#the track that plays when Frank kills that kid

[m4ndysk4nkovich]

there goes the loudest woman this town has ever seen, i had a marvelous time ruining everything - debbie gallagher character study

ao3

You wake up, hungover, alone, and an orphan.

It wasn’t like Frank’s death was unexpected, you’ve been preparing yourself for it since you were five, but it’s odd. Losing Monica didn’t feel this way. Losing Monica felt like a weight being lifted off of your shoulders. When you saw her dead body lying on the living room floor, you knew that it was the last time she would ever leave you again, and it was relieving. You hate to think that, and immediately after the thought comes to your mind, you run to the toilet and puke your guts out at the mere thought of your mother’s dead body.

…Well, it’s either because of your dead parents or because of the ungodly amount of alcohol you consumed last night. Probably both.

You knew that Heidi wouldn’t last and oddly enough, that’s what you liked about her. You liked how spontaneous and dangerous she was, you didn’t think she was your soulmate or anything. But still, her absence hurts. You expected her to be gone in a week or so, off to Texas (you still hadn’t decided if you wanted to go or not, but you were leaning more towards staying), but you didn’t expect her to be gone so soon. You remember last night at Mickey and Ian’s anniversary party, Heidi left you and Franny at the bar with no ride while you were too wasted to protest, and she wasn’t at the house when you woke up. You vaguely remember Lip driving you and Franny home.

What you’re feeling right now can’t be described with words. You don’t think it’s grief, you spent your whole childhood preparing for the day you became an orphan to the point where you’re convinced that you finished grieving at age thirteen. This feeling isn’t sadness, but it isn’t the same relief from five years ago when Monica died. You don’t feel anything except for lonely.

Loneliness is a feeling you know all too well. From being in grade school and not ever having a single friend, to a desperate teenager in need of some love, to a confused young adult with a kindergartner, you’ve always been lonely. It’s something you’ve always known, you knew it when nobody wanted to play with you in kindergarten, and you had it fully confirmed at six when your unstable, drug addict mother abandoned you. Loneliness is the only constant in your life, yet you’ve still never gotten used to it.

You wonder why your mother leaving you effected you so much. You know that you aren’t the only Gallagher with a bad track record when it comes to keeping a relationship (you learned your relationship skills, like you learned most things, from your big sister), but it seems so much easier for everyone else to just have someone. To have someone to love, to cherish, to be with. The thought of someone who you love loving you back and actually wanting to stay with you seems unfathomable. You know that right now your big brother and his husband are dealing with hangovers as well, and maybe your brothers hunched over the toilet just like you right now, and if he is, he probably has his husband with him. His husband is willing to stay through all of the disgusting things, through all of the hardships, his husband literally tried to kill for him and went to prison for him. Debbie can’t even get someone to want her for reasons other than her tits, Ian’s lucky.

There must be something truly poisonous about you. The fact that you could never make a single friend, that you couldn’t make your mother stay, you couldn’t keep your father sober, you couldn’t make a guy or girl want you, you couldn’t give your kid the life she deserved, and your entire family now views you as nothing but an annoyance. How do all of your siblings go on living and have friends, partners, connections, anything? You feel like your entire life, all twenty years, has just been a big failed attempt at getting the tiniest bit of love. You’re becoming desperate, you know this. You can see your siblings, the older ones who once changed your diapers and played with you, and the younger ones who once looked up to you, roll their eyes when you turn your back. You know that you’re the sole reason why Franny doesn’t play with anyone outside of school. You know that Heidi is probably driving to Texas right now, and in a day she’ll have a new girlfriend. You know that you were born alone and will die alone.

Your daughter is around the age you were the first time that you found yourself without a mother. She’s the age you were when you saw your mother cook meth out of your easy bake oven, the age where kids at school would run away from you, telling you that you smelled bad and that you were ugly. You’ve felt like a nuisance since you were Franny’s age, and it has just dawned on you how young you were.

Your daughter is lovable and sweet and adored by everyone in her life. If you couldn’t be that even at five years old, you know that it is something about you personally. You know that loneliness is your only option, it always has been, and it always will be.

#shameless #debbie gallagher #franny gallagher #frank gallagher #post-11x12 #shameless us #character study #fic

[1-50thofabuck]

Two of my Marvel Super Heroes(FASERIP) characters with images & homemade trading cards

I had two main characters I played in the Marvel Super Heroes RPG in recent years. I used HeroMachine 3 a lot, for these and other RPG characters and monsters. Sadly it's not available any longer. (There's a way to run it on your PC but I can't get it to work correctly. I see they "fixed" 2.5 so I'm going to check that out after I finish this!)

To the point: I really liked these two characters, and I decided to make a sort of character sheet that was modeled on these old Marvel comic book trading cards we used to buy when we were kids. I'd like to share those, and the backgrounds of the characters. I hope you enjoy them, and feel free to make use of them in your own games if you wish.

The Frank trading card has a different, more friendly/cutesy/cartoonish image than the original I had put together. This is because Frank was an idea I had had several years prior for a game that didn't quite work out, and in the interim I had misplaced the image and had to create a new one! The "cards" were made in 2017. (I also, rather embarrassingly, reversed the shadows and highlights on Frank's pants in the original image - ack!)

The Doodle Bug image doesn't include the "doodle shell" because I just didn't have any way to create it. I'm no artist. I think Doodle Bug is my favorite character. The card has a blank "as a power stunt ___ times" so that I could use the card as a character sheet and track uses of power stunts.

For the record, the character was always intended to have art that could interact with things, but I didn't know it was only an option in Marvel - in DC Heroes, it's a part of the "animate image" power, which is at least partially where I originated the character concept. Even though the Judge would let you have whatever you wanted within reason, and if I had written it down at the beginning they'd have let me have it, and only didn't due to a misunderstanding, they refused it and I had to learn it as a power stunt. As far as I'm concerned, canonically, the character is as intended, with this other individual's game reflecting an alternate universe version. (I never dug the whole "superheroes as cops" thing anyway and it was the second Marvel game in a row I was in that pulled that stuff.)

Doodle Bug

Background: Lori R. Manley and William Scoggins went from teenage friends to down-on-their-luck petty crooks.

It was then that Scoggins(a security guard by trade) revealed what he had created - a suit he had modified based on schematics and parts he had copied and/or pilfered from a company he contracted for. The suit enabled him to fly, gave him radar sense, and three types of gas attacks: a knockout gas, a fog, and most fun of all for a thrill-seeker like Scoggins, a nauseating spray. With this suit, under the identity Stink Bug, they would be able to make a lot more money(and he would get some exciting new kicks).

Lori, both excited at the news and finding a perfect opportunity to reveal her own abilities, admitted that she had a mutant power - she could draw sketches at lightning speed that could come to life! Suggesting that her powers could also match her lovers' bug theme, they set about at once to build her a suit of her own. The result was the Doodle Shell. Made up of interlocking steel plates, they are worn on the back as a shell. As desired, the Doodle Shell will "curl," the plates shifting forward and forming a wheel-shape which protects the whole body and allows the wearer to roll("Hyper-Running") to safety. When not "curled," the wearer is protected by the shell from behind and has the ability to dig, thanks to a harness connected to the hands and attached to the shell.

Taking the name Doodle Bug, she and her partner Stink Bug carried on the lives of petty super villains, never killing anyone or displaying any real sociopathic tendencies. They were like loser versions of Alias Smith and Jones.

This lasted until a job where they were hired by the psychopathic scientist Dr. A. Namoli to combat their mutual arch-nemeses: Fluid, the Grey Hurricane and the Hyena. When the Bothersome Bugs realized Dr. Namoli was actually going to disperse their enemies' atoms into another dimension, they turned on their boss, saving the heroes and quickly escaping.

Deliberating on their careers and considering the newest turn of events, the two unanimously decided that criminals and villains were losers by nature and that being heroes seemed much more entertaining and profitable. Never really having their hearts in being truly "bad" to begin with, they began a new stage in life. The Belligerent Beetle and the Impetuous Insect were no longer petty, selfish supervillains with delusions of grandeur: they were now petty, selfish superheroes with delusions of grandeur. And the world is a slightly better place for it.

Frank

Background: A.I.M., researching the legends of Frankenstein, discovered that the stories were based on fact, and that the "monster" was created not from dead body parts but almost as something of a golem. Reproducing Frankenstein's experiments, they created a monstrosity to aid them in their goals. Unfortunately for them, this creature was not naturally inclined to evil and escaped. Discovering the truth of his past, the creature named itself Frank. Frank, despite being a "monster" and a "freak," is not only good-natured but also possessing a fine sense of humor and a positive outlook on existence, and enjoys defeating the forces of crime and evil while pondering his existence.

Much like the creature of lore, Frank is very tall, muscular and broad, with yellow, translucent skin through which veins, arteries and muscle can be seen, with pale, yellow, watery eyes. Though this differs from the popularized film version of the monster, Frank's powers also differ somewhat from what is expected, such as his ability to separate parts of his body which may act under his power.

#rpg #rpgs #super hero rp #supers #super hero #super heroes #superheroes #marvel #marvel super heroes #marvel super heroes rpg #faserip #original character #original characters #my ocs #original superhero #heromachine #trading cards #collector cards #supers rpgs #reformed villain #doodle bug #frank #bothersome bugs

[dollarbin]

Sandy Saturdays #10:

Blues Run the Game

When I was a kid there were two required initial steps to take if you wanted to one day rock: first, you had to learn how to play Stairway to Heaven. Then it was time to learn Blackbird.

I did neither; rather I borrowed my buddy Eric's spare acoustic and taught myself how to stumble through Knocking on Heaven's Door (G-D-C; G-D-C).

My approach is not recommended: my famous brother and my other, almost-as-famous, brother are both surely shredding on their six strings as we speak, their families gathered about them, rapt with awe, as they sing about the lady who's sure that all that glitters is gold and the poor blackbird's sunken eyes. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here, writing this.

(But I did recently witness a big deal version of Blackbird: the eighth grade at my school sang it with horrific, tuneless assembly requirement while their music teacher showed off his seventh grade level guitar licks, but at their center stood a committed, fearless/oblivious young woman who, I kid you not, busted out a whistled, note-perfect and full, blackbird warble at the song's end; surely that warble on The White Album is a field recording, not Paul whistling, right? But this was no field recording: the kid was on tweeting fire. I read this morning that some 14 year American boy just got a professional soccer contract for millions of dollars in England; Paul McCartney ought to offer the young woman at my school a similar contract, pronto.)

Well, anyway, neither Plant/Page's overblown, but still kinda killer (the drums!), epic or McCartney lovely yet paternalistic race anthem existed in 1965 when Sandy Denny, Nick Drake and Paul Simon were teaching themselves to be, well, Sandy Denny, Nick Drake and Paul Simon.

It's really too bad. Imagine Sandy singing Stairway to Heaven. Someway, somehow, she'd make it not sound cliche. While we're at it, imagine Sandy's perfect phrasing, volume, tempo and sense of self taking over altogether for Plant's shirtless, hollering ego.

(Don't panic, I enjoy a little Zeppelin now and again as much as the next white guy who writes a blog about his record collection, and we'll get to Plant and Denny's famous, dense and soaring, shared track on some upcoming Sandy Sunday).

And Nick Drake's version of Stairway to Heaven would be a joyful romp, no? In his hands we'd worry about the Piper rather than be warned against him.

Paul Simon, meanwhile, would revamp the entire chord structure, have 16 tracks on the demo and make Artie stand around, waiting for his turn to do something, anything, only on the last, trembling and drawn out phrase over cymbals, kettle drums and fifes: "and she's buying a stairway.... to heav......en."

But, since that song was yet to be written (Plant must have been about 7 in 65/66) there was a clear stand-in apprentice track for aspiring mid-60's Brits to work at: Blues Run the Game, Jackson C. Frank's lick heavy paean to room service gin. Simon, Denny and Drake all put their stamp on the song, Denny and Drake through home recordings and Simon through an early studio track.

We'll start with the original on this fine Saturday. Simon was there for the song's birthing; he's the producer here, which mostly seems to mean that he said "roll 'em" then looked away while the terrified Frank laid the song down live.

Frank's biography is ready for the Sophocles treatment; he and Oedipus could compare mournful notes, competing to see who had it worse from the gods.

Frank: "Look, Oedipus, I hear you about your mom and all, but did you survive a childhood fire that killed bunches of your peers? No? And was your precocious initial development followed by failed relationships, failed marriages, a terminally ill newborn son and decades of homelessness? No again? Quit trying to interrupt Oedipus; no one cares about your dad. Finally, were you blinded in one eye by errant, random fire from a teenager wielding a pellet gun? No? Well then, quit moping, and shrug it off dude!"

Poor Frank spent a lot of the seventies charging around Woodstock, NY, in his birthday suit, occasionally complimented by a sword and/or cape, his schizophrenic delusions overcoming him. All kidding aside, you gotta feel for the dude.

His tragic life makes his sad song, and his raw performance of it, all that much sadder. The full success of his leisurely, mournful pace also explains why Simon wisely shelved his own comparatively cheerful effort with Garfunkel:

Drake's performance, in turn, is studious and personal; he is trying to prove to himself that he's worthy to join the ranks of not just the quickly lost American, Frank, but also the full gamut of British performers who had the jump start on him, from the boy band ranks (Donovan, Cat Stevens, The Zombies) to the hersute bohemian ne'er do wells (John Renbourn, Richard Thompson, John Martyn) to the guys already living solidly on the astral plane (Heron/Williamson).

