#what if you were a kid who stayed on a lot of ships because of your parent's work

[incomprehensi-bull]

i'm allowed to get attached to the filler arc characters. as a treat. what if carmen and sanji got to be friends

[freebreadmoon]

is there anyway you can write a cute, fluffy little story for Walker Scobell?

YES OMG I HAVENT BEEN ACTIVE BC I HAVE MIDTERMS

warnings: fluff, reader plays annabeth (i love leah dont come for me), no use of y/n, reader and walker aren’t dating but are obvi crushing

requests are open!!

You and Walker were filming a buzzfeed puppy interview, sitting in the middle of the floor.

Walker sat with his legs crisscrossed, smiling wide at the brown spotted dog that nuzzled his leg. “Is it on? Oh, hi, I’m Walker Scobell, and I play Percy Jackson.”

“Hi,” you introduced yourself, “I play Annabeth Chase,” you picked up the fluffy fured black one that was by your foot, “and your watching buzzfeed!” You put a thumbs up at the camera, earning a laugh from the boy beside you.

“Wait I wanted to say it, I’m literally the main character—“

“But I’m the best character. Walker, you can say it at Vanity Fair.” He rolled his eyes at you, smiling slightly.

“Okay, moving on! um…what’s the question? What was your favorite scene to film…um…oh thats a hard one. I’m gonna say…either the fight with the Ares kids in capture the flag, or falling out of the arch. The harness thing was annoying to put on, but the other parts were fun.” Walker was only half paying attention, preoccupied by the dogs.

“I think the tunnel of love scene, or the one where Annabeth pushes Percy in the water, ‘cause I got to push Walker really hard.” You glanced at him, watching the smile curl onto his face.

“Yeah. We did like 15 takes of that because she kept laughing.” Walker laughed, shaking his head. “Actually, she laughed a lot. We had to retake lots of stuff ‘cause of her, especially the tunnel of love scene. The boat flipped and she wouldn’t stop laughing.” He shifted closer to you, messing with the puppy you’re holding.

“Oh! the next question…what’s your opinion on each other? Um…walker is the best blonde dude ever i think. like he’s literally my kid i swear, and he was honestly the best choice for percy. i think he’s the reason i even got to be annabeth, im really greatful for him. Aryan is super sweet and cool, he’s my best best friend, we do the stupidest things together, and I can’t imagine a world we aren’t honorary siblings.” You scratched behind a puppy’s ear, letting it lick you.

“Well I was just gonna say you’re awesome but…I guess I think we make a great team on-screen as well as off-screen. She’s a true friend. If it weren't for her, I don't know what I'd do, y'know? She’s like my very own real life Annabeth." He glanced up at you subtly, wanting to gauge your reaction, smiling in victory when he noticed the red tint to your cheeks.

“The…the next one says, how do you feel about fan support? is it overwhelming? Well, my answer is yes, sometimes. Especially with people who are really like into the book to the point where they hated the casting over looks.” You had started to speak a lot quieter as Walker drifted closer, trying to get the puppy off your lap.

“I don’t think much of it.” Walker shurgs. “Only really the edits that I see anyway, those are fun.” He smiles encouragingly at you , finally meeting your eyes.

“…Yeah. The edits.” You smile at him, referring to the ship edits. You’d talked about it in multiple interviews, and you had a favorites folder for them on Tiktok. You raised an eyebrow at Walker, who continued to move closer until his head was on your lap, giggling softly and starting pet his hair like you did the puppys fur.

“Okay, last question…have there been any memorable moments on set? Um…probably when i first met her. I just got the feeling she was gonna be Annabeth, she gave me this ‘what is he doing?’ Look, and it just clicked.” He stayed with his head on your lap, turning so his head is on your stomach when puppies come and attack him with licks.

“They think you’re one of them!” You push him off a little so the puppies can get to him. “And my answer…um…I think when Walker gave me the piece of banana that was in my hair in the show. He kinda just tied it in and left my set trailer, and it stuck. So if you guys wondered what the weird blue fabric in Annabeth’s hair was, it was not in fact a design choice, it was a Percy choice.” You turn so the camera can see the small braid in your hair with the bandanna piece at the end.

“And Percy’s got one too, if you look hard enough.” He lifts one of his feet, showing the vans he wore during filming, and the flimsy piece of bandanna tied through his top shoe hole. You shake your head, laughing at his insistence in staying with his head in your lap.

While you layed on his bed, you scrolled through your fyp, stopping when you see the familiar scene of you two in the buzzfeed room, with his head in your lap. Nodding your head to the song in the edit as you scrolled through the comments.

“IRL percabeth?” He questioned from beside you. You looked at him, not realizing he had started paying attention to you, jumping to get your phone from him.

“No, I’m commenting! And reposting!” He laughed, rolling away from you. You got off the bed behind him, giving up taking the phone and blinking when he simply commented ‘real’.

“Well, so much for ‘it’ll blow over’.” You rolled your eyes, knowing the dating allegations will only get worse after this. Walker smiled triumphantly, waiting for the responses to come in.

taglist: @persassyxo @diorlorenzo @ilovewalkerscobell @paytonthereader @platypusbearrr @kissatelier @riptidelor

[ladyloveandjustice]

So I have no stake in ships in Avatar the Last Airbender, I do not have any real ships for the show. But when I was looking in Katara's tag for art and stuff, I saw this reoccuring claim that Katara always supported Aang with his problems and feelings, but that Aang never supported her back with hers.

And I don't care about the ships, but I do really like the friendships in Avatar, and that bothers me. It's a slight on Aang, but also on Katara (implying she wouldn't stand up for herself and break it off if a friend was all take and no give, which doesn't fit her personality at all.)

Aang does support Katara whenever he gets the chance, which is unfortunately few and far between because Katara seems to have a hard time leaning on the people she cares about and talking in depth about her own trauma and feelings about it, though she will do so when she literally doesn't care what the person thinks about her (and both times she opened up to Zuko about her Mom initially were her lashing out at him and not caring what he thought about her in return).

This would be something that would need to be addressed for a romantic relationship between them to truly work, and I imagine it would be part of the journey of finding a way to stay together, but it's very much not Aang's fault. And as I said, when he gets a chance to support her she does. Since I just recently rewatched most of the series, have a list of those times!

-His first time being supportive of her is literally a half hour after they first meet. As soon as she tells him about wanting more waterbending experience, he enthusiastically offers to fly all the way to the north pole so they can find her a master. And this very clearly means a lot to her.

-I don't think Aang knew how supportive of her he was being here, but there's the "I haven't done this since I was a kid" "You still are a kid!' exchange. As much as people accuse Aang of seeing Katara as his Mom (he's literally the one character who doesn't express that he does in The Runaway btw and I think that's for a reason) their first interaction establishes that he sees her as a kid, just like him, and think she should have fun like a kid does. This must have been huge for Katara, who'd been forced to take on adult responsibilities at a young age, who resented having to hold the family together, who thought her childhood was over. Aang helped her have fun and be the kid she is, and he'll continue to do so.

-When she lost her mother's necklace (And Zuko subsequently stole it) he was very concerned for her feelings and seemed to immediately understand the weight of that loss, due to his own experiences with loss. Not only did he make her a new necklace to wear as a way to comfort her, as soon as he saw Zuko had it he said "you're giving that back to me" and risked being hit by Zuko in his attempts to grab it. Then he gave it back to her and she was ecstatic!

-He was so supportive of her during the waterbending scroll episode it's actually ridiculous, despite how she lashed out at him. It's unclear if he actually understood she was upset or if this was just his unwavering respect for her coming out, but when she was upset that he learned the first move faster than her he said "well you didn't have such a great teacher!" and it clearly makes her feel better for a bit. He immediately forgives her for lashing out at him, doesn't judge her at all for stealing the waterbending scroll, or for accidentally dragging them into trouble. He, in fact, goes out of the way to reassure her, looking happy at the chance to work together and reminding her they need two waterbenders. And he appreciates her joke at the end (he's just straight up being simp (affectionate) there, and I get it).

-When Pakku won't teach her he immediately denounces him as wrong and unfair and is willing to sacrifice his own education (which he needs to save the world) because he won't stand for it. He remains upset about it even after Katara persuades him, tries to secretly show her what Pakku taught him, and cheers her on when she fights him.

-When she's crying over Jet's death, he's the first one to notice and reach out to her, putting his hand gently on her shoulder and drawing her into a hug (that becomes a group hug). She smiles and clearly feels comforted. They probably talked about it offscreen too (but this cannot be shown as they would need to directly acknowledge his death to do so)

-He's pretty much always praising her as a teacher, and when she grumbles about him not calling her Sifu, he goes out of his way to call her that.

-He notices that she's mad at her Dad and asks her about it, but she deflects

-He looks really sad when he has to remind her she has to take off her mother's necklace for their Fire Nation disguises, again it's something he very much seems to empathize with her about, he understands the weight of what it means to her.

-He not only doesn't judge her for lying during the Painted Lady saga, but praises her and enthusiastically helps her commit ecoterrorism.

-Both he and Sokka move to comfort her when she's crying after the bloodbending fiasco. Most of the comforting of her happens offscreen, which I do think is a shame, and a contrast to how Aang is handled- but it's more of a "he's the main character" thing, since the same happens for Sokka as well (I'm sure Katara and Aang talked to him about Yue's death and at least tried to comfort him, but we don't get to see that).

-He was trying to support her during the Southern Raiders ep, whether you believe he did it well or not, both according to his beliefs and cultural values and by trying to emulate the ways she's talked HIM down from revenge and hatred in the past. He specifically brings up those two incidents- losing his people and losing Appa- where she stepped in to keep him from losing himself to rage. As this post notes, he also specifically echoes her phrasing from when she was urging him not to lose himself to the Avatar state (she says "watching you be in that much rage and pain is really scary" and he echoes "you're feeling unbelievable pain and rage" while talking to her in this ep.)

It's not just the air nomads he's trying to emulate here, but her. Just like Katara doesn't want to see him consumed by hatred and pain, he wants the same for her. His concern is not for her mother's killer, but for her, he fears this will hurt her, just like her concern was always for him and how this would hurt him in those times he was raging.

He wants to do for her what she did for him. But, Katara is not him. She is not someone who will be talked down by someone else when she is grieving, angry, and looking for revenge. Nobody can stop her when she sets her mind to it. She needs to wrestle with whether to kill him and she needs to come to her own conclusions, because she's the only one that can stop her. And Aang realizes that. He says it's a journey she'll have to take on her own, that she needs to face him doesn't stand in her way.

(I wonder if it kind of hurt, deep down, that he couldn't reach her the way she always reached him. I wonder if he felt upset that he couldn't find the right words like she did for him. But I don't think there were any right words. She needed him to step back. It was her choice to make. So he did.)

And in the end, he was correct that she didn't want to do it. She did choose that based on her own feelings and values.

His assumption Katara not killing the guy = forgiveness is definitely him just kind of applying his assumptions and values, but when she says she doesn't forgive him, he doesn't like, judge her or anything that we can see.

So yeah, quite a few examples! It can feel lopsided because more attention is paid to Aang and Katara's personality affects things.

Katara is both open about her emotions and not. She's someone who will look after other's feelings but not really discuss her own pain with people she cares about, until it all builds up and bursts out.

And it's not surprising she's most concerned about Aang, if my friend had recently (from his perspective) survived a genocide where he lost everyone he loved and was now tasked with saving the world at twelve years old, I'd be pretty worried about him and want to support him too! Aang goes through a lot by virtue of being the protagonist, he has the most pressure on him, he's routinely in the most danger, he literally dies for a few minutes. It's not surprising Katara has more opportunities to comfort him, but he unfailingly supports her in any of her problems of goals (when they're not murder) when he can.

I do think there's some missed opportunities to explore Katara and develop their relationship, but it doesn't make Aang a bad, unsupportive friend, or Katara his Mom and not his peer.

[endlessxdreams]

The little hints that are easily missed part 2:

1. When Charles said to Declan (I’m paraphrasing because I don’t remember exactly the lines) that he and Rupert are the same, stubborn, workaholics and want their way always winning I feel like it was a for shadowing for the dynamic between Declan & Rupert’s relationship with each other. They are the same person that in another universe they might be the other way around (Rupert married with kids and Declan a playboy). Regarding that, I feel that it was intensionally assigned as a scene to showcase that Declan’s hate was influenced by Tony but also reasonated the reason why Taggie is entangled with Rupert. Electra’ s syndrome where women fall for men that have the same personality as their father. She sees a lot of her father (which she admires) in Rupert. It may be far fetched but hear me out. Maud is a really bad mother to her children, especially Tags, which she is jealous because of her youth and beauty and she calls her retarted and stupid. Declan on the other hand, has a drinking problem, is a workaholic who rarely goes to his house, has anger issues and has been in a weird relationship with his wife (he enjoys other men watching Maud, lusting after her, being desired and sleeping with them) but as a father he loves Taggie (I think she is his favourite because in their house she’s the only person that is not problematic and tries her best to care for them).

2. Declan immediately saw the way way Rupert was watching Taggie at the pub and said “Stay away from Taggie, you’re old enough to be her father”. So if Taggie is 20 years old (in the books she’s 18) that makes Rupert 40 (in the books he’s 38). The dirt he gathered for Rupert and his secret weapon he will use it when he finds out about AngelBlack (I love the ship name, kudos ❤️❤️ to the person that suggested it).

