#and Max to have permanently retired from the force | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

disneyprincemuke · 2 years ago

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everything at 18, but nothing at 22

alternatively: times she finished in the points while he dnfs

in which the drastic difference in their performance in their career seems to finally be catching up to them

(series masterlist)

-> australia, 2023

she simply cannot wipe the permanent smile on her face. she runs into her garage, straight from weigh-in, immediately greeted by blythe and ciara who are quick to take her in for a hug.

"oh, i made the points!" she laughs, jumping in a circle with her sisters. "can you believe it? i made history just by finishing in the top 10 today!"

"i told you you'll be amazing!" ciara puts her hands on her older sister's cheeks, before quickly pulling her in for another tight hug. "you did so well on the track amidst all the chaos!"

"history in the making with you just being here!" blythe shrieks, grabbing her shoulder. "you were amazing on the track. half the grid retired - did seb tell you?"

"he did," she laughs, slowly settling down as she stands on her feet. "speaking of that, i've got to speak to logan."

"no need to look around, i've got him here with me," oscar's accent fills her garage. "good job finishing above me, mate."

another shrill shriek escapes her mouth as she hops over to the two boys still in their race suits. she is received by oscar first, whispering neverending praises into her ear as they sway in their spot. she rubs circles on his back as they exchange compliments, both proud at their feat of achieving points in arguably one of the more chaotic races they've found themselves in.

as she pulls away, she meets a forced smile and sad green eyes as she is pulled into a hug by logan. "i'm so proud of you today. i stayed and watched the race just for you."

"baby, i'm sorry for the dnf," she whispers, her smile faltering slightly as she wraps her arms around his neck. she's lifted off the ground slightly, the height difference making their public hug slightly awkward. "this is only the third race - i swear it won't stay like this all season."

"no, don't worry about me," logan grins, pulling away from her. with a tender hand on her cheek, he quickly pulls it away when a flash goes off at the corner of his eye. instead, he settles for a hand on her shoulder and shakes her slightly. "today is all about you, ms. record breaker."

"for what it's worth, the fia is under fire for the chaos of today's race," she frowns, rubbing his sleeves up and down to offer a sense of familiarity.

their dream of getting into f1 together has finally come true. it's just a shame that they've got to keep their romantic gestures on the down low, or kept under wraps in fear of the backlash she might get.

"stop trying to justify my race," logan smiles, squeezing a cheek. he takes a step back and huffs, tilting his head as he looks at her. "look at you - i could have sworn you were just that lonely girl oscar decided to befriend at karting. now you're in f1 making history."

her smile carves into something softer, and looks up at him with a glimmer in his eyes that he couldn't ever get tired of. "i wouldn't be here without either of you."

logan squeezes her arm. "sneak into my hotel room later? let's watch a movie."

"oh, max invited me for drinks at some bar tonight. celebrate my first points or something like that," she frowns. "come with us, please? oscar will be there."

"i'll be okay," he smiles. "then sneak in after the drinks. you're funny when you're drunk, anyway."

"i'll sneak some cocktails in your room so we can watch a disney movie together and cuddle," she giggles. at the call of her name by sebastian, mentioning something about an interview she has to go do now. "i'll see you later?"

"i'll see you later." logan bends down, closing an eye when he feels her lips pressed against his cheek. "love you."

she turns around, already being pulled away by an impatient sebastian. she twists her body back to look at him. she mouths, "love you."

-> hungary, 2023

she presses her lips together, rocking back and forth on her feet as she awaits the door to open. when it does, it reveals a clearly dishevelled logan with a towel hung around his shoulders.

he's already in his sweatpants, while she stood out in the hallway in a romper, ready to head out for the evening. she scans her boyfriend head to toe and slumps her shoulders. "baby, you're not going out with us tonight?"

he pokes his head past the door, looking left and right before he lets her walk into his hotel room. she sighs softly, following him further into the room.

he drops himself onto the bed and shakes his head. "i don't deserve to be out and about celebrating after the race today. you go ahead and enjoy yourself, babe."

"my love," she hums, climbing onto the bed with a hand finding his neck to massage the muscle. "just because the race didn't go your way today doesn't mean you should lock yourself up here and be by yourself."

he leans into her touch, turning to lie on his side. he slings an arm around her waist while she comfortably sits on his bed. "i just don't think i should be outside. i'm an embarrassment." he nuzzles his face into the side of her thigh. "good call to keep the relationship behind closed doors - you'll be ridiculed for being with me."

"what?" she says softly, never really getting used to logan's harsh words against himself. she hangs her head low, trying to meet his eyes. "please, don't say that. i'm very proud of you. dnf or not."

"you and oscar have gotten your first points this year. i still have not," he sighs, turning to lie on his back again. "trust me, you don't want people to know you're dating me."

"i do want people to know i'm dating you," she coos, running her fingertip down the side of his face. she moves down and props herself up on her elbow to look over him. "it's just complicated right now - you know that."

"but you get what i'm saying, right?"

"i do," she lays on her stomach, pressing a kiss on his bare shoulder. "okay, let me tell max i'm not feeling great to head out tonight for drinks. do you want to go and eat somewhere just the two of us?"

"what? (y/n), please. you don't have to do any of this. i'm fine being by myself tonight."

"i want to be with you tonight," she grins. "let's go shopping? it's our first time in hungary."

-> zandvoort, 2023

"mate, have you seen logan?" she asks, approaching oscar with a frown. with a pepsi can in hand, she sips on the straw as her bright eyes scan the paddocks for her missing boyfriend. "usually, he'd be right by my garage after a race, but i've yet to find him."

"i can't say i've seen him since before the race," oscar frowns, realising that it's been a while since he's seen logan. he also scans the crowd, hoping that it's just her height that's hindering her chances of finding logan. to no avail, he doesn't find logan either. "is everything okay?"

she shrugs. "i don't know. he retired from the race again, did you hear?"

"i heard. do you know why?"

"no," she shrugs. "seb's got no idea either. can you let me know if you find him, please? i've got an interview i need to go and do."

-> singapore, 2023

"seriously?" she cries, tears rushing into her eyes. she takes the bouquet of loud colours and holds it against her chest. "this is the sweetest thing ever!"

"you like them?" logan grins down at the flowers that clash against the dark motif of her race suit tailor-made for tonight. "i saw them in the mall the other day when oscar and i were out. i was banking on the fact that you'd make it into the points today.

"even luckier that you made podium."

"this is the cutest thing ever," she smiles, sniffling as she drops her head to smell the flowers. "thank you so much, logan."

"you deserve it."

"but i'm sorry for where you finished today," she frowns, dropping an arm and moving to his side. she puts an arm around his waist and squeezes him slightly. "was the car not good today?"

"i think it's the street circuits not being very kind to me," logan sighs, shaking his head. "but, please, enjoy your podium celebrations. i'll join you for drinks tonight?"

"oh, really? you're joining tonight?"

"of course! my girlfriend just made history again," logan says softly into her ear. he squeezes her shoulder. "i have to be there to celebrate with her, right?"

-> qatar, 2023

"fuck!"

"logan, please. just sit down - you're really dehydrated."

"no, god. i'm such a fuck up!"

"hey, don't say that!"

"i retired again because i couldn't take the fucking heat!" he tugs at the roots of his hair, tears threatening to spill out of his eyes.

meanwhile, his girlfriend sits in the corner on a plastic chair with her lips pressed together as he paces around the room against the medical advice of every personnel who's attended to him.

still in her fireproofs, the younger girl nurses her helmet in her lap as she tries to calm logan down. "it's okay, baby. you weren't feeling well. you couldn't have done anything else."

"i could have just sucked it up and raced like everybody else!" logan frowns. "even you finished the race despite your period! what's that say about me?"

she scoffs, eyebrows furrowed as his statement manages to hit her the wrong way. "what are you trying to say? that between you and me, you deserved to finish more because i was hindered by the fact that i've got my period?"

regret strikes logan immediately, and she can see it in the way his look softens and his shoulders slump. "no, that's not what i meant. i mean, like-"

"it sounds like the way it sounds," she says softly, hurt lacing her every word. she shakes her head as she gets up to her feet, helmet hanging off her fingers by the strap. "i'll call you tomorrow, logan."

"(y/n), please wait. i'm sorry."

"i just need to be alone," she frowns, turning her back on him as she heads for the door. "feel better and stay put until the nurse comes back with an iv for you. but i've got to go - i just can't believe you'd say that to me."

-> mexico, 2023

"god, i'm no better at 22 than i was at 18." logan holds his face in his hands, elbows propped up on his knees as he finds comfort in the beanbag in her driver's room after their media commitments. "i don't understand."

it's another race where he's forcibly retired and she's managed to climb her way into the points. despite starting in the back of the grid that afternoon, she managed to challenge lando climbing up the positions on the track.

while she lost out to the more experienced driver, starting 16th and eventually climbing to 8th is no easy task. with sebastian in her ear, it was a slightly easier task that had a lot of people confused and shocked at where she suddenly finished the race.

realistically, it helped that the car was just feeling much better with the upgrades that the team brought in for her this weekend.

but logan unexpectedly had to retire towards the end of the race. which, was disheartening after the point that he got just last week in austin.

"am i just not made to be in f1? i don't get it," he says softly. "something's not right."

all she can do is sigh. nothing about their predicament now is easy: she can't fully relate to the low he's feeling because- well, she's doing fine in her rookie season compared to him.

she knows that and so does he. they try not to talk about it, but it's something that looms over their head whenever they're on social media or are attending interviews together. it doesn't make it any easier that fans are easily gawking at her presence when they chance upon them together in public.

while logan loves being her boyfriend, the past couple of years being the best times he's ever experienced, it's easier said than done to be proud of your girlfriend's achievements when you're always in the trenches week after week.

"i don't even know if i'll still have a seat next year," he sighs, throwing his head back to rest on the wall behind him. "god. i don't know what to do."

"i don't even know what to say," she whispers, crawling over to where he is. she places a hand on his knee and rests her chin on her hand. "i'm sorry you're feeling like this, lo."

"i know you don't get it."

"i know i don't. but i'm your girlfriend."

"you being by my side means more than you think it does." he breathes out with a sigh passing his lips, a hand resting on her shoulder as they sit in silence. "you can boast about your achievements to me, you know?"

"i know." she turns her head to look up at him. logan forces another smile, her worried stare igniting something in him to make sure that she knows he's okay. "but i'm with you even in your darkest hours."

"i'm extremely proud of how far you've come this season."

"i'm proud of how eloquently you're trying to hold yourself around me," she frowns, tracing circles on the material of his jeans. "but you don't have to pretend around me. we celebrate my achievements when you're feeling better."

"we can do both." logan sits up, a hand cupping her cheek to lift it up to meet his gaze. "your achievements shouldn't be tucked away in some box just because i had a bad weekend. i'm happy enough seeing you make history."

"logan..."

"let's head out to dinner with oscar tonight. it's a celebration - you guys have done so well."

"we can just stay in if you want."

"no more of that!" he cheers, his lips meeting the tip of her nose. "we're celebrating tonight. let's dress up, let's go out and take pictures, and then we can post about them on instagram while people speculate about how too close we seem to be. i don't care.

"you've done so much for the sport, you should be celebrated, babe. if you don't want to, i will celebrate you."

she sighs, rolling her eyes. "you're an idiot."

"but an idiot you love, yes?"

"an idiot i love, correct."

#disneyprincemuke #disneyprincemuke imagine #disneyprincemuke imagines #logan sargeant x reader #logan sargeant x you #f1 fanfic #disneyprincemuke vr #disneyprincemuke f1 #disneyprincemuke ial

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eirianerisdar · 1 year ago

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hi! i'm really loving icarus, you're a wonderful writer! but i just had a quick question. i love the flock graphics, and they're super helpful! would it be possible for you to maybe list the species of birds for the main 'characters' of the story as well? you don't have to post example photos or anything crazy, but i think just a list like that would be helpful too. sometimes i forget who has what kind of wings, and i think having a list so i can google image the bird would be great.

if that's not something you want to do or don't have time to do or something, no worries!! i really appreciate you taking the time to write icarus in the first place <3

Oof I might as well do a general guide! I never thought a maxiel wingfic would spawn so many specific wing allocations but here's the general list:

Paddock wings in Icarus:

Current grid:

Daniel Ricciardo - Scarlet Macaw (colourful, nimble flyers)

Max Verstappen - Peregrine Falcon (raw speed, inherited from his mother)

Sergio Perez -Crested Caracara (a type of mexican bird of prey)

Lewis Hamilton - Greater Bird of Paradise (beautiful wing plumes, lovely singer)

George Russell - Blue swallow (beautiful metallic-blue feathers, scream like madmen when they fly)

Carlos Sainz - Spanish Imperial Eagle (white epaulets, very regal)

Charles Leclerc - White Dove (need I say more? Perfect white wings, exploited because they're pretty but so intelligent in pathfinding)

Lando Norris - Lucifer Hummingbird (Small, colourful, likes to hover in place)

Oscar Piastri - Little Lorikeet (One of the smaller types of Australian parrot. Very cute)

Yuki Tsunoda - Japanese Long-tailed tit (Photos should be self explanatory. They fly like ballistic missiles)

Alexander Albon - Crested Fireback (National bird of Thailand. Beautiful dark blue and fiery plumage)

Logan - Blue Jay (Commonly found in Florida. Blue, like Logan's current posting, and his eyes)

Pierre Gasly - Osprey (A bird of prey often found near coasts along the European shoreline, and Pierre is from Normandy)

Esteban Ocon - Black Stork (Tall, gangly, also migrates through France)

Fernando Alonso - Kestrel (a type of small bird of prey, hunts by biding their time and waiting then divebombing)

Lance Stroll - Snowy Owl (Lance is cuddly ok and I didn't want to make him a Canadian goose because that's his dad)

Valtteri Bottas - Bullfinch (Look it up. The picture is self-explanatory. The manliest of men)

Zhou Guanyu - Chinese Red-Crowned Crane (A crowned crane for the champion of the universe, as translates his name)

Kevin Magnussen - Raven (Viking. quoth the raven.)

