#We also want to escape from the shit we're dealing with as well. but no. apparently cannot do that. or have fucking fun in general.

[thebibliosphere]

I was already on a hair trigger today trying not to snap at a mutual for reblogging a "fuck authors who use Amazon" post, but, like, this shit is why some authors can only afford to use Amazon.

They don't have the $75+ to distribute through Ingram Spark. They don't have the $25 it takes to change your files if you need to update them after they've been accepted. They can't afford to take the cost of printing hit to their sales. They can't afford to lose an additional 40% of their income to retailer discounts.

And just so we're clear, Ingram isn't a vanity publisher. They're one of the largest print monopolies in the world. They're used by most mainstream traditional publishers and indie and self-pub authors alike. Amazon uses them when their print demand is too high.

My friend, whose work is published by Gollancz, is printed through Ingram, the same as mine. The difference is their publisher takes the hit for them. In theory. We won't get into dwindling advances here or how publishers are increasingly putting the onus of marketing and sales onto their authors or the fact that their editors can't afford rent or food while the executives get richer and richer.

So what do you do when the mainstream doesn't want you? What do you do when you're told if you can't keep up with the rat race, that you don't deserve to have your work published? What do you do if all you have is the ability to tell stories for a living, and no one wants you?

Well, you could die of starvation. I'm sure there are several people on here who'd be happy if that happened to me. (I know. Because they tell me. Often.) Or, you can shake hands with the devil, knowing it's a bum deal, knowing everything is fucked, but also knowing that every other aspect of this fucking industry is just as fucking bad.

There's no escape. It's relentless.

And you've got people out there posting things like, "Actually, I think authors who charge for their books are part of the problem."

And yeah, in an ideal world, I'd be making art for art's sake.

But we're not in that world. We're in the bad place, and you're actively making it worse. You're encouraging people to steal from people who are struggling just like you and calling it activism against billionaires or putting them in the same moral category as said billionaires as though we're not trapped in this system, same as you. Some of you are fellow fucking authors. And, like, my mind boggles at what it would take to stab a fellow creative in the back like that, but here we are.

Hell world.

[romance-of-three-memes]

It's incredible how fairly small observations from other people can change your perspective on a character, because for most of my life I very aggressively did not give a single solitary shit about Lu Bu until I started seeing takes from other people bringing up how in ro3k he's very overtly punished by the narrative for caring more about the women in his life than he's 'supposed' to according to the good old dude-bro Confucianism code. Obviously he's by no means a feminist icon but it's something.

I mean we're talking about the same fictionalized historical tradition where you got the Hua Guan Suo Zhuan, and that starts with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei deciding that if they really want their new brotherhood oath with Liu Bei to matter then they have to go murder each other's entire families and the only ones who escape are Guan Yu's oldest son Guan Ping (because he begs Zhang Fei to spare him and take him on as a protege) and Guan Yu's pregnant wife because she manages to run away and gets taken in by another family, and when Guan Suo grows up and finds out about all this it doesn't seem to deter him from wanting to meet his biological father at all. Like oh hahaha you know... He did it for his bros, that's ancient history basically.

Also where in a version of the story after Lu Bu is defeated, Liu Bei and his brothers start fighting over Diaochan and Guan Yu murders her because guys, we cannot let a woman tear us apart like this... So clearly the solution is to kill her horribly.

So yeah a guy going 'well man, I don't want my wife to hate me for leaving her behind in a siege (again)' actually is a pretty big deal, as absolutely bare minimum as it feels by our standards.

[liedownquisition]

Jason Todd's timeline and "Age"

So, there's a lot of discussion of Jason Todd's age esp as relative to other sidekick vigilantes, particularly Tim and Mia. I believe the exact words are usually something about a "grown ass man beating up/trying to kill teenagers."

DISCLAIMER: This particular post is specifically regarding the "grown ass man vs teenagers" statement, I have posts regarding the "tried to kill them" portion and other stuff like "seriously Jason Todd is like being shot by a marshmallow gun compared to what goes on directly before and after him in these incidents, also you don't bitch about the right stuff, also a lot of you prop up characters who are Objectively Worse, and no that's not hate on your fave it's just me calling out hypocrisy". It just takes time to find digital copies of the panels I'm using. NOTE I AM NOT JUSTIFYING HIS ACTIONS. I'm just saying y'all blow it out of proportion for petty character hate. Like, shit, they're superheroes. Jason's soooo fuckin' tame. He's not even framed as a big deal to the teens it's only the adults that think it's that much of a problem.

Courtesy readmore post cut:

Now, to start off, we all know Jason died at 15 & a few months off from 16 (if you want me to dig up panels, sure, but I figured at this point that wasn't in question). Tim at this point is somewhere between 12-13, and we have this panel in Lonely Place of Dying which takes place a few months later:

So that's a ballpark of 2-3 years between Jason and Tim.

But Tim's age is really fucky and they keep de-aging him tbh. We can extrapolate that his confrontation with Jason was between the ages of 16-17 bcs it's after the arc where he has his incredibly shitty 16th birthday in Robin Vol2 #116 and before Red Robin where he's stated to be 17. This would put Jason between 18-19 at the time. (If you really want me to find panel sources for Tim's birthday and his age in RR then, sure, but I don't think they're necessary. I used it more as a guidepost for Jason's age, since we have a clear idea of what the age gap is.)

At least, on paper.

Mia for her part I've had a hard time finding like, on panel mentions of her age and if anyone can direct me to it being explicitly stated I'd love that. I'm rereading old comics but it's a LOT of comics to hunt down & dig through. To my understanding she was fifteen when Ollie first met her, and there's at Minimum of about a year and a half between that to her meeting Red Hood, more likely at least two? because there's at least few months between that and her joining the Titans, the Doctor Light stuff, then One Year Later, and then returned to Star some 3 months after Ollie came back to run for mayor? And then Jason not too long after. So, two years feels safe. Puts her at 17-ish, Jason at 19-20

Once again, I specify: on paper.

People would happily point out at this point that the upward stretch of a 4 year age gap is a "huge gap in maturity." And yeah, under normal circumstances, I'd agree.

But, and this is going to get contradictory bcs I found Two different timelines (BOTH written by Winick, lmao), and depending on how you read it it could be up to three different possibilities. Let's Start with Batman Annual #25: Daedalus & Icarus.

Timestamp before Jason's resurrection, which is pretty well known at this point:

Next, him waking up from a coma afterwards, when he escapes the hospital:

Now the above could be interpreted as either 1 year after he died if we're assuming that it's using the same "start" point to count as the resurrection (unlikely), or one year after he came back (more likely).

Next, the timestamp right before a guy recognizes him and sells him out:

And, finally, the timestamp before being put in the Pit:

That is, count it up, between 3-3 1/2 years where Jason was dead, in a coma, or otherwise not particularly... cognizant of the world around him. His ass is NOT developing emotionally, socially, or mentally like this, which pretty handily bridges the gaps there. Taken at face value, Jason's maturity level is going to be, unironically, younger than Tim's in the wake of these setbacks.

Now, if we go to Lost Days issue 1, it doesn't specify how long he was dead, nor how long he was in a coma, so we'll just carry those two over, what we DO have is this from just after Talia brought him home:

This puts him as being on the streets for five months, so we're at just shy of two years so far. And then we have this:

Which is right before Talia puts him in the Pit.

So, in summary: 6 months dead, 1 year coma, 5 months on the street, and something like 1-1 1/2 years with the League which...

Actually puts us on almost the exact same timeframe either way. 3 to 3 1/2 years. It just changes whether Jason was on the streets or with the League for longer.

And is utterly incomprehensible because comic timelines are a freaking nightmare.

