#my mom will always say I can do great things but clearly I cannot seeing as I cannot get out of this job I’ve been at for five years

[hannahhasafact]

Me: I like the character Normal because he just tries really hard and I want him to have nice things!

Normal: “I haven’t ever done anything for my dad to be proud of me for!!!! Why would he ever be proud of me???”

Me: haha wuh oh why is this character saying my internal thoughts on this podcast hahaha

#ramblings #dungeons and daddies #I’m butchering what he actually says but I cannot stop thinking about it #my mom will always say I can do great things but clearly I cannot seeing as I cannot get out of this job I’ve been at for five years #oh god I’m going to make myself cry at work if I think about it too much

[brunchable]

2319 - Chapter 5: Game of Dodge and Silent Treatment || Young!Stephen Strange × F!Reader.

Word count: 5.9K

Genre: Innocent Love, Diary Entries, Fluff.

Warning: Kind of sad? maybe?

Special mentions: Donna Strange, Victor Strange, Eugene Strange. A/N: This story is inspired by the Korean Drama called "2521" || omg i've haven't updated in a few days. but here we are. not really my fave chapter but every highs must have lows. no song recommendation today, my two brains cells cannot think of one.

July 4 1999

Dang it. No matter what I do I can't stop thinking about that kiss. Neither of us are speaking with each other, I mean how are we supposed to? He clearly regrets it when I clearly don't and what frustrates me even more is that he gives me mixed signals. Do you like me or not?! Do you do this to every girl you had the pleasure of knowing?! I SHOULDN’T have said "I didn't mind" UGH. HE PROBABLY THINKS I'M DESPERATE.

Mom and Dad had dinner with their friends tonight and I refused to come because I secretly had plans with Donna to watch the fireworks at Mount Achilles lookout where the little festival was happening. Of course, Stephen was there too. . . it was so awkward. . . especially when we ran into Robbie, Sebastian and their group at the night market there. . .

"Are you sure you don’t want to come with us? You used to like coming over Caroline's house." Aurthur asked as he put the brand new wrist watch Vanessa bought him. 

You shook your head while you flick through the T.V. pretending to feel out of it while you pet Figaro who was sleeping on your lap, "I'm not feeling that great, I'll stay home. You guys have fun. . ." You coughed a bit, "Also are you guys going to be home late?" 

"Hmm we'll be home by ten, that's if your father doesn't get carried away with drinking." Vanessa nudges her husband who waves a hand dismissively.

"I'm not drinking tonight."

"Pft. You always say that, Dad. I'll see you guys at midnight." You chuckle and tore your gaze away from the T.V. while Vanessa leans down to give you a kiss on the cheek.

"Lock all the doors and windows!" Arthur advised as he allows your mother to walk out of the house first. 

"Yep. Call me beforehand so I can lock Figaro's cat door before I go to bed." You reply with a nod and your father agrees, "Have fun~" you lean your head back as your parents exit through the door and as soon as you heard their car start, you jumped out of the couch and ran upstairs to get changed into your high rise navy wide leg jeans, matched with pink knitted sleeveless crop-top and white chunky sneakers. 

You did your hair into high pigtails then pulled your curtain bangs out evenly. You then ran into your parent’s master bedroom and borrowed your mom's blusher, lightly dabbing the pink powder on your cheeks then rummaged through her drawer for her lipstick and lip gloss. 

You have to look extra nice tonight. This voice in the back of your head was pushing you to dress and look pretty. Normally you couldn't care less about how you look when you go out but right now, you do care. Maybe Stephen didn't see me as grown up? He's turning twenty-three in November afterall and I just turned nineteen in April. I have to act cool and nonchalant. 

You pressed your lips together to spread the gloss evenly on your lips before perfectly returning your mother's things exactly how they were. You were an expert at that and not once did she suspect a thing about you using her makeup. 

You then ran back to your room and grabbed your mini sling bag, shoving your fully charged phone, disposable camera, money and keys inside it. Now you were ready to go next door and meet up with Donna. 

"Behave Figaro okay?" You patted his head after you checked that all doors and windows were locked. You head out the front door, locking the main door and then the screen door. You made a run for it before Darla sees you walking out of your house. You slowed down as you approached Strange's porch and then rang the doorbell.

"Coming!" Eugene yelled out from inside, after seeing that it was you, he opened the door, "Hey, kid. Come in, Donna's just upstairs." 

"Good evening Chief." You saunter inside as he stepped our of your way and closes the door behind him.

"Have you had dinner? Bev cooked some roast pork." Eugene asks.

"Yes, I did, thank you." You smiled shyly. It wasn't everyday you get to have an encounter with Eugene—and being a witness to him and Stephen’s arguement, you were a bit intimidated by him. 

"Hey (Y/N)!" Victor greeted you from the kitchen.

"Hi Victor! Let me know when you want more cookies~" you waved at him. Eugene chuckles beside you and shakes his head.

"He absolutely love those cookies you make, I've yet to try it."

"I'll make extra next time then, Sir." You chuckle.

"That's kind of you, well I better leave you to it, you guys are going at Mount Achilles lookout am I right?" Eugene asks to double check and you nodded, "Alright, I told Stephen to accompany you two because it's the 4th of July, there might be a lot of drunkards around and I'm off duty." 

You try not to look surprised since you thought it was only going to be Donna and you, "Oh he is? Donna didn't tell me that." You laughed sheepishly.

"Well, I just told Stephen now. They’re both getting ready upstairs. Go on up." Eugene smiles and pats you on the back before heading back into the kitchen.

"Hey Dad, did you know (Y/N) is my ideal type? Everytime I see her she reminds me of that song 'More than a woman'" You hear Victor say proudly as his father walks back into the kitchen.

"Really? You better hurry and grow up then—I heard girls like boys who sleep in their own rooms."

You let out a breathy chuckle and quietly ascended the stairs. Fingers crossed that wouldn't run into Stephen. Please don’t come out of your room, please don't come out of your room. Just as you were in the hallway making your way towards Donna's room, Stephen came out and you bump into him.

You stepped aside.

He unintentionally steps in that direction as well.

ACT NATURAL. 

You step into the right again in an attempt to avoid him but he also steps in the same direction. Probably trying to avoid you as well, but failing so bad. Both of you immediately stepped to the other side. 

Damn it!

The whole time both of you were playing dodge, you were looking at your feet. You can’t look at him because you are at the risk of looking right into his lips and then blushing and you DON’T want that. Both of you stop for a second and when you hear Stephen take an inhale to speak, you push right past him and run into Donna's room and shut the door behind you, startling your friend who was putting her lipstick on.

"Ah!!" Donna screamed, causing her to draw over her lips, "Oh my gosh (Y/N)! Look what you made me do." She quickly grabbed some tissue and wiped off the residue on her chin. Donna does a double take and sees you breathing heavily against the door, face flushed.

"Are you okay?" 

You nodded eagerly. She doesn't know that you and her brother kissed—and you don’t want to tell her, you're scared of her reaction. Donna shrugs off your weird antics and sweeps her eyes over your outfit.

"Wow, you look gooood." Donna nods in approval of your outfit before continuing to put some makeup on.

"Speak for yourself," you walked over to her at the end of her bed and plopped yourself on her beanbag. 

Donna wore a beige high waisted shorts match with a brown belt, a loose button up shirt which was loosely tucked in. 

"Does Stephen have to go?" You ask.

"Unfortunately, yes. Dad will not take no for an answer." Donna leans on the mirror to polish up her makeup and sighs, "Robbie and his friends are already there so we might run into them." 

"If we run into them, that means they're also running into Stephen." You shrug.

"Ugh that's true. We need to come up with a plan on how to ditch my brother." Donna taps her chin, "Oh! I know! We can get him to buy food for us and then we make a run for it." 

"Not a bad idea." You nodded in agreement. 

Meanwhile, Stephen is at the otherside of the door eavesdropping on your conversation. He scoffs in disbelief after hearing the plans to ditch him.

"What are you doing?" Victor narrows his eyes when he sees his older brother, a grown ass man, listening into two teenage girls' conversation. Stephen placed his pointer over his lips and hushed Victor, "You know it's rude to spy on other people's—mffmfmfmffff." 

Stephen tsked when you and Donna stop talking after hearing a muffled sound outside when Stephen dragged Victor into his room with his hands over his younger brother’s mouth.

"Can you be quiet!?" Stephen whisper-yelled at Victor after closing the door.

"Why are you listening to their conversation? Ever heard of privacy?" Victor retorts. 

"I should be asking you that question! You've been sleeping in my room every night lately and I can't–" Stephen cuts himself short.

"Can't what?" Victor crosses his arms and cranes his head and narrows his eyes even more.

"Can't focus on writing my song." 

"You're writing a song? For who?" 

"No one." 

Victor rolls his eyes then goes around the room while Stephen watches him closely and the little boy picks up a piece of paper in the trash, "I like your curls, and I like your eyes, I look up at you and just see the sky—Through streetlights I danced, with my heaven at night."

"Hey, give me that! Ever heard of privacy?" Stephen snatches the paper and throws it back in the trash. 

Donna barges into the room and finds Stephen and Victor looking suspicious, "Stephen are you ready?" 

"Stephen was—eaffvesdropngdfff fofrrmmf." Stephen firmly placed his hand over Victor's mouth.

Donna furrows her brows, "Was what?"

"Was ready an hour ago! Geeze—Yuck!" Stephen pulls his hand away when Victor licks his palm and the boy runs away, "Cheeky little bugger." Stephen mutters under his breath as Victor disappears.

"Hello?? Let's go?!" Donna urges Stephen.

You quickly glance at Stephen and notice that he was wearing oversized jeans and a plain white top and a V-neck vest over it; he also wore a silver bracelet on his left wrist.

Man's got style. Wow.

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

Stephen drives for a good fifteen minutes before you realise you're not thinking about Stephen anymore. For the last fifteen minutes of the drive, your thoughts have just been imagining your future. You lean back in the seat and stare out the window, a little envious of both of them. Envious of the things they’ve seen. The places they’ve travelled and their parents allow them. While you keep lying to your parents or sneaking out like this. 

You sat behind Donna this time because you were afraid of playing that staring game onto the rearview mirror with Stephen. It was tough enough suppressing your feelings after knowing what Stephen tasted like. 

"So why did you suddenly want to go watch the fireworks when you're the one pushing for us to stay home?" Stephen broke the silence but he was talking to Donna, "You’re meeting up with those boys aren't you?"

Donna shrugs, "What’s the big deal? Why are you being so overprotective?" Donna immediately says with an exaggerated roll of her eyes.

"Nothing, I just remember things that happened in the past—I don’t want you getting involved way too quickly, do you understand? But I’ve already made it clear to them who they're going up against if they mess with you.” Stephen shoots Donna and all-too-familiar glare.

Donna laughs at his absurdity. “I’m nineteen, Stephen. You can stop acting like Dad now.” 

Stephen’s face pinches together, and for a second, he even starts resembling Eugene, “The hell I will,” Stephen growls, “You’re my little sister. I have standards for you, and those boys don't even come close to meeting even one of them.”

You might’ve felt your heart skip a beat after hearing him say that. If Kirra was alive, would Stephen meet his standards? Would he be protective of you just like how Stephen is with Donna? These questions, you’ll never know the answer to.

"Stephen, no guy will ever come close to the standards you’ve set for me.” Donna rolls her eyes again and Stephen nods, getting all righteous. 

"Damn right." Stephen chuckles smugly as he indicates to the right to exit the highway. 

The thought of missing out on something Donna and Stephen have suddenly upsets you. Though it was tough, you swallowed the hard lump in your throat and faked a yawn as you felt your eyes stinging a bit.

Donna sees you yawn on the side view mirror, "Sleepy already, (Y/N)?"

You shake your head, "A bit. . . but I'm fine." Dagnabbit it, my voice sounded so sad. 

Stephen looked at you through the rearview mirror and could see that you were upset about something. His grip tightens around the steering wheel thinking that it's probably because of him. He admits that what he did was a dick move, even though he wouldn't pass his own standard.

It took about half an hour before the three of you found a parking spot and as soon as Stephen killed the ignitions, Donna hops out and stretches, "Finally!!" 

You got out of the car as well, though you were feeling like you're in a low mood, you force a smile while Donna hooks her arms around yours and drags you in the food market at the base of the lookout while Stephen follows closely behind. 

He was waiting for Donna to approach him and ask whether he could go and buy both of you some food. . .and she eventually did.

"Hey Stephen, do you mind buying me and (Y/N), cotton candy? We'll look around this way for drinks." Donna points in the other direction and Stephen smiles, pretending not to know what his sister is up to. 

"Sure." Stephen turns around and walks towards the cotton candy vendor.

". . .Well that was easy." Donna blinks and then shrugs, "Robbie and his friends are all up the hill already, do you want to get anything before we head up?" 

You glance at Stephen, slightly feeling bad for planning to ditch him, "Nah. Let's go." 

Stephen glances back and watches both of you head up the stairs leading to the lookout. He doesn’t even bother buying the cotton candies, he just leaves the line and follows the both of you, making sure to keep his distance. Compared to Donna, your energy was low and his sister was too excited to be there to even pick-up on it. 

Is she upset because of me? I'm so fucking stupid. What was I even thinking? I need to say sorry to her. Stephen sighs and then realises that he was climbing the stairs way too quickly, so he slows down. He could see Donna giving you a teasing nudge, he could guess that she was matching you with that dude Sebastian. You laugh casually, it sounded different from the laugh you had this morning when you lay under the willow tree in their front yard. 

As Stephen reached the top, he hid behind the people surrounding him. The boys have already claimed a spot on the guardrails and Donna ran towards Robbie as soon as they saw each other. The lad picked his sister up and twirled her around as they greeted each other with a kiss. 

What the fuck—oho you are so dead Donna Strange. Stephen rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming. His eyes then were drawn when Sebastian went forward to approach you with a friendly hug. Sebastian looked genuinely interested in you and invited you to take a seat beside him on the picnic table. You laugh at something Sebastian says and it just keeps going from there.

What is that vermin even saying to her? Stephen lets out a low growl and sees a kid holding two cotton candy to his convenience, "Hey kid, how much for your cotton candy?" 

The kid looks at him judgingly, "Go buy some yourself mister."

"What do you think I'm doing? I'll give you ten bucks for both." 

The kid squints his eyes, "Make that twenty."

"Alright, twenty." Stephen agrees with a sarcastic smile and hands the kid twenty dollars in exchange for his cotton candy. Stephen takes both cotton candies in his hand and mutters to himself annoyed that he just lost twenty bucks. 

"Well, well. What do we have here?" Stephen makes his presence known and raises his brows. Donna's eyes widens and pushes herself off of Robbie, "I turned around for one second and both of you were gone. Looks like lost girls, found themselves some lost boys, aye?" 

Stephen’s jaw clenches for a second after giving you a quick glance, "Was this the real agenda?" He nods to Donna, "You couldn't go alone so you bring her with you?" Then he nods towards you. 

Robbie clears his throat, rubbing his hands on his jeans and approaches Stephen, "I don't think I've had the chance to introduce myself before, I'm Robbie, Nice to meet you." He offers Stephen a handshake and the older male glances at it then at Robbie's face. Stephen transfers the other cotton candy to his other hand and takes Robbie's hand. Squeezing it very tight until he sees the lad grimace.

"Stephen Strange. I'm the older brother. . . I can’t really say likewise, not until we get a background check on you. Did I mention that our Dad is the Chief of Police? No? Yeah, our Dad is the chief of police."

"Stephen! Stop it." Donna says and tries to pull her brother's painful grip off of Robbie's hand.

Stephen releases and gets dragged aside by Donna, "You’re embarrassing me right now!" 

"Geeze Donna, you're with him?" Stephen sees that Donna opened her mouth but cuts her off, "Don't you dare deny it because I saw how you sucked that dude's face like a leech."

"Ugh! Alright fine, we've been together for a while now, okay? I just didn't tell you and the family because I know you will react this way—but Stephen, Robbie's a good person. He doesn't smoke, doesn't party much, he is studying to be a Social Worker. Has two younger sisters. Two!" 

Stephen sighs heavily and studies his sister's facial expressions intently, "Alright. Then what about (Y/N) huh? Why is she here if your plan was to spend time with your boyfriend?"

"Why not? She's single—" 

Over Donna's shoulders Stephen saw Sebastian tuck a strand of your hair behind your ears, "Hey, hey. That's a no touching zone, ever heard of social distancing?" 

Sebastian holds his palms up innocently, "I didn't do anything." 

"Stephen, will you stop causing a scene?" Donna shuts her eyes and facepalms herself and follows her brother. 

"Yes you did, I saw you. You think you're slick?" 

"Stephen what has gotten into you? He didn't do anything." You chuckle nervously, puzzled as to why he now decides to pick on you after picking on Donna. 

"Are you really defending the guy you met today?" Stephen furrows his brows.

"Yes! You're acting unreasonable!" 

"Unreasonable? I was told to come here against my will to protect both of you and I'm being unreasonable?" 

Donna leans against Robbie and curiously watches the bickering that's beginning to unfold between the two of you. 

"Are they. . .?" Robbie whispers towards Donna and she shrugs. She is completely clueless about what the underlying cause of all of this was. Whatever it was, it seems to have had the two of you arguing like an old married couple.

"There is no one here to protect me from! For all I know I need protection from you! You're acting all weird and it's making me uncomfortable!" You press your lips together and cross your arms.

Stephen scoffs and acts hurt by what you said, "Wow you're literally rubbing salt to my wound right now? Are you a psychopath? How many times have I helped you? Is that how you treat people who are nice to you?"

"Huh! You're the same! Always making me feel embarrassed in front of you, you talk down on me sometimes or–or give me a cold shoulder, you deliberately made a racket when you know I need to focus. You think you were being nice when you did all those things back then?!" You now got up from your seat and stood in front of him. 

"You don't know anything! I did it to help you. . .for your sake!" Stephen steps forward while pointing at you but you hold your ground.

"Well if you really want what is best for me then I want peace, quiet and a break from you! Stop getting in the way when someone shows me the slightest interest! You've not my brother!! So what if I'm here because I want to start dating?! What if I want a boyfriend?"

You and Stephen start talking over each other while the rest of the group observes and seems perplexed by the entire scenario.

"You don't even need one! I thought you already had one?!"

"Oh yeah? Where?! I can't see him! I must be blind! Or is he imaginary?!"

