#got another hateful comment and was worried if others are being attacked too

[ponderingmoonlight]

Gojo going berserk after his wife got injured

Pairing: husband!Gojo x reader

Word Count: 1,5k

Warnings: slight injury, language, Gojo being really mad lol

Notes: My dearest @hitori979, this one is dedicated to you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me since day 0, always liking and commenting my brainrot. I hope you enjoy this fanfic as a little thank you from me 🤍 How other JJK men react when (y/n) gets hurt here Choso with injured (y/n) who has blood phobia here

„Do you really have to go, babe?“, Satoru’s oh so sweet voice mumbles against your neck.

You know exactly what he’s up to. Satoru always acts this way when you’re about to leave for a mission. How much he hates to see you walk through the door. While he’s fully aware of the fact that you’re a damn strong jujutsu sorcerer, he just dislikes the thought of you getting injured on some stupid mission. If he had it his way, you would stay at home, maybe teach here and there at Jujutsu High, but that’s it.

You are way too precious to risk your life on a mission.

“You know I have to. This is my job, remember? And I have to let you go every day, knowing that you’re not even paying attention. May I remind you that I haven’t been injured for over a year?”, you softly reply.

“That’s not true, I am paying attention!”

You raise your eyebrow demandingly by the way he ignored your last question.

“At least sometimes…Come on babe, this is not fair! Just because you haven’t been injured for some time doesn’t mean you won’t get injured today! Also, I wanted to spend the day with you!”, he complains, arms wrapped around your frame so tightly that it’s getting hard to breathe.

“You always want to spend the day with me. As much as I’d love to stay here, I have to go. Megumi will assist me.”

“I should assist you…”, he mumbles.

“They wouldn’t even send me, then”, you chuckle.

“Promise that you’ll text me, I already threatened Megumi to take care of you.”

“I will, darling. Now let me go or I’ll be late.”

With one last grumble and kiss, he finally lets go of you while you smile to yourself. God, how much you adore your husband. Even though it can be quite challenging from time to time, you admire the way he cares about you.

“I love you”, you shout before you close the door behind you.

“Love you too!”

-later-

“Don’t worry, one or two hours and we’ll be done with this”, you reassure Megumi who stands beside you.

“This doesn’t look good”, he comments.

Unfortunately, he’s right. You don’t know why there are so many curses around, but an uneasy feeling spreads in your guts. This isn’t the right place for a grade 2 sorcerer, let alone a first class student. Well, maybe even you…

“Try to stay behind me. This will get ugly”, you instruct Megumi when another wave of curses appears.

“Gojo-sensei will kill me if you get injured because of me.”

You wink at him while as you unsheathe your sword.

“Who said I will?”

Without wasting another precious minute you sprint forwards, eyes darting around the area. There are so many, way too fucking many, curses around here. This isn’t normal, something is very wrong here. But you don’t have time to think about it any further – Megumi’s and your life depend on your abilities.

You fight off more than 40 curses with ease, slashing your sword over and over. Fuck, this has no end. As soon as you exorcise one curse, two more appear on your sides and try to attack you. With every passing minute it becomes clearer and clearer to you that you won’t be able to complete this mission unscathed with Megumi alone.

“Here are many curses around, I can’t explain why though. It wouldn’t hurt to send some help”, you instruct into your headphone, fully aware of the fact that your husband is able to hear your decent cry for help as well and might freak out.

Where do all of these curses come from? This is a public place, it shouldn’t be possible for them to develop here this well. Expect this aren’t traditional curses…

“I won’t lie to you: Something’s off here. I’m not entirely sure if these are normal curses. Just stand your ground, I already informed the higher ups about this”, you inform Megumi with firm voice, fighting off a curse just before it is able to scratch your face open.

They come from all directions, almost absorbing you. Desperately you fight back with all your abilities, holding onto your sword so tight that your knuckles stand out white. You have to get through all of these curses, you have to find out why they’re here and why on earth so numerous.

But you can’t. Your thoughts wander to Satoru and his words this morning. He’ll definitely go insane when he hears about this. And for a moment, a wave of relief washes over you by that thought. Because this means he’ll come here and end this madness without Megumi getting hurt.

Megumi.

You almost miss the way a curse lunges from behind towards him while he’s busy fighting off three other ones at the same time. Instinctively you sprint forwards as fast as your feet carry you, breath going sharp and fast. No way in hell this thing will hurt Megumi. Not when you’re in charge.

“Bend over!”, you scream on top of your lungs, blade already on its way to cut through that curse.

But just before you hit it, its claws find their way into your face, scratching your forehead slightly before it falls to the ground lifelessly.

You hiss, a stinging pain crawling up your skin. But when you gently scan the spot with your fingertips, only a minor stain of blood shows itself. You let out your breath, relief flooding your body. This is nothing serious, nothing to worry about.

But before you sprint back in action, a reflex holds you back.

“Don’t move an inch, Megumi”, you warn the boy next to you.

In the split of a second, a wave of hollow purple rushes past your orbs, killing every curse on its way. You let out the breath you didn’t know you were holding, heartbeat picking up in an instant. It’s him. It has to be him.

“(y/n)!”, he cries out, large frame suddenly by your side.

“What is this?”, he hisses.

Frantically, his eyes scan your forehead, widen in blank horror.

“Oh, this? Just a minor wound, nothing to worry ab-“

“Nothing to worry about!? You promised to be careful, you promised not to get hurt!”, he literally scolds you while his fingertips inspect your wound.

“Stop that”, you warn him, slapping his hand away.

“I did the best I could but they were just too many. And there are always more to come, look.”

Not even a minute later, dozens of new curses begin to flood the streets.

“We need to get back to work!”

“No”, he interrupts you roughly.

“Not you, you’ll stay here.”

You can’t believe your ears, mouth too stunned to speak for a second. He can’t be serious, right? This is your mission. You won’t give up because a small wound on your forehead that isn’t even bleeding severely.

“This is my mission, Satoru. I will help you exorcising these curses”, you state in all seriousness.

“Oh yeah? Watch me, then.”

You aren’t able to react any further. With breathtaking speed, Satoru lunges from curse to curse, ripping their heads off in the most violent way you have ever seen while all you can do is stare at him in disbelief. Of course you always knew that your husband is not to be trifled with when it comes to his precious wife, but you’ve never thought that his concern would reach as far as him going berserk because of you.

Because of a minor laceration on your forehead.

It doesn’t even take him 30 seconds to kill all the curses entirely, leaving you completely speechless and a little dizzy. When he walks towards you, a maniac smile is plastered on his blood-covered face.

“No one is hurting my wife and gets away with it. Especially not some random curse”, he announces under his breath, gaze still stone cold.

“How are you feeling, love? Is your head doing okay? Did you get injured somewhere else?”

As soon as his eyes meet yours, they are filled with nothing but concern and love, making your heart skip a beat.

“N-No…I’m fine…”, you stutter while getting lost in his bright blue orbs all over again.

His hands roam around your body gently, gaze scanning every inch of you with that worried expression plastered on his face. Moments like these show you with all urgency how much you really mean to your husband.

“I will kill every single curse walking on this earth to save you, (y/n)”, he speaks out with low voice, lips hungrily brushing over yours so strongly expressed that you feel like fainting.

“I’m sorry you were worried”, you mumble against his mouth.

“You’ll never get hurt by a curse again. I’ll make sure of that.”

[lemotmo]

Some of them clearly got the point of Tim's call-out.

Q. What did you make of Tim's interview? I realize the bulk was Lonestar but the fandom stuff was interestingly phrased. The fact that so many people involved with the show, and now the showrunner himself, are openly discussing how bad things are cannot be a good sign. I know we had some fans who were saying we could 'bully' Tim and the show into giving us more Tommy but I think that was a massive mistake in hindsight. I think certain people got carried away and went way too far. Weather their intentions were ever bad or not I just think some people took the bullying idea too far. I'm a little worried we may not see Tommy at all now.

A. The bullying idea was always going to be a massive mistake. Normally you can take Tim's interviews with a bit of 'lol, why is he so dramatic' because he's not immune to getting his feelings hurt, and using his interviews to tell people that. In this case though it was definitely a direct callout. I have been here from the beginning and the show has never experienced anything close to what they have experienced this off-season. It's one thing to root for a particular show ship it's another thing entirely to openly send, and openly encourage others, to send hate to the cast and creators of a show. Then those same fans dragged the lighting director, director of photography, show directors and professional media members who have covered the show for years into their bullying game as well. It was insane, pathetically immature behavior. At times it was also incredibly disturbing. And every single bit of it can be traced back to the cameo videos. The second the storyline they were paying to be told didn't match the storyline we were actually watching they revolted.

And unfortunately because I think Tim, and ABC, just didn't think they were anything worth paying attention to initially, he was allowed to do them way too long. The more he did the more obsessed with him that particular group of people became. This has nothing to do with 911. Those people aren't at all interested in 911. Their entire interest is Lou and Lou alone. It's a small group of people. A small sick group of people who created a bunch of separate accounts in order to appear to be more people than they actually are (and they were stupid enough to openly admit that is what they did). Then that small group of people got together and from every single one of their many accounts they attacked as a group. They started with Oliver. They pointed out that Oliver wasn't interacting with Lou or engaging with any of them, or B/T content, and decided, at least initially, that he was solely to blame for B/T not getting the attention they thought it deserved, again the Buck part they don't care about. They were upset that they weren't seeing more of Tommy and they blamed Oliver for that. Suddenly Oliver was being tagged in posts that were calling him unprofessional, immature, bratty, selfish, and because of course, homophobic (they're really not a bright group of people). However instead of taking their bait and engaging with them, Oliver, rightly, blocked them. Meaning they needed a new target. Briefly it became Tim because their moronic leader screenshot a message she sent him that he, stupidly, responded to. She took that and spun and ENTIRE relationship theory and spread it through her many accounts. Tim then admitted in another comment that he actually didn't know what she was talking about but didn't want to be rude by continuing to ignore her so he responded to her. He then said that was a mistake and he wouldn't be responding to anything else. And he hasn't (she should be very embarrassed by his interview today because he may as well have used her name). And the show also continued to not align with her/their theory and they got more upset. Then found a new target.

Throughout the season Oliver did what Oliver has always done. Oliver posted, liked and promoted Eddie/Buddie/Buckley Diaz family content. He has always done this. This was nothing new. But it infuriated Lou's fans and they turned their anger on Ryan. Suddenly Eddie was the worst character in the history of television. He was an abuser (to Buck especially), he was a user (of Buck especially). He was a terrible friend (to Buck especially). Depending on the day he was either a deadbeat dad or obsessed with his kid in an unhealthy way (they couldn't ever really decide which way to go on this one. That opinion was dependent on how the poster felt about Chris). When that attack didn't really get the attention they were begging for, they changed direction and made it personal. Post after post, that Ryan was always tagged in, calling him racist, a deadbeat dad, an asshole, unprofessional, manipulative and controlling of Oliver (wtf, god they really are a stupid group of people), a whore (I actually read that one myself, it was a trip), a terrible actor that only has a job because Tim thinks he's hot. And so on and so on. At first Tommy didn't kiss Eddie because Ryan is homophobic and refused to do the storyline, then Tim, very publicly, corrected that lie so Lou's fans had to pivot and said Lou actually refused to do the Eddie storyline because he knows Ryan isn't a good guy ( a special kind of crazy that makes me need to drink ). Then they sunk to their sickest, lowest, most pathetic, vile, disturbing, and inexcusable moment. Ryan did a podcast where he discussed his past mental health struggles and suicidal thoughts. They went into the comments on the podcast and told Ryan that they wish he had committed suicide. That if he had killed himself then Tommy could have his screen time and they wouldn't have to see Buck have scenes with Eddie. Not only did they leave those comments (the podcast has since deleted most of them, thankfully), they sent similar messages directly to Ryan on Instagram. Knowing he would see them. It was appalling and very, very disturbing. The cameo videos ended fairly shortly after. These people are sick. They get zero sympathy or understanding from me. It's a fucking television show. Tommy is not a real person. Ryan is a real person.

As for maybe not seeing Tommy at all, I would imagine conversations have certainly taken place. He was never sticking around permanently. The conversations most likely involved deciding if they needed him at all, and if they did, how many actual scenes did they need him for. I don't work on the show, but if they decided he wasn't necessary to the storyline, and they could get away with his stuff happening off screen I would imagine he's been dismissed. They probably decided they needed him at least for a few scenes though. Unless other things happened behind the scenes we're not aware of he will be around the first few episodes at least and then and probably no more. He can take his tiny army with him when he leaves. No one will miss them.

