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jpitha · 1 month

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Between the Black and Gray 24

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After her meal - Fen had no idea what the local time was yet on Minaren, so it could have been breakfast, lunch, or dinner for all she knew - she said her goodbyes to Zhe and told her where she was docked. "I'm leaving in a day or two, so come and find me before that if you want a job." Fen winked and Zhe's fur rippled a blush.

As they walked away, Fen wondered why she did that. Zhe was cute enough she supposed, but she was looking at hiring her, she probably shouldn't try and date a future employee. Besides, the hole in her heart Ma-ren left hasn't healed over.

Minaren was a beautiful station and the head of the K'laxi governemnt. What it wasn't was a good place to source a crew for a mercenary group. If Zhe signed on, that was still only one other person. The manual for her frigate - she'd still have to name it - said that a crew of four was the bare minimum for safe operations. Where was she going to find three other people who wanted to sign on with a new merc with a lot of money and not a lot of jobs?

Gord had mentioned that most stations and starbases had a Basement - not literally, but sometimes yes. The name came from an illicit bazar in the mainenance tunnels of an old human orbital in Sol that had been inhabited for millennia. Somewhere that people weren't and so the kind of deals that happened out of the prying eyes of the public and the authorities took place. Finding a place like that as an outsider was tough, but Fen had a few ideas.

She walked around a bit until she came upon a less developed section of forest. The deeper she went, the less she saw the uniform of K'laxi officials and more the plain clothes of people who saw Minaren as a job, or better yet, an opportunity. After about twenty minutes she found what she was looking for.

The dive bar had a sign that was hand painted in the raised and rounded K'laxi script. She pushed open the door and stepped in and waiting a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light. The place smelled of spices and old frying oil and just a twinge of ethanol. K'laxi could drink alcohol like humans, but it didn't affect them the same way. K'laxi didn't get drunk like a human would, but alcohol would cause them to slow down and cool. Too much would induce hibernation. They were originally a forested mammalian type animal deep in their past and there is evidence that their ancient ancestors hibernated when food was scarce. Their planet rotated without a wobble and without a tilt like Earth, so they didn't have seasons per-se. Walking around, Fen could see ears slowly swivel to listen to her approach and some of the more 'sober' K'laxi glowered at her approach.

The bartender put down the mug he was drying - didn't matter where you were, there was always glassware to clean and put away - and in thickly accented Colonic said "Friend, I think you are lost." It was without malice, but it also brooked no discussion.

Fen smiled and flashed a toothy smile. The bartender unconsciously flinched as the aggression and his ears flattened. "Sorry my friend, I don't think I'm lost. I'm looking to get a glass of vikolen and nobody out there-" she gestured towards the more public part of the station "-seems to be able to make one worth a damn. Any chance you can help a girl out?" Once when a K'laxi trader had come passing through home, she had remarked how Fen's Gen'mil accent sounded thickly of the northern regions that her familial line originated from. Back on K'lax it was a source of derision for some. She sounded like a bumpkin supposedly. Fen knew as well as anyone how to turn that to her advantage.

At the rapid fire greeting and drink order in K'inmar the bartender's face flashed through at least three emotions. He went from the blank face of trying to steer a lost tourist away to surprise and then to suspicion. The only humans he knew that could speak K'inmar that well were in the intelligence corps and they did not order vikolen. It was supposed to be nearly undrinkable to most humans. Not poisonous, just bad tasting. "You want a vikolen?" He didn't even try and hide his surprise.

"Sure do. Haven't had one since I left home, and every time I tried to order one, I was told they didn't have the ingredients or that nobody ever ordered them. I figure here, on Minaren, I had better be able to get a classic vikolen." Fen's little show was gathering a small audience. Not even K'laxi ordered vikolen regularly. It was more a stunt cocktail that was for youths ordering their first drink on a dare, or for the elderly who took it as a tonic.

The bartender's tail twitched. "You know what? Fine. It's been a while since we had a show here. Two Stars, up front."

Fen took out the cash and laid it on the counter, and sat down. The bartender scooped up the money and reached under for a wood and stone mug. He dropped in some herbs and began to muddle them into the bottom while he hummed to himself. Fen smiled at the realization that he was humming the incantation to Olenar - the old god of drinks and celebrations. He was making the vikolen right. Fen joined in on the second verse when he added the spirit. The eldest in her familial line back home drank vikolen and everyone knew the song. The bartender flicked his ears in amusement, but didn't stop humming. Next was the alcohol, a clear strong liquor flavored with bitter herbs. Finally, clear water and a drop of blue Vik essence. He placed the drink in front of Fen with two hands, just as the song finished. "There. A vikolen my matriarch would be proud of. Be honored, friend"

Fen took the drink in two hands, as it was given and lifted it to her nose. As she brought it closer, the woodsy, bitter smell filled her nostrils. It reminded her of her Matriarch, Dem'iril as she would sit at the head of the long wooden table - one of the only things from K'lax they had - and she would tell stories to the kids, explaining the world. She took a sip.

The warmth spread down her throat and into her stomach. The bitter flavors activated the far back of her tongue, and she was able to taste the dryness of the drink. As she swallowed, she breathed in again slightly to get the afterflavors. She placed the mug on the bar and sighed happily. "Friend, you would make Olenar themselves happy with that draught. Nicely done."

The bartender stood back, his mouth slightly open. "Y-you drank it. You drank it like my matriarch."

Fen's head tilts slightly. "Of course I did. It was excellently made. It would be foolish to waste it."

At that, Fen turned. The patrons of the bar were all staring at her. One of them - a young kid, probably barely old enough to be in here - spoke up. "You're... not K'laxi in disguise, are you?"

Fen laughed, and that broke the spell. Everyone laughed along with her, including the bartender. "No, I was raised as an orphan by the Gem'mil line, far from here."

"Gen'mil?" One of the elder K'laxi at the bar and turned, his eyes rheumy from age and drink. "Gen'mil is a fine family, with an ancient history. They've fallen on hard times. It's a shame." His ears flattened.

"They will rise again, friend. It is the way of the world. Families rise and fall. So long as we still live, we will prevail." Fen took another large sip of the drink. It was even better the second time.

"Hah." The bartender's ears faced forward, and his fur rippled. "You may look human." He poked Fen's chest. "But you have the heart of K'laxi. You're always welcome to drink here."

"Well then, I think we celebrate the discovery of a new bar with a round of drinks for everyone!" Over the roar of the crowd, Fen reached into her pocket and took a fistfull of Stars out and slid them to the bartender. "Whatever anyone wants to drink, until the money's gone." She looked back at the crowd, and then to the bartender again. "Or until you think everyone's had enough."

The money disappeared and the bartender nodded. "Looks like I have my work cut out for me then. Excuse me." He stepped away to handle the flood of orders that came in. Fen sipped her drink again and smiled.

It turned out that it was already evening when Fen showed up, and the money lasted deep into the night. By the end, Fen was helping the bartender - his name was Ullen - with handing out drinks and singing along in the endless drinking songs that started up. She only had the one vikolen, the whole night, but that was more than enough. She felt light on her feet and floaty. The herbs were slightly intoxicating to humans when combined with the alcohol.

Late, late into the night, Fen and Ullen had chased the last of the stragglers out and he had gratefully locked the door. Fen was behind the counter taking another load of glassware out of the washer, and reading another tray of dirty glasses to wash. "Everyone's out?"

"Finally, thank the Ancestors. Thank's for the help, Fen."

Fen laughed. "Don't worry about it, Ullen. I caused the ruckus."

"Speaking of which." Ullen had a smaller, though still decently sized stack of Stars and he slid it to Fen. "This is what's left of your money, you gave me enough to have everyone drink free for almost three days."

Fen slid the money back. "Take it, Ullen. Think of it as an investment in your success... and also payment."

Ullen's ears swung back and forth. "Payment? For what?"

"Information. Can you tell me where the nearest entrance to the Basement is?"

Ullen crossed his arms and tried to look intimidating, but his tail swished back and forth, giving away his amusement. "I suppose you don't mean where I keep the extra Olenian herbs."

Fen said nothing.

Ullen sighed and walked over to the door, verifying it was locked. "Come with me." He walked behind the bar and bent down. He lifted up a slightly wet anti-slip mat and there was a silver ring inset into the floor. He pulled up and twisted at the same time, and there was a hiss and a square meter of floor rose up until it was two meters tall, supported my beams. A lift.

"You have an entrance to the Basement here? Come on Ullen. That's too much." Fen approached the lift, but did not step inside.

"I promise Fen, it's on the up and up. Honestly, when you first came in, I figured you were an out-of-your-depth merc looking for a Basement entrance, but I had no idea you were... who you are." His fur rippled again. "I promise, it's real. We've always been friendly with those... underneath. Head on down, and walk spinward. You'll come to the entrance. This week's code is "Tep'ra'fel is not immortal."

Fen's breath caught in her throat. "Tep'ra'fel was the K'laxi word for the Human Empress. 'The undeniable' was the most accurate translation. K'lax has been a vichy state of the human empire for nearly half a millennium. "That's... quite a codeword."

Ullen smiled with his teeth. "That's how you know it's a good one. If you're afraid to say it, you don't need the Basement."

Fen stepped onto the lift and it slid down into the floor.

#humans are deathworlders #humans are space orcs #sci fi writing #humans are space oddities #humans and aliens #jpitha #writing #humans and ai #humans are space capybaras #humans are space australians #Between the black and gray

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roguesscribbles · 2 months

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Sorry I've been so dead recently! I've got a little project going on that's taking up my art time. Hoping to unveil it soon!

In the meantime, here's my new OC! I made her for a Mass Effect DnD group I'm joining! Her name is Raina Akiyama, she's a human engineer that abandoned her smothering military life to explore the galaxy, settling on Illium following the Reaper invasion.

You can read the full backstory under the cut:

Raina Akiyama was always destined to join the Alliance Military. From the day she was born on an Alliance ship to two parents with a decent military ranking, she spent the majority of her formative years on various Alliance ships or bases following wherever her parents were stationed.

At the time, she could count how many times she has been to Earth on one hand. Her father was from Japan and her mother was from Britain, so she had been to visit family members that she doesn’t remember the faces of. Her upbringing was lonely at times, her parents were busy working and other children were not that common. However, with the absence of people, she found her love in the mechanical instead.

She could always be found tinkering away at some piece of tech she found, sneaking into the engine room to look at the inner workings or pelting the engineers with all sorts of questions. And the Alliance were happy to support these dreams of hers, educating and pushing her towards a career as an Engineer.

There was just one problem, Raina didn’t like the way the Alliance ran things. She was never a fan of the authority, of the training exercises and the expectation to give it everything she had, with instructors and crew members who were always a bit too strict with a child, most likely already seeing the soldier she would become. She always felt trapped, forced into enlisting, because where else would she go? She was raised here, with a line of family all expecting her to join as the next generation as they once did, and she knew very little of the habited planets that dotted the galaxy.

Eventually, when she turned 18, she enlisted officially as an Engineer, continuing her training and enhancing her skills. If there’s one good thing she can say, it’s that the Alliance provided her with almost unlimited funding to tinker with whatever gadgets were put in front of her. She became intimately familiar with both the massive hardware of the Alliance vessels to the weapons and armour the troops relied on. She never fully felt like she belonged, but she could at least surround herself with the things she loved.

Things changed about 2 years later. She was stationed on a small base with an equally small squadron. Something that was meant to be safe, somewhere to train her and other recruits. For the first time in her life she felt like she had friends, people she could rely on and actually talk to, who had her back. Things finally started to fall into place, and she started to feel that yearned-for feeling of belonging.

Then, the raid happened.

A group of bandits attacked the base in the night, where there was minimal activity. They wanted the equipment that they had in storage. It wasn’t even very much, they most likely saw them as easy pickings, and they weren’t entirely wrong. Almost all of her squad was killed in the incident, though in the end Raina’s squad managed to barely win. During the scuffle, a confrontation with one of the assailants left her scarred after they slashed her face with an omni-blade. When she came to in the medical wing of an Alliance vessel, she found herself blind in her left eye.

Her entire world came crashing down. Almost all her friends were dead, that belonging ripped away from her in an instant. She was back to the cold, sterile vessels with people who saw her as little more than an asset, who wanted her back up and running as soon as possible as if a great tragedy hadn’t just occurred. As soon as they were able, they installed a cybernetic eye in the one she lost, patching her up like a broken piece of machinery.

Not even her parents were here. They contacted her as soon as they knew she was awake, but neither of them could leave their post to see her. Something in Raina just snapped. She needed away from this place, away from the military. She expressed her concerns to her parents, but they disapproved, encouraging her to just get better and push on. This was the family way. That just made the need to leave even more prevalent.

She was able to push for her to be medically discharged, quoting physical trauma and PTSD. She sent one final message to her parents telling them she was leaving and not to contact her. She grabbed all her belongings and money that she saved, grabbed the first civilian shuttle she could and started exploring the galaxy.

Over the next few years, she moved from planet to planet, exploring and experiencing and just living. She met so many new people, made new friends and went on her own adventures. She used her skills for work, either taking on odd jobs or temporarily joining a crew, which improved her abilities even further. She began to discover herself more as a person, get better at social interaction and just breathe for the first time. Life was good.

Then, the Reapers arrived.

Once more her world came crashing down, but this time it was different. She wasn’t alone. She had been staying on Illium when the news spread, and it wasn’t long before the Reapers made their way to them. Raina sprang into action, helping wherever she could to help the planets militia fend off the invasion, as well as help the people who had been displaced and evacuated to the planet. It kept her busy, and when the Reapers eventually fell, her positive presence put her on a lot of people’s radars as someone who was reliable.

Following this, she decided to take up a more permanent residence on Illium. They may have fended off the attack, but there was always work to be done. Plus, as a mercantile hub, other planets more affected turned to them for aid. She never found herself short for work, and she was keen to continue to improve her skills with the variety of machinery and tech that passed through. She dreams that one day, she can open her own mechanics shop, and make her role on Illium that much more permanent. Because she belongs.

#mass effect #mass effect oc #mass effect engineer #mass effect dnd #mass effect 5e #original character #my ocs #raina akiyama #rogue does art stuff

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romanoffsbish · 2 years

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Everything Comes at a Cost

Natasha Romanoff x Fem!GoddessReader

SMUT featured in flashback blurb.

