#debated on putting it in the main tag but eh. why not

[kasperbunny]

wrote a lil thing of danse taking care of arty. i have bad pain days of my own so i wanted to project and vent thru arty. also for context they are at red rocket. enjoy <3

The wooden rocking chair creaked as Artemis plopped into it, the bottom of his cane clinking against the hard, concrete floor and echoing throughout the garage. He sighed exasperatedly, using his foot to gently rock himself as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. 

His peace was soon interrupted, albeit not rudely, as the ex-paladin passed by, poking his head into the open door of the garage to check on the other. Artemis thought it cute how Danse always seemed to end up in the same location as him, like he was a lost puppy following him around.

“Hi.”

“Hey, Danse,” Artemis rocked gently, his voice soft as he kept his eyes closed.

“Something the matter?” Danse had fully stepped into the garage now. If Artemis had opened his eyes he would’ve seen Danse looking at him concerningly with those big brown eyes of his.

“...’m alright. Leg is just acting up again.”

“Could I assist you with that?”

Artemis didn’t answer right away. His eyes slowly blinked open as he peered up at the other man, who was looking down at him with his usually stern face, although his thick eyebrows were scrunched in concern. Artemis smiled gently at that. Danse was always so charmingly expressive, even if he didn’t realize it most of the time.

“I’ll be alright, babe. It’s just one of those days.”

“I want to help,” Danse’s heart leapt at the term of endearment. He still wasn’t used to being referred to in such an endearing way, especially from someone like Artemis. He didn’t dislike it, he just needed time to adjust to it.

“I won’t stop you, but you don’t have to worry so much about me. Been dealin’ with it for years,” He shifted his leg slightly, wincing as pain shot up his body.

“I know,” Danse was already down on the ground, sitting himself comfortably on the cold floor as he started to work Artemis’ boots off his feet, “But we’re…partners. I want to help you. Especially considering everything you’ve done for me.”

Artemis chuckled at Danse’s hesitance to call him his partner. He supposed they hadn’t quite reached ‘boyfriend’, but he could settle for ‘partner’ for the time being.

“So you’re just paying back a debt?” He jested, watching as Danse slipped his boots off and tentatively placed them to the side, shoelaces tucked neatly inside of them.

“Not at all,” Danse pressed his thumb firmly into the sole of Artemis’ left foot, letting up slightly when he noticed Artemis wincing at the pressure, “I’m simply showing my appreciation.”

Artemis only hummed in response, fluttering his eyes shut once more and leaning back in his chair, relaxing as much as he could as Danse took over.

They stayed in relative silence for a few long moments, the only noises being Artemis’ soft murmurs of appreciation and Danse’s occasional ‘like this?’ as he worked his hands along Artemis’ leg. Every time Artemis would simply nod his head in response, the pain radiating along his leg and up into his thigh subduing slightly at Danse’s touch. It wouldn’t last long, but the short relief was more than welcome.

At some point, Artemis’ grip softened on the cane in his hand, causing it to drop to the floor with a loud ‘clang’ against the hard floor. He grumbled, cursing under his breath and beginning to adjust himself to pick it up.

“It’s alright. Don’t move,” Danse paused his massage for a moment, picking up the cane that had fallen to the ground and placing it neatly next to Artemis’ boots.

“Thanks,” Artemis mumbled, relaxing back into his chair with a sigh through his nose, “You know, I really like this chair.”

“You do?” Danse looked up at him, his hands resuming their work. His thumbs working themselves into his knee made Artemis hum in appreciation.

“Yeah. I’m glad you built it,” Artemis looked tired, but his words seemed genuine. 

Danse remembered when he had built it. He had been bored, seemingly having much less to keep him occupied since he left the Brotherhood. He had already done as many repairs on the little rest stop as he could, and he could only tinker so much with his power armor. His pacing must have annoyed Artemis, because the man had yelled at him to find something to do, anything but pacing around and making him nervous. So Danse had found some spare wood lying around and got to work. He hadn’t known at the time exactly what he was working toward, but a chair seemed like the best outcome. He figured it would be nice to have some more furniture around their makeshift home, and it occupied him enough to keep out of Artemis’ hair.

“I could build you another,” Danse finally smiled up at him, leaning forward and pressing a small, chaste kiss to the leg in his hands, the material of his pants bunching up where Danse pressed his lips.

“What, so we can sit in our rocking chairs on the porch like an old married couple?” His lips quirked up into an amused smirk as he glanced down at Danse.

“Do people do that?” Danse asked the question genuinely, tilting his head slightly to the side almost like a dog.

“Used to. In my time,” Artemis tentatively stretched his leg out, his pain dull for the moment. Danse was just softly running his hand over the underside of his leg, “Sounds nice, having nothin’ to worry about.”

“I suppose it does,” Danse agreed, although he didn’t enjoy the thought of sitting for hours on end. He was never good at keeping still for long, he always seemed to need something to do, “How is your pain?”

“Better,” He grumbled quietly, seemingly struggling to keep his eyes open, “Probably need to rest. You mind if I close my eyes for a while?” That always seemed to be Artemis code for ‘I need a nap.’

“Not at all. I’m sure Dogmeat and I can hold down the fort,” Danse gave Artemis’ leg one last little rub with his thumb before he rose to his feet, grabbing a nearby blanket hanging across the power armor workstation. Ever since Danse had built the chair and moved it into the garage, Artemis had taken countless naps here, so it was better to leave any spare blankets in here just for that reason.

“Thanks, Danse,” Artemis muttered as the blanket was carefully draped across him, the gentle motion making his chest ache in the best way possible. He still wasn’t used to the sort of loving, domestic relationship they had fallen into over time. It wasn’t perfect, they weren’t perfect, but he appreciated it more than words could express. He wanted to say more, to thank Danse for more than just the massage, more than just the chair, more than just the blanket, but his tongue always seemed to get twisted up. A simple thank you would suffice for now, it seemed.

“Of course,” Danse was smiling that sweet smile at him, the kind that made his eyes soften and his forehead crinkle up. The kind of smile that seemed so genuine and so specifically for Artemis himself, “Try to get some rest, Artemis. I’ll be here when you wake up.” 

#kasper yaps #danse/art #artemis tag #kas writes stuff #paladin danse #debated on putting it in the main tag but eh. why not #[throws my sole at everyone] you will see him #this was so so self indulgent like moreso than anything else i write lol #just been having pain lately and i needed to vent. sorry arty knee pain be upon ye

[aroace-ko-archived]

stop making a new side blog every time i get a new hyperfixtation challenge level: impossible

#anyways rly glad my aroace headcanon wasn't destroyed cuz that wouldve sucked #you could argue kendy after the finale but they're queerplatonic bc i said so /lh #(its not canon tho so kendy shippers keep doing whatever makes you happy!) #debating whether or not to put this in the main tags #eh sure why not #ok ko #ok ko lets be heroes

[lor-starcutter]

OK... How do you think about everything happened in the RTDL novel?

I know this is a role-playing account... but I want more opinions from a non-MagoLor shipper.

((This ask would be better suited for my main blog, @galacticnova3, but… eh. I have an ooc tag here. To summarize my general opinion of the novel? I honestly hate it. It’s main conflict literally contradicts itself(if Lor knew Magolor wasn’t pure of heart from the beginning and was in control of herself the entire time, why help him at all in the first place?), retcons Magolor into being 100% evil for no reason, retcons almost all information about Landia, and was generally just extremely unpleasant to read a translation of as a Lor kinnie. Worst thing in my opinion is that people are touting it as canon/“word of god” despite it literally skipping entire parts of RtD, entirely changing others, and of course what I already said about the main conflict making no sense.

The only good thing to come from the novel, for me personally, was reason to change a headcanon of mine to be more consistent with other headcanons. Everything else I want to put through one of those industrial grade shredders, douse in gasoline, set on fire, and eventually dance on the ashes. All that being said, if you ship Lor and Magolor, I don’t want you interacting with any of my blogs for my own comfort. I have always seen the two as having a familial relationship, not to mention this entire blog coming about because I am a Lor kinnie. Also, she is canonically much, much older than Magolor, so putting them together like that disgusts me in any context. I don’t care if you don’t talk about it or tag it; that content is genuinely upsetting and the idea of being anywhere near someone who ships it makes me uncomfortable at best. This isn’t something up for debate or discussion, this is a hard boundary and I will enforce it with a hard block if need be. Don’t bring it up to me again.))

#asks #person behind the blog

[petracore101]

Don't you think the fallout from this finale is just like the response to vol.3? If you stayed after that why are you leaving now?

Honestly? No, I don’t really think the two responses are remotely the same. Nor were the emotional cores of the finales themselves.

(warning that this does get pretty critical, so.. yknow... dead dove, don’t eat.)

Don’t get me wrong, V3’s finale hurt. Even though a good chunk of the fandom saw the foreshadow-y writing on the wall, it still hurt. Our heroes failed, Beacon fell, Penny and Pyrrha died, and it was painful and tragic and heartbreaking. Especially coming after what was (for a lot of the fandom) a very difficult year. People took it hard, there was a lot of pain, and yeah, a fair bit of anger.

But there was nothing about the V3 finale that was unnecessary, from a writing perspective. The terrible things were the building blocks upon which the story could build- they lay the foundations for the arcs our characters needed to go through. And painful as they were, those moments were all treated with the utmost gravity and care within the narrative. Penny’s death in V3 was horrible, and that horror was reflected in the reactions of the crowd, of her friends, of Ruby. Yang’s maiming was brutal, and that brutality was reflected in the sudden style switch of the shot itself, in Blake’s desperate reaction, and in the response of her team when they reunited. Pyrrha’s death was tragic, and that tragedy was reflected in the buildup to her choice, in the efforts of her friends to save her, in the quiet sadness of her death, and in Ruby’s sorrow when she arrived too late. And in each case, we, the audience, were given time and attention within the narrative to come to terms with it. The lead up to the fall provided ample hints and foreshadowing. The groundwork was all there- we watched it unfold, saw the disaster coming before it struck. Simply rewatching the first 3 volumes makes it clear, this is where things were always headed. The tragedy was not simply that these things happened, but that they may have been prevented, if only our heroes had known some small piece of what we knew. Had seen what we had seen, as it was playing out. But they didn’t, so for them, it was all inevitable. Penny would always go cheerily into battle against an opponent who could unknowingly rip her to shreds. Yang would always launch herself at any danger to save Blake. Pyrrha would always give everything she had to protect those she loved. Even so, those moments were given such weight by the narrative. The pain of the characters and the audience was treated with care and respect, the scenes given time and a sorrowful focus as the truth of them sunk in. So while watching it play out was heartbreaking, it always made sense, always felt compelling. The characters did all they could with the knowledge they had, they just didn’t have the knowledge they needed. And even so, there was still hope. There was still light. There was still a chance for a better day.

And even while the fandom mourned, the overall response reflected those truths. We were heartbroken, but the focus was on coming to terms with the tragedy, not justifying how it was executed. But now? The conflict, the anger, the pain and frustration now? That’s not just coming from people trying to come to terms with Atlas’s fall or Penny’s death or RWBY’s plunge into the void... It’s coming from people upset with how they chose to do these things. Making Vine (who we have had maybe 1-2min worth of speaking lines from) blow himself up to save his teammates was tone deaf and lacked emotional depth, particularly after a series of events that relied on Harriet wanting to bomb a city of civilian refugees for reasons that were shakily developed at best. Turning Penny “human” just to kill her as bloodily as possible was unnecessary and cruel. And having her successfully commit suicide after a full volume of near-constant suicidal comments was just atrocious, no matter what warnings they put ahead of the ep. Having each member of RWB/Y fall (to their “deaths”, from the perspective of those still standing) after barely even landing hits on their opponents, then quickly moving on without pause was jarring and felt senseless. Lingering on Mantle and Atlas being utterly demolished but not showing any reaction from any of its former residents was callous and devoid of any emotional stakes. It leaves us with no hope, no depth, no stakes. Just shock, frustration, pain, confusion.

I liked V3 because the tragedy, the pain, it meant something. It made sense why things played out as they did, and that enhanced the tragedy of it all. But I did not like V7 or V8, because the plot points are not written to be meaningful, they are written to be painful for the sake of being painful. There’s no emotional depth to any of it, no time given to exploring the nuance of what it does to the characters involved, or narrative weight given to their response or that of the audience. The finale especially feels, to me, incredibly superficial. It is dark for the sake of darkness, like it resorts for shocking the audience as a cheap way to elicit an emotional response. And I have no interest in watching the characters I love be reduced to that kind of story. I’m not quitting the show because bad things happened. I’m out because I’m tired of incredibly serious things being treated so callously.

It’s fine if you disagree, it’s fine if you liked it, I’m not trying to ruin the show for anyone. If you continue to watch, I hope it continues to be what you’re looking for. But please do not act like those who are upset by this are simply angry it didn’t go their way. You do not have to agree with the criticisms or even understand where people are coming from. Just be kind.

#I understand why the two may seem similar on a surface level #especially if you weren’t around for it #(idk if you were; but regardless) #but my experience with the fndm post v3 was wildly different that what it has been with all this #mm.. this was difficult to write. #standard disclaimer i guess- i’m not really wanting to debate w/you if you think the plot points were good; this is just my personal take.. #like it’s fine if you did; i really don’t want to convince you otherwise #just felt necessary to get into a little bit; to clarify what i’m saying #hope this stays out of the main show tag #my apologies if tumblr puts it in there anyway #....eh. #discourse #rwby crit #and also probably #rwde

[halcyonstorm]

The Girl at the Library Chapter 1

Short Fic - Levihan

Themes: College AU, Library, Fluff, Slow Burn, Falling in Love, Female Hange Zoe, Student!Levi

Word Count: 5730

Chapter: 1/3

Warning: Mild Language

Read on Ao3 - The Girl at the Library

Summary: Levi is a college student who needs help on his research paper. Luckily, Hange is a book worm and works at the library. 

Levi was stressed and annoyed, mainly because he was in college. Of course with college comes infinite amounts of homework assignments, 100-question exams with astronomical amounts of topics on them, unnecessary research papers, and staying in a dorm room with a kid that happens to have no problem inviting his friends over every night to hang out and party with no regards to his sullen roommate.

Levi had a paper coming up. He had to come up with a topic, find sources, and finish his paper by the end of the semester. With three weeks left to go, he decided he’d rather get it over with. He began his brainstorming in the study lounge at the center of his dormitory floor. He was starting to stress. He sat on the big yellow leather couch in the way-too-bright study lounge with his laptop in his lap. He tapped his pen against his head as he tried to think of an idea. 

“You have to write about a topic related to your major,” The professor explained. “This is the one and only paper you will have assigned this semester. I suggest you get it done as early as possible.”

If only it were that easy. He had the rubric pulled up in one tab, and a ton of “How to pick a research topic” websites in others. His major was pharmaceuticals, a field he was inspired to take on because of his mother. She was very ill when he was very young, so they were in and out of hospitals. He was sitting on the edge of his mother’s hospital bed when a nurse came in the room to administer her medications. 

“This is…” His memory was blurry. “This medication will help… and make you feel better.” And it did. 9 year old Levi was fascinated. This one little pill or bag of what looked like water helped his mother feel better. Within hours, his mother’s skin went from pallor to beige. Her hands were warmer. She looked more awake, more alive. She didn’t wince at Levi’s touch. She was in less pain. She got better, like the nurse predicted.

Since then, Levi always asked questions whenever they visited the hospitals again and again. “What kind of drug is that?” “What does it do?” “How long does it take to take effect?”

Levi recalled the memory with a deep sigh. He missed his mother. She was at home, not too far away. Levi never had the time to travel the hour through the big city to visit her. When he did have free time, he spent it studying or sleeping. He felt his heart twinge at this. She had sacrificed everything to help him attend college and to give him a good life.

Now with his head cloudy, he went to reach his water bottle in his backpack. He opened the lid and took a sip. At that moment, he could hear some obnoxiously loud students throwing tennis balls back and forth to each other. He recognized these kids too, they were some (of many) of the lovely visitors his roommate had over most nights. Suddenly in the blink of an eye, Levi’s water bottle spilled all over his laptop, a tennis ball on the floor next to him, and some worried voices approaching him. Within seconds, the laptop started to steam and the screen went black.

His laptop was fried, he determined. He felt heat start to rise inside of him. 

