#or she WILL lose her shit

[miqojak]

FFXIV Write Prompt #19: Turn a Blind Eye

This city, these people - even the 'gods' they so cherish, have all turned a blind eye to me, and the people like me. To our suffering. To our need. To our pain.

To the loss of our homes, and dignity.

I walk the darkened corners of Pearl Lane, and the forgotten alleyways of Ul'dah, and I wonder if I've turned a blind eye, as well - have I become like them in truth? What they made me was a survivalist with no care for any but herself, and yet... wasn't so much of this anger not just about me... but my people? The Ala Mhigans who didn't turn to crime, the ones too young, elderly, or infirm for labor - even those who were labor ready were used up and left behind like so much detritus.

And now... now they had the audacity to have my people make essentials for Garlean refugees? Make blankets and tents for those who made us homeless, to begin with?

And yet - where have I been? Where is my duty, now?

It died when my family died. The last kindling embers that whispered to fight for my people perished when my own twin abandoned me. Who was left to fight for, besides myself?

But I see her in every young, dirty, and defiant face - even in Shirogane. I nearly cracked open the ribs of our former alchemist, to show him his own still-beating heart, when I was forced to watch him butcher children. Technically, yes, at ten-and-seven summers - or more... perhaps a few were ten and nine - one might call another an 'adult'; but it's not about their age in numbers you can count. I was a 'woman' old enough for battle when I was still a child, perhaps ten and five at most - one of the few things about my old life I don't find myself missing.

I was not ready.

They were not, either. They were wartime orphans, just trying to survive. I choke on it again, remembering - seeing the gaunt faces around me. I return to Ul'dah, and Little Ala Mhigo again, and again, cutting myself on memories and debts I feel left unpaid.

The Jackal was never just for us - they were representative of all who would survive when, and where, they shouldn't. The cunning, the survivors, those who press on even when there's nothing to be gained but pain, in the doing so.

Death will come for us when it will - that is its way. Unknowable. But to stand defiant, guarding that fragile spark, even when it hurts unimaginably? To snatch from life whatever you can, to take just one more step, even when your feet bleed... that is who the Jackal is for.

And if I'm all that's left... if all of the Jackals are gone... is it my duty to give a shit? Is it my duty to protect, to teach - to... to exact the Jackal's due for them, too?

Or does that cross too many of the lines I've drawn to protect myself from further hurt?

[bigfatbreak]

Birds of a Feather previous / next

[sun-wukong-kinnie-2]

It hurts to be something…. It’s worse to be nothing with you…

[ayo-edebiri]

Everything about this 😭

[spacedace]

DPxDC snippet/prompt:

-

“John.”

Zantanna’s voice had that cadence to it. Faintly strangled. Forcibly calm. Her rising blood pressure and rapidly approaching limit for his special brand of excitement evident in every single letter of his name.

Felt like old times.

“Z.” He said, smoke curling out of his mouth and billowing towards the dreary grey sky above. The one nice thing about Gotham, it had the same gloomy dark ambience of ol’ London town. “Long time no see. How’s show biz been treating you?”

He saw the faintest of twitches at the corner of her eye. Could almost hear her counting to ten in her head. He smiled at her winningly, leaning back against the damp bricks of the alleyway as he waited. More smoke drifted upward from beside him in time with a bored sigh. Patience was running out on all sides it seemed.

“That’s a child.”

“Sharp as ever.” He said, taking another drag. He nudged the child in question beside him gently with his elbow, glancing down with a sly grin. “See this is why the Justice League pay her the big bucks. Nothing gets past our Zantanna Zatara.”

He got a cloud of smoke blown directly in his face for that, little shit.

“John.”

“Z.”

“Why do you have a child? Why is the child smoking?”

“Long story.” He said with a wave of his hand.

