#Worker Well-being

[doubledudeski]

pics that make you go "oh I KNOW he eated a trash"

[artisticdivasworld]

Understanding the New York Law Preventing Mandatory Overtime for Healthcare Workers

Healthcare workers play a vital role in providing quality care to patients. However, the demanding nature of their jobs often leads to long working hours and fatigue, which can compromise patient safety and worker well-being. To address this concern, New York State has implemented a law aimed at preventing mandatory overtime for healthcare workers. In this article, we will delve into the details…

[idolomantises]

explaining to twitter users that lili being a sex worker doesnt mean she's cheating on her wife

[scribefindegil]

Thinking again about how many disabled people end up getting shunted into art/craft work because like. You can technically do it. Sometimes. Yeah you make a pittance at best and are almost certainly going to make your physical health worse by pushing yourself to get things done, but what else are you gonna do? You're too sick for anyone to hire you. You're "not sick enough" to qualify for benefits. Just devote every scrap of time and energy you have to a chronically underpaid, low-prestige, incredibly labor-intensive industry. A few people manage to make it work with luck and help and the right skills. Many people don't. Everyone gets pressured to monetize their hobbies, but it's especially insidious if you're disabled because any tiny thing you manage to accomplish to bring yourself joy gets twisted into proof that you should somehow be able to work.

[caffichai]

To the anon earlier who may have needed a drink, she saved you a batch after her shift. Bottoms up!

Hey since you're here, check this out!

[namelessprince]

spent the last 2 days thinking about what animals pd characters would be :3

[moeblob]

[llamagoddessofficial]

What if servant!MC worked herself too hard? Impaired with at least tiredness and sore muscles, and at worst a broken or sprained limb? How would the kind lords react?

Sans: Depends on the severity of it. If she's just sore, or seems more tired than usual, he'll lure her into resting by pretending he needs her to do something for him. It's notoriously hard to pry Mc from her work. But Sans is sly- he convinces her she's still working, still doing something for him, he talks her into sitting down with a book she needs to 'check for errors'. Eventually she snaps back to her senses an hour later and realises she's just been tricked into sitting by the fire in his room and reading a novel.

If it's a bit more serious, he gets more hands-on. Sans is deceptively strong and he will gladly combine his aptitude at manipulation with a bit of manhandling. Mc has the 'just shut up and get it done' mindset so deeply ingrained after so long that she'll work herself into slightly feverish stupors... he distracts her with pretty words while he physically leads her away somewhere he can keep a better eye on her.

Red: Unlike a lot of men his rank, Red isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty. He knows that it's incredibly difficult to talk her out of work, so if she is visibly struggling, he'll just help out with whatever she's doing. She always appreciates the extra hands and strength. Red's presence is also just good for the Soul; he's witty, he's a big flirt, he halves the load while making it twice as fun. Whatever limb she's injured barely hurts by the time the jobs are done, she's too distracted giggling.

He's not quite as subtle or graceful as Sans, in his methods. But when it comes down to it, Red is probably the only one out of the three who could genuinely talk her into taking a break. Mc often feels like Red is the one who best understands the reality of being a servant- Sans is nice but he's kinda uptight, Skull is far too rich to ever get it. Red's as down-to-Earth as a nobleman could be. And if Red is expressing genuine concern, dropping his persona for a second...

... Maybe she does need to just rest for a while.

Skull: He doesn't have time for subtlety. When it's clear she's pushing herself, he gives her a 'gentle' warning.

He looms over her, covering her entire body with his shadow, with a face like he's about to eat her. He softly murmurs that if she doesn't stop working so hard... there will be consequences.

... It's a pretty clear message. But if she still refuses to stop? He literally just steals her.