“Oh my god, man. I am so sorry,” One of the kids said, trying to hold back a laugh. 

“Yeah, man. We didn’t mean to.”

Levi took a deep breath and stood up. These kids… were gonna pay.

He closed his broken laptop and stood up. These kids were much taller than him, but looked to be easily intimidated by Levi’s presence. 

“Do you have the money to pay for this?” He sneered, getting very close to their faces. 

“Eh… no, but we have jobs! We can pay you back over time,” One of the kids trailed off. They seemed to be intimidated by the short man. “You live in 112 right?”

Levi nodded, his face heating up with anger. “This laptop cost me a lot of money.”

“We get it, man! We said we’re sorry,” the other kid explained. “We’ll pay you back or whatever.”

“Tch,” Levi clicked. He was extremely pissed. These kids should not be throwing balls at each other in the hallway. Also, they spilled his water which made a mess. “Which room are you both in?” They responded with 118. The one kid explained they get paid on the 15th and 30th of each month. Luckily, their pay day was 4 days away.

“I’ll stop by Tuesday, the 16th,” Levi decided, before gathering his things and heading to the stairs. He began to walk through the campus. Fuck, now where was he gonna go? How was he gonna find his topics? His computer was fucked. Putting it in rice wouldn’t have helped. He was so occupied having a debate with himself about where to research, he almost missed it. If he looked the other way or even blinked in that moment, he wouldn’t have seen it. It was the campus library. No, not the campus library, but a campus library. It blended into the surroundings, hidden from the passerbyers. There was a sign in the window “We’re Open!”. 

The library was small, to say the least. It was old fashioned, which contrasted the modern aesthetic of the university. It was a small, dark brown, wooden building with four-pane windows. The door was a lighter shade of brown. He decided it was easier to check out this little library instead of walking another 10 minutes to get to the main library. He didn’t have time to waste. He had to get started with his paper right away. He walked up to the door and opened it. When he did, a little bell rang at the doorway. 

“Just a minute!” A woman’s voice called from the back. Levi decided to wander around. There were many books crammed on the shelves. There were two computers on each side when he walked in. They looked out of place, considering they were very modern compared to the architecture of the library itself. The books were all shades of bright, vibrant colors. It was strange. From the outside, it seemed creepy and gloomy. Once he walked in, it was very cozy. The dark walls of the library contrasted the beautiful colors of the books.

Then, he saw the woman come out. She came up to the desk. He expected an elderly lady with her glasses on a chain, but he assumed this woman was a student. She was a young woman who wore thin oval glasses and her brown hair thrown up in a messy half-up-half-down ponytail. 

“Hi!” The woman said. “How can I help you?”

“I want to use a computer, please,” He announced. He glanced at her nametag which hung like a necklace around her neck. “Hange” was the name on the tag. It was strange and unordinary, but it had a nice ring to it. The name seemed to suit her.

“Sure! You are allowed up to two hours a day,” Hange explains. “You can choose whichever computer you’d like.”

The computers were unoccupied. In fact, the entire library seemed vacant except for him and the employee. 

“Does anyone actually come here?” Levi asked, setting his stuff down next to a desk, and looking her way. She looked like someone who would work at a library. 

The brunette chuckled. “You are my third visitor today!” She exclaimed proudly. It was already about 3pm. He remembered the sign in the front says “12pm-6pm weekdays”. 

Levi chuckled silently, air huffed out his nose. “How do you stay in business?”

“Well, the university thinks it’s good to have a small library in the outskirts of the campus so students have access to books and computers because the main campus library is in the center of the plaza. Sometimes we get about ten people a day, and sometimes they don’t even take anything out. Sometimes I wonder how…” She began to ramble now. She definitely has not had anyone else visit her today.

She was starting to get on his nerves. It’s been 20 minutes since he arrived, and she was still talking. He zoned out until she caught his attention.

“Hey,” She said. “What’s your name? I have to track whoever comes in to use the computers.” 

Why? No one else comes in. He noticed her clipboard with the sign-ins was blank.

“Levi Ackerman,” He announced. She scribbled his name down. “Okay, it’s 3:30 now, so you have till 5:30 if needed.” She pointed to the clock with her pen as she explained. He nodded and proceeded to walk towards the table with the computer he claimed. He sat down and began working.

-

He was an hour into his research when he finally threw his hands up in the air in frustration. He still couldn’t think of a topic. He groaned aloud.

Hange was leaning against the main desk, her nose stuck in a book. “How Trees Communicate” was the title. When she heard the young man groan, she looked up. 

“Is everything okay?” She asked, peering over her book at him.

“Yeah, yeah,” He mumbled. “Fine…”

Hange raised an eyebrow. She placed her bookmark at her spot, then strolled around the desk and walked over to him.

“What are you working on?” She asked, sitting in the seat next to him and put her hands on her knees, looking at him curiously. He scoffs. It was none of her business, he thought to himself. And it’s an invasion of privacy.

He was frustrated and desperate. Hoping for a miracle, he managed to tell her anyways.

 “I need a topic for my paper and I can’t think of any…” Levi began. “It needs to be based on pharmaceuticals, my major. It also needs scientific evidence to back up my research…”

She was fully absorbed in what he had to say. She was bored, so helping Levi would’ve been something to do at least. Besides, Levi was in luck. She was an avid reader, always reading about anything and everything. She was studying plants and botanicals, but she found herself frequently taking out books about cooking; religion; war; animals; and medical topics including surgery, pathophysiology, anatomy, and pharmaceuticals.

“What about how diuretics affect blood pressure?” Hange suggested. Levi was taken aback. His eyebrows furrowed, and he shook his head in confusion. “Or if anti-alzheimer drugs actually help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s? Why do you take different medications during certain stages of Alzheimer’s disease? Or how do anti-seizure medications work? That is something I ask myself all the time. You take this little pill and BOOM! You’ll be fine, no seizure! Oh, oh, oh! Or, how certain medications cause certain adverse effects? How come so many medications cause anxiety?” Her eyes started to light up as she talked. They were a dark brown, but when she started to talk, they seemed to morph to a captivating hazel. He felt he could see every color in her eyes. He saw brown and green and the little lines of her iris. Hange’s hands would move as she talked, and her smile grew wide. She couldn’t keep still. She was getting excited by coming up with all these ideas. She seemed so passionate and so willing to help; he was overwhelmed by her.

Levi was in shock. His day started off horrible. Now, he was almost glad his laptop was fucked. This woman was making his mind race with ideas. 

“Are you okay?” Hange asked for the second time within his visit there. Levi nodded slowly. “I am just… How do you know all that? Are you a med student?”

Hange chuckled and waved her hand at him. “No… I am a bookworm! Also, my mom is a nurse, so she used to teach me about nursing stuff all the time. Oh! You could write about the pathophysiology of anticholinergics! Or beta blockers! Or how the body reacts to the use of long-term steroids?”

Levi took a deep breath. He felt euphoric. He had been casually trying to think of topics since last week. All of a sudden, this woman can just ramble off hundreds of ideas? Levi smiled visibly.

“Actually… I really like the final topic you suggested. About steroids.” Levi admitted.

Hange smiled back at him. “Great! I can try to help you find some sources or books.” She directed him to open a new tab and to go to a certain database. “This is where you can find reliable sources. Over here,” She pointed to his screen at the left side. “You can add filters. You can change how old or new you’d like the sources to be, filter out certain words or phrases, et cetera.” She had been closer to him now; she scooted her chair closer so she could explain the database to him. It was hard not to look at her as she explained. She was captivating.

Levi began to type in words for his topic.

“Steroids”, “Long-term use”, “Cushing’s Disease”, “Addison’s Disease”, “Addisonian Crisis”, “Pathophysiology”.

He felt like he was finally getting somewhere. He was finally making progress.

-

As Levi was walking home, he couldn’t get his mind off that girl. He decided to brainstorm about his topic in his room once he got there. The thing was, though, he couldn’t think of any more ideas. He found it funny. Of course he was full of ideas and inspiration when he visited that library, but now he’s void of any.

-

Levi’s weekends were no different than the weekdays. He made it appoint to visit the library again the next day, Saturday. It was a sunny, cool Saturday morning. Levi had inspiration to write. He needed a computer and Hange’s ideas. When he arrived, it seemed busy. There were three other patrons at the library.  He recognized Hange right away, helping a tall blonde man with a big nose. He wondered if she was the only employee there. The man she was helping was taller than her, so she had to reach up on her toes to point to items. She was an average height, but this action made her seem shorter than she actually was.

Hange looked his way and greeted him with a toothy smile. Levi waved at her and started to head down one of the aisles of books. He was in the nonfiction section, but was lost. For now, he just casually browsed the section, but quickly got impatient. He needed Hange’s help to find books for this paper. He heard her laugh with the patron. Maybe he’s a friend, he thought to himself. Her laugh was airy and full of heart. It seemed genuine and passionate. Levi felt an urge to make her laugh, too.

She finally made her way over to him. Levi was looking down at a book when she caught his eye. “Hey, stranger!” She greeted him with a wave. “Whatcha looking for?” She placed her hands on her hips.

“I’m trying to find some sources for my paper. Steroids is the topic,” Levi explained.

“Oh, right. I remember! After you left last night, I tried to look for some books for your topic,” She said. She was trying to help me? Levi thought to himself.

She curled her finger in a “follow me” gesture and he did. She brought him to another aisle or two over from where they were. “These are the 600’s, where you’ll most likely find what you’re looking for. I found a book or two about Addison’s disease, but it’s more of a memoir. You can look around though if you’d like. Anything in the 610’s should be right up your alley.” She explained as if she was going to leave, but she didn’t. Hange looked for books with him. 

After a moment, she made a noise. “Look at this!” She exclaimed. She reached next to him to reach for a book. She was on her toes again. “Mmmm,” She moaned as she tried to reach. “Actually, I’m gonna get the step stool. I don’t think I can reach it.” Quickly, she left and came back with the stool. It looked unreliable, but Levi was sure he’d be able to prevent any accident from occurring. Hange placed it on the ground and stepped up on it, grabbing the book with ease. She stepped down with the book in her hand. This book had a white cover with a blue label and was titled “Coping with Prednisone”. Levi was surprised she even knew what prednisone was. 

“Here!” She reached it out for him to grab. He took it and looked at her face. She had that same look in her eyes. “Did you want to use the computer?” He nodded and she led him towards the front of the library. The library was small from the outside, but very deep inside. It reminded him of a forest. 

“I got your name, don’t worry,” She said, clicking her pen and writing his name down on the sheet. 

“Oops!” Hange made a quick grimace. “I added an ‘e’ at the end. I’ll just cross it out.” The statement sounded like it was addressed to herself rather than to anyone else. She crossed out the extra letter.

“Ackermane”. Levi was gonna attempt to make her laugh.

“If you thought I looked like a horse you could’ve just said so.” 

Mane, horse mane. Get it?

It felt like forever before Hange responded. She looked up at him, starting to laugh. It was a short but audible laugh. Her head nodded back and she smiled. Her cheeks turned pink and her eyes lit up for a moment. It made his heart skip a beat. It was a bad joke yet she still laughed. She chuckled. Giggled? No. Laughed lightly. Chortled? Maybe that’s the right word. Whatever it was, he wanted to do it more, maybe even more than that.

He followed her to the computers. The blonde guy she was helping earlier was on one computer. She led him to the two computers across from the other ones and sat down in the chair next to him.

“What are you doing?” Levi asked, placing the book she found for him on the table.

Her eyebrows raised, and after a moment she reacted. She waved her hands in front of her.

“I’m sorry! I thought you may have needed help. I should get back to work anyway. I gotta go through a new box of books that just came in.”

Levi looked up at her. Is she blushing? he asked himself.

“I’ll let you know if I need help.” Levi responded. She smiled at him before quickly walking away.

-

He started to find some evidence-based practice articles about how steroids can cause long-term side effects, especially if stopped abruptly. He made sure to keep the tabs available. He’d have to cite them later. Levi’s mind was racing with words and sentences and ideas. He had to get them down on paper. He opened Documents on the computer and started typing away.

The clicking of the keyboard soothed him. He was a pretty fast typer, he didn’t make many mistakes either. The library around him began to become quiet as his typing got louder and he got deeper in thought. Before he knew it, his two hours were up. He felt someone approach him from his right.

“Hey,” Hange said, gently tapping the table next to him. “It’s 2pm. I gotta close up.”

Levi snapped out of his focused trance with a quick head shake. “Right. Sorry.” He pulled out a flash drive from his backpack and plugged it into the computer. He transferred his document. “I got the first page done.”

Levi asked himself for a brief moment why he was sharing this information with someone he just met. Maybe since she helped him, he felt she should know.

“That’s great! It seemed like you were really focused,” Hange said, walking away to shut off some lights. Only then did he notice the white noise of the overhead lights quickly dissipate. The room buzzed with silence now. Levi and Hange were alone in the library. Suddenly, Levi felt nervous. He watched Hange walk around the room frantically, making sure to shut off all the lights and computers. She grabbed a bag. The bag was a fabric material with a patchwork design that had a long strap that hung on on her shoulder. Maybe she made it herself. She grabbed her big mess of keys and walked towards him.

“Ready?” She said. He nodded and walked outside, holding the door for her. She thanked him, locking the door behind her. They began to walk down the street slowly. 

“Want to grab lunch?” Hange asked, looking at him. Levi looked back at her. She looked pretty.

“Sure, I can eat.” Hange chuckled at that. He didn’t try, but it made her happy for a brief moment. He seemed nervous but she was too.

They decided to eat at a cute restaurant on campus called “Life in Paradis”. It was a small, dainty place with a green and yellow checkered awning. The building was made of yellow brick, and the door was bright green. There were flower pots outside on the windowsill. Again, this place seemed totally out of place in the modern aesthetic of the university. 

“This place is adorable!” Hange exclaimed. “I love the food here. You’ll love it too. They have all kinds of food here.” Levi felt a smile grow on his face. The way she talked made his heart flutter. She was always so passionate. They entered and got a table for two. This is not a date, Levi kept telling himself. Then why were his cheeks red?

They sat down and looked through a menu. Levi wasn’t extremely hungry even though he hadn’t had anything but tea this morning. He peered over his menu to look at the girl. Her hair was different today, he determined. Today all her hair was in a ponytail, and it was higher on her head. She wore a light yellow button-down with a long, light blue cardigan. Hange caught him staring at her and blushed.

“What would you two like to order?” The waitress asked him first.

“I’m gonna get a sandwich, I think,” He said, crossing his arms across his chest. “Turkey sub.” “I think I’m gonna get a chicken caesar salad,” Hange said. He nodded, grabbed the menus, and walked away.

Hange began to talk about how beautiful the flowers outside the restaurant were. They were all variants of pink, purple, yellow, and red. She described the petals and the leaves, the flowers’ origins, and all the meanings of the flowers. Levi wasn’t annoyed by her tangent this time. He actively listened to this girl talk about what fascinated her so much. He found it soothing. It made him wonder how her brain can contain all the information she was spewing at him. He enjoyed watching the way her eyes lit up when she talked. The beautiful green that blossomed at the bottom of her irises when the light hit her eyes at the right angle. The way her lips curled into a big smile when she talked to him. Her cheeks flush to a light pink when she describes the petals of the flowers or how flowers were used to express feelings when words cannot. It made his heart race. 

“Levi,” Hange said. Her affect was the opposite of earlier when she was rambling. She wore a frown on her face, feeling guilty.“I’ve been rambling… sorry. It’s such a bad habit of mine. I can talk for hours and hours.”

“Don’t apologize, four-eyes,” Levi replied, leaning his elbows and forearms on the table in a crossed position. Hange smiled at him. Levi meant it. She shouldn’t apologize for talking, especially if it’s about something she loves. The food had arrived at the table. They ate. Levi felt the need to open up to her about something. He already learned so much about her, and her presence made him feel like he can open up. 

“I like to run,” Levi said abruptly. Hange looked at him intently, chewing on a forkful of salad. “I don’t do it competitively or anything, but I enjoy running. I try to run once or twice a day.” Hange’s eyebrows raised and she nodded in agreement.

“That’s awesome!” She smiled again at him. “I like to run too. I’m really slow and get tired easily, but I enjoy feeling the wind in my hair and feeling my heart pound.” She took a bite of her meal again. Levi nodded and began to eat too. This sandwich was really good.

