#a nation I have even closer ties to and affection for ;-;

[hoppityhopster23]

Happy birthday to Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington! (May 1st, 1769)

[jhyoos]

Dreams Come True

Chapter 2: Ain’t It Funny?

modern au! hockey star! vi x idol! reader

summary: reader finally debuts and so does vi’s hockey career.

notes: thank you everyone for the likes on chapter 1! im forever grateful! your debut song is eung eung by apink

chapters: one, two, christmas special, three, four, five

The sunlight streaming through the floor-to-the ceiling windows of the practice room caught the streaks of your newly dyed and styled hair. You barely noticed, too focused on the beat of the music echoing through the room. Your movements sharp, deliberate, a reflection of the countless hours you’d poured into perfecting every detail of the choreography.

It’s been a year since Vi broke up with you and your debut was a few weeks away. The past year has been nothing but training, practicing, filming the music video and singing in the studio. You loved every second of it especially since you’ve got to spent it with Mel, who was now your roommate.

Everything about you had changed

Your hair, now a honey blonde to match with your girl group concept, but you loved it. It matched you perfectly and the way the stylist styled it made you love it even more.

The shy yet unsure trainee from a year ago was gone, replaced with someone confident, determined, and unyielding.

“(Y/N), let’s take a break,” Mel called, tossing you a water bottle. You caught it and sank onto the floor, leaning against the mirrored wall. Mel plopped down beside you, just as sweaty but somehow still composed.

“You’re gonna kill it,” Mel said, nudging your shoulder. “We all are. This group wouldn’t be the same without you.”

You gave a small smile, though your thoughts wandered. Over the past year, you’ve thrown yourself into work, and it had paid off. You’d managed to finish your senior year online, earning your diploma in the midst of grueling rehearsals.

But the cost had been steep. You haven’t spoken to Vi since the night of your fight. You cut ties completely, deleting Vi’s number, ignoring her messages, and avoiding the hockey rink on campus like the black plague. The one exception was her little sister, Jinx.

You and Jinx had stayed in touch, her chaotic energy and blunt humor was a strange comfort to you during the hardest days.

Vi’s knuckles tightened around the edge of the rink’s barrier as the shrill sound of coach’s whistle echoed through the air. The icy chill of the arena bit at her cheeks, but she barely noticed. Hockey had always been her escape, her channeling every emotion she didn’t have the words to express. This past year, it became her lifeline.

Her rise to fame was meteoric. Every game she played brought her closer to being a national icon. Sport channels ran highlight reels of her devastating slap shots and lightening fast reflexes. Articles praised her for her aggressive, no-nonsense playing style, calling her a future legend. Fans chanted her name at every match, holding up signs with slogans like “Vi the Viper”

But beneath all the accolades and the roaring crowd, Vi was suffocating.

Off the ice, her life was a stark contrast to the glory of the rink. She had shut herself off from almost everyone, retreating behind a wall of icy indifference. Ellie, her team captain, noticed it first.

“Vi you’re late again dude,” Ellie said one afternoon after practice, her tone exasperated.

Vi shrugged, tossing her gear into her locker. “What the big deal? I’m here aren’t I?”

“The big deal,” Ellie said sharply “Is that you’re not yourself. You’re snapping at everyone, skipping team meetings to fuck bitches, and whatever else you’re doing…it’s affecting the team and you clearly”

Vi didn’t answer. What could she say? She didn’t have the energy to explain the gnawing emptiness that had settled in her chest since she walked away from (Y/N).

She threw herself into hockey and nothing else . Relationships? She didn’t do those anymore. They were messy too much effort. Instead she indulged herself in the occasional fan hookups—fleeting, physical distractions with no strings attached.

The backstage area buzzed with frantic energy. Stylist and coordinators darted around, fixing last minute touches on hair, makeup and outfits. You sat in front of a massive mirror, your heart pounding as you stared at your reflection. Your shimmering gold and white stage outfit fit you perfectly, the intricate details catching the glow of the lights above.

You hair was curled into bombshell curls. It was a far cry from how you used to wear it, but it fit you so much. It fit the new version of yourself you had fought so hard to become.

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, her hands gripping the edge of the vanity. “You’ve got this,” you whispered to yourself. “You’ve waiting for this moment your whole life.”

A ping broke through your thoughts, and you glanced at your phone. It was a message from Jinx.

Tinker ⚙️💙: I managed to get tickets! I can’t wait to see you!

A smile appeared on your face as you looked at the message. Before you could respond, your manager, Steb, opened the door to your group’s dressing room.

“It’s time. Let’s get it!”

You stood at your cue, beside your group members. Each member was a picture of poise, yet the air buzzed with nervous energy. You had all practiced for this moment relentlessly, and now it was finally here—your debut showcase.

You smoothed down your outfit, your fingers trembling slightly. You had never felt so ready, yet so terrified. You stole a glance at Mel, who was adjusting her mic and grinning like this was just another practice session. “You okay,” Mel asked, nudging you gently.

“I think I’m about to throw up,” you admitted with a shaky laugh.

Mel snorted “Don’t you dare. Not in these outfits. You’re gonna be amazing.”

Right on cue, the lights dimmed, the massive LED screens lit up with the group’s logo, and a promotional teaser video played, showcasing their intense training and concept behind their debut.

You stood offstage with your group, your heart hammering in your chest as the intro to your group song began. You looked at your members and nodded, each of them silently reassuring the other. Together you all stepped into the spotlight, the stage exploding with sound.

The music started, and you moved effortlessly into position with your group, your heart racing but your movements steady. The debut stage was every bit of dazzling as you imagined: the flashing spotlights, the booming bass that seemed to shake the air, and the sea of glowing lights from fans cheering for them.

Your voice cut through the instrumental, smooth and powerful as you sang the first verse. Your dance steps were sharp yet fluid, your stage presence magnetic. You waited your whole life, and nothing could break your focus.

Until your eyes scanned the crowd.

In the middle of the second verse, you just got done with your line, staring into the camera. But out of curiosity, you looked down at the front row, your eyes naturally drawn to Jinx’s bright excitable movements. You smiled briefly before turning your gaze to the rest of the audience. That’s when you froze for the briefest of moments.

There, beside Jinx, hidden beneath a hoodie and cap was her.

Vi.

taglist : @lilttblog @alex-thegiraffeboyy @tobiotruther @krilara @snowbunnyboo @veladeangl @kl1q @maruiin

[hinge]

Hinge presents an anthology of love stories almost never told. Read more on https://no-ordinary-love.co

[fiveeven]

TikTok Ban: A Little Too Convenient?

The TikTok ban saga has been wild to watch unfold, but honestly, the closer you look, the more questions arise. Between members of Congress holding Meta stock and Facebook’s sudden interest in integrating TikTok accounts, it feels less like a genuine privacy concern and more like a potential power play. Let’s break this down.

Congress Loves Meta—And Hates TikTok Did you know that several members of Congress own Meta stock? A 2023 analysis revealed that lawmakers with financial interests in Meta, Alphabet, and Snap could stand to benefit if TikTok faces a U.S. ban. This raises potential conflicts of interest, especially when these same lawmakers are involved in crafting legislation that directly affects TikTok.

Meanwhile, Meta, despite its long history of privacy violations (remember Cambridge Analytica?), doesn’t seem to face the same scrutiny. It’s hard not to wonder why Congress is suddenly so concerned about user privacy when it comes to TikTok but continues to give Meta a pass.

Meta’s Sudden Interest in TikTok Integration With TikTok under threat of a U.S. ban, Facebook recently added features allowing TikTok users to link their accounts to their profiles. While this feature aligns with broader trends of social media integration, the timing feels a little too coincidental. It suggests a strategic move by Meta to retain users who might migrate away from TikTok or prepare for an influx of creators seeking alternative platforms.

Even If Trump “Saves” TikTok, I’m Not Buying It Let’s say Trump swoops in and “saves” TikTok at the last minute. I still have serious concerns about what that actually means. Trump is transactional—he doesn’t do anything unless it benefits him or his allies. If TikTok is “saved,” I can’t help but wonder:

Does it get sold—in name only—to a U.S. company like Meta, keeping the same issues but with a different logo?

Does it stick around but get neutered, suppressing content like other corporate-owned platforms?

Or does it become a tool for pushing American propaganda, especially with initiatives like Project 2025 on the horizon?

These are just questions, but I think they’re valid ones. If TikTok survives under Trump’s “protection,” it’s unlikely to remain the platform we know today.

Is This Really About Privacy? The ban is framed as a response to concerns over data privacy and national security, but critics argue it might be more about corporate competition and information control. TikTok’s algorithm has surpassed its competitors in engagement and reach, making it a significant threat to U.S.-based platforms like Meta.

It’s worth noting that many social media platforms collect similar levels of user data, and the difference often lies in who owns the company. In TikTok’s case, its ties to China have made it a target for U.S. lawmakers.

The Bigger Picture Regardless of what happens with TikTok, the implications of this ban extend far beyond one app. It sets a precedent for government control over digital platforms, raising questions about freedom of expression, competition, and corporate influence.

If we’re not questioning these decisions now, we risk handing over even more control to a small group of powerful entities—whether they’re corporations, governments, or both.

[guiltygearconfessions]

Submitting my thoughts as an Indian and Pakistani fan of GG, but I'm kinda disappointed that a lot of analysts who cover Zepp don't seem all too concerned with looking closely at aspects of South Asian culture and history or anything outside of India when it comes to Zepp. Yes it is Indian but you can't discuss India and just magically divorce it from shared cultural ties with Pakistan (and by extension Bangladesh, however I am not Bengali and thus can't speak much on it.) For example Gabriel's blue uniform is so clearly based on a veshti combined with the female air force uniform for Pakistan, or that Zepp's symbol is based on the Garuda Commando Forces logo- even the uniforms of said force match much closer to Zepp's uniforms than any stated "inspiration" I've seen. Hell even the slavery system within Zepp is a reflection that our countries still struggle with caste and class based slavery on a much larger scale (it's affected my own lower class family). This isn't even to mention Potemkin who seems much more tied to how Indo-Pak militarism, nationalism, and facism can affect areas like Kashmir. People are quick to call "German and Russian" influences but the only ones I remotely even observe as a brown person are literally just Pot and Gabriel's names. I dunno. It's just vexing to me. Like it's a country made by dissatisfied Indians post-crusades, so the idea that the old government was somehow less south asian is like. Weird to me. Like there's nothing to indicate that other than people conflating out architectural styles with Russian ones too. Like a lot of Zepp seems to resemble Rajasthani and Punjabi (both sides) architecture in particular but I'm just saddened knowing nobody will look that far into it simply because they might not have that same cultural attachment to it.

Side note I'm also not a fan of how Daisuke refuses to give names to Zeppian characters that match with their ethnic background. For every Leon Mining, Gabriel, and Potemkin, we could've gotten like... actual references to our rock and metal scene. Even "Zepp" as the country name dissatisfies me. Creators and fandoms have such a bad habit at making something or acknowledging something as "South Asian" and then refuse to elaborate on it beyond a few visuals. It feels gauche.

Something something the prevalence of ki not being touched upon for any of South Asia / Zepp by extension within GG is also a major annoyance when we share a lot of faith based aspects with regions like China and Japan.

This has been kinda long winded but holy shit fighting games really just annoy me sometimes with how they treat South Asia as a whole. I just feel it very strongly with GG in particular since Daisuke was very close to peak. So close. I will say he clearly put in a lot of effort that non-south asians probably wouldn't recognize at a first glance, but the smaller details surrounding Zepp and some of the assumptions made about Zepp fandom wise combine into a "nobody will get it like I do" situation.

It's genuinely very cool to see someone's perspective and analysis on it who has more experience and understanding than most western gamers. I appreciate you sharing!

