#wasted woman poll

[wasted-women]

WINNERS

Thanks everyone for participating! It was interesting getting to know all these characters! Hopefully in the future we can get more media that treats female characters (and actresses) well

I don't really have any future plans for this blog, unless anyone has any ideas? For now I'm just going to reblog whatever I feel like

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

Sea Witch: May She Lay Us Waste & Girldirt Angelfog by Never Angeline Nørth

goodreads

Sea-Witch is a genre-phobic novel-in-fragments of contemporary transsexuality that focuses on the life of a girl monster named Sara who lives inside a witch-god named Sea-Witch. Follow the occult fairytale story of how this young monster came to be, of the origins of Sea-Witch, of Sea-Witch’s god family that preceded her & of 78 men who cause pain by using their laws and cops against monsters like Sea-Witch. Also there’s lots of hot trans-on-trans sex.

Mod opinion: I haven't read this book yet, but it sounds really interesting!

[callsigncurse]

strange happenings (jake seresin x reader)

Summary: A trip to the falls with the Dagger Squad turns into a story told around a bonfire. You learn about Evergreen Falls' interesting history & you nearly break the promise you made to Jake.

Warnings: Brief mention of an animal attack.

A/N: Based off of a poll I did, the reader's Dagger Squad nickname will be Pepper! Congratulations on becoming the newest member. :)

Without further delay, I present to you part two of Evergreen Falls.

←prev.

It was shaping up to be a good day. The sun had risen far above you; it was pleasantly warm, and your friends were lounging around your porch as you packed a bag for your trip to the falls. You would have done it sooner, but Jake had absolutely insisted on taking you for breakfast, and the conversation had run long. You found it easy to get lost in his eyes, and apparently the same could be said for him.

You'd also had to run errands, and he'd tagged along while you ran to the store to get paper plates and napkins and while you purchased candles and a new charger for your cell phone. He didn't say much while you walked around the store, but you figured that was just how he was. People had watched the two of you curiously, the newcomer and the huge, quiet woodworker. You'd paid them no mind as you paid and left, your tall shadow following close behind you.

"Let's go, Pepper! We're wasting daylight!" Bradley complained, and you grabbed the paperback book you'd started and stuffed it into your backpack. The nickname he’d bestowed upon you was the result of you threatening to kick him in the nuts for a comment he’d made about seeing you in a bathing suit. It was all in good fun, but he’d laughed and told you that you were “a feisty, spicy woman” and the nickname ‘Pepper’ was born. 

Taking one last look in your mirror, you smoothed your hair down and adjusted the straps of your bathing suit top. The color is a lovely red, striking against your skin, and you shimmy your cutoff jean shorts back on. You’re a little worried that the cut and the color were a little too much for such a small town, but it was all you had on such short notice. Besides, you really liked the way you looked in it.

You feel eyes on you when you walk out of your house, turning to make sure the door is closed and locked securely. Sure, this was a small town, and crime happened very rarely. But the motions were ingrained in you after spending so many years in San Diego, so you did them anyway for your own piece of mind before you turned around to face everyone.

Jake was standing nearby, his hypnotic eyes trained on your every movement. There was something in his eyes, and whatever it was made your stomach erupt into butterflies. The way he made you feel just by looking at you was both mystifying and incredible.

The others were already gathering their things, with Bob and Bradley dragging coolers while Javy, Mickey, and Reuben walked ahead in their own little group, each carrying two camping chairs slung across their backs. Besides Jake, they knew the forest best and would lead your little friend group up to the falls. Nat walked on your right side, chattering with you, while Jake took his place on your left. He was walking in the grass rather than on the path, and he’d insisted on carrying your backpack in addition to two camping chairs. He seemed happier than he had this morning, even if he’d been roped into carrying chairs. Not that he struggled with that – the guy was extremely strong. 

"So I've been thinking." Nat was playing with her hands nervously, looking down at you as you walked.

"That sounds dangerous." You quipped, and you dodged her hand when she reached out to swat at you. You brushed up against Jake doing so, and you ignored the little shivers his warmth gave you. "Kidding, kidding. What's on your mind, Phoenix?"

"I've been wanting to talk to you about possibly becoming my partner. With the business." Your head shot up, your eyes meeting Nat's with confusion and a little worry. "Not like that; the business is doing totally fine financially. I'm wanting to work out a plan to expand it, you know? I want it to be a cafe and bookshop, and I thought maybe you could help with that part. Obviously you wouldn't have to work full shifts, just help me with planning, chime in with ideas, etcetera. I can pay you. Plus, I figured, you're here now, and books are your thing since you're an English major, and-"

"Phoenix." Your voice broke her out of her nervous rambling, and while you were stunned, you were also ecstatic. On one hand, this opportunity meant you'd be able to get out of the house and spend time with your friends. On the other, it might leave less time for you to write. Regardless, it was an easy choice to make. "You know I don't need the money, Nat," You murmured. She knew about the inheritance your parents had left behind for you. "But I'd be happy to pitch in. A bookshop sounds magical."

"Nonsense." She waved a hand, dismissing the very idea of accepting your help without some sort of payment offered. "I will absolutely be paying you. Stop by Top Bean on Monday, and we can talk more about it, okay? That way, we can have fun this weekend without thinking about work." When Nat set her mind to something, you knew there was no changing it. Not without a long, well-thought-out discussion.

You finally nodded. “Alright, fine. You got yourself a deal. And a business partner.” This part didn’t worry you. You knew that Nat would make an amazing business partner; she was well organized, focused, and driven. Yeah, this might just be the thing you needed. Another good change—something to focus on. Something you could be passionate about. What better way to start over than to start over in a place where your best friend was trying to help make a home for you?

“Awesome!” Nat threw an arm around your shoulders, dragging you in so she could squeeze you against her side. The affection had warmth blooming in your chest, and you did the same, slipping an arm around her waist. It was so nice to be with her again after having spent so much time apart. You had mostly survived on texts, the occasional call, and video chat. There was nothing quite like seeing her in person, bright, smiling, and happy to see you.

A hand touched yours, and you looked to the side to see Jake smiling softly down at you. “Do you hear that?” Sure enough, when you stopped chattering with Nat and really listened, you could hear the faint sounds of a flowing river. “We’re near the falls. This is about the halfway point from your cabin to the top of the falls.” He explains, his free hand gesturing toward the treeline on his left side. “This is the most beautiful part of the Evergreen Forest, but this is where it gets darkest at night. Very unsafe.”

You nod, studying your surroundings as you follow your friends. It doesn’t seem so dangerous, especially not when there’s a path that’s pretty clearly marked. Part of you wonders why Jake is so adamant about keeping you out of these woods, but the other part remembers the fact that you promised you wouldn’t come here alone. You wonder if you’ll ever find out why Jake seems so scared of this place or why he’s so worried about you.

Nat once again grabs your attention, telling you about the first trip to the falls of the summer. She tells you all about how they had made burgers, had a small campfire, and about how the boys had played football too close to the river, and a fumble from Fanboy caused the football to fly off into the water, never to be seen again. 

“That was not my fault; Coyote threw it over my head! I’m just a little dude compared to you guys.” A ripple of laughter traveled through the group, and you even heard Jake join in. His laugh is deep; there's a rumble in his chest, and it makes you smile just to hear it. You vow then that you’ll do your very best to make sure you hear that sound again, as many times as you can. “Besides, I bought a new one, and we’ll stay further away from the river.”

Another few steps revealed a break in the foliage. Up ahead, the river flowed peacefully, dancing over large rocks and under tree limbs. It sparkled beautifully as it went, the sun bouncing off into fractals. It was a gorgeous sight to behold, and you stayed behind just a moment to really take your fill of the landscape. You’d never lived somewhere so beautiful—sure, San Diego had the same ocean, but the views here were just indescribable. The falls were a little further upstream, but the place the group decided to settle was perfect – not too loud, and a huge clearing off the sides for tossing the football around, and a little bank so you could wade into the river.

Jake hovered just beside you, his green eyes studying your frozen form. The soft upturn of your lips had his heart racing, and the way the sun touched your hair, your bare shoulders and arms made you glow. Watching you, he wondered if you knew just how much you resembled an angel. He’d known from the second that his skin first touched yours that you were meant for him, but he also couldn’t deny the fact that you deserved so much better than what he had to offer.

“Jake?” The sound of your musical voice broke him out of his quickly spiraling mind, and he glanced back down at you. “You wanna come help me set up a spot? I think I’ll get some sun and read for a little while.” You didn’t really give him a second to answer you; you were just too excited to be here. You hurried toward the group, adjusting your sunglasses as you watched the guys start setting up. Nat grabbed a space between you and Bob, so Jake settled on setting his chair directly next to yours on your other side. As soon as that was settled, he reached up, took his shirt by the collar, and did that hot thing guys do when they slide their shirts off just like that.

You very nearly whimpered. You caught yourself in time, biting down on your lower lip so hard that you swore you nearly drew blood. But God, he was gorgeous. He was just as tan on his chest and belly as he was everywhere else, strong muscles moving under the surface of that golden skin as he moved to carefully fold his t-shirt. And the trail, holy shit. It was the same dark honey shade as his beard, and you wanted to swoon. And he had a tattoo on his left arm, the dark imprint of a forest wrapped around his bicep. You wondered when he’d gotten it. You suddenly had the urge to kiss all over his skin and feel how warm he was with your fingertips.

Instead, you duck your head and move to sit in your chair, digging around in your backpack for the book you’d dropped in there earlier. It was easier to breathe when you weren’t looking at him, but the thing was, you never wanted to stop looking at him. There was something about him that just drew your attention to him whenever he was nearby. Which was a problem because this was a small town and you shared a friend group.

“Pretty girl?” When you looked up, Jake was looking at you with a glint in his eyes. It looked like he was up to no good. “You’re sitting directly in the sun at half past noon; you maybe want to put some sunscreen on before you get pink all over?” That was a good point. You dive back into your backpack, dragging out a tube of SPF 50 and uncapping it.

You felt his eyes on you as you squeezed some into your palm, and then as you slowly started working into your skin. It took everything in you not to pretend that it was his hands doing all the work instead, loosening knots in your muscles as they worked their magic. So instead, you started counting backwards in your head, rubbing more sunblock into your legs, your belly, and your chest. When you finally looked back at him, you were startled.

He looked, for lack of a better word, hungry. His seafoam green eyes were several shades darker, and his hands twitched from their place in his lap. It was like he was holding himself back from reaching out to touch you, and a shiver raced its way down your spine. You understood how he felt, because you were feeling the exact same way towards him – that undeniable pull tugging at you, making you want to touch his skin and press kisses to his lips. 

