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highwaytothedangerzone502 · 1 year

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Foxtrot Alpha Alpha - Chapter 3

Pairing: Hangman x Female OC

Word Count: 1694

Warnings:

Summary: Hangman learned his lesson a long time ago to never show his true feelings when someone's words or actions hurt him. To do so showed weakness that could be exploited, and Seresin men couldn't show weakness. Of course, there was an exception to every rule, and Jake's always came in the form of women, three in particular: his mom, Juliette Kazansky, and the girl whose name he could no longer bring himself to speak. She was the girl that got away; she was his biggest 'what if' and his biggest regret; she would forever be the ghost that haunted his dreams. Jake believed that's where she'd stay, for he would surely never see her again after what he did.

Or so he thought.

Notes: This is the sequel to India Lima Yankee; I'm using the same callsign for the Female OC as in Ghost Story because I just really like it, but they are different characters; chapters in italics are flashbacks.

Chapter Songs: Don't Stop Believin' Half of My Heart

****

Juliette

As the night continued, the tension in Hangman became more and more prominent. Juliette noticed the tightness in his posture compared to his usual relaxed stance, the well-hidden wariness in his green eyes, and the way he avoided Ghost by standing opposite wherever she did. His gaze rarely left her, but he watched her more like prey waiting for the hunter to strike. That, in particular, unnerved Juliette. Nothing rattled Hangman, so who exactly was Ghost to him to make him react like that?

He stuck to playing pool, and although he laughed and joked with the Daggers, his smile never reached all the way across his face like it usually did. Juliette fought back the urge to drag him away from the group and force the truth out of her friend but now wasn't the time. He would tell her when he was ready.

"I heard some of y'all went on a hell of a mission," Ghost remarked, taking a sip of her beer.

"And some-" Juliette eyed her fiancé- "decided a death-defying mission wasn't enough and decided to steal an enemy jet with his dad."

"Says the girl who helped my dad steal a different jet to prove a point to an admiral and escaped punishment without so much as a slap on the wrist," Rooster countered, wrapping his arms around Juliette's waist and kissing her cheek.

"I still want to know what kind of favors people owe you," Payback said, pointing at her with his empty bottle, "and who all owes you favors."

Juliette grinned. "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you, and I like having you around."

"What about you, Blackwood? What have you been up to?" The question, surprisingly, came from Hangman. All eyes flicked between him and Ghost, and despite the cacophony of the crowd surrounding them, a deathly silence settled in, causing Juliette to think: Seriously, what the hell is going on here?

Ghost took the pool stick from Payback and lined up to take a shot. "Mostly black ops, but that's what ghosts are good at. Doing things without being seen and disappearing when needed," Ghost replied, nailing the shot. She set her sights on another solid, which missed going into the pocket by a hair's breadth. "You? Lead anyone else to their watery grave?"

Hangman's playful grin shifted into a fake and guarded smile, easily mistaken as a genuine one for those who didn't know him, but Juliette did.

"He stopped Mav and me from crashing into ours, so I guess you could say he saved our lives," Rooster said casually, coming to the shocking defense of Hangman. Then, apparently unable to resist, he joked, "But you'll never get me to admit that again."

"It's okay. I have witnesses to corroborate the statement. I'm going to get more drinks. Want anything?" Hangman said, striding up to them and stopping next to Ghost. Juliette requested a lemonade while the others asked for another round of beers. Hangman faced Ghost, his chest nearly touching hers they stood so close. "I'd ask you what you want, but I already know."

Winking at her, he backed off and disappeared through the crowd. Ghost stared after him with an infuriated glare. Juliette craned her head up and whispered in Rooster's ear, "Are they going to fight or fuck?"

"Depends on which one you ask," he responded, his hands moving to cradle her stomach. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm good. Thankfully the nausea has disappeared for now."

"Well, if anything changes-"

"I'll let you know." Juliette pecked him on the cheek. "I do, however, need the bathroom. I'll be back."

Sliding off the stool, she hurried to her intended destination. On her way, Juliette noticed Hangman standing outside on the phone. Figuring he must've received a call on his way to the bar, she ignored it, rushing inside the bathroom before her bladder burst. While she washed her hands, a wave of dizziness hit her. Juliette gripped the counter and ran one of her wrists under the cold water, attributing the dizzy spell to the fact that she might melt in a puddle it was so warm in the Hard Deck. It took a few minutes, but the dizziness passed, and Juliette felt safe enough to move. She'd keep this quiet from Rooster. He worried about her enough.

Juliette stepped out of the bathroom and began heading to the Daggers when she noticed Hangman still standing outside, but instead of talking on the phone, he stared at the device in his hand. After his earlier interactions with Ghost, Juliette's concern for him diverted her path toward Hangman. Stepping outside into the cool air, a welcome sensation compared to the stifling heat of the Hard Deck, she shuffled quietly to his side.

"I'm pretty sure you order drinks inside," Juliette joked lightly, causing Hangman's head to snap up.

A genuine smile spread across his face. "What are you doing out here?"

"Needed some air. I also noticed you hadn't joined the Daggers yet, so I thought I'd check on you."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Got an unexpected phone call."

Juliette raised a brow at him. "I can't tell if it's good or bad."

His smile finally faltered. "It's a family thing. Long story."

"As long as your story with Ghost?"

Hangman sighed, shoving his phone into his pocket. "I was wondering how long it'd take you to interrogate me about that."

"If you don't want to talk about it, I won't push, but her comment earlier about you leading another person to their watery grave... it seemed out of line."

"Maybe, but it's not a lie. Hell, it's practically the same thing Rooster said to me when we met at the Hard Deck the first night we arrived for the training detachment. But hey, nothing I can't handle. Still doesn't equate to the verbal beatdown you gave me after I antagonized Rooster that one day."

Juliette chuckled, sitting on the bench when another bout of dizziness hit her. "That feels like forever ago."

"It certainly does," he agreed, sitting beside her. Hangman slipped off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders when he noticed her shiver. "How are you doing? Where's your shadow?"

"Don't call him that," she said, laughing and lightly kicking Hangman's leg. "Rooster's inside, although I'm sure he'll come looking for me if I'm not back soon."

"Why has he become so... so..."

"Worried? Protective?"

"Yeah. He's always been protective of those he loved, but it's gotten ten times worse since you announced you were pregnant."

"Rooster doesn't trust doctors. Their misdiagnosis of his mom's illness has made him question every diagnosis the doctors have given me regarding my pregnancy."

"What have they been diagnosing?"

"When I fainted on Christmas, it was because my blood pressure dropped too low. It almost happened again about a month later because my iron levels were deficient, so I just had to up my intake since my prenatal vitamins weren't providing enough."

Hangman's brow furrowed. "I didn't know you passed out a second time."

"Outside of Mom and Mav, we didn't say anything to anyone else. Didn't see the point, to be honest. It was an easy fix."

"It got rid of it completely? No more fainting? Not getting dizzy?" Juliette hesitated for a second before she said "no," but Hangman caught it and prodded gently yet sternly, "Princess, is it still happening?"

She clutched his jacket tightly around her shoulders, her shaking having no correlation to the cold air. "Yes. Not much, but enough for me to notice. I'm keeping an eye on it, and if it gets worse, I'll go to the doctor. For now, though, I'm staying quiet."

"So I'm correct in assuming Bradshaw doesn't know?"

"Yes... I don't want to worry him about something that might not be a problem. Rooster's going to kill himself stressing over me before he ever meets his kids if he's not careful. I know this is a lot to ask, but please don't say anything to him about this."

"Since you think it's nothing serious, and since I'm not seeing anything super concerning, I'll stay quiet for now, but if it gets worse and you refuse to tell him, I will say something."

"I know you will. It's why I trusted to tell you," Juliette admitted, smiling appreciatively at her friend. As much as she loved and adored the other Daggers, she couldn't help but believe that when it came to this particular situation, their loyalty to Rooster would override their promise to keep her secret, and they would tell him anyway. Coyote's loyalty may not have, but he also wouldn't want to endure Rooster's wrath if Rooster found out Coyote had been keeping such a secret. Hangman was different. He wasn't afraid of Rooster, and he respected Juliette's decision and trusted her enough to speak up when she believed something might truly be wrong. Juliette trusted Jake Seresin implicitly, and some, if not most, people probably questioned that judgment call, but she ignored them.

"We should probably head back inside before people come looking for us," she mused, peering over her shoulder into the Hard Deck when she recognized Rooster's piano skills at work. Sure enough, he sat the musical instrument, singing along to 'Don't Stop Believin' with the Daggers and Ghost, but his gaze roamed the room. She knew why.

Hangman stood and helped Juliette up. The pair reentered the building and went to the bar, grabbing a round of drinks for everyone. Then, carefully, they navigated over to the Daggers. Juliette slid onto the stool with Rooster, who leaned over and kissed her while still skillfully playing the piano. A cheer rose up around them, making them both laugh. She sang along with him to all different songs until her voice went hoarse, but Juliette kept a careful eye on Hangman. Instinct told her something wasn't right, that the appearance of Ghost and the 'family thing' phone call he received earlier afflicted him on a much deeper level than he let on, both now and in the past.

If only she'd known how much.

****

Tags: @lgg5989 @shanimallina87 @polikszena @summ3rlotus @icemansgirl1999 @supernaturaldawning @thedarkinmansfield @lyannaforpresident @lapilark @getmyprettynameoutofyourmouth @simpofthecentury @shadeops21 @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @double-j @bradshawsandbridgetons @majdoline @catsandgeekyandnerd @peachiicherries @multifandomcnova @fandomsstolemylife00 @bookloverhorses @mak-32 @midnightmagpiemama

Chapters: Chp 1 Chp 2 Chp 3

If you're on the tag list, it's because I copied from the India Lima Yankee tag list. If you don't wish to be tagged for this story, just let me know! If you're not on the tag list and want to be, comment below :)

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eclectic-sassycoweyes · 6 months

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How to fight polarisation and avoid turning on each other while fighting against genocide and for human lives, rights and freedom

I’ve been hesitant to post about the current tragedies and horrendous crimes happening at this time partly because social media seems like a literal mine field at the moment and because I’m no expert - I’ve felt unsure whether I could contribute in a constructive way and I’ve been wary of making mistakes such as contributing to the spread of disinformation or formulating myself in a way that was unclear and would be misread.

I’ve chosen to instead reblog mainly resources of knowledge and ways to donate, contact representatives and in other ways help where you can, and to spent a great amount of time trying to educate myself further and to partake in conversations and demonstrations/protests happening outside of social media.

But the situation is on my mind around the clock and has been during this whole time. I cry and grieve for all the Palestinians in Gaza who are living in constant fear of losing their own life, in hunger, thirst and isolation from the rest of the world making them unable to share what is happening; who are seeing their loved ones die and their homes and mosques and infrastructure and neighbourhoods destroyed. I rage at the Israeli government’s obvious dehumanisation and breach of human rights and the murders of innocent people that they are responsible for. And I rage at the western leaders’ support of this genocide both in rhetoric and action. And I have raged for the same support and indifference during the illegal Israeli occupations, their treatment of Palestinians, and creation and upholding of apartheid conditions in both Gaza and the West Bank for so many years. And I see the images of the civilian Israelis that were murdered, children in front of their parents and parents in front of their children by the hands of Hamas and I cry and grieve for them and their loved ones, too. My thoughts constantly go out to everybody who is in some way more closely involved in this than I am, Palestinians, Israelis, Muslims and Jews.

And that is what this post is about, in some ways. The fact that we can and should cry and grieve and rage for all these tragedies and crimes against humanity, that we should remember that multiple facts and stances and empathy for multiple people can and should be able to co-exist. That we should remember who to make enemies of, who has blood on their hands and who we should be giving the benefit of the doubt or whose stances we owe the gravity of the situation to try and understand better, even if we still disagree after that attempt. Not because I believe that the grievances, the horror, the rage, the crimes or the fight for freedom and lives should be pushed aside or negligized. But because I genuinely believe that polarisation and disinformation and dehumanisation of the people that we disagree with, does not serve the cause of either freedom, rights or the sparing of innocent lives - I believe that there is a risk of it contributing to the opposite.

Like I said, I’m not an expert on the history of Palestine and Israel and although I do my best I can’t be sure that me posting my thoughts are contributing or that some people won’t misunderstand my intentions or my opinions. Besides breaching my social media semi silence to share my empathy with everybody involved, I want to share what I believe would help us fight the right enemy while also fighting polarisation and disinformation and prevent us from turning on each other. In sharing my thoughts I am drawing from my previous knowledge and from a place of support for the Palestinian fight for freedom and against the oppression and occupation by Israel for as long as can remember, as well as my studies in philosophy, identity politics, social epistemology, disinformation and polarisation, as well as information about the situation and history of it that I’ve recently read from sources that I believe are reliable as well as accounts of both Jewish and Palestinian people, in the attempt to educate myself further prompted by the current situation.

I know that I’ll probably formulate something in a less clear way than intended and that misunderstandings can happen and that I can hold wrong beliefs. I am open to any well-meaning corrections. And I also want to make clear that I am not trying to call anybody out, or believe that I know better than anyone. I completely understand why people are outraged because I share the same outrage. This just happens to be something that I have both studied and that is on my mind a lot right now, and that I wanted to share in order to use what I know and think, hopefully for some good.

What I believe we should be doing to avoid turning on each other in our fight against the crimes happening:

Educating ourselves. I know that is not accessible for everybody but if you can, try to find sources that are as reliable as possible, and consult those. No media article is completely objective, so try to read from different sources, that argue for different views, also those that you initially or instinctively deem as incompatible with your own views. This could be books, newspapers and probably specific radio and tv programs and debates depending on what is available where you are.

This includes reading up on the history of the area dating as far back as possible and with as much detail as possible. A lot of us either are against or highly problematise the establishing of the state of Israel and/or the way it happened and the role that the empiricist west played in it. The area also has a history before the establishment of the state of Israel. A history that includes Jews migrating to the area in a slow stream (some accounts state this as returning to the area) way way before the 19th century due to ethnic cleansing and displacement from all around the world including the Middle East. The more recent history also includes attempts at peace treaties and two-state solutions that failed, personal accounts of Palestinians and Israelis pendling between Gaza, the West Bank and Israel and having had friends and colleagues on both sides; but also personal accounts of the humiliation and apartheid in the Palestinian areas occupied by Israel. It includes illegal occupations, humiliation and mistreatment of the Palestinians by the Israeli government and military; It includes attacks on civilian Israelis by Hamas; Poverty, joblessness and despair in Gaza by the hands of Israel and the Israeli control of the Gaza borders; Hamas oppressing the Palestinian people of Gaza and ruling undemocatically and stating openly that they want to eradicate all Jews from the entire Middle East. It includes both Israelis living in Israel and Jews around the world protesting publicly against the current racist and right-wing extremist Israeli government and their current crimes against the people of Gaza as well of the history of oppression against the people of Palestine.

The history of statehood or lack thereof, human rights breaches, structural racism antisemitism, colonisation, apartheid and displacement of entire religious and ethnic groups and the political history of Palestine, Israel and the West is extremely detailed and go far back. Read up on that if you can, not in order to change your views necessarily but in order to nuance and strengthen them.

Being source critical, watching our language and being ware of disinformation. Remember that there is not only a war, a genocide and a fight for freedom happening, there is also an information war happening and there are a lot of people in high places who want us to share disinformation and for people to polarise, take up unnuanced or extreme viewpoints and to turn on each other. Again - I’m not saying that this should change your view that there is a genocide happening or lessen your outrage. But be aware that there are some details that we just cannot be entirely certain of, and that should be part of our frustration and part of what we’re critical about. And I believe that we should try to help each other find out what might be the truth by having conversations, sharing our thoughts and correcting each other in a non-aggressive language, rather than fighting each other over what some believe to be true and some not.

Having different beliefs about what is true is not necessarily an expression of diverging general beliefs or stances but of all of us sharing the struggle of sorting through the insane amount of information floating around on the internet and coming from high places.

Sharing resources that provide knowledge about the situation and about how to help, take political action and donate. This includes donation sites, how to contact your government/representatives, petitions, book and news source recommendations, information about protests/demonstrations that are happening.

