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nanjokei · 1 year

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same anon here, incredibly interested in the history from someone who lived through it

ok!

here's my own rundown on why the vocaloid bubble burst in the mid 2010s!

almost irreversibly! (don't worry— this story has a happy ending)

if anyone is wondering, yes, you can reblog this! i only say this because this took a lot of work to write so if anyone feels compelled, yes, stroke my ego a bit, i allow such a thing. now, i might get snippy here and there, but i'm not serious at all. my sense of humor is pretty tsukkomi-ish and it shows up in how i describe things. <-disclaimer for if this post breaks containment because i know fandom types don't like my sense of humor if they're not given the context that i LOVE what i'm talking about and rib on it out of utmost adoration

as a disclaimer, i do lightly look things up to check on stuff timeline wise and its validity, but this is from my own point of view and memory and a personal retelling, so if you have a different take on it then i'm sure our viewpoints can co-exist. also, i speak about utaite from the point of view of someone who respects their existence but does not participate. so if a few facts are off... i am speaking only from the aspect of what relates to what i'm talking about. also if there are any typos i stopped being thorough with my checking and editing like 4k words in since i am not being paid to write this, it is just for fun. anyways~

so where we wanna start here is before the big bubble era. i think most people would agree that it was in full swing around mid 2012, but i'll set the date at september 23, 2011. the posting of the song kagerou daze (by the way, as a testament to how much of a boomer i am, despite being an kagepro fan from the start i find myself still using the "kagerou days" romanization by accident every time). by the way, senbonzakura, one of the biggest vocaloid songs ever for the longest time, was posted only a few days earlier. just to paint a picture. but that's not the only thing... i think what we want to look at especially is the end of the vocaloid2 era and what was going on during and before. the final vocaloid2 product, vy2, was released on april 25th, 2011. in this timeline, there are a few angles i wanna focus on. the state of the culture, its spread, utaite and producers. by the way, if i had to date when i met vocaloid, it was around 2008. right before gakupo came out, maybe.

around this time, the culture of vocaloid-ke (vocaloid family) type secondary works were falling out of fashion. 2010 and before, i feel that vocaloid had a strong image of nico nico douga especially— not that it didn't during the bubble era. but i mean the people participating. when miku came out, people viewed her as a novelty while still thinking to themselves they had stumbled across something special. there was no subculture like that before, and the closest counterpart to this was idolmaster. now, many know this is the origin of the -P suffix came from. it's a tossed around factoid now but people should know that it was certainly a phenomena back then. and a LOT of early miku adopters (like 80% were either already in the doujin music scene, the DTM (desktop music) scene, trained musicians or even some industry pros. and a lot of these people were nerdy and geeky and loved anime and games and manga so of course their first point of reference for building vocaloid's identity was idolmaster. touhou, idolmaster's next door neighbor, also had a lot of influence given many of the music people in its scene dabbled in vocaloid early on. so naturally the fans that were attracted to vocaloid were also nerds. at first there were only cryptonloids, but gakupo quickly followed (and continuing in the trend of heavy nnd association— kentaro miura (RIP), a big fan of nnd and especially idolmaster— designed and drew his art 100% pro bono out of love for the site and its culture). luka came out... i think gumi was the first shift. gumi just felt, different. i personally owe it to her being modeled after ranka lee, the iconic role of her voice provider, megumi nakajima— ranka lee was the underdog character in her source macross frontier's love triangle. so i feel like that image somewhat imprinted itself on gumi. gumi was not popular at first at all. her release came and went with not much fanfare. ironically the aspect of rivalry would come back under stuff like the miku vs gumi debate. this is probably the first real demonstration of "it doesn't matter how good the voice is, it matters who uses it and how that propagates the voice".

and so i arrive at the producers of the time, maybe late 2008 early to mid 2009, the newcomers. the ones that weren't necessarily otaku through and through, but more on the "teenagers who like vocaloid and/or don't have a singer to sing for them, and want to make music". i will be specific and say it is people like wowaka (RIP), deco*27 and hachi/kenshi yonezu specifically. wowaka for example had a very fresh take— his pvs deemphasized the vocaloid, but it also inspired many fan pvs because of it. i will not go into how it became ironic that he quit due to the attribution to the voice. but his moody lyrics captured a lot of hearts and his style carried a youth to it. hachi did a lot of his own artsy pvs. deco*27 was very unpolished and amateur but his music was VERY of the times. the synths, the guitar, very youthful. aside from wowaka, whose comeup immediately led to him getting signed quickly (and the guy himself just walked and i don't blame him) i think what made these guys (deco and hachi) stand out from the rest in the end is one thing: they picked up gumi. and this set them apart from the old and dusted otaku who didn't pick gumi up, or those who picked her up thinking of her only as ranka lee. mozaik role (still deco's most viewed song on nnd btw, with no sign of stopping. and he is clearly PISSED about it). matryoshka. all that kibs of noise. by the way, matryoshka's stint in the vocaloid rankings went unchallenged until it was finally killed by senbonzakura. that's a good two years of dominance!! a lot of the breakout stars or people who got more popular during 2010 used gumi, i'm talking your 40mPs, your sasakure.UKs, your buzzGs. incidentally, a lot of these people got signed... most for their vocaloid stuff. 40mP, sasakure, deco, kous and others were signed under label split-offs like U/M/A/A. wowaka and hachi... were signed for themselves. specifically, wowaka and his band hitorie, and hachi as himself kenshi yonezu.

but producers were not the only ones being signed. utaite, who had been a thing before even vocaloid was a thing, found themselves growing rapidly due to them increasingly participating in the culture as both fans and beneficiaries. personally, i split off utaites eras as "before piko and akiakane" and "after piko and akiakane". the before era included people who either started very early on when vocaloid became a thing on nnd, or started before it (participating in chorus medleys or posting utattemita videos of anison for example, like gero). it was all amateur and everyone was doing it for fun... but the record companies doth lurk around the vocaloid scene at this rate. akiakane and piko i pick specifically because they were the first utaite who were very publically signed. piko was signed under sony's ki/oon records! akiakane had two or three big albums under the subsidary of VAP, toy's factory (if you wanna have fun take a look at the list of talent they rep). piko is especially important— as he had a vocaloid made of him. this marked first big interest of corporations and large record companies to actually enter the vocaloid space— in the most direct way possible. btw, the reason piko the vocaloid is dead is because piko the person is no longer signed under sony. it's not outright confirmed, but piko the guy stopped tweeting about utatane piko the second he transferred labels. he is stuck in a weird catch 22 he probably will never be free of, though yamaha is doing some insane moves lately, i wonder if they'd ever try to buy the character out and revive him as a stunt. (they are doing many funny stunts lately. but a subject for another time.)

finally, my last point in this preamble is the interest in telling stories through vocaloid had only continued to grow. i think the two biggest early examples were the prisoner series by shujinP and the ever so infamous evillious chronicles by mothy. their explosive popularity is wholeheartedly owed to rin and len— ok this is a tangent but this is the genius of the rin and len package, that to this day was never replicated, they come together as you know and since they are male and female with no set setting, they are an easy buy and you can make a story because you can do two points of view across several songs... like literally. its paperplane vs prisoner. daughter of evil vs servant of evil. and their fans were and continue to be super passionate. it's great, we would be missing a huge chunk of what makes vocaloid subculture what it is without them. of course, shujinP's series (plural because they had several) is less known these days but it was probably the first series to get plays and novels and all that. quickly followed by EC. later came series like sasakure's doomsday series, stuck in a limbo between old and new era (most of the songs released in the old era but the novelization and such came out during the new), and a few "outsider" series like numtack05/putinP's series (the reasons this never got popular is because it was absurdist and shitpost-y and involved too much political imagery, not only that but also because putinP used a lot of copyright samples (most famously ronald mcdonald and sazae-san clips)— the freely distributed album vers omit these samples entirely and i can confirm the songs are worse for it)

so to give a summary of the above section

the tastes of fans were maturing

there was a shift in how vocaloid was perceived

the growing influence of utaite

the growing interest of big corpos in the scene

the growing interest in storytelling using vocaloid as a medium

anyway, here comes the real deal. and... it's gonna be a mess. just like the era itself was. i hope you're ready, at least.

even the very first echo of vocaloid3 felt kinda corpo-y. it wasn't, but.. looking back. it kind of felt like it. the first time we ever found out about v3 was through a leak of seeU's demo— but it was a work in progress leak, so it had the voice of her provider dahee kim singing along. people had no idea so they assumed this was the capability of the software. it was exciting! kpop was just starting to get popular, and we were getting a new vocaloid software, with korean capability!!!

anyway. we're not talking about the can of worms that was seeU.

not just because of dahee kim. but because it's not related beyond this. also the fact that korean fans were heavily and horribly mistreated by the majority japanese fandom for obvious reasons. i do not have the depths to speak on that stuff, but it says a lot that the software's first big swing ended up like that.

but i wanted to illustrate the mood of the fans going into this era. it was full of hopes and dreams. now, i don't want any wannabe know-it-alls wagging their fingers at me and checking the wikia going "b-but cullen, mew also came out!! at the same time!!" the seeU leak came out first. i remember there were fights over whether or not that demo was real. it was a cultural shift like no other. who the fuck cares about mew? literally her only legacy is one really amazing ezfg song. i will not debate anyone on this btw. i try to be objective but i'm allowed to inject a bit of my own opinion here too. you know who were also full of hopes and dreams? the companies. not your internetcos and your ahsofts, no, i'm talking publicly traded shits and record companies. look... i'm coming off harsh. i actually don't hold that much animosity, but you're gonna see why this was the first huge misstep of the era.

nice picture, right? this was the kind of optimism we started off this era on. but, i'll break down the picture for you in a way that helps illustrate a point somewhat:

your girlies from V2 like gumi (who was this era's it girl), lily, galaco (even if her shitty V2 version is contest only)

your earnest newcomers mew (look, even yamaha girlies count), cul, aoki lapis, seeU (one could argue.), IA (one could argue...)

tone rion of dear stage (who represented dempagumi inc., the group her voice provider came from, though this was a myth for years until it was proven... also it was clear they wanted to make the rest of dempagumi into vocaloids but rion flopped at the time. there was even a picture of her friends floating around. astoundingly embarrassing confidence. one billion dead vocaloids.)

akikoloid-chan of lawsons (yes, the convenience store! she is a vocaloidification of their mascot and i would argue the poster child of the modern brand private vocaloid. she was retired in uh.. 2019 i wanna say? though she was dormant for a long time anyway)

ring suzune, the aborted failure of minna no vocalo keikaku (everyone's vocalo-project)... this one involves a lot of otona no jijou AKA adult circumstances (japanese corpo's favorite excuse. you will now notice this phrase every time you hear it oooo). just unfortunate all around

yuzuki yukari of vocalomakets, i put her in a separate category because she really is a girlie of her own. a vocal born from producers being dissatisfied that their wants weren't being answered and no company was taking them up, they just went "fuck it" and produced yukari on their own. a huge outlier in this era of vanity projects and companies using the scene for their own crap.

not pictured, but i have to mention her due to her complicated position in this era, but mayu of exit tunes. exit tunes is a record label that heavily supported vocaloid and utaite during this era, signing both producers and utaite, and making compilation cds of popular vocaloid hits. and probably saw to it that due to their dominance in the area of compilation cds (and they still dominate, even if their releases are sparse these days their cds still top oricon without effort), them sneaking mayu into the tracklists would work... my thoughts on this? my position has softened a lot over the years. and i've always thought "they gave up right before she organically caught on, they should have kept pushing. so what a shame".

now you may notice i bolded a few of these and made special mention of the companies behind them. you probably already figured it out, but this era had heavy investment from parties who had only to gain from a rapidly growing niche subculture. see, unlike the other two of nnd's big three idolmaster and touhou, who are IPs where you need some kind of cooperation to officially get in on, vocaloid... is incredibly free, so laissez faire in comparison. you buy a 9,000 dollar dev kit and get to work making your mascot. it was... so easy. so free. so sweet. but real life is not so easy, or free, or sweet. you actually had to be accepted by the fans, and like i said before... the voice does not matter. what matters is who uses it, and how that propagate the voice. this is true time and time again. it is the ultimate "how many times do i have to teach you this lesson, old man?!" of the scene from a commercial standpoint. no matter how many years pass. ergo, one billion dead vocaloids. corpo vocaloids were releasing and they flopped immediately. earnest products from newcomers were dropping and struggling, though def doing better than the corpo ones (like lapis, lapis did ok). existing "in crowd" companies were vomiting out new vocals and not even promoting them. it was a disgusting era of excess and death and bile and plague and war and and and. it's astounding that it is hard carried by the art that came out of it. because if you only look at the commercial side of things, it is fucking disgusting.

now, onto the fan aspect. remember when i said this era truly kicked off when kagerou daze came out? yup. here it comes. so, anyone lived through this era remembers the cambrian explosion of original projects that did not make use of vocaloid mascots— arguably the final death knell of vocaloid-ke secondary works being the mainstream.

now, i'm planting my flag in the ground here very firmly— i do not ride the bandwagon of the people who erroneously attribute the near death of the scene to kagepro. it's just not true. personally i have a very complicated (bordering on near sort of but not quite negative, depending on how nostalgic i feel that day) relationship with the series, but to blame it is incredibly narrowminded and ignorant of the actual reasons the bubble burst, and not to mention unfair. if you find it annoying, fine. but just say you don't like the series and move on. and really, for better or for worse, mekakucity days and mekakucity records are unironically god tier vocaloid albums that will be remembered for years to come. i just have to say this because i see a lot of people blame jin for very flimsy reasons... SHUT UP!!! anyway.

i think one of the issues with the whole project culture that flourished during this era was simply the fact that since they were multimedia projects (whether by accident like kagepro or intentionally from the get), fans were coming from all angles, and even those who got into it through vocaloid eventually became super mega invested in them as separate IPs. which is... unfortunately an issue. so when these properties eventually spun off into manga, light novels, covers with real seiyuu, merch and ultimately some even netting anime projects... once those projects either abruptly ended (lol, lmao, this will come back later) or reached their natural conclusion, inevitably a lot of those fans either leave with it or found themselves burned out on vocaloid itself, or perhaps even think they've outgrown it.

next, utaite. now i mentioned a bit earlier about how the first batch of utaite were amateurs who didn't expect anything out of it and did it just cause, and how exit tunes signed a lot of them in this era. now, comes the time i speak about utaite "after piko and akiakane". i believe due to a generational gap and subconsciously perhaps due to the signing of a few utaite from the old guard at this point, the nu utaite of the 2010s had a sort of individuality to them... this isn't an insult, and a large part of their popularity actually came from them always collaborating and a lot of them ending up befriending each other. again, i'm an outsider, but i understand this much. but this era for utaite was the beginning of the idea that an utaite can become a superstar. in the end, very few of them did become superstars.

a lot of them naturally returned to a normal level of popularity after the bubble. there aren't a lot of your AtRs or your amatsukis and such. the smart ones became vtubers before being a vtuber was cool. to give an example: un:c and hashiyan who are arguably oldheads more than nu era became anjo and kosaka of monsterz mate. this isn't a doxx btw, this is publically available information, and un:c often credits himself as a mixer under projects he does as anjo. also, a certain duo of female utaite whose names i will not mention went on to form the super popular vtuber duo himehima. there are other early adopters like kano and god knows who else that i don't feel like mentioning. anyway, if your utaite did it after 2018 and under their own identity it is a desperate plea for attention. sorry but it's just the objective truth. tangent over... did you think i wasn't gonna shoehorn vtubers into this somehow?! anyway.

even sutopuri who got mega popular, only really formed after the vocaloid bubble burst, perhaps even as a result of it. utaite had a positive effect on the vocaloid scene and still do. but at the time, i think it was at its strongest. utaite NEEDED vocaloid, and vocaloid benefitted greatly from their continued patronage and love for it. i for one will not be caught slandering utaite and their relationship with vocaloid even if i will always prefer the vocaloid versions. the issue here comes from the fact that way too many were signed without much star factor (i'm not disparaging them, i'm just saying they did not hold their audience across the mediums), and even at that their fans splintered off into many tribes and many weren't really into vocaloid in the first place and were more into the livestreams and twitter banter. that's just how things shook out. you even have your reols and such, as reol was the face but in a sense her, gigaP and okiku were a set and gigaP left the scene to focus on commercial work with those two. too many of them got signed and splintered off into their own little fandoms before THOSE fandoms kind of died out. so this is another part where fans disappear and lose interest. you're starting to see the pattern here, right?

there's so much stuff i thought i would touch on, like how gumi was the undisputed it girl of the scene at this time, and how kagepro rose IA to prominence (all because jin wanted to buy gumi but didn't find her in the store) and how IA's people 1st place locked certain producers in their basement (like jin, yasuhiro, ishifuro etc) and... now this is a conspiracy on my part but prevented them from working on anything else, so that drew more talent away from the scene... but i realized it's tangential and belongs to other parts in this conversation. i want to reiterate here though before we go on to the biggest elephant in the room of all which would be the point of no return... there is more to the vocaloid bubble era of 2012-2015 than projects, than corpo and record company bullshit, than utaite fans. and there is more to the era before that than the top brass producers i mentioned earlier. i really... really lament how so much of early vocaloid reuploads are gone from youtube. there's a whole world just gone. so, anyway, are you ready?

the final block in this weird jenga of a story.

the producer, suzumu, and his unfortunate associates.

i will cut to the chase because it's easier to explain who was involved once i say what happened. to put it shortly... suzumu "stole" his songs. this is weird and vague and i always hated the way people used polite euphemisms to explain it because it made the situation way more confusing than it had to be— he used his producer friends as ghostwriters to compose songs for him, basically. and was very not nice about it according to one of the people involved. now i will probably adopt a somewhat sympathetic angle that people who have previously heard of this case may have not encountered before. not because i feel bad for that fuck, but because it seems like at least one of the people impacted has forgiven him, and others have moved on in less obvious ways. he's also professionally making music in the industry now. as much as i want to keep up the act of disliking him, i don't care anymore. i still dislike what he did immensely because it impacts producers i love to this day. but the man came forth about it himself and those involved forgave him. it's been almost a decade now... man!

suzumu, before getting into posting songs (who knows how many were actually his and which were ghostwritten), was a prolific lyric writer who worked with some of the trendiest vocaloid producers around. i'll cross gigaP out, since he was not involved in the incident, but almost every single person involved in this had worked with him in a lyric or story writing capacity (for 150P and komine specifically). here are the involved parties as i recall, bolded are people who he "stole" from

mafumafu, the person who spoke the most about it post suzumu's confession and the most vocal, and likely the person who was used as a ghostwriter the most (i don't recall if he actually alludes to this or not but people commonly think this). mafumafu had a series of vocaloid songs that told a story, but stopped using vocaloid after the incident for a while and songs that were going to get pvs from his first vocaloid album were not posted. he contributed a song called machigai sagashi for the vocaloid flavored moba #compass in 2015, but it seems like that song was probably in the works since before the incident for reasons i will highlight in a moment. suzumu wrote the lyrics for only one of the songs. iirc, mafumafu's song berserk is about suzumu. don't remember if this is confirmed or not. btw, the album of those songs, meikyou shisui, is really underrated and you should check it out. im not a mafu guy but that album is great

kemu, the person who is arguably closest to suzumu and the one who most publicly supported suzumu (albeit wordlessly) in later years by working with him professionally. when i mention someone forgiving suzumu, i mean him. suzumu wrote the lyrics for most of his kemu voxx songs, a famous multimedia project kemu was on the helm of along with hatsuko as the main illustrator. since kemu no longer had a lyricist, the project stalled for years until he posted a song suddenly in 2017 (with self written lyrics). it seems like the series is continuing still, but with a different direction

150P, who worked with suzumu heavily for his shuuen no shiori (bookmark of demise) project, a project that was conceived from the start to be a story. this part makes me really mad, guys!! i'll try to keep calm about it. 150P wrote over 50 songs (idk if this is an actual number but he wrote a lot. at least 40.) for the series, with suzumu writing the story and lyrics. the character designs were done by saine (who dodged a bullet all things considered.) and the art was done by komine. 150P was already doing crazy things before shuuenpro, his most popular song is still his insane 12-len classical metal chorus song lost destination. now shuuenpro caught on slower than its peers and was an underdog. i LOVE shuuenpro to this day. you know what? right when it was finally getting its first W, when the album that had seiyuu covers at come out on oricon in third place, suzumu dropped his confession. what a slap to the fucking face!! the manga of the series hastily wrapped up after that. 150P and komine disappeared and no longer did stuff ever. 150P recently appeared for a mafumafu anniversary thing so i'm glad he's still alive. but, komine...

komine, the only non-producer, an artist with the worst luck. she was slowly rising to prominence doing pv art for a lot of popular producers, and was the main artist of shuuenpro most prominently. during the initial release of the first few shuuenpro songs, she was accused of tracing, and the art of the pv of sarumane isutori game had to be done by someone else. komine stopped using social media at that point, but continued to make art for the project quietly and quite prolifically. so she was already on some kind of fraught standing even though the tracing allegations were disproven. fast forward to the suzumu blowup, komine packed up her bags and disappeared forever. if she had become disillusioned, i do not blame her. her final public contribution was the design of jeanne d'arc from #compass, the character who was paired with the mafumafu song. all subsequent artworks of jeanne were done by different artists. i suspect the reason the vocaloid version of machigai sagashi did not have a proper pv was due to komine quitting. i can only imagine what that pv looked like! if you're wondering why i mention a pv, it's cuz compass fans got mad at mafu for having a fancy pv for his self cover but not for the original. but otona no jijou, you know? and where is that energy for eve who still hasn't released a pv for mistletoe publicly and only put it on his kuso app and with 0 compass association? who let that wishy washy fuck do an anniversary song? ...im not gonna go on a compass tangent. anyway.

so... why does this matter?

it matters because people became disillusioned due to this drama. it matters because suzumu took out some very popular and prolific people from the scene during what one could argue was a transitional phase. the fans of all those people, including suzumu's... gone. if you weren't there, you may not understand the cult of personality suzumu had. he had his name on everything and was friends with all the right people. when i heard about this incident... i just closed my eyes and sighed lol. it hurt and it hit when the scene was at its weakest. and was the final blow, almost. and it impacted the way people saw and talked about vocaloid for years. miku became "owakon" for a time. people thought kizuna ai was gonna replace her as a cultural touchstone (lol, lmao, it is proven time and time again that the big three cannot die). kenshi yonezu, in all his detached glory, came down from his jeweled encrusted throne to compose a song for miku's 10th birthday that he smugly thought was the death knell of nico nico douga.... which even at the time of its release was contested by even people who were on the same miku anniversary project and, whether you wanna acknowledge it or not, is still mocked to this day by several producers. magical mirai's theme this year even does it. there is no respect for sand planet or anything kenshi yonezu stood for in that song. what an asshole move no matter how you see it. argue with the wall if you don't agree, i don't want to hear it. the scene survived because there were producers and artists and fans who still loved it. not because of some sardonic fuckoff song by a guy so detached he'd write a funeral march for a birthday.

these days, i feel like the community is incredibly conscious of what happened. there are wanton community led events that encourage not only the creation of songs, covers, art and secondary creations but also the discovery of new producers— the biggest of which being vocaloid collection, which happens three times a year and has many categories, but most importantly the top ranking (producers active for 3+ years) and the rookie ranking. i once read a japanese article that said proseka brought new fans hungry for something beyond the music presented in the game, and vocacolle and other community led events and song posting festivals supplied the works. the average age of the new vocaloid producer is— and this is my own estimate based on how many heart attacks i've been given the past 3 or 4 years— 17~19 years old. they say things like "i know of kagepro but i wasn't there"!! should i get my cane out!! who's driving me to the retirement home?!

even companies involved in the product end are more savvy these days.... (holding my tongue about a certain company of a popular synth software and its ceo because i have nothing nice to say). i think they realized that you can't clap with one hand and that appealing to the end user and fans is a necessity. honestly, i can only be excited for what comes next. we're never going back to that dark age, i can say this with utmost confidence. do i miss the past of the times before the bubble, back when vocaloid was a smidge more geeky? sure. but we can only really move forward, so why not enjoy it

#ask #anonymous #it came up to over 5k after all #idk how i clocked that.#im so scared to post this but i cant even read words anymore so if it still has typos then so be it

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yeyinde · 5 months

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I found your COD works on ao3 and there is quite literally NOTHING else that makes me ascend higher than your writing AAAAHHH your prose is incredibly seamless and blends so beautifully together that i find myself on the ground afterwards because EXCUSE ME?? They didn't tell us you could do that with words?? (youre the reason im researching a game ive never played before in my life at 3 am) how you are real

Anyway!!! I dont know if this was already asked, but i wanted to know about your writing process and how you got to where you are now

Thank you for always giving us your best work!! 🩷🩷🩷

it's only Thursday and here i am. just bawling my eyes out. this is incredibly sweet, and you are being way too nice to me, honestly!!! 😭 thank you so much!! and i'm so glad you've been enjoying what i write so far 🖤

i did my best to actually answer this in a way that was somewhat coherent but it's really hard to type through the tears.

i don't have much of a writing process, tbh! i mostly just shape things around a concept or a scene i want to write about, or one that i kinda picture in my head. the rest is mostly just filler to get us there.

i think i spend the most time on words—the placement, the meaning, the sound, and the way it looks/flows with everything else. i'm very particular about the ones i pick. i know a lot of it might seem like regurgitating a thesaurus (which it def is, tbh!!!), but i really love etymology. everything has a purpose. even though a lot of what i write is just gratuitous smut lmao

i also really love scripts. i don't write multiple drafts. what i end up posting is usually the first draft with minimal editing (because i am egregiously lazy and also hate re-reading my own work), but as i write, i like to make the outlines for scenes in the same style as a script. i think it gives me more flexibility to really dig down into what i want from a particular moment by framing it like a beat from a movie or play. it might not be for everyone, but it helps me focus on what i need to do—especially with dialogue.

as for how i got to where i am now: i definitely got much more confident in my particular style, which i think is obvious if you read my earlier stuff to now. i was very worried about how i came across in writing (like using rare words, dabbling in wordplay, going on very obscure tangents and making strange metaphors), but i'm a lot more willing to experiment with things than i was before. i also don't take myself seriously at all. everything i do is for the fun of it, so i've never felt pressured to stay within a certain genre or style. i just do what i want, mostly!

