#I just want to see the Fandom Fallout of something like this happening | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nervocat · 2 months

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“The stars look down on you as you wander with your cat guide. They want to tell you a story of theirs. Will you listen to them?”

# — Notes: THE LONG AWAITED CH 1!! IT'S HERE!!! I'm so happy with the outcome hehe. I hope you all enjoy it too, I had fun writing this <33 and things are just getting started with the angst.. 😈😈 # — Word count: 826 # — Fandom: Honkai: star rail # — Cw: hinted YingFeng (it's NOT RenHeng, it's different), mentioned stabbing, and technically murder # — Taglist: @dumbificat , @ariicandy , @thetwinkims , @imanonandawkward , @klemen-time , @akuangels , @minvtte

—Chapter 1: The Fallout

Yingxing and [name]’s weapons clashed, the sound carrying throughout Scalegorge Waterscape. It had been a long time for Yingxing, his hair turned white and face aged with time. Though he was still as nimble as he was when he was younger — for the most part.

“Hah.. you're good, [name]..” he says through heavy breaths. “Just give me a break, alright?” they smile and nod at Yingxing, laughing a bit as they help Yingxing to move.

Jing Yuan was an adult now, and watching the two old friends spar, their matching red jewelry a sign of said friendship, he couldn't help but feel enamored by their fighting style. It was similar, obvious that old man Yingxing had helped [name] learn to fight in his earlier years.

[name] still used the weapon Yingxing had crafted them all those years ago, and Yingxing used the sword he crafted for himself. The weapons that the Quintet members wielded were also made by Yingxing, gifts by him.

Jing Yuan was taken out of his trance when Jingliu, his former mentor, elbowed him lightly, a small smile adorning her lips. “Seems Yingxing is getting a bit old, tapped out again because his back hurt,” she laughs a bit, with Jing Yuan looking back to Yingxing and [name] walking over to Dan Feng.

It was known to the group the two friends — including themselves — were very proud of [name] in their accomplishments. They learned how to fight well, and had made it big in writing with the help of Baiheng in publishing their stories along with hers. Yingxing always looked at them with fond eyes and a smile, almost like a father would their child.

Dan Feng was similar — though he was older than both of them — and looked at both with the same fond eyes and a softened expression. [name] was technically one of the younger ones in the group, only being older than Jing Yuan, looking up to Yingxing and Dan Feng like a kid would. Their friendship was more of a found-family bond, running deep into the years they've known each other. And there was definitely something more going on with Yingxing and Dan Feng behind the scenes.

“Dan Feng!!” [name] calls, running ahead of Yingxing. “Did you see me?! I'm finally able to keep up with Yingxing and his attacks!” Dan Feng's lips curl into a small smile, his arms crossed like they always are, and nods.

“I did see, [name],” he looks up to his other close friend, a teasing glint in his draconic eyes. “Though, don't you think it's because he's getting to be a bit old?” [name] feigned a gasp as Yingxing stood beside them, laughing a bit.

“Dan Feng! How could you!?” The Vidyadharas smile widens slightly, also laughing a bit.

“I know, crude of me, huh?” Jing Yuan, Baiheng and Jingliu look on with smiles at the three. They truly hoped that this would last as long as they all lived.

The sorrows of the Quintet spill over onto the battlefield, their group slowly cracking and falling apart.

“Dan Feng.. Yingxing.. why...? Why would you commit such a foul crime?”

Cries of sadness and pain echo out, [name] stands amidst it all, weapon in hand as tears fall from their eyes. Their friends having turned against each other, it was hard to watch. They fall to their knees, weapon clattering to the ground.

“..Baiheng’s dead!”

What happened..? Why did they.. what was their goal? “Yingxing..”

“I am no longer him, but a shell. Keep that name out of your mouth.”

He is but a shell, is what “Blade” says. An abundance abomination. An immortal being who cannot welcome death and can only yearn for such a fate, and is forever stuck with the Mara and losing his memories of the past.

Jingliu.. stabbing into Blade many times as [name] calls out for her to stop, that it's not worth it as they sob uncontrollably at the sight of what used to be their mentor getting killed over and over and over and over and-

“Jingliu! Please! Just- just stop this insensitive madness!”

They remain in the shattered aftermath of the battlefield with Jing Yuan. He, who had to rid of his mentor because of the Mara. She went on a rampage, killing many in her wake. They look at each other, the only ones that are left of what was the High Cloud Quintet.

“So.. now what?” They ask, voice full of regret and sadness as they clutch their weapon, the last thing they have of Yingxing other than their necklace.

“That.. I am unsure of, [name].”

Dan Feng, he who was forced into a rebirth, and was chained up in prison for his crimes. He, who is now Dan Heng.

The Xianzhou pick up the broken pieces and put their lives and civilization back together, but as time passes, [name] and Jing Yuan still remain shattered, only having the other for comfort and companionship.

★ — © nervocat || I appreciate any reblogs made, and pls don't repost or translate my works anywhere, ty — ✦

#🗯️ ͏ ͏͏ ͏: ͏ ͏ ͏ galaxy series ˑ ִ✷#・ nouveau livre ˎˊ˗#honkai star rail #star rail #hsr #x gender neutral reader #x gn reader #honkai star rail x gender neutral reader #honkai star rail x gn reader #hsr x gender neutral reader #hsr x gn reader #honkai star rail x reader #hsr x reader #hsr angst #platonic hsr #platonic angst #strictly platonic #high cloud quintet

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callmearcturus · 10 months

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a bunch of Mission Impossible fic recs

hi, i'm sorry for conning so many people into this fandom. here's some reading material.

Easy Open, by helenish

“So you and Hunt are a package deal these days,” Bryson says. “Uh,” Benji says, jerking his head up from his computer, ballpoint in his mouth.

Ethan/Benji. Definitely the first thing you should read after watching the movies. This is my favorite kind of one-shot, the kind that manages to convey the weight of history like a 60k fic in such a compressed space. When I talk about using sex scenes to convey something about the characters, perfect example is the set dressing around the one here where the title drop happens. Way to say so fucking much about the characters through sheer implication.

in the details, by helenish

Ethan: We have an even bigger problem. Ilsa. Benji: Ilsa. Our Ilsa? —Mission: Impossible — Fallout (Paramount Pictures, 2018)

Ethan/Benji/Ilsa. This one is so fucking dense and amazing. I love the way Ethan is just so fucking in love with both of these people and keeps imagining them fucking and feels terrible about it, you just want Benji and Ilsa to put Ethan out of his misery, but ALSO this is hardcore physicality porn. The scene with Ilsa on Benji's shoulders is better than any sex scene I've read this year.

I'm With You, by fictionallemons

Luther's getting married again at a private resort on a tropical island. Only there's a mixup with the rooms and Benji and Ethan have to share. No big deal, right? One bed. Two friends. No problem. Ha.

Ethan/Benji. I keep rereading this one because it just has such intense longing and familiarity in it. The way it portrays Ethan and Benji as a unit, a foregone conclusion even they themselves haven't quite figured that out, is perfect. Also I love the way Ethan handles the bed situation, the low grade annoyance he has at the repeated question. Benji, get a clue, my man.

Someone New, by fictionallemons

After Fallout, Benji thinks Ethan and Ilsa are together and he only wants to be happy for them, even it kills him to see Ethan with someone else. He's got to try to get over Ethan. But some things are just impossible. Mutual jealousy, mutual pining, cute texting, and a happy ending, of course.

Ethan/Benji. LOOK, THE WAY TO MY HEART IS ETHAN BEING JEALOUS AND NOT HANDLING IT WELL. Also the fact this fic acknowledges Ethan's emotional growth from Fallout, chef's kiss. But really the moment when Ilsa's like "Seems we missed the show" and Ethan says "I wish we had" ETHAN OH MY GOD. Also the subtle way Benji is needling Ethan a little, subconsciously at least-- it's good!

it takes a lot (to know a man), by thistableforone

"So I just… want to remind myself that we're alright." He says it like that, with a general we that sounds more like a specific you. And because Ethan does know what it feels like, he doesn't question him any further. If Benji needs to spend time with him to feel better, he won't deny him. Takes place after Fallout. Ethan is recovering and Benji goes to live with him to help

Ethan/Benji. A longer one, hell yeah. This one truly wallows in the aftermath of Fallout, which is where my brain lives 90% of the time, so I appreciate it. Also Ilsa pointing out why the fuck did Luther give her that speech but not Benji-- finally someone said it. But really this fic is about Benji and it breaks my heart.

magnetic field being a little too strong, by oopshidaisy

“This is strictly recon,” Ethan says. It’s maybe the seventeenth time he’s said words to this effect since they arrived at the party. “We can’t do anything that’ll raise suspicion. Understand?” Post-Rogue Nation. Benji and Ethan go undercover and find themselves in one of those spy jams that only surprise kissing can solve.

Ethan/Benji. This is the one with the INCREDIBLE passage about Benji realizing why Ethan's never been slapped for pulling the fake kissing thing on missions. Also I love how... this feels like a date. To Ethan, this is a fun mission with his Benji, and it feels like it. Benji's voice here is pitch perfect, feels like its right out of Rogue Nation.

The Missionary Position, by matchsticks

Ethan and Benji have to pretend to be a married couple for a mission. Well, Ethan and Benji are already a married couple, but now they have to pretend to be pretending to be a married couple for a mission, and the rest of the team has to help them keep their secret. It'll definitely all work out fine. Probably. Hopefully.

Ethan/Benji. Listen. This one is hilarious.