“Here, Pep, let me get your back.” Bob was suddenly there, completely oblivious to the tension between you and Jake that was currently making the air hard to breathe. “Gotta make sure you’re covered, yeah?” You knew Bob meant absolutely no harm, he was just sweet like that, but Jake looked absolutely murderous as your friend took the bottle from you and gently covered your back in the sunscreen. His hands were warm and soft with small calluses on his fingertips, most likely due to the fact that he was the high school’s music teacher. You’d heard from Bradley that he was damn good at playing the guitar. 

When he was done, he handed the bottle back. “There you go, all set.” He declared, and you thanked him with a gentle squeeze of the hand. He really was one of the sweetest people you’d ever met, and you were happy to know him. “I’m gonna go help Bradley set up the grill so we can get lunch going. Come over if you get hungry, okay?”

 With that, he wandered off toward Bradley, and you turned back to face forward. Nat had watched the entire thing, and she noticed the dark look on Jake’s face. In all her years of knowing him, she’d never seen him look downright dangerous before. She wondered what all that was about.

You weren’t oblivious to what was happening. You saw the way he was looking at the ground, and his jaw was clenched so tightly that a muscle was twitching. It was almost like you could feel what he was feeling—the jealousy building in your gut. You wonder if you're having some sort of hallucination or if you’re just going a tad bit insane. There’s no possible way that you could actually be feeling what Jake was feeling, right?

You’re broken out of your thoughts by the sound of your friends starting up a game and the boys tossing the football around. So you push aside whatever the hell you think is happening to you and follow Phoenix over to the excitement to watch.

By the time the sun starts to go down, you’re a little sore, and your skin is just the slightest amount of pink from too much sun. But the river had been nice and cool, and it felt like you’d really bonded with ‘the Daggers’ as you’d come to learn that they called themselves. You were a part of them now, and nothing felt better to you than knowing that this incredible group of people liked you and wanted you around.

Now you were seated in your chair, watching Javy, Reuben, and Mickey chow down on snacks while Bradley and Nat talked quietly. Bob was watching the fire, and Jake seemed to be in his own world. The flames threw his features into a gorgeous shade of gold, and you couldn’t help but try to discreetly watch him. You wonder which parent he got those beautiful green eyes from, and you study the way he taps the fingers of his left hand on his thigh like he’s playing the piano.

“You know, I think it’s time that Pepper here knew a little more about her new home, don’t you guys?” Mickey pipes up, and you turn your head at the mention of your nickname. “Has Nat ever told you about the legends around this place, Pep?” The others are looking at you, and you feel your eyebrows furrow as you sit up straighter in your chair.

“No, she didn’t, but I love learning about myths and legends." This is actually of particular interest to you, being that you’ve studied and read a lot of stories based on myths and legends. “What do you guys have here? Spirits? Cry baby bridges? Bigfoot?” Jake snorts, and you laugh, too. “Sorry, this is just super interesting to me.”

“I mean, Bigfoot is a given; you live in the PNW now,” Bob points out, “but our legends are a little cooler than Cry Baby Bridges or just plain old ghosts. How familiar are you with werewolves?”

You cock an eyebrow, meeting Bob’s gaze from across the fire. "What do you mean, like, ‘turning under the full moon and silver bullets kill us’ type of werewolves?” You didn’t particularly believe in the supernatural, as fascinating as you did find the legends and stories surrounding them. “That’s a little far-fetched, isn’t it?” Part of you wondered if your friends were just trying to scare you or something.

“Not that kind of werewolf.” The soft reply came from beside you, and you knew without looking that it was Jake. “These wolves, the ones from our legends, are different from the ones in your storybooks, pretty girl.”

The rest of the Daggers seemed content to let Jake tell the story, so you turned in your chair as much as you could to watch him as he told it. “Our town was founded a very long time ago, not long after the Oregon Trail. Back then, this land was wilder and harsher. And, little did the town’s first settlers know, a lot more occupied.”

He pauses for a moment, like he’s searching for the right words. “The ones that shared the land here were born as werewolves. Part man, part beast, but they lived as though they were beasts all of the time. They lived in the forests like animals; they hunted, fought, and bred like they’d never been humans in the first place.”

“And then humans started arriving in droves, taking over their land, and the wolves felt threatened. They fought back.” Jake’s eyes have a faraway look in them. “As much as they could, at least. They sabotaged the town, chased people away, and once, a man was bitten by a wolf. Of course, he was treated for it, and no one thought much of it. At least, not until the next full moon. It’s said that when the Bitten first turn, they have no control over it. The man that had been bitten fell to the floor in front of a clergyman, and the clergyman said that it seemed like every bone in the man’s body broke, just these horrible snapping sounds coming from him until he was nothing but a heap on the ground.”

Jake pauses for a moment before he continues. “And then fur started taking over his skin. Black as night, and then his teeth elongated and his nose and mouth turned into a snout and suddenly, in front of him, where the man had been, there was a wolf. And that wolf snarled at him, and the clergyman fled. Ran as far and as fast as he possibly could.”

“No one ever saw the man that had supposedly turned into a wolf again, not after that night. And of course, eventually, the rest of the wolves were forced to leave when yet more humans came. Some say they never returned to this area, but others say that they’ve heard the howls at night.” The corner of his mouth twitches, almost like he’s about to smile. “Nothing truly remains of those times but word-of-mouth, because the town’s archives mysteriously burned along with the first library back in 1901. There’s no way that we can say for certain that the stories are true."

His eyes refocus, and he studies you with those gorgeous eyes. “But then again, most legends are based on facts, so who’s to say the monsters in our legends aren’t real?"

You’re quiet for a moment, your gaze meeting his, and then you snort and roll your eyes. “Yeah, yeah, neat story, guys. You’re not going to scare me that easily. I lived in San Diego, in case you didn’t remember. Nothing scares me anymore.”

The others laugh, with Nat pushing your shoulder good-naturedly as she giggles. Mickey has a shit-eating grin on his face since this was his idea, and Bradley looks disappointed that the stories didn’t seem to rattle you.

Jake is too busy staring at you again, and his expression is entirely unreadable. 

It’s not long after the story that the Daggers decide to start packing it up. The boys grab the chairs, and once again, Jake grabs your backpack. He seems to hesitate for a moment before he offers you his hand, too. “It gets real dark out here,” he explains quietly, almost shyly. “Wouldn’t want you to trip and fall.”

You slip your hand into his, and his skin is so warm against yours. A shiver skitters its way down your spine, and you avert your eyes before you once again get lost in his. “Thanks, Jake," you murmur in response, threading your smaller fingers through his and giving his hand a squeeze.

The walk back is quieter than it had been on the way in. A day in the river and under the warm summer sun had pleasantly worn you all out. Bob, Javy, and Reuben walked at the front of the group, while Bradley and Mickey were discussing something that you couldn’t quite hear. Nat walked just in front of you, seemingly content to be walking alone. You were content too, at Jake’s side, with his hand in yours.

When your cottage comes into view, everyone starts saying their goodbyes. Nat gives you a hug, Reuben and Mickey give you high-fives, Bob waves, and Bradley bumps your shoulder with his and gives you a wink. Javy gives you a cute little two-fingered salute and wanders off after Nat.

Soon enough, it’s just you and Jake left, standing in front of your home. Finally, you turn to look at him, just as he leans down and presses a sweet kiss on your forehead. While your face warms, you lean into his touch. “Today was amazing." Your voice is soft, but you mean it with all your heart. “Hanging out with you all day was the best.”

“I agree.” His free hand, the one that isn’t holding yours, brushes a loose lock of your hair behind your ear. “Thank you for insisting that I come with you all today. It’s been a long time since I’ve taken a day to just hang out with friends. It's been even longer since I had a breakfast date with a beautiful woman."

“It’s been years since I’ve been on a date.” You admit, and you're getting lost in those green, green eyes again. “Not that I thought it was a date; I’m sure you were joking about that. I mean, we just met, and you’re unfairly handsome, and I’m sure you could have any girl you wanted–" 

“Hey.” He cuts off your rambling, his voice soft as he lays his large hands on your shoulders. “I wasn’t joking when I said it was a date. I want it to have been a date because I like you. And I like you because you’re smart, insanely beautiful, and so interesting, and I’d really like it if I got to keep getting to know you. It’s been a long time since a woman has captured my attention the way you have.” You could swear your heart just stuttered in your chest at his words, and you nodded.

“I’d really like that too, Jake.” His touch is warm, and you lean into him a little more. “I knew I was going to be happy to move here since Nat was here. But meeting you guys—the Daggers—has been the most amazing thing. I feel like I really belong here.”

One of his hands touches your cheek, and he smiles serenely. “I think you do belong here, sweet girl.” The new nickname sends a pleasant shiver down your spine, and an answering smile flickers on your lips. “Getting a little late. I should probably let you go so you can get some rest.”

You’re about to argue—maybe invite him in for a cup of coffee—but a yawn overtakes you, and yeah, you’re exhausted. Moving took a lot out of you, and you’d only managed a few hours of sleep the night before. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow? I don’t have much of a plan since it’s Sunday, but if you want to stop by or anything, I wouldn’t mind the company.”

“I have a few things to work on at the shop." His hands leave you as he readies himself to leave, and you mourn the loss of his warmth. “But that should only take me a few hours. Maybe I can swing by in the evening? I can even cook you dinner.”

You have to suppress a smile at the idea. “That sounds perfect, Jake. I’ll look forward to it.”

“Goodnight, pretty girl.” He murmurs, and he waits until you’re safely inside the house to start the half-mile walk back to his place.

You’re still smiling to yourself when you get in the shower, washing the river water, sweat, and sunscreen off of your skin. You let yourself dwell on the fact that Jake admitted that he liked you and that he was planning on seeing you again tomorrow. It almost felt like a dream. 

It’s nearing midnight when you’re pulling on your pajamas, and you’re just about to turn out your light when it happens.

Howling.

It’s coming from behind your house, and you remember then about the howling you’d heard the night before, just before you’d fallen asleep. You’d chalked it up to exhaustion and an overactive imagination, but you knew for certain now that it had been real. Just as real as it was now.

Your heart was pounding as you grabbed your phone, and yeah, what you did next was probably extremely stupid. Instead of crawling into the safety of your bed, you turned around and crept down the stairs, your phone’s flashlight lighting your way.

Each new howl sounded closer, and you tiptoed through your kitchen to the backdoor. It sounded so close, and you knew that Jake would not be happy if you went out there, but your curiosity was getting the better of you. Wolves, you knew from your biology class in high school, were less likely to attack than say, a bear or a moose. So where was the harm in seeing one for yourself?