He doesn't care what she's doing, what task she's in the middle of, who's in the room or how important what she's doing is. He gave her a warning. He'll grab her right in the middle of a task, throw her over his shoulder, and (ignoring her protests) carry her off to his chambers. There's a big comfy chair covered in blankets with her name on it... and if there's one thing you can say about Skull, it's that when he's determined, he's like a machine. She won't be going anywhere. Her protests don't matter.

Wife will stay and wife will rest. He warned her. She doesn't get a choice anymore.

[n07a]

okay everyone draws bailey like a gangster but may i offer: bailey who dresses like an office nerd during the day because he's a social worker in public during the day? AND WEARS GLASSES??

[2kinkycubangemini]

Drunkenly insisted he come over, changed his mind 5min from my apartment, ghosts me for a week. I lightheartedly called him out for not rescheduling getting drinks and catching up that he suggested, so he reschedules. He makes heavy handed moves on me all night until he fucks me. Immediately says it was a mistake and promptly leaves without looking at me until he says goodbye. 2 weeks and nothing has been said. He then texts me, no hey how are you, asking if I'd been tested. Was like pulling teeth getting out of him that he'd been experiencing symptoms and suspects trich. I was tested after we slept together last time and was good, but to ease his anxiety I say I'll get tested again. I send him my results 2 days later. He purposefully miscommunicates and says "I'm all good". I voice that while I appreciate him wanting to let me know, that it caused me anxiety and he could've just waited until he knew for sure. He says he misspoke and hasn't actually gotten his results back and assume all clear since we both were negative previously (huh?!). Almost a full week goes by and he finally gets his negative results and sends me only the trich results. I rightfully ask if he got the full panel or just a test for trich. He sends me all the results, but only bc I asked. I reiterate that he could've just waited for the results to tell me because it stressed me out.

He finally admits that someone he slept shortly before me (unclear when) tested positive and he wanted to be on the safe side. I'm not in the mood for a fight so I just said ok that makes more sense.

Like I'm so fucking tired. He's such a fucking manipulative liar with serious communication and emotional immaturity issues. I literally do not give a fuck that you sleep with other people, just don't fucking lie and manipulate me holy shit. And the audacity to get defensive when I neutrally tell you how this whole thing made me feel instead of being passive and soft about it, is fucking WILD. Like I just know he's painted me as the crazy girl in his head because I call him out on his hypocritical and manipulative bullshit even in a neutral way. Like if you had just been honest from the fucking start I wouldn't have to match your fuckass attitude omfg

[blondeaxolotl]

Why didn’t Vil’s mom start regaining hope after Vil was born if that’s typical? Was there something else going on?

An angel griefs and loses hope when someone close to them passes away, Miss Schoenheit had that close person pass away suddenly. She knew her friend longer before meeting Eric, they were the first person she developed an attachment to, and like any angel would, she promised to protect her loved ones from anything.

So like yeah that didn't go well and her friend ended up passing away quite tragically, and the incident quickly made Miss Schoenheit grief, lose hope, and develop the disease that'd kill her eventually. The reason Vil didn't end up being her reason to keep hope is because she completely lost her sense to think she could protect them and Eric. If she couldn't protect one person, what makes her think she could protect her husband and son? Or a whole group, since as a high ranking angel she has angels below her that look up to her and believe she can keep them safe. It was a lot of pressure on her. (Not to mention, she wasn't able to tell another high ranked angel what happened because if she did, she would've been told to "drop it" because she has more important things to do than to grieve some "random mortal")

Accepting her fate was easier than living with the haunting thought that she failed to protect her friend, and now there's a chance her husband or son could possibly die and she wouldn't be there to protect them either. An angel that regains hope because of their children and believe that even though their loved one passed away, they will do anything and WILL make sure to protect their young ones until their own doom, no matter what happens, they want to be there and continue raising them. But Miss Schoenheit didn't have that mentality unfortunately and believed if she stayed, Vil would've ended up hurt one way or another, she might've been strong both physically and magically but mentally she was weak and thought lowly of herself and her own abilities. She believed that Eric and Vil didn't deserve a "weak" wife and mother like her (she never expressed these thoughts to Eric either since she was just used to being turned down every time she tried to talk about it by other angels with her rank or higher), her friend dying was probably her last straw and honestly turning into a stone statue felt more peaceful to her at that moment ngl, accepting her fate was easier than fighting back so she did just that.