[historia-vitae-magistras]

do you have any thoughts on prussia and Canada non romantically? I think they could have an interesting dynamic that’s way overshadowed by all the shipping in the fandom, like they were enemies at one point and i think Prussia would fear Canada bc Canadians had a reputation of being really strong on the battlefield in both world wars. I think they’re def chill w/ each other modern day though.

I understand if this just isn’t ur thing, just those two are making me think thoughts and I cannot find any non romantic content of them

this was all sparked by your fic where Matt and jack are captured by Gilbert and Ludwig btw, I really liked how you wrote the dialogue there. Also you mentioned they had interacted before, care to elaborate? 👀

Oh, man yeah. Idk what precisely about prucan makes me want to jump in a lake, but in my universe, Matt literally took or nearly took Gilbert's head off with an axe in 1918 to slow the German spring offensive so lol yeah. That was his little side quest during the whole 'Alfred was mad Jack and Zee moved back behind the lines without Matt' fic from a while back. A solid quarter of Matt's war crimes were directly against Gilbert and Ludwig personally.

With the whole invisible meme and how practically every man, woman and child in Quebec participated in extremely severe brutality against the Americans and British in the 17th and 18th centuries and then threw our war crimes record on top, it's just too perfect not to write him as a trench wraith. Other nations have limits. Europe may stay their hands personally often because they never know when they might need that ally later. But Matt's never held back in his life. He couldn't afford to when he was small, and crawling on his belly through no man's land was easy for him. Ghosting his way behind enemy lines, spitting skulls and slitting throats is nothing new for him. He did that as a child, the wee freak.

And Gilbert did, too. Knight, crusader, zealot whose hand was certainly not stayed. Mutual recognition of being so fucked up they can't spend much time with the other without being reminded of some USDA Grade-A beef. I fully adhere to the headcanons that Matt's a walking flashback for Gilbert in some circumstances. But they get along fine. It's incredibly funny to picture a 1,200-year-old war machine chatting with Alfred or Arthur and then absolutely jumping out of his skin because Matt appears out of nowhere wanting affection or is just interested in the conversation. The whole anglophone world has swallowed Alfred's or even Arthur's perspective about Matt being the milder, sweeter version of Alfred, but Gilbert's specific situational PTSD just sweating bullets gives me life. It's a kind of cruel, but Matt takes utterly too much pleasure in it.

As for before that point, the long 19th century of Anglo-German fuckery as Anglo-Saxonism and a largely German monarchy drew Britain into closer cultural ties among the elite of Germany and Prussia; Gilbert often found himself in Arthur's company. They fucked a lot, mutually griping about their children. Gilbert and Matthew met and saw each other, and I want to rewrite that ficlet where Gilbert isn't exactly clocking him when he really should be in my current timeline lol. The part from canon about how everyone sees Matt in his early life as being a menacing figure at Arthur's shoulder greatly appeals to me. The guard dog with the loyalty and obedience of the best of Arthur's hounds.

Like at least once in a group drinking setting, Francois' arse has caught and kept Arthur's attention and Matt and Gilbert find themselves at a table having a conversation and swapping stories that would have them both before the Hague if they were more recent. And they just vibe. Both men depend utterly on the goodwill of often testy and impatient brothers. There is a loneliness of having one neighbour that matches fairly well with having mostly neighbours who probably hate Gil's guts on some level and loving women who could kill them. This absolute canyon of difference in how Gilbert is relegated to the museum display case, and Matt is an active, dynamic part of the world political system that keeps them apart.

[nastr0nd]

Lmao welp, blocked by OP.

But I'll repost this because it does have some decent links I hope people will check out.

To clarify you agreed that the US is Islamophobic, but not that Israel and the US are dropping bombs on Arab nations?

And perhaps proxy state or vassal state would be a better term, even though in my personal opinion I lean more toward a puppet state, especially in regards to Israel's military. Regardless I will call it proxy state in this post for clarity.

And it's going to be a US-centric viewpoint, because the US provides Israel support to the tune of 3-6 billion per year, not including 2023 where it received around 17b* and 2024 where it received around 13b*.

I would note that these figures are approximations, as there is no public account of just how much total financial aid or military supplies have been provided to Israel for 2023 & 2024, since many of the transfers have been deliberately obfuscated by the Biden Administration.

And there is the caveat that Israel purchases military weapons from the US, but there is a carve out that 25% of the aid can be used by Israel for their own defense industry. No other country has this favorable term, where the US funds Israel defense from American taxpayer funds.

link: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-military-aid-for-israel-tops-17-9-billion-since-last-oct-7

Link: https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts

As well as the US law QME, for example per the 2008 law 110-429, the USA states

CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT RELATING TO ISRAEL’S QUALITATIVE MILITARY EDGE.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any certification relating to a proposed sale or export of defense articles or defense services under this section to any country in the Middle East other than Israel shall include a determination that the sale or export of the defense articles or defense services will not adversely affect Israel’s qualitative military edge over military threats to Israel.

Essentially Israel is to be the topdog of the region in regards to any weapons sales from the USA.

Link: https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts

The Republic of Korea mentioned in this law does not have that provision, interestingly, nor doe any other country.

The QME law has been reaffirmed with every president since LBJ in 1960s.

Going back further, there's an interesting paper called The Roots of the US-Israel Relationship: How the Cold War Tensions Played a Role in US Foreign Policy in the Middle East'.

Link: https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/670/

A fascinating read into US state policy in how originally in the 1950s the US tried financial incentives to Arab countries to prevent Soviet Union influence, essentially this was deemed a failure and state policy switched to Israel. The US would continue to recognize Israel as a sovereign nation on so long as Israel served greater US interests in the region. This was essentially the beginning of Israel being a proxy state for the US.

The 'Special Relationship' as JFK first coined has continued to present day, in an effort for the US to have a foothold in the middle east, to continue US interests in the region. Iran is a proxy for Russia in some similar ways and even China, though not in the same financial ballpark as the US. Regardless Iran is now the only large enough middle eastern country that could be seen as not servile to US interests in the region.

Hell, It's in the USA National Security Strategy of the United States Reports, that US continues it's ties to Israel for strategic benefit to maintain balance of power in the region.

Link: https://history.defense.gov/Historical-Sources/National-Security-Strategy/

I can go on and on provided articles, papers, books, etc for how Israel is very much a US-funded proxy state for US interests.

Even Israel understands it's a proxy for the USA and has been trying to decouple from the US in various attempts, most recently by forging closer ties with China in 2010s. Though the relationship has cooled significantly since the Oct. 7th attack.

One article for example, but there are many more.

Link: https://www.newsweek.com/china-israel-military-technology-beijing-jerusalem-saul-eisenberg-weapons-607117

[pokeprism]

Long Way Offshore

..... Wow. My first short story of the year had to be this one!

This story was written in two days, and was also written in a first person POV as a challenge to myself!

Also, this short story is 2,554 words long! The only applicable content warning is a description of someone's thoughts as they are drowning.

Questions, comments, and any concerns you might have go here!

The story itself is below the cut!

Well. It's no surprise I was found out! I corrected some bloke's pronounciation of my name, and that was it! What a way to blow my cover in the worst way possible... I honestly should have picked a code name that was distinct from Emil! But no, I had to be Emile for this voyage to my mission's rendezvous point! What a horrible tragedy for me!

Honestly, I should have been more worried for my lovely back home, miss Bellamiu. Even without her knowing the humiliating position I had found myself in, with both arms tied behind my back by the enemies I was supposed to be blending in with now escorting me to the edge of the ship, she was bound to be the most affected by my failure. As much as I drummed up my desire to be of national purpose, I mainly took this mission for miss Bellamiu. All she has besides myself are her pet cats, all of whom were gifts from me.

I'm now nearing the direct edge of this blasted ship, those who found me out were quick to get me here. We were already far enough away from the coast that keeping me contained and under watch to what would have been my rendezvous point would have been difficult considering the skeleton crew of sailors on this ship. However, the strangest thing to me went unnoticed by most of the crew: A storm on the horizon. A storm became more plainly viewable to me as I got closer and closer to that sheer wooden edge above the sea. Lightning, thunder, the smell of rain weighing heavy on the air, all of these factors pounded my mind as the captain of this ship cleared his throat to deliver a pathetic runt of an execution order, otherwise known as my own.

The captain himself was a pathetically short and stuffy white-haired man. Sure, a fancy hat and upper-class manner of speech as expected, but even in my casual conversation with the captain, this bloke reeked of bitterness at being only a captain. I don't even know how those bastards across the channel have their string of command labelled, but this puny captain was certainly hoping to be at a higher rank at least. Anyways, by the time I bothered listening in again, this captain was nearing the end of his long-winded order.

"... And so shall be the order to execute this enemy of the state." The captain said.

The man then turns to me, gaze fixed upon my face. "Any last words, enemy spy?"

With my heart pounding and the storm deafening me, I got out something fierce in my undirtied tongue. Something to the effect of "Get me off this ship then!", though even I could tell my utterance was not understood.

There was a pause in the moments after my bungled exclamation. My heart, still pounding from the oncoming onslaught of the storm, managed to get my next words in the enemies' unwashed tongue out within the next moment: "Well then execute me already, you cowards!"

That message got through to them. I was unable to see the crew's reactions, seeing as I was facing towards the sea, but the captain clearly stammered in his response. "W-Well alright then, lads! Throw this traitor out!"

The shove from behind came quickly, and with more force put towards my upper body than my lower body, leading me tumble forward in the air on the way down.

The mathematical end of my brain thought that I had only fallen for a few seconds, but in so many words, it felt longer than that puny number of moments. Time seemed to slow enough that I remembered to take a breath before making contact with the cold, disjointed embrace of sea. With my hands tied behind my back and no other hope of survival, I might as well take a moment to admire the ocean before losing it all, right? After reopening my eyes beneath the waves and the intermingling of air and sea had cleared up, I immediately noticed the muffled sound of the storm from below the waves. Certainly calming, at least as compared to how the storm was deafening me on the deck just moments before. A branch of lightning streaked across the sky above the sea, with the water directly above me hiding the intensity of the flash to my eyes. The thunder, muffled from the depth I was at in the water at this point, shortly followed. And then, still having held onto my breath from earlier without struggling to breathe in this moment, heard a strange voice from the edge of my senses. In the moment, it sounded like a distant greeting, but in a tongue I definitely couldn't name, especially not with the impossibility of clearly hearing speech underwater. Now panicked at the thought that either some eldritch thing was around me and or I was losing my mind to the grip of death, I wordlessly whirled around to the best of my ability in my attempt to scan the depths around me. In short, it didn't work, seeing as my upper limbs were still bound to themselves via the fishing line they were tied up with, and only seemed to succeed in exerting more energy I would have wanted to. The voice from before quickly re-voiced its same greeting from a moment ago, this time much closer. It was in this moment that I could feel my senses begin to more noticeably slip, and with my increasing panic, I closed my eyes as I resisted my final breath's desire to escape. I faintly heard the odd voice yet again, just below me in that moment, another similar voice answered the first voice. I felt a gentle grip pull be further into the depths, but I was too weak to even flinch in that moment. My thoughts drifted back home, to Bellamiu, and her cats, and the hope that she was happy or at least safe...

Quiet, somehow rhythmic nothingness was all I could hear for a spell... Something resembling a heartbeat per se, but like a greeting from behind a closed window. And then light! Light! At the bottom of the wet, unforgiving sea that had just claimed me...! But this light wasn't like the sun I knew, it was blue, and green, and had a pulse like the veiled rhythmic nothingness I had mentioned before, but louder, brighter, and seemingly taking an interest in me as it drew closer to where I could see it within my grasp. I attempted to speak, but my mouth had a quiet finger put to its lips. I felt like I was underwater yet again, but with no threat of drowning or crushing sensation. Calm... Unlike what the preamble to my death had been.