"Yeah you must be blind because he's right here! In front of you! Right now!" Stephen directed an intense look at you while steadily raising the volume of his speech and pointing the finger at himself. Stephen's eyes widened as he became aware that he had just spoken what he was thinking out loud. Stephen's lips twisted with embarrassment or regret again, you weren’t sure.

Donna gaped at Stephen and then covered her mouth. You quickly look away as soon as you feel the blush creep up your neck. You felt the heat of your blush and knew your face must be close to scarlet. 

Is he crazy?! How can he say that in front of people? He's not even my boyfriend!

"N-no. W-wait, I meant boy space friend—I don’t mean boyfriend, I was meant to say guy friend."

“Y-yeah, I heard you the first time,” You clear your throat, and don't bother looking at the people surrounding you, it's too embarrassing, "Excuse me." You mumbled and walked past Stephen. You don't know where you're going to go, all you know is that you need to go somewhere to cool off for a bit. 

"(Y/N)!" Donna calls out as she tries to follow you.

"I'll be fine, Donna. You can stay." You held your arm out to stop her.

"Sorry, I didn't know—" Sebastian began to speak and Stephen shot him a look. 

"I didn't mean it like that! We're not together." Stephen was quick to admit it with a sigh and threw his head back as he looked at you go towards the public bathroom to hide.

"What are you playing at Stephen?" Donna narrows her eyes suspiciously as Stephen. 

"Nothing! I just said it wrong. . ." Stephen firmly replied.

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ 

You were sitting next to Sebastian in the time that was left before the fireworks display, and throughout that time you were simply chatting to each other and getting to know each other better. To our relief, Stephen ran into his pals, the same ones that you met at the club, with the exception of that jerk Gareth. The uncomfortable tension that has been building up between the two of you has only grown worse tonight, and you have no idea how you are going to honour your promise to him when the two of you are avoiding one other in such a manner.

"Are you serious? You really don't want to be a figure skater anymore?" Sebastian asks, slightly pouting at the thought. 

"Yeah. I have dreams outside of skating to be honest." You nodded and he smiled because you sounded certain with your answer.

"You look like you really know what you want to do. I admire that. I struggled a lot before choosing the degree I'm doing now." 

"And do you like your degree now? What is it by the way?" 

Sebastian nods, "I love it, I'm studying to become a vet. You got pets?" 

"Yeah, I have a tuxedo cat. His name is Figaro." You smile to yourself at the thought of your cat.

"Figaro, did you get that from pinocchio? I assume your cat looks like Gepetto's cat then." 

"Yes! Finally someone recognizes where I got the name from." You share a little chuckle with Sebastian. The phone rings in your bag, and when you take it out, you discover that your mother was trying to get in touch with you., "Excuse me Sebastian."

"No, go ahead."

"Hello mom?" You answered in a raspy voice.

"Hey sweetie, sorry did I wake you? just letting you know we'll be home in an hour so you can lock the cat door now."

"O-oh, okay. Drive safely." You hung flipped your phone close and muttered, “I have to go.”

“What? Before the fireworks show?” Sebastian frowned, obviously sad to hear that you had to leave, “I’d love to give you a ride home but the car we took is Robbie’s.” 

“No, it's fine. . . I’ll take the bus,” You flash him a shy smile and turn to call to your friend, “Hey Donna! My Mom just called, I have to go home.” 

“Oh! Then I guess I have to go too, I’ll call Stephen, wait here.” She removed Robbie’s arm off of her shoulder and got up to tell her brother but you pulled her arm to stop her.

“No! It’s fine, I’ll just catch the bus home.” You lightly tighten your grip on her arm and Donna laughs.

“No way, it’s like almost nine o’clock. Stephen! Hey Stephen!” Donna shouts to grab his attention while he hangs out just a few feet away on the other picnic table.

“I’m serious!  You guys stay!” 

“No (Y/N), we came here together, so we’re leaving together.” Donna firmly tells you and rests her hand reassuringly on your shoulder.

“What’s up?” Stephen approaches without making eye contact with you.

“(Y/N) needs to go home, her parents will be home in an hour.” 

“Okay. Why don’t you stay for the show? I’ll come back to pick you up.” Stephen offers a suggestion that Donna might not be able to refuse.

Donna looks at you while she thinks about whether to accept her brother’s offer.

“I’m just going to take the bus. Both of you just stay here.” You repeat yourself for the third time. 

“No you’re not.” Stephen says, shaking his head.

“Who says?” You retort quickly.

“I did, you’re safe with me rather than riding a bus alone.” Stephen hardens his tone of voice before turning his focus back to his sister, “I need to talk to (Y/N) in private, so I’ll just come back to pick you up.” 

No! I don’t think I can be alone with him!

“O-okay then.” Donna slowly nods and gives you an apologetic smile, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah. . . sure. Enjoy the firework show.” You smiled back at Donna and then frowned when Stephen invited you to go.

Legs oddly numb, you forced yourself to walk with Stephen down the long stairs and back towards the car park, wholly aware of Stephen’s gaze tracking your every step. You didn’t need to look to know that he watched. His gaze was always that intense, especially now. Was he waiting for you to address him? 

You wanted to drag out the time where you won’t be alone with him in the privacy of the car but you needed to get home before your parents did. By the time you were halfway through the car park, the fireworks started going off. Such a shame. I wish Mom and Dad could’ve stayed with their friend longer. 

“What are you doing? Sit at the front.” Stephen commanded after catching you trying to enter the back seat. You reluctantly hopped inside and turned your whole body away from him.

Five minutes pass by and Stephen still hasn’t said a word but you could feel him glancing at you from time to time. His gaze flicked over your lower jaw, lingering on the corner of your mouth. Your heart seemed to restart and was now in a race with itself. The air seemed to be sucked from the space, and you felt flushed, as if you’d been sitting out in the sun for too long. 

“So should we address the elephant in the room?” He finally decided to break the silence, “I’m sorry I ki—did what I did. I should’ve known better, if I can take back my actions I would, I don’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. Can’t we put this behind us?” 

I’m not uncomfortable that you kissed me, I’m uncomfortable because you keep reminding me that this is one-sided after I told you already that I didn’t mind.

You said no words to Stephen and just kept looking out the window, 

“Alright, then. Good talk.” Stephen sighs heavily and taps the top of the steering wheel. A few seconds later, he reaches to turn on the radio to ease the awkward silence.

Tell me why

Ain't nothin' but a heartache

Tell me why

Ain't nothin' but a mistake

Tell me why

Stephen pokes his tongue against his inner cheek and quietly scoffs, reaching for the dial and changing the radio station until a song becomes clear from the static.

It's undeniable

That we should be together

It's unbelievable how I used to say that I'd fall never—

“Fuck sake.” Stephen swore under his breath and punched the power button off. You puff your cheeks to prevent yourself from laughing, though you were feeling like you were in a low mood, you find Stephen’s reaction to the situation rather funny. It alleviated the awkwardness you felt towards him a bit.

After pulling up to your driveway, you quietly unbuckled your seat belt and muttered quietly, “Thanks for bringing me home.” You opened the door and got out without giving Stephen another chance to speak. So, he followed you out.

Stephen smoothly blocked your path, and your heart turned over heavily as your hands tightened into fists. You forced your fingers to relax. The playful light in his eyes had faded. 

Whatever patience he had brought was gone. Brushing past him, you knew you would have to go to the ground. You didn’t make it far. Stephen caught you by the arm, “Can we—” 

Instinct sparked, seizing control. You spun and slapped his hand off of you but didn’t work. The shock flickering over his face almost brought a smile to your lips.

Stephen stalked toward you, his chin lowered. “That wasn’t very nice—You and I have so much to talk about.” 

“We have nothing to talk about,” You snapped, irritated at yourself for finally giving in and responding to him.

“Oh my god, she speaks!” He widened his eyes in false shock and then dipped his chin, causing you to tense. Stephen stared down at you for so long it felt like a small eternity had passed and then he let go of you, stepping back. Cold air blew in between you. 

“I heard you, alright?” You snapped again, now irritated at him for his sarcasm, “Let’s put it behind us, it’s a one time thing that will never happen again. I agree.”

“Then can we stop avoiding each other?” He quickly answers straight after, “I’m not used to it.”

“Give me time to process things because I’ve never been kissed or kissed anyone who doesn’t have feelings for me, so this whole thing is a bit weird. We can talk again when I get over it, I promise.”

Stephen lightly wets his lips and nods, “Oh. . .yeah of course. I guess you better hurry back to your house then. . .we can talk later.” Stephen’s tone changed and slowly backed away, confusion held you in its grip for only a few moments, but then you snapped out of it. Easing away from the spot where you stood, you ran, and even though you didn’t look back, you knew he didn’t take his eyes off you.

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ 

“So. . . you wanted to go visit St. Claire Mountain huh? And you want to be a Doctor?” You began a conversation with Sasha. You were now back at your parent’s house eating take-away after visiting Lindsey in the hospital.

“Yeah. . . I mean I haven’t been there and I looked at images in google and it looks pretty.” Sasha shrugs as she takes a spoonful of her food, “Why not? You told me to tell you when I get an idea of what I want right?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Mom, I have a question.”

“Shoot.”

“Is there a chance that you and Dad can fix your relationship? I just. . . I feel like it’s my fault—”

“Oh honey, no. Do not ever think that! Our decision has nothing to do with you, okay?” You reached her hand and squeezed it tenderly, “Your father and I, we can’t work through our differences anymore, we’re not great communicators and with our busy schedules. . .” You sighed.

“So. . .no? He’s asking how you’ve been coping and I always say I don’t know because you always seem unbothered.” 

“Trust me, sweetie. I might not look like it but I’m feeling a lot more than what I show on the surface.” You admit to Sasha.

“Maybe you shouldn’t bottle it up mom, maybe sometimes it’s a good thing to be honest and say what you really feel.” 

You chuckle softly at your daughter’s wise words, “Hanging out with oldies have begun to rub off on you has it? Since when did you get so mature?” You reached for the crown of her head and ruffled her hair.

“I’m just looking out for my mom.” Sasha smiles shyly.

“Well. . . if you really want to know how I feel then I guess I’ll be honest. I feel a lonely emptiness or just pure ache that loves to take its time, folding over every memory, reminding me of how things used to be—it’s dawned on me that all the things that me and your dad did together, we now have to do alone. I sort of knew that this was going to happen—that he would decide to leave BUT I knew it was never because of our arguments or the fading I love yous. . . it was the way he looked at me, like he was tired and we were never meant to be together.” Your forced smile twitched as you tried to hold yourself back from crying. 

“I just wanted you to know that me and him do not love you less despite us deciding to separate, you’re a blessing that’s been given to us.” You sniffled hard and took a glance towards Sasha who was looking away from you, also holding back her tears after seeing the pained expression on your face, “No matter what, you are our only daughter alright? That fact changes nothing.”

Sasha wipes her cheeks and runs to you for comfort as she finally breaks down in your arms. You hug her tight and bury your face on the crook of her neck while you stroke the back of her head to console her, “It’s going to be fine, I’m here.” 

SERIES TAGS: @goldencherriess @lokislov3 @strangesweetheart @mydearalmira @veryladyqueen @seasonofthenerd @artsherlocked @bobateadaydreams @classicrebound @holygalaxyprincess @dumbbitch04 @sobeautifullyobsessed @winsteria @allie131313 @gaitwae @sherlux @the-royal-petals @keistange @omgstarks @evelynrosestuff @withalittlehoney @strangeions @gwephen @cemak @patbrdac @siredlust @downtownshabby @nicoletk @lilithskywalker @youcantseem3 @samisubi @strangelockd @bloodyxsaint @lady-harvey @paola-carter @jotaros-bara-tiddies @delightfulheartdream @strangefilms

#stephen strange x reader #stephen strange #doctor strange #stephen strange x you #doctor strange imagine #doctor strange x you #doctor strange x reader #benedict cumberbatch x reader #dr strange x reader #benedict cumberbatch imagine #stephen strange imagine #stephen strange fanfiction #doctor strange fanfic

[seaweedbraens]

This is in part a response to the 3/10 reviewer.

Adaptations obviously cannot have every single thing perfect to the book, just time wise it's impossible. But I think this series was made with a lot of love by everyone involved and it shows. Every interview I've seen and the show itself make it clear it's also important to them, and they want to make a good version.

A lot of issues that I read I think can be solved with having more of the story. Like, his mom has given him blue candy, explanation might come later, like in the talks the trio has during the quest. Or the council of the cloven elders doesn't even appear in the books until the Battle of the Labryinth. We don't need an explanation yet. Without knowledge of the books I would assume oh the visually important nature ppl are the ppl in charge of the satyrs. Which like.. yeah good enough for now. And it gives Grover more depth from the start. And there are hints of Luke's bitterness, such as "They like the smell of begging" when they go for offerings. We also haven't even left camp yet, there's time to develop that.

Luke's emphasis on glory was more about from other campers, I took it as a hint of Luke's desire to feel powerful. Luke also clearly values glory in the books as well - he failed to attain glory by completing his quest and it eats at him. Two, the addition makes sense if you're familiar with the Iliad, glory is heavily emphasized and a complex theme throughout, but I will not be digging out any college essays lol. I think it's definitely something that is going to be developed as a theme throughout.

Luke is a supportive counselor in the book. He's literally the head counselor in charge of shepherding the kids once they get there and likely spend their first night in the Hermes cabin. Plus in Ch. 7, he talks to Percy about being new and warns Percy not to take the offerings lightly, in Ch. 8 trains him on the sword, saying "No laughing at Percy" during the demo, and is thrilled when Percy disarms him.

A word about Gabe, we see Gabe for 9 pages in the beginning of the book. He harasses Percy, demands food from Sally, and is grumpy about them using the car. I was at first bothered by Gabe looking just kinda like a couch potato, but it was pointed out to me that abusers don't just all wear wife beaters and are streaked with grime. In the show he answers, Sally's phone, a controlling behavior. He harasses Percy when he gets in the door, and is almost pleased that Percy got kicked out for assault, a violent behavior. I'm still interested with how they are going to bring in the "Smelly Gabe" covering Percy's scent (which I always was a bit confused how that worked really well if Percy was at boarding school 90% of the time.) And I'm wondering how they are going to make him be deemed worthy of being murdered with Medusa's head by the audience. He appears on the news telling lies about Percy throughout the book and Percy doesn't realize that Sally has been hit before by Gabe until the end of the book. So, those are more ways to bring that in.

While I watched it, it didn't feel very rushed, but that might be because I had context from the books. Looking back it's a fast, but I'd rather have a longer time questing, and that's a trade-off. It's just unfortunate that even an established property can't get a longer run time.

One of my biggest worries was that the fighting would be cringe but I think they pulled it off Really well. It's visually great, and while I have my personal vision of CHB that didn't stop me from loving the show's version. It's also funny! I laughed out loud multiple times. There's tons of little details you get to hunt for from the book. The actors make you believe they are the characters. I've been living with versions in my head for over 15 years and I fully accept these guys as the trio. An open mind and ability to allow multiple versions to live in your head are definitely key to enjoying it as a long time fan.

I'm doing my best to avoid ppls garbage opinions, especially people new to the fandom, but I've seen enough lousy opinions from people who have been in the fandom forever to think it's a problem only in new ppl. Twitter has just been a lot of great edits and memes which is super fun.

Sorry for the length, that I got the book out, and that this was way too in depth for what you originally asked.

sorry for getting to this a little late! personally, i feel like i can't comment on the show yet, since i haven't watched it, but everyone's entitled to their own opinion as long as we're all being respectful here, as you're being. i hope 3/10 anon sees your version of things, and i'm glad you enjoyed the show!

[northwest-cryptid]

I cannot express this clearly enough so let me say it as best I can...

The reason I don't go off about "AI is bad AI is scary!" is not because I condone the use of AI to steal people's art, writing, voice, or likeness; because I don't condone that at all. The reason you don't hear me go off about "AI is bad AI is scary!" is because AI isn't actually the problem here... The people who use AI for these things are the problem and I refuse to let them get away with their horrible shitty behavior by letting them scapegoat lines of code that we've literally had for decades but haven't been usable for the common individual due to a lack of understanding, an understanding that the common individual STILL lacks.

If you actually care to know my thoughts past that summary I got you fam. All that I ask of you is that you have the reading comprehension level to understand that I do not condone theft in any form, outside of shoplifting necessities from specifically large chains (do not steal from mom and pop shops or small chains like mall stores it impacts the workers on the lowest rungs of the ladder.)

I literally expressed to a good friend of mine not too long ago that I had used an AI to generate a reference image since I'm trying to get better at art. Without so much as any understanding of my process he began to shame me for it, which made it very hard to explain to him that I had actually trained the model in it's entirety myself; on my own art so that it would produce reference images closer to how I actually draw already and thus make it easier for me to understand how the drawing would look in my style. He then went off about how even if that were true, it wouldn't know what common things are, like how it knows what an owl looks like; to which I had to explain to him that stock photos exist and how I have literally done photography as a hobby for years so most of the images were literally my own photography (most of my family are artists whether that be photography, writing, music, or painting and I grew up in this environment) the only images used to train the AI that weren't literally created by my hand were legally owned stock photos that I used to help round it out a little since obviously I don't have great photos of everything ever that I might want to try my hand at drawing. This explanation literally took me hours, and the actual explanation would have taken me about 5 minutes but we couldn't get past "AI bad AI scary!" to get to "actually you can ethically train an AI to use art, photography, and images of your own creation and not have to steal anything from anyone; ever. All of the images, and art that are used by my AI are used with permission of their original creator, because I am that creator." The AI doesn't even run on the internet or connect to the internet, so it's not like it could pull results from some secret third party or website or something. It's just a huge help as someone who suffers from ADHD, I can't very easily keep an image in my mind and remember the finer details as I draw, and I am not a skilled enough artist yet to know how things should look in relation to other things just yet. However despite all of this I still have had a lot of people get upset with me simply for even USING an AI in the first place.

