#i do like the vagueness of it. like... you don't need to EXCEL at something specific to be happy
I love how some of my most used recipes are super vague and then every time I try to bake them I despair over simple things such as 'why hasn't anyone written down a baking time'
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Gained in Translation
I speak four languages (at varying degrees of fluency) and do translation both for smooth and peaceable family reunions and for fun, with works of literature I enjoy. It's practically a truism at this point that meaning gets lost in translation; in fact, I'm currently reading an excellent book, Babel by R.F. Kuang, in which there is magic powered by the meaning lost in translation. But a topic I hardly ever hear anyone discuss is how meaning can be gained in translation.
Example 1: References
A type of meaning that can be gained in translation is that when you translate from language A to B, you can make references to other texts in language B that the person who wrote the original in language A wouldn't have been aware of. Here is an example from a translation I did of a Pablo Neruda poem:
Yo te recordaba con el alma apretada
de esa tristeza que tú me conoces.
I remembered you with my soul gripped
by the tragic ordeal of being known by you.
These lines in Spanish reminded me a lot of the meme based on the viral New York Times article about how you need to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known in order to reap the rewards of being loved. So I decided to make a subtle reference to that quote in the way I phrased the English translation. This meaning, of course, doesn't exist in the original Spanish; I added it in.
Example 2: Meaningful Distinctions
Meaning is often gained in translation because the target language makes a distinction that the source language does not. The translator has to choose one side of that distinction, and so meaning is gained.
Here is an example from the Spanish localization of the Japanese RPG Fire Emblem: Three Houses. There are two unlockable scenes in which the character Hubert is given a gift as a romantic gesture. Now, I don't speak Japanese, but through reading the analyses and translations done by Japanese speakers, and by checking for consistency in the kanji, I can see that the same word for "gift" seems to be used throughout these scenes. However, in Spanish, there are multiple words for "gift" with rather different connotations, which becomes relevant in the localization.
In Spanish, there is no generic word for "gift" that applies in every situation. There is a distinction made between gifts that are personal, between people who care about each other, and gifts between people who are not close, such as charitable gifts and formal gifts given to a diplomat. The translators of the game had to choose which of these words to use in the Spanish, and they used the distinction to add some very interesting meaning to these romantic scenes.
In each scene, what happens is that Hubert notices the person has a gift and comments on it, thinking it's for somebody else. In these lines, in Spanish, Hubert uses the personal intimate word for gift. Then, when he finds out the gift is for him, and reacts very awkwardly, he switches to a formal word for gift, creating an emotional distance between himself and the romantic token. This is excellent characterization and adds a layer of meaning in translation.
Example 3: Meaningful Ambiguity
Sometimes, the opposite phenomenon occurs, where the target language does not make a distinction that the source language does, and that ambiguity or vagueness adds something to the translation.
I have a Finnish friend who has told me that fiction that plays with gender is often more meaningful for him in Finnish translation than in the source language, because Finnish does not have gendered third person pronouns. Where books like The Left Hand of Darkness or Ancillary Justice have to make a conscious decision about which gendered pronoun to use for characters that fall outside the Western gender binary (The Left Hand of Darkness uses "he" and Ancillary Justice uses "she"), the Finnish translations can just use the default neutral pronoun they use for everyone, and never have to resolve that ambiguity in any direction. My friend has told me that there are some books about non-gender-normative characters that he wishes he'd read in Finnish instead of English because the experience would have felt more authentic in some ways.
What It Means
The reason why I bring all of this up is that the concept of meaning lost in translation is tied to the idea of translation as an act of violence. Indeed, there is a saying in Italian, "Traduttore, traditore," which means "Translator, traitor." I agree that translation can definitely be an act of violence that destroys the intended meaning of a text and warps it to suit the needs of the speakers of the target language. But when we focus only on what is lost in translation, at the expense of what is gained in translation, then we deny that translation can be an act of liberation and power.
I was raised in a bicultural household speaking both English and Spanish, and when I translate between these languages, it makes me feel empowered and proud of my heritage. It feels insulting to me to claim that when I translate, I can only ever deplete the meaning. That is not true. Every translation requires a translator, and we are more than thieves and traitors. We are more, even, than archivists, trying to minimize loss and decay as much as possible. We are creatives and inventors who can add something beautiful and meaningful to the text via our translations.
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@sergeantwoods Sorry for the long wait, but here's the mer!AU
Think I'll call it Fish Out of the Sea
Ghost x Soap, blacktip reef shark mer!Soap, human Ghost, fluff, getting together (kinda)
Ficlet after the cut 😘
"No."
John sighed, he didn't seem surprised by Shepherd's hard rejection, but he kept trying. Simon had to give props to the fishing boat Captain. "You have the best mer rehabilitation facility in the country. It'd be a shame not to use it."
"You said you had a mermaid. That's not a fucking mermaid, John."
"I said I had an injured mer." He repeated himself from their earlier conversation.
"I'm not taking that thing into my facility."
"He needs help-"
"He's hideous, and aggressive." Shepherd barked. "That thing keeps lashing out, it'll scare patrons, attack my staff, and if that *thing* touches my mermaids, tries to mate with them, I'll have it put down."
"Mers are actually matriarchal, sir." The mer expert, Kyle, finally spoke up. "I've never worked with a shark mer before, but I do know he won't mess with Kate or Rosa, because they won't want him. Since they're together."
"Kyle. For the last time, the mermaids aren't lesbians. They're just fish." Shepherd was one of those who thought of mers as lesser than humans. Obviously.
Simon was standing near the door. No one had noticed him sneak in, but when he'd overheard that the mer was a shark variant, he'd needed to see it. Now, seeing the poor thing huddled in the corner of it's transport tank, curled in on itself, he felt so bad for it. He watched, any time someone went near it it flared out it's dorsal and pectoral fins. It would gnash it's teeth and charge the glass. All signs of aggression in a shark but... as soon as it finished its display it was right back to the furthest corner from the humans. It kept peeking at them over it's own shoulder when it thought they weren't looking. He quietly crept closer.
He took in it's markings, gray on it's back, white on its belly, black tips to it's fins. Claspers on its pelvic fins. A male blacktip reef shark then. His inferior end was all shark, something Simon was very familiar with, as he took care of all of the sharks here at the aquarium, several of them blacktips. His superior end, or top half, he supposed a visitor would (incorrectly) consider it, was new and interesting to him. Though he was vaguely humanoid, his skin was all two tones white and gray, like his tail. He had a wedge shaped snout in place of a human nose, a wider mouth with jagged teeth. Slitted eyes, and a black tipped fin atop his head that reminded Simon of a mohawk. Webbed gray and white hands with black claws rubbed up and down it's own arms in a self soothing gesture. One forearm had an odd angle to it, probably the injury that landed him here.
He retreated from the tank quietly before speaking, interrupting the squabbling of the other men. "He looks like a reef shark to me." Everyone else jumped. "Blacktip reef sharks aren't aggressive. Sure they can get a little iffy during feeding, but they're more curious than anything."
"He's been charging the glass, Ghost." Simon managed to suppress his eye roll at Shepherd's nickname for him. They all called him that here. "Fuck you mean 'not aggressive', you don't know mers."
"No, but I know sharks. He's injured, and defensive. You ever think he doesn't like us because it was something shaped like us that broke his arm?" John winced, he obviously felt bad about it. Not like he could've know he'd caught the mer in his net, but it was nice to see some accountability from a fisherman for once.
"Well we can't communicate with him, so he'll stay scared and defensive." If Simon didn't love the sharks, he would've left this place a long time ago because Shepherd was an absolutely abrasive cunt.
"Kate and Rosa can. And their English is excellent." Kyle spoke up again. "We have them pass on the message of our intentions, and Ghost and I tag team his rehabilitation." Of course he uses the dumb nickname too. "It's the perfect plan! And an incredible opportunity to be one of two aquariums to actually work with a shark mer. The novelty of something so rare will bring in patrons." Kyle was really leaning into Shepherd's true interests here, bringing up money.
Shepherd was quiet for a moment and then, "If anything happens, you're both fired." He then stormed out of the room.
"Thanks, Gaz."
"Of course, Cap."
Now the three of them had to get the shark mer into an appropriate tank.
***
They had initially tried to put him in with the other mers, but he'd seen the sharks in the tank across the hall and told Kate he wanted to be with his own kind. That would make Simon's job easier, anyway. Kate had explained that they needed to put a cast on his arm, and Rosa had wrestled it onto him, since the humans couldn't get too close. They decided to name him John, after Captain Price, calling him Johnny affectionately. Gaz explained to Ghost that part of rehabbing Johnny would be gaining his trust, teach him to communicate. To release him without a way to communicate could lead to him attacking humans and being a problem down the road.
Simon had a plan: ignore him. He was a reef shark, his own curiosity would get him to open up. It took a week.
Simon would feed his sharks from a catwalk above their tank, for safety reasons, dropping their food in in the mornings before they opened their doors. No need to scare any children. For the first week, any time he passed by, Johnny would posture aggressively and gnash his teeth, before snatching up his food and swimming off. When Ghost would gear up and go in the water for his evening shows, Johnny stayed far away. At night, Gaz and his mers would move over and Ghost would mostly just observe as the girls tried to teach Johnny how to speak, and he petulantly ignored them, with a little pout on his face as he refused to even make eye contact with them. It was cute.
The first time he tried to speak was also the first time Simon saw him raise his head above the surface. He seemed frantic. "HAAAH!" He startled a bit at what was most likely the first time he ever used his lungs to breath air. "HAAAAH! AH! YAAH!" he was waving with his good arm. Stretching it out towards the platform between his tank and that of the other mers, thrashing his tail with his fins tucked in. Very distressed. Simon went to check, to see what could possibly be bothering him so much, when he found their elusive fourth mer. Simon had only seen Gary once. Gaz called him Roach, because he hid in the tiniest cracks in the reef in their enclosure, why on earth the isopod mer was on the platform, and not in the water, was beyond him, but he couldn't let the poor thing suffer. He had several of his little legs caught in a grate. Simon spent some time disentangle him. He tossed the infant sized mer into the nearest tank, which happened to be the shark tank, with Johnny. The larger mer immediately dove to catch him. He stroked Roach's antennae back like one would the hair of a small child, a soothing motion. Clearly not as much of a loner as he pretended to be. From then on the little isopod mer could be found clinging to Johnny's sides or fins with his many little periopods more often than not. After that, it seemed that Gary encouraged Johnny's more curious side. The mer's language was mostly outside of the human range of hearing, but Simon occasionally caught clicks, whistles or hums shared between the two.
Simon had left a bucket with soap close to the edge once, the two mers were clearly curious about it, but he didn't think anything would come of it. Which is why it was such a surprise when Johnny stuck a webbed hand in and scooped some out, popping it immediately into his mouth. Simon knew it wasn't enough to harm him, which is why he couldn't help but laugh at the poor creatures misfortune as it sputtered and writhed, making bubbles. While laughing he let his guard down, and was surprised when something struck him, knocking him off the catwalk and into the tank. He opened his eyes and looked around, seeing only Roach, floating downward, listing side to side, tiny head in his tiny hands. He surfaced to see Johnny. "Did you just throw him at me?!" Johnny sunk down so only his eyes and cranial fin were above the water. The little shit. "Not cool, Soap!" He forced his palm out towards the mer, sending a spray of water its way. That seemed to really break down the mer's walls.
Johnny started approaching while Simon would try and clean the tank. At first, darting away if Simon caught sight of him. Eventually however, he would get closer and simply observe. He'd watch Simon work at cleaning the glass or vacuuming the sand at the bottom. It was fun to see shark behavior and mer behavior collide. If Simon sat something down, Johnny would pick it up, and without a doubt if he could get it in his hands, it would end up in his mouth.
There was a small crowd, a child's birthday party had been held over by Gaz's mer tank, the girls were always a hit with the kids, and the little show they put on with Gaz was actually pretty funny. They'd harass him as he pretended to try and do his chores. Slapstick comedy was good for all ages.
Simon had his own show with his sharks, but it wasn't for a few more hours. He was actually just trying to clean. Apparently his cleaning sponge had caught Johnny's attention, as the mer had swam up and was watching him intently. He kept inching forward, eventually crowding Simon against the glass while reaching for his sponge. "Oi!" He said into his respirator, not that anyone could hear him. He shoved Johnny away and kept trying to cleaning, but the persistent bastard just kept coming back. He could vaguely see the crowd observing them through the glass. They were probably laughing. When he'd had enough, he got an idea. He turned when Johnny got close again and placed one hand on his dorsal fin and the other on the underside of his snout. He began to rub at the sensitive underside of the mer's snout, and just like his sharks, the mer entered a state of tonic immobility. He repositioned Johnny, nose down tail to the surface, Johnny's arms hung limply down past his head. Simon quickly withdrew his hands and watched as the mer continued to float for a bit, before blinking vigorously. He shook his head before righting himself, and slapped his tail into Simon's chest as he practically fled to his little cave at the other end of the tank. When he surfaced later, Gaz informed him that the kids were raving about how cool the 'shark guys' were.
Simon had to admit that Johnny was growing on him. He looked forward to seeing him each day. Johnny began trying to get Simon to swim with him. He'd grab Simon's arms and try to pull him into the water when he was on land, or he'd push Simon away from the glass and his cleaning supplies, towards the open water. Sometimes Simon would indulge him, and the two of them would make laps around the tank.
Simon realized, when Johnny began posturing towards the sharks and getting territorial about him towards them, that Johnny was attempting to court him. Worse, he couldn't bring himself to try and put an end to the behavior either. Johnny was getting touchy, he'd run his hands along Simon's sides or chest, in much the same way Simon would to per his sharks, but it felt different. He would push Simon until he floated horizontally in the water, then drape himself across the man.
Simon knew he was getting himself into some deep shit, but he couldn't help the small voice in the back of his head that urged him to reach out, to cradle the mer's rubbery cheeks in his hands. He wanted to kiss him. He was fucked.
***
I hope you liked it! Ngl, I really liked this one. If you don't mind, I might expand on this and make it a multi-chapter fic over on AO3? I wanna explore more of society's reaction to mers, specifically interspersed relationships and where this could go. Let me know what you think, and thanks for the idea!
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now that we don't talk
I cannot be your friend, so I pay the price of what I lost
And what it cost
Now that we don't talk
alpha colonel König x beta ex-lover reader
2nd person, no y/n, she/her pronouns, reader's callsign is Eden, reader speaks French, omegaverse, exes to lovers, fraternization
2.2k words
tw: none
I swear to God one day I'll write something that doesn't involve that big hooded freak. But today is not that day.
Shoutout to loganlermanstanaccount here on Tumblr, who I won't tag. The bullet point headcanons with written parts interspersed format is from their excellent college roommate Miguel O'Hara post, which became their fic Rigor Mortis. I highly recommend both!
Also, excuse the absolutely butchered military content. I'm sure none of this is how it works in real life, but alas, this is fanfiction, not a research paper. Reader serves a Laswell-like role, but I refrained from labeling her as CIA even though I do call her a station chief. For the purposes of this fic, she's the voice in the operatives' ear during ops. We're playing a bit fast and loose with the terminology here.
You’re a highly skilled intelligence agent and operative handler.
You’ve spent most of your life dedicated to your career: moving through the ranks, proving yourself, refusing to let anything stand in the way of your ambitions.
You’ve done some things you aren’t proud of, but always for the right reason. Or the reason that made the most cold, logical sense. Even when your heart tells you otherwise. Nobody in this line of work has clean hands, after all.
