t understand,” she admits. “Have you been here the whole time? Where’s the Canary?”

Oh, so she doesn’t know that he’s the Canary. Jimmy’s not sure if that’s a good thing or not. He glances at the door, then back at her.

“Is Xornoth keeping you prisoner?” she asks quietly, gesturing to Jimmy’s wrists. 

Prisoner?

Maybe once upon a time, long ago. Jimmy’s not a prisoner anymore. Not really. He belongs here.

He hates it he hates it he hates it.

“Are you . . . able? To talk?”

It would be so easy to shake his head. Instead he twists his bread between his fingers and nods jerkily. Gem huffs.

“Then why don’t you?”

Because he doesn’t want to. Because he only speaks when Xornoth commands it. Because speaking never gets him anywhere except in more pain. Because he can’t stand the sound of his own voice.

He shrugs.

Gem sighs quietly, looks around the room. Her head hurts, Jimmy can tell. He can tell in the tenseness of her jaw, the way her eyes move slowly and blink frequently, the way her fists clench. He’s had bad headaches before.

“I don’t understand what they want with me,” she mutters, her gaze falling back to Jimmy. “Major’s the one who’s been looking for you.”

What?

Jimmy snuffs that hope out before he can even feel it. He’s here. He lives here. He is here. He’s a pet. He doesn’t have hope, except hope to go outside and hope that Xornoth will be kind. He’s good for the devil and he doesn’t dream of anyone rescuing him from Hell.

Gem goes quiet then, and after a couple of minutes, she cautiously eases her legs onto the bed. Jimmy finishes his crumbling bread, crawls to the corner and curls up the best he can. He doesn’t take his eyes off Gem, who doesn’t take her eyes off him.

She’s not supposed to be here. This is his cell. He’s always been alone here, he’s supposed to be alone here. This is where he’s safe, safe to sit by himself and breathe and maybe think a traitorous thought like how much he hates his master—

He shakes his head, as if that’ll push the thought away. He can’t. He can’t think those things. He’s a pet. Those are dangerous, bad thoughts to be having.

He hates them so much.

He pushes that thought away, too, and the next one. Jimmy falls asleep like that, Gem watching him, trying not to think such horrible things about his master.

He wakes when the door slams open, and Jimmy shoots up onto his knees with his head bowed submissively and his hands down. Gem doesn’t do that, only stirs a bit and groans. A sick feeling washes over Jimmy. They’re going to hurt her so very badly for disobeying.

They don’t, yet. The guards hit the bed, yell at her to get up, and Gem does, slower than Jimmy ever would. A guard smacks the back of his head and he turns his focus back on his hands.

Once Gem is fully up, standing between two guards, Jimmy is dragged up by his collar, his leash clipped onto it. Only then do they release him, keeping a hold of the leash and Jimmy steals a glance in Gem’s direction to find her mouth curled in disgust. He bites his lip. He knows he’s disgusting.

His bad leg is stiff today, leaving him limping as he’s dragged down the hallway, then a left turn to a different hallway that disorients him because they don’t go this way ever, but then his eyes catch on a familiar stone bust and he realizes.

They’re going to the ballroom.

The place with the cage.

Jimmy’s halted in his steps before he even knows it, blood rushing in his ears. The guard leading him yanks on the leash, pulling him back into a stumbling walk. He can’t—he didn’t do anything, he didn’t disobey any orders, he’s been good—he’s not going down without a fight—

He braces himself as they enter the room, as he sees the cage beside the throne, the throne where Xornoth currently lounges. He gets ready to dig his heels in, to pull at his leash, but he’s taken by surprise when a guard behind him shoves him and he windmills forward until he reaches Xornoth, who gestures to their knee.

Jimmy stares blankly, even as the guard holding him loops the leash around the arm of the throne. His eyes linger on the cage, then turn back to Xornoth, who coos sweetly and pats their knee again. Slowly, carefully, Jimmy lowers himself to the ground, rests his head on their knee.

“What kind of kink—” Gem starts to say behind him, but she cuts herself off with a grunt. Jimmy readjusts so that he’s facing her, on her knees before the dais, guards all around her.

He closes his eyes briefly, presses into Xornoth’s leg. He’s not going in the cage. Xornoth isn’t putting him in the cage.

“Good boy,” Xornoth murmurs, scratching at Jimmy’s head for a moment. His master has rested since the battle. That’s good. Xornoth is angrier when they’re tired.