Clearly, the elegant Drake belonged in their club; indeed, once he took a deep breath and stuck out his comely head, he was everyone's better.

I don't know that Denny's take competes with Drake's or the original. But it's still damn good and it solidly serves its purpose: Denny sings this boy song boldly as a woman, and she presents it with her soon to be signature balance of power and grace.

Sandy dated Frank at the same point she privately laid down this track and Frank's other stone cold classic, Milk and Honey (a song that is worthy of its own future post). It seems as though Denny's dating decisions were not equal to her musical chops: she soon took a pass on the soon to be naked all the time Frank and shacked up with the world's tallest, most red-headed, dullard, Trevor Lucas.

Lucas, so far as we know, never donned a cape and charged around naked, so score one for Trevor. But he never wrote Sandy a good song, and Frank gave Denny two of them. What's more, Frank helped convince Sandy, during their time together, to quit nursing school and focus full time on music.

Good shot Jackson.

#sandy denny #sandy saturdays #paul simon #nick drake #jackson c. frank

[florientius]

i hate ncis. i hate it. its the best goddamn forensic show ive watched and its even better now that i am watching it on netflix and IN ORDER. but goddamn its as bad as it is good.

i mean, i thought criminal minds was the worst show that couldnt keep track of their background (what, with rossi somehow being born is '56; and he was in the marine corps until '79 the latest which is like 7 years if he managed to enlist when he was 16. 16!! and he somehow managed to reach the rank of SERGEANT MAJOR! like,,, how?! at 23?!? wtf), but holy shit ncis just straight up doesnt care.

when we first ever see gibbs in jag he says that he was with NCIS/NIS for 19 years... and then we learn in S03E22 Hiatus II:

"Dr.Todd: Well, Gibbs recalls visiting his wife and daughter's graves, so his memory's up to at least june of '91, when he was released from Bethesda.

Ma'am Jenny: He joined NIS that August."

"Gibbs: ...so I could join NIS. NCIS. The Navy changed the name that same year. 19... 90... 90...?

Mike Franks: Two."

these two scenes were in the same ep for God's sake. and this tells us that he was an agent for 15 years. they even say it in the ep that gibbs doesnt believe he lost 15 years. so they manages to fuck up 2 timelines in the same ep. their og one where he was with ncis for 19 years and their newer one where they cant tell when he joined. gosh.

and and! in S04E03 Singled Out gibbs has a talk with mcgee:

"Gibbs: McGee... how long have I been an NCIS special agent?

McGee: Almost 16 years.

Gibbs: Wanna take a wild guess what my first partner still calls me?"

so at least after that they managed to stay on track... with that. the rules are changed too!! there are multiple rules for certain numbers and they never gave a reason why.

and dont get me started on gibbs playing god. i mean, really? in the 3rd season episode 16 family secret he falsified a dna test to "help out" this kid. the regs are there for a reason. he gets pissy when something unjust happens, and he has his rules but holy shit he ignored those and the law as well. and in episode 19 iced gibbs gets this dude killed bc he couldnt get enough evidence to put him in jail. liek wtf since when should idolize that behaviour? they acted like that was the right thing to do, that if you are certain enough, but you dont have the evidence to put someone behind bars, there is another way.... and this selective application of the rules and laws just grating on my nerves.

when i first watched ncis gibbs was my favourite. my fatherless ass took a look at his mile wide dadness and latched on. but holy crap how can i like dinozzo,,, DINOZZO! the pig like behaviour, the male chauvinist, misogynist "comic" relief more??? i know that not all of him but soemtiems he opens his mouth and all i can think abt is how tf can i like this character better than the intended "hero"?

like gibbs is righteous, just, the poster boy for "military" and yet when they gave him "faults and mistakes" they ruined him.

uuUUUGH

#ncis #leroy jethro gibbs #tony dinozzo #ncis season 3 #ncis season 4 #ncis spoilers? #im rewatching ncis #im in a nostalgic mood this whole year #i hate ncis #but at the smae time #i love ncis #its so goood and so bad at the same time #but holy moly they cant keep track of anything #and actually theres a little #criminal minds #in this as well #and some #david rossi #cuz his backstory is atrocious #sergeant major... AT 22? #or maybe 23? #ugh #just ugh

[henrysfedora]

I did it, I wrote out Leo and Frank having a snowball fight

genuinely I appreciate constructive criticism because no I haven't got writing ANY of the mafia characters down so forgive me- and I'm assuming leo and frank would know each other by the '20s, i'm also assuming they would be in empire bay at this time, listen i dont know IM SORRY-

also this got kinda long, (for a post) my bad- I probably could've almost posted this on ao3 but I don't even have an account yet, oh well :) hopefully it's good enough that no one cares erijeoirjgsorgj;

Leo stood there, one arm crossed, the other holding his drink, a glass of red wine that in its reflection glimmered from the crystal chandelier in the centre of the room, he swirled it gently. The day was over hours ago and the hard falling snow didn’t help that, each day seemed shorter than the last, the sky getting greyer with each passing set of hours. Winter never seemed to pass through Empire Bay without leaving some sort of an impression. For a man who stuck by his side frequently, at least while at work, it was surprising for Frank to have already disappeared. One moment he was glued to Leo, the other he was nowhere to be seen, though by the gramophone getting louder in Leo’s ears he had a sneaking suspicion he knew where Frank went. 

  Makin’ Whoopee by Eddie Cantor, Dardanella by Ben Selvin, the night drew on and honestly the moment Frank left Leo was already quite bored and sick of the constant chatter. They were so loud he felt a small distant pressure building in his head. Sure, a pretty woman offered to dance, which he took just to be a gentleman. Sure, many familiar songs played, ones he remembers drinking many glasses of wine to with Frank, but what fun are they when he’s not here. After walking a little he sat down in a generously cushioned chair, furrowing his eyebrows and resting his head in the palm of his free hand momentarily. There was a building sensation in his head, the pounding structure of a headache putting itself together more and more every minute. He thought for a moment if it was the wine in his glass that wasn’t helping the situation but he thought otherwise, yes it got lower and lower but he didn’t fret, it was still his first one which he surprised himself with. He looked over his shoulder into the centre part of the hall, many ladies and gentlemen dancing, the Charleston at the minute, he couldn’t see Frank but he assumed he was down the dance floor further with his wife, he sighed and brought his glass to his lips again. 

  “Leo?”

He almost spat his wine out onto his shirt, “Shit- Frank what the hell are you doing? I thought you would be dancing.”

  He took the chair opposite Leo, “No, I don’t feel like it just yet, too early for that.”

“Too early?” He took another sip of his wine, “What? you talking to the hotheads once more? Did Mrs. Vinci get bored of it? again? or have you begun slacking at dancing.."

  Frank shook his head, “Nonsense..” and reached for a glass as a footman walked by, “She doesn’t get bored of it, just rather, knows a lot about it already, doesn’t need me to say anything more.”   

   Leo nodded slowly, “I’m sure she knows a lot about it.." about the business. Leo sighed, "When are you considering leaving anyway? My head’s killing me at this point and unlike you I cannot handle the lot of them kids rambling like a pack of dogs getting ready to race the track.” 

  Frank chuffed, “Not anytime soon, the night is still quite youn-”

“Young?! What time is it?” 

  “It’s only just past ten.” Frank looked at his watch then back to Leo and shrugged his shoulders, looking at Leo directly, “Surely you don’t feel that bad do you?”

Leo shook his head, “Just past ten? No- no. Just not used to the youthful anymore is all.” He let out a chuckle, casually taking the last sip of his wine. It felt like it was past midnight, at least for Leo.

  “You still aren’t that old Leo, what’s gotten into you? Usually you love to be at gatherings like this!” Frank stood up, “Get yourself another glass of wine and enjoy it Leone before we get back to work tomorrow.” He began walking away but turned around at the last second and came back a few steps, “You go see a footman for anything to help you with your head, then come upstairs, I’m sure they’ll enjoy listening to you too..”

  Leo groaned as he stood up, “Oh no I don’t think so.” he chuffed, “I’ll go get some painkillers however, but to be rather honest Frank I think I need a minute outside, tonight just isn’t my night it seems..” he adjusted his coat on his shoulders and looked around for a footman. “I might come up there soon but I’ll just see how my head feels later and base my decision off that, whether I go home or not..”

  “Home? Are you thinking about leaving? You're not gonna leave your boss behind are you?..”

  Leo shook his head smiling, “As if you don’t already leave me behind-" Leo bumped his arm playfully, "what number is it tonight? This must be the fiftieth time by now altogether I’ve managed to lose you when we’ve gone somewhere that wasn't for work.” he played it off cool as he placed his wine glass down onto the table, he heard Frank snicker. “That’s it, I’m getting something for my head, I’ll get one of the boys to tell you if I go home or not and to take extra care of you.”

  Frank gave him a weak salute goodbye “Sure, just be ready for tomorrow..” a ghost of a smile on his lips as Leo watched him walk away. But Leo caught himself and began walking around the outskirts of the dancefloor, desperately looking for a footman. 

<><>

Looking around him, as quietly as he could he opened the back glass door of the dance hall, no one seemed to notice. A light crunch of the snow underneath his feet brought him back to what he wanted to do as he closed the door behind him. To just have a moment outside, in the peace and quiet and it was for the most part. It was harmony compared to what was going on inside, the music and voices were barely audible from out here. He faced the building, barely able to see everybody past the big loosely hung curtains. He walked backwards, this is where he’d expect him and Frank to be hanging out. It was a garden back here, now white as it was completely covered in snow. A fountain was built on a patch of gravel in the middle of the garden, trickling a little sing-song, the patch lined with small pine trees and a few wooden benches adorned with well looked after vines. Behind the pines, low, clean-cut hedges, all completely decorated with tiny frozen crystals. He turned around again and watched the hall, the lights emitting a warm orange colour on the snow around him in the shape of the windows, he sighed in relief as his head started pounding less, it was already much more bearable than it was before. The painkillers probably would’ve worked even faster if he hadn’t been caught in conversation with another lady wanting to dance. He breathed warm air into his hands, despite them being gloved, he swears this is one of the worst winters he’s ever experienced, it’s fucking cold. He sighed as he just heard Let’s Misbehave start playing in there, a classic he heard almost everywhere at that point.

  Leo almost fell over as a hard ball of snow hit him, solid like a rock. He stumbled to his side and let out a groan, his temple now aching. He looked into the shadows of the garden, “What the fuck? Who was that-” he didn’t have enough time to react as another hit him square in the chest. He groaned and wiped his face and suit down of the excess snow. “This is some way to fuck with me-” his heart dropped, a way too familiar silhouette was walking out of the shadows, calmly making another snowball, “Frank!? What are you doing? Hey!-” he dodged another one and started running behind one of the pine trees closest to him. “What the fuck are you doing?! I thought you were busy talking-?” his body jumped as another snowball hit the tree he was hiding behind, barely shielding him. 

  What was this all about? Leo would be dead before Frank went to have fun, fun that wasn't talking his mouth off. Leo looked through the twigs of the tree at him, Leo shook his head and bent down, quickly making a snowball. He waited for Frank to throw another before he shuffled out from behind the tree and threw one square into Frank’s face. “Ha! You shouldn’t have messed with me Franco.” he hid again and made another snowball as he heard Frank snicker. He jumped out from behind the tree again, he brought his arm up halfway to throw another snowball but was ultimately hit back square in the face. “Fuck- why are you doing so well at this?” he dropped his snowball and wiped his face then put his hands up but Frank hit him in the collar of his shirt, “Stop that before you make my head worse than it was before.” He brushed his shirt of snow, “What’s gotten into you? Why are you attacking me? You offended because I wanted to leave? for a valid reason mind you.” he walked closer to Frank who threw his snowball away, back into the snow. 

  “I thought you could use a good cheering up.” he put his hands on his hips, “And consider this payment for beating me at betting on the hounds last night..” 

  Leo rolled his eyes, “I told you number four was a good call but you didn’t believe me.” He motioned for Frank to walk around the garden with him, mindlessly rubbing his nose that he was almost wondering if it would bruise, “Mr. Booker is new blood, but he trains his dogs excellently, as you saw.” 

  “Yes of course I saw, and no I didn’t believe you. Because last time I believed you, I, after betting on a dog you chose, somehow lost four hundred bucks that day, to no one other than you.” 

  Leo smirked, “I don’t remember saying anything about actually betting on the dog..” he walked at Frank’s side with his arms behind his back, they circled around the garden until they made their way back to the back glass door of the dance hall.

  Frank walked over to it and motioned a hesitant Leo to come inside, “Come on, it’s around now they start playing the music you tolerate and the stuff the kids can’t handle.” 

  Roses From The South by Johann Strauss, Leo could hear it clearly the second Frank opened the door. He walked forward and entered slowly, looking back to make sure Frank could hear him, "I'll have one more dance, then I'll think about talking to those hotheads you can tolerate yet I can't, but maybe I'll deal with it just this once.."

