#the infinity portal? not even god could answer that

[lectern-fullcauldron]

when I first began watching docm77, it was late season six. i didn't know what was coming when he marked out a border with yellow and black concrete and quarantined some aliens.

doc built projects in area 77, brand new projects that turned the old minecraft I knew to dust. village and pillage was here, and tango's abandoned iron farm at spawn was obsolete.

the first time horror struck me, that first moment when I looked at my scream and said: something is horribly wrong, is when he started building that first infinity portal.

weeks and weeks went by and that portal warped under his hands. and doc only explained it when the sun set on the season, and the hermits dived through the portal with its edges glittering with diamond.

weeks and weeks went by and he'd end his episode by changing one block on that portal, and he wouldn't tell us how, or why. it was terrifying, it was mastery.

the hippies were saying that horrors were happening in area 77 and they weren't wrong. doc was showing us that they weren't wrong.

it was brilliant storytelling on his part. I'd definitely recommend watching it, if you haven't seen it

#good to reblog #hermitcraft #docm77 #like his raid farm was cool #but he explained that #the infinity portal? not even god could answer that

[arolock]

Is Prime's arc really over?

I mean, he's dead alright, no doubt in that, and tbh I sort of hope that he will not be brought back to life. But. BUT.

This is a long ass rant. If you open it, it's on you.

Even in the last confrontation between Prime and C-137 we didn't really get any solid confirmations of Prime and C-137 origin story. We know they've met, we know Prime showed C-137 "infinity" (in his own words) and killed C-137's family, which resulted into C-137 trying to hunt him down, but except those facts confirmed and explained in s6ep1, s7ep3, s7ep5, nothing else was. Not the real meaning of their conversation in the garage, not even the fact of this garage meet-up being the first time they've met, and also not the meaning of Prime's words that he misses it when there were only two of them.

Both Mortys seem to buy everything Evil Morty extracted from C-137's memories (Evil Morty is confident in his tech and Prime Morty is just like that lol), but can we really trust that those memories are intact? What if, just like with Federation, Rick kept main points of events, but changed the details or timeline, that can potentially flip the meaning or change the tone of said events?

The most confusing part in relation to the timeline for me is Prime's slips during his rants: "I do miss when it was just us. The only two Rick's who actually invented portal travel", especially combined with "I showed you infinity".

It makes sense in two possible situations: if Prime showed C-137 the portal tech ("showed you infinity"), offered it, was rejected, left, killed his family and then was actively fucking with C-137 during the first hunt (which can explain the "miss when it was just us" line) OR if Prime showed him the portal tech, C-137, being inspired, also invented the portal travel, and then he and Prime were on friendly terms for some time after that, travelling together or each on their own with random meet-ups, until Prime offered him something else, which C-137 declined. Then everything else followed.

And honestly? IMO, first option doesn't line up. We never saw clones or decoys of Prime during C-137's first hunt in the crybaby backstory, no mocking images of Diane, nothing that could possibly indicate that Prime was actively playing with him. We also see other Ricks owning portal technology during young C-137's run, so there already weren't "just two of us", only in the very beginning maybe. Prime obviously watched C-137 to keep track on him and his whereabouts and shenanigans, but we don't see him making any moves himself, interacting with C-137 in any way. So what's there to miss at all?

Let's look at the second option. What's really interesting about it is how Prime's words "I showed you infinity" can be interpreted in two ways that are not mutually exclusive - as in showing interdimensional travel or showing something entirely else, possibly even bigger. Like something that was supposed to create "Infinite Rick, a GOD", which was mentioned in the 'falce' memory in 03x01 together with another interesting line: "Once we give you this technology, you become the smartest man in the universe". Since we know that Rick uses his own memories to fool people, it's entirely possible that these lines are real, they sound real, like something Prime could say. But.

But how simply owning a technology makes you the smartest man in the universe? The answer is - it doesn't. You just own it. You don't become smarter because you get your hands on a sci-fi tech, unless it alters your own mind/brain to make you smarter, and portal travel doesn't work like that.

This is just a theory based on the altered memory of Rick C-137, but what if Rick Prime wasn't just giving out portal tech, but was actively doing almost the same thing Evil Morty have done - absorbing every possible knowledge of every Rick he encountered, maybe connecting them in some kind of a web instead of killing them, so he could cover his presence not using a Morty, but creating virtual clones of himself everywhere in all those Ricks? Maybe that's what he was tempting C-137 with - infinite knowledge of infinite Rick. Unite every single one of them, make them bigger than the universe, make them THE GOD in every sense possible.

Only that it can cost you everything. Cost you your humanity. Change you ultimately, make you so much above any other being, that it will eventually sound lonely. So Rick C-137 declined.

It's just a random ass theory. But how does it sound?

#rick and morty #rick sanchez #rick and morty theory #rick and morty thoughts #rick and morty timeline #prime rick #rick c137 #rick prime #i need to vent about rick sanchez tm #long post #long reads #r&m

[siccariushahni]

GRIEVING.

Pairing: Miguel O'hara x F!Reader.

Wc: 1,5k

Disclaimer: Angst, mention of death, grief, good ending. If i forgot anything please let me know!

The heavy weight forming on your chest as you first stepped onto the HQ in the morning were almost an understatement, a heavy cloud of resentment and something more that you couldn't really say, maybe some type of presentment or apprehension; something felt so wrong and god knows what really was.

It seemed that everyone on the field knew what were happening but you. Everything seemed pale, lifeless, like if a silence vow have been made without your knowledgement. You didn't heard a single word from anyone, not even a chitter-chatter from afar, their expressionless faces rathering to look on the ground than to you.

Your paces were filled with uncertainty as you headed to Miguel's office, the infinity of empty corridors on your path made your already tight chest ache for any kind of answer. Where were everyone? God, it even looked like someone had.. died?

Everything stopped on that right moment, your throat became dry like a desert and something clicked on your head, suddenly it all made sense. Your fingers trembled with fear and worry with the slighest idea of what was actually happening. Your legs ached for a break as you ran towards the office's big doors, mustering all the remaining strength you had to open them. The sight of the empty plataform made your heart sink to your stomach and Lyla's apologetic eyes didn't made it any better.

'How could i forget about it?' You repeated it to yourself as a form of self-flagellation, today were the day where Gabi passed away, it was Miguel's fifth year without her but time didn't made it any easier and you knew that too well. You were the one who were supposed to take care of him on that exact day, like you did a year ago and the year before. You were the only one Miguel really allowed himself to trust, to show this side of him; all his vulnerability, his weaknesses and how he really blamed himself for what happened.

Unfortunately things this year weren't the same as before. It's been eight months since Miguel had broken up with you. His words still resonating on your chest, the guilt and the fear on this man's shoulders were something that corroded him from inside out. The incessant thought that he would be the reason of your inevitable fate haunted him every night; the fear of losing you, hurting you. He couldn't bear it. And lamentably there were nothing you could do to change his mind, not even all the kisses and reasurrement words you could give him, your eyes burned with just the mere reminder.

You quickly typped Miguel's cordinades on your gizmo, jumping on the wide open portal without a second thought.

"Wait-" Lyla called your name in a hush, her voice echoed on the background as you were transported to his flat, the one you two shared so much intimate moments. You had to brush all the remembrance away as your eyes darted around the room, all the lights were off. The darkness felt empty, it was harrowing.

"Miguel..?" You voice went like a whisper, the fear of being too loud and breaking something that didn't had repair. Something inside your old lover and his broke self.

Such careful steps, like the floor would break apart as a thin layer of ice in a frozen lake. You knew he were here, even if he pretended not. The sound of his broken heart resonated within you.

Something crashed inside you as you had finally reached his room. You would never see the man you love as a being who deserved pity, he would never want that. Knowing Miguel as much as you did he would rather be a dead man than someone who's seen like miserable; but even trying so much there wasn't other word to better describe the sight.

The usual big and imposing Miguel O'hara, the man who held the responsability of taking care of all the multiverse, so many lives, all the canon bullshit which he tried with all his might to maintain. Now lowered to the resemblance of a wounded animal.

The extremely large body shrunk in the corner of the room, the eyes who had looked at you with such passion on the past now were full of remorse; deep dark circles like you've never had seen on him, thick tears rolling down by his cheekbones and soaking his t-shirt. The lips you used to whisper sweet-nothing's against, to kiss so passionately, now quivered with such heavy sobs; the effort he made on trying to contain them were almost palpable. He held Gabriela's favorite cloth doll for dear life, pressing it against his chest; his claws unconsciously opening small holes on the thin fabric.

Every breath you took felt like a bunch of needles scratching inside of your lungs, it hurted like hell seeing the man you loved in such suffering, you really wished you could take his pain to yourself to free him of all that madness fate put him on. His eyes averted your face, maybe shame, longing, you couldn't say.

"It's okay.." the sweetness in your tone made him shudder, he craved your touch, your care, your embrace, you. The way only you managed to rid him off of his misery. How this poor man spent nights on trying to keep your smell on his things, how he missed the sound of your voice when talking to him, to wake up in the morning and seeing the sunrise kissing your soft skin while you kept dreaming. Oh poor, Miguel..

You expected him to push you, to hiss, to send you away at least to show how your presence was not desired here. But your walls came down as he settled himself between your legs, his immense trembling body trying to poorly hide on your small figure; your arms surrounded him so fast, holding him tight against your chest. "It's all my fault.." He stuttered between sobs, his voice so low and hoarse, almost like he stood screaming his pain away for hours now.

A hot little puddle formed in the chest of your suit, his tears touching your skin so softly that you couldn't bare to hold a cry, your emotions failed you on trying to be his strength. "I lost her and then you.. I failed you, I-I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.. " he trembled inside your arms, your grip on him just increasing.

A small kiss were placed on his forehead, your shaky hands caressing the nape of his neck so slowly as you poured your heart on every touch. "You could never loose me, Miggy. Never. I know that you did what you thought was better for me, for us. There's nothing to be sorry about." his grip on your suit so light, he didn't felt worthy of your forgiveness, or touching you, not after seeing how much you suffered because of his decisions.

His head snapped from your chest, his glossy eyes finally facing you after what seemed like years. His lips moving so uncertain of what his heart begged to be said. "I.. I love you, I-I'll never be able to not love. To look at you and not feel that I ruined everything. Gabi would've hated me for what I did to you-"

"Don't ever say that again." you interupted him, your lips pressed in a line as you tried to hold the tears back. "Don't ever dare to think she would hate you, she loved you until her last breath." his big hands came on top of yours, squeezing them so weakly as you tried to remain still. "Maybe you've made mistakes, but you don't deserve being punished like this. You're human, Miguel. You already learned what you needed to, you failed and then you fixed what you could. Please stop torturing yourself.."

You brushed back a lock that fell over his tired crimson eyes, your thumb caressing his features as your heart pleaded for you to remember every small detail that you may had forgot on this months apart. His eyes darted from yours to your slightly wounded lips. If only maybe he allowed himself to get closer to you, to kiss you.. God, how did you missed kissing him.

Your breath hitched as his lips brushed sweetly against yours, so close but at the same time so far. "I.." his words faltered. "Please.." he searched for any doubts on your eyes, on your words. You nodded absentmindedly, your thoughts went numb. You craved it for so long.

The tip of his tongue grazed your lower lip, a supplicate for entrance, to remember your lovely taste. Your eyes closed and your mouth slightly opened, a single shiver running down your spine as you molded yourselves into each other, so familiar. Suddenly the room feelt so small, there wasn't enough place for all the buried emotions.

Painfully you had to separate against your will, both lungs begging for oxygen, foreheads leaning against eachother. "Please, don't leave.." he placed his palm on your cheek, cuping your face so perfectly like you've been tailor made for him.

"I'll not.." his face returned to your chest, hiding itself while his body leaned on yours. Both of you stood there, between caresses and sweet words, until his crying stopped and he feel asleep on you, the ground never felt so good before.

#miguel x reader #miguel o'hara x reader #miguel o'hara #miguel o'hara x y/n #miguel o'hara x spiderwoman!reader #across the spiderverse #miguel o'hara x fem!reader #f!reader #atsv miguel #miguel spiderman #miguel spiderverse #miguel o'hara x you

[bigdvmnhero]

summary:

"They say you'll save us all," the yokai continued. "A lofty fate. Wouldn't you say, ronin?" I don't want it, Mikey thought, surprised by the fierceness of it. Take it from me.

chapter two | prev | ao3

It had been a good few paralyzing months since Leo last answered to anyone, but April would be damned if she let him walk away now. "C'mon, Leo," she called after him. "Calm down."

"I'm calm?" came the bewildered laugh.

But the brisk footfalls ahead slowed, and Leo pulled his sword arm back to slice a platter-sized portal open. Then he shoved his head inside it.

Distantly, April thought she heard a muffled pterodactyl screech of pure, unbridled fury.

A passing soldier broke into a panicked half-jog.

"See?" Leo stepped back, and his eyes were unfazed when he fastened them on her. "I'm great. Just—fantastic." The portal twinkled behind him; in another universe, April would have cannonballed right in, straight into a life sweet as neon punch. "Wanna try?" he offered brightly.

April didn't trust that grin; it had secret blades hidden all over it. Leo's weapon of choice.

Silence, it appeared, was April's. Something Leo had very little experience with it. For all his expertise, he tended to buckle under it in seconds. Starting now.

"You could toss stuff into it too," Leo added, conspiratory. "Just don't ask me where it goes."

April crossed her arms.

"Don't wooooorry about it—it's a Donnie problem, m'kay? Just find something fun to break."

Ten seconds. In the meantime, April mastered her best impression of a rock. Flat and unimpressed.

"Maybe not anything useful though. I kinda love having chairs. Donnie's bunsen burners, though..."

She pitched an eyebrow up—the final blow. Leo sagged like a puppet.

"Fine." He twirled his sword and the portal sewed itself shut. "But don't come looking for me when you're feeling cranky..."

The abandoned subterranean warehouse they called their base offered near-complete protection from the elements, courtesy of Donnie most of all. A tradeoff was the lack of private enclosures to talk shit about little brothers, or even to enjoy a brief mental breakdown under the impossible weight of the apocalypse.

This, April reasoned, was the only reason Leo remained standing, hip-cocked, seemingly unbowed by the promise of her verbal fire. "Listen, alright?" she began—biting back the you dumb little shit her own trigger-happy tongue threatened to fire—she could be zen; remember your training, O'Neil? "All I'm saying is, you can't run your men ragged like that."

"Oh, my fault? I'm running them ragged?" And god, Leo could be such a drama kid when he wanted to be. "Who keeps pulling them out of the field last minute? Who's stuffing them in airships to play babysitter for billionaires doing fuck all to help us, because their butler Miguel just got Kraangified cleaning the fucking—infinity pool, or whatever? Not me. I'm not their leader."

"Well, you sure are actin' like it," she answered, and they stood there looking cross at each other as another soldier squirreled past them. The boy had waved seeing April from the end of the hallway, only to skip past as if dodging hot coals after realizing Leo was standing there too, like a vengeful apparition of god.

Under the dull warehouse fluorescents, Leo was less god, more patron saint of jaded-eyed misery. Some missionary for the church of Stick Up My Ass. And anyway, April's faith was deteriorating, and fast.

Away from the blitz of the battlefield, the civilians' adoring eyes, this version of Leo was a blunted edge. She missed his sharp jokes. She'd never say it, but it was one of the things she envied most about him. Clever-quipped, facetious, all-seeing Leo. Come back, idiot, she thought.

Alone again, she rounded on him. "Didn't we talk about this? Like it or not, these men aren't trained like us. We gotta set our expectations straight. Those guys? They are our fair-weather rag-tag volunteer team. At least, for now. And most of 'em think we're just dumb kids, Lee. They're not gonna fall in line all because we know a ninja trick or two!"

Leo lifted his chin. "Well, if their men are so important to them, why aren't the EPF here? Why are we the ones training them? Even Donnie's supplying most of our arms at this rate. Hell—we're feeding them! Three meals a day, April; like we're some kind of roadside hotel—"

"Rats and sci-fi food cubes are hardly—"

"What am I supposed to do then?" The question was sudden, gummed with emotion, and that was how April knew Leo was cracking. Finally—something real. "Raph's out there, risking his shell each day so no alien overlords breach our border. Donnie's straight up killing himself just trying to keep our base functional, and Mikey—" Leo's throat swallowed the rest. April looked away. Easier to finish the sentence for him in her own mind: Mikey, who phased through the days, seemingly unchanged. Mikey, who never cried since.

Leo dragged a hand down his face. "Meal planning should be the least of our concerns. These guys are eating through our rations—rations civilians are happy to give up, by the way, if it means we can protect them. And I can overlook them being sloppy and untrained—I'll take a little mutant racism, too, sure, why not!" April winced. "But complaining about the food? Come on," and the laugh was wrong all over, barbed with something dark.

April couldn't blame him; it had bothered her too, the way they took hesitant bites of the tough white bread they'd served, half-emptied the cans of beans and dried meat, pushing their plates away, the stuff unfinished, and sure it had been the old same fare they'd been having for the past four months—going on five now—the taste long indistinguishable from dusty cinder blocks, but it was all they had. It was that, or Donnie's nutrient cubes. Or the rats. At least they had options.

People died for those options.

Killed, too.

"I get it," April said, but Leo was shaking his head.

"Do you? 'Cause I'm sick of this publicity stunt the EPF's doing. Calling me and my brothers heroes, then leaving us with what? Psh." He sent a bitter smile skyward that could've melted through the beams. "I'm done."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I'm not about this puppet leader gig, April. Or the lies, or the sappy radio speeches I gotta do every week to convince the world everything's sunny and great and nice. It's clear none of them care about protecting the little guys." His voice dropped into a hardened stone, the resoluteness in it barely restrained. He stepped close. "Me? I'm ready to do something real, April. Something big. And I need real soldiers out there. In the dirt, with me. With us."

Later, she would regret not telling him of the deep pride she felt for him, at that moment. But in her chest was its twin star—grief, white-hot and insistent. It demanded all of her. "I hear ya, Leo. I promise." She reached for his bristling shoulder. "But you need... you need to give them time. They've lost stuff too, you know."

"Not this," Leo groaned, then turned to resume his march down the hallway. April gave chase. In the past month alone Leo had shot up like an oak tree; it was taking her twice as many steps just to keep up.

"C'mon, Lee. Wait."

He kept walking.

"Really? Just like that?"

"Just like that." He threw finger guns in the air.

Well, damn, April thought, nobody told me today was Little Shit Sunday, and pulled him by his mask tails.

Leo yelped something undignified.

He was so used to people walking on eggshells around him he'd forgotten how rotten April's big sister play could be, and honestly? That was on him. Six feet tall, and it was still on him.

Leo whirled on her, face twisted in exaggerated affront. Gleefully, April wished she had a camera; Raph would eat this up, like the day Leo's own blade snapped in his face. Never heard the end of it. "I wasn't finished. So! Ready to listen now?"

"Yeah," Leo said. He didn't look happy about it.

"Good. Thought so. 'Cause I was just about to say that yesterday, these guys weren't soldiers. They were just people. Know what I mean? Just dumb, silly people, silly kids, with jobs and hobbies and stuff to look forward to. And now they're soldiers. Y'know what that's like?"

Leo glued his eyes stubbornly on the bare cement wall behind her, but he let his jaw be turned. There was a new notch in his shoulder, healing nicely; April had stitched it herself. Leo didn't cry, but he'd clutched at April's knee the whole time, his grip clammy and white-knuckled. Said, what's a turtle gotta do to get some entertainment 'round here? And, wait, don't use up the thread, Cass's gonna need to change hers out sooner or later.

"Maybe," Leo answered.

"Nah, I know you do," April said—their best friend April now, not war advisor April or whatever role she played to keep them all sane. "Bet you know it better than any of us. Oi—eyes on me. Whatcha thinking about in that head of yours anyway?"

"Well, for one—" he pushed her hand away, but there was something shifting aside in his face, "how the only reason any of those guys listen to me is because of you." When April snorted, he continued. "I'm not trying to flatter you. If you hadn't spoken for us back then, I'm pretty sure the EPF would've gotten rid of us. Bet they're just itching to finish the job."

April didn't like to think about that. "Well, that's 'cause none of you know when to keep your mouths shut. Someone's gotta keep your asses in line. Maybe I will be commander one day, just for that." When Leo didn't seem to toss the idea aside like she wanted him to, she shook his shoulders before the conspiring glint in his eye could manifest into something. "All I'm saying is, y'all stuck with me. And I see you, Leo."

She cupped his cheek again. A long time ago, Leo would've leaned into her hand, basked in her easy affection. Now he turned rigid under any touch.

"I know things are all sorts of fucked right now, but I'm your friend first. Always am. We're on your side. 'Kay?"

Leo's eyes went back to the wall; April turned his face again, patient.

"And your brothers are war machines, sure. But they're your brothers, too." She couldn't help it—she pinched both his cheeks hard. Leo yelped then glowered. April stood her ground; the guy had to be put in his place regularly, or there was just no living with him. "And you're not just their leader. Not to them. Got it?"

"—seriously manhandling—"

"Got it?"

