#common vulnerabilities and exposures

[szepkerekkocka]

"CVSS is a shitty system"

Esettanulmányok arról, hogy készül a virsli CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System), a cURL vezető fejlesztőjének előadásában.

@muszeresz

[tuiccim]

We're Gonna Burn (Part 4-Final)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader

Word Count: 3.8K

Warnings: Smut, Sex Pollen, Non/DubCon (because sex pollen), enemies to lovers.

Summary: When an exposure to a strange powder makes you feel as if you're burning to death, your only relief is in the person you hate the most. Now, dealing with the aftermath makes you question everything.

We're Gonna Burn Masterlist

As fate would have it, you get notification of a mission briefing the next morning. You are slightly relieved when you see this one involves the full team. Your emotions from the day before had kept you awake most of the night and you were glad you had another therapy session planned in a few days. You needed to process everything that had happened last night. Especially that almost kiss. It had disturbed the calm you felt. You had gone from hating the man to nearly kissing him in the space of an hour. You tried to shake it off as merely a reaction to all of the emotions but you knew you were fooling yourself in part. You had been attracted to him in the beginning, but it had faded with his surly attitude. It was as if the vulnerability he had shown had brought all of that back in force and you were glad that this mission was with everyone. Some time with the team and space where Bucky is present but not the center of your attention may help you sort some of these feelings.

But fate always had a sense of humor when it came to you. As soon as the plan had been gone over in the briefing, you were paired up with Bucky for your part of it. You cursed silently but returned his nod of acknowledgement. You should have guessed this would happen. Your skills complemented Bucky’s in a way that would make tactical sense to put the two of you together and they had begun to pair you off more in the weeks before the cabin incident. You calm yourself, Bucky was a professional and you were as well. You can put your emotions aside and handle anything that comes your way. You weren’t leaving until the next day so you had time to prepare yourself. When the meeting concluded, you gathered your things and made for the door but stopped short when Bucky called your name. It seemed like time froze for you and that everyone still in the room eyed you both discreetly. Your aversion to each other was well known and they were used to seeing fireworks between the two of you. They all moved in slow motion as you made your way back to Bucky.

“What’s up?” You ask.

“Uh,” Bucky glares at the others moving slowly until they all tuck tail and skulk off. When you were alone, he said,”I wanted to say thank you again for last night. I’m glad we were able to clear the air between us.”

“Me, too. Was Alpine angry about her delayed dinner?" You attempted to keep the mood light. 

"Furious. She started knocking everything off the counter until her food was delivered," Bucky shakes his head. 

"Oh, so she really does wear the pants in your household?" You laugh. 

"Absolutely, I just wear the apron," Bucky laughs with a shrug. 

You chuckle with him but, unbidden, an image of him in just an apron popped into your mind. With a quirk of your eyebrow, you say, “I see.”

Bucky’s eyes narrow, “Uh-huh. Alpine took a liking to you. You should come back and visit her sometime.”

Your mouth goes dry at the inference he was making. You manage to choke out some sass, “She probably enjoyed having some feminine energy around. Uh, anyway, I gotta go. See you tomorrow… Bucky.” You scurried away quickly, hoping he hadn’t noticed the awkward pause before saying his name. You were fine. You were just fine, you reassured yourself. The energy shift between the two of you was giving you a multitude of ambivalent feelings. Maybe you were reading too much into it. It was all the emotions surrounding what happened. You had to calm down. Taking a deep breath, you recognize the feelings coursing through you and allow yourself to feel them. You and Bucky had finally found common ground. You’re happy about that but it brought on some confusion as well. Was Bucky trying to build a friendship? Part of you was happy at that thought but other parts felt fear that this only a short reprieve and you will find yourselves at odds again. Would the feelings brought on from the experience fade and you'd end up back where you were? Were you reading too much into this? What if you had misinterpreted that almost kiss?

Stop this! You check yourself. While the almost kiss may have been misinterpreted, his reports and reviews couldn’t be. He had learned a grudging respect for you before you cleared the air. So, while you may be overthinking the situation, you didn’t really believe things would go back to the way they were. 

Was Bucky attracted to you? That’s the thing that was throwing you off so much. You had always thought he was but was he feeling this only because of what happened in that cabin? Or was he feeling that at all? You wanted to bang your head into a wall to silence the thoughts running through your mind. Instead, you settled into a chair and reviewed the mission briefing again and again. You committed that map to memory, checked through the profile of known combatants and any skills they possess. You make notes and work through any tactical possibilities. You review the plans for infiltration and make a list of what you wanted in your tool belt. It helps you pull yourself together. 

When the time to load up came the next day, you were able to compartmentalize to allow yourself to be in the right state of mind for a mission. You boarded the quinjet to find Bucky already there. Sitting beside him, you pulled out your tablet and motioned to the map included in the file, “Hey. Can I ask your opinion on this?”

“Yeah. Whatcha got?”  He leans close to see the tablet. 

“The tactical plan has us coming from this angle and entering here,” you indicate the proposed entry point. 

“Right,” Bucky nods. 

“What do you think of coming this way and entering here next to what looks to be a utility room? We can lay a charge on the gas line there before making way to the original entry point for secondaries. The gas line will give us more bang for the buck and it keeps us from having to double back.” You watch his expression as he studies the map and thinks over your proposal. 

“Yeah, that makes sense. We just have to watch for any patrols coming through here or here,” he points. 

“If they’re following the timings that surveillance has seen, we should be good. But there is always that saying about best laid plans,” you murmur the last parts. 

“After last time, that’s an understatement,” Bucky shakes his head.

“Of the century,” you agree with a scoff. 

“Are you okay doing this so soon?” he whispers. 

“Honestly, getting back out and the chance to kick ass is the best therapy I can think of,” you whisper back. 

“Damn right. I knew I liked you,” Bucky grins. 

“Took you long enough,” you quip. 

“I can make the time up,” he winks. 

He’s flirting, your brain screams at you as alarm bells ring. You weren’t sure how to feel but you need to get the focus back on the mission, “Ass kicking first.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he sasses playfully. 

You hold yourself back from saying something- ah, fuck it. You give him a smirk, “good boy.”

The look that crosses his face is priceless. You keep your face impassive as you look over the map again. You could have kissed the pilot for calling you over just then. It allowed you to separate from Bucky without losing the upper hand you had just established. 

The mission wasn’t as easy as you had anticipated. It was fine. The plan went well with only a little bit of improvisation needed but it was difficult for you. You had a harder time compartmentalizing than you normally did. At one point Bucky had pulled you into a closet to miss a patrol and standing close to him with his hand on your waist made it hard to hold on to your professionalism. You were fairly certain he felt the same, if his breathing was any indication. It caused you to have a moment of panic. Would you ever be able to work with him again without feeling like this? You were hyper-aware and tied up in knots over your ambivalent reaction. You were never sure if you were excited or terrified by the contact. You try to convince yourself it would lessen in time. It was just the emotions. Eventually, it would become old hat again. This flirtatious side of Bucky was new and different and enjoyable. Even if the darker side of your brain warned that he was just playing games. If he bagged you for real and not as the result of a pollen induced fever, he’d be able to lord it over you. You silence it quickly but the acrid taste of fear lingers in your mouth. 

You stayed busy for most of the ride back by resetting equipment, updating files, filling out your report, and any other activity you could think of. When there was nothing left for you to distract yourself with, you make your way to where the rest of the team sat. Your heart skipped a beat when you saw Bucky brighten at your presence and motion to the open seat beside him. Like a magnet, you were drawn to him without a second thought and sat. 

“Did you finish everything?” He raises an eyebrow. 

“Yeah,” you nod. It felt like he was acutely aware of your avoidance.

“How was it being back out?” He offers you the bag of chips he is munching on. 

“No, thanks. Not bad,” you demure, “You?”

“Not as cathartic as I hoped,” he says quietly. 

“What?” You are shocked at his comment. 

“Nothing,” he shakes his head. 

“No, I feel the same. It was… I don’t know. Tenser, somehow,” you look at him nervously.

“Yeah, yeah,” he says pensively. 

“What’s that thought?”

“I hesitated,” he says quietly. 

“When?” You ask, thinking back. 

“During the op.”

“You never missed a beat,” you object. 

“When I pulled you into the closet, I hesitated. I think part of me was scared you’d flinch but then I didn’t have a choice. I had to get us hidden.”

“Did I flinch?” You ask with a small smile. 

“No, but your breathing changed,” he looks at you curiously. 

“So did yours.”

“Yeah?”

”Yeah, I think we’re, I mean, I know I’m still a little reactionary to being touched. I’m still finding it a little… I don’t know the word. Charged, maybe?” You attempt to explain.

“Fraught?” He supplies. 

“Yes! Thank you. That’s a very good word for it.”

“Because it’s me or…?” He trails off but the question is clear.

You take a few seconds to compose a reply knowing your relationship hangs in the balance. “Touch in general is still a little difficult for me. I can’t feel it without flashes of- what happened. Of the loss of control.”

“I’m sorry,” Bucky’s voice sounds thick.

“It wasn’t your fault, Bucky. You don’t deserve any blame for what happened. But, there is another part of this situation that disconcerts me. This complete one-eighty with us. We went from hating each other, to that, to whatever this is.”

“The start of a friendship?” Bucky says, his face full of hope. 

“Is that what you want?”

“I thought that’s what we both want. After our talk, I thought we were going to build a better relationship to make us better teammates.”

“I wanted to build some mutual respect but that doesn’t require us to be friends,” you say nervously, “So, why? Why do you want to be friends all of a sudden?” You were pushing him, partly to see if his current demeanor was a facade that would fall but mostly because you were scared that none of this was real. You had one view of Bucky for so long and your suspicions of his motives for this new leaf remained. 

“It’s not all of a sudden. I’ve been wanting to for a while. I just didn’t know how to go about it. Anytime I approach you, you get uptight and defensive, rightfully so from my past behaviour, and I didn’t think you’d give me a chance. And then, after what happened, I didn't think you’d ever want to be in the same room with me but then we talked and… when you touched my cheek, it gave me hope that I could turn this around. I understand why you’re apprehensive. I've been a complete jerk to you and you have every right to hate me. But, if you’ll give me a shot, I’d like to be friends.”