-

After talking some more about hobbies and school, they both finished their meal. The waiter brought over the check. Hange reached into her pocket for her wallet.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Levi asked. Hange furrowed her brows.

“I invited you out to lunch. I will pay,” Hange determined, her wallet now in her hands.

“No,” Levi said too quickly. “I will pay. It’s the least I can do. You helped me with my paper after all.”

The bickering lasted a very long minute. Before she got to think of the idea, Levi grabbed the checkbook and shoved his card inside before handing it to the waiter. Hange looked surprised. She sighed, putting her wallet away.

“Thank you, Levi. But you really didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to.”

In all honesty, Hange didn’t have much money. She worked at that library four times a week, but the money she made went towards paying off her tuition. She really wanted to treat this man, her new friend. She wasn’t sure if he thought the same way about her. Did he consider her his friend? She felt slightly embarrassed. She did most of the talking and felt like she was annoying him. Maybe he just wanted to pay so she would lay off. 

But the truth is, Levi felt the opposite way of how she was thinking. He was interested to hear more from her. He was addicted to the way his heart raced when he saw her. 

-

Over the next couple of days, Levi would go to that library whenever he was available. He knew it was closed on Sunday, so he went Monday and Tuesday to the library. Fortunately, he got his first batch of money from the brats that fried his computer. He received $100. Of course it was not enough, but it was a start. Wednesday the 17th came around. This specific day was a wild card. The weather was unpredictable. Levi entered the library just in time; it had started to downpour. The little bell rang as he entered the library. To his surprise, Hange was not working that day. There was a boy behind the counter who was tall and had a brown bowl cut hairstyle.  He almost thought about turning around and leaving when he realized she wasn’t there. The rain charged towards the earth viciously, so he decided to seek shelter in the small library. It almost looked like a hurricane. He felt his mood change into a bad one. He didn’t remember to ask how often she worked. 

“Hi there!” The man said. His name tag read “Moblit”. That’s a dumb name.

“I wanna use a computer,” Levi muttered, walking up to the main desk.

“Okay. Name?” Moblit grabbed the clipboard and a pen.

“Levi Ackerman.”

“Oh, I see you’ve been here before. A lot, actually.” Levi scoffed and rolled his eyes at his comment. He turned around, picked a computer, and sat down. He felt really stupid to not ask her about her schedule.

The two hours he spent working on his paper was incredibly slow. He didn’t get much done that day. He had writer’s block. He was almost done, so he didn’t worry about it too much. He didn’t know Hange’s schedule. He knew she worked Friday, the day they met; Saturday; Monday, and Tuesday. Maybe she only worked four times a week? Before he knew it, he asked Moblit aloud. It was almost an accident.

“Uh, she’ll be in on Friday,” Moblit replied. He probably couldn’t give out that information to some creep who began visiting daily with an attitude. He muttered a “thanks” before finishing up and heading out. The weather was holding up for now, so he decided to make a run for it. He didn’t say goodbye to Moblit.

He didn’t have an umbrella. The sun was trying to shine through the dark, eerie clouds. It wasn’t trying hard enough. He heard thunder rumbling in the distance.

Levi realized that this girl was all he thought about the past few days. Something about her enticed him. Something about her eyes and her presence drew him towards her. His heart skipped a beat whenever she’d graze his hand on accident, or even when she just talked to him. She made him happy. He hadn’t had too many friends in college. Although they just met last week, he felt a deep connection with her. 

Suddenly, the sun poked through the clouds for a brief moment. The world lit up. It was at that moment he recognized a familiar face. Hange. She was walking towards him. She grinned when she saw him. She wore a fitted black t-shirt and baggy, light blue jeans. 

“Levi!” She exclaimed. “I forgot my jacket in the library, so I came down to get it.” 

“You didn’t tell me you weren’t working today.” Is all Levi said. Once he said it, he realized how creepy it must’ve sounded. A man she just met happens to go to this library to work on his project every day, who happens to come up with multiple reasons to interact with her. Maybe she thought he was a perv.

“Ehh!” She sighed. “I’m sorry! I thought I told you I was off today.” Levi shook his head. The comment itself may have sounded rude, but it wasn’t. She genuinely felt bad. “Walk with me.” Levi followed. Guess not.

“I don’t work Wednesday’s and Thursday’s. Well I’m not supposed to be,” Hange explained. “Mobilt, one of my co-workers, is always calling out sick. So I basically run the place.” They walked towards the library again and entered. 

“Hey, Moblit. How’s it going?” Hange said in a normal tone, heading towards the back of the library. Moblit responded briefly, following Hange. Levi decided to hang back, he figured it was a secure area. He looked around awkwardly.

“Hange, you didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend,” Moblit said, following her towards the back. 

Hange chuckled nervously. “He’s not my boyfriend,” she said bluntly. “He’s just a friend.” Moblit scoffed, rolling his eyes. “If he’s not your boyfriend, how come his mood entirely changed once he saw you?”

Hange found her jacket, folding it over her forearm. “Huh?”

“He was, like, in a bad mood when he came in. He used the computer but he seemed to be pissed or something. Now that he’s with you, he seems… tolerable.”

Hange laughed, feeling her cheeks blush. “It’s nothing like that. People have bad days, you know.”

Hange rolled her eyes and smirked, then headed towards the front of the library. “Ready?” Levi nodded and turned around.

“See you Friday,” Moblit called out. “See ya.” Hange replied.

The two started walking down the street. The air smelt of rain, and the ground was wet from the rain earlier. “Which building is your dorm in?” Hange asked. He was a bit surprised she asked him that, and she was so direct about it.

“Saint Maria,” He replied. She smiled. “Me too! I can’t believe I haven’t seen you around!” The wind picked up and the sky turned darker than before. They both looked up. “If you can’t make it to the library, you can use my desktop in my dorm room,” Hange offered. Levi’s cheeks turned bright red. 

“Thanks, maybe tomorrow I can stop by,” Levi said. It was more of him thinking aloud than a statement. It was too late though, Hange already heard him. He could’ve sworn he didn’t say it aloud.

“That’s fine! I only have a class early tomorrow morning. Come by around 11, okay? My room number is 506.” Levi nodded. Thunder rolled and sounded closer now. They were almost at the dormitory building when it started to downpour. The rain was forcefully coming down on the two. Levi groaned in annoyance. He hated being in the rain. He hated being wet; he hated the wet socks and how gross he felt when it rained. He would’ve started to run to the building to seek cover, but he was taken aback by his new friend.

She was soaked and embracing it. She lifted her head up to face the sky and she laughed. It was loud, happy, genuine, and it took Levi’s breath away. Hange reached her hands out wide and spun around. He saw a strike of lightning light up the sky. He stared at her in awe. His heart swelled. Levi smiled big. After laughing, Hange looked at Levi and shared the look that he wore just a few moments ago. She loved his smile. She wished to make him smile more. She was also determined to make him laugh, too.

She grabbed his hand. “Let’s take cover!” And she pulled him into the dormitory hall. Saint Maria’s hall was beautiful. It had ceiling-to-floor glass pane windows that were always crystal clear. There was a big black modern chandelier that hung from the ceiling. It contained visible light bulbs. Hange secretly loved it. There were the same big, yellow, leather couches in the living room as there were in the study area on his floor. They both wiped their feet off on the big rug in the entryway. 

“I love the rain,” Hange deduced, turning her head to look at him. As if Levi couldn’t tell. Her hand was still holding his. Levi looked up at her. “I like it, too.”

#levihan #levi x hange #levi x hanji #levihan fic #aot #snk #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #snk fic #aot fic #rivahan

[nexyra]

Okay so This is just a way to let out some frustration so I can put it out there and stop mulling on it bc I'm bad at this sort of stuff - Feel free to ignore it

I'm putting this under Read More; if your fav past-time is to call anyone who likes Ironwood's character or was disappointed by his V8 turn to villainy a stupid bootlicker who "should have seen the signs he was always a tyrant !!" please don't interact with this post. You're ultimately free to think what you want but honestly I see enough of that in the main tag when left alone, I don't need it on my blog it doesn't make me feel good.

Anyone else... well you can read if you're interested but you don't have to either. Feel free to respectfully disagree though, I'm not that bullheaded that I can't partake in a friendly argument =) I'll just be listing some things about Ironwood's reading by the FNDM who get old or draining as someone who doesn't like the V8-characterization they went with

Can people please stop just... copy/pasting real world issues on a world/characters that have nothing to do with them or a completely different context ?

Like,, I genuinely try to educate myself on real-world issues. I know I'm rather privileged so I try to listen and hear out people who speak out about the issues they live through day by day. I know why the "ACAB" moniker exists. I understand the problem that lies within the american police system (and likely other countries as well). I see why the army, on our blue planet, is criticized & its many failings. Etc, the list can go on...

But I'm sorry to say, Remnant isn't OUR Earth. Their Army's primary job is to fight actual evil soulless monsters, not people. The Ace Opps or Huntsmen are not an organization directly inherited from slave-hunting groups. James Ironwood isn't the US army general bombing Middle East. Clover Ebi isn't the racist cop you want in prison. So WHY are they treated as such by so many people ? Stories are not a 1-1 where you can take everything you know and just apply it to a completely different world.

Has Atlas been presented as a country that suffers from racism & classism ? Certainly. Has it be shown this way ? That's already more debatable since the only racist arguments we got were in Mantle (which is the city we're supposed to be rooting for so that's a weird choice but eh it's whatever). Are the characters, as persons, shown to evoke these issues in a way that deserve our scorn ? Not really.

Is Ironwood depicted as particularly racist for example ? I wouldn't say so seeing as one (or more considering Tortuga) of his Ace-Opps are Faunus & it seems perfectly accepted; and he hates Jacques Schnee's guts. So why does he get to shoulder all of our real-world issues as if he was responsible for them, in a context where (pre V8) his army had most likely never killed anything else than Grimm and was shown to elicit very positive reactions from most of the population (V3) ? (In direct contrast to the polarization that the US army might evoke for example.)

You can totally hate Ironwood because of the feelings he evoke, the trope he stems from or the parallels to be made. That doesn't mean however, that he IS truly guilty of every one of OUR world issues (pre-V8)

Just because classism is prevalent in Atlas society does not make Ironwood the figurehead & leader of this issue.

Is classism an issue in Atlas ? Yes. That's been made clear because of Mantle's state as well as Jacques Schnee entire existence & even Cinder's backstory. Does that mean every single one of Ironwood's decisions reeks of classism ? NO

Trust me, as someone who found Ironwood's V8 characterization not... well-executed & too much; there's nothing more annoying than being assaulted by posts about his fall going "it was so obvious !! look at -" only for them to then list reasons in a really biased way or even headcannons based on (again) irl problems. An exemple...

Reasons his turn was good that I see thrown around : "Ironwood left Mantle behind because he only wanted to save the rich. He's a selfish coward & an asshole !"

What we were actually given : "Ironwood suffers from PTSD, and faced with Salem's imminent arrival, he tried to save what he was CERTAIN to be able to protect aka the flying city and all the people on it including Mantle evacuees. There is absolutely no text backing the idea that he wanted to leave with Atlas because it's rich. We could even suppose that he would have left with the 'poor' Mantle if it was the flying city and rich people were hanging safely on the ground. There is indeed an issue with Atlas & Mantle disparity, but Ironwood isn't directly responsible for it."

Does that make his decision to leave Mantle behind a morally right one ? That's of course NOT what I'm saying. The situation is still very ambiguous. But the classism theme has NO place here.

"Ironwood leads Atlas & Mantle. As such, he inherently holds responsability for the issues plaguing it." THIS is an acceptable reading according to me. I would probably argue that even if Ironwood's the only Atlas leader we're shown; he actually only oversees the military & academy (where we haven't ever seen classism issues), so putting Atlas' classism issues on him still doesn't sound fair to me. However the idea & argument is sound.

Acknowledging only how his actions look/the tyrannical surface reading and not the reasonnable justifications or glimpses we were given (pre-V7) of Ironwood being more than his trope

I'll probably stop after this one, but the last thing that is both tiring & annoying after too much of it; is seeing people boil down all of Ironwood's character to the most basic summary, inherently written to paint him in a bad line. And then saying that everything led up to his downfall by using these watered-down versions of the show's events to justify it. Or worse (imo), saying that people who are not satisfied with his V8 characterization that THEY don't understand how good a character he is and don't really appreciate him.... All the while only ever highlighting his characters flaws. Please stop this.

"Ironwood brought an army to the peace Olympics why are you surprised he turned out this way ?" ==> Ironwood brought an army to a country where the civilians visibly have no issue with said-army, to protect a peaceful event that he KNOWS to be targeted by foes. It's definitely overzealous & his conviction that threats should be dealt with by blunt force IS one of his flaws; but pretending that he did it for fun or because he's a tyran is just as misplaced.

"Ironwood said he'd shoot Qrow if he were one of his men why are you surprised he shot Oscar ?" ==> Do I really need to flip through every joke in this show and consider it as absolute truth & proof that the character would enact these words if given the occasion; even when we're shown with certainty that they actually don't mean it ? (IW hugging Qrow to welcome him, refusing to attack Qrow when he's certain Qrow IS attacking him...)

"Ironwood has his military all over Mantle, there's a curfew, all of this is tyrannical why are you surprised he's also down for genocide" ==> Damn, it sure is criminal to have Mantle defended from the litteral monsters roaming inside & out, and to make sure with a curfew that the people are not at risk during the night. I wonder if any recent events could make us reconsider our stance on how evil a enforced curfew is. Mhmmm maybe a pandemic ? Nah I must be imagining things. For real though, at what point did Tyrian's framing/lies (IW has his soldiers all over Mantle because of politics/he's a tyran who refuses opposition) became the truth of the situation for the FDNM too ? Again Mantle's situations SUCK, and that's a problem in itself. Making up problematic reasoning for the situation is dishonest though.

To end this, I'll just make clear. I do not condone any of Ironwood's actions post-V7. I don't think he had to be the big hero of the Atlas arc. Nor that he was without faults. I merely think that he'd have been a better antagonist than villain. And that it'd have been nice to keep the ambiguity/morally greyness that surrounds him; the knowledge that he's TRYING hard to do what's best for everyone; that he has good intentions. That he cares about individuals too to a lesser degree, and that he had people who cared about him as a person.

For short... Ironwood as an antagonist with understandable issues, flaws & failures; making questionable choices but with good intentions ? Hell yeah. Ironwood as a villain, more irredeemable than Hazel, willing to kill people for NO reason or even wipe out a city ? I'm not convinced.

#rwby #rwde #rwby thoughts #rant #fndm discourse #james ironwood #pro ironwood #canoncrit ironwood

[fizzydrink698]

interview tag game

tagged by @lavenderbexlatte which made me so soft when I saw 🥺🥺

also buckle up, pals, this got a little long

Why did you choose your url?

OK, so I’m pretty sure ‘fizzydrink698’ has been my only url in my entire online experience. When I was like, 9 or 10, I was signing up to some kids website thing, and a classmate called Lauren put ‘lollipop’ in her url because the first part of the word sounded like the first part of her name. I shamelessly copied her, and the only sweet-related thing I could think of that had ‘Fi’ in it was fizzy drink – which I hated as a kid, but that’s by the by. I added ‘698’ because I needed numbers, and because I just liked the sound of the numbers together? They don’t correspond to any real-life information about me – which makes it the perfect online security choice, I guess.

Any side blogs?

Nope, my main blog is just a chaotic mess of my interests. A nice little digital scrapbook of what I’m into.

How long have you been on Tumblr?

I had to check my archive, and apparently I’ve been here since September 2012. I’m fairly sure I might have started a little earlier because I remember going through a cringe-induced deleting spree of my super old posts, but it was definitely 2012. So, 9 years?

Do you have a queue tag?

Nope, I don’t think I’ve ever actually scheduled a post in my life. I just post when I want.

Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

I was super into those dress-up games as a kid, and I used one to make myself and my friends as anime characters? Like a proto-picrew I guess. Anyway, I’m pretty sure it’s also been my icon for the past 9 years. I’ve been debating changing it, just because ‘anime icons’ have a certain connotation online. Eh, we’ll see.

Why did you choose your header?

It’s a hedge maze from a scene in my favourite movie, ‘Labyrinth’. I could honestly tell you the exact dialogue of the scene, the scenes directly before and after, at what point it takes place in the plot. I know that movie too well.

