#i can send you what ive wrote and we can go from there or we can start from scratch bouncing ideas or u can just ask me questions

[arsenicflame]

hey does anyone wanna bounce bellhands/they all went to pirate school together ideas with me? im trying to figure out the missing pieces of my personal set up and it might be easier with someone else!

#if youve never spoken to me before please be aware i will type a whole paragraph in response to one (1) sentence #but if ur down for that! please. #ive got like. the start and the end and a couple bits in the middle fleshed out but it doesn't f l o w #this is the problem with trying to condense more than a years of ideas into one cohesive narrative. i usually swap and change things as #and when it suits so im like. i don't know what i need in this #its just for my silly little tumblr post but #i would appreciate it <3 #i can send you what ive wrote and we can go from there or we can start from scratch bouncing ideas or u can just ask me questions #or something to help fill in gaps idk whatever works for u! what ive got is like. a fuckin mess honestly its ramblings and half finished #thoughts and just. its. a complete state and thats not even touching on whats missing (like. anything that matters in the middle basically) #nyxtalks #ofmd #bellhands #sam bellamy #izzy hands #israel hands #if you're unfamiliar with the concept: its Hornigold era stuff; jack + ed + izzy + sam all sailing under him and learning the ropes togethe #im not trying to go into too many details; just the underlying structure that is what I think of when i think of them #its probably not something anyone else cares about but i think i need it for some of the more fun 'what if Izzy went with sam' posts #i realised if i wanted to say what the divergence point was i Needed to establish all this lol #'oh yeah its when izzy chooses sam after the mutiny despite their argument' NYX WHAT ARGUMENT. you need to tell us what u mean

[macgyvermedical]

Drug Orders and Doses

@whumpsmith

Cool, so I think the first thing to know is how medication is ordered.

Generally speaking, it will be ordered in 5 parts, known as the "5 Rights" of medication administration:

#1 What patient is getting the medication

#2 What medication is to be given

#3 How much medication is to be given

#4 What time it is to be given (or how often)

#5 What route it is to be given

So an order might be "Give John Smith (5/13/1995) lorazepam 0.5mg IV once prior to MRI"

In this example, John Smith is the patient and 5/13/1995 is his birthday to differentiate him from all the other John Smiths. "Lorazepam" is the drug's generic name, "0.5mg" is the amount of the drug. "IV" is the route, and "once prior to MRI" is the time.

Drugs have generic and brand names. For example, acetaminophen is a generic name. Many companies make acetaminophen, and each has their own brand name for the drug. Probably the most well-known brand name for acetaminophen is Tylenol, but there are others, like Calpol and Panadol. For most people, it doesn't matter which brand of a particular drug is used, just that the active ingredient (the generic name) is the same. For some people it matters because the non-active ingredients may be different between brands, and they may be allergic to a non-active ingredient that is in one brand, but not another.

In a hospital setting, we're going to use the generic name, because the brand of the drug that is cheapest to the hospital pharmacy varies contract to contract, and there are a lot of drug shortages these days. That's why if you're in the hospital you might get an oval green pill one day and a round white one the next day. They're the same drug, just different brands.

The dose is given in milligrams, usually abbreviated "mg". Milligrams are a measure of weight. Cubic centimeter (cc), on the other hand is a measure of volume. At some point we switched from volume based to weight based measures because we had a lot of different concentrations and using volumes for everything made mistakes really common. If you're using weights, it doesn't matter if the concentration you have is 1mg/mL or 10mg/mL for a given drug, you can do the math and come up with a volume that is right instead of just hoping you picked the one the doctor was thinking about when they wrote the order.

There are many routes a drug can take into the body. There is oral (a pill or liquid), IV (injection in a vein), IM (injection in a muscle), SQ (injection into fat), rectal/PR (a suppository, gel, or liquid inserted into the rectum), SL (under the tongue), TD (a paste or patch that sends medication through the skin) and many more.

Times can be once, once every x hours, once every x hours as needed (PRN), once under a particular circumstance, daily, or pretty much any other interval you can think of. "Stat" is a term meaning "right now".

Here's a list of common medications and their dosages:

CODE DRUGS:

Epinephrine 1mg IV for cardiac arrest every 3-5 minutes, 0.3mg for anaphylaxis

Amiodarone 150-300mg IV over 10 minutes for cardiac arrest

Lidocaine 75mg for cardiac arrest initially, if that doesn't work then 37.5 10 mins later

Adenosine 6mg given very quickly for PSVT, if that doesn't work, give 12mg

Atropine 1mg every 3-5 minutes for low heart rate until heart rate is normal

OTHER DRUGS:

Albuterol 2.5mg in nebulizer for brochospasm/asthma attack

Metoprolol 5mg IV every 5 minutes up to 15mg for severe high blood pressure

Furosemide 20-80mg IV for fluid on lungs

D50 25g IV for low blood sugar

Diphenhydramine 12.5-50mg IV for allergic reaction

Morphine 2-10mg IV or IM for pain

Fentanyl 50-200mcg for sedation

Mannitol 20-150g for increased pressure inside the skull

Nitroglycerin 0.3-0.6mg every 5 minutes up to 3 times for chest pain (angina)

Naloxone 8mg nasal spray every 2-3 minutes for opioid overdose

Flumazenil 0.2mg IV for benzodiazepine poisoning, if that doesn't work give 0.3mg, if that doesn't work, give 0.5

Diazepam 15mg rectal gel for seizures that don't stop

Phenobarbital 1-1.5g IV for seizures that don't stop

Etomidate 22mg IV for anesthesia (for things like intubating someone)

Midazolam 5mg IV for sedation prior to surgery

Olanzepine 5-10mg IV for agitation (emergency sedation)

Haloperidol 0.5-10mg oral or IM for agitation (emergency sedation)

#whump reference #writing reference #drugs #whump #medical orders #sedation #anaphylaxis #cardiac arrest #pain

[autisticlancemcclain]

fic rec friday 40

hello and welcome to fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.

The Heart of the Scorpion by crystalklances

Lance has a big old crush on the school's Soccer Captain, Keith. He tries to deny having a crush even while their every interaction sends his heart aflutter. Romantic horoscopes and secret love letters? Totally not related to Keith. Luckily, heart and stars align to prove him wrong.

i will fucking miss crystalklances every single day of my life he was a PILLAR. i wish he had kept his account and just abaondoned it but im grateful at least that he only orphaned his fics and didnt delete it. he had so much to write about the college scene and soft klance and them being tender and soft and open about it!! he also often gave keith parents and he almost ALWAYS wrote trans lance like he invented the tag!! crystalklances i miss you and this was one of my favourite fics of yours

2. It's Not Spying If You Don't Call It Spying by @jilliancares

Turns out everyone is spying on Lance and Keith's blossoming relationship.

this is truly so goofy and silly and the team is SO so nosy and they need to be involved in 110% of klance's shit. as they deserve tbh. theyre all so annoying and i support all of their crimes

3. i wanna love you (but i don't know if i can) by @rickybowens

So, of course, that was when Hunk had said, "You know, it's really good that we're all friends here. I feel like it always gets awkward when two people in a group start dating, you know?" "Well, I don't think we have to worry about that with this group," Pidge had piped up, "I love you all, but there's no way in hell I'd date any of you." Everyone else had murmured their agreement, except for Lance and Keith, who had shared a look before trying to discreetly scoot away from the other. (Or, Lance and Keith decide to date in secret so their relationship doesn't make their teammates uncomfortable. It goes about as well as is to be expected.)

secret relationship you will ALWAYS be famous. its literally my favourite trope idc!! and this arc made SO much sense in terms of a reason for them to be dating in secret!! i loved how the team was the problem but that was very much not their intention but it made sense why klance was afraid and just...this whole fic was cinema truly i love it so so much

4. Of Pidge, Perception, and Prosecution by @erinnovelist

Of all the paladins, Lance knew Pidge was the one he had to watch out for. The only time her guard was down was after she woke up. She didn’t talk, glasses discarded after long hours staring at a screen, and she couldn’t function properly without her daily cup of coffee-equivalent alien juice. Which was why, when he wandered into the kitchen that morning, Lance hadn’t expected Pidge to zero in on him and ask, “When did you and Keith start fucking?”

teehee this one made me giggle its so ridiculous. and yes i did scroll thru the secret relationship tag again idc its so good!! i love the idea of klance thinking theyre so so sneaky and the whole time pidge is like yeah bitch ive been knew yall aint subtle in the slightest

5. Shifting Rock by @ohcontrary

Shiro is back with the team and things are... difficult, but getting easier. But even as he feels more and more like himself, he notices how his relationships have change. It's possible his relationship with Lance is changed irreparably. Luckily, the mission they go on gives them a chance to talk. But on a trip so perilous, they'll need to pay attention-- It isn't just their relationship that's on shaky ground.

lance and shiro NEEDED to talk fr. if ur gonna pretend the later seasons happened then they needed to CHAT. and what better place to chat then mortal peril and the threat of being crushed to death!! holy metaphors!!

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!

#look! a rare frf w variety!!! #vld #voltron #lance #lance mcclain #keith #keith kogane #klance #secret relationship #established klance #shiro & lance #team as family #modern au #college au #fic rec #fic rec friday #longpost

[new-eyes-extra-colors]

Sunlight

Fandom: Pokémon Omega Ruby

Rating: General Audiences

Characters: May, Maxie, Groudon, Steven Stone

Summary: "Frenemies" is a weird relationship to have with someone, but if May hopes to partner with Groudon, she's going to have to make it work.

A/N: The only excuse I have for this is that I dearly love both of these characters and think they should be friends. Two things to note: May is 24 here, and there is an on-screen panic attack about two-thirds of the way through.

A Groudon-sized heap of thanks to my friend @slam-dunkrai for beta reading for me!

[read on AO3]

Something was beeping.

May opened her eyes blearily, then squeezed them shut again at the brightness around her and frowned. Where was she? She peeked again and her head throbbed. The ceiling was white and tiled; not the popcorn ceiling of her room in Littleroot, and definitely not the supports of her tent. Her back was on something soft, her head supported by pillows. Her left arm itched fiercely, and something was tight across her chest, making it difficult to breathe. There was a sharp pain in her left side, like she had a stitch from exerting herself too much.

She rolled her head to the side, looking down the length of her arm to see what was making her skin protest so much. A long clear tube ran from her wrist to… she followed it up to a bag dangling off to the side of the bed, far above her head.

Oh. Right. That made sense. Hospital, got it. They’d tucked her in a little tightly. The last thing she remembered was… running? She’d been headed down into the Cave of Origin to deal with Groudon, Maxie’s voice in her ear and half her team left behind on the surface to help with the evacuation. How had she…

…No, that wasn’t right. The last thing she remembered was leaving the Cave of Origin, after Groudon. With Groudon.

Using her right hand so she didn’t disturb the IV, she reached up to rub the sleep out of her eyes. The beeping increased in tempo. It must be a heart rate monitor. Okay. Hopefully everybody assumed the ultra ball she had with her was one of her pokémon and not, you know, the horrifyingly eldritch walking natural disaster that had been well on their way to starting the literal apocalypse. Who would suspect that?

Her increased heart rate summoned a nurse seemingly out of thin air.

“Ah, you’re awake,” the woman said, sweeping into the room, a smile on her face. “How are we feeling this morning?”

“Fine, thanks,” May said. She tried to sit up and dizziness washed over her; she laid back down, head thumping against the pillows heavily. The pain in her side was back in force. “Where’s my team?”

“At the center next door,” the nurse replied, fiddling with one of the machines. “You’ll be able to see them once you’re discharged.”

“I’m good to go now,” May said. “I feel great.”

The nurse eyed her critically. “You are dehydrated and have three cracked ribs.”

Oh. Maybe the blankets weren’t tight after all.

“Just cracked?” May asked. “Not broken?”

The nurse leveled a forceful stare at her.

Okay, but she’d just fought a world-ending monster to a standstill, what, a day ago? How long had she been out? Whatever, it didn’t matter. She wasn’t intimidated. May leveraged herself up with her right arm, ignoring her protesting ribs. “Seriously, I’m good to go. I need to check on my pokémon.”

The nurse sighed. “I’ll send the doctor in to assess you, and you can discuss your situation with her. But I don’t recommend leaving unless she gives you the all clear.”

“Sure, gotcha,” May said. “I’ll be sure to drink lots of water and avoid any strenuous activities. I don’t need to be in a hospital to do that.”

*

The doctor protested as well, and no doubt May’s friends would once they found out, but she signed a release and wrote a letter stating why she was leaving before the doctor’s recommendation, and was discharged a few hours later. She brushed her teeth, got changed—somewhat gingerly due to the cracked ribs—secured the one pokéball she had on her person, gathered her bag and her cell phone—someone had kindly plugged it in to charge while she’d been unconscious—and checked her messages. Six missed calls, five from the professor and one from her mother, and two texts from Flannery and one from Brendan. Guiltily, she tucked the phone away. She could get back to them later.

She was going to get an earful from Steven for sure, provided he knew about her condition—if anyone did, he would—but given the circumstances, her health could wait a little while. She had more pressing concerns.

She couldn’t get over the fact that she caught Groudon.

Was that even allowed? Maxie had been going to do it, before everything got shot to hell, and he was probably a better trainer than she was. On the other hand, there must’ve been something wrong with his method, because instead of partnering with him, Groudon rampaged. There was no guarantee they wouldn’t do the same thing the moment she let them out of their ball, but at least now she could return them. Right? Pokéballs weren’t foolproof, even the expensive one she’d used, but it didn’t seem like Groudon had broken out yet, so they still had to be in it.

Wherever it was...

“May I see your trainer’s card, please?” the receptionist asked. May already had it in hand and passed it over the desk to her. “Okay, let’s see… May Maple. It looks like we only have one of your pokémon under our care currently. An aggron. He’s in the large pokémon wing, down this hallway to my left at the very end. You’re welcome to visit him at any time.”

Wait, what? “Aggron?”

“Yes, that’s what his intake paperwork says.” The receptionist looked up at her, faintly confused. “Is that incorrect?”

When had Brutus evolved? “No, no that’s right.” Surely she’d be able to recognize him regardless. Right? She was that good a trainer at least. He’d recognize her, definitely. “You don’t have any others?”

The receptionist shook her head. “No, I’m sorry.”

Crap. Okay. She’d have to check with Steven, then; he would know what happened. “Okay, no worries,” May said, making sure to sound lighthearted. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Is there anything else I can help you with today?”

“Just one thing. What’s my aggron in for?”

The receptionist looked over her computer screen. “He’s being tested for stress fractures after being… caught in a cave collapse, and also for exertion after a suspected spontaneous evolution.” She looked up at May, a question in her eyes, but didn’t say anything else.

“Okay, thank you. I think that’s all I need. You said the left hallway, right?”

“That’s right. Have a good day.”

“You too.”

May took off past the receptionist’s desk, power walking to keep from breaking into a sprint. A cave collapse and a spontaneous evolution. That’s why she had been running, right? She’d caught Groudon, but the earthquakes hadn’t stopped; she’d had to run to get out. She dropped Brutus’ pokéball sometime during the fight, so he was beside her during their escape. If the ceiling started to come down, he must’ve evolved to protect her. Vaguely, she remembered being pinned to the ground facedown with something impossibly heavy bearing down on her back, only saved by the sturdy construction of the suit, and then that weight being lifted marginally. The earth had been rumbling and air had been hissing in her ears. She must’ve passed out not long after.

May was pretty sure that was one mystery solved. Spontaneous evolution happened for a lot of reasons, but defensive evolution was more common than other types. To know that he’d somehow mustered the energy to save her after being so exhausted from combating Groudon, to know she was loved that much by her pokémon was…

She wiped at her welling tears with the back of her hand. Now wasn’t the time.