It touched your heart. You wanted to lean in, to kiss him, and that terrified you in another way. Fear started to well up in you and you pushed it down. You had control over this situation and you would handle it. “Okay,” you say quietly. 

“Okay?” Bucky asks. 

“Okay, we can give it a shot,” you give a small smile. 

“Okay. That’s, yeah, that’s great. Uh, what are your plans after we get back?” Bucky asks, fidgeting with his fingers nervously. 

“I don’t,” you shake your head, “I don’t have any. Probably just find some food and veg out in front of the tv.”

“Would you like to come visit Alpine? We could order a pizza and watch a movie or something.”

You pause, licking your lips as you consider, “Uh-”

“You can pick the movie,” Bucky sweetens the deal.

A smile slowly spreads across your face, “Yeah, okay.”

A few hours later you were comfortably lounging on Bucky's couch with Alpine happily purring in your lap. Bucky sat on the opposite end watching the goofy movie you had chosen. When it ended, you talked for a while and then left. There was little awkwardness and you appreciated Bucky respecting your boundaries. 

The following week, you had movie night together again and then it fell into a routine. Movie nights, meals, errands, and missions were done together more often than not. When paired together for missions, your skills had always complimented each other but with new understanding and familiarity, your abilities as a team became technically perfect. You could anticipate each other's moves and needs and that translated to your personal life as well. 

One movie night, you shifted closer to him on the couch to show him a video on your phone and Alpine chose that moment to make camp on your lap, so you stayed next to Bucky. You were comfortable there and following movie nights found you in that same spot. Little touches became more common and less fraught each time. It was comforting for your mind and body rather than triggering. Dr. Montesi was impressed with your progress. 

Bucky was kind and funny and full of stories. The more you got to know each other, the more you found you had in common. You both lamented at some point that you had wasted so much time hating each other. You opened up new interests together, discovered new places to visit, and became confidantes. You were basically inseparable. The team had noticed the change in your relationship but kept their comments and observations to themselves. 

The one thing that haunts you, a spectre always in the back of your mind is the memories of the explosive, unparalleled sex in that cabin. During the day, you were able to (mostly) keep those thoughts at bay, but sometimes at night, you dreamed of it and awoke with an intense longing you felt to your bones. At times, Bucky flirts but you both laugh it off. The truth is, as casual as your touches are every time you’re together, your body screams out for him. You were fighting it and you didn’t want to admit it to yourself, but you’re falling in love with Bucky Barnes. You want to believe he feels the same but he hasn't given you any indication. It was eating at you. What if it was all in your head?

–

Bucky answers the door for your weekly movie night with a frantic face, “I can’t find Alpine!” He immediately turns away to search and you follow, swiftly closing the door. “I’ve looked everywhere since I got back and she’s not here. I’ve shaken treats and called for her. I don’t think she got out. Unless she slipped past me when I came back. I-”

“Bucky, hey, stop for a second,” you pull him up from where he’s looking under the couch. “Look at me, okay? I doubt she disappeared. She’s probably hiding. Did anything happen today?” You hold his biceps to keep him still and try to ground him. 

“We went to the vet this afternoon. It was time for her shots.”

“Has she reacted to shots badly in the past?”

“It’s the first time I’ve taken her. She had them all when I adopted her a year ago,” he glances around the room searching for her. 

“A lot of cats tend to hide when they don’t feel well. What did you do when you got home with her?” You ask calmly. 

“I took her to my bedroom and let her out of her carrier. I went to the bathroom and then went to the store for some groceries. When I came back, she was gone,” Bucky shrugs. 

“Is it okay if I help you look?” You asked as an idea formed in your mind. 

“Please,” Bucky nods. 

You stoop down to look under the living room furniture and don’t see anything suspicious. “Is it okay if I go into your bedroom?” You ask over your shoulder as you stick your head in his kitchen. 

“Yeah. I don’t care as long as we find her.”

You head to the bedroom and flip on the lights, getting down on the floor, you look under the bed. There are a few cat toys and a pair of rolled up socks but no cat… at least, not on the floor. 

“I checked under the bed. She’s not there,” Bucky states as he watches you.

“Mm-hm,” you reply as you scooch around to a particular spot. You had noticed that the box spring was drooping slightly in one place and had a suspicion. When you got close enough, you saw where the cover had about a six inch rip. Running your hand over the indentation next to it, you are met with a small mewl. “Hey Alpine. Poor baby, you don’t feel good?” You look through the hole and see the cat curled up. She looks at you with her big blue eyes and seems fine. After giving you a slow blink, she curls back into herself. You look up to see Bucky standing over you and you smile, “She’s fine.” 

Bucky holds out his hand, helps you up and wraps his arms around you in a hug, “Thank you. I thought I’d lost her.”

“Of course. Cats hide when they don’t feel good and they can find the craziest places,” you reassure him as you relax into his arms. Your eyes slowly slipped shut and it seemed you both exhaled the stress of the last few minutes. Peace and comfort envelopes you and with each passing moment you sink further into it. 

It was strange. Usually in a situation like this, your brain would be running amok with thoughts of what you should be doing, if you were touching him too much, some remnant fear would crop up but your mind was quiet for a rare moment. It felt good to just be held by someone you trusted. 

You stay, basking in the warmth and peace that his arms being around you brings. Your mind is quiet until he murmurs something indiscernible. Reluctantly, you lift your head, “What?”

He pauses for a moment and then asks, “Are you hungry?”

“Yeah,” you reluctantly separate from him. “Do you have anything particular in mind?” When he hadn’t spoken after a moment, you look at him. He stands frozen in the same spot while staring at you. You tilt your head in confusion, “Bucky?”

He meets your eyes and says quietly, “That’s not what I said.”

“Wha-”

“I love you,” he steps closer and gently touches your neck. “I love you. I know you may never be able to feel that way about me after what happ-”

“Shut up and kiss me,” you grin as you pull him to you. His lips touching yours is pure bliss. You wrap your arms around him, living for this moment that ignited every happy emotion you possessed. There was not a dark spot in your mind. No negative thought or triggered memory crowded you. It was just joy. And heat. Your body shifted from the comfort of your earlier embrace to a wave of passion as the kiss continued. Keeping your lips connected you pulled Bucky to the living room couch and pushed him down on it. You removed your shirt as you straddled his lap. 

Bucky watches in awe and manages to whisper, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes,” you smile. “I mean, I’d prefer the bed but Alpine’s been traumatised enough today.”

He throws his head back in a laugh and after a moment, his gaze returns to you. A question was clear in his eyes. You swipe your thumb over his lower lip and whisper, “Say it again.”

Bucky’s eyes look into yours deeply, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” you kiss him, putting everything into it. You made love on the couch. And then somehow ended up on the floor for round two. Starved, you found some food in the kitchen and christened the counter. Later, as you lay in his arms on the couch again, you can’t help but chuckle at a stray thought. 

“What’s that about?” Bucky asks, cuddling you closer. 

“I, um, I remember wondering if the pollen had made the sex seem so good when we were in that cabin. Now, I know for sure.”

“Oh?” He queries.

“It wasn’t the pollen. It was just you,” you smile. 

His soft laugh warms you, “I knew it was you all along.”

You could hear the double meaning in his words. He really had cared for you before all this happened. You kiss him before whispering earnestly, “I love you.”

“I love you, doll,” Bucky gently stands and pulls you with him to the bedroom. “Now, I think Alpine has had the bed to herself long enough, don’t you?”

“Absolutely,” you grin as you follow him. 

Updates and taglist: Due to the unreliable nature of tags, I no longer keep a taglist. Updates for series will be made on Sundays Central Time Zone. Please follow my sideblog @tuiccimfanfiction and turn on notifications for updates. All series and new stories will be reblogged to it. You will only receive notifications when a new part or story is out! Nothing else will be blogged to the page. I can’t thank you enough for your support!

[physalian]

10 More Character Types the World Needs More of

Part 1 was specifically character dynamics, but I’m considering this a sequel anyway.

1. Fiercely independent character’s lesson isn’t to “trust people”

I’m not projecting. You’re projecting. There is a divide wide enough to fit the Grand Canyon between “trusting that someone isn’t lying” and “trusting someone to follow through on a promise”. Most dumpster fire attempts at these characters (almost exclusively women) rely solely on mocking them for the former because “not all men” or something.

Being consistently let down in life makes you hesitant to a) gain friends, b) pursue romantic interests, c) maintain familial relationships, d) get excited about any event that demands participation from someone who isn’t you. None of this is simply a bad attitude—it’s a trauma response. There is no lesson to be learned, and not even exposure therapy can help because it’s a real, legitimate, and common stunt people pull, whether they mean it or not.

So write one of these characters and legitimize their fears, give them someone who proves the exception to the rule, but do not let the lesson be “well they just haven’t found the right person yet”. Even the “right person” can let them down. It's about not becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy by sabotaging a good thing to prove it will inevitably go bad.

2. Conventionally attractive men who aren’t horndogs

I’m going to find every way I can to tell you to write more aces. This is to fight the stigma that attractive people must be attracted to people. Give me gorgeous aces and demi’s, men, women, enbys and everyone in between, who put a crap ton of effort into looking their best, and yet happen to not have a very loud libido. They look good for themselves, and not to impress anyone else.

Give me someone who could have anyone they wanted, gender regardless, and just simply has no interest. Or, they do actually have a significant other, but sex, how hot their partner is, or how horny they are, isn’t their internal monologue. I don’t even care if it’s unrealistic, it’s annoying to read.

And, you know, giving men male characters who aren’t thinking about sex all the time can be good, right? Right?

3. Manly warrior men who also write poetry

A.K.A Aragorn, Son of Arathorn. Just give me more Aragorns, period. This dude is either covered in filth, blood, guts, and the last 30 miles of rugged terrain, or singing in Elvish at his own coronation while pink flower petals fall. A man can be both, and still be straight.