Okay, just ... yeah, all of this. It's crazy how these people did all of these horrible things in the name of... a ship? I mean, what?

I've been in fandom for a very long time and I have been shipping characters for a very long time, but I've never seen behaviour like this. Behaviour where people think they are justified to bully, harass and vilify the actors playing a character on a TV-show. To the point where they get blocked by the actors and crew.

I don't understand what would drive someone to do that? I genuinly don't.

These are the kind of people that need to put down their phones forever, go outside and touch all the grass they can touch. After that they should never watch 911 again. If you don't like something, just walk away. I have done that before. Shows don't always go where a fan wants it to go.

Look. I want Buddie. You all know that. I'm 99% certain that we're getting Buddie in season 8. But, if it turns out we won't, which is always a possibility since I don't know what Tim is cooking up, I will be disappointed, but I won't start spewing hatred all over the place. I will just take a step back and focus on other things in life. I'll keep shipping Buddie and read fanfiction. I'll be fine here in my Buddie corner of the Internet with my Buddie mutuals.

So yeah, this is insane behaviour to me. I truly don't get it.

Thanks Nonny for dropping this in my inbox!

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting these anon OP updates instead of reblogging. Don't get mad at me. There is a reason for it and it's all done with consent from the OP. You can find out more about that here.

Remember, no hate in comments or reblogs. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of the anonymous OP’s posts, you can find all of their posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[httpscomexe]

Runaway

Summary: You’re a mutant, a hybrid actually, and hybrids are big in the market. So when the x-men find you, you’re considered a priority.

(Find What I’m currently writing by checking my pinned post)

Parings: Logan Howlett x Hybrid!Reader

Warnings: Mutant trafficking, violence, descriptions of gore, kidnapping, death, blood, language, alcohol, some drug mention. (Individual warnings per chapter)

Word Count: 4125 (Find all chapters here) CH2

P.S. If you’d like to be tagged, ask in the comments, you also have permission to send an ask, but make sure it is NOT anonymous, so I know your username, don’t worry, I’m scared of confrontation too. But this is a SAFE SPACE where I will not judge. Thank you again.

“Hey. Come on out.”

You’ll never understand why everyone hated mutants. Everyone found them disgusting, revolting, a descendant of satan. It was bad, the way the world was turning out. They wanted mutants either murdered or locked up, as if you didn’t all have emotions just like every other being. You had them stronger, but we’ll get to that later.

You were scared to go into public, your trust for humankind growing thinner as every day passed by. You really thought they were all horrible. That was until you met the best human on the planet.

Matthew.

He was into the whole “you’re created the way you are for a reason,” and “All lives matter, even the mutants.” He even had a whole hippie van, a Volkswagen to be specific. Painted a sky blue with a little rainbow design on the front bumper to show he meant peace.

You occasionally go out with your friends, and they’d smoke week and drink whiskey while you stared into the fire. Only joining them when they “meditate to lift their spirits and become one with God.” Whatever that meant. But he didn’t want you to let them know you were a mutant. Apparently he didn’t want to cause a scene or make a big deal out of it. You found it sweet at first, but after a few months of it happening, you wanted it to stop. You wanted his friends to just accept you for the way you were. A mutant.

You weren’t a vicious mutant. You’d never hurt anybody in your life. Well. You have. On accident.

But he didn’t know about that. He knew you were an introverted mutant that wanted nothing to do with the world. Sometimes you’d want to just end your pain and misery, but that would only boost every human's ego, and kill the mutants.

You’ve thought about leaving without a word also, maybe even going to the ‘X Mansion’ at some point, but you weren’t sure that they would accept you.

You were more than a mutant, you’ve been told that enough times before.

You’re a freak.

You were born wrong.

Your parents knew you were going to be born a mutant. The tail and large ears on your scan showed that, but they still had you, even knowing you would be tortured the rest of your life.

You’ve been in and out of rings, forced to fight other mutants, but you’re always immediately bought by another rich fuck. Apparently your cute little deer tail and big ears were sexually arousing for them.

But you’ve gotten lucky, always being bought out by another rich old white dude who offered more money to the last.

You also got lucky when the last guy had a heart attack, old age got to him. So you got away, and you met Matthew.

Matthew.

He spoiled you. Buying everything you loved, and everything you showed him. He loved you. Adored you for who you are. You were happy. You really believed that not every human was bad, that maybe there were some good people in the world.

Money was more important to him in the end though.

When you told him you weren’t ready to have sex with him, he was more than just angry…

“You fucking bitch!” You scream as his hand collided with your cheek, the force sending you to the floor, landing hard on your ass, bending your little tuff of a tail. “After everything I’ve fucking done for you, you can’t even just fuck me once!?” He shouts down at you before grabbing your fluffy ear, pulling you back up to your feet. “Fuck it, you little fucking freak, I’m calling mutant control.” Tears were already streaming down your face, and you didn’t have it in you to bother crying for him not to call them, the line was already ringing on his phone, the sound was distant but yet it felt so loud in your ears as he explained that a mutant with a tail and large ears was in his apartment. Then you heard it.

“Oh good, someone finally found my doe…”

You’d recognise the voice from anywhere.

“I’ll offer you 32 million.”

Of course, he never got the money. Instead, he received a bullet to the head, and he got to be meat for some dogs. Part of you felt bad, but whatever.

That brought you to now though. Curled up in the back of a dog kennel, a red collar around your neck with a little taser on it if you didn’t behave.

“Hey, come on out.” The voice tells you. The man dressed in black had a large gun on him, the same one every other guy was wearing. “I said come out!” He raises his voice, and it startles you, making you basically lunge out of the cage and he quickly pulls you to your feet and shoves you forward.

It was feeding time. And of course, they made fun of you by throwing a large bowl of freshly picked greens in front of you on the table. AKA, grass from the front yard.

How funny.

So no, you haven’t eaten since you got there, about 5 days ago. But you weren’t the only mutant who was in the warehouse. There were about 15 others, each of them with unique abilities or as the humans would call them, “Deformations.”

There was a guy you got along with, his name was Peter. Or that was the name you gave him. His skin was scaly like a lizard, and his tongue was naturally split, his pupils horizontal. He was an animal mutant, just like you.

Alongside him were a few other mutants, one that spat fire, his tongue always taped shut. A girl that could see into people's minds, a blindfold on her eyes.

Everything that you were all born to do was restricted, your powers all held back.

“Eat you fucking animal.” The man nudges you with his gun, but you continue to slouch over, ignoring him. “I said fucking eat!” He smacks the side of your head, and tears threaten to fall. “Fuck it.” He mumbles, grabbing a handful of the grass, little pebbles of dirt still attached to it before attempting to shove it into your face, trying to force you to eat the fucking earth.

“Let, GO!” You shout, pushing him as hard as you could, then picking up the bowl and slamming it over his head. But just before he could knee you in the stomach…

“You fucking-“

“Hey, don’t hurt that one.” The Russian voice comes to the fucking rescue. Again.

He’s wearing the same robe, basically a KKK onesie with a red line down the middle, along with his stupid fucking hat that made him look like a pedophilic blinged out pastor. You were sure he wasn’t allowed near schools.

“This one is my prized possession.” He stops in front of you, and you swear he’s gained a few inches in height. You wouldn’t doubt he wore heels. “Isn’t she just adorable, so feisty for a little deer.” He chuckles, and you want to punch him, but you instead clench your fists at your sides. His hand reaches up to stroke your ear, something you’ve grown to hate. And after a moment, he tugs it, forcing you to your knees, ignoring your pained cry as he continues to hold your fluff tight in his fist. “Okay little girl, I’ve had just about enough of you… if you want to starve, then fucking starve…!” He growls, throwing you to the side, and not a moment passes before two large hands from different men are gripping your arms and taking you back to your room, quickly tossing you in your cage.

“What’s in here?” The voice sounded young, a woman. Not a voice you’ve ever heard before. But it startles you awake. “I don’t see anything.”

“Wait what’s that?” You sit up, pressing your back against the metal of the cage.

“Take the cover off.” Some footsteps approach your confinement, and your ears pin to the back of your head. If you were a dog, your tail would surely be tucked between your legs as a hang grips the plastic sheet covering your cage, and they move the cover away from the front of the kennel, slowly so as not to scare whatever was inside.

“Is there anything?” You scoot further to the back of the cage, not wanting anything to do with whoever it was, you couldn’t see any of their faces. The bright light behind them was only casting a silhouette in front of you. The one who opened the cage, a man, was huge. He was at least 6 feet, and his hair seemed to peek in two places like kitty ears.

“Yea, a hybrid.”

“A vicious kind?”

“I have no idea, you look.” He steps aside, and another person steps forward, a woman with red hair. “Hey there, we're not gonna hurt you.” She tells you, using a key to unlock your cage. But you still don’t trust it, moving further against the back of the cage, you were sure there would be lines on your back from the pattern of the cold metal. “Hey, hey, hey…” She speaks softly, trying to calm you, but you weren’t going to give in. Not again. “We’re here to help you…” She opens the cage door slowly, and gets onto her knees to appear smaller. But you don’t move, you only seem to compress yourself further against the grate, and you see her sigh. “Hey can you dim the lights so she can see us better Ororo?” She turns around, asking another woman about the lights, which she swiftly moves to adjust the lights. Now you could see all four of them clearly.

The girl in front of you had red hair, she was pretty, and she was wearing a blue and green suit. Ororo had white hair, along with a matching white suit. Then there was a man standing near her, also wearing some tight spandex looking suit, but he also had goggles on his eyes, it stood out at his other features. But then there was the larger man. His little cat ears were just his hair, combed to sit like ears.

“We’re mutants too…” She tells you, staring into your eyes. Your ears are still pinned to the back of your head, you didn’t care that they were mutants, you’ve been betrayed enough. “Sweetie, we need you to come out…” She holds her hand out, and you flinch, making her flinch also. She was scared of you too. “Logan, we’re gonna have to grab her.” What? You look around frantically, but of course, you didn’t have anything to use as a weapon.

The man you assume named Logan walks up to the cage as the orange haired girl backs away, then the other man with the goggles speaks.

“Wait.” Logan stops, turning around to look at him.

“What?”

“Maybe just back away from the cage, she might feel more comfortable that way.” He tells Logan, and you all watch as he slowly backs away, all of them creating some distance between the cage and their bodies, Ororo blocking the door in case you try running.

You hesitate at first, but you slowly move to all four, cautiously crawling out and your ears twitch slightly, listening for any sound of movement as your eyes dart back and forth between the group. As soon as you’re out of the cage, you begin to stand to your feet. You were smaller than them. Much smaller. But you’re smaller than everyone, you were an animal hybrid after all.

And you weren’t just a deer, you’re a fawn.

You look between them, and they can tell you’re still scared. Your ears weren’t as low as before, but your body still stood stiff.

“So you’re a deer hybrid?” The voice comes from your right, Ororo. She crosses her arms to appear less threatening before she takes two steps towards you. But you don’t back away, you only tilt your head curiously. “Are you able to speak? Can you understand us?” She stops about a foot from you, and you nod your head slightly, still not sure about them, but your trust was growing for Ororo. “What’s your name?”

“Who are you guys?” You finally whisper, your throat sore from not talking for too long.

“We’re X-men. We’re here to save you, and the other mutants in this warehouse. Have you heard of the X-Mansion?” You nod, and cross your arms over your chest. You’ve never bothered with the X-Mansion, always figured it was some sort of trap for mutants. Hell, the four people standing around you didn’t look like mutants.

You look around the room again, your eyes only stopping when they land on Logan. You recognize him now. He’s the Wolverine. And you weren’t sure why, but you seemed to be… attracted to him. Not romantically, but just attracted. You suddenly felt safe as you looked up at him, not even realising it when you took a few steps closer to him, your tail wagging just once, a natural indication that you were at ease, something of course that only deer do.

Apparently, you made it obvious that you felt safer around him. It wasn’t the tag wag, the ears coming up, or the way your pupils filled the entire shape of your eye when you were excited. It was clinging onto him suddenly. Throwing your arms around his waist and holding onto him like your life depended on it. Which honestly, I probably did.

