#the angle is SO not correct but i didnt feel like fighting to make it actually look like they were looking at the urple icewing

[wingsofwater]

<wakes up in a cold sweat> oh right i can draw

reference :

[ID 1 : a drawing of a sickly looking icewing dragon with clusters of ice spikes along the back of its neck and patterns inspired by arctic oceans in shades of pale green, teal, and grey. it has a distressed, wide-eyed expression with its spikes puffed up and wings open, and is exclaiming “the queen has the plague-“ in all caps. END ID]

[ID 2 : a drawing of the same icewing to the right, facing away from the viewer with the same panicked pose. it is facing towards another sickly purple icewing in the distance, who has its talons over its face and is saying “nicky nooo :(“ in all caps. the green icewing replies with “girl im talking about glacier” in all caps. END ID]

[ID 3 : a screenshot of a twitter thread with all of the users censored, reading ; “the queen has covid-“ in all caps, “nicki noooo” in all caps, “girl im talking about elizabeth” in all caps. END ID]

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for inviting my cousin to an LGBT meet up?

Cw: mentions of suicide and transphobia

I (18M) am a trans man and my cousin N (21F) is a lesbian who is very masc presenting. We're the only queer cousins in the family (at least in our generation) so weve always been good friends and shes been one of the biggest supporters of my transition, defended me from bigoted family members and always corrected family when they used my deadname/old pronouns. I lowkey hoped she would come out as a trans man or nonbinary as well. We dress in the same style which makes it so when were hanging out together one of us is gonna get misgendered since people asume both of us are trans men or masc girls. When N is the one being misgendered she doesnt bother fighting it since its more trouble than its worth but looking back i think it really annoyed her.

Earlier this year N was severely struggling with her mental health. I apologize for the wording i may have since i dont know the proper terminology for this stuff or any specific disorder diagnosis she may have (other than autism). She was having some sort of manic or depressive episode. She was dead set on pushing people away and making them hate her so she could take her own life without regrets.

I visited N once to give her my support during a struggling time but i stupidly told her there was nothing she could say that would push me away. She told me not to test her but i kept pushing it and i admit what happened next was my fault. She told me in a very cold voice that she was a terf, though that she didnt want me dead but that "we" (im guessing she meant trans ppl) made it so much harder for her to exist(???????). I didnt let her keep talking just and left her room, said my goodbyes to her family and just cried while driving home.

Im still not sure if she meant it or if it was part of her mental episode and just a way for her to hurt me and push me away. On one hand ig it explains some of her behavior? N sometimes complained when she got asked for her pronouns or being misgendered like I mentioned before. On the other hand, I gen do not believe she has been a terf all along esp with how supportive shes been of me. If she was a terf youd think she would try to subtly talk me out of it, but that has never happened. My friends have nicknamed her schrodinger's terf lol

Anyway, i went no contact with N for a few months for my own wellbeing. During this time i heard that she tried to kill herself a few times, which got her into a mental hospital. She was given higher doses of meds and seems to be doing way better.

We had a family reunion this week and i decided to approach her. N seemed a little hesitant to talk to me but stayed polite. I tried testing her and talked about the effects T has been having on me but she acted like she always had and congratulated me and even complimented me on how deep my voice has gotten. I wasnt satisfied cause i wanted an apology for what she had said to me so i pushed it more. She did end up apologzing but it was a very surface level apology. At this point i didnt want to keep pushing in case it set her off again so i just took her apology (plus i wanted my best cousin back) and spent the rest of the day hanging out with her.

On the way home my mom said she was happy me and N had made up and that i should invite her to the lgbt club meetings Ive been going to this year. It seemed like a good idea to me, she lost a few friends during her episode and she could make more queer friends here. If N is trans and just in denial it could help her get the resources she needs to feel comfortable coning out. If N IS a terf maybe having more positive interactions with trans ppl could change her mind on it. Overall i thought it would be a win for her.

I brought it up to my friends and some of them blew up at me. Their argument was that itd be exposing the other trans ppl in the group to a terf and putting them in danger. I truly hadnt considered this angle so im kinda conflicted now. She had never felt like an unsafe person before and now that her episode is over she feels normal again. Even if she is a terf i dont think she could actually cause harm? I want N to get better but i dont want to put my trans friends at risk.

So tumblr, WIBTA for inviting N to my lgbt meet up?

What are these acronyms?

[cavehags]

i realize this will probably bring up old drama so you might not want to answer it. but do you ever regret, however on purpose or on accident, bringing all that unnecesary hate towards Katara? i'm really sad and dissapointed tbh. i'm a woman of color and katara was so important to me growing up. my favorite animated woman ever. and then this resurgence comes and theres so, so much unnecesary hatred for her and everyone ignoring everything that makes her a good character.

(2/3) 2- and you know, i expected this from the male side of the fandom. they were misogynistic to her and the others even back then so i would expect it to be even worse with how internet culture is more mysogistic now that ever. and i wasnt wrong. male atla fans had some truly horrible takes and views that just came across as racism and misogyny. but, i expected these circles to be better. to be a safe space for us woc who love this character. but i found the same weird hatred for her.

(3/3) 3-i just, i cant believe i feel less welcome now that i did even back then. and back then i didnt even paricipate really. but at least i could enjoy fandom content without stumbling into misogyny and racism every other post. also sorry for sending this to your personal blog b i just wanted to let you know you controbuted to that too even if it wasnt your intention. at least you realized that and arent contributing to it anymore right? cause honestly the hate has only gotten worse not less.

hey anon. thanks for asking this question, because i hadn’t addressed this topic previously and this gave me an opportunity to do so. 

no, i don’t regret publicly interpreting a character whom i love through a nuanced and human lens. and i don’t regret combating the one-dimensional interpretation of this character, which posits that she’s merely an vaguely defined object of attraction for some boy or another, and a singularly gentle, mature, maternal figure whose sole purpose in life is to nurture others. those interpretations suck. they rob her of the humanity and complexity that make her character unique and they stem from misogynistic tropes that reduce women to the services they can provide to men. the thing in the world that matters most to me is fighting misogyny, and this trend to diminish a proud and powerful and angry teenage girl by exaggerating only her most socially acceptable traits is misogyny. 

unlike you, i did not grow up watching avatar: the last airbender. the shows i watched growing up did not have a lot of girls who felt real to me. the girls i saw on tv growing up were simple. they were the main characters’ crushes. they were simple, desirable, usually sweet and loving, and not much else. if they had a flaw, it was that they were, at best, “awkward.” whatever that means. or if they were the protagonists, which was rare, they were nice enough and tried to do the right thing, but they never had strong feelings like resentment and anger. they weren’t allowed to be unfeminine which meant they weren’t allowed to be bitter, angry or in any way flawed. they didn’t look like the version of girlhood i knew to be true for me personally, which included a lot of anger and frustration and powerlessness. 

that crappy representation left me with internalized misogyny that chased me for longer than i’d like to admit. i did not learn to think of girls as humans who could be as interesting and flawed and messy as the boys were. i did not value myself as a girl, and later a woman, because i thought the best thing a girl could be was... bland. boring. pretty, but empty. passionless.

it would have meant the world to me to see a character like katara. 

because katara is angry. she has every right to be: she’s had so much stolen from her, including her mother, her people, and her childhood. katara has a short fuse. she yells. she snaps. she fucks up. sometimes she makes mean jokes! i never saw a single one of those dreamily perfect cartoon love interests make mean jokes when i was a kid. she is extremely idealistic--it’s her defining character trait--but we see the bad side of that as well as the good. we see that her need to help others  leads her to act rashly, to get herself into danger, to put others in danger too. 

and she has her very own arc. it’s not about her love for another person, either (what a snooze of a storyline); it’s about growing up and learning to break down some of that stubborn black-and-white thinking that we all indulge in as children. it’s a true coming-of-age arc and it belongs to a fourteen-year-old girl. 

when i, to use a phrase i find crass, “entered the fandom,” i quickly realized that other fans’ perceptions of katara did not line up with the things i valued most about her. other fans seemed to valorize her most socially acceptable feminine qualities: her generosity, her kindness, her dedication to helping others. and of course i love those parts of her--i love everything about her--but what is really remarkable about avatar: the last airbender is that katara’s many important virtues are also counterbalanced by equally significant flaws. a good character has flaws. katara is a good character, and a deviation from the characters who made up my formative media landscape, because she has flaws. her temper, her idealism, her stubbornness--these are flaws. flaws make her seem real and human and challenge the mainstream sentiment that girls are not real or human.

it simply did not occur to me that celebrating these aspects of katara that make her a realistic and well-written teenage girl would spark ire from other adult fans. it absolutely did not occur to me that i would then be blamed for somehow causing misogynistic interpretations of this character, particularly given that misogynistic interpretations of this character are the very thing i sought to correct when i began to blog about this television show.

