#if you don't give someone a chance and condemn them

[ddarker-dreams]

BRILLIANT fucking idea: SR reader insinuating/offhandedly admitting… she has never been intimate. everyone hearing it like 🧍🏾‍♀️ how do you mean. idk j the flustered bashfulness of suddenly being like “wajt wait if im her bf ,,, im her first love”

SCREAMINGGGGG

[Scarlet Ribbons index]

Giorno

Giorno is a bit strange because he almost wishes he had a predecessor to analyze (and completely outshine). He isn’t disappointed per se, he’s not that weird, but having more study material never hurts. Positive relationships are foreign to him, since he’s been distant from others most of his life. He got along with people well enough — he just preferred his own company. Now that he’s had a taste of your company, he’s keen on making it a lifelong occurrence. Overhearing this admission has him wondering if traditional courting methods don’t do much for you. Or, more realistically, that they go over your pretty head. He's witnessed you interpreting the gang's flirtations as platonic. Consequently, he gives considerable thought to ensuring this isn't a fate that befalls him. Corny as it sounds, his new dream is to stand beside you as your husband. He's chasing this goal without abandon.

Bruno

Bruno feels immensely guilty for eavesdropping on a conversation involving something so personal, but he couldn't help himself. An immense weight feels like it's been lifted from his shoulders upon learning you haven't gotten romantically involved with anyone before. This relief is followed up with sharp self-condemnation — as your leader, he shouldn't get involved with your personal affairs. Maintaining any professional distance is difficult though, especially when you're so likable. People are naturally drawn to you and he's no different. That's why this revelation comes as a surprise, albeit a good one. He tells himself he'd be happy for you if you loved someone else... however, deep down, he knows the regret would eat him alive. He struggles to concentrate the rest of the day. His mind keeps wandering back to thoughts of you, specifically, finding solace in one another’s warmth. The most innocent thoughts make his heart flutter, the man is smitten.

Fugo

Fugo almost renounces his atheism — perhaps there is a God after all. Then he's reminded that you're completely out of his league, submersing him back into the Nietzsche headspace. His self-esteem isn't the best, so the way he looks at it is if no one else was good enough to catch your attention, what chance did he have? It's a miracle you even put him with him. He's blunt, stubborn, and easy to agitate, yet you're one of the few people alive who don't treat him like a ticking time bomb. When his initial pessimism dies down, he fantasizes about you getting flustered by things like a first kiss. It's a cute mental image. Would you fidget? Accidentally bump heads and apologize? Get sweaty palms? Before he knows it, he's invented an entire storyline in his head. It's mushy enough that he struggles to look you in the eye the next time he sees you.

Mista

Mista pretends he knew it all along, as if the Pistols hadn't kept him awake multiple nights, speculating over your relationship status. The little fellas held full-blown debates. Since he's a chill, go-with-the-flow type of guy, he wouldn't have turned green with envy had he learned you former lovers. If they brought you happiness, who is he to hold it against them? Regardless, he can't deny his budding excitement. Should you reciprocate his feelings, you'll experience all your firsts with him. Those initial milestones are the moments that stick with people throughout their life. It's your first kiss in particular that he'd like to have for himself. He intends to sweep you off your feet — literally. It's got to be like those old Hollywood flicks he grew up watching, or what's the point?

Narancia

Narancia has to stop himself from audibly cheering. The multiple abandonments he underwent in the past has him latching onto the few people remaining in his life. This includes you, naturally. You've brought him so much joy, the risk of losing that, losing you, it's a fear that eats away at him. He worries that if you had exes, you might compare him to them and determine he's subpar. Then he'd be cast aside like trash as he had been multiple times before. These insecurities nourish his possessive tendencies. Learning that he has no exes to fend off is a great relief because he would've defended you viciously. It isn't until later that he daydreams over the more innocent implications, like being your first (and only!) boyfriend. He gets so preoccupied by the thought that he walks into a few walls.

Abbacchio

He's actually surprised to learn about this. He considers using Moody Blues so he can hear the entire conversation, but decides against it, believing it to be an intrusion of your privacy. Abbacchio's of the opinion that to maximize your happiness, you should find love outside of Passione. He wants that for you, and yet... his heart physically aches whenever the possibility crosses his mind. What's the alternative, then? Would he make for a suitable partner? He finds the mere possibility laughable. Your brightness would be engulfed by the gaping maw that is his existence. He considers this an empirical truth, not some 'woe is me' sentiment. Ultimately, anytime your love life (or lack of one) is brought up, he distracts himself, so as not to fixate on his shortcomings.

[kvothe-kingkiller]

I'm not the best writer when it comes to writing convincing essays or whatever, but I'm going to give this a go because it's something that I've thought for a long time that I've never seen anyone really acknowledge unless I bring it up first. (also I am sick and don't really want to do much editing here, just rambles, so good luck)

I think that when most (not all, but most) people get salty about 'modern art', they are not salty about the things people think they are salty about. When they say "this isn't art", theres an important bit that they're not articulating. What I think most of them mean is "this isn't art that should be in a museum." "this isn't art that should cost this much" "this isn't art that should be getting this kind of recognition". And there is a huge difference between that and just saying "this isn't art"

Firstly, all of the arguments about why modern art is in fact art straight up....don't apply. They don't address the problem, they don't answer the question. This isn't really anyone's fault per se, given that it is addressing the literal statement, it's just I think most people aren't actually thinking that literal statement.

So then what do they really mean? Like I said, I think they're trying to articulate why they're frustrated that this art is in a museum when "they could do it". So when you say "okay then, you do it" that doesn't address the core issue, which is "but why is this getting recognition for it, and I would get none" because yes, unless they are famous, they would get Zero recognition for it. Nobody would be lining up to buy their art, no one would ask to put it in a museum. Best place they can hope to have this displayed is a fridge door.

When you look at a piece of fine art, most can see the amount of effort put into it. They see how much training it took to get there, they see how much time it took to put those strokes on that canvas and they can go "yeah, that took skill, that took effort, not everyone can do that. it deserves recognition". And a lot of modern art does take skill, it's just skill that isn't easily noticeable to the average viewer, such as rothko's color fields, they do take a lot of skill and effort, you just can't see it if you don't know. But a lot of modern art that people complain about isn't something that has skill that's not recognized, it just requires very little technical skill at all (not a condemnation, btw).

When you're talking about something 'anyone can do' that piece's value is often not a recognition of skill, or even of the message, it's a recognition of a name. It's similar to having a gucci bag because it's a gucci bag, not because you care remotely about the bag. Yes, art isn't displayed because of how much effort went into it, but it's a huge industry that many many people are making money through from sheer name recognition alone.

Like that one painting of that one artist's (I forget which artist and my cursory google isnt finding it, but also its just an example) where it got replicated and sold to a bunch of people for a large amount of money so they could all have something that had a small chance of being a genuine painting by the artist, that's an excellent example of the fact that a lot of the gallery-level art world is Entirely about the name, not about the piece itself. If someone just made that painting but didn't say it could be from the artist, then who cares?

If you go to ringo starr's art website (https://www.ringostarrart.com/) then you can see that some of his work, especially his older work, is of that category of stuff that many people would say "I could do that" to. For instance, these two? 1,400 and 6,000 pounds respectively for a PRINT of these from his website

....okay this one I kinda enjoy.

but still. 2,000 pounds for a print.

All of this is possible because he's ringo fucking starr, he can sell his paintings for whatever he wants. If I tried to sell those for that much, I'd be laughed out of the room. All of it is just clout, it's just how big your name is and how much you can use that as leverage.

This is not to say that other forms of art don't also have this issue, they do, especially with people devaluing creative works so much today. But you could probably get a few commissions if you sell realistic art or do commissions of people's characters, while you Cannot get any money trying to sell stuff like ringos art unless you already have an audience who will buy it.

This does somewhat lead into a discussion of how art curators pick which artists are 'good' somewhat arbitrarily, but that's a whole other post.

Doing art for 'yourself' vs for other people or money is also a whole other post, one which I've actually seen quite a lot on here. But suffice to say if your response to all of this is 'just make art for yourself! Why do you need recognition?' then maybe go find some of those posts. It's not bad to want recognition, and it's not bad to question why that guy is getting much more recognition for the exact same thing you're doing just because he has a bunch of rich friends who are able to host fancy parties and go 'hmm. yes this is good art.' (not that all modern artists had rich friends, but they did almost all get Extremely lucky in some shape or another that led to them now being widely accepted as good artists).

You cannot make a living off modern art unless you're well known, and if you happen to be well known already, you could likely make a living off modern art without having any experience, and that's what a lot of people hate about modern art, even if they don't articulate it. While some would, most wouldn't say "my five year old could do that" to someone's personal piece that they made themselves and hung up in their home, or that their friend made and gave to them. They say that about the pieces bought for thousands of dollars or millions of dollars.

And I don't want people to think that I do hate modern art, I don't (though this is tumblr, so I'm pissing on the poor just by writing this). I don't hate any of the famous modern artists, I don't think modern art isn't art. I do hate the industry that says their art is suddenly worth something just because some rich fuckers somewhere decided they should be, and anything I tried to do in a similar vein, original or not, would be better suited to sit in a coffee shop and continuously marked down and never sold.

So next time you say "so why don't you make it", maybe ask yourself if you would buy it.

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

"Murder is Werewolves" - Batman

I don't got the SPOONS to do this thought train justice, I have seriously been trying to write this thing for MONTHS so just, idk, have this half baked skeletal outline of the essay I guess:

I don't believe that Batman's no-kill rule is primarily about rehabilitation or second chances.

His refusal to believe that Cassandra could have killed someone when she was eight years old because "how could a killer understand my commitment not to kill" is absolute fucking MOON LOGIC from a rehabilitationist standpoint. No jury on the planet would think for even a second that she could reasonably be held accountable for her actions in that situation! Her past cannot condemn her to being incapable of valuing human life under a rehabilitation centering framework. However, Batman's reasoning makes perfect sense if he believes that killing is a spiritually/morally corrupting act which permanently and fundamentally changes a person, and that corruption can never be fully undone.

Dick Grayson killing the Joker is treated both narratively and by Batman as an unequivocally WIN for the Joker. The Joker won by turning Nightwing into a killer. Note that this is during a comic in which the Joker transforming people was a major theme! Batman didn't revive the Joker because the Joker deserved to live; he revived the Joker to lift the burden on Dick.

His appeal to Stephanie when she tried to kill her dad is that she shouldn't ruin her own life. He gives no defense of Cluemaster's actual life. Granted this is a rhetorical strategy moment and should be taken with a generous pinch of salt, but it fits in the pattern.

When Jason becomes a willful killer, he essentially disowns him, never treats him with full trust ever again, and... Well, we can stop here for Bruce's sake. Bottom line is that his actions towards Jason do not lead me to believe that he thinks Jason can become a better person without having his autonomy taken from him, either partially or fully.

The Joker is, for better or worse, the ultimate symbol and vessel of pure, irredeemable evil in DC comics now. He hasn't been just another crook in a long time. He will never get better, he will only get worse. If you take it to be true that the Joker will not or can not rehabilitate, then there's no rehabilitationist argument against killing him.