What's your post with the most notes?

Haha, so I was wondering when we’d get into this. Some of you may know that kpop fanfiction isn’t the first thing I’ve written for. Like I said, this blog has no theme, I follow my interest and I write what I like. Anyway, in 2017, I watched Descendants 2 with my little sister, it was like a tradition because we saw the first one together when it aired. And the concept of the series was super interesting, and one of the new characters was pretty hot, so I decided to write some fic. And it got way more popular than I was expecting – I still get asks and notes on it 4 years later. The post with the most notes is ‘reunions’. Enjoy my teenage self and her clumsy first attempts at Y/N.

As for kpop posts, I think the Instinct masterlist? I’m pretty happy with that, it has the first moodboard I ever created so that’s fun.

How many mutuals do you have?

Not that many? A handful? But, like, a big handful?

How many followers do you have?

OK, this number doesn’t sit right with me because a lot of it came from that wave of Descendants fans from 4 years ago, and I’m pretty certain most of the accounts have died out now, but my follower count technically stands at 994. But I’m fairly certain that the number of followers I’ve gotten since I first started posting kpop fic is closer to about 200?

How many people do you follow?

43, and a lot of those are fic writers I like and people I know IRL. I like to keep my dashboard light, makes the Tumblr experience feel more personal, I guess.

Have you ever made a shitpost?

Have I ever not made a shitpost?

How often do you use Tumblr each day?

Too much. At least every single day. I have developed a knee-jerk response of checking Tumblr when I’m bored, and I would estimate that I spend about 1-4 hours a day on it on average. But when I’m in the mood to read fic? Or chatting to people? Longer. Much longer.

Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

Honestly, I’m pretty liberal with my ‘Block’ button. If I see particular bad-faith criticism or just people who really strongly dislike my interests, I pre-emptively block because…why not? Life is short.

How do you feel about 'you need to compare this' posts?

I tried to Google what these are and literally found nothing. So, uh, pass?

Do you like tag games?

YES. YES I DO. People thinking of me enough to tag me is a love language all of its own and it makes my day.

Do you like ask games?

YESS. YESS I DO. LITERALLY ASK ME ANYTHING.

Which of your mutuals do you think is Tumblr famous?

I follow a few kpop fic writers who also follow me back, but I’m usually too nervous to actually interact with them. (to the point where I’m not gonna tag them here because embarrassed)

Do you have a crush on a mutual?

I don’t think it’s a ‘crush’ crush because the dangers of parasocial relationships am I right? but I spent an ungodly amount of time interacting with a certain mutual pretty much every day over a period of like three months? The serotonin hit when they responded? Unmatched. Our time zones also did not match at all, so I’d be staying up until like 3am. The first time they complimented my writing, I literally messaged an IRL friend in all-caps about it, and she just laughed and said ‘sempai noticed you, huh?’ So, like…there’s that? I’m pretty sure that mutual knows who they are. Hi. I’m gonna go hide forever now.

This was fun! Tagging: @formidxble @healinghyunjin @the7thcrow (and @herelittlefish 😈😈)

#tag games

[collapsingintojupiter]

Philosophy and Hot Chocolate

And look who’s back with some more dumb fanfiction rambles

ha, yeah, that would be

this bastard.

@just-perhaps wanted to see the braincell boys debate, so I bring you all this. You’re welcome.

Characters: Logan, Deceit (sympathetic), Roman, Patton, Virgil.

Pairings: None. Just platonic all around here.

Warnings: Alcohol mention, and Idk of anything else? Let me know if you’d like something added tho.

It was getting late in the diner. For Logan, that was nothing new. He just sat quietly at his booth by himself like he always did, absentmindedly stirring a cup of black coffee with a spoon and ignoring the creamer that was in a tiny metal bucket near his mug. Few customers remained as per usual at this hour, which meant that the place was finally, relatively quiet. 

For a cutesy diner, things got interesting here after about 10pm. All the nice pictures crowding the walls became dark with shadow after the sun went down and the lights dimmed, and the little knick knacks began to look like haunted artifacts from their perches around various shelves in the main room. 

Logan liked that about this place. When the night got old everyone else was gone, but the diner still remained open like it always did, dutifully serving its customers clear into the next morning. The night shift had started a few hours ago now; but one lonely staff member standing behind the bar with a few of the usual drunks. They’d be leaving soon enough when they got too rowdy to stay, and then finally he could have his silence.

Then the door opened. 

Logan looked up as a strangely-dressed character entered the diner, a bowler hat topping off his honey-colored hair, tanned skin, and sharp green eyes. A thin scar ran up from the left side of his mouth to the base of his ear; a mouth that was currently twisted into something that looked like a smirk as he slowly sauntered past the empty tables, then slid into the booth across from Logan. 

“You look bored,” he said. 

“I’m not.” Logan glanced across the table at the stranger, who was wearing a yellow shirt and black jacket over top. He looked like a hornet. “Interesting clothing choice,” he commented.

“I might say the same about you.”

Logan glanced down at the black shirt and tie he currently wore, then raised an eyebrow. 

“Fair enough.”

“Hey Logan, can I get something for your friend here?” Both turned as a new character approached, this one with curly hair that hung over round glasses and a light blue apron. His name tag read Patton. 

“You’re a regular here,” the other man said. 

“And you’re not.” Logan looked over at Patton. “Can we get a basket of fries?”

“Of course!” Patton smiled at him, then turned to the hornet man. “Can I get you anything, sir?”

“Iced tea. Unsweetened.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Patton flashed them a smile and left, humming something to himself as he disappeared into the back room. The stranger raised an eyebrow at Logan.

“Fries?” he asked.

“I don’t see why not.” 

“It’s almost midnight.” 

“Says the one ordering iced tea.”

“That’s not the same.” Logan only shrugged, automatically reaching up to adjust his glasses.

“Maybe for you it isn’t.” He yawned, turning as Patton returned to the table with a small red basket of fries, offering the waiter a nod as it was set down in front of him. 

“Thank you, Patton.” 

“Sure thing! You guys just let me know if you need anything else, okay?”

The stranger reached across the table as Patton returned to his station by the bar, grabbed a fry, and took a bite. 

“I like these,” he decided after a moment, and reached for another one. 

“Do I get a name?” Logan asked. 

“No.”

“Very well, Diogenes.” The other man sipped at his iced tea. 

“A famous cynical philosopher. Touché.” He smiled a bit behind his drink as Logan reached for a fry. “My name’s Dorian.”

“Logan, as I believe you’ve already heard.” Dorian nodded to him, then took another fry. 

“I was correct in my guess that you were educated.”

“Oh?”

“The only people who frequent these places at this hour are either genius, drunk, or mad. Because you clearly aren’t drunk and you don’t speak like a churchish pig, genius is the only category I’m left with to define you by.”

“You forgot a category,” Logan stated, sipping at his coffee. He took a fry, looked at his drink, and dipped it in his coffee before trying it. Too bitter. He made a face and sipped at his coffee again, trying to wash out the weird taste in his mouth.

“What would that category be?” Dorian asked, looking amused at Logan’s unsuccessful flavor combination. 

“Desperate. And perhaps...adventurous, though those show up rarely. Even they sleep.”

“Desperate falls under the category of mad, I believe. Adventurous certainly does.”

“How so?”

“Mad with desperation, for example. That is a thing, you know.” Dorian took another fry. Someone in a far booth gave them an odd look. He looked drunk, though he had no beer in front of him and hadn’t been to the bar all evening.

“I am aware of that phrase. However, it all depends on your definition of mad, and your definition of desperation,” Logan countered. Dorian smirked. 

“Tell me more.” 

Logan tilted his head, then shrugged and adjusted his glasses again. This wasn’t the strangest thing that had happened to him by far, and he saw no harm in rolling along with the visit of this strange “Dorian” character as long as he remained civil. Which, so far, he had. 

A waltz started to play quietly in the diner. 

“For starters,” Logan said, pulling on his ‘teaching voice’ as he began, “the phrase ‘mad with desperation,’ as you put it, hinges on the definition of both words, not just the one or the other. Madness can mean anything from insanity and psychosis according to some, to mental illness, to mere eccentricity, which by psychological definition is not mad, but merely different from the norm. Desperation, on the other hand, can mean several different things as well. Someone desperate to use the restroom, for example, may come here to relieve themselves. Or on the other end of the spectrum, someone fleeing a toxic or abusive situation may wish to seek temporary shelter here. You would not call them mad, would you?”

Dorian leaned back, sipping at his iced tea. 

“I suppose I would not,” he conceded at last. “You intrigue me, Oh-One-With-The-Glasses.” 

Logan hummed his reply, then looked aside. “Ah, more visitors. I thought he’d come over here eventually.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare...” The man who had been watching them earlier now spoke up, standing behind Dorian with a partially apprehensive, partially embarrassed expression. A red and white varsity jacket hung from his shoulders, which were slumped with what Logan guessed to be exhaustion. “Ah...does your table have room for one more?” Dorian and Logan exchanged glances. 

“I suppose so. Who would you like to accompany for this fine conversation, Logan or myself?” Dorian asked. The new character looked between the two, then sat next to Dorian, who obligingly scooted over to make room. 

“I’m Roman,” he said as he sat down, his face blushing a delicate shade of red. “You guys... uh...you seemed interesting, I-I guess.”

“We met less than ten minutes ago,” Logan stated bluntly. 

“Ah, but that’s the fun part!” Dorian grinned at last, looking between Logan and the new visitor. “See, the reason that drunks, geniuses, and madmen all visit this place at this time is because the line between each is so thin, it may as well not exist at all.”

“I don’t drink,” Logan said. 

“For some of us, anyhow.” Dorian looked over at Roman. “And where do you fall in this category?”

“You two are insane.” Roman shook his head, reaching for a fry. “But...I couldn’t get to sleep, for some reason. Figured I might as well go somewhere rather than toss and turn all night.”

“Madman,” Dorian said with a nod, chuckling at Roman’s half-tired, half-outraged expression.

“Ha,” he said. “I guess you’re not wrong.”

“You’re sleep deprived,” Logan said. 

“Eh,” Dorian waved his hand, which had a yellow glove on it that Logan hadn’t noticed before. “Same difference, right Roman?”

“Falsehood. Just because the majority of a population believes in a fact or observation does not make said fact or observation correct. For example, the geocentric theory was believed by the majority in some places for hundreds of years, until science proved them wrong.” Logan crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “Therefore, your statement is invalid.”

“I’m not following,” Roman mumbled. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Dorian locked eyes with Logan and grinned again. “This has been much more invigorating than I had expected...I like you,” he announced. 

“Just like that?” another voice asked. 

“Patton!” Logan spun around, and the waiter tilted his head at him. “You...you startled me.”

“Oh, sorry!” Patton held up his hands, still smiling cheerfully (how did he do that at this hour, anyways?). “It’s just me! My other customers left, so you guys are the only ones still in here.”

“You’re bored,” Dorian stated, and Patton nodded. 

“Welcome to the table.”

“What is it with you and inviting people to a table that’s not yours?” Logan asked as he scooted aside for Patton to take a seat next to him. “Some people would consider that to be bad manners, you know.”

“You’re not ‘some people,’ however, so that statement is redundant.”

“...Fair point.”

“You guys are insane,” Roman said again. 

“Everything is insane depending on how you look at it.” Dorian looked at his empty iced tea, then shrugged and grabbed another fry. 

“Do you want a refill?” Patton asked. 

“I’d like that.”

“Can I have hot chocolate?” Roman looked up from where he’d been staring at Dorian’s gloves, tilting his head slightly. 

“Sure!” Patton got up and quickly disappeared into the back room, returning a few minutes later with the ordered items. Roman sipped at his hot chocolate and nodded. 

“This is good,” he announced loudly as he set his mug down. “Good hot chocolate.”

“A real philosopher, are you?” Dorian asked with an amused look. 

“No philosophy, only chocolate.” Roman hugged his mug close to him and began whispering something at it. Logan raised an eyebrow. 

“So...you wish to debate?” he asked slowly, locking eyes with Dorian. 

“Pick a topic,” Dorian answered, leaning back against the booth. “Whatever you want.” 

“Oooh, this is gonna be fun!” Patton grinned, reaching for a fry and munching on it while he watched. Logan leaned back in his seat as well; looking at Dorian; considering his offer. 

“Human morality,” he said at last. “Tell me your opinion.”

“You choose a fascinating topic. Kudos to you.” Dorian sipped at his new glass of iced tea. 

“It’s useless and we’re all gonna die,” said a new voice. 

“Did I advertise a party over here?” Logan looked over at the new voice, who belonged to a grumpy-looking character with purple-dyed hair and eyeshadow-smudged cheeks.

"Hey Virgil!" Patton said cheerfully. "What brings you here from the back?"

"Boredom," was the answer. Virgil pointed at Roman. "And that idiot's shouting."

"You just don't understand chocolate," Roman declared, looking up from his mug. Virgil rolled his eyes and adjusted the patch jacket around his shoulders. 

"Scoot," he said to Patton, who obligingly moved over so he could sit. Logan made a face as he retreated to the corner of his booth to make room, but didn't object.

What a night this was turning out to be.

"As I was saying," Dorian said, waving a gloved hand in the air as he spoke. “Morality. That certainly has a fascinating role in society, does it not? After all, without it we wouldn’t have a society.”

“And we’d all be dead,” Virgil added. Dorian glared at him. 

“Not my point.”

“You believe that morality is necessary to form a society?” Logan asked. 

“I believe it is necessary to form a society such as the ones we humans live in, yes.” 

“Fascinating.” Logan leaned back against his booth, automatically reaching up a hand to fidget with his tie. 

“Mmmm...chocolate,” Roman murmured into his mug. 

“I mean, think about it,” Dorian continued, glancing at Roman but ignoring his dramatic proclamation. “Without morality, we would have no system of justice, which can only logically produce anarchy. The system of ‘strongest wins all’ would be the only system, larger governments couldn’t possibly form, and so on and so forth. Morality is necessary for the existence of society, and also beneficial to those who know how to exploit it.”

“Which is why it is not the groundwork of society, but a mere addition,” Logan cut in. “After all, society cannot exist without structure, no matter how advanced the morals of its citizens are. Logically, people will naturally come together for the benefit of the group, and a system of justice would arise by itself in order to preserve the good of the many. Therefore, morality isn’t necessary for justice at all; rather, it can actually hinder it due to the actions of those with morals that are considered to be ‘bad.’” He leaned forward and took a sip from his tea with a smirk, watching Dorian for a reaction. The other man grinned at him for the third time that night. 

“Well done, Logan,” he said. “I applaud you.” He raised an eyebrow. “So, you believe morals are unnecessary?” 

“They are for me.” At last, Logan himself grinned, sliding the bill over to Dorian and standing up. 

“Checkmate.”

#logan sanders #deceit sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #alcohol mention #fanfiction #sanders sides fanfiction #sanders sides

[miraclealignersv]

Unplanned (Babe Heffron x Reader)

Ask: May I request one where this is after the war and the reader and Babe are like best friends, but also friends with benefits. And he finds out before her that she’s pregnant? I don’t know if that makes sense...

A/n: thank you so much for the request, I loved writing this one! It was so much fun to write! Anyway hope you enjoy! :)

Tag list: @gottapenny @wexhappyxfew @bandofmarvels @medievalfangirl

Y/n felt a lot of emotions as she made her way towards her shared apartment. It seemed as if she had been walking down that hallway for an eternity. She felt like she was going to throw up and she didn’t doubt that she probably would. Given that around the same time everyday she had been doing so.

Not only that but her mind raced at all the possibilities, and the main question being: how? She knew how, but she just couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that she was with child. And better yet, if was Babe’s. Now, it wasn’t so bad he tried his best to be responsible, bless him, but he wasn’t exactly ready to be a dad.

They weren’t even together! After they had come back from Europe she jokingly asked if he would want to rent an apartment with her. After a month of sharing a foxhole with him in the middle of the damn war she grew on him. Then months after they moved in together, they decided to be what Babe referred to as “intercourse buddies.”

Y/n mentally facepalmed herself, how could she ever agree to that? In the heat of the moment she needed it, and Babe offered so she said yes. And now look where that got them. Sighing she stopped in front the door of their shared apartment, her hand on the door knob. She braces herself for what was about to come, Babe possibly even taking the initiative to move out and live on his own.

