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ukrfeminism · 7 months

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‘What’s the worst that can happen?” That is what Georgia Harrison asked herself one Sunday morning in August 2020 when Stephen Bear, who lived opposite, invited her over for a cup of tea. They knew each other through the reality television and influencer circuits. She had been on The Only Way Is Essex (Towie) and Love Island; he had done Shipwrecked, Ex on the Beach, then won Celebrity Big Brother. They had hooked up before and he hadn’t treated her well.

“We’d been in lockdown and I was definitely quite lonely, feeling quite rubbish about myself,” says Harrison, 28. “I knew that going to Bear’s was a bad idea – there were two voices in my head. In the end, I thought: what’s the worst that could happen? Well, now we know.”

What happened was this: the morning cup of tea stretched into a long lunch washed down by tequila, followed by drunken sex in Bear’s back garden. The sex was different from how it had been in the past – more performative, with Bear carefully positioning Harrison in various locations. “It was more dramatic and lasted longer,” says Harrison. “I just thought he was having a good day.” Afterwards, to Harrison’s horror, Bear mentioned casually that it might have been caught on his CCTV system. When he showed her the footage and she began to cry (“I’ll die if anyone sees it,” she said), he promised to delete the video. Instead, three months later, Bear posted the footage on his verified Only Fans account. Within days, it was all over the internet, including the website Pornhub. “Georgia Harrison sex tape” had become a top search on Google.

Harrison found out when a fan in the US sent her a screenshot asking: “Have you seen this?” Her reaction was to gag. But she picked herself up and went to the police. Bear was arrested, charged and convicted. In March 2023, he was sentenced to 21 months in prison for voyeurism and sharing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress. Now, she has written a memoir about it, Taking Back My Power.

It is hard to overstate the impact of this case. Most victims of intimate image abuse never report the crime. They are teenagers too terrified of their parents’ reactions, professionals who fear for their careers, parents who don’t want their children or partner to know, or anyone else who can’t face walking into a police station armed with a link to Pornhub. Of those who do come forward, only about 4% will ever see a charge; a prison sentence is rarer still.

Bear’s case – on the news, in headlines, all over social media – sent a message of hope to victims of this sort of abuse and a warning shot to potential perpetrators. There was a 56% rise in calls to the government’s “revenge porn” helpline in the month he was sentenced. Harrison didn’t stop there, though. She lobbied parliament to demand better laws around “revenge porn” and helped to secure amendments to the online safety bill that make the crime easier to prosecute. She is still campaigning for platforms that carry the footage of her and Bear to be held criminally accountable.

It is certainly not the life or career she had in mind when she left school at 16, the only child of a single mother, already intent on reality TV stardom. “I grew up in Essex and a lot of my friends were on Towie, so that’s what I wanted to reach for,” she says. “It was the idea of literally getting paid for doing photoshoots, partying and having some fun in all these mad countries and bars.” At 19, she did get on Towie; a few years later, she was on Love Island. She built a career as an influencer and was able to buy a flat in Essex at 21. Was it all she had hoped for? “Actually, it was even better,” she says.

Although she and Bear were neighbours, Harrison didn’t get to know him until October 2018, when they were cast in The Challenge, an MTV reality show. By then, the former roofer had built a TV reputation as a bit of a player, a “lovable rogue”. They got together during filming, but when the show finished, Bear went back to womanising. Shortly afterwards, they starred in the sequel and got together again. This time, though, Harrison says, he locked her out of their hotel room to sleep with someone else.

The next time Harrison saw Bear was in August 2020, when he invited her over for that cup of tea and secretly filmed them having sex. Afterwards, she felt certain he had planned it. “We’d been in every angle that his CCTV covered,” she says. “He’d made sure we were never outside the lines.” Even so, she didn’t see what lay ahead. “I was really upset and he seemed to understand. I never for a second thought he’d be stupid enough to send it to people. I hoped he had some form of respect for me, but I also thought he wouldn’t want to ruin his entire career or end up in prison. I just didn’t think he was capable of what he was capable of.”

In the days after, Harrison messaged Bear asking him to promise he wouldn’t do anything with the video. He assured her that he had deleted it. It was December when she received the screenshot from a fan in the US. “That’s when I knew it was global,” she says. “One of my first thoughts was: it’s time to tell my family. My mum knew already, but I needed to have the conversations with my dad, my uncle – the male figures, I guess – so they knew it was coming.” In fact, her uncle knew already; he had been sent the video by someone who didn’t realise Harrison was his niece. “They were all horrified, but supportive,” she says. “I was an adult having sex – they told me I’d done nothing to be ashamed of.”

She knew that, but shame still hit in waves. “It went so horrifically viral; my postman’s probably seen it,” she says. “It’s that feeling that I’d let myself down, let my family down, that I should have seen it coming and how could I have been so stupid?” Her influencer work went into freefall. Any post on any product would be flooded with comments about the video (“Congrats hon, you’re a porn star now!”). “There were so many other influencers – same amount of followers, been on Love Island, same calibre – who didn’t have a sex scandal. Why put me next to their brand?” She rented out her flat – for income and because she was terrified of seeing Bear – and moved in with her mum.

“I don’t think I’ve admitted to myself how bad my anxiety was until now,” she says. “I wouldn’t be able to go to the gym on my own, or I’d get in and feel everyone was looking at me and have to leave. I barely left the house and when I did it was really hard not to panic. It got to the point where I only wanted to be around my closest friends.”

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Harrison reported Bear, who was arrested in January 2021 and charged four months later. There was an 18-month wait for the trial. Harrison’s life was on hold. She knew she had a strong case – she had been filmed without her knowledge and had sent multiple messages to Bear begging him not to share it – but she dreaded a “not guilty” verdict. The Bear she knew, the Bear who had won Celebrity Big Brother, was a charmer. He could win hearts, talk you round.

“If he was found not guilty, I think I would have had to shave my head and move to Bolivia or something,” she says. “The career I love would have been over – that’s definite. But aside from that, my faith in the universe would have been so shattered. It would have drained all the hope and faith and love and life out of me. To see someone act in such an awful, evil, manipulative way and then walk away … I felt it might just ruin me – and it seemed possible. Bear could play things so brilliantly. I don’t know why he decided not to.”

Bear’s behaviour before and during the trial probably sealed his sentence. He uploaded X-rated videos of him and his girlfriend to the internet, captioning one: “At least she knows I’m filming her.” In another video posted just before the trial, the couple cavorted in orange prison jumpsuits. He ran a Twitter poll on what colour of suit he should wear to court – and turned up in a rented Rolls-Royce, dressed in pink and a huge fur coat, carrying a cane topped with a gold snake’s head. In court, he interrupted the judge and waved away the barrister. He pleaded not guilty, but his defence was nonsensical. At times, he claimed that Harrison wasn’t the woman in the video, or that she didn’t mind it being filmed, or that there was no proof that he had uploaded the images – it might have been his assistant, it could have been a hacker.

Had he pleaded guilty and expressed remorse, he would almost certainly have been handed a community sentence. Harrison still can’t understand it. “The Bear I first met was funny and cheeky, but also really charming – he could be kind,” she says. “That person in court seemed possessed. I feel like every show he went on, he was praised for being ‘the villain’ – and the worse he was, the more attention he got. At some point, the lines blurred. That role took over.” A reality TV monster? “That’s how it seemed.”

Giving evidence was excruciating for Harrison. She sat in the witness box as the jury (nine men, three women) looked through pages and pages of video stills, having to confirm that each one featured her. “I could tell the jury was absolutely cringing,” she says. “I was in a private garden in a private moment that I thought was between me and one other person. To know people have seen it is hard. To see people seeing it while they can see you is harder.

“As someone in the public eye, used to public speaking, it was still hard to get my words out. You don’t know where to look, who to talk to. You feel you’ve done something wrong when you haven’t. I dread to think what it’s like for a vulnerable young woman who isn’t used to addressing a room. I think it would be near enough impossible.” She hopes her case might make it a little easier. “Women come up to me all the time, crying, saying they’ve been through this horrible situation and never spoken to anyone about it before. They message me on a daily basis. Intimate-image abuse happens so much more than people think.”

After the trial, Harrison continued campaigning, initially to make cases easier to prosecute. At present, the sharing of intimate images without consent is not illegal – unless done “with intent to cause distress”, however hard that is to prove. In June, the government announced amendments to the online safety bill that will remove this requirement if the law is passed. This will mean that sharing intimate images without consent, whatever the motive, would become a criminal act.

But Harrison wants more.

“If you go to court for this and get a criminal conviction, that content should become illegal and any platforms that still show it and fail to take it down should become criminally accountable,” she says. “It’s crazy. If someone gets caught with drugs, those drugs are seized and disposed of. Why should this footage stay up there? A change like that isn’t hard to make and it would make a huge difference. Far more victims would come forward, because they’d know it will be possible to make all that footage disappear at the end.”

The video of Harrison and Bear is still out there. “I worry that one day I’ll have kids and it will be accessible to them,” she says. “I just hope that by that time, society may have got on top of this and it will be too risky and expensive for platforms to carry it.” She expects that finding a partner she trusts will take time. “As I get to the point where I am trying to have relationships, I’ve realised that I do have trust issues, but that’s not a bad thing. I’ve been burned so badly. I won’t accept anything that might be a red flag or makes me feel vulnerable. If someone really cares about me, they’ll just have to help me get past that.”

Meanwhile, she is busy again. There is a TV show coming up that she can’t talk about yet. The brands are back. Harrison has written Taking Back My Power. She would like to present daytime TV: “You literally get paid to have a natter!” She is also happy to be known for the court case. “I’ll never, ever lose the stigma of being all over those porn platforms,” she says. “But if I’m known as the person who stood up and fought back – I’d be proud of that.”

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jimblejamblewritings · 1 year

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i saw you were asking for hurt/comfort requests

Could you do a Sirius black x poc reader where they’re married and she finds out Bellatrix killed him and like Harry comforting her and her doing the same,maybe her even sharing story’s of their past.

thank you🫶🏾

Hi! So it's the way this isn't a one-shot once I started writing this lol. I'm warning you I'm a sucker for happy endings so this will kind of go off the rails a bit.

I'll Always Come Back

Summary: It doesn't matter what happens in life. Sirius always comes back.

Warnings for the Series: violence, character death

Pairing: sirius black x reader, sirius black x black!reader

Word Count: 3.8k

“Mrs. Black, we cann—”

“Like hell. I won’t allow my godson to be with them any longer!” you yelled at Fudge. “I agreed to not contact him until he was a wizard and the first thing I find out is he lives in an abusive household.”

“But Petunia is Lily’s family, the magic extends to her blood for Lily’s protection spell.”

“No one has found Grimmauld in years. Moony and I have lived there with no problem.”

Barty Crouch Sr. scoffed. “You still visit your husband.”

“Because he’s innocent.”

“Mrs. Bl—”

“He is. And if you want to argue with me, Mr. Crouch, you’ll use my proper title. The Black Household is still one of the most prestigious households to date.”

“Fine. Lady Black, You’ve been saying that for eleven years.”

“We just need a case you can’t ignore. We’ll be ready for trial soon.”

“La—”

“Barty. You locked him up without a trial, I haven’t forgotten that. That’s enough to get him out of jail and get you fired. We want his name cleared too, that’s the only reason you still have a job. Don’t try me.”

Barty turned and sat back down. The Ministry members looked at your custody papers and the clause where you agreed to give Harry to the Dursleys unless he turned out to be a wizard. They could only keep custody if you didn’t want him, they really wanted him, or you were in no position to take care of a child.