THERE, there's some stuff to get you started, folks! and you can always hit up mine. I have periphery (in which everyone Benji works with is a little in love with him and Ethan just doesn't deal well), all i need is a certain trigger (in which Ilsa and Benji are in the Syndicate and Ethan trips into romancing them both), and the big AU you'll need a new name to survive this (in which Benji is Ethan's physical therapist and a lot of things start to change)

Looking over all this, it seems my favorite thing is when Ethan is just unhinged and Benji is unfortunately into that.

#mission impossible #benthan #fic recs

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razzek · 18 days

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Reading Pern fic and realizing that it's always queen riders or future queen rider Mary Sue type characters who here all dragons and I am now desperate for a green rider with the ability. I know in canon it's rare and has to do with bloodlines and is a women only talent that's maybe twice in a generation. We got Lessa and Ariana (? the gal in Renegades who has such a bad time she avoids dragons) and maaaaybe Moreta (it's been a long time since I read that one). But if it's going to crop up in fanfic and RP constantly, I want to see someone that everybody pins all these expectations onto and they end up riding green to the dismay of all but them. (I love greens, second best dragons to me, only topped by blues which seem to be the only dragon an ace person can ride, but the culture around them and the way their riders are treated is fascinating.) If the green rider in question was a trans man maybe no problems there or nothing would change (though that's a story I'd be interested to read in general, a trans man in canon Pern society riding green, which had to have happened at least twice in their 2k year history). But if you had someone who was being brought up and expected to ride gold and she gets a "crappy" green, the political fallout alone would be fascinating.

Man I wish I had the stamina to write longer fics. I have so many ideas for Pern stuff (most of them horrible; I am somewhat disappointed that purity culture in fandom spaces has kept people from exploring and digging down into the real canon implications that were always present in the books; I understand not wanting to do that on a personal level, but it's disappointing that a lot of writers will avoid it solely for fear of purity assholes coming after them). If Anne herself was allowed to write really shitty attempts at confronting some of this stuff (looking at you, Skies of Pern, ugh) why aren't fans allowed to tackle it honestly and better instead of just pretending it doesn't happen? But on the flip side, where's the exploration of queerness in it’s entirety from fan writers? I've seen trans women green riders and of course lots of gay men, but where my ace blue riders and lesbians and trans men and so many others be at? Aaaanyway....

This became a tangent. tleadr: it's been like 60 years of fanfic and I'm bored of the same old runaway rich girl who hears all dragons becoming a queen rider stories. XD Nothing against that sort of self indulgence, everyone gets to write that kind of wish fulfillment. :) I'm just bored and I wanna read something new but don't have the energy to write it, alas.

#dragonriders of pern #pern #razz rambles #been on a pern kick again for like the past three years #and nobody knows because I just never talk about it XD #tried to join an rp and everyone was super nice #but it's just too much work socially and on a tech level for me #rps are great but I'm a fic writer more than an rper alas

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three--rings · 1 year

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okay so i’m gonna talk about the build thing.

I’m not going to get into the whole thing and what I think tho. Like, I have a lot of thoughts. But the thing is that I don’t KNOW anything. I don’t know these people. I can’t speak to them in any way.

We have literally ZERO facts. There is not a single fact that we, the public, have received that has any evidence behind it. We have a bunch of one-sided claims and... some messages? And some faked photo “evidence” from pinterest.

We don’t have any basis for making a judgement on anything solid whatsoever. The only people who can do that are first of all police and legal proceedings, which I very much doubt are going to actually come to pass, and if they did would take absolutely forever to shuffle out.

And secondly BOC as an employer. Which is where we can expect some kind of eventual decision, whatever it may be.

But what has truly upset me since this broke, besides just the natural grief of the situation, is the fandom response. It’s been truly horrendous.

The reaction which I expect from a fandom to this kind of news is shock, upset, grief, confusion, bargaining, etc. And support of each other as we wait for the full fallout.

Instead I’ve seen celebration, I-told-you-so’s, endless attacks on people who refuse to immediately renounce their support of build, or who are at all measured or hesitant in their response. Calls to reject not only the actor but the ship, the fandom, the production company. Comparisons to other actors to highlight how their fave could never. Finger pointing in every possible direction.

In other words, the fandom eating itself alive. And is it maybe a small minority of people being toxic and most people being silent? Yeah, it always is. But it’s so fucking painful to me and to the fandom as a whole.

Callout culture has reached a point where when anything happens the only performatively pure action to take is to immediately and loudly cut yourself off publicly from anyone at all likely to be tainted in accusation. Which is exactly why people with bad motives can use accusations to inflict harm on people they want to hurt.

I’ve seen over and over people being angry and upset that things aren’t moving faster with this situation, that there hasn’t been more statements and official shit done and like, it’s been less than two days? On a weekend? Do you really want the official procedures of ANY employer to work so fast that someone is fired within hours of anyone saying something bad about them, because that’s what people are literally calling for.

I know it sounds like I’m taking one side here, but honestly I’m not. No I don’t want the accusations to be true, because NO ONE should want them to be true. But I can’t speak to their truth at all, because I have no basis to do so. Except that what has been produced so far has been show NOT to be true (the photographs). But there’s plenty of toxicity to go around in this situation.

What I want is for the actual truth to be known and acted on appropriately. That doesn’t need to involve dragging facts out onto twitter or into the public eye, either. The fandom isn’t judge and jury. Victims shouldn’t be paraded through the virtual town square to be ripped apart.

People are mourning right now. What I’m mourning is the loss of a fandom that wasn’t as divisive and at each other’s throats as my last two. Where I could just go to enjoy stuff without constant infighting. Well, guess that’s fucking over.

People are reliving their own abuse. I know I am.

STOP ATTACKING FELLOW FANS. STOP ATTACKING PEOPLE MOURNING.

How individual fans respond to this isn’t any of your fucking business. People are allowed to wait to see what happens before making judgments. People are allowed time and space to process. Shut the fuck up already.

#yeah that's it fuckit #build jakapan #boc #tw: abuse #sorry I forgot that tw it's been a few days

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ride-thedragon · 7 months

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A lack of Nuance for Rhaenyra and Criston.

I don't know when this fandom came together for the group agreement that anything that occurred between these two should not be viewed past superficial lenses that draw to the worst possible conclusions for them both, but I didn't sign it.

This fallout is so emotional, bitter, and unfortunate that to only see it within the views of making these characters, the worst versions of themselves is a disservice to one of the better plots the writers wrote.

Their Society

Rhaenyra and Criston exist in the intersections of women and men and princess/heir and knight. The assumption that any necessary conclusion about their dynamic can happen outside of either one of these dynamics leads to really reductive takes. For example, everyone's favorite misinterpretation, their sex scene.

Rhaenyra is a woman. She is the property of her dad and then her husband. She doesn't escape that as heir to the realm. Had Rhaenyra married anyone who didn't care about her or put their explicit permission with her about her virtue, she would've been devalued in that relationship.

Screwing a princess, the heir, especially, is crazy. He put his life at risk doing that. Not to mention him being a Dornish King's Guard. Not only is he expected to be a sexual deviant, but he's sworn an oath to be celibate. So when they do sleep together, he's breaking a sacred oath with the underlying stereotype that he would.

Because he is a man, his consequence would lie solely on him breaking his vow, not with sleeping with Rhaenyra. In one of the craziest hypotheticals I've seen with y'all come up with, if Rhaenyra said Criston assaulted her, he's an oath breaker who deflied a princess and a rapist. She is still viewed as less of a prized bride without her virtue.

Like book Lancel, who says,

"A Frey girl, and not of my choosing, she is not even a maiden."

There is a stigma that virtue makes a girl more or less desirable.

The risk for each of them would never be equal for many reasons, but the risk is still there and does involve consequences. It holds as much risk for each character as it could given their positions.

Our Society

Power imbalance

He knew her at 14, and she chose him to be her protector at 15, and he's been that for her about 4/ 5 years when we see them consumate their relationship. He's older than her and more experienced.

Rhaenyra holds a lot of power as well. As a princess who appointed him to his position, there could have been a sense of obligation or coercing purely based on the what-if consequences if he had said no.

The back and forth in our world is the ability for either party to truly consent, a debate that, although it holds a lot of nuance, y'all can't seem to process past each other. These ideas co exist and make the dynamic interesting.

Emotion

These two are each other's closest companions at this time. Rhaenyra has been formal and frigid towards Alicent, and Criston is her constant company. She's also been on tour to find her husband, with him being her closest confidant.

The escalation of their relationship and denial or regret for either of them after sleeping together has them losing that relationship.

It's an extremely delicate boundary they both risk when they start to sleep together, one that is eventually lost.

The SA Part

I just wanna talk.

Coercing, as I understand it, is the most extreme thing you can say happened between them. You'd still be wrong.

The risk I mentioned earlier applies to both of them. If Criston had turned her away, which he could've done after she kissed him, she would've lost that same emotional dependence.

A breakdown of what happened:

She starts to open her top, he says stop, and she does.

She then starts to take off his glove cuff thing.

She looks at him, raises his head, and kisses him again, something to which he fully responds to and they start doing what they do.

At no point is there a lack of understanding that they could stop. Neither of them want to stop.

Then you say the helmet and door thing before so I'll allow it.

If he took up his helmet and walked out, she wouldn't restrain him. She'd be hurt and rejected, but she would not force him.

He literally takes his cloak from her, contemplates his movement, and lets it go to remove his shoulder pads. The visual language plays into him, choosing desire over honor, not him being forced into something he doesn't want to do.

At no point are the visual, audio, or character actions indicating assault or coercion.

Let it die here, please.

The Incel Accusations

I'm gonna be disrespectful before I'm serious again.

Fabien's mug? Involuntary Celibate? There is no correlation between those two questions.

Stop it. Let's be serious and say it, 5 minutes in a room with Criston, any 1 out of 3, would put an end to those accusations, and I'm tired of y'all acting like it wouldn't.