It's honestly as if people forget what "AI" really even is, it's code. That's it; that's the end all be all of it. Every video game under the sun that you love uses code, and I'm willing to bet good money it uses AI, it's own AI; because a lot of shit has for a long, LONG time. We're only seeing a problem with it now because it's finally being made open source, brought to the masses; and in those masses there will always be people who use it for the wrong reasons. I've been told that my thoughts on AI sound like some 2nd amendment right winger talking about guns and gun laws, which is honestly just annoying because I cannot in my right mind think of an ethical use case for a gun. The best case scenario with a gun is that it's a waste of money you never have to use. However when you break down what AI really is, it's just a bunch of code that can use the knowledge given to it (by a human being) to discern patterns and calculate what mathematically should happen next based on the parameters and then do that thing. There are so many use cases for that, everything from simply trying to calculate a minecraft seed to stuff as complex as surgery (although I would probably still feel more comfortable with human surgery lol)

The only difference between AI and say a basic start up sequence for a computer is that a sequence like that is pre-written by the programmer, it's a line of commands the computer will just follow; while AI has a line of commands that tells it to basically write it's own code and execute it based on the commands that give it "knowledge" of how to do everything. There's no "thinking" there's no "consciousness" it's all calculation and mathematics; which some may equate to consciousness and thinking; but like at that point I think you're just getting into the weeds about it.

What I'm trying to say with all of this is simple though, the tl;dr is this:

That age old saying of "a computer should never be put in a position of power because a computer cannot be held accountable for it's actions" is how I feel about AI, people want to point the finger at AI saying that it stole someone's art or voice or something; and no it didn't AI didn't do that A PERSON DID, BLAME THE PERSON; DO NOT LET THE INDIVIDUAL GET AWAY WITH USING A TOOL TO MAKE THEIR THEFT EASIER, THE PERSON IS STILL THE ONE AT FAULT.

Ai has no conscious thought, it cannot do anything it is not explicitly told to. If I go out and use an AI to generate art or to steal someone's style, that's on ME not the AI; the AI is just a tool, I could have just as easily gone about it some other way. I view AI as a sort of accessibility tool, it makes a lot of lives easier it can make everything from hobbies to jobs easier WITH PROPER USE, but the lazy idiotic assholes who don't bother with proper use and wish to abuse it should be the ones being held accountable. If a studio uses an AI to steal someone's voice and likeness then blame the studio for misuse of their tools!

If I run over 20 people with my car, the car is not at fault; I am. Rightfully so! If I generate 20 images that uses art from various photographers or drawings from artists without their permission or knowledge well, I guess the AI did it; can't blame me right? When people aren't held accountable, they'll just go do it again.

#long post sorry #do not come after me about this I swear to god

[keldabe-kiss]

Drabble based on my Ben Manaia AU

more of the AU here

Anakin Skywalker knows he’s smart. His mom tells him all the time, when he works with the droids, or when he's able to pick up the languages of those who come to see Gardulla. His mom told him all the time, but she didn't always say it like it was a good thing. At age four, Anakin already understood why.

A smart slave was almost never a safe slave.

But Anakin was the best kind of smart- he’s quick as anything, and knows how to act and who to trust.

And he knows these two people are trustworthy!

They’re covered head to toe in armor, and even though they don’t get many people who look like that here, Anakin knows that they’re something called ‘mandalorian’. They’re usually dangerous and these guys sure look it, but Anakin knows. He’s smart. 

The two Mandalorians stand in the corner of Gardulla’s great hall, arms crossed, the air around them clearly saying, Don’t talk to me. They’re the same height, the only thing differentiating them is their paint color, one wearing teal and green, the other black and a darker green. 

“Boy!” Gardulla yells out in Huttese. “Food! Now!”

“Yes, Master!” Anakin says, breaking his gaze with the two strangers and bringing Gardulla her Gorg. Gardulla was gambling, and it was never good to keep her waiting when she was gambling.

When Anakin goes back to his spot, the two Mandalorians are gone.

Gardulla lost them. Anakin doesn't know if that's good or not, as his mom isn’t showing him anything, inside her head or out, and he doesn't know who Watto, their new Master, is, besides that he’s a Toydarian.

His mom and him are waiting inside in a small room that Anakin knows are used to hold slaves in between transactions. They sit on the floor, Anakin on his mother's lap as they wait for their fate. When the door opens, its not Watto, a Hutt, or a servant for either.

It's the Mandalorians. Anakin and his mom, who stood up at the sound of footsteps near their door, tense up- Anakin with excitment, Shmi in fear.

The teal Mandalorian says bluntly, “Do you want us to save you? We can free you, right now. Wait for the transaction to be over, kill the Toydarian.”

Anakin whips his head up to his mom. “Mom?” his whispers, grabbing onto her sleeve and stepping closer to her. His mom makes what passes as eye contact with the teal Mandalorian’s helmet. 

“We have detonation transmittor chips somewhere in us. I believe Watto is getting the controller for them right now.”

“My brother can handle that.” Teal says immediately, touching the pauldron on the black Mandalorian. “He has…experience with slave explosives.”

“I have no way of believing you.” Shmi says slowly. “I would like to think you truly will save us, but I cannot risk my son’s life on the word of a stranger.” 

“I trust them, Mom.” Anakin told her urgently. The air around him sang with it. He could trust them, he had to. “You should trust them. You always say people need to help each other.”

“Ani…”

“I was a slave, once.” The black Mandalorian spoke. His voice was soft, an accent similar to his sister’s, but…different? Anakin didn't know much about different accents besides the handful of those from species common to be seen on Tatooine. "My mother found me, and adopted me. She was a stranger, but something told me to trust her. I chose to follow that feeling. It was the best choice I ever made.”

“I choose you.” Anakin said, as solemn as a four year old could be. He stuck his hand out. “I’m Anakin Skywalker.”

The black Mandalorain tilted his head to the side a bit, and Anakin got the feeling that he was smiling. “Ben Manaia.”

Watto dies with a blaster shot through his head. It’s clean and simple, and most importantly, it was done quickly. It is less than an hour after buying Shmi and Anakin, that Watto is dead, and the two former slaves have their chips removed and patched up, sitting in Ben and N'ala's ship, Vorpan Vod.

“There you go,” Ben says to little Anakin, handing him a bit of the snacks that N’ala thinks she hides onboard. 

“Where do we do now?” Anakin asks him, taking careful bites of a prepackaged sand cookie. 

“I suppose that's up to you and your mother.” Ben glances at where Shmi and N’ala are huddled close together, deep in conversation. Ben sees the furrow in N’ala’s brow ridge that means she's tactical planning. He leaves them to it, turning back to Anakin. He spends the next few minutes telling him about some kid safe stories that he can think of- some pirates stories, mostly- until his sister and Anakin’s mother come back.

Shmi speaks first. “Your sister told me why you came to the planet. I would like you to tell me why.”

“I was willed here by the same force that I believe helps Ani. My people call it the Dral Manda. Once we got here, I knew it was because this planet is supposed to be the next stop in my family’s mission. To help free those who need it, and train those who want it.” 

Shmi smiles. 

Shmi will stay on Tatooine, although not in Mos Espa, with N’ala. Together, they plan to help free what slaves they can, and train them to fight for those they can’t. They will not bring a war, but help fuel a revolution.

And here, for the first time, Anakin gets a true choice. 

“What's the Dral Manda?”

“It connects us; body, soul, and spirit. It gives you your power, me my power, and it's in all living things. But only some can control it.”

“And I can?” Anakin asks, sounding so much like his age.

“Yes. It helps you feel the truth of someone's words, and act quickly against things you haven't yet noticed. I think you will be able to do amazing things, Ani. I would like to help you to do that- but you can also do amazing things here. The choice is yours, and yours alone.”

No one on the ship knows it, but in all the alternative universes, across all the stars, there is one thing that is as close as one can get to a constant: Anakin Skywalker becomes the student of one born Obi-wan Kenobi.

Anakin Skywalker doesn't learn to be a Jedi in this world. He learns how to be one with the Dral Manda.

This changes everything; this changes the galaxy.

#Obi-wan Kenobi #Anakin Skywalkerr #star wars #star wars au #mandalorians #mandalorian oc #mandalorian obi wan #ben manaia #my writing #listen. Its important that Ani and Obiwan/Ben are still with each other in this au #he needs his brother. #🪐

[learnerforlife]

The New Me

Hey, is been a very long time since i have posted anything. Its because I was very sad about the breakup and was having a really tough time. My engineering has been full of "Downs" I would say. I didn't do that great and now my engineering is at the end.

As I look back I think that I didn't change at all , still a shitty boy as I was earlier and now I feel more depressed than before. I do miss that girl, but she cheated and now I feel soo sad. My condition was bad and now its worst. I am always soo silent that it haunts me. I think that I might do something wrong. Absolutely zero motivation, zero discipline, no one to hug , no one to kiss. Completely alone.

So one day I asked myself just one thing, Can I change anything ??

And the answer was yes and no !

This sounds strange right , well its not . See as we go around you realise that there are two types of things . One which can be controlled/change and one you cannot.

So because of this , I simply just dump my thoughts in this two categories . If there are things which I can change like studying and improving my skillset , then I work on it and if there are things which I cannot change like bringing my ex back , I just flush it out.

This made me soo relaxed like I can't even explain. I feel soo good because of this thinking that eventually it helped me move on from my breakup. Also it made my cluttered brain think more clearly. I can now work on things which are necessary without actually thinking about the results.

As 2023 is going to start, I just want to say that its not my end yet. My real Story is going to start and this time , it will have a successful end. I have been a asshole for a very long time and now I won't stay that way . I will be the most successful person this earth as ever seen. I will make my Mom , my Dad , my friends proud one day.

This 2023 will be the most beautiful year of my life.

#motivation #motivateyourself

[determinedwriter]

Whumptober 2023 Day 3: “Like crying out in empty rooms; with no one there except the moon.”

Ro

About ready to start sobbing, I draw in a notebook instead. Doing something with my hands always helps my emotions. I think I get that from my dad.

He’s always doing something in his workshop. Always making himself busy. And when he’s not, he’s usually with Pepper. I’m unsure if he even likes hanging out with me anymore. I don’t remember the last time we had movie night.

I draw what I remember of my mother. I haven’t seen her face in five years. Big brown eyes like mine. Brown hair. Beautiful lips. A voice I can’t recall.

Sketching, I begin to draw the wildlife I used to see. The springs that Mom taught me how to swim in. My old stuffed rabbit.

I have none of those things anymore. And as I get older, I resemble my mother more and more. Looking in the mirror is almost painful. It’s like a memory of her face, though I know it’s just mine.

Drawing until my hand hurts, I shut the notebook and stare out of my window at the moon. “Just you and me again, huh?”

Of course the moon doesn’t speak back, but I wish it could. “I can’t sleep. I miss my mom. I miss her so much.”

I long for her voice in my ears and her arms around me. “Mom, I wish you could tell me if you’re out there…somewhere.”

The stars don’t give me any answers, the moon giving it’s usual silence. Every night like this, I beg for some crazy revelation. Some epiphany that will make my loss less painful. Proof of a peaceful afterlife I cannot yet see.

“Mom, please give me something. Anything.” I plead.

The sky is full of stars, but I don’t see anything particularly magnificent. “I’ll take a shooting star or something. Come on.”

Chuckling bitterly, I sigh. “‘Course not.”

I’ll always be alone, won’t I?

Opening the window, I swing my legs out and contemplate sneaking out. Friday speaks before I can even finish the thought.

“I advise you not to do that, Miss Stark.” She says.

“What, because you’ll tell my dad?” I ask, exasperated.

“Yes. It’s not safe to leave.” She explains.

“Whatever.” I groan, getting back inside and closing the window. “You’re no help.”

Damn Friday. She’s the AI that runs the compound and helps as much as she can around here as a disembodied voice.

“Is Dad asleep or working?” I ask.

“He’s on a date with Miss Potts.” She says.

An idea comes to me. “Here or outside somewhere?”

“Out.” Friday answers.

If Dad isn’t here, he can’t bust me for sneaking out. Sure Friday will notify him, but he won’t get back here in time to do anything about it. I need air.

“Be right back…” I tell the AI. What if I just use the front door? Would I even be caught if I used the code to unlock it?

Throwing on a jacket and shoes, I enter the PIN code for the door and get my earpiece before I exit without issues.

My earpiece is my own AI, ARIES. She’s always been a friend I can talk to, even if I’m the one who made her. And I prefer her over Friday. Not that I’d ever tell Friday that.

Like I could ever hurt a computer's feelings…

I walk around the facility, glad to get a little break and some fresh air. Before I can get too far, I see Dad driving up and I duck down behind a bush.

He and Pepper exit the car, clearly smitten with each other. My stomach twists when I hear what they’re talking about.

“We should have a baby.” Dad tells her.

“Tony, you and I both know that’s a bad idea. If you wanted a kid, you wouldn’t still work on your suits so often.” Proper replies.

“I’m doing that to protect us. Come on, Pep. How cool would it be to have a little kid running around? You and I would have a cute baby.” He tries to convince her.

She pauses. “As long as you’re Iron Man, I don’t see that happening.”

“Pep, you’d be a great mom. Imagine the three of us. And-“ He stops.

Dad groans. “Aurora Stark, I see you in the bushes.”

Damn it.

I stand up. “I wasn’t sneaking out, I just didn’t want you to see me.”

He rolls his eyes. “Uh huh.”

“I’m serious, I just-“ I try to explain.

“I don’t wanna hear it.” Dad interrupts. “Room. Now. Can’t have one nice night…”

I gulp, marching to my room. He doesn’t listen to me. I just needed air. Still angry, Dad follows me inside with Pepper.

“You know you can’t just do things like that, Ro.” Pepper tries to reason with me.

“I needed air. I wasn’t going to leave the compound.” I reply.

“You don’t do that in the middle of the night.” Dad says. “Unless you were trying to sneak off to some party.”

“You don’t even listen to me. I just needed…” I try to verbalize my feelings, coming up short. I needed to be closer to the moon and stars. To my mom. Somewhere I could feel free and not trapped in a giant compound full of Avengers.

“I needed my mom.” I finally say. “Hell, I needed you. I’ve needed you for a long time and you’re never around.”

Dad grits his teeth. “You’re old enough to take care of yourself. I have work to do.”

“You’re not too busy to go on date nights with Pepper though.” I point out.

“Don’t bring her into this.” He warns subtly.

“I heard you talking.” I reveal. “You wanna have a baby? Really? She’s right. As long as you’re Iron Man, you won’t have time for another kid. You don’t even have time for one. It’s like I don’t even exist. I’m not even on your radar.”

“You know that’s not true.” Dad protests.

“You told Pepper to imagine the three of you. You, her, and a baby. No me. I can never fit in your world no matter how hard I try to be who you want me to be. I know you were in college at my age, but I’m just not you. And whenever things get a little too quiet at night, I think of my mom. About what was done to her. I watched her die.” I rant.

He pauses. “I know that. And you’re right. You’re not me. I lost my parents young too and I didn’t need to be babied.”

I clench my fists. “I’m not asking to be babied, I’m asking to be seen!”

“We see you, honey.” Pepper reassures me.

“I’m always going to be in your shadow. And if you do have a kid, I’ll be in their shadow too. Don’t let me get in the way of your little family though.” I spit.

“Stop.” Dad replies sternly. “Stop this NOW.”

“Right. You don’t wanna hear it. No matter how much it hurts me to feel invisible. Just get out.” I say in defeat.

He doesn’t say another word, Pepper giving me a sympathetic look before following him. I slam the door, earning an annoyed groan from Dad.

I’m right back where I started tonight. Completely and utterly alone.

And on top of that, unloved.

#whumptober 2023 #whumptober2023 #no.3 #like crying out in empty rooms; with no one there except the moon #ironman #the avengers #avengers #mcu #marvel #mcu fanfiction #fic #angst tw #death mention tw #argument tw #Aurora Stark #Ro Stark #Marvel OC #mcu oc #Tony stark’s daughter #tony stark #moon #stars #pepper potts #Tony can be an ass but he doesn’t mean to #poor ro

[outsideratheart]

You’re My Future (Christen Press x reader)

You’re My Future (Christen Press x reader)

You and Christen had been together for a few years. You had met when Christen got called up to the senior USWNT.

Over the years you had both made a name for yourself in the soccer world, her being the speedy forward and you being the all or nothing midfielder. You both loved what you did for living but living the dream came with a cost. The cost was finally catching up with the both of you, all of the flights, minutes on the pitch and pressure from the press and fans.

Christen was so happy when it was announced that she was the first player to be signed to Angel City FC but that happiness didn’t last long. You were both trying to get over the olympics, sure a bronze medal was great but you both wanted gold and you blamed yourself personally as you were the captain no matter how many times your girlfriend told you otherwise.

When she told you that she was temporarily stepping away from international duty you were so proud of her. You wish you could do the same but it wasn’t that easy. In order for you to focus on your mental health you would have the step away from the thing that the helps clear you head, it was a lose lose situation for you.

“Y/N you get more stick and are under more pressure than me. I saw the way acted at the olympics when you thought I wasn’t looking. You cannot burn the candle at both ends and still expect to shine bright” Christen told you.

“I know but it’s not the same for me, I don’t have a family waiting for me” You instantly regretting it.

You stand there looking at Christen as she processes what you said.

“After all this time, you still don’t see me as family” She begins to say but you cut her off before things get much worse.

“Christen that is not what I meant and you know it”

“If I’m not family then what are we doing” Christen asks you as tears fall down her face.

This is what happens whenever you guys talk about this, it always ends up in a fight.

You watch as your girlfriend storms off into the bedroom you share.

“Chris, don’t shut me out. Let’s talk about this” you say leaning against the door frame. 

She doesn’t answer you so you put you ear to the door and you hear Christen sniffling. Your girlfriend was crying and it was your fault, all because you couldn’t walk away from soccer.

You had chosen football over everything, family and friends included but Christen showed you a life outside of soccer and it scared the crap out of you. She was it for you, she was what you wanted in life and now it was time to show her that.

When christen came out of the bedroom you were gone and by the time you got back she was already asleep.

The next morning started like any other, you went for run whilst Christen did her yoga then you both meditated together. It had been like this since COVID happened.

It was what happend next which shocked Christen. You was watching ESPN when it was released.

“Breaking news! Portland Thorns and USWNT captain Y/N L/N announces that she will be taking a break from club and country. I had the pleasure of speaking to Y/N personally about this last night and she told me that it was time to focus on her mental health which is completely understandable. She captained the team in the highs of winning the world cup and the lows of rio 2016” The new anchor and a close friend of yours says.

Christen hangs on every word the women says before turning to look at you.

She opens her mouth but you cut her off before she even gets the chance to speak.

“ I love you Christen Press” you tell her.

“I love you but I know what soccer means to you”

“You mean more and you are right, I need to take a step back. Soccer occupies after thought I have. How can I play better, how can I be a better leader. I don’t allow myself to be happy” You admit it out loud.

You phone goes off and you see several messages from your teammates.

Christen looks at you in shock as you turn your phone off.

