#and i definitely see why. theres been such a ramp up in people having a straight up nasty attitude towards him and it sucks

[carriongoat64]

our lunacid thoughts & peace in games

we really like how lunacid's story is almost nothing like king's field in why youre in the caves, the tomb, the great well, bad place. youre here because youve been cast out, everyone here has been banished from the surface, and you can see the corpses of attempted escapees litter every hall. in the temple of silence their minds left by drilling holes through their own craniums, the majority attempted escape by simpler means. we're here because we contain some shred of evil or darkness or knowledge we shouldnt, or we're ill or we caused basically any hardship at all. everyone who's made peace here is not only living well but thriving and happy. we got to the highest point in the whole game, we can see the rim of the great well bathed in bloomy sorrowful overcast light. there is a closed gate at the end of a small inclined ramp. it is lined with arrows, two corpses frozen preserved in agony soaked in them, clearly if i got too close i'd get shot too. theres no escape but all. ALL the lore books and the stories of the above paint so much worse a picture than what im seeing down here. the sanguine sea is confusing and scary but the intro cutscene shows the surface is an even worse nightmare inflicted by humanity on it's own. the lore books describe in flowing prose all this fear and angst around magic, no one understands, everyone seeks power and knowledge and land, the eras of rule have worn earth thin. down here everyone's either chilling or a monster attacking without a whole lot of reason besides, haunted. territorial. uhh, yknow, maybe theyre just stupid. theres a lot of angst among the vampires, we suspect there was a genocide attempted on the surface, they seemed peaceful for a time before that. the game feels like a love letter to separation from cishet dwelling. we're not the same and we dont really want to be. demi can be found at the great well's surface layer, she says she doesnt want to stick around long. she finds it depressing, and the light hurts her eyes anyway. she doesnt understand why people seek it out so much. it's a long walk down, take some crystal shards to teleport home, to wing's rest. this keeps happening to me in games where i end up fundamentally disbelieving in their initial premises and cant beat them because i just straight up dont want to. the first readable thing in the game, a statue depicting a cleric holding a knight's limp body, says "Newest of the fallen. Take up your sword and fight." Dude i dont wanna fight i want to make a house down here and help feed demi sheryl and etna. clive doesnt need to eat, the goofball former king. actually etna might not need to eat either she's an astral projection. demi and sheryl definitely do though, and sheryl needs sleep too. this is why im obsessed with the idea of a fantasy city builder. games could depict peace with realistically positive politics but never choose to, for so many miserable reasons. you only get explicitly homesteader colonizer shit or you get like, really vague minecraft end poem and jewish stereotypes with an optimal game mechanic including stealing their babies away to raise in a literal minimum viable ghetto for your iron farm and enchant trades. ahhh im persistently mad at minecraft :D

[dyketubbo]

(c! unless said otherwise) not to be a ranboo enjoyer but if ur weird about the discussion of "is ranboo working with dream while enderwalking" so you can protect ur blob boy i genuinely cannot understand you. its so weird that ppl still act like ew!ranboo and awake ranboo are Two Separate People and not the same person but awake ranboo is still effected by his amnesia + is relearning enderman culture and enderwalking ranboo has all of his memories including everything abt enderman culture and acts more like an enderman. we have it confirmed that he understands english while enderwalking, can even speak it, that he knows to keep secrets, that hes visited dream in prison often (until awake him tried to and banned himself from it), that he was there for the disc war finale, that he had tnt in the panic room, that he hid a disc (note: awake ranboo was the one to find it, we dont know if ew!ranboo wanted it to be found or not, if he wanted dream to have it or if he was even asked by dream to hide it), that he still wants to help, that he knows about the red banquet, and that the state can be activated by *fear*, not just sleep

and with all of that.. yeah its, more likely that he still really doesnt like dream? like im sorry dream enjoyers but no its not very likely for ranboo to actually like dream or to want to willingly comply even while enderwalking. itd be kind of a shitty secret (from a viewers pov) if ranboo was working willingly with dream while enderwalking even to present day, no manipulation involved, because we have "evidence" of him working with dream in the early days.... all uncovered by ranboo himself, while awake, and being known by the viewers to heavily assume the worse about himself and spirals very easily into unpleasant conclusions.

and not to bring meta into it, but from a meta standpoint- with a story created by cc!ranboo, who has continuously asserted ic and ooc that he doesnt want his character to be taken as being more than one person and has expressed a want to be respectful towards nd people- itd leave a very bad taste in my mouth if his character ended up being right about himself. his character has spiraled constantly under the assumption that hes a bad person, his character begs to be locked up for terrible crimes (that havent been truly confirmed by anyone but himself while spiralling. dreams traitor statement doesnt count, that was about him helping technoblade, and thats not what ranboo wants to be locked up for), his character experiments on himself after having previous intense discomfort, his character grieved tommy (who he knows suffered because of dream), his character married tubbo (who he knows suffered because of dream), his character has shown time and time again that even if hes often an irrational asshole he still *cares* so so much and just wants to enjoy his life, his character hates himself for uncomfirmed assumptions, his character has suffered because of his own mental health due to being unable to reconcile with the idea that he could have helped the person he hates the most

and people want him to be right? people want him to be right to hate himself? and they want it in a way where hes been *willing* to help the man who has severly harmed those that ranboo loves? thats.. gross. im sorry, but it feels so much better as someone who suffers from memory loss and heavy dissociation to have a character not be secretly a terrible person while dissociating and not remembering any of it. i dont think ranboo and dream have no relationship at all, but i dont think theyre allies, even while ranboo is enderwalking. not only would it not make sense for mr. "i pushed away all my allies because attachments make people weak, now tommy watch as i kill your biggest attachment and eventually kill you so i can revive you and become immortal gods with you this is totally not creepy" to consider ranboo a genuine ally, but after everything thats happened in the dream smp itd.. feel bad if ranboo was actually an ally to one of his best friends abuser. even when he has all of his memories of his interactions with dream, even when he has all of his memories of his interactions with tommy, even when he has memories of writing to tommy, promising him hed be there for him, helping him over and over and regretting that he didnt do enough when tommy died to dream, even when he remembers considering tommy to be his family, even when he remembers wanting tommy to move into his and tubbos mansion. even with all of that, he still wants to be an ally to dream? i truly dont think thats the case

at most, yes, possible that enderwalk ranboo helped him in the early days, and i think the tnt set off at the prison and the stolen nuke was him (though not to help dream, i think he didnt expect for the tnt to help dream nor do i think the stolen nuke was even about dream), but. i dont think he helped dream willingly, and i dont think he still considers dream to be good or an ally. i truly do think that ranboos story will end up with him realizing hes a good person, even if he did make shitty decisions in the past, even if hes not the best in the present. that he wont be seen as dangerous or see himself as dangerous. and i really do not think his story will paint dream in a good or even neutral light

like. idk. maybe its just me, but i think id enjoy a story where the severely mentally ill character is told/find out that theyre *not* secretly awful and an abuser apologist. ell oh ell

[gamergirl929]

The Commentator’s Secret (Charlotte Flair x Reader)

Anonymous Request:  I was just wondering about any time in the future could you write a charlotte x G!P reader?? Crazily get if its not your thing no bother, I also know you're suuuuper busy so theres no need to answer to this ask! thank you for all the stories though

Now, this fic is going to be a LITTLE different than most gp stories, I went for a more emotional fic for the first time around. 

A part 2 to this is ALREADY planned, and I’m already working on it, so the long won’t be TOO long. 

I just think that a story like this needs to be handled in a way that is of no offense to anyone AND takes a situation that I’ve only ever seen people write as sexual, and change it to something more emotional. 

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. FEEDBACK ON THIS ONE IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME! 

Charlotte hums as you strut past her backstage, the woman’s eyes on you as you stare at the paper in your hands, completely enthralled by whatever is written on it.  

She flips around shamelessly ogling you as you walk away.  

“Yer drooling.”  

Charlotte jumps at the sound of her best friend, Becky Lynch’s voice, the blonde rolling her eyes.  

“Shut up.” She growls, turning back towards you, unfortunately realizing that you’re out of sight.  

“She’s gone.”  

Charlotte turns to her best friend with a glare.  

“I can tell.” She grumbles, the Irishwoman snickering as she chases after the blonde.  

“Ya can’t get rid of me dat easy.” Becky catches up with her, the tall blonde throwing her arm around her friend’s shoulders.  

“Yer just mad because ya didn’t get ta ogle Y/N more.”  

Charlotte shrugs.  

“Maybe.”

Becky scoffs.  

“Maybe my arse.”

                                                          ***

Charlotte hadn’t FORMALLY met the newest commentator on Monday Night Raw, but of course, she’d seen you backstage, typically with your attention focused on something that WASN’T your surroundings.  

That was of course until one day, you nearly trampled over Charlotte, a blessing in disguise really considering she’d been wanting to talk to you since she first saw you backstage.  

“I-I-I-I'm so sorry Cha- Ms. Flair.” You clear your throat, Charlotte smiling as she places a hand on your forearm.  

“Call me Charlotte.” She smiles, your cheeks flushing as you rub the back of your neck.  

“Well uhhh, Charlotte, it’s nice to actually meet you, bi-big fan.” You laugh nervously. “I’m Y/N.”  

Charlotte takes your hand, giving it a squeeze.  

“Nice to finally meet Raw’s newest commentator.”  

You click your tongue, shaking your head.  

“Not until tonight.” You wink, the blonde grinning.  

“Well, from what I’ve heard from your Podcast, I’d say you’re going to do just fine.” She grins, your eyes widening.  