Quickie—Fingering, Marking, Cursing

Wanda Maximoff x Fem!GoddessReader

No SMUT because…

Wanda Maximoff x Vision

Y/N, Goddess of Life, is faced with a daunting choice as the lives of the people—women—she’s grown to love hangs in the balance. Will she willing pay the ultimate price, or will she let fate run its course?

Angst with sprinkled in fluff 🥺❤️

9,746 Words

•~~~~~~~~~~~~•~~~~~~~~~~~~• (Past)

An inconsolable ache had settled deep within your chest and had remained steadfast for the last week since you'd received the news, which only worked to add to your already heavy heart. Feeling the immense loss of your dearest cousin Loki, while listening to the impending doom the broken shell of a man—Thor—prophesied to the "entirety" of your team remaining on Earth.

Rhodey, and you were all that had remained at the compound most days after the Sokovia Accords aftermath, as you essentially were Switzerland in the whole debacle. That stupid disagreement nearly broke you, as you lost the majority of your found family, and had to say goodbye to the only women you'd ever loved.

Neither one of them ever truly belonging to you, but somehow your heart was theirs.

"Thor, you need to get some rest, if what you say is true then it would be best—."

"No, I must be preparing for the war that's headed our way, round up the team while I'm away Y/N!" He boasts, completely ignoring your logic in favor of some cryptic preparation.

You watched as he left almost nearly as fast as he'd arrived, so you instead turn to your closest adversary as of late.

"Alrighty then, looks like it's just the two of us once more." Rhodey humorlessly chuckles, and you turn to him with a guilty, scrunched up expression.

"Spoke too soon did I?" He questions as he realizes what's likely to come from your lips.

"Round up the team, you have the most pull anyways."

"I wouldn't say that..." He lightheartedly interrupts, and you playfully roll your eyes.

"While you do so I'm going to go visit an old friend of mine, one who could possibly provide me with some clarity on what's to come, and how best to stop it." You continue, and he nods.

Then within a snap you're traveling the limited remains of the bifrost, as you seek out your mother—Freyr. Traveling through the bifrost is rather exhausting, as you're beamed through, having never truly grown accustomed to it no matter how many times you've traveled through it.

"Ahh, if it isn't my dearest daughter, to what do I owe the pleasure of your spontaneous visit? Shouldn't you be with your equally as clueless cousins on that wretched planet Earth. Tragedy really, that you willing dedicate your lives to the feeble existence that is mankind."

"Good to see you too mother, now, on to business. Asgard, as I'm sure you know, has been obliterated, and Loki's life was valiantly lost in said battle. I wish to avenge him, as well as to prevent any further catastrophe if at all possible. So, you're going to provide me with visions of the proposed future, and then I'll be on my way."

"What? No time for tea?" She jests, beckoning you to sit before her as she prepares her station for your desired rituals.

You scoff, then move to sit before your mother, freeing your mind of its stressors in an attempt to allow her in completely.

—

Natasha enters the compound with swift steps, followed closely by Steve, Sam, Wanda, and an obviously injured Vision. First thing she does is tightly hug Rhodey, but truthfully her heart, much like the Sokovian's, aches to see you.

"Where's Y/N?" The former assassin immediately asks, and Wanda's attention shifts to Rhodey as both of them look at him expectantly.

"She's not here, left a couple of hours ago actually, said she needed to visit an old friend of hers in search of answers to fix this mess."

"When will she be back?" Wanda asks, and Steve clears his throat to try to reroute the conversation back to the synthezoid.

"I'm quite certain Y/N would want our sole focus to be on the crisis at hand. She'll be more than okay, so let's figure out a plan."

—

Nimble fingers light the match, then with a wave of her hand the flame spreads across the candles surrounding the both of you.

"Like my party trick?" She teases, with an infuriating smirk upon her face.

"Mother..." You groan, and she sighs while cupping your cheeks.

"Darling, can you please act like you don't detest me for at least one moment?"

"I do not detest you mother, I'm just a bit pressed for time, I apologize if it seems as if it's something else, but please can we just get this show on the road?"

Her reply comes in the form of a gentle kiss to your forehead before her forehead takes the place of her lips, and gentle fingers tap at your temple. A sudden rush of energy courses through your head, then swiftly travels through the expanse of your body, and suddenly your thrown into a flash of prophetic imagery.

—

Vision is forced to be lying flat on a table, even though he believes it best for Wanda to just destroy the stone. The team shuts him down, then prepares for battle as Shuri confirms that she can handle the stone, but she just needs ample time. Within a moments time the image shifts to the battlefield where you see Natasha, and Okoye in trouble before Wanda saves them. Then it moves to them fighting off a rather odd looking alien who was going for Wanda specifically.

Your heart twinges with fear at the notion of either of your girls being in danger.

The scene shifts to Vision kneeled before a trembling Wanda, and every ounce of her grief is present on her face as she is forced to kill the love of her life all in the name of the greater good. It appeared to have all been for not, as they were obviously too late as the scene shifts to Thanos—the mad titan Thor described—using one of the infinity stones to undo all that was done.

The scene swiftly fades into a splattering of dust, as the faces of your friends—beloved—begin to become no more. Fading into another scene where Tony's cradling the disappearing form of the spider-"man" that you've grown to cherish as if he were your own.

Your blood runs cold as this man seems to have taken everything from you in a matter of seconds, as you see all of your friends fading away, but what shocks you most is the lack of sight of yourself.

All too suddenly your thrown through a collection of years, viewing the ways in which everyone's world crumbles, and for the seldom few it actually comes together. Natasha's dull existence breaks your heart, as you feel the weight of the world resting on her shoulders. Her grief is immense, as is Clint's as it shows you what becomes of him without his family.

A fleeting moment of hope flashes before your eyes, warming your heart once you see that Tony had pulled his head out his ass and at the sight of Natasha's following smile. Smiles fade as you watch the two best friends fight to the death for an orange stone, and you're forced to watch as the love of your life dies thinking she is destined to do so in repentance.

All you felt is nauseous when you heard the thud, and have to hear her attempt to explain this away as okay repeating in your mind. Nothing about the situation would be okay... No time is left for you to react before you are witnessing Tony meeting a similar ending.

Everyone seems to move on as best they can, but then a scene shows a very distraught, and more disturbingly alone Wanda. The grief is radiating off of her, a boom of her powers erupts, then before you could see where it leads you felt yourself forcefully being pushed from the visions.

Your mom's hands fall from your temples, and you crumble to your knees as the reality of it all begins to set in. Tears fall freely as you try and process what you just bore witness to, and the sickness in your body spreads throughout as you realize what it is you must do.

"My darling, you're not written into this sequence of events, whatever you do to interfere could be catastrophic." Your mother announces, placing a firm hand to your shoulder, and with that you're mind is settled.

"Well, I'd like to think that what I'm about to do is actually going to prove the opposite mother." You boast, quickly jumping to your feet and moving to wrap her in a tight hug.

"Oh, my sweet girl, interfering with the problems of men has rarely ever worked in our favor, and judging by the nature of your hug, I'm going to conclude this is our last..."

"Always the intuitive one mother, take care of yourself, I love you..."

"Yeah, it's a gift that is more so a burden really. So there's really nothing I can say to sway you in staying here with me where it's safe?"

"Oh mom, safe's never been a route I follow, you know that. Plus, the people I have been blessed to love, and the fate of millions sort of depends on my plan." You conclude, nodding her way with a sad smile to match her own before beaming yourself back to the compound, and then racing off towards the hangar as you hear the jet being started up.

"Friday! Tell them to wait!"

"Of course Miss Y/L/N."

Sprinting leaves you winded, but that's a small price to pay as you barely make it into the jet. The eyes on you hold a slurry of different emotions, but before you can even speak you're being tackled into a hug.

"Y/N... Oh how I've missed you..."

Wanda... The woman of your dreams, partial holder of your heart, who—sadly for you, had handed hers over to the synthezoid.

•~~~~~~~~~~~~•~~~~~~~~~~~~•

Wanda and her brother had just arrived at the compound after the battle of Sokovia had destroyed her home, and her gaze had remained on you ever since as you traipsed around the compound healing everyone.

"Hello there, may I help you?" You tease, and her cheeks tint red at being caught.

"Uh- I-I just really wanted to say thank you..."

"Oh. For what?" You feign cluelessness.

"Pietro—you saved his life, and I can't thank you enough."

"Well, you most certainly don't have to thank me sweet girl. I'm a natural healer, it's just my job."

"Still, what you did was nothing short of a miracle, and it deserves immense thanks..."

"Well, in that case, you can thank me by fixing me a nice dinner." You playfully respond, winking her way, and walking off towards your room at the compound before she could even respond.

"Wow sestra, you got it bad..." Pietro mumbles as he approaches her from behind, then she trips him with her red tendrils as he evades her head slap with his fast feet.

—

"Ello love." You greet the Sokovian in an offensively bad British accent while plopping down beside her and causing her bed to shake.

Her giggles warmed your heart, even if they were uttered to make fun of you. She quickly moved to bookmark her story before she then laid down beside you and you both adjusted until you were face to face.

"Dorogoy, that accent was just horrible." She laughs out after a straight minute of silent eye contact.

"How would you even know?" You grumble, then roll to your back, crossing your arms over your chest, and pouting.

"I watch the Great British Bake Off whenever I'm bored, and even without it I don't live under a rock Y/N/N, plus Vis has a British accent." Wanda playfully relays, nose scrunching up at the way your face contorts so intensely, and she uses her thumb to massage at your furrowed brows.

"Fair enough..." You concede in a tired mumble, sighing as the circling of her thumb works to ease your tensions.

Wanda watches as you slowly drift off to sleep in her bed, she places a lingering kiss to your forehead before picking her book back up, and using her powers to lay a blanket over your body. With every mission that's happened as of late your powers have been in high demand, and you've barely had a chance to recuperate. She'd known you were here to distract her, possibly even help her to destress since Pietro's off on a mission, but she also knew you were exhausted so this outcome truly makes her the happiest.

—

Ever since the twins arrival a year ago you'd been training with the young witch. Volunteering as such in an attempt to help her to learn how to gain control of her powers. Emotions seemed to have a major play in how her powers surge, and you were trying to find a way to help her temper that.

"Breathe sweet girl, stressing out will just get you nowhere, we'll go again." You gently instruct, as you set up another simulation for her to run through, locking her in with a reassuring smile.

The highly advanced tech is actually able to manifest scenarios that are rooted within one's deepest fears, for Wanda it's almost as if her powers were being used against her.

A scene plays out of her on a mission at a Hydra base with the entirety of the team. Everything had been going well up until she was faced with an ungodly scene of you being tortured. Her objective was to free the hostages, take out Hydra's men, then get back to the jet without losing control. Something in her snapped though when she heard your heart wrenching screams as she tried to wander by.

"Stop it! No!!! No! Please!" She sobs, as your simulated form slumps forward, appearing to her as if you weren't going to survive, and she just loses all semblances of reality at the sight.

The screams were apparent to you from outside the glass she'd been safely encased in. Before you could interfere by pulling her out of the simulation she's already falling to her knees, screaming and shaking while her body becomes encased in red, then she falls over, hitting the ground as her powers burst out and into the glass. Against all common sense you instruct Friday to allow you in, and she reluctantly does so.

"Wanda, darling, come back to me..." You coo, as you pull her sobbing form against you.

Her fists clutch at your shirt, bunching it up, and your heart practically breaks at the sound of her pained sobs.

"Whatever happened, it wasn't real Wanda, you're okay, I promise that you're safe with me love."

Your words seemed to work as her shaking slowly subsided, but her hold on you remained just as tight.

"I-I..." She struggled to speak, as her eyes moved to look directly into yours, and to your complete shock her lips pressed to yours.

A loud clearing of another's throat led to your lips eventually parting, and while you looked at her in a complete daze, her gaze met that of an apparently irate ex-assassin.

"If you two are done, Wanda's got less than sixty seconds until our training starts." Natasha calmly states, but the fire behind her eyes paints a different picture for her feelings.

Wanda jumps up from your lap, leaving you stunned on the ground, and takes off to get to the gym, attempting her best to block out Natasha's murderous thoughts.

—

Wanda avoided you like the plague for the remainder of the week, you felt hurt, but you completely understood that what happened could've been due to the heat of the moment. Seeing her locking lips with the synthezoid only four days later though essentially shattered your heart.

Your gasp alerted her to your presence, and her legs traveled at an inhumane speed trying to reach you, but your slammed door told her this wouldn't be a good time. Not that she cared though, so she sat in front of your door, remaining there until you'd finally went to leave your room nearly four hours later.

"Y/N/N.." She whimpers, jumping to her feet, and literally stumbling into you because her legs had long since fallen asleep.

You obviously catch her, locking your bloodshot eyes on her glazed over pair, then you sigh as you work to peel her off of you as she tries to have her hands on you in some form.

"Wanda, I need time, that's all... I understand that it wasn't your intention to hurt me, but it doesn't make the end result any less painful. Vision is a nice —uh— guy, and I hope that he makes you as happy as can be. I've known for awhile now that you'd liked him, I just kinda wish you didn't kiss me first, giving me this false hope. We'll be okay eventually though, training is obviously postponed though as I'm leaving for an undecided amount of time."

You finish your ramblings with a gentle caress of her cheeks, wiping away at the stray tears before you walk away with your duffle slung over your shoulder, and unbeknownst to you—half of her heart. Once you're out of sight she crumbles to her knees, tightly hugging herself as she feels the regret wash over her.

—

—Lagos—

You were off in Asgard helping Thor with his mishaps, helping to break him and Loki out of their intergalactic prison when you got the call that Wanda apparently needed you. Hearing her name after months of being away still stung, but the ways in which your heart had slowly healed helped to ease the pain.

"Steve, what do you mean she won't come out of her room?"

"Look, Y/N, it's been a horrible few months without you here, both women have been rather moody, and Tony's honestly been insufferable."

"Why? Did his bruises have to heal naturally?" You giggle, then make your way to your pod.

"Please say you'll come home, even just for a little bit?" He pleads, your heart warms as he says 'home' so naturally, and you bid him farewell with the promises of your return.

"Oy, where you headed? Are you really leaving me alone with the big oaf?"

"Oh Loki, I envy yours and Thor's relationship, I can just feel the love radiating." You muse with a roll of your eyes before hugging him goodbye.

"Take care of yourself little one." He playfully coos, and you lightly shove him.

"I'm not little.." You groan, and he laughs boisterously at your tantrum.