“The Wizard Gemini, am I correct?” Xornoth says, voice silky smooth. Gem says nothing, just glowers at them. They slowly run a hand through Jimmy’s hair, rolling strands between their gloved fingers. Jimmy lets his eyes flutter shut, but he doesn’t relax. Not when the cage is right there. 

“You could prove quite useful to me.”

“I don’t want to be useful to you!”

A laugh, a light tug on his hair. “She’s feisty, isn’t she, puppy?”

Jimmy swallows, manages a whispered, “Yes, master.”

Xornoth’s hand vanishes, and Jimmy doesn’t move. “In one way or another, Wizard Gem, you will comply,” Xornoth says, voice booming. “You could join me willingly, enjoy all the comforts of my usual associates.”

Gem snorts. “What, and end up like him?”

Jimmy doesn’t need to open his eyes to know she’s talking about him. Xornoth lays a hand on the back of his neck.

“Oh, my little bird is a special case,” they croon, and Jimmy just knows they’re giving him that terrifyingly possessive look. “He didn’t have the choice I give you. His pitiful dreams of escape have been fun to train out of him. Isn’t that right, pet?”

Jimmy can’t help the full-body shudder that seizes him before he croaks, “Yes, master.” Xornoth hums, turns their attention back to Gem.

“You won’t be my pet, I assure you,” they say, and relief washes over Jimmy, filling his throat with a sickly feeling.

He’s not relieved that she’s escaped this fate. He’s relieved that he’s going to remain his master’s only pet. He’s relieved that there will be no one to take Xornoth’s attention from him.

He wishes he’d done it then, when he could, when he had the leash and was alone in his cell. He can’t help but wonder if they would’ve stopped him in time, if they would’ve noticed.

“So, what will it be?” Xornoth says, and Jimmy tunes back in to the conversation. “Join me willingly, or be forced to?”

“I’ll never join you!”

Jimmy almost scoffs when Xornoth does. Everyone joins them eventually.

“Take her away—and not to my pet’s cell. The cellar, perhaps.” Their hand finds Jimmy’s hair again, toys with it gently. “I don’t want her putting any sort of ideas in my pet’s head.”

Jimmy sighs, quieter than quiet. He hates them. He needs them. They keep him safe. They hurt him. He’s fine. He’s—

Gem screams, and Jimmy’s eyes shoot open. The guards are dragging her away, and she’s lashing out—with a blast of purple from her fingertips one gets blown to the other side of the room—Xornoth watches passively as the other guards leap on her, their tasers crackling. She screams again, louder, filled with pain, and all Jimmy can see of her is her red braids, but the ropy scar plastered down his side burns in sympathy. Those stun batons hurt.

Once she goes limp, they drag her from the room. The guard who had been thrown across to hit the wall is sitting up, groaning, another guard helping him. Xornoth’s fingers curl around Jimmy’s ear.

“Such a perfect bird, aren’t you, darling?” Xornoth says absently, and Jimmy can’t help but rest his head a bit more comfortably on their lap. He’s a good pet, and Xornoth seems to think so too. He’s behaved himself so very well lately, hasn’t had any punishments in a little while. He’s been so good.

He settles in once it becomes apparent that Xornoth has no plans on moving, resting his entire body against the throne and his head still propped up on Xornoth’s knee. It’s quiet, still but for Xornoth’s occasional adjustments as they type something up on their tablet.

Jimmy doesn’t exactly doze, but he shifts into a lower state of functioning, unmoving and barely-there, even as the touch in his hair grows tenser and pulls harder.

"Pet," Xornoth says, rousing Jimmy from not-sleep. "You belong to me."

Jimmy's silent until Xornoth yanks hard on his hair, prompting a squeaked, "Yes, master!"

"Hm." Xornoth is quiet again, for long enough that Jimmy feels secure in letting his eyes close.

"How long since your last punishment, pet?"

He doesn't know. He really doesn't. It's impossible to keep track of days here, in his windowless cell with no clock. But Xornoth is waiting on an answer, and Jimmy can't disappoint.

"A—a week, master?"

The fingers move from his hair to caress his cheek, pressing into his face a bit harder than expected.

"I have a choice for you, puppy. Look at me."

Jimmy turns, his leash jangling. It's cold in here, he realizes as his head leaves Xornoth's leg. He holds back a shiver and faces them, not quite meeting their eyes but very clearly paying attention.

"The first choice is a public example," they tell him. Jimmy instantly wants to vomit. Not that choice.