“Y-You’ve listened to my Podcast?” You whisper in disbelief, the blonde’s grin widening.  

“Surprised?” She asks and you shrug.  

“Maybe a little.”  

The two of you go silent for a moment, your eyes widening when you realize you’re still holding Charlotte’s hand.  

“S-S-Sorry...” You mumble, pulling your hand away from hers, the blonde shrugging.  

“Don’t be.” She takes a step backwards, her eyes running down your front.  

“It was nice meeting you Y/N...”  

You watch her go, the woman eventually turning around and taking her leave, your mouth agape as you stare down the hallway.  

“Ye-Yeah you too.”  

You clear your throat, the butterflies in your stomach making your eyes widen.  

It was NO doubt that Charlotte Flair was beautiful, and something ELSE was also aware of that, something you’d rather like to keep hidden from any, and everyone.  

                                                          ***

“Noticed ya talkin’ ta Y/N backstage earlier.”  Becky gives Charlotte a nudge, the blonde smirking.  

“Thought I’d introduce myself.” Her smirk stretching across her face, earning an eye roll from the woman beside her.  

“I bet ya did.”  

Just as the words leave Becky’s mouth, your voice comes over the television, the blonde grinning as your velvety, raspy voice sounds through your headset, a complete contrast to you nervous, warbly voice from earlier.  

“She definitely didn’t sound like that when we met.” She snorts, Becky, shaking her head.  

“Yer a Flair, ya make everyone nervous.” She teases, earning an eye roll from the blonde.

“I do not.”  

Just as the words leave her mouth, a tech with a clip board covering his face makes his way towards the two.

“M-M-Ms. Flair, you’re on in 5.” He whispers before basically sprinting away.  

Charlotte turns to Becky, the Irishwoman smirking.  

“Shut up.”  

“Didn’t say a thing.”  

                                                          ***

The moment you realize Charlotte’s match is coming up next you can’t help but smile, eager to see the woman in action, her music hits and the crowd cheers, the woman walking out onto the stage, demanding attention, the woman absolutely glowing as she spins around, showing off one of her MANY decorative robes.  

You watch with a grin as she makes her way down to the ring, discussing with your commentary mates about what they think is next for The Queen.  

“Without a doubt Charlotte Flair belongs in the title picture, not because she’s a Flair, but because she has the talent and skill, she belongs in that picture.” You say, eyes widening when Charlotte moves towards the commentator’s table.  

She ducks down, covering your microphone with one hand, all the while whispering in your ear.  

“You’re doing a great job.”  

The blonde pulls back with a grin, the woman winking before she gets in the ring, the ref OF COURSE, holding the ropes for her.  

“What did she say to you?” Byron Saxton asks and you grin.  

“For me to know Saxton, for me to know.”  

You clear your throat, again feeling the hints of arousal, the woman’s hot breath on your ear making a shiver run down your spine.  

You again clear your throat, gathering yourself.  

You watch intently as Charlotte clasps a microphone, glancing around the arena, demanding silence without saying a word.  

Eventually, she clears her throat, though before she can even speak, Ruby Riott’s music hits.  

“Ohhh, what could this be about?” Byron smirks and you chuckle.  

“Charlotte Flair is the best in the business, what better way to solidify yourself than stepping up to the Queen?” You ask, a brow quirking when Liv Morgan’s music hits.  

“You’re right Y/N, and if The Riott Squad want ANYONE out of the title picture it’s Charlotte Flair, because when she gets a title, she knows how to keep it.”  Samoa Joe adds.

The Riott Squad doesn’t utter a single word, the two women sharing a glance before they make a mad dash for the ring, but Charlotte is ready for them.  

It’s only a matter of seconds later that both Ruby and Liv are on their backs, Charlotte standing over the two of them, arms outstretched.

She ducks down, picking her discarded mic up off the mat.  

“I was only supposed to face Ruby, but since you wanted to interfere Liv, why don’t we make it a handicap match?” Charlotte smirks, everyone cheering as she drops her mic on Ruby.  

“Always cocky, do you think Charlotte’s biting off more than she can chew?” Samoa Joe asks and you shake your head.  

“I think she’ll be just fine.”

                                                          ***

Charlotte was MORE than fine considering she picked up the win, the woman smirking as the ref holds her hand up in the air.  

“So, Y/N, what did you think about seeing The Queen in action live?” Byron asks, just as the blonde turns to you, sending you a stealthy wink.  

“Seeing her live for the first time, I have to say I’m in awe of what she does in the ring, and I can’t wait for next week.” You grin, the blonde grinning as she slips out of the ring, strutting up the ramp.  

“Ohhhh, does Y/N have a favorite?” Samoa Joe nudges you and you grin.  

“I mean, I’m definitely impressed, and I can’t wait to see more.”  

                                                          ***

“So, what did you think?”  

Your brows arch as you turn to face Charlotte, a grin stretching across your face.

“I think everyone is right when they say Charlotte Flair is the best in the business.”  

Charlotte smirks.

“Trying to butter me up?”  

You shrug.  

“Is it working?”  

Charlotte in turn, shrugs back.  

“Maybe.”  

                                                          ***

“Hey, Y/N.”  

You jump, picking your head up from the paper you’re reading, smiling when you see Charlotte making her way towards you, though she’s not alone.  

Your eyes double in size as you stand up straight, as tall as you can.  

“Holy shit you’re Ric Flair.” You say out loud, covering your face with the paper you’re holding.  

“I said that out loud, didn’t I?” You ask, cheeks flushing.  

Charlotte giggles and Ric laughs.

“You sure did kiddo.” He smiles.  

You pout when seconds later, Charlotte swipes the paper from you, revealing your flushed red cheeks to the two Flair’s.  

“I-I-It's a real honor to meet you sir.” You hold your hand out, the man giving it a firm shake.  

“You too, it’s nice to see a new face on the commentary team.” He grins, the man’s eyes widening when someone, that someone being Randy Orton, gives him a pat on the back.  

Ric turns, pressing a kiss to Charlotte’s cheek before he again holds his hand out, another firm shake shared between the two of you.  

“It was great meeting you kid, can’t wait to see more of you.” He smiles before he and Randy take their leave, leaving you and Charlotte behind.

“Warn me when a literal LEGEND in the business wants to meet me.” You pout, Charlotte rolling her eyes as she studies the paper you were reading.  

“Who doesn’t want to meet Raw’s newest commentator?” She asks, huffing when you swipe the sheet of paper back from her.  

“I’m not THAT special.” You say as the two of you start making your way down the hallway, Charlotte humming.  

“You are, everybody really likes you.”  

You stop, turning to her with wide eyes.  

“Wait, really?” You grin in disbelief the woman giggling as she places a hand on your shoulder.  

“Yeah, what isn’t there to like about you?” She says, cheeks flushing when she realizes exactly what she said.  

You clear your throat, cheeks flushing.  

“I mean, coming from someone like you who is literal perfection?” You snort, your eyes doubling in size.  

Charlotte glances away bashfully.  

“That’s-

“Excuse me, Y/N, mind if we have a word?”  

You jump at the sound of Triple H’s voice, turning to the man with a smile.  

“S-Sure, of course.” You turn back to Charlotte grinning shyly.  

“See you later?” You rub the back of your neck nervously; a tick Charlotte finds endearing.  

“Of course.”  

With that, you and Triple H take your leave, the two of you speaking in hushed tones as you make your way down the hallway.  

Charlotte crosses her arms across her chest, watching you until you round the corner and move out of sight.  

“Whathca lookin at?” Becky asks, coming out of nowhere and Charlotte smirks, shaking her head.  

“Nothing.”  

                                                          ***

The way your voice husks through your microphone makes Charlotte feel even more attracted to you than she already was.  

She couldn’t deny what she was feeling for you, but she KNEW it went well beyond coworkers and FAR beyond friendship.  

Watching you cockily smirk at the commentary table, the way you’d laugh when Samoa Joe cracked jokes at the expense of some WWE Superstars, mainly Seth Rollins, and Byron Saxton himself, BUT you at times would stick up for the man, considering before you joined the team, he’d been your favorite.  

Charlotte couldn’t get enough of your smoky voice sounding throughout the backstage area, the way it would demand attention, contrasting from the way Byron and Samoa Joe would talk.  

The woman had a habit of going back on the WWE Network to listen to your commentary during her match, each and every time you sung her praises.

Unbeknownst to her, you’re currently standing behind her, the woman smiling when the camera snaps to you at the commentary table.  

“What are you watching there?” You ask, the blonde letting out a squeak that makes you snort, your arms wrapping around your middle as you double over in laughter.  

Charlotte growls, giving you a half-hearted shove.  

“Shut up.”  

You gasp, attempting to catch your breath as you wipe the tears from the corner of your eyes.  

“I’m sorry, that was just TOO good.”  

Charlotte huffs, leaning against a nearby wall, the woman sending you a mock glare as you lean against the wall beside her.  

“I WAS watching my favorite commentator, not sure now.”  

You pout, putting your best puppy dog eyes on display.

It only takes a millisecond for the woman to cave.

“Alright, stop with the puppy dog eyes.” She demands, nudging you playfully with her shoulder.  

“Wow, that was easy, I’ll have to remember that.”  

Charlotte sends you a mock glare and you grin, the woman chuckling.  

“I was listening to a certain someone’s commentary on my match.” She smiles, a smile you mime.  

“Anyone I know?” You ask innocently.  

“No, you don’t know them.”  

You gasp, sighing loudly.  

“AND HERE I thought I was your favorite.”  