A man can also drink Respect Women juice, you know? He ticks off all the boxes—he’s gentle when he needs to be, not afraid to hide his emotions, kind to those who are vulnerable and afraid and need a strong figure to look up to, resolute in his beliefs, skilled and knowledgeable in his abilities without being arrogant or smug, and the first boots on the battlefield, leading from the front.

4. Characters who are characters when no one is watching

This is less a specific type and more a scene that doesn’t get written enough. This whole point comes from Pixar’s Cars. I. Love. This. Movie. It’s not Pixar’s best, for sure, but this is my comfort movie. The best scene, one that’s so unique, is when Doc (aged living legend) thinks he’s alone when he rolls out onto the dirt race track and comes alive tearing around the oval.

This character’s unbridled, unabashed glee and euphoria at proving to himself that he’s still got it, when he’s completely unaware of his audience, is perfection. Not enough credence is given to characters to just… enjoy being themselves. He’s not doing it to prepare for the climactic race, he’s not doing it for the plot, he’s doing it just to do it, not even to prove Lightning wrong—just for himself.

Give your characters a “Doc Racing” scene. Whatever their skill is. Maybe they’re a dancer, a skater, a swimmer, a painter, sprinter. Just let your character love being alive.

5. Characters whose neurodivergence isn't “cute”

A.K.A. Lilo Pelekai from Lilo and Stitch. Really, her relationship with Nani is peak sibling writing. But Lilo herself is just so realistic with how she interacts with the world, how she interprets her relationships with her so-called friends, how she organizes her thoughts and rationalizes what she can’t quite understand, and how friggen smart she is for an… 11-year-old?

But she’s not “cute”. As in, she wasn’t written by generic Suits who were trying to cash in on the ND crowd by writing what they think will sell, but also making her juuust neurotypical enough to still be palatable by the rest of the audience. Lilo’s earnestness is what endears her to everybody. But also, she doesn’t get a free pass for her behavior, either. Her “friends” aren’t forced to accommodate her and Nani isn’t written as the cold-hearted villain for trying to discipline her.

6. Straight male characters with female friends

Am I double-dipping a bit here? Yes. While I completely understand how tempting it can be, this type of character is in dire need of exposure and representation to prove it’s possible. No weird tense moments, no double-glances when she isn’t looking, no contemplations about cheating on his girlfriend (and no insecure jealous girlfriend either). Just two characters who enjoy each other’s company and are able to coexist in a space and be in each other’s spaces without hormones getting in the way. Peak example? Po and Tigress from Kung Fu Panda.

Let these two rely on each other for emotional strength in times of need, let them share inside jokes, let them have a night alone together at a bar, at home, cooking dinner, getting takeout, talking on the patio in a porch swing… with zero “will they/won’t they.”

7. The likable bigot

I’m actually on the fence with this one but it’s something I also don’t see done often enough and I’m adding it for one reason: Bigots aren’t always obvious mustache-twirling villains and the little things they do might seem inconsequential to them, but are still hurtful. So showing these characters is like plopping a mirror down in front of these people and, I don’t know, maybe something will click. They don’t have to be MAGAs to be dangerous, and only writing the extremes convinces the moderates that they aren’t also the problem.

Example: I have a “friend” who recently said something along the lines of “I have lots of gay friends” followed up shortly by “I don’t think this country should keep gay marriage because it’s a slippery slope to legalizing pedophilia.” You know. The quiet part being that she *actually* thinks being gay is as morally abhorrent as being a pedo. But she totally has lots of gay friends. Including one who was driving her during that conversation. (It’s me. Hi. I’m apparently the problem, it’s me.)

She’s absolutely homophobic, but the second she stops announcing it, she’s a very bubbly person. She’s a ~likable~ bigot and thus thinks she can distance herself from the more violent ones.

8. The motherly single father

I say “motherly” merely as shorthand for the vibe I’m going for here. “Motherly” as in dads who aren’t scandalized by the growing pains of their daughters, and who don’t just parent their sons by saying “man up boys don’t cry”. Dads who play Barbie with their kids of either gender. Dads who go to the PTA meetings with all the other Karens and know as much if not more than they do about the school and their kids’ education.

Dads who comfort their crying kids, especially their sons. Dads that take interest in “feminine” activities like learning how to braid their daughter’s hair, learning different makeup brands, going on nail salon trips together. Dads who do not pull out the rifle on their daughter’s new boyfriend and treat her like property. Dads who have guy friends that don’t mock him and call him gay. Dad who does all this stuff anyway and is *actually* gay, too, but the emphasis is on overly sensitive straight men’s masculinity here.

Wholesome dads: a shocking amount of single-parents to female anime protagonists.

9. The parent isn’t dead, they’re just gone

Treasure Planet is an awesome movie in its own right, but what’s even better? This is a Disney movie where the parent isn’t dead, he’s just a deadbeat who abandoned his son and isn’t at all relevant to the plot beyond the hole he left behind for Jim to fill. The only deadbeat dads Disney allows are villains and those guys are very vigorously chasing an aspiration, that aspiration just doesn’t include quality fatherhood. Or motherhood. Disney has yet to write a deadbeat mom, I’m almost certain.

I just wrote a post about the necessity of the “dead parent” cliche, but what is perhaps more relatable because it’s more common, and what earns even more sympathy and underdog points for the protagonist? The hero with the parent who left. Then there’s a whole extra layer of angst and trauma available when your hero can now plague themselves with the question of if the parent leaving is their fault. Death is usually an accident. Choosing to abandon your kid is on purpose.

10. Victim who isn’t victim-blamed or told by their friends (and the narrative) to forgive their abuser

Izuku Midoriya lost so much support from me the moment he told his friend, bearing the consequences of domestic violence across half his face, that Midoriya thinks he’ll be ready soon to forgive his abomination of a father. I am firmly in the “Endeavor is a despicable human and hero” camp and no I’m not taking criticism. I audibly gasped when I heard this line and realized Deku was serious. Todoroki needs friends like the Gaang to remind him that he's allowed to hate the man who's actions caused the burn scar across his f*cking face.

I understand that the mangaka apparently didn’t anticipate the vitriolic backlash toward Endeavor during his debut and reveal of his parenting tactics but the tone-deafness of telling a fifteen year old with crippling emotional management issues and a horrible home life that his abusive dad in any way deserves and is entitled to forgiveness on the grounds of being related is disgusting.

Take it back further to a more famous Tumblr dad: John Winchester. Another despicable human who got retroactively forgiven by his sons after his death in a “he wasn’t so bad, he really did try” campaign. It’s one thing if the character believes it, it’s a whole different matter if the narrative is also pushing this message.

Katara is a perfect example: She lets go of her grudge for her own peace of mind and stops blaming Zuko for something he had no hand in, stops blaming him simply because he’s a firebender and he’s around to be her punching bag. She doesn’t forgive the man who killed her mother, because that man doesn’t deserve her forgiveness. Katara heals in spite of him, not because of him, and had she let him off the hook, she would have gotten an apology for getting caught, not for what he did (which is exactly what happened).

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Mother Jones:

When a man with painful cystic acne came to dermatologist Eva Rawlings Parker for help in a Nashville clinic, she couldn’t prescribe him doxycycline or minocycline, two medications she’d typically use to treat this condition. This is because the man was a roofer, says Parker, and these medications would have impacted his ability to tolerate heat. 

Parker’s patient was far from alone. Other common medications for physical health, like beta blockers, can impact people’s ability to handle heat. Many medications for mental health do, too.

Conventional wisdom tells people with conditions that make them unusually vulnerable to the sun, like the autoimmune disorder lupus, or are on medications that lead to heat sensitivity, to avoid staying outside when the sun is at its strongest.

But for the one-third of US workers who must spend regular time outdoors, that advice bursts into flames. For some, such as farmworkers, hours and hours of heat exposure, with minimal or no reprieve, are just part of the job. Increasing heat waves and more frequent wildfires point to the need to find real solutions for outdoor workers—and highlight how labor and climate change are intertwined. 

Edward Flores, faculty director of the Community and Labor Center at the University of California, Merced, specializes in the conditions of low-wage and immigrant workers in California. He says the need for heat safety policy reform is acute. “We know that workers have been dying,” Flores says, “because of chronic conditions that accumulate through heat stress over many years and decades that lead to shorter life spans.”

Parker, the dermatologist, is acutely aware of how heat can trigger or worsen skin problems. She is co-chair of the American Academy of Dermatology’s group on climate change and environmental issues, and was an author of a 2023 review on the ways climate change can contribute to dermatological issues, including triggering flares of conditions like hidradenitis suppurativa—which causes painful lumps deep in a person’s skin—and skin cancer.

Workers do have some legal rights to breaks and water, depending on the locale. California, Oregon, and Washington are the only states that mandate those breaks. And roughly half of crop farmworkers have no legal work authorization. That lack of legal status, and the threat of deportation, gives many workers reason to fear complaining about working conditions.

In July, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed a new set of rules which would help protect more than 36 million workers from heat-related illness or death. The proposed OSHA rules would require employers to monitor their workers for heat exhaustion symptoms, provide adequate water and shade, designate break areas, and provide mandatory rest breaks, among other things. 

[serpentface]

Part of a painting depicting the historical Odonii priestess Odebinae Hibrides inciting aging men into battle during the siege of Odkoto (the city Godsmouth).

---

The most famous account of this siege is the poem "One Hundred Nights Of Dogs", which was an accumulation and rewriting of the (predominantly oral) accounts of the survivors into the format of epic poetry, first put into writing over three decades after the fact. The exact events it depicts are tenuously accurate at best, but it captures the emotional dimensions of the siege and has profoundly shaped cultural memories in the many years since.

This particular episode of the poem takes place towards the end of the siege, when Finn forces breached the outer of two city walls and began a partial sacking. The survivors in the inner walls at this point were almost all starving, and in varying stages of despair after months of hardship and acute trauma. Most of the city's youths would have been engaged at this time, and the poem describes Odebinae approaching a pack of older men at the edge of noncombatant age and inciting them to the front lines.