“Y/N you don’t have to”

“I want to”

The both of you didn’t leave the couch until the early evening when Chris told you that she was meeting Tyler for some food.

“You sure you don’t want to come? We are going to that Thai place you like” She laughs as your head perks up at the word ‘Thai’

“I’m going to call some of the girls back” You reply

Christen is almost out the door before you run after her.

She looks at you amused. You look her in the eye before kissing her, surprised when Christen deepens the kiss.

“Bring me back some spring rolls” You ask making your girlfriend laugh.

You run over the window making sure she is gone before putting your master plan together.

A couple of hours later you hear Chris opens the door.

“Honey, I’m home and I have spring rolls” You says but you don’t answer.

Christen looks in the kitchen but its empty, she goes into the living room you’re not there.

It is only when she goes into your bedroom that she finds you.

There you stand in front of your bed which is covered in hiking gear.

You look at her and she is clearly confused by what she is seeing.

You walk over to your girlfriend reaching for her hands.

“After your mom passed you told me you wanted to leave, go somewhere were nobody knew who we were and completely disconnect from the world” 

You take a deep breath remembering it well. The loss of Christen’s mother was something you both felt deeply, seeing your girlfriend in so much pain and not being able to do anything about it destroyed you.

“There is this trail in Spain, it is called the Camino De Santiago” 

Christen smiles knowing what you are about to suggest.

“It takes 4 - 6 weeks. It will just be me and you” 

You look her in the eye.

“What do you say, are you ready for an adventure? Ready to do some soul searching?” You ask playfully.

You watch as christen struggles to speak, she is at a loss for words.

Instead of saying anything she pulls you into her embrace as she buries her face in the crook of your neck.

“Everyday with you is an adventure” She tells you.

“Pure cheese Christen Press”

“Shut up” She says slapping your arm.

“Is that a yes?” She nods her head enthusiastically.

“Good because we leave in a week” You tell her and her smile melts your heart.

That is the thing you loved most about Christen, her smile. Not matter what caused your sadness or pain, that smile would brighten your day.

A week later your adventure began and it was better than you could have ever imagined.

Your relationship with Christen was in a great place before the trip but now you felt closer to her if that was even possible.

Ever minute of every day you were with her and it made to look forward to the future you have with her.

She talked about her mother a lot which you knew was difficult but ever since she passed Christen focused on soccer so she never talked about her, not like this.

You talked to her about your early life, memories with your parents as well as their passing. You never talked to her about it before, she knew that had died but didn’t know when or how. 

This trip allowed you both to be completely open with each other and show the other one your vulnerabilities.

4 1/2 weeks later and you were almost at the end of the trail, ahead of schedule but what was to be expected from two pro athletes.

It was the last night, you and Christen wanted to watch the sunset one last time before heading back to reality.

You both sat on the blanket taking in the sights in front of you.

“Thank you Y/N” Chris begins to say “I really needed this. To be away from our hectic lives, to deal with my grief and to find myself again”

“I love you Christen, more than anything in this world. I would do anything for you because your happiness is everything to me”

You stand up.

“Before you all I knew was soccer but you showed that life has more to offer. When we met I knew your were special and I knew that I wanted to have in my life in any way I could. You are my first thought in a morning and my last one on a night. I first told you I loved you when when we won the world cup for a reason, because even though we were just crowned world champions all I could think about was you, I knew that from there on out it was you or nothing. I cannot imagine my life without you in it”

You get down on one knee and open the ring box causing Christen to gasp.

“Where did you get that?”

“I asked for your mum’s permission before she passed, the next day she gave me this and I promised her that no one will work harder to make you happy or cherish you more than me” You explain.

“Christen Annemarie Press, will you marry me?”

“Yes Y/N L/N I will marry you”

You kiss her with every fibre of your being, the kiss growing more passionate with every passing second.

Christen Press was your future and you could wait to spend the rest of your life with her.

#uswnt x reader #uswnt one shot #uswnt imagine #christen press imagine #christen press x reader #christen press one shot

[prof-peach]

if fans wanted to include peach in stuff they write, would that be okay? and how would they write peach's personality? aside from "FIGHT ME" anyway, i think that much is a given lol. i only really write the anime characters 'cause that's what i know, but it sounds like it'd be kinda fun to try making a version of ash that fits into this blog's universe! nerf'd Obviously, but i think she'd probably appreciate how hands-on he gets when training his pokemon!

Ok, I get a lot of these messages, and I often hear folks wanting to throw peach into their stories and comics and writings, and I will always simply ask that if it’s published online publicly, to be linked to it so I can snoop and enjoy the content too. If someone asks about her in your work, let them know about the blog I guess? But literally I love that people take this stuff, these characters and stories, and make new stuff with it. No ones making money off my work here? So where’s the issue? Go for it buddy, knock yourself out, I’m all for it.

For you, and all the others out there who want to add peach, and other characters to your world building, I will give you a detailed rundown of the main lot, and how they behave, what they do, how they function. You can use that, use bits, or use none of it, I do not mind at all. If you’re creating something, you’re in control, not me.

So, peach doesn’t actually fight people as much as you’d think. She’s very aware most cannot and do not want to do that, and so she likes to keep to herself with regards to that aspect of her life, she doesn’t ask to spar with people, or even bring it up at all, but people ask her all the time, even if they clearly would lose or become hurt should she miscalculate during the fight. She looks at people like they usually create problems, and often has a somewhat reserved nature to other humans. You have to work quite hard to get anything more than formalities out of her. She will dead-pan handle people with blunt and very to-the-point statements, aid whenever possible, but very quickly get back to handling the Pokemon she so carefully tends. Her focus is clear, she’s all about hard work, her very small select family, and the Pokemon.

Her brutal, loud and brash personality only comes out with friends, family, difficult humans, OR any Pokemon. She will joke and laugh and play with Pokemon, but clam up around humans, maintaining tight body language and generally will be a little cold by regular standards. She does however have some weaknesses in this emotionless shield she puts up. When peach was young she was always angry, which swung so fast to sadness, back and forth. Her teenage years it just got worse and worse, it was crippling at points. She is to this day, full of fire and rage, even sadness, but now she has learnt to control it, to use it. When she sees that in others, it’s familiar, and she is pushed to drop the front, and be very real with the person. Underdogs I suppose, people who get bad reps, but deserve the same as everyone else. She can’t ignore it.

Once you start to pry open her personality, you’ll find she’s a lot more laid back and fun than originally appeared, you just have to work hard to find that side of her. She will meme reference, can’t dance to save her life, loves her coffee, and can be caught in quiet contemplation while gardening. This hobby is her calmest, and often is why she can stay so level headed when her quiet rage boils up again. Without time outside she will become grouchy, a little snippy, and lethargic. Will not go in the ocean for any reason other than life or death, is fine with ponds and rivers, or water at wading height. Likes the rain.

With regards to her training others, they usually have to tolerate her somewhat strict nature. She is a little....unforgiving, holds a grudge if you make a lot of mistakes, and has no tolerance for ignorance in the age of information that we all live in. In previous posts I’ve mentioned she’s only recently selected two students, after many years of testing kids who want to learn from her. Hundred tried out, only two have ever been approved. How she teaches is very fast paced, be prepared to get some scrapes and bruises, she will test your physical and emotional tolerances with intense tasks, carefully watching students like a hawk. Bad posture in your stance? She’ll be the first to tell you to sort it out. Not hearing your Pokemon partner? Right, now you spend the day without using words trying to communicate, let’s see how you like not being listened to.

This is a woman who has spent her life saying very little, and watching everything, she watches Pokemon and can see an issue from a mile off, and in battles, her observations are why she can react fast, and chose effective strategy to avoid damage and achieve results. Don’t let her body fool you, her strongest asset is analysing, watching, planning. Those skills have over the years transferred to people too. As a student, mistakes don’t go unnoticed with this professor.

Her methods are harsh but fair, and should you prove yourself, she will protect you with her life.

Because of her disinterest in kids and lots of noise, she does pass the training of students on to the other staff members whenever possible. Grey takes on the lions share of battle lessons, he is far calmer, more open and friendly, with patience for people, and an empathy that peach sometimes struggles to have. When you go through a lot of harsh training, and difficult events, it’s hard to change how you feel or think, with peach, well, she’s been through it. Most do not come out the other end in one piece, but she did, and it made her strong. You may think I mean strong like buff and big, and yeah sure she is, but I mean it mentally more than anything. Peach will not quit. She has learnt to destroy the boundaries that stop people getting hurt, gone is the fear that freezes you in your tracks, that feeling that you’ll pass out if you go one more step. She’s learnt to ignore it.

This means she’s a little forgetful at how it is to be normal, to be vulnerable and soft and squishy like students so usually are.

She has her issues, but for the most part, visitors get a laugh, a smile, a calm assertive confidence, and facts. She will indulge those who have genuine interest, or show a connection with nature, an understanding of the balance that needs to be struck for everyone to live well together.

Despite her many flaws, she’s fiercely protective, and will go above and beyond to defend the island, it’s staff, the Pokemon and the visitors. Injustice is her biggest gripe, along with littering, and she doesn’t stand by quietly if something happens that seems unfair.

You will not see her without Valka, her vulpix, close by. That Pokemon doesn’t like to be touched by strangers, at all, and will run the second someone comes at her with that intent. Peach will scold you for pushing yourself onto her, should you persistently try to get close to pet Val. They are in sync, if peach is sad, Val is sad, if Val is stressed, peach is stressed, and so on. They are inherently connected, it’s just been that long, the psychic bridge between them has been built, and reinforced over the years.

The only other Pokemon who follows her so endlessly is Booker, a teddiursa who’s pretty rough looking. He quietly trots behind, grouchy and stoic, they fight closely together a lot. He lost his mom a long time ago to poachers, and peach took him in, and changed her whole life for him. Not many people know, but Booker was the reason she left the rangers, changed career, and got so strong. Will tolerate people petting him but isn’t keen at all, grumbles a lot and tries to move away.

You may also need to know about the others, for the sake of writing, she here a few more bits that may be important to you, or others wanting to do this.

Grey is very tall, very burly, composed, tells bad dad jokes, is a bit of a goof if allowed to be. If he sees a pun, he’ll say it. Can’t help himself. Very nice guy to work with, good at keeping people calm and grounded. Pokemon are drawn to him like a moth to a flame, he gives off warm energy, and has inhuman amounts of patience. If you wrong his family however, he will snap back.

He grew up in the city, loves to swim and hike and cycle, can snowboard, is really sporty. A total brain box with held items, and boosting stats. He will explore many paths, to make sure visitors and students get the information they need, in a way that can be remembered and retained for later. Is a huge guy, but will get on the floor to play with a tiny Pokemon. Treats big “meaner” looking species like babies, very good with all pokemon.

His free time is spent either tinkering, swimming, or trimming his bonsai trees. This guy stares at screens a lot, so appreciates time away from them. Peach built him his own little greenhouse for his trees and tools, which he keeps clean and loves dearly.

His methods as a teacher are built around fun and games, he makes hard work easier to do by distracting trainers from the difficult bits, and focusing in on something more interesting or compelling.

His most commonly seen Pokemon would be a houndoom, Saxon, old battle veteran, retired now to herding and being a good boy. Very gentle, loves a pet.

Pari, now a fully fledged nurse, often oversees the labs front desk and pokecentre features, such as healing pokemon, and informing trainers who come to visit. Her skills with eggs and hatchlings is high, she’s great with younger Pokemon, and hands out good advice to trainers a lot. She’s not a fighter, never was, but can find any file, any study, any book, and any refrence you may need. A true bookworm, loves her romance novels, chat shows and upbeat celebrity gossip mags. Will cry at a lot of stuff, be it sad or happy.

She’s got a seriously upbeat personality, but if caught off guard or shocked, she gets a little flustered. Too much chaos will overwhelm her, but usually she’s on top of things. The years spent on the island have made her better at maintaining composure in emergencies. With lots of siblings, she’s very competent with others, and has a good ability to disarm cagey people with her jolly nature. Because of this, she can sometimes gain information from trainers that some of the more harsh professors may not have access to. Charming is a word for it.

Her partners are an eevee, and a happiny. They are quite sweet and well adjusted, the eevee gets a bit bouncy if you get it too excited.

#if you dont want to use the refs #im really cool with it #just enjoy yourself buddy #pokemon #prof.peach #peach talks #prof.grey #pari #dotaku island #dotaku staff #PLEASE #just ask me if you dont know something #or feel i missed something in what i wrote

[ilalos]

Mine (Hvitserk x reader)

Summary: Hvitserk buys his own slave saving you from your horrible owner.

Warnings: mentions of slavery, physical ab*se, tiny mention of sex*al ab*se if you squint (nothing actually happens, it´s just Y/n’s fear), let me know if you see anything else that might be triggering.

Word count: 1,8k

You woke up suddenly from the cold surrounding your body and making your skin wet.

"Rise and shine sl*t" sang your master placing the, now empty, bucket on the ship's floor.

You quickly stood up and waited for whatever order he may have for you, and after being given a dress you quickly changed and ran to stand beside your master who was at the front of the ship. As he spoke with his men you allowed your mind to wander to your home life, when you were happy and free.

You were born in a very rich family and had been treated like a princess until your father passed away. When your father died your mother had to get married again quickly because she had no idea how to manage the many lands your family-owned, so she got married to Maqsud and he turned out to be a terrible man; he had his own daughters so for him you were an unwanted presence and due to that he decided to sell you as a slave and told your mom you disappeared. He sold you to Canute, your current master, who beat you at the smallest mistake and always woke you up with a bucket of icy water, he said it helped to keep you clean.

"Answer!" You awoke from your thoughts when you heard your master shouting "When I talk to you, you listen! Understood?!" he grabbed your face so hard you could already feel the bruises forming.

"Yes, master" you nodded as best as you could in his strong grip, he then released you with a push so hard you fell on your back, all air knocked from your lungs.

"As I was saying" he continued as if nothing had happened "You are being offered in this town, and hopefully I can get at least what I paid for you" he spat.

You didn't know how to feel at his words, you should be happy that you were finally getting rid of your abusive master but there was also the fear of having an even worse master that could do unspeakable things to you. You stared at the horizon and watched expectantly as land got closer and closer.

When the boat arrived your master quickly tied your hands together, so tight you could feel your hands becoming cold and numb. You were pulled towards a market and as you got there you saw a line of many girls tied just like you with their master behind them offering the girls as if they were meat. Your master pulled you harshly until you stood at the end of the line and he started shouting along with the others, offering his 'pure, virgin slave!'. You tried your best not to let the situation affect you and you held back tears and bit your lip.

"How much for this one" you heard a man ask but didn't dare to look at him for more than a second, he looked young.

"30 gold pieces" Canute offered smugly, almost sure that the young man would try to lower the price to at least 20 gold pieces and that would still be a good deal.

"Deal" the man answered simply and handed him a bag with the payment inside, your master counted, and when he confirmed he was given the right amount of gold he gestured for the man to take you.

"She's yours, take her" he pushed you towards him as if you were nothing.

The young man held your shoulders before you fell on your face and when you regained balance he held your chin and tilted your head upwards, so your eyes would meet his.

"I'm Hvitserk" he smiled "And you are...?" he questioned.

"Y/n" you whispered looking into his beautiful eyes, almost getting lost in them.

"Nice to meet you" he caressed your cheek softly "You are going to warm my bed every night from now on"

Your breath got stuck in your throat when you heard his words. What your master had said wasn't a lie, you were indeed pure and untouched, and you were terrified of what Hvitserk would do with that information, or worse if he didn't believe those words and treated you as a commonly experienced slave.

Hvitserk started walking and you just stood there staring at your, now almost black, hands. He turned around and looked at you signaling for you to follow him, and just as you approached him he took out a knife making you yelp and drop on your knees begging for mercy.

"Please, master don't hurt me" you cried "I'll be good, I promise" you finished sobbing, waiting for him to hit you or stab you.

"I won't hurt you" Hvitserk assured and reached to cut the rope that was tied around your wrists, allowing the blood to flow in that particular area "I promise you, I will never hurt you on purpose" he took a hold of both hands and kissed the insides of your wrists softly.

You looked up at him in awe and quietly stood up and followed him after he got up himself and started walking towards the great hall. Once you got inside he walked to his room without looking at anyone, and once there he told you to sit in the bed.

"This is my room and where you are sitting is my bed" he explained "Your duties are simple, you wake up, get ready, wake me up, braid my hair and go to breakfast with me, you sit on my lap and feed me and you can eat in between bites too" he paused, waiting for you to show him you understood.

"Yes, master”

"You will go with me everywhere and you will not look at or talk to anyone but me, every meal I have you will feed it to me and I will always allow you to eat from my plate" he insisted watching you nod to his words "every night I expect you to lay with me, for the first couple of nights I don't intend on using your body for my pleasure, instead I wish to use you mainly for the company" you let out a breath you had been holding since he told you you had to warm his bed "You are mine and only mine, not even the queen can take you away from me, and I hope I am clear when I tell you that you cannot even glance at another man's direction, am I clear?"

"Yes master, I'm completely yours from now on"

"Call me Hvitserk, master creeps me out" he fake shivered to amuse you and got a small giggle which made him smile.

That night you sat on Hvitserk's lap, just like he had ordered, feeding him every course from soup to ale and he allowed you to eat from his plate in between bites, just like he promised. His brothers tried to ignore your presence and act as if you were just another slave, but you weren't. Normally the one who bought slaves was their mother, Hvitserk was the first one to buy a slave for himself, and they were all attracted to your odd presence.

"Who is the beauty sitting in your lap, Hvitserk?" inquired Ivar.

"She is my slave, brother" Hvitserk stated simply.

"And who said you could have your own slave?" demanded Sigurd with a frown.

"I bought her with my own money, earned by fishing and hunting" he stated proudly squeezing your waist a little and taking the piece of meat you offered.

"And are you planning to share her anytime soon?" asked Ubbe curious lifting a brow and hiding his smirk behind his cup, clearly noticing the way you tensed.

"No" Hvitserk deadpanned "she is mine" he finished feeling you relax on his lap and continue cutting some meat for him.

After that the table got silent and everyone finished their meals in silence, no brother dared to look at Hvitserk and much less at you. After everyone finished each one went to their respective rooms without anything more than a 'goodbye' to their mother and Hvitserk waited until they left before getting up and leading you to his room. Once in his room, Hvitserk started taking his clothes off and as he sat on the bed he heard water being poured into his bathtub.

