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menacing-anon · 2 years

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(Re: the interpretations that DRUCK is using Mailin to criticize young leftist activists and suggest that they are like right-wing oppressors and their supporters.)

I never thought I’d live to see DRUCK become... conservative.

When shows take a stance, it often alienates some viewers. I’ve seen it in one-star Google Reviews complaining about the presence or perceived large amount of marginalized characters, so I would say that even “these groups deserve visibility on television” is a stance. The same happens when social and environmental issues are brought up, and I think for some, it’s not due to a preference for lighter or escapist entertainment, but a disagreement with the stance, even if, again, the stance is “this is an issue that exists and deserves awareness and criticism.”

DRUCK has repeatedly taken stances that were bound to alienate viewers, and I respect that they didn’t seem to soften them to prevent that. I often think about the fact that within their first minute of runtime, they're clear about not expecting supporters of certain governments to be in the audience. They’re like, “if you’re watching this, you obviously don’t support these people; if you do, the show isn’t for you.”

Jonas also says this,

which not only includes the word “redistribution,” which in my perception is the key word that makes this sound socialist, but is a call to action: Jonas encourages a fight for something. These elements make the statement stronger than the ones it’s adapted from. And this precedes the introduction of any character or event.

The show kept taking rather controversial stances through their progressive portrayals — some following OG, like having a gay main and a brown hijabi main, but also firsts in the SKAMverse. They had the first trans romantic interest, which I know alienated some viewers (dare I say good riddance?), and I remember reading about some superiors hesitating, to which the creators said that they would either do it that way or not at all. They created a pretty diverse original generation, including the first lesbian main, who is Black and neurodivergent, her Vietnamese bi romantic interest, and the only (I think?) non-binary character and main, who is also Turkish. They had a storyline criticizing a white character’s insensitive anti-racist activism and treatment of her Black friends, which I’m pretty sure is unique in the SKAMverse, which is wild, considering every SKAM (I think?) had a Vilde who could have been held accountable for her Islamophobia or another form of discrimination.

And really, they showed a considerable amount of activism. It was mainly off-screen or mentioned, but we know Jonas goes to protests and organized a fundraiser for the rescue of refugees at sea, and the Boy Squad and David prepared posters for a climate change protest. Even more recently, Ava and Mailin went to the vigil for Oury Jalloh. This was always portrayed as serious and positive, but now, young activists are shown as unhelpful and even... harmful.

Not to mention, the inconsistency 🤨 Where was this disapproval last season when Lou stole tampons and a bunch of students broke into the school without consequences? DRUCK supported youth activism, then depicted it as inappropriate, and in between supported inappropriate “activism.” As a viewer, what am I supposed to take away?

(The screenshots are from drucktranslations 🙂)

#druck #druck season 1 #druck season 7 #druck season 8 #my post #tw nazi mention #tw trump mention #tw putin mention #tw erdogan mention #tw climate change mention #tw islamophobia mention

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arwenkenobi48 · 4 months

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Sometimes I think about the possibility of creating artwork/writing of my current self comforting my younger self, but I’m worried that I’ll be seen as Islamophobic if I do that

For context: I still consider myself a Muslim, but that part of my identity is one that’s taking a very, very long time to reclaim because of how my birthgiver twisted and appropriated Islam to justify her own sick behaviours (instilling a lot of trauma in me surrounding the religion as a result) and one of the most meaningful steps towards shedding that false identity she forced on me was no longer wearing a hijab

I really wish I could meet my younger self, dry his tears and gently tell him he doesn’t need to wear it, especially if it makes him feel so bad, but to the casual viewer/reader that could stir up a lot of controversy and be misused by transphobes, especially ones who could use it as a means of saying “trans people will turn your kids against religion” or something like that

Idk, it’s such a weird feeling bc I see quite a few pieces of artwork or short comics or whatever of people comforting their younger selves or looking back on tough times with a fresher perspective, but I feel like I’m unable to do that

I wish I could, but I just feel like I can’t

#arwen speaks #vent #tw religious trauma #transgender #moral dilemma #healing journey #ftm #some advice would definitely help tbh #tw transphobia mention #tw Islamophobia mention

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intersectionalpraxis · 4 months

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Dozens of women were arrested from their homes and refugee centers, taken to Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza, their hijabs were removed from their heads, blindfolded, and they were searched. Many of them were subjected to sexual harassment, beatings and abuse. [@/mhdksafa on X. 12/28/23.]