#i'm not sure if this really answers your question! i mostly just went on a tangent about how much i love words lmao #but thank you for this!!!!#i can't describe how it feels to just log in and get such an incredible message like this #just pure awe

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dashielldeveron · 9 months

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anon from mid december here! god i love winning. ANYWAY much to observe. i love the through lines of government assigned chapstick flavours and the defining moment that makes the soulmate connection work in every chapter. i love that immediately after posting you cited your sources on tenkos characterisation. very funny very charming and you are very right. i adore the mcs vibes she knows so much about so many things with a 50/50 chance of it being useful and she’s MESSY and she’s FIGURING IT OUT and her relationship with tenko teaches her to give herself grace. they’re just so sweet on each other it brings me endless delight as does touyas lil cameos. he’s a dirtbag and he’s a comedian and hes warmed up to the ducks and i want to put him and his fucking HOOVES in my pocket. i’m sure i will return with more thoughts at some point but for now. very delicious to me. WAIT NEW THOUGHT THE FUCKING INVENTORY KEY THING WAS AN EXAMPLE OF THE SOULMATE CONNECTION GOD YOURE GOOD. AND THE GOGGLES sorry i’m re reading the chapter as i type this

ASLDKJFA;SDFJKL;A YOU GET IT!!!!!

oh my god the DUCKS. i needed someone to notice the ducks oh my GOD. he BUILT them a HOUSE in his little art project garden he has a duck for SOME reason in dnd what a LOSER. like he's bonded so hard with them he wanted a fictional one, too!!! like. imagine touya just carrying a duck around in a purse like a small dog. both of them v v v judgy. enemies to lovers duck edition

lololololol "government assigned chapstick flavours" you canNOT tell me that these very kissable boys are only using, if any at all, generic unflavoured chapstick lol. it is STUPID how long i've had "post-canon tomura wears burt's bees tropical pineapple chapstick bc he specifically wants something that Tastes Good" stuck in my head; i'm so glad it's finally in fic and that you've been keeping track asdjfkl;

and yeah i wanted to reblog the shigaraki meta that i'd been considering!!!! bc while i was rereading the manga for this route, i realised that everyone, from police to heroes to villains to students, just make Large Assumptions about shigaraki, and they just Say Things about him. and everyone around them just takes it as fact??? it's like. we the audience are being told things about shigaraki, but they don't match up at all with how we see him act. i am hoping that this is intentional on hori's part, esp. with how heavy-handed shig commentary has been by other characters in the last few chapters, to make the point of "midoriya is the only one who's ever Looked and shigaraki and Perceived." bc, like, AFO and the pro heroes objectify/dehumanise tomura but in different ways. i worry. but so much of what we're shown of shig just doesn't match up with what characters say about him!!! it's odd. i really like him, despite being Told That He Is an Object, specifically one of destruction.

goddddd reader in this route is messy and i have a lot of compassion for her. i think she should allow herself to get angry more often. but i think that gifted kid burnout and basically moving back into your parents' house and people judging your "bad" life decisions even though they can't Know what you're going through--it's a touchy subject, tinged with shame and confusion and insecurity of identity, and tomura, i think, is experiencing his own flavour of that, since he doesn't get to be the Greatest Evil VIllain version of himself that he had in his head for so long and now is Just Some Guy. i didn't want reader to have a saviour complex but i wanted her to Care So Hard, and i hope that came across, esp. since her caring so hard also works with her own insecurities.

also yessssssssss YESSSSSS the KEY the GOGGLES it was there in front of them the whole time!!!!! but they weren't looking for it!!!! bc when soulmate bonds are words and marks, who the fuck is gonna be looking for a soulmate bond in just some weird triviality????? lolololol i talk about wanting to handle tomura with care but gave him the silliest soulmate bond thing. i like how useless it is, because it's, like, tomura doesn't need to be useful rn, either.

godddddd i'm so glad you sent me an ask so i could talk about thissssssss. i'm SO fucking glad that you're noticing details like this and having fun with them!!!!! i am, too!!!!! i love tomura and you and i hope you are having a good 2024 so far!!!! xx.

#dash it all

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saiilorstars · 1 year

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Ch.4: What's Left in the Past

Steve Rogers x OFC fic • squeeze your eyes for a Bucky Barnes x (2nd)OFC

taglist: @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @gloryekaterina @averyhotchner @foxesandmagic @lenonizi @kmc1989

Story Masterlist • Seren’s Masterlist• Chloe’s Masterlist

Also available on Fanfic ○ Ao3 ○ Wattpad

If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s work/edits, let me know!

Seren Soul was ashamed to say that being home didn't feel like home anymore. The truth is that she hadn't felt like any place was her home ever since she left New York two years ago. In London, she spent most of her time working and now she was in D.C. to continue doing just that. As her jet was landing, she felt these feelings doubled by the minute. Maybe she needed a break, that's what her director in London had advised her before leaving.

"After we finish this introduction, you need to take a well deserved break before we start this again," Rebeca Hale was cheery with the implications of her words.

Seren wasn't all that happy about it. "Have they said anything else about another team replication?" Long ago, they had discussed the possibility of once again recreating a team in a different country just like she had for London. But that was so long ago and nothing had been set since then.

Rebeca shook her head. "No, but I'm confident that they will once we present the team. After the presentation, though, you will take a break. It's only fair."

Seren sighed in her seat. She wasn't sure how to take the news if it were to actually happen. It was so strange because she'd been so happy — so thrilled — when Rebeca first brought up the fact France wanted to work with them. Two years later today...Seren found herself wary of it.

When the jet finally landed, Seren gathered her immediate bag and started for the door. She thanked the attendant for the care and walked out into fresh air.

"Seren!" she heard Chloe's call almost as soon as she'd stepped out.

Of course. Seren had planned on a surprise early landing but she didn't expect for Chloe to come out and actually meet her. With a wide grin, Seren hurried towards Chloe and hugged her.

"Ooh! Welcome back!" Chloe had Seren in a bone-crushing hug despite the latter being, quite literally, twice as strong.

Seren laughed. "It's good to be back, honestly."

Chloe pulled back from Seren, wearing a grin from ear to ear. "We're going to have so much fun, I swear! Here, let's go downstairs and get you a cab or something." She helped Seren with her bag and then started walking towards the door leading down to Headquarters. "Natasha will pop by later. She got assigned."

"No worries," Seren said, following Chloe into the building. Already she felt the nostalgia for the building when she walked down the hallway. "Place never changes..."

Chloe chuckled. "You would know. I wonder if Fury ever thinks about remodeling or something. I know a thing or two about international interior designs."

Seren couldn't help but laugh thinking how that conversation with Fury would go. It seemed like Chloe was thinking about the same thing, judging by the threatening laugh on her face.

"I missed you, Seren," Chloe said a moment later.

"Seriously? But you always travel anyways," Seren remarked.

"Yeah, but it was always nice knowing that when I came back, you would be here. Kind of like home, you know?"

Seren smiled. "Well, you did have the others. I know you spent most of your time living with Steve. Was it that bad?"

"Course not," Chloe shrugged, "But you're my best friend. It's just different." She bumped shoulders with Seren. "We're going to hang out later, you know that right?" She led Seren into a new hallway.

"Yeah," Seren said, her attention drifting over to the elevator across them that had dinged as it stopped on their floor. As soon as the doors slid open, out came a crowd of agents with a few familiar faces in the midst. It almost scared Seren that she didn't immediately recognize some of the people. Have I been gone that long? She wasn't used to not knowing everyone at SHIELD.

"Winters," Rumlow called as he led his STRIKE crew.

"Oh, great," Chloe mumbled under her breath then, at a normal volume, told Rumlow she was off duty for the day. "Can't you see we have our old agent back?" She made a gesture at Seren beside her.

Seren rolled her eyes and pushed Chloe's hands down. "Hey," she greeted Rumlow with a polite smile.

"Long time no see, Soul," Rumlow remarked. "You back with us for good now?"

"Um...it's still being discussed," Seren said. "Everything been good around here?"

"Yeah, perfect," Rumlow said with a strange smile. "Winter's been hanging out a lot more around here, did she tell you? Almost like she was waiting for you to leave."

Chloe deadpanned the man. "Shut it. Don't you have an assignment to go do?"

The elevator dinged again.

"Yeah, we're heading there now," Rumlow said, "See you, Soul."

Seren waved goodbye as the STRIKE team walked around them to head up to the rooftop. Chloe wasn't as kind and started walking in the opposite direction.

"Hey! Look what the cat dragged in!" Chloe's loud exclaim drew Seren's attention up ahead.

It was a few more SHIELD agents coming out of the elevator but Seren's eyes fell on the only agent she truly cared for. She locked eyes with Steve and, with a wide grin, hurried towards the group. In her running, she knocked past Chloe's shoulder.

"Hey!" Chloe dropped Seren's bag in the process.

Seren would apologize later — if she ever realized what she did — because all she cared about in that moment was hugging Steve with all her might. And with him, she could totally do that.

"Hi!" Steve was breathless from shock. He had no idea she was coming today. As far as he knew, she wasn't due for another few days. He immediately saw Chloe's smirking face across from them and knew. That sneaky—

But Seren had squeezed him enough to claim his attention again. It'd been two years since he last saw her, touched her, held her. He couldn't be mad at anything right now. He closed his eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath, letting his entire senses be consumed with Seren Soul. He could stay like that forever...

Chloe dismissed the rest of the agents towards the rooftop. She figured this was going to last for a bit. She would've left herself if the way to the elevator wasn't being blocked.

Luckily, Steve came to and set Seren on her feet, drawing away from her. Seren's hands still rested on his arms but it took her a while to meet his gaze. She looked at him from head to toe, blatantly admiring him. He was geared for a mission, clad in his stealth uniform and his shield. By the time she looked up at his eyes, she was red-faced and so warm.

"Hi..." she swallowed hard. She pulled her hands off his arms and stepped back, very self conscious about herself now.

Steve was grinning from ear to ear. He honestly felt like he couldn't breathe — Seren was right here. She was right in front of him, so dazzling and pretty—

"You guys okay over there?" Chloe had a hand beside her mouth, acting as if she needed to yell the question out to be heard.

The grin from Steve's face dropped when he looked over at Chloe. "You didn't tell me anything!" he accused her.

Once again, Chloe smirked. "I didn't? You know, I just have so many things on my mind. Literally!" She tapped a finger on her temple. "It's the Hive—"

"Oh, save it," Steve rolled his eyes. Seren's giggle brought his attention back to her. "I mean — I would have loved to know that you were coming earlier. I—"

"It's fine," Seren said, "Did I catch you at a bad time?" She may have quickly looked him over again.

"Kind of," Steve was regretful to say. "Actually, I sort of have to — sorry..." He was sure that Rumlow was already growing impatient up on the rooftop waiting for him.

Seren still smiled at him but behind that clean smile she was reminded why they were where they were today — not together. Work. "Yeah, of course," she nodded and stepped aside. "I'll see you later..."

"Definitely!" Steve jumped at the opportunity even when he had to start heading to the elevator. "Uh, just, Chloe can let me know if you're too busy—"

Chloe gave him a thumbs up on the spot. "She won't be!" Seren glared at her.

"Great!" Steve exclaimed and soon disappeared in the elevator. Before the doors slid shut on him, he flashed another smile at Seren. She could almost melt at that moment. She missed him and all his charming smiles.

"You guys are so pathetic, it physically hurts me," Chloe bluntly said as she walked past Seren.

~0~

Seren would be staying in a hotel close to where her gathering with the Council would be happening. Like her apartment in London, the hotel room was a luxurious one. Chloe was utterly jealous and warned Seren that if she didn't properly keep hold of her key card, she would take it.

"I oddly miss that, you know," Seren shook her head at the blonde. Chloe had left her suitcase in the middle of the living room for Seren to go through.

"Well, lucky Steve is getting all of my attention these past weeks," Chloe flashed a big smile at Seren. "But don't worry, I told him it wasn't going to work out between us. I understand that he's all yours."

Seren threw Chloe a look that screamed 'murder'. "That's not funny!" she said while Chloe laughed.

"I'm sorry, but it's so annoying the way you two act!" Chloe plopped down on the couch and threw her head back to rest for a bit. She had another headache coming. "Seriously," she brought a hand on her forehead, "you practically ogled him earlier and he didn't bat an eye."

"What!?" Seren went red in a matter of seconds. "I didn't — I was not—"

Chloe smiled when she lifted her head off the couch. "It's okay. I told him that he looked hot. You should've seen his reaction. Hilarious."

Seren was nowhere near amused with the conversation. "I don't need to know about that stuff and I was not 'ogling' him!" she insisted.

Chloe shrugged as she pushed herself up from the couch. She needed a drink of water. "I exist to annoy you and fluster Steve. I take my job very seriously but I'm also irritated with both of you for being so dumb."

"Did you bring me to my hotel to insult me all day?" Seren crossed her arms. "Because the door's over there."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "It's so funny how you get insulted by the truth, and just about every little thing I say. Steve has the same problem. You're even similar in that aspect."

"And I genuinely wonder how you and Steve have managed to live together for so long," Seren said.

"Because as annoying as I am, I'm also so loveable," Chloe said with a wide grin. "And as 'imprudent' as you like to say that I am, I do make him laugh and trust me, Steve needs to laugh some more. He always smiles but I know it's not real half the time."

Seren fell silent then. She knew Chloe was right.

"I mean, he's trying to navigate himself but I feel like he's just kind of...floating," Chloe continued. "I think he's missing you."

"Chloe..." sighed Seren. It always went back to this.

"No, for real this time," Chloe said, putting her hands together in a praying motion. "Like, he's learning the new things about our world — the customs, the food, the places, the language — but I think at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter because what he wants...he doesn't have. And that's you. Seren Soul."

Seren lowered her head for a moment. Her heart could explode in that moment hearing — thinking that she was that important to someone. "I think he might want his friends back too, Chloe," she said quietly.

Chloe chuckled. "Well, of course, but that doesn't mean you're any less important. I think that Steve just makes a habit of pretending to be happy and no matter what I do to try to get him to actually be happy, it doesn't work. You know I take him to the Smithsonian museum all the time to try and cheer him up?"

"Smithsonian museum?" Seren frowned. "What's that?"

Chloe all but gawked. "He never told you?"

"Told me what?"

Chloe groaned. "I'll kill him! I swear I'll kill him!"

"Chloe, what's going on?"

Chloe explained to Seren what the museum was all about. Seren was shocked, and maybe a little disappointed, that Steve never mentioned to her that there was a whole exhibit dedicated to his life.

"It's really cool," Chloe said. "I've gone on my own too, not going to lie. It tells Steve's whole life and then you get to see his friends there too!"

"Everyone?" Seren said, sounding like she was dreading something.

"Yeah," Chloe nodded, raising an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"Well, maybe seeing his dead friends isn't exactly the uplifting activity Steve needs," Seren said, half smiling at her friend. "Did you ever think about that?"

"Dammit." Chloe smacked her forehead and then completely regretted it. There was definitely a headache now!

Seren chuckled. "It's alright. I'm sure Steve appreciates your intentions. I just think seeing his dead friends, and his dead best friend, might be doing a bit more harm than good."

"Well, yeah, now that you say it like that!" Chloe groaned. "I'm stupid. I'm definitely stupid."

"You're fine, Chloe. You always are." Seren had to always remind herself about that fact as well. As imprudent as Chloe was, she did always have the best of intentions.

"I'm going to get a glass of water now," Chloe said, rubbing her forehead. As she walked towards the kitchen, Seren watched her and noted the slight stumble in her pace.

~ 0 ~

Steve was able to get back to SHIELD in under a day. It was probably one of his quickest missions and he didn't want to talk about it. As soon as he had returned home, he went to get ready to leave again. He showered, got changed, and did all he could to make himself presentable. He was on his way out when he found Chloe lying on the couch fast asleep. He stopped with an almost skid on his feet.

Chloe never napped.

He often questioned what energy she ran on because their missions could go on for long periods of time and yet she was always bouncing off the walls with exceptional energy. He didn't want to wake her up, but he did promise himself that he would start bugging her with questions until she answered him clearly.

It was truly like he and Seren ran with the same signal.

He had surprised her at her hotel room and quickly learned that she was on her way out to run some errands. He was glad to join her and in the midst of their conversation on their walk, they stumbled on the topic of their mutual friend — pseudo-sister.

"Do you know what is going on with Chloe?" Seren finally got the courage to ask him directly. "I notice she looks more tired than usual. And she kind of walks funny too, like she's low on energy."

"You don't read minds, do you?" Steve couldn't help the words that flew from his mouth. He apologized not a second later with a meek smile. "Sorry. Yeah, I've noticed the same thing."

"Do you know what's going on then?"

Steve shook his head.

"I love Chloe like my little sister. I'd like to know if there's something wrong with her, something I can help her with."

"I'd love to have the answers, Seren, but I really don't," Steve sighed. "I've asked her dozens of times but she doesn't tell me anything."

"How long has it been going on?"

"A while," Steve admitted, feeling guilty. "I-I should have been more on it, but I have no idea what to do, honestly. I'm scared I might offend her or something."

Seren half smiled at him. "It takes a lot to really offend, Chloe."

"I mean, one moment she's okay but then suddenly she gets these headaches or she stumbles. She's usually very alert but lately she looks like shes could sleep a lot more. And she probably does."

"Chloe's never had insomnia, not even when I first found her," Seren said. "There were days where she wouldn't sleep but eventually she would. Has she seen a doctor?"

"I don't know, probably not." As far as he could tell, Steve was sure that Chloe had kept it all to herself.

"Why didn't you say something to me before?" As much as Seren wanted to keep the peace, she couldn't help the tinge of irritation in her tone.

"What was I supposed to say? I don't actually know if there's something wrong with Chloe. She doesn't say anything and I can't force her to say something either."

"But there's something clearly wrong with her!" Seren exclaimed and stopped walking. "Steve, you don't get it. I found Chloe when she was a teenager — a kid — and I have been with her every step of the way ever since then. I still remember the way I found her. It's permanently seared in my head." It was why she preferred not to remember it so much but sometimes moments like these sent her back.

"Agent Soul, we have one heat signature recorded in the building," a female S.H.I.E.L.D. agent reported over the comms. "Completely still but very much alive."

Seren and a few other agents behind her were making their way into said building. "But you're sure this is where the energy readings are coming from?" Seren asked.

"Absolutely," the female agent said. "It matches the readings we found in the explosion site."

"Be cautious everyone," Seren led her group into the corridor of the building. "If this is the same person, they're responsible for the deaths of twenty people. One bad move and we might all go down in an explosion."

"Copy that," the female agent over the comms. said. Behind Seren, the other agents agreed with dutiful nods.

Seren soon divided her in half so that each half could take the two doors of the room. As they got closer, they could hear the incoherent mutterings. For a moment, Seren thought she heard the voice of a girl. That couldn't be right. They were searching for a bomber. A reckless bomber with no regard for innocent lives. That was what SHIELD told them.

"On my mark," Seren readied her team. Her hands balled on her sides, creating a soft orange glow she would use to attack the bomber. She neared the door first and peeked through the crack of it.

'I didn't...I didn't...I didn't do...no...I didn't….'

A girl. It was definitely sounding like a girl was in the room.

"Be on guard," Seren suddenly said, "The bomber might have a hostage."

"Negative," the female agent over the comms. said, "There's only one heat signature coming from the room."

"Something's not right," Seren mumbled. She pushed open the door and cautiously stepped in. Her eyes swept over the dusty room bathed in a radiant blue glow. "No bomb parts in sight…" she informed the team.

"I didn't...no, stop it! I didn't...Stop talking!" A girl shrieked behind an overturned desk.

Seren forewent caution and ran towards the desk. She came to find a blonde girl huddled underneath the desk, her body trembling as she kept talking to herself.

"Hold fire," Seren told the rest of the team as she bent down in front of the girl.

"They need to stop. You need to stop! Stop!" The girl scrunched her face — a rather gaunt face. She was far too skinny and pale. She was dirty too.

Seren wondered if the girl had been homeless for a while now. Whatever she was, she couldn't be completely human. The blue glow was coming from her body. "Hey there…" Seren said softly, "My name's Seren. Can you hear me?"

The girl's eyes flickered everywhere before landing on Seren. "I didn't...make them stop!" her face scrunched. "They won't stop talking! They won't stop talking to me!"

"Who?" Seren looked around. No one was talking but her.

"Them!" The girl whacked her head hard. "They won't leave me alone!" She hit herself several times before Seren intervened and grabbed her wrists. "STOP! STOP!"

"Who won't? Who won't leave you alone!?" Seren tried to be louder than the girl.

"They're so loud! Loud!" The girl burst into tears. "They won't stop talking!"

"Who won't!?"

"The creatures! Whatever they are! They won't stop talking! Please help me!" The girl flung her body into Seren's, causing several agents to move towards them.

"Hold your fire! I said hold your fire!" Seren waved to the team to stop with her free hand. The girl had grabbed her in a tight hug that included her right arm. She was a sobbing mess. Seren slowly lowered her free hand to the girl's back. "It's alright, it's alright. What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Ch-Chloe. You gotta listen to me, I didn't...I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I can't control this," Chloe raised her head for a split moment. Her eyes flashed another bright blue before the entire glow left her body. "I didn't mean to kill anyone." Tears spilled from her eyes and suddenly Seren was her lifeline again.

