#i support those who wish to get an abortion

[olderthannetfic]

I'm a big mpreg and A/B/O fan who is wondering if anyone else has noticed the weird anti-abortion attitudes in a lot of mpreg and a/b/o? Like where you're "2000s Hollywood movies" levels of characters not even CONSIDERING abortion as an option for unwanted pregnancies (in a universe where this is possible and safe, and where it doesn't make sense with the character's characterization). I get why for plot reasons, abortion isn't as satisfying an end to a certain kind of pregnancy story as having the baby, same as it is in movies that do it. But you can write a character considering abortion and deciding not to get one in a way that doesn't make the option seem horrible and unthinkable or otherwise stigmatize it.

Or the number of people who seem to think abortion is such an inherently "traumatizing" topic that they need to content-warn for even a vague, offhand mention of it. It's one thing if it's graphic surgery or something - I'd probably want a head's up for that no matter what it was, at least in a story where I didn't see it coming - but just mentioning it at all? Abortion is a routine, safe medical procedure in places where it's legal. If you're doing warnings with abortion and no other medical procedures, you're reinforcing the anti-choice idea that abortion is inherently upsetting and sad. It's reinforcing abortion stigma. I've met many, many more people who've had abortions who felt happy about it and wish they could say that without having people treat them like a murderer, than I have people who had the "post-abortion regret" that anti-choice organizations talk about, and my experiences are supported by basically all the statistics about this that aren't from anti-choice political lobbying groups. It's especially egregious when people do this over an early, fully-elective (and legal and safe) abortion - a thing where patients having triggering kind of trauma is so low as to be statistically insignificant - but don't do it over related topics that genuinely contribute to a lot of PTSD, like miscarriage, infertility, adoption, and even fucking child death!!!!! I saw a fic that mentioned ALL of those things in someone's inner monologue considering what he should do about an unexpected pregnancy, but only the abortion part got warned for! Maybe some of that sounds nitpicky, but I personally know people who read fanfiction who like warnings for discussion of infertility/miscarriage because they have a lot of stress and trauma over unsuccessfully trying to have a child, and don't want to be reminded of that in their happy place.

It feels like a thing that's oddly underdiscussed when people talk about things in mpreg and a/b/o that would be kind of questionable to these same authors if they were to encounter it in stories about pregnancy where the character is a woman (like the stories where simply having a working uterus means you are inherently more nurturing or less ambitious or sweeter, or where getting pregnant suddenly makes you like that no matter how you were before). But if anything it's more common. I have to assume a lot of it's because a lot of people writing these were raised with more conservative ideas about abortion and then changed their minds, but didn't really question everything their upbringing taught them about abortions being always tragic or something that you should only do in extreme circumstances or whatever. Something you often see on Tumblr discourse about abortion, too, where people who claim to be "pro-choice" will come u with a list of reasons (disability, gender, just not feeling it, etc.) why it's "not okay" to get an abortion - not getting the point that forcing someone to carry a pregnancy they don't want is a violation of their body autonomy regardless of their "reasoning." The ableist woman who doesn't want a disabled baby still doesn't deserve have to a pregnancy forced upon her by the state!

I have to wonder if it's more noticeable to me because i wasn't raised that way at all, I had pro-choice leftist feminist parents.

Anyway long story short, I've never agreed with the anti take that mpreg or a/b/o are inherently sexist or anything like that. A lot of it is nothing like this! But it's common and I have to wonder if something working within a medium that's considered to be queerer and more progressive sometimes leads people to expose more of these attitudes than they might otherwise. Kind of like how you see a lot of weird sex-negativity in queer and fandom communities because people think merely being queer and in fandom means they can't be conservative, but they haven't actually questioned underlying sex-negative attitudes they have.... and so you get them being susceptible to anti and "kinks don't belong at pride" and such.

It's not inherently sexist, but I'm not sure it's inherently progressive, either? Not that it has to be. But I think my patience for anti-abortion stigma is, given recent big world events, at its absolute nadir lol

(sorry this is so long! guess i had more to say about this than i thought)

--

Too much American culture, maybe? IDK.

My mother considered abortions to be about like having the doctor remove a tick. I too find a lot of people's pearl clutching bemusing.

I always find it embarrassing in that bad writing OOC way when people don't include abortion where it makes sense or treat it as a Big Deal where it wouldn't be to that character.

However, I do usually expect mpreg fic to be kinking on "Ohhh nooo, now we have to stay together for the baby!" nonsense fantasies. It's one reason I dislike most of it. Given that, I wouldn't read too much into the plague of conservative anti-abortion vibes.

The fandoms that do more with A/B/O world building (giving the betas an actual role, etc.) tend to have more fic where they consider or even get abortions though.

[unbidden-yidden-deactivated20240]

There are two related things I've noticed coming from the left that I really want people to examine deeply in themselves, because it's a major problem that I see happening over and over again. The whole I/P issue is the most currently salient example, but it is one of many.

1. There's this tendency towards retributive justice, wherein the solutions proposed fail to take into account whether the proposed punishment is at all proportional to the alleged crime, but rather is just treated as the natural consequence of that action.

2. This same principle is also extended backwards in time and used to excuse violence post hoc that they might not have chosen as an ideal punishment but have nevertheless decided was deserved because that person [allegedly] did something bad.

Both betray an underlying punitive or retributive justice mentality, where the goal is not restoration or reconciliation + accountability, but rather punishment. (There are some interesting religious and cultural aspects to this I could get into but don't want to derail this post.)

This untethering of crime to punishment in terms of (a) due process, (b) proportionality of punishment to the crime, and (c) a failure to consider restorative justice, reconciliation, and teshuva processes instead of retribution leads to monstrous and morally bankrupt results.

Put another (blunter, crasser) way: the left's longstanding hard-on for vigilante violence is a critical failure that undermines the entire movement.

You cannot base your politics on humanism, compassion, and due process out one side of your mouth and then cheer on vigilante violence, cruel and unusual punishment, and mob mentality out the other. It doesn't work like that.

Now I understand that sometimes armed resistance is necessary. People living under authoritarian and inhumane conditions may, out of necessity, turn to guerrilla warfare and unofficial armed resistance in self-defense. But even that has limits. When leftists fantasize about death by curb stomping or slitting someone's throat as a good thing, they are imagining this happening to armed fascists, Nazis, white supremacists, or possibly other categories of irredeemable people such as domestic abusers who maim or kill their partner &/or children, pedophiles, human traffickers, etc.

What they aren't imagining is the other side of that coin, which is the alt-righter who murdered Heather Heyer with his car, abortion clinic bombers, violent Q-anoners or terrorists. Each of those people also believe in the justice of their actions and their entitlement to act as arresting officer, judge, jury, and executioner.

"But those people are wrong!"

So? Why do you get to decide that for everyone? What about the people who think YOU are wrong?

There's a reason courts and due process exist. It's the same reason why "free speech" protects the speech you hate, why freedom of the press protects that rag whose opinions you hate, and why free exercise of religion protects shitty religious groups you wish to see gone. It's because we live in a society and you aren't the arbiter of justice for everyone. If you give in to that mentality, you will inevitably end up in a "might makes right" society, which never ends well, particularly for marginalized people.

If you wouldn't accept l'chatchila a certain punishment being administrated by a court of law without outcry and protest for human rights abuses, then don't cheer it on b'dievad. Either rape is unacceptable or it's not. Either torture is unjustifiable or it isn't. Either maiming is an acceptable punishment for certain crimes or it isn't. You either support the death penalty by certain methods (beheading, burned alive, strangled, hacked apart, stoning, hanging, etc.) or you don't. Collective punishment is either acceptable or it isn't. Vicarious punishment is either acceptable or it isn't.

All of those things are either human rights abuses, or they aren't. All of them fall outside even the rules that might permit self-defense or guerrilla warfare or other uprisings of the oppressed.

Due process is the same - either you believe in due process and the right to a fair and timely trial, or you don't. The moment you support one extrajudicial punitive killing, you have opened the door to the justification of murder, provided the killer has sufficient justification.

It's true that the rules of armed conflict and war are different, but that they exist at all is relevant here too. The reason they exist is to minimize suffering during an event that is guaranteed to cause great suffering. It's the same reason why the laws of self-defense are different than the laws of intentional murder.

The truth is that in order to live in a just and civilized society, there must be specific rules that govern the administration of conflict resolution and harm. These rules must be enforced consistently and equally, and the decider of fact must have reasonable access to the evidence that exists. The state or any court of law or other tribunal must render its decision in the most impartial way possible, even for the worst, most obviously guilty people. Even those that commit heinous crimes must be given those same rights. Without those safeguards, you create the opportunity for bad faith actors to label their undesirable groups or individuals as whatever category people find so despicable that they fall out of being considered human and lose their claim to human rights protections. It must therefore be impossible to forfeit your right to due process and freedom from vigilantes and mobs.