I won't forgive ANYONE who calls themselves a feminist -for remaining silent about this genocide -you ARE complicit. During any and all instances of institutionalized and systematic violence, oppression, and abuse being executed by all imperial and colonial forces around the world -for you to say nothing -shame on ALL of you for cherry picking your 'issues.'

#feminist #feminism #social justice #free palestine #freepalastine🇵🇸#palestine #free gaza #settler violence #settler colonialism #violence against women #islamphobia #colonial violence #tw islamophobia #end the occupation #end the genocide #ceasefire now #ceasefire #current events #tw sa mention

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goatlingsvent · 1 year

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🚋 they aren't talking about the country of islam they are talking about the muslim religion. the fact they're singling it out specifically does make them racist

🐨

#goatlingsvent #tw islamophobia mention

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queerxqueen · 6 months

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"I just want to clarify that I’m well informed on the situation that is going on but Byler has only one chance of happening. Meanwhile Palestinians are dying anyway. They have been for years and will continue to die. Since when do y’all care about them and their lives? You started talking about it only when it became trendy.

Fake activists, move on and continue eating expensive food in your comfy house and not giving a fuck about people far away from you dying. That shit happens everyday and if you get involved your psyche will be hurt. Let the politicians deal with this instead of bullying a random actor that didn’t do anything harmful"

browsing through the noah schnapp tag to see what he did now and seeing these words was a literal slap in the face how can someone post this and think theyre a good person???

(When I first read this, I thought you were saying that shit in my inbox and was ready to throw hands, so I was very relieved to see you were just sharing the bullshit from someone else's blog.)

I just searched in the tag and saw this exact post. How fucking horrifying. Instant block. I doubt anyone could reason with this person.

"Palestinians are dying anyway. They have been for years and will continue to die." Can't believe anyone typed this genuinely and without pause. Just say you don't care about Palestinian lives and stop there, you'll get your point across better.

"Since when do y’all care about them and their lives? You started talking about it only when it became trendy." Many people are only just now beginning to really educate themselves on the history of Israel and Palestine. I'm among them - I used to be one of the folks who thought it was too complicated and nuanced to take a stance on. Then I read Palestine: A Socialist Introduction, started reading from news sources and independent journalists outside of mainstream western media, started listening to Palestinian and anti-zionist Jewish voices, and realized how false that was. I take responsibility for not educating myself sooner. But it's actually weird to frame people educating themselves and having empathy for people dying as jumping on a trend.

"Let the politicians deal with this..." Ah, yes, let's leave it to the politicians, who notoriously have our best interests in mind and would never do anything to cause harm. (/sarcasm) "... instead of bullying a random actor that didn’t do anything harmful." If you think sharing violent zionist rhetoric such as "you stand with Israel or you stand with terrorism" or trivializing the deaths of eleven thousand Palestinians with stupid stickers calling zionism sexy, in front of your audience of millions as a celebrity, is "not harmful" then we clearly are not going to agree on anything.

#noah schnapp #answered #anon #free palestine #israel palestine #current events #death mention #islamophobia tw

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phoenixyfriend · 4 months

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the state of israel MUST be dismantled for a free palestine. jews existed and lived in ME before the existence of Israel, and jews will continue to live in ME but Israel as a state has to go. israel didnt bring the jews to ME.

See... the whole "Jews will continue to live" thing is what I'm not so sure of.

I understand where people are coming from when they talk about how Israel as a nation-state must be dismantled. It was established by outside forces, maintained by those outside forces, and has in past decades engaged in some truly heinous behavior.

However, that behavior was enacted by the government, which is not all of Israel, nor even all of the Jews in Israel. That government's behavior also reflects on those people of Israel, and any revenge against the government--which is likely if dismantled--is likely to land on the shoulders of the people of Israel who may not have anything to do with it.

There are pacifists and children in Israel, just as there are in Palestine. There are people protesting the conflict in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Over half of the Jews in Palestine are of a Mizrahi background, and either came to Israel from Arab countries that wanted them gone, or are the descendants of the people who did so. The establishment of Israel by the Sykes-Picot agreement resulted in many countries having a place to send their unwanted Jewish population to, and those countries now had the option of driving out, or at least 'encouraging,' those populations to leave. Operation Magic Carpet wasn't driven solely by the Imam of Yemen; Israel played its own role in it, as did the US and UK, but the result was a mass exodus of Jews. In 2022, there were a total of six Jews in Yemen. Now, there is only one.