Seren quickly cleared a tear from her eye. She didn't like thinking about that day, not when Chloe had come so far now. "Chloe was 17 years old when I found her. She was responsible for the death of 20 people in a bank. Her blasts left an imprint that S.H.I.E.L.D. quickly picked up on. I took Chloe in — she said her family was dead. We assumed it was another accident. She was terrified when I found her."

"She's never told me that story," Steve said quietly.

"I don't imagine she's ever said it to anyone else since that day. I know I'm not that much older than her but I helped her train, I helped her get better. If something is wrong with her, I need to know," Seren said earnestly.

"I'd love to help but I really don't know. She doesn't say."

Seren believed him. She couldn't imagine Chloe telling anyone what was really going on with her. She was a master of secrets. "But if you do find out, you'd tell me right?"

"Yeah," Steve nodded. "To me it looks like it's all from the Hive Mind."

"It's possible the Hive Mind is being more active," Seren started walking slowly. "We've never been able to pinpoint the origin of the Hive Mind. We don't know what the creatures are, we don't know where they're from. It's basically all unknown to us. I don't blame her for lying to us about her parents. They're not dead. She just ran away from them before she could hurt them."

"Do they know about that?"

"I don't think they know anything," Seren said, "Except that she's alive. She just made it seem like she ran away for the hell of it. She has an aunt and cousin here in New York, visits them on occasion. She knows that when she does, her aunt will call her mother to let her know that Chloe's well and alive. But she's never talked to her parents since that day."

Steve couldn't imagine what it had to be like for Chloe leaving all that behind, especially if they were still nearby. "All because of that tech?" Seren nodded. "Where'd it even come from anyways? Chloe's never told me."

Seren shrugged. "We have no idea. We know that aliens have been landing on Earth ever since before humans knew of their existence. It's possible that it was just left behind."

"Not even your grandmother could tell S.H.I.E.L.D. anything? Being a psychic and all…"

Seren smiled. "Yeah, apparently it's hard to 'see' things when it's a Hive Mind you're trying to see. No, we've never really been able to get the origins of that tech. All we know for sure is that it bonded with Chloe's body."

"Permanently?"

Seren met Steve's look. "I...don't know," she admitted. "When Chloe was first brought in, we tried to extract the piece but it was too far gone into her system for such a thing. But then again, that was years ago and years ago we didn't have the technology we do now."

An idea suddenly struck Steve, or rather an answer did. "Like Stark's tech?"

Seren shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

Could that be why Chloe was seeing Stark for a while now? Steve suddenly felt a twinge of betrayal from Chloe. If she was really trying to get the tech out of her body, why wouldn't she say something? Confide in him? More than that, how could he not notice!?

"Steve?" Seren called to him. "You okay?"

"Yeah…" That was far from the truth and both of them knew it. Steve felt stupid for even trying. "No. Honestly, there's just too much going on."

Seren appreciated his honesty. "Still feeling overwhelmed sometimes?"

"More than sometimes."

Seren remembered what Chloe had told her about Steve's difficulties. She didn't know how to tackle them without outing herself either. "How's, um, how's SHIELD?" She figured that was as good of a place to start at. His reservations about the organization were pretty clear from the start.

Steve scoffed. "Ask Fury. According to him, it's 'damn near past time for me to get with the program'."

"Fury can be challenging but he does mean well." The next time Steve scoffed, it was hard enough to make Seren wince. "Or not…?"

"Look Seren, I get that you're probably one of the closest people to Fury but he and I...we don't see eye to eye. And if I'm being honest, I don't know if we'll ever see eye to eye."

"And?" Seren was sure that there was something else he wanted to add but was too reluctant to do so. "I know it's been a long time since we really talked but you do know that you can tell me anything, right? No matter what it is."

"Yes but I know what S.H.I.E.L.D. means to you…" He had no intention of getting into arguments about S.H.I.E.L.D. with her. He knew what the organization meant to her.

Seren stopped walking again, forcing him to do the same. She touched his arm and moved over to stand in front of him. Even though he didn't want to look at her, she eventually made him meet her eyes. When he did, she was able to read him like a book. "You're not happy there," she whispered.

Instead of being honest and agreeing with her — and thanking the stars that she was able to make it easy by just saying it like that — Steve went on the path that had him trying to deflect her assumption. "Who's actually happy these da—"

"Don't," Seren's command was soft but still enough to cut him off. "If you're not happy, say it. What do you think? That it'll hurt my feelings?"

"You've worked there for a long time, a longer time than you should have, and you've said it too. It's your life."

"So? It doesn't mean that I expect for you to stick around, especially if I'm not even around anymore."

"It's not that simple—"

"Why not?"

"Because I have no idea what I actually want to do. I don't know if I want to stay, I don't know if I want to leave!" It's what troubled Steve the most. If he wasn't happy at S.H.I.E.L.D., then logically he should just leave...but then what? What was he supposed to do? In a way, he felt stuck. "The only thing I know for sure is that I don't know anything."

"That's not entirely true," Seren said in a means to be optimistic. "I mean, you've been learning loads of new things from our world. You're not the same person you were the last time we saw each other. That counts for something, right?"

"Yeah, it's just..." Steve didn't know how to put 'it doesn't feel enough' into proper words, especially considering it was Seren he was talking to.

"Okay," Seren nodded, bringing her free hand to rest on his arm again. "Have you thought about taking a leave of absence? Clint does that all the time. Maybe you need it too."

"I don't know…" He was a broken record.

"Just think about it," Seren shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt. I think you sort of jumped back into things that you never really considered doing something else."

It was funny how easily she put together honest sentences like that. No, Steve had never really considered doing anything else other than fighting and missions. Whether or not he actually wanted to, he ended up smiling. It was such a fond smile that Seren shifted on its receiving end.

"What?" she asked for the sole intention of breaking the silencer that fell over them.

"I really missed you." It wasn't the first thing he was thinking of but it was certainly in the top three.

Seren sheepishly smiled back. "I missed you too."

"Hey, why don't we stop by for some cinnamon rolls after you run your errands?"

"Okay," Seren nodded. She hoped she didn't seem too excited. She led the way while simultaneously wondering if she really forgot how to walk suddenly.

~ 0 ~

Perhaps it was luck or perhaps it was sheer fate trying to tell him something, but somehow Steve ended up in the VA right where Sam Wilson was in the middle of a meeting. Seren was doing her last errand across the street — hence the luck or fate playing him — and so, not wanting to bother her, Steve crossed the block to come get a glimpse of what the building was like. He was pleasantly surprised to find Sam inside. He listened to the entire meeting, hearing other fellow soldiers' stories and sympathized with them. It seemed like no matter what the year was, things like these sadly stayed the same.

Sam had seen him early on and as soon as he ended the meeting, he met Steve outside in the hallway. "Look who it is. The running man," he said with a grin. "Is the not-running girl here too?"

Steve chuckled lightly. "Ah no, I don't make her run past nine."

"Just at 6 a.m?"

"The normal amount."

Sam shook his head, leaving a bit of silence to follow. Steve watched as a few of the people from the meeting lingered by the entrance. They seem a bit more calm and content rather than where they were five minutes ago.

"Caught the last few minutes. It's pretty intense..." He said, watching the group leave then looked back at Sam.

"Yeah, brother, we all got the same problems. Guilt, regret," Sam said with a familiar sigh slipping from his lips.

"You lose someone?"

"My wingman, Riley. Flying a night PJ rescue op, nothing we hadn't done a thousand times before, till RPG knocked Riley's dumb ass out of the sky. Nothing I could do. It's like I was up there just to watch."

"I'm sorry." Steve knew that feeling so well. He would never get the image of Bucky falling from the train out of his head, even with the decades that had passed them by. It was still fresh as ever.

"After that, I had a really hard time finding a reason for being over there, you know?"

"But you're happy now, back in the world?" For a moment, Steve envied Sam. Sam seemed like the kind of man who knew what he wanted and got it.

"Hey, the number of people giving me orders is down to about zero," Sam laughed a bit. "So, hell yeah. You thinking about getting out?"

"I don't know." There went the broken record again. "To be honest, I don't know what I would do with myself if I did." On some level, Steve understood what Seren often said about leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. behind. They were both so used to their way of living that to suddenly get out was unimaginable, terrifying even. Maybe that's why he barely considered such an idea.

"Ultimate fighting?" Sam's joke made Steve laugh. "It's just a great idea off the top of my head. But seriously, you could do whatever you want to do. What makes you happy?"

Before Steve could say 'I don't know' — again — he heard his name. It was Seren coming over and unintentionally answering Sam's question. Steve had no idea what kind of work he'd want to do if it wasn't part of S.H.I.E.L.D. but he was sure about Seren and what she did to him. She made him happy.

And did she even look extra pretty today or was that just him being a fool?

"I thought you'd be here," Seren came up to the two men, none the wiser about anything of course.

"You just happen to know that?" Steve raised an eyebrow at her.

"Mhm," she nodded. "It wasn't that hard to put together." Her eyes flickered between them, curiously lingering on Sam. "Hi there…"

"Sorry, this is Sam Wilson," Steve motioned to the man who said a simple "Hello". "Sam, this is—"

"Seren Soul," she stretched a hand forwards to shake with Sam. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Sam said with a lingering gaze, "Sorry, you look familiar…"

Seren chuckled. "Uh, you may remember that big ball of colors that exploded in the New York battle 2 years ago?"

"Aha…"

"Yeah, that was me." Seren loved his wide-eyed reaction. Her laugh may have been slightly louder than what it should've been and then she felt guilty. "Sorry, I just love mentioning that. It was my finest moment but I probably should've just waited outside."

"You're fine," Steve told her. He was failing to keep his fond smile hidden. He just couldn't help it. Having her around was reminding him exactly why he wanted her in the first place.

"I'll just do that — I'm going to see if Chloe answers my calls anyways," Seren said, one hand already fishing for her phone inside her purse. "It was nice meeting you Sam."

"Likewise," Sam nodded at her. "Say hi to Chloe for me."

Seren chuckled. "Sure. I'll be outside," she told Steve.

"You don't have to wai—" He tried to say but Seren assured him it was fine. She really did want to call and check in on Chloe.

"It's okay." She couldn't help but laugh at how guilty he seemed, like he really did have something to be sorry about.

"Seren—"

"I'll be outside," Seren said. "Seriously, take your time, I'll be fine." She patted Steve's arm, assuring him one more time before heading out.

Sam watched them go back and forth for those few seconds until eventually Steve accepted his loss and turned back to him.

Sam was smirking all too knowledgeable. "Special lady?"

Steve couldn't help it. He smiled. "...something like that."

~ 0 ~

Seren was hanging up when Steve came out of the building. By the look on her face, Steve presumed that Chloe had done to her what she'd been doing to him.

"She says she's absolutely fine," Seren sighed and stuffed her phone back into her purse. "Does she think I'm an idiot?"

"Honestly, I don't know what goes through Chloe's head most of the time — besides the obvious of course — but hey, maybe she just needs some time and soon enough she'll finally tell us what's been bothering her."

"I hope you're right," Seren folded her arms, still looking mighty upset. Steve hated it.

"You want to get those cinnamon rolls now?" He asked her in hopes of cheering her up.

"I think so, yeah," she nodded.

"My treat," Steve said and motioned her to walk with him. "Did Chloe say where she was at least?" He doubted that she had stayed home all day after that strange nap.

"Just that she was out and busy," Seren said, sighing. "She got a bit defensive, mind you. Told me I should stop worrying about her so much and just...hang out with you."

Steve had to smile to himself. Even in moments like these, Chloe never wasted an opportunity.

"Which reminds me," Seren said, suddenly shooting him a squinted-eye look, "When were you planning on telling me about the Smithsonian exhibition?" Judging by the look on Steve's face, the answer was close to 'never'. "I didn't know you were capable of hiding things from me, you know. Don't know whether to be irritated or impressed."

"I didn't exactly see the necessity of telling you that some people made a whole exhibition about my life," Steve said, scrunching his face. "It's awkward, you know."

"But you still go," Seren said like she had all the certainty in the world. "Chloe said she brings you sometimes but it only worsens your mood."

"It doesn't—"

"And then I told her she probably shouldn't take you to the place where you see all your friends who are dead now," Seren said ever so bluntly. For some reason, it made Steve laugh. "But now I'm second guessing myself because if you really hated it that much, you wouldn't have gone with Chloe every single time she dragged you there which means—"

Steve was downright amused with her at this point. "What are you, a detective?"

"—you" — Seren poked his arm with a finger — "have been going there on your own when she's not looking. Am I right?"

"Can't keep anything away from you, detective Soul," Steve said with a mock salute. Seren was smiling pretty smugly (and looking adorable in the process). "Yeah, alright, I do go on my own. As hard as it is, it's all I have left, you know? I don't have any pictures of my own and...in some way, it's easier having them away from me. I decide when I see them. And I don't have to bring them home."

"Home away from home?" Seren presumed. Steve nodded. "It's hard being the only one left to remember something. I'm sorry."

"It's not like it's your fault," Steve said, "But if you do want to see it—"

"Oh, I don't have to — I wasn't saying it because I needed to—"

"Can I take you, actually?" Steve asked, startling her with the sudden request. "It is my home away from home. I'd like for you to see who I was before all this stuff."

"I know you, Steve," Seren said softly, resting a hand on his arm. "I don't have to see anything to confirm that."

"You know me — this me," Steve pointed out, bringing his hand over hers on his arm. "You don't know that stupid man before the war. Chloe didn't either, actually. And do you know what she said?"

"Oh God..." Seren groaned, "What did this girl say to you?"

Steve was half smiling when he remembered. "'How did you expect to win WW2 when you're pint-sized?'"

"I swear to God, I'm going to ki—" But Steve was laughing before Seren could finish, and the way he was so carefree and genuine is what made her stop altogether. She hated that he rarely had moments like these and wondered how many of these moments there had actually been while she was gone.

"Chloe helps me, whether she knows it or not," Steve said when he managed to calm himself down. "Her comments makes things seem lighter. I know for sure my old friends would've gotten a kick out of that."

"Oh, so they were all rude too?" Seren was smiling, wanting to keep the moment going.

"You think Bucky was all kind all the time? He'd insult me the most. I have to make sure Chloe never finds out the things he'd call me because I get the feeling she'd take on his mantle and keep it going."

"You know what, you might be right," Seren chuckled.

"So, if Chloe got to know the other me. Can I show you now?" Steve didn't know how anxious he could get so quickly and suddenly, but it always seem to happen when he was around Seren. It was true that with Chloe, she had helped him and that was that. She didn't make him nervous. He certainly didn't feel nervous when she saw the old videos and pictures of his old self. He was terrified knowing that Seren might be watching them now. But it was still important to him that she saw them. He didn't want to hide anything from her, not even those parts.

"Of course," Seren replied, and watched as Steve took her hand off his arm and kept it in his. "But it's not really going to change anything. You'll still be the same to me."

"I'm going to hold you to that," Steve said, truly meaning it with every fiber of his being. Because if she couldn't see him the same way, he had no idea what he would do with himself.

~ 0 ~

The exhibition was crowded. Seren was honestly in awe at how many people showed up, and even more to find out that it was more or less like this every day. And apparently, Steve wasn't exactly all for it. He still preferred to stay away from the crowds when possible.

There was so much to see that Seren didn't know where they could possibly start. Steve seemed drawn to certain parts so she followed him and even though he didn't say it out loud, she could tell he was nervous. He held onto her hand like he thought she would run away or something, especially when they wandered over to a corner of his very early days.

'Denied enlistment due to poor health, Steven Rogers was chosen for a program unique in the annals of American warfare. One that would transform him into the world's first super soldier…'

Seren's chuckle subsided the more she watched the different footage playing ahead of them. It helped loosen some of Steve's nerves. If she was laughing like that, she wasn't appalled.

"I've seen pictures of you — the you before the serum — but it's never really looked so...real…" She said distractedly, a fond smile tugging at her lips the more footage she saw. "You're my size! Ha!"

Steve playfully rolled his eyes at her. "You know, now I can kind of see how you and Chloe are friends."

Seren flushed and sheepishly looked up at him. "Sorry." But Steve was smiling, shaking his head at her.

"Don't be."

"If this is what you had to show me, I gotta say that there's really no difference…" No sooner had Seren said that than Steve let out an incredulous laugh.

"Really?"

Seren knew exactly what he meant and so she looked at him again. "There's no difference where it matters," she said earnestly. "You were who you were before any of this stuff. Otherwise you wouldn't be here."

"That's one way to think about it," Steve said. He certainly never thought about it that way.

"It's the only way," Seren told him. "And I don't accept any insults towards yourself. Sorry."

Steve laughed lightly. "Good to know the rules, then. Do you know you have to follow them as well?"

Seren knew she'd walked into that one. "I'm a different case—"

"No, you're not—"

"I'm literally half alien, Steve. You're entirely human. People love you—"

"People love you too."

"Yeah, but there's always going to be a faction that sees me as a threat. I mean, what do you think your friends would've thought of me back then? What would you have thought of me before any of this serum and Hydra stuff? Before you knew about aliens and hybrids?"

Steve took one look at her and knew exactly what he would've thought. "'She's pretty'." The world had flown from his mouth but he didn't regret them one bit. The look on Seren's face was prize enough.

"I don't— I mean—" Seren laughed because there was nothing else she could think of at the moment. Her face was on fire.

"I would've told Bucky that," Steve continued, shrugging. He felt a surge of confidence he wasn't quite used to and surprisingly he was going with it. "He would've agreed."

"Mm, really?" Seren could barely look at him without blushing all over again.

"But truthfully, you wouldn't be his type."

Seren blinked. "Oh? I wouldn't be?" There was a hint of disappointment in her voice that Steve couldn't ignore. In fact, he very much felt jealousy spring in his chest.

"It's just — Bucky was always kind of — he just had a type, you know? And he himself was a…well…a bit rambunctious. He was always the life of the party—"

"Are you saying that I'm not the life of the party?" Seren laughed lightly.

"I didn't mean to—!"

But Seren patted a hand on Steve's arm. "You're fine. I don't actually party but you know who does — or did? Chloe. She's a bit, uh, rambunctious too."

Steve's lips twitched into a smile. He was fighting the urge to laugh. 'Rambunctious' was cutting it short to describe Chloe. "Well, I just meant the way your personality is…it wouldn't really match with Bucky's."

"Mm…" Seren hummed, "Well, if that's right, then maybe you're right."

'I am' almost slipped out from Steve's lips. He took her hand again and began leading her out of the exhibit.

There were plenty of other things to see in the museum. They wandered over to one display and Seren quickly realized that it was the telling of Steve's old team, primarily of Bucky Barnes himself.

'Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers were inseparable on both schoolyard and battlefield. Barnes is the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country.'

Seren felt her hand be squeezed just a tad tighter. She wondered how many times Steve had come into this place and watched this specific display.

To watch and hear how he lost his best friend…Seren couldn't imagine how she would handle that kind of situation if it was, say, Chloe in Bucky's place. She would go mad.

Seren felt like that whole museum did a lot more harm than it did good. Seeing the faces of the past wouldn't be easy for anyone, much less for someone who'd gone through what Steve had. By the time they finally stepped out of the museum, they'd gone through every display and available interviews, including Peggy Carter's. None of it seemed to put Steve in any better mood.

"If your intention was to drive me off because of all this stuff, you failed," she told him as soon as they were on the sidewalk. "I just care that it seems to hurt you. How many times have you come here on your own?"

"Uuh, a few times every now and then…" Steve gave a light shrug of his shoulders. He was very careful not to look at her.

"So I'm guessing every time you're feeling a bit down," Seren folded her arms over her chest. "Those people...they all seemed like very good people."

"They were." There was an etch of pain over Steve's face when he forced the last word out from his mouth. Were. Because they were, most of them.

"They're not all gone," Seren whispered to him, bringing him out of his sure-to-be grim thoughts. "I know it seems like there's no one left but that isn't quite true, right? Peggy's still around."

"She is but...at the same time she isn't." Steve felt his hand be taken by Seren. She was well aware of Peggy's deteriorating condition.

"Have you visited her lately?"

"A few weeks ago."

"Maybe you should consider visiting her again," Seren took her hand out of his to rub a comforting hand over his arm. "If you want to feel connected to your home, I think you should take advantage that she's close by."

Steve nodded. "Yeah, maybe." There was always a need to visit Peggy whenever he wanted to reminisce about the past but ever since Peggy started losing her memories, it became even more difficult for him to see her. If he lost her too then it meant he would finally lose everything from home. He would be the last one to remember everything.

Seren hated the way his face slowly fell. "Listen, we can skip the cinnamon rolls. I'm sure Chloe and Natasha can use my help or something. You should visit Peggy today, help ease your mind a bit."

"What? No!" Steve started shaking his head. Somehow the idea of letting go of Seren's hand made things feel ten times worse. "I told you we were going to get some cinnamon—"

"It's fine, really! I'll be here for about a week anyways."

"No, Seren, I promised you—"

"And I am happily liberating you from it!" Seren wanted to pull her hand out of his but he was gripping it. "I can take a few days without cinnamon rolls, I swear."

Steve smiled at her. Of course she'd do something like that. He often told Peggy about these selfless choices that Seren would make. Sometimes they were small, sometimes big, but always with the same intention: to help others. It was a shame that she couldn't really remember much about Seren.

"Seren, how about you come with me?" As he expected, Seren gave him an odd look. "I think you're right, visiting Peggy would be a good idea but it would be an even better idea if you came with me."

"But I…" Seren laughed nervously, "No, absolutely not. I don't...I don't have anything to do there — she wants to see you not the...the alien that S.H.I.E.L.D. adopted."

"She'd like to see you too, I know it. C'mon," Steve offered her his arm. "You're not going to let me go alone, are you?"

"Well, it's not like you wouldn't know your way back. Steve, no, it's...I wouldn't even know what to say. The last time I saw her she was...an adult and I...wasn't." She scrunched her face. Had it been that long?" Steve laughed. "Don't laugh! I was being serious! I don't...I don't know what I'd do or say…"

"It doesn't really matter because I already told her enough about you," Steve said so casually that he never considered how Seren would react to that admission.

It certainly brought her out of her nerves for a split moment and it was only to be replaced by surprise. "You talk to her about me?"

It was her soft tone that warned Steve to tread carefully with his next words. He didn't want to weird her out. "I talked about everyone," he said. "S.H.I.E.L.D., you know? But yeah, she knows you well enough to know what kind of person you are. Not to mention she did see what you did in New York."

Seren rubbed circles over her chest with her free hand. It was getting a little hard to breathe normally. "And what did she-she say?"

"She likes you...which is why I know that she would love a visit from you too. Please?"

Seren deliberated for another minute. She was nowhere near ready but she wouldn't lie to herself: meeting one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D. had always been one of her dreams. Plus, this was the Peggy Carter.

"If I end up looking like a fool, I am never talking to you again Steve Rogers," she announced as she now squeezed his hand.

Steve laughed. "You are literally incapable of doing that."

"I guess we'll be finding out, huh?"

~ 0 ~

It was breathtaking to see someone after more than 10 years, even more so when it appeared that Peggy actually did remember Seren more than the latter had anticipated.

"You didn't have orange hair…" Peggy made her first comment after both Seren and Steve sat down beside her bed. Peggy chuckled when Seren's hand flung to her short, ginger hair. "I do remember some things."

"Wild actions a young twentier takes," Seren poorly reasoned. It was like she could hear her mother's appalled yells again.

"If I had done that in my time, I can't imagine what they would've done to me," Peggy's eyes widened slightly at the idea. "What do you think, Steve? Orange?"

Steve bobbed his head for a moment. "I think very few people can pull it off. Seren is one of them."

