#tdlh

i got a few comments about this when i first made a post about blizzard’s mishandling of the hearthstone situation.

[Begin ID. An anonymous user asks, “I support you no matter what your decision about continuing to write in the overwatch universe is. Real people are always more important than fiction. Take care of yourself.” End ID.]

this is very kind of you - thanks, anon. real people really are more important than fiction, and the people in hong kong fighting for their freedom is more important than any story i could write.

[Begin ID. An anonymous user asks, “ To be honest, I don't think you should worry. What you've created and what Blizzard has created are two mutually exclusive works of fiction. If anything, the fact that you've taken such a stance is proof enough that your work is superior to theirs. Please, keep going, if only to spite them.” End ID.]

respectfully, i must disagree. spite means nothing when people are dying.

[Begin ID. An anonymous user asks, “ You say you won't write any more TLDH/Overwatch fanfic. Will you at least post the last chapter you've written/your notes for how the rest of the fanfic would have gone, to give a sense of closure to the fic?” End ID.]

yes. this will be in a separate post than this one for clarity’s sake. i will be linking a google docs folder containing all relevant documents to the story of tdlh as well as the worldbuilding, and i’ll continue to answer questions that people might have about the editorial process. you will all get closure, or at least get to see how far i had plotted.

[Begin ID. User patterned-clouds replies, “Feeling this.” User joann-of-arc replies, “Completely understandable.” User srendarrsmercy replies, “Valid.” User decade-dance replies, “Yeah, I can’t help but be with you. I’m probably uninstalling Overwatch tomorrow. The whole situation sickens me to no end.” End ID.]

i’m very grateful for your understanding - this is a deeply unsatisfactory choice i’m making and i’m aware that people might be unhappy with it. but this is the stance i choose to take, and i appreciate the support.

D.Va grits her teeth and keeps deflecting bullets. She can keep it up for as long as she needs to, she knows that much, but her hands are occupied now. She can’t do anything else.

“Tangle it up in the wires?” Apple suggests after a while. “We can cut them down and see how it goes.”

“What if the whole thing comes down on us? I know this is kind of a suicide mission, but I sure as hell didn’t come in here to die.”

“And we don’t have anything to cut it with,” Youngblood says. “That’s more Lucky’s thing.”

This is an emergency, obviously—this was the start of the renewed Omnic Crisis, and where they are not only the vanguard but the best line of defense. D.Va gives her head a violent shake, staring directly at the canopy of Tango’s blue, blue MEKA. It’s serving as just a distraction for now, but the moment she drops her defense matrix, it will be a threat. She can’t trust anyone else with this. What should she do?

What can she do?

“Assuming we can even take down Tango’s mech, we still have the drones to contend with,” Apple muses. “It looks like they have auto-repair protocols.”

“Not to mention there’s an endless number of them,” Mim says.

“How are you both so calm about this?” Youngblood trills. “We’re inside a giant mech with Tango fighting us. This whole thing is going to blow up the second we break something and we’re all going to die!”

Blow up. Blow up. That’s it, D.Va thinks, narrowing her eyes at Tango’s mech. Emergencies are emergencies which means self-destruct, but she needs her mech right now, so what can she—

(Better hope Tango’s body isn’t in there, Hana whispers, and oh, the agony is soft and bitter.)

“Mim, Apple,” Hana says, “can we get in touch with Tango’s tech?”

“Their tech? Probably, but the connection’s going to be spotty,” Mim says. “Why?”

“I will tell you in a second. Apple, can you patch me in?”

“Okay, but I’m going to need someone to watch my back while I do it.”

“I’ll—I’ll do it.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it, Youngblood. Give me ten seconds, D.Va.”

Tango’s MEKA stops firing and starts to reload. D.Va takes the opportunity to close the distance between them, boosting through the dark space and smashing her mech’s guns into the joints of the MEKA’s arms. Sparks fly when she opens fire, and she grits her teeth at the screeching metallic noise.

“Got ‘em,” Apple says. “All yours, Dae-hyun.”