Those Mizrahi Jews are also by and large not part of the Israeli government.

Many of the others in Israel are holocaust survivors, or the descendants of such.

It is not a stretch to say that Israel is, statistically, a country of refugees and their children.

Many of the powers most vocal about dismantling Israel are also the most vocally antisemitic. The most obvious example is the Yemeni Houthis, who have "death to all Jews" as a slogan. Hamas is aligned with them, and both are aligned with Iran, and Hezbollah. None of these specific groups want Jews in the ME, period. Some have made it very clear they don't want Jews to live at all, anywhere. It's not 'Jews who support the Israeli state' that they object to, it's Jewish people, period.

My hesitation about the argument to dismantle Israel is that I haven't seen anyone yet talk about how to go about doing it without a risk that there is another mass exodus or mass murder.

Un-fucking-fortunately, that possible result is also what Israel's government is using as their justification for war against their neighbors, and what it has been using for the better part of eighty years.

I am not defending Israel's actions. I do not condone what they are doing in Gaza. I do not condone what they are claiming about Gaza, and I have heard some truly horrifying propaganda that is getting fed to Zionists to keep the fervor up. I do not think that what they are doing in the Occupied West Bank is ethical. I do not think the Israeli government has a leg to stand on in terms of morality and ethics.

I also think that people who say "Israel should be dismantled" are looking at the past and turnabout as fair play without actually asking 'what will happen to the people who live there if a group like Hamas or the Houthi rebels or Hezbollah uses a weak transition period or sudden collapse as a chance to enact that revenge.

I don't know what the correct solution is. Rebuilding a government with both Israeli and Palestine officials in a joint system, unifying the two regions with the UN enforcing a fair and equal election and representation system? The two-nations solution that people have been talking about for ages, booting Israel from the Occupied West Bank and Gaza, and demanding they pay reparations to the people of Palestine? I don't think withdrawing all international interest and support to let them work it out among themselves is the right call. I don't think having Israel take over completely, or Palestine take over completely, is going to end well for whichever community ends up Not In Charge.

I don't know what can be done. I just know that the short, sweet, pithy 'dismantle Israel' and 'Zionism is bad' statements only sound good until you ask 'but where will the Jews, hated by most of the ME for what their government has been doing, and hated for millennia before that for existing, go?'

Which sucks, because Israel's government sure as hell didn't ask where the people of Palestine would go when they started pushing them out.

It's not fair! It's not fair to Palestine that this all is happening. It is not fair that the founded but unrealized risk to Israeli lives is being weighed against the fully realized and ongoing threat to theirs. It is not fair that thousands of children are dying of air strikes and hunger.

Palestine is undergoing a massacre at the hands of the Israeli government.

It is entirely possible that Israel will undergo that same massacre at the hands of Hamas and its allies if the 'dismantling' happens without safeguards.

Israel needs to stop. People are dying in the tens of thousands in Gaza because of their completely disproportionate response. A ceasefire is unquestionably needed and the ongoing refusal of the US government to help enforce one by pulling support from the IDF is a failure.

(No, not the Houthi strikes. That is a related, but distinct situation.)

But 'dismantle Israel' tends to come with few ideas on how to do so without risking the same situation as now, but in the other direction, and with the same or larger possibility of escalating into a wider regional conflict.

I don't know. I don't fucking know. But please understand that I am coming at this from a place of attempted compassion and concern. I am not trying to be dismissive of people's claims. I do not support Israel's actions. I don't even necessarily think Israel, as it is and as it was founded and as it acts, deserves to remain the power and government that it currently is. Restructuring, renaming, integrating, all these things are options, maybe even necessary ones.

I just don't think 'deserve' is the only consideration when the past seventy-odd years have been spent sowing the seeds of hate and revenge, and so many military groups in their area have expressed a desire to see all of them dead.

If you know of a 'dismantle Israel' plan by Palestinians, rather than some random Western Leftist, that includes plans on how to integrate the people that have in some cases been there for decades, and in some cases ended up there because they were driven or 'encouraged' out of neighboring Arab states...

Let me know.

But please recognize that I am trying my best to base my opinions on compassion and ethics and morality and awareness, not just parroting the news without thought, or my echo chamber, or whatever the first take to come to mind is. I am not trying to be malicious. I am not trying to be ignorant. I am not trying to 'stan America' or whatever people have been saying in my ask box.