"—yes ma'am, okay, sheesh!"

"And you," April called out, lifting her gaze skyward, "you're not slick. I can literally hear you breathing."

Twenty feet up, hanging upside down from the high ceiling by spidershell-arms, Donnie and Mikey stared back with wide eyes.

In Mikey's arms was a hefty black vinyl bag, nearly twice his size. In Donnie's arms was Mikey. They shared a brief look that belonged to two doomed men and seemed to swallow their tongues.

An eternity passed in stilted silence.

For the first time in his life, Leo didn't get the first word in.

"Oh, mama, and would you look at the time, Dee—we are crazy late for brunch service!" Mikey kicked Donnie into action, and they crawled and skittered and fumbled through the final stretch to the hatch in the ceiling, which Donnie's robo-arms began to dismantle with frenetic speed. "Gotta run! I've got an army to feed, like literally! Talk later, 'kay?"

With a crash, they disappeared in a blur of robo-arms. The hatch fell shut. The echo traveled boldly through the wide enclosure, and, horrified, April turned to watch the way Leo's face changed, realizing it mattered little if she'd given him an earful that day or not; not when Mikey would figure out how to soften up the resistance members in ways Leo couldn't even fathom—all with a bowl of leftover rice fluffed with heat, scallions, eggs—"Eggs?!" Leo repeated—a dash of patience, and good ol' MSG, sweetening the dank underground base with the ambrosial smell of homemade cooking, all made in Splints' trusty rice cooker—and boy did they love that rice cooker. Hadn't that been exactly one of Splinter's lessons to her?

She shook her head with a smile, watching the miracle unfold. That's right, she thought. The fight you win is the fight you don't need to have.

Oh, Splints. She missed him something fierce. Later, she would crack open her old martial arts book to study her own sixteen-year-old writing on the margins, lessons from a lifetime ago trying to save the last great Lou Jitsu dojo. Splinter taught her everything she knew.

Maybe there had been things she'd dropped along the way. But now she picked up that old snakeskin, and remembered.

:::

They'd started off on the wrong foot—but even that was probably an understatement, wasn't it? Before they were violently forced underground, they were garment workers, porters, fishermen, who knew very little of New York and its supposed mutant saviors. To them, Mikey and his brothers were science fiction: green, scaly abominations from botched Frankensteinian experiments.

I'll take it, Raph had said. Way better than "demons." Remember the cult who tried trapping us in salt circles? Yeesh.

Donnie had shrugged it off. Mikey forgave it. Leo called it "a tactical advantage" and nurtured their fear until it grew into something else, something closer to awe.

For months, they shared no language. Nothing but the desire to survive. When Leo first showed the scrappy crowd how it was done—slaughtering a Kraang with nothing but rust-eaten gardening tools, stealth, and a whole lot of attitude—the spell was complete.

Almost.

Leo was used to leading three unruly brothers. But thirty? Mikey watched his brother's patience fray at the edges. Older survivors pointed at Leo's youth, but still Leo pushed, and he pushed hard.

Until they pushed back. Until the EPF started shuttling out their men, and their men let them, in exchange for one night of excess. Until they grew sick of the training, it was thankless work, sick of the drab, featureless cinderblock walls, of the bone-deep hunger, of the congealing loss of home far from the sun and Leo's uncanny asshole motherfucker era—ahem.

Mikey knew what he had to do. One spoonful of that fluffy, perfectly salted rice—and it had to be rice, didn't any of Mikey's brothers know these guys were kin? White bread for breakfast was just never gonna cut it—and the change was near palpable. Homesickness fled from their faces like horseflies. They filed into position, ready for the day's mission. Didn't even roll their eyes during Leo's attack demo of the day.

It had been just like this, once. Communal breakfasts every weekend. The lair smelling blessedly of butter. Mikey stacking each of his brothers' plates sky-high with pancakes, the thanks for the meal, Mikester, the head pats, the way Mikey loved life most when surrounded by all of them.

"By Galileo’s—is that a sugary drink." Donnie sat back on the bench at record speed when Mikey pulled out a Dr. Pepper he'd especially saved for this occasion. "I haven't had sugar in... I can't even say it. It’s too tragic.”

Mikey popped the lid and poured it delicately into his brother’s cup. Then, tongue poking out his mouth, he decided to tip the can over completely, letting it slosh around the sides. "Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?"

Donnie received his offering with wide eyes. "My cupeth."

Mikey clinked their cups together. "Shall runneth over, brother."

Donnie pulled one, long, hard gulp and considered the ceiling, dazed. He seemed to have arrived at some miraculous realization Mikey wasn’t privy to, like the secrets of nuclear fission, or the flight pattern of small, brown birds. "Huh. Wow." He blinked owlishly at Mikey, like he did at the end of a meditation, then put his cup down. He tapped his chest. "I suppose you may have one." He jabbed a finger in the air. "One!"

Mikey rose from his seat. "Dee…"

"One minute max," Donnie corrected firmly. But he unfurled his arms and smiled.

"One minute!" Mikey lost it. He threw himself into Donnie's embrace, and the bench almost tipped them over; this day was the best. Fluffy eggs on rice, Donnie hugs (twice! in one day!), and a happy resistance, at least for now.

His organic stash would need sorting. The leafy veggies had to be pickled, in jars of brine before winter arrived and frosted the base. Planting the beans would be easy, and easier still—the potatoes. Junior would love potatoes. Cloud-soft and heavenly once boiled. It would be months until their dumpster baby grew out his baby teeth; maybe they all could use something gentle.

And then Donnie stiffened in Mikey's arms, and Mikey knew his time was up.

Leo was walking towards their table.

"Alas, while this was delightful—" Donnie shot upright, "I must bid you farewell, beloved brother, for I have to.... dismantle a gun. Or several."

Mikey mirrored him. "M-me too!"

"You don't possess firearms."

"Well, I could!" Leo was drawing closer, his expression unreadable. "You don't know that!"

Donnie's eyebrows beetled quizzically. "Well, why haven't you shown me then? Do you need an upgrade?"

"An upgra—no! I got my own! Cool fire chain, remember!"

"Angelo, while your fundo is a highly impressive hand-held melee weapon, I would hardly place it in the same category as my own—"

"Donnie!" Mikey panicked. "I think we both agree we have very important things to do! Not here!"

"Right." Donnie nodded hastily. "Goodbye." They moved to part ways.

Something fast and made of steel flashed through the air. It thudded into the table between them, a perfect equidistance.

Leo's katana. The hilt convulsed like an arrow's feather.

Miraculously, Donnie lost his slouch, and Mikey let out an honest-to-god squeak, which could've been dignified if he wasn't seventeen and a half.

In the next second, Leo had apparated on the table across them, his grip loose on the hilt. He made no motion of pulling his weapon out. Instead, he reached over to peer curiously into Donnie's bowl.

"Leftovers? Come on, guys. We're better than this." Leo clucked. "Oh, lookity! These are prime stuff, Mike. Rice and eggs, too?" A long whistle. "Didn't know our desert hideout had a farm now. Why're you two standing there? Have somewhere to be? Sit."

They sat.

"Hi, Leo," Mikey managed.

"Hi, Mikey.” Leo rested his cheek on his palm. "Had fun today?"

"I did! I mean—" Donnie kicked his shin, and Mikey swallowed his story. There it was. Not a lot of people could tell the difference, but Mikey could. There was the resistance's Hamato Leonardo, and there was Leo, who normally had an airy head tone, was receptive to Mikey's puppy dog eyes, and did not fling sharp, damning sentences disguised as innocent open-ended questions, like so.

Donnie stepped in. “Alright Leo, I know our tardiness might've caused a bit of a surprise—“

“Oh, I knew,” Leo answered. “Raph said it’d be a quick detour. Probably super important, though, right?”

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,” Mikey said, at the same time Donnie mumbled a vindictive, that snitch, under his breath.

The bowl was poked, prodded, and sniffed in Leo's hand. “I mean, it must be. Important enough to miss morning drills.” Leo pulled his sword free. Donnie winced at the grating schwing. “But hey—at least breakfast is bomb, am I right?”

“The most important meal of the day?” Mikey tried weakly.

Officially, this was the worst; Donnie couldn’t lie to save his life, and Mikey’s resolve was slowly chipping away like paint under Leo’s magnifying-glass eyes.

Leo dipped his finger in the bowl and lifted a grain of rice to the light. It was short grain, firm and glutinous, grown only in the lush countryside. Or perfectly-engineered geodesic domes.

Leo made a low whistle. "Now, would you take a look at this beauty.”

Donnie seemed to understand they were damned. “I assure you, Nardo, it was a careful operation, everything was sourced ethically and responsibly.” To this, Leo snorted. “Alright. So the ethical part is... dubious. But the keyword is alive. Mikey’s safe, our hideout's uncompromised, and we’ve done the honors of feeding your soldiers a meal they probably haven’t had since the world went kaput. I don't see why you’re making such a fuss.”

"Oh, so we're going there? Okay." Leo leaned forward with a grin that didn't reach his eyes. "Why shouldn’t I worry. Starting with you, Dontron. Shall I count the ways?"

"I am detecting a rhetorical question—"

"One." Leo held a finger up. “You’ve had several heart palpitations during training this week—” Two fingers, “—April found you in the lab two days ago, because you had a cardiac episode from your blood pressure deciding to go skydiving—"

“What!” Betrayed, Mikey whipped his head back at Donnie, whose face seemed to have all the green frightened out of it. "Donnie!"

Leo continued, all three fingers up now, “Not to mention that time you went fucking blind in one eye because of a migraine, which—who knew, right? I sure as hell didn't."

“Ugh, yeah, I know." The Ceo and owner of Genius Tech groaned into his multiple spider-shell arms. "Embarrassing. LOL."

“LOL?” Leo's voice pitched strangely; Mikey couldn't look. "LOL?"

“Laugh out—look, it happened one time—“

"It should be ZERO times," Leo boomed, and the bowls shook as a fist pounded the table. For once Mikey agreed, feeling the first stirrings of understanding with this strange new bristling version of his brother, like the phony amalgamation of every parental figure in their sorry lives. This lasted for about two seconds. And then Leo whirled on him. "And you, Mikey darling, my baby brother."

"And me, your baby brother." The affection in Mikey's gut soured into dread. "And me..."

“Was it fun, doing some last-minute shopping at The Gardens?"

And darn, Leo was good. Too good. But Mikey’s prized hoard was still under the table, hidden behind the shadows and Mikey’s busted knees, undiscovered. Things were still salvageable.

While Mikey kicked the bag further into obscurity, Leo geared up for a Talk. “Honestly, joyrides in the middle of work aren’t for me, but I get it. Really, I do. This apocalypse sitch gets old, doesn't it? Food stinks, too. But it’s way too early in the game to be slacking off. If you wanna fuck off god knows where because you need a vacation? Be my guest. But you better be in the best shape of your lives. Better than ever. Better than me.”

Leo pushed himself off the bench and honest-to-god paced. Meanwhile, Donnie rolled his eyes so far back into his head Mikey was afraid it’d be permanent.

“We can't rely on our mystic powers anymore. I need you guys to hone your hard skills like they're the only tools you've got left. Because they are. People are counting on it." Leo paused to shoot a look over his shoulder. "Donnie-dear, if you don't start taking care of yourself and die a sad pathetic death in your lab, I promise, as your leader I am and will release all your tech to the EPF. Including all your trademark rights."

Donnie looked like he'd faint. "You wouldn't."

"Try me. And Mikey—we need to double down on your drills, and no more skipping out on training with Draxum. You can't razzmatazz out of this one. We need to figure out how to harness all that mystic potential of yours, and your basics are terrible as it is. What did we say about practicing?"

Mikey mumbled.

Leo tapped his ear. "Sorry, what was that?"

“Practice is your friend,” Mikey recited in a flat line. "For we are what we repeatedly do."

That seemed to perk Leo up. "Exactly! So I’ll see you for drills bright and early tomorrow morning.” Leo turned to go. “See? Knew you'd come around. And alright, I don't think your form is terrible, Mike—but you don't have to be doing all things all the time. I appreciate a little creativity in battle, but sometimes a good offense is a good defense."

“Sometimes a good offense is a good defense,” Mikey mimicked under his breath.

Leo froze mid-stride.

Mikey clapped a hand over his mouth with a resounding slap. Donnie, who had a semi-clear view of Leo’s face, turned his gaze to Mikey and gave a brief shake of his head. His flat, dead-eyed smile seemed to say, seeyanara, little brother.

“Leo,” Mikey tried, as Leo's back turned. “I mean—sensei. I mean—my big brother whom I love very very much, you know that, don't you? C’mon. I was just having a laugh, just having a little jokey-joke—”

“Changed my mind! We’ll do drills now, actually,” Leo said brightly. He clapped his hands once. “Twenty one-arm push-ups.”

Mikey collapsed like a Jenga pile onto the table. "Nooooo, not the push-ups! They get so old.”

“Fifty, then." Leo smiled, serene. "Where you going, Dee? You're up too. We’re sparring—and no battleshell tricks.”

“Please, god, why," Donnie moaned, at the same time Mikey begged, "Can I do some backflips instead?”

“A hundred then, lucky you!" Leo walked towards Mikey's end of the table, and Mikey didn't think he was going to do what he thought he was about to, but Leo had a penchant for surprising him. "Whatever that thing is under the table must be so worth it.”

Mikey's brain whited out. “Wait, wait! Don’t touch Donnie’s stuff!” and Leo paused, mid-reach. “He was scared we were running low on coffee rations, s-so we went to get a refill!”

A flicker of betrayal passed through Donnie's face. But he plastered on an unnatural smile. "Aha—whaaaat. Mikey.”

Leo’s calculating gaze hovered between them. But he’d stopped walking—small victories. “Thought we had a month of coffee left," he said, frowning.

"Apologies if I can't keep track of every single thing in this household!" Donnie shot back.

Leo crossed his arms. To Mikey, he barked, “Still no push-ups happening, camarada. You're not getting out of this one. And no magic gateways—"

Without warning, Donnie threw his weight carelessly onto Leo and dragged his bandana sideways so it blinded him. “Sparring!" he screeched. To Mikey: "Gateway, now! I’ll hold him back!”

Mikey needed no further instruction. He dived under the table, snatched his hoard while he pulled the portal open from beyond the verge—that was two mystic incidents today, Draxum was going to strangle him—and dove headfirst into the safe haven on the other side. “Bless you Dee, I will remember your sacrifice!” Baby brother privileges, babey.

:::

Donnie's sole makeshift hospital bed was permanently creaky now, no thanks to Cassandra's frequent visits.

She was in it every two weeks—grinning toothily through a broken bone or twenty. More recently, she enjoyed mounting full productions for her audience of one (1) wrinkly human baby. Donnie was not freaked out by this baby. If he was, it was not because the kid had way too much hair and eyes that absorbed all light or gurgled the way babies gurgled which made Donnie's chest go all funny and turn sideways-weird.

Imagine if I named the kid after another one of those renaissance dudes too, Cassandra cawed, doing jumping jacks on the bed with the kid giggling in her elbow until the final CRACK. They both looked down at the mattress. Now that was extra crunchy, Cassandra said.

Donnie kicked her out shortly.

Not, of course, before fixing the slipshod work she dared call a splint. And stay out! he'd yelled. I don't want to see your face here for at least two weeks, you hear me?

Gleefully, she flipped him off. In front of the kid, too.

Now the bed made a despondent creak as it accommodated Raph's weight. The heft of his new prosthetic confounded him, made him bump into corners, and accidentally crush people's fingers with his brand-new strength.

"Alright, bossman," Donnie sighed. Only 2:30 PM and he felt like he'd lived through a week. "You're up."

Raph managed to lie down. He took one look up at Donnie's world-weary face and smirked. "Chewed you out, didn't he."

"Yeah, well someone had to go and gab."

Donnie got his face squished like a grape for that. "Someone keeps forgetting I'm still the oldest. I may not be your leader, but you guys are still my pain in the ass. Knew you were up to something foolish. So fess up." Donnie made an indignant, muffled sound under Raph's bear hand. "What?"

Donnie gasped as Raph released him. "I was saying, Mikey needs his cooking essentials, and I need mine. We have a mutually beneficial partnership going on. That's all." He pulled his goggles down. "He's also my favorite brother, so." Meant: what Mikey wants, Mikey gets.

"Well, Mikey's going to be the death of you, at this rate." Raph narrowed his eyes. "But it looks like Leo took care of it, whatever that was. If I hear about you mutating any more leafy freaks though—"

Donnie's robo-arms, which had branched off from his shell to get to work on the prosthetic, paused mid-air as Donnie choked. "You dare speak ill of my daughter! Cristina, my beautiful venus fly trap, gone too soon—you will never understand! She was nature's most remarkable survivor, evolved to persist in nutrient-poor environments to fancy a pound of flesh." Donnie's gaze turned wistful. "I was so close, Raphael. Only a few experiments left before I rewired her wetware to develop a taste for vile Kraang meat."

"Nothing about that sentence terrifies me at all," Raph said.

"That is why you are my favorite patient. How was your week?"

Raph's head flopped back on the bed. "Shit. Where to begin?" He talked as Donnie tuned up his arm, telling him about the kid from the dumpster, the only miracle in the last few crappy, mind-numbing weeks; the Tamagotchi he and Cassandra found, still-slumbering in its million light year sleep; new Kraang-free patrol routes, and more secret pathways he'd negotiated with the help of the alliance; a dusty Walkman, a Foo Fighters cassette left in, for keeps.

In exchange, Donnie rambled on about their food supply, his EPF meeting notes, a hoverboard for Mikey, but under wraps for now, the new stealth gear prototypes he'd hoped would pass beta-testing soon, if only he'd more time to collect materials—

"Dee," Raph laughed up at him. “This isn’t one of your roundtable meetings, okay? It’s just me."

Donnie tightened a loose screw under Raph's armpit. "Oh, uh, of course. Lift your arm?"

Raph lifted it. "Oh yeah. Way better."

"Excellent. Your gait isn't as natural as I hoped, but I'll replace the hardware with lighter materials soon."

"Appreciate it, Dee. How'd you find time to get all this stuff?"

"I multitask. Wiggle your thumb?"

Raph wiggled it. "You getting enough sleep, though?"

Donnie laughed, too loud. "Squeeze your fist?"

"Seriously. How're things holding up?"

Donnie peered into a magnifying glass one of his shell-arms slid under his nose and poked around Raph's inner elbow, then fibula. "Truth be told? I'm surprised Earth Protection let us off easy today; then again, I am the brains behind this entire operation. It'd be amiss to threaten their very own arms provider. I should've known Mikey would pull something like this, but I'm just glad to see him—"

“I mean—how are you doing, Donnie?"

“Me?" Donnie blinked slow, like he'd never heard that sentence in that order before. "I'm fine. Can we try some wrist rotations?"

Unimpressed, Raph did as told. The motion was stilted; it couldn't do a full 360. The magnifying glass was swapped for a fine-toothed wrench.

"I'll fix that," Donnie said, then faltered when he realized Raph was still waiting on him, the weight in his eyes undeniable. "What? It's true."

And it was; confessions around Raph were easy somehow. Like how last night, Donnie had admitted thinking he'd definitely hit his rebellious edgy teenage phase under Splinter—heck, even Raph himself—but Leo? Now there was a surprise. And how the cookies Mikey baked Donnie made him break out. Some kind of delayed turtle allergy, and he'd kept eating the stuff anyway. How he both hated and secretly loved listening to Leo's radio speeches, in the secret early hours of dawn when the base and his own brain was still, in need of nothing.

Raph asked him again, but this was one confession Donnie couldn't give up. It was half-formed, bloody, still stuck in the wreck. Donnie couldn't look at it yet.

"Seriously, brother, you should see Mikey—" Donnie began, but the bed creaked like a warning, and Raph was pushing himself up on his elbows.

"I'm worried about Mike, too. But we'll get to him in a bit. You idiots are two sides of the same coin, really. I mean, I haven't seen the kid cry since—"

Donnie dropped his wrench. He stared at it for a moment, then bent to pick it up. When he moved back to his seat Raph's gaze settled on him, kind and all-knowing, with a quiet sort of power that could disassemble any man.

"Sooner or later we gotta talk about this, Dee." Raph touched his head. "'S'not your fault. If Pops was here—"

"Don't," Donnie said. "Please."

Somewhere, Unnamed Baby burst into a fit of giggly baby gibberish; Cassandra needed to hurry it up with a name soon, and it had to be good, or they were all going to have a fifth Renaissance man running around the base. The exoskeleton on Raph's arm exuded no blood-warmth. But it curled around Donnie's wrist like a bolstering force all the same.

Donnie's hands began to shake.

"Donnie," Raph said. "Hey. It's alright now."

Donnie hunched his shoulders in, determined to finish the wiring on the inner elbow. "I'll get better materials soon."

"Don't matter right now—"

"This part right here—the socket hurts when it gets cold, doesn't it? I'll find something more durable before winter rolls in. I'll fix it. I promise."

Raph's flesh arm gripped his shoulder. "I know you will."