#im scared :) #but its a good thing because if this is seen I wanna know what people think about my writing eoigjotigjoigjeoitgj #👉👈 #god shit fuck i hope its somewhat okay #also no the pirate au wasn't my first fic it was fucking leo and frank #GOD IS THIS OKAY MAYBE IDK ORNFEORJOIRSJRG #leo galante #frank vinci

[motownfiction]

10-12, special focus on sadie

10. why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?

so, you know, i'll talk about both boys sadie has kissed in her life (her one-track mind kills me, largely because i relate to it). as i've mentioned many, many times, sadie's first kiss was nick crosby, one of the most popular kids in her class. and i did that because i wanted to show how much of a jerk he is, how sadie was desperate for someone to pay attention to her, even someone she didn't like, and how sometimes, first romantic encounters happen because someone else is just there. not everyone can be lucy and will, neither of whom have ever even kissed another person (because they're stubborn and, like, when would they have had time?). sadie needed to kiss someone kind of random first to establish her as very different from her best friend.

and then, of course, we come to why sadie and daniel are endgame. the answer is pretty simple: they understand each other. they understand each other on a base level that no one else can really follow. sadie is impressed with daniel's strong emotional convictions and bravery, even and especially in the face of all he had to go through as a child. daniel is impressed with sadie's ability to look after others and never leave anybody behind. they're the perfect couple because they're two people who really love caring and sacrificing for others. they take turns playing caretaker to the other, just for very different reasons. sadie helps to take care of daniel, but daniel helps sadie to learn and realize what she must do to take care of herself.

11. what do you like best about this [character]?

i love how good of a friend sadie is, regardless of how long you've known her. when i was growing up, i sure could have used a sadie of my own (which, let's be frank, is a big reason why i dreamt her up as a character in the first place). she's funny, she's adventurous (within reason), she's a good listener, she loves art ... but really, the best thing about sadie is that she knows how to open her heart to you. and once it's open, it will never close.

12. what do you like least about this [character]?

i feel weird critiquing these characters i love so much, lol. i guess one thing i wouldn't like about sadie if she was a real person would be that it's a struggle to get her to stand up for herself. she cares so much about pleasing the rest of the group that she forgets to consult her own values. and she has them! she just doesn't prioritize or believe very strongly in them. i think she gets better at that with time (which makes sense), but it's a constant struggle for the woman who likes to look out for everyone.

#asks #ch: sadie doyle #pelopides #thank you!

[doormeme]

Project 3.M.0 (creepypasta)

My parents never really went anywhere besides Flea Markets and Goodwill for most non essential items, So a lot of toys I owned as a kid were old and used rather than the new stuff I'd see on TV. I was, what, 7 back then, I'm 15 now and my parents took me to a yard sale last month, one of the things the seller had was one lone CD, I had a device capable of playing CDs, though it was mostly used for radio, the CD album art looked familiar, I could've sworn I saw those goth dudes at my school wearing shirts that looked like it, it said in big white font

my chemical romance

With text below it saying

THREE CHEERS FOR SWEET REVENGE

It was only 4 bucks, my mom agreed to get it for me.

That was the only interesting thing I got there, I would go home to put the music into my player on CD mode, it had 13 tracks, and by god, all of them were amazing, if this is punk rock then I was obsessed, I had to put this on my ipod, so when my dad let me borrow the computer, I inserted the disc into the drive, before I could put the songs on my ipod, a file explorer window opened up, in it was a text document. I decided to read it as I waited for the songs to be copied to my ipos

My Chemical Romance is back! Come to [location redacted for privacy sake] to watch them like they never broke up!

I was confused, yet intrigued. I discussed it in the chatroom made for my school, apparently in 2013, the band had broken up, one of the goth dudes told me that seeing them would be great, hyping up the frontman—Gerard Way—to be this gorgeous hottie I'd be swooning over, even showing photographs of him, and I have to admit he did look cute.

That friday, we went to the location, there were no tickets to buy, or anything, hell, the place was a convention center, only me and a few of the people in the chatroom came, there was a stage that had the band's logo on it. Soon, the lights would go out, and the band would show up onstage, performing some songs on the CD such as "Helena", "You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison", "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" but also songs from albums I did not own such as "Vampires Will Never Hurt You", "Welcome to the Black Parade", and "Bulletproof Heart"

Me and my peers partied to the songs, but things got a little suspicious when I saw the bassist, who the goth dude let me know was Gerard Way's brother, Mikey, started letting out electrical sparks, I was a bit uneasy, but I was given soda, the rest of the night was a blur, but I do remember hearing screaming, music, people screaming as the music played, and soon fire.

I woke up at home, on the couch, the news played, apparently one of the band members, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, had somehow caught on fire, and that lead to the whole band combusting, leaving only burnt up endoskeletons like a fucked up Chuck E Cheese, turns out that was NOT the band but rather humanoid animatronics, as it also turns out, the whole building went in flames and I was the only one without injury, everyone else was either injured or killed in the fire.

I went to check my email when I was given access to the computer, I receiced an email that said

You experienced one mishap of project 3.M.0, My Chemical Romance will return soon.

#my chemical romance #mcr #creepypasta

[jaydonsjam]

Tomb of Dracula IV/ Blade I

Tomb of Dracula #10

Written by Marv Wolfman, pencilled by Gene Colan and inked by Jack Abel

I’m back to share my thoughts on Tomb of Dracula #10 and the first appearance of the famous vampire hunter, Blade! As I’ve written in a previous ToD post, I’ve been waiting for Blade to show up and initially the whole reason I started reading ToD was for Blade. I’ll say this: I fucking loved Blade from the first reveal and the fact that he takes out three vampires in pretty quick succession.

Quincy shows up and kinda scolds blade for killing the vampires because they could’ve tracked them to Dracula, the main target. It’s a nice dichotomy cause Blade has no quarter for any vampire but Quincy does have a point with the strategy to let one of Dracula’s legion to lead them to the big kahuna. It’s like do you kill the ant soldiers or do you follow their trail to the ant pile (queen)? I will say that while I thought Blade came off like a total badass (arguably the coolest first appearance from any vampire hunter we’ve seen in this book yet) but his dialogue felt super cheesy and borderline stereotypical. I also gotta say as a kid of the 90’s who grew up on Spider-Man: The Animated Series and the Blade films, I do prefer him clad in his all black leather look.

Not a lot happens in this issue, we see Dracula board a ship and play into his fame minus the whole being a vampire thing. He tells Clifton Graves to watch a girl that he bit and make sure she doesn’t leave the cabin. Of course Clifton can’t do anything right and she knocks him out and is revealed to be a new vampire. Blade briefly fights with Dracula before he tells him that he put explosives all over the ship and that it will explode any moment. I like the moment when some dude is like, “I can’t swim!” And Blade pushes him off the boat saying, “no better time to learn unless you wanna get blown to bits!”

Clifton pleads with Dracula to take him with him before the boat explodes and Vlad refuses letting him die in the explosion. I said last post, that I can’t wait till Clifton gets his, but I kinda felt bad for him in that moment. Plus, I was kinda hoping he would have a face-off with Frank one last time but oh well this worked either way. Gene Colan continues to be my favorite artist with this book although Sal Buscema’s work on Defenders is absolutely top notch. Plus I love Mike Ploog’s work on Werewolf By Night as well. It’s so difficult to choose. I love this book and I can’t wait for the next issue. I wanna see Blade hang out with Taj. Next up is a Doctor Strange solo comic!

#marvel #marvel comics #70’s comics #70s comics #comic books #comics #horror comics #tomb of dracula #blade #eric brooks

[ask-cloverfield]

God I can’t imagine Once Uppn a Time in the west without Morricone’s soundtrack

#its so beautiful #i love it #the track that plays when Frank kills that kid #oh my god

[extravaguk]

#JeonJungkookIsOverParty 06

pairing: jungkook x reader

summary: in which Jungkook Can't Take (His) Eyes Off Of you

wordcount: 1k

genre: fake dating!au, college!au | fluff

warnings: none at all

author’s note: so im like super sad and i thought posting this would make me feel better. this chapter is the shortest out of all 10, but it might also be my favourite one. also the cheesiest thing ive ever written anyway can you believe we're already halfway through the fic? damn

taglist: @spicybangtanwings @dulcehobi @mysugarkoo @eektaetae @jeojahari @mwitsmejk @di0rgguk @the1921-monsters @c4lico @drownforryou @re-rewind @neverthefirstchoice

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06

"You know when a song gets stuck in your head and you won't stop hearing it?"

Jungkook listens to that song for the first time while he's playing Call of Duty: Black Ops. His headphones are resting around his neck, his hoodie thrown over his head and his vision starting to get teary and foggy after spending four hours killing zombies. There's a Monster drink on his desk, an almost empty bag of mostly crumbs of Fritos and an anti stress ball that he squeezes after everytime he gets killed.

It's a Saturday night, which means two things:

1. He should be hanging out with you, but you've ditched him to have a sleepover with your girlfriends. He would be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed. Why couldn't he drop by? Because he has a dick? Ridiculous. He's been learning all the dialogues to your favourite movies. He would understand all the references to whatever you're watching. He'd even let you do his make up and dress him up in a skirt and heels if you wanted to. But whatever. He's never been the clingy type whatsover. He can manage a few hours without you. Bet.

2. Namjoon waters his plants on Saturdays and that means he's also in control of the music that plays in the background.

When the first chords start playing, Jungkook is still too busy licking the salt off his fingers and thinking about a new strategy to end up once and for all with the living dead. He's not paying much attention until he hears the lyrics.

"What song is that?" he asks, eyes squinted at the screen. He doesn't see Namjoon turning towards him with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"Um...Just one of the most well known songs in music history?"

"Hm. When did he drop this? I totally missed it."

There's a beat of silence before Namjoon answers back. "In the 60's."

"Ohhhh."

For the following minute, Namjoon keeps spraying his plants with water, himself humming to the tune. Jungkook has given up on his game. It's not his fault he can't concentrate on two things at a time. Specially when your face appears unexpectedly out of nowhere in his head. So, he doesn't even think much of the fact that his character is getting eaten alive on the screen. He doesn't care that Yugyeom is cursing at him through his headphones for commiting harakiri. The song in the distance has hypnotized him for whatever reason.

"Who sings it?" he inquires further. He doesn't care that his computer's screen reads 'Game Over'.

"Frankie Valli."

"The guy who sings in The Joker?"

"No, that's Frank Sinatra."

"Frank Sinatra is Joaquin Phoenix's stage name?"

"What? No, that's- Your thought process never fails to amaze me." Namjoon sighs, fishing for his phone inside his jean's pocket. "I'll just send you the link."

Which he does. Namjoon shares the Spotify link on his phone. That same night, Jungkook makes a Spotify playist. With just that one song on repeat. He falls asleep with the same vintage track playing in the dark and your face playing in his mind.

Now, Jungkook has never known obsession. It's not in his DNA to think about something -or someone- over and over again. Sure, he probably knows too many facts about soccer that nobody cares about; sure, he has an entire collection of Yu-Gi-Oh cards that he's been saving since he was a kid; and sure, he adds parsley to every dish he makes regardless of the food needing it or not. But Jungkook is not obsessive. Not at all.

So why those lyrics and that melody plus the thought of you are on a loop burned in his brain is a mystery to him. And he would maybe try to find the answers to this mystery in internet forums like Quora if he was actually bothered by it.

But he's not.

He's happy listening to Frankie Valli as long as you keep appearing like a mirage everytime he closes his eyes. Jungkook thinks that's the reason why he doesnt get sick of listening to it is. Because your face is always in his mind whenever the chords start repeating themselves inside his head.

Have you ever heard that song before? Do you have any remotely idea how much it fits you? Are you even aware anybody could've written this song about you, for you? Do you know you're too good to be true? That Jungkook can't take his eyes off of you? That you're like heaven to touch, and Jungkook wants to hold you so much?

Sometimes he thinks he should apologize for the way that he stares, but when it comes to you, there's nothing else to compare. Because everytime he spots you in a room, or spends God knows how much time just looking at you as you type away in the library, the sight of you leaves him weak and he feels like there aren't any words left to speak.

It's been a couple months since he's known you, but all he knows is that he'd like to keep knowing for as long as he can. He can't remember the last time he's wanted to spend so much time with somebody. Can't remember the last time a girl had introduced herself in his thoughts until nothing else was important to him, not even scoring goal after goal on the field. Sometimes he tries to blame it on the fact that he likes women too much and you're one of them. He's a vulnerable individual when it comes to the opposite sex.

It had to be that blowjob, for sure. It's not often that getting some head leaves Jungkook shaking in his Air Forces 97, wanting to put a ring on it and thanking God he's alive.

So, if you feel like Jungkook feels, you should let him know that it's real.

"Man, my homie Frankie really was in his bag when he wrote this." he sighs dreamily one night.

Jungkook wishes he knew how to write lyrics this beautiful where he calls you his pretty baby, tells you he needs you to warm his lonely nights and pleads for you to stay now that he's found you. He wishes he could have such dominion and mastery of prose to explain how he feels whenever he's with you through rhymes. He's lowkey jealous of this Valli dude and his talent at putting into words what Jungkook can't.

It's only the 1:35 minute mark of the song that leaves a weird feeling in Jungkook's stomach. A little voice that's shouting at him the real reason why he likes this song so much. But Jungkook pushes it down every time. He's not in L with you. You're just a pretty girl Jungkook enjoys spending time with. A pretty girl, with a pretty voice who's also smart and nice to him after she's done rolling her eyes at him.

"I think you're really going to like this movie." you tell him the following Saturday night that he gets to hang out with you.

Another thing about Jungkook besides not being an obsessive individual is the fact that he's never given the universe and the way it works too much of a thought. He's always thought that things happen for no apparent reason, just funny coincidences that make the world a curious place. Nothing else.

But 10 Things I Hate About You has made him think about syncronicities in a whole different way. At first, all he was thinking was 'Okay, just another ealry 2000s teenage movie about love' and 'Man, Joseph Gordon-Levitt looks kinda the same as a teenager as he does now'.