You’ve always done what needs to be done. For everyone’s best interest.
Today marks the first day of your collaboration with a PMC called KorTac. You’re hunting down a homegrown cult turned out-of-control terrorist cell.
You haven’t had much experience working with mercenaries, but in terms of hardened war criminals, KorTac’s people are quite well mannered.
Not that you had expected them to be rude and discourteous, but, well. You are an outsider. They haven’t necessarily embraced you, but their reception was nice enough.
You’ve got a meeting with their commander, but you can’t quite find the room you’re supposed to be meeting in. Not a great first impression to make, but luckily, someone takes pity on you.
He introduces himself. Korean. Callsign Horangi.
“You’ll get used to the layout of the base,” he says as you follow him through winding hallways.
“I hope so,” you reply. “I’ll be here for a while." You study the walls, the signs and numbers on the doors, trying your best to memorize everything.
"Do you know your commander well?" you ask. You're not the world's biggest fan of small talk, but you may as well know what you're walking into.
"König? Yeah, we've been close ever since he joined up." Horangi says, leading you into a long hallway. "He's a good guy. A little intense, but don't let that get to you. He's just getting the job done."
"We'll get along if he's competent." You can respect a man who forgoes pleasantries for making sure the shit gets shoveled.
"You don't have to worry about that." Horangi stops and holds the door open for you. "After you."
You study him for just a moment before entering the room. He's curt and to the point. Not bad-looking, either. Hopefully you'll get more chances to—
Your heart nearly stops.
KorTac's commander is facing away from the doorway, shuffling through some papers by the looks of it. But you would know him from any angle. The set of his shoulders, the way his stance is at ease but never truly relaxed, the way his hair curls at the nape of his neck.
You have to force yourself to step into the room. And when you do, he turns around.
You're vaguely aware of Horangi stepping around you to get into the room, but that's happening somewhere far away from the headspace you occupy right now. By the way König's eyes widen as they meet yours, he's in the same place too.
He hasn't aged so much as he's gotten more tired. He never did sleep enough, but now he looks like he hasn't gotten a sound night's rest in a long time. He's put-together, but there's a haggardness to him that probably wouldn't be noticeable to anybody but you. Someone who knew him when he was younger, and in the prime of his life. Someone who used to know every scar on his body, every crease of his brow, and now hasn't seen him in more than a decade.
The man who broke your heart stands on the other end of the room, staring at you as if he's seen a ghost.
The two of you stand there for a while before Horangi's voice shakes you back to reality. "Brought the station chief, sir."
"I...see." König—you suppose that's what he calls himself nowadays, the arrogant prick—clears his throat. "Thank you, Hong-jin."
"No problem." Horangi takes a seat. "The others will be in soon."
Horangi seems like a perceptive enough guy. Can he tell that the room feels several degrees colder? You pull a chair out, the furthest one from König's position possible, and ignore the hurt that briefly flashes across his face as you sit down.
The meeting goes well. It's just an opportunity for you to formally introduce yourself to the KorTac operators you'll primarily be working with for the next few months.
You can tell they're a close knit group by the easy way they interact with each other: they've worked together for a while.
König, too, is part of them, which must be how they pick up on the chilly dynamic between the two of you. Some of them are just puzzled. For most of them, it raises their hackles.
It doesn't matter to you. You can barely focus on getting through the meeting without feeling like you're going to faint.
It's absurd. You're not some delicate Regency-era lady. You're a hardened military officer. But it makes no difference.
It doesn't matter how long it's been, it seems. He's still the only one who can make you feel like this.
You can't get out of there fast enough after the meeting has concluded. Not only are the others shooting you suspicious looks, but you've spent too long in his presence. Any longer, and you don't know how you're going to keep your composure.
But you can't escape him. Of course not. Why did you ever think otherwise? You hear him call for you, and you walk faster. But it's futile.
This hallway is smaller, narrower, less open. Nobody's around to watch when he slams you against the wall to stop your hasty retreat. Nobody's around to see the way you sway in his hold, overwhelmed by the smell of him all around you. You're bathed in it, the overpowering presence of him.
"We need to talk." he demands.
"We just did. Meeting's over," you shoot back, making a paltry attempt to wriggle out of his grasp. He loosens his hold on you, but you're still trapped between him and the wall. No exit.
"I didn't plan this, in case you're wondering."
"That much was obvious." He's let his hair grow out longer, you notice at the most inopportune time possible. It suits him, you think.
He sighs in frustration. "If we're going to work together, we have to be civil."
"Don't worry. I wouldn't expose how much of a scoundrel you are in front of your precious squad," you bite.
You feel a twinge of smug satisfaction as regret settles into his expression. Too little, too late.
"I don't want it to be like this, either," he murmurs. "Ignoring and avoiding each other."
"You don't get to tell me how to act."
"You're right. But it's been a long time. Can't we try to get along? Not for my sake, but...yours."
"Well that's not condescending at all."
"That's not what I meant. I know my team. If you're walking around resenting me openly like that, they won't trust you. And they need to, if you're working with us."
He's right, and you know it. But there's that deep instinct inside you, older than your bloodline, waking up after a long slumber. It wants him, snapping at the bit to give into him and do whatever he asks of you. The urge will consume you if you don't fight it every step of the way.
You glare up at him, hoping you come off as brimming with resentment instead of desire. "As long as you and your team stay professional, I can too."
He's not satisfied with that answer, but it's all you're going to give him.
"Fine." He steps away from you, and you pour all your willpower into commanding your body to stay still. To not chase after his closeness. You sway on the spot, dizzy with his scent after having gone so long without it.
"This hallway is a dead end, by the way."
You try, you really do. But it's hard to be around him without feeling the urge to touch him, to press yourself against him and inhale him like the most destructive drug possible.
Your only recourse is to stay as physically far away from him as possible.
You do your best to ingratiate yourself with the other operators. You and Calisto are fast friends: she's got a breezy confidence to her that's quite refreshing. It also doesn't hurt that you speak French, as well. There's a bit of kinship felt whenever the two of you are holding a conversation none of the others can understand.
Horangi's a different story, though. The initial courtesy he showed you is a bit more clipped, now that it's clear something is up between you and König.
You can't believe you missed it the first time, the way König's smell is all over him. It really has been too long.
The two of them must be pretty close. You give up trying not to fixate on the idea.
You didn't mean to eavesdrop on them, but you were curious. Even more curious when you hear your name mentioned.
"It's pretty clear you and Eden know each other. None of us are stupid."
You freeze in your tracks. The door is closed, but you can hear Horangi's voice, loud and clear in the room behind it.
"It's not relevant. She's just here to do a job."
"I think it's pretty relevant that she gets up and leaves whenever you enter a room, regardless of what she's doing. She can't get away from you fast enough."
You give a surreptitious look at your surroundings, then lean down slightly, pressing your ear to the door.
"You're not going to give this up, are you?"
"Hell fucking no."
You hear König sigh. "Fine. We knew each other before I joined KorTac. Back when I was in the Jagdkommando."
Do you want to hear this? Your painful history, relayed to a near stranger? Horangi's not a stranger to him, that's for sure.
"And?"
"We were...involved."
"You and a beta? Never took you for the type."
"Well, neither did I. But she was...special. Smart, pretty, deadeye with a knife. Wouldn't give me the time of day, of course. I was obsessed with her."
"Naturally."
"Give me a fucking break, okay?"
"Can't wait to hear how this ended."
"Not...great. I was a total dick."
You can say that again, you think.
"I was young. Real dumbass who thought he was hot shit."
"You still aren't."
"Shut the fuck up." Something twinges inside you at the hearty laughter the two of them share. You missed that laugh.
"Despite everything, it was the most stable relationship I've ever been in. We looked out for each other. She knew me better than some of my family does."
"How did you fuck that up, then?"
"I got too comfortable. Started thinking I could do better. God, what a fucking idiot I was. I loved her like crazy, but I didn't realize how good I had it until it was gone."
"She left you?"
"No. I was the one who ended things. In the worst way possible, too. I told her the relationship wasn't going to go anywhere, that we were never going to be a serious thing."
"Ouch. Why not?"
You squeeze your eyes shut. You remember that night, like a shard of glass buried in your chest. As hard as you tried to forget, you'll never forget the way you felt. Like the world was ending.
You'll never forget the decision you had to make.
"I told her I couldn't see myself with a beta long-term."
"...that's fucked up."
"I know. I know. I was too caught up in that shitty macho alpha mindset. I was fucking ravenous back then, and I thought only an omega could give me what I needed."
"I get it now. If I were her, I would have quit on the spot seeing you in that meeting room."
"Yeah. She's a better person than I can ever imagine being."
Well. It's nice to know he regrets it, you think. Not that it does you much good now. Quiet as a mouse, you make a quick exit before you can get caught.
You make it back to the the room you've been assigned to. They were nice enough to give you your own private quarters, something you deeply appreciate when you need to be alone with your own thoughts. Like right now.
It's a strange feeling, to sort of get closure like this. Not at the end, but at the beginning of something new. You still have to see each other. Does it help that you know how he feels? Maybe, but it doesn't ease your own guilt. In fact, it makes it worse.
You're not mad at him for telling Horangi. You're glad he did, actually. There are some secrets that cause more harm to keep than not.
You open a drawer and pull out the pill bottle, hidden underneath your other possessions, and stare at the label.
WARNING - SUPPRESSANTS. NOT TO BE USED BY ALPHAS. ONLY CONSUME UNDER PHYSICIAN SUPERVISION.
You would know.
BOOM! There you have it. (In case it wasn't clear, the suppressants are for omegas.)
@sprout-fics's omegaverse 141 headcanons series inspired me to write something based off the idea of an omega disguising themselves as a beta in the military. Please check out her series, it's great.
I was really into exploring how omegaverse dynamics can make complicated relationships even messier. I did consider writing this story without the omegaverse, but I think now it's kind of an essential element. (I also just. Want them to have crazy nasty omegaverse sex. Sue me) I can't picture König ever breaking up with someone he deeply loved and was obsessed with, unless he had a reason like that. Still not a great reason, but a little bit understandable. Eden being a disguised omega also adds a bit of spice to the exes-to-lovers arc, too: she could have just come out and told him she's not actually a beta, but she chose not to for the sake of her career. Oof. Ruthless judgement calls were made on both sides.
I put this out because this idea had me in a STRANGLEHOLD, and I just had to get it out before I burst. Hopefully my writing's still up to par 😅 As for Kingdom Come, part iii may take a little while longer because a lot is going to happen in it, so I hope this can tide you guys over until then.
As usual, comments and feedback are always appreciated! I would love to talk about this au more. And again, if you'd like to be tagged, drop a reply. And if you're in the taglist and would like to be removed/only tagged for Kingdom Come, please let me know!
@crowbird @poohkie90 @cumikering @iytatsworld @papaver-decervicatus @anxietyrain @riotakire @ax0lotly @cookiepie111 @kacchasu @no1runawaymilkdad @chthonian-spectre @backwards-readings @yxllowtxpe @garbau @hexqueensupreme @queenthorin1 @violetstyless @her-majesty-theking @vegan-peppermint @peonytarian @ghostslittlegf @euuuuuuun @e1x03 @kokonoiwife @deaddainish @dragonfang @teehee-47 @catluvwr @keiva1000 @waves-against-a-cliff @channelsoph @cutiecusp @itsagrimm @dins-riduur-anthe @mantishymns @lexuria
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Idk if you've talked about it before, but have you seen the voice lines for Crowley's card? At the end people were saying he implies HE'S the one who brought the MC to Twisted Wonderland👀
Hello hello!! Thank you for this question! ^^
I am not sure that that is how I would interpret his line!
The original Japanese is 「貴方みたいな勤勉で優秀な生徒がいてくれて助かっています。これからも問題児を“監督”してくださいね」
The form of the verb "help" makes this difficult to put into English...literally translated it may be something close to, "It's proving helpful to have diligent, excellent students like you available. Please do continue to ‘supervise’ the troublemakers."?
A vaguer translation might be "It helps to have diligent, excellent students like you," and I can see how that could be interpreted into the implication that he arranged for students like the prefect to be on hand for assistance.
But given the form of "help," I don't think there is that much depth to read into! :> There is nothing to insinuate that he is glad he brought the prefect here, or that he was involved in their being here at all.
Of course there is a lot that is still unknown about Crowley, and the theory that he intentionally brought the prefect over to make something happen (or to keep something from happening 👀) is a popular one (and very fun to think about!).
But if I were attempting to champion that theory, I personally would not use this particular line as proof! It could, of course, be setting a foundation so that a future reveal does not blindside the players 👀 But the line by itself is vague, which is probably by design!
And there were two more Crowley lines that I found interesting!
「私の全力を知りたい?随分と怖いもの知らずですねえ……学園長として心配になってしまいます」
"You want to know my full power? You are quite audacious…as headmage, it is worrying."
Crowley is not the first character to comment on the audaciousness/fearlessness of the prefect: Malleus has a very similar line but their phrasing is different, with Crowley saying 怖いもの知らず, while Malleus says 恐れを知らない. Malleus repeats this same phrasing at least twice in the original game, though it it written in two different ways on EN.
Both Crowley and Malleus' phrasings are two ways of saying something that could be localized as the same thing in English, but subtle turns of phrase are proving to be very important in the original game.
For example, when you set Crowley to the homescreen he will say, "私をお呼びですか?"
And this is an interesting parallel to Malleus', "僕を呼んだ?"
Malleus’ phrase tends to be rewritten as various different expressions on EN such as “You called?,” “Was it you who called me?” and “Did you need something?”
But in the original game he always uses the exact same phrase, which is different from Crowley’s “私をお呼びですか?” while meaning the same thing.
While it would normally not be an issue for a localizer to take something that seems repetitive in one language and give it more flair in the other, it seems that this repetition was intentional and maybe should have been kept consistent to the original game?
Especially because English does not have things like different words for "I" like Japanese does (Crowley uses "watashi" while Malleus uses "boku") to help tell one person's phrasing apart from another's.
EN experienced a similarly unfortunate problem with Idia’s, “Leave it to your big bro,” with the phrase getting rewritten into "I'll get you trilling like a canary" and "I got this!" on EN, presumably before Aniplex USA realized that it was being repeated word-for-word for a reason.
Is it possible that the information that Aniplex USA receives in advance is limited, so they just do not know which of these phrases are safe to change and which need to be kept accurate to the original game?
With all the variations to Malleus' "You called for me?" on EN, Crowley has the potential to be localized with a phrase that is identical to at least one of Malleus' multiple English-language interpretations. In the original game, however, Malleus' phrasing is consistent, and completely different from the phrasing used by Crowley, while meaning the same thing! (and the "same but different" pattern has the potential to be very significant 👀)
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How to see through the greenwashing propaganda of the fashion industry - 1
In the light of the Shein brand trip nonsense, I was thinking about how literally every clothing company now engages in greenwashing, even when it's such obvious lie like with Shein. And while most people are not fooled in such blatant cases like that, most cases are not as blatant. To see through the less obvious propaganda often needs a lot of knowledge of the clothing industry, which the average person doesn't have, yet the average person still needs clothing. So instead of trying to expose every company for their bad practices, I thought it might be more helpful to make a post on how to detect greenwashing. I'm going to use four examples, all in the different levels of honesty and responsibility, Shein, H&M, Burberry and Tentree. First I will go into frankly unnecessary amount of detail on Shein, because I fell into a horrifyingly fascinating research rabbit hole and I think it's excellent example on how companies can get away with blatant crimes (allegedly of course). In this first part we will just look into Shien, it's propaganda and reality behind it.