A smile curls those blackened lips. "The second is the cage."

#empires smp #esmp #empires fanfic #jimmy solidarity #mas writes #empires superpowers au #esh au #i sorta want to name this au something cool #but also like. #then i'd have to change all the tags #and i have no ideas for cool names #clearly it would have to be on brand #by which i mean all the titles in this series are pulled from the same poem #which is why the two main fics rhyme! #i picked a couplet on purpose for those lol #do we like sausage now? is that a thing? #i'm frankly somewhat attached to him in this fic #he's a megamind kind of villain #we love it #anyways lmk what you think! #love you guys

[beatcroc]

there's no way the bathroom at peppino's pizza is actually that big but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . hey ummm anyway.... i care them...... anyway there's a lil ramble on my take on fake pep's like psyche or whatever in tags on the og post if ur into that kinda thing :y

hey! it's a series! fake peppino world tour: [noise] [noisette] [peppino]<- u are here [gustavo] [gerome] [noisette again]

#ramble after realtags yeag. shoutout to serrangelic btw suggesting the silhouettes thing bc i would have Died otherwise #pizza tower #peppino spaghetti #fake peppino #gustavo and brick #arting #pizzaposting #so anyway i think fake peppino has like. a general awareness that he is supposed to Be Peppino and that he was Made to do that #and likewise he does generally try to...do that. the thing he does NOT realize is hes like really goddamn bad at it #not to be mean but like...c'mon. they are pretty distinctly different kinds of guys even beyond the physiology yknow. #he's neither on-brand nor fooling anyone dsjdsjjkgfsd. BUT! #since the rest of the cast generally likes him [at least as I play it] he thinks hes doing just fine #he's like 'oh they r happy with me so i must be getting a good grade in being peppino :)' #so getting told that 'yeah you actually really suck at that but that was never the reason people liked you' #and told that by og model peppino no less--yknow THE guy he's supposed to be living up to #who's already a bit intimidating for that and who ALSO totally wrecked him TWICE in the tower #making him acutely familiar with just how formidable the guy is and how much there IS to live up to.... #it's a Moment for sure. not really a sad or hurt one though. just... contemplative. #thinking abt people liking him for being the guy he's already naturally been being even though that guy is Not Peppino #i don't think he's gonna be super broken up about realizing he has a bad grade in peppino given everything else hes got now #nor do i really think he cares enough to go like reinvent himself or whatever after the fact #he seems to b pretty clearly having fun with it already so i think he just keeps doing that #and in some cases he still has the pre-installed peppino traits/instincts like to cooka da pizza. and that's fine #is this projection. yes. but if youve been following me awhile you know most of my character writing is ghdhfdgf #gonna kinda expand on all this in the gerome one which is...one after next. itll be a bit but man. #anyway peppino will never admit to anyone and especially not himself that he's gotten a little attached to the guy. hee hoo #pep tends to be kinda surly but he certainly has his ways of showing he cares. all of which are on display here #''that thing is not my son'' says man currently watching thing's antics with the 'bemused dad' arms crossed pose. yeah ok buddy. #gus is totally onto him already but hes not gonna say anything. #if u read all this ur prize is not having to go decode fp's rot13. his lines are ''meant to be you...?'' and ''wrong question.''

[robinfrinjs]

Next season's FE grid gonna be so insane

#I said it before but like wec hypercar comes as well and most in contention for that are older drivers #that would have had to choose #and the way gen 3 is going there's an easy decision #like andre is definitely leaving i'd say - i mean he initially wasn't even gonna be there this year #clearly prioritizes wec etc #though depends a little on the calendar as well #robin's also said he doesn't enjoy fe anymore and wants to do hypercar - though he did say doing double would be technically possibnle #but also depends what the big hypercar brand says

[icewindandboringhorror]

I love all of these goofy product photos where the water bottle is extremely obviously just photoshopped onto a stock image of someone pretending to hold something or whatever.. very convincing..

