(A post by someone who is currently going through this.)
note: this is just from my experience. These tips may not help everyone, as privacy-invading abusive parents have so many different tactics and i probably won’t be able to cover all of them.
Here are some tips and tricks.
never fucking do anything in a public browser. You don’t know how many times I’ve gotten in trouble and they’ve found out shit bc they installed a tracker I didn’t know about. Private browsers block most trackers and make me feel more secure in what I’m doing.
If youre forbidden to use apps but can still download them, make sure to hide your tracks. Redownloading apps at night to use is a lifesaver.
If you can’t download apps without your parents’ permission (through some sort of parental controls on your device), most social medias can be accessed through a web browser. You can use Tumblr, Reddit, Twitter and Instagram through browsers. If you can’t download the app, it’ll work just as well.
Turn notifications for forbidden apps off. This will make sure you won’t get random pings from your phone, because if you do, it’s likely these types of parents will ask where that’s from/who’s texting you/etc.
If you’re on social media that they don’t follow/alt accounts/etc, never use your real/legal name on them, ESPECIALLY not your last name. They can search you online by searching your name, and they can find you. This is one of the easiest ways that they can get access to your accounts that you cant have them see.
If you’re texting people you shouldn’t, like online friends or people your parents don’t know you know, change their contact name to someone “safe”. I don’t have many irl friends now, so I change most of my contacts, which are online friends, to people I used to be friends with. This helps because its a foolproof way to tell your parents “no, I’m really texting [insert known friend here]”, and they can’t question you because you can literally show them the contact name. They have no way to prove it’s a lie.
Delete all messages that could make them suspicious. Even if you think your parents don’t go as far as reading your texts, they might without telling you. Delete anything that they could deem “bad” or “suspicious” ESPECIALLY messages about their abuse or your mental illness you may suffer because of their abuse.
Adding on to that, if youre talking to online friends and have set their contact name as something else, make sure to add ”filler messages”. For example, I made one of my close online friend’s contact name someone who I go to a DnD club at school with, so I added a filler message of “Hey are you coming to Dungeons and Dragons?” and told him to respond with “Yeah”. This way, you’ll have covered your tracks even more, and they’ll have every reason to think youre just talking to this guy from DnD, or an old friend, or someone you’ve met at school.
If you have irl friends who follow your social media, never post anything concerning. This includes venting, details of past trauma, mental illness things, anything that would make them go “Oh wow, I need to tell an adult.” Because guess what they’ll do? They’ll tell their parents, who will tell yours. That means: you get hurt.
Never fucking leave your device out in the open!!!I added the exclamation points because this is something that can very much fuck you up so easily. Make sure your device is on you at all times, or you have view of it. As much as you’re being sneaky to get around your parents, abusive parents, especially this type, can get very sneaky as well. Privacy invasion is usually something done without you knowing. They could even quickly grab your device and look at it while you’re in the bathroom or taking a shower! I promise this tip is one of the most important. Unless they have a tracker on your device that they can use without seeing your device/having it close by, this is how you avoid them searching your device without you knowing.
Lastly, don’t ever believe you are safe here. You’re looking at this post for a reason. Privacy-invading parents are often very fucking sneaky and snake-like about what they do. You may not even know it’s happening. They create an illusion of a safe, trusting environment with no invasion, but there could be so much more they are doing behind your back. Always have your guard up. Always be ready for a search.
These are my tips, as someone whose blog is a whole secret from my parents. I’m so sorry if this doesn’t work… this situation of no privacy is incredibly hard to be in, and I’m proud of you for making it this far.
a remake of the old meme, now with more dialogue !
❝ did something change? the forest feels different. ❞ ❝ it’s…it’s still alive. ❞ ❝ i heard you. it’s not up for discussion. ❞ ❝ space your shots. speed costs accuracy. ❞ ❝ we do what we must to survive. ❞ ❝ it’s not like you don’t get angry in a fight. ❞ ❝ do not speak again. ❞ ❝ didn’t you hear that? voices. it felt…evil. ❞ ❝ close your heart to their desperation. close your heart to their suffering. ❞ ❝ people… they’re trying to survive too. ❞ ❝ we are not men. we are more than that. ❞ ❝ and i thought my family was fucked up. ❞ ❝ finish what you started. ❞ ❝ smells like rotten eggs. is it still good? ❞ ❝ kill for survival, not for indulgance. ❞ ❝ there is one unavoidable truth you will never escape: you cannot change. ❞ ❝ we all gotta take responsibility sometime, huh? ❞ ❝ slow down. your haste will cost us. ❞ ❝ i need to know if you can survive the journey. ❞ ❝ everything is different. try not to dwell on it. ❞ ❝ find your way home. you are free. ❞ ❝ put as much distance between you and the truth as you want, it changes nothing. ❞ ❝ i will do what i must. leave me be. ❞ ❝ that doesn’t mean you should lie to your friends or family. ❞ ❝ do not concern yourself with what might be. focus on what is. ❞ ❝ you do not want this fight. ❞ ❝ i will rain down agony, every possible violation, upon you. ❞ ❝ um, alright…that hurt a little. ❞ ❝ you see through the eyes of a child. ❞ ❝ you are stronger than you know. ❞ ❝ we fight…until i say stop or we are dead. understand? ❞ ❝ you are right…i do not believe you. ❞ ❝ you think you understand, but you don’t. ❞ ❝ i know who you are…most importantly, i know what you are. ❞ ❝ your anger…you can get lost in it. ❞ ❝ it happens again, you tell me. understand? ❞ ❝ oh, you already know the answer to that. ❞ ❝ i’m strong. i’m smart. i’m not what you think i am. ❞ ❝ your memory was a comfort in dark times. ❞ ❝ whatever it is you seek i do not have it. you should move on. ❞ ❝ long way from home, aren’t you? ❞ ❝ i have no desire to help you. ❞ ❝ i used to dream about getting eaten. ❞ ❝ it is wise to be discreet. ❞ ❝ you are not yourself. ❞ ❝ fight until we stop or we are dead. ❞ ❝ have you ever heard the term ‘tempting fate’? ❞ ❝ as far as i’m concerned, death suits you better. ❞ ❝ would you pardon me please? i need to collect myself. ❞ ❝ this fight is pointless. your struggle is pointless. ❞ ❝ struck a nerve, did i? ❞ ❝ no, wait…i’m not giving up. i just…have to catch my breath. ❞ ❝ a dangerous beast. we’ll take him down together. ❞ ❝ it is so good to see you again. ❞ ❝ can’t believe you’ve lasted this long. ❞ ❝ hurry! i’m slipping. ❞ ❝ only time you talk to me is when you need something. ❞ ❝ you’re more concerned with their safety than our goal. ❞ ❝ i’d bow if i could, your majesty. ❞ ❝ try to find forgiveness, and we can start something new. ❞ ❝ i cannot undo your mistakes. ❞ ❝ it is a delicate balance. expect the worst. assume nothing. ❞ ❝ it sounds like they needed help. ❞ ❝ she meant more to me than you anyway. ❞ ❝ you’ve seen it with your own eyes; you can’t hurt me. ❞ ❝ i just needed answers…but you had to act all proud. ❞ ❝ you only know half the story. ❞ ❝ i’m…sorry for your loss. ❞ ❝ anything you’d like to get off your chest? ❞ ❝ throw whatever you have at me…i’ll keep coming. ❞ ❝ slow and old. you should never have come here. ❞ ❝ think i’m afraid of you? you’re nothing to me. ❞ ❝ we’re going to fight that? ❞ ❝ the fault is mine…and my responsibility to make it right. ❞ ❝ dead things…they have no needs. only wants. ❞ ❝ i am known for my attention to detail. ❞ ❝ i see you’ve been busy. ❞ ❝ ;et me take this moment to tell you what you are about to do is absolutely insane. ❞ ❝ i’ll be keeping my eyes on you. ❞ ❝ i am your monster no longer. ❞ ❝ until our journey is over, one of us must remain focused. ❞ ❝ you know, i really hoped i’d never see this place again. ❞ ❝ i warned you. you would not listen. ❞ ❝ no…you’re bleeding. ❞ ❝ with power comes a big choice. you serve yourself or you serve others. ❞ ❝ be careful where you’re going. there’s no one nice out here anymore. ❞ ❝ you talk too much. ❞ ❝ we will fight it. because you are frightened of it. ❞ ❝ why are there two beds in there? ❞ ❝ will we see people on the road? friendly? will they try to rob us? ❞ ❝ tell me what i want, pain stops. real simple. ❞ ❝ you are going to have to kill me for that to happen. ❞ ❝ just tell me what i want to know! no need for this to get bloody. ❞ ❝ relax. do not think of it as an animal. it is simply a target. ❞ ❝ we do what we please. no excuses. ❞ ❝ you’ve had to kill people before, haven’t you? you’re used to it. ❞ ❝ how did they find me…after all this time? ❞ ❝ i’m not allowed there anymore on account of the, uh, incident. ❞ ❝ hm…thought you’d be bigger. ❞ ❝ you’re sounding more like your father by the minute. ❞ ❝ well, this is it. it’s been an honor. ❞ ❝ do you have any idea, any idea at all, what you have cost me? ❞ ❝ for someone so strong you sure worry a lot. ❞ ❝ uhh…this is a lot of bodies. ❞ ❝ you must be better than me. understand? ❞ ❝ we win because we are determined. disciplined. not because we feel ourselves superior.)