#like i kinda wish they could've talked about that i think it would've helped him understand her situation better

[gotham-daydreams]

Okay we see how Bruce, Dick, Jason, Tim and Cass become Yanderes for reader what about Damian, Steph and Babs?

That question is exactly why I'm kind of debating on making a kinda "Part 2.5" sort of thing, and it would show how Tim and Damian got further roped into things like Bruce, Dick, Jason and Cass. Along with how Steph and Babs take the news of "heyyy, um. you know Y/n? yeah that one sibling of ours that's lived here for years that we've barely have like, 10 conversations with collectively? Yeah, that sibling. Uh, we just figured out they've basically been living an entire life without any of us knowing, and might've run away because we were barely involved in their life despite them making multiple attempts to have us be there. So, we kind of need your help to find them. Like. Now-"

Though honestly I'll just put the run down here, so-

Bruce kind of gave Damian the little push he needed before hopping on the train, kind of like what he did with Jason but a little different. With him finding Damian, and some questions being thrown around, before Damian just decides to help look for you.

Honestly I can imagine that Damian wasn't super serious about finding you or anything at first, and was more so just trying to help because Bruce and Dick were looking for you. Hence why he looks for Alfred first with the intention to get the search done and over with. Though, that does begin to change a little when he eventually stumbles upon your room and gets that small glimpse of all he's missed out on after having talked with Alfred.

The room itself doesn't necessarily get to Damian — not like it does with Bruce and Dick — but it's more of the contents of the room itself that get him started on the yandere path.

Honestly, how Damian and Tim begin to develop their more Yandere thoughts and feelings for the reader is through finding something in your room, leading them to find more stuff, and that eventually getting to the thought process of "i didn't know they did this... i would've liked to know about this before/share this thing with them." Which then leads to a more yandere-like mindset.

For Damian (since we're already on the topic of him), he finds that one art award that you got, and becomes curious. Eventually he finds the unfinished art pieces that Bruce had found earlier, and while he isn't impressed or anything at first, the more unfinished pieces he finds the more he kind of begins to see your potential, and that leads to his own thoughts on the matter. With him wishing he knew about how you liked to do art too, and that eventually leads to him thinking that he could've helped you refine your skill, and the both of you could've drawn or painted together.

What strengthens that mindset is when he gets his hands on a notebook that you had used to practice whatever you were struggling with, and left notes for yourself on how you could improve upon certain things as well. Maybe if Damian had known you were into art before, he could've helped you, and you both could've improved together. Refine each other's skills, and just be able to create together. Which Damian really begins to like the thought of. Especially as he sees how you improved the deeper into the notebook he gets.

So, he also sets out to find you, but with a more positive mindset and thought process.

Honestly, out of everyone, Damian is the least worried about you and your well-being. Not because he necessarily has faith in your abilities to stay alive in Gotham, while also potentially being by yourself, but rather he isn't focused on that part? Not as intensely as some of the others, anyway.

Besides, if you were to turn up dead, then he'd have the "you die, I kill you" mindset. You aren't allowed to be dead or 'missing' in his mind, and so you aren't until proven other wise — but even then he's going to need a lot of solid proof to even believe it.

Damian is just more focused on the "we have a common interest and I want to do this thing with them" part of learning that you're into art. Even if you aren't anymore, just knowing that it was something that you used to do is enough to get him jumping on the yandere train. You'll be doing art with him one way or another, and you can't do shit about it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sure his reasoning isn't a strong, but it's enough to get him started and to go looking for you with the others when they eventually start tearing Gotham apart in hopes to find you. Damian now has a sudden need for quality time and your his main target, sorry not sorry.

Tim on the other hand just sort of, stumbled upon your room, and thanks to Dick was very quickly roped into this mess (as mentioned in "Not Here").

He actually looks through the box with all of your more personal belongs first as Dick tries to call and text you like crazy, while also trying to figure out more stuff.

The first thing he minds is an mp3 player, which, again - as mentioned in "Not Here" held very early versions of songs you were working on at the time, along with some of the very first songs you ever wrote. Which, after listening to a few of them, is immediately a big fan. Though that ends up being both his downfall and how he begins to develop his more yandere tendencies.

Like Dick, you had tried to call and message him about certain performances and such you thought he'd like, and hoped he'd attend, but to no avail. It sucks even more for Tim now because if he had just given your music a chance just a little sooner, maybe things would've been different between the two of you. Maybe you wouldn't have left.

Not to mention that, since he now really loves your music - just knowing that he's wasted so many opportunities to hear more of it, and the completed, fully fleshed out versions of some the songs on the mp3 player makes him upset. He really feels the hit of neglecting you, and that hit only lands harder when he goes through that 'List/Progress' notebook that Bruce had seen earlier in "Not Here".

A notebook which does reveal a lot about you, and how you only did so many activities because you hoped that if anyone in the family was into one of the activities/hobbies you tried, then you'd be able to bond with them over it. Though look at where that got you. Countless awards hung on your walls, with a number of accomplishments to your name - and yet not once were you able to use them for their original purpose. Not once were you able to hold a full, long conversation with any of them about any of the things you've done.

It wasn't even your fault because you tried to put in the work, Tim could really see that now, but you just weren't given the chance to actually put it to good use.

Maybe that's why he ended up helping Dick as much as he did, and maybe that's why he took the time to download some of your songs before heading out to look for you. He wanted to feel closer to you then he really was, and wanted your music to be something shared between the two of you.

Tim wants to not only get closer to you, but to hear everything you've ever made music wise. A want which he fully intends on making a reality.

Stephenie and Barbara are a bit different, however. Since, as stated in "Not Here", both of them are informed of what's going on after everyone else but Damian and Alfred absolutely loses their minds over you not being in the Manor. Though, again, both take the news a bit differently.

Between the two, Steph easily feels the worst. So her motivations and actions — like Bruce, Dick, Jason, Cass, and Tim — are more out of guilt and regret. She already doesn't like the thought of her own neglect having caused you to keep so many things to yourself that you basically hid yourself away, but the idea of her — along with everyone else — having pushed you so far away that you ran away? That... doesn't make her feel good, to say the least.

Sure, she doesn't feel as bad as Bruce or Dick - who easily feel the worst because of their respective roles in the family, and them feeling like they failed to even be a semi-present figure in your life for you to recognize them as your Father and Older Brother (to which they are correct, but aren't aware of that yet) - but it's still enough for her to try and look for you too.

Kind of like Bruce when he was looking in the Manor, Stephanie doesn't know where to start looking, and that only worsens her regret.

I guess her development comes more with time? Since the more she and the others look, not only do her feelings grow, but she also learns more about you as everyone starts sharing information over the intercoms. Things they just found out about you — like how you spent your birthdays alone with Alfred and had waited for them each year until recently, how you made music, what kind of competitions and such you've participated in, who were your teachers, how majority of what you did wasn't even for yourself - but rather a chance that one of the many activities you did try out was something anyone of them were into, so that way you could actually have a conversation with them - and more. (Which may be shown later? Not in a official post/part to the series but perhaps in a sort of side thing that shows the mayhem going on. But who knows?)

Case and point, while they are all looking for you - Steph slowly becomes more yandere for the reader the more she learns about you and how her and the other's actions impacted you. Like some of the others, she wants to make it up to you, but isn't entirely sure how she'd even go about doing that. The more aware she becomes, the harder she falls.

Barbara on the other hand, I'd say, is more lowkey as of now when it comes to her development as a yandere?

I mean, Dick, while very much panicking, basically told her it was an emergency and he really needed her on the bat computer because he had to look for you. Which, in the same breath, gave a list of locations and possible teachers you might've had in the past (you can thank Tim for trying to figure all of that out) and if she could look into it.

It's safe to say that Barbara's introduction into the whole situation was very chaotic. An emotional, worried, and panicked Dick is never a good one, so that was fun to deal with while slowly drowning in confusion.

Eventually, she got the run down and was quick to help, but like Bruce, Cass, Damian, and Jason - she was more confused at the start.

Ouf of everyone, and maybe besides Jason, Barbara has had the least amount of interaction with you - and the room for possible interactions with you for her were much smaller anyway considering that you aren't a vigilante, and never intended to be. So, it only makes sense that one of the people you've easily had the least connection with, was the person who communicated and mainly interacted with the rest of the Batfam when they're doing vigilante work.

What didn't help is that she barely even saw you at events or even holiday gatherings and such the family would have, with you being so neglected that they just... failed to even notice you missing at the time. The day she was introduced to you was when you were first adopted, and that was basically both the first and last full interaction either of you have had with each other. Other than that, she would hear small comments about you sometimes from the others, but even then it wasn't much and those soon died out as one could've guessed.

Even when she was in the Manor, she might've caught a few glimpses of you, but nothing else - so the beginning of her fall into being a yandere is definitely much slowly and lowkey when compared to the others.

I feel as if this whole situation may encourage Babs to want to get to know you better? After all, your disappearance did cause the whole family to basically start a whole manhunt just to find you, so I feel as if that would be enough to get Barbara interested at the very least. Not to mention all of the things she's hearing about you from everyone - it would be nice to try and actually meet you, not just know about you.

In other words, I feel as if Barbara may develop more as a yandere in part 3, seeing as I can see her more yandere tendencies begin to develop once she actually 'meets' you. Y'know what I mean?

So tldr; Damian becomes a yandere for the reader by finding out they're into art/have done art in the past, and now has a deep need to bond with them.