She pushed open the double doors at the end of the hallway and spotted Brutus immediately. A hulking mass of white steel and rocky flesh stretched out across the floor, taking up a surprising amount of space. The attending nurse glanced at her as she entered, and the aggron lifted his head and looked at her with clear blueish green eyes.

May burst into tears at the sight, and ran the distance to drop to her knees and throw her arms around his neck, not minding at all the hard skin or cold metal armor or pain in her ribs. The nurse stepped aside and let her have her moment.

“Wow, you got big, huh?” May asked, pulling back to peer into crystal eyes and scrubbing the tears from her own. Brutus looked back at her, silent and stoic. “How am I gonna feed you now?”

“Biggest aggron I’ve ever seen,” the nurse said. “Course we don’t get many of them out here on our little island. But he’s an impressive specimen for sure.”

She turned to look up at him. “Is he okay? The receptionist said he was being looked at for stress fractures.”

“Yeah, he’s checked out so far,” the nurse replied, glancing at his clipboard. “The only trouble he’s in is due to exhaustion and overexertion.”

“Spontaneous evolution,” May said.

“Yeah, you know. Pokémon are tough customers, especially this one, but even they can get the wind knocked out of them.” He smiled kindly. “I wouldn’t worry about him though. He’s recovering well, and I have no doubt he’ll be ready to leave in a few days. Really, it’s just a precaution that we’re still monitoring him.”

May sighed with relief. Alright. So she just had to arrange to stay a few nights at the Center—she had things to do, and people to talk to, and a giant eldritch lava monster to find, and hopefully everyone else would be sticking around in Sootopolis for a while too.

She spent the next hour cooing over Brutus, running her hands down his armored face and holding his massive paw in her lap. He seemed to be himself, just tired. Eventually, reluctantly, she patted his nose and stood. She needed to get a room here and then go figure out what had happened to Groudon.

When she did so, the receptionist said, “Oh—it looks like you’re already in our system for the rest of the week.”

May frowned. “Um, okay. Can I ask whose card is on file?”

The receptionist clicked her mouse. “It says here the credit card authorization was signed by a Steven Stone. Wait. The Steven Stone?”

Oh, but that made sense. Of course Steven would be footing her bill. Again. It had to have been him who brought Brutus to the Pokémon Center in the first place, and probably the one who recommended treatment for spontaneous evolution. He was the steel-type expert after all.

“Yeah, that’s him,” May said. “Can I pick up my keys now?”

*

She ran it over in her head during the walk back to the Cave of Origin. She went in with Brutus and Comet—one was in the infirmary and one still in a ball, clipped to her hip. Ivy was with Steven and Alluria was with Archie, and that’s where they both still were, according to what Steven had said on the phone when she’d called him after picking up her keycards at the Pokémon Center. But where was Groudon?

The worst-case scenario was that their ball had been lost in the cave-in, but Steven and Wallace were working on getting that sorted right now. When she’d spoken with Steven he’d mentioned that, as both a landmark and a place of importance to not just the Sootopolitans but Hoenn as a whole—and since there had been no major injuries during the short-lived state of emergency—one of their first priorities in the wake of this disaster was clearing the cave out. That was good, right? All she had to do was wait, in that case, and she had to do that anyway while Brutus recovered.

The cave entrance was so much less intimidating in the daylight—well, the natural daylight, not the light of Groudon’s summoned sun that had blared overhead in the dead of the night. Now, past the massive carved doors, it looked like any other cave she’d dove into during the last two years, except for the construction crew coming and going out of it.

Nobody seemed to notice her as she slipped inside and followed the wide passageway deeper into the earth. She had no idea how close she’d been to the entrance when the ceiling collapsed, but she was going to find out.

It turned out to be pretty far. She found Steven after the fourth turn, who knew how many feet underground, his metagross and a constellation of beldum floating ominously beside him.

He turned when she called out to him. “There you are,” he said, smiling. “You really should be wearing a hard hat in here, you know.”

“Eh, this cave already tried to crack my skull open once and didn’t manage it,” she said, knocking on her head with her right fist, and Steven chuckled.

“Be that as it may, May, safety is not a joke. Why don’t we go outside?”

“This’ll just take a second,” she said. “I know you’re busy.”

He nodded. “Alright.”

“First of all—Ivy.”

“Yes,” he replied, unclipping a blue and red ball from his belt. “She performed admirably, you should know. She’s exceptionally well trained.”

Hopefully he couldn’t see the blush that crept up her cheeks at that. “Thank you,” she said, returning the sceptile’s ball to her own belt. “You don’t know what that means to me. Um, second of all is a little more complicated.” Steven’s brow creased in concern as she continued. “So, um, I think I lost one of my team members when the cave collapsed.”

“I’m sorry, May, that’s very serious,” Steven said gravely.

“Yeah, I—I know.” She took a deep breath; hopefully if he thought she was overwhelmed with worry he wouldn’t ask too many questions. Like what pokémon is it and where did you catch it and hold on, I thought you only had four partners.

“They’re in an ultra ball,” she said. “So, um, if you find one, will you please let me know?”

He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. “May, of course I will,” he said. “I’ll let the rest of our crew know as well. As soon as we find them, I’ll give you a call.”

“Thank you,” she said, with genuine gratitude. He held his arms out and she started in for a quick hug, but then backed off. “Uh, my ribs are cracked.” Dang it.

“Oh! I’m sorry, it had completely slipped my mind.” He held out a hand for her to shake. “Apologies for the formality, then.”

She shook it, smiling. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ve made it up to me already. Thank you for booking my stay at the Pokémon Center, and for looking after Ivy and Brutus. At this point I think I owe you one.”

Steven looked at her. “May, we all owe you.”

Right. Saving the world and all that. “Eh,” she said, trying not to sound flippant. “All in a day’s work. Actually,” she said, “I do have one more question.”

Steven nodded.

“So, I know the cave collapsed, I know Brutus evolved to protect me,” she started. “But who dug me out? I’m assuming it was you and Diligence.”

“It was a group effort,” he replied. “I believe Mister Asher reached you first.”

That made sense; Maxie had been the one operating the other end of the radio, so he had been right there at the mouth of the cave. Not that it had been much help; they’d lost the signal almost immediately. Wasn’t his fault.

“After that, I arrived with Wallace, and then Mister Caspian, Mister Jeong, and Ms Khouri-LeRoux.”

Archie, Tabitha, and Shelly. She was planning on talking to all of them at some point. “Right, okay,” she said. “Just making a list of who all I need to thank.” Among other things. Definitely not who all she had to ask about her—her missing pokémon.

Stars above, Groudon was hers, weren’t they? Her responsibility. Reality settled like a weighted blanket around her shoulders, making her stomach churn with anxiety. She had to pick up the pace.

*

After thanking Steven again she showed herself out, and stepping back into the clear sunlight was a relief. She still had no idea how long she’d been trapped in the cave, but she considered it fortunate that she didn’t remember it. Being buried alive was… well, it didn’t merit thinking about. Not now.

Next on her list: Maximilian Asher. Wherever he was. It was a little funny—after all this time knowing each other, they’d never traded phone numbers. She just happened to run into him. A lot. Which, of course, had been according to his plans all but the first two times, and that time in Lilycove when she caught him out shopping. But he hadn’t left her any hints about where to find him now.

He’d been such a frequent presence in her life the last two years and now it felt like an eternity since they’d spoken, even though it had been the day before yesterday. The last time was over the radio, right before Groudon erupted from the magma deep in the cave…

Right, she wasn’t thinking about that right now. She had at least one person from Team Magma she could contact. It was fortunate he’d opted to give her his number after the incident at the Weather Institute all those months ago. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts, all the way down to the Ts, and then dialed.

It only rang twice. “Hello?” said a voice on the other end of the line.

“Hey, Tabitha,” May said. “It’s me. Is your boss around?”

“Maple?” he asked, sounding incredulous. “Yeah, he’s right here. Why?”

“I need to talk to him. Well—I need to talk to both of you, technically. It’s nothing bad. Where are you guys at?”

“North side, down by the lake.” Not far, then. “There’s a little café on the east side of the gym. We’re on the patio.”

“Gotcha, thank you. I’ll be there in a sec.”

*

It was a short walk to the waterfront. The winding path led downwards, past a myriad of shops and clusters of apartments, and under hanging ivy and colorful banners before opening up in front of the lake. It reminded her of Olivine, on the far side of this same ocean, so close and so far. She passed in front of the Sootopolis Gym and its official League signage, following Tabitha’s directions, and soon spotted the people she was looking for.

They were sitting at an outdoor table under a bright yellow umbrella, and were both out of uniform. Tabitha looked sharp and professional in slacks and a button down, and Maxie looked surprisingly casual in slacks and a turtleneck. The bright red coat really did a lot for his silhouette, May realized. He looked smaller out of it.

Both men looked up at her as she approached, though Maxie’s gaze quickly fell away to the tabletop. May waved, a little awkwardly, and moved to stand a few feet away from them.

“Uh, hi,” she said. Her anxiety flared again. Might as well accept it—this was going to be a weird one, but she could still be polite. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything?”

Maxie and Tabitha shared a look—she definitely was interrupting something, and given the events of the last few days, it was probably better not to speculate.

“We were just finishing up, actually,” Tabitha said. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

Right, sitting down was probably less weird than standing here.

“How are you feeling?” Tabitha asked as May pulled out a chair and sat down between them. “Last time I saw you, you were being carted off to the hospital.”

“I feel fine,” May said. “The cavern got it worse than I did.”

Tabitha cocked an eyebrow at her, but if he knew anything to the contrary, he didn’t call her out on it. “Okay, well, that’s good. Glad to have you up and around. So how we can help you?”

“Well, I think you already have,” May said. “And um, that’s really the only thing I needed to talk about.” She took a deep breath and looked at them both in turn. Tabitha was leaned back in his chair, casual as could be, and Maxie was sitting with impeccable posture as always and still refusing to meet her eyeline.

“Steven told me what happened after the cave-in,” she said. “He said you both helped dig me out, and I wanted to say thank you for that. So, thank you.”

“It was the least I could do,” Maxie said quietly.

“You saved all our sorry hides,” Tabitha pointed out.

“People keep saying that,” May said.

“Probably because it’s true,” Tabitha said. “But regardless, you’re welcome, Maple.”

She nodded at him, and then Maxie cleared his throat.

“Ms Maple,” he said, finally meeting her eyes, “would you be comfortable speaking with me in private?”

That… could be about a few different things. “Uh, yeah, that’s fine.” She glanced between them again. “Uh…”

Tabitha scooted his chair back and stood. “Courtney called earlier and I need to get back to her,” he said, “so I’ll leave you two to it.” He nodded at May. “If I don’t see you again, Maple, take care.”

“You too,” she replied warmly.

He pushed the chair in and then turned and walked away, pulling out his cell phone as he went. May fiddled with her bracelets.

“Are—” she started, just as Maxie said, “I—”

They both stopped, and Maxie ducked his head. “Go on.”

May hesitated. “Are… how are you?”

“I’m fine, Ms Maple.”

Yeah, right. Who would be fine after all of that? He had the air of a kicked dog, and it was a feeling she was familiar with. However he was doing, whatever was going through his head, it sure as hell wasn’t fine.

“Okay,” she said, because what else could she say to that? Not to be rude, but I don’t believe you, sorry. It wasn’t the sort of thing you called someone on, so she let it go.

Maxie took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I owe you an apology. More than one, I expect, but I will try to be concise. I can only imagine how much you must hate me, but—”

May flinched. “What?” How could he think that? She must’ve screwed up somehow, just like she always did, if he could think it was even possible for her to—when had she even been angry with him? Sure, she’d once cornered him on the fourth floor of a department store in Lilycove, feeling like an idiot with a stuffed animal tucked under her arm, and grilled him for hints about where his base was, but that was a far cry from angry. Annoyed that he was winning their little game of cat and mouse, maybe. And she enjoyed their battles; he was a good trainer.

Hot tears pricked at the corners of her eyes and she felt her face flush and throat tighten. “I don’t—I don’t hate you.” Stars above, if she screwed up this badly, did she misinterpret their entire relationship? She twisted her hands in her lap. “Um—do you hate me?”

“No, no, of course not,” he said quickly. “No, I didn’t mean—ugh.” He closed his eyes briefly. “I apologize, Ms Maple, I’m finding this more difficult than I imagined. I misspoke. Permit me to start again?”

She wiped at her nascent tears with the back of one hand. “Uh, yeah. Go ahead.”

He nodded. “Thank you. Now: please understand I’m not asking your forgiveness. But my error in judgement never should have fallen on you to fix. The monumental task of dealing with Groudon never should have been your responsibility, and for the fact that I was unable to rectify my own mistake, I am truly sorry. You should not have been involved.”

She waited a heartbeat, and then two, and then said, “Okay, but I involved myself.” He opened his mouth to reply but she held up a hand. “I’m a trainer, Maxie, so it was my responsibility, actually. And I mean, you were there. Nobody else had the team for it.”

“Regardless—”

“No, there’s nothing else. I’m sorry, but like, it wasn’t something that you alone could have fixed. And everything turned out fine—the earthquake damage was minimal. Hell, I caused more trouble for everybody by collapsing the cave. Nobody was hurt. I really don’t think this is my place to say, but you seem to, so… apology accepted.” She shrugged and immediately regretted the motion as the pain in her ribs flared again. “You’re forgiven.”

He closed his eyes. “Just like that,” he said flatly.

“Yeah. I mean… yeah.”

He shook his head. “Just when I begin to think I understand you, you do or say something like that.”

May resisted the urge to shrug again. “Sorry.”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for.”

She nodded. “You know, I wouldn’t’ve chased you across the entire country if I hated you. I would have just like, told Steven where to catch you.”

“I see,” he said unconvincingly.

She waited a beat, but he didn’t continue. “So, um, are we okay now?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean our… relationship, or whatever. Back to normal, right?”

He studied her for a moment. “I’m very interested to hear what you think normal is for the two of us.”

She huffed a laugh. “Well I didn’t think you were going to ask me to define it.”

He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Okay, okay. Um. Rivals? Friendly ones? Who don’t hate each other?”

“You tell me, Ms Maple. You’re the one with a laundry list of things you have every right to be aggrieved about.”

“I already said you were forgiven.”

He sighed. “You did.” He leaned back in his chair. “Very well. I suppose rivals is… fitting.”

“Great. …Um, not to change the subject, but there is one more thing,” she said slowly. “I had an ultra ball with me when the cavern collapsed. Did anyone find it, or…?”

His demeanor changed subtly—back straightening, eyes narrowing—and in that instant she knew that he knew.

Oh, stars above.

Of all people… of course it was him.

“Yes,” he said coolly. “I was wondering when you were going to broach that topic.” He reached down and unclipped something from his belt, and then placed the slightly melty black and yellow pokéball in the center of the table. “I did, as it happens.”

“Oh. Uh. Thank you.” She didn’t reach for it.

“I have been trying to decide what to say to you regarding your chosen solution,” he said, tapping one finger on the tabletop, “but I find that words simply escape me.” He took a deep breath. “Ms Maple, I’m well aware I have no right to tell you how to handle this—”

“So don’t.”

“—but I cannot overstate the danger of attempting to—”

“You were going to do this.”

“I was wrong.” He leaned forward in the ensuing silence. “You’re so quick to forgive me, but I was wrong. Do you understand that?”

“You weren’t down there,” she snapped, and he leaned away at the heat in her voice. Guilt bit into her instantly. “I’m sorry. But the one time that you weren’t there—” Stars above, stop. She wasn’t admitting that to him, at least not yet. She shook her head. “Look. I’m not going to try to justify myself to you, but I don’t think I had a choice. The cavern was coming down and I couldn’t just—leave them.”

He laughed and she frowned. This wasn’t the giddy schoolboy laughter of their encounter on Pyre or the triumphant, borderline maniacal laughter of Groudon’s cavern. He sounded…  tired.

