#he basically belongs in the smith family

[thetimelordbatgirl]

How the mentions of the Smith family in Whotopia got me like.

[shreddedleopard]

I genuinely think William’s real name is actually still William, just with a different surname.

Hear me out.

#1 — irony.

Remember the omake where Bonde asks him and he’s got his ☺️ face ‘that’s a secret, heh heh heh.’

Lol William is the biggest mischievous jokester going. This would be his exact reaction if people were asking like 👀 omg what is it?? And all along he’s like, lol will.i.am guys, chill. No-one cares about your first name, it’s your surname which means anything around here. You’ve all been barking up the wrong tree. Which brings me on to my second point ~

#2 — symbolism.

I cannot scream enough about how bloody genius it would be for William’s name to be, in fact, just William, but with a more common surname like ‘Smith.’ For the purposes of this discussion, let’s call him William Smith. As an orphan, he gets adopted into the family Moriarty, where there is in fact another William: Master William James Moriarty. Immediately, you have two boys of similar ages with the exact same first names, highlighting how, in fact, they should be equal if we’re looking at their basic information and identifiers. But what is it which sets them apart, and is the very message and theme running through the heart of Yuumori? Class inequality. And what dictated your social class at the time, so very unfairly? Your family lineage.

The name of Moriarty is what gives Albert’s little brother his superior, privileged position in life, over William ‘Smith.’ And yet, they are both young boys, both Williams, both should have the same sort of start in life in the equal world our William wishes to create. But they do not; the moment they are given their surnames — the moment those are penned on the paper of their birth records following ‘William’, the chasm that divides these boys is immense and unfair.

#3 — interesting coincidences, hints and clues in the text.

• William loves Shakespeare — that’s part of his identity in the same way being a mathematician is. He quotes Shakespeare all the time, he grew up in a library and has all of the plays memorised. Shakespeare’s first name was also William. Additionally, Shakespeare’s birthday is believed to be April 23rd. William’s birthday is listed as April 1st — April Fool’s Day, and it has been confirmed that this is a fake birthday, so we don’t know his real one currently. (But my guess is it’s still in April).

• The Moriarty’s never call William by his name, pre-fire, but the children at his orphanage do, and they call him Will.

At the Moriarty house, he is on the receiving end of more hate than Louis; they seem to despise him to the nth degree. I wonder if this might be because he shares a name with their precious William, and this irks them. They refuse to call him by his name because that doesn’t belong to him, filth from the streets, it belongs to their beloved son who can do no wrong.

I can see a mother like Lady Moriarty refusing to call another boy by the name she gifted her son, especially when William reminds her that there is something she had in common with his own mother — someone who she would view as completely beneath her: they chose the same name. What a disgrace, to be associated or viewed as having a similar mind to a woman of such low standing!?

We also see William only ever call William Moriarty with the title ‘master’ in front, as though he also feels the need to make the distinction. This could just be because he’s trying to be polite, though. I could honestly dissect the entire first chapter panel by panel and highlight how William being William is such a simple but perfect concept which highlights this noble family’s insecurities, discrimination and narrow mindedness. William Moriarty feels the need to constantly reaffirm his own identity in the presence of our William.

Because … if they share full names now, with the adoption … the lines are blurring. What makes one William Moriarty superior to the other? A worrying thought indeed for this boy. (Answer: there is no difference, they’re both equally deserving of opportunities in life.)

It all makes such perfect sense and explains away the awkwardness of the writer having to avoid use of William’s name simply because ‘it needs to stay hidden to create the mystery.’ This gives the characters themselves reason within the text to avoid using it, which makes everything so much more authentic and real. It makes sense because it does, not because it has to for the plot.

• William promised not to steal anything. Twice, we see him reassuring and then reaffirming that he wouldn’t steal anything, and both times are in the presence of William Moriarty.

If we want to take this statement in light of names, and toy with that lovely device foreshadowing, William having always shared the same first name would in fact mean that statement holds true — he did not steal William’s name; it was always his own to begin with, and Moriarty was a name given to him as part of his adoption, the same as it was given to Louis. He really didn’t steal anything, despite the fact that he was probably made to feel guilty or worthless every day because of the name he shared with William Moriarty.

This also means that William probably never actively deceived any of the townspeople, either; it really was just a case of mistaken identity which he manipulated for his own cause.

The townspeople made the mistake, rather than William outright lying. William is, by trade, more of a master manipulator who turns situations to his advantage with his quick thinking, rather than straight up lying or deceiving people (see: The Merchant of London.)

• Sherlock saw his birth name but never mentions it. And still chooses to call him Liam. Yes, we might’ve had a conversation happen off screen. Yes, Sherlock might choose to do that because that name is sentimental and William has asked not to be called his true name for reasons unknown. But it would fit so beautifully if William really is his name, and Sherlock’s realisation that day when he read the birth records was that oh, so this — William ‘Smith’ — is Liam’s real name. Naturally, he would continue to call him Liam with no discussion needed, because it’s a shortened version of William.

• We have lots of characters who share the name William, but with different variations on the shortened version; another symbol of how people can be equal in some senses but also their identity can be individual to them also. William H Bonney is Billy the Kid, the mathematics genius William and Sherlock stumble upon in Durham is called Bill Hunt.

#4 — practicality and marketing.

People become attached to characters and their names, and there comes a certain point in a work where it’s very difficult to alter a character’s first name and still retain a fan base’s sense of identity for that character. Calling William say, Robert, from now on, or revealing that as his true name while we continue to see him referred to as William is all sorts of confusing, emotionally. Perhaps it’s just me. But the idea that I’ve been calling William the wrong name all along feels off and sad, whereas the knowledge that he’s at least been able to keep that part of himself consistent, when everything else has had to be an act, is actually really comforting and empowering.

I’d love to write another thought dump on why William being William all along is also, so very emotionally delicious when you explore the implications in the story; it’s heartbreaking and makes him an even more sympathetic character who I just wanna hug, so perhaps I’ll come back to this! Because re-reading those earlier chapters with this in mind really hurts so good.

He stole nothing; he was always the true William, that at least is one thing that always belonged to him — it was only society and us that dictated there was one William worth knowing more — was more interesting and held more narrative power — than the other.

This is still William’s story.

[empressgeekt]

HTTYD/Trolls - Crossover - Branch is Adopted by Gobber au

Okay, so people liked my Branch Winchester Au, so here's another one I've been stewing on for a while.

The au starts with a five year old branch running away from another horrible foster home in the newly settled pop village. he just wants to get away, be somewhere ....or more accurately the sea of HTTYD. Little Branch (now human) is left bobbing in the stormy sea, for who knows how long, eventually washing up on the shore of Berk.

At the next Dawn, young Gobber and Stoick would be walking the stony shore, just having a moment of peace between the noises of chiefing and working in the forge, and the never ending dragon raids. Stoick would be griping to Gobber about his and Valka's fertility issues, he's not mad at Valka, he's just worried that he won't get an heir before he's at the gate of Valhalla. Then they find a tiny body washed up on the rocks. The child is clearly not from berk, his hair like coal, and skin the color of tree bark. And somehow alive.

Strange appearance or not both Stoick and Gobber rush to Gothi with the child in hand. They get some odd stares from the village, but other then that they know to wait for an announcement on the discovery. Gothi sees the child right away, and after a few hours allows Stoick and Gobber (and Valka having joined them while waiting) into her healing hut to see the child. His wounds wrapped and bundled up near her fireplace. She scribbles into the dirt that she read the child, and that he was sent by a higher power to be raised as a berkian, after his own tribe and house wronged him greatly. Valka is immediately pissed off (stoick's in love), after all the child couldn't be more then five, what tribe and family could've possible done away with a child so young. Not to mention the fact that she and stoick had been struggling to conceive, only made the whole situation worse. Seeing his wife's distress Stoick immediately begins planning to take the boy in, but Gothi stops him, saying that while the boy was sent to be raised by them, he wasn't to be Stoick's child. When asked who the child belongs too, Gothi points to Gobber.

Gobber freaks out and says he can't handle a kid. He never got married for two reasons, and he only tells people one of them, and that was because of how much drama and worry a family can have. But still he's no match for the combine wrath of Gothi and Valka, and reluctantly, takes the child back to his hut to recover. Stoick stops by that night, with some mild mead, and let's Gobber vent. He does not understand why the gods would send him a kid, Gobber hadn't had a family since he's parents died when he was a teenager, and they never had any children other then him, so Gobber was the last of his house and he was fine with that. He had his job, he had his friends, he was fine. Stoick tries to be comforting, saying the gods must have a reason, and maybe he'd like the kid. That maybe the kid was always meant to be his, but since Gobber never married they had to get creative to get his son to him. Gobber is not comforted.

Branch wakes up three days later and he is terrified. The man he's staying with has a hook for a hand, peg for a leg, and the longest mustache that he'd ever seen. He spends the day hidden underneath his covers, wanting nothing more then to wake up in the warm forests of his home.

Gobber is at a loss of what to do with the obvious terrified child in his hut. What was Gothi thinking, he couldn't handle this. Eventually he resorts to luring Branch out with food, and manages to get the kid to talk over a bowl of stew, cause while Gobber is a great smith he is also a fantastic cook. The child's name is Branch which, given the color of his skin and the green tunic he was where Gobber finds very ironic.

It's awkward those first few weeks, Gobber is basically trying to figure out how to take care of a kid. Feeding, and making sure he's getting to Gothi on time for healing checks are things he can handing. Branch overall is a much calmer wee one then most of the children in berk, definitely a thinker (not that Gobber minds they need more thinkers on berk), but it still feels like there's a wall between them.

Branch is very confused, about everything. Gobber is nice, he doesn't make Branch feel like something is wrong with him. Gothi is weird, and she's weird about wanting to see his tongue, but she's gentle. His new Aunt Valka is very nice, but her husband is big and scary (much to stoick's dismay). It takes a little while but eventually, he gets comfortable enough to ask questions, and heals enough to leave the hut. The first day that Gobber takes him to the forge, Branch is immediately fascinated by metal work, much to Gobber's joy. The wall between them began to crack, as Branch paid close attention to everything Gobber said regarding to smithing. Eventually, Branch asks why they makes so many weapons. All Gobber said is to protect themselves. From what? Well Branch got his answer after an early winter hit berk.

One Night Branch would awaken to screams and the smell of smoke. Gobber is ready to run out to the forge to do his job during the raid, only this time he has a child to think about. He has no choice but to drag the child with him through the chaos and snuff him in the forge while the smith got to work. Branch is constantly asking what's happening, and all he gets in answer is two words "Dragon raid". At some point in the night, Gobber asks Branch to grab something for him, and needed to do something other then quietly stew in panic, Branch quickly becomes Gobber's fetch boy, and was put in charge of keeping the coals warm. The raid last until sunrise, and by the end of it, he just clings to Gobber's too exhausted to be scared. Gobber carries the child home to sleep, any wall between them now broken.

For the next year, Branch would continue to help Gobber around the forge, while at the same time learning to read, and once the boy had written Norse down, Branch ate up any book put in front of him. Gobber carrying him home every night after the boy would fall asleep while studying in the forge. Sometime in Feberary, his Uncle Stoick and Aunt Valka have a baby, and once deemed safe, Gobber and Branch are the first to seeing little Hiccup, and upon seeing the little loaf of fur and baby, Branch was sold, nothing would happen to this kid. Not on his watch. Gobber even lets Branch help forge the baby sized axe that Stoick requested for his son.

Then came one of the worst nights in Branch's life. The raid had been normal at first, Branch helping out in the forge like he had been taught. Until someone screamed about the Chief's hut being destoryed. Not thinking anything but that little Hiccup was in danger, Branch runs out of the forge towards the now burning out...only to see his Aunt Valka being carried off by a stormcutter. For a moment, it's not Aunt Valka, and it's not a dragon, it's Grandma and the bergen. Branch runs back to his hut with Gobber and begins to sob into his bed. Gobber would find him there curled up underneath the blankets, just sad and scared. Some how Gobber gets his boy to open up about his grandmother and Gobber does interperate it like Grandma was carried off by a dragon and not a bergen, but the message was the same even if the details were a little fuzzy. Gobber comforts Branch saying that he'll protect the child, always. This is the night that Branch starts calling Gobber Dad.

Stoick falls off the deep end right after Valka was taken, he goes on crazy month long blind searches for her, and Gobber goes with him to stop Stoick from doing anything more stupid. At some point Gobber has enough and starts to try and talk some sense into stoick, afterall they both have lads at home, and Stoick is missing his son's infant years. It hurts, but Stoick knows that Gobber is right, all that's left of Valka is Hiccup, Stoick needs to protect him now, and he couldn't keep Gobber away from his own son too.

While his father and uncle were away, Branch was put into the care of Gothi, Hiccup was sent to say with his aunt (Valka's sister and soon to be Snotlout's mom), but Gobber and Branch were the last of their house so Gothi was the next best thing. During those months, Branch tries not to be a bother, Gothi is pleased to have a set of hands nearby so willing to help, and like with smithing Branch would pick up on healing rather quickly. He even helps her with patients once's he capable enough.

Eventually though, the searches stop and Gobber comes home for good.

Years seemed to fly by after that, Hiccup grows scrawny, and is quickly made a target by his peers for bullying. Though, the Forge becomes a safe place, Branch has six years on the other kids, and they knew they can't mess with him. The smith's son does not tolerate bullying or teasing when he's working, especially when it comes to Hiccup. He can't hate the other kids though, after all their still kids being kids. One of them he even feels bad for, little Fishlegs clearly didn't want to pick on Hiccup but also didn't want to be bullied either. Branch will throw hands if it gets physical, however.

Though there's one kid that Branch has a special hatred for. Dagur. The berserker heir, is not someone that Branch initially gets along with, especially after a swimming trip that almost ended in Dagur drowning Hiccup. A bitterness between the two only grow from there, and it bring out this cruel protective streak that Branch didn't know he had. Something is wrong with Dagur, and Branch isn't sure what, but it makes the heir dangerous. And unlike the other kids, Branch doesn't intimidate Dagur because their closer in age, and Dagur did always have more muscle.

By the time the movie rolls around, Branch is a smith in his own right at the age of 20. He and Gobber work in the together, with Hiccup joining them after picking up and interest in inventing. A hobby that Branch also enjoys, together they come up with all sorts of gadgets though Stoick almost never lets them test them. Gobber's proud of his boy, though now Branch is his own man. His son is strong, smart and rather good looking, the few suitors Branch has on Berk look at him with a decent level of desire. Sure, Branch wasn't the usual beefcake of a viking, but his figure was lean and strong, the darker hue of his skin also gave him an air of mystery. However, Branch made it very clear he wasn't interested in any of them.

In the meeting hall,

"Trolls exist! They steal your sock but only your left one what's with that?"

"Dad, trolls don't steal socks, and you only have left socks. They keep vanishing when I do the laundry."

"Because trolls keep stealing 'em!"