Steph becomes a yandere through her guilt and regret, and like some of the others, want to make it up to the reader.

Babs, on the other hand, hasn't exactly become a yandere just yet, but will once she 'meets' the reader and see them for herself. As of right now, she's just curious, but we'll get there in part 3.

Also, this is unrelated to the ask, but I would like to point out how pretty much everyone in the Batfam thinks you ran away rather then you just leaving. Do what you will with this information for now :]

Anyways, I hoped that answered your question, even if I got a bit rambly! If there's anything else in particular anyone else would like to know, feel free to send in an ask!

#a bit of a ramble- whoops #though that is generally how it goes #and again i might write some of this out- but mostly the things i mentioned about steph and babs #yandere batfam #platonic yandere batfam #platonic yandere #yandere dc #yandere x gn reader #gn reader #sibling reader #neglected reader

[son1c]

i'm kinda in this spot where i like sonic as Just A Normal Guy irt where he came from but i also don't? like, i think it defeats the purpose of his character to say he's like, some government experiment type shit. he's not shadow. one of his best qualities is that he's a sort of every man, but also he's special. wish fulfillment. and how do u walk that line irt where he came from? sega just ignores it. which works i guess.

but idk, i'm partial to a clark kent situation minus the alien origin. like, his "parents" aren't his parents they just fuckin found him one day. ideally it wouldn't have even been parents plural but just one parent. modelling that behavior for sonic to later use with tails. but that parent also wouldn't have stuck around for too long, having disappeared at some point before the classic era. because it really just doesn't make sense for sonic to have survived as a literal baby on his own. like if you really think about it... sonic spawning from the ether and having to fend for himself since day dot is just. this baby doesn't have a six pack, he must've had help at SOME point.

although, now that i'm thinking more about it, i think my ideal origin for sonic would've been something more like... someone found him as a baby, and took care of him for a little while, and then just. passed him along. to someone else. for one reason or another. so he was raised by this whole community of people, feeding into the theme that the world as a whole cares deeply for him. but at some point, he passed hands for the last time, and was just left on his own. it would make him sticking with tails more significant, cuz despite his need to run, he kinda recognizes that what he experienced could've been better. and he wants to be there for tails. idk. what was i talking about again

[lowkeyrobin]

JJ MAYBANK ; i remember everything

summary ; after returning home, you & jj get in a fight after you try and ignore the presence of john b and sarah ; a part two to replacement

warnings ; language, physical fighting, 2nd person pov is omniscient and reveals that reader blames themselves / they're in the wrong

disclaimers ; never finished s3 bc it was so boring and idk what's going on w s4, so they're back home safe and without any gold I guess. the story will be that they're all waiting for court dates or smthn lol

track ; i remember everything, zach bryan & kacey musgraves

word count ; 1.6k

masterlist ; part one

You sit on the sand, the water creeping up on your sneakers as you're fully dressed and just out of school. You think in silence, your eyes glazed over as you stare out at the horizon. You'd texted your friends that you were coming down here. You had a rough day, you just needed some alone time for a while to sit with your thoughts.

You think back to your real friends, the ones who didn't like you just because you were a walking yes button.

You remember how Kie and Pope clearly wanted to talk to you, but JJ always needed to step up and be an ass. You wished you could've just tried to speak to them, you didn't realize that they'd be leaving for good, apparently.

It'd been four months, you'd become more worried than ever. Your texts and calls were always left sent and unanswered, any attempt of constact futile. Kie's and Pope's parents were obviously the most worried as their children had run off with no trace.

They'd interrogated you over and over to no avail, as you didn't know anything. They just kinda left without you.

You wished you would've just for a second believed that maybe John B and Sarah were okay, but no, you had to start a fight. It was your fault, who were you kidding?

You remember the beat-down basement couch at JJ's that you all lounged on the few times when his dad wasn't around. You remember the time when you sang love songs to JJ as practice while he'd tell you about how his mom ran off and pawned her ring.

You remember that last smile, he only smiled like that when he was drinking.

Every time you thought of him, though, you smelt CrazyArt crayons, the ones that didn't even draw, you saw the same brown carpet that needed replacing years ago. Vertical wood in the hallway to paint the walls, it was engraved in your mind. You remember the dead flowers resting over the sink in the little windowsill above it, having been dead for months at least. They were completely wilted, most of the petals having fallen off, the glass vase stained with a little brown line across where the water sat still.

He probably didn't feel anything about it now, but you felt like you were driving through a hurricane. You felt like those dead flowers on JJ's kitchen windowsill, dead yet still not thrown away yet.

You lay back on the sand, your limbs sprawled out like a sad starfish. You pull your knees up, solidifying your spot in the sand. The grain knots itself into your hair, which wouldn't come out completely for a solid week since you learned the hard way long ago.

After twenty or so minutes of staring into the afternoon sky, you sit back up, attempt to shake any loose sand out of your hair, and stand up, gathering your thoughts in the process. You walk up the beach, returning to the road where your bike is perched on the curb. You hop on and peddle your way back home, cutting through town to do so.

You hoped a cold shower on this hot day would relieve you of the burning sensation on your skin, or at least help with your overwhelming, guilty thoughts. As you ride, you notice a few people walking down the sidewalk in front of you, thankfully leaving you some room to go past them.

As you grow closer, you notice their faces belong to those of your friends and an extra, for some reason. You smoothly swerve to the right, past Kie, not paying them any mind.

JJ minded, though, having tried to send a smile your way, for whatever reason. Kie did as well, as she opened her mouth to say hello.

"Hey, Y/n!" She defeatedly waves, letting her hand rest at her side as she watches you ride away.

You, out of fear and surprise, hide the sight away in your mind, because they were definitely your friends, or used to be your friends. Either way, they were home.

The next day, you had your headphones on while riding around town on your bike. You decided to enjoy some Zach Bryan and the heat, considering it was Saturday. You didn't end up going to that party with your friends, you just felt too groggy and gross after seeing them again.

You stop for a minute at Twist & Shake, wanting to get some French fries and some of that pineapple Dole Whip ice cream you'd been craving. You pull into the little parking lot and lean your bike against the building's right wall, not wanting to fight with the stand at the moment. You grab your wallet out of your back pocket and pull your headphones down around your neck, walking up to the order window.

You place your order and stand off to the side of the pickup window, hoping that no one was actively stealing your bike since it wasn't in view. You see a group of teens your age walk up to the window, of course, your old friends. You quickly turn your head away after getting a glance of them, tapping your foot on the pavement impatiently as you wait for your food.

"Y/n, oh my God, hi!" Sarah smiles, waving at you.

Her smile falters as you stare down at your feet, arms crossed as you wait. Her blonde hair frames her saddened face as she looks over at John B and Kie with a confused look. She looks hurt, she'd never left anything off on horrible terms with you, even if, lightly bad. She thought you were friends now.

Kie shrugs, pulling a twenty from her pocket as John B turns to JJ and Pope. Kie and Cleo lean against the sill against the ordering window as they order for themselves and their friends.

JJ rolls his eyes. "I told you, they replaced us"

"What do you mean?" Sarah asks, "I- They aren't here with anyone? What happened? Did we do something?-"

"No, they did something," JJ clarifies, "We got in a fight, and now they won't talk to any of us, like I said."

Pope shakes his head, "You got in a fight with them," He corrects, "They had a right to be suspicious about if they were really alive. They've been through enough, JJ. If you even cared, you'd notice that, but you had to put yourself first-"

"I didn't put myself first, I put John B and Sarah first!-"

John B rests a hand on JJ's shoulder, silently telling him to back off and calm down. The blonde stops himself, taking a breath.

"Try speaking up, maybe they didn't hear you" Pope hopefully says to Sarah, seeing her desperation to talk to you again.

"Y/n?" Sarah calls, making sure she's loud enough for you to hear. "Hey, it's me, Sarah?"

You continue to ignore her, feeling guilty as you do so. You just weren't ready to speak to them yet, you already felt awful but you didn't realize you were only making it worse.

JJ, now upset, walks up to you, shoving your shoulder. You look up at him, nearly glaring at him.

"Fuck is your problem?" He asks, "John B and Sarah are alive and you're gonna ignore them? You're gonna ignore us?"

"I'm not ignoring you. I don't want anything to do with you" You mumble, "Leave me alone"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" JJ asks, "You're seriously still doing this shit? You really never cared, did you?"

"Shut up, JJ. It's almost like I don't wanna fucking talk to you right now-"

"Yeah, cause you replaced your actual friends, you peace of shit." He spits, "Shows how much you care"

You push him away, not wanting to interact. Kie turns her head as the employee hands her change back, seeing you push the blonde away from you.

"Guys?-"

JJ pushes you back with a snarky comment. You push him back, cursing him out for some blind sighted reason.

He responds with a punch to your face, urging Pope, Kie, and John B to try and pull him away from you as you hit him back. Cleo and Sarah rush to your side, trying to pull you away as well, both parties unsuccessful.

Shouting, gasps, and yells fill the air as you two hit each other over and over, yelling profanities back and forth. You end up tackling him to the ground somehow, the three behind him stepping back as he falls. You straddle him, landing blow after blow on him, like revenge for that fight months ago.

His face is bloodied, and in that moment, you pull yourself away, realizing that look in his eyes. You'd become his father. In some alternate universe, you were the abuser all along. You stand up, falling into Sarah's and Cleo's open arms. Shit, you didn't even know Cleo, but here she was, letting you fall into her.