❞ ❝ i’m fine. just lost my balance for a moment. ❞ ❝ do not drop your guard. ❞ ❝ you’ve only killed those deserving, right? ❞ ❝ can you kill something that big? ❞ ❝ worry serves me well…and how i keep us alive. ❞ ❝ earlier you said people might kill us. i’ll kill them if they try. ❞ ❝ so we’re going towards the scary singing? ❞ ❝ uh… do you hear that? what is it? ❞ ❝ will i see you again? ❞ ❝ you know my door is always open to you. ❞ ❝ but nobody’s killed a dragon for hundreds of years. ❞ ❝ the road ahead is long and unforgiving… no place for a child. you must be a warrior. ❞ ❝ to be effective in combat, a warrior must not feel for his enemy. ❞ ❝ you’re kinda scary sometimes. ❞ ❝ do not call me that. ❞ ❝ i feel like we can beat anything now. ❞ ❝ to give up this easily, so close to the start… ❞ ❝ you are in your head. let it go. ❞ ❝ unless i’m mistaken, you did all that…for me. ❞ ❝ i’ll kill them if they try. i’m not afraid. ❞ ❝ if seeing me dead will make things right, i won’t stop you. ❞ ❝ never thought i’d see one up close… ❞ ❝ stay by me. touch nothing. ❞ ❝ you are wise for one so young. ❞ ❝ are they dead? …not dead! not dead! ❞ ❝ do not mistake my silence for lack of grief. ❞ ❝ never leave me alone again. all right? ❞ ❝ i did what had to be done. ❞ ❝ i know you hate gods but you really can’t stay away from them, can you? ❞ ❝ something’s breaking through the wall! ❞ ❝ it does not matter if you fire only once. show me control. ❞ ❝ do not allow yourself to feel for them. they do not feel for you. ❞ ❝ i do not know how to do this without you. ❞ ❝ i’d hoped that you, of everyone, would finally make me feel something. ❞ ❝ steady your aim and breathe in. exhale and release. ❞ ❝ are we lost? should we be in here? ❞ ❝ the path you walk. vengeance. you will find no peace. ❞ ❝ you know i love you. you just can be better. i know you can be. ❞ ❝ you think it’s safer in here? ❞ ❝ listen to me. i can help. ❞ ❝ why wait to warn me? ❞ ❝ know any good stories to pass the time? ❞ ❝ you know what’s adequate? that footwork. you step in shit? ❞ ❝ uh…you didnt mean to do that, did you? ❞ ❝ why do you even care? you could have just walked away. ❞ ❝ if i wanted your opinion, i’d ask for it. ❞ ❝ you left me here. again. why don’t you care? ❞ ❝ that bow’s a little big for you, isn’t it? ❞ ❝ the last of his kind in all the realm and you shoot him. ❞ ❝ and here i thought your kind was supposed to be so enlightened. so much better than us. so much smarter. ❞ ❝ you will always me a monster. ❞ ❝ what, you want a hug? ❞ ❝ in war, a soldier sees beauty in the blood of his enemy. ❞ ❝ follow down this path and head for daylight. ❞ ❝ finish what you started. ❞ ❝ it would serve you to stop talking. ❞ ❝ you did not think it was important to tell me? ❞ ❝ not a something for nothing type, are you? ❞ ❝ why should a deadly curse stop you? ❞ ❝ something feels strange…we’re heading into danger. ❞ ❝ the gods care nothing for you. (men should not pray to monsters.) ❞ ❝ the fates…no good comes from them. ❞ ❝ it is important for a warrior to keep his skills sharp. ❞ ❝ trust i will not let us die. ❞ ❝ war was simply no fun anymore, but a rather senseless waste of precious life. ❞ ❝ when i require your counsel, i will ask. ❞ ❝ what i did, i did for you. ❞ ❝ you are too quick to temper. you a rash, insubordinate and out of control. ❞ ❝ i don’t think we’re supposed to be in here. ❞ ❝ you think i’m weak, because i’m not like you. ❞ ❝ maybe i’m just seeing things… ❞ ❝ mourn how you wish. leave me to my own. ❞ ❝ your father can kill. are you going to be able to do that? ❞ ❝ the path ahead is difficult and you are clearly not ready. ❞ ❝ anger can be a weapon if you control it — use it. ❞ ❝ i proved myself. how am i not ready? ❞ ❝ if you’d given me what i wanted, it wouldn’t have ended this way. ❞ ❝ you are hunting deer — not chasing it. ❞ ❝ i don’t believe it. are you…alive? ❞ ❝ are you really going to lecture me about that? ❞ ❝ keep your expectations low, and you will never be disappointed. ❞ ❝ are you the last of your family too? ❞ ❝ you got a real sentimental streak, know that? ❞ ❝ now is not the time for that. ❞ ❝ you were gone for so long i thought that you… ❞ ❝ are you jealous? want me all to yourself, do you? ❞ ❝ hey, do you mind? trying to concentrate here. ❞ ❝ your mother taught you well. ❞ ❝ i can tell you a thing or two about family matters. ❞ ❝ i’ve been to many strange places…but this is a new one. ❞ ❝ you left me alone to fight. ❞ ❝ look at me! look at me! ❞ ❝ don’t you see? they never gave up hope. and neither should we. ❞ ❝ my mother made it for me. ❞ ❝ you killed against my wishes. ❞ ❝ come. no looking back now. ❞ ❝ love and hate are more closely intertwined than you might imagine. ❞ ❝ there is much about me i would not have you know. ❞ ❝ today the winds of fate have kicked up a strange vortex of coincidence. ❞ ❝ okay, there are a few gaps in my knowledge. ❞ ❝ they’re gonna be sorry they picked this fight. ❞ ❝ you can change your path. it’s not too late. ❞ ❝ let me guess…you’re gonna be smug and say we shouldn’t have got involved. ❞ ❝ i defended us. nothing more. ❞ ❝ no. you’ve been gone a long, long time! ❞ ❝ you are right to distrust the word of a god. ❞ ❝ you’ve got some father. i almost feel bad for you. ❞ ❝ so your plan involves a whole bunch of luck? ❞ ❝ well, that was a waste of a perfectly good apple. ❞ ❝ our home is no longer safe. but it will be again. ❞ ❝ well, even a blind pig farts up a truffle. ❞ ❝ when they find you - and they will - they’ll make things difficult. ❞ ❝ there’s only one person alive who can get you where you need to go…and luckily for you, my schedule’s wide open. ❞ ❝ they were just hungry, the wolves. they weren’t mean. they were starving. ❞ ❝ only fire when i tell you to fire. ❞ ❝ no need to explain. not to me. not for that. ❞ ❝ i was just having a little fun, you big grump. ❞ ❝ you deserve better than what you’ve got. ❞ ❝ wow…that was something, that fight. ❞ ❝ you help me, i help you. ❞ ❝ let them go. take me instead. ❞ ❝ you’ve taught me so much. let me teach you something. ❞ ❝ alright. say it. ‘i told you so’. ❞ ❝ truth is seldom as pretty as myth and legend. ❞ ❝ hope is blinding your instincts. ❞ ❝ we are here because of you. never forget that. ❞ ❝ you are avoiding the question. ❞ ❝ you have a talent for destroying things. ❞ ❝ i can smell your grief. ❞ ❝ but…you told me to never go down there. ❞ ❝ i’ve never felt more alive. ❞ ❝ it’s not my blood. ❞ ❝ i’m going to cut off your head now. ❞ ❝ you’ve got a knack for ominous statements. ❞ ❝ this place…it feels like a prison. ❞ ❝ don’t you know when to give up? ❞ ❝ we will handle it. we have come this far. ❞ ❝ i’m fine…nothing to worry about. ❞ ❝ is it dishonorable to grow old? ❞ ❝ the power of any weapon comes from your heart…but only when tempered by your head. ❞ ❝ so unclean. so, so unclean. ❞ ❝ oh, cut it out, princess. you’re gonna get me all weepy. ❞ ❝ do not take your disappointment out on me. ❞ ❝ your anger…you can get lost in it. ❞ ❝ it’s all you talk about, over and over. do something about it or shut up. ❞ ❝ i have a favor to ask. just a small favor. ❞ ❝ check the path and make sure we are alone. ❞ ❝ pain we endure. faulty weaponry we do not. ❞ ❝ that’s it? the adventure is over? ❞ ❝ if you try, i’ll try. ❞ ❝ wow, you’re so stupid. that your father’s doing? or your mother’s? ❞ ❝ behind you, watch out! ❞ ❝ deny it all you want, but you saved me. ❞ ❝ only use this as a last resort. ❞ ❝ truth is more important than kindness. ❞ ❝ i know every corner of these lands, every language spoken, every war waged, every deal struck. ❞ ❝ it should have been you. you hear me? you. not her. ❞ ❝ you don’t want me and you never will. ❞ ❝ don’t know, don’t care. ❞ ❝ time has a way of changing things ❞ ❝ betrayal begets betrayal. ❞ ❝ bit of a softy, eh? you’ll grow out of it. ❞ ❝ what do you mean ‘it’s your fault’? ❞ ❝ when we last spoke…i was… ❞ ❝ i regret my actions, and am filled with remorse. ❞ ❝ i wish i was strong enough to do that. ❞ ❝ they do not stop us, so they do not concern us. ❞ ❝ this used to be a challenge. ❞ ❝ sorry. i’m just trying to help. ❞ ❝ i’ve always thought this place as desolate and cursed. ❞ ❝ inspiration is a fickle mistress. ❞ ❝ we’ve come so far. there has to be a way. ❞ ❝ on our journey we will be attacked by all manner of creature. ❞ ❝ woah. what happened here? ❞ ❝ you don’t have to be the smartest man in the world to see that. ❞ ❝ no one deserves to be held captive like this. ❞ ❝ did you hear that? it sounds like something screaming. ❞ ❝ stay quiet. make no movement. ❞ ❝ don’t be sorry. be better. ❞ ❝ you won’t stop me. ❞ ❝ they caught you off guard. ❞ ❝ carelessness will only delay us. ❞ ❝ pull your weight or we go home. ❞
