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cypherverze · 1 year

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CHAPTER SEVEN

Hardest Part of Ending is Starting Again

an avengers x john wick crossover fanfic

You can access the previous chapter here: Chapter Six | Series Masterlist Access

PAIRINGS: avengers x teen!reader (platonic) , tony stark x niece!reader , john wick x daughter!reader , peter parker x female!reader

SUMMARY: After arriving in Venice, Italy to meet the one and only Nick Fury who had asked for your assistance in the current mission, you find it really hard to trust the person that you’re helping.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: hello! here’s chapter seven. sorry it took some time to be posted, i was just not really feeling well. not feeling well in life and general, i had also decided to cross post this on my wattpad account. the next chapter will be taking a long time to be posted since i’ll be posting the rest of the chapters on my wattpad account. if you want to check it out in wattpad, my username is @/cypherverze. i tweaked the movie, if you had noticed. i think that this will be a long series story, since a lot of stuff will be happening.

please excuse the typos if ever you found any. likes, comments, and reblogs are very much appreciated. thank you so much for liking and supporting my work!

REMINDERS: this story is pure fiction. i do not own the characters of avengers, spider-man, and john wick franchise. this work is originally written by the author (me), please do not copy or repost my work in other platforms.

WARNINGS: foul language, mention of guns and death

WORD COUNT: 5,600

You bid Happy goodbye and stepped out of the private jet, you had your cases and duffel bag with you, and you’re already wearing the mask that Tony had made. Happy will be going back to New York for the meantime, leaving you in Italy with Fury’s guidance. But he made sure that you’ll call him the moment that the mission is over, since he doesn’t want to face Tony’s wrath. You made your way towards a corner, in one of the alley, and saw Fury waiting for you.

“What the hell are you wearing?” Fury said, looking at you unamused.

“Isn’t this a SHIELD agenda? You remember that I don’t want to get involve in any other way with your business. So if I’m going to be assisting you with something, the mask stays.” Fury nodded at you, “So what do you need me for?”

“We can discuss it further later on. Follow me, and let’s get you settled in. We need to pick someone up right after.” You nodded and followed Fury in an alley, leading into an underground cave.

“Huh, it’s cool that you had built a makeshift camp here. Looks so neat.” You looked around the cave in fascination.

When you entered, you saw Maria Hill and Dmitri nodding at you as a greeting. You dropped your stuff on the ground, and you noticed a person that’s wearing a golden armor with a pink cape and a fishbowl helmet, which is you find a bit odd. You tilted your head a bit, looking at the weird person, until the fishbowl helmet came off, revealing a man. He walked towards you and Fury, introducing himself to you.

“Hi, I’m Quentin Beck, you can just call me Quentin.” He held out his hand for you to shake.

Somehow you got the feeling that this man cannot be trusted, you feel iffy about him. Your intuition is never wrong, you always go with your intuition and never doubting it. But for the sake of humanity’s safety, you’ll give this man the benefit of the doubt and just keep everything to yourself for the meantime. Besides, you can’t really accuse him of something without any proof, you’ll look like a fool if you accuse him of being suspicious as your reason, but nevertheless, you’re onto him. He’s a good looking man, you’ll give him that, but you’ll be watching him like a hawk.

“Thalia.” You said as you grabbed his hand and shook it.

Like hell you’ll tell this man your real name, he already gives you an off vibe. There’s no way in hell this man would find out your real name. Fury had also smiled softly at you, he knew very well how little you trust other people, especially people that you had just met that had set you off in a not pleasant way.

“You can take off your mask.” He turned to you.

“Thank you, but the mask stays.” Fury can’t do anything about it, so he respected your decision and just nodded.

“Thalia here will be assisting us on this mission and will be helping me in bringing in the last person that will help us.”

You got settle in and fixed your things in a corner, you loaded up a few gun and tucked them under your coat. You had also been briefed of what is currently happening and what you all are up against—elementals. After the quick briefing, Fury had called for you, and motioned you to follow him, the both of you exiting the cave and heading to towards the boat that you’ll be riding to pickup the person that he metioned earlier.

“Here, you’ll be needing this.” Fury said as he handed you a tranquilizer gun and grabbed it, placing it inside your coat.

You both arrived at the hotel and head down the boat, you two entered the hotel where Peter and the rest of the class had been staying in. The hotel was kind of a bit flooded inside, where anyone can possibly get a leptospirosis if someone is stupid enough to walk barefoot inside—you can’t help but shiver at the thought. You were able to get across the water by walking on the wooden plank that had been placed by the hotel’s management.

There was no sign yet of the class being back, so you assumed that they’re still outside exploring the area. The person at the reception area hadn’t noticed you coming in as well since the person was too busy doing something to notice you, probably noting that you’re a guest that had been checked in. Fury already knew which room that Peter was staying in, and he had motioned you to unlock the door, both letting yourselves inside.

Fury sat on the couch that was near the door and you stood beside him. The area where the couch was placed is a bit dark, so no one will notice the both of you when people come in. You were just observing the room, taking in the slightly dingy place, when you heard series of voices right outside of the room, notifying you and Fury that they are already here.

“What are you gonna do about the water monster?” The voice was a bit muffled, but you knew that it was Ned talking.

“Nothing. It’s dead, and besides, that Mysterio guy’s all over it. Look, I just wanna spend some time with MJ. We were talking about Paris, and I think she really likes me.” Peter’s voice became louder as he and Ned approached and entered the room.

“That’s nice. Reminds me of when Betty and I first fell in love. I had just finished my fruit cobbler, right, and-“

Before Ned can finish what he’s saying, you had shot him right in the neck with the tranquilizer, causing him to immediately fall on the floor. You put back the tranquilizer gun inside your coat.

“You’re a very difficult person to contact, Spider-man.” Fury said, as Peter turned towards the both of you, eye widened in shock.

“You’re Nick Fury…and your agent just shot Ned.” Peter said in disbelief.

You walked towards Ned and lifted him up, with Peter helping you and placing Ned right on the bed. You didn’t notice that Peter had recognized your watch, the watch your father always wear, and now you always wear—that’s when he realized that it was actually you. You went back to Fury’s side and just stood there, staring at Peter.

Peter wondered what you were doing—being with Nick Fury of all people. He’s aware that SHIELD knows you, but he doesn’t know how deep that goes and the close bond you share with Nick Fury. He knows very well your stance against being involved with anyone, especially the avengers, and now with SHIELD.

“Thalia, meet spider-man. Spider-man, meet Thalia.” Fury introduced you both, and you nod at Peter. “Thalia had shot Ned with a mild tranquilizer, he’ll be all right. It is good to finally meet you.”

“Uh, you too.” Peter replied nervously.

“But enough with the introductions, I know that you know me, and the important thing is you’re here. I tried to bring you here but avoided me, and now you’re here. What a coincidence.”

“Wait. Was this a coincidence?” Peter looked at Fury, an eyebrow raised at him.

“I don’t really appreciate it when someone dodges my calls, especially knowing that the one’s dodging my calls is a high school kid. Let me give you a quick run through of what had happened—a week ago, a village in Mexico was wiped out by a cyclone, witnesses say that the cyclone had a face. Three days later, a similar event in Morocco. A village was-“

Fury was cut off when someone knocked on the door, you quickly pulled out your gun pointing it at the door. This time, it was not the tranquilizer anymore, but already an actual gun that can really kill. You kept your gaze remained at Peter, and you saw the panic flashed in his eyes. The one who opened the door was Mr. Harrington, peeking his head inside the room.

“Just making the rounds, see if anyone needs any counseling after today’s traumatic events.” Harrington said.

“No, we’ll be okay! We’re fine. Thank you.” Peter quickly said.

“Great, because I’m not qualified to actually…” He turned his attention towards the bed and saw Ned already sleeping, “Oh, he’s passed out. I’m not qualified to do it anyways, so good night.” Harrington decided to leave and closed the door.

“That was my teacher. Sorry about that. You were saying?” Peter let out a nervous laugh.

“A village was destroyed by what may well be another world threatening-“ Fury was cut off again. Your gun still pointed at the door, never once put it down.

“Babe, you still awake?” You had recognized the voice, it was Betty Brant. “You’re not answering any of my texts.”

You can’t really miss that voice, especially when it’s the one you always hear when you arrive at school and walking along the hallways. The voice was a bit muffled because the sound is being blocked by the door, but you can hear it clearly enough to recognize the owner of the voice.

Who the hell is she calling babe? It’s certainly not Peter.

Then you turn your gaze at Ned’s passed out figure, your eyes widen at the sudden realization.

“Umm, he’s asleep, Betty.”

Betty was calling Ned, babe?! Since when did those two got together?!

“Oh, already?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” You heard Betty leave the door.

“That’s why it’s imperative-“ Fury was cut off, again. You can already feel the frustration radiating off of him, he’s about to flip the fuck out, but you held back his shoulders with your free hand.

“Hey, boys. So that canal water today was filled with dangerous bacteria.” This time, it was Mr. Dell.

“Another person touches that door, Thalia won’t hesitate to shoot them, and you and I are going to end up attending a funeral.” Fury finally having none of it, and stood up. “Suit up.” He firmly said.

“Let me know if you develop vomiting.” Mr. Dell had retreated from the door.

Fury opened the door, and as you were about to follow him, you felt Peter gently grabbed your wrist, and stopping you from following Fury.

“(Y/N), please help me out. I promised myself that I won’t be doing any superhero stuff while on this trip.” He pleaded, “Please. I just really wanted to enjoy this trip without being Spider-man, and I want to seize every moment with MJ.”

You deactivated your mask and stared directly at Peter’s eyes for a while. Goddamn those cute brown eyes—but you quickly snapped yourself back to reality, trying not to get cave into those brown eyes. You do really want to help him out, but you can’t. It’s you versus Nick Fury, and the best choice is that you should pick is Fury. You don’t want to be on the man’s bad side.

“Peter.” You firmly said and sighed, “I’m really sorry…I really do want to help you and be able to enjoy the trip with MJ, but I can’t help you on this one, my hands are tied. Just do what Nick asks of you, and if you do it, the sooner you can finish and spend time with MJ. But until then, you have no choice but to follow him.” You look at him one last time and activated your mask.

You closed the door as you exit the room, and leaned on one of the walls, waiting for Peter to get suited up. Fury was already downstairs, waiting for the both of you by the reception area. You snapped your attention towards the door and saw Peter came out, you motioned him to follow you. You both walked down the flight of stairs towards the reception area in silence, not uttering any word to each other.

The both of you quickly followed Fury towards a boat that was waiting for the three of you by the canals. Fury took control of the both as both you and Peter sat at the back, by the edge of the boat. You deactivated your mask to get some fresh air and maybe enjoy the view that Venice offers during the nighttime.

“Didn’t know you work with SHIELD now.” Peter initiated a conversation.

“I’m not.” He looked at you in confusion, “You do know that I sometimes lend my assistance to the avengers, and that also counts in Fury.” Peter nodded at your reply.