Batman does not seem to consider it a possibly that he'll rehabilitate. Batman at several points seems to think that the Joker dying in a manner no one could have prevented would be good. Yet Batman fully believes that if he killed the Joker, he himself would become irredeemable.

Batman's own form of justice (putting people into the hospital and then prison) is fucking brutal and clearly not rehabilitative. He disrespects the most basic human rights of all criminals on a regular basis. It is genuinely really, really weird from a rehabilitationist standpoint that his only uncrossable line is killing... But it makes perfect sense if he cares more about not corrupting himself with the act of killing than the actual ethical results of any individual decision to kill or not kill.

In the real world cops are all bastards because they are too violent to criminals, even when that violence doesn't lead to death. Prison is a wildly evil thing to do to another human being, and you don't use it to steal away massive portions of a person's life if your goal is to rehabilitate them. In the comic world, Batman is said to be necessary because the corrupt cops are too nice to criminals and keep letting them out of jail. I don't know how to write a connector sentence there so like I hope you can see why this bothers me so damn much! That's just not forgiveness vibes there Batman!!

I want to make special note here of the transformative aspect. You don't simply commit a single act when you kill, no, you become a killer, like you might become a werewolf.

The narrative supports this a lot!

Why did Supes go evil during Injustice? He killed the Joker. Why did Bruce become the Batman Who Laughs? Bruce killed the Joker. Why was Jason Todd close to becoming a new Joker during Three Jokers? Because he killed people, to include the Joker.

Even if these notions of redemption being impossible aren't the whole of his reasoning (people never have only one reason for doing what they do) it is a distinct through-line pattern in his actions and reasoning, and it is directly at odds with notions of rehabilitation, redemption, and second chances.

So why does he give so many killers second chances?

Firstly because this doesn't apply to all versions of Batman. Some writers explicitly incorporate rehabilitation and forgiveness into his actions. You will be able to provide me with examples of this other through-line pattern if you go looking for them. The nature of comics is to be inconsistent.

Secondly the existence of that other pattern does not negate the existence of this one. People and characters are complex, and perfectly capable of holding two patterns of belief within themselves, even when they conflict to this degree. You can absolutely synthesize these two ideas into a single messy Batman philosophical vibescape.

Finally and most importantly to this essay: he has mercy on killers the same way that werewolf hunters sometimes have mercy on someone who is clearly struggling against their monsterous nature, especially if they were turned in exceptional circumstances or against their will. They understand that they are sick, damned beasts, cursed to always be fighting against themselves and the evil they harbor within. It is vitally kind to help them fight themselves by curtailing their autonomy in helpful ways and providing them with chances to do some good to make up for their eternal moral deficiency.

I think in many comics Batman views killers as lost souls. Battered and tormented monsters who must be pitied and given mercy wherever possible. (The connections to mental health, addiction, and rampant, horrifying ableism towards people struggling with both is unavoidable, but addressing it is sadly outside of the scope of this essay.)

Above all, the greatest care possible must be taken to never, ever let yourself become one of them, because once you have transformed the beast will forever be within you growing stronger.

To Batman, it is the most noble burden, the highest mercy, the most important commandment: Thou shalt suffer the monsters to live.

[argumentl]

I like the fact that someone is sharing a screenshot of my TFOE summary on X/Twitter and spouting disinformation with it, and then blocking me when I call them out.

Can we just make one thing clear?

The members were not starved and mistreated on tour. Whatever you may think of the management, there is NO reason to assume they are holding the members prisoners under draconian, cheapskate conditions. And certainly no reason to spout such assumption as fact in public.

Yes, Kyo was complaining, but Kyo just complains. Thats how he is. Those of you subscribed to TheThe Day can see how much Kaoru suffered on tour (i.e He didn't).

As for the new MV, this seemingly was also not solely a result of management demanding cheapness, as we heard from Kaoru recently when he was describing some of the background.

As for the complaint about the overseas merch store, Dir en grey are a niche band in Japan, and an even nicher one overseas. As a first go at setting up a store for overseas fsns, it seems perfectly fine to me. If the merch sells, they will probably continue invest more in it, like any business. Give them a chance, instead of just instant condemnation. Don't even get me started on how many Japanese fans LOVED the merch in the overseas store.

Based on the amount of people who apparently complained profusely in the tour survey about use of AI etc, I would honestly not be surprised if the management think twice about sending the band to Europe again soon. Why would they send them after getting so many complaints??

I really wish people would consider this.

[seikyoko]

Jinjae make me insane

SHJ is Crescent Moon's handsome Ken doll, YJ is similarly the beloved playing doll that you pamper and keep in its glass case. They're both the object of many awakener's obsession, some where they keep that person separate (Shishio, BHY, KSH for YJ) or other cases where they continue to take care of them and keep them close.

They're the sacrifice prettied up at the altar, they're the transcendants fighting figurine doll, where those powerful godly beings keep interfering in their lives and "care about/love" them/show them affection and make a mess of their lives in their quest to benevolently help worlds they're not involved in, their death/the undoing of their self and chance at getting a happy ending is a necessary sacrifice for the greater good and the preferable outcome. They're also sought out by other transcendants for similarly dehumanizing reasons.

They both have been the target of a wedding ceremony attempting them to strip them of their self and deeming their personhood irrelevant

They're both simultaneously overwhelmingly powerful and competent and extremely helpless, aware of how bleak their fate is and how their chance of getting their happy ending is next to nonexistent. They're often more valued as an object regardless of their will/individuality which is often deemed inconvenient by many parties.

They're both doomed by the narrative

They're both extremely observant, good at reading people, goot at taking care of people, pretty benevolent in their own way and simultaneously extremely ruthless, they're good at manipulating people and are pretty private and bad at emotional vulnerability/asking for help, in part because their parents fully neglected them outside of basic necessities and because they don't have faith in society in general.

They are frequently put on a pedestal and often people who've they paid attention to define their self worth through the attention they (YJ or SHJ) give them.

They're both wholly unused to being seen due to being either seen through rose colored glasses or sewer colored glasses and it's a system they don't think they mind that much, and they're used to either be twisted into a more palatable light or being despised for not being more palatable/personally useful to them. And they frequently use a palatable/acceptable persona in order to get somewhere with new acquaintances and often play with other people's perception of themselves, either for funsies or for getting what they want, both because it's a more efficient way to interact with other people and also because their actual emotions/selves get rejected or dismissed as a lie. This is why their initial interactions are soo awkward, and why once it hit a certain point they start exponentially getting along better

Then they start interacting and they're more similar/in sync/same wavelength that they expected, even if they're held back from realizing how similar they both are by their preconceptions about the other

They do have their beloved/people who do know them and see them more than others ever do(STW, YH), but the entirely new variable in Jinjae is that the other fucker is the same

they relate to each other too much in a way they can't relate to STW/YH

So we've all read the same novel. Jinjae have this thing where they're seen and not judged for it (aside from the occasional throw away comment where YJ make fun of SHJ for something silly like not eating bread crusts, but they're hardly an actual judgement/condemnation YJ is making on SHJ), they're being actually cared for by someone they actually find reliable and trustworthy and they're in the presence of someone who get it and who understand them

[mdmraz]

RED M꩜꩜N ☪︎ M.F⭑.ᐟ

CHAPTER ꩜3 — MISSION ONE;

PART TWO⭑.ᐟ

꩜2⭑.ᐟ Red Moon Index ⭑.ᐟ ꩜4⭑.ᐟ

⋆˖⁺‧₊☾. ◯ .☽₊‧⁺˖⋆

UNEDITED

"This is really fucking stupid, you know." Y/N voiced her concerns as she and Megumi ran through the Innate Domain, the ravenette, sending his Divine Dog to seek out Kugisaki.

"It's better than you taking that thing by yourself. Itadori has some control over Sukuna, I have faith in him."

The girl grumbled under her breath at the sorcerer's condemnation and lack of faith in her. She was the grade one here, not Itadori, "I can handle myself, thank you."

Fushiguro scoffed before he outstretched his arm, grabbing Y/Ns wrist and pulling her back against him, catching the clan member off guard as she looked back at him, startled, "Nue!"

A large bird erupted from his shadow, scooping the ravenette by his collar. Y/N let out a surprised squeak as Fushiguro hoisted her up by her torso, her arms unconsciously wrapped around his neck as she stared down with wide eyes, "I'm afraid of heights!"

"I know your face now. I swear I'll curse you!" Nobara exclaimed as she hung upside down in the grasp of a large curse, her finger pointed accusingly at it.

Her neat brows furrowed as the curse lowered her into its mouth, she was seconds away from getting eaten alive. A noisy yelp left her lips when a slimy, long tongue wrapped around her, pulling her from the curses grasp right before a harsh punch made it stumble back right into the upcoming attack of a large white snake.

"Ugh, Fushiguro! You said you'd let me kill them!" The ginger found herself inside the mouth of a frog, a fatigued expression finding its way onto her face as she peered out the shikigamis mouth. A slightly bloodied Y/N pouted, arms crossing over her chest as she looked over the slim worn-out face of the other sorceress.

"We don't have time. We're escaping."

"I hate frogs, you know..." An irk mark had formed on the man's forehead as he pondered on what exactly he did to get paired up with two unbelievable individuals...and not to forget Itadori, "Yeah, well, sorry!"

"Y/N, lets go. You're both injured—"

"Give me 15 seconds." Said girl stated, tone unwaivering, making it clear there was absolutely no room for interjections. It wasn't like she had even given the poor shikigami user a chance to even blink before appearing in front of the curses with immense speed, so fast the two other first years could hardly register her change in position.

He watched in awe for those full 15 seconds as the Tsukuyomi gracefully obliterated the four curses with swift and quick motions, not a drop of blood had gotten on her uniform, further spoiling it, and not a single scratch or mark had found itself on her delicate, [S/C] skin.

Not even a bead of sweat dripped down her forehead with each powerful punch and kick, further empowered by the moons lunar energy she sent the curses way. Her breathing never labored, footing never faltered, and she never hasitated. She made it seem...so easy.

"If I wasn't on the brink of passing out, I'd fangirl." Nobara weakly muttered, earning a chuckle from her classmate as she turned around, "I've got you." Were the last words the brown eyed girl heard before her consciousness finally slipped, alarming Megumi who was standing next to her, "Don't fret. I'm making it easier for her and me."

"What- What do you mean?"

"It's easier to use revere cursed technique on someone who's unconscious, they don't interrupt anything."

"Please expand the evacuation area to ten kilometers." Ijichi nodded at the 'Zenins' order, his hand shifting to start the car as Y/N got out of it, carefully laying Nobaras bandaged head on the makeshift cushion from the Tsukuyomis uniform jacket, "What about you two?"

"We'll wait here for Itadori to return." Dark eyes, covered by the thick glass of his bifocals scanned the two sorcerers, one payed him full attention as the other stared up into the sky, watching with interest as the veil Ijichi had put up shift. The elder man sighed, "After I take Kugisaki to the hospital, I'll return as quickly as possible."

"No, there wouldn't be much point in you staying here," Fushiguro countered, making his superior grimace at his brute bluntness, "If you want to do something, ask them to send over a sorcerer grade one or higher. Though I imagine none are around." He crossed his arms, green eyes glancing at the female next to him, Is she really a grade one sorcerer? I was too shocked to register her powers back then.