❝ it was just a dream. a bad dream. ❞ ❝ i’ve heard the rumor that you can’t stand me any more than the plague. ❞ ❝ you have to rest. we’ve still a long way ahead of us. ❞ ❝ mistakes are also important to me. i don’t cross them out of my life, or memory. ❞ ❝ i don’t remember what happened. only that i was frightened. ❞ ❝ that is my fate, my reason, my life. and it is not what i chose. it was chosen for me. ❞ ❝ remember, magic is chaos, art and science. it is a curse, a blessing and progress. ❞ ❝ it’s better to die than to live in the knowledge that you’ve done something that needs forgiveness. ❞ ❝ calmly, calmly, just don’t faint, i’m beside you. ❞ ❝ you are already dead. everything in you has already died. ❞ ❝ what the hell are you searching for? trouble? ❞ ❝ don’t you think that the time has come for more truthful confessions? ❞ ❝ difficult times are approaching. difficult and dangerous. ❞ ❝ look around you — there is crime and sin everywhere. ❞ ❝ this is no legend or fairy-tale. it is the truth. the sincere truth. ❞ ❝ it’s crap — all these princesses, sorceresses, destiny, love and fanciful tales. ❞ ❝ i lose a great deal of my charm when someone gets to know me better. ❞ ❝ he who fights by the sword dies by the sword. ❞ ❝ they say that it’s a bad sign…an omen. ❞ ❝ i will keep your secret. you have my word. ❞ ❝ let me remind you that spells are a serious matter. they are cast with grace and pride. ❞ ❝ did i wake you? sorry. ❞ ❝ you do not kill out of fear and hatred, but in order to save lives. ❞ ❝ are you going to leave me in suspense? that can’t be the end of your story. ❞ ❝ what have i done to deserve to be so high on your list? ❞ ❝ there, where mountains tower today, one day there will be seas; there where today seas surge, will one day be deserts. but stupidity will remain stupidity. ❞ ❝ i’ll carry on killing monsters in the ruins of this world until some monster kills me. ❞ ❝ when you know about something it stops being a nightmare. when you know how to fight something, it stops being so threatening. ❞ ❝ you forget that i know you, so don’t play the unfeeling mutant, devoid of heart. ❞ ❝ the less you know the better. ❞ ❝ you are not leaving here alone. i won’t let you be alone. not right now. ❞ ❝ who do you want to deceive? me? or maybe yourself? ❞ ❝ don’t play at being a hero. you have got yourself mixed up in a dangerous affair. ❞ ❝ i wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you. ❞ ❝ i owe you exactly as much as you owe me. no more and no less. ❞ ❝ we are no more than toys in the hands of gods. ❞ ❝ you are important to me, and always will be. ❞ ❝ don’t talk to me about emotions. i’ve had enough of all this talk about emotions. ❞ ❝ the anger and vengeance of the gods hangs over you. ❞ ❝ mind your tongue, and who you’re speaking to. ❞ ❝ is it possible you don’t believe me? ❞ ❝ i am the one who ought to be asking for forgiveness. ❞ ❝ for you, it’s an adventure. for me, it’s a game in which the stakes are survival. ❞ ❝ you don’t have to kill your feelings. it’s enough to kill hatred within yourself. ❞ ❝ to be neutral does not mean to be indifferent or insensitive. ❞ ❝ there’s no such thing as a fair fight. you have to make use of every advantage and every opportunity you get. ❞ ❝ from what i’ve heard about you, i have no doubt you would manage. ❞ ❝ it’s your own fault and your own problem. ❞ ❝ stay with me tonight. ❞ ❝ you’ve mistaken the stars reflected on the surface of the lake at night for the heavens. ❞ ❝ you look almost thirty, think you’re just over twenty and act as though you’re barely ten. ❞ ❝ it all depends on who uses magic, how they use it, and to what purpose. ❞ ❝ you want to run from me? no one has escaped me yet. ❞ ❝ intolerance and superstition has always been the domain of the more stupid amongst the common folk. ❞ ❝ you like me? you have been good at concealing it up until now. ❞ ❝ why have you gone so red, crimson as a poppy? ❞ ❝ do you have to spoil everything you touch? ❞ ❝ i warrant that it is better to count yourself amongst those few than amongst everyone. ❞ ❝ magic is everywhere. all around us. easily accessible. ❞ ❝ you are interested in strange matters. you ask strange questions. ❞ ❝ life is a priceless gift and should be protected. ❞ ❝ you are not so remarkable as to make me fall on my knees and raise my eyes to the heavens. ❞ ❝ something tells me you are not the person i took you to be. ❞ ❝ this had to happen at some point. this had to happen. ❞ ❝ that’s everything? you haven’t lied about anything? haven’t forgotten anything? ❞ ❝ you runt. you scum. you arrogant nobody. ❞ ❝ thank you for rescuing me. ❞ ❝ if you’re afraid, turn back. ❞ ❝ you’ve no heart. you really have no heart.. ❞ ❝ i’d be proud and happy to fight at your side. ❞ ❝ i see you have applied yourself to fulfilling the demands of fate and destiny. ❞ ❝ the sun is still high, even if it is obscured. you can still train. ❞ ❝ come into the light. don’t lurk in the dark. ❞ ❝ your fears are unfounded. entirely ungrounded. ❞ ❝ loyalty is devilishly difficult to manage. ❞ ❝ you shouldn’t have said that. ❞ ❝ your wound has to be dressed and we’ve got to get out of here. ❞ ❝ you won’t understand and you don’t have to understand. i did what i had to do. ❞ ❝ you aren’t afraid of anything? answer truthfully. ❞ ❝ war is constantly hovering over us like a vulture. ❞ ❝ i’m afraid of death, just like everyone else, but i grew used to the idea of it a very long time ago. ❞ ❝ the world is falling to ruins. we can watch it happen and do nothing. or we can counteract it. ❞ ❝ what’s the matter with you? are you going to be sick? ❞ ❝ you are cunning but not careful enough. ❞ ❝ i don’t want to hurt you, but if you come near me… ❞ ❝ have you calmed down sufficiently for me to safely approach and take a look at you? ❞ ❝ i want to talk to you. i don’t need an audience. ❞ ❝ i’m not in the habit of poking my nose into other people’s secrets. ❞ ❝ you’ve got a tongue as sharp as a wasp. ❞ ❝ have you been taught anything other than making holes with a sword? ❞ ❝ what the hell is this? who beat you like this? ❞ ❝ before you said that, you still had a chance to live. now you don’t. ❞ ❝ i help you sometimes but i do so out of my own free will. ❞ ❝ everyone comes across someone who will better them someday. ❞ ❝ murder is always murder, regardless of motive or circumstance. ❞ ❝ it’s all lies. just a poetic invention to make the story prettier and more touching. ❞ ❝ take this and put it to your nose or you will be covered with blood! ❞ ❝ your valuable friendship is too important to me to disappoint you. ❞ ❝ i was worried you were going to ask me another one of your unequal grand questions. ❞ ❝ you look but have no eyes. you listen but have deaf ears. ❞ ❝ answer my questions. please. ❞ ❝ i don’t have to comply with your instructions and orders. ❞ ❝ you really do believe we are in some danger? ❞ ❝ couldn’t you, just once in your life, do something right? ❞ ❝ what i intend is my business. don’t get mixed up in this or there’ll be an incident. ❞ ❝ was someone asking about me? ❞ ❝ all this is going to start concerning you — and sooner than you think. ❞ ❝ i knew you wouldn’t understand. ❞ ❝ listen. what’s done is done. ❞ ❝ war is war. you whack the enemy in the backside, and they whack you back. ❞ ❝ destiny cannot be avoided. ❞ ❝ we’re tempting fate. we’re tempting fate too much. ❞ ❝ fighting doesn’t bother me, and a bit of blood’s nothing new. ❞ ❝ it’s not nice to eavesdrop. ❞ ❝ whose side are we on? whose side are we against? who’s our friend and who’s our enemy? ❞ ❝ both sides despite those who sit on the bench. ❞ ❝ what’s your name, if it’s no secret? ❞ ❝ don’t be in such a hurry to tug the lion’s whiskers, because this lion is not dead yet. ❞ ❝ i’m too old for this sort of thing. too old. ❞ ❝ i know you. you’re ruthless, you’re cruel. ❞ ❝ i know how to draw a bow too. ❞ ❝ you betrayed my trust. ❞ ❝ your chances of me forgiving and forgetting are non-existent. ❞ ❝ what’s got into you? there’s not a grain of sense in your prattling. ❞ ❝ life is an endless train of surprises. ❞ ❝ have you lost your mind? ❞ ❝ such matters should not be left to chance. ❞ ❝ we can’t afford to make a blunder or a mistake now. ❞ ❝ careful, or your arrogance will be the end of you. ❞ ❝ let’s throw formalities aside. ❞ ❝ we don’t have much time. it would be a sin to waste it. ❞ ❝ don’t fool yourself that it’s different this time. it’s never different. ❞ ❝ why are you looking at me like that? ❞ ❝ sincerity works both ways. you ask me any question and i will answer. sincerely. ❞ ❝ being kind-hearted…that might be a problem because it is widely believed i don’t possess any such organ. ❞ ❝ i’ve already seen a war. i don’t want to see another. ❞ ❝ i rarely laugh. i really need to have a good reason to laugh. ❞ ❝ you talk so beautifully, i can listen to you for hours. ❞ ❝ you think you know it all, but you don’t. ❞ ❝ furious as a cat. sparks in your eyes; just wait and you’ll hiss. ❞ ❝ poetry is eternal and immortal. it knows no beginning, it knows no end. ❞ ❝ i see that you don’t know me at all. ❞ ❝ let’s not talk about it. let’s not worry too soon. ❞ ❝ don’t play the child because you’re not one anymore. ❞ ❝ have a safe journey. i’ll be thinking of you. ❞ ❝ i haven’t got anybody anymore and i am someone else. ❞ ❝ i’m afraid you still know too little. ❞ ❝ magic isn’t for show. magic is not some street market trick. ❞ ❝ violence breeds violence. ❞ ❝ there’s no returning to the past. there’s no one there for me anymore. ❞ ❝ for the time being, trust me and do as i ask. ❞ ❝ let me massage your hand and arm. ❞ ❝ magic, like a spiked arrow, is lodged in you. ❞ ❝ chaos is afraid of you. but it wants you to be the one who feels fear. ❞ ❝ there is chaos and order, good and evil in all of us. ❞ ❝ i don’t want to lose everything again. ❞ ❝ you’ve got yourself mixed up in destiny, far more than you’ve bargained for. ❞ ❝ first of all, let us have something to eat and drink. ❞ ❝ you still have time to turn back. it’s not too late. ❞ ❝ what are you staring at me like that for? ❞ ❝ in a minute you’re going to faint from loss of blood. ❞ ❝ go to sleep, you’re barely on your feet. ❞ ❝ are you angry with me? ❞ ❝ magic, is in some people’s opinion, the embodiment of chaos. ❞ ❝ well. are you going to tell me or not? ❞ ❝ i get angry just as rarely as i laugh. ❞ ❝ i’m here. i’m at your side. don’t be afraid. ❞ ❝ hold your hands out so i can see them. ❞ ❝ you can’t stop a soldier from being frightened but you can give him motivation to overcome that fear. ❞
contains spoilers. some quotes are slightly altered to fit better.