Charlotte smiles, her head lolling to the side as she turns to you, she examines your profile for a moment, tracing your sharp jawline, the woman’s smile widening when she sees how tiny your ears are.  

During her perusing, she completely misses the fact that you’d turned towards her, your eyes wide and cheeks flushing bright red.

Charlotte blinks rapidly, the woman biting her bottom lip as her eyes lock with yours.  

“You are.” She whispers and your brows furrow.  

“What?”  

Your eyes widen when Charlotte reaches for you, the woman fixing the collar of your shirt and adjusting your tie.  

Charlotte simply stares at you for a moment, her green orbs darting from your eyes, to your lips and back before she grins.  

“You are my favorite.”  

You swallow hard, taking a deep breath as the woman takes her leave, attempting to rein your emotions in, but it’s to no avail, your forehead resting against a nearby wall.  

“Thank fuck for compression shorts.” You mumble under your breath, wiggling for a second before you push off the wall and head down the hallway as if nothing had ever happened.  

                                                          ***

After your last interaction, you knew what you felt for Charlotte was more than friendship.  

You wanted her, in a less than friendship kind of way, but what you wanted wasn’t just driven by lust, you really, really liked her, her smile made your heart skip a beat, her green orbs sent a warmth spreading through your chest that filled you with complete and utter delight.  

You were falling for the woman, but there was NO WAY she could possibly feel the same, she was a Flair, she had men dropping at her feet, why would she fall for the WWE’s new commentator that she’d only known for around 6 months?  

AND a woman no less.  

You shake your head.  

“Not a chance.” You mumble under your breath.  

“Not a chance of what?”  

You jump, turning on your heels to find Lana, the woman smirking as she makes her way towards you.  

“Uhh, nothing.” You shrug, the woman grinning as she places a hand on your forearm.  

“Didn’t seem like nothing...” She caresses your arm and your brows furrow in confusion, the thing you’re trying to hide twitching slightly.  

You swallow hard.

“Uhhh, what are you-

The clearing of someone’s throat makes you turn away from the woman and to the newly appeared Charlotte Flair, the blonde making a smile stretch across your face.  

“Hey.” You say as you move away from Lana, and towards Charlotte, the taller woman smirking as she sends her a glare.  

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Charlotte snarks, the blonde huffing before she stomps away, heels clicking on the backstage floor.  

You sigh, swiping the back of your hand across your forehead.  

“Dodged a bullet there.” You say, placing a hand on your heart.  

Charlotte meanwhile isn’t looking at you, she’s glaring over your shoulder at Lana’s retreating form.  

“Hey, you there?” You ask, Charlotte glancing from Lana, to you and back, the muscle in her jaw jumping.  

“Are you alright?” You ask, the woman taking a deep breath before she abruptly turns away, leaving you to watch her go with a sad frown.  

Your shoulders hunch as you too walk away, in the opposite direction, away from Charlotte.  

                                                          ***

Charlotte growls angrily.  

“Bitch.” She snarls angrily, stomping through the backstage area, wanting nothing more than to literally snap Lana in half, in fact that was what she MAY end up doing.  

“Whoa, where’s da fire?” Becky asks as she round the corner, stopping Charlotte in her tracks.  

“Why do ya look so pissed?” She asks and Charlotte huffs.  

“Y/N...” Charlotte starts, Becky’s brows knitting together in confusion.  

“Wat about Y/N?” She asks and Charlotte growls.  

“Lana was hitting on her.” She grumbles and Becky smirks, a brow arched.  

“Ahh, so ya were jealous?” She teases and Charlotte sends her a deadly glare.  

“I was NOT jealous.” She says, her nose crinkling and Becky snorts.  

“Sorry ta break it to ya, but ya were jealous.”  

Charlotte’s lips part to AGAIN deny the accusation, but slam shut seconds later, the woman knowing she can no longer deny what she was feeling for you.  

“Figure it out?” Becky smirks and Charlotte groans.  

“Shut up.”  

                                                          ***

You weren’t sure why, but Charlotte had avoided you for the entire day.  

Unfortunately for you though, Lana hadn’t, she’d cornered you, multiple times, but thankfully for you, you always had a way out, by luck, techs needed you, legends, superstars.  

Though unfortunately for you, you had nowhere to run when Lana caught you again.  

“Lucky for me you’re not busy this time.” Lana smiles seductively as she walks your way, hips swaying.  

“Ummm, actually I was-”

“She was just leaving.”  

Your eyes widen when Charlotte Flair appears from basically nowhere, the woman’s green eyes full of fire as she glares Lana down.  

Lana lets out a lengthy sigh, turning your way.  

“When the two of you are done, how about you come find me?” She winks before again, taking her leave, Charlotte glaring daggers into her as she goes.  

Charlotte, without even glancing over her shoulder at you, again goes to make a hasty retreat, but unlike the last time, you catch her wrist.  

“Charlotte, what’s wrong? Why do you keep running away from me?” You ask, confused as to why the woman is again, trying to leave.  

Your questions are answered when in one swift motion, Charlotte turns on her heels, shoving you back into a dark corner, her lips slamming against yours.  

Your eyes widen, hands finding purchase on the woman’s waist.  

Charlotte’s lips are soft, insistent, it’s then you realize you aren’t kissing back.  

Charlotte’s heart lightens in her chest when your lips start moving, your hands sliding around to the small of her back, pulling her closer, your bodies flush.  

You get lost in the kiss, lips meeting again and again until Charlotte’s tongue probes at your bottom lip, your lips immediately parting, allowing the woman’s tongue to invade, the two of you moaning when your tongues meet.  

Your tongues tangle in a tantalizing dance, your hands slipping from the small of Charlotte’s back, to her tight covered ass, giving the firm flesh a squeeze.  

You’re so lost in kissing that you don’t realize what’s happening until Charlotte grinds against you, her and your eyes flashing open.

Bile rises into your throat, your heart slamming hard, your ears ringing as you stand stock still for a moment, Charlotte’s green orbs falling to the noticeable bulge in your pants.  

Charlotte’s eyes dart to yours as your cover the bulge with your hands, tears streaming down your face.  

“Don’t tell.” You whisper before sprinting away, leaving the bewildered blonde behind.  

                                                          ***

Charlotte was confused, completely and UTTERLY confused.  

What she saw was what she thought it was, right?  

She’d seen it, felt it, and still she couldn’t believe it.  

Though the thing that stood out to her MOST was the look of utter fear on your face, the tears streaming down your cheeks as you spoke.  

“Don’t tell.”

The look on your face had completely broken her heart, the utter terror, the way your throat bobbed as you swallow, the way your chest heaved as you breathed heavily, your fight or flight response kicking in, and in this case, you had fled.  

Charlotte leans back against the wall you just were leaning against, her own chest heaving as she thinks about what you’d been doing BEFORE you’d retreated.  

What mattered now though, what mattered most was that she find you, because right now, you needed her.  

Yes, she still COULDN’T believe what had happened, but right now, all that mattered was finding you, because you needed her.  

                                                          ***

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

NO.  

You couldn’t believe it.  

You couldn’t BELIEVE it.  

After all this time, after all these YEARS of keeping your secret hidden, your secret had been revealed to none other than Charlotte Flair.  

Everyone watched as you sprinted, you passed a number of your co-workers, superstars, techs and security alike, all looking at you in worry, but you didn’t stop, you didn’t stop because Charlotte was the ONLY one who was going to find out about your secret.  

You sprint towards the room where you’d placed your suitcase and snatch it up completely ignoring when someone calls your name in favor of sprinting to your rental, refusing to look back.  

                                                          ***

Luckily for Charlotte, the two of you were staying in the same hotel, your rooms not far from one another since the two of you had rode together to the venue.  

Charlotte takes a deep breath as she stops in front of your hotel room’s door, the woman eyeing the door’s surface intently.  

You’d come to mean a lot to her, the woman wanting to be around you more than anything, and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy what was happening before you’d made a hasty escape.  

Charlotte’s cheeks flush as she thinks about how large the-

She shakes her head, clearing her throat.  

After taking another deep breath, the woman reining in her courage.  

A beat.  

Another.  

A third.  

Then, she knocks.  

                                                          ***

You let out a groan from where you’re lying face down in your bed, knowing that the knock on your hotel room’s door must be the pizza you ordered considering the hotel’s desk was sending up the delivery boy.  

You roll out of bed, glancing down at the front of your sweats, JUST to make sure what happened earlier didn’t happen again.  

You shuffle towards the door, tugging the door open without looking through the peephole.  

“How much do I-

You stiffen, eyes widening when you realize the person at the door ISN’T the pizza delivery boy, but it was Charlotte Flair.  

“Ch-Char... Charlotte... I was...” You stammer, the blonde taking a deep breath.  

“Can I come in?” She asks, voice below a whisper and you swallow hard.  

You debate for a few seconds before you take a step to the side, allowing the woman inside.  

Just before you go to close the door, the pizza delivery boy makes his appearance.  

“Ms. Y/L/N?” He asks, his eyes widening when he sees who you are.  

“That’s me.” You smile. “How much...?”

“Uhhh... O-O-On the house, I-I'm a huge fan.” He beams, his smile contagious.  

You move into the room, grabbing your wallet before making your way back to the door.  

“Nonsense.” You smile, fishing $100 out of your wallet.  

“Keep the change.” You smile, the boy’s smile widening.  

“Tha-Thanks so much! W-Would you mind a picture?” He asks. “My friends will NEVER believe me if I say I met Y/N, you’re the greatest commentator on Raw!” He says excitedly and you grin.  