After Ijichi agreed to the first year's request he quickly drove off. The shikigami user turned around in the direction of the detention center, his gaze hard as it bore into the old building. If the worst happens...then it's my responsibility to end him.

A quiet, bored hum escaped Y/N, "Send a grade one or higher over? I'm hurt, Zenin." The girl feigned offense as a smug look graced her features.

"If you're a grade one then why didn't you excorsise it?" Fushiguro countered, his arms crossing over his chest as he sent a scowl her way.

"Like you and Itadori gave me the chance?" With the roll of his eyes, Megumi quickly dismissed the petty banter, already fed up with his classmates attitude. They really couldn't get along for even a second?

The girl shook her head with a bored sigh, gaze shifted upwards toward the moon, clouds and raindrops hiding its gleam. Green eyes found themselves on said girl, his gaze skimmed up and down before it landed on her side profile. He absolutely hated to admit that he admired the sight. The way her eyes reflected the lunar light, the way the drops of rain pattered onto her face before they slid down her jaw while some clung to her long, full lashes. The tip of her nose was rosy and lips puckered in a thoughtful way.

"You always stare at the moon." Fushiguro had to hold back from slapping himself when he realized he unconsciously commented.

"It's pretty, no?" The temptress answered, eyelashes bat softly as she turned to look at the man, "Yeah...it is..." He replied, almost sounding out of breath, a brow raised when Tsukuyomi acknowledged his uncharacteristic demeanour.

"You good—" The feeling of a weight being lifted off their shoulders graced the two, stopping Y/N mid sentence, both sorcerers returned their gazes to the building far away, "Oh? The Innate Domains out." Megumi nodded, "Seems the special grade's dead. Now we just need Itadori to return safely—"

A familiar feeling of fear quickly paralyzed the two, the moment they could finally relax had gotten spoiled by an unknown deep voice from behind them, "Sorry, but he's not coming back."

The Tsukuyomi was first to turn around, brows furrowed at the sigh of Yujis marked body. A feeling of familiarity washed over her, her heart stopping in her chest as crimson eyes met with hers, thick brows quirked upwards as Sukuna took notice of Y/Ns presence.

"Oh, don't be so frightened. I'm in a good mood right now. Let's chat for a bit." He nonchalantly stated, walking around from Megumis back as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, "This is what he gets for trying to use me without any of if pact. Feels like he's having some trouble switching back."

Sukuna's hands emerged from his pockets to grip onto Yujis school uniform, "Still though...it's only a matter of time." He stated before the sound of fabric ripping blended into the pattering of raindrops hitting the ground.

"So...I thought about what I can do right now." The pinkette lifted his marked hand, placing it near his chest. Audible gasps left the two sorcerers, Y/N had outstretched her hand to stop him but his long fingers had already collided within his chest, blood splurged out of the wound and escaping the smug smile on his lips.

"Wh-What are you..."

The crimson liquid puddled at the curses feet before he finally ripped his hand out of his chest to reveal the vital organ in his grasp, still pumping desperately, "Im taking this brat hostage."

The Tsukuyomi cringed in horror at the unpleasant sight, her trembling hand clasped over her mouth to suppress the gags that so desperately wanted to escape her.

"I can live without this, but that ain't true for the brat," Sukuna states, crimson irises met with green ones before they landed on a pair of [E/C] filled with disgust and terror, his smirk widened at the lovely sight he missed so much; it brought him back to the days of his reigning terror on Japan. He quickly threw the fragile heart to the side, "Switching out with me mean ge dies. Also...for good measures." Sukuna opened his fist to reveal the familiar pruny dark purple cursed object, he carefully placed it onto his tongue before eagerly swallowing, relishing in the taste and surge of power.

"With that, I'm free as a bird. You can be frightened now. I'll kill you!" He chimed in mocking excitement as the two high schoolers shifted their feet, widening their stances to prepare for any attack. Sukuna skimmed over the clan members, intrigued, his gaze finally stilled when he met the usual [E/C] irises, now glinting with an angry red.

"Interesting." He moved behind her in the blink of an eye, his bloodied hand had moved her hair out of the back of her neck to reveal exactly what he had expected, a red moon shaped marking.

[E/C] eyes went wide before quickly covering the sight of her neck with her hand, the other wrapping around Sukunas wrist, "The fuck do you think you're doing?" her voice was a breathy mutter, too many feelings and emotions stirred inside her to actually comprehend the overwhelming and sudden attachment she felt towards the curse.

Her eyes shone with an unfamiliar glint, almost as if they weren't her own, it seemed as though the moon had found its way to her large irises for a quick second, before vanishing, further confirming The King of Curses suspicion.

"So you were worthy..." his dark, velvety voice sent shivers through the two sorcerers. Sukuna changed his position at the same speed as last time, now fully facing the confused girl, with his wrist out of her grasp. He extended a long finger, its sharp nail traced the jaw that clenched with tension, "I'd be delighted to see what's so special about you."

The two sorcerers stood alarmed at his absurd way of speaking to Y/N, making absolutely no sense to them.

Megumi's hands slowly formed the sign of a shadow puppet, his stance widened as he was just about to unleash his shikigami until squinted red eyes met with his green ones.

"Too bad I won't be able to retrieve you, Kaguya. This vessel will die soon." Something stirred inside the [H/C]-nette at Sukunas odd words, why was be spewing nonsense upon nonsense, specifically directed toward her. Her gaze hardened as she slipped away from the curse with almost the equivalent speed as Sukunas. Y/N now stood right next to her defensive classmate.

"You just don't get it. Itadoris coming back. Even if it means he'll die. Thats just who he is."

Sukunas chest rumbled with a dark chuckle before taunting the ravenette about how he gave his friend too much credit; just a moment ago he had been scared out if his mind, on the verge of death, and prattling on about his regrets.

Narrowed eyes focused on the well built and marked man, he noted his wrist had been restored fully. Sukuna was incarnated — even if he can live without a heart, it should still be damaging. If Megumi wanted to somehow convince the cursed spirit to heal the organ before Yuji returned; he'd have to make Ryomen Sukuna believe he can't beat him without a heart in his body.

Can I do that...? The memory of freezing at the mere sight of the special grade replayed in his mind, if he couldn't move in its presence how could he possibly fight The King?

A dried, bloody  hand was placed reassuringly on his bicep, giving it a small squeeze as if to remind him that he, first; is not alone, and second; it's not a matter of whether he can do it, he has to do it! And since the warm gesture had come from someone that had despised him and he had despised, it gave him a bit of confidence.

His shaking hands form into the sign of a bird, a large gingery-brown feathered creature emerged from his shadow. Y/N followed with her own, the girl whispered under her breath, barely audible — to the point even Megumi couldn't hear, "Special Cursed Technique: Copy: "Infinity.""

TO BE CONTINUED...

⋆˖⁺‧₊☾. ◯ .☽₊‧⁺˖⋆

꩜2⭑.ᐟ Red Moon Index⭑.ᐟ ꩜4⭑.ᐟ

TL: @loveforlauf , @vicurious28 ♡

© mdmraz ༝༚༝༚

A/N: two chapters till the end of the week just like promised!!

yall might actually hate me for this one cuz they might never get out the drafts

[thestreamdreampony]

Me adding my two cents is probably not gonna do much, but here I go, I guess:

I want to preface this with saying that Wilbur's content and Lovejoy have been incredibly important to me and I've put a lot of time, effort and money into supporting Lovejoy especially. So finding out about this, before finding out about the details, I had originally reacted with incredulous derision of twitter stans. And then erring on the side of caution about how things developed.

At this point there's almost no question that it's Wilbur, for the simple reason that Shubble would have cleared up his name if it wasn't. There's no way she would throw someone innocent under the bus, if she knew somebody else was guilty. Additionally, not a single person in Wilbur's surroundings has disputed any claims and have only narrowed it down further towards Wilbur. At this point it is incredibly unlikely she is talking about anybody else.

I do want to take a moment to comdemn those (mostly on twitter) who used this opportunity to dig into both Shubble and Wilbur's private lives, trying to construct a narrative of her abuse and in some cases going so far as doxxing Wilbur. It is entirely possible to support Shelby and condemn her abuser, without invading their privacy and endangering people's lives. Shelby's goal was to warn people and to make them more aware of the signs of abuse. As well as make it as clear as possible, who she's talking about without saying who it is directly, for a meriad of possible reasons. It was not an invitation to write abuse fanfiction about her private life.

That being said, the way I will feel about this in the long run will depend heavily on how Wilbur deals with this situation. I will definitely distance myself either way (slowly but surely), but his reaction to this will influence how I will act moving forward.

Should he stay silent or respond with insincerity/derision/defensiveness/etc., then that's it for me. Fuck him.

But should he come forward, own up to it, apologize and prove that he is working on himself, then I might be able to find it in myself to give him a second chance over time. I just don't believe that doing bad things makes you irredeemable forever and ever and ever.

We know for a fact that Wilbur has been struggling with mental health problems for most of his teen and adult life and from his solo music we are also aware that he is incredibly aware of the fact that he is the problem in his relationships. Expressing dark thoughts in music, does not automatically mean somebody is abusive. In fact, creating dark art is an excellent way to deal with harmful thoughts and impulses. I have literally never taken his lyrics to mean that.

However, his lyrics in YCGMA and MSR have always been incredibly autobiographical and do show that he is acutely aware that he's the unhealthy element in his unhealthy relationships.

We also know directly from him, that he has distanced himself from most of his social circle and sought out therapy as recently as 2 weeks ago in an effort to improve his mental health.

This does not excuse his actions whatsoever. Mentally ill people are still responsible for the harm that they cause and Shelby is unbelievably brave to tell their story. I hope they finds peace, I hope she has all the support she could ever need and I hope she has achieved her goal of making people more aware of how people end up in situations like this. She is an inspiration for standing up for herself like this.

But I also think that, should Wilbur come forward, admit to his wrongdoings and prove over time that he is working on becoming a better person, friend and partner, that he does not have to be shunned forever and ever and ever. He has a long life in front of him and I hope both for him and all his future friends and partners that he manages to find a healthy, happy way of living. This can happen, even while he never bothers Shelby, or the other people he hurt, again.

This is a best case scenario. I do think he is allowed to take some time to formulate a response. A hasty response to situations like this have never helped anyone ever, neither the victim, nor the accused. Taking his time to come to terms with the situation, which surely came as a shock, and to really think about how he wants to deal with this situation is much better than him writing a twitlonger as soon as he finds out.

Either way, I will distance myself from him and Lovejoy, slowly but surely. I won't get rid of the merch clothing I own because it was quite expensive and throwing it away is a waste of perfectly good clothing, but I won't find the joy I once felt wearing them. (I am salty about me being gone from home for a few months and having ordered Lovejoy merch, which had been waiting for me for weeks and then finding out about this literally the day I travelled back. It definitely felt weird as hell to unpack that stupid NORMAL longsleeve with his fucking face on it, while being hurt and confused and angry.)

Listening to Lovejoy's music, likewise, will never feel as euphoric as it once did, even if I go back to it. Which really sucks cuz they genuinly hit my sweet spot in music taste. YCGMA and SISV specifically, have been so, so important to me and removing them from my listening rotation i going to Hurt.

Interestingly, I don't feel quite as terrible as last time I had to suddenly cut a content creator out of my life. So I guess practice makes perfect lmao.