He wasn’t excited for the mission, he wasn’t nervous for the mission. He just wanted to get the mission over with. Obviously, he cares about the people he saves, the mutants. He’s gone on hundreds of missions before, considering his age. So another rescue mission, only 15 mutants, was nothing big to him.

He got into his suit, pulling the yellow costume over his body until it settled nicely before working on his boots, lacing and tying them tight.

“Are you excited for the mission? I heard these mutants are a bit more unique.” Ororo asked him, crossing her arms and staring at him from the doorway as she leaned against the wall, watching as a puff of smoke leaves Logan's lips, the thick cig in his mouth about halfway done.

“You’re saying that like we're opening a pack of pokemon cards, Ororo.” His voice is gruffy. He had just woken up, being told he was replacing another person who wasn’t feeling well. He wasn’t up for it, but he didn’t have much of a choice.

“We basically are.” She shrugs, taking a step into his room, putting the pad of her index finger on one of the knife's Logan had displayed on his desk. “I mean we don’t know what kind of mutants were getting, but if we get one powerful enough, we use them in battle. One smart enough we use them in the mansion, one special enough…” She pauses, sighing slightly. “We don’t let them go.” She finishes with a smile, pulling her finger back, a spot of dust now lying on her dark skin. “So yea, we’re basically opening a card pack.”

“Well, hopefully the enemy doesn’t have a Mewtwo wrapped around their fingers.” He groans as he picks up a bag on his ground, tossing it into his bed before zipping it open and looking for his favourite dagger.

“You know Pokemon characters?”

“I’ve been alive for 200 years, of course I know a few.” He tells her, it felt like more of an admission though as he finds his favourite dagger. A silver one, adorned with yellow diamonds, an engraving of a Wolverine on one side of the blade, on the other side was a girl's name next to his, right after it the word ‘forever’ was carved into the silver. The sight made him sick, not out of disgust or anger, but out of sadness as he remembered the girl.

The love of his life.

She was gone. Another person he loved, that he let down that day…

“Hey, are you still there?” Ororo knocks on his skull like a door. “Where’d you- oh-” He shoves past her, not bothering to engage in conversation with her just yet.

The jet lands with a jolt, everyones body rocking slightly with the impact on the ground.

“We’re here!” Scotts voice announces from the front, shortly after, Jane is walking ahead of him and to the door of the jet where she puts in a code on the wall's keypad, unlocking the door which hums as it opens.

The smell wasn’t exactly what Logan had expected when the door opened to vast woods, some night animals scurrying away at the sight of the four mutants. He expected the smell of wood, leaves, maybe even some animal scat or death. But that’s not what he picks up at all, he finds something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

He can tell none of the others could smell it.

Animals. And not just any animals. There were lizards, birds and a few others. Most hybrids were reptiles or birds, the normal. Then there was something different. Some sort of… mammal. He’s never met another mammal.

They find the warehouse door, two men with large weapons standing at the entrance, cameras at every angle. He knew some of the cameras were props, only set up to scare people. Only one of the outside cameras actually worked, which made sneaking into the front entrance incredibly easy, the only obstacle being the two men.

Once they were in, the four of them searched the building.

“Hey! You’re not supposed to be in here!” A group of the men, all dressed in tactical gear we’re lined up with their guns pointed at the four of them.

“Give us the mutants, and we won’t have to kill you all.” Jean steps forward, Logan's claws extracted slightly, Scott begins reaching up, and Ororos fingers twitch. The mens guns lift slightly.

“This is your last warning, leave the building, or we will be forced to shoot!” He puts his hand up, fingers out and flat, telling his men not to shoot yet.

“Okay, you asked for this.” Was the only warning they receive before Jean throws all of them against the walls, some of the dropping their guns.

Scott lasers a few of them, taking his time as a few of them get punches to the throat, and Ororo creates a fog that blankets the entire room, hiding the real weapon.

Logan moves through the fog, slitting throats and cutting legs to make men fall to the ground. One of the men, a little harder to kill, manages to block one of Logan's punches, his claws becoming lodged inside of the man's forearms, emitting a loud scream from his throat as Logan attempts to pry his claws out of the man's arms, he keeps moving, also trying to pull away, which only made his pain worse. As the flesh in his arms turns to a thick jelly continues to move back and forth with the six claws, the metal begins sawing through the man's arms, the sound could only be described as a dull knife cutting through an orange with bones, blood splattering everywhere everytime the man would move, his vitality soaking the worn tactical jacket like a wet sponge, dripping down onto the floor and covering Logans white shirt with a crimson pulp, and it soaks into the concrete below them like rain. Then the man's limbs seem to disconnect, only held on by the thin of his skin and some severed flesh. The man screams with tormented pain, the fog seeming to move to his breath leaving his mouth as it swirls to the sound, to Logan's annoyance, he ends the man's screams with another claw to the throat, his body falling to the ground with a loud thump before Logans moves onto the next man, killing them all off until there was no one left.

“Are they all dead?” Ororo shouts as she dissipates the fog, leaving a humid scent to the air.

“I think so?” Logan answers, checking his shirt and grunting when he realises its soaked in blood, making the rotten liquid stick to his skin.

“Fuck Logan, think you over did it a little?” Scott motions his hands toward the floor, another man is sitting on his knees, seemingly attempting to scoop up his organs, intestines spilling out of his stomach like an overfilled spaghetti bowl.

“He’s fine.”

“He’s not gonna be fine.” The man continues to try holding in his organs and intestines, eventually falling onto his side, curling up and hugging his large intestine into his belly, as if it would help.

“Well now he’s not fine.” Logan growls, motioning his hand towards the man as his mouth drops open, allowing more blood to pool onto the floor, reddening the cold stone under him.

“Scott, you come with me, Ororo you search under those covers, Logan, you get the rooms.” Jean orders, even though Logan was in charge, but they all listen.

Logan goes from room to room, but has no luck in finding anything other than some classified papers that he puts his lighter to and some porno magazines in one office which he flips through a little before burning that too, watching as a models tits turn black before completely burning away, and he sighs heavily, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a thick cigar.

“Not in here Logan.” Ororo whispers, but speaks normally when she turns on the light in the room, and then she points to the back of the room where a large cage was placed in a corner. “What’s in here?” She asks him, wondering about the room a little.

“I don’t see anything.” He grunts as he stretches slightly, then the other two enter the room.

“Wait what’s that?” Ororo points to the corner of the room, and some movement could be heard from under the covers.

“Take the cover off.” Jean nods towards the cage. Logan walks towards it, his heavy boots thumping on the floor. His hand reaches for the cover, and he takes a big portion of it into his fist before slowly tearing it away, careful as not to scare whatever might be inside.

“Is there anything?” Scott takes a few steps towards him, Logan's eyes are trained on you. Just a girl, sitting in the cage, back pressed against the cold metal confinement. There’s more conversation, but you don’t listen to it. You were more focused on watching them, ready to fight if any of them lunged forward.

“Yea, a hybrid.” Logan speaks, looking down at the creature.

“A vicious kind?”

“I have no idea, you look.” He steps aside, letting Jean step in front of him to get a good look at it.

“Hey, hey, hey…” She reaches into her pocket, taking out a blood covered key that he assumes she found on a body. “We’re here to help you…” She tells the hybrid, her voice soft so she doesn’t startle it. “Hey can you dim the lights so she can see us better Ororo?” Ororo listens immediately, dimming the lights in the room, and Logan notices the way you squish yourself against the back of the cage. “Were mutants too sweetie, we need you to come out.” She held her hand out, hoping you would grab it, and as you flinched, Logan’s claws extract just slightly. “Logan, we’re gonna have to grab her.”

“Wait…” Scott warns.

“What?”

"Maybe just back away from the cage, she might feel more comfortable that way." They all exchange looks, but they listen, Logan backing away, but he’s ready to run if the girl starting running.

He watches as you crawl out, your large ears pinned back, your little tail tucked. A deer hybrid. He realises, his head tilting slightly.

He doesn’t listen to the rest of the conversation, only staring at you, scared, small. But he does notice the way you seem to only grow against him, occasionally taking a step back towards him, he could tell you were only comfortable because you recognized him.

And he loved it.

“Let’s get her out of here.” He tells the team, stopping whatever conversation they were having. “Before the enemy backup comes.” He huffs, then his arm gently wraps around you, but he leads you, letting the rest of the team walk ahead of the two of you while he holds onto you.

“You’ll be alright…”

[it-happened-one-fic]

Rivals - Jamil

Author Notes: This fic was almost wholly inspired by how annoyed I got with Jamil while doing those fights in the Ignihyde chapter where you don't get to select your cards and just have to deal with what the game hands you. He was awful in those. I've always sort of liked the idea of Jamil and the prefect snipping back and forth at one another, so this was sort of fun to write. As per usual, reader is gender-neutral. I hope you enjoy!

Type: Gender-neutral reader/ fluff/ flirtation (kinda?? I guess???)/ Reader and Jamil bicker/ Spoilers for Scarabia and Pomefiore chapters

Word count: 1807 words

You didn’t know exactly how you’d reached this point, but you were here now, and you certainly weren’t backing down.

The problem at hand was quite simple really, and it even had a name you could put to it.

Jamil. Jamil was the problem. Because at some point, the two of you had become rivals. 

Looking back, you were fairly certain it stemmed from the entire Scarabia incident during winter break. It was strange how you’d been able to forgive the other overblot victims for their crimes with only a few biting comments. But something about what Jamil had done had rubbed you the wrong way.

Oh, it was true; you completely understood his thinking and longing for recognition. And you even felt he deserved to be recognized for his many talents. 

But the fact that he, not anyone else, had been the one to drag you into that whole debacle was what really upset you. 

With all of the other overblots, it had been Crowley, your friends, or even your own feelings that had caused you to become embroiled in another dorm's drama.

But the situation with Scarabia, had been different. Jamil was the one who’d brought you to Scarabia and he was the reason you’d ended up involved.

Locked up, being worked to the bone, and eventually escaping before returning with help in the form of the Octatrio. It wasn’t an experience you would forget.

You had, to a degree, forgiven Jamil since it was true that he was dealing with years of stress and buried feelings. But you would always wonder what on earth had caused him to decide to hold you hostage when you wouldn’t have discovered his little plot if he hadn’t dragged you into the situation.

It made very little sense for such an otherwise intelligent young man to make such an obvious mistake. It was almost like he’d simply wanted you to be there for some unknown reason.

And now you’d reached this odd relationship with Jamil, filled with snide remarks and the determination to one-up each other.

If you had to put a name on your dynamic with Scarabia’s vice-housewarden, then ‘frenemies’ would be the closest thing to accuracy that you could think of. Because you didn’t hate Jamil, but you certainly did bicker with him enough for the two of you to easily be categorized as foes. 

And it went both ways. You weren’t the only one who held irritation towards the other one.

Jamil hadn’t backed down in the slightest when it came to your interactions. And at this point, the relationship had swelled out of control.

And it had all started so simply too. Shortly after winter break had ended, you’d been paired to work with Jamil in a magical application test that involved defense and attack from the pair opposite you. Namely, Ruggie and Azul.

You didn’t think you’d ever forget the smug look Jamil had cast your way, “Don’t worry. Everything will go smoothly.”

Smoothly, the assuredly attractive fool had said. Perhaps it would have gone smoothly if he and Grim had both listened a bit more to your suggestions.

A tiny part of you regretted that you’d snapped at him as you shoved your soaked hair out of your face. It wasn’t truly his fault.

 Grim had been underfoot when he’d panicked and had definitely worsened the situation, causing Jamil to stumble over the yowling feline and pitched directly over into you.

You’d both landed hard on the ground, turned muddy by Azul’s torrent of water magic, and you’d looked at the young man sprawled across your lap with a huff of not entirely fair venom, “Smoothly, huh?”

Those words had been like a nail in the coffin that had been the potentially budding friendship between you and Jamil. Since then, all of your interactions had been almost exclusively filled with biting comments and impressive levels of snarkiness.

It was true that it wasn’t an entirely irrevocable situation. After all, Jamil had protected you during Vil’s overblot, and you’d saved him from bugs countless times now without ever having made a single comment on his fear.

But it was also true that there was little to no love lost between you and the Scarabia vice-housewarden.

Which was why you were surprised when it had been Jamil who had darted so quickly with such a panicked expression across the potionology classroom solely to put up a barrier between you and a potion that had gone explosively wrong in your pot.