#the last one where the water bottle is like nearly the size of the woman's entire leg ghbjbjhh #ALSO I know.. gross.. nasty.. amazon.. I was only looking there because I was trying to find an exact replica of an old water bottle #I bought like 6 years ago in a store and I just wanted another one of those and it seemed like the only place the old manufacturer #still sold was through amazon but.. alas.. I think they just don't make them anymore. so I have abandoned my hunt #I didn't actually buy anything. but I did get distracted clicking through product images for a few of them #it's bizarre how like............... idk.. WHY is this done??? Isn't this offputting to basically ANY potential customer?? or do people #not look at every photo/read the entire page/all product information before buying?? #all of these are from like front page ''top sellers'' or whatever like........... how does this not hurt the brand???? #If the company can't even bother to take a single photo of a real life person using their real life product then... that to me #is kind of red flaggy..?? even if you're an indie start up small business with hardly any funds.. still #A real photo of the product you are selling in a real actual non-photo shopped environment does not seem that inacessible #Maybe it's because everyone does everything on phones now?? So it's harder to see the pictures when they're smaller? #Kind of the same thing with ai art and also hair color photoshops lol.. On my full comptuer screen it is SOOO easy to spot ai art #like IMMEDIATELy from the little tells and ways certain details morph into each other etc. I dont even mean obvious dalle mini stuff but #like the Fancy High Quality Photorealistic AI art is still pretty blatant 98% of the time if you know what to look for. But I still catch #people sharing it a lot like 'omg where can I buy this pair of shoes!! :O <3' .. erm you cannot.. that is the most balatantly fake looking #pair of shoes I have seen in my life hhjbj.. the heels are both different heights. there's a different number of straps on each one. etc. #AND that phase back before colored hair was Mainstream and people would post photos like 'omg going to bring this to the salon!! dream hair #and it's like.. you can LITERALLY see the parts where it's 'colored outside of the lines' and is so clearly just a person with blond hair #that someone drew over with a tint brush or something not even very neatly. etc. etc. ANYWAY.. Maybe with phones it's harder to tell these #things?? To me so much of it is instantly recognizable and it's suprising to me that people either don't notice or don't care and will #interact with it anyway by buying the product or acting like some ai art fake furniture is real or etc. etc. ..hewwoo #Aslo sidenote - I think I've become soo cynical and tired of constantly being advertised to that I literally cannot shop without getting #exhausted. I do not see how marketing is anything but obnoxious and transparent. Every item description having stuff like ''Our company is #commited to bringing you the highest quality water products! we set out with a mission to bring high quality products to people all over #the world and we believe in spreading health and happiness and'' just like SHUT THE HELL UP!! youre a fucking company #you don't ''beleive'' in anything you are here to sell a product. stop trying to talk like you're my bff who cares deeply about my health #or something just tell me the materials and product specifications of your stupid fucking water bottle and move on. Idont need to hear your #whole bullshit spiel about what ~your company stands for~ that is SO much MORE offputting. you make me want to buy the item LESS.. #longing for the type of ads from my 1800s magazines that are just like 'this product is good. please buy it. okay thank you much. bye'

[akkivee]

please I want that thing with nemu and inori and tsukuyomi to be real??? trying to save inori from getting stuck in the same position as her and tsukuyomi having a plan to get them out... and maybe girlfriends

it would be so dope if nemu wasn’t brainwashed and was trying to protect inori’s righteous views of chuuoku but tsukuyomi is bent on waking her up lol like in a messed up way, tsukuyomi is looking out for inori by exposing the truth!!!!!

#vee got an ask #protect inori division lowkey lol #i kinda want them to be girlfriends of the enemies to lovers brand #like they clearly respect each other’s heart despite not agreeing with each other lol #tho being on the same side as we watch inori’s descent into radicalism (what we wished nemu could have had lol) #and they’re on the same side in the end 😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫 #IT WOULD BE PEAK 😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫

[leatherbookmark]

i love how passionate and emotional fic seongjoong is when irl they're like... an arranged marriage... lol

#not to say that they don't like each other or anything but. atz in particular seem quite aware (and not hiding it) of the practice of #ships -- not as in 'fans produce fanworks of you' but rather 'fans like your dynamics! play it up a little' #and the leader + the second 'highest' member are almost always shipped together as the 'mom' and 'dad' #which kind of doesn't make sense because a marriage usually precedes having children but in kpop is like. well here's a group and you're #two eldest members so you automatically get the mom/dad positions. sometimes it works -- whether automatically or because the #aforementioned members feel the need to take care of other members as they're the eldest -- but sometimes the dynamic is clearly #just there for the fans. and i can't help but notice that a whole bunch of 'moments' in 'seongjoong compilations' are like... not authentic #moments of them enjoying their time together but them being awkward/having awkward banter/doing fanservice during fanmeetings #and that's Different from the organic air ie woosan have #this is not to make fun of seongjoong fans because I PERSONALLY put very dramatic seongjoong in my hashtag Fic Verse #but then my fic verse was kickstarted because of that hwalazia magic and a single line in atz diary from fever 1. so it is. shall we say. #not particularly canon-inspired. #but i WOULD kill and die for every single fanfiction in which seongjoong aren't romantic sweethearts at the first sight but rather Struggle #i feel like Struggling is this... sort of a facet of their Brand... and so is mutually taking care of each other lol #they're like. this arranged marriage couple who grew to care about each other. not like 'oh shit two months in i realized i'm incredibly in #love with my spouse!' but 'yeah yknow what i like you here. stay' #good afternoon everyone enjoy this meandering and probably incorrect analysis of a relationship between two kpop lads #shrimp thoughts