Words lose meaning all the time, but incel would mean he's a violent misogynist who takes his inability to have sex out on women.

He's might be homophobic (a joke) but he's not a woman abuser. His closest relationship in the show is Alicent, and it was a mutually beneficial decision they came to that to maintain his deeply respected position as a King's Guard, with which he returns to his vow of chosen celibacy.

The one time he uses a slur against a woman, he's trash-talking Rhaenyra with Alicent, saying it and immediately corrects himself with a pause in the conversation, saying it's beneath him.

They are both angry, but he corrects himself for going to a place beneath their conversation, showing that he respects her contribution and their discussions enough to be weary of vulgarity.

Criston, as a character.

Criston, as a character, is loyal, loving, and emotional. We see this with the way Alicent speaks to him, the way he speaks to Rhaenyra, even the conversation with him and Daemon. He's a reactive and emotional man.

We see the darkness in that with Ser Joffrey and Lord Beesburry. With the way we see him holding that grudge against Rhaenyra. We see it with the way he interacts with Rhaenyra's kids through Alicent’s.

Him wanting to run away with her isn't him desperately trying to seek comfort with his abuser.

It's him trying to come to terms with the fact that he's made a big, emotional sacrifice, and he can't justify it within himself.

His proposal doesn't align with her wants, and they fall apart. He's reactive and emotional and blames her. It's still his conflicting beliefs and actions.

He attacks Joffrey because of that. He tries to kill himself because of that. When Alicent finds him, she becomes a beacon in which he can earn forgiveness, away from Rhaenyra and can set the conflict to rest within himself. He chooses the King's Guard.

And he's loyal to that forgiveness to a fault, something Alicent knows, which is why she can vouch on, "with everything you feel for me,".

Is he wrong? Yes, on multiple occasions, but he's allowed to be. He's a flawed character in a flawed society.

Rhaenyra, as a character

I've never seen a character so consciously misrepresented by her fans and detractors. She's either Satan herself or the mother Mary reinvisioned. Let's go over this.

She is entitled. She uses that entitlement to her benefit. She is emotional but logical and plays to her strengths. She also has a dimension of naiveté all throughout her life. She's living to a fault.

Step by step for everything.

She sleeps with Daemon at his wife's funeral

She gains her father's favor in a fight against her maimed brother and disrespected son where she openly acknowledged it.

She let's Rhaenys think that she killed her son to marry Daemon and let him buy into the fire and blood sentiment because she knows him.

She leaves King's Landing for six years and expects her highly contested crown.

Her weakness is always the people she loves. From episode one to episode ten, it is her way. With Alicent, the best example, she always forgives her and always pushes past any ill intent to gain her favor back.

Their Interactions

So we have a spoiled naive princess who loves people entirely, and her companion, whose loyalty she comes to rely on, so much that she risks her reputation with him and who becomes her closest confidante.

She names him a King's Guard and her guard, and they get closer. He's attentive and caring to her, and she's loving and naive.

When they fall apart, he views her for reasons said above as a representation of his temptation and straying from his current path. She used him for her own gain and didn't want their relationship to progress past what he was deeply ashamed and conflicted over.

When they drift apart, he causes a highly dangerous event, killing her husband's lover, creating a bridge in their early marriage that she can't afford to mend with the expectations of her as heir. He abandons her and becomes close to her friend, who even though she reached out to her, still not trusting her. He then completely gave Alicent that loyalty, leaving Rhaenyra alone at a tumultuous and anticipated time in her life, isolated.

Love and Loss

They loved each other. Argue with your family members, and maybe they'll care about your rebuttal, but I don't. They love each other in very similar ways they go on to love the people they truly love.

It was young and emotional and naive, and when it was over, in its place, grows confusion and bitter resentment.

Rhaenyra has to move on for the sake of her kids and new life, but Criston can't because his life now is in opposition to who he used to be, which is symbolized by Rhaenyra.

A fair conclusion

They are characters. Stop being weirdos about them. They are both deeper than y'all, allowing them to be and had a really dynamic place in each other's lives. They are both greatly misrepresented by their sides and foes. And y'all would have a lot more fun if you didn't do that.

#hotd #house of the dragon #rhaenyra targaryen #criston cole #criston and rhaenyra #rhaenyra x criston #my kids #criston you are the visuals #hotd criston #hotd rhaenyra #queen rhaenyra #ill miss yall #a song of ice and fire #i had to watch those scenes again to do a breakdown #im not doing that again for yall #the sa thought never sat right with me

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jackiequick · 7 days

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A Visit From An Old Friend — [ Marvel Fanfic]

Summary: What happens when an old friend comes to visit to recruit something bigger than himself? In other words, a small family reunion between friends, with a couple of ants crawling around.

Platonic Pairing: Hank Pym & Jason Underwood

Characters featured/mentioned: The Young Avengers, Janet Van Dyne, Liz Stark, Howard Stark, Scott Lang, Hope Van Dyne and etc.

Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ant-Man (2015)

Fic type: Short Blurb

Small warning: Some fluff and angst

----

The daylights were in full swing, the radio was high and bright as he drove down the road to a old house he used to call home. At the steps of the house stood a man he hasn't seen in the late 80s but never forgotten.

Above the steps stood the man with dark rich blonde curls spiked in a nicely manner, a blue colored shirt and black James Dean jeans wearing a pair of shades himself. He sipping on a cup of coffee with a half smile to boot.

He parked the car in the east side of the parkway as he existed the vehicle, flipping the keys in hand and removed his sunglasses with a smile.

As he took towards the step he heard the man said, "Hank."

"JJ." He replied, as he was handed a cup of warm coffee.

"What was the reason for this visit?"

"You got my email didn't you?"

"Yup."

"You missed seeing Hope."

"It was an 8 hour drive! You know how hard it was to get out of that house without Felton and Rei breathing down my neck?"

"This is why I stopped babysitting."

The blonde just playfully glared following the older one into his old home. Jason hasn't been in this house of his in more than a century, having took time to take care of his older one in Malibu. Yet, he never had the heart to throw away the keys, so instead he gave them to Hank. And by god, was he glad he did.

His old home was kept nice and cleaned, some mess here and there. A few dust particles in certain smaller areas but other than that it was fine. Keeping its cozy yet vintage style. Hank sat down on the grey couch that used to be a dark brown, sipping his second morning coffee taking in the moment of peace. Jason sat in the armchair beside him closing his eyes.

Neither man had to say a word to know that they missed the peace and quiet this house brought. No screaming children, calls from SHIELD, nor nagging neighbors trying to get you to babysit their dumb dog for the weekend. Just a moment of total silence from the world around them.

Yes, truth be told, after 1989 Hank was never seen again towards SHIELD's main offices due to his stupid fallout with Howard and the others. But he often kept in touch with people like him or Peggy, whenever possible. Mainly because Hope wanted to see her aunts and uncles, and after Janet's passing Hank couldn't deprive his daughter from not having any closer family or friends around.

Jason tended to be his go-to person whenever he needed a quick babysitter for Hope, whenever the blonde was in town and he happily said yes. He first thought Hank would want nothing to do with him after what Howard pulled on the man, but after a small debate on that very day both men realized they couldn't hold grudges against each other.

They already had too many grudges over their heads to even count, why add another? It would only lead to a bigger headache anyways.

So over the years, Hank and Jason would put aside a small time to check in on one another. Make sure the other man wasn't dead yet. It was a running joke on who would die first out of the two. But at this rate, knowing the people in their lives, they won't let them get bury in the ground so easily.

Yet.

He peaked an eye open as he rested his head and asked, "JJ? You got what I sent you?"

The others eyes were still closed as he hummed, "Yeah. I sent the small package and if I'm correct, it will be brought though word of mouth soon enough."

"Good. I hope this guys is worth it. If he's smart enough, he will do as I planned."

"Why Scott Lang anyway? I gave you a list of people you can choose from and you chose him..."

"Scott Lang broke into Vistacorp Headquarters to pay back the money VistaCorp had been stealing from their users, before he brought into prison. Heard of it?"

"Yeah, he pulled strong a stunt risking to pay back all that money they took. According to the file, he has a master degree in electrical engineering, which gave him the skills to hack into their grid."

Hank smirked, "That's why I need him. He has a special set of skills as a hacker and thief. I want to test him, see if he's able to play the game right."

"If he can break into the lock and steal the suit, then he was a right fit." Jason added with a grin, "..he also has a daughter Hank. You know better than anyone the length you would go to see your kid. Chances are, he ends up in jail again."

"He won't."

"Hank."

"I have a plan. Trust me on this one."

"And I'll be here to say 'I told you so' when it goes sideways."

The two crack a chuckle knowing it was bound to happen whether they liked it or not. But if the plan does end up going sideways, they always had other ways of doing things. Even if it meant going undercover to bait Scott Lang into the older man's plan. Both spent the rest of the day catching up, watching some tv and grabbing a bite to eat.

None of the Young Avengers knew that Jason was gone for a short couple of days. Well, some of them noticed as he has been receiving calls from a few thought the day. Mainly ones from Rei, Liane, Rochelle, Ji-Hoon, Lydia and even Wanda. Hank commented how he was still amazed he hasn't lost his head yet.

"Who said I haven't?" Jason joked with a small chuckle.

"Who's watching them?" He asked in returning smiling.

"Elizabeth, Nat and Bruce. I hope."

"Oh dear god. Now, I gotta know, who's the hardest to watch over?"

"Depends on the day. Rei is the easiest at most, Rochelle is rather shy and hangs out with her friends..but Liane.."

"Felton's what? Oh. You can't lie to me, and not say Rei Stark doesn't turn your gears one bit."

"Rei does make me question my life choices, but I love him to death. Felton, she is a handful and a total bitch at times. It's why I always hand her off to Hill to taken care of. I need my silence."