He was her best friend, she knew him all too well. He wouldn’t do that... would he? All the thoughts that raced through her mind only gave her more anxiety, she sighed and turned the knob anyway. The first thing that greeted her has Babe sitting on the couch with a slice of pizza in his hand and a beer and another. The T.V playing a movie they had seen one too many times.

“Hey, I got a pizza on the way back from work” he greeted, a smile plastered on his face. Y/n awkwardly smiled back and closed the front door behind her. She debated on even telling him, what if she just told him that she slept with someone else? And he wasn’t the baby daddy, but he could be the cool uncle! But immediately she yelled at herself mentally before sighing and removing her coat. “How was work?” He asked, y/n sighed and hung the piece of clothing on the coat hanger.

“Interesting, hospital was pretty busy” she sighed as she walked over to the pizza box and opened it. The flavors of the grease and Italian sausage that came towards her direction were enough to prompt her disgust. Babe watched carefully as she made a face and slowly closed the box. “Surprising even,” she mumbled loud enough for him to hear

“You don’t say?” He asked as he brought the slice of pizza up to his mouth. “Talked to Eugene earlier, he says hi” he spoke slowly, y/n closed her eyes as she tried to hold back the vomit. Babe only watched her, still eating his slice of pizza.

“Why’d he uh... why’d he call?” She asked, looking away and instead walking towards the fridge and pulling out the pitcher with ice cold water. Babe sighed and stood up from his spot on the couch and walked towards the small kitchen. He watched her every movement, from the way she grabbed a coffee mug and poured the cold liquid.

“Just asked him a few questions, gave me an answer you know how all that stuff works..” he shrugged, y/n brought the rim of the mug up to her mouth and nodded as she drank the water. “You okay?” He asked, y/n froze at the question and finished drinking her water before setting the mug back down.

“Y-yes. Yeah I’m.. im okay..” she chuckled nervously. Babe only furrowed his eyebrow and gave her a nod before leaning on the counter and sighing.

“You know what else Gene told me? Apparently Lip and his wife are selling tickets to this Sinatra concert. Now—“

“I’m pregnant” she blurted out, immediately covering her mouth with her hand. Shocked by the fact that she just yelled it out.

“Yeah I know, anyway I was thinking: we can buy the tickets to this concert and resell them or even trade them in fo-“ y/n was even more shocked, a) how did he know and b) why was he still talking about concert tickets?

“Edward did you not hear me?” She asked, Babe sighed and dropped his head. It was useless, he was never going to see Frank Sinatra live.

“Yeah I told you, I know. Can you just hear me out?” He asked as he gestured with his hands, y/n raised her eyebrow in question and watched as he opened his mouth to talk again.

“What do you fucking mean you know? How?” She asked, still very confused as to how he knew when she had found out herself two hours before. Babe groaned and brought the palms of his hands into his eyes.

“If I tell you will you listen to my proposal? You’ve been bitching about wanting to see Sinatra live for the past three months” he spoke irritated, y/n opened her mouth to speak but instead she shut her mouth and waited for him to continue. “Gene told me”

Y/n eyes widened at his reason, she felt like she was going to vomit. “How did he know!?” She asked, her voice going higher in pitch. Babe stood back up and sighed “Edward, how the fuck did Eugene Roe— who lives about seven states away from us know that I’m pregnant before I even knew?” She asked as she walked closer to him.

“Christ, take it easy it’s my kid in there” he spoke calmly as he pointed to her abdomen. He grabbed her shoulder and guided her to one of the stools that were placed near the kitchen counter. Y/n still in a state of confusion and shock. “I noticed you’ve been spilling your guts everyday for weeks, not to mention the amount of naps you’ve been taking, and you’ve been stuffing your face! Also your boobs have gotten bigger, now I ain’t complaining but it was concerning. So I called Gene, wanted to make sure you weren’t dying of cancer or something.” Babe shrugged, y/n slowly nodded as he explained

“Asked me when you last monstrated, that I did not know. But we put one and one together and we came to the conclusion that I put a baby in you” he finished, y/n swallowed hard and. She was at a loss for words, “anyway, so I called Lip. His wife answered and said that they would call us back whenever Lip got home from work—“

“We’re having a baby,” she whispered, Babe sighed and took a seat next to her. They were quiet for a minute, the only sounds were the ones coming from the TV. “Did you say monstrated?” she asked before looking up at him, Babe only clicked his tongue and slowly nodded.

“Yeah, when you bleed from your...” he trailed off as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly “anyway, look yeah we’re having a baby. I don’t know why you’re so freaked out. We’ll be great parents!” He grinned, y/n was still confused as to why he hasn’t freaking out. But she felt a sense of reassurance the second he said they would be great parents.

“You really think so?” She asked, Babe nodded and stood up. He placed a kiss on her forehead and walked towards the fridge.

“So these Sinatra tickets, what if we can’t resell them? Do we just drive to West Virginia I mean I love the man but would I really drive seven hours to see him live?” He asked as he reached into the fridge and pulled out two bottles of beer and reached for the bottle opener as he continued his rant. “I mean, is it worth it? We could always just wait for him to come to Philly and save up enough money to buy the tickets ourselves. Don’t get get vet discounts on tickets?” he handed the bottle over to her, y/n chuckled and shook her head at his rant and brought the bottle up to her lips.

Babe only reached over and took it away from her, “Hey!” She protested, Babe set the bottle down on the counter and sighed.

“Gene told me you can’t drink alcohol and coffee, shits bad for the baby” he sighed before taking a sip from the beer bottle he had just taken from her. Y/n mentally facepalmed again, of course she knew that. She had just forgotten about being pregnant for two seconds. “Oh god you’re gonna be a nightmare.” Babe mumbled, more to himself but y/n still heard him.

She reached over and slapped his arm, babe only laughed at the action “Hey!”

“You’re not gonna have caffeine for what, seven months? You’re gonna try to kill me the whole time!” he exclaimed, y/n only rolled her eyes and shook her head before crossing her arms over her chest. “Eh, it don’t matter. You can’t get rid of me that easily” he joked before taking another sip of his beer. Y/n shook her head, giggling as she reached for the pizza box. Grabbing a slice of the warm pizza she took a bite, babe watching her attentively.

She hummed in content at the flavors in her mouth, but the second she took the second bite she felt a sensation she was all too familiar with. Babe raised his eyebrows and watched as her expression changed.

“Gotta spill your guts?” He asked, y/n only nodded and hummed an “mhm” before dropping the slice and hopping off the stool. She jogged towards the bathroom trying her very best to hold it in, Babe smirked and ran behind her before jokingly yelling “ run baby run!” As words of encouragement.

#band of brothers imagine #band of brothers x reader #babe heffron #babe heffron x reader #babe heffron imagine #edward heffron

[deepdisireslonging]

Family Found Part 46: At the Worst

The Secret that’s been keeping Y/N and the Raw roster on edge finally comes to the surface. As threatened, Dean is at risk of losing everything… unless he can fight back one last time.

Warnings/Promises: wrestling violence, reconciliation

Word Count: 3525

Note: Oh my gosh. I keep looking at my series plot list, and it’s a little freaky to see it with so few chapters left. Pretty much everything is already plotted out, and in a perfect world I’d just write it all in a weekend and queue it to go. Probably won’t happen, but eh. Thank you guys for sticking around for this personal test of mine. Please let me know what you’ve thought about this series. DMs and anon are always open. Enjoy!

Part 1: Welcome to the Team 

Part 45: Oncoming Storm 

Despite the ruckus he’d caused in your office, Elias was not available for Drew McIntyre to beat up. Because you hadn’t seen him. Nobody had. As a replacement, you placed Bobby Lashley and Dolph Ziggler in his path for a handicap match.

“That’s smart of Y/N,” Renee noted, “McIntyre practically hates Dolph, and Lashley is a strong challenge. Together they should be able to handle his rage.”

Corey wasn’t so agreeable. “Yeah, smart. I think that Y/N gave Elias too many chances; it’s gone to his head! First, he doesn’t fight last week. Then this week he can’t be found?”

“Well someone who will be found tonight will be Brock Lesnar. As Seth Rollins said last week, tonight is the signing of the contract for their WrestleMania match. All three of our competitors will get to face-off tonight.”

Renee harrumphed. “Debatable. No one’s seen him either.”

Each time Lashley or Dolph switched tags, Drew took a second to breathe. To reset. He was wearing the men down, instead of the other way around. If he could keep this up at WrestleMania, then Elias was going to be in trouble.

Just thinking the name summoned a guitar strum. Drew stumbled in his attack as he heard the guitar and saw Elias circle the ring. Elias wasn’t singing, just strumming, but it was enough to distract Drew from a series of coordinated moves. He roared and shifted his focus back. Calmly, Elias watched as Drew took control of the match again, eventually pinning Lashley.

McIntyre’s knuckles paled with his grip on the ropes as he stared down at Elias. It made his blood boil that Elias wasn’t even bothered to react. As the drifter walked away, Drew swore that he was going to regret every note and strum.

***

Lashley and Ziggler weren’t even out of the ring yet when Sami Zayn came out to the ring. He danced his way down the ramp, then took a mic. “How would you all like to see me put my life on the line?” It wasn’t what everyone thought he was going to say, but they welcomed the thought anyway. “Alrighty then.”

With a smart click of his heels, he turned to face the stage. “I’ve got something to get off my chest. Now I’m an NXT grown wrestler myself, and I’ll be the first to admit that moving up to the main roster isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, but when it comes to the ‘Authors of Pain’,” he said with quotation fingers, “I don’t see champions. I see puppets. First Paul Ellering. Then Drake Maverick. And now… Dr. M, whatever that means. So, I’m calling out you, AOP. Not your puppet master. I say that you can’t defend those titles without help. That you are not champions. And that you are cowards that hide behind someone else. That you hide because there are not two strategic brain cells between you-”

He shivered as their music interrupted. But he smiled. Everything was going to plan. They marched to the ring, circling it. They stood on the apron on the opposite side of the ring. Sami’s back was to the stage when the lights went out. When they came back up, Dr. M. was behind him inside the ropes.

“Those are some strong words, Sami,” his voice made Sami whip around. “But I know you meant every word. And I understand. You are a hypocrite. A coward that would never speak your mind out loud without Kevin Owens watching your back.” Slowly, Dr. M turned and faced Kevin Owens, who was just finishing his stealth climb into the ring. Unbothered, he turned back around. “You can lead a man to a hospital, but you can’t force him to medicine. So be it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other patients to see to.” Giving a strong eye to Kevin, he left the ring. He snapped and AOP entered the ring, dragging in a referee.

The match that followed was rough. Akam and Rezar did not appreciate Sami’s opinion of them, nor Kevin’s attempt to attack their manager. At the same time, Kevin and Sami were standing by their proof. Without someone telling them what to do, AOP was stalling before attacks. A lucky hit took Kevin to the canvas, where he was pinned. They left celebrating like NXT days, then slipped back into their more serious mood before leaving the arena.

***

Deep in thought, you weren’t watching where you were going. You collided with something hard and tall. Something that turned out to be a someone.

“No, Seth. I can’t talk about this.” You tried to move past him, but Roman stepped in to block your path too.

“We have to talk about something.” Roman let go of your shoulders, give you range to turn back to Seth.

“Whatever they’ve offered you, it’s not worth it. Trust me.” Seth pleaded with his eyes. You avoided looking at them and focused on anything else in the hallway.

“I didn’t do it for the money or the fame. Your story was lesson enough.” Your voice dropped, weary. “That’s not what they’ve got on me.”

Seth titled your chin up. “What are you talking about? Whatever it is, we can help you.”

“No, you can’t.” Why was it so hard to breath? “It’s my fault and I have to do what I can to work around it.” The statement distracted them enough for you to get by, but Roman caught you again.

He leaned down and did his best to look you in the eye. “Y/N?”

No oxygen. No thoughts. Just the words you didn’t want to say. “It’s a contract. I pitched it to Stephanie and Hunter and thought they liked it. But they added things. Things that would rip Dean apart and-“ You broke away from his grasp. “I can’t talk about this. I’ve said too much already. You’re just going to have to let me be.”

They stayed for a minute while you practically ran down the hallway. Blinded by the boil of emotions, you ran into someone else.

“Y/N, we need to talk.” Baron loomed overhead.

“I can’t. I’m busy.” You hissed as his arm flashed out to block your way.

“Make time. I want a match. Tonight. Now would be good.”

You sighed and looked behind you when you heard footsteps. Roman saw Baron and knew why he was there. He gave you a nod, which didn’t exactly please you, but it got both men out of the way so you could think. “Fine. You and Roman have a match tonight. Now.” You stood still while Baron gloated. He dropped his arm with a chuckle, giving you room to finally escape.

***

Both men weren’t going to give an inch. Even as their energy waned, the crowd was enjoying the display of power. Roman fell into the ropes on one side, trying to catch his breath. As he got back up and looked off into the crowd, Dr. M popped up in front of his face. Startled, he fell back into Baron’s next attack. He quickly recovered but was shaken. Dr. M had disappeared. Eerie laughter came from one corner, though nobody was there.

Baron fell to the canvas. Roman geared up for a spear. Dr. M appeared over his shoulder. Roman saw him on the Titantron and spun around to attack. Baron swooped in as Roman missed with a swing, beating him to the canvas and finally winning the pin. Then he got the hell out of the ring. No need to stick around when Dr. M was doing his thing. Dean and Seth ran by him on the ramp. They circled around Roman’s kneeling form.

With his eerie laugh in full force, Dr. M left the ring. He stood at the base of the ramp. And then he was gone.

Seth and Dean helped Roman to his feet and out of the ring. “Don’t worry about me,” he said, shrugging them off. “You guys have enough to worry about tonight. I haven’t seen him, but if Brock does show up, you need to be focused.”

Seth sighed. “I take that to mean you won’t be at the signing?”

“No.”

“Then what will you be doing?” Dean asked. He read the expression on Roman’s face. And disagreed. “Really?”

“I’m going to be watching Y/N’s back. Same way I watch yours.” He tried to walk on his own but limped up the ramp.

***

Ruby had issued another open challenge. With WrestleMania not even two weeks away, in her eyes, no one was going to be able to take the title from her. She laughed with Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan in the ring while waiting for her opponent. They all froze as “I’m not like most girls,” played through the speakers. Ruby was mostly silent, and she didn’t appreciate her girls’ giggles as they wished her luck.

Their giggles turned to worried hints and tips as Ruby struggled. Nia was taking no prisoners. Several times, the bell box readied to announce a new champion. Each time, Ruby desperately kicked out. The counts got closer and closer to three. Sarah and Liv jumped up onto the apron, ready to spring at a moment’s notice. Nia moved to knock them off. The referee was checking on Ruby, giving the Squad room to attack her without repercussions. Ruby saw her fall and took advantage, retaining her title.

Like a pack of hyenas, the women laughed all the way backstage.

***

Alexa Bliss inched around a corner. She breathed a sigh of relief and proudly took a step forward without looking. She bumped into Ruby, fresh out of her match. “Well hello there, Alexa!” she tried to dart away, but Ruby tossed an arm over her shoulder. “Didn’t Liv and Sarah tell you I was looking for you?”

Alexa gulped. Then disgusted, she removed Ruby’s arm from her shoulder. “Yeah. So?”

“Well, you kept harping on ‘unfinished business’… and I have to agree,” she sighed. “We’re not done. Now I just beat Nia, since you missed it lurking around backstage, and I am still without a match for WrestleMania. And it sucks, but you don’t have one either.” She talked over Alexa’s sputtering. “I know you’re going to be busy hosting, but why don’t we help each other out? I mean, I could always beat you up here and now, or I’ll just destroy you there. But you’ll have a chance. You game?”

As Ruby caught her forearm in a vice-grip, Alexa grimaced and grit her teeth. “What do you have in mind?”

Ruby smiled dangerously. “We have a match next week. Either way, you’re going to WrestleMania. But if I win, I pick the stipulation and you don’t know until the match starts. And if you win… well, I’ll still beat you but at least you’ll have a say in which way. Sound good? Great. See you next week.”

She was off like a shot, leaving Alexa to rub some feeling back into her arm.