“Ms Maple, I am not trying to lecture you. And I’m certainly not implying that you’re incapable of handling her. Obviously, you’ve done that once already.” He sighed. “But I think you should seriously consider not following in my footsteps.”

“I really think we’re past that point. They’re already awake, now.”

“And you think that’ll make a difference.”

“I mean, yeah? They haven’t broken out of their ball, yet. I’m sure they could.”

Maxie tapped one finger on the tabletop. “I suppose that’s fair. What exactly is it you plan to do?”

“Take them somewhere they can’t hurt anybody if they decide to have a temper tantrum, let them out, and just… talk to them.” She held up her hands, forestalling any argument. “I mean, they’re a pokémon, right? And they have partnered with people in the past, right? You weren’t wrong about that.”

“Perhaps,” he said slowly, like he was conceding a point he didn’t really believe in. “But to be frank, Ms Maple, is your team in any shape to handle her a second time if she proves to be less than tractable?”

“Yes,” she shot back. “Ivy and Alluria are good to go. That’s two type advantages. More than what I had last time, and they weren’t tractable at all then, believe me.”

“I do,” he replied. “Regardless, I don’t think you should be undertaking such an endeavor on your own.”

May stared at him. “Who am I gonna ask to help with this?”

“I don’t have an answer for that.”

She had one, but he wasn’t going to like it very much. She’d probably have to work her way around to it. She picked an angle and dove in. “I mean, the obvious answer is the League.”

He hesitated, then shrugged and folded his hands primly on the tabletop.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She sat forward. “Turning Groudon over to the League is basically like handing them to the Devon Corporation. Look, I want you to know that I know that. Just because I’m friends with Steven…” She shook her head. “I’m not blind to his flaws, is what I’m saying.

“But if not him, then who? Because I can’t let them rot in a ball forever and I can’t let them rampage, so at some point I’m going to have to deal with them and like you said, it’s better not to do it alone.”

“I’m sorry, Ms Maple, but I don’t have a solution to offer you.” At least he had the good grace not to suggest her father, gym leader or not. “I wish that I did.”

With a sigh, she sat back in her seat. Groudon’s pokéball sat between them on the table, an odd, faintly ugly centerpiece. She had to play this smartly if she was going to get what she wanted.

“Maxie, listen,” she started, and he nodded. “I appreciate the suggestion, I really do. But I already thought about it and I already have someone in mind.”

“Well, good, then,” he said.

“He’s an expert on Hoennic mythology.”

He opened his mouth to reply, and then squinted at her. “No.”

“Why not?”

He set his jaw. “Ms Maple. Far be it from me to understand your… earnestness in attempting to ignore how singularly I have already failed in that endeavor. But recent events have made it abundantly clear that some quality of mine rendered me incapable of succeeding in this particular effort and it would behoove you to acknowledge that.”

“You’re literally the best man for the job.”

“I’m literally the worst man for the job.”

“You know you want to.”

“Yes, I do, and that’s precisely the problem,” he snapped.

May sighed. Plucked the ball from the center of the table and turned it over in her hands. Made a show of it. “Fine,” she said, trying her best to sound defeated. “If you’re not comfortable, I won’t try to force you. I’ll just do it alone again, which is not, you know, dangerous at all. Or,” she said as he opened his mouth to reply, “maybe I’ll just ask Archie for help.”

Maxie narrowed his eyes at her. May held his gaze.

“He’s a sweet guy,” she continued, maintaining eye contact. “Seems pretty knowledgeable about this kind of thing, too. I bet he’d be happy to give me a hand. And I do have to talk to him today anyway, since I have to get my milotic back from him.”

Maxie folded his hands in his lap. Inhaled and then exhaled. “You,” he said, voice low and measured, “are trying to get a rise out of me, and it isn’t going to work.”

Oh, now all of a sudden he was unbothered by that. “I’m trying to ask for your help,” May shot back. “Except you’re more bull-headed than your own camerupt, apparently. I had to sit through your big speech about your incomparable partner—”

“Yes, and we saw how well that went.”

“Well we wouldn’t be doing that again,” she said. “No expectations, no grand intentions, no inscrutable magical artifacts. Just two people, and one pokémon. That could work.”

He hesitated, and she could practically see the gears turning in his mind. “I should be talking you down from this.”

“I can’t just let them sit in a ball forever, Maxie.”

“I know, I know. Gods.” He pulled off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes shut. He sat like that for a long moment, and May leaned forward, trying not to grin. She had him.

“If I don’t help you, you’re going to do this anyway, aren’t you.”

“Yep.”

He sighed heavily, and then leaned back, put his glasses back on, and looked at her squarely. “You’ll need space,” he said. “A lot of it.”

“Somewhere secluded, ideally,” she added.

He nodded once. “Do you have someplace in mind?”

“Yeah, I think so. It’s about an hour’s flight from here, if I’m remembering right.”

Maxie hesitated. “Flight?”

“Yeah, unless you want to swim. That’d probably take longer.” She squinted at him. “Can you swim?”

“Very well, thank you,” he said haughtily.

“Well, pick your poison. How does your swampert do in saltwater?”

“It’s a euryhaline species.”

“So, fine. So between her and my milotic…”

“I think I would prefer to fly,” he said. “If it’s all the same to you.”

May smiled. “I think that’ll work fine. Are you available tomorrow?”

“You want to wait?”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s almost dark and I just realized I haven’t eaten anything at all today.”

He gave her a withering look. “Ms Maple.”

“I had things to do, okay?”

“Stars preserve me,” he muttered. “Well, conveniently we’re at a café, so why don’t you go in and order something now?” He waved one hand. “On me.”

She balked. “Are you offering to buy me dinner?”

“Yes, if only to ensure you eat a proper meal. I’m unfortunately aware of your proclivity towards instant noodles and energy drinks.”

She made a face halfway between a smile and a cringe. “Yeah, forgot you knew about that.”

*

The roof of a Pokémon Center—at least most of the others she’d been to—was usually as busy as its interior, with trainers relaxing, sparring, or simply taking in the sights. But this early, May was the only one out here, and she was grateful as always for the solitude. She had to admit, the East Lakeside Pokémon Center had a wonderful view. She could see all the way across the lake from here, to the local gym and to the Center on the opposite shore. The sky was rapidly lightening, but the city, in the depths of its crater, was still awash with darkness. Pinpricks of lights—streetlamps and windows and trolleys—stood out on the far side of the lake.

She was just cinching the final strap on Comet’s saddle when she heard the door to the roof open. She glanced over, only half expecting Maxie even though she knew he was punctual, and tossed him a little smile and wave when she saw it was him before getting back to her preparations. She wasn’t used to flying with passengers; typically it was just her and Comet and she forewent the saddle a not-insignificant portion of the time. But today, safety was the name of the game.

“That’s a latios,” Maxie said from somewhere off to her left. She looked up and over Comet’s back at him. He was back in his red coat, looking like his normal, faintly imposing self. That was probably a good thing.

“Good morning to you too. His name’s Comet,” May replied, finishing up with the buckle and scratching behind her dragon’s feathery ears.

Maxie mouthed the name with a frown. “Your fourth pokémon is a latios?”

She wasn’t surprised that he remembered their names, though she couldn’t recall mentioning Comet in front of him. Comet apparently took exception to Maxie’s tone, and snapped his jaws, arched his neck, fluffed up his feathers, and tipped his head to side-eye Maxie, who took a step backwards.

“He’s not trying to be critical,” May said to the dragon, smoothing the feathers on his neck back down with one hand. “I think he’s just surprised.”

“Yes, though at this point I’m not sure why.” Maxie shook his head. “Every time I start to think you couldn’t possibly impress me more…”

May ducked her head and bit back a smile. “The, uh, attitude is just because he doesn’t know you. He gets a little flighty around strangers.” To Comet, she said, “Please be nice. I told you we’d have a passenger today.”

She kept smoothing feathers, doing her best to reassure him. That seemed to settle him somewhat, and the sharp angle he held his neck at relaxed. He stretched out toward Maxie curiously, sniffing the air.

“You can pet him now if you want,” May said. “I promise he’s friendly.”

Maxie hesitated, but then held out a hand for Comet to inspect. The dragon arched his neck again, but not as severely this time; then, slowly, pressed his nose into Maxie’s palm.

“Scratch behind his ears; he loves that.”

Maxie did so, a faint smile tugging at his lips, and Comet trilled. “A latios,” Maxie repeated. “You’ve had him since before Pyre, yes? Why didn’t you ever use him in battle?”

“He doesn’t like fighting,” May replied.

“Can he understand what we’re saying?”

“I think so? He seems to pick up tone pretty well, and intent if he knows you. I just talk to him like he’s a person and that seems to work fine.”

“Fascinating,” Maxie murmured.

“We’re still working on the sight-sharing thing,” May said, “but it’s pretty taxing having someone’s entire sensory experience dumped into your head, especially when they see in the UV spectrum and have psychic powers and an extra set of limbs compared to you. The first time we tried it I got a horrible migraine-and-nosebleed combo. Spent the rest of the day curled up in my tent with a pillow over my head, trying to ignore the phantom limb sensation from briefly thinking I had wings.”

Maxie leaned to the side to give her a critical look past Comet’s neck. “And this is something you regularly subject yourself to.” It wasn’t a question.

“It’s not that bad now,” May said defensively. “We’ve been practicing. Uh, are you ready to go, then?”

He sighed. “Yes, we’d best get going.”

May patted Comet’s shoulder twice, and he lowered himself into a laying position on the ground, tucking his forelegs underneath himself and spreading his wings. She showed Maxie how to buckle the belts that would keep the two of them secure on Comet’s back while flying, waited for him to get settled into the second seat of the saddle, and then double-checked his work.

“Sorry for that, but I don’t want to lose you to a mistake,” she said. “Uh, not that you have anything to worry about; Comet and I have practiced mid-air catches before. He’s pretty good at it.”

“Dare I ask how?”

May winced. “Uh, probably in exactly the way you’re thinking.”

He sighed and leveled that forceful stare of his at her. “Ms Maple, at some point you and I are going to have a serious talk about that reckless streak of yours.”

She broke eye contact quickly; she could unpack any implications there at a different time. “Sure.” She hopped into the front seat and did up her own buckles. “We’re not doing any fancy flying today, though, are we bud?” she asked, leaning forward to pat Comet’s neck. He warbled.

May looked over her shoulder. She would have twisted, but her ribs were already protesting from lifting the saddle earlier and she didn’t want to injure herself further. “Okay, have you ever flown before?”

“In a plane,” Maxie said dryly.

“Well, then, dragon riding 101—basically just do what I do. Lean when I lean in the direction I lean. If you’re not sure what to do, just lean forward. There’s a strap right behind my seat—” she reached back to pat it, “—you can hold onto that. Please don’t grab me.” That was less a rule and more the preference of someone with three cracked ribs, but he didn’t need to know that. He’d just blame himself for getting her hurt, even though it wasn’t really his fault.

“Also—you probably want to put your glasses somewhere safe. Which reminds me, I have a pair of goggles for you.”

Maxie removed his glasses and tucked them into an interior pocket of his coat as May dug around in her pack for a moment before producing a second set of flygon-brille goggles, the twin of the ones perched on her own forehead.

“Interesting choice,” he said. “Very… traditionally Hoennic.”

“I like that they don’t scuff in the sand,” she replied. “I got them in Lavaridge.”

Maxie made an approving noise, but didn’t say anything else. She half expected him to brag; he was from Lavaridge—it wasn’t a coincidence that his sister was the gym leader there.

May pulled on her own goggles, and once Maxie was situated, she patted Comet again to signal they were ready to go. The dragon stood slowly so as not to jostle his passengers. May hunched forward as much as her aching side allowed. Behind her, Maxie hissed a breath.

“Don’t forget to lean forward,” she said, and felt Comet’s stance shift as Maxie did so. “And don’t forget to hold on.”

“Believe me, I have that covered,” he said, sounding grave.

May tried not to smile at that as Comet took two bounding steps forward before leaping off the roof. He flared his wings almost immediately to catch the wind, arcing upwards in a neat parabola before flapping hard to gain more altitude. Cool air rushed past and May almost laughed aloud as they soared in a skyward spiral over the lake, now sparkling and golden in the light of the early morning sun. When she could see the ocean past the white crater walls of the city, she let go of the saddle.

“Okay, hold on!” she called over her shoulder, over the wind, and then lifted her right arm and key stone bracelet high in the air, and—

—blinding white light burst from the mega stone on Comet’s collar as he transformed, massive wings stretching wider as his feathers rippled, changing from blue to lavender. If they’d been flying solo, this was the part where he’d flip them over into a triumphant loop, but he remembered what she’d asked him about gentle flying today and instead only trilled and beat his wings harder to increase his speed.

May whooped as they shot upwards into the wide blue sky, despite the throbbing ache in her ribs, despite the monumental task waiting before her, despite what she was going to have to deal with back in Littleroot, eventually. There was no feeling on the planet like this. With one hand on a dragon’s neck and the wind in her hair, for a little while, at least, she was free.

They leveled out at cruising altitude about a half mile above the city, and May tugged at the thread of psychic energy connecting her mind and Comet’s to ask him to turn southwards, roughly in the direction of that old tower that loomed on the horizon. He bobbed his head, dipped a wing, and banked.

Finally, she turned to look at their passenger. Maxie was still clinging to the saddle, but his posture seemed somewhat relaxed, and he was taking the opportunity to peer over Comet’s side down at the city and the long line of black basalt Groudon had left in their wake as they had traveled to the Cave of Origin from their cavern beneath the sea.

“You doing okay back there?” May asked.

“Fine,” he said, somewhat stiffly, pulling his gaze away from the scenery to meet her eyes. “If this is your usual means of travel, I think it’s very telling.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“I meant it as one.”

May nodded, grinning to herself. “Okay,” she said over her shoulder, “we’ve got about an hour, maybe a little less since it seems like the wind’s in our favor. Should be a pretty smooth ride.”

“Thank the gods,” Maxie muttered.

They settled into what May felt was companionable silence. The only noises were the rush of the wind, the occasional beat of Comet’s wings, and the cries of seabirds. Far below, the ocean sparkled in the sunlight, a vast blue diamond-studded quilt covering the world.

The sun shone brightly high in the sky, warm and heavy on May’s bare arms. They were really doing this, she realized. Less than an hour and, for the second time in two days, she’d be facing down a monster so powerful as to bring the whole world to its knees. She’d barely beaten them the first time.

Anxiety coiled in her gut, and she took a deep breath. Stars above, but she hoped this wouldn’t get them both killed.

*

May’s estimation on their flight time turned out to be slightly off; Comet touched down about an hour and a half later. It wasn’t a large island they landed on—only a few hundred yards across, mostly covered in sand and scrub grass, with the ocean lapping sedately at the shores.

May was already unbuckled and sliding off Comet’s back as he folded his wings, and she helped Maxie down a moment later, holding his arm as he steadied himself. He really wasn’t used to flying.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” she asked, smiling.

Maxie sighed as he put his glasses back on. “I imagine it must be an acquired taste.”

May chuckled as he began combing his hair back into place with his fingers, looking as disheveled as she’d ever seen him. She bit back a smile and turned her back to him to pet Comet. She didn’t want him to think she was making fun—it was just that he was kind of cute when he was out of sorts.

“How is it that you’re familiar with this place?” Maxie asked. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

“Well, we’re not exactly nowhere,” she said. “Pacifidlog is another three hours or so in…” She turned to orient herself, and pointed. “…that direction. Far side of the archipelago.”

“I suspect our respective definitions of nowhere may be significantly different, and you didn’t answer my question.”

“Oh—how am I familiar. We do a lot of flying around. I like exploring, and there are a lot of little uncharted islands out here. Never know what you’re going to find. Plus, it’s kind of peaceful, you know?”

“I see. You don’t worry about getting lost?”

