#dunno how to react here comrades

[digitaldoeslmk]

Guess who hit the top of lmk au(it's you)

oh. well. guess I just

#dunno how to react here comrades #glad people like my art?? #but also.... lmk of all things #man. makes ya think. #this is just my life now i guess #im not even upset mate just legit dunno how to react ahsvwhdbuwhd #im just a goober dudes #a funny little guy #i swear im just an idiot i dunno what to tell yal #=3=

[elysianslove]

this might seem weird but uh could i get an annie leonhart x reader— where like should i put a spoiler on this? uh aot spoilers ig but like she won’t hurt reader kind of thing like she refuses and actually like protects her when in titan form, i dunno maybe that’s weird but just an idea

first aot request omg im so excited!!!! this contains season 1 spoilers only!!! thank you for requesting, and i hope you enjoy, my love <333

warnings; descriptions of blood and death. angst. so much angst. 

━ as the second red smoke signal fires into the air from your right, your heart sinks into your stomach. the feeling that’s settled deep in your bones isn’t unusual, considering the threat and danger the expedition poses in itself, but it’s incredibly unwelcome. you feel unsteady, a large contrast to the horse whose reigns you grip tight, white-knuckled. you inhale — the dirt gathering from the horses’ hooves, the scent of wet grass, and distant, faint smell of blood rest on the bridge of your noise — and you grasp the breath tightly within your lungs, counting down the seconds from ten, grounding yourself, and then you exhale. if you die on this battlefield today, then you can only hope your corpse is another setting stone towards the truth. 

your thoughts are interrupted when a thud silences your heartbeat for a split second too long, and then it repeats. it’s building up slow, and you recognize it — how could you not? — as easily as you would identify the sound of your fellow comrades’ footsteps. the thuds steadily increase in volume and speed, and it’s closer, too close, it’s right behind you, you’re going to die —

the sun disappears for a moment, shaded by the large figure of the titan that barricades through your formation, separating the five of you apart momentarily as you avoid being crushed beneath its feet, and forcing the tilt of your head back, then to the side, eyeing its figure. it’s large, larger than any titan you’d faced, let alone killed, obviously faster and much stronger, just by the quick observation of its physique, and it’s distinctly female. 

more importantly, however, it’s completely ignoring you. 

huh. an abnormal? 

the other members of your squad seem to have skimmed over that important detail, and instead of avoiding it, they convince themselves it’s their solitary duty to eliminate it. before you could react in any way, a hoarse cry of a warning — wait! it’s not... — completely ignored, three of them leap from their horses, odm gear attaching to the titan’s limbs, blades sharply prepared. 

it’s almost as if the titan is prepared for it. 

she grabs at the wires, tangling two of them together, before two of your companions land in her large fists, and she crushes them with ease. blood sprays across her body, staining her hands, and you watch with horrified eyes as whatever pieces are left of them falls to the ground. the other two soldiers, fueled by anger and frustration, charge at her with the same ferocity, any technique or plan abandoned, minds clouded with the remnants of their fellow comrades decaying frames. 

and just as easily, they fall victim to her. 

during the commotion, you’d landed off your horse, onto the soft grass beneath you. the horse neighs, despite your desperate attempts to calm it down and steady, and flees, leaving you deserted, with nothing but the corpses of your fellow soldiers and the one to blame for their demise. you’re not sure why you’re not filled to the brim with as much anger as them, why your blades aren’t in your fists, and you’re not charging at her as blindly and as cruelly as you can muster. maybe you’re in shock, maybe you’re drowning in guilt — if you’d been faster at warning them, four deaths would’ve been easily avoided, they would still be here, with you, but you’re all alone. alone, in unknown land. unknown, and very dangerous land. 

your thumps loudly in your chest, mirroring your erratic breathing. the sun is too bright, worsening the gradual warm up of your body. you feel bothered, suffocated and overwhelmed. it’s not supposed to be this way. how did it all happen so quick? what good of a soldier were you if you weren’t able to react quickly, quickly enough to save your people? 

the sun is hidden again. you feel cooler, the shade eliminating one threat towards your body. when something heavy rests on your head, you’re reminded awfully of the actual, real threat. your head lolls back, body trembling pathetically and eyes wide and watery. she’s kneeling by you, your head resting between her thumb and index finger, and you think to yourself that this is really how it ends, your head crushed between a massive titan’s fingers, gone as quickly as the blink of an eye. 

and then you look into her eyes, and your heart sinks for the millionth time that day. 

the days that pass by after are a blur, a shocking blur. your brain and body aren’t responding accurately to each other, their reactions off. the information that you’re fed is overwhelming, but you don’t process it properly enough for the effect to linger long enough. 

all you remember hearing is annie, annie, annie.

you want to scream. 

somehow, amidst it all, a plan is formulated, and on a sunny morning, much like the one a few days past, you find yourself within wall sina, specifically, the stohess district. you’re not entirely sure why you walk by the most essential people of the plan, ranging from eren to mikasa to armin, but it had been some theory armin had thought up, and having trained with him, you’ve learned better than to trust his judgement. and with the four of you, is annie. 

annie, what have you done?

annie, is this real?

annie, lie to me. please.

you’re staring up at her from the lowest steps of a staircase leading to a tunnel, and her eyes — her eyes look so familiar like this, bright and blue and shining and beautiful and familiar. 

annie, with her beautiful blue eyes. 

you distinctly hear yourself plead for her to follow you down — annie please, please come with me — and you barely recognize the falter in her movements as she registers your voice, as she meets your eyes. 

annie, with her strong hands, picking you up always. 

the world shifts. it explodes around you, and it falls apart. slowly, you feel yourself pick apart at the seams, drifting away from yourself as you watch her emerge from the suffocating cloud of smoke. you feel a tug at your arm, but you can’t, you can’t. you’re rooted in your place, watching as she swings her arms and knocks away the attackers as if they were mere nuisances. 

annie, with her stupid desire to always be alone. 

— i want to be with you, i want to love you, annie, let me love you, annie, please, let my love you —

you’re lifted, too gently. it feels the same way you’d imagined flying through the clouds would be, with your body a little too light, your head a little fuzzy, with the blue enveloping you a warm blanket. except the blue is not the sky, it’s her, her, her. 

she holds you in her palm, and you stand, your hand outstretching towards her. you have seconds; you can hear the time ticking by you, almost in a mocking manner, and when your hand rests upon her cheek, she blinks slowly, and her eyes read i’m sorry. 

annie, with her beautiful blue eyes. 

annie, with her heart too big. 

annie, who you loved till you couldn’t breathe no longer. 

this time, your heart doesn’t sink. it simply breaks. 

end note; so fitting that i start off writing for aot with an angst one shot 

#attack on titan x reader #aot x reader #annie leonhardt #annie leonhart x reader #aot angst #attack on titan angst #annie x reader #aot annie

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

Sorry for the radio silence, had to take a bit of time off to finish coursework and stuff. I would like to get through this arc sooner rather than later, so here’s to hoping nothing else keeps me away.

(Also, just recently read someone’s twitter thread going through the same early content as I did, only with the original japanese printed manga, and I continue to be frustrated at my lack of knowledge of japanese language / culture that keeps me from accessing the root material. VIZ translation is just… not the same. orz)

[No. 19 - All Might]

We start out with an overhead view of All Might being held and the nomu being frozen in place under him (and halfway through the portal itself.) All Might comments on it being frosty, and concludes without looking that the source of said frost must be Todoroki - who is in fact nearby, with the ice trailing along the ground starting from under his right foot. 

All Might mentally admires the precise control, and how Todoroki just managed to avoid freezing All Might along with the nomu, and how thanks to that, the nomu’s grip is loosened. While he’s thinking that, All Might yanks himself out of the nomu’s grip and away, his side still trailing a bit of blood. 

(Actually, I wonder if this was the moment that All Might was thinking back on when he approached Endeavor during the sports festival to try and get tips for teaching the next generation. After all, Izuku’s main issue at this point in the story is his lack of control over a strong quirk, and All Might isn’t aware of the Todoroki Family Drama™ just yet.)

The next page is a double spread that’s basically a showdown between the hero side and villain side. 

I find it interesting that the two ‘leaders’ of the situation are on the opposite page of the spread from their helpers / minions, as well as how Shigaraki is on the opposite page from the heroes. When looking at it in a book proper (and not a scan on a webpage), this would give an even stronger sense of the divide between the sides in more than one way. The whole division between heroes and villains is also highlighted with the hero side all being on top - showing how the advantage has swung their way - while the bottom shows the villains who are all in bad positions now.

Oh man, you can also see the little teeny hero students watching from the top of the stairs - with just enough detail that you can tell the one in the front is supposed to be Ochako!

On the very left side of the spread, we see Shigaraki comment on how the villains’ way out is pinned down, and considers it a problem. Not a huge one, mind you, since he’s not really reacting much. 

Katsuki straightens his arm out as he starts mocking the villains for slipping up, and how it was just like he thought - the parts that Kurogiri can turn foggy in the warp gate are limited, and he uses the mist to hide his real body. We get a brief flashback to a few chapters ago, when Katsuki first attacked Kurogiri and the villain commented that ‘that was a close one,’ before present Katsuki continues to explain his observations - if Kurogiri’s whole body was mist and physical attacks, then Kurogiri would never have said something like that. 

Friendly reminder that this is not the last time we’re going to see that Katsuki’s just as much a quirk nerd as Izuku is. Probably saw Izuku’s skill at it as a challenge to overcome or something. 

Kurogiri groans and turns his head to stare at Katsuki. Katsuki tells him not to move, and that if he decides the villain is doing anything fishy, he’ll blow him straight to kingdom come.

Kirishima has about the right of it. That slasher smile, though, jesus kid, relax. 

Shigaraki comments on how not only have the heroes beaten the level, they’re all at full health. Today’s kids are really something - the league of villains should be ashamed! I feel like this is sort of pseudo-thoughtful and pseudo-mocking. Which I mean is basically all of his speech patterns as far as I can tell, so. Anyways, he turns to the nomu and tells it to take out ‘the explosive brat,’ since they need their escape route back. 

Shouto is shocked, and it’s not hard to tell why, as the nomu literally pulls itself out of the portal, losing most of its frozen right side as the deep-frozen bits literally crack and crumble away.

...and I just realized that if Shouto had done that to a normal human, that person would likely be dead from intense frostbite from how cold he had to make that ice to literally freeze the limbs deeply enough for them to crumble like that. Or maybe the nomu was designed to reject damaged material and regenerate, and so the damage was only just enough to hinder and not kill? Either way, Shouto is fucking intense, man. Like, jesus kid, calm down a bit. 

Izuku comments on how the nomu’s body is falling apart, but still moving. All Might has his arm out as he warns everyone back, before directing a comment to the villains that he thought the nomu’s quirk was shock absorption. As we see the nomu’s right side bulge and warp horrifically, Shigaraki states that he doesn’t remember saying that’s all the nomu can do, and that this (referring to the bulging new muscle and skin forming) is hyper-regeneration. He then states that the nomu is a super-powered living sandbag designed to withstand everything All Might has got, while the nomu charges in with its newly reformed limbs.

And so we get to another pretty awesome double spread:

(I had to pull this from a fan translation site because the site I generally use had this split up into two pages, which was a mess to look at and parse. The dialogue is basically the same though, besides Katsuki calling Izuku an idiot. In the VIZ translation, he just tells Izuku to shut up.)

But yeah, you can see the force of the nomu’s retaliatory punch in how it literally sends All Might flying back and the excess causing a brief windstorm. Truly designed to be All Might’s equal, that. Also, I suppose this is one scene where it’s hard to really convey how fast everything was happening in a manga format - like here, it seems like the nomu was just slow enough that Katsuki was starting to react, but with how fast the nomu and All Might are supposed to be here, I feel like he shouldn’t have had that time? I mean, I know this is just him finishing the reaction to Shigaraki’s words and not the nomu’s movement, but still.

Interesting as well to see how Izuku somehow first assumed Katsuki was fast enough to dodge the nomu, instead of assuming All Might did something the way he did when he was saving Izuku and the others from Shigaraki and the nomu. Izuku’s brain really is just in ‘kacchan sugoi’ mode at almost all times.

We next see the smoke from the damage of the attack clear enough to see All Might at the end, his feet having dug grooves in the ground in order to slow himself down before he hit a wall. His arms are braced for defense, and show the scrapes that he ended up taking from the force of the blow. He coughs up a bit more blood as he comments on how the nomu doesn’t know how to hold back. 

Meanwhile, Shigaraki notes that All Might took the hit for the kid. Out loud, he replies ‘anything to save a comrade, right?’ He then points to Izuku and notes how it’s like earlier, when ‘the plain one’ came at him with everything he had. But violence in the name of saving others is admirable, isn’t it? 

Shigaraki throws out his hands as he states how that pisses him off. Heroes and villains both thrive on violence, but one is considered good and the other evil. He mocked All Might’s ‘symbol of peace’ title, stating that the hero is just a tool for violence to keep ‘us’ down. (Dunno whether he is referring to villains or just people in general.) He then says that violence only breeds more violence, and he’ll show the world that by killing him.

All Might calls it a load of hooey (I bet he wanted to say bullshit, but was mindful of the kids being there), stating that idealistic criminals have a different sort of fire in their eyes. Shigaraki? He’s just enjoying himself. 

Shigaraki doesn’t disagree. 

(Man, I continue to be impressed with how well Hori is able to convey emotion just through the eyes. He really does seem gleeful at the situation.)

Anyways, I’m gonna call it here, even if there’s not really a ‘break’ in the action. See y’all next time for (heavy spoilers) All Might kicking the nomu’s ass. 

#chapter 19 #USJ Arc #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #readthrough #yagi toshinori #shigaraki tomura #bakugou katsuki #midoriya izuku #nomu #todoroki shouto #I would note that the spoilers thing is a joke #also the start of the ongoing trend of BNHA villains actually having a kernel of a legitimate point #except they're also extremists and murderers so like maybe they need chill pills #like yeah yeah down with the government #but have you all possibly considered therapy #or at leasy yoga or something

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: King-Size Annual Avengers #11: In Honor’s Name!

August, 1982

“Why do the AVENGERS battle the Defenders?”

I dunno, man. Is it Tuesday again?

“And who is the mystery woman Nebulon has fallen for?”

Nebulona? She’s clearly just him but a woman.

Oh, hey Beast. So this is where you got to after quitting the Avengers.

Soooo.... Annuals, amirite? Pain in my butt. I actually forgot to cover this one and #12 is going to be somewhat plot relevant soon so I’ll shove this in wherever.

Its a blast from the past of the previous year.  Back when the Avengers were fantastic but only numbered four: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and Wasp.

And the Defenders seem to number many so this isn’t a very fair fight at all.

This issue starts with a PRELUDE

(J. M. DeMatteis again? Is this going to be weird?)

Nebulon the Celestial Man and damn fine dresser fades onto a hilltop shaking his fist and yelling that someone can’t do something to him.

Nebulon is mostly a Defenders villain and the major thing I know about him is that he’s supposedly exceptionally handsome but the handsomeness is a ruse and that the Squadron Sinister stopped helping him destroy the world once because they discovered he wasn’t as handsome as he was letting on.

Goes to show where their priorities lie. Also, the experience was so jarring that the evil Nighthawk decided to join the Defenders much to their chagrin.

So basically I know nothing about Nebulon. Hi, Nebulon.

An angry yelly fish head with the Rocky Horror Picture Show lips inside its fish lips shows up (I think this is what Nebulon realy looks like) and tells Nebulon that his punishment for constantly dicking with Earth is to be stranded on Earth with his powers reduced to half and stuck in his handsome-to-some-but-grotesque-to-fish body.

Okay. That clears things up.

Although I wish all of space would stop using Earth as their place to dump stuff or exile people. Its bad enough when Asgard does it. Its worse enough when there’s a whole crossover about all of space deciding to make Earth its supermax jail. And its a medium amount enough here.

But apparently the shouty fish people have a Prime Directive and Nebulon keeps breaking it, specifically on Earth. But a Prime Directive that also lets them dump troublemakers on planets where they’ve been troublemaking.

Nebulon tries to defend himself that, hey, Earth makes you do crazy stuff. But the yell fish is hearing nothing of it and just tells Nebulon to kill himself if he doesn’t want to be on Earth so bad.

... Eesh.

In his rage at being stranded on Earth, Nebulon teleports inside the Sanctum Sanctorum and starts yelling at Wong.

Wong tells him, dude, Dr Strange isn’t even here. So Nebulon starts beating up Wong.

How dare you, sir. Wong is a great guy!

Nebulon: “Then Wong shall die -- just as your master shall soon die -- and his accursed Defenders with him! They shall all pay for bringing this tragedy down on my head! For, if they had not risen up to thwart me. If they -- if they... Listen to me. Listen to the words of -- a fool! Forgive me, Wong! Neither you, Strange, nor the Defenders are responsible! The blame belongs solely to -- NEBULON!”

And then he teleports away, no doubt leaving Wong very confused.

CHAPTER 1: IN HONOR’S NAME!

Later, Thor flies over the Himalaya mountains and over the chapter title.

He has come for some peace and quiet sitting on a mountain away from the bustle of mortals but what does he find but someone already in his thinking spot!

Thor lands to see who would be sitting on a mountain with no pants on and its Nebulon, of course.

But I have to say. He’s sitting and hugging his knees. That’s advanced brood. That’s, in fact, verging on pout.

Although lets not let the fact that Thor flies out to the Himalayas to be alone sometimes slip on by uncommented.

Thor asks what brings the guy out here and Nebulon has a dramatic exile speech ready to go.

Nebulon: “For hours now I have sat, lost in thought, pondering that very question! What is it that brings any creature to the depths of despair, the edge of doom, but... himself?”

And since he senses a kindred spirit in Thor, one who is as different from the Earthly masses as Nebulon is, he unloads his full story onto Thor’s ears.

Upon hearing all about this dude who tried to take over or sell the world multiple times, Thor is like ‘this guy has got to meet the Avengers!’

Nebulon thinks Avengers sounds like Defenders and he’s not into that but Thor says that the Avengers are way cooler than the Defenders.

(Ooooh, shots fired, Thor)

Thor: “No, my friend -- there are none in all creation to compare with the Avengers! A hardier band of warriors hath ne’er been assembled! Where else could a god walk among mortals and find -- his equals?”

If Nebulon has truly repented of his past deeds, the Avengers will help him make a home on Earth.

And with a manly armclasp, like the one from Predator, Nebulon accepts and Thor takes him AWAY!

While the person who looks like Nebulon but a woman and with better boots watches them go and disappears in a bright flash of light.

CHAPTER 2

Yes, already.

“Avengers Mansion... Over the years, many fantastic beings have walked through the doors of this august Manhattan townhouse: Gods, mutants, androids... even a were-woman. But, of all these unique individuals, few -- if any -- have been more honored, more respected... More willing to serve the cause of freedom, wherever the place, whenever the time.. than the living legend whose only powers are his wits, his daring, and his years of hard-won skill... Captain America!”

And we see Cap leaping and gamboling about the exercise room, exercising.

Cap: “Ah -- there’s nothing like a good workout to make a man feel truly alive! It might pay to run through it once more, though --- my timing was a hair off on the parallel bars!”

Wasp comes in to... well, its Wasp. She comes to eye the eye candy and flirt a little, in a friendly fashion.

Wasp: “I see you’re here early for our meeting -- as usual! Don’t you ever slow down?”

Cap: “I seem to remember catching a few winks back in 1942 or so!”

Wasp: “Why, Cap -- that was two jokes in a row! I didn’t think you had it in you!”

Cap: “Oh, come on, Jan -- I’m not really that serious a guy, am I?”

Wasp: “I was just kidding, handsome.”

Cap: “Oh.”

Heh.

So, Thor called a super special emergency meeting of the Avengers to introduce his cool new friend.

Iron Man (secretly Tony Stark, true believers) is a little tense about the meeting because he had to cancel three business conferences, an address to foreign stockholders, and two dates.

Geez, for one meeting? You ever consider your calendar is way too packed, Tony?

Thor arrives with his cool, new pal and introduces the Avengers to NEBULON -- THE CELESTIAL MAN!

And Iron Man lunges out of his chair to get into better pointing distance.

Thor: “What irks thee, comrade? Why art thou so angered?”

Iron Man: “What irks me, Thor? He does! Haven’t you ever bothered to study our computer-file on alien threats? Your ‘newfound ally’ almost totalled the Earth -- several times!”

