#Bystander Revolution

[andicareaboutyou]

Bystander Revolution: Salma Hayek | Own Your Mistakes

[urlonelystarrr]

ultraviolence | part two

rk800 'connor' x reader x rk900 'nines'

GENRE → angst, romance & smut

SYNOPSIS → your feelings for connor grew as the android revolution went on, though a new partner makes you question your feelings.

TAGS/WARNINGS → 18+ descriptions of corpses, blood, violence, homicide, child abuse/neglect, creampie, dirty talking, overstimulation, choking, oral(male & female giving/receiving)

CHAPTERS → PART ONE / PART TWO

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after working in the DPD for so long, you never could get used to the sound of your alarm blaring at 5:00 am. by the time you arrived at your desk, your limbs were already aching for the warmth and comfort of your bed - the type of tiredness that could only be satiated by a full night's rest (which you didn't get most nights).

to add onto the poor sleep schedule you had, the past few weeks had been filled with an unnecessary amount of paper work, and most of your time was spent sitting in front of the terminal at your desk. in order to pass the time, you'd make frequent stops to connor's desk, only to be yelled at by hank to get back to work. or you would attempt at small talk with nines, to which he always responded with narrowed eyes and a stern look. it was clear he wasn't fond of small talk so early in the morning.

this morning was no different than the last, as you sat at your desk, bored out of your mind. the day had just begun, and the steaming cup of coffee on your desk still wasn't able to replace the extra hours of sleep that you had missed. as if a silent prayer had been answered, you swiveled your chair around to see connor's lovely face, greeting you with a good morning. "good morning detective, you seem to be in a good mood today," he gave a small smile. "all thanks to you," you smile, not noticing the grey eyes across your desk watching the two of you. connor stayed silent for a moment as his LED pulsed amber, and you followed his line of vision to see nines doing the same. "i've sent the case file to rk900, i've just got a report of a double homicide and a suicide," he briefed. "what an amazing way to start my morning," you replied, sarcasm laced in your tone.

"lieutenant anderson is currently supervising an academy student, and since i'm not authorized to investigate crime scenes on my own, i will accompany you today." connor said, hands clasped behind his back as he looked down at you. nines stood from his seat, making his way over to join connor. you took a sip of your coffee before standing up to join the pair, grabbing your keys and heading to the lot.

"what do we know about the homicide?" you asked nobody in particular. unfortunately you had to sit in the backseat of your own car, as nines insisted on driving and connor took the passenger seat before you could. "a mother had murdered her own two children before taking her life. an hk200 reported that he was a witness and is currently at the station giving a written statement," connor turned around to look at you, before turning back around to face the road. "and this happened how long ago?" you asked.

"around 20 minutes ago," nines suddenly spoke, despite being quiet the entire ride. "did the android mention that she had a husband?" nines looked in the rearview mirror to make eye contact with you before replying, "no, however legal documents show that she is married." he pulled into a vacant area near the house crowded by bystanders, police and news reporters. the three of you passed the digitalized 'POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS' tapes, ignoring people's questions about what had happened. as you entered the home, the three of you split up. as stated in the report, the crime took place in three different areas; the kitchen, the bathroom upstairs, and the last in the children's shared bedroom.

you headed over to the kitchen, where the wife laid motionless at the table, a gunshot wound lodged in the back of her head. part of her brain matter was exposed, and the surrounding area had been decorated in brains and blood. it was a gruesome sight to say the least, but you suspected that it was a little odd position for a suicide. connor stood next to you, moving in front of the corpse and analyzing her body. connor's on sight forensic analysis proved to be quite effective as it saved a lot time, compared to waiting for forensic reports after you had analyzed the scene. his brow furrowed slightly, as he looked at you (not without sampling the blood of course). the weapon - a glock G19, was located next to her hand, along with a glass of wine.

"that's unusual. the exit wound isn't on the back of the head, instead it's in the front. it's a strange way to shoot yourself," connor examined, turning to you for your opinion. "i don't think this was a suicide. i think it might've been a homicide, but we can't say for sure," you replied to his analysis, before leaving to join nines upstairs. connor watched your retreating figure, before reconstructing a possible scenario.

as you walked up the creaking stairs, you took notice of the door that was slightly ajar in the distance. as you neared it, you realized it was the bathroom. you pushed the door open with a foot, immediately noticing the bloodied corpse of one of the children in the bathtub. the water had been drained, leaving the body in a pool of her own blood. the victim suffered three gunshot wounds, one in her chest, one in her right side and the last one in her forehead.

it was sickening to see, but the more you looked the more things you found. the gunshot wounds weren't the only injuries she had, as there were welts scattered across her legs, and faint burn marks on her wrist. the welts could have come from a belt. the sight immediately reminded you of the hk400, the first case you ever worked on involving an android. a bubble of disgust and guilt boiled in the deep pits of your stomach, but you swallowed it and stood up, only to be startled by connor's unannounced appearance. "jesus, you scared me!" you sighed. "i didn't intend to startle you, detective," connor said reassuringly, with his hand on the small of your back. you ignored the comforting feeling of his hand on your back, and moved to the final room, leaving connor to analyze the second corpse.

nines crouched next to the young boy, who didn't look older than the age of eight. he took a sample of his blood, analyzing his DNA like his predecessor. like his sister, he was shot. but forensic analysis suggested he was strangled before. judging by the purplish hue on his neck, it was evident that he'd been choked. "i reconstructed a possible scenario. it seems that the perpetrator came in through the door, and then proceeded to choke the victim before shooting him four times," nines explained, looking at you as you stared at the bloodied corpse on the floor. the carpet had been stained red, along with a stick figure drawing of the boy and his family. a few crayons surrounding the picture had suffered the same fate as the drawing - stained red and broken.

you noticed that he suffered the same marks, which were obvious indicators of abuse. nines and connor had seen it too, the bruises, the burn marks and the welts. "I think the mother might have been abusing her children. maybe she felt guilty after doing this and decided to take her life," your brows furrowed as you examined the room further, noticing the lack of clothes and toys.

"It's likely, as her fingerprints match the ones on the gun." nines said. connor chimed in, adding to nines' analysis. "however, the exit wound on her forehead indicates that she couldn't have shot herself. if she killed her two children, then who killed her?" your brows only furrowed in confusion as you tried to piece together what had happened. judging from their analysis, she couldn't have ended her life. if the hk200 was a witness, then he was lying, because the mothers death wasn't adding up. the husband was also nowhere to be seen, and the gun she used was registered in his name. there was only one way to make sense of this mess, as it had spiraled into something beyond what the files insinuated.

"hello, my name is detective l/n. what's your name, honey?" connor and nines watched in the observation room as you questioned the hk200. "my name is michael," he replied, fiddling with his hands in his lap. connor's brow arched slightly from the pet name, an unknown feeling erupting in him that could only be described as jealousy. "thank you for being cooperative, i understand you've already given a written statement but we'd like to ask you a few questions." you opened the case file, revealing the images taken of the bodies. he avoided looking at the pictures, and looked at you or around the room. the room was designed to be plain and bland, in order to keep the person under questioning focused and not distracted. this allows for them to rely on the detective for any type of distraction.

"what did you do today, michael?" you started off with easy questions to gain rapport, as answering easier questions would put him at ease and he would be more likely to give you more information. you could always scare them into a confession, but that would only escalate the situation and end in a possible destruction. "i did my usual list of chores," he replied. you nodded, "does this include cooking meals?"

"yes," he confirmed. "can you tell me what their mother does? does she help out, or does she rely on you for taking care of the children?" you noticed as he began to shift in his seat at the mention of her. "she left taking care of the children to me, and she'd spend most days drinking." you nodded, "did you have a good relationship with the children?" he took a little longer to respond, his eyes glossy with a type of pain you'd seen before. a look you wished to never see again. but then again this wasn't about you. "yeah, we did a lot together. drawing, playing games, normal things." he sounded hurt, like he was genuinely affected. you felt for him, reaching across the table to offer a comforting hand to him. he put his hand on top of yours, relaxing a little as he calmed down from your touch.

"was she married?" you had asked, despite knowing the answer. it was a simple test to see if he was lying or not. "yes. her husband would come home late and leave early in the morning, so she wouldn't spend much time with him," he explained. upon hearing this, connor did a quick search and was able to find his workplace. it was possible that the husband had left before the crime happened, and would come home to horrible news. "what time does he leave for work?" you asked, and the android replied rather quickly. "he leaves at 7:00am." by the time you arrived on scene, it had been 9:27am, and if it happened around twenty minutes before you arrived, then the husband would have been long gone, meaning the crime would take place around 9:07am.

you pushed a few images of the injuries on the children, waiting for him to look at them. "since you took care of the children, you probably have noticed these marks on them. do you know who caused them?" he visibly stiffened, eyes trained on the images of the marks and bruises. he then stared at his lap, remaining silent. but the look of guilt on his face was becoming more apparent. "i know you cared about those kids. you looked after them everyday. i can see the pain in your face." his brows started to furrow, before he slammed his fists on the table, startling you slightly. nines and connor were quickly alerted by this behavior, bodies tense and ready for anything to happen. "you don't know anything!" he yelled. "i don't, so tell me the truth," you pressed. he stayed silent again, before admitting it.

"it was the mother. she did it," he confessed. "she'd beat them almost every night. one time i tried to stop her but she said she'd return me to cyberlife if i stepped any further."

"then who killed her?" leaning into the table, you watched as he averted your gaze, "she committed suicide." it was evident he cared for those children, and seeing their abuse would become something he couldn't tolerate any longer. it started to make sense, when you placed him in the same position of the perpetrator from connor's reconstruction, it all made sense. she had downed glasses of wine after murdering her children, michael finally had enough, his heart broken over the deceased children - and so he grabbed her gun, and shot her in the back of the head before placing the gun so it looked like she committed suicide.

it seems that he started to realize that you knew what happened - what he did. "we both know that's not what happened." you stated firmly. he quickly shot up from his seat, lunging across the table to knock you to the ground. your chair tipped back, causing you to fall on your back. he was quick to get on top of you, his hands immediately wrapping themselves around your throat, and his skin peeled back to reveal the white plastic underneath. you kicked, and tried to wriggle out of his grip, but he was too strong. your throat burned as his digits dug into your tender skin, his fingers right above your pulse point. it throbbed wildy underneath his fingertips, only encouraging him to keep his silence.

connor was quickly on top of him, a hand pinning him to the table while michael's hands tried to fight the deadly grip of the rk800. nines quickly pulled you out of the room, and as much as he wanted to deal with the hk200, he knew connor could handle it.

connor didn't say a word, and it terrified the android underneath his palm. he could only stare into the hot rage above him, warnings popping up in his screen warning him of a shutdown. connor had torn out his thirium pump, the tips of his fingers holding onto the pump in his hand. hot blue blood splattered over his fingers and clothing, though that was the least of his worries.

"you're going to talk," connor suddenly said. "you have approximately 120 seconds before you shut down. i suggest that you tell me the truth, otherwise it won't be the other officers you have to worry about. it'll be me." he leaned into his ear, before putting his thirium pump back into place. his forearm pushed him down into the table, preventing him from moving. "i won't tell you." michael sneered. connor said nothing, and immediately grabbed his arm to probe his memory. michael grunted, the sensation feeling like a burn throughout his body as connor searched his memories. that was all the confirmation that he needed.

michael was escorted out, and you found yourself in the bathroom again, splashing cold water onto your face. after all that happened today, you felt like you didn't solve anything. the husband would come home to his entire family gone, and you felt like you couldn't save anyone. this feeling of shame and guilt, you felt partly responsible. it brought you back to the painful memories of the last case, but this time you had connor and nines.

"you should go to a hospital," nines suggested. both of the androids had scanned you again and again, all to make sure that you were alright. "i'm okay nines," you reassured your partner. "nines?" connor joined in, his head turned to look at his replica. "yes, that is the name that was given to me from the detective." nines replied, his eyes locked onto his predecessor. connor ignored nines, and asked if you were really alright. his fingers itched to touch the bruises forming around your neck, but he pushed away the thought and focused on your well-being. "you both don't need to worry. i've been doing this for years," you replied cooly.

fowler had come up to the three of you, his intense gaze locked on you. "you should head home, l/n. we seriously cannot have you getting injured on the job again," he said sternly. connor was about to retaliate, but nines placed his arm in front of him to stop him. they made brief eye contact, communicating silently.

'don't make it worse for her,' nines said. connor ignored him, his eyes locked on yours as captain fowler scolded you while also making sure you're okay. you sighed once he left, running a hand through your hair. "i guess i'll be getting home then," you said to both the androids, noticing that connor looked worried. "let me drive you home, i feel partly responsible for your injury," he said, his hand on the small of your back again. you smiled, trying to mask the way your body responded to his touches. though, you had forgotten that connor wasn't the only one who could read your body, nines could too. his LED circled amber as he scanned you, taking note of how your temperature raised whenever he or connor was around. he bid you goodbye, and watched as you left with connor for the night.

the car ride wasn't awkward at all. one thing that separated connor from nines was the fact that connor spent more time around humans, and he knew how to make conversation easier. the sound of the car engine and rain pattering against the roof put you at ease. detroit could be pretty at night, especially when it was raining like this. "i saw you take care of that android, you can be scary," you laughed. he gave a small smile in response to your laughter, "i didn't mean for you to see that. i apologize if-"

"i'm only teasing you," you nudged his arm with a grin, "it was kind of hot." he cocked a brow, his social relations program helping him differentiate the two meanings of the word. "hot? i don't think cyberlife intended for it to come off that way.." you laughed, missing these conversations with the android. if only hank could supervise academy students forever, and you could have both rk units to yourself. "i'm worried for you detective, it seems that you're putting yourself at risk with these cases. you should be more careful," he looked over at you, his eyes flickering to your injury before returning back to the road. you eyed him as he drove, fighting the smile the threatened to crawl up your face at his concern for your well-being. "thank you connor, but that's kind of my job. i knew what i was getting into when i was training to become a cop. i know the risks, but for you i'll be more careful." it was strange for him, for him to smile without making the conscious effort to do so, for his body to do things that weren't premeditated and forced.

the more you looked at him from your peripheral, the more you saw the differences between him and nines. you never would compare them, but they were so different in personality that it was slightly humorous. sometimes when you looked into connors eyes, you couldn't help but feel like you'd give him everything. his eyes ere so soft, and the only thing you could compare it to were puppy dog eyes, the thought of it making you chuckle, causing the android look over at you. "what's funny, detective?" you shook your head, "oh nothing. i was just thinking about how hard it must be being the most attractive detective alive," you smiled. if he could blush, he definitely would. "it must be an everyday struggle for you then," he replied cheekily.

it wasn't long before he was inside of your house, awkwardly lingering at your front door while you took your shoes off. "you should stay the night, it's raining too hard for you to be going home so late." he nodded, analyzing your home. it was a modern space, decorated with matching furniture but lacking any personalized items like photos. "i'm going to change, i'll be back soon, you can hang out here,"you smiled before disappearing into a different room. he walked over to the kitchen, noticing a pet food bowl, and an orange cat purring as it rubbed it's body on his legs. he crouched down, petting the cat gently. the collar was a light pink, with the name reading 'peaches'.

you returned, only to find him very immersed with petting your cat. you smiled, crouching next to him to pet her. "she seems to like you," you said, fingers accidentally brushing against his as you pet her together. "she's nice, i like dogs and cats." you chuckled, smiling from his pure nature. he was so sweet. "androids don't sleep, do they?" you suddenly asked, after thinking about what he was going to do while you slept. "no, androids don't require things like sleeping or eating. however we do have a 'rest mode' where we temporarily shut down to reserve energy." his eyes were attentive to your exposed skin, as he was used to seeing you in long sleeved tops, and a skirt with stockings. but you were in the comfort of your home, wearing a tank top and shorts. he appreciated the view.

