#but i also don't want anyone to feel snubbed u know

[theloveinc]

hihi!! thank you for reaching out :) I rlly appreciate that and im welcoming you with warm hugs 🫂 <3

omg hello! and ofc!! i actually would've done so sooner, but i haven't felt like giving the whole "this is a sideblog" speech in a minute...

but thank u for the lovely, comfy hugs, too <333 i'm giving mine back in return🥺🫶🏻

[atlafan]

Ur totally right that it’s not Harry’s fault but u can admit that Beyoncé was robbed… she’s always winning the smaller categories of awards. The Grammys are continuously prioritizing white ppl- that’s just a fact. Renaissance, Kendrick’s and bad bunny’s albums were important for queer/POC culture in a way that I don’t think Harry’s was. Either way- I’m happy for all but I’d be cheesed if I was any of them :/

I honestly thought Kendrick was going to win AOTY because of how impactful it was, so when he lost I was genuinely shocked. As far as the Beyonce issue goes...I don't think she was robbed of anything. I know it must be frustrating to see her be nominated in this category time and time again only for her to lose, but she also now holds the record for most grammy's won, so I feel like she still had a good night. And I really liked Renaissance, I had it on repeat for months after it came out, but I honestly only really like about half the album? I've never been a giant fan of hers anyways, mostly because of how scared I am of her fans lmao

I'm not on the recording academy voting squad, so I don't know what boxes need to be checked for an album to be considered AOTY. Do they take streams/units bought into account? Do they look at how many songs were written by the artist? How the songs were produced? Who the songs were produced by?

For me, compared to the other albums, I feel like HH consumed the year. As It Was got popular on tik tok by accident, whereas Cuff It/Break My Soul/America Has a Problem were purposely used on tik tok to gain more popularity. And same goes for Lizzo with About Damn Time, she does the majority of her marketing on tik tok. And I was so excited for Adele's new album, but it fell short for me. I don't like Easy on Me at all. I know the album was deeply personal for her, and that's fine, but it just wasn't what I wanted/expected from her. Same sort of goes for Special??? Lizzo's first album has some of my favorite songs on it. Like I really wanted another song like Tempo, you know?

all that being said, the Grammy's are a joke and they're rigged. Artists get nominated on the basis of how much they schoomze the academy with gifts and reasons why they should be nominated. The Grammy's don't mean shit when they exclude other artists. How can you say someone is the best when you're not taking in a full spectrum of artists? The Weeknd is a perfect example of this. Blinding Lights should have been nominated for song of the year, right? And it wasn't, the academy still had the NERVE to ask him to perform after snubbing him! After Hours is an insanely good album, and it got paid dust. And don't even get me started on Plastic Hearts being snubbed. Miley put so much into that album, and it was so different and fun, and they snubbed her too.

I don't think anyone is ever going to be happy with any type of voting results. I just hate to see people being nasty online and making fun of other people. If you don't like someone's music, that's fine. If you don't like an artist, that's fine. I'm not perfect when it comes to this because I shit on TS all the time, but I do try to keep it civil and academic. I love a good critique if we're really getting into it. I love a good debate as long as it doesn't get personal.

I was shocked Harry won AOTY because he won pop vocal album. I figured they gave that to him so someone else would win the former, but I was surprised. We all know his music writing/making process, and I think that in itself is worthy of note. He goes off, does his thing, makes sure his album is cohesive (to the best of his ability, he's not always right), and then is strategic with how he puts his singles out. He makes sure the full body of work is done before releasing new music. Many artists in that category are notorious for releasing random singles/EP's instead of full albums because their record companies just want to see money and numbers.

I'm rambling now, but I love that we're having this conversation! I think it's important to have these discussions.

tldr: fuck the recording academy :)

[itsbenedict]

Two-Faced Jewel: Session 9

The Slaying of the Bobbledragon

A half-elf conwoman (and the moth tasked with keeping her out of trouble) travel the Jewel in search of, uh, whatever a fashionable accessory is pointing them at. [Campaign log]

Since slaying a serial-killer dragon is a little outside the party's expertise, they're off to Cauterdale to enlist the aid of the Deathseekers' Guild! Having gotten a good night's sleep at a druid village, and not eaten, they're ready to take on, uh...