[serpentface]

how is sex work perceived and treated - spiritually, legally, morally - in broad areas relevant to the white calf core cast? imperial wardi, the hills etc

Sex work is EXTREMELY stigmatized in Imperial Wardin, yet generally regarded as an element of society and a necessary function, not one to be eliminated. You'll occasionally find fringe groups decrying the presence of brothels as polluting elements upon cities, but they are minority figures- sex work is legal, generally accepted, and very common.

There are some exceptions- in most of the city-states, only sex work out of registered brothels is considered fully legal (independent sex workers are breaking the law in most city-states, though how much these laws are enforced varies heavily). All legally operating brothels must be officially registered, and are heavily taxed.

Prostitution of children is illegal, and this is one of VERY few protections for sex workers that is strongly enforced. But it should be clear that the societal definition of a child here does not match the contemporary- a person is generally considered an adult woman upon menarche (which is later on average due to poorer nutrition, but is still going to include a lot of like, 14 year olds). Boys are considered adults at the age of 16.

Forced prostitution is also illegal on paper, but this is poorly enforced. Even when not Outright forced, many sex workers are working as indentured laborers, or under prohibitive conditions where they have very little freedom of movement or legal ability to leave during the duration of their contracts.

Sex workers are an incredibly vulnerable, stigmatized social minority that have very few protections and are often subject to abuse.

The stigma against sex work surrounds the sex workers themselves. This is culturally justified and partly rooted in aspects of broader body taboo- receiving penetration = metaphysical vulnerability = openness to spiritual pollution, and they are considered to be heavily polluted by their line of work (regardless of whether or not a given person actually is receiving penetration on a regular basis- male sex workers who primarily have women as clients receive much the same treatment, the stigma here is fundamentally a form of bigotry, not something with a consistent internal logic).

In addition to concerns around penetration, the act of '''selling''' the body itself is seen as a polluting devaluation of the sacred body and using it to extreme excess. Sexuality and libido is societally valued, but in a framework of moderation- sex workers are seen as wildly out of moderation and are often ascribed qualities of an excessive libido by virtue of their line of work.

Sex workers are prohibited from entering most temples and participating in many public rites, justified in their ‘polluted’ status, under the assumption that it will de-purify the place and sully most rites. This serves to keep them isolated from key facets of social life and culture, and can leave many spiritually ostracized (most sex workers from within this cultural sphere are also going to believe in notions that they are spiritually polluted, with limited outlets to cleanse themselves).

There is one folk tradition that has developed to assuage some of these fears and the sense of isolation- an epithet to the Face Ganmache that translates literally to 'Mother of Whores' (a rather strong name that reclaims degrading slang in the original language as well), which watches over sex workers and their labors. This is wholly a folk tradition and not part of core dogma, and priests are self-appointed, mostly elderly former sex workers. They provide rites of purification and blessings for those denied access to temples, sometimes train themselves as midwives to assist in births (or abortions), and will help ensure deceased workers get proper funeral rites.

Generally, the concept of something being spiritually polluted translates to full avoidance of the person/place/thing involved, but these concerns are rarely applied to the Hiring of sex workers (ie they are spiritually polluted and highly impure and shouldn't enter temples but you, the client, are not affected by contact). While some people will try to provide logical explanations for why hiring a sex worker is not polluting, this does not have any true underlying logic and is a product of a society that both reviles sex workers and desires their labor.

They are generally expected to visually identify themselves as sex workers at all times- the exact details vary by city-state, but wearing hair unbraided and an uncovered head in public is most common (particularly in the west of the region).