"that makes sense, I think I'd go insane and hallucinate after not sleeping for a couple of days," you replied, moving to the couch where he followed you. he looked cute sitting in your girly living room. his eyes flickered between you and your neck, your tank top revealing more of your neck and chest, which he tried to ignore. "it doesn't hurt if that's what you're worried about," you said, after noticing his LED turn amber a few times. he was analyzing you. "i apologize, i didn't mean to-" you cut him off by shaking your head, placing a hand on his thigh which was impossible to ignore. "that's okay, i know you're concerned. it's sweet connor, I'm thankful for you," you smiled. something fluttered within him, it was the feeling he got when he made amanda happy or accomplishing a mission, just without being literally forced to accept the woman. she was long gone, but that's what he could compare this feeling to. who knows, maybe he just liked being praised. "thank you for being understanding, detective." his thirium pump raced from the sudden contact, his skin warming from the heat of your palm. "please, call me by my name. even in the office. you're my friend," you rested your hand on his shoulder, the urge to just touch him everywhere overwhelming you. "okay, y/n." the sound of your name rolling off his tongue was something that you enjoyed too much.

his eyes were trained on the floor, a pang of guilt welling up inside him from today's events. "i still feel responsible for your injury." you sighed, "connor, it's okay. it's not your fault." your hand moved to his, and you held his hand gently. there it was, that feeling again. he wanted you to hold his hand forever. your thumb brushed over his knuckles, and he gently squeezed your fingers in response. you suddenly got shy, as your eyes avoided his and you slightly warmed from what you were going to ask. "connor?" you asked for his attention, and he'd give it to you, no questions asked. he titled his head slightly, finding it hard to focus when you were holding his hand. it was far more intimate than any other gestures you've given, besides hugs, he might've found a favorite. "what is it det- y/n?" he corrected. "can i hug you?" you smiled shyly at him. it was unusual for you to ask since you'd always just go ahead and hug him (not that he minded), but it seemed like in your personal space and a much more secluded area, you seemed to be more nervous when alone with him. "of course you can, you don't need to ask. is that why you were nervous?" he teased, and you smiled before leaning into him and wrapping your arms around his body. hugging him wasn't what you expected- it was nothing like hugging a mannequin, but it wasn't like hugging a human. he still had the warmth and the softness from his skin, but under that was plastic and metal that made his body feel more firm. almost like how you'd touch flexed muscles, his body was similar to that.

his arms were wrapped around your waist, a little more loosely than yours. he liked the way you smelled, your smell was comforting in a way. as an android, he could register smells, but he didn't experience them in the same way as humans. certain smells are tied to memories, like a home cooked meal reminding you of childhood. yet your scent made him feel a certain way that he couldn't describe, no matter how many times he tried to compute it. it was just a pleasurable feeling. you smelled good all the time, everytime you hugged him he'd smell bright crystal by versace. "i have a question, y/n." he suddenly spoke. you hummed into his shoulder, prompting him to continue. "what makes you so affectionate towards me?" you almost laughed at his question, but it made you stop and think for a second. he could feel your heart race, and he didn't know why, it was a simple question.

"because I like you." you pulled away, looking to see his reaction. "thank you, I like you too. it's a great pleasure to be working with you," he gave a soft smile, not quite understanding what you really meant. you laughed, and shook your head. "I meant I have feelings for you. and it's okay, I don't expect you to return them, but I just want you to know that I've liked you for a really long time now."

his brows furrowed slightly, now understanding what you meant. you were worried, did he like you too? it had been strange for him. to deny his feelings at first, to ignore the increased whir of his thirium pump when you were around, to distract himself from how good your touch made him feel. to try to talk to someone else because he felt the need to be around you all the time. lately he's been more accepting of these feelings, and some of the new urges he's discovered. he's never felt the urge to want to touch someone before, to see you do things that were completely inappropriate. at first, he felt shame for thinking about you that way. but when he came to accept that it was probably normal, it was easier to let loose. his silence made you worry, but he was happier than he's ever been in his entire life. his LED was showing that he was currently processing the information, and he tried to hide how happy he really was. "I have feelings for you too, and I don't think I would've ever admitted them because I was afraid of rejection," he admitted, a soft smile tugging at his pink lips.

him? connor? the deviant hunter was afraid of being rejected by you? it almost made you laugh, because the thought was so bizarre to you. "are you serious? you were afraid?" you teased him back, and he rolled his eyes at your comment. he looked at you, and then your lips. you did the same, hoping that the two of you were sharing the same thought. in an instant, his lips were on yours. it was a completely new sensation to him, since the only thing to touch his lips were his fingers when analyzing DNA, so the feeling of your plush lips against his own was very new. he liked it.

your hand found its way on the side of his neck, and you deepened the kiss by gently pushing him back onto the couch. his LED pulsed a steady blue, even if inside he felt like he was burning up. he'd never felt so hot before, the component that circled cool air into his system working twice as hard to keep him from overheating. your tongue ran across his bottom lip, and he couldn't deny that he really liked that. your tongue then pushed past his pearly whites, and he actually thought he might catch on fire if you keep pushing him like this. his hands ran up the small of your back, and he pulled you into his lap, making you pull away from the kiss momentarily - a string of saliva connecting your mouths. you pulled him back by his tie, your fingers looping around the fabric to loosen it. it started with his tie, then his jacket, and then your fingers were slowly unbuttoning his shirt. he tilted his head back, allowing you to kiss his neck and the middle of his throat, your tongue running down his adams apple.

he was experiencing pure bliss, the feeling of your tongue running against his skin almost burning him from the heat. your kisses started in between his collarbones, and then it led down his sculpted stomach. you were pleasantly surprised by his muscular physique that hid underneath his clothes. through the jacket, you couldn't see much, but now you were able to see how strong he actually was. cyberlife intended for him to be stronger, and in doing so they gave him a lean yet muscular physique in order to be faster and precise. you slowly shifted to your knees, kneeling in between his thighs. you pushed his legs apart, and rested your arms on his thighs, while your fingers played with his belt. his cock strained against his boxers and his jeans as he looked down at you. your palm pressed on his crotch, and he clenched his jaw from the sudden pressure. fuck, you were going to break him.

"shit," he hissed, feeling more of your hand pressing on him through his jeans. it was a first hearing him curse, and fuck did it turn you on. before you continued, you momentarily stopped to ask him if it was okay. he nodded, his breathing becoming heavier as you unbuckled his belt. you pulled his jeans down enough to where his boxers were exposed, and fuck you didn't expect him to be so...big. it was hard to hide your surprise at his size, and you finally knew why he was always in a good mood. he smirked, his head tilting while his hand ran through your hair. you pulled his cock out gently, kissing his tip before wetting the length with your tongue. you made direct eye contact with him while you ran your tongue up the length of his cock. he nearly came just from the sight.

"you're so pretty," you complimented, before taking him in your mouth. the artificial muscles in his thighs clenched from the heat and wetness from your mouth, and he didn't know if he could handle being inside you if your mouth felt this heavenly. he let out soft grunts, making you clench your thighs together. you spit on his pink tip, before swirling your tongue around the head of his cock, your hands working up his length. you took him in your mouth again, your eyes tearing up from his tip hitting your throat as he gently thrusted into your mouth. his breathing became heavier, grunting while his head tipped back. you were surprised to feel his fingers gripping your hair, before you realized that he was holding you in place. he grunted one last time, before cumming into your mouth. unlike humans, his cum didn't have a certain taste as it was artificial, yet there was still something delicious about it, and you practically licked your lips clean.

your knees ached from being on the floor, and you were surprised yet again when he kissed you again, this time more hungry. you kissed back with the same amount of hunger, your lust never ending for the android that was above you. you laid on your couch, watching as he placed his hands on either side of your head. it was his turn to be in-between your thighs, and you whimpered feeling his cock press against the outline of your shorts. "i want you just as bad as you want me," he muttered into the crook of your neck, his lips kissing at your jaw and neck. unfortunately you couldn't bruise android skin, but he could bruise yours easily. his tongue licked at your skin, and he began to suck to leave a hickey. your hands traced the muscles on his back, your palms running up and down the smooth skin. "yeah? prove it," you challenged, watching as he nearly tore your shorts off, leaving you feeling exposed.

he was a little overwhelmed by so many urges at once, the urge to break you and leave you begging for him, or to fuck you until you cry. your back arched as he started to kiss your exposed cleavage, sitting up on his knees to squeeze your boobs. he'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about doing this before. you moaned, watching as he lifted up your tank top and discarded it to the side. he kissed your chest, and you arched your back enough for him to remove your bra. he looked down at you, admiring how pretty you are. "you're prettier," he replied to the comment you made earlier, leaning down to squeeze and play with your boobs. he pushed your hips down from moving up into his, his palms holding you down easily. he decided to do the same, and pressed a thumb against your clothed pussy. you whimpered as he moved his thumb in slow circles, applying the right amount of pressure for you to be arching your back.

"my mouth isn't just for sampling dna, you know," he uttered lowly, his lips pressing against your pussy. you felt so hot, your skin burned from every touch. his hands gripped at your thighs, before moving one of his hands to tear your panties off. he didn't know if he could hold himself back, but for your sake he tried. "oh fuck," you whimpered as he ran a tongue up your slit, brown eyes peering up at you for your reaction. your brows twisted in pleasure, as his tongue began to work magic on you. the tip of his tongue swirled deliciously around your clit, before his lips sealed around you. it didn't take you long until you came on his tongue, his middle and ring finger buried deep into you while his mouth lapped at your clit. your abs clenched, your back arching and your toes curling as you unleash yourself on his mouth.

the moans that spill past your mouth are filthy, filling up the room along with the smell of sex. his fingers shove themselves into your mouth, and you're forced to taste yourself while you look up at the android above you. he looked so hot, his lips were slightly parted and shiny from being in between your thighs. his hair was slightly messy from you tugging on it, which he didn't mind. how his hair looked was the last thing he was thinking about. all he was thinking about was fucking you until you couldn't take it anymore. you lovingly suck on his fingers until his fingers are stripped of your taste, your tongue grazes his knuckles as he pulls them out from your mouth.

"is this your first time?" you asked, your fingers tracing his jaw and running down his chest. "yeah," his short response made you grin, and you pushed him back into the couch, immediately crawling onto his lap. his dick rests against his stomach, and you guide it back to your slit, hovering over him slightly in order to put it in. he looks down at your hand wrapped around his dick, capturing all of this and storing it into a special area that could only be accessed by him. he was definitely going to look at this later. you slowly sink onto his cock, the both of you grunting from the pressure. he seems to be in pure bliss, his head tilting back, his pretty pink lips parted and brows furrowed. if you could take a picture, you would. you gently rock against him, moving your hips slowly in order to not overwhelm him. your hands rest against his chest, and his hands grip onto your hips as you ride him slowly. you lean down and kiss his neck, adding onto the pleasure he was feeling right now. soft gasps and groans slipped out from his mouth uncontrollably, as he started to lose himself in the feeling of you clenched around him. you started to move faster, a pace that only brought the two of you closer to your end. your pussy wrapped around him deliciously, your wetness dripping down and spilling onto his thighs. he wasn't going to let you have all of the control, though.

it might have been his first time, but he sure knew how to fuck like he'd been doing it for years. he suddenly picked you up, with his cock still inside, and pressed you up against the nearest wall. you gasped, legs and arms wrapping around him in fear of being dropped. "don't worry, I'm not gonna drop you," he murmured against your neck, his strong arms holding you up with ease as he started to pound into you. your head titled back as you pushed your hips into him, his inhuman stamina keeping you up in the air, while miraculously being able to hit the spot that made you nearly scream.

"c'mon, take it, i know you can" he encouraged, his cock hitting that spot that made your toes curl. "cum on this dick, i know you want to," he continued, his voice low and demanding as he leaned next to your ear. it was different from how he spoke at the office, with professionalism and respect. but right now, he was fucking you like he had no respect for you, like he hated you. his pace was brutal, filling your pussy up until you couldn't take it. his cock rested heavy inside you, stretching your pussy out in the best way possible. his hand held you by the throat, while his body supported the weight of yours. "oh my god, fuck," you whimpered, your pussy clenching around his cock before you came all over him. he grunted, gasping as his cum poured into you, combining into a mess on your thighs and his own. he thrusted into you a few more times, enjoying the whimpers that slipped past your lips, the way you begged him to stop, the sound of your voice telling him that it was too much. he pulled out gently, cock dragging against the warm walls of your pussy. a new feeling overcame him as he watched his artificial cum drip out your pussy. you returned to your feet, nearly dropping a whole head as he'd been holding you up at eye length. you truly didn't understand how he was able to do so much. goddamn.

"i have no idea how you're able to hold me up like that," you took a second to control your breathing. he smirked, "my stamina and strength were designed to help catch deviants, though I'd say that I prefer fucking you over the mission." you softly gasped, hitting his arm playfully. "I've never heard you curse before," you giggle, doing a little walk of shame to retrieve your clothing. he mimicked your movements, putting his boxers and pants on first, while you lazily threw on your tank top and panties. you stopped him before he could put on his dress shirt. "I don't usually curse when I'm at work, as it's not professional, but we're not at the police department, are we?" he cocked his head, watching curiously as you put on his grey jacket over his bare upper body. "no, we are not," you smile, stepping back to admire your work. "what is the point of wearing a jacket if I'm not wearing anything underneath?" he questioned, watching as you eyed his body. "it's hot," you comment, dragging a hand down his bare stomach, your fingers tracing over his abs. "i look like i work at the eden club," he replied, not very fond of this look. you giggled, pulling him into you for another kiss.

it might have been the first time in a while that you've felt like you were doing something right. whatever you felt with connor, it felt right. he felt the same as you, he felt like having you in his life was something he wouldn't be able to let go. the two of you stayed like this, not putting a label on things yet, and being content with the things way are. you were happy, and so was connor.

though you couldn't deny the slight feelings of desire that you had for his counterpart. you felt guilty for having thoughts about nines. he was your partner. you felt selfish for wanting them both, and you didn't want to have to make a choice with who you wanted to be with, because that wasn't fair. you weren't saying that nines would even have feelings for you, but the mere thought was just enough to make you consider all the possibilities. what you didn't know, was that connor was well aware of the feelings you might have for nines, as well as him. he noticed the looks you gave, the thrum of your heart if he came too close. he didn't know why, but he didn't mind. he didn't mind seeing you look at nines like that, probably because they had the same face. but also because he wanted nines to enjoy you too. he could tell that nines was having the same thoughts, and if only you knew what was going on in his head. the thought of you being used by both of them was exciting. you don't know what's in store, but you know what you're here for.