JJ glares at you, wiping the blood pouring from his nose.

Pope shares a look with John B, then you, an apologetic and slightly scared expression in your eyes. You didn't even know why you did it, you couldn't even feel yourself when you did it.

"What the fuck?" Kie nearly shouts, looking between you and the blonde. "It is never that serious to fight in a parking lot of Twist & Shake"

"Apparently, it is." You spit, walking away to grab your food before you're kicked off the property. "I didn't replace you. I don't wanna die trying to save some gold, that's it. See you later, " you grumble, walking away with a sore eye and knuckles.

The group, minus JJ, share confused and worried looks, watching you glide away on your bicycle.

"Jesus Christ..."

#lowkeyrobin #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank #obx x gn reader #obx x reader #outer banks x reader #rudy pankow x reader #jj maybank angst #gender neutral reader #gn reader #they/them reader #gn! reader

[sylenth-l]

Ya know i like to think of Osiris often looking up at the sky wondering if he made some right decisions ad if he's asking them to his mentor. Kinda like "what would do?" Type of situations. Not always but when he feels pretty lost and is working.

That's something I like to think too! I think it's quite natural and wouldn't be weird or surprising, since Felwinter was his mentor for a long time, somebody Osiris looked up to, valued his opinion and even picked up some of his behavioral patterns. For mr. Phoenix-of-the-Dark-Age-scholar-of-the-cosmos-I-have-no-equal to sincerely call somebody his mentor is already quite telling. I think I say that a lot, but just… subtle things like these always get me on some special level. Maybe sometimes he wishes Felwinter could've seen the Last City as well, how people live now, how Guardians are. That everything they did and sacrificed wasn't in vain or for nothing. That he was right about Rasputin in the end. That SIVA technology could have been and was used to make people's lives much better, like in Neomuna. And other stuff like that.

Also I think Osiris just in general is a person who likes to think out loud and search for the answers in conversations with somebody who Gets It and who can keep up with his speed jet of thoughts. I'm sure if he had a chance, he would've been happy to discuss a lot with Felwinter, like, A LOT, and Felwinter would've known what to tell him. Actually, I think back when Osiris had an access to the Infinite Forest, he run some simulations of just. Talking to him. Or sitting in his study by the fireplace, when he wanted to calm his mind. (Sometimes it helped, but mostly just hurt)

#ask #nice i've made myself extremely sad now thank you anon :(

[lord-squiggletits]

This might be bc of my personal reading of exRDI/OP bc I'm pretty sure the authorial intent was to just write Optimus as having some fall from grace/borderline tyrannical edge but like

I really kinda wish the story had been written as more of a political intrigue, almost GOT-esque thing (sorry for the cliche) where like, instead of Optimus being written as the narrative's scapegoat to be condemned both by the characters in universe and the meta narrative, he was just written as...morally gray? With more of a focus on "this is a shitty situation where no decision is good" rather than having Optimus just be some sort of white guilt stand-in of how oh, he's a Prime so that means the most important part of his legacy is how Cybertronians are awful and he's no better than the other ones etc.

Like Barber doesn't write Optimus as EVIL or in a way where he's unilaterally condemned as a person who did more harm than good, it's just imo the vibes of the story is more of a dark political/war story where no person is clean and there's no solution to the war that doesn't involve moral compromise. Instead Optimus is forced to make these moral compromises but then everyone else in the story loses their absolute shit and immediately starts calling him a tyrant or a fascist or something.

Like idk, it was partially an issue of the set-up. Because for one, it was really hard to take it seriously when the humans went "omg he's annexing Earth the Autobots were literally the colonizers all along!" (I think the dialogue was written almost exactly like that too sjdjsidn, so bad dialogue was also another issue) yet were perfectly fine working with the Decepticons led by 1. Soundwave who personally helped execute the attempted invasion of Earth and 2. Galvatron who constantly talks about wanting to kill these puny organics. I feel like I would've been able to take humanity's fears of being colonized again more seriously if like, they hadn't literally teamed up with The Colonizer Faction just bc Soundwave promised they were good guys again. So really it's just execution + plot holes + bad dialogue.

And another thing about the annexing of Earth specifically that I wish got talked about more (mostly by the fandom more than in universe) is that like. Basically the reason Optimus did that was because the neo-Decepticons were planning to invade Earth again, but since he's not actually a formal political leader any more he has no power to actually force a war to stop them/request military back up. But also, Starscream didn't give a shit about Earth and neither did the Council of Worlds, so appealing to the government for help defending humanity wouldn't work either. So Optimus annexing Earth was an absolute clusterfuck yes, but in a way it was also kind of a shrewd political move to force Cybertron to dedicate a spot in the government for humans and thus grant humans a say on Cybertronian politics.

What I mean is that in a story/with an author like that of GOT, where the setting is grimmer and every character is morally ambiguous, I feel like Optimus would've had way more room to be an interesting and compelling character. Bc then instead of the story immediately screaming "ALL HAIL OPTIMUS DID YOU KNOW OP ANNEXING EARTH TO THE COUNCIL IS BASICALLY THE SAME AS MEGATRON ATTEMPTING TO GENOCIDE EARTH," Optimus could have been played around with more as a political figure making the shitty decisions in an effort to stop another genocide. Instead of just unilaterally condemning Optimus and immediately comparing him to fucking Megatron of all people, there could've been more focus on the politics of it with maybe some sort of theme of how "being a leader in war is an inherently unethical position where every decision you make will lead to death/conflict/hate."

Like idk I just think it would've been more interesting if the narrative spent less time going "zomg Optimus is totally a tyrant now" and instead went all in on exploring the political conflicts and how far politicians (Optimus now being one, since he's declaring wars and forcefully acting as an ambassador that no one asked for) can go on manipulation and forcing people's hands for the sake of an ultimately good cause. I mean, Windblade was doing shit like covering up for Chromia who killed people in a bombing, making backdoor deals with Starscream, and conspiring with Optimus to bypass Starscream/overthrow him as Cybertron's ruler somehow. The difference of course is that Windblade and exRID were written by two different authors with genre/thematic differences, but as a reader it is really disappointing to see two different political narratives where "a hero turned politician turning to morally gray/unethical methods to outmaneuver a deadly opponent" is treated as clever and heroic for one character, but tyrannical and worthy of ostracization of another character.

Like for God's sake this narrative where Optimus gets lambasted at every turn sometimes by people who work with/are literal tyrants/terrorists themselves is so fucking exhausting. I'd rather read a story that focused more on the idea of, well what Optimus did was unethical but on a political level it was actually advantageous in several ways. Then you could write a story that really dives into a view of like, idk... Does power inherently corrupt or is it just situations like war that allow leaders to seize power and become tyrannical? Are politics an inherently dirty field where the only way to beat your competition (and secure a decent future for the nation) is to become underhanded and manipulative yourself? Is it okay to bypass or work against rightfully elected officials when those officials are turning a blind eye to things like war and invasions and historic racism?

ExRID did somewhat touch on these themes to be fair, but I feel like in Optimus' case they were either poorly executed or just thrown away in favor of having every other character talk shit about him and how he's the worst person ever. Bc like goddammit, I do think Optimus' polarizing and sometimes bad decisions as a character DO make him skirt on the edge of tyranny and shouldn't be downplayed, but on the other hand, I feel like no one (fandom or in-universe) ever tangles with the OTHER side of the story, which is just... Would it have been unethical for Optimus to NOT have done anything? Cybertronians literally put a colony on Earth, injected Earth with alien technology and sleeper agents, used Earth as an incubating ground for dangerous elements like Ore-13, invaded Earth and killed 1 billion people-- after all the shit Cybertron did to Earth, is it not fair (even morally obligated) for Cybertronians to clean up their shit and help Earth defend itself against a crisis that Cybertronians caused? And if Cybertron's government/the individuals within are racist enough that they don't care about Earth, don't see it as their problem, and don't even see human life as meaningful since they don't live that wrong anyways... is it not, in a way, a good thing for Optimus to have overstepped his authority and forced diplomatic relationships between the two planets? So that humans had an actual political channel to go "fuck you, we're in your Council so you'd better ally with us" and so that Cybertron would be forced to go "welp can't write off these humans as Not Our Problem, guess we have to help them." Doesn't forcing Earth to be part of the Council in a way legitimize Optimus' fight to help Earth, since without a formal political office he's just a rogue general fighting an unauthorized war, but with the government involved, defending Earth now becomes a politically sanctioned act?

Like idk. I guess exRID and OP did get into some of this stuff, but as a whole it felt like the story underutilized its political elements and got bogged down in shit like pointless crossovers, and constantly pausing the narrative to have Side Character #2847 talk about how Optimus is a fascist, and having Optimus go on white guilt-esque monologues about how maybe all Cybertronians should die and are unworthy/unable to ever have a peaceful society because their society colonized other planets.

Just so much wasted potential honestly. ExRID/OP as written felt like it was going way too hard into "omg Cybertronians bad and Optimus is actually a tyrant" instead of just writing a complex story and letting readers come to their own conclusions. And also lambasting Optimus for doing things that other characters did (or characters who did even worse things), but letting those characters exist in peace while Optimus has to just be some allegory for colonialism that has to be torn down at every turn because that's Deep and Intellectual.