*sigh*

Branch is the first one to meet Toothless after Hiccup shot him down. When Hiccup is sneaking through the forge after he and toothless got tied together. Branch spots them and follows them back to the cove. There Hiccup explains and begs Branch not to tell his dad, and Branch says he won't as long as Toothless won't eat Hiccup. He helps the younger boy and dragon get unstuck, before marveling at the rigging that Hiccup made for Toothless. Branch wants in, mostly because it could mean finding a better way to keep the people in the village safe. Together the boys, learn more about dragons by studying Toothless, theories and findings Hiccup tests in the training ring.

After the disaster of a final test, Branch tries to follow Hiccup and Stoick and ends up witnessing their fight, and Stoick disowning Hiccup. This cuts deep and Branch looses all respect for the chief. He says goodbye to Hiccup before they leave, saying they'll always be brothers. Branch goes with the others to raid the nest, only to keep his father safe however, the rest of the village Chief included can go burn for all he cared.

Sadly this does mean that Branch is out of the dragon riding part of the battle, but I do plan on giving him a dragon at some point. Not sure which kind though, I'm thinking maybe a sand wraith, or dramillion, or maybe just say screw it and partner him up with Light Fury. I think they could make a fun duo, loner grouch with a very snooty over grown cat, who very protective.

---

It's late I'm going to split this up.

[imsosillygoofylol]

TRIGGERED 2

Pairing: matt sturniolo x poc!reader

triggered

Synopsis: y/n helps a murder suspect not knowing what she got herself into.

Warning! death, mental illness, smoking, tattoos, blood, i THINK that’s it.

envy yaps: guys so basically nick is trying to tell me that matt wants me and that’s why they were watching edward sciccorhands. (don’t take this seriously im delusional 😋😓)

after what felt like a never-ending battle with sleep, tossing and turning. unable to find a comfortable position. your mind racing with thoughts, worries, making it hard to let your body relax. constantly checking the clock counting down the hours until you have to get up for class was frustrating.

you’ve never struggled with insomnia but tonight, the night that you had all to yourself. no work, no school work (mostly because you only went to one of your classes) you couldn’t seem to relax, let go and shut your head off. you could only think of nick, his family, the murder.

you seen the news when you got home, apparently the family was brutally slaughtered. only person left alive was matt sturniolo. after that you shut off the tv, not being able to take all of this in.

you didn’t know much about matt either, you definitely knew he was different from his brothers though. he never went to parties or atleast not the ones you would attend, he kept a small circle usually would only be seen with nick around campus. unlike his brothers, nick and chris were always at parties, with a big group of friends.

you tried your best to atleast get a couple hours of sleep. you tried drinking tea, smoking, even taking a melatonin gummy but there was no use. now you’re here restless getting ready to be interrogated by the police. luckily you’re day won’t be too long, you have one after noon class because the other one got canceled, and two appointments. you’re praying you’re home by eight.

as you’re driving to school you’re mentally preparing yourself and what you’re gonna say to the police. you can possibly be a suspect, you were one of the last people to see him. you start to get nervous, your heart starts racing. no they can’t think you could’ve done something like this right?

you start pulling into the school parking lot, full of police cars and officers. everything looked so dull, not a single smile on anyone’s face, the gloomy sky made everything feel a little worse.

you get out your car and walk to your class. you start to contemplate going back home, you can just say you didn’t feel good right? or wouldn’t that be suspicious.

you walk into class and sit in your usual seat, after fifteen minutes the professor finally announces. “good morning students, police are now taking students in for questioning. there will be no bathroom breaks!”

this actually can’t be real, you start to get nervous again. your heart racing and palms getting sweaty.

a police officer comes in and stands in front of the door. “good morning students, i need michael johnson, olivia anderson, y/n y/l/n, and sophia smith. follow me” he orders.

you grab your belonging and follow the officer, he leads you guys to an office. “sit here and wait your turn, michael come with me” he says.

you sit down outside the office with two other girls, you start fidgeting with your hands. “if they ask did you know him, you say no.” you didn’t know him, you knew of him. “if they ask the last time you seen him, say he came to a tattoo shop i work in, asked for a tattoo.” that’s all, the most they’d want is to see the camera footage. that really calmed you down, before you knew it, it was your turn.

“ms. y/n come with me!” the officer said. you followed him inside. “you can sit there.” you sit, your eyes start to trial off observing the officers and their names. “okay let’s get started, what’s your full name?” he asks looking up from his clip bored.

“y/n y/l/n sir.” you plainly respond trying your best to make eye contact. eye contact was hard for you, you find holding eye contact to be a little overwhelming, it just feels wrong.

“did you know nick sturniolo?” he questions, observing your every move while another officer picks up a note pad and a pen.

you start to think about his question , you didn’t know him you’ve only ever had one encounter with him. “no, i’ve seen him around school that’s about it.” you finally answer.

“is that it?” he asked writing something down on his notepad not bothering to look up at you.

“i mean yeah, we talked like once but i wouldn’t consider that knowing him.” you reply truthfully.

“and when was this?” he looks up.

“couple days ago.”

“please be specific ms. y/n .” his tone changed as he began to sit up.

“two days ago.” you muttered. it sounds so bad and guilty when you say it out loud.

“when and where?” a different officer spoke up, staring deep into your eyes.

“uh like around 12 am.” you pause for a moment gathering your words before you speak again. you were nervous again. “he came to the tattoo shop i work in, looking to get something done.”

“12 am?” he writes down. “that seems a bit late to be tattooing someone don’t you think?”

“i know but he asked and i have a hard time saying no to people.” you sighed adjusting in your seat uncomfortably.

“is it possible you can show us where?” he says writing something down on the notepad.

“yes of course, i work at 2:30 is that okay with you?” it’s gonna be fine right? this has nothing to do with you, all you did was tattoo him and you went home afterwards.

“mhm.” he mumbles. “what’s the address?”

you give him the address and you’re free to leave. it didn’t go that bad, you thought it was gonna be like some crazy integration where they yell at you until you confess or something.

❀᭢͏ུ  

you went on with you day as normal. when the time came you showed the police the camera footage, they took a copy and left. they said there was nothing suspicious so you assumed they ruled you out as a suspect.

“you don’t have nothing to do with that do you?” your manager isn’t really from here so she knows little to none of what has been going on. but it’s all over the news and social media she must know something.

“of course not, what makes you think i would?” now you’re worried, did you seem suspicious?

“i’m just kidding, can’t lose one of my favorite artists!” she chuckles trying to lighten up the mood. you let out a forced laugh before walking to your little room waiting for your next appointments.

it was around 7:40 pm when you were done with your last tattoo. you were done earlier than expected. it was hard being in the shop today, it felt like you were being suffocated, being so sleep deprived stressed was starting to mess with you. you tried your best to pull through and not fuck up anyones tattoo.

“bye rick, bye anna i’ll see you tomorrow!” you say leaving out the door. as you’re walking to the parking lot you hear yelling.

“fuck you murderer!”

“you’re a fucking piece of shit!”

“you’re a fucking sick animal!”

you keep your distance, until you see two men running away. you heard a distant groan as you walk closer, you heard some coughing coming from a man on the ground. you got closer he’s clearly bleeding. you stare for a moment, why do these things always seem to happen to you. you let out a heavy sign knowing you can’t leave him here like this. you bend down to get a clear look at his face.

it was matt sturniolo.

oh my god is this family here to haunt you or what. you start to tap him and try to get him to wake up. you try to get him to stand up a little maybe gain consciousness.

“please get up.”

you try your best to carry him to your car, put him in the backseat before someone can see. you start to pull out of the parking lot and drive home, watching him through the rear view mirror every couple seconds.

sitting in the parking lot of your apartment building thinking about how you’re gonna carry him up to your apartment without anyone noticing. you can just drop him off at the emergency room and they’ll figure it out. this can’t be real, this week must be some kind of fucked up dream.

you get out your car, pulling him out when you see your neighbor. you and him are good friends, you consider asking him for help.

fuck it.

“noah, can you help me please?” you call out for him.

“yeah, what’s up?” he says walking up to you. his face drops when he notices who’s in the backseat of your car literally passed out. “y/n what the actual fuck!” he whisper yelled.

“you have to help me please, he’s my friend and he was in a crazy fight and now he’s unconscious.” you plead.

“you owe me big time!” he helps you sneak matt through the back door of the building successfully without a single soul seeing you guys.

once you made it to your apartment, noah helped you clean him up, he got some clothes from his apartment to help change matt, and put a couple bandages on him. noah helped you lay him down on your couch for the night, making sure you check his breathing.

“thank you so much noah, i’m so sorry i just couldn’t leave him there to die.” this has to be the worst week ever.

“it’s fine, just get some sleep and call me if anything you know where i am.” he says dryly before turning to make his way to his apartment.

you close the door turning around, walking past your living room into your bedroom. you walk into your bathroom undressing yourself, thinking about this hell of a fucking week. why do you keep putting yourself into these situations? why can’t you just say no and mind your business?

after your shower you scroll on your phone, on social media you see multiple posts about matt. many of them being negative, why do people think he did it? you start going down a deep rabbit hole on the case. apparently he’s been “on the run” and ducking the police for his questioning.

what the fuck did you get yourself into. well there’s no proof he killed his family so you’re fine. you get up and lock your door just to be safe. your mom would go crazy if she found out you have a stranger in your house, a murder suspect. she would probably kill you before matt can. this reminds you, you seriously need to text your mom back.

MOM

I just seen the news about this family being murdered close to campus, are you okay?

Maybe you should come home for a while!

Y/N

mom i’m fine

it’s not a big deal

i have to focus on my studies i’ll visit soon

love you!

growing up your mom always said “don’t let people take your kindness for weakness” and that’s exactly what you always did. not that it was on purpose, you just had a good heart, always tried to see the best in people.

❀᭢͏ུ  

again like the past nights, you’ve gotten little to no sleep. this time because you kept checking up on the stranger on your couch making sure he doesn’t die. you were really hoping he wasn’t some crazy psycho, murderer. maybe he’ll spare you since you saved his life.

through out the night you were thinking about tying him to a chair so he wouldn’t do nothing crazy when he woke up, but what if he thinks you kidnapped him or something. you read the time on the clock before checking up on him.

7:35 AM

you sigh for the millionth time while walking down the hall to the couch. you hear shuffling and a quiet yawn. you keep your distance, if he comes running at you, you might have time to lock yourself in the bathroom.

he opened his eyes and started to look around before sitting up, his eye caught yours. you didn’t know how to react, you give him a half smile while walking closer to him.

“what is this? what’s going on?” he tries to stand up but groans at the pain. what the fuck does he mean what is this? does he not have a single memory of what happened to him last night?

you make a face before you even get to respond. “you got beat up, i didn’t know where to take you so i brought you here.” you give him a comforting smile, which wasn’t very comforting to him.

“they paying you for this?” his face emotionless as he looks done and traces his hands over his bruised stomach.

people obviously don’t know how to be grateful these days. you saved his life and he here goes thinking it’s about money, should’ve left his ass in that parking lot. “no, you were pretty beat up and i would’ve felt really bad leaving you there like that.” a nice thank you would be appreciated.

he didn’t even bother to look at you, just stared off at the ceiling like he didn’t care what you had to say. he was in his own world not caring that you were just standing there watching him.

he look at you for a second then stood up, wincing at the pain. he started to walk towards you which startled you causing you back up. “where are you going?” you asked giving him a confused yet scared expression. he didn’t say anything though, he was searching for something. he opened a closet looked inside then closed it, until he found the bathroom and went inside. walking around opening shit like he owns the place. a simple “where’s the bathroom?” would’ve been fine. what is it with rich people and not having manners?

you walk to the kitchen to put food in lunas bowl, you heard the toilet flush and the water run. you turn around and start pouring her food when you hear the door open. you start to think about work, where the fuck was he going to stay while you were out.

you turn back around. “what were you doing in the parking lot last night?” he sure wasn’t getting a tattoo if he was “on the run”. he doesn’t bother answering you, he laid his body back down on the couch and turns over.

you decide to let him sleep and find some clothes that’ll fit him. you find some grey sweats and a random blue hoodie. you let him sleep for another hour or two before waking him up. you tap his shoulder a couple times before you hear him groan. “matt you need to get up and shower, you also need to figure out where you’re gonna go i have work in a couple hours.” you watch him roll his eyes before he sits up, you hand him a towel and clothes before walking into the bathroom to start the shower. you bend over to start the shower turning it on hot but not enough to burn him.

you turn around and accidentally bump into him, he gives you the dirtiest look you’ve ever seen. “fuck sorry.” you walk out of the bathroom standing in front of the door. “also there a toothbru-“ he cuts you off slamming the door in your face. rude!

you make your way to your bedroom picking out an outfit. you had four scheduled appointments today, it wasn’t horrible and it’s saturday, you won’t be home too late.

you sat on your bed thinking about your week, what if you would’ve said no to nick? what if you just kept him a little longer in the shop, maybe had a conversation? would he still be here? and as for matt, he’s honestly rude as fuck. not a single thank you has came out of his mouth. should’ve just left him to rot on the ground.

you’re pulled out of your thoughts when you hear footsteps approaching your room door. you know it’s matt but you can’t help but feel bad for him. his family was murdered. some people react different ways, maybe he just doesn’t want to show he’s hurt. that doesn’t excuse the lack of manners though.

“are you hungry? i could order or cook something for you before i leave.” he stands there with an annoyed expression on his face. for what reason? you’re just trying to be a nice host, there’s no need for all this hostility.

“i’m fine, i’m leaving i have somewhere to be.” he turns walking away. where the fuck does he have to be, is he not literally avoiding the police.

“where are you going?” you pause following him. “are the police not literally looking for you?”

“it’s whatever, i don’t want to be here.” he turned to look at me.

what the actual fuck is wrong with him. after you saved him this is how he acts? his words hurt you a little, more than you would admit. he’s a stranger why should you care what he says. you can’t help but think if you did something to make him not wanna be here or something.

“that’s actually crazy, i really could’ve left you to there die but i didn’t. i helped you and this is your way of thanking me? literally in worst way possible, but it’s fine you can leave… i wont care when they arrest you.”

his eyes narrow. “what are you implying?” he stood there waiting for your next words, taking a step closer to you.

you take a step back. “i’m not implying anything.” you raise an eyebrow. you weren’t trying to upset him, just warn him about his decision. he literally got beat the fuck up for something no one knows if he even did.

“really? cus it sounds like you think i did it.” his jaw clenched, he’s visibly annoyed. there’s no reason to jump to conclusions, those words simply never came out of your mouth.

“i never said that, all im saying is maybe you should just go to the station and get questioned. then everything will kinda go back to normal.” you’re honestly just trying to help there’s no reason for him to be acting this way. this explains why he doesn’t have any friends.

“back to normal!?” he raises his voice which causes you to flinch. “my family is dead!” you didn’t mean it that way. why can’t he just understand you’re trying to help.

“i didn’t mean it that wa-“

he interrupts you once again. “what the fuck is wrong with you, how did you mean it huh?”