i’m told there are “fans” on instagram and tiktok who think katara is whiny, annoying, and overly preoccupied with her trauma. i do not use instagram or tiktok, so i wouldn’t know, but i’ll take your word for it. respectfully, however, they didn’t get that from me. misogynistic takes on katara have existed since before i came along. i have never, ever called katara whiny. and seeing as i have been treating my own PTSD in therapy for nine years, you can safely conclude that i don’t think anyone, katara included, is overly preoccupied with their trauma. that’s not a thing. do i think she’s annoying? of course not! as a character, she’s a delight. does she sometimes find real joy in aggravating her brother and her friends? yes, because she’s 14. i, an adult, am not annoyed by her. sokka and toph often are, because that is katara’s goal and katara always succeeds in her goals. she’s not “annoying.” 

if there are “fans” who are indeed following lesbians4sokka and somehow misreading every single post and interpreting them to mean that we hate katara and they should too, i don’t really know what you want me to do about that. l4s has over ten thousand followers and we have already posted so many essays disavowing katara hate. our feminist and antiracist objectives in running the blog are literally pinned with the headline “please read.”

furthermore, you cannot reasonably expect my co-blogger and me to control the way our words will be received. we should not have to, and are not going to, add a disclaimer to every post saying that when we critique or make jokes about a teenage girl we are doing so through a feminist lens. our url is lesbians4sokka, and we are clearly women. if that alone doesn’t make it obvious, then refer back to that pinned post. 

it is indescribably frustrating, and really goddamn depressing as well, that people are so comfortable with the misogynistic binary of Perfect Good Women and Flawed Wicked Bitches that they perceive any discussion of a woman’s flaws to be necessarily relegating her to the latter camp. if that is how you (a generic you) perceive women, then i’m sorry, but you’ve internalized sexism that i cannot cure you of. and it’s unjust to expect my friend and me to write for the lowest common denominator of readers who have not yet had their own feminist awakenings. we do not write picture books for babies. we write for ourselves, and with the expectation that our readers can think critically. reading media through a feminist lens is my primary interest; i have no intention of excising that angle from my writing.

as i go through my life, i am going to embrace the flaws of girls and women because not enough people do. as long as the dominant narratives surrounding women are “good and perfect” and “unlovable wh*re,” you’ll find me highlighting flawed, realistic, righteously angry women in the margins. and for what it’s worth, it’s not just katara. i champion depictions of angry girls in all sorts of media. that’s sort of my whole thing. my favorite movies are part of the angry girl cinematic universe: thoroughbreds, jennifer’s body, hard candy, jojo rabbit, et cetera. on tv, in addition to katara, you’ll find me celebrating tuca and bertie, poppy from mythic quest, tulip and lake from infinity train, korra, and more. i adore all these women and see myself in them. i hope you find this suitably persuasive to establish that i have sufficient Feminist Cred, according to your standards, to observe and write about these very flawed and human fictional women. 

what i’m saying is this: i decline to take responsibility for the misogynistic discourse orbiting a children’s cartoon. as someone who writes about that series from a perspective that seeks to add humanity and nuance to the reductive, one-dimensional, overwhelmingly sexist writing that already exists, i am pretty taken aback that i am the one being blamed for the very problem i sought to address. except not that taken aback because i am a woman online, haha! and this is always how it goes for us. 

finally, i think it sucks that you’ve chosen to blame me for a problem that begins and ends with the patriarchy. i can’t control the way this response will be perceived, just like how i can’t control the way anything will be perceived because i am just one human woman, but i do hope you choose to be reflective, and consider why you’ve chosen this avenue to assign blame. 

[daughterofthehighlands]

This is my first time writing in the PD world, but this story came out of nowhere and demanded to be written (it happens when you fall asleep reading fanfiction guess). It is also un-betaed. This story is also outside of what I normally write, and is a difficult subject.

Trigger warning child trafficking, nothing graphic.

I own nothing.

JHJH

Kim Burgess climbed into the passenger seat of Detective Jay Halstead's truck, as Hailey Upton started the vehicle.

Looking over at the blond, Kim noticed the bloodshot, rimmed eyed and sighed, knowing that this was going to be harder than it already was.

The team had been called in to investigate possible child abuse at a local school.

It turned out that the abuse was actually trafficking of kids in foster care.

They would be assigned to certain families, stay for a few weeks, then disappear from the distict, school officials being told the children were found permanent homes or were placed with family.

They sent Jay in, undercover, as a gym teacher for the 3rd graders, and where there were 6 kids who were in four different homes.

Jay had become a trusted figure to the children when one girl came to him with a story of a 'brother' that had been taken by a stranger at night and not seen again. The little girl then went missing from school, and her foster sister said that that same stranger had taken her.

Adam Ruzek finally found the missing piece; a Jennifer Winslow worked for the adoption services and had links to black market trading of children. She found families that would take the children and then sent one of the thugs to pick up the child. The parents none the wiser of what was going on, since they were sent by Ms. Winslow and had the badge of the adoption agency.

Jay had called Voight, and had told him his suspicions, adding that he was at the home where 9 kids had gone missing from.

When they had arrived, they found Jay's car door open and blood on the seat.

Now, they were in the process of locating the missing children and hoping that Halstead would be found with them.

Fifteen hours had passed, when they finally got a viable lead, and now they were bringing the children home.

JHJH

Jay woke up to a splitting headache, his shoulder killing him and his hands tied behind his back. He heard the sobs of children and slowly took in his surroundings.

They were in a large horse trailer, if the hay and smell was anything to go by, and they were moving.

JHJH

Hailey was so focused on trying to reach her partner, she was barely paying attention to the tractor in front of them.

"Hailey! Look out!" Kim yelled, reaching for the handle above the door and bracing herself against the dash.

Hailey slammed on the breaks, the bumper of Jay's truck millimeters from the back tire of the truck in front of them. Traffic at a standstill, due to the roadblock that had been set up to check all tractor/ trailers, RVs and other vehicles that could be transporting the children.

Kim looked over at the blond, "That was close. Do you want me to drive?"

Wordlessly, Hailey nodded, both getting out, and switching spaces.

JHJH

Detective Hank Voight looked at the map in front of him that set on the hood of a patrol car and studied it. He looked up as Al stepped next to him, "You got anything?"

Al nodded, "Winslow said that she uses her brother's ranch as a way to smuggle the kids out. She said that they borrow a truck and horse trailer to move them to another location." He pointed at the map, "She also said that they are using this road today and that her brother is innocent."

"Get people over to the ranch, see what truck is missing and if they have the tag number. Same for the trailer. We bring those kids home. TODAY!"

Al nodded once and disappeared into the crowd of officers.

So, I'm not very good at knowing the inside of horse trailers, but this is kind of what I envisioned for it to look like, especially for what I needed to take place.

Fanfiction at it's (not so) finest

And Part 2

Jay fought to stay awake, but it was hard. His shoulder hadn't quit bleeding and his head was pounding. But he had to get these kids somewhere safe, he just didnt know how. Then he saw Kelsey Jennings and hoped she could help.

"Kelsey? Can you help me out? You k ow how you untied those knots at school for that project?"

The eight year old nodded, "Do you think you can untie my hands?"

Again, the little redhead nodded and went to work.

JHJH

Voight sighed as he looked at the passing signs. If there was one thing he knew, it was that they had to stop the truck before it reached the interstate, or those children would be lost, possibly forever.

And they were running out of time. Hailey and Kim were stuck in a road block, unable to move.

Atwater and Ruzek were coming from the opposite direction.

And he and Al were speeding down a back road towards the turn off they were informed would be used.

JHJH

Jay sighed when he hands were freed, and nodded to Kelsey, "Thank you, Kelsey. Steven, come here, please."

Steven was the oldest boy and Kelsy the oldest girl. He was going to need them both, if his plan was to work. Luckily, there was no loose equipment in the trailer, and the windows were cracked to allow them fresh air.

The children were soon all tied as safely to the walls as they could be. If the trailer tipped, they would not be thrown all over the trailer, but would be bounced around in place. Sore and bruised, but hopefully no broken bones, and not possibly thrown out of a window if one busted.

With one more look back at the children, and a smile that showed more confidence than he felt, Detective Jay Halstead went to work on freeing the children.

JHJH

Kim and Hailey finally made their way around the block and started down the side road they were told about. They had been driving for a while when they came upon a horse trailer parked across the road at an angle.

Throwing the truck in park, the jumped out and pulled their side arms.

Hoping that the children were okay and Jay was taking care of them.

That all went out the window when they opened the doors and the children were the only ones available.

Quickly untying them and ushering them outside, Steven and Kelsey told the two women what had happened.

JHJH

"Voight," the sergeant said, answering his phone, "Thanks, Haliey."

Without being told, Al stepped on the gas, neatly passing another vehicle.

"Jay got the children out, but isn't with them. One of the kids said he climbed out the emergency hatch on top and found a way to release the trailer from the truck. Other than some bruising, the kids are all fine."

Al nodded. Their boy was in trouble and he was going to make sure they were there to help him. And as they came around, yet another curve, they saw a truck turned over and no movement.

JHJH

Jay watched at the trailer disconnected and swerved before coming to a complete stop at an angle. He sighed in relief, knowing that the kids were fine, since it didnt tip.

The truck sped faster after the trailer was removed, and that was when he could just barely pick up the sounds of a police scanner.

His team had been made and these guys were going to try and escape the consequences of kidnapping.

He wasn't going to allow it.

And, apparently, the kidnappers weren't going to go down easy. The driver started to swerve and the old road, being uneven, cause them to over correct and the truck to flip.