Well, some sort of very large monster that Zero kindly drew for me.

In the morning, they rather uneventfully get up and get back on the road, thanking the villagers for their hospitality. And the remainder of the trip to Cauterdale is likewise brief and uneventful, right up until the fire.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: the what Benedict I. (GM): The fire.

Yeah, the forest and the road up ahead are ablaze, sort of blocking passage. The dirt road isn't actively on fire, but the trees on both sides are, making it pretty risky to proceed. The team opts to send Oyobi up ahead to scout the situation- and pretty soon she comes back with a report. Apparently, just past the visible fireline, the forest is totally burned down- just charred stumps as far as she could see, right up to the city walls. The fire itself is just, like, 10 meters wide or so, so it's totally something they could just dash through.

It takes some Animal Handling checks to coax the giraffes through, and the ones that balk get them and their riders a little bit of chip damage from heat and smoke inhalation, but the party is pretty much able to push through to the blasted wasteland of charred tree stumps surrounding Cauterdale.

They notice a few people in strange armor in the distance, doing something near the fire- from the seemingly controlled nature of this burn and the name of the town, they conclude that those are fire squads doing this deliberately, and don't get involved. It's a fine conclusion, and the party begins walking the remaining mile to the city.

As they approach, they notice... a little ways off from the main gates, something is attacking the city walls. Guards atop the walls are manning some sort of huge harpoon guns, and they seem to have already slain several of the... whatever these things are. The remaining one, though, seems larger and more resilient than the others, continuing its assault despite the several harpoons already lodged in its flesh.

What they see is a huge reptilian monster. It's probably not a dragon- no wings, and it doesn't appear to be using a breath weapon- but it's the size of a dragon, with tiny arms, headbutting the metal walls of the town repeatedly.

Orluthe makes his Nature roll to recognize this thing- he's heard of them before. They're called "bobbledragons"- some sort of deformed mutant offshoot of true dragons, incapable of speech or flight or magic but still possessed of monstrous strength and durability.

Luckily, the bobbledragon doesn't seem to be in between them and the main gate- the fight is far enough away that they could potentially just walk up and head into town, assuming they'll open the gates during a situation like this. Hell, they don't even need to open the gates- if the guards just drop a rope, they should be able to just climb over. That seems like a decent plan, so Saelhen and Looseleaf begin working together to draft a use of the Message spell to ask the guards to help them inside.

Then they notice that I've been moving Oyobi's token on the map in the direction of the fight.

Oyobi, blinded by bloodlust and/or extra-credit-in-Severe-Zoology-lust, is determined to help fell the bobbledragon. Their attempts at persuasion fail, and Oyobi, undeterred, continues to charge the giant fucking T-rex that is making huge dents in the walls of a city.

As Oyobi runs for it, and as the party follows behind in hopes of stopping her from making a terrible mistake, the bobbledragon jumps and seizes one of the guards on the wall in its jaws, demonstrating its +10 4d12+7 bite attack by immediately oneshotting its victim.

Looseleaf: oh god we're all going to die. you're using the real t-rex statblock. that thing is challenge eight. it is made for a party of four level eight adventurers, so either we are all going to die here, or the guards are going to show us why they are professional fighters and we are students. Benedict I. (GM): "Shit! It can jump!" "No!" The guards seem upset.

Not promising.

Looseleaf: This thing does sufficient damage to oneshot any of us with a perfectly mediocre hit. Looseleaf right now is kind of thoroughly convinced that Oyobi is actually literally about to die. In that light, Looseleaf is going to message Oyobi again. And she is not going to get any closer. Actually, she's going to back off, put distance between herself and the monster. [Oyobi that thing is going to bite you in half get back here you are going to die.] Benedict I. (GM): Roll Persuasion! DC 20 again. -Looseleaf: 17 / PERSUASION (1)- Oyobi Yamatake: [I'M GONNA LIVE FOREVER!!!]