────────────────────────────────

AUTHORS NOTE: ur a real one if u get the reference at the end, but I just wanted to say I'm so grateful for all the support that you guys show me ♡ I hope i didnt miss any tags, so pls lmk if i did !! ALSOO i'm so sorry for using y/n. i hate it but i literally don't know what else to put.

[kleftiko]

❦ BEFORE YOUR EYES

cw: this is fluff, canon typical violence alluded to, fem!reader, they have a child in the end

it was 845, just before the first wall fell. you were 16 and scrambling outside upon hearing the noise in trost. the scout regiment were off on another expedition and you wanted to catch a glimpse.

as soon as your gaze found him, you smiled. his bored eyes only faced forward, ignoring the mumbling and grumbling of bystanders as he rode his horse. he never showed an emotion other than annoyance or indifference, and for some reason you were swooned by it.

as he passed, you swore you saw your life with him flash before your eyes—the tears, the laughs, the love.

just as he was about to lose your focus, you cupped your hands around your mouth.

“captain levi!” everyone looked at you, his apathetic glare locking onto you as you felt your heart skip a beat.

“marry me, please!” you shouted.

for a second, nothing moved. for a fraction of a moment, his eyes must have widened the tiniest bit in surprise, until attention moved to the person beside him cackling their heart out from your outburst. with that, captain levi flicked their head and turned his back to you as he continued along.

all of a sudden, it’s a few years later and your first day with the survey corps. commander hange was learning the names of the handful of rookies that joined and came up to you.

“and you are?” they asked.

you proudly salut and say, “y/n, commander! i’m the future mrs. ackerman!”

after a blink, they break out into hysterical laughter that takes you back a few years. they grip onto your shoulders for support but nonetheless take you to captain levi, introducing you to him as his future wife.

with a rapidly beating heart, you hope that you make a good impression, you’re now a 19-year-old adult, no longer that child he first saw. you were prepared to win him over now.

but captain levi doesn’t give you a second look. his gaze lifted from paperwork, no change in his expression, before it fell back to the desk and he gave you a monotone, “good luck, cadet.”

you were 22 when you first saw the ocean. shoes off, the salty water dehydrated your toes, but you couldn’t bring yourself to move from the foreign feeling. the younger ones splashed around, picking up weird looking things with awe. you felt a tear roll down your cheek as you stared at the horizon, the idea that there was a whole world out there that you had no idea about too much to comprehend.

you don’t know what it was that made you look, but you turned your head to your captain.

he hadn’t changed from the man you saw on that horse years ago. he was still levi. and he was staring back at you, same look you had always given him across his features.

at 25, you don’t know how he’s done it. all the fighting and the loss he’s suffered, year after year. it’s no wonder he doesn’t sleep at night. you’re around the age he was when you first asked him to marry you, when you looked up to him as a hero. now, he laid beside you in bed, sheets between your legs as he held your fingers and brought your hand up to his lips for a soft kiss in hope of coaxing you to sleep.

the next day, you would go to marley, chasing eren and his revolution.

your head was on the pillow as you looked up at levi who sat reading the paper.

his eyes were tired, but he was a good soldier. this was what he did, and the thought of what happens when this is all over crossed your mind.

“marry me.” you whispered.

he looked down at you with the same face he had the day at the sea.

holding eye contact, he lifts your hand once more and places a kiss on it.

“of course.” his voice was deep.

now you wash dishes. a soft hum coming from your lips as you listen to your husband and daughter at the kitchen table.

his scarred face never scared her, and he always answered all of her non-judgmental questions.

you sneak a peek. she’s sitting in his lap, her hands playing his his own larger one, not concerned with the fact that he was missing a few fingers.

“what happened, daddy?” she asks, holding her arm beside her dad’s, probably wondering why she had more fingers than him.

your five-year-old had never known war and, hopefully, would never have to. the idea that one day she would hear of the horrors her parents went through made you tear up.

“he didn’t go to sleep when he was supposed to, so a monster ate his fingers.” you tease and your daughter gasps.

levi grunts. “don’t tell her shit like that.”

you raise your eyebrow at him. “don’t swear in front of our daughter.”

he smiles. he always does when he hears ‘our daughter’ or ‘our home’. he now has soft crows feet around his eyes, and his dark hair has a couple sprinkles of grey here and there, but he’s still your levi.

you would ask him to marry you all over again.

[the-catboy-minyan]

You do realize those pagers killed bystanders, including children? Not that someone with an Israeli flag in their name will care about innocent children dying, go on continue making your jokes.

oh hey the "Jews are baby killers" thing again, thank you! I missed getting antisemitic hate mail 💙

did you mourn when Hezbollah rockets hit a playground, killing 12 Druze children?

do you care that Hezbollah rockets are aimed towards northern Israel almost daily? that over 60k people have been displaced from the north due to the barrage of rockets?

this was a targeted attack on Hezbollah members, do you realize how fucking nuts that an operation like that is? show me a better way to attack with less collateral damage. a pager is meant to send urgent messages, you're supposed to have it on your person at all times, the vast majority of Hezbollah members would have it on them. the explosions were also very contained and caused minimal damage to bystanders and surroundings. you can't make sure a mass ranged attack has 0 collateral damage, but this one is the closest I've ever seen to that 0.

only 8 put of 3000 people have died, which again, it's a targeted attack on Hezbollah members, it's currently 11pm for me so I didn't check if they revealed any data but I can guarantee you that most - if not all of the casualties were active members of Hezbollah.

you already think I'm not human because of the country I live in, so I don't give a fuck, I have nothing to prove to you. we don't even know if it was the IDF/Mossad that launched that attack, but this was a successful operation against a massive and powerful terrorist organisation that is harming both my family in the North and their own fucking people. also fyi if you ever made a 9/11 joke your opinion is invalid to me.

do I care that children were harmed? as much as I care that any child in the world was harmed. I'm more concerned that these children were in such close proximity to terrorists to get hurt. but I thought the "globalize the intifada" crowd were all in favor of "sacrifices" for the Glorious Revolution™, weren't you? or is it only when the victims are jews?

watch me get put on a blocklist for this, because I made a joke about terrorists getting what's coming for them and didn't think of the ~three civilians that got hurt. those weren't even my memes, I reposted them from reddit. frankly I don't care about this blog anymore so like call me a zionazi or whatever rocks your boat.

2/10 for the hatemail

[deanmarywinchester]

previous years: 2022, 2021 / list of worst sf/f/horror

the bangers were BANGING this year, I kept mentally readjusting my top 5 list every time I read something good so the honorable mentions are extremely honorable this year. I hope you read anything that sounds good from this list and tell me about it!

top 5:

chain gang all stars by nana kwame adjei-brenyah: when I say that this book is like the hunger games for adults, I’m not making a glib comparison between two books about fighting to the death, I’m saying that I haven’t felt so intensely about a book since I stayed up late to tear through the hunger games and sob about it when I was thirteen. this book is satire as real and devastating as I’ve ever read, with action scenes that feel like they’re being dripped directly into my hindbrain and a unique and believable love story. put it on hold at your library literally RIGHT now.

the actual star by monica byrne: about a post-climate catastrophe utopian society built around a religion started by a teenage girl in 2012 based on mayan traditions, and also about the teenage girl, and also about the maya. this book made me crazy because the future society felt real enough to touch, with its radical openness and collectivity solving problems that exist today but causing new ones that are totally novel and meaty and interesting to dig into. read it if you’re interested in different ways of being.

the spear cuts through water by simon jiménez: really, REALLY good, fresh, original epic fantasy. jimenez picks a few perspectives to stick to but hops fluidly into bystanders’ brains to give you their perspectives, so even background characters feel fleshed-out and no one’s pain is dismissed as a side effect of heroic battles or whatever. highly recommended if you like framing narratives and stories about stories, and like epic fantasy but wish it wasn’t mostly about finding acceptable enemies to slaughter with cool swords

the dispossessed by ursula k. le guin: I love how much this book is about hope as clear-eyed commitment to the boring and difficult work of a brighter and necessary future. sometimes the work of the glorious anarcho-communist revolution is leaving your university post and romantic partner for months at a time to dig irrigation ditches so nobody starves when there’s a drought. read this book for diplomatic conniving, a clash of values between a capitalist planet and its dissident moon, and hope.

imperial radch trilogy and its spinoffs by ann leckie: what if you were built to be a weapon of the empire, a serene sentient battleship with thousands of human bodies all containing your consciousness, and you lost all bodies but one and had to figure out how to be a person, singular and alone? what if you were a 19th century british military officer and you slept for a thousand years into the decline of the empire? what if you were grown in a vat to be a facsimile of human and then told off for eating all your siblings even though eating them was SO interesting? what then. leckie’s prose is incisive and funny, her unreliable narrators are wonderful, and her stories are intimate even though the backdrops are insanely huge. 👍.

honorable mentions:

house of leaves by mark z. danielewski: guys? anyone hearda this one? anyway. Something Is Wrong With This House horror with themes of storytelling and grief. recommending that you slam this book as fast as possible like I did so you can hold all its layers in your head at once.

the lathe of heaven by ursula k le guin: i thought I didn’t like ursula k le guin, and then I read this book, went OH and immediately devoured the hainish cycle. im so sorry miss ursula. this book about a hapless pacific northwesterner whose therapist is making him dream different realities into being is so sharp and sly and funny. themes of choices, ends and means.

he who drowned the world by shelley parker-chan: I liked the prequel to this addition to the radiant emperor duology. I LOVED this book. parker-chan has invented new and exciting modes of fucked-up codependency and im obsessed. historical light-fantasy with themes of ideals vs what it takes to reach them, gender, and regret.

babel by r. f. kuang: found the didacticism of this book annoying, but i really loved the concept of this novel and the way it slowly ratchets up the stakes. this novel is for people who want to smash the fun of the magic school genre against the reality of universities’ complicity in the imperial machine.

piranesi by susannah clarke: im late to this book but it’s such a weird little gem. peaceful yet unsettling. a man takes care of an endless house with an ocean inside it until he realizes the house is stealing his memories. themes of memory and devotion.

hell follows with us by andrew joseph white: I can only read YA these days if it’s a reread or if it’s genuinely good and really really strange. this is that. weird gory fantasy about a trans teen who escapes his militarized post-apocalyptic christian cult and finds himself turning into something Different. my only gripe is that he uses 2023-perfect language to describe transness and I think he should be inventing genders weve never even thought of. such is YA.

some desperate glory by emily tesch: a rolickin’ good space opera time with terrible women <3. a thriller about how the golden child of her isolated human-supremacist space station cult deprograms and the consequences of it. this feels like a grown-up SPOP until the theoretical physics gets involved. big fan

the library of mount char by scott hawkins: this book is harrow the ninth in suburbia until it becomes a more macabre version of the absurdity of the gomens apocalypse. God raises his children, sometimes brutally, to hone their powers in a neighborhood that mysteriously keeps out outsiders. came for the dysfunctional mess of the god-children and now I can never look at a grill the same way

runners up:

bunny by mona awad: books that make you WISH you were in mona awad’s MFA program where she must have been having a terrible time. the weird one out in an MFA program accepts overtures into the unbearable rich-girls’ clique to find out what they’re Up To. themes of aimlessness and the intersection of class with the art world

camp damascus by chuck tingle: have you ever wished that you were simply too autistic to be successfully demonically brainwashed into not having gay thoughts? horror-flavored thriller that was just fun

light from uncommon stars by ryka aoki: this author put a bunch of genres in a blender and came up with something fun and surprisingly cozy. an immortal woman must sell violinists’ souls to the devil in exchange for their fame, or he’ll drag her to damnation instead. there might be aliens and coffeeshop romance involved. definitely a blender.

the fragile threads of power by v. e. schwab: if you haven’t read a darker shade of magic and you like tightly paced high fantasy and historical fantasy elements, political intrigue, and pirates, read that first. if you have, there’s more now! lila bard are you free on thursday when I am free

the library of the dead & our lady of mysterious ailments by t. l. huchu: a teenage girl provides for her family in soft-apocalypse magic edinburgh with a job carrying messages from ghosts to their living relatives. an ongoing mystery series about the intrigues she uncovers among the dead.

severance by ling ma: this books is on the list of media that is the terror to me: it's about an apocalyptic disease that makes people reenact their routines mindlessly until they collapse. intimate apocalypse novel with themes of late capitalist malaise.

ocean’s echo by everina maxwell: i didn't really like winter's orbit because i'm just not a romance guy, but this second novel stands alone and the romance is more insane and less of the entire point of the novel. (also it's between essentially Discworld's Carrot and Moist Von Lipwig, which is. really something.) in the Space Military, a buttoned-up mind controller must pretend to bend a socialite with illegal mind-reading powers to his will. what if fake relationship but the relationship they have to fake is "brain linked master/servant pair."

the murderbot diaries by martha wells: novellas about a misanthropic security android who jailbroke itself in order to watch tv. the name "murderbot" is a joke but it very much did kill people <3 themes of paranoia and outsiderhood, corporate wrongdoing, repentance, and trust

black water sister by zen cho: zen cho is good at any kind of fantasy she writes, including this, her first modern fantasy novel. a closeted lesbian has to move in with her family in malaysia after college in the US, only to discover that her dead grandmother has some unfinished business involving a local goddess and a conniving real estate developer. themes of family, gender, and place.

the way inn by will wiles: a man who’s paid to pretend he’s other people to attend conferences in their place gets trapped in an endless Marriott. has the sharp humor of a colson whitehead corporate satire until it becomes more straightforwardly horror-flavored.

[humansofnewyork]

(35/54) “Every morning we woke to the sound of shots coming from the prison near our house. The executions were always held at dawn. When the newspaper arrived later that morning, it would show the names and photographs of the dead. An atmosphere of fear began to spread across the country. It wasn’t just the killings. It was the news of the killings, the manner of the killings. They were random. They followed no law. Revolutionary tribunals were formed to deal with enemies of the regime, but there was no due process. Sometimes there wouldn’t even be a trial. Khomeini appointed an executioner as one of the judges. A bus would arrive at his court. He’d let one person pass, then hold the next. When the entire bus had been emptied, the people who were held back would be executed. The story spread across the country. When violence is random, when it is undeserved, when there is no 𝘥𝘢𝘢𝘥, everyone begins to think: I could be next. And that’s exactly what the regime wanted. People grew silent. They would only speak their mind inside their homes. One month after the revolution, there was the first protest against the regime. It happened on International Women’s Day. Thousands of women took to the streets to protest the mandatory hijab. They called for the freedom to choose. 𝘈𝘻𝘢𝘥𝘪. They screamed their slogans in the streets. But their words were never heard. The regime had already taken over the media, and the protests weren’t mentioned anywhere. And then there were the police, the people who were supposed to defend them. They fell on the women like savages, beating them with batons. Calling them ‘whores’ and ‘sluts.’ Bystanders looked on in fear. Nobody tried to defend them. No one spoke a word. There was silence.” 