You’d been tugged impossibly close to the young man as he made some form of magical shield that blocked both the explosion and the gooey liquid that steamed on its surface before sliding down into a gruesome pile on the floor.

As always, Crewel reacted in record time as he caused the offensive mass to simply disappear before whirling on your fellow potion-maker, demanding to know what had happened since it apparently had to be something to do with the flow of his magic.

You stepped backwards, exhaling a breath you didn’t know you’d been holding before looking up at the young man who was watching your classmate get chewed out by your shared teacher, “Thank you.”

Your voice came out surprisingly quiet and was met with a half shrug and a noncommittal, “Don’t mention it.” The young man glanced over, giving your person a quick scan that you’d seen him give Kalim numerous times when he was checking for injuries.

“Viper,” Crewel’s voice was sharp as ever and had both your and Jamil’s attention snapping over to him.

The teacher sighed, brushing his two-toned hair back as he eyed the young man next to you, “Good work. If you hadn’t reacted quite so quickly, I fear Y/n may have suffered great injury.”

Jamil inclined his head, having stiffened slightly as soon as the classroom’s attention had fallen on him.

“If you would, walk them to the infirmary, they will still need a check-up simply for safety reasons. Inhaling the fumes could cause them to pass out so…”

There was no need for Crewel to finish since Jamil was already nodding, efficient as ever as he grabbed your hand and agreed to do as requested, “Of course.”

A single glance was thrown your way before he pulled you along after him, out the door and down the hall, with him leading the way.

His grip was tight, you noticed, as you let him tug you along in silence as what had just occurred slowly settled in your mind. Perhaps Ace was right and you were danger-prone…. But then you really felt like the exploding potion would count more as bad luck. It wasn’t like you’d caused it after all.

“If you start to feel dizzy, let me know,” Jamil’s words snapped you out of our silent reverie, causing you to look towards him with slight surprise.

His words made sense, but…. Well, Jamil was seldom quite so gentle. Especially not with you.

“I… Yeah,” You faltered slightly, not sure of what to say to him. To be honest, you wanted to thank him again, but you also didn’t want to start parroting the exact same words. 

Past that, your mind was a garbled mess of slowly fading shock and confusion as to Jamil’s actions. 

It wasn’t really that odd that Jamil had stepped in to protect you. It wasn’t like he was so horrible or that the relationship between you two had become so vitriolic that he would wish you harm. It was odd that he’d looked so desperate when he’d run across the room, though.

And you wouldn’t have even known that was the case if his cauldron hadn’t been right in your line of sight when the explosion had happened.

You felt yourself get pulled to a stop and glanced over to see the young man in question looking at you worriedly, “Y/n… Are you alright?”

You blinked, startled, before you realized that being zoned out right after having a potion whose fumes might cause you to pass out explode right in front of you probably was concerning.

“Oh, yeah… I guess I’m still just a little shocked from the potion’s explosion,” You frowned as you thought back to the potionology classroom once more, “Do you reckon my partner’s okay? Professor Crewel didn’t send him to get checked up….”

Jamil snorted at your soft words, giving your arm a tiny tug as he started leading you towards the infirmary once more, “I wouldn’t worry about him. You should worry more about yourself.”

He glanced back at you, a glint in his grey eyes, “You are the one who nearly got hurt after all, not them.”

It was a step back into his usual commentary. Snarking at you about your innate ability to get yourself into risky situations. After all was deemed well, he’d probably be scolding you just like he had right after Vil’s overblot.

He let out a sigh as you looked at where his hand was still gripping yours, pondering why he was still holding your hand since you were obviously perfectly capable of walking and still lucid.

“We’re here,” He gestured to the door that was coming up on your left side, a smooth smirk working its way onto his face. “Try not to get into any more trouble in there, hm?”

And there was the smug tone you knew. The one that reared its head only when you were around, and he wasn’t putting on his old act of subservience. Two things that coincided to an almost suspicious degree.

“Sure.” You chirped out your reply before holding up your hand that he still held clasped in his hand, “But why are you still holding my hand?”

His eyes widened at the sight of your hand in his, and you grinned in triumph. You’d been right. He’d totally forgotten he’d been holding your hand.

He dropped your hand like it was on fire before realizing how incriminating that was and leaning forward, “Can't have you getting me in trouble for not taking proper care of the patient.”

His words only made you grin more because while they would be a fine comeback from most people; they were sloppy coming from him. Which meant one glorious truth. He was flustered.

So you did what you did best and fired back, leaning closer to him so that you were a mere hair’s breadth away, “Don’t worry, I’ll tell Crewel you took wonderful care of me, Jamil.”

He made a face at you before stepping away, “Just take better care of yourself. I might not be there next time.”

He turned on his heel, walking away and leaving you standing there frowning to yourself thoughtfully. Because it was odd to have your rival be quite so concerned for your well-being. 

Wasn’t it?

[lovelykhaleesiii]

I am a huge aegon ii fan and chubby aeg truther ... I love writing and want to start posting fics here but I'm worried cos of the fandom dynamics. I want to make friends but do you have any tips for navigating this space, since you're one of the biggest aegon fic blogs I have seen?

that’s totally understandable! If I’m being honest, by seeing most people’s reactions to the trailer I think now with s2 being an Aegon fan won’t be as taboo as it was in the beginning. people seemed to have really enjoyed the snippets we got, and TGC’s performance! Regardless, that’s not to say people still won’t come at you with hate… unfortunately some people in this fandom prove to remain far from etiquette and decency. I would just recommend being prepared for that! stand your ground! It’s not like any of the characters on this show / universe are 100% good, so there’s no grounds for them to attack you for liking the dude.

just be open to engaging with others! I know it can be daunting for some people, but at the end of the day most of us are here for the same reasons! and we’re all behind a screen anyways! If messaging someone straight up is too bold & you’re really not comfortable doing it, if you’re reading a fic from another author, don’t hesitate to reblog with a comment! It makes our day, and definitely works to initiate a friendship 🫶🏻 but if you start to build the foundation and make yourself known, gradually friends will be made 😌

thank you for the compliment lovely! I definitely don’t think I’m a big fanpage but I do love my man!!! ❤️ also plz feel free to message me! I’m more than happy to talk nonnie!

I’ll tag a few other wonderful Aegon fanatics. these lovelies are so kind & wouldn’t shy away from upcoming authors!

@arcielee @valeskafics @bucknastysbabe @fan-goddess @ripdragonbeans @sylasthegrim

[kimbappykidding]

Imagine Chanyeol getting pouty because all his members think he wouldn't be able to protect you in a fight

Chanyeol flinched easier than anyone you had ever met. Loud noises, shouting, a car horn, even someone turning towards him quickly were all things that could set him off. You famously didn't scare. You blamed it on growing up with 4 siblings. You'd become desensitized to noise so while Chanyeol was jumping and shaking you'd just be oblivious and the members found this hilarious. It was new years eve and you'd all gone to Chen's place for a firework display. His garden was beautiful and he even had a large firepit so you were all outside enjoying the beautiful winter night. That was until a neighbour started setting off fireworks early. Chanyeol was unaware and jumped so vividly that he spilt his drink all down himself which made the members laugh. He sighed but got a new one only for the same thing to happen. He returned to you later, now wearing Chen's clothes with Sehun carrying two drinks. "What happened?" you asked and D.O. grinned "your boyfriend is like a baby deer that's what". Baekhyun explained that Chanyeol spilt his drink not once but twice. Chanyeol went to defend himself when another firework went off and he wrapped himself around you like a jacket. The boys shrieked with laughter but Chanyeol just sighed burying his face in your neck "I hate fireworks". You chuckled and held his arms which were wrapped around your waist. "I know but don't worry, we can get you some earmuffs or something if you want?". "Or I could just stay right here the whole night?" he asked and you smiled "fine by me" and hugged him tighter. He was pretty happy being wrapped around you and thought this worked well. Anytime a firework went off he squeezed you and felt better for the physical contact but he didn’t realise what the boys thought of it. You stepped away to go to the bathroom and Suho laughed seeing Chanyeol's worried face "she'll be back soon you know?". "I know" he said and Kai smiled "you're so lost without her. You're like a helpless puppy". "No I'm not" Chanyeol pouted and the others all smirked "Yes you are, you look like trainee Sehun whenever Suho left the room" Lay commented and the others all erupted. "Well yeah I like it when she’s around but i’m not helpless. I can handle myself and look after y/n". The members all erupted again and Chanyeol stopped finding it funny "what are you all trying to say?". "Nothing just... come on you might be over 6 foot but you're not the best protector. There's no way you'd last in a fight" Xiumin answered honestly. Baekhyun nodded "yeah it'd totally be y/n defending you, not the other way around". "No it wouldn't...I'd look after her" Chanyeol tried to argue but the members were having too much fun teasing. "You'd be on the floor cowering! All they'd have to do is shout boo and you'd be a mess" D.O. laughed.  "Hey why don't we talk about something else?" Suho asked seeing Chanyeol’s face and he shook his head "don't stop having fun in my account" and walked away. The members called after him but he shrugged them away and went to find you. You found him instead which didn't disprove the members' point.  

You could tell from the second you saw Chanyeol that something was wrong. He smiled when he saw you but his eyes were so huge they told you straight away he was upset. “What happened?” you asked and Chanyeol sighed, he knew by now there was no use pretending he was fine when you could see right through him. “The guys were just teasing me but I didn’t find it funny”. You frowned “what was it about”. Chanyeol pursed his lips a little embarrassed to tell you. You grabbed his hand and gently squeezed it. “Whatever it is you can tell me” you told him. Chanyeol sighed “they said I’d be terrible in a fight and that i’m a coward!”. “What? Why?”. Chanyeol shrugged “I don’t know...they were teasing me about jumping at everything and said if we got attacked that you’d be the one to fight them off and I wouldn’t be any help”. You frowned “they’re just messing around Chanyeol, they know you’d help me”. “Yeah but they were serious when they said I wouldn’t be any good. Who do they think I am? There’s no way I’d just stand by and let someone hurt you. I may jump easily but I know my duty as your boyfriend and I’d never let anything happen to you”. You smiled and stepped closer “as sweet as that is, you know it's not your job to protect me right?". Chanyeol paused clearly confused "but I'm your boyfriend". You nodded "yes and that means it's your job to love me and be kind to me. That's it. You don't have to knock guys out or challenge strangers to fight just because we're dating". Still Chanyeol pouted "but what if someone was trying to hurt you? What if I couldn't defend you". You smiled "you're a lot braver than you think, in those sorts of situations instinct kind of takes over and your adrenaline overrules any nerves". Chanyeol nodded "I have heard that before". You nodded "plus...you know i'm not clueless right? I'm pretty strong and know a fair amount of fighting techniques", I mean my dad does own a dojo”. Chanyeol nodded "I know but I'd feel bad if I didn't handle it for you". "I don't need you handling my fights for me Chanyeol I'm a big strong girl" you said flexing your muscles jokingly "we're a team. The way I see it, I help you and you help me. We're equal and we can solve anything together". Chanyeol smiled "yeah we can". He stepped forwards to kiss you when a firework went off and he jumped. You chuckled and pulled him back towards you "you’re so cute" and kissed him. More fireworks went off but Chanyeol didn’t jump once...he was a bit preoccupied kissing his wonderful girlfriend. 

____________

So apparently I have a thing where I pre-judge tall good looking idols because I did it with Mingyu from Seventeen and Chanyeol. When I was learning Exo I thought Chanyeol wouldn’t be that great a person because he was so tall and looked intimidatingly good looking. Then I saw videos of him jumping at everything and getting attacked by D.O. who’s like a head shorter than him and knew I was wrong. 

That’s all to say I love how Chanyeol looks scary but is so cute and soft. Tall people being adorable dorks is one of my favourite things. 

Also this weekend is bonfire night where I live so this was unexpectedly good timing! Happy bonfire night everyone :) 

[spaceless-vacuum]

Ok I have a question

So we all know how the link's meet the little cutie pie DEKU SCRUBS reader

But what if the reader got lost and they others saw her get grab by the bat Dragon and was flying away with the reader but is land on the light Dragon and see sage pulling a different sorwd and runs to him

And of course she falls off but gets her flowers Ready even tho she not that good

Mage saga quickly picks her up and is like your cute and mine now

And he the only one that don't fallow the link's and dose his own thing cuz of wild.

Image him being nice to the koroks when the Reader is looking but you know very well he not when she not.