[kurapikaschai]

so tired I hate retail so bad

#just got home from a convention and my mom had a booth in the bazaar #customers can be sooooooo 😑😑😑😑 #anyways this one lady was like why is this dress 50 its not designer it doesnt have a tag #well excuse me even tho it's not designer these are custom made by tailors in bangladesh??? theyre ethically made and honestly #they should be priced higher so everyone gets paid well (my aunt picks out the fabrics‚ tailors make them and then my mom sells in u.s. #and then people were trying to haggle like make a $50 dress for $20 EXCUSE ME #like just because my mom doesnt have a brand people think its okay to bargain like you would never haggle at macys #😭😭😭😭😭 someone even called my mom a robber in bengali #and then oh my god there was a lady wearing a dress clearly shein or smth and when i said the price of one of the dresses she was like hmph #the dress im wearing rn was $30 #like okay whatever im not begging u to buy the dress there are other people willing to buy it #alhamdulillah though business went well for my mom but ugh never again 😭

[waywardtrek]

On the rare occasion when i see sunnyblr like “oooooh i hope rcg never witness how much we macdennis truth/go hard for sunny/meta til our eyeballs bleed on here etc. EMBARRASSING lol” like have you seen rcg? watched the sunny podcast?

those are the three most beautifully unhinged, undiagnosed adhd-iest, different-zones-of-the-autism-spectrumiest, neurodivergent motherfuckers i have ever had the pleasure to witness up close. like the holy neurodiv triumvirate lol. hell, they’re probably all already on tumblr, relentlessly liking/reblogging posts of sunny memes and other hyperfixations lol. good for them

^^posting this today, in light of certain updates, but pinkie promise you it sat in my drafts - without useful tags - for an entire three weeks (thanks, adhd and anxiety LOL). Anyway, good for rob for talking about it and being brave enough to do a whole podcast about it, very inspiring.

#rcg #rob mcelhenney #charlie would have a film blog obvs #rob is all about sweaty hogs and macdennis #and glenn would soak up every single drop of glennis juice and savor it like the queen he is #oh and also macdennis on the downlow hahaha #no but jokes aside though #rcg are the exact brand of unhinged to belong on here #and they know it's more fun to stay anon from your irl persona #and this is a hill i will die on #ps don’t come at me for neurodiv stuff because i am RIGHT THERE with ya pal #clearly lol #i think I have approximately three ppl who follow me for Sunny stuff anyway amongst my usually slew of random shitposting haha

[ayrennaranaaldmeri]

saw the horrible covers on jennifer english's shadowheart playlist. inconsolable.

#tbd #would it be on brand with Shadowheart to have at least some bad taste tho #probably #putting those abominable covers of friday i'm in love and everybody wants to rule the world tho...why..... #this is a joke but clearly Samantha and Tim had the taste #tim downie put florence + the machine on there #HE IS A MAN OF FUCKING TASTE #ok jennifer did too but still #some crimes (phoebe bridgers and lorde) cannot be forgiven with fatm #(or maybe they can be delete the covers and put shake it out there instead)

[pankomako]

sometimes i think about interactions boat and i have had and things he's said to/about me over the years and it makes me feel as though i must occupy some little space in his heart. like i live in his mind rent-free the way he does for me, although not nearly to the same extent lmao.

speak of the goddamn devil i just got a steam notification he's playing tf2

anyway i never thought i'd have that kind of effect on a person, much less my favorite content creator. but it sure appears to be that way, and idk. it makes me feel special. warms my heart n all that :)