***

As the new Raw Women’s tag champions, Bayley and Sasha Banks had a few things to say about the former champions. “They did what they set out to do,” Sasha said. “They brought our new tag titles to the forefront of the business. Last week they had the main event of Raw. They were dominant, beating any team that came their way. And the Riott Squad proved time and time again that the women’s division was something to pay attention to.”

Bayley nodded in agreement. “Having said that, they forgot one little thing. Nothing lasts forever. The women’s division is constantly moving forward. Evolving. Growing stronger and building momentum. Getting better and better. Their time is over. We are the future. We have been through NXT, Smackdown, Raw. The future is now. And it is standing here in this ring.” They held their titles up, then dropped them and fell into a fighting stance.

With their music, Natalya and Rhonda Rousey walked onto the stage. “That may be so,” Natalya said, “but as you said, nothing lasts forever. Prove that you are the so-called best of the business.” She motioned between herself and Rhonda. “You ladies up for a challenge?”

The Boss n’ Hug Connection shared a smile. Sasha nodded. “Sure. Are you?”

During the match that followed, Bayley and Sasha showed off. The high was still real, and they were capable of riding the adrenaline without making too many mistakes. Rhonda and Natalya, on the other hand, were struggling. Both were dominant in the ring. But when it came time to tag or to work together, cracks turned into fissures. One would reach for a tag, and the other would be missing. Then Rhonda was thrown from the ring. It took her eight seconds to wobble back to the ring. At nine seconds, she was reaching for the roes to pull herself up. At ten, she couldn’t get into the ring. Furious, she stepped back, dragging Liv Morgan out from under the ring.

On the other side, Sarah Logan attacked Natalya, knocking her to the ground. The former champions disappeared as quickly as they’d appeared. Thus freed, Natalya and Rhonda met back in the ring while Sasha and Bayley rolled out and watched from the ramp. The two women began to blame one another. Defending themselves truthfully to the Riott Squad’s interference, but neither was listening. The referee pushed them apart before it turned into another brawl. Natalya stomped off, breaking through Sasha and Bayley on her way by.

***

You focused on not letting your anxiety show. The ring had never felt so large an empty. Or so foreboding. It was time to address the WWE universe. “As you all know, in just thirteen days, WrestleMania will finally be here.” Their response made your cheeks twitch with a small smile. “There are one or two spots that haven’t been filled yet, but we’ve still got two weeks. That brings us to tonight. And to a contract signing.” You took a breath to call Seth and Dean to the ring, but Stephanie McMahon and Triple H’s intros interrupted in turn.

They calmly walked down to the ring. Stephanie carried the leather folder in one arm. She sent you a perturbed smile after stepping through the ropes. “Y/N, I found this in your office and figured you might need it. It’s kinda hard to have a contract signing without the contract.”

“Oops,” you halfheartedly gulped.

Hunter stepped into the ring too. You moved to the other side, using the space like an invisible barricade. “I would like to think otherwise, but it almost looks like you don’t want this match to happen as planned. Don’t you think Dean is mad at you enough?”

“Leave him out of this.”

Speak of the devil, Dean’s music sounded. You closed your eyes. This was a bad dream. Seth followed him out to his own music. And he had questions. “So, I noticed a large absence backstage. Care to explain that, Hunter?” He joined Dean on the far side of the ring, forcing you to stand in the middle.

“That’s right, Seth,” he mocked, “Brock Lesnar isn’t here. How observant of you. No, Brock signed the contract already, as witnessed by Paul Heyman. I’ll be signing as your witness.”

You stammered, “witnessed?”

The explanation was handed off to Stephanie. “Well, given the specifics of this match, we need to make sure that the competitors are willing to endure the consequences. And that they are doing this of their own free will.”

“Consequences? Free will?” Dean shared a look with Seth, then looked at you with a growl. “What is she talking about, Y/N?”

“Go on, Y/N, tell them what this is.” Stephanie waved the leather folder in her hand. Then handed it to you. Hunter stood behind her, daring you to rebel.

You swallowed. Hard.

“It’s a contract. For a triple threat match at WrestleMania for the Universal Championship.” The crowd initially cheered, but it faded into confusion. “You two against Brock Lesnar, and against each other.”

Dean and Seth shared a look. Seth shrugged. “So? This sounds like another one of your great ideas.”

“It was.” If you could keep your breathing even for a few more minutes, maybe you wouldn’t stutter. “When I pitched it to management,” you gestured towards Stephanie and Hunter, “it was a normal match with room for a no disqualification clause. But they… it developed into more. Another clause was added.” You licked your lips desperately.

“Keep going, Y/N. You’re just now getting to the best part.” Hunter stepped closer and patted you on the shoulder to encourage you. It did nothing but make you shiver.

“As the contracts stands, whoever loses the match has to leave WWE. Forever.” The crowd gasped, though Dean and Seth were still confused. “It’s not just whoever gets pinned, which was the original idea. It’s both of the competitors who lose.” The words began to pour out. “This means, Dean, that even if you pin Lesnar, Seth would have to leave too. Or you would if he pins Lesnar. Or both of you. The original plan was to create an opening to finally get rid of the Beast. I thought… I knew between the two of you that you could beat him. I thought…” you turned back to look at the Authority. “I thought I was doing what… what was best for business.”

Stephanie barked out a laugh. “What’s best for business? Brock Lesnar is one of our biggest assets. Why would we ever give you a chance to ruin that for WWE?”

“You guys are wasting your money to pay him to do nothing. Lesnar is not a champion. He may have had the title and the crown, but like an absent king, everybody knows where the real power lies. In the people.” Rage boiled in your veins.  “Dean and Seth are some of the best here. They just don’t grovel at your feet like you’d like them too.” The word hung in the air, freezing over under Hunter’s scrutiny.

Stephanie stepped closer. “No matter how many times you use that argument, Y/N, it’s not going to change anything. Now. Seth. Dean. The contract?”

You jumped as Dean placed his hand on your shoulder.

“It’s okay, Y/N,” he whispered.

“Please,” you shook your head, mic at your side, “don’t do this. It’s a trap. Please, no.” Your shoulders slumped as he kissed the top of your head and took the contract out of your hands.

Hunter smirked as Dean twiddled with the pen. Dean looked back, asking Seth if he was in it too. Seth accepted the pen as his answer, signing after looking at Dean’s signature. You covered your face and rubbed your temples, missing any silent conversation they exchanged. Seth handed the contract back to Hunter to finalize.

“See,” Hunter said, signing blindly, “that wasn’t so hard.” He took Stephanie by the arm and gave you the contract on their way out of the ring. You glanced at the signatures, resigned to hate that you had just-

Wait.

You looked up at Dean, who was smirking. Seth too.

“Mr. Helmsley?” Your voice caught in your throat for a second. “Are you sure you want this contract to go through?” Hunter stared you down as you fought not smiling. “You see…um. You signed the wrong line. You signed as one of the competitors.” A laugh escaped you. This had just gotten interesting. “As this contract states,” you flipped back a page, “any wrestler who competes under this contract and loses must leave the World Wrestling Entertainment company forever. If you beat Seth, who signed in the right place, Brock would have to leave and you…” you shrugged. “The lawyers could read through this and double check how much of this would apply to you, but at the base understanding, you would not be able to wrestle again. No more WrestleMania moments, no more inserting yourself into matches. And, at the worst, you would also have to leave the administration.”

Behind your smile, it felt like your whole being was glowing. You held the folder out to him.

“I may make the matches, but you still outrank me. You can dissolve this contract.”

Hunter snatched the folder away and looked closely at the signature and the clause he added. He pulled it out of the folder, flipping through and scanning for any way out. The crowd was deathly silent as he considered all angles.

They went wild as he tore the contract in half.

“We’re not done, Y/N,” he said, pointing at you.

“I understand, sir.” The threat could not defeat the proud smile on your face. Or the matching ones on Dean and Seth. Dean picked you up and spun you around once they were gone. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to get you into this mess.”

He ruffled your hair, despite your protest. “What else is family for?” He lightly tapped his fist against your cheek. “Can I get a match next week?”

“Against whom and how many?”

Part 47: Resigning 

Series Masterlist 

Masterlist 

Forever Tags: @blondekel77 @hallemichelles @laochbaineann @ramblingsofabourbondrinker @savmontreal @southsidebucky @tinyelfperson @chwehansol98 

WWE/Series Tags: @a-home-for-stray-stories @badboy-sethrollins @top-1-percent @mother-forker @neversatisfiedgirlfics @racheo91 @roman-reigns-princess @secretagentfangirl @thetherianthropydaily @scuzmunkie @cait-kae @ramsaypants @sony-undead18 @brianaraydean @st4yingstrong @dopeybubbles @crystallizeme @jessica91073 @denise8691 @stalelight @kenyadakblalock @1dluver13xx @lauren-novak @lunatic-desert-child @littledeadrottinghood @livelifewondering 

#Family Found Series #46/50 #holy shit #i'm almost done #cousin!dean ambrose #cousin!reader #general manager!reader #dean ambrose #seth rollins #roman reigns #Triple H #stephanie mcmahon #baron corbin #kevin owens #sami zayn #riott squad #ruby riott #natalya hart #rhonda rousey #sasha banks #bayley #and it got this done on a monday?! #what witchcraft is this? #just #omg #3 more weeks #only 4 more chapters #gonna sleep for a week #week 46 of 49 #damn

[caddeter]

Hey, Knight, I have a serious question for you:  Are you fucking illiterate or something?

Okay, looking through the notes, I can’t let this go.

Soku, You JUST described what you do.

Soku made a grand total of two posts in this chain.  You can find both of them here.  One of them is an actual explanation on why Savage’s post is stupid, the other is him simply saying ‘eh’ in reply to Xenodweeb.

“Instead of making the White Fang this way, do it this way that justifies my political beliefs because I deserve validation. 

1.  That had never come up in that chain at all, Soku pointed to utilizing the school setting as an example.

2.  It has nothing to do with his political believes, it has everything to do with putting fucking effort into a point of your show!  How is pointing out that a show displaying an extremely black and white stance on a real world issue that is excessively grey a political stance?

3.  If your talking about what Xenodweeb said, allow me to simplify it for you:  They hyped up a character, only to kill her off not five minutes later.  Even if we ignore her skin color, that’s still incredibly stupid.  And it’s made worse with her skin color.  Even then, there’s a grand total of twelve named dark skin characters in a cast of over 70 characters.  Five of them are villains, the rest are unimportant.  Seriously, what does any black character, who isn’t Emerald, Ilia, or the fox brothers contribute to the plot?  And aside from the guy based off an Achievement Hunter joke and the guy from the team they only remembered half the members of, I bet you and the rest of the fandom don’t even remember they exist.

Also: Listen to me and only people like me because I deserve to be solely pandered to while you don’t deserve a say in your own show.”

First of all, is Savage a member of CRWBY?  Is Savage one of the lead writers?  Is Savage even a Rooster Teeth employee?  You and your little posse constantly remind us that RWBY isn’t our show, yet whenever it’s convenient, it’s your show.

Secondly, that’s your argument, not ours.  You constantly pride your opinions above everyone else’s, from people with experience with the subject they’re talking about, to people who have researched the subject their talking about, to scene analysis, to fucking shit posts.  And you’ve done this over on Deviantart, where there is no RWDE tag, and was just people criticizing your precious little show.  The RWDE tag was made so that the main RWBY tag wouldn’t need to read through all of our posts.  We’re trying to keep our opinions away from you jack asses, and this is the thanks we get?  You know what, screw it, this is going in the main tag.

I just boiled down your entire collection of RWDE posts down into this because THIS is how you act each time:

And I’m a dragon who breaths Popsicle, living on top of the Eiffel Tower making reviews of late night talk shows.  How many times have you said that, and how many times have we proven you wrong?

Only your worldview (even if it’s blatantly wrong and fucking stupid) deserves to be seen and only YOUR iteration) deserves to eb seen and only people like you get to have media in their tastes.

Mirrors are a rare thing in your house, aren’t they?

Okay, that was a little too fast, let me slow it down for you:  Mirrors are pieces of shiny glass you look at to see yourself.

Even then, what are you judging this on?  The fact that people complained about plot holes, unfortunate implications, terrible execution, wasted potential, a side character steeling the spotlight?  That’s not a matter of taste, that’s a matter of desiring quality.  People would be complaining about RWBY’s flaws even if RWDE never existed, just look at how the anime reviewing community treated Sword Art Online.

Everything about RWBY must conform to what you think you deserve, regardless of fucking quality or what the Writer’s want to do or why other people like RWBY.

Yes, because a consistent plot, stable world building, and an understanding of what it’s doing is completely subjective.

RWBY’s quality is objectively terrible; it’s full of plot holes, we get more development for the side characters than we do the main characters, and the world building is excessively muddled.  It also has a bad habit of flat out lying to its audience and constantly ignores the easier solutions.  And with how many details are missed between the writers and animators, I’m left with the impression that the production of this show is a big game of telephone.

Calling RT sexist, racist and homophobic is not criticism.

Jaune gets away with, and is rewarded for something that Yang is demonized for.  That is sexism and criticism.

RT constantly portrays the White Fang, who were left with little other option than to become a violent group like many real world minorities, are treated as completely evil with no redeeming qualities.  And then there’s the count of black characters in the show an their importance to it.  That’s racist and criticism.

It took RT five years to reveal an LGBT character, after years of excuses that for some reason never applied to straight pairings.  That’s homophobic and criticism.

Do you read selectively or something?  We’ve explained several times over how one could get these impressions.  Just because you plug your ears and shout, ‘LALALALALA I’M NOT LISTENING!’ doesn’t mean the evidence stops existing.

Lying about the show is not criticism.

Knight, the only people who have ever lied about RWBY is you.  We have backed up our claims with explanations, comparisons, examples.  You have changed evidence to work with your conclusion instead of changing your conclusion to work with evidence.  You’ve flat out admitted to doing that, yet you still act like we’re in the wrong.  Why can you get away with something like that, but we constantly get demonized for you’re lies?!

Spreading controversy like a manwhore with STD is not criticism.

You really don’t understand how criticism works, especially for a show this popular, do you?

Okay, even ignoring the fact that that’s a load of bull, that’s all you do.  Every time there’s a new RWDE post, you jump to the front lines to start a flame war.

You do not criticize, you complain.

My god, it’s almost as if that was the basis for the RWDE tag in the first place!..  How do you breath?  You can’t wrap your head around this simple concept, yet you still haven’t suffocated yet?  How does that work?

People HAVE refuted you:

Yeah, badly.  And then they got refuted right back.

I’ve had to have done it at least fifty times.

First of all, you’ve had way more chats with people in the RWDE tag than just fifty.  If your track record is so bad, why is your ego so huge?

Second of all, where exactly?  Was it here, where Delvin asks you for evidence of what you’re accusing him of, and then you ran off?  Was it here, where Delvin throws every one of your notions back at you in the end?  Was it here, where Dudeblade explains why you think it’s wrong to compare RWBY to other shows based on IMDB scores, before doing just that with shows with lower scores than RWBY?  Was it here, where Lycanheiress took everything you said and utterly destroyed it?  Was it this one here, where a transgender lesbian explains homophobia to you, and why people accuse you of being homophobic?  Or was it here, where Xenodweeb boiled all of your stupid notions down to the basic level to show why they’re wrong?

Thirdly, you’ve had to do it?  Did we make you?  Is Rooster Teeth paying you to paint their fanbase in a negative light?  Are they holding a gun to your head as you type this out?  Are they threatening your family?  Is the RWDE tag doing that?  Did anyone even ask?  I’ve already explained this to you, KKKoB, no one but you is making you write these.  You chose to do this.

Fourthly, for every one time you’ve attempted to debunk us, we’ve debunked you ten time over.

You just ignore them, block them or throw variations of the word “bigot” at them so you can disregard it

You mean like you did with Delvin?

You’re like that child who keeps changing the rules to make himself invincible because they suck at the game.

You mean like you did with Lycanheiress when you guys were arguing the shows focus on Jaune.  Also, when did we change the rules?  I’m pretty sure we’ve kept things pretty damn consistent in all of our debates with you.

And as for YOU, Xenodweeb,

I don’t wanna hear YOU try to talk about nuances when, looking at your entire conversation on this post (https://savageoppressme.tumblr.com/post/169718979263/xenodweeb-savageoppressme-xenodweeb), you look at everything in Black and White.