“Not with Comet around. I don’t know for sure but I think he can sense the planet’s electromagnetic field. He’s an excellent navigator, anyway. Besides, in this area, you can orient yourself off that tower.”

Maxie frowned. “What tower?”

“That one, on the horizon.” May dug in her bag to retrieve her field binoculars and passed them to him, pointing. “See?”

“N—ah, yes, I do.”

“Not sure what’s going on over there, but there’s a nasty downdraft around the exterior—we tried flying to the top and Comet almost got knocked out of the air. And the front door’s locked.” She squinted at him. “I don’t suppose you’d know anything about that?”

He lowered the binoculars and arched an eyebrow at her. “Why are you asking me?”

“You’re the mythology expert.”

“Hmph. I suppose I am.” He hummed. “If I had to venture a guess, I would say it sounds like the Sky Pillar. It’s a place of great importance to the Draconids.”

“The dragon tamers who live in the Falls,” she said. Not unlike her mother’s side of the family, across the ocean in Blackthorn. She’d met a few on her journey, and had simultaneously felt awe and jealousy that they were so connected to their culture, in exactly the way she wasn’t. “Like the old ruins on Pyre and in Granite Cave on Dewford, right?”

He looked faintly pleased as he passed the binoculars back. “Yes, exactly. They’re one of the oldest cultures in Hoenn. The Sky Pillar is supposedly a point of contact with their god, Rayquaza.”

“A dragon, I’m assuming.”

“A great one, allegedly. One that’s supposed to… keep the planet in balance.” He frowned again. “A serpent eating its own tail.”

“What?”

“Ah—nothing. I’m just suddenly doubtful of its existence, recent events being what they are. Were.”

“What do you mean?”

“Groudon isn’t the only one of her ilk,” he said, and everything crashed into May at once: Groudon. They were out here for a reason; she wasn’t just sightseeing with her new best friend. They had to deal with Groudon.

“Not the only giant scary world-ending monster,” she said shakily. “Okay.”

Maxie frowned and held a hand out halfway to her arm, like he was about to touch her but thought better of it. “Ms Maple, are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” She waved a hand dismissively. “What were you saying?”

He narrowed his eyes like he didn’t believe her, but continued anyway. “I was saying Groudon has a counterpart. Her equal and opposite, the incarnation of the sea itself, Kyogre. Rayquaza is supposed to keep the two of them in balance. I didn’t think of it at the time since we had other more pressing concerns, but I wonder why Groudon’s rampage didn’t attract Rayquaza’s attention. By all accounts it should have.”

May fiddled with her bracelets, running her thumb over the cool polished surface of her key stone. “Lugia’s the incarnation of the sea,” she said.

“Wh—oh. Yes, I suppose you would think that.”

“It’s true.”

“I have no rebuttal,” he said. “My expertise is in Hoennic mythology, not Johtoni. Though I will say, given recent experiences, your gods seem more… benevolent than ours.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” It had been all over the news, about a year before her family had moved to Hoenn: Lugia had appeared in the Whirl Islands, just off the coast near Olivine, to partner with that boy from New Bark who bested Team Rocket for what was hopefully the final time. May had compared herself to that boy a lot over the course of the last two years, but never did she expect she’d also be dealing with a partnered legendary. All things considered, she would trade Groudon for Lugia in a heartbeat.

That was a mean thought. Groudon was her responsibility now, no matter how scared she was, and whether she liked it or not—and if she wanted this to work, she needed to like it.

“What’s Kyogre like?”

“Much like Groudon, I suspect.”

“Hm.”

A beat of silence passed, and then Maxie asked, “Is this why you were so upset on Pyre?”

“Huh?”

“You’re Johtoni. I’m sorry to say it just occurred to me. You cremate your dead, yes? Mount Pyre must have been… shocking.”

“Oh. Yeah. I mean. Among other things, like how it’s super haunted and all.” And like him ignoring her about the data she and Tabitha had retrieved from the Weather Institute, but he didn’t need to hear that.

He hesitated, and she realized he must be thinking of that too, and probably regretting it. “Right.”

Another moment of silence passed between them. The waves crashed down on the shore, seabirds called, and Comet yawned and curled in on himself, settling down in the grass for a nap.

“Are, um. Are we stalling?” May asked in a small voice.

Maxie smiled ruefully. “Perhaps we are. Shall we, er, get to it, then?”

“Yeah.”

“How do you propose we prepare for this?”

Gods, what could they even do? Maxie had planned this for at least two years and things still went awry for him—and they were essentially winging it, now. At least they weren’t in the middle of a city this time, but other than trying to minimize potential casualties—

“Pokémon out, or no?” Maxie clarified, cutting into the downward spiral of her thoughts with a direct tone.

“Oh.” Good question. “I don’t want to come across as intimidating.”

“I don’t believe you need to worry about that.”

She shot him a glare and he shook his head at her.

“You’re only proving my point,” he said.

“Since when do you have a sense of humor? I don’t want to come across as threatening then. Like, I want to telegraph ‘I would like to be your friend,’ not ‘I am going to have my milotic hydro pump you into submission.’” Not that she was convinced she could actually do that, two type advantages or not, but—

“I think backup would be reasonable, all things considered,” Maxie said diplomatically.

Right. Right. May fished around for a compromise. “Maybe we could leave them a ways away? I don’t want to crowd them.”

He nodded. “That works for me.”

May unclipped Alluria’s ball from her belt and released her near the shore. White light spilled upward into the elegant shape of the milotic’s long neck, barbels, and fanned tail before coalescing into cream, pink, and teal scales. She settled heavily into the sand, draping her coils over each other, and looked at her trainer with large dark eyes.

May stepped forward and ran her hands down the smooth scales of Alluria’s neck. A few yards away, Maxie was gently patting his swampert’s wide snout, and she was waggling her external gills happily.

“Just stay here for a little while, okay?” May said to Alluria. “I’m going to shout if I need you.”

Alluria crooned a low note in acknowledgement. She was slow out of the water and only getting slower as she grew, but she had range, which would hopefully be an advantage if Groudon proved to be less than tractable, as Maxie had put it. Worst case scenario, they could retreat into the ocean.

“Are you ready?” Maxie called.

Her heart thudded in her chest and she drew in a sharp breath. No, no she wasn’t. How was she supposed to be ready for this? The first time she’d been coasting on a sense of unreality; her life had spiraled out of the real world into a monster movie, to the point that nearly being blasted out of the sky by Groudon’s solarbeam on the flight back to Sootopolis had barely registered. Now? Now she’d be facing them down on foot, injured and with no suit, without her strongest pokémon—

“Ms Maple?” Maxie materialized at her side, peering at her with something like concern written on his face. “Did you hear me?”

“Uh—yeah. Yeah, I’m ready.” She flashed him a smile and rubbed her hands together so he couldn’t see how they were shaking. “Are you?”

He gave her another look like he didn’t believe her. “Yes, I am. Shall we?” he asked, then turned and marched off toward the center of the island without waiting for her response, his shoes crunching in the sand.

May took a deep breath that did nothing to steady her fraying nerves. Okay. He believed in her, didn’t he? He wouldn’t be out here if he didn’t believe in her—hell, he had the opportunity to do what he wanted with Groudon and he didn’t take it. That meant something.

And she had beaten them once already, while they were presumably much more powerful. She had Alluria and Ivy and Maxie’s swampert waiting in the wings in case something went wrong, and Comet too if they needed to make a quick getaway. They were far enough away from Sootopolis that they could call for backup and have it arrive long before Groudon reached the city again—or any populated area, for that matter. But what if all of that wasn’t enough?

And what if they took that as a threat? How would she feel, being quite literally out of her element and surrounded by potential enemies? There was no way to judge how Groudon was going to react, if they were going to be open to a partnership or if they’d try to fight. May would be scared, just like she was now, and scared pokémon reacted poorly—she still had the bite mark scars on her arm from that poochyena she’d scraped up off the road in Rustboro to prove that. But what else could she do?

She couldn’t just run away—but gods above, was she good at running away. What else had the last two years been if not a grand disappearing act? She’d dipped out of Littleroot, she’d been shirking her responsibilities with Birch Labs, she didn’t remember the last time she talked to her father, and worse, she liked it that way. But she’d ran straight into this, a problem she couldn’t run from, or hide from, or fight, or ignore, or—

Suddenly Comet pushed his face up to hers, warbling in alarm, and sun-warm feathers brushed the back of her arms as he wrapped a wing around her and clutched at her right hand with both of his. She squeezed back instinctively. Her throat felt tight and her head pounded.

“Ms Maple?” Maxie appeared a moment later, frowning in concern and half-reaching out to her again. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m fine,” May gasped. “I think—I think I’m having a panic attack.”

“That is definitionally not fine,” he said sternly. He stepped forward and placed a hand firmly on her back between her shoulder blades. “Sit down.”

She did so shakily, knees hitting the sandy grass hard. She took a ragged breath in and her ribs twinged. Maxie knelt beside her, hand still on her back.

“Just breathe,” he said gently.

She tried. Every breath scraped its way down her throat and her head throbbed and blood rushed in her ears, but she tried. Her chest was tight and the pain in her left side was so sharp it made her want to cry and she just couldn’t get enough air in to soothe her aching lungs, but she tried.            

Inhale.

Minutes passed. She could hear herself breathing tremulously but the world felt zoomed out, like she was a bystander watching herself from outside her own body. Somewhere far away, Comet’s warm hands clung to hers and Maxie rubbed soothing circles on her back. None of this could possibly be real. Any moment now, she’d wake to see the canvas of her tent above her head—just another night on the road.

Exhale.

The world came back into focus slowly, beginning with the pain in her knees where her weight pressed them into the sand. Her bare shins itched, her arms felt leaden, her head pulsed with a nascent headache. The sensation of swimming through a dream passed as she settled back into her body. She was here, and she was with friends.

And she was probably about to get them all killed.

Maybe don’t think like that.

Inhale.

“Can you speak?” Maxie asked quietly.

May sniffled. “Yeah.”

“Alright. What’s the matter?”

“Um. Like, aside from everything?”

He hesitated. “I would appreciate something specific to address.”

That made her laugh for some reason. “Sure. Uh, just for you.” She wiped a fingertip under each of her eyes to clear her tears, being careful not to smear her makeup, and took as deep a breath as she could.

“This is a mistake,” she said. “Like—I barely stopped them the first time. And if you couldn’t get them to work with you, I don’t have a chance. So we’re probably just going to piss them off or scare them, which is going to lead to them rampaging again, and if they do that I don’t know if recalling them will work, and we’ll be back in the same situation we were in.”

Maxie shifted his weight. His hand was warm on her back.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but that’s objectively untrue,” he said slowly.

May looked up at him sharply. “What?”

“To begin with,” he said, “you stopped her when she was more powerful than she is even capable of becoming right now, and while at a disadvantage too, might I add. Additionally, the Red Orb is still in Sootopolis and we’re far from the Cave of Origin, so there’s no risk of her undergoing primal reversion a second time. Finally, comparing yourself to me is ridiculous. You’ve already accomplished more than I did by catching her.”

“But there’s no guarantee they’ll decide to partner with one of us,” she shot back. “What are we supposed to do then?”

Maxie leaned away slightly and gave her a long look.

“What?” May asked.

“What is actually the matter?”

“What do you mean?”

He shook his head. “You were so confident about this yesterday. You aren’t given to being unreasonable so it’s clear something else is bothering you. What is it?”

May looked away. How did she even begin to explain this, especially to someone like him? He didn’t lack for confidence in himself in the slightest, to the point that it was almost a flaw. How could she describe the bone-deep dread of knowing that her best was never good enough, that every endeavor was doomed to fall just short of success, that she could always, always be better, but never enough as she was?

She wasn’t that boy from New Bark. She never would be. She couldn’t be.

“I can’t do this,” she whispered. “But you still could.”

“Absolutely not,” he said vehemently.

“Why not?”

“She has no reason to listen to me. You’re the one challenged and caught her. And you didn’t answer my question.”

May took a deep breath. Closed her eyes. “I’m not—I’m not a good enough trainer to do this. They don’t have any reason to listen to me either. I can’t do this.”

Maxie paused. “I’m unsure how you came to feel this way,” he said carefully, “but you should be aware that you are again, objectively, incorrect.”

“I—”

“Stop,” he said. “Just listen. You’re an outstanding trainer, and your pokémon agree. Look at Comet—can you not tell how much he cares for you? To say nothing of Brutus. Do you truly believe he doesn’t love you, after pushing himself so hard to help you? What is it that matters more than that? If anyone can handle this, Ms Maple, it’s you.”

Comet nosed at her cheek gently, as if agreeing with him.

“What’s going on with you?” she asked. “Yesterday it seemed like you thought this was a bad idea.”

“I did. You convinced me otherwise. Consider something for me, if you don’t mind.”

“What?”

“What’s the worst thing that could happen?”

She pulled her eyes away from Comet to stare at Maxie instead. “I already told you.”

“And we established that you’re quite capable of handling her in a battle, and that primal reversion isn’t a concern. Try again.”

Stars above, it would be so easy to push him over into the sand. She was half tempted to do it. “We could die. That’s pretty bad, Maxie.”

“That’s fair, I suppose. Was Groudon aggressive towards you at all during your initial battle with her?”

May frowned. “Uh, no. They seemed not to notice me.”

“Then she hasn’t displayed behavior like that before,” he said curtly. “There’s no reason to think that will change. Groudon’s not a mindless monster; she’s a pokémon, and one that had a good reputation among humans in the past. You were right, yesterday—this could work, and it’s something worth doing. Your worst-case scenario may possibly happen if we do nothing, as well. It’s better to be sure.”

“I—” May grit her teeth. “You’re really frustrating sometimes.”

“So I’m told.” His voice softened. “Will you be alright?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I’m—I’m fine. I’m sorry.”

“You haven’t done anything wrong. If you weren’t… anxious about this at the least, I’d be concerned.”

She laughed shakily. “Not really how I wanted to be validated today.”

“Your worry can be valid,” he shot back. “But you were catastrophizing. That isn’t the same thing. Keep your worry within the realm of reason.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re never worried about anything.”

“I’m worried about you right now.”

She didn’t have anything to say to that. Her arms felt limp and her head pounded. Of course he was worried about her. This must seem out of character to him. For two years she managed to keep it together around him only to fumble at the last second, when it mattered most.

“I’m sorry,” May said. “That was disingenuous of me to say.”

“Apology accepted.” He paused. “On that note, I believe we may also need to have a conversation about your self-esteem, or apparent lack thereof. As I said before, I’m unsure why you feel this way, but it would be unconscionable for me to let this state of mind persist unaddressed. Now,” he said, standing and brushing the sand off his slacks, “shall we?”

He held out a hand to her.

May stared at it. Comet had ahold of her right hand, and she could barely lift her left due to her ribs, and she didn’t want to ignore him because he was being kind and they were doing so well…

What the hell, how bad could it be? She lifted her left hand, ignoring the twinge in her ribs, and—

“Are you trying to injure yourself further?” he asked archly. “Other hand, please.”

May cringed as she pulled her right hand away from Comet. “No, I just, um, didn’t think you’d know about that.”

He looked offended as she placed her hand in his. “You really thought I wouldn’t check in on you?”

“No, I—why would you?”

He pulled her to her feet, then dropped her hand and placed both of his on her shoulders.

May froze. He was looking at her intently, like a hawk might eye a rabbit. Her heart pounded in her chest.

“Ms Maple,” he said firmly, “I’m unsure what sort of company you’ve been keeping that has led you to believe the contrary, but you deserve people in your life who care about you.” His grip tightened incrementally. “Do I make myself clear?”

Her tongue felt glued to the roof of her mouth. She nodded.

“Good.” His hands fell away from her shoulders, and he folded them behind his back, standing up straight. “Now,” he said. “Let’s get to it.”