Nico Hulkenberg - Crow (he keeps coming back. As wily as many of their bird counterparts but has a bad rep for being a bad omen)

Retired drivers or drivers not currently on the grid:

Sebastian Vettel - Swiftlet (Extremely good fliers, reaching up to 160km/h and pulls insane G-forces)

Mick Schumacher - European robin (Very cute. Universally liked. Same wings as his father)

Nico Rosberg - Eurasian Sparrowhawk (a bird of prey that hunts by ambushing before a high-speed, agile chase)

Jenson Button - Northern Harrier (hunts in a high-speed flight close to the ground, exceptionally good listeners)

Mark Webber - Cassowary (look up a photo. Just look at it.)

Kimi Raikkonen - Giant Albatross (King of gives no shits, flies very long distances without a care)

David Coulthard - Bush-Stone Curlew (White trousers!)

Romain Grosjean - Red-tailed Hawk (I chose the bird of prey that could best mesh with the phoenix metaphor)

Antonio Giovannazi - White-spotted Starling (Very pretty plumage)

Daniil Kyvat - Great Bustard (I honestly don't remember why. Distributes in Russia)

Nyck De Vries - Common European Sparrow (Small. Commonly found. Unfortunately often hunted)

Nikita Mazepin - Flamingo (Need I say more)

Sir Jackie Stewart - (Clipped) Merlin Wings (Extremely fast Scottish bird of prey. In-fic, Jackie was one of the generation of drivers that clipped their wings, permanently robbing them of flight)

Team Principals and people in the paddock:

Toto Wolff - Black Swan (self-explanatory)

Christian Horner - Golden Eagle (A bit pompous. Matches his hair)

James Vowles - Magpie (Utterly clever, not from any particular prestige)

Fred Vasseur - Partridge (Affable. Cuddly.)

Guenther Steiner - Shoebill (self-explanatory, look up a photo)

Cyril Abiteboul - Eagle Owl (something about his face is very Eagle Owl)

Micheal Italiano - Kookaburra (laughs when they shouldn't)

Zak Brown - Chicken (self-explanatory. Literally and metaphorically)

Andreas (mclaren) - Common Quail (short lifespan)

Mattia Binotto - Pigeon (wants to be as pretty and loved as Charles. Is a public nuisance instead)

Otmar sznafnauer - Peacock (Struts around, can't really fly)

Resident Bastard:

Jos Verstappen - Cuckoo (Cuckoos are brood parasites, and lay their eggs in nests of birds of other species'. The cuckoo parent therefore does nothing while other birds raise their young)

#I've probably missed a couple minor characters so if anyone has any questions feel free to drop a reply and I'll answer #f1 #f1 wingfic #f1 wing au #icarus #my post #writing #fanfic

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jumpywhumpywriter · 8 months ago

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Living Weapon Whumpee *BONUS* Scene part 14

Warnings: forced living weapon/fighter, aftermath of being a weapon/semi-retired weapon, lost family, fractured memories, rejection

She could worry about what to do with all this new knowledge later - and decide if she wanted to confront Weapon about it.

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

Whumpee awoke later than everyone else despite the sun shining in his face, and found himself alone in the sleeping quarters. He sat up with a grunt, stretching the stiffness out of sore muscles. His body ached after his outburst yesterday, nerves protesting as he stood up and headed toward the dining area.

Everyone who spotted him on the way mysteriously vanished or ducked out of sight -- news of what happened yesterday must have spread fast, and no one wanted to risk crossing him in a bad mood. He was used to being met with fear by now, but it still bothered him, because no matter how hard he tried to fit in and prove he meant no harm -- all it would take is one outburst, one tiny flicker of anger from him to send everyone diving for cover, scattering like mice. The image that the soldiers weren't afraid of him anymore was always an illusion.

Even Max looked a bit wary when Whumpee grabbed his meal and came to sit next to him at the table in the corner of the room -- furthest away from everyone else. No one else but Max and occasionally Jake ever sat with him to talk or engage in friendly conversation. But it was better than nothing, he always told himself.

The atmosphere of the dining area had instantly shifted the moment Whumpee showed up, but he didn't meet any of the gazes he knew were on him as he dug into his meal.

Whumpee and Max ate in uncomfortable silence, before Max cautiously cleared his throat to catch Whumpee's attention.

Whumpee raised an eyebrow, silently showing he was listening.

Max leaned back in his chair, staring at his half-finished plate to avoid eye contact. "Are you... feeling any better than yesterday?" He hesitantly asked, voice low and quiet to prevent anyone from overhearing.

"...Barely," Whumpee muttered under his breath, thinking back to his conversation with Flint that night. It had given him a new perspective, and a lot to reflect on.

Max scratched the back of his head, glancing sideways at him. "Are you... planning to try and talk to her?"

Whumpee knew who he was referring to, and his chest seized with phantom pain. He'd been trying not to think too hard about it.

"--Sorry," Max hastily apologized when he noticed him stiffen. "I didn't mean to pressure you or--"

"--Relax," Whumpee said flatly, "I'm not mad at you. I'm just... working through a lot, and not sure what to do. I do want to speak with Miranda, if only to explain myself... but I'm unsure how she'll react, and I don't want to scare her more than she already is. I don't want to ruin my one chance at possibly making things better." He bowed his head with a heavy sigh. "...She only knows me as Weapon. And Weapon kills and destroys everything he touches."

"Not true," Max chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. "You did a pretty fine job of saving us when Reed betrayed our team," he pointed out. "I wouldn't even be alive right now if not for you. If you had chosen to leave me behind when I was shot..." He gestured at the permanent round bullet scar on his leg. "...I wouldn't be here. You didn't destroy the team, despite everyone thinking you would."

"Does 'everyone' include you too?" Whumpee grumbled.

Max's smile wavered. "I did have my doubts at first, but I was one of the first of our team to trust you. And you proved that trust wasn't ill-placed." He shrugged. "I know the situation with your wife seems hopeless, but... You'll drive yourself mad thinking about all the 'what ifs'. All you can do is try, and see how it plays out. You both deserve to have answers. And that will only come if you take time to talk."

"But what if she's still terrified of me?" Whumpee growled.

Max gave him a cocky grin. "What did I just say about 'what ifs'?" He teased lightheartedly. "But if you need hope, look around you. Everyone here used to be scared to death of you. Some still are, but... there's others like me who are learning how to live alongside you, as allies. It will take time, but... you need to give Miranda a chance to accept the new you. Or you'll never feel whole."

But what if she never accepts me? What if she will hate and despise me forever? Whumpee's thoughts echoed. I'm a literal monster... and monsters don't deserve to be loved. What if I deserve this pain, as payment for all the blood on my hands?

But Whumpee forced a strained smile on his face, despite the war raging inside him as he stood up from his seat. "Thank you," he said to Max, and walked off to speak with Flint. Both for advice… and permission.

⏪️ Back Next ⏩️

Masterlist

@scoundrelwithboba @lumpofsand @isikedmyself878 @iamheretohurt @fleur-a-whump

@ay5ksal @otterfrost @sausages-things @i-don't-know-sal @togzy

@whump-till-ya-jump @cravesunconditionallove @whumpwritinglover222 @silly-scroimblo-skrunkl @cepheusgalaxy

@dragongodryss @theforeverdyingperson

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securelifetimelegacy · 14 days ago

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#Secure Lifetime Legacy

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donveinot · 1 year ago

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amberwild420 · 4 years ago

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OSB, TSF (pt. 57)

masterlist

Mutual respect

What do you know about the heroes?

Damian was quick to ask the question bluntly. Jon awkwardly looked at his best friend, feeling as if he was too obvious in his interrogation. But the group of five wasn’t that affected.

Well, in the beginning it was only Ladybug and Chat Noir. Than they would call in some temporary heroes if they need help with a particularly strong akuma and a senti-monster.

They are retired Mari-bear. Ladybug permanently benched them. They were simply ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.

Chloe…… Marinette glared at her but the blond simply flipped her hair and looked away. Kaylan leaned against the blond who gladly took her in her arms.

…as I was saying, ladybug has the ladybug miraculous and she has a yo-yo as her weapon, she calls for an item to help in the battle and then she purifies the akuma and cast her cure that fixes every damage in the battle.

Every damage?

…..every damage including destroyed building, injuries and…..death.

A weird glint passed through their eyes. Damian was certain he had seen that in the eyes of his father and brother. It was a mix of emotion like sadness, furry and determination. Something only he knows.

A moment of stillness and then Luka strung her guitar; a relaxing tone filled the air before Marinette started telling them again.

So Chat Noir has the cat miraculous and he is Ladybug’s partner……

You mean was.

Marinette ignored the comment. He uses cataclysm and turns anything he touches into dust. So he is opposite of ladybug.

Then we had temporary heroes but now they are all replaced, something about them being compromised and not good enough outside the mask. Ladybug said something like that.

Does she still have other heroes?

Damian was persistent. He wanted as much information as possible. This group of five is a good source and he was content even if he didn’t get everything he wanted to know.

He tried to use local news and blog and he certainly wanted to destroy a liar blog but he forced down his intention. This was an emotionally hostage city, he can’t get compromised.

She does. She has Python, Ryu, Luna and Honeybee. I think she said that they were permanent heroes.

They are. She said that in Nadja’s interview, when she introduced Luna.

Kaylan said casually before looking at her watch.

We better get to school. If that liar did some trick, I need some time to get rid of that.

The two American’s raised their eyebrows but was ignored and were just pulled towards the school.

Kaylan was the first one to enter the class with an umbrella. (Damian and Jon were completely baffled when she pulled the umbrella out of her bag and went in like she was on an undercover mission.)

It happened too fast. Kaylan opened the umbrella with a snap and whole bucket of dirty water fell on her. The four outside the room were shocked, two more than the others. Luckily, Kaylan was under the umbrella and thus was safe.

She closed the umbrella before hitting the incoming chalk duster. Jon was sure that he had never seen something like this.

Sure he heard about bullying in his school here and there but for most parts the teachers had a good control over them. But here……

If not for Kaylan’s quick response, she would be drowning in dirty paint water and would have been slapped with a chalk duster.

Damian looked at the two girls who stood outside. Instead of shock, they looked rather concerned. It was clear that they were rather used to such treatment and knew how to handle.

Kaylan spins the umbrella and stood like she was on a runway. The smile she gave was not reaching her eyes at all.

It seems like you had thrown my warning out of the window. That’s fine, let’s walk on my threat.

Kaylan stepped towards them dangerously while smiling.

Hmm. What should I do first? The shy and nervous one looked like they were so close to tears.

I can cut off the hands which put the bucket and threw the duster.

Kim and Ivan paled and grabbed their hands as if trying to protect them.

I can tear off the mouths that said words and enabled them.

Alya, Lila and Alix paled and shivered.

Or I can just tear off the brain and spine of those who had the idea.

Max and Markov shrunk in the background.

Or….. She grinned with a bloodthirsty look. …I can simply strip all of you off your skin while I hear those lovely screams that would come out of your mouth.

The whole class shivered under her gaze. Damian looked at the bluenette who was rubbing her forehead. With a sigh she looked up and opened her mouth.

Kaylan, your dark side is showing.

Oops!

Suddenly the suffocating air disappeared from the class and Kaylan smiled at the blunette and hugged her acting coy.

But M we need to teach them a lesson. They are all bullying me. Did you not see the water and the chalk? Let me get rid of them permanently. Pretty please!

She looked at her with puppy dog eyes. Marinette cursed in the back of her mind. Despite being a cold person, Kaylan knew how to pull those eyes and she was certain she could see the wagging tail and dog ears flopped against her head.

But Marinette was persistent making her whine. Chloe cackled and pulled her against her and got to her seat.

On the other hand, both Damian and Jon looked baffled, one more than other. But they had to admit that it was pretty badass. By the end of the day, the pair was able to get a general understanding of the whole class dynamic and were inclined to join the trio.

After all there was a slight sense of mutual respect between them.

#One Step Back #two steps forward #miraculous ladybug #Miraculous Team #Miraculous Friends #maribat #paris heroes #akuma class #lila the liar #kaylan can kill

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unmaskedagain · 5 years ago

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Agent Marinette

Okay I have struggled all week with a massive case of Writers block and today I beat it. This a crossover fic. Guess it by the end.