Seren smiled bashfully. "Hair aside, it is very nice to see you again, Agent Carter."

Peggy laughed. "I haven't been called that in a very long time."

"It's how I remember you," Seren shrugged. "I remember before I was younger, my grandmother would bring me around whenever I was sick. S.H.I.E.L.D. is the only place where I could go for medical attention...and the only place where they could handle a pretty strong kid."

Peggy looked at her for a long time, so long that Steve started worrying she'd forgotten again. "You're the little girl that hated doctors." Seren flushed. Of course she would remember that. "You would kick and thrash even when you were this small." Peggy made the traditional notion of her index finger and thumb. "You had to have at least 3 agents on you back then."

"I never liked doctors," Seren said, glancing at Steve. "You know that too."

"Oh, I do," he agreed.

The last time she had been injured was during the battle against the Chitauri. She was beyond exhausted but the moment she was lucid enough, she pulled the IV tubes from her skin and jumped out of her hospital bed to get changed. On some level, he could understand the fear of doctors considering his own experience with them but he believed Seren had a degree or two more of fear.

"How is S.H.I.E.L.D. treating you?" Even with her own problems, Peggy was aware enough to know to be cautious with that question.

Seren briefly glanced at Steve. She wondered how many times Peggy had asked him the same thing.

"I'm doing good, though to be honest I haven't really done missions for them in over 2 years. I've been in London."

"Oh right, Steve's talked about it. Recreating the Initiative."

"Aha." Once again, Seren looked over to Steve. She wanted to ask exactly how much he would talk about her with Peggy. At that moment, Steve wished he hadn't talked about her so much.

"I have to admit that I was never quite on board with that Initiative," Peggy sighed. "One of my many regrets is allowing you, as a child, to participate."

"Agent Carter, it's not your fault…"

"Peggy, please, and as one of the founders it is partly my fault."

"Steve, that's not true," Seren had shifted in her chair to face him better. "By the 90s, she wasn't that involved with S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore. She was with family."

"I know," he told her, touched that she was trying to clear Peggy's name even when he himself didn't blame her for anything. "But she's made it very clear that she's not backing out of the guilt thing. Some things never change."

Peggy rolled her eyes at him. "I think you're the least qualified to speak about never changing."

Seren laughed. "Ouch. That hurt from here."

"You know he's always been dramatic, right?" Peggy reached for one of Seren's arms to tap. "Don't let him do it."

"Alright, I think we can stop," Steve's attempt was done in vain. Peggy continued to point out things that he often did "to make himself miserable" as she pointed out. The only reason he wouldn't take it to heart was because it was nice watching her and Seren get along.

"I did not know that," Seren chuckled. "But I will definitely keep an eye on him."

"Through a screen?" Steve sarcastically retorted. "I don't think so."

Seren rolled her eyes at him. "I have ways."

"Will you be staying here long?" Once more, Peggy studied both of their faces as Seren worked up the courage to answer.

"Probably not," Seren bit on her lower lip. "My current director wants me back in London and when I successfully introduce the new team, France will most likely request my official transfer there."

"I see," Peggy said, eyes lingering now on Steve. He was obviously upset but he would never tell Seren how he felt about it. She could understand. What kind of person would he be if he told Seren to stay with him? But, if she was seeing right, it didn't seem like Seren was that excited about moving to France.

Seren felt the vibration of her phone from her purse on her lap. "Sorry, it's my director," she apologized.

"Go on," Peggy assured her it was fine.

"I'll be out in a bit," Steve told her as she hurried out to take the call.

"Rebeca? Hey, I'm not…" Seren's voice disappeared as she walked further away from the room.

"She seems lovely," Peggy didn't waste a second when it was just her and Steve.

"She is," he agreed. His hands weren't wrangled with each other, like they usually did whenever he wasn't saying what was bothering him.

"And she's leaving soon — again." Peggy smiled at him.

Steve nodded. "I can't say anything, Peg. I...back then, it was just the norm for women to stay at home for their husbands. Now women can do whatever they want. They can go out, have jobs — I can't imagine Seren doing anything more than what she's doing right now. The world would be a goner if Seren Soul was a housewife." He chuckled with Peggy.

When their laugh subsided, things fell quiet for a few moments.

"I'm not telling you to make her your housewife although if that's how far you've been thinking about this—"

"I haven't!" Steve said quickly, albeit with a flush on his face.

"I'm just telling you to tell her the truth," Peggy said, "And then let her make her choice too. She has that right, you know."

Steve drew in a shaky breath. Yes, he did know that Seren also had a right to make a choice like he did but the last time they talked about…she chose her job. He would never reproach her for that because he never knew what could happen to him. When things were for the greater good, they tended to go in that direction. It was in their nature, he supposed…their so-in-sync nature.

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ariminiria · 1 year

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I'm curious, but may I ask what the major issues of the Hobbit trilogy were, please?

ohhh boy I could go on for ages... in fact, I think I previously made a whole post about it, let me see if I can find it

okay I couldn't find the exact post, but the two I rbed below me are a couple reasons. but, I'm going to be visiting the discord for this one bc I know I've definitely ranted about it there

but first, I want to start out by addressing an attitude I've seen since Amazon's fanfiction came out. a lot of people have started to point to the Hobbit trilogy and say, "see! it wasn't so bad! aren't you grateful for them now! we trested it so badly but we didn't know!"

to which I say: absolutely not.

more below the cut because this is gonna be loooong

that's like trying to excuse a turd in comparison to a post-taco bell night mess. one is more disgusting than the other, but at the end of the day, they're both terrible pieces of shit.

the Hobbit films didn't magically get better just because the Fanfic came out. it being worse didn't suddenly erase that trilogies flaws.

so with that clarified, let's get into what actually makes the Hobbit films so bad.

I actually think the first one is pretty good. It had potential and is easily fixable.

but movie two... it was all downhill from there.

where to begin... ah, the writing.

so, it's clear that the writing was attempting for the same tone as the original LotR trilogy. and while that may seem like a good idea on the surface, The Hobbit was written for children. the tone of the book is overall more light-hearted and adventurous. therefore, trying to force the more despairing-yet-hopeful, dark tone of the original trilogy already starts the story on the wrong foot. you get conflicting messages from the subtext because the film writers' vision is so different from the basic intent of what Tolkien wrote.

I like to say it this way: they were more interested in making a "LotR prequel" than they were in making a "Hobbit film adaptation". the Hobbit should've been one film, maybe two. but they clearly only painfully stretched it across three films like butter scraped across too much bread for the sole purpose of having just as many movies as LotR - but that one actually makes sense because the book is divided into three volumes providing natural breaking points and content enough for for three movies

now I own the extended editions of the Hobbit, literally just for the sake of owning them, and.... the first one? hardly "extended" at all. I'm pretty sure the extended Unexpected Journey is literally still shorter than the shortest THEATRICAL cut LotR film. it felt like the only material they cut was cut for the sole purpose of being able to sell an extended version.

also pardon my French but it genuinely makes me so angry-- there's this one fucking joke. this stupid. Fucking. Joke.

why would you hire a COMEDIAN to be in an epic fantasy like Tolkien?? Tolkien has funny moments but not Modern Comedian Funny.

this stupid. motherfucker. I am SO angry about this, he looked at a candelabra and fucking said MADE IN RIVENDELL??? I literally yelled over the movie for two solid minutes about that one, three word, throwaway line. it pisses me off more than the entirety of love triangle plot (we'll get to that later, don't you worry)

anways, I am taking deep breaths, I am calming down, we are forgetting about The Joke...

*ahem* now, let's talk about how the films look. first off, they filmed in 30 FPS. for context, the standard Frames Per Second is 24. 30 is typically only used for special effects such as slow mo, and even then youre better off using 60, so its essentially pointless in the end. this results in a weird, subconscious "off" feeling as you watch the movement on screen. everything just looks... not-quite-right, even if you can't put a finger on what it is.

the main visual issue is overuse of CGI. one of those posts I rbed below this has visual examples, comparing between the trilogies. namely, comparing between Lurtz and Azog the Defiler (who wasn't even in the books, btw. he was named dropped once, to say "oh yeah and Bolg, the orc leading the Orc army was the son of Azog the Defiler" and that was it).

the atrocious CGI sabotages any goodwill you mightve had for the production value.

the LotR trilogy was believable because of the well managed practical effects, with minimal and careful use of CGI. Peter Jackson said it was made like "a Kiwi indie film", and that simplistic yet passionate charm shines through The Hobbit, on the other hand, shot like any major hollywood production with approximately Zero indie charm, said "computers can do anything and everything, right?" and they just. Did That.

all the backgrounds are NOTICEABLY green screen. they're fuzzy and just. weird. im talking noticable green screen. there's even a behind the scenes set photo of Ian McKellen with his head in his hands, weeping, because he's surrounded by nothing but green fabric, without even another human actor across from him.

remember how I mentioned Azog? the orcs look like these weird, clay models that somebody ran through a computer program, and it's very distracting. not to mention, most of the orcs' acting is lost in the motion capture translation because CGI tech is constantly changing, whereas practical effects are what they are. theg stay the same and hold up consistently, making them far superior and able to last far longer, because CGI will inevitably evolve and be left in the dust (isn't that right, original Jumangi?) I once found a side-by-side gif of the original Azog actor in the motion capture suit vs the end product and I was absolutely gutted at how much of the intensity was lost. that same man, in a prosthetic effects costume? I have full confidence it would've been beautiful. but alas...

and i promised earlier that we'd talk about it, so its time to address that love triangle.

holy bad idea, Batman. you don't add OCs to someone else's work outside of fanfic period, but especially not to works like Tolkien. you just don't. heck, I even have issues with Legolas being in the Hobbit movies since he wasn't in the books! however, that could have been excused because he legitimately is Thranduil's son, and it would have been a neat fan service cameo, but with what they did to his character, it would have been better off not to have him at all. he had no business being so involved in the Plot, a simple popup in Mirkwood would've been enough

and then

then...... they had to do That. with Tauriel. Tauriel..... look, I get it, they wanted Female Representation™️, but. No. a multi billion dollar trilogy made to get money from nerds is not the place to crowd test your Dwarf/Elf/Elf love triangle fanfiction. that whole arc was also clearly time padding to have more material to justify 3 movies lol.

but, in addition, because of the love triangle/unnecessary Azog subplot combo, they ruined the depth of certain character deaths. Fili and Kili were meant to fall defending Thorin, and Thorin died three days later of his wounds, which is a huge part of his change of heart in forgiving Bilbo.

one thing that makes me laugh more than makes me angry is Kili's death. they try to make it all dramatic, like "oh no, Bolg has thrown the Strong and Dexterous Female Elf Warrior to the ground, and now he is going to kill Kili in slow motion" but like. she could have gotten up. she wasn't gravely injured, and she's like. an elf.

and it would have been so easy to fix this too, ignoring the fact that she shouldn't even exist. watch this, I'll fix it right now: she has almost fallen off the cliff, hanging on by her fingertips just the same way Gandalf did in Moria. she struggles to regain her grip to get to Kili, but before she can even get back up onto the ledge, Kili has been killed.

instead what we got: she's just like slowly writhing on the ground as Bolg deadass pauses for dramatic effect before slow mo shanking Kili with this giant spear that should have killed him instantly, but like he has enough slow mo time to gasp and groan and then finally mouth "i LoVe YoU!1!1" before mercifully perishing and escaping this trash movie. it's hilarious.

and don't even get me started on the weird sexual undertones they put between Gandalf and Galadriel, like??? that's a married woman my dude, why are she and the wizard making eyes at each other

anyways I'm sure there's more I could talk about but this is long enough as is. maybe someday I'll take all the footage of all 3 movies and edit it down into one single-film extended cut of What Could Have Been but until then I'm just going to keep rightfully trashing on this movie

#hollywood hate #tolkien

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marichat-verse · 3 years

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Mist Memories

Leo Valdez x reader for his birthday ahhhh (even though it's angsty) with a platonic/developing jason x reader cameo at the end (lmao im sorry i couldn't help myself 😭)

Based on this picture I found in pinterest + also [kinda] based on traitor by olivia rodrigo and omg i really recommend u guys listen to this edit because it reminds me so much of this fic that's been stuck in my head for MONTHS also kind of a run away with me prologue lol

Your POV

I nervously made my way across the forest until I reached a limestone cliff. I knocked on the iron door, not really expecting to get an answer.

My boyfriend has been shutting himself in Bunker 9 for the past few weeks. I stood there counting up to seven before knocking again. I knocked again two more times, until he answered in the middle of my last knock.

He removed his goggles and winced as sunlight hit his eyes. He'd grown thinner and paler, making the dark circles in his eyes more pronounced.

"Oh, Leo..." I reached out to brush a few strands of hair away from his face, but he moved away.

"What are you doing here?" He said in a monotone voice.

I moved to walk inside the Bunker, brushing off his hesitation to let me in. "I'm your partner, remember? And I'm really concerned because you're shutting yourself out lately. You know everyone's starting to worry about you. Percy asked me to check on you because you missed pegasus riding with him. Oh, and I'm pretty sure Jason's coming back from Camp Jupiter soon. I was hoping you and Annabeth could be with Piper while Percy and I hung out with Jason because it's been a little awkward since their breakup. Plus Piper wanted to tell you something—"

"Please," he said forcefully causing me to stop and look at him. "Just... Get out."

Normally, he'd shut himself from the world for a few days to work on an important project or because he was feeling really sad and he needed space. But this was getting out of hand. He had never locked me out of his life when I offered to help him. He was never this mean when he asked for space. I was not having this attitude of his.

"Okay, Leo. I tried to play nice. What is so important that you blow off all your friends for nearly a month that you can't even tell your partner, or maybe say hi to your best friend who's coming back from the other side of the country?"

He didn't say anything. He pursed his lips and avoided eye contact. I scanned he room for any signs.

It was messier than usual with all the crumpled paper scattered on the floor, especially on his desk. He could have been drawing up new plans. Something in my gut told me that something wasn't right. There were no new unfinished projects, indicating that he wasn't starting a new invention. Harley's helicopter lay on his bench in the same state it was weeks ago. Huh, not even his siblings could enter the Bunker.

I turned and Leo was already changing Festus' oil. I took this moment of distraction to pick up a few pieces of crumpled paper on the floor and on his desk. I had to process the words a bit longer—too long that Leo took notice. Damn dyslexia.

I heard footsteps speed up behind me, but it was too late. I read enough and got the gist of what he had been trying to do these past few weeks.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He yelled at me. Small embers started to erupt between his curls.

I laughed dryly. "So this is what you've been up to?"

His fists tightened, further crumpling the paper in his hands. His eyes flashed with anger, despair and confusion.

I sighed and focused my eyes on his desk, not daring to look at him any longer. Under some pieces of paper were old photographs of him and Piper from Wilderness School. Yup, those definitely were the mist memories she had with Jason. I read the latest draft he'd been writing:

Dear Piper,

Remember the mist memories from boarding school with Jason? They were real, but they were with me.

I miss you. I miss when it was just us. I miss the night on the roof.

Yours truly,

Leo Valdez

I tried to keep my voice from cracking. "How long?"

I heard him sigh. "Three weeks."

I balled my fists. Tears started to fall and smudge the ink. I wiped them away as fast as they came.

"How?"

"In a dream," his tone softened now. "Hera came to me in a dream and told me to check an old drawer in Bunker 9. I found the photos and the memories came rushing back."

"How long were you dating back then?"

"Two weeks."

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

Silence; then a deep breath.

"No."

I shook my head in disbelief. "Why?"

"Because I knew you'd get upset like—"

"I meant why would you throw away months of our relationship for a couple of weeks of your relationship with her? And without even bothering to tell me? Gods damn it, Leo. We've been together since you've first arrived at camp. And what about those promises you made when we were sailing to Greece? You've been keeping these feelings away from me and you've been lying to me, making me believe that there's still something between us and—"

"Oh, calm down," he said with an annoyed expression and tone, which only infuriated me more, "it's not like I did anything were her yet! I didn't kiss her or tell her how I truly felt for her! She just got out of a relationship with Jason around the same time I had that dream. I had to figure out how to talk to her about it. I've been alone in this Bunker for three. Fucking. Weeks. I didn't cheat on you."

"Oh, and that makes everything better?" I countered. "Being in a relationship isn't about not cheating, Leo. It's about being honest and communicating with each other."

"Oh, like you've been communicating with me? After the war, you take go back to Manhattan for school, and you take a job. I haven't seen you much during the holidays because work has been keeping you in the city. And you won't tell me what you even do for a living!"

I took in a deep breath. "I told you I needed to have a life outside of camp! I needed to know first that I could handle myself in the mortal world as a normal human being. I needed this demigod part of my life to be separate as much as possible! I've been in two wars, Leo. I needed time to myself, too. And I was about to tell you guys in a few more days. But I guess now, I'm glad I've kept you out of that part of my life. At least I have an escape from all of this. And now, especially from you."

I took another deep breath and walked to the door, about to let myself out. I turned back again, both our tear-stained eyes meeting each other.

"If it makes you feel any better," I said softly, "I would've hated the idea of us breaking up. But if you really love her, if you really feel like you have this special connection to her and she makes you happy, then I won't get in your way. You could at least have had the decency to talk to me so we could have left on a good note."

He looked at me with wide eyes, clearly regretting his actions. I sighed and looked around the Bunker, possibly for the last time. Lots of memories were definitely created in this room; all just as grand and meaningful as the inventions they made here. But just like some of Hephaestus' contraptions, some of them were flawed and dumped in his scrapyard, no matter how much potential it could have had.

"Goodbye, Leo."

I sat on a rock on the beach that gave me a beautiful view of Long Island Sound. To my left, the sun started to set, casting an orange filter on everything. My heart broke, remembering how everything glowed orange in the Bunker. Leo always left the fires burning when he was working. The sunlight twinkling against the sea reminded me of how small bits of flame peaked through his hair earlier. I remembered how mad he was at me. Or maybe he was mostly mad at himself.

"Hey."

I jumped when someone sat—or rather, landed—beside me. I turned and smiled, seeing one of my good friends back at camp.

"Hey, you're back," I said weakly. "How long have you been here?"

He smiled at me, although he could maybe sense that something was wrong. "Half an hour, maybe? I saw Annabeth making plans to expand camp to have a city. She made me do an aerial inspection and I told her I'll get back to her tonight. That's when I saw you."

"Mhmm," I mumbled, not really knowing what to say. It was silent for a few minutes before I spoke up again, knowing he was just waiting for me to open up.

"I broke up with Leo."

His head quickly turned to me. I guess he wasn't expecting it to be that bad. "What?"

"Oh yeah," I laughed dryly. "Turns out the mist memories Piper had in Wilderness School with you? They were real. But not with you."

His eyes widened. "Oh... With Leo."

"He locked himself in the Bunker for weeks trying to write a letter. It was heartbreaking. Like, truly heartbreaking. He wanted to tell her how much he missed her and how much he missed them. Then he said how much he missed that night with her under the stars and... It hurt. Like hell."

"Oh," he said. "I guess Piper didn't tell me everything then."

"She knew all along?"

He shook his head. "Maybe not everything, but she told me she's been confused about her feelings lately and she'd been having visions or dreams of possible old memories that were messing with her head."

"I'm sorry about you and Piper," I said.

"Don't be," he said. "I understand her. It did hurt, though. But I think I can get over it some day. We're still awkward around each other, but at least we left on a good note."

I scoffed. "Leo couldn't even give me a good ending to our relationship."

"Hey," he said as he put a hand on my shoulder. "You're a great person, y/n. You've done so much, especially for him. It's his loss that he was stupid enough to let go of you."

"I know that."

"Do you really?"

"I do!" I said. "I'm a great person and I know that. But that doesn't mean what he did doesn't hurt me."

"I know," he said. "You'll find someone who'll treat you like the queen that you are. You're a great person, and I'm not just saying this to cheer you up. I truly think you're amazing."

I smiled at him. "Thanks, Jason. And you'll find someone great, too. Maybe not as great as me but, then again, who is?"

We both let out a laugh. The conch sounded in the distance, signaling dinner. I moved to stand up before hearing Jason speak up again.

"Hey, do you maybe want to just grab a couple of plates and eat out here?"

I smiled. "Yeah. That sounds good. I don't really want everyone else hounding me about the breakup right now."

I don't know how long it was going to take me to get over Leo. We really did gave something special. It was cruel how the universe gave me something so good, to make me have hope that something was finally going right, then have it yanked away from my arms just as suddenly as it came.

He never cheated on me, but that didn't mean he didn't betray every promise we made to each other. I should have known it was too good to be true. Life has always played cruel jokes on me.

Then again, who's to say that things won't turn out for the better, right?

•••

Tagging: @drvrslcense @bubblybubbubs @dreamerball @quteez @aesthetxcimagines @chasingpj @beingleft @wadewilsonsgreatestfriend

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minecraftsz · 3 years

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this series is one of the most ambitious projects ive made, and by ambitious i mostly just mean longest with a core idea! i'm very very happy with how it turned out, and i think it represents a pretty solid step forward in my journey as an artist exploring people and their relationships. i'm really happy so many people liked seeing something long-form, and i definitely want to do more projects like this in the future (one possibly in the works rn!) [commentary under cut]

now that the part my teacher would want me to write is done, hi :) i was very nervous to post parts of this because its kind of the first time im really putting my interpretations of characters' inner workings and motivations Out There in art, and i was worried people would disagree. pretty pleasantly surprised though! these segments all started as one dialogue just for tommy, until i realized that a large portion of the ideas i had put down mostly just because they sounded cool, and not because they were that fitting to the character. i set it down, and worked on other stuff in the meantime, and when i came back i had a much better grasp on the characters and just improved writing in general. i split it into pieces and edited and reworked it on and off over the course of a few weeks - although, that makes it sound a lot more intensive than it was.

i really tried to establish a mood with these ones. i mean, i do that with almost every other comic i make like these - i love long pauses, when words just hang in the air, and i think it's a really interesting and challenging endeavour to translate that into 2d art - but i really think i got it with these. there was a specific tag on the wilbur piece that commented on that stillness that warmed my heart!! its great knowing what i tried came across.

i don't really know what the point of writing this was, to be honest! this has just been a project i was very passionate about and i didn't want to just let it die out when they finished posting.

i also want to say that i got major inspiration for the interview format from floralmarsupial's beta kids (homestuck) dream series from several years ago. if hs is your thing and you somehow don't know about their work, i seriously urge you to check it out, it's very cool!

anyway, thank you for reading :)

#now #interviews with the aftermath

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midnightswithdearkatytspb · 3 years

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Forever & Always: Stage 1 - Denial | Pt. 1

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Witch!Reader; Platonic Avengers x Reader

Words: A little less than 2.2k words

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Grief (Loss of Parent), Depression, Anxiety, Angst, & Fluff (more to be added) If you see something that I missed don't be afraid to tell me.

Synopsis: Y/N “Birdy” (nicknamed by her family), comes from a long line of witches and warlocks, living her days at the New Avengers Compound, alongside her friends. The Avengers are part of her family and her family is always welcome to the compound. Things for once seemed to be going well now that all was right from the attack on Thanos, everyone was alive, all was forgiven, friendships were thriving, that all ended when Birdy’s brother came calling with sad news, their mother had suddenly passed. These are the stages of grief Birdy faces, through the loss of her best friend, her protector, her mother.

Info: The Sebastian edit in the moodboard is done by @nix-akimbo and the dividers are done by @firefly-graphics. A big thank you too @sllooney for beta editing this, all mistakes are mine. I've had this finished for over a week I just hadn't had the heart to post, but I had my laptop out so here it is! I do not give permission for this to be translated or to be posted on other sites without my written permission.

Forever & Always Masterlist | My Masterlist

Baby wails rang through the kitchen as Birdy sat on the floor with her back against the cabinet. She felt exhausted as she tried to calm her speeding heart, her husband was gone on a mission, and she has been left to take care of the 6 month old twins on her own.