If we're being generous, then that would put Jason at a minimum of 19, maybe toeing the line of 20 for UTRH, again, on paper, because like hell are you convincing me he did less than a year's worth of training abroad throughout Lost Days. Yeah maybe they trained him in fighting while he was catatonic, muscle memory and all that. But the other teachers that we KNOW of? The bombs, guns, probably something to get him up to date on handling all that tech we see him using, Egon, potentially arguably All-Caste if you want to draw from n52...

but you'd have to knock at least a year and a half off of his internal/personal development from death & coma, at minimum. Maybe you could argue he was somewhat developing while in his "the lights are on, but nobody's home" phase, you can't say it's at the same level as a normal person might when going about their day to day life, and it's difficult to measure. But he's not hitting the kind of milestones that he should be for his age. I wouldn't put him at anything less than two years behind. So if we use our upper estimates on Jason, and lower estimates on both the developmental setbacks and Tim/Mia's ages that gives us:

Jason toeing 20, mentally 18, fighting Tim at 16. 2 year gap, kind of stretching the physical age gap if we assume Tim had just barely turned 13 when he showed up to be Robin. - OR LESS

Jason maybe 21, mentally 19, fighting Mia at 17, two year age gap again. Honestly, still not that big of a difference - OR LESS

And, to be frank, that's not even counting the mental development issues that come from the intense physical trauma from dying - and I swear to fuck don't give me the "He's not the only one who died he's not special" speech.

HOW MANY OF THE OTHERS YOU'RE USING AS A GOTCHA LOST, *GESTURING AGGRESSIVELY ABOVE*, LITERALLY MULTIPLE YEARS OF THEIR LIFE.

Not counting adults, of course. Barry lost years, Hal lost years, Ollie I think also lost a couple years? but A) they came back still adults, bodies pretty much the same. B) While Jason's body didn't go through a magic growth spurt in canon, it did still grow esp while with the League.

I'll eventually get around to Titan's Tower & GA#72 (tbh, there are other people who've already done Titan's Tower and it'd probably be better than what I do, so I'm more going to focus on the latter, but there IS a specific part of the former that drives me nuts that I don't see brought up a lot), and maybe if we're feeling spicy all my issues with UTRH starting with how Winick is just as guilty of retroactively writing Jason as being inherently a bad penny since his Robin days as any of the other "modern" writers. Like, bud, Severe enough Head Trauma is legitimately enough to change someone's personality, not to mention trauma. It wouldn't hurt your narrative for that eerie difference, the Shade of What Once Was if you're really going for RH being Like that.

Final addition: I swear to god if you use my post to start up some kind of petty-ass ship war or flame other characters I will immediately turn off reblogs and replies I am Not Dealing With That Shit, please and thank you.

Anyways, @glitter-stained, your interest made me decide to actually put the work in now to pull it up rather than passively gather stuff to dump whenever discourse pushes me over the edge so, here ya are. Looks like you did have it closer on the mark than I did.

[shinalenecaffeinatedwriter]

GunnTechAU!Villains Incorrect Quotes

Because I like to think that they also have the power of friendship on their side.

Isabella: Truth or dare?

Luna: Truth

Isabella: How many hours have sleep this week?

Luna: ...Dare

Isabella: Go to sleep!

Luna: I don't like this game

---------

Luna: You can never lose an argument if you say “Shut up, Nerd” at the end

Romeo: Yes, you can

Luna: Shut up, Nerd

----------

[After their first time working together as villains]

Isabella: Do something that I wasn't willing to do all those years ago

Nori: Uh hu, Bring GunnTech down, right?

Isabella: No. Get some therapy, *Burst of laughter* *Snickers* Mother of God!

----------

Nori: Do you ever want to talk about your emotions, Luna?

Luna: Nah,

Kevin: I do!

Nori: We know, Kevin

Kevin: I'm sad

Luna: We know, Kevin

----------

Luna: Damn It! English doesn't have enough curse words! *Curses in Italian*

Wolfy Kids: Please don't cuss at us in a language we don't speak, Luna

----------

Kevin: Sis,

Luna: I'm not your sis, Kevin

Kevin: Sister, I crave chaos

Luna: Good

*Kevin gets headpats*

----------

Romeo: Hey Nori, do you want to make 20 dollars fairly easy?

Nori: How?

Luna, from the other room: Oh, my God!

Nori: What did you do?

Romeo: Well…

Luna: WHAT THE HELL?!?

Nori: Make it 50

Romeo: Deal! *Hands the money*

Luna, storming in: WHO WAS IT!? WHO DID THIS!?

Nori, putting the money on his pocket: It was Romeo

----------

[After GunnTech managed to capture Isabella, Who manages to escape pretty easily]

Isabella: What are you guys doing?

Luna: Wh- You- We're here to save you

Isabella, dumbfounded: You were gonna... save me?

Luna: It was a really good plan too

Isabella, absolutely moved: Well, I can go back inside and you can still do it.

Nori: That's patronizing...

-----------

Hywel: You know, I wish you guys would take a greater interest in my things, we're siblings, but sometimes feels like we're just roommates.

Rhiannon: Hywel, if you don't cut it out with YOUR MIDDLE CHILD NOSENSE!! I'm gonna SHOVE your head into THE TOILET!

----------

Hywel: Shit! Ripp, What does this say?

Rhiannon: I don't know, Howler. One of you knocked out the one who could read Latin! (Romeo)

Kevin: Why don't we ask Luna?

Rhiannon: No! Then Nori would laugh at us.

Luna: Guys, I-

Rhiannon: We know what It says, we can read. [We can't read...]

-----------

Hywel: I suffer from Ligma

Isabella, who has been mostly in hiding since GunnTech and not interacting with people nor Internet: ...What's Ligma?

.

.

.

Kevin: I'm going to tell her,

Rhiannon: Don't. You. Dare.

----------

Rhiannon: Lu, Did you know diarrhea is hereditary?

Luna: Wha-?

Rhiannon: Yeah, It runs in your genes

Luna: *Snickers* Jeez, that's so stupid...

Rhiannon: *Chuckles*

-----------

Nori: I guess I'm just too tough to cry

Hywel: Yesterday you were crying about snakes

Nori, with tears in their eyes: They don't have any arms

-----------

Luna: What did you do? I said distract them not knocked them out!

Nori: ...There's just no pleasing you sometimes

-----------

What are you scared of?

Luna: Closed spaces

Rhiannon: Not being enough to the people that depends on me

Kevin: Spiders

Hywel: GunnTech’s experiments

Nori: Being alone

Romeo: The irrefutable knowledge that nature thinks we don’t need anything else on an evolutional level although they’re so many things we, as humans, still haven’t accomplish; the only solution that we have is scientific progress.

Isabella: Romeo

Kevin: Can I change my anwswer to match Isa’s?

[theprenderelliepalace]

Perception

Part 4

Part 1, part 2, part 3

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Summary: Y/n just wanted to drop some books off at the Salvatores. She expects to find trouble, being the odd one out and everything, she doesn't expect his name to be Damon Salvatore. And with the week she's had? Everything is falling out of place and now the monsters of her past are out to get her.

Warnings: angst, violence, kidnapping, injuries, vampire stuffs (obviously, otherwise why are you here?), uhm lore dump***, fast burn AF, language probably...

Word count: 1.7k

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

The silence was loud.The shuffling of feet and the whispers of words that were just out of reach, a pounding baseline against my skull.

The past twenty-four hours came flooding back to me like a dam burst. Damon kissed me, he kissed me like he needed me as much as I needed air. It was hungry, enough to devour me whole. And then I was alone again. In the woods clearing my head. And then I was passing out, the sheer proximity of the spiteful vampire, my complete downfall. His words literally rattling around in my head. I was his... what? Soulmate? Do vampires even have those?

And then bang, we were hit head on by a car.

I opened my eyes suddenly, the room was dark, save for the Crack of light peeking through an abandoned doorway. My body throbbed in any direction I turned, my neck ached with a firey passion.

I noticed I was slumped against the wall, I also noticed that there was a sulking figure in the opposite corner. "Damon?" I should've heard him breath, but the room was painfully silent. I got to my knees, the pain blinding. Everything stung as I crawled across the floor. Splinters sprung up underneath my hands and dug into my skin. I reached him, I put my hands on his shoulders, I shook him gently. "Damon." I repeated.

I sighed as I heard him stir. He tuned towards me, his eyes screwed shut. "What-?" Suddenly there was motion, noise. It dulled the aching thrum of the quiet, that the pounding of my heart had filled moments ago. I placed my fingers to his lips to shush him. We waited.

"Yeah, we got the two for 'im. Don't think it wasn't a bitch to get the vampire to cooperate." There was the static pause that came with the response over the phone. "Well bloody tell 'im that the boss doesn't like to waste time. We're traders. If you ain't got nothin' to trade, don't bother calling back before the deal's done." The man down the hall hung up.