[shotmrmiller]

hi this is a really weird request but can you do a Drabble of like Simon going to planned parenthood with his situationship because she’s getting an abortion and she will need the comfort?? I’m not trying to be weird and just that when I got one my situationship told me he “didn’t want to go because he has to go to gym” 🤣

OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!

I would SKIN HIM!!'

I AM SO SORRY! He seriously make me sick to my stomach, i would

i would tear his little pride into pieces. going to the gym and for what? ego lift? spaghetti arms lifting weight too heavy for how weak they are? flat chest? small, ILS having back? legs so puny, wind would lead you astray? every day is chest day head ass yet somehow the chest is still missing? i have so many wild, angry thoughts i'm seriously fuming.

fucking hell.

Simon is with you when you take the test, and it's positive. He holds your hand while your emotions swirl in your head, your chest, your heart. He is a firm, FIRM believer in your body your choice. Whatever he might think doesn't matter because the one who's gotta stretch and grown a potential babe is you, not him. He suffers no consequences.

So he calmly asks you what is it that you want to do.

Maybe you take some time to think, maybe the answer is very obvious.

When you make the choice, he supports you 100% percent. There is no guilt tripping, no lamenting or anything. If you are not ready then you are not ready, if ever.

He's with you every step of the way, from the phone call to the appointment.

(forgive my ignorance i only know of the pill, so imma use that)

the pill goes down easily at home, the cold water you drank it with feels warm on your tongue. it takes a little, until the cramps start. Small twinges in your lower belly until they start to up in intensity. Something is twisting your insides with their hands, like someone would wring out a towel to hang on a rope outside.

it fucking hurts, it's a searing burn, stabbing in your uterus. Whether you prefer to sit on the toilet or curl up in the bathtub, Simon's there. He's rubbing your back, squeezing your arms and hands.

He's grounding, and he wishes to be the one in pain, not you. He'd take it all, if he could.

Blood flows down the drain, slow and steady, alongside some clots here and there.

He keeps his eyes on your face, watching it contort as pain takes hold.

Simon's a silent, comforting presence.

When the worst has passed, when your skin prunes and the sharp gasps of agony turn into small whimpers, he wraps a towel around you and takes you to bed. His hand is warm under your navel, where it rests in hopes of acting like those warming pads you wear during your menses.

He stays awake that night, watching you finally get some rest, his head lifting from the pillow whenever your brows furrow, a grimace on your lips.

[itsallpoliticsstupid]

It's hard being a woman at the top of their game in any industry, because there's always those questions of 'how did you get there?' But it sometimes feels like it can be more brutal in Politics.

I get it a lot. Mainly because I'm not Oxbridge educated like most of my male colleagues. I'm also 20 or so years younger than them, and advising them on important Policy matters. I have a lot of people wonder if I got there on merit or for other reasons (use your imagination).

It doesn't matter if I'm sitting in a meeting reeling off details about Russian Politics that they would never have encountered, or talking about how we can bolster our support of Ukraine, I still have that look of 'how did you get here?'

And actually it's really depressing that this is the case. That in 2024 women in Politics, and other industries have to deal with that.

What has set me off on this thought?

This below!

It's just seedy and revolting. If the only way you can think of beating a woman candidate is to drag her down with this kind of misogyny then you have no business talking about Politics.

I wish this was the worst of it. But it isn't. I have also seen tweets questioning why she has no children. How many abortions she has had? It's just gross that we still have people who peddle these disgusting views in the 21st century. I thought that had been consigned to the 1950s.

[stardustpinkart]

So, someone tried to assasinate Trump.

Pity they missed.

I KNOW its wicked to wish people harm but... Some people I dont think you would be sad to see drop dead. Trump, Putin, people who hurt young woman and children. The isarealis! The ones murdering, slaughtering children, bombing homes, raping prisoners, all while LAUGHING and smiling about like its a big game.

At the very least strip them of power so they cant hurt anyone anmore, which I though they were doing, his name dirt, losing money, being cut of tv appearences, losing buisiness... AND yet they allowed him to seriously try for a second candecy?

Im only sorry for the victims who were in the area. Supporters of him or not. I wish they hadent got killed.

Some of the plans Trump has for America include:

Ending gay marriage.

Ban-remove trans troops from the military.

Ban trans healthcare for kids

Outlaw Pornography

Imprison people who create pornogaphy(DEMONIZING sex workers)

Oh and btw the asshole and his platfrom "project 2025" defines transgender ideology as porno, so, YEAH, gunning to get any "dirty trannies" into prioson

National abortion ban

Abortion medication ban, restrict ivf acess, limit acess to conctraception in an effort to end recreational sex( SO your sex life is now the govs buisiness, and if you dont want a baby, there taking away you right to engage in safe sex)

End no fault divorce

Public health clinics must EMPHASISE the important of STRAIGHT marriage

Repeal any programs that support single mothers or LBGT parents

As per the bible the only legally recognized families are those of a husbad wife and BIOLIGICAL children(so I guess adopted dont count)

Limit social media interaction for children via parental and govermental controlls. They claim its cuz its for there own good, but its so they can controll what they see. They dont want confused kids looking up infromation about feeling trans, maybe gay, non binary, whatever, or even Gaza and progessive issues via the net. ITS CENSORSHIP and there thinking "Our kids wont be dirty lil homos and freaks if they cant SEE these sites"

End free school lunches

Infuse public education with christanity

Band education on race gender and slavery

AND thats just some of it.

....TRUMP is a bigoted, STUPID, racist, intolerant, SACK of shit. Hes like one of those old time polictions in the old days where segagration still existed and a woman was still property of her husband. And seems to want America just to be that way again. HOW much misery did he cause the last time he was president?

I dont care who defends him, he is a terrible human being with terrible, EVIL policies. And I wont be convinced otherwise, EVER.

There are some people SO awful, the world truly doesent need them

Voters, please, do your best! I live in England, but I would, I would WEEP, if these policies came into effect in the USA. I thought MOST of the world would.

[hyperlexichypatia]

One manifestation of the oppression of disabled people and young people is the collectivization of what should be purely individual decisions.

This is also why I identify so strongly as a liberal individualist, and why I believe that disability liberation requires a liberal individualist ethic.

I got into an argument with some people about parents "sending" their adult children to college (in the context of the spate of articles/discourse about "Don't send your daughter to college in an anti-abortion state") and, frustratingly enough, I didn't even get a chance to talk about what I actually wanted to talk about, which was educational coercion as a red flag for reproductive coercion (because if parents are sufficiently controlling of their adult daughter's life that they feel comfortable dictating where she's allowed to go to college, it seems probable that their support for abortion rights is motivated less by a commitment to reproductive autonomy and more by wanting the option to coerce their daughter into an abortion whether or not that's what she wants).

But I didn't even get to make that secondary point, because people kept insisting that parents controlling/restricting where their adult daughters can go to college isn't even a thing. I was completely imagining it! Or misunderstanding it! That's not a real thing!

They seemed to think that I seemed to think that parents were hog-tying their daughters and dragging them kicking and screaming off to university -- and that any coercion just short of that is "her choice" and not coercion at all.

And that's not what most forms of familial coercion look like at all -- at least not familial coercion of legal adults who theoretically (but not in practice) have legal autonomy.

Familial coercion of theoretically legally autonomous adults more often takes the form of collectivizing what should be a purely individual decision. Along with financial abuse, it's the go-to tactic of controlling families. Sometimes it's a last resort before pulling the trigger of institutionalization, and sometimes it's just the default way of interacting. Just explain to the person you're trying to control what We As A Family have decided is best. Or maybe you ask her thoughts, make her feel included in the process. She should have a say. You're taking her wishes into account.

It's always a huge red flag when someone "has a say" or is "included in the process" of a decision that should be solely xyrs in the first place.

See, I almost said "that should solely be theirs," because I usually use singular "they" as the gender-neutral pronoun to refer to a general person like "someone" or "anyone." But I avoid it when I'm writing about autonomy issues, because people are so eager to interpret "they" as collective. I have so many conversations like: "Every disabled person should have the right to choose where they live." "Yes, every Special Needs Family should decide what's best for them as a family." or "Everyone should have the right to make their own medical decisions about their own body." "Yes, every care team should decide for each patient as an individual, on a case-by-case basis."

So in those contexts, I choose my words more carefully.

