#yeah it's completely fine and normal to ship them just don't be one of those toxic shippers

[chaikachi]

rosegarden is sooooooooo canon baby

#don't think about how pretty ruby is #oscar is -drumrollllll- the little prince! #i don't think we were necessarily going for the yang and ruby dynamic so much as cute and adorably awkward #yeah it's completely fine and normal to ship them just don't be one of those toxic shippers #woah you have silver eyes #i'm just glad you're alright -blush- #we should tell ironwood #this must be really hard on her too #ruby! ruby! ruby- ruby!! #combat gear looks good #i think you're needed elsewhere #you're sure #yeah i've got it #good luck in there #keep that fire fed #she also possesses something unquantifiable - a spark #food always makes me feel better #i thought you'd appreciate a hot meal after... spending all day looking for me apparently #do i NEED TO CONTINUE???

[osleeplessflowero]

// i love merfolk, so i figured..why not write a skeleton oneshot with a merman blue? 💙 As always, gender neutral Reader. Their soul is up for interpretation! 💜 Ao3 link will be provided once it's posted there! (I am so sorry for my fic readers that get a bunch of oneshots instead of updates..) 💛 bonus points if somebody gets the barbie reference in here

🫧 Into The Sea 🌊

The ocean waves sway beneath you, the sound all too familiar. Your hair blows gently in the breeze, that salty ocean air filling your senses. You smile, comforted by the atmosphere.

In truth, you hadn't expected to come out here to begin with. But since your friend had an extra ticket for a popular cruise line in the area..how could you refuse? Plus, it's a great opportunity to see the sea life you're normally not that close to.

Speaking of said friend, they walk over to you and lean their arms on the rail beside you.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" They ask, grinning. "I'm glad I could ask you to come with me. Sights like these just wouldn't be the same alone." "Thanks for asking me to. Beats staying at home by myself, right?" "Couldn't have said it better. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll see some of the Mer." "Mer? As in merfolk? I thought those were myths?" You turn to them, a brow raised. "Oh no, they're very real. I've asked a few people around and they said they've caught glimpses of tails moving through the water out here at night. They must be looking for food or something." They shrug. "Huh..how unusual. I wonder what they look like.." You look back to the water, a bunch of ideas flowing through your head as you wonder about these unfamiliar creatures you'd only heard about in tales. "Me too. Maybe we'll spot one."

If there were merfolk out here, would they even approach? Surely they would be curious about this large structure during the water. But then again, they may have experience with these sort of things and wish to stay away. Which, of course, you'd completely understand should you be in their situation. Who knows how many hunters have gone out here to try and catch them for fame?

"It'd definitely be a sight." You lean on them, trying to spot any unusual colors in the water. For a moment you perk up at the sight of a tail, but it just turns out to be a dolphin.. you still say hello to it, though.

Things are peaceful for a bit, before you look up to notice that there are dark grey clouds forming in the sky; a storm's coming. Better get inside before something happens.

"Let's go in. I don't want to get caught in this rain." You suggest, pointing at the nearest door leading into the ship. Your friend agrees, walking inside with you and grouping up with several other passengers on board. An announcement is said over the intercom:

"Attention to all of our passengers, please remain calm. A storm is currently approaching us and should be moving out of this area shortly. Please remain indoors at all times and near a safe space until the coast is clear. Thank you."

"I wonder how bad of a storm it'll be?" You ask no one in particular, looking outside at the increasingly growing darker sky and the waves. Your friend perks up, having been focused on something else. "Hopefully not bad enough to end our trip early. It's been so fun here!" They comment, holding up their phone to check the weather and showing you.

It seems a big thunderstorm is arriving, lightning along with it. The winds will be moving like crazy.. You silently hope it doesn't knock out the ship's power somehow. Your friend rests their hand on your shoulder, a reassuring gesture but also to get your attention as you're snapped out of your thoughts.

"Hey, I'm gonna go get us some drinks. You gonna be alright on your own? I can stay or you can go with me if not." They offer, gesturing to a room nearby that leads to the dining area.

You nod. "Yeah, I'll be fine. You go on ahead, I'll wait here."

"Okay! Be back in a sec!" They run off, quickly dodging anybody that walks too close to them. You feel around in your pocket for your phone so you can watch something to pass the time, but..it isn't there. You were sure you placed it there earlier!

..That's right. You brought it outside with you. It must still be out there, you hope it hasn't already gotten wet!

You contemplate leaving your friend before deciding you'll just walk right back in, so you rush outside out of anyone's view to go and retrieve your phone. The wind harshly blows your hair behind you as well as your clothes, the rain gently hitting you from above and falling from the sky like thousands of tears.

Sure enough, your phone's exactly where you left it, beside the chair you'd been sitting in while getting some sun earlier. You carefully walk over to it, dodging the wind as you move as best you can to grab it. Once you finally have it in your hands, you're relieved that somehow it remained untouched.

Your friend rushes out, presumably having looked out the window and saw you, running over and almost slipping.

"Hey! Be careful out here, the wind's insane! What are you even doing?" They shout, holding onto the railing beside the two of you.

"I was just getting my phone, I left it out here and really did not want to lose it."

"Okay, well, just give it to me for now. I don't want you to lose it again and throw yourself into more danger." They hold out their hand, and you place it in their hand before the two of you begin walking back to the door you came out here from.

The wind picks up, much stronger than before. The ship slightly tilts due to the power of it, causing you to fall right onto the rail.

Your friend calls out your name as you reach out to them, before you're abruptly shoved back again, falling over the rail. They try their hardest to pull you back up, but in the end you ultimately fall into the water.

"Someone help! My friend just fell overboard!" You can hear them shout as they rush back inside. You hit the water abruptly, struggling to swim back up.

You fight, swimming as hard as you can, trying to reach the surface without running out of breath. Yet it seems the water keeps somehow pulling you back down.. Tears prick at the corners of your eyes as you continue to try, before you eventually fall unconscious from the lack of air..

A brief flash of bright blue fills your vision before your eyes shut. You sink slowly down into the sea..

Someone swims up to you. You can't see him, because you're out cold. He's beautiful; a mer-skeleton that had seen you fighting before you fainted, wanting to help you. His bright blue tail glistens beneath the water, his arms having tattoo-like blue markings along them as well as his ribcage. His bright blue eyelights dart over you in a worried manner as he finally reaches your sleeping form. He looks up to the surface before realizing you need air, holding you in his big strong arms as he swims up to the surface.

He pops his head out of the water before pulling you out with him. There's no response from you..

His eyelights dart around before he spots a set of rocks, swimming over and lying you down before pressing down on your chest. He repeats this process a few times, before saying distressed words in a language you probably wouldn't understand, were you awake to hear.

He apologizes, closing your nose and lifting your chin before pressing his teeth to your lips and blowing air in.. somehow, leaning up to take a breath before doing it one more time.. the moment he raises his head again, you spit out water, coughing as your eyes slowly blink open, filled with tears. You take deep breaths as you sit up, the skeleton resting his hand on your back as he supports you.

You look over your savior..a beautiful skeleton merman, who's greeting you with a warm smile. He seems to be relieved that you're okay. So they really do exist.. that's..crazy. And to think one just saved your life..

"Thank you." You say, hoping that somehow he'll understand if there's a language barrier. He pauses for a second, before letting out a quiet gasp and nodding, seeming to have understood.

You turn your head towards the ship, pointing to it. "Can you take me back? My friend is waiting."

He tilts his head a little, so out of curiosity, you try signing the words out to him. His eyelights widen a little bit, and he signs back.

'You Can Sign?' 'Yeah, learned how.' 'That's Great! I Should Take You Back Now Before Your Ship Leaves.' 'Thank you!'

He picks you up in a bridal carry of sorts, motioning for you to hold on before quickly swimming up to the boat. A ladder is quickly dropped down by some staff members for you to climb. You grab onto it, turning to the stranger.

'Thank you again. What's your name?' 'Blue! And You're Welcome, Human!'

You smile at him, pressing a small kiss to his cheek, causing his face to flush a bright shade of blue.

'I hope I'll see you again!' You climb up, hugging your friend who makes sure you're okay.

He gives you a wave, before disappearing into the sea.

"You have to tell me EVERYTHING." Your friend states, wrapping a towel around your shoulders as you walk inside.

"Yeah..let me get some time to think, first."

#swap sans x reader #merman swap sans #gender neutral reader #underswap x reader #utmv x reader #underswap sans #underswap sans x reader

[not-poignant]

Hi Pia

I've seen your posts (and other bloggers posts) about antis, and although i don't agree that anyone has the right to dictate what media people are allowed to enjoy i never actually believed that they could be that bad (since I'd never had any interactions with them) and thought their unhinged behaviour was exaggerated. Until I posted a fic with a controversial pairing and OH. MY. GOD.

I have never received this much abuse (and of such a vicious sort) in my entire life. I guess this serves me right for doubting other creators' claims of how awful antis can be. I could just never believe anyone could be this... this... diabolical. But now I'm experiencing it first and it is wild.

Like I'm receiving actual death threats? Because of a 2,000 oneshot? I'm being told that me and my whole family deserve to die slow and painful deaths because of the characters I shipped?? They're calling me a pedophile and an animal abuser because one of the characters I wrote about is a teenager and the other is a human-animal hybrid??? What?

Like, are these people ok? Are they mentally unwell? This is just... I'm in shock honestly that people actually think and behave like this. Holy hell. It's been a hug eye opener and not a necessarily nice one.

Sorry if this message was unwelcome, I just couldn't think of anyone else to share this with. I hope you're having a nice day/evening ❤

Hi hi anon,

Yeah, this is what it's sadly like, and in the most extreme pockets of anti-communities are people who have literally tried to murder other people over fictional characters.

It's truly unhinged.

You have people who just don't like what other people are shipping, which is fine and normal, we all have notps and things we don't like, and then you have the people who genuinely think it's okay to torment, harass, abuse, and bully another person based over something fictional, and those people need to be blocked.

These people coming after you anon, if they're on AO3, report every single one because it might take a while, but those people get banned from AO3. If they're on Tumblr, block but also consider reporting, because death threats get people banned and all anonymous IP addresses are logged on Tumblr's side. If it's on Twitter, block on sight. Don't tolerate them, don't give them the air to breathe, and make sure you get offline sometimes or go to online safe spaces and spend time with the people who love you for who you are, it's the best weapon against antis who have no idea who you are and feel like you're a great figure to bully and abuse.

Ultimately, at the very base of what an anti is, is someone who believes their emotion of 'don't like that' justifies them bullying and torturing other people over fictional characters. It is at its foundation completely delusional, and even people who get 'logical' about it are still going 'my emotions are real enough to justify hurting you over something that is a figment of our collective imaginations.'

Some of those folks are very young, and will grow out of it, and have just drunk the collective Koolaid, some of them are older and always wanted an excuse to bully others but feel 'righteous' and 'pure' for doing it. Some really believe they're doing the right thing, others know they're hypocrities but can be all the more vicious for it. There are many recovering antis, but they're often silent about the things they've done, or the ways they've tried to hurt people.

I'm glad you posted that story anon, but not glad about the response you're getting. Consider moderating comments if it's on AO3, just to choke out the antis for a while. And yeah, practice self-care, because abusers want to hurt and harm others, and if you feel hurt and harmed, the more you can act to look after yourself, the more you thwart their goal/s and give them the big proverbial 'fuck you' that they so desperately deserve.

They do, usually, die down after a while, especially the more they get starved out. They'll often hunt for more vulnerable people. But in the meantime you also might want to inform folks you trust irl that you're dealing with this right now, because antis are unhinged, and online abuse is serious. Take care of you!! <33333 I'm sorry you had to learn about this pocket of 'society' in such a horrific way.

Antis are the worst.