Whatever, he enjoys spending time with you and watching whatever you like, because he's going to like it as well in the end. But then Heath Ledger's character grabs a mic and performs in front of Julia Stiles and the entire school a musical number with the one song Jungkook's been compulsively listening to for the past week.

So Jungkook watches in astonishment, with his mouth open wide and his soul ready to leave his body. His heartbeat speeds up dangerously and he finds himself holding on to one of the pillows on your bed way too tight. And you just sit there next to him, completely obvlivious to the fact that Jungkook is starting to experience the existential crisis of his life.

"It was cute, huh?" you tell him when it ends. And he just nods his head without being able to say a word because, literally, what the fuck.

"Um, yeah, why?"

"Huh?" Jungkook doesn't even remember what you've been talking about. He got distracted by the fact that you changed your perfume and your lips look a shade darker than usual.

"You just said: 'You know when a song gets stuck in your head?', and I said: 'Yeah, why?'" you look at him expectantly from under your glasses. Jungkook simply shuts down because your eyelashes are kinda overwhelming him. And he's not really ready to tell you how much of a dumb idiot he feels like for discovering a song that's been worlwide known sixty years after it was released. Oh, and he also feels like a creep for associating it with you and obsessively listening to it with you in mind. So he licks his lips, clears his throat and just settles on:

"Um, no reason."

#jungkook #jungkook fluff #jungkook smut #bts fic

[themusicsweetly]

Around Mother’s Day I sent an ask about an article describing what a wonderful example of a mom Claire Fraser is from She Knows. Did you receive it and would you still be able to post it? 💐💜💖

Hiya Anon! Thanks for the ask!

Sorry, I don't think I ever got that message! But better late than never? lol

Reshma always writes fun pieces for Outlander. Here's her Mother's Day dedicated to Claire and her (many) children as requested. Below are a few of my favorite bits

Claire and Jamie’s Pregnancy Reveal Boat Party

Claire broke the news that she was pregnant to Jamie as they were sailing away on a boat. Before Jamie got seasick, Claire wanted to tell him the happy news, which was especially surprising because Claire thought she couldn’t have children. She and Frank had tried with no luck. When she told Jamie she couldn’t have children, what did he do? He hugged her and said it’s probably better, he wouldn’t want her to be in pain. Except he said it all Scotty and sexy and swoony, even though he was saddy (it’s a word, now). Turns out, it wasn’t Claire that was the problem. It was Frank. He was shooting Frank blanks. Or blank Franks. Whichever.

Claire’s maternity wardrobe

Claire’s maternity wear was epic. So extra and we’re here for it. Everyone was. Especially Jamie. He didn’t really know what to do with this one. Her hips don’t lie. Is that a baby in your uterus Claire or is your dress just the biggest thing in Paris?

War mom

When your adopted son says he wants to go to war, what do you do? If you’re Claire, you tell him no, and then give him a pre-war hug. But then when he goes to war anyway and doesn’t listen to you, returns from the war having just killed a man, what do you do? If you’re Claire, you give him a hug, threaten to box his ears, and then find him a bed to take a nap in, because murder and war are tiring. Thanks Mi’lady! She was actually pretty traumatized that he killed a man — which is why she told him he couldn’t go to war in the first place, but do kids listen?! No.

Killer mom

Claire’s friend from the past (but also the future) Geillis goes off her rocker, and believes killing Brianna is the way to restore Scotland. Or some crap. Jamie and Claire learn of her evil plans to kill their daughter and track her down to a cave, where she is about to kill their nephew young Ian to travel to the future to kill their daughter. So crazy.Claire saves Brianna by beheading Geillis. Or as Balfe once described this motherly murder, Geillis “accidentally fell into an ax.” You know what’s great about Claire and Jamie as parents? If you threaten their kid, before they behead you, they will take a quick moment to make out. (Also to remember the daughter they lost, Faith). Because that’s just how they operate. Let them live! But seriously, if you threaten their 200-year-old baby and they start making out in front of you, run. Happy Mother’s Day Brianna, your mom loves you so much, she beheaded a lady! Whose skull was mailed to her in the future. Who mailed it?!? WHO?

Marsali’s ma

Marsali admits that the woman she once called a whore — pronounced “whoo-re-eh,” she now considers her “Ma.” Let’s take a moment to appreciate that. (Ha Laoghaire! Her arch nemesis’s daughter calls her “Ma!” Actually, Claire doesn’t even regard Laoghaire — but Laoghaire detests her and probably has a little Claire voodoo doll. Claire and Marsali are one of the best relationships to watch evolve on the show, mainly because Lauren Lyle and Balfe have excellent chemistry. They’re funny and heartwarming whether they’re playing disdain, annoyance, or just pure love. Claire teaches her stepdaughter about medicine, and they bond over moldy bready and cadavers. Plus, Claire serves as her OB-GYN. Claire is a cool mom. I repeat.

Cat mom

Claire becomes a cat mom. Not like Catwoman, but a mom of a cat. Jamie finds what can only be described as the cutest cat to ever live, and gives it to Claire as a gift. And hence she becomes a cat mom. The end. Someone please mail me this adorable cat.

Happy belated Mother's Day to all the amazing moms out there!

P.S. blame Tumblr and whatever stupid update this is for the messed up GIFs. This site is a piece of hot garbage. 

#Claire Fraser #Outlander #Caitriona Balfe #Jamie Fraser #Jamie x Claire #Brianna Randall #Fergus Fraser #Marsali #Faith Fraser #Mother's Day #The preview is showing all of my GIFs CROPPED #If this posts and they're actually cropped #I'mma be so mad #CONGRATULATIONS TUMBLR #YOU MADE YOUR POSTING PROCESS EVEN WORSE #This new layout or whatever it is #Is so ugly and cumbersome #FFS do all updates have to just be awful?? #Update: IT'S CROPPED AND ON MOBILE THE RATIO WAS CHANGED #TUMBLR IS TRASH

[mcufox123]

Soul Mates

Summary: What happens when there are actual soul mates in the world? Is Wanda yours?

A/N: ok this story gave me such chills and I’m really proud of it. Please enjoy!

Warnings: Injuries, implications of smut

I DON'T OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS

*************************************************************************************************

Soul mates, they exist. You are born with a mark on your skin. If you date someone, the mark will go away when you both fall in love with each other, and they touch your skin. Like you could be in a relationship and touch each other but the mark will go away only when you both love each other. It drove most of your relationships. So many times, you wanted to find your soul mate, but it never worked out. Your mark always confused you. It was two hands together on your stomach. What would you and your soul mate be doing? Where would your mark be on them?

After a while you gave up on ever trying to find them. You didn’t care anymore. You focused on work. You had been an undercover agent for Tony Stark, investigating different targets before the avengers would go and save the day. You lived with Earth’s mightiest heroes, who at home they were far more different than anyone would expect.

Bruce was a geek, Natasha was like the mother hen, Steve was a wood worker, Tony a family man, Bucky and Sam would play video games, and Wanda loved sitcoms. Don’t get me wrong, they of course trained and ate healthy and did mission recon, but other than that they were normal people.

When you first started living there it was weird for you to see everyone in sweatpants, but you quickly got used to it. You spent time with almost everyone, mostly Wanda though. You two quickly entered a relationship a few short months after you started living there. You even moved into her room. A couple months into your relationship you knew you loved her, but you would never dare say it. You always remembered the conversation you had with her about soul mates.

“Do you believe in the whole soul mates mark?” you asked the closed off girl in your arms.

“I believe they do. I never want to know who mine is though. I lost too many people Y/N. I don’t think I could know that and be ok if I ever lost them.” She answered while playing with your hands.

“That’s fair, I guess. What would you do if you found them though?” you asked her. You were nervous because you wanted Wanda to be your soul mate and you kept waiting for her to touch your mark, but she never did.

“I’m not sure. Maybe put them in a bubble only I could reach and never let them go.” She said in an amusing voice and you knew the conversation was coming to a close.

“I’m sure that would not go over well.” You chuckled. There were a few moments of silence, she was just drawing random shapes on your shoulder, head against your chest.

“Don’t wait for me Y/N. If you want to find your soul mate, go find them.” She said with hurt in her voice. You could tell she didn’t want you to go.

“I’m right here Wanda, don’t worry.” You reassured her before you both were silent again. Eventually you both fell asleep.

That happened only a couple weeks before the mission you were about to go on. Tony had found an undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. facility that was now operating with Hydra. You had “applied” for a job there and quickly made your way up the ranks. It was now time for you to report to their office to help them continue following Hydra’s plan. You walked out to the car you would be driving in for the mission. Wanda followed you out.

“Please be careful out there, Y/N. Take care of you. No one else matters. Just you. Come back to me quickly.” Wanda said walking next to you.

“I always do babe. I promise, I’ll be back, as fast as I can.” You wanted to add that you loved her but knew now wasn’t the time. Your soul mate’s conversation still lingering in your head. You leaned in a gave her one last kiss before getting in the car to drive to your mission.

The drive to the mission wasn’t too bad, only like 4 hours which is short compared to other cross-country ones that you have done. Just like you planned you fit right in with the agents. You put on this very charismatic façade gaining their trust in a week’s time.

“I think it’s time you met the boss kid.” Agent Gerald said to you as he led you down a series of hallways. You tried to mentally track your path so you would be able to show your friends but there were more hallways than you could’ve imagined. A tactic they must have used to catch fake agents like yourself.

Once arriving to a big room, you met Frank the head honcho. He was a small man, nothing you would’ve expected from someone leading such a complicated organization. He looked up and smiled.

“So, this is agent Reilly? I’ve heard great things about you.” He said referring to your undercover name. He reached out to shake your hand.

“You must be Frank. I’ve heard some scary things about you.” You said testing the waters of the old man, hoping he would see it as a friendly interaction. Which thank goodness he did. He pulled you into his side while pointing at you and looking at Gerald. “I like this one, she’ll be just the person I need for the job.”

Frank had a plan. This made you nervous, what would he have you be doing? You had to get the team here right away. After the pleasantries of meeting Frank, you were excused until tomorrow when he would let you know what you would be doing.

You however couldn’t wait that long and as soon as you got to your hotel room you called the team.

“Tony, I need you guys here ASAP. I know who the head guy is. Its Frank Randone, Fury’s old partner. I met him today I know where he’s hiding, he has a mission for me which he’s going to give me tomorrow.” You rambled on quickly.

“Ok, we’ll be there in an hour and we’ll devise a plan when we get there. Just be careful and stay put.” He told you in a fatherly way. You rolled your eyes even though you knew he couldn’t see it.

Not even an hour later you heard a knock on the door. You opened it to see your modge podge family. They all looked kind of out of it as they piled in your room. You knew it was because they got called here so quickly on such short notice.

The plan was that you would go into the facility tomorrow and go see Frank for your mission. You would have the tracker com in your ear so the team could both track your movement and hear you and what you heard at the same time. After you received the mission, you would leave the facility to meet your friends and help them defeat Frank.

After the mission was planned everybody left besides Wanda. You were exhausted from the day you just had and anxious about the following day. Wanda changed into some sweatpants and grabbed your sweatshirt before crawling into bed. She rubbed your back as you sat on the edge of the bed a million thoughts running through your head. She sat up and hugged you from behind.

“Come cuddle with me please, this week has been too long without you.” She whispered in your ear. You turned back to look at her in the eyes. You saw her looking at you with so much emotion. You leaned in to kiss her which quickly got heated.

If it had been a chaste kiss, it was almost as if she was going to say those three little words, she didn’t though, instead you had a heated night. You both fell asleep in the comfort of each other’s arms.

The next morning you peeled yourself from Wanda’s arms to get ready for the day. You were too nervous to eat or do much, but you had to get the com ready and online and dressed. Wanda was still sleeping when you were about to leave so you walked over to kiss her forehead. Before you could pull away you felt a hand come up to your neck and hold you there. You looked down to see emerald eyes staring back at you.

“Be careful, please. I need you to come back to me.” She said. Your only answer was a chaste kiss before pulling away.

“I promise.” And with that you walked out of the room and drove to the facility.

Once you got there you were immediately taken to Frank. You were grateful that you didn’t have to remember the hallways with the tracking com. Once you arrived at the room you instantly felt a sense of panic though.

“Agent Reilly just in time! I brought your mission in for you to complete it right now, so I know you are worthy of the position I am about to offer and that you are loyal to this organization.” He said with a creepy grin before he continued. “The world is lost, the only people who seem to have it all together are the avengers. That can’t be, we need them to be in array as well. I have captured the founder and his right-hand man, or women I should say. They will be here any minute.” He walked towards you holding a gun. You suddenly were very nervous; you had an idea of who it would be.

“This man and I go way back, we used to be partners if you could believe that. It was easy getting him surprisingly enough and lucky for me she was there too. What I need you to do is kill them. First Maria, then Fury. Then we will talk about this new position I have for you.” You needed to get out of this. Suddenly the door opened, and Fury and Maria were dragged in. The looked awful, defeated even, one thing that you never saw on either of their faces. Then they looked up and saw you and you saw hope on their faces. You, however, were shaking. You had to think quickly of what you had to do.

There were four men there and Frank. Each had a gun, and a knife attached to their belts. You had a gun you also had the team who would hopefully be on their way by now, but you had no way of knowing for sure. You eyed up the four guys, you could take them. You could do this. You just had to get Fury and Maria out of here alive.