Eleven years and you lived in the same house. Grimmauld never had an encounter with Death Eaters or Voldemort himself. You had all of Sirius’ money, not to mention your own job. A wizard bakery on a muggle street made a lot more money than people might think. Why wouldn’t it? After filling out an application, the Ministry approved of your business using magic in the presence of muggles. The Lady’s Bakery not only made the most delicious treats around but people felt literally sucked into books. Of course, muggles didn’t realize that they actually were. But every review that stated reading books just felt better in your bakery was an extra customer the next day.

Plus you were in charge of managing Lily and James’ funds for Harry until he was of age. So you had the funds to take care of a child. You weren’t letting this go without a fight. The Ministry realized they weren’t going to win and reluctantly agreed to let you take Harry. You weren’t the problem. It was your connection to Sirius Black that was. You maintained your husband was innocent. That made them concerned about Harry being near you, Sirius might use your naivety to get to Harry and finish the job of killing the Potters.

“Thank you,” you said with a sigh. “I won’t be informing the Dursleys, someone can do that on my behalf. I might hurt them if I see them. You said Harry was where again?”

You coughed as you exited the fireplace. The Weasleys’ must use their fireplace quite a lot or you came before it had been cleaned for the week. Multiple redheads stared at you in surprise. The letter from Fudge came only moments after you in the form of a Howler.

Harry’s mouth slowly dropped open as the letter continued. You stood there awkwardly as Fudge tried to convince Harry to say no. He mentioned Sirius’ supposed crimes more than once. The boy thought. He remembered the photo album that Hagrid gave him towards the end of first year. There were lots of pictures of his parents. But, there were also pictures of the Potters’ friends.

Harry already knew about Sirius when he asked Professor McGonagall if she had known all the people in one of the pictures. She told him rather reluctantly about Sirius and very enthusiastically about you. Sure, Harry didn’t understand how his godfather could be innocent— McGonagall’s story was good enough proof for him— but he didn’t think you were a bad person for thinking so. Wasn’t that what couples did anyway? See the best in each other until there’s absolute proof.

He liked you. He liked hearing all the stories McGonagall had of you. You had taken care of Lily the entire time she was pregnant, after scolding James for not using protection. Honestly, everyone thought you and Sirius would be the accidental pregnancy of the group. James forgetting protection was expected. But Lily not remembering was an absolute shock. You took every opportunity up until her birth to make fun of her for it. Even after Harry was born, you were always around. You took your duties as godmother very seriously.

You smiled when Harry agreed even after hearing Fudge’s letter. Mr. Weasley ushered you over to the table to have breakfast with the rest of them. While you enjoyed the food, you were all about business. Harry looked over the document folder you handed him. It held all the legal documents regarding your custody and what that entails.

“Oh,” you said after taking another bite of bacon. “I have this for you.”

“What is it?” Harry asked as he took the bundle of letters.

“Lily got a little carried away with parenting books at the beginning. She made James write a bunch of letters with her throughout the pregnancy. Two letters for your birthday until you're an adult. She went with muggle age instead of wizard age so you’ll have eighteen sets of letters instead of seventeen.”

Harry stuttered through a thank you. His fingers ran over the ink on the envelope. The difference in his mom and dad’s handwriting was pretty obvious on the letters. He wasn’t ready to open them yet but he was just happy to have them. And now he had something to look forward to on his birthdays, more letters.

“Have you bought your supplies yet?”

“We were all going after breakfast,” Mrs. Weasley said.

You nodded. “Perfect. Polaris is running the bakery for me all day so I can come with you… If that’s okay?”

You weren’t sure what was pushy or not. Harry wanted to live with you but neither one of you really knew each other yet so you didn’t want to be overbearing. You went with everyone to the fireplace to head to Diagon Alley. Your mouth dropped open when it was Harry’s turn. Whatever he said, it definitely wasn’t Diagon Alley. A huff left your mouth when you finally found him being led out of Knockturn Alley by Hagrid. Your godson was going to be a handful.

“Textbooks first,” Mrs. Weasley said. You agreed.

Harry handed you the shopping list. You couldn’t help the eye roll when you saw who the books were by. Each one for Defense Against the Dark Arts was by Gilderoy Lockhart. You remembered him in school. You took a deep breath and braced yourself for entering the bookstore. Most of the women and some of the men were swooning over the blonde wizard in light blue robes.

The only people that weren’t entranced with him were the people not attracted to men and you. You shook your head as Harry’s friend, Hermione, was swooning with who you could only assume was another Hogwarts student. Oh, if only they knew the man.

You watched Gilderoy smile at every single camera and talk about himself. The main photographer, who you could only assume was hired by Lockhart himself, kept shoving people out of the way. You looked down in annoyance when he pushed Ron into you. The children just wanted their textbooks. There was no need for him to be rude.

“Out of the way. This is for the Daily Prophet!”

Lockhart looked up from the book he was signing. A large smile broke out when his eyes locked on Harry.

“Here we go,” you muttered under your breath.

Gilderoy practically ran around the table to reach Harry. He shook your godson’s hand rather aggressively. He posed for pictures and reveled in the applause that got even louder in the bookstore. You watched with disinterest as he went on a speech about giving the textbooks to Harry for free and signed. You already knew that you would actually buy the books and give the free ones to the Weasleys. You didn’t know much about them but when you guys had gone to get Ginny’s wand, they had been concerned about the cost.

“Enjoy those books, Potter. Have a gr— Y/N.” Lockhart dropped his hold on Harry’s hand. He slicked back his hair and got closer to you. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“Because you haven’t. Let’s go, Harry.”

“Wait, wait.” Gilderoy grabbed your arm. “Let’s go on a date, this Saturday. I’ll le—”

“Gilderoy. I’m still married.”

“Oh, please. You two didn’t even have a proper wedding and he’s a criminal.”

You ripped your arm from his grasp. “Sirius is innocent. And may I remind you that you and I have been over for years. You broke up with me. Remember?”

You guided Harry and the others out the store before Gilderoy could say another word. You were in such a rush that you didn’t even have a response to Lucius who sneered at you as you walked past. The rest of shopping went by smoothly. You stopped right in front of the Public Floo Network and turned to face your godson.

“There’s only a few weeks of summer left. If you want to stay with your friends, you can,” You said, scratching the back of your head.

“Can Ron and Hermione come over?”

“Yeah, kid.”

“Then I think I want to go with you.”

“Okay. Let’s send your stuff home and then we can go.”

Harry had no clue where he was going after you two left the Burrow. You could have taken the Floo right back to your house but you thought it was important for him to know how to get to it on the street. His mouth dropped open as the veiling charm disappeared and he saw a door appear between 11 and 13 Grimmauld. You couldn’t help but chuckle.

You remembered having that exact expression the very first time you showed up to Grimmauld. Both you and Harry held your ears as a portrait started screaming. You apologized while covering it back up. You had never figured out how to unstick Walburga’s painting from the foyer. All her moving sometimes opened the curtain that kept her covered up.

“Moony!” You yelled into the house as you took off your shoes. “The kid’s here!”

A lanky man that towered over literally everyone he met came downstairs. His slipper covered feet shuffled across the floor and met you just as you and Harry reached the living room. Cup of tea in one hand, he gave you a sideways hug before giving you a kiss on the cheek. Harry looked a bit confused while Remus just laughed. You and him were childhood friends. Cheek kisses meant absolutely nothing between the two of you.

“Harry’s here?” a voice from upstairs called.

Quick footsteps thudded down the stairs. Regulus was putting up his wet hair in a bun before giving you a hug. You and Regulus had grown to have a decent relationship. It took a while and a lot of yelling on Sirius’ end but the younger Black brother had changed into a good person. He even came over once a week to help clean the house, especially taking care of everything when it was a Moony Night.

“Reg! When did you get here?”

“Not too long ago. I’ve been clearing out my old room for Harry.”

“Are you sta— Reg, is that cologne? Merlin, do you have a date?”

He rolled his eyes. “I figured it was time to try again. I got tired of being a pitiful divorcee.”

Despite having his own flat, Regulus was over constantly. By that extension, Kreacher was over almost all the time. The little house elf appeared. Harry was very reluctant to take his hand, not enjoying house elves after his meeting with Dobby. Kreacher didn’t care and led him up to his new room. He had only been there for a few minutes but Harry already felt like Grimmauld was better than the Dursleys. He had his own room to start with… and it only had a lock on the inside.

“Alright. Time to go.”

Harry shoved his trunks into the fireplace and watched them disappear. While he was excited to go back to school, he was actually going to miss Grimmauld. The few weeks he had been there were amazing. You counted that he had all his trunks before continuing towards the platforms at King’s Cross Station. You, Remus, and Regulus gave Harry hugs before leaving him with the Weasleys so he could get on the train.

The three of you went in your own directions. Regulus had his own job to get to. Beauxbatons was starting school on the same day that Hogwarts did so he could only spare so many minutes. He initially ran to France because he had to go into hiding after switching sides. Nowadays, he stayed because he liked it and had a nice job.

Remus, stubborn as ever, refused to let you hire him and struggled to keep up various jobs. It was unfair. He was the most brilliant person you knew and being a werewolf never stopped him from working. While he was stubborn about jobs, at least he didn’t complain when you refused to let him live in a rundown house. Remus had saved enough money for a house a while ago but without Sirius around he decided to stay at Grimmauld for you. It felt wrong to leave you alone in the big house.

You had to get in to open the bakery for the day. Your days were rather monotonous but you liked it. You would prep the bakery, then sit at the window counter and try to put together a waterproof case for Sirius, only getting up when you needed to serve customers. With a flick of your wand, the batters started stirring. You attached your buzzer— so you would know if a customer needed you— to your jeans and moved to sit at the counter.

It was a rather slow morning, only having a few customers come through. You set down the bacon and egg panini as well as a cup of Purple Lotus tea in front of the customer. He was the only one who hadn’t ordered to go, sitting down two seats away from you at the counter. He looked over when you sighed.

“Tough morning?”

“Sorry. I’m working on a case and it is seeming impossible.”

The man sat up. “A case? Law?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m actually a lawyer.”

You almost fell out of your chair. Not a single lawyer in the wizarding world had wanted to take Sirius’ case no matter how much money you offered them. You didn’t trust a Ministry assigned lawyer either. So you had gone back to school. No one in your grade got much of a higher education considering there was a war. But when you weren’t helping the Order, you did take culinary lessons because you always wanted to run a bakery. After your husband was arrested, you started studying law on your own. You had even gone to some classes for it but quickly left when none of them covered your situation. Sirius didn’t mind you studying when you came to visit him. As long as he could see someone, he didn’t care what they talked about.

You raised an eyebrow. “I don’t suppose you know who Sirius Black is, do you?”

“Who?”

The man had to be a muggle. You sighed. “Nevermind. I don’t think I could possibly explain it to you.”

“Try me.”

You looked around. This was breaking the Statue of Secrecy on so many levels. At the same time, if it could help Sirius then you would do it. You locked the door to the bakery and put up the closed sign before pulling out your wand. The lawyer— Ben— looked in awe as you pulled out your wand and performed magic. It didn’t take very long to convince him. You tucked your wand back into your sleeve.

“I am going to have to obliviate you when this is all over.”

Ben shrugged. “This is still the coolest thing ever.”

“Okay. I mean I won’t if you don’t consent to that.” You moved over to sit closer to him. “This is Sirius… my husband.”

Ben took in a breath.

“I know. He’s, uh, he’s in jail for murder. But he’s innocent,” you added quickly.

“How many counts?”

“Thirteen.”

“Are you sure he’s innocent because this is an uphill battle?”

“He is. I know it.”

“Okay. Let me see the trial papers. We’ll start from there.”

