I know we talk a lot about the literacy crisis and the horrible anti-intellectualism happening rn but I think we need to talk more about how much of an entitlement complex the stupidest among us have developed
I feel like simply calling JK Rowling a transphobe isn't strong enough anymore. Like. This is not your grandpa calling you by your deadname at a restaurant kind of transphobic. This is her wanting to eradicate all trans people (with an extra special hatred towards trans women specifically). This is her trying just that by personally funding transphobic hate groups with millions to push around laws in the UK. It is not hyperbolic to call her a dangerous, genocidal maniac.
It's not about cancelling a problematic writer. It's about literally trying to save lives by denying her as much money and power as possible.
My fic for the prompt "Creator's Choice!" can be found here! It is smut so please read the warnings. Also, I have never written smut before at all so do take that into consideration. Hope you enjoy! :)
Here is the link also: https://archiveofourown.org/works/88136791
One duffel bag sits next to Ashley at the end of the bed. It's half full with only the necessities. Leon left it unzipped, so she sees inside, on top of a folded sweater, a worn Polaroid taken when they were sixteen. Of all the photos he could take with him, she wonders why he picked this one. It was during their third date, and they had gone to a carnival in town. He'd been trying to take a photo of them together because he didn't want to ask someone else to do it. Just as he had pressed the shutter button, Ashley kissed his cheek. The photo captured his elated expression, and how his cheeks were the same color as her lip balm. Above them, the edge of a Ferris wheel could be seen.
Leon slips a notebook into the bag, covering up the photo. He zips it up. "Don't need much," he says. His hair's still damp from the shower, so it hangs over his eyes more. He hasn't tried to trim it in a while.
"But you got everything you need?" He's taking so little, significantly less than all the things they had taken with them from their hometown to Wrenwood. There are still a few boxes they haven't opened yet. Ashley's not sure they ever will.
"Think so." He sighs and stretches his arms over his head, the action lifting the hem of his shirt. A purple mark is near his navel. She's not much of a biter, but last night, she couldn't stop marking every inch of his skin. She sucked and bit him until the blood vessels were broken and his skin turned dark red. He joked that she was trying to eat him. Maybe she was. No one could take him or hurt him if he were inside her.
He'd probably let her. Ashley would let him do it to her.
She picks at a hole in the knee of her jeans, tugging it to make it bigger. He stands beside her, unmoving. The passive expression he wears says nothing about what he's thinking, but he must be tired. Ashley knows she is. All the sporadic crying and fucking that happened last night wore her out. The crying was mostly from her, but she did feel dampness on her shoulder when Leon rested his face on her. The fucking was equal.
It's not like I won't see him again. She's been telling herself that for almost a month. Leon has said some variation of it. It doesn't make it feel any less hollow. It doesn't change the fact that there's nothing she can do about it. He's being shipped off to some undisclosed location for an unknown period of time. He's off to become someone who should only exist in thrillers.
The bed dips as Leon shoves the bag aside and sits next to her. An arm slips along her frame, then both, and Ashley grasps his shoulders when he pulls her halfway onto his lap. She focuses on how warm he is and the faint cedar scent wafting from his skin. The shape of his muscles under her hands and the sound of his heartbeat. Everything that makes him Leon.
"It's not fair," she whispers. His head moves like he's acknowledging her, but he doesn't respond.
They had big dreams a month ago. They were going to make their new home uniquely theirs. Leon was going to fulfil his childhood wish of being an officer. They've been married for 3 years, but Ashley had thought they were starting to feel like a proper married couple. They were considering getting a dog, a cat, or both to complete their small family.
All that doesn't matter anymore. Leon's now caught up in the aftermath of an event that had nothing to do with him. As much as she wishes things were different, the outcome might have still been the same. Leon would have still gone out that night to Raccoon City, regardless of what Ashley did. That's how he is. He cares a lot, so he worries. He wants to help others and make things right.
It's part of the reason why she loves him so much. It's also why she worries about him. She worries that whatever the government is planning to do with him will change that part of him and more. He's already changed since that dreadful night, even if he doesn't think so.
He's told her what happened that night and the days following it, but there's a lot more he hasn't said. Whether it's because it's information he's been ordered not to confess, or it's too traumatic for him to recount, she's not certain.
Ashley kisses under his jaw, then reaches up to kiss the mole closer to his chin. This is not the life she thought they'd have. She's afraid of what will happen to him and them from here on out.
Yet, through all the uncertainty, this one thing she feels toward him won't ever change. She'll always feel it, no matter what happens.
"I'm proud of you."
Leon draws back, confused, and stares as if she's said something irreverent. She can sense that he wants to discredit it. He's probably thinking back to Raccoon City, how he left Ashley and how he's leaving her again, and wants to say he hasn't done anything to make anyone proud. His mouth draws into a tight line, then relaxes. It's not quite a smile, but he's accepting her words without rebuking them.
He lays a soft kiss on her forehead. "I hope I can keep making you proud," he says gently.
"I think you will." She has to be hopeful. "How much longer do we have left?"
"We got some time. They're sending someone to get me. They'll knock once they've arrived."
She pushes down the way her heart leaps and takes a deep breath. "Okay. Let's lie down till then."
They lie back on the mattress and tangle their limbs together. Their lips are close so they can breathe each other in. Leon's fingers trail up and down her spine. Ashley plays with his hair, twirling it around her fingers.
theartofmadeline
stormborns
jimmyeatworldofficial