In retrospect, Marinette should’ve realized eventually other forces outside of Paris would take an interest in the masked heroine. At least they had been polite enough to wait until AFTER Hawkmoth was defeated.

Marinette was eleven when she became the hero Ladybug. And her world shattered a bit.

Marinette was fourteen when Hawkmoth was finally defeated.

Marinette was fourteen when Ladybug retired. And her world shattered again, this time a bit more.

It had taken nearly every miraculous they had to take the villain down but eventually, Gabriel Agreste was taken down, his memories of the miraculous erased. (Nathalie with him) His son Adrien Agreste surrendered his own miraculous, his position as Chat Noir, and his own memories of being a hero and everything he’d ever learned of magic and Kwami. All to prevent his father from ever learning of them again.

However, erasing his memories of his life as Chat Noir, unavoidably included erasing his memories of his friendship Ladybug, with Marinette. A friendship that had grown stronger, in and outside the mask, over fighting the evil that haunted Paris back together. Keyword: together.

On the same day, Ladybug had lost her best friend, Marinette did too. Both lost the boy she thought she’d marry one day. They could never be together. She’d have to lie to him for the rest of their lives. Marinette would never be able to do that. And she wouldn’t let Adrien’s sacrifice be in vain.

So she distanced herself from him. She couldn’t look at him without seeing Chat Noir. She couldn’t look at him, knowing she knew just about everything about him but he knew nothing about her. To him, Marinette was just some girl in his class; a sort of friend he was never really that close to.

Strangers, really.

It was why Marinette transferred out of Bustier’s class. The best thing for her heart was to stay away.

Still, she thought in a way, it was a happy ending. The best happy ending she could get. Hawkmoth was gone. Paris was safe. Ladybug was retired. Fu had reclaimed all Kwami and had disappeared. The world was good.

Until it wasn’t. Until one rainy Thursday. Her parents had gone out for a date night. They never made it home. There had been an accident. The other driver had been drunk. The funeral was on a Tuesday.

Marinette’s world had shattered once again, more than ever before.

Marinette was an orphan.

Her grandmother Gina sold the bakery, put the money from the sale and the life insurance into an account for Marinette, and moved Marinette into a nearby apartment, and then was gone. Legally, the older woman was Marinette’s guardian. But otherwise, Marinette was on her own. It was fine. Her dad had always warned her that his mom was a free spirit who never liked to be tied down.

She would talk with her grandmother once every other month if she was lucky. They primarily only communicated through email. The reception was spotted in the parts of the world Gina like to frequent.

At only fourteen, Marinette got used to paying bills, buying groceries, and virtually being an adult. She got used to living alone. Just like she got used to not being a hero anymore. Just like she got used to not having any friends after Lila came knocking on the class’s door.

A year later, the young girl was thriving. Her grades were at the top of the school, right after Max. She was class treasurer and on the track team, having missed the feeling of running as fast she could. She started Kuoshu classes; her mother had always wanted her to learn Chinse martial arts for defense. And Marinette missed the adrenaline she used to get after a fight.

It was a good life. A simple life. Marinette had only normal life worries to be concerned about.

…Again, she really should’ve known the other shoe would drop eventually.

Still, no fifteen-year-old girl who was minding her own business, casually walking down the street, wanted to suddenly have a black bag over her and tossed into the back of a van. In fact, it was every girl, woman, and human being’s worst nightmare.

She was tied up. She was gagged. She couldn’t see. She couldn’t hear. Marinette had no idea how much time had passed. Or where they were taking her. Or who had taken her? She fought the tears that burned in her eyes as she struggled with the bonds around her hands. No matter how hard she tried, they wouldn’t break or budge. By the coldness of it, she knew she was either in handcuff or something similar made of metal.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Marinette felt herself be picked up and carried. She struggled against her assailant. She tried to kick her with her bound legs, hit with her tied fists. Nothing.

Marinette found herself being lower onto something. A chair she quickly realizes as she pressed her back to it.

Suddenly, the metal band around her hands released. Marinette quickly pulled the black bag off her head, undid the tap around her mouth, and took the plugs out of her ears.

She was in a mostly black room that only lights overhead, a vent the size of a phone, the table she sat at, and a large mirror across from her. Marinette figured it was a two-way mirror-like on cop shows, and that she was being watched. However, what concerned her most was that there was no sign of any door. Just walls and that mirror.

There was no escape.

Marinette glared at the mirror, at whoever was behind it.

She didn’t know how long she waited as she plotted her escape. Considering all variables for when they came back to her. Would they have guns? How many people would there be? Could she fight her way out? And just who her kidnappers could be? Child traffickers? Serial killer? Her past enemy, Hawkmoth, comes back for revenge? Who?

When a portion of the wall, next to the mirror opened, Marinette tried not to flinch back in surprise.

In walked a man at least twice her age. He wore a black suit and tie with a serious expression on his face. He was handsome with short dark hair and dark eyes and cheekbones that could cut glass.

The door closed behind him once he stepped through. He said nothing as he sat down in the chair across from her. They started at each other silently.

Marinette cracked first, “Who are you? What do you want? Where am I?”

A small smile appeared on the man’s face, “You’re a very hard girl to track down, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I’d have thought it would’ve been easier considering all you’ve done.” He had an American accent.

“Track? What?” Why would he want to track her down? “I didn’t do anything. Nothing! Okay?!”

He gave her a curious look, “Really? Well, I wouldn’t call saving all of Paris on a nearly everyday basis for what two years, nothing.” He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Don’t try to deny it. We have pictures, videos; evidence.”

It was like someone had thrown ice water over her head. Marinette swallowed the lump that had built in her throat. “Who. Are. You.” She managed to get out.

“Me? I’m a friend,” He answered. “You can call me Black Heart.”

“Black Heart?” Marinette snorted. “You’re serious?”

“Oh because Ladybug is so much better,” He rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I have questions. You’re going to answer them.”

He wanted to know about the miraculous, she guessed. Or how she got her powers. Marinette crossed her arms, “I have nothing to say.”

Black Heart chuckled and stood up. He put his hands on the table, “Listen very carefully, Marinette. Because there are only two ways we can do this.”

Marinette smirked, “Is one of them the easy way?”

A look she couldn’t recognize briefly flashed over Black Heart’s face but gone just as quick. “No,” He answered.

“Oh.”

“Who are you?” He asked her.

She paused before answering, “…My name is Marinette but you know that. I was the hero Ladybug but you know that as well.”

“What happened to HawkMoth?”

She felt fine answering that. However, she gave the same answer she gave to the press, “Hawkmoth was defeated. He was stripped of his powers and destroyed.”

“You killed him?”

It wasn’t the first time Ladybug had been asked that question. “…Yes.” She lied though it didn’t feel like much of one. Hawkmoth was dead after all.

Blackheart nodded. “What happened to Chat Noir? And the other heroes? Dead too?”

Marinette fought to keep her face blank, her fists clenched. “Yes,” She said. “They were causalities of the final fight with Hawkmoth.” Technically not a lie. Every Parisian hero had given up their miraculous once and for all after Hawkmoth was gone. There was no need for them anymore.

The man raised an eyebrow, “Gabriel Agreste is still very much alive last I checked.” She reared back as if slapped. “So is Adrien is otherwise known as Chat Noir. Alya Cesaire aka Rena Rouge, her turtle boyfriend. The monkey guy. The tiger. The snake; Luka, I believe. All alive and kicking. So much for that lie…”

“They were retired,” Marinette growled. “Permanently.”

“Truth,” Blackheart nodded. “How did you erase their memories?”

It had taken the combined power of Fu, Marinette, Tikki, Wayzz, and Plagg to do it. “I didn’t do anything.”

Black Heart gave her a hard look, “Where do your powers come from?”

Marinette smiled, “I don’t have any powers.”

“Fine! Where do Ladybug’s powers come from?”

“I am Ladybug,” She told him. “And Ladybug doesn’t have any powers.”

“You mean anymore?”

Marinette nodded slowly.

Black Heart sat back in his chair, “You’re telling me that you busted your ass saving Paris for two years, only to have your powers taken from you? You were tossed to the side just like that? Like you were nothing? I’m supposed to believe that.”

“I wasn’t needed anymore.” By anyone.

“You took down one of the biggest threats to this world,” The man said. “You fought. You bled. You sacrificed everything. From what our intelligence has gathered, you even gave up the love of your young life. Only to be cast aside; alone, forgotten, abandoned…”

“That’s not what happened,” Marinette shook her head.”

“You weren’t useful anymore,” Blackheart tutted. “So you were thrown away; left to fend for yourself in a cold, cruel world. No friends, no family,”

“Shut up,” Marinette whispered.

The man leaned forward, “How many internships did you turn down because you were too busy being a hero? Two? Three?”

“Shut up!” She said louder.

“Wait, it was five. That’s right.” He continued on as if she said nothing. “Five internships with some of the biggest names in fashion today. And you gave it up. Now what you have to show for it? Nothing!” He said. “You live this mundane life halfheartedly, struggling to find your place again, trying to get back even a fraction of the feeling you had when you fighting for this world!”

“SHUT UP!” Marinette roared.

Black Heart shook his head, “I asked you who you are. But I already know who you are. I know who you were. You were a hero, a martyr, a leader, a little princess who believed in fairytales and the goodness of people. You were someone who believed this world could still be saved! So I just want to know three things. I have three questions to ask you and then you never have to see me again! You can go back to pretending to be whatever the hell you want. I don’t care.”

“What?” Marinette asked. “What could you possibly want to know?” Need to know that he didn’t already. “Huh? Just tell me!”

“Do you still believe this world can be saved?”

Silence.

“…What?”

“Answer the question.”

Marinette blinked, “Yes. I do.”

“Are you still willing to fight for it?” Black Heart asked.

“Always.”

He smiled, and leaned back in his chair, “Last question… What do you know about Shield?”

Well, that was a twist. Marinette’s eyes went wide. She knew a lot about shield. More than any normal teenage girl should. But a former Ladybug had been an Agent. And Tikki told her everything... It was founded by Peggy Carter and Howard Stark. Shield started the Avengers. They had been protecting the world for decades.

“A lot,” Marinette answered. “What do you want?

The man gave her a small smile, “World peace.”

The doors of the room opened again in walked a beautiful young woman with long hair a bright smile on her face, “You done traumatizing the poor girl yet.”

The man groaned, “Dammit, Skye.”

Marinette officially joined Shield the next day.

Skye showed her the ropes and explained until she garnered some trust, most would give her their full name; maybe only even their code name.

In another life, Skye hadn’t joined Shield until she was well into her twenties. In this life, she was recruited by a woman named Hill as soon as she graduated high school. It had been nearly ten years since. Skye had met Black Heart when she was about three years in, and they had disliked each other.

Now they mostly tolerated the others’ existence. Only really dealing with each other on missions.

Skye would be gone the next day. And Marinette would only see her once in a blue moon.

Marinette would withdraw from school and finish her education taught by some of the greatest minds in the world. She would give up her apartment, and leave Paris. She would call her grandmother one last time for what would be months to let her know she was going to travel the world; her grandmother was pleased as she had done the same when she was not much older than Marinette. Gina disregarded the fact that she had been a legal adult at the time.

It would be the last call she made from her phone. The line was disconnected and the phone tossed.

Then she visited the place that had been her parents’ bakery, not their graves; because she would rather remember them alive, happy, and loving, then dead in the ground. And she told them goodbye.

Before leaving Paris for good, she dropped off a perfectly wrapped green and black present off at the Agreste home. Adrien’s birthday was coming up. Inside the gift box was a black leather jacket with cat-shaped buttons. She handed the gift to Nathalie.

This time, however, Marinette was quick to tell the older woman that MDC was sewn inside on the jacket; multiple times.

Then she walked away; not looking back once.

It was the last thing Adrien would ever get from her. The last thing he would unknowingly have of Chat Noir. Ironically, the masked hero the blond had come to idolize in recent times.

The jacket was all she could give him of his as a hero, and not even a fraction of all she had wished to give him.

One day he would forget her altogether. One day she would just be a random former classmate of his whose name he couldn’t quite remember.

However, Marinette would never forget Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir. She would remember when Adrien was Chat Noir, one of the greatest heroes Paris would ever know. And she would remember Chat Noir was Adrien, and Adrien proved to be a greater hero than even he ever dared dream Chat Noir would be.

Marinette would remember because she owed him that much at least.

The night she left Paris would be the last time she dreamed of a life with Adrien. A life where they got to grow old together; one where wedding bells were heard. And he’d kiss her every time she left. And she’d kiss him every time she came back. A life where they got to see where their love would take them, and maybe one day hear the pitter-patter of little feet on their floor.

A life where Marinette did actually become a fashion designer. A life where she married Adrien, Alya was still her best friend, her parents were alive, the world was good and kind, and two heroes got the finale they deserved.

A life where love was enough, and they got their happy ending. The forever they never got would haunt her forever.

Marinette was fifteen when she went she joined shield and went back to doing what she did best; helping people, saving the world.

Marinette was fifteen when she became an Agent of Shield.

Marinette was fifteen when she learned how to shoot a gun.

Marinette was fifteen when she joined Black Hear became her mentor. The training had been a killer. More than once, Marinette had nearly quit.

Blackheart would just shake his head at her and say, “Life is tough, kid,” He’d give her an easy smile. “But so are you.”