Sometimes this is framed as some kind of "fairness," and people who want complete autonomy are framed as "unfair" or "unwilling to compromise" or "wanting everything your own way" -- which is also framed as "immaturity," and obviously, if you're too immature to just be reasonable about other people trying to control your life, then surely you're too immature to make your own decisions!

But if the topic is your own body and your own life, you should want everything your own way, actually. You shouldn't have to compromise, actually. It's yours. It doesn't get put to a vote! It doesn't get referred to a committee! It's yours.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Hi!

I hope that you had a great week and that the long weekend is going great!

Sorry I’m sending you an anon ask, I don’t like doing it because I would rather have a debate around this, but as often with unpopular (one might say controversial in some space) opinion, I know I may be branded as someone I don’t feel I am.

My question will be about the laïcité in Quebec. To sum it up, so you can have a good idea of what my position is before asking you my questions, I don’t not support the full laïcité, French-style, like I don’t support it in hospitals, public administration, like if you want to display your religion as a doctor, I think that you should be able to, as long as it doesn’t interfere with your job (i.e. refusing to practice an abortion because of your religion is not ok, in my opinion).

But for the schools, to be transparent, I am a teacher near Montréal, I teach in secondary, and I’d be inclined to agree with the laïcité of the public school. All of it. I feel like the school system should be a safe space for all kids, and by letting religion, and religious practices inside a public school, we are failing at this mission. I don’t care if you are religious, the job of a school and a teacher is to teach you, regardless of your personal beliefs. Like if you’re a Christian and you don’t want to believe in evolution, well that’s your choice, but you’re still gonna learn about it because this is the reality of our world, and your beliefs system shouldn’t interfere with that. And I don’t want, as a teacher to have to put disclaimer in front of all my classes.

So my question is: why are people (especially left leaning people) so against it? Because education is usually one of the center piece of the fight for tolerance and acceptance but I feel like we’re failing at providing a safe space for kids that grow up in extremely religious household and that would like to get out of it but don’t because of family and peer pressure.

I am not stupid, so if the answer is : because it disproportionately target people from specific faiths that may have to wear visible clothing (i.e. Muslim and Jewish), I guess you are right, but I think it is more important to provide a safe space for kids that want to escape religions.

I may have a bias, as I grew up in a very religious household (evangelical Christians) and my dad was a pastor so I never really had a say in it. I got out of it in the university, but I really wish the public school system would have helped me get out of it sooner.

If you read all of it, I hope I didn’t bother you too much with what could basically be my life story at this point. Thank you!

PS: as you can guess my first language is French, and I really am not an English teacher so sorry if my broken English is awful to read.

"Just as a preface, I'm not the usual person who answers the asks, I'm one of the two people helping the usual admin run the blog while they recover from injury. This is important because I'll be addressing some of my experiences growing up Muslim in Quebec, experiences that the admin is not trying to speak to and is leaving for me to address. First off, I do want to note you're speaking from the perspective of the privileged group causing religious oppression as opposed to the receiving end. As someone who was growing up 'Christian' trying to escape religious impositions from your father, you're not in a situation where your religion is being oppressed and suppressed systematically, nor are you suffering under presumption your religion is inherently violent. This is why your comment on your opinion being "unpopular" makes no sense. Your opinion is not unpopular, it is in fact supported by the CAQ and their adherents. Second, the left does not support this because the interests of the right in making such laïcité laws was never to protect children from religious imposition. When I went to private school, where those rules were strictly enforced only onto Jewish and Muslim students but not to Christians wearing cross necklaces (although ostensibly those rules applied to them too), the result wasn't anyone's religious beliefs being protected nor was anyone tolerated, as I was bombarded by homophobic harassment and bullying from our Christian peers and accepted by my Muslim peers. The result was alienation of the Muslim and Jewish students. You should remember that is the original intent of this legislation is not to protect anyone's rights but to remove them. They are telling Muslims "Leave your religion at the door, or you're not a part of society." This is the practical impact of this legislation, and nothing else. You are harming more students than you are 'saving''. Additionally, your worry that Muslims having a prayer room somewhere in the building is a religious imposition on other students, in your imaginary likely atheist ones, is based in islamophobia. The idea that parents can somehow enforce their children to practice at school just because there is a room that allows them to literally makes no sense either. Your concerns are misplaced." "Removing Muslims' ability to have a room to pray in at their school does not remove any mechanism by which parents can use to force their child to perform religious duties they do not want to do. But what it does is continue the operation of an increasingly hostile and alienating system in Quebec that wants Muslims to know they're not welcome in their own country. Would you seek the outlawing of abortion because many men force their partners to undergo them when they don't want to? No? Why? Because it's a basic human right to have access to that service. And just because people impose it on people in their family as part of their abuse doesn't mean it should be removed as an option for everybody, the majority of whom want to use it for legitimate and sincere reasons."

[layuhsblog]

Keep Calm Pt2 Alt ending| Gojo X Reader

(warnings: pregnancy, slight mention of abortion, mentions panic attack (not really), crying, gets better at the end i swear, gojo not a dick here don't worry)

(this wont be the same as pt2 angst ending, you can skip pt2 if you want but read part 1 before this.)

At 27 you were pathetic- unplanned pregnancy, boyfriend who's still into his fuckin ex apparently and no one to share your sorrow with.

You loved him too much to keep this from him. Why wait another day? You never go to bed angry, remember?

With a sigh you opened your phone, it was currently 2am. Multiple missed calls and texts from Satoru. Your thumb hovered over the call option. You bit your lip out of nervousness.

'What if he doesn't want the baby? He has too many responsibilities...I cannot afford to have this baby alone...Focus ___, he needs to know this. Toughen up. You'll figure it out.'

You pressed the button and the line connected within the first few rings.

"Hello?" It had only been a couple of hours but how your heart ached to hear his voice. You flinched at his voice, hoarse, like he had been crying for hours.

"S-satoru, we need to talk. It's important, come over whenever you can..?" Your nervousness made it seem like a question.

"Just stay up baby, I'm on the way. We'll clear it all out okay. Everything's gonna be okay." You didn't know if he was comforting you or himself, but you believed him.

-

In a couple of minutes, you heard your passcode beep, indicating that Gojo was infact there. You started hearing ringing in your ears as your heart pounded in your chest. You felt like you could faint. In those minutes, everything that has happened and could go wrong started flashing in your mind. Somehow you gathered the energy to get up despite your shaky legs and go to the living room. There he was, his eyes red and puffy. He looks so tired.

"I-I'm really sorry baby, I didnt mean that. I've never loved anyone as much as I love you. I'll do anything for you." He begged. What a sight to see, the strongest, just crumbling in your arms. Holding your hands for his dear life as more tears appeared from the corners of his already puffed up eyes.

You wanted to hug him and sob in his arms. But first there was something you needed to tell him,

"Satoru, I'm...pregnant."

He felt as if time had stopped. He didn't know how to react. He thought back to his students- Megumi, Itadori and Nobara. They were like his kids. He really wanted to be a father. He cannot afford to become one..can he? For once can't he be selfish? All his life he was in the eyes of other people. Maybe just once, he could do something he wished to do. Have a family with you. Get married. Stay with you forever.

He'd never been so conflicted, having everything already decided for him since birth. Having so many responsibilities he never asked for. This was one, he really really wanted to have. Then came the depressing thoughts, what if he died on the field. How would you live without him, without a partner to rely on? His child, growing up without a father. What would happen if he quit? Would anyone be able to deal with Sukuna? What if the elders decide on preponing Yuuji's execution? What if more people died because of him?

Then the thoughts went to his childhood, his student days, his dear friend- how much he would have loved to be an uncle. How due to the cruelties and injustice in the world, he had lost his path, how his best friend had to be killed by his own hands...

-

As if he read your mind, he blinked out of his racing thoughts. and quickly engulfed you in a hug and held you tightly. He gave your forehead a little kiss and swayed you from side to side,

You waited for him to react, but all he did was stare blankly at you. Your heart dropped.

You understood to an extent why he's reacting the way he is, but you hoped he'd atleast be supportive and comforting to you cus of how scared you felt right now.

"I promised I'll do anything for you, you name it baby and I'll do it. Whether you want me to quit or not, be a father or not, I'll be a partner first. Make it up to you. Just please, take me back and we'll figure it out. I'll do everything to support you, you're so brave. You must be so alone and scared when you found out, I-I'm so fuckin sorry love. Y-you're all that matters. I'd give up forever to hold you. I just want you to know, I am." he whispered softly next to you, holding you like you'll break anytime. You sobbed into his chest, finally letting it all out.