Nebulon: “Don’t you see, Thor? They react as I predicted they would!”

Also, geez. I know Tony is frustrated about all the schedule juggling he’s had to do but in this and the Black Knight two-parter he’s a lot ruder to Thor than you’d expect considering how close they are.

Some writers just don’t get the Avengers, I guess.

Cap and Wasp try to get Iron Man to calm down.

Wasp: “I’m sure there’s a darn good reason why Thor brought Nebulon here -- isn’t there?”

She’s downright staring daggers at him when she asks that.

We’ve jumped back in time a little from where I was covering but Jan is still the chairperson of the Avengers. It happened right when she returned from her divorce related hiatus and this four person group has to take place post-Tigra leaving and pre-membership drive.

So, she’s the boss and she just gave angry boss eyes at Thor. And Thor did his default squinting always-looks-pissed look back at her.

Thor tells Nebulon’s whole sad story off-panel.

And damn if it doesn’t hit the Avengers right where they live.

Wasp tells him that they all know what it means to lose something precious “whether it’s an entire world... or the love of one person -- it makes no difference! It hurts to suddenly find yourself -- alone!”

And Captain America sympathizes because when he was defrosted after twenty years, it was like a strange new world!

They’re both on team ‘give Nebulon a chance!’

Iron Man is more reluctant but decides to give Nebulon one chance.

Then the Defenders bust in.

Beast, Valkyrie, Silver Surfer, and Gargoyle who is not Etrigan at all.

And they’re here to kick Nebulon’s ass. Which is entirely fair considering that they’ve been the ones who keep having to stop Nebulon’s planschemes.

Since the Avengers seem to not be beating up Nebulon, obviously they’ve all been mind controlled. Nebulon is clearly planning to blow up half the Earth and use the Avengers to control the rest.

Cap: ‘what’

Silver Surfer: ‘HE’S MAKING A HOSTILE MOVE!’

And then Silver Surfer blasts the floor, sending all of the Avengers sprawling every which way.

MEANWHILE, IN SPACE

There’s a huge spaceship, in space. And within the huge spaceship in space, the lady who looks like a lady Nebulon watches the fight on a screen and cries.

Hey, I get it. Doing the Avengers vs Defenders Again But Worse makes me sad too.

CHAPTER 3

See, that’s more of the length for a chapter. You could learn something from chapter 2, chapter 1.

Anyway, the clock winds back a little for the Defender’s side of the story.

Valkyrie returns to the Sanctum Sanctorum in a good mood and also on a flying horse.

For a long while, Valkyrie’s status quo is that she was inhabiting the body of Barbara Norris, a woman that Dr Strange accidentally drove insane. But she’s gotten her original Asgardian body back so she’s stronger than ever and also not bodyjacking someone else.

She flies into the window, alarming Gargoyle, Beast, and Wong.

Gargoyle tearfully flies up and hugs Valkyrie saying that he thought she was leaving for Asgard forever.

Hey, um, who dis?

-wiki- Ok so he’s an elderly man who was trapped in a gargoyle body by some demons who he broke an agreement with. Cool, cool, cool. I would have guessed much younger based on how he acts here.

Valkyrie also smooshes Beast’s hand when he gives her a handshake hello, because she’s much buffer than she was when she left. Also, she talks more like Thor.

Valkyrie: “I am, at long last, the true Valkyrie! What more need be said?”

Then the Lady Nebulon teleports in and introduces herself as Supernalia. She tells the Defenders that she’s here to save the world from the evil of NEBULON!

Beast doesn’t recognize the name but Valkyrie definitely does. What with all the existing history that I keep alluding to.

Supernalia: “Indeed! I am a bounty hunter from Nebulon’s homeworld come to bring him to justice! He has fled to your Earth, taking sanctuary among the so-called Avengers! Using celestial mind control, he has usurped their will, and -- after decimating part of your world with four pre-set anti-matter bombs -- he plans to use the Avengers to take control of the surviving population!”

Beast goes ‘uh cool story but i’mma verify this real quick by ringing them up’

But then he remembers he already did do that and they were very rude to him!

He remembers this interaction very clearly even though it didn’t happen at all.

Ironically, the Defenders are the ones who are being mind-controlled into accusing other people of being mind-controlled. Yes, I’m pretty sure that’s irony.

Wong suddenly remembers that Nebulon rushed in the previous night but he can’t remember how that interaction actually went.

AH HAH, decides Beast. Clearly proof that Nebulon mind-controlled Wong. Lets go half-cocked everyone.

No, no. Beast decides they’ll need more than just the three of them and wonders who they should call to bolster their numbers to a whole four Defenders. Dr Strange is busy chasing Daimon Hellstrom and Namor soooo...

Valkyrie suggests Silver Surfer because he kicks ass but they have no way to get in contact with him.

Supernalia goes hey allow me.

Supernalia: “Although my planet’s laws forbid direct involvement with alien cultures -- and thus my need of you Defenders -- I can help!”

And she baps Valkyrie in the forehead and instantly transmissions Silver Surfer right to the Sanctum to his existential annoyance.

Silver Surfer: What force has swept me halfway ‘round the world? Who toys with -- the Silver Surfer?”

Valkyrie explains off-panel because this is very much “let me explain! No, there is too much. Let me sum up” kind of day.

CHAPTER 4

We cut back to right after the Silver Surfer knocked everyone on their ass with a warning shot.

Thor: “Surfer -- art thou mad?! Thy ‘warning’ came close to slaying us all!”

Thor gets up to kick Norrin’s rad ass but Valkyrie grabs his arm. She tries to convince him to trust her that Nebulon is controlling the Avengers. She appeals to their shared history, their shared love.

Thor: “Brunnhilde -- thou art truly the one blinded... by thine own prejudice! Because, once, Nebulon stood as thine enemy -- thou takest him for that again!”

Valkyrie: “Thunderer -- once I loved thee -- but now I see -- that thou art -- A FOOL!”

Then she just up and tosses him.

It’s pretty great.

Thor just rights himself midtoss by helicoptering his hammer and tells Valkyrie that she’s the fool. And also that because she fucking threw him, now he knows that its her group that are under some kind of control.

Nebulon starts yelling too because he’s not going to sit by while other people fight his battle so he’s like ‘come on if you’re hard enough, dickfenders’ and Beast is like ‘ok.’

Wasp, team leader, thinks Thor is onto something re: the Defenders being against some kind of influence and asks Iron Man to create a distraction so the Avengers can skedaddle.

Iron Man has the perfect distraction and fires the UNIBEEEEAM. At his own roof, collapsing it on the Defenders.

Iron Man: “Wait till Tony gets the bill for this!”

... so depending on the time frame, either only Nebulon or both him and Wasp are the only ones who don’t know Iron Man is Tony so who are you putting on a show for, Tony?

Or maybe you’re just so used to grousing about the Avengers breaking your shit that you do it even when you do it.

Anyway, since Thor has a hunch that the Defenders are being controlled, he decides that the best thing is to teleport somewhere safe and make a plan.

So Nebulon teleports himself and the Avengers to the Himalayas where he and Thor first met.

The effort nearly kills Nebulon, since his powers have been curtailed by the yell fish. But now they have some space.

Wasp: “And don’t think we don’t appreciate it, Nebulon! But couldn’t you have zapped us to a more temperate climate -- like the Bahamas... or the French Riviera? It mean, it’s COLD here!”

Cap hopes that the Defenders won’t find them somewhere so remote and isolated but Thor, whose idea this was by the by, isn’t so sure because they don’t know who is pulling the strings.

Iron Man: “Good point! Are we dealing with one of our old foes -- one of the Defenders’ -- or perhaps someone out for Nebulon’s head! Let’s face it: we’ve got a wide field to choose from!”

Annnnnnd thennnnn, the Defenders just show up anyway so trying to get some breathing room was a waste of Nebulon’s efforts.

Beast: “Cap, Thor, Iron Man, Jan! You’re all my friends... more than that -- you’re family! So why won’t you believe me when I tell you that this nut’s gonna wipe the whole planet out in a matter of hours! Please -- hand him over or --.”

Nebulon: “Or... NOTHING!”

Then he shoots an energy blast at the Defenders.

Which sadly arcs to the ground with a SHOOOM! and does little more than splash some snow on the Defenders.

But awwww, Beast considers the Avengers family! Shame that once the X-Men pull him back into their orbit, he only hangs out with them and decides never to ask the Avengers for help, either when Professor X gets shot by Stryfe or when trying to solve the Legacy Virus.

I think that social group is a bad influence on Beast. He never broke time or pretended to be gay to dunk on his ex when he was an Avenger. He just got high, practiced polyamory, and yukked it up with his bffsie Wonder Man.

Anyway, Silver Surfer gets up and disses Nebulon for his sad laser blast.

Silver Surfer: “Like all who seek conquest, Nebulon -- you refuse to recognize truth! You alter reality to serve your own malefic ends! But the power you no wield, tyrant, is as nothing compared to that which you once had! You are weak -- as Supernalia said you would be!”

Nebulon is aghast to hear that Supernalia is the one behind all of this. And also aghast when Gargoyle shoots a bio-mystic bolt at him.

Apparently, Gargoyle can shoot bio-mystic bolts. Are there mystic bolts that are not bio? Shrug.

CHAPTER 5

Hey, some of these chapter divisions feel arbitrary. We go from the fight to the fight. At least some other chapter divisions had scene or temporal shifts.

Cap begs the Defenders to fight off Supernalia’s influence. Or the Avengers will fight off Supernalia’s influence for them. Probably via punches.

For whatever reason, this makes Valkyrie go stickycaps.

Valkyrie: “The hour of Earth’s doom draws ever closer -- and, to prevent that doom, we will do whate’er we must! wHaTeVeR wE mUsT!”

Mystifying.

Anyway, with both sides thinking the other side are dumb easily mind-controlled doodoo heads, they both get to the slugfest that neither side wants but thinks there’s no other way to reach the other side but by punching some sense into them.

This panel feels like a microcosm of a lot of Marvel events.

And as this goes on Nebulon just watches the fight with calculating eyes.

I’m sure that’s fine.

Thor and Valkyrie continue sparring verbally, as well as with punches. Valkyrie asks how Thor can let Midgard be destroyed when they both love it so much. And Thor is like ‘for the last time, there’s no danger except from your mysterious new golden pal’

Meanwhile, the Defender’s mysterious new golden pal Supernalia is monitoring the fight from her spaceship. And monitoring the Defenders’ brainwaves.

Thor is actually making Valkyrie doubt. And Supernalia can’t have that.

Supernalia: “I cannot afford to lose control of the Defenders now! For honor’s sake, their rage must grow! And more -- they must retain a psychological surety that cannot be breached! In Valkyrie’s case, the introduction of something... familiar -- something to increase her confidence -- would seem appropriate!”

So Supernalia teleports Valkyrie’s sweet flying horse Aragorn to just. Appear on the Himalayas. Between Valkyrie and Thor.

Valkyrie doesn’t know how her horse suddenly appeared but she’s not going to look a gift teleporting winged horse in the mouth. She jumps on his back and takes to the air.

Thor gets pissed and hammerflings himself after her.

While Thor is chasing Valkyrie around the sky, Iron Man squares up with Silver Surfer.

Silver Surfer tells Iron Man that “you see to halt one who has outraced comets! Soared faster than light itself!” and basically that he rules, Iron Man sucks. And then to prove it, he blasts Iron Man with the power cosmic.

Just that one attack nearly tore Iron Man apart and he’s pretty sure that Silver Surfer was holding back. Oof, that’s some power gap.

BUT MAYBE just maybe if Iron Man puts all of his might into one staggering punch...

It’ll do jack shit to the Surfer.

Well, damn.

Gargoyle fights Wasp but says its not proper for a man to fight a lady. Wasp points out ‘hey you’re fighting me anyway so maybe someone is making you do it.’

Gargoyle: ‘.... NUH UH’

Cool. Good talk.

Supernalia: “This Gargoyle is too... soft! His mind accepts -- but his heart rebels! These beings are not like us! Their minds are filled with too many questions! Their souls overflow with conflicting emotions!”

I can’t believe humans (and Asgardians) have too many feelings and emotions to be easily controlled.

Well, I can believe. It really checks out.

So Supernalia increases the celestial mindwaves to shore up her control, even if it means burning out the Defenders.

Rude.

Thor blasts Valkyrie off of Aragorn with lightning and then catches her, saying he won’t let her fall. So, reasonably enough, Valkyrie elbows him in the face for treating her like a damsel.

They both fall toward the ground. Aragorn catches Valkyrie and Thor catches... a cosmic bolt from Silver Surfer.

You had one job, Iron Man.

And that job was to sneak up on Silver Surfer while he’s self-flagellating for doing a shameful opportunistic attack on Thor.

Iron Man uses those... hip... power pod... things. To zap Silver Surfer’s temples and siphon off some of his power.

And with that power, Iron Man tips a chunk of the mountain on top of Silver Surfer.

This doesn’t keep the Surfer down for long. Despite the fact that trying to contain the incredible surfing energies he absorbed threatens to damage his armor, Iron Man absorbs more when Silver Surfer blasts him, to try to turn the energy back at the Surfer.

Instead, they both explode.

Double KO.

Elsewhere in the fight, Gargoyle blasts Wasp with his bio-mystic bolts, knocking her into the snow.

Gargoyle panics because his bio-mystic bolts are supposed to drain off a fraction of a person’s life-force, not up and kill them.

So Gargoyle shouldn’t have been surprised when Wasp pops back up and zaps him in the chin. And Wasp shouldn’t have been surprised when Gargoyle zaps her back.

She passes out. But so does Gargoyle, to his confusion. His hide should be tough enough to take a truckload of punishment, yet he suddenly feels so weak.

I mean. Wasp is strong enough to blow up a house with her own zaps. But this is probably intended to be Supernalia’s mind control burning him out.

I choose to believe that its Wasp’s cool house-blowing-up might. She’s kicked bigger ass than Gargoyle.

Wasp’s defeat scream momentarily distracts Cap from where he’s fisticuffsing with Beast.

Beast: “Holy cow! I hope she’s not badly hurt!”

Cap: “You hope she’s not -- ?! You can still say that after all you’ve done today? After all the pain this Supernalia has driven the Defenders to cause?”

Beast: “We’ve caused? You’re the ones harboring the lunatic with the anti-matter bombs --.”

There’s no guilt-tripping some people.

Cap throws his mighty shield but Beast must not have heard the song because he not only doesn’t yield, he also catches the shield with his feets.

Then he sleds on it down a snowy incline and tackles Cap.

Beast: “It’s time we quit all this clowning around!”

Cap: “That’s right, Hank! This is serious business -- so hit me! Hit me, blast you! HIT ME!”

Beast: “Hey! wHaT tHe HeCk Am I dOiNg?”

Cap: “Coming to your senses, I hope!”

Beast realizes that Cap dropped his guard and let Beast beat the shit out of him on purpose, let Beast almost kill him.

Cap: “You’re no killer, Hank! And no force, however great, could make you kill! I counted on that fact to snap you out of it!”

Wow, good going, Cap!

Out of everyone here, you’re the only one who successfully snapped anyone out of anything. Although I think Wasp coulda if she had played possum and let Gargoyle think he killed her instead of popping up to zap him.

But Cap has insight into Hank. That probably helped.

Me and Jan know jack about Gargolye.

CHAPTER 6

With exactly two people conscious but not fighting anymore, Nebulon is like ‘hah eat shit Supernalia’

So Supernalia appears.

Beast feels like he’s about to keel over even though he beat the shit out of Cap and Cap feels weaker too. They blame Supernalia because its very easy to blame someone whose fault everything is.

But Supernalia blames Nebulon.

Nebulon slams a drama bomb in response.

Nebulon: “Do not seek to reclaim the upper hand with more lies, Supernalia! Such sophistry is unbecoming in... my wife!”

I heard that in Borat voice and I hate myself a little.

But now that Supernalia’s relation to Nebulon has been established, Nebulon is like ‘but why are you trying to ruin my exile?’

Supernalia: “You were convicted of high crimes, my husband -- and the sentence was a choice of honorable death by your own hand... or ignominious exile! In 500 generations, none of our people have ever chosen exile! All have proudly faced extinction! But you, lacking courage, brought shame upon your wife and children!”

HE HAS KIDS??

Anyway, she came to Earth to just. Kinda. Kill him. To restore honor to their family.

But when she got there, she found that he had already made friends and decided well I need some pawns of my own. So I can kill him.

Nebulon isn’t really impressed because in his one day as an exile, he’s had some epiphanies.

Nebulon: “Unlike you, I have traveled far across this universe! I have learned to see in new ways! Our concepts of honor are archaic! Our laws are cruel! I now dare to dream higher dreams, for I have learned what it means to have -- friends!”

Supernalia: “I have been your friend... and much more! Since our childhood betrothal have I stood by you -- despite your constant avoidance of responsibilities! Despite your failure to achieve glory or rank!”

Oof, imagine if your childhood friend and spouse told you that being exiled on Earth taught him what friendship really means.

I have to imagine that Cap and Beast are just listening to this like ‘god why do cosmic people always have to dump their relationship baggage on Earth?’

Supernalia then tries to tell Beast and Cap that Actually Nebulon is up to no good.

Beast is like yeah nice try.

But this time Supernalia has actual proof evidence.

She dispels the invisibility cloak hiding the Ennui Device that Nebulon left on a prior trip to Earth and is now using to drain energy from the Avengers and Defenders to beef himself up.

Now, Cap and Beast turn to Nebulon like ‘but buddy, why?’ and also to punch him a little bit, in a friendly manner.

Nebulon: “I did what I had to -- to survive! Believe me -- I truly wanted the friendship you offered -- but observing the unfolding battle, I realized I could never find peace on this or any world -- without the POWER!”

And this rude boy who doesn’t understand what friendship means punches both Cap and Beast.

Beast sprawls right at Supernalia’s feet completely burned out and goes hey feel like stepping in??

Supernalia: “I can do nothing directly, Beast. I am not permitted to interfere!”

Beast: “You... stupid... self-deluding... idiots! Don’t you understand that all this has happened... because you already have... interfered?!?!”

Supernalia: “So           I              have!”

And since now she’s done the big bad transgress of the Prime Directive, she decides that unlike her shitbird husband, she’s going to do the honorable thing and kill herself.

I. Have no words. At this entire exchange.

Its too much.

Nebulon is distraught so slaps the gun out of her hand and begs her to instead of killing herself, not do that. She could stay on Earth and rule at his side!

This latest bout of cosmic interpersonal drama gives Cap the opportunity to muster his strength and throw his mighty shield.

It deflects the ray emitter of the Ennui Device so it hits Nebulon instead of the Avengerdefenders.

Except, oops, the Ennui Beam was calibrated for “humanoid physio-psycho energies” so instead of draining his energy, the Ennui Beam just straight up starts killing Nebulon.

Amazing how you can stretch vocabulary to encompass humans, Asgardians, mutants, power cosmic imbued Zenn-Lavians, and whatever demonic biz is going on with the Gargoyle.

It sure is amazing how it affects all these different things as intended but its accidentally fatal in a way that will help wrap up the story.

Beast wet noodle jumps to try to redirect the beam and save Nebulon but Supernalia shoves him out of the way and then jumps into the beam herself.

Supernalia: “Thus, I join my husband -- in oblivion!”

Geez, when she sets her mind to killing herself, she sticks with it

.__.

Nebulon agrees that Actually This is the Right and Correct Course for them, I guess because couple counseling is a hassle.

Then the Ennui Device overloads and explodes and Nebulon and Supernalia turn to their true forms of giant weird fish people with Rocky Horror Picture Show lips inside fish lips.

Beast laments that Supernalia didn’t just let him save both of them but she’s like ‘HONORRR’ and then dies.

Thor: “I called Nebulon friend and he decieved me! Yet now -- Thor mourns his passing!”

Silver Surfer: “What manner of beings were they, to cherish honor so much... and value life so little?”

Cap: “Perhaps, Surfer -- not so different from us. Not so different -- at all!”

Okay, shut up your face, Cap.

First off, I don’t think much of an honor code that says its okay to mind control and lie to people and use them as pawns in a way that could kill them but then also goes ‘this is an honorable death’ when you stupid yourself to death.

And neither should you! Don’t put a poetic, poignant spin on things! This whole affair was a weird couples spat that two space weirdos forced you to participate in!