He turned and marched away for the second time, leaving May standing there feeling like she’d just run a marathon. Stars above, she’d forgotten how intense he could be.

She exhaled. Well—this was it, wasn’t it? She didn’t get to stall anymore, and if she wasn’t brave enough to do this now, she probably wouldn’t ever be. She just had to… leap in.

Comet shuffled up beside her and rested his head on her shoulder, chirruping softly. May reached over to run her hand down his face as she leaned in to press her cheek against his.

“I’ll be alright,” she said. “I think. Just hang out with Alluria for a few minutes, okay? I’ll shout if I need you.”

He made a sound halfway between a growl and a warble, but did as she asked, settling in the sand beside the milotic. He folded his wings, but stayed upright and alert.

Okay. May took a deep breath and started forward, heart still racing as she power walked to catch up with Maxie, who was standing several yards away, waiting for her. They could do this—she could do this. She stepped up beside Maxie and looked over at him.

“Do you suppose this is far enough inland?” he asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

“Uh, sure. It’s as good a spot as any,” she replied.

He nodded. “In that case,” he said, stepping backwards and making a sweeping gesture, “I believe the rest of this is up to you, Ms Maple. I’m right here if you require support.”

Dread settled like a weighted blanket around her shoulders. It would be easier, in some ways, to decide this wasn’t worth it, actually, and to turn tail and run back to Sootopolis, drop the ball in the PC, and never think about it again. But she couldn’t stomach that.

Okay. This was easy. She’d let pokémon out of balls before, obviously, and that’s all this was. Right? The first step was letting them out to see what they’d do. She could manage that.

She unclipped the ball from her belt. It felt strange in her hand—rough and malformed from the overwhelming heat of the Cave of Origin warping it. For some reason she expected it to feel heavy, too, but it didn’t—it was the same almost-nothing weight of any pokéball. She could’ve mistaken it for any of her other team members.  

Deep breath in. The gentle breeze tossed her hair around her ears, carrying the soft sound and salty smell of the water with it. Maxie was probably waiting on her again.

May exhaled. Just go through the motions.

She raised her arm slowly, as if she was moving through deep water. Her head swam. With her thumb, she pressed the release button, and the clasp disengaged with a soft click.

Immediately, white light poured from the ball to pool at her feet in a shape that grew larger at an alarming pace. It was close—far too close. May’s heart thudded against her aching ribs and she took a step backwards—directly into Maxie.

He caught her by the upper arms. “Steady,” he said. “You can do this.”

His hands fell away and her throat was tight as she rasped a breath. The light towered above her as it rapidly faded into red and black scales. Groudon was hunched over on all fours, heavy head nearly touching the ground—if May reached out, her fingertips would almost brush their nose. Far, far too close—

Their jaws parted, revealing long fangs and black gums, and they hissed like a fumarole as grey smoke spilled from the corners of their mouth. Their hot breath stank of sulfur. May’s eyes watered and her limbs trembled—she had to run, she had to run right now—

And then they stood, pushing off the ground with their forelimbs and stretching up to their full height. The ground quaked as they shifted their weight. Creatures that large shouldn’t move that fast—but that didn’t stop them. They swung their head back and forth as they looked around urgently, and hissed again.   

The sunlight flared, brighter and hotter in an instant, feeling like a weight on May’s bare skin. She squinted, holding a hand up to block the worst of it, palms tingling, but it was still so intense. Oh, hell—

“Get her attention,” Maxie said from right behind her. “I’d wager this is an instinctive response. Let her know she’s not in danger.”

Right—right. She could feel her hands shaking as she raised her voice:

“Groudon!”

Their head jerked at the sound, then deliberately tipped toward her. They fixed her with one bright yellow eye, and May sucked in a breath. Did they know their name, or were they just reacting to the noise?

She didn’t have time to think about it. The thought dissipated as fast as it had come under the overwhelming intensity of Groudon’s full attention. They were looking at her.

Oh, gods, this wasn’t going to work. They were a deity, and she was just—herself. Not that boy from New Bark, and not Maxie Asher. Just—

They growled, and the whole island quivered beneath May’s feet as the very earth responded to their call. You couldn’t tame a power like that—couldn’t bind it to your will. My incomparable partner, Maxie had said. But what had she done to earn their respect?

They snarled and May quailed, her tense muscles screaming at her to run, but she was pinned to the spot by Groudon’s white-hot gaze. And then—

Maxie put a bracing hand on her shoulder. “No rival of mine is going to be intimidated by an oversized reptile,” he said right beside her ear. “Talk to her.”

This time he left his hand where it was, and something about the connection was grounding. My incomparable partner…

May stood up straight and balled her fists at her sides. “I don’t want to fight you again,” she called up to them. “I’d rather be your friend!”

They opened their mouth again, showing teeth, but didn’t make a sound. If they were a lairon, she’d interpret that as a threat display—back off, or get bitten. But it could also be a challenge.  

“If it’s really a battle you want, you should know I won’t back down,” she said.

Groudon snapped their jaws, and their eye flicked briefly past her, but they didn’t otherwise move.  

“But if you’d rather not,” May continued, “will you please hear me out?”

A heartbeat passed, and then two, as Groudon blinked slowly. She was being judged, May realized. She swallowed thickly. She was a fraud. Everything about her—the bravado, the compassion, the competence—it was all a façade that dissolved under scrutiny and somehow, they’d know it.

And then Groudon snorted. Smoke roiled from their nostrils. They looked at her, and she at them.

They were listening.

“Incredible,” Maxie breathed.

May exhaled. That had worked? She fished around for her next words. She had a hard enough time talking to other humans; what was she supposed to say to a god?

“You must be so overwhelmed,” she said, realizing it even as it left her mouth. No wonder they hadn’t responded to Maxie. The Red Orb, the Cave of Origin, and being woken up suddenly after who knew how many years…

Groudon eyed her, expression inscrutable, the same way Brutus had done when she first met him. May shifted her weight, leaning back on her heel. She shouldn’t think of them like that—they weren’t her beloved aggron. But they were still a pokémon.

“I want to help you, if I can,” she continued. “My name’s May. I’m a pokémon trainer. I travel all over Hoenn with my partners. You met one of them before—do you remember?”

They hissed.

“I’m really sorry, but I was afraid you were going to hurt yourself or someone else. But I hope that we’re past that. I don’t want to fight you again.” She took a deep breath. “I’d—I’d like you to be my partner, too.”

They didn’t react.

“If not, that’s okay. I’ll take you wherever you want to go and release you. But if you want to see the land you created… then I want to help you do that. We humans aren’t perfect, but we’re trying to make things better—for everyone. There’s so much to see.” She hesitated. “You probably haven’t had a partner in a long time, huh?”

They tilted their head, and exhaled. Slowly, they lowered themself back down onto all fours, and this time May managed to clamp down on the thrumming energy in her legs that told her to run. Groudon kept their head cocked to one side to watch her with a single eye, and it occurred to her that they probably couldn’t see very well in front of their nose—like Brutus.

They were close enough to touch, now. May reached out a hand; watched as their vast yellow iris contracted as they inspected it. Then their gaze moved upwards, to her face.

The sunlight suddenly dimmed, easing the heat on her skin. They weren’t going to fight her.

“Is this a yes?” she whispered.

They closed their eyes and huffed, sounding almost exactly like Brutus. Maybe—maybe the two of them weren’t that different, after all. Carefully, amazed at her own bravery, May laid her hand against their snout.

Their bright scales felt like smooth, sun-warm stone against her skin. They leaned into the touch, and so May brought up her other hand to sweep under their jaw. They rumbled contentedly.

She’d—done it?

May laughed tremulously, and Groudon cracked an eyelid to look at her briefly before closing it again. She’d done it. They weren’t going to rampage, they weren’t going to hurt anyone, they weren’t going to plunge Hoenn into an endless drought.

She felt herself tear up. Was this how that boy from New Bark felt, when Lugia dipped their graceful neck to be touched like an equal? That flood of relief—that you weren’t being judged, that you weren’t found wanting, that you were worthy… Wasn’t that the whole point of partnership—to be loved?

May leaned forward and squeezed her eyes shut, pressing her forehead against Groudon’s snout. For a moment, she could hear nothing but the sound of her own breathing as the tension in her chest unspooled.

She took a deep breath and straightened. “Hey, do you—” she started, and then realized Maxie’s hand wasn’t on her shoulder anymore.

She turned. He was standing a few yards behind her—when had he moved? His hands were behind his back, his chin lifted slightly, and he looked unbearably smug: the perfect picture of himself. And then he smiled at her. Tight and quick, but still.

May smiled back. “Do you wanna come over here?” she asked.

His smile faded. “What?”

“I don’t think they’ll mind.”

He blinked at her. “I…” He suddenly looked lost. She’d never seen him speechless before—she hadn’t even been sure it was possible. But here they were.

She felt a sudden crash of empathy. Of course he probably thought that, after what he’d done, he didn’t deserve the opportunity—and maybe he didn’t. But she didn’t care about what he deserved. Whatever his plans had been, she believed his apology was sincere, and she had meant it when she said she forgave him. And he was still a trainer—a good one at that. He wasn’t the heartless monster running Team Rocket back in Johto, who treated pokémon like tools to be used and discarded. He would’ve treated Groudon well.

May moved to stand beside Maxie and looped her arm through his. He hesitated when she stepped toward Groudon, but followed when she tugged at his arm.

This was going to be another weird one. But—hell. The last two days had contained the strangest experiences of her life. This was easy.

“Go ahead,” she said.

“Hello,” Maxie said, sounding almost—sheepish? That couldn’t be right. “I believe I owe you an apology for disturbing you.”

With their head still low to the ground, Groudon snorted a gout of smoke and blinked slowly.

May reached out and patted them between the nostrils. “I think that means you’re all good.”

“Huh,” he said, uncharacteristically subdued. “I will defer to your judgement on that.”

May smiled again, letting go of his arm so she could pet Groudon with both hands. They closed their eyes fully and settled down into the sand, rumbling softly, just like a lairon would.

Maxie started to raise a hand, and then turned to look at her intently. “Do you think she would mind if I…?”

“Go ahead,” May said again.

He began to reach for them, hesitated, and then tried again, as if he had to convince himself of the action. But his fingertips brushed their nose, and then he was laying a hand fully against the ridge above Groudon’s eye.

“I was expecting…” He leaned to the side, leaving his hand where it was as he inspected the rest of them, all scales and spines. “Absolutely fascinating,” he murmured.

He turned back to her suddenly. “Ms Maple,” he said, and then paused, and she realized that whatever he was about to say next wasn’t rehearsed. “I want to thank you for… quite a lot, actually, but also for this specific moment.” He ducked his head. “I don’t believe I deserve it.”

“Well, to be honest, I think you do,” she replied. “I couldn’t have done this without you. You’re pretty great.”

He flinched like she’d struck him. “Hm,” he said, suddenly refusing once again to meet her eyes. “I will… bear that in mind.”

May smiled ruefully to herself. That would have to do for now.

Maxie cleared his throat. “I would also like to add,” he said, “that I cannot possibly overstate how proud of you I am.”

It was May’s turn to look away in embarrassment and squeak out a “Thanks.” Maxie didn’t say anything else; just nodded.

The waves crashed; the seabirds called. After a long moment, May asked, “Now what?”

“Hm. I suppose we return to Sootopolis,” Maxie said. “I’m sure there is still more to be done there.” He looked at her over Groudon’s snout. “Eventually, more people than the two of us will know about this.”

That would have to be alright. Whatever else was going to happen, May suddenly felt that things were going to be okay. This was an end, but it was a beginning, too—a new and surprising chapter she never could’ve anticipated. But it looked like she wouldn’t be alone for it. Not this time. Littleroot still loomed somewhere on the horizon, but for now, it was a distant shadow, and she was standing in the sunlight.

#trainer may #magma leader maxie #groudon #pokemon omega ruby #pokemon oras #pokemon #autumn.fic #fic: sunlight

[harrysweasleys]

trick or treat, freak // e.m

summary: eddie coming over to yours to help you hand out candies to trick or treaters. and yes, he definitely forced you to wear couple’s costumes

warnings: none i think! let me know if ive missed one :)

a/n: just a little blurb that i wrote trying to get back into the writers mindset y’know :) anyways hope u all enjoy it and happy halloween!!

Halloween was undoubtedly one of the best nights of the year. I mean, the atmosphere, the candies, the spookiness, how could anyone dislike it?

Hawkins went all out for the holiday. We’re talking decorating city hall, pumpkins at the end of every street, and even one of those giant inflatable skeletons near the heart of the town. You guessed it helped get people into the spirit, help persuade people to go get dressed up and ring door to door.

Your parents always said it was a capitalist thing — make people buy candies, support the economy. All that jazz. But you know what? To put a smile on someone’s face and stuff your own with candy — you weren’t going to sit here and deny the holiday joy. Of course not.

So here you were, October 31st, with your little witch hat on as Eddie sat next to you, devil horns on his head, leather jacket tight, and his arm around you as you both waited for the next wave of trick or treaters. He had asked — no, insisted — that you guys go as the devil and a witch.

She’s his lover, Eddie would argue when you said it wasn’t necessarily a couple’s costume. You weren’t sure he really grasped the concept but he seemed so thrilled with the idea of seeing you in a little black dress and a pointy hat that you had to just cave in and agree.

You had worn the same costumes the night before at Steve’s party and had both gotten compliments so you guessed they did the trick.

“I think we should close up for the night,” Eddie yawned, leaning further into the couch as Halloween played on TV, tossing a handful of popcorn mixed with m&ms into his mouth, “That way we can just have a movie night and y’know, selfishly keep the candies to ourselves.”

“Eds, it’s not even seven o’clock,” you shook your head as you let out a laugh, playfully whacking him across the chest as you reached for the popcorn, “Aren’t you a bore?”

He rolled his eyes, “It’s about principles, princess. Less children, more candy for us.” He waved his hand in the air as he spoke, trying to prove his point.

“Principles?” you repeated, raising your eyebrows, “I don’t think you know what you’re talking about. Do you really wanna be the one house on the street that’s closed? Come on. How boring would we be?”

As if knowing you were right, he scoffed. Eddie, of all people, dismissing Halloween? You wouldn’t stand for it.

“Fine,” he gave in after practically zero hesitation, “I guess we can stay open a bit longer.”

“A bit, huh?”

He scooted closer, knees brushing against yours and his head falling onto your shoulder. His soft curls fell against your collarbones and the skin of your neck, sending goosebumps nearly all over your body. You really couldn’t understand how people were scared of him. This guy? Here? Impossible.

“Yeah,” he sighed, taking another handful of the popcorn and tossing it into his mouth.

Ding, dong!

A grin made its way to your lips as your shot up, adjusting your dress, and making your way to the door, grabbing Eddie’s hand and having him trail behind you.

Though he said he wanted to just stay in with you, he couldn’t deny the childish bubble of excitement that was bursting from him, the grin on his lips that showed off his gorgeous dimples. You could see right through him. He loved this.

Just the two of you, on a night that’s infamous for being scared and cuddling up to soothe that fear. Eddie was living for it.

You swung the door open to be greeted with a group of nearly six kids, all under the age of eight, dressed in all sorts of costumes. A classic ghost, some zombies, an angel, and another little girl dressed as the devil. She looked adorable, little red horns atop her head of curly hair.

She spotted Eddie and her eyes lit up, pointing at him and whispering to the woman who was holding her.

“Trick or treat!” they all asked in somewhat unison — not in unison at all, actually, you were only being kind — and held out their goodie bags.

They were all kind, thanking you and smiling bashful smiles each time they felt the weight of their bags getting heavier. You remember that feeling as a kid — the oh, yeah, more candy for me kind of feeling. The my parents will be paying for the dentist bill kind of feeling.

You both grabbed a bunch and tossed them into reach remaining bag until only the little girl with the devil horns was left.