Jay jumped and rolled as he hit the ground, when he realized what was happening, but still felt the discomfort of drawing in breath, and the cracked ribs that caused it.

Seeing the two men get out of the truck, Jay started towards them. One fell to the ground, halfway out of the vehicle, and didn't move again.

The other saw the detective and attacked.

The fight was over in a matter of minutes, both me on the ground, one with his neck broke, the other with multiple stab wounds and a knife in their chest.

JHJH

Al and Voight ran to the scene and briefly paused.

A man lay halfway out of the over turned truck, clearly dead, unseeing eyes looking up at the cold December sky.

A second perp was laying on the ground, neck at a weird angle, staring at Jay Halstead, who was clearly trying to stay awake.

Voight knelt by Jay and turned his face to look at him, "Hey, kid. You with me?"

Jay tried to focus on the hands that touched him, at first trying to fight them, until his wrists were caught in warm, calloused hands. Hands that were comforting, and the voice was familiar, safe.

Al held Jay's wrists, gently, but firmly, seeing the abrasions on them, but trying to keep him from giving Voight another black eye.

Hank still spoke calmly to the kid, never moving his hand from Jay's face, while Al tried to access the injuries that covered the detective. Both feeling the heat rolling off of Halstead, and worried about what injuries were hidden by the jacket he wore.

"Hank," Olinsky spoke quietly, "he's been shot in the shoulder, has a knife wound in the side, wrists are a mess and then the knife in his chest."

Jay finally got a clear look of the person over him, "Voight, don... wanna die ...lone," it was whispered, paper thin and barely eligible, but the best thing either officer had heard.

Until the younger man started to pass out, "Jay? Halstead! Stay with me, kid! That's an order! Jay!"

JHJH

Dr. Will Halstead stood in the breakroom of Chicago Med and scrubbed his hand down his face, clearing the tears.

Sgt. Hank Voight walked in as Will's fist went through the wall, "I don't think Ms. Goodwin is going to be happy about that."

Will huffed out a laugh, "Probably not. They lost him twice, Hank."

The cop sighed, hands going into his pockets, "I know, kid, I know."

"Connor is doing everything he can. Said it'll take hours to fix the artery the knife was in."

The doctor sat on the couch, leaning forward, head between his hands, "I was worried when he went overseas. Afraid he wouldn't come home. Then he became a cop. And a good one. He's all I have left, and I don't know,-"

Voight sat by him and put his hand on his shoulder, "And you won't ever have to find out, Will. He's the strongest person I know, and we are going to be there for him."

After a moment's thought, he continued, "Plus, he has to take my place as lead over Intelligence, when that time comes. I think I he will take it far beyond what I could ever could. And he will do well. But don't you tell him I said that. I'll deny it."

Will choked out a laugh, and looked at the hole he had put in the wall, "You think she'll notice?"

Sharon Goodwin walked in, "Will, Jay is out of surgery. They'll be moving him to SICU once he is out of recovery. I thought you might want to go up to the waiting room so you'll be there when he gets moved."

Will stood, as did Voight, "Thank you. We'll go there now."

As she went to leave, she spoke again, not bothering to turn, "And Will? Make sure you patch that wall. And don't put a picture in front of it, either. Egg shell paint is what we used in here."

Voight slightly smiled, "Yep. She'll notice."

JHJH

The return to consciousness isn't what isn't seems like in the movies. You don't wake up immediately and go on about your daily life. You don't hold conversations for several minutes either.

No, it's so much slower.

You hear things around you, but it doesn't automatically click what it is. You may try to wake up, but you pretty much are out of it for quite a while.

The same went for Jay, the first several times he tried to wake up. But one thing that he could count on, was knowing his big brother was there. He could feel him, may not physically, but he knew.

And when he finally did wake up, several hours later, it was dark outside, and snow was falling, the lights outside making it glitter and shine.

Will was beside him, asleep, his hand on Jay's arm, comforting and familiar.

He must have made a sound of some sort, because the next thing his groggy mind knew, a hand was on his face and his name was being called.

His eyes rolled about, trying to focus, and finally finding his boss at his side.

"You're going to be okay, kid. We're here for you."

And with that, Detective Jay Halstead of Chicago PD's Intelligence Unit fell into a deep, peaceful and healing sleep, knowing that he was safe and he wasn't alone.

JHJH

I figured this was the best place to end it. After having a brief dream of him being in a horse trailer with young kids, (kids not much younger than my oldest) this story was born.

There are some very nice horse trailers out there, some with an air conditioned kitchenette and/ or sleeping area.

Yes, I had to come up with a way for the kids to be rescued, and I know it probably isn't possible to release such a heavy trailer while it is moving, but hey, fanfiction right?

And thank you to everyone who has written their favorite comfort bits and pieces on Tumblr. That helped me so much when I was trying to end this story, but wanting to show the comfort as well.

This story has been posted on fanfiction. net and Tumblr. Tha k you to everyone who has commented and followed. It means so much to me.

I own nothing

[crqstalite]

from the scrap pile.

yet another bit of scraps, this time from that time i told myself to novelize me2. obviously, didnt go over well (tl;dr, not enough kaidan for what i was planning to do with a sort of ‘series’), but there are some bits im really proud of in here (i’ll post lali + joker’s interaction in a bit so i can stagger these)

...possible warnings? it’s a combat scene. basically. mass effect 2. kinda worked as an introduction for annika post me1.

-

Kodelyn hears Miranda's voice from just beyond where she'd entered the alley, though there's an extra pair of boots that she makes out, and she pauses to lift the med-kit with her.

Distracted so easily, she only just makes out a hooded figure before she can pull a weapon. She's knocked off balance so quickly by a kick on the ankles she can't even register what's going on until her head hits the ground, hard, with a heavy boot on her chest holding her down and a glowing blue hand above her that holds a pistol aimed for her head. She barely makes out the sight of bullets flying at the person above her, though the blue corona flickers into a shield, blocking them as the shells fall to the ground harmlessly. She picks up the quiet sound of biotics thrumming above her, hearing Mordin's voice and a grunt from Miranda. They'd gotten hit by something, or each other. Her head swims, groaning as she blinks away dirt from her eyes. She can see stars in her eyelids as she squeezes them closed, trying to regain any sense of balance she still had. There'd be a knot on the back of her skull later, she knows it. 

Fear bubbles up in her throat, painkillers flooding her senses and numbing the shock. She's not wearing a helmet, hence the buzzing feeling that's starting to come over her. Her shields had to still be intact, but they couldn't take a shot at point blank range if they decided to shoot. Who knew who this even was? Some rogue biotic with a chip on their shoulder for her? It wasn't like she hadn't made it clearly obvious who she was, with the armor, N7 patch and all. 

She's beginning to feel herself spiral as the boot grows heavier on her chest, straining to breathe properly. Kodelyn's chest feels like it's constricting in on itself, but the rational part of her knows she's panicking, reliving old events. Had been one of the first things the N7 training had taught her how to regulate. Her eyes dart around for those terrifying few seconds, stars dancing across her vision at dizzying speed. Cotton feels like it's filling her ears, the hissing noise of something that sends a jolt through her body joining it.

She considers her options in that split second that her attacker's attention is split between her and her ground team, before wrenching the other person off their feet with a shove to the shins that knocks them off balance. They stumble into a wall, Kodelyn jumping for the chance to close in for a melee hit with her omni-tool glowing a menacing orange on her wrist. She doesn't get the chance before her attacker hits back with a biotic kick to her side, knocking the wind out of her. She's slow to reactivate her omni-tool, eventually realizing pulling her SMG on them would do more harm than good if they chose to use a shield. They take swift advantage of her incompetence in that moment she spends considering. Her attacker punches her a few more times with glowing fists, strategically placing Kodelyn in between them and Miranda and Mordin as she takes the onslaught. A sound strategy, she has to admit, as much as her body throbs at the idea. Seeing this, Kodelyn clumsily struggles to get the upper hand on them, her bulky armor taking a majority of the blows but still leaving places where she's sure she'll bruise.

Eventually, she does get behind them. Thinking it's over, she pulls her pistol out, pointing it at her attacker, who in the dim light whips around. Time slows down as their corona fully comes out, blue lighting their surroundings like a strike of lightning, her attacker charging her biotically. It formulates in her mind then and there that she's been cornered by who they’d been looking for, or at least someone who worked for them. However, she doesn't have long to even say anything before the force catches up to her and sends her skidding backwards onto the pavement. She can't breathe for those few moments, feeling weightless before the ground rushes up to meet her, slamming her back down onto the ground at an awkward angle. Pain shoots up her back as she struggles to draw a breath.

Now she's definitely sure she's gained another bruise, if not a few broken ribs at the same time.

Her hand to hand instructor would be pissed with her if he saw her now. Then again, all the biotics they knew of by that point were all Alliance, there hadn't been a need to learn to fight against them while they were on your side. These vanguards were too much of a wild card to reliably predict how to safely counteract their biotic charges short of literally side stepping them when you saw them coming.

If, you saw them coming.