❝ let’s play a drinking game. ❞ ❝ faith’s a simple medicine for desperate souls. ❞ ❝ you don’t frighten easily. ❞ ❝ it’s what eats you alive. loneliness. ❞ ❝ i heard it all. fire, screams and death. ❞ ❝ you’ve become a lightweight, old friend. ❞ ❝ how are you not heartbroken? ❞ ❝ people do stupid things when they think they are trapped in a corner. ❞ ❝ are you a monster because you are different? ❞ ❝ this must be our secret. ❞ ❝ all you care about is your damn duty. ❞ ❝ i’ve lived through a whole dark age and three supposed end of days. ❞ ❝ that’s a tale requiring wine. ❞ ❝ do what you do best. stay and fight. ❞ ❝ fear is an illness. if you leave it untreated, it can consume you. ❞ ❝ you have taken something from me. someone i care about deeply. ❞ ❝ there’s times to stand still, and there’s times to keep moving. ❞ ❝ you’re panting like a dying mammoth. ❞ ❝ you’d rather be blind than see the truth. ❞ ❝ when you have power like yours, you never apologize. ❞ ❝ you have the social graces of a wild boar. ❞ ❝ last time we saw each other, you basically told me to fuck off. ❞ ❝ what would you have me do? ❞ ❝ promise me something. if we get seperated, remember what you have. ❞ ❝ all you have to do is keep your sword close and keep running. ❞ ❝ you were never one to go quietly, were you? ❞ ❝ i am here for you. i won’t let anybody hurt you. ❞ ❝ the path to true strength lies not in humble faith, but in believing in oneself. ❞ ❝ you would not know talent if i shoved it up your ass. ❞ ❝ you can tell me anything. ❞ ❝ it’s just ‘yap, yap, yap’ with you sometimes. ❞ ❝ my faith brought me this far. i’ll see how much further it can take me. ❞ ❝ power. that’s what you live for. ❞ ❝ i know this is dangerous, but now is not the time to be weak. it is the time to be strong. ❞ ❝ nowhere’s safe now. you can’t run from the world. ❞ ❝ i don’t want revenge. i want justice. ❞ ❝ your stomach’s growling loud enough to wake the dead. ❞ ❝ less than perfect means death. ❞ ❝ you can either be too strong to fail or too weak to try. ❞ ❝ you are always so emotional. ❞ ❝ we don’t kill out of fear. ❞ ❝ like father, like daughter. ❞ ❝ i understand that you are in pain and you can drown that pain with whatever you want. just not here. ❞ ❝ humans do bad things to everybody. ❞ ❝ i tell you no word of a lie. ❞ ❝ that was the first and last time…i saw my father proud of me. ❞ ❝ that’s quite barbarous, even for me. ❞ ❝ i’m not going anywhere, all right? i’m staying right here. ❞ ❝ and you call yourself a leader? ❞ ❝ magic. it’s lodged in you. like a spiked arrow. ❞ ❝ you bring terror and death wherever you are. ❞ ❝ do what you have to do to seize your destiny. ❞ ❝ it’s as if you’re determined to do the opposite of the thing that’ll keep you safe. ❞ ❝ remember what you have. magic. ❞ ❝ i’m hoping there is a grain of truth to fairytales. ❞ ❝ this place was meant for no one. ❞ ❝ i’m not having this conversation unless i’m drinking. ❞ ❝ you did what you had to do. ❞ ❝ all the people i loved in this world were taken from me. ❞ ❝ i would not wish that fate on my worst enemy. ❞ ❝ it came from the heart. perhaps a broken one. ❞ ❝ what’s it like? being alone because of what you are? ❞ ❝ all curses have cures. ❞ ❝ you pick up a thing or two while in hiding. ❞ ❝ how about we scout the property? make sure it’s safe for the night. ❞ ❝ my war is your war. ❞ ❝ you thought you were special. ❞ ❝ i wish i could go back in time. save everyone. ❞ ❝ something has changed. the world’s acting of its own strange accord these days. ❞ ❝ how did you spend your days when you first came here? ❞ ❝ i value the bond we have. ❞ ❝ i know what you are. an old wives’ tale for children. ❞ ❝ do you humans ever stop talking? ❞ ❝ if only you’d think of yourself instead of licking other’s boots. ❞ ❝ sometimes it doesn’t seem real. ❞ ❝ that’s your play? it’s rather desperate. ❞ ❝ i was hoping you’d do what i say. ❞ ❝ you’re the desperate one. the most. ❞ ❝ the path forward will be harder still. ❞ ❝ i’ve never met anyone alone in the heart like you. different. ❞ ❝ it is not in my nature to be cruel. ❞ ❝ stay with me tonight. let’s not be alone. ❞ ❝ do you think i’m asking because i personally give a shit? ❞ ❝ what is destined cannot be avoided. ❞ ❝ scary storoies don’t really work on me. ❞ ❝ you were wrong. or lied. neither’s a shock. ❞ ❝ what has been need not always be. ❞ ❝ we should keep moving. ❞ ❝ are you all right? you look like day-old shit. ❞ ❝ you don’t seem like a monster to me. ❞ ❝ thieving a thief merely makes you the latest thief. ❞ ❝ you can find power and purpose. a chance to survive the horror. ❞ ❝ i’ve fantasized about going back. ❞ ❝ the only certainty in this place, is that no one is ever what they seem. ❞ ❝ this is what you call free? ❞ ❝ you still have time to turn back. it’s not too late. ❞ ❝ it’s not a question of price. it’s a matter of cost. ❞ ❝ tell me what you want. ❞ ❝ sometimes i think i’m still a person. but…i know what i really am. ❞ ❝ i deserve my destiny. ❞ ❝ why help? what’s in it for you? ❞ ❝ i can smell your desires like rotten meat. ❞ ❝ it’s funny how quickly people forget about you when you are no longer any use to them, isn’t it? ❞ ❝ trust the path you choose, and it will protect you. ❞ ❝ move beyond the pain, the fear, the failure, until you become one with a killer. ❞ ❝ you can do anything. doesn’t mean you have to. ❞ ❝ what is lost is lost. ❞ ❝ you are all alone in a world that hates you with no way to protect ourselves. ❞ ❝ thankfully, men remain simple. ❞ ❝ verbose when i need you to be quiet. silent and stubborn when i need you to talk. ❞ ❝ even traitors speak the truth. ❞ ❝ shared dreams are a powerful omen. ❞ ❝ our most trusted advisors are becoming less and less trustworthy. ❞ ❝ i think there’s something wrong with me. ❞ ❝ nightmares are common after battle. ❞ ❝ when i say run, you run. when i say hide, you hide. ❞ ❝ i’ve never met anyone alone in the heart, like you. ❞ ❝ i know who you truly are. what are you hiding now? ❞ ❝ you’re eager to please. easy to wound. ❞ ❝ that all you got? ❞ ❝ your true power resides in more than your blood. ❞ ❝ hatred is an endless cycle of fear and desperation. ❞ ❝ perhaps we were meant to find each other. ❞ ❝ no matter how hard i train, no matter what i do, i’ll never be enough. ❞ ❝ shocking. we have to do it your way again. ❞ ❝ your heart has been beating fast this whole time. you’re nervous. ❞ ❝ do you like the dress i left for you? ❞ ❝ oh. that’s a look of a person who’s worried they’ve lost their touch. ❞ ❝ it doesn’t matter if it’s true. it only matters if the people believe it. ❞ ❝ i’m sick of feeling lost. ❞ ❝ i’ve had leaders, followers…but i’ve never had a partner before. ❞ ❝ i want to be indifferent to the past. to the lies. to the things i’ve done. ❞ ❝ don’t flatter yourself. i’m saving me. ❞ ❝ did you not think of the consequences? what if you were killed? ❞ ❝ we can leave under the cover of darkness. ❞ ❝ don’t be afraid. nothing can hurt you here. ❞ ❝ you are important to me. you always will be. ❞ ❝ yes, well, i’m topped off on magical mystery at the moment. ❞ ❝ you are already enough. you are extraordinary. ❞ ❝ you don’t get to play damsel in distress. that’s my job. ❞ ❝ i’ve destroyed so many things. please, let me heal things for once. ❞ ❝ the truth is you are choosing to be an asshole, aren’t you? ❞ ❝ i have nothing to hide. ❞ ❝ i owe you as much as you owe me. nothing more, nothing less. ❞ ❝ legends aren’t science. ❞ ❝ who are we, when we can no longer do what we were put on this planet to do? ❞ ❝ some wounds cannot be healed. i understand that more than you know. ❞ ❝ i can’t be what you want. what you deserve. ❞ ❝ you need to let me take care of your wound. ❞ ❝ everyone answers to someone eventually. even you, i suspect. ❞ ❝ you pretend to not have emotions, but you do. ❞ ❝ love and blood. they both possess a mighty power. ❞ ❝ prison didn’t exactly do you any favors. ❞ ❝ monsters are more than just horrid looks and claws and teeth. monsters are born of deeds done. unforgivable ones. ❞ ❝ i hope that in your search to feel again, you feel your value. ❞ ❝ i’m too hopeless to stop anything. ❞ ❝ i sleep like shit too. ❞ ❝ you don’t really give a shit about what i want. ❞ ❝ those who died…i say their names out loud at night so i don’t forget. ❞ ❝ something dark lies ahead of you. i can feel it. ❞ ❝ no one’s on our side, you trusting idiot. ❞ ❝ i’m not abandoning you. i’ll stay and fight. ❞ ❝ explain to me how you’re not deadweight. ❞ ❝ we’ll reach our destination by sundown. ❞ ❝ i see your wounds have improved, but your manners have not. ❞ ❝ don’t be scared. i’m not going to hurt you. ❞ ❝ hesitation will draw danger to you like fire. ❞ ❝ don’t flatter yourself. i’m saving me. ❞ ❝ you have the ability to break the cycle of hatred once and for all. ❞ ❝ sensitive questions are my favourite. ❞ ❝ sometimes we assume the worst because we fear to hope. ❞ ❝ it is in blindness we find our true strength. ❞ ❝ i know you know how dangerous this is. ❞ ❝ were you attacked because you’re different? ❞ ❝ who knows, maybe we’ll be friends again. ❞ ❝ i won’t let anything happen to you. ❞ ❝ you can fight battles and wear dresses. you can do both. ❞ ❝ holy men are the most depraved. ❞ ❝ watch me burn all the memories of you. ❞ ❝ what’s the difference between you and a heap of shit? eventually, the shit will stop smelling. ❞ ❝ you’re offering me up as sacrifice? ❞ ❝ our best chance is to kill the hatred we hold on to and move on. ❞ ❝ everywhere i go, people die. ❞ ❝ sometimes i feel like i could burn the whole world. ❞ ❝ was it worth it? ❞ ❝ you are brave, but let me help you. ❞ ❝ there is only death here. ❞ ❝ unlike you, i’m not one to waste power on such frivolous nonsense. ❞ ❝ the battle must have really taken it out of you. ❞ ❝ i know. i know you want to scream. ❞ ❝ that’s the problem. no one knows anything about you. who you are, what you are, where you are, what you want. ❞ ❝ my friend, you are very far from fine. ❞ ❝ i look a tad different since you saw me last. ❞ ❝ we both need to keep a low profile, it seems. ❞ ❝ we won. but barely. ❞ ❝ i hope there’s a plaque to commemerate your greatness. ❞ ❝ i will not let us down. ❞ ❝ i’ve never known a human to give out of the kindness of their heart. ❞ ❝ every day increases the risk of being found. ❞ ❝ forget faith. we’ve got power. ❞ ❝ your precious leader’s after something. you are a pawn to get it. ❞ ❝ are you my inquisitor or my executioner? ❞ ❝ you are a hero to me and many others. ❞ ❝ we’re only staying until the storm dies. ❞ ❝ so i’m your destiny? whatever that means. ❞ ❝ i won’t be here forever to protect you. ❞ ❝ faith sustains us all in dark times. ❞ ❝ your pain is my pain. ❞ ❝ everything i was told my whole life was a lie. ❞ ❝ after everything we did, what we saw…you turned your back on me. ❞ ❝ we all have our time in the sun. ❞ ❝ if you have an ulterior motive, you can tell me. ❞ ❝ from the moment we met, you have been trying to fill a void. ❞ ❝ history does have a way of repeating itself, doesn’t it? ❞ ❝ they’re desperate. which means they’re dangerous. ❞ ❝ i’m doing everything i can to keep you safe. ❞ ❝ i said don’t touch me. ❞ ❝ i’m one of the lucky ones. depending on your definition of luck. ❞ ❝ i don’t see any side upon which you are not entirely fucked. ❞ ❝ there are forces at play larger than we know. ❞ ❝ you will destroy us all. ❞ ❝ i don’t know who you are, but come any closer and you’ll regret it. ❞ ❝ i…dreamed about you once. ❞ ❝ it’s been a difficult few months…but things seem to be finally turning a corner. ❞ ❝ what is it with men lurking about this place? ❞ ❝ oh, what’s the hurry? ❞ ❝ ___. it’s nice to finally put a face to the name. ❞ ❝ in times of war, hard decisions must be made. ❞ ❝ if you free me, perhaps we can work together. ❞ ❝ you remind me of an old friend. ❞ ❝ i was stupid, and i was selfish. ❞ ❝ i have always considered you my equal partner. i wish i could prove to you that i’m worthy of the same. ❞ ❝ what are you doing out here in the middle of east bloody nowhere? ❞ ❝ family, blood…that’s the only bond that can’t be broken. ❞ ❝ when i’m with you, i don’t feel alone anymore. ❞ ❝ are you all right? who did this? ❞ ❝ what i’m really asking you is…is this what pleases you? ❞ ❝ we could be entangled in a war again before we know it. ❞ ❝ why do you want this so badly? ❞ ❝ there are those obsessed with finding power, and those who know their place. ❞ ❝ i’m asking you for help. for once, will you give me it? ❞ ❝ you dare show your face here? ❞ ❝ i wasn’t sure you’d make it. ❞ ❝ i wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t unnecessary. ❞ ❝ your aim’s gone to shit. ❞ ❝ i pay you to solve my problems, not fill my head with piling bad news. ❞ ❝ the monsters aren’t new. they’re just new to here. ❞ ❝ i have some wounds that refuse to heal. ❞ ❝ you were having a nightmare. i came to check on you. ❞ ❝ please stay. don’t go. ❞
Good news! We finally found the post that’s going to cause me to snap like Miss Piggy when someone says something sexist in front of her
Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you
Happy Friday the 13th this is my gift
IF I HAD TO SCROLL THROUGH ALL OF THIS NONSENSE THEN SO. DO. YOU
>:3
Oh for fucks sake, this was a nightmare. Now you all must go through it too
Oh for fucks sake, this
was a nightmare. Now you all
must go through it too
Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.