Damon tensed next to me as his heavy footfalls echoed down the hall. I felt something in Damon resolve, maybe it was this freaky mental bond between us, or maybe it was my own enhanced perception but I tensed with him.

The door swung open and suddenly I was being pulled by the waist faster than I could blink. Damon rushed the guy, shoving him against the doorframe as we passed. I heard the man grunt but we were gone before I could see his face. He called after us, and my ears ached as his words bounced off the walls and rattled in my skull as Damon raced towards some unseen escape, ~"supposed to keep him down until The Maker... call him! Don't let them escape!" Several voices trailed after him. It was all too much to take after everything that happened.

Inexplicably, I felt the rush of cool air against my cheeks. I realised I'd closed my eyes. When I opened them we were surrounded by woods. The trees were tall and looming like I'd described the Boarding house, except the death and decay I felt from them was rancid and dangerous. Vampires lived here, a lot of them.

"Shit, Y/n, you need to walk. I can't vamp-speed us out of here." He huffed. I noticed, even in the absence of the moonlight, the sweat that glistened on his brow and the heavy rise and fall of his chest. His clothes were torn and bloody. Then I saw his neck...

"Damon-" my heart panged at the sight.

"Not now!" He chastised in a whisper. We could still here the shouts and leers coming across the clearing from our captors. It made me shudder. Damon's hand, that I forgot had been clamped tightly around my waist pulled me tighter. A part of me should've hated him, he lied and tormented and for as long as I've known him, been a righteous jack-ass. The other part of me told myself I was stupid and he'd just saved my life.

I would deal with what came next later. "Okay," He whispered, "can you stand?" I nodded. "Good. I can hear the highway due South, we need to be absurdly quiet. Like, we don't even exist quiet." He looked at me, I must've looked terrified because he added, "Think Stefan and Elena when I walk into a room." I wanted to laugh, I really did, but I just nodded my head shakily.

So we walked. I held onto him, my left leg in agony with every step. I could feel Damon was putting on a brave face, even with the gaping, bite-shaped gash that poured blood down his neck. He wasn't going to make it to the highway.

"Damon, stop." He shook his head, not really listening. "Damon, just," I wanted to find the words, "Do what somebody asks of you, ifor once?" He scowled at me. We stopped. I had no ides how long we had been walking, but I knew I had to help him. It was my only chance of getting somewhere safe. And ashamedly, I had to admit that I wanted answers. I extended my wrist and he looked at me. "It's not that confusing. Or do I have to explain the process of being a vampire to a vampire?" That was supposed to be funny. I shook my head at him. "I'm serious. You need blood if we're gonna get out of here. Just heal me if I pass out." I started to feel squirmish under his scrutinizing gaze.

"I wanted to tell you." He started. He looked away from me, my something I don't think he could see. "When a vampire... when a vampire has been alive long enough, sometimes this freak of nature crap happens and it sucks two souls together." His words were slurred and I went with him as he fell to the ground. "It's all about witchy balance, mumbo-jumbo."

"But what does that mean? I mean, why is it such a big deal? Hundreds of vampires have lived longer than you." It was so surreal to see him like this. Almost-

"Because it's a curse. The darkness of the night always taints whatever light it touches. That's how it's always been." He grimaced.

"Are you scared?" I asked.

He looked up at me. "Yes. I wanted to talk to a witch I know in Georgia. She knows about the blood curse."

"Blood curse?" He looked at the wrist I had offered him. "Oh." It was all snapping into place. "So that's why we've been so, off, around each other? It's a curse?" He nodded. His breath even more ragged.

"The curse of an immortal. To be die for his obsession for his mortal counter part. If they bond, she'll never be able to turn and he'll never get enough of her blood. Eventually they both die of madness." He said it like it had bitten him and the very words rolled off his tongue with a venom that rattled through me. It was terrifying.

"But, you need to get us out of here." He scoffed, the bitterness written across his sculptured face.

"And then what Y/n? We go about our lives? We succumb to the curse and the lust? And then you fucking die?" His nails dug into my wrist, the very life essence that we both so desperately needed, pooling underneath his hand. I watched the veins under his eyes pulse.

"I can't... it's too cruel. Even for me Y/n. It's too much to ask. What's another day worth anyways?" He laughed. It was a hollow sound. "I've been a monster all my life and that's fine. I can be the bad guy, but not with you. I just can't. I don't even know if that's me, or some shitty curse that's an anomaly in of itself." Damon looked awful, his skin was paling and his brow was furrowed in a mixture of grief and pain.

I touched his face. "Hey, maybe it's cruel, maybe it's too much to ask. But shit happens Damon. The test of a person is never how they fall. It's how they get up and I need us to get up. Later is later. I can deal with that, but I need us to be a team right now. And maybe... maybe you're right, and it's just some shitty curse, but it doesn't matter." He looked up at me, surprise glinting in his cerulean eyes. I pressed my wrist against his lips. "Because I knew you were a fighter, that's why I didn't shoot you when we first met. I couldn't get that fire out of my head. You were all consuming and dammit if that man can't find away around a dumb, luck of the draw curse."

He searched my eyes, my face,my very soul. He asked me if I really meant what I said, if I was okay with this, with him. As much I wanted to say that I should hate him, I didn't. As much as I wanted to run as fast as I could, I wouldn't because the man I had come to know had this incredible allure about him. A sensation I could only describe as a roaring blaze. That's the man that I wanted to win against all odds with. And I would.

His fangs dug into my flesh, the feeling was pain and pleasure all in one. I felt something solidify between us, the magic that kept Damon alive and the power that allowed me to see beyond my wildest dreams, it intertwined so beautifully, that I couldn't help but shed a tear.

-----------

It was sunrise when I woke up against Damon's chest. The woods seemed less frightening now, as the birds chirped and the golden rays of light blossomed through the leaves. I smiled at how the light caught his eyelashes and made him look so peaceful in sleep.

Then I heard the roaring of cars in the distance. "Damon!" I shoved his chest as I began to rise. He groaned and grimaced against the light. He lifted a hand to the sun.

"Wha-?" He could barely finish a thought before I was pulling him up and racing towards the sound.

"I hear the Highway!" I beamed at him.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

#angst dump yo! Maybe I was just in a mood ya'll

But I'm liking where this is headed. Some plot, some action, some romance, some lore. Life is good in my little fanfiction world.

Go check out my asks if you like this story (REQUESTS ARE OPEN)

Masterlist

[jacksprostate]

With every passing day I'm less convinced of the narrator's feelings about Marla being in any way romantic lol. Obvious disclaimer this is one of many interpretations that can be done of the book, if you like to interpret it that way good for you, I support all interpretations with textual evidence and there's obviously some that way — but anyway, like.

He has no joy about it lmao there is no happy delight.... You expect me to believe you are in love with her when your thought process is essentially "Tyler loves Marla which. I guess means I do? And well, I guess I don't want her to die in my bullshit. I like you enough to not want you to die because when Tyler abandoned both of us I stopped viewing you as as much of a threat to my rabid bond with Tyler"

Like. I do think he cares for Marla. Likes her. But I do not think he Likes her.

And to me it is interesting and depressing. Tyler is his power fantasy. This fantasy where he can access the power of being a man attracted to women — well, if his brain can manage to fuck women while deeply delusional, maybe he can manage it! It legitimately reads kind of like he thinks he's been cured of something. And there's so much reason for him to feel that way — most especially, we're treated to an in depth look at how deeply shameful he feels about things that in any way tie him to homosexuality. He has such a complex about AIDS, he covers a birthmark on his foot just in case seeing it would mean someone thinks he's gay and dying. Maybe it's my own experiences letting me read more into it but he is so deeply repressed it's sad man. Even your power fantasy can't escape it. But also, that in itself makes sense, too. Being attracted to women puts him on top of the hierarchy, frees him from subjugation and the deep literal closet he's in as a gay man. It's not exactly the same as being attracted to men as a woman, which, while resulting in avoiding homophobia, puts you at direct risk for misogynistic intrapersonal violence lol. So. Tyler is free, and he is not. Tyler does not have to worry about dying in people's eyes.