As much as I hate saga sending the guts to space it also a trait I can see he uses and not wild.

And you know very well saga is keeping the little reader with him even making cute pots for her flowers so she can sleep and hide in peach and safety!

He would make so much stuff for her and also keep the links out of his way cuz his baby now

Even great great great Grandpa DEKU tree gabe him the ok cuz he knows she helping saga heal ! And is going to be the deku tree here. In the future.

JUST image the Case scenes the link are going to do

And wild not having the ability to TELEPORT cuz his shirns don't work but his other stuff dose

It didn't give much of a chase. The demon was gone before anyone could react, leaving through the portal it made the group surround the triangle that would lead to another version of Hyrule. Another land with its own sources of trouble. No one was in the mood to risk it. Knowing their luck it would loop back around before nightfall so no need to worry about saying goodbye yet.

Time was the closest. He was the leader and if he went through the rest would follow. There was no way he would lead them through that. Not in their condition. It had been one assault after another and none of them could keep going at this pace. If they made the wrong move theyd wind up at the other end of an ambush. Legend could hardly walk much less keep up with the rest- no. they would not go no matter what happened.

You were hiding between Time’s legs. As was your spot when things went wrong. He had told you and the others that you were not to stray from anyone in the group when a fight broke out. Iut was unacceptable for you to wander off or get lost and that was only more strictly enforced when a fight began.

Time turned around to address the group. It was the perfect opportunity. Surely he wouldn't even notice if you got away quickly. He didn't even note your disappearance until you had walked too far away. Hyrule sent out a shout of warning and Time turned around. He went into a roll, intending to tuck you under one of his arms but it didn't work. You were gone before anyone else could react.

“So when I was speaking did not a single one of you think to warn me?” Time barked out. Angry that no one had said anything sooner.

“Why would they have any reason to run off?” Sky commented. Legend rushed past him and looked into the portal.

“Oh Hylia no- Guys! It’s closing!” align with Legend the rest of the group moved forward. A few, Wild and Twilight fanned out just in case an attack hit as it would give the enemies a less tempting target. The portal was shrinking. A sign that the dark magic holding it together was fading. Each passing second took you farther away from them.

Timed turned around already yelling. He got to his feet quickly and would have gone through as well but he wasted precious seconds getting up off the ground. Legend and Warrior were already holding him back. At this point if he went through no one else would be able to follow. They couldn't split up no matter what. That was the rule.

“Give it up Time. I'm sure they're safe but who knows if you'd be. It's closing, just give it up mate.” Warrior tried to reassure the old man but his heart wasn't in it.

“The portals only open up to another Hyrule. That cuts down on the amount of places they could be. We’ll find them again I'm sure.” Legend said refusing to let go of Tiem until he stopped pulling. Sky in a moment of genius or stupidity did something random. He took off his water canteen and tossed it through the almost shut portal.

“Yeah, Like that will help. Wind asked.

“It won't help us but it'll be good for them. The portal cant carry us at this stage but our item smight make it through. If it does land with them then they'll now know we're looking for them. Plus they're a plant so I imagine they might need the water.” It was the last act any of them were able to take before the portal closed. Sky couldn't see his friend's eyes. Even if the looks were not judgmental he felt terrible at not being able to do more. It was a tough situation and none of them ever thought you might run away. Not after all you'd been through. 

“That was your only water canteen. I can imagine you're assuming one of us will share.” Legend said. His tone was dry but as he finished talking Hyrule unclipped his own and offered it to Sky who refused.

“They're a plant so it would be good for them.” Sky was guessing on that part. They were all guessing when it came down to how to take care of you. You were good at communicating your needs when you were with them. The group got a kick at guessing what it was you were thinking about or trying to tell them.

“If they landed in a desert that would be helpful.” Wind meant the comment sincerely. Even if it was just a shoe at least he did something rather than stand around and watch. None of them could have gone through themselves but Sky had the right idea.

“There's no need for so much sass.” Warrior let go of Time and Legend followed suit. The old man was more attached to you than the others were. Time pushed his hand away. He wasn't in the mood. They lost one of their members and no one did a damn thing to help. You were with him. You had been right there in his umbrella of safety and he was the one who messed it all up. Even if everyone else was watching you dash away he should have caught you.

“For all of our sakes, let's hope they landed somewhere safe.” you would make your way back to them. Time knew you would. It was impossible for anyone to stand in their way. You would be back safe in tehri group or else the skies themselves would be torn apart as grievance.

“Where are we going?” Wind asked.

“The shadow won't help us any by opening the gate back up  and next time we approach it won't lead us to the same place they went. Our only way to find them again is to move on.” The traveller had a good point. Although no one wanted to get moving they all knew they had to. Their only way to ensure your safety was to move forward and find you as soon as possible. All they had to do was wait. You would ba back- they were sure of it.

. . .

“What the-” This was impossible. For a number of reasons you should not be here. How did someone smuggle a korok on top of a dragon? To be more correct it wasn't a korok. You didn't share the distinctive markings of one- missing both a mask and the tree bark blessing on top of your skin. Sage took a picture praying to all that was holy that something would appear in the compendium. Nothing. 

“Why are you here?” You didn't greet him with a yippee or any other friendly sound he had grown accustomed to from the forest dwellers. Rather you just had a huge grin on your face. The wind was fierce and it was funny to watch the plant on top of your head whip back and forth from the gale.  Was this a good hiding spot for you? A puzzle on the dragons back? A shrub as large as a dog was going to bother him while he was running around collecting scales. How sweet.

The dragon's hair tangled around his feet as he walked over to pick you up. You made a sound. For all that is sane in this world don't yippee Sage didn't think he could handle one right now- he frowned. Just what were you? There was some relation to forest koroks somehow but it escaped him. He needed to get you back home. Teleporting wasn't an option. Checking the purahpah the map said they were above akala.

There was no way he was carrying you across half of Hyrule. You didn't have a bag full of rocks or anything heavy so he wouldn't have to use the arm but it wasnt looking like you'd be easy to carry. The route was either far too long or he'd have to swing by death mountain. No. no you two would be staying here until he could drop into the lost woods. He'd just have to figure out a way to hold you while falling through the sky.

“Speak- say do something!” his newest priority was getting you to safety. Keeping you here on top of the head of a giant dragon was not a safe bet. You'd likely fall or get swept off by the wind. Worse than that he had to get you back home. He couldn't leave you by the side of the road. Sometimes he'd pass by koroks and decide they'd have to be left to their fates but you were different. Leaving you by the road was not a choice.

Relinquishing control of the situation he sat down in front of you. You seemed to enjoy his defeat making some noise of joy-not a yippee- and bounced around him. Going from one side to the other around him until he managed to grab you. This wouldn't work. If you didnt settle down you'd bounce right off of the dragon and plummet. Sure he'd jump off to grab you but then the two of you would have to walk and he was going to make you walk! No being carried by the ultrahand.

[allkordelia]

Keep Me in Your Thoughts (20)

The first snowflake marked the beginning of winter, the windows of the castle were shut and many of the subjects and servants started to wear heavy clothing. Rhaelle hated the winters in the serpent islands, she was not use to this climate and the snow was unbearable especially when she wanted to go for a walk. She use to fear for her poor dragon, rhaemyx, since Magonsæte didn't have a Dragonpit but caves in the mountains. But, now she found the winter to be the best season, she didn't have to worry for the dragons anymore now that they finish the Dragonpit many moons ago. She got use to the cold and walking in thick layers of clothing when she goes on walks, and the cold made it easy for her to sleep at night.

She always took pleasure in outside games with her childern, which it why she along with marra and valaena were in the north wing garden hiding from daemon, baelor, and aeron. Not too long ago, baelor made up a game where you threw snow at each other, it was entertaining game for the family.

Marra squeal when the snowball hit her in the back, some of the snow splatter and touch her expose neck. The young girl turn sharply around to see aeron with a smile and holding two snowballs in his hand, before he could throw another he was hit in the back of the head causing him to drop the snow and let marra run away.

"Aw, he said no snowballs to the head." Aeron groan rubbing the back of his head before turning to his sister with a smirk.

"No, I remember he said the face." He rolled his eyes before he could let out a snarky comment, he was hit in the face with another snowball, he wipe his face looking at his sister laughing. 

Rhaelle look away from her book when she heard a shriek echo throughout the garden, she shook her head gently before going back to her book, she sat on a bench under a willow tree with her favorite book in her hand, she would usually be playing along but decided to sit this one out, she truly didn't feel like getting snow thrown at her. She rather hear the scream of her elder children and daemon go through it than her running and fallen being attack by those little heathens, she also promise baelor morrow to play if he allow her to just enjoy the winter.

The sound of scrunch snow under someone's feet made her ears perk and her head lift up, she sigh closing her book with her finger on the page where she was reading.

"Whoever it is behind me no matter your age, i will spank you with a wooden spoon on your behind if I feel any ice hit me." She warned before turning around in her sit, she gulp when she saw daemon and stood up.

"I...I can not say that I wouldn't be mad if you did, my queen." He smirk as he hands were folded behind his back, rhaelle look down with smile and heated face.

"Apologies, I thought you were one of my children." She took a sit as daemon walk closer to her after waving her away, she slide a bit giving him space to sit down.

"Are you having fun?" She asked after a moment, she look to him as he held a placid smile as he look out at the childern running around and throwing snow.

"I am." He look at her to find her staring at him with soft smile.

"I'm happy you are it is nice to have family around especially ones that are familiar to the children." Daemon could sense the sorrow in her voice at mention of family.

"You should host a family dinner then, it should be a treat to see my cousins," Daemon chuckle as he lean back with his arms cross over his stomach, rhaelle frowned a bit as she glance to the snow beneath her feet.

"As much as I would, I can not..." Daemon look away from the children and back at rhaelle.

"Why not? It is not like they are restricted from the serpent islands,"

"No, but Corlys has made it clear that he and House Velaryon would not dare to come here feeling it to be treasonous to the king." She sigh as she squeeze the bridge between her eyes, "Well, that is what it said in his letters anyway." Rhaelle has been trying to get her mother and siblings to visit for months, but corlys has taken it upon himself to speak for his wife and deny the numerous invitations.

"I doubt the great sea snake can keep your mother from seeing you, she is a wild dragon after all." Rhaelle hummed.

"Yes. But she is also a tamed dragon as well, and there are some things she cannot do to go against her husband." Daemon scrunch his brows together in thought.

"Then, you should visit them, instead. It is not like you are banish anymore." Rhaelle made a noise of disagreement making daemon raise his brow at her, "Did Viserys not bring you out of exile?" He asked.

"Only for Aegon's nameday and that was to discuss his imports of goods."

"But, I heard you two reconcile."

"That was only for Baelor's sake. We as parents are at an understanding when it comes to our...my child. That is it." Daemon look away from rhaelle as he stare ahead.

Our child she meant to say but it had a  hint of annoyance or was it shame, he thought, the words were vexing to hear when he first brought up baelor belonging to viserys. He meant it as a taunt to get a rise out of rhaelle, but to found it was true did not anger him like he thought it would but rather made him feel ashame and disgusted.

"I doubt he ever let me out of exile, the embarrassment I cause him in court basically sentence me to life." Rhaelle sigh tiredly, sometimes she wish she never said anything in court maybe if she just bend the knee and told the court of baelor's true father without evrrything else, she could be visiting her family and the childern wouldn't have to feel bad about living me alone.

"Maybe if I just didn't say anything, maybe things wouldn't be such a mess right now." She whispered, daemon look at rhaelle, he didn't like how defeated she sounded.

"You were made to keep this secret for years and suffer in silence, all you wanted to do is speak your truth, rhaelle." Daemon's warm hand grasp her cheek and caressing it gently, "If my brother was half the man I thought he was he wouldn't have felt embarrassed but ashame and he would have never sentenced you to exile." Rhaelle gape speechless at daemon's words.

"So, do not feel like you have lost just yet, I know you still have some cards up your sleeves, my queen." He smile.

Rhaelle move her head nodding, she was too confound to speak. If anyone was to give her words of encouragement, daemon would be the last person to think of mostly because family especially his brother meant so much to him. Her heart flutter at the thought of him believing what she did was right, only a few people did anyway but it nice daemon is one of them.

"I will keep my head up," he smirk, rhaelle could see how his eyes flickered around her face before he lean forward pressing a kiss to her hairline.