#was one of two people to give me their phone number when i had to drop off of discord 2 years ago #never took advantage of it though (shy (also we have different brands of phones so texting probably wouldnt work right #other person was an irl friend (never contacted them either #i remember one time YEARS ago when he was wanting to read jjba on stream or smth like that #him: it's like REALLY not family friendly me: well i shouldnt watch bc i am a Child him: no its ok you dont have to skip It's very dirty th #like guy clearly just wanted me there bc he enjoys my company And he's said he does! i remember him saying he likes seeing me in chat #and once again he was the one that wanted me on the staff team when usually the staff pick new recruits and boat has final say #and apparently he's talked about me to his other friends. that's kinda where the old Time to Mod in-joke started #he was using voice to text to talk to whoever and said my username but the thing misinterpreted it #that coupled with the meme drawing i did that he edited so it's him just saying 'pain'. eventually that dumb fucking image spawned #and then there was the night he spammed it and spam mentioned me in chat when he was streaming while i was ASLEEP #once we were in a vc and he was like 'wow i'd forgotten what your voice sounded like' NEVER heard him say that to anyone else. What #dont even get me started with him and my artwork (man would probably flip tf out seeing what i can do now LOL) #guy literally wanted ME to design an official tff logo but at that point they were kinda slowing down so it never happened #but yeahno i just. ugh. our friendship means a lot to me. i am ITCHING to speak to him again you have no idea #and to just give him a big ol hug. been wanting that for such a long time #quite frankly a friendship dynamic like no other ive seen #dont mind me REMINISCING. im sooo sappy about him he's the most important guy in the world to me #if god exists he knew we'd be too powerful if we grew up together

[angelrtsy95]

He won’t even look at Eliot, except when he’s making a mean point.

Eliot looks so sad. And he’s all mumbles and shoulders curled inwards and quietness. I don’t like it!

He was abandoned at a hospital? Poor boys abandonment issues go ALL the way back don’t they?

#leverage #Leverage Redemption #Leverage Spoilers #eliot spencer #poor sweet thing just wants to make peace with his father. #but the man is CLEARLY holding a grudge. #it has to have been 30+ years since eliot enlisted and left town. #assuming character and actor are about the same age eliot would've been enlisting right in time for #not great times basically. #lots of conflicts where the us military would definitely have made very evil use of eliot. #is it a good or bad thing to consider that he was out and already or soon to be working for moreau by the early 2000s? #i mean plus side he wouldn't have still been participating in the us military brand of war crimes in the middle east post 9/11 #but Moreau would probably have been working the smaller but in some ways eviler scale. #ok so that was a depressing thought....

[ayakashibackstreet]

Local failcringe IT reject boy once again mourning the fact he can't solder

#why did my stupid IT high school didn't teach me how to solder #To be fair #they didn't even teach me how to apply thermal compound to a CPU #legit only learned it during my apprenticeship #wish they taught me soldering too :(( fixing printers was fun but soldering would have been more useful #basically my headphones would use repairs #as in #they have a detachable wire #and the mini jack port is clearly damaged #A replacement port would probably run me around 15PLN #and uhhhh new headphones would run me at least 180PLN soooooo #yeahhh #I could always buy that port and ask my dad to try and replace it #I could ask him to lend me his soldering iron and attempt it myself??????? (he wouldn't lend me his soldering iron) #I could also look for a repair shop that'd do it but they'd probably take the equivalent of brand new headphones lol #mine were literally doing so well 10/10 they started fucking up at the beginning of the month #they're my little boyes I don't want to replace them #they're only like 3 years old

[husband-steve-cortez]

Rewatching Russian Doll and once again thinking it would be so fucking funny if Eric and Reyes had what Nadia and John have, even though it makes no sense.

"Do me a favor John, alright? Just start fucking other people okay? It's been six months!"

#oc: Eric Ryder #it's also the way Nadia wants other people to be there for her while being flaky #but calling herself ~independent~ #Eric could be that kind of asshole #that's not the brand of asshole he is towards Reyes; and he's much more like Alan than Nadia #but idk I always think about Reyes and Eric being technically broken up but still being involved #and Eric is just. A dick. Towards Reyes #who still kind of wants to get back together with Eric. For reasons unfathomable but love isn't logical #I think the way John is so like. Ridiculous about Nadia. He wants so badly to get back with her #despite how she's clearly treated him. Against all reason. And she scoffs so hard at the idea #of them being anything more than fuck buddies. Taunts him mercilessly. #'I want to be together John' #that's some shit Eric *would* say to Reyes #I just have to figure out how to make this fit with Reyes being like. A shady clever criminal mastermind