#asks and answers #purity wank #anti anti #it's definitely sometimes hard to explain what antis are like until you've encountered them personally #because it seems so...ridiculous that people will literally viciously abuse you over fiction #like 'surely they have to have at least *some* kind of reason' #they don't #they see the things they've deemed morally wrong #decided you're a criminal #fully dehumanised you #and then they launch like attack dogs #they don't deserve your time #and remember that any threats of serious harm online is something that almost all ISPs #including the shithole that is twitter #respond to seriously #even if these people are using sockpuppet accounts #they can still be banned #and you can still block them

[padfootastic]

hi! i've no idea how i came to your page but i realised i'd read two of your one-shots in ao3 before and had adored them (you'll probably get comments from me in future, btw) and i just wanted to say thank you for your writing and thank you for your prongsfoot<3

i've been very critical of this sort of new, cool and aloof and martyred version of remus lupin for quite a while now (honestly, where did all those traits come from?!) and gosh, you're so eloquent when talking about him!!!

i was wondering what your thoughts were on regulus black? because i think he's getting the same sort of royalty treatment as remus does by making him sort of-- er, perfect? i mean. i've seen so much recently of him basically saving the world single-handedly and i-- ugh. and james is always just there, like a useless idiot? it makes me irrationally angry, and this is coming from someone who enjoys jegulus quite a bit. my problem is that i don't know if this rejection i feel against those two comes from a place of genuine dislike of them or from a place of wishing sirius and james were not done so dirty.

anyway, again, thank you for your writing. it's truly beautiful. hope you have a great day!

omg hello 🥺 i’ve periodically opened tumblr, giggling like a loon, and logging off multiple times just to see this ask,,,,thank u sm , ur way too kind <3 and ur comment on ao3!!! i was just,,,,yeah,,,no words. thank u.

ooooooh i remember being asked something similar a while ago and i took the safe route and basically went ‘remus lupin-ification of regulus’ iirc. that still stands. but but. i’ve also got another answer here! all hail tumblr’s search system today!

i still basically stand by all of it, but adding onto the jegulus + sirius bits of it:

annoys tf outta me when regulus is turned into a victim and like sirius damned him to hell when he left . i have thoughts about the way both of them were treated (which,,,another time,,,this post is already getting too long lol) but i imagine the day sirius left to be a Good One for reg bc he thinks he’ll have his parents undivided attention now. i also think regulus is severely defanged in a lot of characterisations, as if he wasn’t a baby DE, as if he wasn’t a slytherin from the house of black, as if he wasn’t walmart sirius black. like man i’m almost offended on his behalf. i’m sure his shaking his lil fist up at us from wherever he is.

with jegulus…okay, i’ve only read a couple oneshots but that doesn’t mean i haven’t tried. i genuinely went thru so many fics trying to get something, anything to stick and i think the problem is me. fully. completely. without doubt. i just can’t deal with a situation where j&s aren’t each others no.1, or at the very least, equivalent to that. that’s where my issues w wolfstar started, same w this. jegulus also has the added horror of ‘james and reg sneaking behind sirius’ back’ which is just,,,,gosh,,,,i have So Many Thoughts ab that. all personal opinions, but still. they’re strong. it fucks me up just thinking about it. i also think the ship tries wayyyy too hard to fit the ‘best friend’s brother’ trope and ends up sacrificing characterisation for it. which,,,again,,,that’s fine but it’s all the ‘oh this is how it was!’ that gets to me. and then james :/// he gives off such weird energy lol. jegulus gives me drarry vibes, and james is treated almost exactly as harry is in a lot of those. reg also gets the saviour treatment, like draco, and both of their fuckery is toned down until they’re almost normal, like they never did any reprehensible shit. j&r, and d&h are placed on the same moral equivalence and it’s just a bit. hmm. okay. (my issue with this is how it leaks into the writing and suddenly i’m made to sympathise with draco bc harry slashed him w sectumsempra, but we conveniently forget he was gonna use an unforgivable, ykno?) so overall it just feels…pushing reg up and pulling james down to get them on equal footing. very similar to wolfstar lbr.

anyway. that’s a ramble and a half lmao.

also!! ‘a place of genuine dislike of them or from a place of wishing sirius and james were not done so dirty’ in my mind, both of these occupy a similar plane of existence. so very valid. for me, personally, hating remrem started as the latter and i eventually realised it’s also the former lol i was just mad a how sirius is bastardised to justify his ~deification and it eventually moved on to ‘wow i just. do not like him’. damn.

#anti jegulus #jegulus hate #tagging those just to be safe lol #also #haha love it that my hatred of remus is A Proper Thing now #it’s a knife being honed for years #and now i am Attacking #i’m so fed up lmaooo #it doesn’t help i keep being enabled on here 💀 #i’ve disliked him for years. but quietly. bc i thought it was just me #and now i’m here and can’t keep shut 😭 #it’s a problem lol #it’s also funny bc when i started using tumblr a year ago #i was…so careful #mincing my words and being all apologetic and shit #bc i was like. i don’t wanna step on any toes #‘i don’t want unwanted discourse’ #and now look at me #i think it’s mainly also bc i’ve managed to cultivate a niche. where all my anons r wonderful and mutuals r a+. #so i’m insulated from the outside drama #best way to live really #anyway. enough rambling. #obligatory disclaimer: i don’t care if someone is OOC. i just want to it to be indicated to in some capacity so i can choose s’all #that being said: my fav reg characterisation? him as a little loser #it’s the absolute best #he’s so ripe for it #bc he screams disgruntled younger sibling to me tbh #once again!!! thank u sm for being so lovely💜💜 #ppb #pen’s asks

[gizmocrate-werecrow]

What to do when you are a leafling: my annoying friend.

(Ah the dilemma of wanting to Write more olimin chapters and wanting to write corps chapters.)

Dingo watched as the S.S. Beagle flew away alongside the onion. Pom offered him to come along with her but it just wasn't his thing. Dingo could feel a smile crawl onto his face as he walked away. 

DANDORI DANDORI DANDORI! WE SHALL ALWAYS DANDORI AND–

“SHUT UP!” Dingo screamed, everyone, even Shepherd, looked at him in shock. Dingo cringed to himself and could feel the thoughts subsiding once more. He silently prepared himself as Erma walked up to him. Dingo started to run. He climbed onto a rock and started to cry.

He could feel the thoughts coming back to him in a blast. Nothing but Dandori, he had to organize and save time, he had to…

“Hey? Are you okay Dingo?”

Dingo looked around and picked up Jack.

“N-no. I made a fool of myself. How come i seem to be the only one to resist the…well…the thoughts”

“The Connection meant to be like your comms man. We talk to each other and relay messages. So we can cooperate and survive. It's meant to keep us alive.” Jack chirruped. They held the toothpick with happy noises and did a few stabbing motions.

“Wait a moment, does that mean the Dandori thing isn't normal?”

“Dandori thoughts is a normal thing but at this strength. Does this mean someone is messing with it?” Jack said and tilted their head in curiosity. 

Dingo let out a long sigh. The thoughts slipped into his mind again. Begging him to simply do Dandori, find a cave, find a bunch of Pikmin and be a Dandori practitioner. Maybe he should give up…yeah that sounded great to do…Dandori…he should Dandori all the time.

“Dingo? If you’ve got any problems, let me know.” a voice said. Dingo could feel himself blush again, it was Erma again, what should he say? He looked up to see Erma’s lovely blue eyes. He could feel the Dandori thoughts slip away as he looked at her.

“I’ll let you kn-kn-know.” Dingo managed to stammer out before he felt faint, no he should keep himself awake. No screw it! He needed to tell her, he needed to tell her everything!

“You want to know what happened to me. I’ll tell you, it all started when Bernard and I crashed in a place with giant pink flowered trees.” 

–

Bernard wandered around the camp in a daze. The thoughts in his head he knew weren't his. But no matter how hard he tried, it seemed he couldn't reel them into his own sanity. Dandori is fun and the most efficient way to live life. If others were like him then maybe he would have not crashed. He never crashed in his life until now. 

“Santi…friend…why don't we…when the ONION lands…you get someone…and let them embrace DANDORI!” Bernard declared.

“Why–” Santi started

“Because if we make them embrace DANDORI…we can save everyone…if I did DANDORI earlier…the ship…wouldn't crash.”

Santi raised an eyebrow, as annoying as Bernard was, this was completely not his thing. 35 years of dealing with, avoiding and getting annoyed by Bernard has made him familiar with the positive ace pilot. 

“Bernard, are you okay?” Santi said with a hint of hesitation in his voice while light chittering began to echo in his head.

“I'm fine SANTI, I crashed the ship...I…” Bernard started, he hugged Santi tightly. Soft sobs began to sound from the pilot. Santi quietly dragged Bernard away from the general area around the base and to the rock. Oleander was sitting there and kicking their legs while Santi sat Bernard down. 

“Who is that?” Oleander said, coughing a bit of poison out.

“My rival…It’s okay…You can talk to me…Like you always do.” 

“Can you play your flute…for me?” Bernard weakly asked. He looked up with a smile as Santi took the frost covered flute out of his pack. Santi took a deep breath and began to play. Soft music danced around the air, bewitching the ears of those nearby. The thoughts in his head seemed to slip back into only his own. The soft whisperings of Dandori now seemed like a bad dream rather than a horrible reality. Bernard looked up with some sense of a smile on his face. 

“That…feels a bit better….I don't know what came over me.”

“No worries Bernard we’re…ack…Best friends after all.” Santi said with a pained smile that had a hint of warmth to it.

(my idea is that even though Santi finds Bernard annoying due to the whole fate thing. He still cares for Bernard…a little. While Bernard sees him as a genuine friend.)

#pikmin #pikmin au #pikmin 4 spoilers #pikmin 4 #dingo pikmin #erma shepherd #shepherd pikmin #red pikmin #fanfic #white pikmin #santi pikmin #bernard pikmin

[ravenalla]

fascinating how fans can give din the benefit of the doubt when he does something thoughtless or harmful to grogu in s3 and merely attribute it to bad writing (like don't get me wrong, it is) but when other characters were also subjected to bad ooc writing, people treated that as that as the character actually being evil (luke) or incompetent (boba) and even used those mischaracterizations to elevate din as being superior as a mentor/guardian or bounty hunter. it was especially noticeable from the fandom when tbobf came out.

idk, like yeah some people are pointing out uncomfortable changes in how din acts around grogu in s3, though he was fine letting a baby work with electrical wires to help fix a ship in an earlier season?? but overall the fandom attitude still isn't as critical of him as much as they were with other characters.

also, favroni chose to fuck up the personalities of established characters who have been around for decades was already stupid enough, and now they're doing that to their own characters. they really don't care.

I mean I’ve seen tons of people legit angry that Disney made Luke so out of character and had Boba sidelined in his own show, not at the characters themselves. But your not wrong in that a lot of people just accepted that characterization because we got to see Mando again, who was framed as the “more interesting” mando, and while I hated the decision like everybody else to stuff his plotlines into Boba’s show I may have been a little biased in looking past it for season 3 since Din is my favorite character. So yeah I agree, Boba and Luke shouldn’t be demonized while Din is given a pass, personally I think all of it is just bad writing trying too hard to make the sequel trilogy make sense.

As for the wire thing I’m not saying Din’s a model parent, part of the humor of the show was he was a bounty hunter who had no damn idea how to take care of a baby, but the one thing they were consistent with was that he was always trying to keep the kid safe from outside danger, it was the one thing he could do. So it just doesn’t feel right to me he suddenly chooses to bring Grogu along, not even that Grogu insisted on coming himself. It’d be one thing if we were suppose to see Din as being a bad father like when Peli chewed him out in season 1 for leaving him on the ship, but it’s not it’s treated as completely normal and not an issue because it’s not suppose to say anything about Din’s character it’s just so Grogu can be there with the IG-12 idea. Luke at least I get because Disney wants to do the whole “oh this is why the Jedi fell apart again Luke’s repeating the same mistakes.” It’s stupid and doesn’t make sense at all for who Luke is but it’s the plan they laid out in those last 3 movies. Boba…nah Boba was just done the dirtiest.

For me all three of them are cases of “these characters would not do or say these things, it’s just the weird directions these writers wanted to go” more so than me giving Din the benefit of the doubt. Din’s not a saint, he kills people and literally was fine working for imperials and even went through with trafficking a baby before changing his mind. He’s not the greatest person, but one of his good qualities has always been him going above and beyond to keep the baby safe afterwards from outside threats, and after finally getting him back after losing him in a season where their entire relationship has been ignore most of the time I just think this is exactly what you said. Favreau and Filoni fucking up their characters for certain plotlines without caring what it implies. Again.

#the mandalorian #mando critical #din djarin #grogu #the mandalorian spoilers #ask #anon

[ahungeringknife]

365: May 12

Amanda looked up from what she was doing as a ship landed in the hanger looking like it'd been through a war. Panels were cracked, the windshield was just gone, and it looked like every nut, bolt, and rivet were straining under the pressure of keeping itself together. The ship itself flailed as it landed, rocking back and forth. Her bro furrowed. What had happened to it that would cause the gyroscope to be damaged like that? Not even the gravitational gyroscope just the normal one. She'd seen Guardians crack a gravitational gyroscope by pushing their ships to the limit of physics (and had had to chew Ren and his stunt buddy friends out for it) but this? The ship landed like a belly flop, barely catching itself on the platform. She heard the strain of the metal landing gear trying to support itself.

She stepped away from what she was working on, letting the tablet fall away to her side, catching on the attached strap so it dangled from her belt like any other tool, and went over to the ship. The engines heaved and as they wound down she heard them sputtering and sucking and knew they wouldn't be coming back up for some time. Not without some work. Even the paint was frayed.

She recognized this ship. Special fabrication for a very special Guardian. She'd seen it a week ago and it had been perfect. Flawless. Completely space and air worthy. The thing was barely a month old! How did it look like this? The Taken War was... 'over' she supposed. Oryx was dead. And yet it looked like this thing had just been flown through Oryx's asshole.

The Guardian climbed out of the broken windshield and landed lightly under the nose of the ship. Amanda folded her arms. At least Kass the Kingslayer had the awareness to look guilty. Not that Amanda could see her face. It was in the slouch of her shoulders and the way her hood was pulled so far forward it was like she was trying to hide her helmet. You got good at learning to read Guardian body language because for hell like they'd talk to you face to face sometimes.

"Um... I can explain," Kass said, voice thin over her helmet's speakers.

"I'd love to hear it," Amanda said, sarcastic as the day was long.

"Um- well... you see-- uh," she'd never seen this little lady nervous but here she was.

Amanda sighed and unfolded her arms. She went up to the Hunter. "Do you even know what happened?" Amanda asked. Because she knew well enough wild stuff happened to Guardians. Stuff they couldn't always explain.

"... No," she said after a moment. "No I just-- I just woke up and it was like this." There was more to the story but Amanda wasn't going to force it out of her.

Amanda looked at the ship, hands on her hips. "It really took a beating," she said.

"Yeah. I don't- not that it wasn't a really good ship!- but I don't want this one anymore?" she said nervously.

"I'm sure with how wrecked it is."

"Is my old ship still in storage? I'll just use that one again," she said quickly.