Trying to understand/imagine where the people we disagree with are coming from. Even if you support a one-state outcome where Israel seizes to exist or you believe that the state should have never been established, you can acknowledge that those who believe in a two-state solution feel that the Jews who have historically lived in the area should be able to continue doing so without risk of religious discrimination, and why some jewish people express the need and wish to have a place where they are not a minority and get to live and share their religion, holidays etc. with each other, which I think is something a lot of us are taking for granted. Acknowledging this does not mean you have to change your view on whether the state of Israel should stay, or diminish your criticism or outrage at the way the state was established or the crimes against Palestinians that the state have continually committed and the genocide that they are committing right now.

Even though your support for Palestine is valid, important and well founded and the public expression of it right after the Hamas attack on Israeli civilians on the 7th was a counter-response to the western leader’s unambiguous support for Israel and their failure to condemn the crimes of Israel’s occupation and apartheid for years, you can try to acknowledge why this might to some Jewish people who were shocked and grieving and had lost loved ones might have been misunderstood as indifference toward the Jewish lives lost. If you think that their response to this was also an expression of indifference toward the horrible crimes against Palestinians and the Palestine lives lost, you might have misunderstood their intentions as much as they misunderstood yours. You should still feel right to be disappointed, angry and criticise these responses.

Even if you condemn the actions of Hamas on the 7th and were shocked and angry, and even if you believe in an Israeli state (along with a free Palestine), you can acknowledge the oppression, apartheid, humiliations and crimes that have laid the foundation of the well founded anger against Israel that help groups like Hamas flourish. That can explain why some Palestinians emphasise with Hamas’ project even if it doesn’t defend the actions of Hamas against Israeli civilians. Also make sure to acknowledge that the government of Israel did commit these crimes, are committing them right now, and have done so for many years, and is also is targeting civilians and that the western leaders’ unambiguous support of Israel is extremely dangerous and problematic and that these are the reasons so many are demonstrating in support of Palestine right now, not because they are antisemitic.

There is a saying within philosophical practice, that when evaluating someone’s argument, you should try to interpret the authors’ stance/belief/argument in the best possible way in terms of validity before you start countering it. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t counter it or won’t end up disagreeing. It just means you should be countering your best possible interpretation of the opponents statement instead of the worst. This of course doesn’t exclude criticising people for the language they are using or making them aware of how it comes across as problematic. This practice will also strengthen your own argument as well as diminish the risk of polarisation and misunderstandings and help people learn, as you won’t be tearing down a general belief that the opponent doesn’t actually hold, but you’ll be countering a belief that they do hold and that might be wrong and thus should be countered.

Remembering that there is a human behind the screen. I don’t just mean ‘remember that there is a human being, and that human being is evil because of a post/statement they made’.

There is literally a human who is human and so was raised in some kind of narrative about something that is extremely provoking of intense emotional responses. This person is statistically unlikely to be a psychopath, so in all likelihood they are also someone who grieves for all human lives lost, who is against oppression, racism and antisemitism; who believes in human rights and wants to save children in danger of getting killed and traumatised; who believes in justice the same way that you do. But they might not be great with words, they might be very emotional because they have personal ties to the situation, they might have trouble sorting through what is true or false, who is the victim and who is the perpetrator.

I once saw a documentary about people believing in conspiracy theories. There was a couple, they seemed like really compassionate people. The kind of people who want to help anyone in need to the best of their abilities. They fully believed the misinformation about the US Democratic Party being infiltrated with pedophile circles in which people hurt kids. And because of that they had quit their jobs to spend all their time fighting for those kids.

Personally I think that this conspiracy is a false belief that should be very easy to counter-argue and not fall for, and I can’t understand how anyone could hold such beliefs. Further I think that such beliefs are dangerous as they serve deeply oppressive forces in society, against the kinds of people that I love and fight for. But I could still acknowledge the human compassion, empathy and self sacrifice that motivated this couple, and had I had the chance to talk to them, I would try to help them understand that their beliefs about the facts were wrong, rather than tell them that they were evil or inhumane - because I don’t believe that they were.

The history, facts and politics surrounding the current situation is so detailed and complex and filled to the rim with emotions and propaganda that differing and wrong narratives are much much easier to believe than that the US government are infiltrated with pedophile circles. Having false or wrong beliefs does not make people into non-compassionate, evil people who do not do their best to fight for the same basic principles as you do.

What I believe we should not be doing:

Confusing criticism of the establishment of the state of Israel, criticism of its government and their actions (crimes), criticism of the unambiguous support of it from the western leaders or the fight for Palestinian freedom, independence and statehood with antisemitism. This also goes for the stance that there should be a one-state solution where the entire area should go under the state of Palestine or that the state of Israel should have never been established. That can be a valid stance as long as it doesn’t include the displacement or discrimination of the Jewish population in the area.

Confusing criticism of Hamas, of Hamas’ undemocratic rule over Gaza and criticism of their project of eliminating the Jewish population in the Middle East with racism, islamophobia or support of the Israeli government, their crimes, apartheid, illegal occupations, colonisation, or oppression. It is possible to be critical of both.

Confusing the government of Israel with the Israeli civilian population or with Jewish people in general.

Confusing Hamas or their actions with the civilian people of Palestine or Palestinians in general or with the religion of Islam or muslim people.

Mixing things up in general or try to fight facts with facts. It can be true that the state of Israel is an oppressing power that is committing genocide and war crimes while it being true that Hamas is an extremist and antisemitic group that targets civilians and also commits war crimes. It can be true that both Jews and Muslims around the world have valid reasons for being afraid for themselves and their loved ones and for facing discrimination and hate crimes, and for that fear having risen during these times.

I once read an expert in polarisation stating that “the real danger of the situation is that we no longer disagree on opinion but on facts”. In a way I disagree with that. What I believe is dangerous is when the disagreement about facts causes the disagreeing parts to have wrong impressions about the opponents general beliefs and humanity and empathy.

Of course we will disagree about facts. It is extremely difficult to sort through all the information floating around the internet, without the means and education to do so. And by this I don’t mean wits or intelligence or a bachelors degree in information studies or polarisation. Even intelligent people with high educations can and probably will struggle sorting though information and tracing and evaluating the sources of it and it’s validity. And I know that a lot of us right now are for valid and obvious reasons having a hard time trusting the sources that we normally have at least some trust in, because our governments are being so one sided and supportive of a criminal, oppressive and genocidal government. And because well established and deemed objective news sites and news papers are firing Israel critics or labelling them as such as a sort of ‘warning of a possible lack of validity’ (google for example the Guardian’s firing of the satirical artist Steve Bell). Not being able to feel like we can fully trust these institutions make it even more difficult to seek out information that we know for sure that we can trust a 100% so it is likely that we will believe different things stated as facts. That doesn’t mean that we do not share cause or general, basic beliefs.

If someone believes that Israel did bomb the Al-Ahli hospital, that doesn’t make them antisemitic or pro-Hamas.

And people believing that the explosion at the hospital occurred in the parking lot and was caused by a misfired and malfunctioning missile fired from within Gaza by Islamic Jihad does not make them pro-Israel, it doesn’t mean they don’t at the same time believe that Israel is committing genocide, or that they are any less supporting of the Palestinian fight for freedom or their lives against the Israeli government, and it doesn’t make them untrusting of accounts from the people of Gaza or blindly trusting of everything the Israeli or western governments are saying.

And not knowing what to believe doesn’t make people indifferent, it makes them understandably sceptic and frustrated about what information to believe and what not to believe. This leads me to:

Confusing social media silence with indifference and inaction. There are people who find it so difficult to sort though information that they are afraid of posting/reposting something that they don’t feel sure of and that might only contribute to spread of disinformation and polarisation that they choose not to engage a lot on social media. This does not mean that they are indifferent or doesn’t take action. The same people might spend a lot of their time educating themselves and changing their own previously held wrong views, they might be donating, having difficult conversations with friends and family, going to protests, signing petitions or in other ways pushing their government to change their actions and rhetoric and using their vote with the people of Palestine in mind. If people are choosing to refrain from the chaos that is social media, either to protect themselves so that they can fight better outside of it or to not contribute to polarisation and the spread of disinformation, that might be for the best and it shouldn’t be beaten down upon in my opinion.

Confusing nuance with neutrality. Nuance is not neutrality. You can recognise that the history, facts, accounts, and details are varying and makes a complicated picture and thus take a nuanced stance or at least acknowledge that there is nuance to everything, the current situation included. Nuance is not downplaying the evil and atrocities happening. Nuance is not the same as not holding rage against the Israeli government. Nuance doesn’t mean that that rage is or should be any less all-consuming. Nuance is not defending or accepting the crimes and genocide against the people of Palestine or the killings of Israeli civilians on the 7th and on other occasions. Nuance is not indifference. It is not neutrality. Nuance is detrimental because it tries to protect the possibility of the co-existence of several facts at once, in order to seek out the core of the problems and thus the solution. Because it tries to hold on to compassion for multiple people at once. Because it prevents us from fighting the people who we should be working together with because we share the same goals, general beliefs and projects.

Neutrality is the opposite of outrage and condemnation, and of grief, and of despair. Nuance can exist alongside all four in my opinion.

Accusing people who are silent on social media, express nuanced thoughts or that doesn’t use the correct language, formulates themselves clumsily or have beliefs that you disagree with of having blood on their hands or being pro-genocide. This is the people who have blood on their hands: the government of Israel, Hamas, the western governments not doing what they can to stop the genocide, the governments who are sending weapons and bombs that are meant to directly target civilians.

I know this is difficult when feeling outraged and hopeless, and also because there is some truth to it. The people who voted for the governments that do have blood on their hands, the people who spread and believe propaganda, the people not taking action and staying silent or being ‘neutral’ are in some indirect, ways (probably unknowingly and for most I believe certainly unintentionally) contributing to what we are seeing happening and what has been happening for years. But people living thousands of miles away and who are uneducated, have trouble believing the information that is true and not believing the information that is false, people who might be silent because they are facing their own crisis regarding life or death for themselves or their loved ones, or who are making mistakes in the way that they formulate themselves that lead to misunderstandings, does not have blood on their hands, they are not the ones killing children, and they are not supporters of genocide. We can be angry and frustrated at them, but saying that they have blood on their hands or are pro genocide is effectively silencing them even more because they become afraid of retribution and it only pours fuel on the dangerous fire that is polarisation, hate and dehumanisation of the people that we should be helping to learn and engage and gathering forces with to fight the real enemy.

#palestine #Israel #islamophobia #antisemitism #genocide #racism #polarisation

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olawalesenvironmentalblogs · 2 years

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Final Blog

Final Blog posts, Practicum report & Environmental Citizen Statement.

Blog 12: Our Environment vs. our Economy

Figure 1. displays the figurative relationship between our environmental issues and our economics

Alright, I must admit, I was wrong. As much as everyone would love to blame one person for the state of our environment, that is not very feasible or practical. Over the entirety of this course, we have explored various aspects of the environment and, most notably, what can be done to limit and begin change for the better. A correlation was noticed through extensive research and discussions between these environmental issues and capitalism. From biodiversity to logging, overfishing, and even the minute chemical toxins all around us, capitalism, in some way, shape, or form, had an underlying presence or factor to do with the aspect of environmentalism. Therefore as our last focus, we decided to look at three passages that discussed this relationship from Naomi Klein to Fred Magdoff; I can honestly admit that the sole blame for the state of our planet is actually not solely on the owner of the means of production.

Our world revolves around an economic system that relies on maximizing profits reliant upon the actors in this system. The belief is that we operate within a free market system in which the prices for food goods and services are self-regulated by buyers and sellers negotiating in an open market. However, within this free market system, entities own the means of production, which leads us to the labor theory. The labor theory states that the value of a produced economic good may be measured by the average labor hours used to produce the good. The issue becomes when the value produced by these people who work to produce value does not keep all value of their work, it goes to the owner of the means of production. These owners of the means of production seek to maximize their profits which comes down to the revenue made subtracted from the cost. These costs of production or operation include rent/bills, labor costs, and the fixed material costs to create the product. As the owner of the means of production, for instance, the CEO of a major car company, it is the CEO’s fiduciary duty to the business’s shareholders to maximize and increase profits on a term or annual basis. Here is where things begin to get tricky. For the most part, revenue will remain constant, barring any unexpected significant increase in the purchasing of a specific vehicle within the company. This then shifts the attention to the cost of production; rent/bills, for the most part, shouldn’t change exponentially, and the materials used to create these vehicles will remain at a fixed rate, leaving behind the labor costs along with the volume and price of the cars. As a CEO, you are left with very few options for maximizing your profits which may include increasing the volume of products you create, increasing the prices, or keeping wages the same. However, for all companies, simply increasing the amount of production will not always equate to higher profits since more production does not mean individuals will buy more and keeping wages the same may result in company backlash. The only option most production owners genuinely have is the prices they can increase. To tie this into our studies of the environment this year, when we discuss fishing companies, oil companies, and even food enterprises, the truth is sustainability may not be as urgent to these companies as profits. A switch to sustainability, in many cases, would mean higher costs and lower profits for these companies, which many times are only trying to conduct their fiduciary duties and maximize profits. These CEO’s despite their grand title, are stewards of this free market, employees to be practical, all trapped in this market whose sole purpose is to increase and grow. This is where our readings play a role where Magdoff argues are we willing to mortgage our lives for our moral stances and, in addition, the need to act to put a demise to this society whose sole nature is growth and to produce or profit rather than quality. Magdoff, in his closing statement, states, “ If there is to be any hope of significantly improving the conditions of the vast number of the world’s inhabitants—many of whom are living hopelessly under the most severe conditions—while also preserving the earth as a livable planet, we need a system that constantly asks: “What about the people?” instead of “How much money can I make?” ( Magdoff ppg. 24). What Magdoff ultimately concludes is that it is not the head of these oil companies or, similarly, the workers on these massive ships who are overfishing in foreign waters; it is the system in which both of these individuals are in that is to blame. These people are doing what they must to survive in this free market economy, eat or be eaten. Conclusively, the last readings with Naomi Klein and big organizing vs. small organizing discuss ways in which we can help advocate for our environment while being stewards within this system. Naomi Klein argues the importance of the mode of behavior within this system, where when we accumulate these debts, we become indentured servants in a way to the system. Therefore, with economic dependence, one will have true freedom to make their own decisions and not be confined to bad moral judgment these capitalist systems and owners put on individuals. As the last reading states, “ By allowing people to appreciate how powerful they are and how useful they can be, and how politics and government can belong to all of us rather than only a remote elite, we will become unstoppable.” I, therefore, present the question one more time, who is most to blame for the state of our environment? Each and every one of us.

How do you plan on living a more sustainable life?

Word count: 968

Works cited:

Klein, Naomi. “Capitalism vs. the Climate.” The Nation, 9 Nov. 2011, https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/capitalism-vs-climate/.

Magdoff, Fred, and John Bellamy Foster. “What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know about Capitalism.” Monthly Review, 1 Mar. 2010, https://monthlyreview.org/2010/03/01/what-every-environmentalist-needs-to-know-about-capitalism/.

Monbiot, George. “9 Making It Happen.” Out of the Wreckage: A New Politics for an Age of Crisis, Verso, London, 2018.

Fabrique [merken, design & interactie]. “Personal Water Footprint Calculator.” Home, https://www.waterfootprint.org/en/resources/interactive-tools/personal-water-footprint-calculator/.

https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/wash_statistics.html

Blog 11: Water

According to the CDC, approximately more than 785 million people worldwide do not have access to basic water services, and 884 million people do not have safe drinking water. The truth is that you could only survive for only a few days without water; however, the human body can potentially survive a few weeks without food. As water expert Sandra Postel puts it, “water’s gift is life,” meaning one of water’s most impactful gifts or effects is the fact it is the key to life for not only humans but rather all species. This water must be fresh, meaning it contains deficient levels of contaminants like dissolved salts, unlike seawater which contains very high levels of these salts. However, according to Miller and Spoolman, Living in the Environment, the scientists state, “Despite its importance, freshwater is one of our most poorly managed resources. We waste it, pollute it, and do not value it highly enough. As a result, it is available at too low a cost to billions of consumers, and this encourages waste and pollution of this resource, for which we have no substitute.” ( Miller/Spoolman pg. 301). A common belief worldwide is that with water covering almost 71 percent of the planet, there is no way it could be a finite resource with all the rain and tons of water flowing throughout cities and suburbs. This belief has created a form of belief system that may cause individuals to waste these resources sometimes without realizing subconsciously. For instance, when brushing our teeth or taking a shower, many individuals, including myself, would completely waste this gift of life by having a running faucet or allowing this water to drain without using it to its full potential. Now that we mention it, my personal water footprint calculator this year came up to an immense 975.9 meters cubed per year. This water footprint calculator is defined as the rough measure of the volume of freshwater that you use directly or indirectly, for instance, to drink, bathe, flush a toilet, and even the energy and food you consume, which indirectly uses water.