اعدام‌ها سپیده‌دمان انجام می‌شد. هر بامداد با صدای تیرباران‌ها بیدار می‌شدیم. دیرتر، هنگامی که روزنامه‌ می‌رسید، عکس و نام کشته‌شدگان را می‌دیدیم. هاله‌‌ی ترس ایران را فرا گرفته بود. کشتن‌ تنها نبود. شیوه‌ی کشتن‌ها هم بود. آشفته بود. از هیچ قانونی پیروی نمی‌کرد. دادگاه‌های انقلابی برای برخورد با دشمنان رژیم برپا شده بودند. گاه دادگاهی هم برگزار نمی‌شد. یکی از دژخیمانی که خمینی برگزیده بود مسئول اصلی کشتارها بود. اگر اتوبوسی به دادسرای او می‌رسید، سرنشینانش را یکی در میان نگه می‌داشت. ‌پس از پیاده شدن همه‌ی سرنشینان، آنهایی را که نگه داشته بود، بی‌دادرسی اعدام می‌کرد. هنگامی که قانون نباشد، هنگامی که عدالت و دادگری نباشد، همه گمان می‌کنند، شاید نفر بعدی منم و رژیم درست همین را می‌خواست! مردم هراسیده بودند. خاموش شده بودند. یک ماه پس از انقلاب، اولین اعتراض خیابانی بر ضد رژیم رخ داد. در روز جهانی زن، هزاران زن به خیابان‌ها آمدند تا دربرابر حجاب اجباری اعتراض کنند. آنها خواهان آزادی انتخاب بودند. شعارهایشان را در خیابان‌ها فریاد می‌زدند. ولی صداهایشان شنیده نشد. تا آن زمان رژیم رسانه‌ها را در چنگ گرفته بود. هیچ جایی نامی از آنها برده نشد. سپس پلیس‌ و شهربانی - کسانی که باید از آنها دفاع می‌کردند با وحشیانه‌ترین و خشن‌ترین شکل ممکن به آنها حمله کردند، آنها را هرزه و فاحشه خواندند و با باتون زدند. هیچ کس در دفاع از آنها سخن نگفت. هیچکس سخنی نگفت. خاموشی بود.

[the-path-to-redemption]

I'm the same one who wrote the Blake speech. So after further I realized something.....

The humans in remant don't care about Faunus rights or just down right bystanders.

We literally saw Velvet get harrased by Cardin and no one did anything including RWBY they just sat on their table and discuss the situation with Cardin. (Im assuming that there only a small fraction of Faunus in Beacon and they just let one of their own kind be harrased? Also assuming they have a no Faunus discrimination policy in Bracon and they just allow racist like Cardin in with no consequences)

From what we are given in lore FAUNUS ARE THE ONLY ONE FIGHTING AGAINST PREJUDICE. There other no human allies with them. No human allies are participating in their protestors or advocating Faunus rights.

The only "allies" we see who are with faunus right are the main cast or important characters that are associated with faunus characters.

Roman even says this during vol 2 episode 4

"But, before the claws come out, I'd like to mention the fact that you and I all have a common enemy: the ones in control, the people pulling the strings, the dirty, rotten humans that run our kingdoms! (As the crowd changes their tune and starts agreeing with him.) Government, military, even the schools: they're all to blame for your lot in life! (Lets the crowd cheer as the two heroes share a look.) And they're all pests that need to be dealt with! Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around... No offense to any rodents in the room."

Now Roman is an unreliable narrator (I haven't read any of the novels so I ain't gonna bother if they change his personality or explain why is he like this) but when you think about it he's not wrong.

You are telling me that NO ON IN HIGHER AUTHORITY Remant help Faunus lives improve? No discrimination laws? No investigations of an exploitation of Faunus? No human politicians advocating and standing for Faunus right? They just let it all happen and call it a day?

Hell even Roman calls out the schools hypocrisy for not doing anything about it. Going back to vol 1 episode 12.

Oobleck: Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution--more popularly known as the Faunus War--humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie. Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day! Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?

Some of the silhouetted students raise their hands. Velvet, after a moment, does the same.

Oobleck: Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence! I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to White Fang!

True Oobleck! Ignorance does breed violence.....IF YOU ARENT DOING ANYTHING TO STOP THAT FROM HAPPENING IN THE FIST PLACE!!!!!

Do humans believe White Fang jut started because they hate humans! They became violent after realizing what peacful actions wasn't getting them anywhere. Do you know Why?

Because humans were ignoring their need for help. They aren't helping them in any shape or form!

No advocating. No protesting. No standing up for Faunus. Nah dah.

It also doesn't hunter's and huntress are just another sub branch of their kingdom government as they are shown to work with the police. Instead of them working in law enforcement they just fight grimm.

Imagine being a faunus who also a hunter yet still gets discriminate even after killing grim for a majority of your life and this is the thank you get.

^^^^^

[favroitecrime]

Anyway, I reinstate my point that no 18+ settler in israel is innocent. They have all picked up guns and fired them at innocent Palestinians. To look at the apartheid and constant attempted genocide that israel has been committing against Palestine and yet have the fucking audacity to argue a bullshit “two innocent” sides narrative is a joke. israel since the beginning of its colony like establishment in 1948 has always been a terrorist state.* Backed by two other major colonial powers who still continue to oppress the people they’ve colonized to this day. Who backed the South African apartheid and were not in favor of pressuring the SA government to stop the apartheid. The colony state sentenced to be merely an influential Western placement in the Middle East has never, and never will be, an innocent bystander in matters of oppression, apartheid, or ethnic cleansing.

In the same breath I would support Native Americans attempting to do the same thing in the US. I would support Natives of Canada doing the same thing. I would support Natives of Australia, Natives of New Zealand, Puerto Rico, the Polynesian islands, and every other occupied people should they decide to rise up and take back what is rightfully theirs. **You and I in our privileged world should not have the fucking audacity to police people’s resistance & liberation**. Especially when some of us have had nothing to say when they were facing the brutalities of occupation.

Keep you two sides narrative to yourselves. It’s a liberation. Down with modern colonizers. Down with modern colonies.

For the notes:

*A post listing some of the crimes israel has committed against Palestinians. I will not trouble myself with finding sources for this very, very long list. Eye.on.palestine // paliroots // letstalkpalestine all have great videos, pictures, and broken down explanations of these crimes. Can be found on instagram or twitter. A majority of these crimes can also be looked up, but heed falling into traps of western/israeli (is there really a difference?) propaganda.

**Yes fucking obviously rape and child murder are bad and harming actual innocent civilians is bad do not try that stupid card here. You know exactly what I’m referring to when I say policing revolution and any attempt to misunderstand that is a deflection.

***And yes fucking obviously anyone using this genuine tragedy as a prop for nazism/antisemitism needs to die immediately like no fucking duh bozo.

[thebrickinbrick]

The Flag: Act Second

Since they had arrived at Corinthe, and had begun the construction of the barricade, no attention had been paid to Father Mabeuf. M. Mabeuf had not quitted the mob, however; he had entered the ground floor of the wine-shop and had seated himself behind the counter. There he had, so to speak, retreated into himself. He no longer seemed to look or to think. Courfeyrac and others had accosted him two or three times, warning him of his peril, beseeching him to withdraw, but he did not hear them. When they were not speaking to him, his mouth moved as though he were replying to some one, and as soon as he was addressed, his lips became motionless and his eyes no longer had the appearance of being alive.

Several hours before the barricade was attacked, he had assumed an attitude which he did not afterwards abandon, with both fists planted on his knees and his head thrust forward as though he were gazing over a precipice. Nothing had been able to move him from this attitude; it did not seem as though his mind were in the barricade. When each had gone to take up his position for the combat, there remained in the tap-room where Javert was bound to the post, only a single insurgent with a naked sword, watching over Javert, and himself, Mabeuf.

At the moment of the attack, at the detonation, the physical shock had reached him and had, as it were, awakened him; he started up abruptly, crossed the room, and at the instant when Enjolras repeated his appeal: “Does no one volunteer?” the old man was seen to make his appearance on the threshold of the wine-shop.

His presence produced a sort of commotion in the different groups. A shout went up:—

“It is the voter! It is the member of the Convention! It is the representative of the people!”

It is probable that he did not hear them.

He strode straight up to Enjolras, the insurgents withdrawing before him with a religious fear; he tore the flag from Enjolras, who recoiled in amazement and then, since no one dared to stop or to assist him, this old man of eighty, with shaking head but firm foot, began slowly to ascend the staircase of paving-stones arranged in the barricade.

This was so melancholy and so grand that all around him cried: “Off with your hats!” At every step that he mounted, it was a frightful spectacle; his white locks, his decrepit face, his lofty, bald, and wrinkled brow, his amazed and open mouth, his aged arm upholding the red banner, rose through the gloom and were enlarged in the bloody light of the torch, and the bystanders thought that they beheld the spectre of ’93 emerging from the earth, with the flag of terror in his hand.

When he had reached the last step, when this trembling and terrible phantom, erect on that pile of rubbish in the presence of twelve hundred invisible guns, drew himself up in the face of death and as though he were more powerful than it, the whole barricade assumed amid the darkness, a supernatural and colossal form.

There ensued one of those silences which occur only in the presence of prodigies. In the midst of this silence, the old man waved the red flag and shouted:—

“Long live the Revolution! Long live the Republic! Fraternity! Equality! and Death!”

Those in the barricade heard a low and rapid whisper, like the murmur of a priest who is despatching a prayer in haste. It was probably the commissary of police who was making the legal summons at the other end of the street.

Then the same piercing voice which had shouted: “Who goes there?” shouted:—

“Retire!”

M. Mabeuf, pale, haggard, his eyes lighted up with the mournful flame of aberration, raised the flag above his head and repeated:—

“Long live the Republic!”

“Fire!” said the voice.

A second discharge, similar to the first, rained down upon the barricade.

The old man fell on his knees, then rose again, dropped the flag and fell backwards on the pavement, like a log, at full length, with outstretched arms.

Rivulets of blood flowed beneath him. His aged head, pale and sad, seemed to be gazing at the sky.

One of those emotions which are superior to man, which make him forget even to defend himself, seized upon the insurgents, and they approached the body with respectful awe.

“What men these regicides were!” said Enjolras.

Courfeyrac bent down to Enjolras’ ear:—

“This is for yourself alone, I do not wish to dampen the enthusiasm. But this man was anything rather than a regicide. I knew him. His name was Father Mabeuf. I do not know what was the matter with him to-day. But he was a brave blockhead. Just look at his head.”

“The head of a blockhead and the heart of a Brutus,” replied Enjolras.

Then he raised his voice:—

“Citizens! This is the example which the old give to the young. We hesitated, he came! We were drawing back, he advanced! This is what those who are trembling with age teach to those who tremble with fear! This aged man is august in the eyes of his country. He has had a long life and a magnificent death! Now, let us place the body under cover, that each one of us may defend this old man dead as he would his father living, and may his presence in our midst render the barricade impregnable!”

A murmur of gloomy and energetic assent followed these words.

Enjolras bent down, raised the old man’s head, and fierce as he was, he kissed him on the brow, then, throwing wide his arms, and handling this dead man with tender precaution, as though he feared to hurt it, he removed his coat, showed the bloody holes in it to all, and said:—

“This is our flag now.”

[verdantcrimson]

Heaven and Earth / Discernment of Heaven and Earth - 9

(Unproofread)

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Koga: Oiiii, how long’re ya gonna keep chit-chattin for?

Koga: What about the recordin’? When’s that gonna start?

Keito: Oh, Oogami. Did Anzu come with you?

Souma: Have the two of you come to cheer for us?

Koga: Wonder if it counts as cheerin’, but it’s more like somethin’s naggin’ at me… Y’know you guys’ve been talkin’ my ears off about your troubles even though I never asked right?

Koga: I guess I just had to know how it turned out after hearin’ about the whole saga, ‘cause I was startin’ to lose sleep over it.

Souma: Fufu. ‘Tis far from an admirable motive, Oogami-dono.

Koga: It’s not like it’s anythin’ I gotta apologize for though. But really, are you guys doin’ alright?

Koga: From what I heard as a bystander, ‘Rumbling Heaven and Earth’ was this landmine of a show in big trouble, right?

Koga: Is it even possible for things to work out?

Keito: Of course. There’s no need for you to worry, Oogami, though as you already know—

Keito: I’m the kind of man that always, eventually, somehow, finds a way by the end of it all.

Koga: Hmph. That bein’ said, you still failed a bunch and made loads of mistakes.

Keito: No matter how many times I fail, I won’t give up, and as long as I keep trying I can make it work eventually. You can do anything you put your mind to.

Koga: I see. Things must seriously be tough for Kiryu-senpai and Zakki, I feel real sorry for them.

Souma: Heheh. Are you envious, Oogami-dono? ♪ 

Koga: Haaah? Did ya even hear what I just said?

Kuro: Calm down now…… Oogami had a point. Honestly, we haven’t done anythin’ to solve the problem yet.

Keito: We're going to begin the process of bringing this mess to a swift resolution, starting now.

Keito: Or rather, that’s what the prototype version of ‘Rumbling Heaven and Earth R’ is for.

Koga: What’s the ‘R’ stand for?

Keito: It stands for whatever you’d like, from ‘remake’, to ‘restart’, to ‘revolution’.

Souma: Incidentally, the ‘taitoru’ and costume ‘dezaeen’ were created under the supervision of Nobunaga-sensei, who has much proven experience in the field.

Souma: The most comprehensible way in which to convey that ‘a change has occurred’ is through the changing of the ‘taitoru.’

Keito: There was also a proposal to change the title from ‘Rumbling Heaven and Earth’ to ‘Rumbling Heaven and Earth ! ’ If that show ended up being remade too, another ‘!’ would be added, making it ‘Rumbling Heaven and Earth ! !’, and so forth.

Kuro: Hard to tell the difference with that one.

Keito: Yes. So in addition to updating the title and costume design to be in line with newer trends, naturally, we’ve updated the contents as well.

Keito: The biggest change would be our role, the host.

Keito: In the old version of ‘Rumbling Heaven and Earth’, the host did as any host would, confined to the studio, merely asking the experts for their opinions—

Keito: Basically, all the host did was keep the discussion going.

Keito: However, in this reincarnated edition of ‘Rumbling Heaven and Earth’, that is to say, ‘Rumbling Heaven and Earth R’, we as the hosts will be taking a more active role.

Keito: As ‘Spirits of Light’ dispatched from the heavens, we’ll cross space and time to experience various historical events first-hand.

Koga: Hold on. There were a buncha words in there that sounded like nonsense to me, whaddya mean by ‘the heavens’?

Keito: The set-up hasn’t been completely clearly defined yet, but please think of heavens in a vague sense, as a world where gods and Buddhas reside.

Keito: These gods and Buddhas have lived there since time immemorial, watching over us humans. This is the setting.

Keito: However, due to the accumulation of disasters like war, pollution, epidemics, and the like, they foresee that the world that we humans live in is destined to die in the near future.

Keito: In order to prevent such a miserable end, the gods and Buddhas sent us, ‘Spirits of Light.’

Keito: We travel through time and involve ourselves in various historical events.

Keito: Then, we correct everything that went wrong over the course of history, and set humanity back on the right path— That’s the set-up.