This is depicted as such:

She threw her glittering, blood-hungry spear to the ground. With one hand, she scratched deep wounds into her breast, and with the other hand, she pounded hard at her bared chest, and with a terrible voice, she roared, “Look upon me now, you cowards, look upon me and be ashamed. You have given up, this much is clear. You hide here and wail for your misery like little girls. You sit and weep, waiting for your rape while your mother-land is defiled around you. You await your deaths on your backs, already wailing! Already mourning! Your character is that of the dogs that skulk among you, eating the corpses of your brothers and your sons and skittering back into shadow when chased, whimpering for their troubles. You are little better, you cravens, you dog-faced men. Enough of this! Look at me now! I am your mothers, your wives, your sisters, your daughters, and look how I bleed while you hide behind your walls!”

Her behavior will have obvious and profound significance for the poem's listeners. The act of a woman exposing breasts and beating at the chest is a specific form of supplication, a performance that is read as exposing weakness in a deeply earnest and persuasive capacity. This is unique as a gesture of supplication, it both places the performer beneath the observer while retaining some control of the dynamic; it is confrontational (unlike a bow or other related gestures) and intends to compel them into action. Breasts themselves are politicized body parts in this culture, having very strong associations with motherly nurturing and/or feminine vulnerability. This targeted form of exposure may at least subconsciously remind the man of his mother, or a wife or daughters who are meant to be under his protection. This is further emphasized with the act of wounding herself and making this association verbally explicit- she positions herself as the impending desecrated body of the women in their lives, a catastrophe they are spinelessly accepting rather than taking up the defense and at least dying honorably in the process.

Whether the historical Odebinae Hibrides actually Did This or Said Any Of That is anyone's guess. There's a fair chance Something along these lines happened, as this form of motivational breast exposure is common practice for Odonii on battlefields, though the story itself is obviously dramatized and HEAVILY moralized.

At least in the confines of the poem, this high-caliber shaming proved to be rousing, and dozens of former noncombatants joined into the defense along with Odebinae. They were blessed by the priestess and described as having been invigorated with a God-given strength, their bodies feeling decades younger as they entered the fray. Odebinae is cited as having put on a full battlefield performance, exposing herself to danger to pace the ramparts while shrieking war cries and biting her spear, acting as a spiritual protector for her men and casting the evil eye on her foes below (this is probably one of the most realistic aspects of this poem, some other accounts say she killed dozens of men and might have turned into an actual lion at some point). She was eventually cut down by arrows, and it's said that when her body fell from the wall, twenty men climbed down after to protect her from desecration.

The siege (both historically and in the poem) ended shortly after, with the Finns being repelled by the arrival of warriors from Ephennos and Wardin (who proceeded to Effectively capture the city themselves without additional bloodshed, as a matter of a negotiated 'alliance' that was functionally more of a land-grab. But that's neither here nor there). Odebinae was declared a saint in the aftermath, along with ten other priestesses and two warriors who died notably heroic deaths.

---

Notes on the drawing:

-Aside from the expense of blue pigments, the use of all-white garb here rather than the standard Odonii blue is an acknowledgment of her sainthood and a suggestion of divinity, and the color is reminiscent of the garb worn by the Odomache in public appearances.

-When the shedding of blood is significant in Wardi art, it will be shown with great clarity and excess, often appearing to gush from even minor wounds. This is visual shorthand for the significance of blood as living spirit and an indicator for what is specifically being accomplished in the act. A depiction of the minimal bloodletting performed in everyday prayer may show the blood arcing directly into flame, the wounds of a sacrificed animal may spray onto earth or crops or into the sky. Here it sprays both towards the spear and the city's earth at her feet.

-The short hair on the men in this image communicates them being in states of grief (both figuratively and probably literally), as it's customary to cut the hair at the topknot (or halfway through the braids for women) to initiate the mourning period. Other depictions of short haired adult men are typically non-Wardi and/or foreigners with these customs (which will usually be made obvious by other elements of ethnic coding) or sex workers (also contextually obvious in most cases).

-Wardi art doesn't consistently depict signs of advanced age with great specificity, though colored images will usually at least show graying hair. The complete youthfulness of the men (probably around the age 55-60) here illustrates the story's claim that they experienced a sense of divinely imbued vigor, making it external for visual symbolic clarity.

-The man in front is performing a spiritually deferential gesture (the squat isn't part of it, that's just a common resting posture), and his positioning doubles as a suggestion that he is about to take up the spear. The hand contact between the men in back (perhaps unintentionally humorously) suggests that they were in the midst of heated conversation before being interrupted by a priestess aggressively bleeding at them.

[reasonsforhope]

"Lead is a neurotoxin; it causes premature deaths and lifelong negative effects. It’s said “there is no safe level of lead exposure” — as far as we know, any lead causes damage, and it just gets worse the more exposure there is.

After a 20-year, worldwide campaign, in 2021 Algeria became the final country to end leaded gasoline in cars — something the US phased out in 1996. That should make a huge difference to environmental lead levels. But lots of sources remain, from car batteries to ceramics...

Bangladesh phased out leaded gasoline in the 1990s. But high blood lead levels have remained. Why? When researchers Stephen Luby and Jenny Forsyth, doing work in rural Bangladesh, tried to isolate the source, it turned out to be a surprising one: lead-adulterated turmeric.

Turmeric, a spice in common use for cooking in South Asia and beyond, is yellow, and adding a pigment made of lead chromate makes for bright, vibrant colors — and better sales. Buyers of the adulterated turmeric were slowly being poisoned...

But there’s also good news: A recent paper studying lead in turmeric in Bangladesh found that researchers and the Bangladeshi government appear to have driven lead out of the turmeric business in Bangladesh.

How Bangladesh got serious about lead poisoning

The researchers who’d isolated turmeric as the primary cause of high blood lead levels —working for the nonprofit International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh — went to meet with government officials. They collected samples nationwide and published a 2019 follow-up paper on the extent of the problem. Bangladesh’s Food Safety Authority got involved.

They settled on a two-part approach, starting with an education campaign to warn people about the dangers of lead. Once people had been warned that lead adulteration was illegal, they followed up with raids to analyze turmeric and fine sellers who were selling adulterated products.

They posted tens of thousands of fliers informing people about the risks of lead. They got coverage in the news. And then they swept through the markets with X-ray fluorescence analyzers, which detect lead. They seized contaminated products and fined sellers.

According to the study released earlier this month, this worked spectacularly well. “The proportion of market turmeric samples containing detectable lead decreased from 47 percent pre-intervention in 2019 to 0 percent in 2021,” the study found. And the vanishing of lead from turmeric had an immediate and dramatic effect on blood lead levels in the affected populations, too: “Blood lead levels dropped a median of 30 percent.”

The researchers who helped make that result happen are gearing up for similar campaigns in other areas where spices are adulterated.

The power of problem-solving

...When the Food Safety Authority showed up at the market and started issuing fines for lead adulteration, it stopped being a savvy business move to add lead. Purchasers who were accustomed to unnatural lead-colored turmeric learned how to recognize non-adulterated turmeric. And so lead went from ubiquitous to nearly nonexistent in the space of just a few years.

That’s a better world for everyone, from turmeric wholesalers to vulnerable kids — all purchased at a shockingly low price. The paper published this month concludes, “with credible information, appropriate technology, and good enough governance, the adulteration of spices can be stopped.”

There’s still a lot more to be done. India, like Bangladesh, has widespread adulteration of turmeric. And safety testing will have to remain vigilant to prevent lead in Bangladesh from creeping back into the spice supply.

But for all those caveats, it’s rare to see such fast, decisive action on a major health problem — and impressive to see it immediately rewarded with such a dramatic improvement in blood lead levels and health outcomes. It’s a reminder that things can change, and can change very quickly, as long as people care, and as long as they act."

-via Vox, September 20, 2023

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

Y'all know I'm not one to save celebrity news without reason: There's some excellent analysis done in this article about air quality and airborne disease.

Macbeth: cancelled due to “illness” The eagerly anticipated production of Macbeth, starring David Tennant in the title role at the Harold Pinter Theatre, has cancelled four consecutive performances this week due to “illness within the company.” The latest cancellation, announced just two hours before curtain, left audience members disappointed, including those who had traveled internationally and rearranged work schedules.

Among affected ticket holders, some expressed frustration on social media about the late notice and lack of clarity. Twitter user @clairebobcat voiced a common sentiment:

"Ticket holders were notified at 5:45 this eve. Really short notice considering illness has been ongoing since Friday. All best wishes to the cast—illness can’t be helped, but very shoddy treatment of ticket holders. Travel money & Annual leave wasted."

The ongoing cancellations reflect broader challenges facing the theatre industry in the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The arts still in crisis due to Covid A survey by Theatre Washington reported that while 58% of Washington, D.C. theatre patrons once attended performances six or more times per year, only 31% have done so since reopening. Almost half of patrons surveyed now attend just three times or fewer, and nearly 68% cited fear of Covid-19 exposure as a primary reason for staying away.

The UK is facing unprecedented rates of long-term illness due to long Covid, a condition marked by symptoms including post-exertional malaise, cognitive impairment, and cardiopulmonary dysfunction.

Public health data shows that over two million people in the UK are affected by long COVID, with more than 10% of Covid cases resulting in prolonged symptoms.

High-profile performers, including Alyssa Milano and Matt McGorry, have spoken publicly about their struggles with long Covid, shedding light on the profound and lasting impact of the illness.

Protect the Heart of the Arts In response to these issues, Protect the Heart of the Arts, an advocacy organisation for members of the performance community with long COVID or who are clinically vulnerable, has offered to donate a HEPA air purification system to the Harold Pinter Theatre, which is staging Macbeth.

Glenda from the group told the Canary:

"It’s unsustainable, unethical, and we can’t afford to accept it as occupational: our employers, unions, regulatory bodies and politicians have to address the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic head-on.

Beyond key vectors (hospitals, schools, prisons), creatives are uniquely vulnerable, especially within live formats, alongside venue staff and audiences; not to mention all within said categories who’ve been marginalised, nor the walk-back of digital programming."

The organisation argues that improved air quality could help reduce health risks for cast, crew, and audiences, potentially preventing further cancellations.