3. The way he calls her “Angel” is his way of seeing the celestial light, she is an innocent creature, full of love, care and compassion for animals, people, her family. She’s an introvert who loves her own space, likes to provide comfort and love to others but also she didn’t choose this role. She’s not the typical 20 year girl. She’s like a mother figure, she takes care of the household, she cooks, she tries to help other people, her father, her sister while at the same time she tries her best to make her life better, to overcome her own difficulties (dyslexia)- As someone who has dyslexia I can assure you that is difficult, I’m lucky in a sense because while it was 20 years ago (I was in first grade) and it was when my teacher noticed and informed my parents, they didn’t dismissed her and they took me to speech and occupational therapists and is not bad (I read-write-think perfectly without a grammar mistake and when I tell people that I have dyslexia they don’t believe me because I’m the devils advocate and they tell me I should be a lawyer because I’m always 5 steps ahead. But I have a terrible ADHD brain disorder and I can’t remember stuff I read a day before and I can’t concentrate to read and understand what I’m reading/I have also a bad anxiety disorder so while I read I can’t get my mind to remember shit and get anxious and start crying and feel like I’m an idiot because I read the same paragraph 15 times to comprehend what I’m reading and wherever how hard you study and you try you always fail miserably). Mind you that this was 20 years ago in Greece which is not a place that people have empathy or tolerance toward someone else being different than them (even some teachers back then didn’t want me in their class or they didn’t want to help me study because they though I was slow and dummy and some of my classmates were the same). Therefore, I love the representation of people with learning disabilities and how difficult is for them to navigate life. And in the 80’s when so little things were known back then. Thus, Taggie is a fallen angel, she pays for other people’s sins, she is a pure sensitive soul, who from a young age she is always puts other people’s needs first, she keeps her distance, doesn’t try to make herself visible to others, doesn’t take space, attention, affection and love (only her siblings love her continuously as we saw at the hug scene of the NYE episode but I feel like the love her like a mother figure and not as a sister). Rupert’s sees all of that, her sacrifices, her fierce nature to others and her willingness and is drawn to her like a dog needs water, he is the devil and she will redeem him from himself. Someone on Tik Tok mentioned that the bedroom scene from the NYE episode was directed to Rupert’s emotional state. He is in a cold place, he doesn’t care about anyone or tries to give this impressions, he doesn’t see his children because his ex wife didn’t want him anywhere near them, he finds comfort between women’s legs but is temporary and he is a shell of himself and his glory days. And as he puts Taggie to sleep and they look at each others eyes, the celestial light shines bright making Rupert feel warmth inside of him, like all his sins will be consumed.

4. From all the people in NYE episode he was the only one that went into the kitchen and told her to relax and have fun, no one other cared to bother to remember that she existed (expect Patrick and Caitlin). He took care of everything that needing to be taken care of, he protected Charle’s photo of panic attacks getting on paper, he payed the DJ’s, cleaned up and went home. Acts of service. He saw Taggie in an fragile emotional state, feeling unlovable, unworthy, unable to cope with all of this pain and wanted to help her. He talked to Freddie and wanted all three of them to make the franchise in order for Taggie to not leave and because she was devastated by her father losing his job, credibility and leave the town she liked for once in her life. Rupert saw all of this. She had the world on her shoulders at such a young age and wanted to make her happy.

5. The line “What if no one ever loves me?” is a parallel to Rupert’s own thoughts. He confessed to never have been in love in Declan’s show.

6. The way that he was jealous of Ralphie and said that she can do so much better than him and watched intensely and wanted to throw hands for hurting her in the worst way, of Seb who took her to the movies meanwhile he was fucking Cameron.

7. He cared about her opinion of him. He doesn’t give a fuck or pretends to to other people’s opinions but with Taggie he’s eager to learn what she feels of him and he starts slowly to unmask himself from his persona. He gave her an egg jewel and not something mainstream which he would get for other women (for example the bracelet). He was pleasantly surprised by the fact that she accepted his apology but not his gift, because he is so used to pay his way into women’s hearts-pants and Taggie returns it. Also I believe that the egg jewel was a personal gift in which he choose himself whereas all the others were picked by the Jewerly stuff or his assistants.

8. He wants her empowered and to speak her mind. In the episode of the killing of the birds which she did the catering, he pursue her to admit that she will not do another catering job for hunting/killing innocent animals.

9. Rupert’s worry of Taggie’s accident and the way they hugged each other, especially him, the realisation that shr could have been dead. He immediately drove the car and Taggie home because she was so upset that she couldn’t drive and when he heard the tape of the directions, he offered both of them to go to the tours around city promoting Venturer.

10. The way that I HATED HIS GUTS/ LOATHED HIM in the first episodes and couldn’t fathom the fact that they’re a ship and slowly we saw him change, yearning and longing for a glimpse of her, like he see his true self come to the surface and be vulnerable when he sees her . As Bas said “crushing like a school girl”. A 40 year old playboy with a lot of issues that wants his partners daughter which he promised that “she’s out of bounds” and everything is complicated, he could loose everything, his money, his house, his position as a minister, Declan, Freddie, Taggie and his entirety of his life. Talk about complicated and difficult.

[imagopirateversion]

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales; Why It Shouldn’t Exist

Or how I invested time and energy into an analysis of a relatively dead franchise instead of doing it for my actual media analysis university course.

An essay by: a bitter and obsessed PotC fan since they were 7, with a lot of free time.

Lads, this is going to be long. You have been warned.

The Beginning

At the very beginning of the movie, we see a young Henry Turner looking for his dad.

Now, we're not talking about characterization problems or how likely it is that a ten-year-old child would risk his life to look for a man he technically only saw once; we're talking about plot problems, actual logical fallacies. My questions are:

How? The Flying Dutchman is a legendary ship, impossible to be found unless She wants to be found. The only reason we see Her in Dead Man's Chest is because Davy Jones himself is looking for Jack to collect his debt, and in that occasion the Dutchman's captain wasn't even doing what he was supposed to do, so he was most definitely in the living world. Will otherwise, he's doing the job Calypso gave him, so he's constantly in between. Is the movie trying to convince me that a kid was able to do something no one in the history of piracy was ever able to do? And even if he did, why hasn't anyone explained me how? He simply looks at a map and throws himself on the bottom of the ocean. How did he know The Dutchman was there? How did he know it would've come to surface?

Where is his mom? We got to know Elizabeth in the first three movies; we know she's a smart woman and we can assume she's an attentive mother. She didn't notice her son preparing himself for a trip in the middle of the ocean to go look for his dad? Was she distracted? Was she outsmarted by a 10ish-year-old? Or is she just not contemplated in this scenario?

Why does Will look like that? Will is doing his job, so... why does he look like he's slowly corrupting? That kind of corruption is the punishment Calypso reserves to The Dutchman's crew when the captain fails her, which isn't the case. Did they forget about it? Was the idea of putting algae on Orlando Bloom's face just impossible to resist to?

Alright, this isn't actually from this movie but it's bothering me, so I have to write it; also, it would make this whole movie unnecessary, so it's somehow related to it. Why (and I can't stress this enough) can't Elizabeth be on the Dutchman? Why can't they do the job together? Is it because she's not a pirate? I'm pretty sure se actually is. Is it because she's a woman? Last time I checked she was the KING. She wants to stay with Will forever, Will wants to stay with her forever, they can literally live forever on the same ship. Why aren't they?

Whatever the Hell Happened to Jack Sparrow

Imagine creating a character that is so iconic whenever you ask a person who was a kid in the early 2000 to imagine a pirate, they imagine said character.

Now imagine fourteen years pass and you decide to ruin that character by making him the most hideous, annoying, idiotic person in the whole saga, and we're talking about a saga that has Philip the Missionary in it. Why? Jack Sparrow is THE anti-hero. Never on the right side, but never on the wrong one. You can tell he's doing something morally questionable, but you still find yourself rooting for him. He's stupid enough to make you laugh, but he's secretly clever enough to always get away with it. Now he's just... drunk. And that's not even an excuse for this horrendous new characterization, because he was always drunk. The guy FORGOT HE WAS ROBBING A BANK, the same guy just one movie earlier was able to escape from the King of England's palace and steal a lady's earring (by pretending to be a literal slut) in the process. He just switched from the iconic drunk bi bestie everyone loves to my cringe uncle that drinks too much at Christmas parties and makes everyone uncomfortable. Please, if the risk is ruining an entire generation's beloved character, either don't make the movie or find a better explanation than "Bad luck dogs you day and night".

The Pearl in The Bottle

So... what you're telling me is that Jack Sparrow, the guy who was able to defeat Hector Barbossa, Davy Jones and Blackbeard thanks to his slyness, and who loves his Black Pearl more than anything else in the world, had said ship in a bottle in his pockets for FIVE YEARS... and he never thought about breaking the bottle to free Her. That's what you're telling me. This is the pivotal point upon which the entire Jack's plot hinges. I... I don't even know what to say. Was this supposed to be funny?

What an Incredibly Lucky Coincidence

A guy needs a treasure to save his father. To find it, he needs the help of a notorious and legendary pirate. He looks for him everywhere, sailing on dozens of ships just so he has the remote chance to stumble across the pirate. The last ship he's been on has sinked, he's the only survivor. He's been found in the middle of the ocean and someone brought him to the nearest city. Which city? I mean, the one that has both the pirate he was looking for and a lady who's the only person in the whole planet who's able to find the treasure he was looking for! And, oh my... he finds the both of them! In that same city! Without even LOOKING FOR THEM! A hell of a coincidence, if you ask me. Also known as lazy writing.

What's Wrong With the Guards?

Now, I know Pirates of the Caribbean isn't exactly known for its accurate historical reconstructions, but why are the guards in this movie acting like they're some sort of hellhounds ready to kill anyone in sight? Even pirates and traitors as Jack and Henry were supposed to stand trial before being sentenced to death. It would've probably been an unjust and barbaric trial, but there should've been one. We literally saw it, in the previous movie. Why's Jack been sentenced to death for simply existing here? He gave pirate vibes and they decided that was enough?

Paul McCartney

This is not an actual point of the analysis, I just wanted to remind people that Paul McCartney is in this movie and that's the only valid reason to watch it.

Salazar

I am confused. Once again, I have questions.

El Matador Del Mar was so good at his job he had almost defeated piracy. "The last ones joined together to try and defeat me". The last what? Pirates? There were no pirates left? This happened when Jack was young, so a lot of time before the first movie, right? Where were, I don't know... Blackbeard? Davy Jones? Barbossa? All the other Pirate Lords? I might be wrong, but I guess Salazar didn't kill them, did he? Why weren't they there during that "last battle" in which "the last ones joined together"?

The Devil's Triangle. I just don't understand what's the logic behind it. So, this is a cursed place. Whoever enters there, can't get out. One would think it means that if you get there, you die; and Salazar does die, but he somehow also becomes a ghost whose only purpose is to find Jack Sparrow and have his revenge. So, do people become ghosts when they get in The Devil's Triangle? We have to assume people have gotten stuck in there before; otherwise, there wouldn't be legends around the place. So why isn't it like full of spirits ready to haunt people? Why are Salazar and his crew the only ones?

Poseidon or Calypso?

What's the Trident of Poseidon? Does Poseidon exist? Isn't Calypso the Goddess of the sea? Breaking the Trident, you break all the curses of the sea, so the Trident must be more powerful than Calypso, which leads to a question. Where is she? She IS the sea, right? So she must have known someone was about to find the Trident and brake all curses, including her one. She just decided it was okay? It really feels like someone decided to suddenly change the world's mythology without giving explanations.

The Compass

This is possibly the most blatant plot hole in the whole saga. Probably the most blatant plot hole I've ever witnessed, and man, I watched all the Harry Potter movies. In Dead Man's Chest, Jack meets Tia Dalma in her "shop" and he tells her he's looking for the Davy Jones' key. She asks him "The compass you bartered from me, it cannot lead you to this?", making another pivotal point of Dead Men Tell No Tales factually senseless.

That man couldn't have given his compass to Jack, because that wasn't his compass.

So either Salazar is lying while telling his tale or they forgot about that line in the second movie. Anyway, let's pretend that line doesn't exist; even if that captain gave Jack his compass in that exact moment, why would it be the key to free Salazar, exactly? How is the compass in any way related to The Devil's Triangle or to Salazar? In the movie, they try to explain it with a sentence: “if you betray it, your greatest fear comes true”. So, is Salazar Jack's greatest fear? I really doesn't seem right, Jack almost didn't remember Salazar when Henry mentioned him. To Jack, he's only a guy he outsmarted decades earlier. Also, Jack technically already gave the compass away, twice: to Elizabeth in Dead Man's Chest, to make her find the chest, and to Beckett in At World's End, when they're negotiating.

That's... That's Just Body Shaming, Mate

Let's talk about her. So, the woman's ugly. It can happen that a woman is ugly. Was it necessary to build an entire scene around some blatant body shaming? This scene wants to mimic the similar scene in Dead Man's Chest: Jack's on an island, running from the main villain, and he's forced to do things he doesn't want to do until someone saves him, then it was Will, now it's Hector.

Except in Dead Man's Chest it was LITERAL CANNIBALISM he was facing, and yet he looked LESS TERRIFIED and DISGUSTED. What's exactly the message here? Lads, is marrying an ugly woman worse than cannibalism? I don't know... that was just bad.

Justice for Hector Barbossa

If you know me (you probably don't, but if you do) then you know about my obsession with Hector Barbossa. I truly believe he's the best written character in the saga, and he's in my top five of the characters I love the most in all media. I watched The Curse of the Black Pearl when I was seven and I am autistic, so I had all the time to develop a literal relationship with these characters in my head. As much as Geoffrey Rush's interpretation was impeccable, as always, it really hurt to watch Hector in this movie. He just doesn't sound like him. First of all, why isn't he on the Queen Anne's Revenge? Why's he letting someone else sail around on his ships? He would've never. Why's he just sitting on a throne and shooting musicians instead of, I don't know... being a pirate? Being a pirate is the only thing that matters to him. He says it at the end of On Stranger Tides, and he even says it in this movie, to the witch. "I'm a pirate. Always will be".