I don't know if me writing and posting this had any point. I guess I just wanted to get it off my chest and maybe it resonates with somebody.

Anyway, take care of yourselves. Take it easy and try to focus on other things, if this hit you hard (ideally offline). Try to meet with friends, maybe play some boardgames (or video games), go for a walk,read a book, have a coffee with a loved one. There's joy in the world, despite it all.

[eroguron0nsense]

"The Marines Are Garp's Found Family"

I am something of a certified Garp hater but one of the things I see floating around a lot of comments sections regarding Garp's behaviour at Marineford (i.e. his conflict of love and duty re: failing to do the right thing and help save Ace/leave the Marines for any number of reasons) is the notion that Garp is choosing between two found families: his grandchildren, and the marines that he's come to see as a second/found family in the vein of every other One Piece child looking for a place to belong and this is, as far as I can tell, pulled out of someone's ass. We truly don't know enough about Garp or what he thinks of the Marines to conclude that they are, in any way, shape, or form for him, a family that effectively filled a need for him that wasn't already met. He's mentored some kids, certainly, and he's close to Sengoku, but Garp is a massive mystery and the only feelings we see him display toward the Marines are a) absolute, flawed loyalty and b) a desire to see them change with a subsequent generation, hence his willingness to defend Coby til the bitter end. Garp's dedication to the Marines reads more like steadfast dedication to the platonic ideals of their propaganda –in spite of him knowing full well how fundamentally corrupt and oppressive they are– than anything related to seeing them as his kin or family; you know, the thing he decided was less important than his duty to The Evil Empire. If we're talking about Found Family though, there's a marine with a way stronger perception of that, who we know for a fact was raised by Sengoku and dedicated his life to serving the people who took him in after he lost everything. Corazon more than anyone sees Sengoku as his adoptive father, and the feeling's returned; after his expulsion from Mariejois and the incredible traumas of his childhood, they're the only people who gave him safety, stability, and affection. He has more motivation than virtually anyone to be unflinchingly, painfully loyal to the Navy, but when he's confronted with Law–a sole survivor of Flevance and living incarnation of the WG's cruelty–he's horrified, guilt-stricken, and eventually risks everything for a child he's only really known for a short time, betraying the Navy and his mission to steal the Ope Ope no Mi, because he knows in his heart that it's the right thing to do as a parent. He dies for love, but also to a lesser extent for justice– to give a child who's lost everything to the oppressive system he was part of, a child everyone else has failed and abused, who was condemned to death by the World Government, a second chance at life. Cora had a found family in the Marines and he left/betrayed them anyway because he knew, when confronted with a living example of their atrocities, where his real duty and morals lay. That their hypothetical interests didn't supersede the life of a little boy that their higher ups stole everything from and ruined. Garp could never.

[tlbodine]

How to Socialize

OK, before I dig into this, a few disclaimers:

1 - I'm not like. A psychologist or anything. Just a writer who's been part of a whole lot of online communities and has run a pretty successful one for a few years.

2 - The advice that follows is not intended to make anybody feel bad or be a condemnation or enforce standards of behavior. If you read this and don't vibe with it, cool. Keep on scrolling by.

**also, oops, this is really long because I wanted to be thorough.

OK. So with that all out of the way. I was talking with a coworker today. She's undiagnosed but suspects she's some flavor of neurodivergent, and she works over on the sales side, where she was recently hired. Part of her training involves being coached specifically in how to interface with clients -- active listening, etiquette, how to ask good questions, that sort of thing.

She said to me today, "For like 27 years everybody has always just told me I was weird and intense and off-putting but nobody ever told me what I was actually supposed to DO until literally this week. Mind blown."

And I was like, shit, you know what? You have a point.

And that got me to thinking about communities -- from online spaces to meet-ups to society at large -- and the way we try to teach people behavior.

I feel like, overwhelmingly, folks are assumed to just understand what they're supposed to do. If there are community guidelines in place, they're usually rules about what not to do. But you can follow the rules to the letter, and still come off all wrong, and then nobody will ever tell you what you're doing wrong because it's impolite or whatever, until you irritate them so much that they either blow up at you or else just straight-up start avoiding you, and neither of those are really helpful pieces of feedback.

So. In case nobody has ever actually told you, specifically and explicitly? Here are some tips on being a good community member, the kind of person that folks will generally like to be around and want to be friends with.

Show Interest in Other People

The number one most important thing you can do to be a good community member, is to show interest in your other community members. After all, you want them to respond to you when you say things, right? Well. They want the same thing for themselves.

"But I'm not interested in what they're talking about." No problem. You're interested in getting along with them, right? Cool. So this interaction isn't actually about the subject. It's about making them feel good. And, hey, you know what? If you keep an open mind, you might find that what they're saying is actually pretty interesting.

Some phrases to remember and use when people are talking about an interest of theirs:

"Oh?" (general usage prompt for more information)

"That's really interesting! How does that work?" (acknowledges their interest + prompts them to talk more)

"I heard once about [related thing]." (shows that you are engaged with the topic, and allows you to shift conversation in a direction you're more comfortable)

"I'm really interested in [thing], I feel like that might be similar in [way]." (forges common ground and allows you to shift conversation to a topic you enjoy).

So for example, let's say you're talking to someone who mentions that they're really interested in...idk...volcanos. You don't really care about volcanos. But you like this person. So instead of just saying nothing (because you don't care about the topic), or changing the subject, engage instead: "I saw that movie Dante's Peak. How realistic is that?" "What got you interested in volcanos?" "I don't know much about volcanos. My thing was always horses. What's it like being a volcano girl?"

Whatever. The point is not to learn about volcanos (although learning new things can be fun!) but to give them a chance to talk about their thing.

Give Other People a Chance to Speak

The flipside of the thing above: If you're talking to someone about their interest, don't go so overboard trying to relate to them that you don't actually let them talk. In the horse/volcano example, see how it ends with a question? The question hands the topic back to the other person. It's like playing a game of catch. Conversation is tossing a ball back and forth. If one person hogs the ball, it's no fun for the other person.

When you're talking about your interests, you'll want to pay attention to the person/people you're talking to. In general, engaged conversation partners will mirror your energy. If they're asking questions and relating what you're saying to something they know, then they are trying to carry on conversation with you. Proceed!

If you notice they are:

Responding more slowly (without saying a disclaimer like "sorry, multitasking/at work, keep typing!")

Starting to reply with single-word responses ("cool!" "Okay" "lol") or emotes

Saying the same thing over and over ("That's awesome!" three times in a row)

They are most likely trying to disengage from the conversation. It's almost certainly not that they dislike you or that you've done anything wrong. They've probably just run out of things to say, or they really want to talk about something else, and they're looking for a way to politely exit the conversation. You can provide them with a graceful out by saying something like, "Anyway, that's my thing. What have you been up to?"

(Incidentally, if you notice that people have a tendency to stop talking to you or change the subject when you're trying to converse, check that you're not inadvertently giving off those disengagement signals. Saying things like "ok" or "I know" without any further prompting or question can be perceived as a cue for the other person to stop talking).

Avoid Self-Deprecation

Sometimes, you realize that you've made a misstep, and it seems natural that your next step should be to apologize. This isn't a bad impulse! But the way you apologize makes a difference.

For example, let's say you're talking in a discord channel and realize that you've been going on for a while and nobody else is saying anything. You get self-conscious and realize, oh, maybe you're talking too much.

So perhaps you're tempted to say: "Sorry. I know I talk too much and it's annoying."

Do not do this. Because now the people in chat will feel contractually obligated to reassure you that you are not annoying.

Instead, try a joke: "Phew that was a lot! Anyway. Anybody else want a turn?"

Keeping things light-hearted alleviates the pressure that other people might feel and keeps the mood from being too awkward.

"Isn't all of this dishonest and manipulative?"

Look. Here's the thing. People who are good communicators -- folks you might hear described as charismatic -- are folks who understand these rules, and other social rules, intuitively. Most well-socialized neurotypical folks communicate this way without thinking about it or even knowing what they're doing.

For those people, conversation is usually less about exchanging specific information and more about nurturing a social bond. Remember -- it's not about volcanos. It's about making the other person feel heard and appreciated.

To stretch the example to its breaking point: What would be dishonest or manipulative is if you pretended that you loved volcanos, or lied about your experience with volcanos, or went out of your way to build a relationship with someone on a shared passion for volcanos when actually you don't really like volcanos at all and one day you won't be able to stand it anymore.

Showing polite interest for a few minutes by asking a question? Is not dishonest. That's just you signaling to them, "I don't get your thing, but I care about you as a person and talking about this seems to make you happy, so please continue."

That's all for today. I might be back later with a post about sympathy and venting and advice. But for now, I hope this was at least a little bit helpful for somebody. Good luck out there making conversation!

[whateverisbeautiful]

♥️ Ranking Richonne

#28: I'm Not Losing You (S7E04)

A little angst in a ship never hurt nobody and I'm moved by their earnest desire to protect each other in this scene. Even more, I appreciate how much this scene beautifully illustrates Rick and Michonne's communication and importance to each other. It showed that even when Rick and Michonne aren't on the same page, they're still always on the same side...

I love that even before this scene there’s that moment of Rick seeing Michonne has returned back to ASZ and being willing to take the risk of asking Negan for a second to see her.

Scratch that - the first time he tells Negan, "give me a second." It wasn’t an ask. Which in its own quiet way is bold as hell with Negan. But Rick has to get to Michonne and make sure no guns are traced back to her, so even a psycho isn’t getting in his way.

It really does seem like Negan even has a brief moment of noticing that whatever Rick is wanting to do right now is regarding somebody important to him. 

So then the actual scene begins with Rick hustling over to her. I always like to think that has to be pretty surreal for Michonne that she just saw Rick in front of Negan and surrounded by all his saviors, and now here he is in front of her. To me, it helps show how much protecting her is a priority for him.

It's sweet how Rick immediately notices that Michonne sees him holding the bat so he steps back - almost like empathizing with how upsetting it is to see the weapon that killed their friends and what he might have done with the bat since it was bloodied.

And Rick says, "He had me hold it," and I just know from Michonne's expression that she wants to slice Negan right then and there for the torment he's put her husband through today. 

Rick says he needs the rifle and Michonne asks “what?” with a subtle expression as she realizes Rick knows all about the gun. The rifle has to do with her so of course he knows about it. Rick says he knows what’s in the bag and what she’s going out there to do, and she asks what she’s doing out there. And even in a disagreement, I love their Richonne tones because there's always something so tender about the way they speak to each other.

Rick answers her, cuz there’s no such thing as a rhetorical question with him and Michonne, which I love, and I like that he says a non-condemning and non-judgmental answer by saying she’s practicing. 

You can visibly see how pained Rick is over having to reveal that they now have to give up all their guns. Michonne knows how much this hurts their chances of fighting back so she passionately says, "We can’t." Rick explains that if she keeps it and they find it, someone dies.

And then I love that he makes it clear how much he loves her when he adamantly says, “I’m not losing you or Carl or anyone else.” He’s specific about her and Carl cuz they’re his immediate family. 