I’m on mobile (not sure if it’s the same for all Mobile Users) so it compressed it automatically
But it’s 07:23 on a Sunday morning and I have nothing better to do so I scrolled through it-
This one has a prologue, but before I begin: CW: Antisemitism, terrorism (full triggers for the work are at the end of the prologue)
LastSaturday, the 15th of January, a synagogue in Texas was taken hostage by an armed Islamist. Very few non-Jewish sources covered the attack, and those that did often refused to acknowledge antisemitism’s role in the situation. I could write a long essay about the situation, but that’s not why I’m making this post. What I’m really mad about at this point is that no one acknowledges antisemitism in American society. It is an incredibly prevalent issue from all areas of the political spectrum: Neonazis are not the only people prone to violent antisemitism.
Why is this relevant to whump, you ask. Good question. Writing is a political tool. And I had no inspiration for this month’s prompt, so I wrote a story about darkness and antisemitism. The story I am about to tell is not a depiction of events I know have occurred in real life. But they could happen. Most of the whump I write is realistic fiction, and this is no different. An attack on a synagogue is not some far-off myth. It is real. It happened last week. The hostages last week were lucky that they did not get hurt. They were lucky that the Rabbi had been trained for a situation just like that. It could have ended much differently, but it didn’t. So I wasn’t ready to have my characters get injured as a result of antisemitism. This story is mostly emotional whump, but it mirrors the real thoughts and feelings of Jews.
I recognize that I take a huge risk by posting this. I let the world know that I am Jewish and that I will not be quiet about it. I’m turning commenting off. All antisemitic reblogs will be blocked and reported. You do not have to read the story if you do not want to.
One final disclaimer: I do not condone any of the behaviors in this story. I am not endorsing anything in this story. I am not lying about real experiences; this is a work of fiction.
HEAVY Trigger Warnings: antisemitism, terrorism, guns, anti-jewish slurs, lockdowns
“We turn to page 157 for Maariv Aravim,” Rabbi Harwitz says.
Chaia couldn’t even turn the page before she could no longer see the siddur in her hands. A sudden darkness encapsulates the sanctuary. The only light came from the eternal light above the ark and the two Shabbat candles on the bimah. This isn’t supposed to happen, Chaia thinks, there must be a power outage.
“Well, that’s ironic,” the rabbi jests into the still-on microphone. “I’m sure we’ll find out what’s going on shortly.”
The power can’t be out if the microphone is still on. The microphone is almost always on so it doesn’t need to be turned on during Shabbat, but lights are also almost always on. Something is wrong.
James, Maria’s favorite security guard, rushes into the sanctuary carrying a flashlight. “We are dealing with a situation out front. I need everyone to take cover on the floor in front of your seats and remain absolutely quiet.” The light disappears as fast as it appeared. James runs back to the lobby.
Chaia slides off the velvet cushion of her seat, joining her purse on the floor. She curls up in a ball, tucking her siddur between her legs and her chest. Maria does the same. So this is it, Chaia thinks. Hundreds of years after Maria’s family fled Spain and decades after my family fled Germany, we’re still targets. We should’ve moved to Israel after Maria finished culinary school.
Chaia’s thoughts are interrupted by a thud outside the sanctuary. A loud voice shouts, “They will pay! The Jews, the Zios. They are Nazis. They control the world, pulling strings that make life harder for people like me!”
The words send a chill down Chaia’s spine. Terrified, she pulls her wife closer and into an embrace. Her hand subconsciously finds Maria’s pulse. It’s hard and rapid. Even without being able to time it with her watch, Chaia knows that Maria’s heart is beating more than 150 times per minute. Is this a panic attack or a tachycardia episode? Chaia can’t tell and she can’t ask Maria. She gently feels the floor around her, searching for her purse. She instinctively grabs the pulse oximeter but realizes it’d be pretty bright in the darkness, which wouldn’t be great. It isn’t even what she is really looking for. Finally, she wraps her hand around the water bottle she’d packed. Chaia gently unscrews the lid. She grabs Maria’s right arm and places it against the bottle. Next, she slowly feels for Maria’s face with the hand the lid is in. She guides that bottle to Maria’s mouth.
Maria gratefully accepts the water, gulping down what had to be at least ten ounces in thirty seconds. She slowly lowers her upper half to the ground, allowing her heart to be at the same level as her head.
Moments later, a chorus of footsteps storms into the room. As they enter, the lights turn back on. “SWAT Team keep your hands where we can see them!” one calls out.
The entire congregation tentatively raises their hands into the air. Chaia slowly stands up, making sure that her hands are visible to everyone else at all times. As per her expectation, all the black-clad figures in the room shift to aim their machine guns at her. “My name is Chaia Glassman,” she states in an oddly calm voice. “My wife is having a medical emergency and needs assistance. She is on the floor next to me.” Despite her outward appearance, Chaia is freaking out. Her stomach flutters. Her legs are numb. Her eyes well with tears.
One of the figures turns into the radio on his vest. “We need medical.” He then turns his attention to the whole congregation. “We need you to evacuate through the back door over there.” He points to the door he entered the sanctuary from. “Keep your hands where we can see them. You may take your things, but they will be screened when you get outside.”
“What about our coats at the front door? It’s cold out!” a scared voice asks.
“You must exit through the back door. There is a warming station set up outside.” The officer responded.
“Why?” another voice chimed in.
“We have reports there may be a bomb out there. The bomb squad is sweeping the place.”
Rabbi Harwitz rises, keeping his hands interlocked behind his head. He walks to the door and a SWAT officer accompanies him out. Others follow suit, but Chaia waits attentively by Maria.
After almost everyone else is out, EMTs surrounded by seemingly an entire SWAT unit enter the sanctuary. “Over here!” Chaia cries out.
The EMTs park the stretcher in the aisle beside the row of seats Chaia and Maria are in. “Ma’am, you have to go outside now,” one of them tells Chaia.
Chaia hooks her foot through her purse and shuffles into the aisle to get out of the way of EMS. “She has dysautonomia and mast cell activation syndrome and- you know what, her emergency medical booklet is in my purse.”
An officer kneels down beside Chaia’s purse. “May I?” he asks, picking Chaia’s purse up to find the booklet. As he does that, one of the EMTs picks Maria up and lays her on the stretcher.
The other EMT takes the booklet from the officer and flips through it. He looks at Chaia. “She’s in good hands. We’ll start treatment once we get outside.”
The CCU (Cars Cinematic Universe) takes place in a highly classist society in which it is deemed extremely unorthodox and even disgraceful for Cars of one class to ever interact with others outside their own class. In this essay, I will-
You know what? No, I’m actually going to talk about this.
I feel like one of the biggest examples of this is in the courtroom scene in Cars 1 in which Sally immediately enters the room and Lightning goes “Whoa, a Porsche.” This is literally Lightning addressing the fact that Sally is an expensive and a quote high status car at least in the real world. This idea is further explored and expanded on during the Wheel Well scene in which Sally starts talking about her past and Lightning asks “Well were you rich?” And then when he asks why Sally stayed and Sally says that she fell in love, Lightning is like “Huh, was it a Corvette?” Once again, Lightning is addressing the fact that Sally would be considered and expensive in high status car and would most likely be dating and other car that is considered in that same level.
Then there’s how people treat rusty cars. While it would be understandable to think that the treatment of rusty cars is something along the lines of racism it is shown, that rust is something that can be removed. So the next line of thinking would be ableism. And while that would be true, very well still could be true in this theory, I am not going to talk about it as such because that is an entirely different rant to go on.
Anyways, as I was saying, the treatment of rusty cars isn’t exactly the best. Lightning talks about rusty cars as if they are the scum of the Earth. He says (to Matter!!!) that once he makes it to diet go he no longer have to deal with rusty old cars, he tells Mac that he does not like rusty old cars he generally does not like them. And it seems that rusty cars are aware of this fact? Mater says that he understands what Lightning means when he says this to him, and it says if he has heard it before. And everyone at Rusteeze seems to acknowledge this as well. It’s almost as if it’s an unspoken rule.
Then there’s the Lemons. The Lemons probably have the most proof in this scenario. At the very beginning of the movie one of Mater’s friends breaks down just a little bit outside of Radiator Springs and says that he can’t help it that he’ll always be a Lemon. And while a Lemon is a type of car it is used any derogatory manner in the way Mater’s friend is saying it. Later on in the movie, you find out that Lemons are generally not liked by most of the public. This is to the point where Lemons are literally hatching a scheme to basically become rich and super powerful so that they won’t be disrespected because they literally cannot be if anyone wants to basically survive. Things are basically being treated as lower than anyone else. They are a minority, in a sense. It is so bad that it’s to the point where people have stopped making parts for Lemons in-universe. Mater talks about this while pointing out that Sir Axelrod had to order super expensive, custom parts in order to even be kept working. Finally, in Cars 1 there’s a very small moment during the courtroom scene in which Lizzie brings up an unknown character named Big Al. Ramone responds that Big Al left town ages ago, but as we all know, Lizzie has some major memory problems. This causes her to say to Ramone, “Then why are you bringing her up, you lemon?” Lizzie, who is not a Lemon, uses the word in a derogatory sense aimed at someone else who is also not a Lemon. Something else that is important to mention is that the term “lemon” is a generalized term for a specific group of cars. This can be used to assume that the term “lemon” is essentially a slur in the Cars Universe.
But with the most common thread between these three very different groupings of Cars is how the real world would view them in relation to how good of a car they are. Lemons break down a lot, rusty old cars are usually assumed to just not be very good, both to drive and to look at, expensive cars are usually seen as signs of wealth and privilege, thus representing different social and even economic classes in the CCU.
So you know how Mater runs a junkyard? And how there are car bodies in the junkyard? But they are all cars which means they would have to be dead bodies?
So you can take this one of two ways, right?
One of them being that in the Cars universe Mater runs a cemetery.
But another option and an already popular fan theory is that Mater is a serial killer.
And obviously at first I was pretty upset at this because a lot of people already hate on Mater for literally no reason and this is just villainizing him again for no reason but then I stopped to think about it and I was like “Wait this could be really good!”
Now I’m just going to talk about a bunch of my ideas relating to a serial killer Mater.
So maybe a bit of backstory to this would be that during Radiator Springs’ Hay Day killed people who traveled through and to Radiator Springs. And after killing them he buried the bodies where he lived. And no one ever really suspected him of this because it’s literally Mater. He is, and I mean this affectionately, an airhead, while also being the kindest person you will ever meet.
But then after Radiator Springs kind of died down due to the interstate being built he just stopped for a bit. During that entire time but there weren’t any customers at Radiator Springs he just stopped killing. And because no one in town suspected him of anything and there wasn’t anyone passing through to find the bodies he got away with it.
Now here’s where my ideas pick up. I’m just going to preface this by saying that they all take place some point after McQueen gets to town.
And I am just going to get my worst idea out of the way first because I know you’re going to hate me for it:
Mater killed Doc.