Fury eyed you knowing that you had just calculated your plan in the span of 20 seconds, and he visibly relaxed as did Maria. They trusted you. You could do this.

You walked over and grabbed the gun from Frank, “You got it boss.” You said before turning your back on him to walk towards Maria. You held the gun at her head, then eyed Frank who gave you a subtle nod.

Before you could shoot Maria, you pulled your gun up and expertly shot three of the men before the 4th one lunged at you. You dodged him and grabbed him by the arm causing him to turn around. You shot him in the back before turning to look at Frank. He eyed you nervously.

“Who are you?” he asked in a shaky voice. You smirked. “I’m your worst enemy.” You said before turning to shoot him. He fell back, you don’t even check to see if he’s out before you turn around to help Fury and Maria out of the restraints. Right as your finishing helping Maria, you hear an alarm blare. You turn to see Frank with his phone in his hand smiling. Before you have time to process you feel a sharp pain in your stomach. You whip your head around to see a guard standing there. You shoot him then turn back and shoot Frank in the head.

“Y/N,” Fury said as he rushed towards you. You then collapsed on the ground, looking down to see a knife protruding from your stomach. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

You heard lots of commotion coming from the hallway. You knew the team was there. Fury knew not to touch the blade inside you and instead picked you up carefully. He started carrying you out of the building and to the quinjet outside. He put you on the ground and tried to stop the bleeding. He took the com out of your ear to talk to the team.

“This is Fury, Y/N is down. Stab wound in her abdomen. We’re on the quinjet but we have to get her out of here, and fast.” You didn’t get to hear the response but not even two minutes later a red head appeared in your vision cupping your cheek.

“Stay with me you hear me. You’re not allowed to leave remember. You have to be with me.” Wanda said. You reached up to grab her cheek. “I'm not going any-any-anywhere. Re-re-remember.” You choked out with difficulty. You saw tears running down her face.

Fury reached around Wanda to look at the wound. “We need to take that knife out; an infection has already started spreading. If we want her to make it, it has to come out. I will remove it. Wanda, you need to apply pressure as I extract it.” He said looking up at Wanda who just nodded. Wanda put her hands on the spot she would never dare touch before.  The knife was directly in the center of your soul mate mark. You realized in that moment that she was your soul mate. You started to cry, now scared about what the outcome of this day would be. You had to make it, you had to be ok for her.

It must have registered in her brain as you simply put your hands over hers. Covering her mark on the back of her hands. You heard her cry harder as both of your marks started to fade away.

“I love you Y/N. You can’t leave me now. I said it. I’ve said what I’ve tried to run away from. We both know now, and now, you can’t leave me.” Wanda said crying harder holding her hands on your stomach. It was so hard for you to process her feelings. The pain slowly started to leave your body as you began to feel numb.

“I love you too Wanda,” breath, “always have,” breath,” always will.” You tried to get out. Suddenly you couldn’t hear anything. You saw Wanda start to sob and scream at you. You saw the rest of the team ran onto the quin jet. Steve immediately took over for Wanda, while Nat and Clint tried to pull her away from you. You saw her fighting her way back to you then everything went black.

Steve held his hands there. Tony used his Iron man suit to freeze the wound until they were able to get you home. You were fighting for your life the whole way back to the compound. Wanda fought everyone so hard to stay by your side. She held your hand rubbing endless circles on the back of your hand. She talked to you the whole way.

“Well, we know now, we’re soulmates. When you wake up from this don’t expect me to ever let you out of my sight again. The first thing that’s going to happen is I'm going to talk to Tony. You need a suit. I know I'm not stopping you from going on missions but you need a suit so you can be ok when I'm not there. The next thing is we are moving out of the compound. It’s a target. I need you safe and I need you all to myself. Maybe we could build a house right next door or down the block because I know you won’t want to be too far from the team. Also, we are getting married. There is absolutely no point in prolonging that. I want you to be mine for forever, officially. For all this to happen you need to stay with me. You need to be ok. Because I love you.” Wanda rambled on. She continued to talk about your life together.

When you arrive at the compound they immediately moved you to the medical bay. Wanda is frozen on the jet. Everyone slowly makes their way off the jet exhausted from the day. Wanda slowly walks off and instead of going with Nat to the medical bay, she goes to your room and puts on one of your sweatshirts. She crawls under the covers and puts on your favorite sitcom. She doesn’t watch though, she’s too numb, a million thoughts running through her head. She doesn’t want you gone; she needs you. After about a half hour she lets out a blood curdling scream as it finally hits her that you might be gone. Clint goes in and just holds her, being her fatherly figure that he is.

They operate on your stomach and everything goes smoothly, but you lost a lot of blood. Now it is up to you to wake up. In the in between life and death you are at peace. You are in your dream house with your childhood dog, and you feel a sense of calm. No responsibilities are on your shoulders, no timeline of missions, no scars from past missions litter your body. In the in between you are just you and you can do anything you want.

Every day you do whatever you want. Some days its running by a lake, some days you are on the beach. The only sad part is nobody is here to share it with you. One day you are cooking up some breakfast when there is a knock on your door. You are startled by the intrusion of your peace. You wipe your hands and go to the door to see a young man with white hair.

“Hi,” you say unsure of your own voice.

“Y/N, I’m Pietro, Wanda’s Brother.” You stand there in shock. You’re not sure what to do so you reach out and give him a hug, happy that you finally are able to meet him.

“Oh my gosh, HI! It’s so nice to meet you! Wanda has told me so much about you!” You say enthusiastically. You then step aside and welcome him into your home.

You take him to the kitchen where you both share a meal, and you get to know him better. He tells you all about young Wanda and their life growing up. You tell him all about your relationship with Wanda and that you both learnt that you were soulmates.

“She really loves you ya know? She tried to push it away for so long. Do you know how long you have been here for?” He asks you suddenly. You’re thrown by the question because you have now lost track of time.

“No, I’m not really sure. The last thing I remember is telling Wanda that I loved her. Then I was just here.” You tell him honestly.

“It’s been 3 months. You’re not dead, your body is trying to figure out what it wants to do. For that to happen you need to know what you want to do. Can I show you something?” He asks as you try processing this conversation.

“S-s-s-sure.” You say nervously, still trying to wrap you head around the fact that it’s been 3 months. He stands up and escorts you to a mirror. He pulls a nob out and places it on the mirror. Your eyebrows furrow and he notices.

“You only get one of these when you’re completely committed to this world.” He says as a sad smile crosses his face. You know he wasn’t supposed to die, but he sacrificed himself to save Clint, a heroic action. He starts turning the nob and you see yourself on a hospital bed. Next to you is Wanda, she looks so broken, a shell of a person who she was. You gasp and put your hand on the mirror to try to touch her. You can’t though and the tears start to roll down your face.

“She hasn’t eaten much Y/N. She hasn’t showered unless Clint makes her. She has spent every day for the past three months in this hospital room next to you, waiting for you to wake up. She needs you Y/N, way more than she ever needed me. You make her happy even if she was too stupid to admit it. She loves you so much. I understand if you choose to stay here and wait for her, to be at peace and get the relaxation you need, but please just do something. Don’t stay in this in between because it will kill her.” The tears are coming faster now as you take everything in. He gives he a side hug and you turn into his body so he could hold you while you cry.

Pietro stays the rest of the day and does whatever you want to do. You both go for a walk, you take a boat out on the lake, you go to the beach and just stare at the ocean. You wish that everything could be easy, but it can’t. You have to make a decision.

After dinner Pietro says that it’s time for him to leave and you escort him to the door.

“It was really nice being able to mee you Y/N. If you do go back, tell my sister hi. Tell her I miss her, but I am so proud of the person she has become. Tell her I am ok and that she’ll see me again someday. And you, if you return take care of her, love her, and give her everything you possibly can.” You nod at him and reach for a hug which he gladly returns. “I’m happy its you, Y/N.” he said before he turns around to leave.

After he leaves, you stay up and write. You write all of your feelings on a page. You write all the reasons you want to stay and all the reasons you want to go back. Eventually you fall asleep on the couch a pen in your hand.

When you wake up the light is bright. It takes you a few minutes for you to realize where you are. You’re in the hospital bed, a warm presence is on your arm. You look down to see Wanda slouched over asleep next to you. You smile, you’re back. You remember your time away so vividly; you look up and silently thank Pietro. You lean over and place a soft kiss on the top of the red head. It takes her a minute to stir. She looks up at you and just stares in disbelief. Her hand reaches up to cup your cheek making sure your really there. You just reach up and touch her hand.

That’s enough for her to attack you in a hug and sob. You hold her whispering reassuring words into her hair. “I’m here. Don’t worry I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. Remember I’ll always come back.” She just cried harder.

After she finally calms down, she smashes her lips on yours, putting in all the emotions she has, and you are fast to reciprocate it. When you pull back your foreheads are touching.

“So, when are we getting married?” you ask a smile spreading on your lips.

“As soon as you get out of this hospital bed,” she says while smiling back at you.

“And the house?” you ask repeating all of the promises she made to you.

“Steve already started construction on the edge of the compound property.” She says while planting kisses all over your face.

“And the suit?” you ask, she freezes.

“Not happening anytime soon. We are taking a long vacation you and me, there are a lot of things we need to catch up on and I'm not going to share you just yet.” This causes you to chuckle and agree.

“He’s proud of you, ya know?” you tell her, she freezes and gives you a questioning look. “Pietro, I met him, he’s proud of you, he loves you, and he’s ok. He said you will see him one day don’t worry.” You say as you bring your hand up to her cheek in a comforting way. You see tears roll down her cheeks and you’re quick to wipe them away.

She snuggles closer to you “thank you y/n for telling me. And for coming back to me. I love you.” She says as she lays her head on your chest. You wrap your arms around her and in a few minutes, you hear that she is sleeping. You see such relief on her features, and she looks so calm. “I love you too, always have and always will.” You say as you lay a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

#wanda x reader #wanda #wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda marvel #Natasha Romanoff #marvel #Black Widow #steve rogers #captain america #scarlett witch #iron man #Tony Stark #avengers #the avengers

[ms-moonlight-inn]

Pseudo-tagged by the sweet-as-shit @sleepyfacetoughguy to answer these fandom questions:

When did you start watching shameless?

Relatively late, tough I don’t quite remember when. Maybe mid/late S9? It had always been on my radar, but I was deep into some other shows at the time & I knew this one was gonna cut deep so I kept putting it off. Sure enough...

How did you start getting involved in the gallavich fandom?

I’d been creeping for a while, like a fucking... creeper. First on the peripheral sites, looking a fanart & fan-related theories. Then, I finally pulled the trigger on the fanfic *whew* let’s just say shit went real downhill, real quick from there.

Favorite shameless character? (other than IxM).

In a lot of ways, I identify a lot Lip. I'm born & raised in the Los Angeles inner-city. Right on the outskirts of Downtown L.A.’s skid row. This was many of he reasons why I was drawn to Shameless; those first few seasons were like a love letter to the inner-city. In many ways, I was the smart kid who figured shit out way too much & way too early for my own good, just like Lip. And just like Lip, it led to some stupid denial. *yikes* Don’t worry, I managed to get most of my shit together. Most.

(Shit. Sorry. I’m doing Tumblr therapy! LOL!)

What plotline from the show irked you the most?

Fiona magically becoming an alcoholic never sussed out with me; wrong personality type if you ask me.

Gay Jesus.

Ian bottoming for Trevor.

Lip never capitalizing on his intelligence & instead seemingly choosing a blue collar life. Again, wrong personality type.

Favorite line from the show?

Too many to chose from. But, I am particularly fond of the way Ian delivers “Get the fuck out!” As he’s holding/pointing the kill bat against Frank. The delivery Cam chose is reminiscent of an old gangsta rap song that I can’t remember the name of it’s either an N.W.A. or Eazy-E song.

**edit**

I found the song! It’s Boyz-N-The-Hood by Eazy-E. Ha, ha, ha, ha! Y’all can’t peck my research skills; they are impeccable!

Fanfic(s) you can’t stop thinking about (not comprehensive but some initial thoughts):

SO many! A few of them aren’t on Ao3 anymore, which makes me cry. I’ll just type out the first few that pop in my head & apologize to anyone I’ve forgotten. Apologies if some are WIPs.

5 Times Ian and Mickey Never Kissed Under The Mistletoe And 1 Time They Did by @ianandmickeygallavich

To My Beloved Mickey by @dancermk

It’s Ok Angel by @notherenj-nowherenj

Enemy Lines by J_Q & stars_fall_on

Fingers On Your Soul by @stillbeatingheart

You’re Different, You’re Allowed To Be by @stillbeatingheart

The entire “Trope Me, Baby, One More Time“ series by Whatsastory

A Little Fun Never Hurt Anyone... by @camnoelgallavich & @doodlevich (shit, I hope I tagged them correctly *yikes*)

Against Glass by AllThatMatters

Jerkface 9000 by J_Q

Meet Me At The Track by @dancermk

Hooking Up With Feelings by @peppermintkatie

A Witch In Wicker Park by Horror Business

Devil's Mark by Lenatoutcourt

Hidden Secret by @gallavichgeek

Fuck there are so many more... I *know* I'm forgetting a lot of important ones. I'm so sorry if I forgot to mention you!

Best concert(s) you’ve been to:

The best concert I have been to lately has been the Rancid/Dropkick Murphys concert I went to this summer.

Not only was it my first concert in a really long time, but it was the first post-pandemic, big crowd thing that I had done. Plus, both bands played the old school shit that I grew up with!