Anyway you have all that, you have the intense homoeroticism of fight club in general (elaborate rituals, etc), literally everything about how he talks about Tyler, and you have the fact that just like. Honestly!!!! Where is the joy!!! Obviously it is extenuating circumstances because of the whole deal but his narration distinctly sounds like someone who just like. Oh yeah that's my good friend... Marla... yeah I guess I like her. We hang out and she helped me shoot myself

I do think post canon they end up having some sort of weird sad sex thing but that shit is not working longterm. Plenty of people have said it before and better but both of them want Tyler instead. Which in itself is an interesting dynamic.

Depending on how much autonomy and personhood you allot Tyler, too, it's interesting. In the narrator's eyes, everything for Tyler ties back to Marla. The one thing he has that the narrator simply can't. In the narrator's eyes, he outright states Tyler formed to do what he couldn't (engage with her romantically). Of course you can interpret that as him being inhibited in some other way, but... idk man.

[petrichor-idyllic]

Hello, I loved your Minho stories and I want to make a request. Minho and female reader are in a dangerous situation and one of those saves the other and the one that's been saved kisses the others cheek as a thank you and the tension is like super high. Thank you♡♡

Ooo yesss finally I get to write some action! I've been waiting for this.

Also, I know it's not really fluff, but that was the only category I write that I could fit this in on my masterlist lmao.

HIDE AND SEEK

MASTERLIST | MINHO MASTERLIST

SUMMARY: See above. Takes place before the arrival of Thomas.

WARNINGS: Inappropriate language, pure unbridled panic.

"Will you hurry your ass up?" Minho shouts from ahead of you, already irritated by your slower pace than him.

You're a Runner. Well, you're going to be a Runner. You're currently in your awkward training phase, which means that until you get good enough to run on your own, you're stuck with the grumpy and sarcastic Keeper.

Honestly, Minho was reluctant to agree to it. You're a girl- the only girl, and he's not exactly prepared to deal with you or your shit. So, when Alby put you forward to be a Runner after one of the boys got injured, Minho was quick to decline.

He figured you wouldn't be able to handle it but he was swiftly reminded by Newt about your first day.

It was definitely a Greenie day to be remembered. First, a girl shows up, shocking everyone.

And then you ran.

Unbelievably fast, grabbing the sides of the metal cage of the Box, hurling yourself up, and using the boys' momentary confusion to make your escape. It wasn't unusual for Greenies to run; there's actually an on-going inside joke about it.

What stunned them was when Gally caught you as he'd ran from another direction, and you socked him so hard in the jaw that the Med-jacks thought he'd broke it. It's a bit of a blur now, but you managed to take down three boys twice your size before Newt hit you in the head with a shovel.

You still have the scar.

Honestly, Minho wishes he would've been there to see it, but alas, he was not. Though the uproar he returned to was like no other.

Your fiery energy and impossibly high stamina is perfect for running the Maze, and Minho was forced to accept that.

"Hey!" He grinds to a halt, spinning around and snapping at you, "The shuck are ya doin'? We gotta move!"

You had stopped in front of one of the walls, examining the lettering under the ivy.

"There's words!"

"Yeah! I know, come on!"

You groan.

Minho is relentless. At first, you were thrilled you were getting some alone time with the very attractive Runner- but you quickly came to learn he's just as draining as any other boss you'd have.

"I'm just looking, man," you jog over to him, "what's the big deal? We're already ahead of schedule."

"That doesn't mean we can stop. I told you- we can never-"

"Yeah, yeah, 'never stop running'. I know, I know. Just lemme be curious for a second, a'ight?"

"We don't have time for that," he starts walking ahead, preparing himself to break into another sprint before actually doing it.

"Sure we do; it's kinda like the whole point of the gig," he raises his eyebrow, looking at you over his shoulder, "yanno? To be curious about the Maze?"

Minho doesn't even bother responding, probably because you're right, but he's never going to admit when he's wrong. He takes off running again, and you huff, grumbling to yourself that he doesn't have to be such a dick. But you still follow him without hesitation.

He turns another corner. Then another. And another.

Until he stops dead in his tracks. He stops so suddenly you nearly run straight into the back of him, just managing to slow in time.

"What are you doing?" You hiss, but he looks back at you, anger flashing in his eyes for a second before he presses a finger to his lips, telling you to shut up.

He then points ahead and you follow his finger, eyes widening at the sight.

Around the next corner, you can see the long, sectioned tail of a Griever. Its scorpion-inspired stinger on full display as you suck in a deep breath.

"Back up," he mumbles, his voice barely a whisper as you're frozen behind him, "slowly."

You nod feverishly, taking a step backwards. Suddenly, you've become his best student yet, ready to listen to anything and everything he tells you to do.

Minho follows suit, not letting the creature out of his sight, and you're preparing yourself to make a straight sprint back to the Glade. Maybe he was right- this Runner shit might not be for you.

"Okay," he basically hums, "once we're back round the corner, run for it."

"Sounds like a plan," you attempt to push out, but your knees are shaking as adrenaline makes your heartbeat jump into your ears.

You take another cautious step back and Minho is quick to follow.

Only for you to almost pass out from fear when a load mechanical screech shakes the walls of the Maze. You don't even get to see that the Griever has turned around, but judging by Minho's reaction, it had.

"Go! Go! Run!" You scramble slightly, your hands hitting the floor from how fast you spin around. Minho half catches you, even though you don't need him to. He pushes you forward, giving you an unnecessary but appreciated head start.

Minho is hot on your heels as you bolt through the Maze, allowing you to take the lead. Not that he has much choice.

"Minho!" You're suddenly overwhelmed with concern for the boy and you glance over your shoulder.

"Don't look back!" He yells, breath heavy and his footsteps hitting the solid floor that echos through the walls. "Don't worry about me, alright? Just run!"

You caught a brief glimpse of the monstrosity hunting you down. It's surprisingly fleshy, its bulbous skin is shiny, and multiple metal arms stick out aimlessly in multiple directions as small spikes cover its slimey body.

You'll be seeing that in your nightmares.

You're fast to turn another corner, nearly tripping over some vines- 'breadcrumbs' as Minho calls them -that you'd cut off of the wall earlier.

"Hey, watch out for-" you have no time to fully warn Minho as his foot catches on the severed plant, his body tumbling to the floor.

You stop immediately, your companion taking forefront in your list of concerns as you run towards him. He's quick to get back on his feet, your grasping hands doing very little to actually help him.

"Come on! Come on!" You shout as Minho finds his feet again.

The Griever is closer now, the clicking and whirring noises are far too close for comfort as you start running again. It's right behind you as it suddenly dives forward.

It bumps against Minho, knocking him down and colliding with you, forcing you onto the floor as you roll a few feet, groaning.

The creature is quick to get on top of you. It's metal spider legs trap you in place as it's gross, dripping mouth opens, letting out a terrifying scream that sounds like a mix of animal and machine.

You cry out in response as it lifts its tail, holding the pointed syringe that's attached above your head. It's almost teasing you, like it enjoys watching you squirm and scream for your life.

Out of nowhere, a rock hits the creature square in the head as Minho stands stunned, his chest rising as falling. The Griever lifts its face away from yours to face him, and he immediately backs away as it lets out another ferocious animalistic noise.

You take the opportunity to squeeze between its legs, just managing to slip through. Half-crawling, half-running, you rush to Minho.

He grabs you, yanking you up straight as you run back in the direction you just came from. The Griever is slow to react to this.

As you remember Minho saying; "they're dangerous bastards, but dumb as klunk."

You both take what you can get, the pure stress distracting both of you as Minho is still yet to let go of your hand.

"Come on," he's almost breathless, something you've never seen before, "I've got an idea."

You blindly follow him. Not that you have much choice as he's practically dragging you.

You're definitely not cut out for this type of work yet. Your sides burn as anaerobic reparation kicks in and the muscles in your legs feel like they're about to give in at any second.

You turn another corner, and Minho sharply pulls you to the right. He starts rummaging around the ivy, muttering to himself. "C'mon, c'mon!"

"What are you doing?" You snap, your voice breaking. He ignores you.

"Yes!" He pulls back a chunk of ivy to reveal a dip in the wall. It's small, less than a metre long and a few feet deep into the wall.

He steps into it, his back pressed to the side as he ushers you to join him. You pause for a second until the noises of the approaching amalgamation of horrors fills your ears.