They bombed me, too.

#Anonymous #I didn't start talking about the conflict in my own words until I felt I had a strong enough grasp on the facts and propaganda #to know what I was even saying.#phoenix answers asks #politics #current events #palestine #israel #gaza #death tw #antisemitism #islamophobia #death mention #genocide mention #ethnic cleansing

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your-daily-snl · 3 months

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youtube

Funeral, starring Jason Sudeikis as a funeral director and an ensemble cast (Will Ferrell, Fred Armisen, Kristen Wiig, Wille Forte, Bobby Moynihan, and Maya Rudolph) as weirdass randos.

Original Air Date: 2009

#saturday night live #snl #jason sudeikis #will ferrell #fred armisen #kristen wiig #will forte #bobby moynihan #maya rudolph #funny #humor #video #snl skit #snl sketch #tw: islamophobia #tw: sex mention #tw: drugs mention #Youtube

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mywingsareonwheels · 1 year

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Why it matters actually that some Christians are LGBT+ or good allies (ditto plenty of other religious people)

Right now, the SNP leadership elections in Scotland are being hampered by the fact that one of the candidates (Kate Forbes) is a Christian fundamentalist (from the Free Church of Scotland) who is very homophobic, transphobic, and misogynist. She’s also not great on the environment.

[More behind the cut, includes discussion of various bigotries.]

The second candidate (Ash Regan) is better on cis women’s rights and cis gay rights (and is gay herself), but she’s even worse on the environment and is also very transphobic.

And the third (Hamza Yousaf) is pretty good on all of those things. He happens also to be a brown, Muslim man.

And here is a very very annoying thing: Kate Forbes, the fundamentalist, keeps claiming that her views on trans issues, same sex marriage, abortion, and sex/childbirth outside marriage are just normal for “all Christians, Jews, and Muslims”. And some absolute twits in the independence movement, all as far as I can tell white secularists, are going, “welp I hate Forbes views but I prefer her to Yousaf because he clearly must think the same as her as he’s Muslim and at least she’s honest about it”.

[facepalms, a lot, with some swearing]

The thing is this. Forbes is clearly very strongly influenced by low church fundamentalists in the US. She is absolutely wrong about Christians in Scotland. The Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) permits ministers to perform same-sex marriage and has some congregations which are actively LGBT+ (yes, all of it inc. trans) affirming. That’s a decision they made that was voted on by members, by the way, and I believe the vote was not close. The Episcopalian church in Scotland (in communion with the Anglican church but not tied to its silly attitudes) is similarly good on all this. Scotland has a lot of LGBT+ Christians, as well as Christians who are active and excellent allies, or who are at worst neutral/focused on other things.

And she’s clearly wrong about Jewish people and Muslims also; I mean do I even need to argue this point? I am a vaguely Christo-Pagan gentile; I don’t speak from much knowledge here. But I know perfectly well that there are plenty of LGBT+ and allied Jewish and Muslim people and that saying otherwise is outright bigoted.

The assumption that Yousaf must be a transphobe, a homophobe, and anti-abortion and anti sex-outside-marriage because he’s Muslim (despite the fact that he has conducted himself as an MSP as sensible on all these issues) is just plain racist and Islamophobic.

Hopefully he’ll become leader. He’s got the most support from other Holyrood and Westminster members, and the membership in general apparently does tend to be more left-wing than the parliamentary party (so he should do even better there), so unless he totally fails to get his message across (or the Scottish as well as English media are appalling which... they can be.. :-S) he ought to pull this off. He’s the only one who the Scottish Greens (with whom the SNP are in a semi-coalition) would comfortably work with. He’s the only one who’s properly left-wing. He’s doesn’t seem to be as brilliant or competent as Sturgeon but then very few people are, and he is clearly pretty decent. At any rate, as a Scottish Greens member who also liked the SNP under Sturgeon a lot, I’m rooting for him. <3

Anyway: plenty of people in every religion are LGBT+ or allied. And it does matter that not all Christians are the same. Because, for instance, the Scottish Green MSPs include Ross Greer, a devout Christian about the same age as Forbes, who openly and sincerely regards his (extremely good) allyship of queer and trans people and women as a crucial duty as part of his religious practice, of honouring the humanity in everyone and opposing injustice. The idea that being “conservative” on social justice issues is intrinsic to any of Christianity, Judaism, and/or Islam is both completely wrong, and risks letting my beloved adopted country getting a leader who most definitely thinks that it is, and is an absolute shit. Gah.