Still, this was just embarrassing now, her reaction time had been slow and sluggish. Probably why it'd been so easy for them to get the jump on her. Either the Illusive Man or her sister were watching her suit cam, and she'd probably have to answer for a few things when she got back to the Normandy. And maybe take Jacob up on that offer to get some combat training in for the crew.

"Shepard!" Mordin's voice rings through her ears as Miranda closes in on the person. The Salarian offers her a hand up after side stepping the dueling pair, and she gratefully takes it while he pulls up his omni-tool. Blue lights the small space as Miranda throws the other person, though they expected that and counter with a shield, narrowly avoiding the warp she throws out moments later. It's enough of a distraction that she fumbles around for her own Carnifex, and takes steady aim in between the scuffle. Pulling the trigger, the bullet hits the attacker directly in the left arm, a clang sounding and reverberating against the walls of the side street.

A clang?

Her first thought is that it's a robot. Which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, unless the biotics were just for show and some trick of the light. Yet, the high impact of the shot distracts them long enough for Miranda to get a solid biotic flare in, and they tumble backwards, skidding on their boots into a crouched position. Only then does Kodelyn notice the small party of onlookers they've gathered, and shoots off a bullet in the distance to scare them off. They scurry in different directions, and only then does she approach the still shrouded person. Maybe they've accepted they've been caught, darting a glance to the operative and scientist who have their guns pulled on them. It's easy enough to goad them into moving out of the alley and into the light, though they don't look happy about it in the slightest.

She waves Miranda off to face them properly, the person rubbing their jaw with a grey, metallic hand. Able to focus better on who had admittedly taken her down rather well, purple-blue eyes flicker back at her, a red scarf covering the bottom half of their pale face. A hood is over their head, so she can't discern what color their hair is. A scar runs through their eye, still raised and red.

It takes her a moment to pull herself together, wiping away blood from where the impact had split her lip, "Widow, I presume?"

They don't answer for a moment, eyes narrowing at her. A chill runs down her spine.

"And you think your name is Shepard?" The deep feminine voice asks suspiciously, eyes darting down to the N7 patch on her chest. They scoff, "I'll have to say, Verner doesn't have anything on you. The similarities are nearly uncanny."

She can't place the voice. Maybe distorted through her ears, maybe because the accent isn't clear cut. Either way, they cross their arms and storm ahead, "You're not the real Shepard. A copy, maybe. Plastic surgery? Some Alliance officer to calm us all down? They tried that one for a while."

Alliance officer? That was a little terrifying to think about, in retrospect. Still, that wasn't her focus right then, steeling her tone from wavering, "My name is Shepard. Maybe I should be grateful I'm being recognized at all."

"You're the same person who's been trailing us," Miranda muses out loud, "If you don't think this is her -- which it is -- then why bother coming after her? A form of revenge?"

They skirt the question, "I don't know how you managed to find me here, or why Cerberus wants me, but you're going after the Collectors, I presume. Took someone long enough to realize they're the real enemy here."

"I doubt the galaxy is just in denial," Kodelyn responds, reholstering her pistol from where it'd been in her hands, "Colonies have been disappearing for months. It isn't so easily ignored."

"You talk as if you've been alive for the last two years. There were a lot of people who thought you were dead, Shepard. Think they even had a parade for you somewhere on Earth,"  They say matter-of-factly, as if they're saying she doesn't already know, "I don't know what your deal is, but I've got better things to do than duel with your sub-par combat skills."

Their omni-tool pings on their wrist when they trail off before Kodelyn can say anything, and they shove Mordin out of their path to leave the alley. They turn over their shoulder as an afterthought, shrugging for them to follow. 

"Shepard, you can't tell me you think this is in any way a good idea." Miranda hisses out in a whisper, watching as they turn the corner, "They could be a liability going forward if they attacked you for thinking you were a clone. We might be better off going after Archangel ourselves."

"Operative Lawson is correct. Choosing mercenary who tried to kill you, poor choice, Shepard." Mordin nods, "Would much rather work with someone less...problematic."

Something rubs her the wrong way about Widow, and she files their opinions away for thought when the real choice came to fruition. If she could have both, and it turned out they weren't interested in putting a bullet in her back, then it might work in her favor. But considering the fact they'd just laid her out then and there on the concrete, she didn't have high hopes for option one.

"I'm sure you can guess why we're here then, we need you for this fight," Kodelyn catches up to their shorter stride, but they don't even answer her, "But I'm guessing you're not budging until you finish here."

"Hm, then they remade you with a brain. Comforting." They nod, metal fingers flying over the keyboard of her 'tool, "Then if you know everything about me, then I'm guessing you know about the vendetta I have against Archangel." Kodelyn nods, and they pause by another apartment door, waving their omni-tool over it, "Bastard has caused me some...problems, since I've been here. If I'm going off to do something with a lower survival rate than living here, I'd rather be assured he won't be taunting me from the land of the living."

"You want him dead."

[randaccidents]

Fractured (part one)

So I have fallen into another fandom! @mine-sara-sp‘s shadow people au is just so good though!

A while ago she posted a fic of a vexed Paladin and it got me thinking. This is where that thinking went.

TW: Blood, fighting, panic attacks (somewhat), manipulation

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Epilogue

The morning sun had just risen over the horizon and everything was quiet for once on Hermitcraft. With the recent glow ups in New Hermitville – literally, there was glowstone everywhere now – not even the sound of zombies could be heard, allowing all hermits who thought to find the comfort of their beds to have a peaceful awakening.

At least, for most of the sleeping hermits on the server, this was the case. For Wels, not so much.

The buzzing of his communicator woke Wels from his peaceful sleep. Groaning, Wels rolled over in his bed and blearily groped for the infernal device. Rubbing his eyes, Wels’ eyes flicked over the main chat to the two personal message chats that were blowing up his communicator.

Personal message from GoodTimesWithScar

[Scar] Wels vex alert!

[Scar]   bnghyt67sdzfgtyuopgtfjgkadsfxgchvjbknlm;,;lkjhaghjkl;’

[Scar] sorry Keloid licked my communicator

[Scar] where are you Keloid wants you

[Scar] I think Paladin died again

[Scar] youre sleeping arent you?

[Scar] please wake up

[Scar]Keloid is gonna melt me in lava please wake up

[Scar] wake up

[Scar] wake up

[Scar] wake up

[Scar] wake up

[Scar] wake up

[Scar] wake up

[Scar] pls this jrt is hgh they took my elytea

[Scar] wake up

Personal message from Cubfan135

[Cub] Wels vex alert!

[Cub] Avarice is looking for you

[Cub] ohno your asleep arent you

[Cub] Wels wake up

[Cub] Avarice is destroying my villager center

[Cub] Wels

[Cub] Wels my poor villagers

[Cub] How are you still asleep?

[Cub] If I know Scar, and I know Scar, he is spamming you right now

[Cub] Wels please if not for me then do it for the villagers

[Cub] … Wels I know youre awake answer me where are you

There goes his opportunity to pretend to be asleep. Grumbling, Wels rolled out of bed and began preparing for his day. He wasn't in the mood for anything in particular at the moment. If anything, he wanted to go back to sleep. Grabbing his tool set and weapons, Wels headed for the door. Yawning, he almost forgot to put on his armour before he left his mansion.

Shuddering at the memory of his last round trip flight, he quickly doubled back to grab the most important piece; the helmet. Looking at the rest of his armour set, he shrugged. Where he was going, and especially who he was going to meet, he wouldn't need any armour. Shrugging on his elytra, Wels jumped from the highest window in his mansion, gliding lazily towards the portal tower.

As he flew, Wels opened his communicator and idly flipped through the general chat, trying to pinpoint what needed to face his wrath for waking him up so early (the zombies weren't even burning yet!)

Hermitgang

*Welsknight's shadow fell from a high place

[Zedaph] its vex time boys

[BDubs] CUB SCAR YOU GOT INCOMING

[BDubs] AND TELL THEM TO STOP FLYING OVER NEW NEW HERMITVILLE

[Iskall]  I dont think they heard you

[Impulse] I think their working on Concorp things right now

[Grian] Keloid and Avarice just flew past at mach speed and knocked me out of the sky like some kinda vex aeroplane what did I miss

[Iskall] read up

[Grian] oh

[Grian] well their heading the wrong direction we can still warn them

[Impulse] there is no way this chat hasnt warned them yet

[Zedaph] is that Keloid holding Scar up there on the jet?

[Impulse] ...I stand corrected

[BDubs] GET WELS

[Grian] isnt today his sleep day

[Impulse] what

[Impulse ] aw man he sleeps like a rock!

[Tango] you know what this means?