That caused Hank to snort and laugh. He knew the man was too polite to say anything to harsh per say, not knowing who's around to hear him but if possible he will let a rip.

"Now that's the Jason I know, call it how it is!" He shouted as he tossed a chip into his mouth, "Half of them ain't even your kids."

The blonde smirked nodding, knowing the grey man's words to be truth. There are good couple of them aren't his legally or even raised them from childhood, but a part of him does care. Even if he wants to shut up half the time.

Hell, even the ants joined in on the fun. They are 247 of them after all, the ants were bound to make their appearance in carrying items around and or, helping them with alerting any incoming news on the heist they were waiting to happen.

--------

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

Later on, that very night they went to the basement as they turned on the lights to reveal a high tech level of security cameras, microphones and chairs laying around. It was linked up to whatever humanity possible can find, in this case, the ants.

They watched Scott break into his house, as Hank seemed impressed by his work giving Jason a couple of approved nods, as they kept rolling the tape. The handy work, the levels of patience and precision Scott Lang had was amazing. His quick thinking and ways he moved around the area at quick speed was something he could only imagine to do when he was back in the 40s. Hank used to think and move that fast in the late 80s. More or less.

Without a better matter of minutes he took the suit and ran. They spend the better part of the next day, watching Scott and see what he would do.

That he was expandable. And that he was. Jason chocked out a laugh at how freaked out he was as Hank talked into the coms. Sadly of course, the moment he returned the suit, he was caught red handed by the cops.

It was Hope's doing. She didn't know much about the man or the fact that he had a track record he was trying to maintain. Which led Hank to toss a pair of suits over to Jason, telling him it's time to lawyer up, as the man rolled his eyes at his friend.

Once they were in the prison, Scott Lang was brought into a room confused more the most part, not understanding who they were. He didn't know about the fact that he had a lawyer watching after him. They told him second chances don't always come easily, especially for men like him, next time he gets one, he should take a closer look onto what it is. And he's smart enough, he will listen to them.

Thankfully he did, as Hank ordered the ants to get Scott escape the jail cell and be brought home that night. However the man got dizzy and past out, resulting him to be knocked out cold in one the guest bedrooms of the house.

Hank's house, since he had more tech and landscape to work around than Jason did. As they waited for him to wake up, the blonde went out grab some more supplies and food. He was hungry.

When he returned home with the items needed, entering quietly through the front door he heard it. Hope was here. He should've known she would've made an appearance at some point.

"Please tell me you didn't call JJ." She said looking at her father with her arms crossed.

"I didn't call JJ." Her father responded with a sigh, trying to enjoy his tea.

"He is busy right now."

"I didn't call him."

She pointed to the brown leather jacket that was on the chair beside her. The one she gave the blonde years ago for a birthday present when she was in high school. Her father said he was borrowing it from the man's closet when he went to check on his home.

"You liar. Like always. Just say that you did." Hope remarked.

Hank groaned, "I emailed him."

"You tipped him. Dragging his ass here, for what? I can handle the mission myself!"

"No, you can't! He needed one-"

"You never listen to me!"

"Hope!"

She looked over her shoulder at face the voice who called out her name like an old memory. Only to find her uncle standing there with a stern look on his face, his usual cheeky grin was exchanged for a pair of lined smile and frustrated eyes that glared into her soul. He made her feel like a child again, getting in trouble for yelling at her father or running away from school grounds to play with her friends.

She looked down, feeling less than, muttering a soft 'sorry' in his direction as he simply nodded. He shook his head and sighed at his niece. He hated seeing them fight, he knew they had their reasons but she walked away a long time ago, just to prove a point to her father that she was worth it. And she already was.

"I didn't know..I uh, would've liked a heads up that you were coming..." She admitted for being silent for a moment.

He placed the bag of groceries on the table as he gave her a small half smile, "I know..but I knew you would've said otherwise and convince me to stay home."

"You don't have to be here. I can handle this."

"I know. But I'm here now, it's not like I'm going to waste a long drive just to be stuck at home listening to ABBA on the radio."

"Still. You should've-"

"Hope. Just don't. What's done is done. I came at my own risk and I won't be staying long, just to make sure a few things are in check."

"..I uh, I missed you."

"I did too."

She pulled her arms out to be taking in by his embrace. The warmth of his hugs always felt like a nice blanket as he wrapped her arms around him and kissed her forehead. She rested her head against his shoulder having another moment of silence to relax, sending a small glare to her father. She chuckled hearing her uncle brought her favorite ice cream from Basin Robins to help ease the tension, causing a tiny grunt from Hank. Her uncle smirked and told her to get Scott as she pulled away with a small smile.

When Hope walked out, he turned around to see his old friend sending daggers swords him. Jason just shrugged, "What?"

"You can't win her over with ice cream and hugs." He remarked.

"Yes I can. That's my job as the uncle. Make you look bad, so you want to work harder for her affection."

"That's not how it's supposed to work."

"That's exactly how it's supposed to work."

Soon enough, Scott and Hope joined them in the dinning room, as they talked trying to explain the situation to the confused brunette. Hope and Hank bricked as they did, as Jason tried to defuse the issue at hand introducing the trio. Scott listened along, trying to piece together everything they said, hearing how they were impressed with his work as well. He was offered some sugar, watching the ants push it around.

"H-how do you make them do that?" Scott asked pointing to the said ants, watching one climb onto Jason's finger with ease.

"Ants can lift objects 50 times their size. They can build farms. Corporate with each other." Hank explained.

"Right. But how do you make them do that?"

"I used electromagnetic waves to stimulate their factor's nerves center using a device. I speak to the Ants. I can go anywhere, see everything and hear everything."

"And still know absolutely nothing. I'm late for a meeting." Hope injects with a clear tone, pressing a kiss to her uncles cheek and a nod to her father.

"Be safe!" Jason calls out with a half smile, sipping his tea.

"Always am!"

With that she walks out. Scott raised an hand asking who the hell they are, what the hell is going on and if he could back to jail. Jason rolled his eyes telling both men to follow him.

They walked and talked heading down to the basement to reveal a small headquarters as Scott looked around in awe. Hank explained the suit and his role in this as Jason finished setting up a few things adding in a jab or two as he went along.

"Pym tech? SHIELD?" Scott said muttering under his breathe as he followed their voices.

"Darren Cross had heard rumors around the Pym Particles. Something that both companies tried to keep under lock and key, with only a few knowing it existed." Jason explained.

"And he became obsessed with recreating my formula." Hank continued to explain holding a vial of Pym particles, "But I wouldn't help. So he partially voted me out of my own company. Hope was chairmen of the board, so that helped. But she came back to me when she saw how close he was with his process. But without a suit, the brain isn't protected."

"Causing a fiery sensational effect that can make the brain unstable. And Cross hasn't realized that part yet. So with our luck, he'll die."

"Be nice, JJ. Cross isn't the most stable guy to begin with."

Scott listen then asked, "So what do you want from me?"

Both men exchange a look as Hank walked over to Scott Lang and told him he believed in second chances for everyone. A redemption. Saying that if he does that, he can start a new path and get some insight wiped off his records. Scott looked pleased declaring that he will go along with the plan of theirs. Within a couple of hours, they all got to work.

Scott began to start training how to use the suit, understanding the plan and communicating with the idea on how to get into the building. He got learn about the concept of the ants and their behavior in the process of the world. Hope and Jason offered to teach Scott some fighting techniques to help him later on. Hope smirked getting a good swing at Scott punching him hard enough he fell backwards, as Jason snorted at their dynamic play between the tackles to the ground.

———-

—————

It got to a certain point where Scott was given the opportunity to learn how to control the ants. Hank acted as director for him, telling him to focus having faith that he can do it. Scott tried but it didn’t work. Hope groan annoyed telling him how he needed to commit to communicating with them, he has to mean it. The father daughter duo, once again began to argue over the subject. Jason reminded them on how the focus should be on helping Scott with the trails.

“Really? That’s where our focus should be?” Hope said, taking the device used for the ants and held it close to her ear controlling to do more than just add sugar to the tea. She caused to room to darken as the ants blocked out the lights, Hank caught her before she can act by further. Her voice broke as she muttered a few words at her father and sighed before exiting the room.

Hank knew he couldn’t do it without her. Since day one she has requested to be put in the suit, do the trails and get the mission accomplished herself, but her father refused every request she made. Jason knew the reason why. Scott noticed the problem being a father himself and went out to talk to her, hoping to knock some sense into Hope and have her see behind the act.

The two were alone in the house, standing in awkward silence as the moment of Hope’s departure replayed in their heads. Hank walked around the first floor, fumbling with a small piece of dice he found in the living room as Jason watched from the window the car sitting in the driveway with the two figures talking inside.

He broke the silence with a scoff, biting in the inside of his cheek as he said, “You have to tell her.”

“No.” He muttered in response, knowing exactly what he meant by those words.

“If you want her on your side, you have to break the ice here. She knows Janet didn’t die cause of some accident involving a plane. I know it’s painful for you, Hank, but she deserves to know.”

“Like you told Stark about his parents death.”

That silence Jason quicker than expected. He remembered how Howard and Maria died, when he was at his lowest moments during the holiday season. He told Tony what he knew and what he only could’ve revealed of that painful memory, going as far as to show him the photographs he dug up a few days later from news reports. Hank might’ve had a falling out with Howard but he was at the damn funeral for a short period of time before returning home.

Hank knew he hit a nerve and continued, “You couldn’t even wrap your head around fact that you lost them. Worse, telling a child their mother died and they never had the chance to say goodbye. I lost Janet that day because of my misfortunes during the mission.”