Covid isn’t over – as Macbeth inadvertently shows “We may not know the exact illness affecting the Macbeth cast, but we do know that Covid is a serious vascular disease requiring extended recovery times,” noted Charles Waltz, founder of Protect the Heart of the Arts:

"Reinfections weaken immunity to other pathogens, so without measures like air purification and adequate recovery time, we risk ongoing illness cycles that could impact health and stability across the industry. Clean air and flexible recovery policies are essential to protect the performance community’s long-term health."

[elicathebunny]

Self-doubt or self-sabotage?

Conquering the fear of being seen so you can achieve your dreams.

Historically, humans lived in small, close-knit groups or tribes, typically consisting of about 150 individuals, known as Dunbar's number. This limited number of social connections was manageable for our brains, allowing us to form meaningful relationships and navigate social hierarchies effectively. Today, we are constantly exposed to a vast number of people through social media, where we can have hundreds or even thousands of connections. This can overwhelm our brain's capacity to manage social relationships. Early human survival depended heavily on being part of a group. Being accepted by the tribe meant safety, resources, and cooperation. Rejection could lead to isolation and danger. In modern settings, being authentic in front of many people, such as on social media or in public speaking, can feel like facing a large, judgmental audience. This can trigger anxiety as our brains interpret this as a potential threat to our social standing. Authenticity often involves expressing opinions, emotions, and personal stories. The fear of negative reactions, criticism, or misunderstanding can make us feel exposed and vulnerable.

Here are some common examples of self-doubt:

- Impostor Syndrome - Fear of Failure - Comparison to Others - Negative Self-Talk - Perfectionism - Limiting Beliefs - Seeking External Validation - Setting Unrealistic Expectations - Fear of Rejection or Criticism

How to overcome self-doubt:

1. Recognise and Acknowledge Your Feelings

Start by acknowledging and accepting your self-doubt and fear of being seen. Understand that these feelings are common and normal, but they don't define you.

2. Challenge Negative Thoughts

Challenge negative thoughts and beliefs about yourself by examining the evidence that supports them. Question the validity of these thoughts and replace them with more realistic and supportive ones.

3. Self-Compassion

Treat yourself with kindness and understanding, especially when facing self-doubt or fear. Practice self-compassion by speaking to yourself in a gentle and encouraging manner, as you would to a friend in need.

4. Embrace Imperfection

Accept that it's okay to be imperfect and that making mistakes is a natural part of growth and learning. Embrace your flaws and vulnerabilities, as they make you human and relatable.

5. Set Realistic Goals

Set realistic and achievable goals for yourself, taking into account your abilities and limitations. Break larger goals into smaller, more manageable steps, and celebrate each accomplishment along the way.

6. Focus on Your Strengths

Identify your strengths and talents, and focus on nurturing and developing them. Remind yourself of past successes and achievements to boost your confidence and self-belief.

7. Exposure Therapy

Gradually expose yourself to situations that trigger self-doubt or fear of being seen. Start with small, manageable steps and gradually increase the level of exposure over time. Each successful exposure will build your confidence and resilience.

8. Seek Support

Reach out to supportive friends, family members, or a therapist for guidance and encouragement. Share your feelings and experiences with someone you trust, and allow them to offer perspective and support.

9. Visualise Success

Visualise yourself overcoming self-doubt and fear, and imagine yourself succeeding in situations that challenge you. Visualisation can help boost your confidence and reinforce positive beliefs about yourself.

10. Take Action Despite Fear

Take action despite feeling afraid or uncertain. Recognise that courage is not the absence of fear but the willingness to act despite it. Step out of your comfort zone and embrace new opportunities for growth and self-discovery.

11. Practice Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques

Practice mindfulness meditation, deep breathing, or other relaxation techniques to calm your mind and reduce feelings of anxiety and self-doubt. These practices can help you stay grounded and present in the moment.

12. Celebrate Your Progress

Celebrate your progress and achievements, no matter how small. Acknowledge your efforts and accomplishments, and recognize the courage it takes to face your fears and self-doubt head-on.

[misfitwashere]

ROBERT REICH

FEB 2

Friends,

Before I post my Sunday cartoon, I want to share with you some thoughts about the second horrific week of Trump II.

It’s even worse than I’d imagined. 

He’s been “flooding the zone” with so many outrageous (and often illegal) initiatives that many people are overwhelmed, demoralized, and just plain freaked out. 

That’s the intent. 

This morning, a woman I didn’t know was about to pass me on the sidewalk and then stopped, turned toward me, and almost shouted, “It’s a fucking nightmare!” 

Well, it is a “fucking nightmare” and unfortunately there’s nothing anyone can do right now to legally stop it (unless you’re a federal judge). 

For now, we can and should do everything possible to protect people who are most vulnerable to the nightmare. 

But allow me to take a longer-term view. 

A “fucking nightmare” is not all bad if it awakens America. 

Remember how Martin Luther King Jr. mobilized the nation against racial injustice? He let everyone see its horrors. On television. Night after night. Peaceful Black people getting clubbed and arrested for exercising their rights. 

Were it not for that painful national exposure to racist brutality, we wouldn’t have gotten the Civil Rights Act or the Voting Rights Act. 

Something similar happened in the first years of the twentieth century when muckraking journalists revealed the giant monopolies, corruption, and public harms of the robber barons. 

Were it not for that painful national exposure, we wouldn’t have gotten the reforms of the Progressive Era.

I believe a similar dynamic will play out as Americans witness the nightmare of Trump’s neofascism. 

When we see and absorb its horrors, there will be mass outrage, and we will mobilize against it. Not all of us, of course, but the great majority. 

We had to come to this point. We couldn’t go on as we were, even under Democratic presidents. For forty years, a narrow economic elite has been siphoning ever more wealth and power for themselves. 

I’m old enough to remember when America had the largest and fastest-growing middle class in the world. We adhered to the basic bargain that if someone worked hard and played by the rules, they’d do better than their parents had, and their children would do even better than they.

I remember when CEOs took home 20 times the pay of their workers, not 300 times. When members of Congress acted in the interests of their constituents rather than be bribed by campaign donations to do the bidding of big corporations and the super-wealthy. 

I remember when our biggest domestic challenges were civil rights, women’s rights, and gay rights — not the very survival of democracy and the rule of law. 

But over the last forty years, starting with Reagan, America went off the rails. Deregulation, privatization, free trade, wild gambling by Wall Street, union-busting, record levels of inequality, stagnant wages for most, staggering wealth for a few, big money taking over our politics, 

Corporate profits became more important than good jobs and good wages for all. Stock buybacks and the well-being of investors became more important than the common good. 

Democratic presidents were better than Republican, to be sure, but the underlying rot continued to worsen. It was undermining the foundations of America. 

The Trump regime will harm many innocent people. It already has. Its lawless cruelty is sickening — as is the cowardice of so many CEOs, Wall Street bankers, leading lawyers, university presidents, publishers, social media titans, Republican politicians, some Democratic politicians, and other so-called “leaders” who are staying mum or obeying in advance or sucking up to Trump. 

There will be a reckoning. 

As bad as this “fucking nightmare” gets, it will awaken Americans to the truth about what has happened to this country — and what we must do to get it back on the track toward social justice, democracy, and widespread prosperity. 

That’s what I believe. That’s my faith as we slide into deepening darkness. 

Be well. Be safe. We will prevail. 

[fugamalefica]

Other ways of destroying a man

'You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?' called Voldemort, his scarlet eyes narrowed over the top of the shield. 'Above such brutality, are you?'

'We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom,' Dumbledore said calmly, continuing to walk toward Voldemort as though he had not a fear in the world, as though nothing had happened to interrupt his stroll up the hall. 'Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit —'

'There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!' snarled Voldemort.

'You are quite wrong,' said Dumbledore, still closing in upon Voldemort and speaking as lightly as though they were discussing the matter over drinks. Harry felt scared to see him walking along, undefended, shieldless. He wanted to cry out a warning, but his headless guard kept shunting him backward toward the wall, blocking his every attempt to get out from behind it. 'Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness —'

The phrase 'we both know there are other ways of destroying a man' isn't just ominous but deeply personal, and this conversation is obviously referring to Bellatrix. Even Dumbledore thinks that Voldemort acknowledges the 'other ways' hurt so much too, hence saying ‘we both know’. He’s targeting him emotionally during battle, with Bella trapped right there, at Dumbledore’s mercy. He was the one who trapped her in the first place, and now he seems to be subtly threatening her.

How do I know he’s targeting her though, and that these ‘other ways’ are connected to love in some way? Well, Dumbledore later explicitly connects those 'other ways' to Voldemort's ‘greatest weakness’, which is his inability (or more accurately, unwillingness) to love.

The implication is clear that these 'other ways' are emotional and intimate. They wound the feelings, not the body, and Bellatrix being the subject of his threats is further evidenced by the fact that the DoM incident directly parallels Harry rescuing Ginny from the Chamber in CoS. Both female characters were trapped by the enemy, threatened, while the enemy fought the male character, who nearly lost but ended up surviving and rescuing the female character with risks to his own person.

Merely taking your life. Other ways to destroy a man. Even the use of the phrase ‘a man’ here implies the ‘other ways’ they're referring to target a common human weakness not even Voldemort has managed to shed, and he is therefore placed in the same category as any other man. Dumbledore's not saying there are ‘other ways’ to destroy just Voldemort himself. He is deliberately bringing him down to the human level. There are other ways to destroy a man, and Bellatrix, vulnerable and trapped, is one of those ways.

Dumbledore, who has always pushed him towards love, would be very smug indeed if were to watch Voldemort crumble not from a spell, but from grief, loss, and emotional exposure, as he did in Deathly Hallows when Bellatrix died, even if Voldemort still does not recognise his ‘love’ has power, hence Albus's assertion that his death alone wouldn’t satisfy him.

Then he was gone, and the water fell with a crash back into its pool, slopping wildly over the sides, drenching the polished floor.

'MASTER!' screamed Bellatrix.

Sure it was over, sure Voldemort had decided to flee, Harry made to run out from behind his statue guard, but Dumbledore bellowed, 'Stay where you are, Harry!'