Donnie shook his head like Raph didn’t understand. His face felt hot, his own hands numb and not his, like the day he dragged Raph out from under the burning wreck of their lair, around them a bloodshot sky that fishbowled from its own weight. A red blistering eye in the sky, and how he ran. He ran like hell. “And I’m gonna make you the best.”

Raph stared at him. “The coolest fucking arm in the world,” he agreed.

“Damn right," Donnie rasped.

This was a hug; Donnie was sure that what was happening. But the awkward way Raph half-sat up and curled around his slouched shell was still disputable. "But," Raph said, "just for the record? I think this one's awesome, too."

Donnie scrubbed his eyes, feeling miserable. "You haven't even seen the best part," he mumbled, then showed him the secret button where a fourth, extra finger could be triggered.

Raph stared and stared at what had only been a life's dream, until now. Now, the possibilities were opening up. "Shit, Dee. I'll do you proud," Raph promised, lifting his middle finger in the air, and Donnie didn't doubt it. Never could. It was Raph.

:::

Mikey crashed face-first with a muffled screech into a patch of soft, loamy earth, and that was how he knew he was a long way from home. A quiet valley greeted him on the other side of the mystic gateway. Gone were the sparse desert plains, the arid, sun-choked skies. No angry Leo either.

He was lost, but there was that.

And he still had his stash with him.

Victory dance it was. After he grew tired of shaking his shell, he looked around at the landscape properly and nearly collapsed.

"Cabbages?" he cried. The farm was the size of a small swimming pool, with only eight rows of intersecting crops and one house with a thatched roof at the center. Nothing like the mind-blowing stretch of sand at home, or the imposing domes of The Gardens. But it had cabbages. Mikey needed cabbages. These looked a little small, but their puckered faces opened up to him like rosebuds; Mikey knew a miracle when he saw one.

"Excuse me!" he called out. "You have a lovely farm! Would you be able to spare some of your bee-you-ti-ful cabbages? I need it for a dish!"

For my annoying no-fun older brother, Mikey didn't add. He threw the bag down from his shoulder and reached his arm to snag its contents. "I'll trade ya for it? I got the goods!"

A windchime blew. A breeze, barely there, carded through the crops. Mikey could count on two hands the places still untouched by the invasion; the Kraang must have business elsewhere.

"Anyone?" Mikey approached the house. A toy car was on the ground, wheels still spinning. Someone had been here. "Oh, I get it! I'm not with the Kraang, don't worry! Name's Mikey! Just your friendly neighborhood mutant turtle, at your service."

He thought he saw the curtains behind the window rustle. The word on the doorjamb was strange; Mikey swore he recognized that alphabet system somewhere.

"Erm, you've probably heard of us. Or my brother? Leonardo?" Mikey was at the window now. Wild grass crunched beneath his feet. "Bright blue bandana, cool sword, used to be smiley but not really anymore—saved New York? No? Oh, okay. Well, rescuing people's kind of our thing. You could join us! It's not safe out here."

"We can take care of our own." Came the sudden voice, gruff and dark behind the door. The curtains at the window parted. Two small heads poked out, inquisitive eyes studying him. And on their faces: beaks.

Yokai.

Mikey swallowed; there hadn't been a lot to meet, not after the Hidden City invasion. As far as Draxum told him, they had scattered themselves like leaves.

"Please, I insist," Mikey said. "My brothers—we have a safehouse, you'll be protected—"

"Just take what you need and go, kappa," the voice said. We don't consort with humans. We've always taken care of ourselves."

"Well, if you change your mind..." Mikey kicked at a pebble. "I'll come back! I'd draw you a map, but... safety-wise, that's probably not a good idea. So, uh. I'll help myself then?"

Nothing. Silence means yes, Mikey thought, and took his fill. He shook the soil from his hands and called out his thanks before starting down the path; Donnie's trackers would find him eventually, followed by his getaway ride, a speck of purple in the clouds. Donnie always found him.

Twenty steps. Then he paused, considering the sky. He didn't mean to turn back, but the soil there felt acidic and coarse, tell-tale signals that the farm would be barren soon; and if it wasn't from climate change, it would be the Kraang themselves, then what would be left? 

Blowing out a breath, Mikey dropped his hoard by the stranger's doorstep.

"We would've made magic together. I just know it," he whispered regrettably, patting its side like an old friend. Empty-handed, he turned to go.

He could always get more stuff; Donnie had negotiated for him, after all. Before he could get far, a creaky hinge groaned, and the yokai was there, leaning on the door jamb.

"Michelangelo, wasn't it? We know who you are." The stranger towered over him. A tough crocodile snout belied an intelligent voice. "Your brothers, as well. But you... well. They say you're special. Is it true you can summon the sun itself?"

Mikey half-laughed, half-wheezed. "Wh—me?"

The stranger considered him. "They say you're growing to be the greatest warriors the world has ever known. Granted with extraordinary power."

I don't want it, Mikey thought, surprised by the fierceness of it. I never asked for it.

The children were still watching him from the window. "They say you'll save us all," the yokai continued. "A lofty fate. Wouldn't you say, ronin?"

I don't want it, Mikey thought, reaching into the depths of him for a shaky smile. Take it from me. Give me my father back.

He shrugged, then turned down the path, watching the clouds for the telltale signs of his brother. "Just Mikey's fine," he insisted, waving goodbye, and this time did not look back.

#big brother leo is here UH OH #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt movie #rottmnt fic #rise mikey #rise leo #rise donnie #rise raph #rise april #oh fuck i put a lot of characters in this #this chapter was so dialogue heavy it almost killed me #but i had a blast <3 not them tho they're abt to have their corruption arc shhh #bigdamnher0

[trashywormeateroffics]

The right universe.

Summary: After Y/N's life turns upside down, she's full of grief. Somehow, one day, she manages to travel to the MCU, where she meets her favorite characters, including a certain god who seems willing to establish a friendship with her. Suddenly she's enwrapped in this new world, where everything she loved in a screen is now reality. How will she react? Will she be able to deal with the ghosts that haunt her? Or will she let them consume her? Will she be open to accept the love she is offered? Read to find out!

Read this on AO3! 

Category: F/M.

Relationships: Loki/reader.

Characters: Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff, Sam Wilson (Marvel), James "Bucky" Barnes, Vision (Marvel), Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Stephen Strange, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Bruce Banner, Thor (Marvel), Clint Barton, Steve Rogers, Peter Parker, other minor appearances of other characters but these are the main ones, Pepper Potts, Loki (Marvel).

Additional tags: Loki/reader - Freeform, Avenger Loki (Marvel), Loki & Tony Stark Friendship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Fluffyfest, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Pining a lot because we love to suffer, Domestic Avengers, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark is a parental figure, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Everyone is a good bro, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, y/n, After Infinity War but no one died and the purple bitch was defeated, Missions, Y/N is a universe traveller, Grief, Therapy, Protective Loki (Marvel), Loki in love.

MASTERLIST OF THE STORY

Chapter 35: Sigyn. 

It had been a few months since Loki and Y/N told everyone that they were together. They had grown closer, if that was even possible. She also had grown closer with the team, bonding on missions and in the day to day life activities. Tony had taken a while off of missions, since Pepper was almost seven months pregnant and he wanted to be with her. Y/N had mastered the art of doing magic, being able to do cool things now, not only the basics; cool things like making Thor fall asleep or creating an illusion of her with pink hair. Even though the sky breakers were not caught yet, and they heard that Sarah had not died, but was on the run, life was good. And normal. As normal as it can be when you are living with The Avengers. Until Strange showed up.

She was currently sitting on the couch with Loki, reading a book as the Original Six were hanging around there too.  

“There is a threat on Earth and it's been following you, Y/N.” He said as soon as he entered.  

“W-what do you mean?” She asked, beginning to feel terrified. She looked at Loki and he squeezed her hand to reassure her. And himself.

“Look,” he opened his hands ready to do his magic when Tony stopped him.

“Wait, what are you gonna do? Bring the threat here?” The sorcerer looked at him, serious.

“Yes.”

“I don't think that's a good idea.” Bruce said.

“The threat does not seem to want to hurt Y/N, they would have already done it. It's been happening for weeks now.”

“Excuse me, someone has been following her for weeks and you did not think to let us know?” Loki asked now, his anger bubbling up inside him.

“I thought it best to know the threats' true intentions before making you all worried for nothing. It could just be an admirer.”

“And what made you tell us now?” Y/N asked him.

“I know who it is.”

“Who is it?”

“It's better if you see for yourself.” He told her before moving his hands to use his magic. Suddenly, a portal opened and someone fell from it.

“Ouch!” The woman said.

“Tell us who you are.” Strange demanded. “And why you have been following Y/N.” The woman got up from the floor.

“I am Sigyn, from Asgard, Freyjadottir.” She answered, straightening up. “And who is Y/N?”

“I am,” Y/N said.

“You are not Y/N, you are Astrid from Asgard, Freyjadottir, and my sister.”

“WHAT?!” Everyone asked, except for Y/N, who just looked at her. Suddenly she burst out laughing. They all looked at her with confused expressions on their faces.

“Of course!” She exclaimed, still laughing. “My sister is freaking Sigyn of Asgard and I am the daughter of the Völva. Right. Makes sense.”

“I am telling the truth.” She said, almost offended.

“I'm not saying you are not, I'm just saying you have mistaken me for another person.”

“No, I have not. I can sense your magic, mother told me one day I would be able to recognize you by that alone.”

“Mother?” Y/N asked, a bit more seriously now.

“Yes, Freyja.”

“Where is she?”

“She's in Valhalla now…”

“How do I know you are telling the truth?” She asked, pursing her lips.

“You can have him enchant you and see into your memories, mother should have left at least one.” Sigyn said motioning to Loki.

“You know me?” He asked her.

“Well, of course. Mother used to tell me a lot about you and the royals.”

“Why don't I remember you?”

“I was vanished when you were a child.” She responded, her confidence wavering a bit.

“For what?” Strange asked her now.

“I will tell you all everything, but first I need Astrid to believe me.”

“Y/N.” She told her firmly. “My name is Y/N.”

“Right, of course.”

“Loki?” Y/N called him. “Do you… Can you do it?”

“I can darling but… I'm going to see everything, are you okay with that?” She thought for a moment. Every single memory she ever had, he was going to see. She had told him about her life before coming to this universe, but him seeing it was different. Was she ready for that? She looked at Loki and then at Sigyn and decided.

“I'm okay with it, but I'm sorry.” The god frowned.

“Sorry for what?”

“You'll see.” She told him.

Everyone quieted down as Loki closed his eyes and placed his fingers on each temple. When he started using his magic, she felt it. Suddenly she was seeing things she hadn't thought about for years. Conversations with friends, fights with family members, crying alone in her room at night, laughing at herself, laughing with her brother, singing in front of the mirror. All her life flashed through her mind in a matter of seconds. After a few moments, she felt Loki stop on one memory. It was all black, like she was inside of a tunnel. The echo of a heartbeat could be heard.  She didn't remember that one.

“Hello my baby, you are so beautiful.” A woman's voice rang out. “My little Astrid. My goddess of strength and wisdom.” The woman sighed. “I am terribly sorry for leaving you, I hope one day you will be able to forgive me... Do not cry, your mother loves you. You will be a hero, my love. The prophecy must come true.”

“Mom! What are you doing?”

“Talking to your sister.” She simply said, “You will remember this when the time is right.” She whispered to her.

Suddenly Loki pulled his hands away and stared at her wide eyed while she still had her eyes closed. When she opened them, she got up from the couch.

“I need a moment.” And with that she left.

...

What the hell, what the hell, what the hell, what the hell just happened? Y/N repeated in her mind as she ran to her room. Once she entered she slammed the door shut.

...

“How long have you known this?” Loki asked Strange.

“A week after she started following her. But I've known since I met her that she was not mortal.”

“How?” Steve asked, finally speaking up after being silent for the entirety of the reveal.

“The magic she possesses, it's very strong.” The sorcerer said. “A mortal's body could not contain it.”

...

She felt it again, every emotion she ever felt, penting up inside her. She couldn't go back again, she couldn't.

...

“Maybe I should go talk to her.” Sigyn said, resolved.

“That is the last thing you should do. I will go.” Loki told her and no one stopped him. They knew that he was the only one she would want to see at that moment.

...

She grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil.

...

Loki knocked on her door, but when no one answered, not even after minutes of calling her, he decided to enter anyway. He felt panic rise in his throat when he saw that the room was empty, and a complete mess. He almost went to tell the others that she had escaped when he stopped, seeing a piece of paper with something written on the floor. He picked it up and read it.

“I can't stop it. I'm going back.”

~taglist~ @mischief2sarawr @midnights-ramblings @mealoncholy-hill @paetonnn 

#loki x reader #loki x you #loki x y/n #loki x yn #loki #loki fanfic #loki fanfiction #loki fluff #loki smut #loki angst #Loki Laufeyson x you #Loki Laufeyson x reader #Loki Laufeyson #Loki Odinson #Loki Odinson x reader #Loki Odinson x you #mcu #mcu x reader #avengers #the avengers #avengers x reader #mcu fanfic #mcu fanfiction #avengers fanfic #avengers fanfiction

[thirsty4villains]

Bound | A Loki x Reader fanfic

Rating: E  

Warnings: Eventual smut, human sacrifice, torture, blood and injury, violence, angst

Tags: sharing a bed, slow burn, eventual romance, fix-it, canon divergence of Avengers Infinity War/Endgame, humor, limited use of Y/N, action and adventure

A/N: From now on, if you see the name "Sessrúmnir", that is the name of the hall the warriors of Folkvangr live in. I’m so mad but hey, at least I learned something.

Enjoy Chapter 11!!

And consider joining my Patreon. I just made it ヽ(•‿•)ノ

Summary:

A year has passed since the Snap. As you look to find a fresh start in life, you end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. A small cult dedicated to the newly revitalized Norse religion chooses you as a sacrifice with the belief that this will give Thor and the other gods the strength to undo what Thanos has done. What you don’t know is that human sacrifices come with a powerful magic — those who are sacrificed become linked with the god they have been given to. It’s been a millennia since a human was sacrificed to one of the gods. You’ve been bound to Loki.

CHAPTER 11

A portal opened and through it emerged the queen of Folkvangr. She had determination in her stance, scanning the scene laid in front of her. The portal closed behind her and she made her way to Odin’s hall of fallen warriors.

Freya wore the white and golden armor she had donned during her brief spat with Loki. No weapons were in her possession – yet. After a brief walk she approached the large oak doors depicting Yggdrasil. She knocked on the doors and Arne answered.

“What is your business?”

The goddess stood tall, staring down at the man before her. Her hair shone gold under the light, radiating her presence.

“I am Freya.”

Arne’s eyes widened. He bowed deep as a greeting and an apology.

“I’ll get the Allfather.”

When Odin received the goddess of love and fertility they exchanged greetings and a hug. Odin offered her a seat to which Freya politely refused.

“I am sorry, Odin, but I fear I am here urgently. Loki has escaped my realm and he is somewhere here in yours.”

“I know.”

Freya’s voice deepened an octave: “You know?”

“Yes,” he nodded once. “We spoke yesterday. He has this foolish notion… Something about Idunn’s apples.”

Freya began circling the room. “Well, you know our agreement. He is one of my promised warriors. He is destined for Folkvangr and I want him back.”

She took a pause for breath and continued: “Not to mention that Loki’s departure is a gross undermining of my power. I’m not even sure how he was able to leave but I will not sit by and allow this insult.”

“Then take him,” Odin said. “But how you will achieve this I cannot say. You know him.”

Freya stood still. “What about your wife, could she persuade him?”

“Perhaps, but…”

The goddess cocked her head. “But what?”

“She is meditating. Frigga does this every so often to keep in tune with her magic. I imagine she will be back in a few days.”

“I am sure the Allmother can spare a few minutes of the afterlife.”

“If you can find her. She travels.” Odin made a gesture with his hand.

Freya bowed. “Thank you for your time, Allfather.”