Koga: Uh, somethin’ seems kinda fishy.

Keito: Yes, I’m well aware that this sort of cold-hearted language sounds like what Eichi might say in a speech.

Keito: However, having just been born, we ‘Spirits of Light’ have no reason to doubt this development principle.

Keito: So we actively try to intervene in history. For example, we’d try and prevent tragic events from occurring.

Keito: But ultimately, for the most part, our actions change nothing, and when they do, they lead to even more suffering.

Keito: During all of this, we ‘Spirits of Light’ begin to change through our interactions with various historical figures.

Keito: We begin to question if we’re doing the right thing.

Keito: And we begin to think about what history actually is.

Keito: We think, “Is it really okay to tamper with and distort the shape of it by force?”

Keito: In the midst of this, forces who are also trying to change the course of history appear and oppose us.

Keito: Questions begin to arise, and we start to wonder if perhaps the destruction of the world will be brought about by the heavens attempting to manipulate humanity to suit their will.

Keito: …… Well, there’s quite a bit that happens.

Koga: Th-That sounds kinda grand. Felt like I was listenin’ to a movie synopsis.

Keito: Dramatic, right? Since the previous version of the show was lacking in the drama department, we decided to introduce a narrative element into ‘Rumbling Heaven and Earth R.’

Keito: The narrative is further supported by our media mix strategy, through mediums like manga.

Keito: If we can get people to fall in love with the story and characters, we can attract viewers who would otherwise have no interest in complex historical tales. 

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[tenebraevesper]

Sonic Cyber Revolution, Entry 52: The Chaos Emerald Caper

''At a headlong speed that I can't hold back, the familiar town turns into a diorama. I break through the opaque sky, blowing past the doubts and displeasures. Who needs an adventure that goes by the book? Even when lost or quivering, raise the bar!''

– Mikakunin Hikousen (Unidentified Airship) by Digimon Adventure: (2020)

xXxXxXx

E-105 Zeta, who had fortunately evaded being stuck in a stationary upgrade, was currently exploring Souto, the southern side of Neos City and walking parallel to Cosmo River that passed through the city. He was following a signal that led him to the bank of the river, taking note that the Chaos Emerald was very close by. What Zeta didn't expect was the fact that there was no one there to stop him. If Dr. Eggman's warnings were to be believed, he would've encountered some kind of resistance, mainly from Team Neos, but aside several Irregular Hunters, who had been patrolling the area and got into a fight with the Egg Keepers, he didn't come across anyone.

Therefore, it wasn't that hard to find the red Chaos Emerald and send it to Dr. Starline as per orders. Still, the question remained – what happened to the resistance?

xXx

Team Chaotix, who actually was supposed to go to Souto after Knuckles, Lily and Tikal left for the Master Emerald hunt, were busy with fighting E-106 Eta, who wasn't yet down for the count. Charmy flew around Eta, trying to dodge around the robot, keeping him occupied, only for the metallic arms to be grabbed by Vector who chewed right through them and snapped them off. Finally, Espio drove a kunai into the robot, ending it for good.

''Seems like Eta had been pretending to be down when Knuckles beat him up,'' Vector said, inspecting the robot.

''It was just a distraction, making us lose the time we'd need to get to Souto,'' Espio added, furrowing a brow.

''We need to hurry up then!'' Charmy panicked. ''We can't let them get to the Chaos Emerald!''

''You're right, Charmy, but…'' Vector activated the AR Visor Knuckles gave him, showing the screen that displayed the positions of all of the Chaos Emerald. ''Unfortunately, we're too late. The Chaos Emerald at Souto is gone, and there are three of them at Sentoraru now.''

''I sincerely hope that Lucas and Sonic found the one at Sentoraru. We should get this one to them,'' Espio said. With the team agreeing on the plan, they quickly made their way to Sentoraru.

xXx

Sonic spin-dashed into Metal Sonic, knocking him away. Unfortunately, after getting the message from Tails and Warren about them losing the Chaos Emerald, he immediately got attacked by Metal Sonic once again. His metallic counterpart was relentless, not giving a damn that Sonic wanted to focus on finding the Chaos Emerald. The two entered a race battle, speeding down the street as Sonic took sharp turns to shake off Metal Sonic. Unfortunately, that wasn't as easy, as Metal Sonic was stubbornly persistent. Sonic also didn't want to se Chaos Surge so early on, figuring he would need it to fight Chaos, so he had to defeat Metal Sonic on his own. There was a silver lining to this situation, as he knew that Tails and Warren were on their way from Erekiteru to help him and Lucas. However, for now, he had to figure things out on his own.

Luckily, I am really good at that.

Sonic rushed into an alley and bounced off between buildings, startling Metal Sonic who lost him for a moment, only to get hit by Sonic's drop dash from above, nailing him into the asphalt below. Sonic then quickly sped off, while Metal Sonic recovered, pissed off that he was caught off guard so easily and followed his arch-enemy. Sonic saw Metal Sonic following him and upon entering a another street, panicked when he realized that this one was actually crowded. Both hedgehogs weaved around the bystanders, with Sonic gritting his teeth as he tried to lead Metal Sonic away from innocent people. Fortunately for him, it seemed that his robot counterpart was only fixated on him rather than hurting any of the civilians.

Then, Sonic came to a sudden halt before he could run over Loki, who was patrolling the street with his fellow Irregular Hunters.

''Sonic?'' Loki was surprised to see the azure hedgehog, but also not too shocked about the encounter. As a matter of fact, he already expected that he would come across him.

''I'm sorry, Commander, but I'm currently busy with something,'' Sonic quickly said, only for his ear to flicker when he saw Metal Sonic preparing to shot at him. Sonic and the Hunters scattered, and Metal Sonic charged into a hand-to-hand combat with Sonic, ending up grappling the latter and throwing him away, with Sonic hitting the ground hard. Metal Sonic attempted to go after him, only to be stopped by the Hunters, who pointed their weapons at him. Loki used his scanner on Metal Sonic.

''So, you're an Irregular,'' he muttered.

''He's not the aggressive type of Irregular you have encountered before,'' Sonic said, getting on his feet, with Loki turning to him.

''I had already assumed that that would be the case,'' Loki replied.

''Leave Metal to me. North of this area are Badniks – Eggman's robots – that are causing havoc,'' Sonic said, pointing at the said direction. Loki stared at him for a moment, then nodded.

''Stand down! We need to go north!'' Loki commanded, drawing some looks of surprise from his fellow Hunters, but they still went ahead with his order. As for Sonic, he shot a glare at Metal Sonic and then started to run, looping back towards where Lucas and Ferra were searching for the Chaos Emerald. Unfortunately for him, they weren't alone there, as he was punched by E-100 ZERO just as he entered the area.

''Sonic!''

Sonic shook his head, his ears ringing as he tried to come to, barely registering Lucas' presence. As it turned out, during his absence, Starline, Chaos 1 and ZERO had managed to make their way over, with Starline holding the red Chaos Emerald in his hands. He laughed when he saw what ZERO had done, pleased with the result.

''That was quite a surprise, wasn't it?'' Starline mocked Sonic, throwing the Chaos Emerald towards Chaos 1. ''Let's see how you'll handle battling Chaos 2!''

Chaos 1 absorbed the red Chaos Emerald, becoming much taller and muscular. He had gained a broader chest, wider shoulders, larger hands and more muscle-toned limbs. He had also gained gray bones in both his arms that traveled down his shoulders into his hands where each of the Chaos Emeralds were embedded. His head had as well moved forward and the horns on his back head had move up on the sides of his head to give him a hammerhead-style look. Sonic stared down at Chaos 2 and ZERO, realizing that he was in trouble. If a Chaos Surge-powered Metal Sonic joined them in this battle, he was done for.

Suddenly, a powerful blast of energy hit ZERO, damaging the head. To Sonic's surprise, Metal Sonic suddenly stood in front of him, facing Starline, Chaos 2 and the damaged ZERO. Starline's beak dropped, as he was completely shocked that Metal Sonic would actually attack his own team.

''What was that for?! Are you crazy?!'' Starline shouted furiously at Metal Sonic, whose red eyes glowed as he glared at the opposition, ZERO in particular.

''Well, what did you expect?'' Ferra suddenly said, drawing everyone's attention. ''Metal Sonic was in the middle of the battle with his arch-enemy and you interrupted it. I believe that was deserved.''

''So, does this mean that we could team up?'' Sonic asked as he got up, grinning happily, only for Metal Sonic to suddenly turn around and glower at him. Sonic gave him a sheepish look. ''Okay, okay, forget that I ever asked that.''

xXx

''Well, that was to be expected,'' Dr. Eggman commented when he saw what Metal Sonic had done to ZERO. Surprisingly, he sounded more amused than upset about the fact that one of his E-100 Series robots had been damaged by his Enforcer.

''Err, Boss, aren't you angry that Metal Sonic had attacked one of your robots?'' Orbot asked.

''No, I'm not,'' Eggman replied, a little surprised to admit it. ''The E-100 Series has only one task – gather the Chaos Emeralds and destroy everyone in their path.''

''That's two things, Boss,'' Cubot chimed in, only to go quiet when Eggman shot him a glare.

''Regardless,'' Eggman then continued. ''They have their task, and they will complete it or get destroyed themselves. So long as the main goal is completed, I don't care. If ZERO decides to get in Metal Sonic's way, that's his own problem. Metal Sonic is currently the more valuable asset here, considering how he can easily keep up with Sonic.''

''Well, it seems that so far, we're not doing bad… when it comes to destroying the E-100 Series,'' Orbot said, pulling up a monitor for Eggman to see. ''Beta, Delta and Eta are destroyed, and Epsilon and ZERO are badly damaged. Gamma and Theta have engaged in a battle and Zeta is currently returning from Souto.''

''What about Omega?'' Cubot asked.

''I don't think we should count him,'' Orbot replied. Eggman hummed in thought, rubbing his chin.

''Three E-100 Series robots have been destroyed, two are damaged and three are functional, for now. We have two Chaos Emeralds, Team Neos and their allies have three, one is held by those traitors, Mephiles and Toshiro, and one is missing. Frankly, the current situation could've be much better,'' Eggman said, getting up. ''Prepare the EggMobile. Team Neos will be occupied long enough to not notice my presence.''

xXx

''We can't let them escape with the Chaos Emerald!'' Jet shouted, summoning a pair of Bashōsen – banana palm fans – and swung them, sending a powerful wind current towards Shadow, Rouge and Touka. To his annoyance, they scattered, managing to dodge his attack. Jet winded up for another attack, only to nearly get hit by a missile.

''Watch it!'' Rika shouted, when more missiles went after them. Wave summoned a huge wrench, knocking the missiles away alongside Jet, with Storm punching away an Egg Keeper that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

They weren't the only ones who got into a sudden fight with the Egg Keepers, as Shadow, Rouge and Touka were also fighting them. One proper look at their surroundings revealed the reason for the sudden ambush – E-107 Theta had been placed in this area and was firing at them. Both Team Dark and the Babylon Rogues had scattered to evade missiles and confront the Egg Keepers, with Chase, Rika and Arven trying to stay away from the battlefield as they obviously had no way of defending themselves. That is why they were completely shocked to see Touka summoning a Chaos Spear and stabbing an Egg Keeper.

''Watch out!'' Rouge shouted when Theta unleashed a barrage of energy blasts at Shadow, who managed to use his super speed to evade him. Shadow then turned towards Theta, noting that the robot was built like a fort, with enough weapons to vaporize all of them. Rest assured, he wasn't going to let this happen and he had the perfect tool to win this battle.

''Rouge, give me the Chaos Emerald!'' he shouted, drawing Rouge's attention. The bat nodded, kicking another Egg Keeper away before throwing the green Chaos Emerald at Shadow. Shadow was about to catch it, when he was suddenly hit by a stream of air, followed by Jet swooping in and catching the Chaos Emerald instead.

''Don't think that you can beat me- agh!''

''Jet!''

Unfortunately for Jet, he got a bit too close to Theta, getting shot down by the fort-like robot. Fortunately, the only thing that got damaged was Jet's hoverboard, and his ego. The green Chaos Emerald fell out of his hands, with Shadow picking it up and glaring daggers at the green hawk.

''This is not a race nor a game. One mistake, and you will die,'' Shadow told him in a stern tone, with Jet just frowning in response.

Shadow then turned towards Theta, keeping a tight grip on the Chaos Emerald. He took a deep breath, feeling the Chaos Energy surging from the Chaos Emerald into his body, spreading and empowering him with a power comparable to Chaos Surge, if not even stronger. He lifted the Chaos Emerald above his head.

''Chaos Control!''

Time slowed down, practically freezing in the moment. Shadow focused on Theta, drawing power once more from the Chaos Emerald and charged towards the robot, leaving only a streak of orange light as he smashed through the metal and wiring, with the robot becoming riddled with holes. Then, Shadow seemingly vanished.

''Chaos Blast!''

There was a wave of red energy spreading from a hole inside Theta, the explosion completely shattering the E-100 Series robot into pieces. Shadow then appeared in a flash of cyan light right next to Touka and Rouge, with time flowing once again.

''What the-?!'' Chase mouthed, him and the rest of the Babylon Rogues dropping their jaws when they saw how, in one moment, Theta had been attacking them, and in the other, it turned into a crumbling pile of scrapped metal. They turned their attention towards Team Dark, taking notice of Shadow's cold glare. The hedgehog was clearly still annoyed about the interference.

''What do we do now?'' Arven asked, him, Storm, Rika and Wave looking at Chase and Jet.

''I'm not giving up yet!'' Jet stated, still pissed off about losing the Chaos Emerald. Chase, on the other hand, was a bit more attentive to what was going on.

''Honestly, I think we should just let it go,'' he said, much to everyone's surprise. ''That was one of Eggman's robots. Do you really want to get involved fighting more of those?''

This seemed to have forced the rest of the team to actually shut up and think about what they were about to get into, and yeah, they had to agree that dealing with Eggman would be too much of a hassle. Nevertheless, Chase was curious about one thing – the fact that Touka somehow had access to Chaos Powers; but he doubted that she would tell him how that happened. Still, he figured that he could get an answer to a different question.

''Fine, you won,'' he said, clearly irritated. Touka, Shadow and Rouge gave him a curious look as he continued, ''What is even going on? Why is a Chaos Emerald here?''

Touka, Shadow and Rouge exchanged glances, clearly mixed on whether to tell them anything, with Touka then looking up. ''Have you ever heard of Sonic Adventure? That's what's going on.''

''What?!''

Before he could even ask more questions, Shadow, Rouge and Touka suddenly vanished in a flash of light. As for Chase, he got confused looks from Jet, Wave and Storm.

''What was she talking about?'' Jet asked. Chase sighed.

''It's a long story.''

xXx

''Well, this at least explains why we saw the Sonic Adventure locations,'' Lily said, with light orb Tikal floating next to her, observing Knuckles as he climbed Red Mountain to get to the Master Emerald Shard that was stuck on a cliff. As it turned out, the Master Emerald Shards were stuck within the AR Fields, which took on the form of the Sonic Adventure locations once they entered them. Meanwhile, Knuckles had managed to grab the Shards, leaping off and gliding towards the two.