“What’s with the mask and Nick Fury calling you Thalia? Is that kind of your superhero name now?” You laughed at Peter’s response.

“You know very well that I’m far from being a superhero, Peter. I asked uncle Tony to make me this mask, he doesn’t really know the purpose of the mask that he’s making for me, but he knows that I’ll use this mask to get those people that are all after me off of my trail. I’ll be using this as well whenever someone from the team or Nick Fury asks for my assistance. Double purpose.” You chuckled.

“As for Thalia? Hmm, it’s really because of this mask,” You showed Peter. The mask can also be activated without it being attached to the face, “This is the mask of comedy, I assume that you have a knowledge of it. Mask of comedy and tragedy are a symbol of theater—the mask of comedy is known as Thalia, she’s the-“

“The muse of comedy and idyllic poetry. Never really pinned you as a theater girl.” Peter turned and smiled at you, “And with a bit of few stuff that I knew about you, I was expecting for you to pick mask of tragedy.”

“Well, what can I say? There are still a lot of stuff you really don’t know about me, Peter.” You said as you look softly at him.

“In the months that had passed of getting to know you, I do know the basics—how Mr. Stark is your uncle, that your parents are no longer with you. But other than that, I don’t know other deep stuff about you. Why’s that?”

“Why is what?” You looked at him confused.

“Why do you keep people at arm’s length.”

“Ah. It’s better if you knew little stuff about me and you know, less is better. Besides, can’t let people be too attached to me. You don’t have to worry though, you’re a good friend Peter.”

You scoffed at the word friend in your head. You knew that Peter has a lot of questions, but before he can ask them, Fury had announced that you already arrived at the location. You placed back the chip behind your ear and activated your mask. You two followed Fury off the both and walked towards the alley where you had just been earlier, walking through the corridors of the underground vault.

“You can lose the mask, everyone has seen you with it.” Peter looked at you, but you are already looking at him, knowing that Fury was talking about him and not you, “You’d be feigning anonymity and breathing through spandex for no good reason.” You chuckled, you certainly aren’t the one wearing a spandex.

“Piece of advice, don’t trust someone too much because I know you tend to do the a lot and getting hurt right after.” You whispered at Peter, and catching up right after Fury. He just looked at you confused, didn’t know the meaning of what you had just said.

Peter stopped on his tracks and removed the mask, you can’t help but notice the exhaustion masking his face. He began examining the makeshift camp that had been put up by Fury and his team, before Fury calls for him. Deeper inside the cave, the place was loaded with a bunch of spy equipment, hardware, computers and whatnot. It’s basically sort of a special operations covert spy base.

“Over there, we have Maria Hill.” Fury began introducing the team to Peter, and Maria was operating a computer, sparing Peter little attention, “This is Dmitri,” Dmitri, the Russian that was sitting next to Maria, had cocked a crossbow. You noticed that Peter got scared a bit, causing you to let out a quiet chuckle.

“And this is Mr. Beck.” Fury had pointed to a man clad in a gold armor with a pink cape.

“Mysterio?” Peter asked in confusion, he was wondering why Mysterio is there.

“What?” Beck replied.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s just what my friends have been calling you.”

“Well, you can call me Quentin.” Beck stretched out a hand towards Peter and shook their hands, “You handled yourself well out there today. I saw what you did with the tower. We could use someone like you on my world.”

As the two of them converse, you can’t help but observe Beck intently. The odd feeling that you had felt inside of you before, came crawling back again to resurface. You really can’t find any reason at all to trust the man.

“Thanks.” Peter said, but suddenly realizing what Beck had said, “I’m sorry, your world?”

“Mr. Beck is from earth. Just not yours.” Fury explained.

“There are multiple realities, Peter. This is earth dimension 616. I’m from earth 833.”

Beck had positioned himself behind a table, Fury and Peter following him. You just stayed behind Fury, listening silently in the conversation. You just leaned on the wall, observing everything, noticing a bit of mannerisms from every person that is with you in the room, and taking a mental note of it. Those mannerisms can be useful when things go wrong and can use it to your advantage.

“Sorry, you’re saying there’s a multiverse? I thought that was theoretical. That changes how we understand the initial singularity.” Fury and Maria turned towards Peter, a bit confused.

You smiled softly at Peter. You really like it when he babbles stuff, it’s kind lf endearing for you whenever Peter get a bit excited and began spewing information that you even have no idea of. You like watching Peter be in his element where he thrives, you always learn new things through him.

“Your crush is showing and you’re drooling.” Maria said and smirked at she passed by you.

“I am not!” You whisper-yelled at Maria.

“We’re talking about an eternal inflation system. How does that even work with all the quantum? It’s insane.” Peter noticed that Fury and Maria was looking at him with exasperation, “Sorry. It’s really cool.” He apologized quickly. Noticed that he got a bit excited.

“Don’t even apologize for being the smartest one in the room.” Peter smiled broadly at Beck, a bit flattered. Fury scoffing faintly.

“Anyway.” Maria said, as she triggers a holographic projection of the elementals and their origins.

“They were born in stable orbits within black holes. Creatures formed from the primary elements—air, water, fire, and earth. The science division had a technical name. We just called them elementals.” Beck began explaining.

“Versions of them exist across our mythologies.” Maria added.

“Turns out, the myths are real.” Beck supporting what Maria had just said.

“Like Thor. Thor was a myth, now I study him in my physics class.”

“These myths are threats.” Fury chimed in on the conversation.

“They first materialized on my earth many years ago.” A holographic 3D model of Beck’s earth flashed, “We mobilized and fought them, but with each battle, they grew, got stronger. I was part of the last battalion left trying to stop them.”

A wave of fire being shown on the holographic slowly engulfed the planet’s surface, rendering it a barren and charred wasteland.

“All we did was delay the inevitable.” Beck added.

“The elementals are here now, attacking the same coordinates. Our satellites confirm it.” Maria said.

“So thanks Mr. Beck for destroying the other three. There’s only one left—fire.” Fury said.

“The strongest of them all. The one that destroyed my earth. It’s the one that took my family.” Beck said with sadness in his voice.

You rolled your eyes at Beck’s piss poor story, which surely you’re not buying at all. You literally can see through the man, you had taken note of the mannerisms that you had observed from Beck that he does unconsciously, and the wedding ring on Beck’s ring finger was not helping at all.

“I’m sorry.” You heard Peter say.

“It will be in Prague in approximately forty-eight hours.” Maria updated.

“We have one mission, and that is to kill it.” Fury firmly said, turning his attention towards Peter, “And you’re coming with us.”

“I’m sorry, did you say Prague?” Peter glances at you, then at Maria. He’s uncertain whether he had heard Maria right or not, “Um, Mr. Fury, this is all seems like bigtime, you know, huge superhero kind of stuff. And I mean, I’m just a friendly neighborhood spider-man, sir.”

“Bitch please.” Fury was having none of it.

“Sir come on, there’s gotta be someone else you can use. What about the avengers?” Peter turned to look at you, asking silently for some help, but you just shrug your shoulders.

“The avengers are all unavailable right now, they are away on a mission. They can’t be on both places at once.”

“Sir, look, I really wanna help. I do. But if my aunt finds out I left my class trip, she’s gonna kill me.” Peter explained, “And if I’m seen like this in Europe, after the Washington Monument, my class will figure out who I am then, and then the whole world will figure out who I am, and then I’m done.”

“Okay. I understand.” Fury said, which made Peter a bit taken back.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Why don’t you get back before your teachers, who miss you, become suspicious.” Fury smiled knowingly, “Thalia, Dmitri. Take him back to the hotel, please.” He turned to you and you nodded. You straightened yourself, walking towards the exit of the cave, waiting for Peter. Dmitri had already exited the cave, preparing the boat.

“Thank you, Mr. Fury, and good luck.” He prepares to leave, walking past Beck.

“See you, kid.” Beck bid him goodbye.

“Yeah, see you.” Peter replied, “Bye, ma’am.” Bidding goodbye to Maria as well.

Peter walked towards you and you both went out. Heading towards the boat, you sat at the end of the boat again, with Peter sitting right beside you.

“You do know that I can’t help you guys on this one, right?” Peter began speaking, you just listened to him, “I only get one shot to be with MJ, one chance to level up my relationship, and I don’t want to mess it up. I have been planning it the whole trip.” He sighed.

“I know, you’ve said it a bunch of times now, Pete. So many times that my ears are about to fall off.” You joked, “Nick won’t ask for you if you can’t handle the situation. He trusts you, y’know. He sees your potential.”

“I really do want to help, but I can’t.”

“Yeah. You’ve alredy made that clear back at the camp, we can’t really do anything about it now, huh.”

The boat stopped right in front of the hotel. You watched Peter as he got up from the seat and prepared to leave the boat, when he looked at you. Following his actions, he opened his arms, motioning you to go in for a hug.

“I guess I’ll be seeing you soon, probably when we get back in New York.” Peter said as he break the hug.

“Yeah. You go ahead now, have a good night, Peter.” He nodded, “Good luck with MJ.” You sat beside Dmitri as he drove back to the place.

You knew very well that Fury was planning something under his sleeves the moment you saw him smiled. Peter may haven’t noticed Fury’s smile, but you did. You know damn well that Fury won’t take no for an answer, you can confirm that he’s cooking up something for sure.

The whole class was now waiting outside of the hotel for the teachers, they are now getting ready to head to their next country for the school trip, which is Paris—the one that Peter had been looking forward to the most.

“Hey man, are you sure you’re good?” Peter checked up on Ned, following the recent event that happened last night.

“Oh, dude, I’m fine.” Ned assured him.

“Okay. Nice.” Peter was still worried about Ned.

“Okay, don’t worry. Seriously—getting tranq’d in the neck by Nick Fury, probably the coolest thing that ever happened to me anyway.”

“It was his agent that shot you.”

“Still, the orders had been from Nick Fury. So it still cool.”

“It is pretty awesome. Yeah. I’m happy I don’t have to go to Prague.” Then the both of them perform their high-five combo.

“Seriously.”

Mr. Harrington walked out of the hotel, walking past Peter and Ned, and gathering all of the students.

“Good news. We’re going to Prague, huh?” Mr. Harrington announced.

“What? What?!” Peter grasped his hair in frustration.

“Yeah. Tour company just called, and they upgraded us. You should’ve heard me on the phone with them. I really gave them hell.”

“All I heard was crying.” Mr. Dell chimed in.

Mr. Harrington had guided the class towards the direction of where a bus was waiting for them. Dmitri and you are waiting by the entrance of the bus, just waiting for the whole class to board. You were standing there, with your arms crossed on your chest, and wearing your usual whole black outfit—black turtle neck, pants, trench coat, and combat boots. You saw Peter looked at you in disbelief.

“Look at our upgraded ride.” Mr. Harrington said excitedly and you heard a few amazed comments from the students.