He pulls you in with him, and you struggle to fit, your back against the other side and your front to his. He reaches out, pulling the ivy that falls back in place, covering you both back up.

The ivy acts as a blanket, light breaking in and reflecting off of Minho's face, which is beaded with sweat. You both hold your breath as you hear the creature cover the ground of the stretch of corridor.

You screw your eyes shut, only allowing yourself to open them once the shadow of the creature passes.

You look at Minho. His head is thrown back against the wall as his chest rises and falls, relief visibly washing over him.

Several minutes pass as you both will your bodies to calm down. Your body has turned to mush, and you're sure that if it weren't for Minho and the wall, you would've collapsed by now.

"Are you okay?" Your voice comes out as strained and scratchy. To your surprise, Minho scoffs.

"Are you?"

"Yeah," you pant out, "I think so."

"Not stung, are ya?"

"You didn't give it chance." He scoffs again. "How'd you know this was here?"

"I've run this thing every day since I can remember," he explains as you look at him, "I know these walls like the back of my hand."

It's impressive. It really is. What Minho's capable of is almost superhuman. The Maze is huge- you've run his routes with him for a couple of days, and that's just the parts he normally covers. This little crevice isn't even on his normal path, yet he knew almost exactly where it was.

Neither of you moved for a while, only now becoming aware of how close you are. Your chests are pushed together, and your faces are merely inches apart. The whole thing would be very hot if you hadn't just nearly fucking died.

"Alright, come on," Minho reaches out, pushing the leaves out of his way again and shuffling to fit out, trying his best not to push against you more than he has to.

Once out, he holds the plant in place as he jolts his head, gesturing you to join him, "We're good. It's clear."

You nod, also stepping out of your safe place, taking an anxious look either side. Just in case.

"We're going back to the Glade, right? 'Cause fuck continuing after that." He attempts to give you a smirk but it falls flat.

"Yeah, we're going back. When klunk like this happens, we normally call it a day. There's only so much I can take, too."

Neither of you have the energy to break into anything more than a jog, but time is on your side, so it's not a problem. You also want to save your remaining energy for another potential Griever attack.

The events of what just happened flash before your eyes, and it doesn't take a genius to realise you'd be dead if it weren't for the boy. You trail behind again but he doesn't shout at you this time.

You're not as used to dealing with this as he is, after all.

As the Glade slowly approaches, your new feelings of appreciation run strong as the experience slowly starts to sink in.

You owe Minho your life- you owe him everything. If he didn't think fast and throw that rock, you would've been stung. Or worse. You shiver at the thought.

But that doesn't stop you from picking up pace slightly, catching up to him. Delicately, you touch his wrist. You know you're safe here- Grievers don't come this close to the Glade in the day.

"Hey, Minho," he glances at his wrist and then up to your face.

"Yeah?" Your words fail you for a second. Even in his disheleved state, he still looks pretty, and the way he's looking at you right now could make you melt. He seems softer than before, almost like he's coming to terms with what's happened himself.

Instead of speaking, you stand on your tiptoes, leaning in and planting a kiss on his cheek.

You pull away, examining his face. The harmless gesture has made Minho's face red. Well, redder, at least, as blush dusts his tanned skin.

"Thank you," you whisper, your faces almost as close as when you were hiding in the wall.

"For what?" It's not cocky. He seems genuinely dumbfounded at what you could possibly be appreciative of.

"For saving my life. Duh."

His eyes flicker to your lips, seemingly unintentionally as his body turns more towards you. The action makes butterflies form in your stomach, causing all the fatigue to evaporate from your aching muscles.

He leans in further and you don't move, your noses brushing for a second until you jolt backwards, startled as a voice reaches you from the Glade.

"The shuck are you shanks doing back here?" Alby's deep voice sounds like a frown, "It's not even lunch yet!"

Minho passes you one more look. A look that's full of an emotion you can't quite read.

"We nearly shuckin' died, you slinthead!" He shouts, stepping away from you and towards the Leader lingering at the Doors. "That's what!"

You're left standing in the corridor. You can hear Minho already start to bicker with the older boy, who seems more irritated than concerned for your well-being.

You can still feel the ghost of Minho's close presence lingering around you, causing another adrenaline spike. Your heart is pounding in your chest like it's trying to break free from your ribcage.

For the second time today.

This was genuinely so fun to write. I literally sat down and wrote it in one sitting. I really liked this promt and just knew I had to do it as soon as I saw it.

Requests are still open, and I hope you enjoyed :))

[lover-of-mine]

Seeing your parallels gifsets of Buck's LIs made me realize that either the writers are doing this on purpose or he's turned dating into a social experiment. It also made me think about him somehow turning off the vulnerability he had with Abby after she left and choosing people he won't be getting that deep with. And that's interesting because he's transferred the emotional vulnerability to Eddie instead but it's more complicated because there's intricate rituals there. Idk if this is just intuition but I think more than just a hamster wheel, it feels like he's approaching a breakdown somewhere. It's like Maddie said once, even as a kid Buck knew there was something wrong with his family. And Buck sought out Dr Copeland on his own. There's something going on with his dating choices and I think we're approaching the point where it comes to a head.

As someone who will forever beg for a Buck breakdown, I like the way you think, honey. Because, sure, Buck doesn't realize he's trapped in a cycle, but the idea that he stays in shallow relationships because he doesn't want to go as deep as he did with Abby is interesting for sure, because, yeah, we haven't seen boyfriend Buck come out to play in the degree he did with Abby, and the idea that Buck's chooses people who see him in a specific way can be backed up by the "i feel like she sees me" comment because it was glaring that what was happening was that Natalia saw the parts of him he wanted, and while I think he did care about Taylor as much as he could, there was always a wall around them. And with Tommy right now we were not shown a lot of emotional depth. And, yeah, he has that vulnerability with Eddie and I think he rationalizes it in a "that's what a best friend is for" type way, so he doesn't fully see what he's doing, but he's not fully honest with Eddie either, or maybe he tells Eddie the same lies he tells himself. And the way Buck just goes with the flow has to do something in this particular area of his life, it has to have consequences, because yes, Buck is weirdly perceptive. He knew Abby wasn't all the way in, he knew he would be forced to learn to live with the parts of Taylor he didn't like, he knew something was off with his family. And Maddie tells their parents that Buck is better at seeming fine than anyone gives him credit, and that's very true. Buck is good at carrying the weight once the dust settles. Sure, he will blow up initially, but it's not like he actually deals with stuff. He chooses to ignore the way his parents lied to him, he sits by the window and waits for months, except when talking to Eddie and the doctor during recovery he looked perfectly fine with his death, he got crushed by a truck and they got caught in a tsunami and didn't even blink about it after. His worries about the tsunami were about losing Chris, not almost dying. He's good at diverting, distracting from what's really bothering him. And well, we've learned that bottling shit up won't ever work, with Bobby, and Eddie, and Maddie, and that man has been through A LOT. It has to catch up to him eventually. Because the thing is, Buck is a runner the same way Maddie is, but Buck is running from himself. He ran all across the continent to escape something he couldn't name while searching for something that would make him stay. He settles for anything that makes him feel something because it gives him the illusion he doesn't have to keep running. And that pressure has to go somewhere. So, yeah, ideally this leads to something. I don't have high hopes about it though. But it would be great. I=

[karniss-bg3]

I keep seeing people half-joke about Kar'niss being evil aligned but I just see him as more of a victim than anything, being taken advantage of by the Absolute cult at his most vulnerable. I so badly long for fixit scenarios where he maybe gets knocked out after battle, brought back to camp and taken care of.

Imagine him being tenderly bathed, wrapped in blankets, given cloaks to shield himself from harsh sunlight. Imagine him glowing with new health after some time has passed, his exoskeleton no longer looking as ill-fit and painful, his hair grown back in thick, long, lush tresses like it's meant to be... 😭

I've always considered Kar'niss "evil coded" but I never wanted to label him as evil overall. It stems from drow alignments being mostly evilcentric but D&D is gradually changing to make that less hard lined. One of my favorite personal characters is a drow male who escaped the Underdark after suffering years of abuse. He had to leave his children behind which broke his heart even if traditionally drow are pretty "meh" about their children. He also dyed his hair as his own way to stick it to Lolth societies in general. Drow are the embodiment of nature vs. nurture and I think even if you come from that society you don't have to be beholden to your birth.