[BDubs] NO TIME FOR THAT INITIATE OPERATION WAKE WELS

[BDubs] WAKE UP WELS

[Iskall] how do you want to do that man hes unshakable

[Zedaph] ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Zedaph] WAKE UP WELS

[Tango] ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  WAKE UP WELS

[Impulse] ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ WAKE UP WELS

[Mumbo] Guys stop I cant afk in peace like this

[Tango] WAKE UP WELS

[Grian] Mumbo? Woken from afk? Impossible

[Zedaph] WAKE UP WELS

[Iskall] and here is proof that Wels cannot be woken

[BDubs] DOESNT MEAN WE CANT TRY

[BDubs] WAKE UP WELS

[Iskall] yo bdubs you alright? been using a lot of caps there

[Tango] WAKE UP WELS

[BDubs] I DRANK 5 MONSTER ENERGY AND 7 COFFEE IM GREAT

[Keralis] hes not alright

[Keralis] send help

[Impulse] WAKE UP WELS

[Doc] Alright Im headed over right now dont you run from me

[Zedaph] WAKE UP WELS

[BDubs] NO IM FINE YOU WONT FIND ME ANYWAY

[Keralis] hurry I cant hold him forever

[Tango] WAKE UP WELS

[Doc] I know where everyone is on this server

[Bdubs] CRAP HOW IS HE ALREADY HERE

[Keralis] WE HAVE A RUNNER FOLKS

[Zedaph] WAKE UP WELS

[Mumbo] How did you find my witch farm?

[Mumbo] How did you even get here???

[Cub] Wels I swear I know you're awake answer me where are you

[Impulse] WAKE UP oh

[Grian] ooo busted

[Impulse] I cant believe that did it

[Grian] my work here is done

[BDubs] YOULL NEVER CATCH ME ALIVE HAHAHAHA

[Tango] but you didnt do anything?

[Grian] exactly

[Cub] Wels hurry up Avarice saw the chat it is this close to smashing me

[Zedaph] did I just see grian flip his elytra like a cape while flying and not die

[Doc] GOT HIM

[Mumbo] Please get out of here

[Scar] please

Any other day he would feel guilty for leaving the Concorp with their shadows. But today he was tired and feeling a tad bit petty. Landing before the portal, he shot a quick message into the chat.