“I know, I heard the story. I can only imagine how you felt when it happened, when she shrunk down to that size..” Jason added trying to find his voice again.

“Please, don’t remind me, Jason, she went sub-atomic...”

“And you tried to get her back by studying for weeks on an answer to get her back”

“I made a mistake letting her come with me..I was stupid enough to let that happen..you know how hard it is for me just to relive that experience again…Hope might hate me when she finds out..”

“I know, she might but she will forgive you…Hank..you and I have made a lot mistakes in the past 3 decades. We made decisions that we aren’t proud of..thinking we are protecting them from harm..”

“That’s the whole point! That’s our job, to keep them safe and not be heartbroken by the truth. You only gave Stark the benefit of the doubt about his parents death and how it affected the outcome, you said he hated the world for it..I can’t tell her..we have secrets for a reason..”

“Yeah well, Tony could care less about his father…How about you only tell her what you can? When the time comes where she asks for more, you go into more detail about what happened. You are driving her away now…I know you hate the looks she gives you. You said it yourself..”

There was an unspoken number of casualties among those accidents that occurred during the death of their loved ones. Only so much information, they kept closed to their chest to prevent others suffering in those moments. The amount of consequences to their loved ones being gone felt like a huge blow to the head and stuffed around in secret.

Hank knew that, especially with the fact that his very friend lost more than he can chew.

He felt sorry for bringing it up, but it just didn’t occur to him the words would impact that hard. Hell, the memories of his wife were still so fresh in his brain like it was yesterday.

Hank ran a couple of fingers cross his hair muttering, “Sorry for bringing that up. It’s just…”

“I know..I know. But you do need to let her know what happened that day.” Jason responded taking a breath to regain himself.

That was when Hope and Scott returned from the car, about to say something but was cut off by Hank’s statement. He had a hand against the fireplace beforehand turning around to face the two of them, to face his daughter with the truthful remarks she desires to know. He slowly but surely explained what he could to his daughter onto what happened to her mother as her voice broke mumbling a few questions.

He did in best to answer them. It hurt to talk about it, as it felt like he was reliving the same day all over again. She wanted to know more but her thoughts didn’t seem to allow her to think straight as she teared up even more. Hank just told her in the end he lost her mother, he didn’t mean to lose his daughter too.

Scott ruined the moment with a quippy response that caused Jason to roll his eyes, telling him to go make some tea. Afterwards the four of them got back to work on training Scott and working with the plans they had in motion.

———-

At some point, Jason went upstairs to get something to eat and suddenly got another set of calls. He sighed deeply knowing they must've been from Liane or Rei, he ignored knowing it was probably something they could've handle themselves. They had to learn how to get along and figure out solutions to things without an actual adult fixing it entirely for them.

With a deep sigh he answered, “Hello?”

“Jason! Aha we might got an issue at the compound—dude shut up!” Said the voice that clearly belonged to Liane.

“Okay, who burnt the toaster again? Wait why are you at The Compound anyway? Your supposed to be at The Tower..”

“The adults went out on a small scale meeting, so we were left alone. Long story short, we had an incident at The Tower and decided to visit The Compound for breakfast instead—Ughhh Rei be quiet! Rick calm it’s gonna be fine—I was saying, we came here and Sam made us breakfast…and then..”

“Then what? Liane spit it out or put Rei on the phone.”

“Then we saw an issue and Sam told us to stay inside.”

Just as Liane and Rei’s voices were heard, along with the other members in the background, Jason was called downstairs by Hank to check on something. And let’s just say, he wanted to punch the older man for his actions. From the panels on the screen, shots of Scott fighting The Falcon to get inside Avengers Compound. Hope half smiled, annoyed and confused by Scott’s actions.

It was honestly hilarious yet stressful.

He put the phone call on mute as he whispered, “Hank, what the hell?! You said that the item you were looking for was at an old building, not Avengers Compound!”

“I didn’t know that it was remodeled after all this time! You could’ve said something.” Hank remarked looking up at the blonde from his seat.

“You weren’t speaking of the specifics either! Oh god..Scott better get out of there.”

“He’ll be fine. Besides he’s fighting an Avenger, this can be taken as part of his training for the next assignment. What are you worried about?”

“Half of the other avengers are inside the building now and they’re a little terrified.”

Hope said an eyebrow confused onto what her uncle meant until she heard the voices over the phone and almost immediately laughed at the sound.

She couldn’t make out the voices very well but one caught her ears as she asked, “Is that Felton? Since when is she freaked out over something like this, isn’t she an Avenger?”

Jason just shrugged at this point and responded, “It’s a great mystery to all of this. And yes that was her. I can already picture Rei’s annoyed expressions. Whatever we do, we just have to get Scott out there and fast.”

“Or they might call the other heroes for assistance. Damn it.”

“Days like this, I wish my retirement plan was completely different.”

“You can always come stay with me instead. Wait, I’m still in the Will right?”

He winked at her meaning a clear ‘yes you are, honey.’ As they both returned their focus back onto the screen watching Hank navigate Scott across the field to fight Falcon, suddenly they lost visual contact with him as the ants couldn’t see what was happening inside. It went silent as the only sound came from the cell phone in Jason’s hand.

He raised the phone up his ear to respond, “Whatever happens stay instead. I’ll be there in a couple of hours to check up on—”

“About time you picked up the damn phone!” Yelled the voice that belonged to his first godson.

“Rei?! What happened to Liane?”

“I took it off her hands, she went to help calm Rick and the others down or whatever. I really don’t care. Do I have permission to take her down Felton and shut off the systems?”

“Permission granted—wait, hold off on shutting down the systems for a few minutes and then reboot The Compound.”

“Does that mean I’m in charge of everything?”

“Does it mean the house won’t be fire when I come over to check on you guys?”

“Yes sir.”

“Then you’re in charge. And please get a hold of an adult!”

The phone called ended with Rei’s voice being heard over the speaker as you can imagine the others not sounding too pleased about the news. Jason just smirked already picturing their faces as he watched the panels of Scott escaping and Falcon on the floor. Him and Hank fist bump at the process of the mission turning out decently well.

He knew Hank was gonna have a talk with Scott on his actions and how he handled it, but Jason knew based on the files that Scott must’ve gotten the item needed for the job.

And he was right.

Hope was very impressed with what he did as her father sighed in relief at the assignment being completed. Scott Lang had skills and knowledge to be used on a battlefield one day, possibly even a hero. The four of them talked about upcoming events that were set in motion as Jason texted his nephew for updates on the situation from earlier as it seemed like things have calmed down over there.

He will need to drive over there to check up on them later.

As of now, all he knew is that the four of them were headed into a very dangerous environment within the incoming hours. Especially after Darren Cross’s appearance at the household, assuming he was just speaking with Hank Pym, as the others were silently standing in the kitchen.

The next couple of hours were gonna be a wild ride.

~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~

That’s what I got! Thanks for reading I hope you liked it. 📺

Let me know what you think in the comments below 👇

Tags: @gaminggirlsstuff @gcthvile @missstrawbs2001 @rooster-84 @djs8891 @haleripley @starkleila @cherrysft @mandylove1000 @yetanotherwells @topgun-imagines @buckysteveloki-me @sherloquestea @nakiaswg @carellmcu @ximehs and etc

#agent carter oc #marvel oc #marvel cinematic universe #ant man #hank pym #the young avengers #scott lang #marvel fanfiction #marvel blurb #hope van dyne #original male character #mcu fanfiction #mcu fancast #agents of shield #marvel x oc #janet van dyne #glen powell

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trashquisitor-shirozora · 3 months

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Was browsing through early BOBF/Mando S3 criticisms on Tumblr and WOW, 93% of S2’s viewership dropped when S3 finished airing for an extremely understandable reason. As someone who got into Dinluke after all the dust settled I can only imagine what it was like becoming invested in Din’s story and being floored by the S2 finale only for it to get totally swerve-balled after a long-anticipated wait. How did you avoid the disappointment and burnout?

Spite is an incredibly powerful motivator, let me tell you.

I'm halfway joking about that, btw. I could say I'm used to disappointment and I also worked really hard not to take things too personally after being disappointed time and again year after year by fandoms I was in. Imo the healthiest attitude is that no show/movie/book/videogames/etc will ever play out the way you want/think it should so take what you can get and trash the rest. By the time I started watching The Mandalorian, I'd been burnt badly by Star Trek AOS, the Sequel Trilogy, the MCU, and the Disney machine, and I had to figure out how to accept that I like what I like, I can't change what I can't change, and I can/will run the fuck off with what I can change, which is making wildly fun and fulfilling transformative shit like fanfics and fanart.

I was actually excited about TBOBF and was utterly betrayed by the executive decision to throw him and Fennec to the side in order to absolutely trash the Season 2 finale of the Mando Show by having Din and Grogu reunite just like that. I guess I got lucky in that I had a long-running fic series that I was heavily invested in and I was not about to let Disney stop me from finishing it. Instead of letting my frustrations kill my interest in the show and fandom, I turned it into motivation to keep telling the story I wanted to tell based on the fallout of Season 2. It also helped that Andor happened.

I quit Season 3 of the Mando Show after the 1st episode and it was the best decision I ever made. I had a really rough time with it and was encouraged to step away if it was giving me too much stress. I'm glad for that. Less time and energy picking about Filoni&Favreau and Disney Lucasfilm's decisions and disappointments, more time and energy spent writing and drawing the dinluke I want to see. The nice thing about Star Wars is that it is an old and vast sandbox. Plenty of room here to build whatever sandcastles and dig however many holes you want while canon goes floundering by.

I think also that it really helped to find spaces to share with people who vibe on the same wavelength, so I'm not alone to my thoughts and spiraling myself out of a fandom I enjoyed (like what happened with TLJ but I shan't go there bc this response is long enough). Those posts about having friends you can shit-talk things with? Valid af. You need outlets to vent your grievances without setting bridges on fire, and it'll help your enjoyment of things in the long run.