So, why isn't he pirating? What happened to him? And what about the pact with the witch? He made her curse all his enemies; that's honestly the most out-of-character thing he could've done.

Seriously, watch this movie, and then The Curse of the Black Pearl and tell me he sounds like he's the same character. Then there’s his death... was it necessary? And I don't mean if it was necessary to the plot (it wasn't), but the way he died, did it make sense? He takes the sword and sacrifices himself to kill Salazar, but WHY? Salazar was back a mortal. They could've brought him to surface and then shoot him. What was the point of his death, Disney? I will never forgive you.

I would've preferred if they never showed him again. He's alive and living his best life in Tortuga, if you ask me.

How does Carina Smyth exist?

Let's do the maths. Carina Smyth has approximately the same age as Henry Turner, who was born around nine moths after the end of At World's End. At the end of that movie, Barbossa once again stole the Black Pearl (he's iconic we stan a legend), so we have to assume it is during that time (between the At World's End and On Stranger Tides) that he conceives Carina. He stays with this woman during the whole pregnancy, bacause he says he was there when she died. So nine months, at least, right? Except; Jack makes it clear that he and Barbossa met Carina's mom, Margaret, together.

When, exactly, did this happen? It can't be between On Stranger Tides and Dead Men Tell No Tales, because Hector himself says only five years passed between the two, and Carina doesn't look like a five-year-old;

it can't be between At World's End and On Stranger Tides, because we know Jack and Barbossa weren't together, and Hector was too busy losing a leg and planning his revenge by working for the King of England; it can't be during At World's End, because Barbossa was too busy rescuing Jack and then slaying (literally and metaphorically) Beckett's men to save piracy; it can't be during Dead Man's Chest, because he was dead; it can't be during The Curse of the Black Pearl, nor during the ten years before it, because he was... he was a skeleton, I hardly believe he could reproduce, despite what’s written in some fanficions; it can't be before, of course, because Carina would be too old. The only chance, but it's a stretch, is that Hector and Jack met this Margaret Smyth years and years before, and that at a certain point (while he was still busy slaying, losing a leg or planning his revenge), for some reason he decided to come back to her and accidentally had a daughter. That would mean that Jack remembered Margaret Smyth's name DECADES after he met her.

The Post-Credit Scene: What?

WHY'S DAVY JONES BACK? The Trident technically broke all the curses of the sea. He is THE cursed man of the sea. AND HE'S DEAD. The only answer I was able to give me, is that the moment the Trident broke the curses, the curse that said if you stab his heart he dies was also broken, so he technically didn't die, but it makes even less sense, because if the curses just aren't real anymore, then a man shouldn't be able to... carve out his heart and put it in a chest, right? (Which by the way, makes Will Turner being alive senseless as well). Even if so, Davy should've come back as a human.

My conclusion is that this movie should not exist, and we, as a community, should pretend it was never made. Hector is alive. Bye.

Imago

[tatsumessy]

how many kids do you have? - {one piece}

luffy

you and luffy only have one kid which happens to be a son who looks up to him. A LOT. i’m talking when your son reached his teen years he was ready to full on fight his father in gear 5 mode and because your husband is kind of slow he accidentally went to hard on him but it ended up being fine. but bless your soul, everytime they spar together you make sure to stay far away because your heart can’t take it.

zoro

one kid as well. but a girl. she aspires to be just like her father, a great swordsman. but she refuses to learn three sword style, it was so bad that zoro and her didn’t talk for a whole month because she refused, he finally gave in because he didn’t like the thought of his little princess being mad at him. she’s like his best friend in child form but one thing he does hate is that she has a little crush on Sanji. it’s a harmless crush that started because he wouldn’t make her, her favorite foods but Sanji would.

sanji

three kids with one on the way. sanji being the lover boy he is you already know how those kids came about. a little backstory, you joined the crew before the timeskip, and before you were separated you two had made love for the first time. you didn’t find out you were pregnant until afterwards. so you two had a child early on then they just wouldn’t stop coming. you’re tempted to punch him in the dick while he’s not looking to stop him for impregnating you but that sounds like too much work and whining.

nami

you two adopt a cat then later on one kid. nami was already eh about marrying you because she knew that’d be money and with you both being girls she was cautious. but then she saw how well and happy you were and wanted to expand on your little family.

robin

no kids. not because she doesn’t like them, we all know how she acts with chopper. but just because she wants to give all her love and attention to you and doesn’t want you to feel like you have to share. plus she likes having you all to herself.

usopp

two kids. he likes to call them his own little crew. you already know usopp and his stretching the truth ways, he tells your kids all the stories and adventures that we went on but he adds a little spice to it. the great captain usopp!

law

two kids. first born is a girl and second born is a boy. he didn’t think he’d have his hands full. i mean come on law they are kids, the literal definition of handful, here’s why. one day when you all docked on an island for some fresh air he was watching the two of them while you were napping and your daughter found a devil fruit and ate it. she knew what it was and was actually excited to see what ability she’d get. she could basically turn her whole body into mist, so when ever she’d want to exit a conversation she’d just disappear. law got a stern talking too by you that night.

kid

your story started off sad. you two weren’t even trying for a kid but then you ended up pregnant and right when you two were getting used to the idea you get kidnapped and due to the stress you end up having a miscarriage. kid for a while blamed himself and refused to even touch you but you had to remind him that sometimes things happen. a few years passed and you got pregnant again. when kid found out he was so excited and literally kept you in a bubble outside of the ship, or he quite literally kept you in your room to keep you safe. he even had killer watch you sometimes.

[rlimagi]

Eyes

Pairing: Uma x Reader

Request: Hi !! Can I please have a fluff Uma x reader fic ? Reader is Uma’s longtime girlfriend 💙 I’m so excited there’s an account for descendants fem x reader !!!!! I’m so excited to read your writing !!

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: I don’t think there’s any.

Note: I started writing this since a few days ago but I kept rewriting it because I didn’t feel satisfied with the ending. So this might have a part 2 if my brain wants to work with me again.

You were Mal’s twin sister, which meant you had the utmost unfortunate experience of having Maleficent as your mother. You never experienced the motherly love you’ve always craved for, so you didn’t know what love felt like until you met her.

At a very young age, you found your love in books. Fairytales about princesses and magic were your favorites because they’ll always end up living happily ever after, and you wanted that so badly. But your love for what many other kids claimed, ‘nerdy’ became the reason you would always find comfort alone in your room instead of doing things a villain should do. Which meant you were a total loner.

You were a disappointment to your mother and as for your twin, you guys had always been close, though being polar opposites. Mal and Jay were the only friends you had and it stayed that way for years until one night.

You had just returned your books back to the library, if you could even call it that, the area was dark and you couldn’t see the paths clearly so you stumbled on an unfamiliar alley.

It was full of older kids, most of the kids on the isles were trouble makers but the kids there were the oldest of the bunch and the worst of them all.

“Hey! Isn’t that Maleficent’s kid?” An older boy shouted out, walking towards you as his gang backed him up. Those kids were pirates, you weren’t sure how that worked out since the isles had no open water for them to sail and rob other ships, but you weren’t going to question them.

It was ironic that you’re the daughter of one of the most evil villian, yet you could barely make eye contact with people who aren’t your sister or Jay, nor fight.

“Shouldn’t she have purple hair, like her sister? Why is it blue?” An older girl spoke up this time but she was as scary as the rest of them. You stood still as she took a few strands of your hair and examined them.

“What should we do with her? Do you reckon it’ll be a good idea if we kidnap her and ask for ransom money?” Another boy smirked, his crooked teeth showed as he cracked into laughters like the rest of his crew.

You were terrified for your life as the rest of them surrounded you but then a voice called out.

“How about you leave her alone, Henry?”

You turned around to see a girl your age but her eyes showed no fear, only confidence and dominance.

“Uma, you’re no fun. Imagine all the money we’ll get from her mom and don’t you hate her sister?” The boy she called Henry shook his head as he placed his dirty hand on your hair and messed it all up.

“Hands off or I’ll tell my mom that you’re the one who broke all her tables last week.” The pretty girl clapped back as she glared at the older boy.

Henry sighed in annoyance before gesturing to the rest of his crew to follow him out. “You’re lucky Ursula’s your mother.”

Your eyes followed as you watched them kicked everything in their way, probably out of annoyance that they got dominated by a kid 3 years younger than they were.

“Thank you.” You muttered, face reddening up when she smiled and nodded. You’ve never seen such a beauty like her before, not like you’ve met a lot of girls.

“No problem, they were annoying me all week anyways…but hey, what’s your name? I’ve never seen you around here before.” Uma smiled, her eyes were dark yet it was so sparkly for some reason.

“Oh I’m-“ You were about to introduce yourself when your sister and Jay, came out of nowhere.

“Yn! We were looking for you everywhere, where have you b-“ Mal rushed to your side, face filled with worries but she abruptly stopped mid sentence when she looked at the girl standing beside you. “Oh it’s you. Hey Shrimpy~”

Your eyes widened up in shock at your sister’s reaction to Uma. You knew your sister was a bully in a way, to other kids but it was just shocking to see her like that with your own eyes. Especially to the girl who had just saved you only a few minutes prior.

“Why are you here with her sis? You’re going to turn into a shrimp if you stand too close to her.” Mal’s grimace turned into a smirk as she pulled you away from where you were.

Uma’s smile turned sour almost immediately after Mal and Jay came. Without saying anything, she gave them both a nasty glare before running away.

“That’s so not cool, Mal.” You pushed your sister away before heading home on your own, ignoring the shouts from behind.

After that night, you secretly went out late at night looking for her. You didn’t want to look for her when the sun is bright because your sister or Jay might find out. Eventually, you found her sitting alone on a dock.

That night, you gave her the biggest apology for your sister’s behavior and asked her to be friends. Luckily, she didn’t have anything against you and agreed.

That was the day your love story started to blossom. After a year of secretly being friends, Uma she asked you to be her girlfriend and of course you agreed.

But fate separated you both after the 3rd year of your relationship, because you were invited to Auradon. You were ecstatic since all your life you’ve always dreamed of getting out of the isles, and you might have a chance of having a happily ever after like those fairytales you’ve enjoyed so much. But will you actually ever find one if your lover won’t be there with you?

When you told Uma that you won’t be going if it meant that you’ll never see her again, she got upset that you’re throwing away your dream, just for her. She didn’t want you to sacrifice your happiness like that, so ultimately you agreed but with a promise that you’ll try everything in your power to see her again.

Your life on Auradon was great, the people were nice, the food was spectacular, and it was a breath of fresh air and eventually you started to forget the life you left behind.

“Yn, can we talk?” Your older sister rushed to your side as you were lying against a big oak tree, trying to read a book.

There were a few decent books back in the isles but it couldn’t compare to the ones Auradon had. After arriving at Auradon Prep, you’ve gain a lot of friends but got close to Jane the fastest after she discovered your love for books and introduced you to a few of her favorites.

“Oh, sure! What’s up?” You smiled before patting on the grass next to you, gesturing her to sit there. Pulling your attention away from the book, you noticed Mal’s sullen expression and you knew all too well what it meant. “Spill.”

Mal sighed before the look on her face turned on into a slight frown. “I’ve just had a disagreement with the other VKs and Ben. They just don’t get me. And I tried to find you first but I swear you’re everywhere yet nowhere at the same time.”

You chuckled, patting her shoulder before asking. “You know I can’t stay still. Well then, what did you talk to them about? It can’t be that bad right?”

“No, but it’s just…” Mal stopped for a moment while her eyes drifted off to the distance, to where the isles were.

“Okay, I think I get what you’re thinking of. You want to head back and they don’t?” Mal was a hard person to read, but luckily you were her twin who could read her like an open book. Even without the spells.

“Yes! I just miss being…bad, no rules, no people throwing microphones into your face and asking invasive questions. I just miss being me, you get it right?” Of course you understood her, you could see it from miles away.

You saw how she had been dealing with her new title as Ben’s girlfriend and soon the future Queen of Auradon. It was a lot of responsibility being thrown on her, you knew she would break soon enough.

“I get it, I do miss beating up nasty old men, stealing candies, and...” the thoughts of your girlfriend flooded all over your head. “Her…” you whispered.

“And?” Mal looked at you, confused. You’ve never told any one of your friends, even Mal about the relationship between you and Uma. Mal hated Uma and the feelings were mutual with Uma, they hated each other’s guts and honesty it was hard hiding the fact that you were dating the girl your sister used to bully.

You blinked, getting caught off guard before faking a cough. “Umm, nothing!”

Mal nodded but you knew she was still a bit suspicious but chose to let it go anyways. “I think, I’m going to go back.” Mal claimed confidently as she abruptly stood up. Not even a second later, she looked at you back with vulnerable eyes. “Should I? I don’t think I’ll be coming back and I don’t want to leave if you’re all going to be mad at me for doing so. Especially you, you’re my twin and your words means the most to me.”

You sighed, following her action. “Mal, .you’re my sister and as your sister, I say you should do whatever the hell you want. No matter what, and no matter what we will always be sisters.” you wrapped your arms around her shoulders. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“Thanks, I really needed that. Do you want to come with me, maybe?” Mal chuckled before punching you jokingly.

Your breath hitched, immediately thinking of Uma. You did promise that you’ll find a way to see her again.

“Thanks Mal, but I do need to return these books back to Jane first. You go a head and I’ll find you there after I’m done.” You smiled before pointing to the piles of books that laid next to you. “I’ll know where to find you.”