[Wels] Tell them to meet me in the sand mesa temple. They know which

Not bothering to wait for a reply, Wels set his communicator on silent and strode into the portal, heading towards the 'meeting place'. Preoccupied as he was, Wels never saw the stray shadow on the floor that detached itself to follow after him.

~~~

Closing the door of the shadow temple, Wels began preparations to resummon Paladin. Reaching into the chest he had left, he pulled out an armour stand and climbed the podium, humming a sea shanty as he went. Placing the armour stand on the podium, he stepped back to make sure Paladin wasn't summoned quite that fast. He was not in the mood to deal with his ego today. Suddenly, he heard the door open and close behind him. That was fast. “Wait just a bit I’ll have your Shiny for you,” he yelled over his shoulder. Stepping forward, he prepared to summon Paladin and-

Wait. Keloid and Avarice don’t just, open and close doors. They smash them. The person behind him was not Keloid or Avarice. He turned-

and something slid across his throat, cutting off his breath.

Choking, Wels stumbled back, falling onto the stairs. Hands scrabbling at his throat, trying to close the wound, to breathe. Tilting his head to the side, he found an angle that let him breathe shallowly.

“Well, that wasn't what I intended, but it works great for my frustrations.”

Gasping, he looked up and met his bright blue eyed ambusher, idly tracing shapes in the air with its sword. Wels knew this shadow. He was so dead. Shakily, he drew his sword from his tool belt. His ambusher looked down at him through his visor and grinned, stalking forward.

“You think you can fight me as you are now? You make me laugh.” A snarl, and Apex was upon him, sword screeching against his own. Wels found himself struggling to push Apex away, to breathe, breath stolen in the face of a predator. “Good thing I need a laugh right now.”

Apex made a quick movement with its hand, sending Wels’ sword skittering up the stairs onto the podium. Wels barely managed to bring his arms up to block the next sword strike, wheezing in pain as it skittered off something hard. Pain ignored in the adrenaline, in the need to stay alive, Wels scrabbled backwards up the steps, forgetting his injuries, forgetting to breathe, anything to grab the precious sword that would give him a chance. Apex was advancing on him, he can't breathe, where is his sword?

His hand reached back, and he grabbed hold of something made of sticks.

His shadow bubbled, rising out of the floor to become 3D. Yellow eyes flickered open.

*Welsknight’s shadow has been summoned

Paladin stretched lazily, unaware of their surroundings. “Wels hey so about that death I...”

Apex stood before them, Wels on the floor at their feet. This was not normal. “What are you doing Apex?”

The shadow grinned at them lazily, sword in a resting position at their hip. “Why, just releasing some pent up frustrations on unsuspecting players. This doesn't concern you at all. Go back to those creatures you call shadows.”

They almost did. They didn't want to keep Keloid and Avarice waiting too long. But then they made the mistake of looking down.

Wels looked horrible. Paladin could see open wounds on his neck and arms, fresh from the fight. Wels’ breathing was shallow, but his eyes were hyper aware, shuddering between Apex and Paladin.

He looked cornered. Paladin took a step towards him, something tugging at the back of their mind. What was this emotion?

Apex snarled at them threateningly. “Are you challenging me little blacksmith? You’re nothing without your guard dogs following you.” Paladin’s shoulders hiked upwards at the nickname and they hissed in the way that Keloid and Avarice would when angry. Apex flinched at the noise, stabbing their sword downwards towards the floor to mask it, Wels’ whimper of pain going unnoticed in the tension. “You can fight me if you want blacksmith. But I’m not afraid of you.” The sword came back up to point at Paladin’s exposed chest. “You are nothing without those vex, and I will end you.”

They couldn't take those insults to his ability. Their ego did not want to allow it. But Paladin had survived this long with fewer deaths than expected because they knew when to quit. This was not a fight they could win, even if the pulsing knot in their chest rebelled. They stepped away from Wels.

Apex grinned, yellow smile flashing through the impossible corners of the temple. “Smart choice.” They moved, and Paladin’s eyes trailed downwards, locking onto Wels’ panicked ones. The knot in their chest grew tighter-

And in one stroke, they had grabbed a sword from the floor and stabbed Apex through the back with it.

Apex snarled in surprise, whirling around to face them. A clashing screech, and they were locked in combat. Paladin could see Wels dragging himself away from the corner of their eye and a strange relief filled them. Giving a threatening hiss-chirp back, blocked Apex’s blows, looking for an opening to exploit as their training with Wels kicked in.

Parry, parry, thrust, parry, parry, thrust

The rhythm kept them in the fight, preventing Apex from advancing while also retaliating. So it came as a surprise when Apex suddenly twisted its wrist and sent their sword flying to the opposite side of the room. Not wasting a beat, Apex leapt at them, sword swinging in a large arc that sliced across their neck. Paladin staggered backwards at the pain, only barely moving their head to the side to avoid a sword in their skull, sending a straight gash of light across their face. They click-snarled at Apex, whose grin only turned more predatory.

The next swing was intercepted by an axe, followed by a pickaxe which sliced across their chest. Apex barely stumbled as they charged forward yet again, pinning Paladin’s off-handed axe to the floor with one hand. Raising a foot, it was brought down with a snap!, breaking the weapon. A pickaxe at its shoulder brought their attention back to Paladin, and the cycle began anew.

Parry, parry, parRY, PARRY, PARRY

Slices on their arms, light and triangular particles spinning away. Paladin could feel panic start to settle deep in their bones as they fought. They had barely managed to keep themselves between Wels and Apex, but they knew this was a losing fight. A pickaxe was never meant to be a strong weapon against a sword, but they were determined. The knot in their chest would be too painful to bear otherwise they knew. They kept swinging and parrying, what choice did they have?

There is one choice for you dark one.

Bells and tinkling laughter. They knew who this was. The world around them paused, glowing a light blue like a badly rendered photo. They closed their eyes.

The sound of wings, of bells and tinkling laughter grew nearer. The intense sensation of being watched crawled beneath their skin, but they stood firm. They were made for the spotlight, it did not scare them one bit. Not even as the Vex arrived to speak to them again.

We can help you dark one. All you need to do is make a deal.

Keloid and Avarice had warned them more than enough for them to know that this was a bad idea. They snarl-growled at the unseeable entity before them. “No. Haven't I said this enough times? Go away.”

Ah, but you need help don’t you? Look at your summoner, so weak and fragile. We know that he won’t last once you go down.

That made Paladin falter slightly. “But he’ll respawn!”

Humming. But what if this time he doesn't? What then dark one, what then?

They were not thinking straight, they knew that, knew it in the shaking of their hands and the rush of adrenaline, the cold in their bones and the knot in their chest- no, the emotions in their chest that they didn't understand, emotions for their summoner; care? worry? They didn't know, everything was going so wrong-

Calm dark one. We can help. All you need to do, is ASK.

Paladin considered, actually thought about what was being offered. They needed help, they knew. They also knew that the Vex were strong and ancient. But the warnings…

“If I ask for your help, I want to know what I’m getting into first. No sneaky dealings of any sort.”

Laughing bells. If you insist. All we want is a chance to make a deal with your summoner. You will be the conduit to bring him to us.

“And if I don’t?”

You both won’t have a choice. One way or another we will find you.

Paladin ducked their head, opening yellow eyes to glance sideways at Wels. The man had pulled himself to a column. His shirt was ripped, used as makeshift bandages. Red. So much red. They made their decision.

“Alright, I’ll take your deal. Help me.”

Shattering music notes. What do you want us to give you, dark one?

There was no hesitation, the words drawn upwards out from him. “Power. I’ve been the damsel for long enough. Give me the power to protect my family.” They would have hesitated more, but that glance at Wels earlier had solidified a fiery resolve. They wanted to protect their family, and that included Wels whether he liked it or not.

Tinkling glass shards mixed with laughter as power stabbed its way into Paladin. Of course. Now, wake and face your opponent dark one, and remember our deal.

The blue fog faded, the staring spotlights died, the glass was swept away. It was as if the Vex were never there. But Paladin could feel the power rising in their chest, competing with guilt and worry and panic. With a roar, they released it into the air.

Apex stumbled backwards, the roar resonating through memories of darkness, birds, blue. Its grin became more of a grimace as they launched itself at Paladin again, only to be stopped by a sword. Where had they-?

Looking around, Apex noticed the glowing blue gauntlets floating in the air around Paladin. The gauntlets moved quickly, each hand grabbing the closest weapon. A blue cloak of the same colour had spawned out of nowhere and draped upon Paladin’s shoulders. Apex’s grimace flipped back into a feral grin. This was what a real challenge looked like.

They sprung into action, hacking away at each weaponed hand. With every hand that fell, another took its place. Every hit that did land bounced off the hard plating of the seemingly cloth-made cloak. But it soon began to tire, invisible strings softening its blows. No one else on the server had kept up with it this long, not even Killjoy. But shadows didn't tire, someone must be helping Paladin. Looking up, Apex met Paladin’s angered glare. But that didn't faze them at all.

What did faze them was the softly glowing blue streaks where they had sliced Paladin earlier. Apex hissed. Vex. That's where the blacksmith’s help had come from. They shuddered as the invisible threads cut deeper. Now that it knew what to look for, they could feel the Vex on its shoulders, weighing it down. It was time to cut their losses.

Apex faked a lunge at Paladin, taking the split second of Paladin being off-balance to make a run for the door. Turning back inside the doorframe, Apex took in the scene they had left. Red on the floor, pillars sliced into, Paladin running towards them.

And Wels was finally open. Apex grinned. Mechanically, they raised their arm, bringing out Biffa’s spare iron sword and threw it, slamming the door behind them.

Paladin howled, jumping to grab the sword. They knew they were too far away, but something carried their momentum forward and they grabbed the sword out of the air, tumbling onto the steps of the podium. They could feel the cloak folding behind them as it smoothed back out from whatever form it took. In that moment, all Paladin could do was breathe.

“Pal-adi-n?” The halting gasp of their name brought them back to the source of their current problem. Prying themselves off the floor, they hurried to Wels’ side, checking on his wounds. Wels was more concerned about other things, physically recoiling at the sight of the blue scars.

“Wha- di-you do?” The question came out gurgled, but understandable. Paladin could only helplessly reach for their summoner, voice pleading for understanding.

“I made a mistake so I could save you.”

Wels seemed to understand, allowing Paladin close to check on him even as fear swam in his eyes. “Vex” he hissed, before coughing painfully into Paladin’s chest. Paladin chirped soothingly as Avarice always did for them, even as the now known panic rose up yet again. Wels was in no condition to move right now. They could look for help, but what if Apex came back? They could try Wels’ communicator, but they had no idea which temple this was. They could be anywhere! What to do what to do what to do

A pricking in their arm brought them back to reality, grounding them. They cooed at Wels in confusion; they could sense no danger here.

Until they saw the lone Vex mob, sitting on the centre podium where shadows were summoned. It cocked its head at the bloodied knights below them, grin permanently stretched wide.

We told you we would find you. Tinkling bells, shattering laughter, a hundred gazes combined as one.

It's time to fulfill your end of the deal.

Blue particles, broken bells, the room bathed in a blue-purple glow as the knights held tight to each other; one protectively and one in fear. The bell tolled.

Not minutes later, Keloid and Avarice burst down the door to find the temple empty, clean of all signs of struggle and missing two fractured knights.

[pandawritespoorly]

With Time: Chapter 7 - The Best Group Chat