I didn't avoid the disappointment but I figured out how to make something of it, so I'm still writing dinluke, I'm still drawing dinluke, I'm still getting giddy over dinluke. I actively choose to do what I want with them, and nothing Disney Lucasfilm puts out is ever going to stop me.

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #dinluke #the mandalorian #star wars #tbobf #fandom things #realized I still have a lot of thoughts about TBOBF and Mando S3 while answering the ask #i should post them at some point #but really I can be a really spiteful person who uses rage to fuel certain ideas #if i see a story I don't like for a thing that I like I will rewrite things and I will create things to get over that rage #it's like that quote in frankenstein #it's like. i like this thing so much and i expect better from it so if it won't reach there then i'll write/draw it myself #the burnout will get to me eventually if the hyperfixation doesn't get to me first #but for now i am really enjoying the ride and i remain heavily invested in the story i'm telling with Dangerous Dreams #sometimes you just gotta find the one thing in the fandom you really like and stick with it to the end of the line

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iliumheightnights · 8 months

Text

Sanctuary | Danse x Male!Sole Survivor

Pairing: Danse x Male Reader Fandom: Fallout 4 Ask: Paladin Danse's response to seeing your network of interconnected settlements, all with heavily-armed defenses and the growth of a new civilization, all without Brotherhood assistance?

~~~ This would totally happen pre-relationship between them. When Danse is still part of the Brotherhood. ~~~

"We're almost there." M/n said as he walked ahead of Danse.

The Paladin made a noise in acknowledgement. He let M/n lead the way. This was a resupply mission. The two were bringing some much-needed supplies to his settlement.

Danse hadn't wanted to deviate from their mission for the brotherhood, but M/n had been a good help and friend. He figured this wouldn't be a bad distraction.

They had just passed through the abandoned city of Concord and were at an old Red Rocket stop. However, the building was surrounded by walls and had a few watch towers.

"M/n! Hey M/n!" One of the guardsmen waved to them. "You stopping in or heading to Sanctuary?"

"Sanctuary! Have to drop off something!"

"Understood! We'll call ahead and tell them you're on your way. Make sure there isn't any surprises or anything."

"Thanks Donick!"

Soon the little outpost was behind them as they continued forward. Danse took the opportunity to ask M/n the question that had popped to his mind. "What was that place?"

"One of our Outposts. It was set up as a good forward waystation to Sanctuary. That way in case Raiders or Bandits try to make a move, we'll be ready for them."

Danse nodded. That made sense. He just hadn't expected that.

Soon both men arrived at a bridge. It was nice and seemed to have been rebuilt. Across the river, a large walled community was seen. Lights were on in the windows with smoke drifting up chimmnies. A whole community. A functioning community.

"Come on. I'm sure if we hurry there will still be some good dinner left for us."

They crossed the bridge and arrived at the gate. Danse noticed how the gate was surrounded by automated machine gun turrents. A few rocket launchers were stationed above the watch towers.

"M/n! You're back! About time too! Doc needs those meds like ASAP."

"Sounds good. Go ahead and open up Rhonda!"

She didn't waste any time. Soon the gate opened up and they could walk through. It was then that Danse noticed how they weren't in the community yet. There was in fact another gate they had to walk through and more turrents. "What? You think we're idle with our safety?" M/n teasingly asked Danse.

The other gate opened as the one they just walked through closed. They were then able to finally enter Sanctuary.

As they walked through the community, Danse couldn't stop looking around. He saw people laughing and smiling. Kids playing around with each other. Pets. He saw pets. Everyone seemed...happy. A lot more than he could say about some of the other brotherhood settlements he had seen.

"Everything alright?" M/n asked once he noticed how Danse seemed to be a bit lost in his thoughts.

"What? Oh! Oh yeah. I'm fine. I just...hadn't expected all of this." He motioned to everything around him. "I'll be honest. I kind of expected a few small shacks and turrents. Not a town."

"Ah. I see. Let me guess, that's what Maxson told you about the commonwealth? That we needed your help?"

"Well...yes."

M/n laughed and shook his head. "Of course." He knew it was the truth. Maxson was a pompous self-absorbed asshat. He thought anything outside of the brotherhood was impure and unnatural. That's why he didn't enjoy being near him.

The two made it to a building that was used as the town's hospital. A doctor in a white coat came rushing to meet them. "PLEASE tell me you have it." M/n smiled and reached into his bag pulling out a few packs of Radaway and some other healing stims. "Right here." The doctor seemed relieved. "THANK YOU." That's all the doctor said before turning around and rushing back to their patients.

"Come on. Let's get something to eat and rest a bit. It's been a long trip." He gave Danse' shoulder a pat and moved out of the building, the larger man following him.

The two were heading towards another building when a man in a long coat and hat approached them. "General! Glad you're back." Preston Garvey. Danse had met him a few times before. Not many, but enough to recognize the man. "We just got a call from Starlight. A group of supermutants tried to get through. Luckily those new turrents ended it rather quickly."

"Good. I'm glad. Any other trouble?"

"The occasional raider here and there, but nothing to really report on."

"Even better news. Thanks Preston."

"General." With that, the minuteman nodded his head and turned to continue his patrol.

"Starlight?"

"One of our other settlements. About twenty-five minutes south of here. Old drive-in." He entered the building with Danse and grabbed two bowls of soup that had been made in the kitchens.

The two sat down on the second story of the building on a patio that overlooked the settlement and a bit of beyond. "Another settlement? How many others are there?" Danse was curious. He had never heard of settlements working together. They were usually on their own.

M/n counted on his fingers and held up five fingers. "Five. Sanctuary and Starlight are two. There's also the Castle, Somerville, and Bunker Hill. Those are our big settlements. There's also a handful of outposts around like the red rocket we passed."

"How did you do this?"

"They really teach you that people suck in the brotherhood huh?" He pointed his spoon at Danse. "People want to live and not fear for their life Danse. Trust and Friendship can do wonders." He took a bite of his soup. "We help each other out. We're connected with the radio towers we built. We also make sure to keep our defenses updated and practice drills regularly. We also share supplies between settlements so that we're all successful."

"And it works?" Danse was amazed at hearing everything he had been told. M/n motioned to the settlement they were in. "Obviously. It's been a few years like this now. Of course, it's not always easy, but we make it work. We REALLY aren't as helpless as you were taught."

"I'm starting to see that." Danse' voice was low. He let a sigh escape his lips before he took a bit of his soup. It tasted nice. Felt very homecooked and filled with warmth.

Was this what home tasted like? If it was, he liked it.

#fallout #fallout 4 #paladin danse #danse #x male reader #x male!reader #male reader #male!reader

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punch-love · 12 hours

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11? (for the ask game)

11. Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

I love Sylvie. I don't just like her, I genuinely love her. She's one of the best characters in the show, and I find her arc to be well written and incredibly interesting. I think a lot of the backlash she gets is because she's a female character with traditionally unlikable traits (that are liked within Loki), that she briefly got in the way of the main mlm ship, and also because she doesn't have a girlboss ending and/or girlbossed too hard for the average male character enjoyer.

There's just something really compelling to me about a goddess being forced to live in endless apocalypses - all while the keepers of time itself are repeatedly trying to erase her existence, which they have deemed an unforgivable mistake. The fact that she was unable to form relationships or really interact with anyone that would remember her that wasn't her enemy reflects so heavily in who she is.

Which makes the fact that all she wants is to live an incredibly normal, stable, and routine life all the more beautiful. I love that she wants to work a minimum wage job with a uniform, that she drinks a soda on the hood of her beat-up truck and asks her coworker if he needs a ride home. That she goes to the record shop where someone knows her as a regular (because she can do that now, be somewhere for more than one day and not have it be destroyed) so she can listen to music, something that speaks to her soul. I love that she was willing to kill anyone who got in her way to have this piece of the world. That she doesn't care about the fallout of her actions because she'd never change them. Sylvie is so unapologetic, violent, feral, and human in a way that I just love. In her head, she really doesn't see herself as a goddess so much as someone prevented from being human, and she truly will do anything to never let that happen again. I'm compelled! I'm interested. I might never stop thinking about her.

#mailbox #ask game #sylvie laufeydottir #I LOVE HER SO SO SO SO MUCH #I love her relationship with loki too but this isn't about him. it's about her

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beautifulpersonpeach · 6 months

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im so confused about that taekook pic. is jimin trolling? it's like he's toying with us? pls plss plss don't forget this ask bpp. pls answer my asks. i don't get why everything feels fake about jikook, tkk, jimin. is he even happy? it's like hybe is pulling the strings and trying to confuse jimin stans to frustrate us.

Ask 2:

At this point I just feel like we're getting played with lol. By who and for what? I don't know. But I've felt this way ever since we got photos/video that jimin did in fact get a cake for his solo and I'm sure big hit saw what the fandom was saying about him not getting one and they still waited to announce that he did.

BTS just isn't fun anymore for me rn. There's just this tension surrounding everything. And not just with shipping. It's fandom wide blatant favoritism. Shifting confusing narratives from the guys themselves (Jungkook claiming he's not trying to shy away from the maknae image when that's all he's been saying for months now???). Tae doing whatever it is that he's doing (bless his heart chile). Namjoon seems to be a mess rn, I wanna give him a hug, he speaks like life is kicking his ass. And our jiminie, I can't get a read on but he seems happy. And the other 3 being in the army so they're not causing trouble lol.