“Got it.” Mal nodded. “Talk to the others for me okay? They don’t know I’m leaving, at least not yet.”

“Of course, you can always count on me.”

When you arrived at your shared dorm with Evie and Mal, a freaked out Evie rushed to your side. “Yn! There you are!” She exclaimed, pulling you inside before handing over a note. “Did you know about this?”

You looked at Mal’s goodbye note before looking back at your best friend. “Of course, she talked to me right before she left.”

“And you didn’t stop her?!” Evie gasped, pulling you to sit down on your bed.

“Nope.” You replied casually before popping a few gummies into your mouth. Your table always had sweets in stock for you to munch on. You’ve never had any sugar before but after arriving at Auradon, you’ve never gone a day without them.

“I’m planning to go too, now if you’ll excuse me.” you muttered before walking past Evie to grab a notebook which you had written down all the useful spells on. Honestly, you were cursing yourself for not thinking of a way to meet her until now.

“Wait what?” Evie asked in shock before blocking your way as you were about to head out. “Well you can’t leave, not alone anyways. We need to tell Ben about this, he’ll know how to get her back.” Evie said before pulling you with her.

“Slow down Evie! She’s just giving little old home a visit and if she decides to stay there then, well we can’t do much about it!” Your voice echoed across the halls but went unheard as Evie dragged you into Ben’s office.

The next thing you know, you were pulled into the Limo with Carlos and Jay sitting beside you. The ride to the isles wasn’t too long, but you were nervous extremely nervous yet excited at the same time. You haven’t seen her in 6 months, what if she found someone else while you’re away?

Your worries never washed away, even when you bumped into Gil after landing. He was the only person in the world who knows about your relationship with Uma. How he knew didn’t happen on person.

During your second year anniversary, you and Uma had sneaked out to go on a date late at night on top of the roof of your school’s building. It was sweet and romantic but then Gil for some odd reason was there and walked in on you two making out. He swore not to tell anyone and luckily he kept his words.

“Ben, before you go in and talk to her…you need to prepare yourself for the worse outcome, alright?” You called out to Ben right before he walked up the stairs. He frowned slightly but nodded anyways.

“This is what Mal needs, no offense you’re great and I love you for her but sometimes she just needs to get back to figure things out with this side of hers…alright you can go now I won’t stall any longer.” You patted his shoulder before pushing him slightly.

“Thanks Yn, and don’t worry. Whatever Mal decides, I’ll respect it.” Ben said before rushing up the flights of stairs.

You nodded and looked back at your other best friends who all shared the same nervous looks. Not too long after, Ben came down looking devastated and ran off into the darkness. You knew that he would get lost being all by himself so you left the VKs and followed after him.

“Ben?” You called out but got left with no response, you swore he was just there a minute ago. “Ben, buddy. Is that you?” You asked once you saw a figure walking up to you.

The alleyway was dark since there were barely any light source so it was hard to identify who it was. Not too long after, you found yourself losing consciousness.

You woke up to the sound of people yelling and running around your surroundings. “Hey, Yn! Wake up!” you felt a hand nudged yours and suddenly you were finally aware of where you were. Uma’s territory.

“Ben!? Is that you? Why am I tied up? Why are we tied up? What the hell is going on?” You whispered back, squirming as you tried your hardest to get the ropes to loosen up. Of course it didn’t but it was worth a try.

“I talked to Uma who’s like the captain here, I really messed up by forgetting about the other kids who didn’t get picked” Ben replied, deeply regretful for forgetting his main goal for the future of Auradon and the kids who were punished because of the faults of their parents. “It was my goal to bring every kid to Auradon. But then I got so busy with being a King that I had forgotten about all the innocent lives out here.”

“Wait Uma was here? Never mind, don’t blame yourself. You are an amazing person and King, we’re all forever grateful that you gave us a chance to figure out who we are. And it wasn’t your fault for forgetting, you’re still a kid who became King and suddenly got handled all the responsibilities.” You had always thought of Ben like a brother and he was amazing.

Ben was different than all the other royals, he didn’t have to care but he did by bringing 5 villian kids to Auradon and giving them a chance.

Everyone was outraged, but Ben didn’t care. He wanted change, and it’s starting to happen slowly but surely. “You can always make your goal happen, it’s never too late for anything.”

“I promise the first thing I’ll do when we get back to Auradon is find a way to get more kids out of here.” Ben said in determination. After exploring the island for a while, he could see how terrible the conditions were.

“I know you will.” you replied before everything went quiet. All the pirates stopped at their places and you could hear someone untying Ben and before you knew it, Harry walked past you with Ben being pushed towards the plank.

“Boo!” Someone whispered in your ear, scaring the living soul out of you. Then you heard a laugh, the voice of the only person you’ve ever loved. Uma.

“Hey baby, did you miss me?” Uma smirked as she moved to stand right in from of you. Her hand held up next to your face as she teasingly pinched your cheek. She had always adored the way your cheeks reddened up whenever she did that.

“Do I?” You teased back, enjoying how she acted annoyed whenever you played with her but you knew that she secretly loved it. “Kidding, of course I do! Now can you please untie me?”

“I kind of like it when you’re tied up though, that way you can’t go anywhere else.” Uma replied back jokingly but you could see it in her eyes that there was some truth in that. Ever since you guys became a couple, you had never gone a day without seeing each other at least once. And ever since you got sent to Auradon, you have been apart for longer than 6 months.

“Uma, I really wish I could bring you to Auradon with me.” You said sincerely as she untied you from the pole.

Uma stopped for a moment, looking at you with a smile before leaning in. Her hands trialed from your neck to your face before pulling you in for a much needed kiss. Even after kissing her so many times, the same spark and fluttery feeing from the first one will always reappear.

The way she looked at you, the way she touched your lips, the way it made you feel like you were floating, it was everything. She was everything.

“I know, but don’t worry. You’ll be able to bring me with you after Mal gives me the fairy godmother’s wand.”

You looked at her in confusion. Uma and Mal were clearly not on good terms so why would your sister willingly do that. “What are you saying?”

Your question was left unanswered as Uma broke eye contact, her smile turning into a mischievous grin after seeing visitors stepping in her territory.

You were confused by her sudden change of demeanor before looking the same way she was heading to, Mal and your friends were there.

You knew that it would not end well, at all.

[olderthannetfic]

This is a comment I just saw in the wild, and I need to know the real factualness/lack thereof of this from those who are more familiar with internet fandom history.

the evangelical prudishness of the early internet is completely separate from pro/anti ship dynamics. the idea of an anti was popularized in voltron fandom by teenagers who were uncomfortable being attacked by adults in "ship wars" for not liking a prominent ship between an adult and child. evangelicals are still being prudish and nasty online to this day and theyre not doing it with "anti, proshippers dni" in their bios

and to be clear i dont identify as pro or anti ship because im an adult with a job and a social life but i leaned so hard into the anti label as a teen as an effort to protect myself from harassment and grooming (and yes. adults were using proship dynamics to try to groom me. i experienced this from multiple people in multiple fandoms. it was not and is not an uncommon occurrence). if you think teen antis are prudish maybe consider why a child would feel the need to close themselves off and loudly proclaim their hatred of any complicated shipping dynamic. these kids don't stay this way forever, they grow up into adults with more complex viewpoints on sex and relationships because that's what happens to everyone as they age. the fact that most self proclaimed proshippers care more about prudishness (as though every teenager isn't a little bit of a fucking prude anyways) than they do about actual pedophilia and grooming. most proshippers arent trying to use it as an outlet to groom children but a considerable amount of them are and you have no fucking clue how terrifying it is to be a young teen and have adults falling all over themselves trying to convince you that it would actually be really normal for you to have phone sex with them

--

"Ooh, I'm a secret third thing!"

You can just about always assume someone is a jackass if they start with this bilge.

Voltron fandom was a major spreader of antis, sure. The objection was to the two characters with the "I'm the hot one" anime eyes being shipped together instead of one of the hot ones and the one with the "I'm the douchey womanizer" anime eyes.

All of these characters look about the same age, just with different eye shape tropes. All are soldiers. Ages weren't confirmed for a while. When they eventually were, hot eyes and hot eyes were 18 or over and womanizer eyes was under or something. Not that it matters.

It's a bunch of crybabies with a juggernaut shitty ship bawwwwing that a better ship was fairly popular but not as juggernaut despite them sending many, many death threats.

--

Most teens, in my experience, are drawn to cheesy Darker and Edgier extreme shit and get tamer as they age. No, they aren't all prudes. That's bugfuck insane to think. This person is a dumbass.

Adults trying to have phone sex with teens isn't actually that common, from what I've seen, and is clearly creepy in any era. This has nothing to do with fandom shipping.

I'm sorry they've had a shitty time, but this is either someone with a lot of trauma projecting or yet another attempt to drag irrelevant shit into the constant whining about other people's harmless fictional hobbies.

[in1-nutshell]

Hi, can I request young Bot Buddy being Lost Light Ultra Magnus apprentice.

Buddy is a bubbly and friendly bot so after a few month of Buddy joining the Lost Light Ultra Magnus started showing a soft spot (likr accepting a nickname) and favoritism towards Buddy (in a fatherly way) which caused Rodimus to start complaining about it.

Sorry if my request is not that clear, thank you!

Another apprentice I see, lets do this.

Hope you enjoy!

Bot Buddy being Ultra Magnus's apprentice

SFW, Platonic, Slight Familial, Cybertronian reader

MTMTE

Buddy was one of the newest bots to join the crew.

Having been around during the final years of the war, they didn’t see much action and was instead put to organize and file important documents.

Seeing a chance to go off world and explore, they didn’t think twice in turning in the application.

Rodimus, Megatron and Ultra Magnus walking to the room. Rodimus: “It says here they are just to bots you’re looking for organizing your files.” Megatron: “And hopefully read your Primus awful penmanship.” Rodimus: “Hey!” Magnus opens the door letting them in. All three mechs do a double take. A youngling was sitting there swishing their pedes back and forth and happily waved at them. They stand up and shake each of their servos. Buddy: “Hi! I’m Buddy! I’m your newest recruit and will be handling all data organization and lettering!” Magnus: “You’re…” Buddy: “Young? I get that a lot, but I promise sir it will not interfere—” Rodimus: “How did you even get in through the scanner? It would have stopped at your age. You’re practically a sparkling!” Buddy: “Sir, I’m not a sparkling and there is an answer to that.” Megatron: “What is it?” Buddy pulls out a data pad. Buddy: “There was a glitch in the system. When the system put me in, it placed the age of the bot before me.” Buddy turns off the data pad and pulls out a crate. Buddy: “I took the liberty of reorganizing the rest of your applications in alphabetical, numerical, color coded, and least likely to appear as Prowl—” Rodimus: “You’re practically Magnus’s child. Welcome aboard!”

The news of a youngling being on the ship spread around quickly.

Some already meeting the youngling already feeling obligated to keep this little ray of sunshine away from some crewmembers.

Crewmembers who have also tried keeping the little bean from ‘unusual bots’.

Swerve notices Buddy blinking sleepily. Swerve: “Magnus and Meg’s working you up the wall?” Buddy: “Nah, just tired. Might call it a night.” Swerve: “I can get a fellow bot to walk ya back to your habsuite.” Buddy: “Thanks Swerve but I’ll be—EEPP!” Whirl had picked them up from under their arms and put them under his arm like a football. Whirl: “Make way! The sparkling has stayed up past their bedtime!” Buddy: “I’m not a sparkling!” Whirl: “Tell me that when you drink engex and not get Magnus angry kid.”

Speaking of Magnus, the tall mech clearly had a soft spot for them.

And thinks he is concealing well… which is the biggest lie in the ship.

It is as clear as First Aid’s obsession with Wrecker badges.

Here are two prime examples.

Exhibit A.

The nickname.

It was well known that Magnus HATED nicknames.

Even a shorten version of his name was enough to trigger a speech about the importance of using one’s proper name, even in casual conversation.

That was not the case with Buddy.

At Swerve’s… Magnus and Rodimus walk in. Buddy is sitting with Tailgate and Cyclonus. They spot Magnus and walk over to him. Buddy: “I already have your orders ready.” Magnus: “Drinks or the reports?” Buddy: “both.” Magnus gives a small smile. Magnus: “Good work.” Buddy smiles. Buddy: “See you around Mag’s!” Rodimus, Tailgate, Cyclonus and several bots who heard the conversation freeze prepared to see Buddy get a speech. It didn’t happen. Rodimus: “They—what just—Mag’s?” Magnus: “Don’t call me that.” Rodimus: “They just--!”

Many bots brushed it off as Magnus not hearing what Buddy said.

Others were sure their audials malfunctioned because there was no way Buddy said that to his face and did not go unpunished.

Final, Exhibit B.

Ship accidents.

Living on the Lost Light meant living through unpredictable incidents and accidents.

Magnus was especially aware of them when he noticed that he started having a soft spot for the youngling.

He wanted to make sure that Buddy was safe and knew what to do in case they were not near him.

Rodimus: “You know, I never thought you’d have favorites Magnus.” Magnus: “I do not have favorites Rodimus.” Drift: “There was an explosion near the lab.” Magnus: “Is Buddy, okay?” Rodimus and Drift: “…” Magnus now noticed what he just said. Magnus: “I mean… I meant…” Rodimus sighs and pats his shoulder. Drift: “It was a glitter bomb. Any bot near it is going to be shiny for the next couple of days. No one got hurt.” Buddy comes running in looking like a party threw up on them. Buddy: “Who was going to tell me glitter exists!?”

[inuyassa]

HELLO!!! Can i make a Luffy x F!reader (not dating YET but mutual pining) request where the reader gets injured during a fight but hides it from the crew because the victory party started, (and because after everything Luffy has been through recently the reader doesn't want him to worry) BUT she goes down half way through the party?