“i’m sorry.” you voice very low avoiding his eyes. you felt bad your wording is obviously making him feel some type of way, the last thing you want to do is point fingers. he’s probably already going through enough and you adding on it probably making him feel awful.

he observes you, his eyes moving around your whole body. you started to feel a bit uneasy, the silence made you uncomfortable. “i didn’t mean to make you feel bad, im truly sorry. i just think you should get questioned so something like that,” you point to the very visible bruises on his face. “doesn’t happen again, and if you don’t have a place to stay youre welcomed here.”

he stays silent taking a seat on the couch again. bring his hands to cover up his face as he thinks. you take this opportunity to walk back to your room and get ready for work.

you don’t understand why he’s being so complicated, you helped him and it’s fine if he doesn’t want to be here or even listen to you but he doesn’t have to come off so harsh. you didn’t want to let this ruin your day. you gather your things and start walking down the hall.

“fine, i’ll go.” you stop and your eyes meet with matt.

“hm?”

“i’ll go get questioned but im not staying here for more than a couple days.” he says standing up walking toward you. “but not today tomorrow is good yeah?” he voice softer than before. he had time to think about the situation and thought your suggestion was best.

“okay, you can stay tonight. there’s food in the fridge i’m sure you can figure something out.” you grabbed you keys and start walking out the door. “i’ll be home later tonight.”

but before you can fully close the door you hear matt mutter a “thank you”. you can’t help but smile to yourself. the smile quickly fades away when you remember he can possibly be a murderer. you really have to stop letting these things happen to you.

❀᭢͏ུ  

envy yaps: hellloooo erm this was supposed to be posted like 3 days ago but i didn’t like it so i rewrote it lol. guys i need matt bad like so cutie pie bbg princess like stoppppp!!!

🏷️’s @tastesousweet @ghostlythinggoingaround @junnniiieee07 @stasiesturn @keerahsturn @matty334455

comment if you want to be added lol!

[nyastri]

Hello! I would love to hear about your modern au 🥺

Aw thank you! First off I should cover the basics.

The chain are all related, but divided into three families:

-Time, Twilight, Wild are brothers, raised by Grandpa Deku with the help of Uncle Rusl

-Warriors, Wind, Aryll are siblings, Warriors basically raised the family until Grandma took them in

- Sky, Legend and Hyrule (they're twins :D) and Four are brothers, raised by their Uncle Alfon until he died, and were then taken in by Grandpa Smith

If they don't belong to the same family, then they're cousins. They're all still close though.

If anyone would like to know more please ask, I'd be happy to respond!

[energysoda]

(ok so I got this ask awhile ago and responded to it but at the time my autistic ass didn't realize that it was prob a way of asking for like more of a piece of writing, and rn I feel like writing about it soooo yeah let's go)

CW: William Afton behavior (possessive, murderer, toxic, etc), sexual themes (nothing explicit, but I would give it a mature rating)

Sugar Daddy William Afton with a Goth Transmasc Partner Headcanons

You guys met each other in a music store, you were looking at an album and caught William's attention with your sense of style-- he found it intriguing

"I've heard about that band, are they any good?" He asked you, more of as an excuse to talk to you but there was some truth to it, he had heard about the band of the album you were looking at

At first you're kind of caught off guard, like why is this handsome older stranger talking to you, but you answer truthfully about the band since you assume that's probably the only reason he asked

After a while of small talk he ended up asking you out for dinner sometime which REALLY baffled you, but you ended up agreeing and that was the start of your somewhat unconventional relationship with him

When you found out he was the co-owner of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, you were really surprised and kind of starstruck since you were actually really fascinated about the case and the potential ghosts

Sometimes he considers confessing what he did, but realistically he holds himself back... He'd also make plans to create an animatronic for you to haunt just in case anything happened, having to kill you or otherwise

You introduce him to some goth bands and he actually ends up really liking some of them (Mf likes The Smiths, also The Cure tbh)

He likes how when he talks about more morbid topics like death or whatever how it doesn't turn you off, and how you actually are quite engaged in the conversation

Pays for your university tuition, your rent, etc

Would fund your entire transition, like if you wanted to go on testosterone or get top surgery or bottom surgery-- anything you wanted he would insist on covering it for you

Also like goes crazy with buying you new clothes, accessories, makeup, the works basically. he likes seeing you dressed up in things he got you it drives him absolutely wild

In general he likes to spoil you with gifts, expensive dinners, etc. (though you do have to work for it at least a little yk)

Insists on driving you everywhere (and probably would break your car so you have to rely on him)

When you came out to him as trans he was surprised since he's never really known a trans person before let alone been in a relationship with one, but this new information didn't affect how he sees you at all and he makes that clear

Sex goes crazy

Bro will praise you and degrade you at the same time fr

If you're wearing lipstick that is transferable and are around him, you bet that his neck and face are gonna end up being covered in lipstick marks and he honestly loves it

DEFINITELY has a big thing for marking you up, like he likes making it known that you belong to him (this can be in various ways: hickies, jewelry he gave you, etc)

He doms most of the time but once on a blue moon he lets you dom

He likes teasing you, especially if you get flustered easily

This old man is so horny omfg like bro is down bad for you

Sometimes when you're alone with him he lets you give him a makeover

Definitely have gone on romantic walks in graveyards together

He is literally obsessed with you, like a concerning amount

If anyone harasses you OR flirts with you, they mysteriously go missing, that's kinda crazy I wonder what happened

Have any transphobic family? Not anymore <3

Literally if someone even looks at you wrong, he will have something to say about it

After sex he surprisingly likes to cuddle, and sometimes you guys just sort of talk about life or whatever random thing before falling asleep in each other's arms

he's more cuddly when he's sleepy, it's kind of sweet

Ok I'm done with ideas, hopefully that is satisfactory for u guys

[sugarsnappeases]

kara i need to know more about rodolhov plsss

fae my darling this is my favourite can of worms in my collection thank you so much for asking me to open it <33

okay so a bit of antonin backstory… for me he’s like ten/fifteen years older than rodolphus (who’s around bella’s age imo. born early 1950s) and he comes from a long line of russian pureblood aristocracy so his family lives in russia and he went to durmstrang. so when tom was on his little world tour, post borgin and burke’s hepzibah smith debacle, he meets antonin, like circa 1965.

and antonin obvs is big on the dark arts (which is cultivated at durmstrang) and i personally think he’s super into like spell-crafting and digging into Magic itself and the way it works (source: the unidentified purple spell he uses on hermione in the battle of the dept. of mysteries. i think he made it himself) and that would’ve appealed to tom who wants to know Everything Ever so they like keep in touch. and when tom is back in england and putting pieces into place for his war, i reckon he gives antonin the pitch and it works, so antonin is also one of the earlier death eaters, roughly around the same time as rodolphus…

now getting properly into it!! i think by dint of them both joining around the same time there’s just this immediate tension between them, immediate visceral hatred. like antonin thinks that rodolphus is an entitled, talentless wanker who’s only been allowed into the death eaters bc of his surname and his money. rodolphus thinks antonin is a stuck-up, pretentious arsehole who’s sticking his nose in places where they don’t belong (namely wizarding britain’s politics).

so everything they do starts just being in order to one up the other. they’re making snide comments about each other in all the death eater meetings. they’re fantasising about killing each other whenever they’re out on raids etc etc (and we’re gonna ignore the like. secrecy vibes of the first war and the fact that most of the death eaters wouldn’t have known who else was a de. to me ant and rodo both climb the ranks fairly quickly and in the inner circle there would’ve been less emphasis on the masked vibe bc basically everyone would know each other anyway)

in my little canon one-shot that i’ve been very slowly writing since like. october. the catalyst that turns their enemies into enemies who fuck is voldemort sending them on like an extended mission just the two of them. and they’re trying to make each other look bad the entire time, maybe trying to kill each other a little (‘i can say you just died on the mission, you’re replaceable sweetheart, the dark lord won’t mind’) and eventually, inevitably, the tension reaches a boiling point and they just have to fuck it out

it’s very violent, and bloody and obvs a complete secret, and in many ways for rodo it serves as another little outlet for his anger, and all his suppressed desire yk the vibe, and it’s about the power dynamics and who’s winning their game, and antonin has this whole thing about bella (‘does your crazy wife fuck you like this, roddy?’ <- calling him roddy bc that’s what bella calls him, always mocking) and rodolphus always punches him when he insults her, and it’s all very sadomasochistic and it drives me insane they’re my boyysss. my actual boys. they’re like my main mlm ship i think and i’ve been keeping them in my heart for so long, it feels so good to let them be free

[cherrygorilla]

Zack's Basic Info

As seems to be a recent theme with me, I really struggled coming up with faceclaims for Zack. I think Chosen Jacobs (first pic) is the one that feels the most right in my head, but I could see the others (Miles Brown, Noah Gray-Cabey and Jaden Smith) all working well in their own ways too. No one else seemed to be able to get that mischievous grin of his right lol.

Name: Zackary Ghalen Davis - his mom named him Ghalen, meaning calm in Ghanaian, because he was such an easy, quiet baby. But then he learned how to speak and she's never had a moment of peace since.

Nicknames: He pretty much solely goes by Zack. He'll occasionally get a (very cringeworthy) 'Zacky boy' from his dad, and, in the very few interactions he's had with Ethan, he's had 'Zack-attack'. But 99.9% of the time it's just Zack. 

Age: 14

Date of Birth: 30th of November

Zodiac: Sagittarius

Birthstone: Topaz

Nationality: American, Ghanaian and Greek

Sexuality: Straight

Birthplace: St Anthony's Hospital, St Petersburg, Florida

Current Residence: Pelican Drive South, St Petersburg, Florida

Occupation: Middle school student and a newspaper delivery boy

Talents/Skills: Karate, basketball, having insanely good aim (not used for many things thus far in life other than crushing at paper football games in class), never failing to make his friends (especially Bentley) laugh, packing away ungodly amounts of food (his portions are HUGE if he has any control over it), and knowing many, many random facts, mostly about dinosaurs

Birth Order: Middle of 3

Siblings: Jordin Nicole Davis (17) and Angelo Cameron Davis (9)

Parents: Jamal Dimitri Davis and Effia Morowa Davis 

Signature:

Height: 5' 10'' when he's fully grown, but 5' 4'' for now.

Race: African American

Eye Colour: Dark brown

Hair Colour: Dark brown

Glasses or Contact Lenses: Neither

Distinguishing Features: He's almost always got some sort of pen ink on his hands where he's scribbled something down he needed to remember, a weird little squishy lump of skin from where his stitches didn't heal properly after he fell off a skate ramp and took a gnarly chunk out of his knee, and a slightly chipped front tooth from that very same incident.

Mannerisms: Compulsively needs to fill silences with senseless ramblings, unbelievably loud snoring, cracks his knuckles at every available opportunity, and almost always stands with his hands in his pockets.

Health: He’s lactose-intolerant but he does not give a fuckkkkkk lmao - if anything, it just encourages him to eat more dairy. But besides that, nothing really, he's pretty healthy. His mom wouldn't hesitate to (lovingly) diagnose him as a lazy-ass though - and she'd probably pull him up on his terrible posture whilst she’s at it. 

Hobbies: Skateboarding, karate, picking arguments with Kona, binge watching horror movies, eating through entire family size bags of chips in one sitting, collecting random stickers (which he covers like 90% of his belongings with), and wasting all his allowance at the arcade.

Greatest Flaw (in their opinion): How argumentative he is. He has very strong opinions and is super strong-willed, which can be a good thing, but can also make things really difficult when he runs into someone who disagrees with him. He can take it really personally and get really fired up, even if it's not that big of a deal, just because it's hard to process other people's views. Sometimes he doesn't even care what it is he's arguing about; sometimes he just likes playing devil's advocate because he likes to debate with people. His mom always pulls him up on it though, because sometimes his enthusiasm for challenging others can come across as rude, which is never usually his intention. 

Best Quality (in their opinion): His passion. Even though it can land him in trouble sometimes, and brings out his biggest flaw, he is proud of how much he dedicates himself to the things he believes in. He never half-asses things he cares about, he'll put his all into it no matter what. And that extends to his relationships too - he'll stick by his friends through anything, and will defend them until he's blue in the face if he has to. He can be perceived as lazy because of how laidback he seems, and can be lazy when he wants to, but if he wants to do something, whether that's for himself, or for someone he cares about, he won't be able to focus on anything else until it's done.

Biggest Fear: Dying. One of his cousins died in their teens and the shockwave of grief it sent through his whole family really freaked him out. He wasn't necessarily super close with the guy, but he'd spent a fair amount of time with him at family gatherings growing up, so the abruptness of his death really shook him up and changed his whole perspective on life. He very much adopted that 'needs to live life to the fullest' mindset, which is probably why he can come across as a little overbearing and intense sometimes. And he can act rather impulsively, but he'd rather that be the case than living with regrets if that looming cloud of grief were to come and swallow him whole again. 

Hogwarts House: Gryffindor

Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: Rocky Road

Favourite Colour: Red

Favourite Number: 3 - one of the many reasons as to why the triceratops is his favourite dinosaur

Favourite Movies: Nightmare on Elm Street, The Karate Kid, or The War of The Worlds (yes, he and August geek out over it together, and yes, it's adorable)

Favourite Songs: You Should Be Dancing by the Bee Gees, School's Out by Alice Cooper, It's My Life by Bon Jovi, and One Love by Bob Marley

A place they want to visit: Egypt, he's got a real fascination with the Great Pyramids so he'd love to be able to see them in real life.

[cloveroctobers]

southern delicacy — RIO x OC x ARMAN MORALES

A/N: I’m going through my list (If i don't give up and redirect the writing to something else lmao! I’m always changing just like the seasons Chile!), so hang on for the ride if you’re up with me! GIFS DO NOT belong to me! Also if you’re into r&b: stream Jai’Len’s album which this was inspired by along with Anna Nicole Smith’s documentary on Netflix + any other celeb documentary—and mystery documentaries that’s out there basically & I can’t wait to see Donna Summer’s soon so anyways!! Feels like the wrong choice of words to say, I hope you enjoy this but…

“One sip of this southern drank and you’ll definitely want another round,” Sahra laughs which is then echoed by the camera crew as she sits in her chair gathering the waves of hair to rest down her shoulder, “but only I get the say so if you deserve another glass." The producer asks, "Is it safe to say Rio and Arman received that chance?" A playful glint shined through her deep brown eyes for a moment as she says, "Question them in a few years to see if they're still talkin' about me honey."

Somali-American Model, Actress, and niece of Business Mogul Omar Elmi: Tissa Sahra Elmi known professionally as SAHRA who's been reported missing since April 18th 2023 is now pressumed dead as of May 8th 2023.

She was 33 years old.

SAHRA was born Tissa Sahra Elmi on July 30th, 1989 in Dahlonega, Georgia to Somali-born Maxamed, a Otolaryngologist and Tanya (nee. Wells) Elmi, a former meteorologist. She was the only child the two shared together and had two older half siblings from each parent. Elmi was later raised in Atlanta, Georgia around the age of three years old since both of her parents found better job oppournities and a better sense of a environment for Elmi to grow up in.