The door creaked when you pushed it open, and your feet touched the soft grass of your backyard. You knew that the path that led back into the Evergreen Forest was just a few feet ahead of you, but the night was pitch black and you could only see a few inches in front of your face with the help of your phone’s flashlight. All is mostly quiet now, just the sound of the wind rushing through the trees around you. It was almost eerily silent, like all of the other creatures around you were too afraid to make any noise. 

You find yourself moving toward the treeline, your phone gripped tightly in your hand. Half of your brain is screaming at you to get back inside, take refuge in the safety of your bed, but the other half is curious–you can’t help but remember the story from tonight. The werewolves, the legend that was perhaps based on fact, and Jake’s expression when you told him that you didn’t believe the story.

Another howl cuts through the air, closer than before, and your phone chimes with a text.

Jake: Don’t go in the woods tonight.

A strange feeling pools in your gut, and you turn and flee back into the house.

Taglist;

@twsssmlmaa

@mamachasesmayhem

[zorosleftmantit101]

Royal AU, Princess reader x (Peasent) One piece character who would you like to see (Poll at bottom)

(Reblogs are greatly apprecited)

Preveiw:

Scouting through the halls of the castle, you stopped at a window, overlooking the town below. Your gown slithered snuggly against your body as the wind kissed your cheeks. You felt the town call a silent song for you, your heart yearning to see the people below. "Oh dear Y/N, I've been looking for you everywhere, don't waste your time looking over that filthy village, come with me, a bath has been drawn for you." An elderly woman calls, shuffling up to grab you by the elbow, before yanking you away.

"Nanny Arlem why am I never allowed down to the town" you grumbled as a pale of warm water was poured over your head. Pulling the dampened hair from your eyes, you looked at her beside you. 'Tsking' in irritation Nanny Arlem rubbed a soapy sponge along your back. "if you really must know, it's filled with peasants and filth, no one a princess like you should be associating with," she huffed, dropping the sponge in the water to go fetch a towel.

Standing so she may drape the towel over your shoulders, you looked out your bathroom window, situated on the opposite side of the town with a magnificent view of the hills and lake, yet not the view you wanted most of all. Deciding to drop the subject, you dried and clothed yourself before making your way to bed, watching the setting sun drape orange hues of light across your room. An hour had passed and you were still lying in a sleepless rest engulfed in darkness as the stars and moon ruled the sky.

As a Princess, you had to stay within the castle and gardens, serving your father until you potentially had to be shipped off for some bullshit arranged wedding. Nights were long and days were longer as the only part of the castle open to you were the gardens and the library and they were hardly filled with anybody worth staying for. You were ultimately trapped, "Such a horrid life having to live in a rich castle with fresh food, water and servants at your disposal" one might jest, Yet life was hardly enjoyable because what's the use of having all these amazing things in your life if it's not a life you want to live.

Comment Below Any other characters (with job) you might like to see

I would like to get a lot of opinions on this so reblogs are greatly apprecited

[hotpinkstars]

-> centuries wasted

synopsis -> you find out your lovers real identity, and you leave.

a/n -> this was the angst post i put on poll last week...... i'm sorry furina fans i dont like the way the people treated her in archon quest but readers one of them... y/n in this story is kind of a bitch mb. anyways enjoy....!.!.?.?.?!

cw -> hurt no comfort, MAJOR SPOILER ALERT FOR THE ARCHON QUEST! just hurt nothing more 👍

wc -> 1.0k

“no matter which path fate takes, i’ll love and cherish you forever,” you said that night, your eyes glimmering with adoration for the woman lying beside you. a smile began to poke at the sides of her mouth, trying not to let her made up personality overtake the flustered feeling bubbling inside of her core. 

but that was a night in the past now, a night where no worries were anywhere in sight, and the city of fontaine was at peace. the opposite was the present.

she had found herself on trial, in the same courtroom she’d watch other trials. she’d always cringe at how stupid people would be to end up here, soon to be sent down to meropide to sentence a hefty sum of years. 

sometimes tears would be shed, due to the reasoning for the crimes. there were times she’d have to excuse herself for not being able to hold her act and deal with the sadness in the room.

you were always the one there to comfort her in times like that. you’d experienced her grief, her happiness, her sadness, and her anger. 

but you never thought the woman you’ve loved so dearly could lie about who she truly was. you were deceived into thinking she was the true archon, the archon who could be able to take action in a dire time, the archon everyone could truly rely on. but when disaster struck, she was nowhere near prepared. 

she had been accused of not caring of the lives of her citizens, and that she had done nothing to prevent the lost lives from primordial seawater. 

that seawater was capable of making fontaine locals vanish in an instant, which is why it was such a big deal, and this prophecy has been something to come up frequently between higher-ups, like the iudex of fontaine or the duke of meropide, where the seawater was just below his feet.

finding out your lover was no archon was shocking. she’d always find a way to present herself, in times of controversy, in times of stress, and in times of happiness and peace throughout the nation. 

you had a brief understanding of who focalors was, but you had a completely different thought process, due to the things furina would tell you.

sitting through her trial broke your heart. first she lies, and now she’s sentenced to death, but she’s not the one sentenced to death, focalors is? your mind was swarming with thoughts, overwhelming you to the point of having to step aside in the bathroom and taking a moment to cry your eyes out.

passersby looked at you in a sorrowful manner, knowing your status with the ‘hydro archon.’ at this moment, you wished someone would light you on fire and discard your fried corpse. 

while you were gone, furina scanned the room frantically multiple times, looking for any sign of you, the only one who was hopefully on her side. her people were let down, making them enraged, and even the traveler showed disappointment. at this moment, all she wanted to do was cry in your arms, listening to your cooing and words of kindness, telling her that it’s not her fault.

but you were crushed, and you didn’t even know how you’d be able to speak to her. 

once the trial had subsided, she tried to find you. she ran desperately, being told by neuvillette that she could say a couple words to you before her ‘punishment’ would take place. 

“y/n, i-” she weeped, wrapping her arms around your torso. but the thing that took her off guard the most is that you didn’t hug back.

your face held a horrified look, and your eyes pierced through her face. she noticed how tense you were, backing up suddenly.

“whats wrong?” she said, panicked. “i’m sorry i kept such a sensitive lie-”

“i don’t want an apology, furina,” you felt tears poke from your tear ducts, trying not to cry just as hard as she is. “why would you lie? i’ve been with you for so long, i’ve entrusted even my deepest, darkest secrets in your hands. i understand why you kept this secret, but why would you keep your fake act up around me?”

“i didn’t want you to leave,” she admitted, rubbing her eyes before crying even harder. “i thought you’d judge me for who i really am.”

you take a deep breath in before letting the tears fall. “you should’ve just talked to me. you should’ve been as honest as you could be. but you were never open to communicating your feelings, and you were always hiding something from me,” you looked away, unable to process what just happened. “i understand you’re human, or at least now i do. you should have let me see your emotions, see what was really going on. because if you did, you wouldn’t be this close to losing me entirely, furina.” 

she let out a shaky gasp, not expecting those words to come out of your mouth. they fell off your tongue so easily, like you had zero regrets. 

“what do you mean, losing you?” she cautiously asked, her tone being nothing but a pathetic whisper. “you’re not going to leave me over something so… so trivial, right?”

“this isn’t trivial, furina. you’ve lied about your whole entire existence. we’ve been married for hundreds of years, and not once have you expressed your worries or suffrage. i have no trust in you anymore,” you sniffled. “this is it. say whatever it is you want to say, and i’ll be off to… somewhere. some other region.”

she officially had no hope for the rest of her life. you were her lover of hundreds of years, immortal alongside her, maybe only being a few hundred years older than her. what makes it even more painful is due to those circumstances, she’ll most likely see you again.

maybe alone, or maybe with someone else who could do better for you. someone who won’t lie about their whole existence, and someone who could give you the satisfaction you looked for all along in a relationship.

she watched as you walked out the doors of the opera epiclese, tears falling from both of your eyes. you didn’t understand. you felt betrayed, and so did she.

[aspiring-writer-hidden-voice]

Result of the DB/Z/Super Poll:

Tie for first place:

DBS Beerus x f!reader

“You don’t say?” Bulma’s eyebrows furrowed with interest as Jaco brandished a holographic flyer. “And this pop star is taking the galaxy by storm through music? Sorry, that doesn’t seem really like our kind of thing.”

The Galaxy Patrolman scoffed, acting wounded while taking back the device. “That right there shows that you have no idea! She’s dubbed Goddess of Music for a reason and you are just too thick to realize why.”

“Come again?” She growled menacingly with steadily growing embers within her gaze.

“I’m just saying that if you of all people on Earth haven’t the slightest understanding that having her grace this planet with a performance is heavenly then you clearly do not wish to know that I’ve heard rumors she’s looking for a place to lay low for a while.”

Rumbling earned their curious gazes to rise in time to spot a dust storm worthy of classic writing lore a moment before nearly being billowed by the wind following a figure who appeared from its core with golden eyes wide and ears standing at attention, a slim tail lashing behind them. Purple-gray hued skin, not a single strand of hair to be seen, large ears and manicured paws for hands, the God of Destruction himself was barely recognizable courtesy of the glimmering stars threatening to give away the hidden emotions swirling within. “Run that by me once again, little man.”

Amused, Bulma couldn’t help but poke light fun when spotting Whis appearing a moment later with several bowls of whipped parfaits wearing a shocked expression. “Oh, there you are. I forgot you were hanging around somewhere nearby.” One of the suspended bowls slipped underneath Beerus’ nose and earned their raised brows when he paid it no mind. “Okay, spill it. For you to ignore food means that something is special about this girl.”

“You just don’t know the music of Calliope and even if you heard it I doubt you’d appreciate it.” Jaco’s hands rose when noticing a certain glare from the feared entity, beginning to sweat profusely. “A-all I’ve heard is that she may be taking a break from tour and is currently in search of somewhere to recuperate! One of the guys at work knows someone who knows someone—”

“Get to the point.”

“—from the sounds of it she’s expressed an interest in Earth but she isn’t sure if this corner of the cosmos is ready for her music!”

Almost in the same manner of a rocket, the mighty God of Destruction appeared inches from Jaco’s face. “Tell me you’re not joking or I swear I’ll destroy you now.”

“It’s the truth! I swear it on my life and I would never lie to Bul—I mean to you!”

Tension hung heavily in the air as the slanted golden eyes bore into the small patrolman until he straightened stiffer than a ruler. “If what you are saying is true, and I’m not saying I believe you, then there is much work to be done.”

Bulma shared a questioning look with Whis who looked just as lost as the Earthling woman.