Comfort movie franchise:

LOTR.

Nightmare Before Christmas.

The Crow.

Basically any good samurai shit.

I love the Resident Evil movies 'cause Mila Jovovich & Michelle Rodriguez are hot as shit running around with guns in their hands (Yes, I am a simple creature. So?).

Basically, any comic book movie out there.

Sports movies, especially the Rocky/Creed movies.

Music movies.

Piercings/tattoos:

A Thunderbird in turquoise surrounded by squash blossoms on my upper left bicep in representation of my grandmother. The design was taken from a ring that she wore on her deathbed.

A giant pink and purple dragon back piece. She's supposed to be a female dragon.

A jack o'lantern on my inner right forearm.

Both ears are double pierced. That's all the piercings I will do.

Most rewatched tv show?

Shameless.

Schitt's Creek.

Pitch. (It only had one season.)

Pet peeves:

Ugh. Don't get me started on this... Um, people who cannot say excuse me at the grocery store when you are in their way. Instead, they just stand there and stare at you until you somehow telepathically figure out that you are in their way. Then when you move over, they roll their eyes or give you a dirty look, as if somehow you were supposed to understand that you were in their way without them opening their mouths and simply say, "Excuse me, please."

Random fact about yourself:

I talk too fucking much. It's a sickness.

If you haven't done this yet, consider yourself tagged! Come play with me!

#tagged #tag game #come play #come talk to me

[allherdaydreams]

Valley of Kings — Chapter One

Vali | The Middleman

Universe: Vikings Pairing(s): None yet (there will be several later on, mainly Ivar x fem!OC and much later on, Harald x fem!OC) Word Count: 3,160 Warnings: Bad writing ig? Author’s Note: I don't really love this lol, but I decided I'm just going to publish the chapters on here when I'm done and have slightly edited them and hope for some feedback, etc. Sorry if it's not great! Anyway, lemme know if you wanna be on a taglist and I’ll add you! Constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated ❤️

read the prologue here

I remember the smell of the air — as spring was leaving, with summer slowly taking its place, the wind was gentle and sweet with the scent of wildflowers. The hunting cabin which belonged to the royal family of Kattegat rested in the foothills just east of the town; to the south surrounded by trees, and to the north, mountains. The smell of pine and woodbine lingered in the air, too, though all of the sweet scents of the wilderness were drowned out with that of the meat we roasted over the fire each night we stayed there.

I remember the way the grass tickled the back of my neck as my friends and I watched the clouds. I had never understood why Sigyn insisted on being barefoot every moment that we were out there, but in midday, the dew had only just faded and the greenery was soft underfoot. The clear blue sky gave us a false sense of security.

It was the last truly peaceful day I would have in a long, long time. I must have been fifteen or sixteen, but I had always looked and acted older. My friends were all older, too — I was the same age as the youngest son of Ragnar, Ivar, but I only spent time with him when his brothers were around. I had been inseparable from Ubbe, Hvitserk, and Sigurd since I was small. We all figured we would stay that way forever.

We had been at the cabin for many days, and planned to head back into town at the end of the upcoming week. That day, Hvitserk and I had both killed a deer, Sigurd had caught many rabbits in his traps, and Ubbe had tracked a boar, though he was still waiting for the right time to shoot it without the probability of getting attacked. (He was much wiser than Hvitserk and I; had it been either of ours to kill, we would have gone after it with no hesitation or regard for our safety at all.)

My sister had come with us — Ivar went, too, and wherever Ivar was, Sigyn was never far behind — but had never enjoyed hunting. Instead, she chose to spend the trip in and around the cabin, cooking and cleaning. When the chores were all done, she spent the rest of her time alone out in the yard, lost in her own head. She was, it seemed, daydreaming at nearly every waking moment of her life.

When we reached the cabin that day, we found her in her usual spot on the grass, staring off at the clouds even as we reached her. Ivar crawled toward her, but instead of trying to grab her attention, he only laid down next to her.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked, staring up at the sky. As the other princes and I walked into the cabin, I heard Sigyn begin to tell a most detailed story, as she always did when Ivar asked that question.

"I am dreaming of a far away kingdom on the edge of the world..."

When we had resurfaced from the entrance of the cabin, Ivar and Sigyn were still laying in the same spot. Hvitserk had flashed me a grin as he nudged my arm before strutting over and laying down on the vacant side of Sigyn. Knowing he wished for me to follow, I laid down next to him.

"You know, Sigyn," Hvitserk said. "If you come with us to the Mediterranean, you will get to see a far away kingdom."

"Yes, Hvitserk, I know." She responded simply. "But it would not be as magnificent as the ones I dream about. Besides, I love Kattegat and I have no wish to leave. We have been over this."

Sigyn had always been straightforward. She was very honest about everything, and often didn't understand the difference between our jests or when we meant what we said. I suppose that my sweet sister assumed that everyone would be as charmingly frank about their feelings as her.

Sigyn had the softest, steadiest voice I had ever heard. She often kept a calm tone which made her seem as if she had the most level head in Norway. Only when she was in great distress or feeling something very strong did her tone ever noticeably change. Not to say she was emotionless by any means — she felt a great deal more than I could ever wrap my head around — but she was always calm. At least, she always was when she was around us.

"Are you going to be okay here while Mother and Father and I are gone, Sigyn?" I asked gently, leaning upwards just slightly to look over at her past Hvitserk. Hvitserk's brows furrowed slightly, and he looked over at her too as she gazed thoughtfully at the clouds. She nodded slowly, turning her head to meet our gazes.

"I think so. You will not be gone very long. I will have Ivar and Muninn." I smiled at her sweet tone, but had to keep myself from grimacing.

"We may be gone all summer," I reminded her.

"Or longer," added Hvitserk. She nodded again and looked back at the clouds.

"Perhaps you will. And I will miss you everyday. But you'll come back." Hvitserk and I looked at each other, and I shrugged as I laid back down. I knew she understood — she was always the more intelligent twin — but I just didn't want her to be hit with the emotions all at once when I would not be there to talk over them with her. We may not have spent every waking moment together, but we had never been separated in our lives.

We stayed there for a long time, quietly and sparsely conversing amongst ourselves. When Ubbe and Sigurd had finished skinning the meat for dinner, they called us over. Sigyn and Ubbe were the best cooks among us, so they were the ones to prepare our meal while the rest of us sat around them and talked. It was not long until we heard the sound of hooves coming up the path to the cabin, and Hvitserk and I stood and craned our necks to see who the incoming rider could be.

"It's Bjorn!" I called the others. Sigyn and Ubbe looked up then, put down the food, and quickly joined the rest of us as we all watched the eldest prince of Kattegat approach.

His expression was grim — though he was usually serious, I wasn't used to him looking so discouraged or unhappy. He dismounted his horse once he reached the cabin, tying the reins to a fence post.

"Hello, Bjorn," Sigyn said, walking up to him with a smile. She turned towards the tall horse, stroking his head gently, her attention now completely focused on the stallion. Bjorn smiled faintly as he gave her a nod.

"Hello, Sigyn," As he passed her, he patted her shoulder. Tearing his eyes away from my sister, he looked towards the rest of us, and his expression darkened again. "I come with news. You will all want to sit down."

By the time Bjorn had finished his story, all of our faces looked just as grim as his. Sigyn, who was sat on a bench behind Ivar, was the only one of us who didn't look angry in the slightest — her downcast eyes made it seem as if she was on the verge of tears as she absentmindedly ran her fingers through Ivar's hair. She had always had a habit of soothing herself with soft textures when anxious or upset; usually, one of us lent our hand or hair for her to play with, if there was no small animal close enough for her to pet.

We were all quiet and contemplative for a while, all of us stuck in our own thoughts. I wondered what Hvitserk was thinking.

"You think our father never knew?" Ubbe brought his gaze up from the table to the sky, which had turned to grey. I saw in his eyes a calculating worry. He was trying to find reason in something where there likely wasn't anything that was good enough to justify it.

"It's possible," Bjorn mused, watching the knife in his hands as he turned it over slowly. "In those early days, it wasn't easy to navigate the sea."

"He knew. He had to." Hvitserk spoke from beside me. I glanced at him and nodded in agreement.

"If he did, he should have told the people," Sigurd decided aloud. "Everyone lost relatives; fathers and uncles, sons and daughters. They would have demanded revenge."

"That is why he didn't tell them," Ivar shot back, glaring at Sigurd.

"What do you mean?" Ubbe asked as his brows furrowed. Ivar rolled his eyes.

"It was a waste of time." He said simply.

"Ivar..." Sigyn's voice trailed off. Her face made it clear that she wanted to say something, but didn't know how to approach her volatile best friend.

"They were dead, Sigyn! Ragnar wanted to sail to Paris. He wanted to be famous. Isn't that more important?" He turned to look at her, and she drew her hands back from his hair and into her lap. "Hmm?"

Sigyn looked at the ground.

"I don't think so," She said solemnly.

"You can say that." Bjorn replied, shrugging. Ivar turned again, back to facing his brothers and I.

"I can say that? What does that mean?"

"Here's what it means —" Hvitserk interjected. "— at least to me. Our father abandoned us. We were just kids, and he ran off. Only the Gods know if he's still alive. And now, we hear he kept this big secret from everyone. That he was not truthful or honest."

"This makes me feel sick," Sigurd shook his head again. "How could our father not tell the people what had happened?"

"Maybe if he had told them, they would have killed him." Bjorn replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"If it's true..." Ubbe began. "If it's true that our father lied to his people and abandoned them, then I hope he never comes back."

"He betrayed our name. If he ever came back, I would kill him." Hvitserk snarled, ripping Sigyn out of her mind and back into the present. Her head shot up to look at Hvitserk.

"Me too." Sigurd agreed. Sigyn looked back and forth between the two of them, her expression somewhere between alarm and betrayal.

"Screw you!" Ivar exclaimed. Hvitserk scoffed and looked down, shaking his head. "All of you. He never did anything wrong. He is our father. And that is the end of it. You all sound like a bunch of Christians."

"I love our father as much as you do—" Ubbe said, but was interrupted by Ivar.

"Who said I loved him, Ubbe? I said I admired him. He's Viking. And you are soft." Ivar's voice was defensive, challenging, angry; as he usually was.

"I am not soft! None of us—" Ubbe gestured to his other brothers and to me. "— are soft. But we want to understand what our father did, and what he was."

He crouched down in front of Ivar, glancing up at Sigyn before making eye contact with Ivar. "As his son, his fame does not interest me. What he used his power for—" Ubbe pressed a finger to his temple. "— now that would interest me."

"By now, my brothers, there will be a lot of anger in Kattegat. Now they know the truth. Our father betrayed a whole generation of people," Hvitserk said.

"So if he ever came back—" Sigurd started to say, causing Bjorn to sit up straighter and stare at his brother.

"I don't think he is ever going to come back!" Bjorn exclaimed, frustrated. "I think what happened in Paris finally broke him. You all can say whatever you want, but he was a human. People started to talk as if he was a God — he was not a God! He was a man! A man with many dreams and many failings. I've learned that in the years since he went away. If I was him, I wouldn't come back."

I glanced at my sister now, who was watching Bjorn sadly.

"Despite all his failings, he is still the greatest man in the world to me," Bjorn looked down at the ground again as finished his sentence.

"He cared for you — he cared for all of you," Sigyn said, looking to each prince in turn. "He made mistakes, but as Bjorn said, he is only human." Bjorn and Ivar nodded, but Hvitserk and Ubbe shook their heads.

"Sigyn, we were not lucky as you were to have a father that was there for us. If he truly cared enough, he would have stayed." Ubbe told her. His voice was gentle, as it always was when he spoke to her, but I could hear the frustration behind his words. "You should learn that about love now; love means loyalty. Dedication. You don't abandon those you love."

I watched my sister grapple with finding the right thing to say. Ivar reached a hand behind him, blindly reaching for Sigyn's own. Once he had grabbed it, he guided it to his shoulder before letting it go. Her fingers traced shapes onto his shirt.

"I must go to your home now, Vali, Sigyn," Bjorn looked towards each of us in turn. "I have more preparations for the voyage to discuss with you father, and now I should talk to him about this as well." I nodded at him.

"I will go with you," I replied, and looked towards Sigyn, who met my gaze.

"I should stay here, then. There is no need for both of us to go," She decided.

"Perhaps we should head back to Kattegat early," Ubbe suggested, looking to his brothers. "See the reactions of the people."

"We already know how the people will react, Ubbe," Hvitserk said. "But yes, we should go and see what we can do."

The journey to my home was longer than usual; we had gone around Kattegat instead of cutting through it, which was the quickest way there, but didn't seem appropriate. A silence hung between Bjorn and I for most of the journey.

"You did not speak," Bjorn said finally, just before we had reached my home. "You did not speak when we were discussing my father."

I nodded at him. "It was not my turn to speak. Not my conversation to have." Bjorn let out a short hum of amusement.

"I think you discount your wisdom. Or maybe your importance," Bjorn decided. I didn't have an answer to that.

We dismounted our horses as we reached out family's land. Bjorn walked ahead of me, but stopped slowly and leaned against one of my father's many souvenirs from past raids. I stopped beside him, and he glanced at me before nodding his head over to the water. When I followed his gaze, I was met with my parents wading in the shallows with the little model ships I had helped him make.

My father must have noticed our presence somehow, because he turned to look at us before he walked over. Bjorn drew close to him, then spoke in a low voice.