Follow @essential-avengers​ because I went back and covered an inconsequential annual and now I can’t go back and not do that. I wasted my time for you. Also, like and reblog. I need positive reinforcement. It makes me happy.

#Avengers #Defenders #Nebulon #Supernalia #Thor #Iron Man #Captain America #the Wasp #Beast #Valkyrie #Silver Surfer #Gargoyle #whoever that is #essential marvel liveblogging #essential avengers #this is like when a couple tries to get you to choose sides in a very public fight they're having #its unnecessary and uncomfortable and awkward for everyone

[more-miserables]

Here We Go: Yates and Ginger on the Run

Hi this is actually @cubeswhump editing on April’s blog. That’s why there’s a title, and why it’s so bad. 

So this is a collab with moi, Cube. We’ve had this planned since even before April’s first whump fic.

Warning for abuse, death, institutionalized slavery, vomiting, trauma response.

The life of a runaway was far from glamorous. Ginger remembered daydreaming while he scrubbed endless floors and windows, picturing himself living with Yates in a calm, peaceful woodland, cradled every night by the soft ferns and leaf litter. 

The city wasn’t calm or safe. Ginger didn’t stop running for a long time, hauling Yates along, until they were both gasping and red in the face. They dipped into a dark alleyway and Ginger ripped off his collar right away, grinning. It felt liberating. He tossed it away gleefully. 

“Get rid of yours too,” he told Yates. 

Yates didn’t react. His eyes were blank, though a steady stream of tears were pouring down his flushed cheeks. Ginger went to remove Yates’s collar himself, sighing. Yates didn’t fight him off, but he whimpered. 

“Look, you can keep it if you really want to. You just can’t wear it, or it’ll be obvious we’re runaways.” He balled up the collar and stuffed it into Yates’s pocket. 

They camped out in the alley that night, curled together under a nest of old newspapers - and that’s where they stayed for the next few days. Yates stayed in his weird catatonic funk, so it was Ginger who had to find them food and clothes and some sort of housing. It was harder than he’d thought. He knew so little about the outside world now. He learned to hang around market stalls, snatching at their displays and then running off with whatever loot he’d managed to grab. 

He couldn’t properly treat his burned palm now. He couldn’t even wash it properly. It soon grew more painful than ever, weeping through the grubby bandages. Then Ginger woke with a fever, and he couldn’t drag himself up to go find food. Yates snapped out of himself enough to cradle Ginger’s burning head in his lap, stroking his hair. 

Ginger peered up at Yates’s pale, grubby face through the fever haze. How would Yates manage if he died now? Maybe Stanley really was dead. Maybe they’d lock Yates up. He didn’t know if pets who committed crimes were refurbished or incarcerated. He pictured Yates stuck in prison all alone, crying for him. He couldn’t die. He could fight off anything. He had to. 

The first time Ginger heard it, he was emerging from a dream where he was being chased by something bulky, heavy. Clomp, clomp. It continued when he woke up but softer. They huddled together frightfully, but the sound became smaller and smaller.

When it came again the next night, Ginger dared to look, and blanched when the figure looked back. It was gone the next night, but the night after that the clomps paused much too close to their hideout. And then they resumed, coming right toward them.

“What is that?” Ginger gasped. 

“Maybe it’s the police,” Yates said shakily. “Because I’m a murderer.” He gave a little sob. 

“You’re not. Stanley just fell,” Ginger declared. 

“Shh!”

The footsteps stopped right in front of them, and a bright light shone in their faces. When Ginger dared give his fiercest glare through his fever-flushed face and squinting, he met big, blue eyes and shimmering glitter.

"Aha! Thought so," said this odd girl, long, black hair nearly touching their faces as she bent right over them. 

“Go away! I… I’ve got a weapon,” Ginger lied as savagely as possible. 

“Do you?” Yates gasped. “Where’d you get that?”

Ginger sighed heavily. 

The snort was too loud for the girl. She set her phone down on the dirty ground, its flashlight shining toward the sky, and sat right in the alleyway with them in her clean jeans.

"Hiya there, Tweedledee and Dum." Her accent was on the brink of familiarity but impossible to place, and nothing like those of Stanley or Ivy or anyone at the facility. "Don't make those faces. We're comrades."

“Those aren’t our names. You must be mistaking us for someone else,” Ginger said. 

Her face changed to something between a laugh and a grimace. "Righto. Mister and Mister fifty-sixty-ten?"

“That’s… not quite our number,” Yates whispered. 

“Shh!” Ginger hissed. “Don’t tell her.”

She paused, tilting her head, then rolled back the sleeve of her big coat.

"See this?" she asked, tapping on one of the big, green serpentine creature wrapping all around her forearm. The sparkly nail touched upon a segment covering her inner wrist. Ginger rubbed his eyes, trying to see clearly. His vision had been wobbly for a while now. She pointed the flashlight at it. 

He frowned. “There’s nothing there..?”

"'Xactly. Numbers aren't forever, love," she said, the bright light dancing around as she pulled her sleeve back down over the tattoo.

“You mean you were one of us?” Yates asked. 

"Bingo," she said, pointing at him. "C'mon, up up. You can get warmed up at my place while I make a few calls, yeah?"

She paused, head tilting to one side. She added, "You're probably not too keen on trusting a stranger, one of your own or not, but Little Red here ain't lookin' so hot, and I don't think you've many options." 

“He isn’t,” Yates said desperately. “I can’t get his temperature to go down. Can you really help us?”

"Yep, sure. You able to walk, Little Red?" She stood up, shining her phone at him. The light also illuminated the height of the platforms of her weather-inappropriate shoes, and it was clear what the clomping was.

“I dunno. Haven’t tried in a couple of days.” Ginger shakily got to his knees, and Yates helped him up the rest of the way. 

"You got it?" she asked.

“I think so.” He paused. “Why’d you wear shoes like that? They look uncomfortable.” Neither Yates nor Ginger had shoes at all, their bare feet cut and filthy. 

"Uniform, of sorts. I don't feel like carrying an extra pair of shoes to put on when I'm done with work."

“What job makes you wear shoes like that?”

"Tell ya later," she said, unzipping her jacket and tossing it to them. Despite the chill, she seemed fine in the tank top underneath. "Anyway, I'm Jamie. You guys got any name preferences for yourself?"

Yates opened his mouth, but Ginger shook his head quickly. Maybe Stanley’s “accident” had been on the news. They didn’t want to be tied to his surname. “Not anymore,” Ginger said. 

She seemed more cautious when they entered a neighborhood, looking at the windows of all the houses. It was nothing like Stanley's neighborhood, junker cars in tiny driveways and people shouting with open doors.

"Well, that's something to think about. You've got plenty of time though."

“We shouldn’t be out in the open,” Ginger hissed. He was still trying to look threatening, though that was difficult to pull off when he was leaning heavily on Yates just to stay standing. 

"No duh, but we don't have much of a choice," she muttered, pulling out a smartphone and typing away on it. "My house isn't far from here."

“Who are you texting? You’re not turning us in, are you? Is this a trick?”

"Can you read? Genuine question, I know lots of us can't. I'll show you the conversation, I'm just telling my mate we're havin' company." 

“I… a little bit. He can’t.” He pointed at Yates. “I’m not good at… being us.”

She held the phone out to Ginger, showing a text conversation with someone called Vivi:

Get bread read a green bubble, and then, And strawberries.

The following white bubble said: I'm already on our street. Needy cunt.

There was another white bubble with a later timestamp, seemingly unrelated to the previous exchange: Bringing some blokes over.

Green: Wtf - followed by a crying face emoji.

White: Chill, they're cool.

“What’s this word?” Ginger asked, pointing to the Wtf message. “There’s no vowels. Why doesn’t it have vowels?”

"Acronym or anagram or something. Each letter stands for a different word, in this case it means 'what the fuck'." 

“Oh. She doesn’t seem too pleased that we’re coming.”

"She's shy, not angry. She'll just hide in her room," Jamie said, pocketing her phone. And she walked down an empty driveway, not allowing them much time to process this response. 

“This is your house?” Ginger asked. He sounded relieved but breathless, his face waxy pale and sweaty. 

"Yep. Mi caso- casa, su casa," she said, trying the doorknob before patting her pockets for the key. She swung it open and kicked off her shoes very loudly, both thumping against a stained wall. She was about the same height as Yates now, possibly smaller if she washed out her hairspray. 

"Hey Vivs!" she yelled to no one in sight. Ginger winced at the noise, closing his eyes against the bright light. Everything hurt. 

"You guys wanna shower?" she asked, and gestured toward the bathroom. "You should prob'ly get cleaned up and then we'll see what we can do about that fever. We prob'ly have some pyjamas that won't fit too terribly." 

“I wanna sleep,” Ginger muttered. It was getting harder for Yates to keep him upright. 

"Uh, sure." She gestured for him to follow as she walked into the tiny living room. The furniture was surprisingly nice, and the TV looked gigantic against the wall. 

"So, do we know what's causin' the fever and general… drowsiness? I haven't heard you coughing or sniffing." Her voice never seemed to lose volume, just as loud as she disappeared through a doorway. 

“I think he has an infection,” Yates said. “He’s got a terrible burn and we couldn’t get it properly treated.”

She appeared again with two glasses of water, setting both on the silver coffee table that was squished in between the sofa and the stand the TV sat on. "Can I take a look?"

“No,” Ginger muttered, looking uncomfortable. “It’s gross.”

"Don't you want me to put somethin' on it until we can have it properly looked at?" 

“Well… The bandages could use a change.”

She paused. "Would you be more comfortable if I gave your buddy the supplies so he can do it?"

“Yes,” Ginger said quickly. “I need him to do it.”

She disappeared in a different direction this time. Cabinets opened and closed with thumps.

"Viv, what shit do I use for an infected burn? Hey, where are bandages?"

Footsteps, this small girl impossibly loud in her bare feet. "What do I use for an infected burn and where do I find it?"

The response, if there was one, was inaudible but after some more thumping, Jamie emerged with a tube of antiseptic and bandages. "One sec, I'll get you soap and water. Oh, a towel too. Vivien says to wash first and pat it dry, then…"

She went on as she disappeared into the kitchen. Yates tried to follow her and Ginger stumbled, not expecting the movement. They ended up in a heap on the carpet. 

"No, I'll get a bowl! Wait!" She reached toward them as if to just yank up two grown men, but she stopped herself. She straightened out and offered a hand instead. 

Yates went to take it, but then Ginger bent over and puked on the carpet. Yates’s face crumpled and he quickly positioned himself in front of Ginger, hunching over him protectively. “I’m sorry! It’s not his fault. He’s been vomiting for the past few days.”

"Uh, yeah, that happens." She was suddenly a bit quieter, smile not quite reaching her eyes. "Yeah, I'm gonna… can I help you get him on the sofa?" 

“Please. I can’t… I don’t think he can stand anymore.” Yates was near tears. “He’s been like this for a while and I hate that I can’t do anything. He tries to push himself for me but then this happens.”

The corner of her lip twitched. "I get that."

She knelt down and gripped Ginger under his arms, dragging him up. Her brows knitted together, teeth grit, but she managed to frog march him to the sofa and forced him into a sitting position. Yates sat beside him and held his shoulders when he started slumping forwards. Ginger was barely conscious now, his eyes glazed and half-closed. 

The hours were a blur, soap and antiseptic and coaxing painkillers and water down Ginger's throat while he was still pliable. Jamie was all over the place but the faceless Vivien never made an appearance. By the time they’d finished, Ginger was asleep - or unconscious. 

And then Yates was stirring, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. When did he fall asleep, and how long? It was almost pitch black save for a light from the hall.

After a quick check that Ginger was still breathing, he heard it: mumbled voices from down that hall. He carefully moved off the sofa, silent in his bare feet, and crept towards the noise and the light. He peered through the crack in the door. 

"Just- okay," Jamie said, trying to control her volume as it started to rise. "If you're goin' to be fookin' useless, just give me David's number."

"What's she saying?" This voice was unfamiliar, and effortlessly quieter than Jamie's. "Jamie, what's she saying?"

"She thinks a phone call will put her safehouse in danger. She's worked with countless o' us and she's too chickenshit to take on a pair that's got in a bitta trouble. What? Murderer? Marianne, that's blimey unfair to call him that! Just give us David's number!"

Yates started shaking at the word. Murderer murderer murderer. Was Stanley dead then? Did people know about it already? He hadn’t really meant to push Stanley - or he hadn’t planned it, at least. When Stanley had been ranting and raving about how he was going to split him and Ginger up, something in Yates just snapped. Stanley was hovering right there, tantalisingly close to the perilous staircase. He pushed without thinking. But he’d still pushed. He was a murderer. 

"Jamie, they'll hear you! You're so loud!"

"Mar, just… Vivi, can you go check on them?"

"No fear!"

Yates was trying to stay quiet, but murderer was still spinning in his head. A little whimper slipped out before he could stop it. 

There was a beat of silence that seemed to last for hours. 

"Hold on, gimme a sec. And you better not fookin' hang up."

The door opened slowly. A girl with a puff of frizzy brown hair and gigantic eyes stared from the bed, but she faded to the background. The girl standing before him was almost unrecognizable with her black hair lying limply and makeup washed off; no contouring giving the impression of high cheekbones, eyebrows and eyelashes almost nonexistent at a glance for they were so pale. But the voice was unmistakably Jamie.

"Hey, so you heard that. That's fair, it is your business, but… this prob'ly wasn't the best way to start the discussion."

“You promised you wouldn’t turn us in,” Yates gasped. He felt like all the air in the room had been sucked out, and he gasped frantically. “You said you were on our side! But now they’ll come for us and split us up.”

"No one's turnin' anyone in. Come sit down, you look ready to faint."

“I h-heard you say it. You called me murderer,” Yates whispered. 

"No, I was sayin' that you're not, I know the kinda circumstances…"

“We’ve got nowhere to go,” Yates said, starting to sob frantically. “I don’t know what to do!”

"Listen, listen. There's people who help us when we escape. There are places for us to stay. And I'm tryin' to get you to one of these safehouses so you'll be safe."

“You promise?” Yates wept. “You won’t split us up either?”

"No way. Vivien and I met in a safehouse, didn't we?" Jamie asked, and the frizzy-haired girl gave a jerky nod. "They're fine, way better than what we left. No owners, none o' that shit."

“Will they help Ginger’s hand?” He gasped. “Oh, I said his name!”

"Ginger?" She raised her invisible eyebrows, snorting humorlessly. "I was interchangeably Blondie and Bimbo. Yeah, they'll help him. They'll have all the right medications." 

“I don’t think he likes his name much. He says we can choose our own now,” Yates said. “But I don’t think that’s allowed.”

"Come in, sit," she said, practically forcing him to sit on the bed, as Vivien retreated from the room. "Who says it's not allowed?" 

“Everyone…” he mumbled. “Everyone in training and Stanley and Ivy.” Yates wasn’t too good at this lying low business. 

"So? You're not pets anymore. I named me Jamie."

“Why Jamie?”

"Dunno. Felt right. Not too girly, not too boy-ee, short and simple, straight to the point." 

“Did your owners name you first?”

"One, not owners. Slave drivers. Two, kind of, as I said earlier. Not a proper name, just…" She pulled a face, and put on a deeper, plummy voice. "''Come here, Blondie!' 'Don't drop that, Bimbo!'"

“Stanley called me by his surname. He could be so kind to me,” Yates mumbled, fingering the collar still in his pocket. 

The phone on the bed vibrated. Jamie picked it up and looked at it as she talked. "Tell me, Curls. Should a human have possession of another human?"

“I…” He winced as his head throbbed and he reverted back to the phrases drilled into him in training. “That’s none of my concern. I just have to work diligently and follow orders.”

"Why? Why do you have to do that and not, say, Stanley? Think about it, I got this schmuck's number." 

“Schmuck?” He didn’t recognise that word. Was it bad?

"I don't know the origins but yeah, it's derogatory. I like to think of it as a mix o' shit and fuck but there's an m, so I dunno."

“You have his number?” Yates started shaking again, biting his lip. What did she mean? He’d had a number before, him and Ginger. Was this David one of them too?

"Yeah? His mobile? He's this big money agent of sorts, he's not so bad actually but ya know, rich people." 

“Sorry, yes, of course. It just… started to feel real,” Yates mumbled dazedly. “And you’re sure he’s good? He won’t turn us in?”

"Nah, he has a huge network for pet lib. Uh, pet liberation. He helps us get free. He doesn't run a safehouse, he's too much in the public eye so he'd get caught, but he, like, funds a bunch and I think his son runs one. If I ring him he'll know where to place you." 

“Can’t we just stay here with you?” Jamie was the first person to treat them kindly since… well, as long as Yates could remember. 

"You can come and visit, I'd love that. We're mates now, right? But you guys need medical care, therapy, shit you won't get here. Plus I work nights six days a week and Vivien, much as I love her, won't be a great hostess to you two." 

“But we can visit? Definitely?”

"Yeah, and if David tells me where you are I'll visit too." 

Yates smiled; it was very weak, but it was his first real smile in days. 

It was almost peaceful - almost - with the orange-pink light of the rising sun filling the room, a steaming cup of watery hot chocolate in his hands, a cartoon playing on the TV, him and Ginger getting a good night of sleep for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. The anxiety was still there as Jamie murmured to an unseen stranger on the phone, occasionally peeking out of the kitchen to check on him, and the uncertainty surrounding Ginger's fever and bandaged hand. 

Jamie came out at last, the rectangular outline of her phone in her baggy pyjama pants. She grinned and gave him a thumbs up, perching on the arm of the couch. 

“Is it all fixed?” he whispered, hardly daring to hope. 

"Yep. Says he'll be sendin' someone promptly, his words. Hopefully you get someone fun, my Marianne was such a fussy grandma." 

“I don’t think Ginger would like fussy people.”

"Let's cross our fingers, bud." She crossed her fingers for him to see. "But you won't be placed with anyone bad, I promise."

“Okay…” Yates still didn’t look too sure. He stuck close to Jamie, following her around like a puppy. He jumped violently when there was a soft knock on the door sometime later.

Jamie glanced toward the door, and over at Yates. 

"Think that's your ride."

#whump #bbu #box boy universe #box boy multiverse #male whumpee #female caretaker #no whumper #multiple whumpees #burns #tw abuse #abuse tw #injury #emeto tw #tw emeto

[rubisaurus98]

.......will u stab me if i say lugina

No, I am not going to stab you, but I did write a lot of raw opinions and not all of them are pleasant. Just a forewarning.

Why I like them: I dunno, I guess his sword’s got a nifty ability and he’s memeable with him being the most asshole character, yet being the victim of unfortunate funny inconveniences like the boulders and shit. I also like how we develop him, if that counts.

Why I don’t: I swear, I could write at minimum a 2-page paper as to why Lugina Beil’s raw canon character genuinely frustrates the hell out of me. A lot of it being more directed at how he’s written and the implications of the world he’s written into and how it reacts to him rather than about him, the fictional character, if that makes sense. A lot of missed potential if I were to compare him to other characters of other series who started out similar to him, but developed more noticeably for the better over the course of their own plots. Like, the development of a story-prominent heroic-aligned selfish asshole character into someone who isn’t afraid to show he cares about his comrades and will lay down his life for them, yet still retains a certain “edge” to him is such a tried-and-true method to me when it comes to development satisfaction in my experience, that to see it not happen to a certain effect/extent is whiplash. The best comparisons that I can think of at them moment are like, Gajeel Redfox and Laxus Dreyar from Fairy Tail and Jean Kirstein from AoT. I’m serious, like, read up on them, then compare them to Lugina. Gajeel’s even a father-to-be in Fairy Tail rn, and he’s both ecstatic and very protective of his partner. I know I keep comparing Lugina to other characters of other series with their own developments, but still, like, I could also name a bunch of conjectures as to why Lugina doesn’t seem to go down a similar path. In short, now that it seems his tale is finished without so much as a follow-up, I dislike how the writers wrote Lugina more than Lugina the character himself.

Favorite episode (scene if movie): Lugina and BF1 Summoner vs Gazarva at the end of BF1.

Favorite season/movie: I liked him best during Arcs 2 and 3. More Arc 3.

Favorite line: “ [Liomerg] wasn't just talking about physical strength, he meant mental strength as well... Basically the only thing holding [Karl] back is himself. For all that he tries to handle things himself without depending on others, he doesn't have the resolve to see it through on his own. You call that kindness? That's just weakness!”--Estria, area after Shusui is killed by Mora. An “asshole’s got a point” moment.