….

Golden eyes narrowed with disgust while regarding the stage. “Wrong, it’s all wrong. Start again.”

A unified exclamation rose from the people who had been working diligently since appointed beneath his guidance. “That makes seven redesigns in the last four days!”

“Well, then, make it eight and stop wasting my time by doing it right the first time I asked!” Beerus snapped, visibly deflating while settling into a nearby chair resting beneath its umbrella. “I can hear your condescending snickers from here, Whis, so you better shut up before I destroy you along with those ingrates.”

Beside him appeared a tall fair blue skinned individual who cooed softly to the rich chocolate desert within his hold. “Forgive me, my lord, I did not mean offense.” Between his lips disappeared the spoon laced with thick fudge, powdered sugar, tart cherry, and fluffy cake that earned his bright smile and wiggle of the spine. “Oh, Almighty, this is truly divine!” He momentarily grew serious when no interest was shown by the God of Destruction. They’ve come to know each other very well in the past several centuries, he boasted to practically know the cat-like deity better than a dragon its own scales, however these last few days have been truly interesting to behold. As if something had come over the once stoic, cold, indifferent being. The desert was placed off to the side, with regret, before he fixed his gaze upon Beerus. “Come now, is it truly worth getting all excited over something so silly?” If he noticed the sudden heavy pressure within the air Whis chose to ignore it. “That musician was looking for a place to relax, not put on a show. Wouldn’t it be rude to shove something like this into her face and practically demand a performance when she’s utterly exhausted from traveling or worse?” So sooner had his words faded to silence did the chair become vacant. “My lord?”

Wordlessly, he stalked towards the incomplete stage as the workers quickly retreated upon seeing his approaching form. They were left speechless and highly frustrated when with a tap of a claw the entire structure was rendered to piles of ash. “What are you fools going on about now? I just saved you several more days of complaining so show a little gratitude.” Beerus fixed each in turn with narrowed eyes. “Or perhaps you wished to be entombed within your failed production.”

Both of his ears perked when telltale pings sounded from the scepter his Angel used.

Whis, taken by surprise, stood and peered into the sphere. “Would you look at that, an unmarked ship is approaching Earth as we speak.”

Disappointment permeated the air as Beerus returned to his seat. “Don’t get my hopes up like that.” Swiping the desert, he began eating with vigor and gusto worthy of a God of Feast rather than a God of Destruction.

“Would you like another?” A soft voice came from the side, earning Whis’ pout before it turned into a grin as several similar dishes were placed carefully across the table. You cast a smile, and a wink, from over your shoulder when Beerus took a moment to take in your appearance. “I made those specifically for you by my own hands so I can’t wait to hear how you like them.”

Almost too faintly for you to hear came a unified gasp from the pair before near identical croons of happiness.

Bulma brightened when you stepped into the kitchen, hands clasping your own. “You’re truly a lifesaver, seriously. When our chef that they’ve attached to became ill I wasn’t sure what I was going to do! Then dad said you were looking for work and had recommended you for the position! I hope they weren’t too rude.”

“Trust me when I say I’ve encountered much worse.” You grinned brightly. “It’s nice to be doing something like this with my hands. I better get back to work though to make sure our guests stay satisfied.”

“Too true,” the blue haired genius waved while walking towards the entrance, “but be sure to take as many breaks as you need!”

“Will do!”

It wasn’t until the door closed with a hiss that you released a sigh of relief. A pair of headphones were procured as if from thin air that you secured upon your head and faint notes of music could be heard as you went about the kitchen. What should you make this time?

….

Alarms blared wildly as Bulma sat upright in bed, blinking wildly when spotting her Saiyan husband by the window staring down as flashing lights. “What’s going on?! Is it the media again?” Her arms crossed. “What did you do?”

“Quiet, woman, I’m trying to listen.” His narrowed eyes slanted farther. “Appears that the authorities who wear blue are preventing someone from entering.”

A glance at the clock earned her groan before swinging her legs over the bed’s side. “It’s four in the morning, it’s probably (Y/n) trying to come to work. Guess dad forgot to add her to the directory.”

“Don’t move.”

“And why the hell not?”

Vegeta’s lip curled. “Your interference is not needed since they have turned from detaining to entertained.”

Blinking, she crossed the room to peer out of the window alongside her Prince and felt her jaw hit the floor before a face breaking grin lifted her lips.

….

“How were those deserts?” You asked with a smile, clearing away the dirty platters and dishes to place them upon the cart you’d brought. “I hope they were to your liking.”

“Truly amazing, my compliments to the baker!” Whis hummed.

Beerus made to ignore your question if not for the nudge of a food. Clearing his throat, his golden gaze met yours, earning a warm ember to nestle within your gut. “They were perfectly adequate and acceptable.”

No sting of disappointment came at his words, only appreciation, earning his blink of shock when you genuinely smiled instead of withered beneath his gaze. “I’ll make the next ones even better, you just wait! I want to hear from your own lips that my food is delicious. Then I’ll share with you my super-delicious-ultra-special desert.”

“Perhaps you should make it instead of hyping it up.” A smirk appeared upon his face. “Why boast when you can flaunt?”

Whis’ lips parted to reprimand the God of Destruction’s jab but they pursed, eyes widening, when you cocked a hip and lowered your face to be inches away from the deity.

“And when was the last time you made anything with those hands, hm?” There was no mistaking the challenge within your tone as a slow blooming smirk raised your lips the longer silence filled the air.

With a huff, he turned his head. “I’ve done things with these hands you couldn’t scarcely imagine, human, so I suggest you mosey on back to the kitchen for our next course. Besides, I am a God of Destruction not of confections.”

A bell was struck, ringing clearly through the air as the surrounding outer backyard that belonged to the Brief family.

“Thanks for joining me! We can start off easy with a simple meringue.” You clapped your hands, internally relishing when Whis smirked at the scepter he quickly hid when anger filled golden eyes locked upon him. The outside had vanished to be replaced by the all too familiar kitchen you’ve come to call home.

“What the hell are you playing at?!”

“Lord, would you mind cracking a few eggs?”

The glare was fixated upon you as a carton passed from your hands to sit before him. For a moment you surmised that he would still fight but for some reason, after his gaze meeting yours, he picked up one of the fragile shelled items. It almost immediately shattered between his claws. This earned his great displeasure once noticing a certain Angel suppressing a chuckle.

“No worries,” you soothed, placing another within his hand, “let’s try again.”

“Treating me like a child will earn you my wrath if you’re not careful, human,” he growled lowly. Despite his own words, Beerus indeed handled the egg with a bit more care as you showcased how he should rightfully crack.

Yolk and whites were separated with each egg he successfully freed from its shell. Sugar was added to the whites, which were made into fluffy clouds courtesy of a handheld whisk procured from a drawer. It was then that you revealed a pretzel pie crust that had been cooling in the refrigerator along with a bowl of previously prepared cream cheese. Both Destroyer and his Angel watched with fascination as you helped them to fold the meringue into the mixture, farther earning their wide eyed expressions when you lightly smacked reaching purple-gray hued fingers.

“Ah-ah, no snitching until its done.” A dollop of whipped cream appeared upon Beerus’ nose. “You can munch on that until I say its done. If you’d like, you can pick what toppings should go with it.”

Upon his forehead appeared a growingly frustrated tick mark while Whis happily disappeared into the nearby pantry. Surely this female knew just what he was capable of and to not irk him farther. His assumption was completely thrown out the window when you took a moment to fix him with a serious expression. The need to snap and question you was stifled when noticing something that made him pause. “That earring. It looks familiar.” Beerus eased himself closer, eyes narrowing to get a better look at the lone piece of jewelry you wore.

Panic made your heart begin to pound harder as his breath wafted your face. “O-oh, this? It used to be a necklace but the chain broke and thought that—”

“It suits you.”

Shock and awe filled you at his tone of sincerity. Did he, the God of Destruction, just compliment you? “Thank you very much,” you managed once he retreated far enough for you to breathe fresh air, “that’s kind of you to say.”

“I simply can’t decide! Lord Beerus, shall we go with sweet or savory?”

Like a glow stick, the fragile atmosphere cracked audibly when the deity huffed. Though that did make an idea come to him when you hurried to help the Angel carry in possible options. “I think we should be a bit adventurous and try something combining both. What do you say with including chunky salt and a sauce?”

“I like where this is going.” You smiled, searching the cabinets until brandishing a sea salt shaker then selecting both caramel and white chocolate chips. The entirety of your attention fixated upon the pair when they voiced doubtful objections, your gaze meeting gold. “Do you trust me?”

What an odd question. In the many years of being in his position, Beerus had never hears such an inquiry made of him. Such things meant little to beings such as himself because it was unnecessary. Yet the way you were looking at him, with those eyes and the unique air about you, set his mind, possibly very soul, at ease. “I suppose I can indulge you. Yes, for now, I shall.” Deep within his being something warmed as your cheeks lightly dusted pink.

“I promise to not betray it.”

And he believed you.

….

A frustrated growl filled the air when Destructor and Angel returned to their original seats beneath a large umbrella. “Seriously? Why do I have to wait two hours?” Beerus scowled, nostrils flaring slightly while stretching then settling. “What a bore. Just what are we supposed to do to pass the time?”

“And just where have the two of you been?”

He didn’t have to open his eyes which had closed. “None of your business, Bulma, move along.” Indignation filled him when a finger swiped across his skin, fangs shining brightly as he revealed them with a venomous hiss. “How dare you!”

Bulma blinked while inspecting the residue upon her skin. “Is that powdered sugar?”

“And what business is it of yours?”

“We were helping a certain young female create a desert within the kitchen not too long ago. Now we simply have to find some way of entertaining ourselves until its ready.” Whis’ bottom lip protruded in a pout. “I’m simply dying to taste it but I’ll hold out because of her assurances it would be to die for!”

Blinking, the blue haired woman blanked then brightened. “Oh, you’re talking about (Y/n), right?” Bulma bit her lip as Beerus confessed to not asking for your name. This was almost too good! “Well I have some good and bad news for you.”

Both sat upright with stiff spines, eyes widened once she finished speaking. “What do you mean she left?! What about our desert?!”

“Something came up for her and she had no choice—”

“Find her now.” Beerus’ growl earned their partial amusement when he failed to notice a figure who appeared from behind.

The tap of your finger upon his shoulder earned a sideways glare before it melted into something akin to admiration. Gone were your rudimentary clothes to be replaced by spectacular clothes that swayed with each movement of your body. There was no denying that he instantly knew who you really were. “I’ve been looking for you both. I should’ve known to start here first.” A decorated container was procured with a wave of your hand that slipped itself into his hold. “I hope you’re satisfied with tasting something you’ve made with the people you care for most. Cooking is one of my fave pastimes and I had a lot of fun! Let’s be sure to do this again sometime!”