“I learned it from watching him.” The kid said, with the same cadence as that old American commercial. All dramatic and overwrought emotion. The gremlin swooned against John's side in an imitation of collapse, hand holding the lit bifter coming up to their forhead to really sell the melodrama. He nudged his ghostly companion off, grinning at Zantanna’s slipping patience as he did.

“Don’t worry about it. Kid's fine.”

“A child wandering around with you in a dark ally in Gotham smoking cigarettes is fine?”

“I mean, I’m already dead. And short. It’s not like smoking is gonna be able to do any worse to me.”

[sluttylittlewaste]

It's wild how many people took Kristen's line of questioning as her saying Tracker isn't taking her religion seriously instead of what I heard her asking which was:

How many of these people would be here if it wasn't religious Coachella?

[darlingod]

It’s so fucking cute that Cardan asked Jude to kiss him after he almost died. Buddy realized that night that he could die at any moment and said fuck it

[big-moon-little-moon]

Imogen (to Kord's high priest): I am the storm, baby

Kord, yet again:

[notyourwatermelon]

I know people have pointed this out before, but my favorite part about Spy x Family is the introduction of Twilight, masterful spy, best man on the force, intelligent, resourceful, never fails a mission, and then we get to enter the mind of this incredible man and half his thought process is just "whats that the plan is going slightly to the left of what I expected? time to Panic" and I think that's beautiful Twilight said "I'll solve this problem and it'll be fine I just have to have anxiety about it first"

[socialistexan]

LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[soloorganaas]

Nitearmor Week: Day 3 | Flame Harden

this lust is a burden we both share

[seryotonin]

She’s such a good mother figure it makes me cry.

Quick something because my brain has rotted to a degree.

[majosullivan]

I still can’t get over just how flirty Annabel was at the end of this episode. She most definitely has a master’s degree in audacity. Like…honey…the guy you sacrificed to save your wife from being trapped behind a wall (you know, the whole situation that caused Lenore to be mad at you in the first place, that Lenore still doesn’t know your reasoning behind) is LITERALLY standing right behind your wife. Girl you are BRAVE

[ardeidae-e]

How girl kisser r yall feeling today on a scale from 1 to fem dazai

[gonkaccino]

Season 4 hope/prediction: Deb's show is solid, zero issues, runs flawlessly with great ratings, but her personal life is completely eroding. We start with her discovering Marcus is leaving, and it culminates in DJ going into labor right before a taping. Deb chooses the show. When it's over, and she finally flies to Vegas, it's too late -- Aiden's not letting her in because he loves his wife too much to let DJ get into a shouting match with her mom right after giving birth, and instead takes the brunt of Deb's wrath, with her making excuses and talking about how they used her money for IVF, and anyway, DJ's fine, so who cares if she wasn't there? Kathy's in the room with DJ and the baby (DJ's the closest she has to a daughter, after all) and Deb leaves too furious to think about how badly she's hurt her family.

She heads back to her Vegas mansion -- empty, obviously, Josefina and the dogs would be in LA -- and pops open a bottle of wine. Alone. Completely alone. Can't call Marty, she has no friends, the closest she's got would be Kiki and wouldn't that be embarrassing, calling your poker dealer to talk about your feelings --

and then Ava's there. She got the news about DJ's labor, she got the story from Aiden (who was distraught, by the way, man's too much of a sweetheart for Vance drama), a spare key from Damian (happy to pawn that off on her, though if it isn't returned promptly he's taking legal action) and has arrived just in time to see the Deborah Vance having a breakdown the likes of which no one thought physically possible. Crying gives you wrinkles, you know. But Ava has to be here. She's the physical embodiment of a lesson Deb never truly learned: you don't have to like someone to love them.

In my imaginary fantasy land that I am concocting this would then subsequently lead into them fucking nasty but I understand that this may be a step too far for the surprisingly large number of very normal people who watch this show and would forgive JPL for not taking it that far. However I do believe they should fuck about it and let Ava take the reigns in their relationship while they see how many of Deb's bridges they can un-burn.

[graveltrip]

SCREAMING