Odin bowed in turn, and Freya rushed out in an agitated hurry.

~~~

At the mountain’s base you stopped to catch your breath. You shimmied out of the winter coat you were given and folded it over your arm. Loki fumed quietly with arms crossed.

“I know you’re still upset, Loki, but do you have any plans?” You rested a hand against his forearm and he seemed to relax, if only a bit.

Loki shook his head. “No, and what heroic feat am I going to perform to prove I am worthy?” He spat.

“Hey, we’ll figure it out. We always do.”

As you said so, you moved in closer to him with each of your hands placed on his arms, making sure he heard you before retreating back into his own head, which he did increasingly often. His viridescent eyes locked onto yours, stopping your heart as they always did. He moved a stray lock of hair and put it back into place, keeping his fingers there for several moments.

“You have a kind soul,” he spoke quietly.

Your heart quickened and the bond that tethered you to him urged you to close the minute amount of space shared between you. It took an incredible amount of willpower not to because even though you shared a kiss yesterday you still felt hesitant around Loki. Spending this time with him clued you into his character, but he was still so unreadable and unpredictable. And you knew this was no accident, either. Being the god of tricks, lies, and mischief, keeping it close to the vest was part of the job description. You were crazy about him, but you couldn’t discard the fact that this all still might just be a game to Loki.

“...Thank you,” you said.

The edge of his mouth tugged upward ever so slightly and you felt like you were positively drowning in that green.

To hell with it.

He had the same idea at the exact moment you did because your lips ended up meeting halfway. It started out sweet and tender like yesterday until you pulled him closer, stood on your toes, anything to seal the distance. You wondered if the magical bond in him swelled in his chest the way it did in your own. You wondered if it told him “more, more, more” like it chanted to you. Unfortunately, the doubtful part of your brain couldn’t help but question if this was really attraction or if the binding magic simulated it in order to fulfill why you were sent here in the first place.

Whether true or not, the feelings you experienced when he kissed you were euphoric. It felt just as right as it did yesterday.

After parting, you were a bit breathless. Loki repositioned the lock of hair after it had fallen in your face yet again.

“Pesky thing,” he remarked.

You smiled, leaning in for another.

Loki stopped you, but gently. “As much as I want to, we still need to devise a solution.” He sighed. “My mother would know what to do…”

There was a moment of pause before: “Wait. That’s just it.”

You raised an eyebrow. “What? Your mom?”

“She should be here. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.” Loki stood up, “Come, mortal.”

You weren’t sure if you should be annoyed or amused by the fact that you were on kissing terms with Loki and he still preferred “mortal” over your name. You ran to catch up with Loki’s strides and clasped his hands in yours as the two of you walked back to Valhalla’s center.

Odin was dining with his fallen warriors when you and Loki discovered him. The inside of the dining hall was very similar to the one in Sessrúmnir, with wooden tables and benches that stretched almost as long as the room itself, a stone floor, and paintings hung upon the walls of various people, places, and historical events.

“Loki. Y/N, was it?” The Allfather addressed each of you with a bow of his head.

You corrected Odin on the pronunciation, but otherwise he was on the money. Loki began to speak when his father cut him off.

“Freya is looking for you.”

Your eyes immediately jumped to Loki, who kept a cool composure despite that this was the last thing he wanted to hear.

“She’s here?” Loki asked. “Where?”

“Trying to find your mother to get her to side with Freya.”

Loki’s expression softened for a moment. “So mother is here.”

“Yes, but as I told Freya, I don’t know where. She’s on one of her magical retreats, you remember those.”

“She may have a head start but I know my mother better than Freya does.”

This time, instead of making you run after him he held his hand out for yours to join and you strode out together. You said your goodbyes to Odin as you exited the hall. Even though you were holding hands it was difficult to keep up.

“Where are we going?” you asked.

“My mother goes on these magical retreats every few decades. I’ve been on a few with her. I don’t know where to find her but I have some ideas. She will be in a location relatively isolated and resonating with magical energy.”

“Okay…”

Loki opened portals for the two of you to quickly transport to various places around Valhalla. Darkness was beginning to descend by the time he found Frigga meditating under a willow tree. A pond was nearby. The area she had chosen was just a few miles westward in the forest where you and Loki first entered Valhalla.

While you and Loki approached, she opened her eyes. She smiled and watched as you came closer and closer.

“My son…’ she stood up and held out her arms.

Loki embraced his mother. You couldn’t help but smile and there may have been some watery eyes. This was a huge contrast from Loki’s meeting with his father yesterday.

Frigga broke off the hug and wiped a tear away. She placed her hands to cup Loki’s cheeks, turning his head left and right. After taking him in, she placed a kiss on his forehead.

“I’m so glad you are here.”

“Mother, I… There’s a lot I want to say, but I need your help.”

Frigga gestured for him to begin and Loki told his story. He explained to his mother about his plan to be murdered, arrive at Valhalla, and obtain Idunn’s apples in order to challenge Thanos without dying. He mentioned how his plan was thrown off course by arriving in Folkvangr and how he was able to escape to get here. Thanos would never expect him because he believes Loki died. Frigga nodded along at first, but her nods slowed over time. When Loki finally finished, she spoke.

“Loki… I understand what you’re saying. It’s heroic of you but that was five years ago.”

“Five?” Loki turned to you. “I thought when you arrived here it had been a year.”

“It was!” you proclaimed. Frigga’s face stayed unchanged. “It is!”

“Time passes differently here,” Freya explained. “And in Folkvangr. There is something that changes about the brain when one arrives in the afterlife. You should know that from your studies, Loki.”

“Five years and they still haven’t found Thanos?” Loki asked incredulously.

Frigga shrugged. “Maybe he’s dead. Maybe he hid the Stones.”

Loki’s jaw tightened. “It’s still a plan worth pursuing.”

“I agree, my son. But tell me, who is your friend here?”

You introduced yourself to the Allmother.

“I apologize for my rudeness, Y/N. I am Frigga.” She smiled. “Thank you for helping my son.”

Frigga pulled you in for a hug which was much tighter than you anticipated from such an unthreatening woman.

“So, my darling boy, what do you need from me?”

Loki explained the situation you encountered with Idunn and her apples. He was still explaining when a voice reverberated from the thicket of the forest, cutting him off, from which a blonde figure emerged.

“LOKI!”

Freya walked briskly toward Frigga, you, and the god in question.

The goddess shouted again but her voice was overshadowed by a large boom and crackle high and away. As this happened the ground shook. The four of you looked to the heavens. Before, the evening sky was a mix of blues, purples, and pinks as the sun set. Now, it was grey and a long orange gash ripped open the heavens like a knife piercing flesh. A rumbling sound came from it and the ground continued to quake.

“Something is very wrong,” Frigga said.

The wound in the sky opened up and through it peeked the front of a large ship that appeared to be made of volcanic rock and magma, as if the core of the earth itself was resculpted into a vessel. The nose of the ship pointed at Valhalla.

“There is something I neglected to tell you about opening portals,” Loki said to you as he watched the sky rip open. However, he did not elaborate.

The ship came through and the gash in the sky began to burn. Then it descended.

“We must go!” he shouted. Loki grabbed your hand and conjured a portal that opened to the silver utopia.

#loki fanfic #fanfiction #bound #loki x reader #loki x you #loki x y/n #loki fanfiction #romance #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #fanfic #fic #loki romance

[shelleylovesloki]

Warped Reality

Summary: Being a student at the Sanctum Sanctorum  is never easy, especially when there is a group of rogue sorcerers led  by a mad man on the lose. Rose (Michelle) and Rachel never thought their lives  could become any more chaotic. But when Rachel is given an assignment to  hunt down Amadeus Rainer, a rogue sorcerer from the Sanctum, their  lives both take a drastic turn. Besides a band of evil sorcerers, they  are pulled into the mission to retrieve an infinity stone with the  potential to open other realms. But while on this mission, past traumas  are reopened, powers rediscovered, and realities reshaped in ways that  both women never could have imagined. And with the help of a certain God  of Mischief, the three sorcerers run into an ancient prophecy that  could open up their universe to a villain that reshapes the  understanding of magic itself.

Chapter 5: Bullies

Rachel looked into the mirror as she brushed her brown hair. Soft beams of light reflected off her hair, giving it a subtle shade of red. She moved her hair back letting it fall just beneath her shoulders. She couldn’t stop thinking about the night before. It had taken her a couple hours for her head to clear up. Two years of learning at the Sanctum, and still she was barely able to defend herself.

A knock came from the door. Rachel was surprised since not many stopped by her room. She set down her brush and moved to the door. The door was only cracked open when Amadeus Rainer rushed into the room and pushed her against the wall. He clamped a hand over her mouth and waved toward the door. Slowly the door shut and locked. How had he gotten the drop on her again? “I’m going to let go of your mouth, but you can’t scream.” Amadeus said softly. Rachel nodded and he released her mouth.

The strange man looked around her quarters with curiosity. “Don’t worry, if your friend, Rose, needs in, she can easily unlock the door. This is a nice room. Kind of simple, but it’s homey.”

Rachel frowned. She’d have enough. “What do you want?”

“I want my jacket back.” he answered without looking back at her.

The sorceress’s mouth opened in shock. “Are you serious?”

Amadeus raised his eyebrows. “Yes, I want the overcoat. It’s very expensive.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. She walked to her closet, opened it up and pulled out the overcoat and tossed it to Amadeus. He opened a small portal and tossed it through. He clasped his hands together and looked back at Rachel. “Now,” he said, “I was wondering if you’d like to get a cup of coffee. I know this place with a great view of that one tower where the aliens came from.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Rachel said in disbelief.

“Shhhhh.” Amadeus whispered. “Your neighbors are not morning people.”

She couldn’t believe this. First he leaves her stranded on a rooftop. Then, he shows up in her own living space, and now he wants to talk. He had to be insane.

“So,” he said tilting his head. “Are you coming? You don’t have to have coffee. They have other things there, too.”

She threw up her hands in defeat. Amadeus opened up a dark ringed portal opening out to a main sidewalk.

Rachel rolled her eyes. “You know I’m supposed to turn you in, right?”

Amadeus smiled at her with a seemingly innocent smile. “I know,” he reached out his hand. “We should hurry. They get busy in a few minutes.”

***

Amadeus sat back in his chair as he sipped from his coffee. Rachel watched him anxiously as she stirred at her own untouched cup. She’s always so tense. He thought to himself.

After a few more minutes of silence, Rachel finally spoke up. “Why did you bring me here?”

“They have good coffee.” Amadeus said simply. “I thought you’d like it.”

“No,” she responded “Why even come to me in the first place?”

The young man paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. “Do you know what the infinity stones are?” Rachel nodded. “There are six infinity stones: time, space, power, soul, mind, and reality. Strange does what he calls protecting the time stone by wearing it around his neck. The Avengers put the mind stone in the head of some robot, the space stone is supposedly in Odin’s treasure room, and who knows where the others are. Sure, the Avengers might be able to handle themselves, and maybe Strange isn’t a complete idiot, but Strange can’t guarantee the safety of the other stones.”

Amadeus stared into Rachel’s pale green eyes. How much of what he was saying did she understand? It was a lot of information, sure, but she had to at least understand what he was talking about so far. Suddenly, his face changed from a look of intensity to one of curiosity. “Do you know why Doctor Strange sent you after me?”

Rachel was caught off guard by his question. His stare made her uneasy, but there was softness in his face that was oddly comforting. “He said that you were dangerous.”

“Of course he did.” he chuckled. “He wants me under custody because I’ve gone searching into things he doesn’t want to come into light.”

Rachel knitted her eyebrows. “What did you find?”

Amadeus looked around. He became nervous, and his voice became quiet. “I’ve gotten closer to finding the location of the reality stone.”

The young woman looked at him in shock. “Why would you go looking for something like that?”

“Like I said, the Sanctums guard only one of the six infinity stones. What stops someone from taking the others. Even a force with two stones would overpower anything we could throw at them.”

“And you think you’d be able to handle keeping after the reality stone?”

Amadeus shrugged. “I have more knowledge of it than nearly anyone who knows it exists.”

Rachel leaned forward. He had her interest. “But how can we know you won’t use it against us?”

“I made an oath to protect this world. My world.” Amadeus said plainly. 

“And why tell me all this?”

Amadeus's head tilted to the side. His eyes pierced into Rachel’s. “Because I trust you.” 

“You know that I’m going to tell my partner what you told me, right?”

He smiled wide. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

He looked around again. Then, over Rachel’s shoulder. “We have to leave.” he said, placing a small pile of twenty dollar bills on the table. His tone was urgent. “Follow me and do as I say.”

Slowly, Rachel stood to her feet and walked beside him. Amadeus put an arm around her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “Put your head on my shoulder.” He was surprised when she cautiously complied. He turned his head back to her ear. “There are three men following us. Don’t look back at them. Follow my lead.” Casually, he kissed her forehead and continued walking, hoping she would help play along. Out of the corner of his eye, Amadeus could see the men, each with a swirled tattoo on their arms.

His free hand lowered by his side, releasing a thick wall of fog. Amadeus immediately took his arm away from Rachel’s shoulder and grabbed her wrist, dragging her into an alleyway. He helped her up a fire escape and climbed up himself.

Amadeus stared out to the main street. His gray eyes burned as he saw the three men looking around frantically. One of them yelled inaudibly at the others. The leader hailed a taxi cab. They took one more look around and entered the cab.

The two dropped down to the ground. Amadeus smiled as he looked out towards the alley’s opening. “Well, that was fun.”

Turning back to Rachel, he took a leather with an amber stone hanging from it. He placed the cord around her neck. He held up the crystal-like rock in front of her. His voice deepened to a quiet and sincere tone. “When this glows, close your hand around it and concentrate. I have to go now.”

The young woman looked down bewildered at the necklace and back up to Amadeus. “Wait, I’m not just going to let you go!” she called.

He stopped without looking back. His lips curved to a small grin. “Yes, you are.”

Rachel was getting flustered. He could tell. “Look, just because you’re charming doesn’t mean that I-”

Amadeus turned around, looking at the sorceress in amusement. “You think that I’m charming?”

Rachel’s mouth gaped open. He had her speechless. She attempted to stammer out something, but couldn’t find the words as Amadeus walked closer. His cool grey eyes pierced her pale green. Amadeus couldn’t take her eyes off her. “You are truly beautiful.” He took her chin in his hand and brought her lips to his. Rachel looked up at him in surprise as he slowly pulled away. “It’s time to go now.”

Without another word, he pushed Rachel through the portal that opened behind her. He looked as she looked around confused to find herself in her room. He closed the portal as a knock sounded from the door.

I didn’t think that would work. Amadeus thought to himself. Hopefully she believed what he told her. It would be useful to have someone on his side. A familiar figure ran past the alley way. It was a brown haired boy, no older than fifteen. Behind him came a voice of another teenager. “Get back here, puny Parker!”

Amadeus stepped out in front of the bully. It was a blonde headed kid, much larger than his victim. The sorcerer looked at the boy with a warning stare. “Is there a problem?”

The young teen looked up at him in fear. “N-no, sir.”

“Good.” he smiled. “Now, go home!” Without another word, the boy ran off. Amadeus turned to the boy that had been chased that was now sitting leaning against the side of a store to catch his breath. “Are you okay, Peter?”

Peter nodded frantically. “I’m fine. Flash was just giving me a hard time. That’s all.”

Amadeus crossed his arms. “It seemed more than just a hard time. How are Ben and May?”

“They’re fine.” Peter replied.

Amadeus looked down and saw a piece of paper in Peter’s hand. “What’s that?” he asked, snatching it from the boy’s hand. “A field trip to ESU?”

“Our science teacher is a friend of Doctor Curt Connors.” Peter answered. “Doctor Connors has been working on a new spider hybrid. His research could lead to huge advancements in genetics!”

“That’s impressive.” Amadeus smiled. “Here, I’ll make sure you’ll make it to the subway safely. Wouldn’t want to make your aunt and uncle worry.”

#loki #dr. strange #doctor strange #peter parker #spiderman #uncle ben #aunt may #infinity stone #marvel magic #marvel #mcu #mcu fanfiction #oc x oc #loki x oc #coffee #cafe #reality stone

[thera-daydreams]

Seeing the part where loki and stephen showed up in her shop makes me think about the guys reaction, imagine chilling in a cafe and then you see a guy with a cape that is alive and can move itself along with another guy that is a God coming out of some random portal

(Bonus scene of Chapter 6 from The Sweet Old Lady is a Witch.)

VISITORS

"Y/N's not here," Toji told them the moment they came in, wiping the tables of the café. Frowning, Nanami opened the door for Yuuji and Megumi (while closing it into Gojo's face right after).

"Ow, damn," Gojo muttered, being dramatic—the door didn't even touch him because of his Infinity.

"She's out meeting some important people," Geto added, pressing some buttons in the cashier register.

"Granny's not here for once? What a surprise," Sukuna snidely commented, snickering. Yuuji rolled his eyes, slapping a hand over the mouth on his cheek.

"Why do you talk to Momma that w—"

Pshhhhhh!

All eyes turned to the right-hand corner of the shop, seeing a bright orange portal appear out of nowhere.

"Is this Charmed Coffee & Confectionaries?" the tall man with black hair asked, his green cape swaying behind him.

"Do you know where Wanda is?" the other one with slicked back, salt-and-pepper hair asked as he closed the ringlike portal calmly.

Gojo, Nanami, Toji, Sukuna, Yuuji, and Megumi could only stare in complete shock at what just transpired. Oh, they also had no idea what the strangers just said (with the exception of Nanami, who also didn't know who this Wanda was).

"... Me... no... allergic... English." Yuuji stuttered, his nonexistent foreign language skills only at the level of Jennifer Lawrence's name. "Wanda, who? Not here." He shook his hands wildly.

"Charmed Coffee & Confectionaries, uh... yes?" Megumi added, a Japanese accent thick in his voice, but more understandable than the pink-haired boy's.

Loki and Stephen shared a look before the Sorcerer Supreme took out a business card from his pocket.

"This is the right address, right?" Stephen whispered to Loki.

"Yes, but they speak another Midgardian language," the God of Mischief answered back in a hushed tone.

"Japanese." Strange swallowed. "Do you understand Japanese? God, I should've studied Japanese in university instead of Mandarin."

Loki shrugged, "I could cast a—"

"We can... call... owner of... shop!" Gojo suddenly offered cheerfully, trying his best in English (he only probably knew the absolute basics aside from the luxury brands he bought from; the man never listened in high school).

"That'd be great," Stephen replied, nodding.

"These guys are suspicious," Toji mumbled, especially after seeing that portal spectacle.

"Who... are you?" Geto inquired. He knew a bit of English. Just a bit.

"We're the owner's friends," Loki said.

In the sidelines, Nanami only watched cautiously, not wanting to say that he could understand what they were saying. Who knows? These two strangers might just be pretending to be your friends.

He'd watch them first.

#thera.answers #thera.writes #jjk.works #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk x reader #nanami kento #gojo satoru #fushiguro toji #ryomen sukuna #geto suguru

[elliaze]

When I lost you forever

A/N: This is my first one shot here, and since my greatest love is Marvel, I had to write something in this fandom. Forgive me for my English, it's my second language. Originally the main character's name was Grace, but I changed it to Y/N. So you can choose how to read.

Pairings: Tony Stark x sister!Stark, but Tony’s not here

Warnings: angst, few swears

Summary: Four times when Y/N almost lost Tony forever and one when it actually happened.

Word Count: 1600

MASTERLIST

First it was Afghanistan.

Then New York.

Sokovia.

His flight into space.

And finally, the cursed Infinity Stones that took his life.

I. Where she drank herself into unconsciousness

Y/N would never have even thought that she could lose her brother. His absence from her life was as improbable as the fact that their parents could suddenly come to life. But fate was unpredictable, otherwise she wouldn't be in their home laboratory with another bottle of alcohol and being on the verge of unconsciousness, wondering how much she should drink to completely forget what had happened.

It was all like a worst nightmare from which she could not wake up. Even her nightmares seemed like nothing compared to what she was experiencing at that moment.

The door to the lab opened with a quiet sound, and Pepper walked in.

“Hey,” the blonde said uncertainly. “I was just passing by and thought I'd stop to check on you.”

Y/N did not answer. She acted as if she hadn't noticed at all that she was no longer alone. When she lifted her misty and absent-minded gaze upwards, she was not sure if her friend was real or she was just an illusion of her sick mind.

“I brought something to eat,” Pepper said again. “Italian cuisine, one of your favorites. Remember, you have to eat something, Tony wouldn't want…”

“Tony is not here” Y/N answered unexpectedly. Her voice was cool and hoarse, although it was hard to tell whether this was the result of hours of silence or drink. “I appreciate your concern, but I could care less about eating or functioning at all if I don't get my brother back.”

“He will come back. I'm sure of it.”

“Today it's been two weeks since his abduction, and there's still no word on his whereabouts. The longer they search for him, the less chance there is that he is still alive.”

“Don't think like that” Pepper walked over to her friend and put hand on her shoulder. “He's alive, Y/N. After all, you always say that nothing is impossible for him.”

And indeed there was not.

Or at least, she believed it when a few weeks later she could see him again and hold him in her arms.

II. Where time stopped

Y/N felt her whole world stop the moment Tony disappeared into the portal. She didn't know what was going on, and the sounds of battle suddenly fell silent, as if she hadn't been in a war with aliens at all a few minutes before. All she could do was stare up at the sky, hoping that in a moment, in a second, her brother would fly back and return to Earth.

She knew all too well the feeling of losing him. Memories of the emptiness from a few years ago are still fresh, as if he had been kidnapped just a few days ago. She couldn't imagine experiencing something like that again. She couldn't accept the fact that Tony had actually decided to go on a suicide mission himself. She wasn't going to accept that with his likely death, she would be left completely alone in this world.

No, as long as she believed in her brother, that was how she knew he had a chance.

“Close the portal, Romanoff,” Rogers ordered, and Y/N screamed loudly as she watched the hole in the sky closing.

“No!” She screamed in despair and immediately threw her fists at the Captain. “He still has a chance to come back! Romanoff, if you do it, I swear to all the gods I know, I will kill you as soon as you come down from that cursed fucking tower!”