You really desperately needed to hear that. You were so grateful right now. Every harsh thing he said now forgotten, you just wanted him.

With him, all your problems seemed so small. You were lucky your baby was going to have a father who was ready to give it all up for them.

-

But.. you knew you wouldn't ask him of that unless he wished to do so himself. After all, he had his other kids to look after. He wasn't going to abandon anyone. He had promised it to himself and you weren't gonna take it away from him. They'd be amazing siblings anyway. You were gonna figure it out together, you always have.

But for now, you cherished the moment with all your heart. You, Toru and the baby growing inside you, nothing else mattered anymore.

At 28, you had everything you wanted- a happy married life with the strongest sorcerer, three students who would kill for your son, and ofcourse- your son, Geto, who's name was unanimously chosen to pay respect to his bestfriend.

[kellyvela]

Do you think you would be as big of a Sophie Turner fan as you are based on her other works alone and not Sansa? I ask b/c i think many ST fans (myself included) have become biased in Sophie's favor and tbh not sure she deserves the unwavering support she gets simply b/c she played Sansa Stark.

Sophie's Vogue interview was a shock b/c the lies she told that could be easily disproven as well as being incredibly disrespectful to her kids. Throwing the pregnancy test to her husband and then contemplating abortion b/c her 20s were a time to be frivolous - what was the point in making that story public? All it does is hurt her daughter who will no doubt be bullied by her classmates once they learn how to Google. Sophie is not a planned parenthood ambassador so really the story was fruitless to make public. She should have waited until her daughter is old enough so she hears it from her mother first then if ST decides to share it fine but to do it this way seems selfish and disrespectful to her daughter. The other albeit frivolous lie she told was how she was so used to going with her ex to the LV shows yet last year she clearly went by herself and she went by herself in 2016 when she went for the first time.

Lastly, Sophie's whole having fun dating lie. Sophie lied about barely dating b/c a simple Google search (2019) shows that she said she said on the record that she dated so much that she was ready to marry. I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt but her actions say otherwise. Sophie soft launched Peregrine at her first public work event not even 2 months when her divorced was filed. Her brothers and dad are huge rugby fans, why did she take someone she barely started dating or is being frivolous with where he would be photographed? Celebs don't take flings to places where getty photographers are esp in the middle of a divorce/custody battle unless the guy is serious. But what shocked me was when she deleted her IG post to launch Peregrine. If her marriage was already crumbling why did she do an IG story wishing her then husband a happy birthday (in a gushy way right after their fight) then then proceeded to do an IG post where she's kissing his hand which she only deleted to post her ski post with Peregrine and his friends?

I will always love Sansa esp book Sansa. I say that b/c maybe you can provide counter points to everything I said which is why i'm doing the ask. Sansa is an amazing character that deserves love and Sophie well for as fun and cool as she appears to be, her actions show she's prob the exact opposite of Sansa.

Maybe a lot of Sophie fans love her mainly because she played Sansa Stark, but in my particular case, I started loving Sansa Stark because of Sophie Turner.

But right now, I care about Sophie Turner for more reasons than Sansa Stark. Since Game of Thrones aired the irrational and undeserved hate for Sansa Stark that surpassed the fiction to reality and became irrational, undeserved hate and bullying for the actress, made me very protective of Sophie Turner. So I decided to love her even more, and protect her, and defend her, and support her career after Game of Thrones, and wish for her happiness and wellbeing.

I'm not saying she's perfect and never did wrong, but I won't judge her because at the end of the day I don't know her personally, I don't know her reasons, I don't know her circumstances, she's not my best friend.

Now, about the *lies easily disproven* and being *incredibly disrespectful to her kids,* that is your opinion, and I doubt whatever I can say to you will change that opinion.

It would be easy to argue every one of your critics and accusations against Sophie, but I think it's pointless, not only because you can think whatever you want, but because you pretty much sound like one of those Sophie haters from Twitter that is really a fan of her ex.

However, I recommend you to actually read/re-read the interview and stop repeating the clickbait headlines that took lines without context and/or twisted her words.

Have a good day.

[bijoumikhawal]

Bite the Hand that Starves You: Chapter Six

Fic as of this chapter contains: discussion of abortion, references to drug use, intersex and trans characters, torture/graphic violence, colonialism and its aftermath, implied sexual violence, disassociation

Kardasi: peikirvi- would translate to something like "concubine", specifically refers to an individual that socially presents as male, and was assigned such at birth, but can carry children (and often could impregnate someone else), who is legally bound to someone. Usually this is done with a pre-existing couple who has fertility issues.

---

Peikirvi don’t get grand celebrations when they’re added to someone’s family. Women, less commonly men, or more commonly… it didn’t matter.

It is Garak, Barkan, and Palandine. Almost like that night in the garden, many years ago- except now, there is a government official, looking quite bored, and her assistant.

Normally, their parents would be here too. Of course, Garak does not get that comfort. He wonders why they didn’t bring theirs.

The dark coral doesn’t look quite right on Garak’s skin. Palandine and Barkan both naturally look regal in reddened burnt orange. Orange, orange, orange- of course it's all orange. Blue is too improper, even when it's ostensibly the only reason he's here.

Palandine, as the existing spouse, has a structured cap over her hair, to symbolize that she won’t be jealous. Neither of them has been able to make eye contact since they both entered the room. These are the details Garak latches onto as, in turn, they each wash their hands and mouth. The ink of signatures is already drying.

The skimmer isn't outfitted the way it would be if this was a grand celebration either, of course, and there is no procession, no well wishers. It wasn’t that Garak expected any- had ever expected any. He stopped considering the idea that he would have a legally recognized partner after he left Bamarren.

Palandine is sent off so he and Barkan are alone. Barkan stands behind him, stroking his neck ridges.

“How is your leg these days? Your spine?”

“Healed.”

“A pity, what happened during the competition…” Barkan sighed. “I suppose I never explained myself to you.”

“I suppose you didn’t.”

“Shh- this is meant to be a happy occasion. I shouldn't have mentioned it.”

Garak let his shoulder relax under Barkan’s touch instead of pushing himself to resist. “How would you explain yourself?”

“You know how brutal social politics can be, Elim. You were only in your first year… and frankly, you didn't have a strong standing among your peers. If I had awarded you, I realized, it would put a target on your back.” Barkan’s fingers slipped into his mijast, undoing the fastenings. “You would be the one to beat, into submission. It was improper of me to seek out your knowledge in the first place. Hearing how badly you were injured made me realize why.”

“I thought that was an accident.” Barkan stayed behind him, so Garak did not reciprocate the undressing.

“As far as I know, it was. But if that was how bad an accident could be, a purposeful attack…” he was at the lacing on Garak’s supportive garments now. “It was a miserable sight, seeing you use that cane for all those months.”

Garak’s hand curled, remembering the grip of the handle, how smooth it had worn by the end. “I see.”

“You don't.” Barkan’s hands slid over his stomach. “I…”

Garak turned in his arms. “You're still dressed.”

---

This time, Garak wasn't in a decrepit hall, or his shop, or on the promenade. This time, Garak was ill fated to be on a turbolift.

There were many times when he wished stairs were feasible on space stations.

When Barkan laid eyes on him, he turned to his aide, and gestured for them to go off and do who knows what. The doors closed behind him like red curtains.

"How lucky I've become." Barkan mused, voice like a whetstone.

"How unpatriotic." Garak replied. A good Cardassian did not believe in fickle luck- fate was another matter.

Barkan laughed, but didn't go for the obvious barb. He went for a worse one. "That doctor of yours... he's quite young, isn't he? A little younger than you were, when you joined my household."

"I hadn't noticed." Garak said dryly. He was lying, of course, but Barkan didn't know that. It had, once or twice, prickled at him, like straight pins shoved under scales, Julian's youth, and the things that came with it- naivete, exuberance.

It sometimes made him angry. Made Garak want to grab him by the collar and shake him.

"Really?"

"Yes." Garak resisted the urge to elaborate- to say something about Bashir's competence as not just a doctor, but CMO, member of the station senior staff. To further slide in that he was not only a doctor, but a soldier.

Barkan wanted him to talk.

"Strange." Barkan murmured. "You're usually so observant. I suppose you pay more attention to clothes than people these days."

Garak stared at him blankly. Well, not blankly- simply with what, to him, felt like a neutral expression. It tended to make him look a bit sullen.

Barkan tilted his head, smiling. "Well, when you do that, you like you did when we met."

Palandine's advice of smiling as a way of being powerful did not work on this man. Garak’s smile would be evidence of his power. His sullenness would be too, but it was more unpleasant for Barkan.