"What are you doing?" he asked turning to look at you emptying a pot of warm water into the tub.

"I'm preparing your bath, mast-Hvitserk" you quickly corrected yourself, fearing his reaction at the dreaded word "You can relax and get cleaned while I undo your braids" you suggested with a hopeful look, you truly appreciated being treated well and wanted to show him how grateful you were for his lack of mistreatings.

He nodded from his spot and watched you as you continued pouring pots of warm water into his tub until it was almost full. You announced the bath was ready and stood with your back turned to him as a sign of respect while he finished undressing. After that he got in the bath, hissing as he felt the warm water colliding with his cold skin.

"Is it too hot?" You asked concerned.

"It is perfect" he mumbled sleepily.

You smiled a little as you watched him resting his head on the edge of the tub with his eyes closed. Quietly, you walked around the tub until you stood by the back of his head where you started unbraiding his hair with soft brushes of your fingers, hearing him sigh and moan every now and then.

"After this bath, we are going to sleep" he announced in a low voice "Your gown is over there" without opening his eyes he pointed towards the bed where you could see some white fabric folded next to the pillow.

When you were both changed and ready to bed he laid down and patted the spot next to him, you laid on your back not knowing how he wanted you to position yourself. You heard him chuckle before and yelped when you felt his arms wrapping around your shoulders and with a quick pull he had your head laying on his chest.

"You are here to comfort me, not lay there as stiff as a tree" his chest vibrated with his laugh.

"Sorry" you mumbled, sleep evident in your voice.

You both remained silent and in a matter of minutes, he felt your soft breaths caressing his skin. He knew you were there just because he had bought you, but for a sweet tiny moment, he convinced himself that the girl in his arms was not a slave, but his lover who was there out of adoration for him and only him. His own beautiful lover.

"Mine" he whispered kissing your forehead before finally slipping into a peaceful slumber.

-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘-‘

Hi! Thanks for reading!!!! I hope you enjoyed it and I’m thinking about making a part two so…let me know if you’d be interested on that.

#hvitserk ragnarsson #hvitserk ragnarsson x reader #hvitserk imagine #hvitserk x reader #hvitserk ragnarsson imagine #Vikings #vikings fanfiction #my writing

[leo-interactive-fiction]

Something else I haven't seen before. What would the MC's parent from each background think of the ROs? Who would they approve of and who wouldn't they? I guess in the case of orphan MC, what would E's parents think? Since they kinda maybe vaguely adopted orphan MC?

Hmm, interesting! Since I did the opposite, I should have seen this one coming haha

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

Storm's comments:

E: "Rose has had that expectation for some time. This is preferable to the alternative. I know you will be in good hands. Rose raised them well."

R: Your father doesn't mince his words, a clear disdain evident, "Valleford. See that you don't take after your father, or there will be less than pleasantries next time we meet."

L: "Scio. I assume your father...?" Storm's lips pull in a small frown as L gives a small nod of confirmation, "I understand if you cannot forgive me. Your father is a significant asset to the Hospian war effort. If I find him, I will kill him."

V: "You've seen enough at your age," Storm says quietly, looking into the hollow glint in V's eyes, "I'm sorry. Those were battles that should have ended with my generation, not yours."

P: Storm's brow furrows as he makes a cordial greeting, "I assume your father is well? He does not speak of his second child often, but you seem more spirited than the other. That will make the greater difference when it matters."

M: Storm's brow furrows as he makes a cordial greeting, though there's little sentimentality in his voice, "I assume your father is well? He expresses confidence in your upbringing, but I can't say I share the sentiment. You lack something fundamental. Something to drive you to achieve more than what's expected of you."

Ra: Storm's eyes lock onto Raven with a harsh intensity, "Your eyes are filled with blood and you conceal weapons. Tell me your intentions or I will kill you right now."

S: "I admit I am unfamiliar with Orden. The conflict never reached that country, but I understand there are many hardships there already," Storm says, looking the brightly grinning student up and down before his lips pull back in small contentment, "You come out better than most. You have impressive strength."

F: Storm holds a frown as he takes in the vivid green hair, "Many allowed Frenza to claim their distance due to their significant contribution to Triaina's independence, but it doesn't absolve you of everything," he says in warning, "Don't step over the boundaries you've been afforded, or the military will have no choice but to respond."

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

Scurra's dialogue:

E: Scurra makes a grimace as he recognizes E, "Damnit, you've gone and done it now," he grumbles as he pulls out his wallet and hands a fold of bills to E, "Give that to your mom, will you? She's worse than a debt collector with bets..."

R: "Valleford! There's a name I haven't heard in a while. I knew they had a black sheep in the family, but I guess they couldn't take away the infamous good looks," Scurra chuckles, his eyes lightening reminiscently, "They've put me in a good bit of trouble on more than one occasion. I guess I should consider it a family curse now that MC is involved with you."

L: "Oh, I know those eyes," Scurra says wistfully, "Coming to find the world is a bigger place than you imagined, aren't you? It's even more expansive than that, too. I had that same look when I traveled overseas. I hope MC is being a good guide for you," he looks to you, and gives a knowing wink.

V: Scurra gives a meandering hum as he looks at V, "I've been all around, but I've only seen natural hair color like that a handful of times. They all had your same stare, too." He closes his eyes thoughtfully, "None as young as you though. I hope you're the last I have to see with those eyes. They're a bad omen."

P: "A fiery one, aren't you! Has no one ever told you not to say bad words in public?" Scurra laughs, "You should stop while you can. You're so transparent with your feelings that I almost mistook you for a window, so there's no point to pulling a tough act."

M: A small, genuine smile rises on Scurra's lips as he inspects M, "How interesting. You're so similar to your twin, but you're definitely the better actor. As I think about it, you remind me of MC's mother in many ways..."

Ra: "What are you doing here?" Scurra frowns, staring harshly at Raven. A silence passes and eventually he looks away, messaging his jaw, "Oops, guess I was mistaken. You looked a little like someone I know."

S: "You've got Orden written all over you, don't you?" Scurra says cheerily, "It's been a while since I've visited, but I have to say it gave me the most enjoyment. You all certainly know how to keep it lively."

F: "Your family has always been so hauty!" Scurra covers his mouth to suppress a chuckle, "But I think it would be a mistake to talk down to everyone you meet. I happen to be on great terms with your mother. If I took the opportunity, you two would have been siblings!"

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

Xero's insight:

E: He smiles warmly to E, "It's good to see you again. I'm afraid there was little I could do for you: your mother has already found out about your relationship. I expect she'll make it as embarrassing for you as possible, if I know her well. I hope you're mentally prepared."

R: Xero studies R with a faint curiosity, "I'm afraid your father and I are on less than speaking terms due to some...past difficulties, but I understand you are more than simply your father's child. You may be villianized for your differing viewpoint, but aren't we all? I don't find it is so bad," Xero gives R a knowing small."

L: Xero's eyes widen upon seeing L, then falls into a soft smile, "To think history would repeat so aptly. To see you two now reminds me of my own school days," Xero closes his eyes and releases a light sigh, the smile still present, "I pray you'll also find the same happiness I did, and that it lasts longer."

V: Xero's grip tightens on an file in his hands as he sees V, his voice meticulous, "You are...Wolfe, correct? I'll admit the what I've heard and read of you is...less than appealing, but," he casts his gaze between you and the ex-Jagd member, a faint smile growing on his lips as V steps cautiously between you. "You seem to have a strong sense of duty. I hope you will be a good pillar for MC."

P: He looks disaprovingly, "In my field, words are paired with intention. To speak is to lay bare your thoughts. Why would you neglect your intent by forcing a negative connotation where it doesn't belong?"

M: He seems slightly more on edge than with P, "I don't believe I should offer my approval to someone unwilling to determine a focus. It's a testament to your negligence."

Ra: Xero crosses their arms, his face skeptical,"Marriage? Your lack of detailed forethought and hyperfixation gives me the impression of an unhealthy mind. As it stands now, I will refuse to give you my blessing."

S: "I'm afraid I'm ignorant to everything Orden related," Xero says sheepishly, "I am happy to learn all that I can, though. Perhaps you would like to bring your family at some point? I would be happy to host them here." Xero smiles warmly, clearly unknowing of the chaotic rabblerousing he's invited into his home.

F: "Ah, the royal line," Xero says in recognition of F, "Your own mother was a classmate of mine as well. To think one of her children would grow so closely with mine. Please give her my regards, would you? She has always kept herself closer than others, so I was happy when she took an interest in my friend. He's a lucky man."

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

Mr. Razor's thoughts (if he was alive)

E: He bows his head gratefully, "Thank you for taking care of MC all this time. Your selflessness has saved me a lot of worry, and I doubt I'll have any more leaving them in your hands."

R: Razor's eyes bore a hole through R, "To defy your father was a considerable risk. And not knowing what the academy had planned for you, you still allowed yourself to be incarcerated for an indeterminate amount of time," Razor taps his fingers to his chin, a smile spreading over his lips, "I enjoy those that stick to their principles, but what say we work on your jailbreaking?"

L: "Your father's quite an important man. He's lucky I was never contracted to kill him," Razor says matter-of-factly. A chilling air of silence deafens the room until Razor holds up his palms, "Just kidding. I've never killed anyone. They all died mysteriously."

V: "How's Jagd doing?" Razor narrows his eyes keenly on V, "I'm surprised they were able to bounce back after what I did to them. I guess they filled the empty spaces with whoever was able...or moldable."

P: Razor smiles sadly, "It must be difficult to be given another person's expectations and do well with them. You're like a fish trying to climb a tree. But I enjoy how far up you've climbed despite that. Would you like a reward? I know, how about...your father's weakness?"

M: Razor seems disinterested, "You're not worth the words, Crater. You're nothing more than what your father made you to be: a simple shadow to live vicariously through."

Ra: Razor's eyes have an approving glint, "The one that slipped through the cracks. How very odd. MC's mother was quite odd too. It's an endearing quality, isn't it? Yes, I think you'll make a perfect companion for MC. You've already been looking over them all this time, haven't you?"

S: "Earnestness is one of the first qualities people tend to throw away when faced with hardship. It is impressive to see how you've progressed through your poverty and discrimination so aptly. Perhaps you have a hope that things will get better?" Razor's mouth spreads in a wicked smile, "I do enjoy seeing how people struggle for such a small glimmer of light. I think I'll offer my aid."

F: "Ah, it's always cute to see people play at royalty," Razor smiles at F's exasperated face, "Why do you seem so angry? Do you actually believe your position has meaning? I'll assure you it doesn't," Razor casts a darkening stare towards the royal, "To me, you're no harder to kill than a beggar on the street. The power you attempt to flaunt means nothing, because in the end it does nothing to elevate you beyond a simple street urchin."

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

End

Thank ya for the ask!

#romance options #triaina academy #parents #mc background

[nothoughtsonlynat]

Resurrect Me: Part 2 (N.R.)

Part One

Huge shoutout to @confusinggemini612 who requested this a loooong time ago and I’m just now getting to it (I am so sorry for the wait). I hope this is what you had in mind :)

Warnings: swearing; PTSD; mentions of suicide/self-sacrifice

Word count: 2.6k

EIGHT MONTHS LATER

The cool breeze blows through my hair, the hand in mine being the only source of warmth in the chill of the Russian countryside. As we walk closer, a chorus of pigs snorting fills my ears. Natasha had given me a brief rundown and a quick pep talk before taking me to meet her family. Now, it was game time.

“Are you ready?”

“Not in the slightest,” I respond to the redhead.

“Let’s do it then,” she says with a smirk, to which I reply with a scoff.

We walk through the gate and enter the small house, immediately hearing three distinct voices, each laced with a thick Russian accent. The voices hush as the door closes behind us, and a blonde woman is the first to greet us.

“Ah, сестра! Mom and Dad are flirting again, let’s make a run for it,” Yelena whisper-yells.

“So put a sedative in their vodka or something, I don’t know,” Natasha replies. I’m not sure if I should introduce myself or not, so I just stand there awkwardly.

“They are both spies, they’re not going to fall for- actually, Alexei would, but Mom would never fall for that,” Yelena pauses as she notices me. She looks me from head to toe and squints before her lips quirk into a smirk. “And who might this be? Is this your little girlfriend?”

“Yelena, don’t be an ass,” Nat grumbles with a scowl.

“Hi, I’m Y/N. It’s nice to meet you.”

Yelena hums before turning back to Natasha. “She’s definitely your girlfriend.”

“Oh shut up,” Natasha whines, walking further into the house. I look at Yelena and nod in confirmation before following Nat. I hear her whisper “I knew it” from behind me, causing me to laugh. Natasha turns to give me a questioning look, but I just brush it off with a shrug and a smirk. She narrows her eyes and opens her mouth to say something, but is cut off by a deep, booming voice.

“Natasha! Welcome home! Look at this, all my girls back together again! It is so nice to see you,” Alexei says, moving forward to pinch Natasha’s cheeks. She gently pushes him away with a scowl, and I can’t tell if she’s really uncomfortable or not. Either way, it brings my guard up, ready to defend her.

“And who might this be?” Alexei questions, turning to face me.

“Dad, this is Y/N,” she says before I can answer. I offer a kind smile.

Yelena, who had made her way to the kitchen table with a bottle of vodka, says “She’s Natasha’s girlfriend.”

“Thank you for the input, Yelena,” Natasha says with a tight-lipped smile.

“Girlfriend, huh? When did that happen? Natasha, I was not aware that you, uh, how do you say? Swing that way?” A dark-haired woman slaps his arm for his comment and he exclaims, “Ow!”

“Pay him no mind, Natasha. He is a bit slow, but Mama always knew. You were not very discreet about the way you looked at that Hannah girl in Ohio. And as for you, it is nice to meet you. I’m Melina, what is your name?” Her demeanor is friendly, but her gaze is skeptical. She’s probably already planning how to kill me if she decides that I’m not good enough for her daughter.

“I’m Y/N. It’s nice to meet you, too,” I say with a nervous smile.

“Alright, guys, that’s enough. Please stop harassing my girlfriend,” Natasha says with a sigh.

“Come, sit,” Yelena commands with a wave, still sitting at the kitchen table.

I sit across from her and Natasha sits next to me. Melina and Alexei follow soon after, with Alexei sitting at the head of the table and Melina sitting next to Yelena.

“Here you go,” Yelena says as she slides me a shot glass full of vodka. I clink it against hers in the air and down it in one go, grimacing at the burn. “Are you alright?” Yelena asks with a smirk, clearly enjoying my agony.

“Oh, yeah, I’m great. Just not used to Russian vodka, that’s all.” Yelena nods, satisfied with my answer, before going to pour me another shot.

Natasha stops her by saying, “Yelena, no more vodka. You’re going to kill her.”

“You’re no fun,” the younger sister says, but complies, nonetheless.

“Natasha, you are slouching again. Sit up straight,” Melina interjects.

“Mom, I’m not slouching. I told you I don’t slouch,” Nat protests.

“So how did you two meet?” Yelena asks, interrupting the banter.

“Oh, we met in New York during the invasion, when the Avengers were formed,” I answer.

“You are an Avenger! I knew you looked familiar. Tell me, does Captain America ever mention me, the great Red Guardian? I could kick his ass, you know. I’ve done it before,” Alexei says, causing the three Russian women to groan and complain.

“That never happened, Dad,” Yelena mumbles at the same time Natasha says, “He doesn’t talk about you because you guys have never met.” 

I raise my eyebrows at them. They seem awfully familiar with this conversation; how often does Alexei say this crap?

“So, Y/N. What happened when you guys brought everyone back? How did you do it? Natasha won't tell me,” Yelena questions. I chuckle nervously, glancing at Natasha, who is clearly uncomfortable with this topic of discussion.

“Um, I don’t know if I should… It’s complicated, really,” I say, trailing off.

“Yelena, stop. It doesn’t matter. And don’t put her in the middle of things,” Natasha responds, defending me. An awkward silence fills the room until Alexei speaks up again.

“He really hasn’t mentioned me? Have you even asked him about me?”

<//>

“Why won’t you tell them what happened?” I ask quietly. It’s nighttime now, and I’m lying in bed next to Nat in the guest room. She seemed so uncomfortable, and it’s been worrying me since.

“They just don’t need to know,” she replies shortly

“But they got snapped away, Natty. Don’t you think they deserve more of an explanation than what they’ve seen on the news?”

“Don’t tell me what to do with my family, Y/N.” Her sharp tone feels like a blade to the heart, but I take a deep breath and soften my resolve, knowing that she’s only snapping at me because something else is upsetting her.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push. I just, I can tell that something is upsetting you. You can’t just bottle stuff up, Nat. It doesn’t have to be me if you’re not comfortable, but you need to talk to someone about it.”

She doesn’t respond immediately. “I’ve told them. I gave them the basics: Thanos snapped people away, we time traveled, got magical stones, snapped people back, and then killed Thanos. That satisfied my parents, but Yelena wants to know the whole story.”

“And you’re not comfortable retelling it?”

“Parts of it are bearable, but… I can’t think about it. You almost killed yourself for me, Y/N. You did die for me. I can’t think about that day, let alone tell my baby sister about it,” she says. Her voice is quiet, breaking as the tears flood her eyes. I pull her head into my chest and run my fingers through her hair.

“I’m right here, Natty. I’m not going anywhere, I promise. You don’t have to tell anyone about what happened. I was terrified of losing you on Vormir. I hate talking about it, too.”

“Is that why you went to Dr. Garcia?”

“Partly. There were other reasons, too.” I hesitated before continuing. “I kept hearing the tortured screams. When I slept, in my head, everywhere I went. I heard them all the time. And I would get random whiffs of burning flesh. As you know, I went to the Underworld when I ‘died’ and I guess it just affected me more than I had originally thought.”

“Angel, why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve helped.”

“I didn’t want to worry you, or freak you out. The whole thing was pretty weird. For a while, I honestly thought I was haunted. It was probably pretty selfish, but I didn’t wanna scare you away.”

“You could never scare me away. But just to be clear, you aren’t haunted, right?”

I laugh quietly. “No, I am not haunted. A mild case of PTSD, but I’m doing better now. The therapy helped a lot.”

“Do you think it would help me? I still get nightmares sometimes...of you going over that cliff. I just, I close my eyes and you’re gone, and I hate it.”

“I’m so sorry, my love. I hate how much pain I’ve caused you. But I do think it would help. We can find someone when we get back home, yeah?”

“Yeah. I love you, Y/N.”

“I love you, Natty.”

<//>

“Just do it! It will be fun! I will go easy, I swear,” Yelena begs.