And Andy perfectly delivers every single line always but especially when he again declares he’s not losing anyone else. You can just feel how much he means that and how, in his own way, surrendering to Negan is his attempt to fight to keep the people he loves alive - with Carl, Judith, and Michonne being the priority. 

I also like how it's not "I don't want to lose you," it's "I'm not losing you..." Rick doesn't play about his wife and kids and so he's in this headspace of not letting losing them even be an option. And there's something so heartbreaking and heartwarming about how clearly scared Rick is at the idea of losing Michonne.

You can see Michonne immediately empathize with him as he vulnerably expresses this. A consistent thing in Richonne’s relationship is that when the other gives them their heart and opens up, they immediately feel for them and can allow themselves to see things the other's way which was evident here.

It’s something Rick and Michonne do again in this same episode during a beautiful honorable mention scene when Rick reveals to her that Judith isn’t his biological daughter, and Michonne agrees to try to approach this Negan reign Rick's way.

While talking in this shed, I will always smile hearing Rick say, "So I’m giving it to them. Are you gonna let me?” 😊  It’s that blend of him being like this is how it has to be…but also only with your permission. Cuz he knows at the end of the day, Michonne and what she wants have so much influence on him to the point that if she were to say no, he’d accept it and they’d make some new plan.

I’m telling you, no one else is getting this kind of response and question from Rick Grimes. He’d just demand the rifle from others, but he can’t with Michonne because this is who he wants to give the world to, so he already feels hurt that he even has to ask her to give something up. 

(Side note: I’ve previously seen some argue that Michonne is more into Rick than he’s into her and I’m always just like…where?? I’ve always wholeheartedly been of the mindset that so much of what makes Richonne the ultimate ship is because they both love each other so intensely, immensely, and equally. Like their love, respect, and desire for each other really is equal.  But if the conversation of 'whose more into who?' required an answer beyond "both" (and it really doesn’t)…it’s Rick lol. I’m just saying. 🤷🏽‍♀️ Like by the tiniest percent more if you have to pick. And I just say that because Rick has shown time and time again that he cannot turn off how whipped he is for Michonne ever. And when he’s in that Richonne bubble with her, that’s really all homeboy wants to be focused on. Michonne can try to acknowledge the tasks at hand a bit more, but Rick is often like looming wars, community division, or just anything else going on can all take a temporary backseat when he’s with her. “Stick around,” (6.15), “Just a few more days,” “We can take our time” (7.12), “Ok, but tomorrow” (9.01), “I can take the day…we can.” (9.03). For Rick, when it comes to Michonne, the world can wait. And we love to see it. 🤗 But again, the ultimate takeaway is Rick and Michonne are equally in love with each other. Without a doubt. Michonne loves, wants, and believes in Rick like no other and Rick loves, wants, and believes in Michonne like no other. And that’s part of why they are so loved by me. 😊)

So after Rick asks if she'll let him have the gun, Michonne stays quiet and you see Rick look at her, and it just feels like he knows if he doesn’t act fast he’s going to get lost in those pretty brown eyes and do whatever she wants lol.

This scene was just a very married moment and fitting for Rick's dynamic with Michonne. I love the way he says these lines and the way they’re facing each other by the end of the scene. It was great as the first Richonne dialogue of s7. (Side note: this scene also just further proves this is a beautiful-looking couple, y’all) 

And as we know, Rick pouring his heart out here and giving them this time to explain while making all those Saviors wait really does resonate with Michonne. And so she agrees as we see in the next scene where Rick gives the Saviors the rifle, and Michonne gives them a lovely death stare with an iconic deer drop that has Rick like - if I do nothing else, I'm getting my wife another deer lol.

What I’ve always most appreciated about this #28 scene is that it showed how even when Rick and Michonne disagree or are going through a tough circumstance, their deep love for each other is still so visible and takes precedence. This scene is a wonderful example of Richonne's unbreakable love amid adversity. They choose each other every time. 😌

[obislittleone]

Tw: suicidal thoughts (don't be alarmed I'm just venting)

I am so tired. I am so worn out. It doesn't matter what I say. It doesn't matter what I do. I have been financially and physically giving to Palestinians and Israelis who have been injured and were innocent victims through this war. The organization my family and I are working with has done so much to try and save lives. I have done all I can possibly do, but it's not enough. Those of you who drop in my dms or my asks to call me a 'genocidal colonizer' are so truly lost. I hope you all get help, because the amount of hate I've seen against not only myself but against literally every Jew I know is absolutely abominable. Don't say 'from the river from the sea' unless you know what it means, and if you say it, don't say it to a jew. You may hate Israel, and you may even think that all the people there deserve to die, but have you ever taken into consideration that the innocent Jews of either Israel or the rest of the world have nothing to do with their government or the mistreatment of Palestinians? Did you ever once think before you commented on a Jews post to 'wipe Israel off the face of the earth'? Chances are you did not. Chances are also that if you did, you probably just hate jews. Don't comment any bullshit on this post, I'll just remove it. I'm not here to fight anymore, I'm just here to say a few words, and give a perspective to those who think I'm some devil worshipping satanist just because I'm jewish.

These are the asks in my inbox on the daily:

Do you have any idea how this mentally affects a person? Do you even know how horrifying it is to know that so many people want you dead? I've had run ins with depression and suicidal attempts and thoughts my entire life, but never have I been this influenced by outer forces into thinking that I should be dead. Never once has anyone encouraged me to pull a trigger or off myself. Not until this has happened.

The comments and reblogs on posts about my best friend who lived in Israel, and her mother (who is arab, btw) that was killed in the October 7th attack are beyond wild. I can't even imagine how crazy it must be to live in the middle east as a jew. This is only a fraction of the hate that I experience in my day to day life, now.

The middle fingers I get from pissed off passersby at Walmart because I wear a star of david, or the slurs I get called because I told someone I had to leave an event early for Shabbat. It's all hatred, and it all sucks.

The violence, and the aggression that innocent jews are getting from random people who hate them. The little old man who stood on a street corner and held a sign in protest of Jewish hate that was killed today by a pro-hamas protestor. Its all too overwhelming. Why? Because even if you choose not to see it, or even if you condone it and think its 'not that bad', Jewish hate is getting dangerously close to what it was during the time of the holocaust. What's worse? It's being praised. Not just accepted, but encouraged. I posted on my instagram asking for prayers over my friend who's having to hide in a bomb shelter because of the war. The amount of comments saying 'just let her die' were astounding.

I have to ask you, where is your humanity? When jews can not only feel compassion but openly support Palestinians and try and give their services to save their innocent women and children from dying in the war, where is your compassion for innocent jews? Where is your willingness to feel an ounce of sadness for the loss of a life? Are you so hateful that you will condemn a teenage girl to die because of the violence her government commits? And if it happens, will you be so heartless that you will praise the notion that she is dead?

A common phrase used when I ask pro-hamas bloggers what their stance is on the beheading of children or the raping of women is, it usually comes out as: "well what do you think declonization looked like?"

I am always shocked. Every. Single. Time... why? Because I hope with every shred of naivete i have in me that people who have lost so much will understand the pain of those who are also losing so much. When you condemn one government for killing your children, and bringing a genocide upon Palestinians, why do you not also condemn the murdering of children and innocent Jews? Is it because 'that's not your team?' Is it because you want to win so badly that you don't care what the cost is? Do you think that turning into the thing that killed your people will make you a hero? The only thing I can possibly think of that would make a person respond that way is bloodlust. When you condemn an entire nation (including the innocent people) of killing your own, then turn around and do the same thing to their innocents, do you think you've proved something?

Whenever I address these things I'm usually met with the same stuff about how I'm a Jew so I'm biased and I don't get to have an opinion... but I don't think it's fair to say that to someone who's literally living with the repercussions that your hate is causing. Don't tell me to be quiet if you're spreading nazi rhetoric about jews and telling people to kill us.

Again, don't bring any bullshit on here. It will be deleted, and you will be blocked. I've spoken my piece. If anyone is interested in learning more about the organization I work with and donating to help Palestinian and Israeli families getting caught in the crossfire, please drop me a message, I'd be glad to give you more information.

[its-the-sa]

it is serious. the ship just comes off as nasty to me and i dont understand it

oh, then I'm sorry for being dismissive. I thought you were just a hater lol.

but in all seriousness, if a ship seems nasty to you, then a logical explanation of it is probably not going to change your mind. squicks are just gut reactions, so it doesn't really matter whether or not you understand the thing that squicks you. and that's ok! if the ship makes you uncomfortable, you should just block the rw regicide tag (or in my case you should probably just block me entirely lol )

but since you did ask sincerely, I'll at least try to explain why I ship it:

basically, I'm just a sucker for the 'enemies to lovers' trope and the 'villain redemption' trope. show me any two characters who fit both of those, and I'll probably ship it lol

I like villain redemption, because I like tragic villains. I like villains whose actions are inexcusable, but understandable. villains who lash out due to grief and end up doing horrible things in the throes of rage. and I like making them feel bad about it. I like villains who know they are monsters, who know they have done despicably evil things and truly hate themselves for it. and I like giving them a second chance. I like to see them feel remorse and turn away from evil and try to become better people.

and I like enemies to lovers because... well, for a lot of reasons that would probably take several thesis papers to unpack, lmao. but basically there's just something really intimate about two characters who can handle each other at their absolute worst, when no one else can. arti is like an unstoppable force of rage until she meets scav king, who is like an immovable object to her. he's willing to fight her and kill her as many times as he needs to, but he never strikes first, and he always gives her the chance to back down. and since he does have min aggression and max sympathy, I see him as the type of person who would easily forgive someone who is genuinely remorseful. he doesn't want to keep the cycle of violence and hatred going; whenever arti is ready to let go of her rage and stop the bloodshed, so is he. when she's ready to face the consequences of her actions and try to become a better person, he would rather support her than condemn her. he doesn't necessarily expect his people to forgive her, and he doesn't try to make excuses for her or downplay any of the harm she caused. i just think he could personally look at arti and find someone worth caring about underneath all the rage and hate, and in turn she could look at him and find someone she can trust enough to let all that hate go and admit she was wrong.

obviously, this type of relationship could never happen in real life (or if it did, it would be a fucking toxic disaster). but they're just characters, so their relationship doesnt have to be realistic, and I just want their story to have a happy ending I guess.

idk if any of this makes sense to you, but it's fine if not. you don't always have to understand why people like things that you don't like, it's ok to just block them for your own peace of mind. so if this ship still makes you uncomfortable, feel free to block me, I wouldn't take offense. stay safe and remember that fandom is for having fun , so dont stress out about it too much!

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

Galileo Galilei Main Story

Translations may not always capture the exact nuances or tone of the original text. Expect grammatical errors and inaccuracies.

Miguel and Mireia were discovered to be vampires and were captured.

After hearing this, I hurried to the slums to help them.

(Where did they take them? Is there anyone who might know?)

As I looked around the desolate town for someone,

Napoleon: "Mitsuki? What are you doing here?"

Jean: "You seem to be in a hurry. Did something happen?"

Mitsuki: "Napoleon, Jean!"

Apparently, they were on their way home from dropping off the children for swordsmanship practice.

(If it's Napoleon and Jean, they might know someone in town who knows something.)

Mitsuki: "Please, I need your help."

When I explained the situation, Napoleon’s and Jean's expressions hardened.