I just like the kinds of stories about politics that play around with the ethics of it all, like, "this politician is a shitty person but their policies actually prevented some sort of disaster from happening" or "this person did something illegal and defied the law but they did it because no one else was doing anything" or even "everyone hates this person for forcing them into a political deal they didn't want to be involved in, but the fact that they were all forced to become allies actually allowed them to cooperate and save themselves in a way they wouldn't have been able to alone" (which is pretty much literally how the annexing of Earth ended up going).

Like man I don't want to sit here being lectured/having my favorite character be lectured about how much tyranny is bad. I want my favorite character to do shitty things and then go "whoa that was shitty...but also kind of smart...but also caused a lot of problems...but also solved some other problems that could've turned awful if he hadn't forcefully resolved them."

#squiggposting #idw op love #it's less like i want OP to be framed as sympathetic or good and more like.... #'yeah what he did was fucked up but it was also in many ways a good option' #like i wish we'd gotten a more politically interesting story where the goods and bads were explored #instead of it being almost unilaterally the characters all gasping and screaming any time OP #does something morally gray. even tho the entire universe is morally gray and he' #isnt even close to the worst person or political leader in it #like idk what it really comes down to is that a lot of the story felt more like #it was trying to make OP some embodiment of colonialism and how everything bad is on his shoulders #regardless of his personal actions just bc he' #s prime. it feels like it was some weird white guilt allegory pasted onto robots #instead of just writing a cool story about politics and moral grayness and how far one can go #before morally gray means turn into morally gray ends #i feel like under a different writer the story couldve been way more interesting #and it couldve even kept OP's whole tyranny arc thing but just been more well written #treating him as a character who MAY HAVE HAD POINTS ABOUT SOME THINGS #AND MIGHTVE BEEN THE ONLY PERSON WHO GAVE A DAMN ABOUT HUMANITY #AND CLEANING UP THE MISTAKES CYBERTRON CREATED THAT HARMED HUMANS TO THIS DAY #but nah instead of just letting OP's moral grayness stand on its own for reader to judge #he had to literally write in characters going 'zomg the Bots were the colonizers all along' #'[OP's leadership] is LITERALLY FASCISM' (actual dialogue btw) #ppl going surprisepika when OP decides to just kill the genocidal asshole from the golden age #like goddamn could you let OP breathe and be allowed to be morally gray #w/o having the whole story exist to make him some white guilt colonialism allegory that all the other characters scream at

[minevn]

(I'm sorry for the mistakes) What will they do if the MC in one of the disputes (swearing) shouts: “I can’t do this anymore! I wish I never met you!" and leave?

Minato: Fights wouldn't happen often with Minato, but for this ask maybe he was being a bit too protective and seemed like he was babying you and didn't trust you to make your own decisions. He tries really hard to justify his own thoughts about the topic, I don't think he'd want to admit he's wrong about this topic. If you shouted that and left, Minato would just stand there staring at the door for like 30 minutes because...what? You wish you never met him? How long have you felt like that? Did he really do anything wrong? Was he just jealous and actually had nothing to worry about? Did he really not trust you to make your own decisions? He needs a bit to process his own emotions and what he's going to say to you. Wants to go out and find you but is worried that he might just worsen things.

Haruto: He can sense when the argument starts brewing, but he refuses to lose this. Maybe you found out that he had made bad things up about your old friends. He's planned what to say if you ever found out, and it's logical, so you're bound to believe him, then you'll apologize and Haruto will forgive you and tell you he's not going anywhere. That's how it should've gone, but you had lost some trust in Haruto and nothing could've prepared him for what you said before leaving. Much like Minato, Haruto will stand there, frozen. Why didn't his plan work? It was so logical, how couldn't you believe it? How did you see through him? What's to become of you two. He's a wreck the next few days, and really reaching his limit without seeing you. Oh well, you two will be together forever, no matter what.

Jun: Honestly, I can't see why arguments would happen often between you two, but if clingy people exhaust you then yeah, I think arguments would happen because of that. Jun can't really say much, se just kinda cowers while you go off. Absolutely was not expecting you to say that before leaving. Did her clinginess bother you that much? How long has it bothered you? Why didn't you say anything? Jun knows she's clingy and a bit emotional, but she still would've respected your boundaries, she never wanted to make you uncomfortable. She wants to go after you, she wants to make things better, but would that just make her more clingy in your eyes? She's not sure what to do. She waits for you to talk to her again, afraid of being clingy. If you two make up, she makes sure to never touch you again, afraid that an argument will happen again.

Hoshi: You had tried, you had tried SO hard to be nice and patient with this asshole, but you just couldn't take it anymore. The pranks didn't stop and Hoshi was still rude to you, even if he had his rare moment where he opened up to you and was gentle, you were getting sick of having to excuse his shitty behavior just because he had a few good moments. The next time he said something rude was the moment you snapped before leaving. Hoshi didn't even get to say anything, he was so shocked. He lets out a deep sigh and plops down on the couch, thinking of his actions. What is wrong with him? Why does he continue to treat you so poorly even though he loves you so much? He knows it's because of his ex, but why can't he just move on? You aren't his ex, well maybe now you are... He'll actually go out and find you, he needs to apologize, even if you don't forgive him and you're done with him. He'll understand if you are. He wouldn't take that kind of behavior himself, at least not the new him.

Habiki: Probably happened for some of the same reasons as Hoshi, with Habiki being a jerk and all. You had helped him through so much just to have gotten seemingly nowhere with him, you've really had it. You can't take these cruel words from your boyfriend anymore, you're starting to believe the things he's saying if you hadn't before. The next time he insults you, you insult him right back, finishing by saying you can't take it anymore and that you wish you never met them before leaving him staring there in shock. Never in a million years would he have expected that from you. He'll try to play it off like he doesn't care, that it doesn't bother him, but he can't stop thinking about it. Yeah, it's his fault, he's an asshole. He knows, he's well aware of it. He's not sure why he continued being so rude to even after you helped him through so much, that's just who he is. No. He could change, if it was for you. He'll do anything to keep you by his side.

Kage: I can't see arguments happened between you two that often either, but I think maybe you caught him stalking you and was obviously creeped out. He really wanted to say something, but how does he explain that? You literally caught him. What is he supposed to say? That it wasn't him? That would be stupid and a lie. You have every right to be mad at him and he's well aware of it. He gives up on even thinking of an excuse, he just sits there with his head down as you understandably shout at him. He definitely wasn't expecting you to shout that you can't take it anymore and that you wish you never met them before leaving, but honestly he's not surprised either. After you leave, he allows himself to cry. He doesn't go after you and assumes that you're just done with him. After some time he types out the apology you deserve, making sure to state many times that he doesn't expect you two to even be friends after what he did and that he just wanted to apologize because you deserve one.

Kei: Probably found the cameras and then found out they were his and he was watching you. Honestly, Kei has helped you out so much in the time that you've known him, which is why Kei just smiles at you. Even if you were disgusted by him watching you, you need him, or rather you need his help. He doesn't say anything and just lets you shout at him. At the end of the day, him watching you has saved you many MANY times. Even when you shout you wish you never met him and leave, he's not concerned or upset. He knows that watching you has you creeped out, and maybe he's no better then Yani in your eyes, but you'll come back to him and when you do, he'll prove that he NEEDS to watch you in order to protect you, that setting camera's up everywhere is actually saving you. And if you're still mad at him, well he's not letting you leave again. It'd be easier to watch you if you were stuck with him, since you hate cameras so much <3

Yani: You've been mad at Yani you're entire relationship honestly. They've got the creepiness of Kei and Kage and the clinginess of Jun, except worse then everyone combined. I think what would set you off though is if Yani promised to change for you(Meaning stopping all the stalking and violence) but then didn't stick with it. You put up with it's creepiness and it promised to change and you believed it, just for it to continue to be awful. You spend an entire day thinking about it, letting your anger simmer and when you go back home and Yani is there, seeing their smile while you're miserable with them, it gets your blood boiling hotter. You snap, you can't take it anymore. After sapping, you leave so quickly, using Yani's shock as a way to leave before she can even think of stopping you and keeping you locked up. They sit there, frozen for days. They haven't eaten, haven't drank, haven't slept, they haven't done anything but but about your words and his actions. Have...they just been rejected? Again? No... You accepted them, but they ruined it. This was something they caused themselves. What do you need from her to make it all up to you. Honestly, they thought about kidnapping you again, but you're upset with them for breaking their promise, kidnapping you would just be breaking the promise even more. If she went to go see you, would you think she was stalking you? Would that make things worse? She doesn't know what to do.

Aki: I'm not sure what you would be arguing about, everyone else I could think of something, but I can't think of literally anything with Aki. Uhm so y'all are fighting over something and Aki is going to defend herself, she's pretty stubborn about her own beliefs, especially if she doesn't think you have good reasonings for yours. She thinks this entire argument is stupid, you two probably diverted from the original topic so many times that she doesn't even know what it was. She was least expecting of you to shout something like that. Instantly she flinches and looks at you hurt before tears start welling in her eyes. Wants to stop you from leaving, her hand so close to grabbing you hand, wanting you to stop so you guys could just talk instead of arguing like you two should've done from the start. She doesn't want to lose you. Still, her hands can't seem to grab you, like there's an invisible force over your wrist, and there's nothing she can do about it other then just watching you leave.