He hoped it prodded at his wounds, whispered in his ear how did you think this was your caged darling? How blinded by your desires were you not to see the teeth in his maw, the claws at the bend of the wing?

The compartment came to a stop, and the doors opened. Garak left without a word.

Barkan let him.

---

Julian was in line at the Klingon restaurant, trying not to think about work, when he of course ran into his only superior. “Captain.” Julian greeted him with a smile. “I don't usually see you eat out.”

Sisko tipped his head to the side. “Kaga has been pleading with me to try his cooking, on the house, ever since we tied as finalists in a station competition. I gave him a heads up that I'd be taking him up on that offer today- I'm hoping it'll help me relax after all these meetings with Dukat.”

Julian sighed. Dukat and his crew would, thankfully, be leaving in two days. “Speaking of… sir, I have a request.”

It was then that Kaga came to greet his guest. “Captain Sisko! You did not tell me you had a guest!” He clapped a hand on each of their shoulders. “But he will be a great help to you in eating everything I've prepared! Doctor, where have you been hiding?”

Julian opened his mouth to explain that actually, they were both on their own, but a squeeze on his arm from Sisko made him think better of it. “I've just been…” he sighed, “Very busy.”

“Too busy to eat! Pah. You must learn to delegate.” Kaga escorted them to a corner that had been done up nicely, and already was set up with several dishes giving off fragrant steam. They were indeed, more than enough for one person… potentially three. “Sit, sit and eat. Later I will come and entertain you personally, and if T'ustolla does not treat you well in the meantime, he will go in tomorrow's special!”

“That must be the new assistant.” Julian said as Kaga left.

“Hopefully he's a match for Kaga.” Sisko said with a smile. “You had a request of me?” He said, taking the first dish.

“Yes.” Julian looked down at the table. “I understand if you think it's a bad time, sir, but I was hoping to take some leave.”

“Of course. What makes you think it's a bad time?” Sisko asked as he looked around for utensils.

“You eat these with your hands sir, it's like Ethiopian food- well. Recently, we had first contact with the main political power of the Delta quadrant, and it was hostile, possibly irreconcilably so. There's the usual tension with Bajor, increased tension with Cardassia, kunowaat is still going around even if it’s petering out with no new infections, and most likely something I'm forgetting at the moment.”

“To you that sounds like I shouldn't give you leave. To me that sounds like the last chance you may get in awhile, doctor.”

“Oh, don't jinx me.” Julian sighed. “I see your point, though. It'll be a moment before things get worse, and when they do…”

Sisko patted his hand. “Just wait until you've got a decade of service under your belt. Now, is there anything else you wanted from me?”

“No, sir.”

“Then take Kaga's advice and eat.”

---

The rest of their dinner conversation had been light. They'd said their goodbyes to each other, and now Julian was walking. Walking and thinking- found himself thinking about his own... relationship to the idea of children.

One of the things he and Palis understood was that Julian was never having children. She'd been fine with that- understood some of it, even, having a fraught relationship with her own parents that they'd mended after years of effort.

No one knew that a lot of it was for the sane reason as Garak- it simply would be cruel for him to have children. It'd brand them as accomplices, and Julian would rather not repeat his parents mistakes.

He stopped in front of Garak’s quarters.

Naturally, he was here to check in on his friend, as a friend, not as a doctor.

After a moment of thought, Julian buzzed the door. It seemed Garak took a moment to think as well, since the door opened just as Julian was about to press the door buzzer again.

Garak had on his normal clothes this time.

It seemed Garak was in the midst of sewing something, fabric stretched out on the table before him. Fragrant steam floated up from a mug of tea kept in arm's reach.

"New clothes for yourself?" Julian guessed.

"Mm." Garak put down the cutting tool he was using.

"It looks nice." Julian offered.

"Why are you here?"

Julian’s brow knitted in confusion. "I'm checking in on you. I thought you might want to talk again."

"Did you." Garak passive aggressively folded a length of fabric- it made Julian tense, reminding him of his mother.

Julian set his jaw, cautious. "Yes, Garak, I did."

Garak didn't look at him as he kept talking, instead putting the fabric on a shelf under the table. "Well, doctor, I don't. I don't wish to acknowledge whats happened at all- you should know that by now." He hadn't looked at Julian the while time, and he was putting on a a patronizing air, but-

But it was normal, really. Julian breathed. "Alright." If Garak didn't want to talk, that was fine. And he wasn't lying, or at least his lies were consistent- last time, he'd just asked about the pudding. "I still-"

"Came for something else."

"To be... here, yes." Julian felt off balance, but held his ground. Garak had called him last time, and yes, they'd had a misunderstanding, but. Ultimately, Garak had been soothed by him.

Julian wanted to soothe him.

"Why?" Garak asked again. "Just being here is hardly a reason. There's nothing here. I'm in no state to host, and you know this."

Julian stared at him. "I'm not asking you to host me. You don't need to-"

Garak laughed, getting up and walking to the window. "Well, thank you for your clemency. Your permission."

Everything he said was going to be taken badly, wasn't it? Julian sighed- he hadn't figured out how to respond to Garak when he was upset like this yet. "I didn't mean it that way."

"No, I suppose it simply doesn't matter to you." Garak remarked. "That imposing might be inconvenient for others."

He was doing bullshit again, it seemed. Julian bit his cheek, thinking.

Garak had his back to him. "Well? Have anything to say for yourself?"

"Garak... must we do this?"

Garak was still- his shoulders did not twitch, and if his face changed, it was hidden. Unlike last time, and the time before, he had solid control on himself. "Dodging, doctor?"

"You aren't upset that I'm imposing and you aren't in a state to receive guests."

"How do you know? How do you know anything at all?"

"You never cared about it before." Julian pointed out. Admittedly, Garak had only invited him over once or twice before- before this, and the wire. But he hadn't cared then. There'd been the clutter of life around then, and it wasn't that anything special was prepared. They had drinks from the replicator and draped themselves over the too-hard chairs.

"Perhaps I've realized I've been improper and wish to change."

Julian raised his brows, thinking back on their interrupted lunch. "Improper?"

"Classless. Whichever word you like."

Julian frowned. "That's not it either."

That made Garak snap and turn to him. "Then perhaps it's this, doctor: I want you to leave, and wanted to-"

"Be polite about it?" Julian couldn't help himself. The second part was so ridiculous- nothing about Garak’s attempts had been polite. His tone conveyed all that disbelief exactly.

Garak’s face was set and cold. "So clever. So... quick."

This had been a mistake. Or had it? Julian still didn't know why Garak was acting like this, and didn't buy that him coming by had incited it. Mistake implied he could've avoided it.

In any case, he was at a loss for what to do. "Garak..." He tried again, and it hung in the air, lonely and ineffective.

"Good night, doctor." Garak turned away from him again.

Julian reached for him for a second, then, remembering, took his hand back. He nodded to himself and left.

He walked a few yards of corridor before the overwhelming need to stop came over him. He leaned against the wall, pressed a hand to his forehead and willed his heart rate to go down.

CMO of a station fresh out of the academy. Impressive, and an easy way into an early grave- exactly what he'd wanted. But two years was a little fast.

He really needed that break away, didn't he?

[topguncortez]

TW: abortion

I had an abortion when I was in high school. I was young, and dumb, and using drugs. I knew that I could not be a parent, and so I decided to have an abortion. My father was very supportive and drove me to the appointment and took me home after.

I was not given a chance to take the pill and do it at home, but I so wish I would've been able to.

Abortions are not easy, nor will they ever be easy. I was eighteen, in a cold room, lower half exposed, while a doctor who barely said a word to me did this procedure, and walked out like he had better things to do with his day. I also had a nurse, who could've cared less about what I was going through, hardly tell me how to take care of myself afterword, what to look for in case something went wrong, what to do for the pain. The procedure itself was traumatic, and the care I received from my doctors and nurses didn't help.

When I was 21, I had a non-viable pregnancy, and was given a prescription for mifepristone. I was able to go home, be with my partner, and take the pill to end the pregnancy. It was hard, and we cried a lot. We had been trying to get pregnant for about a year. It was just as hard, if not harder than my first abortion, but I was able to be in the comfort of my own home. I felt cared for, I felt safe, I felt comfortable.

The reason I share this is because lawmakers are trying to ban the use of mifepristone, and other pills like it. This only further strips us of our right to chose what we do with our own bodies. Roe v Wade hasn't even been overturned a whole year, and TWENTY FOUR states have some sort of abortion ban.

We are gearing up for another election year, which means WE MUST do something NOW. We can no longer be compliant. We can no longer stand by and let strangers control our bodies.

for those who need resources on where abortion is legal:

abortion laws state by state

planned parenthood

[liskantope]

More stream-of-consciousness musings related to the topic I was posting about yesterday. (I'm really really tired. This may not make tons of sense or hold together that well.)