“Yeah, of course.”  

You take a few selfies with the boy before he giddily slips your pizza out of the bag he’d brought and hands you the pizza box.  

“Thank you so much Y/N!” He smiles, the man grinning further when you hand him a slip of paper, your autograph scrawled across the paper.  

“No problem. Have a good one bud.”  

“You too!”  

You kick the door shut behind you and head back into the room, turning to Charlotte who’s sitting on the bed.

You nod to the box.  

“Want a slice?” You ask the woman humming.  

“I probably shouldn’t...”  

You shrug.  

“I won’t tell if you won’t.”  

Charlotte smirks.  

“Maybe just a slice.”  

                                                          ***

A slice turned into the two of you knocking out the entire pizza, but with the food gone, you have to talk about the elephant in the room.  

Charlotte clears her throat, turning to you.  

“I-I’m sorry about earlier.” She whispers and you frown, shaking your head.  

“You have nothing to be sorry for...” You shrug, fidgeting nervously in the chair you’re currently sitting in.  

“If I hadn’t...” Charlotte clears her throat, cheeks flushing.  

“If I hadn’t have kissed you, we wouldn’t have...” You swallow hard, finding the courage to stand, making your way towards the end of the bed and sitting down. 

Charlotte follows suite taking a seat beside you.  

“I’m uhhh...” You blush, shrugging.  

“I’m glad you kissed me.” You bite your bottom lip, seeing Charlotte smile out of the corner of your eye.  

“I’ve wanted to kiss you for a while now .” You confess in a whisper, Charlotte turning your way with a blush.  

“You have?” She asks and you nod.  

“Ye-Yeah...”  

The two of you go silent, simply staring at one another before you clear your throat.  

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you...” You frown.  

Charlotte shakes her head, scooting closer.  

“No, don’t be sorry...”  

“I have to be, I doubt you uhhh...” You glance away, the tips of your ears burning. “Wanted to, feel that...”  

The bed shifts slightly and you quickly realize Charlotte has scooted closer, the woman resting her hand on the bed between you, palm up.

An invitation.  

You look at her hand for a moment before taking it, interlacing your fingers, Charlotte giving your hand a squeeze.

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” She says, the woman stroking the back of your hand.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” She says softly and you shake your head. ‘

“I want to.”  

Your eyes widen, surprised the words had come out of your mouth.  

You didn’t want to tell ANYONE your secret, at least, you didn’t before, but with Charlotte sitting in front of you, your hand in hers, you find the courage to say something to someone that you’ve never said to ANYONE.  

“I’m intersex.” You mumble, Charlotte nodding, though her brow knits in confusion.  

“I was uhhh, born a female but uhh, have different uhh, parts.” You say, swallowing hard, watching as Charlotte’s facial expression changes into one of understanding.  

“You realize that doesn’t change who you are, right?”  

Your eyes widen as you let out a humorless laugh.  

“You’re kidding, right? By normal world standards, I’m a fre-

“Don’t call yourself that.” Charlotte bites, your brows furrowing in confusion at the look in the woman’s green orbs.  

“I-

“No, Y/N, you’re as normal as I am, as anyone, there is nothing wrong with you, and you are NOT a freak.”

You blink once, twice, a third time, before your eyes fill with tears, tears leaking from your Y/E/C orbs and streaming down your face.  

Charlotte tentatively cups your cheeks, the woman ridding them of tears with the pads of her thumbs. She leans forwards, resting her forehead against yours.  

“There’s NOTHING wrong with you Y/N. Nothing at all.” She whispers, bumping her nose against yours. “Do you hear me?” She asks, earning the slightest of nods.  

Charlotte tilts her head back, pressing a kiss to your forehead, something that makes your eyes widen and your cheeks flush.  

Your eyes flutter shut, as you exhale loudly through your nose, Charlotte pulling back with a small smile.  

Your face scrunches up as you let out a long, loud, yawn.  

“You need to rest Y/N.” She whispers, brushing strands of hair out of your face. “You had a rough day.” She whispers.  

You take a deep breath, your eyes locking with Charlotte’s green orbs.  

“Could you...” You pause, clearing your throat, shaking your head. “N-N-Never mind.”  

Charlotte chuckles.  

“Tell me.”  

“Y-You could stay if you wanted.” You shrug, your cheeks blood red as you look at any and everything but the woman in front of you.

Charlotte smiles, glancing around the room, quickly realizing there’s only a single bed.  

You quickly realize that in the same moment, jumping to your feet, your heart in your throat.  

“U-Uh, I forgot it was ju-just one bed.” You stammer, shuffling from foot to foot.  

“I’m sorry.”  

You’re about to make an escape to the bathroom, but before you can Charlotte catches your wrist.  

“Hey, breathe, it’s okay.” She whispers, moving to her feet. “I never said I didn’t want to.” She smiles, your eyes widening as you turn to look at her, your cheeks blood red.  

“Wh-What...?” You ask in disbelief, the blonde’s smile splitting into a grin.  

“You heard me...  Just let me go get my things.” She smiles, your eyes widening when she takes the key to your hotel room, sending you a wink before she heads out the door.  

You stay stock still, staring at the door the woman had just disappeared behind, your jaw slack.  

“W-Well then.” You clear your throat, sprinting around the room to clean it up, even though it was in no way a mess.  

Charlotte comes back not long after, the woman smiling when she sees you in the bathroom brushing your teeth, toothbrush hanging out of your mouth as you turn to her.  

“Hmmmph...” You say, grimacing, pulling the tooth brush out of your mouth and spitting into the sink.  

“Hey.” You snort, the blonde shaking her head.  

“Hey to you too.”  

Charlotte makes her way further into the room and you take a deep breath, rinsing your mouth out before you head back into the room.  

“Comfy?” You ask Charlotte, who’s currently lounging on the bed, the woman shrugging.  

“I am.”  

You take a deep breath, shuffling towards the bed, your eyes on your feet as you stand beside it, nervous to get into the bed.

“Hey.” Charlotte whispers, reaching for and taking your wrist, giving it a tug. “Trust me.” She whispers, giving your wrist a squeeze.  

“I-I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” You whisper, Charlotte giving your wrist another tug.  

“I won’t be.” She whispers and you swallow hard.  

It takes a few more tugs on your wrist for the blonde to get you into the bed, your eyes locked with hers as you slowly sit down beside her.  

“Y-You’re su-

Your eyes widen when Charlotte cups your cheeks, pressing the softest of kisses to your lips.  

Charlotte’s green orbs dart around your face, the woman smiling when a smile stretches across your face.  

“I’m sure.” She says, her fingertips tracing your jawline.  

It takes a moment for the both of you to get situated, the two of you sliding beneath the covers, a noticeable distance between the two of you.  

Charlotte shakes her head, shutting the lights off before she shuffles closer to you, your eyes widening as she drapes an arm over your waist.  

“Relax.” She whispers, smiling when you roll on your side and shuffle backwards, your back resting against her chest.  

You let out a deep sigh, the blonde smiling as she buries her face in your neck.  

“As horrible as you thought it would be?” She asks and you chuckle.  

“Not even remotely.”  

You let out a lengthy sigh, your eyes fluttering shut as Charlotte nuzzles into the space behind your ear, your cheeks flushing when Charlotte presses a kiss to your earlobe.  

“Goodnight Y/N.” She whispers and you grin, all earlier nervousness fading away in the blonde’s arms.  

“Goodnight Charlotte.”  

REMEMBER, PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THE STORY SO FAR! 

[lightns881]

why do george's eyes glow white? it was a little quirk in his powers that i noticed and i thought it was interesting. ngl it kinda reminds me of scarlet witch also is that the only part of him that glows when he uses his powers? bc for some reason i imagined him turning into a human glowstick lmao

i noticed that a lot of people were asking about powers and such, but their power levels don't seem that prevalent to the plot so far, it's mainly focused on the discrimination. so what i'm wondering is: are there going to be any scenes/fights that showcase the full extent of their powers? bc i can't really see that happening (since obviously their main 'villain' is some regular politician), but that'd be pretty cool imo. also if it were to happen, who would the scene/fight include?

i'm sure you're tired of all the superpower questions (talking abt superpowers is fun, also your world is so well-developed it's impossible to not be curious), but which class/type is the weakest? i'm assuming it's bio-e, but i could be wrong.

are you going to provide more insight on the way their society behaves around EMs? bc so far it's mostly just been mentioned and i'd love to have a scene where we get to see the civilian standpoint.

do you have any personal little headcanons for each character? if so, what are they?

you said you were heavily inspired by x-men comics, so i gotta know, which mutant is george most similar to in terms of personality and/or powers and abilities? personally, i think it's scarlet witch for personality and professor x for powers, but i'd like to know your opinion.

who's your favorite fictional superhero?

where did EMs come from?

hypothetically, if george had the most stable mind in existance, would his powers be technically limitless? bc you said the only thing holding him back was his faulty mind. so theoretically, if he went to a shit ton of therapy, then he could potentially warp reality and become omnipotent (according to the superpower wiki). i just have a special love for OP characters *cough* jean grey *cough*, even if they kinda ruin the plot sometimes lmao

LMAOOO the turning into a human glowstick would've looked kind of cool ngl, the founder of AGE, Wendy, actually kind of had the ability to do that as a really powerful Photomental :]

It doesn't surprise me to see most interest in the powers aspect and I definitely don't find it annoying since they're pretty fun to depict! I do focus a lot more on the social justice aspect because it's the most interesting to me though haha, powers are like just the cherry at the top. And yes--kind of, at least. Idk if it'll be the "full extent" of their powers, but it'll be them using their powers at a really big scale. I'm actually super excited for that scene omg never written anything like it! I can't reveal who will be there, but let's just say the like last 25% of the story just RAMPS UP with the power depiction of almost everyone.