#💝-minevn #visual novel #yandere vn #🎤-asks #🐠-Minato #📙-Haruto #🎀-Jun #🍽️-Hoshi #🎻-Habiki #👤-Kage #💻-Kei #💕-Yani #🐍-Aki

[billfarrah]

kinda disappointed that we didn't get more scenes of bill and darby in general but especially of them bonding over being nerds more than anything lmao I loved when brit talked about how when she and zal were first creating bill and darby that they thought a lot about the feeling you have in first love where you find someone who helps mirror you back to you so that you can see yourself, just wish we could've seen more of that in the actual execution ☹️ do you have any headcanons for them or any scenes that you would've liked to have seen in the show?

I don’t have any headcanons but I do agree that we didn’t get enough of them. Throughout the episodes I remember just kinda zoning out during the Iceland stuff and wondering when the next flashback would be. I think the show was very ambitious overall and it would’ve worked better if there were more episodes, and honestly by the end I just wanted to ditch the Iceland plot altogether and just follow Darby and Bill’s journey. Emma and Harris were just crazy good. I would’ve liked to see more scenes of them just being happy together coz tbh a lot of the time Darby was pretty awful to him. I understand why and it made her journey even more heartbreaking, but just a couple more scenes of them being happy would’ve been nice. I was disappointed the scene of them kissing and frolicking in the sand was just a couple flashes of her memory rather than a full-on flashback. Release the footage, Brit and Zal.

#ask #a murder at the end of the world

[dr-jem-nutcase]

hi dr nutcase! this is manmonsters&aliens

okay 1. brainrotting so hard about the divorce. how do you think Derek felt about that? about his dad? because of this I imagined meeting Susan's parents must've been nice.. but he was quick to throw that away

2. DID HE TURN TO HIS MOMMA AFTER THE WEDDING/BEING PUBLICALLY EMBARRASSED?? COMFORT RETURNED OUGH...... honestly if he went into shock about Susan's growth spurt he would've complained, then not talk about it for a whole month and basically pretend Susan didn't exist and that everything was fine. Everything is normal! he has such a fixed idea of what he wants he's not flexible at all but would go to lengths for any ounce of opportunity...

3. Oh my GODD SIBLINGS?? OLDER SIBLINGS?! AND HE'S THE YOUNGEST FGHSGHFJHHHHF AAA— ahem herm. absolutely agree on the insecurity and competitiveness he's really like. going for better things for himself

sorry if this is incomprehensible I'm just a big fan of Derek Dietl 👍 he's my ballerina Barbie doll I occasionally find rotating in my brain

anyways, here's a hc of mine! Derek used to do photography, maybe like a hobby. He took the mini golf picture of Susan as like. a family outing or something. it got dropped when he realised he wanted to be in front of the camera instead ^—^

Hi, sorry for the late response. For whatever reason, this message didn't show up until later. I do like the photography hobby HC.

Now about Derek....

Derek felt disappointed that his parents decided to go separate ways. He knew there was some amount of tension going on between them that couldn't be resolved but only knew half of it until he was older. But knowing that a few of his peers/classmates/whatever had divorced parents too helped him feel better, that he wasn't alone. Susan knew about his dad in West Virginia and held onto the albeit reluctant promise that she and Derek would visit him someday as Derek's career progressed. I'm sure he holds his dad in good regards but just wishes that he could've taken up residence somewhere else with a more refined culture

I can imagine his relationship with his mom is strained, which made him a tad bit jealous of Susan's good relationship with her own parents (also, meeting the parents can make a good impression in a relationship). He was his mom's golden child, and she's overly attached to him and had a hard time letting go of him when he wanted to make a life for himself and be his own person, a little like Howard's mom in Big Bang Theory. She also seems like the type to be overly talkative and a little obnoxious, like you have to try to escape a potentially hour-long mostly one-sided conversation without coming across as a jerk, which kinda pushed Susan away. Regardless of losing Susan and losing progress in his career, he still wants to be his own person. He appreciates whatever gestures of comfort his mom has had to offer during the bad days like "how's my weatherman doing 🥺?" phone calls and offers to come over to his apartment to cheer him up but he doesn't want to go back to being a mama's boy. But he's not alone in this world and has a few buddies. He just knows it's gonna be a long road to get back to where he was in the movie, probably a couple years later when the news of Susan turning him down isn't as big anymore

#monsters vs aliens #mva #dreamworks #derek dietl #headcanons

[sayakxmi]

[Magi reread] Night 15: Clear

Man, second to last chapter.

They cleared it!!!!

Listen, we all make fun of Alibaba, but Imma be honest with you, if presented with magic fire grandpa who doesn't seem to like me vs a shitton of gold and other treasure, I'd take the money, too. But on a sadder note, Alibaba gets the value of money very personally. Sure, it might not be the most important thing in the world, but he's lived through extreme poverty, losing his mother to an illness that maybe, just maybe could've been cured had they been able to afford any form of treatment. But they hadn't been. And he also had to fend for himself after leaving the palace. It's funny to see him like that, but he has a damn good reason to be like that.

Also, look at the smol Aladdin there.

Him.

Man, if somebody told Amon then and there that this guy currently with some gems in his mouth would be said king, he would've felt so insulted.

Ok, but I wish the "taking the place of beloved Solomon" was elaborated a bit more. (He's talking about Aladdin, btw. Which, now that I think about it, makes sense, since Ugo tried to make everybody believe Aladdin was Solomon)

I love Alibaba. Also, more Amon and the King Vessel he said he didn't want.

I love him.

Yo, half of the fandom, it's the guy you simp over. (Horrendous taste in men) [Yudja: Weird ass hands]

God, that guy.

They shook. But also that goddamn crown on Alibaba's head is so funny for some reason.

Aww, i've never noticed that Alibaba is holding Amon. Is that the moment he felt like a grandpa for the first time? [Yudja: More I think, like an annoyed mother with a young kid at the candy store]

Ok, Amon looks sick as hell here.

Ok, that's actually so nice that Aladdin and Ugo really are both helping with that gold.

Her!

Listen to your new family members, leave the bastard behind.

(softly) Don't.

(I need a hero playing in the background) GOLTAS

Ok, sorry to ruin the mood, but Goltas is kinda similar to "golas" which basically means somebody being naked in Polish, and now I can't unthink that.

Tell her, Goltas!

But also, man, an AU where Goltas leaves, too.

Is that a translation thing? I kind of wonder if in the official one he also say that they have ancestors from the same tribes. Makes me wonder if Kouga are related to Fanalis, now.

He did the thing!

Ok, that's a cool ass shot.

Another cool ass shot, but also, Jamil, shut the fuck up.

I know it's not the case, but he looks like his showing her thumbs up.

Metal Vessel: acquired.

There he is, half of the fandom. Your man. (I won't stop joking about horrendous taste in men, though I do feel like pointing out that I do like Judar. Not my fave anymore, but I happend to like most of the cast, him included.)

Adios.

#saya's magi reread #magi #alibaba saluja #aladdin #morgiana #judar

[ozziesjester]

❌️, 😔, and 🥺 for vanessa!

"Man... do I have to? This is gonna get kinda heavy.

I mean. I'll do it! But sheesh."

❌️ - what's something you and s/i disagree on? is it anything big, or is it inconsequential?

"Oh, God. A lot of things? It doesn't help that he's got a big head and turns everything into an argument. He can be such a jackass sometimes.

Sorry! Got a bit off track, there. Uhh, for something specific...? I guess him and I see Dad differently from each other. It's a tough subject to bring up - he doesn't like to talk about him, especially not after he, uh... disappeared. So, I mean, it doesn't really cause any issues for us..."

😔 - what would life without s/i be like for you?

"...boring. Haha! Uh, that's only sort of a joke...

...to be honest with you, imagining life without him is... really, really strange. It's not like we grew up together, but... it feels like I've known him my whole life.

We could've never met. What if Dad had just picked a different kid? What if his own father hadn't been so awful to him? That's... weird to think about.

I don't want to think about it anymore. Bad. Life would be bad. Going through that alone would've destroyed me."

🥺 - if you knew today would be the last day you spoke to s/i, what would you say to them?

"Ah, but it looks like I have to think about it even more! Terrific.

God, um... I don't know. I wouldn't be able to fit all my feelings into words. I have so much I want to say to him. How can you fit 15 years into a single goodbye? I'm not good at articulating my emotions, either. I guess I'd just start with...

I'll miss you. You changed my life. I wish things could have gone differently for us.

And... maybe we can meet again in a better life."