But before I go deeper into this, I want to stress one thing: this is not to say that you can never buy from any brand engaging in dishonest greenwashing, because then you couldn't buy almost any clothing, and you do need clothing. Though I will say, please don't buy from Shein if you in any way can afford not to. There is levels of how bad business practices can be, and they can't be much worse than Shein's, and even beside that, even when super cheep, it's not worth your money. There are other cheep options too. Though I won't hold it against anyone if they buy individual pieces from Shein from time to time, but I would implore at least to considerate, if they really need it and if it might be possible to get something similar from somewhere else. But my point in this is not necessarily to help you make better consumer decisions, because consumption will not save us, but to see through the corporate propaganda and not become complaisant after hearing comforting lies. The corporations are doing everything they can to make you believe they are already fixing the problems within the industry and there's no need for government intervention pinky promise, just keep consuming. But that's all bullshit and government intervention is exactly what is needed.
Before taking a look at our cases, I'll outline the key things I think are good to look for, when presented with sustainability PR.
TRANSPARENCY - Companies are not required to publish much of the information about their practices, but as it has become clear to everyone that the whole fashion industry is a massive problem, opacity has become rightly seen as suspicious. It has become also a sort of marketing method to disclose any evidence of good practices, so when a company is not doing that, and missing out on well working marketing, it raises the question, what are they hiding. Companies may try to give the appearance of transparency, without actually disclosing information. They might write in an easily accessible page about all their lofty goals, promises and achievements in a very vague language, they might talk about being transparent and publishing their data, but that data might be buried somewhere, where it's not easily accessible. Good sign on the other hand would be for example providing supply chain information for a product in the product description.
RELIABLE INFORMATION - Usually it's safer for a company to be vague or silent than to lie, because that might lead to legal consequences, but by cherry-picking and subtly twisting data, it can be turned to be flattering for them. Small companies might provide raw evidence of their facilities and supply chain, like photos, locations, contractor names etc. to give proof for their word. For bigger companies this is not of course possible as their supply chains might be massive and they might have thousands of facilities. However, there are many different independent and governmental organizations that give different kinds of certifications. The certifications are meant to give some reassurance of quality and/or accurate information. However not all certifications are made equal. Most reliable certifications don't have ties to the industry (aka are actually independent, not just in name), have governmental oversight and are given access to the data, from which they do the research themselves.
SUPPLY CHAIN - Giving the origin country of the final product is nowadays standard information to give, as it's required by law for example in EU. It's a red flag, if it's produced in a country, that has lacking environmental or labour laws, poor oversight and/or little protections for people. However, this does not mean that all production in those countries is unethical or questionable, but the risk for that is higher and the need for evidence of the working conditions is also higher. This is however just one part of the production. Before clothing can be sewn, the raw material for fiber must be made/acquired, that material must be turned into fiber, which must be turned into yarn and then the yarn must be woven into fabric. All of these steps in the process need workers, who deserve good working conditions. And depending on what fabric is in question, there's potential for major environmental issues in the different processes. This is why it's important to know more than just the country where the clothing was sewn. There could be certification for ethical sourcing of the fabric for example. With supply chain it's also better if the materials are sourced as locally as possible, to avoid a lot of extra carbon emissions from transportation. Best case scenario would be if the company manages the supply chain themselves locally, so they can know for sure where their materials come from and also avoid middlemen.
BUSINESS MODEL - The reason why it's often so hard to get information on the supply chain is that many companies, especially the large ones, outsource as much as possible. This might seem unintuitive, as the middlemen make production less efficient and costly as everyone takes a cut. However, they do it to outsource risks and responsibility. They don't have to invest into factories or raw material production and they have plausible deniability, if and when there's issues in their supply chain. The complexity of the supply chain provides opacity that is impossible and unreasonable to monitor, which allows the company to buy materials that are unreasonably cheep, while feigning ignorance of worker exploitation. How much the clothing cost can also give some idea on their business model. If it's super cheep, the only way for it to be that cheep is if workers are not payed enough and everything is poorly made. Cheep is always a red flag, though, if it's fairly cheep and I mean basic clothing is not much more than 100 eur (little more in USDs) but not much less than 50 eur, it can be okay or even good quality and with proper pay for workers, if the company doesn't take massive margins and don't have a ton of middlemen in their supply chain. However, expensive is not insurance of quality or good pay for workers. Many expensive brands take massive margins while their production has little difference to fast fashion and their products are poor quality.
CASE STUDY 1: SHEIN
Let's start with the propaganda. In Shein's About Us page, they say:
"SHEIN is a global fashion and lifestyle e-retailer committed to making the beauty of fashion accessible to all."
You see, their goal is to make fashion accessible to everyone, not just privileged few. They back this up by informing how they work in 150 countries, have very wide variety of clothing, are one of the most popular shopping apps, connect with the customers on where they are - social media - and, of course, have ridiculously low prices. Their team of nearly 10,000 employees (of which 58% are women for your information) loves to serve their many many customers, who are most important for Shein. They use "cutting-edge technology" and digitized agile supply chain to track sales and demand and adjust their manufacturing in real time. When they notice a new trend, they immediately put something trendy on sale, make prototypes and order small batches from factories. This is how they keep their inventory waste low and get products quickly to their customers. In their own words:
"By developing proprietary logistics and ecommerce technology, we are disrupting the fashion space and improving outcomes for manufacturers, suppliers and consumers."
We will see, if the "outcomes" are really "improved".
Shein group's website has very extensive information about their sustainability goals and efforts, giving the impression of transparency. It's pretty clear this is in an effort to combat all the allegations towards them. To make their business sustainable in addition to their reduced inventory waste they are "accelerating their transition" to use recycled polyester, promoting their "peer-to-peer resale platform" for Shein products, "eshtablishing" a recycling program for end-of-life products, tracing the material supply chain through their own material tracking platform and conserving forests by replacing viscose with "next generation fibers".
Most of the information they provide is fully meaningless corporate speak and should be taken with the biggest bucket of salt, so let's ask some questions.
DO THEY PROVIDE SPECIFIC DATA ABOUT THEIR PRODUCTION? Surprisingly Shein is much more transparent than I expected. (Though of course the info is in different website than where the average consumer would go.) Shein hasn't taken the standard route, which is to provide as little information as possible, and keeping it vague too, se they could just keep feigning ignorance. As I said, I think it's pretty clear they are providing this much information because their reputation is so bad. Their lack of transparency has been taken as an admission of guilt, so it's not working anymore, and they have taken a new approach into maintaining their plausible deniability. In their website, they provide a sustainability report from years 2021 and 2022. I took a look at the latest one. In it there's a lot of fluff, but they show actual numbers of how many code of conduct violations have been found in audits to supplier facilities, the carbon emissions of their supply chain and the amounts of different fabrics they have used during 2022. That's not nothing, so we have a relatively good start here.
WHO DID THE RESEARCH? The research is not at all independent, but done in-house. They have all the financial incentives to cherry-pick and frame their research in a way that shows them in the best possible light, even if we assumed they would not tamper with their own evidence, which I don't think we can fully assume either. There's an attempt though to convince us to believe the data they are showing:
"We have reported with reference to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 2021 standard for certain sections of this report. Selected information in this report was assured, to the limited assurance standard, by an external independent assurer as per ISAE 3000."
Emphasis by me. So even if they did the research themselves, they did get it independently audited to get an assurance that they did follow the GRI standards in their reporting and that it doesn't contain lies. However, the "certain sections" and "selected information" with "limited assurance" does not give me much assurance, in fact, my assurance is very limited. To understand what does this actually mean, I did a bit of googling and delved into the annex of the report.
ISAE 3000 is a standard for auditing financial information issued by International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, which an independent body that has governmental oversight. Financial information can get either reasonable assurance or limited assurance. Reasonable assurance is the most assurance this standard allows. Limited assurance is given, if the information provided to the assurer, time or extent of the procedure is lacking, but from those limited resources the assurer doesn't find anything that suggests "the subject matter information is materially misstated" aka that the company is lying. GRI is the most used reporting standard for sustainability for businesses and other organizations. I'm a bit suspicious of how effective their standards are, if they are most widely used, since most companies are absolutely terrible about sustainability yet they all claim they are great with it. So I decided to check who is in the board. Unsurprisingly it's mostly representatives of massive corporations, including Coca Cola and DuPond, a professor of accounting, national research director of Australia's Mining and Energy Union and one (1) environmental scientist.
The annex revealed quite interesting details. The only information that was AssuredTM (in a limited manner) for accurate information was the data on Shein's emissions and that of code of conduct violations. Only the report on emissions was AssuredTM (in a limited manner) to follow GRI standards. Shein got to select and prepare the relevant data for the audition, which was according to it, lacking. Crucially the audition report states that they didn't verify the results of supply audits or any potential violations of labor law found in them, rather they just checked that the math on the grading of the audits matched with Shein's stated criteria and that they actually did the audits. So if you really think about it, the (limited) assurance is that they graded themselves like they promised they would, not that their reporting of the amounts of violated labor laws or even just their own code of conduct was accurate. Additionally assurance of the accuracy of the emissions was only of Shein's own facilities, which do not produce any of their products, but not of their supply chain. 99,7% of their emissions come from their supply chain. So keep all this in mind when we look at the data itself.
WHAT ARE THEIR CARBON EMISSIONS AND HOW ARE THEY CALCULATED? Shein's emissions were 9,17 million tonnes of CO2, or 9,22 million tonnes if we don't count them purchasing Renewable Energy Credits. To put it into perspective that would be around 7-0,3% of the estimation of the annual emissions of the whole textile industry. Now that would be pretty low. In fact, suspiciously low. The fact that they got their own emissions auditioned, but not the emissions of their supply chain, suggests to me that perhaps, their numbers don't hold up to scrutiny. They also don't disclose their methodology for the numbers of the supply chain, like they do with their own facilities. Of course their response would be to say it's so much easier for them to calculate their own emissions than their suppliers. But I say that's not a bug, that's a feature.
Though looking at the methodology of the emissions from their own operating sites, which includes warehouses and offices, they don't take into account at all any emissions from building anything. They grew massively between 2021 and 2022 and I find it hard to believe they didn't built any of the new offices or warehouses they gained. Certainly they would have bought a lot of new equipment even if they moved to existing buildings. But none of this is taken into account in their calculations. And I must assume, it's not taken into account in their supply chain calculations either.
Even if we took them at their word, by their own admission, their carbon emissions have grown from 2021 to 2022 52%, which is alarming. (Interestingly they use the 2021 numbers in their actual website, which I think is so misleading that it's basically a lie.) They write it off as just side effect of their massive growth in production volume, which had 57% increase during the same time frame.
"We are at the beginning of our mitigation journey and began implementing decarbonization programs at the end of fiscal year 2022."
So they first scale their business as fast as they can, having absolutely no care of the environmental effect, so that when they have massive market share, and they reduce their massive emissions slightly, they can be like "oh look we did something!" They can then moan and wail how hard and time consuming it is to reduce the emissions of an existing supply chain, when they were the ones who decided to not take that into account from the start. Their "science based goal" (which they repeatedly stress in their website) is to reduce their emissions 25% by 2023. It's nothing. Less than nothing. They scaled without care their production in a time, when our ecology is collapsing, and then they claim that it's just science we possibly can't do anything about it. Apparently it's a natural law that they just have to make more and more money, like gravity.
WHAT MATERIALS DO THEY USE? Last year 64% of Shein's clothing (measured in weight) was polyester. Production of polyester is estimated to count for 40% of all carbon emissions of the textile industry. It's also a plastic made out of oil, so we have to take into account the fracking and refinement of oil and the eventual release of the CO2 from the oil that would have been secured in the ground otherwise. This most certainly is not counted into the supply chain emissions. Shein loves to pay lip service to the idea of circular economy, but they don't actually think about it. Because if they did, they would have taken into account the microplastics polyester fabric sheds when it's washed. When microplastics get into the soil and freshwater, they get into the organs of animals, including us, and they don't easily come off. Already it has been shown that they have led to the decrease of small soil fauna, which are very important for the fertility of the soil. Over time microplastics also break down further into nanoplastics. There's already evidence of nanoplastics being small enough to pass through veins into the brain, and that causing behavioral changes in fish. We don't know the long term consequences off this micro and nano plastic pollution yet, and we're just seeing the effects they have on small animals, but as they built up over years and decades inside our organs, we well likely see much larger effects.
Important for the lifecycle thinking is not just focusing on how much burden the production puts on the environment, but also how long it lasts and how can it be reused and eventually the impact of the end of it's lifecycle. If you remember from the beginning, Shein claims to take all this into account by having a resale program, somewhere in the future establishing a recycling program for unusable old clothes and increasing their share of recycled polyester. This is nothing. Again it's less than nothing. Polyester is not only bad fabric because of the things I've already said, but it's also just as a material for clothing very weak. It's not warm or breathable, which makes it at the same time sweaty and cold. It has no anti-bacterial qualities at all (which basically all natural fabrics have at least to small extent), so when you get easily sweaty in it, it starts also smelling very easily, and so needs washing very often. On top of washing releasing microplastics, it also weakens the fabric, because polyester gets weaker when wet (unlike plant fibers, like cotton and linen, which get stronger when wet). Polyester is also very hard to dye effectively and has bad color retaining properties, so it needs chemical treatments and strong industrial dyes, all of which adds to it's carbon footprint. Bad color retaining properties though also mean it looses it's color quite easily when washed. All of this makes it's life span significantly shorter than natural fabrics. I mean with some natural fabrics like wool and silk we are talking about multiple decades, with polyester it's easily in the low one digit years. These are inherent issues with polyester, but Shein clothes have repeatedly got complaints of their poor quality in general. This makes the resale program frankly meaningless.
On the surface the recycling program for polyester sounds good, right? You don't have to use more oil and use as much energy in making of it (according to Shein themselves, which again not a trustworthy source, it saves up to 70% emissions). Shein has promised to increase their share of recycled polyester to 31% of their polyester usage by 2030. Currently less than 1% of their production is recycled polyester. This is however a terrible solution. It still sheds microplastics and it's even worse as a fabric than virgin polyester. It is weaker and stiffer, making it impossible to use on it's own in fabric but when mixed with other fibers in a fabric significantly shortens it's life span. When we take into account the lifecycle of a clothing, the length of it and it's lifetime emissions become much more important than the production emissions. If you have to produce from scratch new clothing three times, in the time you could be using another clothing, it doesn't really matter if the emissions during the production were somewhat lower. (There's little reliable and comparable data available on production emissions of different fabrics, so I don't know how exactly recycled polyester compares to different natural fabrics.) Especially when we take into account the consumer use emissions, which in the case of polyester are 30% of it's lifetime emissions. And wast majority of it comes from washing, which you have to do more with polyester (how much more depends on what fabric you compere it to). Any responsible disposal of polyester at the end of it's lifecycle, especially any attempts at recycling it, cause additional emissions, unlike with natural fibers, which naturally degrade.
WHERE ARE THE SUPPLIERS? Shein boasts having fully integrated digital supply chain and with it they can track the whole supply chain of individual product. However they don't reveal any of that information publicly. Or rather only thing we know is that their factories making the end products are in China. But the question is, where does their fabrics come from? There's no countries listed in their report in any capacity and none of their products have any information of their origins nor the origins of the fabrics. This is very suspicious in my opinion. We can get no indication on how fibers might have been produced and made into fabric from the labor and environmental laws and practices of different countries. However, there is an interesting bit in the report about cotton:
"For cotton products, to further enhance our compliance with US laws, we request that our manufacturing suppliers only source cotton from Australia, Brazil, India, the United States and other approved regions."