I attempted to speak again. I was quickly silenced as I felt the warm embrace of this light, clearly now in a form resembling a young person of my age, but not nearly as human. This mass of light had clearly smiled at me, and pulled me in for a hug, but well... I was not prepared for an impromptu embrace becoming a long, wordless kiss. It felt like Bellamiu's face on mine, and after a moment of hesitation, I gave into my desire to re-close my eyes to enjoy this kiss from my far-away lover...

I then awoke with a gasp, having thought I was about to lose my breath to another one of my lovely's kisses. I couldn't see anything seeing as something scratchy and opaque was over my head and lightly tied around my neck, and I yet again had my arms tied behind my back, but this time around a chair of some sort that wasn't easily moving.

I took a moment to catch my breath. I was breathing again, at least. I chuckled at the thought myself before hearing a similar chuckle from ahead of me. It was clear I had company.

"Who is here?!" I shouted, shakily. Something was off about the air quality...

A boisterous voice answered back. "Oh! Well, good morning mister sunny!"

The speaker spoke my own tongue without any scruples.

I was about to ask for context when a softer voice, one distinct from the first speaker and also speaking my language with no difficulty, revealed they were one step ahead of me.

"We are not here to hurt you, stranger." The softer voice added. "We just need to brief you on some things."

"Well, like what?" I plainly answered. "It's clear I'm not going anywhere until one of you frees me."

The more boisterous voice spoke up again. "In that case, shall I start explaining what happened to this chap, my lovely?"

I was initially confused as to who the lovely in question was before my mind pivoted to the other voice in the room.

"Of course, starlight." the other voice answered. "This guy ought to know..."

The more boisterous speaker made an utterance that came off as an acknowledgement of the other speaker's statement before carrying on speaking themself. "Well, you do remember getting tossed into the sea, yes?"

I rolled my eyes under the uncomfortable mask that was on my head. "Oh yes, of course, the event that was certain to spell my doom that was simultaneously the preamble to the most horrifying thing I've been through."

With the admission from the gentler voice and the fact I was talking to something more than a brick wall, I had no reason in the world to think I was being lied to nor lie myself. Even with my undercover spy status, I'd think honestly would get me the furthest in this discussion. With some more thought, my crude honesty was what spelled my demise, ha ha...

The gentler speaker seemed to take note of flippancy of my previous statement. "Well, the part that is central is that we got you away from your enemies and stopped you from drowning to death..."

"I suppose that's good for me." I reply.

The more boisterous speaker speaks again. "Indeed it is! I was the one who made the drowning process stop!"

"..... And I was the one who located you, Emil." the gentler voice adds.

A brief silence entered the room as I processed the statements that were just uttered.

"So I gather that you both gathered my name? And also my frail human nature?"

Yet again, another pause in the chat us three were having.

The first to speak again was the gentler voice. "... Yes indeed. Us both knowing your name is a longer story than I ought to dig into for now, and well..."

"I'd think you'd understand that us getting you out of danger might of changed some things." The boisterous voice mentions.

"Well, what would my survival change in this moment? I'm a found out spy who's presumed dead, far away from home, and have no way of knowing how to get back. What more is there to do?" I answer, awaiting a response.

The gentler voice breathes a large sigh. "That's the thing. We got you to a place where you can resume your life, even with the set back of failing your mission, whatever that means."

"And?" I asked again. "What would that mean for me?"

I heard an impatient sigh from the more boisterous voice before they addressed me again, but much closer to me this time. "Well, let me demonstrate, Emil."

I felt the string around my neck loosen before what turned out to be an old flour sack was yanked off my head from above. After allowing my vision to readjust to the brighter light level, I saw the space we were all currently in, that in combination with who I was speaking with in full detail for the first time.

The space we were inhabiting was small, craggy, and clearly a partially drowned cave complete with stalagmites protruding from the floor. To my direct left was an opening in this chamber that lead out to the open ocean, and thus was the main reason this cavern was well lit by the dappled sunlight from above.

Slightly ahead of me and to my left was the more boisterous voice that had yanked the flour sack off of my head. Very clearly possessing a womanly form from her face to her waist, with unkempt brown hair of a moderate length, some freckles scattered throughout her complexion, and wearing a worn down fabric covering over her chest area. Oh yes, this speaker was also tentacled from the waist down, and said tentacles were clearly reddish purple, much like a beet, even with the blueish hue of the water. I didn't get a good read on what color her eyes were, but it wasn't made clear to me in that moment...

I heard a slight utterance from the gentler speaker and instinctively looked to my right. I was still firmly tied to the chair I mentioned earlier, seeing as all the tentacled woman did was remove the flour sack from my head and I didn't feel like struggling against my bondage.

As I soon found upon looking in the direction of their utterance, the gentler speaker was a textbook mermaid, wearing a similar chest covering to her lovely, but with long navy blue hair that obscured her eyes, and a teal fish tail from her waist down. This gentler speaker was noticeably paler than her tentacled lovely, but also lacked any freckles.

Soon after I looked in her direction, the mermaid came forward to speak. "... We have several matters to discuss. But first-"

I interrupted. I was too curious. "Your names, please?"

The mermaid paused, then shook her head as to get something off of her mind. "I'm Loria, an oceanic maiden of knowledge for knowledge's sake."

Loria's tentacled companion drifted back into my vision as she answered. "I'm Zaria, Loria's starlight and resident sea witch!"

Zaria then turned to Loria with a question at the ready. "Also, Loria, why aren't we letting Emil ask some questions? We've been rather inconsiderate in that measure!"

Loria quickly nodded. "Fair point!" Loria then turned back to me. "In that case! Emil, what is your most pressing question for now?"

It was now my turn to ponder. So I did, in a near perfect silence. Loria and Zaria patiently awaited, even with my suspicions that Loria was reading into what I was thinking more clearly than Zaria.

I bumbled into a somewhat concerning thought as I pondered, so as soon as my words were settled, I spoke as plainly as I could.

"How am I speaking with both of you?"

Zaria began to twirl her hand before she was about to speak, but Loria's statement quickly silenced Zaria's.

"You are now a triton, Emil." Loria looked away from my face. "It was the only way to spare your life..." Her following statement dripped with dismay.

Zaria nervously gripped her left arm with her right hand. She also was avoiding my gaze.

I... Saw nothing wrong with this change. I was alive, and all I had to do was adjust to this new form, right? As soon as I had that thought, Loria's face lit up with hope.

[sflow-er]

This was a great read with insightful points, thank you OP!

I hope you don't mind me adding some (slightly tangential) thoughts.

About reinforcing a tired stereotype

To quote my own post from a little while ago, being extreme sauna lovers is indeed a stereotype, but it isn't one that Finns at large find offensive. Even those who don't actually enjoy the sauna acknowledge it as a pillar of Finnish culture and tradition. It's where babies used to be born and bodies washed for burial, where ailments were healed and the toils of the week washed away. "The best remedy for the body and soul" as it says in the song.

There was indeed a bit of concern in the air early on, as in the HBL opinion peace linked by OP. In a more recent article in the same paper, the head of Finlandsinstitutet i Stockholm took a more positive view on the impact on both both finlandssvenskar in Finland and sverigefinnar in Sweden. She said that by embracing the national stereotype on the big stage, KAJ were basically showing that the Swedish-speaking minority who are often stereotyped as snobby elites in Finland are not that different from the Finnish-speaking majority and uplifting them. Meanwhile, many people living in Sweden who have Finnish ancestry find the piece nostalgic and relatable.

I'm sure both can be true at the same time, as it's very personal how the stereotyping affects each individual person! But like OP, I too have seen positive comments far outweigh the negative ones.

The truly negative stereotype of Finns in Sweden would indeed involve heavy drinking and violence, for the reasons commendably laid out in OP's previous post. I would also argue that Bara bada bastu might feel at least a tad bit offensive if it was made and performed by an entirely Swedish group with no ties to Finland. That's the thing about stereotypes in general. The people they concern can lean into them, but people from the outside should be very careful. See for example the interval act put on by the Swedish organisation last year, combining the sauna with Moomins and fake national dresses (featuring tacky Finnish flags in sequins).

If you want to read more, there was a non-KAJ thread a while back where some Finns discussed these types of tensions in our relationship to Sweden. My own reblog focused on the stereotype of finlandssvenskar in Finland and our national bitterness, but there was also a reblog chain about the condescension from Swedes towards Finnish culture (with last year's ESC as an illuminating example).

About how the current state of the world factors in

I don't really want to get too deep into politics here, but I feel like everything that's happened since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has also sparked some changes in Finns' attitudes towards Sweden.

In a survey conducted in 2023, 69% of respondents said their view of Sweden was positive or very positive and 25% said it was neutral (so only 6% were negative). As many as 74% believed Finland and Sweden had become closer since Russia invaded Ukraine; only 10% didn't think so while the rest weren't sure.

In the current state of the world, it feels important to know who your friends are. Sweden may be our rival in sports and music, but in the real world, they are our friend (which they proved in WWII by sending the most aid out of any country and taking in 72,000 of our 80,000 'war children'). Now, they are also our military ally since both our governments decided to abandon neutrality and join NATO together. Regardless of how you feel about NATO or certain countries in it (and believe me, I feel conflicted), that decision did establish a concrete alliance between us and our other Nordic and Baltic neighbours. This is not without its symbolic significance.

Anyway, that's already a big sidebar, but I really appreciate that we are having these kinds of broader discussions! Especially as KAJ themselves have said that they feel like they are representing the brotherhood between Finland and Sweden in Europe.

There is also another aspect that people outside of Finland may not be as aware of: the concept of Sauna diplomacy. It used to be common for our presidents, governments and other representatives to take their foreign counterparts or even parties in a serious conflict into the sauna and try to bond, pitch policy, or mediate there. (E.g. Nobel peace prize winner and former president Martti Ahtisaari is said to have successfully used this approach in both Africa and Asia.)

Is it silly to draw a line from actual diplomatic efforts to a comedy group performing a catchy sauna song with a fun choreography in a song contest? Yes, absolutely! But the sauna diplomacy is also part of the Finnish national narrative, and you wouldn't believe how many comments I saw after Melodifestivalen, saying KAJ were bringing it back. Of course those weren't completely serious, but many people do seem to think that now is the right time to bara bada bastu with Sweden and the rest of Europe.

Hi! I was reading your post about finnish swedish relations and i was wondering, you mentioned the negative imagine of finland that some swedes hold and low self esteem, and KAJ competing for sweden instead of finland, have you noticed some finnish people being like. maybe irked? that the song is almost stereotypical finnish (like sauna, the ei saa peittää which i understood to be a thing written on radiators??) and then that song be performed and maybe ingraining the stereotype of finland in sweden? or is it mostly happy vibes? i hope you understand my question, i’m simply fascinated by the nordic countries relationships to each other!

Hi, thank you for the ask!

It's mostly just happy vibes, at least as far as I've seen, but there are a few counter-exemples as well. 

There was one article (with a humorous tone, but still) that pointed out that the song reinforces some stereotypes that can be tiresome for Finns living in Sweden, and I've seen the same sentiment once or twice in comment sections, but the critical comments tend to disappear in a sea of people who absolutely love the song.

The rest of the answer is very long so it's going under the cut. The role of the underdog narrative is the most interesting aspect in my opinion, you'll find that at the very end.

I think the main reason people don't mind the stereotypes about Finland is that the general vibe of the song is so fun and inclusive. The negative stereotypes about Finland in Sweden would be things like knife fights and heavy drinking, but there is nothing like that in Bara Bada Bastu, not even a cold beer after the sauna, so they are playing it very safe. 