[apathyfairy]

my whole life ive been thinking im an old soul bc everyone would tell me i was bc i was “serious” and quiet and shy as a kid and riddled with social anxiety so i was like ok. i must be then. and now im realizing im not lmao like honestly as stupid as it sounds i think that was putting pressure on me to know how to live my life and what to do all the time but now im like oh im new no wonder im afraid of absolutely everything and i cant function and everything disappoints me it’s bc i dont know whats going on. im new in town. and im incorporating that into my belief system now

#yeah im going insane clearly but anyways #in friends when joey is like what was my past life and phoebe was like oh sweetie youre brand new like lmao me #but did anyone else get called serious as a kid and did anyone else take it as an insult like i did like. #i hated absolutely nothing more than people being like oh youre so serious and quiet like i am but also i dont want to be here talking #to you so i have nothing to say. like sorry i wasnt saying every thought i had out loud like every other kid so that made me 'mature' #for my age like honestly that fucked my life up more than anything else was being called mature for my age. it put way too much pressure on #me and i didnt even get to be a kid because everyone expected me to be older than i always was and now that im #so old and approaching death it's just all regret man i have nothing but regret for how ive lived my life #and im so old and i have absolutely nothing figured out i just dont know what the fuck to do #i just didnt think things would be this fucked up or id still be this lost at this point in my life and its disgusting im disgusting #everything is just so fucked up and i hate it like absolutely nothing is right in my life right now i am truly at rock bottom #like i genuinely cannot imagine ever being at a lower point than im at right now and no that's not inspiring like 'oh it cant get any worse' #'if youre at your lowest point it can only get better :)' no thats not how it works #it can get worse i just cant possibly imagine how and nothing is ever going to get better bc i dont know how to get myself out of this #literally im spongebob in rockbottom but the bus is literally never coming like the bus station shut down that's where im at

[sanstropfremir]

I know BTS’ “hiatus” has been discussed at length, but I honestly get the feeling that they’re very much going to continue doing “brand activities” (so commercials and events, basically) without releasing music, from the way they worded the announcement and Hybe’s further statement. And I honestly feel sorry for them, because that is absolutely a nightmare scenario. Talk about being exploited for money. I wonder if any of them will renew their contracts with Hybe when the time eventually comes, after this. I honestly don’t see it happening.

it's confirmed that they're still doing their in-house variety show so yea i suspect that other 'brand' stuff is still going to happen too. i feel like if they get to have the freedom to do solo 'more artistic' stuff while still making group levels of money, i doubt any of them will actually leave. hybe is a big safety net for them and i don't think they're willing to give it up that easily, otherwise they would have sued their way out of contract already.

#tbh the 'brand activities' are just like normal job stuff. and if they don't have to make music for the group while they do them? #honestly that sounds kind of ideal #clearly it was the music that they hated the most so with that part out of the way the other stuff is probably a lot easier #its still soulless and corporate and very shitty but like. in kind of a bearable way (if one was in that situation) #text #answers #875 #if any of them left hybe they would have to 1) take the pay hit 2) lose all access to hybe's connections #and 3) find a new agency/start their own. they could easily survive it but why would they when the path of least resistence is right there

[thethief1996]

I can't stop thinking about the news out of Palestine. Israel is sieging al Shifa hospital. Videos of people's limbs being severed off are haunting (graphic video tw). The hospital has ran out of fuel and 39 babies in incubators are fending for their lives by themselves, because Israel has stationed snipers around the hospital and is shooting all medical crew that walks into their sight.

First, the narrative was Israel would never bomb hospitals. Now, the hospitals are Hamas bases. Then, we respect journalists. Now, we have a fucking kill list of journalists because they are Hamas collaborators. First, we are not letting fuel in until the hostages are released. Now, we are not accepting the hostages back because that would stop our ground invasion and let Hamas win. And I could go on about every single lie they're making up. If you look up "Hamas rape" on google, the first link leads to Times of Israel saying Israel has found no forensic evidence of sexual violence, and only one eyewitness testimony out of 3.5k people attending the rave. If you Google "Hamas beheaded babies" the top links say they have no evidence for the claim besides word of mouth from extremist soldiers. Israeli extremists think about the ugliest goriest scene they can make out in their sick heads, tell that to a international journalist and they run away with it like it's gospel.