I agree with that assumption, I would also say Bio-E's are the weaker EMs, and it's interesting because that's why they're most accepted by the overall population--for example, I think I remember writing it, but Dream's parents wanted him to pretend to be a civie since Bio-E's can pass off as not being EMs much easier. It was a similar situation with Techno's parents. Theres definitely a huge privilege in EMs who can "pass off" as normal people. The less you are able to do that, the less tolerated you are in society. I think I've made small references, but for example, there's a homeless father and daughter that George sees sleeping in the streets when Wilbur is walking with him and the detail about her little rabbit ears was meant to allude to the fact hybrids are so discriminated against in this society that they're often the ones who take the fall first. While Psychics are very much feared for their abilities, hybrids aren't as feared in terms of power-level but because they have qualities that obviously separate them from the general society, they're the most publicly mistreated and have a hard time acquiring basic needs like jobs, shelters, etc. because of how they look. When I came up with the scene, I envisioned the father as a a civie but his daughter born a hybrid and while he had the chance to abandon her to avoid struggling like a lot of parents do, he chose to stay and they're now struggling to meet their basic needs. If I remember correctly, there's going to be more allusions to that in Elysium too.

There won't be more civie perspectives/interactions than what there was in AL, imo. There are small references and moments and such when they're relevant to the plot, but if anything, Elysium is actually much more focused on the relationship between regular EMs and Metas. There are now civie characters with bigger roles in the story that I can remember.

Someone on Twitter made fan art for Elysium and in one of the sketches, there was this theory that there was Quackity feathers in George's hair and it is now fully canon in my heart!

Ooooh I love this question! I agree with the Scarlett Witch comparison, I also just realized I took a lot of her whole powers-mind conflict (from the X-men Evolution series at least) and subconsciously projected onto George haha. Seeing as I most thought of Jean when I was brainstorming his powers, I'd say her, but Professor X is a good contender too!

Raven is hands down my all-time favorite superhero. George has DEFINITELY gotten a lot of qualities that were inspired by her. Beast Boy is my second! (now that I think about it the dnf dynamic is sorta similar to how I used to write my bbrae fics lmaooo, I definitely have a type for ships)

Oh man OP characters are bomb, but I most love them when they're most batshit insane with no morals and stuff--like chaotic evil is my favorite vibe for OP characters. Theoretically? Probably. Therapy has its limits lmao so I can't say it would happen with therapy, but if there was a human in the world who's mind was so stable it could essentially be compared to a robot in that they make the logically "perfect" decisions from the get-go, have enough control over their emotions they don't "take over" (no getting super excited or sad or angry or anything, just default settings with emotions ig), and had other attributes that would push them further away from what we consider human (intuition, creativity and, ironically, that includes empathy, etc.), then yes, I think an omnipotent Psychic with such abilities would be possible, but at that point, do we still consider them just an EM or are they just a god?

[ayatanskywalker4u]

NO ONE CAN BLAME YOU FOR WALKING AWAY

Does the story end when we go? Does love die if the pages stop turning? I hope so because Im in pain. How do u tell someone "you cheated 1st"? I slept with two women and the other I still love. I read her tumblr page when she wasnt looking, its not like i was the greatest guy. She said stuff like i said mean things. I know i did. Like a kid throwing a tantrum because i dreamed of a future. You know, having kids a house, maybe a dog. If i didnt love her why risk going to jail to save her life? Her father threatened to call the cops on me when i banged on the door yelling and crying shouting "SHES DYING" it was raining that night like some movie and me running through it. We were always there for eachother whether it was a prayer or a hand. I asked her to marry me and she said yes, that was somewhere in the middle.

Theres a lot that happened, some NSFW stuff that happened to her. I could see it breaking her. And when we finally met again she was laughing about some of the graphic content. She told me the old her was dead, like she was just looking past me. Like the night she was dying from an overdose. She didnt see the man that loves her. She only saw what she wanted to see.

When the ambulance took her away i met her the next day in the hospital ward. I will always remember this because as i turned away from her hand i felt her standing there almost begging me not to leave. I had to go, i joined the military.

What went through my mind during that moment was does she love me, then why didnt she call me before the pills? And she's slept with other men to boot. But i was always there even if it made me mad.

There was this other girl, Ebony. She was pretty but so was Ashley. I wanted to try getting back at her for running around. And no i didnt go to bed with Ebony after Ashley's incident. Not right after. I still shouldnt have. "He who touches a women divored commiteth adultery." The same goes for man. I sinned against my very heart which was Ashley and now she hates me.

Im not the type to go get a new dog when we have to put down o'l yeller. When my dog Ginger died i never replaced her. Can you replace a son or a daughter, a father or mother? Can you replace the person you almost lost your life for? I guess the question is should you though. I hate sounding like im giving up on what i believe in. I love ginger and i believe in a better place.

I stayed gone to military training until 2010. Ashley called in the beginning to see if i was alright. I was still mad at her. Was she sleeping with others even though i wasnt around even Ebony? Lol no but ebony was sleeping against me and Ashley even stalked her to find out for me. I thought she was manipulating my emotions. That was the beginning of our downfall. I called her, Ashley, right around my graduation. I was outside of a hotel the privates threw a party at. I missed her and decided to go outside and call her. She was with some other man sadly. Probably doing some NSFW with him as my heart breaks. She laughed at me over the phone, like hey Ash come on its OB. Im still here. I graduated but the woman i love left me.

After the military i called her every now and again. She wouldnt pick up most of the time. I joined the conservation corps and just decided to wait until she asked me to come over. My heart was racing when she asked to talk, funny enough i believe i quit there right beforehand.

We talked about a lot of stuff. Mainly she talked about the guy and the NSFW stuff. All while looking off in the distance just smiling and giggling about how he made her scream and broke the cheap Walmart bed. I was getting upset. Holding my tongue. But when she told me her father touched her, thats when i cracked. I laughed at her pain because it seemed like she was ignoring mine. I missed her forever and a day and she was just, idk she was something, a happy i wouldnt call happy. I spent the night i think, even tried to pull a night with her but its like she just hated me. The last time i recalled ever seeing her was the hospital. She must have held the hospital and ebony against me.

Fast forward to the next day she drops me off at my house. As i stare at her wondering whats going on in her head, probably the dudes equipment, she reaches out and tries to hug me. I pushed her hands away, like she just wanted me to feel like everything was going to be alright. She only wanted to chase tail. Like all those moments over the years we were together didnt matter. I know she was talkin to someone else, i felt like i couldnt "satisfy" her anymore in a way. She definitely didnt like my moves the night before. I watched her get back in the car and drive off.

Some years passed and we lost the house. I overdosed on i think excedrin. That was the night she wouldnt pick up her phone. Funny enough that bottle wasnt enough to finish the job. The cycle of wanting to die when you lose a love like a dog, pig, cow, man women, whatever its hard to kill unless you have hope.

I gathered my senses and decided to leave california for Minnesota. The week prior was bad though. I started hallucinating and i heard voices. I started developing schizophrenia, and destroyed my mothers house due to it. Back to the following week im leaving for Minnesota and Tony tells me he has a gun he wants to sell. I figure i'd buy it when i get paid. You guessed it, im looking to make the job quick. Ashley didnt love me anymore. She wont miss me anyways. I Know how to pull an M9 apart blind folded and put it back together within seconds. I know the central nervous system is what you aim for. Its in the back of the skull at the nape of the neck. You'd leave this world in seconds. I know it sounds grim but come on, its better than commiting adultery against my heart. Who wants to live and suffer at the same time?

Tony saw me brandishing the piece and hid it from me i was crying about what i had done to everyone.

Tony ended up ditching me in Minnesota, luckily it wasnt my first time eating out of a trash can. Home is where you make it. Some people at the shelter became my friends and we played guitars together. But i wasnt as good with the guitar as i am now.

Salvation army was my first job in Minnesota, i was just happy again. I grew my hair out and styled it down, not like Prince and less greasy. After work id go get a drink. I worked that job for about two months i know because my birthday had passed and i believe i turned 25.

2015 came down and i still was asking god what now. I was skinny and handsome playing the guitar with a job. There were women who'd look and stare and some thought i was full of myself. The truth is i just wanted to be able to hold ashley if she ever fell in my arms. I was kinda muscly. I always told myself that one day her legs will fail but id be ready, the muscles werent just for show.

I hit on a few women but i never chased. Id go to the library every now and again to read. And then it hit me, even though i had no cell phone i could use the computers, Ashley was the 1st thing on my mind. I called, i dont think she answered but messaged back. She sounded angry. She was pregnant is what she was. Little did i know. All said and done she left me feeling more empty than i had planned. I started getting angry at God, "if you control everything and move everything, why are you moving me toward Ashley? She doesnt even see the love anymore or remember the sacrifices."

The train to the mall was coming by soon. I went to the liquor store with a plan. Buy as much fireball whiskey as i can consume and jump off of the mall of america. The train was sluggish, probably because i had been drinking. I fell into a doze just before the last stop, "The Mall of America". I woke up and walked slowly, tipsy, toward the elevators to the 6th floor. I heard a voices as i walked to the ledge. I turned around to see if anyone was watching me, my back against the guard rail. I climbed on top and looked down, liquor really did help. I turned my head up and told God "you want my life? You can have it". I let go of my hands back toward the earth and fell asleep.