"Take care Loki, you too Thor! Until we meet again cousins." You say as you enter your pod and set off for Earth.

—

Once you'd arrived Steve was waiting for you, then he escorted you through the compound, and your heart clenched at the sight of your distraught looking teammates, more specifically the redhead.

You smiled gently at her, feeling lighter once you saw her lips upturning in passing, then the mood drastically dropped the closer you got to Wanda's door.

"Y/N, thank God you're here." Vision whisper shouts, pulling you in for an awkward hug, and you kindly smile at him as he pulls back.

"I'm not sure how much help I'm going to be here, but it can't hurt to try." You humorlessly chuckle out, and he places a firm hand to your shoulder.

"She's in immense pain, and has been ever since you left. I actually believe the only one who can help her is you." He solemnly states, furthering your guilty feelings, but you shake yourself clear of the thoughts.

Everyone clears out of the hallway to give you space, but you run to the kitchen first, making her a heaping pile of pancakes as you assume she hadn't eaten in days.

"Wands..." You say as you knock on the door, barely tapping it three times before it's thrown open.

The sight of the tiny Sokovian woman surrounded by blankets and tissues is honestly heartbreaking. Stepping over the scattered clothes across the floor you eventually make your way to her. Placing the plate of food down on her tray first before you climb into her bed, and simply pull her close.

"Sweet, sweet Wanda, what is this I hear about you not leaving your room?"

She burrows further into you, wrapping her arms tightly around your waist, and you just continue talking.

"That just won't do honey, you need to take care of yourself, and you can start by eating the pancakes I made you."

She nods in the negatory against your chest, you feel her tears soaking through your shirt, and her grip on you somehow tightens.

"Lovebug, I'm not going anywhere, I'm here for you, and apparently the entire team. I heard it's become quite a mess with me gone." You coo, running your hands through her hair, then lightly chuckle when you feel her nod in agreement against your chest.

You aided her shaky body into a seated position, then brought the plate over to her. Leaning against the headboard, you pressed play on the boxset of Bewitched you'd purchased her last Christmas, then spread your legs so that she could sit between them, and lean into you while eating her pancakes.

That night you'd gotten her to take a shower, then she even cuddled up to you on the couch during movie night with the entire team. When you'd gone to place her sleeping form down in her bed she clung to you, so you reluctantly stayed, attempting to apologize to Vision for the intrusion but he waved you off with an appreciative smile.

"Y/N, there's no need to apologize. I knew how much she loved you when we got together, it was a rather long talk actually. I'm not jealous, really, she deserves all the love she can find. I'm just grateful that you'd been able to get through to her... " He genuinely whispers, then places a kiss to her forehead before phasing out of the room.

See, helping Wanda out of her bed was easy, loving her in whatever capacity you were allowed to was honestly like second nature. Losing her once more within the span of forty eight hours though, was unexpected, and more so devastating for your already fragile heart.

•~~~~~~~~~~~~•~~~~~~~~~~~~•

"I missed you too Wands.." You relay, with a peck to the crown of her head as you move the both of you back to your feet.

Wanda reluctantly lets you go before moving back to Vision's side, leaving you to lock eyes with the original redhead.

Natasha... The other half of your heart, who's had and cherished the most intimate parts of you, while in turn sharing the barest of hers with you.

•~~~~~~~~~~~~•~~~~~~~~~~~~•

"Natasha Romanoff, and you are?" The Avenger asks, as she hasn't been able to pull her eyes off of you since the moment you'd entered the Stark party with Thor.

"Y/N, Goddess of Healing, daughter of Freyr, and cousin to Thor." You greet, taking Natasha's extended hand and lifting it to your lips to place a tender kiss to her knuckles.

She giggles at your elongated introduction, and internally celebrates that you're in fact Thor's cousin, and not his date.

"Well, Y/N, would you like to heal my broken heart?" She jests with a playful laugh to follow, your features immediately soften, and your hands hover over her chest.

"Your heart is definitely in pain, my powers can't heal that though, but maybe a hug can." You offer, immediately pulling her into your warm embrace, and the former assassin shockingly melts into it.

She's never been one for physical affection with strangers, but something about your innocence, and pure intentions thwarts her bodies natural hesitancy.

"Would you like to dance with me?"

Your question follows after you release her, and she happily accepts your extended hand. Natasha spins you around, beaming at the sight of your carefree smile, and she wonders what could come of this if she wasn't so afraid. Sure, you're a stranger, but as every minute passed she found she wanted that to be a statement of the past.

A slow song began to play over the speakers, and Natasha then pulled you closer to her. Hands on your hips guided you until you were flush against her, her lips were ghosting over yours, suddenly her plans for you were clouded by insatiable desire, and her lips promptly pressed against yours.

She giggled at your awestruck face as she pulled back from you, her hand linked to yours before she pulled your innocent form off to her room, excitement flooded her system at the prospects of bringing a pretty thing such as yourself to ruin.

—

Getting to know you was becoming her favorite past time, picking up on the tiniest of your quirks. Like, how you had to fold your napkins in thirds, or the way you'd only eat a sandwich if it was cut into triangles, or finding out that you hated coffee and would only drink it with a "pound" of sugar in it.

Observing you from afar led her to finding out that you were a very expressive person. Much like Thor, you'd talked with your hands, the gentleness in your words, and the way your face moved always kept her attention. Intimate moments with you always had her immensely aroused when you'd released the simplest of sounds, or your face contorted in pleasure.

Cuddling was another thing you loved that she found through a bit more than observation. You did it with just about anyone in the compound, but the way you cuddled her was always special. Never once did she allude to you that she enjoyed it, but if she was ever willing to be honest with herself, she'd admit to you that being within your embrace is something she craves. That whenever she sees you laying with another it makes her insanely jealous, but she can't do that, she has no right.

—

Casual, that's what she'd established your relationship as, even if all she wanted was to make you hers. It hurt at first, but having been alive for as long as you'd been, it wasn't all that hard for you to eventually accept it. Love had always evaded you, so for your heart to suddenly be drawn to two women who'd both thrown you the most mixed up signals was a bit alarming.

Natasha watched as Wanda's legs sprawled across your lap as everyone was settling in for movie night. The Sokovian had only just arrived but was stealing all your attention, and it was doing nothing but pissing her off.

"Careful, if you stare any harder you might burn a hole in little miss Sunshine's head."

Natasha lowly growled at Clint for even muttering a word to her when her anger was obviously justified. That was her spot, every movie night up until now she'd sit beside you, tease you relentlessly from beneath a blanket, then later that night she'd worship your body and 'accidentally' fall asleep beside you. Everyone in the compound knew that in unofficial terms, you were Natasha's, but Wanda seemingly didn't care enough to notice.

—

Natasha walked into the common room with a book and bowl of grapes in her hand having expected it to be empty, but instead she walked in to see you doing a backbend on a yoga mat. She smiled at the sight of your oblivious form, and at the light sound of the playlist she'd made you playing in the background.

"Taking up yoga now are we?"

Startled would be an understatement, as you shriek and collapse to the ground, groaning loudly as your back hit the mat.

"Natty..." You whine, and her giggles just further your pouting expression.

"What have I told you about being aware of your surroundings?" She tuts, then settled her items down before moving to straddle your grounded form.

"And here I thought you were going to help me up." You sarcastically quip with an exaggerated eye roll.

"Where's the fun in that dorogoy?" She asks with a devious smirk, and a playful jab to your ribs.

Your fixed glare in response would honestly be intimidating to most, but to her it's just adorable. She leans down to peck your lips, which you use to your benefit, hooking your legs around her and flipping the both of you over.

"Detka, be careful what you—."

You cut her warning off as you lift her shirt up and blow raspberries against her abdomen, tightening your thighs around her legs, and using your hands to hold her upper body down. Her squeals of enjoyment make your heart flutter, knowing that she's only ever really like this with you.

"You're going to pay for this..." She groans through her laughter, then before she can get the upper hand you distract her with a firm kiss, then jump up to run out of the room.

"I look forward to it." You teasingly shout before slamming your door shut and locking it.

Natasha smiles to herself as she regains her breath, then she takes off towards your room to make good on her promise.

—

Training with Wanda was grating on the Russian's nerves, since she'd almost always walk in with a wide smile on her face after spending her time with you beforehand. This time the girl was late, not just by sixty seconds either, but it'd been ten minutes she'd been left standing there.

Granted, Wanda wasn't actually late, she just wasn't early and to the assassin that was late. So she marched off in search of the two of you, watching in horror from the doorway as she kissed you. Natasha swiftly interrupted the moment, not even sparing you a glance because the last thing she wanted was to take her anger out on you. She'd instead settled on pummeling the witch in her training, no longer restraining herself, and thinking the most violent of thoughts knowing that the witch would be hearing them.

When she returned to the safety of her room though, all she could do was to break down as she thought about the prospects of you eventually moving on. Vowing right then and there that she'd work towards exclusivity with you, but by the time she'd wanted to broach the subject with you, you'd taken off with Thor.

—

Wanda and Natasha walked on eggshells around each other for the months that you were gone. Training had halted all together for the witch, and it showed on the Lagos mission. The moment Steve was in danger, Wanda was quick to save him, but without reigning in her emotions she'd tragically blown a floor of a building to smithereens.

Natasha truly felt bad for her, even attempted to pull her from the confines of her room, but it proved pointless as she didn't budge. Vision has the luxury of phasing through the walls, but even he couldn't pull her out of her funk. Finally, the Russian convinced Steve to call you, as you'd left him with your emergency contact information.

Selfishly she'd wanted you back, wanted to see you once more, and to confess to you her feelings, but it was not necessarily in the cards, because shit hit the fan not even a day after you'd returned.

— 🥵

"Natasha, let me come with!" You pleaded, but she just cupped your cheeks, and placed her forehead to yours while letting the proximity soothe her cracking heart.

"Oh detka, I so wish this was just a cute excursion, but I'm going to be on the run and I just can't do that to you."

"Nat, you wouldn't be doing anything to me.. Let me be there with you, we can be on the run together..."

Natasha wants to say yes, God does she want to, but she would never put you through that. She's lived many a life on the run, and she'd genuinely hate for your start together in life to be like this, it simply couldn't be.

"The world needs a hero Y/N/N, for now that's going to have to be you, and boy are they lucky... I promise I'll be alright, and that we'll be together again one day sweetheart..."

Natasha's time for escaping is limited, knowing all too well that Tony's already given her location up to Ross, but she's never been afraid of risk, and she won't let them stop her from saying a proper goodbye.

All too suddenly your rebuttal is silenced as her lips slam against yours, her hands making quick work of your clothes as she's gently moving your body to the bed. A bittersweet smile takes over her features as she recommits the entirety of your bare body to her memory. Anticipation distracts your mind long enough that you don't hear the snap of a camera, or see the slipping of a polaroid photo into her jeans pocket. Then a second later she's crawling atop you, smiling tenderly as her lips peck yours and begin to trail down your neck.

"Let me show you just how much you mean to me detka..." She mumbles against your collarbones, nipping and sucking harshly at your exposed skin, while her hand slides between your parted legs and her fingers run through your folds.

"Shit... If I wasn't pressed for time I'd simply cherish you for hours my sweetest girl, we'd make up for lost time..." She groans, while moving her mouth back up until her lips are hovering over yours again.

Timing it perfectly, smashing her lips to yours at the exact same moment that her fingers thrust into your pulsing entrance, perfectly catching the languid moan that bellows from your throat.

"Fuck, detka you're so tight." She groans into your mouth, and her pace increases as your walls seem to be doing their best to restrict her movements.

Sloshing sounds, and the smell of sex consume the space around you both, Natasha's sole focus is on just seeing you crumble beneath her one more time. Prayers die on her lips as she listens to your moans, the ones where she's pleading with the world that this won't be it, that this is just another bump in the road of your epic love story.

"You're so fucking hot when you're making all those beautiful noises for me..." She mutters, voice low and dripping with need, as she curls her fingers just right, desperate to see you come undone.

Scraping deliciously against your spongey walls, while her thumb works wonders against your bundle of nerves, successfully pushing you over into the edge of bliss. As your form writhes, and you splutter beneath her, she can't help but to admire your beauty as she hovers above you, and slowly thrusts into you to guide you through your high.

Sweat layers over your skin, glistening just right under her dimly lit room; the rise and fall of your chest moving in sync with your erratic breaths; lips swollen and eyes tightly shut as you work to regain your composure.

Natasha gently removes her fingers from you, groaning as she sees the fruits of her labor coating her fingers, and palm. Eventually, your eyes flutter open to meet hers, and the tenderness that lies beneath her own nearly cracks the suppressed floodgates open.

Natasha retains eye contact with you as she licks her palm clean, then sucks her fingers into her mouth, moaning loudly as your taste finally hits her.

"So sweet... So perfect..." She coos, then traces her pointer finger down your face before lightly gripping your chin, and pushing her lips back on yours for a sweet kiss.

"Until we meet again my beautiful angel..." She whispers into your ear, rising up to place a firm kiss to your temple, and then all too suddenly she's climbing out of the bed.

"Please, don't go alone, I could go with you..." You weakly plead in a final attempt, walls completely lowered, while your vulnerability is rising to the surface as you watch her moving towards the window.

"Ya lyublyu tebya." She sadly whispers while throwing her bag out before her, then she's climbing out of her bedroom window.

(I love you)

Tears stream down your cheeks as your exhausted, and broken form drifts in and out of sleep in her bed. Surrounded by the memories of your tumultuous string of affairs, her whispered confession continues to ring in your mind; the same one you'd waited all these years to hear, just for it to somehow break your heart instead and leave a bitter taste in your mouth.

•~~~~~~~~~~~~•~~~~~~~~~~~~•

"Nata—."

Your greeting is cut off as your face is forcefully pulled into her chest, and though she's silent, you know she's crying by the way your suit has a forming wet spot on your shoulder.

"I missed you so much detka..." She whispers against the shell of your ear, you tighten your hold on her to offer her the necessary support.

"And I you..." You coo, then place a kiss to her cheek, finding yourself rather shocked as she turns her face and passionately moves her lips against yours with no intentions of stopping.

Wanda's stomach twists at the sight, but she quickly shakes away the unjust bouts of jealousy, turning her attention back to the Captain who clears his throat once more. Natasha reluctantly releases her grip on you, and places one final peck to your lips before stepping to the side.