Male sex workers are denied certain rights otherwise available by default to men (self-legal representation, ability to own land that is not gifted, etc). Female sex workers do not have these rights to begin with, and have even more difficulty than other women in finding legal representation, given that they situationally rarely have fathers/husbands/male family members willing to support them.

Because of their inability to represent themselves in court and the difficulty in finding representation, they often have little to no recourse against abuse or violations of their contracts. There are some lawyers who specialize in representing sex workers (fewer still who do this entirely out of benevolence for a vulnerable social class), but they are few and far between.

The majority of sex work is marketed towards male clients, and the majority of sex workers are women. Male sex workers are mostly young men who serve male clients, and will usually keep themselves beardless and not overtly masculine (while not distinctly effeminate either) to remain desirable targets for the sexual outlet of most men. (There is no concept of sexuality in this culture- if you are a man, you are a penetrative partner in sex and the gender of the receiving partner is of little concern. Younger men beneath you in social stature (in practice, these are almost always sex workers) are considered appropriate targets of male desire, and as such you have some men who would be considered heterosexual by contemporary standards having sex with other men). Male workers who primarily serve female clients tend to vary more in age and have less social restrictions on their appearance or masculine presentation.

Eunuch sex workers usually serve male clients, and are regarded as appropriate targets of male attraction regardless of their age (largely as they are seen as entirely incapable of performing penetrative roles, and conceptualized as de-gendered). Akoshos (those designated male who perform women's gender roles) sex workers are seen as uniquely predisposed to serve both male and female clients, as their gendered space is broadly conceptualized as dual-gendered (being physically capable of performing 'male' penetrative roles while living under women's social roles)

Hiring of sex workers is not considered infidelity and is entirely permissible to do while married, though women are often heavily discouraged from doing so (largely out of concerns of pregnancy, partly out of patriarchal control over women's sexual behavior). A woman who pays for sex work receives more scrutiny than is applied to men. It is not outright inappropriate, but can be considered indicative of an excessive libido or overmasculinization. Women are imagined as having naturally lower libidos than men, so behaviors that challenge this notion tend to be be noted.

The only circumstances in which hiring sex workers as a man attracts scrutiny is when it is deemed excessive, symptomatic of an uncontrolled libido. Men who hire male sex workers closer to their age and/or bearded will also attract scrutiny- while not outright Condemned, it's suspiciously out of the acceptable range for male desire (though will most often similarly be interpreted as an excessive, uncontrolled libido, ie you'll just fuck anything with a hole). Receiving penetration from a sex worker as a man is wholly condemned, as is seen as UNIQUELY violating, not only a severe deviance from male social roles, but at the hands of a stigmatized, polluted figure that is at the absolute bottom of the social ladder. This usually happens in secret and often involves paying the worker off for their silence.

The one major exception to stigma against sex workers is in the lemna courtesan tradition. Lemna are mostly unmarried women and/or akoshos who are very skilled trained performers who work as entertainers for wealthy clients. Their services are not sexual in nature, rather they sing, dance, act, play music, and recite poetry, and are skilled conversationalists that provide company for clients. Lemna usually operate out of elite brothels, but as separate services to the sex workers, and are in theory never available for sex work. Lemna providing sex work sometimes (though not frequently) occurs in practice, but it is always be presented as something they have not been Paid to do- their payment was for entertainment, and they will present it as a (almost always purely fantastical) situation that they have grown attracted to their client and are engaging in a romantic tryst.

Lemna courtesanship is long-established and a valued part of this culture's art and theater traditions, and they do not face the same stigma as sex workers, rather being seen as an elite class of performers. They do not exactly have a High place in society either (as unmarried civilian women and/or akoshos, they are notably lacking in social power), but the regard towards them is overall positive. The exemption to this stigma partially lies within the framework of body taboo (they do not explicitly 'sell' their bodies or directly engage in sex work), but is largely rooted in the esteem of their tradition rather than any coherent logic.