Lyra and Grant had been crying since they had woken up this morning at the crack of dawn and it was now noon. Birdy had tried feeding them, rocking them, tummy time, nothing was working. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Getting up from the floor after making sure the twins were still safe in their playpen in the corner, they both just looked at her red faced, breaking her heart. Birdy made her way to the chalkboard picking up a piece of chalk, writing; Mama HELP! I need you please, I’m having a crisis and I don’t know what to do.

Dramatic? Yes. Effective? Apparently so, because the words 'on my way' appeared immediately under her message. Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, Birdy grabbed the pitcher of Orange Blood tea out of the fridge and the shortbread cookies from the jar where she had been hiding them from her husband.

The back door to the kitchen opened and the older Lyra walked in, met by the sounds of her grandbabies wailing their little hearts out. Birdy’s mother looked at her with a soft smile, taking in her daughter's exhausted frame. Her hair was pulled off her face in a ponytail, oversized yoga pants hung loosely on her hips, with a tank and cardigan to match. Birdy looked just about done, but still so beautiful in her mother’s eyes.

“My little Birdy, sit down, I got this.” The mother moved behind her daughter and gently steered her to the breakfast nook, while she went in the direction of the playpen.

“Oh my little cherubs, what seems to be the matter?” Speaking to the babies in a soft voice, the grandmother grabbed Grant and brought him over to his mother, who quickly cradled the bundle of joy in her arms, while she returned for her namesake, cradling her closely, shushing her softly. It didn’t do much but as Lyra sat at the breakfast nook across from her daughter she began to rock the baby in her arms, Birdy copying her mother’s actions, brushing her finger down Grant’s sweet button nose.

“Let’s see… your belly's full, you are clean, warm, nothing seems to be off, I think your Mumma has just forgotten the most important thing, a lullaby!” Birdy looked at her mother with wide eyes, while she simply just smiled at her. “When you were a baby you could be quite fussy as well and the only way to get you to settle down was for me to sing a little lullaby. So I think what these two need is a little diddy and they’ll be right as rain.” Birdy’s mother began to hum one of the ever so familiar songs from her childhood. A song to ease her worries as her mother held her.

“I'm rocking you to sleep, the water's dark and deep inside this ancient heart. You'll always be a part of me.” both babies had stopped crying and were now yawning, holding onto the fingers of the women holding them.

“Goodnight, my angel, now it's time to dream. And dream how wonderful your life will be. Someday your child may cry and if you sing this lullaby, then in your heart, there will always be a part of me.” Little Lyra had drifted off into slumberland, while Grant had gone quiet, his eyes fighting hard to stay open but as Birdy continued to brush her pointer finger down his nose, it was becoming a losing battle.

“Someday we'll all be gone, but lullabies go on and on. They never die, that’s how you and I will be.” Both babies asleep, Birdy looked up at her mother in relief but stopped when she saw the sad look in her familiar eyes.

“Birdy since you were just a Babe in my arms I dreamed this moment over and over again, it never varied until now. I need you to know that I love you so much and I’m so very proud of you, proud of the woman you have become. You are a superhero, not many mothers out there can say their child is a superhero.” it felt as if her heart had dropped to the pit of Birdy’s stomach as she watched her mother put Little Lyra back in the playpen with a kiss to her forehead.

“I’m sharing this moment with you now because I know it’s going to come true for you, but I need you to remember something for me...” Lyra placed her hand on her daughter's cheek, brushing the single tear away. “Remember you were loved by me. That you made my life a happy one, and there is no tragedy in that.” Kissing Birdy on the forehead? Lyra moved towards the back door, her daughter getting up as carefully as possible, hoping not to wake the babies.

“Don’t go please, I love you!”

With a smile on her face Lyra blew a kiss to her daughter and then was out the door.

Birdy gasped sitting up. Wanda, falling off of her, being forced from the comfortable place where she had laid her head on Birdy’s stomach to watch the Breakfast Club in the blanket fort that Peter and Morgan had assembled earlier in the day. The fort took up over half of the New Avengers main living room and sat in front of the television. It's where the duo, Peter and Morgan had hung out and watched cartoons together, waiting for budget meetings and debriefings for the week to be over.

Wanda and Birdy had quickly fallen in love with the fort, and with Peter and Morgan for inviting them inside to help keep the little girl company until her parents were done working for the day. When Morgan had left they had decided to leave it up for a John Hughes movie marathon. Bucky and Steve had come to join the youngest Avengers in watching the films.

All eyes had moved from Breakfast Club to a gasping Birdy. Wanda’s hand was quick to grab hers and give it a reassuring squeeze, trying to pull her from her frantic daze. Birdy’s eyes started to scan the cozy space, seeing that the popcorn was all gone and Peter had stopped mid way to the Jelly Beans, now peering at her in worry. Bucky was on his side looking from her to Steve, as he put his hand on her shoulder, trying to give comfort.

“I’ll go get Mr. Barton and Miss Natasha!” Peter’s quick reflexes had him out of the fort in seconds, without knocking anything down, before anyone could say anything.

Birdy was trying so hard to figure out what was going on. She knew where she was, at the compound. She knew it was Friday, movie nights with Peter and Wanda, and that she had fallen asleep at the end of Weird Science, her least favorite John Hughes movie.

She had been dreaming, yet it felt so real. But she wasn’t carrying a child and she wasn’t even dating anyone, so it made no sense. Also her mother just leaving like that? Strange. The more Birdy thought on the dream the more her head started to hurt. Someone calling her name pulled her from her thoughts and looking up Clint stood crouched above her.

“Hey Kiddo, are you back with us?” Clint held out his hand to Birdy, which she gladly took, letting go of Wanda’s, and allowing the archer to pull her up off the blanketed floor. Natasha stood at the entrance of the fort in her pajamas, looking in, watching as Clint hugged the younger woman. Right away Natasha knew something was off.

“Yeah, I’m sorry you guys, I had the strangest dream and it-” Birdy’s face was scrunched up in almost confusion, as she stared off behind Clint’s shoulder. “-It felt so real.” Her voice died off as Clint hugged her close to him.

“It wasn’t a vision was it?” Natasha moved inside the blanket fort, her question was more of one of concern. Every time that Birdy had a vision, something bad was about to happen or come their way, like the time she had envisioned the meeting with General Ross, the next day the team was torn in two, because of the Sokovia Accords. Birdy just shook her head, it wasn’t a vision that she knew of.

“Well if it was just a dream, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Wanda and Peter, why don’t you go make chamomile tea. Steve go adjust the temperature? I think it’s a little warm. Bucky do whatever it is you want to do.” Natasha waved the former assassin off, “Clint and I are going to just sit in here with you until you feel better.” Sitting on the loveseat, Natasha patted the empty cushion next to her as Clint guided Birdy to sit next to her.

Before anyone could do what the Black Widow demanded, a gust of wind blew through knocking many of the blankets to the ground. Bucky was up on his feet in flash as none of the windows were open. This gust of wind was not ordinary. Steve moved to the opening of the fort with a pillow in front of him, peeking out into the living room.

In front of the windows facing the vast forestry surrounding the compound, stood Pietro Maximoff and Jasper Valentine, the pair of them holding on to Birdy’s older brother Rory. The trio looked disheveled, eyes bloodshot, and their hair all over the place. Steve felt his body relax when he recognized them, dropping the pillow to the ground. Scoffing, Jasper let go of the warlock first, and made his way forward, hugging Steve.

“Rory Sellar, what have I told you about just portaling unannounced into the compound?” Steve let go of Jasper before he made his way to Pietro, hugging the twin of his teammate, then to Rory, who just cleared his throat and looked to the ground. Pietro shook his head, getting Steve’s attention, immediately the scolding died in Steve’s throat.

“Steve, is Birdy awake?” Rory’s voice cracked as Natasha and Bucky looked out. Bucky gave a slight wave of his hand at the newcomers, while Natasha tilted her head in the direction of the fort. The group made their way inside the massive fort following behind Natasha. Birdy, jumping up from the couch at the sight of her older brother, rushed to give him a hug. Rory took his little sister in his arms, hugging her tightly, as he kissed her on the crown of her forehead.

“I just had the weirdest dream…” Birdy pulled away as she heard Rory sniffle, looking up at him in concern.

“Birdy I’m so sorry, she wouldn’t let me portal to come get you, she said she didn’t want you to see her that way.” Birdy’s face scrunched up in confusion. “I begged her to let me come get you, but she said no, and Dad agreed.” Rory started to let the tears fall.

“Rory, you aren’t making any sense, what is going on?” Pietro was by the warlock's side in an instant, his hand on his shoulder, looking at Wanda, who gasped after reading her twin brother's mind. Wanda looked away with tears in her eyes, hand covering her mouth in shock and sadness.

“What’s wrong? Is everyone okay?” Thousands of questions swam through her head, as her brother grabbed her hand, holding it as Natasha made her way to the younger girl's side.

“It’s mom Birdy, she’s gone.” tears started to build up behind the girl's eyes at her brother's words. Shaking her head, Birdy felt as if the room dropped ten degrees in that moment. “She has gone to be with souls in the great beyond.”

Before anyone knew it Birdy was falling to knees, a cry erupted from her mouth, “No!”

Birdy screamed while the power in the building started to flicker as the walls started to shake. Natasha, at Birdy’s side, pulled her to her side. Steve looked around realizing they needed to get the young witch calmed down or they were going to be in trouble.

“Rory you need to get her out of here, the building isn’t going to be able to handle this sort of shaking.” As he spoke part of the stucco from the ceiling fell on his shoulder.

Rory reached down holding onto his little sister's shoulder and looked back at Clint, “I’ll be right back for you.” In a flash, through a portal, the trio were gone. As fast the shaking and flickering lights had started they had stopped. The rest of the group stood there staring at the empty spot that once was Natasha, Rory and Birdy, feeling a sudden emptiness with the news they had heard. Things were about to change and it was out of their control.

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hot-wiings · 4 years

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The One Where [Y/N] [L/N] Can't Show Up To Her Toxic Family Dinner Alone, So She Turns To Her College Peer For Help.

Edited: 12-4-2020

Once your college professor dismissed the class as over you were quick to open your phone and check your messages. Once unmuted, it vibrated and chimed a dozen times bombarding you. Messages from your mother overflowed your notification bar. You just didn't have the energy to deal with it right now. With a scowl, you set your phone back to mute mode and harshly shoved it into your backpack.

"Everything all right?"

Your chemistry partner was pilling books back into his backpack when he asked you the imposing question. He zipped the bag close, stood up, and turned to you, giving you a concerned look as he slung his backpack on his shoulder.

"I'm fine."

"We've been partners for nearly a year, I think I know you enough to know when you're not fine."

Your eyes glanced up at the white-haired man before glancing back at your lap. Your chemistry partner, Natsuo Todoroki, was a nice young man. Natsuo was funny and kind, he noticed when you were having a bad day, and he'd try to ease your troubles. Maybe that was why you often found yourself studying your partner more than your notes. Normally you'd relish under the gaze and attention of your charming, pretty partner, but today wasn't just one of those days.

"It's stupid. Like, really stupid, and unimportant."

"If it's bothering you then it's not stupid. C'mon, I'll buy you lunch and you can tell me all about your problem."

You huffed as you stood up and pulled your bag over your shoulder. You followed Natsuo to the cafeteria, while he walked off to get and pay for your lunches, you found some empty seats. Your leg bounced as you waited for him to come back. The idea of opening up about something so personal made you anxious.

"It's Soba Saturday."

"Thanks."

Natsuo took a seat across from you and smiled as you took a bite out of the food. Happy that you were happy with your food, Natsou digs into his own.

"So partner' what's up?"

"As I said, it's really, really, stupid."

"You're obviously worked up over it, it can't be that stupid."

You let out a ragged sigh as you took a delicate bite out of your food. Embarrassed, your eyes avoided him once you swallowed and set the fork down. Natsuo had shared so much with you as a friend and confidant, you knew about his family, every nitty-gritty detail, but you opened so little in return.

"My mom texted me asking if I was bringing a date home for Christmas. My parents... They're pretentious and rich, you know? Marrying, and settling down, becoming a house mouse while my husband takes over the family business. That's the future they want for me."

You clenched your fists just getting aggravated thinking about it. The toxicity was hard and you were trying your best to escape it, but you could only flee so much when you were poor without your parents. Natsuo reached across the table and grabbed your hands, pulling them into his cold ones.

"I know if I show up alone my mom's gonna get in my business, then she'll try setting me up with rich men she thinks are suitable. I just- I can't do another family Christmas alone."

"I understand what you mean. I told you how my dad's a bastard, he's tried setting me and my sister up with suitable people before, never works out, just makes us hate him. I don't even wanna go home for Christmas this year, so... I have a proposition."

"I'd love to hear it."

"I'll go with you."

His voice came out quick and fast, almost making him sound nervous, but Natsuo didn't get nervous, it wasn't a Todoroki trait. You look up from your lap to his eyes. A small smile formed on your face as he proposed the statement. You let out a chuckle as a light blush brushed your face.

"You wanna be my date?"

"We don't have to go like that, we can fake date. Think about it, you need a rich, suitable guy to show up with you. You need me. Someone to convince your pretentious parents you're ready to settle down, and, I, can get out of my own family Christmas and obligations to see the bastard man."

"Fake dating... Fake dating and convincing my parents that we're in love. That's a lot to deal with, you're sure your up for it?"

"Yeah, you might say... We already have some chemistry together."

You laughed as that feeling bubbled up in your chest. That feeling you got whenever you were around your partner, your lab partner. It was stupid, so stupid. The idea of fake dating him bubbled you, even if it was fake, the idea that he got to be your boyfriend for an evening or two excited you.

"Okay, you dork, it's settled. You're my fake boyfriend."

Your leg bounced rigorously as the car drove on the road. You watched the road signs, anxiously noting how far away from your home you were each time a new one appeared. You lived a couple of hours out from the city you and Natsuo attended college in. Coming from a rich family, you and Natsuo probably would've attended the same social circles and school had you not grew up so far away.

Your thumb tapped away at your leg as Christmas music blared through the radio. Your whole body screamed anxious and distressed. Now that you've had time to brew and process the deal you and Natsuo made you regretted it. What were you thinking, taking your lab partner, who was also your crush, on an overnight trip as your fake boyfriend? It was just going to cause you trouble.

You had feelings for him and your family was toxic. The idea of letting him in was disturbing. It was your home where you grew up, the place you learned to hate yourself, the place that taught you to be closed off, and mean. He'll meet your mom, your dad, and your godawful siblings. He'll see how horrible your family is, and the idea of letting him see the environment you grew up in was so daunting.

What if he decided you were awful too? What if he changes lab partners?

"We're here."

"Great."

Your voice came out placid and tight. Your nervousness and exhaustion could be heard in your voice. Emotions brought out every time you saw your family, he mistook it as nerves brought on by the fear of fake dating.

"We should probably lie down some rules."

"Yeah, I've never fake dated before. I don’t know what you're uncomfortable with, but no kissing on the lips."

Natsuo pulled his keys out of the engine ignition and pocketed them while he lightly laughed at your proposed rule. Heat rose to your cheeks as his voice met your ears.

"We're supposed to convince them we're in love, but I can't kiss your lips?"

"I know it's silly, but to me it's romantic and I’d like to keep this professional. Besides, you still have my cheek, hand, nose, and forehead."

“I see your points, if it makes you feel more comfortable then lips are off-limits.”

You let out a relieved sigh. You weren't sure you'd handle kissing Natsuo. It was too personal, too romantic. The more you progressed on this endeavor the more you worried. Your parents were gonna know, they were gonna know.

"No kissing your lips, what about hand-holding?"

"We can hold hands, hug, anything a couple would do, just no sex or kissing."

"Two days, as a handholding loving boyfriend. Let's do this."

Natsuo got out of the car and while you zipped up your coat and fixed your scarf he rushed to the other side of the car and opened your door before you got the chance. His cold hand was on your hand pulling you out of the car, he smiled softly at you as he helped you out.

“Thanks, you didn't have to do that.”

“I wanted to, I'm your boyfriend after all.”

You pushed a piece of hair behind your ear as a light blush spread across your skin. Never had you been more thankful for the cold air for you had been able to play your pink cheeks off as an effect of the cold weather and not his words.

“You go in, I’ll get our bag.”

“You sure?”

You nibbled on your lip as Natsuo walked away from you. He turned to you with an ever-growing smile present as he winked.

“Yeah, I'm a good boyfriend aren't I?”

“The sweetest ever. See you inside.”

You made your way to the door and gave the heavy wooden door a hard knock. It wasn't long until one of the servants opened the door. The head butler, Godwin, opened the door and threw you a gracious smile before pulling you into a hug.

“Welcome back, [Y/N].”

In your time living here as a child, Godwin spent a lot of time with you. It was his job to watch over you and your siblings along with the other staff members when your parents were gone, which was often. He was the one who taught you to be kinder and nicer, more humble than your other siblings. He was the one who encouraged you to go to college despite your parents raising you to live in a world with their racist, sexist ideals.

“It’s good to see you, Godwin.”

Your mother came down the stairs with her overly expensive Christmas dress flowing with her. She looked like the average rich person trying to show off her money. Pearls, diamonds, and obvious plastic surgery. Your father followed behind her, adorning an expensive tailored suit and a matching tie, no doubt your mother's idea to make it seem like they had a perfect marriage to their guests when it, in fact, was not.

“Oh, [F/N], you're here!”

She walked up to you and awkwardly wrapped her arms around your body. It was weird and awkward. Your mother didn't like giving affection out to her children, or really anyone. Now that you were older, you didn't crave the attention from her. Your father didn't even attempt to greet you.

“I thought you said you were bringing a guest, Oh I knew you were lying. Lucky for you I thought ahead and arranged for one of your father's friends to come over as your date for the evening.”

“Mother, anyone friends with father is going to be way too old to be a date for me, besides that fact, I did bring a date.”

“Oh, don’t be embarrassed to ask your mother for help, I did give birth to you after all.”

She sneered her words at you. This was a classical move of your mothers because she gave birth to you then that must mean she knows you better than anyone else, she also used it in the stance that you owed it to her to do what she wanted.

“You’ll love him. He's the owner of a multimillion-dollar company, he's rich, and his wife just died! You’ve been single for so long, you need a man to take care of you”-

Your mother is cut off by the sound of Natsuo walking in with your bag and slamming the door shut, trying to keep the cold out. Considering it was an overnight trip, you thought sharing a bag might make you look more intimate and close.

“Sorry I took so long babe, I didn't zip the bag all the way closed and it opened on the ride here, I had to put everything back in it.”

“Mother, father, this is my boyfriend.”

Natsuo dropped your bag on the floor and shook your parent's hands starting with your father, and then your mother next, respectfully the way you shook hands with the rich. You supposed growing up as a Todoroki he had to learn these tricks and rules the same way you did.

“Natsuo Todoroki, nice to meet you, sir, ma’am.”

“Oh wow, Todoroki? Like the hero family Todoroki?”

“Yes, ma’am... Endeavor is my father.”

You could tell by Natsuo's stance that he was uncomfortable with the way your mother was asking about his social status and checking him out with a tight fake smile on her face.

“Yes, I remember now, I saw your family on the news. How did you snag this one [Y/N]? A Todoroki, I'm impressed, then again... He is the brother who chose not to follow the life of a hero.”

You both ignored your mother's catty comment as Natsuo grabbed your hand and pulled you against his side. He kissed your cheek, eliciting a light blush for the second time that day, however, your mother's focus was on your 'boyfriend', and his focus was on your mother.

“Feels more like I'm the one who snagged her.”

“Well, you must tell us how you met. Goodwin! Take their bag up to [Y/N]'s room!”

You rolled your eyes as she yells at the butler. You'd think after years of working for her she would've remembered his name, but she didn't.

“Godwin, we can take our bag up, we need to change into our dress clothes anyway. Mother, you really should remember the names of your staff.”

“They're just the help, details like their names don't matter. Ever since you went off to that school it's put silly ideas in your head. Natsuo don't be afraid to remind her who's boss, she might try to force those ridiculous relationship norms on you.”

The comment comes from your father who had been mostly silent throughout the whole conversation. The comment comes from your father and it didn't sit well with Natsuo. As your father laughs at what he said, Natsuo picks your bag up and chuckles at him.

“Oh, [Y/N] and I both know who the boss of this relationship is. [Y/N] attends more classes than me, so I always make sure the apartment is clean, and food is ready on the table for her. It's only fair, I wouldn't want her to think these ridiculous relationship norms where the woman cooks and cleans and the man provides is right.”

Before your father gets another word in edgewise, Natsuo pulls you along with him to the staircase, letting you guide him to your bedroom with appeased smiles on your faces. You pushed the door open and let Natsuo in before closing it and locking it. You flopped over on the bed, and he followed suit before taking a look at your room. It was the same as always, the way you left it after high school, never changing except for when little things got moved around for dusting and vacuuming by Godwin.

“So... What'd you think of my parents?”

“They’re... interesting?”

There were a wide variety of choice words Natsuo wanted to use. He did not like your parents, and it bothered him knowing that you grew up being raised with such ideals. Natsuo might have had a bastard for a father, his father might have hurt his mom, and his family in more ways than one, but his father never once told Fuyumi that she couldn't pursue her dreams. He never once told Fuyumi that she had to follow old gender norms, never once was Fuyumi taught to layover for a man.

"It's okay, you can say it. They're good awful."

"I didn't want to upset you or offend, but my father literally drove my mom insane, he gave her a mental illness and he's nice compared to them."

"Just wait until you meet my siblings."

You let out a laugh as your fingers played with the blanket on the bed. Your hands were so close. It was sweet to him, the sound of your voice. He'd never admit out loud, but he was so in love with you. Ever since he first laid eyes on you in chemistry class. Ever since you sat down next to him and introduced yourself, ever since you accidentally blew up your first experiment. Ever since you kept apologising for catching him on fire, you hadn't a clue who he was, or who his father was. You were normal with him. Every little thing you did lead up to his feelings for you. Every little thing you did added to the strong feelings had had, like a brick house.

To the naked eye, Natsuo was a desirable man. He was rich, filthy rich, and he had that Todoroki charm. Everyone wanted him for his status or his looks. They didn't know him, the real him, him with an abusive father and fucked up family. For all those reasons, Natsuo always thought that you wouldn't want to be with a boy like him. Someone who came from such a broken background, someone so weak, unable to stand up to his father. Guys like him never got the girl, at least not the girl that he wanted but Natsuo also never imagined that you came from a background similar to his. It was so ethereal and special to be here with you, to be the one you were opening up to, even if it was a fake relationship, Natsuo was trying desperately to shoot his shot.

"You're so strong, you know that? Your parents raised you with these unrealistic standards on how you should act, but you're in college, you're pursuing your dreams. You're amazing."

Natsuo's hand reached out and grabbed yours, his cold one in yours soliciting goosebumps and a little shiver. You quickly tried to pull your and out of his and stood up to make it look like you weren't trying to avoid skin contact with him.

"Thanks, Natsuo... You're amazing too, I mean hello, they way you subtly told my father to shove his marriage ideals? It was hilarious, he was not expecting that."

You looked away from Natsou to hide the blush in your cheeks, you were thankful for the way he stood up to your father for you. You could never have done that in a million years.

"Anyway, we should probably get dressed, and go down before my mother thinks we've started having sex. You can get dressed in here and I'll go to the bathroom, just knock when it's safe for me to come out."

You grabbed your dress out of the bag and scurried into the bathroom. You started with makeup, then you reapplied your deodorant. You were so nervous that your family would see right through your lie. After taking a few deep breaths you heard Natsuo's knock so you quickly unzipped your silk, baby blue dress and pulled it up to your body. Nervously, you popped your head out the door and bit your lip.