“There are none.”

Ben was appalled to hear about the lack of trial. He became more invested as you told him everything. You had just given Harry back to Lily so she and James could leave for the night. Ever since they went into hiding, they only came to your house. You had never been to their place. Not once. Sirius had been gone the entire day on Order missions. Remus was gone too because it was a Moony Night. You gave a final wave to your friends and your godson before closing the door to Grimmauld.

It was early in the morning when there was lots of knocking on your door. You had been so confused when Dumbledore shoved Harry into your arms. Sleep-deprived and scared was how you found out your best friends had just died. You had no clue what Dumbledore meant when he asked you to notify him as soon as Sirius got home. You never got the chance to find out. Three days later, Aurors stormed your bakery and took your godson away from you.

“What you need is something to prove innocence. Even the smallest piece of information would clear him with a case this extreme,” Ben said as he packed up to head over to his office. “I’ll be by whenever I’m free to help you until it’s solved.”

“Thank you so much.”

“Not a problem. Solving a wizard case is the peak of my career, even if no one else knows about it.”

The man left without another word. You packed up the case file and went back to work. The entire time you were thinking about how you could find evidence. Sirius had told you about that night more times than you could count. There was no evidence that wasn’t anecdotal. It was all that was on your mind, even as you closed up the shop. You blinked as a letter hit you in the face when you got home.

“Leave my child alone, Severus!” You said as you marched into his office.

“Mr. Potter isn’t your child.”

“I’m his legal guardian and you’re testing my patience.”

You and Severus were cut off by McGonagall coming in. You took Harry’s face in your hands, looking at him and Ron with so much concern in your eyes.

“Are you two okay?”

They nodded.

“Good. What were you possibly thinking? Why didn’t you come home? Send a letter?”

Harry scratched at his face. “I guess we panicked. I didn’t really think of that.”

You sighed and turned him over to McGonagall. So Harry wasn’t just similar to James in looks but also dumbass personality. While you were mortified, Sirius was laughing when you told him the story. Every Sunday, you were at Azkaban. You frowned as you looked at your husband.

“You’re even thinner than last month.”

“Love, I promise I’m eating everything they give me.”

“It’s not enough.”

“Stop worrying about me. How are you?”

“The same as ever. I’m a very routine person you know.”

He chuckled and nodded. The year was pleasant for Sirius but not for you. He got life from hearing you read the letters that Harry sent to you. You just got more upset at not finding a single bit of evidence to support your husband. Sirius clapped as you stood up after you told him why you had to leave early.

“Always knew teaching suited Moons.”

“He’s worried out of his mind. Harry kept offering all summer to be a practice student but that just made him more nervous.”

“Tell them I said hi.”

“I will. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

It broke your heart when it was time to leave. You never told the others that Sirius thought of them. They still thought he was guilty. Or they were unsure of his innocence and didn’t want to set themselves up to be disappointed. So you said nothing when you made it to Platform 9 and ¾ and found Harry and Remus. You gave them both hugs.

“Rem, I put the first supply in your trunk. I’ll send more before your nights each month.”

“Thank you, Y/N.”

“Harry, dear, try not to get in trouble this year.”

“It always finds me.”

“Harry.”

“Alright, alright. I promise I’ll try, Mum.”

You both paused. It was the first time he ever called you by anything and you certainly weren’t expecting him to say that. It had taken Harry all of four weeks to call Remus ‘Uncle’ when he first came to live with you. He still hadn’t called you anything. Harry had been trying to process it on his own. He wanted to know how he felt about you. Mum just felt right. He gave you one final hug before boarding the train.

Harry’s promise of keeping out of trouble lasted all of three seconds. You didn’t understand how it was possible to get detention before the second month was even over. It was supposed to be a calm year. Harry was supposed to go to Hogsmeade with his friends, do homework, and have fun.

Remus came back home late one night. He shook his head as he exited the fireplace, holding up a piece of folded up parchment.

“You won’t believe what I just busted your son for having.”

You set down your book. “Rem, aren’t you on chaperone duties? It’s midnight. Merlin, it’s midnight. Was he out of bed?”

“Yep,” Remus said, popping the ‘p’. He placed the parchment in your hand. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

You scoffed as Remus left. James had hidden the map in a library book that was never checked out when you guys had graduated. There was no need for it since it only showed Hogwarts. How Harry managed to come across it was beyond you. For old times sake you laid out the entire map across the coffee table. You were shocked it still worked. You found Remus heading back to his room.

The map even had Harry’s name. So it did actually update itself. James and Sirius were brilliant at Charms but to create an enchantment like this was actually amazing. You started to fold the map back when a name caught your eye. You jumped off of the couch and pulled the map to your face. Peter Pettigrew’s name was staring right back at you.

(part 2)

PERMANENT TAGLIST:

@venomsvl @peaches-n-sunscreen @summerellaz @supernaturallover2002 @sambucky8 @9daykrisr @thebitchinleo @23victoria @scarlets-widow @pagetpagetpagetpaget @lovexnatasha @awesomebooklover17 @1234-angelika @imatrisk @blackreaderatrisk @princess-jules47 @alexloveskili @a-marie-a @siriuslysirius1107 @i-have-no-life-charlie

#sirius black x reader #sirius black x black!reader #my asks #my requests

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cookinguptales · 2 years

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veggiesforpresident said: wait whats up with irl cult deprogramming?

---------------------

*long sigh*

Okay, to preface all this, here’s a massive content warning for pretty much everything you can think of. I’m happy to talk more about this subject, but it gets very heinous very fast.

The main issue with the actual IRL cult deprogramming movement was that it was headed up by fundie Christians, and they were the ones who were allowed to decide what constituted a cult and what measures were necessary to get someone out of one.

I think people have this mental image of a bunch of trained professionals using therapy to convince someone to not be in a cult anymore, but that’s... not what it was.

The fact of the matter is that cult deprogrammers used and abused laws designed to protect the mentally ill in order to strip healthy, able-bodied adults of their legal rights. Think about Britney Spears for a few minutes and you’ll start to see how this became very dangerous very fast.

Parents of adult children in New Religious Movements (NRMs, the less-loaded academic term for “cults”) would often lobby judges to have their children labeled as legally incompetent and incapable of making their own decisions so they could get them out of these groups. The problem was, the only evidence you really needed of your child’s “insanity” was that they’d joined the group to start with.

And people always imagine... you know, Jonestown. Children of God. Truly heinous, dangerous groups. But if we’ll all kindly remember the Satanic Panic, the fact of the matter was that anything non-mainstream conservative Christian could be considered a cult.

Sure, it’s imperative to get someone out of something like The Family. But like... what if your kid is just kind of a hippie? What if they’ve joined some kind of pseudo-Buddhist New Age group? What if they’ve joined a socialist club at their university? What if they’re just kinda goth?

What if they’re gay?

Once these adults were stripped of their legal rights, their parents could do pretty much anything to them. That usually involved hiring a deprogrammer. That deprogrammer would then literally kidnap them (I’m talking throwing people in vans) and then drive them to an isolated location. They would then do anything they could to “break” the person. The goal was to break them so they could then build them back up the “right” way -- in other words, using the exact same tactics as the most dangerous NRMs.

These were not trained professionals, mind. These weren’t social workers or something. These were just random assholes who had the stomach for it. We have records of brutal beatings. Tying people up and denying them food, water, and sleep for days. Extreme emotional and physical abuse. Rape.

The worst case I can think of is that of Stephanie Riethmiller. She was a 19-20yo woman who had distanced herself from her parents after she left home for college, for reasons which I think will become immediately apparent. Her parents believed it was because she’d entered into a lesbian relationship with her roommate and had been led astray. So they hired cult deprogrammers to “fix” her. Stephanie was maced and thrown into a van and driven to another state, where she was chained up, beaten, and “correctively raped” for five days straight. Her parents were there in the house and approved of all of it.

After Stephanie was released, she attempted to bring charges against her parents and the people who had abused her, but the courts basically argued that any means were necessary when it came to deprogramming a lesbian. Despite not denying what they did, all parties got away with it. No jail time was served. This happened in 1982 in my hometown of Hamilton County, Ohio. 🙃

Ted Patrick, the quintessential cult deprogrammer, was involved in all of this. He didn’t do this deprogramming himself, but when her parents reached out to him with thousands of dollars, he recommended the people who did, helped make arrangements, and was paid for it.

They made a Drunk History episode about him calling him a hero and I just about threw up.

I guess the thing about cult deprogramming is... again. Who’s deciding what is and isn’t a cult? Who’s deciding what “deprogramming” looks like? Who’s deciding how far you can legally go? Who’s deciding what “normal” is?

I’ll leave you with this. Think about Fox News. Think about these fucking Republicans getting all het up over ~your children~ going to college. Learning new things. Becoming socialists. Becoming atheists. Becoming “brainwashed” by the libs.

Think about all this rhetoric about “groomers”.

Then think about a court system that will allow your insane, weirdo QAnon parents that you’ve gone no contact with to track you down and “reverse” all that by any means necessary.

Think about how terrifying that concept is if you’re part of literally any marginalized group.

And that was just... the late 70s through early 90s. People were so whipped up by things like the Mansons in 1969 and Jonestown in 1978 and the Satanic Panic of the 80s that they would allow people to do anything if they said it was going to be protecting people from cults.

Anything.

And they did.

And that’s why I fully believe that, as dangerous as some NRMs truly are, as vile and abusive and life-ruining? Yeah. The deprogrammers were often just as bad.

#ask to tag #cw:#religion #christian fundamentalists #abuse #starvation #rape #homophobia

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norvicfiddler · 10 months

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I’m watching yet another YT ‘Lost’ reaction series and have got to S5E10 which means I’ve had to sit through yet another discussion full of Sayid fanciers trying to convince themselves that Sayid is a good person really and Ben = baby Hitler (literal quote), and I just have to get the following out into the void:

1. Ben is not Hitler. I hope this much is obvious.

2. Ben is not a genocidaire. He wasn’t even in charge of the Others when the Dharma Initiative was wiped out. Widmore ordered the Purge, Ben just killed his abusive Father.

3. Ben is not a tyrant. He was selected by the Others to be their leader from a young age. He was a child brought to the Island as part of an exploitative project who sided with what he saw as the native population. And was then exploited by said Island in return.

3a. Yes, when faced with the loss of his position, Ben did try to fight against it, but having caused his daughter’s death as a result (as he felt), he gave up and handed the Others over to Locke. Which worked out well didn’t it?

3b. And then served gratefully as Hurley’s #2. Really Ben just wanted to be appreciated for his service. Even when he was ‘leader’ he took his marching orders from Jacob via Richard.

4. Ben is not motivated by hatred towards any racial or ethnic group. Unlike, say, Hitler. He wants to protect the magical Island from invaders. And Widmore.

5. Ben doesn’t indiscriminately or wantonly murder people (much). No, he doesn’t especially care about collateral damage, but that’s not the same as being a serial killer (another accusation that gets levelled at him a lot).

5a. ... OK, but Jacob was asking for it.

6. Sayid is a murderer and a torturer. He has intentionally murdered, and tortured, a whole lot of people. Yes, including innocent people.

7. Sayid shot an innocent 12 year old boy who brought him a sandwich and broke him out of jail.

8. Sayid had free will. He didn’t have to do anything Ben suggested he should. He did it because he wanted to.

9. “Oh but Sayid’s so dreamy with his long curly hair and Ben’s such a creep blah blah blah blah blah whatever ...”. Yeah, whatever. Also no.