Incomplete words leapt from between his quivering lips as you pressed a quick peck to his cheek.

“Be sure to take good care of Earth, okay? I definitely want to come back the next time I need to recharge!” With a wave and bow, you disappeared in a flurry of sparkles.

Bulma and Whis failed to contain their grins when the God of Destruction practically melted into a puddle with an equally goofy smile. How odd to see such a being as himself in such a state. Their amusement, however, was short lived as he carefully placed the desert upon the chair he’d vacated then faced the two of them with steadily growing malice.

“How long have you two known that she was Calliope this entire time?”

[hopefulstarfire]

Do yall wanna know my actual favorite butterfly effect?

Two people fucking on a mountain indirectly lead to my favorite comic of all time, Under the Red Hood.

Let me explain.

Joseph Hugo married a woman named Sophie Trébuchet in 1797. He was a general in Napoleon's army so they moved around quite a bit. In a letter he would later write to his son, he and his wife had been on a trip on June 24th 1801 to get from one post to the next and he believed this, on the highest peaks of the Vosges Mountains, is where he believed they conceived their son, who would later become the Ocean Man and famed author Victor Hugo.

(Fun fact: Jean Valjeans prisoner number, 24601, is absolutely in reference to his believed conception date)

Victor Hugo grows up and obviously is responsible for many works, such as Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and was never one to shy away from political commentary. Thus, he was exiled from France and sent to living on the Channel Islands. It was here that he wrote a novel titled The Man Who Laughs.

Like many of his works, this one does have different adaptations. One in particular came out in 1928 starring Conrad Veidt as the character Gwynplaine, or the Man Who Laughs.

Fast forward about a little over a decade later in 1940. A comic book writer comes into work to be greeted by two artists he worked with, one who did significantly less work than the others. These three men were Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson.

Now the details of this meeting are...well, up in the air. Each man had their own account to it, and Bob Kane especially is the most unreliable given that he took credit for literally everything and we went over 70 years without Bill Finger getting any sort of credit to actually creating Batman. But what we do know is that there was a drawing of a playing card and a face for the joker card; and Bill Finger said, "Hey, that looks like Conrad Veidt in the Man Who Laughs."

They pushed further with that angle in making the character, a new villain for their hero; the obvious, Joker.

Some years later we get a little bit of an origin story in 1951, in the comic The Man Behind the Red Hood! (ALSO written by Bill Finger) Some college students are trying to solve this decades old case of a burglar in a red pill helmet that was called the Red Hood and trying to figure out who it was. Teaming up with Batman and Robin, they find out that the Red Hood was in fact Joker's old alias. He used to be a lab worker that was stealing from a playing card company with that alias. He was caught by Batman and threw himself into some chemical waste to escape, thus becoming the Joker.

This origin has stuck around in some form ever since. The moniker was unused for quite a long time after this, but would eventually find a new home in a different character.

See, in the 80s, Batman's second sidekick, Jason Todd, was killed off in a very brutal fashion after a fucking poll that people could call two different numbers to decide if they were going to save him or not. I will get into why I have so many frustrations with everything surrounding this story another day, but the important thing to know here is that the Joker killed Jason while Jason was trying to save his mother.

And for a good period of time there, Jason became a character that you did not bring back to life. Until they did.

A storyline running from 2005 to 2006 came into life, called Under the Hood. In it, Batman has to fight a new foe taking on the mantle of Red Hood, only to discover its Jason Todd, brought back to life from the Lazarus Pit, and taking on the mantle of the man that murdered him to go fucking murder the Joker and take control of crime in Gotham and do what he believes Bruce couldn't, all while dealing with trauma and feeling replaced.

So yeah. We wouldn't have my favorite character or story if it wasn't for Victor Hugo's parents fucking on a mountain and conceiving him there where "The elevated origin seems to have had effects on [Victor Hugo] so that [his] muse is continually sublime". That is a quote from that letter. Victor Hugo's mountain conception where he got a great muse is the reason for the Joker and Red Hood. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

[grassbreads]

I’d love to know about Yulma and how important it is to representation in shounen manga

This has been sitting in my askbox for a couple months (because I am incapable of punctuality), but anon sent this to me back when I was talking about Yulma over on my vnc blog. For those unaware, Yulma refers to Yu Kanda and Alma Karma from the manga D.Gray-man.

So the thing is, to be honest, I don't know if you can say Yulma is/was important for representation. They don't tend to get brought up as an example of representation (except by diehard d.gray-man fans like me, lol) in shonen, and their whole thing is complicated enough that I feel like the queerness of it all flies over a lot of people's heads.

However! They're very important to me personally, and I do think it's kind of remarkable their story came out in like 2010. Because even though their queerness gets overlooked a lot, it's like. really there no matter how you interpret it.

The short version of their very complicated story is that Kanda and Alma are a couple who were resurrected into new bodies. Alma was a woman when they were originally together in their past lives, but is physically male in the present. Kanda is still very much in love with them by the end of their story, which, depending on the reading, makes Kanda very bi and/or Alma very trans.

This sound like something you want details on? If so, let's talk about how D.Gray-man's fan favorite edgy badass toughguy character briefly became the star of his very own heart-wrenching tragic queer romance.

Here's a brief crash course in Yu Kanda and Dgm for the uninitiated:

D.Gray-man is a manga about a group of exorcists (in the loosest and most anime sense of the term) in the 1890s fighting a holy war against mechanical demons powered by the souls of the dead. There are two things you need to understand about this plot for me to explain Yulma:

The Black Order, the secret branch of the church that exorcists work for, has a long history of committing horrific human experiments to further the war effort.

Due to complications of world building, only a tiny number of people can become exorcists, and tracking down new ones is extremely difficult.

Yu Kanda is one of the exorcists, and though not the actual main character (that's the lad in my icon), he's a very important secondary character. Arguably he's the most important secobdary character, since he's the main guy's biggest foil and the first character to play deuteragonist in a major story arc. He's also a huge fan favorite. The character popularity polls that Jump used to do always had him and the mc going back and forth over who won #1 most popular.

Kanda was also a classic edgy toughguy character. His first two scenes are him almost murdering the main guy because he thinks he's an intruder, then complaining about people grieving for their friend too loudly. He never smiles. He argues with the righteous mc about wasting time/energy protecting civilians. He threatens (and delivers) violence on anyone that annoys him. He looks like this:

TLDR; Kanda was an adored-by-fans mean badass archetype in a 2000s shonen manga. Not generally the guy you peg for starring in a piece of queer romantic storytelling.

And for the entirety of the original anime adaptation's 103 episode run, for the first 188ish chapters of the manga, you do not learn a single thing about his early life. You learn he joined the Black Order very young, and you meet the mentor that took him in at that point, but although there are little hints, a couple cryptic mentions of him searching for a certain person, his early origins remain a complete black box.

Then came the Alma Karma arc.

This is the point where I start getting into spoilers.

To make a very long story short, the Alma Karma arc reveals that Kanda is one of the Black Order's human experiments. The Order ran a secret project 9ish years before the start of the series in which they essentially tried to re-use dying exorcists (since finding new ones is so hard). They took the bodies of dying or recently deceased exorcists and harvested their brains, implanting those brains into new magically grown child bodies.

Key to this project—the second exorcist project—is that these newly grown second exorcists were not supposed to remember anything from their previous lives. Kanda, however, recovered a few hazy memories from his past self. Most importantly, he can recall an unclear image of the woman that his past self was in love with. This memory gradually becomes Kanda's reason to live. He wants desperately to find and meet that person.

Now, aside from Kanda, there was one other successfully revived second exorcist. This was a boy named Alma Karma.

Over the course of their brief shared childhood, Kanda and Alma become extremely close. However, due to a series of horrible events that I'll spare you the details of, Alma is eventually driven to murder-suicide. He wants himself and Kanda to die together to spite the Order, and Kanda almost lets him do it.

The one thing that keeps Kanda from letting Alma kill him, the thing that drives him instead to kill Alma, his most beloved and only friend, is that he can't bear to die without finding that woman again.

Have you figured out the twist yet?

9 years later, in the present, Kanda discovers that he didn't actually quite kill Alma. The Order kept Alma secretly half-alive in order to do more dubious experiments. And, more importantly, when they meet again, Kanda discovers the truth. The woman that he's been searching for his whole life, the woman he's in love with, the woman he tried to kill Alma in order to find, was also killed and made into a second exorcist. And her brain was placed into the body of Alma Karma.

After quite a lot more violence and tragedy, Kanda and Alma end their story arc by running away together on their deathbeds. Alma dies, for real this time, in Kanda's arms, and his last words are to tell Kanda he loves him. These words are presented as something Kanda hears from both the boy and woman versions of Alma's soul.

So! At the end of a very long and complicated story, one thing holds true: Kanda and Alma are in love. As passed down from their past selves, they are specifically in romantic love. They were a couple. And to speak as a fan, the sheer absolute devotion to how Kanda's love for Alma is presented is seriously intense and moving.

Now, given the absolute hell that is Alma's life, gender identity is frankly the last thing they have time to worry about, so it's hard to say how the whole "literally a woman's brain in a male body" thing might have settled for them if given time to think about it. But that is inherently a pretty trans narrative. And given the whole Alma gender situation, there's simply no reading of their whole situation where neither of them is queer.

If you take present day Alma as a guy, which is more or less how he's presented in canon (though again, who knows how he would've felt about that male body in different circumstances), then congratulations! You've got mlm in your shonen manga. They were straight in a different life, but now one of them's a dude, and they are still deeply in love with each other. They've even got not one but two "let's forget it all and run away together" scenes, just as every mlm couple seems to have.

On the other hand, if you go with the angle that Alma's still a woman based on her mind/soul, even in her new body, then Kanda may not be canonically queer, but Alma is inarguably trans. Again, literally a woman's brain in a male body. It may not be how most people end up trans, but that doesn't change the facts of her situation.

You see what I mean about how they're undeniably queer, but also kind of easy to miss? There's so much other insane shit going on in their story that Alma's whole gender situation can get passed over. Plus, you can look online to this day and find people arguing that Kanda's not "technically" explicitly in love with the present day male version of Alma, since he doesn't 100% unambiguously say as much. I love reading comprehension.

Also! As a possible extra reason for why people don't talk about them much, the official English translation of the manga translated Alma's final "I love you" very differently. There's always a lot of nuance and argument when it comes to translating "大好き" into English, but given the full context of their relationship and the scene it's in, Viz's handling really sets off the censorship bells in my head.