For the first time, Dumbledore sounded frightened. Harry could not see why. The hall was quite empty but for themselves, the sobbing Bellatrix still trapped under her statue, and the tiny baby Fawkes croaking feebly on the floor —

It's obvious Dumbledore here knows something Harry does not when Harry thinks he's left, which is why he sounds afraid. He either saw Voldemort possessing Harry, or did not think Voldemort would leave with 'Bellatrix still trapped'. It can’t be the former because otherwise, Harry himself would have seen Voldemort coming towards him and so would Bella. The possession was abrupt, sudden, not something Harry could even see or sense even though he was the one possessed. Really, there was no indication that Voldemort was still there, and if Dumbledore didn't think Voldemort would leave without Bella, it fits with their earlier conversation about 'other ways to destroy a man' that they 'both' know about.

The text drawing attention to her right when Harry wonders why Dumbledore is scared is certainly indicative of this, as is Bella’s own scream, as if not even she can fathom Voldemort would leave without her.

And when Voldemort possesses Harry, what is he confronted with that affects him so deeply he can’t bear to stay within his body? His grief for the loss of a loved one, the same loved one that Bellatrix killed, and grief being the very same thing Dumbledore had just threatened him with.

Even though Voldemort doesn't acknowledge there are worse ways to destroy a man, he still acts as such, exposing himself to the Ministry to save Bellatrix, to not leave her at the mercy of Dumbledore who’d just boasted about ‘other ways to destroy a man’.

‘He was there!’ shouted a scarlet-robed man with a ponytail, who was pointing at a pile of golden rubble on the other side of the hall, where Bellatrix had lain trapped only moments before. ‘I saw him, Mr Fudge, I swear it was You-Know-Who, he grabbed a woman and Disapparated!’

It was so painful for him that it made him shut himself off from Harry (which is akin to dissociation, a common trauma response to feelings the body deems unbearable) as well as Bellatrix herself. It’s implied in HBP that since the Ministry incident, Bellatrix and Voldemort haven’t been talking enough for her to discuss Snape with him. Even in DLA, she’s shown to be ‘longing for closeness’ to him, which implies emotional distance on his part and is in line with him fearing his closeness to her because the prospect of losing her threatens him with unbearable grief he does not allow himself to feel.

[kenyatta]

A critical resource that cybersecurity professionals worldwide rely on to identify, mitigate and fix security vulnerabilities in software and hardware is in danger of breaking down. The federally funded, non-profit research and development organization MITRE warned today that its contract to maintain the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) program — which is traditionally funded each year by the Department of Homeland Security — expires on April 16. Tens of thousands of security flaws in software are found and reported every year, and these vulnerabilities are eventually assigned their own unique CVE tracking number (e.g. CVE-2024-43573, which is a Microsoft Windows bug that Redmond patched last year). There are hundreds of organizations — known as CVE Numbering Authorities (CNAs) — that are authorized by MITRE to bestow these CVE numbers on newly reported flaws. Many of these CNAs are country and government-specific, or tied to individual software vendors or vulnerability disclosure platforms (a.k.a. bug bounty programs). Put simply, MITRE is a critical, widely-used resource for centralizing and standardizing information on software vulnerabilities. That means the pipeline of information it supplies is plugged into an array of cybersecurity tools and services that help organizations identify and patch security holes — ideally before malware or malcontents can wriggle through them.

[ohholydyke]

A continuation of my previous post on the infamous Clobber Passages and non celibate queerness as requested by @lawfulgoodrubberducky if you haven’t read Part I: Leviticus 18:22 I highly recommend you do so especially because I’ll be building off a lot of the analysis I laid out in there.

Part II: Romans 1:26-28

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,

and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper

Alright let’s go again, first of all the analysis I did in Part I on the game of telephone that is biblical text and human limitation also applies here, though Romans doesn’t have as big of a gap as Leviticus does (St. Paul probably wrote it in 55-57 AD and our earliest manuscript of Romans 1:26-28 is Papyrus 40 from the Gregory-Aland numbering dated to the 3rd century AD).

Second of all, several biblical scholars assert that Romans 1:18-2:29 are a non-Pauline late addition rather than part of the original text, but I’m not gonna analyze that here. If you’re interested pls go look into that and see if you believe in that opinion or not. (I just found out this information while researching and fact checking info for this post so I don’t have an opinion currently).

Now, let’s begin again with external context:

St. Paul wrote Romans to the Roman people after Christianity had already begun to spread. Notably, Romans accomplishes two tasks: first, it addresses some of the syncretism and cross cultural lingering behaviors from all the Roman pagans and other gentiles that had converted to Christianity (and by this point, most of the church in Rome was made of gentile pagan converts). Second, it’s basically St Paul pinching his nose and sighing and going “can you PLEASE get along” to the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians.

So in both cases we can be pretty sure that the behavior occurring in Romans 1:26-28 is something that was 1. Roman pagan behavior being syncretized or cross-culturally transmitted into the early church and/or 2. A point of contention between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians either as a whole or in this specific church. Again, look at part I for a discussion on the types of behaviors common during this era and why none of them are what we would now identify as queerness. Secondly, this passage is being used as an example of how Gentiles either worshipped creation instead of the creator or otherwise engaged in actions not approved of by God. Some people argue this is a natural law argument based on “natural behaviors” (to which I would turn to the several instances of queer-like behavior in animals as a question mark for what exactly was occurring here), but I wanna focus especially on the notion of “exchanging their natural function.” Again, the idea of human sexuality and intercourse as orientation didn’t exist back then. The context suggests that the behavior here is specific to the Gentiles, in this case the Roman population, who have been given over to some behavior or another. The word for “indecent acts” is aschēmosynē, a word only found in the Bible in Romans 1:27 and Revelation 16:15. In the latter verse, it refers to one who does not keep his garments on in preparation for Christ’s return and thus “[goes] naked and [is] seen exposed.” Thus, the action refers more to a sense of exposure and vulnerability than a sexual act so to speak, and is tied (as stated above) to worshipping creation over the Creator.

Cue the Romans: Roman religion promoted sexuality as an aspect of prosperity for the state, and individuals might turn to private religious practice or "magic" for improving their erotic lives or reproductive health. Additionally, it was considered natural and unremarkable for men to be sexually attracted to teen-aged youths of both sexes, and even pederasty was condoned as long as the younger male partner was not a freeborn Roman.

Let’s look at the other Pauline passage used as an argument against queerness—1: Corinthians 6:8, which condemns malakos and arsenokoitēs. Malakos, translated as “effeminate,” is commonly held by scholars to refer to temple prostitutes or boys within a pederasty dynamic (I won’t call it a relationship because it’s pedophilia). Within Roman society, the effeminate was the submissive of lower status compared to the dominant “masculine” Roman citizen, and it was a dishonor to take on this role because it made one “lesser” or “a woman” in some cases (hence the effeminate translation). Notably, the word only shows up in other instances in the Bible to refer to “a man in soft clothing” within a king’s palace in Matthew 11:8 and Luke 7:25, which highly suggests a concubine or the boy of a pederast ruler in the Roman-ruled Levant. Arsenokoitēs, meanwhile, literally translates to “man-bedder” or “man-coitus-haver.” This refers to the dominant role in these dynamics—one who penetrates and beds another—and is framed as the counterpart to the malakos. Thus, both terms are closer to the Greek erastes and eromenos, the terms used for the older dominant man and submissive boy in Greek pederasty. They refer to specific sexual roles within a specific sexual dynamic (similar to how “Dominant” and “Submissive” are particular roles in BDSM). Paul’s condemnation is of a particular Roman sexual dynamic, one deeply tied into Roman religion and Roman societal structures (in which the penetrating arsenokoitēs held greater social status and class than the malakos.). Notably, this is the only major form of same-sex dynamics accepted within Roman society and the one which closest matches the context and descriptions of the words and verses. It seems easy to conclude, then, that Romans 1:26-28 is also tied into the same approach to Roman dynamics. Once again, I refer to part I, where I discuss why there would be condemnation of a specific social class-structured sexual dynamic. Ultimately, it is because Christianity destroyed social and class divides, and condemned many structures which opposed it, particularly within the structure of the Roman Empire (for instance, “turn the other cheek” means the Roman soldier would be forced to break a particular slapping etiquette and thus treat you as an equal, and “walk the extra mile” would mean the soldier is illegally forcing you to work beyond what was socially and legally acceptable). In any case, I find it hard to believe that Paul in either instance was referring to what we now refer to as queerness when the particular Roman sexual dynamic makes far more sense historically, etymologically and contextually.

Edit: as for women, “in the same way” suggests they’re engaging in the same dynamic. We don’t have much record of women same sex sexual dynamics in Rome, but the divide between citizens, non citizens, wives, courtesans and sex workers was pretty strong, and Paul’s parallels between the two make me comfortable cross-applying the interpretation there. Plus, that requires a lot less intervention than dismissing Roman sexual dynamics in favor of assuming Paul meant modern sexual orientation.

[babie-moth]

I loved your comment on being self aware about exposure in public, consent and having INDIVIDUAL responsibility that affects how we are viewed as a community. I would like to see this as a more common topic around every single ABDL space so we have it present and feel comfortable on calling out people who are negligent and go ahead and willingly break those societal implicit norms, kink or not kink. Respect & Consent should be number 1 priority. Your need to get your "horny high" does not prevail over someones else's right to feel safe or not an unwilling participant. I have witnessed a few situations which made me think "this shit is going to get used against us somehow and it could have all easily been avoided with just a little bit of self restrain"

Thank you for bringing light to this topic, I hope you dont mind me re-blogging your comment, we need to make this a not-taboo discussion to have amongst ourselves, we are not prude, we are not trying to deny, censor or repress anyone's feelings or freedoms to be themselves as ABDL or any other kink. Actions have consequences when you're part of a society, and making use of your freedom irresponsibly can bring about consequences that might not only affect you as an individual. If we're ever going to get any semblance of acceptance and clarify once and for all AB/DL has nothing to do with p3 d0 shit sometimes we need to look at the bigger picture of things.

here's a cute baby polar bear to compensate on the big serious adult talk discussion(?