Favorite outfit: BF2 Armor and that picnic art where he’s hogging all the spaghetti and Seria’s kicking him in the head for it. You know the one.

OTP: Really, it’s only with OCs, or in My Verse, where I flesh things out considerably between him and Yurika. If Alim bothered to fill in more about his actual relationship with Yurika, I could’ve actually put them here. I also ship him with Unlearning Toxic Masculinity, Some Fucking Therapy, and Having Better Character Development Based Of Other Examples I Know From Heroic-Aligned Characters Who Started Out Similar To Him, but we can’t have nice things in this fandom. Maybe him and Bertz if Bertz weren’t closeted or whatever his deal with Lugina is.

Brotp: Deadass, I don’t know. Maybe Karl post-BF1?

Head Canon: I still think he whittles wood as a hobby and one of his best projects is a full-scale replica of Sky Harbinger. And that he wholeheartedly and openly enjoys sea shanties. Oh, and that he definitely still invited BF1 Summoner and Tilith to his wedding. Hell, he explicitly said they had to come because no fucking way those two are gonna miss out on this. Plus, Tilith wouldn’t let him hear the end of it if he didn’t.

Unpopular opinion: I’ve said some piece of this in the one I did for Sasha, but wait! There’s more! And this is more of a general statement, but I really do think that there’s a lot left out/missing/glossed over in terms of BF2′s writing that would make things a lot more well-rounded. Plus, I think I’ve also already said some things that belong here under “Why I Don’t”. Also, only reason why Alim had Lugina be the only main cast member to start a family other than to show that he’s “developed for the better over 20 years” is because they made Karl and Paris still horny for BF1 Summoner and Seria...Seria, idk about. Probably applying the “No Guy Wants an Amazon” trope with her.

A wish: That Alim didn’t bull-rush Brave Frontier 2 and actually took efficient time to develop the story more so it’d have a longer shelf life? Then we’d at least be able to hopefully see more of the cast as a whole, and hopefully actually develop instead of what was probably squishing everything down and throwing in everything no matter how developed it was? Because BF2 seems more like an Afterword that’s trying to be a proper sequel. I’d wish for more between the games development, too and that Alim isn’t done working with Lugina and the rest of them.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Some implication/confirmation/allusion that Lugina cradle-robbed Yurika; any indication that there’s something off about their relationship beyond what’s traditionally considered healthy/normal married couple behavior plus what we’ve been given.

5 words to best describe them: Wish he was written better.

My nickname for them: Rat Man/Bastard. Potato Bastard.

[bktynes-writes]

So, Im sure everyone has at least one episode of Supernatural that they just CANT watch. I've heard a lot of people say 1x08 "Bugs" or 1x06 "Skin" really get to them, same with 9x03 "I'm No Angel", but I wanted to share what my epiaode is and try and explain WHY because I've had a couple of people give me shit for it...

I cant watch 5x04 "The End"

Its an amazing episode. Cinematically, its stunning. Acting-wise, it's flawless. Misha's portrayal of a fallen angel struggling to come to grips with his failures in the face of a humanity that he couldnt save, and his loss of his sense of self is heartbreaking. The fact that he has turned to all manner of vices in order to dull the pain of his mistakes, and yet he STILL maintains this unwavering loyalty to his humans in spite of their own descent into chaos pulls at my emotions.

And Jensen. Fucking Jensen. His acting abilities are so far beyond anything I think ANYONE would have expected from a baby soap opera star, and that is really shown in this episode. He creates two distinctly separate versions of the same character that are so obviously NOT the same, and yet so fundamentally DEAN that its hard to know where he ends and they begin. The knowledge he would have to have of his character; how he responds to trauma, how he reacts to situations, how he would lead, how he would act when faced with monumental struggle...and then to translate that into a character who is IDENTIFIABLY the same guy as who he normally plays, but yet is still so DIFFERENT....fuck, I cant talk about about how incredible he is, especially in this episode.

But I still can't watch it.

I dont know how the episode ends because every time I've tried to rewatch in after the first time, I end up wasted drunk and passed out before it's over. And here is why:

I've spent a lot of my life being a protector for other people. For my mom, for my little brother, for my friends, for my coworkers, for everyone I meet. If I can take the brunt of their pain, or if I can put myself in a sucky scenario so that they won't suffer, I will. If I can hurt so someone else doesn't have to, why wouldn't I? Because I dont matter. I'm not important, all I'm good for is to follow orders and be a shield, cannon fodder, a crutch to hold and build other people up so that they can live. That's my purpose, and if I can save just one person, then goddammit that makes it worth it. And so I identify STRONGLY with Dean.

So, when present Dean sees his future self remorselessly shoot a comrade in cold blood, and then the confrontation he has to have with himself about that happens, something inside me starts to break. By the time he realizes that his future self, the man he will become, is sending his friends, the people who look up to him as a leader, the people he is supposed to protect, willingly into a battle they cannot hope to win, knowing they're going to die and using them as a distraction, I am broken. Because Dean is a protector. Dean makes sure other people are safe first. Dean throws himself into the line of fire to prevent others from coming to harm. And future Dean is doing the opposite of that. So to see him change that much into something nearly unrecognizable, a shell of his former self, forsaking all his values and humanity which he holds so dear, is terrifying and not something I can handle. To see him so broken down by trauma that he is willing to lose the trust, the faith, of the people he is supposed to protect, who trust him, it ruins me.

Because when I was recovering from addiction, the first thing I remember seeing the day I decided to be sober, was the scene in 4x01 "Lazarus Rising" where Dean drags himself out of his coffin in the ground, and I remember thinking that if Dean Winchester, the man who I align my moral compass with, the one who I identify with on such a profound level that sometimes I can say his lines in a new episode before he does (because its EXACTLY how I would respond), can drag himself out of hell after being subjected to years and years of torture, I can drag myself out of my own pit. And I did. I got sober, I cleaned my life up, and I'm not perfect, I'm still fucked up, I'm still broken, I'm still a self-sacrificing protector, but I'm better than I was, and it's because whenever I have a problem, I think "What would Dean do?" and I get through it. Because I know that if he can carry on so can I...

But watching that episode...I dunno man. Something about the idea of him breaking, of losing himself and the core values of family and friendship that he holds above almost everything else, it scares the crap out of me. Because if the world can break Dean Winchester, it can sure break me, and I have worked too damn hard to be broken like that.

Anyway, I hope this makes sense and that some of you can maybe relate and understand, and not give me shit when I dont join in your season 5 watch parties during this episode...

#supernatural #season 5 #spn 5x04 #the end #dean winchester #castiel #jensen ackles #misha collins #tw: addiction

[wftc141]

Voltron: Global Military Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism Unit-Chapter 12: Martyr

2000 Hours

Goiânia, Brazil

The streets of St Central were quiet and empty with nothing but street lights illuminating the road. The Voltron team used this quiet time to race their way past the street shops to the presidents' secret meeting area. Armed and loaded, they brought along some breaching equipment just in case. The SUV they were in reached a short overpass above a freeway in mere seconds before crossing over.

"Lions, this is Zero. The meeting has been hit and security personnel are taking small-arms fire. Local police and military have been notified, over."

"Wait, wasn't they supposed to start tomorrow?" Hunk said as he drove the SUV.

"Seems like the presidents have started their meeting early." Pidge deduced.

"Any casualties?" Keith asked.

"Possible security. Not sure about the presidents but you have to get there fast before it's too late." Allura said.

"Any news on Shiro?"

"Black Lion is alright. He's making his way to the meeting too as we speak."

"Copy, we're five mikes from the destination. Out."

The call ended and everybody fell back in silence as the team drove down the streets.

"We're probably too late." Hunk uneasily said.

"Let's not think about it, yeah?" Lance replied. "We can get there in time and smoke these cabróns. This is where it ends for them."

"Lance's right." Said Keith. "This is the end of the line for the Galra."

Arriving at the street where the safe house is located, the team drove down the dark, narrow road with parked vehicles before noticing some dark vehicles parked near a building. Once they reached the area, they noticed a brightly lit building with the security gate blown open and a breached entrance.

"They're here." Hunk muttered.

"That's bad news but we still gotta complete the mission." Keith said as the SUV came to a stop.

The team got out and geared up with their weaponry and equipment from the SUV.

"Red Lion to Zero. We're on foot and proceeding to the safe house, out." Keith reported as the team approached the gate.

"Should we wait for Shiro?" Pidge asked.

"No time. Presidents would be dead by the time he arrives. Let's move."

With Keith taking point, the team went past the gate and into the entrance leading to the front door which was broken down. There was no sign of Galra soldiers but they could hear gunshots from inside.

"Red Lion to Zero, we're going internal." Keith muttered.

They made their way past the reception and security checkpoint which was already scattered with bodies of security guards. Blood footprints and stains were everywhere throughout. The sight of the bodies were no different from their previous encounters, in fact they saw worse.

Making their way up the emergency staircase, they reached the upper floor with the door left open. Entering the next floor, the team found themselves in a hallway with several offices inside some of the rooms. More blood and bodies filled up the count. Reaching the corner of one of the hallways, Keith noticed two Galra foot soldiers down at the hallway, the same ones from the attack on their hideout with their distinctive all-black uniforms and its purple and red highlights and masks. Keith aimed his rifle and opened fire, taking out the one at the right. The other soldier noticed his partner fall and turned around but Keith put him down before he could react.

The group reached another corner leading to an open area with a staircase leading to the second floor where the main meeting room was. Then, they saw two gunmen on the floor above them who turned around to notice them just in time. One of them was carrying a PK machine gun.

"Take cover!" Pidge yelled, pulling Keith away from the gunfire.

The bullets barraged against them, holding them back as the Galra's firepower suppressed them. The team heard more footsteps as the gunfire ceased. There was more gunmen approaching their position.

"MG gunner on the top floor! How many others are there?" Pidge called out through the gunfire.

"Dunno! Around eight of 'em!" Lance called.

Keith was quick to think of an idea on how to handle the Galra soldiers holding them off. He reached for his comms.

"Green, Yellow, keep that fucker distracted. Blue and I will flank around and take them out."

"Copy." Pidge replied.

Keith got up and headed over to the other side with Lance in tow. The two found a door leading to an emergency stairwell. As they made their way up to the designated floor, Keith heard a door open above and saw a Galra soldier who just noticed him. Keith aimed fast and took him out first. Suddenly, another Galra soldier entered and was about to open fire before getting shot first. Keith glanced at Lance who just took him out for him.

"Thank me later." Lance said as he headed for the door.

The two managed to arrive at the floor where the MG gunner would be. Keith turned a corner and found the MG gunner and his partner on the railing, firing at Pidge and Hunk's position. They were both completely distracted, leaving them open from behind. Keith shot at the MG gunner while Lance aimed for the other soldier.

With them taken out, Keith and Lance used the floor to their advantage with the Galra soldiers below just noticing the ceased gunfire. Keith used the PK and fired upon the remaining Galra soldiers, wiping most of them out instantly with Lance taking care of the rest. Once the gunfire ceased and the soldiers were confirmed dead, Keith reached for his comms.

"Area is clear. Regroup on me."

Pidgin and Hunk came out of cover and made their way up to where Keith and Lance were before heading towards the main meeting room. As they stacked up beside the door, the team heard muffled noises from inside. There's clearly hostages inside and it is likely the presidents are among them, as well as the remaining Galra forces. They were about to consider breaching until Hunk stopped them.

"Wait," Hunk whispered, grabbing the team's attention. "I got an idea."

The last of the Galra were barricaded inside the meeting room with their hostages, including the presidents, as their shield. There was no chance of them leaving alive and it would be a sin to surrender. They waited for the Voltron team to breach so they would eliminate the hostages. The Galra soldiers were already prepared to fight back with their very last breath. However, there was no activity from the front door.

Some time has passed and nothing has happened. One of the soldiers ordered his comrade to check the door. As the Galra soldier approached the door, a sudden blast erupted from the side, catching everybody off-guard. Dust clouded in as the Galra fell over from the explosion. Before they could react, the Voltron team entered through the hole and finished off the rest of the Galra soldiers. One of them tried to aim for the Brazilian President, only to be cut off by Keith with several shots to the body. The sounds of muffled cries followed as the dust settled.

"¡Calmarse! ¡Calmarse! ¡Nosotros estamos con el gobierno!" Lance shouted.

The team began to secure the hostages with Hunk checking for any bombs fitted in their vests. After checking, Hunk turned around.

"No vests!" He called.

"All clear!" Pidge said.

With the crisis settled, the team exchanged approving glances and nodded. The job was a success. They stopped a potential catastrophe. The team finished freeing the hostages and gathered them out to a safer place. Keith reached for his comms.

"Red Lion to Zero, area is secure. All hostiles are KIA. Three-Rulers are alive and intact. Multiple friendlies are wounded and KIA, over."

"Copy, Red Lion." Allura replied on comms. "Friendly forces are enroute to the safe house. Any news on Kingfish?"

Keith hesitated at first but he hadn't seen Sendak anywhere in the safehouse so it was safe to bet he didn't take part.

"Negative, Zero. Kingfish is nowhere in sight."

Sendak watched through his binoculars as local police forces and the military arrived at the scene, now that the gunfire has ceased. He knew this was Voltron's doing and they succeeded. He let out a deep sigh in the midst of the cold breeze. Sendak anticipated the failure. He knew what Voltron was capable of and he let it happen. He'll deal with the punishment later. Then he heard slight footsteps from behind and the sounds of a weapon raising.

"Step away from the gun."

Sendak glanced at the pistol that was on the surface on the balcony which was already in his reach. He chuckled in amusement, recognising the voice.

"I had a feeling you would escape, Shirogane. You really are an untamed animal. I guess I've finally failed."

"You're damn right about that."

Sendak put the binoculars on the surface near the gun and stepped away before turning around to face Shiro who was aiming his pistol at him with his rifle slung in front of him. He slowly raised his hands.

"You might as well kill me now, Commander." Sendak said.

Shiro said nothing as he trained his gun on his head.

"Go on," Sendak demanded, approaching him. "Pull the trigger. I've failed the Galra Empire and I deserve to die. There's no reason for me to live and I know you want to do it. It's the only way you can avenge your fallen."

Shiro then saw flashes of his team fighting for their survival including Sven. His index finger was already slowly pushing the trigger and his grip shook as Shiro's rage began to emerge.

"We're lions, Shirogane. Lions who will do absolutely anything for our country, even if we have to shed some innocent blood."

Sendak was already up at his face by the time he was done. He grabbed the barrel and pressed it against his crown tightly. His annoying smirk still plastered across his mug.

"Go ahead. Do it right now. Avenge your brothers. That's what you wanted, right? Do it!"

Shiro still hesitated to make a decision. He thought of all the terrible things that Sendak has done. It would be best for him to just kill him right now. Sven died in Shiro's arms as he watched him suffer. He could end this right now and it'll be all over. However, nothing good can be gained from killing someone. Shiro took a deep breath.

"I do want to kill you. I wanna kill you so bad for what you've done. I wanna kill you for my team...and my brother. I wanna kill you so fucking bad right here, right now. But I know better."

Shiro holstered his gun away and held Sendak tightly, rounding him up and tying his hands with zip ties.

"I won't give you the chance to be the Galra's martyr." Shiro said before turning to glare at Sendak. "And you're right. I am a lion but a lion doesn't eat his own pack."

Sendak simply smirked before facing forward as Shiro escorted him out of the rooftop.

2450 Hours

Some time has passed after returning to base. The hostages and the presidents have been allocated to the military for special treatment. Allura has been on the phone for a while, talking to her superiors. The Voltron team waited anxiously, concerned about their fate since they just broke the rules. Although they wouldn't be surprised if the superiors were just as corrupt as Sanda.

Shortly, Allura finished her call and turned to her team where they stood up and approached her.

"Well? What happens now?" Keith asked.

"I'm ordered to headquarters for a full debrief along with Commander Shirogane and Lieutenant Smythe. The rest of you have done well for stopping the Galra. After we hand over Sendak to the CIA and bury the fallen, you'll all be allowed three months off-duty. You guys earned it for the hard work."

The team took the news well. They were expecting worse but they can accept this, especially after their grueling battle with Sendak and the Galra. Hunk took the chance to walk away from the team to a private spot. He got out his phone and dialed a number. Shortly, the beeps stopped.

"Shay Bainivalu, Vice News."

"Hi, um, this is Momoa from NATO," Hunk said. "Is this a bad time?"

"Hunk? N-No, not really, I was just finishing my shower. What's up?"

"Yeah, I want you to hear this from me first. We actually got them. We managed to stop the Galra before they could accomplish their goal."

"Really? Oh that's fantastic! I would say it was an impossible task but I always had a feeling you guys would pull it off. Congrats!"

"Thanks. We couldn't have done this without your help. Credit goes to you too. Oh, and there's something else I wanna ask you."

"Shoot."

"Well…"

Elsewhere, Lance caught up with Keith who was walking off and elbowed his arm, grabbing his attention.

"Not bad for a Ranger grunt." Lance said.

Keith chuckled before bumping Lance's arm. "You're not so bad yourself for a jarhead."

"How long do you think you'll last sticking around with me?"

"More than you would."

This time, Lance laughed it off. As the two continued their banter, Pidge watched from a distance. It took them a whole month for them to become comfortable with each other. A smile grew from her face, proud of the progress from them.

"They're actually friends now." Shiro said.

Pidge glanced at the team leader, who appeared beside her, watching Keith and Lance as well.

"Seems like it. Hopefully this will keep up for the next few months." Pidge replied.

The two stared at the boys in silence for a brief period.

"If you don't mind me asking," Shiro said. Pidge looked at him. "How's Matt?"

Shiro knew Matthew Holt back in the military. They used to be on good terms. Shiro hasn't seen him during his service in the SEALs.

"Actually, I haven't seen him since I joined the army," Pidge replied, looking down. "I lost every contact from my parents because they didn't like the idea of me joining the military. They wanted me to be a horticulturist instead of studying in college."

Shiro chuckled before collecting himself.

"Your brother did tell me he wanted you to be a horticulturist. But I get what you mean. My father wanted me and my brother to work for NASA rather than fight proxy wars. Then again, we are what we are because we want to fight for our country and help our allies abroad from terror. That's why we chose being soldiers over a career that won't do much to help others."

Pidge said nothing but she understood Shiro's point.

02/15/2018

0010 Hours

Even though it was midnight, Jem wasn't asleep. He still had the light on. Just then, he heard footsteps from outside and a knock on the door.

"Come in." Jem called.

The door opened and Coran and Stacy entered the room, both seemingly haven't gotten some sleep yet.

"Oh, hey guys. What's going on?" He said.

"Sorry for dropping by this late, Jem but we wanted to bring you the good news." Coran said.

"Oh, that-it's no big deal. Wasn't feeling tired yet. What's up?"

"Voltron has captured Sendak four hours ago after rescuing the presidents from Galra forces during their meeting. He's currently in custody right now." Stacy said.

"Really? Okay, that's good to hear."

Coran nodded. "So how're you doing, right now?"

"Oh I'm recovering pretty damn well. The meds worked wonders and the doctors said I'll be discharged in the morning once they finish up on the paperwork."

"Great. We'll pick you up then. Get some rest for now. You'll need it."

"Same thing could be said to you guys. I feel like you're treating me like a dad, sir."

Coran and Stacy chuckled as they left the room.

"That's nice to hear," Coran said. "We'll be leaving now. Goodnight."

Stacy was the last to say goodnight before leaving with Coran. At some point in time, Jem fell asleep afterwards.

0800 Hours

The team arrived at a private airfield far from the city with a cuffed Sendak, who is set to be handed in to the CIA and transferred to a blacksite. Once they arrived, there was already a plane ready for the CIA. Shiro got out and took Sendak with him, approaching the paramilitary officers of the SAD division.

"We will meet again, Shirogane," Sendak said. "Mark my words. This rivalry will not end until one of us is dead."

"I look forward to it, Sendak," Shiro replied as one of the officers grabbed the terrorist. "I'll be waiting for you."

"I know you will. It will only be between us...neither your allies nor the Galra will stop our battle."

Sendak returned one last smirk before being placed into the watched the plane ride off with nothing left to offer for Sendak. One part of him wished he could just shoot him on the spot and avenge his fallen team. The other, however, felt tired to continue. He just wants to stop. No more killing, no more fighting wars and no more pulling off the same mistakes that got his team killed.