“I’m impressed, Mr. Harrington.” Mr. Dell said.

“Oh, come on.” Peter said in exasperation, Ned turning to look at him.

“Peter, w-what’s going on?”

“I think Nick Fury just hijacked our summer vacation, and that’s the one who shot you.” Peter whisper yelled at Ned, and pointed at you.

Mr. Harrington had walked towards you and Dmitri. Introducing himself, but Dmitri remained stoic, but you decided that you’ll be doing the talking to make everyone feel at ease, it’s already weird enough that you’re there with your mask on. The students began piling up inside the bus, it didn’t take any long for the bus to be filled, and you were the last one to enter the bus, following Dmitri. You had sat on the first seat, and began talking to Dmitri a little bit, but your conversation was in Russian, to avoid from being eavesdropped. The both of you would sometimes talk back in the underground camp in Venice, he’s a nice guy, and he has became a brother figure to you.

“Yo, what’s up, Flash Mob? It’s your boy, the big F, cruising through the Alps with my private driver, Dmitri and bodyguard, Thalia.”

Flash had been on livestream ever since the school trip began, and now that you had witnessed it yourself, Flash had never failed to annoy you so much, even back in school. You had been holding everything back from punching his throat to shut up.

“Этот парень когда-нибудь затыкается? Этот парень действительно раздражает меня до чертиков. Я хочу проткнуть ему горло.” You murmured, making Dmitri laugh.

“Почему бы тебе не попробовать, ребенок?”

“Я бы буквально хотел, но не хочу оказаться в тюрьме.” You shrugged, Dmitri just chuckled and turned his attention back on the road.

Meanwhile, Peter was reading an article called “Top 10 Romantic Places in Prague” at his seat, and occasionally glancing at MJ then at you. He wants to move seats, beside you, to ask you what had just happened. He thought that Fury had already understood and agreed that he won’t be able to help on this mission, which he had already made clear a few times. After a few hours of being on the road, Dmitri stops at a gas station.

“Petrol and toilets. Ten minutes!” Dmitri opened the door of the bus, you got out first and the students followed. He motioned you to wait for Peter to come down and direct him to the house that he needs to be in.

“Except you, big guy. You go through there.” You immediately grabbed Peter’s shoulder as soon as he stepped down of the bus.

“W-What?” You put an arm around Peter’s shoulder and walked with him towards the house, opening the door and gently shoving him inside.

You distanced yourself from the house, standing by the bus entrance and watching the house where Peter was in. You saw that Brent Davis had accidentally opened the house that Peter was in. You quickly went towards the house, standing behind Brent unnoticed, you were also able to hear the whole ordeal. Brent had just taken a photo of Peter, almost naked and had threatened Peter that he’ll show the photo to MJ. When Brent had turned around, he collided with your figure. You were standing behind him, arms crossed on your chest in an intimidating stature.

“She deserves what truth?” You eyed him, you voice had intimidated Brent.

“N-Nothing.” You put your hand out to him, motioning him to give his phone to you, “W-What, you can’t do that.”

“I can. You has just taken a photo of someone without their consent and had threatened them to send it to someone. If I were you, I would hand in the phone.”

Brent handed you his phone in defeat, he doesn’t want to anger you any longer. Which is a good choice, because it certainly won’t end well, you don’t want to choke hold or threaten the boy with a knife to his throat. You went through Brent’s phone gallery and deleted the photo of Peter almost naked, and deleted as well the photo from the deleted photos section. You also did a quick background check in case he had stashed a copy of the photo. Once it is cleared, you handed the phone back to Brent, and he quickly left to go back to the bus.

Peter was already looking at you, and he thanked you silently, you nodded back at him. You closed the door, this time you’re guarding the door to avoid what had happened earlier from happening again. Both teachers had called for the students, ten minutes had already passed, ushering them back inside the bus. You were the last one again to enter the bus, turning towards your usual seat, you saw that Peter was sitting on the vacant space on your seat. You tilted your head at him, wondering what he’s doing in your seat, and gave you an awkward wave. You sighed and sat beside him.

“What are you doing in my seat?” You said in monotone.

“H-Hey, I just wanted to thank you for what you did earlier with Brent.” Peter scratched the back of his neck.

“Yeah, it’s no problem. Who would want their photos to be taken without any consent and be used as a threat.” You shrugged, “Even I wouldn’t want that.”

“Y-Yeah.” Peter muttered, “Thanks again.”

“Well you go enjoy the trip while it last, because as soon as we arrive in Prague, real shit will start.” You leaned back in your seat and decided to closed your eyes and get some rest.

“Do you mind me sitting beside you until we arrive?” Peter turned to look at you, but you just remained in your position.

You were about to ask Peter if he can go back to his original seat, but you don’t want to be rude, and he had beat you to it. Besides, it’s the closest that you can get with Peter.

“Sure, knock yourself out. Just don’t get your drool all over me when you fall asleep.” You chuckled.

After another hour of being on the road, the bus stopped at a luxurious hotel where the class are designated to stay for the whole duration of the trip, or maybe at least Peter had finished the mission. Everyone had exited the bus, except for you and Dmitri, you’ll need to report back to Fury, make sure that everyone had arrived safely at the destination. Peter was the last one to exit the bus, he looked back at you.

“Aren’t you coming?” Peter asked, “Y’know to keep an eye on something?” He added, and you chuckled at him.

“Nah. We need to report back to Nick, and besides, I’ll be seeing you later again in a few hours. Make sure to answer their call this time, Maria and Nick will be checking in on you.” You said.

“A-Alright then.” Peter got down on the bus, looking at you one last time and waving goodbye before following the rest of the class.

“Ребенок, это тот мальчик, о котором ты упоминал раньше? Мальчик, в которого ты влюблен?” Dmitri turned to you, as he closes the bus.

“Да, но это просто глупая влюбленность. Он смотрит на другую девушку.”

You shrug and just sat on one of the seat, looking out at the window. Dmitri decided not to comment on it anymore and just drove back to where Fury had set his camp.

TRANSLATIONS:

“Этот парень когда-нибудь затыкается? Этот парень действительно раздражает меня до чертиков. Я хочу проткнуть ему горло.” - Does this guy ever shut up? This guy really annoys the shit out of me. I want to punch his throat.

“Почему бы тебе не попробовать, ребенок?” - Why don’t you give it a try, kid?

“Я бы буквально хотел, но не хочу оказаться в тюрьме.” - I literally would, but don’t want to end up in jail.

“Ребенок, это тот мальчик, о котором ты упоминал раньше? Мальчик, в которого ты влюблен?” - Kid, is that the boy you mentioned before? The boy you’re in love with?

“Да, но это просто глупая влюбленность. Он смотрит на другую девушку.” - Yeah. But it’s just a silly crush. He has his eyes set on a different girl.

TAG LIST:

@sirimiripetrichor @nimo-jay @preciousbabypeter @graysonmalik2550 @khaleesihavilliard

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inevitably-johnlocked · 3 months

Note

Hopefully you or some of your wonderful followers can help me out with a really odd question: what is the difference between an AU and a crossover fic?

This might sound silly, but I've always assumed that a crossover is something like "Sherlock and John, while solving a case, cross paths with Mulder and Scully who are also trying to solve their mystery, and they join up to work together." vs. an AU is more like "Sherlock and John are solving cases in the X-Files universe" and their characters are like combinations: Sherlock/Mulder and John/Scully. But the characters from X-Files don't actually exist in the fic.

Or even fics that are just a completely new universe altogether, not necessarily based on an already known one (like Sherlock and John are from Las Vegas and Sherlock the always winning poker player is under suspicion from security guard John that he is cheating, and that is how they meet, etc etc) would be considered an AU.

Anyway, that is how I've always filtered on AO3 when searching. But now I've come across a few lately that are tagged AU but when I start reading them, they are more what I consider crossover fics (which aren't my preference, sorry. I just don't care to read about Sherlock and Iron Man working together lol).

Maybe I've missed out on some great fics that were tagged as crossover but were actually AU's? Is my assumption of which one is which completely off base? Other than reading every fic until it's obvious which type of story it is, is there a better way to at least get an idea for filtering purposes?

I don't want to miss out on fantastic fics because I don't really understand what they're about because I've misunderstood all along!

Thank you for any help you or your followers can give! 😁

Hey Nonny!

Alright, so here's how _I_ personally understand it, and I'm probably totally off-piste, but it's how I've always understood and try my best in my sorting of fics. PLEASE note that EVERYTHING BELOW is how I PERSONALLY UNDERSTAND it all.

Generally, there's a VERY thin line between AUs and Crossovers AND it also melts into Fusion fics as well.

Alternate Universes:

Basically, AU (or Alternate Universe, for my newbie lovelies) is the "larger umbrella term" that all fics NOT following canon events have. These can be as simple as a non-canon-compliant fic, but GENERALLY it's understood as stories that take place in different franchises, eras, timelines, professions, species, etc. That's the broader definition. It covers everything, really. It doesn't necessarily mean just other franchises, but it can contain them.

But in terms of "this story with BBC Sherlock Characters takes place during the Avengers" for instance, each character from BBC Sherlock REPLACES a character in the Avengers. They would never ever meet any of the cast of the main Avengers IF they are a replacement character.

So let's say we're adapting the Avengers. For the sake of this example: Sherlock is Tony, John is Captain America, Molly is Black Widow, etc. Now THOSE characters in the Avengers franchise should never show up AS those characters. We are doing one-for-one replacements to put Sherlock Characters into the MCU AS Iron Man, AS Black Widow, AS Captain America. Tony, Natasha, and Steve cannot exist in this universe.

(as an aside though, given the MCU's current state of Variants existing in multiverses, it can be argued that they can exist, but I'm being pedantic... for the sake of this example let's say they don't)

TL:DR; we replace main characters with other main characters, and those main characters from either franchise should never meet. So TECHNICALLY what is labelled for your example is actually correct (Crossovers and AU), and unfortunately the filtering needs to be whittled down more. Filtering by "Alternate Universe" does NOT guarantee no-Crossovers, so you will have to add crossovers as an exclusion in your filtered terms. On AO3, there is a place to select exclusions, so just type in "Crossovers" there, or character names.

Crossovers and Fusions

I'm grouping these two together because my understanding of these two is that they're PRETTY close to each other enough that they do overlap.

Crossovers are stories that characters from one franchise meet and interact with characters from another franchise; no characters are omitted intentionally, and don't replace other characters in a story. For instance, in a Harry Potter AU, the Sherlock gang all go to Hogwarts, and Harry and Co. all exist and continue on with their story, probably interact occasionally, but we're focusing on the Sherlock gang and their exploits rather than Potter people.

Fusion stories, or my understanding of them anyway, is one of two things:

You have characters that replace SOME of the characters but keep OTHER characters from Universe 2 to interact with Universe 1. Let's go back to the Avengers sample; Sherlock (Tony), John (Steve) and Molly (Natasha) meet and interact with Bruce Banner and Clint. Now it's a FUSION of two universes, interacting and existing based on the actions of what our BBC AvengersLock is doing.