Author’s Note: A short chapter - just a quick catch-up. Next update will be Saturday, and oh boy we've got another akuma. If I'm so insistent on writing them I should probably figure how to actually write fights.

Chapter Summary: Some text interactions of the Quantics and Felix and what they've thought of Marinette up to this point.

First | Previous | Next

Kid Mime: So!!!! Wat do you all think of our new frend that weve had 4 a weeekkkk!!! Because I love herrr!!! We r going to keep her right!!!????

  Melodie: Oh you bet we are. I’m a little worried about her though, I mean did you see that bruise? 

Melodie: Also she is precious and very sweet. If she doesn’t seem uncomfortable with the arrangement, we should keep hanging out with her. 

  Felix: Are you referring to the bruise on her face? It did seem unlikely to have been caused on accident.

  Melodie: WHAT BRUISE ON HER FACE?!

  Kid Mime: SHE HAS A BRUISE ON HER FACEEEEE?! MOMMM SOME1 HURT UR NEWEST CHILD!!!

  The Mom Friend: Wait wat? When did you see that Felix? r you sure?

  Felix: On Thursday, when she seemed overly tired. She was falling asleep in class and her palm wiped some make-up off of her face. She excused herself to the bathroom when she realized, but I did see a rather concerning bruise on her face, and there seemed to be scratch above it. I assume you were referring to another bruise?

  Kid Mime: HOW MANY BRUSES DOES THS PRECIOUS ANGLE GIRL HAVE!!!?

  The Mom Friend: enuf that im concerned

  Melodie: The make-up means that she’s hiding it, and come to think of it, she is dressed rather warmly for the current weather.

Melodie: I meant the bruise on her arm, it was pretty big.

  The Mom Friend: yea long sleeves an pants in early spetember is kinda wierd

  Felix: While I find this to be disconcerting, we would do best to avoid jumping to conclusions. It would also be for the best to avoid mentions of her past school - when it was mentioned on Monday, she seemed rather uncomfortable.

  The Mom Friend: yea we don’t want to make assuptions and i don’t want to upset her

  Melodie: She’d better have just fallen…

  Kid Mime: Al’ no murder

  Melodie: … 

    Kid Mime: DOES ANY1 NO HOW 2 GET OUR AMAZING MARI TO HANG OUT W/ US??? I ONLY GET 2 SEE HER AT ACHOOL AND IT SADDENS MEEEEEE

  Felix: She may just be shy, it would be best to give her time to adjust to her new environment.

  Melodie: I do hope she decides to join us soon though. I think she seems like a pretty cool person, especially if she could get out of her shell.

  The Mom Friend: allegra, give er time dont want to force her it might make her uncomforable

  Melodie: I know, that’s not what I meant, I just worry about her. 

  Kid Mime: Im with u there. i wory about her sometimes something just… i dunno

  Felix: It is understandable to be concerned. It seems likely that she may have rather low self-esteem, and lacks confidence in herself. That, as well as the fact that we still do not know where she got so many bruises.

  Melodie: I think we were right about why she was wearing longer clothes, did you guys notice she’s wearing short sleeves now.

  The Mom Friend: poor thing at least she heeled now

    The Mom Friend: does anyone no y mari was so tired today

  Lovable Grump: I noticed, but she did not mention any reason in particular.

Lovable Grump: …

Lovable Grump: Claude, I’m changing my password again.

  Kid Mime: NOOOO pls we all have fun nicknamesssss

  Felix: Your nicknames have a tendency to be longer than my actual name, which makes them unnecessary.

  Melodie: Accept your fate Felix. Claude can not and will not be stopped. Also Allan, I don’t know know about Marinette. She did seem pretty tired today though….

  The Mom Friend: hmm…

  Kid Mime: FEEEELLLIXXXXXXX NOOOOO UR NAME IS SOO BORING NOWWWW!!!

  Felix: That is unfortunate for you.

Felix: It is not the first time that Marinette has seemed overly fatigued. She does commissions does she not? Perhaps one of her projects kept her up.

  The Mom Friend: maybe she should take on les if shes being overworked

  Kid Mime: *mom instincts activated*

  The Mom Friend: im just concerned about her health

  Melodie: He’s got you there, Allan.

    Kid Mime: I CANT WAIT IS SCOOL OVER YET

  The Mom Friend: only a little longer

The Mom Friend: then to mari’s

  Kid Mime: I KNOOOOOOOOO

Kid Mime: I CANT WAIIIIIITTTTTTTT

Kid Mime: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

  Felix: Claude, you should calm down. You do not want to overwhelm her.

  Melodie: I’m excited too! She actually wants to hang out with us after school and she invited us over to her house!

  Kid Mime: do u think i can finally get her number

  Felix: I doubt she’s interested in your memes Claude.

  Kid Mime: but i cant even send her cute baby animal oictures

Kid Mime: or texxt her good moring

  Melodie: You mean texting her good morning like five minutes before first hour? After you’ve already seen each of us in person anyways?

  Kid Mime: YES!

  The Mom Friend: all of u guys need to pay attention in class

  Kid Mime: :(((((( fine

    Melodie: Why did she give us a bunch of pastries and thank us?

  Felix: Perhaps she thought we were rather nice guests. Though I will admit I thought it rather odd as well.

  Kid Mime: as much as i like baked goods i don’t get it??? I feel like were missing something? It seemed liek she was thanking us for soemthing else????? all we did was come over

  The Mom Friend: did anyone notice that there was a school right across the street?

  Melodie: Hmmm.

  Felix: As much as I wish to get satisfactory answers, it is not our place if she does not wish to share.

  Melodie: Fine, switching topics: Thoughts on Adrien?

  The Mom Friend: u mean the boy you accused of bullying her

  Melodie: >:(  I just thought he seemed suspicious

  The Mom Friend: u meant well

  Kid Mime: PERSONALY I DONT NO Y SHE HID SOME1 SO GREAT FROM US

  Felix: Marinette was correct. The two of you should never have been introduced.

  Melodie: He seemed nice. (Besides the puns) I liked him

Melodie: He’s got my approval

  The Mom Friend: thats good i dont think it wood be good if two of her friends didnt get along. He seems to understand when shes upset so thats cool very good

  Kid Mime: does our mom have another child now?!

The Mom Friend: …

The Mom Friend: …maybe

  Kid Mime: :)

  Felix: Moving on, I’m impressed with the connections she has at such a young age.

  Melodie: RIGHT?! WHAT KIND OF BEAUTIFUL TALENTED STAR HAS BEEN GIFTED TO US?!

  The Mom Friend: allegra stop snooping on the internet we just agreed not to do that sort of thing

  Melodie: …

Melodie: Fine…

  Kid Mime: i still didnt get her number :(

  Felix: Perhaps you could ask her at school.

  Kid Mime: BUT THATS SO FAR AWAY

  Felix: It really is not.

  The Mom Friend: let him be dramatic

The Mom Friend: its his middle name

  Kid Mime: it is

Kid Mime: as my unofficial official mom, he wood no

---

Author’s Note: So basically, they're worried, but want to respect her privacy. I could have just said that, but I love their interactions.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  They're all just such sweethearts.

One thing I forgot to put in the note at the end of chapter 6 was my reasoning for Marinette getting to that point. I forgot one big reason (I'm sorry. This is why i need to write things down.) But for the most part it's that Marinette often takes the blame/apologizes for things that aren't her fault, so I feel she is quick to blame herself. That, combined with how she sees the good in people, I think she could have trouble identifying that she isn't at fault for how things turned out at her old school.

Okay, so this past weekend I was struck with the ability to write - don't ask I don't understand either - so basically now I'm writing chapter 11. Yeah, I managed to write the next 4+ chapters in a day. As much as I'd love to post them all now, I need to keep a regular schedule for the sake of my sanity and still need to edit them a bit. But hey, at least there's no chance of waiting too long now.

I really love seeing your comments so don't be scared to write one! I can assure you that it's one of my favorite parts of this.

Thanks for reading, and constructive criticism is welcomed! See (well, not 'see') you guys Saturday, with an akuma that doesn't like being lied to.

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[antiquechampagne]

Beastly Kingdom Chapter 1 - Let the Games Begin

Gage tentatively tapped on the door that hung partly open, knowing the response he was likely to receive.

“Boss…?” He cautiously opened the wider, the light from the hallway cutting a slice of light into the darkened apartment. A vicious looking knife streaked past his face, embedding in the door next to his yellow eyepatch.

“Damn it, Dixie. Stop that shit.” He snarled.

“The Overboss doesn’t like being disturbed when she is having her private time, darlin’. You know that.” Dixie’s southern drawl had a nearly musical cadence to it, which always unnerved Gage. She appeared from the darkness, skipping cheerily to retrieve her knife. Gage moved aside; weary of getting within striking range of her blade.

“Enough, children.” The Overboss’s gruff voice silenced them. “Gage knows whatever it is has to be pretty important to crash my chem party. Dixie, would you be a doll and get the light?”

Gage thought he saw Dixie give him a once over as she passed by him, but with her face obscured by a half dozen metal straps she called a helmet, he was not sure. With a flick of a switch, a small orange lamp with a red shade sprang to life, eerily filling the room with weak red light. Gage watched the Overboss’s figure rise from her resting positon on a worn couch, propping herself up on one elbow. She waved for him to continue.

“Someone new has entered the Gauntlet.” He could feel the Overboss’s gaze narrow. “Not normally noteworthy, I know. But once I saw who it was, I knew you would want to know right away.”

She motioned to the bank of jury-rigged monitors on the adjacent wall. Gage stood in front of the control panel, struggling to remember which buttons did what.

“Need a little help with that, sugar?” Dixie teased. “I’m sure we could spare a mentat or ten.”

“Shut up. I got it.” Gage hissed back.

After a few more button presses, two of the monitors blinked on. They showed a tall man with dark hair cutting a bloody swath easily through twisting corridors made of plywood and jagged metal. He was trailed by a three armed robot who quickly floating in and out of combat on it’s powerful jet engine. The man turned his back to the camera as he threw a grenade at a swarm of flying ants, flashing bright yellow numbers across the screen.

111

The Overboss got up and moved closer to get a better look. The glow from the monitors highlighted the deep crevasse in her skin. She narrowed her dilated and bloodshot eyes, her mouth contorting into a grimace. Gage hated that face. The Overboss looked too much like a feral ghoul when she did that.

Not that she didn’t always look a little feral. He thought. To him, all ghouls looked feral most of the time. Not that he would say such a thing in front of the Overboss.

“Get my power amour ready.” She ordered. “Looks like we are going to have a bit more fun today then I had planned.”

A short time later, the Overboss strode out into the old Cola Cars arena decked out in her masterfully constructed power armor. She had customized it over the past year, cannibalizing a few space sentrybots to create a truly imposing presence. The white and gold paint playfully reflected back the red neon lights onto the rowdy group gathered to watch the bloodshed.

“READY FOR SOME FUN?” roared the Overseer as she paced the square, hands pumping in the air. The frenzied crowed roared back.

“He’s in the locker room, Boss. I’ll try to time the door to keep the robot out.” Buzzed Gage through her helmet’s communication rig.

“Let’em come! All of’em. Let’s have a barbeque!” she growled. With perfect theatrical timing, she let a blast of fire from her wrist-mounted flamethrowers as the Vault Dweller entered the hallway leading to the arena. The audience was on its feet, salivating for blood, as the blue suited stranger stepped through the door, his face covered with a camouflage bandana. The hovering Mr. Handy followed close behind as the door slammed shut behind them.

The Overseer silenced the crowd with a single hand. Instantaneously, the area was drop dead quiet, save for the buzzing of the Handy’s thruster and the buzzing neon.

“Welcome to Nuka-World, General.” She towered over the man by nearly two feet. “Your reputation precedes you. I’m not sure what kind of reception you thought you’d get, but killing the leader of the Minute Men AND the guy who brought down the Institute… but those gold numbers will look great framed on my wall.”

The Vault Dweller stood up and dropped his gun to his waist, still on guard but offering a non-hostile air. “I’m not here to fight. I have a proposition.”

The Overseer let out a laugh. This was a first. Most people either started firing or shat their pants in the arena. None ever started shooting off at the mouth. The crowd voiced their displeasure with a volley of curses and boos. She held out a hand for silence.

“You got balls, given the path you had to carve to stand before me here and lie straight to my face.”