Jean: "That's bad. If they become the focus of the people's hatred, they might face execution."

Napoleon: "Yeah. We need to rescue those siblings as soon as possible."

Mitsuki: "But I don't know where they took them."

Napoleon: "I know a place. There should be an old abandoned house around here."

Napoleon: "It's perfect for keeping someone captive."

Napoleon: "Mitsuki, leave the rest to us and go to a safe place."

Mitsuki: "No, let me go with you!"

Napoleon and Jean's expressions instantly clouded.

(Even if I'm powerless, I...)

Mitsuki: "I want to help Miguel and Mireia!"

Napoleon & Jean: ".........."

As I firmly conveyed that, the two of them exchanged glances and nodded.

Jean: "Got it. Having you around will probably reassure those kids."

Napoleon: "But don't do anything reckless, okay?"

Mitsuki: "Yeah, thank you."

Napoleon: "Alright, let's go."

Eventually, night came, casting dark shadows over the path ahead. Nevertheless, we fixed our gaze forward and started running.

Guided by Jean, we reached a secluded place in the alley where people, who seemed to be residents of the slums, had gathered around the abandoned house.

Napoleon: "Looks like this is the place."

Pushing through the crowd, we approached the abandoned house.

When we finally saw what was at the center,

Resident 1: "I saw it! This kid was biting into a corpse!"

Resident 1: "He drained the blood of the dead, so he must be a vampire! Right, Mr. Hunter?"

(Hunter!?)

Startled by his unexpected words, I turned my gaze toward the center of the crowd and saw Miguel with his hands tied behind his back and a man looming over him intimidatingly.

The familiar figure, armed with a sword and wearing a cloak, was a vampire hunter.

Vampire Hunter 1: "Hmm, a vampire is still a vampire, even if he's a child."

Vampire Hunter 1: "Drinking human blood to feed yourself is a desecration of life!"

Miguel: "No! I haven't killed anyone!"

Miguel: "I was just so thirsty. I knew it was wrong, but I only drank from corpses."

Vampire Hunter 1: "Silence! I'll not listen to the vile excuses of a demon. You need to be judged in the name of God."

As the hunter spoke harshly, voices of agreement rose from the residents.

Resident 2: "T-That's right! He's a demon!"

Resident 3: "Punish him before he attacks more humans!"

(They all seem convinced.)

The sight of dozens of adults fervently seeking to condemn a child was so bizarre.

In the midst of this, Miguel shouted, matching the residents' volume.

Miguel: "I don't care what happens to me! But please, save Mireia!"

Miguel: "It's my fault she's involved. She just got caught up because of me!"

Vampire Hunter 2: "Is this Mireia the one you're talking about?"

Mireia: "Brother."

Another hunter dragged Mireia out of the abandoned house and threw her to the ground.

(This is horrible.)

Miguel: "Mireia, I'm so sorry!"

Miguel's trembling voice and repeated apologies caused my chest to tighten painfully.

But the residents' accusations against the siblings only grew louder, and the hunter raised his sword with an almost ecstatic expression.

Vampire Hunter 1: "I'll give you the chance to atone by sending you to God right now."

Vampire Hunter 1: "If you're truly immortal, then I'll cut you into pieces and bury you deep in the earth. Now, ask God for forgiveness!"

In the darkness of the night, a sharp blade flashed.

Miguel & Mireia: "---!!"

Mitsuki: "Stop!!"

I quickly leaped out of the crowd and covered Miguel and Mireia.

Napoleon: "Geez. Mitsuki can never stay still at times like these."

Jean: "True."

As I raised my head, I saw Napoleon's sword intercepting the blade, while Jean pointed the tip of his sword at the hunter's throat.

They had intervened before the blade could reach the children and me.

Mitsuki: "Napoleon, Jean! Thank you."

The two of them smiled at me, then turned their gaze back to the hunters.

Vampire Hunter 1: "Who are you, people!?"

Napoleon: "Just passing by. But..."

Jean: "We can't overlook you hurting children."

Vampire Hunter 2: "Mind your own business. You're interfering with justice!"

The sharp sound of swords clashing echoed again as Miguel and Mireia stirred in my arms.

Miguel: "Big sis, why are you here?"

Mitsuki: "I heard you two got caught, so I came to help. It's okay now."

Miguel: "But we drank the blood of the dead."

Mitsuki: "Yes, I know. But for now, let's get out of here."

I soothed the two who were overwhelmed with guilt and untied the ropes binding their arms.

Meanwhile, Napoleon and Jean were countering the attacking hunters with their swords.

Jean: "You speak of God while trying to take the lives of children. You’re committing a grave violation of humanity."

Vampire hunter 1: "These are not humans! They are vampires! If you are defending them, does that make you their allies!?"

Napoleon: "Who knows? But one thing's for sure: we are not like you, who take pleasure in pointing swords at children."

(The hunters are being held back by Napoleon and Jean. Now's our chance.)

Mitsuki: "Both of you, let's go!"

I grabbed their hands and headed towards the less crowded area, while the surrounding residents seemed bewildered by the sudden battle.

Resident 3: "Hey, what's going on? Aren't those kids vampires?"

Resident 2: "I don't know."

Mitsuki: "Move, get out of the way!"

Shouting, I weaved through the murmuring crowd.

Miguel: "Ah!"

Mitsuki: "Miguel!?"

I turned around at the sound of his scream and saw a man holding Miguel in a tight grip.

Resident 1: "I saw it with my own eyes! This one is a vampire! A murderous monster!!"

Miguel: "Stop, let me go."

Mitsuki: "Miguel!"

Raising my head in shock, I saw one of the hunters approaching from the other side.

Charging straight ahead, the hunter pointed his sword at us.

Vampire Hunter 2: "I'll purge you myself!"

Mitsuki: "Run, Miguel!!"

I screamed, and at that moment...

The small hand I was holding slipped away, and I saw a flash of chestnut hair.

Before I could start running, Mireia darted between the hunter and Miguel.

Mireia: "Ah..."

In what seemed like slow motion, the hunter's sword plunged deep into Mireia's chest.

Miguel: "Mireia!!"

The hunter pulled out the sword, causing her body to tilt and sway from the impact.

Mitsuki: "Mireia!!"

By the time Miguel and I instinctively caught her, her chest was already soaked in crimson red.

(The wound is deep.)

I desperately pressed both hands against the wound, wishing it would stop bleeding.

Mireia: "Big brother, I'm okay..."

Miguel: "Mireia, why did you... why did you protect me?"

Miguel: "You know you're not immortal."

(What?)

Muttering in a faint voice, Miguel grasped Mireia's hand.

Tears overflowed from his blue eyes, wetting his blood-stained hand even more.

Mireia: "I wanted to protect you, too. Because I love you so much, big brother."

Mireia: "You were always kind, and we were always together like real siblings."

Mireia: "*cough, cough*"

Miguel: "Mireia, please, don't talk anymore."

Mireia: "Thank you... for everything... big brother."

With those words as her last, the light faded from Mireia's eyes as she smiled.

Miguel: "Mireia? Mireia!"

Miguel: "No, nooo!"

(Oh no.)

Amidst the suffocating scent of blood, my lips trembled as I heard Miguel's mournful cries.

(If only I had held their hands firmly...)

(If only I hadn't let go and tried to escape...)

(It's my fault.)

My consciousness was slowly fading into darkness.

Vampire Hunter 2: "Hahaha! We did it, we did it!"

Jean: "Calm down."

The grating laughter brought me back to reality, and I looked up.

Despite being restrained by Jean, the hunter who stabbed Mireia was smiling.

Vampire Hunter 2: "God. In your name, one demon has been purged!"

(.......)

Something inside me snapped at his fanatical voice.

Mitsuki: "They're not demons. They're not monsters."

Mitsuki: "These kids were just desperately trying to survive!"

My body burned with anger, and my voice came out louder than I’d ever expected.

Jean and Napoleon widened their eyes slightly while the residents fell silent.

Mitsuki: "Even if they're vampires, did these children do anything to any of you?"

Mitsuki: "They haven't hurt anyone. And yet, no, it doesn't matter whether they're human or vampire."

Mitsuki: "Ganging up on small kids and taking their lives makes you the real monsters."

Mitsuki: "And those who stood by and watched her get killed are just as guilty!"

I shouted, driven by the emotions welling up from deep within my chest, aiming to pierce the hearts of everyone present and my own helpless self.

Resident 3: "Hey, what if they're really just kids and not vampires?"

Resident 2: "But they drank blood and killed people."

Resident 3: "Only one person claimed to see it, right? And was that even reliable?"

Resident 1: "You're doubting me now!? Hunter, these kids are vampires, right!?"

Vampire Hunter 2: "We came here investigating vampires based on your claims."

Vampire Hunter 2: "That child did not deny being a vampire. They admitted to defiling the dead."

Resident 3: "Maybe they were just scavenging for some valuables. If they were forced into a false confession, we'd be the bad guys!"

Some people panicked, while others turned pale, trying to shift the blame onto each other.

Seeing this, I understood.

(I see.)

(These people never tried to see the truth with their own eyes.)

They were swayed by others' words, believing only what they wanted to believe.

Ignoring the truth led to this tragedy.

(I failed to properly know their suffering, even though I had many chances.)

Regretting wouldn't bring back what was lost.

Even knowing that, I couldn't help but clench my bloodstained hands tightly.

Resident 3: "I was just here by chance. I have nothing to do with this!"

The residents scattered and left the place.

Only the vampire hunters remained.

Jean: "There's no point in fighting anymore. You guys need to pull out of here."

Jean: "Killing an innocent child must be a blow to your organization's credibility."

Vampire Hunter 2: "What?"

Napoleon: "You have a sense of justice you believe in, right?"

Napoleon: "But when you wield your power, you must ask yourself if it is really righteous."

The hunters fell silent, gritting their teeth.

Vampire Hunter 1: "One day, all demons will be eradicated."

Saying those words, he sheathed his sword and left.

Around the same time, two figures were observing the commotion from a nearby alley.

Drake: "One of the turned vampire children was killed, but it looks like the commotion has died down without escalating further."

Galileo: "Yeah."

Previous Part ╎ Masterlist ╎ Next Part

[super-unpredictable98]

The Eighth Child (~TUA AU~) - Season 4

Chapter 3: Next Stop at The End of Time

Warning: Strong language, mild sexual content, death, talk of addiction

(The Eighth Child Masterlist)

Victoria was scared to walk inside. Partially because the place was condemned and could crumble on them just like when Viktor started having a fit back in the day, but also because she didn't know what to expect. Ben was there and Five said it was her Ben, but what if it wasn't? Last time she had any contact with him, they were fighting for their lives, right before he disappeared forever. It was hard to believe he would simply waltz back into their lives.

All of the doubt and the nerves disappeared the moment she laid eyes on him and realized that was her brother. It wasn't the same as looking at the knockoff Sparrow version, it was a bond that survived time, death, and several ends of the world.

"Ben!" She screamed when the door opened and she ran into his arms crying. "Bennie Boo, I missed you so much, oh my... where have you been?"

"Another timeline," he chuckled and hugged his sister. "Someone told me you married Klaus! How insane is that?"

"I know, I know... it's crazy, but you'll get used to it," she laughed, drying her tears. "You need to meet my daughter, her name is Fortune. We gave her the middle name Bennie."