I've seen people speculate about which parts of the song originated with KAJ and which parts with the Swedish songwriters and everyone seems to agree the Finnish words originated with the Swedes, because the words are hand-picked to be words that a Swedish person will understand, as opposed to words that are commonly used in Finland-Swedish. "Ei saa peittää" is something of a meme in Sweden, but there is nothing offensive about it, the joke is that this is the only thing Swedish people know how to say in Finnish.

As for the Finns they are just happy to have parts where they can sing along without stumbling on foreign words. Leaning into the stereotypes a bit here, but many Finns really appreciate the simple pleasure of screaming "Perkele!" in a crowd, there is just something cathartic about it.  

Which leads to the question: where are the people who are usually obsessed with beating Sweden in every game and competition on the surface of the earth? Shouldn't they be annoyed that a Finnish band sent this banger of a song to Sweden instead of Finland? 

I've seen a few people say KAJ should have sent the song to UMK, but they usually get a lot of pushback from others who point out all the reasons that wouldn't have worked, and more or less everyone seems to root for KAJ regardless. 

I think there are a few reasons for this. The most obvious one is that they see KAJ as a second Finnish entry, so if KAJ were to win Eurovision it would be a Swedish victory on paper but it would also be a Finnish win. Sweden would pay the bill for hosting while Finland would still get to bask in the glory. The logic is a little twisted but I've seen this take a lot.

There are other reasons as well, maybe more interesting ones. One is that the resentment against Sweden is getting weaker with every passing decade. Finland has been getting a lot of positive attention lately, both in Sweden and internationally, and it's hard to hold on to your resentment when everyone is showering you with praise. As Mikko Silvennoinen said: "In Finland we like to score points against the Swedes, and in return they send us only love. It's disarming."

There is also a generational gap. Young people in Sweden generally only have positive things to say about Finland and they associate the negative image of Finland mostly with their grand-parents. Similarly, young people in Finland don't expect any negative reactions to their nationality the way earlier generations might have. Their opinions on Sweden vary quite a lot, from very negative to very positive and everything in between, but the old defensiveness is more or less gone, at least that's the impression I'm getting. They will get uncomfortable if you start speaking Swedish to them, but who wouldn't get uncomfortable when suddenly expected to speak a foreign language?  

Another reason for the Finnish hype around KAJ is the underdog narrative. I actually think this is quite an important part, even more so for the people who like to dunk on Sweden, because the underdog story is at least half of the appeal of the whole Sweden-Finland narrative. 

Of course Finland hasn't been an underdog in Eurovision for a while (the real underdogs are countries like Montenegro, Albania, San Marino...) but Finnish people hold on to the narrative, because the idea of punching above their weight and overcoming the odds is a foundational story in Finland. And that story needs a villain, which is where Sweden usually comes in. 

At the beginning of the season many thought that former Eurovision winner Måns Zelmerlöw was guaranteed to win Melfest and that he might do a Loreen and win Eurovision for Sweden again. KAJ on the other hand was dead last in the odds when the participants were first announced. Seeing this Finnish band come out of nowhere and grab the win is the kind of story that is irresistable to many Finnish people.

Sweden is often given the role of the "privileged elite" in different scenarios involving Finland (sorry Swedes, I know this is unfair!), and in Melfest this popular narrative played out on a smaller scale, with Måns Zelmerlöw cast as the "privileged Swedish elite" and KAJ cast as the "charming Finnish underdog". So resentment against Sweden made people love KAJ more, not less.    

Anyway... that was a very long answer to a simple question. I guess this became an excuse to ramble about things that didn't fit in the original post.

It's also entirely possible that there is a backlash against KAJ that I'm not aware of. I don't actually live in Finland, or Sweden for that matter, I've been a French citizen for over ten years. I think seeing all of this from a distance is one of the reasons I find it so fascinating, but it also means I could be missing a lot of stuff.  

[writingintheshadowsforever]

Imagine being Namor's Wife and and stopping him from killing Queen Ramonda

Side Note: After Black Panther Wakanda Forever first came out someone posted. This fic idea saying someone should write it I was kind of inspired by never got around to it. Well here it is and to the original person who came up with it. I hope you enjoy.

Italics is english translation.

No one had seen where you come from. One minute it was the thick glass window between Namor and Queen Ramonda with the two locked into an intense staring contest.

Namor eyes filled with anger as his gaze turned to the young girl.

Queen Ramonda refused to back down reaching out a hand to move Riri behind her. Hiding the young girl from his prying eyes.

The action just fuel his burning desire for revenge and war even more. Namor let out a raging cry bringing his spare up, and Queen Ramonda stood her ground watching him preparing to stab through the window. She was confident the glass would hold and even if it didn't. The King of Talokan would still have to strike her down first before she let him touch the girl.

The spear was getting closer and closer to her face and then Namor paused his attack. The tip of his weapon resting inches from your nose as you stood before him arms crossed with a raised eyebrow.

"In yukanj" He whispered in surprise his eyes softening at your sudden appearance.

"Yes my love its me your lovely wife who entrusted you with one simple task. One that you promised me you could handle alone while I went off to lead the Americans astray to buy us more time." You scolded him shaking your head in disappointment. You wanted to be surprised by your husband's actions, but unfortunately you couldn't be. His hatred for mankind and the surface world had always been insatiable. It was your patience, his love and respect for you that kept those intrusive thoughts of invading world on land at bay.

You always hoped overtime maybe Namor would gain a new perspective on humans. But you should've known it was never going to happen especially with. The lack of sympathy after the events of Thanos invading Earth. Talokan had been affected by the snap as well, and you wanted to join the fight. Namor insisted that both of you stay out of it as it was a surface world problem. You should've seen all this coming your heart clenched at the sight of. All the destruction your husband and the Talokan's army had brought upon Wakanda.

It wasn't right. Countless lives lost for no reason. The murderous look you sent towards Namora and Attuma had both Generals cowering in fear. They called off the rest of the army and disappeared in the depths of the ocean without a word. You were going to deal with them later.

"Invadieron k otoch in yaakunaj kíins juntúul u le nuestros." He explained lowering his spear back to his side. They invaded our home my love killed one of our own.

Ti' ka' ta wuk'aj u princesa. Le k'áate' paal le Reina yéetel le ts'o'ok u internet ichil k'i'ik'el." You argued back pointing a finger over your shoulder at the woman behind you. After you took their Princess. The Queen's only child and the last of her bloodline.

Namor frowned. "Bix a wojel tales ba'alo'ob?" How do you know such things?

"Querías u Wakanda ka Talokan u convirtieran ti' aliados ti', máasima'. Tin tukultaj u sería útil mantener k'iin yéetel." You wanted Wakanda and Talokan to become allies right. I thought it would be helpful to stay up to date on information.

Namor scoffed earning a raised eyebrow at you. He hovered around you to land on the platform as well. "Wa k meentik u sometan ta To'one', Talokan yaan u sukbenilo'ob asab poderosa ti' le yóok'ol kaaba'. U yaalab le yóok'ol kaaba' le superficie caerá le kan k'iin." If we make them submit to us Talokan will be the most powerful nation in the world. The rest of the surface world will fall when the day comes.

A loud clapping noise filled the air and even the Wakandans heard it. As well as they witnessed your hand come up to smack Namor across the face. The stinging slap had his left cheek turning red.

His head snapped to the side from the force of it, and you waited for him to turn back to you with guilt in his eyes.

"Ku suponía u debías negociar jump'éel tratado Jets' óolal yéetel leti'ob. Utia'al u pudieran wáantik ti' le estadounidenses alejados ti' k wotoch. Tu cambio ta meentaj jump'éel rabieta bey juntúul chan xi'ipal petulante ka u negaron ceder." You were supposed to negotiate a peace treaty with them. So they could help keep the Americans away from our home. Instead you threw a tantrum like a petulant child when they refused to yield.

"In yakunaj" He pleaded with you.

"No Namor we talked about this" You said backing him away from him to run a hand through your wet hair. Your eyes drifted to the people standing before you. All of them regarded you with wonder and suspicion. The damage your husband caused wasn't beyond repair, but it was going to take a lot. For starters he had to be on the same page as you.

You went over to him to cup his face between your hands lifting his face back up. "Wakanda ka Talokan serán imparables wa k unimos bey juntúul chéen, ba'ale' ma' u páajtal meentik jump'éel alianza ichil le desconfianza yéetel le odio. Yaan k k'aax le bey chíikbesik." Wakanda and Talokan will be unstoppable if we come together as one, but you can't build an alliance off the back of distrust and hatred. We have to treat them as our own.

Namor closed his eyes and sighed "I'm sorry."

"You need to tell them that" You instructed nodding your head in the Queen's direction.

You took a step back watching as Namor turned to face Queen Ramonda, her daughter Shuri, and their guards. He laid his spear down on the platform and backed away placing the palms of his hands together and curling his fingers in.

Inside The Palace

Shuri reached out grasping her mother's arm. "I think he is surrendering."

"How can we be sure? Who is the woman?" Queen Ramonda questioned.

"The woman is his wife. He told she wanted peace between Talokan and Wakanda." Shuri explained meeting your soft eyes that seem to bore into her soul inviting her into your own world. She felt as if she could trust you.

You gave her a small apologetic smile and followed suit with giving her Talokan greeting.

"What does that mean?" Nakia asked this time a bit unsure.

"She's saying hello and maybe sorry at the same time. She wants to talk and I think we should listen." Shuri told them.

"I don't think that would be a wise idea" M'Baku voiced his concern.

Queen Ramonda watched as Namor stood by your side with his weapon still at his feet. Gone was the hatred in his eyes replaced now with shame as he barely met her gaze. You had that effect on him. If you were anything like your husband. She could possibly be injured or even worse dead by now.

"We will hear them out" She announced.

Everyone in the throne room let out collective gasps expect Shuri.

"Just one more question though" Okoye started waiting till Shuri turned to her.

"Where has she been all this time?"

[senqv]

IMPÉRIALISTE.

genshin impact ! royal au ( part i ) featuring : kaeya , diluc x gn! reader ( separate ) .

warning(s) : near death experience , suicide joke idk (it’s not that bad 😨😨) , slightly suggestive?? ish?? (nothing explicit), arranged marriage . lmk if there are more !

kaeya alberich !

— the adopted son of the previous duke ragnvindr.

the night was seemingly perfect, the cool wind blowing gentle kisses onto your cheeks. your eyelids flutter against your skin as you muse the constellations, knowing each of them by heart.

keyword: seemingly. you hear a light whistle, a crease making its way between your brows at the familiar sound. you turn your head sharply, and sauntering towards you was the culprit in all his glory; kaeya alberich of house ragnivindr.

even you don’t know how you manage to grasp the attention of the aristocracy’s famed bachelor, the adopted son of the late duke crepus ragnvindr and rumoured to have ties to the marred nation of khaenri’ah.

this attention was unwanted.

… is what you’d like to tell yourself. but it was nice, when kaeya would grasp your hands and drag you to a field of flowers he discovered; or when he would listen to you ruminate about literature, plants, art, history — nearly everything.

it was nice.

“i still don’t understand why you like this place so much,” he wrinkles up his perfect nose and sighs as he makes his way towards the marble ledge you were sitting on. “there are many reasons,” you say, turning back towards the garden right below. “i, for one, adore this place because you never know when you will drop off and fall to your death,” your lips curve upwards into a saccharine smile, as you lean forward to feint a fall.

“very funny,” he says, with a slight look of concern. oh, this was rare. slender fingers creeping to grab yours. you startle slightly, but you don’t oppose the cold hand resting atop yours.

you made a disgusted face, “let go,” he hums, amused, but doesn’t remove his hand from yours. your mouth drops open as you let out a huff of air. then came the playful bantering, which was very safe considering the fact that you were shoving and hitting him on the chest gently while dangling precariously on a ledge.

nope. not safe. maybe the universe really hated you today.

a shriek forces it’s way out of your lungs as you slip off the cold marble, falling to your untimely death.

but no — kaeya grabs your hand before you can fall into the shrub of roses below; the tightest he has ever held them. a wave of silence pass through the both of you, and you are sure you both can hear the thunderous drumming of your heart. after you were sure that you were not yet going to die today, you meet his blue eyes, dark as liquid night.

and you see the small curve of his lips.