-----

Sex work has a much less significant, less complicated, and less intensely stigmatized place in the highlands, mostly due to its reduced presence. Most people are living in relatively small agricultural villages, or transiently as herders, so there are fewer opportunities for sex workers to operate on regular and official levels. The only places you can reliably find sex workers within the highlands are in small quasi-towns that crop up around land trade routes, or occasionally as traveling traders (usually offering material goods in addition to sex work services).

There’s also no intra-highlands currency system, so sex workers will usually be paid in goods, which in turn influences the cultural lens on sex work. Goods have direct, immediate utilitarian value that currency does not, and paying goods for service is most pragmatically done as a means of material practicality- forming alliances, acquiring farmhands, receiving the defensive or offensive service of warriors, etc, not for temporary gratification.

The fact that this cultural sphere is fairly egalitarian in terms of gender (though it has strongly enforced, separate gender roles for married men and women) also contributes to the comparative lack of stigma- part of the Imperial Wardi stigma against sex work is interwoven with misogyny (with women sex workers being the most degraded extent of femininity, and male sex workers taking on inappropriate, degraded feminine roles in providing sexual services). Women have equal overall societal power to men in the Hill Tribes cultural sphere, and things associated with femininity are not Themselves degrading (men seen as feminine are not shamed for femininity itself, rather in their specific failure to perform male gender roles- the distinction can be subtle but is very significant to how gender roles are approached).

Casual sex between unmarried men and women is fully accepted, somewhat seen as a hallmark of youth. However, married couples are expected to remain exclusively faithful to one another. This also goes a ways to discourage hiring of sex workers, which would be accepted grounds for a divorce and a mark of shame on the person who strayed.

While not excessively stigmatized, the views on sex work here is nowhere near Enlightened And Supportive either, it’s still seen as a highly degrading, unfortunate line of work. Sex workers are usually going to be unmarried women of marriageable age who could not (or would not) acquire a husband for one reason or another. They are women who failed in expected roles of marriage and becoming the manager of a family’s home and property, and have not even taken an esteemed, productive role for spinsters (usually physical labor in herding, farming, raiding) in favor of one that is considered ‘selling’ one’s body to provide useless, base services to desperate men. It's something that will usually be looked at as sad and unfortunate at best, or an absurd dereliction of duty at worst.

Male sex workers are virtually unheard of (within the highlands at least, there's cultural stereotypes of Wardi men being effeminate and predisposed to sex with men, so of course THEY'VE got male sex workers all over the fucking place), and the concept of a man operating as a sex worker would just seem absurd to most.

But the levels of social shame surrounding sex work are actually higher for the client in this cultural context- it’s suggestive that you either cannot afford to get a wife/do not have the requisite masculine skillset to be a husband, or otherwise that you’re so utterly incapable of getting laid that you have to go to great effort and barter for sex, a petty expense of valuable goods. It's both a foolish waste and in many ways a failure of expected male gender roles. Most men who hire the services of sex workers will keep it on the down low, or (if living near the borders) commute to Wardi towns or tradeways for access. It’s seen as an act of desperation, foolish, emasculating, and will generally be mocked and shamed.

I actually have a framework of a folktale that kind of demonstrates the cultural lens pre-established (no names for the characters or clans involved, it's supposed to be of the far northern Bict-Braíghnnas tribe). I'll put it under the cut:

One of the folktales describes a young woman who was strikingly beautiful and exceedingly clever. She was of the Bict-Braíghnnas, the lone daughter of a very small, very poor clan, consisting only of her immediate family and a few cousins. Her father had died young, and her younger brothers and cousins were malnourished and inexperienced, and could do little to protect or grow their meager herd of horses (they certainly could not afford cattle). She had to take on the role of the provider for herself and remained unmarried long past marriageable age, living day by day doing whatever she could to scrape by and keep her family afloat.