"That's so sweet... ugh too sweet, you're gonna make me emotional! I didn't think you'd ever forgive me after I made Klaus kiss Jill," he sighed.

"Oh, that? That was a billion years ago, I swear I don't resent you at all for that. It was your chance and you took it, I would've done the same. You need to visit my bakery! The Ben special on my menu is your favorite, torta holandesa."

"With Calipso cookies on the rim?" he chuckled.

"Of course, it's not torta holandesa without Calipso cookies on the rim!" She squeezed him tighter and covered his cheek in kisses. "And when our youngest is born, you have to be there! We'll know very soon if it's a boy or a girl! I have so much to tell you, just... so much."

"Are they always so gross? Good thing she hates me," Sparrow Ben scoffed. "Helloooo, we're all in danger?"

"Oh fuck, yeah," Victoria swallowed nervously, trying to catch her breath. Okay, so what I know is that Abigail, Dad's wife, somehow disguised herself as Sy Grossman and gave us the marigold hoping we'd take it. You're very welcome for that, by the way, we'd be very screwed if I let you do that. Then her plan was that we'd look for Jennifer, who has some sort of anti-marigold in her called durango. Once those two substances interact, horrible things happen... the cleanse. Which from what she said is just killing everyone."

"If it's so dangerous for marigold and durango to interact, that's why Dad locked Jennifer away, which means he didn't know about his wife's plan," Five said.

"He didn't, she said she was doing that because she didn't ask to be brought back to life and blah blah blah," Victoria rolled her eyes. "She created these elements and she wants them to stop existing via the cleanse. In a way, Ben saved all of humanity when his tentacles killed Jennifer and himself that night, this reaction had already started. I remember the glowing rash on his arm, of course he couldn't just leave an innocent girl to be destroyed even though that's what Dad told us to do."

"Good thing I died that once then," Ben tilted his head, thinking. "So the cleanse would be like... a monster that carries the seeds of its own destruction? Kills everyone and then itself?"

"Exactly. Maybe if we got Jennifer to drink some marigold, the cleanse would happen in a contained environment and end this nightmare," Victoria suggested.

"I don't think there is containing the monster, don't you remember what happened the first time?" Luther murmured, giving Ben a look.

"I guess we should first figure out how to get the timelines to merge and leave us with one," Five pinched the bridge of his nose. He was definitely too old to be dealing with that sort of stress.

"Oh easy then," Lila joked.

"There are portals all over the place, we could go down there and try to decode the map. Find a way to shut down the train, anything," Ben said.

"He might be right, we should go down there and see who's in command of the train," Diego nodded. "Let's go."

"Hey guys... I sort of can't," Victoria murmured. "I need to look for Klaus, I think he might have relapsed. We had a big fight and... I need to get him back."

"Can't this wait?" Sparrow Ben grunted.

"No, it actually can't. My husband might be in danger and I don't care if he's a junkie or a germophobe, I love him. I should've never said that him getting clean was the worst thing that happened to me."

"That's harsh..." Allison mumbled.

"Shut the fuck up! I'm already very sad!"

"Alright, we'll go and meet here again ASAP, once we're all together, we fix this shit," Five walked to the door, but Vicky stopped him.

"I need your gun."

"What?"

"I need it, if Klaus is with some sort of dealer or gang member, I need the gun to protect myself and him."

"Unbelievable," he handed her the revolver. "Bring it back without a scratch, that's company property."

**

"I see a huge change in your future, it seems a few people who are holding you down will finally be out of your way... it'll hurt, but you need to let go to make way for your new and improved life," Klaus looked at the tarot cards.

"Should I start the new business then?" The lady in front of him asked.

"Definitely, I see hard times in the beginning, but look," he picked up one of the cards. "Prosperity in the future if you persist."

"Thank you so much," she gave him the payment for the session.

"No, thank you, my dear," he smiled, counting the money.

The lady left and Quinn came in followed by another woman, a beautiful woman in a skimpy outfit.

"Moneeeey!" Klaus cheered. "Here, now you know I intend on paying my debt, so please let me go home. My daughter is waiting, my wife must be worried sick..."

"Nice try, but you're not leaving until the 40k is paid," Quinn grabbed the money. "This is for food, rent, supplies, the stuff you took last night... now you choose, my little star."

He held up ten bucks or a little packet with a couple of pills.

Klaus sighed defeated and took the pills before looking at the woman by the door. "Come on in, let's start your reading, yeah?"

"She's not here for a reading," Quinn chuckled and tossed a strip of condoms at him. "She's here for your other services. Five hundred an hour."

"Wait no no no! I have a wife, I can't do this! I have a family! No offense to this beautiful lady, but..."

"You'll do your job until your debt is paid!"

"Don't worry, you'll like it," the woman placed her hand on Klaus' chest. "I love feminine men, you're so cute."

"So does my wife! I'm sorry, I can't! I can't!" Klaus pleaded while she tried to take his clothes off.

"That's just too damn bad, isn't it?" Quinn huffed while closing the door.

"Too damn bad indeed, too bad you can't take no for an answer," Victoria pointed the gun at him. She had seen that place before, she knew that's where Klaus came to get drugs.

"Who are you?" He raised his hands.

"The wife. Now you can let my husband go or you can go ahead and meet your maker."

"That's cute... do you even know how to shoot? You're some dumb housewife with her daddy's gun."

It had been a while since Victoria experienced that intoxicating feeling, being underestimated because she looked so delicate and docile when she knew she had the power to end that person's life.

"You wanna take the chance?" She smirked.

"You haven't killed a roach in your life, Freckles..."

"Yeah, I haven't," she faked defeat. "But I have killed dozens of people."

Without waiting, she shot him in the head and immediately reached into his pocket to get his gun so he wouldn't try to retaliate in his last moments.

"Piece of shit... girls! You can all go!" She screamed at the young ladies in tiny rooms, probably just as helpless as her husband.

She then opened the door with both guns ready to shoot. The woman, who was still trying to grind against Klaus, let out a yelp and backed away.

"Never touch my man again or I'll put a bullet in your fucking head too! Scram!"

"Victoria!" Klaus was crying tears of happiness, relief, and guilt. "Victoria, my Liebling, my baby! I'm so sorry..."

He ran into her arms and she embraced him too. He felt like a failure for relapsing, but she was ready to help.

"No, no I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said any of that stuff, I should've helped you get over your fear, I should've been more empathetic."

"I should've tried harder, looked for therapy. I also said a bunch of shit I didn't mean, I'm sorry. I yelled at Fortune, I'm such a shit dad..."

"No you're not, you're the best dad ever, you just need help," she smiled sadly. "Tunnie is okay, she's with Claire and Ray."

"So you still love me?"

"Of course I do, I looked for you all night and just killed a man because I love you."

"Help me get clean again? Help me be a better Klaus that you can be attracted to again?"

"Of course," she kissed him softly. "We need to meet the others, there's a whole timeline bullshit going on, I'll explain on the way... but hey! Ben is back! Our Ben!"

"Really? Oh my..." Klaus grinned. "We'll go, we'll go. There's just a place I need to go first."

**

Victoria drove Klaus to the nearest AA meeting. He really wanted to do things right this time.

The moment he entered the room, there was nobody there except for the chairwoman, who was already gathering her things.

"The meeting is canceled," she said. "Nobody's here."

"I'm here," Klaus shrugged.

"Take a pamphlet..."

"What's your name?"

"Stephanie."

"Stephanie, listen, I've been to enough court-ordered rehab to know that if one person shows up, it's a meeting. You might make a motion to adjourn, but I'm not seconding and I've had one hell of a slip, and I'm not leaving until I get my one day chip."

"Fine... sit," Stephanie shook her head, pulling out a binder.

"Well, my name is Klaus-"

"Ah ah, no. If we're gonna stick to the rules, we'll stick to the rules," she started reading from the binder. "Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of people who share their experience, strengths..."

"It's very important, I know, and you've said it a thousand times. I've heard it a thousand times, can we get to the part where we share?"

"The floor is now open for sharing," she tried not to laugh. "You have two minutes! No more than that."

"Wonderful!" Klaus clapped and raised his hand.

"Alright, how about you?"

"Moi?" She faked surprise. "Thank you Steph, I can call you Steph, right?"

"No."

"Okay... powerlessness... it's all there on the first step, little words on the page, but I never knew what it really meant until I screamed at my pregnant wife, screamed at my child, and took her Barbie cash to only then be forcefully pimped out by a psycho who I owed money to..." He sat down. "Before that, I had three years clean, three whole years. The problem was I was trying to do it all by myself. Staying in my safe little bubble, scared of death, scared of life... scared of life and taking it out on the people who love me the most, one of whom is sitting outside by the way."

"Hey!" Victoria waved through the door. "You go, Babe!"

"That's my wife slash sister," he whispered.

"I'm not gonna ask," Stephanie breathed.

"So I'm saying it for the first time in my life without irony..." he took a deep breath. "That my name is Klaus and I'm an alcoholic. I'm also a complete drug addict. And while we're at it, I'm probably also addicted to love, and sex. Which has been tough cause I haven't gotten laid much since I went totally nuts and my wife stopped being attracted to me because I became insanely boring. I don't even know how I got her pregnant again..."

"Hey, I'm so sorry to interrupt," Victoria opened the door again. "Can he get his chip? We really need to go right now! Claire just said she just got visited by a woman claiming to be Grandma who took Fortune away when she wasn't looking. I already called Five, we're going to see Dad."

"Shit, my daughter!" Klaus took the one day chip and ran off. "Thanks for the help, Steph!"

Tag List: @jozstankovich @firstpersonnarrator @salvador-daley

[im-the-j-in-anthony-j-crowley]

Asking questions is a big deal

I don't want Crowley to be kicked out of Heaven for anything other than what we already know

Because I think being kicked out for just asking questions and being around people who do bad things is reason enough. It's something that when you hear it sounds crazy, it sounds like "there's no way someone would do that just because of these two things."

But it happens. People being defined as bad or wrong just because of little things is something that happens. Many types of discrimination are based on that, people have been defined as bad just because of a physical characteristic, a million times in history.

And I know it's said that he wasn't as good as he likes to think he was, but that doesn't mean he did anything. Maybe he was just inclined to do it.

I'm a firm believer in the fact that a person's actions are strongly influenced by where they are, and especially by society's response when they need help.

Crowley needed help with his questions, help understanding the plan, help giving options. He didn't get help, he got a lifelong punishment, with his immortal life

This is something that forces you to do things that maybe you wouldn't do if conditions were different, or maybe you would have done it anyway. But you deserved the chance

There are people who are condemned as evil for things that they would never have chosen and that could have been fixed if society had cared about it

And I think a representation of that would be good

I am not against the other option, but I feel that the other story is a story that has been told many times, and in a better way than this one.

The story I am referring to is used, it usually attempts to excuse the crimes. And that's something I don't agree with, and I don't think it's often seen as much.

A crime done in conditions of choice and a crime done because it was your only choice are both crimes, they are not equal, they should not be taken as equal. But they are both crimes

I would also like to add that asking questions and being around the wrong people is enough to take someone down. The way I see heaven is as an authoritarian system, and when you have a system that is based on the idea of obedience and following the rules based on the fact that there are rules and that is your job, asking questions is such a strong form of rebellion.