"Can you... Can you zip me up?"

"Sure!"

You let the door open more and pulled the front of your dress tight against your body, worried and nervous to be partially naked in front of him. Natsuo sauntered into the bathroom and zipped the back of your dress up. His cold hands glide up your back and then fell down on your hips. It made you shiver again before throwing him a grateful smile.

"Thanks."

"No problem, you look beautiful."

You looked in the mirror at the two of you together. This time as the blush rose to your cheeks you didn't have the cold to blame or the ability to turn around and hide your face.

"Ready to meet the rest of the snake nest?"

"I survived your parents, I think I can handle your siblings."

Arm in arm looped together you made your way downstairs and into the entertainment room with Natsuo. Your siblings were sitting on the couch, but once you walked in their eyes struck you. They heard you brought a date and they wanted to check him out. Their eyes glazed over him some of them in interest, some in disinterest. All judging.

"I heard you brought a boy, didn't believe it."

The comment comes from your older sister. Her voice was full of disdain and disinterest, undoubtedly ready to leave.

"Yeah, mother said you brought a boy, didn't think he'd be so hot."

Natsou coughs uncomfortably as you showed a tight, fake smile to your sister. You couldn't lie, it hurt that your younger sister would so blatantly flirt with your boyfriend upon meeting him, whether he be fake or not.

"Don't be such a slut, [Sisters Name]. That's your sister's boyfriend."

Your older brother scolded his youngest sister for her lustful behavior and she rolls her eyes before she crosses her arms in a pout. Your brother was the nicest out of all your siblings. He was nice to you and your siblings in his own way, protective of his younger siblings, constantly scolding and trying to keep you all in place. That didn't mean he couldn't be a snake, he could just tolerate you and your siblings more.

"Besides, he's not all that hot."

"Oh he totally is, it's seriously a wonder how [Y/N] got him."

You brought Natsuo over to the couch and sat down next to him. You even made sure to sit close to him, close enough so you could lean into each other like a cute couple.

"I think I prefer your parents."

His words whispered in your ear earning a light chuckle from you. Your sister, the younger one, evidently didn't like how close you both were. With a harsh glare, she rolled her eyes again.

"How did you even meet? Seriously, I wanna know why he would downgrade to someone like you."

Natsuo scratched the back of his head awkwardly and nervously He didn't understand why your siblings were so mean to you. His father was a bastard, that closed you off, that he could get. Despite that, he and his siblings never put each other down like they were doing.

"More like she downgraded to me. We met in school, lab partners. She had all the boys chasing for her in school, but somehow she chose me."

Your sister scoffed and this time you rolled your eyes. She always gave you such shit over the littlest things. You didn't have the energy for this, at least not sober. You whispered into Natsuo's ear softly.

"I need a drink, you want one? We'll need it to get through the evening."

"If your alcohol mixing skills are anything like your chemistry mixing skills, then no."

"Meanie, I'm a great chemist, I practically carry our grade."

Natsuo chuckled against your cheek, before pulling back and kissing it. Again, a blush adorned your cheek with no way to hide it. It was brief and quick, but his cold lips ghosted against your cheek. All you could do was abruptly stand up with a smile on your face.

"I'm gonna go find an alcoholic beverage. I'll be right back, play nice with him."

Natsuo watched helplessly as you walked off into the distance. He sat there quietly, patiently waiting for you to come back. Natsuo was such a cool, calm collected guy, but alone with your siblings, he felt nervous. Seeing the way they acted with you gave him a bad impression of them, but he has to play nice because he was your boyfriend.

"You know, an alcoholic drink does sound great."

Your older sister stood up from the couch and walked off in the same direction as you did, the kitchen presumably, to make herself a drink as well. Soon, your brother left the room as well, your little sister bit her lip as she watched your brother walk off in the direction of the bathroom. She was quick to stand and in the place you once held occupied.

"My sister said play nice, but I'd rather play rough."

She slid her hand over his thigh and inched it closer to his crotch while she smiled up at him, nibbling on her lip.

"What are you doing? I'm here with your sister, I'm her boyfriend."

"Ugh, what do you even see in her? She's not even pretty."

Before Natsou could reply, before he could defend you, your sister climbed across his lip and planted her lips against his. He wasn't kissing her back, but with her on top of him, her pressing her face against his, and her fingers deeply gripping his clothes it was difficult to get her off of him. He wasn't kissing back, he was trying to push her off but as you walked up with two margaritas in hand all you saw was your fake boyfriend kissing your sister.

It hurt. It shouldn't have, but it hurt. He wasn't yours, not really. He was just your lap partner, your friend. He wasn't your boyfriend, you were just fake dating. He wasn't yours. He wasn't yours, but it hurt to see your sister all over him. He wasn't yours, but for the night he was supposed to be. He wasn't yours but for the sake of your lie you did what any girl would do after finding her boyfriend cheating on her: You dumped your margarita down the skank.

"[Brothers Name] is right, you are a slut! And you- you-"

As your sister pulled herself off of Natsuo she looked up at you shocked with alcohol dripping down her body, you ignored her and turned your attention to Natsou. Your eyes were blurry but you had to will yourself not to cry.

"I don't need you here. You can just leave."

You didn't wait for Natsou to get up and leaves nor did you want for him to talk and explain anything to you. You simply took off in the direction of your bedroom, slamming the door behind you. Natsuo quickly jumped up on his feet and took off in the direction of your bedroom. He didn't knock, he didn't wait for permission, he just busted in and ran over to you.

"If you want to make out with my sister, that's fine. I get it, she's pretty, she's hot, she's better than me. She's everything you'd want, but you were supposed to be here with me! You were supposed to be here as my boyfriend! My parents were supposed to think we're in love. You were supposed to be mine, I don't care if it's fake, you cheated with my sister!"

The tears were leaking down your cheeks as you yelled at him. No words could pass Natsuo's lips, no matter how hard he tried. They couldn't. Seeing your tears, a product of him hurt. It hurt. He hurt you. He was trying his best to shoot his shot, he was trying to subtly woo you.

"Your sister came on to me, I tried pushing her away. She's really is a snake, you said it yourself!"

You still sniffled as you nodded at him. He was right, you had said that. He was right, she is a snake and this is exactly what she would do just to screw with your life.

"I'm sorry, your right. I shouldn't have acted like that, you're not actually mine. Natsuo, I do need you, I need you here."

"What if I wanted you to really be mine?"

You sniffling stopped as Natsuo took closer steps to you. He placed his hands on your cheeks and pulled your lips against his. This was different from earlier. The kiss wasn't quick, it was long. It was long and passionate, yet cold. Despite your shivers, you found yourself leaning into him, into the kiss.

"You- You can't do that, it's against the rules."

"Screw the rules. I just- I wish you needed me every night of the year, not just Christmas."

Natsuo ran his hands through his hair nervously. He thought speaking against your father and defending you against your sister was enough to get his point across. This idea of verbally speaking it, it scared him. This was uncharted territory for him.

"I want you [Y/N]. I want you every day of the year. I want to kiss you on the lips, I want to hold hands, I want dates and hugs. I want more than chemistry class and Christmas gatherings."

"Then you can have me! Have me every day of the year. Be mine, every day of the year. Take me on a date, hold my hand, kiss my lips!"

Natsuo pulled you against him and your face collided with his chest. You buried your face in his chest as your arms wrapped around his body and a smile formed.

"Let's not fake date, be my actual girlfriend."

You leaned up and left a quick chaste kiss on Natsuo's lips with a smile.

"I don't want anyone else to be my actual boyfriend, I suppose you might say we chemistry."

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echo-three-one · 4 years

Text

Good Day!

As I told earlier, I finished my Soap x Reader Fic and yeah here it is.

I suck at titles and that shows.

Midnight Coffee Rush

John MacTavish x Female Reader

Warnings : Smut. Read at your own Risk or whatever.

Cross-posting to AO3 later 😳

THUD!

You softly slam your head on the desk as you stare blankly at the blinking cursor on your laptop. An article is due next week and you haven't really started on anything yet. Your editor keeps on calling you earlier today on how she can't work on last minute submissions. You assured her that yours won't need that much editing and she trusts you with that, but still, a deadlines a deadline.

Scanning your empty apartment room for ideas, you decide it's best if you take this ordeal outside and look for open places to work on. Coincidentally, the local café "John's brew" happens to open for 24 hours starting today. You feel uneasy at the name of the shop but that won't stop you from your goals today.

After a chilly midnight walk across the streets of your city, you finally make it to the shop, it looks like it can compete with the local Starbucks as its outer layout gives off the same vibe.

You push open the glass doors and the bell chimes from above you, this made the barista at the counter turn his head and greet you with a friendly smile. "Welcome to John's Brew!"

You stand just across the counter as you look up to view what the store has to offer while the barista waits patiently for your order. You order some fancy named coffee, wanting to try out why it has a star next to it's name as the barista, who now you know goes by the name "Gary" based on his name tag, explains that it's their best selling and unique blend coffee. He then passionately tells you how the coffee you chose is created by the owner of the shop and judging by the tone of his voice, he's excited for you to try it for the first time.

"Thanks Gary, here's my card." you reach out for your card and he cheerfully accepts it.

"What name should this go by, Ms. L/N?" he asks readying his marker.

"Just Y/N." you say. Gary raises his eyebrows in confusion.

"Sorry, I'm sure I heard that name somewhere." he dismisses his thoughts and writes your name on the cup.

"We'll you're a barista, I'm sure you've heard a lot of names in your line of work." you jokingly reply. It made him laugh as he gives your card back and you make your way to the corner of the room.

The music is soothing and the ambience is more than enough to keep you going, you pull out your laptop as you start typing ideas for your article.

Gary took the liberty of delivering you your drink saying "You looked very focused" and "There isn't that much customers anyway" and you smiled at the service he's done. He stays for a while insisting that he wants to witness your initial reaction as soon as you taste the coffee. So you slowly blow off the heat and took your first sip.

Your eyebrows raised and your cheeks blushed as the warm beverage tickles your tastebuds a wave of nostalgia brings shivers down your spine.

***

"So, what do you think of this?" A shirtless man with a signature mohawk and scar on his left eye approaches you just as you get up of bed. You remember smiling at the view, his deep blue eyes pierce through yours as he excitedly offers a cup of coffee he claims to mix himself.

"Mmm! This tastes, well... something even I can't describe! It's good? delicious? heavenly maybe?" You giggle as he inches closer to you crawling up the bed and reaching on your face for a kiss, blindly reaching for the cup and putting in on the bedside table.

"Not even the words from your thesaurus can't describe?" He whispers as he pulls the kiss away, eyebrows wiggling. Your heart melts at the sight of him.

"I'll tell you the perfect word when I find it." You giggle as you reach for his face and pull him to yours, as he softly crashes his body on you, rolling around the bed.

***

"Maam?" Gary taps your shoulder and you immediately flinch and turn to him.

"I'm sorry." you laugh nervously.

"It felt like you had a good time going on with that drink. We're having a contest as to which word best describes it. If you want to submit your word, I'll leave this pen and sticky note on your table." he cheerfully explains as the door chimes, making him rush back to his counter.

Shit. You thought to yourself. Of course it had to taste the same, even the name of the shop checks out. Your heart starts to thump louder and louder as you put the pieces together, you convince yourself it's just the coffee, but then again the evidences never lie. John's Brew, that exact taste, no word yet to describe it.

You flinched as you turn to the heavy door slam to your left, just by the counter. A man, walks out of it wearing a very fit long sleeve tucked into business pants, you assume it's the manager. Then again, you see him scratching his head, which happens to have a rather unique haircut. A mohawk. Holy Shit.

***

'Congratulations Ms. Y/N L/N! You have been accepted on the writer program. Please report tomorrow for your orientation.'

The text read just as you wake up. Your face lit up in excitement as you squealed like a kid. Your life would change for the better.

A very wet John MacTavish popped out of the bathroom, his face was full of worry as he quickly wrapped himself with a towel.

"What's wrong?! Something out to get ya?" He asked, a bar of soap on is arms ready to throw to the intruder.

"I just got accepted!" you squealed excitedly at him, hugged him thight not minding how wet he was. He slowly wrapped his arms around you and you felt that you're the only one excited about this news.

"Congrats. But what about your life here? What about me?" he muttered, his facial expressions dropped.

"I'm sure we'll work it out? It isn't that far, right?"

"I'm sure we'll work it out"

"Not now John, I have articles due."

"I'm too exhausted for today, John"

"I'm sorry. I fell asleep."

***

The loud growl of your stomach shocked you back to reality. Come to think of it, it's already 2 in the morning and you're almost through with your article. A muffin won't be that much of a distraction. You turn to the counter and see John catering to a lady on a bright red dress. She probably came from a club and now trying to sober up with a coffee. You pretend to type on your keyboard but secretly view the event from the corner of your eye. They are laughing and he escorted her as she is walking tipsily to the sofa. They exchange some words you barely make out and can't help but feel rage bubbling inside you. But then again, you don't have the slightest audacity to do so. You slowly ignored him while focusing on your job. You left his messages on read and calls on voicemail. You feel guilt rushing through you. Out of impulsive emotions, you quickly decide to finish the article home as you grab your laptop and coffee and rush to the exit.

"Ma'am! You left your sticky note." John's voice echoes across the shop. This made the few notable customers look at the both of us in curiosity.

You slowly turn back to him leaning on the counter, his elbows resting on the counter looking at you, he knows what he's up to. You remember telling him to stop flexing his biceps in front of you in public. It's kind of an inside joke for the two of you and he seems to remember it all too well.

"Your word. For the contest." he points out to the bulletin board of sticky notes on the other side of the hall.

"I... can't think of anything yet..." you stammer as you exit the door, walking as fast as you can away from him.

"Y/N, wait!" he quickly grabs your arm. You almost expect that he'd do this even after all those times.

"John I-" you quicky turn to him, hot tears start forming on your eyes as he pulls you close to his warm embrace.

"Yeah. You've been very busy... I know." He mutters as you sniffle on his chest, smelling his musk that never changed even after all these months.

"Congratulations on your most recent award, you know. Article of the month, and the month before that and that one time you wrote about the wildlife in Africa..." he trails off while rubbing your back as more tears fell from your eyes. He'd been watching your career grow, even after all this time. It somehow feels you don't deserve him. And you believe you really don't.

Pulling away, you looked at him with a smile.

"I'm sorry..." you croak.

"Why are you sorry, Y/N? You met someone else out there?" he asks. Then again, you both didn't really have a proper conclusion to your relationship. You initially felt like you were slowly drifting away from each other as your careers grew, but here he is, having the same sparkle in his eyes as when you last saw each other.

"No... but, it's been very long and I have been ignoring you... breaking my promi-" He suddenly pulls you close and kisses your lips, you deny him at first but you slowly grip his arms and let him have access to your mouth.

Longing is the only feeling you both feel right now as you slowly kiss back and respond to his mouth. His kiss gives you assurance that even after all this time he yearns for you to come back, his assurance that you did what you had to do to get where you are now even at the cost of completely shutting him out. But of course you weren't, you also long for him every single day, but life has to keep going, and you believed that he'd found someone else after all those times. But this moment made you feel wrong about him, and it's now your chance to get things right between the two of you.

"You know, I always assumed you're still my girlfriend." he smirks. He is true though, there was neither a formal nor informal break up effort on both sides, just indifference due to many reasons.

"Well, I assumed you looked for someone else... and I'm to shy to ask how things have been..." you croak, trying not to cry again. You realize your stupidity once more, but he wipes off your tear with his thumb and lifts your chin up to look at him.

"You still owe me a word, you know." he jokes as he walks you back to the cafe, arm wrapped around your shoulder. As soon as you both enter the door, Gary greets his boss while mopping the floor.

"You were right boss, she is pretty!" The barista smiles and gives John a thumbs up to which he replies,

"Guess I'll be back in my office doing paperwork, Gary. You take charge here okay?"

"Yes, Captain!" he jokingly salutes and continues his work.

"You done with that article?" he asks, a tone of concern in his voice.

"Almost.." you reply shyly. You still can't digest everything that happened so far, but your heart keeps on thumping and your mind's been trying to scream something to you.

"You know, I could use some company while I do some paperwork..." the trails off, the tone in his voice shifted into something you felt excited about. Something along those words mixed with that accent sends flutters across your insides.

"If you'd want me to..." you reply as he opens his office door letting you in. It was a small office a sofa just beside the door, two chairs infront of a large office desk filled with scattered papers, ledgers and journals. He quickly folds his laptop and puts it in his bag as you take off your coat, admiring the view. Plaques, certificates and awards plaster across the walls, along with pictures of his staff calendar schedules and some other things scribbled across the whiteboard. He offers his hand and you give him your coat, only to be pinned to the door.

"God, I missed you so fucking much." He breathes as you stare at his cold blue eyes blazing with desire, you know full well where this is going and you have no objections. You wished for this to happen as soon as your plane touched the city.

Unable to form any words, you quickly pucker your lips, signaling him to move closer and kiss you. Now that you're both alone, his kisses felt much more intimate, needier and his tongue explored every possible area he could. You hear the door lock itself and his hand slowly caresses your ass through the tight jeans you're wearing, pressing himself so you could feel the tension growing beneath his slacks. You slowly slide your hand through it and earned yourself a chuckle from him, as he moves his lips below your ear and around your neck, hearing each smack of his lip and sniff of his nose.

You let out a soft moan as you feel overwhelmed on what he does to your body, you couldn't focus on what's going on, your hands rubbing his hard crotch, his hands softly caressing your ass or his mouth doing wonders around your neck. He continues to do this until your pants and whines become erratic and fast and stops just at the right time for you to catch your breath.

You open your eyes to him, who seems to be enjoying your reunion, a sexy smirk across his face. You let out a smile whist still panting, and he seems to like what he sees, letting a soft chuckle.

"I remember that look on you. You're up to something.." He recalls as you push him to the sofa to his side, straddling on his crotch as you unbutton his long sleeves.

He grunts as soon as he plops on the sofa and groans as soon as you slowly wiggle your ass on top of him. You could clearly see the building frustration in his face as well as in his jeans.

You quickly undone seven buttons as he quickly tosses it somewhere and viewed his muscular physique as you sit on him. He became hairier and you find it very sexy, trailing your hand down his body, all while staring at him as seductive as you can. He smiles at the gesture as you slowly unbutton your shirt, never breaking eye contact, until he can't resist anymore and got up from the sofa. He lifts you down and you stand on the floor as he works your way to slide off your jeans. He quickly buried his face on your pussy as soon as he sees it and devours it like a hungry wolf. He never dissappoints as the feeling made you shudder, grabbing onto what's left of his hair in excitement. This goes on up until you softly pull his head out and move to unbuckle his belt, sliding his slacks all the way down as his cock springs free as soon as you take his boxers off.

You stare at him as you slowly jerk your hand around his cock, his eyes almost in a trance, as you teasingly kiss the tip, which was slowly oozing of precum. He grabs your hair and tucks it behind your ear as you slowly swallow his cock, giving him a blowjob that you've always imagined of giving him when you meet again. You're tongue slowly swirling around his length, feeling every vein and skin around it. You countinued mixing it up with your hand and mouth until he groans in anticipation and pulls you out of him.

He slowly gets up and shoves all his paperwork away from his desk and carries you to it, spreading your legs as he slowly pushes his tip on your opening.

You whimper at the first entrance, it felt different than usual, maybe because it's been quite a while since you to have done it, but that didn't stop the both of you from continuing. His eyes mesmerize you as he slowly picks up his rhythm, you can see his chest muscles bounce as he thrusts himself deep in you. He slowly rubs the upper area of your pussy as he thrusts, giving you a sensation that makes you wanna scream in pleasure. But given the circumstances, you only let out small gasps and whimpers. However, his grunts and moans are also getting louder, so you decide to let loose and follow his volume.

"Fuck." You whimper as he continues his fast pace as evidenced by the loud slapping noises. He quickly flips you to the desk and continues to fuck you from behind. Each thrust felt like the desk is inching closer to the wall, you didn't protest as you loved the sensation, how your walls clench as his warm cock slides in and out of you. You feel his motions change and you know full well what that means, you moan softly signaling him thay you're also almost there as he makes his final thrusts and shoots his warm load inside you, feeling the rush of his cum drip as he pulls his cock out.

He pulls you up and reaches for a kiss, a long yet intimate one as you both use the language of kiss to assure that you'll still be the same way no matter how distant it may be.

"See you after my shift?" he murmurs as he puts on his clothes, now all wrinkly and messy.

"Yes." you smile reaching for another kiss.

After preparing to go home, you quickly grab a pen and wrote the word you describe the drink, plaster it on the board and make your way out of the café.

#horRAYfic #codmw #Soap x Reader #john soap mactavish

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neptunetheplanet7 · 3 years

Text

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 - 𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦

DM ME IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE PUT ON THE TAGLIST!!

;mikasa ackerman x fem!lesbian!reader

;modern au, band au

word count: 2.1k

warnings: swearing, floch’s bad flirting

bold italics is a text conversation

listen to the music masterlist

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disclaimer again!! i wrote this a long time ago. i know there are things that need to be fixed and things that don’t fit right. i plan to edit this story more in the future but today is not that day :)

You took a shaky breath in as you stopped midway of putting a clean sheet on the bed Mikasa would be sleeping in. The room still had some of her old stuff in it, it's just no one ever came in here after she left. You looked around at all the items she left behind. Smiling fondly at an old picture of you two, you noticed a small figure crossed out in the background. Glancing at the rest of the photos on the shelf, you noticed that every photo had something crossed out.

After looking at each picture, you came to the conclusion the figure was Jean. She must have only taken the photos without him and did this to the rest. You frowned and walked back to the bed. Carefully, you climbed onto it and propped a few pillows up to support you as you leaned back.

For the first time in two years, you got a good look around the room. On the side of the room with the door, there was a large glass window overlooking the balcony above the living room. You always found it strange that she chose a room like that when she usually kept those blinds shut. Her bed was in the middle of the room with a tv mounted on the wall across from it. On the other side of her bed, there were a couple of bean bags below the bay window that looked out on the driveway.

You sighed and took out your phone, pulling up old texts with Mikasa. The last time you texted her was three months ago when you got too drunk at one of Reiner's ragers.

mikasa

mikasas pleasdse

come home

i miss you

i miss you so much

we all miss you so much

come home to me.

She didn't respond to that and you wouldn't know if she even looked at it. She turned her read receipts off for everyone after the first week of trying to contact her. The only time she had ever contacted anyone was two weeks after she left the house.

Don't look for me. Don't contact me.

You got a lot of your friends asking if you got the same message. She sent the same thing to everyone who tried to get in contact with her. You still didn't know where she was or what she was doing. The only thing you knew was that she was coming home the next day. You sighed. Suddenly, you didn't feel like cleaning anything else. You briskly walked out of her room and dialed the number of your best friend.

"Hey, Y/n! What's going on?" Sasha's cheery voice rang through the line.

"Hey hey, Sasha. I'm doing great. At least, I think I am. Do you wanna go somewhere? You can pick me up? Or I can pick you up if you like."

"I'll come to pick you up, honey bunny, don't you worry." You heard her struggling with her keys on the other side of the line and snorted at the noise.

"Need some help, Sash?" You grinned while skipping steps.

"Fine, thanks." She grumbled. "I'll be there in fifteen! You stay put!" She briskly hung up.

Sasha had been your best friend ever since Eren's nineteenth birthday party. She caught you and Eren coming back inside just as she was about to leave, with half the pantry in her arms. She asked for your number to make plans to hang out and chat sometime. You happily obliged, which was probably the happiest thing you had done that night.

You tossed your phone onto your bed as you walked into your room. Your room was on the first floor. You got first pick since you were the one who inherited the house. The house was big and beautiful. It was also on a lake. Perfect for the parties Eren and Jean loved to host. Perfect escape from paparazzi.