"Nice of you to join us." Steve teases, and you make your way over to his open arms.

"So, where were you? Figure anything out that could help us?"

Your mind works in overdrive to ensure Wanda's unable to hear your thoughts, but it doesn't matter all that much when Natasha's gaze fixes in on your sudden tensed state.

"Well, this is going to sound crazy, but Wanda needs to kill Vision." You start, but the Sokovian jumps to her feet, taking up a defensive stance before you can continue.

"That's not exactly what we were looking for Y/N." Steve sighs indignantly, and you steady yourself for the next part.

"Am I allowed to finish, or are we just assuming the worst now?" You groan, and Vision gently smiles your way.

"I told them Y/N, but they just don't seem to understand the bigger picture." He quietly states, clearly drained from the gnarly wound.

You place your hands over him, closing him up, but without draining too much of your power, leaving him still somewhat weakened.

"Oh no Vis, you won't be remaining dead, I'll just use my powers to heal you."

"Y/N, I'm not entirely sure that you'd have the ability to do so, it seems as if it would be too complex since I'm not entirely human." He states, and Bruce adds on:

"Yeah, he's a culmination of Tony, Jarvis, Ultron, and myself all seemingly powered by the mind stone, not exactly your normal flesh and bones."

"Please, do not question me on my own abilities as I am most aware of what I'm capable of." You bite back, unintentionally giving away your irritation, internally cringing at your inability to reel your emotions in.

"I'm not comfortable with it, seems far too unpredictable." Natasha suddenly says, making her way over to you, and protectively wrapping her arms around you.

"Yeah.. I'm with Natasha." Wanda meekly states, and judging by the red in her eyes she'd clearly tried to peer into your blocked off mind.

A long exhale is released from your mouth as you decide it's best to allow them the opportunity to try it their way. Pushing too hard in this moment will only further their suspicions, and if anyone knew the truth you know that they'd shut you down immediately.

"Fine, but if shit hits the fan, as it tends to to when we get together, then promise me that you'll follow my plan as a secondary option." You playfully plead, and the resounding sounds of 'yes' does wonders for the fear in your heart.

"It's settled then." Cap says before settling besides Sam.

Natasha pulls you down to sit beside her, with her head falling against your shoulder and you lay your head atop hers with closed eyes. Uneasiness seeps in your bones as you can feel eyes on you, and you open yours to see the couple both looking to you. Vision's all too knowing gaze locks with yours, and Wanda's worried one patiently waits for your eyes to meet hers.

"Excuse me." You abruptly say, standing to head off to the restroom, Natasha huffs as her body slightly falls, and the team watches you with worried expressions.

Once you enter the bathroom your overwhelming grief came flooding out of you, and you allowed yourself the moment to break.

"It's what's best..." You croak out, once again convincing yourself that the less they know, the better off they all are.

You stand from the toilet, lightly splashing your face with water, then return with a somber smile, taking your place besides Natasha once more.

"Sorry about that sweetheart..." You apologize, placing a chaste kiss to her lips, and Natasha's stomach twists uncomfortably at the salty remnants on your lips.

"Are you okay?"

"Peachy." You quip with an exaggerated wink, and nudge to her side and she just shakes her head at your actions before settling against you once more.

"I love the blonde..." You whisper, and notice the slight smirk on her face.

"I figured you would." She mutters, and your heart flutters as she lifts your arm over her shoulder and genuinely cuddles up to you.

This time your forward focused eyes lock on Wanda's, and if you're not mistaken, you can an almost see a sense of longing behind them before she shakes herself free of your gaze.

—

As expected, the battlefield is flooded with bloodthirsty aliens, and you're just patiently waiting for your time to come. For a moment it seemed everything was for not until you looked to the sky with an eye roll to follow. Thor, in all his eye patched glory, comes crashing down with a new weapon you can only assume was forged by Eitri.

"Nice entrance cousin." You tease while effortlessly slicing at an incoming alien's jugular, and he smirks your way before trodding forward with a raccoon, and tree trailing behind him.

"Well. At least I can say I've seen it all before I die." You bitterly muse before heading off to the prophesied rendezvous spot, and await Vision to come falling your way.

Without much time spared, Vision comes falling at record speed, fighting off an alien and you graciously step to the side to avoid being crushed. Then with one swift movement you're now swiping alien guts off of your sword.

"Y/N, whatever it is you're planning, there has to be another way..." Vis groans, and you smile sadly at the soon to be man, while helping him to his feet.

"We both know there isn't Vis, I saw what's coming, and if I'm not the one to end this, a lot more catastrophe is to follow..."

"They will be more than distraught, I'm not the best with understanding the complexities of human emotions, but I know you're cherished. I'm for sure more than a fan of your presence."

"I've lived many a millennia my dear friend, and it will always come with losses. Sadly, Wanda's no stranger to it, but yours will quite literally fracture her spirit, so if my sacrifice saves her even a sliver of pain then it's what's best. Also, I love you too buddy..."

Wanda makes her way over with the rest of your team hot on her trails, perplexed expression as she notices your hushed arguing with her partner, tragically a branch beneath her feet halts her from being able to listen in.

"There she is." You beam, then usher her over.

"We're out of time darling." Vision reluctantly goes along with the plan, and you nod from behind her in thanks.

A loud thundering comes from your right, and the speed at which you must move just increased tenfold.

"If this is going to work, everyone needs to be prepared to hold the titan off!" You command into the comms, and without fail the team begins to work tirelessly to do as such.

Natasha goes to run passed you, but suddenly squeals as she is pulled into your body for a brief, yet passionate kiss.

"Not that I'm complaining detka, but we're kinda mid battle." She breathes against your lips, a ghost of a smirk clearly present, and you lightly chuckle.

"Well, the kiss was for good luck." You relay, and she leans forward to kiss you once more.

"I love you Natty.." You whisper against her lips, she gasps lightly before pressing her lips firmly against yours in silent admittance, then she runs away from you with a wide smile.

You turn to see Wanda's powers are surging from her hands, using what appears to be all of her energy to blast a hole into the head of the man she loves. Trembling lip, accompanied by her shaking hands, is all you need to affirm your decision here. Vision's body hits the ground, and your movements are rather swift. Wrapping your arms around her waist, you pull her close, then gently place a kiss to her cheek.

"I love you Wands." You whisper before dropping to your knees, and shielding yourselves while focusing all of your energy on Vision's body, as you breathe your life into him.

Wanda's body is frozen as she let's your ominous confession wash over her. Immense rage consumes her as she understands that you're not coming home with her, and she turns to face the mad titan who'd finally arrived before her.

"You're taking everything from me!" She seethes, then begins throwing her energy balls at the man.

"It's for the best." He condescends while waving his hand around to turn them into nothing more than bubbles.

He clearly underestimated her determination though, as his words further fuel her rage. Then she swiftly throws him back, and the sheer force of her power renders his access to the stones rather useless.

Everything is fading into black rather quickly for you, but you persevere until you finally hear the man below you gasp. His eyes immediately line with tears as he sees your nearly lifeless eyes, then your body collapses and the protective sphere around you falls.

"No!" Vision shouts as he jumps to his knees and makes his way to your side, lightly shaking you but it's to no avail as you slowly blink, and your breaths remain shallow.

Wanda's focus drops from the titan as she turns to see you lying still beneath him, a broken sob falls from her and she collapses to the ground. The faint sounds of feet stomping the ground doesn't even seem to register in her mind as she begins to mourn your life.

"I understand your grief child." Thanos proclaims with a light grip to her head, then he raises his hand in an attempt to reconfigure the stone, but his attempts prove fruitless.

"What did you do?" He seethes, anger falling to you, lifting your nearly dead form from the ground he holds you up by your throat, and you weakly smile his way.

"Simply put, I rewrote history with my own life. In doing so I made the reversal of time, and the obtaining of the mind stone impossible... You'll never win Thanos, and you'll never be a God." You weakly monologue, coughing ensuing as he starts to squeeze what little life remained in you, but your body quickly falls, as Thanos's head rolls.

Wanda catches you with her powers, then scoots over to lay her head on your abdomen, while she just sobs her apologies against you. Natasha's hand clutches at her stomach as the nausea sets in, not understanding how she didn't register your whispered confession as a cheap attempt at a goodbye.

"No.. You can't go, we were just getting started Y/N/N, we have so much life left to live together... I spent so much time being scared, but I'm here now! I'm here... I-I love you too.. Please, I need you. Don't leave me..." She sobs, then places her tear stained lips to your cracked set, and you weakly pout to meet her kiss.

"I'll always be with you Natty... Surely we'll meet again my loves, find me in the afterlife..." You whisper against her face, with your limp hand falling atop Wanda's head as it falls from Nat's cheek.

The entirety of the people on the battlefield take a knee, and your closest teammates faces are shining with fresh hot tears. Vision's first to pull Wanda from you, and directly against his chest, and she desperately clings to him. Steve steps in a few minutes later to pull Natasha away, but her response is pure resistance, as she thrashes in his hold, and her pained screams just don't stop.

"No! I'm not leaving her! Put me down Rogers! She needs me... Please! This can't be it for us!"

Thor approaches you last, cupping your average sized face between his monster sized hands, and he just takes a moment to silently cry before he scoops your limp body up to place down in the jet.

"Always had to be the best of us didn't you little one... Please say hello to Loki for me..." He chokes out, then works to pull himself together as he enters the eerily quiet jet.

—

Tony's booming voice is heard in the common room as he's shouting praises, followed by the wizard, and your precious Spiderling.

"Why so glum, did we not just win?" He beams, looking around the room as he naturally takes a silent roll call.

"Where's the walking hospital?"

The continued silence, and sight of Natasha is more of an answer than any words would've been, and he stumbles backwards as it hits him.

"Y/N's—, she—, you said it was the only way!" He shouts, while jabbing his pointer finger into the sorcerer's chest, while Peter's now sobbing form gets pulled into Natasha's embrace.

"I can assure you all, this isn't how it was meant to go... None of the timelines I saw ever included the one you speak of as Y/N. My handing over of the time stone was pivotal to defeating Thanos in the long run, and let's not forget, saving you from an untimely death."

"You, you just gave him the time stone?!" Wanda growls, hands immediately encased in a layer of red as she stands to face the outsider, and no one's making a move to stop her, not even Vision.

"Sir, it appears that Y/N had sent me an encrypted file, I've worked through the codes to see it's a video, would you like me to play it?" Friday cuts through, timing rather perfectly, as if she'd just been sitting on the file while she waited for a tumultuous moment.

"Play it." Natasha immediately croaks out, shocking the entire room as she'd been eerily silent since Steve had to carry her off the jet.

"As you wish Miss Romanoff."

—

"Ello there my darlings... You're all currently sat in the jet unaware of what's to come, well most of you... I'm certain a couple of you've figured it out. Anywho, this is my final bouts of wisdom, so listen up. All of you've done your job, so if you wish to retire, do it. I'm actually begging you to, your bodies are aging, at this rate you're going you'll all have arthritis soon, and I'm not there to heal you..."

"Now, Tony, please congratulate Pepper for me on the bundle of joy. Oh yeah, spoiler alert, you're going to be a dad! Kiss that pretty baby on the cheeks for me, and hold them close. Thanks for allowing me a place to stay, and affording me my found family, and for playing the part of annoying brother so well."

"Steve, Buck—Confess your love for one another, and go live a life you were always meant to. I know a thing or two about unrequited love, and it's absolutely insane for you two to continue on the way you are."

"Peter, I love you, go be great kid... Just please learn a lesson from the rest of us, and don't let the superhero gig hold you back from living a fulfilling life. Protect your innocence, and love with everything in you."

"Thor, my beautiful man-child of a cousin. You've more than paid your dues, so please, pass on the title to Valkyrie, and set off on a journey of discovery. You're more than the hero you'd been prophesied to be, find a new purpose, and live for me please. Also, yes, I'll tell Loki you said hi."

"Wanda, we never got our chance to shine together—I hold no regrets, because yours and Vision's love story is truly one for the books. Love is hard to come by, and just being able to feel it has the power to be enough for some of us, I promise loving you was one of the greatest joys of my life. Seeing you smile was always enough, and I'm hopeful that in due time your smile will burn just as brightly as it once did.... Vision, take care of our girl, and thank you for never holding my love for her against me, it was truly an honor to know you."

"Natasha, my first ever Earthly friend, whom I'd initially mistaken for an angel—rightfully so too, because that's what you truly are. Your beauty knows no bounds, and your heart, though you won't agree, is as pure as can be. Most importantly to me though Natasha, is that you're the derzhatel' moyego serdtsa.

—

Ty pokazal mne zhizn', dostoynuyu zhizni, Net. Khotya ty byl napugan, ty vse zhe pozvolil mne lyubit' tebya, i ya khochu poblagodarit' tebya. Lyubit' tebya, dazhe izdaleka, sdelalo menya samym schastlivym, kakim ya kogda-libo byl, i ya prozhil dovol'no dolgoye vremya, milaya devochka. Bud'te schastlivy, potomu chto vy etogo dostoyny.

Vse v poryadke, milaya. Vy svobodny i zasluzhivayete togo, chtoby byt'. YA tebya lyublyu. Be great, and please tell Yelena I'm sorry I never got to meet her..."

(... holder of my heart. —

You showed me a life worth living Nat. Though you were scared, you still allowed me to love you, and I want to thank you. Loving you, even from afar, made me the happiest I've ever been, and I've lived quite a long time sweet girl. Be happy, because you deserve it.

It's okay sweetheart. You're free, and deserve to be. I love you.)

I'm not going to tell you guys what I saw, that would just be unfair to burden any of your souls with the guilt, because in the end this was my choice, and my sacrifice to make. Just know it was so much bigger than Vision, your sorcerer friend knows what I'm talking about. Until we meet again my compadres, take care of yourselves, and please remember, you all deserve to be happy!

Tata for now...

You finish your video off with a tip of your invisible hat, a kiss blown, and a trail of tears wiped away.

—

Not a face in the room was dry as the video had concluded, and slowly the occupants of the room filtered out on their journeys to grieve.

That same night Natasha stumbles into your room with a bottle of vodka in her hand, and she's slightly startled—not shocked—at the sight of Wanda's slumped form sat upon your bed.

"I-I can go if you want." Wanda stutters, but Natasha just waves her off, instead of replying she simply passes over the bottle and Wanda immediately takes a swig.