So... that's a bust, and Oyobi finally reaches the dragon and begins her assault. Miraculously, her flying leap hits, and she digs her sword in... for thirteen damage.

The guards return fire against the bobbledragon, and one of the harpoons catches it in the chest- but it doesn't go down, and the second harpoon- manned by just one guard, after his partner got crunched- misses. Another guard, without a cannon, throws a spear- and gets not only a critical hit, but a max damage critical hit, spearing the thing right in the eye.

...for eleven damage, because these are ordinary CR 1/8 Guards, but still!

Saelhen tries to distract the bobbledragon so Oyobi can run and hide, but... her arrow goes wide, and Oyobi isn't interested in running and hiding anyway. The bobbledragon, targeting whatever did the most damage to it recently with its bite attack, jumps and bites the whole damn harpoon gun out of the guard tower, leaving the guards without heavy weaponry.

And then with its tail, it tries to slap the insect that just stung it in the rear.

...and rolls a 3, meaning Oyobi gracefully backflips over the attack and strikes a dramatic pose.

Looseleaf: God, she did not deserve that dodge. She got so fucking lucky there. Saelhen du Fishercrown: she really didn't Oyobi Yamatake: "When you get to Dragon Hell, tell them Oyobi Yamatake sent you!!"

Looseleaf, in the interest of communicating to Oyobi how much danger she's in, makes use of an upgrade to her Rend Spirit attack she learned while studying Lumiere's notes on pain. With Painread, she can get some feedback back from something whose spirit she disrupts, and figure out exactly how bad a shape it's in. She does so (dealing a cool 16 damage as she does), and learns how huge this thing's remaining hit point pool is, so she can tell Oyobi how unlikely she is to survive long enough to take it down.

...It, uh, it was already pretty hurt when they arrived, and it, um, has nine hit points left. And it's Oyobi's turn.

Oyobi Yamatake: Oyobi dashes forwards, Naruto-runs up to the T-rex's throat, and does a spinning leap that slashes open its jugular. It roars, and the roar swiftly fades off as its breath escapes. Saelhen du Fishercrown: God dammit, Oyobi. Oyobi Yamatake: "YES! YES! B-S-U! B-S-U! B-S-U!" "THAT is how it's DONE!" She is jumping up and down, doing a celebratory dance, the works. "Flawlessed the boss! Hell yeah!"

Yeah, so... I had kind of been planning on her getting oneshot and laid up in the hospital, as a sort of character growth thing and also keeping her out of the way of certain events in town, but, uh... the dice... didn't exactly... share my priorities.

With the bobbledragon slain, and Oyobi doing an extremely obnoxious victory dance, the rest of the party springs into action to stabilize the guard who was used as a chew toy. Thanks to his plate armor, he hasn't lost much blood, but he's got more broken bones than not, and his prognosis wouldn't be good... if it weren't for the healer's kits Looseleaf had the foresight to buy for everyone. Saelhen stabilizes him, and Orluthe calls on his goddess to Lay On Hands to save the guard's life.

Then there's this guy- the captain of the guard, who fought in the battle with a fancy crossbow that shot flaming bolts. He demands to know who the party is, seeming kind of annoyed that they rewarded weakness by saving the guard's life.

Benedict I. (GM): He looks down at your medical kit. "Y'know, all of my men are prepared to fight and die for our home. You really want to take away this man's glory?" The injured guard looks up. "Uh, sir, I- it's fine, actually..." "Feh." Looseleaf: This guy immediately seems like a bad boss. Saelhen du Fishercrown: Oh, he's ridiculous. Okay, that changes the tenor of this conversation somewhat! "...I apologize, sir," says Saelhen, bowing to the guard on his stretcher, "if I have diminished your victory with my carelessness."

And rather than give this guy any more of the time of day, Saelhen asks the random guard his name. (And then I have to give him one and make him a character, whoops.)

Medd Cutter here is thankful for Saelhen's assistance saving his life, and Saelhen pledges to remember his heroism. The commander feels- by design- somewhat left out of the heroism-remembering, and declares that he is REX SCAR, and Saelhen kind of blows him off. He's not happy, but...