Here's the different versions (Japanese then fan then official), if you want to compare:

Nothing more classically queer than censorship by way of questionable translation 🙃.

At the end of the day, Kanda and Alma are in kind of a strange middle ground. They're each in love with the other one, but the whole second exorcist brain transfer situation makes it complicated enough that people argue their feelings aren't explicitly romantic (and thus not gay) in the present. Alma is literally a woman's brain implanted in a male body, but we don't have time to dwell on the gender complications of all that because of the hell that is the rest of their life. They're canon but not canon—queer people whose stories don't have space for them to be queer.

However, given that all this messy, tragic ambiguity was published in a fairly popular shonen manga back in 2010, it still feels kind of remarkable to me. Alma is somewhat an antagonist (it's complicated), and he dies at the end of his arc, but once again, Kanda was/is the fan favorite! And when he re-enters the main story after Alma's death, he's more important than he's ever been, and his history with Alma continues to be a huge part of his character.

Katsura Hoshino took the much-beloved edgy toughguy character from her long-running shonen series and, after keeping his origins secret for such a long time, confirmed that his whole life has revolved around love this entire time. Almost every facet of his character can be traced back to his love for his lost best friend or his yearning for his past life's missing partner. And then she reveals that the best friend and the partner are one and the same.

You can go back and forth about the degree to which they work as representation, but in any case, I think their story is something people ought to know about. It's romantic and it's heart-wrenching and it's fucking wild, especially given the context in which it was published (a Shonen Jump spinoff in 2010). I never see anyone besides the few remaining hardcore dgm fans talk about them, and I think that's a shame.

So anyway, that's tale of one of the most insanity-inducing romances I've ever seen put to paper. I love queer people.

Here's some choice pages if you want to cry with me (the last two are a sequence):

[luhafraser]

The fact that your avatar has Sam's face speaks volume about who you're a fan of. Cait is just here as his adjacent. Otherwise you don't give a hoot about her. And no matter how much you disparage her marriage, she's managed to build a nice family in spite of the nastiness you shippers had thrown her way. Sam will never get married no matter how much you want him to be with a woman. He's been playing you like a violin as all he wants from you is $$$, voting in crappy polls and maintain his ego.

The fact that you're telling me all this just proves that you don't follow my blog. I criticize Caitríona's behavior, but also Sam's. They are equal!!! (Funny, isn't it?! Like soulmates 😜) Because they both manipulate this fandom as they please. You're just another one that Caitríona managed to fool... Sorry! All this "love their best fans" is only when it suits them!

You don't know anything, like so many of us here. And my avatar?! Well, the choice is part of my ironic being... 😜

I haven't bought anything from Sam and Caitríona in years, Anon. I don't even waste my time with this “crappy polls” like you said. I like Outlander and I think they are good actors, but they are terrible with all this fandom... With you too!

And if they weren't focused on this circus for so long, I imagine that a lot of things would be different for them, for their career (... Cause you know... Karma is a bitch?!) and for us, there wouldn't be all this hate and fights between these groups of women, which lead to nothing.

What benefit has it brought you to spend days, weeks, months or years on Tumblr fighting with those who think differently than you???

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

The Secret Portal, Draft One

The people have spoken. Here's my school project I wrote when I was 10.

At fifteen pages, it was the longest in the class by far! (Our minimum requirement was two pages, which most barely reached)

I also got a 100% on it!

Instead of the regular taglist for TSP, tagging the people I tagged in the original poll -- @gracehosborn @illarian-rambling @mk-writes-stuff @elsie-writes @mysticstarlightduck @little-peril-stories @buffythevampirelover @willtheweaver @eccaiia @winterandwords @thepeculiarbird @televisionjester @finchwrites @theeccentricraven @awritingcaitlin @sleepywriter00 @dyrewrites @somethingclevermahogony @writeintrees @thebejeweledwatercat @theelfauthor @cadotoast @space-writes @sunset-a-story

Can't believe I have to put a warning on this, but--

CW: children are threatened with a firearm but don't worry no one gets hurt and they aren't even that scared; brief Harry Potter reference

Word count: 2.3k

Est. reading time: 7-11 minutes

The following is transcribed exactly as written, save for my use of multi-colored text, which I'm not gonna waste my time adding in.

****

~“Come on, Aurora!” I shouted to my friend, Aurora Flité, who wasn't moving from her seat at school. “Alexia, the bell hasn’t…” she started RRRIIINNNGGG!!! “Oh, wait! ‘The bell hasn’t rang yet’!” I joked. Aurora sighed, shook her head, and pushed herself up saying, “Ha, ha, ha!” “Bye Mrs. Kat!” we called. “Oh, wait Alexia,” Mrs. Kat, my teacher, called. “I found this.” She handed me my metal detector. “I found it on the floor. It said, ‘Redinés’ on it, so, I guessed it was yours.” “Thanks.” I said. “Bye, girls!” she called after us. We walk out of Little Rock Elementary. The beautiful blanket of May flowers stretched out all the way… to my house. <3 I sighed. Nothing was better than… “AAAHHH!!!” I whirled around. Aurora had disappeared! I moved the grass where she had been standing. A rock. A metal rock? I stood up, confused. I put my bag down, next to Aurora’s (which she probably dropped) and felt the rock with my hand. “AAAHHH!!!” I screamed.

EVERYTHING WENT BLACK

************

~I opened my eyes. Was I lying in snow? I forced myself up. Wait… it wasn't snow… it was… CLOUDS?!?!?!?! OK. I am dreaming. I thought.I pinched my self. OW! No, wasn't dreaming. “Aurora! Aurora!!! I called. NO ANSWER. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a house. I crossed my fingers and hoped this was the right house. I knocked on the door and waited... and waited... and waited... and waited… and soon, I started to walk away when an elderly woman opened the door. “Hello!” she said, cheerfully. “Hihaveyouseenagirlwithblackishbrownredhair?” I blurted out. “Herhairflowsuptoherwaist.” “Wha...OH! Yeah, I’ve seen her. She went that way.” the woman said, pointing to her right. I ===zoomed off! “Oh! And watch out for my pet, Bobby!” I thought Bobby was a very hyper puppy that could trample me but, I had to continue my search. I soon found her upside down tangled in vines. I charged towards her. “HEADS UP!” I warned. I pulled on the vines. “AAHH!” she screamed. “umph!” she said as she hit the ground. I brushed the hair out of my eyes, when suddenly… “RRRROOOOAAAARRRR!!!!” We both whirled around. A dragon!! “Run for it, Aurora!” I breathed. We charged towards the house and banged on the door. “LET US IN!!” we shouted. “DRAGON ALERT!” “Come in girls!” the woman said, cheerfully. “Oh, and you too, Bobby!” “BOBBY?!” Aurora said weakly, and fainted... RIGHT ON TOP OF ME.

****

Aurora woke up a few minutes later and found me in the living room. “Where am I?” “The lady’s, Lizzy’s, house.” “Oh, yeah right.” We heard a clatter in the kitchen. We figured it was Lizzy or Bobby, but when we walked in a boy about 16 years old, was standing there. “Hey, you must be Alexia and Aurora! I’m George.” When I shook his hand, he seemed strong, but he didn’t look strong. “Hi,” a voice said behind us. A 17-18ish years old girl was smiling at us. “I’m Carly.” Suddenly, we heard laughter in the other room. We ran towards the noise. We found them in Lizzy’s bedroom. Lizzy and her husband were on the bed. “Oh, Aurora and Alexia, right?” he said. “I’m Theodore Majg. But you can call me Ted.” Suddenly, we heard a knock at the door.” “I’ll get it.” Lizzy sang, as she ran to get the door. “Alexia! Aurora! Someone’s here to see you!” she called a minute later. For US? HERE?! We ran towards the door. A man was there. He wore a very big black hat that covered his face. He also wore a long, black cape. There was only one thing I knew: We didn’t know this guy. The man in black pulled out a gun. A GUN! “Show me the treasure or everyone DIES!” What treasure??? I thought Aurora was about to faint when she said, “OK. we don’t know who you are or what treasure, but if you tell us, we might be able to help.” I thought the man was probably FURIOUS. Instead, he said, “Well, it’s what you call… a metal detector.”

****

~I couldn’t move. He wanted something that was in my pocket! “Um… about that...uh…” the words sounded as fake as they were. “It’s in Lizzy room!” Aurora and I ran in the other room. “I need to hide this!” I yanked out the “treasure”. “Why does he want this?” Aurora asked me. “The portal. The portal brought us here. In Cloud City!” (I named it Cloud City since we were in the clouds.) “The portal is metal. I explained. “I think he wants to use the metal detector to find the portal, destroy it, and keep us from going back to Arkansas!” Aurora looked bewildered. Suddenly, she snatched the metal detector out of my hands and jumped off the bed. “We still havn’t found it!” she shouted. Then, she THREW open the dresser drawer JAMMED the metal detector in, and SLAMMED the drawer shut! “Uhhh!” she grunted as loud as she could. “We just CAN’T find it!” she groaned. Wow! My BFF is a WONDERFUL actor. We went back out into the living room. “I’m sorry, sir. But we can’t find it. You can come back another day.” I said. “TOMORROW!” he shouted. When he left, I felt like fainting myself.

****

~That night, I couldn’t sleep a wink. I closed my eyes, trying to go to sleep. My mind was only focused on the metal detector. I thought of a safe place for it, out of the house. Then… I drifted… away….

****

~When I woke up the next morning, I had a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach that the metal detector was gone. I was about to say, “Aurora! Get up!” When suddenly… BOOP! BOOP! BOOP! BOOP! I screamed. Aurora screamed. We both rolled off the couches, which was where we were sleeping. Oh, by the way, that was Ted’s alarm clock. “Aurora,” I said. “I think we should check the drawer for the You-Know-What.” “Why do we ne-” But I was already running into the room. She sighed, and ran after me. She found me digging though Lizzy’s drawer. “Not here.” I told her. “Oh no!” Aurora exclaimed. “He broke in!” “Check the back door.” I ordered. She ran to the back door. I zoomed to the front. “Locked!” Aurora called. “Same here!” I called back. “Girls!” Lizzy’s voice called come here!” Aurora and I ran towards her voice. We found her in the kitchen sitting down on a chair. “Sit there,” Lizzy pointed to 2 seats in front of her. “You’re 10, right?” We nodded. Uh-oh. I knew what was coming. “Your parents found out when they were your age. You 2--like your family, and every one in this house--have…” Oh my gosh!!! I gave Aurora the Don’t Even Think About Fainting! look. She nodded. “...magical...abilities.”