"Did you know Ragnar lied to us all? The settlement in Wessex was destroyed as soon as we left." My father looked from Bjorn to me, then to the ground as he thought for a moment. He nodded, glancing back to me before looking Bjorn in the eyes again.

"I knew," He said. "A farmer who had escaped the slaughter told you father and I what had happened. Then, Ragnar killed him, so no one else would find out."

"You were a good friend to my father," Bjorn replied simply.

"Bjorn? Vali?" My mother's voice reached my ears, and I turned from the men to her, smiling.

"Helga," Bjorn answered, immediately walking towards her.

"Hello, Mamma," I called to her, following Bjorn again.

"What brings you back so soon, Vali? I thought you were going to be gone hunting for another week," My mother questioned as she walked out of the water and met us on the sand, embracing me.

"I decided to come back early. We caught plenty of game," I lied, but she nodded and smiled as she drew away from me. She turned to Bjorn.

"And what brings you here, Bjorn?"

"I was just coming to see how the boats were progressing," Bjorn explained.

"What do you say, Helga? What shall we tell him?" My father asked, walking along the docks.

"We think that it won't be long before you have boats ready and able to take you to the Mediterranean Sea," My mother told Bjorn happily.

"If it exists," My father muttered.

"Of course it exists," Bjorn insisted, looking up from the model boat my mother had placed in his hands.

"It's just a map, Bjorn; marks on a paper. A child could have drawn it! How can we know it's real?" My father asked. Bjorn studied the boat more as he thought over his words carefully.

"I learned from my father. The only way to tell if something is real..." Bjorn knelt down, gently pushing the model back into the sea. "...is to sail there."

I would like to think I can remember everything of that day — of most days spent at the hunting cabin, in Kattegat; with my friends, with my sister; the days that bled into each other and the nights that ended with sunrise instead of slumber; that phase in my life where I was preparing for the rest of it, learning the arts and trades and traditions of my people.

Indeed, I would certainly like to think that nothing of those days has escaped my memory. But as I write this, and as I try to recall every moment of every day & night spent in the sweet comfort of home, of youth, of camaraderie with those whom I still love most in the world, I recognize that the mind is never so sharp as to be able to recall every last detail or feeling from many years prior. My mind is not as sharp as it once was, either — I have accepted that soon, if it hasn't already, it will begin to fail me.

Perhaps not all of this story happened in the way I remember it — who is to say, when so few of us are left and still able to recount our adventures? — but the stories of my people & my past deserve to be told. Otherwise, who will remember the Norsemen? The Vikings are gone. I am one of the last to be able to remember the Golden Age. This story is mine to tell.

tags // @peachyboneless @youbloodymadgenius sorry y’all probably forgot about this fic its been so long lmaoo i’ll unadd you if you want

#vikings fanfic #vikings #vikings tv show #valley of kings saga #ragnarssons #ivar the boneless #ubbe ragnarsson #hvitserk ragnarsson #sigurd snake in the eye #bjorn ironside

[thran-duils]

Lost in Zero Gravity (P.11)

Title: Lost In Zero Gravity (Part Eleven) Summary:  Fem!Reader x Mob Boss!Tony Stark x Mob Boss!Steve Rogers.  Reader is a call girl who runs high end parties. She catches the attention of Tony Stark who invites her back to his room with his friend. She might have performed too well because she becomes their new favorite play toy and they don’t like to share. Words: 4,360 Warnings (for the fic in entirety): Smut, prostitution, infidelity, angst, domestic violence, stalking, possessive behavior

Part Ten || Part Twelve || Masterpost (mobile) || Fanfic masterpost

“I… just got involved with some guys and it got… weird,” you told your friend, Asa. You were playing with your pasta, moving it around your plate with your fork. The two of you were having lunch at one of the cheaper Italian restaurants near your grandparent’s house in their suburb. But it was damn good food; you had filled up on soup and calamari before your main course had even arrived.

“’Some guys’?” Asa pressed.

You met her eyes and said, “I got involved with a lot of guys if we wanna be accurate. Too many. But yeah, there are two specifically that I am—WAS seeing. Exclusively.”

“Y/N, you don’t have to be embarrassed about that. Fuck, I would do it if given the opportunity. You know I would. You were making bank,” Asa told you and you cracked a smile at her support. She took a bite of her food and pointed her fork at you, “Okay but… two? Exclusive? Did they know about each other?”

“Yeah… they did,” you admitted. “It was part of the deal.”

“Hmm,” Asa murmured. “You were getting dicked twice over and I can’t even find one.” You laughed, picking up a forkful of pasta and taking a bite. It was too good; you ignored your full feeling. “But, weird how?”

“One of their wives walked in on me fucking them – in my apartment, that they paid for, by the way – and punched me,” you told her bluntly. Asa rose her brows, stalling her chewing. She swallowed slowly and you muttered, “Yeah.”

“Oh, that kind of weird. I’m totally familiar with that. You know, in those situations, what I would normally do….” she trailed off because she started to laugh and you followed her lead, feeling the tension slowly leaving you. She reached across the table and grasped your hand. “I’m sorry. Is that what…” she gestured at your face and you nodded. She breathed in relief. “Not that it’s any better but when you said you got involved with two guys, I was thinking… you know, the worst. But fuck. You getting socked because they were cheating? That’s some bullshit.”

Another mouthful and you mumbled, “That’s what I thought. And they were acting like I was overreacting by being upset about it.”

“Are you kidding?”

“I wish I was.” You shifted in your seat and sighed heavily. “I… never mind.”

“What?” Asa pressed.

“I just think they were… using me as a replacement for their own marriages.”

“Well, yeah…” Asa said slowly.

“You don’t get it,” you exasperated, and she closed her mouth, paying attention. You shrugged sharply, “I mean, they would come over and do things with me. Like… cuddling on the couch, napping together on the couch. Watching TV shows. Buying pets together. Just talk to me as I cooked dinner. It was… intimate. Like something they were missing from their relationship that wasn’t just sex. Does that make sense?”

“I mean… yes?” Asa answered. “Look, that happens all the time. People catch feelings. Even when you’re not supposed to.”

“This was a definite not supposed to.”

“Did you?”

“Did I what?”

“Catch feelings?”

You shoved a forkful of food in your mouth, staring down at your plate.

“So, you did. And you only left cause the wife?” Asa asked seriously.

“Look, I don’t like that I like them,” you said meeting her eyes again and she cocked her head curiously. “They’re not the type of men to ‘catch feelings’ for. And there’s a lot of… complications to them having those feelings of attachment to me. They’re not nobodies. Celebrity status if we are going to be frank and that status gives them a lot of power. They might not have hit me but they sure as hell locked me in that apartment because they know no one can stop them from doing it.”

Asa was staring at you from across the table in shock.

“So, I don’t like that I started to like them because they were nice a lot of the time and did me… a lot of favors for my betterment. But I wanted to get away from the situation after that last fucking issue because they obviously have a lot of problems going on at home. I didn’t want to get drug into it any further.”

Silence fell between the two of you for a few moments before Asa told you gently, “I’m sorry, Y/N.”

“I’ll get over it. We are going out for drinks tonight, so I’ll be able to drown my feelings in that rum.”

Asa laughed and said, “Always the rum.”

<><><>

“She’s not in there,” Daryl said coming back to the SUV, climbing back into the passenger seat in the front. Tony, Steve, and a handful of other men were in the back of the SUV, Terrence driving. “I circled the house and could not see her in any of the windows. So, I went to the front door and her grandma answered and I asked her about Y/N, telling her I was looking for her because we were supposed to meet up tonight. The old woman is way too trusting. She told me she was down at this bar called Unicorn?”

Steve pulled his phone out, googling it.

“Looks like it’s two stories. That should be a fun hunt.”

Tony and Steve had both refrained from texting her or calling. That was not their style. If she ran off and was not contacting them, then that was only compounding on top of the transgression. There was no way they were going to reach out and try to build a bridge; she had already burned it. If she called or texted, of course they would answer. But that was on her. She was the one that had made the stupid decision to leave them, and she was going to pay for it in full.

<><><>

“Would you look at that,” Terrence chuckled.

The group of six men had found a booth against the wall on the first floor. The place was packed, the line to the bar ridiculously long but they were not there for drinks. They were there to collect their prize.

“What?” Tony asked, sighing. He was already annoyed to high heaven about having to be in this dive of a club.

“She’s right there,” Terrence said which caught everyone’s attention immediately.

Terrence pointed Y/N out, waiting in line at the bar with another woman, almost to the front. Fishnets underneath high-rise shorts barely covering her ass, a black plain top, and thigh high black boots.

A guy came up behind her, much to everyone else’s annoyance in line and wound his arm up before smacking her ass super hard. As she jolted forward, Tony was already halfway out of his seat, Steve’s hand shooting out to stop him.

Y/N whipped around and glared before her grimace fell recognizing him and the guy burst out laughing. She slapped him in the chest and started laughing too. She leaned forward and took the straws from his drink into her mouth, sucking.

“Must know him…” Daryl said.

They got to the front and Y/N and the other girl leaned on the bar, smiling flirtatiously at the bartender. The friend ordered and the bartender cocked his eyebrow. She said something else, and he looked at the guy behind them, who waved. The bartender nodded before going to line up six shot glasses.

The friend handed over her cash and they picked up the shots between themselves, the guy having finished his drink, leaving it on the counter which the bartender took. They made their way back through the crowd towards the stairs to the bottom floor.

“Guess we are moving,” Steve told Tony. He looked at the other four and said, “You lot stay here up here.”

<><><>

Dragging Mia back from the pinball machine and a guy she had been flirting with, you sat her at the table. She whined the whole time and you told her after the shots she could go back but she needed to take the drinks with you guys because you had been gone for so long. She scolded you for guilt tripping her.

Plopping down in your seat, your eyes happened to scan the bar. Your breath froze seeing Tony and Steve staring at you from across the room, sitting along the wall on a couple of stools. If looks could kill, you would be stabbed on the spot. Even in the moving lights you could see the anger painted on their expressions.

They had not tried to contact you at all. You had taken that as a sign as they had accepted you backing out of the relationship. But they had traveled here, tracked you down. That sent the complete opposite message of accepting it.

Forcing yourself to look away back at the table, your friend Mia shoved one of the shot glasses to you. You tried to keep your breath steady, trying to not look worried.

“Here we go, Y/N,” Asa told you, winking from across the table as she held up her shot glass. “Down the hatch goes third. And fourth for me and Joel. But third for you two.”

“Yeah, we are not idiots. We pace ourselves,” Mia retorted. “Plus there’s a dude over there and I wanna be sober enough to possibly get some tonight.”

You were definitely going to need this shot after having seen them and knowing you were definitely in some deep, deep shit. Maybe you should have gotten a second shot. Hindsight was 20/20.

The four of you took the single shots, before Joel and Asa took their second ones. Joel’s eyes closed and he breathed deeply. “That was rough.”

“Maybe you should’ve spaced them out?” Asa teased, completely unbothered by hers.

“Fuck off,” Joel laughed, taking a swig of his water.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” you told them over the music.

“Oh, me too!” Asa said, hopping up before you could stop her.

Your mouth fell open, trying to protest but she was already gesturing for you to take her hand. You shot a look over at Tony and Steve, seeing they were still very much keeping a glare pointed at you.

She yanked you up from the table, you stumbling in your boots. She held you around the waist, shimmying with you away from the table to the beat of the music – a song you actually liked, “No Other Way” by SHAED–, laughing joyfully as she held you close.

“Let’s go make some friends in the bathroom!” she exclaimed.

That caught you off guard and you actually laughed. “Isn’t that how it always is?”

You hoped to god that Tony and Steve did not approach your friends at the table or think that you were trying to escape out a back door or something. You worried there were other men there – actually, you knew they had other men there. They would not be here alone. You shot another look over your shoulder as Asa danced with you, catching their gaze again before you disappeared into the crowd towards the bathrooms.

You went first to the stalls, pretending to go so you were able to ditch her. Feeling guilty, you left the bathroom, pushing your way through the crowd.

They were still waiting at the table, their eyes fixed on you as you approached.

You stood in front of them, throwing your hands out, and you asked afraid, “What are you doing here? I left the key. I didn’t take anything.”

Steve cocked his head and turned his gaze to Tony, who had not taken his eyes off of you. More burning into you now than before at what you had said.

Tony blinked, finally looking away from you to look at Steve, giving a light laugh. A laugh laced with contempt at that.

“’Didn’t take anything’,” Steve repeated, matching Tony’s humorless chuckle.

You did not like the way they were toying with you. Forcibly, you told them, “I didn’t. I swear.”

Steve’s arm lashed out, his hand wrapping around your wrist in the blink of an eye, yanking you to him. You were pressed in between his legs and he made sure to squeeze to keep you in place. His expression was murderous.

“Y/N… you are an asset. So, you did take something. An unbelievably valuable thing.” You tried to pry your arm away from him and he only squeezed harder, and you gasped. He was far too strong, his grip crushing.

“I know we didn’t tell you because it seemed… irrelevant?” Steve said, searching for the right word. “But, sweetheart, you belong to us. Just like you belonged to Tatiana.”

“I…” you stammered, confused.

“We bought out your contract. Actually, paid her even more than what was owed. And along with other things, you now have all that indebted to us. So, when I say that you are an asset, you understand what I mean now, correct?”