Kar'niss stands out from the others at Moonrise because he is obviously very ill. No one has bothered to address his mental state and if anything they take advantage of the fact he's two fries short of a happy meal. It's clearly exploitation in the strictest sense. Yet the players are meant to ignore that and go "Oh well" in a game about addressing and healing through trauma? I don't think so.

I get that Larian likely didn't have time to do more with him and that companions take a lot of work to add in. Still, I'll always preach that Kar'niss got boned the worst compared to most non-companionable NPCs we run into. He was a perfect candidate to be taken in and helped, especially since mental illness isn't a trait any of the other companions have to deal with. I will give Larian the benefit of the doubt while simultaneously remaining sour about how robbed we were. It is what it is.

I like all of your ideas and I agree, Kar'niss deserves love and the chance at redemption. Hell, Astarion is the most popular of the companions and he's done some heinous shit. Sure it was under the influence of a cruel master but the same can be said about Kar'niss. If we can't lend Kar'niss the aid he deserves in-game then we'll do it through writing, art and any other medium we see fit. That drider won't know what hit him by the time we're done, I promise you that.

Thanks for the ask!

[writeyouin]

How would the TFA autobots react to an Harley Quinn like character? Think about it! It would be so funny! They have deal with human villains before but never deal with an crazy and bad@ss girl before! Also she kidnapped Sari (for whatever reasons) and was broke up with an ex-boyfriend (can be either headcanons or scenario)

Transformers Animated / Reader Headcanons - Crazy Like Quinn

Optimus Prime

What is wrong with this human? Sari, is it normal for humans to be like... this? No?

Either way, it's up to Team Prime to stop them.

Preferably before they do more damage with that hammer.

Briefly, he thinks the fight might be over after disarming you, but no... there's another weapon. A bat.

He gets rid of that and then, a bazooka. WHERE did you pull that from? Never mind, he doesn't want to know.

Just once, can't a villain like this put their talents to good? How many people could you help if you put that speed, agility, and strength to good use?

Boss-bot is so tired.

Bumblebee

When Bumblebee saw you swinging that hammer... he was a little turned on.

Then you pulled out the many other weapons in your arsenal.

"Hey, this is just like the boss fight in my game!"

He is way too excited about this.

He speeds around you, "Do you like video games too? Is that where you learned those moves?"

You - "I learned those moves from my sweet puddin'"

Bumblebee

You- You're taken. He deflates slightly until you add that you add that you do like video games.

He wants to go back and forth with some witty banter because you're so much fun to play with, but Bulkhead gets involved, trying to grab you, and tells Bee not to get distracted.

Bulkhead

"Bumblebee, we're supposed to be fighting, not making friends."

Although Bulkhead says this, he sounds unsure of himself. You seemed nice when you weren't hitting stuff.

"Hey, clown-human, can we stop fighting, please?"

You put your hand to your cheek, playing coy, then... "NO!"

Bulkhead is beside himself.

Sari told him clowns were supposed to be fun.

He hurries to grab you again and finally manages to catch you in one clawed fist.

You up-kick him in the jaw plate and he reels back.

"No fair," He groans. "Humans aren't supposed to be that strong."

Prowl

While you're pointing and laughing at Bulkhead, Prowl sneaks up behind you.

He throws one of his stars, and you barely dodge it.

"HOLY SHIT! Where the hell did you come from?!"

Prowl attacks again, without passing comment.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

"Let's get this over with," Prowl says with a sense of finality.

Yet, through the fight, he can't help but admire your skill. In a match of 1 V 5, you're holding your own remarkably well.

He has a grudging respect for you.

Ratchet

Ratchet doesn't care much for this fight. It's a young bot's game.

At first, he was doing what he could to assist the others.

Now, he's more concerned with stopping you from hurting civilians.

"Pull it together and get this over with, Prime," He gripes at the team leader as he uses his EMP to hold up the crumbling foundations of a building, just long enough for the civilians to escape.

He's already thinking about the repairs he's going to have to give the others when this is all over.

What he would give for an apprentice doctor at times like this.

Sari

This is totally cool. You are such a badass.

She says as much, giving you pause, "You guys fight villains all the time and you think I'm cool? Aww, cute kid."

"Heck yeah! I wish I could do that."

The bots are wondering whose side Sari is on.

"You wanna see something really cool, kid?"

Sari is practically bouncing. What are you going to do next.

You flip over to her and pick her up, hauling her over your shoulder.

"Get ready to see a cool villain base, girly. It's the hottest place to hang out."

Sari knows she should be mad about be ing kidnapped, but she's sure your base will be awesome. Besides, the Autobots will probably rescue her soon.

You throw a smoke-bomb down and are gone. It's a hurried call of "Autobots, Roll Out!" and they are gone to search for you and Sari.

[desire-mona]

Could I ask for a mini ramble on why Keating is your favourite character? Poised with a notebook and pen to take down notes haha

YES!!!!!!!

BECAUSE NOBODY EVER TALKS ABOUT HIM AND THATS HONESTLY SO RUDE!!!!!!!

so like. keating; let's talk about that

we desperately need to acknowledge that keating is an amazing man right down to his core. he is so passionate about living life in a way that makes him feel fulfilled that he makes it his main goal to teach others how to do the same.

he experienced the same exact thing as the poets, remember, the movie makes a big deal of how nothing at welton changes. he had the same exact oppressive environment growing up as they did, so he knew exactly how to connect to these boys.

HIS INTENTIONS AND ACTIONS WERE NOTHING BUT PURE, AND THATS WHAT MAKES HIS ENDING ALL THE MORE DEVASTATING.

every single one of his peers and superiors fully believed that neil's death was keatings fault, and actively shunned him for it. not a singular person that wasnt a Teenager in his community understood what he was trying to do. welton painted the narrative that keating taught these insane useless lessons about breaking the rules BUT NEED! I! REMIND! YOU! HE MADE A PRETTY BIG EMPHASIS ON THE FACT THAT U GOTTA BE SMART ABT IT! he called out charlie for the call from god thing for a reason!!

another crazy devastating thing abt keating + neils death is the fact that neil was understanding exactly what carpe diem mean's IMMEDIATELY. AND WAS ACTING ON IT!! he pursued things that he knew would make him happy and fulfilled in the long run, he knew what he wanted to do with his life and he took the first opportunity to get it. the exact fucking definition of seizing the day. keating was REACHING THIS KID SO WELL!! HE WAS UNDERSTANDING EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS SAYING!!! AND THEN!!! AND THEN!!!!!!!!!!

so imagine this. you grow up in the most rigid, boring, unchanging environment and decide fuck it, im gonna Do Something for Myself for Once. you start to think oh, this is actually kinda sick, doing things that make me happy. you escape the environment that aims to essentially make these Children into what their idea of successful is. (quick reminder that there are actual children also attending welton. like kids. like 9 year olds n shit.) you actually chase after every opportunity to be what your idea of successful is, and were so passionate about that way of living that you learned how to teach others how to do it. and also poetry and stuff.

so youre doing exactly that, you finally got to a point where youre doing exactly what you wanna do, and teaching these kids in a situation just like yours. and its going SO WELL! there's this one kid who just GETS IT and is doing it flawlessly and then - oh !

and now everyone around you is like um wtf this is your fault actually. SO YOU HAVE TO PROCESS THE FACT THAT YOUR STUDENT IS DEAD ON TOP OF HAVING TO RELIVE THE ENVIRONMENT YOU HATED AND ACTIVELY WORKED AGAINST YOUR ENTIRE LIFE. AND NOW YOU HAVE NO INCOME OR COMMUNITY OR HOME OR FRIENDS. AND THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT KNOW YOU ARENT A MURDERER ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 18. AND YOUR WIFE LIVES IN ANOTHER COUNTRY. OH AND ALSO YOUR RESUME IS RUINED AND ITLL PROBABLY BE PRETTY HARD TO FIND ANOTHER JOB IF YOU CAN AT ALL.