She tightened her fingers on his costume, wanted to shake him, convince him that he couldn't condemn her brother to death, but instead she felt his strong arms around her. Rogers tried to reassure her, but nothing was getting through to her distraught mind. Y/N cry into the Captain shoulder as she watched the energy beam and portal completely disappear from the sky. The thought that no one had tried to help her brother, and that she herself had been prevented from doing so, tore her heart.

She couldn't even imagine a world without Tony, let alone actually live with such an awareness.

That day, she didn't have to find out at all.

Tony had not let his sister down, only reassuring her that nothing was impossible for him and that he was capable of surviving even the most suicidal mission.

Even if by doing so he was driving Y/N to the brink of total breakdown.

III. Where she had no idea about his sacrifice

That day during the fight in Sokovia, where she herself had nearly lost her life, she had little idea that Tony had once again put himself at risk.

In a way, she was grateful to Ultron for hurting her.

At least she didn't have to watch her own brother take on a dangerous task again and drive her to despair.

IV. Where she searched for him

No battle made her as horrified as the one in Wakanda. She could not understand how a few gems had made half of humanity disappear. She felt as if she was stuck in some dream from which she could not awaken. As much as she suffered from the loss of friends and allies, there was only one person she worried about.

Tony.

She couldn't get over the fact that she wasn't with him now. As long as he was still alive. Y/N shook her head. She was too fierce, maybe even desperate, to believe that her brother could have died in the far reaches of space.

Rocket cursed loudly as the system once again alerted to an error.

“What's going on?” Y/N looked at her new ally, but quickly shifted her gaze to the computer screens. “How is it possible that there are still no matches?”

“Maybe it's because we're based on Earth technology, but we're trying to connect to space technology?” Rocket growled.

If the situation were completely different, Y/N would have started arguing with the raccoon long ago. But at the moment they were both all too aware that they needed each other far more than they might have suspected.

“Let's change the parameters and reprogram the satellite.”

“We've done this before”

“Apparently it’s not enough!”

“I'm a genius, Stark, but even I'm starting to have a problem with this.”

“That's not an option, Rocket!” She called out loudly, clasping her hands tightly. “We have to find him. Find them all, including your team.”

“The probability of them meeting is really low.”

“You said that they wanted to get Thanos, and he told me exactly that he fought my brother on Titan. They must have met there.”

Rocket sighed heavily, but didn't answer right away. Y/N stared at the screens, but the longer she did it, she only felt even more rage and uncertainty. She pretended that she was brave and strong and hadn't completely broken down, but knew that she was extremely close to that.

Especially she had never before felt as powerless as she did at that moment.

“We can try if the signal we send will be strong enough to reach Titan and track your technology,” Rocket suggested, and Y/N immediately agreed.

It wasn't their efforts or her belief in miracles that brought Tony back home.

Y/N had never felt as grateful to anyone in her entire life as she did to Danvers when she brought her brother back to his loved ones.

It wasn't the first time she had thought she was losing him forever.

However, of them all, this was the most terrifying.

V. Where she lost him forever

She felt as if she had jumped into deep water and could not get out of it. She fell and fell, slowly losing her ability to function at all. The dark abyss was taking her last moments of life, filling her heart and mind with total emptiness. She opened her mouth, but oxygen was not reaching it at all.

She was losing consciousness. Everything lost its meaning.

But she was still alive, even though she did not understand it. She was sinking deeper and deeper into the pain and she knew there was only one person who could pull her out.

Tony.

But he was gone, and with his death, all possibilities for her to be fully happy disappeared.

Never, not even in her most horrible nightmares would she be able to come to terms with his death. Facing it in the real world was worse than a nightmare. In dreams she could wake up every time and find out that everything had been her imagination.

Now she had not even that.

And yet, she still had to function. To get up every day and face the world without her brother beside her.

She had someone to live for, that was for sure. She would give anything just to make her family and friends happy.

But she couldn't accept that this one time she couldn't sacrifice her life instead of her brother.

“The impossible does exist though, eh Tony?” She whispered softly and placed her hand on the cold tombstone.

She smiled sadly and walked away, not looking back.

Y/N was going to come back here tomorrow anyway.

#marvel #tony stark x stark!reader #tony stark x you #tony stark imagine #tony stark fanfiction #avenger reader #tony stark one shot #fanfic #marvel mcu #avengers endgame #tony stark x sister!reader #elliaze #fanfiction #my writing #my work

[comradekatara]

the gaang + how well they would do on the infinity train?

this is suuuper hard because there are so many factors to take into consideration. first is obviously the train itself. the train's function in a metanarrative sense is to serve as a vehicle for storytelling, dissecting & deconstructing the process of a narrative and how a character's arc is propelled by their circumstances. the train supposedly functions to improve its passengers, and yet we also know that The Train is a deeply flawed mechanism that can corrupt and further traumatize its passengers just as much as it can "fix" them. when the train invites you in with the single-minded goal of getting your number to zero, assuming you ever disembark, you're probably gonna be left with even more trauma than when you arrived, or at the very least, weirder trauma.

grace wanted to be seen, but instead of learning to value herself for her own intrinsic worth instead of relying on validation from those around her, she was enabled by that validation and literally started a cult. likewise, since jet is basically a less heinous version of simon, i see him taking a similar path to the apex (though he would of course name them the freedom fighters) trying to overthrow the tyrannical one-one and reinstate the True Conductor. he would think his path is righteous. he would think he is protecting those kids from evil. who knows what would happen once he learns the truth.

then there is the matter of what the train wants from you. the train arrives at a pivotal moment in one's life, when they are at an emotional crossroads and need a catalyst for growth. for example, jesse's problem was relatively small (because he is perfect) but hurting his brother caused him emotional turmoil nonetheless, so the train stepped in. this means that to answer this question properly, i would have to answer not only when the train arrives for them, but why, and seeing that every single atla character carries massive amounts of baggage (most of it flavors of trauma that infinity train has not addressed), this proves extremely difficult. i have to identify the most narratively satisfying moment in each character's lives to have the train arrive, and then i have to make assumptions about which cars would propel them which way (emotionally). you're asking me to outline nine different fanfictions.

only jet's character feels similar enough to any of the characters we've seen in infinity train for me to even have an inkling as to what path he would take. while sokka and tulip are quite similar as people (rational, scientific yet creative thinkers who over-rely on logic over feeling, are deeply loyal, and instinctually blame themselves for the problems caused by others), their character arcs themselves have little in common. both aang and hazel experience a tragic loss of pure, childhood innocence (which is why i cry over both of them every day), but in relatively dissimilar ways (at least appa gets to return to aang). min-gi and zuko are both pressured by their upbringings to conform to a standard that makes them miserable to please their parents, only to ultimately embrace their own passion & truth... but not only do those arcs play out completely differently, zuko and min-gi are completely different people, and if anything, zuko's approach to life is far more like ryan's (ie, jumping off a cliff and hoping he lands on his feet).

but what i think you're really asking, at the end of the day, is how emotionally mature, self-aware, and capable of positive growth is each atla character? because how am i supposed to know what the train would do to their psyches, considering each external situation would shape them differently, and unless i'm supposed to meticulously craft fanfiction for each one of them (which i wouldn't be opposed to doing, but only for one character, i simply cannot do all nine – also, i'm surprised infinity train AUs aren't more common, but then again i'm not particularly familiar with fanficition, so maybe it is!), it would only be an approximation, in which i identify their core problem (which again, is not how real people work, or even how atla characters work, but how The Train works) and then analyze how long it would take for each of them to solve said problem.

so, that was a very long-winded preface. without further ado:

aang's main problem is that he keeps running away from his problems, which is to say, distracting himself from the enormity of his grief. personally, i would say his coping mechanism isn't the worst. after all, he experiences so much world-shattering pain in such a short span of time, and he does deserve to preserve his childhood and his innocence for as long as possible. but, for the purposes of the narrative, the train must necessarily disagree. he must confront his grief head-on, without distracting himself from it or flying into a destructive rage that he'd only regret later. it also depends on who his companions are. with katara by his side, he can get through anything (and vice versa), but it's unclear who will be there to guide him through his pain. that said, i know he'd make it through okay. he's aang. he has to.

katara lives in a fairytale. like i said with aang, that's not really a bad thing. she's a great kid with big dreams and a big heart. she wants to save the world, and – guess what! – she does. but living in a storybook strips one's worldview of the nuances of life, not simply the harsh realities of the world, but also the full extent of one's personhood, outside of simply the black and white worldview of heroes and villains. katara's apotheosis is when she confronts yon rha, looks him in the eyes, and sees a human being staring back at her, another human being. she is no longer in a revenge tale. she is out of stories to tell herself. (life doesn't make narrative sense.) ironically, the train is a metaphor for storytelling, so katara coming to realize that she isn't in a story would both be confusingly meta and also fucking brilliant (if i do say so, personally). i don't know how exactly it would play out, but by god i would pay to see it.

in many ways, sokka is remarkably open-minded, and in many ways, sokka is extremely stubborn. i think he'd come to terms with his own emotional growth (which would be rooted in learning his own self-worth) faster than he'd come to terms with the train itself. "okay, fine, yeah, i deserve love regardless of what i can do for other people, but WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS PLACE?!?!?" his journey through the train is actually everyone else's dream experience on the train. passengers and denizens alike keep falling in love with him (or at the very least, admiring him more than they've ever admired anyone they've ever met), but he doesn't even notice because he's too busy being extremely suspicious of everything he comes into contact with. yes, he'll solve your problems and puzzles and help people and make meaningful connections and eventually he might start to realize that he is worth something even when he's alone, even (especially) when he's being unconventional or "weird" or "selfish." but even once he does get his door, does he walk through it? oh no, he takes it apart and tries to figure out how it just created a fucking portal. so while he would technically "do" quite well, he is never leaving that fucking train. rip sokka.

well, toph needs to learn to accept and embrace her own vulnerability. she definitely goes through that same crystal karaoke car tulip did. that, or the train just tortures her by putting her in increasingly more painful situations in which she must ask for help. but that's too awful to even think about, so i'm just gonna say she has to sing karaoke.

zuko needs to learn to trust his instincts and his own internal moral compass instead of the external pressures being forced upon him by his Father (capital F to emphasize that his nation & his father – aka the patriarchy – are one & the same for him, lmao). and he would fail. a lot. but eventually he would realize that his number goes down when he lets himself be himself, and he would leave the train happy. he probably also gets a bunch of cute little talking animal companions to guide him through. he deserves it.

the train appears to suki while she's having a breakdown in solitary confinement at the boiling rock. she finds healthy ways to cope with being put through hell while on the train, and by the time she gets off, she's being let out of solitary. it is a very rewarding experience, and one that she can swear wasn't just some hallucination. she's constantly telling herself yes, of course it was just a hallucination.... but still... it felt so real....

if i had to diagnose azula with one singular problem that plagues her at the core of her very being, it would have to be her fear of rejection. but it's not good enough to just keep having train cars reject azula, she has to accept that rejection, instead of just intimidating people into submission after the fact. she needs to understand why she is being rejected, and be fine with it, and learn from it, instead of letting her lack of universal perfection in every area anyone could ever excel in shake her to her very core. when ty lee proved that she secured the affections of dumb stupid boys better than azula ever could, she did an arson to cope (which of course is still very valid of her uwu). azula needs to learn to come in second place, third place, even last place, and shrug it off, think to herself, "hopefully i'll do better next time, and if not, that's okay also," and once that happens, everything else will fall into place. though maybe she could read bell hooks or smth at some point on the train cuz i think that could help too.

mai needs to stop being so goddamn depressed all the time. has she tried lexapro, or perhaps using a lightbox in winter? her favorite coping mechanism, knives, only helps her feel something some of the time, but most (if not all) of the time she's still being expected to play a part. has she tried, like, being herself? i heard from zuko (you know, the guy? from the train?) that "being yourself" works wonders. so the train gives her that opportunity. and she actually even enjoys herself for once in her miserable fucking life.

omg there must've been some sort of mistake ty lee was totally sent here by accident because she's actually super happy all the time and doesn't have any problems!!!!!!!! jk, can u even imagine? ty lee hates her life too, she just doesn't go around advertising it like mai does with her big dyke boots and depressing eyeliner. but apparently she also needs to learn how to "be herself," whatever that means. as if life isn't a constant performance, you know, like jacques said or whatever. she sees mai on the train. she rolls her big beautiful brown eyes. "oh god, not you too."

#obeetlebeetle #fuck this took me over an hour to write #asks #the gaang and #analysis #AUs #synthesis #mailee infinity train au when..... #sokka is the only one who dies on the train. unfortunate. aunt wu was right once again. #god this question was hard #so many factors to consider #i want the mailee season tho #and i want it NOW!

[falcor-thee-luck-dragon]

Love Cuts Deep

Chapter 12- Whatever It Takes

Summary: This is it, you’re finally going to help save the world and if all goes to plan, bring Bucky back in the process.

Warning: bit o angst

Masterlist

It’s been a solid month since Tony and Rocket have been crafting tirelessly on the construction of the giant time portal machine type deal, or whatever he’s calling it nowadays. And to your great surprise, as well as everyone else’s, the first test run with Clint was an undeniable success.

Compared to the first one with Scott, things have come a long way.

Clint was able to wander around in that alternate universe for a couple minutes without returning with so much as a single scratch. Thus boosting the teams confidence and excitement for the inevitable time heist that’s in the works. So as of now, everyone’s currently brainstorming as to how this will go about for the most successful mission possible.

“Okay, so the how works.” Begins Steve as everyone sits around the large meeting room, glass screens projecting info about the stones displayed in the background, “Now, we gotta figure out the when and where. Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones...”

Tony cuts in with his spout of knowledge, “Or substitute the word “encounter” for “damn near been killed” by one of the six Infinity Stones.” Damn straight, your ass got launched into a Wakandian tree last you saw those goddamn stones.

“Well I haven’t..” Interjects Scott with a puzzled look, confusion clear in his voice, “..but I don’t even know what the hell you’re all talking about.” Oh right, he missed out on all the fun while he was fucking around in the quantum realm.

Sitting on the table you shrug, “Be glad you’ve never seen them, those fucking space rocks will kick your ass if used less then kindly, but it doesn’t matter now. From my understanding we only have enough Pym Particles for one round-trip each.” You explain as they all listen intently, “And clearly these fucking stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history.”

Tony nods, “Our history. So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in, yeah?”

“Which means we have to pick out targets.” Adds Clint as Tony points in his direction, “Correct.”

Steve soon gains everyone’s attention once again, “So, let’s start with the Aether. Thor, what do you know?” Asks the blonde, all eyes turn towards the back corner of the room to find Thor slouched in an armchair, beer can in hand while the other one keeps partially hidden in his pajama pants.

A dark pair of sunglasses conceals whether he’s currently awake or not. “Is he asleep?” Wonders Natasha as Rodney humorously adds, “No, no. I’m pretty sure he’s dead.”

A few soft chuckles are heard as you listen intently to the god of thunder, “He’s alive, and most definitely sleeping off that last beer.” You muse as they all give a collective curious brow while you simply shrug, “I can hear his heartbeat, and it’s low enough to tell me he’s not dead.....Well, at least not yet.” You mutter, eyeing up the sleeping giant as an idea sparks into your head.

A second later you pick up a discarded empty beer can sitting right next to you on the table before throwing it at the snoozing god, the thin metal smacks against his forehead with that familiar pop of the can sound, falling to the ground with a crackly ting as Thor jolts awake. And back to the land of the living.

“Nordic Santa you’re up.” His head snaps in your direction as he gives a semi-awkward half grin. 

“Ah right, right, thank you angry one.” Points Thor with a genuine smile now as he quickly gets up before walking over to the screen depicting the red swirly like stone substance. Although soon he delves into the finding of the red mass, what it did to his former flame, that he took her to Asgard seeking help for her sickness, how he showed Jane to his mother, and then he immediately got sad and lost all motivation and train of thought on anything related to that stone.

Ah yes, personal trauma. It’ll do that to you.

Later that day when everyone was feasting on some Chinese takeout, Rocket began an in-depth explanation into where the Power Stone was found; by some guy named Quill who stole it from a planet called Morag. After some time later, Nebula revealed that the Soul Stone was retrieved from Vormir, the place where Thanos murdered her sister Gamora.

It’s been an interesting day to day the least.

Now here you are, slouched comfortably in a lounge chair you stole from the other room, flipping around a pocketknife as Natasha and Tony lay on the nearby table with Bruce sprawled out on the floor in all his Banner-Hulkness. Books scattered everywhere as the two Avengers keep comfortable on some decorative couch pillows as you listen to them brainstorm about the stones whereabouts.

Flipping the knife skillfully between your fingers an idea suddenly pops into your head, “Hey what about that time stone guy you were talking about earlier.”

Banner hums, “Doctor Strange.”

“Yeah, what kind of doctor was he?” Wonders Natasha as you mentally question the same proposition when Tony gives his quick witted answer. “Ear-nose-throat meets rabbit-from-hat.”

“Nice place in the Village, though.” Adds Bruce, Tony agreeing in an instant. “Yeah, on Sullivan Street?”

“Mmm....Bleecker Street.” Mutters Banner as Natasha interrupts, face shifting to realization. “Wait, he lived in New York?”

“No, he lived in Toronto.” Sasses Tony as Banner reveals the truth. “Uh, yeah, on Bleecker and Sullivan.”

Tony coming back with more playful sarcasm, “Have you been listening to anything?”

Suddenly it feels like a lights been switched on in your brain, “Guys.” You quickly implore as they keep silent to listen, “If you pick the right year, wouldn’t there be three stones in New York?” Their faces all collectively shift to astonished realization when Bruce quickly sits up to look at you. “Shut the front door.”

“Well at least someone is paying attention.” Quips Tony as Natasha smacks him with a book.

——

“All right.” Begins Steve as the whole team gathers in the meeting room, “We have a plan. Six stones, three teams, one shot.”

You nod, smirking with excitement, “Let’s get these fuckers and maybe end up saving the world while we’re at it.” He sends you a proud grin and within the next half an hour are the eleven of you suited up and standing in a large circle atop the glass of the giant time portal.

“Five years ago, we lost. All of us....we lost friends. We lost family. We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams. You know your missions. Get the stones. Get them back. One round-trip each. No mistakes....no do-overs.”

“Most of us are going somewhere we know. That doesn’t mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives...and we’re gonna win.” Affirms Steve with a mutual nod, “Whatever it takes.” He gives one last look around the circle of familiar faces before nodding, “Good luck.”

Nudging the muscular blonde, he shares a small smile with you as you quickly return it, “You practice that last night?” Steve chuckles at your amusing comment while Rocket and Scott gush over his admittedly incredible motivational speech skills.

“Just thought the team could use the confidence boost.” Admits Steve as Bruce flicks the motherboards switches to get the time portal up and running. The machine whirs to life while everyone begins putting on their helmets.

Your slightly apprehensive gaze trails to your left where Natasha is standing, she gives a playful smirk as you force a true smile, “See you in a minute.” Chides the red head as you break out into a smirk.

“будь осторожен там Romanoff.” You add, shifting into your natural dialect that she’s all to familiar with, your actual words translating to “be careful out there” as you give her one last flash of a grin.

A hot second later, your body shrinks to the size of an atom as you feel like you’re entire body is free falling out of an airplane in some strange rainbow colored portal that shifts to shimmering diamonds and then finally a blue coral type texture as you find your teams designed route down some swirling tube of blues and bright white lights until at last you land in...

“Holy shit look at this place.” You mutter in absolute awe at the large golden pillars of Asgard, there was no fucking way you were missing out on traveling to this realm. And anyways, Steve kinda made it your task to keep the potbellied god of thunder in check as yourself and Rocket attempt to locate the Reality Stone with Lebowski as your generous tour guide.

Thor smiles fondly, proudly beaming at you with a rare form of happiness as he points towards the large cavernous halls of the royal palace, “Oh this? Yeah, it’s neat isn’t it, I grew up here....played games down this very hallway actually. Me and some friends used to spar one another as children down here with wooden sticks that looked like swor...”

“Thor.” Interrupts Rocket with an annoyed huff, “Remember why we’re actually here.”

You nod in agreement, quickly remembering the current mission, “He’s right. No time to dwell on fond memories, we need to find that stone before anyone sees us. And going by the logic of literally every time traveling movie I’ve ever seen, which admittedly isn’t a lot, but it’s enough that I know no one can see us. Especially you Thor, that would be a big problem for this timeline, so lead the way.”

“Yes, right on that, good point Y/N....okay um...” He looks around for a moment before pointing in the direction of choice, which is down a long spacious hallway, “This way, no ones gonna see us if we go by the dungeons.” Explains Thor as he quickly leads the way down the obnoxiously long hallway that thankfully is decently vacant.