Your room had big glass doors that opened to the balcony that wrapped around the back of the house. You had a great view of the lake. The room was painted white. There was a black marble fireplace in one wall with a small wardrobe you used for storing memorable items to the band. You didn't need to use it for clothes since you had a walk-in closet in the big bathroom you partly shared with your bandmates. Jean liked to use the large bathtub.

You collapsed onto the bed and stared into the vanity mirror next to it. It was then when you realized you were still in your pajamas. "Oh shit." Your eyes widened as you hurriedly stumbled over to the closet, falling over once.

You grabbed a pair of baggy sweats and a big t-shirt. With duck socks, of course. The outfit didn't look much different than your pajamas but Sasha would probably be wearing something similar.

You threw your hair into the easiest hairstyle you could muster. You grabbed your boots and hopped up and down while trying to put them on while also leaving the room. "Jesus." You muttered.

Your phone vibrated, signaling that Sasha was here. "I'm heading out with Sasha! You're on your lonesome!" You called out to wherever Armin was in the house.

"Okay! Don't be back too late!" He shouted back.

You laughed aloud as you realized how much he sounded like a dad. You opened the front door and ran to Sasha's car. "Let me in!" You knocked on the passenger window as she reached around to find the button that unlocks the door. Once it was unlocked, you swung open the door and hopped inside.

"Nice outfit," was the first thing she said to you. You glanced at her outfit and scoffed. Your predictions were correct, she was wearing something similar.

"Gee, thanks." You gave a lopsided smile and rolled your eyes.

"Where to, honey bunny?" Sasha said, giving a mock salute while her other hand rested firmly on the steering wheel. You giggled and thought about it. You called her on such a whim that you forgot to even plan anything.

"Uh how about Brain Freezes? I could really use a catch-up with Connie right about now." You suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea! Turns out you do have a brain up there." Sasha snickered.

"Oh good one, because you're the real genius here, clearly."

After a lot of lighthearted banter, you arrived at Connie's workplace. Sasha aggressively grabbed the door handle and slammed it open, causing the bell to fall off its perch and land on your face. "Oops." You grimaced and bent down to pick up the bell. You rang it in front of her face.

"Sasha! Y/n! My two favorite customers!" Connie jumped up and down on the other side of the counter. "How can I assist you ladies today?"

"I'll have the usual." You gave a half-hearted smile, head still impaired from the bell. Sasha had quite the habit of accidentally hurting you.

Sasha snatched the bell from your grasp and started ringing it. She announced her very long order that you could barely keep up with, but Connie was used to this kind of thing, especially with her.

You noticed one of his coworkers scowling at Sasha. You didn't like Floch, to say the least. He was always inviting himself to your parties but he was rude to all of your friends at the same time. He noticed your gaze and smirked.

He strutted over to where you stood, pretending to become very interested in toppings. "How are you, Y/n? It's been a while huh?" He leaned over your shoulder in a way that workers shouldn't with their customers. You made a hasty effort to slip away from his presence.

"It really hasn't. I came here last week. I come here every week and you say that every time." You usually tried to be nice to Floch, but today you didn't feel like being nice.

"Well, even a day without you feels like an eternity." He flirted horridly. You stared blankly at him until he awkwardly cleared his throat and traded spots with Connie at the register.

Connie took off his apron and handed you and Sasha your orders. "Sorry about him. That guy really can't take a hint even if it's right in front of his face." He shot Floch a venomous glare. "Luckily, you guys got here right as my shift ended! Wanna get out of here?" His previous anger seemed to dissipate in an instant.

"Yeah, I do! Where should we go?" Sasha beamed with her spoon still in her mouth.

"Can we just drive around? I've got something I wanna tell you guys." You played with your spoon in the ice cream, averting eye contact.

"Sure thing, Y/n. Let's go." Sasha and Connie said in unison.

Sasha let you drive her car since she was preoccupied with her mountain of ice cream. Connie didn't have a car, he failed his driver's test every time he took it. You'd think he'd learn most of the material by now. "Hey, Y/n?" He asked from the backseat.

"Yeah?" You nodded to him.

"Are you gonna finish that?" He said, referring to your cup of ice cream in the front cupholder. You sighed.

"Go ahead." He thanked you over and over as he leaned over and snatched it.

"So, Y/n? What was it you wanted to tell us?" Sasha wiped her hands on her pants and set the empty container in an extra cupholder.

You gripped the steering wheel harder then relaxed. You took a shaky breath in. "Mikasa is coming home tomorrow."

Connie started choking on your ice cream. "I know, I had the same reaction." You quipped.

"Mikasa..is...WHAT?" Connie managed between coughs.

"After all this time? It's been two years. Tomorrow? That's so sudden! Are you even ready to see her?" Sasha's mouth was gaping open. You leaned over and shut it for her.

"Yes, tomorrow. I still have to get the house ready. I couldn't even make it through her old room without calling you. Jean told us this morning. I don't think we should be worried about me being ready to see her. I think we should be more concerned about her and Jean." You informed. "But, then again, she told Jean about her return first. Plus he's picking her up tomorrow at the airport. So based on that, I think they're on better terms."

"You don't think they'll get back together, do you?" Connie said, his eyebrows furrowing.

You snorted. "Of course not. You know Jean is with Marco now, and he seems pretty happy with him. They've been together for two years now, probably longer if I'm being honest."

"Then what do you have to worry about?" Sasha asked, confused.

"Are you joking? I mean, what if she has found someone? What then? What if she quits the band forever? What if we argue? She dropped off the map two years ago. Completely. She stopped responding to me, to all of us. For two years I thought she lost her interest in everything and went to live a new life, with people better than me. And now she's coming back, out of the blue! It's too much." You stressed.

Connie and Sasha made quick eye contact. "Y/n, I think you're reading too far into it. I doubt anyone could lose interest in you. You're too cool! Let's look on the bright side, she's ready to come home and you finally get to see her again," Sasha said in an attempt to lift your spirits. You smiled graciously. You really were lucky to have a friend like her. "Right, Connie?" She gestured to Connie who looked very deep in thought.

"Didn't you and Mikasa go out in high school?" You almost crashed the car from the shock of the question.

"Briefly, yes. But we weren't 'going out' so to speak. We just, like, made out a couple of times." You could feel your face grow hot at the subject. You thought you were over your crush on Mikasa, but after hearing that she was coming home, the familiar feeling was coming back.

"You're going red, Y/n. I think it was more to you than just a make-out." Connie grinned while Sasha wiggled her eyebrows.

"You're totally in love with Mikasa!" Sasha sang.

"Shut up, you two. I don't wanna get into the details right now." You couldn't even try to hide your heated face since you were the one driving the vehicle.

"Not right now? So maybe somewhere down the line, you will?" Sasha raised her eyebrows and broke out into another infectious grin.

"Whatever, Sash. Enough about Mikasa and me. I really wanna hear about you and Niccolo." You gave her a similar grin while she slowly turned red.

"Nice one, Y/n!" Connie cheered.

"You idiots should just shut it!"

posted: 8/24/21

no reposts, edits, or modification to my work by anyone other than me.

#mikasa x reader #mikasa x you #snk fanfiction #aot fanfiction #mikasa ackerman #band au #modern au

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eunoiaflow3r · 4 years

Text

when worlds collide - h.p. x gn!avenger!reader

a/n: bahahahahaha no one reads harry x reader lmaoo you don’t have to tell me - i know. but still, i thought this was a cute idea and i went with it. hope you enjoy :)

not edited.

also: timelines don’t match up bc i don’t want to do the math so harry is like 20 - 21 and your like 19 - 20 in 2020. Civil War and everything on didn’t happen. Fred didn’t die.

gn = gender neutral

warning(s): “language!” - captain america.

word count: 3.1k

request(ed): no.

summary: stephen sends y/n to a strange new place with...wizards?

————————————-&—————————————

Never doubt Stephen Strange. That's something that pretty much everyone has accepted. Never second guess the wizard man. Usually you'd agree. Usually you'd just let the man babble about whatever he needed to and then go about your day.

Not now.

The fuckery.

Now you were here (wherever here was) after some flashes of orange and a "be careful." Did he even do the spell right? Is this really where you were supposed to be?

It was dark, and dirty and you just wanted to go home and not talk to anyone so you turned yourself invisible.

You were born with your powers - you think. You were adopted so you wouldn't know where your powers came from. All you know is that one day your parents couldn't find you, even though you were right there. Instead of thinking you were some kind of alien and throwing you out to labs, they helped you control it the best you could.

It was difficult at first, all things considered, but you got through. You discovered you had another power as well. Force fields. Those came in handy during the battles. (You helped where you could), and Tony Stark took you in afterwards as his own. He helped you create your suit, and your name, and discover more about your powers, he was basically a dad to you.

Your parents were a little hesitant letting you join the Avengers, but once they realized this is what you were meant to do, and you had people just like you protecting you, they couldn't keep you from that. They just couldn't.

So here you were, invisible, in some dark and creepy alley. There were doors either side of you, so you got out of the way considering they could open and smack you in the face at any given moment. You heard loud voices and laughing and cheering from both ends of the alley so you walked towards the one in front of you.

The voices were so loud and echoey that you really couldn't focus on anything else. Maybe that's why you didn't hear a boy behind you trip and fall into you from behind.

"I'm so sorry." he said helping you up.

You turned around to help him, he got awfully dirty, and searched for his glasses that fell off his face.

Once standing, he took out a stick, waved it over him, and all of a sudden the dirt and gravel was gone.

"How did you do that?" You were no stranger to magic, but this was something you've never seen before. And why would he do it in front of you? For all he knew, you were an unknowing human.

"What?" He asked eyebrows furrowed together, accent strong.

"With the stick."

He chuckled shoving the stick back in his cloak.

"The stick." He smiled and looked you up and down. "It's a wand. You must not be from around here."

"Yeah, what tipped you off?" You noticed the lightning bolt scar on his head. You wondered how he got it.

"The accent, the clothes, the inability to recognize a simple wand, the ability to be here, not recognizing me, and wait - where is your cloak?"

"Cloak?"

"You were just invisible a moment earlier but I don't see your cloak anywhere."

"I don't have one. I can make myself invisible without a piece of fabric or your fancy stick." You say sarcastically. Were you flirting?

"Handy." He grins. "The name's Harry Potter."

He holds his hand out for you to shake. "Y/N L/N."

He asks you if you want to talk somewhere besides a dark dirty alley. You agreed. It took some convincing though to let him use his stick to clean the clothes you had on, but to change your outfit to something less, standout-ish.

When you felt the witch hat on your head you immediately snatched it off your head and glared at him.

He just laughed.

Once out of the alley, you breathed in the now clean air, and was mesmerized. People were bustling in and out of small shops, animals were flying and chirping around their owners, children were running around with their friends and siblings, and people were waving sticks, or wands, just like Harry used.

"C'mon, this way." He smiled at your awestruck face. It reminded him of when he first arrived with Hagrid all those years ago.

He brought you inside a coffee shop, and sat you at a booth near the window knowing you'd probably want to still look outside at the new scenes.

After ordering, and a few moments of silence as you looked around, you decided to ask some questions.

"Where am I?"

"We're in Diagon Alley. It's like an outside mall."

"I mean like, planet? I guess?"

"Earth."

"Earth?"

"Well, more specifically London. Diagon Alley."

"London?! I'm in London?!"

"You've never been? To Earth? Or London?"

You rolled your eyes silently cursing Strange. "I'm from Earth. The United States, actually. I just wish he'd put me on a fucking plane or something instead of making it seem like I was going to Mars."

"He?" Harry was very curious.

You looked into his green eyes, your mind wandering. The guy in front of you was very attractive. His dark hair complimented his eyes, and his glasses made him even more attractive.

"You guys are wizards right?"

"Really? What gave you that impression?" He asks sarcastically. "The sticks, the pointy hats, or the big bowl with green liquid sitting outside?”

You rolled your eyes. "Very funny. It's not my fault you live into the stereotype of brewing potions in your cauldrons -"

"Oh well I can only assume you're one of those Avengers from the States, yeah?" He grins. "You guys are all over the news."

"Yes, sure -"

"And don't one of you wear capes and another shoot lasers or lightning or whatnot? Sounds very stereotypical to me."

You laugh as the waitress brings over your drinks and muffins. You thank her. "No, well yes, that's Strange and Thor, but that's besides the point -"

"Well of course it's strange." He grins and winks and you over his mug. He was purposely annoying you and found great joy in it.

"Anyway," you sigh getting back to the point. "Do you guys have a Wizard here, like a powerful, trusting, all-knowing kind of guy?"

His eyes dropped slowly and his smile dimmed for a moment before slowly widening once again.

"Had. His name was Dumbledore."

"Our guy is Stephen Strange. Or Dr. Strange. He sent me here, and I'm not sure why."

"Hmmm." He hums setting down his mug. "Are the states in danger? Were you sent here on a secret quest that would put you through tough trials that would risk your life but would ultimately save everyone you've ever loved so you just have to do it?"

You were in a silent shock. "Uhm. No, not that I'm aware of, no."

"Well then perhaps your Wizard Strange is playing matchmaker."

"Matchmaker?"

"Well you were sent here weren't you?" You nod. "Arrived outside the exact place where I was and I just happened to bump into you? Sounds like a set-up to me."

"Or a coincidence."

"I'd like to think it was fate that I bump into the most attractive person I've ever seen and they don't know who I am and won't judge me 'cause of my past." He took a bite of his muffin.

"Should I be worried?"

"I guess you'll have to figure that out yourself." He winks.

You decide to eat your muffin as well. It was a comfortable silence until you looked out of the window and noticed a guy crouching down behind a cauldron...with a camera.

"Harry?"

"Hm?"

"Why is there a man outside taking pictures of you?"

His eyes widened. "Oh shit." He whispered. "Here." He took out a baseball cap and put it over your head, hiding your face from the camera.

He gets out of his seat quickly pulling you along with him to the back of the shop but before you could say anything he had his wand pulled out.

Next thing you saw was a couch and living room.

"Wow." You panted. "What a way to bring a girl home."

"I apologise Y/N, I block them out so much I forget they're even there and now they've seen you, and have a story and -"

"Wait, wait, wait, are you wanted for murder or something?"

Harry walks over to his bookshelf and pulls out a rather large book. After opening up on the table, he waved his wand over it and beckons you over to read it.

'Boy who lived.'

'Golden boy defeats Voldemort'

'winner of Triwizard tournament'

And there was so much more… 'Harry Potter' in bold just strewn across the pages. His whole life story.

Your eyes widen at everything. "So both and neither. War hero. How come I've never heard of you? Or any of this?"

He smiles at the pages fondly, running his fingers across the letters and reminiscing on his times at Hogwarts.

"Unlike you Avengers, we like to keep our business private and quiet. We don't like prying eyes."

You scoff. "Not our fault we have alien invasions every year."

Harry agreed and for the rest of the night you sat on his couch talking and sometimes arguing, over every little thing. It felt like you two had known each other forever.

You're not sure when, but you fell asleep there and woke with your head on his chest and his arm wrapped around your waist. You're not sure how the two of you ended up this way, and you realized you were practically strangers, but you didn't want to move. You just wanted to tangle your fingers through his dark hair.

But you didn't. Instead you stared at his closed eyes, and focused on his long, dark, eyelashes that fluttered a little from time to time. You thought about how you could get used to this. Waking up with his arm wrapped around you.

You told him last night that if he was actually a serial killer, and wanted to kill you that you had a whole team of people who would rip him limb from limb. He had no doubts and looked actually scared of your threat.

You thought about what it'd be like to live here among people like you.

Stomach grumbling, you decided to get up and see if he had anything you could make for him. It's the least you could do. His face turned when you left his arms, but you quickly pulled the blanket over him so he would be able to sleep a little longer.

You found his bathroom, and washed your face. In your backpack was a toothbrush and some toothpaste so you brushed your teeth, fixed your hair, and got dressed.

By the time you got out of the bathroom, you noticed Harry was still sleeping so you went into the kitchen and tried to find anything remotely close to breakfast foods. By the look of his inventory, you could tell he was very good at cooking but hadn’t been to the store in a while. He did have some eggs and toast though so you decided to make that.

In the middle of it, you got a phone call from Strange.

“Strange?”

“Harry Potter.” he says.

“What?” you were so confused as to how Stephen knew ANYTHING.

“You’re in his place, we've been tracking you.”

“So I guess we should probably have a talk about privacy? I don’t know, it just seems like something we should discuss you know? Cause usually people can respect that - especially people who just DUMP you here in the first place -“

“Calm down that’s what the mission was. While you were sleeping, we searched the place with a camera we put on you and he’s not who we thought he was. You completed the mission L/N. Great job.”

“Is he a danger?”

“Not necessarily. Just making sure your fine is all.”

“What -?”

He hung up.

Why wouldn’t Strange tell you his intentions? Why would he let you stay here if he thought Harry might have been a bad guy? Why would he risk that?

Right as you hung up Harry Potter walked into the kitchen with his lenses in between his shirt - he was cleaning his glasses.

His dark hair hung over his eyes but his eyebrows were raised.

“You made breakfast?”

“It was the least I could do. I didn’t mean to fall asleep but thank you for letting me stay.”

He smiled and put his glasses back on. In doing so his gray shirt lifted and you could see his abs. You turned away a blushed.

“It was no big deal. Thank you for making breakfast, love. You didn’t have to.”

You didn’t say anything and instead placed both of your finished plates on the dining room table. He followed you and sat down immediately digging in.

“These are the best eggs i’ve ever eaten Y/N thank you.”

You smiled in response but then frowned remembering your conversation with Strange. You should probably tell Harry.

“So,” you cleared your throat. “You were wrong.”

He gave you a look that meant “about?”

“Dr. Strange - the wizard I work with - he likes to check out potential threats and make sure that ya’know - the earth stays safe and everything. Je can kind of see the future and its propabilities. He did the same thing with Thor and his brother Loki.”

“Okay, go on.”

You cringed. “And so he called me and told me that he sent me here so he could see you? I don’t know I guess he saw you as a threat and wanted to make sure you weren’t.”

You looked at Harry but his face was clear of any and every emotion. He just continued to eat his eggs. It was silent.

You ate a bit at your eggs too until he spoke up which made you look up.

“I can’t say I’m very surprised honestly. With everything you guys manage to fuck up there I’d wanna know if someone else was about to create shit problems too.”

You sighed with relief. He wasn’t mad.

“I’m sorry really Harry, I didn’t even know.”

“No yeah it’s fine. I get it. I still think he sent you specifically for a reason though. There’s just no way we aren’t soul mates or something.”

“Oh shut up Potter.”

He smiled. “I’ve been thinking.”

“Gee your head must hurt.”

He squints at you jokingly. “You should let me take you out. I can show you around today. Y’know, so you can see what wizards are like.”

“Is this a date?”

His face flushes red and he looks down at his plate. “Yeah, yeah it’s a date.”

And a date it was.

“What the fuck is wrong with you Harry! Again?!” You practically screamed. Harry called it aparation but you call it hell. You let it go the first time but damn. He barely even warned you, just took your hand, held it tight, pulled you close, and waved his wand.

It was teleportation. Something you’ve never ever done before.

“Fucking hell Potter I’m going to murder you.”

“And Strange was worried about your safety? This is like your 4th time threatening to end my life and besides, it wasn’t even that bad.”

You rolled your eyes.

Throughout the day Harry showed you all sorts of things you’d never ever seen before. This consisted of every flavor jelly beans (and by every flavor they really meant every flavor), a chocolate frog, and never ending bubble gum. And that was just on the candy side.

He took you inside this joke shop ran by two of his friends from his old school he called hogwarts. They were twins that went by the names of Fred and George. The only twins you had ever met was Wanda and Pietro but telling the story of Pietro’s death seemed to sour Harry’s mood but excite the twins. The fact that he sacrificed himself for a little boy made him a hero in their eyes. They begged you to tell them more stories.

By the end of the day you went back to Harry’s place and you were exhausted. You can’t believe all that you’ve seen and eaten. How was this stuff even possible? How was it all hidden? You were amazed.

Harry was glad to see you had a good day and glad that he had met you. When you got back, he told you that you could stay another night...and perhaps in the bed instead of the couch. He hadn’t meant it in a dirty way but that didn’t stop you from laughing until tears came out of your eyes. He was so awkward at times. Once he had to ask if it was okay to take your hand while you were in the street and it was so cute how he couldn’t really find the words even for something as simple as hand holding.

“Harry?”

“Hm?”

You both were laying in his bed facing the other.

“I had a lot of fun today. I feel like i’ve known you forever.”

He grinned from ear to ear and was glad that you couldn’t see him. He would have been beyond embarrassed if you’d seen how unmistakably happy that made him.

“I had fun with you Y/N. You’re great company.”

You were silent for a moment.

And another.

“Harry?”

“Yes?”

“Can I kiss you?”

You were scared of his response and your heart was practically beating out of your chest. What if he was just being friendly? What if he just wanted to be friends? You would have made a huge fool of yourself. You were going to turn away embarrassed until his hand came up to your face and slipped onto your cheek. He was so warm. His lips pressed against yours for a moment and then he pulled away.

After a moment he reconnected and moved his lips against yours slowly. Your hand went to the back of his neck and toyed with his hair. He groaned into your mouth. You smiled and scooted even closer to him. All you could hear was the sound of your breathing and kissing. You didn’t want to pull away but you had to.

“Harry.” you said practically breathless.

“Yeah.” he was breathless too.

“I want to show you my world. You should come see New York.”

“Yeah? You wanna show me those alien invasions and robot attacks?”

You laughed and snuggled into Harry. He wrapped his arm around you and kissed your neck.

“Mhmm.”

“I’d love to see it.”

Tags:

@romance-geek @gooseyhouse

194 notes · View notes

crazyasacupcake · 3 years

Text

Just Another Casualty

Here's one I wrote a few weeks ago, I was in a bit of an angsty mood and thinking of the Hogwarts March scene of the Goblet of Fire, so I hope you enjoy!

Warnings: Major Character Death, mentions of throwing up, potential ch. 362 spoilers except I wrote this before 362 came out.

Genre: Angst, Tragedy, Loss

Characters: Izuku Midoriya, Shoto Todoroki, Tenya Iida, Eijiro Kirishima, Denki Kaminari, Katsuki Bakugo

Summary: In the aftermath of the final battle, class 1-A finally recognise the true horrors of war.

Word Count: 1707

You can also read this work on Archive Of Our Own or FanFiction.net!

EDIT 09/08/2022: I wrote this in September of last year when I was just starting to get into MHA, and I, for one, can say that I feel like I have directly caused the events of chapter 362... I also didn't know shoot style was a thing - I didn't know Midoriya had different moves (at this point, I only really knew as much as was in the first One's Justice game) - but as I was editing this last night I was debating on whether I should change it to be more accurate to the timeline now, but I think it would be quite nice for the winning blow to be the one he used when he was just starting to learn how to be a hero? I'm still quite proud of this story, but I do wish that September 21 me had kept my thoughts to myself..

Midoriya doesn’t remember much of the fight or the events leading up to it. He doesn’t remember the final battle against Shigaraki, at least not in great detail. He wouldn’t be able to tell you every single exact moment that happened between Shigaraki and the League of Villains arriving at UA, and the defeat that stopped the constant terror everyone had been living in. He’ll just say, “We beat him. We beat all of them.”

We must mean his class – the whole class, with Mr Aizawa as their leader.

No one stops and thinks about whether we is only another singular person.

By the time the battle is over, UA is all but destroyed. Rubble piles up, splattered with blood in places, the greenery of the courtyard buried beneath the wreckage. Midoriya has to stumble across the debris, making his way towards the crowd of reporters and worried civilians, ready to tell them that there isn’t a threat anymore, that they are finally safe. His face is dirty, covered in dust and blood from the cuts that criss-cross his cheeks, clutching his right side with his left hand as he winces and slips, gasping for a painful gulp of air before pushing back onto his feet and carrying on. The right arm of his hero costume has disintegrated from the power of the final blast he used on Shigaraki, the winning blow. His fingers smoulder as they ache from the burns of the attack.