When i woke up it was about 2 weeks later. My vision was blurry but i made out my mom crying on my chest. I slowly reached and touched her scalp. She didnt know i woke up. Short lived, i went back to sleep. Not just my mom was there but my sister too. They drove from California. How did they find me with no ID?

I stayed in that hospital for 3 months, due to my injuries and placed in the psych ward. My family visited me every few months. All that was going through my head is 'I'm alive" it took me a while to figure out how to use my legs being one has nerve damage now. But i started walking before my bones could fully fuse. The nurses told me to stop.

After i gained disability and got placed in housing, i bought a game to occupy my time. No more work outs, no more running, just me trying to forget the reasons i gave up on life. A couple months to about a year later my mother asks if i want to leave the housing and save the disability money. I said yes to that. I didnt know they'd take me back to california on my birthday. It was a nostalgic drive.

I picked up a walking routine and decided talking to ashley was always going to end with her thinking about my faults. I stopped calling her for probably 4-5 years no messages, nothing.

One day my mom asks if i want to go for a ride and talk. We drove until we reached the on ramp she passes me her phone with a picture of Ashley holding a baby. It was Zipporah. What should i have felt? If ashley is dead why did ashley hold onto the dream? And share it with someone who just left her holding the bag. I couldnt believe it after how hard we tried to bring her into this world.

But i cant chase Ashley anymore, i cant even run, literally.

I didnt know if she was married or not to the dude all i know is his ass wasnt in any pictures with the baby. Ive done some searchin around, he was some dead beat who'd prey on women revealing there weak sides on the internet instead of reality. Yeah I never liked virtual dating. That or the websites. Why do for me what i can do myself?

Even after zipporah was in my view i was a happy mad. Happy that Ashley finally got her family minus the father. But mad at the whoremonger man who just left her. I was a little sore with Ashley for hiding it.

Its been a a year and a couple months after the pictures were seen. I started forcing the thought of Ashley out. I wanted her to disappear, me or her, but mainly me. She wants to chase body parts thats on her. But Im broken now. I still love her and sure some might say less than before but i say im just skeptical now. Besides what good is seeing me broken going to do for her? Idk if she'd just laugh at me again. I kinda wish she would, so i can take these feelings and curse the day she ever earned my love.

Whats the point in arguing though. We were so happy until people stepped in and sabotaged our emotions. You hate me for cheating, laughing at what happened between the father and you and walking away. When i should have stayed. I forgave all the crap in the past. But im almost done.

The doctors told me i dont have much time left after my jumping act. I messed up my innards pretty good. The alcohol relaxed the impact though. I dont want to tell my mother, she'd flip over what im talking about. I think i can close the book on this life well too.

Even though i didnt get to help raise the dreams we shared i learned you still held onto dead things just to keep the dream alive. Ashley is alive in there somewhere, only ashley would name that baby zipporah.

I can leave happy.

[worldwrestlingfanatic]

Classic Review: WrestleMania 20

Its been awhile since the last time I posted, I'm sorry for that. I've been sidetracked with finding work and lame adult stuff like that but I'm back now with this review, a fastlane prediction post sometime next week and I'm sure I'll have another review up sometime next week as well. This WrestleMania is one of my personal favorites, it's not like this is a fantastic wrestling show from start to finish but this has so many great "wrestlemania moments" that make me feel nostalgic with the ruthless aggression era being my favorite era in the companies history.

Big Show (C) vs. John Cena

The crowd was super hot for Cena during his run with the rapper gimmick and during this time is probably the peak of that heat. The match wasn't anything incredible but we got a pretty neat Cena promo before the match started to get the crowd hyped so at least there was that. This match was just mostly Big Show flexing his strength throwing Cena around and overpowering him. The end comes when the referee has his back turned, Cena hits Show with brass knucks then hits him with an FU and picks up the win. This was the first wrestlemania where Cena had a match and in his Mania match debut he picks up the United States championship.

Booker T & RVD (C) vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. Garrison Cade & Mark Jindrak vs. La Résistance

An underlying theme of this show was overbooking multi man matches for the sake of getting as many people booked on a wrestlemania card as possible. I couldn't tell you one memorable thing Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak ever did as a team and I totally forgot RVD and Booker T ever being a tag team until I rewatched this show. I dont mind multi man matches if everyone can really participate and it still be entertaining, I'll never complain about something being entertaining no matter the circumstances, but that wasn't the case. In an overall uneventful match Booker T & RVD win, retaining their tag team titles.

Christian vs. Chris Jericho

It took until the third match on the card but we got a really solid match. Also a slight side note, this event Jericho wears one of my favorite wrestling attires ever so if 2k wants to sell copies of their next game definitely make this attire Chris Jericho (Retro) attire or a side attire. But, I really enjoyed this match, but this is nothing new since Jericho and Christian would feud for a little while after this and they would continue to have some entertaining matches. Trish would end up making an interference but she doesn't really come in play until after the match. Christian ends up getting the win tonight and Trish turns heel by smacking Jericho twice and follows Christian up the ramp and laying on a French kiss on him.

Randy Orton, Batista & Ric Flair vs. Mick Foley & The Rock

This was a pretty "middle of the road" kind of match for me. It wasn't boring but I wasn't overly entertained, it's like they did just enough to keep my attention. The evolution squad of Orton, Batista and Flair get the win tonight which is odd since they got the Rock back just for this match. If they did this match today, it would be a no brainer that Foley and Rock would win. Part timers at Mania almost never lose especially since the feud would continue to the next pay per view. The main feud going into this match was Foley vs. Orton by the way. Looking forward, a loss tonight and a loss at Backlash the next month made Orton look great but it didn't really do much to make Foley look like a real threat.

Torrie Wilson & Sable vs. Miss Jackie & Stacy Keibler

(Playboy Evening Gown Match)

This match was a perfect example of the relationship between WWE and its female talent at the time. A tag team match between four half naked woman (hence the evening gown stipulation) and the match (from bell to bell) was under 3 minutes. As a male it intrigues me but as a wrestling fan it disgusts me. Its like fighting with myself to determine if I enjoyed what I was seeing or not. This match was a result of all these woman wanting to be that months cover of playboy, Torrie and Sable got the cover and Jackie & Stacy didn't so they were upset and had a match. Torrie and Sable ended up getting the win here but this feud was over two woman being upset because they didn't get to pose naked for a magazine sooooo.

Chavo Guerrero (C) vs. Akio vs. Jamie Noble vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Ultimo Dragon vs. Billy Kidman vs. Funaki vs. Nunzio vs. Shannon Moore vs. Tajiri

If it seems like theres too many people in this match, it's because there is too many people involved in this match. This was like a gauntlet match, it started with two people in the ring and when someone got pinned, they would go to the back and the next superstar would come in. The twist here is that the superstars wouldn't run to the ring when it was their time to come out because while two superstars were competing the other superstars were surrounding the ring like a lumberjack match. They mentioned on commentary that this was supposed to be a one on one between Chavo and Rey but because of unexplained reasons eight other people were added to the match. No two competitors went at it for more than five minutes anyway so I'm convinced a one on one match would have been infinitely more entertaining especially since the last two superstars in this match ended up being Chavo and Rey anyway. Chavo ended up winning due to interference by his dad (Chavo Classic) and he retains his cruiserweight championship.

Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar

(Special Referee - Stone Cold Steve Austin)

This match is one reason why this wrestlemania is remembered. That's only because of how uneventful and disappointing this match was. Word got out that both of these guys would be leaving WWE after this show and the crowd let them hear their disappointment. Brock was leaving to pursue a career with the NFL and I dont remember why Goldberg decided to leave but its possible that he just wanted to step away from the wrestling business for awhile. This match was pretty much these two staring at each other from across the ring and putting each other in rest holds the whole time. Goldberg ended up picking up the victory and Lesnar gave double middle fingers to the crowd. The most entertaining part of this match was Steve Austin delivering stunner to both men, what a way to send both guys out.

Rikishi & Scotty 2 Hotty (C) vs. The APA vs. The Bashams vs. The Worlds Greatest Tag Team

Just like with Raws tag team title match we've got SmackDown doing the same exact thing with their tag team title match. I will say this match was better than the previous tag team fatal four way we saw earlier in the night and it was shorter. Everyone got their stuff in and it was faster paced because it didn't get as much time. It wasn't overly entertaining but it was serviceable. I absolutely love the tag team of Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas so seeing them lose was a bit of a disappointment because they're both legitimately great workers and it would've done great for them and the image of the titles. However Rikishi and Scotty ended up winning and retaining here tonight. The crowd didn't react much but I can only assume at this point they're burnt out on all the multi man matches plus this match had to follow Brock and Goldberg.

Victoria (C) vs. Molly Holly

(If Molly loses she must have her head shaved bald)

At least this show had a womans title match is about all I can say. I didn't hate this match, it just didn't do anything for me. Which is a perfect summary of every womans match during the ruthless aggression era, I think. I like Victoria, I think she was one of the few female talents in WWE at this time who had an entertaining character and could also carry someone to at least a mediocre match. This match was close to seven minutes in length which is pretty generous for womans match around this time. Victoria picked up the win here, retaining her title and shaving Molly's head at the top of the stage.