Marinette smiled.

“You and me?” Grant said. “We’re the same. We’re Kevlar. We do whatever it takes to complete the mission. We get the job done. Keep our feelings and emotions; personal wants and desires in check. For the greater good. Its who we are. Whatever it takes.”

“Whatever it takes,” Marinette repeated back. “But that doesn’t mean we have to shut people out; each other out.”

“Yes, it does,” Grant said firmly. “Yes, I do.” He stopped talking and look Marinette in the eyes, “There are things about me you don’t know. I’ve done things I… Thing you wouldn’t like if you knew.”

“We all have,” Marinette shrugged at her father figure. “It’s a part of the job. I get it.”

Grant smiled at her, “I know you do. I know you would. We’re the same. We know this world isn’t all happiness and rainbows but we don’t stop trying to save it. We don’t stop believing it can be saved; that what we’re doing has a purpose. But there are things I can’t tell you. Things about me… that you wouldn’t like if you knew. One day, I hope you understand though. I know we will. We’re the same. But You’re good.”

“So are you,” Marinette said. “Grant, you’re like the best guy I know. You’re good.”

“Not always,” Grant looked away. “You need to know, Marinette, I’m not a good man.”

“I believe you are.” She stated, “You can’t convince me otherwise.”

It would a year later after much trust was built, and they had gone of dozens and dozens of missions that she finally learned his real name.

Grant.

Over the next few years, Grant became like a father to her. And to him, she was like a daughter. He taught her everything he knew. Marinette did everything she could to make him proud. He made her believe that they could really save the world, change the world for the better.

Where Grant went, she followed; most of the time. Sky would slowly start to show up more and more; until it was clear she wasn’t going anyway.

Whenever she was hurt, and the mission was over, Grant would tell a story about his past.

Her favorites were the ones about a monster who loved the sky. It was clear that it was about him and Skye. “Do you want to hear a story, princess?” He smiled. “It’s about a man who struggled with his demons his entire life. Who asked for love throughout his entire life. But he never got it. Until she came. She made him feel important. She made him laugh. She made him better. She became his world.”

Marinette couldn’t understand what was stopping the two from getting together.

She met Nick Fury when she was seventeen and was sent on the first on her first solo mission.

When she was eighteen, Grant and Skye were approached by a man named Coulson. The same Coulson that had supposedly been killed by a god named Loki. The strangest part was Marinette was tapped to join too.

The team consisted of Coulson, May, Grant, Skye, Fitz, Simmons, and Marinette.

They were a team. They became a family.

However, then John Garrett was revealed to be Hydra; a man Marinette had thought she knew well. (Grant killed him. And she mourned with him the man they thought John was.)

Then project insight happened. Nick Fury was killed. Captain America exposed all of Shield in an effort to reveal Hydra.

Shield was labeled a terrorist organization.

The team was on their own.

But, Marinette thought more than once over the next coming months, at least they had each other.

They ended up at a place called Providence. They were given lie detector tests by Agent Eric Koenig. “Fury designed this himself,” The portly man said. “He wanted a lie detector Romanoff couldn’t beat.”

“Did she?” Grant asked

“Like Fury would tell!”

Marinette sat in the machine and tried to relax.

“We’re going to start with some easy question,” Eric told her. “Can I have your full name?”

“Marinette Clarissa Dupain-Cheng.”

“Eye color?”

“Blue,” Marinette stated.

The agent nodded, “Have you ever been married?”

Marinette shook her head, “No.”

“Please list your immediate living family.”

“My grandmother Gina,” Marinette answered. “My grandfather. I considered my team my family though.”

“What’s the difference between an egg and a rock?”

Marinette gave him an “Are you Serious” look, “One's food, ones a weapon.”

“Have you ever heard of project insight?”

“Never.”

“Have you ever had contact with Alexander Pierce.”

“I have,” She answered honestly. “Once. Just after the New York Invasion. Agent Hill introduced me.”

“You wash up on a desert island, alone. Sitting in the sand is a box. What’s in the box?”

“How big is the box?” Marinette asked curiously. “How did it get there? What island am I on? Am I near freshwater.”

“Just say the first thing that comes to your mind, Marinette,” He told her. “What’s in the box?”

“A pair of earrings.”

Eric gives her a funny look but notes her age and shrugs it off. Spy teen girls were still teen girls, after all. “Shield no longer exists. The agency has been labeled a terrorist organization. So why are YOU here.”

Marinette thought about the question. She had thought about it before. Shield had fallen. No one knew who was or wasn’t Hydra. She should’ve been gone in the wind. However, she had never even considered it. “Shield is all I have. Ward, Skye, Coulson, May, Simmons, Fitz, Trip; they’re all I have. They’re my family.” She told him. “And truthfully, I joined Shield because I believe this world is worth saving. I believe it can still be saved. I believe that it is good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.”

“I love Lord of the Rings,” Agent Eric Koenig grinned. “Let’s get you a Lanyard, Agent Dupain-Cheng.

While Skye, May, and Grant stayed at Providence, Marinette joined Coulson and the others.

When Marinette returned to the base after saving the Cellist lady. The bus was gone. May was gone. Grant and Skye were gone.

What was left of the team had debated long about what had happened; why the three had left.

When Coulson said, “Worst case… We've had a wolf in the herd the whole time.”

Marinette didn’t believe that at first. Not until she heard the scream. Saw Agent Eric Koenig’s body. Saw the word written on the picture.

Ward is Hydra.

“Not Ward,” Fitz said.

“Not Ward,” Marinette repeated. “Not Ward.” Skye was wrong. She had to be wrong. Ward couldn’t be Hydra. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t.

Then Simmons gave the analyze of Agent Eric Koenig’s murder.

“Ward did this,” Simmons said.

In a fury, Fitz smashed a few things.

Marinette could only stare in space as the words penetrated her mind.

Ward is Hydra.

The man she thought she knew the best.

The man she had sworn her loyalty to, had given all her trust to, had loved like a father.

The man who had gotten her to swear loyalty to Shield.

Grant Ward had been her S.O. Her mentor. Her leader. Her captain.

Grant Ward was Hydra.

And just like that, Marinette’s world shattered again.

And just like that, everything she ever thought she believed in was questioned.

It would be months before she saw him again, and by then it had been confirmed without a doubt Grant Ward was Hydra. He was the enemy.

He would try to kill the team multiple times. Grant Ward would do everything he could to get her alone to speak with and or to Skye. Like he could change their minds. He had gone full psycho Hydra and didn’t seem to be stopping any time soon.

Marinette was captured by Hydra not long before her twenty-first birthday.

She was tied up and chained to a desk.

Grant Ward walked in with an easy smile on his face, “Marinette. This brings back memories.”

“Old Blackheart himself,” The bluenette hissed back. “Good to see you again. Oh, Wait! As your lot puts; Hail Hydra, right?”

He nodded and sat down across from her, “Ladybug.”

“Just kill me,” Marinette shrugged. “I won’t tell you anything. You know I won’t. I won’t Hydra. You and the rest of the freaking Nazi can go to hell.”

Ward looked shocked, “Kill you? You really think I would… I would never hurt you, Marinette!” He told her. “You have to know that. I would never want to hurt you.”

“Maybe not want to,” Marinette looked him dead in the eye. “But you will. All apart of the job, right.”

“Do you think this was easy for me?” Grant asked. “You of all people understand how hard it was; the impossible decisions that had to be made. You know what it's like to make a choice that breaks you inside. But we make them anyway. I made them anyway. Because that’s what I do. What we do.”

Marinette shuddered. “A Double Agent. Do what needs to be done. Betray everyone who loves you, cares about you. Because we don’t matter, only the mission does. Right? That’s what you tried to train into me; anything for the mission.”

“No!” Ward shouted. “That’s who you were before I ever met you. You don’t get to put that on me. That’s why Shield wanted you. Because you did whatever it took to stop Hawkmoth for good. Whatever it took for the greater good. That’s how I knew we were the same.”

Silence.

Ward stood up, “You’re good. I get that. I’ve always known that. But you understand me. You’re a soldier. I’m a soldier.”

“You are a monster,” Marinette said. “You finally convinced. There is no good for you.”

Coulson, May, Lincoln, and Skye rescued her not long after.

Grant and Marinette would face off with each other multiple; fighting to the death; fighting for the cause.

Then one day, Simmons would be gone, Coulson would go after her, and when they came back; Coulson would tell her Grant Ward was dead. He killed him.

Marinette wouldn’t ever admit it but her world shattered just a bit.

However, Marinette would see Grant again but he wasn’t Grant. He was hive. And Hive would nearly take Skye from the team. He would take Lincoln.

After months of fighting the monster for months; doing whatever it took to bring him down; Lincoln, a pretty blond man with light-colored eyes who dared to be a hero, sacrificed himself.

And for the first time in years, Marinette was reminded of Adrien Agreste. She had thought about him occasionally, sure. But seeing Skye cry over Lincoln had reminded her just deeply of her own loss. And remember that she was the one who erased his memories. He wanted the last thing he saw to be her before he never remembered her again.

Marinette was twenty-two when she went to the funeral of Grant Ward. It was in Paris. Marinette was the only one who went. There was nobody to bury but still, Marinette had him laid to rest, not too far away from her parents.

No matter how hard she had tried, Marinette couldn’t find it in her to hate Grant. She had loved him too much. He had been such a big part of who she was.

And she owed it to him to finally see him laid to rest. It was her duty, she supposed.

That was why she buried him in the once place she once thought she’d never return. The place where she once dreamed of another life.

As she stared at his grave, once again she dreamed about another life.

A life where Hydra had never returned. Shield had never fallen. The Avengers weren’t torn apart in a civil war. The world didn’t seem to always be on fire. Skye was still an Agent. Fitz and Simmons were married. Tripp was alive. Lincoln was alive. And Grant Ward was good.

It was a nice dream but she’d leave it in Paris with all rest of her childhood’s hopes, wishes, and dreams.

“You were right,” She told Grant, speaking directly to his headstone as if he was there. “We are the same. I do understand. I’ve always understood. In the end, we always do our duty. Its what defines us. Rest in Peace, Ward.”

Marinette walked out of the cemetery with her head held high. She would stop for ice cream, and cross paths with a tall, handsome, green-eyed, blond man. He’d look right through her.

And it only bothered her a little.

Months after she left Paris again, for good she swore, she would hear on the news about the untimely death of Gabriel Agreste.

She would notify an hour later that Master Fu has surfaced in Paris again. The man had been watched by Shield for years.

She would be told that Master Fu had been spotted around Agreste home.

Marinette didn’t blink twice. It wouldn’t matter. Everyone had moved on. Adrien had moved. Marinette had moved on. And as far as the world was concerned Marinette Dupain-Cheng was dead. She had died years ago.

Seven months later, Coulson would bring her in to help train a new recruit. She would walk into the training room of the bus and see a tall, a tall, handsome, green-eyed, blond man with hope clear on his face, standing next to Coulson, looking at her like he was seeing the sun for the first time in years.

“Kitty?” Marinette whispered.

“My lady.”

Marinette was twenty-three when her world shattered yet again.

#ml salt #Marinette deserves better #marinette dupain cheng #grant ward #agents of shield #Skyeward #adrien agreste #adrien deserves better

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thefogoflife · 5 years ago

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My favorite shows: Canceled too soon and summarized badly edition

Surviving Jack: A sitcom (minus a laugh track, thank christ) about a retired soldier that becomes a full time dad and SUCKS at it, starring Christopher Meloni. 1 season.

The Middleman: A super weird, pulpy, freak of the week/twilight zone deadpan comedy about the people that save the world from extra dimensional stuff...pretty sure the girl that plays Penny Peabody in Riverdale is in this. 1 season? Idk it was on like 12 years ago.

Sleepy Hollow: This is Lucifer before Lucifer got big, with an American history/illuminati twist. Freak of the week/buddy cop format with a time displaced Ichabod Crane and a police officer who have to delve into revolutionary history and conspiracy in order to prevent armageddon/the arrival of the four horsemen (Tom Mison plays an excellent Ichabod...like a pretentious and technologically clueless Lucifer. I would die if the two characters ever met). 4 seasons.

Imposters: Ezra Bloom gets robbed/abandoned by his whirlwind romance wife, who turns out to be a con artist. He tried to track her down and finds a couple of her other victims, and they learn to con, and con their way across the country to track her down, and it's equally hilarious and intense. Uma Thurman has a recurring role, and the lead is played by Inbar Lavi (Eve in Lucifer, Winsome in SOA), who is one of my favorite actresses. Parker Young also plays the big hearted idiot hilariously. It is FELONIOUS that this show isn't more popular. It's on par with Lucifer, Hannibal, etc. 2 seasons.

Hannibal: Fuck you. If you're on this website, you know what this is. 3 seasons.

Dominion: God disappears from heaven, and the angels blame it on humanity's depravity. Archangels Gabriel and Uriel lead an army from heaven down to yeet the humans, and Michael raises an army to protect them. Post apocalyptic fallout/mad max vibes. 2 seasons.