She became aware that the patriarch of her ruling clan had an eye for her, and he began approaching her in hopes of soliciting sex. At first, she always brushed him off. She found him repulsive, as he was foolish and greedy and rather ugly. But she started to see an opportunity in all this. It was a humiliating opportunity, but one she was willing to take.

The next time he approached, she pretended to consider his advances, but only if he should provide payment in turn- if she was as beautiful as he kept saying, and he was as wealthy as he kept bragging, wouldn't it be worth the price? He first offered her a sack of barley, but she laughed him off. He then offered her fine clothes, but she feigned insult, was she not already beautiful even in poor, worn rags? He then offered her a breeding pair of pheasants, and she pushed aside her shawl to expose her breasts, and sweetly asked if he Really could not do better, wealthy in cattle as he was. The man was now, quite clearly, hard in his trousers.

He finally relented to an obscene payment- he would go under his wife (the owner of his cattle)'s nose and give her an adult cow, in payment for having sex with him just once. This is a high price to pay, but she was gorgeous and he was rich in cattle and could afford to lose one (or two. or five. Maybe more.). She accepted his offer and had sex with him, and came away with her very first cow.

(Some tellings of this story go on a tangent here where she sneaks the cow right back into the man's fields under cover of darkness, to breed it with one of his bulls and begin forming her own herd)

Over the next several months, he started regularly approaching her for sex in exchange for cattle, until he had to start coming up with explanations to his wife as to where the missing cattle had gone- he first claimed they were given as gifts, then that some were stolen, inventing wild stories of great raids and declaring open conflict with the greatest rival to his clan, all as means of masking his dalliances. This skirmishing came at great cost to his own clan, but he was too foolish and weak-willed to stop.

The woman was meanwhile using her newfound and growing wealth in cattle to make connections and political moves, slowly establishing herself as a powerful figure and having many in her debt. Her brothers and cousins, finally well fed, grew tall and healthy and began to take on roles as herders, protectors, and raiders, with the assistance of more young men gained in alliance. All the while, she dutifully continued her paid trysts with the patriarch whenever he summoned her.

Eventually, the man had given her so many cattle (which had been bred in the meantime, and more had been acquired in trade and raids) that she had three times as many as he did. One day, she did not appear as expected. She had amassed great wealth for herself and her clan, and had been courting the unwed son of the patriarch’s rival clan. The son paid a hefty bride price for her, and they were wed on that day.

Now the wealthiest in cattle and the most powerful clan in the valley, the woman and her new husband ousted the weakened and disgraced former patriarch, becoming the new ruling clan of the Bict-Braíghnnas. The couple were wise and wealthy rulers, and their clan remains in power and rich in cattle to this day.

---

The cultural outlook on sex work (among other things) is fairly well encapsulated here- the sex work itself is degrading, but this fits into common motifs of this cultural sphere’s folktales where the hero figure overcomes difficult and often degrading situations with wit and social skill, and ultimately rises above it. Note that as a (non-comedic) hero of this tale, she uses her sex work very intentionally and pragmatically for material gain and alongside many other measures to increase her standing. Also note that, when unmarried, she's specified as taking up practical labor roles, and ultimately acquires a husband and ends the story in the expected position as a wife.

The actions of the man who hired her are distinctly shameful. He is performing his role as a husband TERRIBLY- being unfaithful, completely mismanaging his wife’s herds and ultimately driving his clan out of power all in pursuit of petty lust. He is in part an exaggerated, cartoonish embodiment of the cultural perception of the clients of sex workers- desperate, foolishly lustful, and an overall failure as a man. Most hearing this story would find his role highly comedic, a powerful but stupid foe for the clever and pragmatic hero to overcome.