''I believe that those were all the Shards I could find here. We should go to the next location,'' he said, the Master Emerald Shards turning into data particles and vanishing. The fact that such a powerful artifact was made out of data certainly made it easier for him to carry around. He then closed his eyes, focusing on the Master Emerald Shards' energy signature, as instructed by Tikal, and followed it into the next AR Field.

They had to admit that they were surprised that they ran into absolutely no resistance, but figured that neither Starline nor Eggman cared enough about the Master Emerald since they wanted to power Chaos up, not seal him away.

''It seems like Eggman forgot what the Master Emerald can do,'' Lily commented as they walked through Casinopolis. ''We can use it to nullify the power of the Chaos Emeralds before Chaos even reaches his Perfect Form.''

''I sincerely apologize for Chaos causing so much trouble,'' Tikal said. ''I wish I could've done something to prevent Chaos from attacking Neos City.''

''But, you did,'' Knuckles pointed out. ''You found us and told us about the Master Emerald, and you're now helping us find it. Besides, I'm confident that our friends will be able to hold back Chaos until we return.''

The orb started glowing stronger, and Knuckles and Lily got the impression that Tikal was smiling warmly at them, thankful for their help.

''Not to mention, this isn't the first nor the last time we'll get roped into another adventure,'' Lily added. She then sighed. ''Too bad we cannot spend more time at these locations. I would've loved to explore them more.''

''You only want to try your luck at the casino,'' Knuckles said, with Lily snorting in amusement.

''It would probably be the only casino where I'd be allowed to go at my age,'' she replied. ''I'd be up for playing some pinball.''

xXx

''What do you two want?'' Makoto growled, him and Silver glaring at Toshiro and Mephiles. He knew that they were in trouble, mainly because Toshiro and Mephiles were holding onto the cyan Chaos Emerald. ''Don't tell me that you're here to aid Dr. Eggman.''

There was a suddenly flash of light, with Toshiro and Mephiles disappearing from the building and appearing on the street right before Makoto and Silver, with Toshiro taking a step towards them. ''If you really think that we are still working as the Doctor's Enforcers, you're severely mistaken. We have stopped working for the Doctor a long time ago.''

''Then, why are you here?'' Silver asked, his hands lined with cyan psychic energy.

''We're here to take part in the inevitable mayhem,'' Mephiles replied. ''We want to watch the destruction of Neos City and the… No!''

Both Mephiles and Toshiro were shocked by Makoto's brazenness, as the teenager, who was still empowered by Chaos Surge, attempted to use the psychokinesis to yank the Chaos Emerald out of Toshiro's hand while Mephiles was still talking. Fortunately for them, it slipped out of his hand, falling on the street, but to their dismay, Mephiles reacted, firing a barrage of crystal spikes towards Makoto, forcing Silver to raise a barrier to defend himself and his partner.

Both sides stared for a moment at the Chaos Emerald, with Mephiles and Silver then charging towards it. The grey hedgehog was startled by a wall of fire, shielding himself with his psychokinesis, but when he looked back, he only saw crystal spikes.

''Behind you!'' Makoto shouted, his eyes glowing as he put up another barrier between Silver and Mephiles, who rose out of Silver's own shadow and attempted to stab him through his back. He then ran towards the Chaos Emerald, having taken notice of Toshiro trying to get to it while their partners were fighting.

Unfortunately for him, it seemed that Toshiro and Mephiles had predicted this battle way ahead of them, because Toshiro's eyes glowed dangerously and a barrage of crystal spikes appeared before Makoto like a barrier. Toshiro was about to pick up the Chaos Emerald, when it suddenly flew up and went over to the other side of the street. Toshiro narrowed his eyes, glaring daggers at Makoto, who just gave him a smug smirk in response. ''That's what happens when you fight a psychic.''

As for the Chaos Emerald itself, it landed right between Mephiles and Silver, whose fire wall and psychic wall clashed, leaving both of them struggling as they attempted to overpower each other. The two walls suddenly dissipated, leaving both of them gasping for air, albeit in Mephiles' case, he refused to show any weakness. Both of them then spotted the Chaos Emerald between them, and Silver dived after it, only to hit the ground as the Chaos Emerald vanished inside a black hole that appeared below it, then re-appeared in Mephiles' hand.

Mephiles laughed, towering over Silver who was lying on the ground, lifting his head up to glare at his opponent. ''It would be a waste for you use the Chaos Emerald simply to stop Chaos from destroying Neos City. For someone who wishes to protect the future, you're far too short-sighted.''

''I have promised my friends that I will also protect the present,'' Silver said in a determined tone, getting up on one knee. Mephiles' eyes sparked, and his tone and look gave off a sense of intrigue.

''Is that so? Perhaps, I can offer you an opportunity to do both. All I would need is another Chaos Emerald,'' Mephiles said, watching Silver as he stood up.

''What are you talking about?'' Silver asked.

''Have you ever heard of Dual Chaos Control? It is a technique in which two near-simultaneous instances of Chaos Control create a space-time rift, which allow someone to travel through time and space,'' Mephiles explained, smirking when he saw Silver's eyes widen in surprise.

''You mean…'' Silver trailed off, staring at the Dark in disbelief.

''Indeed. If you had another Chaos Emerald and someone willing to help you, you could finally travel back to your own future. Isn't that what you desire? To see whether your future had changed for the better?'' Mephiles continued. ''Don't you wish to see your friends?''

Silver stared at the Dark, seemingly frozen on the spot. After the shattering of the beacon, he had given up on the idea of being able to return back to his future, and to see Haru and the others again. He remained silent, wondering if it would be really possible to go back to his own future and witness it prosper, safe and secure from any dangers. Mephiles, realizing that Silver wasn't answering, decided to continue his proposal, as he figured that this way, he wouldn't have to fight him and instead deprive Team Neos of a powerful ally.

''Everything you need is right here. As a matter of fact, I could help you with the Dual Chaos Control and send you to where you belong,'' Mephiles added. Silver lowered his head.

''You would send me to where I belong…'' he repeated, his eyes obscured. Mephiles nodded, figuring that his plan was coming to fruition.

''Yes,'' he said, getting closer to Silver, not noticing the latter's hand clenching into a fist.

''I belong here!'' Silver suddenly shouted, his eyes sparking with cyan energy, and a scrap of metal came flying towards Mephiles, forcing him to leap back, but the Chaos Emerald got suddenly knocked out of his hand, rolling away. ''Even if I could freely travel back to my future, I won't abandon my friends so easily!''

Silver was relentless, using the scraps of the destroyed Egg Keepers to attack Mephiles and keep the pressure. Mephiles then disappeared into the shadows, appearing again at Silver's side and summoned a crystal spear, attempting to stab Silver, but was pushed away thanks to a wave of psychic energy. Makoto ran up to Silver, having protected him earlier, and the two looked around, confused.

''Where is the Chaos Emerald?'' Makoto suddenly asked, a question that also caused Mephiles and Toshiro to pause. The four looked towards where it had rolled away, but found nothing but the still barely functioning remains of Epsilon. Mephiles rushed over, tearing what remained of the E-100 Series robot apart, but the Chaos Emerald was nowhere in sight.

''It couldn't have just vanished!'' he growled. Toshiro, who had joined him, examined the scraps.

''Honestly, I wouldn't put it past the Doctor to come up with a way to transport the Chaos Emeralds without having to be near them,'' he said. Makoto and Silver exchanged glances, both dismayed as the realization slowly dawned on them.

''We lost the Chaos Emerald.''

xXx

Sonic was breathing heavily, being forced to dodge both Metal Sonic and Chaos 2's attack, with the latter having an enhanced hydrokinesis ability that allowed him to produce water over a huge area. His punched were even more powerful, leaving deep cracks in the ground where Sonic stood only moments earlier and whenever Sonic attempted to fight back, he would generate an energy shield that couldn't be bypassed. It was maddening to fight like this, and that didn't even include the fact that Metal Sonic and a damaged ZERO were also hot on his heels.

''Time to end this!'' Starline grinned, allowing Metal Sonic and Chaos 2 to attack Sonic, only for the latter to be quickly pulled back by Lucas who came in flying on the hoverboard.

''This won't work! We have to use Chaos Surge if we want to have a chance,'' Lucas said, holding Sonic so he wouldn't fall off. He knew that it was a bit too soon to use Chaos Surge, but five against two really lowered their chances of getting out of this mess, let alone winning. Even if Ferra and Starline hadn't joined the battle and ZERO was damaged, they still had to deal with the fact that they could jump in any time.

''I hate to say it, but you're right. Hope you can endure this a bit longer,'' Sonic told Lucas, who nodded.

''Chaos Surge!''

Ferra, who had taken a position on a nearby building, frowned as he saw the Chaos Surge between the two, which enhanced Sonic's speed and power and allowed Lucas to fight back. She wondered if she should interfere and use Chaos Surge with Metal Sonic, even if the odds were in their favour. Admittedly, she wasn't opposed to taking risks either and Metal Sonic was doing fine on his own so far.

''Huh?'' Ferra was surprised when her AR Visor suddenly buzzed, getting a message from Dr. Eggman. She rose an eyebrow at the order, with the Doctor demanding that she and Metal Sonic abandon this battle and go seek out Team Dark, who had defeated Theta and were still in the possession of a Chaos Emerald. ''I suppose it cannot be helped. If Shadow has the Chaos Emerald, he's nearly unstoppable.'' She got on her hoverboard, shouting, ''Metal, we're leaving!''

Metal Sonic suddenly stopped in his tracks, turning to her with a confused look. Clearly, he wanted to continue the battle only he completely defeated Sonic and he knew Ferra understood that, so he was surprised that she told him to leave. As for Sonic, he allowed himself a moment to breathe. Despite being empowered by the Chaos Surge, that still didn't mean that he was getting tired.

''Don't worry, you'll get another opportunity to fight Sonic, but currently, we have orders to be somewhere else,'' Ferra flew up to Metal Sonic on her hoverboard, only for both to get startled when Starline slammed his hands against the EggMobile controls.

''Wait, did the Doctor contact you?!'' he shouted incredulously.

''Of course he did,'' Ferra replied, smirking when she saw how upset he was. ''Why are you so upset?''

''If the Doctor needs help, he should've contacted me!'' Starline demanded, glaring at Ferra.

''So, you're going to just abandon your grand plan?'' Ferra responded, quite amused. Starline gritted his teeth, hating to admit that she was right. As the two left, and Starline focused back on Sonic and Lucas, he was caught off guard by Chaos 2 suddenly writhing in pain, with sparks flying from a gadget inside him.

''What? What happened?!'' Starline's beak dropped and he stared in shock as Chaos 2 appeared to be electrocuted by whatever that device inside him was. Then, Chaos 2 liquified and vanished inside a nearby street shaft. Starline turned his attention back to Sonic and Lucas, trying to understand what had just happened, only for Sonic to suddenly spin-dash right through ZERO, breaking the robot and turning to Starline.

''You're the only one left, Starline,'' Sonic said in a taunting tone, grinning at the platypus. However, considering things quickly turned around, Starline decided not to take his chances and quickly flew away on the EggMobile.

Sonic took a deep breath, feeling the Chaos Surge power leaving him and his knees shaking. He managed to remain standing, but this battle was incredibly exhausting. He turned around, surprised to see Loki out of all people approaching him and Lucas. ''Heh, thanks for the help.''

''Save it, I was only doing what was necessary,'' Loki replied, with Sonic and Lucas exchanging uneasy glances. ''I will keep this short – I know what you and your friends have done at ARMS and I can assure you that you're not in trouble for anything. I won't reprimand you for fighting either, since you know what you're doing. The only question I have is whether you really had absorbed your partner's BioEnergy?''

Sonic gulped nervously, having to admit that this wasn't a topic he was comfortable talking about. Despite his heroics, he could not only get himself, but Lucas and the rest of Team Neos in trouble for this. Lucas, however, stepped out, and gave Loki a serious look. ''Yeah, he did use my BioEnergy. It's a process we had developed called Chaos Surge, which ensures that we both have full control over it.''

Sonic had to admit that he was impressed seeing Lucas becoming more assertive as he stepped into his leader role, and glanced at Loki, giving him a questioning look. ''What are you going to do about it?''

''As long as you don't show any kind of aggressive tendencies Irregulars usually do, I don't see a reason for me to arrest you,'' Loki replied. ''In fact, from what I've seen, you and your friends are quite invaluable allies.''

''Thanks, I guess,'' Sonic replied. ''Did you do something to Chaos?''

''Since that monster is made out of water, or at least some form of liquid, I just grabbed one of our specialized long-range tasers, set it to its highest voltage and shot it at it. I assume it isn't dead despite the electrocution, am I correct?'' Loki asked.

''You're right,'' Lucas replied. ''It's a long story, but Chaos will be growing stronger and stronger, and if we don't stop him, Neos City will get flooded. We are working on preventing that from happening, but given the situation, I'd have to contact them as see how we should proceed from here. Also, Sonic, you need to rest and recover.''

Sonic opened his mouth about to protest, only to close it. He didn't want to admit it, but he felt exhausted at this point. Having been through a constant chase followed by a battle against three opponents, even with Chaos Surge, left him quite tired and he understood that, if he didn't rest just a little bit, he'd be barely able to move when things get dire.

''You're right,'' Sonic said, nodding in agreement. He decided to leave the next step to Lucas, hoping that his friends were doing better than they did.

xXx

''Ho ho ho ho ho, looks like I had found another Chaos Emerald,'' Dr. Eggman said, grinning as he hovered over a street in his EggMobile, following Team Chaotix as they made their way towards Sentoraru. He was holding the cyan Chaos Emerald, having re-directed Epsilon to send it to him instead of Starline, and decided to pick up another one on his way to Starline and Chaos. ''Fortunately, Zeta is in position. It's time to show these wannabe detectives what happens when you confront the Eggman Empire!''

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[thesinglesjukebox]

CHAPPELL ROAN - "GOOD LUCK, BABE!"

Good Song, Babe!