I do have an explanation for it, though! Like I didn’t just walk into this without any backstory. I have a plot and it goes like this:
Obviously doc ends up quote on quote coming out as a famous racer. (A race car though because this takes place in a human AU. I really do not want to figure out the logistics of car murder.) Anyway so Mater realizes this and take some time to process it just like the rest of town and just kind of thinks if I kill the Fabulous Hudson Hornet and make it obvious that he was murdered without letting the world know that it was him he would go down in history as one of the best serial killers ever. Like he would be up there with the Zodiac Killer and Jeffrey Dahmer. Anyway he gets away with that and starts feeling just regular people that come up to Radiator Springs blah blah blah.
I don’t really like that idea all that much. It is an idea I have but it only really sounds cool on paper. I do have better ideas that I am going to get into.
The next one deals with everyone’s favorite secret agent: Holley Shiftwell!
So during Cars 2, like in this weird world, Mater would be overly jumpy at the idea of getting to kill someone. And this obviously sets off some alarms in Finn and Holley’s brains.
They find out and they cut this deal that they’re not going to tell anyone as long as they don’t, y'know, kill them but Holley has already kind of fallen for Mater at this point. And Holly is kind of like “I can fix him” but Finn is like “You shouldn’t fix him, you cannot fix him, you’re going to get yourself killed” but Holly is still like “I am going to fix him” and Mater is like “I don’t want to be fixed” and that’s kind of like the premise.
And there are two ways that I think this could go.
One of them being Mater is just kind of like “I cannot be fixed and I’m going to make you so much worse.” He is going to be the Joker to her Harley Quinn. (Or should I say, Holley Quinn?) She is going to think that she is fixing him but in reality she is only getting worse. Baby come these world famous partners in crime. Mater agrees to join Holley around the world but they are not being spies they are being international serial killers. And then is the one tracking them down. Eventually Finn is just like okay I need to tell everyone at Radiator Springs what is going on because there is literally nothing in any of our files on Mater and Holly cut off her family a long time ago so there’s nowhere that we know for a fact she would go. So they go tell everyone at Radiator Springs and they’re all like “What the heck do you mean Mater was a serial killer all this time, that doesn’t make sense, we know Mater, we have known him since he was a child, he would never do something like that.” But Finn is all like “I have proof.” And then Finn shows them pictures of I’m guessing bodies and digs up the bodies that were buried at Mater’s place in Radiator Springs. And everyone is all rightfully horrified and just feels completely betrayed. Especially Lightning and Sally. Lightning because they have always been best friends and Sally because they were pretty close friends and it was implied that they slept with each other in the first movie, I’m not getting into that, but like those two are definitely dealing with this the worst.
There is another way that this could end. Holley ends up getting murdered. And the feeling of murdering someone so close to him kind of triggers something that’s kind of like “This is kind of fun” and he kills Lightning next. Then he kills the entire Radiator Springs town. This obviously gets out into regular media and it could either end with him being given the death sentence or him killing himself.
And finally which is arguably (definitely) best possible outcome of all of this is that Holley does fix Mater. He completely realizes that what he’s doing is wrong and just stops. Period. Actually they decide to go tell the other Radiator Springs townies about what was going on with Mater the whole time. However, Holley managed to hook him up with some government protection due to her being a spy, now no one in town can really report him to the police and Sheriff can’t do anything about it, either.
This means that everyone in town has to kind of live in this uneasy situation in which they’re all aware of what Mater had done, and none of them are entirely sure if they still trust him, and they all silently think of him as a monster, but they’re too scared to really talk about it. Because what if the government that Holley brought up it does something to them or would if the hateful words trigger something and Mater that brings the killing back? And what if he never really stopped and that he’s only lying so that Holley would stay with him?
At the end of the day I don’t think that meter is a serial killer in Canon and they also don’t think that he could ever actually kill. I just don’t think that he has, the capacity to do that, it is not in his blood, he biologically cannot do it. However, it is a pretty fun concept and I just really like it for some reason. Why I like it, I have no clue. I don’t like serial killers, I do not like horror, I just don’t like that kind of thing, so I have no idea why this concept intrigues me, but for some reason it’s interesting, and I’ve been thinking about it far more than I should be.
It’s finally here, you guys! After waiting for five and half years, we have a trailer for Frozen 2. And Disney certainly did not disappoint! A lot of things have already started circulating around here, and definitely a lot of points out there to give some thought, but for right now I intend to do a FULL breakdown of the trailer and give the initial thoughts I had when I first watched the trailer, expanding on certain thoughts or points, and including a few things I’ve seen and my take on them. So, get comfortable! This is going to be a lot. I don’t plan to go into TOO much detail with some things, as those will be saved for other later posts!
There is A LOT going on in the introduction/opening scene right off the bat. With Elsa looking out over a storming, raging sea and seemingly completely alone on a shoreline.
Now, I know many people have speculated that this could be her training and pushing herself, but my initial thought was: She’s trying to get somewhere/ to someone. And my thought on that still stands. The shore type is not at all anything we’ve seen in Arendelle. And, while yes, she could be somewhere else to do said training, I don’t believe she’d travel far enough for that sort of change to happen. Not to mention she seems rather ill-prepared for any sort of training, and not planning ahead is typically just not Elsa’s style.
And, seeing as she’s also with no one else on that shore, her goal being to get to someone (possibly Anna) to help them I feel is a more likely scenario. Now, the HOW and the WHY she’s there to begin with, not the slightest idea. Regardless, it’s clear she’s determined as all fuck to get through, and isn’t about to stop until she either gets where she needs to go, or dies trying. Although, even then, Elsa might not accept death as an option in the first place.
But, she’s definitely going through a process of trial and error. When climbing over the waves didn’t work, she went through it. And, when she was encountered a far larger wave, she tried going through it again, only this time with magic. Which, clearly didn’t work out.
I’ve seen a few people commenting on how it seems like her magic is weaker or not at it’s full potential as she could just ‘freeze the whole wave/ocean’. And, as a friend had pointed out to me, no. No, she couldn’t. Not because of a weakening of power, but rather simply a lack of power to go against the raw force of nature. Oceans during storms are insanely powerful, and how ice freezes on running water is FAR different than freezing calmer waters. But, its clear Elsa is sure as hell going to try to anyway.
The clip then cuts to Anna coming out to a balcony, in her nightgown, with…we’re going to call them Ice Floaties until further notice.
They seem to be almost literally everywhere. Outside, at least. And, just judging by the few near Anna, they don’t seem to be incredibly big. I can only guess what they are at this point, but they all seem to hold one of four symbols, which can be seen on the most recently released poster for the film.
My own thoughts were, if they do relate to the theme that seems to be continuing on in this trailer, they are referring to the elements; Air, Water, Earth and Fire. As to which is which, I couldn’t say. But, we’ve already been introduced to the water element from the very beginning, of course, being the storm and the ocean. We’ll touch upon the others as we go. Another small detail I noticed and thought was interesting is they seem to shimmer in a wave pattern, starting from the left side of the screen and moving across to the right side. Not sure if that’s anything important right now, or just the reflection of the moon, but I thought it was worth noting.
Next, of course, we get an awesome shot of Kristoff and Sven at the head of a reindeer herd. A true, valiant, pungent reindeer king. Now, from what we have seen, they do appear to be in whatever valley/new land/etc. the group seems to find themselves in. And, given that both of their expressions seem to be very similar/parallel to their expressions when they were retruning to Arendelle to help Anna at the climax of the first film, I can only imagine they’re again either racing towards something or someone important, or potentially charging towards an adversary. With a whole herd of reindeer to whoop ass.
There isn’t much more to take from this scene, however. The location itself isn’t ENTIRELY clear, and with no other context, it’s hard to take anything else away from it. Other than the fact that Kristoff seems to be sporting some sort of brown fur undershirt.
Once again cutting right on over to Anna! I’ve heard some people state she’s in a cave, but from what I can see here, I believe she might in fact be on a shore as well. The water on the left is far calmer than what we’ve seen, but the texture of the floor seems to be made up of those same rocks that we saw at the beginning. Which, if Elsa IS in fact trying to reach Anna, would make sense for her to be in a similar environment. I’m not sure what she’s currently holding in her hands but my guess would be a book, or perhaps the satchel she has in the next clip. Regardless of what it is, I believe inside it is what potentially could be what started this whole thing. Information, perhaps, they were either looking for or that they had used to bring them here in the first place.
Which brings us to Anna climbing up to a cave. Something I have found interesting at this point, is that with each of these clips, each of the characters have been shown alone. Whether it so happens to just be the shot angles or simply a brief moment where they are alone before another comes in, the fact that they are singled out and seemingly going against things on their own is rather interesting. Were the separated on purpose, or was it more a thing of bad luck that had they end up as they are?
It’s here, though, that I again bring up elements. As we saw with Elsa we had water, and here, we have Anna climbing a mountain, or as one could look at it, overcoming earth. A trail again made of an elemental force. It could be I’m reading too far into this idea, but worth prodding at every possibility. But, again, we have Anna still just as determined as the others to accomplish her task. And, I now also have to wonder the urgency of all that is happening, and what would have prompted this to begin with.
We now turn to yet another example of an element. Although, it’s clear this fire is no regular fire. Not just by it’s bright shade of pink and purple, but from the fact that it completely negates Elsa’s powers. The moment her ice touches that barrier of fire it melts, it evaporates. Which, at that current time and era, could not simply come from any fire. Which has me wonder further if perhaps there are other people who posses the ability to control certain elements. Which, if the themeing is truly a hint to us, is a strong possibility.
Especially when taking this scene into consideration, where air/wind seems to make a direct path to this boy and tosses him up into the air. Not much more to say on that aspect as now all four elements have been shown in one way or another in the trailer, but who the hell are these kids?
Is this a flashback for someone? Are these perhaps kids who are related to, or at least companions to other elementals? Are they perhaps just kids that happen to run into the group during their travelling? WHOMST?! That said, they are definitely kids. If anything, they seem to both be around the age of 14-17, so I don’t believe it’ll be anyone we know, nor will be related to anyone we know.
And then we have this beautiful scene. From their expressions and where they stand, my guess is this is the first time they may be looking over what they have to cross in order to get to whatever destination they’re aiming for. A look of amazement, and perhaps shock from Elsa, and something more of a determined, stoic expression from both Anna and Kristoff. We see Olaf with them here as well, which, given that we’ve only seen him twice in the trailer, there’s a nice question of where the hell is he during everything else? We see him only with Elsa in the fire, and no where else. Did he get taken? Did something else happen to him? Istfg Disney, if you melt this snowman there will be cONSEQUENCES!
Then, of course, we have this ending gem. Again, we don’t see Olaf, and oddly enough we seen nothing of Sven either. Are they perhaps together, then? Those two separate from these three? Or, perhaps are they just trotting up ahead before Anna happens to see…whatever is behind them. I don’t have much more thought on what it could possibly be, though. I know some have thrown around the idea that it could be Hans, but the only thing I could think of if it is him, is that he happened to follow them and is there to ‘offer’ his help. Not that I believe any would be very trusting nor excited for his ‘help’. But, who knows. What Anna is striking out at is as good a guess as anyone’s.
So, there are my overall general thoughts and wonderings on the trailer! As I said, I won’t go too into depth as of now with all points, but I wanted to get my thoughts out. Send an ask or reply, or even a reblog if you’d like to add anything or if I perhaps missed something! Thank you for taking the time to read this monster post, though! Stay lovely, snowflakes. <3
“Crap! Sorry about that! Wasn’t looking where I was going. Here, I’ll get you a new jacket…”
“Need a ride?”