“kaeya alberich, for the love of god, do not let go,” you seethe, a ferocious glare forming onto your marble statue-like features. his grin widens. you know he is playing with you, but when your feet are hanging in the air and the only thing making sure you won’t fall is his hand, it’s not all that funny.

to you, at least, because the sapphire haired man has a shit eating grin spread across his face, and yet the grip he has on your hand is tighter than ever. kaeya knew, he would never let you go.

“please,” you almost sob. and it’s funny how fast he hoists you up and envelops his arms around your body. maybe his hands were cold, but his body filled you with an inexpressible warmth.

“‘m sorry,” kaeya says sheepishly, but your ears can barely pick up any sound over the thumping of your heart. and it was not due to fear this time. carefully, you placed your head closer to his heart, and the quick vibrations you hear tells you that the blue haired man is perhaps much more affected than his nonchalant actions would say otherwise.

you look up at him with a cheeky grin, and he smiles back, red dusted on his cheeks. it was barely noticeable, and you were sure it would be if not for the moonlight illuminating his every feature.

“falling for me already?” he teased, before gently setting you down on the ledge again, his hands placed securely around your waist.

“oh, you wish.”

diluc ragnvindr !

— grand duke of house ragnvindr.

diluc was pushed into his role at a very young age, following the untimely death of his father.

he was all but incapable — strong, intelligent; managing the winery and land at a young age. but this… situation that he was currently in had him doubting his management skills.

it’s you. you were the situation.

his father, crepus, left him a will before he died, and in which included a contract formed by him long ago. it’s contents suggesting that one of his sons will take you, the firstborn child of your family, as a spouse. but.. your carefree and wild attitude was much unlike any other lady in the aristocracy. it baffled diluc. while he expected a demure and refined lady like the ones he was used to meeting, diluc can’t say he isn’t shocked by you. you and your flowing hair and gleaming eyes. you who wears whatever you wish, unapologetically. you who mounts the horses better than men and calls out loudly whoever looks down upon you.

diluc wouldn’t have minded, he thinks, if you had not come and bothered him at work almost everyday. he must be going crazy, and now his mind is all filled with you, you, and only you.

“oh, do not look so disheartened, dear husband,” you pout, exaggerating a sigh that could probably blow some of the powdered wigs that the fontainean aristocrats wore off their heads. diluc gives you an exasperated glower as you lick the remaining bits of icing from your desert off your fingers, perched on his desk.

“you’re interrupting my work.” he says, after a while, leaning back into his plush chair and massaging his temples. “diluc,” he looks up immediately at the sound of your voice, cocking his head to the side. “diluc, don’t lie. i know you like spending time with me,” you smile, little fangs peeking out of your lips. diluc feels the hot blush flash across his face, his eyes narrowing. “you—“ he stands up and you quickly hop off the table, the room reverberating with your laughter. “uh-oh, touchy,” you back up as diluc makes his way towards you, but both yours and his face are anything but scared or angry.

you squeal as he hoists you up with almost no effort (thanks to his training with the claymore; his arms are very muscular, you note), sitting you down on his desk, his lithe fingers never leaving your waist. he sighs, “i don’t know what im going to do with you.”

“more like you don’t know what you’re going to do without me,” you shoot back playfully. but he knows that you’re right. he knows that he cannot stop thinking about you because he loves you. and this love was one that did not need to be said, but felt with every breathe and and connection; this love you will not hear or see, but you will know of.

a small whisper of your name turns your attention back on him. and oh god, you love the way he says your name, how he pronounces every syllable like it is something sacred. in some regions they say you have a difficult name, but the way he says your name is perfect. your hands slide over the skin on his neck, tracing his jawline and finally cupping his cheeks. you let out a lofty sigh at the way he leans into your palm, your touch. and when he kisses you, it’s gentle and playful, tipping his head back like he’s drunk off the feel of you. just let him savour you for a little while, and in the light of mond’s dawning, there are only the two of you, as it will be for a long time.

06. 17. 22.

part ii : soon

[wipethetape]

your relationship with charlotte

Charlotte Field x Designer!Reader

A/N: headcanons for my president. might create rusty oneshots in the future. do i have a thing with successful women who can be my boss? definitely yes no

Charlotte is the first female president and you are the lucky first lady of the first female president.

You tied the knots when Charlotte won her presidency. But the press and public already know about your relationship because of the rumors going around before she announced her campaign for presidency. The rumors about a renowned designer that was seen hanging out with the press secretary for months.

This was fueled when Charlotte thanked you on national television during one of her interviews for the dress you exclusively designed for her at the event she attended together with the prime minister of Canada. Your faces were headlines of the news for weeks, gaining a mixed reaction from the press.

As opposed to what the media thinks, Charlotte was simply a muse for your design when the gossip sparked. Sure, the very reason you offered to design for her was because you admired her, but you knew nothing can go on beyond that. You believe that a woman like her would prefer males like the prime minister she was rumored to be with.

Oh how wrong you were to assume that. Charlotte approached you first, and she fell for you the moment your eyes met during one formal event. She knows who you are and she's a huge sucker for your designs. She even tried inputting the idea to the president before that he lets you tailor his suits so he would also get the press secretary a dress from you.

She made sure she led you to the idea of offering her to be your muse, which materialized when you asked her to come to your studio and check the designs you drew for her.

You became closer after the acknowledgement she had done on TV, and since the media already thinks you are together, then why not make it true?

You pursue her and tell her straightforwardly that you like her very much and that you are willing to wait for her to become the president (you already claimed it) before marrying her, that is if she wishes to be with you. She only laughed for a good one minute before saying "Just ruin this dress you made, fuck me from behind and choke me a little bit."

After the announcement of her candidacy, she ordered Maggie to also release the news of the both of you dating. Maggie was against it at first, but Charlotte said that it was better that the story came from her than from the president who was waiting for an opportunity to get back at her.

It seemed to be a bad idea because of the reaction it garnered, but when the poll results were released, Charlotte's ratings increased. 

The engagement was crazy. The ratings continue to increase as Charlotte continues her environmental initiatives and participates in events that would be favorable for her candidacy. 

The other engagement (the asking of hand in marriage) happened on the Pride Parade. You were so nervous about finding the perfect timing. Charlotte has no idea of what you were planning, just purely enjoying the moment with you not minding the cameras. 

When you asked the billion-dollar question, everyone cheered and waved their flags for the both of you. You hated public proposals, but you were sure that Charlotte would say yes because weeks prior to the parade, she was teasing you about a marriage and a ring. 

Charlotte was about to kiss you in the middle of receiving 'congratulations' everywhere when you put a finger on her lips, much to her dismay. You held her hand and pulled her in front of the homophobic protesters, then gave them a show they would never forget. 

The parade was an entire bliss, everyone congratulated your new engagement, and you were both once again the talk of the country for the remarkable public display of affection, and your decision to hold a discount sale and giveaways of your designs as a token of appreciation for the people who supported your relationship with Charlotte. 

[qqueenofhades]

Okay, I’ve read Joe Biden’s plans.

I’ve just sat down and spent several hours actually reading all the damn plans on his website, the whole thing, so you don’t have to. And here’s the conclusion:

They’re pretty good.

Are they absolutely everything we want immediately? Maybe not. Are they a solid Democratic agenda anyway? Yes they are. Are they better than Trump?

Light years!

His Violence Against Women plan is lengthy, detailed, and pays specific attention to violence against Native, lesbian and bisexual, low-income, disabled, rural, transgender (especially trans women of color) immigrant, domestic abuse victims, and other vulnerable women. He calls for replacing and expanding Obama-era policies and funding for campus sexual assault programs that DeVos trashed, and for providing money for culturally specific services that are sensitive to the diverse backgrounds of survivors. He also notes that sexual assault, while it predominantly affects women and girls, needs to be taken seriously and addressed for people of all gender identities.

His gun safety plan is forceful and lays out several steps for banning assault weapons, taking existing weapons from offenders, closing gun purchase background check and other legal loopholes, addressing the intersection between domestic violence and weapons ownership, and reducing or eliminating weapons and ammunition stockpiling.

His plan for tackling climate change and creating green jobs is also lengthy. He makes the connection between economic, environmental, and racial justice. He pledges to immediately rejoin the Paris Agreement and restore American leadership on the issue in pushing for even stronger climate standards, make climate change a central part of our trade, international, and justice goals, demand a worldwide ban on fossil fuel subsidies and tax breaks (!!!) and if the Green New Deal is passed, to sign it, as well as for the U.S. to achieve 100% clean energy and zero percent net emissions by 2050.

His healthcare plan is decent. It offers an immediate public option for all Americans regardless of private, employer, or no coverage, and generous new tax credits to put toward the cost of coverage. It strongly protects abortion rights and federal funding for Planned Parenthood, as well as rescinding the “gag rule” that prevents U.S. federal aid money from being used to provide or even talk about abortions in NGOs abroad. It attacks generic and drug price gouging. It calls for doubling the capital gains tax on the super-wealthy (from 20% to 39.5% paid on capital gains by anyone making over $1 million) to help fund healthcare reform. He also has a separate plan on the opioid crisis in America, and on older Americans and retirement, including the protection and re-funding of Medicare and Social Security.

His immigration plan is lengthy and detailed. He apologizes for and acknowledges the excessive deportation that occured during the Obama-Biden administrations, pledges to do better, and attacks Trump’s current inhumane acitivities on every front. The policy of children in cages, indefinite detention, the metered asylum system, and the Muslim Ban are gone on day one. In this and his LGBTQ plan, he notes the vulnerability of LGBTQ refugees, incuding LGBTQ refugees of color. He proposes streamlining of visa applications and prioritizing the immediate reunification of families. It also specifically states that ICE and CBP agents will be held directly accountable for inhumane treatment.

Speaking of which, his LGBTQ plan is comprehensive. It pays attention to multiple intersectional issues, down to the high rates of incarceration among trans people of color. (He also notes the rates of violence against trans women of color particularly.) He calls for a complete ban on conversion therapy and the discrimination against HIV-status individuals, as well as removing the ban on blood donation from gay and bisexual men. He will remove the transgender military ban immediately. He calls for funding for mental health and suicide prevention among LGBTQ populations.

His plan to empower workers calls for raising the federal minimum wage to $15, as well as indexing this to median hourly wages to ensure that working-class and middle-class wages grow closer to parity, and implementing strong legal protections for unions. He expresses support for striking workers and to empower the National Labor Relations Board in workplace advocacy. Farmworkers, domestic workers, gig economy workers, and other non-traditional labor groups are included in this. He will restore all Obama-Biden policies related to workplace safety and regulation.

His plan to restore American dignity and leadership in the world calls for immediately investing in election security and reform, restoration of the Voting Rights Act, immediately restoring White House press briefings and other Trump refusals of information, tackling criminal justice reform and systematic racial discrimination, calling for campaign finance reform, and basically blowing up all the stupid things the Trump administration does on a daily basis. It also calls for an end to all ongoing wars in the Middle East, restoring the Iran nuclear deal, and new arms control treaties with Russia, among general repairing of international alliances.

His plans for K-12 education and post-high school education call for greatly expanded funding across all levels of 2-year, 4-year, and other educational options. There will be no student loan payments for anyone making under $25,000 a year; everyone else will pay a capped amount and be completely forgiven after a certain period. Public servants qualify for up to $50,000 in loan forgiveness. This is not total loan forgiveness for everyone, which is obviously important for me and many of us, but it’s acceptable to start with. Additionally, his wife is a teacher and has a proven track record of calling for education investment and supporting public school funding.