This sentence is there pretty obviously because they have been caught selling clothing with cotton grown in Xinjiang in US markets, which US has banned. This is because Xinjiang, the Autonomous Uighur region, where 90% of China's raw cotton is grown, has been accused of genocidal oppression of the Uighur population, including having massive forced labour camps for Uighurs. Because of the police state nature of Xinjiang, there's no reliable numbers on how much of the cotton is produced with forced labour, but presumably most of it. Moreover, China limits the imports of cotton, which is why only 20% of cotton used by the textile industry in China is imported. Shein claims they know exactly where their fabrics come from, but the wording of the sentence above makes it clear they don't even plan on enforcing any policy to use imported cotton by their suppliers. Cotton is just 10% of fabric they used last year, but given their massive production volume, it's still a lot. This gets us to our next question.
IS THERE PROOF OF GOOD WORKING CONDITIONS? Shein reports doing in total 2 812 audits into 1 941 of their 5 400 contract manufacturers. According to them it accounted for 84% of their Shein branded products (so not their other 10 brands). This information, if you remember, was given limited assurance, by the audition into their numbers. However, we are to trust Shein alone that their the reports of their auditions are accurate. I'm not really willing to trust them, but let's sustain our disbelief for a moment to look at their findings. From their report:
"A: 90 points and above: minor flaws. Continued improvement is advised.
B: 75 to 90 points: some general risks. Continued improvement is advised.
C: 60 to 75 points: 1-3 major risks. Corrective action is required.
D: below 60 points: >3 major risks. Corrective action is required.
ZTV: Zero Tolerance Violation detetected. Immediate corrective action is required."
Even without knowing what do these things mean in practice, I don't think this paints a pretty picture. Only 4% of their manufacturing facilities had minor flaws and 82% of their facilities have major risks or worse? Does that mean none of their manufacturers fully comply with their Code of Conduct? They try to make it sound like it looks this bad because they have tightened their criteria and still the numbers are better than last year, but even with all of that, this is imo unacceptable. But it gets worse.
The report shows the amount of each ZTV found in the audits. This was explicitly not assured in any way by an independent party, so considering this information is given despite the lack of oversight and the interests of Shein, it's grim. Most of the 11% of ZTVs were gross safety violations. For example 4,2% of the audits, which means 118 facilities, found lacking emergency exits. However, they also found child labour in 6 facilities and forced labour in 3 facilities. So according to their own reporting, their manufacturers have used child labour and forced labour. And just to remind you, this is covering just 36% of their contract manufacturers. What I found interesting (read disturbing), was that violence or sexual misconduct against workers were not among Zero Tolerance Violations. I know it's not a situation, where they don't consider it violation of Code of Conduct, but rather just calls the police and let them handle it, because the violations counted here are based on their CoC, in which there's an item 7 named "No harassment or abuse of employees", which explicitly forbids physical, sexual, mental and verbal abuse. They don't however reveal other definitions of violations, than ZTVs, nor do their reveal how are they graded, so there's really no way to know what the 71% of their manufacturers have done to warrant their low (C or D) grading.
Would you at this point be surprised, if I told you it gets worse? Yeah, their so called Zero Tolerance Violations are not very zero tolerance after all. You might think zero tolerance means, that if manufacturers are caught doing it, their contract is immediately terminated and they are reported to authorities? Well, let's look what is the "immediate corrective action" outlined in their Responsible Sourcing Policy. Among the ZTVs they define even more zero tolerance violations, let's say negative tolerance violations. These are 1. forging documents, bribery or refusing to get assessed 2. child labour and 3. forced labour. Surely these lead to immediate contract termination and reporting to authorities?
So if Shein encounters slavery or probable coverup of it in their facilities, they stop placing new orders until the enslaved people and children are taken somewhere else or otherwise their contracts are fixed (at least for now), so there's no more slavery in sight, when someone comes back to assess them again and decides it's all good to continue business as usual. They have 30 days to make everything look like there's no issues, which sounds pretty easy task, and after that they can grab the kids and the slaves back there like nothing happened. Also notice how they didn't say they demand stopping the work entirely in the facility, just that they'll stop placing orders? Yeah, they don't stop production even if they find literal children or enslaved people producing them. Gotta get those dresses to the customer.
If they find any other ZTV, they come back in 30 days, and if the violation continues, they give a warning, come back again in 30 days, and if still the issue is there, then they stop placing orders. After that it continues like with child or forced labour violations. If after another 30 days it's not fixed, the contract is terminated. If a supplier gets two ZTVs within two years, they go straight to the even less than zero tolerance model straight away. If they get three ZTVs in two years, then their contract is immediately terminated. Nothing different happens though, if you get caught doing child or forced labour two times in two years, so you can just get caught once a year as long as you always pretend to stop doing it. But even if you do get caught third time in two years, or fail to pretend you fixed it, it's fine, you'll just have to do other stuff for the next year, and then you can apply again to work with Shien. Also the policy does not at any point require reporting these alleged crimes to authorities. If they at some point stop placing orders for a supplier (for example because of child or forced labour), they have to just sent all the files and documents of the goods that are produced by that supplier during the time they aren't giving them new orders to the relevant tax and customs authorities.
To answer the question I started this section with, sounds like Shein provides more evidence of bad working conditions in their suppliers' facilities, than they provide evidence of good working conditions. They even give evidence that their monitoring of those conditions is just a joke, and they have no mechanisms to actually get rid of suppliers who have inhumane working conditions. Elsewhere they try to give very weak evidence of good working conditions. The influencer brand trip to their facility in China was a PR stunt like that. However, it's easily dismissable, as the facility was not at one of the factories, where their clothing is made, all of which are third parties, but Shien's own facility they call Innovation Center. There they innovate new technologies, train their suppliers to use their new technologies and consult their suppliers on how to make new factories, which I assume means they have factory templates to give to their suppliers.
However, independent sources give much more reliable evidence of terrible working conditions in their factories. Like when undercover operation into one of their factories found employees working 18 hours a day earning 2 cents per item. When asked for comment, they answered: "Any non-compliance with this code is dealt with swiftly, and we will terminate partnerships that do not meet our standards." This is not severe ZTV, so what they mean by "dealt with swiftly" is "told to stop breaking labour laws, given some time, given warning, given more time, stopped giving new orders, given even more time and if after three months they have not stop then they gotta go". Because yes, they do terminate those who don't meet their standards. Their standards are just in the gutter.
HOW IS THE COMPANY STRUCTURED? While falling down this rabbit hole I came to the realization that Shein is the Uber of fashion. It's just the gig economy all over again. Let me explain. Unlike traditional fashion companies, Shein has outsourced even the sewing of the clothing. Shein itself is an app company, like Uber, though they technically do design their own clothes. I say technically because they have been repeatedly accused of copyright infringement to the point where they are now sued for racketeering. Allegation from the lawsuit:
"Shein has grown rich by committing individual infringements over and over again, as part of a long and continuous pattern of racketeering, which shows no sign of abating."
It relates to the other reason why I say their only technically design too, because a huge amount of their designs are also outsourced. In their sustainability report, they boast about how their SHEIN X program is meant to "empower" young designers to get their business off the ground, by taking their designs and using them for their clothing productions. This sounds a lot like SHEIN X designers are gig workers. They are basically just designers for Shein, but oh no they are not workers, labour laws won't apply! Shein specifically targets young designers, even students, so it's clear that they really just want impressionable people desperate for money and work experience. Obviously they won't get much money for their designs, since there's such a massive flood of products and designers, Shein says they have 3 000 designers in SHEIN X, and the products are so, so cheep. It's the exact same thing as with Uber and the like, they put their "workers" into competition with each other. To tie it back to the lawsuit, they use these third party designers as fodder against accusations of copyright infringement. They did not steal the design from the independent artist, they are just the platform provider.
This is also exactly how they operate with their factories. When their massive production is spread across all the 5 400 small separate suppliers, they are forced to compete for scraps. They can't organize together to demand better pay or better working conditions, and Shein can act like they have no part in them. Moreover, due to their extremely low prices, Shein has to offer only really low rates for the production of their clothing. On top of that because of the contractor structure, the actual fanctory owners taken an extra cut from those low rates, leaving extremely little for the actual workers. The prices are so low, they demand inhumane working conditions. It's impossible to sell clothing in the prices Shein does and pay well for the workers, especially with their business structure. All the talk about technological innovation is also bullshit, because this gig economy competition model ensures that most of the gig workers (in this case factories) will stay poor, so they can hardly invest in the new technologies.
This model is also what Shein holds as their most significant sustainability claim, because it allows them to cut most inventory waste. Traditional fashion companies always have a significant overhead, because their supply must always be higher than demand, otherwise, they would loose customers to their competitors. Because Shein orders small batches from large amount of factories, they can change their production in real time, adjusting to the demand much quicker than any competitor. Yes, it means they have minimal inventory loss, but it's not actually efficient. Or rather not efficient in any other way than for maximizing profits. There is a massive amount of overlap of facilities, machinery, organization structures and bureaucracy, if we look at Shein's whole production, because the small factories are all producing same things, but because Shein drives them to compete with each other, they don't have to pay for that overlap. More than that, it's extremely inefficient way to maximize people getting clothed while minimizing materials. And I don't mean producing as much clothes as possible while minimizing materials, because that is what they are doing, but the goal shouldn't be as much clothes as possible, but maximizing everyone having enough clothing, which is much less that what we produce today. And if clothing was made to last instead of making as many of them as possible, even less could be made and still everyone would have enough clothes.
Shein's extremely quick rise to the top of fashion markets was due to how effectively they managed to use the pandemic for their advantage. During the lock-downs around the world, people spend increasingly more time on their phones and social media, which Shein managed turn into their profit. They utilize social media and influencers effectively for marketing. Their platform also uses many of the same psychological tricks social media uses to keep customers scrolling and consuming. This is on itself is not at all new, but because of their business model, they turned attention into sales and sales into more attention. All that combined with their ability to response in real time to new trends and scale production extremely quickly, turned any new trend in social media into hype and micro-fashion cycles, which they would burn through increasingly fast. Their competitors wouldn't even have the time to get into that trend before it would be replaced with a new trend. Then all they needed to do was to contract new small factories, they didn't even have to spend time and money to built them, and they could take over the fast fashion market.
Shein's effect won't stop there though. Their competitors will and are already starting to adapt their methods. It means quality of clothing will keep getting worse, the whole industry will keep increasing their carbon emissions and the working conditions from cotton farmers to designers will get worse as gig economy spreads in the industry. I'll talk more about this in the conclusions of the second part, but to fix this, there needs to be government intervention. It's good that there's a lawsuit over their wider practices, not just a singular act, but it won't be enough. If they don't face significant consequences, every other company will take note that they can profit off of (allegedly) systematic crimes.
IN CONCLUSION Shein as a company is a glorified optimization algorithm which only real function is to drive up consumption and in exchange take all the profits from everyone else's labour. They use the modern classic Uber model to take the neoliberal principle of outsourcing risks and responsibilities to it's logical conclusion. Their extremely exploitative business model only works if their designers and factories and other gig workers break laws. They do the absolute bare minimum to comply with law and (allegedly) not even that when they believe they can get away with it by blaming others, which is fucking bad indictment of those laws, since my god they are terrible. Their greenwashing propaganda is honestly laughable, it's a joke and they must know it. It feels more like gaslighting than propaganda.
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Potions class
Theodore nott x reader
Summary: Theodore teach you Potions and it leads to something else
Ennemies to lovers
After arriving at Hogwarts, you will be able to discover the nightmare of fire, Professor Snape's potions. originally because he was probably the scariest man at Hogwarts. And secondly because potions made no sense to you. Since your first year at Hogwarts, your grades have almost never reached average. You had managed to pass the years with it, but this year, the rogue professor had decided to target you. In every lesson, he didn't miss a single chance to humiliate you. But today it was going to take another turn. As you prepare to leave the potions room, following another long hour of torture. A deep voice questioned me "Miss Yln " "Yes, professor", you say, stopping, in your actions . "Come here please" All the students had already left, I took a deep breath before walking towards the office. "What can I do for you, professor?" "You see Yln from your first year in this school, we could all see that you do not excel in potions. If you want to keep the approach of your buses at a very good level, your potion level should also be exemplary. " "Yes" you mumble vaguely
"That's why I got ahead of the game, starting next Monday you will have regular private lessons " Private lessons, you whisper without really believing it "Yes private lessons do you need me to repeat?" "No" you whispered " Well, your tutor will be waiting for you at the library on Monday at 4 p.m. sharp" "Yes professor you answered without wanting to cause more problems" - After that I left like a rocket, to join your friend Hermione in the hall to whom you would be able to tell them everything. "And that’s how he told me that I was going to have private lessons", I said, sighing "Don't dare complain that I never warned you, she said". "Oh my god, what shit have I gotten myself into again, you said in despair" ." I can't really help you but I better go before I end up late for Professor Snape's class, "she said, clipping herself in at full speed.Hermione is really supportive I thought. Before slumping on the table again.
On Monday afternoon I headed to the library where “my private lesson” was supposed to take place. On the way I tried to reassure myself as best I could. Arriving at the bookstore I opened the door. That afternoon the bookstore was quite crowded but I understood straight away. The only person who had potions items was him. Theodore Nott. Theodore Nott was blessed with extraordinary intelligence, but unfortunately, he used this intelligence in devious and nefarious ways. He was known for being a bad influencer, who led others into bad decisions. Theodore was often seen smoking, hiding in the dark corners of the city. His face, framed by messy brown hair, reflected a glow of mischief and defiance. He had piercing eyes, a deep gaze. And above all he was a Slytherin. “Okay, I guess we need to start those potions lessons...I'm not excited to work with you
“The feeling is mutual, Theodore. But Professor Snape thinks it will help us improve our skills. So let’s put our differences aside and try to do our best.” "Okay, but don't think I'm going to take over your work. I’m here to learn, not to make your job easier.” “I expect nothing less from you, Theodore." "Now we have to follow the teacher's instructions. We need to create an invisibility potion. Did you understand the steps correctly?”he said
"Yes of course ! I am perfectly capable of following instructions. Let’s add the ingredients first… Hmm, maybe I’ll add a little more unicorn horn powder.” “Wait, Theodore, you shouldn't do that. The quantity is very precise in this recipe. You risk ruining everything.” “I know what I’m doing. Do not underestimate me. I'm good at potions." he said with a little too much self-confidence. “Very well, if you are so sure of yourself... But I warn you, if it goes wrong, you will have to bear the consequences.” I spat " Don't worry. Look, I added more unicorn horn powder. Now we mix everything and... He didn't have time to finish his sentence when a green cloud exploded. “I told you, Theodore! You ruined the potion. Now we have to start all over again.”“Okay, I get it. Mistakes happen even to the strongest, you know. But now we have to focus on the recipe” “That’s right. That’s what I’ve been saying all along.” But he completely ignores my remark.