As she violently coughs, having never been much of a drinker, she can't help but to bittersweetly imagine your laughing form there to mock her. Curiously, she observes the stumbling woman stood before her. Natasha stands on her tippy toes, having to do so since you'd apparently placed your hoodies out of reach. Sloppily she tosses one over to the witch, before slipping herself into your most used one, and she chokes back a sob as your scent surrounds her.

Wanda graciously throws it over her body as she closes her eyes, vividly imagining your warm embrace, and crying once more. Honestly, she's not even sure if it's been long enough since her last set of tears to classify this as a repeat offense instead of just a continuing one.

"I loved her so much..." Natasha whispers over their collective sobs into the otherwise silent room.

Wanda's hand immediately moves across the bed to link with hers, and squeezes it tightly. They might've always been at odds over you, but in the end they both loved you to no end. Wholeheartedly so, and in a moment like this there's no more rivalry, just a shared grief.

"Me too Nat, she was truly the best of us, just a perfect culmination of all that was right in the world, and she somehow loved me..." Wanda chokes out, as her sobs just seemingly intensify.

"She loved us enough to give her life up... I cornered the wizard before he left, turns out I was going to die, Tony too, and you were going to lose your entire mind..."

"Bold of her to assume I wouldn't lose it over her..."

"I just want to go back, to be selfish and say yes, and let her come with me on the run... I came home excited to finally have my chance with her, and now I've lost it once again."

"Tell me about it... I got to experience an everlasting love, while she just got left behind. I'm grateful she saved Vis, but part of me wishes she'd just been selfish just this once..."

Natasha hums in agreement, no longer able to contain the entirety of her emotions, and Wanda's quick to follow in her lead. So, the redheads cry themselves to sleep while wrapped up in your hoodies, hands securely intertwined, and a shared dream of just being able to see you again.

———

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misrepresentedmorallygrey · 6 months

Text

PROPAGANDA

Rose Propaganda

"We saw her character arc in reverse!! We first saw all the good she did and then learned of her terrible actions in the past. If her story was told the other way around, it would have been a great redemption arc. Yes, she did some terrible things, but she had no choice. She did everything she could to stop the colonization of earth peacefully buy nothing worked. Blue and yellow diamond just didn't listen to her and when they did, THEY were the ones who made the zoo and shit. Rose wanted to free them but couldn't get to them after the war! And with the corruption, there's no way she could have known that'd happen. There's so many things she wanted to do but just couldn't. And with spinel, yes it was shitty to leave her alone for so long, but again, between running her court, running the rebellion, dealing with earth, she likely wasn't a very high priority and like with the zoo, there was no way to get to her after the war since the galaxy warp was destroyed. And don't forget, she was practically a child around this time. You're saying you didn't do any stupid, selfish, or harmful things as a kid? She learned from her experiences and grew, we just saw that growth in reverse, leaving us as viewers with a poor perception of her."

"Rose Quartz is Steven Universe’s dead mom. Initially, she’s set up as sort of an ethereal perfect figure who everyone misses and compares him to. Later we get to see more of her backstory and discover that she’s actually like, a person, with flaws, who has done some bad things, but she did those bad things largely in the course of trying to escape an abusive home life and save the people and planet that she fell in love with. It’s very clear that despite her flaws she was trying to do the right thing and that she deeply cared about others. Unfortunately, a woman who was not a Perfect Martyr was way too much for the Steven Universe fandom to handle. She pretty much set off the wave of SU crit blogs because these people were furious either that she had taken violent measures to solve her problems, that she hadn’t taken violent enough measures to solve her problems, or both somehow. Lots of “Why didn’t she just murder her abusive parental figures?” Lots of “She was evil for having a baby even though she knew she’d die in childbirth!” Lots of “She should’ve been able to protect everyone from a magic nuclear weapon with the power of love somehow.” Lots of “She shouldn’t have rebelled (even though not rebelling would’ve meant the destruction of Earth) because her abusers retaliated and that’s her fault.” LOTS of people drawing her as stick thin even though she was fat in the show. People treated her like she was on the same level or even worse than her abusive parental figures who were also the main villains of the show. It was unbearable to witness."

Kairi Propaganda

"The Kingdom Hearts game series is about Mickey Mouse battling the forces of Darkness with an alliance of fashionable anime boys. Kairi is a major character, and one of the few female characters. She is part of a trio of childhood best friends, with the protagonist Sora and their other friend Riku (who had a villain arc and then a redemption arc). Though Kairi is constantly and clumsily sidelined by the canon narrative, she arguably has more backstory going on than any other major characters. She is a refugee from another planet. She implicitly lost her beloved grandma at five years old in the traumatic destruction of their hometown. She was kidnapped and experimented on by an evil wizard-scientist—she escaped thanks to having a magic charm that basically teleported her to her soulmate(s). Then she had to adjust to living on a new planet and being adopted by a new family. In the very first game, when she's 14, she turns out her pure heart is one of 7 in the entire universe to be free of Darkness—she shows a full emotional spectrum of fear, sadness, frustration, defeat, but she isn't vulnerable to corruption. In KH2, she becomes one of the Chosen Ones who wield a magical weapon called a Keyblade. She loves her friends very much, and she has the unique talent to instantly recognize them even when they've been transformed into monsters. She has saved them several times with nothing but the Power Of Love in her heart randomly manifesting in, like, telepathy and teleportation and resurrection—she doesn't even consciously know that she has powers, her love is just so great that it's accepted as a tangible force of nature. She is frustrated and ashamed by her role as a damsel in distress, and she wishes to be stronger and combat-capable so that she join her male friends on their adventures instead of waiting around where it's safe. Also she was kidnapped by an evil assassin clown who's ten years older than her, and then they became friends. NOT ONLY does the fandom plug its ears and claim there is nothing interesting about this character and no potential in her story—Kairi has been demonized by the fandom for about 20 years. Somehow Kairi is useless and boring while also being a Mary Sue at the same time. She was called a bitch and a slut and a whore. She was hated for wearing too much pink and wielding a girly weapon with a floral design. She was criticized as a slut for wearing a short skirt, and for THE PLAYER being able to manipulate the camera into a contrived angle to look up her skirt to see her panties in the first edition of KH2. You can find nearly 20-year-old fanfiction and fanart of her being twisted into an evil schemer driving her friends apart, and of her being gleefully brutalized and insulted. Haters STILL comb for every crumb to make elaborate anti-canon theories about why she's an agent of evil, even though canon has FIRMLY ESTABLISHED for TWENTY YEARS since the very beginning that she's THE ONE CHARACTER incapable of growing Darkness in her heart. The theory is that she exists only as a puppet sent by the main villain to sabotage her friends (the plot for two out of the four main female characters) for all ten years of their friendship. The theory is that she's been using her powers to force her friends to love her—and their Power Of Friendship that is the EMOTIONAL BACKBONE OF THE STORY, and THE MAJOR FORCE OF GOOD IN THEIR UNIVERSE, and THE MOST CONSISTENT MOTIVATION FOR THE HEROES is all Just Misdirection LOL building up to a shitty Plot Twist. The theory is that she's secretly a custom-manufactured Chirithy (a cute talking animal companion that serves and guides humans)—and not a human girl with her own natural feelings and aspirations. AND THEN after stripping her of every important trait and role, these fans claim they're making Kairi more important and interesting than she is in canon. I don't know what causes the fandom to so desperately hate a sweet 14-year-old girl who literally canonically never did anything wrong."

Round 3 Propaganda:

"'m sorry that so many KH fans have missed the theme of "trio" always being the heart of the series for over twenty years since the very beginning. Yes, the girl character is friends with the two boy characters, and they all cherish each other deeply. I know, this is completely outrageous and shocking. People are like: "Sora cares about Kairi, but he never said it was romantic. Kairi is the one forcing her romantic intentions on Sora." Yet Kairi never explicitly said that her feelings for Sora are romantic! So by this logic, Sora and Kairi express the same amount of romantic feelings: none! They could both have friendly feelings for each other, without any romance! But some anti-Kairi people just go out of their way to believe that Sora is a pure angelic being without yucky mushy love-dovey feelings for Kairi, whereas Kairi is the pushy incel harlot forcing her squishy womanly marriage scheme on poor innocent Sora. Even though neither of them shows more or less romantic interest than the other! Don't even get me started on how many Sora/not-Kairi shippers will claim that Sora's canonically reality-warping love for Kairi could be friendly love without romantic love! BUT THEN they'll turn around and claim that Sora doesn't have romantic feelings for Kairi therefore Sora must have stronger and more important love for His One True Romantic Partner. So which is it?? Friendly love is lesser than romantic love? You want to break stereotypes about love, while also following the stereotype that glorifies one true romantic partner above all other love? No force of love exceeds Sora and Kairi's love in the entire series—friends or romance, it's just facts that their connection is equally strong or stronger compared to all bonds between other characters. You can say that Sora and Kairi don't have confirmed romantic feelings—but any claim that someone else is above Kairi in Sora's heart is a lie. (Riku could be on the same tier, but not above.) The girl character is important, and her feelings are powerful and beautiful—DEAL WITH IT, FANDOM!"

#round 3 #females fucked over tournament #steven universe #kingdom hearts #rose quartz #kh kairi #rip kairi you will be missed

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emberflame999 · 6 months

Note

OKAY pop off about your Toppat OCs like the ones you love the most so I can answer YOUR ask (:

I have spent three days writing all this, I hope you’re satisfied

The OCs in order:

Mr. Gold

Silver

Egg

Stitchhat

Rodney

Ales

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Mr. Gold (aka Ethan Gold)

He/Him | 5’10 ft tall | Late 30’s | Gay

He was born into the very rich Gold family in London, and his family consisted of him, his younger brother Elijah Gold, and his mother Cynthia Gold. Neither he nor Elijah inherited their mother’s power of being able to summon golden spikes out of any surface. Their mother held lots of power and wealth, even owning a secret vault full of powerful magical relics. Although to her, her most valuable possessions were her sons and she did all she could for them. Gold lost one of his upper teeth in a mugging incident when he was 16 where he tried to fight back against his attackers, but failed miserably because he is about as strong as a soggy noodle. The lost tooth was eventually replaced by a golden one. When he was 17, his mother was assassinated and another assassin came after him and his brother, but Gold managed to shoot the assassin first. Filled with paranoia, Gold ran away from home, (he took his brother with him), and was on the run for about two months until they were found by the Toppat Clan. He joined the clan as a way to protect himself and Elijah from anyone who wanted them dead.

His early life in the clan was somewhat rough, he took up a job as a low-ranking treasurer and ended up getting a surprise promotion to head treasurer after only a year, because the previous one had died and the current chief Terrence couldn’t care a less about who was treasurer. Stressed out by the sudden increase in responsibility, Mr. Gold started abusing his sleep schedule and even his eating schedule, some days even forgetting to eat entirely, desperate to do everything the best he could. The added stress only worsened his already awful anxiety. He first met Tony and Hector when Gold was getting shoved around and teased by some higher ups and Tony and Hector defended him. After that incident, Gold started heavily crushing on them, and eventually somehow managed to summon the courage to ask them out, and (after several years of dating, of course!) the trio eventually got married!

Mr. Gold was relieved when Terrence was overthrown, because Terrence had always scared Gold and was also a really bad leader anyways. Gold fully supported Reginald and would be somewhat wary of Henry in the endings where Henry becomes leader. Gold still has problems with sleep and eating, like typically staying up late working as well as almost never eating breakfast because he views it as unimportant, and sometimes he skips out on lunch too. (Tony and Hector try their best to try and help Gold but old habits die hard). Mr. Gold does his best to try and be friendly to everyone, which can be hard because he finds many people rather intimidating. He always heavily worries about saying or doing the wrong thing, or just about messing up in general. He is obsessed with gold, and keeps a hoard of golden trinkets he finds or steals.

Mr. Gold has been with the Toppat Clan since he was 17 years old.

—————————

Silver

She/Her | 3’8 ft tall | Early 40’s | Lesbian

Silver is a crewmate who hails from the planet Mira. She is the daughter of the Admiral, and used to be a General and Mechanic before she ended up on Earth. Silver’s father died, and her twin brother, Fredrick, ran away to avoid having to become the next Admiral. Silver oversaw her own ship and crew alongside her best friend Nightlock, who was the manager of communications, and Silver’s wife, Amethyst, who served as the commander of the ship. Silver’s crew were all killed by a murderous Shifter (a type of imposter who can shapeshift into literally anything) who had killed and disguised itself as Nightlock. Amethyst sacrificed herself so Silver could make it to an escape pod. Silver’s escape pod landed on Earth, where she was found and eventually taken in by the Toppat Clan.

In the first few weeks after being found by the clan, Silver was heavily burdened by her grief and did little but sleep and eat. She started doing jobs like carrying cargo or delivering things to other Toppats. (Crewmates are actually quite strong despite their smaller size!) She eventually started to heal from her grief, but it never went away completely. Silver began to work harder than any other Toppat and ensured herself a place among the clan’s higher-ups. About 6 years after she had joined the clan, Egg was found, and since Silver was pretty much the only other person who could speak Egg’s native language, Silver made Egg her assistant.

Silver typically comes across as stern and no-nonsense, (do no harm but take no shit) but she always tends to look out for her fellow Toppats and make sure that they are doing well, because she was a Captain once, and it is a Captain’s job to make sure the crew is in top noch condition. She will listen to anyone who needs it, and she will defend the other Toppats with her life. Though Silver does feel some envy when she sees a happy couple, as it reminds her of her deceased wife. Silver still wears her wedding ring, which is a ring made of a back mineral that is not native to Earth. Some nights, Silver goes over to the observatory or a balcony and just stares out at the stars, finding constellations as she thinks about everyone she has lost.

The ghosts of Nightlock and Amethyst still follow Silver around. And although Silver can’t see them, she is aware that they are there because of Nightlock using his guardian angel abilities to protect Silver.

As of current, Silver has been with the Toppat Clan for about 11 years.

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Egg

She/They | 6’1 ft tall | Early 30’s | Aroace

Egg is a type of imposter known as a Seeker, and she hails from an unnamed remote planet. Seekers are built for hunting down their prey, so Egg has abilities like having an incredible sense of smell, being very fast, having the ability to sense heartbeats, deadly claws, and several more. ‘Egg’ isn’t her original name, it’s more of just a nickname that eventually just became her name over time. Egg has has a slight difficulty understanding English and has an even harder time speaking it, because her vocal cords weren’t really built for speaking in a non-native language, but she tries her best! Her native language is Galactic, which is also a language that all of the Mirans (crewmates) also know and can speak, although Mirans also all use plain English as well. Because of this, Silver typically serves as Egg’s translator. Egg is actually very friendly and curious, and doesn’t always understand how things work on Earth, but she’s always willing to learn.