#scottish politics #uk politics #tw homophobia mention #tw transphobia mention #tw misogyny mention #tw islamophobia mention #tw antisemitism mention #tw racism mention #long post

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marsbarsthereal · 8 months

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The way I see so many 9/11 related jokes on this day of mourning is awful. I understand that it has been 22 years, a long time. I understand that america itself is a fucked up country, I never deny that. I understand that we are still at war with another country that isn't even at fault for the incident, and that is a whole other problem. But what I don't understand is the amount of humor, like this is all some sort of joke. Fuck off, it is not. 9/11 was a horrible tragedy that, regardless of your political opinions or views, should be respected. People and their loved ones died. Islamaphobia was and still is hurled at Muslims, just because the terrorists who attacked were supposedly Muslim. Everyone was hurting, and some people still are. And every year, the familes who were affected are reminded of this. Not only should we pay our respects to this day, but also the many other incidents that have occurred across the world. They matter just as much. Stop and think before you go to bed tonight, be grateful you are still alive and not one of those people who were caught up, against their wishes, in those situations, now dead. Now hated. Truly think about how that hurts. I don't think I have to say anything more.

#9/11 #9/11 joke #9/11 mention #september 11th #twin towers #islamophobia #never forget #tw 9/11

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nando161mando · 8 months

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It's nearly 9/11, so it's time once again for us to all brush up on how to intervene if we see Islamophobic* harassment happening...

* These techniques also work great for defending people from transphobic, homophobic, racist, or other types of harassment!

#September11 #Islamophobia #harassment #BystanderIntervention #intervention #bigotry

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canyouhearthelight · 5 months

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Nihilus Rex Chapter 2: Our Own Reasons

Chapter 2, let's gooo!

Even numbered chapters will be from Lash's perspective, while odd numbered chapters are from Nils'. Lash is super fun to write, by the way. @baelpenrose agrees.

That being said, the same trigger warnings apply in this chapter, along with one for a shouting match between Lash and her parents that is very rooted in the time this takes place (alternate 2017, but not too alternate). So, additional warnings for mentions of possible rape, possible hate crimes, references to mass shootings, and references to sexist legislation.

I solemnly swear, though, the content in this chapter is nowhere near as bad as scrolling through headlines.

“Looks like a girl, but she’s a flame

So bright, she can burn your eyes

Better look the other way

You can try, but you’ll never forget her name”

“Girl on Fire” Alicia Keys

Lash

“Dammit!” I slammed the laptop closed with one hand and ripped my headset off with the other.

“Language!” my mother scolded automatically from barely ten feet outside my bedroom door.

I couldn’t even try to care. Despite promising me for months and begging for my help for nearly as long, Brayden had flaked out on me. Again. And this time he had stolen my work - the countless hours I had spent drafting graphics and small animations, the temp voice track I had laid down, all gone with nothing to show for it.

The charity existed, and Brayden had a contract to do a commission for some outreach. I had been smart enough to at least do that much research. After all, vanishing halfway through a project was nothing new when it came to dealing with him, and it would have been far from the first time that I had filled in once I completed everything, just so I could get paid. Hell, the chance of not having to split the money had been the only reason I had agreed to it this time.

Turns out, he had the same idea.

Three sharp knocks on my door jarred me out of my anger. “You need to come eat, your father is home,” Mom stated sternly before walking away.

There were no second chances with manners when it came to my parents, so I threw myself from my chair and forced some semblance of composure on myself before pulling the door open. The attempt had been in vain, apparently, because even before he had his shoes off, Baba called me out on it. “One day, you will listen to me and stop with this foolish art and cartoons,” he waved in half-hearted anger. “Go to university and get a real degree, a real job.”

“I could always marry well,” I argued churlishly, too angry about Brayden to even go through the rote script of well-worn rebellion.

The harsh laughter my mother barked in my direction hit me like a knife in the chest. “And how will you marry someone to take care of you and your childishness?” she scoffed. “With all the black and the scowling… If you can draw pretty girls, draw yourself pretty and behave like one.”