A fusion can ALSO be adapting or using a franchise storyline as inspiration for the plotline of what an author is writing, ie. the rules of ONE franchise's universe can be brought into another. So you can have a FUSION of Sherlock and the X-Files by adapting an X-Files episode as inspiration for the story with BBC Sherlock characters, but doesn't necessarily take place in the X-Files Universe, just simply the rules of the X-Files universe apply also to the BBC Sherlock Universe.

======

ALL that said, the gist of what I'm trying to say is this: All Crossovers and Fusions are Alternate Universes, but not all Alternate Universes are Crossovers/Fusions.

I tried my best to simplify everything as best I could, so I hope I helped a bit. And hey, if I'm wrong somewhere, or you want better clarification, feel free, all, to reply or send me another ask :)

Cheers, all <3

#steph replies #fanfiction #my thoughts #definitions #alternate universes vs crossovers #my definitions #ask me anything

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racefortheironthrone · 1 year

Note

Do you have any recommendations on where to start reading X-Men comics? I've always found the idea and the characters interesting but the massive amount of content has felt intimidating to say the least.

Sure. Let me update my old recommendations:

First, it's really hard to go wrong with the Claremont run. Marvel Unlimited makes it pretty easy: start with Giant-Size X-Men #1 and then that goes straight into X-Men #94 and, after a few issues where a novice writer in his mid-20s is figuring out how it works, it's all hits for 180-odd issues. However, you don't have to read all 180 issues in one go, and I highly encourage you to treat the Claremont run as a series of interconnected stories that can be enjoyed on their own, a little bit like riding a scenic trolley with a daily fare that lets you hop on and hop off as you please. So what are the classic Claremont stories you should read?

The Phoenix Saga and the Dark Phoenix Saga (#94-138)- ignore the lousy movies, this is the original dyptich space opera triumph and tragedy of how one woman saves the universe with the transcendent power of love and Jewish mysticism, and then is destroyed by men's desire to harness godlike power for their selfish ends. If you're going to read anything of the classics, read this arc because it's brilliant and it'll give you the basics of what you need to know about the X-Men.

Days of Future Past (#141-142)- only two issues, but it's basically the inspiration for the original Terminator franchise - a desperate resistance from a dystopian future where robotic overlords oppress surviving humanity uses time travel to avert their own timeline from ever coming to pass. It's fantastic.

God Loves, Man Kills (Marvel Graphic Novel #5) - the basis for the best bits of X2, it's some of Chris Claremont's best work on the mutant metaphor and a prescient exploration of the power of evangelical religion. Some of the racial politics haven't aged the best since the early 80s, but the rest is straight fire.

The Brood Saga (#154-167) - Chris Claremont watched the Aliens movies and thought "but what if the X-Men fought the Xenomorphs?" and it was awesome. Interesting explorations of when it's right to kill even a lifeform one considers to be evil, the moral quandary of suicide, and space whales.

From the Ashes (#168-179)- meet the Morlocks, is Madelyne Pryor the resurrected Jean Grey, Wolverine goes to Japan - will he marry the head of the Yakuza?, and the intended retirement of Cyclops. Also, some of the best art in the history of the X-Men.

LifeDeath (#186) - Storm loses her powers and learns how to keep on living. Some of Claremont's best writing, and some great Barry Windsor-Smith art.

The Trial of Magneto (#200) - Magneto is put on trial for crimes against humanity. Xavier almost dies and makes Magneto his replacement.

The Mutant Massacre (#210-214) - the first major X-Men crossover and the beginning of the X-Men's time as outlaws on the run. Signals a shift towards darker and more adult themes.

Fall of the Mutants (#220-227) - the X-Men die for our sins and are reborn as Aussies.

Inferno (#239-243) - Madelyn Pryor enacts a Medean programme to revenge herself against a world that treated her as a "nothing person in a nowhere place."

Second, you can read Grant Morrison's run on New X-Men (#114-154), which was both revolutionary in its approach to mutantkind as a minority subculture and was intended by Morrison to be the very last X-Men story. Incredibly influential and powerful writing, even if I don't always agree with their characterizations.

Third, there is a reason why Connor Goldsmith of Cerebrocast calls it "the 2019 soft reboot House of X and Powers of X by writer Jonathan Hickman." HOXPOX requires a bare minimum of knowledge about the X-Men, and it entirely redirected the focus of the X-line and the mutant metaphor itself for the last five years - and, whatever happens in the upcoming Fall of X, will continue to be influential on the future direction of the X-Men for years to come through the X-slack writers' room, which created a collaborative spirit that hasn't existed in X-comics since Chris Claremont was palling around the Lower East Side with Anne Nocenti and Walt & Weezy Simonson.

#xmen #xmen meta #book recommendations #chris claremont #grant morrison #jonathan hickman #hoxpox #marvel

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sercezgazety · 7 months

Text

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @zyrafowe-sny, thank you!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

21 at this point (and I’m sure glad you’re not asking about older platforms because uhhhh. My FFN era was terrifying)

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

257,205. Huh.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Welp, Re-Animator, currently. But the majority of my works is a result of a powerful The Owl House obsession, and I do have another TOH fic in the making. Star Trek, though it’s really odd how little Trek fic there is on my account – I guess that’s because most of my hyperfixation went into the papers I published on the franchise.

Terra Ignota my beloved, but the books are so incredibly well-written, I get scared whenever I want to write anything about those characters. Everything I do is going to suck in comparison (and the one fic I did write indeed sucks balls). I had some flings with Sonic (kek), Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and before that, Phineas and Ferb. In the pre-AO3 era, The Penguins of Madagscar (a fic after which I stopped writing for almost a decade), Discworld, Kick-Ass (my first English-language fic; what a trainwreck), Invader Zim, Storm Hawks (oh boy), Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Sherlock Holmes (the original, ACD one), Teen Titans, and some insane amounts of insanely bad, angsty Xiaolin Showdown fics with insane ships and insanely bad characterization. Look, I was 15. I’m pretty sure there was even more, and I can only be grateful that I don’t remember.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Oddly enough, Inhale, Hold, Exhale with over 1,1k, even though it was just an ultimate traumadump. Then, A Silver Platter (992), A Comparative Study in Redemption Arcs (789), The Matter at Hand (778), and The Deal (718).

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! First, they make me happy and I’m grateful for them. But it’s also just a polite thing to do, and honestly? when I want to comment under a fic and I see OP doesn’t respond to comments, sometimes I shrug and decide kudos will suffice (not proud of myself for doing that, but oh well).

There were some comments I left unanswered, but those were from people I know IRL and I answered them somewhere else, or they were hate comments. Aaaand some comments I left unanswered back when I didn’t know it was possible to answer on AO3, and now answering them would be too awkward.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I write almost exclusively angst, so it’s more of a question about the specific flavor. I guess the biggest number of characters suffer miserably in a very mundane way in A Potter’s Field. In The Deal, the main character suffers in a very mundane way to such an extent, he willingly chooses to be possessed just to feel useful, so there’s that. Both stories have been bookmarked by people with notes such as “jesus fucking christ dude” or just “JESUS CHRIST,” and thus, I consider my mission accomplished and people's days ruined.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

The Red Crayon. Even I couldn’t write angst about Doofenshmirtz and Perry the Platypus. Like, come on.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

YEAH BABEY. And I don’t mean the ‘I liked the fic, but there’s this thing I disagree with’ kind of comments, I mean the ‘this fic is terrible, have you ever watched the show?’ type of comments. The first time I got one like this, I was crying hysterically for two days.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Not sure? This year, I did write some sex scenes or almost-sex-scenes, but the thing is, they were about everything but sex. And one of them was very, very awkward.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Nnnope, and I hate those. But at one point, when I was very much into French Revolution, I had some grand plans for a Doctor Who fanfic in which Ten would meet Robespierre and realize he was a good guy.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don’t think so? I had my fanart and my photos stolen, yeah, but not fanfic.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, though there was one person who asked if they could do that (I think they lost interest/didn’t have the time).

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yeah, back in middle school me and my friend ran a blog nobody read, and it was about two Discworld OCs. It was horrible.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Spones (Spock/Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy). I will go down with it. I’m married to it. I’ve been happily married to it for half of my lifetime (and the entirety of my adult life).

I like other ships in other fandoms, especially the ones with a similar dynamic. Spones, though, is the archetype.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

A Star Trek fic about Spock being unable to fully process the death of his pet sehlat, and that fact influencing his approach to animals in the years to come. I’m quite happy with what I have – for instance, there are five pages of Spock and McCoy arguing over the factors that make animals cute, with Spock being super scientific and judgemental, and McCoy having a gotcha! moment when Spock says axolotls are not cute.

I started writing it when I learned about my beloved cat’s diabetis. Then he died, I had a massive depressive episode, and now it’s been almost two years and I still cry because I miss him and he deserved so much better. And perhaps I would be able to finish the fic, given that half of my fics are traumadumps anyway, but I have no idea how this thing is even supposed to end.

16. What are your writing strengths?

POV and characters not knowing things that the audience knows

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Getting to the point. Or, like, having any point.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Erm. Everything I write is in another language. English is not my native language, I never had private lessons, I still don’t understand how the tenses or the punctuation work. But in case of Luz and Camila, I do tend to use Spanish words or expressions from time to time.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Okay, so back when I was 7, I had no idea fanfic existed or that you could just use the names and locations somebody else created, so I was writing stuff that was very much the terf-created wizard boy and very much Lord of the Rings, but like. With different names. The headmaster of the magical school was named fucking Ambli Dimbli. The first fanfic that I knew that was a fanfic, though, was for Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

The Matter at Hand. It’s not my most popular fic, it doesn’t have my favorite TOH character in it, but it’s about politics and scapegoating, and it has puns in it. And I’m really proud of how everyone in this story sucks. I like it when characters suck.

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ohblackdiamond · 4 months

Text

black and gold (kiss/endgame crossover, part 19 of ?)

Prequel to “the end of the world tour.” Four ex-bandmates and even-more-ex-superheroes reunite in the aftermath of Thanos’ snap, and attempt to adjust.

In this chapter: "There’s shit I gotta get over. That’s what she’s telling me. I gotta do better. Be better. But I keep fucking up, you know? I keep fucking up."

After all their travels, Paul and Gene finally make it to Peter's house.

“FEMA Beneficiaries: Refugees and Rockers”

Associated Press, Chicago, Illinois

Celebrities have been the last thing on anyone’s mind lately.

Some are tweeting-- apocalypse claims, government conspiracy theories. Some are donating, most especially Tony Stark of Stark Industries. But most have stayed silent, and stayed put.

Most. The road warriors of rock and roll, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS, in what may be the most telling sign of the times yet, were seen in a FEMA breadline, both bearded and almost entirely unrecognizable.