Egg grew up in a small farming community, and spent most of her days tending to her family’s farm. One day while working, she discovered a small device (aka a teleporter) and letting her curiosity take over, she pressed the button and was teleported into a Toppat base. After a couple days, some Toppats found Egg hiding in a closet, gave her a top hat, and then she joined the clan, eventually working as Silver’s assistant. Egg was intrigued by the way Earth people make food and would stare at and watch the Toppat chefs before trying out cooking for herself, which she actually ended up being good at, and so she sometimes helps out in the kitchen. She’s also a great listener, and will listen to you vent about your tragic backstory for hours on end. (And she will do her best to comfort troubled Toppats, even if she’s not always sure how to do so).

Egg has been in the clan for about 5 years.

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Stitchhat (aka Sadie Bonaccorso)

She/Her | 6 ft tall | Early 30’s | Aroace

Stitchhat was born into the clan to a pair of somewhat low-ranking Toppats. When Stitchhat was pretty young, her parents were killed by Terrence “supporters” (a group of Toppats who carried out Terrence’s dirty work, aka killing off rebels) because her parents were trying to rebel against Terrence. One of them felt pity for the young Stitchhat, and adopted her. Stitchhat grew to love her adoptive mother and her four uncles, and being one of the few who understood that they only “supported” Terrence to protect their own lives. She lived like every other Toppat kid until Terrence’s dethronement, in which one of her uncles was executed. Her remaining uncles and her adoptive mother were punished for what they had done for Terrence and demoted to being the lowest-ranking Toppats, earning minimum wage and typically carrying heavy cargo 24/7. (Which just made them 2x more buff honestly).

Despite the hatred to her mom and uncles, Stitchhat still lived a relatively normal life. When she turned 18 and officially became a full Toppat, she wore her birth mother’s hat and began stitching on the name tags of government soldiers of whom were killed by her own hands. (I would like to clarify she did NOT hunt soldiers for sport). Eventually she filled up the hat and no longer took the name tags from dead soldiers. Her hat is her most prized possession. Stitchhat is a pretty carefree person despite having killed so many people, being friendly and having a more enthusiastic demeanor. She pranks people on occasion, as well as giving people a friendly tease every now and then. She rarely refers to Reginald by his actual name, typically just calling him “Twink”. She hides it very well, but she actually holds a teeny bit of resentment towards Reginald for killing one of her uncles. She is always trying to prove herself, even at the cost of her own health, because she feels that she could do more for the clan.

Stitchhat has been with the clan her whole life.

—————————

Rodney Brandt

He/Him | 5’11 ft tall | Early 30’s | Bisexual

Rodney was born into the clan, and has dedicated himself to being one of the clan’s best fighters. He has fire powers, and after using them he will clean off the ash and stuff the fire leaves behind on his hands and arms. (If he doesn’t clean it off, it’ll build up and become permanent. He once had a colleague who had permanently black hands and arms because of it). His flames grow stronger and bigger depending on his emotions, but never can spread farther than his shoulders. (He is fireproof, his clothes are fireproof as well).

Rodney’s personality is honestly not too different from Stitchhat’s, but a main difference is that he’s somewhat quieter than Stitchhat, and less likely to use his words to express his emotions. He’s somewhat of a thrill-seeker, he loves to go on heists or fight enemies, he loves that rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins. His best friend is Stitchhat, and together, Rodney and Stitchhat are an extremely deadly duo.

Rodney has been with the clan his whole life.

—————————

Ales Dahlman

He/Him | 5’7 ft tall | Early 30’s | Pansexual

Ales was not born into the clan, he and his sister Vera grew up on the streets of a rather rough neighborhood. They were often chased away and treated unfairly because of their strange appearances, which said appearances were caused by the fact that one of their direct great-grandparents had been a Shifter. After Ales and Vera had close run-ins with one too many gangs, they knew they had to find a better place to live. They eventually found the Toppat Clan and finally found acceptance.

Ales has a somewhat friendly personality, though still gets into shenanigans. And when angered, he can go absolutely apeshit. His fighting style is rather scrappy, and he’s not afraid to fight dirty in order to win. He typically hangs out with Stitchhat and Rodney, and they’re basically like a Toppat Triple Threat. (Silver would be like their Galeforce, and she’s like an aunt to them.)

Ales has been with the clan since he was 13 years old.

#thsc #henry stickmin collection #henry stickmin #toppat #toppat oc #the henry stickmin collection #thsc oc #among us #Ember answers an ask yippee #Lonk post #Infodump #I spent some of my sanity to write all this #But you asked for it #Silver is an a constant battle with another OC that I haven’t talked about yet for 2nd place of being my favorite OC #I haven’t spoken about my most favorite one either

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whump-me · 1 year

Text

Martyr, Chapter 9: True Believers

Chapter 9 of Martyr, a novel-length sci-fi whump story about a captured Martian rebel with a secret and the renowned interrogator who has waited a decade for the chance to break him. This series is best read in order. Masterpost here.

Contains: defiant whumpee, cold whumper, restraints, interrogation, verbal sparring, war crimes mentions

---

Wraith

Isadora paused to draw in a long breath, then another. She sounded like she was breathing through a straw all of a sudden. Huh. Now that was interesting. She looked like she was actually having trouble getting herself to talk.

She was probably faking, of course. Isadora Pope didn’t have feelings, let alone show them to a prisoner. No, she just wanted him to think they were here to bare their souls to one another—as if they were two old friends sitting on a park bench late at night, staring up at the dome, sharing a bottle of something bitter and strong between them. As if anything could make him forget where he was.

On the other hand, she did have feelings—he had firsthand evidence of that. Firsthand, literally—his right one, the one she had kicked when she had lost control.

He leaned in attentively as she took another delaying breath. Whether she was faking or not, this was going to be interesting.

“I was a young soldier back then,” she said. “Earth was my first assignment. I drew the short straw—I didn’t want to be here. No one did. I wanted to make a difference by fighting the rebels in Russia who were burning their own cities to spite the Unified Earth forces—not babysit a bunch of factory workers.”

Babysitting. Was that what they called it? The only thing that stopped Wraith from tightening his hands into fists was that he knew exactly how much pain it would cause him. Instead, he tightened his jaw until he could practically hear the bones straining against each other.

“It was sheer dumb luck that I wasn’t in the right dome when it happened,” she said. “My commanding officer sent me to deliver a message halfway across the planet—or at least it seemed that way to me that day. I resented being used as a messenger. If there’s one job that feels more useless than guarding a factory door, it’s running a message clear across to the next dome like a cheap drone. So I went as slowly as I could. I suppose I thought I was making a point. I missed the train back, and to take the next one. It was halfway to the dome when it exploded.”

She swallowed. Her neck was tight. She didn’t look like Isadora Pope just then. She certainly didn’t look like a statue or a goddess. She looked… human. Like anyone who had seen too much—and that was everyone Wraith knew, these days. It made the lines of her face looked uncomfortably familiar.

It was an act.

“From where I was sitting, I had a great view,” she said, her voice bitter and raw where she had shown nothing but ice and stone before. An act. It had to be. “I saw buildings fly apart. I saw… people. Or at least pieces of them. I even thought I saw my commanding officer, but it was probably my imagination. It wasn’t like there was much to recognize. He was missing half his face.”

Wraith shook his head slowly. “Is this supposed to make me feel sorry for you? Because even if I believed this little sob story of yours, which I don’t, you’d have to do a lot better than that. You want war stories? I’ve got all kinds I could tell you. Like the time you murdered an old man for hanging anti-Earth posters in the tunnels. We took out the soldiers who did it. And by we, I mean I. I took care of both of them personally. Dropped them on your doorstep after.” He gave Isadora a jagged grin. “And in retaliation, Special Security killed everyone the man had been in contact with for the past six months, and all their families with them. You were in charge by then, weren’t you? You were the one who ordered it. So if you want to trade stories, be prepared to come up with a decade’s worth.”

“They sent me back to Earth,” said Isadora. “They said I needed to recuperate. Get therapy. No doubt rot away in some desk job for the rest of my life. I let them send me back, because when you’re a soldier, you do what you’re told. I took the six months. I did all the therapy, aced it with flying colors, until I had my clean bill of health in hand. And then…”

“And then you did what a soldier isn’t supposed to do,” Wraith guessed. “You objected to your orders. You asked to be sent back here, and then you asked again, and again, until they put you on a ship just to be rid of you. Can’t say I blame them.” He shook his head. “This place almost killed you. It’s only dumb luck that kept you alive. And practically the first thing you did was demand to come back. You’re one to talk about people who have more anger than sense.”

But he frowned, because while a mission of revenge made sense, it didn’t fit what he knew about Isadora Pope. Then again, all he knew came from her former prisoners, which meant they hadn’t been in much of a state to give reliable testimony. But in the short time he’d known Isadora personally, she hadn’t struck him as the vengeful type.

For all her talk of his crimes, for all she must have spent the past ten years wishing death on the leader of the rebellion, she hadn’t shown even the slightest temptation to vent a decade’s worth of anger on him. Not like that guard from his first day here. She had been coldly professional, even while breaking his fingers. When he had finally made her angry, it didn’t have anything to do with the long list of crimes in his file. It was because he had made her look bad.

Isadora let out a mirthless chuckle. “People like you see everything through the lens of anger, don’t you? You’re animals, letting the heat in your blood drive you this way and that, until it drives you to your own destruction. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t only a problem with your side. Every year, Earth sends me recruits brimming with the desire to avenge those who died. Some of them are very good at their jobs, even fresh out of training. It doesn’t matter—I always send them back. Anger is a dangerous master. Especially when you convince yourself it’s not the one in charge.”

“You missed one,” said Wraith, thinking of the beating he had taken.

“Pardon?”

“One of your vengeance-fueled recruits. He decided to take out his anger on me when I first got here. It’s a good thing his fear of you was stronger, or we might not be having this conversation right now.”

Her eyes flashed. “Don’t change the subject.”

There it was again—that small spark of heat in her cold eyes. He had done it again, poked her ego right in the soft squishy middle, and he hadn’t even really been trying. He smiled at her, just to let her know she had seen. Aloud, he only said, “If you didn’t come back for revenge, then why? I know it wasn’t for the weather.”

She went silent for a moment, and Wraith got the impression she was weighing her words carefully, trying to decide how open to be. That alone was surprising. Hadn’t she come prepared with all the lies she’d need? Was it possible she was actually telling him the truth?

When she spoke, her voice was strangely soft. “Purpose,” she said. “The thing I thought the military would give me. I wanted to be a part of something greater than myself. I want my life to mean something. But there isn’t much meaning in following orders and delivering messages. My therapist used to say sometimes tragedy opens a door in a person’s mind that lets them see what they were born for. In my case, it was true.”

If she hadn’t been Isadora Pope, if he hadn’t known she must be an accomplished liar, he would have thought she was giving him a genuine confession. Hell, he was halfway to believing it, even knowing what he knew. Something about the look in her eyes, the tone of her voice, spoke of an almost painful sincerity. It made him want to trust her, even though he knew there was nothing more dangerous in this world.

“So what’s your purpose, if not revenge?” he asked. “Seems to me there aren’t many other reasons to care so deeply about wiping us out.”

“From the beginning, Earth was careless about Mars. Everyone resented being here, and so no one approached the task of pacifying your planet with the necessary singleness of purpose. Myself included.” She shook her head. A few strands of hair flew across her face. She pushed them out of the way. “My purpose is to change that. I’m here because someone has to care what happens on this planet—care enough to give up everything to make sure what happened ten years ago can never happen again.”

Maybe it was the way her perfectly straight hair grew ever-so-slightly mussed when she shook her head. Or maybe it was how the severe lights overhead reflected off her eyes, which gleamed with raw conviction suddenly, making her look like she was lit from within. Whatever the trigger, another image popped back into his head, overlaid on top of the image of Isadora sitting in front of him. He saw Gabriel, sitting at his desk, his hair like a halo. And just like that, he knew why his gut wanted to trust her.

That conviction in her voice was Gabriel’s conviction. That glow in her eyes, which grew until it seemed to outshine the harsh light from above, was Gabriel’s inner fire. It triggered a reflexive warm glow in him, even though that was the last thing he wanted to feel in Isadora Pope’s presence. And along with that glow, he felt a familiar yearning, a pull just above his belly button—the longing that came from being just outside the circle of light, wanting in.

Wraith wasn’t a true believer. Not like Gabriel. The only inner fire he carried with him was of the type Isadora so reviled. Anger drove him, hot and bright and righteous. But it was not his master. And Gabriel was the reason for that.

It would have mastered him, back in those early days, if he hadn’t had Gabriel by his side. Oh, how he had hated Gabriel’s voice of reason, his soft words and gentle touches that cooled the fire in Wraith’s veins. But it had kept him alive.

He had come to appreciate the deep conviction that drove Gabriel. But he didn’t share it. He was grateful for that. If he believed the way Gabriel did, he would never have been able to do half the things he had done. Gabriel was all heart, and his heart still remembered how to do something other than burn. It was impossible to do what was necessary when you felt everything.

But he understood true believers, even if he wasn’t one of them. Ten years’ worth of late-night conversations with Gabriel would do that. Which meant Isadora had just handed him a powerful key.

He fought to keep himself from grinning like a madman. He didn’t want her to know what she had done. Not just yet.

He knew who Isadora Pope was now. He knew it the way he knew Gabriel—all the way down to his bones. And because he knew Gabriel’s secret wishes and hidden fears and darkest thoughts, it couldn’t be that hard to figure out all those things about Isadora. It was like that stuff in school he had barely paid attention to—given X, solve for Y. Where X was the man he loved, and Y was his worst enemy.

“So you see,” said Isadora, jolting him from his triumphant thoughts, “I understand you better than you think.”

At first, he didn’t understand how she was echoing his own thoughts back to him. But she wasn’t, of course. She thought she had the key to him. That because of who he was, because of his position in the rebellion, he shared those core convictions, that inner fire. Because how could someone lead a rebellion for ten years otherwise? How could he inspire people to follow him?