Maxamed often says that he knew Sahra would be special from the first moment she learned how to walk, "She made a show out of taking her first steps, chubby knees buckling but still holding strong. She enjoyed the praise she got from her mother and I. From then on, with everything that she did, she got a kick out of it."

Elmi started out in children beauty pageant’s at local malls at the young age of eight, winning most of her competitions and not taking the ones she lost to heart. Her mother recalls the first one Elmi lost, holding her breath as she waited for the sign of defeat to appear on her daughter's face up on stage...but it never came. "I'm not worried, mommy. I still have time to show them better," was what the then ten year old said as her mother embraced her on their walk back to the car.

"She was too damn smart but confident for her own good," Tanya laughs.

From there Elmi gained the attention of a fashion recruiter, which Tanya was reluctant to get in contact with, "You cant just trust anybody, especially with your child," She says recalling the day the woman handed her a business card. Soon Elmi got the chance of doing photoshoots, runways, and soon had a agency that wanted to work with her full-time at just sixteen years old. Once she signed, her fame was just beginning and seemed to be on-going once it became knowlegde of who her uncle was.

"I was respected enough for people to be aware that I wouldn't take any wrong doings brought to my family, especially a young woman who was coming up in this industry. I love my neice dearly and always wanted what's best for her but I knew I wouldn't always be around." Omar Elmi tells the camera, his words holding just enough weight of what the reality was like for young people growing up in the limelight.

SAHRA found success in the modeling world after finding her place in a agency and spoke out against the colorism and weight restrictions placed on women of color.

Eighteen soon to be nineteen year old Sahra once spoke at a 2008 fashion event, “What I’m speaking on shouldn’t be viewed as a controversy, it’s f—king human decency to let women showcase exactly who they are with no limit to their shades and sizes. I’m physically changing as I step into my adulthood and was dropped once certain designers found out my exact measurements, like how boring is that? I’m too plus sized for you because I’m not shaped like a pogo stick? This is my body and I’m doing you a favor showing how a high-end outfit looks on a body like mine, so it’s their lost. If they keep messing with me I’ll build my own agency, for women, for all people who know what it’s like. see how they like that taste, huh?”

Once she stepped into her twenties she gained her first ever supporting role in a No. 1 box office Drama/Romance film, “The Southern Gothic Hour.”

“I plan on telling as many stories as I can for as long as I live.” A twenty-one year old Sahra beams as she walks the red carpet in a floaty pastel dress, hurrying to get inside to the movie award show.

Elmi kept very busy after her first movie role, continuing her modeling career and was on the cover of vogue magazine, vogue Arabia, and Vogue Italia, for three months straight. She later went on to star in three sitcoms before working on her second major film. By then another controversy was brought on surrounding the Somali actress.

“Aren’t you embarrassed that by being involved with two men at the same time is going to ruin the image you’re building for yourself?” The paparazzi intervene as they follow a twenty-five year old Sahra to the airport.

She stops short after that question, turning to the flashing cameras, “that’s just a piece of my life that you’re dyin’ to tell the world while I’m just living in it. Living in my life with two gentlemen who want to spend time with me and reciprocate some love in return. We understand the nature of the relationship and that’s what matters. Not you or anybody else. I’m having fun in love and what are you doing? Chasing me down to throw some dirt on…well it looks like you failed, aren’t you embarrassed?”

Both Rio and Arman knew not to trust the headlines, especially once they got involved with a public figure but the both of them had a feeling that there was some truth this

Arman was the one to reach out to Rio first, unsure if this information was even true. It wasn't in his nature to keep up with the tabloids-even when he was involved with Tissa-SAHRA (as the world knew her) but it was his wife, Nadia who brought it to his attention, with a tablet in her hands.

He tried to brush it off as fake news but once his own phone started to blow up with tweets and phone calls requesting for comments...Arman found his breathing to suddenly be weak and got to his feet, pacing the outline of the mosaic pool with his phone pressed tightly to his ear.

"Yeah," Rio answered after what felt like the thirteenth ring, sounding as if he was on the move.

"What the fuck is she playing at?" Was the first thing that flew out of Arman's lips.

Rio paused, "Well hello to you too, Mr. Morales."

"Now's not the time for your bullshit either, Rio. Have you talked to her before she disappeared? Is this some big scheme: faking her death just to keep the universe talking? To get us talking? I told her once before she shouldn't play around like that."

"Nah, man it's true. At least the whole presumed part, in their eyes.”

Now was not the time to be vague.

"What?" Arman questioned, "If you're the reason why she’s gone asswipe, just say that—

"Whoa, what we're not gonna do is put this on me when your hands aren’t exactly clean either. You clocked out not too long ago to be with your wife instead. Now you’re here on my line asking about another woman."

"You and I both know she wasn't just that." Arman held the skin in between his brows, "...just tell it to me straight, what do you know and how do we take care of it?"

Sahra was twenty-four when she met Rio first in the summer time, out in the Oak Bluffs where her and her family were vacationing at her uncle's estate that Rio ended up doing business with.

Sahra knew of him through some chatter her uncle talked about over dinner, he liked to inform everyone of all kinds of guests that would be in attendance to this extravagant event but all Sahra cared about was getting dressed up and flirting her way through the night until she got bored and headed out to the beach.

She never expected a conversation about Cape Town to get her connected with Rio.

Never expected him to the type of man who enjoyed going out on dates

and that man sure knew how to plan the most romantic dates.

It felt natural with him and on the oak bluffs was the best kind of privacy Sahra could ask for.

Sure Rio’s seen Sahra’s debut film and instantly recognized her at her uncle’s event but it’s not like he was on some fanboy shit.

He kept that quiet and it only became knowledge once they were friendly.

“I admire everything that you do and are, don’t ever let anybody disrupt that—not even me.” Rio told her as the lounged on the sand, one night, perched on his elbow, focused only on her while Sahra stared out at the sparkling navy ocean.

Amusement was in her eyes as he lightly gripped her chin to face him, “Are you gonna kiss me now, Christopher?”

Rio smirked, long-lash brimmed eyes shifting from her mouth to her eyes, “don’t mind if I do, reina.”

Three months in a beachy but peaceful town surely sounded overkill to Sahra—well it used to in her teen years but it seemed to be everlasting with Rio around.

He departed the island a week before Sahra said her, “see you later’s,” to her family and returned to the stage which happens to be the device you’re probably holding in your hand right now

. Of course she kept her stories updated here and there

But never placed her time with Rio out there!

(She thought about it, posting a intimate moment on her more…raw and uncut insta that she kept on private and only allowed 30k+ to follow her on. Mostly it was just for her friends and close family members that she hung out with but soon supporters came across it. So on private it had to go—you don’t want to know the amount that sat in the pending section let’s just say that)

Why would she ever do that when she wasn’t sure if this was strictly casual or not? It’s like not she heard much from him anyways with him in Detroit and her going back and forth between New York and Georgia.

It’s wasn’t until early October that she went to Vegas to celebrate a friend’s birthday at this well-known club, where she met another business man who went by the name of Arman.

He immediately approached her and her friends, ensuring that they were having a good time and made sure their drinks were placed on his tab—only if Sahra got on the dance floor with him.

Sahra didn’t know what it was with these business men but they always seemed to be somewhere lingering.

“Do you own this place?” Sahra asked, already taking his warm hand as he helped her down from the stool.

“Just cut a deal with the previous owner, so in short terms: soon.”

Literally meaning cut— it’s was a whole bloody mess but Arman always cleans up well and Sahra certainly didn’t need to know the details, considering this is their first time meeting!

“We love a man about his business.” Sahra stated, “Congratulations, Arman.”

“Thank you, sweetheart. I have a feeling that means something coming from you.” Arman let the woman lead him to the dance floor.

She smiled at him over her shoulder, “don’t thank me yet. There’s still plenty of world out there to take over.”

“So, are you telling me you’re a taker?” Arman whispered down into her ear, one hand wrapped around her torso while she sunk into him, arm tossed up and over his shoulder.

“Maybe, it all depends on how this planet chooses to treat me.” Sahra spoke as they began to move in sync to the beat, her back pressed directly to his front.

She remembers how comfortable she felt in his arms that night. How the scratch of his facial hair touched the brown skin of her neck and how tender his hold on her was.

“How do you plan to treat me?” She asked and she could feel him smile from above.

“Like you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

And that granted him a kiss so good, he was a bit weak in the knees.

Arman had to stabilize himself on her despite him engulfing her with his slightly taller frame.

She let him. And found that she often enjoyed the weight of Arman over her body.

Her friends were disappointed that she didn’t go home with Arman but she did take his number and there were others that took pictures and videos that circulated the internet

Which was also brought to a certain summer fling’s attention…

Her phone rings as she’s outside the club, her group of friends drunkly screaming a mashup of Tinashe’s, “2 on” and Beyoncé’s, “Drunk in love” she wasn’t sure how they managed to do that but it didn’t sound half bad as they all waited for a Uber.

“Tell my stand-in he shouldn’t bother waiting on your call since I should be the first one you dial.” Rio’s smooth slightly raspy voice was heard as Sahra plugged her other ear to hear him better.

Sahra laughed, “Aw, should I be flattered that you’re watching me all the way out here? What? Are you actually our Uber driver tonight? The phone works both ways, i was starting to think you lost my number.”

“Even if I did, it’s not like me to forget something so significant. I’ll be seeing you next week, brunch on me. And if I hear that you entertained that pushing forty looking cornball, it’s gonna be a problem.”

Sahra was left with a dial tone and a snicker at that.

No man gets to tell her what to do, especially a man who wasn’t her boyfriend.

It was also thrilling to wonder what Rio was gonna do if she went “against” him.

Sahra was a free woman whether Rio liked it or not. It was funny that he was keeping up with her although they haven’t talked in almost two months.

So the next day she went out to dinner with Arman a few hours before her flight back to the east coast.

Arman wasn’t pushing forty. He was only seven years older than Sahra and she was grown, it wasn’t a issue or concern for her. She figured she would end up being with someone older than her anyways.

Rio was four years older than her and you never saw her cracking on his years around the sun…but how did he get access to Arman so quickly when Sahra just met him?

“Business men”

Her interactions with Arman seemed to get more publicized than her relationship with Rio (they were smooth criminals with it, literally 1 out of the 2 but you already knew that) and it didn’t bother Rio—at the start.

It was adrenaline inducing, fiery, and lust filled with Rio. He quickly became a lover and his jealousy definitely showed. He didn’t want Sahra to even think about Arman with his hands and tongue all over her body

making sure to leave his marks that the makeup artists had to rely on photo editors to completely remove them before they were fresh off the press.

Sure Arman was the question mark in the public eye but Rio knew what it was behind closed doors.

The paps didn’t have much information to go off of in the first place since they all lived on different sides of the map but Rio didn’t mind taking flights to be laid up with Sahra.

Yet it was never discussed what they were, although it felt obvious on his part.

Until he decided to pop up and find Arman there in NY, fixing himself a whiskey in Sahra’s kitchen.

“Uh uh,” Rio was ready to put a bullet right in this man’s chest, “think you missed the exit to the club, about three miles back.”

Arman huffed, “Don’t think so, Rio. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”

He already didn’t like this dude and it only amplified with the way he said his name so freely.

“It damn sure ain’t here, man.” Rio’s eyes were in slits at how comfortable Arman was in this Manhattan condo.

Arman raised his hands at the space around them, smug as he raised his glass, “I’m sorry but I’d have to disagree.”

Before Rio could say anything else, the slapping of slippers entered the white and nude modern kitchen. His eyes remained locked on Arman, itching to punch that smile right off his face, while some arms circled around his waist along with a chin pressing into his shoulder.

“You made it,” Sahra’s soft voice announced as Rio finally turned to her to press their lips together, eyes shooting back to Arman’s as he tried to slip his tongue into her mouth.

Arman tilted his head to the side, simply analyzing but expression remained neutral.

Sahra stepped back with a squeeze of Rio’s sides, “No need to show off, you both know what I like and it’s not a competition.”

“I’mma need some clarification, Reina. What’s the bozo in the tight blouse doing here during our quality time? I thought that was squashed.” Rio jabbed his thumb at Arman who rolled his eyes.

Arman muttered, “it’s clear communication isn’t the strong suit on your side of the relationship. She wanted us both here to propose the bright idea of us being a trio.”

“I’m not letting this dude anywhere near my shit, that’s for you only. You know that.” Rio was firm with his response and wasn’t sure what Sahra was on at this point.

This would turn out to be false once he revealed his attraction to a certain preppy busty strawberry blonde a little down the timeline of their soon to be poly relationship but—just make that a side note if you will!

“Listen it’s just a thought since I’m actually getting tired of having the both of you as my sides—

“Your what?” Arman immediately furrowed his brows, which clearly irked his nerves just as Rio felt that familiar itch to start knocking shit over.

Sahra raised her hands in surrender, “whew! Sorry honey bee’s, wrong choice of words. There isn’t a third option or anything like that, I’m just sayin’ I’m with the both of you majority of the time and I know you men are smart enough to figure that I wasn’t going behind your back about it—

“Well that’s a lie because I told you from the jump I wasn’t feelin’ him.” Rio told Sahra, who let out a sigh.

Arman barked, “The names Arman. My name, learn it and use it. Properly.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Rio sized him up with a shove of his hands into his pockets, unfazed.

Sahra let out a low whistle at the rising tension in the room before saying, “okay just hear me out—there’s already been some talk about Arman and I. Slowly it’s back on the rise on the gossip blogs and channels since he’s been here for about a week now but we’re been sorta careful. Half of my heart feels extremely tied with his and then there’s the other side that wants to be around yours Rio. So it just makes sense to at least see what you two think about being in a relationship with me at the same time. It’ll be a union.”

Arman’s eyes shot back to Rio’s at this, brows raised. It was clear she’s been thinking about this for some time and the fact that he’s already been here for a week probably listening to her tell him this, didn’t sit right with Rio.

“I don’t think your part-time lover likes me enough to share.” Arman informed Sahra, hand going up to caress her back.

Rio raked his teeth over his bottom lip in frustration, “don’t speak for me.”

“Well, what do you think?” Sahra asked, curiosity in her eyes.

Rio expressed, “I think that you want the best of both worlds with no regards for anybody’s feelings. The glimpses that you’re showing the world with Arman ain’t reality, it’s got to matter behind closed doors too. What we have is much better than that, just us two.”

“I know that the both of you are different but love me in just the right way that I need and want. I’m picking the both of you to love back at the same time, my hearts big enough to do so, so just let me show you.” Sahra declared, allowing Rio to hold her stare for what felt like a lifetime.

He was always trying to figure her out and spoke with his eyes quite a lot. He knew he adored Sahra but how much of this was an act? He couldn’t be too judgmental since he was often calculated himself but not with his heart.