“Your need to get your “horny high” does not prevail over someone else’s right to feel safe”

Thank you Thank you Thank you

We are a niche community that deserves to be protected by the people within it. And some behaviors that people exhibit, create a space where people can make stronger, more justified (in their eyes) opinions on us as a community.

Essentially “flashing” in a children’s space is down right inappropriate and should not be done in ANY instance.

Feeling the need to pull down your pants or lift your skirt up in a children’s area is just..odd behavior. I’ve never been in an actual children’s space and felt the need to expose myself

We aren’t protecting our most vulnerable people in this world. Children. If you’re trying to heal through these spaces, the last thing you should be doing is creating unsafe area for others.

It must be remembered that while we all partake in this lifestyle and get to be the babies we are, that we are still ADULTS with responsibility to the world around us and the community

[fear-theories]

The Isolation

Other names : Utstött, It is crowded and I am Alone Classification : Intersection of The Lonely and The Eye

The Isolation exists as an intersection of The Lonely and The Eye, representing not just a fear of isolation but also a fear of the ability to have no observable impact with your disappearance from society. It is not just being afraid to walk this world alone, but the distinct fear of the knowledge that you are an outcast, completely exterior to the world in which you might exist. It is not just a fear one develops from exposure to being alone, but one that is forced upon the victim.

As a fear that is deeply focused on personal connection, this fear presents mostly in the form of avatars. The path to becoming one is astoundingly simple, though quite long. The most important factor is a consistent, profound shunning of the victim, usually by a social or workplace group, though it can occur in family units as well. Aside from the need for long term exposure, the victim needs to accept the isolation, willingly choosing to continue separating oneself from the whole even after the social rift may have been removed. This choice is usually followed by a descent into inflicting such shunning as they have experienced onto others.

Other victims that choose not to accept the isolation may also experience phenomena such as people failing to perceive them in unavoidable settings, inanimate objects that typically have some response to a human presence not activating, such as automatic doors or security alarms. Reports have been provided by victims of statues and other objects with faces losing their eyes, and thus their ability to "perceive" in the victims presence. It is not uncommon for victims that do not succumb to the power of this fear to simply disappear from all social records, save for record of their birth.

Classic behaviour of an avatar on the hunt may include inserting themselves into a social group likely to have vulnerable or outcast members of society and ingratiating themselves with their chosen target. They will then earn the trust of the individual, and encourage them to cut off most, if not all other social interaction in the victims life, creating a total dependency and insulating the victim from their support network. At this point the avatar will typically orchestrate some form of personal tragedy, or a series therein, in the victims life and cut all forms of contact, fully isolating the victim. The acute fear from such "projects" can be quite powerful, and avatars of this fear can be quite formidable.

Overall, this fear is a semi common subset of the Lonely, as the experiences required to become marked by it are disturbingly common. Should you encounter this fear, it is essential to your survival that you remember the love in your life. The connections that make you whole are your only recourse. Stay safe out there.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading guys! This first fear, The Isolation, is a personal head canon fleshed out that was inspired by some of the content i have seen around tumblr already from the fandom regarding Martin, and I feel that it really fits his story line a little better than just a generic avatar of The Lonely. My boys life is too complicated for the answer to be that simple and unpoetic C'mon!! Anyways, if you're reading this you are a real one comrade! Thank you ! Stay Tuned for more!

-G

[serpentface]

Omg, is there any more about Odonii battlefield performance?

Faiza giving a full battlefield performance, which includes grimacing, sinister looks, letting out terrifying war cries, and banging on her shield with her dagger's pommel. She's wearing a full set of armor, which is functional but highly decorative. A squire will be present somewhere nearby to carry the rest of her weaponry.

As mentioned in the other post, Odonii generally do not actually Participate in fighting. Their perpetual armament and training to correctly Use this armament has predominantly symbolic functions, with their bodies as vessels for state and military empowerment and integrity.

Their normal role on the battlefield is:

a) Spiritual protection for their associated warriors and intimidation of enemies.

Their role is partially to be the ‘guardian lion’ figure in human form, their presence and performance in of itself is considered metaphysically protective. This guardian lion nature is played up and reinforced with their dress and behavior- they wear lion skins over their armor, paint their faces red to obscure human features, perform war cries tailored to sound inhuman (not like lions, just a very shrill and frightening sound). They perform ‘frenzied’ movements that intend to evoke an enraged animal- pacing, banging on their shields, biting their weapons/shields, baring teeth, exaggerated glances that emphasize the whites of their eyes, etc. This can be a disturbing sight- reassuring to their allies who know a frightening spiritual guardian figure is on their side, and demoralizing to an enemy (the latter especially in conjunction with common beliefs that Odonii are witches/shapeshifters)

b) A motivating factor to get the men to fight more bravely.

This is partly out of religious belief (you will probably be a little bolder if you feel reassurance that God is very much present and on your side, via Its priestesses), partly out of esteem for the order (you are highly motivated to perform for their recognition and protect them from harm). In a way, their role on the battlefield is the Least masculinized aspect of their performance- they are in part there to remind men of their mothers, wives, and daughters, who they are supposed to be the protectors of and whose benefit they are ultimately (at least deemed to be) fighting for.

In some cases, this is taken to a (cultural relative) extreme wherein they will expose their breasts towards their own men as a part of battlefield performance, in the form of a supplicatory gesture (bearing the breasts and thumping on the chest with a fist). (The Odomache’s nude body should never be publicly seen under any circumstances, limited and controlled exposure by Odonii Can be appropriate). Breasts are not sexualized in this cultural sphere, but are not treated as neutral body parts either, instead having values of motherly nurturing and feminine vulnerability projected onto them. Odonii showing tits will be a DISTINCT reminder of the ‘vulnerable female’ elements that the men should be protecting, and can be highly motivating (especially in the context of a figure who is otherwise behaviorally ‘masculinized’, it’s jarring and can have useful emotional impact).

c) General spiritual leadership (in connection to a & b).

Weapons dances are an aspect of military training and the kagnoma odo dance is always performed prior to conventional battles, Odonii lead these dances. This has multifacted functions- it is believed to spiritually bless the troops, it is a means of practicing with weaponry/limbering up, it is a psychological rallying point and good for morale, and it may intimidate your enemy who can see it happening from a distance (by displaying readiness/eagerness to battle, good discipline, unity, and physical might). Odonii also perform personalized blessings of soldiers, weapons, and armor.

c) Filling gaps in the command structure or acting as commanders

Odonii are involved in strategic meetings, and ones who receive battlefield roles are very well studied in military tactics. As a matter of technicality, their commands to the body of Imperial Wardi troops do not override those of generals or other ranking soldiers (though they will often be deferred to regardless), but they can fill in gaps in the command structure in case of death of high ranking soldiers or if lines become scattered and communication breaks down.

Additionally, there are two elite warrior orders presided over by the Odonii priesthood (the rest answer directly to the Usoma's court appointed general), with senior Odonii as their commanders and the Odomache as their general. (This is one of many political tension points between the priesthood and monarchy, given that the Odonii have managed to get themselves about 200 high skill, firearm'ed warriors that are separate from the normal military structure, only as loyal to the Usoma as their current general is, and Very beloved among the public so you can't just like, outright kill or disarm this very obvious threat.)

d) A strategic flexing of eastern seaway honorable combat norms

Conventions of honorable warfare have broad commonalities across the eastern seaway peoples, one of which is that noncombatants (by default- women, girls, prepubsecent boys, unarmed elderly men) are not legitimate targets in the normal process of open war (but are fair game in contexts like sieges when a foe has refused to surrender on behalf of their population). Odonii being armed throws a wrinkle into this - they are still effectively ‘noncombatants’ by virtue of being women, but if they actually Engage in fighting they do present a threat that could be justifiably neutralized.

If they do not actually Use their arms they are not legitimate targets, and an enemy concerned with honorable combat will have to work around their presence (or risk social/retaliatory consequences if he does not). They are thus effectively human shields- at the very least introducing an additional layer of difficulties for an opponent to navigate, and sometimes actively putting their bodies between their men and their opponents.

e) as a factor of D, potential mediator figures.

When in conventional battles, Odonii on losing sides are usually expected to allow themselves to be captured without resistance. They stand a very high chance of being taken alive and remaining unharmed due to a combination of factors- baseline honorable warfare practices (which are ABSOLUTELY not always followed, but at least Influence behavior), fears of material consequences in retribution for harming the priestess, fears of spiritual consequences for harming a potentially powerful witch, knowledge that releasing an Odonii unscathed may give the captors a better negotiating position down the line, or knowledge that an Odonii is a very valuable hostage and can make for a good bargaining chip.

Because of this element, captured Odonii are expected to perform mediation roles, negotiate the release of hostages, carry messages from their captors, or bravely tolerate hostage conditions (ideally while gaining intelligence on their captors)

---

Odonii very, very rarely actually participate in combat (and are in fact not Supposed To in the vast majority of circumstances).

They are, however, fairly well equipped for it. Their perpetual armament is symbolic in nature, but its intended function of empowering their bodies and the state by proxy additionally requires them to know how to Use It. They are trained and regularly drill and engage in mock battles in each of their key weapons/defensive combinations (sword, sword and shield, spear, spear and shield, longgun, handgun) and are expected to be adept at their use. Odonii who attend battlefields, while not being directly engaged, are still in very high-stress and dangerous environments and will have to learn to stay calm and collected under duress. All this doesn't mean every Odonii would be a skilled warrior in an actual combat situation (given that most will have no experience fighting someone who is actually trying to Kill Them), but it does mean they have enough technical skill and mental fortitude to stand a decent chance.

The only times where they are SUPPOSED to actively engage is when a battle is deemed as an existential struggle and is being lost (in practice, the main context for this is a siege), or losing against a foe deemed so thoroughly depraved that they won’t even slightly follow wartime conventions. The idea in these situations is that they are most likely already doomed, and that they should die protecting their people in battle.

Wardi history is filled with stories of Odonii fighting and dying in desperate conflicts (particularly against Imperial Bur), but this is at least Partly historical revisionism (there WERE some women in proto-Odonii roles involved in these conflicts, but these retellings project the modern Odonii order onto its multiple progenitor practices).