This is how my potions class ended in silence. When the potion was finished I didn't waste my time in the bookstore in the presence of a Slytherin and ran at full speed towards the dormitories to once again spend an evening complaining to Hermione. “Hermione” I shouted as I took the stairs two at a time. I found Hermione sitting on her bed with her nose in books as she often did. “What’s going on,” she said, snapping her book shut. “Ohhh Hermione, this is a disaster” I sighed, flopping down on my bed. “I'm so frustrated right now! Guess who I’m in a group with for this class project?” I continued But I don't give him time to respond. “Theodore Nott,” I finally admitted. “A Slytherin”I screamed into my cushion. “You could have found a worse type, Draco Malfoy,” Hermione reassured you. But in response I only gave him a dark look. Unfortunately, that's exactly it! I don't understand why the teacher put us together. I don't want anything to do with him. “I totally understand you. Theodore Nott is not someone you want to be associated with. “ finished Hermione. I went to shower to forget all the events of the day.
The next day, as I headed to my Transfiguration class. I was walking quietly in the corridors when I heard someone call out to me.
But with my great misfortune I found myself face to face with snakes, more precisely Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. I was going to ignore them but Crabbe grabbed his arm before I could run away." "Hey, look who's here, it's our little Gryffondor, our academic chess champion! he laughed, followed by his friends. "You can make fun as much as you want, I don't care," I spat " Haha, listen to her talk! Even with all the effort in the world, you will never be on our level. You are doomed to failure". Goyle added. "Oh you're going to cry Draco mocked . I was about to respond violently, when a voice interrupted us. Theodore Nott stood at the entrance to the hallway. “You're wasting your time, Malfoy,” he said in an almost monotone voice. Oh it’s okay, relax Theo, we won’t do anything to your “student” Draco sneered That's when Crabbe finally let go of my arm. The group of boys then brightens up at full speed. Leaving me alone in the long, silent corridors of Hogwarts.
The next time you live, Theodore is at your next private potions class. Since the last altercation with Draco and his friends. Malfoy and his friend didn't stop bothering me. And their mockery continues. You arrive late for your potions class, in a bad mood. Theodore Nott was waiting for you, standing with his arms crossed, leaning against the table, a bored look on his face. " Sorry for the delay" I started . But Théodore didn't accept my apologies and continues: "you know that I've been waiting for you for 20 minutes, right?". " I would have come sooner but your dear friends have a tendency to steal my things. Speaking of Malfoy and his gang. Your friends are living a tough life and it's becoming really difficult to bear" I continued . "What ? Are my friends harassing you? But it's just jokes, of the second degree. They don't mean anything". he spat. "But anyway Theodore you saw it yourself last time, Draco and his friends don't want to leave me alone."I said
"It's just fun between friends," he insisted. " Even though it's humorous, that doesn't mean I have to tolerate it." I contradict you are unbearable! Always believing yourself superior to everyone. It's just fun between friends, it's not my fault if you don't have any. And then it's not me who harasses you, it's them, you don't have to go to them talk . will he defend himself "Oh please, Theodore! You are the one who constantly seeks confrontation. You're so arrogant and conceited, I'm just tired of your smug airs. You think you're better than others, but you're not". "And you, do you think you are so perfect? You're just a capricious little girl who can't stand not having the last word." "Théodore threw you back " I'm not capricious! I just need you to understand that your actions have consequences for others. "And what do you want me to do? That I ask your forgiveness? That I beg you to forgive me for trivial things? "That’s it he spat
"No, what I want is for you to realize that your words can hurt others. That you become aware of the impact of your actions. "I replied " And why should it even be up to me to apologize? It is not my fault. "continued theodore "Really ? Are you serious ? I said in an exasperated tone. Well you know what I hope you and your Slytherin ass all the misery in the world and then"..
But something interrupts me.
Theodore slowly approaches my face, our faces inches apart. Then, with unexpected gentleness, he delicately places his lips on hers. Our kiss is both surprising and passionate. Well, that was a turnaround. I separated from him by what had just happened.
Red with embarrassment and panic, I didn't give Theodore time to react and speak, so I ran off, my things in hand. What was certain was that these private lessons would surely come a lot more.
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I love the role swap AU's with Bungou stray dogs so this is my idea for one. Though this is pretty much a rewrite.
18 year old Osamu Dazai leaves the Port Mafia after Odasaku was killed. 2 weeks later, Dazai met up with Cheif Taneda who put in a request to the Agency.
Dazai stays underground for 6 months. Because of his past Dazai is put under supervision of Ryuunosuke Akutugawa and his partner Doppo Kunikida.
Neither are particularly pleased about babysitting but do so anyway. They will all grow on each other, very much.
Dazai spends a lot of time in the office lazing about as he's not an official member yet. A sentiment he loves rubbing in Kunikida's face when the latter tells him to make himself useful.
He does end up sorting some files in the cold cases box. The one he picks to read is about a tiger. "A tiger showed up in Yokohama ?"
"Figures you'd find that one. Yeah, it was what 6, maybe 7 years ago. Caused us quite a lot of trouble, and than vanished into thin air."
Akutagawa explains, almost fond. "You think if I find it I'll get the bounty?" Asked Dazai, Akutugawa snorts "If you do, let me know. I'd love to see it."
Dazai's entrance exam is his canon entrance exam though it's with Akutugawa and Kunikida on the case with him.
He passes and is made an official member. It's at his welcome party where Akutugawa gifts him his brown coat. (Akutugawa's wearing his grey one from Beast)
Dazai is still wanted by the Port Mafia though and a bounty is put on his head. Akutugawa senses that's something is up, declining the Agency's weekly dinner to go out.
"Ooo? Does someone have a hot date tonight?" Teases Dazai. Akutugawa rolls his eyes, ruffling his hair "nothing like that you brat. I'll see you later, and atleast try and behave for Kunikida."
"I make no promises" grins Dazai, leaving with everyone else and talking to Gin. Gin's a student and works part time at the Agency like Junichiro.
Akutugawa chuckles at their antics and heads elsewhere. "Didn't think you'd actually show up. Long time no see, traitor." Said Atsushi Nakajima.
The Port Mafia's White Reaper.
He's sat eating something from a lunchbox and Akutugawa mock gags. "Did you really have to bring your lunch with you?" Atsushi smiled and it would've looked innocent if Akutugawa didn't know him.
That, and the blood in his teeth definitely didn't help.
"Didn't know the Agency made you soft. You were never the squeamish type." Atsushi moves his head out the way before Rashomon can stab him, too used to Akutugawa at this point.
Though thankfully Atsushi puts his meal away. His demeanor shifts to a more serious one.
"About the information you asked for, I hate to admit it but you're right. The Boss wants Dazai back for obvious reasons. But he's not the only one searching for him, he didn't put the bounty up."
Akutugawa frowns "who is it?"
"Funnily enough, same people hunting me." Said Atsushi and Akutugawa paused. He hadn't expected the Guild to be after Dazai.
"And before you ask, I don't know why."
"Of course, but you must have a theory."
Atsushi snorts "I thought you were the Detective here?" He hums thoughtful. "They want me for the book, who's to say those reasons are connected? But..."
He shrugs "I can't say what they'd need him for. Other than that his gift must be involved."
Akutagawa nods, as vague as it was it made sense he supposed. "You can ask Kyouka if you'd like, but I'm not getting more involved in this." Said Atsushi, an edge to his tone.
Akutugawa wasn't suprised. The fact Atsushi still met up with him on occasion and was willing to divulge even this much said a lot.
You'd be hard pressed to find anyone in the Port Mafia as loyal as Atsushi. Mori had plucked him out of an Orphanage that was hell on earth and raised him.
Atsushi had practically pledged his soul to the man. His need to save others became replaced with a need to protect his city, something he excelled at from the shadows.
Akutugawa's purpose was to protect, similar to Atsushi's but he had forced himself to fit into darkness. While Atsushi was a light that could only exist in darkness.
Atsushi wasn't an executive but he was invaluable to the Port Mafia, invaluable to Mori.
Akutagawa knows if Atsushi had someone left with him, Mori wouldn't have simply let him go.
If Mori asked Atsushi about these meetings Atsushi would tell him. But otherwise he'd keep this to himself, it spoke of his loyalty to Akutugawa even after the man had left the organisation.
"Of course, I wouldn't want to intrude on your job. How is Kyouka by the way?" Asked Akutugawa, switching to a much safer topic.
Atsushi smiled fondly, a genuine one unlike the one from earlier.
"She's still on desk duty at the office. You'll probably see her around."
Kyouka was also a special case. Her parents were government assassins and had been killed at her home. Their unit had taken Kyouka in and raised her to be their true successor.
Kyouka was a talented assassin and became the governments spy into the Port Mafia. However unbeknownst to them, she'd switched sides.
Akutugawa reckons it was because of her close sibling bond with Atsushi and himself.
But whatever it was, Kyouka came clean to Mori and he offered her to be his eyes and ears. That's what she became.
All the while searching for the answers of who caused the tragedy that lead to her parents deaths that night
When Atsushi said she was at the office, it meant Kyouka was currently with the Special Abilities Division. The two still met up to get tea now and again.
"Oh, and I didn't take this job. It wasn't handed to me." Said Atsushi, Akutugawa looked at him in suprise.
He'd expected Mori to trust only Atsushi with such a task.... Which meant something else was a foot. Perhaps he wanted the Guild to get Dazai first.
"Can I ask who has?"
Atsushi smirked "Nakahara."
Akutagawa was quiet for a few moments before chuckling. "Of course, who else would be sent."
The animosity between those two was something that rivaled Akutugawa and Atsushi in their early years.
Chuuya Nakahara, formerly the King of Sheep was a force to be reckoned with. He'd only been with the Port Mafia for 3 years, same as Dazai and he'd taken the place by storm.
It wasn't any suprise given his gift. And that he'd been mentored by both Kouyou and Atsushi. And from Atsushi's demeanor, Akutugawa knew just how proud he and Kouyou were of him.
If Akutugawa had to guess Mori was trying to make a new Double Black out of Chuuya and Dazai. Which meant something was definitely up.
He'd say good luck getting those two to work together, but the same had been said that about him and Atsushi.
"I guess I better prepare myself for that fight." Said Akutugawa with a grin. Chuuya wouldn't give him shit for leaving, as long as Akutugawa gave him a worthy fight that was.
"You'd better, he's a lot more stronger the last time you sparred." Said Atsushi, getting to his feet. "I best be off, it was good seeing you."
"And you." Akutugawa watched him vanish into the shadows before heading to the restaurant the Agency were seated at.
Dazai grinned, waving him over to a very obviously saved seat. "I thought you'd be back, your date go that bad?" He was teasing him, but there was a hint of concern.
Akutugawa smiled "I told you, not a date. But it went well, and I am starving." Dazai inspected him for a moment before grinning "well, order up Kunikida's paying."
"I did not agree to this!"
Yeah, Akutugawa was going to protect this kid no matter what.
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I keep vaguely thinking of creating a wiki that organises star wars things in ways that are useful for fic writers (unlike Wookieepedia, which is often not in a useful format for what fic writers want). What would you (and folks you follow) want that to look like? Asking you because you have that excellent list of sw resources, some of which would not be possible to move to a wiki but some would. The ideas I've been thinking about are more granular timelines than Woookieepedia has and things like lists of senators that serve at the same time/some way to reference what senators would be around during particular events, but I'm sure there are other things that I'm just blanking on.
Oh m y gosh!! That'd be amazing and extremely helpful!
no, seriously, do it! especially timelines, because that's something that can be confusing at times, and not everyone wants to/can afford to buy Timelines guide book that was released last year I think (or it was this year?), like you said, having lists of coss-reference with characters, places, and/or events would be the best. There are so many things that could be helpful to writers.
Honestly, I don't know what would be the best way to organize all of it, but if there's any other way that I can help you (other than cheering you on) just let me know. I can only imagine how massive a project like this is, and you'll need all the help you can get.
And to my lovely friends, mutuals and followers who are fic writers, what are your suggestions? What would you like to have at your hand's reach for writing your fabulous fics instead of going down the rabbit hole every time you need to research a detail?
Tagging some people who might be interested in pitching some ideas: @photogirl894 @takadasaiko @airlockfailure @thecoffeelorian @amukmuk @thedistantstorm @yukipri @never-ending-fanfic @genericficerblog @heart-of-a-rebel16 @seth-shitposts @mistr3ssquickly @gffa @cacodaemonia
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Things I do not like AI for:
-Making images
-Making music
-Writing
-Doing anything artistic
-Thinking or drawing conclusions for me
Things I would kind of like AI for:
-Identifying the font used in an image (there's a couple places that do this, but nothing that's been super helpful to me) or video
-Making reverse images searches more efficient
-Allowing more specific, tailored searches on stock image/video sites beyond what just the image tags and alt text can help with
-Helping me find primary sources I've been unable to locate out of my own efforts during research
-Being able to ask my GPS more specific questions about which lane I need to be in (but only if it was going to be SUPER accurate)
Most common ways people seem to use AI:
-Making images
-Making music
-Writing
-Doing anything artistic
-Thinking or drawing conclusions for them
-_-
I don't mind the concept of AI as a tool. If it would help me find the resources I needed to be creative or information sources I might not have found even after extensive searching, that would be amazing!
But when people outsource creativity or critical thinking, that's when it's not okay. That's embracing "good enough" instead of excellent, generic products instead of masterpieces, and bland content instead of genuine excitement.
And when, instead of finding ways for AI to make life easier for creatives, the internet is instead buzzing about how great it is that you can just type in a few words and you get an image, or feed your vague ideas to a machine to have it spit out something resembling a story...
Isn't it sad?
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Could you do townies reactions to a non-human farmer? I imagine my farmer with mouse ears and a tail! Thank you!!!
Sure thing :D
Since you picture your Farmer with mouse ears and a tail, the Farmer will be like that in the stories. Thank you for asking! 🫰 Enjoy!
SDV townies react to a non-human Farmer:
"So that gnawed through bag of grain and seed was your doing, Farmer?" Well done Pierre, very considerate of you. What makes him think that even if Farmer has rodent-like body parts, they should behave like a rodent? Pierre decided to quickly fix the not-too-successful dialogue with his client for the better, offering the offended Farmer to purchase delicious cheese with a 45% discount, because they must be very fond of cheese! *judgmental look* What, he screwed up again?
Strange, Haley could have sworn something had changed in Farmer. Tell her the truth? What are they talking about? Oh? Hee-hee, why were they wearing those funny furry mouse ears? They're kinda cute, Haley's already reaching out to touch them and recognize the quality of the fabric and- Yeeeeeeeee! They move!?
Emily knows the feeling: only yesterday she felt like a fragile butterfly flitting from one flower to another in a flurry of dance. Today she feels like a free bird, spreading the wind with her feather wings! Ah, she can tell the Farmer a lot about- What? Not just a feeling? Are they real? That tail.... Oh. She doesn't know what to say. Maybe they could come over for tea and talk about it.
The Farmer can trust Marlon with their secrets without fear - the old one-eyed adventurer won't tell anyone about their inhuman origins if they want to keep it a secret. Furthermore, if the Farmer is persecuted because of their non-human origins, he will give them refuge in his Guild (only if the Farmer hasn't done something illegal or immoral).
Hold on... Caroline needs to check her herbal tea. Hmm, no, it's fine, nothing toxic in it. So Farmer's mouse ears aren't a figment of her imagination? Interesting. She's not really surprised (which surprised Farmer themself). The thing is, Caroline has dealt with something unusual before when she was younger. Well, to be more precise - with someone unusual, but she decided not to go into details, or else there would be too uncomfortable questions. She treats the Farmer's secret with respect, and they treat hers with respect. Wouldn't you agree? Excellent! More tea?
Gil will also keep their secret, and give moral support to their young Guild member. If the Farmer is comfortable, then maybe they will tell Gil about their non-human and not-so-ordinary life. Gil would be interesting to hear, he'd just about pour brandy (or tea if Farmer don't like alcohol) for everyone.