Shiro had been fighting since he was 18, switching from the Marines to the SEALs and Voltron. He fought so long he forgot the last time he found peace. Hawaii was his only escape from the horrors of war. Maybe it's time for Shiro to take a break from the mindless killings and find the peace he lost.

02/28/2018

1200 Hours

Hawaii

Shiro took another swig of his beer as he basked in the sun under the shade. The view from the beach was beautiful. He could see the ocean lushly flow as people play on the shoreline. The beach was mostly filled with a crowd with the umbrellas, towels and such making up most of the beach. Shiro placed himself close to the water and away from the big crowd so he could enjoy the view in peace without interruptions. Letting out a sigh, Shiro finished his beer before reaching for the cooler. As his hands clasped onto a new bottle, Shiro noticed a shadow emerging on the sands.

"I can see why you enjoy Hawaii so much."

Shiro looked up. Standing near him was Allura, sporting a straw hat and wearing a navy blue one piece with a beach skirt. Shiro noticed the middle of her swimsuit was divided, exposing her cleavage. Allura's hand was on her hip as she approached Shiro. He wasn't sure how she found him but he didn't mind her presence.

"The view is beautiful." Allura said as she sat beside Shiro under the shade.

"Sure is," He replied. "Always wanted to have my final moments here. I would like my funeral held here and my ashes spread across the ocean."

Allura hummed. Shiro popped his beer open and took a swig before reminding Allura about the beer, though she wasn't thirsty. The two stared out at the ocean for a brief moment.

"So how'd you find me?" Shiro asked.

"Coran was a bit concerned for your wellbeing so he sent me here to make sure you didn't do anything stupid."

'Flattered to hear."

"I'm also going to be staying with you."

Shiro glanced at Allura, surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah. Already got my things packed at that shack of yours. Coran wanted me to keep watch over you for some time until we finish our vacation. Don't want anything bad happening while you're in Hawaii."

"Is that just your way of saying you guys miss me?"

Allura chuckled. "I actually said the same thing to him. He won't admit it."

Shiro let out a laugh. It was nice to hear his teammates care. The two eventually calmed down and went back in silence.

"How long has it been?" Allura asked.

"Hm?" Shiro looked at her.

"How long have you been in touch with home?"

Shiro's smile faded, remembering his call with his parents a few weeks back.

"I've never been home since I told my parents what happened to Sven. My dad doesn't consider me family anymore. Can't say I blame them."

Allura didn't say anything. Shiro let out a sigh and took another swig of his beer while sulking at the sea. He still carried the guilt, yet people remind him he's not in the wrong. Shiro wasn't sure how to comprehend both sides.

"It'll take some time but I know they won't keep blaming you forever." Allura said.

"Yeah…" Shiro muttered.

At some point, Shiro didn't feel like continuing his beer.

"Are you sure you want to stay in Voltron?" Allura asked.

Shiro took some consideration into it. He already joined Voltron for a few weeks and he always had an opportunity to leave. But deep down, as much as it hurts to stay in Voltron and deal with the losses, it was a risk Shiro would rather take than bury himself in guilt. Taking a deep breath, Shiro turned to Allura and smirked.

"I'm positive."

#voltron #voltron global military intelligence and counter terrorism unit #wftc141 #wftc141's fanfic #wftc141's fanfiction #wftc141's fanfictions #wftc141's fanfics #voltron lengendary defender #voltron: legendary defender #voltron: global military intelligence and counter terrorism unit #voltron fanfic #voltron fanfics #voltron fanfiction #voltron fanfictions #covert counter-terrorism au #modern covert counter-terrorist au #modern covert counter-terrorism au #covert counter-terrorist au #fanfic #fanfics #fanfiction #fanfictions #my fanfic #my fanfics #my fanfiction #my fanfictions

[gingerchangeling]

The Misthaven Witch Ch. 2

Here is the second half of my @csrolereversal​ fic for the wonderful artwork of @kitsunewingstar. 

On Ao3 and FF and Tumblr 

  With each step further into the ruins, Killian cursed himself a little more. What was he thinking? He could be back at David’s having another drink. Or if he ran out of patience with Will, he could be at home, in his pajamas, having another drink. As he ticked through what he could have been doing, his brow furrowed slightly as he realized that his idea of a relaxing time seemed to explicitly involve alcohol. That was a disconcerting thought.

He was jarred from his thoughts when the toe of his boot caught on some of the rubble, “Bloody hell.”

“I dunno Jonesie,” Will mumbled, “maybe this is far ‘nuf.”

Killian turned around to look at his comrades, surprised to see the apprehensive  looks on their faces. He could feel the sort of …. unwelcomeness too, but he figured it was just the ambience. Halloween. Nighttime. Clouds. The rising wind rustling the trees. The rubble. A myth about a murderess haunting the area. All very horror story-esque.

To Killian’s  surprise, David also spoke up, “I hate to say it, but I’m with Scarlett on this one. I think we should go. There’s something not…… settled about this place.” Killian saw Robin nod along. 

“Really, all of you?” To his surprise, none of them reacted to his bait, just staring at him solemnly. He wasn’t sure why he was pressing them to stay. Only moments ago, he’d been bemoaning the fact that he wasn’t at home. But  now that he was actually faced with leaving, something in him felt tied to the stones around him. Something that made him want to stay. 

But one more look at his friends and he sighed, “Aye, alright then. Back to the party.” Their faces relaxed in relief as they all turned to retrace their steps.  And almost ran right into a woman, standing just on the other side of the wall next to them. 

They all jerked back in surprise and the woman smiled ruefully, “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. I saw you walking,” she offered as explanation. She was also dressed in a Halloween getup and looking at her reminded Killian that he was still sportinghis own costume

When no one answered her, her brows puckered in confusion. But just as the silence stretched onto the edge of awkward, the group of men seemed to gather themselves and David spoke up.

“Sorry, you just startled us. I’m David, this is Will, Robin, and Killian.” Each man gave a an awkward wave. 

She gave a strange smile, “Pleased to meet you all. I’m called Emma Swan.” In the faint moonlight, Killian could only make out a portion of her figure, and it almost seemed like she was floating above the ground. But then his eyes trailed up her form and what he could see…..caught his interest. The white dress she wore seemed like it was spun from moonlight. 

As soon as he thought it, he rolled his eyes at his own dramatics. Refocusing, he started to ask her where she was from when the wind suddenly picked up considerably. The trees began to creak in the tumultuous air and each man whipped his head around to scan the area. Killian turned back to their new companion, noticing as he did that Will was even more keyed up than before. And he just could not help himself. 

Killian  waited until there was another strong gust of wind, then smacked his prosthetic hand against the stone wall next to him, sending a resounding clang through the ruins. Will took off like a shot, a “I’m fuckin outta here,” tossed hastilly over his shoulder. The other two took nervous looks around before offering their quick goodbyes to the strange woman, as they hastily followed after Will.

“Cowards,” Killian scoffed, shaking his head as his friends quickly retreated. 

“What’s got them so worried?” Emman inquired. 

“It’s said that this place is hunted by a witch,” he answered, leaning up against the nearest ruined wall. 

She shifted forward and braced her hands on top of the rubble wall, “How frightening.”

He gave a small laugh, but there was something in the way she said it that had him looking sideways at her. “Not to be rude, but why are you here?” She raised an eyebrow. He shrugged, “A small place like Storybrooke, everyone knows everyone. And I’ve not seen you ‘round here before.”

Killian couldn’t help but be struck by the oddity of the whole situation, talking  to a stranger in a creepy white dress surrounded by haunted ruins.

She gave another enigmatic smile, “Oh I’ve lived here a while. I just don’t go out that much. What about you? What brings you here?”

He gave her a wry smile, “Me mates were takin’ a piss and naturally I had to prove them wrong.”

“You aren’t afraid of the witch then?”

He rolled his eyes, “I don’t believe in that sort of bollocks. Why, do you?”

She paused, “I think that there some truth in any story. What was the story you heard?”

He shrugged, “The usual. An evil witch, a terror-ridden community, a great hero defeating the evil and trapping it forever. A spirit doomed to wander the ruins forever.” He thought about it, “Kinda sad if you think about it.”

“Oh? What makes you say that?”

“Damned to live forever, watching the world pass by? I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, no matter how cruel.”

Emma was silent for a moment, then spoke quietly, “I’d always heard the tale slightly differently. A witch who protected the area, doing her best to help anyone she could. And the people loved her. But there was a woman who envied her power, status, and beauty. And when the witch failed to save the life of a young girl, the woman spread dissent among the people, weaving lies that she’d done it intentionally. And the people, fickle as they were, turned on the witch. She fled, but the woman followed. She tried to take the witch’s power, but failed, instead binding her to the stones of the place she took refuge. And so the witch was bound to watch her home and her people fade away.”

Killian stayed quiet for a moment, processing what she had said.  “As much as I hope that wasn’t what happened, that is the most believable version of the story I’ve ever heard.”

“Why is that?” she asked quietly.

“The greatest motivators in human history are envy and power. And love,” he added as an afterthought.   

Emma gave a quiet laugh, “Yes, love is the great motivator.” Killian smiled, enjoying the gentle sound of her laughter. But a moment later the wind gusted again and he suddenly became aware of how cold it had gotten.

 He pushed himself upright with a shiver before turning to her, “Well what do you say, love, care to join me? Go back to Dave’s place for a last few libations?”

She gave him a sad smile, “Maybe next time.” 

He gave a nod, but lingered, reluctant to leave her, “Can I escort you home then?”

Emma shook her head, “No, thank you. Please go enjoy your night.”

Feeling a little dismissed, but understanding that she may not want to have a strange man with a hook for a hand escorting her home, he turned to leave. He took a few steps before he got a final surge of courage and quickly turned back.

“Would I be able to see you a-” he stopped short. She was gone.

Killian spun wildly, trying to find her. But Emma left no trace. Completely mystified, Killian slowly started back, constantly throwing glances over his shoulder, but he never caught sight of anything else. 

Just as he reached the edge of the ruins, where the stones met the forest, he could have sworn he heard a voice on the wind, “Maybe next time.”

As he turned and made his way into the darkness of the trees, he promised the ruins he left behind that there would be a next time.

#cs role reversal #Captain Swan #killian jones #emma swan #gingerchangeling does writing

[radioactivereactions]

hello!! it's a bit overdone, but I'm a hopeless romantic so I was wondering if you could do fo4 companions react to the first time saying "I love you," in their relationship; whether it was sole who said it first or them! thank you in advance, hun!! 💖💖❣️

Bold of Youto Assume I’m not a hopeless romantic.

Cait

Emotions aren’t Caits strong suit. She liked hugging, lovedkisses and would kill for a night alone with sole, but as far as verballyexpressing her compassion for sole the poor girl is like a deer in headlights.She wants to be able to say what she feels towards them, but her own pride andthe simple fact this entire thing is completely new to her always makes herclam up. What if she made a fool of herself and made Sole think less of her?She couldn’t have that, she couldn’t risk that. But it still irritated her tono end that her own anxiety stopped her from doing the one thing she wanted themost in this shithole of a world they call home. Never in her life have heremotions held her back from anything, and for once she couldn’t just beat upthe problem and have it solve itself. Which is why instead of the punching bag,she turned to the drink.

Ham gives Sole a nod as they enter the Third Rail, seeingtheir eyes roll back for a moment before they trudged down to the bar. Theyscanned the crowd before finally setting their gaze on Cait, her head restingon one of the tables. “Yknow I think before long they’re gonna name this tableafter you” Sole sighs out, tapping their head “C’mon, lets get you home”

It takes a while to get Cait to her feet, even longer to gether up the angled ground to exit the bar, from then on it still wasn’t exactlysmooth sailing; Sole being used as a support for all of Caits weight the entiretime while they stumble through Goodneighbour. At least Cait didn’t weigh thatmuch.

After a long and treacherous journey up the stairs of thehotel Rexford, Cait slumps over onto the bed with a slurred groan.

“What am I gonna do with you?” Sole murmurs, pushing a fewstrands of hair from her face

Cait murmurs something inaudible as a response.

“What was that?” Sole chuckles,

“Yknow I fucken love ya” She grumbles drunkenly

Soles heart picks up, a goofy smile spread on their facewhile they lean down and kiss her forehead “I guess now I do”

“Damn rightcha do”

Curie

Being a synth gifted little Curie with so many new andexciting opportunities, and filled her mind with so much information to learnand archive. Things like breathing and needing to eat and sleep in order tosurvive was entirely new to her, not to mention finally being able toexperience things like happiness!

She had only heard of love previously from her creator;Kenneth Collins, when she observed a very peculiar set of symptoms her archivehad not been able to diagnose as he spoke about his previous life and family.Curious as always, she questioned Collins on what was happening to his body,and upon his explanation on ‘love’ Curie was absolutely flabbergasted on howemotions could impact the human body like that, to the point she doubted thevalidity and thought Collins wasn’t telling the truth.

But now here she stands, next to the very person who rescuedher from her solitary in Vault 81, feeling the exact same symptoms Collinsdescribed many years ago.

Rapid heartbeat, clammy hands, dilated pupils, and generalanxiety. Was this love?

“Sole” She spoke tenderly, gaining the attention of them, assoon as their eyes met the symptoms only worsened.

“Everything alright Curie?”

“This relationship ‘as allowed me to finally solve a greatmystery with myself. I believe I am in love you”

Danse

Being exiled from the Brotherhood broke Danse in many ways.His entire life seemingly becoming absolutely pointless to him and his entiremotivation to simply exist being exhausted. But having Sole by his side madehim feel safe, secure, happy; after the confrontation with Maxson they’re all hehad and he wouldn’t rather have anyone else by his side.

It wasn’t long after he left that he and Sole had become athing, which only expanded his admiration for them. There wouldn’t be anyoneelse in the entire world who he would trust as much.

It was another day of patrol, Sole being on the lookout forsome sort of special gun that may or may not exist. Leave it to Sole to listento a random wastelander clearly on some mixture of chems.

“You realise the more times we spend looking for a possiblyexisting bit of metal is more time we could have been spending on somethingworthwhile” He mutters for the 7th time, not getting a response likethe time before. He goes to speak up once more before Sole suddenly dartsahead, turning a corner and going out of view.

Immediately Danse follows, listening out and trying to figureout which way, they had gone, but eventually the footsteps of his comrade justdisappeared.

“Sole” He calls out repeatedly, walking between the mazes ofdilapidated buildings of the commonwealth. Gaining no response each time. Astime passes so do his steps, his eyes scanning everything that moved and histeeth keeping a grip on his bottom lip. He continues calling out to Sole, thepanic gradually setting in at the sheer magnitude of possible things that mayhave happened, the bad things overwhelming the good.

“Sole!” He yells out, his breathing becoming scarce as deadsilence greets him, until after one cry out a call is returned.

“Danse! You alright?”

He turns around quick as a heartbeat to see Sole on the otherend of the road, his body acting on its own and running towards them, jumpingout of his power armour to wrap his arms around soles body, who is confused butnonetheless returns the hug though not as tight as Danse. “You good?”

“Yeah… Now I am” He replies hushed, rubbing their back “Don’twander off like that again okay? I can’t risk losing you… I love you too much”

Taken aback but overwhelming happy at the confession, Solereplies “You have my word”

“Outstanding”

 Deacon

We all know Deacon. You can’t readthe man for shit. He could be ready to tear out someone’s liver with a rustyspoon and hardly anyone would know. In a lot of situations, this habit is a goodthing, it allows him to stay in character and gather as much Intel as he canfor Des, but when you’re meant to be romantically involved with him it can bemore than tiresome.

Sole tried not to rush him, knowingit was a hit or miss with Deacon after Barbra, and giving him as much time ashe could. But they couldn’t help but grow more and more conscious aboutwhether or not he truly cared for them.

They have already said they lovedhim, many times in fact. But what did Deacon reply with?? ‘Mhmm’ 'Of course youdo’ 'Well who wouldn’t?’ 'Yeah me too’

Many could see how that would makesomeone feel. And eventually, it just got too much for Sole.

'I’m just saying it won’t kill you toat least say you love me back’ Sole huffed

'You really want me to say it?’ Heasks.

'Yes. Yes I do’

Oh boy.

Safe to say Sole got what theywanted… 

That same day, Deacon climbs on topof the centre table, a megaphone in hand.

'Deacon what are you doing?’Desdemona asks, already done with whatever antics he has in store, Sole lookingover to him from another table.

'Attention everyone!’ He exclaimsinto the speaker, everyone cringing at the feedback. 'I have a very importantannouncement to make' 

'Think you could do it withoutalerting everyone within a 10-mile radius??’ One of the members grumble

'I stand here today because I suck,and I intend to change that fact by proclaiming my undying love for that sexylittle number over there’ he declares, pointing directly at Sole who buriestheir face into their hands. 

'I love them so much it makes memushy inside, and there’s no one I’d rather almost be mauled by a bunch ofghouls with’ He declares proudly 'And if anyone fucks with them they better beprepared for a world of hurt, thank you that is all' 

He jumps down, sauntering over toSole with a shit-eating grin spread across his face.

Sole lowers their hands and stares upat Deacon who has their arms outstretched for a hug which they obliged, almostbeing suffocated by the embrace he gives “I can’t believe you" 

"You know you love me” Hereplies, Sole can practically hear the smirk on his face

“Who couldn’t”

Hancock

Leave it to Hancock to say it during sex.

What more do you expect from the man?

However, what Sole didn’t expect was his outright denial ofit. They tried their best to make him admit it but he just continued to defendhis case. It was amusing at first, seeing the normally calm and confident manbecome flustered and unable to take control of the situation.

But eventually, it just became degrading to Sole, theseemingly innocent argument becoming more and more heated as time continued.

“Look I know you said it, its nothing to be embarrassedabout, can’t you just admit it, John?” Sole interrogated while he stumbled aroundhis room looking for his clothes.

He replies in a stern gruffness “I don’t wanna talk about itsunshine, just drop it”

“But-“

“Look I just said drop it” He interrupts, walking out of theroom and slamming the door behind him, throwing the room into silence. Solestares at the door for a moment before laying back down on the bed, theirvision gradually becoming blurry and their breath turning into ragged wheezesas they try not to cry.

They don’t know how long they were there for, unbothered tomove from the bed and just rethinking over what had happened. They were so lostin thought they hadn’t even noticed Hancock stepping inside the room, it wasonly when he sat on the opposite side of the bed that they had noticed he wasthere.

“I’m sorry” He murmurs quietly “I dunno why I acted likethat… I guess I just didn’t want to admit I said something like that”

“So you didn’t want to say it?” Sole replies quietly

Hancock is quick to respond “That’s not what I meant,” he sayshurriedly “I mean I didn’t wanna say it during… y'know. I wanted to say it at amore meaningful time… Like during a nice dinner or some sort of sappy ass timealone when I’m not off my face or some shit”

Sole turns over “Are you off your face now?” They askquietly, getting a wicked smirk from Hancock as a response.

He leans down and presses his lips against theirs “I love you”He hums, “I love you so damn much”

MacCready

Perfect. Absolutely perfect. That was the only way MacCreadycould describe what he saw, watching his son running around and finally be ableto act like a child instead of being bedridden and unlikely to survive.

That with the addition of Sole running around with him,giving Duncan piggybacks and tickle attacks, the sweet sweet melody of hearinghis sons’ laughter after so long making his heart almost explode out of hischest.

“Anyone want drinks?” He calls out to them, Duncanenthusiastically replying with a shrill ‘Yes!’ and Sole giving a nod his way.With a smile he wanders back inside their home, looking out the window while grabbinga few bottles of Nuka-Cola. He jumps momentarily once he hears a loud thump but soon comes to his senses while the all too familiar sound of Duncans cryingfills his ears.

He hurries outside and looks to the source of the crying,seeing Sole with Duncan in their lap, holding his hand and rocking gently,giving him gentle consolidations. “Hey, it’s alright” they whisper “Want me tokiss it better?”

Duncan nods and holds out his hand, to which Sole covers insmall kisses, guiding them up his chubby little arm before planting one on hisforehead, earning a giggle from the small boy.

MacCready walks over and sits by them, handing Duncan a juicebox which he greedily slurps up, an arm wrapping around Sole and pulling themclose. “God I love you” he whispers, kissing their cheek.