"That death trap? Yeah, no," a silky voice Amanda associated with Kass' mentor came out of her Ghost.

Kass sighed dramatically. "Fine. Fine," she huffed. "Do you have like... a loaner or something I could use? I was in the middle of something for the Vanguard," she asked Amanda.

"Do I have a- Kass do you not know how many schematics you own?"

"No?" Kass said and she could imagine how big those purple eyes of her were behind that helmet.

Amanda sighed and scooped up her data pad from where it hung at her knee. She projected several ship schematics between them. "These are all your ships," she said.

"... Since when?" Kass asked, voice going up in pitch.

"Since forever?"

"Why do I have so many?"

"Girl I have no idea," Amanda said. "This isn't the most though. Some Guardians collect them."

"Where did I even get these?" Kass leaned forward to look at the projections.

"Again; no idea," Amanda said. "So which one you want me to bring out of storage?"

"Ummm... this one, I guess," she indicated a sleek looking jump ship.

"This one is cockpit only. There's no room for sleeping."

"Oh. Hmmm. Well then I'll come back and try another one after I guess. I just need a ship now," she said.

"Right," Amanda said. "And what do you want to do with this?" she indicated the ship that was still moaning and groaning under its own weight.

"Do I have to keep it? I'm sorry," she added quickly.

Amanda chuckled. "Nah," she said and tapped on her datapad. "We'll scrap it for glimmer and parts. I'll send you a cut of it once it's been disassembled. Your other ship should be coming up any minute. And really? You just woke up and it was all messed up?"

"Yes."

"What Ghost say caused it?" she asked, more curious than anything.

Ghost stared at her. "Bad dreams," he said and Amanda didn't understand what that meant.

"Well, anyway, there's your new ship," she nodded at the ship being raised up into the Hangar. "Try and keep it in one piece?" she asked.

"I will! Thank you. And sorry again!" Kass cried and darted off. Amanda just sighed fondly after her. She was such a nice girl, really.

Once Kass had taken off she went and inspected the damage a bit more thoroughly. Her brows creased in confusion as she looked at the scorching and damaged electronics. She'd seen all sorts of destruction from ballistics and Fallen aggression and Cabal aggression and even her share of Hive tearing into it but nothing like this. All the damage had come from inside the ship. It was like... she didn't even know really. She'd never seen anything like it. Just that all the damage was done from the Light and the power of it bursting from the inside out had nearly ripped the ship to pieces.

She thought about asking Kass about it when she came to trade in the other ship but what had Ghost said? 'Bad dreams'.

Maybe she didn't want to know actually.

#365 #writeblr #writblr #fanfiction #destiny #destiny 2 #destiny the game #the young wolf #amanda holliday

[sunriseverse]

Shipper tag game

tagged by the lovely @lucientelrunya (thank you!!!)

What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care about anymore?

hmm..........i wrote a lot of oc stories when i was younger, largely for warrior cats settings/spinoffs, so i don't think i had a specific ship i was into? i read a lot of genfic (again, warrior cats fan).

Which ship would you consider your first one?

like i said, i didn't really have a "ship" for a long time, but in 2013 i was gifted the first l&co book and it prompted me to get much more seriously into fandom, so.......locklyle, i guess (i had yet to discover gay people, which is very ironic if you consider certain facts about my life).

Your first fanfic was about which couple?

again, locklyle! i actually deleted the fic i wrote, rewrote it, and reuploaded it years after i had first written it.

Do you remember the first couple you saw fanart of?

i think it was wc art? probably sandfire (gay cats weren't exactly..............in, yet).

Have you ever gotten into ship discourse?

no. i refuse to do so. if i hate a ship i'll complain about it to my friends to let off steam and then continue on with my life. i'm here to have fun not spend my limited spoons on arguing about fictional characters. if there's one person or people who post a lot of ships i don't like i'll block or avoid them.

Did you use to have any NOTP or have one currently?

yeah but i'm not going to say them because i would rather not get into an argument about things with people. beloved friends can probably guess though.

Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read?

uhhhhhh fuck. i think. hang on. du cheng/shen yi (this is @lunarriviera's fault).

Currently, do you have any OTPs?

[shakes dmbj] yes. (mainly tiesanjiao as a romantic pairing. i have written quite literally 100k+ about them u_u)

Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together?

i was going to say nygmob in gotham but then i remembered. [YOU cat meme] syfy magicians. ohhhhhh i have so many words in my head and rage in my heart and hatred of showrunners and the way the show was handled later on and—whatever. whatever. it's fine. i still have a life in the day.

Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting?

uhhhhhhhhh fuck. um. i can't think of anything on this aspect but i have the opposite. when i first got into tgcf i was neutral on fq but as i read more i got more and more annoyed that people were ignoring the clear class dynamics at play and how that complicated and complicates their relationship and instead just pigeonholing them into the enemies (rivals) to lovers mould.

Do you have any ship that, in the past, would've been considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

what's the view on firetiger these days because that's probably the only one i can think of.

What is your favorite crack ship?

i don't really read crackfic? i like crackfic but i prefer crack taken serious—WAIT. I JUST REMEMBERED. tony stark x thomas barrow. if you know who that is you probably know the exact fanfic i'm talking about. that's probably the only crackship i can think of that has left any sort of impression on me. no idea how it holds up currently since i only read it once at like 4:00am but yeah it was fun.

What is the couple you read the most fanfics about?

numbers-wise probably either newmann or hualian. probably hualian? emotional support godghost couple <3

What do most of your ships usually have in common?

deeply fucked up people who find meaning in each other, probably.

What you absolutely hate in a ship?

destroying a character's personality to make the ship work. i love shipfic but fuck you i want those characters to be in character. i don't care if it makes the ship "more fucked up" that's actually fun in my opinion.

tagging..................uhhhhh @lunanoc @lungache @owengrose @lasenbyphoenix @mhaccunoval @butchybats and anyone else who wants to play!

#tag meme #c.txt

[kiwibubbles5]

So. I have never let anyone read any fanfiction I have written. Ever. Nothing where I have to write in-character for an existing character, and CERTAINLY nothing that's x reader. (This one is y/n's pov) But I'd already started writing this and I've seen that the Markiplier Tumblr community is so heckin supportive. And with all the amazing art and writing I see from all of you, I couldn't hoard my own story like a lil protective possessive gremlin, I wanted to contribute. sO HERE'S THIS I GUESS. Starts with the final scene from ISWM and has some... aftermath, I guess? A continuation. Captaineer. 7,036 words. I'm long winded. Cannot be easily read as platonic lmao. Lian = a random crewmember I made to be the Captain's good friend. aaaaaaa im scared

I wake up to the oh-so familiar computer's voice... "Software update complete. Initializing Wakey-Wakey Protocol. Current ship status is -" My stomach clenches. "Nominal." I blink several times. Do I believe that? Is everything....... Okay? My cryopod hisses open. I hesitantly emerge. Lian is cleaning the glass of my pod, and gives me a weird glance. Well, if I look as paranoid as I feel right now...

"Morning, Captain," Mark says entirely too cheerily. I whip around toward him. "Ooh, you look like you've been through hell!" He looks sympathetically at me. I'm too stunned to speak. Don't tell me he doesn't remember... "Yeah, cryo-sleep sucks. But coffee can help." He hands me a mug of coffee and walks away casually to go check on things.

Gunther strolls over. "Mornin', Cap. I'll be heading down with the advance team. If there's any hOrRiBlE aLiEnS down there, I'll take care of 'em."

"Y-yeah, thank you..." I manage to stammer quietly. He's here. He's okay. Everything's fine. 

"Not everything can be solved with explosions." Celci snarks at him.

"Ehh, not in my experience!" he replies nonchalantly. "I'll see you on the ground, Cap."

Celci shakes her head in exasperation, "You and Mark are one and the same." Gunther leaves the bridge and several other crew members file out as well - the advance team. Celci turns to me. She's here. She's okay. "Captain, all colonists are safe, healthy, and accounted for. But I'll keep my eye on them as they wake up." Everything's fine. She hesitates a moment, then her professionalism falls away the slightest bit as she looks at me with admiration. "Thank you... for... getting us here safe." She walks away before she can see the guilt that flashes in my eyes at that statement.

I blink away the tears trying to escape as Burt approaches me next. He's here. He's okay. Everything's fine. "Captain, you are a child of the universe. No less than a tree or a star, you deserve to be here. And whether or not it's clear to you, no doubt the universe is playing out as it should." I gaze into his eyes. I can never figure him out... Is he just rambling? Or... does... Does he know? All that doesn't seem like anything he would say otherwise... Unless he knew... And, as always, there's more behind those eyes than I can figure out.

The computer's voice cuts in. "Burt, prepare main reactor for down-cycle and maintenance."

Burt sniffs and tips his cap slightly. "Captain." And walks away.

"Burt..." I mean to call after him, but it comes out as almost a whisper, and he's too far away to hear me.

Everything is so... normal. And it's completely overwhelming. To expect the fires and asteroids and disasters and… they’re not coming. They don’t come.

The computer again. "Please report to your assigned drop pods." I have enough wits about me to at least know that I leave last. There are others managing disembarking. So I wander, in a haze, over to Mark, who stands by the control panel.

"Computer, let's get those blast shields open," he says, pressing the proper buttons. The view from the front window is revealed; I recognize the planet instantly and move closer. That's it. That's our destination. It's here. It looks stunning. Everything's... fine? "Ah, the trip was smooth.” Mark comes over to the window, too. “Just a few rocks, a couple cosmic rays. Nothing the computer couldn't handle on its own." I stare, speechless, at his face. At the same time as relief washes over me - relief for the crew, the colonists, that maybe they'll be alright - at the same time, panic rises inside me. Panic for my own future. Because the longer Mark holds together his completely calm demeanor, the more I'm convinced that he doesn't remember. That I'll have to hold onto this secret all by myself.

"Acknowledged," pipes the computer. "All systems are fully operational. All crew accounted for. Disembarkation under way." I blink several times. It's just so... disconcerting to hear anything but error messages from those speakers.

"She is a beauty, isn't she, Captain?" says Mark reverently, drawing my attention back to the planet. "The long-range scans did not do her justice. Perfect in almost every way." He continues in a more practical tone, "We'll still have to do top-to-bottom scans once we're down on the surface, but we're moving equipment as fast as we can. The crew is eager to get off the ship and onto solid ground... I think you can understand the sentiment." Was there a hint of something in that last sentence? His tone of voice? His glance at me? Or am I grasping at straws, desperate for anything to indicate he might remember? He gazes out the window, not meeting my eyes for a moment. Glances toward the ground at my feet, then finally looks me in the eyes. "And, uh... thank you. ... for, uh... not giving up on me. ... Just... thank you." I spend a few moments processing that. Thoughts whirling through my head. Searching his eyes for some sign. Burt, I was uncertain about - I’m always unsure about. But I know Mark. That statement makes all the sense in the world if he remembers, and it’s complete nonsense if he doesn't.

I come close to him, so we can talk and no one else will hear. Staring with desperation into his eyes. "Do... do you remember??” I whisper. He blinks once. Nods twice, slowly. "E... everything?"

He's looking equally intensely and searchingly at me. "... Yes.” He catches my doubtful, worried expression and reads it perfectly. “... I... I died before we jumped in the wormhole. … Ou…” He swallows, and his voice gets even quieter than it was, “out of this window.” Oh, my God. I hoped… but I didn’t think it was possible. He didn't even remember that back when we were in the wormhole, talking to the bandit. I don’t know how he does now, but I’m glad. He asks me in return, "D... do you remember everything?"

I see the guilt in his eyes and I grip his shoulder firmly. "Yes," I say, hoping the forgiveness comes through in my eyes and my voice. I hesitate a moment. Sigh. "Look, no one can know."

"Y-you don't have to protect me..." he replies. He says that. But he sounds so vulnerable. Pained. Broken. He looks away in shame. He was faking nonchalance just in case I didn't remember, and now his composure is breaking.

"No. Stop that. Look at me." My order-giving tone suddenly takes over. He meets my eyes again, looking a little surprised. "No one finds out. They can't handle it, they shouldn't have to process it, they wouldn't trust either you or me." I doubt either of our reputations would be improved. I turn my body to face him full-on, and my voice softens. "And I will always protect you." That made him flustered. But I don't care, it’s the truth. That still isn’t the only reason we need to hide this from the others, at least for now. I try to purge the sentimentality out of my voice. "Hey. Get it back together. I have a plan. We're both gonna get some rest. Just... keep... pretending everything is fine. Cuz... cuz maybe it is."

"... Yeah. Yeah, okay." He gives me his best fake smile. It's very good. No one would notice besides me. I give him my best fake smile. It's very good. No one would notice besides him.

I turn back to the window and take several swallows of coffee, desperate to stay alert. I... I need to tell him. I can't keep hiding this from him. How I feel. We can't have any secrets, not a single one. Tonight. I'll tell him as soon as we're alone. But right now, it's time to set up a chance to get some rest. I pull out my tablet and call for Celci; it's only a few minutes before she arrives on the bridge, surely having delegated her cryo duties to her team members. I would be lost without all the people on this crew. I take the last sip of my coffee and turn to Celci. "Captain? What do you need?" she asks.