What is Luffy's reaction??

Angst to comfort ig?? does that make sense???

THANK.

OMG YOU KNOW I LOVE ME SOME ANGST!!!!!!! I hope this is what you were thinking/hoping!!

Luffy x F!Reader

Request

Angst/Comfort

Warnings: Mentions of Death, Blood, and Implied Injury. Some mature language.

Wake Up...

She gripped the edge of the bathroom sink as she placed another round of antiseptic on the wound.  It was a fresh laceration, bright red and still bleeding.  She had only received it a day ago while the crew was ashore and attacked by a local gang.  The fight was short lived, but she still took quite a few hits, and when one came at her with a knife…

It would be so simple to just go to Chopper and ask to be patched up, but by the time everyone made their way back to the ship, the party was underway.  Drinks and food and music, complements of Zoro, Sanji, and Brook respectively.  It was one of the first times since reuniting that the crew was able to celebrate a win together.  Luffy was overjoyed, his smile was back after so much pain…how could she ruin that by making him worry?

After another painful round of wound cleaner, she made her way back onto the deck.  Brook was jamming away on his violin while Sanji pined after Robin and Nami with plates of sweets and mugs of tea.  Zoro laughed through a half drunk bottle of sake while Luffy devoured a full serving of meat on the bone. The sounds of laughter once again filled the deck of the Thousand Sunny.  She smiled, her eyes growing heavy.  She braced herself against the nearby pillar and tried to stop the world from spinning. 

“Hey kiddo, you doing okay?” Franky walked up beside her, he had been making his way to the spread of food when he saw her loose balance.  She looked up at him, his smile faded when he saw how pale she looked, her skin glistening with a thin layer of sweat.  “Woah, buddy, you don’t look too good,” he said, putting a large, strong hand on your shoulder.  “You need me to get Chopper?”

She grinned, feeling the world swallow her up.  “Hey, Franky,” she began.  “Don’t let me hit my head okay?” Her legs buckled beneath her and she fell.  Franky lunged forward to catch her, easing her onto the ground.  “Kid? Kid! Hey, we need help over here!”

Franky’s voice cut through the jovial music, causing Brook to freeze and the rest of the crew to look towards him.  When Luffy saw her on the ground, he rushed over, leaving his half eaten meat behind.  Chopper followed closely behind, grabbing his bag from off the bench.  The rest of the crew shot over, hovering as she lay in Franky’s arms.  Her breath was short and shaky, her brow furrowed in pain.  Luffy looked her over with panic, that’s when he noticed the blood soaking into her shirt.  She was hurt.  He faltered backwards several steps before he fell to his knees, his heart beating loud and fast in his ears, his eyes full of fear.  Zoro noticed his Captain and knelt down in front of him.  “Luffy, you’ve got to stay with us okay?”

“Blood…” Luffy said, his voice hoarse and soft.  “She’s bleeding…”

Zoro grabbed his shoulders.  He might be the future Pirate King, but right now, he was that same little kid who just lost his brother.  “Look at me Luffy,” Zoro said, his voice stern but comforting.  “This is not like then, this is now.  She’s going to be fine.  You won’t lose her, understand?”  That’s when Zoro noticed the tears welling up in Luffy’s eyes.  He stared blankly ahead, his face locked.  “Blood…” he breathed.  “So much blood…”

“We need to get her inside,” Chopper said.  “She’s responsive but in a lot of pain.”  Franky nodded and stood up, slowly cradling her tense body in his arms.  She let out a pained yell as he did, and Luffy’s breath caught in his throat.  He stood up, shoving Zoro out of the way and running towards her.  He was tackled by Usopp who pinned the manic Luffy down.  “Calm down Luffy,” he yelled.  “You won’t be any help to her the way you are now.”

Luffy clawed at the ground, his fists filling with grass and dirt, he yelled for Usopp to get off him.  “I’m your captain,” he screamed, his voice raw.  “You do as I say and get the hell off me!”

A large, leather clad shoe pinned Luffy’s head to the ground.  Sanji stood above him, his eyes filled with rage and worry.  “You need to calm down Luffy,” he sneered.  “This isn’t helping anyone, especially not her!” 

Luffy fought against the pressure, but with his arms bound by Usopp, he wasn’t going anywhere.  His breath became fast and heavy, his body slowly losing the will to fight them off anymore.  Hot tears streamed from his eyes and he sobbed.  He let our months of repressed worry and fear.  Pain he thought he was over all came rushing back into him like a flood he couldn’t control…

***

“You gave us all quite a scare,” Chopper lectured her as he changed her bandages.  It had been two days since she collapsed at the party, and in that short amount of time, Chopper’s treatment had all but healed her.  “You’ll have a nasty scar, but other than that, your wound looks really good!”

She smiled, caressing the small doctor’s cheek.  “Looks like I owe you my life yet again Doctor.” Chopper began to blush, assuring her that her compliments could not fool him, and that she was a liar.  She laughed.  “Is Luffy around?  I haven’t seen him since I woke up.”

Chopper paused.  “He hasn’t really talked much to anyone on board.  He just sits at the helm and looks out at the sea…we’re all sort of worried about him.”

She sighed, looking out the small window at the ocean.  In an attempt to save Luffy the pain of seeing her hurt, she ended up making the situation much worse…

*** 

Luffy sat cross-legged, letting the sea breeze run its invisible fingers through his hair, his hat dangling around his neck.  The sun was getting ready to set, that would mean three days since he last saw her…

”Is this seat taken?”  Luffy’s head shot around to see her standing behind him, a small blanket wrapped around her.  His heart dropped to his stomach.  She looked so tired…

She must have taken his silence as a response and lowered herself down next to him.  His eyes never left her, afraid that if he so much as blinked she would disappear forever. “You don’t need to blame yourself, you know,” she began.  “I hid it from everyone.  I didn’t want to make you worry.  I guess that plan sort of backfired though huh?”

Luffy still only stared at her…”You were bleeding,” he began.  “And then you collapsed…just like he did.”

She looked at him.  “Luffy…”

“I thought you weren’t going to wake up too…”

Before he could say anything else she threw her arms around him, pulling him into her arms.  Luffy held onto her tight, burrowing his face in between her neck and shoulder.  She felt his body shake with silent sobs.  “I’m right here,” she whispered.  “I’m right here.  I’m not going anywhere I promise…”

[bloggingboutburgers]

I think everyone will benefit from properly tagging posts. xreader fics abd ship fics ONLY include the relevent _x_ tags but none of the character's name on its own, allowing all the usual fanart, theories and such to stay on the main name tag and not be crowded out by horny fanfiction (I say this as someone who very much enjoys very horny, very smutty xreader fanfictions. I want to be able to search the fics I want directly without having to trawl through headcanon posts, fanart, unrelated ship posts, etc.).

No one really has a tailored experience on the internet (I'm glad tumblr is at least a little more user dictated than advertiser algorithm based), but I do get the frustration and discomfort that comes from the abundant hornyposting feeling inescapable.

It's tempting to take offence to persistent cries against xreader stuff. I like special POV episodes of shows for the same reason I like xreader fics. My favourite characters WERE the company I kept, my only real form of companionship (albeit simulated) for many many years. Not because I am allo, basically. I sought something to meet my social needs growing up where I was unable to find community or companionship in real life.

Unfortunately, because they are usually sexual in nature I just came to associate a need for human connection with sex (so am I allo or just conditioned to blend sexual, platonic and romantic feelings and actions together?). I was just happy to feel like I had someone to hang out with. I knew they weren't real and that I needed to find real people to connect with (not for lack of trying, kids are just cruel. Finally made friends as an adult, yay).

Didn't intend for any of that to be so sad or pathetic, but hopefully it gives context for the prevalence of xreader fics. Alongside the varied reasons people write / read them (no just blind allo horniness), especially in light of the widespread loneliness epidemic over the past decade.

It's still more than ok to not want anything to do with them either (be it due to being aroace or not - I know plenty of allos who find xreader fics cringe).

Something I need to clarify here – we get it. Well, we don't fundamentally get it, but trust me, we've been told time and time again why people would write/draw/be into xreader content (it's all part of the package of "aroaces MUST put themselves in allo people's shoes at all times"), and we know they're perfectly legitimate reasons, and we don't find it sad or pathetic, or cringe. At the very least I don't at all. That's not what it's about. It's not something as surface-level at that.

The thing is... The same kind of understanding effort is VERY rarely put forward in return for us. And the fact that we're perceived as naysayers is symptomatic of this. We're not crying against xreader content. People are free to do whatever they want. We just want it to be tagged to keep ourselves safe, and so we can appreciate some variety and find fandom content we can properly connect with with the identity we have.

The issue isn't that there is xreader content, or heck, that there's lots of it. It's that, as @kaoruko-han put it, "everyone is assumed to be into this", and that you can't express something as simple as "I'd rather read something else" without being finger-pointed as a villain.

Yeah, no one has a tailored experience online, but there's still a very clear lack of balance on what is acceptable to tailor to or not (and for us, that includes tumblr). And trying to find fan-content while being sex-repulsed? Bruh, you'd better pray on your lucky stars and be ready to trudge through an ocean of stuff that's loaded with the very thing that makes you scared, uncomfortable or downright triggers a feeling of sickness in you, because a lot of it ain't tagged. An alarming amount of people don't bother, because why would people like you exist, right? There's only ever them, and puritan bigots. It's that black and white in a lot of people's heads.

Here's the difference though: we, too, want people to be able to vibe to whatever fan content they want. We just wish "people" included us properly in this case. As it stands now, trying to find fan content that won't give you an uncomfortable feeling as a sex-repulsed person feels kinda like this (I'll try to illustrate that to the best of my ability as a vague comparison, please no one take that as a clear parallel, I'm literally just trying to explain how it feels in a way people who have no idea how it feels might understand): you're not into gore at all, you don't wanna look at it, but your streaming platform keeps recommending you those series that are loaded with gore. You try to filter it out, but no matter where you go, you keep being recommended those series. And no one ever gets your discomfort and you're being branded as nothing but a wet blanket for not wanting to see gore. It's kinda like that.

At this point I admire sex-repulsed or romance-repulsed people who still TRY to find anything at all in fandom spaces. I've stopped reading fanfic altogether and I've largely stopped engaging with the large majority of fandom spaces for those reasons. And that wasn't an easy choice, or one that I find fun because it feels incredibly lonely, but it's the result of years of exhaustion and strain on my mental health trying to navigate something that's so hostile to me at its core, even if it's unintentional.

So... Yeah. We know the reasons, just like the content itself, they're kinda impossible to ignore. But we are largely being ignored in this, and it's not just something at an "ick" or "picky" level ; for a sex-repulsed person, being spammed with sex entails much more than that. It's not even frustration anymore at this point, it's downright despair a lot of the time. So... Yeah, like you said, everyone would benefit from stuff being more properly tagged. For us it'd be so huge to know our safety is taken into account – that we're taken into account at all. Thing is, we're not, and we're so invisible in this and most other things that at this point, I don't have much hope. Sex-related controversies allo people can understand would sooner create a change than anything done for our sake.

[izzabela]

Can you write about the reader having feelings for Syzoth but she thinks that he has feelings for Ashra but everyone else drops hints that Syzoth has feelings for the reader but the reader doesn't get the hints until Syzoth decides to come clean with his feelings for the reader?

As Subtle As A Rock - Syzoth x fem!reader (5+1 fic)

in which there are five times someone tells you that Syzoth likes you, and one time where you believe it

a/n: finally, some good fucking food (i'm kidding i love all the requests i get, i just don't often see syzoth content)

ship[s]: syzoth x fem!reader

warning(s): tsundere reader, y/n used, post-kanon story

1 - Kenshi Takahashi

You sigh heavily as you watch Syzoth use his tail to trip the monks that were ambushing him. He's training for his exam to become an initiate for the Wu Shi, and he was doing everything he could to stay ready.

He looked so good taking down the rest of the orange-clad men. His muscles flexed when he knocked Kung Lao to the ground, and the sweat glistened on his skin as he turned to block a flying head-butt from Raiden.

You had already finished your training for the day, a one-on-one with Liu Kang to assess your skills to see if you were ready to move on.

As you watch Syzoth spar, he spots you from his place and waves, and you give a weak wave back.

For some reason, he gets more serious in his sparring. He's more precise, his hits perfectly taking monks down left and right.

He's also puffing his chest out when he gets them down, like a video game character taunting.

As you watch him, a voice surprises you.

"You know, he really likes you," Kenshi tells you as his chin rests in his palm. He's copying your stance as you look between him and Syzoth in shock.

You turn to him with a flushed face and wave your hands like a madman. Despite the red bandana that was over his eyes, you can tell he's giving you the "look".

"Ah! No! Not possible! I mean...." you stutter, unable to find the words as Syzoth keeps his appearances up as he fights.

Kenshi has his jaw agape, slapping his forehead with his hand before he drags it down and groans in frustration.

One out of five people, surely another person could prove it, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2 - Raiden

You and Raiden stare at the pile of insects in confusion and worry.

You see, Syzoth had dropped you loads of food in front of your bedroom because you had gotten a bit sick.

Raiden was responsible in overseeing you as you regained your strength.

He was rounding the corner because he had brought your medicine from the infirmary, but the smell that was coming from your room....

Huge, fat(?), and dead bugs laid in front of your door. And Raiden saw Syzoth splaying the deceased insects in a fashionable(???) manner.

He knocked on your door and ran away, which leads to the situation now.

"Raiden... I am not a frog..." you mumble weakly as you cough.

Raiden chuckles and shakes his head, "Actually, it was Syzoth who dropped it off."