Eddie leaned towards her, muttered a, “great costume,” and gave her the bag of candies. The sight warmed your heart, if you were being totally honest.

A massive, toothless grin made its way onto her lips and she giggled, waving at Eddie as the family made their way to the house next door.

“See? You seem to be loving this,” you pointed your finger to his chest, looking up at him with an mischievous look in your eyes. The dimples were still prominent, and he didn’t even try to argue.

He just lifted your hand, pressed a kiss to the top of it, gave you a wink, and walked back to the couch.

Bastard.

He was such a tease. Of course he would be while you were wearing what he called his favourite dress. But he really was a teasing little shit sometimes.

“So much for let’s close up early, huh?” you shot, taking a seat next to him on the couch and linking your arms with his, “We’d be missing all the fun.”

“You’re my fun,” he looked up at you with those big eyes of his, wiggling his eyebrows as he leaned over and pressed a kiss to your temple.

One thing people didn’t know was that Eddie was an absolute corndog.

But hey, he was your corndog, so you didn’t mind people not knowing.

“Shut up, you,” you rolled your eyes, shuffling even closer to him — if that was possible.

Yeah, you really liked Halloween.

#eddie munson fic #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson imagines #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson one shot #eddie munson one shots

[ssreeder]

HELLO

I didnt see that there was an update until now and i dont feel like discording and i just read the new chapter so here i am with my few main points bc i dont feel like doing a full live reaction👍👍🫶

Seeing Jeeto come into play in any capacity at all makes me feel like a proud parent watching their children grow. Its always wonderful like those are my emotional support middle aged fictional men. I watched them go from conspiracy to getting crumbs to now their "dates" and gossiping together. Youve gotta love it. Those are my children. Im so proud of them. But im also scared because you killed shen so obviously my feeligns mean nothing to you 🙄😒😒. (Im never going to get over that, im going to be 80 years old in some pst apocolypic enviroment with horrors all around me, but im going to be having nightmares about shen. Ill send you my therapy bill) (im going to get a tattoo in his memory istg)

Also its always really subtle but its funny to see your specific linguistical patterns in liab esp because i can never really explain it. Like ill read a random sentence and be like 'yeah that seems like sreeder wrote it' i just think its neat.

I also really loved zukka this chapter. But i always lovr zukka so its not a surprise. But espesially this chapter because its mostly soft zukka.

"Do you think we will stay together" NO Zukko divorce 🔫🔫. 🙅🏻🔥🔥🔥🙅🏾

The 'moving forward' ness of zukka in liab is so nicely written. Like ive been reading liab since (almost) the beginning and it has been a ride and its starting to feel more conclusive and that is SCARY but its also nice because you write it very well and i adore the way you write trauma and the healing of it and the ups and downs and the two steps forward two steps backness. Its very lovely.

I knew ara was going to have a suicide attempt (esque situation (idk if that counts)) i called it i win.

Idc what others say ara will always be amazing. I love her character SO MUCH

i feel like you can always tell the strengths of a writer in the way they write complicated characters and the way you write ara is very telling of that. Like the fragility and also harshness used for her is very realistic and i always enjoy her parts so much.

Like her deciding to move on independant of how zuko or sokka feel about it is and regardless of whether people thinks she 'deserves it' is immaculate.

And thats a good example on your specific strengths as the author of liab (being able to handle delicate situations well, and realistically and make them very thought out and not rushed, stuff like that).

But her 'i need to start getting along with other girls' is great because like,, RHATS SO TRUE. she is genuienlly one of my favorite characters of all time, i could write essays on why i love her. Exquisite.

REHO MENTION 🥳🥳💪💪💪💪

Thats my emotional support woobified early 20 something year old man. I adore him. If 30 people love reho i am one of them, if one person loves reho i am them if 0 people love reho i am dead (rip rehoes 😔) i will defend his (and aras) good names until i die.

Amazing chapter as always 10/10 *chefs kiss* im so excited for the series to finish and see what you do with everyone and the rest of the storylines and such.

Every time I think of Shen’s death I think of your utter devastation & how I wasn’t expecting you to be so distraught over it. I will say I had another commenter lately who was talking about how much they liked Shen & wanted an Iroh/Shen/Zuko dynamic and I kept thinking…. Damn it buddy, you’re going to be soooo mad at me in a few chapter haha…. oops.

ugh my linguistic patterns haunt me and I specifically ask my betas to check for them because I feel sooooo repetitive sometimes especially when there’s a lot of introspection lol. So it’s funny you mentioned that lol.

Omg I remember when I was still on RIA & someone in the server was like “dude I’m rooting for some jeeto.” & I was like oh no how do they know??? I created this fun divide between hakoda and bato just to push Bato into Jees arm!! Don’t spoil it haha, but whatever at least Dentys dead

Awwww thanks for the compliments it means a lot coming from you <3 but also yeah Ara is my delicate dumpster fire who says she going to make her existence everyone’s problem (most importantly sokka because damn girl could just LEAVE but she refuses lol) I love it. She’s fun, and any scene with her expect utter chaos haha.

every time I write Reho in a scene my mind says and the crowd goes wild,,, he’s annoying but I’m glad you like him.

thanks for this amazing ask you’re awesome

#Haha maxxxxx you’re so funny #I am forever a fan of Ara and her ability to harass sokka while constantly saying she’s not going to harass sokka #Zuko: “I just…. Never want to see you again” #Ara: got it ok so I’ll go make friends with sokkas sister and hangout with the water tribe healers and suki and - #No wonder sokka starts foaming at the mouth every time he sees her #I still don’t think zuko has nearly as big of a problem with Ara as sokka does #I truly think she’s just “that bitch from prison” #& sokkas got like 43 fake scenarios saved in his head of how things could have been different or how he would get his revenge #Anywayyyyyy I like Ara she’s fun #& Katara deserves to have some fun! #Thanks for the ask max sorry it took me so long to answer I’m a loser I have no excuses #LIAB #leaving it all behind #ITF #ask #Maaaxx

[aemiron-main]

these are literally some of the dumbest tags ive ever seen. like. there’s SO much here that’s untrue, including the empathy part. “love couldnt have fixed him as a child” have you considered he didnt need to be fixed??? Did you even watch the show???? Love would have ABSOLUTELY helped him, and he didn’t need to be fixed.

like i shouldnt be surprised that people on here are Siding On The Side Of Child Abuse but… and just like god there’s so many Factual Errors here, shitty and cruel attitude aside. “torturing animals for fun” and the kid in question looks distressed the whole time & a bunch of parallels indicate that he was trying to free the rabbit, but god forbid we look beneath our first surface impressions, right?

and also, the whole “before the lab” thing makes me insane because it acts like everything in his life was fine prior to the lab. meanwhile, he talks about how he was treated as being broken PRIOR to the lab and how his mother despised him PRIOR to the lab and how she wanted to send him away to an abusive predator scientist PRIOR to the lab and that’s just the surface level shit let alone all of the subtext about what his life was like pre-lab.

and not only is it impossible for him to have been trancing victor and killing slice at the same time & theres so much weirdness there, even if he straight up murdered virginia and alice got killed as part of it, it’s not like it happened because He’s Inherently Bad And Evil. I think he was in the right to kill virginia!!!!! Like sorry but wanting to send him away to Brenner????? She had it coming. Alice didn’t, but again, there’s so much weirdness around that AND even if he did kill her, the whole thing could have been prevented if people (Virginia) weren’t trying to send him off to the lab/fix him.

Like it’s insane to me that people will watch Dart’s arc about how creatures from the UD aren’t inherently evil and how Dustin’s love made a huge impact on Dart and yet will also go “oh yep mhm the duffers wrote this Literal Human Child to be Evil and Bad and Broken and he Needs To Be Fixed but hes so broken that not even love can fix him”.

Like. Op is the one with the real lack of empathy here & I sure hope they don’t extend this viewpoint to the abused and autistic kids/people in their life. I don’t feel bad calling the tags dumb because they ARE dumb and literally factually inaccurate and they’re cruel and contributing to the stigma around people who are low empathy (and henry isn’t even low empathy).

#likeeeeeee #i have a whole rant drafted abt this exact sentiment from forever ago #and its really bothering me today bc its like #is henry a fictional character? yes. but it really does make me wonder abt #this persons attitude towards irl abused and autistic kids/people #like its possible to acknowledge the awful shit that henward did/seemingly did (setting theory stuff aside and looking at the Surface Level) #without spreading stuff thats canonically untrue (the empathy part) and without demonizing people who dont experience empathy (even tho #again henry DOES) and without fucking siding with BRENNER AND VIRGINIA about him needing to be *fixed* and how hes so broken that not even #love could fix him. #and also actually it doesnt make me wonder abt this person’s attitude towards people irl because ive already SEEN their attitude & #interacted with them and it is very much that sort of vibe. like #they very much come across as the sort of fake nice mean girl who would have bullied the fuck out of me in highschool while being friendly #on the surface. just like. the whole vibe was very plint and laugh/patronizing/thats where the Real lack of empathy is #like ……… soooooo tempted to name name bc the person did post this dogshit take publicly but #tumblr user stranges**ft sure has some Opinions 😬😬😬

[kyogre-blue]

Hey so, I wanted to let your know that I really love your Naruto: Dashing Rescue fic. It's one of my all times fave time travelling fic. I still have the tumblr tag followed lol it's a lil reminder to self to reread whenever I come across it in the 'followed tag' section

I don't ever if you ever confirmed that it's abandoned work or not, I was wondering if you had anything to share about naruto rescue? Maybe your thoughts while writing it or scraps. Maybe not, it's been years also

Anyways, the main purpose was that I wanted to let you know that I really love your writing and a lot of your old works (oh khr too! but esp Dashing Rescue). You were an author that made me smile whenever I see your name as a teen learning about fandoms and searching out fics. I really enjoyed reading a lot of your works!

(Dumb me refresh the page before sending so I had to retype that twice and ahh I realised this got long. My bad)

Wow, that's really nice to hear. I'm glad that you enjoyed those fics! Looking at the dates, it's been almost 10 years since I posted that particular one... hard to believe.

Time travel has always been one of my most favorite fic tropes, and Naruto was really great for those because we had so many time periods, each with their own cast. The possibilities were endless.

For Dashing Rescue, I can see I posted three parts. I dug up my old doc, but there isn't much in it past those. I think I considered part 3 a good stopping point, though it looks like I wrote about a page of part 4 and outlined a few general ideas after that. I'll add that under the cut, in case you're curious.

Aside from that, the only thing I recall is that was using the movies for material and visual inspiration, but that part was probably obvious.

Anyway, thank you again for this really sweet ask. I really appreciate it ^o^

Title: Dashing Rescue

Part IV: Sand and Black Iron

Summary: AU, time travel. Finding himself in the past, Naruto has so far managed to hold back the tide of the Third Shinobi World War. That proves increasingly difficult as the Sandaime Kazekage goes missing. 

~.~.~

“Thanks for agreeing to see us, Jiji,” Kushina said, bowing deeply in complete contradiction to her impolite way of addressing the Hokage — she had picked it up from Naruto. Next to her, Minato did the same. Both of them spared a glance at Sakumo, who was also waiting in the Hokage’s office and greeted them with a friendly nod. 

“This is about Naruto, isn’t it?” Sarutobi guessed, setting aside his brush to give them both his full attention.

It had been two years since Naruto became an official member of the Uzumaki clan, and thus Konoha. That time had been plenty for the Sandaime to start feeling like he was going grey under his hat. 

Especially after Naruto took off for Suna a few months ago and refused to come back, despite the many diplomatically worded but rather displeased messages Sarutobi received from Suna. He just hoped that whatever this was didn’t turn out to be an international incident. 

“Yeah,” Kushina said bluntly. “He, uh, sent me a message.” 

Or rather, he and Kushina had set about abusing the fact that they held two halves of a single bijuu, which could communicate with each other regardless of distance or circumstances. Kurama had been nothing resembling pleased at being used as an elaborate communication system, but agreed to relay urgent messages in exchange for Kushina changing the form of confinement she used on her half. She still had no idea how Naruto managed to sweet-talk the bijuu into it from his side. 

“The Kazekage’s disappeared,” Kushina relayed, “but Naruto thinks he has a lead, and he wants help tracking the person responsible.” He had been increasingly evasive about what exactly he knew or at least suspected, and why, but Kushina didn’t mention that. Naruto got like that sometimes. 

Still not used to these sorts of things, especially stated so baldly out of nowhere — the Kazekage, really? — Sakumo choked a little, but quickly swallowed his surprise. The Sandaime simply closed his eyes and sighed. International incident didn’t begin to cover it. 

“With the Kazekage has gone missing, it’s naturally a very urgent request,” Minato added. “I might be able to expedite the journey there, if I can be assigned to the team.” 

Kushina nodded sharply. “And I can file the mission request for him,” she offered. 

“There is no need for that,” Sarutobi said, forcing down the urge to massage the bridge of his nose. “I will offer our services to Suna as a peace gesture.” 

“Who will you send?” Sakumo asked, as he finally processed what he had heard. 

“Sakumo-sempai, perhaps you could…?” Minato suggested. After all, there was no doubt about who possessed the best tracking skills in the village.

Sakumo shook his head. “That would be a terrible idea. They hate me there,” he summed up. “I was on the Suna front during the Second War, and…” 

There was no need to continue. That was where Sakumo gained his fame — and notoriety, upon a path of corpses. He didn’t regret what he had done for Konoha’s sake, but war bred hatred in a vicious cycle. Back then, he had been the same, hating his enemies for what had been done to his comrades and paying back with the same in turn. 

“Sending me would be more like a declaration of war than a peace gesture,” Sakumo concluded.

“It would not send the correct message, and would be a complication in itself,” Sarutobi agreed. “Unfortunately, most of the others who would be my second choice are out of the village and won’t be able to return quickly enough. Do you have a recommendation, Sakumo?” 

Frowning, the man looked out the window across the village. There was more at stake than first appeared — a situation like this, involving a Kage, no less, could easily deteriorate quickly and violently. So far, they had just barely managed to avoid the outbreak of another war, but the balance was delicate at best. If Suna faltered, it wouldn’t take Iwa long to strike. And then...

On the other hand, this was Konoha’s chance to build a strong alliance with Suna. It would put the Suna council, and possibly even their Kage, in Konoha’s debt. They would be able to present a united front against Iwa, and further strengthen their position with Kumo as well. 

A chance to bury the ills of the previous war…

“Kakashi,” Sakumo said, startling the others. “I recommend Kakashi.” 

“Sakumo, are you sure?” Sarutobi asked, his brow furrowing as he sat forward and studied his old comrade. 

“I’m sure. Kakashi has been a chuunin for four years now. He lacks experience, but his skills are top notch. His nose rivals mine, he’s observant and analytical, and he can call on one of our summons to assist him,” Sakumo explained.

The pride was clear in his voice. Minato, as Kakashi’s jounin teacher, nodded in agreement, though he also still appeared surprised by the choice. 

“And… This is our chance to bury the grudges of the past. We have to take the first step. What better way to prove that we trust Suna and are serious about this alliance?” Sakumo smiled. “And I trust Minato and Naruto to keep him safe, should something go wrong.” 

“...I won’t let anything happen to him,” Minato promised, recovering first. 

Sarutobi took several moments longer to consider the suggestion. Finally, he nodded. “Very well,” he said. “Then I will dispatch Minato and Kakashi to Suna in all haste.” 

“What? I want to go too! We’ll be a four-man team then!” Kushina protested. 

While Sarutobi tried to think of some subtle way to tell her that the Kyuubi jinchuuriki wasn’t going to be allowed off into a foreign village, which could very well turn unstable at any moment, all without letting Sakumo know the situation, Minato quickly spoke up, “I don’t think I could take you that far,” he said apologetically. “Kakashi and myself will already be difficult…” 

Kushina eyed him dubiously. Even though she was one of the few who understood the theoretical underpinnings of Hiraishin, she didn’t have the experience to judge how much and how far Minato could teleport. 