“Okay, fi-”

“No! No way in Hell. You are not sparring with her,” Natasha argues.

“I’ll be fine. Worst case scenario, she kicks my ass,” I say.

“Actually, I’m pretty sure the worst case scenario would be if I accidentally killed you,” Yelena says flatly. “But that won’t happen! Please, Natasha. I want to see what she’s got,” she pleads with a pout.

Natasha sighs and rolls her eyes, muttering something under her breath about us being a bunch of children. “Fine, but if you so much as scratch her-”

“Y/N will be fine. Come on,” Yelena says, grabbing my hand and dragging me into the backyard.

Thirty minutes later, I’m flat on my back in the grass, wheezing. I groan as I attempt to sit up, the whole world spinning as I do.

“Yelena! What the hell did I say?! You literally threw her,” Natasha yells.

“No, no. I’m good,” I say weakly.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting her to be so...defenseless.”

“I am not defenseless,” I counter.

“You cannot even throw a punch,” the blonde deadpans.

“That doesn’t make her defenseless,” Nat says as she helps me to my feet. “She could take every single one of you out right now without even moving.” 

From a few feet away, Melina quirks an eyebrow and Alexei mumbles “she could not take me out.”

“You are delusional, Natasha. How are we supposed to trust this woman to protect you when she cannot even protect herself?” 

“She can protect both of us just fine, Yelena. Not that I need anyone’s protection.”

“Your sister has a point,” Melina tells Nat. “Sorry, Y/N,” she adds. I open my mouth to speak, but don’t even know what to say. This is my worst nightmare.

“You must be able to punch when you are in trouble! Much like I did to Captain America back in the day,” Alexei adds.

“Alright, enough. I’ll have you know that Y/N is one of the most powerful Avengers. Actually, she’s a literal goddess,” Natasha snaps.

“Well, of course you would think so. You are her girlfriend,” Melina says.

“Guys, I’m being serious!”

“Do not get snappy with us. We are just looking out for you,” Alexei says.

“I don’t need-”

“Somebody has to be there to keep you safe, and this girl could not bring harm to a plant,” Melina remarks. 

“I’m literally standing right here,” I mumble under my breath.

“She literally saved my life! How is that not keeping me safe?!” My eyes widen; what happened to not revealing that tidbit of information?

“What do you mean? You saved her life?” Yelena asks as she turns to address me.

“If it wasn’t for her, I would be dead right now. And you guys never would’ve come back,” Natasha retorts, clenching her jaw.

“What? Why? What happened,” Yelena rambles. I can see the worry etched on her face, and it makes her look oddly childlike. It almost makes me want to pull her into a hug, but I’m fairly certain she’d throat punch me if I tried.

“On a planet called Vormir. A life needed to be sacrificed to get one of the Infinity Stones. It was me, Clint, or Y/N. I tried, but Y/N stopped me. That’s what I mean.” Natasha is seething. She clearly didn’t appreciate her family’s doubts.

“You tried to kill yourself?” Yelena addresses Natasha, but no one has the chance to answer her before Melina speaks up.

“If you sacrificed yourself, then how are you here?”

“It’s complicated,” I say with hesitance. “I am technically a goddess. I have many different powers, but most of them deal with death. When I died, I went to the Underworld, where I met my mother, Hecate, who is a goddess. Then, I came back. Resurrection is one of my powers. I know it’s a lot to take in, but that’s the truth.”

It’s silent for a minute as everyone processes my words. Everyone is staring at me with bewilderment, except for Yelena, who hasn’t taken her eyes off of her sister. Her eyebrows are furrowed, and a deep frown rests upon her lips.

“You tried to kill yourself?” Yelena repeats, this time only a whisper. Natasha finally turns to look at her younger sister and her mouth bobs open and closed, seemingly unsure of what to say.

“I didn’t have a choice, Yelena,” Natasha finally says.

“You saved her?” the blonde asks me.

I hesitantly nod my head. “Yes, I guess I did.”

“Thank you,” she whispers, giving a curt nod before turning and walking mechanically back into the house. I awkwardly clear my throat and turn my gaze to the ground.

“Will you show us?” I raise my head to look at Alexei, confusion crossing my features at his request. “Will you show us your powers, I mean.”

“Dad…” Natasha warns.

“No, it’s okay. I can show you a little bit,” I say, right before teleporting away. I watch from a hill in the distance as Alexei looks frantically around him. I can hear him asking where I went, which makes me laugh.

I teleport into the house and walk around, looking for Yelena. I walk into a bedroom and find her sitting on the floor with a bottle of vodka. “Hey, are you okay? We didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I’m fine. Because learning that your sister almost died and there was nothing you could’ve done to prevent it is so much fun,” she scoffs.

“I’m sorry. We probably could’ve broken the news a bit softer.” I sit on the ground next to her, leaving about a foot of space between us.

“It’s not your fault,” she murmurs. “I’m sorry for doubting you.”

“Don’t be. I am a horrible fighter,” I joke. She chuckles slightly, nodding in agreement.

“That you are. Can I see some of your magic, or whatever it is?” I hold out my hand and black mist dances above it with eerie elegance. I close my fist as it fades away, lowering my hand.

“Cool,” she says with a crooked smile. We hear the front door open and three sets of footsteps entering the house. I hear Nat calling my name.

“You okay?” I check one last time.

“I’m good. Thank you, Y/N, for saving my sister.”

“I’d do anything for her, Yelena. You don’t have to thank me for it.”

The bedroom door opens and Natasha’s head pokes in. “Y/N, we thought you’d completely left for a minute. Everything okay in here?”

Yelena and I look at each other and I look back to Natasha, overwhelmed with love for the redead. I smile and say, “Yeah, everything is just fine.”

#natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #Black Widow #black widow x reader #natasha romanoff fic #natasha romanoff fluff #natasha x reader #yelena belova

[startanewdream]

The road home

Summary: Lily watches Harry and Ginny finding their way back to each other following the end of the war.

Note: For @madhulika18, who asked for more Hinny moments as seen by James and Lily. I could never decide if this is really part of Eyes Glistening (because Harry and Ginny have drama really, and I don't like them having drama), but it works either way, so I hope you enjoy these moments (also, I have a soft spot for Lily and Harry talking, so...)

_______

It’s all about the words that aren’t being said.

Once, a long time ago, Lily lived that with James. But it was different and, though, of course, it didn’t seem like that at the time, it was easier too. Her problems were unknowing her feelings, not understanding why she enjoyed his company and why she craved his smile, his light. She had fancied him for a long time before she understood what it was what she really felt for him — and until then it was only her heart beating faster when they would touch each other without meaning too (a brush of hands, sitting together closer than necessary), enjoying the perfume he’d left on his trace, finding excuses to be with him.

But after she had understood what she felt for him, somehow it had been easy. Awkward, sure, that first date when she was feeling stupid near him — until she remembered this was James, and being with him was good and blissful and then kissing him had felt as natural as breathing —, but there was never a question about how they felt about each other, never doubts that they would be together.

They had fought over many things, until they perfected the art of compromising, of understanding each other’s view, but there was never a breakup, never something that really kept them apart.

They are lucky on this, she knows.

Especially when she sees the look on Harry’s face, the way his eyes can’t help but follow Ginny as she walks around between the tables of the Great Hall, stopping to share words with her friends.

They haven’t talked yet. Lily knows this because Harry was gone with Ron and Hermione after the battle and then he slept for a full day. When he woke up, he called his parents and they talked then — the most difficult conversation Lily had ever had in her life and the one she knew she needed most. She and James. They needed to understand what had happened, why it had cost Harry’s life and what it had meant, but nothing had really prepared her to know her son had died.

Only the thought of it sends shivers through her body.

Harry is fine now, having come down to the Great Hall to lunch; there are fewer people at Hogwarts two days after the Battle, so they manage to find a place for them to sit quietly. It’s almost peaceful.

Except Harry is clearly not at peace.

‘Go talk to her,’ she whispers to him, and Harry turns to her with those eyes that are full of ghosts lately — he has seen and lived and died too much.

‘She doesn’t want me,’ he answers, breathing heavily as if the words are physically hurting him.

‘How do you know?’ James asks, exchanging a confused look with Lily.

‘Because she hasn’t come to talk to me.’

Lily thinks Harry didn’t go to her either, so maybe this is just a case of miscommunication. But she doesn’t say anything, because she believes things have to happen at the right time. And she has been watching Ginny too; every time Harry looks the other way, she glances in his direction, an expression on her face that Lily cannot understand exactly.

It seems to be ablaze.

_______

Later, Lily will define it as a dance where the dancers aren’t supposed to touch each other but still they synchronize their steps perfectly.

It’s unnerving, really, and she doesn’t know how they are really managing it, but if there is a quality she could attribute to both Harry and Ginny is stubbornness.

They can’t ignore each other, not really, not with how much they encounter each other — funerals and homages and dinners over the Burrow and rebuilding Hogwarts —, so instead they adopt a sort of relationship that’s just a shadow of how much they got along together.

Lily saw them before they even dated or had acknowledged their feelings for each other, and Harry and Ginny had shined together with chemistry as if they were two ingredients in a potion that demanded to be together. It was only friendship but there was sparkle and understanding and compassion and brightness. Lily remembers thinking that even if they didn’t develop romantic feelings for each other, they were truly soulmates.

And this is just one of the reasons why their current formal courtesy with each other bothers her so much. If they wanted to be only friends, there wasn’t much she could do. But they are not even friends lately, just two people who had gone through so much and hadn’t been able to share anything with each other despite wanting very much.

That’s the other thing that annoys her. They want more. Both of them.

She knows Harry, of course — he shares the same expressions and he wears his feelings on the same sleeve Lily does, so it’s easy —, and Lily likes to think she knows Ginny too, for the times they met, for all they’ve talked and for the fact that Ginny is usually blatant on her feelings when they are at the edge.

Usually. This time, it seems their stubbornness is getting the better of both of them.

They are alone most of the days of May. Hermione has gone to Australia to find her parents and Ron went with her, and Lily thinks this would be perfect for them to get together again – to have time to talk and to truly live their relationship without the threat of a storm above their heads.

But they don’t go to each other. They stay apart, even though Lily sees the cracks in their stubbornness when Harry breaks a glass after hearing Ginny talking about exchanging letters with an ex-boyfriend, and when Ginny suddenly leaves the room after Harry mentions Kingsley’s proposal to start the Aurors course.

James sees it too. He is always frowning when they are in the same room, and Lily knows no one rooted more for that relationship than James. So she is not surprised that he approaches her one morning when they are cleaning the mess the Death Eaters made in her office.

‘Do you remember when you forbade me from intervening in Harry’s love life?’ he asks in a nonchalant voice, cleaning a stain that looks a lot like blood on the carpet.

Lily nods with her head.

‘Maybe it’s time to change that rule?’ James asks then, now sounding hopeful.

Lily throws him the briefest of the looks, without turning away her attention from the cauldrons she is supposed to check if anything is worth saving.

‘Harry would hate it if we did anything.’

‘Harry would hate it if he knew we were doing anything.’

‘And James Potter can be discreet? How many detentions did you get just because you couldn’t help but flaunt your work?’

He raises his eyebrows challengingly.

‘That Slug Club dinner on my birthday. I was so discreet no one ever found out what we were doing.’

Lily blushes. He was absurdly quiet that night, indeed, despite her attempts otherwise.

‘Fine, you’ve got a point. Go on, but I’m warning you, if Ginny realizes what you are trying to do, she will hex you and I won’t stop.’

‘As long as she hexes me on their wedding day, I won’t complain,’ James says unabashedly, and Lily has to grin.

She is not feeling much confident — James’ love plans took him three years to her agree to date him, after all, and even then she had fallen in love with him when he had given up on any plan at all —, but she can’t deny James is creative and it’s better trying anything than watching Harry sigh all over the place, heartbroken and unhappy.

During the year they were out, their house has been searched over and over; their furniture is broken and there are spots of red ink — or blood — in every room, with curses or slurs written on every wall. They could just easily destroy the house and build a new one, but it feels good to clean the place; it feels like a new beginning.

Maybe this is what James is hoping to give Harry and Ginny because he asks for her help in rebuilding their house. Ginny accepts surprisingly quickly, probably guessing that Harry will still be occupied with the work at Hogwarts.

‘Thanks for the help,’ Lily says after she and Ginny manage to clean the debris away from the stairs, so now the first floor is available for them to start cleaning up the rooms.

‘No problem, it’s good to be out of the house,’ Ginny notes, drying the sweat on her face. ‘Sometimes it feels… too claustrophobic there.’

Lily raises her eyebrows, indicating around the hall, where the number of things still to be organized makes the corridor seem a lot smaller than it is. Ginny gives a small chuckle.

‘It’s just — Mom is trying to compensate, I think. Ron is not here and I am the youngest and she needs to take care of something, after — after everything that happened. So, yeah, I need some time to myself.’

‘Are you sure there is nothing else you would like to do?’ Lily asks, concerned now. Ginny just shrugs.

‘Since I can’t fly, this seems like the best available option,’ she says. ‘And it feels good to be doing something — and there is so much to do here. The Death Eaters made a mess.’

‘That could be said for everywhere.’

‘And everyone,’ Ginny adds softly, and she returns to the cabinet she is trying to fix without saying anything further, but Lily doesn’t think she needs to. She saw Neville’s bruises, she saw Luna’s scars and she has a pretty good idea of how it was at Hogwarts under Voldemort’s regime.

But Ginny keeps her marks quietly, and Lily knows there is only one person she will be able to talk to.

The next day, James comes home earlier from Hogwarts with Harry. There is an awkward moment when Harry and Ginny meet in the kitchen and James mentions that now the main work over Hogwarts is done, Harry volunteered to help get his home back again.

‘Any problem?’ James asks genially, making both Harry and Ginny jump.

‘No,’ they say at the same time, and it doesn’t convince anyone.

Lily never noticed how big their house was until she realizes Harry and Ginny still manage to avoid each other except during mealtimes, so she decides they can get past subtlety. She and James start to ask them for help for the same rooms until they eventually are paired in the same tasks.

She doesn’t hear them talking, but it seems to work, albeit at the slowest pace ever.

‘You won’t believe who asked Sirius for an interview,’ James says one night after they settled for the day and they are having dinner before Ginny returns to her house. ‘Rita Skeeter.’

‘What scoop does she want now?’ Harry asks, rolling his eyes. ‘I am still awaiting her biography about me.’

‘What will be called?’, Ginny asks, and Harry turns to her with his eyes already shining with the joke.

‘Easy. Harry Potter, chosen or undesirable one?’

She laughs – it’s a short tentative laugh, but it’s there, and Harry smiles too. James exchanges a look with Lily, but she shakes her head warningly to him.

‘What Skeeter wanted with Sirius?’ she asks, putting the conversation back into place. It was just a shared joke. There is still a long road ahead.

‘Oh, gossip on you and me, actually, which unfortunately is something Sirius thinks it’s too funny to pass – and also he has a soft spot for Skeeter.’

Harry chokes on his drink.

‘Soft spot?’

‘Oh, please, don’t tell me –‘ Ginny raises her eyebrows, exchanging a bewildered look with Harry. ‘Sirius and Rita Skeeter?’

James chuckles.

‘No, he just likes her because of the animagus stuff. He says he can’t fault her for being one.’

‘Oh, much better,’ Ginny sighs. Then she bits her lip before looking back at Harry. ‘Can you imagine them together? Rita Skeeter as your godmother?’

‘I would have to quit Sirius from his job as godfather,’ Harry says, pretending to gag. ‘He would clearly be underqualified.’

There is another small giggle and that’s it for the night.

They are talking again at least, even if it is still not like it used to be. There are no whispered words during their time together during the day and they don’t seem to be secretly snogging. But they talk sometimes, and once or twice Lily hears a laugh when she passes the room they are in.

But it’s only two weeks later that something seems to happen.

Lily is in her room, finishing to set up the bed so she and James will finally be able to sleep there, when the voices catch her up on her window.

‘You are bleeding.’

‘It’s just a cut, Harry, no big deal.’

‘It was a splinter, there can still be something there.’

‘I told you, I took everything off. I will just press it, it will stop bleeding in a minute.’

‘I can help you, I – I know a lot of healing spells.’

There is a pause.

‘Me too, but I also know that the bleeding will stop. It’s not deep.’

‘How do you –‘

‘Same way you know, Harry.’ There is a note of tension in Ginny’s voice. ‘I had to learn.’

‘Ginny –‘

‘What? Do you think you were the only one who had a hard time?’

And she storms inside, giving him no time to answer.

Harry is subdued that night, even more reserved than natural, and when she passes his room late at night, she sees the light is on. For a second Lily wonders if she should call James, but then she sighs and knocks on his door.

‘Harry?’

In answer, the door opens quietly. Lily enters his room to see Harry fully clothed on his bed; he is holding something and, with a start, she realizes it’s the Marauder’s Map. That’s a weird thing for Harry to be consulting in the middle of the night.

‘Can’t sleep?’ she asks, sitting on the edge of his bed and running her hand through his hair comfortingly. He shrugs. ‘Anything to do with that fight with Ginny?’

He raises his eyebrows.

‘Hearing behind doors, Mum?’

‘No need, you were talking under my window.’

‘Next fight I will make sure we are far,’ he says with a grimace.

‘There will be a next fight?’

‘I don’t know,’ he admits, and this prospect doesn’t seem to make him better. ‘If I asked you something, would you be honest with me?’

‘Wasn’t I always, Harry?’

He smiles for a second before his expression is grave and uncertain.

‘Do you think I am self-centred?’

Lily blinks.

‘No one would accuse you of being selfish, Harry, I mean –’

She doesn’t know where to begin, considering all the sacrifices she had seen Harry make over the years — he gave his life —, but Harry shakes his head.

‘Not selfish, I mean – the summer after my fourth year, when Voldemort was back, I said plenty of things –’

‘You were under a lot of stress, no one –’

‘I know, but I was complaining about how everything happened to me and now I am thinking that maybe, somehow, I never stopped to think that things happen to other people too.’

Lily squeezes his hand.

‘It is not a suffering competition, Harry.’

‘I don’t know if I see it that way. I mean, when I saw Neville for the first time, with all his bruises and looking so hurt, I still wished it could be me, staying at Hogwarts and fighting because it seemed easier and it never occurred to me that she could – they could – have had a difficult time too. It still seemed… just school.’

He pauses to pick up the Marauder’s Map, opening it even if there is no map showing there.