“How are you?”
“Seems like we’re gonna be stuck on this train for an extra three hours.”
“What’s your name?”
“Thank you.”
“You just saved my life!”
“Move the fuck out of my way.”
“Watch where you’re going!”
“Asshole.”
“Would you like anything?”
“You’re gorgeous.”
“Do I know you?”
“Uh, that’s my spot.”
“Oh, God, sorry! Let me buy you a new one.”
“Is that your dog? He is so CUTE!”
“Here, take my seat. You look tired.”
“Checking in?”
“Can I sit here?”
“May I buy you a drink?”
“I can spot you, if you want.”
“How’d you even get stuck in a locker, anyway?”
“Can you turn it down?! Some of us are trying to sleep!”
“Hi, I’m your new roommate.”
“I think I found your dog. Is he yours?”
“You look cold, take my jacket.”
“Hey, I think the mailman gave me your mail by mistake? [Name], right?”
“You’ve had a guy/girl over every night this week! And you’re really loud when you play video games! You know how I know? I know because I live below you!”
“So, your kid apparently punched my kid in the face.”
“Bride or groom?”
“Can you switch seats with me? I can’t see!”
“Okay, look, if you’re gonna be airsick, aim the other way.”
“[Sir/Ma'am], if you don’t stop being rude to me, I’m going to give you decaf.”
“Don’t drink that! I saw some guy slip something in there.”
“Hey, is he bothering you?”
“Don’t give up your day job.”
“…Dude, your fly’s down.”
“I think you have the wrong number.”
“I’m [muse’s child]’s teacher.”
“[Muse’s child/younger sibling] was in my yard again!”
“Get out of here! This is my hiding spot!”
“YOUR STUPID MUTT RIPPED UP MY YARD AGAIN!”
“SHUT UP. And learn to stay on key.”
“Good Evening/Afternoon/Morning/Day/Night.”
“Watch where you’re going!”
“Is this seat taken?”
“Here you dropped this.”
“You remind me of someone.”
“Will you be taking this?”
“May I take your order?”
“How are you?”
“You look familiar, have we met before?”
“Be careful next time.”
“Hey, could you help me?”
“Help me!”
“I’m so sorry!”
“Are you alright?!”
“I know we’ve never met, but I think you’re beautiful.”
“I think I may have seen you before…”
“Hey! Watch it!”
“Oh my god are you okay?”
“Have we met…?”
“Were you at that one party?”
“Remember me?”
“I know you don’t know me but I love your shirt.”
“Quick, pretend to look like you’re talking to me.”
“Hey, is that your dog?”
“Service takes forever here.”
“Don’t mean to sound cliche, but do you come here often?”
Be angry about the use of white sage. Be angry about the racism. Be angry about capitalism. Be furious. But don’t be angry about new witches finding the craft. If someone finds this community through that awful kit just welcome them with love and begin to educate them.
let me say just a few things ooc– as a hedge/kitchen witch. yes, be furious that this is (and has been for a while now under other venues) happening; yes, be furious that the increased harvesting of white sage is having a real effect on first nations rituals; do all of that, but more than anything be concerned. if you hear that someone owns one of these kits, see that they’re educated and given every appropriate resource available. encourage them to return that kit and go about exploring witchcraft in a safe, healthy way by talking to older, more experienced practitioners (find a circle, even. we’re everywhere and we have meetings just like weekly knitting circles and book clubs do).
please be aware that witchcraft is notthe same as wiccanism, neopaganism, or satanism.witchesare not wiccans(wicca is a religion which started as a cult in the 1950′s, originated by gerald gardner and aleister crowley). witchery is nota religion (it can go hand in hand with religions of any type or even with no religion at all); rather, it is a form of spirituality and practical manipulation of the surrounding environment (energy can be included). be sure those whom you have the chance to educate understand not only this, but they’re made aware handling items infused with energy (magic, high frequency vibrating atoms, however you choose to describe it) can have drastic, dire consequences if done from a place of ignorance. i bought a rose quartz crystal in a department store once and the energy it had absorbed (rose quartz absorbs negative energy, even if it dispenses it out at a much lesser frequency) was so strong, it almost burned a scar my chest until i cleansed it twice and even then it was still difficult to handle.
items of power, like the ones in this ‘witch kit’ house energy and have already been handled by numerous hands with many different intentions (conscious or unconscious) before coming to their buyer.
it’s the same as taking home an ouija board and messing around with it– channels can be opened for anything interested. what’s attracted generally isn’t bad persay, but the possibility is always there. be aware. know methods of cleansing and protection. gobble up books and ask questions. dust your windowsills with rosemary, burn greensage from safe and protected sources, work with whatever friendly deities or energies you choose, but be aware.
this isn’t a cute aesthetic, it isn’t trendy, it isn’t pretend, and it’s not a game. i’m not angry, because of consumerism; i’m angry, because someone could get hurt.
please feel free to reblog. the more ‘on trend’ this phenomenon becomes, the more important it is that people are educated to the fullest extent.
Honestly. The Audacity. The Gall. Fernando’s effort to manhandle her into taking a smaller cut than agreed upon with the use of his physically imposing henchmen was disrespectful. If there was one thing Selina despised, one thing that might unexpectedly undermine the carefully cultivated self assuredness and nonchalant manner she harnessed as well as her leather whip, it was any implication that she was easily intimidated. That, despite her line of work, she did not deserve fair remuneration for her degree of expertise and her deft management of potentially dangerous circumstances. While she expected very little from seedy alliances with even seedier sub level criminals, she was anything but.
The Cat was exceedingly prideful of the abilities she had worked so diligently to attain. Years of commitment were required to refine her unique set of capabilities. To master the artistry of stealth, to train herself in an style of combat uniquely her own, to perfect the finesse of penetrating even the most formidable semblances of defense and fleeing without a trace. She wasn’t some petty thief, she was renowned. A fierce adversary. A Napoleon of indiscretions. The feline fatale. Her hubris just might have been a worse vice than her sticky fingers; call it a character defect, but damned if her arrogance wasn’t deserved. She clawed her to the top of merciless crooked food chain in order to secure her acclaimed reputation, and she’d be damned if she allowed the likes of this man to have the upper hand.
Or some tiny Van Damme wannabe.
It was the tone for her, the underlying adversity and undeserved notes of authority. Selina huffed out a hollow chuckle, languidly rising from the position she held pinning one of Fernando’s thugs to the concrete. Although they were around the same height, the feline approached the brunette with the cocksure swagger of someone double in stature. Hands plunging leisurely into the deep pockets of her jacket and her cheeks flushed with a provocative simper. Now that she was well within range, possibly uncomfortable close, she finally recognized the woman. Red’s pet nurse. Mingling with the likes of amped up brawlers in the seedier side of town. How scandalous.
“Or what?” she challenged right back, inching her face closer until their breathes were practically mingling. “You going to make me?” her voice breathed out in a purr. “Mind your business” She wasn’t leaving here until she got her full payout, even if it meant Fernando would leave the altercation with a few broken bones. “I’d be careful Selina, bay-bee, this little firecrackerhasspark,” the man in question taunted with a bit more nonchalance than Selina cared for, appearing far too at ease concealing himself behind his hired goons and this unwelcome third party. “You’re double crossing the wrong cat, Nando,” she cautioned, without breaking eye contact with the woman. “But, if you’d rather go through the whole face stomping, bone crushing routine so be it,” Selina could see the meaty fist barrell towards her at Fernando’s command out of her peripherals, angling around the back of Rory’s head.
She made a point of ramming her shoulder into the brunettes at the last possible moment, knocking her out of the line of the assault and then evading the strike with an easy backwards bend. The steel toe of her combat boots swung forward, delivering an effective kick to his crotch. She flashed an arrogant grin at how quickly he slumped in pain. “Your reflexes are a little slowthere,Bubbles,” she drawled at the brunette, tone dripping in mockery. “You haven’t learned how to dodge a punch yet? Guess all those flimsy muscles are just for show huh?” deciding she was finished with the interaction, she shifted her concentration back to Fernando, only to find her way barred by yet another burly henchman.
With a sigh, and her hands still comfortably tucked in her jacket pocket, she dodged a flurry of sloppy attacks. With each swing of his fists, she ducked or bent out of the way and inched a little closer to the fighting cages. So typical of the brainless lackey mentality, believing that strength alone was sufficient to win a confrontation. Selina was far from a frail creature, and what she lacked in assumed physical strength, she made up for with unparalleled agility, mobility, and the cat-like reflexes of which she derived her moniker. When her back came into contact with the metal bars, she withdrew her hands, elevating them to the bars above and effortlessly propelling herself into the air, kicking the brute within the cage using the momentum created by his own imbalanced weight.
She tilted her head at Rory through the gap created in the crowd and offered a sarcastic smile. “There, happy?”
rory eyes drifted from the cocksure saunter, taking her in at languid if only to emanate that she didn’t feel the level of threat the cat tried to convey. she finally dragged her eyes to meet her narrowed molten browns, lips twisted into a disapproving leer. she didn’t acknowledge fernando’s praise - she wasn’t sure if it was praise of a taunt to try and get selina to take a swing at her. rory wasn’t confident that the cat would give her so much the benefit for pamela’s sake, but she knew anything from the infamy that carried over all the way from gotham was that selina kyle was not easily taunted - far from an idiot. so the man’s words didn’t sway her in the lightest.
she thought for a moment her assessment of the situation had been miscalculated when selina’s posture shifted and she looked like she was charging at her, until she realized rory’s head had been perfect situated to catch the ricochet of the henchman’s punch that was intended for selina. she staggered to the side, her body already protesting - she’d been done with the fighting for the night but it seemed like the fighting was not done with her. she was still struck by how fast the situation unfolded that she didn’t catch much of selina’s taunt besides the juvenile nickname she attributed to her. sandpaper against the back of her throat, that was how she could describe her mounting irritation at the situation she found herself in. this was herplace, and selina was ruining it.
rory’s lips fell slack when selina discarded her interest in rory’s presence and focused on fernando’s never ending tap of henchmen steadily trying to take down selina. she had to school her face against the clearly impressed glower at the maneuver selina implied to get intothe cage, before she rolled her eyes at the saccharine smile shot her way. rory thought she’d disentangled herself from the situation – or at least made it less problematic by steering the fight into the cage. none of her business, the situation screamed, but it grated her the wrong seeing the woman, no matter how proficient, trapped in a cage with a man twice her size.
it seemed fernando must have noticed that rory wasn’t about to let it go either, and with a subtle jerk of his head, rory felt a meaty grip on the top of her arm as one of the henchmen marched her into the cage, nearly tossing her into the opposite end had she not braced herself against the bars and whipped around with a sneer hot on her lips, “are you shitting me?” she snipped - indignant at being lugged into the same faction as selina, somehow,but there was no time to dwell on their alignments as two more body guards marched into the cage. six people in close quarters. they didn’t realize it yet, but they were at a severe disadvantage.