#my completely objective statement of facts that are facts #totally are #lost abc #ben linus #did nothing wrong #not a sausage #nope

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fablesbooks · 2 years

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The Great Alone - Kristin Hannah

I picked this up entirely because the cover was pretty and had no idea what it was about. It follows the Allbright family as they move to Alaska in 1974. Ernt was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, Cora is his bride and mother of his child. Leni is said child, 13 at the time of the move, figuring out life and having to weather her parents complicated relationship. The family, cityfolk as they are, have no idea what they are getting themselves into when Ernt's late military friend leaves his Alaskan property to them in his will. The characters and some of the situations they get into are so vivid, I have to wonder how Kristin Hannah's family life was growing up and also if she needs a hug. Or therapy. The realism made it hard to put down and harder to stop thinking about. Spoilers below Cora and Ernt got together when Cora was a literal child of 16 and Ernt was 25 and along came baby Leni. Cora is brainwashed into thinking Ernt is just abusive because of how much he loves her, its her actions that make him violent. She takes him back every time he loses it, he comes back saying he didn't mean to and it wont happen again, time and time again she should leave him but takes him back. One of the most infuriating moments was when the neighbors finally helped to get Ernt into jail but Cora refuses to press charges and so he is immediately released. Not only is it a story about how difficult it is to live with and escape domestic abuse, but also about how Cora was groomed and brainwashed into this mess of a life.

#book blog #book reviews #the great alone #2022 #5 stars

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fakeboitherottengirl · 2 years

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"Wow 😯 Weird how after I call u out on hiding behind anon ur all out of points to make hmm" Ma'am, I don't have a Tumblr account, I have a life. I don't want to continue talking to someone who's too stubborn to understand why sharing images of CP should be a bad thing.

You not having a tumblr account makes it even weirder that ur on my page. Why are u looking at my tumblr if we are strangers that’s like reading my diary just to fight with me that’s mad weird and somehow kind of invasive. I said it was a bad thing. I said he was an edgelord who overstepped his way into a jail cell. I just don’t believe he was a pedophile, I think he uses references to pedo shit because it’s literally the most shocking thing there is, it’s the only thing so shocking that it is a crime to watch (murder on the other hand is totally legal including child murder/abuse as long as it isn’t sexual). Those laws were also brand new at the time so of course the worlds edgiest boy is going to challenge this new censorship. His entire form of art is to shock and disgust and he’s just been told “This is so shocking and disgusting that it is now newly forbidden” like maybe it’s just my ODD but that kind of controversy is appealing to an artist who works entirely in shock horror and is a free speech absolutist like idk I kind of understand how you could not take a recent law seriously, break it to give it the finger, and fuck around and find out. It’s like when they banned smoking in certain areas of my campus in college, nobody obeyed the ban because it was brand new and then the first semester everybody I knew got like 5 tickets. Not that that’s the same degree of immorality but like I said there’s a difference between somebody who sets out to shock and goes too far and somebody who is sexually attracted to children. But I literally said they were a bad choice, I just said that given the political and legal climate of the time releasing illegal images might be the tantrum that somebody throws when they believe no image should be illegal. He was a shock horror artist, not a fetishist. His intention was to shock and upset, not entice. It still wasn’t a good choice and he served his time for it and never offended again. His behavior does not fit the profile of a pedo it fits the profile of somebody who crossed the wrong line with their edgy bullshit. You are looking at this from a 2022 perspective. This was half a century ago. CP wasn’t even an often-prosecuted unless you were a large level distributor until setting honeypots became an easy desk job for cops with the invention of the internet. My abuse was not even that long ago and it was sold on VHS tapes in batches of about 20 other than the stuff I made of myself as a teen my abuse is lost media because they were only just starting to prosecute those kind of crimes against children when I was growing up. If he were actually interested in children there would have been later charges, or at least grooming victims like with Dennis Cooper and the supposedly 16 year old JT LeRoy who allegedly had phone sex or something close to it. The idea of an illegal image was brand new, like literally weeks old, and he was probably either pissed off by it or didn’t take it seriously and he fucked around and found out, he went past edgy and wound up doing time but “edgy lapse in judgement” makes more sense in this case than “attracted to kids” because he never offended again. Let me make it clear, I do not defend his actions, it was a bad move regardless of motive, but also if ur the 1st person ever convicted of a crime you probably didn’t believe it was a serious crime until the judge said “guilty”. Like if ur the first person ever convicted under a brand new law there’s a good chance u didn’t believe they were seriously locking people up for breaking this new law. You are confusing “I understand how somebody could blow past edgy and make that kind of fuck up” and “I support and condone his actions”. What he did was stupid and gross but I don’t think, given the circumstances, that it means he had actual sexual interest in kids. I think it was a middle finger that he laid on the chopping block of free speech like a contrarian d-bag if anything but at worst it was a poor-taste attempt at shock that he neglected to consider or underestimated the consequences of.

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makeste · 3 years

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BnHA Chapter 300: Days of Our Todorokis

Previously on BnHA: Hawks was all “hey Jeanist, wanna go on a road trip with me to my mom’s house?” Jeanist was all “you know it,” and so they hopped into Jeanist’s jercedes and took off. Hawks took a nap and had a flashback to his Dickensian childhood living in a abject poverty with his jerk mom and jerk dad, thinking heroes were make-believe until one day Endeavor arrested his dad and Baby Hawks was all “OH SHIT.” And then he saved a bunch of people, and the HPSC was all “what do we have here,” and blah blah blah, you know the rest. Back in the present, Hawks was all “well my life is currently in shambles, but on the plus side there’s no one bossing me around anymore so that’s pretty cool,” and then decided he was going to talk to Endeavor. Fandom was all “I can’t believe Hawks would side with his childhood hero over the man who burned his wings off and posted a video calling him a violent murderer who took after his abusive dad,” so that was fun and stuff. I can’t wait to see what piping fresh takes this new chapter will bring.

Today on BnHA: Our old friend Carbonation Carl tries to loot a Starbucks and gets his ass kicked by a senior citizen. Society is all “YEAH, WE’RE REALLY STARTING TO GET SICK OF THIS SHIT.” Old Man Samurai is all “this room won’t stop me because I can’t read it” and abruptly decides to retire, which, fun fact, is literally THE LEAST HELPFUL THING ANYONE HAS EVER DONE. Anyway so then a bunch of other punkasses follow suit, and while I won’t say that I’m actually starting to root for Stain to kill some peeps, just for the record I’m not not saying that either. Back in the hospital, Endeavor cries some tears because his life sucks, and then is confronted by his entire family, LED BY QUEEN REI, FIRST OF HER NAME, BACK IN BUSINESS AND LARGE AND IN CHARGE. Rei is all “fuck feeling sorry for yourself, we have a rogue Murder Son on the loose” and I swear to god I have never felt so alive.

so here we go! and just for the record, even though the last two chapters have been phenomenal, I don’t necessarily have any sky-high expectations for chapter 300, mostly because chapters 100 and 200 consisted of Mei Boobs, and Toadette and her horrific quirk lmao. so go ahead Horikoshi, what are you gonna pull out of your hat for this one

oh, back to this stuff again. sob

I guess there was only so much time we could spend having hospital antics and exploring Hawks’s past before we got back to dealing with the whole “the world has gone to absolute shit” issue huh, lol

omg

what’s with these bizarrely cute Noumus. why do I want to pet them

so the narrative text is going on about how people have been super paranoid about the Noumu ever since the USJ incident a year ago. so yeah, I guess the fact that there are now a bunch of them confirmed to be running around is really freaking people out even on top of everything else

wtf is happening here

what did this poor lil glass ever do to anyone. r.i.p.

OH MY FUCKING GOD

SODA SAM IS BACK ON THE LAM

tsk tsk tsk. my man has graduated from snatching purses to raiding cafes. going after that big money. this man has no business sense whatsoever lmao

OH BUT WATCH IT NOW!!

OH SNAP THE PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING BACK. WHATCHA GONNA DO NOW SAM

THIS MAN IS 172 YEARS OLD AND HE’S NOT HERE TO PLAY GAMES!!

WTF IS HE LIGHTING THIS THING ON FIRE OR SOME SHIT. GETTEM GRANDPA YEAHHHH HE’S CHARGING AT EM YEAHHHHHH

lmao so that was fun. and now we’re cutting to Wash!! omg. look at him

he’s so dedicated. too bad you don’t have a car like Best Jeanist. probably takes a while when you’re just running everywhere

you see?? you were too slow!!

NOOOO, GRANDPA. he defeated Pepsi Pete, but lost his life in the process. this is too tragic

anyway so the good news is that the cafe has been saved! but the bad news is, there really isn’t much of a cafe left. huh. I guess that’s one of the reasons why people are supposed to get a license to use their quirks like this

oh snap and now everyone is coming outside, and they’re none too happy to see poor old Wash over here

seriously Wash, get a bicycle or something. also the way this guy is gesturing so dramatically with his hand in this sort of “YOU SEE!! YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS!!” manner is sending me

OH MY GOD

HE SPEAKS. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS. IT MEANS JEANS PUNS ARE YESTERDAY’S NEWS, FOLKS!! MAKE WAY FOR THE LAUNDRY PUNS. CAN’T WAIT TO WATCH THIS ALL... UNFOLD

“the heroes had dwindled away” okay real talk you guys, it is literally only a matter of time before they press-gang the children into picking up their slack. I still don’t know how to feel about that, but it is happening one way or the other regardless. Child Soldiers 2 Electric Boogaloo. wonder if we’ll see a rise in vigilante action as well

OHO WHAT’S THIS? THIS IS A CHAPTER OF GRANDPAS HUH

-- no fucking way

WOW. WOW. WOWWWWWW

wow. so he didn’t do a fucking thing while the rest of the top ten were being turned into red mist in the previous arc, and now that it’s all over and they need his help more than ever, he decides... THAT IT’S TIME TO RETIRE. holy shit. “fuck you” doesn’t even begin to cover it my guy. you stand there and soak up those boos you coward

ohhhhhhh shiiiiit you guys. oh shit

the “I am not here” breaks my fucking heart for real though y’all. oh man. everything he worked for is gone just like that

(ETA: okay so a couple of the takes I’ve seen on this make it seem like All Might is somehow the bad guy here?? “this is what happens when society puts a bunch of glorified cops on a pedestal”, “finally the cracks in hero society are showing”, etc. etc. so, just a friendly reminder that this isn’t happening because of too much trust and a lack of critical thinking; this is happening because the villains killed all the heroes and broke a bunch of murderers out of jail. it’s happening because an organized league of terrorists succeeded in terrorizing, and so society is now understandably awash in fear and panic. like, it’s just wild to me that AFO is RIGHT FUCKING THERE, and yet week after week fandom still has their “IT’S ALL THE HEROES’ FAULT” signs still up on their lawns. BUT WHATEVER, MOVING ON.)

also though, so exactly how much time is passing here now? I wanted to go straight back to the hospital and see what happens with Deku and the Todorokis. please don’t tell me we’re jumping ahead sob. my aaaaangst

OH SHIT

STAIN. LISTEN UP BUDDY. I KNOW WE’VE HAD OUR DIFFERENCES, AND I STILL DESPISE YOU FOR CRIPPLING TENSEI AND TRYING TO KILL MY BEST BOY TENYA. BUT AS IT HAPPENS, THERE ARE ONE OR TWO OTHER HEROES OUT THERE NOW WHO I WOULDN’T MIND YOU PAYING A VISIT I’M JUST SAYING