Figure 1. displays the environmental cost for producing various items

Virtual water is defined as freshwater that is not directly consumed but is used to produce food and other products, almost that consumed water that has been indirectly used. Quick question, how many tubs of water do you think it takes to produce a t-shirt, a house, or even bread? Let’s break it down. A full bathtub contains approximately 40 gallons of water; producing and delivering just a single loaf of bread will take almost four tubs of water, translating to about 160 gallons of water for that single loaf of bread. If this does not emphasize poor resource management, I don’t know what will. A t-shirt more than doubles this with about 17 tubs of water, and a house is roughly a thousand times this amount of water at about 16,600 tubs of water, translating to 664,000 gallons of water. With water being poorly managed and divided among its billions of customers, different methods have been sought to produce the most amount of water, including groundwater withdrawal. However, although advantageous being that it is renewable, useful, and cheaper to extract. This form for cultivating water has begun sinking the land from overpumping but, most importantly, has created aquifer depletion. Overpumping these aquifers may not seem as harmful as other environmental activities; however, in some cases, it may be worse; by overpumping these aquifers could result in limits on food production, rising food prices, and widening gaps between the rich and poor in some areas meaning this is not only affecting the environmental aspect of society but in addition, this economic aspect which seemingly has built this correlation or relationship where whatever is harmful to the environment ultimately ends up being profitable for the economy. Nonetheless, although immense damage has been done to these aquifers as well as the balance of freshwater on our planet, the damage done is not irreversible. In homes, businesses, and industries, steps such as redesigning manufacturing processes to use less water, fixing water leaks, using drip irrigation on gardens and lawns, collecting and reuse of gray water in and around houses, apartments, and office buildings, and lastly, raise water prices and use meters, especially in dry urban areas. On an individual level, things such as taking shorter showers instead of baths and turning off sink faucets while brushing your teeth, shaving, or washing all go a long way; where if multiple individuals adopt this belief and practice these steps, we as a species will be on the road to a much more sustainable living regarding freshwater.

Figure 2. depicts an individual unknowingly or subconsciously wasting water while washing plates

What propositions do you propose for the better management of our freshwater? Do you believe when it comes to the fair distribution of water, that enough is being done?

Word count: 815

Works cited:

Miller, G. Tyler, and Scott E. Spoolman. Living in the Environment. 20th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning, Inc., 2021.

Blog 10: Food & Soil

How confident are you in the industrial production of our food? What would you say is the most important aspect of agriculture? the symphony of the soil by Deborah Koons and Food Inc. by Robert Kenner, explore and exploit the shady and potentially dangerous aspects of our food production. Food inc.’s overall message at the conclusion of the film stressed the entirety of our food industry is inhumane as well as environmentally unsustainable. Throughout our readings, we have been told these disturbing findings nonetheless, my biggest takeaway from the film was the fact that these large industries have the immense legal power and economic power. The truth is, according to the film these corporations have taken over the entire food chain here in the U.S from where it’s grown to where it is sold. The major argument I found when reading was that these large corporations value nothing more than profits, even if what they are cultivating no longer meets the confines of morality and ethics. Rather these large corporations would produce inexpensive meats and vegetables, that impose high risks on humans’ health and the environment.

Figure 1. Displays the horrid conditions in which the chicken we eat is cultivated.

Furthermore, the symphony of the soil takes a rather different aspect of our environment and rather explores the beauty of a vital earth resource soil. The film takes the voices of various scientists and farmers using art and science to help describe this unique relationship we have with soil. The film’s purpose serves in informing the population of just how vital soil is so that we may appreciate and respect this resource the earth provides for us. The truth is the soil plays a huge part in our environment which means cultivating it correctly and utilizing it in a more sustainable way would allow or be a step rather in the right direction to bettering our environment.

Conclusively, I found the films to be major supplements to the readings and discussions we have had on the relationship between capitalism and our environment. Similar to the beginning of the semester when I found that my ecological footprint was unsustainable, I decided to look at ways I can better myself to stay away from big corporations and specifically meat being that I eat it a fair amount. I found a few alternatives which include organic, Non- GMO, Supporting local farmers, and eating more plant-based foods. I’ve actually eaten my first plant-based burger because of my findings in the film. What the film effectively does is portray these horrific findings with images to have factual evidence which may force consumers to want to act more urgently. I could help myself throughout the film to think about potential consequences for corporations who mislead consumers like this. But then I connected my readings and findings throughout the entire semester and concluded that this practice is likely seen all throughout America, but the issue is that it will not be documented. What these companies thrive on are misleading consumers where figuratively each consumer is no more than a dollar sign, similar to the environment. However, as discussed it is these companies’ obligation and purpose to maximize profits and expand within this market. I believe food inc effectively was able to get its message across by unveiling the curtains to this horror movie that is transpiring behind the scenes. It is our responsibility to do with this information what we can, I truly believe if we all can somehow incorporate these sustainable eating alternatives into our diet for instance even just once a week choosing a plant-based burger over the previous option will go a long way on our collective journey of a sustainable planet.

Figure 2. displays sustainable alternatives to the products discussed in food inc.

What meat alternative do you believe would suit you best? How do you feel these big corporations feel when they are exposed to what they sell to consumers? What should be the disciplinary action?

Works cited

“Food, Inc: The One Documentary to Watch to Understand the Unsettling American Food Industry.” High Existence

https://highexistence.com/food-inc-best-food-documentary-to-watch-to-understand-the-unsettling-american-food-industry/.

Symphony of the Soil. Directed by Deborah K. Garcia. Mill Valley: Lily Films, 2012.

Blog 9: Hazard, Waste, & Human Health

Over three million people lose their lives to infectious diseases every year. Whether we choose to believe it or not, we all live lives incorporated with risk by simply staying at home, binge-watching your favorite tv show, or going for a walk. There is a probability, no matter how big or small of suffering, harm that can cause injury, disease, death, damage, etc. Risk assessment estimates how much harm a particular hazard can cause to human health or the environment. In contrast, risk management determines how to reduce the particular risk to a certain extent. Whether we realize it or not, we all subconsciously check through these risks and management specific to each person’s condition. You may begin with risk assessment: identifying the hazard and evaluating the probability and consequences of this risk. Then you would assess the risk management, mainly how to reduce the risk with a strategy while comparing this risk to others, known as a comparative risk analysis. This process, whether done externally or subconsciously, may only take minutes even seconds; For instance, in my daily life, when I am preparing to drive to a destination; as I drive and the urge to text somebody appears; I mentally ask myself, what is the probability of injuring myself and others by not keeping my eyes on the road and what would be potential consequences. Assessing the probability of risk and consequences is known as my risk assessment and following these questions with solutions like placing my phone down or parking to open my phone is a risk reduction known as my risk management. Similar to daily life hazards, scientists must go through this process when assessing biological hazards; however, this risk assessment and management are not as straightforward. With more than 1400 pathogens that can cause disease in organisms like bacteria or parasites, it is vital for scientists worldwide to assess the dangers of these microorganisms to educate the public on how serious these risks can be and the benefits certain activities have on this risk. Infectious diseases are defined as a “ Disease caused by a pathogen such as a bacterium, virus, or parasite invading the body and multiplying in its cells and tissues” ( Spoolman/Miller pg. 410). According to Living in the Environment by Miller and Spoolman, among infectious diseases, lower respiratory infections lead the list with nearly twice as many deaths compared to tuberculosis.

Figure 1. Illustrates graphical data informing of the deaths per year due to infectious diseases

With infectious diseases arises the issue of developed genetic immunity toward widely utilized antibiotics; this immunity allows bacteria and viruses to defeat these drugs meant to kill them, further multiplying. With these antibiotics, whose purpose is to destroy these pathogens, now ineffective, these viruses or bacteria can grow further, causing more harm to their host. Another issue with infectious diseases is climate change. Climate change which seems to affect every fabric of our reality, strikes again wherewith warmer temperatures mean more mosquitos and ticks, which breed more rapidly in warmer climates. Consequently, with more ticks and mosquitos, this may create or allow for the more rapid spread of these bacteria and viruses. With viral diseases, antibiotics have no effect, and with many fatal viruses’ abilities to be easily spread through means such as bodily fluids, or airborne droplets through coughing or sneezing, this makes viruses extremely difficult to keep under control. For instance, in the present day, almost every being, if not most, has been affected by the global pandemic coronavirus. Despite warnings and signs during the later months of 2019, by March 2020, the world was halted to a complete stop when it became clear that governing bodies had no plan or course of action to stop the rapid spread of this virus. Without that first course of action to possibly roll out antibiotics, few other measures were to be considered other than locking down the country to assess the damage and begin to contrive a vaccine. Nonetheless, regardless if an infectious disease is derived from a virus or bacteria, these infectious diseases can cause cataclysmic occurrences, as seen in recent years where what looks to be a relatively weaker virus compared to a virus such as Ebola can spread rapidly, creating more of a disbalance essentially placing the entire world on hold. From HIV, which had about 36.9 million people living with the incurable virus worldwide in 2017, to tuberculosis or malaria, which has a combined death rate of over 1.7 million per year, this stresses the fact that risks are literally all around us, especially on a microscopic level. However, this is where risk management takes place, and solutions may be conjured up. Solutions and risk management to ensure and reduce the incidence of infectious diseases include reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics, immunizing children against major diseases, or even conducting global campaigns to reduce HIV/AIDS, which would spread awareness stemming back to our discussions on education and empowerment. As we conclude discussing biological hazards, of the various list of major hazards including biological, natural, cultural, lifestyle choices, and one I would like to discuss which are chemical hazards briefly. The facts are that chemical hazards come from certain harmful chemicals in the air, water, soil, food, or human-made products, leading to temporary or permanent harm or death in humans. These include carcinogens that can cause or promote cancer, mutagens that can cause or increase the frequency of mutations, and teratogens which are chemicals that can affect fetuses or embryos, causing congenital disabilities. The numbers state that 10% of the 85,000 regular commercial synthetic chemicals have been screened for toxicity, 2% have been adequately tested to determine if they are carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic, and 99.5% of available chemicals are unsupervised by the U.S government. These numbers convey to me that the government either cares very little about the dangers regarding these chemicals or the alternative, which is they may be purposefully neglecting the safety of these chemicals. The renowned Rachel Carson, an American marine biologist, writer, conservation activist, and writer of the influential book Silent Spring, stated, “ if we are living so intimately with chemicals, we had better know something about their power.” With chemicals directly all around us, from clothing that can contain perfluorochemicals, perfumes containing phthalates, water bottles containing bisphenol A, or a sofa’s foam padding containing flame retardants and perfluorochemicals, we are quite literally and figuratively being poisoned daily. I hypothesize that these chemicals are rarely being screened based on various aspects, which I believe include economic and political stances. If the public were to truly realize chemical hazards are built into our daily lives even from a young age where a baby bottle can contain bisphenol A or if a child was to place their graphite pencil into their skin, it would lead to lead poisoning, it would spark a shocking revelation on the true nature of our reality.

Figure 2. Illustration of everyday items that contain chemical hazards.

In conclusion, with solid waste piling up and about 100 billion throwaway plastic bags per year, we must find sustainable ways in dealing with this waste sustainably. The order of importance in which waste should be dealt with is first to reduce, reuse, recycle, incinerate, or, if none is possible, bury. On the contrary, however, about 67% of waste has been buried, 9% incinerated, 23% recycled, and a total of 0.3% reused or recycled. Although this issue may seem a bit out of reach, educating the public on the importance of sustainably getting rid of this waste may spark the change necessary as millions of species are affected by the displacement of this waste. Additionally, steps on the individual level may be taken, for instance, using reusable lunch containers, storing refrigerated food in reusable containers, or even when eating out, bringing your own reusable containers for leftovers. Truthfully speaking, these issues take time; however, by realizing everything around us is a potential harm allows for awareness when conducting activities of everyday life. Ultimately it will be up to us to seek changes and inform the general public of the fabricated reality they perceive.

How do you believe the world would react to realizing the chemical harms encountered by us beings daily? Do you believe at your workplace, school, or job it would be possible to convert to a sustainable way of dealing with waste?

Word count 1406

Works cited

Miller, G. Tyler, and Scott E. Spoolman. Living in the Environment. 20th ed., Cengage Learning, 2021.

Blog 8: Particular Problems and Solutions, Aquatic Biodiversity, Soil, Agriculture, and Food

About 3.1 million children under five die from chronic hunger and undernutrition every year. According to Miller and Spoolman in the text Living in the Environment, about 2 billion people, most in LDC, suffer from a deficiency of one or more vitamins and minerals, resulting in approximately 250,000 children younger than the age of six, mainly in LDC, go blind every year from a lack of vitamin A. The question becomes, why is there such a strong correlation between malnutrition and young children, specifically in LDC? Are these governments genuinely doing enough to protect the future of their country? With about one billion people in the agriculture field producing more than enough food to meet the nutritional needs of every person on the planet, why do still about every one in nine persons does not receive enough to eat daily? Now I understand poverty and various other factors, including war, climate change, and the harmful environmental effects of modern industrialized agriculture. All play a role in food security; however, I believe that economic gain and consumption have found a way to creep into this issue of food insecurity. As we have discussed throughout this year, economic development and earth’s sustainability have had negative reciprocity, whereas continuously seen one has struggled to thrive with the subsequent. With food production increasing dramatically with nearly up to 38% of the earth’s ice-free land being utilized for agriculture, why haven’t the expected sustainable development results yet been visualized? My gut feeling is overconsumption. When food energy intake exceeds energy use causing excessive body fat is termed overnutrition. Here in the U.S, about 72% of U.S adults over age 20 are obese or overweight, highlighting apparent unproportionate ratios in consumption between countries. The solution, I believe to the catastrophic matter of chronic hunger and malnutrition will come down to empowerment. Previously we discussed the empowerment of women whereby educating women in LDC where birth rates were exponentially higher, she may be able to assess her options on her own and realize within their situation whether or not they should conceive a child. By empowering families across the planet with education on how to grow within specific conditions as well as ways to consume these essential nutrients and minerals straight from nature would help immensely. As a short-term solution, this will allow time as well as remove pressures off governments to create timely solutions to the issues affecting food consumption and sustainability within their communities. Here back at home in the U.S, industrialized agriculture utilizes motorized equipment with large amounts of non-renewable resources proving unsustainable to other practices, for instance, organic agriculture. Organic agriculture is also practiced here and in many places worldwide, emphasizing the prevention of soil erosion and the use of organic fertilizers, ultimately reducing fossil fuel use and increasing the use of renewable energy to produce organic material for local and regional consumption. Comparatively, industrialized agriculture utilizes inorganic fertilizers as well as sewage sludge to supply plants with nutrients depending solely on fossil fuels to export their product globally. These unsustainable farming methods have evolved the U.S into agribusiness, where corporations continue to expand to control the distribution of food sales here in the U.S and global markets. For this global conundrum of food security to begin to be amended, accountability must be taken, where the refinement of us as species must come before any economic gain or expansion.

Figure. 1 Illustrates the heavy utilization of pesticides representing industrialized agriculture

Meanwhile, on land, while we race to formulate lasting solutions to the imminent threats of chronic hunger and unsustainable agriculture, our aquatic biodiversity and ecosystems have been on the decline. With oceans generating about 50-70 percent of the oxygen we breathe as well as absorbing 25 percent of CO2 produced by human activities and 90 percent of excess heat humans add to the atmosphere, it is safe to say that the ocean has played a considerable role in the vitality of us as a species. With the degradation of coral reefs, which by the way, provide 375 billion a year in economic and ecosystem services, they are now endangered, meaning the 25 percent of fish they offer homes to may be abandoned. According to Spoolman and Miller, everyday items such as sunscreen have “ promoted the growth of a harmful virus within the algae that live in coral reefs” (Miller/Spoolman pg. 234). However, algae, unfortunately, are not the only species on the decline, including the Atlantic bluefin tuna, the green sea turtle, the great hammerhead shark, the whale shark, and much more. However, I have realized a repeated theme is how unsustainable overfishing/ commercial fishing has been on these ecosystems. With fish products serving as the source of protein for about 20 percent of the world population, similarly to agriculture, with demand comes supply but can there ever be too much supply?