Nick

“Ellie, would you just drop it?”

“Come on Nick you needa stop being so afraid about it”

“Now, now who said I’m afraid?”

“Nick,” Ellie says doubtfully, staring at the synthetic manwho sits at the desk of the agency.

He sighs, resting his head on his damaged hand, the otherdragging a cigarette to his mouth. “I just don’t wanna risk scaring the kid offis all” He sighs out, a cloud of smoke trailing out.

“Oh come on Nick, stop selling yourself short” Ellie whines,slumping over in a chair “You know you won’t do that”

“Lately it feels like I don’t know anything at all” Nickadmits, leaning back

Ellie lets out a gentle chuckle “They really do that to youhuh?”

“Seems that way…”

“The more you put it off the worse its gonna be to actuallydo”

“Well look at you being the teacher for once”

“Come on Nick…”

“Look” He begins, standing from his desk “I’m not afraid toadmit it, I love sole, and I wanna tell them but…”

Ellie edges him on “But?”

Nick sighs “… I’m scared. I so desperately want to tell thembut whenever I see em I just freeze up and I wonder if I really deserve to lovethem… Happy?”

“Well I mean I am, I’m not sure about her though” Ellie humsout, earning a confused look from Nick and nodding her head behind him.

Turning around; his entire body almost gives way as Solesteps out from behind a filing cabinet.

“Have fun you two” Ellie sings out whilst walking out of theagency door, leaving the two alone.

It’s silent for a moment. The awkward tension being so thickyou could cut it with a knife.

“I guess it can’t be helped now” Nick musters out

Sole chuckles lightly, moving to sit at his desk, gesturinghim to sit at the opposite chair, which he does. “Why don’t you start at thebeginning?”

Piper

Writing is and always will be Pipers method of letting off steam,to her it seems the only way she can truly express what she’s feeling is bywriting it all out. Angry about some close-minded resident who keeps giving herattitude? Write a detailed story of throwing them off a tall building. Upsetover Takahashi’s noodle stand to have to be closed after a malfunction? Reachinto your inner 13-year-old and write an angst-filled poem reminiscing aboutthe good days and just how doomed we all are… It was just second nature to herat this point.

The only problem with being a reporter in Piper’s eyes wasn’tthe public opinions clashing your own, or the death threats, to her the worstthing about it was with her being thevoice of the people, it was always her talking, and talking and talking. Shewas the person people went to advice too. She was the person who gave theadvice. So when shes lost on her own ambition and feelings, who was she to turnto for guidance??

In rare times like this when not even writing could helpher she’d go on long walks around the commonwealth, coming back at randomtimes no one could predict.

Sole has done odd jobs for Nat before whenever Piper left,most of it is to publish and print off whatever papers Piper had yet tofinish.

They logged on like many times before, scrolling throughwhatever articles and  touching them upwherever necessary, and like every time before reading through the ‘PublickPerspectives’ submissions. It was basically the only thing that everyone inDiamond city collectively read and enjoyed, for the most part, an entire groupof residents dedicated on theorising who asked what.

A few were obvious, a few took time to consider before comingto a rational conclusion, until Sole reached the final submission.

“Dear Publick

“I’ve been dating this person for a while now and things havebeen amazing so far, they make me happy beyond belief and I really see myselfwith them in the future but… I just can’t open up to them. I can’t evencompliment them without becoming a nervous wreck, and you can forget aboutsaying those three big words… And I’m worried my hesitation will drive them offfaster than you can say ‘noodles’. Advice?

-        Blues Clues”

Sole pondered for a moment before everything clicked inplace in perfect harmony. Taking place at the terminal, their fingers flewacross the keyboard, their heart racing at the same speed.

“Dear Blues

Take your chances before they walk away, regardless if theylike you back or not you deserve it to yourself to unleash your feelings. Ifind myself in a similar situation, the girl I’m with just won’t open herself upto me and I sometimes feel guilty about it. As much as id love to pin heragainst the wall and proclaim my absolute adoration to her, I guess writingthis will have to do”

Surely she’ll pick up a copy of the paper soon.

Preston

Preston is a bub.

A sweetheart.

A dumpling.

A little ray of sunshine.

And a goddamn gentleman.

Almost as soon as he and Sole started being a thing he wantedto say he loved them, and ever since he first said it you cannot stop the manfrom saying it every day. Whenever they wake up, just as they fall asleep, anddear god the amount of times hed say it during sex is adorably ridiculous. Thoughit wasn’t always like this, he was terrified of first saying it to Sole in fearthey would think he’s rushing the relationship, though he so desperately wantedto say it.

The first time he let it slip through was surely a time toremember, and not exactly the way he pictured it.

It was a night like any other, Preston doing his usual roundsaround Sanctuary, and Sole resting on the couch in the Home Plate. It doesn’ttake long before their eyes close, their mind still awake and aware but theirentire body sluggish and heavy. They hear the front door of the house open,closing gently a few moments later with a pair of feet stepping over to standin front of them. No doubt Preston.

A blanket is thrown over them, Sole flinching lightly whentheir hair is pushed from their face, Preston’s thumb gently rubbing againsttheir cheek. “I love you” he whispered.

There was no mistaking it.

After hearing that Sole eyes burst open, making Preston jumpback lightly before hurrying down the hallway to the bathroom, closing the doorbehind him with Sole hot on his trails.

It took a while to get him to come out of the bathroom, andsince then after a lot of encouragement from Sole, he never forgets to tellthem every day.

#fallout #fo4 #fallout react #companions react #fallout companions #companion reactions #x6-88 #nick valentine #piper wright #preston garvey #cait #curie #danse #paladin danse #dogmeat #maccready #hancock #john hancock #fo4 reactions

[katedoesfics]

Shadows of the Future | Chapter 10

The days wore on, turning to weeks and months, still with no word of the Yiga Clan. But Dorian and his men kept up their patrols around Faron, and whether it was from simply working so closely with Rusl or the fact that he decided to make the best of a crappy situation, Dorian felt his presence not quite so annoying. When their patrols took them overnight, and often for several days, more often than not, they resorted to casual conversation to pass the time. Despite his earlier trepidations, Dorian found himself telling Rusl about Cottla and Koko and their latest misadventures as toddlers.

Rusl found these antidotes amusing. He never knew what normal kids were like, when they weren’t running from the law, or getting passed from foster family to foster family. The kids he knew, well, were complete assholes. But Dorian’s kids - normal kids - they seemed rather entertaining. Fulfilling, either. And still, his mind wandered to his future. Could hero kids be just as normal? Could his children live normal lives?

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

Rusl turned his attention to Dorian. He felt his brows relax, not realizing how tightly they had furrowed together. He settled back against the old, rock wall and sighed through his nose. It had been a particularly long patrol and he was exhausted.

“Nothing,” he said simply. He leaned his head back and peered at the stars between the branches. A light breeze blew, and his ears twitched. For a brief moment, he could have sworn he had heard her voice once more. It had been a long time since she spoke to him, though it was usually in his dreams.

“What does she say?”

Rusl turned his gaze to Dorian, but Dorian was looking at the ground.

“What?”

“Hylia,” he said as if it were obvious. “She speaks to you. What does she say?”

Rusl’s nose wrinkled. “Have you been eating those shrooms?”

Dorian regarded him with an annoyed look. “Why are you ignoring her?”

Rusl hesitated, then pulled his gaze away. “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“Give it a rest,” Dorian muttered. “I know when you hear her.” He was quiet for a moment. “What does she say?”

“I don’t know,” Rusl said slowly. “It’s not words.”

“Because you’re not listening.”

Rusl glanced at him again.

“How long have you heard her?”

Rusl held his gaze on Dorian for a moment. “I dunno,” he said with a shrug. “As long as I can remember.” He paused to think back on his life for a moment. “More frequently after…”

Dorian nodded. He understood that Rusl was referring to the time when he accidentally killed two men with his power. “She’s been trying to guide you,” he said. Rusl snorted, and Dorian turned a disapproving gaze to him.

“What do you care?” Rusl muttered. “She doesn’t say anything.”

“Because Impa stuck me with you,” he growled. “And whether I like it or not, I have to keep your damn ass alive so you can give Hyrule the hero it needs. And if you don’t start listening to her, you’ll never know how to protect your son.”

Rusl chewed on his lower lip for a moment.

“You hear her, but you still don’t believe it.” Dorian narrowed his gaze on Rusl.

Rusl shrugged one shoulder and shifted himself on the ground, stretching his legs out. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Killing three people; is that just a regular occurrence, then? Is that not proof enough?”

“Look, D.” Rusl met his gaze and grinned. “Can I call you D? I’ve decided to call you D.”

“No,” Dorian said simply.

But Rusl ignored him. “You see, D; I’ve decided to just live my life. Whatever happens, happens. I won’t question it, but you won’t find my preaching to some Goddess, either. As far as I’m concerned, she’s just as shitty as everyone else in this world, using me for her own petty war games. I’m not going to sit here and make myself crazy wondering if it’s all true or not. For fuck’s sake, how could anyone live like that? There’s too much I don’t know. Too much I can’t possibly know. Not yet, anyway. And if I figure those things out, then so be it. But until then, why the fuck would I drive myself mad over it?”

Dorian pulled his gaze away. He knew there was no getting through to him. Not yet, anyway. Still, it didn’t make his job any easier. The sooner Rusl saw the truth for himself, the better off they would all be. And perhaps, then, he wouldn’t be so damn careless all the time. He was good at his job, Dorian could give him that. But, despite it all, there was still carelessness behind his actions. In the end, it came down to how willing he was to throw his life away. For his friends, for his comrades. He didn’t particularly care about his future. In his mind, he was still convinced he had no future, simply assuming he was just cursed to be Hylian.

“Stop it,” Rusl sneered. “Stop trying to analyze me.”

A smile tugged at the corner of Dorian’s lips. But his attention was turned to something else. He peered through the trees where a single light bobbed up and down the dirt path. From the corner of his eye, Rusl leaned forward, taking his rifle in his arms.

“Hold on,” Dorian warned him in a low voice. One Yiga was hardly a threat, but where there was one, he was sure there were more. And he and Rusl alone didn’t stand a chance if they were ambushed. But the rest of his men were resting further down the path, completely unaware of any potential danger. They had to analyze the situation quickly and then plan their move to either attack, or make their way back to camp to alert the soldiers.

Rusl, however, was practically chomping on the bit. He was resting on the balls of his feet, his weapon up to his face as he looked down the sight.

As Dorian suspected, there was a handful of Yiga soldiers walking through the forest, a single light between them. After a moment, they stopped about a few yards away. Though they spoke low, Dorian and Rusl could easily make out their conversation.

“It’s only a matter of time before the hero manifests,” one of the soldiers said. “Kohga senses traces of the hero’s spirit here in Faron. Stay sharp. Report any traces to me right away and detain anyone who carries traces of the spirit. Do not kill anyone.” His voice growled at the last part. “We cannot raise suspicions and reveal who we are. Understand?”

Rusl shifted, his heart racing. His foot moved back slightly, snapping a twig beneath his boot. He was sure Dorian would have been glaring angrily at him if his attention wasn’t focused on the Yiga, now alerted to their position within the trees.

“Move,” Dorian snapped, but the Yiga were already on top of them, lunging at them with their blades.

Dorian promptly blocked their attack, but his shield was shattered when they resorted to using their powers instead. They leapt into the air, disappearing in five simultaneous snaps, and when they appeared again, they were in the air above them, their palms thrust downwards.

Dorian and Rusl threw themselves in opposite directions, avoiding the deadly blast that ripped up the ground where they stood, causing a deep crater. The Yiga had returned to their feet just as Dorian thrust his palm out towards three of them, and they were sent flying backwards with tremendous force. They each crashed into a tree, snapping not only their bones, but the trees themselves, which came crashing down around them.

The other two Yiga, however, had their attention turned to Rusl, their lips twisted in angry snarls. Rusl pulled his blade from his hip as they lunged at him. He narrowly dodged the attack of one but only to find himself face to face with the second, a unified assault. Before he had a chance to react, however, the Yiga slashed his blad across his body, sending Rusl stumbling backwards and clutching at the wound in his gut.

He fell to his knees as the two Yiga closed in, but before they had a chance to end his life, they were promptly thrust off their feet once more. They were quick to regain themselves, however, turning their attention to Dorian as he threw himself in front of Rusl. His arms crossed to block their next attack, and as soon as it shattered his defenses, he thrust his palm out again. The ground erupted at their feet, sending them back once more, and he lunged after them with a blade in each hand, promptly ending their lives.

Rusl gasped and winced at the pain as Dorian quickly dropped to his knees beside him. His brows were furrowed together as he pulled Rusl’s hands away.

“Let me fix it,” he hissed when Rusl groaned in complaint. His hands hovered over him for a moment, and Rusl could practically feel the wound closing. His skin pulled as if being stitched together, and within a few minutes, all that remained of the wound was the fresh blood that still coated his skin and fingers.

“Fuck,” Rusl breathed out. He stared at his healed skin. “You have got to teach me that.”

Dorian got up and looked around them quickly. “I guess we’re even, now,” he said.

Rusl looked up at him and grinned. He wiped his hands against his pants in an attempt to clear them of his blood and stood. “Shit. I guess we are.”

“Let’s go,” Dorian said simply, leading the way through the forest.

Rusl followed closely behind, gathering his weapon when they passed it. “I feel like we had a moment there,” he said. “You saved my life, man. And don’t tell me it’s your job. I think you did it because you like me.”

“I do not.”

“I think we’re friends,” Rusl said. “This is the start of something beautiful. We should appreciate this moment.”

“I will kill you.”

“It’s okay, D. You don’t have to play the tough guy act with me.”

Dorian spun on his heels, his arm thrust toward Rusl, and sneered at him.

Rusl promptly stopped walking, stiffening as he regarded Dorian for a moment. His gaze narrowed, and he grinned. “You won’t.”

Dorian held his gaze for a moment, then dropped his arm. “Don’t test me. You’re the damn reason they found us in the first place.”

Rusl frowned, recalling the conversation they overheard. “They’re looking for me.” It wasn’t a question.

Dorian hesitated. “Seems like it,” he said.

Rusl’s brows furrowed. He looked down at the ground. After a moment, he shrugged and stepped passed Dorian, continuing back to their camp. “I guess you’ll have to work extra hard to keep my ass alive,” he said. “And here I thought we had something special.”

Dorian followed Rusl through the forest. “You’re going to keep making this difficult for me.”

“I’m just following orders, man,” Rusl said. “It’s not my fault the Yiga want my ass.” He glanced at Dorian over his shoulder. “You’re not gonna fire me or something, are you?”

“Can’t exactly have you running around on patrols with the Yiga are hunting you.”

Rusl stopped walking and frowned. “And you think sitting around in one place and waiting for them to find me is a better option?” He turned and started walking again.

“Better than you being in the front lines every day.”

“Nuh-uh,” Rusl started. “This is the only thing I’ve got going for me. You’re not taking that away.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Dorian muttered. “It’s Impa’s call, not mine.”

“Are you at least on my side?” Rusl asked. He glanced at Dorian and grinned. “Come on. We’re a team. Can’t break us up.”

“Oh, we can break up,” Dorian said. “In fact, it’s better if we do.”

“Fate brought us together, D,” Rusl continued on teasingly. “You can’t run from fate.”

“Neither can you.”

To his relief, this shut Rusl up, leaving him to ponder once more at his future. Dorian didn’t feel particularly good about it; he knew Rusl was still struggling to accept his destiny. But for the love of Hylia, he just wanted him to stop talking for five damn minutes.

#sotf #shadows of the future #loz #botw #legend of zelda #breath of the wild #fic #fanfic #sotf10

[astral-enchantments]

Unfinished RvB Drafts

So I have a buttload of unfinished fanfics that I may or may not ever get around to writing. So I thought I would just compile them all here for fun!

The Doppleganger

(Based off a post I saw about how Chase & Nemisis from Gen:Lock we’re kinda like what would have happened if the Alpha had lived) This was probably gonna be a very long fanfic, but I got bored super fast and never finished it.

Chorus was a very large planet with plenty of hidden technology; some of which wasn't even from the aliens who had lived there hundreds of years prior to the present date. The Reds and Blues had to learn this the hard way.

Dexter Grif let out a loud groan to display his disapproval of walking through several miles of dense forest, " How much farther is this stupid base anyway?"

"Quit yer whinin', Grif," Sarge commanded, "or you'll be dealing with the business end of my shotgun! Besides, can't be much farther out now, right agent?" Agent Carolina nodded before responding with , "Shouldn't be more than maybe half a mile out from here. At least that's what Epsilon's been saying for the last hour.." She added, slightly annoyed at her A.I. companion for his continued insistence that the UNSC base was 'only a bit farther ahead'.

"Hey, don't blame me! It's hard to get a good signal out here with all this jungle messing up my scanners." Epsilon, more commonly known as Church, retorted. " And besides, I'm positive its true this time. "

At this point in the journey, it seemed that Grif wasn't the only one getting tired. Donut fanned himself dramatically with his hand, "I haven't been this sore in ages" Everyone groaned loudly, and silently agreed to ignore Donut for the rest journey. All except Simmons, who felt it was worth commenting, "Donut, do you ever think before you say something?"

Donut merely responded with an overly cheery, "Nope!" before silence fell over the reds and blues once again. It took no less than 10 seconds for said silence to be broken.

"Tucker," Caboose bellowed loudly for his aqua teammate near the front of the pack to hear. "I need to go to the bathroom again.."

"Didn't you go like, fifteen minutes ago? Just hold it, we'll be there soon anyways." Tucker didn't much feel like dealing with Caboose at the moment. The group had already had to stop approximately 6 times in the past 2 hours for his bathroom breaks.

"But I really gotta go..."

"Just.. go in a bush or something, Caboose. You can catch up to us when you're done." Agent Washington responded calmly. At this point, he was use to playing 'team dad' for the blues, though even now his nerves was beginning to run thin. "Okay. I'll just go over there, and catch up with you guys in a minute!" Caboose repeated back reluctantly as he stared off into the vast wilderness.

_____________

It was official, they were absolutely lost.

"Church, I thought you said you knew where we were going!" Tucker yelled; they were in a huge jungle, it's not like anyone was going to hear him anyways.

"I did." Church retorted, "But then we went through that really thick patch of forest and I guess I got turned around." He was starting to get sick of being blamed every time something went wrong on this journey.

"Team, now's not the time to argue. Let's just get going back in the right direction." Even Carolina had to admit things were getting a bit frustrating on this mission. "Epsilon, any chance you can reset your scanners and get us moving towards the base again?"

Church took a moment to respond, as he presumably was following Carolina's instructions, then said, "Yep, alright we've got things back in order (at least I hope),  this should be the right way now. Turn left up at this big tree here."

_____________

Caboose had found himself wandering aimlessly around the endless jungle. It wasn't as bad as it seemed, after all there were plenty of cool critters to look at. And it's not like his friends would just abandon him out here anyways, they were probably just over the next fallen tree or giant rock.

Pretty soon Caboose began to notice weird cameras tucked between the branches on the trees; this had to be the right way to his friends. He followed the path of camera until he found himself face to face with a big metal building thing reminded him of the blue base back in Blood Gulch. It also appeared to be empty, at least from the outside where no one made their presence immediately known. Caboose figured that it was a fine place to sit and wait for his friends while they were surely searching for him.

Of course, however, it didn't take more than a few minutes for Caboose to get bored of waiting. He began to look around inside the base and, surely enough, it too was comepletely void of any life. Occasionally, Caboose would call out just to see if anyone would respond, but after several minutes of searching and yelling, he concluded that he was alone.

That is, until he found him.

_____________

"Hello? Hello? Is my radio working?" A static-filled, but familiar voice called in over the reds and blues radio network. Tucker and Washington immediately recognized it as the voice of Caboose and responded. It was also at this moment that they realized Caboose had never come back from his bathroom trip.

"Caboose? 'That you buddy? Are you alright?" Washington  inquired, growing slightly concerned for his comrade in blue. It wasn't exactly uncommon for them to lose Caboose like this, but there was always the chance he had gotten himself into a dangerous situation.

"Yes, I am perfectly fine. And I made a new friend! Well, he's not really a new friend—" Cabooses radio cut out at what seemed to be incredibly inconvenient timing. There was a long stream of static.

Tucker made another attempt at contact, "Caboose? We lost you there for a second. Can you tell us where you are by any chance?" He knew he was being incredibly hopeful by asking, but it was worth a shot.