#puppy answers #🐰 #profovember #crying screaming punching the ground #through gritted teeth #thanks for the ask :)

[these-terrors]

3, 4, and 14 for the horrible asks:)

hey i only saw this now but i found the horrible asks thingie so i'll answer them rn. sorry for the delay!! 03: Do you regret anything? i tend to say i don't really have any regrets in general because i try to live in line with myself and to understand that the choices i once made were made in good faith in relation to myself and the way i wanted things to turn out back then. i do regret not setting boundaries from earlier in life and not talking back to a lot of people who would've deserved it but to whom i was way too nice at the time. ig this is what being a people pleaser well into your teens is like aough. also i genuinely truly sincerely regret not cheating on the ex that assaulted me, wish i could traumatize him back (for legal reasons this is a joke). and when things get bad in my head i also regret not becoming a better person sooner because the people i love deserve that, but they do remind me that progress matters a lot and that they weren't perfect either, which helps :) 04: Are you insecure? i think i am, yeah. i don't really think about it often, because i usually associate being insecure with being insecure about physical features, but i think i kinda got over most of those, at least when it comes to existing next to others. i still get insecure about my double chin when with a partner but i ask for reassurance and it's usually fine. moving on from the physical aspect, i am insecure about my personality. it got way better in the last 4 years, but god do i sometimes fear the mess that i am and how that reflects onto my relationships. gosh. 14: Do you miss someone?

thing is that i don't miss the actual people, but the people they could've been if they tried more and cared more. i think everyone that left my life did so for a reason and for the better. i'm usually better off without the people that had to leave and i pretty much always end up glad that they left. i miss the versions of them that they embodied back when we were going through the good times and the really tight times of our friendship, but not the actual real them. the cub who broke my heart wasn't even the way i saw him for example, i gave him way too much credit when he was just emotionally unavailable and pretty much a man child. learned my lesson, not missing him anymore, just missing the good times. but now, thankfully, i'm aware i can have even better times with people who are actually good people. gosh this got lengthy and personal. hope it was interesting to read thumbs up emoji

#weenhands #terrors.answered

[akashicpoint]

If you could redo NMH2, what would the plot be about? More or less the same? What about the boss fights? What would you wanna see in a boss fight the most? (personally, i wished the whole Charlie and his hoard of cheerleaders got the boot, i never knew you could make a giant Mecha fight boring, but...yeah, it's...there. Wished we got some kinda werwolf fight tho)

Sorry for such a late reply, but as for what I would redo for nmh2's plot. I'm not entirely sure. I won't talk too much on it because I don't want this post to be TOO long but (Sorry if its a bit vague at points and ramblings): I think the plot is perfectly fine on paper, and with what happens in TSA/NMH3, I think it helps show just how deep Travis is with the cycle of violence/revenge between all the games. I wish they would've focused some on how the rapid developments of Santa Destroy via Jasper Batt and Travis winning the UAA rankings (?) was affecting the city for the worse like with the rise of crime and others feeling the need to join the UAA's ranks for whatever reason that may be. That couldn't be helped though, since I mean there WAS plans for an open world and it was just cut sadly. I think the open world being cut really hurt the game and its plot a lot tbh. Which leads me to the boss fights. I think design-wise they all look great, but their lack of story is ??? This isn't to say NMH1 had deep lore, but we are given just enough about them to speculate what their lives were like. Whether it's via environments like Death Metals mansion, or in their mannerisms and pre-battle speeches like Bad Girl. I think if they had just retweaked the bosses to focus more on themselves and THEN how Travis affected them, then it would've been fine perhaps? Nathan and Cloe Walsh are two bosses that come to mind when I see lost potential and wish they could've just had more about them rather than that weird scene Nathan gets and then...that weird scene Cloe gets.

I forget about Charlie until people brings him up ngl LOL. I get WHY they did that for ranking reasons, but honestly, they should've just thrown a bunch of assassins into an arena (not the fake-out we get with Dr. Shake) and had them fight JJBA part 6 style (The survivor arc). Or, if that's not possible...maybe don't make as many rankings and shrink them down in size instead. But yeah, I wasn't into Charlie's fight at all. Also would've been cool to see Henry fight AT LEAST one more person.

As for the werewolf, that would've been cool and probably better than the Matt Helms fight in terms of more horror-oriented fights (Didn't vibe with it as much sadly). I assume they wouldn't do it though because Miss Moonlight has the full moon in her battle.

#I rambled but I didn't even ramble all my thoughts out #but if I keep talking this post will go on for ages #I also think how Travis is treated and viewed in NMH2 should be changed or expanded upon personally #because it would help the dynamic with a lot of these rank battles #Sorry this is long btw #sorry i could also make this longer LOL #When I learn how to readmore here #its over #dom.txt

[yennasun]

Lethal revelations part 2

It'd been a few months since whatever this was began to spread.

He'd tried everything he could think of to stop it but nothing worked, even submerging his hand in healing potions didn't do worth a damn.

Now it'd spread to his elbows, and the overwhelming numbness spread with it.

It was terrifying, now instead of Fearing his hands had gone every morning he'd think half his arm was gone!

This time he'd gone to blue, but not in the traditional way. He still wanted to avoid attention as much as possible, he loathed the idea of being cared for by another.

He simply asked a question.

"Blue...you ever hear of something where...like this kinda blackness spreads up someone's arm? Gives a feeling of numbness?"

"Mmhh...no, can't say I have. Why?"

He had a simple, yet very effective excuse in mind.

"Just saw something like it while browsing the internet...thought you'd know."

Unbeknownst to MT, blue caught wind of the slight tinge of disappointment in his voice. He also caught MT look away for just a split second.

Blue knew that when he was telling the truth, he either looked you in the face or didn't look at you at all. When he was lying, he'd look at you but for just a second his pupil would wander away.

And for another fact;

Since when does MT browse the internet?

Not only did MT give off all the signs that something was wrong, but the example he gave was far too specific...

This doesn't feel right...

Blue thought nervously.

His more bold side wanted to confront MT here and now, but he knew how scary MT could be when cornered. Not only that, but it'd do more harm than good, blue considered it a small miracle that he even came to talk to him at all.

Over the next few months, blue decided to keep it between the 2 of them. He loved the others but knew that if he told any of them, one was bound to spill.

3 more months passed, nearly a year since the spread started.

Not only had it gone up to his shoulders, but now it was on his neck too - which affected his breathing.

Sometimes his throught would go dry out of nowhere and he'd break into a coughing fit.

This wouldn't be a problem if not for one thing; sometimes blood came out.

He'd been all but banned from any physically strenuous chores when yellow found him passed out, as yellow dragged him back home she noticed that all his breaths came out in gasps or wheezes.

Yellow immediately took him to blue, where laid MT down and put covers over him.

Before doing so, he took MTs jacket off and sure enough, the black spread he'd asked him about months ago.

Blue felt somewhat shameful at taking this opportunity while MT was unconscious, especially since blue noticed something "engraved" on his left arm that MT seemed to never want to talk about.

Blue also knew that he'd never have gotten this information otherwise.

MT...you idiot...

He covered MT back up as he contemplated.

He just couldn't wrap his head around it, why did the man never want any help? Did he have a death wish?

You already know the answer to that

True, he did know. But still, he could be pinned against a tree by a truck and he'd tell them to back off and that he'd "handle it"

Frankly, it made him angry. How could someone be so against what blue saw as foundational? He simply didn't understand...

From there, his thoughts wandered elsewhere - to another question.

What happened to make him this way?

It could've just been the way blue was brought up, and he had to understand that not everyone was brought up the same way as him and the others were.

He took a moment to place himself in MTs shoes, for just a moment, to try and see where this thought process came from.

He thought about what he would've needed to go through to hold the same notion.

I'd have needed to go through alot, that's for sure...

As he contemplated some more, he looked at the helpless, unconscious figure who's breaths came out in pained wheezes every now and then. At that moment, blue had actually felt sympathy for him.

"We'll help you through this...you must be so troubled to do this to yourself..." he whispered, secretly hoping MT couldn't hear him.

After a few hours, MT stirred. Looking around before looking down at his arms.

Once he realized his jacket had been removed, his temper began to stir as well until he realized his branding was no longer viewable.

Over the next few months, even if he himself didn't know it, he Began to grow closer with the color gang, and they grew closer to him as well.

Hell, he'd been getting closer with them in the past year or 2 and he just didn't know it.

His relationship with green began as abrasive, the two couldn't be in the same room for more than a few seconds without getting into a fistfight. But now green began to invite MT to his room, as green had taken an interest in stick fighting.

At first, MT declined. After all why would he want to attempt to enjoy the sport that caused him so much pain?

But after some encouragement from purple, he accepted and they watched the fight closely.

Sometimes green would point out a combination or sequence of steps and punches that he thought looked cool, and MT would explain in depth the tactics, strategies and skill that went into them.

And green truly enjoyed listening to MT talk about something he was knowledgeable on.

MT, likewise, enjoyed greens music very much and nowadays subtly jumped at the opportunity to listen to him.

Red had been in the middle, a bit like second. She didn't hate him the way green did at first but she also didn't take an immediate liking to him the way blue did.

But some of the farm work required a huge amount muscle that she just didn't have, and MT, despite his loss of weight, still had that going for him.

Red rather enjoyed the silence, everyone else got too bored too quickly and insisted on filling the air with words instead of just enjoying the moment. But she quickly realized MT didn't have the problem at all, in fact he seemed to enjoy the silence as much as she did.

She'd also find out that he had somewhat of a soft spot for animals too. He'd get rough with them if they gave the two of them trouble but he'd always feed them a bit more or pet them good once he was sure she wasn't looking.

He also got her in better shape when she needed help with her physical education course, and he made sure to train her hard, even yellow came along sometimes.

Speaking of which, Yellow was...complicated.

She definitely disliked him, but she didn't outright hate him.

Until one day, she was in a sparring session with green that got competitive.

MT passed by but took interest and spectated.

He watched the two go back and forth and began coaching yellow.

He noticed after she threw the feint green liked to step in closer.

"Jab, feint, stepback, left!" He yelled out

She turned to him momentarily, before continuing what she was doing. Ignoring his orders.

MT also noticed that when green was gonna throw the overhand right, he noticably sunk his weight on his right foot and while throwing, flared his left arm out leaving his body wide open.

So when he saw green sink down, he shouted again.

"Duck, left to the body!"