He stumbles again, hissing as his knees scrape on a particularly nasty slab of concrete, planting his left hand on the floor to push himself back up.

That’s when he sees the body, motionless, legs bent at awkward angles, head tipped backwards so that Midoriya is staring straight into their dead eyes. Their hair has fallen out of their face, blowing slightly in a non-existent breeze. Midoriya recoils, falling backwards and landing harshly with his legs splayed in front of him. He can’t pull his eyes away from the emotionless stare of his classmate – his friend – even when he retches, even when the tears spill over and down his cheeks, tracing paths through the thick layer of muck on his skin.

He stands on shaking legs, clutches his stomach, presses his right hand to his mouth as he turns away. He lurches, heaves, brings up nothing but bile, his throat burning as he tries to focus on his breathing, painful as that might be. With his eyes squeezed shut, his hands rip at the collar of his hero costume as if it’s suffocating him.

He screams. Long and loud and painful, he screams into the sky as he claws at the skin on his neck, his cheeks, his jaw. His throat tears itself apart, desperate and animalistic, because why wasn’t it him? He screams until his voice tapers off, until he can’t make any more noise, until his eyes are burning and swollen from the tears that have fallen from them. He turns, trying his hardest to block the body from his vision, and keeps going.

He’ll come back for them. He won’t leave them lying there in the chaos and destruction, just another casualty in the horrors of war. He won’t let them be just another name in a book or on a monument, won’t let them be forgotten for who they were.

He can’t let them be forgotten.

It’s started to rain by the time he reaches the line of reporters, who swarm him the second he appears. He tries to focus on their questions, tries to answer as much as he can, tries to let them know that it’s over. More than anything, he tries to ignore the two most worried faces behind the reporters, trying to catch his eye as the rain drips from the umbrella in the man's hand. The woman – who always looked too much like his friend – stares at him as she wears an expression he’s never seen on her before this moment; her eyes are wide and her cheeks are red, her eyebrows are drawn together in worry and fear, her mouth is slightly parted as she desperately tries to get his attention without saying anything at all.

She doesn’t need to, because even as he’s not looking directly at them, the question that they are silently screaming at him echoes around in his mind.

Izuku-kun, where is our son?

While Midoriya talks to the reporters, the flashes of the cameras making spots appear in his vision, Todoroki is the next to find the body.

He blinks, frowns, confused for a moment as he waits for his classmate to sit up, clutch his chest and maybe laugh. Waits for him to do something, say anything, instead of just blankly stare towards him. Todoroki doesn’t know what to do, and so he does nothing, choosing to just stand there and watch the body as if he can will it to do something. The rain pelts the two of them, though Todoroki doesn’t seem to notice how his hair is sticking to his skin, or how his hero costume is heavier than it was before. Maybe it’s only heavy now because everything feels heavy, like he’s moving through clay, being pulled back to this one specific moment where his eyes are locked with those of the corpse of his best friend.

Iida and Kirishima come up behind him, Iida’s mouth opening to ask why he’s stopped, ask if he’s alright, but the words catch in his throat when he realises what is in front of them. He swallows, his throat thick and his head murky.

“Todoroki-kun…” His voice breaks. He doesn’t know what he’s going to say, doesn’t know what he needs to say, and so he doesn’t say anything. He crouches beside the body, slipping his arms around its torso, letting the head loll back into his chest. He bottles his fury, his heartbreak, and tries to lift the body alone.

“Todoroki-kun,” he says again, softer this time, almost like he’s pleading, which isn’t something Iida does. Finally, Todoroki moves, hooking an arm under each leg, and the two of them stumble across the rubble towards where the medics wait – even though they’re both aware that they won’t be able to help him.

Kirishima watches them, his mouth open, his vision blurry with tears. He’s suddenly disoriented, as though the world has started spinning faster and he’s struggling to keep up with it, crumpling to his knees and pressing his hands against the sides of his head to just make it stop. There’s a high pitched ringing in his ears, drowning out everything around him, and when he squeezes his eyes shut, all he can see is the body, the awkward angles, the softness of his face that didn’t look like him.

He wails with a breaking voice, his hands sliding down to cover his face, a futile attempt to muffle the sound of his heart shattering a hundred times.

Kaminari appears, running to his side and skidding to his knees, pulling Kirishima’s head into his chest. With one hand on the back of his head, and the other wrapped around his shoulders, he tries his hardest to console his friend, shushing him as he watches Iida and Todoroki. Kaminari bites his lip to keep himself from breaking down, too. He distracts himself by counting their steps, how many times Todoroki’s shoes lose their gripping in the dust, how many times Iida readjusts the body in his arms to be more comfortable. He takes a breath, feeling it rattle in his chest. He wonders if that’s because he’s empty now, his heart shrivelled up and dead after finally understanding the outcome of children playing at being soldiers.

Iida and Todoroki reach the front line.

One by one, the cameras stop flashing in Midoriya’s face, and he closes his eyes, biting his lip to keep himself from screaming again, because he knows the reason they’ve turned away. They’re now pointing towards the tent, taking pictures of his body like the vultures they are. It makes Midoriya want to explode, want to plant himself between the reporters and him, want to tell them that he won’t let them abuse his death like this.

But he doesn’t, because he can’t move. He can’t move because he’s finally looked at them, only now they aren’t looking back at him.

The hope and panic in her eyes drains away, replaced only by devastation. She sways for a moment, unable to take her eyes away from her baby - who they promised would be protected - and if it hadn’t been for her husband’s arm around her waist, she would have collapsed onto the ground and never gotten back up. She presses her face into her husband’s shirt, fisting the fabric between her fingers before turning back, seeing Iida and Todoroki lower his body to the floor between them.

“No!” The first denouncement, the first shrill scream of a mother’s pain is the first thing Midoriya hears.

The couple breaks away from the crowd, forcing themselves past the reporters preying over their son’s body. The husband wants to knock them all to the ground, wants to smash their cameras under his shoe because how dare you sully the memory of my son? But anger had never been his strong suit, and getting to his son’s side is more important.

UA security bars their way, blocking their view. He tries to dodge, ducking past them, but one grabs his arms, pinning his back to their chest. The tears flow freely down his cheeks and he can’t bring himself to blink, staring at the body but prevented from getting any closer, worried that if he closes his eyes for even a second that the boy will disappear forever. The wife howls behind him, doubled over on the floor. One of her hands has come up to her throat, clutching the golden chain at her neck, the other is tangled in her hair as her chest heaves.

Her grief is going to consume her.

He stares at the body of his only child, limp and lifeless on the floor, unable to go and cradle him in his arms.

Masaru Bakugou’s throat is raw as he screams, “That’s my son!”

12 notes · View notes

morimakesfanart · 3 years

Text

Sindria's Prophet #11

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

[AO3]

*edited so the images are better

"... At least until we can get you to your room. You need to wake up before they ring the bell."

'What's goin' on..?' Why was my shoulder shaking?

"Is Mori okay?”

The sound of my nickname snapped me into consciousness. I pushed myself up and hummed in question. When I opened my eyes it took me a moment to adjust to the bright light. Everyone was standing in front of a gate.

"Did you sleep well?"

Why did this world have three suns? Wait. Two were Sinbad's eyes. That checks out.

I nodded with another hum. I wasn't able to form words yet, and even if I could I would have lost access from waking up to such a beautiful sight.

I missed his response since I was still half asleep, but I did hear Ja'far repeating his words from earlier.

"Please, try to stay awake for a little while. When we step through, they will ring the bell to announce Sin's arrival home. We didn't want you waking up from the shock."

I had to repeat his words in my mind to hold onto them.

"Oh. Thank you for waking me."

Even with their best efforts I didn't have enough time to get clear headed before the bell was rang to announce the return of the King. I ended up jolting anyway.

I was glad to still be on Aladdin's flying turban. I couldn't focus if my life depended on it. I had some energy since I had just been resting and I was still mostly numb from sleep so my aches and pains weren't affecting me yet. After being sick for so long, I was in serious need of serotonin, so I couldn't shake the waves of excitement building in me as I realized I really was in Sinbad's Palace. It's one thing to read about something and another to actually experience it. I knew I had said I would see a doctor as soon as I arrived, but I couldn't stop myself from going into full geek mode and just wanting to look around.

In other words, I was a weak, energetic, space cadet without a filter -prime condition to make an idiot and/or nuisance of myself- if I couldn't find something to force me to "sober" up and start masking.

---

~POV Sin~

Horns announced the King's return to his Palace as the group walked through its gate. Many of the guards and civil servants present gave their welcome. The looks of awe on his guests' faces as they walked through the entrance to the court yard boosted Sinbad's already large ego.

Alibaba's and Aladdin's excitement had started to wane after walking so long, but Mori had the same look she wore when she first got on the ship. Now that Sinbad had seen her like that before, he knew better than to try to engage her in something she wasn't already thinking about. It was a lot like dealing with Yamuraiha after the magicians made a breakthrough. But that didn't mean he wouldn't still try to tease her if he had the opportunity; he'd just have to try a different method.

It was a bit of a relief to see Mori so energetic after the previous night. He would still have the doctors sent to her asap though.

Given how important his guests were, Sinbad decided to escort them, himself, to the Green Sagittarius Tower. Placing the 3 kids in the guest tower was a given since they hadn't agreed to any partnerships yet. The Purple Leo Tower was where Sinbad and his most trusted lived; as much as he wanted to move Mori in there with them immediately, Sinbad knew it would be better to wait until the others learned to trust her, so his Prophet was going to have to stay in the Green Sagittarius Tower for now. This would also give them more time to prepare her permanent room.

Ja'far raised his voice slightly to get all of the guests' attention as he explained a little about the Tower. Masrur took his cue to leave. The Fanalis raised his hand in a half hearted wave as he turned away from the group and started to walk away. The King watched one General leave as he heard the other lead his guests into the Tower.

It was his time to head off too. The rest of his Generals that had been left at home would be showing up to greet him -there was a lot to catch up on. As Sinbad had started to leave, the waves encouraged him to look back at the guest tower. Mori was standing watching him instead of following Ja'far. She had her bag in her arms instead of on her back.

"Is something wrong?"

"I know I should go rest and wait for a doctor, but," she looked at him with an odd expression -like she was seeing through him, "the waves keep pointing me that way." She pointed at the direction he was going.

She was right. The waves would have her follow him

instead of Ja'far.

"It's Drakon!" Mori gasped and her eyes grew. She gave a small laugh to herself. "The first Household Member is the first to show up."

Sure enough, the only member of Sinbad's Household that had fully assimilated with his Djinn's power had entered the court yard.

If she had this much energy and the waves wanted her out here then it should be fine. "Would you like to meet him now?"

Mori looked up at him shocked and expectant. "Is that okay???” It was like he was the center of her world in that moment.

"As long as you feel up to it." This was a good feeling.

She squeezed her bag in her arms. Mori seemed to become like a clingy child when she was unwell. If he had told her to go rest would she have begged him to stay and clung to him like she had before?

Her eyes grew determined. "I will have energy for about an hour. I'll go rest when I start to wear out, and I will ask for help if I need it -you don't have to remind me." Was she this direct because she was sick?

Drakon's deep voice came from behind Sinbad. "Welcome home, my friend."

The King turned to face his General. "It's good to be back."

"How did things end in Balbadd? When we heard about you loosing your metal vessels we got a little worried but it looks like you got them back." He laughed at the end. Drakon knew better than most that his King always manages to come out on top no matter what happens to him. He stiffened slightly. "Hmm? Who's this?” The General noticed Mori before Sinbad had a chance to answer his other questions.

Time for introductions then. "Drakon, this is Mori. She's the prophet I told Yam about." The King gestured towards her.

Mori put her bag down and when she stood up she had full composure. She offered a hand to the General. "It's an honor to meet you, Drakon. I read all about you when I read Fate." If Sinbad didn't know any better he would have no idea Mori had nearly died of fever only a few hours ago -she only looked tired. She was much better at acting than he expected. How long could she hide it though?

Drakon looked more dragon than man now making most uneasy around him, yet Mori didn't seem scared of him at all. Was it because she was hiding it or because she had read Fate? Actually, there was a strange glint in her eyes he couldn't place.

"Oh?” Drakon took her up on the handshake she offered. It was rare for someone not to flinch upon seeing him for the first time; Mori was definitely making a good first impression. "I must admit that I'm curious about this ability of yours."

The glint in Mori's eye grew into a full sparkle.

Their handshake didn't sit right with King Sinbad.

When their hands released, Mori put her hands in her pockets like she often did.

"Would you like an example?" Her smile didn't give anything away. "Before you were shipped out to Baal's Dungeon you tried to be noble and charming to Serendine but she responded by talking about how you followed her around 'like a baby duck' when you were little. Then she made you promise not to die." The waves were building around Mori again.

Serendine must have really said that. Drakon might not look human anymore, but Sinbad could still read his friend's expressions plain as day. Drakon was shocked by the first thing she said, and she was only just starting. Mori really was amazing.

"I know! Let me show you what I've got copied down so far" Mori squat down to her bag. She pulled out and opened a scroll, "Yeah. This one." She stood up with the scroll in hand and swayed a bit on the way up -she couldn't hide her condition fully.

Mori stepped between the King and his General, and turned so they were all facing the same direction. She raised the scroll so it would be easier to see. "Honestly, I had some other things to write down before I could start copying down Fate. I didn't start this until getting onto the ship, so please excuse the sloppiness."

Mori's handwriting looked rushed, like she couldn't get all of this out fast enough. Sinbad had barely gotten to start reading before she continued unrolling to reveal a detailed illustration of a family of three.

"That's-!" It was Sinbad and his parents when he was little.

Drakon glanced at his King, "Sin, are those people your parents?"

"Yup." Mori responded without looking up. "He looks a lot like Badrr, doesn't he?"

Back in Balbadd, Mori had said that she had read his life from his birth to his death, but it was different seeing undeniable proof.

She scrolled past more text and past another illustration and didn't stop until she got to a drawing of child Drakon following Serendine just like she had described. Mori continued scrolling through her work, and each image brought on more comments. There was an illustration of Sinbad meeting Yunan which she gratefully skipped past, a few of inside Baal and one from when Sinbad killed the Abare Narwhal in place of-

"Is this one of me? I look so young!!" The Imuchakk towered over all of them.

Mori whipped her head up. "Hinahoho?!" She wobbled from her quick movement. Sinbad placed a hand at her back to steady her; Mori didn't even react to his hand, instead she put all of her weight on it so she could stare up at the man behind them for a moment. That excited smile spread across her face. "Hello! It's nice to meet you. Please call me Mori."

Sinbad had purposefully gestured for Hina to stay quiet when he came up behind them so as not to distract Mori, but this was fine too.

"So this is where you went!" Ja'far came back from getting the three kids settled into their room.

Mori's smile was unwavering as she stood back on her own, unrolled the scroll to the next image and flipped it around for Ja'far to see. "We just got to your entrance. Care to join us?"

"Lady Prophet, I know you slept on your way here, but you were barely able to get off the ship before you had to lay down. Did you forget you're sick??"

Both Generals that had been looking at the scroll murmured questions about Mori's condition while the Prophet said nothing. At least Ja'far's words would have explained who Mori was for Hinahoho.

Ja'far's eyes wandered to the scroll in Mori's hands; his shoulders jolted when he realized what he was looking at. "Is that me??” He stepped closer to get a better look. After studying the image he looked up at the person holding it. "Did you make this?"

"Yes and yes."

The Prophet and the youngest General present watched each other for an opening.

Mori broke their silence. "I will go rest when I finish showing this scroll. We are almost done anyway."

Ja'far sighed. "Fine." He walked up next to Sinbad to join the group. Even if he tried to deny it, he couldn't fully hide his interest. "What is this scroll you've made?"

Mori turned

the scroll back around so the rest were able to see an image of when Ja'far attacked Sinbad in his sleep back when he was still an assassin. "Since I'm Sindria's Prophet now, I am copying down Fate so it will be easier to keep in order than thinking about it. This is just a draft though. After I have everything written down I'll go back and make it better."

That explanation was perfectly timed as two more Generals had join the group from behind -not that Mori seemed to notice.

Next was an image of Hina in a cave being surrounded by insects.

"Hold on. I never told anyone about that."

Mori stopped scrolling at Hinahoho's comment.

"What is this?" Sinbad asked his General.

But it was Mori who answered. "When Hinahoho first entered Valefor's Dungeon he was swarmed by Blooderflies."

"'Blooderflies?'" All six repeated back at her.

"Butterflies that drink blood," she explained confidently. When none of them responded she tensed. Sinbad could see her turn a little pink as she said to herself, "I thought it was a clever name."

"I think it's hilarious!" Pisiti said before breaking into giggles.

Mori jolted, "It's Pisti this time!" and started to look around for the source of the voice. She spotted the Artemyran that was shorter than herself and the man standing behind her. "And Sharkkan!”

Sinbad could see Yamuraiha and Spartos in the distance. As soon as they were all introduced he'd have Mori head to bed -end of the scroll or not; the waves from earlier would be reaching their peak soon and she had almost fell over twice already. Of course, he wouldn't mind catching her again, but he didn't want her pushing herself in her current condition.

The cocky prince had his hands on his hips. "Are you really a Prophet or our biggest fan?"

"Maybe I'm both," Mori answered with a smile. Her face was a little red.

Was she flirting with Sharkkan??

"That so?" Sharkkan smirked and leaned between Drakon and Hinahoho to get a closer look at her. "When they said there was a real prophet I was expecting some old hag, not a cutie like you."

Mori's eyes dilated and she gave a small gasp. Seeing Mori get embarrassed from compliments was something that Sinbad normally enjoyed, but this time it put a bad taste in his mouth. And did Sharkkan have to get so close to her?

Mori clearly agreed since she attempted to step away from the flirtiest of the Eight Generals. She must have forgotten about her own bag though, as she tripped over it and fell backwards right into Sinbad's arms.

Mori didn't try to stand back up at all. She looked up at the King and after a moment she hid her face behind the scroll she was holding. ”I-I am not a klutz!”

"Oh?" Sinbad smiled down at her. This was much better. "Then did you intentionally fall-”

Mori clapped a hand over his mouth. "No! Shut up! I blame you for this!” She pulled the scroll into her chest, but it unrolled anyway. She was doing a poor job of hiding her enjoyment of his teasing.

He laughed into her hand and she went quiet. Her blush started traveling down her neck since her face couldn't contain it all. This was a much stronger reaction than he normally got from her. He was clearly the only one that could pull such cute expressions out of Mori. Sinbad kissed the palm hiding his lips, and when she pulled it back to herself with an "Ah!" he knew he had to tease her more.

"Are you saying you're really swooning for me then, my Beautiful Prophet?"

"I-!" Mori couldn't bring herself to deny it and pulled the scroll back up to her face. She still wasn't trying to stand on her own or leave his arms.

"That's a good atmosphere."

*Whistles*

"You don't think ...?"

"OH MY-!"

See? No one could seduce a woman better than he could.

Mori finally found her rebuttal. "Do you have any idea what it feels like to be surrounded by your waves near constantly??"

He hadn't thought about that. Mori's waves were constantly opening new paths for Fate to flow. They have felt advantageous and that they would help him reach his goals. He wanted to keep her close to see what other changes she would make. And of course he had felt that she was going to live out the rest of her life in Sindria. But what did his waves feel like to her?

She looked up at him as angry as she was embarrassed. "I only slipped on the ramp and just now, and-and fell off of the bowsprit last night, because your waves crashed into me!”

That caught him off guard. "You knew it was me last night?"

"YES!" Mori's voice cracked at the end; she was still recovering so all this talking must have been wearing her out. "You're the only one who's waves feel like this." She broke eye as she got to the end.

Mori could identify him from his waves? There were certain people who's waves stood out to him as well -like hers-, but Sinbad was still not used to anyone else being able to feel the waves. This meant that he had kept quiet for nothing. It also meant that Mori had clung to him knowing who he was -maybe she wouldn't have accepted comfort from just anyone.

Her voice was almost inaudible. "When I realized it was you I was relieved. I've gotten hurt in the past when I was sick because I was alone so, ... thank you for taking care of me."

Just like when he had first learned that Mori could feels the waves, he was happy he was already holding her. He wanted to pull her closer like he had last time as well.

Yam let out a gasp while landing.

"WAIT!" Ja'far had been about to cut in to stop their antics anyway, but this was a completely different issue. "Mori, can you feel the waves of Fate like Sin??"

The King and the Prophet both stared at Ja'far for a few moments before answering in unison, "Yes."

((Hey everybody. Pretty sure you can guess why this chapter took so long. I just really wanted to draw so much of this chapter in comic form UwU Also, a bunch of life things got in the way. Now that everything is opening back up I can't work from home anymore. I'm very sensitive to the heat so I have to rest and cool down after each drive which really cuts into the time I have each day. -_-

Ja'far stared in disbelief at his King. "Sin, you knew?? Are you sure?"

With the mood completely ruined Sinbad helped Mori stand up properly. She grabbed his sleeve to keep herself steady and he left his arm around her waist just in case.

All of Sinbad's Generals -sans Masrur who had already left- were watching him. Mori had many abilities that made her extremely valuable, but they also made her a prime target to any of their enemies. The more her value is known the bigger the target on her will be, and Mori wasn't a fighter. Sinbad had already told all of them that Mori was a Prophet since she had already made that skill known to others, and it was something he wanted to use -there was no way he could hide it. His Generals had kept the fact that he could feel the waves a secret this whole time, so they would be able to keep her secret as well.

"Mori can definitely feel the waves of Fate. But you should know it is different from her ability as a prophet." He figured he should clear that up before they asked. Sinbad didn't know how they were different, but he had enough information to know they were.

Mori's voice was a little horse and on the weak side. "Since King Sinbad and Ja'far eavesdropped on my conversation with Aladdin there's no reason to hide it."

The King and his partner in crime froze. SHE KNEW HE HAD SPIED ON HER. Did his waves give him away?

Mori continued, "I can only read the Fates of realities that I am not currently in. It's not the same as different planets; It's a different universe with different rules." She rolled up the scroll while explaining. "The one I came from doesn't have Rukh, magoi, magic, or Djinn, but we did have 1500 to 2000 more years of scientific development compared to this world-" She was cut off by a short coughing fit.

Sinbad looked down at Mori. She was getting worse by the second. It was most likely fever and not embarrassment making her cheeks red in this moment. "It seems I've pushed you too hard while you are still recovering. My apologies." It was time to send the prophet to bed. He pulled at her waist lightly. "Let's get you to your room so you can rest."

Mori shook her head. "I have one more thing I want to say first."

"Fine." If it wasn't for the look in her eyes he would have refused her.

Mori's voice was getting worse so she had to take breaks in her speech. "I don't know what caused me to slip from my reality into this one, but I'm here now ... I fully intend to use my knowledge to help this world... But since I can't read this world's Fates anymore, I don't know how my changes will affect things..." She gripped the scroll like a life line. "As much as I'd like to answer the questions you all must have now... my voice is really starting to hurt, so I'd like to go rest."

Sinbad sighed. "Of course." It was a tough note to leave on, but her health came first. They'd have plenty of time to talk once she was better.

On a side note, I will be drawing Storpas (lol) in the next chapter. Don't worry, I didn't forget him.

It will probably be another 2 weeks or so before I finish the next chapter since I have less time to work on it now.))

#sindria's prophet #magi prophet fanfic #king sinbad #sinbad magi #magi sinbad #magi fanart #magi fanfiction #sinbad x oc #sinbadxoc #magi fan comic

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