He pulled back and rhaelle look at him in awe, daemon was reculanted to pull his hand away from her cheek but he did anyways as he stare at her with the same look. The same look that made rhaelle's face heat up and stomach get tied in knots, the look that tells anyone whose watching that he look like a fool in love.

Rhaelle flinch when a snowball hit daemon's chest breaking the sweet moment, daemon snap his head straight ahead to see Aeron and Corwyn grinning at him. Daemon glare over at rhaelle as she laugh behind her hand, daemon narrow glare soon turn to a soft one at rhaelle he haven't heard her laugh like that  for some time. Her laughter was cut short when a snowball hit her in the chest causing some of the snow to get inside her gown, rhaelle groan angrily as she wipe the snow from her chest.

"Corwyn, you better hope–" Her words were replace with a squeal making her get up, aeron threw one at her chest but this time some of the ice got inside her cleavage.

She shrill as she repeated the word cold over and over again, when the snow melted and damp the inside of her undergarment. She look to her boys to see them laughing when her boys were distracted she scoop up a two ball of snow and threw there way hitting one in aeron's back and corwyn's head, she holler in victory before feeling the tug of her collar being pull back and feeling a bunch of ice go down her making her bite her tongue and turn to glare at daemon who wore nothing but a mischievous smirk.

"I'm going to kill you." She grits out.

"You have to catch me, first." Rhaelle launch at daemon as he hurried away, she flew past her sons as she chase after daemon.

It was hard for rhaelle to catch up with the man with her flats slowing her down, daemon was down the path just a few steps away from her before he spoke, "Come on, my lady. I know you can run faster than that or are you just getting old." He taunts with a smile, she scoff at him with a simple eyeroll.

She is not old she is barely twenty-nine, "That's rich coming from you, my prince. Aren't you pushing fifthy." She taunts back only to make daemon laugh holding his stomach as he taunts her some more.

"How about this..." As Daemon was talking rhaelle toe off her flapts and had to refine from grimacing at the snow under her feet, she stare at daemon before he could finish his sentence.

She rushed forward as she hold up her dress to run better, daemon was caught off guard and rhaelle underestimated how slippery the snow is on the grass and before either of them knew it. Rhaelle slammed against daemon knocking him and her own the cold ground, the young queen groan in pain not only from the impact but from her feet. Rhaelle didn't realize she was staddling daemon until, she heard a painful groan below her and finally sit up with her hands faming daemon's head. She look down at daemon with concern at how red his face was and his eyes squeezed shut as if in pain as well.

"Oh, daemon. I'm so sorry. Are you hurt? Is anything broken..." she babble out as she sat on her knees, daemon groan turning on his side making her slide by him, "Oh, gods. Daemon say something do i need to get the maester?" She asked watching him, daemon mumbled something.

"What?" She asked as she leaned down close to him.

"I said your going to pay for that." Rhaelle frown before pulling back as she look bemused, before could run away she landed on her back.

She struggle with daemon as he got on top of her, she tried to crawl herself from under him as she realize what her punishment was going to be.

"Nooooo, daemon..." she squeal as his hand made his way to her sides as he attack her with his wiggling fingers, "No, Daemon–ahhh–you know how I hate being t-t-tickled." She try to grasp his hand but they kept slipping out from the wetness, she shout as his hands crawled up near her underarms making her kick her legs.

"Please...stop, I'm sorry...oh I'm sorry please." She couldn't stop laughing and neither could Daemon, she heard someone coming her making her turn her as far she could.

"Ba...Baelor. M...Ma..rra. Help me. Save me from this madman," Rhaelle giggle as she tried to hide her neck from daemon as he taken to try to tickle her there.

The sound of yelling made rhaelle's ears perk as the tickle attack was sudden stop, rhaelle hiccup as she took in deep breath before sitting up on her elbows to see daemon being pin down by baelor and marra.

"Apologize to the queen this instant, and maybe just maybe we will spare your life." Marra said as she held daemon's right arm down while baelor held his other arm.

"Never!" Daemon shouted.

Rhaelle laugh as the children move to give out the same punishment that daemon previously gave to her, soon enough the triplets came around to find them.

"Uh, who shoes are these?" Valaena asked picking up rhaelle discarded flats, the young queen held up her hand with sheepish smile.

"Yeah, that's mine. Would you be a dear and–" Her words were cut short when she felt the skirt of her dress get lifted up by daemon making her slap his hand and then his head, "What do you think you doing, you fool." Daemon ignore her as he move away from the children to her.

"Your calling me a fool when your barefoot in the cold," Daemon help her up as she roll her eyes, she didn't think it was a big deal it wasn't like her feet was going to fall off.

Rhaelle nearly fall to her knees at the numbness of her feet, lucky for her daemon was there to catch her and sweep her off her feet.

"Valaena, go get a maester and tell them something is wrong with the queen's legs." Rhaelle slap daemon's chest as he carry her, "Nothing is wrong with my legs or my feet, it just numb." The prince shook his head as he ignore her and continue to carry her inside the castle.

@cleverzonkwombatsludge @beggarsnotchoosey @avidreader73 @green-lxght @watercolorskyy @supermassiveblackhope @stormgirlfriendd

[daz4i]

thank you! and yes ofc, any input is welcome! okay, so i've seen some people talk about how many fics get chuuya and dazais dynamic wrong, but i've not actually seen any specific critiques, so i was wondering if you have any tips to avoid, for lack of better term, to write one of the "bad ones"?

also, i don't have money for the light novels, is it generally frowned upon to write skk without having knowledge of how they are in the light novels? i don't if they're that different, but i've seen comments like "if you just read stormbringer, you'd understand" so just wondering if i'm missing out on A Lot.

and for fic posting, this is not that important, but is there some popular fic boosting tags if i wanted to promote it on tumblr?

oh these are great questions!! lemme try to answer it in an organized way (edit from myself after typing the answer up: i am so sorry for this monster of a post askjdfgh hope it's not too overwhelming 😭🙏)

skk dynamic:

one thing i think is important to keep in mind is that it has layers, and that they're not quite honest in their interactions. a good example for what i mean is like when they're rescuing q and chuuya talks about how he can't stand dazai, but then later when dazai is attacked by lovecraft chuuya is immediately concerned and runs after him to make sure he's okay, being shocked and worried when he sees his arm missing, etc. (dazai is even worse in that regard lmao)

i can speak on my own personal pet peeve with skk fics is where their personalities are flattened, and thus their relationship is as a result as well (for example, reducing chuuya to a tsundere, or making him stupid, while making dazai some dark edgelord etc) this can lead to missing one key thing in their relationship: they're equals

soukoku even just as a fighting duo isn't just "dazai thinks up strategies and chuuya fights", the whole reason they're considered unbeatable to their enemies is because they're both strong - they can both fight, and they're both smart and good at thinking quickly on their feet. it's just that chuuya is better at fighting, and dazai's strategies are more airtight. this way they're enhancing each other's abilities. so, translating that into their general dynamic is also important

another way in which they're equal that i think shows this last part^ even better, and smth that i think ppl tend to miss, is that dazai never really manipulates chuuya or forces him into situations he doesn't want to take part in - he always asks for chuuya's final word on the matter. chuuya follows his plans because he too knows they're likely the best option. this is how they maintain their trust in each other

(honestly the only time i think you can argue dazai tries to manipulate chuuya is in their reunion in the dungeon, but really it's more for shits and giggles on his end, no real malice, and chuuya probably knows that too, i think)

light novels:

first off!! even if you can't afford them, bsd-bibliophile has them right here!!! i really recommend checking it out :)

i don't think you HAVE to read them but like. it's good to know what happens in them at least generally, and it can definitely help the nuance of their dynamic. the sb comment is kind of right bc it helps figuring out one of those layers i mentioned in the beginning

i actually haven't finished strombringer myself hehe but one thing i got from it so far and from reading analysis of it (which can also help if you don't mind getting spoiled!) that i think is important, esp if you're writing about their mafia days, is that chuuya does hate dazai in the early stages of their relationship, but like. because he sees himself in him. and he sees despair he doesn't want to give in to. at least back then, dazai kind of embodies his negative thoughts about himself, even if not literally and just in his mind.

also on a more basic level both of them (tho esp fifteen) offer some shenanigans of them being silly teenagers. also dazai cringe compilation. actually this is an important part of it i think dazai should always be at least a little bit pathetic when chuuya's around (but that might also be just my own personal take :P)

tldr for the light novels thing, i think it really depends on what sort of fic you're planning to write. canonverse, and esp mafia days, i'd say it's fairly important. aus, not so much, but it can help. relationship explorations, probably. silly fluff or pwp, not really. yknow :?

posting:

hmmmmm i don't know any particular tags (except like, basic stuff, fandom / ship / main characters / "fanfiction" / maybe key tropes you're using? tho it's def not a must) but some general tumblr hacks:

posting at the right hours and days helps; around the afternoon or early evening in american timezones, on the weekends, is probably the best time to gain most traffic

use ao3's automatic sharing or post the fic as the link post format, rather than a text post or picture with a link inserted into the text. idk if it still exists, but it used to be that posts with links in the text would be hidden from search results, especially if you're a new blog (i think it was mostly removed but the new blog thing might still be relevant)

don't use swears and esp not "fuck" and its variations in the tags. hides posts from search results (i think "shit" and such is okay?? but i'm not entirely sure so. to be on the safe side, better to avoid) also don't use "nsfw" or any other possibly nsfw tags even if it's needed

speaking of. while it's probably responsible to use community labels. i'm p sure tumblr hides mature posts from search results 😭 i saw artists complaining abt their posts getting flagged and even getting shadowbanned over it iirc so. unfortunately it's probably better to avoid 😔 save the warnings for the fic itself

this might be a bug only i have lol but after making a post with quite a few tags, wait a few seconds before refreshing the tab or moving to another page. i noticed that otherwise it can hide the post from everywhere except your own blog (it might also be only relevant to image posts? but again, to be on the safe side, it won't hurt to do it)

okay i think that's all. i will say that everything i said abt skk might be just my own personal interpretation hehe so don't take my word as gospel!!! i'm sure there are many other fans and writers who view them in an entirely different light, and at the end of the day, it's up to you to choose your own version to write

and with that, i'm also turning this post to my followers, if you want to add anything, or if you have links to good analysis posts that could answer one of these questions, please go ahead! :D

as for you anon, i wish you good luck with writing, and mostly i hope you have fun with it!!! :3 just bc you see some of us complaining abt fics sometimes doesn't mean you should walk into it scared, actually please don't!!! you can do whatever you want really, and i'm sure there will be an audience for your work no matter what you create! <3

[rubykgrant]

(I'm still try to gather my thoughts and write everything together in a way that works, but I'm hoping to continue my RVB Interviews again soon! For now, I'm sharing the beginning of Sarge's segment again; after all, it's called RED vs Blue, we gotta start with RED, and that means the REDDEST RED TO EVER RED~)

He was already in his chair, more than eager to share his thoughts and what was certain to be a “colorful history” regarding himself.

Andrews rolled her eyes, but also smiled; considering Sarge’s reputation, it would be more concerning if he was acting “timid”.

“I see you’ve decided not to wait,” she commented, taking her own seat.

“A-course! Save the BEST for FIRST!” he answered proudly. “Besides, listening to everybody else babble for too long might put ‘ya to sleep, and we can’t have that. They’re so easily distracted. Going off on tangents of unrelated topics and what-not,”

“Well, I’m not sure where you want to start-”

“I WAS BORN 29 YEARS AGO! I’VE BEEN THE PROUD LEADER OF RED TEAM FOR 20 YEARS! I CAME INTO THIS WORLD WEARING RED ARMOR, AND I’LL GO OUT OF THIS WORLD WEARING RED ARMOR!”

“Now, now…” Andrews said, her voice both amused and patient. “I won’t be exposing any secrets you want to keep, you’ll have the final word on what information I share publicly, but between the two of us? Let’s try to keep things simple, and honest. After all, we ARE on a first-name basis!”

The old soldier was quiet for a moment. A short moment, but for Sarge, being silent was about as rare as hen’s teeth.

“Fair enough, Dylan…” he answered at last. “But the name is one of the things we keep quiet about, understand?”

“Absolutely… can I ask one question, though? Just for my own curiosity,” her curiosity often got the best of her, and certainly created problems occasionally… but that was why she was a reporter. Curiosity might have killed the cat, but satisfaction is what kept bringing her back.