Captain Scar is still the sort of person who is very impressed with anyone who rolls up and kills a bobbledragon just because they felt like it, and despite Saelhen's calculated snub, tries to get buddy-buddy with the group of obviously very powerful people who just arrived. He decides to help them through customs without going through the usual processes, much to the chagrin of...

...Long-Tongue, Cauterdale Customs and Border Inspection Officer of Cauterdale, who's very loquacious and wordy and redundantly repeats what she says in different words to phrase things differently in a somewhat unnecessary fashion for no real reason. Rex bullies his way past her, but Saelhen- as another snub, and just to be... nice? (What's her game...?), hands her the 300-page history of the de la Surplus family as collateral for a deferred border inspection.

Inside the walls, Cauterdale is a very crowded place. It's like 80% slum, choked with buildings constructed of a patchwork of scrap metal and discarded siding, without much wood to speak of. The streets are narrow and bustling, and the general vibe around the place is impatient.

The remaining guards escorting them (Rex went off someplace) inform them, when questioned, that the town indeed burns down the forest around them- since they're near the jungle, horrible dangerous things tend to come out of the trees to attack them, and their harpoon defenses are most effective when they can see their attackers coming from a mile away, with no obstructions. Looseleaf asks if bobbledragon attacks are common.

Benedict I. (GM): Another guard shakes his head. "No, that one was pretty crazy. Usually it's just the giant spiders, or the giant mosquitoes, or the mushroom demons." "We've had a few bobbledragons before, but that was like, four at once." Looseleaf: "Oh gods there's already giant spiders?!" "We're not even at- I thought this was a pine forest still!" Benedict I. (GM): "No, that's usually after it rains," Medd says. Looseleaf: Looseleaf casts Druidcraft. Please tell me it's not going to rain. Benedict I. (GM): Nope! Clear skies for now. "Whoa, cool." Looseleaf:"Thank the gods of sea and sky and weather and everything even tangentially related to weather," she says. "No rain." "I hope it never rains, ever again." Benedict I. (GM): "Haha, better stay away from..." "Wait, where are you headed?" Saelhen du Fishercrown: "The rainforest," adds Saelhen, mildly. Looseleaf: "Ttttthunderbrush, and yes I know that place is crawling with spiders NOERU SHUT UP,"

Then Looseleaf asks about what they're there for- the Deathseekers' Guild. Unfortunately, the guards tell them that the Deathseekers... probably still exist, but they're like, a weird secret club of old people who think they're too cool to join the guard. They give them a couple leads- apparently the Temple of Andra keeps tabs on them, and also a guard by the name of Mags was the last to see them as they were recently seen leaving the city.

The team splits up- Looseleaf and Orluthe head for the temple, and Oyobi and Saelhen head for the guardhouse to talk to Mags. (Vayen... is still gone, after vanishing as soon as the bobbledragon fight started.) The latter group does their thing next session, so...

After dropping off their rental giraffes, they head inside to meet...

This guy, working the reception desk. He seems to be made of rock, and when he talks he rumbles.

As Looseleaf explains their dilemma and their need for Deathseekers, this guy takes a keen interest in their plight. He's very "hmmmm, iiiiiinteresting, oh i see, you don't say?" about the whole thing, making a very normal interaction seem as ominous as possible.

He tells her that the Deathseekers, to his knowledge, should be back in the city from their unspecified errand inside two days, and offers to take a message.

Looseleaf: "I don't suppose they're looking for a green dragon, are they?" Benedict I. (GM): This guy's smile keeps getting wider. It's kind of creepy. "Hm? What makes you say that?"

As she explains about the dragon, he offers her and Orluthe a candy from a bowl on the desk. After some hemming and hawing out-of-character because the creepy rock man is offering you suspicious candy, they eventually opt to have some, because really, Looseleaf isn't suspicious of this guy. Hers is lemon-flavored. It's tasty.