"Oh, I just followed the cameras hidden in the trees. Yeah, they took me to this place that kinda reminds me of our base. I'll introduce you to my friend when you get here. Maybe we can all be best friends!" Tucker looked at the trees and suddenly noticed that, yeah there were definitely cameras hidden in them.

Mourning the Artificial Man

This one’s actually finished, but I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not so it’s just kinda sat in with my drafts for a while, collecting dust. Basically: My thoughts on how the characters reacted to Epsilon’s death. (And, of course, Spoilers)

As the last shots of the Chorus Civil War were fired, the reds and blues breathed a collective sigh of relief. It was over. It was really, truly over.

"We did it." Simmons quietly repeated to himself in disbelief, getting a little louder with each reiteration. He pulled his orange companion, Grif, into a tight embrace, before promptly letting go in a state of embarrassment, the two proceeding to laugh it off. Tucker, still wearing the Meta's armor, smiled brightly, the effects of victory still very present within him.

"You hear that Church? We won!" He waited for a moment, expecting to hear his overly-cynical friend reply with a, "Good job team!" Or even a, "Finally, I was starting to get bored." But alas, no response came.

Tucker began to check all the stats displayed in his helmet. Most of it appeared to be pure gibberish to him. But displayed quite plainly in the top right hand corner was a power bar, which was getting dangerously low. Perhaps Church just needed to rest for a while. He couldn't blame him for that; the battle that had ensued only minutes prior was one the most intense they'd ever fought, second only to their fight against the Meta.

The others began to chatter happily, recounting the fight almost as if it were a fond memory from the distant past. All except Tucker, who had only just noticed a small notification that had popped up in the middle of his helmet. It seemed to be an audio recording made a split second before the battle had begun.

"Hey guys," the reds and blues immediately dropped their conversations to look at Tucker. "I think Church left us a message.."

"Why's he leaving messages? Why not just tell us in person?" Inquired Grif. "Dunno.. he's not responding at all either." There was a moment of tense silence. "Maybe he's just sleeping?" Caboose suggested in his hopeful, naivety. No one wanted to try and explain the truth to him. Tucker began the message.

Hey guys. If you're hearing this, that means you did it. You kicked the s*** out of Hargrove's forces. I knew you could.

A long silence filled the room as the reds and blues listened intently to Churches message. Looking to one another for comfort, for some sign that this was all just a big joke. But the punchline never came. There was no "Sike! I fooled you!" moment. Just a sad silence.

But this is my last stop..

Caboose wrapped his arms around Tucker as they silently mourned for their fallen friend. It was the only time they'd ever hugged, and would probably be the last as the two had never been very close, but it helped nurse the new wounds and feelings of emptyness that had been left behind.

See, when I came into this world, I was really just a collection of somebody else's memories. But with your help, these memories, they began to take form. They became my voice, my personality. And after a while, I began to make brand new memories of my own.

Tucker played the audio recording for Carolina and Washington. Carolina slowly found herself in Washington's warm embrace as they were faced with the harsh reality that Church wasn't coming back. It was a reality both had wished they would never have to face, but sometimes reality doesn't care how much you wish for something. Instead it will push through and leave you behind to crumble.

They were now the last remnants of Project Freelancer. One less living relic to a time now forgotten by the rest of the universe. One less friend to cope through their pasts with. The world seemed just a little bit lonelier now.

All of these things are what make me who I am. But they're also holding me back....

The message echoed loudly over the speakers for all the soldiers to hear; both from the Federal Army, and the New Republic. The soldiers all removed their helmets in a moment of quiet respect for their fallen ally. The one who sacrificed his life for the sake of not only his friends, but the entirety of Chorus as well.

I can't run this suit as Epsilon.. but if I erase my memories, if I deconstruct myself, the fragments I leave behind will have the strength to get you through this. I believe that.

The reds and blues didn't try to meet the eyes of their lieutenants who were clutching to one another in an act of comfort from the front of the crowd. They simply listened to the message and felt their hearts shatter to pieces once again.

'If we would have been there for them, maybe Church could have still been alive' Palomo told himself. He had only ever seen him a few times before in passing, but he know how much Church meant to the reds and blues. He'd heard so many tales of the cobalt AI, how many times he had cheated death, but now it seemed Church had truly passed on. There was no escaping death this time. (Ran out of space, will continue this in a reblog)

#red vs blue #rvb #agent carolina #agent washington #dexter grif #franklin delano donut #richard simmons #sarge #rvb epsilon #leonard church #lavernius tucker #michael j caboose #rvb lieutenants

[tibbygetsrekt]

         Guess who went to their first Pride today! Guess who also has HELLA social anxiety but was determined to do it anyways? This guy. So while I was at work trying not to think about it I wrote a thing! And then I went to Pride in South Dakota of all places and it was pretty damned amazing tbh. Anyways fic using self insert in the TF2 fandom with Heavy below the cut. 

Ta, Tiberius

“Assassin?’

     They heard the team calling for them, but couldn’t move. They were exhausted. From smiling, from everyone being too close, being touched, touching other people. They were wore the fuck out and had no inclination to answer anyone. Instead they were curled up inside the crate that Sasha was resting on.

     It was safe there, no one would touch Sasha, and would avoid the room to make sure Heavy didn’t think that they touched Sasha. Moving to lay on their stomach, Assassin dropped their head onto their arm, thumb pressing the volume up on their phone, music crooning through their ears, and just tried to make the world go away.

     And didn’t realize they’d fallen asleep until vibrations coming through the ground alerted them to someone coming. To be honest they weren’t even sure the team liked them, they always seemed to be on, always loud, always on some other bullshit. But they couldn’t help themselves being surrounded all the time with so many people. Even three people could be considered too many.

     Turning the music down to be able to actually hear, they lifted their head and fought the urge to scoot back in the crate. Don’t move and they’ll go away, don’t speak and they won’t hear you. The light flicked on, and Assassin flinched, blinking a few times before being able to see properly.

     There was one person who would go near Sasha, watching Heavy’s boots begin walking towards the crate. Trying to make themselves smaller despite the fact he couldn’t see them, Assassin could still feel their anxiety digging its claws into the back of their neck.

“I know you are here, Assassin.’

     They didn’t answer, feeling their throat clench as the anxiety spiked all over again. They trusted Heavy, even when he was furious he’d never actually kill them. But the idea of those hands touching them, even just to drag them out of the box made them feel panicked. The boots moved out of sight, and part of them relaxed, a small part that was dumb and thought out of sight meant safe.

     Assassin’s phone fell from their hand as Sasha was moved, the crate rocking. Looking up they saw Heavy’s fingers curl around the lip of the crate and only had a moment to realize what he meant to do before their world shifted as he flipped the crate upright. Without a side of the box to block the bulb, it was too bright, and Assassin’s eyes teared up, crouching down in the crate and covering their head with both arms.

“Ah… it is that time.’

     They heard something that didn’t make much sense, a few things, and they yanked out their earbuds trying to rally the outlandish personality they put on for the rest of the team. But they hadn’t had enough time to recharge their battery.

     Lightbulb, shattered. Chair, dragged. Heavy, sat. Their mind finally registered the sounds they’d heard, wiping at their face hurriedly before lifting their head again. It was dark in the room, but they could make out Heavy’s silhouette above them, his arms crossed on the rim of the crate.

“Did you eat today?’

“No.’ They scowled up at his grunt. “I wasn’t hungry.’

“You are never hungry when you should be, toksichnyy tsvetok.’

     That was fair, Assassin wrapping their earbuds and cord around their phone. But they stayed crouched low in the box, even though their body was screaming for a hug. It was also still screaming don’t touch me, and Assassin sniffled against their better judgment. Heel of their hand swiping at their cheeks, they reached up to grab the opposite lip of the crate and stood to perch on it.

“How did you know where to find me?’

“When you were not on the fridge, or in the rafters, or any of your other ridiculous places, I thought you might be… dealing.’

“That’s a nice way of putting it, yeah.’ Sniffing, swiping at their nose with their wrist, they could still hear the rest of the team calling for them.

“I do not understand your other places, you hate heights. Very much. Why?’

“Because I hate that I hate them, I didn’t used to.’

“Ah, facing your fears. That is a good thing.’ He still hadn’t moved, and they suddenly realized that he was talking softly.

“And if I jump you catch me.’ They added, a poor effort to put back on the over enthusiastic mask they wore. The smile didn’t last a second, their hand slowly moving towards where his arms were stacked before pulling back. “And, y’know because I sometimes pretend I fell and you caught me.’

“I will always catch you.’

     Their chest clenched tightly, feeling the hot prick of tears in their eyes.

“Well I am a trained assassin, dontcha know, I could probably pull off a three point landing if I wanted.’

“Yes, and ruin your knees for your old age.’

     They couldn’t argue that, legs swinging gently, heels lightly thumping against the box. Outside the door they heard someone run past calling for them, and froze, head snapping towards the door in case they came back to check the room. They didn’t, and Assassin slowly relaxed again, looking back towards Heavy’s silhouette.

“You are feeling a little better, yes?’

“Yeah, no I’m feeling a lot better.’ They lied, a tight smile he couldn’t see. “Just needed a bit of quiet to get my head back together, y’know.’

“I do know.’ He chuckled. “It’s always amusing watching you lose the battle, because you never seem to notice until it is too late.’

“So glad I can amuse you, Heavy. My only life mission.’

“I know it’s bad, that you are hurting yourself, but the little twitches, and too bright smiles, they are amusing.’

“No, yeah no I get it. A laugh riot, eh.’ Swinging their legs over the crate’s side to get out of the box entirely, they were caught off guard by hands wrapping around their waist.

     Reacting, they squirmed and twisted, feet straining to touch ground, Assassin let out a cough when they were suddenly hugged tightly.

“Jeez! What is this?’ More squirming did nothing, finally going limp as they crossed their arms over their chest.

“It is better I laugh at this then get concerned.’ Heavy’s chin rested on their shoulder, ignoring their sulking. “When I get concerned I get angry, and I would begin punching anyone who cannot tell you need to get away.’

“Oh.’

     They could see that happening, Heavy suddenly punching Soldier in the face for being too loud, Scout for how fast he was talking, Medic for getting into their personal space, Spy for staring too long… the entire fort would find itself flipped upside out.

“You’d do that for me?’ Unaware that they were rubbing their cheek against his, Assassin tried to shake the image of Heavy on a rampage. “You’ve known them longer though-’

“Which is why I try to find your pain cute, so I do not murder my comrades.’

“That’s… oofta that’s so sweet!’ Dramatically laying a hand over their heart, Assassin laughed when he grunted and put them down finally.

     Turning they reached up to cup his face, going on tip toe to press a kiss to his lower lip. They weren’t prepared to find themself crushed against him, his arms right as he hugged them.

“I worry that one day you will leave and not find your way back on a very bad day.’

“What? That’s crazy talk, yeah? I’m like a wild cat you fed, and now you’re stuck with me.’ Arms wrapping around his shoulders, they nuzzled against his neck. It was hard to be scared of anything when Heavy held them.

“You need a safe word.’

“I have one! It’s Cary Grant, but I didn’t think you were into that sorta thing… Seems more Medic’s thing, or Scout… …. Maybe Spy.’

“Nyet, I mean for when everything becomes too much. Something for you to say, so I can help you leave before it gets really bad.’

“That’s…’ they wanted to say dumb, but… “Okay, so if I notice, then I should say… …. ……. I dunno?’

“Sasha.’ Assassin pulled back a bit, staring at him in the dark. “If it starts becoming too much you say Sasha, and I will chase you from the room. It will look like a game to our comrades. Or I will yell that you touched Sasha again and chase you from the room if you are pushing yourself too far.’

“I think you just like yelling at me, you big oaf.’ They let their head fall back onto his shoulder but didn’t sound angry, they sounded amused.

“You like my yelling.’ He said as he nuzzled their neck, finally putting them down. “You have very strange tastes, toksichnyy tsvetok.’

“I’m wired all sorts of wrong, so that’s no surprise.’ When Heavy began to move towards the door, they didn’t follow.

     He stopped, turning around.

“Can we stay here a bit longer?’

“Yes.’

     Going back to the chair he sat, reaching out to pull them to sit on his knee, an arm around their waist. Lifting their legs, they rested their feet on his other leg and leaned against him.

“This is not a good place to sleep.’

“I’m not sleepy, I just don’t want to-’

“When you are dealing, you get very tired. I will not be surprised when you fall asleep in a few minutes.’

“I will not!’

     But they did, not even five minutes sitting in the dark, cuddled close to Heavy’s chest, Assassin fell asleep, one hand clutching at Heavy’s shirt. Rolling his eyes, he tucked his other arm under their knees and stood. It took him a moment to get the door opened, lips twitching with amusement when Assassin shifted, pressing their face against his chest at the sudden light but didn’t wake.

“So you found them.’ Spy stated, a cigarette hanging from the edge of his mouth. “Curled up with your Sasha?’

“Yes.’

“Mm, I thought as much. You might want to hurry, Scout is due to run through here any moment looking for them.’

     Sighing, Heavy nodded and carried the sleeping assassin to his room and kicked the door shut. They refused to let go, so he sat down and awkwardly scooted back on his bed, laying down with them half sprawled across him. It wasn’t until after he was somewhat comfortable that he thought of the blanket he was laying on. His room was always cold, he liked it that way. And Assassin was from a cold state, and didn’t seem to mind at all as they shifted until their face was tucked against his neck.

“You are going to get cold, toksichnyy tsvetok.’ In response they cuddled closer.

     That was all he was going to get, Assassin mumbling nonsense in their sleep. Letting out an exasperated noise, Heavy rolled with an arm wrapped around them, and half laid across them instead, fighting a smile as they let out a soft contented noise. He would worry about the blanket later, it was good they were finally getting sleep.

#self insert #self shipping #tibby’s library ;; f/o fics #( bullets on the chessboard ) #anxiety cw #it was a really rough day #i don't like being around a ton of people #i hate being out in the sun at all #if you need me to go outside call my bitch ass at dusk

[weaimtomaim]

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Send me a ‘☠’, for a drabble about how my muse would react to finding yours dead.

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Hey. So we found our Megatron. Everything’s good I think? Well most things are. He didn’t lock us up again or anything so that’s nice.

I think you know by now I’m not good at this kinda thing so.

We can’t be in contact anymore. With you being neutral and also dealing with Autobots, liability and fraternization blah blah... yeah.

So I guess that’s it. If we’re not dead by the end of all this, let’s go get a drink. And maybe set the bar on fire. It’ll be fun, promise.

And if I do end up dead (because let’s be honest that’s probably what’ll happen) then... I dunno. It was good knowing you? Rotary frames are rare and you weren’t one of the annoying ones. 

Finally.

Finally things were starting to make sense again. They found their Decepticon comrades, the high command, Megatron… the weight of not knowing what the future held for them was lifted. Now they had direction again; they could fight with the support of the Decepticon army backing them. Things were how they were supposed to be.

They were meeting with Megatron. Their submitted logs and call transcripts had been poured over for any useful information and cross referenced with what the Decepticons had already. Some of what they’d submitted didn’t paint them in the best light. Though they didn’t show it outwardly, an anxious feeling drifted between their gestalt bond as they’d waited for their audience with Megatron.

Fortunately, it was going rather well. No accusations of treasonous behavior or declarations of them no longer being of use to him. “While this multiverse has made our operations more difficult at times, we will continue as normal unless we are forced to change trajectory.” Megatron’s commanding presence certainly hadn’t diminished in their absence. “The Autobots from our dimension are the priority, but any who should cross your path are to be met with lethal force.”

Vortex rolled his optics to himself. Dead mechs didn’t make for good interrogation subjects. Not that Megatron had utilized those skills of his for a while now. It was usually Bruticus he wanted. Which, fair enough; the guy was an 80ft tall war machine that could level cities. 

“And what of any neutrals?” Onslaught asked. “They’re quite numerous here.”

Megatron waved a hand. “They are of no consequence unless they are Autobot sympathizers, in which case I expect them to receive the same treatment those they adulate would get should you come upon them.”

Onslaught bowed his head, “Of course, Lord Megatron.”

This was so boring. Tailing an Autobot was bad enough and having to do it with Blast Off didn’t improve the experience. Vortex had been eager to test out the cloaking device Swindle gave him specifically for this mission (even if it was reminiscent of the one Starscream had, ugh), but he didn’t think he’d be using it to hunker behind some rocks while they waited for the Autobot’s rendezvous to show up.

They’d better hurry up though, because the cloak didn’t last forever and even a flicker could draw attention to himself. Somewhere on a clifftop above and behind him (and with the much better hiding spot) was Blast Off, prepared to provide cover fire in case things went south.

It would be sorely needed if a fight broke out. The sparse rock formations could hardly be considered suitable cover and the pathetic excuse for foliage wasn’t even worth mentioning. 

The air began to displace not far from where the Autobot stood, drawing both their and Vortex’s attention. An unnatural light cast a green glow across the vicinity. A swirl of color grew until it became a tunnel large enough for most mechs to fit through and coughed up what had to be the second person of interest.

The portal closed and Vortex tried to get a better look as well as listen in on what the two were saying. Rotary frame, green and grey, visor, mask… they looked familiar.

Way too familiar. That was definitely Blackguard. The Blackguard he hadn’t spoken to for months now, maybe longer. The Blackguard that was a neutral and currently seemed to be on good terms with at least one Autobot.

And of course, because things always went from bad to worse whenever the Combaticons were involved, the cloak began to fade. So there stood the copter, only half hidden, his color scheme definitely not doing him any favors in this environment. Before Vortex could even consider his next course of action, he saw both Blackguard and the Autobot turn to look his direction, and the decision was made for him.

The Autobot had their gun trained on him in an instant. Blackguard was hesitating. Fine by him, just made this easier.

Vortex brought both arms up to shield himself best he could from the incoming gunfire. A shot from Blast Off flew by overhead and hits its mark, dropping the Autobot in one go. With that taken care of, he stepped out of his hiding spot. Vortex skirted around the fresh corpse and rose back to his full height. And was face to face with Blackguard.

She sputtered for a moment, like her processor had only just managed to connect the dots that her optics were seeing. He could tell she said something– his name? Doesn’t matter. Don’t listen. Don’t think about it.

Weapon pointed at her spark chamber. All he had to do was shoot.

He hesitated.

Did he have to kill her?

That thought immediately triggered a sharp pain in the back of his head that turned into an icy chill as it traveled down his back. A voice admonished him. Go against direct orders from Megatron? Are you crazy? Do you want to get locked up again?

No, not that, anything but that place again–

Another voice filled his head, ::Vortex! Either shoot or move, but don’t freeze!::

Then Blackguard spoke again. This time Vortex heard her. “Vortex, it’s me. You know me, I’m not a fighter. Just– let’s just take a step back–”

You know what you have to do.

Vortex snarled, “Shut up!” He took the shot.

The immediate aftermath was a blur. Something that sounded like strained words came from Blackguard. Then she was down on one knee, clutching at her chest. Another shot rang out and Vortex didn’t know who it came from. That had been enough to make Blackguard crumple the rest of the way to the ground.

And then there was silence.

Vortex didn’t move. He stared down at Blackguard. The energon pooling from her wounds spread across the ground and began to mix with the Autobot’s. He told himself this was to be expected. They were in the middle of a war; people died all the time. It was inevitable that some of them would be ones you knew.

But it’d never been a friend before. And not by his own hand.

Not many people tolerated Vortex, and even fewer actively liked having him around. Blackguard had been one of those people.

And now she was dead.

Somehow Blast Off was next to him, grabbing him roughly by the arm and starting to physically drag Vortex away. “That’ll be us if we continue to stick around. The Autobot was calling for backup, we need to leave. Can you fly?” There was something in his voice that almost sounded like concern.

Vortex continued to stare at Blackguard’s form as he was pulled away, like he couldn’t quite believe it was real. He realized Blast Off was expecting an answer and nodded his head.

“Then transform and let’s get out of here.” Blast Off relinquished his grip and took his own advice. Vortex’s body seemed to move of its own accord and he soon found himself following suit and speeding away from the scene.

#IT'S FINALLY DONE!!!!!! #heligooddeals #answered #in which my too much gene took the wheel with this #I blame you because you quite literally asked for this one #drabble

[chibivesicle]

Ogata is all about the sass & sarcasm;  how he hides behind his attitude.