Figure 2. Depiction of various methods utilized by fishing companies contributing to overfishing and loss of biodiversity

The degradation of earth’s natural capital has increased with overfishing practices from practices such as seen above with purse-seine fishing, fish farming in cages, and trawler fishing while operating sonar, just to name a few. In addition, governments have been providing subsidies for an estimated total amount of 35 billion dollars per year to help fishers keep business rolling. These subsidies can figuratively almost be seen as a bounty, I believe, harming economic potential as nearly 80 billion dollars is lost per year from too many boats chasing too few fish. However, solutions to these problems can be fixed before too late. It will begin by eliminating or reducing these subsidies, therefore, removing this “bounty” on these innocent creatures minutely removing economic gain from one aspect of our natural world. Setting up regulations for low catches and establishing no-fishing areas would allow for these plundered wetlands to finally be restored before irreversible damage can be committed. Nevertheless, this will be a group effort, although education may not be the answer due to the fact many fishers, for the most part, understand the harm they are committing for reasons they may believe stretch beyond the sustainability of our planet. Nonetheless, if the majority can realize the catastrophic injury being done to our world daily in agricultural and aquatic life, maybe change will be possible.

How would you ultimately convince a commercial fishing crew sailing into other waters to overfish to feed their families? Does this make it morally acceptable since they are doing what they must to help solve another issue they face, hunger? Are they entitled to these waters if their governments have not done enough to support them?

Word count 1088

Works cited

Miller, G. Tyler, and Scott E. Spoolman. Living in the Environment. 20th ed., Cengage Learning, 2021.

Blog 7: Environmental Problems & sustainability solutions

Think of your favorite animal; do you have it? Now imagine in precisely one year, that species will be completely extinct. How does this make you feel? If only there were some way to prevent this. The truth is, according to Dailymotion, the global wildlife population has declined 50% in the last 40 years alone. Suppose that doesn’t sound perturbing; how about by the end of the century, about 20-50% more species are expected to be extinct, according to Living in the Environment by Miller and Spoolman. The truth is humans are not the sole blame for recent catastrophic events that have left vulnerable species completely wiped from the planet; extinctions have transpired long before humans have walked the earth. Nonetheless, human unsustainable activities and lifestyles have exaggerated this natural process tipping the scale of sustainability on our planet. The natural rate of extinction is defined as the background extinction rate, which amounts to approximately one species per every one million species per year, which amounts to roughly ten species per year in a real-world context. However, “habitat loss, degradation, climate change, ocean acidification” ( Spoolman/Miller pg. 176), just to name a few, according to Spoolman and Miller, has accelerated the process. These effects can be rooted in practices such as climate pollution, hunting, fishing, poaching, deforestation, etc. have robbed these species of their fundamental rights as inhabitants on this planet and have pushed them towards eradication. Scientists have actually estimated that the current annual extinction rate is about 1,000 to 10,000 times the natural background rate which could approximate about 10,000 to 100,000 species lost per year ( Spoolman/Miller pg. 176) which feels almost unfeasible to conceptualize.

Figure 1. Depiction of rates at which species has gone extinct in relation to years

Does mass extinction even affect humans directly or indirectly? This issue will affect humans on multiple levels, directly and indirectly. Let me give an instance for both aspects; if a particular plant species can no longer thrive and grow due to a sixth mass extinction or human activities like deforestation and destroying these plants’ habitats. A species we humans consume will then have an affected diet, resulting in a ripple effect harming that species’ diet; no food means no reproduction long-term for that species,ing, resulting in the extinction of that species due to unsuccessfully reproducing under the new environmental conditions. Without this species that we feed on would affect the human diet formulating this chain of events or ripple effects indirectly affecting humans. An example of directly affecting humans includes natural pest control, pollination, and water purification, these biological processes with an emphasis on pollination, which is presently encountering a steep decline concerning every human being on the planet. Nonetheless, despite these grim and intimidating figures, it is not too late to turn things around by identifying the issue at the roots while specifying species that are on the decline or belong/don’t belong in specific environments. We can effectively categorize various species into groups which would be a determination of the specific support specific species require. Species heading towards extinction are defined as endangered species which is a species with “ so few individual survivors that the species could soon become extinct; and on the other hand, there are threatened species that “ has enough remaining individuals to survive in the short term, but because of declining numbers, it is likely to become endangered in the near future” (Spoolman/Miller pg. 178) by effectively grouping these species from past patterns of declining/ extinct species, we may be able to catch these species sooner to provide the necessary aid in which they require. Additionally, invasive species, which are the second-largest cause of extinction with an estimated 162 million dollars in estimated hourly global cost, have caused more harm than good in environments they are introduced. Invasive species are defined as any species introduced to an ecosystem that is non-native to causing harm to native species; with no natural predators, they outcompete native species, therefore, inducing trillions in damages. To prevent the introduction of these species, steps such as “Greatly increasing research to identify the major characteristics of successful invaders, the types of ecosystems that are vulnerable to invaders, and the natural predators, parasites, bacteria, and viruses that could be used to control populations of established invaders.” or even “Educating the public about the effects of releasing exotic plants and pets into the environment near where they live.” ( Spoolman/Miller pg. 187). Similar to many of our environmental issues, education to the public again plays a crucial role in the sustaining of our planet by providing individuals with the knowledge and effects of current actions, which will allow for the understanding of the necessity to take action. Taking a broader step back while analyzing the issue of mass extinction, it is vital to apprehend the home for most of these endangered species and precisely what is to blame. The truth is forests support biodiversity for about ⅔ of terrestrial species, providing the necessary oxygen for inhabitants to breathe, purifying water, and reducing soil erosion, to name a few. However, it is essential to note that despite the crucial role it plays for their inhabitants, forests provide an immense amount of economic services to humans worldwide, with an estimated annual value of about 125 trillion dollars. With the economic value being the universal language of our world, despite these ecosystems’ natural beauty and processes, many would instead focus solely on the gain these habitats provide without fully conceptualizing the fact that these environments nourish life. With deforestation and the abuses of these species’ homes, it questions the morality and ethics behind what gives any species more power over the other to take what does not belong to them. Now, as a student of environmentalism, I can honestly say I am still learning and have ways to go; the current lifestyle of many, including myself, has caused more harm than good to our planet.

Figure 2. Image of Haiti and Dominican Republic Border depicting contrast in forest due to deforestation specifically for economic gain.

Conclusively, with restoration, rehabilitation, replacement, and artificial ecosystems for instance parks are all steps in the right direction for a better tomorrow. By analyzing previous correlations of patterns seen in the past of endangered species, we may be better prepared to root issues of mass extinction by the roots and work towards a sustainable future together.

Will it ethically ever be okay to kill an invasive species despite its innocence? What are some possible various other solutions to deal with invasive species without eliminating them?

Will the issue of deforestation ever be resolved with the high economic value of forest and trees? What are some solutions to help temporarily slow the rate of deforestation?

Word count: 1042

Works cited

Beats, Geo. “Global Wildlife Population Declined by 50% in Last 40 Years - Video Dailymotion.” Dailymotion, Dailymotion, 30 Sept. 2014, https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x26ybub.

Miller, G. Tyler, and Scott E. Spoolman. Living in the Environment. 20th ed., Cengage Learning, 2021.

Resnick, Brian. “The Species the World Lost This Decade.” Vox, Vox, 9 Dec. 2019, https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/12/9/20993619/biodiversity-crisis-extinction.

Blog 6: Population, Consumption, & sustainability There have been approximately 12.8 million deaths worldwide this year, translating into almost two deaths per second. Nonetheless, according to the world population clock, there have been about 32 million births, more than doubling the rate of births this year alone. Deaths worldwide are a sensitive and grim topic. Still, these natural processes are indeed what allows the perpetuation of our planet. Chapter 6 of living in the Environment by Miller and Spoolman discusses the intricate details of this relationship between life and death and the results these imbalances may bring about. According to Spoolman and Miller, “ About 96% of the 91 million new arrivals on the planet in 2018 were added to the world’s less-developed countries” (Miller/Spoolman pg. 110). Graphs illustrate an exponential difference between population growth between developed and developing countries, one which could lead to irreversible detrimental effects on our planet.

Figure 1. World Population from 1950 to 2050 ( data from U.N population division and population reference bureau)

Nonetheless, LDC is not the sole blame for all the issues derived from overpopulation; overconsumption in more developed countries has played a significant factor in the exponential decay of finite resources. Previously in my Environmental studies course, we were given the opportunity to take an ecological footprint quiz which has since made me mindful of how wasteful and efficient I am with the resources around me. In this ecological footprint quiz, I ended with a footprint of about seven planets which is the impact I would have on my environment to sustain my use of natural resources. Overconsumption is an issue with many MDC with our vast access to more resources, which affects various aspects of the planet's cultural carrying capacity. Cultural carrying capacity is the maximum number of people who could live in reasonable freedom and comfort without decreasing the ability of the earth to sustain future generations. When individuals such as myself over consume, we exceed the earth’s capacity to regenerate, taking away resources from individuals who have a right to an equal amount of the said resources. A film called the impossible hamster figuratively emphasizes the effects of overpopulation and overconsumption. The video illustrates the life of a hamster allowed to grow indefinitely without control resulting in the hamster being allowed to consume the entire planet. My takeaways from the video were the grim realities to no limit to growth. We as a species are indeed dependent on our planet and its finite resources, which means we would cease to exist without it. However, this does not mean that we must completely stop utilizing these natural resources because we need them as functioning organisms. Nonetheless, we must find innovative ways to do so, limiting environmental harm. Overpopulation’s negative impacts include reducing biodiversity, Increasing genetic resistance to pests, utilizing natural resources faster than they can be replenished, the over-reliance on polluting, and climate-changing fossil fuels. The solution to these issues, however, is not as simple as many believe, by simply placing birth rate controls to limit the number of births or harshly enforcing no birth practices would instead create a rapid population decline. Rapid population decline could result in issues that can threaten economic growth, more minor entrepreneurship and new business formation, less likelihood for technology development, increased public deficits, and pensions may be cut as retirement ages increase. Miller and Spoolman instead introduce more proactive solutions starting with economic development. By utilizing demographic transition data, studies have shown that as countries become more industrialized and economically developed, their poverty decreases, and the population tends to grow more slowly instead. Next, they suggest family planning programs that would provide educational and clinical services, which would help couples to choose how many children to have and when to have them. Family planning alone, I might add, has reduced infant mortality rates, the number of mothers and fetuses dying during pregnancy, and population growth rates. The final solution they suggest is women's education and empowerment. Giving women power and education over their bodies would allow them the confidence to determine what is best for themselves in most patriarchal societies. The truth is, however, the population is still rising exponentially with no sight of slowing down anytime soon; with rising technology and population has come the rise of urbanization and urban growth. This urban sprawl to urban cities has resulted in adverse effects such as loss of cropland, increased energy use and waste, and increased use and pollution of surface water and groundwater, to name a few. To combat this, however, there are a few smart growth strategies and tools to limit environmental harm while the issue of the human population is resolved. These smart growth tools are a set of policies and tools that will encourage more environmentally sustainable urban development; An example of this would be protection, which would preserve open space and prohibit certain types of development within a particular space.

Figure 2. Image of Central Park, protected space amidst an urban setting.

Although sustainability in urban settings may not directly control and contribute to overpopulation, the facts are that about 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas. Limiting the environmental harm done by these spaces will allow leaders and environmentalists worldwide time without unnecessary pressures to solve the cataclysmic issue of overpopulation and overconsumption.

What do you think must be our primary focus when adjusting to the population explosion and sustaining Earth’s resources?

Word Count: 851

Works Cited

Miller, G. Tyler, and Scott E. Spoolman. Living in the Environment. 20th ed., Cengage Learning, 2021.

Foundation, New Economics. “The Impossible Hamster.” Vimeo, 15 Jan. 2022, https://vimeo.com/8947526.

“World Death Clock.” Medindia, Medindia.net, https://www.medindia.net/patients/calculators/world-death-clock.asp.

“Current World Population.” Worldometer, https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/.

Climate Change Practicum report

The climate impact teams at Fordham University focus on measuring and mapping Fordham’s energy usage and climate impact. With the utilization of existing tools, the climate impact looks to help in strengthening contributions to sustainability. However, with the slow start and covid protocols, we have just been getting our feet wet planning how we will bring sustainability right here to our doorstep.

This year after our environmental studies class met, at 6 pm via zoom to discuss climate change and sustainability here at Fordham. Within this, there were several groups that worked on different ways to bring sustainability to Fordham, these included the social media group, the LC group, the community business group, the composting group, the CSA group, and rams against Aramark. I was more interested in hopefully joining the composting group which deals with bringing composting practices here to Fordham. Composting takes solid waste and essentially decomposes this solid waste into what is known as compost which in turn can be used as fertilizer. Groups came together to create a few end-of-the-semester plans which included: a utensil sail, earth week, and some guest speakers. Nonetheless, the program is beginning to garner a lot of attention which hopefully will result in more students joining to make a change on our campus. Similar to what we have discussed in class, on the individual level, change begins by working locally to promote sustainability. As covid restrictions begin to ease now, I believe we will now be able to come together and make some real changes here in our background.

Environmental Stakeholder

As an environmental stakeholder and citizen, I can confidently say that I understand my environment much better than I did a few months ago. To begin this semester, I needed a lot of work. How much work? Well, my ecological footprint was at a whopping seven planets. I knew I wanted to be better, but I didn’t know where to begin; in addition, I had a hard time conceptualizing a life of sustainability as well as who was even to blame for our issues. My worldview entering the course entailed a more human-centered approach, where I ignorantly placed the utmost importance of our planet on the lives of humans. I believed that the earth was our canvas, and we should do whatever we please with it to ensure a good life. This good life and my fascination with human behavior I’ve explored being a student and taking classes such as philosophy and ethics had drawn my attention away from the various other aspects that make up our environment. I now honestly believe I have an earth-centered worldview where I no longer disregard the different lives and processes that make our world spin. In fact, I believe that the earth is far more important than any single species on this planet; in fact, it is all of us as a collective, similar to a body, that keeps the world going. Our planet does not discriminate from the smallest species to the largest species, our planet does not discriminate, and we should all work together to do the same. In addition, growing up and listening to the news and various speeches, I always assumed big industries were the sole blame for environmental issues. I truthfully had a hard time believing that my individual actions could have any effect on the environment, that individually recycling would have no impact on the environment. I don’t think I could have been more wrong. In fact, that’s precisely where change will start; I’ve realized that even my efforts for a more sustainable life do go a long way, especially for someone who’s lived a pretty much unsustainable way of living. As stewards within this system, CEOs and various other owning entities within this market system are simply doing their jobs. The issue of our environment stretches further than a governing body or the owner of the means of production; it lies within the human behavior of the few. Together we must create a way within this system that only understands growth and capital, to conduct a way of living that is not detrimental to the well-being of our planet, and I believe that I am well equipped to do so.

Word count: 448

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alatar-and-pallando · 3 years

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so many Petfinder/shelter listings are along the lines of “This horrifically malformed dog is 89 years old, in constant pain, will attack any creature larger than a football or smaller than a duck, hates all humans except middle-aged left-handed women named Martha, is terrified of sounds and also the outdoors and also the indoors, and eats only prescription foie gras. He will need an experienced owner. This dog has been waiting for a home for 20 years... won’t you open yours to him? We will reject your adoption application if you can’t give us a reference from your favorite childhood teacher and don’t live on a beautiful 40-acre apple farm in Maine. Adoption fee: $1,000.”

#dogs #petfinder #...at a certain point it becomes both a kindness and a financial practicality #to humanely euthanize a plainly unhappy plainly unadoptable pet #hot take i know #and don't get me started on rescues that maintain such high standards for adopters #that in practice they're just hoarding operations #because no one is good enough #there was one where i used to live whose stance genuinely was #"it is better for this dog to live in an outdoor pen for five years at the shelter #than to adopt it out to a first-time pet owner #i never tried to adopt from em but i spoke to the owners and followed their social media #and also heard the horror stories from people who tried to adopt lol #aaaaanyway #animal welfare #animal rescue

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soulmate-game · 3 years

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New fic *test*

New Bio!dad Bruce story? I’m testing out this first chapter, and if I like where it’s going I might add it to my growing pile of WIPs. If I have inspiration, I might as well use it. Because of life events stressing me the hell out, I’m throwing any writing plans out the window and I’m purely gonna write to destress right now. Whether that means updating THG or not, or continuing Maribat March, we’ll just have to see how this all pans out. Things are subject to day-to-day change.