Young man/lady, why are you wearing those silly mouse ears? The Fall festivities are still a while away, so what's the point of this masquerade? What? Speak up, George can't hear you. Are they real? Yeah yeah, and the tail too, he bet, you can't fool him. He may be old, but he's not stupid enough to believe this nonsense.
When Rasmodius looked into the future, he saw vaguely that the new Farmer would be an unusual person, but even he had no idea they would be so unusual. Well, he would react to it calmly (the wizard had seen a lot in his life), even suggesting a special magical ointment if they wanted to hide their non-human origins from unwanted attention.
Haha, good one. Wait, they're not joking...? Wow, interesting. Looks like the Valley holds more secrets than Leah could have imagined. But... What does that change? So, a little non-human, so what? They're kind enough to her and the other people of the Valley, so Leah will accept them warmly and without prejudice.
Heh, what a weirdo. Spirits Eve is a whole season away and they're already wearing a costume. Alex can't figure out why they're wearing those mouse ears. Wait, did they twitch? And the tail, too? !?!?!??! What?
Being an outcast is nothing new for Linus at all. He knows that those who are different from the many are usually subject to ridicule and bullying. Fortunately, Stardew Valley is inhabited by people who are kind and patient enough. And Linus wants Farmer not to feel like an outcast because they are different from humans either. Let Linus repay you for the kindness you showed them at the very beginning of your arrival at the farm.
*Gasp*! Jodi dropped the plate and it shattered. Yoba, how is that possible? Wait, surely it's not a contagious disease or mutation? If they have limbs like a rat, they don't transmit diseases like rats, right?! She's terrified of rats and mice! Was that rather rude of her? Forgive her, Farmer. But they can't just go to her house and tell her that they're- half mouse? Or half rat? Or... She still doesn't get it.
And when Kent came out of the bedroom at the sound of a broken plate to see if his wife and Farmer were all right, he saw Farmer in their real guise. Kent's reaction was just 🗿 You shouldn't expect anything else from him. He'll stand there with 🗿 face and look at the guest, and then with the same 🗿 face he'll go get a broom and dustpan to pick up the plate shards from the floor.
Willy learned of Farmer's secret by accident when he was returning late from the Saloon and caught Farmer on the sandy shore as they were engaged in night fishing. It would not have surprised the old fisherman..... Except that the Farmer was fishing with their tail instead of his rod, and quite skillfully, aye aye! Willi immediately assured the Farmer, who was frightened at the sight of him, that he would not give away their secret. He also wondered if fish really bite better on their tails.
Abigail, in addition to delight and surprise, will also find reason to tease Farmer a bit. Just a little. She won't mock Farmer, of course, but she will often blow into Farmer's mouse ears to annoy them a little, especially since the ears twitch so amusingly from the ticklish sensation. Alright, alright, don't look at her so grumpy, she'll be a goody-goody :3
"....Are you one of those weirdos on TV who claim to be dogs/cats/any other animal?" Pam always watches that show over a bottle of beer and laughs at the absurdity of people. Hey, what are they looking at her like that? Yeah yeah yeah, they're not lying of course. They even can get a number and sign up for their show, might become a new TV star.
Uhhhh.... Yeah, sure, that's great! Penny is so happy for them! Oh no Penny seems to have forgotten to turn off the iron, the stove, the faucet, whatever, she has to go now, bye! (Oh Yoba oh Yoba oh Yoba... Either the Farmer's crazy or Penny's crazy.)
"Holy shit" was all Sebastian said, dropping cigar from his mouth as Farmer revealed their true colors to him. Farmer might think that Sebby felt disgusted with them, but he actually thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Sebastian will keep their secret and not show any negative emotion (inside he squeals like a girl "oh Yoba this is so cool" but he won't show that emotion either. Sebby is pretty reserved on emotions).
Wow, what a miracle... Gus has seen and heard all sorts of things, but this is the first time he's ever seen anything like this. Still, it doesn't change anything, and his Saloon's door to the Farmer is always open. He can also understand that sometimes constant secrecy can bring a lot of stress, so Gus will make them their favorite meal on the house. If they can't make it to the Saloon, he'll deliver the meal directly to their home. Human or not, no one should be hungry and sad.
Oh, my goodness! They have whiskers and mouse ears! And they're real! Marnie got a little scared. Oh, no, no, no, she didn't mean to hurt them, please forgive her! They're not scary, she was just more surprised. *Sigh* Now she feels bad. Maybe a treat of tasty cheese will make up for it? No, she's not teasing them, the cheese actually turned out delicious.
To say that Harvey was at a loss for words when Farmer was x-rayed is an understatement. The doctor was in complete shock. At first he was a little annoyed and didn't understand why Farmer didn't want to take those toy ears off their head. But when the x-rays and tests showed that it was all their body parts..... Okay, he'd have to look up in medical books if there was such a phenomenon at all to at least understand what he was dealing with. Hold on, not a human? Okay, now he doesn't need books, he needs wine. A very... strong... wine.
What? How? A change in the body? A mutation? Animal ears and tail?! They need to get him to a lab right away, Demetrius needs to take tests and x-rays! It's a real phenomenon. He can't believe it. He.... Oh, sorry Farmer, he shouldn't have overreacted and embarrassed Farmer so much. Apologize for that.
"Dad..." Maru knows that her dad can overreact if he gets too passionate about something, so her mom or herself needs to remind her dad about respecting personal space. And though Maru herself is very interested in Farmer's singularity, she's more worried about their health. It doesn't negatively affect their lives in any way, right? If Farmer feels unwell, let them turn to her or Dr. Harvey.
"What's happened? Don't tell me you almost burned down the lab again-" Robin hadn't really woken up yet (especially after a night at the Saloon with her husband), just yawned tiredly.... and looked first at the Farmer with the mouse ears for half a minute. Then she looked at Demetrius and Maru. After that she decided to turn 180 degrees and walked back to the bedroom. Well, she won't be ordering that new Gus cocktail again.....
"What do you call cheese that isn't yours? Nacho Cheese! Oh, how about this one: What did the teenage cheese yell at its parents? Leave me provolone! Hah! And another one-" even Farmer in their hidden thoughts couldn't imagine that after telling Sam about their real self, the young musician would start telling dad jokes instead of, you know, being frightened or surprised. Sammy, dear, you're too young for that. On the other hand, Farmer is glad Sam hasn't changed his mind about them. "What kind of music does cheese like?" Oh, gods...
Shane spent literally two minutes looking at the mouse-eared Farmer and replaying in his head Farmer's admission that they weren't quite human. Then Shane looked at his can of beer. It's full, which means he's still sober. He looked at Farmer again. Then at the can of beer. And again at the Farmer. And again at the beer. "Fuck..." He wasn't going to have a good day off today.
"My dear, I've known about this for a long time" "What?..." As it turned out, Evelyn was very close friends with Grandpa - so close, in fact, that he had told her about his family unusual origins, knowing that Evelyn would keep it a secret. And it makes no difference whether Grandpa is human or not. They were the kindest person and a wonderful friend. And his grandchild is just as kind and wonderful ❤️ Oh dear, Farmer, why are you crying?
Lewis only shook his head at that. In the Farmer's family, it seems to be some kind of strange joke that has been passed down from generation to generation. First their Grandpa also claimed to be non-human, and now the Farmer. Heh, hilarious, made the old major laugh. You're so much like him, Farmer, and the jokes are the same. Lewis warmly remembers his youth and his friendship with Farmer's Grandpa...
When the Farmer decided to tell the secret to the children of Stardew Valley, Vincent was the first to bombard the poor Farmer with a bunch of questions. He believed that the Farmer is like a superhero who could hear better, or they could smell better. Oh oh oh! And they can talk to animals, mice particular? Because if yes, then wow!!!
Leo also decided, along with Vincent, to question the Farmer about their unusual origins. It turns out that they are as strange as Leo himself. That is probably why they so quickly found a common language on the island. You could say two birds of the same feather. So you can really talk to mice like Vincent claims?!
Despite her great curiosity, no less than that of her friends, Jas refrained from asking many questions, realizing that perhaps telling this secret was not easy for the Farmer. And the fact that they had to hide their non-human origins upset Jas a little. Oh! Maybe she and Vincent and Leo will also wear toy mouse ears and claim that they all and Farmer have organized a secret club? Then the Farmer can walk around in peace without fear! (The Farmer laughed off the idea, but decided to give it a try. Surprisingly enough, it worked).
"Yeah, so?" Clint can safely compete with Kent for the best reaction to Farmer with their story about their non-human origins. Just pure 🗿. And it's unclear if Clint is either tired of all this shit with blacksmith that he doesn't show a single emotion, or if he's seen weirder people.
Yoba! Unbelievable! So his dear friend isn't human? That is so amazing! Wait, wait, wait, Elliott is interested in hearing about their lives as non-humans. No, wait, he has to put it down on paper. It'll be like their biography (he'll hide their real name if Farmer wants to). What? What do you mean he wasn't surprised? He was very much surprised, all emotional right now! Disgusted? Absolutely not, nonsense! Elliott generally thinks their mouse ears are quite cute. *Ahem* Well, let's not get distracted, he's already got the paper and ink pen. The story begins...
"Fascinating. It's either a race unknown to mankind or magic", Gunther scratched his chin for a long time, lost in thought. In any case, the door to the library are always open for Farmer, maybe they would find useful information about their unusual case. Or they come to him for a cup of hot coffee, maybe they'll talk about the various civilisations whose artifacts have survived to this day.
"Discounts at JoJa Mart for cheese and seeds! Seeds are discounted by as much as 50% off! You can buy enough to both plant on the farm and nibble on the seeds yourself. You love them as a mouse or something, don't you? Then buy from Joja before they sell out!", and it seemed to the Farmer that no one could outdo Pierre in his tactlessness. They were wrong. First place went to Morris. Well done. The fuck is wrong with these two...
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Dancing with them
notes: a classic. two of these are set during ghost marriage event. lengths vary because my creativity is unpredictable and vague.
characters included: leona kingscholar, jade leech, vil schoenheit, malleus draconia
contains: character x gn!reader
warnings: none
Song: Arrival of the Birds • The Cinematic Orchestra
Usually not up for this at all.
But if he's already at that damn ghost bride's wedding and he had embarrassed himself in front of you by getting slapped like this, he might as well save his reputation and act like a real prince for one night.
So while Eliza and Chubby are preparing their wedding celebration, Leona drags himself to put on a suit.
His tie is loosened and he puts his hair up in a bun and then makes his way across the cafeteria to you.
"Oi, herbivore", he has a hand awkwardly placed in his neck and avoids your gaze, "you wanna dance or something?" You looked at Leona confused, not being used at all to seeing him like this. You're perplexed for a moment, unsure what to say. Should you point out how unusual this behavior was for him? He'd probably just hiss at you and tell you to not comment on it
So you chose to just take his hand and nod, dragging him to the dancefloor. Leona put an arm around your waist and held your hand, smiling at you politely. He may not appear princely at all most of the time but he learnt how to behave like royalty. How to dance. And how to treat you like you deserve the world. As much as he'd sometimes deny it, Leona adores you and he's definitely smitten for you.
Leona asks you to dance during a slower song, pulling you close to him and whispering in your ear. "Enjoying yourself, herbivore?", he chuckles quietly and places a kiss onto your cheek. He smirks at you as he leads you across the dancefloor, occasionally spinning you around. He hated the discipline at the royal palace but he doesn't mind occasionally showing off what he learnt. Especially not if it's for you.
In this moment he doesn't even care if anyone is staring.
He'll occasionally press a kiss to your lips or your cheek.
If you comment on how you like this he'll be like "Don't get used to it." He doesn't have any intention of dressing up like this again and dancing with you. He'd do it if you keep asking for it though
Tells you he doesn't need any compliments but that's totally a lie, his heart flutters when you tell him he looks beautiful and when you have your eyes fixed only on him as you dance to the song. He looks into your eyes and gently guides your chin closer to his face with his fingers so he can give you a soft but teasing kiss to the lips; indicating that he'd love to kiss you more as soon as you'd leave the wedding celebrations.
He doesn't want to admit it but he quite enjoyed his dance with you and listens to the song occasionally when he thinks of you. He also just adores the happiness he saw on your face that night. It made him look forward to your own wedding.
Song: Can't help falling in love • Alyssa Baker
Jade is more up for this than it may seem
He actually gets you a dress / suit (whichever one you'd prefer) that's exactly your style and fits you with a Rook level accuracy. You don't know how much it costs. Or where he got it from. Or what brand it is. The quality seems to be excellent and it just one day appeared in front of your doorstep in a single-colored box with a satin bow wrapped around it with a note from Jade saying "For the one I love, -Yours, Jade"
Needless to say, you love the gift
He invites you to Mostro Lounge for dinner and got Azul to clear the restaurant for him for an evening. Floyd had moved some of the tables out of the way so you and his brother had more room to dance.
Jade welcomed you at the door, took your hand in his and placed a kiss upon your knuckles.
He's very polite but there's always an air of mystery surrounding him. You supposed that was part of the charm
He serves you dinner first and tries to show interest in your hobbies and passions while gently holding your hand in his on the table.
"You look beautiful tonight", Jade gently caresses the back of your hand with his fingertips, "I am glad we get to spend more time together."
After you've eaten he holds out his hand to you to invite you to dance. You gladly accept his invitation and he leads you to the middle of the lounge
Jade loves wrapping his arm around your waist. He pulls you very close to him so you're tightly wrapped in his embrace and his face is very close to yours. He slow-dances with you, holding your hand as if you could break at any moment. He always has this gentleman attitude when trying to court you or express affection towards you but it's still hard to read what he's actually thinking.
He smiles at you when you rest your head against his chest.
Jade tends to make a few joking remarks to make you feel more comfortable
At the end of your dance he tells you he'll treasure this memory and that it was an honor to share this dance with you. He presses a kiss to your hand and then asks politely whether he may kiss your lips
If you allow him to, he will pull you into a passionate, slow but rather quick kiss that makes you regret not kissing him for longer and long for your next date when he tells you goodbye for tonight.
Song: A Million Dreams • Frostudio Chambersonic
It was the day that Vil was going to introduce you to the public as his partner. He had been invited to a gala and many guests would bring their significant other to the party and dance with them.
Vil let's you wear a dress / suit + accessories specifically designed by him as well as perfume he created. "Am I going to be your personal model?", you joked and Vil pulled you closer, kissing you slowly but deeply. "You're my muse", he insisted and pressed a soft kiss to your cheek.
Regardless of whether you can dance well or not, due to the fact that you'll be dealing with publicity, Vil insists to practice with you multiple times. He'll be a bit strict occasionally but rewards you with a kiss and a gentle embrace whenever you do well.
Sometimes he even gets a little dorky during practice. Usually Vil would scold anyone who'd step on his foot during dance practice, but he just teases you slightly, chuckles and tells you to try again or shows you how to avoid mistakes like this.
Will dip you over or sometimes pick you up and spin with you.
Vil treats your dance like an expression of your love; something that shows your union as a couple. And he wants to present it like that to the public too.
When the day of the gala comes, he proudly enters the hall with you on his arm, occasionally glancing at you with a happy smile.