"Hi. Celci. Listen. Ah… You're in charge. For tonight." She looks surprised, curious. "Mark and I are... exhausted." She tries to interrupt, worried since cryo-sleep is her specialty, but I don't let her. "Now, it could've been the cryopods, it could also have been... honestly, anything. Excess stress beforehand, lack of sleep ahead of time... It - it doesn't matter, Celci, it's okay." She isn't placated, but she stays quiet. I’ll have to come up with some better excuses eventually. "We're totally okay. We just really need a break. Listen, ah... all I need is for you to get a safe camp set up and then kinda keep a lid on the party, no one’s working too hard this first night… I... I'm so sorry I have to ask this of you -"

"That's quite alright, Captain. I appreciate that you would entrust me to take charge." Usually, she looks excited every time I give her a responsibility like this; she loves to be in charge, she loves to know I trust and respect her. But now, she just looks worried.

I smile at her. "Of course! Ah... Yeah, tonight that's all there is. I..." I sigh heavily at the thought of everything there is to do after that.

Celci tilts her head at me, calculating. Not sure what's up, but certain something is up. She isn't stupid. She tells me encouragingly, "Captain, I really don't mind. I promise. Once we’re off the ship, I’m done with cryo stuff. I was gonna be helping with whatever was needed anyway.” She hesitates before taking my hand comfortingly. “I am at your service, and if what you need is a break, then I'm happy to manage things for a while."

I beam gratefully at her. "Thank you, Celci. Here, let me..." I start tapping at my tablet, giving her access to the first few weeks of master files and lists for what needs to be done. "Just in case..." I mutter. It'll be hard to balance the rest I need versus my responsibilities to the colony. I look up at her. "Just in case. And you can always talk to me if you need, you know how to contact me and I'll make sure you know where I am."

She scans through the files, scrolling quickly. "Sounds good, Captain." Celci smiles supportively. But I also see in her eyes the intention to find out what's going on. And that's okay. I'll... Maybe I'll tell her a bit about it. I'll tell her as much as I can without hurting her too much. But for now, I can trust that the colony will be alright for as long as Mark and I need to rest.

We start to turn away from each other, but I add one last disclaimer before she goes. "Oh, and, uh... Celc? Try not to be too much of a buzzkill… you know, don't get TOO strict on them. Just... If Gunther is tellin ya you need to learn to loosen up or take a joke, take a second look at what's going on. Obviously, you should feel completely free to ignore him… most of the time... But..."

She grins a little sheepishly. "I understand. I'll make sure to talk to the others, and to you. Compromise. It'll be alright."

I give her a firm nod and a trusting smile. She moves away to help guide everyone off the ship. Before I can ask the computer for more coffee, Lian comes up behind me and puts a hand on my shoulder. I turn to see her looking very concerned. "Heyy. I'm okay, I promise,” I tell her. I lie to her.

"Are you sure?" she asks hesitantly. "Mark's right... You looked like you'd been through hell."

"Heh. Ah, no, I'm... Did you hear what I was telling Celci?" She nods. Technically, at her ranking, she shouldn't be eavesdropping on Celci and I, but she's my best friend. Well... besides Mark. But he's different.

"Do you think it was a problem with the pods?" says Lian, a little doubtfully.

"I..." I think that's the excuse that makes the most sense, but I feel awful throwing Celci under the bus like that when I know there was no malfunction. "I don't know." I stare blankly ahead for a moment, trying to come up with the perfect lie. A few moments of slightly awkward silence. It is not perfect, but something comes to me. "I actually don't think Celci had time to check the pods on the bridge herself. She must've assigned it to someone else and there was something they didn't quite catch. Maybe. I dunno for sure, but really, it's fine." I think that's the best I can do with my current state of  mind. Hopefully,everyone was distracted and busy enough on our day of departure that they won’t remember details.

Lian nods uncertainly. "Well, let me know if you guys need anything... Uh, I'm gonna... I'll..."

I smile warmly at her. "Yeah, you're good. Go ahead and focus on your checklist, we'll be okay." She heads off the bridge. I turn to look at Mark, making sure he's still there. I hope no one will think it's too unusual if I stick close to him. We hang out a lot normally… it… won’t seem weird that I need to know where he is at every moment… right?

I look down at my empty coffee cup. I'd need about a million more of these to feel even 60% awake. Wait... oh my goodness. Oh… that’s so sweet!! I didn't even realize earlier. The mug says "#1 Captain.” It's silly, it’s stupid, but it makes my heart swell. Such a small thing in the face of all the mistakes I've made, all the lives I should've saved... but it means so much, casually handed to me by Mark. Geez, I’m getting VERY sappy over a MUG.

I shake it off and look back out the window. I should think about what I'm gonna say to everyone... I know I have to make a speech. A few minutes pass. Mark speaks up then, "Well, I should -" He begins to turn to walk away. I wordlessly catch him by the arm and spin him back around to look out the window. He looks at me, blinks, and doesn't ask any questions. Just stays with me, standing by my side.

It isn't long before the computer announces, "Passenger disembarkation complete. Main crew may now depart the ship."

"Okay, everyone, let's move out!" I say, and we file neatly off the bridge. I stay at the back, keeping an eye on everyone. But mostly Mark. Transport pods are filled. We are ejected, and the features of the planet grow closer and closer, more and more clear. I can’t help but look back at the Invincible II… behind us. We’re out. I can only pray that Mark and I will feel better when we spend more and more time away from that cursed ship.

When we enter the atmosphere, the artificial LED lights switch off, and something like the sunlight of Earth fills the spacecraft. The pod touches down gently, settles. Everyone else exits the other pods, excited. Soon, Mark and I are the only ones left in ours. We linger back, gathering the strength to stand up. I make it to the doorway and catch a glimpse of the crowd of crew members and colonists outside. The sight halts my steps. I feel Mark come up behind me. "... How can I face them?" I ask him quietly. Sure, they’re all standing on green grass, beneath a blue sky, in the sunlight, safe and unharmed. Sure, none of these colonists exploded. But…

He takes me gently by the shoulders and turns me around to face him. "Make the smile," he says, giving me a fake smile in demonstration. "Use the speech voice. And... It's gonna be okay." He spins me back around and gives me a little nudge of encouragement to exit the pod. I start walking into everyone's view.

"Stay close to me," I mutter to him. Pathetically. I should be the one comforting him. Supporting him. I'm the captain, I shouldn't be so needy.

But all he says in response is, reassuringly, "I will." And I feel him walking close beside and a little behind me.

I make my way to a spot where it seems everyone can see me. Mack rushes up and hands me a voice amplifier. "Thank you," I tell him. He rushes off into the crowd with a nod and a salute. I switch on the amplifier and speak into it. "Okay, can everybody hear me?" Looking out over the crowd, I see many nodding heads. Deep breath. Fake smile. Speech voice. "Awesome! Well... First and foremost, you should know I did not write this ahead of time. So." A chuckle from the crowd.

"You never do, Cap." Gunther shouts from the front.

That earns a chuckle from me. "Feel free to tease me about that after you've tried making a speech, kay? ANYway, we made it! We are here... breathing the air, standing on the ground of a planet *lightyears* away from Earth. We made it." Some cheers, a bit of applause. I smile at them, trying to feel how I would feel if… everything had gone to plan. "This is a BIG deal. This is a historic moment for all humanity, and every one of you is a part of it. Now, as I'm sure you all know, the hard work is not over. There's still a lot to be done. But this... this is a great accomplishment. All you did to prepare for our journey, even having the courage to volunteer for this in the first place... I'm very proud of you all. And you should be proud of yourselves." I begin to tear up already. Dang it. "And I wanna thank each and every one of you for volunteering and for following through on all the work it took to get here. I-i -" My voice wavers a little. "I wanna thank the crew..." I wipe my eyes quickly. "I'm so sorry, guys, this has been my dream since I was little and I could not be here without all of you." Good lies are half truths, the best lies are technically entirely true. It has been my dream. But at this point, that is not why I'm emotional.

I try to steady myself. "I want to thank the crew." The heads of departments stand at the front of the crowd, a little removed from the colonists and the rest of the crew. "Gunther, in charge of Asteroid Defense Systems!" I gesture toward him. "And everyone who worked under and with him, for keeping our ship intact." I clap for a few moments and the audience follows. Gunther gives a nod of acknowledgment, hiding his bashful and pleased look pretty well. "Burt, in charge of the Main Reactor! And everyone who worked under and with him, for keeping our ship moving." Another gesture, another round of applause. Burt does not hide his bashfulness well. "Celci, Head of Cryo! And everyone who worked under and with her, for keeping us all safe and sleeping." She basks in the applause, but when she sees the genuine, deep gratitude in my eyes, she smiles a little more humbly. "And absolutely everyone on this wonderful crew. We couldn't have done this without any of you. Thank you so much for all you have done."

I take a deep breath. I will not cry. I will get through this. "And... Last but certainly not least..." I say. Mark tenses up behind me, knowing what’s coming, resistant to the praise. Well, too bad. "I want to thank our Head Engineer, Mark." I reach an arm behind me and wrap it around him, pulling him forward to stand beside me. "Who built our ship." I can't look him in the eyes right now, I will cry. So I keep my gaze directed out over the crowd. "Who spent his hard work and his precious time -" My voice will not break. I will tell them, with composure, what he did for them. As much as I can tell them. "He put his heart and soul into the Invincible II. He made it possible for us to travel to this new land. To start this new life, to be here, now, in this moment that will go down in history." And as I talk about the years he spent building the ship, I'm thinking of the unfathomable amount of time he spent building the warp core. Trying to save everyone. How much he went through for them. And for me. "So for everything you sacrificed for this dream -" I squeeze his shoulder. "For every... iota of care and attention, for... for everything you have done. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you, Mark." I can tell he's shedding tears at this point. If I look at him, I will break into a thousand pieces.

"You're welcome, Captain," he says to me quietly, in such a sincere, strained, emotion-laced voice that I almost break anyway. I pull my arm away, but I stay standing very close to him.

I clear my throat and blink away the impending tears. "SO, as long as you all know how grateful I am for you, there won't be much further ado. We're going to get a safe and secure camp set up, to have somewhere to stay tonight and until we build more permanent housing. And then... for tonight, I want to celebrate." I grin at them. "You deserve it. We deserve it. So, ah... limit the drinking, cuz you won't wanna be hungover tomorrow... But, enjoy yourselves. Rest or party or chat... Shake off that cryosleep, have a great night! Ah, and just as a final note…” Here goes. “Mark and I are actually completely exhausted.” Vague mutterings and some concerned faces come from the audience. But hopefully, if I sound nonchalant, they won’t worry. “Maybe we didn't follow doctors orders well enough, maybe we were too stressed, maybe there was a small issue with the bridge cryopods... I honestly may have forgotten to put them on Celci's list, and I know we were all relying on lists that day. But, I'm too tired to figure it out, and it’s too trivial to care. It's not a big deal, we're fine.” And my happy-go-lucky tone does seem to be calming everyone down. “But it does mean, ah, that you might not see the two of us for a few days. Celci is in charge until Mark and I are rested up a bit more. I've appointed Gunther as official director of 'loosening up a little,' so." The audience chuckles. I see Gunther elbow Celci playfully. "And I'm always available for emergencies or advice. I’m right here, and if you need me, come get me. But, ah... You're all in good hands, and I want everyone to have a great time tonight! Well done, all!"

Switching off the voice amplifier, I try to walk away toward the pod full of camp construction supplies as the audience erupts in applause and cheers. But Celci raises her voice over the noise. "I think there's one person who hasn't been thanked, Captain!" I wince. Of course I appreciate it, but I've really got to get away from the colonists. Away from the crew. The facade is breaking. She must notice the subtle body language of my reaction, because she continues with, "I know you're tired, so I'll be brief. Thank you, Captain, for everything you have done. We couldn't be here without you." Immediate clapping, wild cheering, sounds of agreement. All of it feels horribly bittersweet.

"WE LOVE YOU, CAPTAIN!!" someone cries from the crowd, voice raising above the others.

Celci rolls her eyes, but I just yell back, "I LOVE YOU GUYS, TOO!" No voice amplifier. No professionalism or “manners” like Celc surely wants. Just two idiots screaming across a field at each other. And that’s somehow less bitter and more sweet.

Mark and I walk several yards away to the sounds of raucous applause. The tears have finally started dripping down my cheeks, so I keep my back turned to everyone. I'm still heading in the direction of the camp supplies when someone taps my shoulder. "Y/n?" It's Lian. I quickly wipe my face with the back of my hand and turn to look at her. I realize my lies during the speech don't quite line up with the ones I told her. But I only presented them as theories, so maybe it's alright. She isn't looking at me suspiciously, just... worried. "I... took a few people and we set up bedrooms for you guys. The nice beds. They're just in a couple of the pods, but we kept the temp regulation on inside."

Oh my gosh. She's the best. I take her hand in both of mine. "Thank you so much, Lian. Thank you."

She smiles. "You're welcome. Now go, you look exhausted. Get some rest. Get a lot of rest." She turns her gaze to Mark. "Both of you. They're over there, those two." Lian points, and then walks away to help with camp preparations. Geez, she's the sweetest.

Mark and I make eye contact. I think we both feel bad deserting our responsibilities like this, but... we need to. We won't be any good to them in this condition. We come to this agreement nonverbally, and just walk toward the place Lian pointed out.