I got inspiration from this from rereading my day 1 story for Bio!dad Bruce Wayne month from last year. I’m just gonna change a few things.

—*—*—*—*—*

For once, an unfamiliar face attracted the attention of everyone who caught even a glimpse of them. It wasn’t even because of the person themselves at first, but their dress. The skirt like the most fantastical of storybook ball gowns, fluffy layers of satin over a luxurious petticoat, with a stunning pink floral pattern whose busy appearance was tastefully offset by a shorter, sheer layer of leaf green tulle artistically weaved and somehow sculpted over the floral in order to tame it. The effect turned what should be a grandmotherly pattern into something softer, sophisticated and youthful and yet also reminiscent of fairytale princesses. Over top the short layer of green tulle was an even shorter later of white tulle, almost invisible except for the elegant embroidery of crystal-white vines that twined all over it, connecting the green below it to the bottom-most floral pattern and oddly adding a layer of childishness instead of maturity. At the waist of the dress was a dark plum pink satin ribbon, to separate the elaborate ballgown skirt from the bodice. Attached to the simple ribbon was a large brooch of fabric flowers, with a single plastic ladybug in the center.

The bodice of the dress came up into a cheongsam neckline, but was sleeveless. It was a simple design, of half green and half dark pink, with a white border separating the two. The white border had expertly done embroideries in a soft silver thread that would only be visible close up, the images the thread made being that of fairies and ladybugs dancing around one another.

It was, all in all, a stunning display that made the small eurasian woman wearing them look like absolute royalty. Perhaps a long lost fairy princess. Her black-blue hair was even done up in elaborate looping braids and a braided bun, with silver and green pins that further completed the regal ensemble. And yes, while the expertly done dress was what initially captivated her current audience, it was not what kept them from leaving her alone. That was all her personality, bubbly and bright as her blinding smile. It was a sunny disposition that very few people present had any exposure to at all, and it drew them like a sunflower to the daylight. They could not help but flock closer, or even just stand back and keep themselves turned to her presence. Already she had been at the gala for two hours, but there was no issue. She just kept proving her generosity, admitting she had donated both a dress and a suit of her own making to the charity auction that would begin soon, one of the main attractions of the gala. She skillfully charmed the more snooty of the attendants, and artfully twisted her words so that they felt compelled to donate more money that they truly had no use for. Later, they would remember their donation and wonder what compelled it, but come up with no satisfying answer.

And yet she was entirely unaware of her more silent audience, who stood back and observed. Truth be told, every one of them was glad to not be the center of that attention for a change, to have room to breathe for so long at an event where usually that commodity was so scarce that it demanded a fierce competition for. Compared to her garden of color, they were all shadows in shades of blacks and blues and whites, with a touch of red here and there that was entirely too thematic for their home city. The one who sported a royal blue suit tilted his head at the scene they were all calmly witnessing, his bright azure eyes glittering.

“She’s like magic,” he mused, clearly enchanted despite having not said a single word to the woman. “Perfect socialite. She’s kind, generous, she made that dress and the ones she donated to the auction herself so she’s obviously got an intimidating amount of skill for her age. She even tricks those old fuddy-duddies into spending money. It’s like a dream come true!”

“I don't trust it,” the one to his right said, a man just a few inches shorter in a classic black suit with a red dress shirt underneath. He absently swept his bangs away from his face as he narrowed his eyes at the woman. “It seems too perfect. She doesn’t have any identifiable character flaw, except maybe being a little clumsy and too energetic. She does babble a little… but nothing that actually suggests any depth besides her just being— good. That’s impossible, and I don’t trust it.”

“Tt. I agree with Drake for once. She seems entirely too comfortable with this setting, despite her blushes and rambles,” the one who spoke this like was taller, clearly a teen in the middle of his growth spurt. He, too, wore a plain black suit but his had subtle charcoal embroidery and he wore an emerald-green dress shirt under it that made his matching eyes gleam dangerously. “It seems almost playacted. Expertly so, but nonetheless not entirely genuine.”

“Wow, not many pick up on that. I’m gonna give your observations a solid eight out of ten. They’re all perfectly sound, but not quite complete,” a new voice made all of the silent group stiffen— somehow they had been snuck up on. The newcomer smirked at them as if having fully expected their reaction but still being pleased at being able to evoke it. This was yet another stunner; far too much color in her outfit to be a Gotham native, and far too much skill in the construction for it to signify anything less than extreme influence. She had bright golden-blond hair that was coiled into a low bun, with her bangs artfully curled and arranged to display her crystal blue eyes.

In contrast to the garden-themed dress of the Eurasian woman who had garnered their attention at first, this newcomer was wearing a pantsuit. It was all in a dark honey-gold, in a stiff fabric with construction that made it lay entirely in perfect, straight lines and hug her form in the right places. Black embroidery decorated the long, flared sleeves and pant legs and dripped around the square neckline like a faux necklace. A cape made out of the same material as the rest of the pantsuit was draped on one shoulder. It started out as the same honey-gold color, but it became a gradient as it faded to a solid black at the ends. Gold thread embroidery decorated the solid black bottom of the cape in delicate, deceptively simplistic swirls. The top half of the pantsuit was clearly inspired by military garb, simultaneously rigidly constructed yet fitted, with circular onyx buttons going down the center of the chest and a thick metal belt, all in swirling silver and black, sat perfectly clasped around her waist. It was far more solid-colored and simplistic compared to the fairytale dress in the center, but no less show stopping and luxurious. It simply showcased an entirely different attitude, almost as if the two women could never get along if their personalities matched their outfits.

“And who are you?” The man who had been the center of the group of shadow-like adults spoke up, back straightening to milk every speck of his generous six-feet-and-three-inches of height. This was none other than Bruce Wayne, the host of this annual charity gala. And normally, his current stance would either intimidate or utterly charm whoever it was directed at— but not this pantsuit-clad blond warrior. Her smirk merely widened, and her blue eyes took on a slight shade of teal as if trying to mimic the dangerous ocean depths.

“I am Chloe Bourgeois, the daughter of Andre Bourgeois, the mayor of Paris, and Audrey Bourgeois, the Style Queen. It’s nice to meet you again, Monsieur Wayne,” she introduced herself imperiously. “I also happen to be the best friend of the girl you were just staring at.”

Bruce nodded, but had trouble reconciling this clear powerhouse of a woman with the bratty and entitled preteen he had met years ago, at the last gala she had attended with her mother. “Of course, I didn’t recognize you at first Chloe. You’ve grown a lot since the last Gala I saw you at.”

Chloe wrinkled her nose, clearly not appreciating the reminder. “I was a bitch,” she admitted easily, seemingly not at all bothered by the confession. It caused not only Bruce but also the oldest three of his sons, who had all also met her in the past, to blink in silent shock. “Things have changed. Paris is apparently the perfect chaotic environment right now to promote emotional growth and smack spoiled kids over the head with reality,” she shrugged. Part of the reason her and her whole class had even been able to come to the Gala in the first place was the fact that Bruce wanted to offer the most attacked group of Parisians a respite and some support from their crazy lives. The fact that even Gotham seemed sane in comparison to Paris was a bit of a hard hit for both involved parties, but in the end everyone understood that “more sane” didn’t always equate with “less dangerous.” Considering all that, Chloe had no reason to sugarcoat the situation in her home city. “But it wasn’t easy at all, and Marinette was largely responsible for my improvement too.”

“Marinette?” The heathen who somehow got away with attending a gala in a black leather jacket over a dress shirt and suit pants asked, raising a brow. Chloe nodded.

“The girl you were just goggling at. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the class president and resident workaholic. Does she ever sleep? Nobody knows,” Chloe shrugged.

The blue-suited man, Dick Grayson, shot a suspicious glance at Tim, who was standing to his right, as if he was worried his brother had made a female clone of himself just so he could continue to work hard and never rest. Tim ignored him and sipped from the thermos of coffee he had somehow snuck in.

Bruce cleared his throat to bring the focus back onto himself, and shot his most charming smile at Chloe. “They would have known who she was, if they had read the brief information I gave them about your class. But they never do listen to me,” he complained with good humor. “But back to the original topic, Miss Bourgeois, do you care to correct us on how our observations are lacking?”

Chloe laughed easily, smiling and nodding to indicate Marinette, still stuck in a circle of socialites and not seeming the least bit worn out.

“Of course. First; She is not completely acting. She really is like magic sometimes— disgustingly kind, generous, far too willing to help just about anyone for just about any reason. She’s one of the best people I’ve ever met, as much as it pains me to admit it. But she is exaggerating her personality a bit and hiding the parts she doesn’t want anyone to see, so there is a little acting involved. Just not as much as you seem to think,” Chloe then waved her arm in a flourish as if she were presenting Marinette to them. “In short; behold Mari Dupain-Cheng, the ridiculously likeable, disgustingly cute, extremely philanthropic mask that she shows everyone at public events like this. You don’t see any of the insomnia, or the anxiety, or the self doubt. Just the parts she wants you to see, accompanied with a smile to blind you to everything else,” her all-too-deep blue eyes settled back on Bruce then, a knowing glint shining in them. “Don’t you think that’s ridiculously similar to Brucie Wayne for you, Monsieur? Utterly, ridiculously, similar?”

Bruce grit his teeth. He hadn’t expected anyone else to know about his exceptionally well hidden secret, not even his kids had caught on or found his buried evidence yet. Yet his heiress comes up, nearly flaunting her knowledge in his face with all too many unspoken questions and criticisms.

And her cryptic words had succeeded in making all of his kids look at him with extreme suspicion. Shit.

“What are you saying, Miss Bourgeois?” he cautiously prodded. She hummed noncommittally before dropping the bomb all too casually;

“I’m saying I’ve seen her adoption papers, and you won’t be able to run from her for long Monsieur Wayne. As soon as she gets an opening, she’s going to pounce,” Chloe’s eyes glittered dangerously again. “And nowadays, Marinette doesn’t ever let people escape her. Your problem with adoption has created a rather unique problem, you know. You’re at fault for a large majority of her self confidence issues, and I want you to know that I am not going to forget or forgive that anytime soon.”

“Bruce,” Jason’s voice was dark and threatening. “What is she talking about?”

“Something we don’t want getting in the tabloids,” Yet another new voice popped up, allowing Chloe to smugly sink back into the background.

Somewhere during their discussion, Marinette had ambushed them.

“Chloe and I are very good at locating all the reporters in a room and distracting them, but we’re not infallible and this event has far too much coverage,” Her smile reeked confidence and charm, but this close all the Waynes could see the doubt hiding in her bluebell eyes. “Since I’m about to turn eighteen, I figured this would be as good a time as any to finally confront you. I want to make it clear that I seek nothing from you, except the occasional contact. I would like to keep in touch, if nothing else. But if you are adverse to that… then at least answer my questions after the gala,” her eyes developed a hint of carefully controlled desperation. “Please.”

Bruce met her eyes evenly, trying to read her. But she was difficult, simultaneously too many emotions to sort through in her demeanor and much too little. After an extremely tense moment of silence, his voice came out barely above a whisper:

“You do not want anybody to know?”

And hell, if she didn’t recognize the hidden vulnerability in his voice as the very same she heard in her own far too often. In a much tamer version of her own rambling, he went on:

“I can keep it silent if that is what you want. But I want you to know that I will not be adverse to you admitting it anywhere. I don’t expect you to change your name, but I would not be ashamed of the truth getting out. I am not ashamed of it, of you.”

Marinette’s smile grew a little watery. She had to clear her throat to keep herself from tearing up. “Maybe eventually, but not yet. I… I want to stay a little more anonymous for now. It’s one thing to be a well known designer with good connections. It’s an entirely different thing to be…”

“A Wayne?” Bruce finished, ignoring the daggers that were being stared into his back. “I understand completely.

“Father,” Damian’s voice was all sharp edges and rapidly suppressed panic. “What. Is going. On?”

Marinette shot him an apologetic smile. “Apparently, eighteen years ago, his prerogative was to put the child he actually knew about up for adoption when the mother died in childbirth,” her voice was once again only barely loud enough for them to hear, since she didn’t want any eavesdroppers. “Imagine my surprise when I find out he completely flipped sides only months later.”

--*--*--*--*--*

Hey, so please share your feedback on this. This is just to test out a possible new bio dad, multichapter fic and this is the opening scene I'm trying out. If you like it, please tell me what you like about it and please suggest titles for the story! I love you guys' feedback so much!

#maribat #bio!dad au #bio!dad bruce wayne #platonic daminette #platonic jasonette #platonic dickinette #platonic timinette #platonic timari #mlb x dc #ml x dc #maribat fic #platonic brucinette #older sister Marinette

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winchesterxxi · 3 years

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A Human Wiretap (Poe Dameron x Reader)

GIF BY @captain-flint

Rating: G (General Audience)

Type: Fluff

Summary: While in Kijimi, Reader is shocked by the revelation of Poe having been a spice runner before becoming a Resistance pilot, unaware that he knows about her own secret

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: None

A/N: let the stream of Poe content commence

MASTERPOST | REQUEST HERE | KO-FI

✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸

Kijimi was the last place you wanted to be right now. You had always known of this place to be infested with pirates and all the lawless beings of the galaxy, the country being practically a crime heaven.

The destination had been appointed as The Thieves' Quarter, the place you were told you could find Babu Frik, and to your unrest, your husband seemed to be able to navigate the streets of the foreign planet pretty well, occasionally stopping against a wall at any given corner, looking around for any threats.

“Are you sure you never came here?” you ask one time while leaning against his side on a cold brick wall, waiting for the safe sign.

“Not really.” He says looking over at the snowy empty street, before turning his head back at you for a split second “Coast’s clear, let’s go”

And just as he took the first step to round the corner, an armoured woman came into view pointing a blaster at Poe’s face.

Not even allowing a second to process another thought, you reach for your own blaster, pulling it from its holster and aiming it perfectly so that it was secured in the direction of the person’s head on both of your steady hands.

“Heard you were spotted at Monk’s Gate. Thought He’s not stupid enough to come back here.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised.” Poe mumbles from his stance.

“Blaster off him. Now.” You warn from your spot, a scowl upon your face, ready to shoot, in case she dared to make another move.

“Zorii!” Poe exclaims in fake enthusiasm, before snapping his head quickly between the two of you. “She won’t ask twice, I would listen to her”

“You pull that trigger, you’re next, honey.” You assure her, readjusting your fingers as to place a stronger grip around the camera.

“She used a pet name, she’s serious.” Poe nods and nervously warns the woman whose weapon was now closer to his forehead, almost pressed against it.

“We’re only here to find Babu Frik, we don’t want no trouble.” You tell her cordially, expecting to explain your presence in the clearly unwelcoming planet and maybe have her help you. You eye the woman up and down, eyes scanning the shining golden armour, before settling on the deep black visor.

“Who are you?”

“Honey,” Poe speaks, being careful not to make any sudden moves that could make the woman pull the trigger “this is Zoriii. Zoriii, this Y/N, my wife.”

You are a little taken aback by the fact that they seem to know each other fairly well, given the assurance that Poe had just given you moments ago, that he’d never step foot on Kijimi.

Her helmet turns to you “Wife?” she scoffs “I guess there really is someone for everyone.”

“You have no idea.” he smirks, a momentary lapse, and you snap a look at him.

“I could pull this trigger right now.” She says, pushing the blaster harder against Poe’s head, and you take a step forward.

“You do that, my blaster is the last thing you’ll see in this life.” Sharp words leave your mouth, both you and Poe knowing damn well that you were badass enough to keep the promise.

“Babu only works with the crew. That’s not you anymore.” Zorii says, still talking to Poe, as if your presence and the one of your weapon aimed at her is non-existent.

“What do you mean crew?” you ask her, and for a moment, her attention is directed to you, before slowly tilting once again in your husband’s direction, whose hands were still up in the air in a surrendering feat.