LOL BUT IT ACTUALLY ISN’T THIS MAN, FFFFFF

sob. yeah I was talking about Old Man Samurai actually but YEAH. HEY THERE ENJI

also is this entire hospital actually run by characters from Super Mario Bros though. first Yoshi and now this guy, come the fuck on that is not a coincidence

lmao they stuck him in another one of these cavernous creepy hospital rooms

wtf is it with Horikoshi and these giant fucking rooms lately. Kacchan’s in chapter 298, then Tomie’s colossal house furnished with like one table and a TV, and now this. and the weirdest thing about it though is that “huge space with nothing to fill it up” is like the exact opposite of what you’ll usually find in Japanese homes lol

so now Enji is just sitting there thinking things like “my head is fuzzy” and “I’m alive” lmao okay. not quite all there yet, huh. I’ll give you a minute

I’m so fucking curious as to who his first visitor is going to be omg. either way it’s going to be interesting af, and either way fandom is probably going to feel some way about it but OH WELL

okay now his thoughts are getting more coherent! and he’s remembering Touya, and feeling regret for freezing up and forcing Shouto to deal with everything instead

!!! OH HERE GOES BRACE YOURSELVES Y’ALL IT’S ABOUT TO GET SPICY

NO TOUYA PLEASE DON’T CRY HONEY NO PLEASE

ohhhhhhh man

okay, I mean I didn’t expect you to, but so instead then you’re just going to do... what? lie there and wallow in regret and self-pity for the rest of your life? son you know that’s not how we deal with our problems here in Shounen

though also, I totally do get it though. honestly, thinking on it, I probably would have been disappointed with any other response. but so this is where the rest of his family (including his adopted son) come into play now though, because like it or not they’re all in this thing together. and so friends, I am once again asking you WHO IS GOING TO BE THE ONE TO VISIT ENJI FIRST

AHHHHHHH

KRANCH!!!! OMG AND THE OTHERS ARE SO TINY NEXT TO HIM THAT I ALMOST DIDN’T SEE THEM AT FIRST. IT’S BECAUSE THEY’RE TWENTY MILES AWAY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS REGULATION HOCKEY RINK OF A ROOM

holy shit I’m so excited lkjlklhlglkasdsjldfk

SDKFJLSKHLKJL

the way she has him by his collar lmaoooo. “lol nah you’re not going anywhere pal.” damn straight, siblings have to be ride or die in situations like this. banding together for survival. strength in numbers

OH MY STARS I’M JUST WARNING YOU NOW THAT I’M ABOUT TO DISSECT EVERY LAST REMAINING PANEL OF THIS CHAPTER PROBABLY YOU GUYS. WE COULD BE HERE A WHILE

love how Fuyu has absolutely no idea how to segue into THE SINGLE MOST AWKWARD CONVERSATION SHE’S EVER HAD, so she just GOES FOR IT in pure small talk mode like they’re meeting up for brunch somewhere

I KNOW IT’S A SMALL THING, BUT I APPRECIATE THAT THE FIRST THING ENJI ASKS IS WHETHER THEY’RE OKAY

lastly while I can’t wait for more of this delicious Natsu angst, I also just have to say that Enji has as much reason to cry right now as anyone on the planet. you can’t deny that being confronted by your not-dead-but-you-thought-he-was-dead son who’s all “SURPRISE DAD I GREW UP TO BE A MASS MURDERER AND I HATE YOU AND EVERYTHING IS ALL YOUR FAULT AND NOW I’M GONNA MAIM YOUR OTHER KID” with a side order of “EVERYONE HATES YOU AND SOCIETY IS CRUMBLING AND NOTHING WILL EVER BE GOOD EVER AGAIN” is enough to bum pretty much anyone out. there’s a Pagliacci the Clown joke here somewhere. BUT DOCTOR, I AM THE NUMBER ONE HERO

oh man lol he is seriously falling apart

damn. like you guys, I’m sorry, go ahead and cancel me, but I do feel compassion for the man. it’s therapeutic for me to see an abuser actually feel remorse and be truly sorry and want to change and want to make it up to his family. and it’s also compelling as fuck to read a narrative about a family that’s trying to grapple with that, because let me tell you straight up, as someone who’s done a version of that song and dance -- it is exhausting. it is a piping hot mess. it’s a gigantic mishmosh of extremely volatile emotions that all somehow all contradict one another. love, hurt, hope, anger, betrayal, resentment, attachment, longing. it’s something you can both be desperate for and also want nothing at all to do with. and attempting to portray all of that and write about it is a monumental task, and one which Horikoshi has done so, so delicately thus far, and damn but I appreciate it. anyway, so I’m here and I’m ready for my latest helping of Todoroki Fam Feels you guys

GASP

oh man. OHMANOHMANOHMAN. CAN IT REALLY BE. IS THIS THE REDEMPTION ARC OF CHAPTERS 100 AND 200???

LMAO SHE’S ALL “WE ALL FEEL BAD YOU JACKASS STOP CRYING ABOUT IT”

LAY INTO HIM REI!! SORRY ENJI YOUR PITY PARTY HAS BEEN CANCELLED IN FAVOR OF A “SO WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT” PARTY COURTESY OF QUEEN ELSA OVER HERE. THE PEOPLE TOOK A VOTE AND WE WANT LESS WHINING AND MORE ACTION

oh my god look at this lady folks

NOTE THE HAIR BLOWING IN THE NONEXISTENT WIND. NOW WE KNOW WHERE SHOUTO GOT THIS POWER FROM

(ETA: btw guys, seeing Rei handle this crisis like an absolute champ despite everything she’s been through is everything, though. I’m reminded of Hawks’s line last week about people sometimes unexpectedly finding liberation when they’re backed into a corner. like things may be shit but goddammit her kiddos need her.)

THE CHAPTER IS ALREADY ENDING SOB, IT’S ONLY A 17-PAGER THIS WEEK, BUT GODDAMN WHAT A WAY TO CLOSE

oh my god. oh my god oh my god. AND FUCK YOU HORIKOSHI FOR CUTTING IT OFF THERE sob. it’s like each week the wait for the next chapter becomes more painful. the Todofam is about to get real, and on top of that Hawks is gonna crash the party at some point down the line, and on top of that we’re still waiting for Kacchan to have his own heartfelt discussion about What The Fuck Are We Supposed To Do Next with his best friend who’s currently in a coma. all I want to do with my life is read about these three things, and all I can do is simply wait as they are portioned out in agonizing, addicting little installments every week

anyway! tune in next time as we answer the question of whether or not fandom will finally run its train of logic all the way through to its natural conclusion and somehow manage to cancel Noted Abuse Apologist Todoroki Fucking Rei. don’t act like it can’t happen. you all know nothing is sacred lol. anyways but I’m ready for anything lol, bring it

#bnha 300 #endeavor #todoroki enji #todoroki shouto #todoroki rei #all them todorokis #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #I can't believe I've done 300 of these now lol #think I'm gonna finally have to update the post index again

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repentantsky · 3 years

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5 People Who Should Not Be in The Gaming industry

Our choice of entertainment, when we choose video games has nearly endless potential, with works that are inspiring from varying genre’s, to varying resources, and many people who work on these games are as inspiring as they are instrumental to the industry’s continued growth and success, these 5 people, here are none of these things, and are nothing short of a detriment to it. Whether it’s because they broke the law, multiple times, clearly don’t care about the people who work under them, or are simply unable to tell their fans the truth, here are 5 people, who simply should not be here. Be warned, I may trigger you one way or the other depending on where you stand, and I’m not sorry about it if you want to defend these losers. Oh and, one final note, my lists aren’t usually ranked by how important an entry is, or in this case, how messed up they are, but rather by how much I want to talk about them, so do keep that in mind.

5. David Cage.

David might be the least unworthy person on this list, depending on how you look at it, (I think he’s one of the worst people here, but you do you) but he’s also possibly the biggest A-hole. Running the company Quantic Dream, most regarded for their game Detroit: Become Human, the company, Cage, and another key member have been under investigation for years, for mistreating their employees, and violating contracts. Most famously with Elliot Page, back before when he was known as Ellen Page, as the game Beyond: Two Souls, did have a fully nude model that for a time could be hacked to be visible in the game, which was a violation of the contract Elliot had signed at that time. Other accusations include, bullying, anti-woman rights shown in the work place, and harassment of employees, namely of the female variety. This isn’t mere speculation either, as Quantic Dream did a few years back, lose a case against a former employee in court, and if one thing most people have learned about abuse or mistreatment of others these days, is that if there’s one case, there’s probably more. While things have been quiet on this front in light of COVID-19, the investigation, is still on-going.

4. Randy Pitchford.

The laundry list of offenses this man has committed should have seen him end up in jail, but money talks, and he settled his crimes out of court. What crimes did he commit you ask? Let me see if I can remember everything. He, supposedly had child pornography on a flash drive, for which he was acquitted, with that never being shown in a way that can be confirmed or denied, he refused to work with Troy Baker on Borderlands 3 who played Rhys in Tales from the Borderlands, because Troy has joined the closest thing to a union within voice acting, which meant Pitchford would have had to follow certain guidelines, that he wasn’t willing to, he stole 12 million dollars meant to be bonuses for employees of Take Two after completing Borderlands 2, and the opening funds for Borderlands 3, which he seemingly used to pay off his court case, he assaulted Claptrap’s original VA when they were still working together, and refused to bring him back in Borderlands 3 because he wouldn’t do the voice for free after leaving like he had before, he refused to pay a musician for work done on Duke Nukem Forever, and while not nearly as heinous as the rest of these, refuses to acknowledge that any criticism against Alien: Colonel Marines is legitimate. So yeah, complete A-whole. Kind of makes you wonder how people like this stay in the industry, instead of in jail where they belong.

3. Todd Howard.

Todd Howard, is to put it lightly, a habitual liar, and often tries to play up his good guy persona while lying through his teeth. Fallout 76 is a key example of how he can lie, as just about everything he said about the game when it was announced, was untrue, though he’s used to that as he also lied about Skyrim, Fallout 4, Elder Scrolls Blades, Elder Scrolls online, seemingly favoring single player games while 76 was still not known to the public, the list goes on. Todd Howard, for as bad as his voice is for it, is basically the hype man for everything major Bethesda does, and usually seems to be in charge for finding a fall guy when his lies don’t come to fruition. It’s not really shocking per-say that he lies, but man, it would be nice if he could just tell the truth, if anyone could believe anything he says. Never, have I heard so many untrue things said about a game from one man, and yet, you literally have to question everything that comes out of his mouth, and assume all of it is overplayed nonsense, because Bethesda seemingly pays him to try and make us believe that he can say anything of factual value. But alas, he can’t, he even lied about the paid mods controversies Bethesda tried to pull, both times they did it, and nothing came of it. Someone who cannot seem to tell the truth, should not be in this industry.

2. Marcin Iwinski.

This may not be a name instantly recognizable to many, but Marcin is co-founder of CD Projekt Red, and is it’s most prolific liar. Unlike other CEO’s who have people below them spread lies so fans go after them instead of the guy at the top, Marcin has been Cyberpunk 2077′s voice in a manner of speaking, as he was the one told all of us the lies surrounding the game. He tells people what to say about the game, so he’s responsible for the lies made to retailers, fans, and of course Sony and Microsoft, and he even tried to get ahead of a piece written by Jason Schreier, with a non-apology that was actually more damage control for the horrible release of Cyberpunk 2077. While he’s by no means the only person who has committed these sorts of acts in this industry, his recent example of what a CEO will do to save face for his company, regardless of much BS there is within, makes him a prime target for fans to show those who run massive game companies, that lying to people for years, be it about how a game is running, or how it’s being made, shout out to all those people he said weren’t crunching, and then trying to downplay it when we found out, is not okay. Letting people like that go, only incites more to do the same.