(Very minor side note: the detail of him being enthralled by her breasts is also meant to be comedic- breasts are not sexualized in this culture (women's hips/thighs/buttocks are what is typically seen as sexually attractive), and many women will be out topless on hot days without note being made of it (toplessness is culturally acceptable, exposing genitalia/buttocks is not). The notion of a man being out of his mind horny over the sight of a bare tit would register to listeners as excessively lustful in a humorous capacity)

While the focus of the story is ultimately more on the contrast of thrifty and foolish behaviors, it also functions as a discouragement of hiring sex workers, casting the loss of assets in trade for sex as a similarly foolish venture, degrading to the worker and humiliating to the client.

[ivanhoe-dont-do-it]

current bespoke severance theory is that Natalie is secretly also an Eagan. I think Helena’s father had a dubiously ethical relationship with either a servant or a severed worker and that person was Natalie’s mom.

Like think about it: both Natalie and Helena inherently seeing themselves as the Faildaughter. Helena bc she’s an Actual Eagan™️ raised by the Eagans with all of their wants and expectations for her that she can of course never actually live up to but can give up everything that could be important to her in service of their goals while still constantly coming up short of perfect. And Natalie as the Bastard Child who will never be fully loved or accepted by the Eagans (who will also never love or accept Helena) raised with no family identity except a dubious connection to the great Kier lineage, fully committed to her role in lumon’s propaganda machine, giving up everything that could be important to her in service of the Eagan’s goals and the hope that one day she can be fully recognized as a part of their family. Both of them being deeply destructively jealous of the other while not being allowed to express it or recognizing that they are both needing the same thing where is that dumb lil cat cuz I need a minute

[suntails]

FINALLY got a better job!!!! somehow i will now work in IT. i do not have IT experience but goddammit i have the desire to earn a beautiful paycheck

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

What do you think is your favorite part of your job? (here’s 5. I’ll also give Steve 5 if he answers the question too)

You can hear the grumble and tussle of Soda trying to drag Steve behind the counter. Steve throws a few punches before eventually getting trapped in Soda's grasp.

Well, I'D SAY, my favorite part is working with my best pal! It gives me somethin' ta do around here!

More like annoying your best pal.

I dunno. Being in the garage with just my music, where i'on gonna be bothered by no blonde-headed weirdo?

You love me! :(

I'm gonna fuckin' break your neck.

[not-poignant]

115/131 - Underline the Black (omegaverse)

Title: Underline the Black Rating: Explicit Pairing: Efnisien ap Wledig/Dr Gary Konowalous Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Darkfic, Disturbing themes, Age Gap, Omegaverse, Alpha/Alpha, no Mpreg, Medical experimentation, Medical trauma, Dominance/Submission, Dystopian universe, Forced bonding, Forced relationship, Imprisonment, Nonconsensual medical procedures, PTSD, Flashbacks, Nightmares, Chronic illness, Mating cycles/Heats, Knotting, Miscommunication, Trauma recovery, Mind control, Child Abuse, Hope, Hopeful ending.

Summary: Efnisien ap Wledig is an omega born into an all-alpha family. Abandoned by his birth mother and raised by his aunt, he is subjected to a lifetime of medical experimentation and brainwashing and believes himself to be an alpha. But the experiments begin to fail, and he is abandoned yet again to an Omega Rehabilitation Facility, where the family expects he will be retrained into the ‘perfect omega’ and placed in an arranged marriage, or be eliminated if this is no longer possible.

The Facility don’t know about the experiments, and Efnisien doesn’t even know why he’s in there in the first place, since he’s an alpha…isn’t he? One thing’s for certain, he definitely doesn’t need an alpha companion, no matter what the staff at the facility seem to think.

Underline the Black - Chapter 115 - The Best of Friends @ AO3

In which Efnisien meets Michael Henton, and Gary does the handover without saying goodbye, making Efnisien feel alone and neglected. As Michael drives them both back up to Perth, Efnisien realises something is very, very wrong.

– Thanks to all the Patreon and Ream supporters for making this story possible!

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