****

~I knew it. Aurora--thankfully--didn’t faint. Whew! “Like what?” Aurora asked. “Well,” Lizzy said. “I can see through walls.” Our mouths fell open. “For example,” Lizzy went on “Ted is naked and in the shower.” Aurora looked like she was about to puke. “What’s mine?” she asked. “Well,” Lizzy stated, “Yours Aurora, is… Oh! Yeah! You can read minds!” Aurora’s face lit up. “COOL!” Oh my gosh! This is freaky! I thought. “Alexia,” Aurora said looking at me. “You are thinking Oh my gosh. This is freaky! Correct?” I nodded. My mouth was still open. “What’s mine?” I asked, even though I knew what the answer probably was. “Alexia, yours is transportation. You can transport objects, people, and animals to different places.”

****

~Wow! I knew it. I looked at Aurora’s glasses, closed my eyes, and focused on the table POP! I opened my eyes, and looked at the table. The glasses were there. Aurora started to reach for her glasses. I grinned. POP! They were on her lap. POP! They were on my head. POP! They were on her face. “Not funny!” Aurora looked annoyed, but she was biting her lip trying not to laugh. She then turned to Lizzy. “How close do I have to be to read minds?” she asked. “15 yards.” Lizzy answered. “I thought Aurora was done with questions, but, oh no! “You said everyone in this house had abilities! What’s Ted’s? What’s George’s? What’s Carly’s?” Lizzy sighed. “Wel, Ted has super-hearing for a mile. George has super-strenght. And Carly can pick up a pencial with her mind, and write something she’s working on sketching with her mind.” After ALL of that, I REALLY thought Aurora would be done with questions (expecialy if she could read minds) but, she wasn't. “Cool! You also said our families have abilities. What’s Mom’s? What’s Dad’s? What’s Robert’s? What’s Marie-Sue’s? What’s Julian’s? What’s Mrs. Redinés’? What’s Mr. Redinés’? What’s Kelly’s?” Oh my gosh, HOW CAN 1 GIRL HAVE THAT MANY QUESTIONS!? But Lizzy didn’t seem to mind. “Your mom can make things appear out of thin air. Your dad can embarass enemies. Robert can make his voice super loud and it can be heard for 3 miles when he taps his chest. Marie Sue can talk to animals. Tamara has X-Ray vision. And Julian can turn into animals.” Lizzy then turned to me. “Your mom can turn invisible. Your dad has a photographic memory. A Kelly can get in a full conversation ½ klm away.” OMG!!! This was waaaaay to much for me to handle. I absoultely positivley wanted to faint. But then it hit me. The metal detector was gone because of me! I didn’t even know where it was! Ding-Dong! Oh no! The man in black was here!! Wait! I can transport things! My mind focused on the metal detector. POP! The metal detector was safe. For now, at least. I ran towards the door. “Lizzy,” I whispered. “Do you know him?” I pointed to the door. “Take off his hat, Alexia.” I focused on his hat. POP! The hat was next to Ted (who had came out of the shower.) “How did this…” I gave him the Cut It Out! look. He nodded. “Now?” I asked Lizzy. She pushed her curly, gray hair out of her eyes and said, “Yes. He is an evil sorcerer named Warlock LV.” All of a sudden, I remembered Lizzy’s own words: “You can transport objects, people, and animals.” People. I can transport people. BAM! BAM! BAM! My mind focused on Warlock LV. POP! He was 0.6 klm away from us. “I heard a splash.” Ted said suddenly. “He’s at the pool.” I looked at him in surprise. But then I remembered that he could hear a mile away, and 0.6 klm is a mile. I ran into the living room. About a minute later, I had Lizzy, Ted, Aurora, George, and Carly living room with me. (I’d transported them) “I have a plan.” I said.

****

I tied my hair in braids to keep the hair--brown-mess off my shoulder. I made sure my scarlett dress was straight. I fumbled with my glasses. Even though it was my plan, I was REALLY nervous. Aurora and Ted were at the front of the house, waiting to hear him. (“Him” is Warlock LV.) Finally, “I hear him!” Ted called out. That was Carly’s cue. She made out 15-yard mark by picking up a chalk with her mind, drew a line and wrote: Don’t cross this line! Or else! And that’s exactly what we meant.

****

“I know what he’s thinking!” Aurora blurted out a few minutes later. “He’s thinking: ‘Don’t Cross This LINE! Or else! Ha! Stupid kids!’.” Wow. “Lizzy!” I called. “Remember the alarm!” A few minutes later, we heard… ERRRH! That meant Lizzy saw Warlock LV, and that was also George’s cue. He literally busted down the door, ran down the block, and threw Warlock LV up! This was my chance. My mind focused on him and I transported him far away. (I don’t even know where!) “We did it!” we shouted. Then Aurora tapped me on the shoulder. “Alexia, where is the metal detector?” I smiled. “Come on!” I walked into the kitchen, and pointed to the cookie jar on top of the refridgerator. I looked at Aurora. Her mouth was hanging open. I smiled, transported the metal detector down, and walked to the door. “Bye,” we called. “Bye, bye!” they called back. When Aurora and I stepped outside, we heard a roar. “Bye, Bobby!” we waved and it seemed like he waved back.

****

“I found it!” We had just reached the portal. I had been using the metal detector to find it. “I’ll go first.” Aurora said. She took a deep breath, stepped in, and disappeared. I looked around 1 last time. I told myself I can come back anytime. I sighed, closed my eyes, took one step, and fell back to Earth…

****

FLOP! I was back on Earth. I looked up., Aurora was standing there. I forced myself up, and looked at the school, 3:00PM?! But… I looked at the date on my watch, May 15, 2013!? No time had passed since we left. “Let’s… go...home.” I said.

****

I was exhausted! “Hi, Alexia!” my little sister, Kelly, said. She looked happy to see me. Something clicked. Kelly’s best friend, Nellie, had powers too. Nellie once looked like she was floating. I ran to the phone and saw my mom disappear into thin air. And then, my dad started to recite the entire 1st chapter of the 7th Harry Potter book, word for word! I grabbed the phone, dialed Aurora’s numbered and told her to bring Julian and Tamara.

****

On the way to the school, while Julian, Kelly, and Nellie were ahead of us, Tamara, Aurora, and I were talking about our powers. Tamara, Aurora, and I all agreed that Nellie’s magical ability was floating. All of a sudden… “AAAHHH!!!” We looked up. Julian and Nellie were looking down at the portal. “Wait for us, Kelly!” they shouted and jumped after her…………

And

I

knew

exactly

what

was

about

to

happen.

[sengardet]

Poll Reward: Assassin Encounter (part 1)

Continued from:

Terra freed a hand from the woman’s neck to send fingernails trailing down her captive body. She traced the curves of her breasts, over her jumpy heart, and down the dip of her stomach, before sliding between her thighs. The woman let out a soft moan as Terra's fingers mingled within her slick arousal.

She couldn’t help but sit there reveling in the power she held over this deadly assassin turned pathetic whimpering creature that begged to be dominated. Terra was growing attached and that feeling made her revolt.

Terra squeezed tighter around that delicate throat, feeling the captive's pulse race beneath her dark fingers before shunting it off completely. Yet only then did this woman’s full depravity reveal itself. The woman’s thighs clamped around Terra's hand in a desperate, needy embrace. inner walls fluttered around her digits as arousal overflowed into orgasm.

Terra let out a defeated sigh, softening her grip to let her enjoy herself. Watching this fragile creature come undone was intoxicating, but Terra knew such things were short lived in this line of work.

Terra loomed over the tied-up woman, her heart racing with a mixture of adrenaline and an unfamiliar emotion she couldn't quite place. She supposed it was best to put a bullet through the woman’s heart before the euphoria settled down. Maybe then she would see this mysterious creature’s face.

"Thank you, my love," the bound woman said softly beneath the pillow, surprising Terra with sudden affection.

Terra laughed. "Is that all it takes, the first chick to choke you and we’re hitched?"

The woman's voice grew somber. "I bit the cyanide pill. You don't have to waste a bullet, but you can if you like the feeling. Otherwise… I'd like you to hold me. My name is Sophie."

Terra's heart skipped a beat, her mind reeling at the revelation. Frustration and panic surged through her as she tried to make sense of why she felt betrayed.

"Dumbass," Terra snapped "You think I wouldn't have a cyanide poison kit after all I've been through?"

She quickly got up and rushed to retrieve the kit.

"Wait, what? You were going to kill me anyway, weren't you?" Sophie asked, her voice trembling with a mixture of fear and confusion.

"You don't get to decide when or how you die, I do!” Terra yelled through the house.

Terra burst into the bedroom, and there… Sophie lay motionless on the bed, not a shiver of a response. Terra rushed over and dragged the pale woman's limp body onto the floor. Her first sight of the woman's face. Sophie's head lolled to the side, revealing blue vacant eyes staring into nothing.

Terra hung the IV bag on the bedpost. Sophie’s pallid skin bared the delicate blue veins going down her arm, Terra picked one and plunged the needle in.

Once ready, she straddled Sophie's limp body and placed her hands on the woman's pale chest. She pushed hard and fast, commanding Sophie’s heart with unrelenting force. Sophie’s limp body jerked with each compression, her arms twitching and rubbery at her sides. held together at the wrists behind her.

Terra could feel Sophie's ribs bending and flexing beneath her touch as she pumped relentlessly. The sensation was oddly exhilarating, as if entrapping the woman yet again, pulling her back from her pitiful attempt at escape. Terra's own pulse raced as she worked to pull her back and punish her.

"You don't get to decide when it ends. Not after I gave you that little sendoff, bitch." Terra muttered in frustration.

Terra's mind flashed to their earlier encounter; Sophie's arousal still wet on her fingers. The memory sent a fresh surge of adrenaline through her veins. Her compressions intensified, driven by a primal need to maintain control.

Looking up, Terra saw that the bag was half-empty. Now was a good time to see if this pretty little thing could use oxygen.

Leaning down, Terra sealed her lips over Sophie's slack mouth and exhaled forcefully. Sophie's chest filled like a balloon and fell when Terra let go. Terra pulled back, resuming the furious rhythm of her compressions. Seconds stretched into minutes as she labored over Sophie's inert form, aware of every nuance and contour of the body beneath her...waiting for any flicker of life to reward her efforts. She would not be denied.

The blonde woman's eyes squinted shut, a slight frown crossing her pale lips.

"There we go," Terra said.

Sophie let out a faint moan in response. Relief surged through Terra. The woman was still responsive, if only barely. Terra tapped Sophie's cool cheeks, then quickly dismounted Sophie's limp form and rushed to grab the stethoscope from atop her dresser.