“Oh your wife doesn’t know?” her voice, goes up an octave, clearly amused by whatever is about to unfold. Your eyes scan between the two of them waiting for some kind of explanation of whatever secret conversation was going on in front of you. “Funny he never mentioned it…”

“What is she talking about?” you question Poe but he gives himself no time to utter a word at you, just quickly waving his hand and facing Zorii.

“Zorii, married people are still allowed secrets- “ he tries but she is too quick to reveal the information you were dying to be delivered.

“Your husband was part of the Spice Runner Gang.”

You can’t stop your jaw from going slack at the revelation, not being able to form any coherent words and instead just moving your mouth like a fish out of water, dwelling on whether you felt hurt, angry or any other emotion of the rush that caught you in that moment.

Poe’s shoulders slump slightly and he bites his bottom lip, eyes closed in frustration. He then turns at you, hands still up, as you were still gripping the blaster, which was now pointed at him as he was walking towards you, cautious steps, one at a time.

“I can explain.”

“You were a smuggler? AND A SPICE RUNNER AT THAT?” You drop your blaster to your side, stepping towards him, your brain having decided on anger as the momentary emotion.

“Y/N-“

“In 2 years of marriage NOT ONCE did it occur to you to mention that!?” you yell the two middle words, incredulous at your husband’s secret, having spent your whole relationship that he had always been a resistance pilot, just like he had assured you.

“Oh, don’t act like I’m the only one with a secret here!” his hands drop to his side, and he is no longer trailing in front of you like a lost puppy looking for forgiveness but instead returns to his conflictual side, a defence mechanism, you’ve come to learn.

“What is that supposed to mean?” you scoff, genuinely clueless as to what he could be referring to. And definitely not expecting him to voice the secret you fought years to keep.

“I know you’re a Sywalker!” he says loudly, and its as if your spirit has left your body, the blood draining from your face, and for a moment you forget that breathing is a necessary bodily function.

“H… How do you…”

“The week before we got married I-…” he takes a deep breathe in, running a hand through his wild curls, now dusted with white snow. “I heard you and Leia.”

Poe was making his way to the X-Wing hangar when he stumbled across an ajar door from where he spotted your figure passing across it and disappearing multiple times.

It wasn’t until he stepped closer and leaned against the wall, that he got the full picture.

You were pacing back and forth in an empty resting room of The Radus, pattering your boots across the white floor as Leia sat by the window, looking at you in this impossible frenzy, fingers pressed against your mouth while the other hand rested on your hip.

Your motion comes to a halt in front of her, turning on your toes to face her.

“Should I tell him?”

“I think you should do what you think to be the right thing.” Leia answers her, reaching forward to grab your nervous hands in hers.

“We’re getting married next week, but I don’t think telling him would be any good…”

That’s when Poe’s heart sank to the bottom of his chest, tightening at the implication of your wedding and a number of awful possibilities running across his mind as to what you could be hiding from him.

“He’ll think…I don’t even know. I’ve spent more than half of my life hiding this and if he finds out… What if he thinks I’m a freak? And…And just leave me?”

Poe, from across the door, inches closer, curiosity getting the best of him and brows furrowing.

“Y/N, honey, Poe has been around plenty of force-sensitive people. I can assure you that my niece being one won’t scare him away.” Leia assures you while giving your hands a firm squeeze, and you let your head fall back, closing your eyes.

Wait, what? Poe was really trying to connect the dots at the amount of information that he had been bombed within this short amount of time.

“Not the daughter of Luke Skywalker.” You sigh.

“You knew?... All this time…” your eyes brim with tears.

Poe turns to Zorii who still stood behind him, the blaster having been lowered.

“Can you…give us a moment?”

“Who the hell do you think you are to be asking favours right now?” she snaps but Poe’s eyes plead at her for a single ounce of sympathy. “I’m staying right here.”

Poe turn around to face you, still very aware of the blaster pointed at the back of his head and he lowers his voice so that only the two of you can share the conversation.

“Honey…”

“You still married me?” you are looking down until you speak, watery and red eyes finding those of Poe who’s demeanour completely changes upon your question. He rushes to your front, gloved hands finding your upper arms, giving them a reassuring squeeze. “You knew I was lying to you and you still… you still…”

“Honey,” his hands slide up from your arms to your cheeks “Look at me. I love you. I know why you did it. I probably would’ve done the same. I’m not mad, never have been, never will be.”

You were fighting the urge to ramble on, but upon looking into your husband’s sincere eyes, you relaxed your whole body and he takes that as a cue to pull you in for a hug. With your face flush against his chest, you mumble an apology, fists tightening around the fabric of his cloak.

“I’m sorry… for snapping at you earlier. It was very hypocritical of me.”

Poe smiles against your forehead, before placing a tender kiss against its warm flesh.

“It’s okay, honey, I swear. At least…at least I think I owe you an explanation.” Poe takes a deep breath in “I… When I was a teen, still living on Yavin 4,… their ship crashed near my hometown and I just… I needed out of there, I wanted to be reckless. So I joined them.”

You pull your head away from his chest, craning it upwards.

“Zorri’s mom was… she was the leader of the Spice Runners and she had this plan of inviting other crime lords here to form alliances, but she really was just planning on killing them. Zorii offered to fight against her with me and take control of the Spice Runners but I was done. Honestly, I wanted a better life.”

“And you got it. Congratulations.” Zorii’s voice makes the two of you snap back at her, Poe’s hand rushing down to your side, grabbing your hand and stepping slightly in front of you. “You know, I’m still digging out of the hole you put me in when you left to join the Resistance.”

Her helmet then turns in your direction and you have no time to manoeuvre the blaster back to pointing at her, afraid that she’d shoot.

“You. You’ll do.” She says referring to you “A Skywalker. A bounty for her might just cover us.” She says and you frown at the word us until you find your peripheral vision starting to get dotted on the sides by equally armoured soldiers who you assumed to be Spice Runners.

“Djak’kankah” she commands.

“Don’t djak’kankah” Poe pleads, knowing the meaning of the word.

Just then, when you perceive that the smugglers are running in on you, you quickly snap up your blaster and take them all one by one with perfect aim, sliding your leg under Zorii’s feet and akeing her fall to the cold ground right in front of you, both of you pointing your blasters at each other.

“We could really use your help. Please.” You huff, trying to calm your beating heart from the adrenaline of the previous moment.

“Not that you care…But I think you’re okay.” She breathes through the helmet.

“I care.” You let a sly smile tint your lips, sliding your blaster back into its holster and offering the woman who just seconds ago was dead set on killing you your hand.

When she is hoisted back to her feet, she walks ahead of the both of you signalling for her to be followed but as she is about to pass Poe she throws him a few words.

“She’s a keeper.”

“Don’t I know that.” He smirks, turning back to see you walking to catch up to him. Before you can say anything, his gloved hand is already pressed against your cheek as he brings his lips down to crash against yours.

“I love you.”

“I love you.” You whisper against his lips “But I still need to-“

“You can tell me all about it tonight. While laying in bed. No rush.” He smiles assuringly at you and you swear if you didn’t have a mission at hands you would melt into his embrace for as long as the galaxy aloud you to.

“Let’s find that droidsmith.” You smile at him, before placing one quick kiss against his jaw and walking towards Zorii, leaving the former Spice Runner, current lovestruck Resistance Pilot, completely enamoured and stunned behind you.

✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸

TAGLISTS

PERMANENT TAGLIST

@blondekel77 @pedrobreakmyback

POE DAMERON TAGLIST

@niall2017

#A Human Wiretap #Poe dameron #poe dameron x reader #poe dameron fluff #star wars #return of the jedi #oscar isaac x reader

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a-dragons-journal · 3 years

Note

Hi! I was scrolling through the otherkin tag (as one does) and saw on an ask you answered that you hated DNIs and didn’t want to go into it on that ask. So I’m curious now- why do you hate DNIs? I don’t have a DNI, and I’m not out to try and change your mind. I’ve just never seen anyone say outright that they didn’t like DNIs, so I’d really like to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

I ended up indeed going into it later, because people kept sending in asks about it, so this tag exists now, but in summary:

- I don't necessarily hate the existence of DNIs, because they can be a useful tool in certain circumstances, but I hate that they're starting to become an expectation/requirement and that it's now considered "creepy/suspicious" in a growing number of communities to not have one. It should not be an obligation to basically list your political stances, discourse opinions, and triggers - you know, things you can be attacked for/people can use to hurt you - in any circumstance, least of all on the Internet where anyone can see it.

- For that matter, putting a list of things that can hurt you in public where anyone can see it and know exactly how to target you if they want to hurt/harass you is a bad idea, whether it's a social requirement or not. Full stop. Unless you are in a relatively small group where you know the intentions of the people there (and often not even then!), it is not a good idea to tell people how to effectively hurt you on the Internet.

- I hate it when people put "[x bigoted group] DNI" at the bottom of actual discussion-type content posts (as opposed to, like, aesthetics and stuff), such as people putting "TERFs DNI" at the bottom of posts about feminism, because a) if you're worried about your post appealing to that group, maybe you should reexamine your post's content, b) I've seen firsthand more than once that those groups, TERFs especially, will purposely put "[x] DNI" at the bottom of their crypto-rhetoric posts in order to turn people's critical thinking skills off and make them more likely to accept the crypto rhetoric (foot-in-the-door tactic), and c) even if it's not intentionally malicious like the last point, it still makes it so the OP's post is suddenly immune to criticism, because "hey this comes off a little transphobic" can be met with "how dare you call me a transphobe?? I said 'TERFs DNI' right there!!1!", which, again, has to do with the whole "turning people's critical thinking skills off" problem.

- On a similar note, I hate this recent trend toward performative activism and "racists/transphobes/homophobes/etc. DNI!1!" feels like another permutation of that; I don’t like people demanding/expecting me to announce all my political opinions right out the gate. It should be my decision whether or not I want to share sensitive information about myself (and if you’re scoffing at the idea of a political opinion being “sensitive information” - if it can get you, again, harassed and attacked by a complete stranger, it’s sensitive information).

- People seem to forget that people can, will, and do lie on their DNIs and bios. Predators will lie about being "under 18” in order to make minors they’re interacting with feel safe and let their guard down. TERFs will lie about “transphobes DNI!” to ensure their crypto rhetoric spreads and gets a foot in the door of trans-supporting people’s thought processes. All “it’s to let the people affected by [bigotry] know I’m safe,” which is something I hear sometimes, really means is that the bigot in question only has to put up a DNI to make the people they’re planning to target lower their guard. There is nothing guaranteeing that someone actually believes what their DNI implies they believe. It’s an illusion of safety that just doesn’t - and, really, can’t - exist on the internet, by the internet’s nature. And people thinking they’re safer than they really are is what gets people hurt because they stopped being careful. I’m not saying people need to (or should) live in fear, but relying on DNIs is not a sustainable solution, imho.

- I hate people using DNIs/BYFs as an alternative to blocklists because it often becomes essentially them forcing other people to curate their internet experience for them, and then getting mad (or hurt) when that doesn't work out for reasons that should be obvious. Especially when you take it to the extreme of trying to regulate anyone who reblogs your posts, which I have seen sometimes - you can't seriously expect people to check the OP of every single person whose post they reblog to make sure they agree with your opinions on fandom discourse; that's untenable and it can only lead to people getting hurt. You are the only person who is - and the only person who can be - responsible for your internet experience. Curate your own space.

- as a minor point, "standard DNI criteria" is becoming a popular phrase and it's frankly a useless phrase because there's no such thing. Beyond "racists/homophobes/transphobes" there's literally no telling what a given person includes in what's "standard" - pro- or anti-ship? SFW agereg/petreg blogs? DDLG? Steven Universe fans? inclusionists or exclusionists? There is no "standard." (But then, I feel like how common that phrase is becoming says something about exactly how performative and empty the trend of DNIs is as a whole at this point in time.)

- also as a minor point, I am frankly just not a fan of how often DNIs put things like "Steven Universe fan" and "neonazi" right next to each other like they're the same level of bad. I recognize consciously that this is not the intention, but it sure does come off that way sometimes. It reminds me a bit too much of those callout posts that have six pages about the person's bad opinions on anime or whatever and only then go "oh yeah and also they sexually abused, threatened, and sent their friends to harass a minor and we have screenshot evidence of all of that. anyway here's three more pages about why their art is bad because they drew a 16-year-old in a crop top one time".

And, let me be very clear here: I do not hate people who have DNIs, nor do I want to act like they're never useful. They are, sometimes! But I do feel they're being misused and they're starting to become an expectation and that's a huge problem, for the same reason that people trying to force everyone to put their age/basic personal information in their bios is a problem - it's a safety concern. I am honestly convinced that at this point, in most circumstances, DNIs are doing more harm than good.

If you want to use a DNI, that's up to you, and it's not like I'm gonna harass people about it ('s why I started that "dni critical" tag, so people could who don't want to read this stuff could avoid it) - but I want people to at least understand the risks they're taking depending on how they go about it. If it's useful to you, then good, I'm genuinely glad! It just concerns me how it's being treated by the larger Internet right now.

(And, of course, that's all just my personal subjective opinion - take what you like, leave what you don't. You're more than welcome to disagree with me; this is not a make-or-break argument for me, just one I have strong feelings about xD)

#dni critical #rani talks #asked and answered #dragons-singing-softly #that was probably more of a soapbox than you bargained for sorry fbdklgjsf #do not @ me about my fandom examples i just grabbed random controversial ones off the top of my head #if that's what you prioritize out of this whole post you have entirely missed the point

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flutter-hot-butter · 3 years

Text

Fire meets Water

Portgas D. Ace X Reader

Warning! Smut under the cut~

"What do you mean you won't let a woman fight on your crew?!" You stare in disbelief at the bare chested pirate captain. The second division leader of Whitebeards following was towering a little above you, but looked at you straight nonetheless, grinning apologetically. "No can do lass. The old man doesn't allow woman figters on his deck and I live by his example. I made an exception for my old crew, but I'll have to turn you down..." You bald your fists. "Yeah sure, turn down my offer right after I helped saving your mates, ship and hide from that Sea King." You point at the boat just off the coast of the remote island you crashed on after the recent battle. "Real fair of you!" "Now now, don't get all pouty, princess. Sure, you've shown some admirable strength, but fighting a creature whose brain is as dense as the sea it resides in is something else than just randomly joining one of the elite crews of the sea. Still... If you insist..." Ace shifts, taking a battle stance. "I suppose I could arrange something, if you can beat me, that is." You smile, dropping your bag. "Bring it on!"

Ace coughs. The steam is still thick in the air as you kneel down beside him, barely capable of containing your excitement. He was on the ground, which means you've won against the Fire Fist Ace! You reach out a hand. "Let me help you." Ace scowls at you. "You could have told me you had a Mizu Mizu (read: water water) fruit." You retract your hand. "And reveal my tactics? Seems unwise." "Yeah sure you can keep it from an enemy. But a friend? Your possible crewmates? We're elemental opposities. You could've seriously hurt me if I didn't react in time." Ace gets up and sighs. "You're welcome to be a part of the crew, but you've got a long way to go to earn some trust." And with that, Ace and the other members of the division head for the ship.