They paid for the food, before you ask. They’re traveling, they say, to Connecticut. Their path has been as fraught as any ordinary American’s; their tragedy is the world’s. Simmons and Stanley aren’t returning to their families. They have no families to return to.

Simmons is talkative enough, though Stanley is more aloof as they settle in to take a bite beneath a FEMA tent. Neither is dressed for the below-freezing weather, the seven-inch heels have taken a backseat to worn-out athletic shoes. Simmons notices my glance down.

“You like them? I was going to throw these to the crowd on the cruise,” he says. “They’re serving me better on my feet right now.”

Cruises may never happen again for years. The me-generation, franchise-heaving seventies excess that KISS once represented has never been more blatantly out of reach. Two weeks ago, I might have asked about album plans and tour stops, about Simmons’ recentish marriage and Stanley’s painting escapades. That’s irrelevant now.

I feel like just by spotting them beneath the tent, I’ve pulled the mask off the Lone Ranger. KISS exposed is just another reflection of the brave new world we’ve been saddled with, half a population struggling to survive. And yet, I’m craving. Maybe I want something to believe in among the ashes. A lunchbox superhero to greet me at the last days. Plastic-wrapped and pre-packaged. They can’t oblige-- their last crimefighting stint was in 1980-- but I’d like to see some vestiges. I’d like a little comfort.

Simmons scolds me, gently. The real heroes, in his opinion, are the FEMA workers, the healthcare workers, the law enforcement-- anyone, and everyone, who’s stepped up in the wake of the devastation. Not KISS. “We’re very ordinary, ultimately.”

“Like everyone else, we’re just trying to go home.” Stanley looks a bit surprised at his own words, then, quietly, elaborates. “We’re going to see our old bandmates.”

And what then? For once, even Simmons doesn’t have an answer. I can speculate-- Simmons in particular is known for charitable donations-- but I don’t know. At the end of the world, maybe going home is the best that they, or any of us, can do.

The road went on. Paul would drive for five hours at a time, then an hour of rest, then another five hours, then they’d sleep in parking lots or FEMA campsites or national parks. Once, they were able to wash their clothes, and twice they got to shower.

They had run out of cash before they’d hit New England, but that didn’t matter much now that their cards were working again. They’d been eating mostly peanut butter sandwiches and whatever else they could pay for over the last several days. Gene was feeling himself falter, in odd, funny ways. Sometimes, with the lull of the motor, he could almost make himself pretend they were just on tour for a few foolish seconds, before he’d see a campsite or a pile of abandoned cars or a burnt-out building and remember. Pure escapism.

“Gene?”

Paul reached out, patting his thigh. It was midmorning, and he was driving again. Gene stirred.

“We’re about three hours from Peter’s place, if the traffic doesn’t get any worse.”

“We better call him.”

“Yeah. You… you go ahead and call.”

“Put it on speaker?”

Paul inclined his head.

“Hey.” Ace’s voice was tinny.

“Hey. We should be here in about three more hours.”

“Good. Good. Lemme get Peter.” Ace didn’t cover the phone, though Gene hadn’t expected him to, and he could hear Ace yelling Peter’s name. Could practically feel Paul stiffen up as Peter’s voice came through the speaker.

“Three hours?”

“Yeah. Hopefully.” Gene felt his lips start to raise in a battered attempt at a smile. “Don’t roll out the red carpet.”

“I won’t. Ace told me about the fucking truck.”

Paul mumbled a curse barely below his breath.

“Do you need anything?” It felt a little stupid to ask. “We weren’t sure how much you’d been able to get out.”

“We ain’t been out at all, Gene.”

God. Gene glanced sidelong at Paul, who didn’t glance his way. They both had to be going completely stir-crazy. They both used to get so antsy on tour when KISS had been stuck, really stuck, in their hotel rooms. Even Paul had succumbed once or twice to the standard rockstar antics, throwing all his furniture out the window in a fit of pique (and, Gene suspected, drunkenness).

“Is it really that bad out there?”

“You’d know better than us. Wouldn’t you?”

“Petey…” Ace again.

“Ace just won’t leave me here alone. I didn’t figure he’d be playing fucking nursemaid out here.”

“’M just trying to help.”

“Trying to–”

“We’ve got some loaf bread and canned goods, but we don’t have very much else. We’ll be bringing those. If there’s anything you need, we can try to get it.” Gene didn’t elaborate on how difficult it was to really get even basic staples, between the rioting and looting. The help from FEMA had been sluggish at best.

“We don’t need any–”

“Oranges,” Ace said.

“Oranges?” Paul, incredulous. “Are you kidding?”

“You don’t gotta go out of your way for ’em–”

“What do you want with oranges?”

“Well, I wanna eat ’em, Paul. Open my mouth and chew and swallow.” Ace’s tone was unusually dry. Not even the hint of a laugh in his voice. “They’re healthy.”

“You don’t ever fucking quit, do you?” Peter snapped out.

“Peter, I didn’t mean–”

“We’ll try to get some oranges,” Gene said quickly. “We’ll see you soon.”

–

Paul was quiet from then on. It took longer than the three hours he’d been vying for. For whatever reason, Paul had gotten hellbent on those oranges, stopping in five different areas before he was able to garner a plastic bag full of them.

“What’d you pay for those?” Gene asked, once they’d gotten back in the truck. Paul just winced and started up the motor.

“You don’t wanna know.”

“Why did you care that much about getting them?”

“You don’t wanna know that, either.”

“Try me.”

“She said there was a call for me if I wanted it.”

Gene started to ask who she was. Then he realized he probably knew. Paul must be in bad shape again, thinking of her, thinking he’d heard from her.

“I was trying so hard to figure it out. I was always figuring with her. She was like that.” Paul’s eyes were on the road. “But it’s obvious, isn’t it? The only calls I’m ever going to get now are from them. There’s shit I gotta get over. That’s what she’s telling me. I gotta do better. Be better. But I keep fucking up, you know? I keep fucking up.”

“Paul–”

“You know it’s true. I can’t help myself. Here I am about to stay at Peter’s house and I haven’t even talked to him one on one. What the hell is wrong with me? I know that guy. I-I know him. I fucking lived on the road with him for over ten years. God, I–”

“Paul–”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do when I see him.”

“You’re overthinking it. Stop.” Maybe it was too much of a brush off, but he thought, in his way, Paul might have appreciated it. He didn’t stiffen up the way he normally did when offended, at least, and after a bit, Paul reached over, touching Gene’s knee.

The road went on. The pavement’s endless stretch. Highways and interstates, on and on, in the hopes of something eternal. The road took Gene back, too, back to thinking about Peter, less abstractly now that the journey was ending.

Peter had always had the best taste. Which was funny, looking back-- the high school dropout of the group, who’d grown up the oldest of about half a dozen kids in the middle of Brooklyn, able to pick out the hippest outfits, the best designs. The best-looking women, arguably. The best-looking houses. His mansion in Greenwich, easily dwarfed though it was in comparison to Gene or Paul’s places, or even Ace’s old home in Wilton, had a class that nobody else’s place could even hope to have. It looked like it came out of a storybook, tucked within four acres of Connecticut forest. In the winter it looked like Currier and Ives; in the summer, it-- in the summer, it looked just as radiant.

At least, that was how it used to be.

The first thing Peter had done once the Reunion tour had started was buy that place back. That was Peter for you. Sentimentality incarnate. Everything like it was before. Paul had joked once, cruelly, that he’d been surprised Peter hadn’t done the whole damn house back up in wood paneling and shag carpets once it was his again. Even at the time, Gene had thought it was a hell of a thing for Paul to say while painting himself up in the makeup from twenty years prior.

Paul had turned off the GPS maybe fifteen minutes before they’d pulled into his driveway, evidently knowing the route far better than Gene would’ve ever anticipated. Peter’s place was on a private drive, though that had ceased to matter over the last few weeks. Looking at the house’s exterior now, it wasn’t dilapidated or even unkempt. Just older. The styling was giving its age away.

“You ready?”

Paul had already parked, but he hadn’t moved to even unbuckle himself. He had pulled down the vanity mirror, was staring at himself in silence.

“We look like shit,” he said.

“Ace and Peter aren’t gonna look any better.”

“We should’ve tried to get razors after shiva was over.” Paul ran his fingers over the heavy, coarse facial hair on his jawline, the gray streaks surprisingly far outnumbered by black, even now. “They’ve never seen me look this bad.”

“Paul, they aren’t gonna give a fuck right now.”

“I do.”

“You are absolutely the vainest man I’ve ever met in my life.”

“It’s not just that. Gene, Ace hasn’t even left the house yet because of Peter. If Peter sees me looking like this, if he thinks I can’t hold it together, then– then maybe I can’t, maybe I won’t be able to–”

“You don’t have to. All you have to do is get out of the truck.”

Paul bit his lip and unbuckled his seatbelt, getting out of the truck in silence. Gene helped him take their luggage out of the back.

He’d thought it would feel so much more definite. Like all those moments where his life had turned on the tiniest hinge. The sight of Bill Aucoin in his smart suit, offering them a record contract inside of two weeks. The sight of his firstborn in the hospital, that head full of dark hair, those bright eyes.

The sight of four talismans in a velvet box.

Paul was behind him, luggage handle in one hand, bag of oranges in the other. He was dragging the luggage carelessly up the brick front porch stairs, the wheels rattling against them in protest. Gene hadn’t so much as reached for the door knocker before the door swung open.

Ace.

Ace, in jeans and a t-shirt and socks. His goatee was somewhat unkempt. No sunglasses– not that he expected him in them, but it had been years and years since Gene had seen him without them. No makeup, either. Ace’s skin was as bad as ever, sallow and scarred, a couple of pimples right on the side of one cheek. The poor alien bastard still had acne at sixty-three.

Gene hugged him. Fully. It was the first time in years he had, without there being a show or a ceremony or a pile of fans with their phones trying to record the moment. Just shoved himself against him, arms wrapping tight around him. Ace buckled a bit, thrown off-balance as always, but he hugged him back in turn, face pressing briefly against his shirt, then pulling away. Gene felt Ace clasp a hand briefly against his back just before he let go.

“Hey, Gene,” he said. “Hey, Paul. C’min.”

They stepped inside. Gene made room for Paul, who put an arm around Ace for a brief, quiet moment, and then pushed the bag of oranges into his hands. Ace’s expression changed a little then, became almost searching, before it faltered.

“Where’s Peter?”

“He… he’s in the kitchen. Paul, he’s not–”

“I know.” Paul strode past them both, going past the entranceway and the dining room, heading straight for the kitchen. Ace followed a bit behind, then Gene, a weird quiver somewhere in the tips of his fingers, and in his throat. Peter’s place was still too familiar, even with some newer decor. Enough remnants of the past remained. A set of raku tea bowls Lydia’d bought him on tour in Japan was still in the armoire in the dining room. A faded photo of Peter from his First Communion was on a buffet table. And there behind the sink, next to the windowsill, was a tarnished silver ring dish in the shape of a cat, one paw up, its tail covered in an assortment of rings. Peter had had that since their third tour, a memento, though Gene couldn’t remember where he’d received it. His eyes were darting everywhere– the clean stovetop and microwave, the print of The Last Supper on the wall, the dirty plates on the table– everywhere except for at Peter.