“>Racism is a non-issue>Civil rights movements=extremists”

Knight, cursory glances tell us why you’re full of bull.  Also, who do you think I’m going to believe, the guy who admitted to stalking and harassing people who blocked him, constantly acts as the exception to all of the rules he lays out, and almost drove someone on Deviantart to suicide, for Xenodweeb, who has, at worst, criticized RWBY.

Also, you’re one to talk about seeing things in black and white:  You view the RWDE tag as an irredeemable evil that must be purged no matter what each individual blog has done and yourself as the one true fan of RWBY.  What you’re asking for isn’t that we try to look past RWBY’s flaws, your asking for blind devotion to the all mighty Rooster Teeth.

Skipping a bit, because I’ve already established why the next few lines are bunk a few paragraphs back.

To you, “Nuance” does not mean “subtle differences in meaning or expression.” No, it means “my fucking view” without even taking the time to consider that maybe, just maybe, you are wrong and your blind.

How can someone be so in love with the sound of their own voice yet never hear what they’re saying?  Knight, you almost drove someone to suicide because you couldn’t handle the idea that they had a different view then you did.  You aren’t one to talk.

Fuck, there is a reason why I blacklisted the RWDE tag:

Wait...

!?!?!?!?!?!WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!

So you actually did that thing the RWDE tag was meant for?  Why are you still here then?!  Why are you still bitching about the tag you no longer need to look at!?  Why are you so dedicated to proven Darwinism wrong?!  There-there are no words to describe the level of stupid you are!  It doesn’t matter what insult I throw at you, it will always only ever be an insult to the people I’m grouping you with and a complement to you.  I feel sorry that people call you a Nazi now, at least those guys have some brains.  Retards, homophobes, racist, sexists, pedophiles, none of them deserve to be compared to you.  The FNDM would be disgusted if they saw you, hell, Rooster Teeth would be disgusted.  It’s a good thing Monty’s dead, because if he saw you, he’d jump right back into his grave!  You deplorable, inconsiderate, obnoxious, cruel, immature, cruel, judgemental piece of shit!  If the human race died tomorrow, we’d all die happy, because you would have finally have been removed from the gene pool!  I’ve seen super-villains more likable than you.

You know what, screw it, I don’t care what the rest of the post says.  I’ve made my point, I’m done here.

#rwde #rwby #anti-kob #kkkob #kob you little shit #burnt corn on the kkkob #i'm not sorry

[miriolemillion]

Thoughts on chapter 152

Phewie! This chapter was probably very emotional to all of us, especially us Mirio and Big Three fans! I’ve just finished reading the new chapter and I myself, am all jittery and just sjdsdjksdk WOW this chapter is A LOT to digest. Feelings? What ARE THOSE. MIRIO. Mirio. A mirio chapter. The third one in a row which makes me go WOW but also kinda anxiously screaming and just. THIS MIGHT BE TOO PLOT INVOLVING TO MY TASTE but also I rly want that to happen and I’m thirsty for Mirio content so GIMME.

First of all I want to say that this chapter didn’t get to me to the fullest until I got to the flashback scenes, but I wanna try and calm myself and stay consistent with my commentary and hold my horses ahah. Before the chapter, there were three things I had in mind:

1st) something WILL happen to Mirio. (even if all the deathflags in his tag made me go eh, I still believed sth will happen.) And if it’s not death, it’s probably gonna be that he will lose his quirk, due to the last scene in ch 151 with the bullets.

2) It (the sth that happens) will be plotrelevant. We saw it coming. There was so much going up to that arc, and so much was relevant to Mirio, to introducing him, making him sb that Midoriya looks up to, sb who COULD have been like all might, kinda was, could have been what midoriya probably will be, sb who had a hard time but tries even harder. This all made it clear that the arc will have sth abt Mirio which will get the story going and have a greater impact on the storyline.

3) whatever WILL happen, I probably won’t like it due to my habit of picking favourites and not getting genuinely warm with the main-main cast (I’m so sorry, the third years caught my heart, even more than once...)

TL:DR - I analyze what Horikoshi is probably trying to do with Mirio’s character and why the stuff is happening that happened, while being extremely disappointed on how it was carried out. Also I don’t want Mirio to lose his quirk bc I think it’s so... unnecessary. Cheers.

(disclaimer: I’m trying to be critical while still enjoying Horikoshi’s work! Also I love Midoriya just a -- eh-- heads up...)

ALSO I WROTE THIS AT THE END OF THE DAY COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED PLS DONT MIND GRAMMAR OR ORTHOGRAPHIC MISTAKES THANKS

There was the whole debate going on, will Mirio die, will he live but “lose” something veery important to him, will he be able to save Eri but get harmed severely... So when I first saw the first few panels my first thought was “oh god he will def get shot and probably lose his quirk”. And that’s probably what would be the “big plottwist” that gets the story going and I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO FEEL ABOUT THIS.

For one thing, I would absolutely love to get more “angst” for Mirio going, I love when my favourite boys experience some sort of pain and grow from it, but on the other hand he already had to go through so much to get where he was and become this strong so it feels a little unnecessary to make him lose his quirk completely. We already have All Might for that kind of storyline and there are plenty of other characters whose quirks could probably called “useless” but they prove that wrong. Not to forget that the whole point of boku no hero is that someone who is /quirkless/ can actually find a way to get one and become a hero this way... so yeah... this is why I conclude: A Midoriya/Mirio thing.

The whole point of Mirio “Lemillion” Togata existing in bnha is most likely to make Midoriya stand out as the pro hero to be as Mirio himself loses his quirk and experiences pain that way and I don’t like it one. damn. bit. People would probably disagree and I want to disagree myself but when I think back to earlier chapters when Mirio was just introduced, suddenly there is this whole new stuff about All Might and how Mirio was actually supposed to be his successor and there was a lot of drama (Midoriya even cried bc it was too much stress with all the stuff going on and the internship and then he wasn’t even meant to be the one? Well congrats Midoriya now Mirio doesn’t have one anyway...). It definitely was on Midoriya’s mind a lot and it was clear that there was supposed to be some kind of mentorship between the senpai and kouhai, both kind of successors of All Might.

We already had All Might losing his quirk dramatically, what even is the point?

The point is that Mirio is probably here to show that one can be a hero despite not having a quirk. And I would laugh my salty laugh if he manages what Midoriya couldn’t: become a hero without your favourite hero maigcally appearning from the sky and handing you his dna to become the protagonist of a super hero story. (oh wow my salt level is rising with writing this oops...)

Don’t get me wrong I love Midoriya with all my heart, I love his relationship with Mirio and that he finally has somebody to ask questions and hang out with a third year senpai. In fact I think it’s lovely. I’m just questioning whether it was really necessary to put Mirio in this position for dramatic effect. And what will Mirio do about it?

We don’t know the extent of Eri’s powers nor do we know if her qirk even fully manifested. She’s still a child, her quirk could be weak, her quirk could be something entirely different, or later in life she could even be able to grant quirks or give them back, however you want to see it. I would definitely love to see that, give Mirio his angsty arc where he overcomes his frustration and sadness and then Eri appears and helps him recover. If anyone would deserve it than Mirio.

Even more so after reading this chapter, and noticing all these panels of the flashback scenes (and GOD am I weak for childhood flasbacks aaaa MIRIO’S FATHER DJSDKJSD and the miritama childhood panel absolutely KILLED ME), it opened my eyes just how bad Mirio thinks of himself. How low of an opinion he has on himself. It was shocking because you get introduced to Tamaki and think “yeah, he feels so bad about himself, good that there is his buddy mirio to cheer him up”... JUST THAT IT’S ACTUALLY THE OTHER WAY ROUND. Tamaki might have felt inspired from Mirio to strive even harder bc of his hard-working attitude but boy does Mirio need all the cheering up from his friend.

I mean just LOOK AT THEM SOBS. This was actually my favourite part of the new chapter, that we get to see more of the Big Three’s origins and how they came to be friends. I always thought that Mirio and Tamaki were practically always a duo from point one since they started at UA and gradually Nejire appeared in their lives, but no, it’s actually Tamaki that stood out more in the beginning and so did Nejire.

It was actually so heart-warming for me to see Nejire talk to Tamaki first and be interested in his quirk. Mirio looks so adorable as he stands in the back, not rly sure what to do with himself, even if it’s also a little sad bc that was before they were the big three so he must have dealt with his own amount of self-doubts. Poor boy, but he’s not giving up!!

This is something very positive I find about bnha manga, the energy spent on showing characters back stories and interpersonal growth, even for villains and side characters. You don’t find that in every shonen manga and it’s a pleasant surprise (I’m talking abt beyond main cast-flashbacks here!).

And when Sir compliments him and tries to encourage him, he looked so happy and excited I honestly nearly cried.

So yeah, in my mind it’s still unlikely that Mirio will lose his quirk forever and never be abe to use it his whole life, but there is definitely something that happened to him that can’t return to the way it was before. The scene with Tamaki waking from his unconsciousness to worry about Mirio is kind of a proof to that. He worries about his friend, his gut feeling tells him that sth happened. And Miro himself was thinking about Tamaki and other people that are important to him.

About the last two panels, I honestly to god am very disappinted that for once, Mirio doesn’t get to end his angst chapter himself, but no Midoriya had to steal that spotlight from him. Because the oh so mighty protagonist appears, and saves his poor quirkless senpai from the hands of the villain and/or death. Like really. We really didn’t need that. What we wanted, at least after all that, was a Mirio that stood to the end, presevered, standing and not losing his hope, grasping Eri into his arms and carrying her to safetly (preferrably outside where he could be tended to too bc damn did you see those wounds...)

Alright those were my two hundred) coins, I am a salty Mirio fan who is curious about what turn his storyline will take.

#mirio togata #tamaki amajiki #nejire hadou #boku no hero academia #big three #bnha spoilers #spoiler #chapter 152 #admit speaks #meta: bnha #long post #big 3

[intotheblackhq]

( Kylie Bunbury, 30, cis female ) Word around the quadrant is that (EVIE WAITROSE) is originally from (HESTAMERE), but have been on the terminus for (TWO YEARS). If you’re in a pinch, she is a talented (ENGINEER). Is that why they’re the (COMPUTER TECH)? Anyway, everyone says she is (+DISCERNING) and (+COMPASSIONATE), but don’t get on their bad side because they’re (-SKITTISH) and (-VINDICTIVE).  Oh shoot, don’t look now! She has her (FLASHBOMB) out! (ooc: Sarah, 26, EST, she/her, N/A)

WORLD BUILDING:

If your role is from a planet or station of your own creation or there is a location that is vital to your role that is not currently listed on the main, please fill out this section.

—-> Name: Athens, the capital city

—-> Located On: Hestamere

—-> Brief Description: Hestamere is tiny and green and humid and lush, the sort of planet where it seems on the verge of a summer thunderstorm all year round. You’d think it would be a perfect place to grow (and it is), but the veins of cobalt and gold running under that good dirt made it more profitable to strip mine than to bother maintaining the farms that had drawn the religious order of St. Hestamere to it’s grounds. There’s only the one major city, with the rest of the little planet dotted with towns and villages, and even Athens is only a place for a port to run out of and a handful of inns and traders to make their home. The people are mostly quiet, resigned to their sticky, dark lives, making profit for other people and bringing home just enough money to feed their families. It’s good for the Company, really, if they had just a little bit less, or a little bit more, they’d be perfectly primed for revolt. Better hope the mines don’t run dry, eh?

ROLE DEVELOPMENT:

—-> Important History: 

There is some debate as to whether the St. Hestamere ever actually existed, or if some preacher made her up to back up his message of pacifism, moonshine, and crunchy granola living. There were probably some people on the planet when the Order of St. Hestamere started settling, but after a decade they either left or assimilated. 

While it was never a particularly forceful religious order, the clear theocracy-lite of the planet-wide and local governments discouraged straying from the “path”, and even those skeptical about religion generally make a point to show up at the holy day festivals and do their “volunteer” work for the church. Most people who’ve heard of it only really know it as “that cult planet”

The Order (and thus, the planet) has been led by a series of Mothers, men or women selected by their predecessor for their devotion and judgement. While a few have been selected from the laypeople, most worked their way through the church ranks and saw it as a career goal rather than a calling. There are procedures for removing a corrupt Mother from office, but all but a handful have been generally competent and let the towns run themselves under the instruction of a Sister.

Unfortunately, it only took the one Mother with enough education to recognize a resource when they see it, and few enough scruples to try to do something with it to spell the end of Hestamere’s way of life for good. At first it was just a few mines, but before long they were taking over the planet, gashes of brown and black and soot against the green. Mother Peteres has been dead for decades, so nobody has ever been able to ask if they were trying to do good or just put money in their own pockets, but intent probably doesn’t matter much, does it?

Since the expansion of the mines, Hestamere has devolved from a collection of agricultural communes into basically feudalism, most people work in or to support the mines, and those who don’t make up a very small “middle class” of merchants and farmers. While most people are literate, child labor is much more common than it used to be, and quality of life has decreased dramatically.

The capital city of Athens is the only place anywhere close to the cutting edge of anything, most tech on the planet is ancient and utilitarian and the city is only marginally more up to date. Mostly industrial, Athens is sparsely populated for a city, and a bit segregated from the rest of the planet; if you’re born in Athens, you probably don’t leave. If you aren’t, you probably don’t spend more than a handful of days a year there.

—-> Headcanons: 

Evie grew up in the “suburbs” of Athens, the daughter of the city Sister and a schoolteacher, and the second of four girls. She’s sure her mother never meant to pigeonhole her as the Smart one to her sisters’, Pretty, Sweet, and Charming, but it stuck even when she tried to buck against it, and eventually she gave up on trying to play a role she was never expected to fit.

It Is Known that the child of a preacher will either completely reject or wholeheartedly accept their parent’s faith, and Evie falls firmly in the latter camp. She’s not open about it, not around people she doesn’t trust with her life, but her St. Hestamere medal never leaves her neck and she keeps a small shrine in her room next to family photos and the little pile of trinkets she picks up to deliver when she can make her way home. Her faith is deeply important to her, and she regularly filters difficult decisions through that moral compass. 

At the same time, she’s well aware that she flies in the face of the majority of the principles of St. Hestamere, there’s little organic living or compassion working as a computer and communications tech on a bounty ship.

There is, however, plenty of space in her bunk for a small still and supplies to keep it going, and a long tradition of homebrewed clear liquor is very much in the spirit of St. Hestamere. As is sharing with one’s friends and colleagues.

It’s interesting, trying to have a relationship with the concept of violence when you have both religious and practical reasons to be against it, but also a whole lot of financial reasons to be for it. Evie tries to avoid lethal action if she can, and being a tech that’s usually easy, but she’s not the worst shot in the solar system.

—-> Key Relationships: 

Friends with benefits: Maybe they had a huge blowup fight and can’t stand to be around each other, maybe it just got too complicated after a near death experience, maybe they drifted apart and maybe one got scared and ghosted the other, but what was once a pleasantly fulfilling mutual scratching of itches is now a series of awkward silences or stilted conversations or glances across the common room filled with longing or hatred or both.

Surrogate sister: Evie wasn’t the oldest, but she spent her whole life with one eye on her little sisters, offering them advice or pulling them out of fights, regardless of whether they wanted either of those things to happen. Her advice and mothering may be wanted or not or some combination thereof, but she’s probably not going to stop. Be glad she’s not taking a washcloth behind your ears yet at least.

—-> Wanted Connections: [OPTIONAL] Wanted Connections are only for familial and platonic relationships that cannot be filled by members of the group. At this time, we are not accepting romantic connections. Basic ‘friends’ or ‘enemies’ connections should be plotted with members and current roles in the group and will not be accepted for wanted ads. Be sure to fill out the form below with your connection details.

(ROLE FIRST LAST NAME) is looking for their (CONNECTION TYPE). They should look like (FC OPTIONS). (PLAYER NAME) does/does not need to be contacted before applying for this role. Connection Details: detail your connection here, feel free to include any links to bios/connection pages/etc.

ADMINISTRATIVE:

—-> How Did You Find Us: The Firefly RP tag (cause I was watching it for the first time in years and got nostalgic)

—-> Anything Else: N/A

About time you showed up, EVIE WAITROSE , we were just about to take off without you. Stow your gear and make sure you send in your account and finish off the checklist within the next 24 hours, or else we might have to dump you out the nearest airlock. KYLIE BUNBURY has now been claimed. Oh yeah, did I forget to say welcome aboard? 