These taekook pics from jimin, hmmm idk, maybe it's his way of telling people he doesn't care about the backlash, and tae bringing jungkook up constantly, and we should back off.

It's all a mess. I never thought I'd long for the day we'd get a real break lol. I WANT to miss them.

I don't hate them. This is just exhausting. It's like them and the company are trying to be strategic with everything and it feels a bit disingenuous? Idk if that's the word. Maybe disconnected is more the word. And I know they've always been strategic in the things they do, so idk why this feels different to me.

Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble in your inbox lol

Ask 3:

Something feels wrong about suchwita. It feels forced. Am I the only one who feels Hybe is doing damage control with jikook to contain the fallout from Golden? BPP I'd like to hear what you think about vminkook's date, suchwita revealing the travel variety in context of all the controversies that happened lately. Does Jimin just not care about taekooker hate? He might be kind but he's still human.

Ask 4:

I give up on Jimin. Tired of stanning a grown man letting himself get played for a fool. Hybe, you won. Gloat away BPP. You and the rest of the OT7 cows win.

Ask 5:

BPP your asks about that RM - FACE credits controversy from Pjms reminded me of one debate I saw btw flat earthers and scientists. It's the most fascinating thing I've ever seen. The part that made me think of you is how flatearthers called the scientists uneducated, said they did their own calculations and made their own observations to arrive at fringe theories that disputed the wider consensus. I found it so strange how both scientists and flat earthers could observe the same thing but reach widely different conclusions. I know you've been going over and over with solos for some months so I hope this can make you laugh a bit BPP.

https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=Q7yvvq-9ytE

***

Hi Anon(s),

Lol, Anons in asks 1 through 4, why are you letting your minds torment you over things that should be obvious? Anon in ask 5, you sent me that ask last week, but it feels apt to post it now given the sort of asks I've gotten in the last few hours.

How many times can we go over the sort of conspiratorial thinking that plagues people who eventually become akgaes, thought patterns that have been shown several times this year to be completely misguided? If the only conclusion you can reach after everything we've seen in the last 10 months, after seeing Jikook, Taekook, Yoonmin, Vmin, and Yoonkook's conversations recently, is that 'someone' must be trying to pull a fast one on you, then maybe you should take a step back.

Honestly, in my opinion, you all fit the profile of people who should engage with k-pop very sparingly. Most times, I've observed these sort of views (also in the case of flat-earthers) are caused by gaps in foundational knowledge about the subject coupled with personal implicit biases. I see this happen all the time, and it's unfortunately the sorts of people who think like this who only get further sucked in, to the point they lose any semblance of a reference point. If you're still at the point you're asking these questions, especially Anon in ask 1, 2 and 3, there's still a chance. I'd suggest a clean break, a detox period, and very limited exposure going forward but starting from scratch and actually watching official content from the early years. A lot of people who joined the fandom post-2020 have only seen compilations and selected clips of BTS's formative years, and so they lack the background to better interpret everything that's happening in Chapter 2 - from why HYBE wouldn't respond to akgaes whining about cakes by posting it right away, to how vminkook have behaved throughout Chapter 2.

Listen to how you feel and please step back.

With flat earthers it's funny because in a bid to be skeptical, to 'question everything' so they aren't "played as a fool", they end up becoming just that. For most other people there's no joke, but for them the joke is always on them.

youtube

Thanks for the video, Anon in ask 5. But rather than make me laugh, it did the opposite. The conclusion of the video is that no flat-earther, not one, changed their minds after debating with the scientists. I had a theory that the people who end up as akgaes were always going to be that regardless of any arguments that run contrary to their beliefs, because at the heart of it, it's not about the arguments but about them. But I hoped I could be wrong. Extrapolating the conclusion of this video to my theory, the suggested implication is bleak as hell.

Anyway, stream Golden and enjoy jikook jikooking. Sounds like we're about to get a full calendar of content.

#bts #fandom behaviour #fandom discourse #bts chapter 2 #bts solo stans #jimin #jungkook #taehyung #yoongi #jikook #flat earthers #conspiratorial thinking

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triforce-of-mischief · 4 months

Text

Blindfold Aftermath (Part 2)

Fandoms: Linked Universe, That Broken Promise

Length: Moderate (3185 words)

Summary: Legend and Chief have been avoiding each other for days. Far takes matters into his own hands.

AO3

Chapter 1 2 3

Please show your support with a reblog! Likes do nothing.

He hurt me he betrayed me he LIED to me.

Legend had thought that he had finally found somebody he could trust with his phobia. He had known that it was a risk, befriending a medic of all people, but Chief had truly seemed different. Chief knew what he was talking about, from coping techniques to medical knowledge. He had even expressed anger at Legend’s old doctor for mistreating him.

Which is why Legend felt so impossibly devastated that Chief had done the same to him.

Not even Warriors knew what had happened. He had been there when the morphine wore off, and Legend had let him check the stitches, but he had refused to say a word about Chief.

Legend couldn’t remember anything beyond Chief… giving him the morphine. He guessed that he had been upset and angry, like he still was now. It was something to feel, at least, and he did so gladly. He didn’t have to think about what had happened, just… deal with how he felt about it.

Which he was doing very well, thank you.

It helped that Chief was avoiding Legend just as much as Legend was avoiding Chief. Legend hadn’t so much as glimpsed the medic in however many days it had been. Good. Legend wasn’t ready to see Chief again. Not now, not-

…Not yet.

He was reluctant to say never, and that frustrated him. Legend’s mind was just as traitorous as Chief had been, convinced that they could still be friends like nothing bad had happened.

Legend didn’t want to pretend that things were normal after that unforgivable loss of trust. He wanted to isolate and be angry and wait for things to settle on their own.

He wanted that to feel like the right choice.

****

Far waited a few days, to see if Chief and Legend would work things out without interference from the other heroes. He did his best to keep Red occupied, since Warriors was wary of overwhelming Legend while he was still so unstable. Far even tried approaching Chief after the first full day since the incident. The medic had waved him off, curtly signing that it was “up to Legend.” A terrible excuse, in Far’s opinion, but it wasn’t his place to argue so he didn’t. Far helped to keep Chief fed (at least he hoped so; none of them actually saw Chief eat) but that was the extent of what Chief would allow Far to do for him.

It was stupidly, painfully obvious that Chief and Legend were taking impressive lengths to avoid each other. Confined to their combined camp as they were, neither of them emerged from their tents or joined a gathering by the fire unless it was absolutely necessary, and did the exact opposite of acknowledging the other’s presence.

As the days dragged by with no sign of a reconcile, it was harder for Far to do his part to keep the peace. Red was antsy, asking questions that everybody refused to answer. Chief and Legend had been practically inseparable just days before, and their silent fallout was hard on the kid. It was hard on everyone, and they couldn’t do anything about it.

Eventually, Far resolved that he was going to have to talk to Legend. It was clear that Warriors was too close to the veteran to push his boundaries at all. Far didn’t want to mess Legend up any further either, but as it was they were getting absolutely nowhere. It might’ve been best for Far to be the one to talk to him; he wasn’t as close to Legend as Chief, or hell, Kokiri was. If anybody was going to carefully test Legend’s limits, it might as well have been Far.

With that decided, Far waited for an opportunity to catch Legend alone. It didn’t take long; Legend made his way down to the river that same afternoon, and Far followed with his own pile of laundry.

“Mind if I join you?” Far asked, sitting on the bank at Legend’s nod of assent. He focused on setting out his own clothes, not looking at Legend as he said, “So. Got a minute?”

Legend gestured at his pile of clothes as if to say “not like I have a choice” but answered, “Yeah, what’s up?” He sounded instantly defensive, so Far kept his voice completely calm.

“Go ahead, be mad. I'm curious what got you and Chief at odds,” Far explained. “Because you were both really close and it's starting to get Red jumpy.”

“He... had to treat me. I got hurt and neither of us had anything,” Legend said, quiet and blunt.

Nothing that Far didn’t already know. “Okay. So he stitched up your arm, and now you're both hurting from it and ignoring each other?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” Legend said, already tense.

“Are they still in?" Far asked, hoping that a subject change would work better. "The stitches. I remember that you all heal less quickly than us.”

“I- I guess so. I don't really want to know.”

Far paused, unable to mask a brief moment of horror. “...Please tell me someone's checking under your bandage? It's been four days!”

Legend still didn’t seem as concerned as Far thought he ought to be. “Yeah, Wars has. He knows not to tell me anything unless something's wrong.”

Far covered his face and muttered, “So probably yes.”

Once again, they were getting absolutely nowhere. Back to square one, then.

“Look… we don't have to talk about this. I know Chief hurt you, and he knows it too, that's why he's so upset. But like, he's a friend,” Far said gently. “I hope you know he wishes he never had to hurt you.”

He looked over at Legend, who stared back, unconvinced.

“You were pretty out of it when they found you, but you were still clinging to him then. You wouldn’t let him out of your sight as I carried you back,” Far continued, hoping to revive lost memories.

It had almost been cute, how the injured kid had been so out of it yet so determined to make sure that his friend was okay.

Legend’s voice was flat as he stated, “The morphine made me stupid. Chief knew what he was doing.”

“Yeah, he did. He wanted you to be alive and well more than he wants you to like him,” Far said, still calm even though the words hurt. “And that's fair, and if you never want to see him again, fine. But you were friends once, and he did everything he could to make you comfortable. Is there anything else you'd ask of him?”