Then, as she describes the empty tower with the corpse of the torture wizard in it, this guy's demeanor changes suddenly from "creepy wry amusement" to "genuine concern". He tries to put on a poker face, but him having a poker face when he's until now been all creepy-friendly chewing the scenery... stands out. He gives her a strong assurance that the Deathseekers will handle this problem for her.

Benedict I. (GM): "I... thank you, for this information." Looseleaf: "You're welcome. Please, uh, make sure that the Deathseekers get this information as quickly as possible. The dragon eats a corpse a week and there's only three corpses left in the tower, there's a very real deadline on this." Benedict I. (GM): [rolling 1d20+4] (Insight) 17+4 = 21 Looseleaf: Belatedly, Looseleaf realizes she's made a mistake. Benedict I. (GM): "You say... the dragon eats three corpses a week?" "Only three corpses left in the tower?" Looseleaf: Namely: Looseleaf has no good reason to know the fact that the dragon eats a corpse a week. Since she's never met the dragon. Benedict I. (GM): "Curious information." "How did you come across it?" Looseleaf: "Uh, erm, uh." Shit.

Looseleaf opts to tell the truth about Arnie, to avoid spinning a dangerous web of lies for herself- after all, Arnie's not worth lying for. She does describe him in as sympathetic terms as she can, though, and asks this guy not to harm him if possible- she doesn't want to break her word to Arnie if she can help it.

Benedict I. (GM): He takes a moment to process this. "...Very well." "My people will be the soul of discretion." "I thank you very much for your generous contribution to the Ecumene of Understanding."

Looseleaf notices that something is wrong.

This guy is the receptionist. He's not a bishop or anything. He's not even wearing priestly vestments- just a nice suit. And he's speaking as though he's in a position of power- "my people", he says.

And after considering various possibilities, she tries something. A shot in the dark, but...

And the way Looseleaf plays this, is... "quit acting like you don't know what I'm talking about, c'mon, the jig is up". She takes out the letter she found in Lumiere's tower and shows it off, as proof!

And this guy keeps denying it, and getting increasingly more panicked, and looking nervously over at Orluthe, and asking her to please stop, shh shh shh shh, and it's when he begs her to have a conversation with him in private please that she makes the connection. If this guy is affiliated with Lumiere, who's apparently affiliated with some sort of secret conspiracy that's affiliated with some sort of deific usurpation... he maybe doesn't want to have that conversation in front of a cleric.

Looseleaf:"Okay, Orluthe, uhm. Sorry, so," Looseleaf whispers into Orluthe's ear. "Long story short, turns out my sister, who left my village way before I did, ended up falling into some kind of magical secret society. The kind of secret society with Hal Lumiere, i.e. 'the torture wizard who came up with all those pain knives that we all got stabbed a lot with', was apparently a very active member of." Benedict I. (GM):Oh my god, um. Looseleaf: "So, uh, I'm kinda freaking out about that, right now, but if my hunches are right then I'm the sister of someone important in their organization?" Benedict I. (GM): As you start whispering, he tries to interrupt. "Please do not say things to him!" "Please let us speak in private!!" Looseleaf: Oh he's freaked out now huh. "Anyways that's why I am actually indeed going to speak, with this guy, in private," Looseleaf finishes. "And if I don't show up in a half-hour or so, then things have probably gone lopsided." "In which case you should find everyone else and tell them to, I dunno, come save me or whatever." "You got all that?" Benedict I. (GM): The rock man looks distraught. Orluthe Chokorov: "I, uh... think so? This is really... I'm not sure it's safe..."

With a good Persuasion roll, Orluthe agrees to stay behind, and the rock man leads Looseleaf into a backroom whose doors and walls seem warded heavily with some sort of abjuration magic. A secret saferoom.

The man describes the problem: the gods don't know that they exist, or didn't until Looseleaf went and told a cleric of Diamode that they existed. Clerics, in this setting, channel divinity literally- their gods come into their heads to do magic for them, meaning anything a cleric knows is something a god can know, if they care to check.