The two pods are a little removed from the others, doors facing across from each other. We walk over between them. I'm walking on the left, Mark on the right, so logically, we'd split off in those directions and take those rooms. Which is what Mark begins to do, reluctantly. I catch his arm. "No," I say simply. He looks over at me in relief. I pull him into the pod on the left, and the door hisses shut behind us. A moment of quiet stillness. And then, both our legs just give out. We collapse to the floor at the same time, Mark slumped back against the wall, me on my knees. I then fall against the wall, too, half-leaning on him. Utter silence envelops the room. Minutes pass that feel like hours. Or maybe it's hours passing that feel like minutes. Neither of us are asleep, but we aren't moving, either. Not speaking. Not even thinking. I finally say something first. "We... we should..." I wanna say we should sleep. But there's something I have to tell him first. I promised myself. I shift to look into his eyes. "I have to tell you something." He looks at me with worry. "I have to tell you something and I'm scared to cuz I don't know what's gonna happen but I can't hide it anymore because we can't have any secrets. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I was just... scared." Well, now he looks all nervous and afraid and I have to just spit it out before he thinks it's something worse than it is. I sit up straight and look him square in the eyes. Deep breath. No secrets. "I love you, I love you so much, romantically, with everything I have, you are my everything, I love you and I always have, since like a few months after we met I've loved you, and I never told you, because obviously that's so inappropriate, I'm your Captain and your boss and that's a huge problem, but I couldn't help it, and then we were such good friends that I didn't wanna ruin that, but I can't hide it anymore, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I just hope you're not freaked out and we can still-"

Suddenly, a pair of warm, soft lips presses against mine, stopping my babbling. My heart rate skyrockets. I hadn't even noticed him moving closer, hadn't paid attention to his reaction, I was too focused on getting this confession out. I was so afraid of admitting this, so sure it would drive him away... But... My eyes flutter shut. He's moving his lips gently against mine. I'm moving with him. His hands cup my face. It's... so much better than I dreamed. And I have. Literally dreamed about this. Not a small number of times. I pull back just slightly for a moment, looking into his eyes. "... Really?" I whisper against his mouth, barely audible.

Mark slides his hands down to my waist. "I love you, too, y/n," he replies, softly, sincerely. "I can't believe you didn't know that sooner."

I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him against me, resting my head on his shoulder. "We-ell... heh..." I'm embarrassed to admit the reason I never considered the possibility. But he already knows it. "I didn't wanna get my hopes up...  that it wasn't just platonic. And... a-and it's a little hard when... everyone thinks I'm gorgeous and acts weird around me..." I blush a little.

But Mark doesn't seem to think it's cocky or narcissistic of me to say that. He tightens his arms snugly around my waist. "A-and..." His voice is shaky. "And you chose... me? O... out of everyone who's obsessed with you... y-you could have anyone... and you... want... me?"

I break out of the hug and take him firmly by the shoulders, looking at him sternly. "Mark. Of course I want you. You are - amazing. You're responsible and smart and hardworking and caring and sweet and you never give up. I trust you more than anyone. You make me laugh, you make me smile, you make me believe in myself, you make me feel like -" I swallow a sob. "Like I'm not alone." Tears are spilling down his cheeks. I think he wants to smile, but he believes this is all too good to be true. "Hey." I murmur, gently wiping away his tears with the pad of my thumb. In many other circumstances, I would feel the same... I have trouble taking praise to heart. I've never quite believed anyone actually adores me the way they act like they do. "Listen." But Mark... I know he would never lie to me. He respects me too much to pretend to love me. He knows I would never want that. I have enough doubts about everyone else's feelings about me. He knows I need at least one person I can always count on. "Mark." I can only hope he trusts me just as much. I don't want him living with doubt. "Would I lie to you??"

He sniffs a tiny sniff. Geez, he's so adorable. "No."

I'm cupping his face in my hands now, making sure he doesn't break his gaze away. "You trust me, right?" He nods. "I would never lie to you. Especially about this."

He sighs, conflicted. "Yeah, okay. I trust you. It just... feels... too good to be true."

One corner of my mouth quirks up in a half-smile. "I knew that's what you were thinking. And you need to not. Think that. You need to love yourself." A fresh bout of tears springs to his eyes. Oh. Oh no. He struggled with insecurities before all this wormhole madness. Before… His hands are balling up into fists. He’s shaking.

What am I gonna do with this man? This beautiful, precious, perfect man who hates himself. Who will be plagued by guilt and trauma forever. I can't think of the words to help right now. I can’t imagine any words that could help at all. So I just wrap an arm around his neck and kiss him, burying my other hand in his soft, black hair. I try to do something more helpful than rambling on… if I can show him how much I love him, that I forgive him… I feel his hands come to my hips as he begins to kiss back. It stays slow and sweet and gentle. I think maybe we're both feeling a tiny bit... safe. For the first time in a long time. We don't stop till we're both out of breath. We pull back from the kiss and instantly wrap our arms around each other tightly. I don't know about him, but I'm afraid to let go. A few moments pass. "We should get some sleep." I say. Mark nods. Keeping an arm around my waist, he pulls me over to the bed. Lian did get the nice ones. Queen size, thick mattress, sheets and blankets and lots of pillows. It looks beyond heavenly - especially being the standard all-white; it’s like a fluffy cloud. I pull back the covers and collapse down on the mattress. Mark joins me, and I snuggle close to his side. His arm comes around me again. I curl my fingers around the lapel of his jumpsuit. We're both still in full uniform. Neither of us even briefly consider making the effort to change.

Mark pulls the sheets over us. "Hey, Captain? Uh... Y/n? What should -" He hesitates, nervous.

I smile at him. "Call me whatever you want. Honestly, the whole colony will know about this at some point, I don't think we can stop that. But, we can at least try to hide it, if you want."

He chuckles a little. "Yeah, we should probably at least try."

I hide my face in his chest for a moment before admitting softly, "I do love hearing you say my name, though."

He grins. "I'll have to work on using it when we're alone, then. Uh - anyway… y/n… I wanted to warn you, uh, that I might be a little clingy for a few... ah... years."

I wrap a leg around one of his. "Oh, I'm so glad you did not just say days. Because... Yheheheyeah. I don't care what anyone thinks, I'm not leaving your side for, like... a long time." He just beams in response. His smile is so beautiful. I hope someday, the deep sadness in his eyes goes away… I bet I have it, too. I hope we can heal from this. "Okay, goodnight. Sleep well, sweetie."

He blushes furiously. Oops, didn't mean to do that. It sorta slipped out. Still, he just replies, "You, too, y/n." I close my eyes and then peek to make sure his are closed. They are. Hopefully, he's exhausted enough that it'll be easy to get some rest, despite any flustered feelings I may have accidentally caused. I spend the next few minutes struggling to stay awake, listening to his breathing. Once it evens and I know he's asleep, I'm out like a light. I'm pleasantly surprised to not even have any nightmares. Must be too tired to dream.

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

As Head Engineer and Captain, we're both pretty light sleepers. Even as exhausted as we are, both of us snap our eyes open at the gentle knock that comes on the door. I look up at Mark. "I'm not moving," I whisper, "unless you care?"

"... Too tired to care," he responds.

I nod. My sentiment exactly. "Who is it?" I call.

"It's me, Captain!" Celci's voice. I look at Mark again. He doesn't look worried about her seeing us... In fact, he almost looks... smug.

"I told her I'm your favorite," he says quietly.

I roll my eyes - those two and their squabbles, what am I going to do with them? - and call out to Celci. "Come in!" The door opens.

Shock is evident on her face. "Captain, wh-" She looks from my calm, unabashed expression to Mark's smug one. "I -"

"CC," I call her by her nickname, wanting to forget professionalism for now. Because this is possibly the least professional thing I could ever do. She meets my eyes. "Whatd'ya need?" I ask simply. 

"U-um... I…” With difficulty, she puts aside her confusion and focuses. “I had some questions. For you." From her tone, these are not advice questions. They're suspicious ones. Curious about the weird, half-baked lies. I just nod to indicate she should continue. "Ah..." She shuts the pod door behind her. Sits down in a chair I hadn't even noticed was there earlier. "Captain, I think you already know what I'm going to say." She pauses, but continues when I don't reply. "There were no issues with the cryopods on the bridge. I had a free minute earlier, and I checked them." Pause. Trying to look at me and not shoot glances at Mark. "I also distinctly remember all medical analyses being meticulously checked. And, honestly, you two can't have been that much more stressed than everyone else on the ship. Not to mention the fact that stress doesn't alter the effects of the cryopods." Translation, all my excuses were terrible. At least, to her. Everyone else most likely bought them, but not the expert on the cryopods. "So... what really happened? You two are never like this. You must really be completely exhausted, because this isn't like you." Mark begins to protest, but Celci clarifies, "No - not the - whatever this is..." She gestures to the two of us, "I mean, hiding away when there's work to be done. You've literally never done that. Something's wrong."

I give her a wry grin. If there’s one thing I know about my crew… they might be dumb sometimes, but they’re not stupid. If that makes any sense… I reply, "I hate to say it, but I'm not gonna tell you, CC." I can see in her eyes that's the answer she expected. "I really am sorry. But... It's over, and there's nothing you can do to help. And I do not need it weighing on your mind.” She shifts in her seat, and I know exactly what her argument is. “Now, yes, I know - I know, I know. The curiosity is gonna bother you a little, too. But I..." I sigh. I hate hiding things. But sometimes people deserve better than the whole truth. "I can't have you thinking and worrying about something that's over. Done with and long gone.” Or, at least, it better be. “I'm sorry, Celci. I hope you understand."

She looks searchingly at me for a few moments, then takes a deep breath and sighs with a hint of resignation. "Okay. Thank you, Captain. At least... at least now I know, you know I'm not stupid. At least you're admitting something happened. I'm not happy about it... but…” Another sigh. “I'll try to forget about it."

I smile sadly at her. "Thank you.” She starts to get up. “Uh, hey, before you go... What time is it? How long were we asleep?"

She makes a reluctant face, like she knows I'll feel guilty when I hear the answer. "Four days, Captain."

At first, I cringe a little. But Mark squeezes my shoulder, and I feel a little better, like I know exactly what he’s trying to remind me of. All we did for them... Maybe it's okay to rest for a while. And if everyone is doing okay... "How is everything? On schedule? No unforeseen disasters? Do you need help with anyth-"

"Everything's fine, Captain," Celci says, smiling reassuringly. "It's okay, we're okay. On schedule, going according to plan. I promise you can trust me to take care of everything." The earnest look in her eyes melts my heart. God, I love my crew. She's worried about me, and Mark, no matter how much she'd deny that, she wants to help in any way she can, she's so determined to make me proud. I sit up and scoot across the bed, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you, Celci. I don't know what I'd do without you." I hope she knows how much I appreciate her. I hope they all do.

She blushes a tiny bit. "You're very welcome." She stands up, forcing me to let my hand fall.

Why won't any of you believe me when I tell you how amazing you are? I wonder. But then again, I'd be a bit of a hypocrite if I got too upset with my crew for that.

"You guys should take as long as you need. I will let you know if we need you, but I hope we can let you rest." CC begins to turn to leave, then looks back over her shoulder at us. "Whatever happened, sleeping for four days straight isn't normal. I hope you feel better soon." And the pod door hisses shut behind her.

Staring at the door, I think about all the different versions of her, and Gunther, and Burt. Loyal and trusting, always there for me and willing to listen. The only times any of them betrayed me were when they thought they had to, to save the colonists. To save the ship. When their trust had been pushed so far it hit the breaking point. I don't blame them. Honestly, I'm so proud of them. Maybe the Celci and Gunther and Burt here with me now aren't the same ones who did those things, but now I know what they're capable of. Now I know for sure that they'll do anything to protect our people. Maybe someday, I can thank them properly for everything I know is in their hearts. Maybe I can tell them everything that really happened, someday... not soon, but someday.

My train of thought is broken by a soft, adorable snore from Mark. Aw, he's asleep again already. He makes a little troubled noise, and I hurry back over to his side, wrapping my arms snug around him. No nightmares allowed, Mark. I'll protect you. I stay awake until I'm sure he's sleeping peacefully, then nod off quickly next to him. The last thing I remember thinking is, CC's right. It is not normal to sleep this long. But I'm still so tired…

#markiplier #markiplier egos #in space with markiplier #iswm #iswm engineer mark #engineer mark #iswm captain #captaineer #iswm fanfiction #iswm fic #I only managed to hit post bc it's 3am and I'm half-delirious. This is how to beat anxiety. lol #that however also means the final touch-ups were made at 3am while half-delirious sO

[owengrose]

Shipper tag game

tagged by my friend @sunriseverse (hi friend!!!!!)

What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care about anymore?

johnlock. listen. i'm aware. i am aware. Thankfully I've grown as a person and now I don't care about anything or anyone associated with that mess of a show.

Which ship would you consider your first one?

uhhhhhh aang/katara maybe? I really wasn't interested in romance that much until like middle school, but I do remember thinking katara and aang should get together as a kid.

Your first fanfic was about which couple?

probably destiel. Actually wait no, guaranteed destiel.

Do you remember the first couple you saw fanart of?

i was in middle school when Twilight came out, so I can almost guarantee you somebody drew Bella and Edward fanart and showed me. I don't actually know this for sure though, this is just a guess. The first fanart I actually remember seeing was Percy/Annabeth.

Have you ever gotten into ship discourse?

lmao no. it's just not worth it literally ever

Did you use to have any NOTP or have one currently?

mmm not really. i have ships where I just don't see it, but I don't usually feel all that strongly about it.

Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read?

Sam/Jack from Stargate! This is entirely @kbunny10 's fault, she got me into Stargate and now I have Feelings.

Currently, do you have any OTPs?

I mean, always. The biggest ones are probably Morgwen, Sam/Jack, destiel (i thought i was free but then nov 5 happened so......). But I'm not super actively a shipper these days

Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together?

no bc everyone i've ever wanted to get together did so in my heart. Sam and Jack should've gotten together on screen, but In My Heart they did get together so it's chill.

Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting?

not that i can think of! my romantic tastes tend to be relatively consistent honestly. maybe the gay ones before i became not homophobic (and then not straight! yayyyyyy!!!!! :D )

Do you have any ship that, in the past, would've been considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

again, none that i can think of! I'm kind of a normie tbh

What is your favorite crack ship?

so this isn't actually a crack ship but like. Captain Hook and the daughter of Snow White/Prince Charming on OUAT got together. That was a real thing. They really said "you know who we should pair with our main character, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming? Famous villain Captain Hook. Yeah we're gonna make him young and sexy so it's fine." That was a real thing!! It aired on television and I was REALLY invested!! Man OUAT was such a wild ride lmao

What is the couple you read the most fanfics about?

i thought it was destiel but i checked by ao3 bookmarks and apparently newmann are still unbeat!! shoutout to the year where i was obsessed with those gay little scientists, i went absolutely NUTS for them. My newmann fics that I bookmarked are more than the #2 and #3 ships COMBINED.

What do most of your ships usually have in common?

there's usually an earnestness or a sincerity that either one or both of them has. where one person is just like very open about how much they like/admire the other, or where they engage with people so trustingly, or something along those lines. sometimes its sincere4snarky, sometimes its sincere4sincere, and sometimes its "i'm only earnest around you"

What you absolutely hate in a ship?

lack of communication. it drives me INSANE. unless they're miscommunicating about their feelings for each other, then it's great. but otherwise i hate it bc like, this is your partner!! talk to them!! what the fuck!!

Tagging: @kbunny10, @inesathammar, @cawfeeann, @lacigarra, and anyone else who wants to do this!

#this was fun!! #adri rants

[romeulusroy]

I mean you know I had to come and be shipped. Male character please. ISTJ, Virgo, and Gryffindor. The Eldest Sibling. I'm 5'9 which is considered average and in my family is considered short. Trans Dude with long hair because I refuse to cut it although this also means I've lost more hair ties than I can keep track of. Glasses. Penchant for wearing graphic t-shirts, patterned button downs, jeans, or hoodies if the weather permits. I own no single pair of normal socks anymore (that's a fact I pride on, they're all some sort of pattern). Sarcastic. Quiet until you get to know me or until I'm comfortable. I swear a lot which shocks people. Mentally Ill (depression, anxiety, OCD). Autistic. Dream Job is to be a film editor or honestly in the industry in some capacity. I watch too many movies in about every genre. Read a lot, probably more than I should in comparison to actually adventuring outside. But I love roaming cities, heading to concerts, plays, musicals. Record store trips, thrift shops all the time. Listen to any genre of music and have too many favorite artists to list. Irrational fear of deep sea fish. Favorite color is green. Favorite animal is a tiger. Does this help, hopefully! Honestly if you're overwhelmed with ships don't bother with mine just take it easy and I'll be fine. PS. Obv your shipped with Roman, I just. Yeah I mean you two would absolutely vibe.

Noah!!!! I ship you with: Kendall Roy!!!

He loves your sarcasm. He can't help it, whenever you have a comeback or comment, it always makes him smile. You're fast with it, too. And you don't censor yourself. You're like that with everyone. He loves it. You can keep up with him, with Rome and Shiv. You have endless comments about his father though you're smart enough to keep those between you and him. He also loves how much you swear. The word fuck is like um or like with his family, it's between every word. He appreciates that you can keep up, that you're not shocked or disgusted by his own swearing. It doesn't make you a bad person or any less smart, it's just a way of expression.

You love that when he puts his mind to something, he gets it done. Kendall can get a little one minded when he's focused on something. That can be a little annoying to others, when he gets that focused, but you like it. It brings out this determination in him that you don't often see. It shows you, and the world, that he isn't just Logan Roy's son, but an entire being and entity on his own. That he's far more capable than people give him credit for.

Your relationship is emotional. Kendall is a bit of an emotional roller coaster. After being on a high and making pitches and taking over as CEO, he gets low and needs to isolate and typically drifts to the water. It's not always easy dealing with that, but you make it work. You make sure you're always communicating, talking, and working things through. He really is grateful for you and all that you do. You knew going into it that he was a complicated person with a lot of feelings and not that much, if any, support from his family. It's work, but in the end it's completely worth it. You love one another so much.

Your first date is to a record store. You know from the beginning that Kendall favors one genre above all else and is constantly wearing his headphones. You love fishing through the records and CD's, telling him all about the different artists and genres and time periods. And he loves to listen. If it were anyone else he might've been bored, but you make it interesting, you make it fun. You make him want to learn everything there is to know about all genres and types of music. It's a store you visit often after that, making fun of one another and what you listen to.

Relationship Headcanon: Kendall always keeps a hair tie on his wrist for you. He always replaces is when you need one. You never noticed for the longest time, he just always seemed to have one. Then one day it clicked: Kendall doesn't need them. His hair is too short. He wears them for you, when you need one. You don't say anything about it, but it's something you're reminded of often whenever you look at his wrist. He's doing it for you, because he loves you and cares about you and thinks about you.

Screaming, crying, I want to vibe with Roman so bad he is baby boy!!! I really hope you like it! 💜💜💜

#kendall roy #kaitbishop-ships

[gunsatthaphan]

Hi! I just remembered like two asks you received some time ago, i wanted to squeeze in but I forgot 😅 It was about My Only 12% and the work of New and Wabi Sabi in general… Lmao.I so agree with you. This is not a read, but I am not a fan at all. And even of Earth k either. Nothing personal but all of those things mentioned don’t have any… spark. And so when I saw your anon saying they liked New’s produced shows I was shocked bc it is very often not the case, but it’s nice to see there are shoes for everyone (... is that even a saying??)

And about Between Us, I’m not excited at all tbh but ig it’s a good thing. That way I can be ‘surprised’ by it. But UWMA was soooo long ago. I loved it! back then, but since then I changed my ‘views’ you know ? And my liking of certain types of shows. Like if I watch it now… I think I’ll somewhat like it but really I will see just the negatives. I guess it really is about the production of it all (BUT not JUST that obviously. Not everything is bc of ONE man). And I know I’m probably THE ONLY ONE on this but, I get tired of seeing the same pairings over and over and over again. Like Fluke and Ohm, or Boun and Prem. Like it’s kind of always the same… atmosphere to the ships. To be clear, I didn’t see Win and Team in Even Sun, but they kind of have the same… monotony, and same with Ohm and Fluke. The more they have a series together, the less I feel it.

And I only feel that with that studio I realized. Bc I like Jimmy and Tommy, they acted with different vibes in remember 15. And also Off and Gun bdhcnd NOT ME! Need I say more haha.

So what I got from this is that I don’t like wabi sabi studio in its entirety, at all 😂😂 That's sad but yeah. They used to announce stuff and I'll get excited. But after 7 project ...😬 And I tried again with M12% but hm:/ So I guess I'll keep clear of this company. They have good premise but bad execution in my opinion.

And please I’m not trying to be rude, I’m sorry if I come off that way. I’m not the acting or prod. police. But I just see people from time to time talking abt (some of) it, but never really do it. So I just shared my opinion with you bc you seemed to have shared opinions with me. And obviously it’s totally fine if you agree just 2% of my GIANT rambling. 

It’s okay if you don’t engage with this <3 

I think you’re coming back soon from Thailand right? Enjoy the rest of your trip <33

hi anon!

lol that's okay. and I completely agree with everything.

for me wabisabi is just kind of a homogenous soup of cringe lol idk. uwma was good and everything that came afterwards wasn't. Their shows are all the same at this point and as long as New is directing them, it will stay that way lol. Not a fan of his directing style at all, which worked back in 2018 but not in 2022. The only reason I liked star and sky was the cast + plot but it definitely could've been better with a different director. But that's just my opinion.  

The issue with them recycling their actors and giving them the same roles over and over again definitely goes hand in hand with that. Now I know gmmtv kind of does the same but the difference is they have a much bigger range of shows and actors so you can't compare the two imo. BounPrem definitely have that monotony issue you mentioned, more than OhmFluke. Fluke has a big range and is doing well, Ohm not as much lol. But for me, they still work better than BP overall. Like Even Sun was weird enough to be funny but BP were the same in that too. Comparing them with mii2 and offgun is a lost battle because they're polar opposites lol.

And I agree, my views and preferences on shows have changed over time too. I think that's normal. In 2018 I thought LBC was high cinema which......no comment lmao. And I still consider uwma good today but definitely not as much as back then. I guess the more shows come out, the more picky we get which is fine.

But yeah all in all I don't think I'll ever watch a wabsabi production again unless they change their concepts lol. I'll take a look at between us because who knows, but if that sucks then bye bye. There are shows out there that deserve more attention than them. 😬

xxx

#studio wabi sabi #opinions #discussions #thai bl #bl drama

[saint-bestial]

Astral, Ryoga, Mizael for the ask game!

oooh three guys let's see. my zexal rewatch was a while ago so i might be fuzzy on some things. ty for the ask i'm gonna answer as best i can for everyone Sorry if i forget anything!!

Astral!

General opinion: I like him! probably one of my A tier zexal characters. solid character but did not give me a disease. Ship I like: ok so this is probably really off the wall but two of my mutuals wrote this fic with kaito/astral and got me way more invested in that pairing. if there's a ship name for them i forget </3 Non-romantic pairing: i love a good non-romantic reading of astral and yuma. i'm pretty neutral on romantic keyship (like i am with most pairings tbh). NOTP: i don't really have one for him! Headcanon: i'm drawing a blank here :( Fanfic: yeah i need to think about this hm. sorry Something that makes me think of them: kitty. that one scene where his eyes get all big? i think because he tasted food for the first time. yeah that's so kitty to me Ryoga!

General opinion: dude wouldn't it be fucked up if we put a dead guy's soul in a dead kid's body and then had him live a relatively normal life only for him to realize that he was not in fact a middle schooler but actually an alien demon thus destroying his previous personality. wait you Did That? Ship I like: like i've said shipping is not really my main Thing but sharkbait is fine. though there's other yuma ships i like more. Non-romantic pairing: his beef with vector. it's just fun your honor NOTP: hellshark/disqualify. sorry. i'm one of the few IV stans who doesn't like it. it's one of the tiny number of ship tags i actually have blacklisted. this was mostly for self shipping reasons but also i just don't like it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Headcanon: i think he can be going to the aquarium Fanfic: can we talk about how weird it would be for him to return to school and shit after the end of zexal like that's clearly a different guy. his middleschoolersona is dead. people would pick up on that no??? i think it has potential. i love you zexal the existential horror card game anime. Something that makes me think of them: sharks, fish, the horrors. you know. typical ryoga stuff. also the c32 card i must've opened dozens of abyss rising blisters to get when i was a kid. Mizael!

General opinion: anon. i've been rubbing my hands together since i saw that you included him. ah. this blond bitch. you know, i was into ygo when zexal was airing. and my little 10-11 year old dragon obsessed brain saw mizael and imprinted on him immediately. oh and you can bet i was sending asks to those character ask blogs to know his opinion on only the most important affairs. and you can definitely bet your ass that i watched the moon duel and cried as soon as the subs came out. takes me back to a simpler time. upon rewatch i did not latch onto him as i had previously. but he still holds a degree of importance to me because of the history. Ship I like: this is another situation where i don't really have one but a lot of galaxymaster art is cute and also involves dragons so. that's cool Non-romantic pairing: him and jinlon. i love human and dragon partnerships what can i say NOTP: don't have one! Headcanon: i think he is a dragonfucker your honor Fanfic: See Above. Something that makes me think of them: my ultimate rare tachyon dragon card from the set it came out in i got as a gift one year and thought i lost but found buried in my dresser still completely intact. it sits safely in the first page of my card binder now with all my other favorites.

#ask #anonymous

[bells-of-black-sunday]

D,E,K,O,X for Tarhos c:

A-Z Nsfw Headcannons | Accepting

D -Dominance: Are they into those types of power dynamics? Or do they like to stick to whose topping and bottoming? If they are into it why? If they aren't why not?

Oh absolutely. I know I mentioned it on discord, but his worship kink would probably turn into something more for titles in general than religion and worship. He just wouldn't be surrounded by it like he normally is. This is probably the only au where Tarhos is more than comfortable with completely submitting to Haru in safe ways, because he knows it only lasts for that scene. He loves being called his pup/dog/puppy even if it took him a while to get used to. He'll call him sir or captain, but is very quick to take control if that's what Haru wants.

I feel like in this au they're just the "This character needs a healthy bdsm relationship to untangle their issues-" meme posts except they do get it. For him why he's into it specifically is, because it's a space where he knows he's safe. He knows nothings going to happen to him. He knows it's okay to just not think for a while and be called pretty. I don't think either of them really degrade they other it's always positive affirmations except for maybe teasingly calling the other a whore or something. It's never anything meant to degrade. It's probably one of the few aus where Tar gets to be that submissive too and it's cathartic for him as someone whose always had to be hyper-vigilant about everything.

E - Erotica: Do they read or watch it? Does it get them in the mood? Do they create it themselves?

I imagine he reads it mostly because badly written smut is funny with how awkward it is. That and when chores are done he has free time, he's got to fill it somehow and sometimes he doesn't feel like playing cards or talking and sharing wine. I wouldn't say it gets him in the mood, Haru is more than capable of doing that by being himself, but he definitely reads it. I wouldn't say they make it unless Haru dead ass is going to hire a painter to paint them in the act, which I don't think he would, but hey maybe he is that extra-

K - Kiss and Tell: Do they talk about their sex life to others? If they do do they go into detail or are they more casual about it? Do they share photos with other people or are those private?