Revolution: Scientists create nanobots that will occupy the atmosphere and conduct electricity, thereby creating unlimited free energy all over the world. They turn it on and instead it creates a massive explosion that ends the world, and absorbs all electricity permanently. The world breaks down into factions and warlords and begin fighting for control. Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring from breaking bad, or Moff Gideon from The Mandalorian) is his typical bastard self, but as usual, is amazing. This show starts off super cheesy with the acting and then becomes legitimately great. 3 seasons.

Almost Human: Buddy cop formula with a human and an android that fight crime in a dystopian future. Ahead of it's time, it tackles issues like in Detroit: Become Human, but people weren't ready for that. Karl Urban (of the infamous "The Boys" ad) stars. 1 season.

Stan Against Evil: Indie freak of the week parody horror show, and it's basically Buffy. This town has a curse that all sheriffs will die in office, but this one guy, Stan, doesn't (played by the lovably sarcastic douche Dr. Cox from Scrubs), and learns it was because his wife was protecting him from the demons that inhabit the town. Wife get yeeted, and it's up to alcoholic and apathetic Stan, the new sheriff, Evie, and Stan's nerd daughter to fight off demons. This show is fucking hilarious, and has a lot of cameos (for example, Mike Ogg, the voice of Trevor in GTA V, cameos as a murderous horse demon). 3 seasons.

Enlisted: War hero comes home after punching a superior and ends up on Rear D (the guys that get left behind to mow the lawns and shit when soldiers are deployed) with his idiot brothers. Deals with PTSD, but is also pretty funny. Sitcom without a laugh track. Keith David has a recurring role, and Parker Young is once again the lovable idiot. 1 season.

THANKS FOR LETTING ME FORCE MY PRIVATE THOUGHTS UPON YOU

#shows that were canceled too soon #stan against evil #the middleman #revolution #giancarlo esposito #hannibal #imposters tv show #imposters bravo #inbar lavi #parker young #dominion #sleepy hollow #surviving jack #almost human #karl urban #lucifer #christopher meloni

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azureflight · 5 years ago

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WoW Characters as Player Characters from D&D

Alleria’s player is a minmaxer power player who keeps breaking the lore in pursuit of the ultimate build while dragging the party along.

Alleria’s Player: Oh, I wanna join this army of light group, they have this feat that I want... Oooo, look at the “void touched” prestige template! And it gives me some really powerful spells too!

DM constantly, and wrongfully, hopes that he can use her weird arcs to kill off or exile her character permanently and force her to play something less broken. But the rest of the party keeps sticking with her and defending her shit, because they are all dirty powergamers at heart. When that whole army of light thing came out, two of them straight up abandoned their old characters and made new ones just to get the max juice: Khadgar’s player now plays Lothraxion, Danath’s player now plays Fareeya.

DM: You see before you, an Alleria that has completely embraced the void and wields its power with ease. As crusaders and devotees of the Light, there is nothing as disturbing as seeing an old friend falling so low.

Turalyon’s Player: I trust her man, she is my wife.

DM: What do you mean you trust her? You are the god damned High Exarch ffs.

TP: Yeah, but, like, I love her, you know. I feel like she is still with us.

DM: You don’t know that! Don’t metagame! But your character knows how vile and deceptive the void is, this is literally the antithesis of your faith!

TP: Yeah, but, like, I love her. That’s what my characters would do, he loves her man. He is loyal like that. And she saved me.

DM: It could all be a trick... Guys, please take this seriously.

Lothraxion’s Player: She saved me too, I trust her too!

Fareeya’s Player: If these two trust her, then so do I.

DM: You aren’t even here!

TP: It’s my wife man, come on! You’re the one who got pissed we split the party in the first place!

DM:...

TP:...

DM: (sighs) Roll a wisdom check.

Wacraft 3 was an epic campaign with two concurrent parties playing at two continents that the DM would then unite for the final showdown. But the whole Arthas/Jaina/Kael’thas stuff was basically a reflection of out game drama and it got so bad, the players of Arthas and Kael eventually left/semi-kicked out and the DM took over their characters and turned them evil. He brought Jaina’s player to the Kalimdor party and they got along mighty fine. Campaign went pretty amazingly after that and they loved it so much, it turned into a continuous game and they even managed to reach epic levels.

However, as years passed, everyone got busier and busier. Eventually, the scheduling conflicts forced them to practically retire the characters. Now the DM uses them as NPCs for his other campaigns, but every once in a while, some of them manage to contact the DM and arrange a one-shot or short campaign like; Darkshore, Escape from the Underhold, or Rise of Azshara!

Illidan is a chronic metagamer with protagonist complex, who is constantly pissed that his friends don’t play along:

Illidan’s Player: I should be able to return to the rebel side, these guys know I was doing it all to infiltrate the enemy.

Malfurion’s and Tyrande’s Players: Nope! We know no such thing! You never told us jack shit!

Illidan’s P: WTF are you talking about? I told you both!

Tyrande’s Player: You spoke out game! We weren’t even close to you when you made that decision.

IP: But you still know!

Malfurion’s Player: “We” the players know, the characters don’t!

IP: Come on man!!!

TyP: Nuh-uh!

MP: Nope! NOPE! In fact, I fully believe my brother has betrayed us; He has always been a selfish, power-hungry prick, he totally sold us out!

Illidan’s Player: Well screw you too guys. Fine! You know what, I’ll save everyone myself and you two will be very sorry about it!

Onyxia/Wrathion, Anduin and Taelia/Bolvar’s players are this group of friends who come up with really weird and funny character concepts and campaign ideas. And the DM rolls with them all, because they are a fun and laidback group that finds joy in every aspect of the game, including the tragic and embarrassing ones.

The first ever they came up to him, they asked for a political intrigue campaign and their characters were: An Adult Black Dragon pretending to be human, a 10 year old kid with noble background and 0 levels in anything and a widower paladin with a minus 3 wisdom modifier.

It went on quite spectacularly in all sorts of absurd ways and remains the only campaign where the final epic fight was practically a pvp: The DM allowed them to recruit players from his other games, but the dice gods willed that the kill went to the only NPC of the session, the newly returned “father” of the kid-Anduin.

Since they are a chill bunch that is all in for the new and weird stuff, DM tries his new homebrew ideas with them: When he wanted to make a new Elven race, they played a short rebellion campaign for it. They made Thalyssra, Valtrois and Oculeth and played them as book club wine snobs trying and miserably failing at a rebellion. DM liked it so much, he made their personality into racial characteristics and continues to use them as NPCs.

Scheduling conflicts, as well as the chaotic nature of their play style, means that they are not really able to sit down and have a long campaign, however, they do plan on making a sort of legacy campaign: After Onyxia’s and Anduin’s players got a one-shot set in Pandaria (in which the Onyxia guy this time played Wrathion), Bolvar’s player made Taelia and together with a now grown up and “actually has decent cleric levels” Anduin, they plan on having another political intrigue story, “Stormwind Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo.” If only they could just clear their schedule for a few weeks!

#World of Warcraft #D&D #alleria windrunner #turalyon #Anduin Wrynn #Jaina Proudmoore #illidanstormrage #Tyrande Whisperwind #malfurion stormrage #Thrall

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marie12141989 · 5 years ago

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It’s A Cold And It’s A Broken Hallelujah Part Fourteen

Pairing: Castiel x reader

Word count: 1337

You let out a sigh as you looked around the bunker, for some reason it felt so much emptier now that Mrs. Butters had left. You were just glad that you hadn't been forced to kill her. It wasn't her fault that she had been manipulated, and she really did seem like she had meant well. And as it turned out she hadn't moved that far away. You had taken a walk in the woods nearby a few hours after she had left and ended up stumbling upon her "I just couldn't stay too far away. I'm still worried about all of you. If you need anything just come out and ask and I'll help you to the best of my ability." she told you.

"Oh don't worry yourself. You should be able to enjoy your retirement." you told her before giving her a hug and heading back inside. You were hoping that she had been wrong about the bunker only running at half power only to have that hope crushed after the hundredth time of you trying to power it back up fully. When you had brought it up to her she had suggested that because the machines were old that they were just unable to operate properly without a little bit of extra help. Which led you to looking on eBay and other online stores for parts to hopefully update the bunker, while looking through the listings you realized that you had no clue as to where to start. The manuals that the Men of Letters had left behind weren't much help.

They either didn't tell you what the different parts were or they didn't tell you how the parts were supposed to be put in and taken out. Dean found you sitting at the map table several hours later, your head in your hands and every manual spread out before you, he paused and stared at the scene before him before deciding to speak. "What are you doing Y/N?" he asked and you slowly looked up at him.

"I'm trying to figure out how to either fix or update the machines so that we can use them without Mrs. Butters and these manuals are useless!" you said before grabbing one and flinging it to the ground. Dean slowly walked over to the table afraid that you'd get frustrated again and throw another book, he looked down at the closest manual and made a face.

"I'm pretty sure that these were written during or before the 1940's Y/N. You're not a mechanic so there's no way you'd be able to understand what's written in these books. Hell I can barely understand them." he said before picking one up. You quickly picked your head up and stared at him.

"That's it! You can help me figure this out! You understand these better than I ever could. You can look at what the books say and then you can tell me what parts we need." you said with a smile.

"Okay, let's not get too excited. I said that I barely understand what these say. I'm still going to be guessing and we might still order the wrong parts." he said putting a hand up.

"Well we've got to try. I'm sure with your help I can figure it out a lot faster than by myself. You can give me your best guess and I'll type it in and see what pops up. Please Dean. I just want to get this stuff working again so that we can finally use the bunker the way we're supposed to." you begged. He let out a sigh and thought about it for a minute before rolling his eyes and shrugging.

"I guess you twisted my arm. Alright I'll help you try to figure this mess out." he said before grabbing the books and getting to work. After a few hours both you and Dean thought that you had finally found and bought all of the parts that you needed to fix the bunker up, you figured that if the five of you ever beat Chuck that you'd be grateful to have a fully functioning bunker. "Well that only took a few hours and a couple thousand dollars but I think we've got them all." he said as he stretched and stood up.

"Yeah and I just maxed out another credit card." you said staring down at the piece of plastic. You let out a sigh a maxed out card meant going back to town and playing a few rounds of pool again, you had made friends at the local bar so you were sure that they wouldn't mind playing for money. Most of them gave you the money you needed but you knew that there was no way they'd willingly give you the whole amount. "Hopefully the guys don't mind losing a couple hundred dollars to help me cover most of the payments." you said.

"I'm sure they won't mind. Most of them trip over themselves to make you happy. You broke a lot of hearts when you let them know that you're taken. But I guess that's better than having Cas toss them through the glass windows or clear across the building and getting us permanently kicked out." Dean said with a smirk. The last time someone had flirted with you at a bar after you had let him know that you were spoken for, Cas had simply grabbed a hold of them and fling them over his shoulder, and right into the bartender clear across the building. Needless to say, Sam and Dean had to grab him and quickly run out of the building and to the Impala before a fight started or the cops were called.

"I'm too tired to deal with that right now though. I'll head out tomorrow night and see what I can scrounge up." you said before standing up and heading towards your room. You slowly shuffled into your room to see Cas laying on your bed. His coat and shoes were off and he was staring at the television, there was some kind of nature documentary playing. "Hey." you said with a smile before crawling into bed beside him.

"What were you and Dean doing?" he asked. Sam, Cas and Jack had stopped to look at the two of you while you were trying to figure out what parts to order. They had called out to the two of you but you were so engrossed in what you were doing that you didn't hear them so they just left you alone. They would come back to put food in front of the two of you before leaving you to whatever it was you were doing.

"Trying to buy parts to fix up the bunker's machines. I figured if we can fix them up or update them that we'll be able to use them without Mrs. Butters and it'll make our lives so much easier. Hell we might be able to just retire and send other younger hunters out or even alert other hunters to any dangers in their areas if we can at least get the map table working again." you said with a sigh.

"Retire? I never thought I'd hear that word come out of your mouth." he said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I am getting older. I just want to be able to enjoy whatever time I have left with you." you said before giving him a kiss. If you were able to hear what he was thinking you would have flinched away from the sound of him screaming inside of his head, he felt like such an idiot. The one thing that would make him happy would be if you did indeed retire, now he had to find a way to convince you to keep hunting which he didn't want but if he wanted to be able to spend the rest of your life and hopefully after life with you he would have to do it.

#supernatural season 15 #castiel x reader

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jumpywhumpywriter · 9 months ago

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Living Weapon Whumpee *BONUS Scene* part 1

Warnings: forced living weapon/fighter, aftermath of being a weapon/semi-retired weapon, lost family

GUESS WHAT EVERYONE?!? I got a message in my inbox about this storyline and someone wanting to know more about Weapon Whumpee's past and his fractured memories, and *BOOM* -- inspiration!! So I now have a bonus story in motion that takes place after the main novel, where Whumpee is now on a quest to find out who he really is and how Leader turned him into Weapon -- and he might learn more than he bargained for. Enjoy! (Other sections will be posted soon)

Fitting into the rhythm with Flint's men was... rough. But Whumpee was starting to figure it out, and the men he interacted with seemed less afraid of him each day, which was progress. Some would even initiate friendly conversations with him every now and then, a thing that usually never happened. Max was normally the only one who dared approach him. It was slowly healing something inside Whumpee, and he caught himself smiling just a little more frequently.