Suppose that controversies over universal health care were to get focused on how unaffordable necessary surgeries are for too many people, and the whole thing became framed as a debate over whether or not people should have access to surgery. I wonder if then there would be a substantial number of activists walking around with stickers or signs saying "I <3 Surgery".

I bring up this hypothetical because it seems like such a motto would be an absurd choice, but actually I could kind of see why some people might proclaim it. This is hard for me to relate to, but some circumstances lead a person to be overjoyed about getting some kind of surgery, when it may save or vastly improve their life (I've seen this overjoyed reaction on My 600-lb Life for instance, and then there are trans folks who desperately want transition surgery, and so on), and that's a valid emotion to have without being obligated to carry along with it the baggage of wishing circumstances in the first place were different so they wouldn't need surgery. My own point of view is of someone who is a wimp about medical procedures in general, has never had any kind of major surgery, and finds the idea terrifying (both the procedure itself and the aftermath).

If we add to our hypothetical universe the supposition that there's an anti-surgery pushback by people who think getting surgery is wicked and evil (see Christian scientists maybe? and certainly some of the more extreme anti-trans types currently, about certain types of surgery?), then it would be even more understandable to want to proclaim "I <3 Surgery" to signal opposition. I still think it would be kind of a dumb, tasteless, and ineffective idea though.

Another hypothetical that occurred to me today is that someone on the left-wing side of fiscal issues, wanting to push back on Republican tax-cut and anti-benefits-programs policies, might go around with a sticker saying "I <3 Taxes". In fact, the hypothetical circumstance is perfectly real at least in the current US political environment, yet I've never run across an "I <3 Taxes" sticker. It seems unthinkably silly. And it's even the case that there's a certain subset of people to push back against, who think taxes are inherently a form of evil: the "Taxation is theft!" libertarians.

A variant on this, by the way, would be "I <3 Paying Taxes", which I think is already kind of implied by "I <3 Taxes", or at least that's how many people would understand it. But I think this variant illustrates my point (to the extent that I have one) even more clearly. Because nobody, unless they're trying to be really edgy or advertise themself as both wealthy and super generous, truly expects anyone to believe that they enjoy paying taxes. (I distinctly remember then-Senator Obama mentioning that he hated paying taxes in order to make a point in his third debate against McCain in 2008!) And it seems kind of insensitive to those who aren't rich but do have to pay some substantial taxes and feel financially limited by it, even if said people are Democrats who happen to favor those taxes.

Either way, it just seems like something that you wouldn't see, which is perhaps why I feel so taken aback by how many people are happy to go around saying "I <3 Abortions". (Counterargument: perhaps we would see "I <3 Taxes" if only the political Overton window didn't restrict most of us to the view that taxes are generally bad except possibly when forced on the rich: note that certain left-wing types, most notably AOC, are willing to go walk around proclaiming "Tax the rich!". I'm still not super supportive of this tactic, but it makes a lot more sense to me than "I <3 Taxes" would.)

[hyperfixingfr]

CW for the whole torra situation 🥴 last post.

LAST POST ON THIS because some of you actually believed it when Torra flipped their shit and tried to twist everything around like a five year old who got caught taking from the cookie jar

- I did not directly call Torra a pedophile and if I somehow did I apologize. I used the word "pedophilia" to describe the creepy age gap. That is NOT calling them a pedo. That is calling the PAIRING pedophilic in nature. For someone who claims they don't want their words twisted, you sure do it a lot to other people!

- I didn't even WANT it to escalate it to a call out post/warning to the fandom. A matter of fact, I tried to avoid that by commenting on the original post questioning some things that I could've explained further had they not decided it would be completely appropriate and mature to make a whole passive aggressive POST (now deleted and rather incorrectly) dissecting my comment instead of debating it calmly with me. Every person in this fandom who has EVER had an interaction with me where I question their thoughts knows I'm never trying to work against you if it's clear you wish to learn and be educated as to how what you said made some people feel, or how it may of come off. They responded to me in a very immature way that showed they didn't want to have the debate - and the call out post went up for the vast majority of the fandom who obviously want to avoid such content.

- I never implied they were shipping the two as minors. I have tried VERY hard to acknowledge in these posts and make it clear that I know exactly what they're saying and them being "far into adulthood" doesn't change the immoral factors. "BuT tHe LaW sAyS-" the law banned abortion. I don't think you should base your morals off the law.

- Torra tried to backtrack on the whole shipping thing by claiming it was, "just a proposed dynamic" and "not even a ship" or something along those lines. Considering this is still on their profile (with underlined text to call out their lie for those who might have trouble finding it) it's really bold to try and come back like that.

Even if you don't directly ship them, obviously you proposed the idea in a positive light. THAT'S what people are mad at you for. And it shows right here that you proposed the idea to be "cute". Also while admitting you knew the gap was 4 years (possibly 5-6 if you count the gaps within lore knowledge because we can't ever know for sure unless given official information that proves it wrong!)

- Torra is 31. That is DOUBLE MY AGE. I really think it should say a lot that they've decided to blow this whole thing out of proportion since the very beginning despite me really only wanting to educate about why the romantic pairing is still immoral. The vast majority of people obviously agree with me on it, and I've even changed the opinions of two people who originally sided with Torra after explaining why it was immoral. Torra is handling this poorly, to say the least. I mean... Directly tagging my user in a post that goes absolutely HAM on me trying to back down on things and twist the situation (which didn't NEED to be a situation!) is so incredibly immature I can't even believe they would have such guts for it. I'm sorry for calling you out on something the entire fandom is uncomfortable with for moral reasons but YOU decided to hand me a passive aggressive "I stay right where I stand" response. Warning the fandom about the "dynamic proposal" you had in the tags knowing that the entire active fandom would feel uncomfortable or even TRIGGERED if they saw your post shouldn't sound crazy or bad to any normal person lol.

- some of you are gonna be peeved at me for this one but I am NOT mad at Torra (for the most part... As long as those death threats I've gotten weren't supported by them) and I'm actually hoping they get their act together and just... Own up to it. I literally wouldn't care if they just got up and said, "okay, I've educated myself and I no longer support the pairing". As much as I would have preferred they'd have done that from the start, it's not like people can't fix themselves later on. I doubt they'll wanna because they seem very grounded with their idea but I've got hope for it.

Thanks for those who've sent me best wishes since I have gotten nasty messages over it. And on that note... I hope to god none of you sent any of the sort to Torra. I get they're being immature but holy shit, there's nothing more immature than SENDING NASTY MESSAGES 😭 sit your ass down. You can write the messages onto a crusty piece of paper and burn it when you're done if you really have to. Do not send it to them or their supporters. EVER. Thanks

[talonslockau]

Curious why you chose to have Princess join as compared to the books?

So, this partially goes back to chapter 20 of Fire and Ice (where Firepaw first meets Princess), partially Chapter 7 of Forest of Secrets (where Princess reveals her pregnancy to Fireheart), and it's going to cover the implications of things said in those chapters specifically. So, fair warning if you don't want to read further: this discusses in depth the concept of animal husbandry from the perspective of humans and the animals themselves. Trigger Warning: Dubious Consent, Pregnancy, Abortion, Depression, Implied Animal Abuse

When we first meet Princess in Chapter 20, she's 7.5 moons old (the same age as Firepaw), give or take a moon or so given that we don't actually know for sure that Rusty was actually 6 moons old when he joined. They're both bright-eyed young cats for whom the world can be anything, and I think at this point their personalities are pretty similar. Granted, Rusty's encounter with Graypaw ended in a brief fight, while Princess simply ran off back to her housefolk: however, Rusty was also going to run until he realized Graypaw was gaining on him, whereas Firepaw didn't bother chasing Princess until he realized she was his sister.

We even see that Princess loves the idea of the forest! Quote from Chapter 20:

"Living in the forest all the time… that must be nice." [Firepaw] perked his ears, unable to ignore the wistful tone in [Princess'] voice.

She wants to be in the forest as much as him! So why doesn't she? Again, quote from Chapter 20:

"I wish I could. I love being in the forest, and I'd like to get to know you better. I really would." [Princess] admitted, brushing her tail against [Firepaw's] paw. "But my housefolk… she needs me. She's alone in her nest all day, until her mate comes home, and sometimes she just sits and stares at nothing all day when I'm not around. She needs me to keep her functioning." The tawny molly looked away with a heavy sigh. "I'm not sure what she would do if I just left."