Theoretically, Hiraishin’s chakra cost depended on the size and weight of what he was teleporting, though there were some specific caveats regarding distance and the placement of the seals — it all depended on how you went about it.

Kushina was right to distrust him. Minato might have still been able to manage another person, but at least this way there was a legitimate reason for her to stay in Konoha. 

But she didn’t call him out on it. “He better come home after this,” she said instead. “It’s been months.” 

Minato nodded sharply. “I’ll bring him back once we’re done.” Even if it meant a quick ambush. 

“I’ll let Naruto know you’re coming,” Kushina said, and both the young jounin took their leave. 

Left alone with Sakumo, Sarutobi shot the other man a considering look. “Are you sure about this?” he asked. “I have no doubt Minato and Naruto will protect him to the best of their ability,” and that ability was really quite impressive, “but you don’t have to risk Kakashi on this. We can send someone else.” 

aaaaaa

///////The Third World War was put off, but relations are rough, especially when the Kazekage suddenly goes missing. (Minato is eighteen, Kakashi is ten, and Naruto is twenty one.) 

Naruto knows that the true cause is Sasori. He talks to Chiyo and takes off, with Minato and Kakashi following. Chiyo suggested that Sasori would have gone to the old Rouran ruins.

Naruto asks Sakumo to make Konoha into a village that never abandons even one of its people.

—————

Timeline

Naruto arrives 21 yrs pre-series, 25 yrs pre-Shippuden, 10 yrs before he was born.

Part I, Kumo's kidnapping attempt Minato, Kushina — 13 Kakashi — 5 Naruto — 16

(Part II — 3 years in between)

Part III, Sakumo's mission Minato, Kushina — 16 Kakashi — 8 Naruto — 19

Part IV, Kazekage abducted Minato, Kushina — 18 Kakashi — 10 Naruto — 21 Sasori — 15

Kannabi Bridge, old timeline Minato, Kushina — 20 Kakashi — 12

Kyuubi attack, old timeline Minato, Kushina — 22 Kakashi — 14

—————

Title: Dashing Rescue

Part IV: Bare Your White Fangs

Summary: AU, time travel. 

The Third War almost breaks out when people with bloodlines start to go missing, 

Pakura from Suna, Gari from Iwa, Toroi from Kumo, and Mei from Kiri.

Obito gets kidnapped by Hiruko, Orochimaru's childhood friend and assistant. 

Orochimaru is disgraced for his support and participation in the research.

—————

Title: Dashing Rescue

Part V: Rose-tinted Dawn

Summary: AU, time travel. 

Jiraiya gets word of his old students being in trouble and asks Naruto to look into it. It's Madara confrontation time. 

Minato and Kushina get trapped in a genjutsu world where Naruto is their son, and blond. It's really weird for them.

—————

Because the third war never happens, Minato is not nearly as famous. Orochimaru is not a Yondaime candidate either. Instead, Sakumo takes it.

—————

#asks #Naruto Rescue AU

[acidbathmf]

Loving Machine

GN READERRRR

Pairings: Moon Boys x GN Native Reader

Summary: idk bro making native tacos skjsnm

Word Count: 577

Warnings: None

Notes at endd

Steven had just got back from a bit of a stressful day from his job at the museum and back to your guy’s shared apartment that he moved in not too long ago 

To the smell of oil 

As he walked over to the kitchen where you swayed you hips and sang to the music playing 

The music was so loud you didn't hear his footsteps and the slight slam of the door

“Maddie Klien and her fabulous loving ma-(hey)AH” 

You sang then got rudely interrupted by Steven suddenly touching your shoulder and greeting you

“jesus christ dude” you gasped as you put a hand on the counter behind you

“Oh sorry love” he giggled out “Yeah whatever i'm gonna burn this bread” you said as you turned back around to the stove as Steven turned the music down “what are you doing having a concert in here” as he turned back to you he asked “what are you making?”  “hmm looks like sopaipillas am i right?”

Marc said out of the blue “haha no it's not sopaipillas sorry marc” you laughed “then what is it?”

“My famous frybread, my grandma taught me how to make it after years of asking but the first two I made taste like sopaipillas if u want that” you smirked and pointed your head in the direction where the bread was kept. “Oooh dont mind if i do” he cackled and wiggled his fingers walking toward the box, “there's only two so no more after that!” you reminded him as he nodded “si si me acuerdo”

{time skip a few mins later}

“Finally done with that” you sighed as you poured the left over oil the sink along with the pan

And grabbed another pan.

“More cooking?” Jake complained, “oh calm down you child dinner is almost ready” you snickered as you poured the taco meat into the pan “meat? You sure Steven is okay with that”. Marc questioned “I’m sure its fine my mom made it, its a vegan recipe”

You replied “ohhh ok” he paused for a second “what are you even making anyways?”

Jake wondered “tacoss” you said while stirring the meat while putting the seasoning in

“If your making tacos then where's the shells or whatever” “dude the shell is the frybread”

“Oh” “yeah anyways can u get the cheese and stuff for me?” you asked.

“Sure” he opened the fridge and looked inside for a bit “wait we have no stuff” “ugh really?” you said in disbelief “well looks like your gonna have to go get some then” “what? Why me?” he objected

“Come on pleaseee” you begged.

“Sure yeah fine whatever” “Thank you Marcc i'll send you a list” “a list??” he questioned 

“Yes a list its short and i'll give you some money so don't worry man” you replied as you walked over to your jacket on the couch for your wallet “wait your giving me your money??” he asked 

“Yes now take it before I change my mind, Spector,” you warned him “okay okay i'll be on my way” Marc said while grabbing the money “wait!” you said while dashing over to him 

“Can you get me a drink at Starbucks?” you asked after giving him a kiss

On the cheek “yeah” he said while putting on his jacket, “hasta luego!” 

“Yeah yeah shoo now” you said as you smiled and waved your hand as you turned your music back on.

NOTES TIME

IVE WANTED 2 WRITE A FIC 4 LIKE EVERR I WROTE A PT1 IN MY NOTE BOOK AND HALF OF A PT2 BUT I NOW ACTLY MADE IT I RANDOMLY CAME UP W THIS WHEN IN THE SHOWER LMAO btw this is so bad so srry yall

#x gn reader #x indigenous reader #x native reader #x male reader #x female reader #moonknight x reader #moonknight x gn reader #moonknight x female reader #steven grant x reader #steven grant x gn!reader #steven grant x male reader #steven grant x female reader #new writer

[hopecountyisforlovers]

my biggest problem w the season 5 finale is that guillermo deciding he doesn't want to be a vampire because he somehow didnt realize that being a vampire meant killing people - something he certainly already knew having fed nandor and the others for 13 years, and absolutely had no problem with before this episode unless he personally knew the victim + being a well established vampire slayer regardless is just about the stupidest plot thread ive ever seen in anything ever. it completely assasinates the character theyve shown him to be since season ONE !! like did none of the many many vampires you killed use fucking shampoo?? give me a break. seriously. give me a fucking break. its nonsense. "oohhhh i cant eat him i thought of him as a person i'm not ready" it's bullshit. this was your dream for most of your life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what makes it worse is that would have BEEN an interesting plotline going forward. guillermo being stuck with the choice he made and finding ways to cope with it. he could try and drink from animals or just a little from willing victims or he could use vampire hypnosis to steal from hospitals (two of these ideas are from fucking twilight btw. a movie that exists in this universe that guillermo enjoys and has certainly seen more than once.) or god. nandor could drain people for him and feed him from a plastic fucking dixie cup. they had OPTIONS this was an interesting story direction that i would be looking FORWARD to they could BOND over this they could bond in ways that its IMPOSSIBLE for them to now and i don't even particularly LIKE nand/ermo but giving guillermo a get out of jail free card for vampirism to send shit back to the status quo six seasons in is NOT it girlies and no amount of Nandor Spoke Farsi makes that last episode salvageable. i have read FANFICTION that wrote these characters and this plotline BETTER than this. the fakeout of they cant undo this followed immediately by OH JUST KIDDING WE CAN ACTUALLY BITCH YOU THOUGHT was insulting . beyond insulting. i havent felt this bad about a season finale of wwdits since season 3. but while the latter half of season three was unpleasant it at least seemed like it would be interesting going forward. this? this was just disappointing. its the first time ive ever felt this show was Badly Written and it hurts because i LOVE this show and i looked forward to this season and now that its over its like. this whole season might as well be moot. they could start season 6 saying this was all a crazy dream guillermo had and it would be BETTER for the narrative

#wwdits #wwdits spoilers #ive been thinking about this all day and really it kinda makes me nauseous #its just. so Bad

[polyamorouspunk]

omg for sleepover friday i NEED to rant about my crush cause hes so akdjakdj <33

so, of course, as is in true queer fashion, i am madly in love with my best friend - i mean what can i say? he is GORGEOUS and the most kind, caring, charismatic boy ive ever met, and ive met a LOT of boys. hes one of the only people i know that fully accept me and are 100% okay (and not secondhandedly uncomfortable) with my transness/queerness - im a t4t poly gay man.

so! we spend like every second ever together and he is so nice to me and i love being around him. the only problem here is that i have no clue if he may even ever like me back. i met him this school year, and he is very picky about who he likes / dates - hes stated it takes him years to like / get a crush on anyone - but im like . the opposite. i get crushes sososo easy and they stick like GLUE and i had a crush on him from the first time i spoke to him and he touched my face in a way that felt so insanely intimate and sweet.

anyway, to the point. we both actively yearn about how much we wish we could have a boyfriend - were both lonely gay men. why wouldnt we? - and it is so insanely painful because like. dude. im perfect for you. youre perfect for me. HOW do you not see that? :( every time he talks about something he likes in a boy it feels like hes vaguely hinting at being in love with me but i know hes not cause idk why would he be?

we text each other every time something good, bad, neutral happens. we call when we get home every day until we go to bed and we text each other when we wake up. HOW IS HE NOT MY BF :(

also the other day i wrote a paragraph ab how much i loved him (3k+ characters) and he was like “i love you” “i love you i love you i love you” and its never been so obvious to me how much im in love w someone UGH

idk why im sending this tbh maybe for advice so like 1) should i make a move and 2) how do i make a move

also for sample heres what a goodnight text from him looks like (to see if maybe im just over-exaggerating)

“Hey, imma assume ur asleep. So goodnight, I love you so much, so soooooooooooo fucking much. I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow, goodnight and I hope you have amazing dreams 💗”

AAAAA im having a he likes me he likes me not moment tbh

Aaaah that’s so cute you HAVE to do something omg you have to bro that’s some fairy tale level shit omg go for iiiit live your best gay life 2024 let’s goooo

#punk gets mail #shipping it shipping it

[v-arbellanaris]

Re the power struggle between the Grey Wardens and the Chantry. You can also snatch Anders right from the templars grasp and it's possible that a big reason why he's left alone in DA2 is because he's a Grey Warden. Anders hardly makes his actions in DA2 a secret. He is loudly rebelling, yet the templars leave him alone.

That's why the whole Warden arc in DAI makes no sense. The Chantry and kingdoms of Thedas have no authority over the Wardens, but an upstart order who is effectively nothing but a branch of the Chantry does?

YES! i started writing the post abt the wardens in the middle of collating more info about it but i was so gobsmacked at how much there was just pre-ostagar that i wrote the post before getting to the rest of the series and then the post blew up LMAO

i think part of anders not getting snatched up by templars when he's in the party with you is just nonsense mechanics stuff (they should've had a quest like they did in dao -- tho i think that quest was deleted lmao -- where if you try hand morrigan over to the templars, she leaves the party permanently, or even like in lothering where they can ask that templar what he'd do with an apostate and he susses out that you and morrigan are mages and goes "ive got bigger problems than apostates atm") BUT there is dialogue & quest stuff confirming that the templars raid darktown fairly often looking for him outside of whenever he comes on quests with you, so i dont think he was untouched because he was a warden.

if anything, i think him being a circle mage seemed to be more important than him being a warden since the chantry explicitly sends templars after him while he's with the wardens. to repeat: the chantry sends templars to hunt down warden mages, which is fucking illegal. wardens exist outside of the jurisdiction of the chantry! they have no right to drag warden mages into the circle, even if the warden mage was originally an apostate OR if they were a circle mage. AND justinia was canonically looking for the warden to become inquisitor before she sent cassandra looking for hawke -- the implications for a surana/amell are pretty horrifying.

i hated HLTA for so many reasons, but mostly, i hated it because it justified the inquisition taking action against the wardens, as if they had a right to it. "we're going to stop the wardens from summoning demons to fight the darkspawn and kill the archdemons" and that's a bad thing because Summoning Demons Is Bad, as if blood magic isn't the most effective thing against darkspawn (which! considering the implications of red lyrium being magic repelling is so fascinating. does being a grey warden mean some of your connection to the fade is messed up???). as if wanting to end the blights is bad -- we have solas calling the wardens ignorant and stupid as if the wardens killing archdemons and fighting darkspawn isn't the only thing that has saved the world every time a blight has erupted. and it pisses me off that no real reason is ever given for WHY it's a bad idea, we're just supposed to take it at face value that because solas, an elven god who definitely knows more than we do just trust bioware ok, says its a bad idea, it's a bad idea. the warden's plan is a bad thing because Someone Else Will Use The Demons To Take Over The World and Only The Wardens Could Ever Summon This Many Demons as if kirkwall doesn't have shades popping up outside of the hanged man every other day. corypheus was literally in kirkwall???

it would've been something if corypheus was using the wardens to get the location of the archdemons. wouldn't it tie into his crisis of faith and the sense of danger so much more? he's gone looking for his gods but raising them is definitely going to cause a double blight. but why bother raising the stakes or creating any level of danger for corypheus, right? that's not the point of the game :)

and yeah, the inquisition 100% has no authority or leg to stand on to engage with the wardens or even to kick them out of orlais. yet the quest -- and most of the game -- is framed in such a way that these actions seem justified. in general, this quest was a clumsy way to end a conflict that's been building over the course of the entire franchise -- which can be said about any of the longstanding conflicts addressed in dai tbh.

#asks #the grey wardens #anti chantry #bioware critical #vee rewrites da #bc that corypheus plotline IS smth i'm including in my fic anyway looool

[gomzwrites]

✧✿✧˖° Chocolate °˖✧✿✧

Hello heLLOO! *waves excitedly over a round table* come come I have tea and dessert for everyone *pulls out a few chairs*

Alright, so. Some of my thoughts first regarding the Academic AU

I wrote this fic longer than intended because I was going heavy with the details and plot

Though I am wondering if this kind of smut is welcome here, because I've let a few of my friends to read it and gotten mix responses, some said it was lengthy while some said they liked it

Personally, I was trying to walk readers through the entire process, and since its the first encounter/$ex scene, I wanted to show the small details to indicate some stuff

Initially I was going to write like virgin reader for the innocent sake. but that will make my fic longer WHEEZE-

I ended up hinting the "innocent" part with the floral pattern on the brief, well I say hint but idk if that was obvious lmfao anyways-

not to say I dont like longer fics, but the longer I write, the more mistakes im gonna encounter (if you can't tell already, i struggle a lot with grammar lol)

In the end after much consideration, ive cut down heavily on the smut and condensed to what we have now and Im okay with it, tho I would like to hear your thoughts (send me anonymously if you're shy, or just comment, I dont bite I promise :D)

Okay, *pours everyone a cup of tea*, some headcannons and notes

So, as you all can tell, there was a hint of mlm there of Price x Simon, not sure how everyone think about it but I for one eat that shit up

Now, I did gave some thoughts about the subjects Price and Simon teach, in the end though I decided to leave it blank because I couldn't be sure

See im from Asia so the education system here is extremely different from the UK/US, and I got kinda confused and overwhelmed with the choices XD so I just left it blank

I was going to write them with STEM majors, but eeerrr Idk, cant really picture Price or Simon as engineer or medicine lecturers(iykyk)(rise up my STEM sisters and brothers-)

Perhaps you can give me some thoughts about it, I was thinking something about History for Price, then something about Linguistic/Statistic/Psychology for Simon

Okay, Gaz also made an appearance on the fic((of course he did, my precious bb)), now for him I have a solid idea to make him Pharmacology based or at least somewhere along the healthcare sector, hence the Dr

I might, also bring Soap in the future, but I dont know how or what his role will be yet (gym tutor? physical therapist?)