After about five minutes of trekking around the castles interior, Thor guides you and Rocket down a long stairwell of dark grey stone until you reach the bottom floor. There are large basins of fire lighting the way down the lengthy hallway pass, he jogs past a couple golden tinged cells holding a few odd looking prisoners on your way out.

No doubt these fuckers look like they deserve it.

You pay them no mind as Thor hustles silently across the flooring to a door on the far end, though as you’re shuffling past another cell, your eyes land on the green and black clad slender body of a dark haired man laying atop his bed. Face focused towards the white ceiling as he tosses a cylindrical piece of metal in a repeated rhythm only done by that of an incredibly bored individual.

That must be his brother Loki, you draw into conclusion while racing out of sight of the trickster god while Rocket makes haste by your side. Kind of handsome, you think as an unknowing smile finds itself onto your face. God Y/N you truly are a desperate woman. No, just no.

Eventually, Thor leads your little team of three upstairs to some large balcony type area with a grand view of Asgard, the three of you keeping hidden behind one of the multitude of intricately decorated pillars as he eyes up a woman halfway out of a giant door while she accepts some clothing from a maid.

His bearded face lights up in joy as he points a finger towards the brunette woman, “Oh, there’s Jane.” Whispers Thor as she closes the door, the Asgardian maiden leaving and walking elsewhere down another yawning chamber.

“All right.” Starts Rocket as he stands on some ancient rock covered in unknown hieroglyphics before jumping down to face the two of you once the coast is clear, “Here’s the deal tubby. You’re gonna charm her, Y/N’s gonna keep watch, and I’m gonna poke her with this thing..” He shows some strange metal device with three silver prongs sticking out of it, “...and extract the Reality Stone, and get gone lickety-split.”

The optimism off of this creature never fails to astound you.

“Yeah, what he said.” You add with a shrug in Rocket’s direction as Thor sniffs before raising up a finger. “I’ll be right back, okay? The wine cellar is just down here...” Interjects Thor as he slowly begins walking away, clearly ready to abandon his part in the mission, “My father used to have this huge barrel of Aakonian ale. I’ll see if the scullery has a couple of to-go cups.”

“Hey. Hey!” You whisper yell, causing him to stop for the moment, “Aren’t you drunk enough already? Fuck that fancy wine we got better things to do.” You urgently vouch just as some doors loudly open nearby, immediately the three of you hide behind the stone of hieroglyphics and watch as a long haired woman leads the way, a multitude of servants in her wake as she says something about giving books to Loki from the library.

“Who’s the fancy broad?” Wonders Rocket as you raise an intrigued brow at Thor, his eyes never once leave the woman’s as he takes a steady breath, “That’s my mother.” Reveals the disheartened god, a sudden sadness lacing his very words that does not go unnoticed by you, “She dies today.”

Your breath catches in your throat at this sudden tragic news of great loss, you remember when you lost your own mother by the filthy hands of Hydra and how they helped you quickly forget about her. You didn’t have anytime to grieve or even question her sudden disappearance for that matter, “Oh, shit...that’s today.”

You share a nervous look with Rocket as Thor begins taking some deep almost panicked breaths, his emotions all rising together like a swelling storm as his face shifts to an afflicted pain, “I can’t do this. I can’t do this....” Rambles Thor with a shake of his blonde mane, eyes displaying panic, “..I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t have come. It’s a bad idea!” Whisper yells Thor as he anxiously shifts from one foot to the other.

“Come here.” Beacons Rocket from his perch on the rock.

“No, no, no...” Deviates Thor as he waves his hands nervously in the air like he’s trying to flick some mud off of them, “I think I’m having a panic attack.” Worries the flushed faced god. 

“Come here. Right here.” Says Rocket as he points to the rock, an increase in irritation shifting the tone of his voice while Thor breaths heavily, clearly not on board with whatever Rocket’s going to tell him.

“No, no, no, guys I can’t...I can’t do this, I’m sorry but I’m not ready, I can’t...” Thwack, Thor yelps in surprise at your intentionally weak assault on his large bicep, “Y/N what was that for?” He half-offendedly demands, brows furrowed in confusion at the flash of anger racing across your sour glare.

“You think you’re the only one who lost people?” You snap as he lowers his head like a beaten dog, “What the fuck do you think we’re doing here? I lost the only person I ever loved, Rocket lost his whole family, gone, just like that.” You affirm with a snap of your fingers.

His face grows conflicted as you suddenly lose your heated aurora, face falling into a frown as you place a comforting hand upon his shoulder, “Thor, I know it hurts that you lost your mom...believe me I get it, but she’s gone. And there are plenty of people who are only kinda gone, and you can help them.”

Thor nods apprehensively as you share a small smile with him, “So if it’s not too much to ask, can you get your shit together for the next however long this is going to take so we can save the world?” 

Rocket chuckles before gaining the both of yours attentions. “Agreed. Now all you gotta do is make schmoopy talk to Pretty Pants and when she’s not looking, suck out the Infinity Stone and help us get our family back. Aight?”

Thor nods once more, face twisting into a saddened pain a he looks down to the floor, “Okay.” Mumbles the god of thunder weakly, face reddening as his eyes get glossy. You let him take a breath as he avoids your gaze at all costs, eyes beginning to water while he tries to play it off.

Giving his shoulder a friendly squeeze, your brows furrow in puzzlement, “Are you crying?”

He shakes his head, some tears slipping despite his verbal protest, “No.” Mutters Thor weakly as his tearful gaze finally picks up to meet you, “Yes..” Squeaks out the teary eyed god while his eyes flicker from the far wall to your face once more, “...Y/N, I feel like I’m losing it. I don’t, I don’t know what I’m doing...I just feel so...shit I don’t know anymore.” Admits the fearful Asgardian as he avoids your softening yet slightly annoyed gaze.

oh, Thor you sad motherfucker. I’ve been there.

Rolling your eyes you gently shake his shoulder for emphasis, “Listen to me you big lion, get your shit together! You can do this. You’re the god of thunder for fucks sake, you can do this Thor.” His face turns into a surprisingly more confident expression as he huffs with a self-assured nod. “I can do this.”

“Yeah...I can do this.” Repeats the Asgardian with a sniffle.

Smirking, you give his arm a friendly smack, “Good. Now let’s do this and get the fuck out of here.” You add before swiftly turning on your heel as you and Rocket lead the way to the door, reaching it, the talking raccoon tugs on your leg before you get a chance to open it. “What is it now?”

“Y/N, we lost him.”

“What?!” Realizing Thor has indeed slipped away and out of sight, you clench your fists in irritation, “Goddammit.” You seethe before looking down at Rocket, “Whatever, we’ll find marshmallow fluff later, let’s just get this stupid rock.”

——

Racing down the palaces golden hallways, your boots thud against the stony ground as Rocket runs on all fours right behind you, “I almost hope they catch you!” You shout in between the yelling of the royal guards as they hastily pursue the two of you down the hallway.

“We got the stone didn’t we!” Snaps Rocket as you pick up your pace. 

“We gotta make it back first you dumbfuck!”

He grumbles something unintelligible before you follow the beer tinged scent of Thor into another room, he’s speaking with his mother when they quickly turn around, “Oh, uh, hello...uh, queen something.” You mutter before Rocket practically smacks into the back of your legs. “I got the thing. Come on. We gotta move.”

Thor nods, speaking some last final heartfelt goodbyes to his mother before abruptly stopping the countdown to three just so he can summon his hammer. After a couple lengthy seconds, Mjolnir falls right into his strong grasp causing Thor to laugh and smile in excitement. “I’m still worthy! I’m still worthy.”

Rocket shares a look with you, “Oh, boy.” Mumbles the raccoon as you simply roll your eyes at the bearded Asgardian prince. A moment later the three of you are sucked into the time portal once again before landing on the glass of the time portal machine.

“Did we get them all?” You hear Steve ask in wonder as you hold your stomach from the jostling ride back.

“I think I’m gonna throw up.” You mutter as Rodney smiles in excitement at everyone around him and the stones in their proximity. “Are you telling me this actually worked?”

Taking a deep breath to steady your turning stomach, all eyes turn to Clint as he suddenly falls to his knees, face a mask of saddened grief that sparks panic in your heart. “Clint, where’s Nat?” Questions Bruce as your face falls.

Not her, not Natasha too.

Standing solemnly on the Facility’s large dock with the teams main Avengers in various places close by, you lean against one of the thin steel beams, a deep frown on your lips while your fingers anxiously play with Bucky’s dog tags around your neck.

“Do we know if she had family?” Questions Tony to no on in particular.

Steve swallows thickly, a couple free tear stains falling down the side of his cheeks, “Yeah. Us.” Mutters the blonde gloomily as you bite your bottom lip to keep from crying again.

“What?” Wonders Thor almost in disbelief as Tony gives him a quizzical look, “Yeah, no, you guys are acting like she’s dead. Why are we acting like she’s dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones Cap, we can bring her back. Isn’t that right?” Adds Thor, glancing between all of you before facing Tony again, “So, stop this shit. We’re the Avengers. Get it together...”

“Can’t get her back.” Interrupts Clint dismally, eyes still set on the open water beyond the compound.

Thor’s brows furrow in befuddlement, “Wh-what...”

“It can’t be undone. It can’t.” Insists Clint, voice slightly wavering in despair; Thor then starts chuckling at the absurdity of the whole shitty situation before rambling about space magic and that there must be another way. Clint on the other hand quickly gets heated about this and promptly snaps at Thor about some red floaty guy he met who revealed once the Soul Stone is taken, the one sacrificed can never come back. Ever.

Soon things calmed down again, though still a rather gloomy atmosphere still lingers like a persistent hazy fog even after they all left, leaving no one but yourself and Steve on the dock. He keeps a steady gaze on the rippling water as he lets his sadness take its course, this is indeed a heavy blow to bear.

Letting out a shaky breath, you move from the leaning against the beam to instead find a spot next to him on the wooden bench. Dog tags still clutched in your fist as you steal a glance at the tearful man. You’ve admittedly never seen him so upset, well, you both may have shared a good cry when Bucky was whipped from existence five years ago. That was the first time you ever truly bonded with anyone from the team, the first time Steve and Natasha showed you their vulnerability. 

And for that, you’ve formed a stronger bond with them that you’d never thought possible. They welcomed you into the compound like an old friend, always treated you with respect and gave you room when you needed it. And even when you didn’t want to be around anyone, they still forced you into playing cards with them anyways, among other dumb games. Which annoyingly so, is what your sad little self needed back then.

 But without Natasha, without her beaming heart and fierce attitude to keep fighting through the unknown and murky waters, you’re not even sure if this would all still be conceivable. Or if you’d even still be here with all of them for that matter, you might have gone on an angry warpath just as Clint did when everyone he ever loved was snatched from him forever. 

So why, after all this time and pain, is she the one who had to go? It’s not fare. And your heart feels broken all over again; sniffling, you swallow thickly before turning your head a little in Steve’s direction, “I didn’t know her for as long as you guys did.....but she was, really the best of us..” You laugh dismally.

 Voice shaky as you hold Bucky’s tags close to your chest, “..If not better. She was the first Avenger I ever met you know, the only piece of my past that didn’t try to murder me on sight, actually. I liked her. She was who I needed to get me through my grief, among other things huh...and uh...I will miss her.....a lot.”

Nothing is heard except for the low rustling of the nearby trees as a soft wind blows into your faces, Steve clasps his hands together, turning to you, “Funnily enough, it took me some time to completely trust her, but now....there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.” Mutters Steve with the flash of a genuine smile as he thinks fondly on Natasha, who you wish more then anything could still be here to celebrate the hard work of finding those goddamn stones.

It’s not fucking fare.

Swallowing thickly, you nod in agreement as more hot tears trail down your somber face, “The world will owe her their lives and never even know it.....but I will, we all will. Her memory will live on if I can help it, we owe her that much.”

Steve slowly nods, thumbs fiddling together anxiously as he mutters a raspy, “Yeah.”

You rest a comforting hand atop his broad shoulder as he shares a mutually dismal look with you, “We’ve already lost so much already and she fought for this like no once else did, we will avenge her Steve. I don’t doubt she knows it.”

-

Tagged: @diegos-butt @minigranger @bibliophilewednesday @holyhumorliteraturelight @lilacs-lavender @a-girl-who-loves-disney @starkssnarks @vikingqueen28 @bizarrebibitch @atomicpersonacheesecake @jmstz @staygoldsquatchling02 @marvelbros-oneshots @shawnartmendes @mischiefmanaged71 @jckie94  @iamasimpingh0e @mjaudrey  @thescarlettvvitch

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x reader #the winter soldier x y/n #the winter soldier x reader #the winter soldier x you #marvel imagine #marvel x y/n #marvel x you #marvel x reader #the winter soldier #fanfic #fanfiction #the avengers imagine

[magicmanias]

The Story of Creation

Episode 1 of Polaris

[per - uh - jee] (n). Astronomy. the point in the orbit of a heavenly body at which it is nearest to the earth.

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Summary: A fugitive out of time + interdimensional space travel + a love story. Always on the run, and while Loki might be able to escape the TVA, he always gravitates towards you. Not even bending the fabric of space and time itself can cut his heartstrings.  Occurs after the events of Endgame. Replaces Loki mini-series timeline.

Warnings: Blood, Death, Mild Violence

Word Count: 3.0k

A/N: I'M BACK BABY! *cue sit-com cheers* I thought of this mess of a series, and I had to get back into writing, damn it. I hope you enjoy it! Feedback is always welcomed!

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He did not think this through.

The fallen god grasped at the ground beneath him. He’s covered in ash and the air around him burns and freezes. He smelled smoke and fire and then blood and flesh. He pushed himself up off the metal floor. “Where the hell am I?”

A weak moan alerted him, and to his left, he found a man in his final seconds. The dying man lifted his arm weakly; his fingers shook. He rasped out a last cry for help at his prince before his hand fell and his soul was sent to Valhalla. Loki knew that man. He sold Blåveis and wildflowers at the edge of the market when he was a child. Why was he here… dying a warrior’s death?

“Our crew is made up of Asgardian families.” A transmission. “We have very few soldiers here. This is not a warcraft. I repeat this is not a warcraft.” Asgardian? This ship certainly wasn’t Asgardian... Why was this man sending a mayday call?

“Hear me and rejoice…”

The bodies around him were all Asgardians. Soldiers and men laid lifeless in this iron room—on this ship that was not a warcraft. Surely Thor wouldn’t let this happen… Nor Odin. How did this happen?

He was no less confused when he heard his brother speaking on the other side of a large crack in the metal wall. On the level below him stood his brother trapped in steel and strange beings he’d never encountered. One was tall with a gauntlet of gold like the one Odin kept locked away in his vault. He was collecting Infinity Stones… Behind him was a thin and sinister figure. And another was… himself. With the tesseract. Like the one that was… where was it?

“Loki?” A woman watched him from behind a fallen support beam. In her hands was the Tesseract. Her lip curled downward and her brow wrinkled in confusion. “Why do you have this?”

“Who are you?” Alright, so she knew his name, and he clearly didn’t know her. Her clothes were not of Asgard. The dress was revealing and unfitted to her, the straps her too long, making the neckline only slip further. Even as she watched him carefully, she still absentmindedly pulled up the straps.

“Wha—”

A scream from below interrupted the woman. She ran to the edge of the room and peered through the wall. Loki could not see what was happening, but the horror in the woman’s eyes said enough.

“Oh Valhalla...” Her hand clamped over her mouth. Loki slowly approached the source of the screams before he heard his own voice.

“ALL RIGHT, STOP!!” The woman gasped and stepped back, turning to face him. Her eyes watered and her bottom lip trembled. She turned back to him.

“Who are you?” she demanded, though her voice wavered. “Are you one of them?”

Loki scoffed. “I haven’t the slightest ide—”

“Why do you look like him?” she cut him off. “You’re not Loki,” she insisted.

Loki chuckled nervously, but he flashed a charming smile and lifted his hands hoping to appear non-threatening. He started to approach her, trying to figure out a way to get the Tesseract back.

“Don’t come any closer! I will—use this!” she warned, holding the cube in between the two of them.

“Do you even know how to use that?”

“Um—well, do you?”

“I got here with that thing, didn’t I? Now give it back.” He stretched his hand out to her, but she didn’t move a muscle.

“No, I—”

Loki had enough. He wanted answers. Now. The woman gasped as he disappeared and reappeared in front of her in a flash of green, the cube now in his hand and her arm in his other. “Tell me where I am.”

She stared at his grip on her. “You’re not my Loki…” she inquired once more.

A daunting whir of hums and struggles came from the crack. The woman peered back at the scene below. Thor’s muffled cry filled the walls of the iron room, but it was the woman’s scream that shook Loki to his core. She fell to the floor and wailed and howled in agony. A weak “no” and soft pleas escaped her tears.

Loki glanced through the hole as the woman started to gulp air between her sobs. His lifeless body was strewn on the floor, and a purple haze shrouded his view of the scene below. Amethyst flames began to surround the ship. Metal and dead men were enveloped in the blaze. Loki never liked the heat…

It appeared that Loki’s time here… wherever he was, was about to come to an end. Blue light encased his fingertips and the cube materialized before him. A sharp choking sound clouded out Loki’s attempts to think of anywhere he could go—the woman.

“Shit…” Using his free arm, Loki pulled the woman up before she could protest. “This better work.” He lifted the Tesseract and prayed the silvery clouds encasing him and his new acquaintance would take him anywhere better than here.

Loki sat up covered in sand. Again, more heat. He was really starting to think this damned cube was more a curse than a blessing.

“Oh… ow…” The woman groaned and rubbed her puffy eyes. Squinting under the desert sun, she glanced around to view her surroundings before her eyes widened in realization. “Oh shit!” Her hands returned to the ground, burying themselves in the sand frantically.

She whipped around in a haze of anger and hysteria. “Take me back!” she screamed to him. “Take me back!”

“What the hell are you talking about!? That ship is gone—and I just saved your life!” Loki argued, but she wasn’t listening and continued to dig through the sand. Loki ignored her as he concealed the cube under his magic. He looked back up to see the woman still clawing at the sand. “Who are you?”

“Take… Take me back,” she begged, slowly giving up on the sand. “I have to go back.”

Loki watched the woman break into sobs once again. His grip on the dagger up his sleeve softened and his gaze relaxed. “Who are you?” he asked once more.

“Is this some cruel trick you played Loki? Because it’s horribly unfunny!”

“I assure you that I don’t have the slightest clue as to what you’re referring. That… Loki. He wasn’t me.” Where did this damn thing take him?

“I don’t believe you. You… Out of all the things you’ve done Loki. Lying, stealing, killing, faking your death. I’m… I can’t take it! You promised you wouldn’t—”

A flash of orange cut off the woman. The light shaped itself into a doorway above the dunes.

“What the hell—” Loki turned on his heel to face the orange portal in time to see four men step out two-by-two. Their tailored coats were labeled with “TVA” and Loki’s stomach immediately dropped. “Shit.”

One of the men in the back handed the forefront man a clipboard from which he read off, “Mister Laufeyson and… friend. The TVA requests your presence at headquarters. You are under arrest for meddling in with the fabric of space-time. Please be compliant and come with us. Your friend can come if she’d like.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Loki insisted. “If you don’t mind, I would hate to have all this trouble I’ve been through go to waste. Thank you. Bye!” Just as he was about to pull out the Tesseract, one of the men suddenly appeared in front of him and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Loki threw a dagger at the man, hitting him square in the chest. The man merely looked down at the weapon, no change in his expression. He grabbed onto the handle of the dagger and pulled it out. No blood, the wound already healed.

“Please comply, Mister Laufeyson. The TVA expects your arrival,” he said.

“I don’t think so.” Loki revealed the Tesseract with his magic, praying it would take him somewhere good for once. But as soon as he took it out, the handcuffs were tightened on his wrist. The emotionless man repeated his request for compliance.

The other men move then, making their way to the woman. She stands slowly and silently allows them to escort her to the portal. She refuses to meet Loki’s eyes as they both walk defeated to the portal.

“So he’s really not lying then,” she said quietly. Her hands dug into her skirts. Her hair covered half of her face, but anyone could make out the tears that lined her cheeks.

“No, I’m afraid not, Miss,” Mobius answered. “I regret to say your actual husband is gone.”

She pushed the desk and her metal chair screeched on the linoleum floor. Loki didn’t look up from his hands planted on his tan prisoner uniform pants as he listened to her distant footsteps and the sound of a closing door. He tugged at the cuffs on his wrists. He could feel the magic dampened in his veins. The muscles in his forearms felt dull.

“Loki,” Mobius started. “As you can see, the warrant for your arrest specifies that we will have to prosecute you. You’ve broken several laws, violating the guidelines of linear time travel as well as interdimensional voyaging. While our agents are currently fixing the mess you made, including sending that lovely woman back to Earth-200000, you will, of course, have to be sent back to Earth-199999 so that the course of events and play as they were supposed—”

“You’re going to kill her.”

“Excuse me?”

The door kicked open again. Another agent in a clean suit marched in with a glass plate in hand with a sandwich laying on top. He placed the sandwich on the desk and left as quickly as he came in. “The woman. There’s nothing to send her back to. The ship she was on was destroyed before I saved her. You’re not sending her back. You’re going to kill her.”

Mobius leaned forward on his desk, clasping his hands. “We’re simply sending her back straight back to the time and place she left. If that happens to lead to her death, so be it. That’s her fate.” He paused to rest his head on his hands. “What do you care anyway? You don’t know her.

Loki hesitates to answer. No, he didn’t know her, but… he can’t stop thinking about how she reacted when… he died. The he that she married. Devoted herself to. She looked… dead inside. Hollow. Did she feel as he did when he fell from the Rainbow Bridge all those years ago? Was he looking at her the way Thor did when he let go?

“Are you going to eat that by the way?” Mobius pointed to the sandwich. “That’s technically for you, but I skipped lunch.” He didn’t wait for Loki’s answer before bending over the desk and taking the sandwich before taking a large bite out of the corner. Loki leaned back in his seat.

“If she was my wife in another dimension, I can’t help but be curious. Perhaps I’d enjoy her company.” Loki tilted his head. The gears turned in his head. He needed to figure out a way to escape. The TVA took the Tesseract from him, and he wasn’t keen on making an exit in prisoner attire.

“I didn’t know you had a thing for widows.”

“Well, I can’t say it’s never crossed my mind,” Loki smirked.

Mobius chuckled and took another bite of the sandwich. “Sadly, we’ll never know how that would work out. An agent will escort you to your holding cell until further notice.” An agent waited for Loki to stand and directed him towards the exit. “Oh, and thank you for your compliance.”