Odonii are frequently present on battlefields, but there are only two major instances of modern era Odonii participating in battle as full combatants, both involving conflict with Finnerich

---

The fully modern incarnation of the order can be defined as starting in the late period of Burri occupation, in which multiple Wardi city-states and kingdoms allied against a common foe, and the separate progenitors of the Odonii tradition began to coelesce into a single practice. These alliances were mostly dropped after Burri withdrawal, and the immediate post-withdrawal period was a chaotic scrambling to politically stabilize and assert old territorial claims- thus most Wardi states resumed hostile or indifferent relations with one another. (The one exception is that Wardin and Ephennos remained allied, which shortly would become a Big Deal). Forms of early Odonii now existed throughout most of these states, just not united under a single banner.

The city of Godsmouth was blockaded and besieged by Finnerich during this period (taking advantage of its historical rival’s weakness in the political chaos of de-occupation and hoping to capture or at least maim the city), and some of these early Odonii were involved in this conflict and are known to have engaged.

Godsmouth was a rival to its neighboring states more than anything else- there was little reason for others to send aid in the conflict, and it was left to fend for itself. It was and is a heavily fortified city, and thus the siege lasted for months, with the strategy turning to starving the population out rather than the risky maneuver of throwing troops at well-defended gates to force entry. The Finn forces never managed to breach the inner walls, but were very successful at starving the city's population, raiding its farmlands and villages, and destroying its ports and capturing or burning its ships, all with minimal casualties on their side.

The strategy of the siege finally turned to a risky push to breach and capture the city (due to Finnerich’s own dwindling resources and logistical difficulties in restocking due to storms at sea, and news that an allied Wardin and Ephennos had, in an unprecedented move, been persuaded to send reinforcements (in return for Godsmouth's sworn fealty and absorption into their alliance)), and Finn forces succeeded in breaking through the outer walls. This developed into a very dramatic standoff in which the remaining warriors and/or civilians of Godsmouth attempted to fend off the attack long enough for reinforcements to arrive (which would take days by sea).

Odonii are very famously known to have fully engaged in this stretch of the conflict on the front lines, as it represented an existential threat to the city-state (it’s a fortified settlement, if it was captured, reinforcements would not matter). Some of the recountings are distinctly fanciful (describing Odonii and noblemen leading Siege Of Helms Deep style khaitback charges into masses of enemies, or SWEARING that one of them actually did turn into a lion and ripped apart a hundred Finns before she succumbed to her wounds). An At Least Partially True Story With Exaggerated Elements of the final days of the siege describes the Odonii priestess Hibrides Odiboe rallying a group of elderly men into battle by baring her breasts and scratching deep, bleeding wounds into her chest, declaring herself as 'your mothers, your wives, your daughters, and look how I bleed while you hide behind your walls and wait to die.' While accounts have fantastical elements, it is factual that Odonii priestesses fought and died defending the city's inner walls, notably filling command positions left vacant by slain or starved leaders and rallying citizens to the front lines.

The end of the siege was ultimately a pyrrhic victory for Godsmouth- the city was never actually taken but its population was starved and riddled with disease, its farmlands were burned, and its ports were destroyed. Finnerich forces retreated before reinforcements arrived after failing to break through the inner walls in time, but had succeeded in most objectives of severely wounding their historical enemy. It has been a source of collective trauma in Godsmouth since that point (it is now out of living memory, but vivid stories remain of seeing the dead eaten by dogs and the starving eating the dogs that ate the dead, watching family members succumb to disease and starvation, all while hearing the sounds of fighting draw closer and closer with no reason to believe that any help would ever come), but ultimately recontextualized as a victory, a turning point in the arc of modern history. (The Wardin-Ephennos-Godsmouth alliance, which formed in full as a result of this conflict, would become the triple state that conquered the rest of the region and formed Imperial Wardin).

The direct participation of Odonii in this conflict is heavily played up in the narrative as the order in its purest form as sovereignty incarnate, the priestesses bravely fighting for (what would turn out to be) the beginnings of the Imperial Wardi state. The 11 Odonii who died fighting in the siege have been bestowed sainthood and are memorialized in a series of guardian lion statue-shrines overlooking Godsmouth’s ports (in which their ashes and bones are stored).

---

The other instance of modern era Odonii engaging in conflict is significantly less romantic, occurring in the context of the Extremely failed second invasion of Finnerich.

During and after the rout that resulted in the Odomache's capture and killing, it became exceptionally clear to the Imperial Wardi forces that They Were Fucked. The conflict veered with REMARKABLE speed from being an attempt end the state's civil war between the Imperial Wardi-loyalist provincial puppet government and its rebelling northwest population, to a desperate struggle for Wardi forces to get out of Finnerich Alive. At this point it was assumed (fairly accurately) that any defeated party would be summarily executed, so most Odonii present ended up directly engaging in battle. Two are known to have died leading soldiers in a bid to retrieve the Odomache's body, others fought and/or died while defending the retreat.

A few Finn Odonii (women appointed as a local sect of the priesthood after the initial takeover) remained in the capital after the Wardi forces fucked off overseas, and were executed along with the rest of the installed loyalist government and priests (though it's unlikely that they were involved in any fighting, as the provincial government surrendered after the withdrawal).

Odonii veterans of the invading force have not fared well in the aftermath. Most of those who survived the ambush in which the Odomache was captured have ended up committing honorable suicide due to breaking vows in abandoning their leader in retreat, failing to retrieve her body, and/or being assaulted in capture. More have committed (ostensibly ritual, probably emotionally driven) suicide in the years that followed, with the knowledge that their leader's death and defilement and this severing of God's spirit has brought doom upon their land in the form of an unbroken drought and famine, and that they failed to prevent this. The priestess who was captured alive to witness the Odomache's death and released unharmed to report it was the first.

All this has opened some vacancies in the order's leadership, and given things a very somber tone. It is currently in debate as to whether the ones who died on Finn soil (particularly those who died attempting to retrieve their leader's body) should be canonized as saints or if it's a little too soon for all that.

[sordidmusings]

Buggy Headcanon: Comforting his partner on their appearance

A/N: headcanons requested by anon! Thank you for the request this one was really sweet. I hope it's what you wanted and I hope that you’ve been having better days ❤️

Word Count: ~800

Warnings: afab!reader (they/them pronouns), slight thirst for a bullet there but nothing explicit, gets very sappy but thats my shit so if you don't like it get ready to square up 😤

Get a dose of some love 🤍!!

~ ~ ~ ••• ✦✦✦ ••• ~ ~ ~

Buggy is your biggest fan, just like you are his

He’s always letting you know how highly he thinks of you, whether that be with compliments (usually crude or goofy ones), clinging to you (you’ve heard of velcro dogs, let me introduce you to Gorilla glue Buggy), and touching you with either reverence or greed

Most often, he'll try to take your mind off of it by joking around and acting dramatic

He'll let out an offended gasp. "You're insulting my favorite person in the whole wide world?? TAKE IT BACK."

He'll collapse onto the nearest surface, throwing the back of his hand to his forehead like a true thespian, and bemoan, "My love - my sweet, wonderful, breathtaking love - is the greatest fool. Grab the hat and shoes; they're saying they're ugly again."

"Uh, yeah, but you know what that's perfect for??" *blows raspberry on it*

The reverent touches come in best to ease your difficult days - the way that he traces eyes and fingers across you with awe makes it hard to disbelieve his attraction. He’s learned from your brushes and kisses on his nose that the best balm for insecurities is unflinching affection. 

He loves you deeply and that extends to all of you. Everyone has their favorite pieces of each other of course, but the few parts that he had started out indifferent to (due to his distraction towards your highlighted features) had also gained a rosy sheen because they’re yours.

There was a particularly bad day you had where no sweet words or cuddling would break through your low mood. He had you tell him every one of your insecurities so he could caress each of them with loving hands and tender kisses. You felt much more content at the end; he had proven that not a feature on you would have him hesitate or flinch away. It was quite the opposite actually - he fell in love with you more with each emotional wound you trusted to his care, and he only saw you as more beautiful as you in your totality came into focus before his eyes.

The greedy part of him takes any chance to squeeze at you. A lot of the time it's playful - a passing slap to your ass, a pinch at your waist before he jumps away laughing, a palm at your breast enjoying the feel as he moves by. But there are times where it’s more insatiable - a hungry mouth pressed against breasts and stomach and hips and thighs, grasping fingers sinking into soft skin along with nipping teeth.

While he isn’t the most comfortable with sentimental words, he is actually really great with them. They always hold more weight to you, because he saves them for when you need to understand the truth of his feelings.

It’s not that he never says affectionate things - “There’s my showstopper!”, “So pretty”, “That’s perfect, sweetcheeks” and “Love you, little star” were very common in your life - but he avoided waxing poetic because it made him feel vulnerable.

This is partly due to the exposure he feels at stating such emotions after fiercely shielding anything that could be hurt behind steel plating, partly because this is you so any rebuff could break him (he worries about this not because he questions your devotion, but because he questions his worth), and partly because he fears that his words and feelings are stupid and inane, especially in the face of your own troubles

His own devotion has him push past those fears, because he would do anything to see you at peace or happy and smiling.

After a day of playing, teasing, working, and loving with each other, you still found yourself bending under the weight of the negative voice in your thoughts. Buggy had noticed the sorrow dragging down your features and felt his own heart ache.

The transition to bed was slower than usual to make time for him to keep distracting you with gentle touches, delicate kisses, and helping hands easing your tasks.

You found yourself bundled in your favorite sleepwear and cradled against his chest. You had choked up a bit when he knew to choose these clothes for you and helped you change into them. Buggy may come off as only brash and chaotic a lot of the time, but he diligently saved away any information he could about you, using it to love you better.

When the comforting pressure of his arms, the soft swipes of his hands on your skin, and the lulling warmth of his body underneath you had replaced any harsh thoughts, you began slipping into a peaceful slumber.

Buggy noticed you moving on to dreams so he gifted you one last promise to take with you.

“I would take my chances with the depths of the sea to fall at your feet and worship every piece of you.”

@fanaticsnail tagging as requested ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