“How do you feel about this?” Rio kept his eyes on Sahra as he aimed his question at Arman—it’s not like he cared about this random guy’s perspective but he wanted a sense first-hand on what his relationship was like with Sahra since he threw a jab at them earlier.

Arman kept his hand on Sahra’s back, “we don’t have to like each other but I know a good thing when I see it. We absolutely don’t have to be in a romantic relationship with each other but we can respect each other for Tissy—Sahra. I’ll do just about anything to make her happy and if this is what she wants…fine.”

“I knew you were soft,” Rio smirked, “she’s got that effect on you…but not me. I need a few days to get my head around this bullshit so enjoy your time together or not. I may be back.”

“Christopher,” Sahra called out to him feeling her heart race, “don’t waste this moment because of your ego.”

He paused, “my time’s never wasted on you.” Was all that he said before his exit.

And that was the first time Sahra shed a tear in a very long time.

It was Arman’s job to cheer her up while Rio took what was his lengthy leave of absence.

Arman was always in tune with his emotions, had enough compassion but Sahra knew Arman had a touch of a dark side as well. She sensed it when he would hide his cut up knuckles or when he was snappy on the phone with people that worked for him.

Sure she had her diva moments but that didn’t mean she was nasty to any of her employees.

Yet they both have two very different professions.

Which is why she heard her publicist out who weighed the cons of going public on her relationship with both Rio and Arman.

That’s right, the tatted man eventually came around because he also wanted to be part of Sahra’s happiness.

Although the downfall of the relationship felt timely, Sahra was surprisingly still friendly or rather had a love and hate relationship with Rio.

At least enough for him to do what the damn detectives couldn’t.

On the other hand, The relationship turned sour between Sahra and Arman once he began to get tired of constantly being in the flashing lights.

That was a shock to Rio since he knew he was the flashiest one out of the two of them but Rio would never compare himself to him. Fuck him.

Rio was better at keeping his cool in the public eye while Arman started to disconnect.

He found Arman engaging with another woman, a pretty Argentine girl named Nadia who looked like a model herself—yet she was no Sahra—who seemed loving towards Arman at the club.

Rio wasn’t gonna put his shit on blast, especially since he knew how hurt Sahra had been when he revealed that he did have some attraction towards Elizabeth but didn’t act on those feelings.

Here Arman was, acting on his feelings. It was evident that the touches were intimate and it would explain why he was distant so Rio checked Arman about it one night when Sahra was out with her girls.

Which resulted in them getting into each others faces about it.

“Did you cheat?”

“That’s not your damn business!”

Loud and defensive. Dead giveaway.

“I think it is. Be honest, what you thought this was going to be, fizzled out for you much too fast. You need to Tell her instead of being a liar.”

“Oh so you can get the award of being the best partner? As if you aren’t still around the soccer mom that you probably have wet dreams about like some sort of prize? You’re no better than me.”

“Wrong, I know I am. But at least I don’t lie to my girl’s face.”

“Fuck you, big whoop!”

“You got twenty-four hours to come clean.”

“Or what?”

“It’ll come out eventually and then your ass is gonna be done for.”

Arman battled with himself on his side of the condo and knew after the breakfast he prepared that he would tell Sahra.

He was shocked to find Rio not in the home, that the man actually granted them some privacy.

Rio was usually not one for Patience.

When Rio returned, Arman was gone, hopefully on a flight to Vegas and Sahra was seated on the couch staring out the large window behind it.

“You knew, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I did.” Sahra whispered before turning to Rio with wet eyes.

He dropped the duffle bag on the floor, pulled his hood down and plopped down beside her, hand resting on her thigh. “I’m here and I adore you.”

Sahra laid her head in his lap as he straightened out on the couch giving her shoulder a squeeze, “I love you too.”

“And I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.” His fingers following the swoops of her edges, soothing her.

She closed her eyes, not believing that this time.

“Why are you two choosing to speak out now when you’ve been quiet during this entire investigation?” A producer asks the two men sitting side by side.

Rio licks his bottom lips, hands clasped together, “it’s better to set the story straight instead of people constantly picking the narrative.”

“What narrative is that?”

“That Sahra is this or that or the notion that we contributed to all of this happening. When we also knew her better than anyone behind closed doors.” Rio informed.

Arman was side-eyeing the man, which the camera picked up on, “I actually didn’t want to do this interview because it’s common knowledge that disingenuous people like to be exploitative on people in the public eye. Sure Tissy loved what she did but to victim blame is insane.”

“She shouldn’t be some tragic story. Especially when we only know bits and pieces.” Rio stated.

Flashes of a ransacked home, believed to be Sahra’s are shown on screen along with some black and white footage of Sahra being led down a hallway by a hooded figure, object pointed directly at her spine, to a airport with a woman with the same physique—hair gone or either stuffed underneath a cap and with shades on stood at the front desk with a hand gripping the back of her neck, to finally a news clip of the supposed flight reportedly missing off the coast and later some airplane wreckage was found in a desert that cannot be located on a map.

“What do you mean by that?”

“She always talked about a place in South Africa with Rio,” Arman started as he glanced over at the brooding man, “we’re still hopeful since they didn’t officially retrieve a body.”

“Don’t you believe that’s giving false hope to not only yourselves but her fans, especially when her family already processed this? It’s been over ten days.” The producer had clear confusion in their voice.

Rio lifted his shoulders, “we’re not trying to do that at all but I know neglect when i see it. It’s easier just to come to a quick conclusion especially when it comes to Black, Latin, Indigenous, Asian and other people of color right?”

“So you believe there’s negligence on the department’s part?”

“Without a doubt,” Arman answered, “Tissy was supposed to be on vacation the week she went missing…why are we getting footage of her disappearing two days after when she was supposed to be on a flight? Was she held up in that condo for those two days before someone took her to the airport?”

The producer was intrigued at their viewpoint, “they arrested the guy they suspected to be stalking her: Oliver Dumouchel who created one of the most well known fan pages about her. He was said to have engaged with her on the early hours she was leaving for her flight. Could it be him that forced on her on that flight?”

This Rio and Arman already knew. Getting their hands stained themselves as they snatched Oliver off the streets and beat him down to get some answers. He ended up telling them what sounded completely different from what he previously told the detectives. Yes he did manage to get up to the top floor on the early hours of April 16th but he left out the part where he had a scuffle with Sahra in the hallway. He did assault her with a vase, hitting her over the head with it and he left with a bloody nose, scared some residents would call the police. Where was the footage on that?

“So you think he switched her off with someone else? That doesn’t exactly make sense since he was found dead yesterday—apparent suicide.” Rio informed as the other crew had hushed whispers that filled the room.

“Was he the only one running that page?”

Arman confirmed, “Yes.”

“Listen we don’t want to feed into the conspiracy bullshit that’s out there but Sahra always knew how to take care of herself.” Arman said, “she always knew how to pick herself up after feeling what needs to be felt.”

“You’d know that better than anyone.” Rio jabbed.

Arman cleared his throat, resting his elbows against the arms of the chairs, “We love her and just want her to be okay. If it all got to be too much and she wanted to tap out then fine but no one should be able to make that choice for her in such a violent unanswered way.”

Rio dipped his head, a little slouched in his chair, “we’re doing our part in getting some answers, trust that. We won’t elaborate more but hopefully Sahra’s out there safe and relishing the thought that we still care about her wellbeing.”

[Some time in March 2022…]

[Detroit, MI]

Sahra is seen standing in front of a hooded Rio, dressed in loungewear as they hold a conversation with Rio leaning back against his G-Wagon. The conversation is hushed but it’s evident it turns serious as the previous smirk on the taller but thin framed man’s face went away the second Sahra is face to face with him.

The shutters from the cameras are going haywire since they’re used to only seeing Sahra out with Arman more than Rio. Her head turns, hand going up to block the bit of hazy sun that greets her skin. She turns back to Rio whispering something to him, in which he barely glances at the paparazzi before moving to open the backseat, revealing a fluffy white goldendoodle ready to leap from the car.

Rio interrupts, one hand going out to bury into the dog’s fur, keeping them still while the other hand waiting for the leash Sahra’s holding to hook onto the dog before handing it back over to the woman. She wraps the leash around her fist just as Rio places a kiss on her cheek then moves to climb into the car.

Sahra leaves the driveway first, now waving as the paparazzi begin to fire away questions.

“How are you doing today, Sahra? Rio buy you that dog?”

She breaths out a laugh, “nope. This is Amnati, “Nati” for short by the way. She’s my new baby. Rio was actually babysitting for me until I arrived back on his side of town.”

“Speaking of babies are you planning on having any with your two partners?”

“Arman is no longer in the equation, come on keep up with me now.” Sahra teases, making one of the paps appear sheepish.

The other laughs as they toss in, “but you’re still holding up well and got the part of this brand new upcoming thriller film, congrats. Any details you can tell us?”

Sahra spins walking backwards down the sidewalk now, a small smile on her lips as she says, “think of the film ‘when a stranger calls,’ but make is jordan peele if you will and that’s all I’m gonna say on that without getting replaced/fired.”

The paparazzi laugh, “that sounds pretty interesting, we’ll be sure to see it.”

“no one would ever dare to replace you!” The other says while Sahra coos and fans her hand at them.

Sahra then says, “you’ve got the right attitude about that! I might just be a lot, but we gon’ be alright, darling.”

She winks at the camera before sending them a wave and glanced down at Nati who barks up at her with her tail wagging, encouraging the shaggy dog to set off into a jog down and around the street, away from prying eyes and everyone’s view.

.ೃ࿐ .ೃ࿐ .ೃ࿐ .ೃ࿐ .ೃ࿐ .ೃ࿐ .ೃ

Continue along with my spring anthology series here.

[incomingalbatross]

The Motherhood of Sarah Jane???

Yeah!!!

So I don't remember what your familiarity with SJA is, so VERY quick context: at the start of S5 Sarah saves an alien baby girl (quickly speed-aged to about twelve) from her creator, who designed her to be a living weapon, and adopts her.

Plans for the S5 finale - never produced or even fully written, due to the sad event of Lis Sladen's death - included the idea that baby Sky would be revealed as a trap from the Trickster, aka the Absolute Worst. He maneuvered Sky into Sarah's home before activating her as a magic sleeper agent.

I LOVE the basic premise. I had several problems with the proposed execution. So in 2019 I started a novella-length fic about the Trickster's Daughter, which I have FINALLY basically completed! It's all about family and memory and belonging and Timeline Alterations Vs. the Power of Love. But MOST of all it's about Sarah Jane Smith being a MOTHER and her kids being HER KIDS. Because I love that.

Excerpt:

Behind the “Trickster’s Daughter,” Luke was doing something with Mr. Smith’s panels and wires. Clyde made frantic motions for them to keep the child’s attention. “Well, moving on for the moment,” Sarah Jane said hurriedly. Asking the first question that came into her head, she blurted out, “How old are you?” “I don’t understand the question.” A moment’s pause, again. “It does not have a clear application to a being like myself.” A chill ran down Sarah Jane’s back. To see the Trickster’s featurelessness on such a childish frame, with its chubby cheeks and messy child’s hair—to hear a little girl’s voice coming out of that eyeless face, speaking so coolly and detachedly with that familiar hint of reverberation—it was wrong. Deeply, deeply wrong. “You look like a child,” she said gently, voice softening without her conscious thought. “Why do you look like a child?” “This form is at the stage best suited to carrying out my father’s work,” the faceless child said. “And your preoccupation” —the child’s voice stumbled slightly over the word— “with it is entertaining, but only for a time.”

[azures-bazar]

Gang members (Arthur, Sadie, Charles and Mary Beth) reacting to their fem S/O who is Turkish. How they react to her language, culture, beautiful olive skin and brown curly hair, golden honey eyes and teaching them about her culture (food, music, arts, belly dance, etc) and she shares her culture and language with the rest of the gang aswell! Also how they would defend her if anyone was ever racist towards her! 🥹❤️✨🥰

Headcanon - Turkish Beauty - Female!Reader

Hey there sweetie ! Thank you again for your request ! + Javier ! 💖

I'm sooooo sorry if it took me so long ! As you know, my life now mostly consists in my job lol (and in the family I'm currently building).

This headcanon was hard to write since I know very little about Turkish Culture in general. At least I tried, any corrections are welcomed !

I tried making it as accurate as possible (but ended up creating a rather weird mixture between Turkey and Ottoman Empire, since it's supposed to be 1899 lol). If anything is offensive towards the Turkish culture, just let me know and I'll either edit my mistakes or completely delete the headcanon !

Request : Female!Reader

Characters : Arthur Morgan, Sadie Adler, Charles Smith, Mary-Beth Gaskill + Javier Escuella

Relationship : Romantic, settled

Lines : About 9 per character

A/N : The Reader is Agnostic !

Arthur Morgan : 

Let’s be honest : Arthur doesn’t know much about what is outside America (and perhaps Tahiti). When you tell them you’re Turkish, he is a little confused. "Wait up, ain’t Turkey a large bird ?" is the very first genuine question he asks when you talk about your country. After you explain him a few basics, he profusely apologises for his mistake, telling you his just a "dumb cowpoke", which he isn’t. He’s just clumsy.

You wear a nazar as a necklace. Arthur is curious, often asking you about the meaning of this beautiful eye-shaped pendant, staring at its dark blue, white, light blue and black colours. When you explain its use, Arthur is even more curious, asking you if he can have one for himself. "Maybe a nazar can be a lucky charm for me too, so the Pinkertons won’t ever find us !". 

On some occasions, you can be heard talking to yourself in Turkish, either when you think out loud or when you’re a little pissed with folks like Micah or Bill. Arthur doesn’t show it, but he’s thrilled when he hears you talk in Turkish, finding it beautiful. As he often says, he can barely speak English, but he still tries his best to learn a few words while listening to you !

Believe it or not, but Arthur knows how to count up to ten in Turkish. He made this surprise to you while the two of you were in his tent after a long day on guard duty. "Hey, listen to that, bir, iki, üç, dört…". You were so amazed by it, listening to his raspy voice and heavy Southern accent when he tried his best not to mess up ! When you asked him how he learnt how to count in Turkish, he just told you he has his own "sources".

Yes, he indeed went through your belongings to snatch a book written in Turkish. Still, how he managed to translate Turkish words into English is an absolute mystery even Arthur himself can’t really explain. He isn’t as dumb as he believes he is, him trying his best to learn a few words in your language is a proof of his hidden intelligence. 

At some point, you tried your best teaching Arthur to say a few basic sentences, such as "benim adım Arthur". Your favourite Van der Linde boy struggled a lot, but was indeed thrilled to make you even a little happy. Arthur is not as fast as John when it comes to learn things, but he is definitely devoted to whatever he does. And your proud gaze is absolutely worth any single grammar mistake (which might also be heard as a potential ancient invocation due to his mispronunciation) he would make. 