When you have these situations you usually have three groups, the group in power that you want to go against (the higher ranks of heaven), the group that is rebelling in an aggressive way (future demons), and the people in the middle (the angels who are just following orders and doing their job).

The people in the middle are the key in this case, because there are a LOT of them and if you have them on your team, you will probably win.

The people in power don't need to convince this middle group to stay with them, because they already are. They just need to make sure they have no reason to leave.

And the group that is against wants the middle group, but they have one thing against it, when you are rebelling you tend to use methods that are seen as extreme and violent, this will provoke rejection. For this reason, the middle group does not usually join the extremists even if they agree with the cause, because they do not want to be defined as extremists and violent. Sometimes they define the arguments of the extremist group as invalid just because they are the arguments of the group, and if these arguments were given in another context, they would agree.

Now, place someone who is just asking questions. Someone who is not violent, and is not an extremist. He's just... asking questions. Questions that make you think about the overall situation. Questions that make you want change.

This is an effective way to engage the middle group, it's an effective way to get them to notice that even if they are not in favor of the extremist group's methods, they are in favor of their arguments.

And this is something much more dangerous than the rebellion itself, because the rebellion can be extinguished in the effective way exemplified so correctly in this situation: by throwing them overboard and punishing them for all eternity.

But questions are not so easy if you accept that the person asking them stays in the group, they will always be asking questions, they will always be questioning authority, they will always be implanting doubt. And that will always be attracting more people, it will always be making more people question things.

So the most practical thing you can do, is to throw overboard the questioners as well. You need to nip everything in the bud, because if you don't, rebellions will always be popping up. There will always end up being a group that believes change is needed, and that dares to take action.

And you don't want that constant battle, because with each time it happens, your authority goes down.

For it to happen twice makes it look like there's some kind of institutional problem

So if you want to maintain an image of power, what you must do is cut off ALL possible causes of rebellion, even the subtle ones, even the ones that at first glance seem harmless.

I'm against the idea of hell, especially because we see it as a place where they don't enjoy being. They tell you they rebel because they are evil, but they don't enjoy being evil. They are not happy in hell, they don't enjoy being there. They work writing things down when they can't spell, they have a job punishing those who failed god, and that job is their punishment for failing god.

They were given no options, they were kicked out of their job and told there would be a final war.

A war where the options are to lose, and be punished to agony for all eternity. Without ever having a chance of redemption

Or win, and be able to continue in the current situation. Which is equally horrible, because they never had the opportunity to create a system that would benefit them. Because they were taken out of a comfortable life and condemned to do the dirty work of those who took them out.

At no time did they have the opportunity to choose the right option, why would they choose it? They were defined as evil and it was made clear that they would NEVER have a chance to be anything else. Of course they are going to do every crime possible, there is nothing to stop them, and furthermore, there is nothing to motivate them to do anything different. It doesn't matter if they do something good or bad, they are always going to be in horrible conditions.

And the worst part is that they never escaped heaven, they are still under their control, the only difference is that now they have an illusion that it was their decision. But no, a new scale was simply created.

Heaven's top officials in control

Angels working for them

Demons doing the dirty work

Demons are not free. But everyone act as if they are, which, in my opinion, is even worse

Taking someone out for just asking questions, taking all this into account, I would say it's something that fits very well with the line of action they have

[ptn-archivist]

Garofano Interrogation -Phase 01-

You peruse through the file in your hands. It's about a homicide case caused by inheritance disputes.

Technically, this isn't the MBCC's responsibility, but because the accused is a Sinner, she has been transferred to your care before the trial.

After carefully reviewing all the information, only one thought pops into your mind: this case has been handled too hastily.

Whether out of routine or your responsibility as caretaker, you decide to conduct an interrogation to understand the details of the case.

-Interrogation Starts-

Chief: Nice to meet you, Mrs. Garofano-Braun. I'm the MBCC Chief, [Name].

Garofano: Hello, Chief. Please, just call me by my first name. I never actually changed my surname.

The widow before you looks somewhat frail, but even though she's incarcerated and burdened by her husband's murder, a soft, gentle smile still graces her face.

Chief: I see. All right then, Garofano. Please relax. I'm just here to... ask you a few questions.

Garofano: I promise to tell you whatever you want to know.

-Submit Evidence [Inheritance Dispute Case File]-

Chief: Let's review the case first, Garofano.

You pull out the documents from the file folder, laying them out one by one.

Chief: After Mr. Braun's sudden death from a critical illness, his will stipulates that all his wealth should go to you, his widow.

Chief: However, at this juncture, someone not only anonymously reported you as a Sinner, but also accused you of murdering your husband for his wealth in court.

Chief: At their strong insistence, the authorities conducted an autopsy on Mr. Braun's body.

Chief: According to the autopsy, an unidentified puncture wound was found in a hidden part of the deceased's body. A lethal, slow-acting poison was extracted from it.

Chief: Subsequently, they sealed off your tailor shop and found the murder weapon that matched both the wound and the poison. You were arrested based on this evidence. After that…

Garofano: After that, I ended up here.

A hint of melancholy tints Garofano's smile.

Garofano: Chief, you've been very thorough. You've read all the information carefully.

Garofano: But that... isn't the whole truth.

Garofano: I'm not the one who murdered Mr. Braun.

Her voice trembles, but her tone is firm.

Garofano: But as soon as they found out that I'm a Sinner, they jumped to the conclusion that I was the culprit, without giving me any chance to prove my innocence…

Chief: The sentencing was too swift, and there was practically no procedural process. They even let someone anonymous who wasn't family to ask for an autopsy. It was like... they were playing some childish game.

Chief: It makes no sense to sentence someone on such scattered evidence.

Chief: I don't think that being a "Sinner" should automatically condemn someone to guilt.

Garofano then says something somewhat unexpected.

Garofano: I thought you were also here to persuade me to accept my sentence…

Chief: The truth of the matter will ultimately be revealed. I don't categorically believe or disbelieve you. I just think that only after knowing the full picture can one make the final judgment.

Chief: So, I'd like to hear your side of the story before making my judgment.

She gently nods, then starts to speak.

Garofano: All right, then... here is my side of the story.

Garofano: In reality, Mr. Braun and I weren't married in a legal sense.

Garofano: We were more like brother and sister than husband and wife.

Chief: A de facto companionship?

Garofano: Yes, you could say that.

She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, immersing herself into deeper memories.

Garofano: Mr. Braun was passionate about charity, and I was an orphan girl he helped.

Garofano: I lost my whole family in a Mania attack. I was the only one left... I barely survived.

Garofano: Although I also became a Sinner because of this, at least... I didn't turn into... a monster that can't even recognize its own family.

A trace of pain flashes across her face, but she quickly suppresses it.

Chief: Sorry, I didn't mean to make you remember these things.

You gently hand a tissue to Garofano. A faint smile surfaces on her face.

Garofano: I know, Chief.

Garofano: At the time, I felt helpless, and almost lost the will to live... but fortunately, I met Mr. Braun.

Garofano: He didn't care that I was a Sinner, and gave me a lot of earnest help. He even funded me to open a tailor shop, which got my life back on track.

Garofano: I was very grateful for this and always wanted to repay him.

Chief: Is this why you had a sham marriage with Mr. Braun?

Garofano: Yes. Mr. Braun was sickly and needed someone to take care of him all the time. I always helped Mrs. Braun with housework when I had time…

Garofano: Later, Mrs. Braun fell ill. Before she passed away, she asked me to move in to keep taking care of Mr. Braun.

Garofano: As his wife, I also went to burdensome social events in his place. All of this was voluntary.

Garofano: We lived like family, watching over and caring for each other. I thought that life would always be so calm and cozy, until…

Garofano can't help but let out a sob.

Garofano: ...Sorry about that.

[Option: “No worries.”]

Chief: I understand... it's not easy to lose a family member.

Garofano: Then you should also understand... having lost my family once, I couldn't bear that kind of heart-wrenching pain again.

Garofano: I... cherished them very much. I would rather die myself than see my family leave me…

Garofano: That feeling is like.. being abandoned to be all alone in this world…

She pauses for a moment, unable to suppress her sorrow any longer... Tears trickle down her cheeks, leaving a faint shining trace.

[Option: Give her a tissue]

Garofano: Ah... Thank you.

As Garofano takes the tissue, you brush against her icy fingertips, which feel somewhat rough and callused.

After a moment, she collects herself, and slowly raises her head to look at you seriously.

Garofano: I know... everyone thinks I'm the cruel murderer, but I…

Garofano: ...would never harm my own family.

Garofano's immense grief pours into your consciousness through the shackles... but beneath that tide of pain, there is resolute determination.

You don't want to believe that someone so passionate would lie about her innocence.

Chief: But, given the current evidence, the odds are stacked against you.

Garofano: Hmm, I know.

Garofano flashes a bitter smile.

Garofano: If you think I was after his money... I can tell you, we had an agreement. I wouldn't inherit any property from Mr. Braun.

Garofano: Besides, even if that agreement is non-binding, the order of inheritance stipulates that his younger brother—the younger Mr. Braun—would be the one to inherit his estate.

Garofano: As for his will... I only found out about it after his death.

A younger brother...? You recall the case file you saw, which didn't mention Mr. Braun having a younger brother.

But the file was vague about the complainant from start to finish. You thought it might have been a neighbor who was unwilling to disclose their personal information. But now that you think about it, it seems…

You need to find a way to investigate this.

Seeing you fall silent, Garofano lowers her eyes and speaks softly.

Garofano: But actually, I no longer have any hopes about correcting this misunderstanding.

Garofano: As long as someone can listen to my story, I'm happy.

[Option: “I can help you if you want.”]

Chief: Although the truth about the case is still unclear, I'm willing to trust you this once. I'm willing to believe how much you cherish your "family.”

Garofano stares at you in surprise.

Garofano: So you mean... you're willing to believe I'm innocent?

Chief: I can only promise you that I will find out what really happened.

Chief: Plus, I know the public is biased against Sinners. But we can't rush to conclusions and ignore the truth.

Chief: So, I will apply to defer the trial and look for evidence that can clear your name. This is the only way to prove your innocence.

Chief: Before that happens, I hope you can trust me too.

Garofano freezes. She seems to be stunned to hear you say this. After a moment, she begins to speak softly.

Garofano: Chief, you... remind me of someone.

An emotional, nostalgic look crosses her face. You instantly realize something.

Chief: ...A family member?

Garofano nods slowly.

Garofano: My younger sister.

Garofano: She was just like you, kind and righteous…

Garofano: She always wanted to be like our father, a proud and selfless member of the FAC.

Garofano: Such a pity…

Her voice trails off, the unfinished words dissipating into the air.

Garofano: I'm lucky to meet someone as righteous as you…

Garofano: I am really... grateful that you are doing this for me.

Chief: You are my Sinner. It is my duty to investigate everything about you.

Chief: This is my responsibility. So, you really don't have to thank me.

Garofano nods in agreement and laughs lightly.

Garofano: ...All right, dutiful Chief.

Chief: For now, just rest at ease at the MBCC.

Chief: I won't let those people bother you.

Garofano: Understood. I will just stay here…

She gives a gentle but formal bow.

Garofano: ...and wait for you patiently.