I feel like with how fluid and open sexuality is on the ship, he's probably more inclined to talk about it when someone asks, but it's never in detail. Just "Yeah he made me do x y and z last night" rather than going in depth about it, he just would rather keep the mental images to himself.

O - Open: Do they enjoy having things in their mouth? If so what are their favorite oral fixations? (fingers, toys, giving oral, etc.)

Oh absolutely though again it ties back into the whole submission thing where he's just happy to not think for a while. He's fine with fingers, toys, giving head, warming, etc. etc. his favorite really depends on what he's doing ad what the scene is.

X - X Ray: What's going on under your muse's clothes? Do they have any special scars or places they like to be touched or avoided? Describe their physique and anything else you'd like to expand on.

Considering how this au is vaguely historical, he hasn't had bottom surgery. It just doesn't exist and probably isn't practical for the time period especially, I mean if they were to do skin grafts it probably well constantly being at sea and not having the best nutrition. That being said: Tarhos is very well built. He's dehydrated at most parts of the day due to alcohol being the cleanest water available to him even before his life as a pirate, he also doesn't really shave anywhere, but his face. He doesn't see the point in it.

Though once you get below the belt he does still have a t-dick, it's 3 inches and looks a lot bigger if he pulls back his folds or is aroused. He doesn't shave there either, again he doesn't really see a point in it especially with how quickly his hair grows. He's also got quite a few scars all over his body. Some from battle, a lot old and some new, but he doesn't really have any areas he hates being touched.

#ooc #𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 - [ 𝘛𝘢𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘴 ] #verse; pirate #lemon #high ive been possessed by this au- #q.

[kingbuffy]

I think what leads me to ship two characters is how well I can imagine them interacting outside of the plot and drama. Their quiet moments together, what they would talk about, and little snippets of domesticity. It can't just be romance for me, I also want their friendship.

A good example is how I feel about Bangel and Spuffy. Despite their dubious nature, I have respect for what Buffy had with Angel. She got to have her big grand love with Shakespearean tragedy dashed in. But that's kind of the end of it. I don't hate them but I also don't ship them, and I could never see post-canon Buffy ever getting back with Angel whether she realizes it or not. Then there's Spuffy. I can't remember if it was Marti Noxon or Jane Espenson who said it, but something along the lines of, "Can you really imagine Buffy and Spike arguing about what to watch on TV together?" Something disparaging and how those two could never make it work. But here's the thing: yeah, I could imagine it. The reason I ship Spuffy is not cause it's hot or whatever, but because they have chemistry, yearning, and friendship. They are friends. I'd argue that even during the toxicity of s6, Spike became Buffy's best friend. And when he comes back in s7 with new insight and understanding, they actually talk about their problems, (which is unheard of of any other couple on the show). I could imagine with complete clarity; Buffy and Spike just sitting on the roof talking about stupid stuff, watching TV, making breakfast, just normal shit. And that's what draws me in. I can't imagine the same for Buffy and Angel. They can barely talk to one another before falling into 'bangel speak'. And hey, that's fine, but any characters I ship are always gonna be determined by how good of friends they are on top of the romance.

#even if it's an antagonistic friendship #this isn't an anti bangel post im just giving my perspective #btvs #buffy summers #spike btvs #spike #spuffy

[randomshyperson]

Left Behind - Chapter 6 - Once a Promise, Always a Promise.

Gif was made by my official gif maker friend @abimess

Summary: The one where you lived in the apartment under the Maximoff family in Sokovia, or, your journey as a Sokovian civilian to Avenger.

Warnings: (+16) Violence, fighting, cursing, civil war environments, abuse of power, assault, torture, underage kissing, psychological torture, substance use, mention of assault/fighting of children, smut, kissing, teasing, insinuation of sexual and moral harassment, verbal offenses.

Words: 4.753k

A/N> It's been 84 years... I just hope someone still reads this haha Let me know what you think

All Works Masterlist || Read on AO3 || Series Masterlist

//-//-//-//-////-//-//-//-////-//-//-//-////-//-//-//-//

Chapter 6 - Once a Promise, Always a Promise.

When you wake up, you get your ass beaten up by an unknown woman.

You awaken all at once, advancing against the woman who was watching you sleep. Her surprise only lasts a second, however, as the next she returns your blow and knocks you to the ground, a gun pointed straight at your face.

Wide-eyed, you realize where you are and raise your hands.

"Sorry, sorry." You can quickly. "I thought I was in the lab again. Who the hell are you by the way?"

The woman raises her eyebrow at you.

"Cap, get over here before I shoot her."

And the next second, a blond man is running into the area of the ship where you are, looking worried.

"Let's all calm down, okay?" He asks as he sees the gun extended, and waits for the woman to put it down. You sigh lightly, rising to stand up.

"I'm sorry I attacked you, Miss." You ask as soon as you are on your feet, and massage your shoulder, which hit the ground hard when she knocked you down.

"It's fine, you just got beat up anyway." She teases, making you give a short laugh.

You were about to ask if they could let you off the ship anywhere, but a low groan of pain beside you caught your attention.

Just then you noticed the man lying on the stretcher next to you a few feet away, a large wound in his rib. You are also able to notice the rest of the ship, there is a man piloting a few meters away, and two men sitting further ahead, talking to each other.

"Hey, I can help." You stated immediately, but as soon as you moved, the woman stood in front of you, looking at you with suspicion and defiance, and you swallowed dryly. "I-I can heal him." You clarified, but the woman only changed her posture when the man next to you touched her forearm.

"Can you do that?" He asks you, and you nod. You wait for the woman to take a step back to approach the man on the stretcher.

"Hey, are you guys sure of this?" The man lying down asked uncomfortably, and you raise your hands in the air.

"Hi, I'm Y/N, I won't hurt you, I promise. "You guarantee it." Can I heal your injuries?" You ask and wait for him to confirm.

The wound is deep, but you have dealt with much worse.

"How did you do that?"

"It was nothing." You say as you put your hands down. His skin was completely intact again.

"This sure is cooler than lightning, huh, Thor?" Commented the blond as he sat down on the stretcher, clearly feeling better. The long-haired man at the back of the ship looks at you curiously as he stands up, and when he notices his colleague completely healed, he looks impressed.

"This sure is an interesting skill for a mortal." He says to you, and you don't know exactly what to make of those words, but you don't have time to comment, because he is already approaching to introduce himself. "My name is Thor Odinson, god of thunder."

You frown.

"G-god of thunder?" You repeat confused. "Sorry, is that some kind of joke?"

The woman next to you giggles, moving to sit on the stretcher next to the man you healed. The blond man in front of you looks slightly offended, but his expression softens immediately.

"I understand that at first, mortals may be incredulous at such a..."

"No, I just thought the title was funny." You interrupt the blond man, surprising him. "You guys are the Avengers, aren't you? My master has already told me about you."

“Your master?”

It is the other blond guy in the blue uniform who asks. You mentally repress yourself.

"Damn, sorry." You say. "It's what I used to call the soldiers and doctors who gave me orders."

"Your files say that you disappeared in Sokovia when you were younger, and what we found at the base were the records of the experiments they did on you." He adds, and you twiddle your fingers nervously. "I just want to make sure you're not going to try to bring the plane down with everyone inside."

The attempted joke is enough to make you smile, but you are beginning to feel overwhelmed. You really were free. After all this time, the idea seemed almost absurd.

You try to control your emotion at once, and the man seems to notice, because his expression softens immediately.

"Hey, come have a seat." He asks, signaling to one of the empty chairs, and you obey. "My name is Steve Rogers, and I promise you're safe now. Hydra will never hurt you again."

You nod frantically, feeling the tears in your eyes. But you try to normalize your breathing, not wanting to cry in front of strangers.

"I'm sorry, I just... I've just been trying to get away for so long." You confess next, wiping your eyes quickly. "It's weird to think I succeeded."

"We are going back to the Avengers tower now. Is there anyone you would like to get in touch with?" He asks, and his words make your stomach sink.

"Yes." You say. "But I have no idea where they are."

"Who? Your family?"

You give a short laugh.

"Yeah, I guess so. They were..." You start trying to remember exactly. You didn't even know how long it had been since the time you saw the twins at the Hydra base. You had no idea if they were alive, but you wanted to believe they were. Taking a deep breath, you continue. "They were my friends. Wanda and Pietro, we grew up together. They... I saw them once. When I still had the serum in my head. I..."

Seeing your difficulty in organizing your thoughts, Steve interrupts you by touching your forearm.

"It's okay." He says. "We'll find the twins."

"So they really are alive?"

Steve smiles.

"Yes." He answers and you feel your body relax all at once. "They ran away, I imagine they were scared, but we'll find them."

You gasp, unable to control your tears. Neither Steve nor the rest of the Avengers seem to care.

When you calm down, Steve introduces you to the rest of the team.

You are not exactly happy to meet Tony Stark. The mention of his last name makes you frown, because you know it was a Stark bomb that blew up your home at Sokovia, but when you accuse Tony, he seems really upset.

"Well, I guess you can get on the list of people who hate me then." He grumbles and you cross your arms, the whole team sensing the tension in the air.

"You could at least apologize for blowing up half of Sokovia with your weapons." You retort angrily, and the man rolls his eyes, not getting up from the armchair you were in.

"Sure, no problem. I'm sorry, kiddo. Happy?"

You clench your jaw, but before you can say anything, Steve steps forward.

"Tony, try not to be a jerk, okay?" The captain speaks and the other man lets out a wry laugh. "Have at least some respect for the girl's story."

"I have respect, Captain." He assures as he stands up, looking impatient. "What I don't have is time to revisit the past while our enemies get more and more powerful." He says and you frown in confusion. "I've already banned weapons production in the industries, and we've already taken on Hydra in that place. Now we can move on, because I need to get back to the compound and understand exactly what that thing is."

He speaks and finishes by signaling to the opposite side, and it is only then that you notice the shining scepter on the far side of the room and let out a surprised exclamation, taking three steps backwards.

"How did you guys get this?" You ask horrified and the team looks at you curiously.

"Have you seen the scepter before?"

"Of course I have!" You reply. "That's what gave me the healing! The damn stone went through my chest."

Thor steps forward, looking at you in surprise.

"So Hydra were able to decipher the scepter?

You laugh humorlessly.

"If by decipher you mean press the scepter against my chest while preening me in an iron chair, then yes." You reply, but take a deep breath to calm yourself. "A yellow stone came off as soon as the scepter touched me. And well, it went right through my skin. When I woke up, I could heal. But whatever it is, it killed all the soldiers who were holding me."

Thor seems to consider your words as Steve tells you that he is sorry for what you went through in Hydra.

Suddenly you remember where you first saw him.

"The man on the bridge!" You exclaimed, surprising him, but you were getting your memories gradually, and your heart was racing. "You are Captain America.... My god, where is Bucky?"

"Great, another fan of the metal arm." Tony comments sarcastically, but no one seems to care.

Steve looks at you with a frown.

"Is he safe? Is he free? Can I see him?" You ask promptly next, and Natasha chuckles.

"Hey, calm down." Steve asks and you swallow dryly, trying not to feel so overwhelmed with so many memories coming back at once. "How do you know Bucky?"

You blink in surprise.

"He...he didn't talk about me?"

It takes a second, and then Steve's eyes widen.

“Oh my god, you’re the guardian!

"I am what now?"

Steve lets out an incredulous laugh.

"The guardian." He repeats as if you were going to understand what he meant.

Natasha clears her throat.

"Captain, perhaps you'd better explain." She asks and Steve gestures quickly.

"We've been looking for you for months." Steve then adds, causing you to widen your eyes in surprise. "Bucky he... he's been trying to find you since he escaped. But he didn't know your name. All he knew was the nickname you got from the soldiers. The golden guardian of death. It's been our only tip to find you."

"I thought it was just golden guardian." Clint adds next, Nat makes a noise of agreement.

"No, I'm sure it was just Guardian of Death." Thor comments, but you are barely listening to the teasing, feeling your thoughts racing.

Steve raises his hands to your shoulders.

"Thank you so much for saving Bucky." He says before hugging you. You feel your neck heat up at the sudden contact, but do your best to reciprocate.

Steve lets you go then, smiling.

"He's going to be so happy to see you."

"Where is he?"

"At the compound." Steve replies. "He cannot attend field missions, it's part of the pardon. It's too much bureaucracy to explain now.."

"I think he's just lazy." Tony adds wryly, making the Avengers giggle.

And Steve's smile dies briefly.

"What's with you today, anyway, Stark?"

Tony sighs impatiently, finally rising from his armchair.

"I'm sorry if I'm not reacting in the way you consider proper captain, but I'm concerned about getting to work soon." He says as he moves toward you two. “I need to find out what this thing really is.”

"No, Stark, you won't touch this." It is Thor who announces, and all the avengers look genuinely surprised.

"I beg your pardon?" Stark retorted, but Thor didn't hesitate before he looked at you next.

"Describe to me again how you got your healing, mortal."

You sigh lightly.

"They locked me in an iron chair and brought the scepter." You narrated. "But they lie me on the chair next, and I could only feel the metal against my skin, and then I saw a yellow light. Something went right through my chest, and then right through." You say. "I blacked out for a second, the room was completely empty like a vision. When I blinked, it was back, but all the soldiers holding me were dead. And then they knocked me out."