In case you’re being harassed by anyone, Arthur is very quick to jump in and defend you from all these folks causing you harm. Since it’s the United States in 1899, many folks are just blatantly racist. If you’re a few feet away from him, he will proceed walking towards you and wrap his arm around your shoulders. "Get away from my girl, I doubt ya wanna have a hole in your head, partner." is what he often says to calm things down. If it doesn’t, the situation ends up in a fist fight which often results in the two of you having to run away because Arthur "unexpectedly broke someone’s skull". 

Arthur is absolutely in love with your looks. Each time the sun shines on your face while you’re both around camp, he will proceed caressing your olive skin. And when your golden eyes meet his, he nearly faints due to your exquisite beauty. Your eye color is so unique that he can’t avoid blushing a little whenever you’re looking at him. A few pages of his journal are dedicated to you, as well as some drawings. He loves describing your golden eyes in his journal, comparing them to the sun. You are the light of his life, literally speaking. 

Each night, Arthur runs his fingers through your thick brown curls, slightly brushing them away from your beautiful face. You’re one of the most beautiful women he had the opportunity to meet, and your natural beauty made him fall in love with you on the day Dutch had brought you to camp. But don’t worry ! You’re so beautiful that he falls in love with you every day, even if he’s too proud to say it.

Sadie Adler : 

For some reason, Sadie somewhat knows more about the world’s geography than the rest of the gang. She can’t forcibly place countries on a map, wherever they are republics, kingdoms or empires, but can actually tell that there is a huge continent across the Atlantic Ocean. So, when you tell her you’re from beyond the ocean, Sadie is indeed quite curious ! 

Sadie loves listening to you when you’re talking about your culture. She just sits there with starry eyes, gazing at you whenever you talk about its traditions. She is indeed fascinated by it, it feels so mystical compared with the life the Van der Linde gang is currently living. Having you tell stories about your country or about your culture and beliefs is certainly much better than Dutch’s speeches about freedom and MONEY.

She is pretty much your personal bodyguard whenever you’re alone. She knows you know how to fight, but she just loves you so much… and even ends up wanting to know more about Turkish fighting techniques. "How do folks fight in your country ? Like us ? Or do they still use swords ?". Her question seems pretty innocent for a woman who went through so much, but you don’t mind. 

You eventually end up telling Sadie about the Ottoman Slap, which is one of the Ottoman martial arts. "I wanna try it, I wanna try it !" is the very first thing an excited Sadie tells you when you explain her that it implies using her hands. You don’t even have time to explain anything to her that she is already on her way to give Micah an absolutely massive slap.

Sadie loves being around you when you do to town, and is quite protective towards you for a variety of reasons she can’t even explain. So, when she hears a few folks criticise your looks, your skin or your clothes, if not even your origins, she is quick to get into a violent fight and, quite often, wins it. Sadie even tries doing the exact same Ottoman Slap you told her about, but is likely to take out her guns to finish a fight if the situation goes worse. 

You two have fun altering Mr. Pearson’s stew with a few ingredients which match the Turkish recipes you have collected in one of your books upon traveling to the United States. Sadie loves the Tavok Sote, which is a Turkish chicken stew, and is even willing to chop vegetables for you, something she wouldn’t have done for anyone else. She just wants to spend all her free time with you, even if, as she says… she "ain’t gonna chop vegetables for a living". 

Sometimes, when she is on guard duty, Sadie will just slightly turn her head and look at your for a few seconds, analysing your beauty. Your black hair is often beautifully tied in a braid, your nazar bracelet hangs on your wrist, your colourful dresses make you look divine. She loves you, and if you pass by her while she is on guard duty, she will gently stroke your chin. "Here’s my beautiful balım." she would say before dropping a kiss on your lips.

At some point, after you told Sadie about belly dance, she is excited to learn it from you ! The very first time she tries it, she laughs as the feeling it gives her. She is not used to it, but absolutely loves it ! You like seeing her so happy to try new things, and can’t deny you did not expect her to enjoy belly-dancing this much ! She isn’t really good yet, but she really tries her best to impress you ! 

Sadie tries really, REALLY hard to learn a few words in Turkish. She already knows how to say some sweet words, like "balım" or "güzelim", and… a little set of swearwords. In fact, whenever you swear in Turkish, you can hear Sadie repeat the word after you, even if you told her you would rather want her not to say any swearwords in a foreign language. 

Charles Smith : 

Charles is well aware about the countries surrounding the United States, such as Mexico and Canada, and knows a little about Europe due to him listening to Herr Strauss. He is very respectful towards you and asks a few questions he repeated to himself a few times. Charles doesn’t talk much, and each word he says are filled with a wisdom a very few 28 year olds have. Needless to say that, compared with John who is just two years younger and eager to ask foolish questions, Charles just thinks twice before saying anything.

Charles is, again, the quiet type, except when he is drunk or around Javier and Arthur at the saloon. And he is even more quiet whenever you’re talking about your culture by the fire. He just gazes at you with starry eyes, interested and fascinated by your country's customs and traditions. Charles doesn’t interrupt you, he doesn’t want to spoil your stories with his questions. He will have all the time he needs to ask them after you will finish. 

If he is on guard duty with you, there is a huge chance that Charles will likely end up asking you some details about your country. "What do Turkish people eat ? How do they fight ? How do they talk to each other ?". He is curious, and just wants to be around you, and only around you, to ask his questions. Even if he only answers with a soft smile whenever you answer him, he is so thrilled to learn new things. 

The simple presence of Charles near you is quick to make people shut their mouths whenever they want to insult you. Charles, being himself a man of colour, as the son of a Native American woman and an African American man, knows what it feels like to be downgraded due to the colour of his skin, especially in 1899. If he sees anyone offend you, he will just stand before you and calmly tell people of. "Please, leave this lady alone.". If it doesn’t work, after a few good punches, he will take you to someplace safe, apologising for all the mess he is not even the responsible of. 

When he has the opportunity to rest, which is often rare since he is one of Dutch’s strongest men, Charles just enjoys gazing at you. He loves the way you look, the way your beautiful hair flows around you whenever you make even a subtle movement. But what Charles loves the most about you is your voice, and how beautiful it sounds whenever you speak to yourself in Turkish. 

Charles doesn’t speak much, but he secretly mumbles each word you say in Turkish, and sometimes asks you what you just said means. He then proceeds repeating the same word once again. "Did I say it right ?" is the question he asks you the most whenever he tries talking to you in Turkish. He does his best, and it's a beautiful thing to watch. His smile in the end is worth it ! 

Like many folks, Charles is not indifferent to your golden eyes. Whenever you’re close to him, even if it’s already clear that the two of you are in a very stable relationship, his heart beats faster and his eyes twitch a little, he even blushes and stutters at times ! You, Y/N, are the only person who can make Charles Smith loose his words whenever he is around you ! Charles even commented your eyes more than once. "So your parents put all the gold of the world in these eyes of yours.". That’s quite a compliment ! 

You managed to bring up a Hookah with you, and a lot of gang members often ask you if they can use it. Charles was very curious to try it at first, especially knowing that you can sometimes combine the effects of tobacco with other plants. You made him try a mixture of regular tobacco with vanilla flowers, and Charles surprisingly loved it. "Damn. I like it. I like it !". It was probably the very first time you saw Charles so happy ! 

Charles loves laying next to you whenever people are already asleep or far enough from him, his head either on your thigh or on your shoulder. He knows that you will naturally start singing. You can’t resist singing a few beautiful Turkish songs you know, especially with Charles being so close to you. "It’s beautiful, breathtaking." he often tells you between two songs. 

Mary-Beth Gaskill : 

Mary-Beth is quite aware of where Turkey is located, having red so many books about everything, and not only romance books as Ms. Grimshaw often says. She is thrilled to meet anyone who is not from the United States or from America in general, apart from Herr Strauss, indeed. But a woman like you is more interesting than an old loanshark ! 

You tried making a lentil soup based on what Mr. Pearson had in stock, and it made Miss Gaskill happy. "It’s peculiar and so different from Pearson’s stew ! How did you manage to do it ?" she asked. Mary-Beth barely knows how to cook, but is interested by your Turkish cookbook you brought with you upon being inducted into the gang. 

Sometimes, Mary-Beth daydreams while listening to your stories about your country. She just pictures so many people wearing bright colours, women doing bellydances while men are trained to fight. Mary-Beth is quite a romantic and re-interprets your stories inside her head, but genuinely likes asking questions about your culture. "What does a Turkish marriage look like ?". You try your best to answer, making Mary-Beth’s eyes get filled with stars. 

When the two of you are in town, you often get a side-look from passerby because of your origins. Mary-Beth is eager to fight for you, quickly taking your defence if someone tells you something inappropriate. Even if she knows how to fight, the two of you most likely end up in trouble if many folks try attacking you. But Mary-Beth is courageous enough to defend you, telling people off and throwing a few more or less impactful punches if needed. You two can’t even count the number of times you ended up at the Sheriff’s Office after a fight, having Dutch, Hosea or Arthur bring you back to camp. But a good fight was worth saving your honour. 

Even if you told her about henna and its use on very specific occasions, Mary-Beth is eager to try some on herself, on Tilly or on Karen, and even on Arthur who just grumbles when he sees her drawing figures on his wrists when he’s around camp. She doesn’t care about the fact that henna figures she made on herself is a temporary tattoo, she just loves it so much and is very skilled !

Mary-Beth loves reading, and it’s no secret for anyone. So when she genuinely asks you if she can borrow one of your books and read some pages out loud, you can’t say no. You just love listening to her when she tries her best to read some Turkish words properly with her sweet voice and adorable accent, and she loves the way you look at her and how proud you are whenever she tries either reading something out loud, or talking in your language. 

She likes asking you if she can borrow your dresses. Her favourite is a traditional Turkish gown you brought from your country, white and red coloured, with a matching headscarf. Mary-Beth loves it and often likes putting it on whenever she knows you will be around camp. She respectfully wears it and twirls around with it, thrilled to wear something as beautiful as a traditional Turkish gown. She sometimes digs into your jewerly, but you don't mind much.

When you told Mary-Beth about belly dancing, she was eager to give it a try ! Despite she did not know much about this dance or about the moves, looking a little uncomfortable while trying her best, she just gave you a rather nice performance, which was both funny and adorable. You fell for her as much as she fell for you. Between two moves, she even got to stroke your olive skin while blushing, which made you love her even more than ever !

She loves brushing your hair. It’s so thick and beautiful, she loves running her fingers through it, or combing it to create the most perfect hairstyles which could fit you on a daily basis. Mary-Beth loves you enough to compliment you anytime she tries something new on you. After all, you’re so beautiful ! So, mesmerising ! She keeps reminding this to you almost three or for times a day ! And this even in bed…

Javier Escuella : 

Javier is definitely smart enough to say that Turkey is a part of the Ottoman Empire as of 1899. He is genuinely curious about everything, and loves asking you so many questions that you sometimes end up struggling to find a correct answer. "What are your people doing when they’re angry ? How tall is the Ottoman Empire ? Are all Turkish women as beautiful as you are ? What music do they play ? Do they believe in god ?". Many questions, too many. 

You don’t know how he managed to do this, but Javier has, very soon after you were inducted into the gang, tried talking to you in Turkish. Since he already speaks English and Spanish, he is willing to learn another language, just for you ! Javier tries his best, he really does. He even repeats the words after you whenever you correct him, and often compliments your language. "Ah, Turkish language is quite beautiful, mi amor ! Hard, but wonderful !". 

Privately, between two trees, while the rest of the gang was having fun by the fire, you showed Javier how you belly danced. He is absolutely not familiar to it, but spends his time gazing at your moves, at the way you shake your hips, the way you twirl at times. He loves it, and even ends up asking you if men can try doing it too ! He is genuinely interested, which is a pleasure to see ! 

Javier is often lost into his deepest thoughts when looking at you. Your golden eyes make him loose every word, even his most romantic ballads can’t express how smitten he is to you. He often tried singing about it, playing his guitar by the campfire, but nothing can describe the "hermosa chica de ojos dorados." that crossed his and the rest of the gang’s path. 

Whenever you’re out, Javier doesn’t let go of you, not even for a second. Sometimes the two of you get side-looks from people seeing two non-white people just enjoying their day in 1899. Javier doesn’t usually jump into fights and tries his best to tell people off. However, sometimes, random folks don’t cooperate, and it ends up in a brutal fistfight. "You won’t ever insult my girl again, puto !" Javier usually says when his opponent is either unconscious, or dead. He won’t let anyone insult you. Never ! 

When you joined the gang, you had a few belongings coming from your country, among which a few musical instruments such as an Oud, a Kaval and a Sipsi. Javier taught himself to use the Oud, pretty proud of himself whenever a nice melody was coming out of it. "It’s as easy as playing a guitar, but the sound is so beautiful !" he always says whenever he plays it… when you don’t play it yourself. 

Sometimes, when you’re the one playing some Oud, you like singing a few ballads from your country. Javier loves listening to you, often getting distracted if he is on guard duty. Your voice is so beautiful, so mesmerising ! Enough for him to loose the track of time whenever he listens to you. He usually doesn't understand your songs, but genuinely loves them ! 

At some point, only to make you a rather nice surprise after you went back from a robbery with Dutch and Micah, Javier decided to sing a personal song just for you, playing the Oud, while Uncle played the Sipsi, and Lenny used a barrel as a drum to add some rhythm. Javier just wanted to make you happy, especially after a robbery with your absolute friend Micah Bell. "Look ! Look Y/N !" he had told you, so excited. The song was in Spanish, played with two Turkish instruments and a barrel as a drum, but it was awesome ! 

Sometimes, late at night, when the two of you are nearly asleep, Javier usually tries his best to mumble you some sweet words in Turkish, running his hand through your black curls while gazing at you with a loving smile. He just loves making you happy, and knows how excited you are whenever he tries speaking your language. "Seni seviyorum, mi chiquita.". A rather peculiar mixture between Spanish and Turkish, but very sweet !

[gcaa-official]

what’s good, friends, foes and family! this is:

Your Everyday Guide To Calodian Politics

before i can give you the lowest of downs on the shitty political system in place right now and calodian political beliefs and whatnot, you first need to know how it works.

SO:

we do not live in a democracy.

–> calodia has a sort of parliamentary monarchy - where the emperor (ew) is the theoretical and cultural head of state, and the guoshia* actually make state decisions. we don't elect any of these people

-> the only thing we have a say in is the vote for thr dynasty that rules, and that only happens every one hundred years. the last time one happened, i hadn't even hatched! according to certain sources (goirw), the elections are usually rigged towards the favorite of the nobles and aristocracy.

2. the guoshia*

-> formed of the heads of every guild. these guys make actual policy decisions. they approve and ratify the proposals for every single proposal from the guilds. they hold all the power and they're all aelves

3. the guilds.

-> there are five guilds, and every single job in calodia is categorized into one of these guilds. the guilds are: the financiers (ew), the veneratum, the scribes (us!), the artisans, and the smiths.

-> the heads of these guilds are: the judiciary for the financiers, the chief veneratum for the... uh. you know. the bibliographer for the scribes, the master for the artisans and the mechanicier for the smiths.