Eddie Guerrero (C) vs. Kurt Angle

Its been awhile but we finally get a super entertaining wrestling match on the show but with Eddie and Kurt you've just gotta know that you're gonna see something special. Two guys who really have a love for what they do and a willingness to always push the limits to put on a great match. I dont think this is even they best match they've had, I've seen some old SmackDown shows were I think they've had better matches but I for sure dont wanna take anything away from this match, this was awesome. Eddie ends up retaining after slipping out of his boot when Kurt had the angle lock locked in and off the distraction Eddie got the win. Its matches and superstars like this that made the ruthless aggression era so special to me, not even the era, its performances like this and so many more during this time that made me make a special place in my heart for wrestling/WWE and it's why I dont think I'll ever have it in me to just give up on wrestling.

The Undertaker vs. Kane

This match was short but entertaining. This was a wrestlemania undertaker match that went under ten minutes so that came as a bit of a shock, especially against Kane with the history they have. No "mind blowing" or overly entertaining moments but it was straight and to the point and because of that I can appreciate it for what it was. Undertaker got the win over Kane setting his wrestlemania record to 12-0 at the time.

Triple H (C) vs. Chris Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels

This match was the whole reason why I even thought of reviewing this show. Just so I could watch this match. These three guys bring such a different style to the match that when thrown together you knew you were going to get something entertaining. The great heel work of Triple H, the exciting offense of Shawn Michaels and the technical wrestling ability of Benoit. Some would argue that a one on one between Shawn and Triple H would've been a great, and a more deserving way, to main event a wrestlemania but Chris Benoit was incredibly over with the crowd at the time and he had the skill to back up the hype, Benoit wasn't going to be denied. I really feel like these three gave everything they had in this match and it resulted in one of the more memorable wrestlemania moments/matches of all time. WWE would never acknowledge this matches existence, and for good reason I suppose, its just a huge shame that the actions of one man under the influence of performance enhancing substances will forever wipe this match off the record books in the eyes of the WWE. Chris Benoit picked up the win tonight and won his first World Heavyweight championship and he even made Triple H tap out to do it. Yes, Triple H tapped out to Chris Benoit. Say what you will about Triple H but I'll always feel like he always had what's best for the business as a priority over his own personal gain. When Triple H knew a superstars popularity and skill was too much too be denied he didn't mind doing "The job". That was the case in this match. Triple H did the honor of putting over Benoit. It's not like he was going out on injury, he wasn't leaving for any reason, flat out, he did the job and put over the popular, deserving talent. What really made this a wrestlemania moment was Eddie Guerrero meeting Benoit in the middle of the ring after the match and celebrating with him. Eddie retaining his title earlier and Benoit winning his first World title with the confetti falling from the sky, it couldn't have been booked any better, a true feel good moment between two of the greatest wrestlers ever. Unfortunately both men passed away way before their time but with moments like this they'll live forever. I'm glad I got to grow up with this. WWE loves to market a wrestlemania moment nowadays, well for me, it doesn't get better than this. A genuine moment that the fans loved. It's crazy that a scripted event can cause some of the most real emotion a fan can feel.

Pros: Christian vs. Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle, Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H

Cons: Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg, too many multi man/team matches

I know this show isn't a complete wrestling masterpiece but ultimately what I ask for out of a wrestlemania is the major championship matches to be entertaining and for the show to end on a positive note, and in my opinion, this show succeeds in doing that. Multi man/team matches were a bit annoying and the female talent didn't get the love or appreciation it should've had from the start but I grew up in a time where that was just the norm, all I can do is just appreciate that its different today. In my opinion this wrestlemania had the best end in the wrestlemania history and when it came to Eddie and Benoit I really felt like I was watching two guys live out their dream and as a wrestling fan theres no better feeling than knowing your favorite wrestlers are living out their dream and having a great time doing it.

3/5

[lodelss]

Laura Barcella | Longreads | February 2019 | 13 minutes (3,517 words)

The 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade just occurred on January 22 — but the days of relatively uncomplicated American abortion access are, most likely, numbered. In fact, author Robin Marty believes it’s not a matter of if Roe will be overturned, it’s a matter of when.

For more than ten years, the Minneapolis-based freelance reporter and author of the new book Handbook for a Post-Roe America has been diligently chronicling the twists and turns of both the pro-choice and anti-abortion movements. Ever since Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his resignation, Marty — like many other pro-choice Americans — has been waiting for the proverbial pro-life shoe to drop. Losing Kennedy, the swing voter on a number of major abortion rulings, and gaining Brett Kavanaugh — a long-time pro-life ally — seems to all but ensure the end of Roe, as well as the downfall of abortion being considered a constitutional right.

Indeed, several weeks after Marty and I spoke in late January, Kavanaugh voted with a minority of Justices to overturn recent Court precedent in favor of a law that sought to impose a new form of undue burden on abortion-seekers in Louisiana. The Cut called Kavanaugh’s dissenting opinion something verging on gaslighting. In it, he postulates that perhaps the undue burden — abortion providers being required to gain admitting privileges at local hospitals — could simply be met, when of course providers have already been trying to gain admitting privileges for years. The Court ultimately blocked the implementation of the law, but only because the conservative Chief Justice, John Roberts, voted with the liberals. The margin of safety has grown vanishingly thin.

Let’s consider what that means. If Roe were overturned, it wouldn’t necessarily make it impossible for a pregnant person to obtain an abortion, but it would potentially make an already challenging process even more daunting. As it stands, obtaining an abortion is already far from affordable or convenient for many women, even in blue states with a plethora of clinics. Despite Roe’s current status, and despite the fact that statistically, most Americans believe in a woman’s right to choose, abortion care is still often portrayed as a privilege instead of a right — or as a miserable “worst-case” scenario rather than a straightforward medical procedure.

Marty’s new book (available now from Seven Stories Press) lays out various scenarios for exactly what a Roe-less future might look like. More importantly, it explains exactly how we should prepare for this reality. As Marty writes in Handbook, “While Roe and the cases that preceded it made birth control and abortion legal, they did nothing to curtail the coercive power our government wields over the bodies of those who can give birth.”

For the liberal naysayers who can’t fathom America sinking quite so far into Handmaid-land, Marty reminds readers that not only have anti-choice laws and restrictions been ramping up in recent years, but the pro-life contingent has been emboldened under Trump’s presidency in frightening new ways. In the following interview, Marty further explains the possible dangers of what lies ahead, and how we can start protecting ourselves now.

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Can you tell me a little bit about how the book came about? It traces back to a Twitter thread, is that right?

Right. Anthony Kennedy announced that he would be retiring. As soon as that happened, my first thought was, ‘Okay, this is basically the end of Roe.’ And even if this isn’t exactly the end of Roe, it’s enough of a push and enough of a change that all the people who had been quiet before and hadn’t seen this as a real threat, finally understand that it’s a turning point.

Part of the reason I started the Twitter thread was because the first two things that I saw people saying as soon as Kennedy announced his retirement were, A) ‘I’m going to donate to Planned Parenthood,’ and B) ‘I’m going to stockpile emergency contraception.’ And my first thought was okay, donating to Planned Parenthood is always good, but there are so many clinics in states that only have one clinic that are not run by Planned Parenthood, and that doesn’t help them. And getting emergency contraception for yourself is always good, but the idea of stockpiling can be done in such a way that it actually harms access.

I talked to a number of people who are very high in the pro-life movement. Many of them assured me that Kavanaugh will be the vote, and that Roe will be overturned as soon as they can get a case up there.

My thought was ‘Here are all these things that you can do that would be better actions than what people are describing.’ And so it turned into…a 30-tweet thread of [suggestions for] places you can donate to and actions you can take instead; groups that you should be working with on the ground.

As I was doing this, I was getting a lot of really good responses. One of them was from … a woman book agent, who said, ‘I think there’s actually a book there; can you write a proposal and I will see what I can do?’

Within about a month, I had a book deal with the understanding that I had to write a book in three months, because they wanted it out before the anniversary of Roe.

I was going to ask you about the timeline because I knew it must have been tight. Was that stressful?

Yeah, it was definitely a challenge. Especially because it was summer, so I had children at home. My first book, Crow After Roe, was sort of … I accepted a proposal with my co-author and we didn’t really expect the first publisher that we sent it to, to say ‘Yeah, let’s do this.’ But they did, and then they said, ‘We’re going to move a book aside so we can run this right away. Can you have it done for us in three months?’

There seems to be something about three months! It’s always three months for me.

But I wrote this book in about eight weeks.

That sounds stressful.

I would like to say I wrote a lot, but most of what I did [for the handbook] was compiling all of the different information that was already out there. And I did that for two reasons — one was so that it was in one accessible place so it’s easy to get to, and the other … was because people don’t always know where to look for this information. We’ve already seen with the Trump administration how information disappears. Health and Human Services re-wrote some of their rules, they disappeared trans language from a lot of things. Nothing on the internet is completely safe, [whether] because of censorship or anti-abortion activists who decide that they want to do some attacks online to try and bring down websites; there’s always the [chance] that you might not be able to get to information when you need it.

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How did you get involved in covering abortion care and abortion access as one of your primary beats?

That evolved out of being a progressive blogger. I started anonymously blogging in 2004 while I was working for an investment banking firm. I ended up working for a progressive news site that was setting up state-based news sites. I got more aware of the abortion issue, especially what was going on in [various] states.

In 2009, I ended up writing specifically for a reproductive health website. They picked me up after I was laid off, right after the Affordable Care Act debate and … trying to get all abortion coverage removed from the insurance plans. I had just had a miscarriage, and I had to go into a hospital for a DNC in order to have everything removed. I had this very in-your-face ‘what if’ moment of [wondering], ‘Would that be something my insurance will cover under the new plan?’ Because it was coded in the hospital bills as abortion.

After that I was working for RH Reality Check, as it was called back then (now it’s Rewire News), and I spent a few years tracking all of these bills as they were popping up through the states, and it grew from there.