After that, she held her hand out to green, motioning to stop.

"Alright, if You know so much then come on over here and show me!"

He walked over with a small smile on his face, and obliged.

Needless to say, she looked like a disciple in the face of a master.

Not only did he have all the tools necessary to neutralize her speed and awkward angles, but he took advantage of his own angles.

For example, when he got into close range he'd pin his right shoulder to her left shoulder to push and then pivot off her, putting her in a right handed stance and him in a left handed stance.

He was perfectly comfortable in a left handed stance, yellow was obviously not comfortable in a right handed stance.

He'd also step at absurd angles so his wide, looping punches landed sooner but making sure to pull his punches since it was only a sparring session.

At the end of it she was left bewildered and befuddled, but most importantly, smarter.

In just 2 rounds of sparring she'd learned so many different tactics.

From that point forward the 2 had a private deal.

He'd teach her fighting tactics and strategies, and she'd teach him things like math and help him work on his handwriting and reading comprehension.

Blue cared about him, but blue cared about everyone.

Whenever MT was around blue, he always felt like he was around someone he could trust, even if it was purple who made him go see blue for an injury.

Blue was always taken aback by how resilient MT was, but was always happy to aid him.

Second was neutral with him, but respected his competence as a fighter.

It first started as an offer for MT to go on a mining expedition with him since everyone else was busy.

MT accepted, wanting to get out of the house but having nothing else to do.

They'd been out for hours and came back with a very good haul.

During this time though, second respected his fighting skills even more.

He just always seemed to have "a gut feeling" of whenever danger was near, and he always dealt with it swiftly and efficiently.

Now second would almost always bring MT out with him, he always felt safe with him around.

He also found him easier to talk to than he anticipated, they could talk for hours about mundane things.

Second would even invite him to tag along in his and greens play sessions where they'd play different games!

All in all, MT felt as close as he did to "safe" around the others as he did when he was with Rooney.

His paranoid outbursts were also lessening, and it definitely had something to do with the fact he'd grown to trust the color gang more. Now he didn't constantly feel like he was going to be stabbed in the back.

He also felt less tense all the time, now not having to remain on guard at all times. It was a nice change of pace.

He even found himself relaxing every now and again, even on the couch in front of the big TV where everyone else could see him.

His mood had improved drastically, no longer being reserved and melancholic.

He wasn't exactly out going, but he definitely felt better now than he had before.

Which was all the more reason why he couldn't let anyone know what was happening with them.

And he'd been successful, until he'd been out gathering wood with red.

He was telling her about some weird looking trees he found until he broke into a coughing fit again.

But this time it'd been more intense than ever, it'd gotten worse with the spread reaching his chest now but this was different.

He stumbled towards some trees, bracing his hand to lean on it as he coughed a lung out.

"Are you alright?" Red asked as she approached.

He replied through Deep and rough coughs.

"It's no...othing" he coughed even harder, keeling over as though he were going to throw up.

Except he didn't, instead he fell over as he coughed and wheezed some more.

Red rushed to his side and found the sides of his mouth drenched in blood and his eyes half lidded.

Using her strength, she lifted him and dragged him home since he couldn't seem to get his legs under him.

MTs vision was blurry as they approached the outside of the house.

Red brought him in and MT could make out the concerned and borderline panicked looks the others gave him.

They rushed towards him, saying things that only came out as muffled nonsense to him.

He recalled blue saying something about a hospital.

It was decided that red and blue would be the ones to take him to the hospital as they were the most physically strong.

They rushed him out of minecraft, onto the PC and through the gateway that ped to stock city.

They ran as fast as they could, even if mts legs got skinned on the ground but after the back breaking dash, they made it to the hospital.

Blue was the first to cry out.

"Help...our friend needs help, please!"

Two nurses came out with a stretcher and loaded him on it, they wheeled him to an examination room.

Blue and red tried to follow but were stopped at the door.

"We need to examine him privately, but you're free to wait here in the meantime."

It took a few minutes but MT was finally able to function cognitively.

A bit longer and a doctor came in the room.

"So what seems to be the issue."

He thought for a minute about where he should start, before speaking.

"Well, my body's turning black and going numb, it's getting harder to breath and I'm coughing alot."

"Is there blood?'

"Sometimes."

The doctor rubbed at his forehead a bit before leaving the room.

Few minutes later, he came back with a set of tools.

He grabbed a thick popsicle stick and small flashlight before approaching MT.

"Say 'ah'" MT did as instructed, feeling the stick press down on his tongue as the doctor shined his light over his mouth.

He took the stick over to a microscope and examined it before coming back with a stethoscope.

He pressed it against his lung

"Breathe in" he did so

"Breath out"

The doctor took his stethoscope off and picked up a scalpel.

"Gimme your hand, this'll sting a bit"

The doctor cut out a small strip of charred skin before taking it to the microscope.

Once he was done, he washed his hands.

"Well what is it?" MT asked

"It's not good..." the doctor replied

"Well I kinda figured"

"It's a relatively new phenomenon, we call in the infernal plague. A rare sickness seen only in amps with fire based powers. Think of the permafrost-flu but for fire amps."

"Alright, is there any cure for it?"

He knew the answer right when he saw the doctors face.

No...

No no it was all going so well...not now...

"I'm really sorry son...it's a hell of a thing. Maybe if you'd come sooner, we could be done something about it but now it's spread too far." MT felt the whole world spin as the reality of what was inevitably gonna happen hit him tenfold.

"It's a progressive sickness, the best way to slow it down is to settle down somewhere wet and cool. Is that possible?"

"Heh...hehe, no it's not possible!"

The doctor was understanding of this reaction, receiving news that they were dying was never easy to digest.

"Well here...take these" he handed a small case of what seemed to be more than 20 small syringes.

"These should slow it down, take one every month. It won't save you, but it'll give a few more precious years"

He stuffed the case in his jacket pocket and walked down the hallway, feeling cold and numb as he did, like his mind just left him.

Going back into the lobby, he was met with blue and yellows concerned expressions.

"How'd it go?" Blue asked once they left.the building.

MT ran through every answer in his mind that could keep this quiet, the last thing he wanted to do was hurt them more.

So he did the worst thing possible, he lied.

"Just a little disease, I got medicine for it and hopefully I'll recover." Red seemed to belive this answer and smiled.

But blue couldn't shake the pit forming in his stomach, the whole thing stank of lies.

And time would prove him correct.

---------------------------------------------------

So yeah, I decided to make a follow up not even a day after posting the original lmao.

This one was way longer cuz I had a better idea of how I wanted it to turn out.

Either way I hope you enjoyed this!

#alan becker #avm #animation vs minecraft #animator vs animation #avm king orange #ava #avm mt #avm mango #au #usfc #Drabbles

[tea-cat-arts]

Ok, so Verdant Wind was my first fe3h route and I fucking hated it, but it's been like 2 years, so I've decided to replay it and to see if I still feel the same (I just want to give it a fair chance and not have my bad, knee-jerk, "I'm still learning how this game works" reaction to be my only memory of the route). Anyways, I'm having thoughts anyways so I may as well shout them into the void as I go along. Thoughts as of white clouds ch7 (spoilers will be included. Also, I'm writing this at 4am so sorry if I dont make much sense):

Jesus christ the tonal whiplash of this route is awful. Hey Claude, Hilda- let's maybe not have a cheery talk about how cool relics are right after we killed a man

One idea that they kinda set up and I'm really sad they never really explored is Claude's friendship with "Thomas." I think it could've been interesting if they treated that relationship more like Thomas grooming Claude into the slithers. In non-VW routes, I think the betrayal could've served as a last-straw sorta moment that causes Claude to double down on his distrust in others, also further justifying why he never teams up with the other houseleaders. In VW, I think it would've been nice if by forming normal, healthy relationships with Byleth and his other classmates, Claude is able to realize on his own that something is kinda weird with his relationship with Thomas, so he actually asks for help and gets it, leading him more into genuinely trusting and relying on others. I feel like this angle could also help set Thomas up as shady, cuz I remember feeling pretty blindsided by the reveal in my first playthrough

I really like that Claude gets to have moments with the other houseleaders. I think if they played into it more, it could've been fun foreshadowing for his whole "master of diplomacy" he has going on post timeskip

Since the deer are the house with the most commoners, I think it would've been nice if they delved a bit further into the whole wealth disparity thing. Like, there's definitely bits and pieces, I just wish they went further into it. I think it would also help give further context on why half of the alliance wanted to side with Edelgard (and make Claude look more impressive when he actually does unify them)

#fe3h #fire emblem 3 houses #verdant wind #fe3h claude #claude von reigen #fe3h spoilers

[loveforpreserumsteve]

A Whole New Ballfield: "ALN" Story (Pre-Serum Omega!Steve and Alpha!Bucky Modern Domestic AU)

Twenty-Nine:

"...And I know that it's scary, and I know that we'll make mistakes," the valedictorian assured, "But I also know that it's going to be fun and wonderful! Maybe not what we envisioned, and sure, it probably won't go the way we want it to. But it'll be worth it because we are!

"Don't limit yourself. Don't box yourself in. Take the chance. Believe in yourself! I know it's corny, but we'll never know unless we try."

An uproar of applauds came from the stands as the girl rejoined her classmates. It wasn't just the teary-eyed, proud families that cheered on the teen though, it was her classmates too. And a tear couldn't help but escape from the corner of Steve's eye as he watched his daughters stand and hug the girl, all four of them crying.