You stare at the black water, your head and arms resting on the railing of the ship. Today had been a disaster. Sure you managed to get on Ace's crew, but you somehow still felt humiliated. You sniff as the merry sounds of your newfound crewmates drift off to the stars from the other side of the deck. You don't feel particulary cheery. You're lost in thought about how you can make it up to your captain, when his voice startles you from behind. "You look cold." You snap your head to the left, where Ace took a seat on the railing without you noticing. He nods towards your arms, which indeed have chilly goosebumps. "Oh sorry, I didn't-" "No need to apologize for being cold," Ace laughs. You feel silly. "I am sorry though. For what happened this afternoon, captain." Ace waves his hand through the air. "Bygones be bygones. You've learned and you're a part of the Whitebeard pirates now. Besides, I might have been a bit sultry too. You're pretty strong, for a girl," Ace jokes. You both laugh. You're about to say something in retortion, when a gust of wind blows by, making you shiver. Ace slides from the railing and wraps his arms around you. you're surprised by his action, but then realise how warm he is for someone who walks around with a bare upper body at this time of night. "You're... Warm..." You whisper "Yeah... A side-effect from the Devil Fruit..." Ace mumbles. He then buries his face in your hair. "Hmmm, you smell good..." You chuckle. "I doubt it will last out here on the sea." "Then I'll be sure to treasure this moment." You stand there in his embrace for a while, a little flustered, when Ace starts talking again. "Let's make tonight even more memorable..." He removes his arms around you and grabs your hands. You gaze into his eyes. The harsh, combative look of that afternoon had gone. Like a blazing fire turning into a kindling flame, Ace now looks at you with a soft smile, his eyes twinkling in the light of the moon. He tugs you towards the doors and pulls you inside. After a bit of a walk through the wooden hallway, he pulls you through another set of doors. You enter a room which you recognize as a captain's cabin. What was he planning? Before you could ask any questions, however, Ace had shut the door, and cloased all space between the two of you. You feel his chapped lips move against yours as he kisses you passionately. You place your hands against his muscular chest in a weak attempt to push him away. He puts his hands on your hips. You can't help it. The intense battle this afternoon, that moment you shared on the deck... He had been pulling you in completely all day, and you were genuinely starting to fall for the rather handsome, black haired captain. Your captain. With a jolt, you jump back. You can see Ace furrowing his brows in the dim light of the cabin. "Didn't like it?" "N-No.. It's just that... Well... You're the captain, and..." Ace sniggers. "There's no law on Whitebeard's crew preventing us from doing this. But if you really don't want to... You know where the door is," Ace says, while putting his signature hat on the coat rack next to the door and removing his shoes, not breaking eye contact. You don't move a muscle. Your mind is still racing in all directions, but it seems your body has already made a choice. Carefully regarding your actions, Ace makes his way over to you. Slowly, he leans in. Detecting that you're not going to retract, he carefully closes the gap between you again. As his nose softly brushes against yours, all thoughts in your head go silent, and you lean in as well. You slide your hands over his shoulders, resting them at the back of his neck. He wraps his arms around you. As the kiss becomes rougher, Ace urges you to slowly walk backwards, until you're up against the wall. he pins your arms to the side and breaks loose. You look at him. His gaze has changed once again. From combatant to soft, and now to an expression laced with lust. He strats trailing kisses down your cheek towards your neck. You softly moan as he sucks down on a delicate spot. He quickly releases

a hand to put a finger over your lips. "Now now, don't alert the rest of the crew, or our fun will be over," he grins, a playful glimmer in his eyes. He kisses you again, sliding his tongue across asking for entrance. You grant him. Meanwhile, his hands trail to your legs. Without any effort, he hoists them around his middle. You hastily grab on to his upper body for balance. Ace starts to grind against you. you can feel his member being rock hard already through his trousers. You let out a muffled moan. Ace grunts in agreement. You wrap your legs around his waist. His hands trail upwards again, towards your breasts. He squeezes them softly, making you break away for air. You bite your lip as he starts to toy around witht hem through the fabric of your shirt. He then tugs on your shirt and murmurs. "These clothes are getting in the way..." He taps your upper legs, signalling you to let go. Once you're firmly back on the ground again, Ace wastes no time pulling your shirt over your head. Your bra befalls the same fate. You are now both bare chested. Ace takes in the view and whistles. "Wow," he breathes. You have to surpress a giggle. Ace pulls you along to the bed, and gestures you to lay down. You quickly remove your sandals. Ace places himself on top of you, at level with your boobs, and takes a hold of both of them again. He rolls your erect nipples around in his fingers. You grab the sheets. Ace then takes a nipple in his mouth, carefully sucking. You can barely hold in a whimper. After a while, Ace relases your boobs ans reaches for your mouth again. During the kiss, he starts removing your skirt and underpants. his own garments accompany yours on the wooden floor. You pop yourself up a bit to take a look at his erect member. "You like what you see?" He grins, as he inches a bit closer. You smile, and open your mouth. Ace thrusts his hips forward, placing his tip on your tongue. You start sucking. Ace places a hand behind your head to hold you up right, and tangles his fingers into your hair. "Oh, that feels good..." He whispers. You slowly start bobbing your head. Ace goes along with your movement. You increase the tempo. You can hear his breath become irregular. Suddenly, he pulls away. You look at him in confusion, but he winks. "Not yet." He repositions himself to sit in between your legs, placed perfectly in front of your entrance. He traces one finger down over the length of your labia. You lean in to his touch. You can see him smile at your natural response. He strokes again, pressing a little harder this time. He then repeats the motion once more, also stroking upward. He stops at your clitoris, and makes a repetitive motion against the spot. Your nails dig into the bed as Ace replaces his finger with his tip, sliding up and down your vulva. You can feel yourself getting wetter. Ace continues until you've become slippery, at which point he places his penis against your opening. "Brace yourself." He pushes himself in. You put a hand over your mouth as he slowly submerges himself fully. Once he is all the way in, he leans over to you, prying your hand away and replacing it with his lips, to distract you. It doesn't take you too long to adjust, and soon you can feel his shaft throb. Ace starts his movement. First slow, but gradually picking up speed. He sits up right again and grabs your breasts, kneading them as he moves in and ou of you. You can feel your body growing more tense as the pleasure increases. As the speed rises to a certain point, Ace lays down and holds on to your shoulders for balance, pressuring them to augment his thrusts. You try not to scream as you feel his member pulsate. "Please Ace..." You moan softly. You want to release so badly. "Almost..." He groans. His breath has become ragged. With one last great impact, you can feel him spill inside you. It pushes you over the edge as well, and your can feel your body relax under the pleasure. Ace collapses on top of you, and you both breathe heavy. When Ace manages to recollect himself, he pulls out, and lays down beside you. You

turn on your side towards him. You can see that he's satisfied with his job. As your sexual high wears off, your chills return. You shift closer to Ace, cuddling up to him. Even now, his body is warm. He skillfully pulls the covers from under your bodies and pulls them over yourselves. He brushes a strand of your hair aside, and pulls up your chin to make you look at him. "You're an amazing girl, depsite the whole no women fighters law, don't you ever forget that. I never knew I'd fall for you so hard." He puts his arms around you. You smile and shrug. "What can I say? Opposites attract." You both laugh exhausted. As you drift off to sleep, Ace has one last thing to say to you. "Oh and (Y/N), now that we share a bedroom... You're not required to call me captain anymore." "Will do, Ace."

#one piece #fanfiction #smut #portgas d ace #fire fist ace #spades #pirate #crew #manga #anime #gol d ace #captain #devil fruit #fanfic #ace

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shouldntcryoverit · 3 years

Text

a clone fit for a ball.

Commander Fox x Reader

I think initially I wanted to write this as a whole story, but it’s quite a lot and (because i haven’t been too active) I just sorted wanted to post something yk :) hope you enjoy! <33

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It’s a dramatised reality if you think about it. The idea of a gathering with the only intention being to appease the aching sore that is political pillow talk, is one that is so pompous it seems that those who benefit from the scheme are the ones who design it. It’s a drawn out, legislative, painfully particular game of charades disguised in lavish clothes and large hats. In almost every way, those garments are often large enough and sparkly enough to hide the deceit they cover, and persuade each mindless baboon that is gormless to fall victim to it to enter into the game themselves. It’s a repetitive cycle, and stupid though it may be; it does work.

Though there was beauty in it that you just couldn’t deny. The decorations were enough to mesmerise you entirely; lavishly hung around each bannister and archway of the senate hall. Bright colours of orange and pink were scattered across the flower arrangements that littered the walls and their accents. Whatever had been done to spritz life into the chandeliers and lighting had worked its magic, for the perfectly lit definitions gave luminosity and warmth all in one squeezing breath. It was inviting and spectacular; a collaboration of everything the senate appeared to be. Even as the floor beneath your heeled feet glistened with rich delight, the pit in your stomach still swallowed your joy.

Your hatred for all things political had always been your strength and your weakness, especially as a senator. You represented your home planet well enough to protect it’s people, but you would not stand for the same deceitful bulldozing that reduced planets and people to nothing more than pawns or money makers. It meant that you stood for nothing you disbelieved in, including ridiculously regimented senate balls.

Nevertheless, you needed a way in. Your planet had been overlooked for far too long; the cries of your people ignored. You needed a trade deal and you needed one that wouldn’t result in republic outposts and war dependancy littering your already fighting home world. A ball was a good opportunity for political match making, and it was one you couldn’t give up.

It was that reasoning that had led you as far as a blue, bejewelled dress that suffocated what waist you apparently had, and hugged each curve with malice. Even with the anger dripping from your rouged lips, you couldn’t deny it. You did look rather pretty. It was a small triumph, but one that gave you confidence enough to manage the heels that’d been handed to you. As you caught a reflection of yourself leaning heavily against the arm of a guard in a particularly shiny section of the wall, you realised just how pretty you did look. Perhaps there was something addicting in the madness of it all: perhaps there was something powerful about a low cut dress and tousled hair.

Your entrance was timely, a rushed manner donned after slightly too much time taken trying to find the dammed place. Typical of Coruscant, you muttered. Two guards in white and red nodded at your arrival, both seemingly emotionless under their plastoid helmets. It was something that’d always confused you about the clone army; all painfully identical, yet lightyears apart from each other. A brotherhood was one thing, yet could you even call it that?

The thought itself was fleeting, though one you were sure to ponder later. You passed those statues of guards within seconds and continued on your warpath to the ‘reception’. It didn’t take much for you to be recognised; the perks of being one of the only senators with detailed and beautiful facial markings. It was something you prided most. The rest was a blur, but you made it into the hall and straight into a chair that’d apparently been pulled out for you. The man to your left was a kindly looking togruta, the woman to your right your stern faced guard, who looked murderous in comparison.

“My dear, aren’t you cold?” The togruta asked with a genuine smile. The question made a small laugh sprout up your throat.

“Perhaps, though my heart is beating far too fast for it to be uncomfortable.” You replied with that charming tone in your voice you’d perfected.

Everything was an act; your shoulders perked up and back to lift your chin in power and confidence, the planned placement of your hands across the table, your silken voice as it left your silken mouth. Even the unplanned conversation would seem regimented, though the Togruta’s nature settled your mind with authentic care.

“Ah, now that I can understand.” He shuffled, uncomfortable or unsure you couldn’t tell. “I do apologise, but I cant seem to place you.”

You paused again with an unfaltering expression of tenderness.

“Oh well I know you, Governor Roshti. But I don’t blame you, I took over from Madame Liobrev shortly after she resigned from senatorial status. This is my first ball to say the least.” There was a hint of an exhale by the end of your scentence, it felt good to admit even subtly that you were out of your depth.

“Well it doesn’t show, I only hope my name hasn’t ingrained in your mind the way it has in so many’s.” The sadness that fell across his face was just as genuine as the smile that it had replaced. It made the compassionate side of you ache.

“You did what this god forsaken war made you do, I see no reason for shame to fall upon you or your people. Battle leaves us all defenceless.” The spite of your tongue was heavy; anger for the war too many fell victim to.

“Thank you, my dear.”

You smiled once again, before turning back to your guard. She was perched haughtily on her seat, weapon securely hidden but it’s presence obvious. Her attire was in contrast to yours; armour and garments all of dark colours and metal accents. She looked like a warrior, and you were momentarily envious.

“Taurin you really ought to relax. Senators aren’t that vicious. Or at least not when they’re sedated with flattery and shiny things.” You joked, desperate to take the edge of both her and yourself.

Taurin, the guard, bowed her head in humor, a distant smile forming over her pursed lips. It was one you were incredibly fond of, and one you had grown to recognise as endearment.

“M’lady, it’s not the senators I’m worried about.”

You laughed; a breathy laugh that corrupted your lungs and throat.

“What more could you possibly find challenging about a ball this compensated for. Perhaps it’s that my shoes will grow painful on my feet? Enjoy yourself!” You pressured with sweet intentions.

She turned to face you with a vindictive smile laced with sour belief. Her eyes trailed over your reeling eyes in silent conversation, seconds before they jolted off their steady trajectory just past your head. What had been childish remark soon freezed over to slight panic and question. You noticed the change almost instantly and frowned with creased eyebrows. As your head began to swivel to turn to her opponent, she screeched and forced you down.

The fall from your chair wasn’t high, but the adrenaline and shock of the direct hit made it seem endless. You hit the hard floor with a mind numbing crack, one that caused your eyes to widen before you realised it was only one of the many jewels that laced your back splintering; rather than something a critical. Nonetheless, the shot that flew past certainly was real.

The bullet soared over your head, frowning that it had missed it’s target. You couldn’t even process what had happened before Taurin fell to your level, teeth clenched in agony. You reacted as best you could with hands fumbling around her leaking wound; but she swatted you away and thrusted your head down once more. That one bullet, the one that had cursed your luck and gone for your guard in spite of it, had previously had a purpose. Your mind lingered on that fact for a second before you pushed past it. Searching eyes found Governor Roshti’s, who had copied your move and positioned himself just under the table.

You couldn’t hear much over your panting breath; nothing except the shouts and screams of senators whose useless lives felt threatened, so naturally, just like their entire life’s work, they do nothing except complain and wail. It was dark under the thick tablecloth, too dark for anything to be made clear to you. Taurin had wriggled further away and was holding her position behind your table, a gun most definitely in her hand.

Three shots. Four shots. Two. One. Silence.

Now really all you could hear was your panting breath. The blood rushing through your ears made a ringing sound, and the tingling in your veins made the fastness of your heart seem ordinary. Governor Roshti made no adjustments to his stance at the silence, but you were itching to unfold your coiled legs and poke you head up and out of the cover. Like most things you did, you did it without asking. The carnage wasn’t as bad as the screams foretold it to be, but as soon as your vision shifted you saw the agony splayed over Taurin’s face.

“Help! Medic!” Was the instantaneous shout from your lips.

One of the clone guards from earlier shot up. He wore a kama around his waist and his armour was weathered; something that told you he was rough without him having to speak a word.

“Ma’am sit back down, we don’t know where the attackers went.” He commanded.

“I can manage.”

His helmet tilted slightly in what you assumed to be annoyance. With two fingers pointing he signalled for a medic to step forward. The new clone looked significantly younger through the way he held himself and the shining of his uniform. With Taurin being led away, you finally let go of the breath you’d been holding.

“Ma’am-“

“I’d like to know who just tried to kill me.” The clone looked slightly surprised at the deadpan tone of your voice. “And who shot my closest guard.”

He grimaced from under his helmet and lifted his hand up to his visor to tap into his comm channel.

“This is Commander Fox, what’s our status?” He spoke; a velvety tone lacing the authority in his voice.

Fox. It wasn’t bad. Your mind shifted once again as his comm crackled back at him.

“Suspect... run... in pursuit... ty hunter.” Was all you could make out, but it didn’t take a genius to fill in the gaps.

“They won’t find the assailant while pampering senators.” You spoke, cringing slightly at the privilege you held yourself; here you were demanding Commander of his time, all because you have some morsel of perhaps undeserved power.

“I’m sorry” Perhaps an attempt to reconcile your blundering thoughtlessness would change the trooper’s aggravated stance. “I only meant that it would help if the senators uninvolved were to be sent home and out of your hair, it can’t be fun listening to them whine.”

His head tilted slightly in what you hoped to be a grin. “You’re not wrong, but I’m afraid I can’t keep you alone in protection. Not when we don’t actually know who was the intended target.”

“Commander, let me help. Before I was a senator I was a member of the guard. I’m afraid I can just about handle myself.” There was more than a hint of pride in your voice as you spoke.

Fox shook his head and lifted off his helmet. It would be far to say you lost your breath at the sight of his actual face. In the few seconds you spent mentally sketching his face into your brain, your mind fastened at his slightly too-long-to-be-neat mop of curly hair, and how it fell playfully over his deeply tanned forehead. His cheekbones were sharp enough to shut you up (which was, as he’d come to discover, wasn’t actually that easy) let alone the bite of his jaw.

But it was his eyes that made you most intriguing; deep and wise auburn eyes set perfectly amongst weathered skin. They watched you for a moment before the eyebrows above them lifted slightly in confusion.

You hadn’t meant to stare. Or maybe you had, it was unimportant.

“Fine, I’ll take you back to the office while the boys take the others to a safe space.” He wasn’t smiling, but he didn’t seem as begrudging anymore; a small victory.

“Thank you, although I may need a change in shoes.”

At this he did grin; and it was marvellous.