AND YOU HAVE CANCER. HE HAS CANCER IN THE OG SCRIPT.

keating is my personal description of raw devastation. all of who you are and what you wanted to be is in shambles because of something that isnt your fault. but almost everyone around you thinks it is your fault. and we're just gonna move on from that? thats it? thats the end of the story? no more keating after that?????? downright evil. more people gotta talk about this wonderful man!!!!!

also very sorry if this makes no sense, im quite high. but also shameless self promo pls interact with my ask blog @ask-captain-keating bc i lob running it. pleags. ily for asking this btw!!!!

[coolbeanzeaglbones]

Aquabats fic: the one with Eagleclaw, aka the one where bones suffers

The room was silent, “What?” Crash's voice was weirdly small and tight. The professor turned to them, “I didn't want to tell you guys, you know, to keep you from worrying or trying way too hard, but the environment needed to stay stable.” Everyone watched as he grabbed a plastic Easter egg from the coffee table, “Let's say this blue egg represents Eaglebones’ mind, the memories are in there, just really deeply hidden.” Everyone had their attentions on him, he just stopped to try to think of a way to say this gently, “Now, how this poison works, during recovery, the environment needs to stay stable or else.” He threw the egg at the wall, watching it break in half, “We lose our friend.”

They were quiet. The room was so quiet that you could hear an ant scurrying across the floor, though the commander had blood rushing through his ears.

They had never lost a member. Sure, members would come and go, but they never died or came close to that.

He sat down on the couch, head in hands, “Commander, are you okay?” Jimmy asked, putting a hand on his shoulder, “To be honest Jimmy, this is a bit shit.” He got up, “I was supposed to keep all of you safe, and I failed.” He let out a weird breathy laugh, “I failed.”

“No you didn't.”

“Yes, I did! You don't understand because you're a robot but-”

“Oh, you think I can't have feelings because I'm a robot?!” The commander knew he fucked up.

Jimmy just kept ranting, “Hell, you think I think of you guys as my brothers?! No! I think of you as my children!” The commander couldn't contain a laugh, “What?”

“You guys are younger than me! I've been on this earth since my parents built me when they were eighteen and freshly married! You guys are so much younger and yet, I'm not allowed to give some advice because it would get the usual ‘quiet down robot, you wouldn't know you don't have feelings.’ well I do!”

Jimmy sounded like he was just releasing a whole bunch of pent up emotion, “I'm so sorry Jimmy, I didn't know, but we can talk about this later, I swear, but right now, we've gotta figure out where they took him.”

Jimmy sniffed, “Okay.”

The commander had never known that the robot had actual emotions, but that wasn't a problem to deal with right now. Right now, they had to figure out where they had taken Eaglebones and how to get him back, “Maybe they took him to the hospital.”

“Even if that's so, which hospital? How would we sneak into the psych ward? There's thousands of possibilities.” The professor breathed in a heavy breath, “Well,” Crash started, “We have to try.”

Everyone looked at each other, then to the commander, who gave a slight devious smile, “Aquabats, let's go!”

They decided to take the professor's car, as it would be inconspicuous to try to follow them in. They also decided to change clothes, as not to be recognized immediately.

They, surprisingly, found them at the hospital. Everyone piled out of the car and walked nervously to the doors, “What if they tell us to leave?”

“Ricky, they won't tell us to leave, we're just visiting someone.” The professor reassured as they walked through the door.

And sure enough, all three of the Falconhawks were sitting in the waiting area. Eaglebones looked so awkward, looking around for an escape. His mom had something on her lap and that's when the Aquabats noticed that he wasn't wearing his knee braces.

That is horrible. She probably knew he would try and run and just took them so he couldn't get far.

He made eye contact with them and smiled, making a move to get up. The commander quickly signed at him to not do that. He didn't want him to fall in his face.

That's why he was just looking around and not trying to escape. Because, if the commander knew one thing, Eaglebones was not docile. Like, at all. He was a fighter, just a shy one when they first met him, but a subtle fighter none of the less. 

He just looked defeated. He looked like they had won.

Eagleclaw had looked straight at them, but didn't seem to recognize them without their uniforms.

They strategically sat so they were right behind him. Mrs. Falconhawk and Eagleclaw were listening to something in headphones, with Mrs. Falconhawk reading a book, so they wouldn't be able to hear a whispered conversation, “Okay, we're gonna make a break for it.” The commander whispered while trying to slide into the seat next to him, “Okay, I'm going to grab your arm and put it over my shoulder and then we're going to get up and sprint, okay?” Eaglebones nodded and they waited until they had the perfect moment, “Okay, let's go.”

Very carefully, they got up as a unit and began to walk inconspicuously to the exit. But it was at that moment that Mrs. Falconhawk looked up from her book and see them making a break for it, “Hey, stop them!”

The commander squeaked like a little kid getting caught doing something he wasn't supposed to, “Run!” He laughed as they all broke into a sprint and got past the security guard.

But then another one appeared right in front of them, leading them to smack into his burly frame. The commander just looked up at him, an odd look on his face. It was a look between fear of getting arrested and fear for his friends. They were two very different fears and two very different expressions.

The guard pulled the two apart, “You boys think you can just steal patients?”

“They are not stealing me, I am an adult and I want to leave.” Eaglebones said calmly.

The guard narrowed his eyes, “I've seen your chart, you're not of sound mind, now do I have to have someone put you in a straightjacket?” 

The others just glanced at each other before the guard grabbed both of bones' wrists in his hand and pulling him back to the waiting area.

The other bats looked at each other, “That's it then.” the commander said, “We got kicked out of the hospital.”

The professor threw an arm around him, hugging him tight as they walked back to the car, “Hey, it was a good plan, just…the timing was off. If they commit him, we'll be able to visit him. They didn't get pictures of our faces. They won't recognize us there. Then we work on getting his memories back, okay?” His voice was full of fatherly love.

The commander nodded and they drove back to the house, feeling a bit lower, but a bit elevated by the professor's words of optimism.

[blackbird-brewster]

Emily/Rebecca, Tara/Rebecca, JJ/Emily || Rated: E || WC: 73,800 Summary:

After Rebecca and Emily have an extremely unexpected and ill-advised one-night-stand, they have to navigate working together while trying to prevent their secret from getting out. Meanwhile, Tara is still holding out hope she and Rebecca can reconcile their differences and get back together. And JJ is struggling to cope after finding out about the website related to her.

FINAL CHAPTERS - NOW POSTED

Chapter Summary: The team is in a race against time to try and rescue Emily after she's abducted. The stress of the situation leads to unexpected emotions as both JJ and Tara make choices that will change their lives forever.

The door opened, though JJ didn't say anything, she just went to sit quietly on the couch. Tara joined her, offering her a hand to hold, and she took it as a good sign when JJ accepted the gesture.

"I just can't do this again," JJ whispered.

"I get that," Tara said. "I don't want to deal with that piece of shit either, but he might be our only shot at this."

"No, not Voit," JJ corrected with a shuddering breath. "I, uh,--I can't lose Emily, Tara."

"Hey, you won't," Tara said, she tightened her grip on her hand and rested her cheek against the top of JJ's head. "If anyone on this team knows how to survive an abduction... how to stay alive long enough for us to find them, it's Emily."

"Does she? Lately, she's been so...careless. When she was suspended, I went to see her and she," JJ replied, choking back tears. "I don't know, Tara. I've never seen her like this. I've spent the past few hours wondering if, this time, she even cares enough to survive at all."

The possibility hadn't occurred to Tara, but she also couldn't deny how reckless Emily had been over the past couple of months. None of them were particularly sound of mind at present. Just last week, Tara found Rossi sitting in his office with his finger on the trigger of his gun. But was Emily so broken she'd actually give up on living? The thought re-sparked her guilt about shutting Emily out and Tara tried to push it away, she couldn't think like that. She needed to keep a clear head.

Her silence was suffocating and JJ took it as confirmation that, maybe, she was right. Maybe, Emily was simply too apathetic to care what happened to her anymore. The concept JJ might actually lose her, cut through what little resolve she had left and she broke down crying.

Tara pulled her into a hug as her own silent tears rolled down her cheeks. "Jen, if we're going to get through this, then we just have to keep believing she won't stop fighting."

JJ was overcome with wracking sobs as memories of Emily's past abductions flooded her mind. Emily barely escaped with her life both of those times and that was because she'd fought with every fibre of her being to stay alive. Right now, Emily's mental fortitude wasn't nearly as strong. The memory of her funeral made JJ cling to Tara, on the verge of hyperventilating, because she just couldn't catch her breath.