The emotions I had barely restrained before stepping out of my room reared toward them, striking as viciously as I could. “You want me to dress up, make myself up, and flatter boys? Is that how you married Baba? Being pretty and being stuck with a life of disappointment?” I batted my eyelashes and held my hands under my chin. “Oh, Charles, you are so witty! Tell me again how poor people should starve and women should do nothing but make babies, it’s so funny!” A movement from my father redirected my words before I could stop myself. “And you! What good is a degree going to do me, now! You say that Grandma and Grandpa came here to be free, so you could have an education. You have one! It didn’t make you any whiter or any richer, and you are still spit on wherever you go for being the child of immigrants.”

A sharp bang punctuated my mother’s palm hitting the table, jostling the steaming dish in the middle. “You will not speak to your parents like one of those rich girls you go to school with! There is food on this table and in your belly, you waste your life drawing cartoons and tap-tapping away in your room that your father pays for. There are clothes on your back and no war zone to go to school through. You are allowed and expected to go to school!”

“A school where I will be shot!” I screamed. “If I am not shot for being brown, or raped for being brown, I will be shot because some crazy person decided a school or a theatre, or a mosque I don’t even attend was a fine target!”

“Women do not go to mosque,” my father started to correct.

“Do you think they know that!?” I was in borderline hysterics and not even the smell of my mother’s cooking could keep me in the apartment for a moment longer. “A Sikh temple was shot. Sikhs. For being the wrong color and for ignorance. That doesn’t even count the fact that I am a woman and every day I see mine and Mama’s rights peeled away layer by layer.” I stomped to the door and snatched the first jacket I touched. “I need to calm down.” Without even waiting for their response I slammed the door behind me and started walking.

My feet automatically knew where I was going, which was good because I was too angry and in my head to decide. I made it maybe half a mile before I had to peel the jacket off and carry it, since the weather was warm and sunny for once. The entire time, I was mentally swearing at everyone in my life. Brayden for stealing my work - as far as I was concerned, he was dead to me. I hated nothing more than a thief. My parents for their well-intentioned abuse. I knew they meant well, but as the saying went, “The road to hell” and all that. I had read somewhere once about the kind eyes of people who would burn witches to save their souls - that was my parents.

I made it to my quiet place, eventually. Right where the road crossed over one of the rivers, the bridge had just enough lip to sit on comfortably, and the road wasn’t busy enough for the exhaust to bother me. Stopping for a moment, I tied the spare jacket around my waist to leave my hands free, and in the pause between songs in my earbuds, I heard shouting in the distance. Make sure to sit on the other side of a support, I noted mentally, trying to avoid the same trouble my parents seemed so oblivious to. Finally settling on “Whiplash Recovery” by ill-esha, I hummed quietly and crept to my spot. It took some careful maneuvering, but through practice I was finally seated over the rushing sound of the river, music pounding thoughts out of my head until I was consumed in nature and noise, unable to think.

Slowly, I could feel my blood pressure come down, and the less I tried to poke at my fight with my parents the better I felt. Images and colors drifted through my head as the music cycled and I tried to imagine how I would do a video to each. Not that I would ever get a chance, but it helped keep my creativity flowing and soothed the nagging doubts in the back of my head. It was just after a Charlotte Sometimes song that a crunch sounded behind me, entirely too close.

I froze, immediately ashamed to be a sitting target while praying that it was just someone driving by, or an animal.

“Don’t do it! Please!” The voice was pleading, begging almost.

I was confused, however. I had been sitting and minding my own business, like I wish he would do. “What’s that?”

“Don’t…don’t jump, please.” His voice was softer, almost ragged. “Please don’t jump. Someone…someone needs you. Someone’s world would be worse without you. And someone would be left every day wondering what they could have done differently to keep you with them.”

What in the hell is he talking about? I thought, slowly forcing my head to turn towards the voice. What I saw was a man, maybe a few years older than me. His clothes were expensive, but torn and bloody from what looked like a fresh ass-whipping. If nothing else, the fact that he was more bleeding than bruised gave that away. But the clothes were somber and too nice for work or daily wear, so something said ‘funeral’. “Got a feeling you know something about that.”

“Just came from a funeral.” Bingo. “I know everything about that.” At least here, he was more confident, if his tone was anything to go by.

“Heh. Bet.” I glanced back toward the apartment, judging how far I would have to run if he decided to be less nice than he was currently. “So what’s your name?”

“Nils. Nils Andover. Yours?”

“Lash,” I responded impulsively. Short, to the point, and giving nothing away, it was the handle I used in chatrooms and on social media. My acting name, essentially.