"It never gets easier, does it?" Oliver asked, swaying a snoozing Rory.

Sniffling, Steve shook his head. Confiding, "It's always difficult. Watching your babies grow up, it hurts. You love it but hate it at the same time."

Nuzzling against Rory's dark curls, Ollie said, "Kinda makes me wish that I had been nicer to you guys."

"Us too," Steve wetly chuckled, surprised. He never held his son's attitude against him, but it was a relief to watch the omega mature into the man he was now. Into the father he was now.

Bucky took the more comedic route. Affectionately, he squeezed Ollie's shoulder and good-naturedly teased, "Let's hope that you don't get a taste of your own medicine when the time comes."

"Oh god," Oliver winced. Briefly resting his cheek on the top of Rory's head, he said, "Let's hope they take after their daddy in more than just their looks."

"Cordelia Cecilia Barnes," the principal announced, regaining the family's attention.

Louder than the other families, the Barneses cheered for the young woman just as they had for her cousins and siblings. Not that she seemed to mind. A wide grin tugged at her glossy lips, and she posed for the obligatory picture as though she was on the red carpet. And Steve knew that she was going to get everything she always wanted. She had the drive to chase those dreams. She had gotten that determination from him.

"Geneva Winifred Barnes."

Taking a brief moment to steady herself, she took a cautious step up the stairs to the stage. She was so poised and grownup. And Ithaca didn't know what they had coming. Because Nevie wasn't one to just sit back when it came to something that she was passionate about. Plus, she had a mean right hook. Steve would like to think that she got everything from Bucky. But how many times did Sarah Rogers clean up his fat lips or take care of black eyes?

"Elizabeth Sarah Barnes."

As though she was born to be on stage, Bitsy moved effortlessly along it. Her steps almost like dancing. Standing tall and elegant, Steve knew that he'd never see anyone more graceful than her. And that could've only been inherited from her alpha father.

Wiping the tears from his face, Steve handed a tissue to his spouse. Even if the bond didn't reveal the overwhelming love and pride, Steve would've known that the alpha would've been overcome with emotion and tears. After all, that was how he had been with their other kids, so it was a given.

"Thanks, doll," Bucky draped his arm around Steve's slender shoulders, reeling the petite omega closer. Kissing Steve's temple, Bucky talked into his good ear, "I mean it."

Steve knew that he wasn't just talking about the tissue. He was talking about everything. Thanking him for being there. Thanking him for loving him. Thanking him for this life that they had together. And most of all, thanking him for their children.

Standing on his tiptoes, Steve pressed a sweet kiss to Bucky's soft lips. Thanking him all the same.

Returning their attention to the front, Steve looked at their daughters. They were so grown up. How in the hell had that happened? One minute, he was trying to keep up with taking care of multiple babies at once. Now, he was trying to keep it together as they entered adulthood.

It seemed like just yesterday, that they were doing tummy time, with Cori being the only one who truly liked it. Or Nevie being the first to coo. Like just yesterday, they were following their older siblings around like lost puppies because they thought they were the coolest. Just yesterday, they were starting dance classes and gymnastics and soccer, and being so uncoordinated that the families couldn't do anything but giggle.

God, it was all too much. Learning to walk. Learning to ride a bike. Learning how to plie. How to forward roll. How to dribble a ball. Learning how to read and write, and how to play the piano and the recorder, and how to do household chores. And then, learning how to drive.

Looking back on all of his babies' firsts felt like they had happened within a blink of an eye.

Beside him, Bucky tightened his grip on him as though he was trying to keep himself from falling apart as well as trying to comfort Steve. Steve couldn't help but be grateful for that.

As the graduating class was officially introduced, Steve watched as the girls threw their decorated caps up into the air with their classmates. Just like with their other kids, Steve and Bucky couldn't wait to experience all of the kids' other firsts. Whether that be roommates or weddings or babies. Steve would be there. Glancing up at his husband, he corrected himself, they would be there.

Graduation Boards:

This is the last chapter of this fic, but not the end of the series! I still have some photos that show the Barnes kids and Barnes grandkids through the years between this fic and the last fic (which takes place at Steve and Bucky's 50th wedding anniversary)!

But don't worry if you don't want to look at the photos, they're not necessary to understand "Together Forever", they're just something fun that I did!

Anyway, I hope you're all doing well wherever you are! Much love and appreciation Minnie ❤❤❤

[efoyisk]

"hey, loki." he doesn't know where he is. not exactly. somewhere in california, that he knows. around the 1980's. somewhere safe, or at least years before the invasion of new york ever happens. mobius doesn't like going to anytime after that period, unless he's visiting don and the kids, because any time where he knows a version of loki is near earth hurts.

anyway. he's glad that b-15 let him get ahold of a timepad. just in case you need to find your way back here, she tells him, even though that's kind of bull, because they both know he's going to use it for anything but to return to the TVA.

the TVA. mobius feels a bitter scoff running up his throat now, but he chases it away. so much for it being his whole life; being all that he knows. it's surprisingly barren, working through the files and the computer log without... well, without ravonna breathing his neck for once, and without loki. loki. right. he was in the middle of something, wasn't he?

mobius digs his toes into the california sands. it's rough. even being near the sea isn't as thrilling as it should've been.

"they said you could hear me. theoretically. wherever you are, up in the cosmos, or- or beyond that. how... how are ya'?" people are looking at him weird for talking alone, to no one, but who cares. he doesn't. "i hope... i hope you're good, yeah. i just- i've been well, if you'd even care to ask." but of course loki cares; the gentlest thing to ever to. if he doesn't, he would've let all these lives perish. but instead—

"i'm sorry. you know i didn't mean that." he says softly now, like the god is right there. like mobius could reach him, caress that hair away from that face like he never could've, but wanted to. he'd always wanted to. there were just- never time. never a chance. loki was so focused, and he only ever wanted to help. "i've been good, uh. but you know that, cause i mentioned it. i just... i know about don now, and the kids. great kids. little rascals, really. kinda remind me of you."

a chuckle, but again, it sounds- like rattling stones in an empty can. it's nothing. it's just sound. mobius hates it. "i... i don't get it, loki. i don't." he whispers now, and there's anguish there, deep and wretched. it's selfish, asking this of loki, pleading. he's doing a good thing; he's saving lives, but mobius— "i know you've wanted a throne, but is this what you meant?"

alone, cold, empty. did he even have food there? snacks? could he sleep? is anybody even taking care of him, looking out for him? mobius doesn't know; and not knowing kills.

"you know, i never... i never said it aloud- maybe i should've, but... i thought we could've had a good life together, you and me. i don't know what we'd be doing: probably tasting food, riding jet skis and causing mischief, but it sounds like a life, right? a good one. a simple one, but good. and i could- i would've built a throne for you if you want. in a nice house, maybe. by a lake. just you and me, loki. we'll let time pass, you and i. that's all we would have to do. no more heroic deeds; no more sacrificial lambs. just ... something simple, but good."

i would've loved you, is what he doesn't say, but desperately wants to. how can he? his throat's tight. and his vision's getting blurry. great, mobius thinks, wiping away at his budding tears. he can't be doing this again. cause what if loki'll never take him seriously, a man begging through his sobs. he's an asgardian like that; they're gonna have their pride. "i- i miss you. i'm sorry." for what? he doesn't know. for not being quick enough, maybe, to notice what loki's up to. for not stopping him when he could. for not waiting.

because that's all loki's ever wanted: time. mobius wishes he could've given it to him.

   it’s quite strange.   he can feel everything.   everything that is, everything that isn’t, everything that was and will be and might be and is about to be and—you understand.   eyes and ears everywhere.   watching but not quite living.   at least most of them are.   except one.

  except the one to whom loki owes beyond everyone else.   that one is solemn, nostalgic and defeated, unable to enjoy the water he so passionately enjoyed, once.   it feels bitter.   if loki can feel such a thing anymore.

  the wind picks up a little.   the clouds above mobius form a strange shape, like a pair of almond shaped eyes.   a kid a few meters away points it out to his mother.   i know, the sea whispers.   i know.   the sky darkens though only slightly.   the waves form a rhythmic hum, like a calling from the beyond.   it’s a sad sound.   serene, though wretched.   like the whining of some spectre, unable to escape from where it’s been bound.   the gentle breeze picks up into a gust of wind, rising sand up to mobius’s thighs, dusting him.

  a croak echoes behind him.   there’s a bird there, behind him;   white, black, the edges of its wings gleaming with blue-green when the light hits it just right.   the magpie tilts its head, cawing at mobius then it opens its wings, rises until it can settle on mobius’s shoulder and nests there, cawing at the horizon.   there’s naught to be done.   this was the only way loki wanted to follow.   the only way they could be given a chance;   the only way for them to live and to protect what has been preserved.   it’s a sad thing.   loki does not regret it.   he only hopes this time, it will be enough.

#` ‧ ° ❅⠀⠀◟ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐄◝⠀⠀━⠀⠀ answered. #dynamics. ⠀i could recognize him by touch alone by smell; i would know him blind by the way his breaths came⠀⠀━⠀⠀ mobiues. #im gonna bawl my eyes out now thanks #LISTEN I KNOW THIS IS SMALL #BUT HES LIKE... NOT REALLY THERE AKJSDH #mobius having an existential crisis: #loki: emotional support birdie <3 #tw loki spoilers #tw loki season 2 spoilers