When he leads you onto the dancefloor, his eyes are full of love and he enjoys the atmosphere during your dance
He pulls you close and if he notices you're slightly worried or insecure about the whole situation, he squeezes your hand slightly and whispers to just focus on him. So you do. You focus on Vil's beautiful amethyst eyes and the smile he gives you that looks like the rest of the world around you has stopped existing for this moment
You enjoy the song and let Vil lead you across the dancefloor confidently. You felt safe in his presence and it made your heart flutter to see that, despite being such a famous model and actor with so many fans, Vil seemed so proud of being here with you. Like he expected everyone to adore you just as much as he does.
He'll take a photo with you afterwards or let someone else take a photo during your dance, as a memory for you to share together. Vil loves remembering that night and he still feels proud at the thought of the crowd around him seeing him dance with you, understanding how much he loved you.
Song: Belle Époque • Frostudio Chambersonic
Everyone was getting ready to celebrate the marriage of Princess Eliza and Chubby but you noticed someone was missing from the festivities. Malleus couldn't previously participate in the plan to rescue Idia, but now that no one needed him to pretend to be a willing groom anymore, he might as well join in on the celebration.
You asked Lilia whether it would be possible for Malleus to come too. The older fae smiled at you happily, stating that Malleus will surely be glad about your invitation and disappeared.
You even tried to hold off the festivities for a little longer because Lilia needed some time to find the fae prince you were looking forward to seeing
But when Malleus walked into the cafeteria; dressed in a beautiful black suit; you were awestruck. He smiled at you from across the room as he made his way toward you, all eyes fixed on him. Eliza was worried someone was disrupting her wedding again, but you managed to calm her down, stating it was a guest you had invited. Malleus was meanwhile standing next to you, greeting the ghost bride and her groom politely. Instead of asking Malleus though, Eliza turned to you to ask whether you were royalty. You looked at Malleus and winked. "Not yet", you said.
Cue a very angry Sebek in the background wanting to walk over to you and scold you how you could insinuate you would marry Crown Prince Malleus of Briar Valley, but the latter just chuckled at your boldness.
"Thank you for the invitation. I truly am grateful", he gave you a polite nod, "how may I express my gratitude to you?" You chuckled and held out your hand to him. "How about a dance?", you suggested and he looked at you surprised. "My my, how brave you are", he joked and laughed.
He lets you lead him to the dancefloor and everyone is mumbling about how this dark intimidating fae prince was dancing with you.
Sebek is having a crisis again because they spent all this time keeping Malleus away from this wedding so there wouldn't be any rumors about him proposing to someone and here people were, discussing about whether Malleus had chosen you to be his partner.
Malleus himself paid no mind to them, he was just having fun dancing with you. It felt magical. I mean, you were dancing with your fairytale prince after all. You affectionately held his cheek and he leaned into your touch.
Malleus loved holding you this close to him. He couldn't describe the feeling he was experiencing yet, but he didn't want it to end. He wanted to keep you close to him.
He literally tells you this was one of his favorite experiences ever since coming to this school and asks you if you want to go outside with him to take a walk.
Imagine the faces of people upon seeing you dance with Malleus and then immediately leave the room on his arm.
Outside he asks you whether he could hold you close again. You're surprised but when you let him, he holds you gently and nuzzles your cheek. He's very affectionate and he will keep holding you if you don't tell him to stop. He's currently trying to figure out why you make him feel the way you do.
He presses a kiss onto your forehead when parting from you and tells you you're so important to him ♥️
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11 Good Omens Fic Favorites
a.k.a. I was going to choose my personal top ten but was too indecisive
One of my fandom resolutions for 2023 is to get back into reccing, so here’s a very casual GO rec list to kick things off! Fics are ordered longest to shortest.
As with any rec list, please read the warnings and tags on ao3 and make whatever decisions are best for you. I hope you enjoy!
the bucket list by darcylindbergh (@forineffablereasons)
There was a certain look that Aziraphale wore occasionally—a pinched sort of moue that looked like he’d just taken a very large mouthful of cinnamon—which meant he thought Crowley was being ridiculous. He had put it on.
“Hang on,” he had said. “You want us to do human things?”
*
If you're going to go native, you might as well go all the way.
absolutely stunning, I wanted to take breaks while reading to really let it all sink in, I felt ALL THE EMOTIONS (44k, incomplete, E)
Your Mirror by equestrianstatue (@justlikeeddie)
I'll be your mirror; reflect what you are, in case you don't know.
Crowley drummed his fingers briefly against his mug, and then sat back a little in his chair. He gave Aziraphale a long, appraising glance, and then seemed to come to some decision. “Listen, angel,” he said, “let me pitch you something.”
Lulled by the familiar patter of Crowley’s voice as he was, Aziraphale still recognised this to be vaguely dangerous territory. He swallowed. “Go on,” he said.
one of the best-executed non-linear narrative fics I've ever read—just masterful, really peels back the layers in their relationship (28k, E)
This Soul Outstreaming by Rend_Herring
“Why did you come here?” Aziraphale interrupts. “Why do you keep doing this?” All the saving, he means, all the chasing after Aziraphale he does. It can’t only be that he’s not keen to endure a replacement. That can’t be it, not anymore. He’s going to get himself in trouble, and then it’ll be Aziraphale’s fault.
Crowley’s mouth shuts with a click. He shifts uncomfortably in his seat, reaches for the handle of the fork and taps his fingertips against it before setting his hands in his lap.
When he speaks, it’s very soft. “Don’t you know?” he asks.
Aziraphale, unnaccustomed to his heart refusing to translate why it throbs with such haste, shakes his head.
sad, tender, funny, and romantic with beautiful prose, really just everything you want, so many quotable lines (22k, E)
Lay me down in Eden by caricari (@heycaricari)
Two supernatural entities go for a walk and Crowley gets more than he bargained for.
SO ROMANTIC OH MY GOD in the dialogue, interior monologue, and actions, excellent characterization, so pure (then explicit lol) (17k, E)
You've Got Kudos by curtaincall (@fremulon)
Aziraphale and Crowley both write fanfiction. As it happens, they both write Good Omens fanfiction.
Of course, neither of them would ever admit this to the other.
(A love story told primarily in AO3 comments)
this is the most meta thing ever lmao, really impressive skins for the ao3 look—pay attention to all the little details like usernames, etc. (4k, M)
build me a city, call it jerusalem by gyzym (@gyzym)
Man begets man begets The Tales of Men, and there's nothing godly in that; Those Above and Them Below haven't any need for the stories humans have been hungry for since the snake and the Angel with the flaming sword.
pre-show fic written in 2012, leans heavily into religious themes and Biblical references, melancholic, spare but beautiful writing style (3k, T)
The Gift by entanglednow (@entanglednow)
In which there is a little wooden elephant, and a long overdue confession.
simple yet checks all the boxes, very very soft and sweet, the DEVOTION, more biblical settings, truly just lovely (3k, T)
Anthony J. Crowley, Retired Demon and Airbnb Superhost by TheOldAquarian (@darkpurpledawn)
What are you supposed to do when you've been fired from your sweet job in Hell for thwarting the schemes of Satan, you've got a swanky flat in Mayfair, and you're looking for an excuse to spend all your time in someone else's bookshop? Obviously, you turn to the dubious world of short-term vacation rentals.
The resulting Airbnb property has been variously described as "an instagram trap," "a vampire den but make it botanical," and "the weirdest bed and breakfast in the shared history of beds and breakfasting."
a highly entertaining series of Airbnb reviews of Crowley’s flat—every single one kills me, as do our ineffable duo’s cameos (3k, G)
Kissing, Accidentally. by skybound2 (@skybound2)
Crowley doesn’t mean to kiss him, really. It just sort of…happens. An…automatic response, if you will. An unintended automatic response. Unexpected, even.
It’s not planned, that’s what he’s trying to say.
~~~
Or the one where Crowley gives in and kisses Aziraphale while he has him pinned against a wall.
winner of best use of footnotes, hilarious, Crowley is WHIPPED and an absolute disaster of a demon, just delightful (2k, G)
Too Generous by rfsmiley (@redfacesmiley)
“You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged; but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever.”
Or: what happened after the [ we all got hit by a ] bus scene (aka "you could stay at my place, if you like")….
the TENSION, the PINING, ahh my heart was in my throat, excellent dialogue, and multiple P&P references (1.5k, T)
Interwoven Footsteps by skybound2 (@skybound2)
It takes them a while to get there.
Six thousand years, give or take.
But they get there.
criminally underappreciated (probably because it's super short), gorgeous, lush, sweet, their whole story in under 1k words (700, T)
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The serial killer au is just amazing! The perfect amount of fluff and hurt and fucked up-ness
Waiting patiently in front of my bowl for part 2
Took me a minute but I made it!
Part 1 and also CW: everything. So much. There's Dubcon. Explicit stuff. A man is murdered. Vague references to self harm. Dead Dove
Soap knew the moment the man died. Ghost was pouting about it. He took Soap down to the basement to keep him company as he poured bleach all over the blood soaked floor.
The blood went in arcs all over the floor and walls. Like there had been a fountain of it with several buckets of it hitting the floor.
"I can't believe I hit a vein. Fucker bled to death." Ghost treated the body like a broken toy. Kicking it to the side so he could pour more bleach on it. It fell so limply.
Lifeless soulless eyes looking up at him, as if to judge him. As if to ask why Soap stood upstairs doing nothing about it.
Soap nodded, feeling a bit sick. He looked away and upstairs. There was a burst of energy in his limbs. It felt like he was a rabbit, ready to sprint.
But the wolf in question would never hurt him.
Ghost, probably reading Soap's mind as he had a tendency to do, crossed the room, gloved hands trailing along his throat.
"Poised to run?"
"Nah. Much prefer being with you." He grabbed his wrist, not to stop him but to pull him closer.
Ghost rubbed his thumb against Soap's clavicle, pressing in a little. "With him gone, I guess you'll need to keep me entertained."
"You did mention something about new toys." Soap joked before noticing the way Ghost's hand tightened.
"Johnny."
Oh no. Serious voice and his name. Ghost was about to say something earth shattering.
"Do you want to see my face?"
Yep. Earth Shattering.
"What?" Soap wheezed.
"Yeah. How about this. We play a game and if you can win, I'll show you my face."
Soap panted immediately. "What? Really? What's the game?"
"I set a timer. You last."
This was some trick. "Last how? Like don't..." Soap felt himself get flustered. Yes, Ghost had put him in degrading positions and had done unspeakable things with those long fingers of his, but something about just saying "don't cum your brains out" was a little too bold for him.
"Nah. Nothing so cruel. I know you have a hair trigger."
The worst part? Soap always took longer than his partners before. Ghost was just good at what he did.
"You just have to stay awake."
Soap didn't understand, but to see Ghost's face? He'd stay up for weeks. "Yeah, okay. I agree."
Ghost grinned. Soap could see how the skin around his eyes wrinkled, even though there was no change in the actual depths. Still dead and empty. "Excellent."
He yanked him upstairs, lifting him off the ground for a few seconds. Ghost's hands were all over him. Groping him. Grabbing at him. Yanking his hair until he...
"You moan like a whore." Ghost growled at him, yanking his hair to get another pitiful moan out of him. He started to tug at his clothes, wanting Soap undressed as always. Soap obliged, loving those rough gloves on his body.
Ghost grinned. "And so you know I'm serious." He grabbed a blindfold and put it on Soap. There was a rustling of fabric after it was on and then Soap's hands were pressed to his bare face. Ghost must've shaved recently. Suddenly, he realized what Ghost's scars were. A giant smile, reaching up to his cheeks.
Did someone do that to Ghost? While Soap knew about the scars along Ghost's shoulders, he didn't think cutting a smile was something Ghost would do to himself, even if he was in the worst of mindsets.
"Just have to stay awake."
"How long?"
"You don't get to know. I can't make this easy on you. It's my face on the line."
Soap hummed softly. "Do whatever you want to me." He could feel Ghost's mouth on his body. Sweet and loving. Gentle fingers.
Soap laid back and just floated in the sensation of being prepped. Finally, he was starting to learn to go to this soft and floating place so that way he could take what Ghost gave him.
After being prepped for a good long while, his body easily able to take three of Ghost's fingers, did Ghost pull back.
Soap felt an expectedly cold on his cock when Ghost dropped lube on his cock. It made him pause, wondering what was going on. He considered voicing his confusion, but the small chance that Ghost might drop the deal kept him quiet.
Ghost's breath brushed against his cock and Soap's hips jerked up slightly, almost into his face. It made him chuckle and kiss Soap's stomach lightly.
Something touched the tip of his cock and then it started to slip down like a glove. He jerked and wiggled, not liking the feeling of cold lube and silicon quite that much. "Called a fleshlight. Just relax. Feel better in a minute."
It wasn't quite like a person, too... plastic. But it did start to feel nice. Especially when the heat from Ghost's hand warmed it up. He started to buck his hips up, even more confused by what Ghost's game was.
"Is the timer hours or days?"
The toy quickly moved faster, knocking the breath out of him. He could hear Ghost angrily whispering about Soap's stupid ability to think. It started... buzzing.
Soap felt the red on his cheeks spread to the tips of his ear. He had never used a vibrator before and this was... He whimpered and bit his lip to shut up.
It squeezed around him slowly and Soap's legs twitched. His hole clenched with the need to be filled. He wanted Ghost to finger him again. Or maybe just ram himself into him. Break him open.
Something silicon pressed to his hole too.
"Jesus Ghost. Prefer you."
"I'm flattered." Ghost grinned. He pushed it in and Soap immediately had a sneaking suspicion he knew what the challenge was. It was ridged and even with the thorough prep, it felt like he was actually going to break open from the inch that was pushing in. By the second ridge shoving inside him, Soap's legs snapped shut and both the toy around his cock and the one being pushed in stopped. It was a small mercy and a clear sign that Ghost was secretly being generous tonight.
Ghost didn't pull the stupid thing out but he did focus on the toy on his cock. It was so good. He felt himself just drifting as he took it and took it. Well, trying.
He came for the first time and Ghost just kept going. Overstimulation got worse but he could handle it. Was determined to handle it. To see Ghost's face. Blond hair maybe? What nose did he have? Soft lips?
Soap started to build up again. His stomach started to tense up into knots, legs shaking. It felt so good but it was starting to get to be too much, too fast. He was going to...
Soap jerked away before he could finish, trying desperately to get respite from the assaulting pleasure, and Ghost paused again. Slowly the toy pressed in deeper. Soap figured out this game as well. Too much pleasure or take more. The toy was now pressed right at his prostate and it only made the situation worse as his cock pathetically jumped against his stomach.
Sobs tore their way through him. Sensations bombarding him until he felt like he was nothing but what he felt from Ghost's hands. The blindfold and the deafening silence of anything but Soap's own fucked out whimpers made it feel like he really was a Ghost. Just a set of hands set to destroy him and ruin him in anyway possible.
Soap couldn't take it anymore. It made him feel so stretched and full that it started to drive him crazy. He jerked up into the toy and laid there to take the assault again. Unfortunately for Soap, it seemed the time away had not decreased his sensitivity at all. His orgasm started to build again and he just forced himself to take it. It washed over him like a wave, suffocating him.
Soap was pretty sure he wasn't hard anymore. Not from lack of trying, of course, and definitely not from lack of enjoying it. He started to cry harder, feeling the shame of being into this. Of sickeningly enjoying it. Soap pulled back from the fleshlight and felt the dildo immediately start to press deeper. Each ridge had him choking on sobs, horribly turned on and able to do nothing but take take take.
Soap shook his head. Where was the timer? They had been doing this for an eternity? Soap reached down, feeling the small bump in his stomach from where he was being impaled. If he pressed, he could feel his muscles jumping while trying hard to let him cum one more time. Despite Ghost's sadistic methods, he still struggled with more than once and three times was a struggle that took hours. It had to have been hours.