And children are being killed in the name of these lies. Thousands are being displaced in images that remind me of the pictures of Tantura 75 years ago, with their hands up so the tanks don't shoot them. Amputees are leaving the hospitals in wheelchairs hours after their surgeries because they are being shot at. Elders who survived the Nakba on 48 are having to walk towards Southern Gaza on foot (imagine walking from one end of your city to the other on foot), displaced again. People are cheering for the haunting images of white phosphorus bombs being dropped over Gaza. Gazan workers who were arrested in the West Bank are being thrust back into the bombings wearing numbered labels.

This is not normal. We are seeing the early stages of the settler colonial genocide of an indigenous population. Native leaders who have visited Gaza say its refugee camps look eerily like reservations. We can stop this. For the first time we are able to see wide scale accounts from the hands of the people suffering the genocide, and Israel is so scared of it they have cut all communications in Gaza.

This is our litmus test. I think we have never seen more clearly, with Palestine, Armenia, Congo and Sudan how colonialism has made our world a rotten place to live in.

The South African apartheid collapsed due to boycotts. We have to do everything in our power to stop Israel's hegemony. Even talking to a group of friends about Palestine changes the status quo. There's no world where we can live peacefully if Israel accomplishes their goals.

Keep yourself updated and share Palestinian voices. Muna El-Kurd said every tweet is like a treasure to them, because their voices are repressed on social media and even on this very app. Make it your action item to share something about the Palestinian plight everyday. Here are some resources:

Al Jazeera, Anadolu Agency, Mondoweiss

Boycott Divest Sanction Movement

Palestinian Youth Movement is organizing protests and direct action against weapons factories across the US

Mohammed El-Kurd (twitter / instagram)

Muhammad Shehada (twitter)

Motaz Azaiza (instagram) - reporting directly from Gaza.

Hind Khudary - reporting directly from Gaza. Her husband and daughter moved South to run from the tanks but she stayed behind to record the genocide. The least we can do is not let her calls fall on deaf ears.

You can participate in boycotts wherever you are in the world, through BDS guidelines. Don't be overwhelmed by gigantic boycott lists. BDS explicitly targets only a few brands which have bigger impact. You can stop consuming from as many brands as you want, though, and by all means feel free to give a 1 star review to McDonalds, Papa John, Pizza Hut, Burger King and Starbucks. Right now, they are focusing on boycotting the following:

Carrefour, HP, Puma, Sabra, Sodastream, Ahava cosmetics, Israeli fruits and vegetables

Push for a cultural boycott - pressure your favorite artist to speak out on Palestine and cancel any upcoming performances on occupied territory (Lorde cancelled her gig in Israel because of this. It works.)

If you can, participate in direct action or donate.

Palestine Action works to shut down Israeli weapons factories in the UK and USA, and have successfully shut down one of their firms in London.Some of the activists are going on trial and are calling for mobilizing on court.

Palestinian Youth Movement is organizing direct actions to stop the shipping of wars to Israel. Follow them.

Educate yourself. Read into Palestinian history and the occupation. You can't common sense people out of decades of propaganda. If your arguments crumble when a zionist brings up the "disengagement of Gaza", you have to learn more.

Read Decolonize Palestine. They have 15 minute reads that concisely explain the occupation (and its colonial roots) and debunk popular myths, including pinkwashing.

Read on Palestine. Here's an amazing masterpost.

Verso Book Club is giving out free books on Palestine (I personally downloaded Ten Myths about Israel by Ilan Pappe. If you still believe in the two states solution, this book by an Israeli professor debunks it).

Call your representatives. The Labour Party in the UK had an emergency meeting after several councilors threatened to resign if they didn't condemn Israeli war crimes. Calling to show your complaints works, even more if you live in a country that funds genocide.

FOR PEOPLE IN THE USA: USCPR has developed this toolkit for calls, here's a document that autosends emails to your representatives and here's a toolkit by Ceasefire in Gaza NOW!

FOR PEOPLE IN EUROPE: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace targeting the European Parliament and one specific for almost all countries in Europe, including Germany, Ireland, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Greece, Norway, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Finland, Austria, Belgium Romania and Ukraine

FOR PEOPLE IN THE UK: Friends of Al-Aqsa UK and Palestine Solidarity UK have made toolkits for calls and emails

FOR PEOPLE IN AUSTRALIA: Here's a toolkit by Stand With Palestine

FOR PEOPLE IN CANADA: Here's a toolkit by Indepent Jewish Voices for Canada

Join a protest. Here's a constantly updating list of protests:

Global calendar

Another global calendar (go to the instragram of the organizers to confirm your protest)

USA calendar

Australia calendar

Feel free to add more.

#free palestine #free gaza #save gaza #gaza under attack