‘I used to take the Map last year to watch over her,’ he whispers, his face flushing. ‘And I saw her dot and I never thought that she could be in trouble. I knew they were rebelling, but… it didn’t feel like it was something real.’

‘Well, that’s why you should talk to each other. None of you will understand if you keep avoiding each other.’

‘She is mad at me.’

‘Of course she is. You are avoiding her.’

He doesn’t answer.

‘You need to talk, Harry. Go there. Try it.’

He blinks, a hint of a smile on his lips.

‘Are you suggesting that I go visit my ex-girlfriend in the middle of the night?’

‘I’m pretty sure you will just talk if she doesn’t hex you first,’ Lily says brightly. Then she smiles softly. ‘You could wait until tomorrow, Harry, but I have the feeling you both have been waiting too long. And this isn’t any of your styles. You are both people of action.’

Harry grins now, standing up.

‘I will go then. Thanks for the tip, Mum.’

Lily accepts the soft kiss he gives her on the cheek.

‘Just be safe, Harry.’

_______

Harry seems to be in a better mood the next morning, despite the fact that he slept a few hours that night — Lily knows he returned by five, just as the sun was rising.

But she doesn’t say anything, just smiling to herself when Harry’s face lights up when the fireplace erupts into emerald flames and Ginny appears, dusting her clothes. They exchange a look that it’s still not there yet, but it’s soft and promising. James looks in her direction, surprised, and she promises to explain later.

It’s not Summer yet, but the days of May and then June get warmer and then Harry and Ginny are spending more time outside, though there isn’t much to fix there.

At least, not material things.

James keeps an eye on them — he wouldn’t resist not doing so —, telling her that most of the time they just seem to be taking long strolls and talking.

One day they return from their walk holding hands, and Lily has to lock James inside the room so he doesn’t say anything. Harry and Ginny are still not there.

The road home takes time.

On the second weekend of June they have the hottest day yet and they take some time off; James transfigures a pool in the backyard that neither Harry nor Ginny seems to enjoy other than to sit at the edge of the pool and take off their shoes to wet their feet. Instead of helping to ease any tension, the pool seems to create some weight over them, making them more silent than usual, so James suggests they go flying instead.

‘My Firebolt is gone,’ Harry remembers, wincing, and Lily knows it’s not the broomstick he is really missing right now. Harry lost a friend that day.

‘Mine was burnt by the Carrows last year,’ Ginny adds, her voice casual as if it’s nothing important.

They don’t end up doing anything after that.

In the afternoon, James gets a call from Sirius and Lily decides to just stay home, finishing the Wolfsbane Potions she will need to deliver to Remus by the end of the week. She is quietly lost in her favourite potion world when she hears the voices, and it’s just because they are whispering, rather than talking normally, that it draws her attention.

‘Are you sure?’ Ginny is asking, her voice unusually hesitant.

‘Only if you are,’ he whispers, sounding just as unstable.

Lily approaches the window and withdraws the curtains as little as she needs. Harry and Ginny are still by the pool, standing facing each other, and without looking away from Harry, she takes off her shirt, to reveal her bikini under it.

Harry gasps, but Lily knows that what is taking his breath away are the marks on Ginny’s torso — faint scars of cuts and small yellowed bruises that remained from the battle, over a month ago.

Ginny bits her lip, her arms trembling as if she wants to cover herself. Harry finally takes a step in her direction, looking her in the eyes now.

'Thank you for showing me,’ he whispers and then he sighs. 'My turn'.

His hands are shaking as he goes to unbutton his shirt, until Ginny raises her hands.

'May I?'

Harry nods slowly.

Ginny keeps her head high, not looking away from Harry's eyes, until she finishes opening all the buttons from his shirt and taking it off.

Then her eyes fall to his chest and Ginny freezes.

Lily knows what she is seeing, even though Lily can't see it from her angle: Harry's new lightning scar, across his chest, over his heart, where the Killing Curse hit him for the second time in his life.

'Harry,’ Ginny sighs, pain evident in her voice. She raises her hand, looking at him, questioning him silently. Harry nods once more.

Then Ginny takes a step closer to him, touching his chest, and Lily knows that she must be feeling his heart over it.

She lets the curtain fall and returns to her potion.

She is not surprised when they return home holding hands and she only tells James later (so he doesn't say anything during dinner because she knows her husband) that Ginny kissed Harry softly on the lips when she thought no one was seeing them.

#Hinny #Jily Lives AU #Hinny Fanfiction #Eyes glistening #T: Fanfiction

[dakotacrisis]

Trust Me, Trust Me

Because for some reason the writers will not give the Lukanette shippers what they deserve, we must take matters into our own hands. If you have not seen the latest ML episode this will contain major spoilers! You have been warned!

But other than that please enjoy this quick little fix-it fic for all you Lukanette lovers.

---

If Hawkmoth could get a new hobby that would be great. It really would be. Maybe he can take up bird watching or stamp collecting or origami. You know, just a little something that can take up his time so he isn’t interrupting one of Marinette’s dates for once in her life! She swore, if she had to miss another date because the butterfly man wanted some earrings she was going to hunt him down and skin him alive.

Marinette had made the decision to let go of her crush on Adrien and start dating Luka shortly after their trip to New York. She cared for him, loved him, but he was always just out of reach. Upon coming back to Paris and seeing how happy he was with Kagami, Marinette understood where his heart truly lies. It was the confirmation she needed.

It was hard at first given how long she had been pining after Adrien. He still held a precious place in her heart but every time she was with Luka it blended into platonic love a bit more. Her first step was to get rid of all the pictures of Adrien she had pinned up in her room until all that remained were some catalog snapshots in her inspiration book and a couple friendly group shots on her wall.

She was ready to move forward with Luka. She really was. Now if only she could get through a date without Hawkmoth interrupting it. The man had an uncanny ability to start something the second she was alone with Luka or when they had plans. The movies, ice cream dates, bike rides, concerts, she was missing it all and it tore her apart. She could tell it was starting to wear on Luka too. Not that she blamed him in the least. Marinette left because it was her duty but Luka had to watch her runaway from him dozens of times with little to no explanation.

Lies were becoming as easy to her as breathing and it sickened her. Luka deserved so much better than that. A few times she thought that maybe she should end both their suffering and call things off but then he would smile at her, play her a song, and kiss her forehead and everything would be right again. She couldn’t think of leaving him when he always welcomed her back into his arms with a smile. It was like his faith in her was unshakeable.

At least that’s what Marinette had thought. Luka was very trusting and understanding but everyone has a breaking point. Even someone as patient as Luka. Watching her boyfriend get akumatized because she couldn’t tell him the truth of why she always disappeared broke her heart. Having to fight him hurt even worse. Learning that the father he never knew was actually their favorite singer was jarring. Poor boy woke up in Marinette’s room not remembering anything about his akumatization or what he learned about his family.

That evening after Luka went home Marinette sat in her room debating what to do. The real truth was out of the question. Telling him that she was Ladybug would only put him and everyone she cares about in danger. But she had to tell him something!

She also needed to have a conversation with her friends because apparently, even after dating Luka for weeks, they still think she is madly in love with Adrien. Even if she was, so many people know about it at this point that she hesitates to call it a secret. The only person who never knew was Adrien himself! But that’s a problem for another day.

What she needed to do was talk to Luka. She called him up and they agreed to meet up under the bridge. He smiled when he saw her and it broke her heart all the more, that even after today he could still greet her with that warm smile.

“Hi, thanks for meeting me so late,” Marinette said.

“We did leave things kinda unresolved earlier, didn’t we?” Luka sighed, “A lot happened today and even though I don’t remember any of it I was filled in later. When I went home my mom was waiting for me and asked if I remembered anything from being akumatized. When I said no she told me who my dad is.”

“She did?” Marinette wasn’t surprised, if she didn’t tell him then someone else on the boat surely would have.

“Turns out it’s Jagged Stone.” He shook his head, “ My idol is also my dad. I don’t know how to feel about that. All these years I felt a connection to him but I thought it was just because we were both musicians. Turns it out it runs a lot deeper than that.”

“I can’t imagine what that must be like.” Marinette said, “Do you think you’ll talk to him after this?”

“I feel like I have to. I still have so many questions.” He looked back at Marinette and his smile returned, “Enough about all that though. What did you want to talk about?”

“Well now I don’t know if this is the best conversation to have considering what all you’ve already gone through today.” Marinette suddenly felt like an idiot. She shouldn’t be pushing more onto him when he’s already clearly going through a lot.

“Are you breaking up with me?” He asked, eyes full of careful trepidation.

“What? No! Of course not!” Marinette clasped his hands with hers. “Is that what you want?”

“Never. I just know that you’ve been missing out on a lot of our dates and…” He glanced down at their clasped hands, “I thought it might be because you were unsure about us. I miss you, Marinette.”

“I miss you too.” Marinette squeezed his hands tighter, “I want to tell you the truth so badly, Luka. It would clear up everything and then you’d understand why I do the things I do but I can’t tell you. It’s not because I don’t trust you but because it’s something that I know will only cause problems for you if I do.”

“Does this have anything to do with Adrien?”

“Absolutely not. This is in no way related to Adrien or my feelings or anything like that. It’s a lot more complicated than all that.”

“Can you explain it then? You don’t have to go into details if it is really that precious a secret but you need to give me something here, Marinette. I feel like you’re drifting further and further away from me and I can’t figure out what’s causing it.”

“The truth...the truth is…” Marinette swallowed back all the lies and looked into her boyfriend’s eyes. He had so much faith in her. He trusted her so much, she owed him at least this. “The truth is that I have a certain responsibility that I cannot neglect. I get called to take care of it sporadically and no matter how much I wish that I could take a day off I can’t.”

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes but she willed them back, “It feels like my life has been uprooted because of it but I can’t just back out of it either. I enjoy what I do but it always ends up hurting me and those around me in ways that I didn’t think it would when I took on this responsibility. Is any of what I’m saying making sense?”

“Marinette,” Luke pulled her closer, enveloping her in a warm hug, “It’s okay.”

“No it’s not! Because I can’t control what’s going on and it’s not fair to you and I just wish that we could have normal dates and be together like normal people.” She hiccuped, “I really like you, Luka. I want to be your girlfriend and go out on dates and have fun together but my responsibilities keep getting in the way. Everything is falling apart around me and I don’t know how to fix it. I feel like I’m way in over my head trying to keep everything from crumbling.”

“Hush now,” He rubbed a hand across her back, “It’ll be alright. I don’t know what pressure you must be under but you are doing the best you can. Even if the best you can is struggling that doesn’t mean you are doing nothing. You are doing everything you can at the capacity you are capable of doing it. That is all that can be expected of you so if a few things slip through the cracks it is not your fault. You were not being neglectful of your duties, you tried your very best. If you did nothing then that would be even worse, right?”

“But--”

Luka pulled back, grasping at her shoulders and stared hard into her eyes, “You are doing the best you can! Are you listening to me? You are doing all you can and that is enough! You are doing enough!”

Marinette started sobbing. The tears she had so desperately tried to keep away ran hot and wet down her face. Her throat was making an ugly croaking noise as she wailed and clung tightly onto Luka. She could barely breathe with how hard she started crying. Years of pent up sorrow, anger, and fear was flooding out of her and she couldn’t get it to stop even if her life depended on it.

Luka held her close and let her cry. He didn’t try to say anything to make her feel better. He just held her and hummed a peaceful melody in her ear. She wasn’t sure how long they stood there while she cried but when it was over Luka still did not let her go. Not until her hiccuping sobs quieted down into manageable sniffles.

“Feel better?” He asked, wiping the tears from her eyes. Marinette nodded. “Good. Don’t ever feel like you need to hide your struggles from me, Marinette. If you need to run off and do what you need to do then just tell me. I won’t get angry, I won’t try to stop you, I just want to know that at the end of the day that you’re okay. Dates can be rescheduled easily enough. I’m just happy to spend any time I can with you.”

“I feel like you’re being way nicer to me than I probably deserve.”

“And I think you’ve been denying yourself a lot more than you should. No matter what is going on in your life, Marinette, it doesn’t mean that you need to miss out on everything else. You can be upset and selfish. You should be. Bottling all of that up will only hurt you worse in the end.”

Marinette took a deep breath. “Well, I don’t have any other plans for tonight, did you want to do something?”

Luka smiled and kissed her forehead, “Anything you want, my melody.”

“Is it too late to go back to the boat and have a movie night?”

“Not at all,” He threaded his fingers through hers and they started the walk back to Luka’s house.

They were smiling and laughing the whole walk back. At the ramp to the boathouse though was an unexpected visitor. Luka froze, his grip on Marinette’s hand getting tighter.

“Luka,” Jagged Stone nodded to him.

“Jagged.” Luka said. His expression was unreadable.

“I’m sorry,” Jagged said, “Rock star or not I should have been around for you and your mother and your sister. I guess I felt too inadequate to be a proper father like you deserved. That’s not an excuse but--”

“Hey,” Juleka appeared on the ramp startling everyone. The girl was like a freaking ghost. “Are you my dad too or just Luka?”

“I’m your dad too.” Jagged answered.

“Awesome.” Juleka smiled and returned to inside the ship.

“Wait! Do you not have any questions?” Jagged called after her but Juleka didn’t seem all that concerned with the information. Luka wasn’t surprised. She never worried herself about who her dad was like Luka always had. She figured that she had the family she did and that was that.

“Jagged,” Luka said, “I’m glad I know the truth now and I appreciate you coming out here but it has been a long day. Right now all I want to do is sit down, watch a movie, cuddle with my girlfriend and process what all I’ve learned today. You are more than welcome to come by later this week but I really just need some time to myself to sort through all this first.”

“Yes, of course,” Jagged glanced at Marinette and his face lit up like the Eiffel Tower, “And are you dating Marinette? That is awesome! I knew you must have had great taste in women, just like your old man!”

“Jagged!” Luka’s mom shouted from the boat, “That’s enough out of you tonight! The boy wants to be left alone!”

“It’s alright, mom!” Luka shouted back. “Go back inside, I got this handled.”

Mrs. Couffaine sighed and went back inside, all the while still glaring at Jagged. “She’s right,” Jagged said, “I should be going. Enjoy your evening. And Luka, whenever you’re ready to talk I’ll be here.”

“Thanks,” Luka said, “I’ll be seeing you soon.”

With that Jagged dug his hands deep in his pockets and wandered down the street and out of sight. “You okay?” Marinette asked after he was gone.

“Still taking it all in but I’m fine. Now come here, I promised you a movie night.” Luka pulled her onto the boat. They settled down in the living room area. Marinette picked out a movie while Luka made some popcorn for them to munch on.

The opening credits began to roll and Marinette tucked herself into Luka’s side. One of his hands played idly with the ends of her hair. She sunk into his touch like a puppet whose strings had been cut. “Luka,” she whispered, lifting her head up to look at him.

“Hm?” Luka gazed down at her, “Need something?”

“Can I kiss you?” The questioned breathed past her lips.

“Yes you can,” He pulled her up closer. Their eyes drifted shut as his lips brushed against one another in the gentlest of kisses. Marinette’s insides fluttered happily as she met his soft lips again, kissing him deeper. He held her close tilting her head just so, so he could access her mouth better.

She giggled into the kiss. Her happiness unable to contain itself for even a moment. Luka chuckled too at her giggling so it rumbled against her lips. “What’s so funny?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“I’m just...happy.” She sighed, “I’m really happy here with you. And that’s the truth.”

#miraculous ladybug #ml spoilers #fix-it fic #ml season 4 #marinette dupain cheng #luka couffaine #lukanette #writing #it's fluffy. it's cheesy. it is mending something in my multi-shipping heart

[the-phoenix-heart]

10 Amazing Futurama Comics

There is a severe lack of Futurama content on this and other sites (seriously, the Night at the Museum movies have more fics than Futurama). And, nobody posts about the Futurama comics. So I’m posting 10 of my favorites.

10. Attack of the 50-Foot Amy (Issue #33)

It’s actually not as sexual as the cover makes it out to be. The basic premise is that Amy mistakes the can of growth spray (that Cubert and Dwight want to use for their science fair project) for hair spray and sprays waaaay too much before her anniversary date with Kif. Meanwhile, Bender teaches Fry the wonders of video piracy, but after he gets scared by a movie home alone style he eats his disc of pirated movies and starts uncontrollably acting them out. You can probably guess how these two plots connect.

While I do list this one as one of my favorites, it’s far from perfect. The artwork is good, but the scaling on Amy is very wonky so she looks more like a twenty-foot Amy (also Dwight’s eyes are drawn weird in this comic, he looks blazed out the entire time). But I cannot help but be charmed by this comic. It’s got some sweet Bender and Fry friendship moments and actually makes me believe Kif and Amy’s relationship for a little bit. They are very sweet in this comic, although Kif does go through some pain in this comic.

Best moments: They way they resolve the plot is actually pretty funny and clever, plus Bender hopped up on pirated movies is a joy. At one point Fry gets shoved by Steven Spielbot (don’t ask) and Bender goes all Rocky on his ass saying “No one talks to my gal, Adrian, like that!” It’s very sweet and...subtextual if you understand my meaning. This one also has anti comic book piracy message at the end which was ironic for me to read.

9. Doctor What (Issue #32)

The Professor creates a time traveling port-a-potty so that you can pee in whatever time and space you want, although it’s completely random. However, Zoidberg accidentally breaks the potty, so him, Leela, Fry, and Bender have to keep randomly flushing to get back home. On each of these new worlds Zoidberg keeps accidentally saving the citizens, getting medals, and ends up becoming addicted to the fame he keeps winning. Which leads to them getting stuck in a post apocalyptic New New York.

This is the infamous Leela-Bender-Fry fusion comic, Leelan von Fry-Bot. His backstory is actually a little sad, but I won’t spoil it here. This one is pretty good, because it has Zoidberg as the hero. Actually quite a few of these feature Zoidberg as a fourth member of the delivery crew which is weird, but not entirely unwelcome. It’s also fun to see these other worlds, and now that I think about it it’s actually a little similar to The Late Phillip J. Fry, what with the time travel to different interesting worlds.

Best Moments: I actually liked Leelan’s backstory, and his interactions with his “parents” (you’ll understand when you read it) are actually pretty funny and a little cute. Fry really wants to be a dad you can tell.

8. The Simpsons Futurama Crossover Crisis II

The professor creates a device that takes characters out of their stories into the real world. Trouble is, he tells the mayor that this invention is useful because you can get slave labor out of the characters because they technically have no constitutional rights. The Simpsons end up working with the Planet Express crew, but an accident leads to the release of ALL FICTIONAL CHARACTERS EVER.