-> the financiers are the most powerful of all the guilds, and control the courts and treasury. the veneratum study and regulate majic, and are the second most powerful. the scribes control the archives, literature, science and education. the artisans deal with anything cultural and culturally important. the smiths’ domain is in infrastructure, architecture, military and anything to do with making stuff for functional purposes.

-> the financiers influence most decisions, but the artisans and scribes control all depictions, discourses and narratives, so the actual power belongs to them.

-> the guilds are mostly controlled by noble families, and its pretty rare when a non-noble becomes a guildhead. usually though, the guildheads are mostly just figureheads for their families and enact their policies, with intraguild elections being mostly vapid popularity contests.

currently, the emperor is vanyuo iii of the myng dynasty. he's more liberal than previous emperors but he's still dastardly cunt**, so don't trust anyone who backs him wholeheartedly. very creaturist, particularly anti-goblin and anti-orcean but he hates everyone who's not an aelf, honestly. just because he's trying to legalize intercreature marriage doesn't mean he's not endorsing shittier movements.

the judiciary right now is ruong velian. he's probably the the most aelvenist-aligned judiciary we've had in millennia.

the chief veneratum is ceijuing kawaixi. she's basically velian in blue.

the current bibliographer is tenxin tsaanwïa. he's korixe’s uncle or something. he's probably the most liberal of all of the guildheads, but he's also flimsy as fuck. if the rest of the tsaanwïa family (minus korixe because i trust her mostly) pressure him, the tides could always turn.

the master is jelpyng cen. poor poor creature. they're definitely in over their head, and very obviously a puppet for their family.

the mechanicier was elected yesterday, and i’m kinda glad the old one's out of office. the new guy, zheruan xiortun, says he'll put more focus on infrastructure over bolstering the military, which is good because half the roads in wyvera aren't even walkable.

your resident menace,

~ loggyn ★

{translator's notes:

{*this is an untranslatable word but the closest equivalent is parliament or senate, which doesn't really capture the nature of what the guoshia is.

{**this is the closest translation of a goblin vulgarism. even though it does not have the same meaning, it is the only word i could find that was of a similar intensity.

{– loggyn uses a lot of giblex expressions when they write, so much of the slang they seem to be using in this post are approximations of giblexisms that they use frequently. i might write a whole post on their language specifically >:).}

[mrapplethorn]

Artificers that don’t use tech

One of the classes of which it doesn’t always feel like it belongs in your (or the adventure’s) world is the Artificer. Its name does not imply that though, we all know the Artificer in Dungeons and Dragons is a person that combines steampunk-esque contraptions with the magic found in most D&D worlds. An Artificer should be, according to the word’s description, a trickster or an immoral craftsman of clever devices. Confining this description to a person that uses metal contraptions to cast spells feels a bit shallow, so here are a few ideas you can use to build your next Artificer.

Art by Kris Theorin (left) and Lily Abdullina (right)

The Gingerbread Man’s Baker

Battle Smith Artificer – Cook’s Utensils

Delirious Barnsforth started out as a simple cook, working for a local noble family. Wanting more out of life, he accidently poisoned the lord and lady of the house. He fled into the forest where he met a benevolent Hag. She gave him shelter and taught him the basics of spellcasting. Delirious showed some affinity for the arcane arts, but he lacked in creativity.

Only after he discovered that there was a way to combine spellcasting with cooking did he really become a force to be reckoned with. His first ‘Steel Defender’ was a blob of dough that he somehow managed to trap a fey spirit in. These days he is known for bringing to life the famous Gingerbread Man.

How to play him

If you have spent one second on the internet, you know there are people on there that love to correct everyone that says Frankenstein when they mean Frankenstein’s Monster. Likewise, Delirious also corrects anyone that calls him anything but The Gingerbread Man’s Baker.

Every spell Baker Barnsforth casts is somehow shaped like a cook’s utensil, food, or other items you’d find in a kitchen.

Delirious, as an Artificer with the Battle Smith subclass, has a steel defender, although his is not made of steel but of dough, and in the shape of his oh-so-famous Gingerbread Man.

Art by Marcin Kulesza (left) and Dan Dossantos (right)

The Tatted Artificer

Armorer Artificer – Painter’s Supplies

Born without a shred of magic in her bones, Diana Jones studied to become an archeologist. Her interests also lied with art and painting, tattooing in particular. So, when she stumbled upon a mysterious dark fluid within a buried temple her first thought was to test it on her skin.

How to play her

Every feature, feat, spell, and ability of the Tatted Artificer is represented by a tattoo on her body. As shown in the image the spell Shadow Blade could manifest as a set of removable scimitar tattoos on your characters back.

The armor she would need to wear to gain her subclass abilities has taken the form of tattoos also.

If you play in a campaign where money has a prominent place, You and your DM have to agree on some things. Armor is a big aspect of the Armorer Artificer. Something we just replaced with tattoos. The easiest step is to keep the cost of an armor improvement but let it technically be an added tattoo.

Art by Alejandro García

The Snake Oil Salesman

High Elf Alchemist Artificer

Smoke billows from their workshop. The Healer of Harkonen goes by many names. But most people know them as Dietrich the Knife-eared Snake oil Salesman. Tall tales of their past are whispered in taverns. They speak of an elf who brought down the destruction of an ancient city with their disease-spreading elixirs. What the stories leave out however is that this simple alchemist does not work alone. They and their twin have travelled the world, fought beasts, and harvested magical components. Now they run a shop that sells miracle potions, miracle in the fact that you will never truly know what happens when drinking them.

How to play them

Dietrich or their sibling do not contribute to a fight with their physical skills. Their spells take on the form of potions, salves, and other concoctions. A fireball for example could be akin to a Molotov Cocktail.

Art by Oleksandr Kozachenko (left) and Victor Titov (right)

The Woodsman

Plasmoid/Reborn Artillerist Artificer

Once a man, the creature now only known as the Woodsman, is a hulking green figure. Raised as an orphan in a Druid Circle, his past is not well documented. His abilities are druid-like but also very alien to them. The forest is his home and the object of his protection. When provoked he breaks of pieces of himself that can act on their own and can only be described as vinelike cannons.

How to play him

The Woodsman has a lot in common with the Oath of the Ancients Paladin, you could even use the tenets of this subclass to guide you in your actions.

The spells the Woodsman casts all thematically link back to his plant-based nature.

[militantinremission]

Is Tyre Nichols' death a watershed moment?

The Nation is supposedly On Hold, awaiting video footage showing how 5 Memphis PD Officers brutally beat 29Yr Old Tyre Nichols. The members of the Memphis PD 'Scorpion Unit' were supposedly stopping Tyre for Reckless Driving, but how did things escalate? The Press says that Tyre initially fled The Scene, & there was an indication that he may have resisted arrest, but nothing suggests that he needed to be pepper sprayed, tased, & beaten severely. The incident took place on Jan. 7th- Tyre died from his injuries on Jan. 10th. The Family of Tyre Nichols have chosen Attorney Benjamin Crump & his Team to represent them.

I don't always agree w/ the methodology of Benjamin Crump. He frames himself like he's the Thurgood Marshall or Johnnie Cochrane of This Generation; I still haven t decided if he is. He spends as much time on his Self Image, as he does on his High Profile Cases. I can rationalize that he needs face time On Camera to boost his ability to serve his clients, but I think he goes a bit too far. Who named Ben Crump: 'The Attorney General Of Black America'? It's framing like This, that leads me to call the man: Benjamin 'Buttah Biscuits'... To be fair, Crump has won some monetary awards for his clients, but we're still waiting to see the Outcome of several Police Trials.

Regardless of my critique of Ben Crump, I agree 100% w/ his Press Conference Commentary. He pointed out how these Officers were fired & arrested on Murder Charges in less than 3 Weeks. Is it because all 5 of the Officers are Black Men? We have seen Black Officers, like Muhammad Noor get convicted for incidents that Non Black Officers get acquitted. Crump is correct, when he says that this should be the blueprint for All Police Involved Incidents. It doesn't matter what Sex, Race or Ethnicity the Officer is, it's pretty clear that this is about Police Culture.

According to a Statement from the Memphis Police Department: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., & Justin Smith have violated multiple Department Policies, including Excessive use of Force, Duty to Intervene, & Duty to Render Aid. While Black America applauds the expedience of the MPD, We also question why it doesn't happen so quickly when the Officer isn't Black. As a Community, We have serious questions for these 5 Men. Some of Us want to 'Check their Paperwork'. Contrary to the National Conversation, Blackfolk don't go after each other like this. Certainly not Black Cops. This is why most of Us are talking about Police Culture.

Tyre's brutal murder, is an example of why Critical Race Theory can be a valuable tool. If We follow the basic model, which is a History of Race Relations in America, We see how Police Departments play an important role of maintaining the Institutionalized Racism in American Society. We're told that Police are here to Protect & Serve, but they leave out how that is limited to Corporate Property & Interests. The Police Force comes out of the Slave Patrols, who 'protected' the interests of Plantation & Business Owners. As German, Scottish, & Irish Immigrants appeared, they were given jobs 'regulating' the Black Population- Free & Enslaved.

As Cities grew & Police Departments were established, the protocol remained the same; Protect Corporate Interests, & regulate the Black Community. This was a National Effort. As cruel as the White (WASP) Officers were, immigrants always tended to take Anti- Black actions further. It's like they were trying to prove to Mainstream Society how much they belonged. Irish, Italian, & now, Hispanic Officers are generally more aggressive w/ Black 'Persons Of Interest'- that's just a fact. Black America has complained about this 'Police Culture' for over 100Yrs, but have just gained ground in recent years. The difference between Justice for Mitrice Richardson & Sandra Bland, compared to Atatiana Jefferson has been encouraging.

Qualified Immunity has been a literal 'Get Out Of Jail Free' Card for Police Officers. Recent Police convictions have shown that this may be a thing of the past. Despite a few hard won convictions, the legal road getting there has been a long & drawn out one. Many have accused the various Police Unions, DA Offices, & Judges of collusion. They're collectively kicking The Can down The Road; hopeful that The Public will lose interest & eventually forget the incident in question. The actions taken by the MPD, following the brutality of their Officers is worth noting. Tyre Nichols isn't the 1st Black Man to get beat by a gang of Police Officers; Rodney King (RIP) was beat in front of The World 30Yrs ago.

Some may try to focus on the actions of 'Black' Officers, but this behavior happens against Blackfolk in Every City & w/ Officers of Every Ethnic Group. As I said earlier, it's a Culture. What's different about This Instance, is the fact that ALL of the assailants are Black Officers. The City of Memphis is probably still feeling the reverberations of Breonna Taylor's murder in Louisville; I doubt they want Blackfolk to bring that level of Energy there. Cutting their losses is a no brainer. They will likely face an expensive lawsuit from Benjamin Buttah Biscuits; no sense in adding a Riot to an Embarrassment.

I see The City Of Memphis offering up these 5 Bullies, w/ the hope that it will quell a still simmering undercurrent supporting Independent Police Investigations. Defund The Police rhetoric has quieted, but every new incident brings talk about restricting Police 'Street Crime Units', along w/ the equipment & tactics used. Family Attorney Antonio Romanucci hit the Nail on the Head, when he called Street Crime Units, like the MPD's Scorpion Unit 'Suppression Units'. Those of Us that live in 'Inner Cities' understand the reality of these Units patrolling Our Neighborhoods like Military Troops stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

I don't expect alot of hoopla coming out of Memphis. Blackfolk see tangible results, so we're willing to see what develops. What We do expect, is for future Events (that WILL happen) to move w/ the same expediency. The World will see yet another instance of Police involved Anti- Black Racism in America; i'm pretty sure many have also heard Ben Crump's suggestion about a blueprint. Moving forward, if the Legal System treats Non Black Officers differently than these 5 Officers in Memphis, all the rhetoric that the Department Of Justice can muster will not get the racist stench out of the Courts.

-Just My 2 Cents

[coochiequeens]

“ Fear of male people while in a highly vulnerable physical state is not illogical”

This article is taken from the December/January 2023 issue of The Critic. To get the full magazine why not subscribe? Right now we’re offering five issues for just £10.

By Victoria Smith 

In Trauma and Recovery, the psychiatrist Judith Herman distinguishes between traumatic events that are “natural disasters or ‘acts of God’” and those “of human design”. In the case of the former, she writes, “those who bear witness readily sympathise with the victim”. 

When it comes to the latter, the situation is more complex. Here, taking the part of the victim is not a natural response. After all, Herman points out, “all the perpetrator asks is that the bystander do nothing. He appeals to the universal desire to see, hear, and speak no evil.” By contrast, the victim “asks the bystander to share the burden of pain. The victim demands action, engagement, and remembering.”

Victims are difficult people. They disrupt the untroubled narratives we tell ourselves about the world we live in and the people we know. They tug at those threads that are supposed to remain untouched. 

Nowhere is this more true than in the case of victims of male sexual violence. Rape, sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse are not rare; their occurrence is not limited to discrete communities with known ideological flaws. 

It cuts across all social strata, often thriving in settings which self-identify as virtuous and safe: the church, the charitable organisation, the family. To exist in such a setting and demand that others bear witness to your trauma — that they respond, socially and politically, to the harm done to you — is an incredibly challenging thing to do. You are not just asking for care and consideration; you are asking people to revise their most fundamental group narratives, the truths they tell themselves in order to believe they are good and that they belong. 

It is for this reason, I think, that many people sympathise with victims of rape and child abuse in the abstract, but do not want to witness their trauma in the wild. In the minds of others, those who make visible the aftermath of male sexual violence can quickly cross over from victims to perpetrators. Their crime is not one against the integrity of the body, but against the bystander’s own sense of self. 

The story of the Princess Grace Hospital offers one such example. 

In October this year, a victim of sexual assault had a potentially life-saving operation cancelled by London’s Princess Grace Hospital. This was in response to her request that due consideration be given to her trauma. The woman, who had arranged to have complex colorectal surgery, had asked for single-sex facilities, and to be exempted from any requirement to feign a belief that gender identity trumps biological sex while receiving treatment. 

“Fear of male people while in a highly vulnerable physical state is not illogical”

These are not extreme demands. Fear of male people while in a highly vulnerable physical state is not illogical; asserting boundaries can form an important part of recovery. For rape victims in particular, the right to stress the primacy of one’s own perceptions of sex and power — rather than cede to someone else’s insistence that their sex, and their power in relation to you, is whatever they say it is — can be vitally important. 

A private hospital, the Princess Grace boasts of “specialists in care for women’s health”. One would assume such specialists know what female bodies are and, while some may lack expertise regarding the relationship between biological sex, male violence and trauma, most would possess a basic degree of empathy and compassion. 

While issues of human resourcing and the organisation of physical space may yet have made the patient’s requests difficult to accommodate, this is something for which the hospital could have expressed contrition. It is not the fault of the Princess Grace Hospital that we live in a country where 98 per cent of sexual violence is committed by male people and an estimated one in 20 female people have been raped. Nentheless, that is surely something every medical institution ought to take into account when considering how best to meet the needs of female patients.