Your face warms with love at the thought of your crush giving you such care.

"He must like you a lot, you know," Raiden points out. "I mean, I am unsure of how Zaterran's court but-"

You swipe the medicine out of Raiden's hands and go on a (strangely) energetic ramble about how he could not like you, and how he's just being nice, and blah blah blah.

As Raiden gets the door shut on his face, he can still hear you go on about it. Shaking his head, he looks down at the bugs.

"Ah, what to do..."

Kenshi was right, you did have a hard time accepting things.

Then again, third time's a charm right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3 - Johnny Cage

There's stupid, then there's just fools.

Johnny is classified as stupid, but even he knows a fool when he sees one.

And unfortunately, you were on his radar.

Johnny watches with a slacked jaw as Syzoth gifts you a pile of pretty rocks.

He's watching dumbly as Syzoth explains each rock, geode, and stone that he got from his latest travel as emissary.

"This is a rare gem native to the mines north of Satauri," Syzoth explains.

You hold the rocks with sparkling eyes, listening to every fact intently. You guys are at it for a couple of hours, sitting on the field of the academy before more lessons.

Finally, Syzoth leaves after a monk calls after him for some other chores.

You wave goodbye, and you smile bashfully at the pile of rocks and stones Syzoth gifted you.

Johnny surprises you from behind.

"Wow, he sure does like ya," Johnny says, swishing around you to swipe a rock to take a closer look.

"Not even Syzoth gave me thanks after I shot a movie after him!" Johnny whines, rambling about how much money went into the movie (he legit broke the budget tenfold).

You shake your head vehemently, "Absolutely not! Hedoesn'tevenseemelikethat...."

Johnny mocks you with a hand puppet mimicking a mouth, "Blah blah blah, yap yap yap."

Still, as you deny the possibility that Syzoth indeed reciprocates your feelings, you hold the rocks close to your chest, all of the little things in your hand as your heart pounds in your rib cage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4 - Kung Lao

You and Syzoth are basking under the warm sun that shines over the Academy- Syzoth on a rock and you on a blanket over the grass.

You guys are on a break from training and lessons today, so Syzoth decided to invite you to do his favorite past time- sunbathing.

And so here you two were, chatting quietly amongst one another about your lives, especially his. His life changed, from pure despair to one filled with hope and new opportunities.

One such opportunities being love, though the couldn't tell that to you.

Despite how well-kept his secret was, it was so obvious to Kung Lao. The way Syzoth's eyes lit up when you were around him, the way his tail wagged when he shifted halfway, the rocks (he heard from Johnny), the sparring (thanks Kenshi), and the bugs (kudos to Raiden).

Kung Lao watches from the distance, only swooping in when Syzoth leaves after he's gotten ample sunbathing.

You continue to lay there, skin practically glowing in blinding radiance. The sun was just... perfect.

Kung Lao walks from his nest of watching, surprising you with his shadow over your face.

"You know, not even Syzoth has invited me to sunbathe yet," he says, and you rub your eyes and blink to make out Kung Lao's visual.

"Oh, hey Lao!" you greet rubbing your eyes. "What are you talking about? Has he not sunbathed with you?"

Kung Lao sits beside you, shaking his head as he looks at you with waggling brows, "That must mean he really likes you, (y/n)~."

You shove his shoulder, "Don't be funny, kung Lao! He does not like me like that. And besides, he and Ashrah spend a lot of time together."

Kung Lao mentally rolls his eyes. By the elder gods, if only you knew what those two talked about.

"Just tell him how you feel!" Kung Lao ushers you. "What's the worst that could happen?"

You groan, shoving him off your blanket and rolling it up, before storming away grumbling about Syzoth.

Kung Lao scratches his head, watching you and your feelings walk away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

5 - Ashrah

Ashrah swung her kriss at the training dummy, yelling and grunting as she practiced her moves and wandered in her own mind.

She was in a bit of a pickle, you see.

For the last couple of days, she had been talking to Syzoth because he had asked her how to confess to someone. Poor girl, she was still grappling with her newfound emotions that came with freedom.

Still, with the help of the other men in the Academy: Kung Lao, Johnny, Kenshi, and Raiden, she had been providing him with good advice and ways to get you to notice him.

However, everytime he came back after doing whatever she said, he reported back his fruitless attempts.

"She did not respond after I deposited the rocks," Syzoth noted once. Or, "She and I talked, but she fell asleep as I was tlaking as we were sunbathing..." as another report.

Ashrah sighs, stabbing the wooden dummy through its torso cleanly. You heard a little gasp behind you, and she leaves the sword stuck in the dummy as her eyes meet yours.

"G-good afternoon, Ashrah," you stuttered quietly, walking to another free dummy nearb

Ashrah watches you intently, smiling as you returned a rather slim one. Confused, as you were not returning her kind gesture.

Unintentionally pushing your buttons, she just asks you straightforward.

"Are you worried about Syzoth?" she blatantly asks, her posh voice ringing in your ears as you look over your shoulder with a glare.

You roll your eyes, "Not really something you should ask someone when the other is clearly vying for the same man as you." There's vevnom in your voice, and Ashrah frowns a bit as she gracefully removes her sword form the dummy.

Sheathing it, she continues, "I must let you know, it really is not like that." She approaches you, and you instinctively step back some. "Syzoth has been having a hard time telling you that he truly reciprocates your affections."

Your mood is soured completely, and you you cram the dummy back into the corner it belonged to.

"Syzoth likes you, not me Ashrah" you spat at her. "If you want friendship so bad, perhaps lying is not the best way to obtain it."

You stomp away, and Ashrah is both confused and sad over this attempt at making another friend- especially a woman.

And as your figure disappears within the Academy, your heart and gut wrenches at the games everyone has been playing with you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

+1 - Syzoth

Syzoth had given up with advice from both Ashrah and friends. He loves them, don't get it twisted, but it has gotten him nowhere.

From dropping off bugs to your door, trying to impress you as he sparred, even inviting you to sunbathe (he is very particular about his vitamin d)- it has gotten his feelings nowhere.

Manning up, he picked some flowers from a nearby field, called Ashrah and Kenshi over, and practiced what he wanted to say.

Kenshi was the coach, Ashrah pretended to be you, and Syzoth was fumbling over his words.

"No, Syzoth," Kenshi gently scolds. "You have to tell her why you like her, not just 'I like you'."

Syzoth groans, "I will bite your heads off if I must repeat this one last time."

As the trio continues their practice, you're walking in the general direction as a monk had called for you for an audience with Liu Kang.

You can hear the voices, and you turn the corner to find Kenshi, Ashrah, and Syzoth- you couldn't find your heart, though, as you're so sure it dropped from the shock of this scene.

"Um, am I interrupting?" You say rather coldly. Kenshi and Ashrah are wide-eyed, and Kenshi immediately grabs Ashrah's wrist as they run off like kids.

Is this a romance novel? A fanfic? You couldn't help but roll your eyes as you thought of their childish antics.

"Ah, um, agh... How do I..." Syzoth is nervous as he fiddles with the flowers he picked for you. You look between them and his eyes.

"Are those for someone?" you point. "If you need help confessing to Ash-"

"No!" he cries. Your shock takes him aback, but he reigns himself in as he clears his throat. "No. They're, uh... for you?"

You look at him with a quirked brow, then soften up as you look at the flowers and the general area Kenshi and Ashrah fled to.

"But I thought-." Syzoth interrupts you.

"I sought the help of Ashrah and the others," he begins to explain. "They were giving me advice, on how one can tell someone how they feel- the human way."

You look at him, and he uses this silence to continue his words.

"Ashrah provided me with advice, I was doing my best to make my efforts known..." Syzoth itches his head shyly, walking closer to you as he uses his other hand to hold on yours.

"I guess this was my final 'hurrah', something Johnny taught me," Syzoth chuckles awkwardly.

You shake your head, "I thought everyone was playing mind games with me..."

Syzoth shakes his head, rubbing your hand as the other hand that scratched his head now caresses your face.

"Your heart is not something to be toyed with..." Syzoth whispered, moving your hair out of your face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

sigh, i love syzoth

see yall in the next fic!

[tip-top-cloud-surfer]

Never Have I Ever (Part 3) - Hangman

Pairing: Hangman / Civilian Contractor! Reader (Callsign: Dove)

Length: 3.9k

This work, all my works, and my entire blog are 18+ Only

Warnings: Female Reader with a Callsign and Family, but no Physical Description or Name; Not Necessarily Healthy Decisions/Coping Mechanisms; Slow Burn; Coworkers to Friends to Lovers; Oblivious Idiots; Excessive Pining

Summary: Dove and Jake learn more about each other as they work through Dove's challenge.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 4

Master List

# 30 - Gone Sailing

Dove and Jake got out of his truck and walked through the marina parking lot. When Jake found out that Amelia and Penny had been trying to convince Dove to come sailing with them for months, he accepted their invitation on her behalf. 

“I still can’t believe that you never went sailing with them before,” Jake stated, pulling on a pair of his sunglasses. Turning to Dove with a teasing smile, he asked, “You’re not going to tell me that you’re afraid of the water, right? Or that you can’t swim?” 

“No,” Dove scoffed, shooting him a look. “I can swim. And I’m not afraid of the ocean.” 

“They have life jackets. You’ll be fine. And if anything does happen, I’ll be here to rescue you. Passed swim training with flying colors.” 

“Phoenix said that she saw you cry after swim training.”

“Does she have proof?”

“Don’t worry, your big tough guy persona is safe with me,” Dove joked, poking him in the side. 

Dove and Jake walked down the dock to Penny’s boat. Theo was trotting around on the deck while Amelia and Penny got ready to set sail. Amelia spotted them first and waved to Dove excitedly, causing Penny to turn around. 

“Well, it only took you six months to accept our invitation,” Penny mused, resting her hands on her hips.

“Better late than never,” Dove replied, looking a bit nervous. 

She walked on board and was quickly greeted by Amelia, who was very excited that her tutor finally decided to come out for something fun. Jake watched as Dove talked with Amelia and relaxed a bit more. Leaning over to grab a life jacket, Jake felt Penny’s eyes on him. She simply offered him a knowing smile before walking onboard.

They set sail shortly afterwards and the seabreeze quickly cut through any sort of southern California warmth that Dove had when she got on board. Jake sat beside her, both of them staying out of the way of Amelia and Penny as they operated the boat. 

“Jesus, it’s cold,” Dove cursed, curling in on herself. 

Jake sat calmly, a little cold, but running warm. Holding onto the railing right behind Dove, he stared ahead as the boat rode over the waves. Dove slid back as the boat went over another wave and tucked herself into Jake’s side to keep warm. Jake stared down at her as she shivered, subconsciously curling his body around her more. 

“You okay?” he asked, his voice barely loud enough to hear over the wind. 

“It’s fucking cold!” 

~~~~~~

# 31 - Seen Dolphins in the Wild

Settled in calmer waters and warmer air, Amelia and Dove sat near the bow, chatting and looking down at the water. Jake sat farther back with Penny, asking her questions about how the ship operated. Amelia glanced back at Jake before turning back to Dove.

“Why’s Hangman following you around these days?”

“He’s just helping me with something,” Dove dismissed with a shrug. 

“Like as a friend? Or a boyfriend?” 

“Life is not a cheesy Netflix movie. He’s just bored.” Dove turned back to Amelia and offered her a smirk. “How’s What’s-His-Face? The surfer kid?” 

“Shh!” Amelia stressed, glancing back at her mom before turning back to Dove. “My mom says that she’s ‘fine’ with me hanging out with boys but she’s not.” 

“A lot of parents are like that,” Dove told Amelia, nodding along. “It’s usually because they’re worried that you’ll make the same mistakes they did when they were your age.” Dove and Amelia shared a look, quietly doing the math in their heads. “How old was your mom when she met Maverick again?” 

Amelia laughed before she caught movement in the water out of the corner of her eye. Grabbing Dove’s arm and shaking it lightly, Amelia pointed at the pod of dolphins that were swimming by. Dove followed her finger and quickly sat up. 

“Holy crap,” Dove laughed, watching the dolphins swim with awe. Turning to where Penny and Jake were talking, Dove called out to them. “Jake! Penny! Dolphins!”

Jake walked over to where Dove and Amelia were staring out at the pod of dolphins. He silently marveled at the sight as he stood just a step to Dove’s right. 

“Have you ever seen them like this before?” Jake asked her, referring to the dolphins. 

“No,” Dove admitted, turning to look at Jake. “Have you?”

“No.” 

“Hmm,” Dove mused, smiling as Jake met her gaze. “Maybe you need a list of your own.” 

“Maybe one day,” he agreed softly before they turned back to the dolphins.

~~~~~

# 32 - Gone Rollerblading

After returning to shore, Jake and Dove started walking down the adjacent boardwalk. And when Dove saw a rental place for rollerblades, she had her next idea. 

“Are you sure that you’re up for this?” Jake asked, handing her a helmet. 

“I only rented them for twenty minutes,” Dove pointed out, tying up the rollerblades. Taking the helmet from Jake, she pulled it on. “I need to stop being scared. I mean, if I stayed scared of going on the boat with Penny and Amelia, I never would have seen the dolphins. I need to try new things.”  

“Alright,” Jake agreed, standing in front of her. “Just take it slow.”

He offered Dove his hands and helped her to stand up with her skates on. When Dove nearly slipped to the ground, Jake quickly wrapped his arms around her waist. Dove gripped his biceps as she got her bearings, growing a bit warm in her cheeks. 