The Vault Dweller tossed the gun he held nimbly to her.

“I didn’t kill anyone to get in here… at least not on purpose.” He put his hands on his hips as she looked over the firearm. Opening the magazine and removing the ammo, she held a syringe in her hand. She hit her com link to Gage.

“Talk to me.”

“Most of the guys in the Gauntlet are coming around… well, everyone except Dicer. Took one of those to the eye…”

She narrowed her eyes. This guy deserved caution, he was a slippery fucker. “You have one minute before I get bored and start the party.”

Seeing he had her attention spoke. “It seems we have a common enemy. With the Institute gone, the Brotherhood of Steel would sure love to put all the Commonwealth under their thumb, including Nuka-World.”

This fact was something she was well aware of, but teaming up with the Minute Men seemed a bit of a stretch.

He removed his bandana. The Overseer’s jaw dropped. This had to be some kind of cruel joke.

“Nate?” she mumbled. “Nate Smith?”

Now the Vault Dweller looked as confused as the Overseer felt. Not a lot of people knew his reputation knew him by his name… let alone his last name.

“How do you know my full name?”

The Overseer removed her helmet. “I don’t know what fuckery Vault-Tec pulled to let you keep skin on that 200 year old pretty boy face… but not everyone from the old neighborhood was lucky enough to make it on a vault list.”

Old feelings swirled in her chest. She had spent years cursing the names of everyone who had made it into Vault 111… saved from watching the world fall to shit while normal people tried to figure out how to survive. Only she didn’t get to stay normal. Not only had she had to deal with her flesh and hair falling off in chunks as the radiation ravaged her body, she watched it destroy the minds of those around her. Only by pure survival instinct had she kept herself from turning feral over the decades.

She saw that Nate still couldn’t place her. Unexpectedly, the robot piped up.

“Sir, if I may.”

Nate nodded. “Go ahead, Codsworth.”

“My voice recognition algorithms may be a bit rusty and her condition has changed a few parameters, but I believe that we may be talking with Ms. Rosa.”

“Ms. Rosa?” Nate turned back to the ghoul covered head to toe in glistening power armor. “Liz?”

“You are correct Codsworth.” She raised her arm, the chain gun whirring to life. “My regards.”

Nate instinctively dove out of the way as the hail of bullets rained down on the surprised robot, tearing it to pieces.

“If you really want to talk, follow me.” Liz turned to walk away.

“Ssir?” the robot chirped. “I’m so very… sorry.” It’s servos hitched, grinding painfully. Nate ran to pick up its limp eye stalks, stroking it’s pitted chrome body.

Nate turned, furious. “What the fuck was that for? I told you I’m not here to hurt anyone!”

Liz walked right up to him, inches from his red face. “I am.” She unloaded another clip into the scrap pile. “Shall I find something else more pleasing to ventilate?” She turned her chin up at him, goading him to rebuke her.

Nate straightened his back and clenched his teeth, his eyes barely concealing the revulsion aimed at her.

“Very good, soldier-boy.” She headed for the door, making sure to step on the syringer laying on the floor, bending the barrel to a painful angle. The door opened on her command. She gestured grandly for Nate to enter.

“After you, General…”

To Nate it looked like the black gate of hell. He walked stiffly through, leaving Codsworth to be collected for scrap.

[anoms-world]

…… i hate it all being trapped spirtually its like waiting for me to die i thought you understand/care/love me

look up there is,, light in the sky*

555

when u r all exited for talk carried by observing notes and ingnore you and judge you before even starting is soo triggiring cant fight the argue and the need for new thoughts so its become inflimated so fast like fire oh and for some reason of the lack of creativety the worst secret you would say slipped away and now ironcaly finally it caused attenchin and inrests and maybe absisin to talk about with someone else ,,, any other creative way to eat my soul or destroy? cant even deal with my black eyes after my high blind optimistic hope with planned hope for abstract conflicting answers been destroyed left me confuse and bitter to recall all this fall under regret and for some reason its feel great to feel regret too soon as things belong to it rule and it place and it time to nothingness to silent gloom

ireally dont know if im ok really dont i never had the whole expierment to share stupid stories and laugh at it and grow out of it unstead ive been sended stirght to cicled death cause im trapped here by there sith and not my wish respecti wasnt enough for them and also kinda too late to act likr teen now i acted as the hell bottom of confuion bc i am i was and still beside i never found who would comfort me to say it was normal they just insisting on control me mentally the game they know in return i was like who was possessed cant find peace anywhere cant find sleep tey rather to escape reality every single time cause i dont change my mind easily like most ppl do unless have real weird quistion an attemp to change my mind by my other self my shadow and as usual stupid agressive ppl choose to attack without questions

i dont know what worse eating my share or pretenting its ok to eat my share enogh to make me scared finally to blind death and not to 9life really shocked by this low attued cant sleep i guess i was hungry for the first time XD its unlike the other unusual days, do u judge me by this pathitic weak angle for unresisted unusual natural time call? weird cant see them self by the other kind of calls,, so low adventage even to themself lmao not to metion they claimed i do unfotunes things on porpuse.. if they believe things are connected then this theory also correct they just assholes without personal principle after all glad to know that i know i am too already i didnt tried to fake that atleast

limit b12 estrogen and salt water potasium and salt need water to work

she burst out of the blue in disapointing and claim i dont know love lol she right i dont know love this it the true nature of my personal sin i was close enough these days to her as the need to feel something and she realized how weak and annoying and she want to destroy the parts she hate the most which means me all of me or simply we were decived by hope from deferent sources simetime i notice my self coping someone else nature when am afraid or trying to mimic society and all is temporeay my true nature would eat me alive in an adventage resising my pretending destroying the new nature im trying to copy she dont understand seeing me change temporary had her hope up and my hope up for seeing her happy for me as im trying to please i shouldnt try to be close yet i really cant help it i dont want to cause more damages than we already do to ourself by hope to be understood beside she said i was low going backwardas as i was closer might she right and cant figure out anyway around again bc trapped irl problems and uniq rare satiuation as if being cursed and blissed at the same time

[daehwifi]

Cigarette - Bad Boy Jinyoung Au [Part 1.]

- Admin Xion <3 

genre: fluff but aggressive fluff LOLOL member: bae jinyoung word count: 1070 requested: yes side notes: I LOVED WRITTING THIS BE EXPECTING MORE HHH

requested by: anon

bad boy jinyoung pls? omg i love your writing so much!

- FUCK YEAH IM SO HAPPY YOU REQUESTED THIS - I LOVE JINYOUNG - so usually in school jinyoung would be quite quiet - but if anyone would get on his bad side - ooh boy - jinyoung does in fact have a student record for his fist fights - he was in the same class as you - jinyoung would usually sleep throughout all of his classes - but you find it extremely odd whenever he's the first one in the class and already sleeping because you never see him go into the hallways to go to his next class - the only times you do see him in the halls is when he's talking to his 10 friends or starting a fight with someone - so it was quite odd when you saw him doing roadery and walking in the same direction you were going to - you quickly glanced at him then proceeded to look at the floor - he looked extremely cold and only answers bluntly if you're not his friend - you didnt make a conversation as you both entered the class - class carried on as usual with the process of note taking, answering questions and asking questions - then your class had to work by themselves to answer question 9 in the text book as mrs.jeojang (hAHHAAHAH) had to step outside the class for a bit to probably smoke a cigarette or some shit - as the class chatter rose, it made you feel a bit warm - soft talking in the air like not to busy cafe's always puts you in a good mood for some odd reason - you suddenly felt a tap on your shoulder as you looked in that direction - "you dropped your pencil," jinyoung spoke coldly as he handed you your pencil - you softly thanked him as you took the pencil out of his hand and placed it into your pencil case as he walked off - you noticed a boxed shape silhouette in his back pocket but shook your head and ignored it as you continued jotting down the answer - mid-way into taking your answering , you puffed up your cheeks and assisted yourself into doing a roam around the school since it looked like the mrs.jeojang wasn't coming back anytime soon - whenever some shit would happen with the teacher leaving the room, and you were feeling a bit stuffy, you'd assist yourself and walk around the school to have some fresh contaminated air - walking around the school, you turned a corner as the smell of smoke came your way- a smell you extremely hated - you coughed as you covered your nose with your arm as you aimlessly decided to see the source of the smell - "watch it me mrs.jeoajng and im caught leaving class- i wont be surprise," you said inside your mind - as you got closer and closer you saw two figures - jinyoung and mrs.jeojang (im still laughing i love how im actually going with that name who else is wheezing) - and they were both smoking - the smell was extremely strong as you began to cough a lot - you could feel it going into your lungs since it suddenly became hard for you to breath a bit - as you entered their eye sight, mrs.jeojang instantly threw her cigarette onto the floor and put it out - "JINYOUNG, YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SMOKING WHAT IS THIS?" she yelled as you wanted to laugh to how fake that was - it was clear that they were having a smoke together - you wondered if it was something more as you laughed your ass off in your mind - "AND Y/N YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO LEAVE CLASS WHEN THE TEACHER IS OUT OF THE ROOM, DETENTION FOR THE BOTH OF YOU!" she added on - you frowned when she gave you detention but you weren't so down about it due to the fact of how fake she was acting - she stormed off as you looked at jinyoung - he kept a stone face as he exhaled smoke - you coughed a bit as he noticed you staring at him - he puts out his cigarette on the schools brick wall - he reaches in his back pocket as he pulls out a thin slip and hands it off to you - "here, place this on your arm. it'll help heal your lungs for whatever the fuck you just inhaled," he spoke coldly - you took the slip as he walked off bumping into your shoulder my accident as you could hear a faint 'sorry' when doing so - there was text written on the slip's paper side - "trying to quit smoking? need to heal your lungs? take one of these everyday and look at the amazing difference!" it said - you softly smiled to the kind gesture - "he smokes?" you asked yourself - "he's tRYING to quit smOKING?" - "he should've kept this to himself then..." - you deeply sighed as you slipped it into your back pocket and headed back into the school - "that explains that box shape in his back pocket. it was a box of cigarettes," you exclaimed to yourself inside your head - school went on as normal as you almost forgot you had detention - entering the class in which holds detention, jinyoung was already there and of course- sleeping - to your surprised, you didnt even think he'd show up - you took a seat more near the front and at an angle from him as the door opened and a girl entered the class - her face lit up when she saw jinyoung - she skipped over to the seat available to jinyoung and sat there - right when she sat down, jinyoung woke up and bluntly got out of his current seat - he headed for the seat available next to you and sat there, going back to his sleeping mode - "god- she pisses me off," he mumbled - you softly chuckled - jinyoung wasn't actually sleeping - sometimes he pretends to be sleeping to see the what people would say about him behind his back - he sneakily looked over his shoulder on his desk as he noticed the slip on your arm placed in the correct spot - sitting up, he bluntly took your arm and pointed at the slip - "you're wearing it," he spoke softly and sorta in shock - "yeah, you told me to. this shit burns," you replied as you softly retrieved your arm back to yourself - you could see him softly smiling as he nods and goes back into sleeping position - but he wasnt sleeping - he was actually looking at you the whole time in lust

Part 2   Part 3 [End]