Can you walk me through the scenarios that you see as the most likely and least likely when it comes to legal abortion access?

If you had asked me a week ago [we had this conversation in late January -LB], I would have said the most likely thing that was going to happen would be that the Supreme Court would keep Roe intact; that it would not overturn the verdict. The court would allow states to pass whatever bills they wanted to pass, as long as they did not explicitly completely ban the procedure.

Can you explain that a bit more?

What I [believed would] happen was that you would have a state like Mississippi, which only has one abortion clinic, and it would finally be allowed to enact rules that would close that one clinic. But because it didn’t actually ban abortion outright in the state, and the state would still [technically] allow abortion, that it would still be considered constitutional.

But now I actually believe that Roe will be overturned completely — and that states will be allowed to make it completely illegal.

Why do you believe that now?

I was at the March for Life [recently], and I talked to a number of people who are very high in the pro-life movement. Many of them assured me that Kavanaugh will be the vote, and that Roe will be overturned as soon as they can get a case up there.

I believe that Roe will be overturned, that we’ll have at least 10 to 15 states that will not have any abortion [access] at all. There will be a number of states that might go completely without abortion or otherwise will pass laws that will make it extraordinarily difficult to get an abortion at all, and then there will be about 10 to 15 states that will have abortion access and will probably expand it.

The problem with this scenario is that all the states that are going to either ban, or are going to make abortion nearly impossible to get, are all in the same place. They’re in the Midwest, and the entirety of the Southeast, except for maybe Florida, will be without any sort of legal abortion. That’s scary and alarming, and something that we have to plan for.

It sounds horrible to say ‘Plan for an abortion now,’ but the reality is, if you are capable of getting pregnant, [planning] is something that you should do.

How do we plan for that? What do you suggest people start doing now?

The first thing that I tell everybody is that the best thing to do is plan for what will happen if Roe is overturned and abortion is illegal. What a person can do is figure out what is going on in their state first — will their state be one that will make abortion illegal or will they have some sort of access? Which is going to be the closest state to you that will have abortion access?

It sounds horrible to say ‘Plan for an abortion now,’ but the reality is, if you are capable of getting pregnant, [planning] is something that you should do. We’re looking at huge travel that will have to happen, and trying to get through waiting periods in some of the states that remain. The clinics that are going to be left are going to be overbooked, and abortion is not going to be covered by insurance. It will be extremely expensive, so if you plan for that and don’t need it, that’s fantastic. But if you suddenly find yourself with an unexpected pregnancy that you don’t want to carry to term, trying to figure all of that out at the last minute is going to be extraordinarily daunting.

People plan for retirement; people plan for all sorts of things in their life. You should also plan for an abortion.

I know there’s no way to explicitly predict this, but what sort of timeline do you think this might happen in?

I would say that Roe will probably be overturned … after the 2020 election. It would be that soon. We have a number of cases already in the federal court system that have circuit splits [in which two federal courts don’t agree about whether similar laws are constitutional]. Any one of those can be taken up to the Supreme Court for them to make a final ruling, and through that can overturn Roe.

Also, something that people don’t understand is that the courts can technically take any case that’s about abortion and use that to overturn Roe. So for instance, the Indiana Down Syndrome ban. Basically every time the court meets again to see if they’re going to take up a case, it could be the one that would overturn Roe, if they chose to use it that way.

But … I don’t see the courts doing it before 2020 just because of election impact. I hate to say it, but our Supreme Court has become so partisan at this point that I see them taking that as a consideration.

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Which state restrictions are you monitoring the most closely right now?

Depending on scenario, heartbeat bans are really alarming because they make it almost impossible to get an abortion before it’s too late to get an abortion. But for the most part, courts have been saying that [those are] unconstitutional.

One of the [other] things really alarming me right now is the idea of abortion restrictions on top of abortion restrictions, especially when it comes to states that are expanding their waiting periods. There’s two different ways that waiting periods work. In some states, waiting periods start from the point at which you call a clinic, and so they’ll give you information on the phone and you don’t have to make two trips into the clinic. But a lot of states are now having them in a way that you have to come in to the clinic, get the information, then walk away, come back and have your next appointment anywhere from 24 to 72 hours afterwards.

When you take a state that has a waiting period of 72 hours or more, has only one clinic, and then the clinic only performs [abortions] up to 12 weeks, then you have basically [created] a situation where a person is going to spend at least a week just going back and forth, trying to get an abortion knowing that there’s a cutoff, plus knowing that there’s an immense wait to get into that clinic to start with.

[This is how] they’re really strangling the system altogether. None of these things on their own necessarily look unreasonable, but stacked on top of each other, they’ve made abortion almost impossible to get.

You recently attended the March for Life. Did you notice a bigger turnout, or more fervency among the pro-life faction there?

Yes, yes, yes. I’ve been to the March for Life four times now. At the march I went to before the 2016 election, abortion opponents thought they had lost. They believed that Hillary Clinton was going to be elected. They believed they were losing the entirety of the Supreme Court, so it was a very dejected feeling there, but [there was] also a sense of ‘what can we do in order to make tiny gains around the edges?’

Being at the march over the last two years, it has changed so dramatically. Their people are in the administration, they’re in the HHS, their elected leaders are everywhere. They have so much right now, and they know that. They feel that Roe is on the rocks, that they are about to have that win.

Also, the March for Life has become increasingly political ever since President Trump was elected. There’s signs saying “Make Babies Great Again” and, like the Covington students, everyone’s wearing MAGA hats. It’s become so intertwined with politics, and especially with the Republican party, that it has in many ways turned into a rally for social conservatives and for the religious right.

If abortion is made illegal again … people are, frankly, unlikely to die  … Our problem now is that abortion … done outside the legal system is going to get you thrown in jail.

You touched on third-trimester abortion a little bit in the book, which is already not readily accessible throughout the country. What will happen to that if Roe is overturned?

We just had New York pass the Reproductive Health Act, which basically removed all abortion from the criminal code, which means that New York providers can now offer third-trimester abortions in cases where there is a significant medical need for it. So if a person is having mental health issues, if a person has a fetus with an anomaly that they can’t or don’t want to carry to term, third-trimester abortion has been opened up as long as there is a valid medical reason for it. And that’s not something that was happening in New York before. Before, we had a clinic in Colorado that would do it, and a clinic in Maryland, and a clinic in New Mexico.

There’s a section of your handbook about privacy concerns. Why was that important for you to include?

One of the things that we’re already seeing when people induce their own abortions or have bad pregnancy outcomes that make the hospitals or the authorities suspect that they induced their own abortions, is that when they’re investigated their computers get seized. Their phones get looked at. One of the things that happened to Purvi Patel, who was arrested for feticide and homicide in Indiana, was that they looked at her text messages and saw that she said she had taken something. That was what they used to prosecute her.

If a person’s going to work outside of the legal clinic system in order to end a pregnancy…we just have to be aware of what sort of information could get out there, especially when a person might be going outside of the legal clinic system, and anybody else who has talked to them could be seen as an accessory in either having helped them obtain medication or [other] ways.

Can you talk a little bit more about self-managed abortion? Were there legal challenges to publishing that particular chapter of your book?

Not specifically, although I did have it vetted by a lawyer. One of the things that’s very interesting about the publisher that I ended up with, and probably one of the reasons that the book exists at all, is that Seven Stories Press actually published a book called A Woman’s Book of Choices by Carol Downer. One of the things she did was explain how to do menstrual extraction. That was considered mind-blowing at the time, that there was a publisher that would actually give instructions on how to make this and do this.

So the publisher was really good about wanting to include all of this information, that this is information that needs to be public. And honestly, all of this information is online; it’s available everywhere, it’s just not compiled in one space. I’m not encouraging anybody to do this, and I think that the best way is always going to be going through the legal system. It’s just, if people are going to do it, they need to have information on how to do it safely.

Do you think we’ll see an uptick in DIY abortions? Is there already an uptick?

My understanding is that there probably is. The fact that we can’t verify that or actually prove that in any way, shape, or form is good because that means that people are doing it the right way, protecting their privacy and making sure that their caches are not being found. When they do speak to people at hospitals, making sure that it’s understood that this is a miscarriage and that’s all the information that a person needs to give.

What are some of the biggest misconceptions that you keep hearing or seeing regarding abortion access lately?

I see a lot of people saying that they still don’t believe that Roe is going to be overturned. I also see people — on our side as well — [repeat] the idea that people [will die] if abortion is made illegal again.

When we go into a post-Roe landscape, people are, frankly, unlikely to die if they get illegal abortions. Because we can get medications online, and these medications have been proven to be very safe. If there is a rare complication, it can be taken care of at a hospital, if necessary.

Our problem now is that abortion … done outside the legal system is going to get you thrown in jail.

We need to, as a movement, make sure that people understand that doing your own self-induced abortion is not medically any more dangerous than a [medically supervised] abortion would be. The only difference is that because this is not legal, people are afraid to report when something goes wrong. And in some cases it’s not even anything going wrong, it’s just too many people don’t know exactly what the process is like, so they think something is going wrong.

We have to make sure that everybody understands what a self-managed abortion looks like; what’s normal, what’s not normal, what will get them in trouble, what will not get them in trouble, what to say to a hospital, what not to say to a hospital.

People need to be aware of all of that because when we go into a post-Roe future … we aren’t generally going to see [people] bleeding out and dying in their homes, but we could see [people] going in for help because they think something’s wrong, and ending up in jail instead.

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Laura Barcella is an NYC-based journalist and author.

Editor: Dana Snitzky