1. Andrew Wilson.

Yet another name you might not know off the top of your head, Andrew Wilson is the CEO of EA, a company that is so corrupt under his watch, that they tried to break Belgium gambling laws because they just...thought they were above it? I don’t know the whole story there, but I do know that EA, under his run as CEO, clearly thinks it can do anything it wants, and feels like they can lie about whatever they choose, regardless of how poorly it reflects on the industry, or how it hurts smaller developers just trying to turn their passion into a career. Killing off beloved studios like Visceral games, Black Box Studios, Origin, and Playfish to name just a few, EA has become the killer of studios, and every time Andrew Wilson’s face is on screen, smart people began to worry. Mr. Surprise Mechanics himself may not have committed any crimes that we know of (aside from again, breaking Belgium law because he thought he could get away with it), nor has he lied his way to success in the public, but killing off studios loved by all in order to force everyone under his employ to mainly focus on games as a service, a move that is more harmful than good in the industry, is cause enough for him to be forced out.

And that’s my list, what did you think? It’s not often someone actually calls people out in this industry, and I honestly think more people need to do it so there’s some of that. Let me know if you can think of anyone else who deserves being a swift kick out the door, reblog this if it interested you, and feel free to leave a note.

#video games #bethesda #todd howard #ea #cyberpunk 2077 #andrew wilson #CD Projekt RED #take two #borderlands #randy pitchford #quantic dream #ellen page #elliot page #david cage #beyond two souls #detroit become human

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theyscreamjade · 3 years

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so i was listening to call out my name and I thought of an imagine for shinso or bakugo.

hope you can make it, remember to drink water and stay home.

-🌸

Call Out My Name

How did you know that I tend to write my imagines with music? My dear flower anon, I hope one day I see you~ but I do drink the respect juice. Alright, When I listened to this song, I immediately thought of Bakugo instead of Shinso, but don’t worry. I’ve got something for him. This was originally an idea I had for my self-ships but I think this’ll be good! I’ll probably add it later! I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Abuse, Gore, Strong Language and Subject Matter.

Crying does not indicate that you are weak. Since birth, it has always been a sign that you are alive. -Charlotte Brontë

_________________________

“Aye, Dumbass.” He said, making you look over at him. You placed your hand on your hip with a soft curious look on your face as he looked down at you.

“The next time you feel like you’re going to freeze like you did, just call my name..” he mumbled softly, a blush covering his cheeks. His randomness made you laugh a bit before you realized he was being serious.

You and Bakugo were in a secret relationship, which was mutually respected. You didn’t want to interfere with his ambitions and he didn’t want to have you in the spotlight though you are already. He’s seen the relationships within the hero’s world and they hardly ever work out. He doesn’t want to lose you...but he doesn’t want to make things worse for you.

A few things about you were being discovered with each step of the relationship, but..he was always curious about your original origins. You were adopted by a hero at a young age and raised under her wing though she would go on to say that there was a small period in your life you can’t talk about. It was a time where your father was freed from prison for good behavior and was able to take you away from her.

It was past you never spoke about..untold the doors were opened. Several things happened almost in an instant, your apartment was broken into, you were kidnapped and your whereabouts were still unknown. Well, they were.

The big secret was revealed from your father’s records for his seventeenth arrest which granted your guardian full custody of you. Child abuse was the final charge that was placed on him and which sent him onto his long jail sentence.

He could remember the bastard's face when Midoriya exposed an image of him during a group meeting to plan rescue even though he wanted to save you as soon as you disappeared. It had to take a talk from Kirishima, All Might, and Beat Jeanest to make him take his anger and place it in the back. For now.

His feet touched the sandy surface that surrounded the large warehouse. It was located right outside the cities limits, literally five hours away. A scream could be heard as light flittered on and off, just making his blood boil. It was yours.

“Bro...Don’t lose control.” Kirishima tried to reason as his hearing started to zone out. Rage, regret, anger at him but also as himself. He regretted not knowing a single thing about you, the issue of not knowing about your past, the reason why you became a hero in the first place was to obliterate the judgments and proclamations people made about you because of your villainous parents.

You hid your feelings through a smile. Those times he could’ve been there, he could’ve held you when you’d feel helpless, broken, abused. Those times you often sat alone, those times you’d lock yourself in your apartment to seclude yourself. He’d hear the hiccups when you’d cry, the soft sobs.

His hands began to pop a bit, the soft sounds of explosions on his hands. Before anyone could react, he caught a glimpse of you. Your shadow was being reflected from the dim light inside the room, your hands were bounded, chained as you tried to fight against the attacker.

His eyes stared quietly at you, trying to fight. For a mere second, your eyes looked towards the hidden group of hero’s, blended well into the darkness. Your heart pounded in your chest as you shoved your pride aside. The spiky hair was the first thing you spotted before you screamed as loud as you could.

“BAKUGO!!” You shrieked as loud as you could as everyone reacted at your sudden cry for help. The sudden boom was the last thing you could remember while your body crashed backward. The chains that bounded you left your arms scraped.

“YOU STUPID BITCH! WHAT DID YOU DO?!” Your father screamed towards you, the vision of seeing him when you were younger was flashing in your head, tears streaming down your cheeks. You scoot backward as quickly as you could, begging profusely.

“Please! I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! I’ll do better! I promise!” You cried, closing your eyes as your body shook in fear. Your father’s quirk took control of your body, his advanced telekinesis gave him the ability to kill anyone by stopping their blood flowing towards the heart.

“You were a fucking mistake from the beginning..” Your father spoke towards you, not a single shred of love in his words. The large metal doors were obliterated as shreds of metals slammed right into your father.

His power was disconnected from your body before you felt a sudden hug, a warm body pulled you into his chest. When you opened your eyes, the small sighting of black and you gripped Bakugo’s as tightly as you could. Your emotions soon lost control, those tears you were told to never stream flowed like a river.

“K-K-Katsuki..” you sobbed, your nails digging into his costume. Your hands were no longer restrained but the simple thought of that wasn’t on your mind. Those feelings rushed through your body, years, and years of denying the obvious impact that bastard left on you since you were five. A hand touched the back of your head, his gauntlet no longer on his arms. His hand touched your scalp while you sobbed your heart out.

The overwhelming feelings were finally being displayed. Bakugo simply kissed your head and whispered the words you’ve wished to hear for the longest. The feeling you wish you had so long ago, instead of lying and saying you were fine. For once in your life, his words made you finally feel protected.

“It’s okay...I’ve got you now.”

#my hero academia #my hero academy fanfiction #bnha fanfiction #bnha bakugo katsuki #i hope you like this #my hero academia scenarios #my heart hurts #my hero imagines #bnha imagines #mha bakugo katsuki #bnha bakugo x reader

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theodora3022 · 4 years

Note

Since you wrote about Yandere Villians with Y/N having a cute fairy quirk, how about a Yandere Hero having a Y/N with a monstrous quirk? SO...you pick the hero! Pick any male hero who you believe can handle Y/N. You do such amazing writing.

Y/N have to wear a face mask to hide the muzzle she wears going outside. Y/N have a quirk where she goes on a frenzy. Her eyes turn red, her veins pop out of her skin, she starts growling and trying to bite anyone near by. A monster who craves to rip flesh and bones. Y/N can turn on her quirk if she feels so much anger or fear. Y/N doesn't want to hurt anyone. She wants to live a quiet and alone life.

Wolf

Pairing: Best Jeanist x f!reader

Warnings: light yandere content, power abuse, threats

Thank you so much for the compliment, dear anon! I went soft with the monster idea that I just made the reader into a werewolf...hope it is still good! I was torn between Kiri and Best Jeanist! I really like Best Jeanist, I wish he got some more screen time ... Maybe I’ll do another one for the shark boy later.

Some groundwork:

When your quirk manifested at four years old, you were not surprised: you come from a family of Mutant quirks, after all.

Your quirk, wolf, means you can transform into a wolf anytime. The longevity is unknown to you since you barely use it. Even in your normal human form, you still have wolf ears and tail. You also have a sensitive nose, just like canines. You (hair color) fluffy fur is the same color as your hair. In acient times, before quirks become a thing, you would be seen as a werewolf.

While transformed, it is hard to supress the wolf’s wild instincts, the desire to hunt, to kill and consume raw meat (extremely difficult if you are hungry). You hate it, being like a beast instead of human. You had outbursts in the past that nearly killed one of your friends. There fore you stay in human at all times.

So most of the time, you just kept a muzzle near you, just in case you would lose yourself to the beast again.

You always feel this...strange sense of difference between you and normal people, so all of your friends have mutant quirks. You kept your social circle small, only letting those who are deemed trustworthy close to you (you told them to run if they see any signs of you getting wild)

You always had a soft spot for animals, therefore you decided to work in a pet shop. Dogs especially loves you, maybe because your canine quirk. Cats not so much, as they had left quite a few marks on you when you just started.

Now you are the assistant manager, the salary is decent, so you do not look for anything more. You never thought of having a romantic relationship because you do not trust yourself: you do not want to hurt the person you love. So even if you had crushes you just kept those feelings hidden until they went away.

Best Jeanist/Tsunagu Hakamada

Did you know his favorite animal is wolf? Therefore he is a furry

Being the No.4 pro hero means taking on lots of stress, so Tsunagu decides to have an animal friend at home who he can talk to freely, without worrying leaking information (I mean how can animals pass on information).

He went into the nearest pet shop, hoping to find a furry companion, preferably dogs.

What he did not expect is to find you there, with those literal puppy eyes and fluffy ears sticking out of your hair, tending to the puppies.

Tsunagu met people with similar quirks before, and he finds them aesthetically pleasing. But seeing you with a litter of adorable puppies, laughing and petting them? He felt like his heart just melted.

“Hello sir. How may I help you today?” You put on your usual smile. Tsunagu is wearing his civilian clothes, so he is just another customer to you. A fashionable one, though. You took notice at his stylish blonde hair.

Tsunagu would ask you about all the options for adopting a puppy. However he is only half-listening: he is drawn to how your ears twitch towards any abnormal sounds...

“Oh, my ears? Sorry if they are distracting. It’s part of my quirk.”

Would get you to talk to him as much as possible, with lots of polite questions.

When you bid him good day as he walks out the door, holding a poodle puppy with its supplies, Tsunagu is determined to see you more.

You are warm, like a ray of sunlight in this stormy world. Having worked as a pro hero for so long, dealing with many negative things so often, make him attracted to positive people. Those furry wolf ears and tail only added to his admiration.

Whenever Best Jeanist is not needed at his agency, Tsunagu Hakamada would find excuses to drop by your shop. Whether it be buying new accessories for his puppy or simply need some advice on her, he would find a way to talk to you, to hear your voice.

Until he become acquainted with you enough, Tsunagu finally asked for you name.

“I’m (y/n), and you, sir?” “Tsunagu. Tusnagu Hakamada.”

Never have once you associated your friendly customer with the No.4 Pro hero of Japan. Tsunagu is charismatic and talkative (at least to you), never putting on airs like Endeavor. Since he wears a mask, the public does not have a good idea what he looks like.

Then you noticed those small gestures, how Tsunagu’s hands would “unintentionally” brush against yours when you hand over his paid items, how his body would lean in slightly towards you whenever you are talking. Or how his lips would curl upwards whenever your tails wags with excitement. You also seen him way more frequently compare to average customers.

“He got a crush on you.” One of you co workers, teases after Tsunagu left the store.

“No he doesn’t.” You blush, although considering her hypothesis.

You seen some of his clothes in fashion magazines, one of them costs more then your monthly salary. Tsunagu is clearly a rich man, a fashion designer perhaps.

“Ms.(y/n), sorry if this sounds intrusive, but do you have a lover?”

That was...unexpected. “No, I do not. Why did you ask, Mr. Hakamata?”