I think a lot of people overlooked this dialogue - maybe because it was early in the series, maybe because it wasn't that important (in the grand scheme of things), maybe because they didn't understand what it was getting at. This is one of those things I left implicit, both because cats don't really understand how humans think and because it's one of those things that would definitely dampen the relatively light-hearted mood of Fire and Ice at that point. However, since we're getting into the nitty-gritty here, I'll explain what this means and why it's an ample part of Princess' reasoning - enough that she wouldn't follow her heart to get to know her brother and live in the forest.

Princess' female human has severe depression. It's not entirely clear whether or not her human is treated for it or not, but it doesn't particularly matter. She and her 'mate' (again, a cat's way of looking at them) had heard of emotional support animals to help combat depression and decided to contact a local Somali Cat breeder at the behest of their neighbor after asking around about kittens. Their neighbor would have been one of Rusty's owners, who told them that the breeder currently had five kittens and they were looking at picking one out. This is how Princess and Rusty ended up being so close geographically, even though their siblings and mother aren't!

Princess can sense that her human has depression, even if she doesn't fully understand what that means. And she does indeed help support her human! She makes sure that her human eats food at a regular time, does the laundry when it's needed, and she's there to cuddle with her on her worst days. She's needed, so she can't leave to fulfill her heart's wishes. Instead, Princess lives vicariously through her brother's tales of the forest, and telling all her friends about her strong wild cat brother.

In canon, Princess is scared of the wild cats. She doesn't understand why her brother left his housefolk. She can't handle the sight of Brightheart, because she's just too soft as a kittypet. Hell, when we meet her for the first time, she's already pregnant! Her sole reason for being is to give Cloudkit to Fireheart, so that he can have a relative in the Clans.

Given that she's Fireheart's sister, and therefore his equal (more or less), this has always read to me as misogyny from the Hunters. Why can't Princess join to be his relative in the Clans? Sure, it could be to give him a replacement apprentice, not just a relative, but back then kits just kind of showed up out of the ether. There's no reason he couldn't have been Fernkit or Ashkit's mentor, or some other sudden apprentice! She could have even been his apprentice if she joined, and he taught her how to be a wild cat (bonding moments)! But no; the only female relative of Fireheart's we see in the first series is pregnant, serving solely as a mother to his Clan relative, too scared/soft for the wild, and then just disappears after the first arc.

I wanted to show that she is his equal in my canon, and that means that she wants to be wild just as badly as him. She would be, if she didn't have someone that was already reliant on her as an ESA. Instead she remains; but she's still not soft, or scared of the forest. She loves seeing Fireheart, she worries for him, she even wants to learn battle moves from him in Chapter 47! Every time she's portrayed as soft, it's because Fireheart is handling her too gently; because he's trying to protect her from his own imagined fears. Whenever she reacts negatively, it's always to things that Clan cats themselves react negatively to (such as Spottedleaf dying, or the kits getting stolen).

Now that we've covered her character in Fire and Ice, it's time to get to how I've been developing her in Forest of Secrets. Obviously, the first chapter we see her in is Chapter 7, and it's not great. Her long fur is ungroomed; her tail is low, and she doesn't respond very much to Fireheart's prompting. She is deeply upset and clearly in her own head. We find out this is because she was bred with a cat she didn't know, and she didn't entirely want to do it, but did so out of fear of making her owners mad.

At this point, she is about 12 moons old, again give or take a couple of moons. I want to state that this is young. I know how early a cat's puberty can begin, and it's much earlier than this, but these are sapient cats and as such that doesn't really apply. Still, even by living cat standards, this is young; responsible breeders state that a cat should never be bred before their first year, and it should ideally wait until they are 18 months or two years old.

(This is made even worse in canon, because she's actually 10 moons at this point. Seriously, Erins, what the hell?)

From her point of view, her housefolk have betrayed her. She loved them and cared for them, but she wasn't enough for them. All they see her for is a potential baby factory, not for the value of their bond on its own. She thought they loved her for her, and now she's wondering if they love her at all. Will they love her kits at all? How can they, when they don't even seem to love her?

Also to be clear, her humans are definitely in the wrong here. This is made even clearer when we think about who Princess was bred with, Oliver. He's mentioned to be a white tom, but... there's no white in the Somali Cat breed standard. The only crossbreed allowed by the standard is to Abyssinians, and those also don't allow white. Her kits won't be able to be registered Somalis, even if they meet all the other classifications (they won't). This means that they were breeding her just for the sake of breeding her, which is a huge no-no.

I come from rescue circles, so I'll admit that the idea of willingly breeding cats is foreign to me anyways. There's so many cats out there that need good homes besides purebreds! I can't even begin to fathom why Princess' humans bred her; maybe the female wanted something to do all day and thought taking care of kittens would be good? I don't know. Regardless, they bred her to the first tom with papers whose owner would accept the cash and not question anything else. In my head, Oliver is probably a Turkish Angora, though that's not terribly relevant to this conversation.

Getting back to Princess: Even though Yellowfang and Dewpaw and all her friends did their best to comfort her, at the end of the day she was still home with her housefolk day in and day out. The more she helped her, the angrier she became. Despite all the love she'd given her, her housefolk had still forced Princess to carry kits for her own amusement. She would likely make Princess' kits carry kits for her own amusement - and that, more than anything, scared Princess to her core. She didn't want anyone else to go through what she did. Especially not the kits growing inside her, which despite it all she was growing to love. (This is also why she turned down the opportunity for an abortion from Yellowfang - even though she hated how she had gotten pregnant, she loved the idea of her own kits.)

Then she thought of her brother, Fireheart. She thought of how she'd first met him, and how he'd offered to let her join his Clan. That made her angrier, too. She should've accepted his offer. She should never have stayed with housefolk that didn't care about her. Then she wondered; why couldn't she join him now? The wild was dangerous, though; wouldn't it be safer for her kits to stay with housefolk?

But the more she thought about it, the more that she wondered how the Clans could survive out in the wild if it wasn't mostly safe. After all, Fireheart mentioned kits and queens all the time! She resolved to learn more about the nursery when he came back. And she did just that, as we see during his visit in Chapter 20. Quote again:

“Really?” [Princess] was leaning into [Fireheart] now, as though she needed to hear every word he said as soon as it left his lips. “How does one become a nursery queen, then?”

"Maybe it’s nice, in the nursery.” Princess whispered softly, so much that for a heartbeat [Fireheart] thought she was talking to herself. “What do you think?” She asked him, speaking louder now.

“Do you think the queens are happy in the nursery?” [Princess] wondered out loud, looking over her shoulder into the forest for a brief moment before gazing back at [Fireheart].

[Princess]: “That’s lovely to hear. And the kits, do they like it in the nursery?”

For most of the conversation, she's probing him for what it's like in the Clan; how queens are treated, how kits fare. It's subtle - subtle enough that Fireheart barely catches onto it - but she's already imagining her own life in Thunderclan. She's not sure whether she wants to be a warrior anymore, but she does want to join - and being a nursery queen sounds like the perfect role for her. She loves her kits now, and she loves the idea of getting to care for many kits, even if they aren't her own.

Princess makes up her mind sometime over the next half-moon, and resolves to ask him to let her join when Fireheart comes back. But he doesn't, too involved with Graystripe and Tigerclaw to think about his sister. As her belly grows even larger, her housefolk starts closing the catflap; just at night, usually, but sometimes throughout the day as well. It's only through Princess' desperate begging to see her friend in the garden that her housefolk relents, and that's the final straw for her to leave instead of waiting for Fireheart like he ordered. She doesn't tell Fireheart about this because she's afraid he'll order her back to her housefolk for her own safety, or the Clan's safety. She won't tell anyone until after the kits are born (and it will take place off-screen regardless), but it will be enough to cement her decision as the 'right' one in the eyes of the Clan.

