The Selection (Troyler AU)

♔Part LIII♔

So like apparently I still don't know how to connect story arcs whOOPS I guess this'll be a filler idk I'll try to plan this out via Solitaire before actually writing anything gtg

ALSO I JUST LEARNED HOW TO MAKE POLLS ON TWITTER YESTERDAY FEEL FREE TO SLAP ME

ALSO THE SECOND COVER WON

ALSO thank you for all of the nice comments last chapter I really appreciated them idk I guess it's weird writing something so lighthearted after so much darkness and angst but I liked it so thank you.

Now for the trigger warnings (not as bad as usual okay):

1) Homophobia/biphobia (beginning of chapter)
2) Homophobic/biphobic slurs (it's one line but still probably the most triggering thing here tbh)
3) Murder (again, one line, but you can't be too careful)

*** This is ALL at the beginning of the chapter, pretty much starting from the first line, but it doesn't last long. I'll give the warning for when it's over, but it's starts RIGHT AWAY.***

***I'll sum it up at the end in much vaguer terms for anyone who wants to skip***

Three Weeks Later

Tyler POV

It was days like this that I was reminded of how hard it would be to form a resistance against my father.

I was sitting in the same place I had many, many times before, my parents on either side, watching as yet another man was sentenced to death for being queer.  Like most times, I drowned out my father's hateful words, instead focusing on the man down in the pits, his face hardened, resolved.  They were always resolved, once they were in the pit.  They knew as well as everyone else did that they would not be escaping this time.

This man was a bit different than most of the others, though. When my father claimed that he was gay (in a much more discriminatory fashion that I'd like to block out) the man yelled out, "I'm bi you asshole!"

In any other situation, cutting of the King - let alone claiming that he was wrong - would've resulted in severe punishment. However, the man - a rusty-haired guy in his late twenties named Shane Dawson - had nothing to lose as it was. He was already on the rode to death, and according to his records, he had no family besides his mother, who was diagnosed with a chronic illness it was. He obviously knew this; and he obviously knew that no matter what, his fate wouldn't change.

My father just sneered maliciously at him. "A fag is a fag. You may as well be gay, for all that its worth."

And as usual, his fate didn't change. The guns still went off, and Mr. Dawson's voice now ceased to exist.

But I had to give him credit for holding on to his identity until the very end, even if it was the very thing that got him killed. I've seen very few do as much, in my time above the pit.

And then Commander Phil's words rang in my head, as the body was covered up and carried away.

" 'Not to mention that if any bi or pan people get killed, they'll just be written off as gay too.' "

I hadn't even thought about it, but he was right.  My father was terminating all queer sexualities, but when it came down to it, he was destroying them in different ways.  For gay people, he'd made a big enough deal out of it that no one could just forget it.  Not to mention, he'd alienated it enough to make it the black to his white.