This is a sequel comic to the Futurama Simpsons Infinitely Secret Crossover Crisis (fun fact: a reference to several famous comic book arcs). I chose this one above it though because I think it understood the assignment better. The original is funny, but I just don’t think that Springfield is a good setting for a Futurama crossover. Springfield for all its zaniness, is not the future. New New York, however, is great for this crossover. We get several scenes where we see the Simpsons going through space and fighting off monsters. We even get to see the other residents of Springfield in the future, Mr. Smithers becomes a space pirate and Mr. Burns falls in love with Mom, it’s great.

Best Moments: Some of them I already mentioned, but I cannot stress enough how hilarious the Burns-Mom romance is, it’s especially good when you can hear their voices in your head. I also like the friendship the Simpsons have with the Planet Express crew.

7. Six Characters in Search of a Story (Issue #14)

This is a very interesting comic. The Professor falls asleep, so to pass the time the crew decides to look through his old failed inventions, and well, that’s a very bad idea. The most interesting thing about this comic is it’s designed so that if you want you can only read certain panels to follow one person’s story. The Futurama comics do this a lot of the time and it’s always interesting.

The shenanigans that occur in this one are really funny, and there are some great looking pages in this. Also the Futurama crew clearly took ideas from the comics, and this is one of them. You can tell from the cover art that this does have elements of “Benderama” in it, what with Bender cloning himself ad infinitum. I also really like the climax, it’s a little schmultz-y for Futurama, but I don’t mind.

Best Moments: Fry gets stuck with a Spanish speaking Bender and I don’t know why but it’s really funny to me. The professor also gets some funny moments in this one. And Scruffy. Scruffy is always a delight.

6. Igner-ance is Bliss! (Issue #63)

Yeah this is the infamous robot Leela and Fry comic. Don’t worry, like the cover says, it’s not as dramatic as it looks. The crew has to go to a world that’s too dangerous for humans, so Fry, Leela, and Zoidberg all have their consciousnesses put into robot doubles so they can make the delivery. However, it turns out this planet is a sort of getaway spa for robots, and the crew decides to party it up there, at least until Bender discovers that this is a front for an evil plot by Mom. The subplot is mostly about how Igner is not respected by his brothers.

This one is fun, and I love a comic where Bender has to be the voice of reason. It is clearly killing him to be the responsible one, but I love it. Also, I have a soft spot for Igner, so it’s nice to see him get thrown a bone for once. This also has some really fun jokes with everyone, but Zoidberg in particular gets some bangers. I think my only problem is it ISN’T as cool as the cover makes it out, but like I’m happy with what it is.

Best Moments: Fry beats up Bender at one point and wins, I think he deserved it. Also, y’all know Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars? He makes some cameos in this one. Also all the robots (sans Bender) make a Japanese style mecha and it’s the coolest thing ever. Plus everything I’ve said about Igner I love in this one. Oh also Fry beats Calculon at poker and I really love that.

5. Who’s Dying to be a Gazillionaire? (Issue #5)

This one is sweet. The IRS is threatening to bankrupt Planet Express, and if they can’t think of a way to make a million dollars they will go out of business. No one really has any ideas and doesn’t even really care, except for Fry who is determined to save Planet Express. He gets the idea to go onto Who Wants to be a Gazillionaire to make the money, even though it’s a trivia show and if he loses he will die.

This one really warms my heart, it’s Fry at his best, just doing what he can for the people he loves. Even the professor is great in this one. I don’t want to spoil it, but trust me when I say it’s good (god I hope I’m not building this up too much).

Best moments: The end panel. But also the resolution of the story is great, and I really appreciate this comic for Fry as a character.

4. Rumble in the Jungle (Issue #38)

This is a fine comic. Leela is mad that she’s not being respected by Fry and Bender, and it’s bad enough that they don’t believe her when she says they’re going to crash into a planet. They end up parachuting down and getting separated. Leela ends up as queen of some workers in the “Amazon,” meanwhile Fry finds Bender’s corpse and goes off to avenge him.

This one is fun, and another fun one for Fry, because he’s determined to avenge Bender and works hard for it. This also includes the original Frender, not the ship but fusion. Leela and Fry even have a fight scene against each other and it’s honestly great.

Best Moments: Fry is great throughout the entire comic, and Leela spends most of her time beating up random animals. Bender also using a lead parachute he made out of toys he stole from children is funny, especially because I’m always a sucker for Bender doing dumb shit.

3. Don’t Go Taking My Heart! (Issue #69) (nice)

Mom only has a couple weeks to live, unless she can get a heart transplant. It’s revealed that Mom uses the cryogenics lab to get new body parts for herself, and that Fry was supposed to be her heart donor! Unfortunately, because he was unfrozen she now has to get him to work for Mom Corp to make sure his heart stays intact for the procedure.

If you can’t tell I love the Fry-centric comics, and I also like the comics where Mom is the villain. Of course this comic doesn’t go completely how you expect it to go, it’s actually REALLY sweet. I also love the fact that in this comic Fry actually makes a great intern. He basically has the job of a secretary and he’s GOOD at it. And I love seeing when Fry is good at things. The reason why I put this at only 3 is because it doesn’t really have a subplot. Bender gets a job at mom corp to but it’s only there for a couple pages, and Leela’s new crew gets two panels and that’s it.

Best Moments: The moments with Mom and Fry, but also guess who Mom’s doctor is? I’m actually not going to reveal it because it’s so random but also hilarious.

2. Boomsday! (Issue #58)

The Professor builds Bender his own parents, as a way to placate/discipline Bender. However, these parents decide that Fry is a bad influence on Bender, leading to them kicking him out. Meanwhile, the Professor’s doomsday devices are all stolen, and he has to go find them.

Both of these plots are funny and good. Bender’s plot is also really sweet what with his friendship with Fry, and his wish for parents. Meanwhile the Professor’s plot is just really funny and I do love seeing the Professor in his element. The ending is mostly heartwarming.

Best Moments: Everything with Fry and Bender, and Bender has a sweet relationship with his fake parents. Also, the Professor uses Issac Asimov candles on the robot mafia which I found a great joke. Oh, and the Professor’s first doomsday device was made when he was four years old and I love that. The end of the comic also has very nice message.

1. Rotten to the Core (Issue #27)

The world’s weather has gone kerflooey, and the Professor has figured out that his invention that can drill into the center of the Earth has been used. It conspires that Bender sold it at a yard sale to some aliens call the magmoids. The magmoids are trying to steal magma from the Earth’s core and the crew has to go and stop them.

This is my favorite because it’s a great character comic. All of the main three have great moments, and it’s also a great science comic. The Earth’s core is incredibly magnetic so of course Bender starts spouting out folk songs, and also SECRETS. I can’t believe no one has used the fact that canonically magnets make Bender incapable of telling lies. Anyway, it’s just really fun.

Best Moments: Way too many to count. Bender and Fry are told to cut out the “Brokeback Moanin,’“ Leela and Fry are bitter at the end, Fry tells story about his childhood, Bender has some great secrets to tell, the Professor gets a really fun ending, Bender has a rare moment of generosity, and the entirety of the climax is all kinds of fun and sweet.

#this is all part of my agenda to make more people watch futurama #or specifically read futurama because if you are antsy about watching a seven season show then at least you have 10 great comics you can rea #futurama #i try not to include frender in this but i'm easily susceptible to their friendship #turanga leela #phillip j fry #bender bending rodriguez #the professor #hubert j farnsworth #dr john zoidberg #john zoidberg #zoidberg #futurama comics

[hairringtonsteve]

wrong house, right time

[joaquin torres x reader]

summary: Sometimes, life just sucks and nothing can be done. But when one (1) Joaquin Torres shows up to fix for air conditioner, your week gets just a little better.

word count: 2,262

a/n: I wasn't going to post this publicly, but @anna-phora told me to do it, so I'm accidentally stepping into MCU fic. Which like... was the eventual plan if I'm being honest. but this was written specifically for her because I'm a great friend. (edited so it's not including her name, lol)

________________________________________________

There are some weeks that are worse than others. You know this. You have accepted this It’s par for the course in life. But really – couldn’t Teacher Appreciation Week be better than the other weeks? It doesn’t even have to be by a lot. You’d take a smidge at this point. Hell, you’d take just about anything. You rested your head against the cool wood of your kitchen cabinet and sighed. On the counter, your phone chimed, signaling a text. A moment later, it chimed again.

“Better be something good,” you mumbled. You fumbled for it blindly, refusing to look for it. This week was exhausting. You weren’t going to move more than you had to for the next two days. After a few seconds, your fingertips bumped up against the edge. Unlocking it without looking, you finally cracked an eye open, pulling away from the cabinet just enough to catch a glimpse of your screen.

A second later, two more texts popped onto the screen.

You let out a snort of laughter as you read the messages. You’d almost forgot. One of your neighbors had recommended him, saying that a friend of a friend was pretty handy with fixing things, and would probably do it for a small fee. You’d hesitated at first, but thinking about how much money a handyman would be had swayed you over.

Glancing down at your dog, Darcy, you hummed softly. “If you’re extra nice, maybe he won’t charge us.”

You ran a hand over your face as you headed through the kitchen and to the front door. You hadn’t heard any knocking, so you assumed he was right in that he was at the wrong house. Opening up the door, you peered through the screen. It took a few seconds, but you spotted a guy slowly wandering down the sidewalk, eyes glued to his phone with a toolbox in his free hand. Every few seconds he would glance up, frown, and then look back to his phone. You figured that it was him, but you didn’t say anything. It was the safe thing to do, to not yell at random men from your house.

And besides, he was cute.

Your gaze slipped over him as he walked. Short hair, strong shoulders. Despite the distance, you could tell that he was handsome. A few more steps and he was one house down. Finally, you decided to put him out of his misery.

His head jerked up as he looked around, his gaze eventually settling on you. You quirked a brow at him and he held up his phone in question. You nodded, motioning for him to come inside. A grin stretched across his lips and something in your chest twisted.

Oh.

Oh no.

Oh no, he was really cute.

Very cute.

Handsome.

Shit.

You swallowed and mustered up a grin as he started up the steps. Darcy started barking, excited at the prospect of meeting literally anyone. You unlocked the screen door and took a few steps back, hooking your fingers through her collar to make sure she didn’t take a running leap at him.

“It’s open,” you called as he reached the door. Darcy barked, tugging forward in Joaquin’s direction. “Sorry about her, she’s just really friendly.”

Joaquin was already kneeling down, setting his toolbox down beside him. “It’s fine, I love dogs. You can let her go.” He paused. “If that’s okay?”

You shrug as you let her go. Darcy shot forward, leaping towards him with an excited bark. She was all over him, unable to decide whether jumping or nuzzling was the way to go. You straightened up, your heart already doing triple time at the sight.

“So,” he started, taking his eyes off of Darcy for a second to look up at you. “Your AC is acting up?”

You nodded. “I have no clue what’s going on with it, but it won’t work. Thank you so much for coming to check it out.”

“Oh, no problem at all,” he said, rubbing Darcy’s ears. Her tail wagged furiously. “Especially for a pretty girl.” Red crept up from his neck to his ears, flushing his face in a way that made him even more attractive. He ducked his head, bashful, as he focused solely on Darcy. “So what’s her name?” The sentence came out fast, like one long word.

“Oh, um, it’s Darcy.” Words were hard to form when the phrase ‘pretty girl’ was echoing around your brain.

“Like the author?” He lifted his head as he asked, a small grin tugging at the corner of his lips. “I had to read a lot of her stuff in high school. Pride and Prejudice was always my favorite.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he grinned. “You read a lot?”

You shrugged. “Well, I am a high school English teacher.”

Joaquin laughed and nodded his head. “So you read a hell of a lot, then?” His grin settled more into a smile as he -- somewhat unsubtly -- looked you up and down. A beat of silence, and then: “So, you wanna show me the unit?” He grabbed his toolbox and stood up, arching his back a little as he tried to stretch it out from being crouched down.

“Sure,” you said as you started up the stairs. It was quiet as the two of you walked.

“So when did it stop working?” Joaquin asked, breaking the silence.

“The other day. It just started to sputter a little bit and then quit after a few seconds.” You opened up the door and motioned him inside. The AC was still in the window, still mocking you as it sat in the hot, unmoving air.

“And it hasn’t started up since?”

“Nope. I’ve been dying of heatstroke since Wednesday.”

“Makes sense,” he said as he began to shrug off his jacket. The black t-shirt underneath fit him well.

A little too well, if you were being honest.

He stepped over to the unit and began to lift the window up, as though he were planning to get it out by himself when it was clearly a two-person job.

“You need help?” You asked, already moving towards him.

“I’ve got it, I’m strong,” he said, waving you away. You went to argue with him, but he was already wrapping his arms around the thing. With his attention focused on lifting the unit out of the window, you were free to watch as his muscles strained. What was a two-person job for you was easily a one-person job for him. He took his time in setting it on the ground, guiding it down gently. He pressed his lips together as he sat down on the ground and reached for his toolbox. He looked up to where you were still standing.

“Oh, did you want me to -- I can head downstairs? So I don’t bother you?” You took a step back, but paused as he shrugged.

“Or you could stay up here. I wouldn’t mind the company.”

Your stomach flipped. You stepped inside and took a seat on the ground a few feet away from him, making it a little harder for Darcy to investigate what he was doing. That was it. You were there to keep Darcy away. But as you sat there, you realized that you had no clue what to talk about? What was he into?

It was quiet for a few seconds before he asked what your favorite movie was. And suddenly, the two of you were off. Time passed quickly as you spoke, moving from favorite movies to books to exchanging family stories. You learned that he was in the military, and traveled often. You’d asked what he did, and he just shrugged his shoulders, looking from the AC unit to you, and smirked.

“Stuff.”

“Like top-secret stuff?”

“Oh yeah,” he’d said, holding the smirk for another second before laughing. The corners of his eyes crinkled when he laughed.

You liked it.

Despite it feeling as though no time at all had passed, he announced the culprit -- a bad wire -- and it seemed like once he’d figured it out, he was done. But when you glanced at the time on your phone, your eyes widened. Two hours had gone by.

You shifted your gaze over to the window as Joaquin straightened up and tried out the AC unit. It worked like a charm. He nodded and gave the unit a little pat, as though silently congratulating it for working once more.

“So how much do I owe you?” You asked as he turned to face you.

“Nothing, that was easy.”

“That was two hours, I have to give you something.”

He shook his head. “Your company was enough.”

“Come on, let me--”

“Y/N,” he said, taking a step forward. “Your company was worth it, I’m not accepting your money.” He pressed his lips together, looking as though he wanted to say something more when his phone went off. He glanced down at it and sighed. “One sec?” He asked, already swiping to answer the call. “Hey Mom, yeah I -- yeah. Yeah, yes. I can pick that up. You want me to snag one for Grandma, too? No, I just finished fixing up the AC, I -- She’s -- Mom.” You couldn’t tell what was being said, but his cheeks were starting to flush. You could hear laughter on the other end of the line. “Yeah, yeah. I’ve got to go. I’ll see you in a bit.”

You raised a brow. “Your mom?”

“Yeah, she wants me to stop by the store on my way to visit her.” He glanced from you to Darcy and sighed. “I should probably be on my way out.”

Disappointment made itself at home in your chest. “Right, yeah,” you said, heading towards the door. The two of you made your way down the stairs, Darcy following happily behind. When you reached the first floor, you went to lean against the couch. Joaquin had his hands in his jacket pockets as he made it a few steps after you. He stood there, shifting his weight awkwardly from one foot to the other.

“Thank you, seriously. I cannot thank you enough for fixing that,” you said.

He shook his head and grinned softly. “It was no problem, Y/N.” He took a few steps towards the door before turning back to look at you. “I’ll see you around?”

You returned his grin with one of your own. “You’ve got my number.”

His grin grew even wider before he turned and headed out the door. Darcy trotted over to the door after it closed, her eyes tracking his every move as he headed towards the sidewalk. You watched for another second before calling Darcy away from the door. A minute and one treat later, the two of you were cuddled up on the couch. Idly, you switched tabs from Facebook to Tumblr, trying your hardest to avoid thinking about the last couple of hours before you heard your phone go off. Thumbing into your messages, your face instantly lit up.

________________________________________________

Two months later, you found yourself walking towards a small, hole-in-the-wall bar tucked into a sidestreet. Joaquin’s hand on the small of your back as you walked, you trying not to laugh as he gave you what felt like a rundown before one of his missions.

“Just… ignore them if they try to embarrass me, okay? I’m much cooler than whatever they say.”

You laughed. “Are you, though? Are you really?”

“Hey,” he said, giving you an indignant look as he held the door open for you. You stepped inside, taking note of how warm it was inside. People crowded around tables, the low hum of voices occasionally getting louder when the television in the corner showed someone making a basket. Joaquin tapped your shoulder, nodding to the right. “I am very cool, I’ll have you know. Just last week, I –”

“Hey, Torres!” A voice called from a back booth. Joaquin sighed as he stepped in front of you and lead you towards the booth. “Weren’t you the one to say, ‘be there at seven and don’t be late, I really like this girl?’ And you’re what, thirty minutes late?”

“Thirty-two minutes late, by my count,” another voice chimes in as the two of you get closer. You’re already grinning as you note how Joaquin ducked his head.

You lean forward, just close enough so he’ll be able to hear you. “You really like this girl, huh?”

It was difficult to hear his response with his back turned to you, but you watched as his shoulders slumped and caught what sounded like a “not you too.” You tilted your head back and laughed, bright and airy, as you approached the table. Your eyes settled on the two men crowded into the booth, your laugh cutting off as recognition settled in.

He hadn’t said that they were these friends.

“Y/N, we’ve heard a lot about you. Like a lot about you.”

He’d only ever talked about work in the abstract, which made sense. It wasn’t like he could go on, telling you all the details about whatever mission he was on. But he’d spoken of coworkers and even one that had become a friend. But he’d never mentioned names, or the context of things, or…

“Honestly, the kid doesn’t shut up about you.”

Or the fact that they were literal Avengers.

Joaquin groaned. “Can you two—”

Sam Wilson settled back into his seat and grinned as he motioned for you to sit down. “I’m Sam, this is Bucky. It’s good to finally meet you.”

#joaquin torres x reader #joaquin torres fanfic #joaquin torres x you #mcu x reader #joaquin torres #tfatws