Benedict I. (GM): "Because if the next time Diamode is in that kid, if she goes looking for that memory..." "I mean, she might not. And you didn't mention anything about our aims, so she might consider it beneath her notice." "But that, right there? That was nearly game over." "And I can't just kill you, because if I did, Yomi would end me." Looseleaf: "Yeah, I'm not incredibly foolish, I haven't actually shown anybody else Yomi's letter." "Nobody knows that Lumiere was involved with... deicidal blasphemy." "That's what this is about, right? Thereabouts, in terms of sheer magnitude and hubris?" Benedict I. (GM): He sighs. "It's not like that." "At least, it's not all like that." "The Project is... fractious." "The less you know about the project, the less you're able to carelessly blurt out about the project your cleric friends, or to anyone who tries reading your mind or tricks you into a Zone of Truth..." "The safer we all are." "With as much as you know, you're already dangerous. It'd be best for us- and you- if you dropped this. Never spoke of it to anyone."

Looseleaf points out that it's good that she found the letter, because that tower was sitting abandoned for a year- anyone could've walked in and read it, since it was lying on a bookcase in the open.

This is somehow not taken as good news- when he finds out that the letter could've potentially been read by anyone, that there was a security breach for a year...

Looseleaf: "Look, my man, next time you want to send a letter, by the way, use... use some encoding." "Don't just write things in plaintext like a chump, by the gods." Benedict I. (GM): "He was supposed to burn after reading." Saelhen du Fishercrown: he's too dead for that! Benedict I. (GM): "Wait, you said it was... out in the open?" "But he's dead?" "Either he was an idiot, or... someone else opened his mail." "Except... Yomi should've hand-delivered it, so..." "...well. We'll definitely look into it."

He brings up sending for someone to do memory magic to handle the breach- but he realizes he can't have that done to Looseleaf, because Diamode would notice if someone tampered with her cleric's memories, and someone needs to still know what's up so they can keep Orluthe away from the truth. (Plus, she figures she'd notice the inconsistencies and end up sleuthing it out again.)

Looseleaf asks if Yomi is doing well, and gets... that she's intense, and powerful, and she probably thinks she's "doing well", but... he doesn't know about happy.

Lastly, he shows Looseleaf a symbol- a blank circle, with the elvish character 人 drawn underneath. The symbols of gods are typically circles with a design inside- so the meaning of this and its relationship to the nature of the Project is fairly easy to infer.

Benedict I. (GM): "If you need to prove to someone you're in the know, without blurting out a bunch of dangerous details, this is the mark." He then eats the paper and the graphite stick he used to draw it.

Next time: Saelhen and Oyobi grill the guard Mags for information on the Deathseekers, and connections are made with powerful individuals.

[queerbutstillhere]

Hi!!! I don't know if ur still taking prompts but if u do could you do one where Jon gets hit by a love portion and falls for someone who is NOT Damian and Damian is sooo jealous that at one point he confesses to Jon and kiss him which break the live potion effect because true lov3 and all. Also if you could include the batbros that would be great. Thanks in advance if you do XD XD

(Hi! So sorry this took so long 😅 I got busy with #batlanternweek and my Damijon fics on Ao3 and writing a gift for a friend! But! I finally got here! And now that I've written it, I really like this prompt so thank you!!)

Damian was cranky. Even more so then usual. To the point where even Dick had stopped trying to cheer him up. He was so pissed he broke a guys nose literally just for breathing at him. He had gone off on the Teen Titans, nearly killed Tim(yes, again. And they had been doing so well), helped Red Hood steal from a pharmacy(not in his Robin uniform, of course), and had been snubbing Maya and Colin all week.

Why was he so cranky?

Because his best friend, and long time crush, was pining over someone that wasn't him. And this was a problem™.

Now he would never, ever, in a million years confess to Jon. It was just out of the question. For the longest of time, the boy was just too young and Naive, and wouldn't understand, probably be weirded out. And then he went into space for a week, and came back three years older (fuck you Bendis) making him the same age as Damian, also taller then him. And worse, no longer a virgin, which had really upset him, because maybe he had been harboring the desire to deflower the half-kryptonian. But that was his secret to keep, as was the age in which he lost his own virginity, albeit a dumb thing to fret over.