Soap came a third time, feeling warm liquid on his thighs. He wondered if it was Ghost's or himself. The idea of Ghost coming untouched at the sight of him. That watching Soap debase himself, become so debauched he'd let Ghost torture him so and get off on it. Made him cum. It got him horrifically close to a fourth time.
"I can't..." Soap gritted out. "No more. I can't..."
Ghost paused and leaned over him. "New deal."
"Sir, please." Soap couldn't. His brain wasn't working anymore. It couldn't.
"You have another hour on the timer."
"No, god please." Soap sobbed so hard the pillow under his head became wet. "I can't."
"Not much left of this toy. All the way in and I'll still give you your reward."
Soap had to think hard. Ghost's hand dragged his to show there were just four ridges left. He could do that. He could.
"Okay."
Ghost turned the fleshlight on high and slowly started to push it in.
"Wait." Soap choked out.
One of four and Soap was starting to wonder if the toy was tapered because it just felt harder with push. So much. So intense. So big. He wondered if the wetness in his thighs was his own blood. If he had been torn. If Ghost would keep him on his shelf a little longer.
"Stop."
Two of four and Soap was sobbing, hurtling towards some great beyond. He started to babble instead of talk. His body was shattering. His brain was turning to mush. So fucking big and his cock was being fucking milked a
"No."
Three of four and Soap's started to shake as he hurtled towards the edge. Just as he reached it, just as he was about to get his reward, Soap's head lolled back as he blacked out, cumming right as he did.
Ghost tsked his tongue. "Hope you have sweet dreams thanks to this." He, carefully, pulled the toy out of him, watching the way Soap gaped from it. Soap was lucky he was asleep or he'd been stuffed full of cum until he was drunk on it. Ghost used his hand and then got to work taking care of Soap. Bathing him and changing his clothes. He laid him gently back in his bed and left him to sleep.
After a little back and forth, he decided to give Soap a consolation prize. A little one. He didn't tie him up before he left. Soap could get to wander around to his little heart's content.
Ghost kissed his hair, admiring him. His bitten lips and pretty complexion. He wanted to press him between the pages of a book like a flower to preserve him. Instead, he had to settle for just admiring him. Johnny needed to sleep, so he left him to do so.
Before he did though, he picked up his phone, putting it in his pocket. The alarm had went off about 45 minutes before. Ghost had just had it on vibrate so Soap would only know if Ghost told him. It had been an insurance policy in case Ghost changed his mind about the face thing. Which he did.
Soap sobbed when he woke up. His entire abdomen was sore and his legs still felt like jelly. He tried to sit up and pain rushed through him.
How could he mess things up like that? He was so close. He was going to get to see him.
His entire over sensitive body picked up on every single drag of the sheets. Every sensation setting him on fire.
"Ghost?"
No answer.
"Ghost!" Soap called again and when no one answered, he took the blindfold off. He glanced around before seeing a note, explaining that for his efforts, Ghost left him untied.
Only one small problem, it hurt to move and there was zero chance he could walk in this state.
Soap just shoved his face into the pillows and sobbed.
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🥰 Saying 'I love you' without saying it for Angel!! -vic
Free!Angel loves one person, very platonically, and you know who it is @wildfaewhump.
[Making Angel Masterpost]
Content / warnings: BBU Recovery, threat of recapture, vaguely implied noncon, humiliation. This ends well.
When Angel arrives at the coffeeshop down the street, Lourdes is not there. Angel feels it before she even believes it - she longs to be normal and be sure only after having counted heads and looked at every single face as rational people do, but there's some hidden, tingling sense that some unlucky people and all pets develop that absolutely and undoubtedly screams when there's something wrong.
Lourdes is not at the coffeeshop and something is wrong.
Angel drops her shopping bags and searches for the barista's gaze. He stares back for long seconds, gaze haunted, before he tilts his head towards the back entrance. "Danger," he mouths, draws a warning finger across his throat. "Don't go."
She pulls her long coat tight around her waist, straightens her shoulders and walks behind the bar, shaking her head at the barista as she pushes the back door open in a display of confidence.
Angel recognises the three men gathered around Lourdes' tiny figure in the yard for what they are immediately. She's grateful there's a railing on top of the metal stairs she can hold onto, and that her coat is long enough to hide the tremble in her knees at their sight.
Their uniforms are black, as the field teams wear them, not gray as in the facility, and on their chests they display the only arrangement of three letters Angel will always recognise. WRU.
They're here to take Lourdes.
Her only way out of this is getting right through it.
"What the fuck are you doing?", she calls. "Get your dirty hands off of my property, right now."
The man nearest to her turns around to look her down, and Angel gives him the display he needs to see. She's stopped wearing dresses the day after Tim died, but just as she's kept the house she's kept up the casual elegance of those who live in this neighbourhood. Her hair is pulled back into a soft ponytail, her white blouse obviously from silk, and the light blue coat that does so well to hide away her body has been tailored to fit.
She can keep up an appearance. And she's excellent with body language.
"Madam, please step back into the cafe," the man says, putting his hand on his hip. "This is an ongoing operation."
Madam. He said Madam. That's her role. It has to be. She must be Renee now, her sister-in-law, which means she must be a fucking bitch.
So she ignores him, snaps her fingers and points to the ground next to her feet. "Angel," she commands sharply, because Lourdes' name tells too much and it's the only other pet name on top of her head. "Stop debasing yourself with these men and get back where you belong. Now!"
The two men pinning Lourdes down cast glances back over their shoulders, and step back, when their colleague nods. One of them shifts his hips as he's tucking himself back in. Angel keeps her expression blank. It's what handlers do. It's what Lourdes knows to deal with. The only thing that matters right now is that they don't get them into their van. That they leave this place with her, not them.
Lourdes winces, as they try to stagger back to their feet under Angel's carefully acted frown. They're in pain, trembling, and yet their motions remain graceful and sensual.
"I'm sorry, Mistress," they whisper, casting their gaze down. "I wandered off." When they step towards her, one of the men lazily reaches out with his shock baton, stopping them.
"They looked liked a runaway," he says, turning to Angel. His gaze on her feels more leering, suddenly. "Behaved like one, too."
"Because they're scared?" Angel raises an eyebrow mockingly, swallows back the sickness at her own display of everything she contempts. "Well, I happen to like them scared. Paid a lot to your superiors to make them that way. How should a woman like myself keep a pet in check otherwise?" She smirks, tilting her head at Lourdes while still avoiding their gaze. "Get here, Angel."
"Not so fast." The man grabs Lourdes shoulder now and Angel's heart is racing. "If they're legit - why couldn't we read their barcode? They must've obscured it somehow."
Angel has to fight the urge to scratch her own wrist. Instead she folds her arms. "I did. I don't go anywhere without them, and I don't like the feeling of being tracked. That's why I only carry cash, too. No smartphone, no smartwatch, no credit card and no bar code on my pet." She shrugs. "Shouldn't trust the system at all, am I right?"
"Freak," the man murmurs, but turns towards Lourdes now. "Is it true, pet? That lady your owner?"
Lourdes gaze meets Angel's, and the devotion it carries is crushing. It's an act, she tells herself. Still, it's too close to the real thing. To the way Lourdes must've looked at Geoff Cortlandt. To the way Angel herself has looked at her own Sir.
"Yes," Lourdes says softly, casting her gaze down. "I belong to her."
The man scoffs and shoves them towards Angel. "They're wasted on a woman."
Lourdes hurries forward and falls to their knees at Angel's side. Position 2.
She's flooded with relief at feeling them close to her, but it's tinted with utterly disgust. Lourdes is her best friend. They should never have to kneel again.
Still, Angel would love to have a position to fall into, as well. Everything she does, has to do, humiliating Lourdes, hurts. Her hand feels heavy, as she reaches out to pet Lourdes head in a display of possession.
They need to get away from here.
"They are very satisfactory for a woman's needs, but I would assume you know nothing about those." Her fingers run through Lourdes' hair. "Next time, keep your hands to yourselves. Have a good day."
Angel turns on her heel, but the first man adds.
"Stop. You do need to put them in a collar, at least, Madam." He reaches at his belt, where a thick black plastic collar is dangling. WRU standard issue. She feels it, how it will chafe her skin, how the little clicks of its clasp will vibrate in the base of her skull when it's pulled taut, how her hair will catch in it at any carelessly move, how her breath will get flat and her head will start swimming.
"Here you go." The man tosses it to her, and Angel flinches back violently, stumbling on the metal staircase. Lourdes is on top of her, suddenly.
"Sorry, Mistress," they beg, their voice almost breathless. "I didn't want to trip you over, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I deserve to be punished Mistress."
Their hands are holding hers, pressing them down, hiding the trembles running through her body. "Please, not that collar, Mistress."
The man across from them pauses for a second, slowly looking from Lourdes back to her.
"Stupid thing," Angel manages to hiss. "Guess that's on me though. I paid for a scaredy-cat."
She gets back to her feet, brushing off the dust from her pants, calming her racing heart, before she looks down on the collar in front of her shoetips with a smirk and kicks it aside. "Thank you for the offer, but my Romantic won't be dressed like a cheap off-the-shelf thing."
Her hand wanders to the belt of her coat, soft fabric, blue as the sky, and she tugs it from his hoops as decidedly as her shivering fingers let her. Lourdes, submissively kneeling at her feet again, offers their neck to her unprompted.
"Thank you," they whisper, as Angel wraps her belt around their neck loosely. "Thank you, Mistress."
"Get up, pet," Angel says, and tugs at the belt, swallowing back the bile threatening to rise in her throat. "We're leaving. Don't embarass me like that again." She glances at the WRU handler. "And you, Mister, be glad that your men left no physical damage on my property. I'd have hated to file a complaint. Have a good day."
She leads Lourdes back through the coffeeshop on the makeshift leash, her head up high, pointedly ignoring the barista, and walks out the front door to hail a cab on the street.
Behind her, she feels the eyes of the WRU team on their backs, stinging like needles.
She knows Lourdes feels them too.
The act isn't over.
She wraps a possessive arm around her friend's shouldes, fingers resting against the blue fabric wrapped around their neck. In perfect obedience, Lourdes shifts onto their tiptoes to kiss her, longing and desperate.
Their hold steadies her, conceals the shaking of her shoulders, while she kisses them back with tears in her eyes, using them just like an owner would, confident, demanding and with utter disregard. Lourdes doesn't seem to mind at all.
"Angel," they mumble into the kiss, and she feels their heart racing as quickly as her own. "Thank you. This.... was very stupid of you."
Angel doesn't reply.
Its true, of course.
But it doesn't matter. Not when Lourdes is by her side, climbing into a cab with her, and the WRU van parked by the street vanishes in the rear mirror.
Not when Lourdes is safe.
--
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Angel tag list: @whumplr-reader
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who, in your massively correct opinion, is the hottest sas boy? i can never tell if i think they're hot or i want to steal their gender
anon. before i start answering this, I need you to know that I went at this the most ridiculous way possible. just so you know, before you embark upon this journey.
imagine you are me. and you are a lesbian. and you think everyone on rogue heroes looks like Some Guy. and then you get this question. you might come up with an idea, make a joke, and move on.
OR.
you could choose to apply the scientific method. objectively quantify hotness in the Objective opinion of a lesbian. except, obviously, hotness depends on a series of factors - just because someone is attractive, it doesn't mean that they are Hot, you get me? you gotta keep their personality into account, too. AND on top of all of that, we need to account for gender envy. so you do what I did. and you open excel. and you start grading the boys depending on fuckability, dateability, and whether or not you want their gender. cool, now you have an Objective, Correct Answer. because obviously everyone's opinions on attractiveness are subjective and therefore all valid, BUT my subjective intepretation IS a little more correct than other people's. anyway, you have done all this. you have your answer. except you also have a visual memory and don't love numbers. and you might choose to chart it all out.
if, for some godforsaken reason, you had followed all of these steps, then you would find yourself with something like this.
and you would conclude that, if we exclude gender envy that might skew results, the hottest Rogue Heroes boy is Eoin McGonigal. which is ironic, considering he's in the cold, cold ground now.
I'm actually putting a cut here not to clog everyone's dash with this, but here are some little explanations on why I gave my score and clarifying some slightly confusing things about the chart:
Everyone is listed by surname to make sure they were all identifiable without clogging up the chart too much.
I do think most of them look, like. Fine. not, like, fiiiiiiine, they do genuinely just look. like some guys. half of them I wouldn't look at twice if I met them in tesco, you get me? anyway. I stared at so many pictures of these men trying to determine if they were fuckable. I think I am losing my mind.
Jordan, Cooper, and Stirling are actually all on the same point, they are just vaguely scattered around to make the labels readable. I had to install a whole new r package for this.
now the fun part. my completely Objective and Correct Judgment on each boy
-Stirling - his swagless looks and cringefail personality might have captivated Eve, but they are not enough for me. he looks mostly average, but he gets extra points because I am an Unusual Nose enjoyer
-Paddy - with all of my love for him he also does just look normal in my opinion (very pretty eyes, though). like, he looks good, but in a pretty normal way. and then on top of that there is his personality. (both of his scores turn into 10s if you have the highly specific brand of mental illness that Augustin and Eoin both have. get better soon pal)
-Lewes - Jock would absolutely make the best boyfriend out of the main trio, this is basically canon. he's also kind of pretty in a haunted doll way but again I do think he looks mostly Fine.
-Riley - not sure how to justify why his scores are so high tbh. but he seems very confident which is kind of attractive, I guess? also no idea why I want his gender. but I DO.
-Almonds - I just KNOW that Almonds would be such a kind and caring boyfriend. I had originally given him a 7 for fuckability but then I realised that if I was a gay man I would be all over his bear charms in a matter of seconds.
-Reg - Reg gets extra points for being kind of a malewife and also his massive tits but other than that I do think he's pretty average. I would be his friend though. I think he'd be a big lesbian ally in the same way Thor is.
-Kershaw - his fuckability is that high because he exclusively joined the SAS cause he loves killing fascists so my friends and I have an ongoing joke that he fucks like a freight train. that's it.
-Wee Johnny - a little Too Blond for my taste. also, I am sorry, but he is VERY young and I think at the point in life he's at, he'd be a little too self centred to be a good boyfriend. that said my man looks like a he/him lesbian and I'd steal his gender like a fae if I could.
-Fraser - I just KNOW he'd be the kindest, most gentle boyfriend on the planet. absolute sweetheart of a man. that said, he does just look like your run of the mill twink.
-Sadler - really don't know what it is about his odd as hell vibes that makes him so fuckable to me but there is SOMETHING. that said those odd as hell vibes do probably make him into a Not Ideal boyfriend.
-Eoin - I'm sorry, he's got it all. he cooks? he's sweet and understanding but can also be a bit of a little shit? buff but not massive? gets dimples when he smiles? AND he's got freckles and curly hair and an Unusual nose? he's literally perfect and undefeated winner of this contest. rest in peace sweet prince
-Augustin - he has very pretty eyes and face but his lankyness and weirdass way of moving (affectionate) does bring his fuckability score down a little. he's also Insane and while I do think he's very good at hiding it, you would eventually notice while you are dating him and go "huh!" (this, once again, does not apply if you are Paddy). oh that said I don't know what it is about his weird skinny puppetlike limbs that's so gender to me but. yah.
-Bergé - gonna be honest here, he's only included because I felt bad about Augustin being the only Frenchie on there. I like his moustache and his funky hat.
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