“Hmph. Fine. Shoot,”

“I’ve never heard a name like yours before. Just what was the inspiration when it was chosen for you?”

Another quiet moment. Andrews was beginning to think he was simply going to ignore the question, and if that was the case, she would move on rather than press the subject. However-

“When I was born, which was MORE than 29 years ago, I ADMIT IT… m’family didn’t name me right away. Not too many infants survived their first few weeks at the time… it was a different world back then, see- you’re too young, you never lived in a war-zone, but that’s what it was like. So, they waited to see if… well, you know how you’re not supposed to name anything, or else you’ll get attached? ‘Folks were worried about getting attached to ME, because maybe I wasn’t even gonna live too long… but a few weeks went by, then a couple months, and I was still breathin’!” he chuckled a bit to himself before continuing.

“I guess I was the only baby that made it, and the group of survivors my family stayed with- they all supported each other. A whole bunch of people took turns watching over this little bundle of joy! Everybody had a different name they liked to call me, and when it was time to give me a REAL name… it all got combined together. One big name, from more than a dozen different people, who all came from different places, and spoke different languages… I was the only baby any of them had, so I suppose they gave me all the names of… their own kids who couldn’t be with them…”

“That’s… oh, Sarge, I don’t know what to say, that’s INCREDIBLE. It might be the sweetest thing’ I’ve ever heard-” it was true, Andrews didn’t know what it was like to be born directly into a war-zone; and at the time the man sitting in front of her was a child, the Earth had been under attack by enemies from outer space… not to mention all the never-ending fights between humans who decided they hated other humans enough to kill each other. No, she hadn’t lived through that, but she had seen documents and footage.

Many towns and cities were destroyed, and groups of people would try to band together; they formed new little communities, some traveling like nomads, others attempting to stay in one place, but all generally learning to rely on one another for safety and survival. Generations of children were lost during this time… from injury, illness, or lack of food. To think that she was now speaking to somebody who had grown up in that world, protected and nurtured by an extended-family of people who had been brought together by necessity, but stayed together by choice. That choice had, in fact, been to make sure a child could LIVE.

“I know, I know! Tragic and heart-warming… it’s practically Oscar-bait! But remember what we agreed on, not a word to anybody else! Bad enough that whipper-snapper apple-Jax knows…” he grumbled.

“Yes, I understand…” she couldn’t help but get a little choked-up, though.

“And, for the record- I mean, this is OFF the record, make sure to keep it that way! But just so YOU know, I’m not a bit embarrassed about my name! That’s not why I don’t wanna share it… it’s just…” Sarge seemed to struggle to find the words. “The people who named me are gone. All of them. And this wasn’t just my name, it was the name I shared with the all the children they lost… someday, I’m probably going to die on a battlefield, being taken out by an enemy, and God-willing, I’ll be wearing my RED ARMOR, going out with my boots on- but when that happens, whoever kills me… I don’t wanna hear them saying that name. It was good name that good people gave me, so…”

“So, you don’t want somebody who hates you to use the name that was made by people who loved you,” Andrews finished.

“Hurrrgh- if you WANT to read into it like that and add lots of mushy, emotional subtext, sure!” Sarge made several grunts and groans, crossing his arms over his chest and turning his helmet away to avoid looking at her.

“You are a surprisingly deep and sensitive individual, Sarge…” Andrews marveled.

“NO I AIN’T! YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW! I AM A ONE-DIMENSIONAL CHARACTER, A FLAT STEREO-TYPE OF ALL GRUFF MILITARY MEN, AND DON’T YOU FORGET IT!” The man now stood up, striking a heroic pose, raising one knee to place a foot upon his now empty chair, both hands clenched into fists and resting against his hips, the visor of his helmet pointed upward.

“I’VE NEVER HAD AN OUNCE OF PERSONAL GROWTH, AND I NEVER WILL! OTHER SOLDIERS WEAR THEIR ARMOR, BUT I AM THE ARMOR! I AM THE BACK-BONE OF RED TEAM! AND THE BRAINS! AND THE FISTS! ALSO, THE WEAPONS IN THE FISTS! IF YOU SAY MY NAME THREE TIMES AFTER SUMMONING BLOODY MARY, I SHOW UP AND SCARE HER OFF! FREDDY KRUEGER HAS NIGHTMARES ABOUT ME! I AM-”

“You are the Reddest Red to ever Red, yes, I know. I’ll be sure to keep that for the interview. That way, everybody will know the REAL you!” Andrews promised. Sarge gave a single nod of his approval, and quickly sat back down, as if nothing had happened.. “But, just in case…”

Sarge made a cartoonishly over-the-top growling noise at this. Andrews ignored that, and pushed on.

“If there is possibly some hidden layers, maybe some insight or… the method to your madness? I do still have a few more questions. As I said before, you’re free to skip anything you don’t want to answer. What do you say, Sarge?”

“Alright. Fine. Hurry up ‘n ask, before I change my mind!” that was settled, it seemed.

[sinelanguage]

20 questions for fic writers

taking from @fivedayslater who tagged anyone for this, i'll also pass around to 'anyone who wants to answer these questions is effectively tagged' but also @lostlegendaerie, @sharpenote specifically.....

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

36! not too shabby considering i'm not super consistent about writing.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

257,465! wow. jeez.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently One Piece, historically Voltron. 

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

predictably: this is almost entirely Keith/Lance.

Stormchasing: Keith/Lance handcuffed together fic i tried to pace like an actual episode! posting early in the fandom’s lifecycle gave it staying power, lol.

The Hustle: Keith/Lance espionage/heist-ish fic i cowrote with a friend. Really fun premise, and it was fun to co-write something!

Good Grief: Keith/Lance 5+1. i don’t remember anything about this.

Tallies: Keith/Lance 5+1. look… i wrote a lot of these.

Interstate 80: It’s not Klance! Jean/Marco, roadtrip modern day AU. i wrote this as a teenager, and i do not think this holds up whatsoever, but i made a lot of close friends through this fic and i'm fond of it solely due to that, haha.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i try! i have like, a half-life where if a fic is more than a year old i probably won’t respond because i’ve probably forgotten anything interesting to say. 

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Haha i wrote a hunger games AU for Attack on Titan? i don’t know what possessed me to take Jean Kirstein out of one horribly depressing canon and into another horribly depressing canon. 

Outside of that, i tend to stick to relatively happy or neutral endings. Most recently, Time Turned Fragile probably has the angstiest ending but i’d classify it as bittersweet really, even though Sanji like. dies? look. don’t worry about it

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Uhhh??? this is harder to answer … Inaba’s Self-Appointed Cat Adoption Agency is a fic that is probably the fluffiest thing i’ve ever written and as such has the most feel-good fluffy ending as a result.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not really! i’ve gotten a-bit-too-bold concrit in bookmark notes, but i wouldn’t really consider that hate.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nah lol. (gestures to weaknesses answer) it is not my forte, and i’m not super interested. 

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

not typically! I did write Turnabout Heart, which is a brief Persona 5 / Ace Attorney crossover, because I thought Sae being friends with Mia would be neat.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

ah, i found someone reposting my fic to wattpad once (username still attached). i just gently told them it was in bad form lol, it was wattpad in 2017 or so so I’m sure it was just some kid haha. they apologized and deleted it and their other stolen stuff so it’s all good.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope! Someone offered once, but never got back around to me. 

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! The Hustle from above, and for better or for worst which was a fun last hurrah for Keith/Lance.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

It’s really funny because i’ve never written for any of my all time ships lol. Ike/Soren is maybe my ship of all time. Keith/Lance i’m still stupidly fond of despite myself. i never even finished Voltron.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

this has historically been time loop fics, but I wrote two this year!!!!! Congrats to me!!

Currently i’ve been working on a Robin-centric Robin and Sanji roleswap fic, and while i have a good grasp on the emotional/plot arcs involved it is not easy to write Robin POV lol. i can only write characters who are more emotionally stupid than me. i keep chugging away at it though.

for one I know I'll never finish: I have a brief outline/scenes written for a Professor Sada/Robot Professor Sada (haha. lol. sorry.) fic that would be titled Stochastic Parent as a play on the machine learning term 'stochastic parrot', i.e. the principle that AI does not truly understand language, merely parrots it back to the user. i could not figure out how to write this without being on the nose.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Bizarrely i really like writing action scenes hahahaahaha. It’s one of the few scenes in fic i really fully visualize, so translating that is fun. emotions in a fight are fun too, i like writing fear. 

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

The main one: romance! More specifically though, physical intimacy. hilarious to write mostly romance fic and be bad at it. i’ve been actively avoiding writing kissing scenes for the last 10 fic or so. at this point i’m trying to see how long i can go without one.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Think it’s incredibly neat to see but i don't think i'll ever do it. i feel like i need to return my linguist card for this answer....

19. First fandom you wrote for?

some different answers here: Fire Emblem (never finished or posted online), Harvest Moon (posted on deviantArt and deleted when i scorched my warrior cats username from the face of the earth), and Attack on Titan (first fic on ao3)

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

All time it’s Dead Horizon. i got to write a lot of fun environmental storytelling and horror in that one, and I liked the emotional arc overall. i really like environments/settings in terms of storytelling, and i don’t get the chance to write much of that since i stick with shorter one shots typically. Still very, very fond of it. 

Recent stuff it’s Same As It Ever Was. i’ve wanted to do a Once in a Lifetime themed timeloop for ages but I kept dropping the concept, until now! Finally I wrote a scene based off the ‘not my beautiful house, not my beautiful wife’ lyric! dream come true.

[hotchs-big-hands]

https://www.tumblr.com/hotchs-big-hands/729287103786188800/is-it-petty-that-i-unfollowed-someone-cuz-they

I don’t think it’s petty! Like you said, everyone is free to have their own opinions and to follow/unfollow people as they please (unless they remove you as a follower first) :)

I will say that it kind of sounds like we’re on the same side, though? Aaron could have tried to figure out the work/life balance, and Haley could try to see his side of things/assist with finding that balance. Neither of them called it sooner, because they didn’t stop loving each other at any point and they just kept trying to make it work. No one is saying that either of them are 100% innocent or 100% guilty.

The problem is in people loudly hating Haley; not hating her as a person. Rather, hating her as someone who wasn’t content to play ignored housewife for the rest of her life while constantly worrying about her husband getting killed at work or something, and someone who spoke up about being unhappy with the situation

Everyone’s got their opinions. Mine is that Haley has the right to want a present partner/husband/father of her child, especially after having him be present for literal decades before that, and I’m simply against the opinion that she’s some godawful bitch for asking for that

Omg noooo I didn't expect you to see this :((( I'm rly sorry abt this! I'm embarrassed now KDKDKD

I get your points tho! I think like you can either love her or hate her, the two of them weren't made to be together in the end which is sad cuz they obvs were extremely and deeply in love. I just think they really shoulda had a big talk abt what he wanted and what she wanted long ago, way before marriage. Maybe when he was going to law school. He was never going to have an easy lifestyle with the job he wanted, he shoulda been more firm abt this fact. And Haley shoulda been more forward and kind to herself with the fact that she wants more time with him, someone she knows is going to come home at a reasonable hour, and eventually when they had Jack, someone to be a parent too. But it just didn't happen. And so idk I just think that they were both wrong in the end. Aaron isn't a bad person for wanting to do what he's doing, Haley isn't a bad person for wanting what she wants. Both are bad for not communicating and staying in this marriage.

I guess what bothered me was calling fans misogynistic for hating her ? I suppose maybe some of the extreme haters could be but it's not really something I should get into.

Anyway tho I didn't expect you to reach out and now I feel like a clown unfollowing sksksksksk I'm sorry about this! I really hope NO ONE goes to your dms/asks/mentions or the op of the post's to send shitty comments and just generally be a cunt abt this. It's all fiction, we shouldn't attack one another over it. Differing opinions is just how the world works!

Anyway, I hope you're having a good day and again I'm very sorry about this!!!

[phoenixdeleted]

Memories and GIBD crossover (part 2?? Ig)

@tmnt-crossover-polls we got propaganda!!

Thank you dearly @theawesomeninja-xd for collabing with me by the way! I had a lot of fun! They own literally every other character except Angel and Neon.

When Neon and Angel heard who they were against in the polls Neon immediately decided to set up a cupcake stand. Angel didn’t know why but he loved the idea.