“I’ll be fine,” she insisted, releasing him. 

~~~~~

# 33 - Been to the Beach First Aid Stand

“If I hear the phrase ‘I told you so’ come out of your mouth,” Dove warned Jake as he helped her along the boardwalk. 

“Come on. There’s a first aid station up ahead.” 

Dove was a little worse for wear. No bones were broken and she wasn’t in any kind of excruciating pain, but her knees were certainly banged up. Jake held Dove up with one arm, not trusting her on her own, and knocked on the door to the lifeguard stand. 

~~~~~

# 34 - Had Pistachio Ice Cream

“Ice cream makes everything better,” Jake suggested as they left the first aid stand. 

“Unless you’re lactose intolerant,” Dove pointed out, causing Jake to turn to her. 

“You’re lactose intolerant?” 

“No, I’m not,” Dove stated, frowning a little bit. “You saw me eat a pint of Ben & Jerry’s with Bob two weeks ago.” 

“Good. Then pick a flavor that you’ve never tried before,” Jake stated, pointing at the list posted at the front of the stand. 

Dove looked over the list of flavors, mentally checking off the ones that she had and picking from the rest of the flavors. 

“I guess I’ll try pistachio.” 

Jake ordered two ice creams, a pistachio for Dove and a chocolate one for him, before walking over to the table that Dove picked. Placing the cup of pistachio ice cream down in front of her, he took his seat and offered her a smile. 

“For your troubles. And your injury.” 

“Thanks,” Dove replied quietly, still embarrassed. 

She took a spoonful of pistachio ice cream in her spoon and slowly brought it to her mouth, taking a tentative lick. Dove took a moment, testing the flavor, before nodding.

“Not bad,” she stated, turning back to Jake. 

“See? Maybe things can surprise you.” 

~~~~~

# 35 - Gone to a Boardwalk Fair

Dove and Jake continued on their way after they finished their ice cream. Jake was listening to Dove talk about some more ideas that she had for her list when he spotted an ad posted on a light stand. He took a step over, drawing Dove’s attention, and read the details.

“What about this?” Jake suggested, pointing at the posters.

Dove stepped up beside him and looked over the ad for a boardwalk fair a few towns over. Turning back to Jake, she nodded and smiled softly. 

“Yeah, I’m sure that we can find things there that I haven’t done before.” 

~~~~~

# 36 - Eaten a Corndog

“You brought me all the way out here to eat a corndog?” Dove asked Hangman as he held one out to her. 

“Stop stalling and take a bite.” 

Dove sighed and took the corndog from him. She glanced down at the corndog with distaste before taking a small bite off the tip. Chewing it, she studied the corndog again as Jake waited for her reaction. 

“Weird texture, but not too bad. You can finish it though.” 

~~~~~

# 37 - Eaten a Bug

Dove cupped a few crispy grasshoppers in her hand and held them out to Jake. Though he looked concerned himself, Jake reached out and grabbed one. Dove grinned and held up a cricket of her own. She jokingly clinked their crickets together, like they were clinking drinks after work, before bringing the cricket to her mouth. 

“Cheers,” she exclaimed before popping it into her mouth. 

Jake stared down at the cricket for a moment before slowly putting it into his mouth and chewing tentatively. Dove grinned as she watched Jake try to hide his grimace. Finishing her cricket quickly, Dove poked Jake in the side. 

“Don’t forget, spitters are quitters.” 

Completely unprepared for that phrase to come out of Dove’s mouth, Jake started to cough and choke. Dove’s teasing smile dropped as Jake hit his chest with his fist. 

“Are you alright?” she asked him worriedly, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“Fine,” Jake wheezed, coughing again.

~~~~~

# 38 - Gotten Your Fortune Read

“Now this might actually be the dumbest thing you’ve thought of so far,” Dove complained as Jake dragged her over to the tent. “You know that it’s all crackpot nonsense.”

“That’s not the point. We’re exposing you to new experiences,” Jake drawled, gesturing for Dove to sit down.

Rolling her eyes, Dove sat down and waited for the fortune teller. Jake stepped out of the room to give them ‘spiritual space’ and the woman stepped out from behind the curtain a few moments later. She greeted Dove before sitting behind her crystal ball. The fortune teller gave Dove and overview of what to expect before she began. 

“I see . . .”

“A glass ball?” Dove muttered quietly to herself. 

“I see some struggle in your future,” the fortune teller replied, causing Dove to raise an eyebrow. “You have some great trials before you.” 

“Don’t we all?” 

“Your life could be in danger.” 

“Oh, dear,” Dove feigned concern. 

“I see some balloons.” 

“What color are these balloons?” 

“Multicolored, dear. And I see a lion.”

“A lion?”

“Yes, and then a screw. It seems to have fallen, putting you at risk,” the fortune teller continued, pausing as she closed her eyes. “But you’ll survive, my dear. And a man will be right there to hold your hand and comfort you through it.” 

“Well, I hope he’s handsome,” Dove replied sarcastically, offering a forced smile. “Or rich.” 

“Or both,” the fortune teller added, causing Dove to nod. “That’ll be ten dollars, dear.” 

~~~~~

# 39 - Won a Prize at the Fair

“You’ve never played a fair game?” Jake admonished Dove, who scoffed.

“I played one when I was a kid, but they’re all scams! Like that fortune teller.” 

“Did you win anything?” he asked, causing Dove to shake her head. “Then let’s go.” 

“Jake, it’s pointless. And a waste of money.”

“Well, I don’t lose.”

Hangman scanned the games in the area before selecting the darts booth. The attendant, who seemed to have given up on caring, handed Jake some darts and gestured to the moving multicolored balloons behind him. Dove stood to the side as Jake lined up his shots. Tossing the darts and popping the balloons, Jake turned to the attendant. 

“Pick any from that wall,” the attendant sighed, gesturing to a whole bunch of stuffed animals. 

“I’ll take the lion,” Jake decided, causing Dove to pick her head up.

“What?” she breathed out.

The attendant handed Jake the stuffed lion and Jake immediately handed it over to Dove, who stared up at him with wide eyes. Staring down at the lion like she was honestly waiting for it to bite her, Dove just let Jake steer her along with him.

~~~~~

# 40 - Ridden a Fair Ferris Wheel

“I’m not convinced that this would pass a safety inspection,” Dove remarked as the ferris wheel started to ascend.

“You’ll be fine. It’ll take like five minutes and then we’ll move on.” 

“What idea do you have next?” Dove asked Jake curiously.

“I had a couple different ones. Are you hungry or did you want to actually go do something?” 

“Maybe something—” 

Dove gripped the safety bar with a tense grip as the ferris wheel came to a screeching halt. And then she swore that she heard a screw or nail or something clink against the metal frame of the ride. Turning to Jake with wide eyes, Dove tried to not panic.

“Don’t worry. They’re probably just letting more people on,” Jake assured Dove calmly. 

~~~~~

# 41 - Gotten Stuck on a Ferris Wheel

Ten Minutes Later . . . 

“Sorry, folks, but it seems that the ride is having some technical difficulties. We’re working on resolving it as quickly as we can.” 

“You were saying?” Dove hissed to Jake, still with a tight grip on the safety bar. 

“I’m sure that it’ll just be a little bit longer,” Jake replied, though he didn’t look convinced by his own words anymore. He looked over the side and tilted the cart a little bit, causing Dove to tense up. 

“Stop moving! You’re going to tip it!” 

“It’s not that—” 

“—Please, just don’t tip it,” Dove pleaded softly, closing her eyes.

“Are you afraid of heights?” Jake asked quietly, staring at Dove with concern. 

“I’m not afraid of heights. I’m afraid of falling from heights. And that stupid fortune teller said that my life could be in danger and she already got too many other things right and now I’m afraid that I’m going to fucking die falling from this piece of shit ride.” 

“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” 

“Because I thought she was a crackpot and I thought this ride was going to last three minutes.” 

“Have you always been afraid of heights?” 

“Have you always been this bad at knowing basic facts about other people?” Dove snapped back, still with her eyes screwed shut. 

“Maybe,” Jake returned, studying her posture. “Just breathe.” 

“I am breathing.” 

“You know what I mean.” 

“Jake,” Dove warned him.

“Then just keep talking to me. If you’re talking to me, you’re not focused on that.” 

“What the hell am I supposed to talk about?” 

“Anything. I don’t know.” Jake glanced down before turning back to Dove. “I’m starting to realize that we don’t actually know that much about each other.” 

“I know plenty about you,” Dove replied quietly. 

“Like what?” 

“You were born in Austin, Texas. Because you can’t stop fucking talking about Texas. Honestly, I’ve never met someone from Texas who didn’t announce that they were from Texas within fifteen minutes of me meeting them. What the hell is that all about?” 

“Alright, what else do you know?”

“You’re the youngest of four. You have three older sisters. Julia, Jordan, and Jenna. You’re the baby of your family and the only boy. And I didn’t need anything beyond a fifteen second interaction with you to know that, actually.” 

“Harsh,” Jake mumbled. 

“Your mom’s name is Mary and your dad’s name is also Jacob. Your dad runs his own small business and your mom works down at the local school. You have five or six nieces and nephews and you’re the only one that’s not married yet.” 

“How the hell do you know all this stuff?” Jake asked, causing Dove to hiss.

“Because! I! Listen! That thing where people close their mouths and let other people talk!” Gripping the safety bar a little less, Dove added in a softer tone, “You talk about your family all the time. They send you care packages. Of course, I know about them.” 

“Do you know this stuff about everyone on the team?” 

“Are you going to quiz me?” 

“Would that make you feel better?”

“Would that make you feel better?” 

“Alright, fine,” Jake sighed, throwing in the towel with that one. Turning back to Dove and studying her for a moment, he asked softly, “What about you?”

“What about me?” 

“Tell me your story then. You seem to know mine, so it’s only fair.”

“What do you want to know?” 

“Everything.” 

“Everything?” 

“Just something to pass the time and get your mind off of things. I’ll work on my listening skills. You can quiz me afterwards, if it’ll make you feel better.” 

Dove sighed, clearly thinking that this was a stupid idea. But between the fact that she was still stuck in the air and Jake was definitely not going to let it go, she caved. Taking a deep breath, she tried to figure out where to start. 

“I’m the oldest of six.” 

“Six?” 

“Technically, all of my siblings are my half-siblings. Mom’s side. My dad never had any kids after he and my mom got divorced. My mom remarried a month after the papers were signed.” 

“How old were you when they got divorced?” 

“Four when they separated. And six when it was finalized.” After a moment, she added, “And if you even think about using the phrase ‘I’m sorry,’ I will push you off of this ride.” 

“Noted.” 

“I lived with my mom most of my childhood. My dad worked a lot and after my mom got remarried, she was stay-at-home, so it just made sense. But I’m closer with my dad than my mom because my mom . . . she doesn’t do well with people that she doesn’t understand. She doesn’t argue, she just tells you over and over again that she’s right. It wears on you after a while. And we’re just very different people.”

Jake nodded slowly as Dove thought through her next words carefully. 

“I was too shy, too timid to be the daughter that she really wanted. That was my sister Michelle.” 

“Are you close with your siblings?”

“Some of them. Michelle and I don’t get along. She’s my mom’s favorite and everyone, especially her, knows it. I’m the closest with my sister Phoebe. We’re fairly similar. And Brendan, my only brother, insists that I know the latest memes so that I don’t embarrass him. But I’m not too close with my youngest sisters, Nikki and Tillie. They’re twins.” 

Dove opened her eyes and turned back to Jake, her grip noticeably lighter on the safety bar. If Jake noticed that, he didn’t mention it. 

“So, you’re closer with your dad then?”

“Yeah. He’s the chief of his fire station and he’s going to work until he literally cannot physically get out of bed anymore. I tell him to slow down, but he doesn’t listen. And I know that he wouldn’t hesitate to pick up my call and come help me.” Smiling softly, Dove added, “He drove eight hours through the night to be there for my dissertation presentation.” 

“He must be very proud of you,” Jake commented softly, causing Dove to nod.

“Yeah, but he’s always worried about me. He didn’t want me to go into this industry.” 

“Why?” Jake asked, confused. 

“Well, physics isn’t exactly the most welcoming industry for women. And then I started working as a civilian contractor for the Navy and he almost had a heart attack over it.” Dove paused before turning to Jake. “I think that he was also annoyed that I was working with the Navy and not the Air Force.” 

“Your dad was in the Chair Force?” 

“Don’t call it that,” Dove sighed, giving Jake a light nudge. “And yes, he was. It was part of the whole reason why he and my mom got married and had me. Well, technically, he knocked my mom up first and then he married her, but still.” Pointing a threatening finger at Jake, Dove added, “And if you even think about calling me an oopsie baby—” 

“—You’ll push me off the side?” Jake surmised, causing Dove to grin.

“What do you know? You can listen.” 

Two Hours Later . . . 

The sun had set and most of the fair had cleared out. And even though it was southern California, the ocean chill had pushed Dove away from the safety bar and into Jake’s side to keep warm. He rested his arm around her waist to keep her safe and relaxed.

“Favorite . . . non-dairy milk?” Dove suggested, pulling at absolute straws. 

“I only drink real milk,” Jake sighed, staring down at the mechanics working on the ride. 

“But what if you become lactose intolerant?” 

“That doesn’t happen.” 

“It does happen. All the time actually.” 

“What’s yours then?” 

“Oat,” Dove mumbled tiredly, her head resting against his shoulder. 

“I’ll go with oat milk then, I guess.” 

“Have you ever tried it?” 

“No, but I trust your judgment.” 

“Your turn,” Dove reminded him, poking him in the side. 

“Favorite . . . type of french fry?”

“Thin and crispy with a little bit of salt. In-and-Out fries,” Dove stated, just as her stomach started to growl. “If we ever get down from here, I’m going to need a big bucket of french fries. And a drink.” 

“Why stop at one?” Jake mused, causing Dove to smile to herself. 

The ride suddenly jolted and Jake and Dove quickly grabbed onto each other as a reflex. Dove fisted Jake’s shirt and Jake tightened his hold on her waist, pulling her even closer to him. They held their breath and after a moment, the ride started to move again. 

“Holy shit, we’re free,” Dove breathed out, releasing Jake’s shirt. But Jake was a lot slower to release his arm around her waist.