His plan for housing addresses the needs of formerly incarcerated, LGBTQ, veteran, low-income, sexual assault survivor, black and Hispanic, and other vulnerable populations at risk of losing housing. It calls for a tax on companies and corporations with in excess of $50 billion in assets to fund comprehensive new housing initiatives, including $100 billion in accessible and low-income housing development. It includes extensive investment in public transportation and a high-speed rail system. This ties into his plan to repair infrastructure and invest in new technologies across the country.

His plan for criminal justice reform calls for the end of mass incarceration, the decriminalization of marijuana, the automatic expunging of all cannabis convictions, and an end on jail sentences for drug use. It highlights systematic institutional racism and the impact on black and brown people particularly. It calls for an end on all profiteering and private prisons. It focuses on reintegrating offenders into society and funding the needs of people released from prison. It proposes to “expand and use the power of the U.S. Justice Department to address systemic misconduct in police departments and prosecutors’ offices.” It broadens funding for social services and other programs for people who are otherwise placed into the prison pipeline.

There are more plans, which you can find here. These are the ones I read top to bottom. I am not by any means a Joe Biden fangirl; he was not my first choice, my second choice, or really anywhere on my list. However, having carefully read through his policy documents, I can say that:

He has at the least a good team of advisors who are keenly aware of the political climate, and is willing to both restore Obama-era standards and to improve on them where necessary. Obviously, all politicians’ promises are politicians’ promises, but this is a solid Democratic platform with obvious awareness of the progressive wing of the party.

If progressive legislation is passed in the House and Senate, he will sign it, including the Green New Deal.

He represents a clear and definite improvement over Donald Trump.

Is he everything we want? No. Are his policies better than I was expecting? Yes. I advise you to read through them for yourself. It has made me at least feel better about the likelihood of voting for him.

I realize it’s an unsexy position, especially on tumblr, to advocate for an old centrist white man. I’m not thrilled about having to do it. However, speaking as someone who was very resistant to Biden and still doesn’t agree with all of his previous legislative track record, that’s my consensus. He is a candidate who broadly aligns with values that I care about. His policies represent a concrete end to the damage of the Trump administration and gets us on the right track again.

Joe Biden, if he is the Democratic nominee, will receive my vote on November 3, 2020. I urge you to consider what I’ve laid out above and join me.

[koolkat9]

Maybe some atlantic bros hurt/comfort?

Very nice. We love to see it. 

Rating: T

Relationship: England + America

Word Count: 956

Not Human

The house almost appeared empty as the carriage pulled up to the old country mansion. Not even the sound of birds was there to liven up the place. Even the weather seemed to be affected given its cloudy nature. Arthur could almost feel the tension of the air pull down on his body as he emerged from the carriage. A maid with raven black hair emerged from the house, a solemn expression on her round face. As soon as her brown eyes met Arthur’s green, she gave a fake smile.

“Welcome back, Lord Kirkland,” the maid said with a bow. “Ah yes thank you…” Arthur looked at the gloom around him. “Did something happen when I was gone?”

Her tight-lipped smile turned into a frown. “That little boy master Alfred befriended--Or I guess he was more of a man at this point-- Anyway, he…h-he passed away last week.”

“What little boy?”

“Oh, you didn’t know? Well eh…”

“Samantha,” a cool voice boomed. An old stout woman wobbled out of the house. It was Brighid, the oldest maid within the house and one of the few humans Arthur trusted with his life. “Bring Lord Kirkland’s luggage to his room.”

“Brighid–”

“Perhaps if you were home more you would have figured it out.”

“Hey now! You know–”

Brighid sighed. “Not that you’ll listen to little old me. You don’t even listen to Master Dylan about it, so what could I ever do to get it through your thick skull.”

“With all due respect Brighid you’re a–”

“Human yes. But your kind isn’t much different than us.” Her gaze was like ice and froze Arthur to his very core.  “Alfred is like any five-year-old boy. Curious about the world around him. Needing his father to guide him through it. I know you’re barely an adult yourself Arthur, but Alfred looks up to you and misses you. You need to be there for him.”

“You sound like Allie,” Arthur mumbled to himself.

“Pardon?”

“Nothing. Is Alfred in his room?”

Brighid nodded. “He’s been there since the funeral.” Arthur’s chest tightened. “He went to the funeral by himself?”

She gave him a said look. “By the time we realized he was gone, he was already on his way back.”

Arthur wanted to be angry. He wanted to tell Brighid she was out of line. But she was also right and All Arthur wanted right now was for the ground to swallow him whole. Shaking his head, he marched into the house and up to Alfred’s room. He knocked at the door but got no response. After a few times, he finally decided to just let himself in.

When he entered the room, he found it dark, curtains were drawn, and a bundle of blankets shivering on the bed. With a sigh, Arthur made his way over to the bed, taking a seat on the edge.

“Hey Alfred, I’m home.” There was no answer, only a small whimper. “Oh, darling…I heard what happened. I’m sorry.”

With a sob, Alfred threw himself at Arthur, clinging to him as if his life depended on it. It was as if a knife was pierced through Arthur’s heart. Brighid was right. He should have been there. He should have told Alfred about these things. That humans were different from them. He should have–

“Arthur…Are you going to die too?”

“What?”

“Miss Samantha…S-She said people die. That means you’re going to die too.”

“Oh, Alfred.” Arthur pulled the young boy closer, running a hand through his hair. “It’s…complicated. But the short of it is…I won’t die. Not like humans. We’re…different.”

“Arthur…”

Arthur cupped Alfred’s cheek, wiping away the young nation’s tears. “We’re nations. We…We live a lot longer than humans. What feels like a few years to us are centuries to them. And we don’t die. We can’t die. We’re tied to our land and our people. As long as they live, we live. So as long as Britain exists, I’ll live. And as long as the Thirteen Colonies exist, you’ll live.”

“B-But humans…Th-They die. Doesn’t that mean–”

“Yes, but they’ll have children, and those children will keep our nations strong. And as they grow, they’ll have children of their own, and the cycle continues.”

Alfred seemed satisfied with that answer, quieting and leaning against Arthur’s chest.

“Is there any way to save humans?”

The question was so sudden. Just when Arthur had thought he’d done something right, it all went south once again. Screams and the distraught face of his sister as she watched her lover be carted off came to mind. “No…There isn’t. Another word of warning poppet, don’t ever spend too much time with humans. We accidentally hurt them otherwise.”

“What?”

“It’s hard to explain but…They get really sick if they spend too much time with us.”

“But Davie never–”

“Because you spent time with him in spurts correct?”

“I guess…”

Arthur gave him a squeeze. “That’s okay. But you can’t spend too long with them understand? It’s better that way anyway.”

“Is that why Samantha, Brighid, and the others will switch with the other set of maids every few months.”

“Exactly.” Arthur booped Alfred’s nose. “You’re a very smart boy.”

Alfred gave him a sad smile. It made Arthur’s heart clench painfully.

“Shh…” Arthur hushed, wiping away more of the boy’s tears. He took a deep breath. “I’ll be honest with you Alfred. It’s going to hurt for a little while but I promise you’ll feel better.”

“Okay…”

Arthur gave him a warm smile. “Now, can you help me water the roses?”

Alfred nodded eagerly. “Mhm!”

Arthur set the boy down before taking his hand. The two headed downstairs and out into the garden for what Arthur hoped would be a peaceful afternoon.

[upismediacenter]

FEATURE: Exiting UPIS with Flying Colors

The end of another successful school year is fast approaching. With this, another batch steps into a new door, revealing the next chapter of their lives. Batch 2023, also known as AMA23 are filled with students who come from different backgrounds and who each carry their own baggage. As their years in the cheerful halls of UPIS and the moments wandering about the quadrangle’s grassy grounds come to an end, let us shine light upon students who overcame challenges and responsibilities above that of being a student. Let us also see how UPIS has been a safe space for them in light of the school’s efforts in creating a safer and more inclusive environment, especially through the Gender and Development Committee.

Amira Castillo (they/them)

Student activist Amira Castillo has been a member of Kabataan Partylist UP Diliman for more than two years now. Mira's desire to investigate new avenues for serving the public is their primary motivation for joining politically active organizations.

Their experience in high school can be described as full—whether it may be due to the challenges, moments of stress, frustrations, or just being around people that share the same interests.

As an activist, Mira would describe a safe space as something that is tied with the concept of academic freedom and having a conducive space for self discovery and social development. To them, what makes UPIS a safe space is the academic freedom that it offers to its students. Everyone has access to a place where they can not only learn about oneself, but also the society they live in. In UPIS, students are taught ways on how to serve the nation.

However, there remain certain aspects that the school should improve on to offer a safer environment to those inside it. Mira expressed that, “UPIS should keep nurturing its students to be critical and push them to learn outside the four corners of the classroom.”

"Laban, pag-asa ng bayan!", Mira leaves a short but impactful message to the next generations of students.

Jerson Quetua (he/him)

Jerson Quetua has been part of the UPIS Table Tennis Team since 2016. Initially, he didn’t plan on joining the sport, but when he tried out for the team back in 5th grade, he easily fell in love. Throughout his career, he has played in various tournaments, the biggest one being the UAAP, in which he has always been part of the line up ever since he was a freshman. He has not missed a single UAAP season since then. He's glad to share that he had fun throughout the entire journey and the time he’s spent with the team and the sport, even if he's officially finished playing for the school.

Jerson described his experience as fun yet tiring. Some physical challenges that he had to endure were injuries and compromised sleep schedules. He also questioned his athletic ability on a number of occasions. “The mental factors that affected my performance as an athlete are self doubts if I can perform in a tournament,” Jerson shares.

As a student athlete, he refers to their training grounds as his sanctuary in school. It's a place where people can freely express themselves and feel no judgment, no barriers or limitations on what you can do. As a whole, he thinks that UPIS is a safe space—he is free to be himself without fear of criticism for his actions.

To help UPIS become a safer place, Jerson suggests having diverse student organizations that are more catered towards the interests of students, giving them more opportunities to meet people who share the same goals and hobbies. With this, it may become a step closer to fully understanding one another.

Jerson leaves a few words of advice for athletes like him, and those who would want to start their sporting careers, “Keep on working hard and don't ever stop working on yourself for your improvements, keep the commitment that you have for the sport you are playing for. And be motivated with success.”

Klyssa Betito (she/her)

A consistent student leader since elementary, Klyssa Betito experienced managing positions in the 3-6 Pamunuan ng Kamag-Aral, Year Level Organizations, and as the Editor-In-Chief of the UPIS Media Center Batch 2023. Her passion and interest in leading is brought to life by the joy and satisfaction she acquires from helping others. As a result, she feels motivated to step up and does so on several occasions.

Difficult yet fulfilling—Klyssa summarizes her experience in these two words. Due to the obstacles brought about by the pandemic, the need for effective communication between students, teachers, and those in the UPIS community alike is augmented. From here, we were able to discover numerous ways and means of communication and methods of connecting with our fellow schoolmates.

To her, UPIS is a safe space because everyone within the community is free to be vocal about their ideas or beliefs, and free to express their true selves. Inside each classroom, students are educated with encouragement to constantly broaden their viewpoints on all situations and to pay attention to what is going on around them. This can also be applied to when she’s talking to her fellow students—they are free to converse about a variety of topics.

When asked about what UPIS should improve on to become a better space, she answered that the school doesn't really discuss certain topics that are taboo in Filipino culture; a good example of such is Sex Education.

“Patuloy nating itaguyod ang kasabihang 'paglingkuran ang sambayanan'. Balikan natin kung para saan at kanino ang bawat bagay na ginagawa natin. At sa panahong na-bu-burn out na tayo, mapaghuhugutan natin ng lakas ang mga tao sa paligid natin at sama-sama nating haharapin ang kahit na anong balakid,” Klyssa advises her juniors, for fulfilling your duties and obligations is just as vital as letting yourself get a moment of rest from time to time.