Peter, who was sitting down against the fridge, wrapped up in a blanket. He had shaved, but badly, white stubble peeking out in patches across his chin. He only barely lifted his head when they walked in.

“Pete,” Gene started. Peter shifted, putting out a hand against the floor, like he was about to brace himself and get up. But Paul got there first. Gene could barely believe it as he watched Paul crouch down, squat at first, before getting on his knees and putting an arm around him, there on the floor.

Peter was crying. Gene had seen it a hundred times at least, but never like this. Not a shudder, barely a sound, just the tears. Paul held him there, rubbing his shoulder, without a murmur. Gene glanced at Ace, realizing suddenly that this was what Ace had been dealing with all this time, why Ace didn’t want to leave him alone. He was afraid for him, terribly so.

Paul let go once the tears seemed to stop, standing up a bit awkwardly. After a moment or two, Peter stood, too, after unraveling from the blanket. The effort of getting up made him grunt a bit, rubbing his back. He was in a t-shirt and pajamas. Gene hadn’t seen Peter in anything quite that casual in more than ten years.

“You made it.”

“We made it.”

“You… Gene, you…”

Then Gene was holding him. Peter had never felt fragile to him before now. He was thin, those drummers’ arms all but gone when he grasped Gene’s waist. Gene could feel those shuddering breaths against him, but as Ace had done with Paul, Peter let go abruptly.

(you’re feeling it)

(aren’t you?)

Gene didn’t know. All he knew was a peace and security that he thought he’d lost forever. All he knew was that he was sure he could make it now. Sure this was what they all needed. They had scraped together before. They could do it again. They would do it again. A few days together, maybe even a week or two, to… to get settled, to start to… reckon with themselves, with the world, to maybe… to maybe start to heal. Warmth melded with exhaustion in his bones as he pulled up a chair, sinking down into the seat.

“Y-you can tell us the whole trip later,” said Peter quietly. “But you gotta shower first. Both of you stink.”

“It’s Road Warrior,” Gene said, feeling the wobbling remnants of a smile skirt the edges of his face. “Very unique aroma, for the discerning traveler.”

“It’s B.O.,” Ace said, laughing harder than the statement merited, that old cackle, reaching over to clasp a hand on Gene’s back. “Ain’t got an excuse now, Geno. Get washed up. We’ll, we’ll make you some sandwiches or something, we…”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” As quickly as he’d come into the kitchen, Paul was darting out again, already headed for where Gene vaguely remembered the master bed and bath being. But he turned, calling over his shoulder, voice wobbling slightly. “You’re okay with us, right? You’ll let us–”

Ace shook his head.

“Christ, after all that, you want an invite, Paul? You were let in forty years ago.”

#kiss the band #kiss fanfiction #paul stanley #gene simmons #ace frehley #peter criss

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andreajingling · 8 months

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Howdy. ~ | I'm Andrea, a Trans Female, I run this ship that is this blog, so let's get some introductions out of the way: | ~ ~ | If you're looking for RP intros and such, scroll down it should be there, but it would be much appreciated and valued if you would read the entire intro. | ~ ~ | Asks are, of course, open when labeled to be. Please try not to bring anything absolutely heinous in there that isn't in character of some sort. | ~

~ | Primary Interests { ones you'll see the most of around here } Include: | ~ Five Nights at Freddy's { This includes Fangames } Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends Trains/Locomotives in General Model Railroading Cars Planes/Aviation Team Fortress 2, Valve Games in General Pokémon

The Christmas Season { hence the branding practically year round }.

~ | Secondary Interests {ones you'll see every once and a while, the odd like and such} Include: | ~ MLP Minecraft The Nightmare Before Christmas

~ | I have a Youtube Channel of the same username which also posts stuff relating to interests, linked here: | ~

~ | And if you choose to support me in any way, be it Kofi, Patreon {both linked below}, or just simply interacting with posts/videos on my channel, it is extremely appreciated and valued. | ~

~ | Roleplay Info Below the Cut! | ~

~ | Now, onto another side of this account, the 'Semi-Character' Aspect. | ~

~ | I've been performing characters in online spaces for over 10 years now, starting in 2013! | ~ ~ | Let's start with the most important piece of any RP related account, the timeline they live in: | ~ ~ | The Andreaplex | ~

~ | To try to explain the entirety of the Andreaplex is to try to explain the entire history of the world I guess. There just isn't enough time, so let's go over some bullet points of the basics:

Multiple Franchises are present in the same universe, each corelating with one of my largest interests. It's basically the crossover episode of the multiverse, except they don't interact very often.

Most of the locations and popular places regarding events in the series are placed in the region of the Pacific Northwest, mainly Oregon however as it's my own home state.

The Timeline is made up of 3 others, each with different franchises present within, Timeline A holding 'Real Life', Timeline B holding FNAF, MLP, TF2, and others, and Timeline C holding TTTE and Pokémon. This is an event that occurred in the past, though does still haunt the present in multiple ways, including the way the three merged in an event called 'The Collision'. Three Into One, A Grand New Creation.

A LOT has changed from the norms of the franchises present, such as my own headcanons, major events IN my own AU Headcanons {such as the North Western Railway closing and eventual relocation to Oregon, again it's wild}, and changes to different elements of the franchises present {such as the added element of spiritual and physical aging in ghosts and spirits who choose to remain down on Earth. Example of this can be if someone dies when they're 5, and choose to remain down on Earth for 5 years, they would be 10 by the time those 5 years passed. Physical aging can go however the spirit wishes to present themselves, unless they have a body that more tangible than their spirit.}.

There are sort of, omnipotent beings that can sometimes be at the head of things called 'Writers'. Mainly it's just me and my friends personifications of ourselves, though most have chosen to allow their characters free will. Speaking of which:

Each Character is of their own free will in this Timeline, disconnected from 'Strings' that once held them in control of the Writer. Andrea being a part of this world said it best, 'I've seen their perspective. And I'm going to fix this.'

There are characters of varying power levels within the world, each harnessing a different brand of it. Speaking of that though:

One of the most common groups of power is Magic, though it has several subvarients, such as 'Equestrian', 'The Knowledge of the Fourth', 'Gold Dust', 'Witchcraft', 'The Black Arts', and other such examples that exist. Anyone can harness some types of magic with enough training, while others are only genetic or given to a select few.

The biggest fact by far is, since Timeline A was 'Real Life', and merged into the Timeline that is The Andreaplex due to the collision, by proxy, Y O U are canon to the Andreaplex Y O U exist!

~ | Next, let's take a look at the colorful world of characters that make the world what it is, specifically the ones that have this account's login info, starting with the Brunette herself, | ~

~ | Andrea 'Goldsmith Shores' Bliss { She/Her } | ~

{ Massive credit to @kilusion2011 for the ref sheets, and Kennith Stoker on Twitter for the other assorted pieces, check them out here: https://thegamefanatic.carrd.co . Trainer Card made with Pokecharms. }

~ | Andrea is a sort of, self insert in a sense. A being of practically unlimited power and energy due to one of the timelines merging to form her being one of a Writer {self insert moment i know}, as well as many other sources of power being pumped into her in the other 2 timelines that collided. And yet, she just owns a massive rail company, delivering promise to all in Oregon via the Pacific North Western Railroad Company. | ~ ~ | Andrea's presence is represented by a 🎄 on the top of posts. Her brackets of choice are { }, and preferred color is Red. | ~ ~ | A short list of key events, powers, tidbits of info, and drawbacks for her include: | ~

Andrea is 30 years old, born on April 30th. Due to timeframes getting absolutely FUCKED in the Collision, the year is uncertain but they put it down as 2003 as that's the one date that Andrea remembers as her birthday.

Andrea's 6 foot 1 inches.

Andrea is canonically a trans female. During her time she had to have breast reduction surgery due to their size being too painful in combo with Pectus Excavatum.

Andrea is pansexual, and happily married to Cassidy, told about below. Though in recent times the two have gone through some issues regarding their relationship due to both of them kinda not knowing how love works sometimes. They struggle but they're important to one another.

'Shores' was originally her selected last name {as she had several due to several of herself colliding into one another}, but eventually she settled on Bliss when adopting her second child.

Andrea's childhood {at least for her} is a blur. She doesn't remember much of it thanks to The Collision messing with things regarding her long term memory.

She holds near infinite amounts of power, being able to twist a timeline to nothing but red code if she wanted to, but after several events, have led her to not use it a lot, if even at all.

Most uses of her power is out of desperation, or extreme measures that would cause harm to those around/very close to her, such as family, and innocent bystanders.

Holding all of the cards at once for her is extremely overwhelming, and has resulted in her already present feelings of depression, anxiety, and extreme emotional tendencies to rise at extreme rates at times. Time has helped her slowly cope but it, it's a very slow process.

Andrea was gutted at one point by some very hostile robot bear spaghetti, a burnt clown, a burnt rabbit, and a burnt black bear, leaving the large scar on her torso. Like I said before, it's wild.

Andrea's only wish, if she were to get one that is guaranteed to come true, is to possibly experience what Death feels like, as she could never achieve it herself in any manner.

Andrea has adopted two children, ones you'll be seeing later in this thread.

Andrea's bond with her locomotives is like family, she grew up hearing their stories, and now she gets to make new ones with them. It's an honor to her.

Andrea's favorite season is Christmas. I mean, why else would the branding exist? Regardless, she loves the warmth, happiness, and above all, Hope that it gives the world. Hope for a brighter tomorrow. Hope that there is still good on this Earth. Hope that will last for eternity.

One of Andrea's first true friends in her younger days was the fourth in command of Mr. Kris Kringle himself, Vixen. The two are still best friends to this day, and often have one or the other come to their home to celebrate the holidays, at least up until Christmas Eve, then Vixen's got work. Maybe she'll pop in every now and again year round, but most of the time she appears during the holiday season.

If you were to give Andrea a theme, it would be the Rapture Rising Remastered piece from J.T. Music.

~ | Now that's my girl. My little woman. Now onto her beloved spooky ghost woman. | ~

~ | Cassidy Dani Goldsmith { She/Her/They } | ~

{ Credit to PalaKeda on Twitter for the ref sheet, and Kennith Stoker for the large piece of Andrea and Cassidy together being the women lovers they are. Trainer Card made with Pokecharms. }

~ | Ah Cassidy, the vengeful spirit turned business owner turned, back to vengeful spirit for a while, turned back to business owner with the addition of being a mother of two. Girly has been through a L O T , from her own death, to the entirety of the FNAF Timeline, to the shenanigans that brought her here, to even a near divorce with the woman she wanted to spend eternity with. Let's get to it. | ~

~ | Cassidy's presence is represented by a 👻 on the top of posts. Her brackets of choice are { }, and preferred color is Yellow. . | ~

~ | A short list of key events, powers, tidbits of info, and drawbacks for her include: | ~

Cassidy, much like her wife, is 30 years old, however she was born at some point during the mid 1970s, meeting her unfortunate death at around the age of 11. This is a reminder here that souls can age in this timeline, hence her appearances on her ref sheet including a teenage and child version.