But conflict wasn't over. Now that the war with the remainder of Leader's army was over, Flint was sending out teams to invade and demolish every remaining base that Leader had to erase the darkness Leader had brought to the world. There were still prisoners that needed to be freed, according to Flint's spies. And valuable information kept at those bases.

Apparently after losing Whumpee, Leader had started trying to create another living weapon like him. But hadn't succeeded, at least as far as Flint's informants knew. Whumpee was the only Weapon ever made.

Whumpee had been looking forward to retiring from the frontlines to exist in peace -- no more fighting -- but memories plagued his dreams, ones that raised so many questions and drove him mad some nights with unexplainable emotions.

But most often showing up in those dreams, was the familiar-yet-unfamiliar woman. Blonde hair, blue eyes. It felt like a window in his mind, a crack in the wall he could peek through and catch glimpses of what Leader had taken from him. Never enough to fully remember, but enough to make him desperate to find out more.

Feelings of comfort and safety always followed those particular visions, and every time he awoke after them he felt the strong sensation of loss, for an unknown reason. Of missing something important to him. He could occasionally even hear a voice from the blonde-hair woman, always soft and sweet.

Miranda, he remembered. His wife. He'd had a family before Leader came and stole it away from him.

But an opportunity finally came for answers. Flint had informed him that another team would be sent out soon to take out one of Leader's few remaining bases, and it was one Whumpee had occasionally been transported to as Weapon. Which meant... it might have some files on the experiments he went through, what Leader did to him. Maybe he could find information on how to reverse the damage to his mind and get his memories back, how to heal that permanently broken part of himself.

Whumpee wanted to find out more about himself, he needed to know what had happened to him. So... he offered to go with the infiltration team himself and help out. Flint had reasoned it wasn't necessary to put himself in a potential situation where he'd have to fight and defend himself considering there were likely stray enemies there, but Whumpee had insisted.

And so he found himself arriving at one of the last enemy bases with a new team, Max and Jake being the only ones he'd ever gone on a mission with before. The mission that had resulted in Max getting shot, and Jake getting a smashed head. All because of Reed's betrayal.

The two soldiers had recovered well, but Max now had a slight limp that was permanent from the nerve damage in his leg. But he was still a functional fighter.

Whumpee's stomach twisted in knots as Jake led the team into the enemy base. They ran into a few enemies that were easily incapacitated thanks to Whumpee, and quickly seized control of the small building. The instant there was no more threat Whumpee peeled away from the team, despite Max calling after him in confusion. But he had a single-minded focus, knowing the layout of this place like the back of his hand.

He headed straight for the room where all important files were kept, busting the locked door open with a broad shoulder. He didn't care that Max was chasing after him. Didn't care that he was breaking rules by abandoning the team before Jake gave the order to split up.

Whumpee didn't hesitate to start aggressively ripping open filing cabinets, tearing out manilla folders by the handfuls to quickly scan the labels before throwing them on the floor.

(Main series Masterlist) Next ⏩️

Masterlist

@scoundrelwithboba @lumpofsand @isikedmyself878 @iamheretohurt @fleur-a-whump

@ay5ksal @otterfrost @sausages-things @i-don't-know-sal @togzy

@whump-till-ya-jump @cravesunconditionallove @whumpwritinglover222 @silly-scroimblo-skrunkl @cepheusgalaxy

@theforeverdyingperson @dragongodryss

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mobius-prime · 5 years ago

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202. Sonic the Hedgehog #134

Uh oh, that cover page doesn't bode well…

Home: Epilogue (Say What You Will)

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Jon Gray Colors: Jason Jensen

Everyone please welcome our newest penciller, Jon Gray! I wouldn't normally go out of my way to announce a new artist, but Jon Gray has perhaps one of the most heavily stylized and recognizable art styles of any other artist for this comic. You'll see what I mean almost immediately once I start showing panels. Anyway, a lot of this issue is devoted to Sonic simply catching up with family and friends, now that the immediate danger to Knothole is over and he can fully relax. When he and the others get back to the village, he's sent to Dr. Quack for treatment of his shoulder, and while there Quack scans him and notices the implant the aliens gave him to understand all forms of speech. Apparently it's bonded permanently to his nervous system, and Sonic panics a bit when he hears this, accidentally agitating his injury… which causes him to actually swear.

It wouldn't even be a big deal as the panel is fairly humorous and cartoony, but this actually makes Sonic one of only five characters in the entire comic who ever swear, at least that we ever see. Monk is one, Espio is another a few issues from now, and the fourth and fifth we have yet to properly meet. Anyway, yes, Dr. Quack lost an eye during the war while Sonic was away, and he's back to being a regular doctor, despite us never actually having seen him as a frontline medic. Sonic exits the hospital and meets with his family and Sally plus the queen, who inform him that there's going to be a huge celebration tonight to welcome him back to the land of the living. They exit the hospital and part ways with Sally and her mother, and are immediately blinded by a multitude of camera flashes from a press mob, all clamoring to ask Sonic a million questions about his year away. Somehow they manage to extricate themselves and head home, where Sonic is happy to see his old room exactly as he left it, his parents sadly explaining that after they thought he was dead they couldn't bear to change anything. He flops into bed for a nap while his mother fixes dinner, and wakes up to see his favorite pup, greeting him at the foot of his bed.

Sonic rushes out to confront his parents on why they didn't tell him such an important detail as Muttski learning to speak while he was away, but then realizes that his alien implant must be what allows him to understand his dog. Wait, so does this mean that Sonic can now understand any ordinary animal's speech? This is an amazing superpower! I would kill to have my own version of that. Sonic explains something else that he learned during his journey that he just remembered. Apparently, as he broke Ceneca-9009 out of prison, he had asked her why she deroboticized every Robian except for Jules, and she explained that due to the nature of Jules' injuries before his roboticization, reversing the process would bring back the same state of his body at that moment in time and ultimately kill him. This would explain why it took so much longer for him to be returned than the others - clearly Ceneca-9009 tried for a while to find a way to deroboticize him without killing him, but was ultimately unsuccessful. After dinner, Sonic heads to Knothole's airstrip knowing he will find Tails there, and they take a moment to catch up one on one before the party. It's not purely a social visit, though - Sonic has some important news for Tails as well.

This kid has never known his own parents, remember. His father disappeared the same day he was born, and his mother followed shortly afterward. Even when everyone else was getting their roboticized family back, he never looked for his parents, never seemed to expect to see anybody. Now he knows that he has two living and loving parents on the other side of the galaxy, waiting for him - and one day they'll be able to reunite once more. Something to look forward to, eh?

That night, the entire village celebrates, with Mina and her backup band performing for the crowd amidst flashing, colorful lights. Sonic takes the chance to hang out with all his friends, especially Sally, with whom he's resumed his budding relationship as though he never left. The king interrupts the festivities for a brief moment after Mina's set concludes, with an important announcement for the populace.

Mina happily runs to Sonic to hug him (with Sally looking slightly jealous behind them), informing him that in the course of the war she'd completely lost her stage fright and become a veritable pop star, singing and performing to keep morale up. As she introduces him to her stage manager (and boyfriend, as he gruffly informs Sonic) Ash the Mongoose, Sally's parents look at her from the edges of the party, with her mother expressing some concern about leaving Sally in charge while they're gone due to her seemingly fragile emotional state, evidenced by how she reacted when she saw Sonic take a hit during the battle. However, King Max says that he trusts her, as Elias never wanted to be king while Sally was born and bred to be a ruler from birth. Sally, for her part, seems to be eager to speak with Sonic about something, but they keep finding themselves interrupted by the arrival of more friends, this time including Knuckles and the Chaotix. Knuckles explains more fully why he's here, that while Sonic was gone Eggman invaded and captured Angel Island and he and his crew have been forced to stay here for a while as a result, helping the king in the war effort.

Rotor arrives with a rocket, and while he sets it up he explains to Sonic that he's since retired from active duty on the front lines to focus on inventing and science back home. Honestly, I always got the impression that Rotor was at least several years older than the others - like in his mid-20s or so - but apparently no, he's like eighteen, so "retired" seems like a bit of a strange word to use in this instance. But eh, whatever - he shoots off the rocket and it lights the sky with a barrage of colorful fireworks, including a special one that changes shape, taking the form of Sonic and Sally kissing and holding each other. Seems a little gaudy if you ask me, but Sonic is pleased, as is the crowd. Sonic then congratulates Geoffrey and Hershey on their impromptu wedding, and they say they're leaving Knothole for a while, to go on a secret mission for the king which will also double as their honeymoon. Fair enough for two people who live for the life of a spy, I guess! Sonic then gets to chatting with Bunnie, and asks her why she and Antoine broke up and where he got the facial scar from.

Ouch. That's not the Antoine we know and love. I'm sure we'll get more answers later on, though. After one last interruption, from a reporter looking for a photo of the royal couple, Sally is finally able to pull Sonic aside onto the now-empty stage for a talk. She informs Sonic that since she'll be acting ruler while her parents are away, she wants Sonic to stay away from the fighting and rule at her side while they're gone, ultimately retiring himself from the life of a front-line fighter. Sonic is surprised at the request and begins to try to argue, but Sally suddenly snaps at him, saying that she doesn't want him risking his life anymore if they're going to be together. Her outburst gets the attention of everyone at the party, who are now staring at them up on stage. Sonic seems sad as Sally reminds him of how she already lost him once, but firmly sticks to his guns, telling her he simply can't stop fighting while they're in the middle of a war. And thus, we have our lead-in to perhaps one of the most infamous panels of the preboot.

And with that, Sally runs away sobbing, yelling that Eggman can have Sonic all to himself.

Now, I definitely have some things to say about The Slap and everything that surrounds it. The reaction of basically every fan I've ever seen is that this is totally out of character for Sally, and one hundred percent a result of bad and biased writing on the part of Karl Bollers. I both agree and disagree, to an extent. Let me defend my position. I do agree that this is out of character for Sally, and not at all like what the Sally we've always known from before Sonic's space adventure would act like. However, I don't think that this is necessarily a case of bad writing as a whole. See, grief will make people do strange things, things they would normally never do. Please keep in mind that Sally, at this point in time, is all of sixteen years old, and, on top of what you would expect from teen mood swings, is dealing with the immense pressure of being a princess, and being ruled over by her parents after eleven prior years of being mostly free to be herself. And then, to add to all of that, she lost her closest childhood friend just as they finally admitted their long-standing feelings for one another that they'd repressed their entire lives, and proceeded to watch him die in front of her eyes. After almost an entire year, he's made a miraculous comeback, only to appear to die once more, again in full view of Sally who was in no position to be able to help. She's had the voice of her parents in her ear for this past year telling her that she mustn't put herself into danger anymore as the kingdom's future ruler, and likely been estranged to some degree from the other Freedom Fighters as a result. Yes, this is not how Sally Acorn would act - but I think that's the point. A running theme in this arc is that given time, people change, and not always for the better - and that's ultimately exactly what we're seeing here.

Furthermore, all that aside, I also think that this works from a plot standpoint in general. Think what you will about "will they won't they" type plotlines, but they're popular for a reason - they create drama between characters. Normally I myself am not a fan of that type of dynamic, but I do think it works in Sonic and Sally's case just because they're such different people from each other, so opposite in personality in so many ways that I can definitely see them struggling to find a balance as they work through their teenage years and try to figure out where they'll ultimately stand with each other. I mean, think about it - it would be a bit bizarre if they just stayed together from here on out, never disagreeing or having difficulties resulting from Sonic's stay in space, and there were no more avenues to explore regarding romance and relationships. We can't just have a happy ending where Sonic returns from space, reintegrates right back into his social circle without any problems, and continues his engagement to Sally without a hitch. The story and the world simply wouldn't work properly that way - it would feel too sugar-coated, too easy. One of the things I've always loved about the story that's told in the Archie Sonic preboot is that nothing is ever truly okay - at its core, the story of the comic differs so greatly from the stories in the games and anime because it's the story of a war, and how the youth of this world react to living in one. Even when things look like they're going well, there's always something else, something that once again shatters the fragile stability that everyone has worked so hard to build. Having everything be hunky-dory once Sonic gets back just wouldn't fit the type of story that's being told.

So ultimately, as much as I know a large portion of the fandom disagrees with me, I don't have a problem with The Slap. I feel that taking everything that has happened in the story up till now into context, it makes sense for Sally to start breaking under pressure like this, and leaves the story open to further character interaction and conflict that we otherwise wouldn't get to see if they stayed together. (Keep in mind as well that I am a big fan of Sonic and Sally as a ship, so this isn't coming from a selfish place of not wanting to see them together or something - it's more a case of me thinking it wouldn't make sense yet.) Ultimate I think there much better (or worse…?) examples of instances in the comic where characters behave out of character due to bad writing. Such as…

Mobius 25 Years Later: In Transit

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Jason Jensen

…this abomination of a story arc! Seriously, this is one instance where I totally agree with the rest of the fandom on how bad it is. Granted, today's story isn't as egregious as some of the ones in the past or other ones to come, but even so. We open right where we left off, with Knuckles and Rotor discussing serious matters of world annihilation and such while two horny teenagers listen in. They accidentally cause a twig to snap, and Knuckles whirls around to find the source of the noise.