“Last name?”

Yeah, not happening. Not until I knew if he was safe, even if he looked like I could take him with one hand. “Not telling someone I just met. Even if I like you. But I have to admit, you definitely have a…perspective on things.” That was a polite way to say the guy who just tried to talk me out of a non-existent suicide attempt looked weird and interesting, right? And yeah, he was kind of charming in a weird, awkward way. “What uh…what happened to you? Bad enough you’re blaming yourself, the dead guy’s other family blame you, too?”

“Dead girl. And she’s a friend. And no, her family isn’t blaming me. What are you talking about?”

I waved a hand at the split lip and eyebrow before gesturing at the rips in a suit I couldn’t even imagine ever affording.. “Well either you didn’t come straight from the funeral or someone there was playing the blame game.”

The guy - Nils, apparently - bit his lip before seeming to think better of it. “Heh…Yeah. Uh. Saw some of those QAnon dicks waving signs, kinda snapped.”

Oh, I thought. He’s charming and dumb. Poor guy probably weighed less than my sound gear.

He kept talking, kind of rushing out the explanation. “My friend killed herself because of debt, and because she had to drop out of her program to take care of a sick family member so she wasn’t going to even like, get to have the future she’d gone through so much for. So something about a bunch of jackasses who were just screaming and braying about how evil elites control the world and drink the blood of the innocent except these stupid bastards are huffing enough glue to mean “Jews” when they say “elites” and mean the “blood drinking” bit literally…I kinda. Snapped. Started screaming at them. Got the shit kicked out of me.”

He looked a bit embarrassed, but it was honestly kind of endearing that he had at least tried to fight a bunch of fucknuckle rejects from the alt-right pipeline over the same things I had been shouting at my own parents roughly an hour ago.

“Anyway. Listen to me talk about myself. What were you doing up here?” He seemed to realize how the story sounded, because he was rubbing one palm against his pant leg and trying to shove the other in a pocket.

I cut him some slack and actually gave a real answer. “Just kinda thinking about things. Someone I trusted let me down - wasn’t worth dying over, but scared me pretty badly. Came up here to clear my head. A lot of things fell through, and now I’m kinda…looking for something new to be after. Something new to do.”

“Wish I could help. But I mean…” Nils paused. “I don’t know. What do you do?”

“Mostly I’m an artist. Sometimes do some light voice acting for a friend of mine - or…did. Thing was, he and I had a falling out. Really bad one. We were supposed to be doing this big project for something I thought we both believed in but…” I shrugged with one shoulder, trying to play it off as less of a big deal than it was. “He bailed, and we said some things to each other I can’t take back.” When did I start talking about my parents, I wondered, mortified.

Nils paused. He seemed to figure out that I didn’t want to say more, and it looked like he was okay with that. After all, he hadn’t told me much about himself, just his friend and the state of the country. But something piqued his curiosity, since his face got really thoughtful for a second before he started talking carefully, like it was a code he was testing. “If I say I have something I want to do, and I’d love to see what you do, would you believe me?”

I held out a hand, curious. “What’s your project?” He couldn’t be any worse than working with Brayden. If nothing else, I was pretty sure I could poison Nils with my cooking.

Nils paused, like he was choosing his words carefully. Fair enough. It only made me like him more. Finally, he spoke. “Something that might help some other people. Still kinda trying to work on all of it. I’d kinda like to hear more about your project first, maybe see if we can combine them? Maybe for some community outreach?”

So, literally like what I had just done. Nothing illegal, which unfortunately paid better, but beggars can’t be choosy, right? I flashed my best smile. “Alright. Give me your number and stay in touch. Show me you can do something interesting. And I’ll send you some of my work, see what you think.”

Nils gave me the number, letting me text him first before sending one back to prove he hadn’t lied. He smiled when my phone buzzed, and I approved his caution - I could have spoofed a number, but something told me not to.

“We good to get off the bridge?” he asked, glancing around.

I looked back toward the apartment. Mama told me I’d never find a rich white boy, and here the universe just handed one over. She didn’t need to know it was professional… I had lied about plenty, this would be a breeze.

“Yeah. We are.”

#nihilus rex #Afterverse #prequel #writeblr #writers on tumblr #original fiction #traumatized characters #science fiction #dystopia #cyberpunk #tw islamophobia #tw bodily autonomy #tw sa mention #tw mass shooting mention

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