That saves him trouble. Best Jeanist has got this flawless reputation for years, he prefers not to taint it. But if he must, Tsunagu would not hesitate. You belong with him, and him only. “Well, it’s possible such a beautiful lady like you already has a significant other.”

“Mr. Hakamata...I-” You were not sure to blush or to smile. Now it is clear to you: This blonde is interested in you. However you do not know what to respond.

“Call me Tsunagu, please.”

The next day you would find a lily bouquet wrapped in denim on the store counter?! Who use that as a bouquet wrapper? Flatter as you are, you still find this unsettling. He did not show up for the rest of the day, which gives you time to think.

Tsunagu is handsome and kind. He seems like a perfect choice, but you wonder what he would say if he saw you as a bloodthirsty wolf, feral and hungry for killing.

You decide to turn him down, not wanting to give him false hope.

Some minor villain is causing trouble in the streets when you were walking home. You were just going to sprint away at first, but in the corner of your eye you saw a mother with her toddler daughter being corner by the villain. The way the mother tries to protect her child triggered something in you. You have to do something!

“Grr!!!” Suddenly a piece of flesh is ripped off the villain’s leg. The villain screams in pain, but you dodged every last one of his attacks while leaving deep bite marks on him. Soon the sidewalk is stained crimson with blood. You know the two had already gotten away, you should stop now. But the wolf instincts got the better of you. You crave blood, lots of it. The growing pool under you is not enough.

You heard police sirens, someone yelling for you to stop, but the wolf is not willing to. It seems it would not be satiated unless this villain dies a brutal death.

Streams of fibers wrapped around you, restraining you until you cannot move anymore.

When you regained consciousness, you were in a clean jail cell, still in your wolf form. You assumed that you are being confined in a hero agency since you just lost control.

The door cracked. It is Tsunagu! What is he doing here? And why is he wearing a jean mask?

Then you saw the rest of his outfit. Demin jeans suit from head to toe, the...the No.4?

He is Best Jeanist? What is happening now?

Tsunagu wanted to take things slow, he wanted to date you normally, letting you know everything about him, but this seems like too good of an oppertunity to pass up.

“(y/n), can you understand me?” He crouches down with a concerned look on his face.

You nod. You are not able to speak human languages while in wolf form, another draw back.

“Do your clothes come back when you transform? Or do you need some clothes?”

You left your clothes behind a dumpster before, so you just shook your head. If you were to transform now, it could be quite embarrassing.

Handing you a denim dress, Best Jeanist leaves to give you some privacy to change.

After you are dressed and back in human form, he took you to his office.

“I know you must have lots of question right now, but please allow me to explain somethings first.”

“The villain is in bad shape. You did quite a bit damage on him. His blood loss is immense; he is still in the ICU as we speak.”

Why don’t you just let him die, he’s a threat to society anyway. You ask yourself, silently.

“However, while he is a villain, you still hurt him too much. And it’s not even self-defence. You are not a hero, it’s illegal.”

You tense up. Would you face charges for this? For trying to protect other people.

“Would I go to Tartarus? For how long?”

“Oh, come now. As long as I have any say , I won’t allow that to happen.” Your eyes lit up, wanting to thank him.

“You can be my wife instead. Stay with me, and no charges would be pressed.”

What?

You know he likes you, but just asking to become his wife like that? Without dating first.

“Tsunagu, I... you...this...” He finds your stutters cute, as he traces his fingers along the edge of your wolf ears. Best Jeanist had been wanting to do that for so long, he worked so hard to restrain himself.

“Your choice. Either face court charges, or you can be with me, all is well.”

Tsunagu Hakamada is confident about his chances. An innocent, adorable civilian like you will not last long even in the most outer cells of Tartarus.

Tears slides down your chin as you give a reclutant reply. “I’ll...be with you.”

Who could have thought Tsunagu would do such a thing? He is always so nice and friendly. But now here he is, threatening you with this crime?

“Perfect.” Snapping a denim collar around your neck, he lifts your chin, forcing you to look up to him. “I can’t wait to get you home; you would be such a lovely little wolf. My little wolf.”

“Should you ever try to leave me, I’m sure Tartarus is always avaliable.”

#yandere bnha #bnha #bhna best jeanist #yandere best jeanist #bnha reader insert #best jeanist

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the1918 · 3 years

Text

Keller is an affluent suburb of Fort Worth, Texas. Select parts of this article (warning: link contains a disturbing video with the footage of a Latino man being violently abused by white officers).

On Aug. 15, two officers with the Keller police department pepper sprayed Marco Puente directly in the eyes while they pinned him to the ground and handcuffed him. The entire incident was video recorded on multiple dash cam and body worn cameras [...] Puente and his attorneys filed against the officers in Fort Worth District Court on Dec. 15.

(Electrician Marco Puente on vestcam footage and to right)

Marco Puente, an emergency electrician from Keller, sat in the back of a police car for nearly 20 minutes begging for someone to wipe the pepper spray from his eyes.

On Aug. 15, Marco Puente and his son, Dillon Puente, were driving to Marco Puente’s wife’s grandfather’s house to fix Dillon Puente’s air conditioning in his car. As Dillon Puente approached the home in the Riverdance neighborhood, Sgt. Blake Shimanek pulled him over on a street inside the subdivision for making a wide right turn.

Dash cam and body cam footage provided to the Star-Telegram show how the traffic violation escalated to Marco Puente’s arrest.

In the video, Shimanek walks up to Dillon Puente’s window, which is about three-fourths of the way rolled up, and tells him to roll it the rest of the way down. He asks Dillon Puente to step out and put his hands on the car, which he does. He starts handcuffing the 22-year-old, and asks him, “Why are you asking so suspicious?”

Marco Puente pulls up in the truck across the street and yells to his son, asking what happened. Dillon Puente yells back that he rolled up his window and Shimanek got mad. Marco Puente starts recording the arrest on his cell phone.

“You’re about to be arrested for blocking the roadway if you don’t park and get out,” Shimanek yells to Marco Puente, who is parked by the curb on the opposite side of the street. “You’re interfering with my job.”

Marco Puente, at Shimanek’s demand, backs up the truck and parks in front of his wife’s grandfather’s house. He gets out of the truck and walks up the sidewalk, still recording. Shimanek tells Dillon Puente it was suspicious of him to drive with his window down on a hot day and then roll it up once he got pulled over.

Another officer, identified in the lawsuit as Officer Antik Tomer, pulls up at the scene. Shimanek points at Marco Puente and says, “Watch him.”

“Watch me watch, stand here?” Puente says.

“Better yet,” Shimanek says, “arrest him.”

“For what?” Puente says from the sidewalk.

“For blocking the roadway,” Shimanek says.

Tomer walks over to Puente, grabs his arm and starts to put handcuffs on him. He tells him to drop his phone, which is still recording. Puente asks what he is being arrested for and continues holding his phone.

Shimanek walks across street and puts Puente in a headlock and knocks his phone from his head. He and Tomer push Puente to the ground and Shimanek sits on his back and cuffs him. Tomer pulls out a can of pepper spray and holds it inches from Puente’s face as Puente yells that he isn’t doing anything.

“Dude, oh my god, what are you doing?” he says. “What the heck?”

Shimanek tells Tomer to spray Puente, and Tomer starts spraying him in the face. He takes Puente’s sunglasses off and sprays him again in the eyes.

In the video, Puente’s wife’s grandfather is heard yelling at the officers. He had come out of the house and was also recording officers, and he yells at them and refuses to back up when Shimanek tells him to.

The officers pull Puente, who is yelling that his “eyes are on fire,” to his feet and put him in the back of a police car.

Puente asks for a towel, which Shimanek tells him they will give him soon. Over the next 15 minutes, Puente begs repeatedly for someone to give him a towel or help him wipe his face, but he is ignored.

“This officer literally took nothing and made it into something,” Scott Palmer, another of Puente’s attorneys, said about Shimanek’s actions. “He literally created havoc.”

Puente and his attorneys say he never should have been arrested or pepper sprayed in the first place, but the indifference officers showed to his continued suffering was even more egregious. Shimanek, who is seen on video complaining about the pepper spray burning his arms, wipes at his own skin with a towel, but tells Tomer not to give one to Puente.

Puente, who is Hispanic, was told over and over again as he sat in the police car that he would receive help from paramedics at the jail. But as Tomer drove Puente to the jail, they passed those paramedics — the officers had told EMS to go to the scene, even though Puente had already been driven away.

Once Tomer and Puente reached the jail, Puente was left in the back of the car for another seven minutes.

“You can hear him as they’re sitting in the sally port of the police station casually talking,” Roberts said. “He’s yelling for seven minutes. You see Shimanek complaining of the pepper spray burning him, and he only had it on his on his arms. Puente had it in his eyes.”

Fifteen minutes after being pepper sprayed, Puente received the help he had been begging for when jail attendants — not paramedics — sat him down in a chair and sprayed water in his eyes. Afterward, officers fingerprinted Puente, gave him orange-and-white striped clothes and booked him into jail. Through a sliver in the wall, Puente saw his son being walked into the station as well. From 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., Puente sat in a cell and wondered what had just happened.

“I’m thinking about what the heck went wrong,” Puente said. “I keep going back to that I did nothing illegal. Is it because this officer didn’t like what I was doing? Is it because he has more power than me?”

Puente also thought about how his wife’s grandfather, who is white, yelled at the police and did not move when Shimanek told him to, but he was not arrested.

“So is that the reason they didn’t pursue him?” Puente said. “Did they get me because I’m a brown guy in a nice neighborhood? It kind of seems that way.”

According to body cam footage, Shimanek told his supervisor that he pulled Dillon Puente over because he suspected him of having narcotics, and he arrested him so he could search his car. No drugs were found in the car. Dillon Puente paid the traffic ticket for making a wide right hand turn and was released from jail shortly after his arrest. Puente wasn’t charged with anything.

Every day when he looks in the mirror, Puente sees a scar that reminds him of the day of his arrest — when Tomer pulled Puente’s sunglasses from his face to pepper spray him, he ripped Puente’s nostril.

“So I’ve got this scar on my nose that I see every day,” Puente said. “It’s in the middle of my face. That takes me back, like why is that thing even there. There’s no reason for this to be there.”

His 22-year-old son feels like he’s “always looking over his shoulder,” wondering if he is going to be arrested for “making a wide right turn” again, Puente said.

This happened just miles away from my house. White people—we have got to do better.

Do not call yourself an ally but still flinch when you hear “ACAB.” Anti-racism is all or nothing.

Because records provided by the Keller police department show the following about the officers who abused Puente:

In 2016, an internal investigation found Shimanek searched a woman’s home without permission and threatened to call Child Protective Services without just cause.

In 2018, Shimanek was the subject of a complaint after he spoke to teachers and made a comment about “women not carrying guns because they would not be able to protect the children during a school shooting.”

In 2019, Tomer was reprimanded when he responded to a “swatting” call and told the caller that he did not want to “respond to this kind of (expletive) again,” according to a written reprimand. He also told the caller that if “somebody calls in again, we won’t respond to this type of call.”

So say it with me, white people: All. Cops. Are. Bastards.

Get these abusers off the streets.

#acab

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takaraphoenix · 3 years

Text

Ngl, the finale felt kind of undeserved.

I love a good villain redemption, I really do. This... was not a good villain redemption. Heck, it wasn't a redemption at all.

I feel bad for his abuse, I genuinely do, but I have also grown immune to the "villain was abused as a child so now they abuse others uwu now forgive em because they were abused" (especially when they are billionairs who could afford therapy but instead put their money into villainous schemes(. No, that's not how that works. You gotta give the villain actual redeeming qualities, or the will to better themselves. THEN abuse as the catalyst for their behavior can work. It doesn't when there is no remorse, no recognition that their own deeds were wrong, no attempt to do better.