Now, see, this is actually an interesting plot point! Science has advanced enough in this world where if one loses an eye, they could easily have it replaced through cloning, and yet Knuckles has willingly chosen to forego such an option in favor of keeping his cybernetic eye instead. And surprisingly, I actually find this totally in character for him. I think Knuckles, in any canon, if he lost an eye, would likely choose to keep a cybernetic replacement in favor of cloning himself another organic eye - if not for the enhanced vision it could give him, then as a point of pride, perhaps feeling that he should live with the cybernetics as a reminder of past mistakes and failures that can spur him to keep moving forward. But we don't get to focus on the eye! Instead, Knuckles takes his leave of Rotor for now and heads to Haven Two, which is (obviously) the replacement for Haven after it was destroyed in the past. He greets his fellow Guardians and asks them a favor - to fire up the ol' hidden camera system across the island so he can follow the two teens who were spying on him and Rotor in the park. Apparently, he promised Julie-Su in the past that he would never spy on family, so he's never made much use of Haven's surveillance system, and this is something that Spectre feels he's being foolish about given who Julie-Su's half sister is. And, as it turns out, that's exactly who we're going to be spying on today! Knuckles tunes in in time to see Rutan and Salma being confronted by Lien-Da about their late-night excursions, and Knuckles explains Rotor's suspicions about the weather to the others while Lien-Da gets ready to scold her son after they take Salma back home.

Well well now! So Rotor and Cobar have intercepted the feed from Haven, huh? That's quite a feat - and quite suspicious of them, at that. Rotor then makes a comment about all this likely not surprising King Sonic… as apparently, Sonic doesn't like echidnas, and especially not Knuckles!

…what?!

So this is a really stellar example of what I was talking about earlier, about having better examples of out of character behavior! Apparently, in this timeline, Sonic and Knuckles actively dislike each other, going so far as to refuse to speak to one another and resenting having to interact for even short periods of time. This is so far off the mark that I'm kind of stunned at just how wrong Penders has managed to get these two's relationship. I mean, just, what? Sonic and Knuckles regularly butted heads when they were younger, sure, but in every canon they both exist in, the two always end up as good, if volatile, friends, who would trust each other with their lives! I seriously can't imagine a future where the two would end up hating each other. We're going to be seeing the exact specifics of why they hate each other in future issues, too, so strap in guys, cause this is gonna suck.

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 134 #writer: karl bollers #writer: ken penders #pencils: jon gray #pencils: steven butler #colors: jason jensen

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thankskenpenders · 6 years ago

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While we still have three issues left featuring stories written by Karl Bollers, we’ve pretty much come to the end of his run as lead writer on Archie Sonic. As I’ve said many times, his work certainly had flaws, and there were stories of his that bored me. (I definitely could’ve done with less stories where Sally’s parents prevent her from joining the action.) But there were also many I quite enjoyed, and on average I’d say his stories were usually pretty okay. He definitely went out on a high note with Return to Angel Island, though. That’s for sure

In this post, I’d like to look over the list of scrapped story ideas listed on Bollers’ wiki page, and give some thoughts. Had he continued writing Sonic, this is what he would have done

Sonic and Amy becoming a couple after being stranded at sea together and keeping it a secret from Princess Sally.

Ehh... I’d have to see how this really played out. Sega was pushing SonAmy super hard at the time with Sonic X, though, and the Archie comics had barely even acknowledged Amy’s crush on Sonic, so I guess something like this had to happen eventually. I’m also sure it wouldn’t have lasted long, since it was obvious Bollers would have Sonic and Sally reconcile eventually

Tails reuniting with his parents by traveling into space on a modified Tornado.

This would’ve been pretty neat, honestly! I’d just hope that Tails wouldn’t stay out in space for too long

Amy's origins being explored in a fuller adaptation of Sonic CD.

Very cool! Definitely would’ve liked to see this. But Ian ended up doing more with Amy and incorporating the stories of the Genesis era games into the comics later on, so I guess we didn’t really lose much by not getting this story from Bollers

Knuckles departing Angel Island after learning that his presence exposes the location of the Master Emerald, going on a global pilgrimage to learn martial arts, and battling a Dr. Eggman controlled-Monkey Khan while under the control of the Iron Queen before discovering the Master Geode.

Now THIS sounds cool. While I’m not exactly a fan of Monkey Khan, I think sending Knuckles off on a big adventure and having him learn more fighting skills would be a great use of his character. Way better than having him sit around on Angel Island all day, that’s for sure. And after how great Return to Angel Island was, I would’ve loved to see more Knuckles stories from Bollers

Mammoth Mogul beginning to age rapidly due to his original Chaos Emerald running out of energy, forcing him to seek out alternative sources through illicit archaeological expeditions and hiring mercenaries like Nack the Weasel. The Master Geode, a powerful gemstone that would fulfill Mogul's needs, would be contested by him, the Iron Queen, Robotnik, and Rouge the Bat.

Also pretty cool. I’m assuming this is all part of the same overarching story as Knuckles’ martial arts training. It’d be fun to see this combination of new and old game characters as well as old Archie characters vying for power. I also love that all these forces would be vying for control of this powerful gem, but then Rouge is also there because... she just wants it. All of these characters would have their time to shine in Ian’s run, though

Sally being a pawn in a villainous plot by the corrupted Source of All and Ixis Naugus to prevent the future first previewed in Sonic In Your Face.

Antoine gaining his scar due to an accident with a knife and becoming a villain after allowing himself to be possessed by a corrupted Source of All in hopes of winning Bunnie back.

The Source of All surviving Robotropolis' destruction and reconstituting itself in a remote mountain range, beginning to exert control over King Max, brainwashing the Arachne and another group of Spiders known as the Strand, and possessing Antoine while under the control of Ixis Naugus.

We’ve already talked about this canceled subplot before, but oh man, I would’ve loved this. I always hated the concept of the Source of All, and the idea that Max’s actions were all justified by some sort of omniscient future vision. The Acorn family rituals surrounding the Source were also already extremely creepy, so turning their bonding with the Source into a bad thing would’ve been an incredibly easy pill to swallow

Bunnie and Antoine breaking up due to a change in Antoine's personality, with Bunnie's origins later being explored and her true name being revealed as Scarlette O'Hare

I mean, Bunnie’s last name being Rabbot (pronounced Rab-OH) was always silly, but I don’t know if we really needed this. Y’all know I’m down for more Bunnie, though

Rotor retiring from field duty in order to pursue a role analogous to that played by "Q" of James Bond fame.

They’d already been leaving him out of missions for years. I guess this makes sense, and at least turning him into the guy who makes the gadgets for everyone would give him a more clearly defined role

Locke and Lara-Le putting aside their previous disputes to help raise Knecapeon "Kneecaps" Mace after his father Wynmacher ends up in the Egg Grape Chamber.

I’ve talked about all this a bit before. Really not sure what to think of it. My gut instinct is that I don’t like the idea of Locke reuniting with Lara-Le at all. He hasn’t earned her forgiveness. But I’d have to see how Bollers wrote it, I guess

Robotnik kidnapping Hope Kintobor under the pretense that he is the only correct choice to be her legal guardian, while genuinely using her as bait to lure in Shadow the Hedgehog.

Not sure how I feel about Hope getting kidnapped, but the mental image of literal tyrant Dr. Eggman going to child protective services and pretending he’d be a good guardian for Hope as part of a scheme to get Shadow is really funny to me

Ixis Naugus attempting to return by transforming Max's body into a duplicate of his own, only to be thwarted by the destruction of the Crown of Acorns

I would’ve liked to see Naugus explored more, but hey! Ian sure used him a lot. So this is another case where we aren’t missing out on much

Nate Morgan surviving the destruction of Robotropolis, being De-Roboticized by the Bem, and returning as Coconuts' amnesia-addled ally, who creates a new Metal Sonic, Metal Amy, Metal Knuckles, and Tails Doll that are mistaken for Robian versions of the heroes.

This would’ve been a REALLY interesting development. Bollers was very open about how he hated the direction Nate Morgan had gone in and had some interesting plans to bring him back. And, well, this is it. Kind of reminds me of a certain subplot with Eggman in the IDW comics, except in reverse

I also love how this would’ve brought in Metal Knuckles, Tails Doll, and a new Metal Amy. Bollers really seemed to be enjoy bringing in elements from the older games in his later years at Archie, with much of the action in Return to Angel Island taking place in actual zones from S3&K. Getting Coconuts involved is also wild. This would’ve been a really fun story

Snively taking up a fifteen foot-tall mechanical battlesuit and the alias "Skarkus" in pursuit of revenge against Robotnik for leaving him alone against the Xorda, leading to an alliance between him and Shadow.

Yeah, this one sure is. Something. Honestly I have no idea how it would turn out. It’d be all about the execution

A.D.A.M. and NICOLE becoming romantically involved, leading to A.D.A.M. seizing control of the Shadowbot army and leading them from New Megaopolis to Knothole.

Okay I hate this one lol. But to be fair, I mostly hate it because the other writers ended up taking Nicole in a completely different direction and giving her her lynx form (and eventually pairing her with Sally). Bollers had no way of knowing that Nicole would become such a central character, so I can’t really blame him for having an idea like this, I guess

A new Dingo Regime leader named Colonel Mange being introduced, with Croctobot, Jack Rabbit, and Gala-Na being reintroduced as Robotnik Sub-Bosses over Downunda, the Great Desert, and Albion. This would have led to the disappearance of the Downunda Freedom Fighters and a confrontation involving the Mercian Freedom Fighters.

Ah, the beginnings of Eggman having Mobian sub-bosses working for him. I guess Kage in Return to Angel Island was really the start of this, but still. Gala-Na becoming a subordinate of Eggman actually makes a lot of sense to me. She was already an antagonist in the Chaos Knuckles arc, and it’s painfully obvious that the Albion echidnas are selfish pricks who only look out for themselves. If she thought that siding with Eggman would protect Albion, I totally think she’d sell out

Anti-Sonic coming to enjoy impersonating Sonic and enjoying the love of his parents and adulation of his people, leading him to plan to eliminate Sonic and permanently take his place.

This one’s also kinda interesting I suppose, although we definitely got no shortage of Anti-Sonic impersonating Sonic in the last year of Penders stories. Can’t say I’m dying to see this story told

---

So, all in all, definitely some interesting ideas! If there’s two major throughlines I see in this plans, it’s 1) bringing back forgotten elements from both the games and earlier comics and 2) reinventing Penders characters and concepts. Which makes a lot of sense, because that’s exactly what he was doing with Return to Angel Island

Part of me is sad that these stories were never told. The Source of All being evil and Knuckles’ martial arts training stand out to me in particular. But there are other ideas that are pretty similar to things Ian would do in his run, like Eggman having Mobian sub-bosses or Naugus coming back, so it’s hard to feel too sad. It’s also hard to know how good the execution would’ve been on these pitches

Of course, if there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s that these stories probably would’ve been better than the ones we actually got from Penders and Chacon over the next year and a half

#StH 141 #tkp post

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bravadoseries · 5 years ago

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Probably weird and hard, so take you time to answer, but if Audrey was canon in the comics, what changes would be made when adapting her character into a MCU? I mean stuff like the fact that Tony built his in Afghanistan in the movie when in the comic he did it in Vietnam.

this was such a fun question thank you so much! i’m gonna separate this into two parts: audrey’s comics storyline and how her mcu adaptation is different. so sorry this is so long!

audrey rogers (later audrey lange and audrey banner) was introduced in the 1950s after captain america’s popularity declined and the war ended. her original aging thing was that she aged pretty fast and then like maxed out when she was physically 18 or 20 (like the baby from twilight). she was originally supposed to speak to teenage girls and other women to encourage them to embrace patriotism and reject communism, and she’s mentored by her father (since peggy’s originally written in the comics as a pretty minor character). audrey is given her batons by howard stark but in the comics they’re much more torchlike (really emphasizing the whole lady liberty moniker).

throughout the 50s and 60s, she’s got a dual-identity thing going on. she’s audrey lange (nee rogers), a teacher married to Joshua Lange, her high school sweetheart and a young, good-hearted, all-american politician. nobody knows about her identity except for her father, howard stark, and howard’s son tony.

during the 60s, lady liberty and black widow are often portrayed as character foils and enemies. lady liberty is sweet as apple pie, she likes to kiss babies and shake hands with senators and say things like God Bless America while the black widow is seductive, brutal, and most importantly—communist. the two are each other’s biggest rivals for the beginning of their respective comics’ histories (ok i just watched killing eve and i am obsessed with it but i think they are usually trying to track each other down similarly to eve and villanelle). idk if you watch glow but it’s like the zoya/liberty belle characters. that’s what’s going on.

in the comics, lady liberty is responsible for helping black widow defect from the red room and join the American cause. their first enemy together is julian bardot, who is selling nuclear tech to the highest bidder, and both of them want to discourage their respective organizations from purchasing nuclear bombs as the comics began to go into more anti-war propaganda. audrey teams up with tony at this point and their comics characters become friends.

during the vietnam war, the whole american propaganda thing was declining in popularity so they sent audrey to vietnam as a spy, where she was known as the angel of mercy. after realizing that the war was a corrupt cause, she abandoned the angel of mercy title and began working as a vigilante with civil rights activist and empire state engineering student lindsey dubois, caroline, a secretary heavily implied to be gay (living with her close female friend and unmarried) who would become the vigilante ace of spades, chinese refugee and nurse claudia liau, and delphine lamontagne, a french exchange student who came to the US looking to find a scientist to help her understand her powers. They specifically target human traffickers.