Sam Arinto (she/her)

Sam Arinto owns a crochet flower business called “none.made”. Her business started from trying out a new hobby during the pandemic—crocheting and knitting, along with embroidering and sewing. Her hobby was getting pricey, so she thought of selling her creations to get her money back. Sam finds her business, in her words “Very fulfilling!” because she is her own boss. She gets to do all the things that she loves, from pre- and post-production, marketing, creating social media content, financing and customer service. She also shares that she is happy since her crochet creations are usually bought as gifts for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, among other events, thus she feels as though she is part of her customers' celebration.

It has been two years since Sam started selling her products, but she is yet to officially launch her business as a business. This is connected to what she shared as her biggest challenge, which is managing her time. She has had a hard time continuing her business since producing products can be time consuming and needs to be planned well. So for now, she is continuing to build up her business and exploring what works and what doesn’t with the clientele. “Ngayon, comfortable lang ako maging Instagram-art-account-dump na paminsan-minsan nagpo-post sa Facebook Marketplace,” she jokingly shares as she hopes to be able to commit to her business soon.

She finds UPIS a safe space since her schoolmates, as well as UPIS alumni are very supportive of her products. She also noted that we are privileged to learn about different ideas and to share our own opinion on things. But she says, there is always room for improvement.

She sees that UPIS, particularly the administration, is taking steps to provide a safer, more inclusive space. However, she thinks the students themselves have to work on those improvements. She encourages the lower batches to improve the spaces in UPIS by exercising kindness towards each other and to ourselves.

“Super ironic na manggaling sa'kin, as someone na hindi pa 100% sa business pero don't be afraid to put yourself out there!” Sam advises, “You have to start somewhere to be everywhere.” She shares that in regards to selling your creations, it is vital to take rests since the drive to make a profit and the need to hustle can take out the joy in art. “Take a step back rin paminsan-minsan para hindi mawala 'yung love mo para sa ginagawa mo.”

Esha Catiis (she/her)

Esha Catiis started dancing in 2016 when she was just in 6th grade. She is currently part of UPeepz, an open team, and UPIS BLK, our very own streetdance club, wherein she was able to participate in the streetdance competition in UAAP Season 81.

Esha shares that there was a lot of pressure growing as a dancer. She knew it took time and effort to be good at something, so she learned to only compare herself to her previous self. She also encountered challenges in managing her time for family, herself, friends, academics, and her progress in dancing. With this, she learned how to prioritize—“to listen to whatever is the most important, to what truly matters first as of the moment.”

Being able to freely express different styles, cultures, backgrounds, and expressions in a performance is her definition of a safe space as a dancer. Dancing comes from a very diverse variety of people, which has led to certain dance styles being discriminated against.

Esha considers UPIS as a bit of a conservative environment. But she explains that through “different performances, lessons about culture, and proper tradition practices,” the school can be a safe space. She believes that students have created a space where one can express themselves freely as we are so used to diversity with the UPIS community being home to not only one religion, skin color, gender identity, and more.

To improve UPIS for students who are dancers in particular, it is important to have more freedom when it comes to their sport and art. “We would love to teach others how dance affects the community, how it brings everyone together, how it shapes culture, and how it brings awareness to different traditions and backgrounds. It also brings respect to a variety of groups that most have discriminated against. A freedom to express using our performance and an opportunity to present this will be given our utmost gratitude, assuring that through dance, UPIS can be one step closer to diversity and being a safer space for all.”

Esha hopes that students who have talents they wish to share or are dancers like her to not give up on their art or to at least continuously pursue what they‘re really passionate about as “passion drives life”. She encourages them to keep trying because you will never know the outcome unless you take the step. “The first step is always the scariest and the hardest,” reminds Esha, “But you’d never know if the cat is alive until you’ve opened the box.”

Logan “Isaak” Sampang (he/fae/it/she)

Logan "Isaak" Sampang identifies as Polygender, Bisexual, Demisexual, and Demiromantic. He initially thought he was just an ally. But the more he researched and interacted with his friends who are also in the community, the more he realized that he identified with their experiences and feelings. When he was ready, he slowly underwent a social transition. “I came out by saying a new name and my pronouns,” he shares, “I was a bit nervous, but thankfully most listened and even asked me about what I preferred.” When he became more open about it, others in a similar position started to act more comfortably as well.

When asked about the challenges he encountered as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community in UPIS, he shared that our curriculum mentioned very little about the community and the information taught was outdated. Isaak had to research on his own and learn through others who were part of the community instead.

Isaak defines a safe space in UPIS as “somewhere you can be out without being worried about discrimination in any form.” He adds that this includes having the right to privacy, such as being safe in the knowledge that your classmates will respect your boundaries, which also applies to teachers as they are accommodating and understanding of your family matters. However, he discloses that sometimes, disrespectful comments from peers and inevitably a teacher, are still made to this day.

To make UPIS a better space for members of the LGBTQIA+ community, Isaak lists a few steps that could be done. A few are concerned with the UPIS rules and regulations, such as those concerning the dress code and that it must be acknowledged that “the PDA Rule doesn't take the community into account, as it denies the existence of nonbinary people and people who are attracted to the same sex,” says Isaak. He also adds that the rules UPIS laid out lack in acknowledging the community's existence. Creating change in the curriculum to educate people better on the community and the hardships they experience can aid others to understand or at least accept their existence. A rule that explicitly states that a teacher will not out one to their family unless they are comfortable with it is also important. He also shares things that the students and teachers can help out with, such as normalizing mentioning pronouns when introducing oneself and avoiding ‘boys vs. girls’ activities so as to not trigger someone's dysphoria or exclude nonbinary students.

Isaak leaves a message to those in UPIS that are also part of the community—to educate themselves and those around them. “We're thankfully in a lucky enough situation where our school doesn't explicitly shun people in our community,” he notes, “So take advantage of that and express who you are, as that will help others do the same and teach everyone else how to accept your presence.”

These students are only a small handful of AMA23—the seniors we look up to, who have many experiences to share and memories to hold onto as students, and soon alumni of UPIS. As we gather to witness yet another successful batch of UPIS students set foot into a whole new chapter of their lives, we also hope for them to carry on painting their futures with colors just as vivid and bright. May we take their experiences and advice to heart and learn from them while our journey in high school still continues. Let us wish our seniors luck as they exit UPIS with flying colors. //by Daphne De Ramos and Grace Gaerlan

[drwcn]

《 Without Envy 》 storyboard 10 - concubine/sleeper agent!wwx & prince!lwj

Other snippets and storyboards can be found on [Master List]

Exactly 851 days - 2 years, 4 months and 11 days - after Wei Wuxian arrived at Gusu and began his mission as a sleeper agent, he was activated.

That chilly morning, he walked into the pastry shop - a front maintained by a decade-long Wen spy - a walk he'd done hundred of times on hundreds of mornings since he arrived. He breezed past the packaging counter, skipped through the faded cotton drapes, and rounded behind the back staircase to the room where Xue Yang always waited for him. Only this time, it was not just his candy-obsessed, murder-happy shidi, but a face he hadn't seen in many, many months. "...Shifu?" Wen Zhuliu's visit meant the end of his carefree days. It's time. That night, Wei Wuxian did not look at either Lan Wangji or Jiang Yanli when he bid "dianxia" and "Jiang-zhuzi" good night. He pretended to retire to bed early, after washing himself of his servant's exterior and donning his robes of night-black. He laid in the dark, waiting for time to pass, and reminded himself of his true purpose. He was never meant to care about these people; love these people. Jiang Yanli was not his doting foster sister; Lan Wangji was not his beloved wangye. I am Wei Wuxian of the great Qishan Wen. Nevernight is my home. I am a spy. Gusu is my enemy. Wei Wuxian kept his eyes closed, his breathing even, and his heartbeat slow. In the lonely quiet, he waited, and waited, and waited. Until the candlelight around the princely manor dimmed to nothing, until the night grew still and the moon shone bright and high in the dark, dark sky. Reaching under the floorboard beneath his bed, Wei Wuxian retrieved his life-long companion from its hiding place and released it from its sheath. "Hello, old friend." He whispered, stroking the blade edge. Suibian's steel glistened with cold malevolence in the stark, pale moonlight.

It would be another year before WWX's identity is discovered. During that time, he lived a double life. In the day, he was Lan Wangji's precious Wei Ying, and at night, he was the blade in Wen Ruohan's hand, stealing, killing and destroying on command. His assignments were not always murder; sometimes it required him to break into secure facilities and obtain copies of certain documents. He was never alone on these jobs; there was always someone convalescing with him from within. Slowly, he began to realize just how deep Wen Ruohan's spy network had infiltrated Gusu's foundation. In a way, it excited him, to know that the posturing and pretending would soon be over, that in the near future a quick war would sweep across the land and unite the two nations. In another way, it frightened him to the bones.

Wei Wuxian killed 37 individuals within the span of a year, 37 men and women of different ranks, status and stations. He did not always know why these people needed to die; in fact, he often didn't and preferred it that way. If he didn't know the motive, then he couldn't argue against the reason, and thus could go on believing that what Wen Ruohan did was ultimately for the betterment of everyone. The men of Gusu were weak - Wei Wuxian was always told - they were not fit to rule. The people of Gusu would be better served under a united empire. He repeated this statement to himself before every job, but over time, the mantra on his tongue began to lose its flavour.

In the meantime however, Lan Wangji and Jiang Yanli quickly formed a strong plan on how they wanted to live out the rest of their lives. Lan Wangji never quite enjoyed laying with women, but Jiang Yanli had just enough wickedness behind her demure exterior that things were... well, interesting. In any case, it was not long before she came to him all smiles and whispered the good news over luncheon .

"Truly?" Lan Wangji set down his chopsticks. "Hm uhm." Jiang Yanli dapped her mouth delicately. "Now, perhaps it's a good time to discuss how dianxia should go about winning A-Xian's affection. He's under the impression you've cast him aside on taishi's orders and has been giving him the cold shoulder." "I wasn't." Lan Wangji defended himself, distressed and slightly offended. "It's just, huangshu's been watching me like a hawk. I was afraid any further attempt to be closer to him would give my uncle reason to remove him from my household entirely." Jiang Yanli was sympathetic. "The summer hunt is in two week's time, and afterwards, since bixia always likes to finish the night on the river with fireworks, perhaps...." She let the sentence dangle, a knowing smile playing at her lips. Lan Wangji felt hope.

Unfortunately, a little hiccup happened before the hunt could take place. Jin Ziyan falsely believed that Wei Wuxian had fallen out of favour with Lan Wangji and was itching to show him his place. Poor Mo Xuanyu was caught in the middle. Jin Ziyan knew Wei Wuxian was an audacious one, but not so stupid that he could be easily goaded into committing a grave offence. Thus, Jin Ziyan planned to cause an incident in the garden whereby poor Mo Xuanyu would unwittingly "offend" him, and he would publicly announce a punishment that was harsher than necessary. He made sure that Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian were near by, as they usually took a mid-afternoon stroll after lunch. True to his predictions, Wei Wuxian could not stop himself for interfering on Mo Xuanyu's behalf. Then in their altercation, Jin Ziyan would fall into the pond, making it seem as though Wei Wuxian was the one who shoved him out of anger. Oh but a lowly servant shoving Hanguang-wang's deputy consort into the pond??! He was as good as dead. What's more, everything happened on the same afternoon that Lan Qiren was scheduled to visit Lan Wangji to discuss matters of court. If it was only Lan Wangji, Jin Ziyan knew Wei Wuxian would suffer little consequence, but taishi tolerated no insubordination or churlish behaviour of any kind.