Adam literally tried smashing Langa's face in to the end; there was no desire to become better and quite frankly I don't find "trying to murder children" to be a redeeming quality.

I GET that it was meant to speak to what a good person Langa is for even trying. But the guy put Cherry into the hospital and nearly killed Reki.

Shadow was what they tried to do with Adam. Shadow was a violent cheat who hurt people without remorse when we met him. Then they showed us his softer side, made him open up, made him care for the others, be there for them and actively be a better person.

Adam didn't WANT to be a better person and showed... not a single good quality to his personality. But now he got his fun at skating back AND he didn't have to go to jail for ANY of his illegal activities (including, and I can not stress this enough, trying to murder a 15 year old for getting in the way of his entirely made up romance with another 15 year old).

No, showing that he was abused as a kid does not make it feel deserved that the guy got rewarded for his multiple physical assaults on others. The very least that should have happened was jail; and if you wanted it to feel earned that he got his fun back, you could have had him turn himself in. THAT would have come a long way, would have shown that he actually wanted to be better.

Instead, he weaseled his way out of all charges and continues to be free, acting like what he did wasn't wrong. And that just... isn't a satisfying ending to me.

#Sk8 Spoilers #Sk8 #Sk8 the Infinity

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prorevenge · 4 years

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My boss was abusive and didn't care about staff so I cost him his store and his contracts

This story will include no real names and a location will not be given. I am obligated to inform you I wrote this on mobile and have no idea how long this will be.

Backstory: I was an idiot growing up and ended up in a rehabilitation program for people under 18 to avoid jail time and eventually got given a place at a large charity agency that sources workers for anything from retail to gardening. The person directly in control of my position at said charity was one of those "I'm too nice for anyone to notice me doing wrong" people and he put me, someone who literally couldn't (and still can't years later) talk to a stranger without panicking, into a job in retail speaking to upwards of 35+ customers a day. May not sound like a lot but I struggled to make it through a day without going into the back room and crying.

Story: So, I get assigned to work in a (unsure of the right word here but, privately owned?) retail place that sells "upcycled" furniture. I had previously worked at the site actually doing the upcycling and knew this stuff was a scam, barely had a thing changed and the people doing the work spent most of the day drinking coffee and smoking while playing games on their phone.

The boss of this site (Kevin) showed just what kind of person he was from day 1 by threatening to fire me for telling him I can't handle strangers and shouting in my face. God I wish he had fired me. This never got better and over the months of working there and I eventually started started recording it all without his knowledge. Among the things he did is this list:

Shouting at staff for not putting toilet paper on the holder (there was a pile of it on the back of the toilet)

Calling the person in charge of my placement and reporting me for "lack of workplace enthusiasm" in front of me while I was having a panic attack

Telling a 70+ year old woman who I worked with that she needs to "grow up and handle confrontation like a man" after having 2 large men shout and swear at her for refusing to sell an already sold item to them

Throwing his phone (told by another employee) after I called in sick for a day due to crippling stomach pains brought on by Crohns

After being told at 11am that I won't make it to my shift (due to being in hospital), proceeded to call me at 3am the next morning and yell at me (he seemed VERY drunk) demanding I have a doctor prove I was in the hospital because I didnt give 2 weeks notice

And back to the story. All of this was recorded in the space of only 3 weeks and I gave it all to my placement manager who proceeded to organise a meeting between himself, Kevin and me to try and put things right. During this meeting however, instead of calmly talking about the issue and what can be done to solve it, all the evidence was shown to Kevin who then yelled at me for recording him then throwing a full on tantrum that I would dare question his style of management while I sat there scared as hell and my placement manager just did nothing.

Back we go to work with a final warning strike issued to me for gross misconduct and told that I should do as stated in my contract and anything else that is asked of me or I would be fired. I do everything I can to follow my contract and anything else asked of me including cleaning a f**king toilet and see a broken window above it. Thats when I finally get a plan together.

The revenge: The plan I came up with meant I had to stay in everyones good books, deal with a-hole customers, go to work even in crippling pain and dose up on meds to control my panicking but in exchange my belief was I could get Kevin replaced or atleast get myself removed from the situation.

I should have clarified earlier, being fired from any site ALSO gets you taken off the charities payroll.

I started informing Kevin of every little safety violation the site managed to break from broken windows in the female toilets, loose light fixtures and broken locks on doors all the way up to a giant glass panel going across the front of the shop that was barely hanging in by a few bits of rubber and could easily kill a small child or less than strong adult if it were to fall out. I emailed him and texted him about each one individually and brought it up to other staff in hopes they would do the same, while also making sure to take photos of each of these issues so I could use them again later.

Another month and a half of working there and at this point I felt I may have a little too many minor details saved up but decided its best to go overkill than underkill and sent a huge email to the UK HSE (health and safety executive) detailing every risk and danger with photos attached to show what the place was doing wrong and requesting an inspection. Of course they obligued.

1 week later I get a phone call from Kevin. He tells me how the shop is closing down, how a safety inspection was carried out and how it had been failed so badly that he lost his contract with the charity and that nobody would be able to use the building for weeks while everything gets brought back up to code, but he couldn't run the place anymore due to money issues while it was closed because he had no savings for this. I never heard from him again.

A year later: After this happened I moved on and began working from home doing image editing for quick cash and around a year later I get a call from the placement manager who hadnt heard from me the whole time and I got asked in the coldest, most passive aggressive tone "why didnt you tell me the store closed?" turns out they had been apparently paying me £300 a DAY for a job I didnt have, hours I didnt work and this was all apparently being reported on the charities income as someone elses account. They got me confused with another person and reporting their hard work on my files and it took them a year to notice because of how badly they handled everything.

Another obligatory note: Rslash, if you are reading this; On behalf of every single subscriber, MORE PUPPY BLOOPERS PLEASE!

*: clearing the confusion- they had my name on another persons paperwork and though they paid the right person, they were using my name

(source) story by (/u/The-UK-Is-Mine)

#prorevenge #by /u/The-UK-Is-Mine #pro revenge #revenge stories #pro revenge stories #pro #revenge #last10

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augustheart · 3 years

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Unchained is an Important Episode

A few days ago we watched Unchained (or Unchained Melody), and it turns out I have a lot of things to say about it. I’m going to assume everyone who reads this has a passing knowledge of the bare bones plot of Quantum Leap, but to refresh your memory if you haven’t seen the episode in awhile or if you haven’t seen it for whatever reason, the basic plot is that Sam leaps into the body of someone working in a chain gang and has to save another inmate there, Boone, who is falsely convicted and serving a grossly inflated sentence due to racial profiling. The premise is ostensibly based off the 1958 film “The Defiant Ones,” though it only practically translates so far as it is also a movie about two prisoners from a chain gang (one Black, one white) who are shackled together, even if Boone and Chance (the man who Sam has leapt into for the duration of the episode) aren’t directly chained to each other for large pieces of the story.

A disclaimer before I start talking about it: I am not at all an expert on prisons, jails, and the United States carceral system—especially not the justice system of the 1950s, when the episode is set. However, I’m the child of someone who works in the criminal justice system, specifically in immigration law and with people who have been wrongfully convicted, so the issue is close to my heart and is the reason why I was looking forward to watching this episode for the first time.

The first thing I want to say about this episode is that it’s good. Even when the episodes we watch aren’t good, I still generally have fun and enjoy myself. But Unchained is good. Really, really good, thanks in large part to how much Basil Wallace destroys his role as Boone. I don’t think I’ve seen him in anything else, but after watching him perform for only forty-something-odd minutes, I’m comfortable saying he’s a powerhouse of an actor. Boone is the heart of this episode in a way that not every person Sam is there to help is. The entire episode, you root for him to be released. And he is, but not in the way I was expecting.

A lot of times when media is set within the prison system, strides are taken to reassure the audience that there are good people working in it, and all you need to do is find one sheriff who isn’t corrupt or one warden who doesn’t want to watch you burn to line their pockets. While Unchained starts to go that route, with a warden on the work site appearing somewhat sympathetic and listening when Sam accuses the actual perpetrator of the crime of framing Boone, this ultimately leads nowhere. Every person there is making money off of these people being incarcerated. That’s why Chance is serving literally years longer than his nine month sentence for petty crimes, and part of the reason why Boone is serving fifteen years for a crime he never committed. The justice system has no incentive to release its prisoners, innocent or not. Even if there was, magically, a good-hearted warden or prison guard or anyone who will care enough to help free someone like Boone, who is an innocent victim of racial profiling, they still won’t be effective, because the system is designed to keep people cycling throughout it in order to break them down and make them more likely to reoffend, something that was as true in the 50s (and the 90s, when the episode was released) as it is today. And while the system may keep its hold on white people like Chance (and by extension, Sam), it is far more designed to lock up and destroy Black people like Boone, another thing that has been constant about prisons since their foundation was laid.

So how do Boone and Chance get away? Through escape.

There is no way for them to be released through legal means. Boone’s life may have been saved within the very first segment of the episode, when Sam stops him from being executed for escaping (because that is what an extrajudicial killing like that is), but the prison system has already started to destroy him, even if he hasn’t given up hope on being able to make it out. Nobody cares and is going to help them at a higher level and unfortunately nobody will help them legally from the outside. The only way to break free is to quite literally cut their chains and make a run for it. And, shockingly to me, this is presented as the correct course of action—because it is. It’s the only way they could’ve gotten away and it is better to break laws to escape than to die in prison praying that someone will notice and take pity on them, at least in this context. I won’t say that every person should immediately start trying to escape, because it’s incredibly dangerous for them to even try and can make things so, so much worse for them, but I will say that Sam helping Boone escape was absolutely the right note to end the episode on and it is exactly as hopeful as it is presented, even before Al tells Sam that Boone would go on to essentially have the life he always wanted to.

I do have some things I wish they’d done, though, the largest of which is that I wish they had spent some time humanizing the other prisoners. While at the beginning they’re helping Boone and Chance escape, which is something I really liked seeing, at the end they seem to have completely switched around on them and now are happy to watch them kill each other. While this could’ve been commentary on how the prison system encourages a crabs-in-a-barrel mentality of constant violence and infighting, it unfortunately wasn’t. I think it also would’ve been easy to put in a brief scene of Sam as Chance talking to more of the prisoners, or listening to Boone talk to them, or something like that, where we find out more about their sentencing and realize as an audience that these people are likely serving time based on false or incredibly inflated charges (especially if they aren’t white), and while some of them did legitimately commit larger crimes, they’re still being treated like they aren’t human and are simply expendable objects, which is something they don’t deserve. Sadly we don’t get a scene like this, though at least the time was devoted to showing Boone as a tragic hero who deserves what he gets in the end—a life away from a chain gang doing something he loves.

Prison workforces have only superficially changed from then, and I mean that in the sense of all three time periods—when the episode was set, when it was released, and now. They’re still essentially just as abusive to their “workers” and are designed to destroy the people who are “employed” by them, no matter what work they force them to do. Personally, I think Unchained is an episode that absolutely holds up, even if I do have some things I would change. I recommend people watch it if they think they can handle it despite the heavy subject matter, even if they don’t have much context, because most Quantum Leap episodes are fairly self-contained and this one is no exception. It isn’t perfect, but considering the time it was made and how well it holds up, it’s still a damn good episode about an abusive facet of the United States prison system.

#quantum leap #racism /#antiblack racism /#police brutality m ?#long post #like really long #i didn't want to put it under a cut though

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