At this point, Josh Lange becomes mayor of New York City, and the strain of audrey’s vigilantism and her unwillingness to have children leads their marriage to crumble. they divorce and it’s a big comics thing (later, backlash causes marvel to try to retcon their marriage at all and say they were just engaged)

lady liberty is written into the avengers in the 1970s again because she realizes that the vigilantism was too dangerous or something (i feel like realistically it’s just that sales were low for a diverse group of female heroes but whatever). her storylines are based around that for a few years, however, after the marvel comics watergate, captain america abandons his title and becomes nomad and audrey abandons superhero work in favor of working as a lawyer (? i think).

in the 1980s, audrey is written as working as a law professor at culver, where she meets bruce banner. i don’t know a ton about hulk comics but i think he was permanently hulked out for the 70s and started gaining control in the 80s? pretty sure. anyway audrey’s never met bruce before but he’s got a dual identity thing going on and she’s like You Really Seem Familiar. when she figures out his dual identity a) they become romantically involved and b) she tries to get into hero work again.

there was a lack of interest in her character as more than a love interest, though, so from the late 80s to ’91, audrey is kidnapped and brainwashed by hydra. she’s given powers through hydra experimentation but refuses to use them unless forced to because they cause her immense pain. she is activated through trigger words and known by the name Red Scare. During this period, she serves as one of Captain America’s primary antagonists, but he doesn’t realize that Audrey is his daughter, he just thinks she’s dead.

When the Soviet Union falls in 1991, Audrey is returned to the united states and begins working as a shield agent because of the intelligence she’d collected while abroad. Josh Lange, now running for president of the United States, proposes to her in the late 90s and they marry, but Audrey begins to secretly undermine his political agenda once he’s elected due to his staunch anti-gifted stance and preference for order, no matter the cost. Audrey is portrayed as an unsatisfied First Lady until 2005, when Tony Stark starts the New Avengers to help defeat the mass breakout of the Raft, a prison holding many supervillains. Knowing she cannot just stand by, she leaves Joshua and commits to becoming a hero full time.

During the Civil War comics arc, Audrey opposes the mandatory federal registration of super-powered beings due to her experience with politicians. However, many oppose her presence in the movement for that very reason. She and Bruce Banner attempt another romantic relationship, but he favors the registration act and they soon break up. When her father attempts to surrender in order to stop the violence, she does so instead, knowing that she will be less of a loss to the movement.

At the same time, the United States launches Hulk into space (idk this was a real thing with the whole planet hulk arc) and Thor, wanting to help turn Hulk back into banner, breaks Audrey free from prison and brings her to Sakaar. She helps him turn back into Bruce and the two actually begin a romantic relationship, with him seeing where the registration act got him (Launched Into Space). When they return to Earth, Audrey and Bruce both decide to retire from hero work and open a school not for mutants but for other powered people which becomes a rival to charles xavier’s school.

From there, it’s a bunch of sporadic storylines. I think at some point she may become director of SHIELD when Steve is president? Because I know that was like a thing in the 70s. audrey’s powers are connected to thanos in a way that’s spoilery so I won’t go too into detail but when he pops up with the infinity stones arc, she plays a part in that.

anyway!

So there’s a lot of differences between the hypothetical movies and the hypothetical comics but i think obviously the biggest is Audrey’s backstory and aging. Since she ages slowly and was without Steve’s guidance, she grew up isolated and protected from the rest of the world. Audrey’s personality at the beginning is supposed to be reminiscent of her personality as the initial Lady Liberty—very sweet and positive and very much a character foil to Natasha, but instead of Audrey recruiting Natasha to SHIELD and helping her become a hero, it’s the other way around. Obviously Peggy’s role is very different, too, as is Josh’s (he’s a much more minor character in the films than in the comics).

The first Lady Liberty film adapts her transition from more of a hollow, symbolic hero to someone who is directly involved in the fight. There’s also references to her Red Scare arc except it’s the 60s and not the 90s. Here, we also have reference to Natasha and Audrey fighting Julian Bardot and his weapons, but removed from the Cold War context and instead shifted to the post-Chitauri circumstances. Delphine is also introduced, though not as a vigilante at this point or as a student but as a capable DGSE agent. The setup here is for her to have her own adventures eventually I think.

A lot of the changes have to do with the order of things. Because the MCU takes place over a decade and not like 50 years, things get switched around. TWS and AOU are both more modern plotlines that got reinvented and brought into the MCU. I think I’m probably gonna be changing the Civil War conflict to add more of the comics element to it as well.

Audrey’s vigilante team storyline, though unpopular at the time of its original publication, works better now, so it’s brought back for the second Lady Liberty film, which is set after Civil War. Audrey at this point is much more brutal and has lost faith in the system similarly to how she lost faith in the system because of Vietnam. Audrey never becomes a lawyer, but she does have a reunion with Bruce post CW during the MCU equivalent of Planet Hulk because (though unlike the comics he went by choice) he got launched into space. Audrey’s involvement in this storyline is much more accidental in the movies than in the comics.

I think also unlike the comics, Audrey doesn’t use her powers more because she feels unnatural when she does and not because it physically hurts. She also loses control. The movies also more specifically detail how where her powers came from.

The third Lady Liberty film, resurrection, is a movie that covers Audrey, Thanos, and more of her outer space adventures lol. And the next gen TV series, which primarily just features guest appearances from the Avengers, adapts the idea of the Avengers Academy.

thank you so much again for this ask sorry it got so long i had so much fun answering it !!!

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bwenner · 5 years ago

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jail bird, pt. i

The boy’s dedushka—poorer yet another pawned possession—grows somber over the wire-thin wheel of his Zhiguli. His hooded eyes look heavier, grayer, their severity ever-growing. A once lively blue sheen within them dies, fatigued to silver over the passing road, and those familiar lines which form thoughtful creeks and valleys to flow grandfatherly thoughts across his forehead seem now deepened to canyons: rumpled, furrowed beds of tumbling dread.

The drive home from the city lock-up has grown routine. The dedushka drives like his age, rolling a reasonable speed down the highway to rural nowhere—an unmarked path of snow save for skids of gray where other tires have rolled before—while the boy sits humbled in the passenger seat and says his usual sorries. Dedushka, who at this point in the drive would normally have offered a few deluded words of forgiveness and certainty about the boy’s innocence, says nothing.

Their noses stay cold while their boots warm in the max-blast of the drafty Vaz-2101’s heat. Permanent polar dusk hangs the sky midnight sea-blue overhead: a lightless ultramarine that soaks into snow, rendering the winter scene around them an abyss of blue. Mountains rise and fall on either side of the sturdy old car (whose Lada-factory himmelblau also blends right in), their peaks indistinguishable from sky. The lonely Murmansk Oblast highway—its asphalt brittle with subzero cracks, scabbed over with quick-fix tar adhering the scabbed patches of scaly concrete, pale and salty and fractured—takes on this same color of undersea nothing. Only the fiery gold of the Vaz’s headlights and the far-off glow of another car’s tail lights (which disappear in a blink now over the winding road, red ghosts retiring from their haunt of the cold night) offer any splash of color to the arctic landscape. Another quarter hour passes before finally a growing treeline rises to separate snow from sky: its green dulled to lightless black, the heads of spruces forked and horned, rising proud to border endless night.

The Vaz roars slatted, dusty heat at its passengers—the meager byproducts of its overworked engine—and though it struggles to make their slice of cabin space any warmer as they rocket through subzero tundra, it easily fills the air between the boy and his grandfather with an odd, buffering tension. A disquieting tension, specially produced by inanimate objects who noisily carry on their purpose in the face of those momentous and traumatic peaks of human experience. Deaf and steady, no matter the social context nor the emotional climate around them—these things belonging of course to the abstract tangles of feeling, territory of a dark jungle existing only on an unseen plane, and as such fully impossible for the copper radiators of Soviet-era Vaz-2101 compact sedan Zhiguli’s to gauge. Ghostly broadcasts from the realm of the unsaid. And even in the human animal who both creates and occupies this realm—one foot in the material, the other in the immaterial—it is a peripheral place of shadow, slippery, fleeting, dodging and scurrying away whenever one looks for it, and its existence, if not doubted and dismissed by its creators altogether, is at the very least ignored.

And so the heat roars while the boy tries once more to tell his dedushka he's sorry, forcing him to come out with the words much louder than feels appropriate. “I didn’t mean to get in trouble again,” he says. He balks after that, nearly shuts up, but something in him finds the nerve: He asks Dedushka what he had to give up to pay the cost of bail.

The question sits naked and profane between them. A lewd thing, a sacrilege making mud of their now beaten-path pilgrimage from the dirty claws of the city ports back to the unsullied snow of the forest cabin. His dedushka, stormy in the mouth and eyes, shakes his head.

The boy pushes luck further: “I’ll pay you back,” he says.

His dedushka Volodya, who ran his usual rounds this morning assuring everyone who’d heard the gossip that there was some sort of misunderstanding, that his grandson was a good boy with bad luck, that he was an innocent fallen into the clutches of trouble, that he had to do whatever it took to get the boy out of jail, says now, “Whose money would you put in my hand?”

The boy knows not to answer. He doesn't know the answer anyway.

“Whose blood would I find on it?”

The incorrigible boy, who has always seemed to know nothing of law and order, of conscience and scruples, whose destructive spirit seems to his dedushka to hold the beastly innocence of a wild pup who mauls a smaller creature—a neighbor’s pet—and returns, tail wagging, with blood on his maw and limp carcass in his teeth, is once again shamed to silence by that lone hallowed star of his life: his grandfather’s disapproval.

And that’s the problem, isn’t it?

He’s sorry to have disappointed his dedushka, and he means just that.

The boy is sorry to have fallen out of his favor, but he’s not sorry for what he’s done. Like Kazak and Tsaritsa and Jezebel, who know that pissing in the house incurs their master’s wrath, the boy doesn’t see the why of it.

Dedushka, who has never seemed quite this angry with him before, offers a final warning: that the boy shouldn’t tell his babushka of any of this, lest he strain her heart to its early grave. Grigori Rasputin. And a Solonik on top of it. “What did your mother expect? You’ve all the good sense of your namesake!” A disgraced mystic con man, and the boy's drunken wretch of a father. He can’t decide if his daughter is a fool who doomed her son with such a name, or a clairvoyant who merely assigned him the most appropriate title. (His mother, were she there in the car to defend herself, might explain that the boy--who was born on the feast day of Saint Gregory--had all throughout her pregnancy announced himself through many a kick as a hellraising little rasputnik, and once she finally held the newborn in her arms and saw for the first time those hypnotic green eyes, she knew there was simply no other name for him. Furthermore, she found it harmlessly amusing to tell her rambunctious little Grigori Rasputin what a lady’s man he would grow up to be.) “At the docks again, consorting with vory. You didn’t mean to get in trouble? Smugglers and black marketeers? Grebenschikov? Sturgeon?”

Grigori, who perhaps has more than a foot in the immaterial, struggles as always to see the forest for the trees. Though he has been able to solve calculus equations in his head, diagram the syllogisms inherent in French existentialist philosophy, recall every historical date ever mentioned to him, and monthly earn fluency in new languages since before all his baby teeth fell out, the complex thoughts and feelings of others—especially those rooted in material concerns like safety, practicality, tribal instinct—are to him impenetrable. And so he means just what he says when he answers his grandfather: “I wanted to see what they looked like...”

There’s nothing more to say. The boy doesn’t get it. Dedushka offers one last head-shaking remark, more to the universe than to Grigori: “You were almost called Nikolai.”

He has an answer for his grandfather, but he keeps it in his head: Perhaps then I’d be a passion-bearer shot in a basement…

The remainder of the drive passes without a word, Grigori shamed and droopy and window-gazing. He doesn't know how to make things right. The clunky Vaz, its noisy heat, its rubbish brakes, and the unyielding highway rush of winter air on its boxy frame supply the rest of the drive’s soundtrack. Paved highway eventually tapers to snow-cased dirt path, and the woods grow thick and cluster tameless along the road. Trees crowd in chess formation: At the front lines stand the straight, thorny stalks of dead birch. Their branches fork like wooden lightning, joining hands to fence themselves as pawns along the perimeter. Beyond them the proud evergreens—thick, impenetrable, immovable pine and spruce—stand together. They shroud their forest under cover of darkness. Their king, their queen, wherever they are, cannot be seen or found. And when civilization is out of sight, when pointed trees consume the world and the road is lost to forest and snow, the boy and his grandfather drive through this darkness wherever the Vaz will fit, forging their own path.

Eventually, the woods thin. At the forest’s heart a clearing emerges: night-soaked snow pricked by the blurred sunburst arms of distant light. Cabin windows—gold bars whose value soars beyond measure in the wilderness—peak through the trees, and soon they find themselves rolling up to Dedushka and Babushka's house, glowing safe and warm in its snowy clearing through the forest.

#writing #my writing #writeblr #work in progress #drafting

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