“...I trusted him, and he used that. I don't ever want to hear 'for your own good' again but... I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about what he did,” Legend said, then shuddered and began to draw back into himself.

Far gave a neutral hum. “I wanted to at least try to talk to you. I’ve tried, but he's not spoken to anyone since we got you both back.”

Legend flinched at that, so Far pushed on. He returned his focus to his laundry, which was nearly gone by this point.

“You're entitled to be mad,” Far said, almost tired. “He did hurt you, nobody's going to deny it. You two were in an awful situation, even if neither of you had any issues with injuries at all. But he feels that he hurt you, Lege. He's grieving it. You don't have to go see him now, but don't think that Chief hurt you lightly. He did it because he cares enough to see you live without him, too.”

Legend took a minute to think of the right thing to say, ending up with self-deprecating deflection that any of them would know all too well. “…I hurt him too. I said things that I thought would save me, because they would hurt him. And now he's still messed up, because of me. I haven't done anything to earn his favor, if we're calling it that.”

“People say awful things when they're in pain, Lege. He knows that," Far sighed. “Chief will forgive you a hell of a lot if you want him back. I'm not saying you have to, but sometimes friends hurt each other. It doesn't have to be the end.”

"It's... stupid, but.… I don't want it to be,” Legend said, barely above a whisper. “It's going to be hard to forgive him, but I’d never forgive myself if I lost him because of this.”

“I’ll let him know. He'll be patient, don't worry,” Far said softly. He watched Legend nod, jaw tense like he was debating whether to ask something, and he added, “If there's anything else that'll help you, let me know?”

Legend nodded again and hurried to say, “Can- can you be there? If he says it’s ok… I don’t want it to be just us.”

“Yeah, of course,” Far reassured him, pleasantly surprised by the veteran’s request. He hadn’t expected to gain the kid’s trust so fast. “You could probably ask for anyone else too. Whoever you need for support, they’ll be there.”

“You said Red's jumpy... I don't want him to hear this,” Legend said, biting his lip.

“He's a kid. You're important to him, and he can tell that something's gone wrong.” Legend was shaking his head, so Far shrugged that off. “But you could also have like, Kokiri or Wars with you, too.”

“Whoever Chief's comfortable with…”

“Lege, it’s Chief. He likes anyone,” Far said, holding back a laugh at the thought of Chief acting otherwise.

Legend admitted, “I… didn't really tell Wars either... He just knows it happened.”

Well, that changed things. If he hadn’t even told his most trusted brother…

Far dragged a hand down a face and asked, “Why? Because you didn’t want to hear him agree it was needed?”

Legend flinched hard. “No, I just wasn’t ready to talk about it.”

Far winced as well, adding a quiet curse. “Sorry- I'm not any better at this. I didn't mean that as an accusation.”

“It’s fine,” Legend mumbled, squeezing his hat particularly hard to wring the water out.

“If you say so,” Far sighed. “I’ll leave you be. Let me know when you're ready. It can wait until you are.”

Legend nodded, not looking up as Far stood to leave. “Yeah… okay.”

****

Chief was, predictably, still hiding in his tent when Far sought him out. He had worked himself into a corner, and Far had to step carefully around deconstructed bits and bobs that were meticulously laid out on the floor. Chief gave Far a brief, tired glance, turning a tool over in his hands as Far knelt across from him.

“I spoke with Legend,” Far said, and watched hope-worry-fear flash across Chief’s face before settling back to tired emptiness.

“Is he okay?” Chief asked quietly, his voice unsteady from days of neglect.

Far considered for a moment, then said, “He’s doing as well as you are.”

Chief made a hum that probably wasn’t supposed to sound as pained as it did.

“He wants to try to talk to you. Soon. Not now, but when you’re ready?” Far asked, waiting patiently as Chief froze.

Chief blinked and said, “That’s… good. That’s good. I’m glad. Whenever he’s ready… I can talk to him.”

“Thank you,” Far said, smiling even though Chief was no longer looking. “We’ll wait for him, then?”

Chief nodded, and Far took his leave.

****

Legend approached him sooner than he had expected; only two days had passed since he had agreed to give Chief a chance. Far could practically see the nerves coming off the kid, and he mentally steeled himself for what was sure to be a difficult conversation.

“Hey Lege, what do you need?” Far asked calmly. He wasn’t about to assume anything, not about a situation that was this sensitive.

Legend twisted one of his rings so harshly that Far was half-worried that his finger would come off with it. “Um... I'm ready to talk to Chief now, if you're not busy...”

Doubtful, but Far didn’t challenge Legend’s judgement. “Yeah, sure. Do you want me to bring him over here or come with me?”

“I can come,” Legend said instantly, and took a step closer.

“Sure. I haven’t seen him leave his tent today, so…”

Far led him to Chief’s tent, holding up a finger in a signal for him to wait outside. Far poked his head inside, where the medic was curled up in a corner with a book.

Far cleared his throat and said, “Hey Chief? I need a second.”

He shifted as Chief looked up, letting him see Legend behind him. Chief went pale in the face with shock, and Far heard a faint whimper from Legend.

Far didn’t trust that either of them were truly ready for this conversation. At least he could trust that things wouldn’t get violent. Still, they were in desperate need of a mediator.

“Here will do,” Far said, grateful that Chief’s things were fully reassembled by now. There was room for him to walk; room for them to sit. “We should have enough quiet here, I think.”

He sat near Chief, mostly facing him but angled enough that Legend could position Far between them. Unsurprisingly, the veteran did so, the wings on his boots fluttering even as he settled.

“Right…” Chief rasped, reciprocating Legend’s refusal to look at him.

A few beats of silence passed before Legend broke it. “Um… hi.”

Chief gave a vague hum, then swallowed and managed to say, “…I’m glad you look well.”

Far held back a wince at hearing how stiff his friend’s voice was.

“It’s nearly healed... You did a good job,” Legend mumbled, picking at the edge of the bandage until Far nudged him.

Chief, thankfully, had still not looked up. “Good. I’m… relieved…” He closed his eyes for a moment, and his voice was slightly stronger when he continued. “I’m sorry. I… had to trick you, but I'm sorry I hurt you. If there had been any other way…”

“Yeah… thanks,” Legend whispered. He shuddered, collecting his thoughts. “Um… I'm sorry too, for what I said. I wanted to say anything that might've stopped you- and you didn't deserve to hear it."

Chief gave a soft laugh and nodded, though Far detected the first hint of tears in his voice. “I know. I… thank you. I'm sorry we couldn't… I don't know what all Far said, but I'll be okay if you don't want to talk to me again, I promise.”

Far silently offered his hand to Legend, who grabbed it with a faint whine.

“It's upsetting, but I'm not the one who was hurt worst. No matter how rude you were, you weren’t in your right mind. You were just trying to defend yourself.”

Chief shrank into himself, and Far resisted the urge to sigh. This was not how this apology was supposed to go. Didn’t Chief have experience with this kind of patient? Legend was just a scared kid and Chief was a trained medic and the adult, and Far had half a mind to hiss as such at him. Instead, Far bit his tongue and let Legend stammer through his own protest.

“No, I don't want to lose you. Even though you hurt me- and I’m sorry, but I don't think I can forget that- you still know the most about what I went through. Things may not be perfect, but I don't want this to ruin everything.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to forget. I did hurt you,” Chief said, then finally turned to look at Legend. “It was necessary, but it still happened. Even so, it can still be okay.”

“People hurt each other,” Far said softly. “It's just part of being alive.”

Legend glanced up at Far, inadvertently meeting Chief’s eyes instead. He jolted and hid his face in Far’s side.

Chief had been scowling at Far, but looked away just as quickly as Legend had. He pulled his legs close and rested his chin on his knees, watching Legend out of the corner of his eye. “It’s okay if you still want to wait,” Chief said gently. “I appreciate getting to apologize to you. I didn't want to bother you while you were still upset.”

“I don't... like being like this,” Legend said, still pressed against Far. “I didn't know that I was making things worse by avoiding you. I wasn't ready to talk before, but I am now. I am still upset, but… you don't need to be hurt too.”

“You weren't making things worse for me, Lege. I knew what would happen when I did it,” Chief said, soft and careful. “Of course I was sad to lose your friendship, but you can't… you can’t put that over someone's health. I had to make a decision, and I’m sorry that you were part of it.”

Legend swallowed hard before saying, “I don’t want to lose our friendship. this is something we can grow from, right? It’s been over for days, I’m sick of pushing each other away.”

“Yeah, if you're ready,” Chief agreed. “If you’re ready we can move on. You were… worried about me, even high you know? It was nice.” He turned to look at Legend again, watching the kid with a tired semblance of a smile.

“Really? I don’t remember anything…” Legend frowned, trying to make sense of a story that didn’t line up right.

“I’m not surprised, I used a high dose,” Chief sighed. “You were kinda sweet, though. You insisted we cuddle.”

Far allowed himself a quiet laugh, relieved at the thought that the immediate aftermath hadn’t been all bad.

“Man, I really was out of it…” Legend hummed, but he sounded more hopeful than anything.

“You were.” Chief laughed weakly, and Far caught him rubbing his sleeve over his eyes. “I won’t tell.”

“Thanks.” Legend sniffled, then hesitated like he was surprised at his own emotion. “What a mess…”

Far settled Legend fully on his lap without protest, biting back the urge to coo as the melted kid peeked at Chief once more.

“Do you two need to hug again now?” Far suggested gently, squeezing Legend’s hand as reassurance that he wasn’t going anywhere.

Legend made a soft, almost-nervous sound, then nodded and reached ever-so-slowly for his friend. Chief barely looked any more confident, but Far’s expectant look followed him as he stood and let Legend pull him back down to curl up on his own lap. It was a position that almost seemed preestablished, Chief letting himself be small and vulnerable while Legend held him close. The three of them were a tangled mess, and Far wouldn’t have it any other way.

The smaller two, overcome with raw emotion, were a shivering, silently sobbing mess, clinging to each other with the terror that the other would let go. Far hugged them both, knowing that as long as they took to heal, he would remind them that they were there for each other.

#linked universe #lu #lu legend #that broken promise #tbp #tbp far #tbp chief #fable writes

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