"Shhhh." Tara pressed a kiss into her hair as she tried to soothe her, "Shhh, it's all right. You're okay, Jen. Try and breathe."

"I can't let her die," JJ whimpered.

"We won't, we won't let that happen. Just breathe."

When JJ calmed down again, she looked up to meet Tara's eyes and she could tell she was registering the truth behind them, but just in case Tara had any doubts, JJ also confirmed it out loud. "Tara, I love her."

She didn't have to specify she was in love with her, Tara clearly understood. She pressed another series of kisses into her hair, to hide the emotional turmoil in her own expression at such an unexpected admission. "Well then, I guess we better go save her so you can tell her that yourself."

>> Relationship Notes & Crime Board (Spoilers for Ch 11-12) <<

Ships explored in this fic:

Emily/Rebecca

Tara/Rebecca

Tara/JJ

JJ/Emily

Emily/Fiona (minor)

(JJ/Tara/Emily)

[torimidori2-blog]

I'm tired of hearing about what's going on down in Gaza. Don't get me wrong, I'm not tired of the people who are spreading the word about this tragedy. I'm moreso tired of the fact that Israel is doing this shit to Palestinians in the first place. I see all these things on my feed talking about "donate to this Palestinian family so they can evacuate" knowing good and well that I really want to help these people, but I can't because I live in the US where there's an extremely record breaking amount of poverty, especially to queer, disabled, people of color like myself. Then with the whole "share this around" I keep on asking "Share this to who?" because my friends and found family are on the exact same boat. We're all poor and need any money we can get so we won't get kicked out of our apartments, so we won't starve, so we can escape abusive parents ect. We really can't do much about what's going on in Palestine, and it hurts, because we know they're having it much worse. They're literally dying over there, trying to find shelter, struggling to find medical aide for their ailments and sicknesses and they need to pay in order to leave, but their liveleyhoods are also being taken from them. The only thing I can do is spread the word in hopes that my audience is able to reverberate this message anywhere they can. I know my audience is not very big and I'm just starting to be more present online, because I need to advertise my shop, but like, what else can I do? Also, it doesn't help us that the same government who is fucking me and my family up by not giving the homeless housing and fucking up the economy by hiking up the prices of basic necessities is also funding the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. That means the evacuation of Palestinians solely rely on those who are middle or upper class citizens, which again, we're running short on those over here because the richest motherfuckers are being greedy, exploitative bastards and they're fascist, so they are biased against the existence of Palestinians anyway. This is all the product of capitalism and how extremely corrupt it can be, going against people's basic needs and instead using tax money to fund a literal GENOCIDE instead of dealing with all the issues we're dealing with here in the states. Fuck the government. Fuck Biden. Free Palestine. 🇵🇸 🍉

[fantastic-mr-corvid]

👾!

thank you!!! enabling my ramblings<3

Hmm. well ive names two fics after it and its The Celia & Elena song so i probably should talk about it in depth<3

Oh, baby this town rips the bones from your back It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap We gotta get out while we're young 'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run

Teen Celia is not the stone wall she becomes yet, and has yet to experience the wake up call to just how dangerous her life is. born to run touches on both her want to get out, to escape, as well as how she reaches towards those she loves for strength.

For Elena, it holds similar meaning, her burning desire to get away from her home streets, the hurt that remaining is dealing to her, as well as her knowing she has a chance to escape, that she deserves more, and desperately reaching for it.

it also holds a desperate undertone for both, and for Celia especially, is very tragic. Elena managed to get out, but Celia is forever stuck behind, not to mention Celia losing her own desire & ability to run, to try and escape her lot in life, instead letting her hopes and dreams for the future die. they are both singing their hope for the future, but everything is about to go to shit.

Part two about how it relates to the fic[s] is in the works and will be added once i finish it [it got longggg bc i summarize the unwritten fic named after this song, the part one to everlasting kiss]

[gofancyninjaworld]

OPM Manga Update 228 Review: Horse-Trading

Introduction

HUZZAH! The Psychic Sisters Arc is over at last! It started well, it ended well, but there's only so long I can give a shit about Tatsumaki throwing a tantrum and throwing Saitama through things.

Story

Eh, let's make it short and sweet. The chapter deals with the immediate aftermath of Tatsumaki's tantrum through to the next day or two as the fallout looks set to begin in earnest. Along the way, a few sharp deals are struck.

Meta: Ho ho ho

Blackmailers Anonymous

Something I was very glad to see changed for the Blizzard Group in this arc was them being largely hapless. Earlier, we saw Eyelashes, Mountain Ape, Lily, and a few others valiantly try fighting to prevent Apollo from leaving with Fubuki and Tatsumaki. Amidst the air of general discouragement, Eyelashes leads the surviving group to follow Fubuki with purpose, and they don't back down even faced with Tatsumaki. This chapter, we see yet another Blizzard Group member, an as-yet unnamed guy with a distinctive mohawk, show another talent: hacking. Neither he nor Fubuki are slow on the uptake as to what

Thanks to a little negotiating, Fubuki is able to persuade McCoy to concoct a monster attack to explain away the damage to the Hero Association building, Tatsumaki obliges by scattering the monster parts outside -- and coincidentally smuggles Psykos out in the process.

Tatsumaki brazenly insists on being the one to apprehend the escaped Psykos, leveraging her knowledge that the executives didn't want their cover up blown.

However...

If McCoy is smiling, that's because as far as he's concerned, what Tatsumaki and Fubuki have been up to are amateur hours in the damaging information game. He's happy for them to run their hustle for now.

If the Psychic sisters were more astute, they'd be worrying about the operations chief being more amused than annoyed, but they're amateurs.

Speaking of amateurs, let's spare a moment to look at Gearsper. Lots of people have been giving him the side eye for insisting that Tsukoyomi couldn't possibly be real. We do think the gentleman protests too strenously, but what his angle is remains to be seen.

Enlightented Self-Interest Is Next To Altruism

It's official -- I am never getting over how bottle-blonde baby Forte is. No wonder he goes around with hat and sunglasses: he looks too young to be out unsupervised.

He wisely apologises to Saitama and tells the others that it's in their best interests to ensure that they stay on Saitama's good side. Oh, and feed his pets already. Good -- that's the third day of no food, water, or shelter that Rover and Black Sperm were looking forward to.

That said, there is a very strange translation choice in what Forte says, at least as translated by the fan group. Google Translate and individuals insist that what Forte offers to Saitama (other than his old clothes) is a visit to a restaurant that does delicious food and Saitama crying off sick. It has been translated as Forte offering to go clothes shopping with Saitama and Saitama being creeped out.

I'm waiting for Viz to translate, and if it doesn't agree, believe me, I'm asking questions.

Also acting with enlightened self-interest is Saitama, who asks Genos not to report Tatsumaki on the basis that she deserves her time in the limelight. Of course, we're aware that behind his apparent generosity of spirit is the awareness that shared credit means shared blame.

And a billion yen's worth of blame is really too much for one poor-ass hero.

The Chickenheads Come Home to Roost

Despite everything, the good ship Titanic (um, I mean the Hero Association) seems to have weathered the storm. The public, and their rich donors, are back onside having been reassured that the disturbance was just terrible monsters and all is well.

Well.

With that terrible security of the Hero Association's, it's not been hard for Child Emperor to find out the truth of what was actually going on. To say that he's not impressed is an understatement. All is forgiven, Phoenixman!

The only questions are: 1) How far has he dug? 2) How much damage will he cause?

Speaking of callbacks, remember way back when an inoffensive monster pangolin was systematically skinned alive for its scales until it bloomed into a highly-dangerous demon-level monster? Metal Knight looked cynically on the whole affair.

It looks like selling monsters on the black market is much more widespread than we initially thought. Fubuki having evidence of McCoy personally looking to enrich himself was very unedifying. And he's not the only one. However, that's not the worst of it.

Never mind the personal profit motive -- if they're lucky, the monsters are just going to wealthy individuals keen to have the most exotic pets ever.

If they're unlucky, there's outfits who have plans to use monsters to make weapons. I don't need the webcomic to point that out:

Maybe Drive Knight is ethical and above board (cynical laugh), but some of the outfits developing those weapons could be intending to use them against the Hero Association.