Lan Qiren was incensed, livid, but he was not hasty to deal the punishment. Instead he turned to his nephew and asked, whilst fully knowing the answer, "Wangji, your household follows the regulations that govern all princely manors, does it not?" "It does, huangshu." "Then tell me what is the punishment reserved for a servant for daring to lay hands on a deputy consort and to cause physical harm to said consort?" "It....I - huangshu -" "What is the rule?" Lan Wangji knew very well that the punishment was death for any servant, maid or eunuch who dared to harm any member of the harem. But Wei Ying, his Wei Ying... "Wei Ying is very precious to Yanli and to Yunmeng-hou. As well..." Lan Wangji hesitated. "Yanli is with child again. It is still very early so we thought it best not to announce it lest we have a repeat of last time. It would not do to upset her at this time." Lan Qiren was extremely dissatisfied with his answer, but conceded for Jiang Yanli's sake. "I'm glad, Wangji, that you've found your way back to your proper companions. This Wei Wuxian clearly has been spoiled to the point of impropriety. His actions today are utterly unacceptable and cannot be allowed to go unpunished or else others would surely follow his example. Guards!" "Detain Wei Wuxian. Have him strung up on a post in the servants' courtyard and give him fifty lashes. No food nor drink. Sun or rain, he is not to be let down until dusk tomorrow." "Huangshu!" Lan Wangji's head buzzed, as though someone had struck him squarely in the temple. His chest felt tight, and his heart ached where it rebelled inside him. "Please -" "He has his life. That is mercy enough."

Wei Wuxian was stripped down to his trousers only and tied up to a post, his hands bound together above him and his bare feet never finding purchase on the ground no matter how he struggled. This fucking suck ass. Jin Ziyan you're a dead man. When all fifty lashes were dealt, even the guards were sweating through their robes. They left him dangling there in the blistering summer heat. A young maid dared to try and sneak him some water but was thwarted by an older momo. "What do you think you're doing, lassie? Did you not hear taishi, no food or drink until dusk tomorrow. Do you want lashes too? Go on! Go!" It rained hard all through the night, only easing up at dawn, but the aftermath of the storm left the air muggy and humid. Combined with the heat, it felt as though he was being steamed alive like a wheat bun. At some point during the second day, Wei Wuxian finally lost consciousness. He was not aware when Lan Wangji barged into the courtyard against Lan Qiren's explicit orders and cut him free.

Really tho, i just want this scene to happen (╹ڡ╹ ) "I'm sorry." Wei Wuxian blinked at Lan Wangji's hunched figure sitting at his bedside. "Whatever for? You saved me, dianxia." Lan Wangji, "But it was my attention that put you in such a position in the first place. Huangshu was looking for a reason to punish you since that day he saw us in my study." Wei Wuxian, "dianxia..." "I find you... lovely, Wei Ying," confessed Lan Wangji with a heavy sigh. His ears burned red not only with the embarrassment of a youth in love but with shame. "I wish for your company, even when you have no desire to be part of my harem. Now I know my mistake. I should have respected the boundaries. I should've known my attention on you would incite jealousy from the others, and as a servant, you have no means of protecting yourself. This is entirely my fault." Wei Wuxian's heart fluttered despite himself. He quickly shook his head. "No dianxia, please don't blame yourself -" Lan Wangji, "perhaps I should send you back to Jiang-fu; I'm sure Jiang-xiao-gongzi would be delighted to have your company back. You would be safe there." Jiang Wanyin had come to visit his sister the very next day after Wei Wuxian was sentenced to whipping. He was one of the most accomplishment young men of his generation, anticipated to be a great general. Nie Mingjue had thought highly of him and had expected great things from this youth. Though perhaps what the late feng-jun found truly commendable was Jiang Wanyin's complete lack of pretense and his short-fuse temper. That is to say, he did not hesitate to get in Lan Wangji's face. His sister would have chastised him, had she not been so preoccupied by her tears. Wei Wuxian, "Jiang...Jiang Cheng was here?" "He was, and he was very upset about your condition. He left many fine medicine and ointments for you." Lan Wangji sighed again. "I shall speak with Yanli. If she is amenable, then I shall make arrangements for you to go back to Jiang-fu. You would not have to put up with me any longer." Lan Wangji stood up. Wei Wuxian grasped his sleeve immediately. In that moment, he could not tell if his panic was derived from his worry that he would not be able to complete his assignment if Lan Wangji were to send him away or if he simply did not wish to part with the prince. "Dianxia - I - I don't want to leave. I - it's true I had once rejected you, but...would you think less of me if I said your attention … hasn't been unwanted for a while, that I have come to enjoy them." At Lan Wangji's widened eyes, Wei Wuxian continued quickly. "You need not give me anything, no elevation, no rank. I don't care about any of that. I am a man, I have no ability to give you children. Nor do I have any family who would benefit from your continued favour of me. I am an orphan, dianxia, I have no place to go. I just....don't send me away. Please let me stay! I'm not afraid of Jin Ziyan, or taishi, or anything!" Lan Wangji sat back down. His hand trembled when he laid it on top of Wei Wuxian's. "Wei Ying...?" Wei Wuxian smiled, still radiant despite his pale complexion. "Dianxia -" "Lan Zhan. No more dianxia, I only want to hear you call me by my name." Wei Wuxian flushed pink. The blush was real, as was the pleased little smile he tried to hide. "Lan Zhan, Wei Ying is yours, if you still want him." The worst part of that was that he meant it. Just the mere thought of being held by Lan Wangji, of being kissed by him, of... so many other wonderful possibilities, made Wei Wuxian want to hide his flaming face into his pillow. Lan Wangji smiled. Quietly, he lifted Wei Wuxian's hand and pressed a kiss to the inner side of his wrist. "Rest, I will be right here." Wei Wuxian felt his treacherous little heart soar: oh no … oh no no no no ….. (Xue Yang's voice in narration: and it was in this moment, that Wei Wuxian knew, he fucked up.) The cruellest thing Wei Wuxian ever did was give Lan Wangji hope knowing that one day he would take it all away.

[abumbledbee]

Fundy’s reaction to Michael

If you missed it, yesterday during stream Fundy and Philza were introduced to Michael, Tubbo and Ranboo’s adopted son. If you haven’t been following Tubbo and Ranboo’s storylines, they recently canonized their marriage and have decided to take the zombie pigman baby they found on Ranboo’s first day on the server as their child.

This stream I will argue is canon. Their interactions tiptoe the line of bits and canon at times, but the hostility Phil shows towards Fundy is very much canon, as well as a few other moments can’t be considered anything other than canon because of their importance. Though it was never confirmed, I’ll be writing this analysis taking their streams as in character moments.

Fundy begins their interaction by sneaking onto the snowy commune Phil, Techno, and Ranboo reside at, with a plan to build a dirt shack to live in as a “prank”. He says at the start of his stream that he wants to slowly build up a full house in the commune secretly over multiple streams. Ranboo spots him instantly and once cornered Phil immediately gets angry. He says Fundy’s lucky he didn’t kill him on sight for his part in the Butcher Army, and it’s clear their relationship despite blood ties is fully negative on Phil’s side. Fundy is quick to say it was because of peer pressure and points out Ranboo was also part of it, but Phil says he’s forgiven Ranboo because his memory problems make him easily manipulated.

Tubbo crashes the party and non-canonically kills Fundy. They all tease Fundy and play a game for him to get his stuff back, which ultimately ends up with Fundy getting everything back and Ranboo extending an invite to Phil to meet Michael. Fundy tags along despite not being invited, and Tubbo and Ranboo have a heated discussion over whether they want to let Fundy meet Michael or not. They tell Fundy and Phil both that they got married and Michael is their son, and Fundy immediately loses interest and says he doesn’t want to go but ends up following anyways.

On the way there Tubbo mentions how Phil would technically be Michael’s grandfather since Phil is his ‘unbiological father’ (per tubbo’s wording) and they jokingly say Michael will be his only and favorite grandchild. Fundy laughs it off and keeps reminding Phil that he has a grandkid already, himself. Phil ignores him and tells Tubbo Michael likely will be his favorite, because his other betrays him every second he gets. They pause on their travels and Phil tells Fundy that he has a LOT of redeeming to do before Phil will consider them related again. It’s clear he is holding a lot of anger still about the Butcher Army, and he’s directing most of it at Fundy.

Tubbo asks why he isn’t getting the same treatment and Phil tells Tubbo “Don’t make me start, I’ll deal with you later.” It’s clear that Phil is treating Tubbo better despite Techno’s harsher feelings towards Tubbo (government-related hostility) over Fundy, and I think it has a lot to do with their family ties. Phil is technically closer to Tubbo relationship-wise than Fundy despite being biologically related to Fundy, and I think it gives Tubbo an edge, even if Phil doesn’t mean to. Having had a part in raising Tubbo, even reluctantly, still means he’s given favoritism. The way he spoke to both of them felt like he was telling Fundy he has to find his own way to redeem himself, but Tubbo he’s willing to try and talk to without negative feelings taking over. I also wouldn’t question for a second that Ranboo’s relationship with Tubbo makes a big difference too, as we’ve seen Phil literally call himself a Ranboo apologist earlier in the stream and it’s clear he cares for him a lot. 

They arrive to Snowchester and are introduced to Michael, who is upstairs in the nursery Tubbo and Ranboo built for him earlier on Tubbo’s stream. It is incredibly clear how attached they are to him from the start, both from how they speak to him to how lovingly decorated his room is, including 3 family portraits of all three of them together. They introduce Phil to Michael as his grandfather, and Fundy as his cousin. 

Fundy along with Phil are both a bit speechless at the start, which is to be expected as they weren’t aware Michael is a zombie pigman baby. Fundy asks where they found him, and starts questioning their parenting almost immediately. He asks why Michael can’t go outside and tries to open the windows. Him and Phil both begin to question their parenting methods, scrutinizing everything they can.

Tubbo warns Fundy if he opens a window again he will kill him, and Ranboo in retort to Fundy’s criticism asks him to remind them all of what experience he has with parents. I think it’s super interesting that Ranboo was the one to say that, as he’s usually not someone who openly confronts others. It’s a great reminder both of the tension he still has with Fundy, and how emotionally attached Ranboo is to Michael. Phil makes a joke about Michael being patient zero for covid and Fundy laughs and continues it, and Tubbo kills him again for insulting their kid. Fundy tells him if he comes back and any of his stuff is missing, he will hurt Michael. Phil takes some of his armor and purposely waits to see what Fundy does, but luckily Fundy realizes and doesn’t hurt him.

They leave on a mostly positive note, except Phil accidentally kills Ghost Squeeks when a creeper he made explode trapped it under ice. On Fundy’s way out he also accidentally sets off a creeper and Phil makes an offhand comment that “It runs in the family” and Fundy is overjoyed to hear Phil refer to him as family.  He then runs off to the snow commune again and starts working on his shack.

Fundy’s constant badgering of Tubbo and Ranboo’s parenting was a really odd thing I hadn’t expected from him, considering he isn’t a parent himself. I can understand Phil doing it, but Fundy was actually the first to start questioning them, and even went as far as to threaten Michael. Later when he finds a zombie jockey and his chat suggests he be a playmate for Michael, he says no because he hates Michael. A part of me wonders if this isn’t an underlying jealousy that Fundy himself might not even recognize. It was almost like seeing a happy, and so far very functional, family ticked him off and he immediately started trying to find flaws in their parenting. Like he needed proof that they weren’t as good as they seemed. It felt like he wasn’t handling the idea that there could be a child on this server that wouldn’t have parents that choose raising a nation over a child, that there could be a child who’s surrounded by proof of love at all times. It makes his building of the dirt home by Phil’s base all the more sad. In my opinion, Fundy is using this “prank home” as an excuse to be close to Phil again, his only blood relative remaining and the only source of possible affection he has left.

[hinge]

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