Cassidy has genetic origins in Asia, specifically Japan and Korea. And yet her family chose to live in Utah. Curious. /lh

Cassidy stands at 6 foot 3 inches, around two inches taller than her wife.

One of her greatest hobbies is ironically dancing to her own music. She often pulls Andrea in for dances when she wants to, or when a situation is perfect for one.

As hinted at in the opener piece above, yes, this is THE Cassidy from the FNAF timeline, but my own rendition of her, as well as the timeline itself. Maybe one day I'll go into that can of worms.

Yes, Cassidy is dead. Not Andrea type dead no, she's just. Dead. She's a ghost. Can phase through walls, haunt things, possess her broken up Fredbear animatronic to scare people, that stuff.

Cassidy is a full on Lesbian and is currently in a loving marriage with Andrea, lasting from December 25th of 2021 { I believe the year's right can't remember exact dates } until now. Sure there's been scares and possibilities of divorce here and there, but hey when does that not happen.

Cassidy owns and manages 'Fredbear and Friend's', a restaurant literally right next door to the house she and Andrea own that both provides good old fashioned animatronic entertainment, but preserves vintage equipment and creating replicas of said equipment from Freddy Fazbear's Past, from Fredbear's all the way to the most recent restaurant, the Mega Pizzaplex. Each era of Freddy's has it's own gallery as well as subsections for different historical sections { such as an exhibit showcasing both the Security Breach and Ruin elements in full context }, so for example in one you can see Roxanne wolf, then walk to another and see the Toy Animatronics. This is ALSO another huge can of worms. Currently, this restaurant is Post-Ruin, so The Mimic's in a glass case, and the Ruined's are around on static display.

One other element about the Restaurant she has a more close connection with is 'Cassidy's Game'. Basically, take Ultimate Custom Night, and put every single animatronic from every single game in there { with a few exceptions ofc we ain't letting the mimic hunt people, that's just, no. }.

Cassidy is the backup vocalist { though does get some main vocalist chances } and lead bassist of 'The Missing Ones', an indie band comprised of the original five spirits involved in the Missing Children Incident back in 1985. They mostly do covers, but recently did a rock/metal cover of 'The Northwest Passage' sea shanty, heavily inspired by Johnathan Young's own cover. This was for a special celebration Andrea asked them to attend, as well as providing her own vocals as a special guest.

Cassidy's favorite holiday is, of course, Halloween. Her idol is Jack Skellington, for his expertise in scares and how to get them out of people in the best of ways.

Speaking of Halloween, Cassidy also goes a bit scare crazy around that time of year, due to the Mortal Plain being closest to the Spiritual Realms of Heaven and Hell, as well as Limbo and The Land Between. At this time of year, she opens the Restaurant later, as a sort of Haunted House experience, like that one FNAF Haunted House down in Vegas. Fun Fact I went to that. Was a WILD time. She also pops out and scares anyone she can for that sweet feeling of scaring someone.

Cassidy sort of dislikes the Christmas season for it's overwhelming forcing into your home type attitude. She wants to be spooky but then as soon as November comes around, Mariah Carey is free. She isn't a full on Grinch though. Yet. That arc's coming later. In the past when the two were just dating, Cassidy went out of her way to buy Andrea a full on sleigh for Christmas. Like. Full Sleigh. Full stop no additions. She just bought her a sleigh cause she noticed Andrea loved the season so much.

~ | Well ain't that lovely. Now let's move onto someone with a LOT less info about them, then to someone else small, but first let's get, | ~

~ | Maddie 'Shores' Bliss { She/Her } | ~

{ Used a Picrew for her, will eventually figure out WHICH this was from but honestly i might never cause i'm kinda lazy, and Trainer Card made with Pokecharms. }

~ | Maddie, a close relative of the Brunette known as Andrea, was originally part of another side of the family before being thrown to the curb due to a demonic possession. Eventually she found herself in the state of Oregon, and finding the Residences Andrea calls home. | ~ ~ | Maddie's presence is represented by a 🔪 on the top of posts. Her brackets of choice are [ ], and preferred color is Green. | ~

~ | A short list of key events, powers, tidbits of info, and drawbacks for her include: | ~

Maddie is an Asexual Biromantic.

Maddie stands at around 6 foot.

Maddie is 23 years old at the time of this original post {September 20th 2023 PST}. Her birthday is November 16th, 2000, one of the few birthdays in the family with a direct year confirmed.

Maddie is one of the few members of the Bliss Family that isn't immortal.

The results of Maddie's Possession gave her a demonic form she can shift into and out of whenever she wishes.

It also, however, gave her a specific Iron Intake she needs to meet with each thing she eats, which cannot be met with any supplements on the market at the moment, rather with human blood and flesh {think something like something from Tokyo Ghoul, except she CAN eat other stuff, just has to have that flesh and blood/iron intake factor} .

Maddie's Possession is a family curse, her mother held it before her, and her grandmother before her, and, well you get the drift. Blame her Great-Great-Great Grandmother {who may pop into this account every so often as a cameo} .

~ | Ain't she a gem. Now, onto our {currently} last individual that can access this account, | ~

~ | Mary Bliss { She/They } | ~

{ Again made with another picrew I can't remember the link too i am sorry, and Trainer Card made with Pokecharms. }

~ | Mary, the youngest of the Bliss Family, was adopted after she was tagging along with the embodiment of Death {one that tries to get the ghostly residents to ascend}, yet chose to stay behind with the family rather than moving on, gaining an approving family they never got. | ~ ~ | Mary's presence is represented by a ❄ on the top of posts. Their brackets of choice are ( ), and preferred color is Purple. | ~

~ | A short list of key events, powers, tidbits of info, and drawbacks for them include: | ~

Mary is 14 years old as of writing this original post {September 20th, 2023 PST}. Their birthday is March 17th, 2009.

Mary stands at about 5 foot 7 inches.

Mary is NonBinary and AroAce.

Mary is a Freshman in High School.

Mary's has a gunshot scar on her skin where her heart is, which she keeps hidden under her clothing as best as she can. It brings up bad memories of her former family.

Mary's father killed her in cold blood for her own choices of who she was. I will not be going into detail, as honestly it makes even me upset to recall that bit of her. Might retcon it honestly. Who knows.

Mary is the character with the least amount of story built up for her, so she is very experimental at the moment.

~ | Well that was fun! Got to know each of the funnies on here! Now onto the last bit of the matter, their current status! This is just a way for people to know WHO is able to access the account at a given moment. This WILL be edited over time. | ~

~ | Characters that have Access: | ~ ~ | Andrea | ~ ~ | Status: Home. | ~ ~ | Able to Access: Yes | ~ ~ | Cassidy | ~ ~ | Status: Home. | ~ ~ | Able to Access: Yes | ~ ~ | Maddie | ~ ~ | Status: Home. | ~ ~ | Able to Access: Yes | ~ ~ | Mary | ~ ~ | Status: Home | ~ ~ | Able to Access: Yes | ~

~ | And with that, at LONG ass last, this post is OVER!! Thank you to anyone who read this far down, and hopefully I can both enjoy some fun moments on here regarding roleplay, as well as spread a bit of positivity regarding other topics! Might even bring in some actual like, accounts dedicated to stuff in the future, who knows! | ~ ~ | With that, time for me to go have a rest god this took way too long. Andrea, out! | ~

#introduction #intro post #pokeblog intro #rp intro #this took way longer than it should have #my ah is lazy #but this feels so good to get done #here's to this

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sledgefuweek · 10 months

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More Information About Our Prompts

It's time to take a closer look at our prompts for this year. They're truly delicious and are a treasure trove of possibility. But with open-ended prompts, the possibilities can seem overwhelming to some. Richie and I are here to help!

A couple things to remember: your submissions can be canonverse or AU and they can be SFW or NSFW. Feel free to age Gene and Snafu up or down or swap their genders for any of these prompts. Your pieces can be as literally or metaphorically related to the prompt as you like. Don't stress: even if it's vaguely related to the prompt, we'll take it! If you're unsure, you can always send a message to ask for help or clarification.

Please have a look under the cut for more fuel for your creative fire :)

**We've included some reminders about mindful writing for a few of the prompts; please be sure to read them as well.

Powers

This prompt gives you a lot of wiggle room. It's got lots of crossover potential with popular franchises (like "X-Men", "Percy Jackson" or "Star Wars"). Of course, you can also create your own fantastic world, and give the characters totally unique abilities! Some words and tropes that come to mind with this prompt are: secret identity, superhero, strength, might, heroism, bravery, sacrifice, legacy, hereditary powers, mission, quest, hero and "damsel in distress", team, hero vs. villain (with bonus enemies to lovers potential!), witchcraft, supernatural, transformation The works for this prompt can be fluffy (the boys training/working together or just showing off to impress each other, or maybe one helping the other in a low-stakes accident - think a kitten stuck in a tree), angsty (fighting against a powerful foe, one trying to save the other against all odds, hiding a secret identity), or more adventure-based (embarking on a quest, discovering new powers, origin story). As mentioned before, you can also write crossover fic - feel free to recreate certain scenes or plots with our boys in starring roles!

Royalty

A very exciting prompt, because I’m thinking about gay knights mostly; however, there is so much more you could do with this prompt. In general, royalty can make you think about things like wealth, power, jewels, estates/castles, the aforementioned knights, family, lineage, war. But ideas about romance, courting, chivalry, codes and honor are big parts of many stories, art, etc. involving royalty. Perhaps you can reimagine The Pacific set in the time of a medieval war. Or it could be a fantasy AU with wizards, dragons, etc. (King Arthur AU anyone?) Or you could make an AU of another story involving royalty; think of fairy tales, books, poems, movies or plays. Like, I wouldn’t hate a Romeo & Juliet AU, just saying. Or maybe you want a modern take. They could be royals of today, they could be homecoming royalty, they could be Mardi Gras royalty, they could be drag queen royalty. Or maybe their families are considered royalty in their hometowns. A mindful suggestion: Gene and Snafu are presented as being from different classes in The Pacific. If you include this in your work, please be mindful of the power dynamics between royalty and non-royalty, royalty of equal rank or royalty of non-equal rank. Also, if you headcanon Snafu as mixed race, Black, or non-white, please also be mindful of how you portray him in a position of power, a position of “lower status,” or something in between.