"Before you said you saw a yellow stone?"

You nodded in agreement.

"I dreamed of this memory for several days." You clarify. "I was back in the room, but this time I watched myself. I saw when they put the scepter to my chest, and when the golden stone came out and went through my skin. It was the stone that released the wave of energy that killed the soldiers .I don't know why I didn't die too."

"A single blow that killed a group of soldiers at once." Thor mutters more to himself than to the rest of the teams. "It's decided then, no mortal must touch this. It's clearly far more power than anyone should have."

"This is ridiculous." Thor accused the next moment, making the team look at him curiously. "You can't just deny knowledge about something like that and..."

"Why are you so insistent on this, Tony?" It's Steve who asks suspiciously. Tony sighs, and gives a short laugh.

"You guys are unbelievable, you know." He says. "I'm trying to find new alternatives to our problems."

"What problems?" Steve asks with a confused grimace, and Tony rolls his eyes, looking nervous.

"Our enemies, Captain!" He snarls. "In case you haven't noticed, it hasn't been too long since we faced an army of robots coming from a hole in the sky!" He accuses. "We don't have the power to face this kind of thing. The scepter is exactly what I need to prevent the worst from happening."

"Where did that come from, Tony?" Steve retorted confused.

Stark gave a short laugh, rolling his eyes.

"I don't have time for this." He grimaced and moved to grab the scepter, but Thor stood in the way, arms crossed. "Really?" Tony impatiently charges, but Thor doesn't move. Stark clenches his jaw before declaring angrily. "I had a vision, okay? I saw all of us, defeated. Defeated because we didn't have the power to win. And I... I could have prevented it."

The avengers look as confused as you are, and remain silent. Tony sighs and runs his hand through his hair.

"It was New York again, but this time the enemy won." He continues, visually upset. When he lifted his face in Steve's direction, his look was angry, but his eyes had tears in it. "And you told me that I could have stopped it."

“I wouldn't do that.” Steve says. “If we ever lose, I wouldn't blame you, Tony.”

Tony gives a short laugh.

“Wouldn’t you really?” He retorts. “I’m pretty sure you would, cap.”

Steve takes a step forward, his eyes soften as he looks at his friend.

“I promise you, Tony. If we lose, we lose together.” He declares. “That’s what being an Avengers means. I’m sorry if I was not clear before, and made you feel any different than this or…”

“Stop it!” Tony angrily interrupts. You flinch because you think you saw a familiar red light in his eyes. “Cut this sentimental crap, Steve. I’m just trying to do what’s necessary here.”

“Back off, Stark!” You order as you noted how he has moved his wand to the scepter, he seems surprised by the action too. You move in his direction as he takes two steps back, looking irritated. You gave him no time to answer however, as you raise your hands over his head and touch his forehead with your fingers before he can complain.

Immediately, you can feel the remnants of magic on Tony's head. You don't recognize it at first, but as your own magic removes the other energy, you sigh slightly. It feels familiar, but you don't know why. The energy is still harmful though, probably due to the intention of the one who cast it, but you manage to clean it all up.

You succeed because you coordinate your magic to wipe the other energy like you usually clear and heal wounds, and it seems to work, because Tony raises his hands to your wrist, his wide-eyed eyes soften and he looks almost startled.

"I'm sorry." He asks and swallows dryly. You remove your fingers from his forehead completely, watching with curiosity. He takes a deep breath, blinking several times as if waking up. "I'm sorry, everyone, I... Damn, it was like a horrible dream. I need to lie down for a minute."

And with that he leaves.

You don't ask questions anymore, because Steve is going after him, and you are trying to figure it out why you still feel the unknown magic tingling at your fingertips, as if it is trying to merge with yours.

//-//

You cry when you see Bucky again.

He lets out a disbelieving laugh, and then he's running up, hugging you tight.

Your conversation is long and intense, and is almost mostly made up of gratitude.

The other Avengers seem very happy to see the whole interaction, especially Steve.

Tony isolates himself in his room as soon as you arrive, and Thor looks upset. He and Bruce discuss something, and then they go to talk to Tony.

You don't pay attention because you are listening to Bucky tell you about getting all his memories back, and living with the Avengers since you helped him. He was now free from Hydra's control, and was pardoned by the state on condition that he was no longer the Winter Soldier.

Nat also added in his narrative the information that he and Steve were "making fondue" and the joke made him laugh with red cheeks but you didn't understand what that meant.

You are very happy to see him, but you can't help but think that he was not the one you wanted to find when you were free.

When he introduces you to the rest of the compound, and to your room, you hug him in appreciation, and you both exchange a knowing look, finally acknowledging that you are safe.

//-//

Your first night in the compound is a strange one.

After meeting the whole team, who were polite despite having fought you a few hours ago, you received a full meal and then locked yourself in your room.

But you were not used to having such a soft bed, not even before Hydra, so sleeping seemed kind of impossible.

Figuring that the Avengers wouldn't mind you taking a late night stroll, you left your room.

"Are you lost, girl?" A female voice suddenly sounded making you jump in fright. It was Natasha Romanoff, or as she introduced herself earlier, Black Widow.

"S-sorry, ma'am." You retorted clumsily, and the woman raised her eyebrows at you. "I can't sleep."

"First, I'm not old, so don't call me ma'am." She commented wryly, and you tried to smile. "Second, I know the feeling. If you want, I can distract you."

Your last social conversation with a woman happened a long time ago, and then you find yourself asking:

"Are you inviting me to have sex?"

Nat lets out a surprised laugh, crossing her arms.

"Where did that come from?" she asks, and you scratch your neck lightly.

"Sorry, I learned how to talk to women from television shows that Hydra soldiers watched in the labs. Bad references. What did you mean by distracting me?"

Nat laughed, impressed by your words.

"I meant like have some tea and tell a story." She clarifies, not sounding the least bit upset. You put your hands in the pockets of the pajamas you've been given.

"R-right. That sounds more appropriate." You mumble with flushed cheeks, eliciting another laugh from the woman. As you begin walking side by side, she comments.

"You know, I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with you around here. You are just as awkward as Steve and Bucky."

You end up hearing a story about agents in Budapest, but it seems Nat doesn't tell the whole story. It's nice, though, you missed talking to someone.

"That thing you did earlier with Tony, that was really cool." Nat remarks after a pause in silence.

You take a sip of your tea after shrugging, but she seems inquisitive.

"How did you know it was Maximoff who messed with his head?"

You almost choke at the sudden mention of the name and Nat's watchful gaze makes it impossible to disguise. You sigh.

"I... They are my friends." You confess looking down at the cup, "Or they used to be."

Raising your gaze to Nat again, she only seems curious to know, and you shrug slightly, deciding to trust her.

"We grew up together in Sokovia." You count twirling your fingers on the handle of your cup, "They were the only family I had in the orphanage. And well, it was for them that I broke into a Hydra building."

Nat listens to your story intently, and you swallow dryly before continuing.

"When they captured me, the serum, it... well, it didn't exactly leave me conscientious." You try to explain. "It was like pushing all my memories away, my mind would become completely empty."

“"Is that what they did to Bucky?" Nat questions and you shake your head.

"No, they used electric shock on Bucky." You return with a grimace. "With me, they couldn't hurt me permanently, so they needed something that would make me obey without me being able to heal. It was like being drunk, I guess, only much worse."

“I’m sorry.”

"It 's fine.” You say with a sad smile. “I was dumb enough to go there, i knew the risks.”

“Don’t say that.” Nat asks with a serious voice. “It’s was not your fault they torture kids.”

"And whose fault is it, then?" You retorted, upset, with yourself more than with Nat or anyone else. "My friends for being stubborn idiots? Of Stark for throwing a bomb in my building? I'm tired of looking for reasons to justify what happened to me. Nothing is enough, and I just want to see my friends."

Nat sighs lightly, and raises a hand on the table to reach for yours. You want to hold back the tears, but they are already falling before you can do so.

"I promise we will find your family." She assures you tenderly, and you feel your heart soar at the possibility.

You nod in understanding, taking a deep breath to stop crying.

Nat squeezes your hand, and it takes a moment for you to speak again.

"Wanda." You begin, and almost sob. It has been a long time since you have spoken that name. "She... She must have gotten her powers the same way I did." You say trying to remember everything you witness in Hydra at that moment. "I remember the soldiers talking about the twins being the only ones to survive the stone besides me."

"From Shield records, we know she can manipulate energy and Pietro can run really fast." Nat informs as she releases your hand. She sits thoughtfully for a moment."Maybe because you all got the magic through the same source, you can heal what she can do to Tony's mind. But that's not really my area, maybe you should talk to Thor as well."

You sigh lightly, wiping away the remainder of the tears falling on your face.

"I will." You say. "But I want to find Wan-the twins first." You correct yourself quickly, hoping Nat doesn't notice your flushed cheeks. She does, but says nothing.

"Try to get some rest." She asks as she picks up the teacups. "We have a party coming up, and then Thor is supposed to return to Asgard. I imagine you will want to have a little chat with Bucky before you return to Sokovia."

"I would go back to Sokovia right now if you ask me." You mutter making Nat chuckle lightly. "But I don't want to disturb any of you. I've waited for a long time, I can wait a little longer."

When Nat turns around after putting the glasses in the sink, she has a soft expression.

"You are not a nuisance here, kid." She assures with a smile. "We've just been caught a little by surprise with a new person, but it will be a pleasure to help you find the twins." She says and then has a mischievous expression. "I shouldn't tell you yet, but Steve is pretty excited about the whole thing. He wants you and the twins to join the team eventually."

"Really?" You ask in surprise and Nat just mumbles in agreement, still smiling.

She turns around on the countertop and before she leaves, she turns to you.

"If you ask my opinion, you seem to care a lot about both of them." She says. "I think that no matter how much time has passed, or if they are fighting on opposite sides, she will be happy to see you."

You swallow dryly, looking away.

Nat smiles one last time before leaving and you twiddle your fingers nervously, sitting for a while at the table before returning to your room.

With much to think about, you are surprised that you fall asleep almost instantly as you lie down.

//-//

The Hydra serum is still in your system.

You realize it in a rather embarrassing way actually.

After waking up on the couch, you went to the kitchen.

Bucky tells you that all the team is having a meeting and they will join you two soon, so you just lay against the wall while he reads the newspaper out loud for you.

The Avengers stay in the meeting room for a long time, and don't seem very pleased when they leave, but Tony seems intrigued.

You are surprised that he comes to talk to you as soon as he sees you.

"I didn't thank you for yesterday, kid." He says with a smile. "Whatever you did took away that bad feeling. Now I can work without having to hide that I'm trying to help."

You didn't quite know what to respond, but it didn't matter because Tony was patting you on the shoulder before smiling contentedly at the rest of the team.

"While I figure out a way to decipher the stone, which won't be hard since I'm incredibly smart." He begins his speech, causing the group to let out debauched laughter. "You guys can get busy with whatever old people do for fun. Except you Thunderlord, I'm going to need your help in the lab."

"Wow, Tony Stark asking for help." Thor teases and you watch the interaction with a smile on your lips, moving to join the table. "What a little magic doesn't do to your head, heh?"

"Don't tease me, Thundercat. I'll throw you out of this building, and you won't get any breakfast." He says with false seriousness and you laugh lightly as you pour yourself a cup of coffee. "Hey, kid, give me some too?"

"Ja, Master." You respond mechanically, perhaps even a little sleepily. The Avengers look at you with curiosity and confusion as they see you mechanically pour the coffee, and hand it to Tony, who looks shocked.

"He is not your master, kid." It is Natasha who breaks the silence, and you blink in confusion looking around for a moment.

"R-right." You say. "Sorry about that, Tony. Old habits I guess."

Tony thanks you for the drink, and you think the subject is going to die, but then Natasha keeps looking at you.

"Hey, Y/N, come over here." She asks and you move immediately. Shit. Natasha raises her eyebrow. "Take two steps to the left." Your body obeys. “Now to the right.” She asks and you obey again. This is terrible. The widow looks at you impressed.

"That looks bad." Tony quickly mocks before waving for Thor to accompany him to the lab, justifying that they should get to work soon.

Nat continues to look at you incredulously, but then Steve gets up from the table as well and snaps his fingers in front of your eyes, making you jump in fright slightly. He assumes a worried expression afterwards.

"You are obeying our orders as if we were your masters." He says. "Let's go see Bruce in the lab, he'll want to run some tests."

When you reach the lab, and Steve explains to Bruce what happened at breakfast, you are not surprised that he puts needles in your arm. You hope the news will be good when he finishes assessing your blood.

//-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-//

Tag List> @imapotatao / @aimezvousbrahms/ @ensorcellme/ @helloalycia || @mionemymind / @abimess / @stephanieromanoff / @yourtaletotell / @tomy5girls / @justagaypanicking / @thegayw1tch / @idek-5 // @myperfectlovepoem // @helloalycia // @ENSORCELLME // @aimezvousbrahms // @drpepperobsessed // @sighsam // @olsensnpm // @sxfwap // @table57 // @madamevirgo // @causeitswhatjesuswouldfreakingdo // @emptysince18x // @xastrydx || @yuhloversxx || @ymzki-haruki || @wouldirunofftheworldsomeday || @lostandsearching || @lezzzbehonesthere || @musicinourlips || @chaekhan || @diaryoflife

#wanda maximoff fanfiction #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x yn #wanda x reader #Left Behind #wanda maximoff #avengers fanfic #avengers x reader #bucky barnes x reader