#submission

[barbecuedphoenix]

200 Followers: 11 Things About Me

So I was re-tagged a week ago by @eldarya-scenarios. (I had no idea I tagged you twice, dear. ^_^ Having two aliases is awfully sneaky.) 

If you’re a little curious on who your friendly fan blogger is behind the Leiftan icon and the barrage of text-winks, feel free to read on. Watch out though: it’s a long post like everything else I write... 

And if not, please continue to enjoy this blog’s smart-assery and the text-winks. ;)

1) Why did you name your blog the way you did? ...Because that’s the screen-name I use for my main Eldarya account. I’m not very creative with names. :( Not to mention that it’s probably very politically-incorrect to say ‘Barbecued Phoenix’ in the faery realm. Huang Hua would not be amused. And my blog is guaranteed to be politically-incorrect as far as folklore and faeries are concerned. ;) My screen-name is actually homage to a Neil Gaiman short-story called ‘Sunbird’, which is still one of my favorites from its double serving of dark humor and culinary catastrophes. And it sounds really funny when you say it out-loud (at least that’s my opinion).

2) What was your last meal? *checks bowl next to laptop* Eh… a fruit salad I scraped together from some Rainier cherries and leftover cantaloupe slices. It’s summer here, and I enjoy my fruits. :)

3) Jeans or skirts? …I must have at least nine different pairs of jeans in my closet, half of which I don’t even wear most days. And just one pencil skirt. Because at least once in my life, I’ll need to go to a court room. So there’s your answer. :)  

4) What’s your favourite letter of the alphabet? In the English alphabet, ‘L’ is my favorite. It just rollllls off the tongue so nicely. :) 

5) Favourite fandom/shipping? I’m a mercenary crack-ship writer. Anything goes so long as characters are in-character. ;) *cough* Truthfully, I haven’t shipped anything in a fandom since I was eleven or twelve, and that was waaaay back when the cartoon series Avatar the Last Airbender premiered. I think that experience has inoculated me to serious shipping. So now, while I enjoy seeing a well-developed, well-paced canon romance (because it means the creators have really thought the story through), it’s never a huge concern for me who’s paired up with whom. Romance isn’t actually the selling point for me for a lot of stories; it’s individual character development and plot direction that counts.   And anyway… fan shipping is really a fabrication. With a bit of imagination, effort, and tactical writing, functional relationships can be spun between anything and anyone, and unraveled in the same way. Even when keeping all parties in character. So why blow a gasket over shipping? To each their own dirty little fancies. ;)

As for my fandoms… they’re a patchwork quilt of games, books, movies, TV shows, anime from a lot of different sources, and it changes every year. For the sake of time, I’ll give a rundown of just the fantasy/supernatural genres I’ve been following for a while (translating some of the titles to English when possible):  

Games: the Dragon Age series, Folklore (also called FolksSoul), Uncharted, the Persona series 

Books: Discworld, His Dark Materials, the Dr. Siri Paiboun series, the Temeraire series, The Tiger’s Wife, Brisingamen, pretty much anything done by Neil Gaiman… the list goes on. With a few rare exceptions, I’ve shifted from being a high fantasy lover (those tropes get old after a while) to an acolyte of more low-key genres like magical-realism, fantasy-historical-fiction, and satirical-fantasy.  

TV Shows: Supernatural  

Anime & Cartoons: the Fate series (even though my fanfiction ends up making fun of it 95% of the time, it’s still a really intricate universe), the Avatar series  

Movies: Practically anything done by Studio Ghibli and Tomm Moore, ‘Coraline’, ‘Corpse Bride’, ‘Therapy for a Vampire’, ‘Let the Right One In’, ‘Groundhog Day’, the very first installation of ‘The Hobbit’   

6) What’s your favourite sport? (You don’t necessarily have to play it) Favorite sport I can’t do, but love to watch: Surfing. Forget berserk football matches; give me a crazy Australian riding a tunnel wave any day. :D  Favorite sport I can do: Bicycling. I’m no Tour de France candidate, but my bike regularly takes its share of unreasonable hills and descents in the city where I live. Personally, It’s a great way to get around. ^_^

7) What’s your idea of a perfect day? Getting everything on my list done with minimal coffee and hair-pulling.  -_- Sorry… I’m still listening to the robot half of my brain. Switching over.  Start the day by making a difference and sharing a good time with both the students I see where I work, and the odd friends and colleagues I do have. Attend a really good lecture. Then take a quiet bus ride to the beach or an aquarium, where I can watch all the wildlife shenanigans I want. Tourists included. Cook something awesome for lunch or dinner, and eat it to discover that it’s still more awesome. End the day with a good book, an avalanche of blankets, and a conveniently-rainy night. And maybe a quick Skype/phone call with my dad.  ;( Oh there I go, listening to the sappy half of my brain. Switching over.  

8) What animal do you hate with all your soul? The logical part of my brain tells me I have no cause to loathe any animal for existing. But the cave-woman part of my brain still gets creeped out by a few of them…. Geckos especially. Because the house where I grew up was infested with them (like a typical equatorial house, actually). The geckos could be found on absolutely any flat surface, even the underside of the table and on the ceiling, so we always had to check right before sitting down that something cold, bug-eyed, and squirmy wasn’t going to drop on us in the middle of dinner. And they also liked to appear in other surprising places: like in your shoes (as my father found out one day while rushing to work), inside drawers, inside trash cans, crushed between door hinges, trapped in the kitchen sink, and inside the refrigerator a couple of times (worst idea ever, for a lizard).      One of the best things that happened to me on moving to this corner of the United States: no geckos anywhere. I can clean my apartment with an easy heart. \o/    

9) Can you dance? Besides some lingering muscle memory from my early days doing classical ballet... no. :(  I’d really like to take up Spanish Flamenco though. Generally, I do better with choreographed dances rather than impromptu club-dancing. As all my friends have told me. I’ve given them so many priceless memories on the dance-floor… 

10) What’s the name and age of your favourite character? (OC or otherwise) I can’t decide on a ‘favorite’ character in media; there’s too many of them. So how about a favorite OC instead? ^_^   Right now among the Eldarya OC cast, my favorite would have to be Zephania ‘Zee’ Tantiango because she’s a magnet for trouble as a protagonist very dynamic heroine to work with. (She’s 23, in case you’re interested.) Zee is actually the latest incarnation of the ‘funny-but-unlucky action heroine’ archetype I’ve spent years working on, and I’m happy with how she’s turning out so far. On one hand, she’s the typical small-town heroine who’s sharp, plucky, energetic, and more than a little kooky herself; the story never stops moving once she starts improvising in a tight situation. :) But there’s a strong undercurrent of tragedy in the way she continues to isolate herself through her pride and her decisions, especially because she’s allergic to either admitting that she’s in real trouble, or cutting herself some slack for her mistakes. There’s a lot of sadness behind that finger-snap smile. I’m still debating on whether to give her a good ending, or a bitter one. :(  No, that was not a spoiler for the fan-fiction that’ll one day hit this blog.

11) What got you into your favourite activity?(i.e how did you start?) Favorite activity? Like… a hobby?  Well the longest-running hobby I’ve ever had is writing (no guesses there). And it was more-or-less self-taught. As a kid, nobody could take me anywhere without a book in my hand, or some other adventure happening inside my own head (which made it awfully inconvenient to get my attention in a mall… but hey, I never wandered off). And writing short stories was always the most entertaining school assignment for me.  But it wasn’t until I started home-schooling at thirteen that I found the time and need to write something for myself, putting to paper those increasingly-complex sagas and fan-fictions that lived in my head (because my short-term recall just couldn’t keep track of all the dialogue and plot twists anymore; I needed to start recording my stories to make sense of them.)   And I haven’t stopped since. :)

Uh-oh. Here come… my questions. For @mentacomchocolate, @areyntheheartseeker, and @the-irish-hoor​. 

Why did you name your blogs the way you did? ;)

What would your honest personal reaction be if you accidentally stepped into a fairy ring, landed in a strange place, and got threatened by a fox-lady wielding fireballs?  

What’s your dream job in this life?  

Is there anyone you have a crush on that you’re still really embarrassed to admit? Would you like to mention them anyway? ;)  

If there’s only one book genre you could spend the rest of your life reading, what will it be?  

What are the top 5 things you geek out over? (Today, at least. ;) )

If you’ve been given a 24-hour advance warning that the world is definitely going to end (i.e. via Death Star), what will you do?

And if you’ve been given an exclusive two-person escape pod during above scenario, what/who would you bring with you to escape the planet? Would you want to?

If your friends can agree on one thing about you, what would it be? Do you agree with them? 

What’s the most embarrassing thing that happened to you this past week?  

What do you remember as your most incredible feat of endurance to date? Physical, mental, and/or social?

*looks up* ...All right, those are some weird questions. I won’t blame you at all if you ignore them. 

#Q&A #tag post #blog milestone #200 followers #OC: Zephania

[szebastianonne]

Is Your Social-Media Hurting Your Career?

Did you recently,

Apply for a new job?

Pitch to a new client for securing a contract?

Apply to volunteer with a humanitarian campaign?

Or simply put, anything professional where you needed to present your best self in hope of getting selected. You left out nothing to impress the decision makers of the final outcome for your professional goal AND you did do your best too. Other candidates seemed not half as strong, yet you didn’t make it to the final cut.

Wait what … you didn’t make it to the cut?

How could that be?

I bet you presented a fantastic Résumé or Professional Portfolio – ready to impress your prospective employer, client or campaign leader. Your references too, were solid and powerful names in the community. Most certainly your sense of style and self-confidence was just breathtaking. Then, what in the world could have gone wrong despite perfect presentation, delivery and impression?

Believe me or not, but chances are high that you entirely forgot the two words that most likely played the role of prime saboteur for your ambitious plan: SOCIAL-MEDIA.

First Reflex: Online Search

Let’s face it, in today’s digitally connected world, the first reflex of your prospective employer/client is to do an Online Search of your name. With today’s search websites making it easier to pick the type of content, in one-click they can switch from Links to Photos to Videos – and learn a lot more about you than you have listed in your impressive Résumé or Professional Portfolio. Not just that, they can easily learn about your family, friends and the wider network you are part of in your professional and personal life. They hunt every aspect of your online presence on the Social-Media. It is debatable, if they should do an online search on your private life, but the fact is – THEY DO.

FACT: They get to learn a lot more about you than you might be willing or comfortable in sharing.

Privacy Settings: Too Technical For You?

There are two most common type of users of Social-Media – (1) Hyperactiveand (2) Reluctant.

There sure are many more varieties and degrees of each variety but above two take the cake in how lax we can be about Social-Media privacy settings, irrespective of belonging to any of the two most prominent user-types. While the Hyperactive user will claim they have little to hide, the Reluctant species will allege, they hardly use Social-Media and rarely ever post anything to be worried about. Yet, both of them are the worst culprits of being slack with the privacy settings of the website/App they are using – opening wide the doors of personal information to the employers, clients, heck – even dating and matrimonial prospects to find out almost everything about them, that is there or not there and can help in decision-making about their real prospects of making it to the cut or being shunted away without an understanding of what went wrong.

FACT: Hyper or Under, if you are a user of Social-Media, there will be something about you that is public.

Invasion Party – The Third-Party Kind

Today, every website you browse, every newspaper, magazine or blog you read Online – offers you ‘Quick-Signup’ using Facebook /Twitter/Google/LinkedIn or other Social-Media logins. Some in-fact, now make it mandatory to use one of these to login, in order to post a comment or share their content in your network. And then there are surveys, contests and competitions that tempt you to participate for a prize, but, you must use one of your Social-Media profiles to participate and do-away with your personal information on these networks and the networks affiliated to them. Either way, the ‘decision-maker’ will be able to find something about you that you did not even think they are going to look at, which is taking a crucial role in their decision-making.

FACT: You’d have to be fairly disconnected person from Social-Media to have absolute Online anonymity.

Career Advisor Solution: Separate Online Lives

Many career advisors will tell you to create separate accounts where you can keep your personal and professional lives away, and remarkably different from each other. They’ll recommend that you only post very positive, constructive, professional content in ‘Professional Profile’ of yours and keep the casual and other content, that can be deemed controversial or can act as an adversary for your ambitions, in your ‘Personal Profile’ which MUST have strictly private settings. I will point out two main contentions here –

Even though your ‘Personal Profile’ may have strict privacy settings, it is highly likely that some of your information will still be visible through the ‘Invasion-Party’ or ‘Privacy-Settings’ backdoors I discussed above.

It is very likely, when searching – both of your profiles will show up in the search-results. Only difference will be, that one shows with almost no content. This will still raise suspicion in the ‘investigating’ mind, ‘why does this person have two profiles, what are they hiding?’ and your application will find itself in the trash bin.

Besides, why would you want to lead a double-life? As you know too well, more you hide and lie, more you are likely to forget what you are hiding or lied about. You are going to create a mess for yourself. Let me repeat my question – Why would you want to lead a double-life, even if just Online?

FACT: A very impractical solution, that is going to get in you trouble sooner or later, more likely than not.

Let’s Fix This: Together and NOW

How about a solution that keeps things as simple as they can be, yet doesn’t require you to lead a double life or keep wondering what the prospective employer/client may have seen that led to them refusing you the opportunity that seemed like locked-in contract? After all, both you and the decision-maker know that your Résumé/Portfolio tells them what you want them to know and your Social-Media presence tells them what they’d like to learn about you – more candid, unfiltered and honest.

Here are a few important tips that have continued to help my clients, (both individuals and businesses) since the advent of Social-Media to reflect positively in their professional ambitions–

Privacy Settings: First and foremost, take just five minutes to learn about the privacy settings of the Social-Media network you are using. Use these settings, they are there for YOU. Once you have set them smartly, you can relax and use Social-Media to your heart’s content, almost. Remember the old adage, ‘Better safe than sorry!’

Think, Review, Post: It is really commonsense but most of us overlook it in the heat of the moment. My advice, when you ARE in the heat of the moment, take a breath, think, type, review, review again, ask yourself ‘who is going to see this?’ and ‘Who should NOT see this?’ – Then decide if you really want to post and also select your audience accordingly.(see next point)

Gauge your audience: Think about the culture of the variety of your audience – personal and professional. Their tolerance levels, understanding and acceptance of your lifestyle and activities.

Friending matters: Who are you adding to your network, what they can see, who else can see through them and if things go sour, how could they react?

Bad-Cousin case: Then there are people in our lives who act like what I call ‘Bad-Cousin’ case. They’ll take you in confidence, but the moment you are away, they can’t digest their food unless they have gossiped about what they know. Their sole existence has one aim – create drama. You’ll find a cousin or two like this in personal and professional life. If you don’t like to socialize with a ‘Bad-Cousin’ in real life, why would you want them in your Social-Media connections?

First-Date Content: When you are posting something, anything publicly, think of it as if you are on your first date and what you say, how you dress, what you do – WILL impact the outcome of the first-date. This will often help you stop yourself from posting publicly embarrassing content that can come to bite-back in the … eh!

Tag-With-Care: Before you tag anyone, reach out to them in private and ask if it is okay. Like you, they might not want their professional network to know of their night out or costume-selfies.

Enable Tag-Review: Similarly, enable review of tags that others might include you in. Approve what’s safe, remove yourself from what is unsafe. Politely discuss with them about future tagging.

Grand-Parent Check: When posting publicly, post as if your grandparents are sitting with you while watching a movie about your life. Now think, the scenes that you’d rather they never see. If they shouldn’t see it, so shouldn’t public. It’s that simple.

Once published, forever public: Once you post something publicly, even though you might realize your mistake and remove it in a few moments – IT IS still out there, before you hide, many will see it. Someone may copy it, republish it. It can come to bite back.

If you look at it carefully, what I really am saying repeatedly is – THINK BEFORE YOU POST CONTENT IN PUBLIC ARENA.

#INSPIREinfluenCEL

Szebastian Onne G. S.

Originally Published on http://szebastian.com on November 25, 2015. Republished with authorization. Copyright Reserved. For more inspiring articles, click here.

#INSPIRE #InfluenCEL #Success #Employment #LifeStyle #SelfDevelopment #Privacy #Leadership