You felt sick, your gaze falling. You had gone to Tatiana thinking that she was releasing you from the contract when she let you run off. Or what you thought was letting you run off… that she had forgiven your debt. But that was not the case at all. You had fucked up without even knowing it. You had crossed them, and it was not a surprise they had come to get you on top of everything else you had explained to Asa earlier this same day.

Steve grasped you underneath your chin to force you to look up at him. His tone was firm, low, “What’s going to happen is you’re going to go and collect your clothes because I’m guessing there’s some cute shorts and bras in there that I like seeing you in considering the amount of clothes you took with you when you stole away.” His fingers dug in and you winced at that, his eyes flashing at the mention of you leaving again. “I know you got scared but that doesn’t excuse what you did. You have a mountain to climb to be in our good graces again but trust me, the reward will be more than enough if you show some good behavior up front by not putting up a fight. Your grandpa’s medicine can be paid for.” You stared at him in shock, and he chuckled, “Yeah, we looked into that ailment. Tony can get that pretty fucking easily. What a happy coincidence, isn’t it?”

That was digging a bigger debt to them, but it was for your grandpa. And it was not like you could run away from this.

Thickly, you told him, “I understand.”

Steve let go of your chin and his thighs loosened on you. “Go say goodbye to your friends.”

<><><>

“I can do it by myself,” you said from in between the two of them when they pulled into the driveway.

You already spotted your grandma sitting on the front porch on her swing seat. It was already eleven o’clock but she was a night owl, especially loving sitting outside and reading her books after your grandpa had gone to bed. You sorrowfully thought that you wished you had spent more time reading to him this afternoon since you were going to avoid waking him up now to say goodbye.

“You’ve got fifteen minutes,” Steve told you stiffly.

You bit your cheeks to hold back an argument, regretting yet another thing, wishing that you had not gone out tonight. But the scene at the club could have happened here and maybe that should be silver lining. Having time alone to pack up and say goodbye to your grandma was better than the alternative.

She noticed you walking up the stairs and she put her book down. “You’re back early.” You could not help but snort and she smiled in return. “I wasn’t expecting you back until probably early morning. If you are anything like I was in my youth and I know you are.” She furrowed her brow and asked, “Where’s your purse?”

You had left it in the car. Sighing, you stopped in front of her. “I gotta pack my stuff up and go.”

“Wait, why?” she asked hurt.

You sat down on the seat next to her and said, “Something came up.”

“Y/N, you’ve only been home for a couple days,” she protested. “We haven’t seen you in so long.”

Grasping her hand, you said, “I… it’s important. Not that you guys aren’t, of course. But it’s urgent. It’s something with work.”

“What could be so pressing there?” she asked you confused. She looked back at the SUV in the driveway, narrowing her eyes seeing Terrence and Daryl in the front seats. “Who are they?”

“Um, they work for my bosses,” you said in explanation. “They’re going to drive me.”

She cocked an eyebrow and asked, “You get to have drivers…? What kind of restaurant owners have drivers on hand?”

You heard car doors close, and you looked up alarm. That was nowhere near even three minutes. You got up quickly and moved towards the stairs to try to stop them from coming up the sidewalk to the porch. Steve and Tony were coming up the cement and you stopped in the center of the walkway defensively.

“That wasn’t—” you started to say but Tony cut in forcibly.

“Just wanted to make sure it didn’t take longer than fifteen because it looked like things were going to get dragged out. Why don’t you walk back with us and introduce us to your grandma before you go inside and get your things?”

He was not asking. Sucking your teeth, you turned around pissed off. You had wanted to do it alone and not have them involved.

She was watching you curiously from the other end of the porch as you walked back up with the two of them. You made to go towards the door, but Tony reached out, grasping your arm tightly, in warning. You stopped and turned towards her by the screen door. You just wanted to get this over with and get out of here without them talking to her.

“My friends are gonna help me pack, grandma.”

“Grandma…?” Steve asked expectantly.

“Margaret.”

“Pleased to meet you, Margaret,” Steve said politely. He walked over to her, holding out his hand. “Steve Rogers.”

Tony did the same, introducing himself. She was looking up at them in awe.

“Wait…” your grandma said, looking between the two of them. “You… you’re Avengers.”

“Sure are,” Tony beamed before he walked back over towards you by the door. He gave you a little nudge towards the door and you took a step before you heard the excitement in your grandma’s voice.

“Iron Man and Captain America. Oh, no wonder the two of you have drivers!”

She had paid very close attention to them after the attack in NYC since you had been there when it happened, and she had been terrified for you. She had become a fan that they had saved the city and essentially you as a byproduct.

“She works for us,” Steve told her, flashing his million-dollar smile.

“Oh?” your grandma asked confused, shooting you a look past him. You had told her you were waitressing, and she was no doubt wondering how that fit into working for them. “Do you own the restaurant then?”

Steve looked over his shoulder at you, a cruel glint in his eye. “A restaurant?”

“Yes. Where she’s waitressing,” your grandma continued. “She said it is a high-end place on the upper east side. Not that I know what that means. I have no knowledge of the city but I’m assuming it’s an affluent neighborhood?”

Steve licked his lips, a smirk tugging at his lips as he watched you. You gave him a pleading look to just go with it, to just lie. Yes, he owned a restaurant. Just say it.

“You wanna tell her what you really do for a living?” Steve challenged much to your horror.

They wanted to humiliate you. And you thought dreadfully, to the point that you might possibly never be able to face coming back here again to look your grandma in the face.

“No,” you snapped instantly.

Steve turned fully towards you, looking dangerous all of a sudden. Just like he had the first day in the apartment when you had told him to fuck off. He stalked up to you, glowering down at you, his back to your grandma.

“You wanna rephrase that?” he breathed lightly, knowing she would not be able to hear him.

You felt anxiety flooding in your chest. “Don’t…” you warbled.

“Own it. Say it, Y/N.”

Tony was at your back, Steve in front, holding you in place. You were not going to escape this.

“I’m your whore,” you rasped in a voice barely above a whisper, trying to keep the tears at bay.

“Now, now, watch your language in front of your grandmother,” Tony scolded in a murmur from behind you. “We have nicer words than that don’t we?”

You cleared your throat and said louder so she could actually hear, “I’m your… assistant.” Steve cocked his head, his eyes narrowing threateningly. He was not going to let this go and you wanted to sock him in the face. Your voice shaking, you said, “Fine. Courtesan. I am your courtesan.”

“Hmm, yeah that’s a good word for it,” Tony praised you quietly.

Steve looked satisfied and shrugged, “I don’t know what was so hard about saying that.” He turned back to your grandma, shrugging again.

Your cheeks burned with shame at your grandma’s expression when you stole a look. Her whole demeanor had changed seeing how theirs had when you told them no and learning what you actually did, hearing it from your own lips. Your eyes were watering then, wanting to crawl into a hole and just die from the embarrassment.

“I don’t like when people lie and especially to their elders in their family. It’s quite rude,” Steve explained to your grandma, who was blanched now, all wonderstruck she had had for him a moment before gone. “Speaking of rude, I do apologize for the short visit and I have to admit that is our fault. We have a trip planned and it was supposed to be a surprise for Y/N but she left before we could go on it, let alone tell her about it. And we do need to be hitting the road.”

Tony added, “I need to use the restroom before we go. May I, Margaret?”

Swallowing sharply, your grandma said weakly, “Yes, of course. Go ahead.”

“Perfect. Thank you,” Tony told her. To you, he asked, “You can show me where it’s at, right?” You nodded and he gestured for you to start walking. Steve told the two of you he would be in the car. Tony nodded in acknowledgment and as he passed, he asked your grandma, “Do you want me to grab you anything to drink while we are inside?”

“Oh, no. I’m quite alright.”

Following behind you closely, Tony kept at your back you walked through the house. Tears spilled over, devastated that they had not just stayed in the car. And thinking now your grandma probably despised you. You wanted to turn around and slap Tony across the face just like his wife had done.

You stopped outside the bathroom, wiping sloppily at your cheeks to get the tears off, and told him, “It’s there.”

“Where are you going to be, love?” he asked, taking in your face, seeing the tears. You pointed at the guest bedroom and he said, “Stay in there until I’m done. Don’t go anywhere.”

Tearfully, you turned back towards the guest bedroom and went to work gathering up your clothes you had tossed around the chair your suitcase was sitting in front of.

Tony took your suitcase from you and walked out of the house. “I’ll take this to the car. Goodnight, Margaret.”

She said nothing, watching you coming up to her timidly.

“Why?” was the first thing she rasped out to you.

“I…” you said, stammering. Your lip warbled and you gave a shuddered breath trying to keep control. “It started as protection as first… from an abusive ex.”

“Doesn’t look like much of an upgrade,” she said sadly, her eyes glossy now too seeing how distraught you were.

“I know it doesn’t look like it. But it is. Trust me,” you said, a few tears escaping, and you wiped at them. “Seriously… trust me on that.” You exhaled sharply and shook your hands, trying to shake off the emotions. “I’m gonna be fine. I promise. I’m sorry I lied to you. Really.”

She did not say anything for a few moments before she asked quietly, “They are very powerful, aren’t they? I mean, they are superheroes.”

“Yes.”

“Seems that quote about Lincoln was right. About testing a man’s character by giving him power. Apparently it’s for the ages.”

You choked out a laugh, caught off guard by her quip. She was still as sharp as she always was; able to read a situation for what it was. She knew how big the power imbalance was between you and them. Essentially anyone and them.

She reached out, holding your hand, holding it tightly. “I’m not mad at you for lying. And I’m happy you came back home for the time you did. You can always call me. Do you understand that?” You nodded and she let your hand go. “Go. I’ll tell your grandpa there was an emergency.”

“Thank you. I love you,” you told her leaning down to give her a tight hug. You did not want to let go.

“I love you too,” she told you, giving you an extra tight squeeze in return.

Pulling away, you turned away from her, not wanting to look back afraid that you would just run back to the chair and curl up there. You instead stared ahead at the SUV to where the door was waiting open for you to hand yourself back over.

~~~

Forever tags: @coconutqueen21 @undecidedsworld

Fic tags: @icant-hangout-imdrumming @oceaniamaddness @multifandom-superlover @imsonick @holl2712 @here4thefanfics

#tony stark x reader #steve rogers x reader #dark tony stark #dark steve rogers #dark marvel #dark marvel fic #my shit

[himbeaux-on-ice]

"#if you didn’t see him doing the Old Man Yells At Cloud @ homophobic fans and players on a Hockey Night panel last summer you missed out tbh" Could you please share the link to this or tell us the whole story?

Sure! So last year during the playoffs, you may remember a news story about a young QMJHL hockey player from New Brunswick who decided to take a big barrier-breaking step of very publicly coming out as gay. This was discussed on the Hockey Night In Canada panels the next day, which Brian Burke was still a member of at the time. I was a pretty new reborn hockey fan then (I’m talking a matter of weeks), so when they were like “and now we will ask the blunt old man his opinion on this” you can imagine that I was like oh god, brace for impact (remembering the days of D*n Ch*rry) etc.

So what Burke ended up saying (clip is here) surprised the hell out of me! It was a such a sincere, direct response, from a clearly pretty informed perspective, expressing such unequivocal support and outlining clear actions that would need to be taken to make the NHL and hockey more broadly a safe space for queer players. I have grown up on the periphery of and surrounded by hockey culture my entire life, and I had never heard somebody say something like this on a platform like that before, a platform that means as much culturally and reaches as many people as HNIC during the playoffs. The words are simple, but in the moment I was floored. As somebody tentatively considering the idea of getting really back into this sport I was then only watching for quarantine boredom, it made me reconsider some of what I thought I knew about the hostility of hockey spaces. This was before I had found hockeyblr, before I had ever actually known another queer hockey fan. There is still so much work to be done, but that moment and the positive response of the other panelists to it was an important turning point in my willingness to really properly invest emotionally in this sport.

Tbh I honestly remembered the segment being a little longer and I’m not sure this clip doesn’t cut some off, but while tracking it down I’ve also found this other interview from around the same time last summer where he talks a bit more at length about where he stands on this — and when you hear it immediately followed by an equally frank outlining of his really old-school ridiculous opinions on fighting in hockey you do realize “oh, yeah this isn’t a PR move, this guy really means what he says and doesn’t care if you agree with him”, and has put his time and energy where his mouth is. It matters to hear somebody who is seen as one of the “good ol boys of hockey” say these things and mean it. It mattered to me.

All of this is in memory of his youngest son Brendan Burke. Brendan played goalie as a kid, but eventually quit the team as a young teenager because he was terrified of his teammates discovering he was gay (he lied to his parents at the time, and said it was because he didn’t want to spend the season sitting on the bench as a backup). As an adult, he followed his father’s footsteps into hockey management and worked for the Miami University team, during which time in 2009 he made national headlines by choosing to come out publicly, tell his story on national tv with his father (then Leafs GM) there to support him, and become active in advocacy for LGBTQ players in the sport, with the full support of his family and team behind him. Tragically, Brendan was killed in a car crash the next year in 2010, at just 21 years old — multiple members of his family, including his father Brian and brother Patrick, have carried on his legacy through their own advocacy work and the You Can Play foundation ever since.

I don’t always agree with Brian Burke’s gruff old man opinions on hockey things (though there are moments), but after learning about how strongly he feels on this issue and the institutional work he does towards making sure we can reach a place kids like Brendan feel safe and welcome in hockey, I have always respected the hell out of him for that.

#I figured today was as good a day as any to actually get around to answering this one #Brian Burke #nhl #pittsburgh penguins #long post #change hockey culture