Scar

Scars can be either physical or mental. When it comes to the former, you can write about scars earned during combat, during accidents, due to medical issues and surgery or anything else. Mental scars may be a more difficult subject to tackle - please be mindful when writing about mental health, and tag any possibly triggering content. Some words and tropes for this prompt are: surgery, wound, memory, combat, trauma, care, medicine, hospital, medic This prompt would work well with canon compliant fic, as it can involve hurt/comfort, angst, and sickfic elements.

Leaving

Leaving is a great prompt with very high angst potential. For Sledgefu, there is a very obvious way one could go with this prompt [tries not to make eye contact with The Train Scene]. But just in case you don’t want to be depressed about The Scene for the next 2 months while you work on this prompt, here are some other things to think about. Gene and Snafu both do a lot of leaving as Marines - leaving home, leaving boot camp, leaving for the Pacific Islands, leaving each island, leaving their foxholes, leaving for China, leaving for home. Also think about the circumstances of the leaving - was it planned? Is it temporary? How many people are leaving? Did they leave voluntarily? Are they leaving in the night or the day? And always most importantly, why are they leaving? Also, don’t just think about what they are leaving but what are they moving toward - a new job? A new place to live? A place of safety? A place of danger? If you want to go with a happier piece, you could think about things like vacations/holidays, new homes, new jobs, new opportunities. Some other miscellaneous ideas - maybe one of them is retiring (because who doesn’t love old men Sledgefu). Leaving can also mean “a leftover thing.” Do either or both of them have remnants of the war (physical or otherwise)? Do they have scraps, fragments or pieces of things (once again, physical or otherwise) that remind them of each other or their relationship? Some synonyms for “leaving” that are very helpful/intriguing - parting, abandonment, forsake, reject, quit, give up, escape, retreat, withdrawal, relocate, march, voyage, journey, division, removal

Memories

This one has tons of potential! Reminiscing about falling in love, their first official date, moving in together, and other milestones are all good ideas for a fluffy, lovey-dovey fic. For an angstier fic, you can write a canon compliant work about one of them reminiscing about the time they spent with the other during the war, lamenting lost chances, or even recalling memories of their loved one after their passing. You can also choose a more neutral route, for example having the boys talk about their childhoods, hometowns, families, and friends. Some words and phrases for this prompt are: remembrance, forgetting, happiness, regret, past, loss, growth This prompt may also involve objects like souvenirs, photos, diaries, and letters.

Social Media

This is a pretty self-explanatory one, but just in case you’re stuck or want to try something “out of the box,” you can think about some of these things. Social media is used for communication, so when the boys are on social media, what are they communicating to each other and how? Pictures, videos, DMs, comments section, etc. What type of social media is it (dating app, blog, instagram, discord, etc.)? Maybe your piece is set in the ‘90s or early 2000s and all the social media to choose from was AOL Instant Messenger, MySpace or LiveJournal. You can also think about things related to social media: phones, computers, texting, activism, competition, hacking, memories, being a part of a fandom/community, etc. Or maybe we can finally get The Social Network AU we’ve all been waiting for. This prompt lends itself to some great art and edits like envisioning what their instagrams or WhatsApp conversations might look like. This prompt is definitely a fun way place Sledgefu in a modern setting.

Free Choice

We know you all know what this one is, but sometimes having infinite choices can be overwhelming. Here are some ideas to narrow it down: look at prompts from past Sledgefu Weeks that you didn’t get a chance to do, or want to redo. Or pick a prompt you liked from this year that didn’t make the final 7. Or find a random word generator and see what prompts sound promising. All we ask is that the prompt be SFW (of course, your piece can be NSFW).

We hope this was helpful. If you think of something for these prompts that we didn't mention, go for it!

Happy creating and keep an eye on the blog for more details about submission guidelines.

#mod talk #sledgefu week #the pacific

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motherfuckermorgan · 5 months

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fire emblem warriors thoughts

this game is... so bizarre. with over 6 years of hindsight and several fire emblem releases since then, fire emblem warriors might be the single strangest release in the entire series. i got a lot of words to say about this one, maybe even too much LOL. keep in mind that this post will mostly focus on the main campaign, i do realize that you don't really play warriors games for the main campaign but the grindy ass extra modes you unlock. and from that perspective this game is decently solid, but not as interesting to talk about for me personally

so like, as a "Celebration" of the entire series, this game falls so flat on its face it's honestly kind of hilarious. obviously this game does NOT encompass the entire fire emblem series. it doesn't even really come close. in the main campaign, you get three games represented. awakening, fates, and shadow dragon. you could technically make the argument that this also represents mystery of the emblem since that's just a shadow dragon sequel but that feels like we're trying to grab at anything to make this feel like this game represents more than 20% of the entire franchise. the characters are explicitly from shadow dragon.

in post-game you DO unlock celica from gaiden and lyn from 7 but those are quite literally the only characters from those games. lyn likely got in due to popularity and celica is there because fire emblem echoes released a few months before this. this is the best selling game that celica is in and she's not even in the main game

of course, you can argue this game isn't really trying to celebrate fire emblem as a whole. i mean, it's a fuckin' dynasty warriors crossover so it's not like it HAS to be all encompassing. but we live in a post-three houses and engage world. three houses is still the main fascination of the fandom now, so making a game with a STRONG awakening/fates focus sure makes this game feel dated. it is so, so of a specific era for this series. i think also it's easier for this game to feel lame when heroes exists. i'm not gonna go to bat for the fuckin' gacha but man even if there's still an awakening/fates focus in a lot of the alts, at least you get characters from other games in the series!

and like, alright, the shadow dragon characters are there but they're quite frankly so insignificant that it almost feels odd for me to even pretend like any reasonable person would wait until 66% through the game to finally add marth to their roster of units in play. the main campaign continues to be so awakening/fates focused that the characters from shadow dragon basically just save your ass once and then remove themselves from the plot except for marth saying something motivational every now and then.

the story is not something to play this game for at all LOL. it's not outright awful in the way that fates is but it's very disjointed and overall just not interesting. lianna and rowan are such nothing characters i can see why they haven't been referenced outside of this game thus far. darios is such a nothing villain too, like ohhhhh he's the childhood friend! just kidding! he's possessed by dragon. we've done this song and dance which i suppose is part of the point but it doesn't really help the game set itself apart.

it's a story that's meant to get all these characters together but as mentioned earlier even that part is dubious. early on you get your awakening units and then you get a super long stretch of the game that is focused ENTIRELY on fates. before you get like 2 shadow dragon chapters before endgame. it is near impossible to play this game and use any of the shadow dragon characters from endgame. marth is a tough sell in a game with so many sword users including your protags, you get cordelia before caeda and both pegasus knights are only really worth adding if you don't own the dlc, and tiki is maybe the only one that MIGHT be worth adding to your team.

i also played this game on hard mode which was a fun challenge but actually just serves to make the shadow dragon characters even more irrelevant because of how much higher leveled my units were by the time i made it there. i cannot emphasize enough just how fucking meaningless even adding in the shadow dragon guys is. they barely have any relevance to the flimsy story, and from a gameplay perspective you're basically NEVER gonna use them in the main campaign. you'll have way out leveled them by the time you unlock them. this really is just the awakening/fates show all the way through

if you love awakening and fates i suppose this could be awesome. i do love awakening, but god, i fucking hate fates. i've made this fact about myself known over the years. i could write a much much longer rant about that game specifically but after streaming that game over a week for 42 hours i fear that if i said anything else about them i'd self destruct. i do think that the fates games are Less bad in this game, but only marginally so. takumi and oboro are characters that i do genuinely enjoy from that game, but pretty much no one else is a winner. it's pretty easy to avoid using a lot of them at least, since a bunch of them are sword users or other such weapon classes you get from the awakening pool or are just classes you do NOT want to use.

alright, so i've talked a lot about how this game feels disjointed in terms of how it represents the series, but that isn't even really where it ends in terms of being fucking weird in this aspect. this game retains the weapons triangle from the main games, and every character can equip any weapon from their class. so all sword users can use any non-exclusive swords, lance users can do the same, etc etc. however, with the character choices they made, as a result they kind of all serve the same function? you're only gonna want one sword user to primarily deal with axe users, but your main protagionist is a sword user. you're never gonna reasonably use chrom or corrin or xander or marth or whoever else in this game just happens to use a sword. there are so many of them. many of them are paid dlc! sure, you will end up using one for support on the later maps, so i guess just choose your favorite child to sit on the sidelines.

meanwhile, there are so, so few lance users it's kind of insane. if you don't own the dlc your only real options are all pegasus knights and in a game where archers are very, very mobile they aren't exactly enticing to use. i do own the dlc, so i have access to oboro and azura but if you're rocking the basegame characters you're pretty much fucked in this aspect.

axe users are also fairly underrepresented. at least you get lissa and frederick early, but shit, other than them? hope you like camilla. i don't. she's also a flyer. so she sucks as a character and as a unit.

there's also archers and magic users you can unlock, but honestly, archers are far, far better than the magic users. sure, they don't hit as hard, EXCEPT if there are flyers on the map, then holy shit dude, they delete those fuckers from the video game. it's actually crazy how fast they fall given everything in this game is a damage sponge. archers also tend to be sturdier, so you don't really gotta pay as much attention to them. not as much having to watch over them to make sure they don't get themselves killed on the opposite end of the map. you also unlock tiki as a manakete and same principle applies, you'd rather just have an archer. your options are really just takumi sakura and niles, but hey, just like in fates, takumi is fucking stupid strong and can kill most things with little issue.

i can't pretend like this game isn't fun despite this discrepancy. it is a joy to mow down enemies, and i did feel a little bit of that tactical itch scratched by commanding my units on the harder difficulty. but it does harm this game's replayability a lot. the fun of replaying a fire emblem is getting use out of units that you struggled to find a role for in other playthroughs. this just doesn't happen in this game. with all the dlc, i pretty much will always just use lianna/oboro/lissa/takumi as my main units. there isn't much need to experiment. why try the other characters and other combinations when they will be fundamentally worse?

one last problem is just that the game runs like shit. but that's also kind of like yeah no shit it's a dynasty warriors game on the nintendo switch. it's like asking your old dog to pick up a stick that you threw really far away. he'll get to it eventually, but don't expect peak performance. docked mode is better than handheld, but don't expect this game to ever reach 60 consistently

it is funny playing a game that is so much of this era. three houses came out 2 years later and became THE fire emblem. and we've also got engage now, which at least attempts to represent the full series in a way that warriors fails to achieve. we've even gotten a followup to this game with three hopes! a game that i actually enjoy less. in the same exact console cycle as all these other games, this game feels incredibly dated. truly there is nothing else like it. if you're looking for warriors games on the switch, you've got better options. but i can't pretend like it wasn't fascinating to revisit this game, especially when i had spent so much time on it during the switch's first year. if you're a REALLY curious fan, and awakening/fates is like the peak of the series to you, it might be worth a play if you're into a button mashing action game. lots of things that you're gonna have to ask yourself if they truly apply to you. truly a game of all time

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