#commander fox #the coruscant guard #tcw #the clone wars #commander fox x reader #clone wars #fox x reader #fox x you #the clones #clones #the cw #incorrect clone wars

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imnotusedtobeingloved · 3 years

Text

WATCH OUT

(PLEASE DON’T REBLOG!)

Warnings: heartbreak, betrayal.

Pairing: Zuko x f!Reader

Characters: Zuko, Aang, Katara, Toph, Sokka.

Requested: Yes!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, nor the gif. Credit to the owners.

Summary: Part three of “destiny is a funny thing”

find part two here!

A/N: Hullo! i’m back to blow your minds again, lol. The request for this came within, like, five minutes of posting the last part. So thanks to @zvkonation. I’m glad you guys seem to enjoy it. I hope this part will be to your liking. Altough i think it’s a bit of a mess haha.

“Hello, Zuko here!”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” you muttered upon the sight of him. Team Avatar formed a half-circle, ready to fight.

You hadn’t seen him since the battle in the Crystal Catacombs, and you’d wanted it to stay that way. After his betrayal it took some time to look ahead. To stop dwelling on it and accept that it was over. Of course you had to tell the others what had happened at some point. And you did. From the fight with Jet, to their false identities, and about the tea shop. Everything but the fact that you harbored feelings for their worst enemy.

“I heard you guys flying around down there, so... I just thought i’d wait for you here,” No one responded. No one but Appa, whose gigantic tongue greeted the prince one second later. Zuko groaned at the caress, but he didn’t reject it. “I know you must be surprised to see me here,”

“Not really, since you followed us all over the world,” Sokka answered defensively, already reaching for his weapon.

“Right... Well uh... Anyway. What i wanted to tell you about is that i’ve changed, and i’m good now. And, well, i think i should join your group. Oh! and i can teach firebending to the Avatar,” He continued.

Changed. There it was again. The gaang remained silent, not giving up their fighting stances. Now the Air Temple could become a war zone at any second.

“You wanna, what now?” Toph was the first one to recover. Her face was scrunched up, black strands dangling in front of her forehead. "We all know what happened the last time you 'changed'," You sneered, raising your hands. "(Y/N), please-," This time he was the one pleading, but you wouldn't have it. You didn't want to waste any more time with him. "Save your explanation for someone who cares!" Flames appeared in your palms, burning from within.

“You can’t possibly think that any of us would trust you, can you? I mean how stupid do you think we are?” Katara wasn’t acting any calmer than in their last encounter. And rightfully so. You’d witnessed the conflict firsthand and empathised with her pain. Both of you had fallen for his trap at the same time.

“Yeah, all you’ve ever done is try to hunt us down and capture Aang,” Sokka threw in. “And besides, (Y/N) is a fire bender. She can teach him,” You pursed your lips, but remained silent. He was right. You could teach Aang. But would that truly be enough? You doubted it. All your techniques were mainly made up from watching other fire benders in your childhood. You’d never had a real teacher. If you were honest to yourself, Zuko was probably the better choice. But the risk of him killing your student made up for it.

“I’ve done some good things! I helped (Y/N) after she got attacked by Jet! Right?” The prince argued, gesturing wildly. He caught your gaze, hoping for some kind of support. But he was met with indifference. "You didn't even know that I was with the Avatar back then," You argued, growing more impatient by the second. Zuko quickly came up with another story. “I could’ve stolen your bison in Ba Sing Se, but i set him free! That's something,” The animal proceeded to lick him again, growling fondly.

“Appa does seem to like him,” The earth-bender said, relaxing her stance slightly. Her features softened. “He probably just covered himself in honey or something, so that Appa would lick him. I’m not buying it!” Sokka declined, making a cutting motion through the air, to underline his statement.

“I can understand why you wouldn’t trust me. And i know i’ve made some mistakes in the past,” Zuko acknowledged, lowering his gaze. The slight breeze tugged at his garments. For the first time since you’d known him, he wore Fire Nation clothing. The ruby red, mixed with gold and black, revealed his true heritage. His was a simple robe, instead of the royal attire you would’ve expected. Just like yours.

“Like when you attacked our village?” Your friend asked, sarcastically. “Or when you stole my mother’s necklace and used it to track us down and capture us?” His sister balled her fists, barely able to hold back. “Or when you betrayed us in the Catacombs?” You hissed.

Seeing him again was unbearable. Unbelievable. It was like the past came back to haunt you all over again. Every time you looked at him, it reminded you of the horror you'd faced. Of Aang dying in your arms. And he just wouldn’t stop trying. “Look, i admit i’ve done some awful things. I was wrong to try to capture you and to betray you. I’m sorry that i attacked the water tribe. And i never should’ve send that Fire Nation Assassin after you. I’m going to try to stop-,”

“Wait! You sent Combustion-Man after us?” One sibling interrupted, his voice getting a few octaves higher. Your eyes widened. The others seemed no less shocked, than you. Just when you’d thought it couldn’t get any worse... It did. “Well, that’s not his name, but-” Zuko tried to explain, but clearly focused on the wrong point. “Oh, sorry, i didn’t mean to insult your friend,” Sokka scoffed, holding up his boomerang. Now there was one more reason not to trust him. How many more would he add? You weren’t eager to find out. “He’s not my friend!” The fire bender exclaimed, bewildered. “That guy locked me and Katara in jail and tried to blow us all up!” Toph pointed an accusatory finger at him. He lowered his eyes, closing them briefly.

You said nothing, only staring at him, until he looked up. “(Y/N)...” He tried, his eyes softening, but you shook your head. He looked terribly lost. So lost that you almost believed him. But where love once was now resided resentment and anger. His lies were revolting. You wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” He redirected his attention to Aang. “You once said you thought we could be friends. You know i have good in me,” Out of the corner of your eye you saw Sokka shake his head at him.

“There’s no way we can trust you after everything you’ve done. We’ll never let you join us,” The Avatar decided. “You need to get out of here. Now!” The water bender ordered, her locks framing her face like a thundercloud. “I’m trying to explain that i’m not that person anymore!” His desperate tone made your heart clench. You had to look away.

“Either you leave, or we attack!” Sokka stepped forward, boomerang gripped tightly.

Zuko sunk to his knees. "If you won’t accept me as a friend, then maybe you’ll take me as a prisoner,”

“No. We won’t!” Katara unleashed a splash of water, knocking him back. “Get out of here and don’t come back. And if we ever see you again... Well, we better not see you again!”

The air was tense as he walked off. Your fear didn’t subside.

How long would it take for his next strike to hit you?

And how many more could you take?

“Why would he try to fool us like that?” Katara questioned a while later. “Obviously he wants to lead us in some kind of trap,” Her brother stated, following her deeper into the temple. Aang and you trailed after them silently. “This is just like when we were in prison together in Ba Sing Se. He starts talking about his mother and making it seem like he’s an actual human being with feelings,” Her words hurt. But you had to admit that she spoke the truth. The tender moments you’d had with him would stay until the end of time, pointing out your failure. Your naivety. When you thought about him, you felt nothing but rage and pain making your stomach twist.

“He want’s you to trust him and feel sorry for him. Then you let your guard down and he strikes!” Sokka said gesturing furiously. His short ponytail wiggled along with his movements. “The thing is, it worked,” Katara put her sleeping bag down, kneeling to roll it out. “I did feel sorry for him. I felt like he was really confused and hurt. But, obviously, when the time came he made his choice. And we payed the price. We can’t trust him,” You nodded, hugging your own bag to your chest. “I believed everything he told me, when i lived with them. He was nice. And then he turned around and stabbed me in the back,” His amber eyes had seemed so genuine at the time... So loving. But it was all a game. A pastime as long as you were around, only to throw you away later. He’d made his choice. And you hadn’t been enough to be choosen. The memories left a burning feeling in your chest.

“I kind of have a confession to make,” the Avatar cut in. “Remember when you got sick and i got captured by Zhao?” You all ignored Sokka’s rant about Aang making him suck on frozen frogs. His poor sister had taken a look at his throat multiple times before. And to be honest, you all had. Involuntarily.

“Anyway. When Zhao had me chained up, it was Zuko who came in and got me out. He risked his life to save me,” You furrowed your brows. This was the last thing you wanted to hear about. What even was the point? Listing the few good deeds he seemed to have done, wouldn’t undo the mistakes. “No way! I’m sure he only did it so he could capture you himself,” Katara dismissed his idea. “Yeah! Face it Aang, You’re nothing but a big price to him,” Her brother agreed. “And what was all that crazy stuff about setting Appa free? What a liar,” The siblings had choosen a clear position in this debate. It didn’t really surprise you that they had each others backs. And so did you.

“Actually, he wasn’t lying,” Toph chimed in, leaning against a pillar connected to the ceiling. “Oh, hurray! In a lifetime of evil, at least he didn’t add animal cruelty to the list,” She paid no mind to Sokka’s antics and remained calm. “I’m just saying that, considering his messed up family and how he was raised, he could’ve turned out a lot worse,” You didn’t know why she would vouch for him, but you wouldn’t put her down. The sooner this discussion was over, the better. “You’re right, Toph. Let’s go find him and give him a medal! The ‘Not as much of a jerk as you could’ve been’ Award!” Katara mocked, spreading her arms in frustration. The earth bender crossed her arms, relying on her factual point of view. “All i know is, that while he was talking to us, he was sincere. Maybe you’re all just letting your hurt feelings keep you from thinking clearly,”

The group continued to bicker back and forth. “Why would you even try to defend him?” Toph pushed herself off the column, walking up to them. “Because, Katara, you’re all ignoring one crucial fact. Aang needs a fire bending teacher. It’s true, we have (Y/N), but she was never trained herself. And she never denied that she doesn’t have much knowledge about most techniques. And then another one shows up on a silver platter and you won’t even consider it?” She stomped. The rest of them turned to look at you, but you only shrugged. She was right. You’d been open with them from the beginning. “I admit that i don’t have as much... deep understanding for it as others may have. But i’m willing to give my best,”

Your reasoning seemed to be enough for the Avatar to pass. “I’m not having Zuko as my teacher,” he said. “You’re damn right, you’re not, buddy.” Sokka crossed his arms. “Well, i guess that’s settled,” You agreed. Toph grunted in frustration. “I’m beginning to wonder who’s really the blind one around here,”

The girl ranted as she walked away, only to return one day later, with burned soles.

“Toph! What happened?” She’d crawled in on her stomach, feet in the air. The front of her clothes was completely stained with dirt. Or as she liked to call it, a ‘healthy coating of earth’. ‘“My feet got burned,” Katara immediatly looked at the outcome. The skin was red and tender. Too sensitive to be touched. “Oh no! What happened?” You had no idea where she’d been all day, but considering the argument about a certain fire bender, a suspicion formed in your head. “I just told you, my feet got burned,” The brunette furrowed her brows. “I meant, how?” She hesitated, but answered while Katara used her healing powers to save whatever she could. “Well, i kind of went to see Zuko last night,” Your hunch got confirmed. The gaang was shocked to say the least. “See? You trusted Zuko and you got burned. Literally!” Sokka scolded, as he and Aang proceeded to carry Toph to the little fountain where she could stick her feet into the water. “Now i know how the rest of you feel. Not being able to see with your feet stinks,” You chuckled at her words, moving to stand behind her and putting your hands on her shoulders. She was like a little sister to you. And there was no doubt that you would make Zuko pay for what he'd done to her, should you ever see him again.

To your own dismay, that happened sooner than you’d expected.

A few seconds later to be exact.

“Watch out!” You yelled, spotting the assassin, as an explosion shook the temple. The man stood on a platform above, shooting at you. Or, to be precise, at Aang.

“Stop!” You weren’t that surprised to see Zuko next to him. The shock came more with the words he was saying. “I don’t want you hunting the Avatar anymore!” He commanded, but it was of no use. The boys grabbed Toph, making sure she was safe between them, as you all hid behind what was left of the fountain. “The mission is off! I’m ordering you to stop!” But no matter what he said, he was only cast aside. “I won’t pay you, if you keep attacking!” The prince kept trying to get to him. Not even his flames seemed to impress the man. “I’ll pay you double to stop!”

The assassin didn’t stop. Instead he aimed at Zuko himself. Your heart stopped for a second when he conjured flames around him to escape the attack. Then he was gone. Peaking over the stones you hid behind, you could faintly spot a silhouette clinging to the braches below.

You used the opening, screamed as you ran forward, throwing fireballs at the assassin with all your might. You couldn’t let him kill the prince. That task was already reserved for you, personally. The Avatar soon joined you, producing a cyclone. But neither that, nor Katara’s ice spikes could stop him. Everything you threw at him, he shrugged off. And he continued to destroy the temple in the process. “He’s going to blast this whole place right off the cliffside!” Toph shouted over the noise. “I can’t get out to water bend at him without getting blown up,” Katara stated, when you all covered behind a wall. You dared to poke your head out for a second, but you couldn’t see anything before he took another shot. “I can’t get an angle on him from down here,”

The Team was at a loss, until Sokka seemed to have an idea. “I know how to get an angle on him!” He followed the line of fire with his eyes, and took the chance, flinging his boomerang. And he hit. The assassin stumbled on his feet, trying to shoot once more, only to go down in the process.

The platform under him exploded, erasing what remained of him.

Raising your head you could see Zuko managing to get back up.

He’d made it.

“I can’t believe i’m saying this, but thanks, Zuko,” Aang stood in between all of you, being the first to greet him. “Hey, what about me? i did the boomerang thing,” Sokka said, striking a pose. You raised a brow at him, but gave him a pat on the shoulder, which seemed to raise his spirits.

“Listen, i know i didn’t explain myself very well yesterday. I’ve been through a lot in the past three years. It’s been hard. But i’m realizing that i had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought i had lost my honor and that somehow my father was the only one who could return it to me. But i know now that no one can give you your honor. It’s something you earn for yourself, by choosing to do what’s right. All i want now is to play my part in ending this war. And i know my destiny is to help you restore balance in the world,” He turned and bowed to Toph. A traditional sign of respect in the Fire Nation. “And i’m sorry for what i did to you. It was an accident. Fire can be dangerous and wild. So as a firebender i need to be more careful and control my bending, so i don’t hurt people unintentionally,”

You clenched your hands at your sides. He didn’t even need his bending to hurt people. And to your horror, Aang seemed to be considering it.

“I think you are supposed to be my fire bending teacher. When i first tried to learn fire bending, i hurt Katara. And after that, i never wanted to fire bend again. (Y/N) helped me overcome my innitial fear. And yet destiny keeps bringing us together. Now that i know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love, i can’t ignore that any longer,” He gifted Zuko with a bow of his own. “I’d like you to teach me,” The prince immitated his gesture. “Thank you. I’m so happy you’ve accepted me into your group,”

“Not so fast. I still have to ask my friends if it’s ok with them,” He turned back to face you. “Toph, you’re the one that Zuko burned. What do you think?” She sat on a rock next to you, shrugging. “Go ahead and let him join. It’ll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning my feet,” Her motion clearly indicated that she would beat him up later. Thoroughly.

“Sokka?” The boy remained silent for a second, but eventually came around. “Hey, all i want is to defeat the Fire Lord. If you think this is the way to do it, then i’m all for it,” The Avatar smiled upon hearing his answer and nodded, hoping to gain more approval from the rest of you.

“Katara?” She wasn’t thrilled about the idea. She didn’t even bother to hide it. But she agreed for Aang’s sake. “I’ll go along with whatever you think is right,” The prince was ecstatic, a smile spreading on his face. “I won’t let you down, i promise!”

Everyone seemed to agree.

“And (Y/N)?” Aang looked at you with curious eyes, ready to hear your opinion. You could see Zuko breaking a sweat behind him, as you glared at his face. “I’m sorry Aang, but i can’t be a part of the group. Not if he is,” You said, flames coming to life around your fists. “But i do want to stay by your side. So i’ll prove to you that i am the better choice,” Passing the Avatar you walked up to the prince, until his face was only centimeters apart from yours.

“Prince Zuko,” Your tone was sharper than a knife. “I challenge you to an Agni Kai,”

on to part four!

tags: @zvkonation @viva-la-millennia @randomness501 @drheinzd @kaylove12 @duh-dobrik @yeetscreetiwannaeat @ashnkamfeun @hailkyoshi @shortmexicangirl

(if you want to be added/removed from any taglist, please tell me in the comments)

#zuko x reader #zuko imagine #avatar zuko #prince zuko

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