The TVA looked awfully like Midgard, perhaps from some decades ago. The architecture was garish, and the employees were... disconcerting. Each bred and born for a specific purpose. His… Odin once told him about the Time Variance Authority. Existing in an infinite dominion between worlds, a bureaucracy that rules the operations of time across the multiverse. Workers are cloned to working perfecting. Minimize disputes, increase efficiency.

The agent guided him down another long hall with identical doors lining the walls, opening and closing as countless numbers of agents entered and exited them. Loki glanced to his left. An agent walked through the door… to a jungle on the other side. To his right, a female agent exited a metropolis with flying vehicles. Another escorted a Krylorian to a portal leading to a crashing ocean. The chains between his limbs clinked as he strolled down the hall that never seemed to end.

“Thank you. I… think I’m ready now.” You stood in front of a closed door, holding the hand of an agent. He nodded and you dropped his hand. He opened the door, silently motioning her towards the shipwreck that Loki had rescued you from a mere couple of hours ago.

Loki muttered your name.

“Oh, uh hello.” You shifted uncomfortably. “I have to say. I think you look better in green.”

Loki smiled softly. “I think this attire might be worse than my actual punishment.”

You chuckled in return. “At least I can die in dignity in my own clothing.”

Loki was taken aback. “You’re not serious?” Loki again noticed the state of your appearance. Eyes flushed and puffy and red. Your bottom lip was swollen as you continued to chew on it.

“I am.” He said your name once more, like he was in disbelief that you would be so willing to give up your life like this. He reminded you so much of the man you married. Always the survivalist. It was strange to see the face of the love of your life standing before you even though it wasn’t really him. Some part of you wished your husband was the one standing before you, but there stood a slightly younger version of the god that you would have given your life for... in the flesh. “I hate to end our new friendship on such a bad note, but you do age quite a bit in the next few years. Try to sleep more, my dear Loki.”

The god scoffed and turned his head. “I’m not letting you just… kill yourself.”

“I’m just taking a page from your book.” You swallowed, a frown evident on your lips. “I assume you did the same as my Loki after Thor destroyed the Rainbow Bridge.” You turned and looked at the scene of the broken ship floating in the cosmos. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that… Take care of yourself, Loki.”

Loki grasped your wrist before you could walk through causing the cuffs to pull his other arm up. The agent behind Loki tapped his shoulder, insisting that they needed to move on, but he ignored his probes.

“I’m not letting you walk through that door.”

“My husband is dead.” There was an insistence in your voice that you seldom used, and yet your breath quivered. The tip of your nose was cold. The tears welled up in your eyes once more, but you sighed and wiped your eyes. “It’s okay,” you whispered. “I want to be with him. Let me go, Loki.”

The agent now placed a firm hand on Loki’s shoulder. “Mr. Laufeyson. It’s time to go.”

Loki turned back around, a devilish grin lining his lips. “Yes, I believe it is.”

In a trice, the agent behind Loki was on the floor and the one guiding you was on the other side of the door, floating in the ship debris where you were supposed to be. The raucous alerted the other agents in the hall who turned their heads in the direction of the noise. They began to make their way towards you. Loki acted quickly, lifting his cuffed hands above your head and looping his arm around your waist, pulling you to the other side of the hall.

“Are you ready?” he asked, backing up slightly like he was readying himself for a leap. Loki didn’t wait for your answer and ran straight towards the open door across from him. You saw a small glimpse of a grassy field before hitting solid ground.

“Why did you do that!?” You whipped your head up, your hair strewn about your face in a wild mess. Your ill-fitting clothes were now caked in dirt and grass stains. You stood on a hill overlooking a… rather familiar landscape.

“I saved your life. Again!” He pointed an accusatory finger at you, but the effort was lost with his bound hands. He grunted in frustration.

“I-I wanted to go. I didn’t want to be saved!”

Loki took in a hot breath. “You wouldn’t have seen him anyway. Valhalla is a heaven for warriors and your valiant death wouldn’t have given you an in.”

That you laughed at, if not bitterly. “You always said you’d go to Hel. I intended on seeing you there.”

“I am not your husband,” Loki spat, venom lining his words.

“No! You’re not. Yet you’ve kept me from him,” you said matching the malice in his voice.

Two voices interrupted your argument.

“Goddess, you will ruin me one day.” A young boy with inky hair ran up on the other side of the hill, holding a posy of flowers. He looked down the hill and knelt down, reaching his hand out. An equally tiny hand held onto his hand, letting him pull up. A girl pushed up and sat on the peak of the hill. He awkwardly shoved the flowers in her hands, like he’d been holding them for her when they climbed up the mound of dirt and grass.

“My mother says you’re dangerous, Trickster,” the girl taunted, reorganizing the flowers in a prettier arrangement. “Like the Midgard Serpent. You’ll strike when we least expect it.”

“Perhaps I’ll marry you. Your mother surely wouldn’t expect that,” the boy smirked. The girl pretended to attack her friend, attempting to make him jump. She wasn’t strong enough to knock him down though, and he snickered. He pushed her playfully, but she slipped and rolled down the hill, giggling the entire way down. The boy hopped down, rolling and laughing along with her.

“Oh Valhalla…” You paled.

“What?” Loki prodded. Watching the children at the bottom of the hill.

“We have to hide. Now.”

Loki was about to prompt her for an explanation, but the little girl’s playful wail answered his questions instantly.

“Loki!”

#loki x reader #loki #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #loki (tv) #loki tv #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #loki x you #reader insert #fanfic #loki x reader fanfic #loki (marvel) #loki fanfic #loki x reader angst #loki x reader fluff #perigee #episode 1 #dearspacepirates

[yourmcu]

Wish You Were Here (ii)

Pairings: Tony Stark x daughter!reader, Peter Parker x Stark!reader (platonic)

Summary:

an Infinity War/Endgame AU where Tony Stark’s daughter (you) is one of half the population that vanishes in the snap, Tony finds out later on when he arrives back to Earth, devastated, then you come back like the others to help fight Thanos.

Word count: 3,115

A/n: (moved to the end of the fic!)

Warnings: angst, death, swearing, Morgan’s a cutie! and no seriously I miss him so much

read it on ao3!

Part 1

gif not mine! credits to the owner^^

Just like the others, you were brought back when the Avengers succeeded in retrieving all the infinity stones.

You're laying on the ground at the same place you were last time: Wakanda. Once you gain consciousness you struggle to get up, your legs wobbly.

“Hello?” You call out, but you're alone, can’t even contact anyone since your suit is out of power. You have no clear memory of what happened, just that you had an anxiety attack while Natasha held you, then you blacked out and - that’s it.

You felt a strong breeze and footsteps behind you.

“[Y/N] Stark,” a man’s voice says. “Come with me.”

The man is ancient looking, had a cape and his facial hair weirdly reminds you of Tony’s. “Who are you? And how long was I out?” You look at a sparking yellow portal far behind him, “did you do that?”

“Stick together and stick with Wong,” the man calls out before the portal closes. You have no idea who he was talking to since they already got in. “Doctor Stephen Strange. We need to find Pepper Potts and... get you suited.”

“I already am suited it’s just - no juice. What’s going on?”

“It’s been five years. It’s time, your father and the others need our help to defeat Thanos,” Doctor Strange opens up another portal to an unfamiliar cabin. Your eyes light up at the mention of Tony. “Quickly. We do not have much time.”

Five years? Unbelievable. That’s just insane. You like sleeping a lot but you couldn’t imagine being asleep for five long years.

“Are - are you sure we’re in the right pla - okay, sorry, don’t have much time, yeah,” you knock on the door when Doctor Strange gives you a stern and impatient look. It gets answered right away.

“[Y/N]? Oh my god,” Pepper says breathlessly. You could feel her sobbing while she hugs you tightly.

“Hey, you guys didn’t tell me you moved,” you frown. “Is all my stuff here? Mr. Strange wants me to get ready and this isn’t the only suit I have-”

“Doctor Strange.”

“It’s upstairs, last room on the left,” Pepper smiles as she wipes her tears. You nod and went up the stairs as the magic doctor told her everything.

All your stuff were in boxes and your spare iron suit was standing in a corner. You wiped away the dust off and checked if it was in good condition. It was ready to go.

You quickly charged the weapons and blasters on the suit, and you still needed to-

You hear a small gasp from behind the door.

Confused, you turn around to see a girl with an amazed smile on her face. “Y/N!”

You cautiously walk over to the small girl, “yeah, I’m Y/N, what’s your name?”

“Morgan,” she replies, then her eyes widen as she hides something behind her back. “Daddy said I can borrow your stuff as long as I put it back. They all look really cool.”

You still aren’t sure, but you start to put the pieces together in your mind: you were ‘gone’ for five years, this girl is living with Pepper, and if you guessed right, ‘daddy’ is Tony.

She’s your sister.

“It’s okay, and thanks,” she gives you a small hug which you return slightly, you feel a smile growing on your face since you find her really precious. “It’s nice to meet you, Morgan.

“Hey, so, there’s this weirdo man downstairs and he wants me and Pep - mom to do an errand for him,” you say to her once you remember you have to go. Morgan nods understandingly, “we can play and catch up when I get back, okay? That’s a promise.”

She runs back to her room and you get suited up, power at its maximum.

“Welcome back, Ms. Stark.”

“Glad to be. I missed you - actually, how Dad’s doing? Is he alright?”

“Mr. Stark had a concussion earlier, but as of now he is waking up again.”

“Oh,” you exhale and start worrying about him a bit. “Okay. That’s fine, I guess,”

Once you go back down a portal was already open and a nanny by the door (you assumed for Morgan). You fly right in before it closed up.

“Holy shit.”

There's armies coming out of many different portals, from people to aircrafts, to mutants. You all gather at the Avengers compound, or what used to be the compound.

“I forgot to mention,” you point out and Pepper turns to you, “That’s a pretty badass suit.”

You could feel Pepper roll her eyes from inside her suit. You follow her as she flies all the way to the front.

Your eyes dart everywhere to look for Tony. And there he is, getting up from the ground and flying back to the Avengers. He looks worn out, ragged, tired; you notice before his iron head covered him up. There’s so many people that you doubt he even saw you. God, you miss him so much.

Cap, Thor, Rhodey, Clint, Peter, Wanda, Bucky, Sam, Bruce - or Hulk, everyone was there, but where’s Natasha?

“Avengers!” Cap shouts, a hand extended as he catches Mjolnir without stumbling - whoa, what? - “assemble.”

That’s it. The battle begins.

It's your first time using your backup suit, you obviously didn’t have the time to test it out first. Good thing it works fine.

You're flying around, shooting enemies whenever they get in your way and helping anyone on your side who needed it.

What got you confused (not that you were complaining) was how the other Avengers were a bit too happy to see you than they normally should. You brushed it off though, they probably just love you so much like you love them.

“Aye, mind if you launch me? I need to be over there,” a raccoon holding a gun states and pointed to the direction. You recognize him immediately.

"Sure thing, bud,” you obliged, grabbing him, levitating off the ground and to thrust your iron arm forward like a cannon.

After a while the battle died down a bit and you saw Tony embracing Peter in a distance.

You smile sadly. Peter’s your best friend, but you really wish that it’s you who Tony was hugging.

Your jealousy fades when one of those giant flying Chitauri makes its way to their direction, ready to attack.

“Friday, activate the mega blaster,” you fly closer to the pair.

“Which one?” For fuck’s sake, Friday,

“The biggest one, please, now!” Once the blaster's out, you aim at the monster who's literally meters away from Tony and Peter and fire. When it crashes to the ground lifeless, you land beside them.

“Sorry, that was,” you pant, opening up your iron helmet. “It was literally going to eat you guys, so, uh, sorry for ruining the moment.”

Peter smiles, nodding and Tony looks at you as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.

He hadn’t seen you in so long that your sudden presence fucking took his breath away. You're here, alive and back. If you guys weren’t in such a situation he’d go on and tell you about all the things you missed.

“I’m probably in trouble, right? I mean.. look Dad, I’m in a battlefield,” you laugh nervously, shooting a creature from the corner of your eye. “In my defense, Doctor Strange was the one who came to me, I didn’t-”

You're cut off when Tony wraps his arms around you. Right now he didn’t care about your excuses as to why you were here. But if Tony from five years ago could see you now he’d definitely ground you for life and take away your lab privileges.

“You’re doing great.” his voice slightly muffled from the hug. You let out a squeak, not expecting that from him at all. Tony smiles and plants a kiss to your forehead. “I love you, kid.”

“I love you too, Dad.”

The battle carries on and you're being swarmed by more enemies. You got really beaten up as it went on - what really knocked you out was when Thanos’ spaceship rained fire.

Unable to get shelter, you try your best to dodge everything that came out of the ship. You could barely see anymore because of the chaos and the clouds of dust everywhere.

“Ms. Stark, you need to get somewhere safe! Your heart rate is also increasing dangerously fast.”

“Not - not helping, Fri-” you get cut off when one of the blue fires hit you on the head, sending you to the ground unconscious.

----

“[Y/N], come on buddy, you need to get up,” Peter. He found your body a while after he handed the gauntlet to Captain Marvel. The battle's still ongoing, but he’s focusing on keeping you away from it while he waits for you to wake up.

You quickly sit up and gasp for air, looking at your best friend. “Did we win? Did we - wait, Peter, look out!” You push him out of the way when a group of monsters make their way to both of you. They turn into dust before they could lunge forward, however.

“...what the..?”

He helps you up and the both of you run to where Rhodey and Tony are at. You nearly break down when you see the state he's in.

“Mr. Stark? Hey - Mr. Stark? It’s Peter... and look, Y/N’s here- she’s okay, sir-” While Peter tries to talk to him you kneel down beside him, placing a hand on his arm while you do your best not to cry.

Then he looks at you, mouthing it’s okay.

But you know it isn’t. On your part, anyway. It seems really selfish but you don’t know what you’d do without him. Tony has always been there for you, he always kept you going.

Pepper kneels beside you, gave you a reassuring look before looking at her husband. “Friday?”

“Life functions critical.” That makes you whimper, pulling yourself closer to Tony.

“Tony, look at me. We’re going to be okay. You can rest now.”

You nod, sniffling, resting your head on his shoulder lightly. “I love you. I’ll take good care of Morgan, dad. Don’t worry.”

When the light of his arc reactor goes out, that’s when both you and Pepper break down, comforting each other around Tony’s lifeless body.

----

Dresses really weren’t your thing. So were skirts and shorts. But you wore a short, black dress for Tony’s funeral. You didn’t care if you weren’t comfortable, it was for him. You’d do anything for him.

You barely got any sleep since the battle, you couldn’t now that he was gone. It didn’t feel right. You had no idea how to cope, how you could move on from this.

What made things worse is when Steve and Thor told you about what happened to Natasha, that’s why you didn’t see her in the battle. She gave her own life just to get everybody else back.

You must’ve zoned out again because Rhodey and Pepper are now setting something up in the living room. An Iron Man helmet.

“S’that going to be new decoration?” You force out a chuckle, sniffling afterwards, sitting down on the sofa behind them.

Iron Man’s eyes light up when Rhodey presses a button. You couldn’t believe what you were seeing. Tony sitting on a chair, a hologram.

He turns it off before hologram Tony could say a word. “That’s,” he sighs, “that’s for later.”

“I can’t do this,” you get up, running a hand through your hair. “I can’t. I’ll - I’ll break down, I know I will. Can I take a walk? Please?”

“Take your time.” Steve gives you a comforting smile.

Pepper nods. “Some air would do you good. Be back when it’s time, okay?”

You take longer calming yourself down in the woods near the cabin. You cried, you mumbled to yourself, paced back and forth,

Cause a picture is all that I have, To remind me that you're never coming back  If I picture it now it just makes me sad And right now I just wish you were here.

You stop when you heard leaves crunching. Peter just arrived, along with his aunt.

“Hey,” Peter silently greets, pulling you into a hug. It's obvious he isn’t getting any sleep either. “Are you okay?”

“Of course not,” you murmur, pulling away. “I should probably head back inside.”

“I’ll see you in a bit.”

You slowly walk to the porch, stopping when you hear Tony’s voice inside. You decide to just wait outside the door, you definitely don’t want to see his face, not right now, it'd be too painful.

“If we pull this thing off, and get everyone back,” Tony pauses. “Tell [Y/N] I left something in her room, yeah?”

Then he does the secret rhythm to a clap only the both of you memorized and knew.

You assume he’s done, since you don’t hear his voice anymore after that. Everyone goes out of the house and you hold Morgan’s hand as all of you walk to the lake for one last goodbye.

After that you talked to everybody who came for a while. Bruce, Steve, Clint and Thor tried to get you to look at the bright side, which you appreciated, you met the rest of the guardians who came, Doctor Strange who gave you a sympathetic look and apologized for your loss, and the guy you remembered Tony told you about, the one who helped him when his suit powered down and got stranded years ago. You made a mental note to ask him to hang out with you and Peter sometime.

“Hey... I’m heading to bed now,” you inform Pepper, Happy and Rhodey (both men were staying at the cabin for a few days) who're in the living room staring at the fireplace.

Before you go to your own room you check up on Morgan, who’s fast asleep. She's wearing her little Iron Man glove, pressed to her chest. She doesn’t deserve this.

Your room is still unpacked and they just sort of removed your bed from the compound and moved it here. You sit on the bed, already thinking of ways to move on that you know wouldn’t work anyway.

You remember your father claimed he had something for you here, so taking a deep breath, you clap the secret rhythm,

“Dad... you’ve gotta be kidding me,” you whine, covering your face with both palms.

Another hologram.

“Hey legacy,” Tony chuckles, looking at you. You shake your head at the ridiculous nickname, also avoiding his eyes, which you’re sure would make you cry if you did look. “I... uh, this is just a little video. For you. Sure you won’t see this but... I like to pretend I could still talk to you. I miss you, a lot.”

You fiddle with your hands, still not looking at him but you listen to him talk.

“But we’ll see. We’ll figure something out. I hope to see you soon, [Y/N]. I love you.”

He has both hands in his pockets as he looked at you with a warm smile, before disappearing.

But he reappears a second after.

“We’re doing it tomorrow. The... uh, time travel thing.”

The stress in his voice make you look up at him, but this time he isn’t looking at you. It seems like he was pacing while he recorded it.

“I just finished doing one of these for, well, in case I somehow die while we attempt to do it. If you think about it, it’s highly likely. Going back in time, yada yada, possibilities are endless,” he sighs. “But I figured I owe my firstborn a final message if that happens, right?”

“Honestly I feel,” he makes motions with his hands. “Bit anxious... right now. We were the only ones helping each other out when one of us felt this way but... seeing as you’re not here, I just have to deal with it.”

“[Y/N], look at me,” Tony crouches down to be in level with you, like he knew you were actually here watching this, like he was actually there, the one talking to you. But it’s how he programmed it. “You wanna know what my best decision in life was?”

“Yeah?”

“Taking you in,” he smiles. “When we fight you always bring up that I had the choice not to, and you were right. But guess what? I have no regrets.”

You smile, blinking back tears.

“You mean the world to me, I just feel like I don’t say it enough,” Tony cocks his head slightly, still looking at you. “We both have no idea what the afterlife’s like but that won’t matter, I’ll always look after you girls.”

“Speaking of which, your sister reminded me so much of you when she was first born, god, I still wish you were around for that. I know you’ll love her, she’s just brilliant. Take care of her for me, yeah?”

“Maybe there’s a way to get you back,” Tony sighs at your words, already knowing that it’s not going to work out. “I - I just need some time. I can bring you back, Dad-”

He places a hand on your shoulder. You couldn’t feel it, but you did feel a light breeze. “The deed’s already done, honey. Don’t worry about me. Come on, don’t cry,” he kneels in front of you as you let yourself go, crying hard into your palms.

Don't say everything's meant to be, Cause you know it's not what I believe  Can't help but think that it should've been me In the end, I just wish you were here.

You open your eyes when you hear a beep, even Tony turns around. The recording had ten seconds left. “The recording’s about to end, [Y/N],”

“I love you tons,” you whisper, looking up at him.

Tony smiles, caressing your cheek. “I love you 3,000.”

Yeah, they say you're in a better place, Either way I still wish you were here ‘Cause they say you're in a better place  In the end, I just wish you were here.

----

so here’s part 2. I miss him y’all, it’s missing-Tony-so-much hours for me

just like the first part, I got the title from this amazing song by Neck Deep which you can listen to here.

[taglist: @creation-magician​ (which I would like to personally thank for wanting to be tagged)]

#tony stark #tony stark imagines #tony stark fluff #tony stark angst #tony stark x reader #tony stark x daughter!reader #tony stark x stark!reader #iron man #iron man imagines #iron man fluff #iron man angst #marvel #marvel imagines #avengers #the avengers #avengers x reader #avengers x you #fluff #spiderman #marvel cinematic universe #mcu #mcu imagines #tony stark oneshot #peter parker #tony stark one shot #pepper potts #morgan stark #james rhodes #happy hogan #avengers endgame

[votederpycausemufins]

God i love the trope of people who have animal traits going feral. So writing Grian is fun. I just realized that one time Grian said ‘I am the embodiment of twitch chat’ could imply those voices. i meant, it’s a stretch, but eh, whatever.

@petrichormeraki

Tommy hated how soon they were already gathered, preparing for another war. Hermitcraft was safe, the only wars were simply fun between friends. But now it was just like back on the smp. “I’ve got my disc box ready.” Tommy put the shulker in his inventory, looking over at Mumbo. “What about you?”

“I’m not really the best at these fights, so I’m just geared up and hoping I don’t die helping people out of here.”

“Help people out? What, are some of the hermits chickening out?” Tommy joked to lighten the mood, but it didn’t help.

“No. No one is going to just run off during all this. Grian’s our friend, practically family. But plenty of the people from your old world have been visiting. And with how you’ve talked about them, I doubt all of them will leave even though they should. And… Xisuma isn’t here. I don’t know how its supposed to work, but if he’s not here, we might not respawn.”

Tommy felt his blood run cold. He hadn’t thought of that. He could actually die. It had been so long since he was worried, having only one canon life left. He remembered Xisuma telling him he had ten, and every time he asked if a death counted, the admin said it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t until election 2 that he thought it had to be canon when he finally realized that he was never going to run out of lives. No one was. But now he could. 

“Well, I know them best. I should probably help with that.”

“You’re a better fighter, if either of us is going after Grian, it should be you.”

“Look, how about we just both fly over there now and help get people out, and when the fighting starts, we fly back to give whoever was already fighting a break.” Tommy suggested, and Mumbo reluctantly agreed.