With any luck, she would never know the truth of that. What he had truly done for the rebellion. How he had ended up where he was.

But her assumptions could serve him well. She wanted him to play Gabriel, did she? He could play Gabriel. There was no one on this planet or any other that he knew better.

---

Tagged: @straight-to-the-pain @soheavyaburden @gala1981 @whumpacabra @sacredwrath @suspicious-whumping-egg @sonder35 @decahedron-crabclaw @seasaltandcopper

Ask to be added or remove from taglist. Please feel free to ask to be tagged—I don’t find it rude! I like knowing people are reading.

#whump #whump writing #whump story #whump novel #my writing #my writing: Martyr #sci-fi whump #interrogation whump

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amazing-spiderling · 8 months

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It was way too late to be my birthday... but we had a party anyway.

If I was to fail a personality test, it would probably be because my favorite movie is unironically the 1999 cult classic "Mystery Men" based VERY loosely on the comic of the same name. While I was aware of it when it came out, I was unable to see it until I snagged a copy out of a bargain bin in a K-Mart on a family vacation. It is an anomaly of a movie. A superhero movie before even Spider-Man had really made a mark. An all-star cast. An All Star soundtrack. No, really, the song All Star was written for this soundtrack. Captain Amazing was taking out bad guys in Neoprene before Ben Affleck was even approached to pull on the red suit. it made negative 87 billion dollars and was by all accounts a *terrible* film to work on, and the director never made another movie again. It is remarkable.

So when my friend said we should do a little something after Paul Reubens passed, I lost no time in putting together a little "not really my birthday anymore but I'll use it as an excuse" Mystery Men themed soiree. These were the results:

First of all, the menu. I love a theme party and coming up with fun food and drinks to serve. While there are a few specific foods featured in the movie, I decided instead to embrace the aesthetic of the setting while is like if a Cheesecake Factory was a city with a population of 3.5 million. I made pretty much everything from scratch, down to folding my own wontons and a lot of trial and error to make nori chips.

The spread! I have good friends so a lot of them helped me plate things as people started to arrive, helping to make sure the hot things stayed hot and the crispy things stayed crispy for serving.

My buddy is a trained baker, and makes specialty themed cakes as a side hustle. She's also a fan of the movie and was excited to try and tackle it as a theme- especially when she looked online and found zero (0) examples of Mystery Men themed cakes online. (Wonder why, haha.) She did an amazing version of Champion City around the sides with tons of detail, some All Star lyrics on top and even a nod to her favorite characters in the movie, the Disco Boys. The cake was yuzu flavored with fresh mango filling and super tasty! You can find her other cakes on Instagram @olive_bakes if you want to see some ADORABLE decorating jobs.

Keeping with theme, we had "Superhero Tryouts" and everyone had to come in costume as the most super version of themselves, complete with powers and origin story. We had several strong candidates, including:

Candy Cavity Crush: She uses her giant lollipop to knock people's teeth out… so they can eat more candy without fear of cavities

The Ranger: She discovered an alien crash site, since all of the aliens were dead she helped herself to their technology. She doesn't really know how to use it but that won't stop her. And she's pretty sure that when she powers up her bracelets she gets 20% stronger (with a 17% margin of error)

Unsexy M&M: Actually a supervillain with a single target, Tucker Carlson. (The application review committee considered her a hero by our standards.)

Star Soldier: He was abducted by an alien race to fight in their space war but during trading they deemed that he was too dangerous with a space blaster and equipped him only with his "star sword" before returning him to Earth. (He was only gone for about a week.)

Flamin' Hot: She received her powers at the Korean BBQ where she resides, has the power to overcook your meat. (The interview committee has considered pairing her up with a cannibal hero to better weaponize her powers)

The Zookeeper: More of a schtick than a superpower, he captures an imprisons animal themed superheroes on his home planet for the inhabitants to enjoy.

Cyber Wolf: With his sidekick "Rocket Dog", he has the ability to find just about anything on the internet… By accident. He would also like you to know that the correct pronunciation of GIF is "Jyeff"

The Real Commander Shepherd: To escape any conversation tree by using their favorite tagline. Also may or may not have left 20 rapidly breeding hamsters behind in my home

Tiger Claw: Born with his incredible tiger powers, like the ability to crawl on all fours (although it did require several months training). He is also capable of growing out his fingernails several tenths of a centimeter and using them to scratch anything. Remarkably everyone in his family was born with the same abilities.

Blood Skull: Formerly an accountant, he killed and drink the blood of his co-worker Jerry and discovered he could read the thoughts of any person at the time their blood was taken. (Generally those thoughts are, OW, which isn't actually that helpful, But the committee is potentially interested if he still has his license as a CPA)

Also these little guys who were automatically approved for membership on my super team. ^u^

(I forgot to snap a photo of myself, but I was also there, dressed as The Bowler, making me the only real hero qualified to review applications, haha.)

We watched the movie (with a pause midway for interviews, of course) ate a lot of food and had a good time. I'm really happy that I have friends who are not only willing to participate in my shenanigans, but embrace the silliness- I think it leads to a better time for us all. Looking forward to the next time we can all hang out like this. <3

#long post #mystery men #mystery men 1999 #food #theme parties nobody asked for

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systemadministratorclu · 24 days

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Might I share my own theory on the Heart of Atlantis?

The Heart is actually a piece of ancient alien technology, sort of a computer almost. The 'consciousness' it has is some form of AI. And the comet is a cover story for outsiders, to protect the alien colonists who originally brought it to Earth. They were scientists who came before humans appeared, to study the planet full of so many forms of life. The island was chosen because it was secluded and they could easily hide their research base so it wouldn't disturb the world around it. But at some point, some humans found their way there. Aliens couldn't just let them spread news of their existence. So instead, they took in the humans, gave them no reason to leave, became their friends, and helped them form their civilization.At some point, their entire civilization on their homeworld was destroyed by enemy attackers seeking to wipe out this highly advanced race. The colonists found out and knew the enemy would come for them. So they set up the Heart and an elaborate defense system including force field generators and "phase shifters" that would allow their part of the island to sink down through solid rock into a vast cavern created for this purpose. They taught the humans all they could about the Heart and how to use the technology, but time prevented them from passing on everything. Their enemies found them and killed them off, having no interest in the humans, who they saw only as vermin native to the planet (Earth).

The crystal pendants are like keys to the computer system. Each one belongs to a specific person and it recognizes their biosigns. The keys are also have a neural connection, which is how the Heart is able to store memories and knowledge directly from people. The royal family's crystals are essentially the Master Keys, with Admin level access. But any of the keys (and their permissions) can be passed to another by way of "thought" commands, which is what happened when the King gave Milo his crystal. Milo couldn't have used it to heal the King when he first picked it up because he didn't have access to the system (think "he didn't have the password") But before handing it to him, the King issued a transfer command, and as he closed Milo's hand around it, Milo was added to the system and logged in. Additionally, he was granted the Admin access he needed. (The others were given temporary access for the battle, but then had to return their keys. Kida later gave them their permanent access keys, which do not have Admin clearance).

These keys are what actually determines who gets chosen by the Crystal. It uses the energy of the operator to run the defenses (they choose which functions to activate and when. The forcefield dome and phase shifters are but two of the who-knows-how-many defense functions are actually present). Not an issue for its creators, they just might need a nap even after prolonged use. But the thing was never designed for humans to use, and it takes a lot more out of them, to the point prolonged operation is deadly for humans, which is why someone can become "lost" to it. It chooses the operator most likely to survive the longest. The defense system shuts down (after completing a task, such as shifting down to the cavern) if the operator dies. Kida's mom died because she did too much (activate/maintain forcefield, activate phase shift to cavern. Both exhaustive functions, which is why the latter is a last resort) for too long. Kida only used one of those functions, plus a not-nearly-as-exhaustive transport function (her crystal form, used to move the Heart if needed, as this would make it much smaller and easier to manage when moving it. This is likely how the King moved it underground.) while she was bonded with the system, so she survived. She also used a function that sort-of "infects" other crystal computers, or anything similar enough, like the thick glass in her container's portholes, with energy from the main Heart. Ordinarily, this would turn the infected thing into an extension of the Heart. But although the glass was compatible enough to receive the energy, it couldn't receive more than the absolute most basic information, such as the fact that Milo was not an enemy, so it had no effect on him when he grabbed the glass. Rourke, however, was an intruder. A virus, if you will. So when Milo sliced him with the glass, the antivirus attacked the invading "code", better known as Rourke's very DNA. His molecular code. Without being able to receive more specific instructions, it went to its default approach and attempted to then turn the "virus" over to its side, as the next step would be to then attack the enemy with their own virus. With Rourke being a human instead of a piece of technology, this resulted in instant (and excruciatingly painful) mutation into the crystal creature. This included even wiping his brain with intent to "reprogram" him. Basically, the human man known as Lyle Rourke essentially died before he was thrown up into the rotors. The drone that was left had little to no parameters for what to attack, except the last inkling of Rourke before he was completely erased, which of course classified Milo as an enemy, which is why it chased him, before it was shattered by the spinning rotors. (A truly horrible way to die, even for a guy like that.).

They still don't know everything the Heart can do, or how it can do what it does. It almost qualifies as Eldritch/beyond human comprehension. They've probably only barely scratched the surface of its capabilities.

This got way longer than I intended, so if you read it all, thank you, I appreciate it a lot.

#atlantis the lost empire

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megamattzx · 10 months

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A Saiyan's regrets

Goku took a moment to reflect on his choices. He thought about everything he did right but also his mistakes. "Looking back at my life, I've realized I've made many mistakes," Goku said to himself. "Mistakes I can never take back. I've done things I wish I'd have done differently. "He continued to reflect as he continued to vent to himself, unaware that someone might be hearing him. "I wish I had done more. Wish I was there more often for Chi-Chi, for Gohan, Goten, my friends... instead of being dead... for seven damn years…"

The last part got to him as he originally thought he was making the right choice at the time he made it. Buu proved him wrong.

"If I had known, it wouldn't have mattered if I was around... That Earth would still be in danger without me..." He said to himself. Clear regret could be heard in his voice as he said all of that. With all of the pain he unintentionally caused, the grief, and the self-inflicted suffering. He thought deeply about his past. "... I would have come back that day after Cell…" He then thought about his other mistakes.

"I should have come home sooner... I should have been with my family more often. I should have been more careful, more considerate, and more active. More involved. But I wasn't....." Tears of regret started forming in his eyes as he tried to hold them back. "I wish... That I could... Take it all back..... But I can't....."

The more he thought about all of this, the more his guilt was evident. All the time he missed, all the mistakes he made gnawed at him, even when no one hated him or faulted him for most of his decisions. Everyone else could rely on him to make sure they were okay in every way. For him to make sure that they were feeling okay. But he couldn't really open up about how HE was feeling. What he was really going through. Part of them felt that he deserved it for all of his mistakes and every traumatic experience he went through. There were times he actually thought that maybe coming back to life was a mistake but he knew deep down that no matter what he did in that situation it would only cause pain to his friends and family. How happy they were to see him again.

He couldn't help but wonder if whatever be able to truly make up for all the lost time, all of the mistakes. And the truth was he felt that he couldn't make up for any of it. He was unaware that Chi-Chi was watching the entire thing and hearing him ramble about all of this. But he says next really caused her heart to sink. "No matter what I do, I hurt the people I love," he said to himself, and the clear pain in his voice was like a steak through Chi-Chi's heart. "I try to be strong for them, try to brush all of my problems off, carry all the weight on my shoulders, cuz I don't want them to worry about me. But… Part of me feels like I failed all of them…. And that's all I've ever done… That I should have died on Planet Vegeta..."

It was at that moment the Earth Saiyan was on the verge of just breaking down. The insecurities and guilt truly get to him. Gnawing at him. All the regrets that he had. The guilt, the shame, the anger towards himself. The guilt for hurting the ones he loved. All he wanted was for his family to be safe and happy but he felt he caused only pain. He didn't realize that he had done more good for them than he knew. He thought he was a bad father when in reality he wasn't. Sure he wasn't perfect, but if it wasn't for him, Gohan would not have been able to survive a lot of the hell he went through. If it wasn't for him, Earth wouldn't have been saved time and time again. If it wasn't for him, he and his family wouldn't have the life they have now.

He looked at the night sky out his window in his home, sitting on his living room couch as he couldn't help but remember all of his past mistakes. He figured Chi-Chi would be asleep. He figured she wouldn't really care or even know about this. After all, he did always try to be the one that always smiled. The one that tried to be strong. Having this type of guilt visible always hurts him to know that people would find it hard to see him like this. They never wanted people to worry about him. It was at that moment he then slowly did what most people didn't normally see him do. After staring at the stars for a little bit, he then slowly laid down on his couch before he covered his eyes with his arm and started to cry. It was clear depression was making him feel this way.

Chi-Chi teared up as well. Seeing Goku like this made her heart sink as she watched the man she saw overcome the very definition of a living hell itself, and break down into tears. To feel the way he was feeling. She had to reach out. She has to get through to him. To help him. To remind him of the joy he brings to those who love him. His mistakes wouldn't change that. Slowly, she walked up to her husband, and she could tell he was dealing with some long-lasting emotional pain. Kneeling down next to him, Chi-Chi softly whispered into Goku's ear.

"Goku….." she softly said, causing Goku to realize that she was listening in. He quickly got up as he sat up. Thinking she would be angry at him, he tried to apologize. But before he could even say anything, Chi-Chi sat on his lap and just wrapped her arms around him. "Goku," she started in a comforting manner. "You know that I love you, more than anything. You shouldn't be dwelling on your mistakes." Her touch and voice began to slowly become gentler with each word she spoke. "I know how much it gets to you, but you forget all the good you have done. I know you have suffered. I know you've been through a lot, but you have done so much. Achieved so much. You're a wonderful father. Even with your faults. Gohan and Goten love you. They admire you. They look up to you." She then made him make eye contact with her.

Slowly wiping the tears from his eyes, she then gave him that smile that he usually saw. "You also try to keep your promises," Chi-Chi then continued. "Even when you can't, you try to make up for it. You always try to do better and that's one of the many reasons why I'm always going to be here for you. Especially times like this, when you need me the most."