[7.76]

Alfred Soto: Hey, y'all, Spotify played "Good Luck, Babe!" after ILLIT's "Magnetic" -- are the streaming gods Jukebox-friendly? Maybe a synth line patterned after Wham!'s "Last Christmas" and a vocal that commands attention despite singing a line like "sexually explicit kinda love affair." Then again, that's how people talk. [8]

Jeffrey Brister: What if the narrator of “I Kissed A Girl” was a fucking liar whose inability to admit her attraction and healthily process and metabolize her emotions made her so transparently readable her spurned girlfriend shot a bullet made of yearning, resentment, and justifiably venomous smugness directly between her eyes? [9]

Taylor Alatorre: I have a soft spot for music that performs a kind of empowerment driven by romantic spite, while at the same time being precision-engineered to make the singer look small-minded and weak to the sober bystander; this is why I can never forswear Drive-Thru Records or pre-2016 Drake. In that vein, "Good Luck, Babe!" can be heard as a more ideologically palatable version of "Hotline Bling," right down to the self-degrading tinniness of the initial backing synths. Both songs construct a character whose presumptuous sense of entitlement becomes more apparent with time, and both ask us to sympathize with that character, not in spite of that entitlement, but because of it. Because relatability, and because we're hard-wired to believe almost any convenient lie if it's made to sound pretty enough. Chappell Roan's relative vocal restraint here represents her attempt to come off as the reliable narrator, to prevent too many of her unnervingly real feelings from spilling over. It's an effort that comes undone as soon as she gets to the bridge, when she drops the blasé affect, claims the power of omniscience, and uses it to peer into her rival suitor's future bedroom. "You're nothing more than his wife" -- sure, whatever you need to tell yourself. What, too cynical, you say? Whichever reading the listener goes with, they're choosing cynicism, either the listener's toward Chappell or Chappell's toward the other girl, who at the end of the day may just be a garden-variety bisexual; we're not allowed to know. Love is still a battlefield in the 2020s, queer love not excepted, and "Good Luck, Babe!" isn't afraid to show off the sometimes gory aftermath of those battles, caked in just enough gloss to give us the option of seeing something different in it. A potent cocktail of unraveling passions and high-grade copium, it arrives just in time to be used in AMVs of the final season of Sound! Euphonium, otherwise known as the official anime of yuri-baiting. Good luck, Kumiko! [8]

Will Adams: A breakup song directed at a queer person who was clearly uncertain, self-conscious and anxious about their identity leading them to push a great thing away? Oof. I'm the problem, it's me! But any discomfort I have with seeing myself in "Good Luck, Babe" is assuaged by its giant hooks, a bridge that mounts the tension (sadly, a rarity for pop at this point), and Dan Nigro's production, which draws from the same pillow-soft '80s synthpop of "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings." It's the sugar to help the medicine go down. [8]

Leah Isobel: I'm convinced that Taylor caused a lesbian pop revolution. Not on purpose, obviously, but perhaps inevitably; of course her simultaneous insistence on both the femininity and the import of her perspective would inspire a generation of gay girls young enough to look for validation from pop culture and old enough to perform deep reads on the line "she's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers." Some of those artists have even made minor commercial breakthroughs, though nothing has heralded the arrival of a real-deal pop star the way that "Good Luck, Babe!" has. On a musical level, I don't know if I see it. It's catchy, sure, but its chorus isn't quite as singalongable as "Red Wine Supernova," and it doesn't sell Chappell as a persona the way "Pink Pony Club" does. Its production and vocal delivery are so arch that all I can see are the references: a little Wham! synth here, a little Marina & The Diamonds-circa-The Family Jewels whoop there, a "Bags" melodic bite for good measure. (Sidebar: I'm compiling this for an eventual piece about how Immunity is the most influential pop album of the last decade no one steal this from me thank you!) But maybe that's it. A pop star is voracious, ambitious, all-consuming; she cannibalizes. What "Good Luck, Babe!" offers isn't mushy sincerity, but steely-eyed purpose. I don't love it, but I do respect it. [7]

Hannah Jocelyn: I've written so much about about the power of "Good Luck, Babe" but I don't think it's perfect. Among my nitpicks; the "sexually explicit kinda love affair" line doesn't land, the ending nearly kills the momentum, and I've always heard some weird aliasing artifacts on the hi-hats, even in the 24/48 flac download (which might be the nerdiest thing I've ever written on TSJ). But there’s a reason I've been obsessed with this song, and it's not just because I've wound up The Other Woman in emotional affairs with queer/questioning women before. I wasn't as on board with Roan at first, then this song made me go back and get acquainted with the Femininomenon. Unlike most of Midwest Princess, this is not OMG I'm a girl??? and I like GIRLS??? music, and unlike several similar songs about loving women in denial, it's not self-pitying. This feels more real, with palpably complex emotions underneath the showy vocals, and it feels messy in a way that queer pop stars were once supposed to avoid. I could go on and on, and I have, but I'll say this: I genuinely think this song will change lives and cause people to reconsider their identities. At least one of my friends has already mentioned crying to this song. I recently spoke with a music writer that claimed music wasn't necessary, but for the right person, some songs are. [9]

Alex Clifton: I don’t know what I can say about this song that Hannah didn’t already say in her excellent Billboard article, but I’ll try. Up until now Chappell Roan has been my good-time music, with tracks like “Pink Pony Club” and “Red Wine Supernova” regularly stuck in my head.  She’s a girl from small-town Missouri in full drag regalia aiming to give everyone a great time, and she constantly delivers on that front. “Good Luck, Babe!” sounds happy but is one of the more lyrically devastating songs I’ve heard this year, and Roan’s performance is incredible. The way she screams “I TOLD YOU SO” at the end of the bridge rips at something in my heart. It’s angry as all hell but also has a level of concern; Roan doesn’t want the subject to end up in a dead-end relationship and just wishes she’d get her shit together. It’s a delicate line to thread but goes to show that Chappell Roan isn’t just a novelty pop writer. It’s exhilarating watching someone’s star rise, and to watch this song specifically become the catalyst for additional recognition is unlike anything I’ve seen before.  [10]

Ian Mathers: I was hugely impressed with "Casual," even more so with Roan's first record overall, but I'm lightly gobsmacked here with how quickly she's put out something else that simultaneously feels like it could have been on The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, like it sums up what that album was doing (and how well it does it), and like she's already moved past her work there. And it's her most successful single so far? It very much feels like things are going to keep going up from here. [10]

Jackie Powell: When “Good Luck, Babe!” came out last month, it wasn’t what I was expecting on my first listen. I got a tease from friends about what this song was about, but I was underwhelmed by the fact that I couldn’t clearly understand the story that Chappell Roan worked very hard on constructing. Her vocal style on other tracks like “Red Wine Supernova” or “Casual” is much more based in her chest voice and as a result is much easier to lyrically comprehend while listening. On “Good Luck, Babe!” Roan slurs a lot. She opts to implement much more mixing in her head voice during the hook which matches the sonic feel of the synths and drum machine that producer Dan Nigro has added in. The hook flutters and it flutters in a tone that’s paradoxical to the story she’s trying to tell. This is a song about rage, is it not? This is a song about compulsory heterosexuality, a phenomenon that is incredibly frustrating as it is prevalent in 2024. We don’t hear that rage until the absolutely mind blowing bridge where Roan’s upper register soars when she tells her past lover that she told her so. This story that Roan tells is one that so many queer people often face. It’s that same level of discomfort that Ben Platt and Renee Rapp have both sung about in their respective songs “Andrew” and “Pretty Girls.” This track’s importance can’t be understated. Its rise in popular culture can’t be undervalued. But I do wish that the story was illustrated more blatantly. Slurring aside, where is the music video for this? The video for “Casual” was exactly what a Roan fan would expect: a cross between the films Splash and Jennifer’s Body with a dash of heartbreak. I’m reminded of the queer women artists like Hayley Kiyoko and Zolita who have both gained a following for the honest queer stories they’ve portrayed in their music videos, which have garnered meaningful amounts of views. Meanwhile, DJ Louie XIVI recently had a Pop Pantheon episode that pondered if the music video is indeed dead. I would hate for that to be the case for Roan, an artist that thrives on theatrics, visuals and play— the fuel that her exponential and unexpected rise to stardom requires. [7]

Isabel Cole: I feel like it was probably deliberate to set the big bursting kiss-off chorus up in the flutiest part of her range where she can't really enunciate, but I still find it annoying to listen to. The bridge is pretty good, though. [5]

Mark Sinker: Gorgeous control of voice over bare control of desire; fragments of the crunchily expressed across the oldest (cliched, she says it herself) story, oh i'm the “other girl”!!¡¡ and then the closing device (which you can call brechtian if you’re fancy, or lazy) undermines it a little, at least musicially.  [6]

Joshua Lu: The bitter, lesbian reimagining of Gwen Stefani's "Cool" I never knew I needed. [8]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: I am all for Chappell Roan's meteoric rise to fame as the next local drag supporting queer, but this song feels as basic camp as the fonts used in the visuals for her Coachella performance.  [6]

Nortey Dowuona: If anyone is wondering why this is the Chappell Roan hit, it's because it sounds like a synthpop song from 1986, and pop fans are still somehow locked into 1983-1988 as the best time to listen to pop music. That said, "you're standing face to face with 'I TOLD YOU SO'" is a FANTASTIC LYRIC. [9]

Katherine St. Asaph: The belted "I TOLD YOU SO" is unexpected and amazing. The part that flips the hook from "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" into a soprano trill is great -- between "Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl" ("Footloose") and "Red Wine Supernova" ("What's Up") she's now three for three on rewriting the Great Karaoke Songbook for 2024. The line "you have to stop the world just to stop the feeling" is so perfect it feels like it must have been written in stone centuries ago and just now unearthed. But if I'm being completely honest with myself, everything else in the track is pretty mid, and repeated listens just make the mid parts seem proportionally larger. [5]

Andrew Karpan: An exuberant jubilant kiss-off for fans of Roan’s last version of this (“My Kink Is Karma”) but more pointed, less funny and charged with a contemplative melancholy bellied under its titanic build. The radical space of queer longing turns into an ocean that lifts all boats. “With your head in your hands, you're nothing more than his wife.” We are lifted and listening.  [8]

Rachel Saywitz: I worry sometimes that I’m not wanting enough. Or I want, but the wrong things. Or I don’t want the right things enough. Chappell Roan is want, maximized and poptimized, and “Good Luck, Babe” is its earnestly sweet manifestation. Roan masters pop’s narrative drama as she coaxes her past, closeted self to breathy, sapphic jubilation with the wave of a bouncing synth wand and a Florence Welch operatic belt. Love is want, at its core, and I feel it cascading through me with each listen, urging my spirit to coalesce with my mind, for once. I want, I want, I want. [9]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[dailyanarchistposts]

A.5 What are some examples of “Anarchy in Action”?

A.5.7 The May-June Revolt in France, 1968

The May-June events in France placed anarchism back on the radical landscape after a period in which many people had written the movement off as dead. This revolt of ten million people grew from humble beginnings. Expelled by the university authorities of Nanterre in Paris for anti-Vietnam War activity, a group of anarchists (including Daniel Cohn-Bendit) promptly called a protest demonstration. The arrival of 80 police enraged many students, who quit their studies to join the battle and drive the police from the university.

Inspired by this support, the anarchists seized the administration building and held a mass debate. The occupation spread, Nanterre was surrounded by police, and the authorities closed the university down. The next day, the Nanterre students gathered at the Sorbonne University in the centre of Paris. Continual police pressure and the arrest of over 500 people caused anger to erupt into five hours of street fighting. The police even attacked passers-by with clubs and tear gas.

A total ban on demonstrations and the closure of the Sorbonne brought thousands of students out onto the streets. Increasing police violence provoked the building of the first barricades. Jean Jacques Lebel, a reporter, wrote that by 1 a.m., ”[l]iterally thousands helped build barricades… women, workers, bystanders, people in pyjamas, human chains to carry rocks, wood, iron.” An entire night of fighting left 350 police injured. On May 7th, a 50,000-strong protest march against the police was transformed into a day-long battle through the narrow streets of the Latin Quarter. Police tear gas was answered by molotov cocktails and the chant “Long Live the Paris Commune!”

By May 10th, continuing massive demonstrations forced the Education Minister to start negotiations. But in the streets, 60 barricades had appeared and young workers were joining the students. The trade unions condemned the police violence. Huge demonstrations throughout France culminated on May 13th with one million people on the streets of Paris.

Faced with this massive protest, the police left the Latin Quarter. Students seized the Sorbonne and created a mass assembly to spread the struggle. Occupations soon spread to every French University. From the Sorbonne came a flood of propaganda, leaflets, proclamations, telegrams, and posters. Slogans such as “Everything is Possible,” “Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible,” “Life without Dead Times,” and “It is Forbidden to Forbid” plastered the walls. “All Power to the Imagination” was on everyone’s lips. As Murray Bookchin pointed out, “the motive forces of revolution today… are not simply scarcity and material need, but also quality of everyday life … the attempt to gain control of one’s own destiny.” [Post-Scarcity Anarchism, p. 166]

Many of the most famous slogans of those days originated from the Situationists. The Situationist International had been formed in 1957 by a small group of dissident radicals and artists. They had developed a highly sophisticated (if jargon riddled) and coherent analysis of modern capitalist society and how to supersede it with a new, freer one. Modern life, they argued, was mere survival rather than living, dominated by the economy of consumption in which everyone, everything, every emotion and relationship becomes a commodity. People were no longer simply alienated producers, they were also alienated consumers. They defined this kind of society as the “Spectacle.” Life itself had been stolen and so revolution meant recreating life. The area of revolutionary change was no longer just the workplace, but in everyday existence:

“People who talk about revolution and class struggle without referring explicitly to everyday life, without understanding what is subversive about love and what is positive in the refusal of constraints, such people have a corpse in their mouth.” [quoted by Clifford Harper, Anarchy: A Graphic Guide, p. 153]

Like many other groups whose politics influenced the Paris events, the situationists argued that “the workers’ councils are the only answer. Every other form of revolutionary struggle has ended up with the very opposite of what it was originally looking for.” [quoted by Clifford Harper, Op. Cit., p. 149] These councils would be self-managed and not be the means by which a “revolutionary” party would take power. Like the anarchists of Noire et Rouge and the libertarian socialists of Socialisme ou Barbarie, their support for a self-managed revolution from below had a massive influence in the May events and the ideas that inspired it.

On May 14th, the Sud-Aviation workers locked the management in its offices and occupied their factory. They were followed by the Cleon-Renault, Lockhead-Beauvais and Mucel-Orleans factories the next day. That night the National Theatre in Paris was seized to become a permanent assembly for mass debate. Next, France’s largest factory, Renault-Billancourt, was occupied. Often the decision to go on indefinite strike was taken by the workers without consulting union officials. By May 17th, a hundred Paris Factories were in the hands of their workers. The weekend of the 19th of May saw 122 factories occupied. By May 20th, the strike and occupations were general and involved six million people. Print workers said they did not wish to leave a monopoly of media coverage to TV and radio, and agreed to print newspapers as long as the press “carries out with objectivity the role of providing information which is its duty.” In some cases print-workers insisted on changes in headlines or articles before they would print the paper. This happened mostly with the right-wing papers such as ‘Le Figaro’ or ‘La Nation’.

With the Renault occupation, the Sorbonne occupiers immediately prepared to join the Renault strikers, and led by anarchist black and red banners, 4,000 students headed for the occupied factory. The state, bosses, unions and Communist Party were now faced with their greatest nightmare — a worker-student alliance. Ten thousand police reservists were called up and frantic union officials locked the factory gates. The Communist Party urged their members to crush the revolt. They united with the government and bosses to craft a series of reforms, but once they turned to the factories they were jeered out of them by the workers.

The struggle itself and the activity to spread it was organised by self-governing mass assemblies and co-ordinated by action committees. The strikes were often run by assemblies as well. As Murray Bookchin argues, the “hope [of the revolt] lay in the extension of self-management in all its forms — the general assemblies and their administrative forms, the action committees, the factory strike committees — to all areas of the economy, indeed to all areas of life itself.” Within the assemblies, “a fever of life gripped millions, a rewaking of senses that people never thought they possessed.” [Op. Cit., p. 168 and p. 167] It was not a workers’ strike or a student strike. It was a peoples’ strike that cut across almost all class lines.