Grian was flying towards a new island, one he knew was going to have everyone that wasn’t supposed to be there. Maybe Tommy will be there too. No way, he’ll be after Grian. But some of those people were his friends, right? Don’t you remember, Tommy said they abandoned him, exiled him. He forgave Tubbo easily. That’s different. How? Oh shit what’s that. Did Grian build that? AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!

Grian stopped listening and actually focused on the portal that had appeared in front of him. He hadn’t made it, especially since he didn’t have anyone to put there. So he tried to fly around it. It disappeared thankfully, but another appeared. Tubbo did say that cat was Tommy’s friend too. That was a cat? We could go and bring her back out. She might know where Tommy is! Oh that’s true! Grian dived into the portal.

“Oh look who finally dragged themselves home. It’s Xelqua.” Grian looked for the voice, then glared at them.

“You know I haven’t used that name since I was in your world Lynn.” Grian ruffled his feathers before preening them.

“Duck meat.”

“Mystic bitch.”

“Seed breath.”

“Rabbit freak.”

“Feather fart.”

“Pa-” “Grian, Lynn. Calm yourselves.” Grian stopped his insult to look at who approached.

“Sorry Zloy.” Grian said, rolling his eyes and then sticking his tongue out at Lynn.

“I saw that.”

“I know you did! What don’t we see?” Grian crossed his arms. Can he really boss you around like that? That dude is big. Bet you could- Grian shook his head to get those pesky voices to shut up. “Why am I here?”

“Pin was really upset that you left so early. Noah’s the only one that didn’t mind, but obviously you should have stayed longer.” Zloy spoke in a disapproving tone.

“Hey, Tommy is my brother. If Gxrgeous didn’t let things get this bad-” Grian started to complain, but Zloy cut him off.

“She doesn’t want to interfere like the rest of us.”

“Oh but Noah, Goof and Pin can? I’m a watcher because they interfered. You get more watchers by interfering.”

“And what, did you want Tommy to be one too?”

Grian felt his feathers puff up with agitation. “No! Of course not. I’m just saying she could have stopped things before they got to children being put in wars!”

“And here you are making more.” Lynn taunted Grian, making him even angrier.

“They started it by showing up in the first place to take Tommy! I only broke my promise to save him!”

“And what about now?” Zloy asked, drawing Grian’s attention back to him. “Why continue it?”

“Contin- What are you talking about? What, is Gxrgeous upset I’m helping out where she failed?”

“Pixlriffs, did you open up a window yet?” There was an answer of affirmation and suddenly Grian was staring into a watcher portal.

“And den we went to space! And dere were impastas and I got ta be one wit my dad, and we killed everyone and Sprinklez was so happy!” Crumb explained to Xisuma. The admin nodded along, half paying attention as he tried once more to access his admin panels and get them out of there.

“X! Where are we?!” Xisuma looked up and then around until he saw Iskall getting closer, falling from above with one of their other guests, Hbomb.

“I have no clue. I’m not getting any readings and I can’t access any admin panels to get us out of here.”

“Hey! You guys are my dad’s friends!” Crumb recognized Iskall, though she had only briefly seen him, and the other guy looked familiar, so that must have been who Sparklez said they just found. “We’ve been falling forever and it, well it was getting a little lonely but now we can share more stories!”

“Well, based on what was going on, might be something to do with Watchers with how Grian was looking. Though he was going to kill me when we saw him.”

“I have absolutely no clue what’s going on.” Hbomb spoke up, hoping the other three would have some explanation for him. Okay maybe just the two hermits, he wasn’t completely sure how much he would get out of Crumb.

“What does he mean with how I was looking? I’m just trying to hang out with my family!” Grian argued, making Zloy look a little confused.

“Grian, you started using your watcher powers to attack people. You threw those four in a Watcher portal, but as there is no new world prepared yet, they’re stuck in a place where no world exists.”

“What? But, I mean while I have trouble controlling myself when I’m using my watcher powers, I can remember everything once I’m a little more lucid. I mean, you remember the explosion.”

“Of course, Pixlriffs ran to me as soon as he noticed it was happening. Do you really not remember this going on?” Grian shook his head. “That’s not good. And we can’t look into it much if you’re here, so we’ll have to send you back.”

“Zloy, if you have to interfere, don’t let people get hurt.” Grian suddenly felt small and nervous, scared for his friends' safety. “And please, try not to let me go too haywire.”

“We can try, but until we know what’s going on…”

“I get it. But you better get Gxrgeous’ help too since this involves them now.”

“We will.”

Another portal appeared and Grian recognized the world of Hermitcraft on the other side. He didn’t want to go through, but if he didn’t now, he might never get to return. So he stepped through. Do you really think they know what they’re doing? Yoooo it was Zloy. Are you new, we’ve seen him before. We still need to keep Tommy safe, right? Hey Philza logged in. The dadza! Dadzaaaaaa. Guys, now I want pizza. What if he takes Tommy? Oh yeah, he shouldn’t be here either. Infinity portal time guys.

Grian sped up his flying, more determined to reach the island now.

Tommy was surprised to see a familiar avian as he and Mumbo landed on the island. “Phil? What are you doing here?”

The hardcore player looked surprised to see Tommy so soon. “I’m actually here for you Tommy. What’s going on?”

“Grian’s gone crazy and is apparently attacking people. I’m here to help get people back to the smp with Mumbo.” He moved to push Philza back through the portal. “So now is like the worst time for a visit.”

“Feels like it’s more of a perfect time to bring you back.”

Tommy, who was more focused on helping everyone else, suddenly looked over at Philza. “What? No, I’m staying! I’m staying right here! You should understand that! I’m going to help Grian! Just because you didn’t have him for like 15 years or something, doesn’t mean he’s not family!”

Philza grabbed Tommy’s arm. “And that’s exactly why you should come back. I saw him start going on a rampage because of you. What if this is just some of the same?”

Tommy shook his head. “That could just mean me leaving could make it worse.”

“Guys! I know your argument must be very fascinating, but I’m pretty sure that’s Grian flying towards us!” Mumbo yelled to get their attention and Philza and Tommy looked up to where the redstoner was pointing, Grian indeed flying towards them. 

Tommy yanked his arm away and started to pull out his shulker box when purple energy formed around the watcher avian and suddenly he was gone. Tommy’s eyes scanned the sky until a yell came from right behind him. When the blond turned, he had to crane his neck up to see the form Grian had taken. He looked like something out of stories he heard from one of the hermits. Angels with multiple wings and eyes covering them. Tommy could tell it was Grian, but at the same time, he didn’t.

“Dear lord.” Tommy heard Mumbo mumble. Grian was holding Philza in talons as a portal slowly formed made mostly of bedrock. Though Tommy was upset at his dad, he still didn’t want anything to happen to him. Fortunately the hardcore player could handle himself and stabbed Grian. He dropped to the ground and lost his health, but not knowing where that portal would lead, it was a better option. 

Tommy ran to his dad, ready to defend him, but the Watcher’s attention was drawn by another smp member who was trying to get to the infinity portal. With a swipe of a wing, Grian pushed the smp member into his own portal. A moment later he was going after someone else.

“Tommy, He’s after people from the smp.” Philza realized. “He’s going to go after you.”

Tommy didn’t want to believe it, but he knew the communicators didn’t work between worlds. That’s why they couldn’t find Xisuma or Tubbo. “Then let him, Tubbo’s gone. He’s got to be in there too.”

“No Tommy. If he’s after us, he won’t stop until we’re all gone. If you want to help Grian, you have to come home!” Tommy was pulled to look his father in the eyes. He hadn’t seen Philza look this scared in ages. And he was probably right. 

“Okay fine. Let’s go back.” Tommy nodded, and then followed his dad towards the infinity portal. Right before they could reach it, Grian noticed and dropped the person he was holding to go after Tommy, but before he could reach them, they had gone through.

The moment they got to the other side, Tommy regretted his decision. “What’s Dream doing here? Why isn’t he in the vault.”

“Tommy, come on, don’t be so harsh.” Dream spoke, trying to seem like no threat, but Tommy knew better and drew his weapon. “You came back with your dad, so as promised I won’t be too harsh on you.”

Tommy inhaled sharply, turning to look at Phil. “You were working with him?! Grian’s back there and you thought that bringing me back to Dream was going to be better than me helping my brother?!”

“Tommy, he-”

“I don’t want to hear it! I’m sick of trusting you! You always say you’re going to be there for me, but then you turn around and work with someone who’s going to hurt me.”

“Tommy, I’m your friend, I won’t-”

“Shut up green bitch. I’m going back!”

“No, you’re not going back Tommy. Once everyone comes back from visiting that little vacation world of yours, we can close the portal.” Dream spoke, sounding much too confident on something that wouldn’t be happening.

“Then we’ll have to close it now. If they haven’t come in now, they’re not coming through.”

Dream chuckled. “Oh I’m sure they’ll come through. I’ve got someone over there to bring them to the portal.”

“Kinda hard if Grian already got to them.” Tommy crossed his arms. “He’s tossing them in some weird bedrock portal and they’re disappearing. Unless Tubbo came back here.”

Dream stopped. That wasn’t supposed to be happening. “No, they were supposed to be put back through the infinity portal.”

It took a bit for Tommy’s mind to comprehend what Dream meant before he jumped to attack the former admin. “What the fuck did you do to Grian?! This is your fault, isn’t it?! Tubbo’s gone because of you!”

“It’s fine.” Dream gritted out. “He… the watcher messed with you. Saving you when you were falling. Ranboo didn’t have enough of his signature on him, but you. You’ve got to be around him all the time. I can use that.” Tommy tried to run, but Dream anticipated it. “Philza, grab him.”

Raven wings trapped Tommy. He turned around to yell at his dad, but there was just a blank look on his face. “What the fuck are you doing to my family?!” Tommy yelled, trying to escape the wings on his own with little luck.

“I’m just going to make sure everyone comes home and then we can go back to how things were before you ran away. And what better way to do that then to use the power of a Watcher.” Tommy wanted to argue again, but the handle of an axe crashed against his head, and the world went dark.

#hermit!tommy au #hermit!tommy #tommyinnit #grian #grian xelqua #watcher!grian #avian!grian #mumbo jumbo #xisumavoid #the watchers #crumbl #cuptoast #philza #dreamwastaken #still not a fan of how dream's persona eminates someone... problematic

[sepublic]

The Astro Queue and Party Car!

           Kez… my beloved… You’re so wonderfully expressive and cartoonish, and unusually flirty with anything that exists. Yet so charming and delightful, yet beneath it all you’ve got insecurities and I feel so BAD for her… But you know what, she didn’t need Paco, and the uh… Okay I kind of forgot their names, besides Hive and Spice-something, I have a general idea, and it doesn’t matter! Oh yeah, there’s also a rock from the Hey Ho Whoa Car, I appreciate that kind of retroactive return for an old car, that’s fun.

           Weird tangent incoming, but… Going back to what I said about Kez kind of reminding me of Ryan’s lifestyle, she also seems to have the insecurity of Min, and how they both have this thing of… Being afraid of how they’re perceived and letting that really get to them! And Kez… she looked SO at ease and relieved on Min’s shoulder at the end, my heart is MELTING…! Maybe Kez has traits that can make her relate to both Min AND Ryan as a mediator, as an example of the one they become (also foreshadowing One who inversely becomes One-One), and I like that her lack of understand of social cues (or knowing disregard) allows her to comment as an impartial third, outside party…

           But also- LORE! So it seems that those boots are meant to root passengers in place so they can’t muck about whenever the Steward is operating in the same car; I think we finally, FINALLY have an answer to what it meant when it told Tulip to stay in her seat- It’s likely a default line for a passenger who somehow manages to move from their place whenever the Steward is operating… Which, given all of Amelia’s mess and hijinx with the Infinity Train’s normal functions, that’s kind of her fault! Seeing Kez glitch also lends credence to the interpretation of denizens being spawned by orbs in a sense… Which, for Tuba-is-Alive conspiracy theorists, hope is there? Because her orb might still exist?

           Regardless… The Steward seems to really live up to its name, and it’s cool to see how it usually is meant to function- Not necessarily for maintenance, but for giving passengers anything they need, should there be a necessity! Which, that makes me wonder if the Steward and One keep track of passengers to rescue them if things get dangerous, which again, is ANOTHER problem Amelia caused, and contributes further to Grace and Simon forming the Apex! Yikes… Still, it’s fascinating to see how the Steward’s role plays in interacting with passengers more, and intriguingly, Amelia’s own dialogue there… It kind of sounds like she suggested to One that he give Min and Ryan their things back?

           So, maybe this is what Amelia had in mind; Maybe she wanted a more hands-on approach to the Infinity Train? Perhaps One invited her specifically as an actual human, second opinion as a passenger, someone who can provide input on how the Infinity Train is working, a review and feedback, constructive criticism! Oh god… Imagine if Amelia actually got her number down, and THEN One asked for feedback, and she decided to stick back because it’s not like she has anything waiting- But then realizing the opportunity to bring back Alrick made her number go back up!

           Still, if Amelia IS trying to convince One to be more proactive, then it’s interesting that she becomes even MORE hands-off than neglectful when she takes the role of Conductor! Did she just, like… Give up at some point? She mentions that Ryan and Min have to ‘individuate’, is One keeping a human passenger as suggestions on how to handle passengers more, as they directly watch over them? Is Amelia suggesting that Min and Ryan be more individual and separate, perhaps having their own numbers even, because she disagrees with One’s experiment? I can only guess, but I’m glad that, as I’d hoped, Book 4 indirectly gives us a look and context to Amelia’s backstory on the Infinity Train, as setup for her eventual arc… Also, just considered Kez and Amelia parallels as people called in as a second, outsider’s opinion on an issue, especially if you consider how One becomes a duo himself, too!

           Poor Ryan, he really does seem to have an issue of… Feeling belittled, being made to feel like he’s dumb and his ideas aren’t good, perhaps? While Min, he can get frustrated and I feel more angry at Ryan openly as a result, VS Ryan at Min… And I think that of course plays into his obvious anxiety; How Min and Ryan both feed into but can also bring one another up… Min is nervous, he’s overtly cautious, but Ryan can encourage him to put himself out there more! But also, Min can be the patience that Ryan needs, they really complete one another… But on the other hand, Ryan’s outbursting behavior can make Min even MORE anxious and resentful, and Min constantly being a dampener on his AND Ryan’s ideas can make Ryan chafe, it’s fascinating!

           It kind of fits the crossroads theme; How these two could use their opposite traits to propel one another, or instead drive each other crazy… And that could’ve played into the Infinity Train’s decision to appear to them at that moment; Do Ryan and Min collaborate and let their differences make up for one another, or drive each other crazy? How Ryan taking the keys, it could’ve led to Min taking cues from him and growing, or it could’ve led to Min being understandably frustrated and even MORE resentful with Ryan… And Ryan could learn to take into account Min setting his own boundaries, or instead disregard them recklessly! They go hand in hand together, it is a FASCINATING synergy!

           Also, I have to wonder what happened to Morgan, where they are… And I like the neat subversion of like, everyone already being gone; But it doesn’t matter, the party is still a ‘hit’ because our trio had fun together! And how they don’t need to impress anyone, just themselves; That’s some incredibly clever symbolism there, I like it! Also appreciate the return of Mr. Green and the theming of the Green Car in some capacity, I wonder what’s the story THERE, if the Green Room actually has a secret portal to the Green Car, etc.! Who’d have thunk that Green Car short didn’t just allude to Book 2, but also Book 4 as well!

           Onto the next destination, passengers! I can’t wait to see what awaits us…!

#infinity train #infinity train spoilers #infinity train book 4 spoilers #infinity train book 4 #infinity train duet #infinity train ryan #ryan akagi #infinity train min #min-gi park #infinity train kez #infinity train amelia #amelia hughes #infinity train one one #speculation #analysis

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

I'm a sucker for Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, so You have Headcannons about it?

I'll Start saying that One of My First Playthroughs Treecko was my partner, so When Grovyle shows up I Made The Crazy HC that he was my partner from The future ajdbdj

Oh my good friend, it depends on which game you’re asking about! 

But in general, I do love the wild implications and questions raised by having a Treecko on your team in Explorers. I suppose a similar idea presents itself in Rescue Team, though not involving time travel. Imagine if your partner was a Charmander, and the Charizard on Team A.C.T. was actually their biological dad? Just something to think about. Speaking of fathers, can we just take a moment to give a shoutout for how Dugtrio is depicted? (In Explorers, I can’t remember if they did the same thing in Rescue) I know it’s because they have three heads, and I know referring to oneself as multiple people isn’t really something that we see in the same context in real life...but Dugtrio being the way they are and everyone just accepting it, despite how it’s different than the norm...that’s such a great example to set? Like, I didn’t get it as a kid, but I so appreciate it now. It’s an unorthodox form of representation, but the writing of Dugtrio’s character has its heart in the right place. 

Most headcanons I have will probably be for Explorers, since while I love all of these games, that is the one that I’ve played backwards and forwards. Here’s one: The Multiverse Theory. I believe there are several timelines that have occurred and overlap each other. The Dark Future, as well as the Restored Future that the heroes create, are just two examples. I feel like Darkrai would have tried several times, creating new portals for each failure. 

Here’s a tricky question: If the Time Gears are supposed to be in Temporal Tower, and even have slots fitted for them...why weren’t they there in the first place? Why were they placed in different locations around the world? If Darkrai moved them, why did they have Guardians who seemed to have been there for generations, assuming that that was where the Gears were supposed to be? Here’s another question: The Time Gear depicted on the loading screen for Explorers of Darkness...what was that about? As of Sky, we’ve seen every Time Gear location, and there were only five...this is what I mean. Multiverse. That location looked a hell of a lot like the Dark Crater. I bet there was a timeline where Darkrai kept one of the Time Gears to ensure Temporal Tower could never be fully restored. We only know that he “sabotaged it” after all. 

Here’s another question about Darkrai’s powers: How the heck does he have the ability to transfigure a human into a pokemon? How was he able to do that? I’m pretty sure the amnesia was just a naturally occurring side-effect, that the MC bumped their head or something. So that would answer that question. Here’s another point - Darkrai was aiming for Grovyle. MC shielded him. Which of course raises the question - what the heck would that attack have done to Grovyle? I’m not sure, part of me wonders if it wouldn’t have reduced him to being a Treecko, perhaps? That could be the connection. Or maybe it was just a run of the mill nightmare attack that he’s known for, but since it was meant for a Pokemon’s mind, it responded different to a human’s? What if the MC being a pokemon is, itself, a kind of dream, come to life? 

The Dimensional Scream. This ability is so weird. In the past, it can work on anything. In the future, it’s only Time Gears. Why is that? I feel like maybe it has some connection to how the Time Gears being in different places across different timelines. How in some, they’re in Temporal Tower, yet in others, they’re around the world. I wonder where an ability like this would come from, and why only humans can have it. Why couldn’t say, a psychic type pokemon have this power? We see from the MC’s transformation that they retain the ability even in a Pokemon’s body. So again, why is it only humans who can have this power? That’s not even getting into the unanswered questions about how humans fit into this universe. It’s not like Gates to Infinity where humans are directly established to be seen as fairy tales to the Pokemon. In this game, they know what humans are, but the player is the only one they ever meet. 

Here’s a fun theory. Those Time Gears fit into Temporal Tower, into a shape that looks like one big Time Gear. Suppose in the original, true timeline....it was all  one Gear? That Darkrai’s sabotage was what broke it into pieces? Suppose the fracture of time is what caused all the divergent timelines to become possible, to overlap? Suppose the MC is psychically attuned to the fracture in time, and that connection is what creates the Dimensional Scream? It would tie in with how it’s animated, that’s for sure. It could go a ways to explaining why the ability is so random. Why it sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t, and how it even seems to be affected by the presence of Time Gears or lack thereof. What if The Dark Future is a kind of chasm where all of the timelines are leading to unless changed, and within the Dark Future, time itself is dying? After all, everything has frozen, and Dialga has lost all sense of reason.  So the connection to other timelines is actually weaker in the Dark Future, hence only being able to use The Scream in connection to the Time Gears?

I’d imagine the MC was a coveted asset in the war. That Dusknoir would have, at one time, badly wanted to recruit them to work for Primal Dialga, because they would be the greatest weapon the Resistance could possibly have. But both the MC and Grovyle were willing to let themselves die to bring a better tomorrow (or well, “today) for the pokemon (and humans?) of their world. You know how Grovyle talks about seeing the sunrise for the first time? The morning after Darkrai’s attack? How much it blew him away and strengthened his resolve? Yeah, I think about that moment a lot. Man, the plot twists and characters in these games are so good. Even if you predicted the Grovyle/Dusknoir switcharoo, did anyone see the “My best friend...” twist coming? I know I didn’t, but it was so well foreshadowed! Speaking of that scene, the place we meet up with Celebi is absolutely the future version of Fogbound Lake. I don’t know if that was supposed to be obviously true, or if it’s just a head-canon on my part, but it seemed pretty clear. Hell if we assume that the portals can only travel through time, not space...then that means Dusknoir just brought us to the future of Treasure Town. What if...what if the Stockade was what’s left of the Guild? Oh my god. 

Let’s talk about the Partner. How they had the Relic Fragment with them, the key to powering the Rainbow Stoneship, the beacon to signal Lapras...and the Partner just “happened to pick it up somewhere.” Seriously, that’s all we get. They handwave the question of where the hell the partner got this, and I think it’s an important one to think about. The way I see it, there are two possibilities. One, that the Relic Fragment itself chose the Partner, and thus presented itself to them. Think of like, the Sword of Gryffindor presenting itself to someone from that House who is worthy. If the Relic Fragment could somehow sense within the Partner’s soul that they were worthy, a good person. The other possibility is that the Relic Fragment was somehow stolen from where it was meant to be kept, and ended up getting passed around, stolen or moved by unsuspecting pokemon until it fell into the partner’s lap by pure chance. But if I had to guess a resting place for the Relic Fragment...hmm. I don’t know why Waterfall Cave is my first guess, since it doesn’t suit the aesthetic of the gem room at all. But it does have a built in trap. What if the gems were just a decoy to distract any visitors from the seemingly less fancy Fragment? Would make sense, especially since you can’t pick them up. Hell the cave itself is supposed to be a secret in general.

#Pokemon #Pokemon Mystery Dungeon #Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky #Grovyle #Dusknoir #Primal Dialga