But representatives of the Princess Grace Hospital were not contrite. On the contrary, on 7 October the patient received an email from Maxine Estop Green, the hospital’s CEO, stating not just that the operation was off, but explaining why:

“We do not share your beliefs and are not able to adhere to your requests and we have therefore decided we will not proceed with your surgery […] I appreciate this is not the communication you were expecting to receive, however HCA is committed to protecting our staff from unacceptable distress and we believe the cornerstone of good patient care is based on mutual respect and trust.”

And there it is. As if by magic, rape victim becomes potential perpetrator, threatening to cause “unacceptable distress” due to her trauma, a trauma now recast as “values” that others — the untraumatised, those untainted by anything so inconvenient as fear — do not share. 

I am not entirely unsympathetic to the problem faced by the Princess Grace Hospital. It is the same problem faced by any institution or political grouping that has been frogmarched into accepting that a woman is anyone who says they are a woman, always and without exception. The trauma of female victims of sex crimes — who cannot switch off their awareness of who is and is not male — does not fit this narrative. 

The visceral, physical response, the unwilled terror at the sound of a male voice or the sight of a male body — all of that contradicts the line that trans women are a special, extra-vulnerable type of female person, as opposed to a just another type of male, with the same physical capabilities and emotional unpredictabilities as any other. 

The argument against trans women in sex-segregated spaces is not based on their transness, but their maleness. People pretend that’s not true, however. In keeping with the “do nothing” preferences of the bystander, many people would rather impute bigotry and bad faith to rape victims than deviate from the “trans women are women” thought-terminating cliché in which they have become invested. 

This investment may have complex roots; perhaps at the start it seemed a low-cost concession (“why not just call people what they want to be called?”), one which didn’t require actual belief (“of course, no one is actually saying …”). Then various other factors — peer pressure, threats of violence, the risk of ostracism, financial incentives — came into play. In the end, no one remembers why they ever expressed doubt. Doubt is for bigots. 

“We should not be surprised how tenaciously people hold onto their myths”

We should not be surprised how tenaciously people hold onto their myths, even when faced with the pain of others. A mother will disbelieve an abused child rather than accept the man she married is a bad person; a congregation will send a girl to a Magdalene laundry rather than admit that the head of their flock might be a rapist. Similarly, even women who call themselves feminists would rather denounce women terrorised into fearing all male people than admit that there is a problem with pretending that maleness is in the eye of the penis-owner. 

This is why “reasonable compromises” are impossible in the trans debate as it stands today. Any admission whatsoever that maleness matters — that it is real and politically salient — is heresy. The faithful will sacrifice the vulnerable rather than lose their religion. 

The degree of shaming to which survivors of rape and child sexual abuse have been subjected in order to preserve the “trans women are women” line is utterly obscene. Women who ask for female-only spaces are told they must reframe their boundaries; that they are obsessed with genitals; that they are weaponising trauma; that they have the wrong values and the wrong perception of reality. It is vital that they are vilified. Stop to consider their pain and you, too, might start pulling at the thread of the dogma. 

Because this is the sad truth of modern trans activism: it is completely incompatible with the recognition of female trauma as anything other than a fetish. Genuine female fear of male people is an affront to “I am whoever I say I am”. It is viewed as an attack, therefore all shame must be projected back onto women themselves. Like Medusa with her snake hair, once again the female victim of male sexual violence is made into a monster. 

The patient at the heart of the Princess Grace Hospital story has since had her operation rescheduled, with the original surgeons in attendance. It is a positive ending, as far as it goes. She is not condemned to die for her beliefs. 

But some actions cannot be retracted. The email sent on 7 October was not just an operation cancellation. It was an act of shaming, the same shaming to which victims of sexual trauma have been subjected throughout history for daring to suggest their truths matter more than particular party lines. 

This is the context in which we need to understand the Princess Grace story: as not just related to “the trans debate”, but clarifying the way in which said debate not only replicates but amplifies the traditional, millennia-old shaming of female victims of sex crimes. It is this shaming that enables someone such as Maxine Estop Green to potentially put a woman’s life at risk for expressing her fears. 

This shaming is familiar and commonplace. It is no less grotesque for it. None of us should choose to “see, hear, and speak no evil” when faced with it.

[fruitypie-daydreams]

Hiya! You can call me Pixel or Nick! He/they.

Aroace irl, ficto/pan 🏳️‍🌈

This is a blog dedicated to both selfship and maladaptive daydreaming stuff since it both goes hand in hand for me.

This is for stuff that fits all of my AUs, or for fandoms I don't currently have a separate sideblog for. Other blogs will be linked in my list below 💖

I may occasionally reblog fanfics with smut, so just filter out the tag #minors dni if you don't wanna see that stuff! The #bestie tag 🎃 tag is for stuff from my irl best friend (@satellite-of-self-love)'s various selfship blogs + stuff that reminds me of her and her F/Os. All other tags should be listed below 💖 (None of my self inserts are girls even if they use she/her pronouns amongst others)

Main blog -> @fruitypieq

I don't really mind sharing F/Os, but if we share romantic ones maybe just don't tell me about it.

Apologies for how long this is about to be lol

❗❗ Important - Some of this gets a little complicated because a lot of these are various AUs that I've made up, so relationships in each AU are different. Like Chrysalis and Luna for example, they're my romantic F/Os in different universes, but never in the same universe. I'm not sure how to explain it, its complicated lmao. I'll do my best to list it accordingly though

Basically its like how you can date everyone in a dating sim but on different routes lol. So just because two or more are listed as romantic it doesn't mean thats happening at the same time, just in different universes. I have no idea if I'm explaining this well

Code

Red - Romantic F/O

Orange - Familial F/O

Purple - Child F/O

Pink - Platonic F/O

Blue - Pet F/O

Green - Other/Undefined

A ⭐ by their name means they aren't from a canon source, and a 🌠 by their name means they aren't from a canon source and also do not belong to me. Familial and platonic are a bit intertwined <3

Tags For All Universes: #my kids 💖, #potential f/o tag 🖤, #my tag 🍉

Other: #bestie tag 🎃, #my stuff, #reblog game, #reblog game: others, #reblog game: op

(For universes that have blogs, most of my stuff is being posted/reblogged to those rather than here lol)

💖 My Little Pony/Equestria Girls 💖

Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, The Apple Family, Bow Hothoof, Windy Whistles, The Ktamryn ⭐, Reflections!King Sombra, Prince Blueblood, Princess Cadance, Night Light, Twilight Velvet, Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Emziko 🌠, Flurry Heart, Star Tracker, Raven, Kibitz, Royal Guards, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Big Mac, Starlight Glimmer, Rolling Pebble ⭐, My Chemical Spiral ⭐, T-Bone ⭐, Flim, Flam, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Trixie Lulamoon, Discord, Granny Smith, Gamer Gears ⭐, Fancy Pants, Starswirl the Bearded, Mage Meadowbrook, Flash Magnus, Somnambula, Mistmane, Rockhoof, Stygian, Sunset Shimmer, Human!Celestia, Human!Luna, Petal Pop ⭐, Sunburst, Squiggles ⭐, Heartbreak ⭐, Moondancer, Spray Paint ⭐, Tempest Shadow, Jack ⭐, Coco Pommel, Thorax, Pharynx, Changeling Hive, Ember, Starry Night ⭐, Red Delicious ⭐, Sugar Belle, Cheese Sandwich, Mr. Cake, Mrs. Cake, Pumpkin Cake, Pound Cake, Queen Chrysalis, Lucid Dream ⭐, Pink Vanilla Cake/Vanny ⭐, Pony!Wallflower Blush, Limestone Pie, Marble Pie, Maud Pie, Lil Cheese, Big Sugar, Pine Song ⭐, Buttercup (Cat) ⭐, Everest (Butterfly) ⭐, Sammy (Frog) ⭐, Tiberius (Opossum), Philomena (Phoenix), Ocellus, Princess Amore, Human!Cadance, Human!Night Peak ⭐, Zephyr Breeze, Snowball (Cat) ⭐, Lovebug ⭐, Esmeralda ⭐, White Castle ⭐, Aura Quartz 🌠, Morning Roast, Inkwell, Mildred ⭐, Shadow Candy ⭐, Delilah Dusk ⭐, Shadow (Cat) ⭐

Blogs and Tags: @ktamryn-princess || @crystal-heart-princesses || @evilbtches || @yancelie || @vampireofthesun || @ponycuddless || Universe: #pony tag 🦄 || Me: #my tag - night peak/mlp 🌒 || Characters: #bug kids 🪲

💖 My Little Pony Adjacent:

Pine Fire ⭐, Silver Sun ⭐, Hazel Spray ⭐, Kimberlite Pie ⭐, Dark Desire ⭐, Rockaroon ⭐

Blogs and Tags: @pepperpeak || Universe: #fusion tag 🍰 || Me: #my tag - pepper/fusion 🧁

💖 Supernatural 💖

Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Castiel, Crowley, Gabriel, Jody Mills, Donna Hanscum, Gadreel, Balthazar, Sean White ⭐, Mick Davies, Garth Fitzgerald IV, Eileen Leahy, Bobby Singer, Likki (Hellhound) ⭐, Jeffrey (Haunted Cat) ⭐, Metatron, Death, Bela Talbot, Mrs. Butters

Blogs and Tags: @motha-freakin-lucifer || Universe: #spn tag 👻 || Me: #my tag - nikki/spn 🔪

💖 Mystic Messenger 💖

Flower (Cat) ⭐, Jumin Han, Christina Han ⭐, Geon Han ⭐, Elizabeth 3rd (Cat), Jaehee Kang, Jia Kang-Pines ⭐, Saeyoung Choi, Jiyeon Choi ⭐, Tay Choi ⭐, May Choi ⭐, Rocky (Cat) ⭐, Yoosung Kim, Don Kim ⭐, Buddy (Dog) ⭐, Saeran Choi, Yuri Choi ⭐, Lilly Choi ⭐, Rika Kim, Jenny Pines ⭐, Jihyun Kim, Natsuki Kim ⭐, Lucy Kim, Parrot (Parrot) ⭐, Zen, Soonja Ryu ⭐, Mimi Ryu ⭐, Vanderwood, Amelika Pines ⭐, Various unlisted (Characters' canon family members)

Blogs and Tags: @rfa-member-pixel || Universe: #mysme tag 📱 || Me: #my tag - nicholas/mysme 🍕 || Characters: #mysme kids 🧃

💖 A Magneto 💖

Bonita, Ellie Choi, Pam Choi, Chris Choi, Alvin Derry, Raphael, Mozzarella Jay, Pearl, Saeran Choi, Jaehee Choi, Taemin Choi, Amanda Erialc, Pan Man, Vanderwood, Saeyoung Choi, Loveti Choi, Flower (Cat), Snyder (Pig)

Blogs and Tags: @a-magneto || Universe: #magneto tag 🔥 || Me: #my tag - nick/magneto 🌎 || Characters: #magneto kids 💙

💖 Arcane 💖

Silco, Jinx, Vander, Vi, Sevika, Viktor, Heimerdinger

Blogs and Tags: Universe: #arcane tag 💥 || Me: #my tag - pixel/arcane 🔗 || Characters: #silco tag 🦈, #jinx tag 🔫, #vi & vander ❗

💖 The Walking Dead 💖

The Governor, Jesus, Negan Smith, Various unlisted (edit later)

Blogs and Tags: Universe: #apocalypse tag 🛒 || Me: #my tag - nick/twd 🧟‍♀️ || Characters: #governor tag 🧟‍♂️, #jesus tag 🏳️‍🌈

💖 Littlest Pet Shop 💖

Roger Baxter, Blythe Baxter, Anna Twombly, Fisher Biskit, Whittany Biskit, Brittany Biskit, Cadance (Bird) ⭐, Celie (Cat) ⭐, Lulu (Cat) ⭐

Blogs and Tags: Universe: #lps tag 🦨 || Characters: #cady and kat 🐦

💖 Nimona 💖

Nimona, Ballister Boldheart

Blogs and Tags: #nimona 🦏

💖 Miraculous: Tales of Shadybug and Claw Noir 💖

Gabriel Agreste/Betterfly, Adrien Agreste/Paw Noir, Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug, Alya Césaire, Nino Lahiffe, Sluush ⭐

Blogs and Tags: Universe: #stoat tag ⛄ || Me: #my tag - frost/miraculous ❄ || Characters: #betterfly better life 🦋

💖 Pokémon 💖

Castiel (Vaporeon) ⭐, Sunny (Poochyena) ⭐, Crowley (Ivysaur) ⭐, Cody (Stunky) ⭐, Flower the 2nd (Trumbeak) ⭐, Cadance (Sylveon) ⭐, Shadow (Zorua) ⭐, Night Peak (Eevee) ⭐, Various unlisted Pokémon (too many to list) ⭐

Blogs and Tags: @pixels-pokemon || Universe: #pokétag 🔴

💖 How to Train Your Dragon 💖

Jack (Dragon) ⭐

Blogs and Tags: Characters: #jack tag 🐉

💖 Finch 💖

Cadance (Bird), Jinx (Bird), Ktamryn (Bird)

Blogs and Tags: Universe: #finch tag 🕊 || Characters: #cady and kat 🐦

💖 Fandomless/Other 💖

Rat (Cat) ⭐, Fabian Xavier Pines ⭐

Blogs and Tags: Universe: #the others 🧇 || Characters: #rat attack 🐀, #fabian tag 👁

💖 Spider-Man 💖

Peter Parker/Spider-Man

Blogs and Tags: #spider tag 🕷

💖 Bob's Burgers 💖

Teddy, Bob Belcher, Linda Belcher, Tina Belcher, Louise Belcher, Gene Belcher, Calvin Fischoeder, Felix Fischoeder, Nat Kinkle, Mickey

Blogs and Tags: Universe: #burger tag 🍔

💖 Five Nights at Freddy's (Movie) 💖

William Afton/Springtrap

Blogs and Tags: Universe: #fnaf 🍕 || Characters: #golden bun 🐰

💖 Serial Mom 💖

Beverly Sutphin

Blogs and Tags: Characters: #beverly tag 🧦

💖 NCIS 💖

Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Abby Sciuto, Anthony DiNozzo, Tim McGee, Ziva David, Donald Mallard, Leon Vance, Jimmy Palmer, Eleanor Bishop, Tobias Fornell, Anthony DiNozzo Sr., Butterball (Cat) ⭐

Blogs and Tags: Universe: #ncis tag 🫀 || Me: #my tag - nick/ncis 🕶 || Characters: #dinozzo tag 😎, #gibbs tag ☕

💖 Minecraft 💖

Jiji (Cat)

Blogs and Tags: Universe: #minecraft 🟩 || Characters: #jijis tag 🐈

Other credits ;; For things not made by me, anything uncredited is either by me or credited in the original post where its used

Dividers: firefly-graphics || Certain reblog game pics: Google images (I know that doesn't really count as proper credit I'm sorry) || Userboxes: selfship-userboxing