~~~~~

# 42 - Tried Whiskey

After being freed from their mid-air prison, Dove and Jake went out to dinner together at a pub just down the street. And Dove was very content to find that the fries that the pub offered were thin, light, and crispy. And Jake was relieved that they had whiskey. 

“You don’t normally order whiskey,” Dove noted as the waiter walked off with their menus. 

“I only order it if I have a long day,” Jake admitted, taking a sip. Placing the glass down, Jake slid it towards Dove. “You want to try it?” 

“I’ve never had whiskey before.”

“Well, now you definitely should try it.” 

Dove reached out for the glass and took a tentative sip. Jake laughed as she wrinkled her nose and slowly placed it back down, looking like she regretted her decision. 

“I’ll just stick with what I know.” 

~~~~~

# 43 - Made a Toast

“Speech,” Jake joked, causing Dove to smile and reach for her drink. 

“I’d like to make a toast to never going on fair rides ever again and to the fact that I’m very thankful that all of the planes that we work in and around actually have real safety standards,” Dove toasted, lifting up her drink. 

“To safety standards,” Jake agreed, clinking their drinks together. As he set his glass back down, Jake asked, “You want to knock some more ones off the list tomorrow? We came up with plenty of ideas.” 

“Actually, Nat said that she’s taking me out,” Dove stated, picking up some of her french fries. “But I’ll add whatever we do to the list.” 

“Just be careful.” 

Dove snorted. “It’s Nat. I’ll be fine.”

Part 1 Part 2 Part 4

[goingmerryfics]

hello there :D i just saw the requests and could I request Eustass Kid and Killer for mute s/o?

Mute/Selectively Mute S/O w/ Kid & Killer

Content: Gender neutral reader, SFW content

Notes* Thanks for your request! I wanted to make this inclusive for both ends- those who know sign language due to their muteness and those who don’t and may just be selectively mute due to anxiety or otherwise. These two are some really interesting characters for this prompt, so I’m really happy to write it and I hope you enjoy it!

Kid

When you and Kid first met, he hated how you never answered anyone ‘properly’

He didn’t pay very close attention to you because you weren’t a bother, nor were you someone very spectacular in his eyes

You stayed out of his way, you did your tasks, and you kicked ass

He’d watch you interact with others and felt it was very one-sided. 

People would ask you questions and you’d simply answer with a nod, a shake of your head, a shrug, or a note on a piece of paper

Or if you know sign, you would speak to Killer this way and he would translate

He didn’t understand why you wouldn’t just speak 

Until Killer explained how you couldn’t

Kid’s immediate thoughts were that you just needed to get over being so ‘scared’ of everyone. If you were going to be a pirate, especially one on his crew, you couldn’t be a little coward

For someone who has anxiety, he really knows nothing about it

But for someone who literally could not speak because of an accident or just birth circumstances, he’d understand that way quicker

Either way, he’d avoid speaking to you, thinking that if he did it would only anger him to not be able to talk to you in the traditional sense. But then he started sitting in on conversations that included you, and he softened

You were so… Sweet. You were kind to everyone and, not surprisingly, a good listener

Then he actually started talking to you

He would keep all the little slips of paper that you wrote him when a yes or no wasn’t a sufficient answer

Flipping through them behind the closed door of his room, thinking about your smile, cursing as his heart pounded in his chest

It graduated to flirting, and around the time when the two of you became an item publicly enough for the ship to know about it, he started asking Killer to teach him sign, too

One day he surprised you by clumsily signing that you were ‘his favorite idiot’

It made you laugh, and you signed back a thanks to him with a few tears in your eyes

It takes him a while to get good enough to translate like Killer does, but he can get the jist of what you’re saying 

Quickly sticks up for you if anyone makes rude comments (Similar to what he would have said back in the beginning)

If you have the ability to, eventually you begin to verbally speak to him in private and he’s so excited about it

The first time you spoke out loud to him, it was a ‘good night’ as you were about to leave his room to head to bed. He’d stopped in the middle of brushing his teeth and stared at you, and you had to laugh at how he looked

Eyes wide, toothpaste foam dripping out of his mouth

He pulls you into private rooms all the time after that if it means he can hear your pretty voice

Killer

Unlike Kid, it doesn’t take Killer long at all to figure out your situation and why you won’t speak to others.

Whether or not you use sign, Killer understands it and will be happy to translate for you to the others, which means you two end up paired up a lot, since he is one of the only people on the ship who you feel really understands you

But he really likes when it’s just you two. It feels special

You two will stay up late just talking in his room, well into the night, with only a small light on so he can still see your hands or notes

Despite never speaking a word, it’s like you two never have an end to the things you want to talk about with each other- which means that you two get very close very quickly

Truly a strangers to friends to lovers trope here

You begin to feel comfortable with him very fast, which leads the both of you to getting more and more openly affectionate with each other. Leaning on each other, giving hugs, etc

The thought of you two dating doesn’t come until other crew members point out how sweet on each other you are and asks the pair of you if you’re dating

The two of you share a look, and Killer answers, ‘Yes’ while you nod at the same time

You’re assigned as dating now, but it’s not different from before

If you’re able to, one day you work up the courage and comfortability to verbally speak to him

You planned this beforehand and had chickened out a few times, but you knew that he didn’t care whether you ever spoke to him or not. You would do this when it felt right

So when you’re sitting behind him and braiding his hair while he sits quietly, enjoying the feeling of your fingers in his hair, you lean over and tell him you love him for the first time

He gasps audibly, waits for you to tie his hair and then turns to face you and cup your cheeks

He quickly tells you he loves you too

In return for you opening up to him and just because he’s been wanting to, he takes off and leaves his mask off to the side

His eyes are gorgeous, and of course you tell him that

He asks for permission to kiss you

As soon as he gets the confirmation, he’s on you like a fly on honey, kissing you all over

[buttercreamdicks]

I guess if I am going to gather my thoughts about Link and the Eagle, I first have to gather my thoughts about Link and gender and expression. I have been through a lot of fandoms, I have been through a lot of ships, and I have always been against the oft-pervading logic that "This man is gay because [insert stereotypes of gay men performing femininized behaviors or underperforming masculinized behaviors]." One of the reasons I interpret my feelings on Link and gender as #my lesbian queen link neal is -- well, okay, because it's nonsensical and funny, but also because I specifically do not really want to fanon that he is gay because he wears a purse or whatever. One of the other reasons I interpret my feelings on Link and gender as a joke about being a queer female is because when Link says he is an unserious man I feel that unseriousness in manhood as hewing close to my own experience as a queer female; I recognize a lot of my own self or at least my own self's willingness to be "weird" (i.e., plainly honest) about gender and sexuality and affection in the idiosyncratic ways he expresses these things as well.

The main thing that hooked me into Rhett & Link was finding out that they grew up in the Southern conservative Evangelical culture in the '90s. Something that I think about a lot is how Rhett has talked about how Link was the weird kid, how people found him annoying, how he stayed at home and played with his wrestling dolls, how the moment they really became best friends was when Rhett punched that kid for making fun of Link. How in high school everyone thought they were gay. Rhett spent almost all his time with Link anyway. How even now Rhett talks about having to protect Link from himself, from embarrassing himself. And how Link talks about himself as someone who commits faux pas, and about liking that he has a safety net in Rhett, someone who will watch out for him.

Like the thing about Rhett is he performs the masculinity they grew up with well, and apparently always has: good grades, good athlete, just enough unexamined toxicity to his masculinity that he often doesn't pass my vibe check. I didn't grow up in the South or in Christianity but I grew up in the late '90s and I was steeped in enough of same culture of gender that I can recognize the mannerisms that Link has even today that would have been labeled as "weird," and the names he might have been called: sissy, mama's boy, fag. Rhett could have gone through life without ever encountering that, but he didn't. He chose to stick with Link, and he chose specifically to stick with a conception of himself as protecting Link.

And the thing with Link is he continued to be the way he was. He kept enough of those same mannerisms and ways of expressing himself that even now, as a grown man, he is the one a fandom will say is gay, is the twink, is the bottom. Whether he explicitly chose not to change, or is just one of those people who is incapable of not being exactly himself, I don't know. Probably both? Most of us who are queer (in the sense of sexuality or in the sense of being seen as strange) are both.

I also think sometimes of what Link's conception of himself would be if he weren't surrounded by people who have known him forever, or people who know someone who’s known him forever. If everybody's first impression of him wasn't mediated by a bunch of people who carry around his old teenage self crystallized in amber, who grew up in the same culture that thought he was weird, who still spend their time thinking they need to run interference for the way he talks and acts and feels. Because another thing that hooked me into Rhett & Link was how nearly every person in every piece of media they produce says "This guy is weird and awkward and makes people feel bad" when everything I took from watching him was This guy is honest and open and makes me feel good. Like if you just met him, on your own, would you even think anything was strange? If it was just him, without his past, would anybody think he wasn't enough?

[thunderstomm]

I was originally not going to make a post about this, but after seeing a few other posts about it, I wanted to make my own. I have a LOT to talk about.

TW: Transphobia, Homophobia, Ableism

If you don’t know what I’m taking about- there was a post made by a user, who’s name I will not disclose or share, who discussed how they would rewrite the new Monster High G3 Cartoon. While some of the points were mundane, or points of preference, others made me very uncomfortable, as they got rid of much of the diversity that G3 has brought into the Monster High Universe. I want to quickly go through three of the points that I felt were erasing these steps in diversity, and my thoughts on each one, and why I think that it’s iffy, to say the least.

First is the statement “all of the couples from G1 will stay together”. While this may read to some as a preference for the old couples, in the context of rewriting G3- it comes across as the erasure of both couples involving a neurodivergent character being the subject of a crush, and being seen as desirable and loved (Manny x Twyla), and what probably was the intended couples they wanted to seperate, the canonically queer ships. In particular, this is most likely against Clankie (and POSSIBLY an s2 ship which I won’t say by name because some people want to go in blind. Instead I will refer to it as 🧡💚.). In this rewrite context, wanting to take away queer relationships which many writers and designers for Monster High have fought for in many shapes and forms. G1 never had explicit queer characters, the closest things being a scrapped SDCC diary entry (Valentine x Spelldon), Post-Ending 3rd party statements (Clawdeen is a Lesbian, Rebecca x Venus, etc.) and implied characters (Kiyomi). While these are okay, they are NOT the same as explicit queer couples, which are arguably more important to push forward in the talk and scope of present and future representation.

While it is okay to prefer the G1 ships, in the context of bringing them back for G3, it erases these queer couples, and ignores the lore and universe of G3. In G3, Cleo and Deuce are exes. And if you don’t like that, you can still watch G1!! It’s not magically disappeared, the movies and shows and music is all still out there, and most of it is free! But, erasing Clankie, 🧡💚, and other potential queer ships in G3, for the preservation of a m/f ship isn’t okay.

On the subject of erasure, there is the statement “Frankie is still non-binary, but now uses she/they pronouns”. A character canonically using they/them in cartoons, especially ones made for kids, are uncommon. Honestly, I don’t even know if I could name 10, and that says more about the state of non-binary representation than it does about me. While changing the pronouns of a cisgender character to gender neutral ones is often done in fandom, and often not a point of issue, taking a character who is canonically non-binary and solely uses they/them and giving them typically gendered pronouns erases that under represented group, and allows for transphobes to ignore the “they” in “she/they”, and only use “she” for the character. This is an issue in real life too, for many who use multiple sets of pronouns, including myself (they (preferred) / he) ! We deserve both of their sets of pronouns to be used, and people who only use they/them deserve to be referred to by and as they/them. These changes hurt everyone.

Then, we come to the one I see the most talk about, and the one that made me audibly yell “what the f-?!”- taking away Twyla’s canon autism diagnosis, and symptoms & traits, and replacing it with autism coding, so that she is easier to identify with. First of all- easier for who??? Neurotypicals ?? It is incredibly rare to see a character on kids TV outright say “I am autistic”, and Twyla is wonderful as representation. Twyla will not resonate or be relatable to every person- but that is true for all characters, not just autistic ones. Autistic people are not a monolith, it is a spectrum, with many different ways to present itself. Also… taking away all of her traits and symptoms to make her more relatable? These traits and symptoms are what would have made her “autistic coded”, and without them, you have a character who is NT.

Autism isn’t a quirky word you can use to describe anyone, it is a disability, that myself and many others have, and see misrepresented time and time again. And to say that a good example of it is not good, and would be better off to be erased and replaced with coding is insane. Coding is okay, but that’s all it is. Real spoken representation matters so much to me, and so many other people, even if the characters we see are not identical to us in those symptoms and traits they exhibit. These characters should not be changed, but rather, more autistic characters, with different presenting symptoms and traits, should be introduced !

You can like G1, you can prefer G1, but that does not mean that you have to make a sanitised version of G3, that makes it identical to G1. In terms of representation, there is no arguing that G3 has G1 beat. The poster said on their post that “any new characters would be made more relatable”, but… to who? Because I relate to a lot of the G3 characters more than the G1 ones, and I grew up loving G1! It’s not been wiped, all of the media still exists for you to watch, and make headcanons for ! If you like G1- good for you! But please, stop trying to make G3 exactly like it. Because change is inevitable in these kinds of reboots, and it allows for the representation some want to take away.

Thank-You for those who read all the way!