So here the two were trying to make a cupcake stand from random things in the back with Angel running around and being  Angel. (God Neon wished he had that energy.)

“WE HAVE A BEANIE!!!"

Neon practically jumped at the sudden yelling. He turned around, finding a way too hyper Leon excitedly showing the beanie. 

"Look, look! We got it! Just like we promised!!!"

Meanwhile, a much more drained Rafa gave a half wave as he caught up to his brother. "Hey Neon, we're back....ah, cupcakes." He thoughtlessly grabbed one and threw it into his mouth.

Neon smiled at the shenanigans and sighed softly, “thanks for keeping your promise,” then he turned to Rafa, “you look awful.” 

Angel, who has already jumped over the counter of the cupcake stand somehow not touching any of the pastries, gasped at Neon with a Beanie now in his hands, “Neon!”

Wait...Angel had a beanie already? So who's--

Angelo promptly took the beanie from Leon and put it on neon's head. He looked pretty out of it too. 

"This one's yours. Oh and as to your comment. We kinda fought with the adults and everyone had to make up and I had to make sure no one hated themselves so no one really got sleep since....a day ago?"

 ...What...?

"Oh...uh...sorry to hear that. Where's Dee by the way?"

Rafa finished another cupcake. "He ran off to hand out arson....arsa..."

"Arsenic," Leon corrected with way too much enthusiasm. 

"Yeah that. I dunno what what it does, but he seemed happy."

Neon chuckled, “Donnies will be Donnies, thank you by the way.” He took the beanie happily.

“That sounds cool!” Angel said excitedly, then turned to the group, “you wanna join us in making cupcakes? We can show you how!”

"Yeah sure," Angelo responded, "Although Rafa has to stop eating them." He lightly shook him. Rafa paused and gave an embarrassed smile.

"I wanna help!" Leon broadcasted.

"What, no!" Angelo said. "Don't you remember why you're banned from the kitchen?"

"Noooo I wanna help!"

“You can help if you want Leon. And don’t worry about it Rafa they are there for a reason.” Neon waved away at the air besides him. “Come on I can show you what to do.”

“HELL YEAH COOKING BUDDIES!” Angel exclaimed dragging the closest turtle behind the booth. “Come on I’ll show you my speciality!”

——

Neon probably should've kept an eye on Leon.

As he was working on his own batch, something suddenly exploded. Leon then waddled over to Neon with a hand behind his head and covered in ash.

"Okay, so this looks kinda bad..."

"Kinda??" Angelo exclaimed. "What did you even do??"

Neon grimaced and then slowly exhaled. "I'm...sure it's fixable." He laughed a bit. "Just show me where--"

"THERE YOU ARE!!"

Neon jumped again. How many people were going to give him a near heart attack??

He turned around to find...Raph?

He looked a little older, so probably not from their dimension. But it was definitely him.

"Where have you been?? You keep running off and scaring Leo--why is there a giant Leon...?"

Neon waved slightly looking like a deer in the headlights at the again sudden outburst.

Angel moved from where he was teaching the other turtles how to sneak in random ingredients to where Raph stood. 

Bouncing on his legs with a cupcake in his hands, he spoke a bit faster than normal, “Hi! Welcome to the cupcake booth! Take one for your time in the polls!”

Looking even more confused, older Raph gave Neon another curious look and then stared at Angel for a bit.

"...uh...thanks I guess." He took several cupcakes before awkwardly patting his head. 

Neon swore he saw him smile a bit.

He put the serious face back on, turning to the other kids. "You three. We're going before Leo has a meltdown." Despite the excuse, he looked like he was relieved himself.

Angelo shrugged, climbing on Rafa's back. Older Raph grabbed Rafa's hand as Leon looked around wildly. 

"Uh...bye Neon! Bye other big Mike!"

“Come back any time!” Angel waved wildly copying Angelo as he climbed onto Neons shell so he can wave to them from a higher vantage point.

“Thank you for the beanie you four,”Neon called out to the turtles as the older Raph turned to leave, “Come back if you wanna make more cupcakes.”

The kids waved back. The older Raph smiled a bit at them before reprimanding the others about wandering off.

WOOOOO LESSGOOO!!

[artemismoorea03]

Life Update

Okay, so this is a long time coming. For those who follow me for my Gotham is Haunted or Monkies Aren't Alright series - or any series really - you might have noticed a large gap in posting and this is a mixture of things that hit all at once.

To start out Salem - our black cat went missing in April and we still haven't found him. I'm still holding out hope but aside from my Mom it seems like everybody else has given up on finding him.

Salem went missing on my wedding anniversary and on my birthday my spouse brought home a kitten that was found at his work that we named Ziggy. He was starving, really sick, and not doing well but by some miracle we managed to nurse him to life. A mixture of waking up every couple of hours to give him formula, helping him to go the bathroom, and restarting his breathing a handful of times. Ziggy is now five months old and is thriving to the point that our vet has been surprised by how far he's come and that he's the same cat.

Then, in September I went on a hellish camping trip. One that basically made me loose all hope that I will ever be able to heal my relationship with my father and strained my relationship with my mother even more. Between panic attacks, autism melt downs, being so cold I was physically sick more than once then got yelled at for being 'dramatic', and my father telling me I was being 'too much' for being disabled how I am I just... I was done and I'm still not okay from that trip. Both emotionally and physically.

To add onto that my mom implied that she would be kicking us out of the house because my sister and her boyfriend were moving out and tried to convince me and my spouse to move into the "Mancave" of my creepy uncle which meant that we spent weeks trying to find a house on short notice just to find out that it was actually my Dad pushing my mom to kick us out so they could make more money from renting the house we're living in out to others. When mom realized that we took it seriously and was to the point of being mentally lower than I had been since fuckin high school she took back what she said and promised that unless we wanted to move out we weren't going anywhere.

All of that mixed with the fact that I have been sick for months physically, my vision and hearing getting worse, my mental state still being garbage, and hate comments on some of my work that I've had to delete or push aside has made it really hard to write. I second guess everything I write, and try writing even harder. Hell, I was nearly done with my Kid's Aren't Alright rewrite when I got ANOTHER bad comment and realized a mistake that I knew I would get more hate on and now I'm having to rewrite it all over again.

I'm working myself in circles and I'm just... I'm not okay and I'm not sure how long it'll be until I'm okay again. I'm trying to get back into writing, getting back to my roots and writing more of what I want to write and worrying less about 'canon' or haters but it's hard to write when writing isn't fun.

To my friends that I've kinda brushed off, I promise it's not you. I've gone into my shell a lot and I'm trying to break back out but it's a fight. I'm still in a dark place but I'm hanging on as best as I can with the resources I have around me. I'm not saying there will never be another update (hell, I took a break from writing Gotham is Haunted just to make this update) but I am saying that whatever the update, no matter how small or how lame... be gentle, please? A lot has happened.

And this? What I've written here - is only part of it.

[gay-flyboys]

Questions for Fic Writers

No one tagged me but I like stats and info and shit so I wanted to do this. "Keep reading" bc it's long and I don't hate you guys

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

34! On my main, 2 on my alt, and 1 anon. Would be closer to 42-45 but I went through a bender early this year and deleted/orphaned a lot of works

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

221,775 (plus the ~16k I'm editing rn) (not including the 2 on my alt)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently only RWRB, though I wrote the most for Top Gun (both movies) and Julie and the Phantoms (most of those are what I deleted tho lol)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

True Colors Shine in Darkness and in Secrecy (WIP) (RWRB)

Visceral In Doses (Top Gun)

Take All Of Me (Top Gun)

And I Am Your Tree (Young Royals)

Grit Your Teeth Another Time (Top Gun)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to! Sometimes if I feel like I have nothing to add to them, I won't, but I generally try to give thanks at least.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I have a LOT lmao I love angst, so. By fandom + Main angst content:

Top Gun (2 Main canon character deaths)

Real Genius (Offscreen Character Death)

JATP (Referenced canon character death + funerals!)

Young Royals (Uhhh grief? It's post-S1)

Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse (Main character death)

Hunger Games (SA, as a fade to black)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Again, by fandom bc I have several:

Top Gun (Hangster, Valentines day, post-canon fic)

Young Royals (5+1 of Wille being carried+carrying someone)

JATP (Willex Valentine's Day date. Pure fluff. So much fluff.)

RWRB (Henry character study, mix of pre and post-canon)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

OMG so one person (I assume, diff accs but it was anonymous) left several hate comments on a fic I wrote when I was like 16 so I deleted that shit immediately. Someone gifted me a fic afterward bc they felt bad LMAO. Nothing really since, though

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

HAHAHAH yeahhhh. Idk how you'd classify it though? Like. I've got a variety of shit in there

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nah, not my style

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I can barely ask people to beta-read my fics, and making friends is hard. Asking to co-write might put me in the grave

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

I have a few. I'm always soft for Barisi (SVU), Roy/Riza (royai?) (FMAB), and Willex (JATP), though

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Too many. A Barisi soulmate au I was rewriting. Icemav flower shop/pilot au, the entirety of Hangster as Exes as Youngblood. The TG/FMAB au I started. There's more. I have like 130 fics in my docs and over half of those are WIPs, so.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I've been told I'm good at writing physical touches, and movements. And I like to think I'm alright at descriptions

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I get way too wordy with those mentioned above. I ramble a lot. Dialogue scares me, especially in smut (I worry I'll be too corny/porno-sounding). I basically don't do outlines unless the idea I have is really long, and even then they tend to be pretty frail and bare-bones.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I used to pretty frequently when I was writing Barisi, mostly pet names and stuff in Spanish. I no longer feel confident in writing other languages that I don't know, which limits me to English and describing ASL.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Oh god. So it might have been Pokemon back when I was in elementary school. But I typically say Attack on Titan, the summer between 7th and 8th grade. I was friends with this one girl and would literally send, over Gmail, new chapters. I still have...most? of the writing in a doc and it is HORRENDOUS.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

It's not my best fic by any means, but I have a soft spot for I Hope We Make It (To The Other Side), which is a JATP fic that hit sooo many firsts for me. It was my first finished multi-chap fic, my first time plotting shit out. I think it was some of the longest writing I'd done at the time (my avg length of fic was like 2k and 3k for a long one). And I was SO PROUD of so many little things within it.

I also love Still Singin' Here Above The Ground, which is a RWRB fic that's pretty quiet but is just. Ugh. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

[satire-please]

Don’t Stop Creating!

Okay, this can be applied to any fandom really, but I’m directing it to the Voltron Fandom in particular because a new season of the show just came out.

And some people can be such dickheads.

This short season gave us some great things! Keith learning step by step how to respect his team and on his way to be a great leader. Allura learning like a maniac and slaying like the fantastic queen she is. Lance getting more mature, more supportive and even being willing to step aside in this war if that’s what it takes. (Even if it hits every insecurity along the way)

As for Pidge and Hunk? I’m wigging in my seat, incredibly excited for when Pidge gets her own arc about finding Matt in the seasons to come. And soon they better stop making Hunk the blunt of food jokes and give that heart of gold a real chance to show off.

But I digress. Some people are going to be dickheads.

Some people are going to leave the most mean-spirited comments, rotten messages to junk up your inbox just because they’re sick of a certain character or ship. (In my case I was attacked about Lance...repeatedly) And you’re going to create amazing art or write awesome stories and it doesn’t matter if you tag the ever-living crap out of them. Trashcans are going to try to rip you down. 

So keep creating.

Delete their comments and messages, don’t even respond. Nobody got time for that! You deserve spending your time rocking it, not giving it away to that sewage. The most wonderful vindictive thing you can do is take away their voice. They want to rub their uncalled for opinion all over your face, so take bleach and dump it on that scum.

Everyone has their own agency.

Everyone can take responsibility to police what content they decide to engage in.

If they don’t like it, then they don’t have to click on your fic, they can choose another art blog, scan different tags.

As for you? Do no harm, but take no shit.

Block away on Tumblr. Take off the anon option on your ask box. (Ha once blocked they’d have to create another blog to insult you) Setup your messaging for only your mutuals if necessary. On ao3 delete comments liberally or click the options on who can see you work or disable anon comments there. 

But overall? DON’T STOP CREATING.

Your work is what makes a fandom great. Your work whether it be a drabble or a scribble is what people enjoy and appreciate, not the discourses or arguments other ‘fans’ spew.

So go create the universe. Voltron needs something to defend after all, huh?