Placing the ends in her ears, Terra pressed the bell to Sophie's bare chest. She held her breath and listened. There it was - the soft, steady thump of Sophie's heartbeat, growing stronger with each passing second.

As Sophie began taking slow, shallow breaths, Terra allowed herself a triumphant grin. She had done it - thwarted the stubborn assassin's desperate escape into death's waiting arms. Terra savored the thought as she gazed down at Sophie's vulnerable form, color slowly returning to her porcelain skin.

"Please..." Sophie didn't know what she was begging for anymore.

Terra's full lips curved in a wicked smile. In one fluid motion, she slid her body up to straddle Sophie's heaving chest. Sophie gasped as Terra's weight pressed down, constricting her lungs.

"Shhh, it’s time for you to sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow." Terra said, covering Sophie's mouth and nose with a slender dark hand, sealing off her airways. She ground her hips slowly, sensually, feeling Sophie's rib cage flex and strain beneath her as she struggled for breath, her heart slamming in Terra’s ears as it strained beneath her.

Sophie's blue eyes widened in panic, her pale skin flushing pink as she thrashed weakly. Her oxygen-starved lungs burned, screaming for air that would not come. Terra held her fast, dark thighs clenching tight around her ribcage, one hand still clamped over her face. She rocked her hips in a steady rhythm, pressing Sophie's chest down with each undulation, forcing more precious air from her lungs.

She could feel Sophie's squished and starved heart pounding frantically against her most intimate places, the terrified muscle's vigorous thudding reverberating through her core before winding down in defeat.

The light faded from those defiant blue eyes, and Terra removed her hand allowing a hard intake of breath. She got up, and slapped the woman’s chest gently. A slow and steady little heartbeat filled her ears, one that assured her that her toy was still working...

[wasted-women]

ROUND 2C, MATCH 2 OUT OF 4

Causes of Death & Propaganda Under the Cut:

Mako Mori

Cause of Death: Exploded in a helicopter

Propaganda:

The Mako Mori test has been proposed as a "better" version of the Bechdel Test (which I'm well aware of the bechdel tests point and common misuse) she has a full, rich arc that is not romance oriented in the first movie. Also she pilots a giant robot. In the second movie she's textbook definition fridged.

Cordelia Chase

Cause of Death: Became comatose due to childbirth, eventually died

Propaganda:

A fiercely witty, complex and independent character - she was Always her own woman, only briefly having romantic relationships and it never defined her character for 6 seasons on both Buffy & Angel. Unfortunately the show producer was an abusive misogynist who targeted Cordelia's character specifically for humiliation when her actress Charisma Carpenter became pregnant. He is a colossal dick, and a terrible writer. Cordelia and Charisma deserved better.

I love her so much

[fnvminorcharacterpoll]

FNV Minor Character Poll - GRUDGE MATCH - Cadaver Clash

Left: Mr. RADical, a nuclear waste enthusiast who died outside of Novac doing what he loved.

—Day 1: Love the suit. Can scavenge anywhere now, screw the rads. I hereby christen myself Mr. RADical. Get it? Ha! —Day 4: Suit passed first test with flying (yellow) colors. Overnight visit to Yucca Mountain. Didn't go too deep because something big moving down tunnel. Rad level high even where I was, and I didn't feel a tickle. Go, rad suit, go! —Day 5: Vomited all morning. Didn't splash on suit or I'd be pissed. Must be something I ate. —Day 9: Exciting! Ran across old woman's scrap yard. Bought glowing container for measly 50 caps. Heading for Clark Field to prove suit at higher rad levels. If it holds up, I'm going to pop this jar of goop open and pour it all over me! I bet I could swim in this stuff if I had enough of it! Oh yeah!

Mr. Radical was the 101st seed in the tournament overall on the A-side bracket. He beat Ronald Curtis (a.k.a. Picus) and Jimmy before being defeated by Keely, the ultimate runner-up, in Round 3-A.

Right: Trash, a wannabe ghoul who died in the Nuclear Test Shack doing what she loved. —Dear Die-ary: I'm so done being confined in this human body. So, today I moved in to the shack at the abandoned test site. There should be enough radiation there to turn me into a ghoul. All around me this world is bleak and dreadful; is it so wrong to want a body to match it? I wonder what color my skin will turn and if I'll be able to find a good shade of lipstick to go with it. Probably not. God, everything is so miserable. —Dear Die-ary: I've been in this shack for almost a week now. Nothing is happening. I'm so bored. And this shack is so hot. And it's totally ruining my hair. It's like, so hard to find dye this color in the wasteland. This sucks, I want to be a ghoul now. I hate all this waiting. Life, ugh, living is so overrated. —Dear Die-ary: Good news Die-ary! I think it's finally starting to happen. Ok, so I do feel like, totally miserable (what else is new ha-ha-ha) and my skin is starting to peel off, but I'm pretty sure that is the first step. Oh, and my hair! I finally got it just the way I like it and now it starts coming out. Why does ghoulification have to be so unfair?

Trash was the 104th seed in the tournament overall on the A-side bracket. She beat Ada Straus and Pacer before being defeated by Harland, an ultimate quarter-finalist.

[Bracket | Info & FAQs]

[spopsalt]

Going into detail about EVERYTHING I hate about spop

This was the winner of the poll! Keep in mind these are in no particular order! I hope you enjoy it! This VERY long post so be warned!

The representation it's so bad, a lot of it is just stereotypes. Bow being the black best friend, Mermista being the sassy black woman, Catra being the angry Hispanic woman, and the only autistic character being put ON A LEASH!? The only non-binary character being a fucking LIZARD!?

Catradora. It is awful. It is so bad. It's so romantized despite being in a KID'S SHOW! That's what I hate most about it. Little kids will see this and believe this is how they should treat the person they love, or this is how someone who loves them treats them. It's just bad. Really bad.

How they ignore everyone's trauma. Some characters have some really interesting trauma that could be explored, but they just get ignored for abusive catgirl! Seriously, some of the trauma could be legitimentally interest, like Micah, how did he feel about not being able to say goodbye to his wife? About being in beast island for years? Haha no you idiots, he has no trauma! He's just a goofy dad haha! How about Glimmer who also didn't get to say goodbye to her mom, who sacrificed herself so everyone else can live? Who was crushing under the pressure of being queen! Who had everyone around her ignore her mom's death? Who got manipulated by Shadow Weaver when she was vulnerable? Haha! No, she has no trauma! Angella, always feels a lingering guilt about her husband, who believes her husband is dead. Haha! Nope! No trauma! (I used three examples but there is so much more)

Seahawk. That's it.

The way they treat war, they've treated it as a joke, a game, and a backdrop, they don't show how it affects people, we couldn't of gotten to see citizens stories of how their lives were affected? Nope!

The amount of filler. White Out and Mermesteries, have no point other than being annoying filler, they don't have any meaning to the plot, and to make it worse they just drag on and on.

The wasted potential. This is so annoying. It has so much potential, if it was given to competent writers, it could've been so good, maybe even a masterpiece, but it's just so...bad.

The "jokes" I'm being nice by calling them jokes. They are more like awkward moments that beg you to laugh. Haha Kyle, a poor innocent kid gets bullied for the 35455467568th time please laugh! Haha! Bow's voice cracks for the 967986786897th time! Laugh again!

Seamista, Mermista looks like a teenager, and Seahawk looks like he's an adult. Mermista clearly doesn't like Seahawk, Seahawk just kept invading her boundaries and eventually, they got together. Seriously what the fuck?

Worldbuilding, it is so bad at it. We never see any citizens or get a feel for how the world looks, the only difference is cosmetic

Catra's redemption arc. Just in general. it was so rushed.

The needless ships in season 5, they are so rushed and have no purpose to the plot.

The princesses are so boring and one note, for them being the title, they don't do much.

The character arcs, or lack thereof, the ones we do get are boring and one note.

The pacing is just so bad, it's either too slow or too fast.

Season 5. It's self explanatory.

That's about all I could think of at the moment! Let me know what you think!

[katieaki]

I am writing interactive post-apocalyptic lesbian cowboy fiction over on Twitter (as long as twitter doesn’t die on me partway through). You can download the whole 23-page story as it stands HERE. You can catch up on the most recent installation at the twitter, HERE.  Our protagonist, Lou, is a rider for the Pony Express, the Wasteland’s only mail service. She’s in a weird situationship with a saloon girl she has unrequited feelings for and she definitely smells like a horse 90% of the time. This Wasteland is different than the Fallout franchise, BUT I would definitely recommend this story to New Vegas fans, especially. :--) I’ll put the synopsis under the cut, but leave you with this tantalizing little teaser that I just KNOW will get you intrigued.

Our story follows Louetta "Lou" Primrose, a rider for the Wasteland Pony Express, the Wasteland's leading (only) comprehensive postal service. Lou is our first heroine who does not belong to either the church of the Listening Lady or the church of Johnny Knives! She's just a normal woman! She puts her fringed chaps on one leg at a time like the rest of us.

We begin with Lou receiving an unusual package: an extremely glamorous woman with a few stamps pinned to her blouse. Not only is this not at all what the WLPE usually transports, but she also wants to go way off-route, all the way to the coast, which has not been inhabited since the times Before. Maybe it's just because the stranger, Holliday, is so pretty and sad, or maybe it's because Lou is feeling very weird after hooking up with her only-local-friend-but-also-unrequited-love, the saloon girl Venus of the Wastes, but Lou agrees to take her. Knowing she has bitten off way more than she can chew, she sends Holliday to the local shrine to see if they can borrow an extra horse while she tries to find supplies and a map. A little drunk from the couple of drinks she had to "fortify herself", Lou runs into Venus at the town pantry. Venus thinks she's being weird because of their hookup and Lou does her best to reassure her that she's being weird for different reasons. (To be fair, she did tell Venus that she loved her the night before, only to be turned (gently) down, so she is kind of being weird about that, too.) Lou helps Venus carry her groceries home, has a mini-panic attack about the assignment she probably shouldn't have accepted, but then agrees to meet Venus at the bathhouse that night for one last hot bath before the road (NOT to luxuriate in her radiant presence/look at her boobs). & That's basically where we left off! I update on a 2-week cycle. You have one week to vote, I have one week to write! You have until next Wednesday (2/22) to vote in the current poll.

[sardonic-the-writer]

DISCLAIMER: this is not a random poll i made to determine what your gender is! this was a poll i made in order to figure out the broad audience my fics may or may not reach. i usually only write gn readers, but have been thinking about writing more trans centered readers, and want to figure out if i'm wasting my time or not on that idea. do not vote if you don't want to, but i do ask you to spread the post!