I shall engage in some pontificating about how I interpret Ogata as a character who hides behind his sass and sarcastic remarks.  I feel that he does this both to protect himself from others and to also either protect or show how he feels about others.  I hope this won’t be too long a read but I’ll try to put most of my rambling behind a cut.

Throughout the series, one can observe that Ogata frequently only speaks when he has a purpose, and a lot of his dialogue is at times difficult to parse out with it not necessarily matching his body language.  When Sugimoto clearly states he can’t be trusted he really lays it on reminded him that it was Sugimoto who broke his arm, hit him in the head, lead to him falling off the ledge and breaking his jaw in the process and he almost died of hypothermia.  His hand towards/over his heart with his classic cheshire cat smile and the head movement seem overly dramatic for him; most of his emotions are incredibly subtle and he ends it with his statement that his remark hurt.  I read this as an incredibly sarcastic remark since he’s hamming it up so to speak.

But, I’ll jump back to when he first appears with Tanigaki and has more dialogue.

Ogata has always known that Tanigaki is the “classic” nice guy with a big heart.  We saw him in the background when he found his friend who he wanted to get revenge on reminding him that he couldn’t hear him anyways.

As he concluded the worst thing possible happened, e.g. Tanigaki murdered Tamai, Okada and Noma, he tries to intimidate him to determine what happened.

When he taps Tanigaki’s rifle bolt against his forehead, I feel that this scene is him at his maximum sass, he is calmly intimidating Tanigaki but in a very subtle manner, while leaving Nikaido to be much more blunt when they threatened Huci and Osoma.

He has completely out maneuvered Tanigaki and I find it interesting he doesn’t even make eye contact him when this happens.

His complete 180 when he then bounces back with his cheshire cat smile makes it even more awkward as he’s practically sparkling (as much as one can in a seinen manga) and he states he’s joking and he’ll leave him alone. 

What is most interesting is that he again, doesn’t make eye contact with Tanigaki when he pats him on the shoulder.  Is he averting eye contact b/c he has already decided he’ll snipe him or he wants to hide behind this distance before he literally gets in his face and stares him down?  It does look like it is an attempt at a bit of a more honest smile to put Tanigaki at ease but dude it is super awkward. 

His last sarcastic comment is one that Tanigaki definitely cannot hear so this must be for his own benefit.  After shooting the bear that attacked Nikaido, and revealing his position, he is cocky enough to stand up and show himself to Tanigaki and states that he could only throw rocks at him.  Even though Tanigaki doesn’t hear the comment, I read that this is still meant for him, that Ogata seems him as someone who he can speak this way to regardless of him knowing or not.  Unless he is yelling really loudly?  I take it that Tanigaki can’t hear him since his gunshot would have been a hell of a lot louder and revealed his position to begin with and that Tanigaki would have determined even before he stood up.

Anyhoo, we know what happens as a result of the Ogata-Tanigaki show down and we don’t get his ultimate sass until he finds Tanigaki again.

I love the attitude that he has after he fires the warning shot to break up the commotion with the Ainu who are chasing Tanigaki.  He just exudes power in this situation and remember that he still is under the assumption that his comrades were murdered by Tanigaki.

The framing of the shot shows that he knows he’s in control and he’s going to use it to the full extent.

He’s got a mischievous look on his face and he’s got that soft smile of confidence in the situation.  From here the full on sassing of Tanigaki commences.  He knows full well Tanigaki is in danger and his life is threatened so his language for him to beg for his life furthers how he wants Tanigaki to validate him as the one to save him (again seeing that he thinks he murdered his close comrades).  However, his plan doesn’t go how he’d like as Tanigaki strikes back that he’d only murder them instead.

And at that point his switch is flipped, he’s so bent on revenge that he can’t help but laugh and again point out that Tanigaki wants [needs] his help to get out the situation, since Tanigaki trying to talk things out obviously wasn’t working.  I love how we only see his face from his nose down and his classic fake smile to hide his feelings.  He only begins to think about himself when the random man points his gun at him that he outright threatens to kill him; I feel this is where is dialogue is a bit off with his body language, he’s holding his rifle at ready but it is down while the other man is already aiming at him.  Hence he doesn’t get serious until he himself is threatened.  As others and I have stated previously, he does make it a point to avoid targeting innocent people so he doesn’t get serious unless someone is serious toward him.  This is most importantly an exchange between him and Tanigaki and the Ainu are simply between them in his eyes.

I find it interesting that after the Ainu elder orders them to stand down against Ogata, that he simply follows them all back to the village, he doesn’t actively interfere but does his best guard cat impression.  Plus, the Ainu are okay with this weird sniper guy just hanging out . . .  It appears that even at this point he is conflicted on his opinions about whether or not Tanigaki murdered the other men.  So he’s watching over him either to get revenge or maybe part of him already knows he’s not the kind of guy to murder his comrades so he’s torn so he just stays close by to watch.  I dunno, I’m sure others have their own theories on this.  But I do find it odd that he just hangs out.

Once Sugimoto and company show up there is also the weird reaction to Sugimoto duking it out with the buff Ainu and results in Ogata amused?  I never got him as one to enjoy the suffering of others seeing that he has suffered so much in the past.  Is he impressed by the brute force of Sugimoto? Or the absurdity of the entire situation?  Think about it, some dude is fornicating with animals and people are freaking out and want to find the man but don’t know what to do.

I could see this as one of those times where you just don’t know how to react.

Despite all of his attitude towards Tanigaki, we then get a serious of exchanges between Ogata, Asirpa and Sugimoto where his sarcasm comes out in full force.  First, Asirpa asks him to protect Tanigaki and he refers to him as a “bear cub” thus assigning a cute nickname to the man he’s tried to kill.  This could be his way of teasing an individual who he knows is a good/nice/somewhat innocent person. 

He could also be using that term to deflect that he likely knows Tanigaki didn’t murder the others, as he reads people pretty well but he needs to maintain that attitude of toughness and deflecting his “soft” side.  ‘cause bear cub is a pretty cute nickname for Tanigaki.  To keep some power in this discussion he follows this up with “what is in it for me?”.  He finally then puts his cards on the table and states that his comrades were killed my Tanigaki and that is why he is hesitant to help.  He hides his feelings for his friends by first stating that Tanigaki is following Tsurumi’s orders though it is quite clear due to how he gets upset about this that he cared about his friends and he’s hurt.

Sugimoto states that a bear killed them but smartly keeps his part out of it.  Ogata’s expression completely changes, you can tell he’s thinking about how what he is learning is changing his hypothesis.  Asirpa’s more persuasive, tying in how Tanigaki is important to others just like his comrades were important to him.

Of course Sugimoto has to be a dick and goad him on, which likely doesn’t help the situation per se but instead it is the stare down with Asirpa that leads to his reply that he’s in a tough situation.  As usual, he replies while not making eye contact with her, likely indicating he’s using his sass and sarcasm to hide his feelings but he likely cares enough about the situation to do something.

My absolute favorite example of his way of hiding his feelings through sarcasm is when he escapes with Tanigaki.  Being the nice guy that he is, Tanigaki feels guilty for fleeing as he states it just makes him look more suspicious but Ogata’s reply is priceless. He states “well if you wanted your nose chopped off so badly, i’d be happy to help.”  Tanigaki isn’t looking at him as he states this with an almost playful/friendly look.  I just love it, here he is hiding the fact that he wants to help a nice guy but he’s got to maintain his distance so he doesn’t get hurt/protect himself.

Of course, he does protect Tanigaki and everything resolves nicely and the Ainu start calling him bear cub while they feast together.  Yep, Ogata singlehandedly gave him a nickname that others are using.

He also gains Asirpa’s trust even further as illustrated by the famous hand sniffing scene.  Again, he has to awkwardly reply and hide behind the lines that Tsurumi used to solidify the 7th that he rebelled against.

The pause in his reply followed by the very hidden face and just stating an easy memorized line can do the trick at this point for him to cover up his feelings about things.  He has to put on airs and I find the fact that he can’t come up with something original means he just needed to say something to keep things going and move on to another subject or in this case, more hand sniffing.

The next time that Ogata really sasses Tanigaki is during the night sneak attack by the blind bandits.  After he very successfully defends the group due to his neurotic love of keeping his rifle close, he really digs into Tanigaki.  It feels like he is telling him, he’s too nice of a guy and that he should remove himself for this crazy gold chasing situation.

Tanigaki also told Kiroranke and Ikmarat that the shouldn’t tell Ogata about what he did or didn’t do indicating that he does care about Ogata’s opinion of him.  I think Ogata is such a hardass on Tanigaki by this point b/c he thinks he’s a nice guy and he should tap out of the situation.  In some ways Ogata is right, he should go back home to his family but he can’t say it in a nice way so he hides behind his snide remark instead.  Tanigaki in some ways is like his brother, a good guy who cares about others so likely he’s uncomfortable with him and doesn’t know how to say it.  We know he tried to keep his distance from his brother but didn’t say it.  Maybe, he’s now saying things to make it clearer, an improvement from how he had been with his brother.  Ogata is using words, b/c you know people can read your mind.

I will briefly turn to the Ogata-Sugimoto dynamic . . . where there is a lot of competition, sarcastic remarks and who can win the attention of Asirpa.

I’ll start off with when Sugimoto first accuses Ogata of being a future traitor due to his past actions.

Again, his body language and what he says seems over the top as though Ogata’s reply that it hurt and he’s wounded is almost melodramatic for a man who quietly sits and observes for the most part.

Sugimoto tries to get a rise out of Ogata and he simply parries back at him by upping the ante in their verbal exchange.  I’ll skip the entire Ainu village arc for the sake of space and instead focus on their early interaction.

When Sugimoto first saves him from the 7th division solider who had him pinned down, they have their first verbal/non-verbal exchange.  I wonder about this fight as Ogata had bayoneted him and pretty much given him a lethal wound and was trying to block the blows to his face while his former comrade beats the crap out of him.  As others have pointed out ( #hundredogatas and #goldenkamuyhunting exchanges I may have left someone out - sorry ^^;; ) he’s smiling while being attacked, hypothesizing that perhaps he doesn’t mind/enjoys the fact his comrade is beating him up.  I dunno what it exactly means or perhaps he doesn’t know how to betray former comrades up close and personal as a sniper who kills from a distance.

What is important is first Ogata’s  reply of “.....” where he’s unsure what to say then followed by him egging on Sugimoto asking him if he wants a thank you.  Sugimoto is quick to state he doesn’t like a two-timing bastard.  Interestingly, Ogata maintains full eye contact the entire time before spitting the blood out of his mouth while staring Sugimoto down.  Perhaps, he’s able to be more honest with Sugimoto since he’s a much more wounded/PTSD individual than someone like Tanigaki.  Yes, Sugimoto is a nice guy but once his switch is flipped he’s brutal and up close and personal with enemies unlike Ogata’s distance.

When jumping to the Ainu village arc, we get the parallel of the above panel where Ogata smiles as he states that he didn’t like Sugimoto either as he saves him from being shot as he runs off to save Asirpa.  I read this as Ogata caring for Asirpa and that by letting Sugimoto go, he knows Asirpa will be safe.  But, this is too honest of a thing to admit so he only says it to himself and again with his usual sass.

This is stating that he saved Sugimoto b/c he likes/cares about protecting Asirpa and the only way he can deal with that is to mock Sugimoto.

One of the best exchanges between Sugimoto and Ogata in regards to their constant verbal sparring is when Ogata mocks Sugimoto’s poor rifle technique.  He gives him hell for firing his wet rifle and questions if he was even awake when in his basic training. 

Ah again, he gets away with the remark without making eye contact with his target, Sugimoto, has the little sigh cloud coming out of his mouth and his weird soft smile where he seems somewhat amused that he knows he’s gonna get a rise.  Of course, Sugimoto immediately glares back which then leads to the Type 38 introduction.

Finally, Sugimoto realizes that Ogata swiped the rifle from him.  I’m under the indication this happened when Asirpa and Shirashi were taking care of Sugimoto on the airship b/c he’s off in the corner with his really soft smile.  He’s just there by himself checking out the new rifle thinking about how he’d make use of the increased distance etc.  In the above panel he serves as the introduction to the Type 38 rifle for the reader and proceeds to put Sugimoto to shame stating that he deserves to use a rifle that Sugimoto doesn’t appreciate nor can use to its full abilities.  Plus, that final panel shows how strong of a presence can put forth when he makes eye contact with someone and be up front about things.  He’s being honest with Sugimoto, “hey dude, you kinda suck at shooting so leave that to me.” and again I’d say he’s doing his best to show that he does care about the team and he’d best serve them by being the one to use the Type 38.

Below is his cute drooling over what I believe is the Type 38 on the airship.  That is such an genuine Ogata smile there .  . .

I’ll briefly jump to a few other instances of how he uses his wit to hide his feelings or deal with situations where he’s unsure of how to react.

We know that Ogata has no love for Tsurumi so I can’t help but love his remark in regards to the taxidermist’s “Tsurumi”

His remark that he’s got pretty good taste is a nice stab at how he feels about Tsurumi, recognizing he has manipulated yet another young man to work for him and ultimately resulted in his death to aid Tsurumi’s cause.

I also love how after Sugimoto and Asirpa refuse to help Shirashi, he too decides he doesn’t want to get involved and deflects helping him out of his own selfish needs.

Man, that sass and the final statement of well . .  . NO, just really hits home how he’d rather keep his distance but he’s likely concerned enough to make a joke out of it, but leaves Shirashi to be the victim to to speak.

As everyone cautiously moves toward the prison, his blunt remark is the best.  He could just say things like “well everyone is on edge. . .” but no, he goes for the blunt statement that he’d rather not be killed in his sleep. Likely, he actually hit the nail on the head but no one else makes such statements so, he was the party member who could express this feeling.

I find it interesting that it then leads to Sugimoto making the over the top statement that he’d be willing to kill Kiro or Ikmarat and then really awkwardly laughs if off . . . sorry Sugimoto, leave the true sarcastic remarks to Ogata.

The last example I’ll touch on is when Hijikata questions his motives.  it is hard to tell how much of this is sass, self deprecation as well as how he is uncomfortable with opening up to others.  As I’ve stated elsewhere, I don’t think he has grand leadership ambitions, he’s an introvert but he does read others well.  He’s the only person with the balls to ask if everyone else actually trusts each other.  He betrayed Sugimoto with Kiro, but he likely knew Hijikata would betray them.  Early on he called out Hijikata’s selfishness when he asked him way back about his plans and his subordinates.  Which Hijikata never answers.  I think Hijikata was trying to pull a bait and switch and get everyone else to focus on Ogata since he’s so hard to read to begin with and he likely sees Ogata as a threat to his own goals.

If anything, Ogata is making it clear to everyone that they all have unique motives and they should be aware that their objectives will come into conflict sooner or later.  Just don’t link him with his terrible father, he doesn’t like that so much.  Thus, he has an immediate reaction to snark back at everyone defensively but with truth in his statement.

So to summarize this long rambling bit of Ogata hypothesizing, I’d say he’s a character who does care about others but is uncomfortable connecting with others through normal social interactions with the exception of Asirpa.  He’s never sassed or made sarcastic remarks to her, so perhaps his connection to her is more “pure” or “honest” or something. 

I by no means did a full analysis of his interactions with Sugimoto but at this rate I’m sure someone could write a thesis on that.  Let me know what you think, these are how I’ve read things but I’m always open to other interpretations!  I do have to admit that I myself am an incredibly sarcastic person, so I connect with his dialogue based on my personal experience and situations that I’ve been so this impacts my read on him.  I’ve done or said things similar to him so I’m using my own connection with the dialogue so others may read it differently!  

#ogata hyakunosuke #golden kamuy #gk #overanalyzing #ogata is sass

[team-fartress-over-crotch-blog]

Can't see the rules so I dunno if this is okay, buuut. How would the tf2 mercs react to a Sentient Sentry? That somehow talks? Maybe it's Merasmus' fault?

The rules are here, dear ^^  https://team-fartress-over-crotch.tumblr.com/post/171920895210/rules

Merasmus slipped into the base, eager to fulfill his master plan. He rolled, jumped and stuck to the wall until he reached the garage. Merasmus lifted the garage door and crawled into the building. Merasmus maniacally cackled at his success and began to place a curse on a sentry. After the spell was cast, Merasmus boasted about how brilliant he was! He brought a sentry to life, however, he forgot to give the sentry a mission. All he did was give it a voice and free will...

Heavy: • Is highly suspicious about it. • Avoids it at first, but when he sees the sentry alone in the garage he goes and checks up on it. • He’ll come in every now and then just to vent about his comrades or something. • Eventually, it leads to a daily routine of them talking and lounging around. • Introduces his gun to it, all proud like a dad. • Secretly hopes his gun and the sentry date or something. • 100% wants his gun to talk too.

Medic: • A NEW OBJECT FOR EXPERIMENTS!? • Medic no! • Yeah, he’s banned from ever seeing it again. • However, he does sneak in during the dead of the night and takes notes on it. • They begin to talk, mostly about the sentry, but it does progress into a nightly conversation session. • Offers to build a body for the sentry for sure.

Sniper: • Was very skeptical at first, but came around when he saw the joy it brought to his crew. • Hesitantly sat next to it and started to ask it questions. • It was awkward. • Totally brings it up to his roost during a battle. Just to feel a little less lonely. • Places his coffee mug on top of it. Regrets it when coffee is spilled everywhere. • INSTANT PANIC BECAUSE OH MY GOD COFFEE GOT ON THE SENTRY • Sentry turns out okay, Sniper keeps drinks away from it.

Demo: • He looks at the sentry. • Then looks at his scrumpy. • And back at the sentry. • Yells for his teammates to 1. Confirm that isn’t that drunk and 2. there’s a talking sentry in their midst. • When he finds out that it was the work of Merasmus, he rolls his eye. • Begins to tell the sentry who Merasmus was and even shares stories about the wizard. • Soldier jumps in with stories of his own, all three of them laugh and joke. They hit it off real quick. • Demo is 110% overprotective of the little sentry during battle. • Offers to oil its creaky parts. (sexy sax solo in the background)

Soldier: • Doesn’t really surprise him when the sentry starts talking. • He talks to sentries all the time, they’ll eventually respond, right? • No no no, even that was wrong to Soldier. • Immediately points his shovel at it and demands to know why it’s there. • The sentry quickly explains that it was Merasmus that brought it to life. Once Soldier processes what it said, he merely laughs and puts down his weapon. • “Any friend of Merasmus is a friend of mine!” • They begin chatting away and Soldier sternly teaches the sentry what it is and what its purpose on the battlefield is. • Somehow manages to strap the sentry onto his back like a backpack and takes him out to battle.

Scout: • Screams. • “Robots are takin’ ova the fuckin’ world! Again!” • When he finds out Merasmus did it, he’s just ticked off. • Kicks the sentry and cusses Merasmus out. • Sentry did not appreciate the kick and promptly shoots him in the foot. • Scout does come back (after his foot’s healed) and starts talking to it. • Realizes that it’s pretty chill and plays ball with it. • And by playing ball, I mean Scout pitches balls and the sentry shoots it while it’s airborne. • Scout never gets bored again.

Spy: • Nope. No. Absolutely fuck that. • Pays no attention to it. It’s just another thing Merasmus disaster. • However, after awhile it appears that the sentry means no harm. • He gives in and pats its head from time to time. • TEACHES THE SENTRY TO SHOOT ENGIE IN THE ASS • Snorts when it actually happens.

Engineer: • He knew it was going to happen one day but by his own doing. • Everyone totally thinks he did it, but he can’t steal such a genius idea. • As the sentry explains Merasmus did it, he’s slightly impressed but also pissed off. • Definitely feels like a father. • Gives the sentry an update, a few wheels, and extra guns. Now it’s mobile! • Takes great care of it, polishing it often and oiling it. • Loves to have his little sentry out on the battlefield with him, just to have some decent conversation.

Pyro: • Is very excited to find another friend. • Instantly hugs it, mumbling pleas for them to keep it. • Funnily enough, the sentry knows what Pyro’s saying, even when the others don’t. • Pyro often draws on it with crayons and gets scolded by Engie every time. • Pyro will read children’s books to it and has sentry read them too. • Never lets anyone touch it on the battlefield. Will blast everyone’s ass if they get too close. • Even though sentry is compatible on its own.

#tf2 #tf2 imagines #team fortress 2 #tf2 headcanons