Now you might be thinking, how on Earth has Jonathan Kent fallen for anyone but our handsome, striking, emotionally constipated detective protagonist. The answer was simple, dumb and entirely too aggravating.

They had been working with the Teen Titans, tracking down a new meta who was causing issues in Washington, the state, not the District. This Meta was calling themselves "Eros" like the Greek god of passionate desires. Which of course, led the team to believe their powers had something to do with people's emotions. Well that and the pile of police reports about that exact topic.

Damian hadn't been as concerned as he probably should have been. His team knew the risks and all trusted each other, and apologized in advance, should Eros get to any of them. They were a good group of supers, he begrudgingly admitted. Bringing Kent along probably wasn't the best idea, but with it being summer break and them spending the weekend together, he hadn't really had much of a choice.

He really didn't remember how it happened, just that one moment they had been battling the red and white clad meta, and the next he heard Jon yelling and saw him tackle Jackson.

The arrow sticking out of his back was not a good sign.

As it turned out, the arrow was a love potion, and it made Jon instantly fall for Jackson. Which the teen thought was hilarious. Jon on the other hand, spent the whole next week moping around and bemoaning his childish issues to Damian, who was very annoyed that the damn potion hadn't worn off yet.

"Damian, get off your ass, it's time to patrol," Tim said as he breezed past the futon Damian was sat on.

"He can't," Dick's voice carried across the cave. "He got grounded, remember?"

"Oh, shit. Right. Why?"

"Damian!" A whiny voice called, and Damian wanted to put a knife through his brain.

"That's why," he bit out, pushing to his feet.

He had approximately thirty seconds before Jon located him.

"What? I thought you and Superlad were bff's again," Tim asked, confused.

"We were, until he got hit by a love potion and has fallen head over heels for someone el- on the team."

His stumble wouldn't have been noticed by anyone but his brothers. Tim's eyebrow arched up as he buckled the belts that went across his chest.

"That's rough. Had that happen with Kon a few times. It really doesn't wear off Kryptonian's quite right. Good luck!"

Tim waved and walked away, quickly replaced by Jon, who meandered over, in Superboy uniform. This uniform was a significant improvement on his last one, and Damian would like to take credit for that, this one was actually a bodysuit, red boots that went nearly to his knees, red gloves, and his red cape. The body suit was mostly blue with some dark gray, and then the red and gold on the S emblem.

"Are we going patrolling?" Jon asked with a sad sigh.

"No," Damian bit out, feeling a ripple of anger.

He turned and stalked out, Jon literally floating after him. Damian went upstairs to the manor, heading to the kitchen, Jon never once leaving his side. He was so annoyed.

"Would you quit?!" He snapped, glaring at the Superboy.

"Oh. . . Okay. Geesh you're so cranky these days."

"Maybe, I'm just tired of you acting like a dumbass. Jackson is never going to love you back, Jon. He's not attracted to boys."

"I know," Jon said with a depressed sigh. "But I can't help it. His eyes, and his skin, and-"

"Fuck you!" Damian snapped and spun on his heel, walking out of the kitchen.

He practically ran up to his room, hoping, in vain, that Jon would just leave him alone and go home. Unfortunately, Jon apparently still remembered his duties as best friend. A few seconds later. There was a knock at the door.

"Damian. It's me, can I please come in?"

"No!"

"Damian."

The door opened anyway. Damian crossed his arms, turning to glare at it.

"Fuck. You."

"i don't understand," Jon said, distraught.

"For a week! I have watched you pining over Aqualad. For a week! You feel nothing for him, not truly, you never so much bat an eyelash at him before!"

This was truly a bad idea, but Damian was so frustrated and tired. And gay.

A Tired, emotionally frustrated gay is never a good thing to have on hand. (Trust me on this one. I am one and live with one)

"You've been chasing after him like he is a god, and yet I've been here this whole time and you never even looked at me. Fuck you, Kent! You know how hard relationships are for me!"

"Wait, what?" Jon asked, freezing and looking confused.