Will I make this into a poly thing? Im not sure, probably not XD but I might do a special moment with Gaz bcuz im that bias

oh yeah, forgot add on, but yes there's a reason for the name changes(Mr Riley to Simon) and name that stayed (Prof Price), its just to further show that Price has the power and all the sayings (you know cuz he is the Captain originally so I wanted to bring that over)

You wanna call him John? mmmm that's gonna take some convincing and time >:)

Lastly, some future plans (no promises) - nsfw here

many h0rny, many ideas, many tired

anyways, Im thinking of xreader individually fic(like Price x you then Simon x you separately), then eventually building it up to both of them destroying you in threesome manner (lovingly)

I want. I want to write Price being mEAN YALL-

Like him bullying you and putting a vibrat0r inside you and force you to come out to write something on the board in front of everyone, dialing up the intensity as you try your hardest not to cum right there

or or or or or

thinking about c0ckwarming under his desk- raaasdajdgajdh

then Simon...oh sweet sweet Simon

Im thinking maybe dom!reader, just a maybe.

Riding him until he's a whimpering sobbing mess

Idk if anyone remembered, but u know this part?

:)

yeah, maaaaaybe Simon has that exhibitionism kink

so lets abuse that shall we

thinking of doing it in the car park/in his car, you giving him head under the steering wheel as he pulls down the car window slightly to talk to a student who just wanted to chat

Poor him trying to be calm and steady his tone as his knuckles turned white, hands clammy as you suck harder, not giving a damn if you're going to draw attention

or or or or or or or

going back to the riding part, tying him up with his tie, not letting him touch you as you ride that dick like your life depends on it, you hear him begging and whimpering, bucking his hips up desperately

im very unwell

ANYWAYS, ye so far, these are the only ideas I have atm, but don't expect me to write it so soon haha

If im gonna be honest, this blog was created when I had a massive art block, and then somehow (even until today!!) my soft fics blew up and ye it escalated from there

not really but also- If you see me write a fic, its usually bcuz im struggling with art, likewise if you followed me on @gomzdraws or twitter, you would notice im more active cause I think for me, drawing is easier than writing

im grateful to be able to express in two mediums tho, even tho I suck at it haha

but I do sincerely want to make this into a series, so I thank everyone for being patience with me, I appreciate it

Ogeh, *brings out a briefcase* recommendation time

if you like Prof AUs, then boi do I have some fics for you here in tumblr

Guyfierii has a long Prof series and they're wonderful

mehh141's amAZING PROF PRICE ART IM CRYING-

Shroomie (one of the first few blog I was exposed to when I started reading cod fics :D) made 2 Prof fics as well - sadly I dont think they're active since April because of uni :(

ajhdkadh sleepyconfusedpotato, the god of both being a great artist and oc!fic writer made a post a while ago about tf141 possible Professor headcannons - give it a look if ya interested

that is all from me, and btw don't feel obligated to comment or send me a text or anything!! The fact that you made it till the end is already making me happy :D thanks for reading my babbling and points LMAO

Have a nice day/night friends :)

#gomzspeaks #academic au

[kimchicollardgreens]

even if there’s a solution to a “problem”, someone can still talk abt how they don’t like said problem… you know that right? it’s always “then ignore them” or write them yourself”… who says that ppl don’t do that already. it was one opinion. no one was demanding black writers to not write wtv they want, the person only shared their view and everyone went crazy… you legit wrote a think piece over this. There shouldn’t be fighting yeah, but maybe ppl should stop feeling butthurt over opinions. users make the most trivial things a bigger issue on tumblr, legit arguing with a minor lmao

i ask you to read all of this before sending another ask, its another “think piece” but its literally the answer to why what these woman are askin is lowkey problematic and i dont blame folks for not noticing dogwhistles. im also not say all “soft girls” are spouting this stuff. (hell im one of them). im also not calling these women evil, cuz they may not truly know what they saying is problematic as we live in a capitalist yt supremacist system. im more than happy to answer more. im not somebody that gon dismiss you if you wanna have discourse💖

but yes, you can talk about a problem when its in good faith as it actually cultivates productive insight. but bad faith arguments distract us from the real problems that both groups actually want to see fixed. however we need to acknowledge that most ADULTS who come with this “soft life fic” opinion be in bad faith.

bad faith is trying to get us to come back to things both parties already agree on. we all agree that soft fic aint seen much. what we are saying is why you keep coming in the dark/urban fic inbox stating it for people who have no problem with you? we’ve assessed the “problem” and we all agree it needs fixing. its like we running in circles, instead of different directions to fix other problems. the question is how are you going to contribute to fixing it in a healthy way and how do you want us to help.

im sure cherry and her friends would love to recommend a homegirls work so long as shes respectful. HELL I’LL EVEN DO IT!!!

tho i don’t recommend coming into blogs who are strictly dark and askin’ them for anything other than that. just like how soft writers don’t want to primarily write dark.

its not butthurt when you come on someone’s page calling them “ghetto” “baby mamas” then try and position it against “soft life” “divine feminine” “old money” aesthetics.

im not saying thats what this little girl did, but ive seen grown adult women do that. and thats nasty as hell to be positioning that.

the reason she probably caught flack is because she unfortunately used a simple question thats been hijacked and used by bad faith arguers when they come to urban fic accounts.

thats usually the question to get a leg in the door to start spouting off lowkey antiblack and classist shit.

and i dont know where soft being only afforded to the croquette looking girls came from. some of the softest girls i know are high fem baddies. so thats very weird, especially when you consider that black women make up majority of that aesthetic.

essentially its respectability politics and thats why its not trivial. to most, this looks like a minor creative liberties dispute, but the underlying theme is actually steeped in so much politics that affect black women for real.

i mean just look at the whole bonnet and pajama pants debate. or the straight hair or braids for your birthday/formal event debate. or the wigs vs natural hair debate. baby mama vs wifey debate (if you believe how a woman carries herself in a way thats nondestructive to others, is a reason as to why she doesn’t deserve respect; you not a feminist.)

its grown folks bratz vs barbie all over again.

not even gon hold you, i didn’t know that was a minor. just reblogged @chrollohearttags post on my dash. anybody doing anything other than telling that little girl to get off they page is a weirdo. but cherry made a general post thats been a topic of discussion AMONGST BLACK WOMEN since we’ve been writing stories. so ofc thats what my “think piece” is about. she may have commented one question but some iteration of that same question has been around for years. i’m responding to that.

since i now know this is a minor, they could have very well been wanting to know why there is a saturation of these fics on here. and i would have told her about the culture of urban fic being ONE of the first pioneers in Black Smut Fiction. it literally helped shape the black writing culture whether bad or good. then i wouldve told her that when she’s older she could contribute to said culture. but right now she should not be consuming any sexual media.

and to ask a question like that, its clear she has some gripes about the way general media treats black women; which those are well-founded. i understand hating the “ride or die”, or the “settling for less” when it comes to media for black women. but how can you read about a specific aesthetic or lifestyle and immediately know thats was going on?

these women used to have valid points and some still do but like this little girl, they cant tell the difference and if they can, they want any kind of reputation for “ghetto” girls out the window. there’s nothing wrong with being “ghetto” and nothing wrong with being a “the soft divine feminine” but we do need to talk about why the latter feels comfortable coming on someone like cherry’s page too disparage girls who aesthetics and social values don’t align with them.

writers like cherry aren’t advocating abuse, their characters are living they best lives. doing “ghetto” shit and truly loving the partners they’re with.

there are legit women out there who are “ghetto” that love they life. and are in healthy relationships. its vile to say that the way someone simply chooses to exist is a direct result of how black women face abuse, especially as something as silly as wigs, body con dresses and long nails. or even activities like twerking, having babies, doing drugs and partying.

its kinda like this whole Sukiana situation vs the Home Depot girl. Both were sexually harrassed but people tried to victim blame Suki more cuz of the way she dress and act. thats nasty. (plus there was no versus to begin with cuz neither one deserved it)

like there IS something to be said about how women who tend to write urban fic -at least in its early days- really do live the lives they are writing about. granted, looking back, some of these women were so unhealed that they ended up romanticizing abuse. but most girls now understand that you can live a hood lifestyle and not put up with bullshit.

somewhere along the way, the “city girl/ghetto/high fem” aesthetic got associated with abuse, crime, and poverty. which is crazy cuz girls who look like JT be havin’ money, a good life and still have plug/rapper boyfriends who not killing or getting them killed.

so if these women would be honest, its not about the way the “urban” girls look or behave. the real problem is the abuse that these women face.

which i see how thats a problem but abuse doesn’t correlate to aesthetics and its not a causation of abuse either.

soft girls can experience abuse. they experience financial, domestic abuse, sexual abuse. these women who hate urban fic, keep forgetting that the soft girl is modeled after the tradition yt housewife who faced abuse too. just cuz you get out the hood and get a financial stable man that isnt a plug or gangbanger dont mean he not gon beat yo ass or expect loyalty when he do some dubious shit.

yall ever seen the Stepford Wives?

now you can have the vintage look without the vintage values, but thats not what most of these women who come onto cherry page be talking like.

they disagree with any depiction of your so called city girl —whether good or bad.

it’s counterproductive to feminism. it quite literally antichoice feminism which is a huge problem with feminism today because it relies too much on this yt viewpoint of responsibility politics. i suggest people really read “Hood Feminism” by Mikki Kendall.

anyway thats whats been making people like cherry become upset and rather than having patience, they ain’t got no more to give cuz they keep having to defend themselves and explain why talking like this is a microaggression. they exhausted.

anyway im free to talk more, if i didnt explain good.

#asks #come back tomorrow #im done for today over here #thanks for the convo #💖 #the menu

[aristotels]

do you have any online resources for Balkan books? i'm learning croatian so it would be cool to practice reading actual books instead of just balkan twitter

balkandownload.org , knjige.club and iirc libgen has some croatian and serbian things

go crazy :) if u want croatian book reccs too, from our authors id reccommend anything by ivica ivanišević (my fav is "primavera", esp since its very classic dalmatian setting) and renato baretić. baretić's "osmi povjerenik" is a cult book, but since it uses a lot of dialect, and a made up dialect too, it might be too advanced. "hotel grand" is also a fantastic book of his, that one might be easier to get through.

if you want classics, one of my favorite book series is "grička vještica" by marija jurić zagorka (the first croatian female journalist). its 7 books, with plot taking place during maria theresa's rule of hungary, but the speed and the twists are like a modern netflix show. she did the "enemies to lovers" trope back in like the 1910. and she and jane austen are the only people ive ever liked it from. ive read all the books like 5 times, and insisted my sister is named Nera after the main character. if netflix producers read this, they would sign the production papers within 10 seconds of finishing the books. unlike krleža, she wrote in a quite simple style and language (tho there is nothing simple about croatian anywhere i guess).

if you want to read some poetry i recc dobriša cesarić - he is one of the most famous croatian poets, and his poems are simple but with incredible flow. you can also find the texts online without downloading. just google dobriša cesarić pjesme. :) "balada iz predgrađa" is one of his best ones. "voćka poslije kiše" is something every single croat can quote.

grigor vitez was also a wonderful poet but he wrote for children - idk what level youre at, but that might be a good start too! his poems are beautiful. "kad bi drveće hodalo", for example.

on topic of poetry, since this is a communist and antifascist blog, i recc you the main poem of yugoslavia: desanka maksimović's "krvava bajka" about genocide in kragujevac. its short and you can find it on wikipedia.

from recent books which were translated to croatian i rly enjoyed nita prose's "maid" and from this french author "fresh water for flowers" (too tired to remember her name rn). anthony doerrs "the light we cannot see" is a bit reactionary but still a great read. "the cathedral" (cant remember the author rn) also won me over.

if you want to watch a good movie i recc "svećenikova djeca", if you can find the torrent. idt i was able to last time when i wanted to watch it. :/

from bands, if you want to hear some dalmatian music and accents, i reccommend daleka obala, tutti frutti band, dino dvornik ("afrika" and "manijak" are bangers), oliver dragojević (listen to "nadalina" its super cool!), TBF ("genije" plays in my head always) and if u wanna see the traditional split dance just search "splitsko kolo" on youtube :)

i can also just send you my own book if u wanna read that lol (im a published author in croatia, and a class traitor for advocating book piracy here on tumblr i guess) . it does use some dalmatian slang tho.

[rpfisfine]

do you hate miles?🤨

i was wondering when someone would send me an ask like this yeah i dont like him to be honest. i know ppl on here have largely moved on from the fateful 2016 interview and it has been discussed to death and yeah he immediately said he was joking etc etc but i dont think its weird to think you shouldnt have to feel pressured to like completely forgive and forget and absolve the sins of a male musician saying something that made a female reporter feel unsafe or objectified or 'caught in an increasingly distressing situation' or act like its some sort of unheard of and unimaginable offense that has never happened before in the history of music interviews and one someone’s favorite musician who can do no wrong in their eyes could definitely never get caught up in (esp given how gross in general the music industry is towards women). OR even go so far to say the reporter did it all for attention i cant believe this is even a discussion that has ever been had in any form ever like genuinely nothing makes me angrier than ppl who literally turn into blatant sexists whenever their favorite white guy's reputation is even mildly put at risk ive literally seen one person on here say the whole interview was made up and exaggerated and that she just wanted to 'join the me too movement' which is like Okay man i think you might just not have any respect for women in real life maybe. even watered down and not as extreme its a take thats more prevalent on am tumblr than i thought or previously imagined and i hate how bad it makes the fandom look like i trust that everyone on here is a reasonably intelligent and empathetic human being who has at least a basic tumblr education on the fact that victim blaming is bad so we dont rly need to turn around and immediately go 'she just misunderstood what he was saying' or 'she just didnt get his sense of humor' like Alright

i hope im articulating all this reasonably well like i think its literally fine that ppl have accepted his apology and moved on and are able to enjoy him as an artist and/or as a person too thats awesome and im happy for the ppl that i follow that have this kind of relationship with him. even if it wasnt for the interview thing he stil wouldnt be for me i used to be a pretty big fan of his music when i was younger but nowadays since ive found different music i dont rly pay any attention to him. im glad he was able to spark alex creatively but thats as far as my enjoyment goes of him to be yonest

also ive just realized now that all this makes me look kind of contrived given the fact that ive written milex before and i dont rly have like an impenetrable explanation i literally started writing for jamex around the time the car album came out bc i found out all my fav jamex fics had gotten deleted by their author so i wanted to fill the void and then one day i was like wait am i good enough yet to write a functional milex fic (plus i was hoping to get more ppl to notice my writing and milex offers a pretty easy way to do that) so then i wrote 2 and i was like ok i am cool. i dont intend to write another fic for them

hope this makes sense i probably forgor to say like 10 other things i wanted to say but thats okay

#i didnt rly wanna talk abt this but now i cant dodge it anymore i trust my friends respect my opinion and arent mad at me #also wanted to make a disclaimer that ive never set foot on am twitter so my opinion isnt influenced by amtwt at all #i know ppl dont like miles on there but i have genuinely no clue how they go abt it or what they say im not brave enough to make an account #there. #asks #Pleasneeeeeee dont harrass me over this im literally just doing my thang over here in the czech republic #also ive literally had that one shitty take screenshotted since like november of last year LOL it made me soooooooo mad