Goku stared into his wife's eyes and it was easy for her to see the tears and pain in his eyes. The regrets, the guilt, the shame. It was clearly gnawing at him to deal with his mistakes in the past and he couldn't help but wonder why she was still with him. She could tell he felt that he didn't deserve her. He then built the courage to actually ask her what he had been wondering for a while now. "Even after everything I've done," he started as tears continued to fall from his eyes. "Every mistake I've made, you are still here. You chose to stay by my side…. What did I do to actually deserve you? What made you love me? How could I have been so lucky to have you in my life, despite everything?"

Chi-Chi only continued to wipe away his tears as she showed her compassion and love for him. "Because you're the strongest man I know," she told him bluntly. "You always find a way to keep fighting for what you believe in. Always striving to do better, and always trying to keep us safe. You never truly gave up on us."

"But…." The Earth Saiyan took a deep breath and sighed as he took time to reflect on life. Something was clearly on his mind. So what she wanted to say and Chi-Chi could tell that something was bothering him. "I have done things, I'm not really proud of in my life," he finally said. "Made a lot of mistakes." As he said, she could tell that there were clearly signs of regret there. "And if I could do things differently…. If I could go back in time with all the knowledge I have of each mistake I've made, maybe I would do things differently. But I can't change the past." This acknowledgment made it very clear that he took a lot of time to reflect on those choices. All those mistakes he made as he took the time to really reflect on himself. "All I can do is accept the fact that I made those choices and try not to make them again."

"Goku…." Chi-Chi said as she just stared into his eyes with a dead serious look. “Please! Stop being so hard on yourself! You didn’t know!” Tears started to fall from her eyes as she said that. “How could you have known…? And you’re ignoring EVERYTHING that you have done right. You saved us more times than we can count… You LITERALLY mixed work into your training. You spend time with both Gohan and Goten, train with both of them.”

#sneak peak #gochi #goku x chichi #goku #son goku #chichi #gochichi #work in progress #wip #fanfic #fanfiction #emotional hurt/comfort #hurt/comfort #regrets #depression #depressed goku

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constellationmelody · 1 year

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What a surprise that today’s the new episode dropped today! I loved it so much that I listen to it twice. The first during work because I couldn’t wait until class time where I need to listen to something while doing my art project in class, the second time... during class while doing my art project.

The ‘mysterious planet’ earth is the Indus valley of the intergalactic world. Cool Clementine to offer that to the crew but the episode perfectly articulate my thoughts on why trying to fix past mistakes, even if you had the power to do so, is bad idea. Even if She could wave her hand and give them what they wish for, The characters went through some character developments that fundamentally changed them, why would you exchange all that to go back to their statue quo? The crew develop a bond that's deeper than friends, they are now a family (aww~). Leif's got it all figured out, I gotta give him props for that. I bet even if his past was rewritten and everything was perfect, he'd still be unhappy. Who would wanna miss out on a kickass journey sailing among the stars as a space pirate, finding tech lightyears ahead of Earth's, and meeting the amazing Bert Bert? And of course, meeting some of the coolest people in a time traveling, dimension hopping Diner. They may be from earth but the likelihood of crossing each other’s paths, becoming friends with something in common is not even slim, it’s none. I wanna hug Gloria. Hopefully I’ll never know the pain to lose parents that way, though when the time comes when I have to say good bye to them, I see how soul crushing grieving look like and that isn’t a gradual linear process. I dread that day. Effie is a really wise lady. Had someone like her been in my life, I’m 100% sure I wouldn’t turn out to be an atheist. Or at least be a deist. Amusing that in her lil sermon, she was hoping they stayed and let out a sigh of relief when they told her that they weren’t going to take the deal. Although Ava is all about the science and logic when it comes to persuading Caspar to stay, he's totally justified in feeling annoyed that she's not taking him as a person into account. Deep down, she cares about him a lot and likes his company even though they bicker a lot, even if she can’t or doesn’t realize it yet. It's a significant change in her attitude compared to the last episode of season 2 when she did not understand what’s Caspar's purpose being in the diner but now running around the landscape looking for him, wants him to stay. It’s not like the whole science discoveries and whatnots is gonna end if he hop off the ship. Loved that Leif, Caspar, Ava and Effie were excited to commit crimes. Lol, Effie’s mischievous behavior. “Wellll, while the cat’s awaaaaay.....” BTS wolves are back! J-Hope-wolf is adorable for trying to communicate to Caspar that he wanted rabbit stew. Good thing that Gloria is there to feed the baby. I love Caspar naming weird things random words. I vote for shopzies 1+ Agreed what Gloria said about respecting ancient lost civilization places and not judging harshly. That’s my thoughts on Mesoamerican's culture. Gruesome yeah, but to them, They thought of their action as noble if you consider the context. Rooting for Gloria to punch Clementine on the Tit! I hope i wrote this articulate enough and make sense. Especially between Caspar and Ava paragraph. Pretty sure I’ll listen to it again a few times until the next episode. YUS! I headcanon Clementine as a redhead.

#Midnight Burger #as usual #I wrote a long thought review on the episode

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spandexinspace · 11 months

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A not-so-brief story inspired by this post. Shout out to @rebootchill for the plot bunny

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Jon isn’t sure what he expects to find upon returning to Earth, barrelling through the rapidly thickening atmosphere as fast as he can push himself to fly, Nat’s message about a potential disturbance rattling around his head a thousand times over. She’d given no further details, but his imagination had been more than sufficient to fill in the gaps, stretching itself as deep and dark as the space around him, fears and ideas flitting by like distant stars. He’d imagined gigantic monsters, gaping holes in reality, evil versions of friends and family. Every possible scenario parading through his mind as he sped through the vast emptiness of space.

Yellow, unending fields spill out beneath him once he breaks through the cloud cover above Smallville, their uniformity broken only by the occasional farm and a large, perfectly circular crater. It sits like a bullet hole upon the land and its ragged novelty almost makes him fail to notice the four small figures at its edge, one clad in unmistakable shades of red and blue and the others in no less eye-catching shades of red, purple and blue. The wind howls past him as he races downwards and his own heart beats like a drum in his ears, preventing him from hearing even the familiar beat of his dad’s heart, much less the conversation he’s engaged in.

Jon’s feet hit the ground hard, the unexpected impact sending him barrelling a few steps further forward then he’d intended.

“Jon,” his dad says, catching him by the shoulders and stopping his tumble in its tracks.

“I got Nat’s message, is everything alright?” Jon looks up at him, his nerves coiled so tightly he feels he might burst open.

“Everything’s fine, we weren’t sure what had happened at first and Nat wanted to be cautious. I’m sorry you had to rush here.”

“No, it’s fine, I’m just- I was just afraid something had happened.” Something always does, he almost adds. “Or I guess it did? Judging by the hole?”

“Yeah, yeah, big hole, some people can’t aim. What else is new under the polymer shield. Nice to meet you too, kid,” one of the strangers says. For the first time since landing Jon’s attention snaps to them. The man who’d spoken grins, scrunching up his freckled face as he combs one large hand through his messy, red hair. The other two, a dark-haired man and a blonde woman, sigh almost in unison. They all look young, but still a number of years older than him, and in so many ways so different that it’s not until he glances down at the man’s blue, lightning bolt adorned costume that he recognises him.

“... Lightning Lad?” Jon asks, hesitantly, his eyes darting between the three of them. The three circles, the lightning bolts, the planet, the purple, blue and red costumes. It can’t be anyone else, can’t just be a coincidence. But it has to be. It’s not them.

“Yeah?” the man who is not really Lightning Lad says. His bright, gleaming eyes meet Jon’s own, and it’s like looking into the eyes of a stranger. Superficially nice and warm, yet totally unknowing. A lump starts to form in Jon’s throat, his breathing quickening as a hand grabs his shoulder again, squeezing it gently.

“It’s alright, Jon. They’re from a different timeline than your Legion. I had hoped I’d be able to talk to you about this beforehand, but there wasn’t enough time.”

“What’s happened to my friends?” Jon says, speaking slowly to force his voice to remain steady. He looks to the woman, her hair too long and face unrecognisable, every feature just a little off, and she smiles the gentle smile of someone else. She reaches out towards him and he pulls away, as if her touch could scald him.

“They will be fine,“ she says, soft and unperturbed. Like a mother talking to a scared child. “We have encountered several other Legions who at different points appear to have been connected to this timeline, and we’ve lost contact with it ourselves before. It’s not a death sentence.”

“Yeah, the Legion’s tough, it takes more than some time-sprockery to mess up our day,” not-Lightning Lad adds.

“But what happened to them? Where are they?” Jon clenches his fist, his short nails digging into his palms, as if to ground him.

“We don’t really know,” the last man adds. The circle emblem on his chest is nearly identical to Cosmic Boy’s, but as far as Jon can tell the similarities are only superficial. There’s no trace of the dramatic urgency in his calm and steady voice, nor of the frantic need to prove himself. “They might have been deliberately severed from the timeline or they might just have become untethered by more, well, natural means. Brainy may know more about it, but he doesn’t usually tell anyone else about these sorts of things.”

“I’m going to go find them. I have to,” Jon says, gritting his teeth. It can’t be that hard, he just has to get to the future. The right future.

“Jon, you can’t,” his dad says.

“I have to! I can’t just let them deal with whatever this is on their own!”

“I’m sorry, Jon, I know how capable you are, but this is too dangerous even for you. Or me. Traversing time is dangerous enough on its own, and it becomes even more dangerous when you try to move between different timelines.” His dad shares a look with one of the strangers. “And there are things out there that won’t hesitate to use time itself to hurt us.” Jon jerks his shoulder out of his dad’s grip. He turns to face him, heat rising up along his neck as he does his best to stretch to his full height.

“They’re my friends!”

“I know, Jon, I know. And I understand how you’re feeling right now, but you can’t do that.”

“You have no idea what I’m feeling. The Legion was the first place that made me feel whole again after I came back. I belonged there!” His dad hesitates for a moment, which is all it takes for not-Lightning Lad to break into the conversation again.

“Kid, that’s what the Legion does. Your dad used to come hang out with us all the time too and we’d teach him all kinds of important stuff, like how to save the world and flirt with girls without looking like a total dork, but then one day he couldn’t. We missed him and he missed us, but we were fine. Your friends will be fine too.” His dad nods in agreement and Jon feels a sting in his chest. His dad had never told him about knowing any other Legion.

“But what if they’re not?”

“Then they’ll have to solve that on their own. Ain’t much of a Legion if they can’t even save themselves and have to rely on you instead.” Not-Lightning Lad shrugs. Jon’s entire face feels scorching hot.

“We have a duty to help people!” he spits out. “My Legion would have told me to help someone else in the same situation, because they actually believe in truth, justice and a better tomorrow. But I guess your Legion cares more about your own safety than actually helping people.” Jon takes off, dashing towards the safety of the Kent farm house some hundred yards away. He lands behind the barn, more stable than the last time, and presses his back towards the wall, feeling its rough, unfinished surface even through his costume. Small splinters catch on the fabric of his suit as he slowly slides down into a sitting position. His heart hammers in his ears like it’s threatening to burst and his eyes burn. The smell of dry hay hangs heavy in the air, a small comfort as tears start to stream down his face.

They can’t be gone. Gone, and replaced with strangers not even wearing their faces, but wearing their names and identities like paper mache masks made for a grade school masquerade, deformed and ill-fitting. He curls in on himself, burrowing a scream in the hollow of his chest, scared what it may do if he lets it out. He imagines Imra’s face, sweet and teasing, the way her smile would make his insides bubble and ache in ways he’d never felt before. Her soft hands and gentle teases. Nothing like the motherly figure in the field with her fake kindness and harsh words. He buries his face in his arms.

Footsteps break through the pounding in his head, unmistakable even on the soft dirt of the yard. They stop next to him.

“Jon,” his dad says, his voice sinking as he lowers himself to the ground.

“I’m not going to let them replace my friends. They have no right to.”

“I don’t expect you to replace them, son. No one does. Come here.” His dad puts one arm around his shoulders and Jon, despite himself, leans into his chest, sniffling as he presses his wet cheek against the smooth fabric of his suit. “I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I didn’t think it’d happen again so soon, or I would have explained it to you sooner.”

“I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

“Neither did I. Not for real, at least. I spent days out in the fields, waiting for them to show up again. I sat out there the entire night before I headed off to Metropolis too, just hoping I’d get to really say goodbye.” He sighs. “They’ll understand, they always did.”

“You don’t know that, they’re not the same,” Jon says, rubbing at his runny nose with the back of his hand.

“That is true, but from what you’ve told me they’re still good friends of yours, and good friends will stick by you even when things get rough.”

“It’s just not fair.” Even to Jon’s own ears he sounds like a petulant ten-year-old again, but as much as he wants to think of a better argument it comes back to that. “They haven’t done anything wrong, they don’t deserve to be replaced.” Of course he knows that bad things happen to good people. But the Legion had felt different, so large and myriad that he’d never even imagined them as anything but a place to return to when he needed to.

“That’s the problem with the future. It’s never quite as set in stone as you want it to be.” His dad sighs deeply, his chest contracting and expanding beneath Jon’s cheek. “You can love and strive for it, but you can’t count on it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you’d visited the future before?”

“It’s… complicated.” Another sigh, more shallow this time. “My Legion has faced many obstacles, and some of them have altered reality in ways that make it hard for me to remember our time together. I didn’t recall them when you first went to the future, and once I did I wanted to wait for the right time to tell you.” His dad brushes a hand across Jon’s cheek. “I really am sorry that it took this long for you to find out. I didn’t mean to keep it from you.”

“It’s fine, you’re Superman, you can’t always do everything.”

“I’m also your dad, and I ought to be able to do that.”

They fall silent, each sinking into the depths of their own thoughts for a brief moment.

“Are they actually your Legion, then? If it keeps changing?” Jon eventually asks, worrying at his bottom lip with his teeth and casting his gaze up into the cloudy sky, as if the ambiguous shapes there might hold the answers to all his questions.

“I don’t know. They’re similar enough and they remember me. Or a version of me, at least. They’re younger than the last time I saw them, but time travel isn’t linear, so that might not matter.”

“Then… will my Legion be changed whe- if I meet them again?” There’s a beat, a moment of silence so brief anyone else might have considered it just a little unusual, but between them it stretches out like an ocean.

“Yes. They always change. We always change. Try as we might, we cannot stop change, we just have to make the best of it, and hope that our friends do the same for us.”

#jon kent #clark kent #superman #dc comics #garth ranzz #imra ardeen #rokk krinn #cosmic boy #saturn girl #lightning lad #my writing #losh

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