"You're an asshole."

"Damian, wait-"

Damian turned to barge past Jon, who caught him easily, grabbing his shoulders firmly.

"Damian, are you- do you like me?"

"For two years now," Damian bit out.

He had already let the cat out of the bag, might as well give it attention.

"oh my God, Damian, I never-"

Damian didn't think or stop himself. He surged forwards, grabbing Jon's slightly less chubby face and yanking him into a rough kiss, teeth clicking painfully, but Damian didn't stop, just kissed him hard. Jon was stiff for a moment, and then suddenly relaxed considerably. he wrapped an arm around Damian's waist and pulled him close.

Damian whimpered into Jon's lips as the Kryptonian sucked in his bottom lip, gently kissing him. Damian's hand snuck up, tangling into Jon's black hair, and the other teens hand was on his hip, fingers pressing into his flesh. Then Damian realized what he was doing and jerked away, pulling out of Jon's hold and stumbling backwards, across the room. He stared at Jon with wide eyes, hand coming up to his mouth.

"Jon, I'm so sorr-"

"Shut up." Jon started walking closer.

He looked confused, but not angry. He followed Damian across the room and reached out for him, but Damian jolted back again.

"Damian, come here," he said gently, holding out a hand.

Damian shook his head. His heard was pounding, and he felt like he was about to have a panic attack or something.

"Damian. Come. Here."

The words were an order, and it sent a bolt of fear through Damian. He swallowed and stepped forwards, into Jon's reach. The teen gently cupped Damian's face, a thumb stroking his cheekbone.

"Damian. I am so sorry," he murmured. "I'm sorry I've been acting like an idiot all week. You're right, I don't really feel anything for Jackson. He's a good guy, but no one holds a candle for you."

Damian inhaled to speak, but Jon stopped him, continuing talking.

"When I was gone, for three years, the one thing that kept me going, that made me keep fighting, was the thought of you, of coming back to you. For three years."

Damian wanted to sob, hearing those words, but he just closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Damian. I'm sorry. Really. You- . . . You mean so much to me."

Damian opened his eyes and nodded slightly, meeting Jon's eyes. The teen smiled.

"Can I kiss you again?"

Another nod and Jon leaned in, gently pressing their lips together. Damian relaxed into him, hands coming up to his arms. Jon was already forgiven. Damian couldn't stay mad at his soulmate, not for long, anyway.

[tarloses]

give me your in depth feelings on iruka if you don't mind

ok a disclaimer before i start, this is MY opinion, whoever agrees, good, whoever disagrees well, goodin the beginning of naruto, it was all cute and emotional when iruka saved naruto and told him to treat him like his older brother/parent, whatever but, that’s literally the only time something like that happened until the very end when naruto asks him if he wants to attend his wedding as his father which was obviously so forced because iruka had literally no impact whatsoever on naruto through out the whole series (this is not even an opinion, its a fact).iruka was nowhere to be seen when all the important shit went down in the series, like literally, if u ever get to re-watch the series, pay close attention, he appears maybe in 3% of the whole show. some unimportant characters had more screen time than him and more important roles than him.i will never not stop bringing up the fact that kakashi and yamato saved naruto, told him important stuff, cared about him, protected him with their lives, gave everything they could just to keep naruto safe and sound. both kakashi and yamato literally risked their lives for him so many times. remember when yamato was freed from the white zetsu, the first thing he asked is if naruto was okay, like seriously, yamato was used like a goddamn battery for so long and could’ve died there without anyone knowing and he still cared more about if naruto was okay. while iruka was probably having a hot bath in his home back in konoha enjoying himself. last thing, the fact that they gave iruka any kind of role in boruto and literally forgot about yamato is infuriating, iruka gets a free pass all the time for being literally unimportant, while some characters who deserve way, WAY more are being ignored. rant over, also a disclaimer, i obviously am a huge yamato fan, but i did not respond in this way to compare iruka to yamato, yamato just happens to be my choice since he was one of the few people who spent a lot of time with naruto during the missions. (and yeah, he is being snubbed in boruto but oh well)