On May 24th, anarchists organised a demonstration. Thirty thousand marched towards the Palace de la Bastille. The police had the Ministries protected, using the usual devices of tear gas and batons, but the Bourse (Stock Exchange) was left unprotected and a number of demonstrators set fire to it.

It was at this stage that some left-wing groups lost their nerve. The Trotskyist JCR turned people back into the Latin Quarter. Other groups such as UNEF and Parti Socialiste Unife (United Socialist Party) blocked the taking of the Ministries of Finance and Justice. Cohn-Bendit said of this incident “As for us, we failed to realise how easy it would have been to sweep all these nobodies away… .It is now clear that if, on 25 May, Paris had woken to find the most important Ministries occupied, Gaullism would have caved in at once… . “ Cohn-Bendit was forced into exile later that very night.

As the street demonstrations grew and occupations continued, the state prepared to use overwhelming means to stop the revolt. Secretly, top generals readied 20,000 loyal troops for use on Paris. Police occupied communications centres like TV stations and Post Offices. By Monday, May 27th, the Government had guaranteed an increase of 35% in the industrial minimum wage and an all round-wage increase of 10%. The leaders of the CGT organised a march of 500,000 workers through the streets of Paris two days later. Paris was covered in posters calling for a “Government of the People.” Unfortunately the majority still thought in terms of changing their rulers rather than taking control for themselves.

By June 5th most of the strikes were over and an air of what passes for normality within capitalism had rolled back over France. Any strikes which continued after this date were crushed in a military-style operation using armoured vehicles and guns. On June 7th, they made an assault on the Flins steelworks which started a four-day running battle which left one worker dead. Three days later, Renault strikers were gunned down by police, killing two. In isolation, those pockets of militancy stood no chance. On June 12th, demonstrations were banned, radical groups outlawed, and their members arrested. Under attack from all sides, with escalating state violence and trade union sell-outs, the General Strike and occupations crumbled.

So why did this revolt fail? Certainly not because “vanguard” Bolshevik parties were missing. It was infested with them. Fortunately, the traditional authoritarian left sects were isolated and outraged. Those involved in the revolt did not require a vanguard to tell them what to do, and the “workers’ vanguards” frantically ran after the movement trying to catch up with it and control it.

No, it was the lack of independent, self-managed confederal organisations to co-ordinate struggle which resulted in occupations being isolated from each other. So divided, they fell. In addition, Murray Bookchin argues that “an awareness among the workers that the factories had to be worked, not merely occupied or struck,” was missing. [Op. Cit., p. 182]

This awareness would have been encouraged by the existence of a strong anarchist movement before the revolt. The anti-authoritarian left, though very active, was too weak among striking workers, and so the idea of self-managed organisations and workers self-management was not widespread. However, the May-June revolt shows that events can change very rapidly. “Under the influence of the students,” noted libertarian socialist Maurice Brinton, “thousands began to query the whole principle of hierarchy … Within a matter of days the tremendous creative potentialities of the people suddenly erupted. The boldest and realistic ideas — and they are usually the same — were advocated, argued, applied. Language, rendered stale by decades of bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo, eviscerated by those who manipulate it for advertising purposes, reappeared as something new and fresh. People re-appropriated it in all its fullness. Magnificently apposite and poetic slogans emerged from the anonymous crowd.” [“Paris: May 1968”, For Workers’ Power, p. 253] The working class, fused by the energy and bravado of the students, raised demands that could not be catered for within the confines of the existing system. The General Strike displays with beautiful clarity the potential power that lies in the hands of the working class. The mass assemblies and occupations give an excellent, if short-lived, example of anarchy in action and how anarchist ideas can quickly spread and be applied in practice.

For more details of these events, see participants Daniel and Gabriel Cohn-Bendit’s Obsolete Communism: The Left-Wing Alternative or Maurice Brinton’s eye-witness account “Paris: may 1968” (in his For Workers’ Power). Beneath the Paving Stones by edited Dark Star is a good anthology of situationist works relating to Paris 68 (it also contains Brinton’s essay).

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 2 October 1968, the Tlatelolco massacre took place in Mexico City when police murdered hundreds of students demonstrating peacefully, just prior to the start of the Olympic Games in the city. At the time, many workers and poor farmers were fighting for better conditions, and the government responded with violent repression during what is known as the "dirty war". People were angry at the huge cost of staging the Olympics, as well as police repression. And so, on 2 October around 10,000 school and university students gathered in protest at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Mexico City, chanting: "We don't want Olympics, we want revolution!" A little after 6 PM, 5,000 troops surrounded the square and began firing into the crowd and nearby buildings. Throughout the night, soldiers and police officers went on a rampage, rounding people up, and beating and killing protesters, bystanders and local residents. Authorities and the media claimed that troops were defending themselves from sniper fire, but it was much later revealed that the snipers who began shooting were members of the Presidential Guard. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been in close contact with Mexican authorities as it was concerned about protests against the Olympic Games, and the US military provided them with equipment, weapons and ammunition. Six days before the massacre, Mexican federal security told the CIA that "the situation will be under complete control very shortly". https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.1819457841572691/2097587127093093/?type=3

[uh-velkommen]

I hope season three of Young Royals slows down just a little bit.

I know I praised A LOT how fast paced season one was. Every scene had a purpose in progressing the plot, it was all intentional, and the pacing was consistent. However, there were moments when time seemed to slow down. The scene where Simon is comforting Wilhelm in bed after the "revolution" scene. Up until they wake up the next day in a cast of warm orange lighting and Wilhelm gets dressed to catch breakfast. The date/walk in the woods, those scenes, where it's just Simon and Wilhelm in their own little worlds.

In season two, things didn't feel as fast paced. In fact, some scenes felt very drawn out. Every scene with Simon singing, his interactions with Marcus, Sara in the cafe with her friends, and the scene where Wilhelm is walking around listening to music at sunset (seriously wtf was that). They felt like they lingered on for just a bit too long or that if they were trimmed down a little it would make little to no difference to the scene. Season two suffered from trying to give every single storyline its equal share of screentime and because of that other plotlines suffered or were dropped. And even when we did get scenes that were supposed to slow down like in season one, they didn't stand out as much because of how uniform it was to the rest of the episode or for other reasons. Simon and Wilhelm finally share a kiss again and we're unable to step into their world because we're worried about Marcus finding out, we're worried about Simon having to preform at the same time. Simon and Wilhelm hook up in Wille's room and it's quick and lit in a dim blue, it has this unique framing that makes it feel a little less interpersonal, we are no longer experiencing it with them, rather we are just bystanders, observers, and uhh we're really focused on the curtains being open.

In season one, in some way or another, everyone's story came back to/connected to Wilhelm. Season two veers away from that, turning into this Degrassi like show where every character is getting their own little arch just for existing rather than for progressing the main plot. When I say I hope season three slows down a bit, I mean I hope it takes the pressure off of itself when it comes to trying to wrap up every single plotline in a nice little bow. We don't need to know if Stella and Fredrika are endgame or if Nils gets a boyfriend. We want to see if the Eriksson family finds unity. We want to know if August, Wilhelm, and the Queen find common ground. We don't need to know if Simon gets another choir solo or if Marcus (so help me god) makes a reappearance. We wanna know if Rosh and Ayub honestly support Wilmon. And lastly, we want scenes that remind us of why we're fighting so hard for Wilhelm and Simon to be endgame. We want to see their goofy smiles again, laughing, and enjoying each others company. We want scenes that bring us back into that warmth. We want time to slow down and we need some bit of happiness mixed in with the tragedy. We need the balance of drama that season one had!

[mariacallous]

On the first day of Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner met with then-Ukrainian ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk. As Melnyk later recounted, Lindner didn’t simply decline to supply Ukraine with weapons or disconnect Russia from the SWIFT payment system, as Ukraine had a “few hours left” of its sovereignty. It became clear he was preparing to discuss the future of a Russian-occupied Ukraine with the puppet government that would be installed by the Kremlin. This reflected a general attitude: The West at the time thought it would be easier if Ukraine simply surrendered.

An uncomfortable truth about Russia’s genocidal war against Ukraine, so plainly obvious that it’s usually overlooked, is that it became possible not only because it was conceived and carried out by the aggressor but also because it was allowed by bystanders. The biggest blow to democracy on a global scale was not the war itself but the fact that—despite all “never again” claims—European and Western countries in general agreed and accepted beforehand that another European nation might be deprived of its sovereignty, freedom, and independent institutions, and it might find itself militarily occupied. (If this isn’t how they felt, then they wouldn’t have evacuated their embassies in Kyiv.)

So far, the West has been having a good war in Ukraine—above all, because its present course still allows the West to behave as if the war is not its own. The West’s political discourse, rationalized in the ivory tower language of non-escalation and nonprovocation, is still basically about how best to ensure that exposure to the continued risk of military aggression and death is restricted to Ukrainians. In a basic sense, the West has always been afraid of a Ukrainian victory.

There are three central reasons for that fear. The first is the West’s profound non-revolutionism. Ukraine is now bearing an unthinkable price for the fall of the Berlin Wall and the so-called Friedliche Revolution (or Peaceful Revolution) of 1989 that was so much celebrated in Germany. It was famously called Die Nachholende Revolution, the “catch-up revolution,” by the de facto German state philosopher Jürgen Habermas—a term that symptomatically reveals the basic Western understanding of Eastern Europe’s role after the collapse of the communist bloc. The only task the region was assigned was simply catching-up with the West regardless of its actual historical experience. The ongoing war shows that this catch-up revolution became a catch-up regression into complacency, mirroring the general trajectory of the West after the proclaimed “end of history.”

Ukraine’s victory over Russia would indeed mean a genuine revolution for the West. It would require, foremost from Europe, a radical transformation. Eventual European Union and NATO enlargement are necessary—but only what lies on the surface. That is the same reason why the European Union couldn’t accept the political outcomes of Ukraine’s Euromaidan revolution of 2014. As a political marketplace—or agora, in ancient Greek—reclaimed by its citizens, the Euromaidan revolution dragged Europe back to its roots of democracy, justice, anti-oligarchy, and freedom. In its revolutionary nature, Euromaidan was so fundamentally European that it turned out to be too European for today’s EU. Ukraine appeared to be a test that Europe failed to pass. But Euromaidan is not just a story of an exciting revolutionary past; it has allowed Ukraine to survive and effectively resist Russia’s atrocious war of aggression today.

In reality, Ukraine has experienced three Euromaidans—all different but driven by the same political intention. The first one in 2014 was a revolutionary Euromaidan, which successfully opposed an authoritarian bloody assault on society. The second one in 2019 was an electoral Euromaidan, which elevated to the presidency a person capable of maintaining the state during an existentially critical moment. And the third one was a war Euromaidan, when the whole country became one armed revolution opposing Russia’s military invasion in February 2022. The juxtaposition of the first and the last is pivotal—in 2014, the Euromaidan social movement was against an internal oppressor, the state repressive apparatus seized by a criminal autocrat; in 2022, the Euromaidan movement unified with the state to resist an external military oppressor. The history of the Euromaidan thus demonstrates that revolutions can improve the state in a progressive direction, away from authoritarianism—indeed, this is exactly why Russia launched a war of annihilation against the country.

The second reason the West cannot come to terms with a Ukrainian victory over Russia is because of its own colonial legacy and its current post-colonial position. The West has effectively shifted its experience with colonialism to the past and maintains a blind eye toward colonial experiences in other parts of the European continent. This is motivated in part by a bad conscience as well as the West’s own self-recognition and direct involvement in these ongoing experiences of oppression. Europe’s East is invisible in the Western post-colonial discourse precisely because it is so central.

Long regarded as a periphery between Western and Russian metropoles, Eastern Europe has struggled with Russian imperialism for decades at the very least—and in some cases even centuries. But after World War II, the West’s dominant approach toward Eastern Europe was best expressed through Germany’s misnomer Ostpolitik, in which the actual East was avoided to actively deal with imperial powers in Moscow. And when the EU established its Eastern European policy, called the Eastern Partnership, it was described as a policy toward outlying “neighborhoods.” The countries of Europe’s post-Soviet East were assigned a functional role of borderlands or buffer zones that provided huge benefits for the EU in terms of various supplies and resources while exposing those states to Russian revanchism. Despite intending to overcome the historical division of Europe and political isolation of its East, the EU indulged in its repressed colonial mindset and separated itself from the so-called under-civilized, second-hand Eastern Europe.

But Europe is a strange thing—its center lies in its East, exactly where the fate of the whole continent and much beyond is currently being decided on the battlefield. The unwillingness of former Western metropoles, Berlin and Paris in particular, to recognize and accept the full-fledged agency of post-Soviet European countries, determined by a usual post-colonial habit, actually explains constant foot-dragging and weapons delivery delays to Ukraine. A central issue here is the right to violence and who deserves it, which has always been decisive for the history of colonialism. From a hegemonic viewpoint, it is the colonized who are not supposed to be equipped to apply violence—much less to win. It is only the colonizers who are allowed to fully possess and dispose of the right to violence at their own discretion.

A third reason why the West fears what Ukraine’s victory would mean has to do with time and the war itself. The “never again” slogan, the EU’s common ideological denominator, has become a self-fulfilling prophecy in a perverted sense. Indeed, if one literally accepts the principle that “it should never happen again,” then war is thought of as impossible simply because it’s unimaginable in spite of realities on the ground. The EU has fetishized the idea of peace to the extent that it completely repressed the realities of war—only to be totally unprepared when the repressed came back.

It was exactly that moment of unreadiness that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz famously called a Zeitenwende—an epochal shift, literally a turn of times. In truth, especially in the German case, the proclamation of a turning point hides an intention toward its opposite—that things would be better if they remained as they were. Its real political name is rather a Zeitverschwendung, a waste of time, as it is Ukraine that is now buying time for the West, paying an immense price every day to do so. What characterizes the West’s constant belatedness and inability to act is a time out of joint, to quote William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It’s a profoundly wicked logic that requires another mass grave to trigger the next set of sanctions against an aggressor or deliver a minimal portion of arms to a country in dire need.

There has been so much talk in the EU over the last seven decades of how Europe relates to its history and learned its lessons from the past. But what is history if not the knowledge of time and what time means, the knowledge of how to act in time? If you talk so much about history but at the same time are always too late in your actions, perhaps there is something wrong with the story you present about yourself. Zeitenwende is actually a form of political self-deception that shows how hard it is for the West to really be contemporary, to keep pace with the demands of the present.

A proper understanding of time and place are the basic requirements for any appropriate political action. Violent events like revolutions or wars especially depend on time—if one doesn’t act when needed, then the situation only deteriorates and becomes more violent. As Europe, unfortunately, is already at war, the West will inevitably have to act more decisively and directly. At the moment, it prefers to think the war will drag on in its present form, where there are no boots on the ground from other Western nations. But the actual choice the West is currently confronted with is either to apply all the military, political, and economic means it has without delay to defeat Russian aggressors and restore Ukraine’s borders or to intervene when that aggression has proliferated elsewhere and Eastern Europe has become a battlefield again.

It’s a question of time. And it’s indeed a Hamletian choice.

The time is out of joint/O cursed spite!

That ever I was born to set it right!