“okay,” she exhaled, stepping back to fall in line with selina as she wicked the sweat matted hairs out of her forehead, “let’s see if your bite’s just as infuriating as your hiss.” rory staved off any unsavory commentary; she was too spent to come up with witty comebacks, and she was not interested in revealing that she had powers at this particular moment. maybe she’d channel a little strength, a little, but that was it. rory’s set gaze in a menace as she turned her head, intimidating pops from the base of her skull. filling the anticipated eyes of the storm, before she gestured for one the henchmen to charge at her with a presumptuous come hither motion, immediately ducking underneath his charge as her fingers grasped fabric of his shirt. it ripped, and rory was quick to twisted the sweaty fabric into a make-shift garrote, wrapped tightly around knuckles as she looped it over his neck and turned her entire body to pull her arms over her head, cut off his circulation until he no longer resisted against her pull, and she finally stepped aside to throw his limp body to the ground while unfurling the garrote from around his neck.
meaty arms seized her arms against her torso as they encircled her tightly and lifted her off the ground. she saw the bars barreling closer faster than she would have like, and she lifted her legs to stave off the impact, felt it painfully in her old injured leg. rory swung her legs for momentum, “some help would be appreciated!” she finally relented as she called over for selina, knowing full well her wriggling would do very little break her free.
Kate’s suspect bolted from the small crowd of hooded reprobates he’d trekked half way through the Industrial District to meet the minute he saw the silhouette of the pointed cowl on the rooftop above. Into the black heavens, upon this clear night, came the grace of the white-gold moon. Illuminating her ominous physique before her crimson cape was flung into the night breeze. He had fled across the road before Kate could land on the sidewalk and pursue without regard for the traffic that screeched, swerved and honked around him. Kate figured he must have considered himself impossible to catch, but little did he know even if she hadn’t been able to effortlessly match his pace the tracking device pinned to his tattered jacket would have been easy to track. Kate felt just as comfortable maneuvering the concrete jungle of brick and glass as he, only faltering when he ducked around an abandoned warehouse and seemingly vanished as she turned the corner.
Gloved fingers curled into a fist, Kate scanned for movement. Between the structures the wind had died down, litter and debris ceasing to rustle, even the rumble of traffic was absent. All she had to do was listen. In those frozen seconds Kate detected the crunch of glass under boot, just enough to give her the location of her quarry. “Gotcha,” she confidently called out, startling him out of his makeshift hiding place and sending him sprinting off once again. “I can do this all night!” Kate was hot on his heels, letting out a caustic chortle when he abruptly parkoured himself up a dilapidated fire escape. Perhaps hoping changing altitude would shake her. Without breaking a sweat, she yanked her grapple gun loose and fired it into the air. The wire thrusting her towards the building ledge. Her suspect could only curse as she rose to her feet and rushed onward. Two pairs of footfalls raced along the concrete, one ahead of the other by a few meters and the other catching up at an increasingly brisk rate. While the red boots advanced ahead, their firm soles deftly striking the pavement, the Scarlet Knight made no noise save for the tiny spurts of air escaping her lungs. On the other hand, her adversary was unable to quell the echo of their own footsteps rebounding from the abandoned rooftops. Announcing their pursuit to anybody within a few hundred metre radius. Each step brought a sharp octave closer to Kate’s ears, sounding very raucous, like the booming heartbeat of a condemned prisoner. The gap in his rapid stride, visible in their irregular motions, alerted her they were losing stamina. In contrast to the caped crusader, who was seizing the opportunity and rapidly reducing the gap between them.
Finally fate tipped the balance in Batwoman’s favor, her mark coming to a screeching halt when he discovered there were no more buildings to volley across save for a glass-roofed warehouse erected at an unequal distance below. “Huh,” Kate’s voice came in mock curiosity, her arms folded over her front and her lips curved in triumph. He turned to face her with a gulp and a quiver. “It looks like you’re at the end of the line. Unless you think you can survive that jump” He cast a backward glance behind him, as if pondering it, and mentally assessed the chance he would land without lasting injury. “Please, be my guest” Release a string of curses he held his hands up in surrender. “Look man, I didn’t doanything,” was his feeble defense. “I just took the money and followed instructions, that’s it. I had no idea what they had planned” The Bat allowed him to stammer out his position while she straightened her slim figure, feigning slight exacerbation. “I’m not a man,” she answered in a monotonous tone. Recognizing his efforts were useless, he swiftly changed tactics.
“Fuck you, I’m not afraid of you okay” a smirk was Kate’s only response. “The people I work for are a lot more powerful than you, lady. With more resources than you can even imagine, your just a fucking ant beneath their boot” An expression of utter boredom on her face, Kate raised her grappling gun, finger hovering over the trigger. “Feel better now that you got that off your chest?” she was met with silence which suited her just fine, it was time to get the pleasantries out of the way. “You get one, and I mean one, chance to tell me the identities of these ‘big and powerful’ schmucks you work for or you’re taking a dive” another beat of silence as he debated weather the force of this present threat outweigh the consequences he was sure to face if he revealed anything. ”Suck my dick, bitch,“ he should have known. He really should have known that the moment those words left his mouth his fate was sealed.
Kate paused for a fraction of a second, staring right into his beady eyes before snapping her head forward and ramming her forehead into the bridge of his nose. On contact, there was a distinct crunching sound followed by a torrent of blood spurting from his nostrils. His shout of surprise soon turned into a gurgle as he cupped both hands over his face and stumbled backwards….right over the building ledge. Just before his body disappeared over the edge, she fired her grappling gun at his ankle. The wire wrapping securely around the appendage to ensure while he certainly was going to take a painful plunge through the glass roof below he would stop short of the fatal impact of the warehouse floor. She listened to his frightened shouts for a moment longer before stepping off the ledge herself, letting her cape flow out and lessen the speed of her fall. She landed with a flourish, temporarily oblivious of the warehouse’s other inhabitants. WIth a grin, she looked up at her dangling suspect who had evidently passed out from fear.
Kate’s smile faded when she turned to find several pairs of eyes fixed on her in various stages of shock. She blinked back with just as much confusion, quickly taking in the scene before her. A few men slumped against the ground scattered through the warehouse but just as many advancing towards a smaller figure in leathers. Another vigilante. Vaguely familiar by the glow of her gaze and the batons she welded. “Conduit…right?” she addressed the vigilante, casually, as if there weren’t a room full of opponents in front of her. Regardless of her lack of knowledge of what was transpiring she recognized a fellow hero in need. “Am I interrupting something?” tilting her head, she lifted a finger to count the number of men between Conduit and herself. “Six against two” she confirmed, raising her hands to her face confidently. “I like those odds” her gaze locked with Conduits with a brief nod before she was charging forward.
the sound of the glass shattering was sandpaper on the back of her neck, setting her senses aflame as the rush of adrenaline renewed her vigor. she watched a body bounce aimlessly, barely missing the floor as he swayed like a limp yoyo – what the hell? the intruder had caught not just her attention, but the attention of her assailant as well. thought that wasn’t justit. it was the shadow tinged with crimson sweeping into the warehouse like a bird, or a bat.she recognized the form before even seeing the insigne across her chest.
conduit reared against the building tension, the imminent fight building like a tsunami wave pulling back the shoreline. batwoman kept it light, shattering the trembling hesitance rory felt mount her chance meanwhile she saw it clamber up in the tremors and uneasy shuffle of their feet against the ground. still a little awestruck at the cinematic entrance, conduit finally shook it off when she exchanged knowing approval with the bat, and she brewed a hearty charge within her fingers to send the man at her far right sailing into the end of the warehouse.
with a tightened grip on her baton and only two of her own share left, rory weighed her option before decided she would take speed over safety, and just get it over with already. she could feel one of the men fast approaching behind her as she focused her barrage of hand-to-hand on the one in front of her. her knuckles and knees protested, the most blunt tools at her disposal. “stay down!”the frustrated yowl was quickly interrupted with a huff as she knocked the toe of her shoe into his temple, and almost winced at how painfully his brain must have rattled inside that skull of his. she hoped for a moment’s reprieve, but the yank on her hair shattered the swell of it as her body collided with ground. speed versus safety. always pick safety.
she felt the steel-toe of his boot dig into her side as she clambered to her hands and knees, nearly knocking the air and the patienceout of her. to hell with holding back, she whipped her head up with a flurry of energy radiating off her like solar flares, thrusting a more-than-average charge his way, and watched the energy singe his clothes and possibly leave some burns on his chest as he flew across the warehouse, finally subdued. “and that’s three…” conduit breathed out as she plopped onto her butt, a small groan escaping her lips as she resisted the urge to lay back down. she cradled her aching side as she felt the warmth dribble over her top lip – nosebleed, great.she knew what that meant. that chances of her passing out any second now were too high for her liking. her eyes closed as she slowed down her breathing, only brought back to alertness when she remembered.she wasn’t alone in the warehouse.
conduit’s eyes didn’t focus as fast as she wanted them as she searched for her fellow hero and her self-assigned bad guys for the night.
Communication, is the key that can make or break a friendship, a relationship, and an overall bond. So, let’s talk on the many things with communication.
Venting to friends
Some might have their bad days and need to vent it out to someone instead of putting it down on paper or notepad. Talking with a friend on the issue can help improve or resolve what is bothering you. But sometimes the person you may be reaching out might not be in the best mindset to help you out. Neither are mind readers when it comes to knowing how the other is doing, and with that, if one suddenly vents to the other with no warning, they may add onto the stress. One the other hand the one that may be listening to the other vent might not be prepared to deal with such things and would want to say that now is not the right time for them to hear things such as that. But when one drops it all with no warning, it leaves little room for the other to say they can’t help them for the time being as it might make the other more sad or upset.
This can and has ruined friendships. I’ve dealt with this and others have to. But the worst of it all is when the one venting to the other is older than the one listening to them. Teens have been vented to by adults on here which shouldn’t be happening a tall. A teen should not be the one to help resolve your problem. And while the other way around on this would make more sense, it still doesn’t mean the other has to listen to the other.
And while it may be easy for some to tell the other they can’t help or listen to them right now, there are those that struggle to say no to their friends.
The best way to resolve such issues is to communicate better in which the one that wants to vent should ask if the other is ok with letting them vent. This gives the other the chance to tell them if they are in a good mental condition or not for such things. Both parties need to make it clear if they can talk on what might be bothering the other before listening to them if they are well enough to. As how the world has been lately, it wouldn’t be hard to believe if everyone is in a down mood.
Issues in what a friend posted or said
A friend might have posted or said something that bothers you or upsets you. but you don’t want to confront them on it. But ultimately you have to reach out to them before it eats away at you and ultimately tears the friendship apart.
The best thing with this would be to reach out to them to ask about it. Do not see it as confronting them as it could be a mistake. Not everything that is said first is worded how they mean it to be. No one is perfect. There is no such thing as someone who is mistake-free. One mistake should not be the point tears everything apart. They might not realise what they said or did was harmful or upsetting, and once pointed out they can amend the mistake. If it becomes and ongoing issue or they never go about to change it then you let them know it’s time for the two of you to go your separate ways.
Dealing with one’s excitement
There can be a mutual that might be overexcited for a plot or thread which you aren’t too crazy over or isn’t going how you like. With this some have chosen to end the communication without warning which can upset the other as well as confuse them as they have no clue what they could have done wrong, which can ultimately discourage them or turn them away from wanting to talk on their plots or excitement with others. It’s something that can be harmful for a writer, more so is one goes along with what the other says but ultimately isn’t interested in how the other wants things to go.
Talk with them on it. Do not just cut communication out of the blue. If you don’t want things to go in that direction, tell them. It might hurt the other a bit but at least that way they can be open for changing things up that works in both your favours.
If there’s more that you feel that needs to be added feel free to add onto it!