Sorry for going so long - I wanted to point out moments that have led up to this that I've laced throughout the series thus far, as well as explain my own rationale behind the development of Princess. Had she been adopted by different humans, similar to Rusty's, I think we would be seeing her become a warrior right now. Still, I wanted to keep the story sort of in line with canon - having her be his 'kittypet sister' for a while, until I needed to diverge from canon with how I handled Cloudkit. Thanks as always for the question, I could rant about just about anything in this series for ages ^^

[desire-mona]

randomly assigning house md characters internet moments / videos / memories / whatever i remember based off nothing at all (i did i dps version too) (also links for everything i talk about will be provided) (also also this isnt made to make fun of anyone involved in any of this)

house - mr beast and his OLD OLD youtube videos, like circa 2015? i think? he used to make cringe compilations essentially where he just made fun of kids' youtube intros. face and all like nothing was blurred for privacy, and then he'd call them cringe and make drinking bleach jokes. like a LOT. i binge watched those back in like 4th grade i think? maybe 5th? so thats kinda all i associate him with now. he also made videos where he would say a word like a thousand times, sometimes WAY more (like 100k+). or like. count to that number, he did both. anyway rip house you wouldve loved making fun of kids' youtube videos

wilson - does anyone remember the evian baby commercials? i think the whole shtick was like "this water makes you feel young again" I THINK? the one i linked was the one where the reflection on a building makes ppl babies, but theres one where babies are on roller skates or whatever too. this isnt entirely an internet moment as much as it is just a memory, cuz i remember my mom and my aunt DYING laughing at these commercials. idk what it was they were just in tears. theres something so 2007-2015 about dancing babies. wasnt a dancing baby the first internet meme? just googled it and yes it was.

cuddy - onision's shitty spoken word songs PLEASE tell me someone remembers them. onision really shouldve stopped trying to make music after the banana song bc the rest really suck shit. this is NOT based on vibes i gotta get that out there, i was like hmm cuddy has a kid. you know who else has a kid? YOU KNOW WHO LET THEIR KID FALL OUT OF A WINDOW? cuddy would fucking HATE onision. ALSO OH MY GOD PAUSE EVERYTHING ONISION JUST UPLOADED A SONG. I NEED TO MAKE A SEPERATE POST ABOUT THIS RIGHT NOW WHAT THE HELL. anyway dont watch it. i linked strange æon's video on his music just bc i really dont wanna direct u to anything of his directly. did u know i dont like onision?

foreman - the most insane youtube poop ive ever seen in all of my 19 years of living, i sent this to maddie specifically when i made my initial "like for a rando internet moment!" post but i really need to share it with the general public. general warning for youtube poop-ness; flash, loud noises, overwhelming, etc. i am actually begging you to watch this because it tops every other ytp ive ever seen, like actually blows it out of the water. i also has no idea ppl still made ytps after 2014 tbh.... btw this is probably the only ytp that i'll ever recommend LMAO

chase - OH MY GOD KYLERLOVESJESUS. so basically this one eboy influencer type on tiktok back in 2019 Found God and went on rants about how abortion is wrong and gay marriage is bad and blah blah blah. there was this moment on one of his lives where he went "i love gay people, i would be best friends with a gay person. do i support it? no." which was the FUNNIEST shit back in the day. i would quote it on the daily. btw the editing of the video i linked is VERY of the time so beware LMAO

cameron - cutie the kitten (sans' wife and gf) + the killing videos sans fan girls would make. i actually cant link anything bc the channel doesnt exist anymore but! basically back in 2016ish there was this one girl who had such a crush on sans and she had a whole ocxcanon situation with sans and her pink cat oc Cutie. a lot of ppl hated her + the ppl who had ocs shipped with sans but looking back its truly not a big deal. what is a big deal is that she (? maybe?) and other sans fangirls would make animated slideshow videos of their ocs using powers or whatever to kill other sans fangirls. like brutally. it was a wild time i wish cutie's channel was still up so i could prove thats a real thing, but ask an undertale fan from back then and odds are theyll know. heres a sans fangirl cringe compilation so you kinda know what im talking about, but fair warning it is a cringe compilation so. it wont be nice.

thirteen - TW INCEST!! this one hamilton animatic i saw back in forever ago to the song 'helpless'. usually animatics to that song use eliza and hamilton (im not a hamilton fan this is very surface lvl knowledge btw) but the one i saw was eliza and ANGELICA. like as in HER SISTER. big surprise someone in a big fandom ships incest wow I KNOW its tame compared to other shit, but it was i think my first exposure to anything like that circa 2017ish, so it kinda stuck in the brain. also the video i linked isnt the og its a phil collins mashup, the og got taken down. hamilton always makes an appearance in my house posts doesnt it, be lucky i didnt give kutner this one bc ppl were turn up abt hamilton fan kutner.

taub - WHAT DO YALL KNOW ABOUT MIKE AND MELISSA ⁉️⁉️ basically mike and melissa is this animated passion project this guy made to show himself (or his persona? or maybe just some guy) falling in love with his fursona that comes to life. this was the only episode this guy uploaded and i think he kinda disappeared after. the plot is kinda hard to follow and its not TERRIBLY animated but its certainly not professional looking. there's a video about what happened to him uploaded like 5 months ago, but i havent watched it. when i first heard of mike n melissa i fully thought it was a mid 2000s family sitcom but it definitely Is Not That.

kutner - undertale sans au christmas party comic dub. i probably dont need to give an explanation as to what sans aus are but idk how many ex or current undertale fans follow me so i'll do it anyway. making au's for undertale was a pretty common practice back in its early days, and usually the most popular character in any undertale variation is sans. who sans is shipped with was always up in the air, so much like the onceler, ppl ended up shipping sans with other au versions of himself. this christmas party comic is in my mind the undertale fandom equivalent of camp weehawken. i think there was also a sans au comic where all the sans' except for like 2 were toddlers at daycare? i dont remember who the adult sans' were but also i think the creator got into hot water? dont remember why.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Alice Miranda Ollstein and Megan Messerly at Politico:

Donald Trump says he won’t ban birth control if he returns to the White House. But he could make it a lot harder to get. As president, Trump enacted several policies that made it more difficult for people, particularly the working class and the poor, to obtain contraception — from allowing more employers to opt out of birth control coverage in their workers’ health insurance to imposing restrictions on the Title X family planning program that triggered a mass exodus of clinics.

Conservative allies want to reimpose those policies and go further if he wins in November. Their “Project 2025” blueprint includes proposals to require coverage of natural family planning methods and remove requirements that insurance cover certain emergency contraception. Taken together, the policies highlight the many ways a second Trump administration could hamper access to contraception, short of a blanket ban. The impact would also be much greater now that roughly one-third of states prohibit nearly all abortions. In the wake of the Dobbs decision, to the consternation of some conservatives, the Biden administration has worked to make contraception more accessible, approving the first birth control pill available over-the-counter and requiring more types of contraception be covered by insurance. [...]

Roger Severino, a former Trump administration official who drafted the health care section of the Project 2025 blueprint, argued that the restrictions proposed in the document are a “far cry” from pulling contraceptives off the market or criminalizing their use — actions some Democrats have warned conservatives plan to implement. “The notion that there’s a formal organized movement to ban contraception across America is downright silly. I don’t know how that idea came about. But it strikes me as political posturing in the wake of the Dobbs decision to try to mislead people into thinking everything is up for grabs having to do with sex,” Severino said. “It’s fearmongering.” The Biden campaign said last week that Trump’s contraception remarks are the latest example of the chaos he has wrought for women’s reproductive rights, particularly by appointing three conservative justices to the Supreme Court.

[...]

As part of their 2025 wish list, conservatives want to overhaul which forms of birth control insurance companies must cover for patients at no cost under the Affordable Care Act. For instance, they have drafted plans to allow insurers to drop coverage of the emergency contraceptive pill Ella, which some on the right believe is an abortifacient.

“Instead of a mandate of a particular potentially abortifacient drug, it should be opt-in instead of opt-out,” Severino said. “Mandates are a difficult thing to impose on the American people, especially when you have something as fraught as issues of potential loss of life.” Conservatives also call for a requirement to cover “fertility awareness-based methods” of family planning, such as apps to track menstruation. Waters said she would also like to see the National Institutes of Health or another entity study the long-term effects of birth control. Trump allies also hope he will bring back a number of policies from his administration. During Trump’s four years in office, his administration slashed hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program and sought to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which has allowed at least 58 million women to access birth control with no out-of-pocket costs.

Federal health officials in Trump’s administration also issued rules allowing virtually any employer to refuse to cover contraception in their health plans, a policy supporters of the former president hope will be restored in 2025. The administration’s biggest impact on contraception access came from its overhaul of the federal Title X program, which provides free and subsidized birth control, STD screenings and other services to millions of low-income people. Trump’s health officials first cut the length of grants to clinics in that program from three years to eight months, creating more uncertainty and paperwork burdens for already strapped clinics. They then issued rules that banned providers from referring patients for an abortion or discussing it as an option and required clinics to construct fully separate facilities for the procedure and other services. Proponents argued the policies would ensure taxpayer dollars didn’t inadvertently support abortion, but many critics considered it a “gag rule” that prevented open communication between doctor and patient.

Politico is reporting that Donald Trump may be open to heavily restricting access to contraception and birth control instead of an outright ban. This is yet another example of the morally bankrupt Project 2025 agenda that the GOP wants to enact.